Odds and Sods - Lizard King edition

Good advice! Sign in our local Greenville Army/Navy store.



There is always oodles of great reading around the intertubes, and Twitter has just made it worse--or better, depending upon your point of view. You can go there any time of the day or night, and people are exchanging boffo reading material.

The real problem is extricating yourself from Twitter, as I have recently discovered!

Stuff you oughtta read:

Atlasien tweeted this fascinating story from Jezebel about the newest chic accessory for upscale moms: a Tibetan nanny! They are more spiritually centered, doncha know, and just so much better for your children.

As some of you may recall, I am a member of the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty. (The death penalty is fully operational here in South Carolina). Renee made me cry with this one: Last words that are not famous: The Sounds of Death Row. The Texas Department of Corrections recorded the last words of executed prisoners and she shares some of them with us.

Young woman rejects HPV vaccine and loses path to citizenship:

[Gardasil was] added to the list of required vaccines for people seeking to adjust their immigration statuses.

Numerous immigration groups came out in opposition to this requirement, stating that it posed a unfair financial barrier to immigrant women, who already take on a lengthy and costly process to become citizens.

[Simone Davis is] one of the first reported cases of a young woman losing her path to citizenship because of Gardasil.

A great piece on Salon about the early career of the always-fascinating demagogue-of-the-moment, Glenn Beck:

"Glenn was a talented young preppy kid with a bit of an attitude," remembers Meryl Uranga, a program and music director at KZFM. "I had never smelled clove cigarettes before I met him. Hanging out with Beck was also the first time I ever saw certain drugs. He partied a lot."

Thanks to tweet from Belledame.

I recently made a prediction on Twitter that I will repeat here, to make it official. Glenn Beck is a public AA member who has shot his mouth off a few too many times. Anonymity in AA is not about protecting oneself, it is about protecting the 12 Steps, the Principles and Traditions. Simply put, if an alcoholic in need of recovery sees that Beck is in AA, they may go "Ewww!" and decline to join (and who could blame them)? Beck could become the "face of recovery"--and that is never a good thing. This is the major reason for the rule that Beck loves to break.

It should not surprise us that Beck shows so little respect for the organization that he credits with saving his life. After all, it's really ALL ABOUT HIM, isn't it? AA Traditions? Glenn Beck don't need no stinking traditions!

The 12th tradition of AA states: Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. And Beck is in violation of that tradition. Conventional AA wisdom is that once your pride has bubbled up to this level, you're in serious trouble. (I refer to my post about Mel Gibson, for details. You will note the religious extremism/conversion is also a feature of Beck's personality.)

I predict a flame-out of near-Biblical proportions. I am unsure if the catalyst will be money, drugs, booze, gambling, religion or women ... but it will be one of those. Can't wait.

In the meantime, the Salon piece is a real gem:

"He was amazing to watch when he was doing his cast of voices," remembers Kathi Lincoln, Beck's former newsreader [at WRKA in Louisville]. "Sometimes he'd prerecord different voices and talk back to the tape, or turn his head side to side while speaking them live on the air. He used to do a funny 'black guy' character, really over-the-top."

"Black guy" impersonations were just one sign of the young Beck's racial hang-ups.

[...]

Beck's real broadcasting innovation during his stay in Kentucky came in the realm of vicious personal assaults on fellow radio hosts. A frequent target of Beck's in Louisville was Liz Curtis, obese host of an afternoon advice show on WHAS, a local AM news-talk station. It was no secret in Louisville that Curtis, whom Beck had never met and with whom he did not compete for ratings, was overweight. And Beck never let anyone forget it. For two years, he used "the big blonde" as fodder for drive-time fat jokes, often employing Godzilla sound effects to simulate Curtis walking across the city or crushing a rocking chair. Days before Curtis' marriage, Beck penned a skit featuring a stolen menu card for the wedding reception. "The caterer says that instead of throwing rice after the ceremony, they are going to throw hot, buttered popcorn," explains Beck's fictional spy.

[...]

Louisville is where Beck began experimenting with another streak that would become more pronounced in later years: militaristic patriotism and calls for the bombing of Muslims.

The birth of Glenn Beck as Radio Super Patriot can be traced to the morning of April 15, 1986. This was the morning after Ronald Reagan ordered U.S. warplanes to bomb Moammar Gadhafi's Tripoli palace in response to the bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by U.S. servicemen. Beck sounded stoned during the show -- and given his later claim to have smoked pot every day for 15 years, might have been -- but even then his politics were anything but tie-dyed. After opening the show with a prayer and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA," Beck played patriotic music through the morning. The only track receiving multiple plays was a New Wave-ish spoof titled "Qaddafi Sucks." The song was a huge hit with listeners, dozens of whom called Beck to tell him how inspired they were by his patriotism. Caller after caller applauded him for "standing up for America." When someone argued that Reagan should have dropped more bombs, Beck agreed. "I personally don't think we did enough," he says. "We should've went over there [sic] and bombed the hell out of 'em."

And it just gets better. Read it all!

Speaking of Glenn, check out this Salon piece about his guru, a famous right-wing crackpot named Cleon Skousen. I was shocked to learn of Beck's ideological connection to the author of the John Birch Society classic The Naked Communist, which one could find in NRA-member bookshelves throughout the Midwest when I was growing up, right next to the Readers Digest Condensed Books. (It's rather unnerving to find the direct Bircher connection, right there for everyone to see.)

Thanks to Matttbastard for his ever-vigilant Tweeting!

La Lubu is guest-blogging at Feministe, which is always great news. She mentioned a DailyKos diary-piece titled How I lost my health insurance at the hairstylist's-- one of the most harrowing insurance-stories I've ever heard, and I've heard more than my share.

For folks who wonder how an employed person loses health insurance after a serious and/or prolonged illness, this is the account to read. She explains, step by step, exactly how it happens. And it can happen to anyone, as it did to her.

~*~

I figured if I used my photo of the Lizard King sign, I should find something suitable to go with it. Snooping around, I found the most amazing video featuring home movies of Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson. Before you all yell at me, yes, I know he tried to kill her, etc....but I also found their relationship complex and interesting. Their weird symbiosis is evident in this offbeat collection of images.

Love Street - The Doors

Dead Air Church: The Joy of Compassion

At left: Dhyani Buddha Amoghasiddhi, traditional Tibetan Thangka painting.


Another version of the story below is in the book THE JOY OF COMPASSION by Lama Zopa Rinpoche--which is free from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archives.

This version is excerpted from Teachings From the Vajrasattva Retreat. (Soquel, California, 1999)

~*~

...As I mentioned once before, when the great yogi Ngagpa Chöpawa was going to Odi to practice tantra—probably the final part of the practice —at the river crossing there was a woman totally covered by leprosy sores, with pus and blood oozing out. She asked the yogi, “Please take me across to the other side of the river.” The yogi didn’t help her and left. Later, his disciple Getsul Tsimbulwa, a monk living in the thirty-six vows, came along and she asked him the same thing, “Please take me across to the other side of the river.” As soon as he saw this woman sitting there, completely covered with leprosy sores with pus oozing out, totally dark, just by seeing her, he felt unbearable compassion and immediately, without any hesitation, without thinking that he is a monk and she is a woman or that she’s covered in disease, something untouchable, with none of this, he just picked her up, put her on his back and started across the river. Getsul Tsimbulwa, with his unbearable compassion, completely sacrificed himself to carry this woman.

However, when they reached the middle of the river, this woman suddenly became the deity Dorje Pagmo, the female buddha, Dorje Pagmo, and took this monk to the pure land Tarpa Kachö. If you are born in this pure land, you are one hundred per cent certain to become enlightened in that life. So, in the middle of the river, this woman, who was covered with leprosy, looking very ordinary, in much suffering, became the buddha, the deity Dorje Pagmo, and took this monk to her pure land, and in that way, he became enlightened.

In this story, the teacher, the yogi, didn’t help that woman but just passed by. However, his disciple, the monk, sacrificed his life to take care of her, to carry her across the river. Then, in this life, without first having to die, he was taken to her pure land in his ordinary body—in this life, not the next. He went to the pure land, not after death but in the body of this life, and became enlightened there. From the story, it seems that perhaps the disciple got enlightened before his teacher, the yogi.

Therefore, when we think of the benefits of cherishing one sentient being, sacrificing our life for one sentient being, they are like the infinite sky. The benefits are unbelievable; something to enjoy in life. The benefits of cherishing even one sentient being with bodhicitta are like the sky.

Cherishing others, seeing that even one sentient being is much more precious than yourself, is the most precious thing in your life, is most kind, is an unbelievable way to enjoy your life.

I’m not telling you why we should help others, why we should benefit others, because this is something new that you haven’t heard before. Those who have received lam-rim teachings have heard this many times. I’m doing it to inspire or remind all those who already know these things and to inform those who don’t but need to know. Why? Because this is the most important education of all. This is more important to know than anything else in life. This is the most important thing you will ever learn.

--Venerable Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the Spiritual Director of the Foundation of the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.

~*~

At left: traditional St Christopher medal, patron saint of travelers.

The Buddhist story above is very, very similar to the Christian story of St Christopher, which literally translates as "Christ-bearer":

[The hermit] suggested that because of his size and strength Christopher could serve Christ by assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where many were perishing in the attempt. The hermit promised that this service would be pleasing to Christ.

After Christopher had performed this service for some time, a little child asked him to take him across the river. During the crossing, the river became swollen and the child seemed as heavy as lead, so much that Christopher could scarcely carry him and found himself in great difficulty. When he finally reached the other side, he said to the child: "You have put me in the greatest danger. I do not think the whole world could have been as heavy on my shoulders as you were." The child replied: "You had on your shoulders not only the whole world but him who made it. I am Christ your king, whom you are serving by this work." The child then vanished.

And Christopher was sainted, that is to say, granted eternal life.

These stories instruct us that we save ourselves through saving others. The persons saved turn out to be actual deities; this is a way of saying everyone could be a deity, no matter their outward appearance.

Therefore, love others as you love God.

~*~

And now for our hymn. This may not last long, so listen while you have the chance! My other David Crosby song, LAUGHING, was removed recently... and another version of WOODEN SHIPS has already been yanked, like, since last night.

So, here is the only one that remains on YouTube. Listen and remember ... and don't forget the edifying stories we have just heard!

Note Stephen Stills' dreamy-beautiful guitar lines, which are perfectly suggestive of waves on the water; every now and then some crashing and turbulence.

Wooden Ships - Crosby, Stills and Nash



Have a beautiful Sabbath, everyone!

Odds and Sods II

The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive has FREE (YES! I SAID FREE!) books available, including the book at the left, Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment by the Dalai Lama. Go here and have a look. They make great Christmas presents for those folks you'd like to give a gift to, but you know they'd feel weird if you spent money on them. :)

I wrap these books up all *Christmas-pretty* and include ordering information, if they should want to order more. If you know non-Christians, progressive Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Wiccans, pagans, etc... most are usually very pleased with these gifts, and you can also have some great (if highly esoteric!) discussions afterwards! (I've never given them to any atheists, so you're on your own there; agnostics seem fine.)



Bonus: Some of the books have Richard Gere's name in the acknowledgments! :D


Of course, you should send money for postage and whatever you can afford. Charity (Dana) is one of the six requisites of Buddhist discipline: Giving leads to being reborn in happy states and material wealth. Alternatively, lack of giving leads to unhappy states and poverty. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archives is generously providing us lovely, new books, and we should give back.

So, yes, they are free, but I always give something.




~*~








Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day of memorial for all transgender persons who have died as a result of intolerance and violence.

Thanks to Lisa at Questioning Transphobia for the heads-up.

More at Transgender Day of Remembrance and Remembering Our Dead.

~*~

Anthony wants you should contribute to his blog carnival, Surfer's Paradise Hullabaloo. Deadline midnight! Go to Anthony McCune's blog for the details.

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New Grateful Dead Hour shows are posted every Wednesday on the fabulous and invaluable Dead.net. Click on FEATURES and then GD HOUR. Great stuff to get you through your working week!

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Listening to: New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
via FoxyTunes