10-Day Business Travel Forecast for
Beijing, China

Forecast Conditions

High °F
Low °F

Precip.
Chance

High Temperatures Low Temperatures Precipitation Wind Speed

Tonight
Dec 19

Clear

N/A
14°

0%

High not valid after 2pm

Sun
Dec 20

Sunny

37°
13°

0%

37°F

Mon
Dec 21

Sunny

39°
15°

0%

39°F

Tue
Dec 22

Mostly Sunny

41°
16°

0%

41°F

Wed
Dec 23

Partly Cloudy

39°
19°

10%

39°F

Thu
Dec 24

Partly Cloudy / Wind

36°
10°

20%

36°F

Check Flight Delays

Fri
Dec 25

Sunny

25°
9°

0%

25°F

Sat
Dec 26

Mostly Sunny

29°
9°

0%

29°F

Sun
Dec 27

Sunny

31°
12°

0%

31°F

Mon
Dec 28

Sunny

33°
14°

0%

33°F

Unny gets cold when it is 80 degrees fahrenheit.    I can’t begin to imagine how she will react to these temps.  It’s gonna be funny to watch it, though.

Knight: college hoops lacks integrity

(AP) – 4 hours ago

INDIANAPOLIS — Bob Knight said integrity is lacking in college basketball and cited Kentucky coach John Calipari as an example.

During a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, Knight said he doesn’t understand why Calipari is still coaching.

“We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching,” he said. “You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.”

Massachusetts and Memphis were both sanctioned by the NCAA for violations committed during Calipari’s tenure.

Knight, who won a record 902 games as coach of Army, Indiana and Texas Tech, did not elaborate or take questions from reporters.

This from the guy who made a career out of throwing temper tantrums on the court and choking students among other forms of abuse involving him and students and student Athletes.

HEY COACH!  Choked anybody lately?

RMK is off the reservation again.  Maybe he needs his meds.

Somtam trying to crawl back out of my mouth...stuff is so hot it burns your lips

Went out with the Somtam Mafia the other night.  Somtam is hot, hot, hot thai food that these girls down like a tub of ice cream.  I tried some of it and it burned my lips off.  That’s a bit of crab in my mouth.  I tried to eat it but it started crawling back out of my mouth.

After Somtam, we headed over to Soi 23 (the infamous Soi Cowboy) for beer and oysters.

Later that night, those who stuck around went to Narcissus for a bit more drinking and danced the rest of the night away…

I had a great time hanging out with Stevie and the Gals of the Somtam Mafia.

MAHA MRITYUNJAYA MANTRA

Aum Trayambakam Yajamahe,
Sugandhim Pushtivardhanam;
Urva Rukamiva Bandhanaan,
Mrityor Mokshiye Maamritat.

ॐ त्रियम्बकं यजामहे, सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनं
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान् मृत्योर्मोक्षिय मामृतात्

OM triyambakam yajāmahe sugandhim pushTivardhanam,
urvārukamiva bandhanān mrrityormokshiya māmrritāt.

Summary of the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra

We worship Shiva – The Three-Eyed (tryambakam) Lord (yajamahe);
Who is fragrant (sugandhim) and nourishes (pushti) and grows (vardhanam) all beings.
As the ripened cucumber (urvarukamiva) is automatically liberated (bandhanaan) (by the intervention of the “farmer”) from its bondage to the creeper when it fully ripens;
May He liberate us (mokshiya) from death (mrityor), for the sake of immortality (maamritaat).

We pray to Lord Shiva whose eyes are the Sun, Moon and Fire
May He protect us from all disease, poverty and fear
And bless us with prosperity, longevity and good health.

Lord Shiva is referred to as tryambakam, the three-eyed one, because his third-eye has been “opened” by the powers of penance and meditation. The third eye is said to be located in the space between the eyebrows, and is “opened” when one experiences spiritual awakening. So, when we pray to Lord Shiva, we are in essence asking for his blessings and assistance in opening our third eye of spiritual knowledge. The natural consequence of this awakening is that we will be led towards spiritual liberation or moksha, and attain freedom from the cycles of death and rebirth. The goal of chanting this mantra is to spiritually “ripen” so that we can free ourselves Lord Shiva can free us from our bondage to all the material things that bind us!

Shiva (pronounced /ˈʃiːvə/; Sanskrit: शिव, Śiva; IPA: [ˈɕivə]; meaning “Auspicious one”), also known as Rudra (the “Feared One”) or “‘The Destroyer” is a major Hindu god and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of the five primary forms of God.^[2][3]

Followers of Hinduism who focus their worship upon Shiva are called Shaivites or Shaivas (Sanskrit Śaiva).^[4] Shaivism, along with Vaiṣṇava traditions that focus on Vishnu and Śākta traditions that focus on the goddess Devī are three of the most influential denominations in Hinduism.^[3]

Shiva is usually worshipped in the form of Shiva linga. In images, he is generally represented as immersed in deep meditation or dancing the Tandava upon Maya, the demon of ignorance in his manifestation of Nataraja, the lord of the dance.

In some Hindu denominations^[which?], Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva represent the three primary aspects of the divine, and are collectively known as the Trimurti. In this school of religious thought, Brahma is the Creator, Vishnu is the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer or transformer.^[5] Lord Shiva has the most number of temples in Tamil Nadu and he is considered to be the god of South India. There are thousands and thousands of songs about Lord Shiva sung by the 63 Nayanmaars in Tamil.

and so it begins….

Hymn to Mahakala Shani Mrityunjaya

There is a remarkable hymn attributed to the Martandabhairava Tantra which identifies Mahakala with Shani, or the planet Saturn, as well as with Mrityunjaya, or Shiva as conqueror of death. According to various sources, in the past there were five schools of tantra: the Shakta, which worshipped Devi; the Shaiva, which worshipped Shiva; the Ganapatya, which worshipped the elephant-god Ganesh; the Vaishnava, which worshipped Vishnu in his various forms; and the Saura. While the Saura were nominally worshippers of the Sun, in practice, they worshipped the son of the Sun, Shani. Here we translate the hymn to Mahakala Shani Mrityunjaya into English:

Shambhu Mahakala Shani, his body of sapphire hue, beautiful, celestial, resembling the cremation fire, holding axe, trident, arrow and a bow, enemy of the Puras and the conqueror of all other demons, sitting on the Meru mountain peak, in a state of samarasa, was bowed to by Gauri, and questioned.

Parvati said: Holy god of all gods, cause of devotion and grace, tell me what lengthens life, you have not talked of this before. Tell me about your mighty form which promotes friendship in the worlds. Tell me about your special Mahakala form. Relate the hymn of praise to Shani Mrityunjaya, who gives freedom from time, bestows immortality, destroys untimely disease and give the Shani mantra particular to this hymn!

Ishvara said: Gauri, I always love you because you love the universe! This is the highest secret of all secrets, heavenly, the cause of creation in the universe. I am going to tell you the hymn of Shani Mrityunjaya. It gives good luck, kills all enemies, cures all disease, saves from accidental death, and promotes good health and longevity.

Gauri, if you love me, hide this carefully! Maheshvari, listen to that which is hidden in all tantras!

Pippalada is the seer (rishi) of this mantra-song of Shri Mahakala Shani Mrityunjaya. Anustubh is the metre. Mahakala Shani is the god. Sham is the seed, ayasi is the Shakti, kalapurusa is the kilaka. When reciting it, its result is freedom from untimely death.

Do rishi nyasa, hand nyasa and body nyasa. Place Maha Ugra on the head, Yaivasvata on the mouth, Shani on the mouth, and Mahagraha on the arms. Place Mahakala in the heart, Krisnatanu in the genitals, Tuducara on the knees, and Shanaiscara on the feet.

After doing nyasa according to rule, the body becomes like Shani, the lord of time. Now I will tell you of the meditation nyasa for the body, which a person should do after meditating.

Put the kalpa and its divisions in the hands and limbs. [These are the major divisions of time according to the Hindu viewpoint]

Say: “Hail to you Mrityunjaya! You are Mahakala’s real form and the form of all manvantaras!” Place Kalatma on the body.

Say: “Hail Mahakala!” and meditate on all the limbs.

Meditate on the source of years, saying “Hail to you, conqueror of time.”

Say: “Hail to you, served by eternity!” on the eyes and brow.

Say: “Hail to you Saura,” on the cheeks.

Say: “Hail to you, black looking one!” on the hair.

Say: “Hail to you, lucky Maha Ugra,” on the arms.

[Now follow the 27 naksatras or lunar constellations]

Say: “Hail to you, one hard to see,” putting Asvina on the mouth.

Say: “Hail to you, blue rayed one,” putting Kartika on the throat.

Say: “Hail to you, Maharudra,” putting Margasiras on the arms.

Say: “Hail to you, celestial, strong and unconquerable one,” putting Pausya on the heart.

Say: “Hail to you, revealer of time,” putting Magha on the belly.

Say: “Hail to you, slow mover,” putting Phalguna on the penis.

Say: “Hail to you, source of all,” putting Caitra on the thighs.

Say: “Hail to you, dissolver of the world,” putting Vaisakha on the knees.

Say: “Hail to you, Bhairava,” putting Jyesta on the legs.

Say: “Hail to you, night,” putting Asadh on the feet.

Say: “Hail to you, dark fortnight,” from the feet to the head.

Say: “Hail to you, bright fortnight,” from the top of the head to the feet.

Say: “Hail to you, Saturn, Mula, soles of feet.

Say: “Hail to you, Conquerer of all, Toya all the toes.

Say: “Hail to you, Scorching star, Visva, ankles.

Say: “Hail to you, Star of learning, Visnabha, legs.

Say: “Hail to you, Black rayed one, Dhanista, knees.

Say: “Hail to you, Support of time, Varuna, thighs.

Say: “Hail to you, Having dishevelled and matted locks, Purvabhadra, penis.

Say: “Hail to you, Formidable one, Uttarabhadra, back.

Say: “Hail to you, Slow mover, Revati, navel.

Say: “Hail to you, Dark planet, Hasta, belly.

Say: “Hail to you, Yama, Bhogisraja, breasts.

Say: “Hail to you, Liking sesame, Krittika, heart.

Say: “Hail to you, Axe bearer, Rohini, right hand.

[Now follow the 12 Suns]

Say: “Hail to you, Carrying trident happily, Mrga, left hand.

Say: “Hail to you, Supporting life, Raudra, upper right hand.

Say: “Hail to you, Holding bow, Punarvasu, upper left hand.

Say: “Hail to you, Destroyer, Tisya, right arm.

Say: “Hail to you, Terrifying archer, Sarpa, left arm.

Say: “Hail to you, Smeared in ash, Magha, throat.

Say: “Hail to you, Cruel planet, Bhaga, mouth.

Say: “Hail to you, Yogi, Yama, right nostril.

Say: “Hail to you, Support, Hasta, left nostril.

Say: “Hail to you, Eating little, Tvastra, right ear.

Say: “Hail to you, Made of the absolute, Svati, left ear.

Say: “Hail to you, Knower of things, Visakha, right eye.

[Now different yogas of Hindu astrology follow.]

Say: “Hail to you, Kala, Viskambha, joints of timple.

Say: “Hail to you, Great slow one, Pritiyoga, brow joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Awesome one, Ayusmanyoga, eye joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Giving slow results, Saubhagya, nose joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Lucky being, Éobhana, ear joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Black one, Hanu (?), jaw joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Skeleton, Sukarmana, neck.

Say: “Hail to you, Shadowy son, Dhriti, right shoulder joint.

Say: “Hail to you, Ugra, Shula, shoulder joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Eternally gladdening, Karpura, chest.

Say: “Hail to you, Knowing time, Vrddhi, middle of chest.

Say: “Hail to you, Krishna, Dhruva, wrist joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Skinny one, Vyaghata, back of shoulder.

Say: “Hail to you, Destroying things, Harsana, shoulder joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Blissful, Vajra, elbows.

Say: “Hail to you, Fire of time, Siddhi, centre of chest (?).

Say: “Hail to you, Self of time, Variyasa, right side joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Hail and hail to you, Parigha, left side joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Self evident time, Shiva, right thigh joints.

Say: “Hail to you, One of great mass, Siddhi, right knee joint.

Say: “Hail to you, Terrifying, Sadhya, right ankle joint.

Say: “Hail to you, Raudra, Shubha, right toe joints.

Say: “Hail to you, Knower of time, Shukla, left thigh joint.

Say: “Hail to you, True yogi, Brahmayoga, left knee joint.

Say: “Hail to you, Knower of yoga, Aindra, left ankle joint.

Say: “Hail to you, Gracious one, Vaidhrita, left toe joints.

[Now the seven dhatus or components of the human body according to Ayurveda, follow.]

Say: “Hail to you, Sacrificer, Vavakarana, skin.

Say: “Hail to you, Destroyer, Balava, blood.

Say: “Hail to you, All consumer, Kaulava, bone.

Say: “Hail to you, Lover of flesh, Taitila, flesh.

Say: “Hail to you, All-chewer, Gara, fat.

Say: “Hail to you, Killer of all, Vanija, marrow.

Say: “Hail to you, Wrathful terrible fire, Visti, semen.

Hail to the lord of space, the essence of space, invoked by many, the 100-fold one, the piercer of the Moon!

Hail to the faithful one, the true one, the eternally true one, hail to you lord of siddhas! Hail to you lord of yoga, naked flame, mover, origin of Varuna and time!

Hail to you rising in the ascendant, tall one, guide, moving in direct motion!

Hail to you, crooked one, very cruel one, moving in retrograde motion!

Hail to you in the constellations, to you who moves in the constellations, you who causes the constellations to tremble, you the Natha of constellations, you the giver of results in constellations. Hail to you!

Hail to you, time, supporter of Yama, Agni, Moon and Sun!

Hail to you, planet of Capricorn and Aquarius, exalted in Libra!

[Now the days of the week follow.]

Say: “Hail to you, Black looks, Sunday, forehead.

Say: “Hail to you, Lover of death, Monday, mouth.

Say: “Hail to you, Absolute one, Tuesday, belly.

Say: “Hail to you, Embodied self, Wednesday, penis.

Say: “Hail to you, True form of mantra, Thursday, testicles.

Say: “Hail to you, Cause of results, Friday, anus.

Say: “Hail to you, Skeleton, Saturday, feet.

[Now various divisions of time according to Hindu astrology, follow.]

Say: “Hail to you, Subtle one, ghatikas, in hairs.

Say: “Hail to you, Form of time, killer of all evil, destroyer of the demon Tripura, origin of Shambhu!

Say: “Hail to you, Body of time, origin of time

Say: “Hail to you, varied parts of time, bliss of time.

Say: “Hail to you, Immeasurable measurer

Say: “Hail to you, god of time, time itself, essence of time.

Form of time, Bhairava, both nimesa and mahakalpa. I bow to you Mrtyunjaya Mahakala Shani!

Cause of all, alleviator of all fear, peril and the wicked, I bow to you…

Slayer of all, origin of all planets, cause of all results, I bow to you…

Giver of peace and prosperity to all living beings, I bow to you…

Cause of all happiness and misery, true form of all that exists, I bow to you…

Dispeller of untimely and accidental death, I bow to you…

Form of time, great planet, destroyer of samsara, I bow to you…

One of baleful glance, coarse haired one, terrifying one, long eyed one, I bow to you…

Dispeller of all planets, essence of the planets themselves, I bow to you…

Because you are the essence of time, I bow before you Shani! The whole world and time itself dissolves in you, the god of time! You are the body of time, the self, Shambhu, the Kalatma, the planetary devata!

Don’t make me call ‘em!

I will if I have to…

(I love this pic.  It cracks me up.)

Recently, the Chula Vista, California Police Department ran an e-mail forum (a question and answer exchange) with the topic being, “Community Policing.” One of the civilian email participants posed the following question, “I would like to know how it is possible for police officers to continually harass people and get away with it?”

From the “other side” (the law enforcement side) Sgt. Bennett, obviously a cop with a sense of humor replied:

“First of all, let me tell you this…it’s not easy. In Chula Vista, we average one cop for every 600 people. Only about 60% of those cops are on general duty (or what you might refer to as “patrol”) where we do most of our harassing.  The rest are in non-harassing departments that do not allow them contact with the day to day innocents. And at any given moment, only one-fifth of the 60% patrollers are on duty and available for harassing people while the rest are off duty. So roughly, one cop is responsible for harassing about 5,000 residents. When you toss in the commercial business, and tourist locations that attract people from other areas, sometimes you have a situation where a single cop is responsible for harassing 10,000 or more people a day.

Now, your average ten-hour shift runs 36,000 seconds long. This gives a cop one second to harass a person, and then only three-fourths of a second to eat a donut AND then find a new person to harass. This is not an easy task.  To be honest, most cops are not up to this challenge day in and day out. It is just too tiring. What we do is utilize some tools to help us narrow down those people which we can realistically harass.

The tools available to us are as follows:

PHONE: People will call us up and point out things that cause us to focus on a person for special harassment. “My neighbor is beating his wife” is a code phrase used often. This means we’ll come out and give somebody some special harassment. Another popular one is, “There’s a guy breaking into a house.” The harassment team is then put into action.

CARS: We have special cops assigned to harass people who drive. They like to harass the drivers of fast cars, cars with no insurance or no driver’s licenses and the like. It’s lots of fun when you pick them out of traffic for nothing more obvious than running a red light. Sometimes you get to really heap the harassment on when you find they have drugs in the car, they are drunk, or have an outstanding warrant on file.

RUNNERS: Some people take off running just at the sight of a police officer. Nothing is quite as satisfying as running after them like a beagle on the scent of a bunny. When you catch them you can harass them for hours.

STATUTES: When we don’t have PHONES or CARS and have nothing better to do, there are actually books that give us ideas for reasons to harass folks. They are called “Statutes”; Criminal Codes, Motor Vehicle Codes, etc…They all spell out all sorts of things for which you can really mess with people. After you read the statute, you can just drive around for awhile until you find someone violating one of these listed offenses and harass them. Just last week I saw a guy trying to steal a car. Well, there’s this book we have that says that’s not allowed. That meant I got permission to harass this guy.  It is a really cool system that we have set up, and it works pretty well.

We seem to have a never-ending supply of folks to harass. And we get away with it. Why? Because for the good citizens who pay the tab, we try to keep the streets safe for them, and they pay us to “harass” some people.  Next time you are in my town, give me the old “single finger wave.” That’s another one of those codes. It means, “You can’t harass me.” It’s one of our favorites.”

The “civilian email participant” and any who thins like him or her should be excluded from Police assistance for life.  People who think like this person are usually fairly pathetic individuals.

As a matter of fact, they should be exiled to Afghanistan where Police Harassment is a real and persistent problem.

Don’t make me call ‘em!

I will if I have to…

(I love this pic.  It cracks me up.)

Benjamin Franklin on the Turkey:

“I am on this account not displeased that the figure is not known as a Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the truth the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.

I was walking past the mental hospital the other day,
And all the patients were shouting, ‘13….13….13.’

The fence was too high to see over, but I saw a
Little gap in the planks, so I looked through to see
What was going on…..

Some idiot poked me in the eye with a stick!

Then they all started shouting ‘14….14….14′…