tagged w/ loyalty
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Video at the link
A dog in China who was the only companion to a single resident has refused to leave him even after his death.
Lao Pan, 68, died earlier this month in the village of Panjiatun.
His dog was found later at his grave, refusing to leave even after seven days without food.Video at the link
A dog in China who was the only companion to a single resident... more
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pdy
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added this
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6 months ago
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Barack Obama’s politically expedient decision to betray and abandon his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, exposed his cowardice and moral bankruptcy. In that moment, playing the part of Judas, he surrendered the last shreds of his integrity. He became nothing more than a pawn of power, or as Cornel West says, “a black mascot for Wall Street.” Obama, once the glitter of power fades, will have to grapple with the fact that he was a traitor not only to his pastor, the man who married him and Michelle, who baptized his children and who kept him spiritually and morally grounded, but to himself. Wright retains what is most precious in life and what Obama has squandered—his soul.
The health of a nation is measured by how it treats its prophets. When these prophets are ignored and reviled, when they become figures of ridicule, when they are labeled by the chattering classes and power elite as fools, then there is no check left on moral decay and the degeneration of the state. Wright, who spent 36 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s South Side, since the 2008 presidential campaign has endured slander and calumny and weathered character assassination, misinterpretation and abuse, and yet he doggedly continues Sunday after Sunday to thunder the word of God from pulpits across the country.
I grew up as a Christian. My father was a pastor. I graduated from a seminary. I can distinguish a Christian pastor from the slick imposters and charlatans, from T.D. Jakes to Joel Osteen. Wright preaches the radical and unsettling message of the Christian Gospel. He calls us to live the moral life. He knows that the measure of our lives as individuals and as a nation is reflected in how we treat our most vulnerable. And he knows on whose side he stands. Obama, who like Judas took his 30 pieces of silver and betrayed someone who loved him, withers into moral insignificance in Wright’s presence.
***********Obama, although his subservience to the war machine and Wall Street mocks the fundamental values of Dr. Martin Luther King, will preside Oct. 16 over the dedication of the King memorial on the Mall in Washington. He will lend himself to the venal cabal of the corporate and political elites who have hijacked King’s image. These political and corporate figures—many of whom donated significant sums to build the $120 million memorial (General Motors, which gave $10 million, uses the memorial in a commercial for its vehicles)—seek to silence King’s demand for economic justice and an end to racism and militarism. King’s vision is grotesquely deformed in Obama’s hands. To hear the voice of King we will have to turn from the choreographed and corporate-sponsored dedication ceremony to heed the words of a handful of men and women who are as reviled by the power brokers as King was in his own life, and yet who battle to keep the flame of King’s message alive.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing that the country would recognize someone as important as Dr. King,” Wright said when I reached him by phone in Chicago, “and recognize him in a way that raises his likeness in the Mall along with the presidents. He’s not a president like Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. But to have him ranked among them in terms of this nation paying attention to the importance of his work, that’s a good thing.”
“I read Maya Angelou’s piece about the way the quote was put on the monument,” Wright said in referring to the editing of a quote by King on the north face of the 30-foot-tall granite statue. The inscription quote reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” But these are not King’s words. They are paraphrased from a sermon he gave in which he said: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” Angelou said the mangled inscription made King sound “arrogant.”*******
“I read the explanation as to why we couldn’t include the whole quote,” said Wright, who helped raise $200,000 for the monument. “Kids a hundred years from now, like our pastor who was born three years after King was killed, they’re going to see that and will not get the context. They will not hear the whole speech, and that will be their take-away, which is not a good thing. My bigger problems, however, have to do with all the emphasis on ’63 and ‘I Have a Dream.’ They have swept under the rug the radical justice message that King ended his career repeating over and over and over again, starting with the media coverage of the April 4, 1967, ‘A Time to Break Silence’ message at the Riverside Church [in New York City]. King had a huge emphasis on capitalism, militarism and racism, the three-headed giant. There is no mention of that, no mention of that King, and absolutely no mention of the importance of his work with the poor. After all, he’s at the garbage collectors strike in Memphis, Tenn., when he is assassinated. The whole emphasis on the poor sent him to Memphis. But that gets swept away. It bothers me that we think more about a monument than a movement. He had a movement trying to address poverty. It was for jobs, not I Have a Dream, not Black and White Together, but that gets lost.”
“You look at old guys like me that were alive during that time,” Wright said. “I’m saying ‘wait a minute, you’re missing something, you’re missing something,’ and my grandson—well, my youngest one is 11, he’ll not know that King. I’ll tell him, but what’s going to happen in terms of the curriculum? What’s going to happen in terms of the schools? What’s going to happen in terms of the millions of visitors who go to Washington, D.C.? They will miss that King entirely. We have an idealistic portrait. I think that does violence to what the man stood for and what he was trying to do.”
More ominously, Wright warns, the sanitizing of King has been accompanied by the primacy of a selfish, hedonistic and violent culture which has turned away from values, including self-sacrifice, that make possible harmony and the common good. This selfishness and narcissism, Wright argues, is a form of blasphemy.
(much more @ link)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_rev_jeremiah_wright_recalls_obamas_fall_from_grace_20110919/Barack Obama’s politically expedient decision to betray and abandon his pastor,... more
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The focus of this column is not, however, the American Jobs Act. It’s not President Obama or Washington or politics. It’s about that erosion of the compact between American workers and those who employ them, and where we go from here.The focus of this column is not, however, the American Jobs Act. It’s not... more
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responses are for the folks who read the general posts. But I would like to know what the rest of you think. So, who, what, where---is your heaven?responses are for the folks who read the general posts. But I would like to know what... more
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Emerging coverage from Japan offers a moving example of ultimate dog loyalty, and clearly illustrates the challenges faced by animal victims of the earthquake and tsunami.Emerging coverage from Japan offers a moving example of ultimate dog loyalty, and... more
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Fresh off his mixtape, The Epilogue to Greatness, Marion Write produces and raps over a smooth beat utilizing a sample from Nas' "It Ain't Hard To Tell". The track, "Loyalty", is not off any particular project, I believe they call those buzz tracks.Fresh off his mixtape, The Epilogue to Greatness, Marion Write produces and raps over... more
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Their owner perished in the wilderness, yet they remained at his side, protecting him from scavengers, until searchers found him... some three weeks later.Their owner perished in the wilderness, yet they remained at his side, protecting him... more
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Chicago's GLC has a moment to chop it up with JimmyJazz.com. Find out how he first lined up with Kanye, he's upcoming shoe release with Supra and more!Chicago's GLC has a moment to chop it up with JimmyJazz.com. Find out how he... more
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The Trustco AdVantage Programme enables our clients to benefit even more from doing business with us. See some of the benefits offered and how we can make your life easier.The Trustco AdVantage Programme enables our clients to benefit even more from doing... more
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It took 24 years, but PepsiCo now has its own version of New Coke.
The PepsiCo Americas Beverages division of PepsiCo is bowing to public demand and scrapping the changes made to a flagship product, Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice. Redesigned packaging that was introduced in early January is being discontinued, executives plan to announce on Monday, and the previous version will be brought back in the next month.It took 24 years, but PepsiCo now has its own version of New Coke.
The PepsiCo... more
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lvp
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added this
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3 years ago
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The story of the 47 Ronin is one of Japan's most favorite stories which best illustrates the Japanese virtue of loyalty.
The lord of the 47 Ronin was forced to commit suicide for attacking a corrupt government official who had insulted him constantly. His lands were forfeit and his samurai retainers became ronin - unemployed samurai without a master. A group of them plotted revenge and successfully carried out their plans. They were heralded as paragons of samurai virtue. They too were forced to commit suicide but this was preferable to common execution and so they kept their honor intact.
Due to the story's impact on Japanese life and culture, some scholars say "...to know the story of the 47 Ronin is to know Japan."The story of the 47 Ronin is one of Japan's most favorite stories which best... more
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A dog stood guard over her owner's body for up to six weeks after the man committed suicide on the remote northeastern Colorado plains, authorities said.
The body of 25-year-old Jake Baysinger of La Salle, Colorado, was found Sunday on the Pawnee National Grasslands about 75 miles northeast of Denver, Colorado. Cash, his German shepherd, was found beside him, thin and dehydrated but still alive. The dog had apparently survived by eating mice and rabbits, authorities said.
The Weld County coroner ruled Baysinger's death a suicide. The cause of death wasn't immediately determined but authorities found a gun nearby, the coroner's office said Tuesday.
"At least we know it's over now," said Baysinger's wife, Sara. "We'd been looking for my husband for six weeks, and this isn't how we wanted it to end. At least we can close this."
Baysinger was reported missing June 28. An extensive search failed to locate him, but Kip Konig, a rancher, saw the dog last weekend, went to investigate and discovered Baysinger's body and his pickup.
He said Cash kept running back to the pickup and jumping into the front seat.
"I got the sense she was trying to tell me where her master was," Konig said.
Cash was reunited Monday with Sara Baysinger and her 2-year-old son, Lane. She said her little boy is "very close to that dog" and happy to see her again.
Investigators said the dog probably kept coyotes away from the body.
A dog stood guard over her owner's body for up to six weeks after the man... more
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I say, good for them. I stand right with them. John Edwards was the best choice we had, and now he along with others who were considered too controversial regarding policy are no longer in this. However, should Edwards's delegates hold firm perhaps his policies can be adopted as the Democratic platform at the convention. I personally think it is only fitting since he was the first one who spoke out on all of the important issues and was the only candidate who had a sincere dedication to ending poverty in America. I for one miss him in this race and like the delegate quoted in this article, I find neither of those left to my liking.I say, good for them. I stand right with them. John Edwards was the best choice we... more
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