VOTE: It's Your Right!

Tired of being told what to do? Well when many of us become of legal age, we declare our new found independence in which we are free to eat, sleep, live, how we please. In other words, no more abiding by the curfew mom set. You are now legitimately legal by law and able to purchase cigarettes and lottery tickets, enter some nightclubs, and go to war.
So now that you can do things your way, you'll probably want a better understanding and control on aspects that will affect your independent living. Fortunately, this time you actually acquire some power in the say-so, unlike when mom or dad said-so, and that was the final word. You get to experience and participate in our democratic government first hand by VOTING. 

If i haven't made myself clear enough, i'll put it for you bluntly, YOU CAN AND SHOULD VOTE! Odds are if you have a complaint, others may feel the same way, and something can definitely be done about it, even if no change comes about it, you do have the opportunity to be heard. Look at our voting history, it went from only white, elite and/or upperclass folks having the privilege to vote, while blacks, women, and poor folks were denied. Right now the only criteria is that you are a citizen and 18 years of age.

CHECK OUT THESE WEBSITES:
www.vote-smart.org, www.rockthevote.com, www.youthvote.org
and if you aren't registered, this is the one time i'm going to act like one of your parents and DEMAND YOU VOTE or else!

 

THINK ABOUT IT!

This was an email i got today and as unbias as i would love to remain I definitely felt the need to share.

Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad  guy when Bush's  daddy made war on him,  a good guy when Cheney did  business with him and a  bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden"  diversion.

Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is  communist, but trade  with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of  international harmony.

A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but  multinational corporations can make decisions  affecting all mankind without  regulation.

The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in  speeches while slashing veterans' benefits and  combat pay.

If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy.  Providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMOs and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but  creationism should be taught in schools.

A president lying about an extramarital affair is an  impeachable offense.  A president lying to enlist support for a  war in which thousands  die  is a solid defense policy.

Government should limit itself to the powers named  in the Constitution,  which include banning gay marriages and censoring  the Internet.

The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but  George Bush's cocaine conviction is none of our  business.

Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime,  unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness, and  you need our prayers  for your recovery.

You support states' rights, which means Attorney  General John Ashcroft can tell states what  local voter initiatives they  have the right to  adopt.

What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital  national interest, but  what Bush did in the '80s is irrelevant.

Feel free to pass this on.If you don't send it to at  least 10 other  people, we're likely to be stuck with Bush for 4  more years. Friends don't let friends vote Republican.

Prophetic Message

 Well I've completed my book of the week and I'm definitely hooked on one of themes that carry throughout the novel...Coincidences are no coincidence. About a week ago I noticed that within a three day period I engaged in very in depth, philosophical conversations about spirituality, religion, and the churches, with several people. At the time it occurred to me as merely a coincidence, until one of them recommended I read The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.

 So I read the book and think the concepts put forth are interesting and because of my minimal knowledge in certain religions I can actually relate some of the concepts to actual beliefs accepted by specific spiritual groups. However, as the story proceeds, I get restless.  Although the storyline about this "manuscript" that combines evolution to spirituality and predicts the future of mankind, is of great interest, the narrative style in which The Celestine Prophecy is written does very little to keep my attention. So at this point, I'm forcing myself to finish the book, in fact, I even forgot the main characters name or if he even had one.

 Anyhow, I get to the very last pages of the novel and lo and behold I come across a passage that I very much relate to, in fact live by as this point in my life. On page 236 James Redfield writes, "the truth is that evolution is the way God created, and is still creating..." also, a few pages later he continues,

"All religions, it says, is about humankind finding relationship to one higher source. And all religions speak of a perception of God within, a perception that fills us, makes us more than we were. Religions become corrupted when leaders are assigned to explain God's will to the people instead of showing them how to find this direction within themselves."

 

 Well ladies and gentlemen, I couldn't have said it better myself. After many years of being raised in the Catholic church but also being exposed to many other denominations, cultures and spiritual belief's I have concluded these exact points I just never really found the right words to express it so simply as James Redfield did. and Again, fitting with the theme of coincidences and messages, the conversations that took place which eventually lead me to discover the novel  was definitely no coincidence.

AIDS: EDUCATE YOURSELF

EDUCATE YOURSELF: ABOVE IS A LINK TO AIDS STATISTICS by age, race, sex cases.
No matter which way we look we are bound to come across a message, either by the media who inundates us with advertisements, a person's fashion statement, political campaigns, protesters, homeless beggars, and people who publicly preach the word of their God. Many times fashion advertisements will convince us to be part of the latest trend causing us to run out and purchase the latest sneakers, other times we see a certain hair style and we decide to replicate the style on our own hair, as for politics and religion we either take a specific stance or remain impartial, etc...You get the point. All these decisions make us a society of very individualistic people, living diversified lifestyles.   HOWEVER, there is one thing, we all as a people, not just in this country, but worldwide, might agree on, the HIV virus is not a community we want to be part of...We do not expect or want a deadly disease. And again, as every other option in life is presented to you, so is this one. You do not have to let yourself become a victim. You have options to protect yourself and your partner from contracting or spreading the virus. EDUCATE YOURSELF.
 
(I'M sorry if I've become repetitive, but it kills me to learn of a family who's future has been destroyed because one partner decided to cheat and now has infected a loved one and a 10 month old child might also be at risk.)

Relationship Lessons from The Celestine Prophecy

I'm currently reading The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. Although the book is about the search and prophetic lessons of a book known as "the manuscript", you also get some thoughts on relationships. I want to share a concept i agree with, on page five of the book it states, "And when it comes to relationships, we're so demanding that we're making them near impossible". 
So i started thinking about it and realized that individual demands on relationships may definitely cause a strain on the balance and give/take functions of a relationship.  I also noticed many of us walk around with a sense of entitlement, with the idea that "I deserve better than that!".  Then we get involved in a relationship and set standards for ourselves and our partner, even before the relationship begins and if the relationship does not meet these standards, what happens? We become unhappy and begin demanding.
I don't necessarily have a quick fix solution but i do know that i'm starting to take a second look at what i'm asking for when involved in a relationship. Maybe all those things i expect are not the only things that will make me happy. Maybe if i was just content with what i was being offered and how it worked out before setting standards, i might actually experience happiness in a fullfilling way i didn't imagine or expect before. Now in no way am I saying to sacrifice respect or morals and stay with someone who does not make you happy what-so-ever or someone who doesn't care about you and makes little effort to even try and make you happy. What I'm saying is that if a person is giving you their best, for instance, in materialistics terms, makes you a gift and a home made dinner instead of taking you on a $1000 shopping spree, you accept the homemade gifts and be happy instead of complaining because it's not what you wanted.  
I don't see this as a devaluing act, just because you believe you are worth more. I think many times we get so stuck on wanting more, on attaining more, because that is what we believe will make us happier, that we are never happy.

WRAP IT UP

"In the United States alone, as many as 950,000 people may be infected with HIV, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection, and there are an estimated 40,000 new HIV/AIDS cases every year."
 
With all the information and knowledge, we, in America, have about the deadly disease, somehow we still manage to become infected. We are letting a virus defeat us! As advanced a society we are today, we still manage to let our basic, naturalistic instincts overcome common sense. ..Unprotected, promiscuous sex puts you at risk for AIDS.
We are letting our desires and sexual drive fill us with more than satisfaction; it is filling us with an evil predator that is out to conquer everyone regardless of race, sex, religion, age, class, or sexual orientation.
 
PEOPLE, IS RAW PLEASURE WORTH YOUR LIFE?
 
Or do we still live in a world where individuals walk around feeling invincible, believing "it can't happen to me" even though the media is plagued with daily counts of murder, rape, and crime that affect our neighborhood? As cliche as this sounds, "Ignorance is bliss" but "it's better to be safe than sorry". So WRAP IT UP!
 
This is my second post on the AIDS epidemic, the other is titled, infidelity and Aids.

One of Those Days...

Dark skies above are frowning
they keep the sun from shinning...smiling
cool concrete, wind-blown leaves about my feet
i feel the breeze and sense defeat
i try not to
but my happy day turns quiet, dark, and I sadden
it's one of those days
i can't compete.
the weather overbearing
an emotional tie
i feel how it looks...
as the rain drops from my face.

The Birth of My Son

He gave me a light, so illustrious and luminous, that my path never will go dark again.
January 9th 2004
Purpose became realized.
Anxiety and Anticipation Calmed.
Love revived
and life born.
3:04 am
Ernesto Jari Marks arrived prepared to live, breath, see, and embrace life. the life I gave him. Never before had i understood so clearly my purpose. Never before had i been so prepared to take on the unexpected. Never before had i accepted something unexpected so willingingly. Never before had i experienced the intensity of love when looking into the face of an innocent, pure being...when looking into my son's eyes.
After long hours of pain, pushing, and encouragement I gave birth to an 8 pound 5 ounce baby boy. My physical journey of becoming a mother ended and the miracle of motherhood had just begun. The changes in my body were still evident but the experience of growing, stretching, and hosting a growing fetus, my soon to be child, a memory.
I'm a mommy.