Tough and Vulnerable Street Cats, photos by Petar Mitchev and accompanied by Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

These stirring photography were all taken by photographer Petar Mitchev in Varna, Bulgaria. These and more of Petar's work can be seen at PicCat website: http://piccat.com/

Jon Stewart on Palin Defenders' "Flip-Kops"

AMERICAN TRAGEDY

Bush's War - an American tragedy!

Naomi Wolf on Ten Steps to Tyranny- "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot"

Naomi Wolf, recently penned a book The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, which is basically a call to arms for citizens of the United States. Ms. Wolf is an excellent writer whose well-researched views are presented clearly, and in this case, with absolutely sobering effect. Her basic point is a comparison between the present-day government of the United States, and that of the Weimar Republic of pre-World War II Germany. It's interesting to note, the Weimar Republic was a parliamentary democracy, duly elected by Germans, who watched as their government systematically moved towards Hitler's dictatorship.

Hilary tells it like it is!

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me,
or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him?

Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids?

Were you in it for that young boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage?

Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges, leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

RECOVERY: A Process for Personal Transformation

10 Reasons Cats Love Us More Than Dogs

10 Reasons Cats Love Us More Than Dogs

KEYS TO RECOVERY - Finding Meaning

...and when He knew for certain only drowning men could see Him, He said all men shall be sailors then until the sea shall free them... Leonard Cohen, Suzanne

I "discovered" existential philosophy in the late 1960's at the tender age of 18, starting with the work of "Beat" writers Kerouac, Ginsberg and others, I followed the thread - only half comprehending, but sensing some profound truth anyway - through Sartre and Bouvier to Camus and eventually stumbling around in Nietche, and others much too heady for my comprehension at that point. I was reading on my own, out of desperation to find some explanations for the seeming meaninglessness all around me. I all seemed very important at the time. Then came Bob Dylan and then the psychedelic mystics - I found some kindred wonderers and wanderers and life unfolded as it would.

Over the ensuing years, the “key” to life’s puzzle evaded my attempts to understand or connect with a tangible "PURPOSE" - an explanation for my own (or anyone’s) existence. Nothing I tried out - or tried on - made any difference in my life. Not devouring the writings of eastern and western enlightened ones, not the elusive “soul-mate” that perhaps would make me whole, or vivid sexual and sensual explorations, not my music, not the drugs - and certainly not the relief and welcome oblivion my loyal companion, alcohol, provided day and night . . . at least there was that!

What I sought in vain was "spiritual connection" - but I certainly would not have used the term then. But in 1978, at the age of 32, I had a personal and conscious "experience" of this connection. An abiding awareness and certainty that it did, in fact, happen has remained with me these past 30 years, and yes . . . this experience has made a profound and lasting difference in my life.

It came, unexpected, when I, now completely naked and alone, faced the bottomless “pit” – a void so black and empty that I, literally, abandoned all hope. As I leapt, hopeless and desperate, into nothingness, I knew it was all over . . . At that instant, “the void" became everything . . . connecting to me, trembling and awestruck - like an unplugged electrical appliance whose cord had somehow found and connected with a live socket! It was as if I was, literally, drowning (the great “waterboarding” known as “Surrender”!?!) and reflexively clawing for something, anything . . . to save . . . me . . . The Unknowable . . . found . . . Me . . .

"...and when He knew for certain only drowning men could see Him, He said all men shall be sailors then until the sea shall free them... "

Leonard Cohen, Suzanne