Buddha

Buddha 

The man who was to become the Buddha was born Siddhattha Gotama around 2,600 years ago as a prince of a small territory near what is now the Indian-Nepalese border. Though he was raised in splendid comfort, enjoying aristocratic status, no amount of material pleasure could conceal life’s imperfections from the unusually inquisitive young man. At the age of 29 he left wealth and family to search for a deeper meaning in the secluded forests and remote mountains of Northeast India. He studied under the wisest religious teachers and philosophers of his time, learning all they had to offer, but they could not provide the answers he was seeking. He then struggled with the path of self-mortification, taking that practice to the extremes of asceticism, but still to no avail.

Then at the age of 35, on the full moon night of May, he sat beneath the branches of what is now known as the Bodhi Tree, in a secluded grove by the banks of the river Neranjara, and developed his mind in deep and luminous, tranquil meditation. Using the extraordinary clarity of such a mind, with its sharp penetrative power generated by states of deep inner stillness, he turned his attention to investigate the truth of mind, universe and life. Thus he gained the Supreme Enlightenment experience and from then on he was known as the Buddha, the Awakened One.

His Enlightenment consisted of the most profound and all-embracing insight into the nature of mind and all phenomena. This Enlightenment was not a revelation from some divine being, but a discovery made by himself based on the deepest levels of meditation and the clearest experience of mind. It meant that he was free from the shackles of craving, ill-will and delusion, that all forms of inner suffering had been eliminated and that he had acquired unshakeable peace.

Nowlan Park asbestos problem.

On Wednesday 12Th. February 2014 the worst storm of the century damaged the roof of the old stand at Nowlan Park.

Nowlan Park is the principal GAA stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland, home to the Kilkenny hurling team. It has two covered stands and two terraces, behind each goalpost. 

At the height of the inclement conditions part of the roof struck local premises and there were reports of debris breaking upstairs windows in adjoining houses. The roof is made of asbestos. This could be dangerous with the risk of developing Asbestosis. Asbestos can be harmful if dust containing the fibre is inhaled. The risk from asbestos where the fibres are still intact (such as in asbestos cement) is significantly reduced. However, always treat all asbestos products with caution as potential sources of fibrous dust, and handle them carefully. 

 

Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory and fibrotic medical condition affecting the parenchymal tissue of the lungs caused by the inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers. There is no curative treatment for asbestosis. 

Is the area safe ? Should they hold games there until the roof is removed or cleaned ?

Is USA 🇺🇸 in Trouble ?

Is the USA in trouble, morally, financially and just unhappy.  Compared to exactly six years ago, 1,154,000 fewer Americans have jobs. Meanwhile, the population has gotten significantly larger since then.  Household income in the United States has fallen for five years in a row, and the rate of homeownership in the United States has fallen for eight years in a row. There are 47 million Americans on food stamps out of a population of just under 314 million. It costs $76 billion a year(2013). It's military was $664 billion (2011). It's National Debt 💰 is $17,000,000,000,000. $17 trillion. (Today 2014). 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

The US Naval Academy Chapel

Colorido Springs, USA

architect Walter Netsch stacked the spaces on two main levels.^[The Protestant nave is located on the upper level, while the Catholic and Jewish chapels and a Buddhist room are located beneath it. Beneath this level is a larger room used for Islamic services and two meeting rooms. Each chapel has its own entrance, and services may be held simultaneously without interfering with one another.

Built in the 1960s, way ahead of its time with space for "all religions".

Boycott Amazon

Boycott Amazon.com 

Before you buy goods with a click on Amazons web site just read below and remember the Workers.

British Amazon 

Only  2265 full time employees in U.K.

They are taking on 15,000 for holiday season.

warehouse pickers :

 the daily rate of £6.50 per hour to night rate £8.25 per hour.

( The National Minimum Wage rate per hour for 21Y/O is £6.19 in 2012 )

In Peterborough, Cambridgeshire rates are

 £6.30phr+ overtime paid at time and a half

40 hours per week over 5 days to then move to 48 hours per week over 6 days (mandatory)

Shifts 7am to 3pm 3am to 11pm 11pm to 7 am

They work in massive warehouses.

The scanner tracks the  picking rate and sends the performance to managers. If it is too low, he could face disciplinary action.

night shift work a four-day week with an hour's break per shift. Picker scan walk 11 miles on shift. 

In 2012 it received £2.5 million in grants the Scottish Government, to help fund a massive new distribution depot in Dunfermline.

It got grants for its other warehouses in England & Wales.

High street shops are closing at a record rate in the last three years.

In United States of America

Amazon pays its 20,000 warehouse workers an average hourly wage of about $12, which is below the national average.

Its employees get full benefits and stock awards on top of their salaries. In the past five years, this has added an average of 9% to workers' base pay annually, 

The average warehouse worker at Wal-Mart makes just under $40,000 annually, while at Amazon would take home about $24,300 a year. That's less than $1,000 above the official federal poverty line for a family of four.

Don't mention the Tax they pay, it a long story but just let say they don't pay much.

Hidden History : The Ancient Near East.

     Empires dominate the known world while they rule but they come & go. Some are famous and seem to be of interest ( Egyptians ) and others completely forgotten ( The Hittites ).

The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East.

The ancient Near East is considered the cradle of civilization. It was the first to practice intensive year-round agriculture, it gave the rest of the world the first writing system, invented the potter's wheel and then the vehicular- and mill wheel, created the first centralized governments, law codes and empires, as well as introducing social stratification, slavery and organized warfare, and it laid the foundation for the fields of astronomy and mathematics.

There were 4 great empires in ancient history that have some recorded histories in the "near East".

They were the  Egyptians, ( Ancient Egypt sees a succession of thirty dynasties spanning three millennia, 2920 - 525 )

The Assyrians ( Assyrians trace their ancestry back to the Sumero-Akkadian civilisation that emerged in Mesopotamia circa 4000–3500 BC, )

The Babylonians (  Babylonia was an empire of ancient Akkadian-speaking Semitic nation state and cultural region based in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) 1894 - 1664 )

The Hittites  The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who established an empire at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia around 1600 BC - 1174. They were not re-discovered until the early 20th century.

Hidden History : Texas

Forgotten History

The Republic of Texas was an independent sovereign nation in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. 

Republic of Texas

 It had 5 Presidents. Burnet( intrim), Sam Houston (twice), Lamar, Jones.

In 1839 it moved its capital to Austin. After gaining their independence, the Texas voters had elected a Congress of 14 senators and 29 representatives in September 1836.

 It was approx 1 million kmsq, with a population of approx 70,000. It printed it own currency the Texas Dollar.

Formed as a separate nation after gaining independence from Mexico in 1836, the republic claimed borders that included all of the present US state of Texas as well as parts of present-day Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico based upon the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Mexico.

The first flag of the republic was the "Burnet Flag" (a gold star on an azure field), followed in 1839 by official adoption of the Lone Star Flag.

The United States recognized the new independent nation of Texas and commissioned its first representative, Alcee La Branche as the chargé d'affaires in 1837. It received diplomatic recognition from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Republic of Yucatán. The United Kingdom never granted official recognition to Texas.