From “Do Not Lose Heart” by Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, author of Women Who Run with the Wolves
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Mel Gibson thumbs up on Michael Moore
(from a NY Times article on the People's Choice Awards show)
"I feel a strange kinship with Michael [Moore]," Mr. Gibson said."They're trying to pit us against each other in the press, but it's a hologram. They really have got nothing to do with one another. It's just some kind of device, some left-right. He makes some salient points. There was some very expert, elliptical editing going on. However, what the hell are we doing in Iraq? No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there, and why we're still there."
"I feel a strange kinship with Michael [Moore]," Mr. Gibson said."They're trying to pit us against each other in the press, but it's a hologram. They really have got nothing to do with one another. It's just some kind of device, some left-right. He makes some salient points. There was some very expert, elliptical editing going on. However, what the hell are we doing in Iraq? No one can explain to me in a reasonable manner that I can accept why we're there, why we went there, and why we're still there."
What Happened in Ohio (washingtonpost.com)
excerpts from the article:
[Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, held hearings on the matter of the Ohio election and has just released on Wednesday, Jan 5 a 100-page report, "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio" .]
So what am I to think about all the allegations I've been reading in the noncertified press since November? That the left-wing bloggers are blowing things out of proportion? That the mainstream press is being properly circumspect? That nothing much happened in Ohio? "Preserving Democracy" belies such a benign conclusion. Listen:
"We have found numerous, serious election irregularities . . . which resulted in a significant disenfranchisement of voters. . . .
In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio."
Presumably Conyers is being careful not to draw conclusions because he wants Congress to have a look. But we're talking about a Congress whose members often pass important legislation without bothering to read it. What makes him think anyone is going to read his report unless he waves it about like a smoking gun? -- snip --
Well, I don't want to overturn the election, either. But I would like to know if public officials and private citizens engaged in a significant and concerted effort to steal the election in the event the wrong person seemed to be winning it. And if so, I'd like to know who the miscreants were, what they did and what heads are going to roll.
What Happened in Ohio (washingtonpost.com)
[Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, held hearings on the matter of the Ohio election and has just released on Wednesday, Jan 5 a 100-page report, "Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio" .]
So what am I to think about all the allegations I've been reading in the noncertified press since November? That the left-wing bloggers are blowing things out of proportion? That the mainstream press is being properly circumspect? That nothing much happened in Ohio? "Preserving Democracy" belies such a benign conclusion. Listen:
"We have found numerous, serious election irregularities . . . which resulted in a significant disenfranchisement of voters. . . .
In many cases these irregularities were caused by intentional misconduct and illegal behavior, much of it involving Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio."
Presumably Conyers is being careful not to draw conclusions because he wants Congress to have a look. But we're talking about a Congress whose members often pass important legislation without bothering to read it. What makes him think anyone is going to read his report unless he waves it about like a smoking gun? -- snip --
Well, I don't want to overturn the election, either. But I would like to know if public officials and private citizens engaged in a significant and concerted effort to steal the election in the event the wrong person seemed to be winning it. And if so, I'd like to know who the miscreants were, what they did and what heads are going to roll.
What Happened in Ohio (washingtonpost.com)
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
US marines undertake "gut-wrenching" clean up in Sri Lanka (Yahoo! News)
excerpts from article...
GINTOTA, Sri Lanka (AFP) - Despite their training and combat experience, the US marines working in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka admit that picking through the shattered remains of peoples' lives has been a heart-rending exercise. --snip--
"There was rubble everywhere. It was like the Twin Towers," in New York destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks says Private First Class Damon Carr, describing the scene when he arrived.
"I didn't know where we were going to start from; everywhere you looked, there was rubble."
He found a photo album with a family snap of half a dozen people and says he handed it back to the mother pictured in it. She was the only one still alive.
"I almost cried," he says. "We're marines, we've been trained, but I never thought I'd be standing here, picking up the pieces of someone's whole life." -- snip --
Amid the mess, the occasional piece of torn cloth -- perhaps once someone's dress -- and pieces of household items still peak through.
Hospital Corpsman First Class Tim Dittlinger, who normally provides medical care to the marines from the 9th Engineers Support Battalion here, scrunches up a piece of material and tosses it into the bulldozer's jaws as he admits it's been tough.
"It's been heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. It's hard to come here and do what we've been doing, dumping what people have built up their whole lives," he says.
"Picking up people's lives, it's not what we've been expecting to do."
Yahoo! News - US marines undertake "gut-wrenching" clean up in Sri Lanka
GINTOTA, Sri Lanka (AFP) - Despite their training and combat experience, the US marines working in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka admit that picking through the shattered remains of peoples' lives has been a heart-rending exercise. --snip--
"There was rubble everywhere. It was like the Twin Towers," in New York destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks says Private First Class Damon Carr, describing the scene when he arrived.
"I didn't know where we were going to start from; everywhere you looked, there was rubble."
He found a photo album with a family snap of half a dozen people and says he handed it back to the mother pictured in it. She was the only one still alive.
"I almost cried," he says. "We're marines, we've been trained, but I never thought I'd be standing here, picking up the pieces of someone's whole life." -- snip --
Amid the mess, the occasional piece of torn cloth -- perhaps once someone's dress -- and pieces of household items still peak through.
Hospital Corpsman First Class Tim Dittlinger, who normally provides medical care to the marines from the 9th Engineers Support Battalion here, scrunches up a piece of material and tosses it into the bulldozer's jaws as he admits it's been tough.
"It's been heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. It's hard to come here and do what we've been doing, dumping what people have built up their whole lives," he says.
"Picking up people's lives, it's not what we've been expecting to do."
Yahoo! News - US marines undertake "gut-wrenching" clean up in Sri Lanka
Monday, January 10, 2005
World responds to Aceh's pain (The Jakarta Post)
excerpts from article:
"The catastrophic Asian tsunami has not merely destroyed countless cities and villages and killed over one hundred and fifty thousand people, but has also stimulated a genuine spontaneous desire among people to help. Such a spontaneous willingness to help the victims can be seen in many cities worldwide. The international community has given its full attention and shown a universal will to overcome this disaster. It is such a candle in the dark. --snip--
"There are many people; ordinary people, big and small companies who are willing to help. One student studying at the Islamic University of Indonesia in Makassar city told of a beggar who gave his daily earnings to the student to be delivered to the affected people. -- snip--
"Aceh, the province at the tip of Sumatra Island has suffered the most in the Asian tsunami with an estimated 100,000 fatalities. -- snip--
"Therefore, the pain of the Acehnese people is the pain of Indonesians as well. So far, Aceh is still under civil emergency rule, and the role of the Indonesian Military is very strong in this area. Thousands of Acehnese have died in the conflict between the Indonesian Military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). -- snip--
"...the long suffering of Aceh, not just due to this natural disaster, but also the chronic political conflict, is another reason why many Indonesian people feel great empathy for Aceh.... The Indonesian government must learn from the disaster and from the genuine concern of the ordinary people to better serve their people.
"In the context of Aceh, it is urgent to continue efforts for conflict resolution and peace building. Many Indonesian NGOs concerned with human rights issues are asking the government to acknowledge that the separatist movement in Aceh is the result of economic and political injustice. Many Indonesian NGOs also maintain that it would be hypocritical for the government to allow international involvement to provide aid for Aceh after the tsunami but prevent international involvement in conflict resolution and peace building in the province.
"Hopefully, this natural disaster will be a blessing in disguise in the form of a genuine desire from the Indonesian government and the GAM to resume dialog. Besides emergency aid due to the natural disaster, it is apparent that the primary needs of the ordinary people in Aceh now and in the future are peace and prosperity. Conflict, violence and corruption will only prolong their pain."
The Jakarta Post - World responds to Aceh's pain
"The catastrophic Asian tsunami has not merely destroyed countless cities and villages and killed over one hundred and fifty thousand people, but has also stimulated a genuine spontaneous desire among people to help. Such a spontaneous willingness to help the victims can be seen in many cities worldwide. The international community has given its full attention and shown a universal will to overcome this disaster. It is such a candle in the dark. --snip--
"There are many people; ordinary people, big and small companies who are willing to help. One student studying at the Islamic University of Indonesia in Makassar city told of a beggar who gave his daily earnings to the student to be delivered to the affected people. -- snip--
"Aceh, the province at the tip of Sumatra Island has suffered the most in the Asian tsunami with an estimated 100,000 fatalities. -- snip--
"Therefore, the pain of the Acehnese people is the pain of Indonesians as well. So far, Aceh is still under civil emergency rule, and the role of the Indonesian Military is very strong in this area. Thousands of Acehnese have died in the conflict between the Indonesian Military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). -- snip--
"...the long suffering of Aceh, not just due to this natural disaster, but also the chronic political conflict, is another reason why many Indonesian people feel great empathy for Aceh.... The Indonesian government must learn from the disaster and from the genuine concern of the ordinary people to better serve their people.
"In the context of Aceh, it is urgent to continue efforts for conflict resolution and peace building. Many Indonesian NGOs concerned with human rights issues are asking the government to acknowledge that the separatist movement in Aceh is the result of economic and political injustice. Many Indonesian NGOs also maintain that it would be hypocritical for the government to allow international involvement to provide aid for Aceh after the tsunami but prevent international involvement in conflict resolution and peace building in the province.
"Hopefully, this natural disaster will be a blessing in disguise in the form of a genuine desire from the Indonesian government and the GAM to resume dialog. Besides emergency aid due to the natural disaster, it is apparent that the primary needs of the ordinary people in Aceh now and in the future are peace and prosperity. Conflict, violence and corruption will only prolong their pain."
The Jakarta Post - World responds to Aceh's pain
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