MOTHER’S DAY is Sunday…12 May 2013 in the U.S.A.

Mothers & Daughters

Mother’s Day traces back to ancient Greece where spring celebrations honored Rhea, the Eternal Mother of the Gods. When asked what my most significant contribution has been my answer is readily available…”Being a Mother.”

Once you become a Mother, you will always be a Mother. You’ll add other titles such as “Grandma” and “Great Grandma” as the years pass, but you’ll never lose the feelings and responsibilities that come with being called “Mom.” We Mothers have a fondness for all our children but for those of us who have daughters we must admit that there is a special caring relationship that develops between daughter and mother. After all, we are all daughters to someone and if it is their desire our daughters will someday become Mothers themselves.

I like the feeling I get when I do something for my daughter Leigh and she says the feeling is mutual. We’ve developed a relationship that extends beyond mother/daughter…we’re friends…we genuinely like one another which is significant indeed. Because of our special bond we truly care for one another… unconditionally. Happy Mothers Day!

“Mother is the name of God on the lips and in the hearts of all children.” …Eric Draden played by the late Brandon Lee in “The Crow.”

The following is an inspirational Mother’s Day story by Rex Barker.

After 21 years of marriage, I discovered a new way of keeping alive the spark of love. A little while ago I started to go out with another woman. It was really my wife’s idea. “I know that you love her,” she said one day, taking me by surprise. “But I love YOU,” I protested. “I know, but you also love her.”

The other woman that my wife wanted me to go out with was my mother, who has been a widow for 19 years. The demands of my work and my three children had made it possible for me to visit her only occasionally.

That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and maybe somewhere else to spend some time together afterwards. “What’s wrong, are you okay ?” she asked.  My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be nice to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up, I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she too seemed to be nervous about our “date.” She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s.  “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed,” she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our evening.”

We went to a restaurant that, though not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could read only large print. Half way through the entrees, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favor,” I responded.

During the dinner we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary – but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked for so long that we didn’t even go anywhere else. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place my mother and I had dined. An attached note read: “Son, I paid this bill in advance. I was almost sure that I couldn’t be there but, nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant to me. I love you.”

At that moment I understood the importance of saying, in time, “I LOVE YOU” and of giving your loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some other time.”

Thanks to all the women who love, nurture, teach and inspire us…every day of the year!

Got the pace going like receiving un-defeating criticism.

The weight is felt as muscles are tense and gravity is pulling,

Nothing unbearable as of yet.

Its realized,

The tree is enormous as you’re cutting into its trunk.

Sap leaking from the scars and tattoos marked all over its skin; Wise tree understanding, in a voyage, human likes to leave their print.

Providing oxygen for the whole trip

calm and steady

and

in pain.

JLA ©

Nearly 40 years after hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled the country’s Communist regime by boat, a growing number are taking to the water again.

This year alone, 460 Vietnamese men, women and children have arrived on Australian shores — more than in the last five years combined. The unexpected spike is drawing fresh scrutiny of Hanoi’s deteriorating human rights record, though Vietnam’s flagging economy may also explain why migrants have been making the risky journey.

The latest boat carrying Vietnamese cruised into Australia’s Christmas Island one morning last month, according to witnesses on the shore. The hull number showed it was a fishing vessel registered in Kien Giang, a southern Vietnamese province more than 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) from Christmas Island, which is much closer to Indonesia than it is to the Australian mainland.

Many Vietnamese who have reached Australia have been held incommunicado. The government doesn’t release details about their religion and place of origin within Vietnam, both of which might provide some hint about why they are seeking asylum.

Truong Chi Liem, reached via telephone from the Villawood Immigration Detention Center on the outskirts of Sydney, would not reveal details of his case but said, “I’d rather die here than be forced back to Vietnam.”

.

In this photo taken on April 14, 2013, a group of  Vietnamese asylum seekers are taken by barge to a jetty on Australia’s Christmas  Island. Nearly 40 years after hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese fled the  country’s Communist regime by boat, a growing number are taking to the water  again. The latest boat carrying Vietnamese cruised into Australia’s Christmas  Island one morning last month, according to witnesses on the shore. (AP)

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/news/world/article/40-years-on-fleeing-Vietnamese-take-to-seas-again-4501094.php#ixzz2SnYQ9871

The 23-year-old left Vietnam five years ago but who was detained en route in Indonesia for 18 months. He said Vietnamese simply looking to make more money shouldn’t attempt a boat journey, but he also said, “If a person is living a miserable life, faced with repression and threats by the authorities there, then they should leave.”

Some Vietnamese reach Australia via Indonesia, following the same route that the far more numerous asylum seekers from South Asia and the Middle East have blazed for more than a decade. Others set sail from Vietnam itself, a far longer and riskier journey.

In separate statements, the Australian and Vietnamese governments said the overwhelming majority or all of the arrivals were economic migrants, which would make them ineligible for asylum. Several Vietnamese community activists in Australia and lawyers who have represented asylum-seekers from the Southeast Asian country dispute that categorization or raised questions over the screening process Australia uses.

Those activists and lawyers also raise concerns about what will become of the migrants, saying that while Australia doesn’t want to keep them, Vietnam doesn’t want to take them back.

“Vietnam’s attitude is that, ‘These are people who will never be our friends, so why should we take them back?’” said Trung Doan, former head of the Vietnamese Community in Australia, a diaspora group.

In a statement, the Vietnamese government said it is “willing to cooperate with concerned parties to resolve this issue.”

Asylum-seekers are a sensitive issue for Vietnam because their journeys undermine Communist Party propaganda that all is well in the country. They also hark back to the mass exodus after the Vietnam War.

Those Vietnamese who fled persecution by the victorious Communists in the immediate aftermath of the war triggered a global humanitarian crisis. Their plight resonated with the U.S. and its allies and they were initially given immediate refugee status. In 1989, they had to prove their cases pursuant to the Geneva Convention, and acceptance rates quickly fell as result. Nearly 900,000 Vietnamese did make it out by boat or over land, with the United States, Canada and Australia accepting most of them.

Vietnam remains a one-party state that arrests and hands down long prison sentences to government critics, including bloggers and Roman Catholic activists. Human Rights Watch alleges torture in custody is routine. Christian groups have reported on alleged suspicious deaths in custody.

Most independent human rights activists say that repression has increased over the last two years.

Little is known about the background of those that have made the trip this year.

At least some of those who have arrived in the recent past are Roman Catholics who took part in a protest near a cathedral in the capital, Hanoi, said Kaye Bernard, a refugee advocate who has met some arrivals from Hanoi. Others are said to be involved in land disputes with local authorities.

“I don’t think you can generalize but there has been an increase in repression in Vietnam. The sentences are getting longer. There is more fear,” said Hoi Trinh, an Australia lawyer of Vietnamese descent who heads an organization helping asylum-seekers. “If more people are more fearful, then more of them will flee.”

Peter Hansen, a lawyer and Vietnam expert who advised in some appeals involving recent arrivals from Vietnam, said the small number of cases he was aware of didn’t involve intellectuals, bloggers or political dissidents most targeted in the current campaign by the government. But he cautioned that current Australian guidelines on the validity of claims from Vietnam didn’t take into account the reality of persecution against certain religious sects in specific parts of the country.

“I can’t account for why there has been a significant increase this year, but I can tell you now that I’m absolutely certain that there is a proportion of that number who weren’t motivated to come here for economic reasons,” he said.

Neighboring countries like Cambodia have continued to receive small numbers of asylum-seekers since the 1990s. Many thousands of Vietnamese have left the country to work in Asia or beyond, either illegally or as exported labor. Many don’t return after their contracts end.

Australia appears to be the destination of choice, but the country is already facing a record number of asylum-seekers this year. Under public pressure, the Australian government has made it more difficult for people to be considered for asylum and often detained migrants on isolated islands away from lawyers. Critics say Canberra is avoiding its responsibilities under the United Nations refugee conventions by taking these measures.

Along with other nationalities, the Vietnamese are kept in detention, either on the mainland, on Christmas Island or on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Manus. Families and unaccompanied children are kept in lower-security detention facilities. Four Vietnamese, including a teenager, escaped from one such center in Darwin earlier this week, according to authorities.

Australia’s desire to get tough on Vietnamese arrivals appears to have run into a problem: The government in Hanoi has shown no interest in accepting the asylum-seekers, according to activists and lawyers.

Australia can’t simply put the migrants on the first plane to Hanoi. They need to have travel documents issued to them by Vietnamese authorities, who must first confirm their identities.

Of the 101 Vietnamese who arrived in Australia in 2011, only six have so far been returned to Vietnam. Very few, if any, have been granted asylum, according to lawyers and activists.

—————

Follow Chris Brummitt on Twitter at twitter.com/cjbrummitt

The asylum-seeker boat being smashed against rocks on Christmas Island.     Picture: Jon Faulkner Source: The Advertiser

***********************

From April 4, 2013

By political reporter Simon Cullen

.

Photo: Very basic housing for refugees

The Federal Government has flown a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers to Manus Island, declaring the move will act as a warning to others arriving by boat.

The group of 20 single men left Christmas Island late yesterday and arrived in Papua New Guinea this morning.

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor says it should act as a further warning to those considering getting on a boat to Australia.

“They may well end up in processing centres in Nauru or PNG,” he said.

The Government has repeatedly denied suggestions that Papua New Guinea was no longer willing to accept asylum seekers from Australia, but the transfer is the first to PNG since early February.

The plane returned to Australia carrying two women and a child who require medical treatment.

The Government has also sent a group of Sri Lankans back to Colombo, saying they did not have a legal right to stay.

Mr O’Connor says they did not trigger Australia’s international obligations under the refugee convention.

“We’re not going to be seen as a soft touch. Those places are for refugees,” he said.

The Sri Lankans were returned involuntarily.

Since August last year, nearly 1,000 Sri Lankans have been sent back.

May 8^th, is World Red Cross Red Crescent Day. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is celebrating 150 years of humanitarian action.

How did it all begin?

In 1859, a man named Jean Henri Dunant, also known as Henry Dunant was appalled at the fate of wounded soldiers on both sides of the battle between French and Austrian forces at Solferino. His attempts to help inspired two ideas about a humanitarian response to assist the victims of armed conflicts. He believed that armies should be obliged to care for all wounded soldiers and that a national society should be formed to support military medical services. With the help of the Public Welfare Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, Dunant was able to enact his vision of a national society and by October 1863, an international conference was convened to spread his humanitarian vision to countries all over the world.

The conference adopted the emblem of a red cross on a white background so that medical personnel could be easily identified on the battlefield. The Ottoman Empire adopted the red crescent in the 1870’s, as it was more in keeping with their Islamic faith. In December 2005, an additional emblem – the red crystal – was created alongside the red cross and the red crescent.

Now, the ICRC plays a vital role in helping victims of war, conflict and disaster all over the world. It has a permanent mandate to help prisoners, care for the wounded and sick, and assist civilians affected by conflict. According to the ICRC website, every day Red Cross workers ease the pain and disruption of war by:

• Providing medical assistance for war wounded, displaced people and others affected by armed conflicts
• Educating others about international humanitarian laws
• Exchanging messages between members of families separated by armed conflict
• Helping discover the fate of missing family members
• Providing emergency relief such as water, sanitation, food, shelter

The ICRC is at work in 92 countries and has a staff of almost 13,000 people. The mission is enormously challenging. There has been a proliferation of new weaponry and military technology sometimes outpaces humanitarian law. Disintegrating nations spawn multiple military factions that are new to the task of warfare and unaware of the international humanitarian laws that govern their actions.

Despite these challenges, the ICRC is committed to remaining a neutral actor in these conflicts in order to assist innocent civilians, children, the wounded and sick and detainees deprived to basic human rights.

The idea of an organized humanitarian response to war and disaster was an important step forward for those who believe that the relief of unnecessary suffering is part of a civilized world.

In fact, here is the story of an idea…
This film, combining colourful animation with recent images, brings to life the history of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement from Henry Dunant and the Battle of Solferino through to today. The film explains the meaning of the Geneva Conventions, the universal humanitarian principles underlying the Movement’s efforts and the general activities carried out by the different components, the ICRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the National Societies, as they work together to help those in need.

It seems that all of the great leaders of our world are sending the same message… are we listening?

Dalai Lama Decries Buddhist Attacks On Muslims In Myanmar

 

By Ian Simpson

COLLEGE PARK, Md., May 7 (Reuters) – Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Tuesday decried Buddhist monks’ attacks on Muslims in Myanmar, saying killing in the name of religion was “unthinkable.”The Dalai Lama, a foremost Buddhist leader, told an audience at the University of Maryland at the start of a U.S. tour that the root of seemingly sectarian conflict was political, not spiritual.”Really, killing people in the name of religion is unthinkable, very sad. Nowadays even Buddhists are involved in Burma,” another name for Myanmar, with monks attacking Muslim mosques, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said after delivering the Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace at the university.

“I think it is very sad,” he said, adding, “I pray for them (the monks) to think of the face of Buddha,” who had been a protector of Muslims.

A wave of sectarian violence erupted in March in the central Myanmar town of Meikhtila, causing 44 deaths and displacing an estimated 13,000 people, mostly Muslims.

A Reuters investigation found that radical Buddhist monks had been actively involved in the violence and in spreading anti-Muslim material around the country.

Sectarian clashes between Buddhists and Muslims, who make up about 5 percent of Myanmar’s population, have erupted on several occasions since a quasi-civilian government took power in March 2011 after five decades of military dictatorship.

The 77-year-old Dalai Lama, whose name is Tenzin Gyatso, also urged his largely student audience of 15,000 to create a new world in the 21st century, saying that he was a man of the last century.

“That group of individuals of the 20th century are ready to say bye-bye,” Tibet’s most revered spiritual leader said. “You have the responsibility to create a new world based on the concept of one humanity.”

China brands the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule of Tibet, as a separatist. The Dalai Lama says he is merely seeking more autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

The address in College Park, Maryland, was the start of a U.S. visit that includes stops in Oregon, Wisconsin, Kentucky and New Orleans, Louisiana.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Scott Malone and Kenneth Barry)

long hair showing their vibrancy in the air.

Groomed reflective coats

outline

the beautiful angles

and dimensions

from the hoov to the jaw line

and beyond.

Sensitive to the energy

we create

receptive to the wants,

they participate.

In commands they rebel

with personality and attitude.

Then,

a level of trust between guider and facilitator.

Respecting every inch of the partner who once ran wild and untamed.

At heart both creatures still are,

but were calmly and seductively payed attention to

vibrantly sedated,

relaxed and gave in

to a partnership

shared

in a new life to live together. JLA ©

This weekend I pass another milestone in my working life when I cross over the pension line.

Yes I have now turned from 64 years of age to 65 years, which means that all that hardship of getting up early and making the morning tea is over, and instead I’ll be lying in bed until the late hours in winter, drinking tea all day, playing golf on sunny days, etc….well so they say.

Sadly my own Engineering Consultancy demised in mid 2012 as the Credit Crunch and financial austerity bit deep and the Government started to tighten its own budgetary belt to meet the hard times ahead. Up until this time I had worked on some fantastic projects all over the world and the UK, especially in Hertfordshire, where I worked on many roads and drainage schemes. I also had occasion to work on the Wembley site as well as the Olympics in Stratford.

This all culminated with some humanitarian projects in Mozambique with Oxfam and the UNWFP restoring roads after flood damage of  2000. I also worked in South Sudan with the United Nations World Food Programme where I reconstructed most of the roads from Uganda and Kenya to the old battle-scarred country, after a civil war which lasted for 25 years. Some 4 million landmines and battle ordinance were left lying all over my roads.

I also fixed a few hundred bridges and culverts and repaired and extended some major runways. Those days have all gone now though and when I faced redundancy in 2012 it came as a great shock. I never thought that it was going to happen to me to be honest, but this has been a world wide event that has floored most countries and left people who have not been as secure as I was, in a far worse position than me. Even my overseas contacts had no work for me, so I couldnt do anything. I could mope around or maybe just go to the biggest employer in the UK and in the World… the N.H.S. and ask them for a job…any job.

I went to my local hospital in Stevenage and spoke to the volunteer team who asked me to consider a flyer, which offered various volunteering situations in the hospital. I chose to do driving because I could do so, and also because I have a good heater in my car and I would be very cosy in winter not standing in the bitter cold, which was one of the hardships that I did experience with my old job!

I filled in the forms and waited for the CRB results to come back a few weeks later. I was accepted and asked to go to have my eyes checked out which I passed once more. I was really relieved initially that at least someone wanted me…rejection is a hard thing sometimes, so as soon as I could I started.

The main thing I had to get used to was that it wasn’t like a normal full time job…. I had thought that I would be engaged in the transport operation full time, working say 8 to 10 hours a day every day and asking for some time over the weekend to see my family. But it is much more flexible than that…there are days when I have 4 or 5 transports to do in one day, but others when I have none at all. There is an upside to this of course…you can play golf or do what I did and get going with your genealogy which has taken years to complete.

Still wanting to keep busy though, I met up with Sue Moss who looks after the drivers of the NHCVS Community Transport Scheme, which helps all kinds of individuals who need help getting to various places, and she was delighted that I could help as they nearly always have a shortage of drivers.

Driving people to the various places really is quite interesting although it takes a few months to grasp…having a Satnav helps a lot though. On most occasions the person you are driving will only keep you at the most for an hour or less, but sometimes their appointment lasts longer than they thought, but I usually take a few puzzles with me and relax whilst I wait.

The past few years volunteering have been full of incident and interest. Meeting people and helping get them to their appointments is an extension of my humanitarian interests that I had whilst working with the UN not so long ago. I have met lots of other voluteers during this time and most of these people are caring considerate people who really want to help. Interfacing with the public has taken me away from my usual technical and analytical work…but gives me a focus that people and their needs are a challenge sometimes, but need to be adressed…and lots of people have needs especially now with the economic crisis as it is.

It’s a challenge to make a difference in your life…but it is an even bigger one to make a difference to the public’s experience in life. I saw  the volunteers at the Olympics, and how happy they were to please the public. It cost them lots of effort but they made a great show, and they enjoyed it…I think the same happens with my volunteering at the NHCVS.

I feel quite fulfilled at least doing something that helps the public…it gives me peace of mind that I am doing something worthwhile, so I have decided to continue  to drive after I go on pension, and play golf on my days off!

A post by Hugh, Volunteer Driver for the NHCVS Community Transport Scheme

STATEMENT: 

Unfortunately, “politics” (to generalize many topics of the unpleasant nature) is tied to all the bad things we are trying to improve/overcome.  It is no accident that water is poisoned, air is polluted, and food is toxic.  Whether it is a conspiracy or the agenda of a controlling government or greedy individuals with a loose moral compass, these problems are not repairable by head-in-sand loyalty to the governments, systems, and paradigms that perpetuate and sustain the status quo.  Hence the appeal of scapegoats: immigrants, welfare recipients, drug users, minorities, “terrorists,” foreign dictators, *the other* political party… me.  When I speak of these things, most of the content of my diatribes is not my opinion.  When I cite studies and historical facts that support what may appear as personal opinion, I am simply relaying information gathered by other diligent, intelligent, and better informed people than myself.  We seek the truth.  In discussing truth, we dispel lies.  In dispelling lies and putting forth ideals for a better way, we illuminate a path toward righteousness, and living rightly rewards us all with health and justice and love. 

I see society living as slaves, and Truth is the key that will unlock the chains of ignorance and set us free.  This notion predates my birth by thousands of years, so I will neither take credit nor accept criticism for it.  I cannot force my beliefs on anyone, but I do passionately share information and challenge my loved ones to understand what their participation in the American system really is and what it means.  Nationalism is a tool of conformity, coerced loyalty, and oppression.  The self-righteous work ethic entrenched in the American psyche is useful for both slavery and class division, because it proposes a meritocracy within an oligarchy and mercantilist state.  The job-issued scrip does not serve humanity in equity but rather in arbitrary competition, and the goods and services purchased with this beautiful money are largely comprised of vanity objects, novelty items & entertainment services, and medical treatment to ameliorate the many ailments caused by this sinful way of life.  The fact that most churches in America are sympathetic or loyal to Nationalist, Imperialist, and Mercantilist propaganda is even more aggravating to the pursuit of truth and righteousness.  They bend the Bible to fit modern ways and means, and they censor Jesus to assure a hybrid version of political correctness that reduces the risk of rebellion by the sheep, who may otherwise recognize and overpower the wolves.  Better to celebrate an execution than to take responsibility for the awesome powers bestowed on mankind by the Creator.  To acknowledge our divinity and channel the light of God directly through our own vessels (bodies) to see into dark corners behind closely guarded veils of manufactured ignorance is the right and obligation of anyone who claims it.  *My opinion* is that it is the duty of everyone.  Let us dispel evil, expand love, and destroy the web of lies that entraps man’s potential and wastes our time and energy maintaining this devilish contraption. 

While the deceiver weaves its lies into an appealing, apparently benign cloth to cover our “shameful” natural bodies, I run naked with scissors to cut it up!  For that I am branded a rebel, an instigator, criminal, the devil himself!  And what makes me the object of diverted attention is the predictable but effective sleight-of-hand of a masterful magician.  Magic may be popular, and scapegoats make projecting personal flaws easier, but the truth is not my possession, and the law cannot confiscate that which is superior to it.

Let me start by stating that the interest of others are thrown to one side in order for people with the capitalist mindset to fulfil their own needs, with disregard for anyone else. Milton Friedman, author of Capitalism and Freedom, suggests that - ”The world runs on individuals pursuing their self interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a, from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way.” This mindset isn’t one of all people, but sadly it exists within the minds of many. Fortunately there are some people who realise that helping their fellow man is something that individuals like to pursue in as well. Unfortunately, people who try to help others are often scrutinised about it. Be this through political measures, or things as simple as people not helping someone unless there is some form of self-gain.

I guess, in some ways, Friedman is right about the world running on individuals. Unfortunately, this is through money and not in pursuit in some greater meaning. A disproportional amount of wealth exists in the world. This comes in the form of money being the main driving force. It’s what people are educated to believe is the most important commodity in the world. It is what people are indoctrinated to compete for in work and the amount of capital one has is seen as the most important attainment for someone in life. At least, this is true for all capitalist countries of the world.

The difference in wealth between people of the world is astonishing. According to globalissues.org, over three billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day (A graph to indicate this is available here - http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats). If you compare this with the amount of millionaires in the world, this figure becomes even more astounding (I am using millionaires as they are considered to be the wealthiest people in the world). The Economist reports that there are “two different “official” methods for determining who makes the cut. Capegemini, a financial consultancy, defines a millionaire as anyone with investable assets of $1 million or more – meaning that they actually have over a million dollars as that doesn’t include the home in which they live, for instance. By this measure there are about 10 million millionaires on the planet, according to Capegemini and Merill Lynch. Mega bank Credit Suisse uses a different definition, however, denoting anyone whose net assets exceed $1 million a millionaire. In those terms, there are 24.2 million millionaires on the planet – about 0.5% of the world’s adult population, or more than the entire population of Australia. 41% of them live in the U.S., 10% in Japan and 3% in China (http://www.luxist.com/2011/02/22/how-many-millionaires-are-there-in-the-world/)”.

I am not proclaiming that all millionaires are evil and heartless (there are some examples of ones who give to charity and whatnot – the scale of which in relation to their wealth is debatable  but that is for another time), but the amount of money they have is something that could be used to greater effect. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that $44bn a year is needed to end global hunger for 1 year (http://www.deliveringdata.com/2010/11/how-much-money-is-needed-to-eradicate.html). Carlos Slim Helu, top of the Forbes’s The World Billionaire list 2013, has a net worth of $73 billion (http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/). It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the remaining fortune Mr Slim Helu would have is ample enough to live on, if he chose to end global hunger. “To end extreme poverty worldwide in 20 years, Sachs calculated that the total cost per year would be about $175 billion. This represents less than one percent of the combined income of the richest countries in the world (http://www.visionofearth.org/economics/ending-poverty/how-much-would-it-cost-to-end-extreme-poverty-in-the-world/)”. Oxfam estimate that the the world’s 100 richest could end global poverty 4 times over (http://www.trueactivist.com/worlds-100-richest-could-end-global-poverty-4-times-over/).

Obviously, this is all well and good, providing that these people actually WANT to part ways with their precious money. The attitude of people has greatly changed. Religion (one of the driving forces of social justice), has been hijacked by capitalists and the big-media to use a spring-board to shoot out their messages. In the U.S., congressmen, state senators and even presidential candidates have the cheek to use Jesus and that their acting on behalf of Christianity. I am not a religious man, but I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t approve of some of the ethics portrayed by residents of “God’s country”. In fact, Jesus is quoted as being openly against capitalist ideals. Matthew 19-21 quotes Jesus as saying “Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”. Luke 12.15 states that”And he (Jesus) said unto them, ‘Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth’.” Next time you hear a dirty republican (or anyone with a capitalist mentality) mindlessly say about the Bible, throw that one their way.

One of the main forms of capitalist dominance in politics is to cut welfare to poorer people. Austerity measures in The United Kingdom and especially Cyprus (to name just two) have an enormously negative effect on the poor throughout the country. This creates a divide between classes; something which would not exist be it not for capitalism. The class divide demonises  the working class as a burden to the state. In the UK, I see more and more media portraying recipients of benefits as “scroungers”, yet very little is said about bankers and their own bonuses and pensions. We’re led to believe that everyone is going to be a millionaire or will become the next Beyoncé or Jay-Z. The capitalist media distracts us from what is truly at work throughout the world. The growing number of people who must fail for the success for few is growing, yet it is getting exposed for what it truly is.

There is no such thing as community values  (or Society, to quote a dead woman) truly acted out through a capitalist system. The working class are indoctrinated to “make it big” and “succeed in” life, at the cost of their fellow human. The day will come for capitalism to end, but for now; capitalism succeeds in pitting man versus man, because the capitalists know if everyone was educated, truly exposed to their objectives, they would turn against them and they would crumble.

We are excited to announce that we have a team returning to Rio Azul July 27- Aug 5, 2013!!!

Here is an update from FH on what has been happening in Rio Azul:

Greetings!

We send you a special greeting from the community of Rio Azul. We hope the
Almighty Lord is blessing Friends Church for how generously you have given to us and
blessed us in a special and wonderful way.

Health Projects

Rio Azul continues working in the area of Growth Promotion and Monitoring for
children under 5. In the first quarter of the year monthly meetings for weight
monitoring and health counseling were conducted. Home visits were conducted
throughout the six month period to provide follow up for mothers with children with
low weight.

Training sessions were held in this period for community mothers with children
under 5 covering breastfeeding issues, diarrheal disease prevention, personal
hygiene, hand washing, and balanced diet. To further support this education
practical training sessions were provided involving cooking demonstrations and
feeding habit improvement.

A kid’s club has been started in the community where young children gather in the
afternoons to participate in a series of fun activities that promote healthy habits and
learning God’s Word.

All these efforts are showing results as the chronic malnutrition rate in the Ixil region
(of which Rio Azul is part) has reduced from 78% in 2010 to 75% in 2012.

Infrastructure Projects

Three classrooms have been given new roofs in the past six months. These had
deteriorated a lot and were allowing rain and dust to enter. The new roofs have
provided much more comfortable conditions for the students and teachers.

The continuation of the water and sanitation project has finally resumed after many
delays due to political uncertainty. With the continued generous support of Friends
Church and the help of the visiting team members the first treatment plant has
been completed. This project has the community very enthusiastic because it is
a significant step in the implementation of the larger drainage project in Rio Azul.
The piping to connect the plant to the whole community is being provided and
installed by the municipality and will start soon.

The implementation of treatment plants in the community of Rio Azul will not only
impact the community but also the surrounding area as this is the first of this type
of infrastructure. This is raising awareness of the importance of caring for the
environment throughout the area.

–
Water: anything that God uses in and through us to make the world better. How are you bringing water to your world today?

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This might be the most important blog I’ve ever written, in fact I’m going to start a new thread just for this, it’s that important. We, here in America, fight the war on terrorism all over the world, and it’s a very confused effort. President Obama, like others before him, has bought into to idea that the terrorists around the world are some very sophisticated, ultra organized incorporated group of pseudo intellectuals with money and materials sufficient to attack us at any time, anywhere. The administration would have us believe that the terrorists are at least as organized as they are because they have to justify their bloated budget and perpetuate the administration and it’s goals. I don’t believe that, and if people like Eric Holder believe it then they are as crazy as a shit house rat!

I grew up in extreme poverty. We were so poor that me and my friends thought that people who had floors and sheet rock on the walls were rich. When we went out to have a good time our idea of a great evening was a quart of Borden’s chocolate milk. Girls in my town tried to marry a soldier as soon as legally possible just to get away. We thought the world was flat because when people left town they never came back. Chicken and rice was a chicken flavored soup that had some rice in it, and we were always sick!

The Killeen police department took over the duties of law enforcement when my hometown of Simmonsville was incorporated into the city. In due course the department theorized that we were some vast mini-mafia because a few hubcaps turned up missing, and whiskey was sold to soldiers on Sunday. Nothing could have been farther from the truth, but as these idiots picked us up, and told us how organized we were we learned well. First thing we learned was that the police department would feed us in jail. That was job one. The next thing we learned was that any information we gave them would quickly translate into freedom. Third thing we learned was how to get the hell out of Simmonsville and move to Austin where we could make money and have all the chocolate milk we wanted any time!

Fast forward to the Middle East forty years later. I see the same dirt floors, the same starving faces, the same bozos saying these people are this, that, Al Quaeta, El WhatEver! We spend billions of dollars dropping atom bombs on ant hills. And every time the administration comes up with another theory, another press conference, some starving bunch of kids in Afghanistan say, “That’ll work!” They stitch together an IED and we hit em with a drone, and it looks like a war.

What to do? First, get the f#¥k out of the Middle East. I hate to be the first one to tell you people this but these guys love to fight. WE loved to fight back in Simmonsville. Wanna know why the real Mafia never hooked up with us back then? Because we were too damn violent and we consistently robbed them. Come into our little corner of the world with a suit and a new car and see how that works out for you. Hell, we stole the hubcaps off of POLICE cars! Were we organized? Hell no! There were three distinct sections of our little hamlet and brothers and sisters let me tell you, we weren’t politically correct! If I left my house on Grider street to go to the store for my mom, and was stupid enough to cut down 42nd street the black kids would whip my ass and take my mom’s cigarette money quick, and I had it coming. That was the Simmonsville Stupid Tax! I first met Jr Mitchell when he helped me get to the store one day with the help of a sling shot and a sack or .45 caliber lead balls. How’s THAT for a childhood, Dr. Spock?

You catch more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar. Now this solution won’t end all the bullshit in one master stroke, but it’s a start. I have this kid from Africa who talks to me on Facebook. He has no parents, no real bed, and most of all, no food. I don’t know how he gets on the net, but I suspect he hangs out at some Internet cafe, and I know I’m not the only American he’s talking to because he’s starving! He hit me up for money. I tell everyone “over there” to forget about getting money from me because I’m not buying bullets to shoot at our boys serving our country. But I will send a sandwich. If he can send me a reliable address I will go to HEB, and I will put together a package that will feed him for a month for about fifty dollars. We do this for my son who is serving in Afghanistan all, the time. He has us always include a liberal number of Hershey bars for the kids he meets, as a matter of fact, he has a herd of goats and shares meat with a neighboring village.

I’m going to do this on my own, without the Christian this or that, or any save the children because I consider them to all be thieves and every dollar you send them gets funneled to whatever fat bastard is running that country at the time. And is isn’t instant coffee. One sandwich will not save the world. But, in time, the idea will grow. Al Qaeda didn’t give you that sandwich, Mohammed didn’t give that sandwich, one AMERICAN gave you that sandwich!

I know this sounds simplistic, but I’m a simple man. People here in this country forgot what it’s like to just be hungry. I hear all these people screaming about Detroit, or East LA, but you grow up in PoDunk, Texas and then you come and tell me about it! I invite your comments, hell, I could be wrong. I was wrong twice last year, but I don’t think so.