a diamond is forever

and now, ladies and gentlemen, i present to you…

a love story

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modern day propaganda: how much are we the people awake, aware, and at choice?

 

After reading a friend’s latest thoughts on this weekend’s Occupy Oakland protests and arrests, I started searching on the current happenings and came across this article about the damage done by the anarchists.  He and I have talked before about Occupy’s refusal to stand up to the anarchists but rather this idea of respecting everyone’s rights to the way they protest.  Which IMO is bullshit, especially at the detriment of the purpose of the movement itself.  (But that’s a whole other post.)

 

What I look to then is a creation like Reddit, where the community DOES so easily self govern, and those that try to cause nonsensical havoc are quickly smothered out.  Which leads me to think then, why does this work so easily in an online community but not in a current in-person revolution?

 

This is something I’ve been pondering on and accessing  for quite some time–this idea that current technology that “connects” us also disconnects and dehumanizes us in so many ways.  There has been a shift where people are freer and more apt to communicate via technology than in person, via technology losing the human aspects of eye gaze, voice intonation, and body language.  Certainly anonymity plays a part in this; there is the  freedom to say whatever you want if nobody really knows who you are (or where to find you).  Or even for those that are completely forthcoming with personal information, but know there are no real in-person consequences to whatever one might say.  I’ve been both disgusted and fascinated with comment sections in various forums (news, FaceBook, entertainment sites, YouTube, etc) where people will say the most astounding things; and you know full well if someone were to actually have the balls to say such things in person (they wouldn’t), retaliation would not be deemed unreasonable but perhaps even cheered on.

 

In light of all of this and now the recent Google privacy changes, I have to ask is the internet becoming (or has it already) the new television, aka  the means of propaganda control by government and the 1% corporations?  While we, the 99%, are certainly beginning to figure that out and using it to our advantage, how much are we awake and aware to how it influences us as humans in our everyday, interactive (or non-interactive) lives?  Certainly the governments and corporations (same thing) see the big picture and are well aware of how to both use it against us as well as how the people are using it to fight back; hence SOPA, PIPA, ACTA and the likes.  But are we, the people, seeing the big picture and fully at choice in our daily lives in the use of the internet and modern technology and how it might be influencing our in-person interactions?

 

 

 

I don’t have any answers and not necessarily expecting any in return, but rather am presenting food for thought, as it is something that has been mulling around in my head space for quite some time.  I think it’s more than worth considering and being brought to awareness and discussion to the public at large.  Even today so many of the people do not get that the TV is being used against them as a propaganda machine and a means of control.  I would guess that even though the internet is a prosperous means of information  and idea exchange, even less of the people realize that the internet is being used for this exact same thing and in a much more intrusive way.  Is newer, more advanced, smarter, faster, and more more more better?  Is it helping or hindering us, or both?  And what can we do with and about this information?

 

Lastly, I’ll live you with an excerpt from this great interview with the film maker, Terry Gilliam, on this very subject:

 

“Would you ever make a satire about the world we’re living in today?:
Well that’s the part… I don’t know how to get at it. I mean, how do you get at it? I think if there’s anything, it’s about how people are becoming so disconnected from reality even though we live in a time when everything is connected. And that’s the irony of it. And that’s why I’ve got this house in Italy. When I’m there, I just do manual labor. Just physical work, and dealing with trees, birds, bugs, rocks.

And then I start talking to younger people and I realize that they don’t understand where things come from. They don’t understand how the system works. This is terrifying. They just are consumers, and that’s it. And that’s like the dream if Orwell had written the dream. We don’t live in a socialist or capitalist society; it’s a consumerist society, and nobody cares, as long as they’ve got their goodies. And if it’s well-designed, it’s even better [points to an iPhone on the table].

And yet at the same time we’re supposed to be getting cleverer and thinking. What may be happening is, I just think people are becoming neurons, and they’re just part of this big thing. Hollywood was always like this. A new idea pops into the system “Boom!,” all these neurons start firing, synaptic gaps are being leapt. And then it dies down and the next idea comes. It goes like that. And the world is becoming like that now.”

 

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BREAKING: Obama to strike sweetheart deal with big banks | NPA

Call the White House right now at (202) 456-1111 and tell them: no more sweetheart deals for the banks.

Here’s what you can say when you call:

“Hi, my name is [NAME], and I am calling from [STATE].

I’m calling to ask President Obama to stand up for homeowners and hold Wall Street accountable. We need a full-scale investigation into the big banks and Wall Street, and criminal prosecution for bank executives. Furthermore, any settlement with big banks must include at least $300 billion worth of principal reduction for underwater homeowners.”

BREAKING: Obama to strike sweetheart deal with big banks | NPA.

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I AM

My intense artistic/spiritual (same thing) January practice has already begun to shine in some light, and with that the Universe also continues to deliver inspiration to keep the motor running. Today’s inspiration,  I AM (directed by Tom Shadyac), is so timely to me regarding the current world events, where I am (with myself) at this point in my life, what empassions  me, and what calls me as far as what to do about it all, and how.

 

I find this movie so synchronistically timely with the recent events of the world: the economy, global warming, Occupy Wall Street, poverty, health care (access and lack there of), educational systems, wars, and the list goes on an on and on and on.  What struck a chord with me while watching this movie was how Shadyac says we should approach the 1% (he doesn’t use that terminology, but when you see the movie, you will understand that he means the same thing); we must act to evoke the change we want in the world with compassion and the understanding that those that are wrecking havoc, abusing the system, the people, and the planet, are in fact mentally ill.  We, through compassionate understanding of this fact and the allowing and use of Love, can help them, which it turn helps and heals the collective all.  And the first person we must start with:  ourselves.

 

I use capital “L” love intentionally, as I do not mean the mushy, sweet, sappy, polite, I-dont-want-to-hurt-your-feelings kind of love.  I mean love in the way that Gandhi meant it when enacting Satyagraha: Soul Force, or Soul Love; Truth.  For any real GOOD change to be born and have lasting effect and growth, it must start  and end from this place.  Which means, then, that the responsibility falls upon us, individually and collectively, to open up to this change within ourselves that needs to happen in order for this to occur.  This is where our real Power is.  To open up and allow what is already there to emerge and be what moves and breathes and acts and interacts in our world.

 

(Side note:  Towards the beginning of the movie, Shadyac briefly mentions once hearing about how talking to plants can effect their growth.  I actually did this as a science project experiment when I was in the 5th grade.  I had two sets of plants.  Group A I said loving things to, played them classical music, and “sent” them loving energy.  Group B I yelled at and insulted and neglected other than the basic needs of sunlight and water.  The sunlight and water provided for both groups were identical.  By the end of my experiment ( 6 weeks), Group A plants were strong, bright,  green and flourishing.  Group B had fewer leaves, several yellow or blackening on the tips, and  much weaker structures. TRUE STORY.)

 

I just cannot recommend this movie enough.  Just see it.  Just see it.  Just see it.  It is already available on Netflix (although I believe there is a long wait…and I do currently have one of the copies:)  and Amazon.  Yes there are spiritual undertones and possible interpretations, but if this tends to not be your cup of tea, know that it is not a religious or woo-woo film.   It is about humanity and life and who and what we really are and what we are really capable of being and creating in our world.  In the words of my late and great friend and ASL instructor, Geoff Mathay:

“I believe.  I have hope.”

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i surrender/ soul force

I had a follow up exam for my rotator cuff injury with my doctor today.  There has been a lot of improvement (as one would hope after FOUR WEEKS).  But there is still pain on the top of my shoulder,  tightness and pain on the long muscle on the side and back of my arm, and some limited range of motion; so my doctor says there is no way that I can return to restaurant work without risking deepened injury.  In fact he has reset the next follow up appointment for JANUARY 30TH.  He says I also need to continue constant use of the sling, even with the improvement I’ve had, which I  honestly loathe.  I always end up getting extremely toddler-having-a-tantrum frustrated every time I have it on and am trying to do the simplest things.  Jack keeps telling me this is a small chunk in the time of my life, and I know that he’s right, but I have been starting to go a bit out of my mind not being able to work, go to the gym, help out around the house more (especially with Jack now working even more), and just normal every day things now being so much more challenging.

 

Then my doctor and I went over yesterday’s doctor visits (re: the kidney stone I mentioned in yesterday’s post; he had referred me to a specialist) and their findings.  He actually drew a different conclusion from what we know so far (some tests are still out) and that it is in fact NOT a kidney stone.  And after our long discussion, I have to say I agree with him.   Mainly because, although it is causing me excruciating pain, I have not had a lot of the tell-tale signs of a kidney stone(back pain, blood in urine, etc).  He agrees there is some kind of calcification near the uterus/bladder/stomach area, but that it’s hard to determine exactly where or what’s causing it from the x-rays, and the sonograms didn’t help much in revealing any additional information either.  So at this point, I am on heavy pain medication (he prescribed me NINETY Vicodin, I am not even joking), heating pad, lots of liquids, simple diet, and rest rest rest rest.  And rest. And rest.

 

So.  I surrender.  Seriously.  I’ve been internally and not-so-internally fighting this time-off-from-work-due-to-injury since it first occurred (even worked a shift after it happened before my body said NO FREAKING WAY).  I just can’t be irritated or worried or anxious or any of that any more.  I’m tired of it.  The truth is, if this calcification or whateverthehellitis hadn’t appeared, you bet your butt I would have feigned my shoulder being better than it actually is so that I could get to work.  If I’m honest, I know that I would have done that.  So for whatever reason, the Universe has decided that I am not going to be waiting tables right now, or anything else for that matter,  but rather resting, meditating, taking hot baths, writing, reading, and watching a bajillion documentaries on Netflix.  Fine, okay, I get it, thank you.

 

Minor side note, but not of little importance:   as I was preparing to leave my doctor’s office, he and I got into a discussion about the state of the nation (food corporations, bureaucracy , government, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, recent OWS protests, etc).  His thoughts resonated strongly with mine.  We have to be like Gandhi when he evoked satyagraha (soul force) in solidarity with Indians by boycotting foreign cotton and instead spinning their own  on the Charkha (Indian spinning wheel, which btw is also their national symbol today for self reliance).  We have to get self reliant (hello Emerson),  evoke our own personal power, and work together.  And the key to that is simplicity.  Simplicity.  I love that, because it is the answer and key to so many things(EVERYTHING), from the minor every day events to Global issues.  What that might(probably…definitely) mean is the sacrifice of some things…but the gain created by such sacrifice promises to be great.  I’m on board.

 

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