This is the first test I've taken in many years - and I didn't turn in a stellar performance. - You try it for yourself.

Power of Observation test

http://www.oldjoeblack.0nyx.com/thinktst.htm

Makes me glad I don't have a piano in the house

But I keep coming back to hear this singer . . .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiblYasnzWE&feature=player_embedded

The Worst That Could Happen

Missing in the Japan Catastrophe -- Thinking the Unthinkable
By Tom Engelhardt

“Seldom more than thrice annually did any layman or stranger travel the old road that passed the abbey, in spite of the oasis which permitted that abbey’s existence and which would have made the monastery a natural inn for wayfarers if the road were not a road from nowhere, leading nowhere, in terms of the modes of travel in those times.  Perhaps, in earlier ages, the road had been a portion of the shortest route from the Great Salt Lake to Old El Paso; south of the abbey it intersected a similar strip of broken stone that stretched east- and westward.  The crossing was worn by time, but not by Man, of late.”

I traveled that “old road” when it was still relatively new and heavily trafficked, and I was already a grown-up.  I also traveled it when I was a teenager -- the version with “broken stone” -- through the blistered backlands of what had once been the American West, coming upon the “sports,” the mutants, “the misborn” who, in those grim lands, sometimes looked upon human stragglers “as a dependable source of venison.”
And if you’re now thoroughly confused, I don’t blame you.  Let me explain. For more, click here.

Celebrity resolutions for 2011

Celebrity Resolutions for 2011

Ten celebrities share their 2011 wishes for animals

The Humane Society of the United States [Originally Posted]

• 
  Colbie Caillat with her dog, Plum. The purebred golden retriever was found starving on a street in Taiwan and was adopted by Caillat. Yvonne Bennett/The HSUS

We asked some favorite celebrities to share their resolutions for animals in 2011:

GOTHAM CHOPRA: "We ask people everywhere to express peace, love, and kindness toward all animals through their thinking, feeling, doing, and being. Happy New Year!"
—Gotham, Deepak, Cleo (the family dog!) and the whole Chopra family

COLBIE CAILLAT: "My resolution is to tell all my friends to adopt their next pet, not to buy a puppy from a pet store, and to help stop puppy mills!"

JACKIE EVANCHO: "I hope all kids will resolve to be kind to animals and not do anything to harm them."

JORJA FOX: "My resolution is to support he HSUS’s effort to end dogfighting, and all they’re doing to help at-risk communities."

CAROL LEIFER: "My hope for the new year is that people will only admire fur coats that are on their original owners."

NIGEL BARKER: "My 2011 New Year's resolution is to become fully aware of where all my produce comes from and how it got there, basically being responsible for what food goes on my family's table. And to grow my hair in a show of solidarity for seals!"

HAL SPARKS: "I will introduce at least 20 new people to vegan and vegetarian cuisine in hopes of bringing them closer to a cruelty-free diet. I will continue to encourage everyone to practice Meatless Mondays and... I will also pet 32% more cats this year."

RON BURNS: "We hope people brighten their homes by adopting the many colorful critters waiting in shelters."

TAMAR GELLER: "May those of us who share our lives with dogs train ourselves to see and recognize all the efforts our dogs are making to understand us, connect with us, and make up happy. May we accept them even half as much as they accept us."
—With love, Tamar, Clyde, G-Ma, and Cricket

PATRICK MCDONNELL: "My resolution is to do all I can to help make more people aware that animals are sentient beings. Taking action, even by making small, seemingly insignificant changes, can make a big difference in the lives of animals. It's really about awareness and kindness."

We thank our friends above for sharing their New Year's resolutions and hope you will join us in resolving to make 2011 a great year for animals! Watch highlights from 2010»

Learn more about these celebrity friends of animals:

 Nigel Barker, internationally renowned as a photographer and judge on the show America's Next Top Model, has just authored his first book titled Nigel Barker's Beauty Equation: Revealing a Better and More Beautiful You.

Celebrated for his original and distinctive portraits of dogs and cats, painter and author Ron Burns is also noted for his longtime support of the animal shelter community. Burns shares his studio with his wife and best friend Buff and “furgirls” Loganberry and Emma. Find him online at www.ronburns.com.

Grammy-winning, platinum-selling singer songwriter Colbie Caillat is a spokesperson for The HSUS’s Puppy Mill Campaign. Check out her CDs, “Coco” and “Breakthrough,” and watch for her new CD coming out this spring.

Author Gotham Chopra and his father Deepak recently collaborated on a book titledWalking Wisdom: Three Generations, Two Dogs and the Search for a Happy Life.

Major recording artist Jackie Evancho is currently working on her full length cd for a spring 2011 release date. Find her online at www.JackieEvancho.com

Jorja Fox, star of the hit TV series CSI, has been a long-time supporter of The HSUS and our End Dogfighting campaign.

Tamar Geller is a best-selling author and life coach for dogs and their people. Her latest book is 30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog.

Carol Leifer is a comedian and a comedy writer. Her book of humorous essays is titledWhen You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win.

Patrick McDonnell is the creator and cartoonist of MUTTS™ and author of a number of books. Find more at www.muttscomics.com.

Comedian Hal Sparks is the former host of Talk Soup on E! and his recent comedy special, Charmageddon, is available now on DVD.

Choctaw’s charitable gift to the people of Ireland

The Choctaw’s gift to the people of Ireland 

Story from the National Museum of the American Indian (via ICTMN):

On St. Patrick’s Day, the museum would like to call attention to a remarkable gift from the people of the Choctaw Nation to the people of Ireland 164 years ago. We asked Judy Allen, executive director of public relations for the Choctaw Nation, to tell the history of what she describes as “an act that shaped tribal culture.”
The Choctaw people have a history of helping others. Only sixteen years after their long, sad march along the Trail of Tears, the Choctaws learned of people starving to death in Ireland. With great empathy, in 1847 Choctaw individuals made donations totaling $170 — estimated to be the equivalent of more than $5,000 today — to assist the Irish people during the famine. Though they had meager resources, they gave on behalf of others in greater need.
In 1995, Irish President Mary Robinson, later UN Commissioner for Human Rights, visited the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma to thank the Choctaws for their generosity toward the Irish, a people with whom she noted their only link was “a common humanity, a common sense of another people suffering as the Choctaw Nation had suffered when being removed from their tribal land.”
President Robinson also acknowledged the many Choctaws who have visited Ireland to take part in commemorating the Famine Walk.
“Earlier in the month I met one of the members of the tribe, the artist Gary Whitedeer,” she said. “He explained to me that taking part in that walk and remembering the past between the Choctaw Nation and Irish people and relinking our peoples is completing the circle. I have used that expression recently at a major conference on world hunger in New York. I spoke of the generosity of the Choctaw people and this idea of completing the circle.”
This charitable attitude resonates still today when crisis situations occur across the world. In 2001, tribal people made a huge contribution to the Firefighters Fund after the Twin Towers attack in New York City and have since made major contributions to Save the Children and the Red Cross in 2004 for tsunami relief, in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina relief, and more recently, for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Good works are not exclusive to humanitarian organizations and funds.
The Choctaw Nation received the United States National Freedom Award in 2008 for the efforts made in support of members of the National Guard and Reserve and their families. There are countless stories of Choctaw individuals who have looked past their own needs to help their neighbors.