Empowering People

When you engage in empowering people you should never expect anything back. When you're involved in this you must find the passion to do it and be content in it. At times, I seems selfish to have the passion because it feels good. However, the empowerment will lift-motivate people and help them take thier course.

It could be something as small as showing them something infront of thier face that was not so apparent to them. It could be something as large as helping them carry the banner of thier cause.

Yes, at times people who empower others die pennyless but what else is thier to die for.

Decisiveness: sen sen no sen

Well, I have been studying and practicing the concept of sen sen no sen in a realm outside of martial arts and its really takes a keen sense. Fudoshin and sen sen no sen go hand in hand and the right balance is a challenge. My sense of intent has certainly been developed over the years which has been an asset today. I could only imagine that it will improve in the future with more practice.

I am putting these skills into play in my daily and public life which may prove to be effective, efficient, and invaluable.

We shall see.

Above video applies

Face Marred By Dust & Sweat

I cant help but put myself into the fray of things. I especially enjoy interrupting the selfish horders who deceive the people. I frequently ask myself why I do it and I always get the same answer...because I must.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievement, and, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

We Are Human After All.

What it comes down too in the final analysis is that we are all humans with faults. Our experiences create who we are despite how perfect we want to become or pretend to be. It’s my philosophy to try to understand things I'm unfamiliar with and be compassionate toward people and all living things. Who am I to judge? When reduced to base human beings its easier to understand and appreciate life (& of others. I'm just another flawed human being given the gift of life.

US News Block of Iranian Protest

I dont know which is worse, Ahmadinejad's forced news black out of the Iranian Protest or the US News Agencies obession with Michael Jackson. How pathetic are we? I'm ashamed for the News Services.

I Stand in Solidarity with Iranian Protestors in Tehran

I'm inspired by the great courage of Iranian Protestors who are attempting to seize their countries future.

The progressive, young people and women of Iran have the collective will to change the course, make their government more reflective of who they are, and bring Iran into the global community.

We know that this movement will take great sacrafices and our hearts weigh heavy for you.

They should know that people around the world and from Santa Fe Springs-Whittier California support them in their struggle.

This is the time. This is the place. We are waiting in anticipation.

LA Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

Yes, another pleasant visit to the LA Arboretum on its Annual Garden Show. As Wilde would have put it, there were so many people I couldnt see the flowers & trees and, at times, so many flowers & trees I couldnt see the people which is worse.

Regardless, It was a wonderful day. As you may know, there is great personal value in enjoying the Arboretum and Gardens. Even the great Musashi Miyamoto later found the peaceful calm and centering which nature gives to us.

So Kiss My Arse if you dont like a man who appreciates flora. Calm...centering.

SF Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum

There are few things I enjoy more than a Botanical Garden in nice sunny breezy weather. Ever more, a blooming garden near it peak is delightful. The SF Botanical Garden at Strybing Aboretum is spectacular with its grand trees, fragrant flora and ocean breezes. I was particularly fortunate to enjoy the bloom of the camellia japonica and magnolias.

Karate Exam-Shinsa; Tiny Tots Pass!

I'm very proud of my tiny tot (3-5 yrs) students who recently tested and were promoted to higher belts. I began by asking them if they wanted a quick review before the test and they all said in one voice "NO, now". They exhibited a steadfast discipline and focus. I was incredibly impressed with their demeanor. They didn’t complain once or speak a word out of turn. They demonstrated their curriculum with confidence and know how. No adult or teen class has been so on top.

Naturally, because they were well prepared I made it harder. Still, they pushed themselves and focused beyond any pain or discomfort.

These are young leaders. They naturally lead their class peers and assist them when they need help. They have reached an impressive level. Now, more challenges will come.

Black Cloud

Black Clouds represent renewal and cleansing. They bring rain water that nuritouses the earth and lightning that causes cleansing in nature.

When the darkness comes we must look inward to find the light and have courage. To understand what we see in the darkness may not be real but only shadows.

This is the emotional part of ourselves, like the flowing water we must learn to go with the flow of life. The time of the West is when we learn that we are responsible to all things and to each other. We gather ourselves and family, working together to prepare for what is to come. Black symbolizes change from this life.

Moz Retains the Faith(ful) in Years of Refusal

The patron saint of (YOR) universal trouble makers exerts his bold lyrical talents and reaches a new height in musical achievement.

The faithful, like me, grow fonder of our high regarded hero of anti heroes.

With out Morrissey who would be there to express how we really feel and loath?

I'm looking forward to catching his gigs in the Southwest.

I dont remember the Last Time I Spoke to Carol!

Morrissey Gracias!

The Others can kiss my arse.

I'm Dissapointed to Remark "I Told You So".

The wake of destruction has now arrived and the cause long gone. I'm still astonish by the blatant deniel and disregard for the consequences of a laisser-faire attitude.

Things of this maganitude were built over time and did not just occur overnight.

Will they relize thier huge mistake and turn it around?

I dont kow.

Peanut Greed, Bailout Billionaires, Cheaters! I'm Sick!

With the greedy peanut ceo, bailout billionaires who we are paying for, and all the cheats make me sick to my stomach. Time for a bailout "tea-party" in protest of those greedy grubbers. Who cares about the octuplet mom. What about jobs, and the unemployed Americans!

Im Sick.

Fund & Revive the Civilian Conservation Corp.

In time of economic depression, this is the BEST time to revive the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) that employed so many people in the Great Depression, rebuilt America, and lead to re-skilled workers.

I'm an advocate for the CCC's work with National Parks and our parks need conservation. Furthermore, I believe that working in National Parks will ignite a great sense of fundamental environmentalism for a new generation of Americans.

This is the time to begin to reverse environmental damage and employ Americans to do something now.

Not to mention, I'm all for restricting small occupancy vehicles in to Yosemite and only allowing busses and other large occupancy vehicles. Radical, ha?

Come Home Billy Budd!!

It's time for Billy to come home. Claggart is dead. There is nothing you can do about it. It has passed.

"Forty years after a battle it is easy for a non-combatant to reason about how it ought to have been fought. It is another thing personally and under fire to direct the fighting while involved in the obscuring smoke of it." HM

"The Care Of Human Life And Happiness, And Not Their Destruction, Is The First And Only Legitimate Object Of Good Government."

Thomas Jefferson, letter to Republican Citizens of Washington County, Maryland
Monticello, March 31, 1809

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As a life long student of philosophy, and political philosophy at that, these days are viewed with profound meaning and clarity. There is no mystic. It is clear as a rare winter’s day in Los Angeles. All of a sudden, to the east are mountains caped with white snow, to the north is the Hollywood sign, to the west is Catalina. Things never seemed so clear.


The impact of the "change" will reverberate throughout the world and have a lasting affect for America. I'm hoping that Americans embrace change responsibly and maintain it consistently. Environmental, health, economic and other changes most be held. We must not give up two months, two years or two decades from now. The change must be unwavering and part of our culture.

Happy New Year: Same Priortities with Greater Focus

Priorities really havent changed for 2009. Balance, happiness, decisiveness and compassion continue to be high values. However, focus on standing priorities will be greater this year.

There will be no time for hesitation. Attainment of Goals will be decisive-quick.


Fudoshin:
A spirit of unshakable calm and determination,
courage without recklessness,
Like a willow tree,
powerful roots deep in the ground
and a soft, yielding resistance against
the winds that blow through it.