Oh, the glorious rain drenching us after a parching summer of temperatures in the 100s!

It had been a trying week due to personal events and the horrible news from the ruling regime. I was in my office looking out the window on a day when no rain was forecasted…rumblings came. The sky turned dark and through the window I saw wet relief arriving— tears from heaven unto our drying landscape. It was a gully-washer-class downpour. I enjoyed the view for a little while then the idea came to capture my elation for a post. Grabbing my smart phone with its camera I began to take pictures through the house windows. I went out into the front porch and water was pouring down the gutter spout from the roof, flowing like open floodgates from a dam. I took several photos, without being able to capture the feeling.

Venturing into the rain looking for the right scene I ignored the downpour. And then it struck me: rain is to be experienced— not photographed. It was a joyful experience with rainwater streaming over me from head to toes in delicious rivulets. The cooling liquid uplifted my mood as a smile formed on my face. The bushes were glistening with the heavy drops. I tried again to photograph the rain and again realized that rain is to be experienced— not photographed.

There is much to bring chagrin these days; but the gift of an opportunity for a thorough drenching is a joy not to be passed up.

Resist delightedly when the rains come. Soon we will be witnessing the washing of today’s political filth down the drain.

💦

20260830

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from the oppression from the POTUS and Epstein circle of oligarchs.

Vote— your life depends on it. Make a plan!

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P R O S T I T U T I O N. Say it slowly. It brings images of alleys, dark streets, disheveled beds, posh addresses in exclusive neighborhoods, human trafficking…

One definition of prostitution is to exchange sex for money, goods or services.

How does it go beyond sexual acts?

In our society we seek employment to sustain ourselves. Each one of us, at some point chose a career or a vocation to which we dedicated vast portions of our lives.

To those in the “antiseptic” STEM careers, in the humanities, in the legal fields, in business, in fact, in any livelihood we have endless opportunities for prostitution.

How do we become prostitutes when we direct our gifts and talents in art, mathematics, science, or writing, to tasks contrary to the building of a better world for all?

• The architect designing for-profit prisons.

• The engineers working on armaments.

• Lawyers representing crooked politicians and businesses.

• Politicians selling out to special interests.

• Health industry professionals manufacturing addictive drugs.

• Athletes advertising alcoholic drinks and addictive drugs.

• Pharmacies selling medicines alongside tobacco products, alcoholic drinks, weight-reducing and body building drugs.

• Writers of material that exacerbate emotions and support deterioration of our society.

But must it be this way?

Before engaging in an industry should we stop and question the effects that an industry’s products and services provide?

Should we be hawking products and services focused on profits and overlook the addictions and harm that they yield, directly or indirectly?

A beam can be designed to support a school, a hospital, a warplane, an artillery piece. How will knowing the destination of the end product or service affect our decision-making?

In Ukraine a drone guided by AI without human guidance, killed three human beings. AI is the product of seemingly harmless, or even beneficial, computer programming. What have we unleashed?

How responsible are we in choosing our careers, our investments, our charities, indeed, our politicians?

I cannot and should not question the motivations when humans choose to be sex workers. How does that occupation differ from those that produce harm to others?

💰

20260824

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from the oppression from the POTUS and Epstein circle of oligarchs.

Vote— your life depends on it. Make a plan!

Image credits: “Tribute money” courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, from book: John T. Spike, Masaccio, Rizzoli libri illustrati, Milano 2002. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.

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There is little doubt of much ugliness in the world.

The other day my mind was heavy with thoughts about such things when I stopped and wondered if I was overlooking beauty while focusing on the current disorder.

Lifting my eyes from the floor I decided to look for beauty in the ordinary. And I found beauty in a simple bowl of fruit, as the image shows. Each apple uniquely beautiful in its own way— and the composition highly pleasing.

The beauty in the experience made me grateful for the blessings that I have that express themselves in the mundane.

Why does beauty unleash gratitude and joy? The answer escapes me. Each passing day reinforces my thinking that despite my curiosity and interest in many, many things I grow no closer to discerning the why of things.

I propose to enjoy each moment and when I encounter the inevitable imperfections and disappointments, to look for beauty in everyday things— like a bowl of apples.

As Election Day approaches, is it not important to stay energized and joyful by accepting our imperfect world while working to improve it within our spheres of influence?

Resist joyfully and look for beauty in the simple things that keep us invigorated.

🍎

20260823

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from the oppression from the POTUS and Epstein circle of oligarchs.

Vote— your life depends on it. Make a plan!

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Read Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt and your views on life may change. It is subtitled, appropriately, “a report on the banality of evil”. It will influence my posts going forward. The book documents the career of the Nazi official in charge of transporting Jews and other minorities to their demise.

What is evil? Where do you find it?

I looked for an image to capture my perception of Arendt’s report and finally settled on the mirror above. Why?

The image could have been the Four Wise Monkeys of Japanese lore, because:

· During the Holocaust some chose not to see the horror before them.

· Some chose not to listen to the sounds of populations and cultures being destroyed.

· Some witnessed the savagery and chose not to speak out on behalf of the defenseless.

· And that brings me to the fourth monkey: do no evil. The appropriate image can only be delivered by a mirror, for each of us need to only stare at our image, fully present, to perceive that evil that lurks in each and every one of our souls, and only needs be awakened at the right time, by the right stimulus. Our inaction is also our action.

The Nazis were the ultimate manifestation of an antisemitism that festered in European culture for centuries.

I condemn no one. I see how the sick mind of the supreme totalitarian leader conceived of the “final solution” to eliminate Jews and minorities from “German lands”. I see how the totalitarian German regime inculcated in the population, the armed forces, the security services the idea that Hitler’s word, oral or written, was law, and that following that law was the right thing to do.

I see the resonance with our current POTUS regime. Are we going to continue to close our eyes, silence our mouths, and worse perhaps, stand by while the dark night of totalitarianism becomes an American reality?

The “links of interest” below will deliver to those willing to read them, the parallels between the POTUS regime, and European culture of the 1930s and 1940s. It should be required reading for any human worthy of that name.

Sometimes we think we know the depth of the horror of the Holocaust, the Shoah, but do we really know the impact of that abominable series of events on the individuals caught in them?

How did the Holocaust imprint on the psyche of the Jewish people as evidenced by the Netanyahu regime’s treatment of Palestinians?

🪞

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from the oppression from the POTUS and the Epstein Circle of oligarchs.

Vote— your life depends on it. Make a plan!

20260818

Links of interest:

Eichmann in Jerusalem: a report on the banality of evil, by Hannah Arendt, ISBN 978-0-14-303988-4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_question

Image credit: Nicholas Geffroy (United States, Rhode Island, Newport, 1761-1839), image courtesly of Wikimedia Commons. This file is in the public domain because it has been released by the Los Angeles County Museum of Artwww.lacma.org with its “Public Domain High Resolution Image Available” mark.

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Must we give ourselves permission to be joyful?

We know that the joy is there but, why do we block its expression?

Is it blocked by anger and judgmentalism?

Or is it that our false superiority complex over others is challenged?

Is it impatience over our inability to impose our views, even if compassionate, over the evil that we see in the actions of the apparently powerful?

What dominion do the powerful have over us? Maybe it is only the permission that we give them when we allow our thoughts to be populated by them.

How do we become more patient, more forgiving, of ourselves and others as we perceive the weaknesses we all carry?

Are we idolatrous by giving the evil in the world the total focus of our attention? Evil is neither absolute nor infinite.

Are we preoccupied with our private selves? Are we trying to put ourselves in the best light by constantly confronting the evil in the boring narratives of narcissists and their predictable winners and losers, rewards and punishment themes?

Is fear blocking our joy?

“No one else is your problem,” says the prophet. “You are your own problem.”

Should we offer not only criticism but also visions of a more just, more merciful, more peaceful society and live into them?

I will walk the talk— I will work on being more patient, realizing that the problem of evil predates my birth by eons, that I should humbly focus on doing what I know deep in my bones to be the right thing to do now, today, in my lifetime, regardless of outcome.

Each little one of us doing our portion joyfully is like a drop of water being added to the stream of truth that will continue to wash away the detritus of the misguided. Our duty is to stand for truth as we have been granted the vision to perceive it.

Resist joyfully, patiently, now, today, tomorrow, every day.

💦

20260816

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from the corruption and oppression from the POTUS and the Epstein Circle.

Vote— your life depends on it.

My post was inspired by the meditation on this link: https://email.cac.org/t/d-e-wzuujl-tlkrjkkrtk-yd/

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Ethics…Compassion…Reason

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. Through her travels, public engagement, and advocacy, she largely redefined the role of FLOTUS. Widowed in 1945, she served as a United States delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from 1945 to 1952, taking a leading role in designing the text and gaining international support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1948, she was given a standing ovation by the assembly upon their adoption of the declaration. President Harry S. Truman called her the “First Lady of the World” in tribute to her human rights achievements.

She overcame serious challenges in her personal and public life, and in her time, was one of the world’s most widely admired and powerful women.

Nevertheless, in her early years in the White House she was controversial for her outspokenness, particularly with respect to her promotion of civil rights for African Americans. She was the first presidential spouse to hold regular press conferences, write a daily newspaper column, write a monthly magazine column, host a weekly radio show, and speak at a national party convention. On a few occasions, she publicly disagreed with her husband’s policies. She advocated for expanded roles for women in the workplace, the civil rights of African Americans and Asian Americans, and the rights of World War II refugees.

Following her husband’s death in 1945, Roosevelt pressed the United States to join and support the United Nations, becoming its first delegate to the committee on Human Rights. She was the first chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights and oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Later, she chaired the JFK administration’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. At her death, she was regarded as “one of the most esteemed women in the world” and “the object of almost universal respect” (NYT obituary).

How did she pull all of that off (and more)? Her approach reminds me of the wise advice that Karen S. Bonnell shared with me on how to take a stand:

Get very clear what you stand for from a policy perspective.

Do you believe that people should have equal access to healthcare? Stand for that.

In our conversations, much is lost in countering the waterfall of toxic water/political babble... let’s stay unequivocal about the basics:

• Do we need to get corporate money out of politics?

• Do we need to reform the Supreme Court?

• Do we need to strengthen public education?

• Do we believe forcing a woman to remain pregnant is a violation of human rights?

... whatever it is that lights your fire, and then the three or four things that fall from that, know what you stand for - vote your conscience!!!

📣

20260810

Links of interest:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt

substack.com/@karensbonnell

Image credits: Douglas Chandor: Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Douglas Chandor died in 1953, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from the oppression from the POTUS and the Epstein Circle.

Vote— your life depends on it.

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Since the emergence of the fetid emanations from the current POTUS and his circle of adoring fascists, sycophants, and Epstein-circle oligarchs, some Americans have found themselves caught in the mire of despair over the loss of their vision (or illusion) of America.

This past week I read meditations based on Job. One of them, by Kate Bowler, The Heart: A Reservoir of Joy, gave me some excerpts to share:

“When a loss of any kind—breakup, breakdown, or any terrible undoing—descends upon your life, joy seems to vanish.… Laughter feels strange and a sense of ease is a distant memory. In this new reality, even the smallest spark of joy seems impossible to ignite. And even worse, suggested the nineteenth-century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, joy becomes the source of suffering. Its memory stokes the fires of hurt. The joy we once had, the joy we remember, becomes our ruin…. When you are in the deep abyss of grief, sadness, or worst of all, despair, joy feels like an insult….

But I know about the joy that persists, even though it might seem like temporary insanity.

[Joy] is one of the most powerful ways we experience the deepest and most healing forms of gratitude, delight, and hope. It is a kind of transcendence; joy is a glimmer of love and forgiveness and wholeness that lifts us out of reality for a moment and gives us back to ourselves, anew….

In the many chambers of our beating hearts are reservoirs for joy.”

In addition to the above philosophical and spiritual truth, the dark forays from the POTUS regime are producing bold, strong, encouraging responses from resistors to the regime's immorality. We are within 90 days of November 3rd. Stay joyful and strong in resisting the infamous regime, that is how we overcome its darkness.

Rejoice in your efforts to build a compassionate and caring America.

🕊️🗽🇺🇸

20260810

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from oppression from the Epstein circle.

Vote— your life depends on it.

Link of interest: https://email.cac.org/t/d-e-wqdudy-tlkrjkkrtk-jr/

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On August 6th and 9th Hiroshima and Nagasaki are commemorated for suffering mankind's worst act: Annihilation of thousands of human beings by nuclear bombs— hideous vaporization and legacy suffering for decades.

Today the POTUS continues to increase the risk of manifold repeat of those actions. He has upset the balance of power through his dismantling of the nuclear disarmament accords agreed by nuclear powers and Iran. His illegal attacks on Iran may reinforce in fearful weaker nations the need to obtain nuclear weapons to deter attacks by nuclear-armed nations.

And he has agreed to give the King of Saudi Arabia American nuclear technology.

May God have mercy on us for allowing a nuclear weapon-infected world to exist and proliferate.

Support anti-nuclear movements— today, tomorrow,  always.

Allow yourself the gift of great grandchildren in a nuclear-weapons-free world.

VOTE OUT THE POTUS REGIME

20260809

The cleaning crew sits in their vehicle at Noon— lunch time. We ask them to come in from the brutal heat of our summer. Their company does not allow it, and they are surveilled by the camera inside their vehicle.

What are the workers thinking about? They spend each day in drudgery— cleaning up our homes. Were the events that led them into this seemingly thankless occupation to build their “American Dream” economic or political?

Work is honorable— it dignifies the human being. But today the company added “body cameras” as “quality control” measures to surveil their work— a demeaning policy implying no trust in their labor as human beings.

Are we trading human values away via technological intrusion?

Is technology serving humanity or are we serving technology?

Our city now allows driverless rides. How do the displaced drivers earn a living?

A local restaurant has robots that bring food to the table— cute. What happened to those who formerly waited on tables?

X-rays and laboratory tests are read and interpreted by robots. Primary physicians are becoming help desks directing us to specialists. The human touch that brings comfort is evaporating before our eyes.

Do we want the cold touch of technology or the warm touch and smile of a human being when we are sick, or awaiting death, when spiritual comfort and reassurance are of paramount importance?

Now technology is creeping into the technology centers, displacing the technologists, engineers and researchers that created it— poetic justice?

We are fascinated by AI search engines, systems and robots that appear to be under our control. Are the algorithms in those systems populated with the ideology of the industrialists that fund their development? Who reaps the benefits from a reduced workforce?

I am not anti-technology. I appreciate laparoscopic surgery, colonoscopy, camera inspection of my plumbing system, (body and household). I appreciate cameras and robots that can approach toxic, hazardous environments that are lethal to humans. But are we unconsciously becoming lemmings responding to the beckoning cliff of our oblivion?

We see so-called smart bombs in use, and military drones with built-in targeting decision-making algorithms that can wipe out civilians and terrorist without distinction.

Then the latest message from the cleaning company, “We have a new quality control system; your cleaning team will wear cameras as they clean— we will not record your home contents only their cleaning activity and if you do not want the cameras, they will not be used.”

The default is to have cameras surveilling the workers— human beings with names, families, loved ones, at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. Those who make a living cleaning up our homes will now be under surveillance— humans at the service of technology. I am incredibly upset— nay, outraged.

My wife and I responded to the message in unison: NO CAMERAS.

Are we promoting the supremacy of heartless technology over humanity?

20260804

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free from oppression from the Epstein circle.

Vote— your life depends on it.

Image credit: Body camera image by Lindiloue, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

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How is your well today?

Is it obstructed by the fallen timbers of our Democracy?

Is it blocked by the boulders of totalitarianism from the POTUS regime?

Is the flow restricted by stones of propaganda from the regime?

Is the flow channel littered with the debris of hate and misinformation from the POTUS sycophants?

Is the flow restricted by the gravel of trashy oligarchic drivel?

Is the flow clear, or clouded by the black dirt of fascism?

Is the flow path clogged by frustration at the sad state of our politics?

Here is a proposal.

Stay positive. Invest your energy wisely. Push past the obstructions. Counter hate with love, and misinformation with facts. Overcome frustration by addressing each challenge, one at a time, resisting the fascists today, tomorrow, everyday.

Once your well gushes anew, collect the fresh waters of joy. Carry inspiration to those who need rejuvenation. Find encouragement in the above image of the young woman who gathers waters and takes it to others.

Let your well of joy gush high and bathe you in hope.

We are many, the fascists are few.

REMINDER: Are you and your loved ones registered to vote? Get going, we need every voter engaged for a new beginning, free of the scourge and stain of the Epstein circle.

20260803

Image credit: Ceres Fountain, image by Globetrotter19, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

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We climb aboard the optimization train to get somewhere? But where?

Is it the here, the now, that wants our attention to deliver the message that we really need to receive?

Is presence a ritual where each breath gives us the consolation that the next train stop will deliver the anticipated message?

What message do we seek? Is it our obituary?

Let the train of anxiety depart on its endless journey. You have already arrived at the station of joy if you are open to experience the here, the now, with its eternal message that life is good, and good enough.

The media, the oligarchs and their businesses, and our corrupt POTUS fascist regime barrage us with alarms that can keep us confused and running for that train of optimization. That confusing fog allows for scandals like the Epstein affair to escape our attention. Presence gives us a collected view of what is happening around us and resources to do what is required of us.

Blessed are those who let the optimization train pass them by and who then return to joy.

Resist as you are able— today, tomorrow, every day, with presence…and compassion.

🙏🏻

20260727

Image credits: BART train at Richmond station on a postcard published in the 1970s, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1931 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice.

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Perhaps an idea floats into your head. You are chatting with a close one and a memory returns. If you are lucky, it may even be accompanied by a melody. And even better it may throb with rhythm.

Grab the moment! Let go into dancing. It matters not when or where it occurs. It could even be in your kitchen, or a restaurant. Forego self-consciousness and the steps that you think you need to use.

Let go completely. No time for totalitarian controls.

The release that dancing brings infuses you with wellbeing and dispels the blues and the clouds that are hanging low over your day.

Cracking the egg of your blues allows your spirit to soar— it frees the joy that circumstances may be blocking.

The POTUS regime, intimately linked to the depravity of the Epstein clique cannot withstand the joy of Democracy. So, let us release it with vigor. Let your joy gush forth from your very being by cracking that egg and immersing yourself in rhythm.

Dance for the vigor to resist joyfully, today, tomorrow, every day, forever.

🕺

20260724

Image credits: From BioArt, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, BioArt. This applies worldwide.

Rythm suggestions STRONGLY biased by my roots:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nBFWzpWXuM&list=RD0nBFWzpWXuM&start_radio=1

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJxtuIz3W1g&list=RDUJxtuIz3W1g&start_radio=1

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYxv6N_gUhE&list=RDCYxv6N_gUhE&start_radio=1

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Brainwashing is the main tool of totalitarianism­— a disease of interhuman relations. It supplants our values and principles with those of the totalitarian— a human with unresolved personality disorders/pathology. It kills the spirit to make the individual malleable to the totalitarian’s purposes.

Brainwashing and manipulation are continuous and pervasive— from subtle to coercive and violent. They are used by all totalitarian regimes and promoted by the POTUS through state media and reactionary news channels. The forced conversions of peoples to a perceived true creed or faith are also brainwashing.

Subtle brainwashing is used by all beings to manipulate others for their benefit.

Plants use seduction and traps to achieve pollination, and sustenance. Animals do likewise. Humans use compliments, false friendship, fashion, fragrances, the gospel of success, etc., to achieve their ends.

We all dangerously seek the false solace of panaceas in a complicated world.

Should we pay attention to appeals to our insecurities and vanities that sell virility, snob appeal, conspicuous spending? Do we need that piece of clothing, appliance, car, boat, luxurious home? Are those desires, embedded in our minds by society, true “essentials” worthy of our attention? Should we use drugs offering escape from reality?

Is that nation really plotting to eliminate us?

Repetition and conditioning are key to brainwashing success. On 9/11 we thought America, the good guy on a white horse, was the victim. We refused to believe that Saudis manned the suicide flights. We went after Iraq per the messaging from the US government. Today many are falling for the message from the fascist propagandists in the POTUS administration that seek to divert attention from the Epstein scandal.

Totalitarian systems use mental isolation to push minds into conformity. That is why they use solitary confinement. Are we self-isolating by consuming information from a single source such as the regime’s press secretaries and Fox News?

Read The Rape of The Mind, (reference below), learn to identify and resist brainwashing under differing conditions.

People resist new ideas and are slow to shed them once adopted. Over-investment in world views leads intelligent, otherwise rational people to fall for false messaging and into mass delusion. Shun simple answers and ideologies.

Stay alert. Value your brain. Resist mental paralysis and selective receptiveness. Think for yourself. Be mentally independent. Know yourself and your compulsions. Have faith in our deeply held basic human values: justice, mercy, compassion, inclusion. Resist groupthink, mass hypnosis, delusion.

The POTUS regime thrives on chaos and bewilderment, emitting a constant din of demagogic messaging of self-pity and alleged victimhood. It takes moral character and resilience to resist its forays.

To confuse and intimidate us the regime uses false crises; fear; violence; persecution; a militarized, murderous ICE; pardoned Jan6 insurrectionists; proliferating prison camps; unjustified warmaking; a subservient military, Congress and the SCOTUS; mind-dulling slogans, catchwords, lies and distortions; fake patriotism; diversions from reality; nonsense; doublespeak; deceitful messages of imaginary enemies, conspiracies, suspected plots; character assassinations; insults to humans and institutions; curtailed transparency in government affairs. Those are illegal, immoral, irrational acts to build distrust and despair.

Look at the evidence behind the allegations from the fascist regime. Democracy is our friend, it promotes creativity, individuality, personal growth.

Love, laughter, and ridicule of the regime work against the plot to turn you into an automaton and the nation into a prison.

Together we will overcome POTUS and his fascist clique.

🇺🇸🗽🕊️

20260720

Reference: Meerloo, Joost, The Rape of The Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide and Brainwashing. First reprinting, July 2009, updated April 2016. ISBN-10: 1-61577-376-2, EAN/ISBN-13: 978-1-61577-376-3

Image credits: Väinö Hämäläinen - A Washer Woman, image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The author died in 1940, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 80 years or fewer.

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I feel it. Many feel it. The America we thought we knew is coming out of its comatose state. More Americans are protesting the fascist measures of the POTUS. We should not count on events for joy. But current events certainly give us the ability to uncover our inner joy.

I have noticed numerous bold efforts, too many to count, by many Americans to foster civility and peace, at great cost, resisting the POTUS and his deplorable associates that make up what we refer to as “the regime”.

“No life is immune from suffering. When we’re in solidarity with people facing pain, injustice, war, oppression, colonization—the list goes on and on—we face immense pressure to despair, to become angry or dismissive.”

RICHARD ROHR

The actions of the regime stand on their own for their immorality.

Should our tasks not be:

• Where the regime sows hatred, we sow love.

• Where the regime inflicts injury to people, we step in to assist the victims.

• Where the regime overcomes people with its inhuman actions, we help restore each others’ faith in mankind.

• Where the regime envelops us in darkness, we console and uplift each other.

• In short, where the actions of the POTUS regime bring sadness due to lost opportunities, cruelty, pain and suffering, we step in positively and humanely.

Obviously, this post is inspired by the Prayer of St. Francis. And as that prayer inspires us, we focus outside ourselves, consoling the afflicted, seeking common understanding— even with the lost souls making up the regime. Even as we seek to stop the destruction of the regime, and work to realign America to its best ideals, our actions are guided by faith and love.

It is the faith, love, compassion of the American people that will build the America for which we all yearn. And it is in that dedicated effort that joy breaks through the morass once more, revitalizing the resistance.

Resist joyfully today, tomorrow, every day. Shun lethargy and despair.

20260717

Image credit: Edward John Gregory, The Awakening, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.

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I often think about the challenges that our ancestors, the first humans, faced when they appeared. For protection they possessed no armor, no horns, no large-toothed jaws with protruding canines, no powerful kicking hooves. The world that witnessed their appearance teemed with viruses, bacteria, stampeding herds, packs of heinous predators, even the precious water was infested with harmful organisms, including fierce crocodiles and alligators. And Homo sapiens bloomed.

How did our ancestors survive their challenges and thrive?

The answer: collaboration.

In November of 2024 we cringed at the reappearance of a seemingly insurmountable threat: the MAGAs in power. Like our early ancestors we felt assailed as if by a pack of hyenas. Yet we resisted the onslaught. We came together, we helped each other, especially the weak, and disadvantaged, with compassion and commitment to each other. We took each measured, careful step in the resistance, and as we did so, the pack of hyenas began to fragment and engage in inner fighting.

The current corrupt POTUS regime has turned against former allies, and those allies have sympathized with us, the American people. When the regime unconstitutionally, illegally, treacherously attacked Venezuela, Iran and, indirectly, other peoples such as the Palestinians and the Lebanese, it had to do it alone, criminally following the instructions of the Netanyahu regime. The civilized world wanted no part of the depravity from the POTUS regime.

And there is more…

The criminal regime in Washington DC has shunned all decency, utilizing a militarized ICE to attack unarmed civilians, including women and children. It has deported thousands to foreign prisons, and confined others in concentration camps. Yet, Americans have resisted those cruel actions and won court cases that opposed the wanton despicable actions of the POTUS horde; a horde that has turned the White House into a military bunker and brought in thousands of military personnel to intimidate the people.

The POTUS regime is largely isolated from the civilized world as it seeks to control populations and resources for the benefit of the oligarchs. For a long time, the governing class sought to ignore and hide the Epstein scandal, but even the ranks of the MAGAs are astonished by the depravity of the POTUS regime and attack it on a regular basis. The POTUS fears for his personal safety and cowers behind armed guards after murdering thousands of Iranians who now want revenge.

Is our nightmare over? NO, but the tide is turning against the foul POTUS regime. As we continue to support the resistance, the decent American People will prevail as our ancestors did when surrounded by hyenas.

Compassionate collaboration will scatter the hyenas that assail us.

Resist daily with passion and resolve.

20260716

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Our current political reality can be disturbing.

However, there is hope in that the politicians that got us to where we are act like aircraft at an airport— their souls are requesting a runway for takeoff. Some go absent for months without explanation. Others are caught in the revolving door of hospital admissions. And some cling to their positions for too long, and their sudden takeoffs result in their replacement by undesirable operatives from the opposition. Time marches on, generations pass into oblivion, giving the world a chance to refresh itself.

Holding on to power for too long is a disservice to the country. We are born, thrive and blunder, and move into the infinite— no exceptions so far. It is all part of nature’s cleansing mode. If only we paused to consider that reality!

This brings us to the POTUS, who claims to be “winning” in every possible sphere of his activity. But we all see his failing performance— the Iran conflict is an example of his living in an alternate reality. POTUS is light on the self-esteem scale. The esteem that he seeks will always elude him because people see through him. POTUS is trapped in the current war by the Iranians, who understand his psychological weaknesses and play him like a yo-yo.

To prop up his ego the POTUS buys hollow “honors” and fealty from those he controls and spends our taxpayer funds on grandiose projects.

Is the POTUS not trapped in a hell of his own making? He constantly seeks adulation for his imaginary excellence. Perceived affronts hurt his weak ego and cause him to lash out. If the affronted resist, POTUS escalates the confrontation, as in the bombing of Iran. How rational is that?

Could the definition of hell be our refusal to accept, that individually, we are not competent in every sphere of activity?

If the POTUS were to apologize to the countless humans that he has hurt, seek forgiveness for his wrongdoings, make amends, ask for mercy, he would look as human as his victims, and we might at least view his performance with less contempt. But he is the jailer of his own persona and will suffer until he acknowledges his failures or inescapable death taps him on the shoulder. Fort White House is POTUS’ self-imposed prison.

Could realizing the horror of a magnificent executive prison be all it takes to keep us grounded and joyful?

Is POTUS’ fear to wander unaccompanied by armed guards in public spaces and in the beauty of the natural world desirable?

Joy is found in working with others to make the world a better place, diverse, equitable, inclusive— a place of wonder rather than dullness that teems with bigotry, intolerance, hate.

May we resiliently resist daily, with compassion, to move a democratic America to the next level, where Epstein associates do not lurk.

🦋

20260713

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As in a cloud, a fog, a haze, we grope for direction to that imaginary clearing of blue, where political clarity resides. Is this an illusion?

The failing GOP regime is desperate to pull out a victory from its seeming doom in November. The Democrats are working to gain a majority in Congress to restrain the corruption of the POTUS and his circle. What to do?

Many public figures have defended the U S Constitution and spoken truth to power. They have taken up the cause of the little guy, the worker, the small business owner, and stood with them against the powerful oligarchs and the fascist GOP forces. They have opposed the cruel foreign adventures of the POTUS in the Middle East and his subservience to Netanyahu. They have also taken the risky moral high ground of opposing the draconian policies of the GOP against immigrants.

The rising profile of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is of major concern to the GOP, and even to the Democratic Party. That concern is palpable in the increased use of fearmongering “socialist” and “communist” name-calling by status-quo politicians. But all those “communist” countries that we have grown to fear are led by autocratic, authoritarian, despotic personalities and their wealthy supporters.

Should we not mostly fear intolerance to divergent political opinions? The devil is always in the details.

Who is pursuing the overthrow of the U S Government except the current POTUS as he did via the insurrection of 6Jan2021 and his pardoning of those who threatened our elected representatives, trashed the U S Capitol and its grounds, and attacked Capitol Police?

As we approach the November Midterm Elections, we need to protect ourselves from our fears and evaluate all candidates on the merits of their public service performance, and commitment to democratic principles, not on the rhetoric of fear-mongering oligarchs and other well-heeled special interests.

We must remember that “perfect” is the enemy of “good”, and that the road to perfection often leads to bad choices. Should we not be wide-eyed and cast our vote in the interest of the American People, especially those in the growing ranks of the disadvantaged?

Resist the despot. Vote fearlessly for the candidates who in your judgment will best serve the nation.

Are you and your loved ones registered to vote?

🗳️

20260708

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The GOP, The Heritage Foundation, the POTUS supporters, spent years planning for the demolition of American institutions that are too numerous to list.

For the last 18 months, our American system of government has suffered under the wrecking ball of the POTUS and his minions. Only the oligarchs and businesses plundering our ailing planet have benefited.

Neither Congress nor SCOTUS has measured up to their duties as outlined in the Constitution— they are focused on minutiae as we bear the devastation on every value we felt was sacrosanct under the broad banner of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The POTUS regime has snuffed out life, directly and indirectly, in the US and abroad. Those Americans that value liberty and speak out in its defense have been persecuted, ostracized, and demeaned by the POTUS and his regime. The pursuit of happiness has at times seemed to be evaporating through the actions of the totalitarian regime in power.

But things are changing.

The deep dysfunction within the POTUS regime indicates that the Tower of Babel is collapsing on the Executive Branch. The US Executive branch is no longer a credible force for stability within the nation and the world community. The failure to support the United Nations; the battering of solid alliances such as NATO; the illegal, and unconstitutional devastating attacks on Venezuela and Iran; the consequential, expected proliferation of nuclear arms in response to POTUS’ belligerence against Iran; the heartless persecution of helpless migrants within the US and abroad; the continuing weakening of the economy; all signal the end days of this regime.

What do we do as we await the impending transformation of the USA as we know it?

We dwell not on rebuilding what was and got us here.

We take to heart the lessons that we have learned in allowing our constitutional values built over 250 years to be violated. We reinforce the human values that each major religion carries at its core: compassion, justice, mercy. We look at the rubble of these GOP years and pick the salvageable while planning for a future of opportunity for all, for all Americans, for all the world’s creatures.

And as we look at what needs to be done, we plan with joyful hearts, the noble hearts at the core of the American people, and seek consensus in the kind of future that young Americans deserve, the young Americans that are coming to voting age and looking for solutions that status quo political parties have failed to deliver.

Look joyfully to the future. A future free of the corruption that daily drowns our public life, such as the Epstein scandal. Continue to resist even as the last ill-fitting stones of this tower of babel collapse on the would-be-emperor and his court.

20250704

Image credit: The Tower of Babel by Maarten van Heemskerck, 1567, photo by Statens Museum for Kunst, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, image adjusted for clarity. The author died in 1574, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.

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I do not know the artist. The figure of Uncle Sam resting on the Raytheon Corporation logo, the logo of a company representative of the Industrial-Military Complex, caught my attention at a second-hand store. So, I forked over a couple of dollars and brought it home as a focus for meditation.

Uncle Sam, the personification of The United States of America, with white, fair skin, and Northern European facial features….The US is composed of almost 342 million human souls. Aside from European contributions, the national DNA includes contributions from every region on the planet: Indigenous Americans; African American descendants of slaves arriving since 1620; descendants of the Mexicans that were here in 1836 when their land was turned into Texas and again in 1847 when the American Southwest was ripped away from them by the US; Polynesians from Hawaii, Guam and other islands taken over by the US in the 19th century; Puerto Ricans when invaded by the US in 1898; refugees from US foreign adventures in the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia; and immigrants from many other places.

What skin tone should Sam have?

Raytheon has an annual revenue of over $25 billion USD and is a major manufacturer of weapons and military electronics. By 2015 it was the third largest “defense” contractor in the United States and fifth largest in the world— the largest producer of guided missiles. It employs 60-70,000 people.

How comfortable should we be with a future that rests on the Industrial-Military Complex ethos?

On what values and goals should the nation focus?

Should we devote ourselves to power, control and greed above all else? Should we continue with an attitude of entitlement over the world’s people and natural resources? Should we tolerate our government’s arrogant indifference over other cultures and governments? Can we continue, in ignorance and groupthink, to wage forever wars? Can we allow ourselves to be enslaved by politician-driven mass hysteria? Should we continue our addiction to violence and over-consumption? Should we continue in the moral isolation that we have created through our culture and government? Do we need a Department of War?

An alternative that I favor is to resiliently resist the current path. That we should ground ourselves on goodness and love of neighbor. That we have domestic and foreign policies based on compassion, justice, mercy, and peacebuilding. That we recognize the innate goodness in every person and engage with them with gentleness and respect. That we exercise self-control and be generous in sharing the wealth that we have been given or have taken from others. That we tame our over-consumptive habits. That we patiently and faithfully work to help all humans to enjoy the values professed by the Founding Fathers: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Those endeavors will grant us and humanity the gifts of peace and joy.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY— the future awaits our decision.

🕊️

20260630

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I recently read a meditation from the CAC that offers us reason for hope amidst the current disagreeable environment that often feels like swimming in shark-infested waters.

Hope arises when we embrace a sacred reality.
—Steven Charleston, Ladder to the Light

According to Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “Love is the physical structure of the universe.”

Richard Rohr suggests that, if “…we are to have foundational hope…a foundational belief in a world that is still and always unfolding toward something better” is required. And he identifies that as “the virtue of hope.”

The entire process requires dedicated effort on our part in the face of the suffering and injustices that we witness.

“Sometimes, in this troubled world of ours, we forget that love is all around us. We imagine the worst of other people and withdraw into our own shells. But try this simple test: Stand still in any crowded place and watch the people around you. Within a very short time, you will begin to see love, and you will see it over and over and over. A young mother talking to her child, a couple laughing together as they walk by, an older man holding the door for a stranger—small signs of love are everywhere. The more you look, the more you will see. Love is literally everywhere. We are surrounded by love…. Hope makes room for love in the world.”

Steven Charleston, Choctaw elder and Episcopal bishop

So, perhaps we have a dynamic in action of hope and love leading to joy. I surely believe that. Joy, love, and compassion power the movement for a better world.

“We will live as beautifully, bravely, and kindly as we can as long as we can, no matter how ugly, scary, and mean the world becomes, even if failure and death seem inevitable.”

BRIAN MCLAREN

There are many inspired people working each day for a better world. And they are doing so resolutely and nonviolently while addressing the corruption, and the destruction being wrought by the POTUS regime as it accommodates the plundering of our resources by oligarchs. These inspired people confront the powers that are harming our planet and society, yet they do so nonviolently. One such group is Pace e Bene, and you can read more about their work, and even join their efforts, on one of the links below. That link provides detail of their activities, their successes, and the challenges that remain to be addressed.

There is no time to wallow in the mire, as the song says. The victims of POTUS’ corruption, including the Epstein scandal victims, cry out for justice. It is time for action, nonviolent action that seeks a better world for all creatures.

Resist nonviolently, joyfully, everyday!

🕊️

20260628

Links of interest:

https://cac.org/daily-meditations/love-is-the-foundation-of-hope/

Pace e bene https://prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/EA/EA016/1/110588/Bf6VvtO0V5RO6oGfTZ_P2rXNZ0zPT8ixnwbMthbui5N_archive?emci=63ad4993-8971-f111-ac9c-000d3a54bed0&emdi=ac936f59-1772-f111-ac9c-000d3a54bed0&ceid=24744929

Image credits:Watson and the Shark - painting by John Singleton Copley (MET, 42.71.1), image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

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