Gas and Food

Lately, it seems like everyone is completely up in arms about the high price of gasoline and food.

Strangely, I'm not all that worried

It's as though our economy has become a mothering entity that is generally concerned about our health:

We need to walk more, and eat less.

S'true!

Think about it: The US is only 1/75th of the world's population, yet produces more than 1/3 of all the noxious fumes that are killing the planets (that is, until this year, when China, which is 1/4th of the world's population, decided that they can kill the planet faster and with more gusto than we ever could!), and most of that comes from

yes, your precious automobile!!

So, driving less means helping the planet die a litte more slowly every day.

Then, the other figures say that Americans are more obese than any other nation on the planet. The average American citizen apparently eats more in one day than an average African village gets to eat in an entire month.

Eating less would mean that we will weigh less. And maybe some of that food that would have come to us will FINALLY find its way to people who, frankly, need to weigh more.

So . . . fret not about the high price of gas and food. It'll do us good to get our legs moving more and to start contracting those stomachs.

The way I would present it is this: we Americans like to think of ourselves as best in everything - let's be the best in casting out GLUTTONY.

Who's with me?

Hey! You there! Put down that double-stack supersize greaseball cheesburger!!!!!!




VG

letter to Letter to a Christian Nation

Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris


[NOTE: update 08032009, I just noticed this in my draft folder - I meant to have a post about this, but apparently I never got around to it. As I recall, this man was against Christianity, and his vitriol really offended me, but now that it's a year later of course all that's faded away now and when I look back on it, I seem to feel that it really falls into the category that most people who are dissatisfied with Christianity fall into . . . they have been disappointed by Christians.

So, I hope that Mr. Harris has found peace and that he's not so angry any more. And I hope that other people reading his book really find some use in it . . . and that we can all separate Jesus Christ from some of the misery caused by some of His followers -

Just remember, He may be perfect, but we are FAR from it!]


Blessings to all, and to all a good night!

VG

Early Presidents

Last night, while studying the early US Presidents with my daughter, I came across an interesting, but little known, historical fact. Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd President











and James Madison, our 4th President,






















both shared a Vice-President,

and this VP was, none other than,

George Clinton!
























Who knew!?




VG

A Proactive Verse

I must write a proactive verse,
something that hasn't been written yet/and write it/
before somebody else writes it/youknow, proACTive, to
get there before the other person does

to solve the problem before the problem births itself,
and

I must/

write this verse, before the wife,
comes to pick me up, in the next 2 minutes, from this
park bench where I'm yammering at the keys on my laptop while
all the kids (college kids/littlekids/middleage kids) wander around
me/trying not to notice me, as I
belch and rant and rave out loud while
I am typing this, and yet I am splurting out my proactive verse
just before I type the verse,
birthing it with my voice the moment before I birth it here
and so

those of you who are reading this online, this verse
has already been born by voice, spit into the air, and fallen on deaf
ears and died,
a long long time ago, my friends, my dear friends,

and so what you are reading is really only

RE-active verse,

and wait! here she is!




VG

Jesus and Zen

Jesus Christ was the greatest Zen Master the world has ever seen. (Which should be obvious, because He was the One and Only Son of God) - However, while I don't have time to expound more upon the theory at the moment (since I must be going to my GoCart Mozart Festival at Shady Springs VT, which is pretty much as the name implies: a cross-country GoCart race where they blast Mozart from giant speakers along the way in order to really getcha movin' . . .)

but back to my main point, which is perhaps best expressed in Haiku:


Christian or Buddhist.
No need to compare/contrast:
Jesus Christ is Zen.