1. Go to http://www.clustrmaps.com/admin/action.php

2. Fill in the required information….your blog’s name and your email address.

3. Respond to email verification that will be sent to you from cluster.maps

4. You will receive 2 emails…(1) confirming that you want to join cluster maps; (2) you will receive a new password for Cluster Maps and then you have to re-sign into Cluster Maps with the new password directly from the email you receive.

5. CHANGE your password to your own preference.

6. Next  you have to paste the HTML code to your Blog.  Go to Cluster Maps  subsection called “Instructions”—click on “Instructions”

7. When the page appears with Instructions…look to the RIGHThand side of the page as you face it.  You will see “Sub Pages” written with a yellow background. Scan downwards until you reach “Clustermaps on Iblog”—-click on this link.

8. YOU will now need to complete 2 Phases:

Instructions from source on Cluster Maps.  ALL of instructions below from Cluster Map site and full credit is given to them:

(1)PHASE I: Copy your ClustrMaps HTML code

1. Log in to your ClustrMaps ‘Admin’ page by clicking on the Admin link at the top of any ClustrMaps page, or going directly to: http://www.clustrmaps.com/admin/action.php (use your URL as your username, and the password you have been sent, or the password you changed it to)

2. On your admin page, you will see a box containing the relevant HTML code (option [A] or [B] are both fine). Click in the box with your mouse and select ALL of that text (you can use the two keyboard keys CTRL+A to select all of it)

3. Now copy that HTML (you can use the two keyboard keys CTRL+C to perform this, or right-click with the mouse and select ‘Copy’); you will then paste it into your web page later on below.

(2)PHASE II: Blog-specific alterations for iBlog users

4. Now you must log into your blog hosting account, using the sequence you would normally use, say, if you were about to change your blog settings or preferences or user profile information. Do this in a separate browser window if possible, or in the same window you are currently using if that is simpler for you.

5. You now need to alter the ‘code’ on your page where the map is going to appear. To do this, follow the specific sequence for WORDPRESS.

• copy the ‘ClustrMaps HTML’ provided by us (’minimalist’ option [B]);
• log in to your WordPress account;
• go to Dashboard… Appearance… Widgets… Text… drag to Sidebar
• select edit…, paste the ‘ClustrMaps HTML’ into the large text area, then Save

6. Go to this page of Cluster Maps, if my explanation is not clear enough:  http://blog.clustrmaps.com/html-setup/clustrmaps-on-wordpress/

Best of luck to you!

English: The NGC 2024 the Flame Nebula in Orion Credit:Davide De Martin – http://www.skyfactory.org (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

tonight i am thinking of my brother, Bill

and how i miss him from this life

it is two months today since he has  gone, leaving me with no fill

tears are falling and my heart feels cut like a knife

then i happened upon  an old Inuit tale

that said that perhaps the stars are not stars

and i became still and very pale

but i read on and heard the stars are openings from afar

where the love of our lost ones pours through

their light is shining upon us to let us know that they are smiling

and we never have to say adieu

  they are tiptoeing through the night sky dancing

Planetary nebula NGC 5979 (Photo credit: Wikipedia

****************************************

My brother, Bill, was fifteen months younger than myself. He died less than a month before his 62nd birthday. He died from myotonic dystrophy, a genetic disorder that is much like muscular dystrophy. The disease is characterized by muscle weakness and a gradual death of nerve cells within the body organs.  With my brother, his speech became more and more slurred, then he could no longer swallow, as the epiglottis no longer functioned, and the food would travel down his windpipe, rather than the alimentary canal. This resulted in respiratory problems and pneumonia. He eventually chose to be tube-fed. He had great difficulty walking, as his muscles would contract and then not release. Then his ability to breathe lessened and he was nearing the need for a ventilator, but his heart gave out before that could be placed.

Bill was a very unassuming individual. He went about his life quietly as he matured. When we were kids, he would always play the Catholic priest and give us Stark candy circles for communion. He had a talent for drawing that was curtailed with his muscle degeneration. He was kind and helpful to others and would often give a room to someone who needed a place to stay. Bill did not advertise his generous nature, but if he saw that you needed something, one day it would appear in your mailbox—as he did for me after a visit, and noticed my cooking utensils were dull and few. A week after he visited, a block of sharpened knives appeared at my front door! I have heard similar tales of his generosity.

This disease is so strange…when we were growing up together, it was not noticeable, except for his tiredness during the day, and his inability to sleep at night. This turns out to be a symptom of the disease. Bill enjoyed elementary and high school–and was in the US Army in the paratrooper division when the disease manifested itself. Around the age of  27, the myotonic dystrophy ballooned! His walking and speech became increasingly difficult, and he was honorably discharged from the Army.

He eventually moved to Missouri and then Kansas, where he met Harriette, his wife of the last ten years. I was happy for him that he found someone he could love and who loved him. He deserved that in this life.

I was able to see him in January in Kansas, as he had to go to a nursing facility. My older brother, Claude, and his wife, Kerri, were kind enough to take me with them to visit him for a week.  But you know, that week was not enough! What amazed me so, was his calm way of preparing everything so that Harriette would not have difficulty in taking over once he left us. He went about it so diligently and without any pompous noise. He just did what he had do in such a  matter-of-fact manner. He didn’t worry about leaving or fear his death—his only concern was to make things easier for his wife. Even in his last days,  he was so giving. I wonder if I could be like that!
I do miss him and guess that is just one more person I will have to look forward to speaking to when I am in that next place…nevertheless, the tears are many and often…still….tears in between the tears.

We also lost our sister, Barbara, to the disease three years ago. There are 16 people among my siblings and first cousins who have the disease.

Related Article:

http://www.genome.gov/25521207  Learning About Myotonic Dystrophy

I am raging with anger today…the only way I can get it out…is by expressing WHY…and sending PRAYERS of Hope into the universe…PRAYERS of Love Crystals to heal humanity…We have to speak about these things and rid our beings of them.  At first, I shunned the news reports. My insides were exhausted from their pain. Then I was again exposed to them–news from friends, events I have read about from other bloggers, the radio…I could not escape.  Then I asked myself WHY? WHY can’t I get away from this!  I want to run and hide!  Then I thought further — yes, it is so much easier to live apart from it…but it is still there…and these who are suffering need our voices! They need our joy…they need our light…they need us to speak for them and tell them we are sorry for their suffering.  They need us to make movement in our beings to vocalize what they cannot. They need us to find a way to bring this to the attention of all–so that somehow, a new movement is begun to lift us up and beyond our savage ways and greed.

Transparency is our only tool to make the world a better place. I do not know what else we can do!

We are meant to be LIGHT to one another…regardless of your culture, your race, your religion,  your spirituality…we are human beings and we are hurting each other into annihilation!

This is WHY…these are the SUFFERINGS I have met with this week in the News and in the Blogs I have read and I cannot bear the suffering alone anymore…and I am sure there are so many of you out there suffering with me.  We need to stop the inhumanity of man!

I pray for those who have suffered from my hands…for those who have suffered from the hands of others…and for those who have caused the suffering–that they may wake from their coma and be peacemakers.

* the men and women, innocent children, babies that have been killed by the USA drone attacks!

* the three young women and child that were kidnapped for 10  Y E A R S

* the 3 year old boy who was scalded to death last week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a boyfriend enraged!

* the men who have been beaten to death, women who have been raped, boys who have been raped, children who have been tortured in the Congo, mining coltan so that we can use our cell phones and the computer I am using to type these words.  Nokia is one of the companies that conducts business with these people.

* the guns that are delivered to developing countries–who is making money from these gun purchases? Corporations here in America. Every time one of us buys a gun, we add to their wealth, their greed, their unconcern for those to whom they sell the fire arms.

* the Native Americans who have been given the worse land in this country on which to live and still do not have their freedom on these lands, with  the constant inhumane federal regulations that supersede their own human rights.

* the Fracking of Mother Earth–destroying the FOUR water basins here in the USA.  The “fracking of Africa” by European corporations who do NOT want to spoil their own lands, so they go into Africa and offer money to use the land. One more time Africa is being raped by the new colonial power: CORPORATE GREED.

* the homeless on our streets—who is there to speak for the mentally challenged, for the impoverished, for the financially drained?  We have tons of buildings that stand empty because of bureaucracy and stupid coding laws–done in the name of safety.  SO I suppose it much safer to let entire families live on the streets without shelter?

* the elderly who are put into the “gas chambers” called nursing homes? Why? Because we can not bear to take care of our own parents? So we stick them away…out of sight…and go on with our lives.  Nursing homes today are a million times worse than they were forty years ago when I worked in them– despite the outward appearance. We have managed to sophisticate our image to hide the abuse.

* the lack of funds for education hidden under the guise of new competency testing. Testing is nothing but a money-making scheme of Corporate America once again fleecing our society.  If we do not educate our children, then what do we have for our future? Do you really think Corporate America cares about your child? Your children? They do not care IF you have employment. They care about one thing: their pocketbook!

I am exhausted and I am sure that there could be so much more added to this bleak picture.  We have to be Light Beings to each other—we need to leave our comfort zone and do whatever little bit we can do…for some, it will be simply accepting another person into your circle of caring…for another it may mean walking in a protest march or organizing one…for another it may mean changing your attitude, your perception of the world, and live with a little less, while giving a little more…for another it may mean speaking up for someone who cannot speak…

We must do something…before it is too late…

I will try to be a love crystal to those whom I meet. I will try to sign whatever piece of paper comes my way that needs my signature to help make the world better. I will speak out about injustice– even if it annoys others.

We need to help each other make this world a better place for our children…for each woman…for each man….for each person on this Earth! and we need to protect Mother Earth!