Maybe Time to Change Our Ways?

Let me be VERY clear: I am REALLY glad the rigged car did not blow up in Times Square. My daughter lives in the NYC area, and I LOVE NYC. It is full of the most amazing people from all over the world--artists and activists of all stripes, people with light in their eyes and something going on upstairs.

HOWEVER...let's also be clear. It would take a complete idiot not to comprehend anger at the US from places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, etc. etc. Hell, even many Canadians and Europeans hate the US!

Let's face it. All these millions of angry people are NOT just "mentally ill", or "jealous about the American system", or simply part of the "Old Europe", or uneducated or uncooperative or just plain difficult.

It doesn't take much imagination to comprehend, for example, that villagers in the hills of Pakistan/Afghanistan might be just a TAD pissed off about the many civilian deaths caused by US drones. The most conservative estimates show that TEN TIMES the number of civilians (women, children, old men, wedding parties, people eating breakfast) as actual intended "targets" (and most of the time these targets are turned in by neighboring villagers, who may simply be using the US to gain more tribal power) are killed in drone attacks.

It also doesn't take much intelligence to comprehend how citizens of Baghdad and Iraq might be a little annoyed at the US, after this country bombed the crap out of that city/country, killing and maiming many innocent civilians in the quest for oil and domination in the Middle East. Estimates give up to ONE MILLION civilians killed by the US.

Let's be honest, folks. The US just doesn't have a great record in the way it allegedly "spreads democracy" throughout the world. At this point, with globalization and all, it really is difficult to know who is pulling what strings, isn't it.

But let's ask the "bomb-huggers" (I LOVE this phrase, not sure who coined it), of EVERY nationality, to STOP IT NOW!!!

CO2, which is primarily a by-product of burning oil and coal, is destroying our atmosphere, and as a consequence, a planet.

Wars kill people, and so do invasions and drone searches for "insurgents"--and let's not forget that the US was FOUNDED by "insurgents".

Money that could be spent on health care and education and care for the poor and weak among us, and environmental protection and a million other fabulously HEALING projects is WASTED on bombs and invasions and search for more oil, when we should NOT be burning it AT ALL.

Come on BOYS!!! Enough is enough. Please, tomorrow morning, wake up and REALIZE there is another path. Try to imagine what it might be like if we all start cherishing life, and let go of hierarchies and power struggles and bullying and seek ways to connect and love and laugh together.

Honestly, it would be just amazing. And it is the only way we will survive as a species.

Simple Joys, Walden Pond, Real Magic

Swimming at Walden Pond, water so cold it makes you scream when you first jump in, ducking through "Path Closed" police tape and wading on a path in water two feet deep (bad spring floods) but finally you find a nice little perch on two rocks in the sun and a black bird comes by and just sits and looks at you calmly and you swear you have never felt better in your life.

The really horrible thing about what we are doing to our earth is that we are destroying ourselves, I mean our REAL selves, that person we meet when a bird jumps up on a table to eat the cookie crumbs we have left while we were mindlessly nibbling, staring angrily at a computer screen when really we would SO MUCH rather be laughing and sharing a beer with a friend, and yet this silly small bird, not knowing anything about all our traumas and neuroses, just jumps right up, and helps herself to the crumbs we left, and in spite of everything, we just smile.

I witnessed this today, in a frustrated-looking young student, and I've witnessed such miracles a million times.

So we are destroying the very thing that saves us from ourselves, or rather, from our false selves--the selves that obsess over silliness--mean stupid bosses and money worries and the right coat or perfect boots and am I smart enough or pretty enough or good enough or bad enough. Some little bird or fall leaves or a stormy sky or a breeze full of flowers or a buzzing bee or a school of very friendly fish might happen by, and for those few minutes, we forget all that silliness, and just feel fine.

If it ever occurred to anyone that all of these beautiful beings and manifestations of nature are truly blessed, are in fact goddesses and gods, a portal to pure happiness, REAL magic, would we THEN be able to STOP this destruction?

Will new shoes or the perfect haircut or a better car or bigger house or shinier toys EVER bring that sense of simple joy, peace, being happy just to connect? I don't think so.

It's time to save ourselves, by saving our planet. Fast.

Well Ain't That Funny...Mormons Mess Up, Again

So the Mormon church, which in 2008 invested heavily in the anti-gay marriage proposal, Prop 8, in California (it succeeded, for now) has once again had to pay out some big money to a victim of child sexual abuse.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/apArticle/id/D9F2GO382/

Kerry Lewis, 38, was abused by Scoutmaster Timur Dykes in the 1980's. Dykes had already confessed to a Mormon Bishop that he had abused 17 boys. The church did not call the police, OR turn him in. Nothing. In fact, church leaders stated that they had decided it was OK for Dykes to be around children, "because he had repented".

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/03/mother_of_man_suing_boy_scouts.html

Amazingly, the Mormon Church states that it "absolutely condemns any kind of child abuse" (unless the perpetrator has "repented" I guess). However, even a quick Google search will bring up a number of cases settled by the church involving child sexual abuse. Here's one from 2001: http://www.mazeministry.com/mormonism/women/mormonsex3.htm

Like other organized religions (Catholicism, for example), the approach taken by the Mormon church has been to cover up these cases. In the 2001 case, a church member excommunicated for child sexual abuse was then reinstated and went on to abuse an 11 year old boy.

Now HOW do the policies of the Mormon Church make sense? It's OK to hide killer pedophiles (and I used the word "killer" intentionally because child rapists DO destroy lives), but not OK to want to marry the love of your life, if that person happens to be the same gender?

I am getting to a point where I am really wondering about the whole POINT of organized religion. Is it just to hide stuff? To intimidate people? To occasionally do some good and the rest of the time wreak havoc? Was organized religion just invented to steal property (a HUGE motive behind witch trials AND forced "conversions" of native Americans)?

Maybe it really is time to return to small local gatherings for spiritual and community purposes. Or simply allow one's own spiritual beliefs to blossom, and let go the need to force any particular belief on anyone else. Rather than churches we could just have local community centers which help disaster victims and the homeless and provide some warmth and comfort. And NEVER EVER hide child rapists. EVER. Shame on the Mormon Church. Shame on the Catholic Church. Shame on any person or organization that hides and "protects" child rapists and other life destroyers.

Thanks to the victim in this case and others for having the courage to speak out and take a stand. That takes real guts.

Sometimes People Come Through in a BIG Way

Yes, Sometimes People Come Through in a BIG Way, and then you want to cry, or maybe wash yourself in pure water (Walden Pond in April?) and cleanse away the tears and frustration and fear.

Today I took my cat Pooh to the vet for a RadioIodine treatment for her hyperthyroid. There was no other choice, because she had a bad reaction to the drugs given for this condition. We had opted for just an injection with I-131, because the scintigraphic scan was above and beyond the funds we had managed to gather from contributions. The scan provides much greater accuracy, but we just could not afford it.

And at the very last minute, a fellow animal-lover, someone I have never met, called the vet to say she wanted to pay for the scan. I am stunned in disbelief.

So so tired. This has been stressful, but a real learning experience. Sometimes people come through in a REALLY big way, just when you least expect it. Wow. I am really honestly speechless.

What Happens When You Ask for Help, Sometimes...

So my cat urgently needs a treatment that will cost $1325 and NO I am not soliciting funds. But I have been going to various funding agencies, trying to get some help to pay this bill. Not good timing, at all. But I won't go into that.

However, HERE is what happens (sometimes) when one starts checking at various "emergency pet funds".

First of all, due to the fact that SO MUCH MONEY was drained out of the American economy directly into the coffers of Halliburton and other Iraq invasion beneficiaries, as well as to individual rip-off CEOS, Wall Street dudes, Bankers and other criminals, MANY pet funds have almost dried up. So cross at least 30% off your list right off the bat.

The few that still ARE accepting requests want the minutae of your life, down to the last detail. It is very invasive, to say the least. I am waiting for someone to ask for my medical file. I am sure that is next. Or a list of every job I've held, for own long, did I quit or get laid off or fired? Or maybe detailed info on my love life?

Some fund reps take advantage of people asking for help by being downright abusive. They figure YOU will take the crap, right, cuz you are desperate? Well, not always. I hung up on one woman today. After about seven minutes of her aggressive, condescending voice, I just could not take another nasally nasty comment. And I really did not want to scream at her. Or no, I really did. Want to scream. But thought perhaps better to hang up than totally burn that bridge (I can always say I lost the connection...).

Some people are touchingly kind. One person, on government assistance, offered $5. I declined. Seriously, I just cannot take money from someone on a fixed income, even if my cat urgently needs this procedure to survive. (RadioIodine treatment for hyperthyroid--the meds were causing serious liver problems and she was taken off them)

But the end result of all this is that it occurred to me that at least in the Boston area, it is really "not done", you know, asking for help. I once asked two city employees to walk me across the BU bridge (half of it, really). I was at the end of my rope due to the abusive pricks at MIT and in the middle of an anxiety attack. Do you know what they did? This lovely man and woman, who probably go to church faithfully every Sunday (or not) laughed at me, and ridiculed my plight.

Fortunately, just as they walked on in their hilarity, a European student on a bike passed by and very kindly stopped to help me.

I know, Boston is full of pricks. Even the Globe has written articles about this. But some of the people I have spoken with this week are from other parts of the country, and also not so nice.

So I am thinking maybe, just for spite, I will start asking people for help. Simple things, like, "Would you mind carrying this heavy bag up the T stairs for me?" Or "Could you tell me where Garden Street is?"

Just for the hell of it. Just to freak people out. I know, I know. In other communities such questions would be considered quite ordinary, and in the case of heavy bags, I would probably not even need to ask.

But around here the policy seems to be "Do it yourself or phoque the hell off!" (a phoque is a seal in French) Last September I must have asked 10 Harvard students if they could check an address of a church on their iPhones before I finally gave up and asked a Haitian cab driver for help (my phone had no internet).

An older Haitian woman had asked ME for help to find the church, where she could get some shoes (hers were completely threadbare). The cab driver kindly offered to drive her to the church, free of charge. But the rich students were just too damn busy (or not, One said "Uh, my reception is not that good" as he clicked through his email).

So here is my plan. Just to stir up some manure and create some excitement, I am going to suddenly turn even more radical! I am going to try EACH and EVERY day to ask someone for help!!! Please don't arrest me for this! I know it is REALLY REALLY STRANGE. But that is my plan. Change the world, one "Could you help me?" at a time.

Why I Hate the New Health Care, Even if Some of it Is Good.

Don't fool yourselves. This is NOT Canadian health care. Canadians do NOT pay for their health care out of pocket. It is paid by taxes (rates almost equivalent to Massachusetts), and the rich are taxed more than the poor, as they should be.

This US health care is only a very poor start. Yes, about 2/3 of the people without health care will now have access to it. The other third will still lack health care. (For a good critique, http://www.now.org/press/03-10/03-21b.html)

I HATE the anti-choice provisions, which Obama, allegedly a pro-choice candidate, just signed into law. This will primarily affect poor and working class women. No nice rich girl, including Obama's own daughters, will ever be denied reproductive choice. If women have to pay extra for abortion coverage, then men should be required to pay extra for penis pumps and Viagra, now covered under most insurance plans. Yeah, let's try that, and just WATCH how quickly the anti-women anti-choice measures are removed.

I HATE the anti-aging clause, which allows Insurance companies to penalize people for getting older. Since women live at least ten years longer than men, it is old women who will primarily be penalized. Anti-gender provisions are still allowed as well, for larger companies, i.e. women can be penalized for their femaleness as a "pre-existing health condition". WTF????

I HATE the threat of fines for refusing to purchase health care, especially when the ceilings of what one should be able to afford are so unreasonable. For example, to be eligible for MassHealth in Massachusetts (the model this plan with follow), a single person must earn less than $14K per year, and even that amount can be questioned. 14K. Have you EVER tried to live on less than $300 per week in Massachusetts. What a joke.

I HATE the fact that stocks for the big Pharma thieves have just gone through the roof. What does THAT tell you?

Yes, I know the Republicans hate this bill. Which makes me HOPE that it is in fact ONE step in the right direction. I also know the Insurance companies spent a lot of money--but they DID achieve many of their aims, make no mistake. I believe this is a GOOD day for them, because now people who refused to sign up with them in the past will have no choice.

In Canada, Pharmaceuticals are regulated, and prices kept reasonably low. If you want high-falutin' extra insurance, you are not prohibited from getting it. But you don't need it. Just by living in Canada and paying your taxes (or even if you DON'T pay them!), you will be entitled to, for example, have a baby in a hospital, or have surgery on your knee, or see a doctor whenever you need to.

The difference is that the greedy, unnecessary middle-man is cut out, i.e. the useless insurance companies. Guess what? Not EVERYTHING should be up for grabs to make a profit. In my world that includes health care, food, water, basic shelter. If the capitalists really need to keep playing their games, let them offer luxury goods to rich folk. The way things are going, these are the only people who will soon have money to spend, in any case, in the very near future.

Finally, The Truth

OK, Everybody, I'm finally going to tell you the Truth!

Rich people are nice. Poor people are lazy. If you don't have health care you just plain don't deserve it. War is necessary to defend our fine democracy, even when the so-called "war" involves invading and occupying sovereign countries and stealing their oil.

If a musician is promoted by the music industry, he or she is a genius and you should adore this person, even though your gut instinct is telling you the music really SUCKS. Do NOT listen to your gut instinct. It is usually wrong. Whatever Madison Ave, TV ads, Campaign promos, the government or anyone else selling ANYTHING says is RIGHT. Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT listen to your gut instinct, your inner wisdom or anything else. If you do, you will always be wrong.

A woman cannot be trusted. She is prone to lying and deceit. So if a man, whether he is a famous athlete or a bum on the street, says the sex was consensual, it WAS. Rape is only a fabrication in the minds of some loose women. It happens very very rarely--and then, only in cases when some neutral male witness can corroborate the story of the weak-minded woman.

If you are homeless, it is your own fault. You should have known better than to listen to your banker or mortgage broker. I don't care how earnest they appeared to be or how many stats they pushed at you, YOU should have KNOWN they were lying!

Bail-outs to rich guys, i.e. bankers, wall-street dudes and CEOS, does NOT amount to welfare for the rich, no matter how often you hear these lies from pinko leftists. Tax breaks for these guys also is NOT welfare. They DESERVE these millions! These guys work hard for their money, harder than any janitor working 2 jobs to support her family will EVER work! Even when you see a CEO on vacay in the Bahamas, believe me they are ALWAYS working.

And NO, they are NOT exploiting the poor. If you are poor, it's your own fault, bad karma. Had you had better karma, you would have been born into a wealthy family, gone to the best schools, graduated from Harvard and be running your own company by now. The fact that none of that happened for you MUST mean you were a REAL a-hole in a previous life. So shut up about it!

Let's face it. Males are just generally smarter than women. Didn't Larry Summers, the ex-prez of Harvard make some such statement regarding science and women? Doesn't he work for Obama now? So if he said it, it must be true! And even if he didn't...come on! Why would men talk SO much and SO loudly while so many women sit there and demurely take in all these words if the words weren't truly AMAZING, fascinating and just generally AWESOME, dude?

And as far as global warming or climate change goes, it just doesn't exist. So WHAT if a few glaciers are melting? There are plenty more where those came from. So WHAT if the weather seems to have gotten extremely intense and unpredictable and bizarre these last few years? Blame it on El Nino. Nobody really knows what El Nino is, anyway.

That's my truth-telling for today. More to come.