My Weak Week

I wasn't going to say anything, because this week was going to be a quiet and restful one. I've been given two weeks off for a medical procedure and recuperation, and was looking forward to a week of peace and quiet.

Of course, after a horrendous hospital stay, the first day home, my son broke his wrist by punching a wall. infinitely preferable to the other kids face, things being as they are. He was rather badly provoked, punched in the face and then laughed at by the whole class. Fustrated and rightfully angry, he made a very painful mistake. 2 hours worth of surgery and a day later and he is home now. I''m quite proud of him, he behaved really well while in great pain, and kept his humour and spirit up the whole way through.

It highlights of course the abominable treatment they suffer at schools, the complete lack of moral values or social conscience. Alcoholics and drug addicts have become the norm amongst the school kids, as are broken families and abuse. I really don't think much of these rainbow nation values that destroy the good kids with no help for the bad.

While my son was being taken for xrays, we noticed that the geyser was leaking through the kitchen ceiling, so we switched that off, and phoned the relevant people. The scheduled electricity maintenance by city power went wrong, so have a fried connection box and was without power for 2 days.

Strange days indeed, no one dead and nothing that sleep can't solve. Wishing all of you a much more peaceful and utterly loving time.

Sometimes You Have to Pay a Heavy Price to Live in a Free Society

By Bradley Manning

The following is a transcript of the statement made by Pfc. Bradley Manning as read by David Coombs at a press conference on Wednesday:

August 21, 2013 "Information Clearing House - The following is a transcript of the statement made by Pfc. Bradley Manning as read by David Coombs at a press conference on Wednesday:

The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life.

I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time I realized in our efforts to meet this risk posed to us by the enemy, we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability.

In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror.

Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown our any logically based intentions [unclear], it is usually an American soldier that is ordered to carry out some ill-conceived mission.

Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy—the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism, the Japanese-American internment camps—to name a few. I am confident that many of our actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light.

As the late Howard Zinn once said, “There is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”

I understand that my actions violated the law, and I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intention to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others.

If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal.

Pain is a feeling too

People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that’s bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they’re afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they’re wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It’s all in how you carry it. That’s what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you’re letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain. ~Jim Morrison

Life, etc.

Raw, rough, pressure, torn ... these words spring out, a honest reflection of inside. Of course inside doesn't always reflect outside, sometimes like a blue glass bowl, twisting and obscuring and curiously revealing in strangely warped ways.

The silence after an accident, the twisted metal still screeching, silently now but the mind is shattered, the glass bowls irrepairably fragmented and bloody sharp.

That moment, forever.

I have neglected my blog, my favourite little doorstep on the interwebs, my portal between my mind and out there. Perhaps i'm too far away right now, the above being clear indication. Twitter is busy, i'm loving twitter, because it's so easy to be positive there. A small "favourite" for someone, or a retweet that really is worth sharing, it is a small way of supporting the effort someone has made. I have become a bit of an addict there, under the moniker davigilant, it does mean that i have to be vigilant. Keeping eyes and mind open to what is around you. Healthy reminder sometimes.

So what's it really all about? When you come right down to it ...

I have no idea where that comes from, but it seems apt. Bill Hicks says it's just a ride, and he's right, sort of. Roller coaster ride to hell sounds more like it, you can't get off a rollercoaster until it's stopped, and you have no say in that. You said "errrr, ok" and now you're puking up the lunch that cost you most of your day's spending ...

Ok so i'm in bit of a bad place, you keep on keeping on, you know? I suppose it's quite a nice surprise that i'm still alive, so, got a chance, right? Still some fights out there you gotta fight, even when a fight is the last thing you could stomach ... this life we have is so fucking inscrutable it hurts to look at it. Look at God and you see "ineffable". Look that up and you'll understand.

The most encouraging thing i've read recently is this: We're all fucked, it helps if you remember that. True for us humans, always has been true, always will be. We are neither angel nor ape, we are the new creation betwixt and between, forging our own way forward into infinity, with only each other help us and only other humans' to hinder our progress. Only our own spark of intelligence to warm our frozen hearts by.

I think i need that on a bumper sticker. Forget "think" ... more like breathe, keep breathing ...

The free ride around the sun can make you dizzy after a while.

All i have right now is peace and love, and keep breathing. Somehow that's enough, just keep thinking peace and love, for yourself and for everyone you meet ... peace and love and keep breathing.

On the edge

http://lecontainer.blogspot.com/

Inspirational!!