Madmen

The goings-on in Libya are beyond extreme....and our slow response of support is an insult to the people fighting to the death for liberty.  Their leader seeks the blood of his country, while ours acts as if nothing of great interest is going on.

By virtue of our founding documents-read "mission statement"-we believe that all people have rights given them by their Creator, and that we hold these truths to be self evident.   And we died for these things and swore never to permit them to occur on our soil, within our purview, or scope of influence.

But we forgot.  We bastardized our foundations, crippled our constitution and placed greed over honor in our list of priorities.  Using what is called progress, many of our leaders have filtered the interpretation of laws, customs, cultures and conventions into something that hardly resembles the original intentions of our founders.

When will we realize that our worst enemy is not from the outside, but from within. Much of the hatred felt for us in the world, and within our own citizenry, comes from our own hypocrisy.

Here's hoping we can change.
Here's praying we help those brave people in Libya.

For today, Fifty Five Is the New Madmen....and we got a ton of them alive in the world today.  Some folk are even calling it the End Time.   I prefer to think of it as a period of time during our learning curve.  Let's hope we learn these lessons well so they are never repeated.

Definition

Fractal Gateway  rcw

What does it all mean? All these things going on in our lives, do they mean anything more than mere happenings?

On the scale of things using the geologic time clock, our planet is just going through what it goes through every so often....part of the process.  Then again, if you look more toward the religious point of view some might say it's the end of the world.

Living in interesting times does have its consequences; who knew they'd be anything like this?

We watch in stunned horror as more videos, pictures and stories of the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster parade across our t.v.s and video screens.  We try to find words to express the various emotions rolling over us, much like the great tsunami waves... uprooting, forcing, pushing then dragging, pulling back out to sea....

We try to define it, this force awakening from deep within our planet. We try to put it in a box so we can understand it, but it doesn't quite fit.  The box doesn't shut tight, its' contents are permitted to peek out from beneath the lid.

Sometimes it makes me want to run and hide....fear does that.

But we can't live like this, can't live under the lodestone of fear; can't be made to believe all is lost.
The planet is part of us, we're part of it. 

For better or worse, for what ever it is, we are here now.....and alive.

So for today, Fifty Five is the New Definition....being alive now, in the moment....even though it's difficult, calling it like we see it....life.

St. Pat's

My mother's father was full-blown Irish, all the way down to the faint brogue that tinted the edges of some of his words.  He had to leave school in the fifth grade to work in the coal mines in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He got out of the mines and worked at Westinghouse, moving his family from the hills down to Philadelphia.
So, with true Irish blood pulsing through my veins, I proclaim Erin Go Brah! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of the day, here's a poster from Boo Boo's Bargain Basement Band...green themed of course.


It is funny how folks get upset at Christmas songs and creches but they don't seem to mind bending their elbows at a bar for some green beer on Patrick's special day. We're living in a crazy world.  But I don't want to think about the madness right now. Not right now.

Today's officially a day off, a pause in the daily occupation of watching the world go nuts.

I'm not a beer drinker, and won't be going to any of the bars....I may have a small shot of bourbon after dinner. That's plenty for me these days. Hangovers are a lot harder on the body as we age....I don't need the hassle. I hate the "Unremembories," those times when you remember you don't remember...UGH!

In the old days, I'd have imbibed enough to knock out a sailor, but don't see a need for that sort of thing right now.  Perhaps some day in the future I'll tie one on again, but not now. I'm not knocking it....hey! Once in a while I have a few, but I'm not obsessed. I've put some distance between the bottle and it's power over me and have come to a very simple realization:
There's more to life, and more to being Irish, than getting tanked.

For today, Fifty five Is The New St. Pat's

Governmentalism

Between the wars and the economy, the polar ice caps melting and the growing schism between the haves and the have-nots, the world is spinning wild. One wonders sometimes if we as a species are meant to survive, or if this is the death throes of the contemporary dinosaur.

Not so far fetched if you consider the endings of other great empires.....Rome comes to mind, but it is not the only one.

Some delight in the idea of America falling to its knees....some are even consciously working on its destruction, claiming they are trying to make things better.  They say that socialism is the only way.

I disagree.  I think there is a way to blend social consciousness and individual abilities without arriving at tyranny....but pure socialism has never worked. I don't think we really have a handle on that kind of absolute power over others without it corrupting the governing body.

Perhaps I am wrong, but history isn't.

Most of my liberal friends think I'm a traitor.  Fine.  But I can't lie about how I feel.  I hope and pray there is

Anyway....for today, Fifty Five Is The New Governmentalism....changes are coming, let's hope they're for the better.

Preparedness

Fifty five, fifty five...here I am, I'm still alive.

 Looking at the world these days, who knew any of us would last this long?  And who knows what's going to happen tomorrow?

View From Our Studio

A funny thing has taken place inside of me....I'm more watchful, like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop or something.  The earthquake in Japan stirred something in my innards that I just can't get rid of or ignore.  I'm having an even harder time getting to sleep, and when I do sleep there are sometimes dreams, strange dreams of water coming over walls and buildings crumbling.

Some may think that's just so much drama, but San Francisco residents take seismic events personal.
I know our city is somewhat prepared for the inevitable.  My hope is that politics hasn't made for cutting corners and accepting lower standards.

On the plus side, our city has NERT....if it hasn't been defunded.

We've been preparing for a while already....emergency water, food stashed.  We could be better at it, although I am glad to report we have some brand new flashlights. But I need to replenish our First Aid Kit and make sure I have plenty of emergency things for Wylie our kitty.  Then I'll feel better.

For today, Fifty Five Is The New Preparedness....something we need to acknowledge, accept and practice every day, because everything depends on it.  Including our own lives.

Japan and the world

Rough Road Sign - "You Drive"

We sit in utter horror after utter horror over the past several days; watching as Japan is laid siege under the forces of nature and their consequences.

Latest reports are that the earthquake registered 9.0, the earth shifted 10 cm on its axis, a very wide and deep trench opened up in the earth near Japan, minimal 10,000 people died in the tsunami alone, and their nuclear power plants are in failure.

At this point, a nuclear melt down is just about eminent after loosing power to the cooling mechanisms were destroyed in the tsunami following the earthquake.

We are, as a planet, dangling by a thin, thin thread.

Prayer is a good thing.

It helps keep some of us going when all else is madness and terror.
I pray for comfort, help, hope and peace for those people in Japan.....that their troubles lessen and that the meltdown can be averted or at least kept to a minimum level of damage.

I pray that we as a species learn to treat each other right; stop using politics as a means to deny personal responsibility and that we help one another through the difficult times ahead.  For indeed there are difficult times ahead as planetary changes take place.

We can live in denial a long, long time....humans are actually pretty good at it!  One of our best talents.  But sometimes it's just not the right thing to do.

Preparation is important. Anybody who doesn't know what to do can go to places like 72hours.com for what to do....check local areas for something like NERT (Neighborhood Emergency Response Team), and just plain get out and get to know your neighbors....someday you-all are gonna have a lot in common-like survival.  Might not hurt to say "howdy" now and then, eh?

This isn't just about earthquakes and tsunamis.....it's abut any disasters, natural or otherwise, and how to stay alive 'til the dust settles.

For now, we sit on the head of a pin as revolution and planetary revolt hold court....watching and wondering what's next.

So at the moment Fifty Five Is The New Japan and the world, because nothing is ever going to be the same now....

56

Just realized in about a month I'll be fifty-six and this blog will be a little over a year old. What does it all mean? Did I learn anything more by keeping a journal of my thoughts?  I think so.

Do I plan on keeping up on the blog?  Don't know. Possibly I'll retire the "Fifty Five" theme and start another one. If so, I'll probably save these entries to an archive....maybe even print them.

It's funny...considering my history there was every possibility this project could have fallen by the wayside like many others that were picked up enthusiastically then discarded.
So far, so good on this one.

For today, Fifty Five Is The New 56, right around the corner.