Timeless Adage, Eternal Cliche

 I am thinking of adages and cliches right now.

"The sun shines and rains on us all."  Whether a "good person" or a "bad person" two things they share in common and always will, they are born and then they die.  So right out of the womb, we are formed with commonality. Maybe we are two sides to the same coin.  When I say we, I mean all of mankind, not just you and I. In many cases, you and I are on the same side of issues. (my guess)

"Without failure, you'll never know success."  Ever hear of that one?  I wonder how true it is.  I know that for many people, even for me, it seems to be true.  But what if some of the things we are told are our success really are an illusion that someone else has sold us?  What if the so called failures we experience were really lessons that test our ability to overcome in times of duress?  What if the real success is in how we carried ourselves through these times and what if our real failures are in failing to be empathic towards others or from some other such human characteristic? 

At any rate, it is as I've always thought.  "It isn't where you go, it's what you do to get where you end up or as the cliche goes " it's how you get there."  So who is there to tell us whether or not we have failed or succeeded, but us.  In essence, we listen to our own voice as much as we listen to the voices of others.  Who is more objective? Nobody.  Note, each individual must work out their own salvation, work through their own failures, and define their own successes, for the purposes within their own hearts.

There will always be those more poor in spirit, more downtrodden in faith, and more impoverished than another; just as there will always be those filled with more peace, more hope and less poor than another. So what is your responsibility?  "Charity begins at home."  Take care of what we are charged or blessed with, such as our immediate family.  My friend, Mr. Jule once said to me (and I thought heartlessly so before I understood) that, "The poor outnumber all other things.  The poor will always be with us."  You can teach them through habit that they can learn a new trade, learn to speak the native language of whatever country they are in, learn the rules, and learn how to push through whatever red tape each country puts in front of them.  So why is it that through habit people are taught to hold out their hand in case by chance a coin or bill will be dropped in?  Why are they taught how to fight in lines for food stamps when they can be taught to bring home a paycheck?  Why are their immediate needs being partially met when we all know they will be right back for more of the same tomorrow?--that is, unless they die.

You can give a man fish or you can teach him how to fish.  My guess is that teaching requires way too much of our time, our patience, and it might reveal to us how little we really know about what the needs of others entail.  It's easier to toss coins at them and watch them move on to their next coin toss far away from us.  We can even worry about them later when we find the time and maybe even pray for them.

As long as we keep trying to fix everyone else's problems, we will be swimming in their mud puddles.  If we continue to swim in their mud puddles we will soon be a fixture of those puddles, unable to work out our own tests and trials.  Teach those who are teachable, reach the reachable, but get out of the mud and clean up your act. Don't get dirty trying to clean up the act of others; don't get snot all over you wiping their nose. Keep your nose clean.   Remember, you can be part of the solution or you can be part of the problem. 

I'm just venting. If you made it this far, I thank you.  Wish I had something more intelligent to share, something more original, but the troubles of others are dragging a friend of mine down, and it is forcing me to remind her that she must take care of herself first and stop making everyone's problems hers until she is fit to teach even one of them to handle their own problems.  It's damn hard to do without help from the adages and cliches. Guess some old truths are ageless.

No More Delays for DeLay-Prosecute that over ripened loquat

Tom DeLay is under fire and he should be. For a list of some of his many sins, please check out this link.

http://www.pcactionfund.org/withoutdelay/facts/

I have so many reasons to be disenchanted by Tom Delay that it surprised me for us to be investigating him on such trivial matters, like getting vacation money from a gamblers' lobbiest such as Mr. Abrams.  It isn't that I expect all congressmen and senators to get such perks; it's because Mr. Delay has such a vast amount of more severe sins he is guilty of that this one is small in comparison.  Mr. Delay should be happy we are going after him for such a small reason but what does he do?  He ratfinks on all his co-legislators.  He is a pigeon, offering up information about others to take the blame off of himself.   In fact, that is why the GOP has not been held accountable for any of their actions.  They wasted taxpayer dollars going after the Clintons and our money was redistrubuted to a revolving file somewhere far from our coffers.  In order to save face, they went after the activities roster of Clinton's penis.  Even Clinton ,as the Republicans still cry, was made to be accountable. The Republicans, to this day, scream, "He lied to America about Monica's lips on his penis!"   So Clinton had to face impeachment.  But, ain't it like the GOP to blame everyone else and then blanket their own transgressions. I truly believe my brothers and sisters who happen to be members of the Republican Party deserve far better than this.

Any good prosecutor would say, "Trick to winning any case is to stick with the case.  Go the distance and finish one case at a time."  To Mr. DeLay, I say, we are going to go after you and we aren't going to stop until we have been satisfied.  As for all those you rat out, they are next, one at a time. Until then, Mr. DeLay, we won't be sidetracked or lead down your path toward confusion." 

Memorial Day...

Memorial day has always been a time of sadness for me.  My best recollections were when my uncles got home from Korea only to take off for Viet Nam.  I thank you Lord for keeping them safe and returning them all home to us!  Some of the young men and nurses didn't make it home.  I was such a little girl in those days.  Nam dragged on and as a young teen I took on names of MIAs and POWs which I wore on bracelets.  My goal was to give the bracelets back.  The POW bracelets found their way to the families but the MIA bracelets sat in a drawer for 3 years, then in a box out in one of my garages, then were lost.  The point I am making is that the MIAs never made it home, dead or alive.  Politically, I found it difficult to speak about in those days. I guess I still do.  I had family in intelligence and even they didn't say much about what happened.  Those willing to talk had so many different things to say, but all said that Nam wasn't worth it.  Years later, one of them, a high ranking man in military intelligence said this war is not what it is being billed as.  He told me quite simply it was about O I L.  Never had I heard such skepticism out of him. Skepticism isn't the right word.  Mmm, never had I heard such disgust toward any administration quite like I heard it in his voice toward this administration, from the commander in chief on down.  He was not happy that our soldiers were sent to Iraq.  I guess this is where I begin to tell you why I am writing.

I am against war.  It conjurs up hate inside me, hate for all who profit off of wars and all who encourage war.  I am against sending our people intentionally to another country that isn't attacking us.  I haven't forgot about the attack made on us by terrorists.  Iraq did not attack us.  So we did the next best thing, we decided that since terrorists attacked us, there was no time like the present to rid one of the countries of a terrible leader who took advantage of his people, even torturing and killing them.  We didn't pick Ruwanda or Chechnya; we didn't pick Belarus or Pakistan; we didn't pick China or Zimbawee to bring democracy to; we chose Iraq. 

Then we remembered we were going after terrorists so while in Iraq we could do that too, even though the terrorists who took out the towers came from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Afghanistan. We knew they would find us and gift us with some legitimacy for being in Iraq. It seems that where ever Americans are, the terrorists aren't too far behind.  The terrorists depend on us to help them get out their message and we have depended on them to give us an excuse to be at war.

So how do I reconcile this with the dedication of our soldiers?  For me, it is easy.  All who know where I stand on the war think I'm irrational for supporting our soldiers, unless they, like me, have experience with those in active duty.  The soldiers I know are dedicated to America.  They, without having to be asked, believe they cannot rest until they bring a choice to those around the world, a choice for freedom they hope. Yes! They really believe this.  They believe it so much they are prepared to give up their lives for this choice.  They don't have time to research the information as to why we are really there or why we shouldn't be.   In their patriotic hearts they are laying their lives down because they are honored to do so.  They believe America is the best country in the world and wish everyone had an America to go home to.  Yes they do.  I'm with them.  I love the freedoms we have here, the rights to voice our concerns and the people are awesome.  We are worth loving.  I love them for this.  I love our soldiers.  They are selfless and this in itself is noble. 

Please remember that while this administration might have nefarious reasons for being at war, our soldiers have different reasons, honorable reasons.  On this Memorial Day, think healthy good thoughts for our people overseas, won't you please?

Define Patriotism

I was catching up on C-SPAN.  I missed a great deal of the real stuff that matters this week because I've been dealing with identity theft, first some man and his daughter's then in sychronicity, my own.  When I did turn on the Television, Dr. David Yeagley(frontpagemag.com columnist) was speaking.  He asked us to all define Patriotism.  Some of you who are familiar have labeled him as from the "radical" right, I know, but he admits to being conservative.  Those of you who know me, know that I too am somewhat conservative.  I'll share with you a letter I wrote to him. BRB.

Subj: Patriotism-Where opposing voices harmonize.  Date: 5/28/2005 8:50:55 PM Pacific Standard Time From: GoddessOf7Worlds To: badeagle@badeagle.com

The problems with "Patriotism" of any kind is that it relies upon the interpretations of mankind.  We can have collective patriotism and we can also have individual patriotism.  The latter often polarizes people, hence the terminology of "leftist" or "radical rights".

I don't visit that which polarizes groups of people often because I tend to seek out what creates adhesion.  What plucks at our collective hearts?  That is a question I ask myself often in just about any emotional challenge, whether it be the public manipulation of our attention regarding Terri Schiavo or the slap in our face commentary regarding our inability to positively support our cultural image as was the case in the "Red Lake" school.  These incidents pluck at us if we are paying attention and I believe we should be challenged when these things appear to us. 

For me, most informed sir, it isn't a Native American (Indian) thing.  It is a human thing.  I've noticed that through out the world, humans are grappling with cultural identity.  Emotions such as fear, anger and bitterness provoke us to blame others for a demise that hasn't yet fully come to fruit. (It ain't over till it's over) The altruists then come in and ponder the fruits of forgiveness, mercy, compassion and love.  For a season we are bandaged and nursed, both those from the left and those from the right.

The interesting thing I have noticed in my outrageous 40-plus years (47), is, without people going through the complete process, the left to the right, the angry to the compassionate; we repeat these battles until we learn to correctly apply  any true understanding we earned from these experiences.  It takes differing viewpoints hashed out in earnest battle before the minds of people can sufficiently be transformed.

I submit to you that true patriotism is born where the people of opposing ideas gather for reasoning which ultimately leads to an appropriate conclusion.

Note:

 Conservatives think before acting (against "fast-tracking").     Liberals believe in equal liberties (not neccessarily equal compensation). 
Progressives think outside the norm.
Radicals run over them all. 
Pluralists believe in body and spirit allowing the physical to govern the physical realm and the spirit to challenge things of a spiritual nature. 
Anti-pluralists believe that there is only one way, their way, the right way.   So when labels are thrown around, I am careful to examine those doing the labeling.

Thank you for speaking on C-SPAN.  I enjoyed considering the content of your words as well as the spirit in which they were delivered.

Sincerely,
Chelle Stockman (not a goddess of any world)

Fear Ye, Fear Ye

The powers that rule this world deploy fears to redefine valid concerns, to deprive people of individuality, and for purposes of global control.

I'm concerned that we are becoming a one World Order, one government, complete with tracking systems. 

I'm concerned that jobs humans once did with heart and soul are now being given to unfeeling unthinking machines that track us.  You might think this is bonkers but be aware that money can be electronically tranferred out of your accounts on weekends and checks can clear, all without the help of a human.  However, deposit cash in an automated teller on Sunday and it won't "officially" be there until two humans count it out.  This is just small potatoes I'm talking about here. The redistribution of wealth is far more important to this world system than a mere deposit of cash.

I'm concerned that we dare to legislate the free will of God thus depriving people of their rights to sin and repent. It allows pharmacists the ability to refuse to dispense prescriptions based on their moral choices.  So it's a crap shoot if you plan to have your prescriptions filled.  Keep it up folks and soon they too will be dispensed by unthinking unfeeling machines.  One more job lost.

I'm concerned that we can look at one person and determine them to be worthy and hardworking and another lazy.  One thing that creates laziness is when the hardworking give up trying to find compensation for the work they do because they have been replaced by hardworkers willing to do it for less.  I'm concerned that we have many home grown addicts wrestling the elements for a pack of smokes and a tall can of Old English while people on cell phones toss them a buck and then drive off in their super sized H2 Hummer.  I'm concerned that many of the street people don't speak English.  These are just some of my daily observations. 

I'm concerned there are more nefarious principalities at work whose goal it is to tag us all, monitor our movements, and make us into data bytes for the data banks.  One day we too will be privatized under the billing of "healthy competion". In the case of corporate rights, our rights to live without being tracked shall be removed, by those corporations who depend on Globalization and things such as the "Free Trade" or "Free Enterprise"  or "Free Market".  There are always prices to be paid and in this world even Nothing is taxed so when they say nothing is free, don't you believe it. These are just a few things that woke me out of a sound sleep and I thought I'd share them with you before turning them into collages in my dreams. 

The message is:  Whatever your concerns are, make them known, get them out into the open.  There may be some validity to them.  Whatever you do, don't allow them to be relabeled inappropriately. Things that have us concerned can be labeled as fear.

This is the world, folks.  We must be willing to leave it someday and the concerns for it too. 

Have heart.  Fear not.

Letters to the Senators

May 9, 2005

Attention Senators: Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, George Miller, Christopher Dodd, Edward Kennedy

 

Dear Senators,

I don’t know how or where to begin this letter of lamentation, for the subject I shall endeavor to address is beyond my scope of understanding. We face great problems in this world and they stem from a world that is under the control of the Price Index.

With the outsourcing of jobs, the lack of a “living” wage to balance our propensity toward inflation, and illegal immigrants crossing into our country to work the jobs we cannot afford to work, there are two sides to arguments that have permeated the dreams of my sleeping hours.

These horrific hauntings cast blame; first on the immigrants; and secondly, cause the naturalized citizens to feel unworthy of liberties they thought were guaranteed to them.

On the other side of the argument we see citizens citing laws that claim the illegal workers should suffer punishment while they incite the rest of us to rise against the cheap labor movement, with the concerns that shout at us harsh accusations such as, “They are killing unions: they are bleeding us dry causing the costs of our medical care to increase, are polluting our environment with the use of pesticides and other chemicals. They want us to turn into another polluted Mexico!”

But it is those who reap the largest profits who should be held accountable. Corporations and various industries are the largest exploiter of cheap labor and they are also the largest violators of human rights. It just so happens that “industrialized corporate farms” are the main employers here in California. They use deadly pesticides which are known endocrine disrupters and are responsible for birth defects and a marked increase of mental health disorders. They pollute the water drainage systems with their deadly silted runoff. They employ this cheap labor and subject these humans to these horrific toxins. If our President succeeds in squashing class action lawsuits, how on earth shall we ever hold corporations accountable for their sins?

Is it OK to subject immigrants to these conditions simply because they are seeking escape from the poverty their country perpetuates? Is this ethical? Is it fair that some should die working in pesticides for less than a living wage? We as Americans have allowed corporations to exploit labor forces. We have put up with their threats to move elsewhere and also to raise their costs. They forget that we can grow our own vegetables (I do) and we don’t have to subscribe to their provisions if we don’t agree with them. We have however failed to get that across.

Poor environmental practices, poor labor ethics and outsourcing of jobs are the results of our inaction. The problems and concerns we have in America are the same the French confronted Chirac with and the same the British confronted Blair with. Immigration, the open boarder policy, outsourcing, and lack of living wage jobs are all the conversations I witnessed and I watched as Chirac minimalized his people’s concerns by tagging them as fears. The Globalization Movement has “redistributed” our dreams and is now in the process of doing the same with our nightmares all in the name of healthy competition.

But why do some have to fail that one may succeed; why do some have to fall that one may rise; and why does one person who earned his wage have to retire early only to be hired back as an independent contractor to teach 4 others who will earn a little more than minimum wage to do the same job he once did?

I know what I am suggesting isn’t politically correct but sometimes I wish we could just close all boarders for a year or so and hang out signs that declare: This country is temporarily closed for repairs.

Seriously, corporations, the price index, and the federal reserve are up to no damn good. How can we gain back our ethical practices and set honorable life sustaining examples for the other countries? How can we make this happen?

Sincerely,

Rochelle (Chelle) Stockman

Happy Mother's Day folks. Below is a link I copied.

 

Mothers' Day Proclamation: Julia Ward Howe, Boston, 1870

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts,
whether our baptism be that of water or of fears!

Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by
irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking
with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be
taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach
them of charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country will be too tender of those of another
country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From
the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says "Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance
of justice."

Blood does not wipe our dishonor nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons
of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a
great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women,
to bewail and commemorate the dead.

Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the
means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each
bearing after their own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a
general congress of women without limit of nationality may be
appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at
the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the
alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement
of international questions, the great and general interests of
peace.

Julia Ward Howe
Boston
1870

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http://www.peace.ca/mothersdayproclamation.htm