I was very disappointed to receive so many negative e-mails after sending out California's plea concerning the energy crisis here, affecting us personally, and our economy. It was humorous, not serious. The gist was we are a United States, the reason we joined as a union to help and protect each other.

I see the hostility in the postings on Yahoo about Sierra Cities; the death of Robert New, founder of UniCapital, forgotten that he had a family or the manner in which they discovered the death; the bitterness about not getting an advance rental back, as if it was the "end of the world;" and the venom we expound as if it is pleasuring all who receive it.

Let us remove hate from our heart.

Today is "Passover," Hebrew calendar dates: Nisan 15-22, 5761. Apr 8, the first day of Passover, begins an eight-day celebration of the delivery of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Unleavened bread (matzoh) is eaten at this time; commemorating the freedom and exodus of the Israelites (Jewish slaves) from Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses II. A time of family gatherings and lavish meals called Seders, the story of Passover is retold through the reading of the Haggadah. With its special foods, songs, and customs, the Seder is the focal point of the Passover celebration. Passover begins on the 15th night of the Jewish month of Nissan, this year (2001) the first night of Passover was at Sundown yesterday.

  For more about this, go to:

   http://www.holidays.net/passover/index.htm

 Among Buddhist holidays, this day is the most important as it commemorates the birthday of the Buddha. It is also known as the Day of Vesak. The founder of Buddhism had the given name Siddhartha, the family name Gautama and the clan name Shaka. He is commonly called the Buddha, meaning in Sanskrit 'the enlightened one.' He is thought to have lived in India from c. 563 SC to 483 BC. 

Today is Palm Sunday, commemorates Christ's last entry into Jerusalem, when His way was covered with palms by the multitudes. Beginning of Holy (or Great) Week in Western Christian churches.

This is from Palm Sunday,http://www.catholic.org/lent/palmsunday.html from Catholic On Line http://www.catholic.org/

"Today, we celebrate the first joy of the season, as we celebrate Our Lord's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. It also marks the beginning of Holy Week, with the greatest tragedy and sorrow of the year.

"Jesus' triumphal return to Jerusalem is only one side of the story.

"By now many of the Jews are filled with hate for Our Lord. They want to see him stoned, calling Him a blasphemer, especially after offering proof of His Divinity during a winter visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Dedication.

"After this Jesus went to Perea, where he was summoned to Bethany, where he raised Lazarus from the dead, a miracle which wins Him such renown among certain Pharisees that they have decided finally to end His life.

"Jesus, the took refuge at Ephrem returning six days before Passover to Bethany, today, entering Jerusalem, triumphantly. That evening, He leaves Jerusalem and returns Monday. He spends time with Gentiles in the Temple, and on Wednesday leaves for the Mount of Olives. Here he foretells to the apostles the events of the next several days, and of His impending death.

"He returns to Jerusalem on Thursday, to share the Last Supper with His apostles. He is subsequently arrested, tried, and crucified on Friday on Calvary, at the gates of Jerusalem.

"He is buried the same day.

"All of this is done by Our Lord for forgiveness of our sins, and for life everlasting with Him.

"God so loved us, that He sent His Son."

------------------

In this story from the Catholic website, the "jews" are blamed with hate and

are accused of his death.  The city at this time had many faiths, many different

backgrounds and people, but here we have hate by a specific group. The fact

is Jesus was celebrating Passover, at what has now become known as "the Last Supper."

It was Judas who betrayed him, allegedly for money. Maybe greed or jealously, but perhaps there was hate mixed in with the motivations. It surely was "evil," and hate is a tool of "evil." It was a time of uneducated people, who many were by our standards of today, "barbarians." We must rise above this and not let hate rule today. We must remove hate from our decision making process, from our heart, and recognize it as being evil.

           +                 +               +

California needs help from the other 49 states.  When there is a disaster, an emergency, we pull together to help each other out.

I haven't forgotten my sense of humor, by the way, and we Californian's can take a joke ( legally, I was born in New York City and still read the New York Times, New Yorker, and still think like a New Yorker, but since I live here, I am now a Californian---if I move to Indiana, am I an Indianan? ):

      "You Know You're From California When..."

The fastest part of your commute is down your driveway.

You were born somewhere else.

You can't find your other earring because your son is wearing it.

Your family tree contains "significant others."

If you don't have a gay friend, you are really odd.

You see 25 lawyers chasing an ambulance, and one of

 them is your son, and another, your daughter..

You go to a tanning salon before going to the beach.

Your blind date turns out to be your ex-spouse.

You pack shorts and a T-shirt for skiing in the snow, and

  a sweater and a wetsuit for the beach.

Rainstorms or thunder are the lead story for the local news.

A glass has been reserved for you at your favorite winery.

You know enough to take a sweater in August to the 49er game at Candlestick.

You sit in a dark office, without heat or air conditioning, with an electric bill four to five times what it was last year, and people from out of state make fun at you for worrying about the environment and not building enough power plants.

The City of Santa Clara is building four more power plants.  And yes, we were stupid to let the last two regimes, governors and legislature, sell us on deregulation being good for us. When electricity was regulated last year, we had none of these problems.