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More on Gaza and what it’s like to be Palestinian

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DN! has another good piece on life in Gaza….if you can call it that. Existence is more apt a word…

Israel targeted yet another hospital…and yet another playground with children.

I just can’t wrap my brain around anyone justifying this–only a mentally ill person would rationalize killing children and innocent people whom have nothing to do with Hamas.

And the cruel mind games Israel is playing—calling people and telling them to leave because they are about to be bombed…when there is clearly nowhere else to go.  As the piece illustrates–a man who left to go to “safety” was bombed there, too.  Where are they to go?

Another segment the other day said that Israel is also playing mind games by calling people up and telling them they are in their crosshairs.  And there are drones overhead all the time….even when there was supposedly a cease-fire that Israel claimed to uphold.  Who would trust someone like that?

DN also had this up yesterday of a Palestinian’s account of his own personal tragedy.  It’s hard to watch–he clearly is heartbroken over losing so many members of his family.

Again, Israel has a lot of fire power because of the United States giving them billions every single year.  I do not support my tax dollars going towards killing innocent people…innocent children playing on a playground…people in hospitals that have already been greatly harmed…

~~~More of this segment also explores the overreach of the NSA, CIA, et al, and how the Fourth Amendment is ignored.  Brian Ross has stated that he now begins telephone conversations with “I’m an American citizen, are you?”  because he says they are not supposed to be listening in on American citizens’ conversations.  This is a protective measure.  It is incredible how paranoia has become so extreme that journalists now feel like criminals and have to act like they’re mafia or something in order to develop contacts and be able to investigate the very people who are trying to usurp the press’ ability to investigate them.

Meanwhile, the petition for Freedom of the Press and Whistleblowers has now reached over 100,000 like-minded folks who believe in the First Amendment and Fourth Amendment which a healthy democracy needs to survive.

First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. – See more at: http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment1/amendment.html#sthash.8k4V7g5s.dpuf
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Fourth Amendment:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. – See more at: http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment4/amendment.html#sthash.Ihw0OGGC.dpuf
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Spirituality and Rationality

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(This blog is on spirituality, so if it’s not your thing…)

Dr. Carol Hand has one of the most stirring blogs on spirituality I’ve ever read.

I love, love, love, the Native American approach to spirituality–they don’t dictate to each other or complete strangers what they should believe or how they should worship. They worry more about their own spiritual path than others’.

When I was growing up, my belief was that the world could only know Peace if we were all Christians–hence the reason for missionaries and witnessing to others our beliefs.

It took my taking a class on religion in college to realize that despite what you might hear in the press or religious leaders, we aren’t that far apart in our beliefs.  As I’ve written about before, all religions have the eerily similar belief in treating others as you wish to be treated.  This was such a powerful discovery for me–as at this time, after my divorce and the turmoil that followed, I was questioning God’s existence.

Two things happened that brought me “back”–one is a dream I’ll keep private, and the other is my daughter going through a terrible time.  She made it through, although she still has “days” that I think are more related to the poison in her mouth (amalgams) than to anything else.

Anyway, Carol’s post highlights the Native American tradition of seeing women as connected directly to God by our ability to give life.  I love this.  The European tradition as seeing menstruation as “dirty” –something to be ashamed of, others see it as the blood that gives life to the growing baby.  As I wrote that, The Red Tent popped into my head.  Even though women were banished to the tent for menstruating, they had a wonderful camaraderie that is absent in our society today.    (Not only that, Big Pharma has developed a Pill to stop women from menstruating for three months (or more)…someone I knew was getting married and didn’t want to have her period on her wedding day….unbelievable.  God, how Big Pharma must hate women and their icky periods….)

Back on subject—

It does make sense to keep one’s visions to oneself–lest it create jealousy or judgment.  Wise.

This passage was powerful and reflected my own conclusions:

When I realize that the temptation to judge and compete with others is becoming too strong to resist, I look at the context and forces around me. Often I find that it’s time for me to change course, to be honest about what is my responsibility to do, and to simplify and refocus my life on what really matters on my path. I have a responsibility to do what I can in my thoughts and actions to end and prevent harm.  I have a responsibility to judge actions and their consequences, but I cannot judge or demonize others whose paths I can never know.

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It is hard to resist those powerful urge to judge and compete with others…but if one truly follows the “do unto others..” it helps keep one on the right path.  After all, we can only control our own actions and reactions, not those of others.

Peace to you all.

 

Americans protests of Israel bombing/blockade

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In New York City, protesters staged a “die-in” at an Israel bank.  The article is slanted towards Israel…saying that the protesters were siding with terrorists…so what else is new?

…people who kill innocent people cannot claim innocence nor can they claim to be the victim here.

The destruction of Gaza

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Global News has photos up on the utter destruction of Gaza.  I can’t even imagine what they must feel like.  Well, I take that back–I do know how it feels to lose your home, but not by bombing.

My heart goes out to the Palestinian woman crying over losing her home.

The 7th photo shows an ambulance driver’s charred body from being hit by an Israeli rocket.  I’d like to see Netanyahu explain this away–he’ll say that the ambulance driver was a member of Hamas, I’m sure…./snarky to the extreme

Warning for the next photo–children who were bombed by Israel.  It is horrible.  I’m sure they were members of Hamas, as well/snark with disgust

Before, this, they were starving them.  Interfering with their ability to earn a living or blocking paychecks.  Now I learn that they were also restricting their water!  Water!

Do unto others as you would have done to you.

Blood on your hands, Israel.  Blood on your hands.

 

Nature leaves a calling card…

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…just to let us know who’s in charge…

We had a powerful thunderstorm with lightening that cracked so loud I jumped two feet off the bed.  Seriously, it was the loudest (and closest) that I’ve ever experienced.

So, naturally, it took out the phone box in back, the phone box attached to the house, and cooked the router.  I’m typing from my sister’s pc, and I hate it, so I’m just here briefly.

This is another instance where having a land line is a lifesaver–because your internet can get knocked out just like *that*.

Hope you all are doing okay.

Watch out for those lightening strikes…heh.

Changes….

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…I know that nothing stays the same, and yet…

I went to Fort Wayne Sunday.  I had the thought of giving some food to the food pantry that our building had.  It was there to help with the gaps between what the gov’t thinks people need in order to eat and what they actually had at the end of the month.

So…I bought about $80 worth of food and called the manager to see if she was available to get in the building and chat awhile.  She didn’t pick up her cell, and I found out why when I arrived at the building–

I had tried the disabled gal that used to run the food pantry.  She would have had the key to get in.  I couldn’t for the life of me remember her apartment number, so I guessed.   A man answered, so yeah, no luck.  He didn’t even know the name so either he was new, or the gal has moved to another place.  She had been there quite a few years, so I was surprised that she wasn’t there.

I tried a few more apartments, but no one was home.  On a final try, I got one of the residents.  Ironically, he was the same one that gave me such grief over there by setting off the fire alarms all the time.  Heh.

He let me in and then said they didn’t have the food pantry anymore.  I was shocked.

He said that everything had changed and that the manager was no longer there.  There had been a big shake up, I guess.  No wonder she didn’t reply to my call.

So…I ended up just putting the food on a table in the main lobby for people to pick up.

It was just surreal.  There used to be folks outside chatting on the benches. No one.  No one inside where a couch and tables are located.

It just felt like the world got a little colder.  Makes me sad.  Really sad leaving the building. What once was a small community, where we looked out for one another, has become a place to exist.

Once our former manager left, it just seemed to take the warmth and light out of the place.  The new maintenance guy did not like the “free” table we had in our rec room…he was somewhat anal and didn’t like the clutter of it…but that table was a life saver for us with little money to buy things.  If someone didn’t want something, but another resident could use it, that just saved it from ending up in the landfill, didn’t it?  But the maintenance guy insisted there were fights over the stuff…and I can say that I never witnessed it nor heard about any such fights.  He just didn’t like it, is my guess….and if there were any fights, he probably blew them out of proportion.

Anyway, what should have been a happy day of giving back was one of sadness.