Sunday, September 30, 2018

A Hard Rain Is Falling / Surviving Against All Odds




We’ve got to understand what is happening. Now they often call this the white backlash … It’s just a new name for an old phenomenon. The fact is that there has never been any single, solid, determined commitment on the part of the vast majority of white Americans to genuine equality for Negroes. There has always been ambivalence … In 1863 the Negro was granted freedom from physical slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation. But he was not given land to make that freedom meaningful. At the same time, our government was giving away millions of acres of land in the Midwest and the West, which meant that the nation was willing to undergird its white peasants from Europe with an economic floor, while refusing to do it for its black peasants from Africa who were held in slavery two hundred and forty four years. And this is why Frederick Douglass would say that emancipation for the Negro was freedom to hunger, freedom to the winds and rains of heaven, freedom without roofs to cover their heads. It was freedom without bread to eat, without land to cultivate. It was freedom and famine at the same time. And it is a miracle that the Negro has survived.

Friday, September 28, 2018

Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher / Democrats Walk Out / For the record



Perhaps everyone has seen this.  I want it here for the record, showing me how any one of us may be given an opportunity to speak out powerfully and make a difference.

And this:



And this:



"... We know it's not going to happen overnight ..."



Those whose hearts cannot yet see cannot change.  We can change.  We can speak out.  We don't have to live in fear.  Not that this is easy.  Not that there is a final victory.

There is a beloved community of men and women that is growing daily, throughout the world.

"... I am no one's pawn." (Dr. Christine Blasey Ford)













As a witness to Brett Kavanaugh's tears and rage during the confirmation hearing as he denied any wrongdoing, I am absolutely sure that he is guilty as charged by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.  I have no doubt that his tears and that rage are those of a person who knows he is guilty and and is cornered and terrified. 
 
"A good justice should be objective and fair-minded, not guided by strong preconceived opinions.

A good justice should be empathetic, not focused on oneself.

A good justice should be calm, not angry.

A good justice should show grace under pressure, not be easily rattled.

A good justice should be even-tempered, not short-tempered.

A good justice should be thoughtful, not strident.

A good justice should in the face of adversity show courage, not petulance."

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Senator Kamala Harris













What I will remember most vividly of Senator Kamala Harris' words as she spoke to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing:

"And I want to thank you because you clearly have nothing to gain for what you have done.

You have been a true patriot in fighting for the best of who we are as a country. I believe you are doing that because you love this country, and I believe history will show that you are a true profile in courage at this moment in time in the history of our country and I thank you."

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Memory / Eclipse / Astonishment


Thirty-one years ago on this day, I stopped eating all forms of refined sugar and stopped drinking alcohol because every time I ingested refined sugar or drank alcohol, I could not stop eating it until I felt ill and then I would throw up all that I had eaten and find that I still craved more sugary foods.  It was not unusual for me to begin eating sugary foods immediately after throwing up due to the fact that the craving continued.  I would proceed to repeat this futile process several times until I was exhausted and would fall asleep (pass out) from consuming massive amounts of sugar.

It was impossible for me to eat one cookie or one serving of ice cream or one piece of candy or one donut or one brownie or one piece of cake or one piece of pie.  I ate whole boxes of cookies, pints of ice cream, boxes of candy, a dozen donuts at a time, entire batches of brownies, entire cakes, and entire pies.  I spent much of my childhood, my teenage years, and adult years trying to control how much food I ate.

The solution for me was to completely refrain from eating refined sugar and drinking alcohol.   Not long after that, I also stopped ingesting artificial sweeteners.

What I found, after a few weeks of extremely difficult withdrawal, was that the food cravings that had eclipsed my entire life until age 37 had vanished!  I had been on a diet continually since I was 10 years old.  I have not been on a diet since the morning of September 26, 1987.  My weight stabilized and has remained stable.

What I also found was that the wide variety of delicious foods that I could still eat tasted so much better, even sweet.  I remember noticing, for the first time, how sweet lettuce tasted.  As time passed, I no longer experienced chronic depression, chronic headaches or frequent colds.  

I am grateful to have found this simple solution to physical and emotional problems that I thought I would have to live with for my entire life.  

I love food.  I love to eat.  For thirty-one years now, I have been able to enjoy food and eating.  I'm still astonished.

Monday, September 24, 2018

I'm now safe from the Google and Blogger Sharks that were attacking my blog



This morning I am happy to say that I was able to figure out for myself what the problem has been with my blog.

In yet another attempt to find a solution, I went to a Google forum for people having similar but not identical problems.  There was talk there about which browser a person was using.  I've been stubborn about sticking to my Safari browser.  It seems that Google (Blogger) has arranged it so that I can no longer use Safari if I want my blog to work or if I want to leave comments at other blogs.

When I logged into my blog from Google Chrome, my blog was restored to its usual self, and I could once again comment on other blogs.

Interestingly, when I logged into Google Chrome's email system, which is gmail, I found two emails from the Blogger Support Forum.  Those emails were not accessible to me on Safari.  However, I had read similar responses to my request for help at the Blogger Support Forum.  The suggestions from the Blogger Support Forum in that email and on the Blogger Support Forum were complex and overwhelming.  There was no suggestion there to simply change the browser I was using.

Thank goodness for the gifts of perseverance and intuition that have brought me through so many problems, large and small!  Thank you to everyone who tried to help me solve this problem!

Update:  I just checked to see if my blog works in Firefox.  It does.

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Untitled

Is anyone receiving any comments from me?

Although my blog seems to be having problems, I have continued to comment at other blogs.  It is disconcerting to find that my comments are not appearing at those blogs.

Friday, September 21, 2018

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Dark Night Meditation From The North Country







































I know.  It's way too much all at once.  I couldn't sleep.

Way too much all at once.  That's for sure.



Friday, September 7, 2018

Speaking out to all the generations



"You can be the generation that at a critical moment stood up and reminded us just how precious this experiment in democracy really is, just how powerful it can be when we fight for it, when we believe in it."
He ended the speech, which went just over an hour, by telling them, "I believe in you," and promising he would "be right there with you every step of the way."
In other words, the former president is no longer going to shy away from speaking out.

(Perhaps everyone has listened to this already.  I just finished listening to it and want it here for the record)

Monday, September 3, 2018

Labor Day 2018 / Working on a Mandala



















































You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see,
Just bein' next to you is a natural thing for me
And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on,
'Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone.

(lyrics from "Wedding Song," Bob Dylan, 1973)