"THE MAYONNAISE JAR"

 

 

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
When 24 hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class
And had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, Friends, and Favourite passions -
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take someone out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. 'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

Iraq: Let the good times roll!

Music Video: 1899 Music Box Carols

North Korean 'Dear Leader' - Kim Jong Il - dies

More from Bloomberg:

Kim Jong Il, the second-generation North Korean dictator who defied global condemnation to build nuclear weapons while his people starved, has died, state media reported. A government statement called on North Koreans to “loyally follow” his son, Kim Jong Un.

Kim, 70, died on Dec. 17 of exhaustion brought on by a sudden illness while on a domestic train trip, the official Korean Central News Agency said. Kim probably had a stroke in August 2008 and may have also contracted pancreatic cancer, according to South Korean news reports.

The son of Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder, Kim was a chain-smoking recluse who ruled for 17 years after coming to power in July 1994 and resisted opening up to the outside world in order to protect his regime.

Fatboy son Kim Jong Un

The potential succession of his little-known third son, Jong Un, threatens to trigger a dangerous period for the Korean peninsula, where 1.7 million troops from the two Koreas and the U.S. square off every day.

“Kim Jong Il inherited a genius for playing the weak hand and by keeping the major powers nervous, continuing his father’s tradition of turning Korea’s history of subservience on its head,” said Michael Breen, the Seoul-based author of “Kim Jong Il: North Korea’s Dear Leader,” a biography. “We have entered an uncertain moment with North Korea.”

Jong Un, is at the “forefront of the revolution,” KCNA said in its official statement of the elder Kim’s death.

Won, Stocks Fall

South Korea’s won declined as much as 1.6 percent to a two- month low of 1,177.35 and government bonds dropped after the news. The Kospi index lost 4 percent to 1,766.82 as of 12:07 p.m. in Seoul.

Lampooned by foreign cartoonists and filmmakers for his weight, his zippered jumpsuits, his aviator sunglasses and his bouffant hairdo, Kim cut a more serious figure in his rare dealings with world leaders outside the Communist bloc.

“If there’s no confrontation, there’s no significance to weapons,” he told Madeleine Albright, then U.S. secretary of state, in a 2000 meeting in Pyongyang.

Those words took on greater significance in 2009 as Kim defied threats of United Nations sanctions to test a second nuclear device and a ballistic missile, technically capable of striking Alaska.

The following year North Korea lashed out militarily, prompting stern warnings from the U.S. and South Korea. An international investigation blamed Kim’s regime for the March 2010 sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan that killed 46 sailors. Eight months later North Korea shelled a South Korean island, killing two soldiers, two civilians and setting homes ablaze. The act followed reports by an American scientist that the country had made “stunning” advances to its uranium-enrichment program.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Austin in Tokyo at billaustin@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Charles W. Stevens at cstevens@bloomberg.net

Comment:

Landmine Billy

Something's been bugging me all day and I realized what it was while I was watching al Jazeera...brain washed zombies lack the ability to fake cry convincingly! North Korea has got to be the worst place on earth!

Time's person of the year is...

Hardly a surprise!

Time's Person of the Year 2011  The Protester
Another busy day.... President Obama speeches at Ft Bragg to end the war in Iraq.  The right thing to do.  That made it a good day!

Amanpour off Sunday; Stephanopoulos back as ABC fixes what they broke

Christiane Amanpour is leaving her job as host of ABC's "This Week" and returning to her roots both at CNN and in foreign reporting in a new arrangement that allows her to appear on both ABC News and CNN International, the two networks announced Tuesday.

George Stephanopoulos, her predecessor as host of "This Week," will return to the Sunday show while continuing his duties on "Good Morning America." ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper will also have a "large role" on the show, as will other correspondents, according to an ABC News spokesman.

Amanpour will have a weekday show on CNN International. She will also continue at ABC News as a global affairs anchor across the networks' platforms and as the host of multiple primetime specials.

"Christiane has had a remarkable year for ABC News, and we are looking forward to her getting back out in the field, with her unique brand of storytelling and reporting, that is worldbeating and so impactful," said ABC News President Ben Sherwood. "Her interviews with Mubarak, Qaddhafi and others this year were simply world class. And we are thrilled to be able to work out this arrangement."

More....

The "KC 8" Occupiers in DC finally get themselves arrested on K Street

The "OCCUBUS" left early Sunday from KC to pick up a delegation of 31 KC occupiers to head for Washington.

Most of those who boarded the bus for the trip are among the 'usual suspects' of key activists who are seen at most all of Occupy Kansas City's various events.


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By Monday aboard the cramped bus, they passed through St Louis to get 18 more passengers, then on through Ohio and then West Virginia, where they stopped to stretch their legs and breakfast.

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Monday afternoon, they had arrived in DC to  to go to the mall but they were told to pitch tents at McPherson Square....where they attended that park's General Assembly meeting.

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The KC delegation introduced itself and listened and watched the much larger encampment at 6 o'clock.  In fact, representatives from all over the country have arrived in DC to 'occupy' their congressional representatives this week.

Their first day, the Occupiers managed one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to visit the White House.  And posed for a picture.  This even as President Obama was preparing for a trip to Kansas City!  To Osawatomie to make a major speech.

Tuesday morning, the KC occupiers headed up the hill to the people's legislature...the US capitol which is the highest point in Washington.

The day was warmer than the KC people expected but while Kansas City was getting light snow, the nation's capital was experiencing rain.  Even so, the delegates from Kansas City walked briskly up the hill towards the capitol, anxious to get to the business at hand.  The offices they went to were in the Longworth Building, not the actual capitol.  This is where both Hartzler and Graves Missouri offices were located.

Only momentarily did they pause for a picture on their way to the federal congressional buildings where they had designs to 'occupy' the offices of Republican St Louis Rep Vicky Hartzler and Kansas City Rep Sam Graves.

The capitol complex is composed of the capitol itself and other large buildings filled with offices throughout.  Eventually, the delegation found their way and split up to the offices of Reps Hartzler and Graves.

Marci, Ian and Chad get a picture taken for Think Progress which covers the Occupy DC events by groups visiting from around the country..


They forgot to make an appointments.  Oh dread.

The occupiers from KC and St Louis filled Hartzler's office and learned the facts.  A staffer greeted them.  "She's not in", she has appointments and meetings and so had not prepared for them.  The occupiers decided to 'occupy' the office until she came back to see them.

Here', KC's photogenic Marci explains to the group as they sat in Hartzler's office how one percent of the population holds 30 percent of the nation's wealth. They did not stay long and were thrown out.

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One new KC occupier, named David, was arrested  for refusing to leave Hartzler's office and details of that are not yet forthcoming but his release is expected.  The remaining Hartzler visitors had lunch and decided to go to join the Graves delegation in another office.

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The second delegation of a dozen Kansas Citians went originally to the Sam Graves (R-KC) office.

Similarly, he too had a full schedule but the group remained at his office, hoping to visit with him.  They were joined by the Hartzler delegation who had been thrown out.

As they wrote letters to him, Graves showed up about 4pm, and the group told him it was his job to protect education and social security and health care but Melissa said the Republican really didn't say much, didn't seem moved much.  She said a few others got a MUCH warmer reception after visiting Rep Emanual Cleaver's (D-KC) office.  They met with him.

Tuesday the OKC group plans on Mic Checking with the other state groups where Speaker John Boehner speaks at a Christmas lighting ceremony as well as a VIP meeting at a restaurant.

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Wednesday's plans included marching on Washington's K Street where the banksters and big corporations offices are located .

As the day grew on, they marched down K street and were met by police...who began arresting those willing to take a stand in the rain.

VIDEO:  Washington POST-

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We love you, some chanted.  Others taunted them to come over to the occupiers side as  those planning to be arrested lay on the wet pavement.  Finally, Occupy KC got their turn to be arrested  and by tweet, notified Kansas Citians of what was apparently a badge of courage. Reuters picked up on the story and dubbed them "The Kansas City Eight" (photos of the mass arrests).

FB PAGE: Occupy Kansas City

OccupyKC: Danni, Melissa, Jeremy, Chris, Marci, Shamus, Tamaryn, & Chad from #OccupyKC are being arrested on K St #99inDC

Laughing with glee on a video stream shot in a van, they appeared to show off their plastic wrist restraints for the camera.  One presumes with their jubilance, no one was hurt and being arrested in a big DC march wasn't so bad. Later they were released, they said with help from the Natnl Lawyers Guild.  They tweeted later more than half of those arrested were from cities other than Occupy DC.   The ODC occupiers paid their $50 fines.  They said one additional OKC occupier was arrested in a separate incident  at the Supreme Court Building and held overnight.  Adam was the only KC occupier to be at the court steps Wednesday night among the dozen arrested there.


Thursday, the group is kicking back, touring museums and the plan was to get on the bus for the return trip at about 8pm on Thursday night.  Because of the arrests and the wet conditions, all but three stayed at youth hostels for their final night in DC.  They said the tents were soaked.  The group is reported to be in good spirits and happy with the trip.
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Now none of the issues about the 1 percent and 99 percent are news.  As the streaming video photos were posted back on Kansas City's facebook page, one commenter made that note and got a response.

Mitch Dibble I'm glad all those donations went to good use, like bussing people to another occupy site to tell the crooked politicians the same shit they already know, expecting that they'll somehow change their minds and actually start working for .... (sarcasm font)

Wendy Hippie Cardwell-Reed Thank YOU OKC for being the change you want to see...At the very least you are doing what most are not; something. Happy to see my donations being put toward forward progress finally. (grateful font)

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President in Osawatomie

At 1pm Tuesday, President Obama began speaking to Osawatomie High school students and various dignitaries. More on Obama's major speech overshadowing other news...."We can't return to a 'You're on your own economy'" to save the middle class. 

Populist Obama in KS - Daily KOS 

CNN Obama Speech 

Jewish Christmas

 Jewish Christmas Profiteering


The Teacher asked young Patrick Murphy: "What do you do at
Christmas time?

Patrick addressed the class: "Well Ms. Jones, me and my twelve
brothers and sisters go to midnight mass and we sing hymns; then
we come home very late and we put mince pies by the back door and
hang up our stockings. Then all excited, we go to bed and wait
for Father Christmas to come with all our toys.

"Very nice Patrick," she said. "Now Jimmy Brown, what do you do
at Christmas?"

Well, Ms. Jones, me and my sister also go to church with Mom and
Dad and we sing carols and we get home ever so late. We put
cookies and milk by the chimney and we hang up our stockings. We
hardly sleep, waiting for Santa Claus to bring our presents.

Realizing there was a Jewish boy in the class and not wanting to
leave him out of the discussion, she asked, "Now, Isaac Cohen,
what do you do at Christmas?"

Isaac said, "Well, it's the same thing every year...Dad comes
home from the office. We all pile into the Rolls Royce; then we
drive to Dad's toy factory. When we get inside, we look at all
the empty shelves...And begin to sing: "What A Friend We Have in
Jesus". Then we all go to the Bahamas."

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Another testimony to capitalism

A friend of mine quit the Canadian Forces and just started his own business in Kandahar .  He's making land mines that look like prayer mats. Business is good.  He says prophets are going through the roof.

Excellent VIdeo Documentary: The Face of OCCUPY KC

Ongoing details about OCCUPY KC, visit the website http://www.occupykc.net
or the facebook page "Occupy Kansas City"

The Occupy KC Post: Read it!

“We are one.” “Join us!” “We are the 99%.” The rhetoric of Occupier signs bears a fascinating resemblance to the rhetoric of the American Revolution. Whereas the rallying cries during the Revolution focused on a government out of touch with the people it governed, economic policies that irked its citizens, and unequal representation, the Occupy Movement is focused on … well … pretty much the same thing. Read on...