Ukraine (a poem that keeps growing)

We watch them dying in slow motion.

Defeat seems inevitable,

but they fight on and on --

starving,

having their country destroyed before their eyes,

never giving up.

And, yet,

we cannot really help.

History, spheres of influence, nukes --

chains that bind us.

Their pictures on my screen

Seemingly so close

And yet so far

I reach out my hand

I cannot reach

It's peaceful here

Where I live

But for how long?

When will it be us

Crying, dying?

*****

He stops their ears 

so they cannot hear. 

He closes their eyes 

so they cannot see.  

He knows that good people

cannot accept what he is doing -- 

but goodness is alien to him.  

He knows only evil, 

corruption, torture, murder, 

and basking in unimaginable wealth.

**********

Путин лжет. Это война. Россия напала на Украину. Украинцы храбро сражаются с превосходящими силами противника.

**************'

Helpless,

powerless,

watching the brave men fight,

believing they are right,

believing the attackers are wrong,

fearing WWIII.

Опусти Oружие

Россияне, Путин вам врёт. Украинцы твои братья. Любите своих братьев. Опусти свое оружие.

#ПутинВрёт #ОпустиОружие #ОпустиСвоеОружие 

ради любви к Иисусу

#РадиЛюбвиКИисусу

meme about the Ukraine

I am copying this from a FB post.  I have not verified its statements, but I think it makes interesting allegations.

WHY UKRAINE MATTERS 

For those who ask 

How the nation of Ukraine ranks:

• 1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores;
• 2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves;
• 2nd place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world's reserves);
• 2nd largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons);
• 2nd place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves;
• 3rd place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)
• 4th in the world by the total value of natural resources
• 7th place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)

 Ukraine is an agricultural country:

• 1st in Europe in terms of arable land area
• 3rd place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world's volume);
• 1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil;
• 2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports;
• 3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world;
• 4th largest producer of potatoes in the world;
• 5th largest rye producer in the world;
• 5th place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons);
• 8th place in the world in wheat exports;
• 9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs;
• 16th place in the world in cheese exports.

Ukraine 

•  can meet the food needs of 600 million people.
•  Ukraine is an industrialized country:
•  1st in Europe in ammonia production;
•  2-е Europe's and 4th largest natural gas pipeline system in the world (142.5 bln cubic meters of gas throughput capacity in the EU);
•  3rd largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;
•  3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km);
•  3rd place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment;
•  3rd largest iron exporter in the world
•  4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world;
•  4th world's largest manufacturer of rocket launchers;
•  4th place in the world in clay exports
•  4th place in the world in titanium exports
•  8th place in the world in exports of ores and concentrates;
•  9th place in the world in exports of defence industry products;
•  10th largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons).

Translated from InVenture: "Is Ukraine a Country underestimated by investors?" by Anatoliy Amelin

**********

Second meme

My only contribution is some gentle editing of what I think is a very accessible explanation of the situation.

So, here goes...

"Ukraine used to be in an abusive relationship with Russia, feeding him, letting him use her car, and giving him whatever he asked for until she built up the confidence to call it quits back in 1991.

Since then Ukraine has been working on herself, becoming a strong independent woman, with help from friends like France, America, Poland, etc., offering her support, loaning her money, and helping her find her way.

Ukraine has been enjoying being single for 30 years, and looking forward to continuing to grow and create new friendships.

Now Russia, being the "Toxic Ex" that it is, wants her back, and doesn’t want her meeting new people or having any new relationships. 

A couple of weeks ago Russia started sitting in front of Ukraine’s house, and when her friends asked him what was he doing there, he said, “Oh nothing. Just getting a little bit of exercise in, that’s all.” 

After her friends told her that Russia was potentially getting ready to do something bad to her, he said, “They’re lying, they just want you to be scared of me, and that’s not what it is.”

Then, sure enough, Russia broke into Ukraine’s house, beating her up, and “taking advantage” of her while on livestream, and double-dog daring any of her friends to do something about it."

And there you have it, folks. 

A sad and disturbing tale. 

(Sigh.)

Thoughts about HP in 12 step programs

I wrote this in a secular meeting where the query was posed as to how people dealt with the concept of a male God in 12 step literature 

I do not believe in a male God.  I do not believe that God is a “person,” capable of having gender.  

This does not mean that I don’t believe in God.  It’s just that I think the true name and nature of God are unknowable.

When I read program literature that calls God “he,” I translate it mentally to “it,” and think “this is how the author experiences HP.  They are doing the best they can to describe their experience.”  Their understanding is incomplete.  That is true of all humans.  All of our understandings are incomplete.

I am not certain as to whether the spiritual experiences I have had, which have led to 17 years of abstinence, are actually due to an external God, or due to an interesting neurological phenomenon that merely feels like an external God.  I do not feel that I need to know that. I do not believe that God is governed by binary true/false logic or human reasoning.

The people who write program literature, like all religious writers, are fallible. Their expressions of how this program works are limited by their understanding, which is necessarily incomplete.

It may be that scientific research will one day uncover the neurological basis for the spiritual experience.  I hope so, because then, perhaps, it might be reproduced artificially.  This might be of great benefit to people who do not easily have spiritual experiences.

Or it may be that these spiritual experiences are really inexplicable miracles that come from a mysterious external source that is God — or some other external source. 

The OA 12 & 12 invites us to leave the debating club and just work the program in light of our own desperate search for recovery.  I have heard this expressed in the saying “utilize don’t analyze. “ 

This reminds me somewhat of the process of using Zen koans.  Many of these koans are statements that make no sense, like “listen to the sound of a rock growing.” Rocks do not make a sound that humans can hear.  They do not, so far as we know, grow.  Yet, if one does focus on listening to the sound of a rock growing, one may experience an altered mental state, a spiritual experience — at least I do — and this is the sort of mental state that fosters abstinence for me. 

The Zen practitioners also have a “utilize don’t analyze” approach.  If a student feels stuck in analysis, he or she can ask the master to beat them to stamp it out — as it is not conducive to the desired result.

Many people seem as stuck in logic and reasoning as others seem stuck in a rigid, intolerant view of religion.  I reject both approaches.  

In a Zen koan like approach, I could say something like "God does/does not exist."  I feel that the apparent contradiction here is a limitation in human reasoning and the statement as written is not a pair of alternatives but co-existent realities.

AOC tweeted link to Boebert photo

AOC tweeted a link to this image

The lady with the demonic smile surrounded by her children, who appear to be carrying military grade weapons.  All of them are clearly under 18.  The youngest looks like he's about 6.  The family's name is supposedly Boebert

 Do these people consider themselves Christian?

My tweet in response

When pagans holding phallic totems in front of a pre-Christian symbol of the winter solstice claim to be Christians, it sounds like the sort of thing that would bring down the apocalypse in vengeance. https://t.co/BuzX9xMrn5

— Annalisse Mayer (@AnnalisseMayer) December 25, 2021

text of my tweet: When pagans holding phallic totems in front of a pre-Christian symbol of the winter solstice claim to be Christians, it sounds like the sort of thing that would bring down the apocalypse in vengeance.

Some years back there was a news item about someone finding bullet casings on the ground and concluding that perhaps a group of gun activists might have gathered and shot bullets into the air.  I'm searching for this news item.  I can't find it.

In any case, my reaction at the time was that this type of event -- where people gather to shoot guns -- is a gathering of phallically insecure men who staged a symbolic mass masturbation.  

Somehow, my Freudian style observations about people who are obsessed with guns is not gaining a foothold in the national consciousness.

Sometimes in the past things that I've said have seemed turned out to circulate widely -- not attributed to me, and possibly arising from other sources simultaneously by coincidence.  Even tho some people have told me that they agree with my Freudian style analysis, I haven't seen it repeated generally.  Perhaps it makes people too squeamish to say these things.

I find that I have a persistent fantasy that something I say will go viral and make me famous.  Actually, fame is over-rated.  Especially in this case, inviting the attention of angry, armed people could endanger my life -- so maybe it's just as well that no one notices that I'm saying these things -- but, still, I fantasize that what I say might get attention.

Of course, I think that people who engage in mass shooting incidents are often fantasizing the same thing, which is why I have supported the #nonotoriety movement -- that the press should pay less attention to these incidents. 

in memory of FH -- A FIRE WAITING TO BE LIT

I'm a Quaker.  My meeting just had a hybrid zoom/in person memorial meeting for one of our former members. During quaker memorial services, everyone is encouraged to offer comments on the life of the decedent.

I haven't seen FH in a long time. Unfortunately, what I remember about him is that he was quick to anger, and that I was uncomfortable with that. I didn't feel comfortable sharing about it. I'm not even comfortable using his full name here.

Other people gave wonderful messages about how kind he was -- generous, gentle. One friend gave a very moving message about how FH basically saved his life, by taking over care of his mentally ill mother, who was driving him insane.

One good thing about the zoom meetings is that I can take notes -- or journal -- into the text program on my Mac, while attending, inconspicuously. I did write something about him.  I probably should have shared it, but didn't quite dare. 

This blog is often a way that I can share things so that no one who I know is likely to see it -- and in fact perhaps no one will see it at all -- a way of burying things in public. 

This is what I wrote:

What I remember about FH is anger

That’s relevant to me, because I have anger issues as well

Quakers tend to not relate too well to anger

Curiously, in the Bible, God is also described as angry in the Bible, in some cases

BA  talked abut Fred laying a fire in the meeting house before meetings  — a fire waiting to be lit

fire is a symbol of anger as well 

a fire waiting to be lit

That last line sticks with me

A fire waiting to be lit

Yes, anger is a fire, but so is spiritual passion, eagerness to be of service, and even revolution.  There are many kinds of fire.  My latest twitter profile cover shows my anger at a political situation using fire

FH: a fire waiting to be lit

new anti-trump meme

 "A day in the life of Sue the Trump supporter…

Sue gets up at 6 a.m. and fills her coffeepot with water to prepare her morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.

With her first swallow of coffee, she takes her daily medication. Her medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of her medications are paid for by her employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Sue gets it too.

She prepares her morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Sue's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the shower, Sue reaches for her shampoo. Her bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for her right to know what she was putting on her body and how much it contained.

Sue dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air she breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

She walks to the subway station for her government-subsidized ride to work. It saves her considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Sue begins her work day. She has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Sue's employer pays these standards because Sue's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Sue is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, she'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think she should lose her home because of her temporary misfortune.

It's noon and Sue needs to make a bank deposit so she can pay some bills. Sue's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Sue's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Sue has to pay her Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and her below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Sue and the government would be better off if she was educated and earned more money over her lifetime.

Sue is home from work. She plans to visit her father this evening at his farm home in the country. She gets in her car for the drive. Her car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.

She arrives at her childhood home. Her generation was the third to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans. The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

She is happy to see her father, who is now retired. Her father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Sue wouldn't have to.

Sue gets back in her car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Sue enjoys throughout her day. Sue agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm self-made and believe everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

- Kay Dee posted by Joan Stanley