All united for Peace

I literally StumbleUpon'd The Political Compass , a website that looks to go beyond the traditional left-right political division. They offer a test that breaks down where you stand and compares you to current and past world leaders. (My results are below) "If we recognise that this is essentially an economic line it's fine, as far as it goes. We can show, for example, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung and Pol Pot, with their commitment to a totally controlled economy, on the hard left. Socialists like Mahatma Gandhi and Robert Mugabe would occupy a less extreme leftist position. Margaret Thatcher would be well over to ... Read Full Story

It has been said that roughly 80-90% of people share the same religion: the one that their moms and dads had. I've always thought that a very sad commentary on our willingness or ability to apply our "God-given" capacity of reason--our ability to think for ourselves. It's also suggested a very dangerous number of people willing to subject their young to brainwashing tactics. Hopefully, according to the Pew Forum's newly released US Religious Landscape Survey,( http://religions.pewforum.org/ ) the winds of change have begun to loosen organized religions' hold on their formerly indoctrinated members. By overwhelming percentages, Americans are changing their religious affiliations rather than ... Read Full Story

Record turnout in both Iowa and New Hampshire proves that the battle cry of the democratic candidates (and a few of the Republicans) is true – Americans want change. Regardless of age, political affiliation, their sex, race, their economic background we are all dissatisfied with the present and worried about our future. This collective discontent can go one of two waves: Tear us apart and cripple (if not destroy) our country or it can unite and rejuvenate us. The deciding factor of which path we take, I believe is communication. Open, honest, earnest communication – not with our friends, but with those outside of ... Read Full Story

IS A HEALING THING. I so love this. I remember when I was in elementary through high school going to the basketball games that my dad coached and the whole audience actually sang the National Anthem . Now, I am the only one who sings at public events that I can hear. Everyone just stands and listens. No singing. This is so wonderful to see this video. There is a video of this song, You'll Never Walk Alone , being sung by a soloist at the beginning of the soccer game, but then the whole audience takes the song over. Here the song is ... Read Full Story

I'd heard the sound of banging from the apartment beneath us a little earlier and got up to investigate. I always use my cats as a gauge. If they seem unsettled, then something's up. Our brightest cat had appeared a little twitchy but then seemed to calm down . I stumbled sleepy-eyed back to bed. An hour later, the gunshots went off. Five of them. Blam, blam, blam, blam, blam right outside our window. Or so it seemed. We overlook the estuary of the Umgeni River and across the water is what we affectionately term as Bollywood - a motley group of restaurants, take-aways, ... Read Full Story