Thursday August 23rd
(jump earlier)
posted Thursday August 23rd, @09:50PM
Thursday August 9th
(jump earlier later)
posted Thursday August 9th, @06:53AM
Friday June 8th
(jump earlier later)
Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007
S. 1348: A bill to provide for comprehensive immigration reform and for other purposes
TITLE I--BORDER ENFORCEMENT
Subtitle A--Assets for Controlling United States Borders
Subtitle B--Border Security Plans, Strategies, and Reports
Subtitle C--Other Border Security Initiatives
Subtitle D--Border Law Enforcement Relief Act
Subtitle E--Rapid Response Measures
TITLE II--INTERIOR ENFORCEMENT
TITLE III--UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT OF ALIENS
TITLE IV--NONIMMIGRANT AND IMMIGRANT VISA REFORM
Subtitle A--Temporary Guest Workers
Subtitle B--Immigration Injunction Reform
TITLE V--BACKLOG REDUCTION
Subtitle A--Backlog Reduction
Subtitle B--SKIL Act of 2007
Subtitle C--Preservation of Immigration Benefits for Hurricane Katrina Victims
TITLE VI--WORK AUTHORIZATION AND LEGALIZATION OF UNDOCUMENTED INDIVIDUALS
Subtitle A--Access to Earned Adjustment and Mandatory Departure and Reentry
Subtitle B--Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security
Subtitle C--DREAM Act of 2007
Subtitle D--Programs To Assist Nonimmigrant Workers
TITLE VII--MISCELLANEOUS
Subtitle A--Immigration Litigation Reduction
Subtitle B--Citizenship Assistance for Members of the Armed Services
Subtitle C--State Court Interpreter Grant Program
Subtitle D--Border Infrastructure and Technology Modernization
Subtitle E--Family Humanitarian Relief
Subtitle F--Other Matters
TITLE VIII--INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION REFORM
Subtitle A--Administration of Intercountry Adoptions
Subtitle B--Reform of United States Laws Governing Intercountry Adoptions
Subtitle C--Enforcement
---------------------------
Other Titles: -- Immigration Reform bill
-- AgJOBS Act of 2006
-- Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2006
-- Border Infrastructure and Technology Modernization Act
-- Border Law Enforcement Relief Act of 2006
-- Border Tunnel Prevention Act
-- Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2006
-- DREAM Act of 2006
-- Fairness in Immigration Litigation Act of 2006
-- Hurricane Katrina Victims Immigration Benefits Preservation Act
-- ICARE Act
-- Immigrant Accountability Act of 2006
-- Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistance Grant Act of 2006
-- Intercountry Adoption Reform Act of 2006
-- Kendell Frederick Citizenship Assistance Act
-- Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2006
-- September 11 Family Humanitarian Relief and Patriotism Act
-- SKIL Act of 2006
-- State Court Interpreter Grant Program
-- Strengthening American Citizenship Act of 2006
-- Widows and Orphans Act of 2006
»www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xp···110-1348
See also:
»thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z···s.01348:
»www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/···1_8.html |
posted Friday June 8th, @08:47AM
Thursday May 10th
(jump earlier later)
Not too shabby...
The most destructive habit..............................................Worry
The greatest Joy............................................................Giving
The greatest loss...........................................................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work................................................Helping others
The ugliest personality trait.............................................Selfishness
The most endangered species.........................................Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource..........................................Our youth
The greatest "shot in the arm".........................................Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome...................................Fear
The most effective sleeping pill........................................Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease....................................Excuses
The most powerful force in life..........................................Love
The most dangerous pariah.............................................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer..............................The brain
The worst thing to be without.......................................... Hope
The deadliest weapon.....................................................The tongue
The two most power-filled words......................................"I Can"
The greatest asset.........................................................Faith
The most worthless emotion........................................... Self-pity
The most beautiful attire................................................. SMILE!
The most prized possession........................................... Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication...................Prayer
The most contagious spirit..............................................Enthusiasm |
posted Thursday May 10th, @10:46PM
Friday February 23rd
(jump earlier later)
The journey begins anew...
. |
posted Friday February 23rd, @09:14PM
Friday October 6th
(jump earlier later)
posted Friday October 6th, @04:15PM
Friday August 4th
(jump earlier later)
The Lonely American Just Got a Bit Lonelier
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Published: July 2, 2006
FOR as long as humans have gathered in groups, it seems, some people have been left on the outside looking in. In postwar America in particular, the idea that loneliness pervades a portion of society has been a near-constant. Only the descriptions have changed: the "lonely crowd" alienation of the 1950's; the grim career-driven angst of the 70's and 80's; the "Bowling Alone" collapse of social connections of the 90's.
There is a new installment in the annals of loneliness. Americans are not only lacking in bowling partners, now they're lacking in people to tell their deepest, darkest secrets. They've hunkered down even more, their inner circle often contracting until it includes only family, only a spouse or, at worst, no one.
And that is something the Internet may help ease, but is unlikely to cure.
A recent study by sociologists at Duke and the University of Arizona found that, on average, most adults only have two people they can talk to about the most important subjects in their lives — serious health problems, for example, or issues like who will care for their children should they die. And about one-quarter have no close confidants at all.
"The kinds of connections we studied are the kinds of people you call on for social support, for real concrete help when you need it," said Lynn Smith-Lovin, a sociologist at Duke and an author of the study, which analyzed responses in interviews that mirrored a survey from 1985. "These are the tightest inner circle."
The study "should provide a wake-up call to our society," said Bill Maier, a vice president and psychologist in residence with Focus on the Family, the evangelical Christian group. "We're missing out on deep, meaningful interpersonal relationships."
Yet within the analysis there was at least a suggestion of hope.
"The one type of relationship that actually went up was talking over personally important things with your spouse," Dr. Smith-Lovin said.
Like "Bowling Alone," the essay and, later, book by Robert D. Putnam, a public policy professor a Harvard, the Duke study suggested that a weakening of community connections is in part responsible for increasing social isolation. More people are working and commuting longer hours and have little time for the kinds of external social activities that could lead to deeper relationships.
So the closest ties increasingly are limited to family members, in particular to spouses.
"That's probably a result of the fact that men's and women's lives are more structurally similar now than in 1985," Dr. Smith-Lovin said. It's more likely that both spouses are working at jobs that are important to them, and men are more involved around the house. "Spouses literally have more to talk about," she said.
Dr. Maier, for one, sees that as cause for at least some optimism in a society whose fast pace generally bodes badly for family life. "To hear that people are investing more in their nuclear family is a positive thing," he said.
The Internet is also cause for some optimism, because it has made it easier to maintain ties among family members who have become scattered. Those ties inevitably developed over long-term, face-to-face contact, but e-mail can help keep them strong.
"E-mail really does help maintain your social networks," said John Horrigan, associate director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Recent Pew surveys, he said, found that "when you contact family by e-mail, you share important and serious things."
Still, Dr. Smith-Lovin said, any optimism must be tempered. For one thing, having only one confidant, even if that confidant is a spouse, leaves a person extremely vulnerable if the spouse dies or the marriage disintegrates.
And in the end, she and others pointed out, e-mail or instant messaging is no substitute for face-to-face contact. "E-mailing somebody far way is not the same as them going to pick up your child at daycare or bringing you chicken soup," she said.
Dr. Putnam said the new study reinforced much of what he had reported in "Bowling Alone," which had been criticized by some academics as a faulty analysis that ignored other social and economic trends. And even if the new study points to a rise in spouses as confidants, that is not especially cause to rejoice, he said. "It's like with global warming, if we learn that temperatures are going to rise slightly less than we thought," he said. "It's still a problem."
"Sure, you might say, we've still got our wives or husbands or mothers," he said. "That's true. But gosh, the number of friends you have is a strong predictor of how long you live."
The impact goes beyond the individual, as well. "There are effects on my neighbors of my not knowing them," he said. For one thing, "If I don't know them well and they don't know me, that has a demonstrable effect on the crime rate."
Dr. Horrigan said there was anecdotal evidence that some members of a community use e-mail and the Internet "to keep up with people very close by." The Internet can help expand social networks, although the ties it creates are not as strong as those the Duke researchers are concerned with. Yet they can be useful.
His group's research has shown that the Internet is increasingly being used during life's "major moments" — to gather information or advice when making a big financial investment, deciding where to live, or choosing a college for a child. The research has shown that "people were more likely to get help through their social network" for those kinds of decisions.
Still, Dr. Putnam said, "The real interesting future is how can we use the Net to strengthen and deepen relationships that we have offline."
»www.commongroundcommonsense.org/···dex.php? |
posted Friday August 4th, @06:15AM
Tuesday February 28th
(jump earlier later)
Chestita Baba Marta!
by: Marlene Smits - The Sofia Echo
The legend behind Martenitsa
Khan Kubrat declared himself an independent ruler in 632 CE, denying the power of the Turkut khagan. All Bulgarian tribes living in the region of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Caspian Sea immediately united under him.
So, Kubrat’s five sons went hunting accompanied by their sister Houba. When they reached the Danube River, they saw a silver stag. The stag crossed the river and showed the hunting group a ford. A bird came and brought them bad news. The founder of Great Bulgaria was on his deathbed. Kubrat wanted his sons, Bayan, Kotrag, Asparoukh, Kuber and Altsek, to come home in order to maintain some sort of order between the different Bulgarian tribes. The five sons vowed to defend Bulgaria.
Soon after their father’s death, the Khazars invaded their lands. The Khazar’s Khan Ashiba succeeded in conquering the capital Ababa. Khan Ashiba had managed to take Houba, Kubrat’s daughter, prisoner. In order to give her brothers a chance for freedom, she tried to kill herself. She failed however. Her brothers kept their vows: Bayan stayed with Houba and recognised the rule of the Khazars. Kotrag went north, to the River Volga, while Asparoukh, Kuber and Altsek went south to search for a land without oppressors. The brothers secretly arranged with Houba to send her a message, whenever they were able to find free land.
Then Asparoukh sent word, attached with a golden thread to a falcon’s leg. Bayan and Houba decided to escape, but they were spotted. Houba had tied a white tread to the falcon’s leg. She wanted to set the bird free. Then, just when the falcon was about to take off, an enemy shot Bayan and blood stained the white thread. Nevertheless, brother and sister managed to reach Asparoukh’s newfound land. Asparoukh welcomed his dying brother and his sister and tore pieces of white-and-red thread and adorned his soldiers with them.
Chestita Baba Marta!
You may have spotted the little stalls on the street, which sell “strange” red and white woollen bracelets, puppets and amulets. For Bulgarians these simple pieces of string are part of a very old tradition.
On March 1, people give each other these woollen charms, called Martenitsi, in order to wish the recipient love and virility, health and protection against evil (Chestita Baba Marta! means Happy Grandma Marta!). It’s a symbol of the spring season. You will see smiling people in the street and most of them you’ll see wearing Martenitsi. But not only people wear them, cats and dogs do too. As do offices and houses. But especially young children, just married couples or newly born pets should wear these charms, because they are considered still a little fragile. The red pieces of wool in the Martenitsa, is supposed to drive away evil, the white wool symbolises longevity and eternity. Sometimes, Martenitsi are worn along with things like garlic, blue wool or beads, or a coin. Each has its own characteristic and has its own ritual meaning. The coin serves as a wish for wealth, and the blue wool or beads are additional protection from the evil eye. Garlic is a symbol that strengthens the sick and protects the healthy.
There is a saying that “if you don’t wear your Martenitsa, Baba Marta (Grandma Marta) will bring you evil”. This mythical granny personifies the month of March. She is an old lady that can just as easily smile and be gentle as hard and mean. That’s why the weather in March is so unstable. The sun can shine blissfully or it can snow and freeze. There are a number of rituals that should please Baba Marta, wearing your Martenitsa is one of these rituals. Another ritual is spring-cleaning, because people believe that the old lady only approves of clean and tidy homes. In order for her to want to visit your home and bless it with all kinds of good wishes of health and bliss, you had better clean up. During the month of the old lady, men make women choose a specific day in March. When the weather is nice and sunny, so will your wife’s or girlfriend’s character be during the whole next year. If the weather however is cold and nasty, then they know they have to prepare to bite their tongue this coming year. In principle you wear your Martenitsi during the month of March. And you only stop wearing them on two occasions: either after March 22 when you see a tree with blossoms, or when you see a stork. But because storks aren’t that plentiful in Sofia’s centre, most people opt for the fresh blossoms. What you do, is take of your Martenista and tie in to the branch with the blossoms. Unmarried girls put their Martenitsi under a big stone in order to receive good luck in marriage.
|
posted Tuesday February 28th, @04:25PM
Tuesday February 14th
(jump earlier later)
posted Tuesday February 14th, @10:37AM
Friday December 30th
(jump earlier later)
posted Friday December 30th, @09:01PM
Tuesday December 27th
(jump earlier later)
"The Devoted Friend" by Oscar Wilde
THE DEVOTED FRIEND
One morning the old Water-rat put his head out of his hole. He had bright beady eyes and stiff grey whiskers and his tail was like a long bit of black india-rubber. The little ducks were swimming about in the pond, looking just like a lot of yellow canaries, and their mother, who was pure white with real red legs, was trying to teach them how to stand on their heads in the water.
"You will never be in the best society unless you can stand on your heads," she kept saying to them; and every now and then she showed them how it was done. But the little ducks paid no attention to her. They were so young that they did not know what an advantage it is to be in society at all.
"What disobedient children!" cried the old Water-rat; "they really deserve to be drowned."
"Nothing of the kind," answered the Duck, "every one must make a beginning, and parents cannot be too patient."
"Ah! I know nothing about the feelings of parents," said the Water- rat; "I am not a family man. In fact, I have never been married, and I never intend to be. Love is all very well in its way, but friendship is much higher. Indeed, I know of nothing in the world that is either nobler or rarer than a devoted friendship."
"And what, pray, is your idea of the duties of a devoted friend?" asked a Green Linnet, who was sitting in a willow-tree hard by, and had overheard the conversation.
"Yes, that is just what I want to know," said the Duck; and she swam away to the end of the pond, and stood upon her head, in order to give her children a good example.
"What a silly question!" cried the Water-rat. "I should expect my devoted friend to be devoted to me, of course."
"And what would you do in return?" said the little bird, swinging upon a silver spray, and flapping his tiny wings.
"I don't understand you," answered the Water-rat.
"Let me tell you a story on the subject," said the Linnet.
"Is the story about me?" asked the Water-rat. "If so, I will listen to it, for I am extremely fond of fiction."
"It is applicable to you," answered the Linnet; and he flew down, and alighting upon the bank, he told the story of The Devoted Friend.
"Once upon a time," said the Linnet, "there was an honest little fellow named Hans."
"Was he very distinguished?" asked the Water-rat.
"No," answered the Linnet, "I don't think he was distinguished at all, except for his kind heart, and his funny round good-humoured face. He lived in a tiny cottage all by himself, and every day he worked in his garden. In all the country-side there was no garden so lovely as his. Sweet-William grew there, and Gilly-flowers, and Shepherds'-purses, and Fair-maids of France. There were damask Roses, and yellow Roses, lilac Crocuses, and gold, purple Violets and white. Columbine and Ladysmock, Marjoram and Wild Basil, the Cowslip and the Flower-de-luce, the Daffodil and the Clove-Pink bloomed or blossomed in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower's place, so that there were always beautiful things to look at, and pleasant odours to smell.
"Little Hans had a great many friends, but the most devoted friend of all was big Hugh the Miller. Indeed, so devoted was the rich Miller to little Hans, that be would never go by his garden without leaning over the wall and plucking a large nosegay, or a handful of sweet herbs, or filling his pockets with plums and cherries if it was the fruit season.
"'Real friends should have everything in common,' the Miller used to say, and little Hans nodded and smiled, and felt very proud of having a friend with such noble ideas.
"Sometimes, indeed, the neighbours thought it strange that the rich Miller never gave little Hans anything in return, though he had a hundred sacks of flour stored away in his mill, and six milch cows, and a large flock of woolly sheep; but Hans never troubled his head about these things, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to all the wonderful things the Miller used to say about the unselfishness of true friendship.
"So little Hans worked away in his garden. During the spring, the summer, and the autumn he was very happy, but when the winter came, and he had no fruit or flowers to bring to the market, he suffered a good deal from cold and hunger, and often had to go to bed without any supper but a few dried pears or some hard nuts. In the winter, also, he was extremely lonely, as the Miller never came to see him then.
"'There is no good in my going to see little Hans as long as the snow lasts,' the Miller used to say to his wife, 'for when people are in trouble they should be left alone, and not be bothered by visitors. That at least is my idea about friendship, and I am sure I am right. So I shall wait till the spring comes, and then I shall pay him a visit, and he will be able to give me a large basket of primroses and that will make him so happy.'
"'You are certainly very thoughtful about others,' answered the Wife, as she sat in her comfortable armchair by the big pinewood fire; 'very thoughtful indeed. It is quite a treat to hear you talk about friendship. I am sure the clergyman himself could not say such beautiful things as you do, though he does live in a three-storied house, and wear a gold ring on his little finger.'
"'But could we not ask little Hans up here?' said the Miller's youngest son. 'If poor Hans is in trouble I will give him half my porridge, and show him my white rabbits.'
"'What a silly boy you are'! cried the Miller; 'I really don't know what is the use of sending you to school. You seem not to learn anything. Why, if little Hans came up here, and saw our warm fire, and our good supper, and our great cask of red wine, he might get envious, and envy is a most terrible thing, and would spoil anybody's nature. I certainly will not allow Hans' nature to be spoiled. I am his best friend, and I will always watch over him, and see that he is not led into any temptations. Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me to let him have some flour on credit, and that I could not do. Flour is one thing, and friendship is another, and they should not be confused. Why, the words are spelt differently, and mean quite different things. Everybody can see that.'
"'How well you talk'! said the Miller's Wife, pouring herself out a large glass of warm ale; 'really I feel quite drowsy. It is just like being in church.'
"'Lots of people act well,' answered the Miller; 'but very few people talk well, which shows that talking is much the more difficult thing of the two, and much the finer thing also'; and he looked sternly across the table at his little son, who felt so ashamed of himself that he hung his head down, and grew quite scarlet, and began to cry into his tea. However, he was so young that you must excuse him."
"Is that the end of the story?" asked the Water-rat.
"Certainly not," answered the Linnet, "that is the beginning."
"Then you are quite behind the age," said the Water-rat. "Every good story-teller nowadays starts with the end, and then goes on to the beginning, and concludes with the middle. That is the new method. I heard all about it the other day from a critic who was walking round the pond with a young man. He spoke of the matter at great length, and I am sure he must have been right, for he had blue spectacles and a bald head, and whenever the young man made any remark, he always answered 'Pooh!' But pray go on with your story. I like the Miller immensely. I have all kinds of beautiful sentiments myself, so there is a great sympathy between us."
"Well," said the Linnet, hopping now on one leg and now on the other, "as soon as the winter was over, and the primroses began to open their pale yellow stars, the Miller said to his wife that he would go down and see little Hans.
"'Why, what a good heart you have'! cried his Wife; 'you are always thinking of others. And mind you take the big basket with you for the flowers.'
"So the Miller tied the sails of the windmill together with a strong iron chain, and went down the hill with the basket on his arm.
"'Good morning, little Hans,' said the Miller.
"'Good morning,' said Hans, leaning on his spade, and smiling from ear to ear.
"'And how have you been all the winter?' said the Miller.
"'Well, really,' cried Hans, 'it is very good of you to ask, very good indeed. I am afraid I had rather a hard time of it, but now the spring has come, and I am quite happy, and all my flowers are doing well.'
"'We often talked of you during the winter, Hans,' said the Miller, 'and wondered how you were getting on.'
"'That was kind of you,' said Hans; 'I was half afraid you had forgotten me.'
"'Hans, I am surprised at you,' said the Miller; 'friendship never forgets. That is the wonderful thing about it, but I am afraid you don't understand the poetry of life. How lovely your primroses are looking, by-the-bye"!
"'They are certainly very lovely,' said Hans, 'and it is a most lucky thing for me that I have so many. I am going to bring them into the market and sell them to the Burgomaster's daughter, and buy back my wheelbarrow with the money.'
"'Buy back your wheelbarrow? You don't mean to say you have sold it? What a very stupid thing to do'!
"'Well, the fact is,' said Hans, 'that I was obliged to. You see the winter was a very bad time for me, and I really had no money at all to buy bread with. So I first sold the silver buttons off my Sunday coat, and then I sold my silver chain, and then I sold my big pipe, and at last I sold my wheelbarrow. But I am going to buy them all back again now.'
"'Hans,' said the Miller, 'I will give you my wheelbarrow. It is not in very good repair; indeed, one side is gone, and there is something wrong with the wheel-spokes; but in spite of that I will give it to you. I know it is very generous of me, and a great many people would think me extremely foolish for parting with it, but I am not like the rest of the world. I think that generosity is the essence of friendship, and, besides, I have got a new wheelbarrow for myself. Yes, you may set your mind at ease, I will give you my wheelbarrow.'
"'Well, really, that is generous of you,' said little Hans, and his funny round face glowed all over with pleasure. 'I can easily put it in repair, as I have a plank of wood in the house.'
"'A plank of wood'! said the Miller; 'why, that is just what I want for the roof of my barn. There is a very large hole in it, and the corn will all get damp if I don't stop it up. How lucky you mentioned it! It is quite remarkable how one good action always breeds another. I have given you my wheelbarrow, and now you are going to give me your plank. Of course, the wheelbarrow is worth far more than the plank, but true, friendship never notices things like that. Pray get it at once, and I will set to work at my barn this very day.'
"'Certainly,' cried little Hans, and he ran into the shed and dragged the plank out.
"'It is not a very big plank,' said the Miller, looking at it, 'and I am afraid that after I have mended my barn-roof there won't be any left for you to mend the wheelbarrow with; but, of course, that is not my fault. And now, as I have given you my wheelbarrow, I am sure you would like to give me some flowers in return. Here is the basket, and mind you fill it quite full.'
"'Quite full?' said little Hans, rather sorrowfully, for it was really a very big basket, and he knew that if he filled it he would have no flowers left for the market and he was very anxious to get his silver buttons back.
"'Well, really,' answered the Miller, 'as I have given you my wheelbarrow, I don't think that it is much to ask you for a few flowers. I may be wrong, but I should have thought that friendship, true friendship, was quite free from selfishness of any kind.'
"'My dear friend, my best friend,' cried little Hans, 'you are welcome to all the flowers in my garden. I would much sooner have your good opinion than my silver buttons, any day'; and he ran and plucked all his pretty primroses, and filled the Miller's basket.
"'Good-bye, little Hans,' said the Miller, as he went up the hill with the plank on his shoulder, and the big basket in his hand.
"'Good-bye,' said little Hans, and he began to dig away quite merrily, he was so pleased about the wheelbarrow.
"The next day he was nailing up some honeysuckle against the porch, when he heard the Miller's voice calling to him from the road. So he jumped off the ladder, and ran down the garden, and looked over the wall.
"There was the Miller with a large sack of flour on his back.
"'Dear little Hans,' said the Miller, 'would you mind carrying this sack of flour for me to market?'
"'Oh, I am so sorry,' said Hans, 'but I am really very busy to-day. I have got all my creepers to nail up, and all my flowers to water, and all my grass to roll.'
"'Well, really,' said the Miller, 'I think that, considering that I am going to give you my wheelbarrow, it is rather unfriendly of you to refuse.'
"'Oh, don't say that,' cried little Hans, 'I wouldn't be unfriendly for the whole world'; and he ran in for his cap, and trudged off with the big sack on his shoulders.
"It was a very hot day, and the road was terribly dusty, and before Hans had reached the sixth milestone he was so tired that he had to sit down and rest. However, he went on bravely, and as last he reached the market. After he had waited there some time, he sold the sack of flour for a very good price, and then he returned home at once, for he was afraid that if he stopped too late he might meet some robbers on the way.
"'It has certainly been a hard day,' said little Hans to himself as he was going to bed, 'but I am glad I did not refuse the Miller, for he is my best friend, and, besides, he is going to give me his wheelbarrow.'
"Early the next morning the Miller came down to get the money for his sack of flour, but little Hans was so tired that he was still in bed.
"'Upon my word,' said the Miller, 'you are very lazy. Really, considering that I am going to give you my wheelbarrow, I think you might work harder. Idleness is a great sin, and I certainly don't like any of my friends to be idle or sluggish. You must not mind my speaking quite plainly to you. Of course I should not dream of doing so if I were not your friend. But what is the good of friendship if one cannot say exactly what one means? Anybody can say charming things and try to please and to flatter, but a true friend always says unpleasant things, and does not mind giving pain. Indeed, if he is a really true friend he prefers it, for he knows that then he is doing good.'
"'I am very sorry,' said little Hans, rubbing his eyes and pulling off his night-cap, 'but I was so tired that I thought I would lie in bed for a little time, and listen to the birds singing. Do you know that I always work better after hearing the birds sing?'
"'Well, I am glad of that,' said the Miller, clapping little Hans on the back, 'for I want you to come up to the mill as soon as you are dressed, and mend my barn-roof for me.'
"Poor little Hans was very anxious to go and work in his garden, for his flowers had not been watered for two days, but he did not like to refuse the Miller, as he was such a good friend to him.
"'Do you think it would be unfriendly of me if I said I was busy?' he inquired in a shy and timid voice.
"'Well, really,' answered the Miller, 'I do not think it is much to ask of you, considering that I am going to give you my wheelbarrow; but of course if you refuse I will go and do it myself.'
"'Oh! on no account,' cried little Hans and he jumped out of bed, and dressed himself, and went up to the barn.
"He worked there all day long, till sunset, and at sunset the Miller came to see how he was getting on.
"'Have you mended the hole in the roof yet, little Hans?' cried the Miller in a cheery voice.
"'It is quite mended,' answered little Hans, coming down the ladder.
"'Ah'! said the Miller, 'there is no work so delightful as the work one does for others.'
"'It is certainly a great privilege to hear you talk,' answered little Hans, sitting down, and wiping his forehead, 'a very great privilege. But I am afraid I shall never have such beautiful ideas as you have.'
"'Oh! they will come to you,' said the Miller, 'but you must take more pains. At present you have only the practice of friendship; some day you will have the theory also.'
"'Do you really think I shall?' asked little Hans.
"'I have no doubt of it,' answered the Miller, 'but now that you have mended the roof, you had better go home and rest, for I want you to drive my sheep to the mountain to-morrow.'
"Poor little Hans was afraid to say anything to this, and early the next morning the Miller brought his sheep round to the cottage, and Hans started off with them to the mountain. It took him the whole day to get there and back; and when he returned he was so tired that he went off to sleep in his chair, and did not wake up till it was broad daylight.
"'What a delightful time I shall have in my garden,' he said, and he went to work at once.
"But somehow he was never able to look after his flowers at all, for his friend the Miller was always coming round and sending him off on long errands, or getting him to help at the mill. Little Hans was very much distressed at times, as he was afraid his flowers would think he had forgotten them, but he consoled himself by the reflection that the Miller was his best friend. 'Besides,' he used to say, 'he is going to give me his wheelbarrow, and that is an act of pure generosity.'
"So little Hans worked away for the Miller, and the Miller said all kinds of beautiful things about friendship, which Hans took down in a note-book, and used to read over at night, for he was a very good scholar.
"Now it happened that one evening little Hans was sitting by his fireside when a loud rap came at the door. It was a very wild night, and the wind was blowing and roaring round the house so terribly that at first he thought it was merely the storm. But a second rap came, and then a third, louder than any of the others.
"'It is some poor traveller,' said little Hans to himself, and he ran to the door.
"There stood the Miller with a lantern in one hand and a big stick in the other.
"'Dear little Hans,' cried the Miller, 'I am in great trouble. My little boy has fallen off a ladder and hurt himself, and I am going for the Doctor. But he lives so far away, and it is such a bad night, that it has just occurred to me that it would be much better if you went instead of me. You know I am going to give you my wheelbarrow, and so, it is only fair that you should do something for me in return.'
"'Certainly,' cried little Hans, 'I take it quite as a compliment your coming to me, and I will start off at once. But you must lend me your lantern, as the night is so dark that I am afraid I might fall into the ditch.'
"'I am very sorry,' answered the Miller, 'but it is my new lantern, and it would be a great loss to me if anything happened to it.'
"'Well, never mind, I will do without it,' cried little Hans, and he took down his great fur coat, and his warm scarlet cap, and tied a muffler round his throat, and started off.
"What a dreadful storm it was! The night was so black that little Hans could hardly see, and the wind was so strong that he could scarcely stand. However, he was very courageous, and after he had been walking about three hours, he arrived at the Doctor's house, and knocked at the door.
"'Who is there?' cried the Doctor, putting his head out of his bedroom window.
"'Little Hans, Doctor.'
"'What do you want, little Hans?'
"'The Miller's son has fallen from a ladder, and has hurt himself, and the Miller wants you to come at once.'
"'All right!' said the Doctor; and he ordered his horse, and his big boots, and his lantern, and came downstairs, and rode off in the direction of the Miller's house, little Hans trudging behind him.
"But the storm grew worse and worse, and the rain fell in torrents, and little Hans could not see where he was going, or keep up with the horse. At last he lost his way, and wandered off on the moor, which was a very dangerous place, as it was full of deep holes, and there poor little Hans was drowned. His body was found the next day by some goatherds, floating in a great pool of water, and was brought back by them to the cottage.
"Everybody went to little Hans' funeral, as he was so popular, and the Miller was the chief mourner.
"'As I was his best friend,' said the Miller, 'it is only fair that I should have the best place'; so he walked at the head of the procession in a long black cloak, and every now and then he wiped his eyes with a big pocket-handkerchief.
"'Little Hans is certainly a great loss to every one,' said the Blacksmith, when the funeral was over, and they were all seated comfortably in the inn, drinking spiced wine and eating sweet cakes.
"'A great loss to me at any rate,' answered the Miller; 'why, I had as good as given him my wheelbarrow, and now I really don't know what to do with it. It is very much in my way at home, and it is in such bad repair that I could not get anything for it if I sold it. I will certainly take care not to give away anything again. One always suffers for being generous.'"
"Well?" said the Water-rat, after a long pause.
"Well, that is the end," said the Linnet.
"But what became of the Miller?" asked the Water-rat.
"Oh! I really don't know," replied the Linnet; "and I am sure that I don't care."
"It is quite evident then that you have no sympathy in your nature," said the Water-rat.
"I am afraid you don't quite see the moral of the story," remarked the Linnet.
"The what?" screamed the Water-rat.
"The moral."
"Do you mean to say that the story has a moral?"
"Certainly," said the Linnet.
"Well, really," said the Water-rat, in a very angry manner, "I think you should have told me that before you began. If you had done so, I certainly would not have listened to you; in fact, I should have said 'Pooh,' like the critic. However, I can say it now"; so he shouted out "Pooh" at the top of his voice, gave a whisk with his tail, and went back into his hole.
"And how do you like the Water-rat?" asked the Duck, who came paddling up some minutes afterwards. "He has a great many good points, but for my own part I have a mother's feelings, and I can never look at a confirmed bachelor without the tears coming into my eyes."
"I am rather afraid that I have annoyed him," answered the Linnet. "The fact is, that I told him a story with a moral."
"Ah! that is always a very dangerous thing to do," said the Duck.
And I quite agree with her.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~
A Philosophical Satire
She proves the inconsistency of the caprice and criticism of men who accuse women of what they cause
Misguided men, who will chastise
a woman when no blame is due,
oblivious that it is you
who prompted what you criticize;
if your passions are so strong
that you elicit their disdain,
how can you wish that they refrain
when you incite them to their wrong?
You strive to topple their defense,
and then, with utmost gravity,
you credit sensuality
for what was won with diligence.
Your daring must be qualified,
your sense is no less senseless than
the child who calls the boogeyman,
then weeps when he is terrified.
Your mad presumption knows no bounds,
though for a wife you want Lucrece,
in lovers you prefer Thais,
thus seeking blessings to compound.
If knowingly one clouds a mirror
--was ever humor so absurd
or good counsel so obscured?--
can he lament that it's not clearer?
From either favor or disdain
the selfsame purpose you achieve,
if they love, they are deceived,
if they love not, hear you complain.
There is no woman suits your taste,
though circumspection be her virtue:
ungrateful, she who does not love you,
yet she who does, you judge unchaste.
You men are such a foolish breed,
appraising with a faulty rule,
the first you charge with being cruel,
the second, easy, you decree.
So how can she be temperate,
the one who would her love expend?
if not willing, she offends,
but willing, she infuriates.
Amid the anger and torment
your whimsy causes you to bear,
one may be found who does not care:
how quickly then is grievance vent.
So lovingly you inflict pain
that inhibitions fly away;
how, after leading them astray,
can you wish them without stain?
Who does the greater guilt incur
when a passion is misleading?
She who errs and heeds his pleading,
or he who pleads with her to err?
Whose is the greater guilt therein
when either's conduct may dismay:
she who sins and takes the pay,
or he who pays her for the sin?
Why for sins you're guilty of,
do you, amazed, your blame debate?
Either love what you create
or else create what you can love.
Were not it better to forbear,
and thus, with finer motivation,
obtain the unforced admiration
of her you plotted to ensnare?
But no, I deem you still will revel
in pour arms and arrogance,
and in promise and persistence
adjoin flesh and world and devil.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~
---
"Be simple, be earnest and spread that simplicity throughout everything you do."
|
posted Tuesday December 27th, @10:13AM
Friday November 25th
(jump earlier later)
Air and Angels for D.B....
AIR AND ANGELS
by John Donne
Twice or thrice had I loved thee,
Before I knew thy face or name;
So in a voice, so in a shapeless flame,
Angels affect us oft, and worshipp'd be.
Still when, to where thou wert, I came,
Some lovely glorious nothing did I see.
But since my soul, whose child love is,
Takes limbs of flesh, and else could nothing do,
More subtle than the parent is
Love must not be, but take a body too ;
And therefore what thou wert, and who,
I bid Love ask, and now
That it assume thy body, I allow,
And fix itself in thy lip, eye, and brow.
Whilst thus to ballast love I thought,
And so more steadily to have gone,
With wares which would sink admiration,
I saw I had love's pinnace overfraught ;
Thy every hair for love to work upon
Is much too much ; some fitter must be sought ;
For, nor in nothing, nor in things
Extreme, and scattering bright, can love inhere ;
Then as an angel face and wings
Of air, not pure as it, yet pure doth wear,
So thy love may be my love's sphere ;
Just such disparity
As is 'twixt air's and angels' purity,
'Twixt women's love, and men's, will ever be.
“Let the heart be quiet and hear out the mind.
In that quiet listening, she will discover her true beauty and her deepest secrets will awaken.”
|
posted Friday November 25th, @03:36PM
Tuesday November 8th
(jump earlier later)
Taking a break.
Going offline completely from today, November 8 until November 15, 2005.
Best to all,
Leah
|
posted Tuesday November 8th, @04:21PM
Friday November 4th
(jump earlier later)
posted Friday November 4th, @01:40PM
Wednesday September 21st
(jump earlier later)
Indeed, the journey begins here!
Grammy Crystal Sky introducing Calliope, my first granddaughter, who was born Septemnber 19 at 03:10 CST, and my son! |
posted Wednesday September 21st, @03:30AM
Wednesday June 22nd
(jump earlier later)
posted Wednesday June 22nd, @09:51AM
Saturday June 18th
(jump earlier later)
The Puppet
If for a moment God would forget that I am a rag doll and give me a scrap of life, possibly I would not say everything that I think, but I would definitely think everything that I say.
I would value things not for how much they are worth but rather for what they mean.
I would sleep little, dream more. I know that for each minute that we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.
I would walk when the others loiter; I would awaken when the others sleep.
I would listen when the others speak, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream.
If God would bestow on me a scrap of life, I would dress simply, I would throw myself flat under the sun, exposing not only my body but also my soul.
My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hatred on ice and wait for the sun to come out. With a dream of Van Gogh I would paint on the stars a poem by Benedetti, and a song by Serrat would be my serenade to the moon.
With my tears I would water the roses, to feel the pain of their thorns and the incarnated kiss of their petals...My God, if I only had a scrap of life...
I wouldn't let a single day go by without saying to people I love, that I love them.
I would convince each woman or man that they are my favourites and I would live in love with love.
I would prove to the men how mistaken they are in thinking that they no longer fall in love when they grow old--not knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love. To a child I would give wings, but I would let him learn how to fly by himself. To the old I would teach that death comes not with old age but with forgetting. I have learned so much from you men....
I have learned that everybody wants to live at the top of the mountain without realizing that true happiness lies in the way we climb the slope.
I have learned that when a newborn first squeezes his father's finger in his tiny fist, he has caught him forever.
I have learned that a man only has the right to look down on another man when it is to help him to stand up. I have learned so many things from you, but in the end most of it will be no use because when they put me inside that suitcase, unfortunately I will be dying.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
(translated by Matthew Taylor and Rosa Arelis Taylor)
|
posted Saturday June 18th, @12:26AM
Monday May 30th
(jump earlier later)
Home sweet home...
Better, DB? 
Disclaimer for others: No, folks, I do not live by the red "X" anymore. Astronomical rents forced me to the poor side of town. Well, actually the woman I was renting from divorced her husband and tripled my rent so she could force me out and she could move in. (Quite true.)  
Click to enlarge... | 
Click to enlarge... | 
Click to enlarge... |
|
posted Monday May 30th, @08:33AM
Wednesday May 18th
(jump earlier later)
Così nel mio parlar voglio esser aspro
Così nel mio parlar voglio esser aspro
com’è ne li atti questa bella petra,
la quale ognora impetra
maggior durezza e più natura cruda,
e veste sua persona d’un diaspro 5
tal, che per lui, o perch’ella s’arretra,
non esce di faretra
saetta che già mai la colga ignuda:
ed ella ancide, e non val ch’om si chiuda
né si dilunghi da’ colpi mortali, 10
che, com’avesser ali,
giungono altrui e spezzan ciascun’arme;
sì ch’io non so da lei né posso atarme.
Non trovo scudo ch’ella non mi spezzi
né loco che dal suo viso m’asconda; 15
ché, come fior di fronda,
così de la mia mente tien la cima.
Cotanto del mio mal par che si prezzi
quanto legno di mar che non lieva onda;
e ‘l peso che m’affonda 20
tal che non potrebbe adequar rima.
Ahi angosciosa e dispietata lima
che sordamente la mia vita scemi,
perché non ti ritemi
sì di rodermi il core a scorza a scorza, 25
com’io di dire altrui chi ti dà forza?
Ché più mi triema il cor qualora io penso
di lei in parte ov’altri li occhi induca,
per tema non traluca
lo mio penser di fuor sì che si scopra, 30
ch’io non fo de la morte, che ogni senso
co li denti d’Amor già mi manduca;
ciò è che ‘l pensier bruca
la lor vertù, sí che n’allenta l’opra.
E' m’ha percosso in terra, e stammi sopra 35
con quella spada ond’elli ancise Dido,
Amore, a cui io grido
merzé chiamando, e umilmente il priego;
ed el d’ogni merzé par messo al niego.
Egli alza ad or a ad or la mano, e sfida 40
la debole mia vita, esto perverso,
che disteso a riverso
mi tiene in terra d’ogni guizzo stanco:
allor mi surgon ne la mente strida;
e ‘l sangue, ch’è per le vene disperso, 45
fuggendo corre verso
lo cor, che ‘l chiama; ond’io rimango bianco.
Elli mi fiede sotto il braccio manco
sí forte, che ‘l dolor nel cor rimbalza:
allor dico: “S’elli alza 50
un’altra volta, Morte m’avrà chiuso
prima che ‘l colpo sia disceso giuso”.
Così vedess’io lui fender per mezzo
lo core a la crudele che ‘l mio squatra!
poi non mi sarebb’atra 55
la morte, ov’io per sua bellezza corro:
ché tanto di nel sol quanto nel rezzo
questa scherana micidiale e latra.
Ohmè, perché non latra
per me, com’io per lei, nel caldo borro? 60
che tosto griderei: “Io vi soccorro”;
e fare’ l volentier, si come quelli
che ne’ biondi capelli
ch’Amor per consumarmi increspa e dora
metterei mano, e piacere’le allora. 65
S’io avessi le belle trecce prese,
che fatte son per me scudiscio e ferza,
pigliandole anzi terza,
con esse passerei vespero e squille:
e non sarei pietoso né cortese, 70
anzi farei com’orso quando scherza;
e se Amor me ne sferza,
io mi vendicherei di più di mille.
Ancor ne li occhi, ond’escon le faville
che m’infiammano il cor, ch’io porto anciso, 75
guarderei presso e fiso,
per vendicar lo fuggir che mi face;
e poi le renderei con amor pace.
Canzon, vattene dritto a quella donna
che m’ha ferito il core e che m’invola 80
quello ond’io ho più gola,
e dille per lo cor d’una saetta:
ché bell’onor s’acquista in far vendetta.
Dante |
posted Wednesday May 18th, @07:32PM
Wednesday May 4th
(jump earlier later)
posted Wednesday May 4th, @10:13PM
|
Sparrow
