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It's Day 1 of 2008.And I was going to pose the question, just wondering, how we could be doing all this celebrating...
When we had all this going on in the year that just passed and which is still going on in the year we're ushering in...
But I decided not to. Kind of. Because to focus on that would just drive everyone crazy.
It would be counter-productive and pour cold water on the festivities and diminish the positivity that, well, maybe things CAN change.
It would completely ignore the reality that there ARE beautiful things and beautiful people around.
We just have to push away all that other crap to find them and focus on them because, barring some mass stream of consciousness that results in a global revolution, we can't control anything else.
So we interrupt this program to bring you images of the beauty that's all around us.
ALL THE BEST FOR 2008.
Great idea. But I cannot resist the opportunity to pontificate...
ReplyDeleteAt some point this year the terrorists are going to go to far and push the switch past the point of no return. They have had it far too easy running back and forth into Afghanistan and hiding in northern Pakistan.
For the most part the Media will try to focus on satisfying the great unwashed with celebrity 'news' and we here in the West will try our best to ignore the plight of ordinary people trapped in these horrible circumstances.
I have a feeling that the Terrorists may actually go to far because they have their heads so far up their asses that they actually believe their own spin. However they are writing cheques that their Ideology cannot cash and as we near the end of another decade our tolerance is reaching critical mass.
The next attack on Western soil may trigger a reprisal that will catch them by surprise. Most of us want to get on with Life and we have wasted far too much time kowtowing to their ridiculous notions.
The citizens of those war ravaged countries deserve to have a chance at living within some level of normalcy. It is time for a paradigmn shift. If the instigators refuse to abort their dumbass plans then so be it.
Bhutto's assasination should be their last mission. The WORLD needs to march in there and end this. Enough is enough.
Yours truly,
General Mayhem
The pictures, ALL of them, have said it for us.
ReplyDeleteMy hopes are, as always, that everyone will find some peace, comfort, laughter and love.
Pragmatist that I am, I know some will miss out, but I still make that wish.
General Mayhem, aka Homo Erratic:
ReplyDeleteAnd I cannot resist resisting your pontificating.
What about if it wasn't the way that you and most of the Western World believe it is?
That it's Good Guy (us) vs. Bad Guy (them), Us vs. Them, the Free World vs. the Terrorists?
That it's just a few bad-ass suicide bombing Muslims on their side, and everyone else wants to be free and be just like us?
Look at where all the trouble spots are. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Africa (Nigerian elections and people being burned alive in churches).
And I'm not even talking about Syria, Lebanon, the Turkey-Greece and Turkey-Kurd powder kegs.
Then there are the North Koreas, the Chinese, the Russians, all of whom engage with us economically to some extent but which still reject our "democracy" system as we know it.
And you throw religion into the mix, and the West's quest for all these countries' resources...
I think they think we're plundering them, we're trying to be like the Jesuit priests who attempted to convert the North American Indian to Catholicism and the British and French soldiers who invaded and colonized.
We're trying to make them something they're not and we're trying to convert them to an ideology and/or belief system they're not ready for and that they reject.
WE went into Iraq. WE went into Iran. WE went into Afghanistan. WE went first into all these places and precipitated the unrest and war and instability that exists there now.
It wasn't a problem before because we could overpower them or do it covertly and, in fact, the West (the U.S., primarily) supported puppet dictatorships (Shah of Iran, etc.); and this happened with the British in India and elsewhere, the French in Africa, you name it.
Eventually, it caught up to us when the Muslim world rose up as the only force powerful enough to fight all of our invasions. And now they're the red army ants who are actually hurting the elephant.
I don't think this is a picture of a few small groups of terrorists doing all this damage. I think it's groups of people rearing up their heads and biting us back.
Why can't we just back off, get out and let them evolve the way they're going to evolve? We've cornered the badger, but we can't get at him. Now's the time to leave him be.
Why can't it be fine for us just to believe in our system and our values, and let other people believe what they want, as long as they don't threaten us?
Why do we feel we have to try to stuff a watermelon down the throat of a mongoose? Geez, now my toothache really hurts...
Dinahmow:
ReplyDeleteExactly. Not that you or I can do anything about the ugliness, except be aware of it, then look to other things for smiles.
Speaking of which, :-)
These photos are a pleasant diversion from the usual filthy pics of your house.
ReplyDeleteColin and Justin are on their way over to sort you out.
Because it is human nature (for most of us) to appreciate the life in which we live, the things in which we are grateful for and to look forward to tomorrow. When not directly effected, we tend to have empathy and sympathy regarding all that is bad which surrounds us and we view on the evening news or read about in the paper or online. But although our hearts break and we wish, want, yearn to end the madness that persists in our world, we still have 'our' world to live in as well.
ReplyDeleteSo, while it saddens us, pisses us off, or breaks our hearts, when we turn the tv off, throw the paper in the trash, or turn off the computer, we still have our lives, our problems, our joys, and our happiness to be thankful for and look forward to.
Does that makes sense? It does to me! :)
Et je veux mon cheque...or whatever you call it-- 4 years of french and I am soooo rusty!
MJ:
ReplyDeleteWell, sincere thanks for that well-thought-out response to this light-hearted fare.
I want to see your other pic, the upper-body one with the bag over your head! That's the one I voted for.
Do you remember the Green Beret, when that guy was impaled by about a thousand spikes in the Vietnamese jungle?
I swear if those two dweebs show up at my door, with their goofy accents and feminine suggestions about how to drive me crazy, that's what they'll get!
Awa:
ReplyDeleteIt makes perfect sense, beauty girl.
The only problem is, if we all just ignore it and try to find what we can in our own worlds...
But you are right. It just seemed to be the right thing to say at the time :-)
Put silver wings on my son's chest
ReplyDeleteMake him one of America's best
He'll be a man they'll test one day
Have him win the Green Beret.
*waits for HE to come along and join me in song*
As for that pic of me, why didn't you just right click and save like all the others did?
MJ:
ReplyDeleteBecause I don't do things on the sly?
Yes Yoda..
ReplyDelete"Do not give in to hate Luke, it will only lead you to the dark side of the Force."
Ultimately 'the ordinary citizens' are going to have to make the decision for themselves.
I understand that the easiest thing to do would be for the West to pack up, leave, and let them fend for themselves.
If they want Liberty and Democracy they will have to fight for it like our forefathers did.
If they choose to subject themselves to tyranny and oppression then they will need to
stay the f*ck on THAT side of the line, and not interfere with the 21st Century. Under no circumstances would any of them be allowed to leave their country or have access to Nuclear armaments. If they did then all bets are off.
If you were trapped on a desert island with a sociopath would you try to reason with him or negotiate a compromise? NO. You would be forced to protect your family and take drastic measures.
Like Yoda said,
"Do or Do NOT, there is no try."
Thank you, Jabba the Butthead. I should be charging you rent for those Star Wars movies.
ReplyDeleteYou've gone to the Dark Side.
How's about this: a mass immigration amnesty. Those that want to leave these places for democracies like ours can do so.
May The Force be with you.
Peace? It sounds so hollow. The future seems bleak for India. Can you believe it, I too look the other way even though my heart is heavy?
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I don't have anything to add to yours...
...See, I am again turning away..
That puppy picture made me miss my Rainbow! :(
ReplyDeleteGautami:
ReplyDeleteI dunno, does it really seem bleak and if so, why? Because Pakistan and Afghanistan are so close by?
You don't need to tell me how magical and beautiful India is, but I can vouch that it is.
The people I bought my computer from and whom I dealt with were all talking to me from Lahore, or was it Bangalore, can't remember...India, it seems to me, is an emerging power.
I don't think you're turning away. Neither you nor I have any power except for thought and wishing and appreciating.
That's all we can do.
Anna:
Ha! Sorry. That's my brother's second dog. He's a big guy now (the dog AND my brother).
What? No pictures of kittens?
ReplyDeleteBad things are happening everywhere...and always have been. Sometimes I just have to close my eyes, take a deep breath (and as bad as it is to do) push it away for a while or I'll go insane.
Happy New Year. May this one be a wonderful one for all of us
Pam:
ReplyDeleteNo, sorry, forgot about the kitties...
I agree the bad has always been happening...it just seems like it's more than usual lately.
Or maybe it's getting harder not to pay closer attention.
I get the need to push away.
Happy new year to you too, darlin'.
Lovely pics!!! Sometimes,its good to be reminded of the beauty that exists around us.
ReplyDeleteLaura
Laura:
ReplyDeleteYep, sometimes we just need to look past the ugliness and focus in on the things we know and love.
Yes, I don't mind so much if festivities get "interrupted", we need to keep these things in mind, but live alongside of them.
ReplyDeleteYour sentiment seems to be that we need to keep on keeping on.
Hope is important.
And, it's nice to stop and see how beautiful life really is.
Annie:
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
Yes, hope is important. If we let that fade away, there's not a whole lot left.
um... happy new year to you too?
ReplyDeleteI agree with looking past the ugliness etc. I always find you to have a positive take on things which I truly appreciate! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLaura
The bloodshed is never out of my mind, and not just for Pakistan, for the Kenya's, the Irak's etc....you wish and hope and pray that the families, the children just get to do what the rest of us can...live their lives.
ReplyDeleteA few days after her murder it was announced here in Australia, her son would take her place, her 19yo son, (with his father).
A part of you immediately thinks, oh no...please not his life too....and then a part of you thinks they will get this, they win in the end, (and peacefully) ..it can take time but the majority of people will get to have their day...and with all the courage and determination that I can only dream of!
Your photos are beautiful, they are inspiration because that is what normal, everyday folk want for their lives, just peace and living.
Pam
Angel:
ReplyDeletePoint taken!
Laura:
Sometimes it's hard to look past it all though, don't you think?
Pam:
I wish I could be as positive as you...and usually I am, I don't focus on this kind of stuff.
It just seems to go on and on and on, and I can't make sense of it. And when I can't make sense of something, I try harder to do that.
But then, maybe the thing is to try not to make sense of it. I don't know.
I think you're certainly right that yes, all we really want is to be at peace and live.
Hi W.W.! I want to thank you so much for this post and the photos and how you addressed both the pain and beauty in the world. We CAN hold both in our hearts at the same time, even if we can't change everything. I always love what you write and how you see the world. You bring your heart into each post -- thank you!
ReplyDelete:)
Clare:
ReplyDeleteLoved this comment from you: "We can hold both in our hearts at the same time, even if we can't change everything."
Correctimundo. :-)