Bloggers Will Save The World

Home, for us all.

Take a look to the left.  See the globe?  Each Yellow Dot represents someone who has visited my blog.  The larger the dot, the more visits there were.  The red one in Arizona is me.  Hello!!!  If you click on the right bottom of the globe page, beneath the fingers, a close up will appear on the screen.  And if you click "Visitors" on that screen, you can see who visited in the last 24 hours. 

Beneath that is a informational counter.  It shows how the number of visits are broken down.  You can click on the symbols below "since 2009/06/03", the day I began.  If you click on the flags, you can see where that country is in the world.  They are very interactive.  Go on, feel free to play around.

I really mean it when I say that blogging will save the world.  Look at the world map above.  I picked this photo because it is the world as bloggers see it - without borders.  It's the world we want to have, where I can talk to you and you can talk back to me, where we can listen to each other and enjoy one another's company.  I think you are worth knowing.  I want to know what you think and share my world with you. 

We now have the equivalent of Star Trek's universal translator - it's called the internet!  And on Blogger, it can literally translate my language into yours and visa versa.

No longer do we have to listen to biased news broadcasts and idiotic talk show ranters.  No more dishonest politicians coloring our worlds with their version of how the world works.  And no more corporations trying to form our opinions of what the world needs through their political mouthpieces.

This is the place where we truly begin to know one another.  Whether through shared or contrasting opinions, enjoying the same diversion and hobbies, or seeing each other's environments through a camera lens - we get a sense of who else has a stake in this planet. 

We have so many ways to communicate.  The world is no longer a faceless place beyond our artificial borders.  And all borders are artificial.  In one way, they define our "national" pride and sense of belonging.  But, they have been used by governments for their own gains and without our consent, to isolate us from one another. 

To that, we say NO!  Yellow Dots - UNITE!

Courage

I think this is pretty funny.  It just strikes my funny bone the right way to get me giggling.  I know Renee will laugh too.

But courage isn't anything like this, is it?  The big dramatic poses are usually foolhardy and unnecessary.  True courage slips by with a whisper.  It doesn't draw attention to itself. 

Courage is learned in increments.  Little steps along the road, one challenge met building upon another.  Along with other life lessons in kindness, consideration, fairness, humor, industry and responsibility, a moral fiber becomes who you are. 

Courage is easy to recognize.  It's almost always the thing you want to do least of all or that frightens you the most.  The thing you don't think you can face.  You absolutely do not want to do it.

But you do it anyway.

Renee is a woman with so much courage that it would take your breath away.  Her challenges are monumental, yet she rarely speaks of personal suffering in a way that makes anyone uncomfortable.  She is funny, warm, fiesty, loving, insightful and accessible, the one you want to be your next door neighbor.  Gentleness is her trademark.  Courage lies, unassuming, in her smiles.

Honor the courage you see.

Infidelity

 

I don't pry.  I don't eavesdrop.  But when I'm sitting behind someone who is loud, obnoxious and opinionated, well, all bets are off.  Especially if there is a thirty year age difference and the older of the two, the man, is trying to impress the ingenue with his sophisticated version of modern relationships.

"Did the word actually come from 'infidel'," he asks?  How absurd to use such an archaic, tribal connotation and apply it to today's standards.  People are not monogamous by nature.  Why criticize a natural impulse and then assign blame?"

"I'm rethinking my priorities.  My wife is involved with the grandchildren and heads several charitable organizations, which of course, someone in our position should do.  I encourage that.  But, it leaves very little time for her to accompany me on the longer business trips I have to take."

At this point, they got up to leave and I didn't get to hear if the young lady was taken in by the speel or not.  She didn't seem that gullible.

Listen, honey.  If I were 35 years younger, I know how I'd handle it.  It would go something like this....

................and I can play this game too

We probably look like this and I do look fabulous, don't I?  You just look a little silly.  I'm wearing a designer dress you paid for, so I'll put up with it.  By the way, I'll need lots of those.  A new wardrobe every season.  It takes a lot of effort to look like this, you know. 

This dress would look perfect with sparkly diamonds to set it off.  And I just love blue boxes with white satin ribbons.  You will have to surprise me lots of those!

Showing all this skin can be chilly so I'll need several of these in different lengths.  You wouldn't want me to catch cold, would you?

Oh!  I could pick you up for lunch or drop you off at the airport whenever you want with one of these.  And I need transportation to get to the spa and hairdressers.  After all, I want to look pretty for you.  Isn't Bentley a wonderful name for a car?

Well, I need something to put my keys in after all!  Just a few of these in colors to match my shoes.

OOPS!!  You caught me!  Well, why bring up all that business about infidelity and start assigning blame?  After all, monogamous relationships are so outdated.  Thanks for all the goodies.  No, he doesn't give me gifts.  He doesn't have to.   Look at him!!!!  I really prefer someone my own age.  Oh, I sent a video to your wife so that she would know what to do with you.   

                                       

Bye, Bye, now.

Let Your Little Light Shine Sunday - The Dalai Lama

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

The following quotes are from the acceptance speech of the Dalai Lama, who received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1989.  As I looked for the perfect photo for this post, I was again reminded that every picture of this man is the "perfect" photo.  His face ceaselessly radiates joy and love for the world and everything in it.

I feel honored, humbled, and deeply moved that you should give this important prize to a simple monk from Tibet.  I am no one special.

No matter what part of the world we come from, we are all basically the same human beings.  We all seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. 

I believe suffering is caused by ignorance.  People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction.

Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness and greeed.

The problems we face today are human created problems which can be resolved through human effort and understanding, and a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood.

We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share.  I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion.

I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we succeed in building a better world through human understanding and love, and that in doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.

For more information on the Dalai Lama and his message, please go to;

http://www.dalailama.com/

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

This is in direct response to my own post entitled "Tea Baggers" two posts below.  The Dalai Lama is all inclusive and tolerant of all ideas that generate harmony and peace throughout the world.

The rantings of screaming, mindless crowds that build nothing are exclusive and devisive.  My way works, your way is stupid is all anyone ever says in such a gathering.  This is a picture of ignorance.   

Mark Twain Tonight!

Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain

In fact, Hal Holbrook is so good, he is Mark Twain.  It is as close as any of us will ever get to the man, so expertly is he portrayed.  I could imagine myself seeing the great orator himself, calmly walking across the stage, cigar in hand, blue eyes twinkling, a smile at the corners of his lips.  His acerbic wit and gentle humor is as topical today as it was over 150 years ago. 

Hal Holbrook walked onstage to a chair and table with a water pitcher, glass and ashtray in front of a packed house that soared two balcony levels to the ceiling.  For two hours, he held us captive by sheer force of his acting talent.  So entralled was the audience that you really could have heard the proverbial pin drop. 

Mr. Holbrook is 85 years old.  His voice has some telltale quavers.  But once he got going, his voice thundered and soared to the rafters.  He never missed a beat.  This is a man at the top of his game, totally in control of his material and his audience.   If you get the chance, don't miss this.  It is a performace of a lifetime. 

I first saw Hal Holbrook in a television special called "Mark Twain Tonight!"  It is still available by calling 1-800-458-5887.  If you like Mark Twain, you won't be disappointed in the video.

It's just him.  No music.  As he says..."a trombone player was engaged, but is unreliable and should not be expected".

Tea Baggers

There is a vitriolic hatred speading over the land.  A grotesque sludge that seeps in where intelligent discourse used to live.  It suffocates reason and compromise.  Nothing can be built up or improved upon; this monsterous aberration is good at only one thing, distruction.  It's arrogance is unchecked.   It lives in the darkest hearts and screams down differences of opinion with firey, senseless slogans and waves hate placards in the face of critical thinking. 

This is offensive on so many levels it almost leaves me speechless.  Almost.

Remember political tactics?  This is one of the most basic examples.  Your party is in tatters.  You were booted out of office; the last 8 years were your legacy.  What to do?  Dredge up the deepest fears of the country.  Exaggerate it.  Make it so threatening that to support an elected official who is your opponent spells doom.  And then point a finger at a sitting President and say, "this is all his fault".  Make sure you make it clear that he is not "your" President.  And then work like hell to make sure you torpedo every effort he makes to fix the mess you've made. 

Not everyone is fooled by you.  We recognize the language of those who are incapable of independent thought.  Here's a refresher course from Mark Fiore, who has received death threats after this was published. 

Spout hate till you are blue in the face and the poison drips from your chin.  The more obvious you are, the easier you are to spot....and ignore.  Once I identify you, I'll move on.  You are a waste of my time.

The tragedy here is that most of the Tea Baggers are legitimate protestors with a social conscience.  It is a sad fact of American politics that any nefarious politician (there are plenty around) would see this grass roots movement as a personal bandwagon full of PR soundbytes and race to get in front of it.  No movement of this size can exist without massive funding and the FreedomWorks Foundation is happy to step up to the plate.  These are the very folks the Tea Baggers are protesting.  Really, really big money, orchestrating from the wings.  Forbes, Bradley, Olin, Exxon, Mobile.  Serious, right wing money.  Behind the scenes, protecting their loopholes.

Let me introduce you to Barrack Obama, the President of the United States.  He is the light in the tunnel.  He can be recognized by his most obvious characteristic.

He is the grown up in the room.

Pity The Nation.....us, the U.S.A.

Supreme Court rules Corporations can spend unlimited funds on campaign ads.

Five of the nine people who work in this building have decided that big interests in oil, Wall Street, insurance, unions and other powerful conglomerates can marshal their resources to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.


Until yesterday, corporations and unions were barred from spending their treasury funds on ads or billboards that urge either the election or defeat of a federal candidate.  This dated back to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 who also included national banks and railroads.  Congress extended that ban to labor unions after W.W. ll.  In 2002, the McCain-Feingold Act added an extra limit on broadcast ads in the month before an election.  All that is gone.

We have spent billions on a "war" that was for oil interests.  Wall Street has put people out of work and on the streets, while profits pour in from using cheap foreign labor.  Insurance companies have left millions uninsured due to high premiums, loss of a job or preexisting conditions.   Unions have handled Detroit so well, it's on it's knees, begging for money.  These are the people who want to decide your future. 


The electoral process is so diminished by this as to be a joke.  Here's why.  It's all about money.  It hasn't been about the American people in years.  Your rights have been eroded - because you can't be heard over the shouting of the big money interests and idiotic talk shows.  It is not about intelligent discourse.  Its about ratings and money.  We can't afford to be heard!

If we want to know the truth about anything, we are going to have to do some work.  The truth is out there, all around us.  And we can start right here, on this wonderful tool called the internet.  Look everything up - question everything.  Our votes are the wedge we have against this kind of tyranny. Here are two places to start.

www.democracynow.org

www.pbs.org

We can't let money make the decisions for us.

Call Noah...

 Golashes

I need a boat.  Maybe a really big boat.  It rained last night in Arizona!!! A big old gully washer.  Since it never does that anymore, I'm not sure how to act.  And I can be easily confused.  Tomorrow, we are expecting an even bigger rain event and that presents a problem.  Here's the thing.  I play Bocce Ball.  We are supposed to be having a tournament this week, but I received this email from the team leader........

"Bring your goulashes, rain is coming!  Better yet, we have decided to postpone this week's

event and start again next week".

Goulash

So, do I cook more than one of these?  She seems to want a pair.  It's hard to know what to do, isn't  it?  I think I have the answer though since I'd like to hedge my bets if I guess wrong.

I'll wear my galoshes to Bocce Ball carrying my goulashes. Hah!

I wasn't born yesterday you know. 

Haiti - Revisited

Some things never seem to change.  The island of Hispanola contains two countries, both with a history of vicious, corrupt leaders.  But the Dominican Republic is moving on while Haiti is stuck in an ever recurring cycle of desperation.  It is a modern Tale of Two Cities, the modern Santo Domingo, my home for a number of years, and Port au Prince, hanging on by it's fingernails to make it one more day.

Imagine a place where every parent's dream is to send their child to school.  Education is the only hope for survival, for a chance at a better life.  It is THE key.  It will never happen for 90% of Haiti's population.  School costs $40.00 a month.  Most Haitians are lucky to get $2.00 a day.  How would you live on $1300.00 a year? This country is poor in a way almost impossible to understand, unless you have been there.


These photos were taken in 1970, almost 40 years ago.  They could have been taken a week ago, just before the earthquake. Saying that Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere doesn't do much to convey what this kind of poverty looks like.  And it just got a lot, lot worse.

Olaffson's Hotel was a true landmark.  It was the hotel of Graham Green's novel, The Comedians, and a watering hole for intrepid travelers for decades.  This was the balcony out side my room.  The little goat on the roof woke me up every morning, clip, clopping across the tin with it's bell jingling.  It was charming.

 

This was not the scene for most of the population.  Although Port Au Prince was a destination, it was never a thriving port.  And the poverty was just too prevalent to hide.  The lack of restaurants and basic amenities was obvious.  There was no industry.  Most Haitians couldn't afford to shop in stores anyway.

This "cottage industry" was a salad bowl factory.  Nearby, square wooden plates were  made.  Beyond that were the looms and farther along, goat skin rugs.

 

 

The Cathedral was the center of the best part of town.  As of Tuesday, it no longer exists.

 

Shopping along the center of town increased dramatically when the ships arrived in port.  This is looking toward the cathedral in the far distance.  The port is behind you here, several blocks away.  The streets become dramatically busier and filthier, the closer to port you get.  Although the city has grown to nearly 750,000 the construction standards have not improved.  Zoning and planning, indeed forethought of any kind is not a function of unstable governments.  Not unless there is a significant kickback. 

 

The majority of the population lives like these scenes below and on the right above.  Life is lived as it happens.  Tomorrow is too far away to worry about.  Eating today is the problem.  There are more people dying of desease and malnutrition than is believable, or conscienable, in a country so close to our shores.

The power of the government to promote positive change quickly disappears when all one's resources are spent in maintaining power.  Governments don't pass from one elected official to the next in Haiti.  Governments, such as they are,  are usually overthrown.

Haiti is in one sense, disaster prone.  It's geography puts it right in the path of hurricanes entering the Gulf of Mexico or going up our eastern seaboard.  If it isn't hit directly, torrential rains combine with environmental degradation and total deforestation that result in frequent and significant loss of life from flooding and mudslides.

Vulnerability to disaster is a direct function of poverty and illiteracy from which it becomes a monumental task to bounce back.  Added to it's lack of infrastructure, little rule of law and few natural resources, these economic and natural catastrophes have brought the country to it's knees.  

There is so much to do that it is almost overwhelming to think about.  Broken down into managable tasks at hand, it becomes simpler.  

The first task is to survive until tomorrow and then the day after that.  Here is how to help.

www.unicefusa.org

www.redcross.org

www.clintonbushhaiti.org

Stick 'em Up!

You know, all this town needs is more water and

a better class of people.

Yeah, says the Dodge City resident.  People say that

about Hell too.

Wyatt Earp and his Buntline Special, a long handled revolver that could be used with a shoulder stock if necessary.

Wyatt Earp spent time in Dodge City, but he is forever linked with Tombstone, Arizona.  "The town too tough to die" is a former Wild West town that came into being during the silver rush when men followed the path West in search of the their fortunes.  Today it's hanging on by it's fingernails.  LIttle boys and girls no longer grow up thinking about cowboys or have starry eyed dreams of the West.  I doubt if many little people have heard of the OK Corral and the legendary gunfight.  And it is a legend.

Whats wrong with that?  We need heros who have a moral compass that can't be compromised.  A hero needs to stand up to greed and corruption whether in real life or in folklore.  So, Tombstone makes it simple.  There are good guys and bad guys.  You always know which is which.

And in this story, the good guy always wins.

These days, we all have to have a little hero in us to navigate this complicated world.  The bad guys wear white hats and tell us they are fighting to make our life better.  Maybe.  But more often, we find that they are really the bad guys and they are not our friends.  Tombstone has a simple answer for that too.

We could all use a better class of people.

It's Just My Opinion

.......it's just my opinion, but....









According to Australian Shooter Magazine this week, "if you consider that there have been 160,000 troops through the Iraq theater of operations during the past 22 months and a total of 2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington, D.C. for the same period is 80.6 per 100,000 people.  That means that you are 25% more likely to be shot and killed in the nation's capitol, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, than you are in Iraq.

Conclusion

The U.S. should pull out of Washington.

(Sent to me by my friend Gerri, who stays out of D.C.)

Avatar

Artists weave more than objects.  Sometimes they get to be magical helpers.

Objects, paint, settings, storyboards, sculpture, sound, animation, construction crews, computer techs, writers, amazing technology and wonderous light merged into a new world.

There is literally a cast of thousands in Avatar,  most of them behind the screen. 

The story is simple, and rich beyond measure.  A collaboration of gifted artists has woven things in such a way that through their art, we experience a light into our own consciousness.

A light that reveals our own radiance and all our possibilities.

It's all here.  All the mythic themes that have guided and sustained us through our long evolution.








A Colossus in military camouflage strides onto the screen, looking for all the world like the master of the Universe, who could snatch lightning bolts from the sky and hurl them through all the pitiful defenses assembled against him.

He is supported by the Goliath corporations; unfeeling, automatons who revere money.  Because money is power.   And they have all that money can buy.  Individuals do not matter in their world.  They are so replacable, either by a machine or another expendable human.  The goal is all that matters and the goal is always having more of everything.

The hero is not a David, yet.  He isn't even a whole man.  But more than his body has been damaged.  His psyche has been warped by a world that used his skills and abused his soul.  He has a journey to make, the Hero's Journey.

This archetype, this epitome of the heroic quest,  is so ingrained in us that we immediately recognize it and understand it's power.  We all have the archetype embodied in our fundamental characteristics.  It is a major part of what makes us human.  From prehistoric rock art, to Plato, to Carl Jung, the heroic quest has been drawn, described and known as a thing so worth attaining that those who act against this instinct are considered to have aberrant behavior, to be abhorent.  These people who act against the common good are called criminal.

The hero goes forth from the common, everyday world by being separated from his usual surroundings, thought patterns and behaviors.  He is thrust into an situation where he must overcome tremendous forces and almost supernatural wonders to achieve a goal or to attain self knowledge. 

The hero's journey may be a personal quest for self discovery.  Or, he may use his transformation to attain a boon.  This he will bring back on his return to share with others.  It could be fire.  Or the knowledge that we are one being.  In this way, we move from one place, to a higher, better place.  It's how we evolve.  And when someone is moving to that place, we always know it - it is intimately familiar.

In Avatar, the Pandoran race use "I see you" as their greeting.  They mean they see past your outer shell to the you that is part of them.

Light is such an important part of Avatar, both as a visually stunning piece of the cinematography, but also as an analogy.  A hero has received and accepted a call to adventure.  He will strive, through enormous difficulty, to improve the world.  With the self knowledge he has won, he will act in beautiful ways not visible to him before.  His being is now his art.

Artists are The Pathfinders.

This Little Light of Mine Sundays

Let My Little Light Shine

The Kingston Trio

                                                                                  

Unless someone like you cares a whole

awful lot, nothing is going to get better.

It's not.

Dr. Seuss

The American Southwest is full of images that inspire awe and creativity.  The liquid blue sky, red rocks, gray green cactus, brilliant and brief flowering plants and sunsets that are so intense they seem surreal.  Add to that a healthy and thriving family, a lovely home and the leisure time of retirement to pursue any activity, just for fun.  Really, being just thankful is hardly enough.  In some way, dues still need to be paid.

We all have our favorite causes ( you do, don't you?), but it seems that "causes" have come to mean huge organizations and far flung operations that are faceless, begging for more and more donations.  The need is real.  But, the never ending demand on our emotions and resources is exhausting.   What to do?  How to choose?

It's easy to make a buck.

It's a whole lot tougher to make a difference.

Tom Brokow

This isn't about solicitation or charities.  This is about people.  I was going to say "ordinary" people, but there is nothing ordinary about them.  Nor is there anything ordinary about you.  I'm just sick to death of seeing the evening news filled with negative coverage and sound bites chosen for their shock value.  And so, every Sunday, I will try to run this post and change the "shining people" in them. There are better things in the world.  This is a picture of some of them. 

Greg Mortenson

In 1993, Greg Mortenson climbed Pakistan's K-2, the second highest mountain in the world.  While recovering from that climb, he met a group of children sitting in the dirt, writing with sticks in the sand.  He made them a promise that he would help build them a school.  A humanitarian campaign grew from that one effort.  Today, there are 131 schools in the rural and often volatile areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan promoting education, especially for girls.  You can find much information about Greg and his organizations just by googling his name.  Here is one.

http://www.penniesforpeace.org/

I would love to hear about people that you think are shining.  Drop me a line in the comments section or send an email.  Don't you think it's time for a little good news?

Let Your Little Light Shine

WHITE CHRISTMAS

Get it on Santa!  White Christmas like you have never heard it before.  This little bit of silliness always starts my Holidays with a great laugh and good humor.