Sunday, 5 May 2013

Post No. 442 - Reading

Well, I have just (well, it was "just" when I started this blog post :) ) had a day "going bush" for work, which was basically a case of driving about 180 km to northern Victoria for a few hours in order to run a workshop so a client could make some informed decisions about a report I'd written, then turn around and come home. To put that into context, it is a bit like driving from, in the UK, London to Flitcham in Norfolk and back, or, in France, from Paris to Normandy and back, or in Russia from Moscow to Vladimir and back, or in Germany from Berlin to Demmin and back (but probably not on roads that are anywhere near as good - on my trip the speed limit was 100 kmh in the country, less in towns), or in South Korea from Seoul to (ignoring the obvious border and political difficulties!) Wonsan and (miraculously) back. That is not a big drive here in Australia - when I was younger, I would sometimes drive 1,000 km on Saturday from Mack ay to Brisbane, spend the evening with my (adoptive) parents, and drive back the next day to start work on Monday (I think 1,500 km in a day is my peak ... now I like to limit a day's drive to no more than 400 km - I am, after all, getting older :) ).

(Since I started this post, I've had a trip to Brisbane, about 5% of the planet's circumference north, which was exhausting, included a chance to see my elderly father and one niece, and had a flight back where I distracted myself from Mr and Mrs Grumplestiltskin - they were tall, youngish, very electronically connected, very unhappy travellers - by watching the sun set from 30,000 feet [sadly, I didn't see the "green flash", but I could quite clearly see bands of green.)

It was a good trip, though - I was able to advocate for some things that will reduce pollution and save money, and give some guidance on how to prevent odour problems, so I felt useful.

Anyway, I stopped on the way back for some comfort (junk!) food, and while waiting for it, idly started reading a Marie Claire magazine - and found an article about the film "Sins of My Father" [2] , which is about Pablo Escobar's son, who, at the age of 14 apparently confronted his father about the violence Escobar Sr was responsible for, and, at the time of the film, was apparently seeking some sort of resolution of the grief and guilt he felt over his father's deeds by contacting the sons of two of his father's victims. The resolution was one of the men stating that the son was not responsible for the father.

And now, Columbia doesn't make the news - instead, we have all the problems in northern Mexico where, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War, in the Year 2011 more than 12,000 people were murdered.

And almost all of these drugs - formerly from Columbia, now from Mexico - are probably for the USA market ... If you'll pardon me while I juggle my sarcasm tongue into my cheek, the war on drugs and "just say no" campaigns are obviously ever so effective. For Goddess' (and humanity's!) sake, can't someone make a serious effort at addressing the emotional, abuse and other problems that lead to serious drug use?

Of course, some of the drugs are no doubt used by people who think it is "fashionable" - maybe THOSE people should be shown the photos of what they are, effectively, paying other people to do in Mexico. Sigh - no, that isn't a serious suggestion, just an expression of my frustration, based partly on a joke from many years ago when I was persuaded to go to a tattoo show (I have a few tattoos ... well, as many as I could get - and I can hide every single one for work :) ), and when it turned out to be run by bikers, we ruefully joked (after we had left) that our entry fee had probably just paid for the next bullet they used in a battle.

So, after I did some reading, here's some reading for you, Dear Reader.

  • and another sad story, for which I have lit candles with the following message in the shrines for Tiewaz, Berkana and Cweorth "May all those who wrongly identified Sunil Tripathi as a criminal on social media be exposed to the the Divine justice that they deserve, in such a way that they learn to think more deeply and thus NOT make this mistake again, may he he be assisted with his passing, and may he and his family and friends/Significant Others receive the support and resources they need to be healed, all as is for HSG": "Body identified as student falsely implicated in Boston bombing", 26th April, 2013: http://www.theage.com.au/world/body-identified-as-student-falsely-implicated-in-boston-bombing-20130426-2ii9k.html;
  • on the other hand, why are this family carrying on when the two have admitted their criminal behaviour, and their victims have made the ongoing effects of the crimes known - do they think others wellbeing is so trivial compared to their own wishes???? (Candles would be for healing of all, and increased awareness for the family): "Gang jailed for wave of 'terror and violence' ", 24th April, 2013: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/gang-jailed-for-wave-of-terror-and-violence-20130424-2idyj.html;


[1] BPF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy").

Love, light, hugs and blessings



Gnwmythr
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")

My "blogiography" is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, and here and here for my "pagans for peace" project.
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. 
  • The means shape the end. 
  • Spiritual love is far more than just an emotion - it is a concept, thoughts, actions and a way of living.
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

Your children are not your children. ... They come through you but ... they belong not to you ... for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow KAHLIL GIBRAN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW

People I'm currently following or reading, or have considerable respect for, include: 

Tags: about me, attitudes, irresponsibility, blaming others, family, perspective, society, violence, ,

First published: Sunnudagr, 5th May, 2013

Last edited: Sunday, 5th May, 2013
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