a. USA supported Bin Laden and the Taliban for years, and viewed them as freedom fighters against the Russians.

b. As late as 1998, the US was paying the salary of every single Taliban official in Afghanistan.

c. There is more oil and gas in the Caspian Sea, but you need a pipeline through Afghanistan to get that out.

d. UNOCAL, a giant oil conglomerate, wanted to build a 1000 mile pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea.

e. UNOCAL spend $10,000,000,000 on geological studies for the pipeline construction, and courted the Taliban for their support in allowing the  construction to begin.

f. All leading Taliban officials were in Texas negotiating with UNOCAL in 1998.

g. In 1999, Taliban changed its mind and threw UNOCAL out of the country and awarded the pipeline project to a company in Argentina.

h. John Maresca, VP of UNOCAL testified before Congress and said no pipeline should be set until the Taliban was gone and a more friendly government was established.

i. After 1999, the Taliban became the most evil people in the world.

j. In 2001, Bush declares war against Afghanistan, though not a single Afghani was involved in the plane hijacking.

k. Bush blamed Bin Laden, but did not offer any proof, saying it was confidential.

l. Talibans offered to hand over Bin Laden if there was proof, but Bush bombed Afghanistan instead.

m. We now have a new government in Afghanistan, which is friendlier.

n. That the leader of the new government is one gentleman called Hamid Karzai, who formerly worked for UNOCAL.

o. Bush appoints a special envoy (Lakhdar Ibrahimi) to represent the US to deal with the new government. This special envoy was formerly chief consultant to UNOCAL.

p. The US government quietly announces in January 2002 that it will support the Trans-Afghan pipeline construction.

q. President Musharraf and Hamid Karzai announce agreement in February 2002 to build proposed gas pipeline from Central Asia to Pakistan through Afghanistan.

And you thought we were fighting terrorism here, didn’t you?

It is all about OIL.

He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received A steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer.

“Are you a good farm hand?” the farmer asked him.

“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!”

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows .”

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.

To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

******

When you’re prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

******

He said, “I had thousands of masters. If I just relate their names it will take months, years and it is too late. But three masters I will certainly tell you about.

One was a thief. Once I got lost in the desert, and when I reached a village it was very late, everything was closed. But at last I found one man who was trying to make a hole in t he wall of a house. I asked him where I could stay and he said ‘At this time of night it will be difficult, but you can stay with me – if you can stay with a thief.’ And the man was so beautiful. I stayed for one month! And each night he would say to me, ‘Now I am going to my work. You rest, you pray.’ When he came back I would ask ‘Could you get anything?’ He would say, ‘Not tonight. But tomorrow I will try again, God willing.’ He was never in a state of hopelessness, he was always happy. When I was meditating and meditating for years on end and nothing was happening, many times the moment came when I was so desperate, so hopeless,that I thought to stop all this nonsense. And suddenly I would remember the thief who would say every night, ‘God willing, tomorrow it is going to happen.’

And my second master was a dog. I was going to the river, thirsty and a dog came. He was also thirsty. He looked into the river, he saw another dog there — his own image — and became afraid. He would bard and run away, but his thirst was so much that he would come back. Finally, despite his fear, he just jumped into the water, and the image disappeared. And I knew that a message had come to me from God: One has to jump in spite of all fears.

And the third master was a small child. I entered a town and a child was carrying a lit candle. he was going to the mosque to put the candle there. ‘Just joking,’ I asked the boy, ‘Have you lit the candle yourself?’ He said, ‘Yes sir.’ And I asked, ‘There was a moment when the candle was unlit, then there was a moment when the candle was lit. Can you show me the source from which the light came?’ And the boy laughed, blew out the candle, and said, ‘Now you have seen the light going. Where has it gone? You will tell me!’ My ego was shattered, my whole knowledge was shattered. And that moment I felt my own stupidity. Since then I dropped all my knowledgeability.

It is true that I had no master. That does not mean that I was not a disciple — I accepted the whole existence as my master. My Disciplehood was a greater involvement than yours is. I trusted the clouds, the trees. I trusted existence as such. I had no master because I had millions of masters I learned from every possible source. To be a disciple is a must on the path. What does it mean to be a disciple? It means to be able to learn, to be available to learn, to be vulnerable to existence. With a master you start learning to learn.

The master is a swimming pool where you can learn how to swim. Once you have learned, all the oceans are yours.”

*******

Read on and be surprised that despite their young and innocent minds, kids already have a simple but deep grasp of that four-letter word.

—–

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smile to each other.”

“Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.”

“Love is when someone hurts you, and you get so mad, but you don’t yell at him because you know it would hurt his feelings.”

“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.”

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.”

“You can break love, but it won’t die.”

“Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsome then Robert Redbird.”

“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.”

—–

Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between John and the roommate than met the eye. Reading his mom’s thoughts, John volunteered, “I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Julie and I are just roommates.”

About a week later, Julie came to John and said, “Ever since your mother came to dinner, I can’t find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don’t suppose she took it, do you?”

John said, “Well, I doubt it, but I’ll write her a letter just to be sure.”

So he sat down and wrote:

“Dear Mother,

I’m not saying you ‘did’ take a gravy ladle from my house, and I’m not saying you ‘did not’ take a gravy ladle.

But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.

Love,
John”

Several days later, John received a letter from his mother which read:

“Dear Son,

I’m not saying that you ‘do’ sleep with Julie, and I’m not saying that you ‘do not’ sleep with Julie.

But the fact remains that if she were sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now.

Love,
Mom”

*****

Moral Of The Story:
Not only are moms smart, but they’re always two steps ahead of everyone else.

*****

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“Oh Yeah” said the son.

“So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are.”

——-

Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have. What is one person’s worthless object is another’s prize possession. It is all based on one’s perspective. Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for all the bounty we have, instead of worrying about wanting more. Take joy in all you have, especially your family and friends.

——-

“50gms!” …. “100gms!” ……”125gms,” …… the students answered.

“I really don”t know unless I weigh it,” said the professor, “but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?”

“Nothing!” the students said.

“Ok. What would happen if  I held it up like this for an hour?” the professor asked.

“Your arm would begin to ache,” said one of the students.

“You”re right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?”

“Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress; paralysis; have to go to hospital for sure!” ventured another student; all the students laughed.

“Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?” asked the professor.

“No” the students said.

“Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?”

The students were puzzled.

“Put the glass down!” said one of the students.

“Exactly!” said the professor. “Life’s problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head; they seem OK. Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.

It’s important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to “put them down” at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh & strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!”

Remember to “PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY!”

Drop a pebble in the water: in a minute you forget,
But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet,
And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown;
You’ve disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone.

Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute it is gone;
But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on.
They keep spreading, spreading, spreading from the center as they go,
And there is no way to stop them, once you’ve started them to flow.

Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute you forget;
But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet,
And perhaps in some sad heart a mighty wave of tears you’ve stirred,
And disturbed a life was happy ere you dropped that unkind word.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness: just a flash and it is gone;
But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Bearing hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave
Till you wouldn’t believe the volume of the one kind word you gave.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness: in a minute you forget;
But there’s gladness still a-swelling, and there’s joy circling yet,
And you’ve rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard
Over miles and miles of water just by dropping one kind word.

– Author Unknown

Now son of shopkeeper who was also of same age approximately took out Rs.200/- from his pocket and wanted his father-cum-shopkeeper to give him toffees and chocolates of Rs.200/-. The shopkeeper did not oblige his son despite lengthy discussions. The shopkeeper wanted his son to expend minimum on toffees/chocolates and instead to go for fruit or some other nourishing thing.

The father was right in his own way. But small mind of son was unable to perceive as to why his father could give what his friend demanded and why he did not accede to his request. Is that other boy more adorable (whereas he is no way related to his father rather)? He was not convinced with father’s reasoning. Father would try to convince him. Convinced or not convinced, father will goad him to get things, which he requires and are beneficial to him and not what he desires.

My mind was running somewhere else. I was thinking that just like this worldly father, our divine father too does not always respond to our requests. We are in habit to approach him continuously with new request every time. He loves us. We may or may not be convinced but HE will bless us with what we deserve and what we require. Next time if any of our requests is not fulfilled, it should not be point of grievance. Your divine father always knows what you require. Have faith in HIM.

Source : http://asiperceived.blogspot.com/2007/03/why-god-does-not-accede-to-all-our.html

**A BEAUTIFUL ANALOGY**

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.

As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually touched on the subject of God,

The barber said: “I don’t believe that God exists.”

“Why do you say that?” asked the customer.

“Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.”

The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument.

The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair, and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber: “You know what? Barbers do not exist.”

“How can you say that?” asked the surprised barber. “I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!”

“No!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.”

“Ah, but barbers DO exist!” answered the barber. “What happens, is, people do not come to me.”

“Exactly!”- affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, PEOPLE DON’T GO TO HIM AND DO NOT LOOK FOR HIM. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

*****