The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
Because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
--Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks

The Pulse Of God
The limbs of a tree reached
down and lifted me, thinking
I was it's child,
and
in the meadows
my spirit becomes so quiet
that if I put my cheek
against the earth's body
I feel the pulse of God,
"tell me the way you
do that birds....
enter the private chambers
of my Lord?"
and they all sang,
they just SANG.
I gathered it was time
to become a musician,
and I did.
Years passed, and the
sky reached down
one day and lifted
me
and the birds noticed and spoke,
"how do you enter
the sun like
that and
know
the
pulse
of
God?"
From Saint Thomas Aquinas

Prince Michael Angel

an original Poem by Clarlita Zarate

In Memory of Michael Jackson


In a kingdom of all colors
dwells our beloved brother.
He has made his home in heaven
above where moments are made of
dreams come true.

It is where the greatest power is love.
Michael is dancing with angels now.
They sing his songs
because, my lord,
it pleases you.

The virgin calls out to him,
"Young Michael."
Her eyes are soft and kind.
Then she asks him as she takes his hands,
"Are you lonely for something you left behind?"

Michael answers, "I miss my fans."

By Clarita Zarate
written for Michael Jackson, forever.

Los Angeles police under scrutiny in Jackson death
By LINDA DEUTSCH and THOMAS WATKINS, AP
L. Michael Jackson.Investigation

The rented home of Michael Jackson seen from the air, Monday, June 29, 2009,...


LOS ANGELES — The investigation of Michael Jackson's death is widening as questions intensify about the drugs he took, the doctors who provided them and the actions of police.

Why didn't police seal the mansion where he had been living? Why were moving vans seen at the home, and were any items removed before police wrapped up their search? Why didn't they get immediate search warrants? Why did they tow away a doctor's car right after the death but not declare the home a crime scene?

Los Angeles police say proper procedures were followed based on the circumstances officers encountered when they were called to the home at 12:21 p.m. on June 25. A doctor was attending to Jackson and stayed with him when he was placed in an ambulance at 1:07 p.m. There was no sign of foul play.

Others say police should have assumed it was possible a crime occurred and taken precautions to ensure the scene was not disrupted so evidence wasn't lost or tainted.

"If I was the chief detective on the case, I would have said, 'We don't know what's going on. We should seal the scene,'" said defense attorney Harland Braun, who has represented celebrities including Robert Blake, Roseanne and Gary Busey. "You always have to think of the worst-case scenario and you have to think fast. I would have sealed the scene just because it was Michael Jackson."

Whether the Jackson probe turns into a criminal investigation hinges on what evidence emerges involving the drugs. Charges could be brought if authorities determine Jackson had been overly prescribed medications, if he had been given drugs inappropriate for his medical needs, or if doctors knowingly prescribed Jackson medications under an assumed name.

It's still not known what caused Jackson's death at age 50. The pop star went into cardiac arrest in his bedroom and his personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, performed CPR while an ambulance was called, according to Murray's lawyers. Murray has spoken to police and authorities say he is not a suspect, though his actions have come under scrutiny because his own lawyers acknowledge it may have taken up to a half-hour for an ambulance to be summoned.

An autopsy was conducted but results are not expected for several weeks. The Jackson family had a second autopsy performed and those results also are pending.

On Wednesday, The Associated Press learned Los Angeles police asked the Drug Enforcement Administration to assist in the investigation.

DEA agents participated in the investigation of the 2007 overdose death of Anna Nicole Smith at a Florida hotel. California Attorney General Jerry Brown investigated her former boyfriend and two of her doctors.

Brown handed the investigation over to the Los Angeles district attorney's office, which filed charges of conspiring to provide Smith with prescription drugs.

Brown said the suspects broke the law because Smith was a "known addict." The former boyfriend and doctors denied the charges.

The DEA also probed whether painkillers found in actor Heath Ledger's system after his death last year were obtained illegally. Federal prosecutors did not charge anyone.

Jean Rosenbluth, a University of Southern California law professor, said the agency's involvement in the Jackson case suggests authorities are looking into whether drugs came from out of state. Murray lives in Las Vegas and is licensed to practice in Texas, Nevada and California.

Federal drug regulations include controls over whether and how frequently a doctor can write prescriptions over the phone, and DEA agents could be looking to see if these rules were broken, Rosenbluth said.

"You can't just get on the phone and continue to prescribe something for someone without having seen them for a long period of time," she said.

Jackson had a well-known history of using prescription medications, especially painkillers. Following his death, Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse who had worked for Jackson, told the AP she repeatedly rejected his demands for the drug Diprivan, also known as Propofol. It's a potent anesthetic used in operating rooms and it would be highly unusual to have it in a private home.

Uri Geller, a former Jackson confidant, said he tried to keep Jackson from abusing painkillers and other prescription drugs, but others in the singer's circle kept him supplied.

"When Michael asked for something, he got it," Geller said in a telephone interview from his suburban London home.

Jackson had multiple doctors and many others like Geller who came in and out of his life. Which people are being interviewed by police is unclear because the LAPD has said virtually nothing about the probe.

"I am not going to make any comments on the investigation," Commander Patrick Gannon, the designated police spokesman on the Jackson case, said by e-mail Thursday.

Any evidence would be turned over to the district attorney's office, which has final say on criminal charges.

One of the key questions is why it took four days for police to issue a search warrant and remove medications from Jackson's home.

Although the home wasn't declared a crime scene, police did tow Murray's car the evening of the death to look for potential evidence.

Vernon J. Geberth, former commanding officer of the Bronx Homicide Task force in New York, said police should have known they were dealing with an extraordinary situation.

"If it's a high-profile person, you have to do more than you would do ordinarily," he said.

Still, Geberth, who now acts as a private forensic consultant, said he believes the LAPD acted appropriately.

"Having a doctor present altered the equation. It was not a homicide scene. It was an emergency medical scene," he said.

Police spokesman Lt. John Romero declined to comment when asked if the LAPD was reviewing its handling of the investigation.

Rosenbluth said if the case ends up as a criminal prosecution, any defense attorney would seize on the LAPD's failure to immediately seal Jackson's home.

"If you can get even one juror think, I don't know, maybe somebody fiddled with the medicine before the police came in and collected it, that's reasonable doubt," she said. "All that the defense attorney needs is one juror."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

It brings Joy to my heart to hear that Michael Jackson wills complete and sole custody of his children to his mother!!!.
I am grateful to him for the beautiful music and for leaving a third of his great fortune to charity. I pray that it goes straight to the needy children he wants it given to.
RIP dear Michael
I know you are with angels!
Clarita

Whatever My President decides is ok with me. It is the first time in my life I have ever trusted and felt affection for a president and his family!
May they always stay blessed!

opama .. and The pyramids and sphinx

A long Q of IDPs waiting at the front of World Food Programme Food Distribution Point to get Food Items.

'World No Tobacco Day' has been marked here, as it has been around the world. NGOs forming a coalition against tobacco have staged a walk; at seminars the dangers of the substance have been highlighted and Pakistan Railways has taken a big leap forward by banning smoking on its trains. But is the battle against tobacco really being won? Statistics indicate that smoking is growing in Third World countries even as levels drop in the developed world. The reasons are linked to the fact that awareness campaigns mean people in the west are less likely than before to take up the habit. This means that for giant companies who earn profits at the cost of health, the parts of the world where people have less access to information now offers the most lucrative markets.

Has enough been done in our country to discourage tobacco? The fact is that while laws have come in, restricting sales to juveniles or smoking in public places, implementation has been very poor. There is also a need for more aggressive effort to drive home the message about tobacco. Cigarettes and the 'sheesha' which has arrived over the last decade remain something of a fashion statement for the young and trendy. Health of course is rarely an issue teenagers think deeply about. There is also a growing rate of smoking among young women. Somewhere, despite the warnings on cigarette packets and the other efforts made, there has not been as much success as we would like to see. Surveys show people remain willing to ignore warnings. The WHO campaign for pictures as well as words on the warning labels is one we need to take up, given the high rate of illiteracy – and the fact that often, quite literally, pictures drive home messages where sentences fail. We also need to focus on spreading the 'no tobacco' message among children. They after all are the smokers of the future; in many cases they also have been able to dissuade parents who smoke. This then is a group that needs to be targeted in a more focalized manner, so that in the coming years we can have a society where tobacco is less commonplace than what is currently the case.

This is a matter of great concern not only for Pakistan but for the entire globe. It has started just after the 9/11 sad incidence which took the lives of many inocent humans, and shock the whole world that the so called super power could have so low security level in their own country, the failure of which resulted disturbace throughout the world. Firstly the US struck with massive power and demolished those areas of Afghanistan where still there is no facility of electricity, no phone facility and people are stpending their lives below poverty level. The US failed to accomplised operation by not capturing the most wanted people e.g Osama Bin Ladin, Maula Omar etc. beside having all the latest technology of sattelite and support of allied forces. Which resulted in the migration of escaped people from Afghanistan to Pakistan.
Unfortunately finally the same operation started with the help of Pakistan Army but this time not in the tribal areas of Pakistan but settled area of beautiful swat valley and surroundings, where 3 million peace loving pushtoons left their homes with zero level refugee arrangements by the Pakistan government, which unfortunately is in the hands of supreme currupt leaders, because of which we feel extremely ashamed of being Pakistani. Lets suppose if the US and Pakistan again failed in their plan and the so called terrorists again escape from here, then which country's peace will be in stake, and if again the US failed there which country next, and so on............
This message is for all the peace loving brothers and sisters in the world to peace step ahead not with your weapon as gun but with your pen or key board as your weapons. Express and share your feelings with your neighbours, friends, colleuges, upload via internet to save the world against the war, we should discourage the killing of any single citizen of the world in any shape. May be one single word written or spoken by us today may save thousands of precious lives tomorrow.
so please lets say " NO TO WAR " and provide a much peaceful environment to our upcoming generation.

Compartimos la programación de la Sección de Infancia y Juventud del XI Festival Internacional DERHUMALC- Cine de Derechos Humanos que se lleva a cabo en la ciudad de Buenos Aires del 27 de Mayo al 10 de Junio del presente año.La Sección de Infancia y Juventud es coordinada por la Asociación Vientos del Sur.

To have a goal is very important. It makes life a bit easier, because in a way, you know what you want and how to get it.
I have many goals, because my mind works very rapidly. I have what people may call "Backup Plans" just in case my first goal fails. I want to be a climatologist. This has to do with me studying the weather in different climates of the world. If this doesnt work out, I'd like to be a therapist. I am good at keeping things to myself, I love to help my friends and family whenever they need me, and I like to help people with problems that they are having about various situations. If plans A and B don't work, I think I may become a Motivational Speaker. I love to influence others with the knowledge that I have and further mine in the process. I have been told (Not that I like to toot my own horn) that I am a very influential person and that I inspire alot of people to not quit and become more than they are. If my A, B,and C plans fail, I'd Like to become a novelist. I love to read and I love to write, So that will work out well. It is important to have a goal and a few Backups incase it fails!

-M

I really dont know why first world countries still deem Sierra Leone still the most dangerous country in the world. I've just come back from there and if it wasnt for the corruption and the poverty Sierra Leone is the most beautiful country, and i give my heart fully to the country! I'll be back in 22months time!!

The world has become a divided place. Whole countries have turned on each other, Ethnic people have traded on thier own kind, and the foundation of the human race has taken a drastic turn towards the worst. In an efficient way, We are all 1 people: -The Human Rcae-. So, why is it that we have to hurt each other to prive a point? Why is it that we have to rape our women, kill our children, and destroy our entire beings for nothing? Is it the need for power? Respect? Or, had the corruption of the world and -Human Race- become a noted past-time or a just a hooby that we've picked up? Most elders claim that our ("Our" being people of all races younger than 35-50 years of accumulated age and wisdom) current behavior is the reason for the corruption in today's world, But, I say to elders, Were YOU all so different? Most traits that the chldren of today's world possess come from thier line of family. If you and a friend entered a store, and you saw they were stealing, you question them. If they told you that everyone in thier family did it for as long as they could rememeber, what could you say??? Its a trait they were raised on. I say to you (Trusted readers of this posted entry of my blog)What do you believe is the true meaning of the world's corruption? Is it the actions of young adults, or the past actions of thier elders? Do they want power? Respect? What is the meaning of it all??

Depending on the circumstances, many people will tell you that they have a "Harsh Life". But what does this mean??? A "Harsh Life" can have many meanings. Someone could have just lost a job, a loved one, or their entire being because of the chaos they around. But, what is the true meaning of it? If you are robbed on the street, you would be considered to have a "Harsh Life" to some, But to others, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the other hand, Someone may have just lost a spouse, child, or very close friend. The would be considered to have a "Harsh Life" to some, But to others they may just be experiencing death and don't know how to grasp it. What Is YOUR Definition Of A"Harsh Life"???