Lovewins: November 2021

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. YOU need to accept yourselt. - Thich Nhat Hanh

You are sexual. You are soulful. You are emotional. You are spiritual. You are magic. You are both of the light and the dark. You are human. Don't deny any aspects of who you are. A healthy soul is a whole soul. - unknown

My soul honors you soul. The divine light in me see and honors the divine light in you. We are one. - unknown

Yes, that is a nice reminder

You are doing a great job healing from some really hard stuff. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for contributing to the consciousness of the world. I love you. - J. Bates

Detachment is not that you own nothing, detachment means that nothing owns you. - Sujata

A FUTURE IS POSSIBLE - Thich Nhat Hanh

“When we see people living mindfully, smiling and behaving in a loving manner, we gain confidence in our future.”

There’s a lot of suffering in the world, and it’s important for us to stay in touch with this suffering in order to be compassionate. But to remain strong, we also need to embrace the positive elements. When we see a group of people living mindfully, smiling and behaving in a loving manner, we gain confidence in our future. When we practice mindful breathing, smiling, resting, walking, and working, we become a positive element in society, and we will inspire confidence in everyone around us. This is the way to avoid allowing despair to overwhelm us. It is also the way to help the younger generation so they don’t lose hope. It’s very important that we live our daily lives in such a way as to demonstrate that a future is possible. To bring about real change in our global ecological situation our efforts must be collective and harmonious, based on love and respect for ourselves and each other, our ancestors, and future generations. If anger at injustice is what we use as the source of our energy, we may do something harmful, something we will later regret. According to Buddhism, compassion is the only source of energy that is useful and safe. With compassion your energy is born from insight; it’s not blind energy. Just feeling compassion is not enough; we have to learn to express it. That is why love must always go together with understanding. Understanding and insight show us how to act. - Thich Nhat Hanh, in “The World We Have: A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology.”

We are all leaves of one tree. We are all waves of one sea. - Thich Nhat Hanh

All those cliches, those things you hear about having a baby and motherhood all of them are true. And all of them are the most beautiful things you will ever experience. - Penlope Cruz

Best Buy robbed by large group in Minnesota on Black Friday
Apple, Nordstrom stores hit in latest smash-and-grab robberies

Barren forests, dirty rivers, unbreathable air: Inside an Arctic city's vast pollution problem

A disagreement with a toxic partner will turn into an argument, that turns into a bigger problem. A disagreemtn with a divine partner will turn into a conversaton, that will lead to changed behavior or a solution. it's importanty you know the difference. - unknown

The One Thing We Couldn’t Talk About
Bad friends

Surround yourself with people that push you to do and be better. No draam or negativity. Just higher goals and higher motivation. Good times and positive energy. No jealousy or hate. Simply bringing out the absolute best in each other. - unknown

I cannot even imageine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends, relatives who have given me a heart full of joy, picked me up when I needed it, supported me when I felt I couldn't stand. And gave me fresh perspective to face another day. Thank you. I love you. You know who you are. - unknown

Love isn’t just being there for each other,⁣
it’s inspiring each other to be better. ⁣
Love is many things.⁣
⁣
It’s being a cheerleader when you need encouraging ⁣
It’s being a life coach when you need motivating⁣
⁣
⁣It’s being a friend when you need cheering up⁣
It’s being a child when you feel like being silly⁣
It’s being a soccer player when you need a kick up the butt⁣
It’s being a partner when you need the support⁣
It’s being a comedian when you need a good old belly laugh⁣
⁣
What is love to you?

Simple Habits That Keep Romance Alive When You're a Busy Parent
Small Things Often

Saturday, November 27, 2021

"What if we adults spent less effort trying to manufacture the citizens of tomorrow based upon either the imperfect present or how we would fix it, and more on helping children in front of us learn and achieve what they themselves want to learn and achieve right now? After all, they are the ones responsible for creating the future. They are the ones who will be living in it. Who are we to tell them what will be useful? Who are we to tell them what is a waste of time? This is why I am on the side of self-directed learning, or what we in preschool call play-based learning." - Teacher Tom
Is It Ethical To Prepare Children For The Future?

Bolsonaro Launched A Trumpian Anti-Vaccine Campaign. Brazilians Got The Shot Anyway.
COVID-19: Hungary to start talks on permission for Sputnik Light
India to push for patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines at WTO

Ethiopia PM Abiy says military will 'destroy' Tigray rebels
Ethiopia crisis raises new fears as civil war shows no signs of abating
Could Ethiopia's capital fall to Tigrayan and allied forces?
U.S. State Department advises all U.S. citizens to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible

U.S. to revoke terrorist designation for Colombia's FARC, add breakaway groups

只想到自己，完全不顧慮他人，這是「我行我素」。清楚自己的感受，同時顧慮他人的想法，這是「自我核心」。
乍看之下很接近，但事實完全不同，一開始是為對方好才做的事，到後來反而心生怨懟，過度期待對方回報，內心產生糾葛⋯⋯
如何重拾自我核心，需要的是傾聽自己內心深處的聲音，清楚感受「快樂不快樂」至於如何決定，完全是你的自由。
希望別人理解自己，這是自己的問題，與別人無關。擁有自己的中心思想，才能帶你找回自我。
唯有相信自己，才能讓你找回做自己的力量。- 山下英子

True salvation is freedom from compulsive thinking, from negativity, and above all from past and future as a psychological need.
Your mind is telling you that you cannot get there from here.
Something needs to happen, or you need to become this or that before you can be free and fulfilled. It is saying, in fact, that you need time – that you need to find, sort out, do, achieve, acquire, become, or understand something before you can be free or complete.
You see time as the means to salvation, whereas in truth it is the greatest obstacle to salvation.
You think that you can’t get there from where and who you are at this moment because you are not yet complete or good enough, but the truth is that here and now is the only point from where you can get there. You “get’ there by realizing that you are there already. You find God the moment you realize that you don’t need to seek God. So there is no only way to salvation: Any condition can be used, but no particular condition is needed. However, there is only one point of access: the Now. There can be no salvation away from this moment.
You are lonely and without a partner? Enter the Now from there. You are in a relationship? Enter the Now from there.
There is nothing you can ever do or attain that will get you closer to salvation than it is at this moment. This may be hard to grasp for a mind accustomed to thinking that everything worthwhile is in the future. Nor can anything that you ever did or that was done to you in the past prevent you from saying yes to what is and taking your attention deeply into the Now. You cannot do this in the future. You do it now or not at all.” - Eckhart Tolle

True salvation is a state of freedom from fear, from suffereing, from a perceived state of lack and insufficiency and therefore from all wanting, needing, grasping, and clinging. - Eckhart Tolle

Macron tells UK to 'get serious' on migrant crisis amid fresh tensions
French minister cancels meeting with Priti Patel in light of migrant crisis criticism
France, Britain spiral into crisis in wake of migrant deaths
Channel deaths fuel UK-France tensions over migrant boats
We can have British guards on French beaches by next week, Boris Johnson tells Emmanuel Macron
Letters: French sabre rattling over fishing rights betrays a grave lack of proportion
Britain tells France: back down in 48 hours or we get tough
U.S. reaches deal with European Union over steel and aluminum tariffs
Britain faces 'massacre' of 20 more bust energy suppliers, Scottish Power says
EU Mulls Terminating Brexit Trade Deal If U.K. Rift Deepens

Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics already. - unknown

True value of the person cannot be seen with the eye, but felt with the soul. - unknown

Your face will change. Your body will change. The only kind of beauty that endures is the kind that lives in your heart. - Lori Deschene

No beauty shines brighter than a good heart. - unknown

How a shaky cellphone video changed the course of the Ahmaud Arbery murder case
Before Ahmaud Arbery became a symbol, he was a teammate and a friend
Their own words may have doomed men who killed Ahmaud Arbery
3 white men are found guilty of murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery
Jury finds men guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery
Factbox: The charges in the Ahmaud Arbery case/a>
Black pastors gather in Brunswick, Ga., to support Ahmaud Arbery's family
Defense lawyer in Ahmaud Arbery murder trial tries to eject Jesse Jackson from court
'We don't want any more Black pastors coming in here,' says defense attorney in Arbery death trial
Prosecutor says the McMichaels chased Ahmaud Arbery for 5 minutes before killing him
How the jury in the Ahmaud Arbery case ended up nearly all white — and why it matters

"Every time a negative energy is embraced by the energy of mindfulness, it will no longer push you to do or to say things you do not want to do or say, and it loses a little bit of its strength as it returns as a seed to the lower level of consciousness.
The same thing is true for all mental formations: your fear, your anguish, your anxiety, and your despair. They exist in us in the form of seeds, and every time one of the seeds is watered, it becomes a zone of energy on the upper level of our consciousness.
If you don't know how to take care of it, it will cause damage, and push us to do or to say things that will damage us and damage the people we love.
Therefore, generating the energy of mindfulness to recognize, embrace, and take care of negative energy is the practice. And the practice should be done in a very tender, nonviolent way. There should be no fighting, because when you fight, you create damage within yourself.
To meditate does not mean to transform yourself into a battlefield with right fighting wrong, positive fighting negative.
Based on the insight of nonduality, the practice should be nonviolent. Mindfulness embracing anger is like a mother embracing her child, big sister embracing younger sister.
The embrace always brings a positive effect. You can bring relief, and you can cause the negative energy to lose some of its strength, just by embracing it.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

#love wins.. the world will be a better place because of this.

Not only can I disagree and still like you. I can dislike you and still love you. - Ayishat Akanbi

Be like water, my friend. - Bruce Lee

Nothing in this world can torment you as much as your own thoughts. - unknown

When gratitude becomes your default setting, life changes. - Nancy Leigh Demoss

Ikigai 生き甲斐"

A Japanese concept literally translate to " a reason for being "; ' a reason to get up in the morning ', to enjoy the meaning of life. - passion, purpose, something one lives for.

Jordanians protest against water-for-energy deal with Israel
After nearly 75 years, Israel finally finds acceptance in the Middle East
Poland to have no ambassador in Israel, amid tepid ties
He was the top U.N. official in Gaza. An Israeli TV interview cost him his post
gaza,TV,UN,Politics,Israel,Palestine,

To you , my love.

If you love a person, give them infinite space. - Osho

I want to live the rest of my life, however long or short, with as much sweetness as I can decently manage, loving all the people I love, and doing as much as I can of the workd I still have to do. I am going to write fire until. it's every breath I breathe. I'm going to go out like a fucking meteor. - Audre Lorde

It may not be in contemplation of outer space that the greatest discoveries and explorations of the coming centruies will occur, but in.. self- understanding. - Dorothy Tennov

The doors will be opened to those who are bold enough to knock. - Tony Gaskins

What causes the feeling?
The way you focus>
They are inextricably tied. - Abraham

You can feel as good, or as bad, as you decide to feel. - Abraham

It's your job to find a vibration that allows what you want, in. - Abraham

Feel the feeling but don't become the emotion. Witness it. Allow it. Release it. - Crystal Andrus

20211126法庭裁定《頭條新聞》部份得直，不過已經無關宏旨。《頭條》返唔到轉頭，香港電台返唔到轉頭，整個香港都返唔到轉頭！

Conservatives cry hypocrisy after Biden bans travel from 8 African countries
A once-remote patch of rainforest is now packed with migrants trying to reach the U.S.
Sen. Ted Cruz goes after Library of Congress for dropping term 'illegal alien'
An estimated 1,000 U.S. veterans can't return because of immigration status
Asylum seekers allege abuse by U.S. border authorities -report
Biden administration says it’s ready to restore ‘Remain in Mexico’ along border next month
Thousands of migrants gather on Colombian coast to attempt dangerous crossing toward the U.S.

If Merrick Garland Doesn’t Charge Trump and His Coup Plotters, Our Democracy Is Toast

German minister hopes patient transfers a 'wake-up call'
German government hesitant on lockdown as COVID cases rise/a>
Cases soar but Swiss eschew lockdown as COVID law vote looms
Europe and Russia battle a new wave of COVID-19
Peru has the world's highest COVID death rate. Here's why
In muddle of Merkel exit, COVID's fourth wave catches Germany out
South Africa Raises Alarm Over New Coronavirus Variant
New coronavirus variant in South Africa raises concern
South Africa Raises Alarm Over New Coronavirus Variant
Czechs order bars and restaurants shut early, president taken to hospital with COVID
Netherlands plans 'heavy measures' to stop COVID-19 spread - minister
Austria locks down, Merkel says new steps needed as Europe faces COVID freeze
Germans will be 'vaccinated, cured or dead' by winter's end, warns health minister
Germany promotes 'Rolls-Royce' Moderna shot to meet demand for COVID boosters
Singapore will begin easing its Covid restrictions next week.
Some Pacific nations will take years to vaccinate their populations, new research predicts
After slow starts, COVID vaccination rates in some Asian nations are now soaring
Protests have broken out across Europe in response to tightened COVID-19 restrictions
Disease control chief: "All of Germany is one big outbreak"
How lockdowns in Europe could scupper your holiday
Austria imposes nationwide lockdown and vaccine mandate amid coronavirus surge
Austria will enter lockdown and make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory
Scientists mystified, wary, as Africa avoids COVID disaster
Austria reimposes full lockdown, plans to make COVID vaccines compulsory
Why Spain has avoided Europe's COVID surge
Austria locks down its unvaccinated, and Netherlands reimposes restrictions, as Europe battles surge in COVID cases

France to consider some autonomy for Caribbean island amid unrest
Amid riots, France to consider some autonomy for Guadeloupe
France says it is willing to discuss autonomy for Guadeloupe
In apparent olive branch, Macron regrets "misunderstandings" over Algeria comments - French official

'Game of chicken': Debt ceiling standoff threatens state spending

EVEN THE HEALER NEEDS

EVEN THE HEALER NEEDS
Sometimes we are exactly what we need.
Eventually, the helper will need assistance.
The encourager will need uplifting.
The comforter needs reassurance,
and even the healer needs to be healed.
Through our emotional needs, life makes itself known,
exposes our similarities and insists on the importance
of connection within the warmth of empathetic presence.
Developing an awareness of what we need to be healthy,
to take in love and to feel safe in the world, then cultivating
clear and peaceful language to express each one vulnerably,
is a process that can open the door to harmony.
So, may you learn to listen and follow your heart’s
insistent cries of longing—back to the origin of
your earliest pains and bring forward your needs
to be heard, finally, with recognition,
understanding and acceptance.
And may you likewise know the content and deserving
blessing of feeling met and tenderly received. - Susan Frybort

Crypto enthusiasts want to buy an NBA team, after failing to purchase US Constitution
A crowd-funded group lost an auction for a first edition of the U.S. Constitution

錦瑟無端五十弦一弦一柱思華年
莊生曉夢迷蝴蝶望帝春心託杜鵑
滄海月明珠有淚藍田日暖玉生煙
此情可待成追憶只是當時已惘然

- 李商隱《錦瑟》

【紅色輪盤】沈棟接受《時代》雜誌專訪：我決定出書時已押下性命
【紅色輪盤】作者沈棟：洗腦成功兼無道德制約　中共離崩潰還遠
【紅色輪盤】作者沈棟：中國黃金時代已過　服務權貴必先泯滅人性
Entrepreneur Desmond Shum’s warning against business travel to China
'Red Roulette' Reveals The Inside Of China's Wealth-Making Machine

「沒人疼無所謂，自己要愛自己，要愛惜自己」即睇百變舞台天后梅艷芳10大愛情金句！

Column: Socking Trump's enablers where it counts — in their wallets
They Died From COVID. Then the Online Attacks Started.
Two lawyers who challenged 2020 election ordered to pay Dominion, Facebook, others
Judge orders two lawyers who filed suit challenging 2020 election to pay hefty fees: ‘They need to take responsibility’
OAN asks judge to drop the company's executives from Dominion's defamation lawsuit — but leave employees on the hook

Knowing that we're valued and being in the presence of people who want to share with us somethng of this world that they love are the two most important ingredients of education. - Fred Rogers

Italy, France deepen economic, defense cooperation
Italy, France to deepen ties as Merkel's exit tests European diplomacy
"Come to your senses", Germany urges Britain on N.Ireland
German parties reach a deal to form a coalition government as the era of Merkel ends
FCAS, Tempest fighter jet programmes will merge - Italy's air force chief
Italy, France to sign Rome treaty aimed at changing EU power balance - sources
France flexes muscle, puts warship in eastern Mediterranean

Friday, November 26, 2021

“Here's to alcohol, the rose colored glasses of life.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them, that only creates sorrow. Let reality by reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. - Lao Tzu

It Wasn’t a Hoax
In 'Betrayal,' ABC's Jonathan Karl asks: 'Must the Trump show go on?'
ABC's Jonathan Karl details Trump's efforts to overturn the election in 'Betrayal'
The smart debate rumbling through the Never Trump right
Republicans and Democrats contemplate a future without Donald Trump

Stress is a choice, so is peace. - unknown

Lovers are patient and know that the moon needs time to become full. - Rumi

Dozens missing after deadly Siberian mine accident
Death and destruction follow a Siberian coal mine fire

The earth has music for those listen. - William Shakespeare

We learn how to be resilient and handle difficult things by practicing dealing with difficult things. - Dr. Tina Payne Bryson

"Instead of distracting your kids in moments of challenge, give them the freedom and enough safety to feel their feelings, showing them that you can handle the challenge and that you trust that they can handle it. When they have repeated experiences walking through adversity with enough support, they learn how strong they are and come to know that they are resilient." - - Dr. Tina Payne Bryson

I think real happiness, true happiness, exists in the acceptance of the fact that we will always be balancing what is light and dark within ourselves. I think real happiness, true happiness, exists in the quiet. In the small things. In a morning cup of coffee, in the sound of your mother’s voice on the other end of the phone. I think real happiness, true happiness, is believing that you are meant to be here. - Bianca Sparacino

We hold on to those who cannot love us for so many reasons.
Sometimes, we hold on because we convince ourselves that the circumstance will change — that if we love harder, if we give more, if we stay, if we ensure, the situation will evolve. The value of our love will be recognized, it will be chosen.
Sometimes, we hold on because we feel like we have to. We feel like we have to be the ones to fix, the ones to mend, the ones to prove that human beings don’t give up on a person they see something beautiful within. Sometimes, we hold on because we feel guilty, because we think that walking away, and choosing ourselves, is us discarding someone we care about, is us abandoning their heart.
And sometimes, we hold on because we think that we will never find the kind of person who proves to us that love is not something that is meant to hurt. Sometimes, we hold on because we lose our belief in the fact that love has the potential to be soft, that there is more to life than what we are settling for. - Bianca Sparacino

Kinder to others...

People often ask me how they can become kinder to others, particularly those they love. Those who are asking have a tendency to blame, or dump their stuff onto others. Three things come to mind:

(1) Develop healthy emotional release practices, particularly with respect to unexpressed anger and frustration. Repressed anger can only result in two outcomes- anger toward the self and/or misplaced aggression towards others. Work hard to recognize when you are holding anger and to develop healthy pathways of expression. Somatic, or embodied, release practices can be helpful i.e. hitting a mattress, yelling/screaming in an empty room, The Enrealment Meditation;

(2) Meditate on the fact that you do not have the right to steal another’s peace. You may want to, because you have yet to develop the egoic strength to contain your anger and frustration, but really sit with the idea that you do not have any right to take your shit out on other people. Because they are close to you, does not grant you license to hurt them. If anything, it only grants you the right to love them. Feel deeply into those moments when others channeled their unkindness in your direction. Work with this remembrance to more fully understand what you are doing to others. Ask yourself honestly if this is what you want to be remembered for;

(3) Create the conditions for your own maturation. If you spend your life racing from one goal set to another, perpetually over-stimulated, resistant to surrender, you will stand little chance of maturing in the deep within. To mature, you have to slow down and allow yourself to come to new realizations. You have to allow yourself to integrate change. If not, you will remain the same reactive child that is acting unkindly towards those you love. Transformation is both a willful and a surrendered process. Until you learn how to surrender to reality, you won’t mature. You will stay right where you are. - Jeff Brown

KIndness melts defences.
Kindness softens edges>
Kindness piereces armour.
Kindness eradicates shame.
Kindness lightens loads.
Kindness awakens hope.
Kindness clears debris
Kindness invites connection.
Kindness opens hearts.
Kindness abridges souls.
Kindness inspires kindness.
Let us always be kind. - Jeff Brown, Soulshaping

To live on a day -to day basis is insufficient for human beings; we need to transcend, transport, escape, we need meaning, understanding , and explanation; we need to see overall patterns in our lives. - Oliver Sacks

Your life is your home here on earth. And if your foundation became cracked and certain pieces fell and broke apart,
your heart still finds a way to follow the primal urge we all share—a desire to touch the center of our wholeness and experience a deep sense of belonging in a vast and rugged world.
I see the light of your one and only beautiful home shining in the darkened hours of my struggle. I see your challenge to keep going on the worst of days, and so I cast my light out into the all-embracing open skies.
I hear the song of your soul breaking through the night to claim the morning. You belong here with me and I with you, because together we reflect the traits and yearnings of being human.
We'll keep the lights on, you and I. We'll be beacons for anyone searching for a place to meet and warmly be received... - Susan Frybort

You are soul
and you have a right to shine
in all those places
you long to venture.
To be witnesses.
to be heard,
to confess
and be seen.
YOu belong
Carve out your shinning moon
and palce it high among the stars
to gleam forever. - Susan Frybort

You are the child of a divine universe and you carry a spark of that divinity within you. - unknown

In Buddhism, there are no external enemies, there is only ourselves. - Thich Nat Hanh, Transformation at the base

I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness. It's right in front of me if I am paying attention and practicing gratitude. - Breme Brown

Being happy now, not only allows you to see and be grateful for the things you already have. It opens the flood gates to allow even more to be happy about in. - Lesley McKeever

Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change. - Bob Kerry

“Transformation doesn’t come through struggle; Transformation comes through awareness." - Adyashanti

As far as inner transformation is concerned, there is nothing you can do about it. All you can do is create a space for transformation to happen, for grace and love to enter. - Eckhart Tolle

To attract better, you ahve to become better. You can't do the same things and expect change. Tranform your mindset. Upograde your habits. Think Positive. Be hopeful and consistent with your evolution. It all starts with you and how you feel about yourself. - unknown
I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I'll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else. Kindness, that simple word. To be kind, it covers everything, to my mind. If you're kind that's it. - Roald Dahl

Hayao Miyazaki Prepares to Cast One Last Spell
Hayao Miyazaki comes out of retirement to create one final film

ClackCo commissioner pushes back on ODOT toll plans

Tiki-torch Nazis ordered to pay more than $25 million by Charlottesville jury

Washington faces threat of more 'atmospheric rivers,' floods
Fall rains can’t undo pains of drought in Oregon and Washington
Washington town sees 75% of homes damaged by floodwaters
Heavy rains bring flooding and mudslides to the Pacific Northwest and Canada
20 people, 3 dogs rescued from Oregon RV park amid flooding
Slippery, messy Friday morning commute as rain causes crashes, landslides in Portland metro area

Trans Netflix workers drop labor complaint, but 1 resigns after Chappelle controversy

James Bond has all those gadgets but no hand sanitizer. Avoid these 007 travel habits

Native American tribes are gathering in Plymouth to mourn on Thanksgiving
Why some Americans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving

HBO's 'Black and Missing' offers an antidote to Missing White Woman Syndrome

Sudan's civilian prime minister has been reinstated, but the protests aren't over yet
Exclusive: Sudan's Hamdok says he returned to safeguard economic gains
Sudan's military has agreed to reinstate the nation's ousted prime minister
Sudan's military has staged a coup, detaining the prime minister
The coup in Sudan could threaten U.S. influence in a strategically important region
At least 16 killed, others missing after east Congo attack

Some fear China could win from US spat with Marshall Islands
U.S. opposes China Telecom's bid to continue U.S. operations
China regulator seeks to avoid U.S. delistings of Chinese firms
Enes Kanter calls Nets owner Joe Tsai a coward and puppet of Chinese government
After 4 years as pawn in US-China game, Seattle man is home

Claire, a Scottish deerhound, has won the National Dog Show for the 2nd time

Navajo and Hopi farmers keep the culture of food alive

Canada taps into strategic reserves to deal with massive shortage ... of maple syrupy

Putin fires Russian prison chief after torture scandal

Thursday, November 25, 2021

“How to stop creating time? Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life. Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation. Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to something that already is? What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.” - Eckhart, Tolle. “The Power of Now

The reality consists only of npw, the present moemnt. It has nothign to do with the past and nothing to do with the future. It is so concentrated in this moment that if you can be in this moment, all that you are seeking and searching will be fullfilled. This moment is the door to the divine. - Osho

Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations. - Dr. Moe Jermison

A woman once asked,"How do I shed the years, or rather, decades of conditioning and distractions, sickness, relationships, work, in order to hear and feel the moments of stillness?"
It may seem to us that there is so much conditioning, so much of an ego within us that is deeply entrenched and intractable, that we may never learn to be still and live life in the present moment.
It is true that the present moment is all you ever have of your life. Past and future and all of the distractions this woman mentioned are not about living. We will never discover our aliveness there. We will never be truly happy if we live our life from the conditioned ego and its narrow, dualistic, noisy, unreal reality.
The good news is that you don't need years and years to undo years and years of conditioning.
You can change your life now, in an instant. Maybe not forever. You are certain to fall back into the conditioning again at some point. But you can always, in any moment, connect with stillness and presence.
Each time you do this, you are de-conditioning the ego.
As you do this practice more and more, throughout your life, you will be surprised to find that every little moment of presence changes you a little bit more.
In this sense, the de-conditioning can take many years, but this does not mean that you won't experience any benefit for many years.
You will experience benefit every time you enter the stillness and choose to be present.
Every little moment of presence is very valuable, very powerful and it adds to your inner transformation. If you continue the practice of presence with regularity, you will be surprised to see how much you have changed in a few months, in a year.
So don't be concerned that shifting your awareness from ego to presence is a difficult undertaking that will take years.
It is not difficult. It is very simple. It is as simple as silence and surrender. - Eckhart Tolle

Every little moment of presence is very valuable, very powerful and it adds to your inner transformation. - Eckhart Tolle

The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see. - Mary Davis

“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” - Proverb

The human mind, in its desire to know, understand, and control, mistakes its opinions and viewpoints for the truth. - Eckhart Tolle

Suffering is in fact a call from the depths of our being.
It is in fact a call from happiness itself: 'Come back to me, you are looking for me in the wrong place. Cease rising in the form of attention, wandering in the realm of objects, looking for peace in situations, happiness in objects, love in relationships. Look for me where I really am. Look for me in the heart, look for me at the SOURCE of attention, not its destiny.'
Once the body is no longer presided over by the tyranny of a separate self, it gradually returns to its natural state of peace, openness, transparency, availability, sensitivity and love. - Rupert Spira

You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level. - Eckhart Tolle

Tradition is not to preserve the ashes, but to pass on the fire. - Gustav Mahler

We need suffering in order to see the path. The origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the parth leading to the cessation of suffereing are all found in the heart of suffering. If we are afraid to touch our suffereing, we will not be able to realize the parth of peace, joy, and liberation. Don't run away. Touch your suffereing and emcrace it. Make peace with it. - Thich Nhat Hanh

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

She drew millions of TikTok followers by selling a fantasy of rural China. Then politics intervened

Alaska Airlines flight makes emergency landing at Portland International Airport: ‘It was terrifying’

Florida family fined for putting Christmas decorations up too early.

Polyp in Biden’s colon was benign, potentially pre-cancerous

The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. - Francis Bacon

Zillow Thought Flipping Houses Meant Easy Money. A North Portland Home Shows the Downside.
New Portland homeless village site announced on west side
Vancouver reveals location for first outdoor ‘Safe Stay Community’ for city’s homeless
Portland: Victim of its own housing and zoning design
Clark County housing market stays hot as weather cools
Now That Tolls Are Coming to Portland Roads, Should I Put Tinted Covers Over My License Plates?
How much money has been spent since Portland declared a homeless emergency?
Laurelhurst Homeless Camp To Be Cleared Within the Week
Cantwell: Interstate 5 Bridge ‘big thing’ for federal infrastructure funds
Portland Officials Will Remove On-Street Parking Near 350 Intersections, in a Major Safety Fix
Mayor proposes using $62M surplus on ‘human infrastructure’
Cheap, potent meth is pouring in from Mexico. Is it making Oregon's homeless crisis worse?
‘Help on the way’: Mayor Wheeler on gangs, guns, safety
Oregon Supreme Court upholds Portland’s renter relocation policy
Portland homeless youth band together to survive sweeps

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

China’s common prosperity drive is taking aim at wealthy internet influencers
Alibaba says profit falls 81% as China cracks down on big tech
$8 Billion Takeover Offer Could Avert One of China's Biggest Potential Corporate Failures
Chinese President Xi's e-commerce clampdown 'is not regulatory, it's personal,' analyst says
China condemns 'money worship', corruption of reform era in key document
Chancellor: China’s economic miracle is ending
Chinese property bonds dive as contagion kicks in
China property crash risks $1 trillion hit to global growth
MGM’s Macau woes spread to Hong Kong

The unknown is our doorway

We must take a chance. We must leave what we know and enter that mysterious reality of the unknown. The unknown is a very intimate place. You may feel very exposed when you open yourself to this inner space of unknowing, but really, the unknown is our only doorway.
The Unknown is more vast, more open, more peaceful, and more freeing than you ever imagined it would be.
If you don't experience it that way, it means you're not resting there; you're still trying to know. That will cause you to suffer because you're choosing security over Freedom.
When you rest deeply in the Unknown without trying to escape, your experience becomes very vast. As the experience of the Unknown deepens, your boundaries begin to dissolve.
You realize, not just intellectually but on a deep level, that you have no idea who or what you are. A few minutes ago, you knew who you were—you had a history and a personality—but from this place of not knowing, you question all of that.
Liberated people live in the Unknown and understand that the only reason they know what they are is because they rest in the Unknown moment by moment without defining who they are with the mind. You can imagine how easy it is to get caught in the concept of the Unknown and seek that instead of the Truth.
If you seek the concept, you'll never be free, but if you stop looking to myths and concepts and become more interested in the Unknown than in what you know, the door will be flung open. Until then, it will remain closed. - Adyashanti

【六四集會案】最後一批被告於區院求情　李卓人：悼念六四是我一生激情所繫

Reshaping history: how an all-powerful Xi Jinping will come to personify the party’s priorities

Recognise the egoic tendencies within yourself and burn them within the light of presence!
"Here are some ways in which people unconsciously try to emphasize their form-identity. If you are alert enough, you may be able to detect some of these unconscious patterns within yourself:
Demanding recognition for something you did and getting angry or upset if you don’t get it;
trying to get attention by talking about your problems, the story of your illnesses, or making a scene;
giving your opinion when nobody has asked for it and it makes no difference to the situation;
being more concerned with how the other person sees you than with the other person, which is to say, using other people for egoic reflection or as ego enhancers;
trying to make an impression on others through possessions, knowledge, good looks, status, physical strength, and so on;
bringing about temporary ego inflation through angry reaction against something or someone;
taking things personally, feeling offended;
making yourself right and others wrong through futile mental or verbal complaining; wanting to be seen, or to appear important.
Once you have detected such a pattern within yourself, I suggest that you conduct an experiment, Find out what it feels like and what happens if you let go of that pattern. Just drop it and see what happens.
De-emphasizing who you are on the level of form is another way of generating consciousness.
Discover the enormous power that flows through you into the world when you stop emphasizing your form identity.” - Eckhart Tolle

Imagaine growing up treated as if you're hard to love, later realizing you were the most worthy of them all, finding you've been surrounded by toxic people full of self hate who gained light by putting out yours. An insignt that makes you invincible. - unknown

Be kind. Be light hearted. FIll your life with theenergy that you wish to attract. - unknown

Shoutout to everyone who is still committed to trying to be an open-hearted and kind person even while having to process lots of heavy things. - unknown

方皓玟 - 你好嗎

Love is not just about finding the right person, but creating a right relationship. It's not about how much love you have in the beginning but how much you love tuild till the end. - unknown

When two givers indulge in a connection, it's like magic. It's alchmy. IT water you, you water me, we never drain each other, we just grow. - unknown

A great relationship is about two things, first, appreciating the similarities, and second, respecting the differences. - unknown

You can't force chemisty to exist where it doesn't, the same way you can't deny it when it does. unknown

There's some people in this world who you can just love and love and love no matter what. - John Green

The happiest couples never have the same character. They have the best understanding of their differences. - unknown

The best relatinship is when you can act like lovers and best friends at the same time. - unknown

Imagine another year of not being considered, of not being heard, of not being seen. Imagine five more, ten more, twenty more spirit shattering, soul crushing years. That goodbye was a blessing. - Kalen Dion

I am a spark from the Infinite.
I am not flesh and bones.
I am light.
In helping others to succeed I shall find my own prosperity.
In the welfare of others I shall find my own well-being.
I am infinite.
I am spaceless, I am tireless; I am beyond body thought, and utterance; beyond all matter and mind.
I am endless bliss.
Beginning with the early dawn of each day, I will radiate joy to everyone I meet.
I will be mental sunshine for all who cross my path.
Before the unfailing light of my cheer, darkness will take flight. - Paramahansa Yogananda

Groups in Clark County to serve free Thanksgiving meals
Where to Find a Free Thanksgiving Meal in Portland

Either we deal with the root of fear, or we trim its branches. Which do you want to do? - Krishnamurti

Don't expect from others to make you feel happy. Discover your own source of happiness. - Adeep

We are made of all those who have built and broken us. - Atticus

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Biden nominates 2 women of color to lead the OMB
< a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/12/1054790980/marine-corps-david-berger-diversity-military">The Marine Corps is reinventing itself to reflect America, says top general

NASA launches spacecraft to test asteroid defense concept
In a first test of its planetary defense efforts, NASA's going to shove an asteroid
Jessica Watkins will be the first Black woman to live and work on the space station
NASA says it can't put the first person of color on the moon until at least 2025
In Jupiter's swirling Great Red Spot, NASA spacecraft finds hidden depths
Astronomers want NASA to build a giant space telescope to peer at alien Earths
Scientists tracked a mysterious signal in space. Its source was closer to Australia
NASA is looking for a framework to better help you understand its deep space finds
If NASA greenlights this interstellar mission, it could last 100 years
Scientists may have found a planet outside of the Milky Way galaxy for the first time
Listen to the otherworldly sound of Martian wind

How supply chain woes might impact Chicago booksellers

Want to make tastier, prettier pies? A baker tells us where to tart

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

The artist and the mystic know that you do't have to drink the ocean to swim in it; consequently, complexity does not engulf them. - William Irwin Thompson

U.S. wants more oil, but OPEC+ can't turn on the tap much harder
The U.S. emergency oil stash is in the spotlight as gas price surge. What to know
3 warning signs for Biden’s green-energy revolution
The Biden administration sold oil and gas leases days after the climate summit
Can climate talk turn into climate action?
At COP26, nations strike a climate deal with coal compromise
Glasgow climate pledges are 'lip service' without far more aggressive plans
The fossil fuel industry turned out in force at COP26. So did climate activists
Who pays for climate change?
In a first, U.N. climate agreement could include the words 'coal' and 'fossil fuels'

Japan, Vietnam look to cyber defense against China
North Korean Hackers Caught Snooping on China’s Cyber Squad

5 Georgia officers are indicted on murder charges in death of 24-year-old man

New York Moves to Allow 800,000 Noncitizens to Vote in Local Elections via yahoo
New York Moves to Allow 800,000 Noncitizens to Vote in Local Elections via NY Times

"Everything is a gift. The degree to which we are awake to this truth is a measure of our gratefullness. Day and night, gifts keep pelting down on us. If we were aware of this, gratefulness would overwhelm us. But we go through life in a daze.
A power failure makes us aware of what a gift electricity is; a sprained ankle lets us appreciate walking as a gift, a sleepless night, sleep. How much we are missing in life by noticing gifts only when we are suddenly deprived of them.
Eyes see only light, ears hear only sound, but a listening heart perceives meaning. Everything is a gift. Grateful living is a celebration of the universal give-and-take of life, a limitless yes to belonging. A lifetime may not be long enough to attune ourselves fully to the harmony of the universe. But just to become aware that we can resonate with it -- that alone can be like waking up from a dream.
Gratefulness is the key to a happy life, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more. - Brother David Steindl-Rast
"Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion." - Thich Nhat Hanh>

愛裡沒有恐懼──周冠威與香港人的《時代革命》
Steve Vines: The future of press freedom in Hong Kong
In Pictures: Hong Kong ‘extremists’ may target elections and festivals, anti-terror chief claims during drill
Hong Kong vetting committee approves election candidate who used protest slogans, disqualifies 1 of 154
Exclusive: Hong Kong public libraries purge 29 titles about the Tiananmen Massacre from the shelves
Hong Kong centrists test the waters as Beijing tries to avoid the appearance of a stage-managed election
Border polling stations plan may not boost voter turnout, Hong Kong scholar says
Two Hong Kong movie showings axed under new gov’t national security film censorship rules

"Seek yourself beyond the seeker.." - AnA Ji

A Thanksgiving bake-off competition on 'SNL' goes hilariously wrong
Mother Earth asks us to please stop burning her 'ass rocks' on 'SNL' Weekend Update
Cecily Strong hilariously sums up the week in GOP talking points on the 'SNL' cold open
A very good, very hungry dog made 'SNL' pros Cecily Strong and Mikey Day break hard
Simu Liu and Bowen Yang jokingly vie for the most ‘First Asian’ titles on 'SNL'

Monday, November 22, 2021

There is so much abundance that flows to you in so many ways. - Abraham

There is nothing better than looking for things to appreciate. That's the orientation that we would have. Just looking for reason to feel good. - Abraham

It is about focusing into what feels best. - Abraham