Morning all:

Yes, it's always a sad day for all of us when exemplary, honest people with courage and conviction are relieved from the shackles of life. I think Pic mentioned earlier the sudden loss of Christopher Story. Now there was a man of incredible courage that stood up to the face of death and intimidation for several years...whether you believed in his cause or not. One day he will be vindicated...and it won't be a nice day either.

What kind of special people are these, that throughout the history of mankind, have sacrificed their lives for what they considered to be the truth? The examples are infinite but still a microscopic representation of us all, from those with religious conviction to those who signed up for the suffering and death of war...or those who served in poverty for the sake of others. One thing we can all take from this is that they all believed that they were selflessly doing a greater good for mankind.

What did they know of greed, fear, lack of moral compass, irresponsibility, and the seven sins? They knew we all suffer from the gravity of such mortal weaknesses, but they also knew what the right decisons were. Therein lies the difference my friends.

When Pic talks about those who walk to the tune of a differen't drummer, we should not be so quick to scoff. There really is a bigger picture. Depending on the what we hear individually, and having the conviction to believe what we hear, often determines the decisions we make.

We are most all bereft I'm afraid. But deep down inside we all know it. I often wonder if those who are so powerful in politics and business, those who have egregiuosly succumbed to the above mentioned "gravity", those who have and are criminally and corruptively enriching themselves at the expense of the populous, those who are knowingly inflicting and will intentionally be the direct cause of untold suffering now and explosively so into the future...all for the sake of their own comfort and pleasure...I wonder if they ever give any of this, any thought whatsoever. If not, they are blind to their inevitable fate. If so, they must be fearful indeed...mystic societies and all.