Meditation

Elder's Meditation of the Day - December 3, 2008

"Listen to the howl of our spiritual brother, the wolf, for how it goes with him, so it goes for the natural world."
--Oren R. Lyons, Spokesman, Traditional Circle of Elders


If we watch nature, we can tell a lot about what is going on in the world. The animals and the plants are great teachers. Some time ago, crops were sprayed with a poison to kill the insects. Other animals ate the insects. The small animals were eaten by the Eagles and the Wolves. We live in an interconnected system. What we do to one, we do to all. If our spiritual brothers are living in balance, chances are we humans are also living in balance.

Great Spirit, let me listen to my Earth teachers, the plants and the animals.

Kill to shop

Colleen Long
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (Nov 29, 2008)

A Wal-Mart worker died yesterday after a throng of "out-of-control" shoppers broke down the doors at a Long Island store in a scramble for bargains.

It occurred shortly after the store opened at 5 a.m. on so-called Black Friday, the start of the holiday sales rush in the United States.

At least four other people, including a woman eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries.

The store closed for several hours before reopening.

Nassau police said the impatient crowd knocked the man to the ground as he opened the doors.

"This crowd was out of control," said Nassau police spokesperson Lieutenant Michael Fleming.

Witnesses said that even as the worker lay on the ground, shoppers were stepping over him.

Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."

"When they (officials) were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been in line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

The man, 34, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m., police said.