2014

Welcome 2014

"December" George Winston Piano

RIP Joe Spado

A fellow blogger passed away. Joe Spado of the Round Circle blog.
He was a cyber friend, Vietnam Vet, Someone who loved Peace & Justice.
Husband • Father • Grandfather & self declared Renaissance Man.
In his profile, he wrote: "All I really desire is when you hear that I have passed, I hope you can say, "Too bad, he was a nice guy."


His wife paid a final tribute to him on his blog.

http://spadoman-roundcircle.blogspot.com/2013/12/dear-joe-5-10-49-to-12213.html

One of Joe's passions was taking long road trips. He is on his final road trip- now may the travel be good, the road smooth, & the wind at your back. 

funnies

A favorite.... classic of me to recycle it!

Black Friday thoughts & a reality check.

Yes, hard times in 21st Century America. I know I have been neglecting this blog. My workplace has become "slammed" as the new normal. When I do have time off, it is necessary to try to decompress.
I hope you Bloglandia people are hanging in there, keeping afloat & finding some positive things in life amidst the chaos. Shutdowns, showdowns, cliffs of all sorts, & gridlock prevail- at some point I hit capacity. They will do this budget battle again by Jan 15, and let me predict-- they will push it until the very last minute & it won't be pretty. We've been there & done that, too many times. Frankly, I can't believe these people get paid so much to do so little & in such a shoddy way.
Still with growing doubt, I do still vote-- but mostly against the ones I think will do more harm.
But with elections folly, between voter suppression, Gerrymandering-- redistricting for political advantage, it is hard to feel much hope there either.
I am deeply disappointed in the ACA or Obamacare program. I had a glisten of hope that we had kicked open the door to health care accessibility. But now it has turned into chaos-- some insurance companies happily dumping clients, and other s offering plans with "gotcha" clauses that have more holes than a sieve. Oh sure you can have health care insurance.... just a $5000 deductible plus another $1000 for prescriptions. No ambulance coverage.  This kind of offering is somehow "compliant". The Mad as Hell Doctors saw this coming. Why are we surprised that the for-profit insurance companies have worked hard to figure out how they can still make a profit off of this new program??
The web site mess is not the end of the world.... but however many millions that were spent to design the site, should not be paid in full for the epic fail we received in return.
I just hope the same people who designed it, are not being paid more to fix it.
I sure hope there does not turn out to be a gap in insurance... because of the delays, & folks get stuck in a catastrophic health crisis while suddenly uncovered.
Apologies & "accepting blame", won't cut it.
Speaking of cuts, the food stamp or SNAP program did get cuts, just before the holidays.
If you can, please make an extra effort to shop the sales & supply those food collection barrels, or see about cutting a check to the local food bank (may even be tax deductible).  The need is greater this year & although the government has dropped the ball, we the people can pick up the pieces.
Do what you can. It is rewarding to help those in need.
So carry on. Tell your people you love them. Enjoy the fall weather. Keep positive.

Happy Halloween!

SNAP (Food Stamp Benefit) $40 billion cuts are NOT a done deal.... A call for action

Hey Folks the $40 Billion dollar SNAP (Food stamp) cuts, passed by the House is NOT a done deal!
It still has to go through the Senate.

Please write your Senators now & tell them of your opposition.


***** SO PLEASE-- WRITE YOUR SENATOR NOW ***** TO TELL THEM YOU ARE OPPOSED TO CUTTING SNAP BENEFITS FOR POVERTY LEVEL FAMILIES (72% WORK FULL TIME!!!), CHILDREN, VETS & MILITARY. 


Very important facts: 

72% of all SNAP recipients work FULL TIME (as in Wal-Mart, McDonalds and all other minimum wage employers). 

76% of SNAP households included a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person. These vulnerable households receive 83% of all SNAP benefits.

Great info here:

http://feedingamerica.org/how-we-fight-hunger/programs-and-services/public-assistance-programs/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program/snap-myths-realities.aspx

Colorado flood water-- All Fracked up.

x Colorado frack-site flooding - September 2013 from Mateo Albaricoque on Vimeo.

Endless war

Note the blood stain in the Nobel Peace Medal, & the upside down US flag, indicating a Nation in Distress.

I'm sick of endless wars & violent responses. They are beating the drums of war.... I hate the fact one person can decide to rush to a violent response, and then come back for Congressional approval. The masters of war always think it will be quick & easy. When you open the door to violence, you really don't  know what you are going to get... and for hell's sake, have we not learned anything from past mistakes? These military interventions are never quick & easy. Some other are killed who were not meant to be. The damned bloody mess is repeated again & again.

This sucks! The rest of the planet is staying out of Syria's Civil War, but once again, the US wants to go it alone & go to war. Might I point out that while contemplating more military action, we are still stuck in the Afghanistan, since 2001.

Mr President: Study history. Wars are never easy or quick. Just dropping bombs, to deliver a punishing blow.

NEWS FLASH! It is against International law to intervene in  affairs of another country,  when there is no threat to your own country. It is not just  a matter of opinion if you are for or against taking Military action, but if you are for or against breaking International law.

Yes, we have come a long way. No more White Only drinking fountains, or Blacks sit in the back of the bus kind of discrimination going on. But we do have one deceased Trayvon Martin-- his "crime" was walking down the street being black. Some vigilante with a gun & a quick trigger finger-- the one who defied police dispatcher orders & chose to escalate & confront a young black child. Not yet 18 years of age. What happened is George Zimmerman  self appointed himself to be the judge, jury & executioner. Sure they had a trial... but Zimmerman's fatal actions precluded the trial outcome. Whether Zimmerman went to jail or not, Trayvon Martin would not, could not obtain the ultimate justice--getting his life back.
So I can acknowledge we have made progress & yes we do have a 2 term reelected black president.
A first in this country. But the economic equality & justice is not present-- I agree with what Bernie Sanders says in this video-- it is worse.
Civil rights are not just a "color issue", as this country struggles to come forward with equality for gay marriage & the most recent reality check regarding trans gender issues, with Chelsea Manning.

We still have a long way to go, a half century after Dr. King jr told us of his dream.

Zen

This Land ~ rewritten

Ok ~ Jim Page, Seattle wordsmith & troubador re-wrote "This land is your land" to update it to current times. Page is described as "Folk Music with Teeth". Yea!

Song kicks in @ 3 minutes...



he sings it kind of fast, so here are the lyrics....

This Land come gather round me, hear my sad story I know you think you've heard some one sing it before me but it's an old song, I had to change it times ain't what they used to be as I went walking that super highway below the gray haze and sooted skyway I was arrested for hitch hiking on the freeway they said it don't belong to me it ain't my land and it ain't your land could be a rich land but it's a poor land 'cause of the few that hold it in their tight-gripped hand so that it don't belong to you or me when I was younger and in my schooling I learned and followed by all the rulings I never dreamed that they were only fooling how could my teachers lie to me ? but as time passed and I grew older and the world around me got a little colder I heard a voice came calling at my shoulder said it don't belong to you or me it ain't my land and it ain't your land could be a rich land but it's a poor land 'cause of the few that hold it in their tight-gripped hand so that it don't belong to you or me from the board rooms of corporations to the back roads of desperate situations it's a confused and dis-united nation all the way from sea to shining sea from the urban war zones of the busted street lights to the toxic waste lands of Nevada Test Sites from the open strip mines to the clear cut forests oh it's a sad sight to see I see the downsize, I see the layoffs the corporate welfare, politician's payoffs I see the breadlines that never make the headlines 'cause they're no so entertaining on TV when they can reduce you to just a number when they can knock you down and they can plow you under and when the only thing that matters is the dollar then you know it don't belong to you or me it ain't my land and it ain't your land could be a rich land but it's a poor land 'cause of the few that hold it in their tight-gripped hand so that it don't belong to you or me there was a time when this song was greater but that was then, and this is later and there's a hole in my heart that's like a crater and they say it's gonna be the death of me let's take this song back, let's take this country take back our future, it's our duty let's stand up tall so that everyone can see then this land will belong to you and me and it will be your land and it will be my land from California to the New York Island from the redwood forests to the gulf stream waters this land will belong to you and me

It's alright Ma

"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fools gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proved to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to you ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their marks
Made everything from toy guns that sparks
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You loose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand without nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget 
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despite their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platforms ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God Bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges, watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me ?
And if my thought-dreams could been seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.

http://www.jango.com/music/Bob+Dylan?l=0

Notes from a field afar...

As you can see, I have been posting less & less. Lots going on & the Blogging format of social networking is kind of fading out. I did finally succumb to the Facebook format, which has it's pros & cons. I do have a newish job, as of November, and there have been some changes that are even more demanding (is that possible??).  So I am trying to find the balance. That's my excuse & I am sticking with it!
I have also discovered Oregon has a whole slew of Lavender farms & has a Lavender festival, where farms that grow Lavender, that might not otherwise be open to the public, are open for this Festival all up & down the Willamette Valley from Portland to Springfield.
I have discovered Lavender Essential oil, the pure distilled "liquid gold" & its Aromatherapy attributes.
Mmmm that stuff smells good. Also discovered the bees love it... so when I stepped out into a field to snap a picture.... each plant had a bunch of honeybees, x hundreds of plants, you could actually hear a collective hummmmm of all the bees. Never experienced such a thing before.  With all the news about bees suffering from pesticides & GMO crops, it was even nicer to find a "bee friendly" farming operation.

Too bad blogger does not offer a scratch & sniff (click & sniff?) feature, or I'd give you a whiff of the wonderful essential oil.

Keep the peace! Keep on keeping on.

NSA

Lives in the balance

Historical Reference

Richie Havens

enjoy

yeow

Busted!

Truth in Advertising...

transparent....

When will we ever learn?

Headline today: U.S. to arm Syrian Rebels.... 

                           A horrible headline, we have a Nobel Peace Prize winning President.

In-bedded

Can you say corruption &  collusion?
Color me disgusted!

Peace prize bomb?

WTF? 

Today's City/Region front page has a story about a new Eugene Nobel Peace Prize memorial- The Nobel Peace Park. 2 acres within an existing (Alton Baker) park. It features a picture of the president of the Nobel Peace Laureate Project, John Attig:

"Dressed in a navy blue sweatshirt with "I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize" written across his chest....."

Whaaaat? 

The monument honors 24 Americans, 21 individuals & 3 groups, who have won the Nobel Peace Prize. There are 24 plaques, with recipient info on each. 

"The temporary plaque of President Obama has been damaged repeatedly."*

 But let's face it, President Obama is no Gandhi or Martin Luther King jr, when it comes to non violence.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A 10/28/12 MAP OF DRONE STRIKES.

* I  personally don't condone vandalism. Even a non-political to scale display of planets of the solar system, has been repeatedly vandalized, so that is a real problem in this area. Someone tries to do something nice & others feel obliged to trash it. 

One Love

I don't post as much here in blogtopia. I am working in a branch of social services these days, which is very demanding, but there are golden moments when I really feel like I am making a difference & realize that being in this meaningful service mode, makes me feel like I love my job.
Keep on keepin' on.

I ain't gonna study war, no more

Memorial day thoughts from a worthy Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
MLK jr's "Silence is Betrayal" speech on war. 
You can substitute "Afghanistan" for Vietnam & the sentiment still rings true. 
Mandates of Conscience.
Society gone mad on war.
War is an enemy of the poor.
The US using massive doses of violence to solve it's problems.
The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, my own government.