India Terror

Some thoughts on the terrorists action in India.

Again weapons and terror have led to death and destruction. Again through the power of vengeful choice terrorists have attacked the innocent and have chosen violence to aggrandize their fears and feed their hatreds.

India accuses Pakistan as an aiding participant. Old wounds and sealed hates are opened. Nuclear fears worry global leaders. Each side asks their supporters around the globe to share in the accusatory finger pointing.

Again there are more dead; the count continues. Indian nationals, Americans, British, Israelis, children, fathers and mothers, all victims of hate and sometimes participants in it. How many truly believe that if we could ask the dead, was the hatred or conflict worth it, we would hear a positive affirmation.

The instigators, wherever and whoever they may be, wish to drag all who will listen into their cocoon of fear, into their illusion of righteousness and all too often into the grave.

Where are the shouters of "enough?" Where are the sensible? Where are they on both sides?

Turkey Day

Turkey is a traditional dinner today for many Americans. It is a carry over from the pilgrims and their original feast of Thanksgiving when the native bird was plentiful in the wild.

So why do we call it Turkey? There is a reason and as happens so many times, the all-American bird got its name somewhat by mistake.

The tale begins with the British Empire which had stretched itself into Africa during the sixteen hundreds. Along with diamonds the British exported a wild eatable bird back to England, but in order to get the shipment to the British Isles the cargo was routed through Turkey and supposedly that's how the big bird got its name.

When the sharp eyed settlers spotted a similar winged bird strutting through the American colonies, they called it...Turkey.

Scientists who study these sort of things tell us the bird that lives in Africa, that was imported to Europe by way of Turkey, is not the same bird that is native to America.

Actually we probably ought to call our bird " Meleagris". that's what the turkey is known as in scientific jargon, and that comes from the Greek. In fact, one of the earliest mentions of the Meleagris comes from Aristotle. Just think, if the bird had first been exported from his country we could be sitting down to a Greece dinner with all the trimmings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

Some thoughts on the history of Thanksgiving.

The earliest record of any observance of Thanksgiving within the territory that now comprises the United States, was held by the Popham colony settled in Sagadahoe, Maine. That was in 1607.

They did not celebrate the whole day like we do now, then it was just an observance that took a few hours.

The real origin of Thanksgiving as a whole day set aside for prayer and rejoicing is attributed to Governor Bradford, The first governor of the Massachusetts Colony. In gratitude for a plentiful harvest in 1621, he proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving, to be observed on December 13th.

History tells that Governor Bradford also sent out four hunters in search of game and it is here, in 1621, that the turkey makes an early appearance in celebrating the day. The hunters were reportedly more than successful, they bagged so many wild turkey's it was enough to feed the little colony for a week.

Through the years a thanks-giving was celebrated if there was sufficient reason. Some years there were two celebrations, and other years there was none.

The Continental Congress recommended eight days of Thanksgiving, divided and celebrated in various months, but they were only recommendations, for state governments were far more powerful then and the idea never caught on.

General George Washington issued a couple of proclamations for a Thanksgiving during the revolutionary war, but it was not until 1789, as President, did he issue a proclamation appointing November 26th, as Thanksgiving day, eventually it was celebrated on the last Thursday of November.

Washington's proclamation, incidentally, was the first ever issued by a President of the United States.

A Story

Once upon a time in a land far away there was a gathering of like-minded souls who once listened with praise and affirmation to the truths of a great teacher.

But, as with all masters, mystics and mentors, the teacher passes when the body dies and the chelas are left to interpret collected words and wishes on their own. The interpretation is sometimes brilliant and sometimes disastrous, but lovingly allowed under the law of free will.

In the mind-fraction of “free-will” the denominator is principle and the numerator is consequence. All choices are acceptable, however unintended consequences can result despite the fact that no judgment is possible when unconditional love is on the other side of the equation.

Reinterpretation of truth is never advisable, but always attempted by the cast in life’s play and when successful, dogmas are born and the original truths obscured in didactic and reformed beliefs.

The moral of this story, if there is one, is when the responsibility for sustaining specific teachings passes to a collective crowd for dissemination an amalgamation results and truths are lost.

The angels on high are sad for once again in the collective history of spiritual exploration a chalice of attainment is cast aside.

The End.

The Power of Thought

A colleague asked me the other day, “How can an individual respond when a leader calls for help?”

Helping to solve a global or national or even a group problem by individual action seems so insurmountable at times that we often shrug our shoulders with a resignation of helplessness.

There is a way through the constant abyss of need.

Within the human spirit there is an intrinsic, yet often-obscured desire to be of service. Service can be defined as “instantaneous response to need”. We see it all the time in selfless acts of courage when heroic action is spontaneous in saving a life or some other act of bravery. Philosopher Joseph Campbell calls it “a moment when you and the other are one” and nothing could change it even to the point of death.

Somewhere deep within our soul being we acknowledge that we are individuals existing in the illusion of time and within an earthly density of a created and collective oneness. We are individual drops in the amniotic ocean of being. We are the individuation of the indivisible. We subconsciously, spiritually, know that life experience is not singular, but collective and somewhere in our awareness we know that if even one of us minutely achieves, all of us do.

Response to need is a simple process, but difficult to sustain on a daily basis when we have to contend with the duties of living, myopic worry and the ego’s constant harassment for self-aggrandizement. There are ways around the ego’s chicanery, but not many of us choose to be a mystic and master the art of meditation and its precipitate subjugation of the ego self.

So, how to be practical in the request to help?

One way is to believe that “thought” has a power or energy. Good thoughts have positive power and bad thoughts have negative influences. These thoughts, these pieces of energy, can be sent by the mind, in the envelope of good will, to any recipient and it will have an impact. Religions would call it prayer, but holistic physician Dr. Larry Dossey, in his book “Healing Words” calls it a general sense of well being for another and has proven the power of positive thought with scientific experiments.

Our sending energy does not have to be specific, but should have the imprimatur of well-being. Since we are part and parcel of the creating Source, we can leave the specifics of the solving to the omniscience of unconditional love, but the power we create and send through graceful thoughts becomes a free will energy to manifest as solutions, compromises and accomplishments.

Another way to answer the call to help is to do so within our sphere of influence for that too will affect the whole. To the observant not a single day passes without numerous opportunities to serve. There’s the story of the little five-year boy who wanted to help an elderly neighbor whose wife just died. Upon returning home his Mother asked what did he do to help. The child replied, "I sat on his lap and helped him cry".

Service is as simple as that. Poet William Wordsworth wrote, “…Even the daisy by the shadow it casts, protects the lingering due drop from the sun.

Opportunities abound in each moment for us to be of service. Seeing them is important. Feeling them is even better for empathy is often a greater motivator than intellect. Perform each act of service with the unconditionality of the Source, and the exponential component of service will then manifest for the greater good of all.

Dallas 1963

The tributes will be many this weekend, but as usual the Kennedy family will not publicly participate. They understand the need and desire of many to honor the fallen president, but they prefer the memory of JFK be focused on the day of his birth, May 29th, rather than the day of death.

It may take a long time, for there are so many of us alive today who remember that day 45 years ago tomorrow.

I was home in my apartment in Syracuse, New York getting ready to go to work at a local television station. I heard the news from my Uncle who was working in a downstairs residence. It was a shock and I immediately turned on the television. Walter Cronkite was on CBS. Huntley - Brinkley on NBC and on ABC it is was Murphy Martin. Television coverage of live events at that time was primitive, but surprisingly successful.

When the generation is gone to whom the torch was passed by Kennedy during his inauguration speech, then the memory of JFK may move from his death to his birth.

We honor Lincoln on his birthday and not the day he died, April 15th.

Very few remember that assassinated President James Garfield died on September 19th.

William McKinley's assassination date is now generally forgotten. He died on a September 14th.

It takes time to bury pain and change an ache to honor. It takes time to have a tragic memory stand without sorrow. The Kennedy family has learned, through many tears, that once you acknowledge the death, you must let it go and remember the life.

Nuremberg Trials

On this day Nov. 20, 1945, 24 Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.

Some thoughts on remembering Nuremberg.

Sixty three years ago the victorious powers of World War Two created the Nuremberg trials in order to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. It was the first time that an aggressive power had to face trial and judgment for their crimes against humanity.

Three years ago the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law held a conference to recall and reaffirm the lessons - the legacy – of Nuremberg. Current and former jurists, judges, prosecutors, and law professors from all over the world spoke eloquently on the state and struggle for human rights today.

I was privileged to participate in a documentary on the Nuremberg Trials produced by the Cardozo School of Law. You can see some of the filmed stand-ups by going to my website at the right side of this blog and then clicking on the "on-air" link.

The impact of Nazi Germany and the adjudication of Nuremberg has been forgotten by some, but with each new genocide, each new extermination by tyrants in power it is remembered. The stench of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and in Darfur, Sudan and now in the Congo bring new tribunals, but the same old lesson. Crimes against humanity result from silence and indifference.

Do we really need to learn it over and over again?

Uncle Jack

I read that Google was going to archive 10-millions Life Magazine photos from the 1860’s to the present. I clicked on the link and found an astounding number of photos already in a categorized collection.

I sifted through some from the Civil War and into the 1880’s, but then the 1910 category caught my attention and I remembered that my Uncle Jack fought in World War One with a Canadian infantry regiment.

I don’t know much about him accept he was a stepbrother of my Father. He was ten years older and certainly a great influence on my Father. I never met Jack; I just heard stories about him.

The picture above was taken in April 1917 and is a photo of Canadian troops climbing out of their trenches and “going over the top” during World War One.

Notice the artillery shells bursting in air over the trench. The soldiers are carrying British Lee-Enfield rifles, which were issued to virtually all British Commonwealth soldiers on the Western Front. The Lee-Enfield, with its ten-cartridge magazine, was well suited to rapid fire; a soldier could expect to fire twelve shots a minute.

It is possible my Uncle Jack is in this picture. I don’t know, but I can imagine he had similar experiences. Jack survived the war, but like too many of our returning combat veterans from the Gulf and Afghanistan Wars, he could not survive coming home. He committed suicide sometime after the war ended.

War does things to those who are asked to fight it. Perhaps it’s because it is an unnatural condition in which to live. Some make it through OK and go on to lead productive lives. Others like my Uncle Jack could not let go of the pain, the fog, and the psychological wounds of battle with images of dead buddies and slain bodies and no bandages to heal for the future.

I am going back to look at the picture again and wonder about the Uncle I never met, and I'll also wonder why we haven’t learned very much in nearly a hundred years.

Joachimsthalern

Some thoughts on the Joachimsthalern.

Yep! The Joachimsthalern.

If things had been a little different we might be saying bet your bottom joachimsthalern or shopping at the Joachimsthalern Store. Believe it or not we get the English word "dollar" from Joachimsthalern.

Back in the 16th century a little valley in Czechoslovakia called Joachimsthal established a mint and made silver and gold coins. They were widely distributed and eventually the Joachimsthal truncated to the “Thaler.”

Over time other European countries patterned their currency units after the "Thaler" and the name evolved to "Taler" and eventually "Daler" in the Nordic cultures.

When we declared our independence from Great Britain, Thomas Jefferson was against tying American currency to the British pound so he wrote that our currency should be patterned after European currency, not the British Pound and the unit would be called the dollar.

Now you know.

The War Prayer

Once again I had the pleasure to watch actor Hal Holbrook’s portrayal of American humorist and raconteur Mark Twain. It was in a large theatre in a small city. All 15-hundred seats were filled.

At one point Holbrook goes into Twain’s “The War Prayer”. Twain wrote it around 1905. It was rejected by his publisher and then found after his death among his unpublished manuscripts.

Twain apparently wrote it as an opposition to the Philippines War of 1899-1902.

The whole story is too long for this post, but its essence is not. The story is a messenger from “The Throne”, shows up in a small church that had been praying for victory and safety for their young who are going off to war. The messenger says God wants them to know the unmentioned results, the unspoken part of the prayer, that must follow victory in war.

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(*After a pause.*) The messenger says, "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"

Twain ends the story with this line. “It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

California Fires

Dear Friends,
There is fire’s devastation again in California. I have friends in the area and though their homes were sparred, others were not.



A house for some and home for others
Families, friends, sisters and brothers.
Gone! Vanquished in the force of flame.
Nothing left! No photo! No frame!

We cannot know not being there
The loss, the ache, for hearts to bear
And minds to seek a place called home
Where hopes can rest and memories roam.



We’re oft surprised by nature’s rath
That brings the wind and chewing path
Of flames and shakes and hurricanes
Into our solace causing pains.





The valiant fought with hose and pail
Extinguishing? To no avail.
The pros came in from near and far,
But could not hold the fire’s char.



A table and some chairs in flame.
What is the cause and who’s to blame?
Did laughter, love, once languish there
Upon the deck, without a care?



What do we say to stranger’s pain?
“I’m sorry”, said as prayer, seems lame,
But there is healing in the thought
When we, but view, what nature wrought.


Photo's by Dan Steinberg AP, Mark Terrill AP, and Andrew Gombert EPA.

Discovery

Astronomers reported yesterday that they have the first snapshot of planets in another solar system.

Somewhere in the constellation of Pegasus there is a large star. It doesn’t have a name. It has a number, HR 8799. It’s really far away. 128 light years away and one light year is about 6 trillion miles. Orbiting HR 8799 are three planets each larger than Jupiter.

The picture at the upper left of this post is what the scientists who discovered the system call the snapshot.

The Christian Science Monitor put it this way:

“In the hunt for solar systems beyond our own, astronomers have crossed an important threshold – capturing from the ground, as well as from space, the first direct images of planets around bright, sun-like stars.”

I am not an organized religious person or a dogma proponent. I do acknowledge and embrace the efficacy of things spiritual and write about what that could mean often, but the only truth that came to mind when I saw this photograph was the phrase, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”

It’s something to think about anyway.

Infomatique

Some thoughts on computer language.

Sometimes it is hard to make ourselves understood in our own language, let alone in another and when the technology of one language coins new words for specific things it can be very confusing.

Back when computers were beginning to be used on a wide scale. America was the leader in computers and computer software. The French, who have long been sensitive in keeping the purity of their language, tried to figure out a literal translation for the computer term "Data Processing". What the French came up with was "informatique".

"Tique" is now added to a number of French computer terms. Telecomunications are "telematique". Automated office equipment is "bureautique" and nearly any new computer linked process the french call " novotique".

The French mentality invents words rather than products. Americans invent products, but prefer to talk in initials.

FYI, CU tomorrow.

Change and Choice

Some thoughts on Change. It seems to be a constant in our lives. Mostly it is so subtle it passes nearly unnoticed.

Sometimes, however, it's monumental and notable.

The political structure of America following the election last week changed. So did the expected political fortunes of Senator McCain and Governor Palin. That is event change. Big change, easily perceived. You hear about it, you read about it and you participate in it.

There is another side of change. The personal side. The daily side. The process side of consistent change. An elevator breaks down and you have to walk up. You lose your job. Someone dies, babies are born. You move house and home. These are process changes and they happen every day and its effect is mostly personal.

In both kinds of change, however, there is a similar component.

Choice!

In the context that change is inevitable and continuous, and our experience shows us that it is, we can only choose how we react to it. We can be victims of change or participants in it, but it’s always there.

Veterans Day

Some thoughts on appreciating our veterans.

We celebrate Veterans Day today. It is a holiday for some.
We honor our veterans with parades and speeches and often very little else.

A few years ago I called a friend of mine to wish him well on Veterans Day. He was elderly then well into his 80’s and he has since passed. My friend's name was George Christie. He served as a Navy carrier pilot in world war two and as a submariner in Korea. He said to me that in all the years since those wars, only one time did someone thank him for his time and service.

He said it happened serendipitously in a conversation he had with a young man in a store. George said he never expected to be thanked for doing his duty to his country, but he was choked up a little when it happened.

It is interesting to note how little effort it takes to say, “thank you”, and how special it becomes.

There is another incident that I like to tell.

It happened a couple of years ago just before the holidays on an airplane.

Just before takeoff the Captain of the commercial jet liner makes the announcement that there is a young GI on board who just returned from Iraq and the Gulf War and he’s going home for the holidays. The Captain invites the soldier to take the only available seat left in first class as a gift from the airline.

A little while later the Captain gets back on the intercom and says he’s just been informed that there are two other GI’s on board who are also just back from Iraq and the Gulf War. He said he wanted to acknowledge them and thank them for their service and he regretted there were no more seats in first class for the other two soldiers.

Immediately two businessmen in first class got up and gave up their seats to the two GI’s. The entire plane applauded.

Thank you George, thank you Veterans, then and now.

Veterans

Today and tomorrow I have some thoughts and history on our Veterans.

Seventy three years ago the depression was causing pain across America. The economy struggled much like and much worse than our recession today. Jobs were hard to find. People needed money.

Years earlier, World War One soldiers were granted a veterans bonus. Extra money for services rendered. It was a grant by congress during the happier times of 1924. Payment, however, was postponed until 1945, the theory being it would help the vets in their old age.

The depression made many veterans feel old. Many were homeless and hungry and they wanted their money. Twelve to fifteen thousand of them marched to Washington and set up tents within sight of the capitol. The demand was shouted to congress. Money.

After three months about 5-thousand hard core vets remained to continue to pressure Congress for the money. Tension built and in July the men rioted. President Hoover called in the troops. General Douglas MacArthur led the army's horses and tanks to push the bonus demanding veterans out of Washington.

No serious injuries resulted, but the country was shocked at the image of the standing army attacking veterans.

Hoover was in the midst of his presidential campaign against Franklyn D. Roosevelt. Many believe the action against the old soldiers cost him dearly in the campaign. Hoover lost the election and in 1936 the Vets won. Congress voted to pay the bonuses.

Check Your DNA

Check this out!

I don't know if you've seen it, but there is a kit available to test your own DNA.

It's new. It's innovative and it's possible it is the greatest consumer breakthrough since the year two thousand when scientists found a way to decode the 3.1 billion subunits of DNA.

The picture at the left of this post is that of the kit. It is available online.

The subunits are called base pairs and they make up the double helix of the deooxyribonucleic acid or DNA. The genetic instruction of what makes us unique. What makes me me and you you and us us.

One section of the original announcement reminded me of the fallibility of human kind.

It said, "most of the base pairs of DNA between genes have no known function and scientists commonly refer to these pairs as Junk DNA."

No known function! So we label them junk! With all due respect to the scientists who worked so hard on this decoding, calling them junk, just because we don't know what they do, smacks once again of human intellectual arrogance.

To me it goes in the category of the flat earth proponents and the early scientists who thought the sun revolved around the earth.

Wouldn't it be nice if someday they discovered the junk pairs were really the stem instructions for the human attributes of grace, elegance, courtesy, kindness and compassion?

Gratitude

Some thoughts today on gratitude.

Life’s simple experiences, the ones we enjoy doing, our hobbies, our passions and even the ones that we don’t pursue, but are presented to us, sunsets, the feeling of a warm breeze, a field of flowers, a child singing, a lovers touch, a strangers smile, all of these things engender joy and appreciation, but rarely gratitude.

We take much for granted. Our sight, that lets us see the beauty of the world. Our hearing, that lets us enjoy the harmony of nature. Our freedom, both physical and political, that lets us follow our hearts and interests.

It’s not until we are shocked into loss or incapacitation through illness or injury that we begin to truly appreciate what we had and perhaps acknowledge that if we had it again gratitude would be part of our daily ritual of thanks.

Have a great weekend!

A New World

The world is changed. There was on Tuesday November 4th, 2008 a global quake, a paradigm shift that shook us out of old passions, ancient prejudices, and the archaic beliefs that color separates and diminishes the hope of being.

I have covered political campaigns and elections for over forty years. I have never seen one with so much intensity and intention as this one.

Not since the millennium celebrations around the world have I seen the oneness of people amplified by the joining together in shared and collective joy over one singular achievement.

I am still marveling at the tears, the emotion of so many who worked so hard for the manifestation of a result and then celebrated with the grace of wonder and to the relief of history.

I marvel at the enthusiasm of others around the world who now see hope in their future for they too have ethnic prejudices that need to be resolved.

Prejudice and fear, wherever we find them, must be tossed into the abyss of the past where they belong. If we hold on to these feelings we will inhibit the growth of humanity. We have some serious issues to solve and we can’t let those who fear inclusions keep us from a positive destiny.

Separation has always been the illusion of who we really are. Black, white, yellow, brown and red are the children of the Source. All of us have too often chosen fear to keep the light of our oneness from illuminating the truth of being.

Not anymore.

Welcome to the new world where all are invited to participate as equals for the benefit of all.

We The People

Some thoughts on who won on Tuesday.

We won.

The American people, the citizens who by majority rule, comprise the policy and philosophy of this maturing republic won. The Democrats, personified under the leadership of President-Elect Obama were selected to administer the governmental operation of this country for the next four years, but the winner is "We The People."

Once again we became the evidence of our beliefs and by public example demonstrated to the world and to ourselves that democracy is still a valid and effective process.

We live in a pragmatic world, often fearful, sometimes cruel and we the people are not perfect, but collectively we strive to live up to the founding ideals of democracy. We shout, we argue, we debate, we accuse and when the votes are counted we accept, we forgive, we get together and we live in diverse harmony until we do it again. That’s greatness, that’s America.

The election of Barack Obama reminds us that it does not matter who you are or where you come from or the color of your skin, it only matters what one does with the manifesting dreams of freedom and opportunity. Congratulations!

Hope

It’s Election Day!

Here’s what I hope.

I hope the best team to secure our collective future wins the Presidential election.

I hope the two political sides come together not just in the spirit of cooperation, but in the physical compromise of genuine enthusiasm needed to correct past mistakes, end bickering and prepare a future for our children that is constructed in the grandest vision we can imagine.

I hope this will be the generation of politicians, old and young, who will see the futility of solving conflicts with force, who will see that borrowing from the future is futile for it destabilizes the foundations of legitimate sustained growth, who will pledge to look for the greater good, rather than seek partisan spoils, and who will finally choose to be of service, not just to serve for their own aggrandizement, longevity and advancement.

I hope that health care becomes a right not a pawn in the game of budget politics.

I hope that new examples set in the highest offices of our land become the bookmarks for the business ethics of wall street, main street, and the Sesame Streets of the world for there in lies the future of our planet.

I hope that educational opportunity at a fair price becomes the reality in our land for ignorance and sloth leads to civilization collapse.

I hope the ignorant, the prejudiced, the haters of our society and those who roam the world will find comfort in fairness, understanding in truth and honor in the lives and history they have.

I hope that we all understand that hope without action borders on arrogance and we have to participate to make this a good life, a productive life, a successful life and that we are not due abundance by virtue of birth.

I hope that this will be a time of unconditional love, of courtesy, of honoring our spirits as ONE.

Almost Over

It’s the Monday before Election Day and for some of us the responsibility is done. We’ve voted, but for others tomorrow is the day to exercise their right of choice in the most important election in fifty years.

I say fifty because I didn’t appreciate politics before the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy. Roosevelt was President when I was born and I remember Harry Truman and it wasn’t until 1964 that I was old enough to vote. I do remember the 1960 election as a teenager in college listening to the election returns on a small radio in my college dorm.

As I recall, JFK excited many of us to participate in the future of America. It was not a bad time for Americans, but we wanted something more. We were coming off eight Eisenhower years of peace and prosperity after the terrible years of austerity during World War Two. JFK energized the patriotic genome in many political neophytes and we became involved.

I think the political dichotomy of Barrack Obama and John McCain has excited the same latent genome switch in many Americans and whether the vote elects Obama or elects McCain that switch stays on for more Americans than ever before and politics is changed forever.

Important choices remind me of the great Iroquois Indian Nation who never made major decisions without first meeting and extrapolating the consequence of their decision to seven generations hence. Other interesting rules of the Iroquois were that only women could elect a chief or depose one. Only women could declare war.

We often forget living in this liberty melting pot that to get the pure red, white and blue of democracy you mix colors and beliefs and cultures together.

America began as a nation with a noble destiny to show a divergent and burgeoning world that freedom coupled with democracy is a noble path to greatness and from that greatness comes power and success.

America’s new President must make a commitment to be of service, not just to serve. America has not yet finished her revolutionary pledge to the integrity of an ideal. She is not done being a positive example of responsible and participatory government, nor is she finished being an inspiration to the oppressed of the world and imbuing perennial hope within a global citizenry. The inner covenant of Democracy, through equal opportunity and the pursuit of happiness, is still valid and universal.