Renewable Energy and Activism

Thought some people might be interested in seeing a little Democracy at work.

US Rep. Allyson Schwartz has made it a point to keep in touch with people who spoke to her during her recent radio/online addresses and those who contact her office regularly to support (or complain about) renewable resources, conserving energy and reducing the effects of global warming.

Sometimes it's nice to be noticed for being a pain in the ass, Lol. ;)
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From: Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:45:34 PMSubject: Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Update

Website Biography Services News E-mail Allyson

February 28, 2008


Dear Ms. Walker,

I am writing to update you on my efforts to strengthen and expand tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency. I was outraged that the price of oil shot past $100 per barrel last week and in response I called upon my colleagues to reduce America's dependence on imported oil.

At the end of last year, my colleagues and I passed landmark energy legislation to raise fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks. Before the President signed it into law, the Senate removed a portion of that bill that I helped author. This proposal would have redirected $21.5 billion in oil and gas industry giveaways to clean, renewable, and American-made energy. I was extremely disappointed by this short-sighted action and I pledged to revisit the issue when Congress returned to work in 2008.

On Tuesday afternoon, I took action. I went before the powerful Rules Committee and demanded that they once again bring these tax incentives up for a vote in Congress. I argued that America is far too dependent on imported oil for us to continue down the same old path of energy production. I explained how I have heard from many of my constituents and how you are tired of paying $3 per gallon at the pump. I told them that our tax dollars would be better spent developing wind, solar, geothermal industries that reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming and create new "green-collar" jobs.

As a result of my testimony, the Committee decided to bring the bill to the floor of the House of Representatives on the very next day. After an intense debate on the floor of the House of Representatives, our efforts to set a new direction for U.S. energy policy prevailed by a voted of 236 to 182 . I am thrilled that I help ed revive these tax incentives for clean energy and energy efficiency even though the Senate ha d nearly killed them last year. We will now turn our attention to building more support for this proposal so that the Senate will not be able to stop it this year.

Again, thank you for your continued interest in energy policy . To stay informed of my work, or to sign up for my e-mail newsletters, please visit my Web site at http://www.house.gov/schwartz.

Also, please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can help in any way.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz

Contact Information
Washington Office 423 Cannon Office Building Washington, DC 20515 phone: 202/225-6111fax: 202/226-0611
Montgomery County Office 706 West Avenue Jenkintown, PA 19046 phone: 215/517-6572 fax: 215/517-6575
Philadelphia Office 7219 Frankford AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19135phone: 215/335-3355 fax: 215/333-4508

The Spies Who Love You

Animated short by Mark Fiore, cartoonist for social justice. His home page is amazing, too. Tired of just complaining? Click on the 'do something' link.

http://www.markfiore.com/spies_who_love_you_0

Music and Men in Kilts

I went with my friend Aimee to the Scottish-Irish Music Festival at the Valley Forge Convention Center last Saturday night. Live music is a passion of mine, and in potent combination with men in kilts, we were drawn there by the very call of our ancestral bloodlines.

It was awesome!

Not just the music, but everything up to and including the hand-poured Guinness, traditional clothing, hand-crafted jewelry and the smokin' hot Connor MacCloud look-alike in the leather kilt. (We were treated to a 'Basic Instinct' type flash when asked if he'd gone 'regimental' or not. I happened to be at the exact wrong angle, but was assured quite definitely that uh, yes, in fact he had.) ;)

There were two great bands completely worth the price of admission. One a trio from Australia, Brother, complete with bag-pipes and didgeridoo. They classify themselves as an alternative/indie jam band. Their music is quite eclectic, sometimes funky, sometimes mellow, always layered and well, different. Listen for yourself. http://www.brothermusic.com/

The other band, the last one to play that evening, was a band from Scotland called Albannach. They left me speechless. And those who know me understand what a feat that is. ;)

It was one of the most incredible, tribal, blood pulsing, heart pounding experiences I've had in a long time! I don't know how their energy will translate to the CD I bought, but WOW! They walked by us on their way to the stage with the first traditional Great kilts I'd seen that evening; 8 yards of tartan plaid, carefully wrapped and proudly worn. My friend carefully dabbed the drool from the corner of my open mouth. They were quite a magnificent sight! They are strikingly primal; multiple drums, percussion, pipes and occasional vocals (low growls included). Listen here: http://www.albannachmusic.com/

We stayed till the end, and met some really great people. I'm going all three days next year. {grin}

For those of you who also love men in skirts, here's a link or two for your viewing pleasure:

Famous guys here-http://www.kiltmen.com/photogallery4.htm
David Ducovny and Kiefer Sutherland in plaid, Nathan Fillion and Vin Diesel in leather. Yum.

Regular guys here-http://www.kiltmen.com/photogallery2.htm

Oh, crap. I just realized I have a fetish. ;)

*Many thanks to Rhiona for the word on Albannach.

Being sick sucks...

...especially when you have to cancel a first date for your favorite meal (brunch) with a great guy that you've been looking forward to all week.

Seriously crappy.

Contracted some kind of (what I can only term as 'evil') bug. I started out fighting, did all the vitamins/herbs/hot mineral baths/detoxifying treatments/hot tea/essential oils/soup/extra sleep/trying to finish up 'old' unfinished emotional business, but it crept up and grabbed me in my entirety today.

Ick.

Woke up with a fever, bloodshot, watery eyes, a completely clogged but draining on one side (wtf?) head, a lovely new cough and intestinal distress. And strangely, I'd been feeling better at work just yesterday. Go figure.

Today I gave in to the western medical approach, and took a self-made cocktail of ephedrine, guaifenesin and ibuprofen. I'm still quite dopey, but there is a new buzzing in my body, so I'm just trying to enjoy the high. {grin}

So since I'm now speeding my face off, I decided to update my blog with pleasant memories of the past week or so, and things I like.

If anyone out there has any other get-better-quick remedies, please feel free to pass them on. I can use the help today. ;)

Love to All.

Messages from 'The Universe'

This is the coolest thing I get in my inbox. You can sign up at http://www.tut.com/.

It's a personal daily message from 'The Universe' and is either dead-on or absolutely hysterical. I can always use a laugh or smile in the a.m. :)

This is from the other day:

Every once in a while, with gaps in time that stretch for eons, someone like you comes along who instinctively trusts their inner senses more than their physical senses, the unseen more than the seen, and whose life-insights are so piercing that they unwittingly blow the entire model of spiritual evolution to smithereens.

"Gabriel, did you register Alyce Walker's epiphany yesterday? Raise expectations on all human beings another 72 gigatrons, and tell not a soul."

How do you do that?
The Universe

Thoughts become things... choose the good ones! ® ©

We keep things like this a secret, Alyce. Wouldn't fast track your popularity, you know?

Knowledge vs. Wisdom

Some morning wisdom today, after a night spent in surrender to a high fever and eventual, prayerful (is that a word?) peace. I figured I'd share...

We are all connected; aspects of each other. Pieces of the same whole...ONE.

Each and every individual you encounter in your life is a mirror image of an aspect of self. Every single thing you see, know, experience, perceive and understand comes through your own particular filter, and shows you who you really are.

The amount of conflict or drama created in your life is directly proportional to the level at which you own or disown this perceived aspect of yourself.

This is not always easy to look at or sit with even if you understand and recognize what it is and where it comes from. Passing judgment on another person is ultimately a judgment you hold about yourself in some way. An unowned aspect of self, for sure, but I promise you, it's there. I'm better at recognizing these times in myself as I get older (and hopefully) wiser.

Last night it was about a woman that several men seemed to be gaga over. Very intelligent men. And I just didn't see it. She was very attractive, granted, but I saw her as fairly inane, lacking depth and intelligence, flirtatious in a particular way that pretends to be cutesy and feminine that many men seem to fall for. A bit of a floozy, quite frankly. A drinker and a 'good time' girl. Seemingly open for anything but grasping and desperate for attention at the core.

I found myself thinking "Well, three things I can tell you about her. She doesn't work for NASA, she's not a member of MENSA, and she's definitely not a blond." As soon as those thoughts formed in my head I realized I was jealous. Jealous...and petty! Not qualities I've ever associated with myself. And yet, there was the ugly truth of it.

I tried to move away from it, but there it was. An ugly judgment about...me. I thought, 'Where in my life am I this woman? What things have I done for that desperately needed and wanted male attention? Where and when was I a 'good time' girl?' And then I cried.

Anytime I get to that point, I know I've hit on a core inner Truth. Wow. I spent a good deal of my youth 'being' her. Not entirely, of course. I'm mentally gifted, and my hair is too dark to ever go blond. And I don't recall ever pretending to be stupid to get male attention...I'm too prideful for that. ;)

But all the rest, yep. Check.

So I looked at all of these things. I let them in. I felt her pain and her shame (which was my pain and shame, as well). Her wanting to be accepted and loved, ultimately. The way we all do. I thought about how to better utilize my energy for healing, support and service. I forgave myself. For everything, including the shame of the judgment. I embraced instead who I am. All the love and compassion I am capable of. And I gained new knowledge as a result.

And what is knowledge? I thought of the acquired philosophical knowledge I carried from the ancient Greeks (Plato, Aristotle, Socrates), and Stoicism (Marcus Aurelius). Socrates often argued that knowledge is not empirical, but that it comes from divine insight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_Realism

This quote came from wikipedia, as well:

'According to Socrates, physical objects and physical events are "shadows" of their ideal or perfect forms, and exist only to the extent that they instantiate the perfect versions of themselves. Just as shadows are temporary, inconsequential epiphenomena produced by physical objects, physical objects are themselves fleeting phenomena caused by more substantial causes, the ideals of which they are mere instances.'

Plato himself wrote in his 'Theory of Forms' that the material world is not the real world, but only a shadow of it. He associates knowledge with the understanding of unchanging forms and their relationships to one another.

I first learned of the writings of Marcus Aurelius in my dreams. These writings inspired me and became the doorway to my first awakening. The Stoics believed that everything in the universe is cyclical. All becomes fire, consumes itself and recurs. Think of the phoenix, or the serpent swallowing it's own tail.
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aurelius.htm

'Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one movement; and how all things are the cooperating causes of all things which exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the contexture of the web. (from The Meditations)'

I thought about my on-going work with the nature of Fire as an element; as a transmutational force. I thought about knowledge, understanding, forgiveness, service to all, our common roots (ancestral DNA), relationships, mirrors, Oneness. My fever this morning seemed the burning up of the ignorance of the mind. My emotional surrender allowed the distillation of this knowledge within the physical reality of my life as wisdom.

I know I can 'be' love. I know that I already am. I promise myself again today that I will be present and conscious to myself in all beings. That I will act in accordance with my conscience to create beauty, joy and love. That though judgment will always arise in this human condition, and is part of who I am, I also pledge to remain aware that it is a choice to project one's own ugliness or beauty onto others. Either way, it becomes an accepted reality; an objective truth. Which one do I want to be responsible for?

Today I choose beauty. And Wisdom. I'd like to leave you with a quote I received this morning between sleeping and waking.

In Love and Gratitude,
Alyce
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'If knowledge is power, then wisdom is liberation.'

An Exploration of Suffering and Faith- part 2

Just read an editorial that reads more like a book review about Jim Wallis, a crusader for social justice, author of "The Great Awakening", and a recent guest on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.

You can read it here:
Chris Satullo: Religious Right gives way to a new prophet Philadelphia Inquirer 02/19/2008*

He talks about how the 'religious right' is divisive, self-righteous and all wrong about what Jesus says.

A man of faith, Wallis wants us to respond to poverty, genocide, an unjust war and global warming, by unsettling our lives, and getting out of our cocoons:

"You act your way into a new way of thinking, not think your way into a new way of acting.

I'm not sure that I'd agree with everything that he believes or says, but I have to say that the guy makes an awful lot of sense.

My favorite quote from the article...

"The two great hungers in our world today are the hunger for spirituality and the hunger for social justice. People don't want to go left or right; they want to go deeper."

An Exploration of Suffering and Faith

Yesterday was a day that I was keenly aware of suffering. Grief. I spent several hours close to tears, eventually getting to a private space where I could allow myself to cry; to let the torrent of unexpressed emotion flow through my body in a wave of release.

I'm not sure exactly where it came from, or whom it belonged to. Very often when I'm in that completely vulnerable emotional state, I'm not at all sure whether it is mine, ancestral or more of a collective human experience of grief.

I spent a good bit of time in prayer yesterday, letting go of anything I was 'holding' onto, surrendering to a process I could not rationally explain. I realized after some time that while I had no personal attachment to it, it would not stop on its own. That it needed to be physically released and expressed. During times like these when I need help, comfort and support, I have learned to call on the Mother, in any and all of her many guises and forms. I felt Her loving presence immediately. This time her form was that of Mother Amma.

I monitored my mind, body and emotions. There was no core connection within my body, though while I was crying my lungs felt quite full and heavy. I wheezed for an hour before it completely resolved itself.

"This is not my grief," I thought.

"No?" asked the Mother. "Are you not One with everything? Do you not serve all, and love all?"

"Of course." I responded.

"Then this is your grief, child. Allow it. Carry it through for All who suffer. When One suffers, All suffer. Move it so that all might be liberated."

And so I did, with some help from Mother Amma...and grace. Ultimate grace.

After I awoke from a long exhausted sleep, I searched for information on Srimad Sai Rajarajeshwari, or Mother Amma as she is more commonly known. The Hindu people of Mysore, India consider her not only a Saint or Holy woman, but the incarnation of Shakti, the Divine feminine creator (or create-tress) as a human woman. This site is completely dedicated to her: http://www.premahealing.com/1.html

I also found this quote that really resonated with me:

"Duty without love is deplorable; duty with love is desirable; love without duty is Divine."
Sri Sathya Sai Baba

I took this to mean that doing anything for duty's sake is empty. That dutiful action through being present is good, but that ultimate love, without having to feel 'duty' is truly Divine. And healing. Not just for oneself, but for everyone.

So a day that began in suffering ended with renewed faith and clarity. And peace.

Blessings and (Global) Love.
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Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of ego. In the midst of conscious suffering, there is
transmutation. The fire of suffering becomes the light of consciousness.
--Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches.
If suffering alone taught, all the world would
be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering
must be added mourning, understanding,
patience, love, openness, and the willingness
to remain vulnerable.
--Anne Morrow Lindbergh,
author and pilot

McCain '08- Like Hope, But Different

Thanks to my friend Diane for this one. I think we should just bill John McCain as the "anti-Obama". Like hope, but different.

Super Bowl 42 and Pluto in Capricorn

I don't have to tell you I was pulling for the Giants. I always root for the underdog, it's just the kind of girl I am.

I'd predicted a close game, and was almost expecting an upset NY Giants win. Everyone thought I was nuts. I'm wishing I'd thought about placing a bet right about now! ;)

I told my Uncle before the game started that Pluto in Capricorn was about toppling the 'shadow' power structures that have been in place for so long. That now and for the next 15 years, the people in positions of influence and authority would have to be in integrity, and supporting the greater good.

The Patriots had cheated earlier in the year (against the other NY team) and though they received a minor fine and a slap on the wrist, it seemed they were about to capitalize on that by sailing easily to victory. I told him I had faith in the collective universal energies, and that with Pluto's current placement, that we'd get to see exactly how that might work itself into the picture.

You see, I had a dream in the wee hours Sunday about being in a large crowd watching the game on TV. There was a blond, curly haired prankster-type sitting and what I can only term as 'holding court' in the front. He seemed relaxed and animated at the same time. It seemed to everyone watching, including me, that he was going with the flow. But there was something different about him, very different. I spoke loudly from the back of the crowd "So, you're rooting for the Patriots, then?" He looked over at me with a wry smile and a twinkle in his eye which belied his very serious expression. "Not necessarily." I realized suddenly who he was...Fate. Then I woke up.

Eli Manning is a Capricorn. This site calls him 'destiny's child', and has some interesting predictions from the end of January about the Super Bowl. http://www.thestarofthemagi.com/sportsthestarsblog.htm

When things seemed hopeless during the game last night with a little over two minutes left, and the Giants struggling their way down the field, I wasn't nervous anymore. I watched calmly and with great joy as the winning touchdown pass sailed into the waiting arms of Plaxico Burress, standing alone in the end zone.

Suddenly I knew that things were going to change. Not just in football. But in our world. This is a new energy. This is a new time. The old structures that don't work for everyone will have to change. They will change, regardless of how much those with power and authority currently rail against it. Pluto is about bringing the shadow to light. Death and rebirth. Transformation...at all cost. The last time Pluto moved through Capricorn was during the lead up to the Revolutionary War.

I'm not advocating another revolutionary war; we've had enough war.
Just a revolution in thought, structure, stability and building a new consensus about how our government should work for all of us, not just a few.

Congratulations to the Giants, and their fans.

And welcome, Pluto, old friend.