POWER!

Hurray! Yippee! The power is finally back on! NEWS FLASH! At 5:40pm October 24, 2008 one of us was standing outside and noticed the porch light was on. Since that light was not connected to the generator we knew we had finally been reattached to the island wide power grid. After a relatively fast 9 days without power we were once again living in the glare of modern technology. All of us were at once happy to have power and nostalgic for the romantic tones of the kerosene lanterns. Practically every light, fan, recharger etc. was put to use at once. All were tested to see if they still worked and by 5:45pm the place was aglow. The following day more work was undertaken and the washer and dryer were put into heavy use that is still happening today. At 12:03 yesterday afternoon a WAPA(Water and Power Authority) representative called to see if our power had been restored. i said yes it had but it had gone off again just 5 minutes before she called. "WHAT!" she says, "Hold on" and i was left listening to all the ways one can save money on their power bill. You can save $18 a month if you turn off lights when you leave a room, you can save $28.50 a month if you only run your ceiling fans when you are in the room, you can save even more if you unplug the hot water heater when you are not using it and even more if you replace the incandescent lighting with CFL's. When the recording started repeating itself i found myself getting impatient.

Finally she comes back on the line and says, "Yes, you don't have power." i guess she thought i didn't already know that. "The line crew has turned off the power and is clearing the trees away your power will be restored later today." After the other hurricanes that hit here WAPA never contacted you so hearing from a rep was a huge improvement. Even the governor had sent out a robocall when the storm was approaching encouraging all residents to finish their preparations. These two calls, before and after the storm were greatly appreciated even if i started wondering if we should pull out the electrical cords we had put away and wondering if power would be restored before the food we had bought would start to melt in the tropical heat. Luckily the outage was short and now we have had uninterrupted power for 24 hrs. Oh happy day when one can walk into a room, flip the switch and the light comes on.

Looking into alternative generating sources has moved up on our list of things to investigate.

One other thing I might add is the sense of community that always happens after a damaging storm. Someday I hope that after we have finished the clean up work we don't all just go back to our respective corners. We do know how to work together to benefit our community, if only that drive could be bottled and sold everywhere we could do wonders.

Hurricane Omar

October started out as a fine month beautiful balmy weather
lots of rain greening up the island and flowers popping out everywhere. We had started letting our guard down thinking we had made it through the worst month with no hurricanes and nothing really out there looking threatening.
Little did we know that Omar had some winds in store for us.

Omar started to build in the Caribbean instead of the Atlantic the second week of October. He slowly started sucking in all the moisture he could accumulate from the warm seas, and warm they were the water temperature had been hovering between 82 and 84 degrees for quite some time and Omar decided to grow over the shallower waters.

We watched Omar build, listening to the weather reports, checking the satellite photos, tracking him on our own. When he reached hurricane strength and looked like he was making a bee line for St. Croix we started getting ready.
Even though the weather reports made him appear to be a low grade hurricane we knew he could build over the warm shallow waters so we prepared for the worst.

All day Wednesday we prepped, putting up storm shutters hauling in potted plants, patio furniture and pool toys. We secured everything we thought could become a dangerous projectile hauling away things we had been procrastinating over but now needed to be gotten rid of. The trees well we would have liked to have already trimmed them but we hadn't....again that complacency had set in when no storms had even come near us by October. By the end of the day we were beat and settled in to wait for Omar in our storm protected home.
The power went out around 8:30 and rather than start up the generator we decided to go to bed. The wind had kicked up and it had been raining all day but we had been so busy all day all we wanted was to get a little rest. Luckily we did get a little. At 11:00pm everyone woke up to howling winds. I lay there for a while thinking this is no Category 1 storm these winds have got to be over 100mph and if this keeps up we are in big trouble. We got up and found the hand crank radio and turned it on. Sure enough the 11:00pm NOAA report had Omar a Category 3 and passing by right then to our east. It was moving fast but howling especially up here on top of the hill. We went back to bed and listened in the dark to the clanging and clattering hoping the roof would hold through yet another hurricane. Fortunately for the whole island Omar was a quickie. The worst of it was over by 12:30am and by 2:00am we had fallen back to sleep.
This was our first view, one of us had already been out collecting the avocados that had been stripped from the tree, while the rest of us slept.
The following pics detail how incredibly lucky we were.



After two days of intense clean up we were treated to a beautiful rainbow and sunset. Visitors who had planned their trips 6 months before had no idea what they were walking in to.But as you can see one found that even without power this is still a great place to take a vacation. We are still cleaning up and we don't know when we will get power. i called today and we still aren't on the list. Thank goodness for generators and fast moving storms that trim our trees but don't devastate the whole place.

gift from a friend

The pictures i've posted were all taken this month you can double click them for more detail. The one at the top is a duck pond i go to, a surfer eating it, next up is a passion fruit flower from the passion fruit flower plant in back of the house that has just started blooming. Then is the storm called Omar that is moving in on us, sun hitting vines on the hike to the Caledonia falls we did on Sunday(with friends), two sunsets, and the century plant that still hasn't given up and is now starting to flower.

Unexpected gifts from friends can really make one's day. i'm a birder(someone who spends an inordinate amount of time observing birds). i love watching, identifying and listening to birds in the wild. It is just one more way that i connect with nature. Well a friend that i spend a lot of time with, out of the blue gave me a biography book about one of our famous bird illustrators. Then last night this same friend gave me a "thumb thing" to use while i read the book.

i went home, took the "thumb thing" out of the package and put it next to the bed ready for use. When i finally went to bed and took the "thumb thing" out to use it i thought how lucky i was to have such a thoughtful friend. The "thumb thing" is a great invention....all readers should have at least one for it really does take a load off your thumb when your reading.

The package says right on it "thumb thing" and it reminded me of tongue twisters ive heard over the years so i went searching for one. Chuckle,chuckle,chuckle!

Q. How do you catch a unique bird?
A. Unique up on it.
Q. How do you catch a tame bird.
A. Tame way -- unique up on it.

"thumb thing" twists and rolls your tongue, it reminds me of my friend who is a great one for jokes.

Accepting a gift when one isn't expecting it is probably the best thing going. It just isn't the same as a birthday, c'mas, anniversary etc. When a gift comes completely out of the blue you know that someone really thought about you.

Thank you.

a grasshopper

The use of the term propagandist describes a teacher appealing to emotion as opposed to intellect. This instructor can influence opinions and beliefs on various topics be they religion, politics or ethics. Using emotion to disseminate one-sided information has worked in all realms of society but particularly in politics and religion. It is a form of persuasion that is highly useful in coordinating large groups of individuals to act in a prescribed manner.

"Propagandists use the name-calling technique to incite fears and arouse prejudices in their hearers with the intent that the bad names will cause hearers to construct a negative opinion about a group or set of beliefs or ideas that the propagandist would wish hearers to denounce. The method is intended to provoke conclusions about a matter apart from impartial examinations of facts. Name-calling is thus a substitute for rational, fact-based arguments against an idea or belief on its own merits." says Wikipedia

Dredging up the term communist can make the target audience shut down and never understand the underlying issue because they have already discounted it once the word "communist" is used in any context even if used falsely.

Sometimes just suggesting that a policy is looked upon favorably by a group you have been manipulated to hate(communists) is enough to make you act against your own best interests.

So how do you recognize when you have been manipulated?

Independent thinkers are an anathema to propagandists.

The independent thinker usually asks himself if he or she is being persuaded about an issue or informed about an issue, do they have enough truthful information, should they question that "truthful information" and is there more to the story than is being reported? That thinker waits or goes off to locate the opposite side of the issue before forming an opinion. They don't "buy in" to the argument immediately and may even go against their peers in pursuit of a more complete story.

Independent thinkers don't automatically disavow something just because someone on the opposite side has a convincing set of facts. They check it out on their own.

Some propagandists use terms that lodge in the subjects mind in such a way that any attempt to shovel it out fails. In fact there have been studies that show that the more you are presented factual information to refute the side you adhere to the less inclined you are to internalize anything that may demolish your belief(communists are evil, communists are socialists, socialists are evil)could socialists ever be OK?

This technique has been referred to as a thought-terminating cliche'. When you can internalize a phrase, such as "Freedom is not free", you have terminated further discussion concerning aspects of "Freedom" and the phrase becomes part and parcel of your verbal arsenal in the same way that "Communists are evil" has.



Effective propaganda can cause citizens to react negatively. Propagandists can create anxiety when calm is what is necessary. Propagandists can cause stable crowds to riot. Some religions create anxiety amongst their followers by making them believe Hell is waiting if they don't accept the dogma or if they are not "born again" they will never be saved.

You can live an exemplary life, never lie, cheat, steal, you can be someone who does good works but if you haven't accepted the dogma you are still wrong and are not yet saved. You are not part of the crowd. Only a belief in God or Jesus, the propagandists tell you can make you whole, Hell awaits you until you turn yourself over to the dogma.

Well this person ,me, writing this, this person who has been inspired by the AllOne says a belief in the AllOne will never make you adhere to any kind of dogma ever.

Shared conviction and walking daily with the AllOne is important in moving humanity forward but it is not a requirement that you have to follow. No one requires you to do anything unless you choose to. The AllOne makes no rules that you have to follow, no dogmas to make you feel spiritually in touch.

You will know without anyone having to inform you that you are spiritually in touch with the AllOne. There is no propaganda involved in making you adhere to fixed requirements to experience a connection to the AllOne, to believe a particular way, or to follow a particular faith. You make your own choices, you decide on your own how to live your life and how to impact those around you.

Knowing the "AllOne is not a religion just a fact. We, as human beings and everything around us, all of nature and the Universe and everything we haven't yet discovered is part of the AllOne whether it is alive or dead.

You have to use your intellect to determine if you are being manipulated by propagandists, you have come to your opinions on your own, you do the research, you make the decisions.

We are ringed with unity. Each human being is a kernel of that unity and you are part of the AllOne. You may call that propaganda but i just call it a fact.

market meltdown

Janet said the other day that she can speak to animals.
"So can I," said William, "anyone can speak to animals."
"Not just speak to them," said Janet, "I mean really speak to them, like have a real conversation with them."
"Yeah! I can do that too," said William.
"No, you can't," said Janet,
"You can't speak to animals."
"I can too,"
"Can't"
"Can"
"You don't understand," said Janet, "they really do speak."
"Yeah! Sure!" "I hear um too," said William, "especially when they wag their tails."
"William, they speak to me".
"They speak to me too...like I said...I really know what they are saying when they wag their tails."
"William, I'm not joking, I hear them speak back."
"Yeah me too," said William, "Strunk over there just said pet me....did ja hear him?"
"No, he didn't."
"Yes, he did."
"No"
"Yes"
"No, he said, I'm thirsty where is my water?"
"Opps! I was supposed to fill his bowl with water," said William.
"Well fill it," said Janet.
"You already knew I was supposed to fill his bowl."
"No, I didn't."
"Did"
"Did not."
"Did"
"Did not."
"You did, Janet."
"Look William, Strunk said he has been waiting for over an hour for you to fill his bowl. Is that true or false?"
"Well, Lets see. Mom left at 9:30 and it is now 10:30.....jeeze Janet...did he really say he has been waiting an hour or you just made that up?"
"I didn't make it up".
"You did."
"Didn't"
"Did"
"Look," said William, "tell me something else he said so I will believe you."
"He said that last night you kicked him off your bed...true or false?"
"True...but I do that every night."
"Well he wants to stay on the bed, its softer than the floor."
"Tell me something else I don't know...I think you already knew that," said William.
"He said, not only did you kick him off the bed but after you kicked him off he went and spread out all over a red bathroom towel you had dropped on the floor." "Whoa!"
"He said a red towel?"
"Yes"
"Janet, he didn't really say a red towel?"
"He did, why are you so surprised?" said Janet.
"Because, I know you are making this up." said William, "Did you look in my room and see the red towel on the floor?"
"No."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Did"
"Didn't"
"Look Janet, don't lie to me."
"William, I am not lying, why don't you believe me?"
"Because if I believe you, then it means my dog can talk and I don't believe dogs can talk."
"William, they don't talk like you and I talk."
"Well how do they talk," said William.
"They send thoughts that I catch in my brain."
"How come I don't catch any thoughts in my brain?"
"I don't know."
"Yeah, you don't know because no one can catch dog thoughts in their brain." said William, "You are making it up."
"I'm not making anything up William."
"Well, I don't believe you."
"Fine William, don't believe me, just give your dog some water he is thirsty."
"I'll do that," said William, as he moved off to pick up the dogs bowl from the floor. Janet watched him walk over to the kitchen sink and fill up the bowl with water. William's dog, Strunk, said
"Thanks Janet"
and watched William as well. When William put the bowl back on the floor, Strunk rushed over and started lapping up the water.
"He said Thanks," said Janet.
"Yeah I heard him," said William, "heh!"
"He didn't say Thanks William" he said, "Thanks Janet."
"Why would he say thanks Janet, I gave him the water."
" Yeah, but I made you do it and so he thanked me for getting you to fill up his bowl.

The little discourse above is the beginning of a children's story i was going to write but never got back to. Today, for some reason, it was first in my list of things i had looked at or worked upon recently, although i couldn't remember even looking at it. Once i started reading through it i realized how pertinent it is today.

It stands alone as a fable for how and why things aren't always as they seem.

The meltdown isn't as it seems and rushing through it is not prudent.

ladder

The other night i had a phrase that kept running through my mind as i slept. Finally i couldn't stand it anymore and got up to write it down. i needed light to see so i went into the bathroom, sat down on the toilet and started to copy the phrase out of my head and into the journal.

It was storming that night. Lots of rain, thunder, lightning and wind and i started to write.

Something has happened, i wrote, there is hope because there is a fissure in the cosmos. The world has stopped shedding tears and now it is time for action.

i admit i do have very strange things pass through my mind when i am unconscious.

Just as i finished writing the above a huge wind blew up and knocked over the ladder. The noise was so loud i jumped.

After the ladder fell, i thought about what ladders do.

Ladders are used to reach impossible places. When a ladder has been knocked down reaching that place became more difficult but not impossible for the ladder could always be re-set.

I also thought about where i was when it happened and what i was writing. i was sitting on the crapper the place where our internal garbage is gotten rid of.

A few days passed, the storm continued to build and i looked up the definition of ladder in the dictionary.

Ladder: A frame work consisting of two parallel sidepieces connected by bars or other joining pieces spaced and parallel to each other so as to form a series of steps to go up or down.

The sidepieces actually aren't parallel in the legal sense for they begin to converge as they reach the top of the ladder. It is the connecting bars that are well spaced yet united that are important to reaching that impossible place.

Usually when we discuss topics that are controversial people talk of building bridges to overcome the gap. Bridges just let you get from one place to another they don't actually close the gap they just allow you to go over it. Essentially allowing each side to remain the same. Traveling back and forth but never converging.

With a ladder it is one way up or down. When you use the ladder to reach an impossible place you can then fix it and return to your grounded spot. With a bridge you don't fix anything you just allow the flow back and forth over the gap but the gap remains. And so it seemed to me that using the term "ladder" as a metaphor to understand how we can go about fixing a difficult problem might work better than the word "bridge."

I guess in some ways this all relates to the dream phrase. We need action to work on problems we have created around the world be they wars or market melt downs. Bridging the gap won't work anymore we have to try harder. We have to use our ladders and try harder to converge in order to fix our mounting problems.

On another note.....isn't this a great mushroom?

he thinks I don't see him?

The next time you walk out to your car, look around.
Take your eyes off the path, the driveway, the car just for a little while.
Pick your head up, stop walking, and really look around.

What do you see?

There are all sorts of things going on that you are not observing. You think you are in the moment, focused on the task of getting to the car, that you see everything around you but do you really see everything around you or only the parts you need to accomplish the task?

You can be looking right at something and not see it. You can be effectually blind to things right in front of you because you have selected only those things you need to complete your task and ignore the others.

Did you see the bird flitting from one branch to another? Did you see the wispy cloud, that little flower tucked in between the pavers on the walkway? The seed pod that had dropped from the tree and is now resting on your grass. That bug with the funny color can you find it? How about that floodlight that illuminates your driveway? Or the ladder leaning against the house? There are so many things you are missing when you don't stop for just a minute and take a look around.

In our visual world we limit the input as we go about our routines. We don't see the key chains, handbags, clipped on cell phones, work boots, high heels, flip flops, tee shirts, dress shirts, of humanity passing us by on the street. We miss the rickety shopping carts click, click, clicking along when we buy our food, we miss all the different shapes and sizes of humanity when we go to our jobs, the males, the females, the short ones, tall ones, we miss the trees, the flowers, the birds.

But we don't have to.

We can pay more attention.

We can actively try to view and absorb more of our world.

i was talking to friends yesterday at a party about this particular defect of ours and one said she could never see motorcycles or bicycles when she was driving. It had been a problem her entire driving career and she had to pay extra special attention to notice them. She said more times than not they would come up behind her or from in front and she would be practically crashing into them before she saw them.

Another one said she had been worrying about something so much that when she walked outside and looked around a cricket talked to her.

i said what did it say?

And she said the cricket said,

"Listen to me chirp and stop worrying about shit."

It was right, she said and so she stopped worrying.

There is a term for this failure to notice what is around you.

It is called inattentional blindness.

Inattentional blindness claims that there is no conscious perception of the world without attention to it and since our attention is limited we tend to miss a lot.

In the logical world we do the same things. We don't hear what someone we disagree with is saying. We limit their ability to impact our awareness and world view. We limit the input as we go about our routines, blinding ourselves to other options.

So how do we bridge the gap between what we see and retain and what is really there?

A first step might be creating an opening to all the rest that can be seen.

We had to cut down the Century Plant after a west wind blew it into the power lines causing them to short out during a storm. Most would have written the plant off and ignored it. But Lordy, lordy the darn thing didn't give up. It decided to send out flowers below the cut. It is a plant to be reckoned with and it does not want to be ignored.

So sometime after you read this see how many things you can notice on the next short trip to your car. Then do it again and see what you can add. Do it again and keep doing it.

If you pay attention you'll see a world you might have been missing.

to all those silent friends

Some claim that silence is a form of violence.

While others view silence as a source of great strength.

It can be both, depending upon its usage.

"Lying is done with words and also with silence."
Adrienne Rich

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
For our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr.

We can be at peace soaking in the quiet stillness of dead silence.....our own silence...that which allows us to connect with everything and also to disconnect. We can place that healing silence upon ourselves. We can go there to store up internal energy needed to face our daily lives. It can be a good place a place that gives us strength.

This is necessary at times for our mental health and it can be the cause of a wonderful rejuvenation of spirits and optimism. It can give us strength in the face of weakness, we can find solace and peace there. It can also cause wallowing and sadness if silence is put to use as a place where we lick our wounds.

Silence, like i said above, can be violent and strengthening both depending upon which end of the silence you are on and who is creating the silence. Is it you being silent with yourself or with others?

For when you are silent with others it is always violent.

Silence is never really silent, there is always some static getting through, some rejection, some issue, some leakage that percolates and oozes out in the deafening dun. There is no such thing as deafening silence for it really means disapproval and the person who is subjected to the silence knows they are being violated.

Today, in our society, silence has become a tactic used by those not wanting to defend their views. It is easier to stop talking to opponents for then the silencer does not have to confront any uncomfortable truths that may be difficult to face. By using silence as a tactic the uncomfortable truth is covered over, put away, ignored, but not forgotten.

Lawyers have a term for silencing their opponents. They call it SLAPP(Strategic lawsuits against public participation), sounds violent just on the face of it doesn't it? It becomes a game as they force defendants to spend more and more money by stretching out the litigation and silencing them as a result.

"SLAPP suits threaten the very foundation of citizen involvement and public participation in democracy. "Americans by the thousands are being sued, simply for exercising one of our most cherished rights: the right to communicate our views to our government officials, to 'speak out' on public issue," state Pring and Canan. "Today, you and your friends, neighbors, co-workers, community leaders, and clients can be sued for millions of dollars just for telling the government what you think, want, or believe in. Both individuals and groups are now being routinely sued in multimillion-dollar damage actions for such 'all-American' political activities as circulating a petition, writing a letter to the editor, testifying at a public hearing, reporting violations of law, lobbying for legislation, peaceful demonstrating, or otherwise attempting to influence government action."
http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1997Q2/slapp.html

Silencing the opponent in this manner puts the issues in the closet. Not to be discussed, not to raise red flags, made to disappear. Whenever i use that term "made to disappear" i remember Argentina.

In Argentina, during the 1970's, there was a period of widespread military repression on the civilian population. Under the pretext of the "war against subversion" the military and police authorities developed a campaign of terror. All civil rights - freedom of expression, justice, association, the vote - were eliminated. Thousands of citizens were unjustly put in prison where they endured inhuman conditions and lived under the pain of torture and the fear of death.

Argentinian mother's walked in silence at the Plaza de Mayo so their children, who had "disappeared," would not be forgotten. So that someday those who participated in the kidnappings would be held accountable.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending upon which side you are on) when the issues become too pressing to suppress they bust out into the open pushing back on those trying to withdraw. They don't go away they eventually have their day and they will be considered.

People in general don't like being lied to.
They don't like to be thought too stupid to discover the truth.
They don't want to be silenced.

laughing at community organizers

Following up on yesterdays post I watched the candidate for Vice President of the United States on PBS last night.

She was good, delivered her speech better than many, great stage presence, lovely smile and beautiful.

Do I want her a hairs breath away from the presidency, not really.

There were a few places where she lost me but the most disturbing was when she dissed community organizers and waited for the crowd to laugh and they did, they howled, they clapped and they knew not what they were doing.

Community organizers bring people together to act in common self interest. Community organizers seek accountability from those who have lost touch with the citizenry. Community organizers seek to keep the powerful in check. They focus on the community and the health of communities all over the country and the world.

Dissing community organizers on National Television while running for Vice President was worse than low it was a sewage treatment plants breakdown spewing its ugly hate all over America.

I think the saddest part of the speech was watching all those "so called" Christians in the audience laughing at themselves for ever thinking of working for their communities as organizers. Thinking it was a bad thing something to laugh at.

What does this say about the Republican Party when you laugh at people trying to make the world a better place. It says watch out baby because they aren't going to help you or protect you.

objections welcome

When working on a problem many understand that the right and wrong of it will surface. So it is imperative that we understand how to recognize the underlying sense of rightness. In order to come out on the side of rightness, one has to learn how to make decisions and accept responsibility for those decisions.

We do know, before we have acted, that our process of arriving at an eventual decision weighs the appropriateness of said act. Many, before acting, ignore the wrongness of an act because they want the end result so much. They are willing to suffer the consequences of an ill conceived act because they believe the benefit to themselves outweighs the negative results later on.

Feeling the effect of the ill conceived decision before the act has been committed would probably alleviate many problems of this world.

So how do you realize the effect of a decision and accept responsibility for that decision before it has happened?

Well, one option is to ask yourself if anyone will object to the act you are about to commit. If anyone would object, is that objection well reasoned and will it help you to act differently?

In Nature and in all aspects of our daily lives if something doesn't function properly it stops working. In other words it objects. Marriages break down because one partner objects to the status quo. Corporations go bust because they have been involved in making wrong decisions and failed to find consent for that undertaking. Governments fail for the same reason.

So if one part of Nature or human interactions or machinery break down it is because someone or something be it plant, animal, human or mechanical has objected so there is no longer a functioning aspect.

Should we find consent for what we are doing before we try to reach consensus? Consensus means some will not be happy with the status quo, but consent means all have consented to the eventual process.

Anthropology was my major in college and i remember studying about African tribes being confronted with one man one vote when the colonial powers took over. The story goes that the new rulers went around to each village trying to encourage the natives to vote. The idea of voting went against the tribes traditional values for they ruled by consent not consensus.

In order to get the voting underway the representatives of the colonial government armed themselves with rocks which they handed out to villagers. Each villager was given a rock that he was then instructed to place in one of two pots. Each pot represented a leader running for office.

After the placement of the rocks in the pots the "winner" was declared. Well, the tribes didn't like this because not everyone had consented to accepting the new "winner". They reacted negatively and claimed that the process wasn't a good one because too many people didn't want the winner. Majority rule made no sense to them because too many people were left angry about the outcome.

We find this today in our elections. All though we have bought in to the idea of one man one vote too many of those left on the losing side remain angry throughout the winners term in office. There are objections which make the eventual outcomes not always right for all.

While this subject is exhaustive I am quoting a few paragraphs from a piece that compares Democracy and Sociocracy. I retrieved this from the Sociocracy website referenced below.

"In a Sociocracy the power of argument is given the authority that the vote is given in a democracy. The group to which a decision is delegated, the companions, the sociocratic citizens, will study, discuss, and debate issues until they have crafted a solution that meets the aims defined for it.

The objective is to find the best and most workable solution for everyone affected given the constraints of money, time, ability, etc.

When we think of a congress or parliament discussing issues in argumentative and divisive ways this emphasis on argument may seem unworkable, but in fact, once the mind-set of the participants has switched from majority rule to cooperation, this divisive attitude resolves to searching for the best solution for everyone and a new synergy develops leading to better solutions in less time."

I'm putting this out there for consideration, objections are always welcome.

This process of consent is known as Sociocracy and you can learn more about its attributes at:

http://www.sociocracy.info/about.html

Brain Coral

i was reading an advertisement in Discover Magazine that said the following:

"Picture a society in which there is no conflict, no jealousy, no unkind words. A society in which people think, say, and do what is rational and honest, resulting in behavior that is trustworthy and productive. Enlarge that picture to include persons holding no grudges and nobody competing to exert control, as everybody's behavior conforms to a natural law."

It goes on to say there would be no fear, no punishments, no scolding, no stress, no locks on doors, no legal documents just fellowship.

Whew!

The add took up an entire page of the magazine and when i had finished reading it i thought to myself what a robotic society. How boring, all of us behaving and conforming to create this model society.

i thought about people all over the world trying to improve some segment of their nations. Their needs are not always ours but they need action and work on it. The priorities that are uppermost for them to accomplish their goals we might think are wasteful or unnecessary, but who are we to make those decisions for them. We might not even agree with the methods used to get to the end result, but their methods might just work more efficiently for that culture than our methods do. In striving to make things better for more people we could work on building a harmonious society instead of a model society.

The thing about harmony is that it can be discordant and still be unified. Harmony means coming together, unifying under a joint agreement but not necessarily sounding the same or even doing things the same. There are relationships between the different notes or pitches which can unite and work together and still remain separate.

There is a passage in Wikipedia that describes the tension that can result from a harmonious piece.

This description can also describe humanity.

"Typically, a dissonant chord (chord with a tension) will "resolve" to a consonant chord. A good harmonization usually sounds pleasant to the ear when there is a balance between the consonant and dissonant sounds. In simple words, that occurs when there is a balance between "tension" and "relax" moments. Because of this reason, usually tensions are 'prepared' and then 'resolved'.

Preparing a tension means to place a series of consonant chords that lead smoothly to the dissonant chord. In this way the composer ensures to build up the tension of the piece smoothly, without disturbing the listener. Once the piece reaches its sub-climax, the listener needs a moment of relaxation to clear up the tension, which is obtained by playing a consonant chord that resolves the tensions of the previous chords. The clearing of this tension usually sounds pleasant to the listener."

Harmony can define a reworked view of humankind. We join together in our common humanity to relieve the tension. We link to each other, work together, but not always agree with each other and that is OK. We maintain our independence...and yet still realize that our basic needs and desires are similar so that even with the tension we can get to the harmonious result.

i got back from vacation the end of July and have been swimming almost every day since. The first day back i spotted a brain coral that appeared to be dying. It is dying and over the past month it has gone through many changes. i'm different(odd) i know it and i see signs in nature. It had a large C for a few weeks until a few days ago when it started to change rapidly. The whole coral began to turn bone white except for the middle section which is a capital T. i told my swimming buddies this morning it stands for truth but as i write this i'm thinking maybe it stands for Tension.

Maybe if you tip it around it is not a T at all but a Y.
WHY?
It could also stand for Consequences and Truth.
It may mean nothing but it has inspired me.

We humans have been stretching this world of ours in ways it may no longer be able to accept. There is a whole lot more coral out there that has turned blue which is the last phase before dying. The tension it is under could just tip so far negative that we can't put a bandaid on it. It is time to examine everything, how we relate to each other here around the world and how we relate to nature. It is not too late to start preparing the way to release the tension and start building a harmonious world for everyone and everything.

called upon to sacrifice

Some human beings need the concrete, the hard reality of life, to make sense of the trials and tribulations that we all go through. They see the cycle of life repeating itself on a daily basis and can talk to what surrounds them(people or things) for help during the turbulence life deposits upon their shores.

Others find solace in relating to an other worldly spirit that they can speak to and pray to for help when they experience tough times. They can blame the spirit when things go wrong and they can reward the spirit when things go right.

All humans find their needs met either in the reality of daily existence or the spirituality of something greater than them. Neither way is better than the other if it accomplishes the goal of helping one through the vagaries of daily living.

From the dawn of humanity whether we believe or don't believe, all of us make sacrifices. We endeavor not to be obliterated by it but we do have a universal custom of giving up something when we understand a benefit will accrue for us or for others.

But can we sacrifice too much?

We can accept unreasonable demands upon our selves to perform in ways that aren't beneficial to all of mankind. We may have to deal with the benefit that accrued being limited in scope for what we thought was a sacrifice could have been judged by those affected as evil or abuse.

Have we been guilty in our dealings with one another, can we as a nation say that our sacrifice hasn't actually harmed others? Isn't every human being, by virtue of his humanity, to be accorded the right to live in peace?

How many warriors sacrifice the sword for peace?

One young, man who has been called a terrorist by many, who admits to killing to reach his goals has put down his sword. Yasin Malik used violence to reach his goals when he felt he had no other options, he spent years in jails, he was tortured and hunted while continuing to fight for an independent Kashmir but gave it up in favor of peaceful means. He has traveled throughout the US, Kashmir, Pakistan and India trying to bring people together for a peaceful transition to independence. He speaks to all in his quest to accomplish the goal of an independent Kashmir, a Kashmir that does not have to be divided between Pakistan and India. A Kashmir that can rule itself.

After 1994, Yasin Malik declared a unilateral ceasefire with India and is pursuing a non-violent struggle on the ground. He claimed there was a lot of provocation from the Indian state: "they killed 600 of my colleagues after the cease fire; they tried to send me back to underground politics. But we've shown a lot of patience." he said.

Patience.

During an interview in 2004 Yasin claimed that:

"Kashmir is secular and it will remain secular. I don't think anybody can change that. Whenever we talk about Kashmiriyat in Kashmir's history, it is not a political institution, it is a spiritual institution. It has taught the Kashmiris to love human beings, and respect all irrespective of color, creed or cast.

"You can find an example of this from the 1947 Partition - when the whole subcontinent was burning. Even in Jammu, where thousands and thousands of Muslims were massacred by Hindu chauvinist forces, it didn't create a dent in the region's secular tradition. And it was acknowledged by Mahatama Gandhi who said: "If ever I've seen a ray of hope and humanity, I've seen it on the soil of Kashmir".

The highest spiritual shrine of the Hindus is in Amarnath. It is a cave shrine that has an ice stalagmite, believed to be the symbol of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration that is revered. Incidentally, not a single Hindu lives in its vicinity of 20 kilometers. It was discovered by Muslims and the custodians are Muslims. Every year, when Hindus come to visit the place, 30 per cent of the charity goes to Muslims for they are the caretakers. Well when the Indian government decided to transfer 100 acres of forest land to the shrine's trust a month ago all hell broke out.

Hindus and Muslims have been killed as a result of the tension, fruit farmers have had the roads blocked making getting to market impossible and separatists are on hunger strikes protesting the land transfer.

Recently Yasin Malik came off a hunger strike protesting the giving away of the land the shrine is located on. The Indian government made the deal and now they have rescinded it in hopes the strife will calm down but it hasn't. i find the whole incident confusing. Western accounts don't detail who exactly the shrines trust represents, i believe it is Hindus? So it makes sense that if Muslims are the guardians of the shrine they would be incensed. But now the Hindus are incensed also because the land was taken back.

Regardless, the meddling by the Indian government caused a crisis in a community that had been experiencing relative calm. Now the Indian government is having to backpedal so as not to further inflame the residents of Kashmir.

Sacrifice should really exist to bring peace to the world and repentance is part of that sacrifice. The Indian government has already started the process of sacrifice by offering to purchase the fruit crop and insuring that the roads being blocked will be opened, a first step in resolving something they started. It only took them a month to realize the error they made. For us, we are still trying to claim invading Iraq was not a mistake.

Until there is a period of accountability in our country the sacrifice we all made for our national honor is meaningless, eventually we will be called upon to sacrifice for that preemptive strike. i hope we, as a nation, are up to the task.

Century Plant

i've been watching a century plant at the end of my driveway bust out. For two weeks it has been going through a metamorphosis. Growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Century plants typically grow for anywhere up to 25 years before sending out a shoot that can grow as high as 30 or 40 feet. The shoot sends out sprouts that then flowers.

Century plants only bloom once in their lives sapping the main plant during the shooting process. The plant dies after its display leaving behind new little plants that then begin their long maturation process.

My Century plant is a bit unusual. Everyone who has seen it marvels at how it looks. It affects anyone that takes the time to study it and leaves a lasting impression.

When it first started sending out its shoot i was convinced the universe was talking to me. i drove all over the island looking at other Century plants to see if they were growing up as oddly as mine was. So far all the other ones i've seen to date are normal and essentially straight.

Not wanting to bore you with any further details i think the plant can speak for itself and its life so far is documented below. i hope you also enjoy this plant. Please let me know if you ever see one like this.




i think Mother Nature is screaming out to all us humans to get it together. We aren't alone here on the planet, not only do we have to get along amongst ourselves we have to protect everything, humans and nature.

minor irritation becomes major problem

The cranial nerve plays a dominant role in the life of our brain. i injured my eye by making a series of stupid choices that accumulated over time to make a minor irritation into a major problem. What this problem accomplished was alerting me to the very real function of the major senses.

Taste, smell, vision and hearing.

It is very hard to function when one of these is missing. It is not like breaking a bone. When you break a bone the pain is incredible but once the pain is contained you continue existence somewhat impaired but not completely. Your brain still feels normal, your head is still in one piece.

Injuring an eye, an ear, your mouth or your nose impacts you in ways unanticipated. We use these organs without thinking about them, constantly, when we are awake and when we are asleep. They are working overtime even when we least understand their functions.

The ability to see, hear, taste and smell is tantamont to understanding the world around you. When one is missing stimuli coming in is limited, we can't see, hear, taste, or smell as well as we should which impacts our ability to get a clear picture. When the picture gets fuzzy we make mistakes.

In our everyday lives when we choose to silence others because their views don't mesh with ours we have limited our ability to understand mankind and learn how to compromise. We choose to close the door on their message because we don't like the implications listening might entail. Listening might mean we have to re-evaluate our own conclusions. Listening might mean we have to re-examine something we thought we knew to be true but are no longer comfortable considering as true. Confronted with facts that may lead to an opposing position means we have to back pedal. It means we may have to admit we were wrong. It means we may have to change our view.

There is nothing wrong with this even though our media has made flip-flopping a negative. In fact the ability to admit that you are wrong indicates an open mind. It indicates that one is willing to rectify wrongs, make amends and move forward to correct the injustice if there was one.

As this world of ours grows ever smaller we find ourselves having to communicate with those unlike us. Technology has made our lives simpler and more complicated at the same time. We find we aren't taking information in the same way we used to. Now we have access to a variety of sources that we may not have had available in the past. We can reach people all over the world in an instant and they can reach us with their views which may differ completely from ours but still be something we should consider.

Conducting our lives without thinking about how we impact others is no longer an option. We have to use all our senses hearing, taste, smell and sight to get the clearest picture when we deal with anyone we call a human being.

Please try to place yourself in another's shoes first before you decide you know who they are.

Use all your senses.....every day.

the bridge between kindness and truth

So what then is truth?

Truth is illusive, it lives in a nether world of competing truths. It can't be defined in a way that all human participants in this world can accept.
Truth has many facets for my truth may not be your truth and yet we believe our truths. In all societies truth is what you and your peers believe to be true.
Truth has been debated throughout the ages by philosophers and mathematicians who have come up with far too many different theories about what actual truth is. Truth can be manipulated through facts presented and hidden. Truth can be revealed slowly over the course of a lifetime but truth is never absolutely true.
Truth, in fact, can never be completely determined only closed in upon.
For each individual discovers their own truth, but no one really knows what it is.
In all its many masks truth remains as confusing as language.


So what about kindness?
Kindness is the finest of deeds.
Kindness is that act of providing for another without expectation for compensation. Kindness is treating another human being as you would like to be treated. Kindness, in a human being, is the ability to recognize that one act can diffuse a volatile situation, one act can bring unexpected joy to another, one kind act can change the final outcome. To indulge in an act of kindness, truth is not necessary.

When truth can't be defined or acted upon my philosophy is that kindness should prevail. When we see harm occurring to other human beings we should avoid trying to determine what is true and what is not true. Even if we may be materially affected. Instead we should make every effort to alleviate the suffering, to stop the carnage. We should not participate in creating more harm to stop harm.

So let kindness run roughshod over truth for we will never know the real truth.

There are individuals and groups all over the world practicing random acts of kindness.

Try it.

PS The note on the scarecrow says; "Minds are like parachutes, they only function when they are open."