Wordless Wednesday:

Churches launch a worldwide council in support of garment workers.

As reported in August, 2013:

The Council of Churches Worldwide launch a Crusade against abuse of garment workers in Bangladesh.

And a report from Aljazerra America about what's happened, or not, a year later...

What this transformation from slave labor levels will take is less proselytizing - from sites I've read, one can tell it's thick and deep - and more actual growth in areas that are neither political nor religious, but economically revolutionary.  This is specifically by Fair Trading these goods.

These workers deserve nothing less than an all out effort put forth to insure living wages, a fair pay scale, and safe working conditions,and this all organized around the Garment industry just as other producers of products for Western markets have done with raw goods, such as tea, coffee, and chocolate, etc., for world wide markets..

I hope this makes sense to me but especially to you tomorrow; I am so tired.
PS:  Friday5 was not up at the time This was scheduled.  But, I will append it to this post tomorrow if it's been updated.  Good Night and Blessings..

I will not do Sunday Stealing today.

I'm flummoxed. I can't understand this sort of modern day "lynching" that's still ongoing, much less the sort of people who do this.  What kind of country do they fracking want!

This article was on the 22nd page of the A section in the newly sold UT.  Memorial Day indeed.  Bah!  We send armies to "free" others trapped under tyrannical masters, and we can't even stop this genocide behavior.  I'm absolutely sick about what is going on right here, Right NOW!  This is not political; it's an Outrage!

Stop the Navy's Plan to Bomb a Pacific Paradise

Stop the Navy's Plan to Bomb a Pacific Paradise

Forget the Music, this is more important....a book

I'm putting this book up where the book by Gail Tsukiyama about a Hong Kong Family was.  Ms. Tsukiyama's book was about the period between the late 30's and up to probably the late 60's, just before China proper was given Favored Nation Status by Richard Nixon.

Please keep your eyes on the Hong Kong Umbrella Revolution.  China said that it was going to leave Hong Kong as it was.  But, of course, it isn't.

Meanwhile, A look into some of our own American corporate dirty little secrets...

"Homo homini lupus"
Man is a wolf to man

Nobodies is a blockbuster.  Published in 2007, it's been mainly ignored.  As Americans, we have a right to know what is happening in our own country, and a duty to change Life for the enslaved people that have been brought here, made to work without pay, and held in this slavery, against their wills.   This sordid affair goes well beyond the Central and South American peoples that the press loves to hammer upon.

My blog seems to be the only way I can tell anyone about this book, and all it exposes about modern slavery.  There are heavy consequences from not doing something about the practices that it exposes, to us as both a People and as a Nation.  We need to act.

Saturday Komeeks,a Little Monster, and Happy Birthdays, too

Aaaannnnnddd, speaking of fish and other little creatures of the deep...

Here's a story, Via DH,  about a little monster so dangerous it had to be kept alone in the tank.  It ate EVERYTHING else in the tank.

Read about this little Monster HERE

 I guess this is one shrimp that nobody wants dares to eat.

Today is Ele's Birthday.   Tomorrow is Bee's.  Happy Birthdays to you both, and next year, a promise, we'll go have pizza together, or something very nice to eat somewhere, maybe Seabright Brewery? 

Wishing you each a Very Happy  Birthday!

The envelopes with mysterious markings have a lot of surprises in them, or rather one very big one.  Enjoy!

Not a wordless Wednesday, again..... Flowers and some political stuff if - you can call Warmongering political.

I'll hit you with the Ugly later.  I would like to apologize for not reading all your blogs. Since I've been handicapped by an inability to read them on the netbook, my blog reading has fallen into the scupper.  Though there is a new log-in system in place, it only works for one computer.  So, I've had to figure a work-around to use the systemon the netbook. There is also a very naggy Google Connect that I'm not sure I want to let through the door quite yet. It seems like something very cool to use but then it just might be a little like opening the door to Godzilla.

First things first: here is a  "May You Walk With Beauty All Around You" part:

I found a tiny flower from the garden, the sweetness of which I wanted to share with all who read here. 

The flower is no more than 3/8th of an inch wide.
You can make it bigger to see details.
It is a work of Tiny Perfection.

Also, I would like to report that the blue eyed grass is making a lot more headway along the verges of the lawn at the rec center.  I'm just so happy to see it there!  I have no idea, besides from the friendly help of the birds, how it got there.  I'm collecting seeds again this year in order to scatter them ever farther.  They are the cutest little devils.  So tiny!  Smaller than those above.


Now cometh the "Big Ugly" Part:  Ahem!

As you know, I've been reading the new book, and it has made me wish I'd started reading the more "political" books earlier in life and had never stopped!

However, there were twins, which I never regretted but can you see me balancing a baby on each knee while reading heavy, wrist breaking, head splitting Tomes filled with footnotes?

The Big Sisters were readers, and, of course, they read to their Little Sisters.  I might have had more time to read if I'd thought to stay locked into the bathroom with my books, yes?  No, it wouldn't have worked.  There was Life to Live and a sweet family to raise and to Love!  They were the happiest of times.

Now, as an old Crone, (read Harpy?) I can read the "Big Ugly" stuff again (and swirl my brew with a cackle!?).

About the book, The Armies of Ignorance : It's heartbreaking to read because it answers some questions (in my mind) that needed to be answered.  The first being, why did we drop two different bombs on the Japanese, when they hesitated to surrender, when they were still negotiating to surrender?  And, why did we choose to terrify the population in Germany and Japan with an "unconditional surrender" policy when none of the Allies were informed about it, nor had yet agreed to it, when it was presented by FDR at the Casablanca Meeting as a done deal?  General Eisenhower - who knew better than anyone in Washington, DC what really worked -  had tried ( unsuccessfully) to have such a policy stopped or at least modified.  He knew it would cost a lot more lives. As everything unfolded, it is clear to me what the objective really was.

The book was written in 1977, by a man who was both a Military man, and a Scholar. 

Reading is the only way for me to stay informed and mentally alive.  I'm so glad we have the first amendment, and that it is almost still fully operational.   I feel it is one of the greatest blessings IN the Bill of Rights.  Thank you  James Madison!  (Yes, that link is a Wiki.. sorry..)

I get to stay home and rest today.  I think I'll keep my jammies on all day and KNIT!  I need to knit!

"Oh What Fools These Mortals Be" and Keystone Coal Tar "Nixting" link

Good Lord.   Is it April Fool's Day everyday there?

Di-hydrogen Monoxide  Contaminates Florida's water.  And I thought it was Alligators that were the problem.  Who knew?

My apologizes to the Floridians who got the joke.

MEANWHILE, the Keystone project booms ahead.   We need to stop this sucker! 
A letter with a link from the Sierra Club:

Dear Friends,

It's impossible to fight climate change while simultaneously investing in one of the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fossil fuels on the planet.

That's why I took advantage of the final public comment period to speak out against
the toxic Keystone XL tar sands project. Will you do the same? It's really easy and
only takes a few seconds, but we need our voices to add up!

https://secure.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=10451&s_src=710ZSCSH01

Thanks!

That's all folks....

Saturday Beasts Just in time for Halloween. A voice for Pat Tillman.

Well, Saturday Komeekz are going to get me hacked so, maybe I'll try for something else.. Great BIG insects and the Pat Tillman Story...

The blog, Ohio Birds and Biodiversity, offers up the first one.   Black Witch Moths.  These mamma's are G-Enormous!

We also watched, "The Pat Tillman Story", a documentary about what really happened, out there on the border lands of Ancient blood lines during the "Bush Era".

For the military ditz who was going on and on while on tape, talking about Tillman's lack of Religious Affiliation, I will only say this:

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  John 15:13
 
What a terrible thing for this sensitive and private family to endure, this circus and trail of lies, after losing their heroic son.  At least two others from his group died with him.  What a world the wretched so-called leaders have made for us, eh?

Knitting report: three inches knit on the ties for Stardust.  I was handed a new book from the Lady's #1 Detective Agency series by DH, back from the outer worlds, and that was the end of the knitting.  I'm also reading a translation of some Taoist tracts to try to keep this downward spiral from going any further.

God, we all sure need some flowers....

Shooting Star in a Granite Bolder Cleave - Ansel Adams Wilderness Trip

The Earth will prevail.   The Universe cannot afford to let them win this one, and it won't.   Nature will find a way.
Good night...

Sunday School and Sunday Matinee

Sunday Matinee this week is the documentary called "Happy".  It chronicles a 30 +  year study of "happiness";  It is about why people are happy instead of depressed even when, by all measures, they shouldn't be happy.

The findings are very informative, especially since Americans are generally an unhappy people, according to most measures of true happiness.  I think it's VERY worth watching. 

 The Linkie  to "Happy".  Watching it made me, well, Happier!

 Sunday School:

On the other side of the coin, we have money grubbing.

Herein lies a little lesson in why we can't make it unless everyone pays their fair share?

LINKIE to Nation of Change article on just how much money the super rich have avoided paying, and why it makes a big freaking difference.

This might be to radical for a some of you but maybe this is right?

Oh, and the Global Banking System just keeps raking it in, too.  We are about to enter a very shady Brave New World.  We can beat them at this game, but it will take local trading of goods.  A village, you know?

Now, to fight back!  We have heated water with solar since 1984, but there is lots more to do.

I grabbed a badge from 350BrighterPlanet.com  after having seen it at Elephant's Eye Blog, which is a fabulous place!  Mosey on over and have a gander at the flowers and stuff of South Africa.

Paul Ryans Charts from Mother Jones article

I'm sorry, this just BEGS to be as widely broadcast as possible:

I wouldn't believe just how low the republican candidates can go..... except they have Ryan.

Can I give Ryan the "Biggest *ss of All" Award?


Here's the ARTICLE at Mother Jones where the chart (below) comes from.

I just found the chart on  THIS post at dottedyellowline blog.

All over the world, there are people from Europe and America working to better the lives of those in poverty.  Here we have candidates, running hard for public office (that trough of public money) wanting to cut even more holes in the safety net that keeps people from starving to death in the streets. 

Is this really the sort of country we want?

Dark side of a Bain success

Dark side of a Bain success

From Salon, via DH, who cares a more than a tinker's damn about the truth, unlike a certain candidate for public office.

It's long, but every word is worth reading.  What have we become????

The ACLU's PDF on the exponential growth of For Profit Prisons:

www.aclu.org/files/assets/bankingonbondage_20111102.pdf

What on EARTH have we become as a people???

You Tube from a report on Private Prisons:



There are at least four other programs in this series.

And yet another from RT News.



Why are so many people in prison in our country?  It's an industry, a money maker.  Is it right to do something just because you can?  

What the Borg are up to! Trans-Pacific Partnership meeting. Sierra Club Alert.

Sierra Club sent this out to its members this evening.  I figured that the rest of us deserve to know, too:

"Dear Sierra Club members,

The largest free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will happen right here in San Diego  June 30 to July 8.  This secret trade agreement between 11 Pacific Rim nations, with the help of over 600 corporate representatives, has almost zero public oversight!

Powerful corporate interests have official access and have been pushing for the TPP to:
·  Offshore good-paying jobs to low-wage nations and undercut working conditions globally
·  Create new tools for attacking environmental and consumer safety standards
·  Expand the deregulation of banks, hedge funds and insurance companies
·  Further concentrate control of global food supplies, displacing family farmers and peasants and subjecting consumers to wild price fluctuations and un-labeled genetically-modified food
·  Undermine public health policies that reduce tobacco consumption and increase access to medicine
·  Give multinational corporations and private investors the right to sue nations in private tribunals.  These tribunals have the power to overturn environmental,  labor, or any other laws that limit profit, and award the corporations taxpayer-funded damages.
·  Encourage privatization of lands and natural resources in areas where indigenous people live

The agreement will impact just about every issue we care about: jobs, environmental protection, public health and safety, financial regulation, access to medicines, Internet neutrality, and most importantly, our democratic sovereignty. Please join us next week to say Stop TPP!

There will be two rallies, a major march with pots and pans, an educational conference, and more. Please join us for these three events:

·        Monday, July 2nd on your lunch hour: Noon - Press conference and kick-off rally, at the Hilton Bayfront and Convention Center (where the negotiation conference is taking place).  The event will include a featured speaker from the Sierra Club and sponsored by the San Diego/Imperial County Labor Council of the AFL-CIO.

·        Saturday, July 7th:  March and rally. Gather at 10:30 at the Civic Center (aka Freedom Plaza at the corner of B and 3rd Street downtown); March leaves at 11:00 and heads to the Hilton Bayfront for a rally at noon (coinciding with trade negotiators' lunch hour).

·        July 2,  3,  5,  6,  7 -- "People's Conference: A Better World is Possible" Evening discussions with international,  national and local grassroots organizers and experts.

For more information and details go to http://www.stoptpp.org/.

To get involved - contact us!

Thank You"

Judge Rules that a teen aged white girl will be tried as an African American Male

Yes,'tis The Onion, Second to Fox, it's been voted the best source of screwed up news on the planet!

Gadget's gone wild report:  For those men in your life who have an obsession with tools inside of knives, there is this beauty.

I forgot to say, be sure to read the product reviews.


It's time for bed, and I have a very small report on Spiral Road  which is proving a trial to read.  I decided that, if I could forgive Ayn Rand her pages of brutal ignorance, I could forgive Jan de Hartog his. Otherwise the book is so incredibly well written, you won't meet anything like it in a thousand years for brilliant story telling.  Even when you don't understand why they act the way they do, you are entertained by every character in the book.  The descriptive narrative,though terse, is spell binding.  He puts his reader right into that jungle with his characters. 

Well good day.  Have a happy Saturday.  I'll probably go pull up some winter weeds.  Or just knit.  My knee needs the rest.

I have to tell you about the Holy Hopjes because it came up earlier in an answer to a comment - one about the moon, and some discoveries recently made about the same.  A Hopje is a candy from Denmark, a coffee flavored candy and very good.

Well, one year the family took an excursion to Salvang, that little Danish Village in the Santa Inez Mountains in the midlands of California.  There we came across this candy.  Later on, in a fit of pique over some ridiculous restrictions at some upstart Christian church we had attended for a couple of weeks, after succumbing to the gentle and kindly pamphlet toting school Marms on our porch, and being thoroughly wetted in their baptism ceremony, one evening in the Bay,  we found that women were not allowed to speak in said Church when there was a discussion of the Holy Writ!  After giving good arguments about the words spoken in favor of women asking questions in holy gatherings by Christ himself, and adding that we'd never heard of such a Medieval Ritual in a modern church, my sister and I gave up and gathered our skirts and exited, shaking the dust of their carpets off our sandals, so to speak.

We had the Hopjes; we had suffered the insult.  We started our own church.  Saturday was our Holy Day, and we two sat in a circle with the little daughters and the DH, and passed the blessed candies.  These small sweet things were to remind us that life was precious and sweet, and the candies were each Blessed by whomever had gotten them out of the box we kept them in.  We called ourselves the Church the Holy Hopjes, Religion of Joy.   This lasted until I found a Quaker Meeting House close enough for us to start there.   I think it was sort of a preparation for being fully Quaker.

Well Good night, and sweet dreams!  Travel well, my friends.

MSNBC shows Video of the New York Police smashing a camera man's head into a parked car

Part of the video on this broadcast was in the other link.

Let's be clear.  This is not new, what a few police did yesterday, Commanders the news source calls them.  You just don't see this on video tape most of the time.  It's a hidden and very brutal fact that if we don't expose such brutal policemen their departments  will not stop them!



Listen to the commentary, and what Lawrence O'Donnell has to say.   Peace Activists are not strangers to Police brutality, the L.A. City police beat up a woman reporter carrying a video camera right in front of an Italian Restaurant while she was filming them beating peaceful and legal protesters.  They were never punished. 

We can't afford a police force with these people on it, in it or in control of it.  There are too many really wonderful officers who get a very bad name in the eyes of those whom they serve, when the brute squad is not punished.  They need to be flipping burgers or sweeping streets.  We can't have then ruining our law enforcement agencies any more.

Enough is ENOUGH!  Some in the police force, ones with evidently too much power, are getting so brutal that they have to be exposed and stopped.  They are out of control of themselves.

Occupy Wall Street Protesters Maced

Sorry, I just had to say something about this one, as this is despicable behavior on the part of a police force, anywhere, but HERE?

Another person's view:
"Okay, I found one story in the NY Times that described the incident as a "confrontation." This was not a confrontation but rather a surprise attack initiated by cowards on peaceful, female protestors."

My own comment about this is:
Such attacks should not be ignored or white washed by the press. This is just another example of the escalating violence on our constitutionally guaranteed democratic rights of free speech and the right of peaceful assembly! Goodbye to the late, great United States, former Land of the Free.

And to all Americans who generally ignore things like this, these rights that are being trampled are what wars were fought over, our armies have fought to save Europe from escalating violence in Police States.

So it's not like we, as a people, don't have a precedent to defend these liberties from, for instance, bullies with Swastikas on their foreheads.

How very Medieval! So disgusting!

Yay George Carlin..... this guy has a mouth on him, though, so be warned!

Art As Commodity

This is story about how a group of politicians and monied interests set about to steal an art collection, and break a Trust. This take over took place, according to the well documented Art Film called, "The Art of the Steal", upon the death of Dr. Albert Barnes, a philanthropic minded man who collected Post Impressionist and early Modern Artist's works.  You will gasp at what is in this magnificent collection!

And it seems that some of the collection, that is now going to be moved to a newly constructed downtown gallery in Philadelphia, has been farmed out to other galleries in New York, to whom they have given the right to make copies, or in other words, copyrights.  If this is true, and I'm not sure how you could do this, these galleries will now be able to print these paintings and sell the prints.

While poking around the web I found that Kraushaar Galleries in New York now owns the copyright to many of the pictures in the Barnes Collection, and they seem to be in the business of a reproduction gallery, according to their linked GALLERY at artnet  

"Curiouser and curiouser", said Alice.  Who farmed out those rights, and was that also part of the money making plans?  Is this mindset part of the " After all, even Art with a Capital 'A' must be made to pay it's way"?  And it makes plenty of money for Museums as they have learned to market their collections.  Teaching Art Academy no more, Dr. Barnes.  Too bad, so Sad. 

This just seems like another slash across the face of the man who amassed the Collection, by what happened, after he died, to break the Will he created which was designed to keep the collection together in one place that was designated as a teaching institution. 

In the film, if you watch it, be sure to note that one of the people most central to this event seems to have torn a page out of Barnes' Trust, and left his own vast and important art collection to a museum far away in New York, with the same stipulations that it not be rented, loaned or sold, ever.  I wonder how many steely eyes are now focused, ravenously, on the Annenberg Collection another high value group of impressionist and post impressionist art ?  Curious Minds wish to know....

We waste people, and not all of them are the poor.