tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108901532011-11-02T11:19:32.094-07:00Peace to you, and to all who enter...<br> <br> There is gold in the morning,<br> Music all around us,<br> And the night is filled with diamonds.<br>vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-17647611420535507912010-03-04T23:30:00.000-08:002010-03-04T23:43:40.699-08:00

My best friend, Mystic, has passed on.My heart is breaking, but I am so blessed to have had this last thirteen years with him. He meant more to me than I can put into words, and there is a huge hole in my life right now - but the Spirit speaks to me of the profound privilege and honor of being able to be Mystic's person for so long, for so many years. He led a very, very good life, and left his

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-32957572694784709022009-05-15T01:31:00.000-07:002011-04-01T00:51:52.898-07:00

Okay, so this is proof that music is truly magical.

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-12908980281109224412008-07-06T14:23:00.000-07:002008-07-06T14:28:16.691-07:00

Hi!Here are some great little videos:Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 1)Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 2)Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 3)Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 4)Indigenous Native American Prophecy (Elders Speak part 5)

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-15914149882239694472008-07-03T08:45:00.000-07:002008-07-03T08:48:25.191-07:00

Hi!I've reenabled the comments, with the word verification feature activated. Have a fine day!:~)

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-43157660243767997062008-06-06T18:25:00.000-07:002008-09-05T10:18:57.352-07:00

A big philosophical difference exists between Barack Obama and John McCain concerning their approach to our economic difficulties. The Republican (McCain's) approach is to ease the tax burden on corporations and businesses in the assumption that they will be able to grow their businesses, hire more people and stimulate the economy. The Democrat philosophy (Obama's) is to create government

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-59739691825634524322008-05-15T23:52:00.000-07:002008-05-15T23:58:57.058-07:00

My condolences to the people whose lives were disrupted by the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. My hope for victims of the former is that the people of Myanmar will replace the government with one that serves them better. My hope for victims of both horrific events is that the goodness of life will somehow reassert itself in your lives and not be eclipsed by the pain that

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-54986631151722042392007-11-05T12:45:00.001-08:002007-11-05T12:46:55.686-08:00

Hi!I'm sorry, but rampant spam postings have forced me to disable comment posting. If you want to post a comment, however, email me and I'll add you to the blog members list so you can post. Have a fine day!:~)

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-78850067623578002652007-10-30T10:11:00.000-07:002007-10-30T10:22:25.232-07:00

Hello! Well, my brother and I are livin' in the new home, and we're lovin' it. The season is turning, day's are gettin' colder and colder, so we're sort of hunkerin' down and gettin' ready for the snow - we'll be warm this winter, the new place is so well insulated the heater only has to run for a little while to warm the place up. It doesn't leak heat like the old trailer did; the heater in

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-15159075740963026122007-06-19T15:41:00.000-07:002007-06-19T15:43:11.858-07:00

Hi!Well, I've bought a travel trailer and am going to live in it at the resort for the summer while they build my brother's new house. Check out the Bulletin Board on my site (link in the margin) for more info and links. Hope you're phat an' happy...:~)

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-9260157674762284902007-05-07T21:10:00.000-07:002007-05-07T21:15:20.129-07:00

Hi! Well, it looks like my brother is going to be able to build a house here on his property! This was the plan, of course, but the reality of it happening is ... pretty darn neat! Anyway, we're going to be a bit displaced this summer while they build the place, and I'm going to be traveling, off and on, and so relatively out of touch... as if that's something new. Anyway, I'm feeling a

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-7424747489240747902007-03-30T01:05:00.000-07:002007-03-30T19:42:37.956-07:00

Hi.This person is just getting old. He has no energy, no drive or sense of purpose or direction. He has little hope mankind will stop shooting himself in the foot any time soon, or learn how to take care of the planet. Things seem awfully bleak and grim to this person.Oh, this person knows about the golden moments - they are treasures, and there will be more, and the ripples in the pond will keep

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-8073057740956179342007-01-10T01:18:00.000-08:002007-01-10T01:19:47.055-08:00

Now, here's something refreshing: someone's talking about a balance!:~)

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-44869448315356902022006-12-30T01:24:00.000-08:002006-12-30T08:50:28.499-08:00

I'm really happy John Edwards is running for president again. Please visit his site, John Edwards for President. I learned a lot about him when I was supporting him in the last elections, and though I didn't agree with his position on every single issue, I found his proposed "Plan for America" to be pretty much in line with most of my thinking. In the two or three years since then he's gotten

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1161925061037512472006-10-26T21:55:00.000-07:002006-10-26T22:00:53.743-07:00

I was just reading that Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, is criticizing the United States for authorizing the building of a fence along our border, even comparing it to the Berlin Wall. Ummm... Mr. Fox... the Berlin Wall was built to keep people in so they wouldn't be exposed to the "corrupting influences of the capitalistic west," and to keep people out for pretty much the same reason. People

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1156306716315057612006-08-22T21:09:00.000-07:002006-08-22T21:18:36.326-07:00

Hello,I ran across this article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer, and thought it would be appropriate to re-post it here. Most of us know this already, it's pretty basic capitalist economics, but I think many of us seldom think about it. Perhaps, when we exercise our right to vote, we can cast it in such a way that it will have some impact on the way things are - I don't suppose they'll put "

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1153470876401698132006-07-21T01:31:00.000-07:002006-07-30T15:36:27.573-07:00

Okay, so this is my understanding of this whole Israeli-Palestinian thing. IF the facts are as I believe them to be, and have concluded them to be after reading the news about the middle east for some thirty-odd years. There are roughly two distinct viewpoints on this matter, as evidenced most glaringly if one reads several publications from both sides of the political spectrum, the 'left' and

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1152826266684330952006-07-13T13:59:00.000-07:002006-10-26T20:56:18.433-07:00

My buddy Rose just sent me a link to this article, which really got my attention and made me think about the implications of this ugly situation. The "corporate mindset" of our nation has allowed us to fail to see, or worse, ignore and do nothing about, the existence of this slave class of people in our culture, and it's causes and effects. Frosty Woodridge, the author of this article (published

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1149831441718386672006-06-08T22:34:00.000-07:002006-06-08T23:02:13.470-07:00

Hi!My greatly admired and erudite friend Bora Zivkovic has started a science blog! It's called A Blog Around the Clock... you should check it out, explore. Bora has a broad perspective and a penetrating mind, he'll no doubt make you think. Check out his other older blogs, too (they're linked to on A Blog Around the Clock).Have a fine day...

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1144266420411821562006-04-05T12:42:00.000-07:002006-10-26T22:24:47.196-07:00

Hi!I haven't written anything in here for a while... it's not because I haven't had anything to say, it's more that I've had too much to say! I get overwhelmed by current events and can't decide where to start, what to include in my rant, what to leave out, what's relevant or superfluous, and so on. I find myself in awe of both the complexity and the simultaneous simplicity of many of the issues

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1129877840558868212005-10-20T23:55:00.000-07:002005-10-21T15:42:01.710-07:00

In the post below titled "The Adversarial Mindset vs. Impartiality and Objectivity," I ended by expressing the hope that "Perhaps we can help find the balance between the realistic skepticism required for self-preservation and the optimistic hope of open-mindedness, objectivity and cooperation required... also for our self-preservation. Let's wish ourselves good fortune and do what we can." This

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1127802892807876462005-09-26T23:22:00.000-07:002005-09-27T07:12:55.536-07:00

If the government wants to allow schools to expand their 'science' cirriculum beyond scientifically based creation theories, and teach religion-based theories, shouldn't they include theories taught by other religious groups (such as Native American and other indiginous peoples) as well as Judeo-Christian based creation stories? Shouldn't we learn how one tribe's ancestors crawled out of a hole

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1124383342720260242005-08-18T09:30:00.000-07:002009-12-03T21:50:35.418-08:00

The Adversarial Mindset vs. Impartiality and Objectivity:Oxymoron? Paradox? Catch 22? A Balance to be Found?A while ago I made an entry comparing the definitions of patriotism and nationalism, noting that nationalism is anathema to the concepts of freedom and tolerance. A psychological prerequisite to the cultural phenomena of nationalism is an adversarial mindset. Without a predisposition to

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1120508518937892962005-07-04T13:21:00.000-07:002005-07-04T13:57:28.706-07:00

Merriam Webster defines these as:Patriotism:Function: noun: love for or devotion to one's countryNationalism:Function: noun: loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially: a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.Ignorance of the

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1119728569868589642005-06-25T12:41:00.000-07:002005-07-05T09:45:41.436-07:00

The Supreme Court's decision to allow the Eminent Domain ruling to be used to transfer property from individual property owners to other private parties and corporations to "serve the public interest" is a travesty. Using this logic, any property could be transferred by government edict to another owner if it was thought (by someone) that such transfer would serve the public interest (whatever

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1116641157844765402005-05-20T18:59:00.000-07:002005-07-04T20:36:58.180-07:00

The Relationship Between Politics and Religion...has been at the root of much of the world's pain. These days we're hearing a lot about this impossible conjunction in the context of our nation's political woes, particularly as regards the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court. It is without a doubt a profoundly important issue, perhaps the most important issue facing Americans today. I

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1109668892124532322005-03-01T01:09:00.000-08:002005-03-01T01:27:53.980-08:00

Howdy.I've been posting pictures in my Webshots Photo Albums for about five years, for much of the time I was living on Orcas Island. The San Juan Islands in Washington are a stunningly beautiful place, and it's hard to take a bad picture there... I have over a thousand pictures posted in my albums, and I'm finally getting around to doing a major cleanup and reorganization, removing redundant or

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1109195717611966612005-02-23T13:24:00.000-08:002005-02-23T13:55:17.613-08:00

Okay, this seems pretty simple to me. Social Security is a program designed to help basically two different kinds of people -- retirees, and people who have a disability that prevents them from working. It was not intended to be an investment plan, in the conventional sense of the term, but rather a safety net that would be there for whoever needed it. Social Security and investment plans are

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1109047833365340812005-02-21T20:40:00.000-08:002005-02-21T20:52:44.873-08:00

Howdy! Salutations from the high desert. Man, from the mountains to a sailboat to an island to the high desert, it's been a long and beautiful trip. Not without some bumps in the road, of course, they come with the territory, so to speak, but it's still been a beautiful trip -- I'm workin' on that "glass half full" premise, ya know?Anyway, it seems the older I get, the more important friendship

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1108666120765104932005-02-17T10:45:00.000-08:002005-02-17T11:43:23.370-08:00

Welcome to my blog, friend. The internet is an incredible thing, isn't it? Its scope encompasses just about the entire spectrum of human interest and endeavor, and its potential as a communication tool is virtually limitless. One of the things I've experienced in exploring and learning about it is a sense of being overwhelmed with the possibilities. Being a gregarious sort of guy (on some levels

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10890153.post-1108615260104684792005-02-17T07:09:00.000-08:002005-02-23T14:08:46.676-08:00

In contemplating what purpose this blog might serve, a number of ideas came to mind, but I wound up deciding on a forum for free expression, the exchange of thoughts and ideas, important or trivial. In other words, I couldn't decide what to use it for, or what to leave out! Please post some suggestions for topics you'd like to discuss here, in the comments of this post - I've got a few ideas, and

vagabondvethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147561699745315484noreply@blogger.com2