Image by Michael 1203 via Flickr

Incidentally, one of those on the ship and taken into custody was a former American Ambassador.

Grant Lawrence

Posted at Huffington Post

Israel Sending Edward Peck, Former U.S. Ambassador, Home From Seized Ship, Wife Says WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. ambassador aboard a Gaza aid ship seized by Israel commandos is on his way home, his wife said Monday…

See Video Here

Image by freegazaorg via Flickr

Image by Rusty Boxcars via Flickr

By Grant Lawrence

Bodhi Thunder

Bicyclists turned out in LA in a protest against the BP Oil Gusher that is presently killing the Gulf. They normally turn out on Fridays to call attention to cyclists rights. But this Friday, the cyclists wanted to make a statement against BP and the Gulf Disaster.

Evidently the policemen in the video (see below) didn’t like that. Or someone gave them an order to try to ignite violence in a peaceful protest.

So a policeman, out of nowhere, kicks a cyclist and causes him to go crashing down. A cameraman that filmed it asks, “What the F**k was that for.”

The police converge on the cameraman and throw him to the ground. No word if the cameraman was arrested.

“….for whatever reason the police in Hollywood were extremely aggressive and were harassing riders for no reason other than to get their kicks (I presume),” a witness to the incident explains.

Watch Video Here

Image via Wikipedia

By Grant Lawrence

Bodhi Thunder

Recently Buddhists all over the world celebrated Vesak Day (May 29th this year), the birth of the Buddha.

It is indeed great to celebrate greatness.

However, often when we celebrate such greats of humanity, such as the Buddha, we make them into a god. We make them into something that is beyond human and beyond human potential. We worship them instead of honoring them.

The Buddha was once asked if he was an angel or some other holy being, and he said he wasn’t. He said he was awakened.

Many times people try to scare us into believing one religion over another. I have my beliefs that Buddhism offers humanity a spiritual and humane way for humanity to deal with the technology and science of the future.

See also

A Cosmic Religion of the Future

But what is ultimately important is not the name of the religion or spirituality, but the understanding that we gain from it.

Jack Kornfield is credited with being one of the key people to help establish Buddhism in the US. But he says that being a Buddhist is not that important.

“More and more, we’re teaching meditation not as a religious activity but as a support for living a wise and healthy and compassionate inner life,” Kornfield said recently. “A number of the people I teach don’t consider themselves Buddhists, which is absolutely fine with me. It’s much better to become a Buddha than a Buddhist.” (source: latimes)

It has been said that we are all ‘Buddhas in training.’ I fully agree with that.

We live in varying degrees of consciousness, or beingness, which is determined by our level of compassion and understanding. This compassion and understanding arises from our level of awareness or mindfulness. If we allow ourselves to be conditioned into certain patterns of dangerous mental and physical activity then we suffer a great deal. If we are awakening to the true state of our being and our place in the universe then we suffer much less. In fact, this awakening moves us to help alleviate suffering for others.

The Buddha taught that we should examine what others say and not believe claims on mere authority.

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” (source: famouse quotes)

The Buddha wanted us to use reason as well as develop our compassion. He taught an approach that united both the heart and the mind. In order for a human being to awaken they had to think for themselves and examine every aspect of their lives and their society.

But human beings also need to practice the spiritual disciplines of mindfulness and meditation, according to the Buddha. An approach that would develop their hearts and minds and move them past the conditioning, the tunnel vision, and mental constraints that enslave humanity into a certain pattern of constricted being.

A Zen Koan says, “If you meet the Buddha in the road, kill him.”

This Koan is a rather startling way to try to wake our minds up. To get adherents to think beyond authority and worship. A way to try to get the spiritual aspirant to recognize their own Buddha-Nature or Awakened-Nature.

The Buddha tried to get people to recognize and then honor their own Buddha Nature.

If a celebration, a religion, or any activity or practice helps us to recognize this eternal Buddha or Awakened heart/mind that is the foundation of our being, then it is a supremely sublime and blessed activity or practice indeed.

Image by tj.blackwell via Flickr

By Grant Lawrence

Bodhi Thunder

Recently it was reported that Detroit would be one of the US cities likely to go bankrupt in the near future.

Detroit is the symbol of an America that is dying in its Middle and nearly everywhere else.

….Decent three-bedroom homes can be bought for $10,000, but no one wants to buy. Decades of poor and at times corrupt administration have also taken their toll, and with the city facing a deficit of between $85 and $124 million this year, the answer, says Mr Bing, is to accept reality and reduce the size of the city.

“There is just too much land and too many expenses for us to continue to manage the city as we have in the past,” he said. “If we don’t do it, this whole city is going to go down.”

Plans currently being devised would be the most revolutionary carried out by a major American city.

Large chunks of neighbourhoods would be razed and converted to parks, urban farms or simply abandoned. As an opening bid, Mr Bing has vowed to demolish 3,000 homes this year, and a further 7,000 over the following three years. Some are speculating that up to 40,000 homes could eventually go….(source: telegraph.co.uk)

America had a massive attack in the heart of the US. It was brought on from years of globalization and banksterism. That heart attack has spread throughout the country and the disease is killing the body and the limbs of a whole nation.

Our bought off politicians collect their checks, smile, and do nothing. Some talk of “Hope and Change.”

From California to New Jersey and nearly every part in between the American economy is languishing in an undeclared depression.

America has been destroyed by design to usher in the New World Order globalist agenda. The people of the country are expected to support, fight, and die for that Order. But the Globalists won’t employ them. Thus, Detroit is a symbol of America.

Bodhi Thunder

Warning! What you are about to read may make you think. Perhaps it may make you want to make some real changes. Perhaps it may make you want to do something.

According to a report by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, the BP Oil Gusher Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has implications for all of the North American Continent. The report says that the entire continent may be faced with total destruction. The report also calls the BP Gusher “the worst environmental disaster of all times,” according to a European Times story.

It is a quite a disturbing report, and it could be just Russian propaganda. However, it does appear to make some sense.

The problem is not just the oil and gas gushing from what appears are now several gushers but the main problem, according to the Russian report, comes from the Oil Dispersant.

…..Russian scientists believe BP is pumping millions of gallons of Corexit 9500, a chemical dispersal agent, under the Gulf of Mexico waters to hide the full extent of the leak, now estimated to be over 2.9 million gallons a day.

Experts say Corexit 9500 is a solvent four times more toxic than oil. The agent, scientists believe, has a 2.61ppm toxicity level, and when mixed with the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, its molecules will be able to “phase transition.”

This transition involves the change of the liquid into a gaseous state, which can be absorbed by clouds. The gas will then be released as “toxic rain” leading to “unimaginable environmental catastrophe” destroying all life forms from the “bottom of the evolutionary chart to the top,” the report said….(source: press tv)

I recently reported on the possibility of a fantastic disaster of unimaginable proportions if the Gulf Coast were to get hit with a hurricane now.

See Also

The Black Death? An Extremely Active Hurricane Season Expected

So we are seriously facing a Black Death that goes beyond the massive kill of fish and wildlife of the Gulf Coast Region. The Black Death is facing us in ways that we are just beginning to understand.

For years and years, myself and other like minded people, have warned that the corporate and financial rule of the planet was not only inhumane but also a threat to the survival of the planet. We have seen the melt down of our financial system that will take decades or even a century to get corrected (if it ever gets corrected). Now we see a melt down of the eco-system that is occurring throughout the world (not just in the Gulf). This will take decades or ever a century to get corrected. But there is also a real possibility that we are not going to correct it or that it may even be too late.

As the world bleeds oil, we can remain ignorant and complacent lost in dreams of our own petty greed and selfishness.

Or we can wake up and make some real changes. Not the fake ‘hope and change’ changes offered by the Republicrat Party. But we need a whole systemic change that extends to every aspect of society.

It might be time to do something. Or it could be too late.

But one thing is for sure, it will be too late if we don’t do something.

Image via Wikipedia

By Grant Lawrence

Bodhi Thunder

An “active to extremely active” hurricane season is expected for the Atlantic Basin this year according to the seasonal outlook issued today by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center – a division of the National Weather Service. As with every hurricane season, this outlook underscores the importance of having a hurricane preparedness plan in place…..(source: NOAA)

There is talk that this Hurricane Season may be the worst on record. Now sometimes the Hurricane prognosticators are off. This year, let’s hope they are off again.

Hurricane Season begins June 1st and ends in November. The Gulf is considered a ‘Superhighway for Hurricanes’.

So what would happen if a hurricane would hit the Gulf in the midst of this BP Oil Gusher Disaster?

….Some fear a horrific combination of damaging winds and large waves pushing oil deeper into estuaries and wetlands and coating miles of debris-littered coastline in a pungent, sticky mess.

And the worst effects of an oil-soaked storm surge might not be felt for years: If oil is pushed deep into coastal marshes that act as a natural speed bump for storm surges, areas including New Orleans could be more vulnerable to bad storms for a long time….(source: reflector.com)

Right now, nearly everyone understands the environmental damage that is occurring from the BP Oil Gusher. But what is not commonly understood is the human health disaster that will result from the Gusher.

.…The Louisiana Environmental Action Network released its analysis of air monitoring test results by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA’s air testing data comes from Venice, a coastal community 75 miles south of New Orleans in Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish.

The findings show that levels of airborne chemicals have far exceeded state standards and what’s considered safe for human exposure….(source: facing south)

I have previously reported on the fishermen that are getting sick from burning lungs from attempting to clean up the BP Mess.

See Also

Fishermen Hospitalized: BP Not Allowing Clean-Up Workers to Use Respirators