<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365</id><updated>2011-11-27T18:12:15.319-06:00</updated><title type='text'>IN PRAISE OF THE PLANET</title><subtitle type='html'>The Misson of this Forum is to provide the Global Community with a Safe Space to explore Mysticism through Ecology &amp; discover how the values of living in accordance with the Mind, Body, &amp; Spirit principles connects us with the Inner Mysteries of the Natural world around us.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>14</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-4978249901209278394</id><published>2010-02-24T18:45:00.001-06:00</published><updated>2010-02-24T21:20:19.865-06:00</updated><title type='text'>IN RESPONCE: THE KILLER WHALE ACCIDENT</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;In Praise of the Planet&lt;/em&gt; wishes to express its profound sympathy at the loss of the &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;SeaWorld&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;Orca&lt;/span&gt; whale trainer Ms. Dawn &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;Brancheau&lt;/span&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Our hearts go out to the &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;Brancheau&lt;/span&gt; family, the Orlando Community, and &lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;SeaWorld&lt;/span&gt; staff.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Citation:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;SeaWorld&lt;/span&gt;: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seaworld.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;http://www.seaworld.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error"&gt;YahooNews&lt;/span&gt; &lt;em&gt;via&lt;/em&gt; REUTERS: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100225/us_nm/us_usa_whale_3"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100225/us_nm/us_usa_whale_3&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;END&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-4978249901209278394?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/4978249901209278394/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=4978249901209278394' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/4978249901209278394'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/4978249901209278394'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-responce-killer-whale-accident.html' title='IN RESPONCE: THE KILLER WHALE ACCIDENT'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-1335341185391147305</id><published>2007-09-03T08:31:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-09-03T08:57:28.433-05:00</updated><title type='text'>LABOUR  DAY DELIGHTS</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Unlike any other holiday commemorated in the United States, today celebrates the contributions made through the efforts of employees and service workers and acknowledges their overall impact on the National Product.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;While I hold to no opinion whatsoever on issues of a political nature I too am going to be remembering the efforts of those who straighten the freedoms I know and love by celebrating with my friends in the labour movement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Here in the Metropolitan Milwaukee area there is an event called Labour Fest &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.milwaukeelabor.org/about_us/laborfest.cfm"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;http://www.milwaukeelabor.org/about_us/laborfest.cfm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt; which is put on through the generous efforts of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Wisconsin A.F.L.C.I.O. Labour Council. The Festival is being held at the:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Henry W. &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Mier&lt;/span&gt; Festival Park&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;200 N Harbour Dr.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Milwaukee, WI 53202&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;The event is open to the public from 12:00 PM C.S.T - 05:00 PM C.S.T. General Admission is free. There is also a parade honouring the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;labour force&lt;/span&gt; throughout the City which begins at 11:00 AM and originates at the Honourable &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Zeidler&lt;/span&gt; Union Square Park which is located between Third and Fourth streets on Michigan Avenue.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;There is sure to be fun, food, fabulous music, and entertainment for all of your family and friends! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;END&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-1335341185391147305?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/1335341185391147305/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=1335341185391147305' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/1335341185391147305'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/1335341185391147305'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/09/labour-day-delights.html' title='LABOUR  DAY DELIGHTS'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-3917373776050055561</id><published>2007-06-15T02:17:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-15T03:19:10.344-05:00</updated><title type='text'>DEATH OF MRS GRAHAM</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BREAKING NEWS -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Moments ago, &lt;em&gt;In Praise of the Planet &lt;/em&gt;received notice of the death of the late Mrs. Ruth Bell Graham.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Mrs Graham, who was born in 1920. She married Billy Graham, the nationally renowned founder of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on August 13, 1943 and authored many literary works throughout her lifetime. She died at the age of 87 years of age.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Ruth, is the latest in a recent line of famous Evangelicals to be reported in the news because of apparent health concerns. She is said to have been diagnosed with spinal meningitis back in 1995.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;Mrs. Ruth Graham's Biography &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Graham"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Graham&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Last month on about May 15, 2007 the late Jerry Falwell, founder of Liberty University, reportedly died of sudden cardiac death. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;Jerry Falwell's Biography &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;And about a year ago on December 28, 2006 D. James Kennedy, of Coral Ridge Ministries, was reported to have suffered a heart attack. He is currently recuperating after apparently receiving a pacemaker to correct a reported diagnosis of heart arrhythmia.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;D. James Kennedy's Biography &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._James_Kennedy#Biography"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._James_Kennedy#Biography&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"&gt;Memorial Services for Mrs. Graham will be held on June 16, 2007 at 2:00PM local time in the Anderson Auditorium of &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Sheville&lt;/span&gt; North Carolina.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;In Praise of the Planet&lt;/em&gt; extends to the families of Mrs. Ruth Bell Graham our thoughts of support and condolence during this difficult time of tragedy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;END&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-3917373776050055561?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/3917373776050055561/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=3917373776050055561' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3917373776050055561'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3917373776050055561'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/06/death-of-mrs-graham.html' title='DEATH OF MRS GRAHAM'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-2325663218137203189</id><published>2007-06-14T16:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-14T18:26:54.018-05:00</updated><title type='text'>SAVING A BRIDGE, CELEBRATING THROUGH SONG</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BREAKING NEWS -&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;em&gt;In Praise of the Planet&lt;/em&gt; just received from sources in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin who inform me that there is a new concept in Wisconsin Festivals on the cutting edge of the entertainment industry landing on the historic Door County shoreline.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;It's called &lt;em&gt;Steal Bridge Songfest&lt;/em&gt; and it is being held for the third year in a row. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;The Festival is held on the weekend of June 14 - 16 2007 as a fundraising event to preserve the Historic Memorial [Street] Bridge.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;The Bridge spans the Sturgeon Bay Shipping Canal District and measures 1,420 feet in length. Built in 1930 it is an example of a rolling lift &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;bascule&lt;/span&gt; and movable span with 12 concrete and steel trusses.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;On March 7, 2007 the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation announced that it would be rehabilitating the Lake Michigan Landmark.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;"&gt;WIS DOT Report &lt;a href="http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d3/michigan/alternatives.htm"&gt;http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/d3/michigan/alternatives.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Steal Bridge Songfest is the creation of Christie &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Webber&lt;/span&gt; and her brother Pat MacDonald &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;Pat MacDonald's Biography &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_MacDonald"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_MacDonald&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;The Festival regularly attracts many major industrial performing artist like:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Emiko, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Jackson Browne, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Jane &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Wiedlin, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Eric McFadden, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;James Hall, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Todd Carey, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Pat MacDonald, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Dorothy Scott, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Freedy&lt;/span&gt; Johnston, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Kim Manning, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Johnathan &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;Spottiswoode, and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;The Festival is designed to bring people together through the celebration of song in an effort raise money to aide in the offset of the maintenance costs required for proper up keep of the Historic Bridge and , in so doing, assure the Landmark's survival by successfully remembering the past.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In my opinion this effort is to be applauded because the laborers who built the Michigan Bridge worked very hard to provide for the needs in their communities. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In the process, many died and all because they were willing to sacrifice their lives in order to make better the lives of the residents in a community, then divided by distance, but later brought together through the efforts of our ancestral visionaries.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;This festival honours their commitment to a cause, a commitment to change, and a culture which continues to see a need for the change to come.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;For more information visit: &lt;a href="http://steelbridgesongfest.org/"&gt;http://steelbridgesongfest.org/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;END&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-2325663218137203189?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/2325663218137203189/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=2325663218137203189' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/2325663218137203189'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/2325663218137203189'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/06/saving-bridge-celebrating-through-song.html' title='SAVING A BRIDGE, CELEBRATING THROUGH SONG'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-907754087864940095</id><published>2007-06-14T10:22:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-14T18:26:12.226-05:00</updated><title type='text'>EVEN ROUNDY'S IS MOBILIZING</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Today &lt;em&gt;In Praise of the Planet &lt;/em&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;salutes&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;Roundy's&lt;/span&gt; Supermarkets &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Inc. for &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;implementing&lt;/span&gt; a new customer service &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;petroleum&lt;/span&gt; savings programme called Money Per Gallon.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Simply put, if you shop at participating Pick n' Save or &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Copps&lt;/span&gt; locations in the Central Midwest United States you are &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;eligible&lt;/span&gt;, to receive coupons which you may redeem at any &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;participating&lt;/span&gt; Mobil Station for gasoline.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;All that is required to take part in the programme is an electronic coupon card from either store and patrons can participate. People &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;eligible&lt;/span&gt; can receive a coupon for $.10 off per gallon of gas for store &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"&gt;purchases&lt;/span&gt; totaling between $50.00 - $99.99 at the register. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Likewise, participants can earn $.20 off per gallon for purchases totaling between $100.00 - $149.00 at the register. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected"&gt;Additionally&lt;/span&gt;, participants can earn $ .30 off per gallon for &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"&gt;purchases&lt;/span&gt; totaling between $150.00 - $199.00 at the register. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;And as if that wasn't enough, participants can earn $ .40 off per gallon of gas for purchases totaling $200.00 or larger at the register.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Discounts redeemable are valid for up to twelve (12) gallons of gasoline at any participating Mobil location.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;According to Milwaukee's &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"&gt;TMJ&lt;/span&gt; Channel 4 Mr. Robert Mariano, the Chairperson and C.E.O. for &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"&gt;Roundy's&lt;/span&gt; Supermarkets is quoted as saying, " All of us are spending more at the gas pump these days and many families are struggling &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"&gt;because&lt;/span&gt; of it M.P.G. Is our way at Pick n' Save and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"&gt;Copps&lt;/span&gt; of helping out our consumers &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"&gt;stretch&lt;/span&gt; their dollars when it comes to buying &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"&gt;groceries&lt;/span&gt; and gas this summer."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"&gt;TMJ&lt;/span&gt; Channel 4:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/7980742.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/7980742.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"&gt;Roundy's&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"&gt;Supermarkets&lt;/span&gt; Inc. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.roundys.com/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=127"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;"&gt;http://www.roundys.com/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=127&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;In Praise of the Planet &lt;/em&gt;could not agree more with the concept of the idea behind this programme! We hope that it will bring attention to the consumption crisis that is so &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20"&gt;devastating&lt;/span&gt; to the household economics of our Nation's families.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In my opinion not only are we are essentially robbing food out of the mouths of some of our poorest children to put fuel in our vehicles but we are also forcing our &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"&gt;pensioners&lt;/span&gt; to choose to either fill their &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"&gt;prescriptions&lt;/span&gt; or fill up at the pump! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In my view, this is a terrible injustice and I want to emphasise that I &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"&gt;whole heartedly&lt;/span&gt; applaud the efforts of &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"&gt;Roundy's&lt;/span&gt; who are attempting to cease the silence which appears to stand out, as evidenced, through the choices made &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"&gt;by our&lt;/span&gt; elected officials on this issue.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Hopefully actions, through programmes like this will ease the burden on those who suffer most from the current &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26"&gt;petroleum&lt;/span&gt; price practices that continue to force every &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27"&gt;citizen&lt;/span&gt; continue to sacrifice everything but their sanity!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;After all wasn't it &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28"&gt;Winthrop&lt;/span&gt; Aldrich who said, "The price of power is responsibility for the public good."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;The question is, Are we paying too much? only we can decide.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.roundys.com/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=127"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;END&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Georgia;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-907754087864940095?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/907754087864940095/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=907754087864940095' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/907754087864940095'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/907754087864940095'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/06/even-roundys-is-mobilizing.html' title='EVEN ROUNDY&apos;S IS MOBILIZING'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-3410712629858287331</id><published>2007-06-09T14:07:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-10T10:09:48.451-05:00</updated><title type='text'>PRIDEFEST,  A FUTURE OR A FLOP... DECISION 2007</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;PrideFest 2007 is upon us...or is it? Well this June 8 - 10 at the Henry Meir Festival Park t&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;he Milwaukee Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, and Inter-gendered Community finds itself in the midst of yet another annual Milestone and so everyone feels compelled to "come out of their closets" and "camp" out with the best of them. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Official Web page&lt;/em&gt;: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pridefest.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:78%;"&gt;http://www.pridefest.com/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;But, the Festival is not my focus, in so much as my focus is Environmentalism. I like many other gay people in the Milwaukee area are perplexed by the actions of those in various roles of leadership in the PrideFest bureaucracy.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We are perplexed because the Committee in PrideFest leadership appears to have the approach that has been consistently used throughout history to foster the impression that the Festival is "...of the People, by the People, and for the People!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I say that we need to do more to return the Festival to the control of the People! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In my view there are those in the Pride Conglomerate that seek to expand the role of their egos, as opposed to, expanding the overall beneficial impact that PrideFest has on the city of Milwaukee, and the state of Wisconsin.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;One positive note however is that, economically, PrideFest continues to show expansive improvement in its profitability... but as any good business man or woman will tell you profitability means "absolutely nothing"&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;if you don't appear have the public perception to back it up.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;One thing for certain is that I believe in the power of PrideFest. I believe that the people who support the leadership of PrideFest are genuine in their dedicated commitment to its mission. And I believe that PrideFest has the power to shift its focus back to the basics which became the foundation by which the cornerstone we see today stands before us.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;But that foundation is cracked by the wait of inactivity in the face of a continuous call for change from amidst the state of the status quoe&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Here are my recommendations which, if implemented, would, in my opinion, strengthen the Festival for the future to come. A future that can be restored by repairing the structural flaws that seem to destabilise the historic structure that stands for justice, symbolic of the struggle that led the way in the Midwest, for people everywhere to experience equality, and embrace in the Community which has come to demonstrate diversity in the midst of the divisions we see throughout the modern world.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We as a people oppressed by opposition need to call ourselves to act in the following ways and hold PrideFest accountable to the culture for whom it continues to serve as Ambassador!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Let us begin by promoting change through the following steps:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;1. Set term limitations on all PrideFest Committee leadership positions. These terms should be staggered so that inexperience does not cause additional problems but instead allows for the youth and inexperience of the &lt;em&gt;idea fresca&lt;/em&gt; to flow freely and without fail. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;2. Return to a Direct Democratic representation and resolve to begin to create more opportunities to advance the ideals that are enshrined in the minds of the masses. People should be given the opportunity to elect those wishing to serve on the PrideFest Committee.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;3. Power should not rest solely in the people blessed by our Holy Mother Earth with financial prosperity but should include and encompass the values and principles of people less prosperous as much as it appears to reside in the realm of those who have the most to lose by letting go of the iron rule currently held by such a select nobility. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;4. Honour all of the Sacred Traditions of the Eco - Reverent spirituality's and provide full accessibility by way of equal representation to the ministries of the shaman and women who inspire by allowing them to serve on the Ecumenical Committee with valor and distention.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;5. Reflect upon what it means to live in these United States and honor those, in our community, who have dedicated their careers and, in many cases, sacrificed their lives to protect and serve the Republic within which we now have the privilege to come together and stand as one body assembled in witness to our identity . &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;6. Put into action a full fledged commitment to recycle and end the support of environmental ignorance. Discontinue the use of plastic beverage cups in favour of a more acceptable renewable solution, such as recycled paper. Generate additional revenue by creating a fundraising drive focused on the collection of aluminium cans throughout the year. Offer every environmentally conscious consumer, willing to participate in the project, a reusable beverage container to use during the Festival. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Follow these above mandates and it is my firm belief that the aspirations of change will happen and, as they do, the trust which appears to have been so often eroded by our historic discrepancies will weave its way into the rainbow fabric that brings to light a brighter future for the tapestry of tomorrow.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;After all, it was the late Helena Petrova Blavatsky who said, " To act and act wisely when the time for action comes, to wait and wait patiently when it is time for repose, put man in accord with the rising and falling tides (of affairs), so that with nature and law at his back, and truth and beneficence as his beacon light, he may accomplish wonders. Ignorance of this law results in periods of unreasoning enthusiasm on the one hand, and depression on the other. Man thus becomes the victim of the tides when he should be their Master."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;END&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-3410712629858287331?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/3410712629858287331/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=3410712629858287331' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3410712629858287331'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3410712629858287331'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/06/pridefest-future-or-flop-decision-2007.html' title='PRIDEFEST,  A FUTURE OR A FLOP... DECISION 2007'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-8356642061973277710</id><published>2007-06-06T12:23:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-06-09T17:37:02.919-05:00</updated><title type='text'>WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Yesterday, 05, June 2007 was World Environment Day and today's article focus is on the state of the Global &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Enviro&lt;/span&gt;-scape.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Official Website:&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.unep.org/wed/2007/english/"&gt;http://www.unep.org/wed/2007/english/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We as humans create more waste and destruction than any other force of impact in our world today. The leader in this ecological devastation is the United States and its chief culprit is the automobile.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Let me ask you however if a grade were to be handed out on the basis of performance in the United States strictly on the basis of our current environmental policy and preservation initiatives...my opinion is that the score that would ultimately be that of a &lt;strong&gt;D -&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We have not failed primarily because the international community is forcing us to begin to duologue on the issues of greatest impact to our Mother Earth.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We do not do enough to implement the things we talk about into forces for change. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In Wisconsin alone there are no changes in the state's largest populated metropolitan area to provide alternatives such as, public transportation, bike trail repair, or trains.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Instead we focus on "cost effective" cuts which do nothing to the long term effects of these problems but to provide a short term solution.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;This is a despicable response to a devastating crisis. Politicians who continue to fail to address the needs of the Planet and its peoples should be replaced by election recall. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;The needs of our Planet out way the needs of America's corporate pockets, and the political community which supports them. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I feel it is time that we stand up for the global rights of others and heal our land instead of continuing to hurt it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Here are some of the ways in which I feel we could better &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;benefit&lt;/span&gt; the World around us.:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;1. Use as many forms of Public Mass Transit as possible like:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Milwaukee County Transit&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.ridemcts.com/"&gt;http://www.ridemcts.com/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;Metra&lt;/span&gt; Rail Transit&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.metrarail.com/"&gt;http://www.metrarail.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;2. Mobilize Pollution Free through:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Milwaukee by Bike&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/BiketoWork1989.htm"&gt;http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/BiketoWork1989.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/BicycleTaskForce3727.htm"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bicycle Task Force&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/BicycleTaskForce3727.htm"&gt;http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/BicycleTaskForce3727.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bike Lanes &amp;amp; Routes&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/BikeLanesandBikeRout14143.htm"&gt;http://www.ci.mil.wi.us/BikeLanesandBikeRout14143.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;3. Organize by Supporting:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Green&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Cross&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;International&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.gci.ch/index.htm"&gt;http://www.gci.ch/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;U. N. Environmental Programme&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.unep.org/"&gt;http://www.unep.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;U. U. Ministry for Earth&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://uuministryforearth.org/cgi/news.cgi"&gt;http://uuministryforearth.org/cgi/news.cgi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I. T. E. C.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.itecmembers.org/"&gt;http://www.itecmembers.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;4. Advocate by Educating the Future:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;N. A. A. E. E.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://eelink.net/pages/EE-Link+Introduction"&gt;http://eelink.net/pages/EE-Link+Introduction&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;E. P. A. Environmental Education&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.epa.gov/enviroed/"&gt;http://www.epa.gov/enviroed/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;5. Co-exist through &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;Conscious&lt;/span&gt; Energy Consumption&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Energy Star&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.energystar.gov/"&gt;http://www.energystar.gov/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;And finally remember to help bridge the gap between those who have, those who have less, and those who have none!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Believe it or not folks, but science shows that people care less about the impact they are having on the environment when they cannot afford access to &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Health care&lt;/span&gt;, which according to the United Nations is a necessary Right, not an optional &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;Privilege&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Only when we begin to focus our support of profits in a direction which limits their negative impact on the Human &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;Psyche&lt;/span&gt; can true liberty, and freedom be given to each, and every person through out the world.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;This means a&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;ppropriately&lt;/span&gt; dealing with the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"&gt;disparage&lt;/span&gt; in the African Union region of &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"&gt;Dar fur&lt;/span&gt;. It also means that we as a society, more locally, need to respect the rights of our employees by realizing that people are not to be viewed as property to be expended or disposed of when we have gotten our &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"&gt;use fullness&lt;/span&gt; out of them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We can do better... we must do better... or we will continue to pay more and get less!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;END &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-8356642061973277710?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/8356642061973277710'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/8356642061973277710'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/06/world-environment-day.html' title='WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-3579982214924398018</id><published>2007-05-16T22:13:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-05-16T22:44:49.895-05:00</updated><title type='text'>A FAREWELL TO FALWELL</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Today, as citizens throughout the World and the United States turned on their televisions, and read their newsprint, the headlines read...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Jerry Falwell dead at 73.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;While I am saddened at the death of a fellow member of humanity I am reminded of the sadness that Mr. Falwell has allegedly helped to create in the lives of many Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Inter-gendered people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I believe that, through this event the under served of the world who may have suffered from the impacts of the example of "Christ" which was so profoundly visible in the life, word, and ministry of the friends of Falwell, may through this &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;triadic&lt;/span&gt; experience a greater sense of what the Conservatives often speak of...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;a Culture of Compassion.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I am truly saddened for the families of the Falwell's and hope that this tragedy will bring them closer to the truth... the truth that Jesus came to give life to everyone that all may live in true abundance!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Since the United States was founded on the principles of prosperity, the Melting pot of our modern society molds many of us to embrace the values of tolerance, equality, and empowerment that became focus of our faith(s) and values.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;While I disagree with the fundamental views of Mr. Jerry Falwell, I reflect upon the example that he has led for so many and pray that the course of correction within the Evangelical Movement may finally begin.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Only when this happens can Christ heal the hurting and help the hopeless.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;READ MORE AT: &lt;/strong&gt;  &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;END&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-3579982214924398018?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/3579982214924398018/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=3579982214924398018' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3579982214924398018'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3579982214924398018'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/05/farewell-to-falwell.html' title='A FAREWELL TO FALWELL'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-3659597236340647885</id><published>2007-04-23T22:33:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-23T22:54:03.488-05:00</updated><title type='text'>HOLY MOTHER EARTH DAY</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Yesterday&lt;/span&gt; was busy for me as I attended ceremonies honouring the Planet on this, the auspicious occasion of Earth Day in the United States.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;In light of the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;contemplative&lt;/span&gt; nature of the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;events&lt;/span&gt;, I thought of a Prayer which I will take the opportunity to share:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Great Invocation&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;From the point of Light within the Mind of our Mother &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Let light stream forth into the minds of humanity. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Let Light descend on Earth.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From the point of Love within the Heart of our Mother &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Let love stream forth into the hearts of humanity. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;May Christ - &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;consciousness&lt;/span&gt; return to Earth.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From the centre where the Will of our Mother is known &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Let purpose guide the little wills of mankind&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;The purpose which the Masters know and serve. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From the centre which we call the race of mankind &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Let the Plan of Love and Light work out &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;And may it seal the door where evil dwells. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;It pleases me that the Planet is taken so seriously in our modern era... yet there is much to be done to complete what we have begun, and we may never be &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;completely&lt;/span&gt; able to complete our work.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We as &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;human beings&lt;/span&gt; have a responsibility to protect and serve the whole of life in all of its forms no matter how that life may &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;impact&lt;/span&gt; us.  I believe that only then, will the Natural order of the Planet begin to become restored.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We must demand more from those who have given us less... we must hold fast to the convictions of today so that time will have a chance to change the direction of &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;tomorrow&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;We have much to be thankful for, that is indeed certain, but we still have much to do.  Our work will continue. Our worship of the Holy Mother Earth will waken the minds of the Enlightened, and the advocates for the environment will continue to advance the cause of education on behalf of our Mission.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Have a Happy Earth Day! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;[END]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-3659597236340647885?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/3659597236340647885/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=3659597236340647885' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3659597236340647885'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/3659597236340647885'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/holy-mother-earth-day.html' title='HOLY MOTHER EARTH DAY'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-7055566643741349687</id><published>2007-04-16T22:02:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-16T22:51:37.156-05:00</updated><title type='text'>THE COMMONWEALTH CAMPUS</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Today the world pauses on behalf of the collegiate community at Virgina Tech which has been saddened by the tragedy and the families of the students impacted by this mornings events. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;"In Praise of the Planet" wishes to extend its most sincere sentiments, in sympathy, as the community and its campus come together on Tuesday at 2:00P.M. local time for Convocation in the &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Cassell&lt;/span&gt; Coliseum.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Information on the status of the situation as it continues to evolve may be found at the Official Emergency Management Response Resource at: &lt;a href="http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/"&gt;http://www.vt.edu/tragedy/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;It is my personal hope that, through this and other &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;tragic&lt;/span&gt; events in our nations not so distant past of impact to the Educational infrastructure that a duologue will finally begin in the halls of Congress, the Senate, and resonate throughout the Country to call an end to this apparent crisis!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Only then will we be able to say that our society values its schools. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Lately however, the conversation often seems to center around the cost of our schools as opposed to the quality of their campuses and, as a result, many teachers are facing the unemployment line, and classrooms across the country often go underfunded and under resourced.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In my opinion, these buildings should be protected in the same manner as any other government related facility, for the simple fact that, we as a society have an obligation to our students, and their teachers, to provide for their safety.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Yet, it seems that there are many schools which appear to be not as prepared to provide for the safety of the students, and staff they serve. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;In my opinion, there needs to be a greater emphasis placed on the implementation of similar procedures, and safety standards as those which are currently used to protect those in the civil service at court houses throughout the country.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Let us pause and pray to our Holy Mother, the Earth, for all of the pain and suffering of the victims, their families, and those who love and support them. Let us also remember to pray for the family of the alleged assailant and those who knew and loved him.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Only when we can extend the hand of healing to the hearts of everyone affected can we begin to face the future together in a common goal... to end the violence and live in victory in stead of fear!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Our Hearts go out to Heal the Hurting!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;[ END]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-7055566643741349687?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/7055566643741349687/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=7055566643741349687' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/7055566643741349687'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/7055566643741349687'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/commonwealth-campus.html' title='THE COMMONWEALTH CAMPUS'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-4615793980202919069</id><published>2007-04-12T12:38:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-12T13:16:33.332-05:00</updated><title type='text'>THE STUDENT SPEAKS</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;It has recently come to my attention, so I thought I would take this opportunity to share some thoughts, that my Nephew has been studying with some interest the Environment, its Ecology, and the deep impact that we as human beings have had in the Divine Order that is found in Nature.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I have had the opportunity to discover that He has also experienced the harsh reality of the world in which we live.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;You see, "In Praise of the Planet" has learned that my Nephew has had to advocate on behalf of our Mother Earth in social circles which are not always accepting of the positions taken by Eco-reverent people.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I bring this to your attention as readers &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;because&lt;/span&gt; we as Missionaries of Our Holy Mother Earth need to do more to support students supporting us.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;The fact remains thanks to recent Court a&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;cknowledgement&lt;/span&gt;, that regardless of how individuals the United States choose to view the issue, Global Warming, in my opinion,  not only exists, but is &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;scientifically&lt;/span&gt; proven and, as a result, it is therefore the responsibility of the whole of humanity to accept heal the pain we are causing the entire Planet.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;If we do not act on behalf of those who are not able to act of their own accord, then who will?  The problem is no longer up for continued debate, the issue has been settled, humanity seems to be the cause of the Planet's problems!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;It remains to be seen however just when we are going to forge ahead and do about our current ecological crisis...or, for that matter, just what we plan to do about the mess that has been made for our Mother.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Congratulations, is here - by awarded to my Nephew for his dedication to the cause of the Creatures of this World!  May He always remember the importance of standing up for the responsible ideas, and  convictions he believes in.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Who knows, maybe someday he would be interested in writing a for "In Praise of the Planet" along with his Uncle.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;The invitation is always open!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;[ END ]&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-4615793980202919069?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/4615793980202919069/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=4615793980202919069' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/4615793980202919069'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/4615793980202919069'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/student-speaks_12.html' title='THE STUDENT SPEAKS'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-8598135319477568843</id><published>2007-04-11T22:08:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-11T22:47:46.295-05:00</updated><title type='text'>THE WEAPON OF WORDS</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Ethics and the spoken word seemed to be the buzz today as many of us turned on the news in any part of the United States.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;From the issues of speech an how is can advance the cause of ethnic diversity, or apparently set the dialog on equality and diversity back for years to come.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Or for that matter how through the alleged misunderstanding of case evidence an accident of injustice can occur.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;I must say that I am not pleased with the manner in which the televised media has chosen to cover the issues of our day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Yesterday, we saw how the media chose to cover the paternity issue of baby Lynn...today we heard about a national talk show host and a controversy that was fueled with the help of the modern technology of 21st century media.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;And then we saw how sometimes what we say carries the potential to have legal implications which often affect many aspects of our life.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;As I look at it all, I am reminded of the words of Jesus, the Jewish mystic who shared with the Temple leadership, in several ways, how important it is for everyone to forgive each other, to guard out tongues and refrain from issuing judgements on those around us.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;The Law of Karma takes it further when it reminds us that what we do in the present produces results in the future.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;And from those result we either attain to the realization that we have ascended to a new understanding within Nature or that we must return born once again in a similar circumstance in order to learn from our Mother Earth the lesson she wishes to enlighten us with.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;We must learn to forgive all beings, and at the same time try harder to remember not to forget those things in our society which through experience evolve into the lessons of this life which we learn from as we prepare for what's in store for us in the next. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Now is the time for all beings to promote more Healing and less hurt!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;[ END ]&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-8598135319477568843?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/8598135319477568843/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=8598135319477568843' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/8598135319477568843'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/8598135319477568843'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/weapon-of-words.html' title='THE WEAPON OF WORDS'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-5718543623015640775</id><published>2007-04-10T14:58:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-10T15:30:37.830-05:00</updated><title type='text'>THE FUTURE OF A FAMILY</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;Moments ago the paternity of the late Anna Nichole Smith's baby, Danny Lynn, was announced in a Bahamanian court.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;While I am pleased that the Judicial process has been used to finally put an end to the dispute which continues to be resolved, I am saddened that the child being disputed has to experience these events.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Simply put, the fact that our world has &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;progressed&lt;/span&gt; to the point where we have to watch such things on the television and get "up to the minute" updates on the status of what would otherwise be considered, if it were not for the parties involved, a private matter.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Mother Nature, in my opinion, surely never intended for a child's family to be divided along such a delicate and complicated lines. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I believe the issues surrounding this case may speak loudly in favor of the view that a persons behavior freedom of choice  may in fact impact others, who may &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;infact&lt;/span&gt; be innocent by standers, in &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;unforeseen&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;unanticipated&lt;/span&gt; ways.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;By that I mean that I am sure that no one romantically involved with baby Lynn's mother would have guessed that from those intimate moments, would arise such a series of legal events.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;My only hope is that the family determined in the future will be able to create, for baby Lynn, the opportunities that she needs to be able to understand when the time comes, the events that led today, up to her future &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;tomorrow&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;Perhaps the lesson we can learn from all of the attention to this case, will result in more thought from a world which appears to be so accustomed to acting on feelings of impulse.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;I wish the best for everyone involved and continued success down the road of life ahead.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;[ END ] &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-5718543623015640775?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/5718543623015640775/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=5718543623015640775' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/5718543623015640775'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/5718543623015640775'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/future-of-family.html' title='THE FUTURE OF A FAMILY'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349635144229132365.post-2877183923104380443</id><published>2007-04-09T15:37:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-04-09T15:41:03.790-05:00</updated><title type='text'>THE COMMEMORATION OF SPRING</title><content type='html'>The Mysticism of Spring comes to us through the natural order of Birth, the beginning stage of the Cycle of Life. For many in the Western world, this weekend recalls the final days of the Nazarene.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As I meditate on the Season celebrated I pondered today how for the Hebrews it is a transitional period of cultural significance. Tradition says that the Hebrews became liberated from the culture which held them in servitude and, in so doing, cultivated for themselves a new society of promise resurrected from the struggle which ultimately, it is claimed, formed the essence of their current identity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I thought also of the Wheel of Karma and how it is guided by the natural Law of Action and Reaction, that is to say that everything that we as human beings cultivate produces a by-product.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So it was with the tradition that became known as Easter. The Nazarene, according to the story, died a human death and then overcame it by providing the world with what would become an ethical system that lives to this day.As Humanists we can learn much from the central message of Jesus:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Feed the Hungry&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Care for those in Need&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. Love your fellow Beings&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;These things are at the core of his message. A message which many have yet to apparently full fill throughout many parts of the world.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So for me today Mother Earth reminds me that through Easter I must ever remind myself to do better than the year before. To correct that which remains unjust, and to strive to live in a manner fully cognoscente of the Divine within, The Divine Self, Source of all, center of my faith and practice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;May we learn to place the needs of others before those of ourself and in the process become the change that can infuse the world. Happy Holidays!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;[ END]&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2349635144229132365-2877183923104380443?l=inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/feeds/2877183923104380443/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=2349635144229132365&amp;postID=2877183923104380443' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/2877183923104380443'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/2349635144229132365/posts/default/2877183923104380443'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://inpraiseoftheplanet.blogspot.com/2007/04/commemoration-of-spring.html' title='THE COMMEMORATION OF SPRING'/><author><name>N.</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
