Refudiate your language, Sarah

Reload, Sarah, right?

No, Sarah, it's time to cease and desist.

What do you think of your word choices, now? Does your verbal history give you pause? You had your crosshairs right over Congresswoman Giffords’ district. And now the unspeakable has happened. What you so blithely pictured has come to pass.

How do you feel as she lies in critical condition in the hospital? How do you feel as U.S. District Judge John Roll lies dead?

Do you feel in any way responsible for the vitriol? Or do you continue to believe your hate-filled, ill-educated rhetoric is cute and folksy?

Is violent rhetoric a down-homey way to draw followers, or could it, in part, convince any individual that violence is an answer to our country’s divisive politics?

Does your snappy gun-speak add something to public discourse beyond its potential to incite violence?

Your self-appointed gun guru "lock and load" talk bears more resemblance to terror-speak than it does to political discourse held in a democratic republic.

Does talk have consequences? Does the written word? Did it have consequences, today? Could today’s violence in Arizona be a consequence of vitriol turned violent?

It’s time to end the acceptance of leaders using virulent rhetoric laced with violent overtones such as “reload,” "target," and “Second Amendment solutions,” as well as hate speech and virulent rhetoric.

Lay down your weapons of violence Sarah, Sharon, Bill, Glen, Jan and Rush. Your words carry deadly consequences.

It’s time to join the civil conversation.

Peace and blessings. (Practice the first; count the second.)

Open hearts and hands for Haiti

A Plea for help for the people of Haiti:

My heart and prayers go out to the people of Haiti in this time of desperate need. May Universal blessings aid your nation in recovery, succor those who have suffered so much loss, and may those who lost their lives rest in eternal peace.

Together we can help alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people.

Join me in donating through Doctors Without Borders:

Doctors Without Borders


And the American Red Cross’s International Response Fund:

American Red Cross

Please, won’t your add your gift to help those who are suffering so much?

Thank you and blessings.

Fatalism vs Optimism--the battle wages on

Health care - it’s certainly difficult to talk about health care reform in the United States these days, and it happens to be only a symptom of our larger challenges. Many of those who have insurance (like some members of Congress) apparently think that everyone can pay the outrageous prices insurance companies charge. We have had to let our insurance lapse due to premium prices. It’s frightening at any age not to have insurance, but more frightening I feel, as we are aging.

The government we expect to fix our insurance woes is sadly broken and the division of severe partisan politics is hurting us terribly. It does look like the sixty votes are now in the Senate for health care “reform” but what is proposed is more a give-away to insurance companies than true reform.

Our two-hundred year plus experiment in a democratic republic seems to be unable to break the deadlock of partisan politics and corporate lobbyist control. The corporations have taken over and individuals are paying the price. Can capitalism be fixed? Is there such a thing as sustainable capitalism? I have my doubts.

We cannot continue to count on growth and consumerism to keep us going. We’re fast running out of the natural resources that have sustained our grotesque consumerism of the last 20-30 years. It certainly isn’t to say that I am not guilty - I am, and I don’t know how to get completely out of the system. I do reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink. My husband and I are not heavy consumers, and we do grow many of our own fruits and vegetables. We produce far less garbage than our neighbors and we take composting and recycling very seriously. But, we eat too much meat, we use too much water, we depend upon cars (although we have reduced our miles driven) and have a multitude of other consumer traits.

I ponder whether a fatalistic approach is more appropriate, since we can't seem to agree on fixing the challenges we clearly face. If perhaps, all humanity were to die off, it might not be such a bad thing? We are the biggest consumers and exploiters of the world’s resources. We outsource our pollution and our jobs. We don’t share well. We’re greedy. We’re violent. Homo sapiens, as the most innovative and adaptable species, has become, too, the most invasive pest. An yet, we do love life and want to explore, learn, love, and live.

In all seriousness, we need to work on reducing the global population just as much as we are working on global climate change (not that Copenhagen proved to give us any serious change with an appropriate timeline). I know it is going to be hugely difficult to get nations (and individuals) to agree, but I know our single largest battle ahead is population control.

Of course, if we let that go, too, the tipping point will eventually cause our population to crash due to lack of food or through disease in the form of virulent global pandemics. (How's that for fatalism?) Sigh.

Questions such as these cause a deep-seated battle to rage within me - as my natural optimism vies with the fatalism such great challenges offer. It is quite daunting to grasp that there are no quick fixes; these tribulations have begun during our lifespan.

Peace and blessings (practice the first; count the second).

Ranting renders null the point of any argument.

I read an interesting comment, today, on a progressive website. The writer had a good argument backing a valid point; however, the writer rendered null and void his perspicacious comment by using capital letters and hateful language. In other words, while he could easily be part of the global solution conversation, his voice was lost in the abyss of flaming reactionary rhetoric.

I, too, am outraged by much of what is happening in the world; however, we cannot have positive discourse without issuing an invitation.

Had he modulated his response by removing the anger—his voice could have been heard. It is sad to see good ideas go to waste.

Peace and blessings (practice the first; count the second).

Working on Self

I took part in a local climate action, yesterday, sponsored by 350.org. A small group of like-minded people got together to take a visible stand in regard to climate change and to educate the general public about the need to lower carbon dioxide emissions to less than 350 ppm from the current 387 ppm. Writer/Activist Bill McKibben did a splendid job uniting groups in more than one-hundred eighty nations to create more than fifty-two hundred actions.

I have to confess that staying positive about the action was easy compared to staying positive about the individuals involved and their foibles. From a bossy micromanager, to a snapping irritated extrovert, to a strident angry sign carrier, we were certainly not using inclusive language or standing united for our cause.

What makes us so testy when we interact? I don’t have the answer—only speculations about stress (both physical and mental), about trying to stay within a certain timeframe while awaiting those who were tardy, about pleasing people who refuse to be pleased, and about how chronic physical pain can wreak havoc on attitude.

Do we need to learn to be kind, to be polite, and to have a cheery attitude toward minor irritations at a young age for them to be a first response to irritation? I know I was disappointed in my reactions (I was the snappy one) and I so desperately want to do better than this.

If I strongly believe in peace, compromise, common ground, and positive behavior—and I do—what takes over those beliefs and makes me a snappish boor? What made the others act as they did?

I search for equanimity and work on patience.

Peace and blessings (practice the first; count the second).

It takes time, folks.

The United States president receives a Nobel Peace Prize, and instead of being delighted with world recognition of his stunning vision, the people of the United States ask why? What is wrong with our nation? Are we so bitter, so jaded, so critical, that we cannot see that U.S. President Barack Obama has received such a high accolade because he is a transformational progressive worldwide leader? That his willingness to listen to the grievances of other countries and his desire to invite all stakeholders to the discussion are the hallmarks of a great leader? That he is our best chance for making necessary changes?

This caustic attitude isn’t working, folks, it just isn’t.

Sometimes I wonder if we have even the smallest chance to become functional as a nation. Progressives lament the fact that President Obama hasn’t yet gotten us out of two wars that he didn’t get us into—and the conservatives say he’s “soft” on war. Both sides of Congress fight his progressive leadership on health care reform. Everyone criticizes his stances on the economy—even while some of them were fully cognizant leaders that got us into this economic mess (any more Reaganomics, anyone?).

Our beleaguered president has not been given any time to effect the changes he has promised. I do believe he is finding progressive change much harder than he expected—that his strong character and his willingness to do what is right are actively thwarted every step he takes. It’s as if the whole nation wants him to fail in his mission to save us from the terrible travesty of the Bush years.

If you are in his way—move. If you believe in his policies—let him know. Most of all—give him time to achieve his goals.

Peace and blessings (practice the first; count the second).

Lessons well learned.

Sometimes we think we know a lot about an individual, and we react using that knowledge. Perhaps that knowledge has been received from an entity with which we have something in common—one that we trust. Next, we stand in judgment of the person by the definition we have been given for him or her by the trusted entity. We could so easily find ourselves to be misinformed, or perhaps, under-informed.

Individuals are complex integrations of positive and negative traits, and unless we have had personal contact with that person, we really should take care to find out more before we judge. (I was re-taught this lesson, today—thank you, Sis!) The Internet offers us a great (albeit not only) resource to find out more about the complex actions of famous and not-so-famous individuals—we just might find out we have more in common than we originally thought.

I’ve had my comeuppance, today, and I humbly eat crow. I also ask that everyone else take time to check just one assumption you hold on the basis of what you have learned from a trusted, but potentially biased, source. You’ll be glad you did.

Peace and blessings (practice the first; count the second).