9.11.07 Shattered Dreams and Unsung Heroes

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[Click the title:911 tribute,song Jewel]
Post below was written on the eve of 9.11.01, I have
never put it on my blog before.I wrote this about 12 hours after the 2nd Tower Fell.I was living in the Northwest in a small town in a little house with a little picket fence at the time, my son was 10,and I was still married.I wrote this sitting on my porch, late at night.I have lived in 5 places since then, and my son has grown into a teenager....I have tried to always make him a Home....and give him a sense of Peace and Community.My own heartbroken path has taken me on spiritual journey that can not be denied....and yes,it is intrinsically woven into this Dark Time in our History and has been drastically affected by This Regime.I am even more sad for this Country, Our Country, then when I wrote this....I still treasure what matters....I blog it everyday.
namaste.
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[Please do read the Comment Thread Below esp the Comments by Deudersson and his life in NYC after 911, it is beautiful]
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Shattered Dreams and Unsung Heroes 9.11.01... 11pm

We went to bed last night and we woke up and nothing will ever be the same.Our televisions brought us such images of death and destruction that have never even been portrayed on movie screens.Not at home, Not in Our Backyard. Not Here, Please not here, not in Our Home Lands.Not in the United States.And then we listen to familiar Voices trying to explain what can not be explained, Peter Jennings and Arron Brown so calmly trying. A New York Skyline resculpted by a monsters plan, a shredded symbol.

As these images flash across the screen I am left with images in my mind of people trying desperately trying to get to those they Love.Firemen groping in rubble and smoke.Unsung Heroes who ran into buildings to help people because that is their calling.

Reporters and cameramen filming while running desperately trying to still get the Truth Out.I am stuck with the realization that hours earlier, they had breakfast,walked their dogs,laughed with their kids..Hours later they may have been clutching perhaps a wallet photo and whispering "Goodbye"and "I Love you " into a cellphone...Courage is found in the Rubble and the Dust,dark smoke does not cloud such Bravery....Rubble,ashes,and paper falling like snow, like tears.....a Deadly Rain.

Tonight my son is drawing SuperHeros with his friend, and they are eating peanut butter sandwichs, and my dog is in the yard, and my cat is still pestering the Canary outside in his cage under such a blue sky, and those skies are so ominously silent.My husband is a flight nurse and I look expectantly at the skies, for the first time EVER I don't want to see him flying.I want his feet on the ground.And I am haunted by the date, 911.. Emergency.

So What do we do now my son asks ? It is a good question. Then he asks about the People Wanting Revenge, and I have to tell him that for this level of destruction and death,there is perhaps there is no Retribution, that Revenge does not measure out when there is Such Evil at Work.We have to stay calm and focused,being careful not to judge What we can not understand.

So what to We Do now? .....Perhaps we try to take care of each other,hug our kids a little harder,check on neighbors,give blood, and we pray and we light candles. Be gentle to each other my friends and have Hope. And remember days like these are full of Unsung Heroes that can be eclipsed by the tragedy of the moment. They are People just like You.

A Film for New York 911 Survivors : "9/12 From Chaos to Community"

[Click the Title: It is called After 9/11 The Intimate Story" it is a clip from a Documentary called "9/12 From Chaos to Community"]
To My New York Friends:
This post goes with the Post above, I found this beautiful video and Documentary about How New Yorkers took care of Other New Yorkers....Please find out more go to http://www.912film.com/,

The Real Enigma....

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Okay....so I finally decided that I didn't want anyone to think I really look like a Pin Up or a Lord Leighton Lovely...even though I post them all the time...and I decided that it was time , after two years to let you know I am real....6-6, my son, picked out the Music today....and since I love the Goo-Goo Dolls...it is my new theme song..."Let Love In".[Just Click the title as usual].

Sunday Morning......9.09.07

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[Click the title Tangerine Dream: Love on a Real Train.]
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Sunday Thought: "When we tug on a single thing in Nature,we find it attached to Everything else."John Muir
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My first thought when I read this quote this morning was that Mr.Muir must have had a lot of sweaters unravel on him.
My second thought was that Nature is the one thing that helps me stay connected and grounded, if I wake up and the birds are twittering and the squirrels are chittering I can start my day feeling intact...When I was in California living on the Coast , I would wake early and listen to the Seals barking at each other on the Beach, they would drown out the waves.....
So how about you ? Is there Something in nature that helps you feel Connected ?
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Leaves are Changing...yet it is so hot and humid it feels like July.
This morning we have more rain and showers, it fell all night with sporadic storms.
I turned on Cspan- selfishly hoping for Pavoratti's Funeral ( hey we have had MANY funerals this year...why not...).
I am ready for fall, ready for Change. Ready for the Heat to leave, and I know folks out West feel the same.
I long for Leaves to change, the smell of apples, and jack O'Lanterns, and the smell of the first fireplace smoke on the air.....
Curling up with a good book, with a glorious old ratty sweater and thick socks, and some hot OoLong Tea, or just good Sunday Morning Blogging and waiting for the pumpkin bread to finish baking....

ENIGMA PUMPKIN BREAD:
Oven 350 degrees
2 Baking pans- buttered.
I can pumkin pie filling
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 large egg (or 2 small)
half cup raisens ( optional)
1 tsp. of baking powder
Smidge of Pumpkin Pie Spice
Smidge of Nutmeg
Smidge of Ginger
Smidge of Cloves
half cup water
2 tablespoons Orange Juice
Mix til smooth, then pour in baking pans....
lightly zest an orange across the top....Bake for 30-40 minutes.
(makes fine muffins too)

Saturday Night Thoughts and Music 9.08.07

It has been a long week.This week my blog has a little of Everything, on the Homefront the struggle to save a wounded abandoned cat. The post about Violet very much goes with the Letter to Mr.Bush about Abandonment of America .The Friday post about The Impeachment March on September 15th, very much goes with the Post comparing America Today with 1930's Germany.And then a little snippet about Opium Wars... When there is pain and angst around me, it makes it so much harder to feed and tend Souls.So it is true that sometimes you can come here and there is Political Revelations and Angst, and other times there is just Life of Mainstream America, told through the eyes of a Nurse, a Mom.....But there is never Silence....Never.

Have a Good Night....Dance....Cool off ....Make Some Salsa....
[Click the Title :Rob Thomas and Santana Do " Smooth", Rob met his wife on this video, see if you can pick her out]

So a Bit of Music ....

It ain't just Poppies.....

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Okay so I have repeatedly said how I feel about MSM, that being said there are a few folks that I feel are doing their Journalistic Best, Keith Olbermann being one, and the other being Anderson Cooper. Tonight on CNN he is covering the Opium Wars, and Afghanistan.And I think people do know that the Opium Heroin trade is booming. I am going to give it a Watch.I also do link to his Blog,( Over on the Blogroll), because it has some Interesting Observations by people behind the Scenes at CNN.

Click The Title of this Post, and it is a Link to the Movie "Air America", and it I think is one of the best first 3 minute Summaries I have ever seen about Heroin and the Drug Wars ( the very beginning of the clip). This was a very interesting little movie that went pretty much unnoticed. If you watch the Clip I think you will want to rent it., and not because it has Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr in it, but because it has Some Messeges.....Take a Look, 9 minutes you won't regret and tell me what you think.....

Welcome to America, OR is it 1930's Germany?

*[click the title: PINK:Dear Mr.President]*
Has Anyone else felt this? That we are living in an Environment that resembles 1930's Germany ? Has anyone else felt or seen the Pendulum of Public Emotions that run from outright Apathy ( aka Ostrich Syndrome) to Tormented Rage.Historically we are witnessing the Worst Time In Our History, and We Know It. I see it all around me, the Vacant Eyes, or Tormented Eyes.Next time you stand on a Corner Bustop or at the Grocery Store look a the EYES of those you stand with, and tell me what you see.

It is worse than the 1930's in many ways, there is Labor Unrest, Economic Instability, and Workers and Families have been disenfranchised and blighted.And Civil Rights have been trampled beyond Recognition.When in any of Our Lifetimes, have we heard "Debates" About Torture,Renditioning, No Fly Lists, SPYING on citizens, SPYING On Emails, Letters, Homes, Bank Accounts, Only Demonstrations allowed when the Government says so, People being denied Passports, and Others being Deported. People being cited and arrested for Wearing Impeach Bush Tshirts, People Being Removed from Voting Rosters.Remember this there are 1000's, Hundreds of thousands on LISTS. When in our Lifetime were there ever Lists? And now people that are in DC to organize the IMPEACH BUSH Sept.15th rally were harrassed and arrested this week. ( Go to Crooks&Liars for More on this).


I stood in line at the Grocery Store at dinner time with four people buying large amounts of Very Cheap Liquor last night. There was little eye contact, no jokes, no smiles. There were two other moms with small children buying Pedialyte and Milk, using Food Stamps. Is there NO Way that this should not tug at my heart.47 Million without Health Care and Health Insurance in this Country, Our Country. 9 Million of them Children.And What are the Real Homeless Humbers? What are the real Unemployed and Working Poor Numbers? I want to know. If the Bushco Administration were concerned about Terrorism, they would realize that they have been Fearmongering, Hate Mongering, and Terra Mongering for years now while they Disenfranchise THEIR OWN PEOPLE. And while People, OUR PEOPLE have been starving, losing healthcare, and their Homes and their Jobs they are also LOSING Civil Liberties and Rights. And the Bush Regime tells People to go Shopping......

And the Main Stream Media has abandoned us in so many ways. They do not report what is happening in Main Stream America, and that Level of Propagandizing the News has in many ways harmed the America That was here only 6 years ago.
The Media has forgotten that we are the ONEs that pay their way, we buy the food and soap that is advertized.I think many of us thought that there would be a "Bin Laden Terror" tape that would of course appear before the Sept 15th Impeach Bush Rally or before the Petreaus Report Release Date. These are Desperate Times for the Whitehouse.

When I lived in the Northwest, back in 2000 I met an Old Polish Woman that had Survived the Concentration Camps and WWII., and she said that the "War On The People started in the 1930's". She spoke about how first people lost their coffee shops, and Parks, and Places to MEET and talk.There were no more Public Gatherings, and the Police were Everywhere.And then the Newspapers became controlled. She talked about how Fear was used to ccontrol the People. Then they lost their ability to travel and visit and share news with others. She spoke with her thick accent and her weak Voice about how it Started So Simple, and grew day by day....Her words have haunted me," In the End I did Not Know My Country at all".

This America is not the America that we Knew and Loved before the Bush Regime Stole Power. I want Our America Back.I am tired of feeling like a Refugee in my own Country....We are NOT the Enemy.We should NOT be on Lists, or treated like we are Terrorists. We are WE THE PEOPLE.....Remember That.

We The People Have the Right to Speak and Protest About What is Being Done in OUR Name...Remember that.

PLEASE DO READ THE POST BELOW......Important.
*{click Title: Gimme Shelter- History of Vietnam, also has the Words&Wisdom of MLK}*

Those of us from the Vietnam Era KNOW that the Troops Came Home, because Everyday Americans Let the Nixon Whitehouse KNOW it was Over......

Go See Riverbend at Baghdad Burning....

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[Click Title: Emerson,Lake,&Palmer singing "C'est la Vie"]
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For monthes many of us worried about Riverbend and her fate, as she had not blogged in Monthes. She is back and she is blogging and she explains what has happened to her.....and her precarious path. This song kept coming to mind as I read her update....go read and add her to your blogroll and light a candle for this dear woman...

Violet Update....Friday 9.7.07

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(Click the title: Elton John 1970]
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It is late Thursday Night, and after so many supporting kind emails about little Violet, I felt that it was time to give an update on our fragile little friend. She is doing much better thanks to all of you,for all your Hope and wonderful advice. Everything seems to be helping from worm medicine, to baby food and formula, to yogurt, to Kitten Formula, to pedialyte and sugar water.Her face looks much better, and she has a little belly and she has gained weight.When she looks better I will post Photos.She is a Wonder. Thank you all.

Dear Mr.Bush 9.4.07

[click the Title: One Tin Soldier *Warning* Very Graphic. Please if you are VET, or have family in Iraq, or if you have PTSD do NOT watch.Please do also read the Post Below about Abandonment of Our Country...not just a cat.The two posts are meant to be read together. And yes, this letter is for We The People, not the Illiterate King.]

Dear Mr.Bush,
I watched you drop in to Iraq for a little visit this weekend.You went to a base and made others come to you, and you snuck there in the Dead of Night.We know you went to get more photos for your Legacy Album. You did not walk around the burned bombed out streets of rubble. You made the Troops stand outside in 110 degree heat , and they stood and waited while you got a fresh shirt and adjusted your make up. You made them stand and wait in the Heat and Grime and Sand.You treated them as if they were merely Toy Soldiers in Your Photo Op.

They are Not your Toy Soldiers, they are Mothers, Daughters, and Sons, and Fathers, and Brothers and Sisters. They are there occupying a land where they are not loved or respected. I looked at them wiping sweat from their brows and I could not help but wonder WHO will not be there in That Picture tomorrow or the next week. And Mr.Bush did you think about that ? We learned that you "cry a lot "according to your latest "Book". You do not know what tears are until you have held a greiving mother in your arms and felt the heaviness of her tears.You do not know what tears are until you have had to tell a grieving Child that Their Daddy is not coming home. You do not know what tears are until you have seen a Mother handed that Folded Flag by a freshly dug grave. You do not know Tears until you have seen a Father dust fresh snow off His Son's Grave.

Mr.Bush we are Telling you to Bring the Troops Home From Iraq NOW. We are telling you it is Over. The Damage is Done. It can Not be Undone. We are telling you NO, you may not treat them Like Toy Soldiers ANYMORE. We are telling you that YOU have Failed the People of Iraq, the People of the Middle East, and the People of the World, and the People of the US. It is Time to end your Delusional Quests and bring OUR People Home, for the sake of the Troops and the Iraqis.

Sick One at the Door....

[Click the Title: Sarah McLaughlin "Arms of an Angel"]

Late one night this weekend a sick emaciated cat arrived at our door. People always think that nurses have Vet training, we have had many sick critters arrive at odd hours.( Here is the short list, all kinds of rabbits, a pregnant Skink, a chicken with a head injury, a turtle that suffered a bad meeting with a garbage disposal, a three legged hedge hog and on and on). My big manchild of a son, 6-6, carried the wounded slip of a creature up to his room and made her a bed . I had had her in a carrier with towels and blankets, I recieved a scowl and a lecture on my"bedside manners". There has been much scurrying and sleeplessness, caring for this little damaged creature, warm milk, kitten food, water sweetened with gatorade. The 7 pounds of skin and bones and sunken eyes ; I know she will be tended and loved and fluffed and fattened in no time. By 5am this morning my son announced she had a name, Violet.

But what struck me was that when the cat was brought to us, my first thought was let this be Something that I can handle because there is no money for vets and fancy drugs and treatments.It is the same emotion that floods me and my neighbors when someone is sick, because so few of us have insurance. And the other emotion that flooded me was that someone abandoned this creature left it to fend for itself, no food or water, no protection. And I found myself flooded with more emotion, as aren't we all abandoned at this point....on our own to take care of our own. There have been no signs and no one looking for this little creature...She has been discarded, set adrift in a world that she can not navigate. No one should be set adrift.

I see that President Clinton has written a book called" Giving". I am struck that the book might need a Primer, called Caring. I worry that we are losing our Compassion , our ability to Care. And people that do not Care certainly do not Give, This Regime has certainly schooled us on Abandonment. And people that do not care or give, do things like Discard those that are Most Vulnerable.

Violet is asleep in my son's favorite chair, and Xena our Elderly Princess Cat has walked by with looks of disdain , and Yellow Dog has nervously checked on the wounded cat every few hours, and now is asleep like the exhausted nurse that she is...

So my apologies for light blogging this weekend, we were tending a Little Life.

Keith Olbermann Special Comment tonight....About Iraq

Tonight Keith is doing a Special Comment, yes, about Iraq, and the President's Drop In Visit.
( I guess we can only be grateful that it was not a flyover).
Watch and Write to Countdown after you watch.
Thank You Keith for speaking Truth to Power.

Tuesday Blog for Peace.....

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[Click title: PINK singing Dear Mr.President]
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I like many are tired of the Fear Mongering, the Hatemongering, the Terramongering.....It is time that WE THE PEOPLE talk about Other Ways to "give" our Elected a Messege....and Stop the Criminal Bushco Regime....Bushco is Scaring People around the World,as well as At Home, and in Other Countries, and it is time for It to Stop.....and for People around the World to know that we as Americans are NOT part of Bush's War Machine....We need to let OUR Elected In DC know that we don't want to be in Iraq and we don't want to be in Iran either......And while we are at it we also need to write the MSM....

Just Curious I have been recieving Emails about A General Strike on September 11th, What do you know or think of that?

[PS: I will have a post up tonight over on Cosmic Messenger, it will be posted both places...just wanted to let you know...]

Blog A Day....

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Blog a Day....
Everyday I am going to try to post ONE blog that is Special....
Grab yourself a cup of Tea and head over....
Today it is Fallenmonk....
(click the title)

[okay a little bit more.....He writes a wonderful blog, insightful and wise. And if you scroll through he is also doing Something Special he started on Friday ,from Stories of Sand and Stone (Japanese Monks originally put together these Lessons), Zen Parables....so everyday there is a bit of Wisdom and yes, Zen....]

Happy Birthday Ms.Canadian....

So my neighbors and I have this wonderful neighbor, we call her Ms.Canadian....because she is from Canada...She is a joy to have as a neighbor, she is the person you go to late at night when your pipes break, and she is who you walk your dog with when it is pouring rain, and yes she is who you can paint with and curse Old Walls.....She can make anyone smile...
( and yes, she lurks here everyday....so I had to leave a messege here for her )

SO I tried to find Some Great Canadian Music, KD Land singing Leonard Cohen's Halleluyah, and then Tragically Hip ( but their videos were not good enough), and then I tried Bare Naked Ladies ( same problem).....so I settled on Van Morrison with some art.....( and sorry, because I don't think he is Canadian...oh welll ...I think it is a song you like though....)

Happy Birthday Ms. Canadian !!!

Hope....

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[Click the Title for Music: Enigma : "Return to Innocence"]
{{ Reposted for labor Day from Saturday , because it was a good discussion....New posts below}}
I was visiting another blog this week, and we got into a rather involved discussion about Mother Theresa, and her spiritual agony. And why she was so challenged and was it a matter of her Faith. The discussion was very interesting, because it made me realize that Faith and what it means has been sullied by this Regime and it's pious ways. But it also made me stop and think , "Do I have Faith." And slowly after reading many responses ( over at Josie's All in Good Time). I realized that for me the discussion made me think long and hard about HOPE.

I have faith in Everyday People, People that care and speak the Truth. I no longer have "Faith" in any of our leaders or our government, or Journalists who are suposed to speak the Truth.So for me Truth is very much attached to my ability to have Faith. Faith of a higher order is another matter....
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Pandora was created by Zeus, she was suposed to be a curse upon those around her.In some stories she is referred to as Anesidora, which means "All gifted". Yet the other gods gave her Gifts and she grew stronger and wiser. She was not suposed to open the box, her dowry box that came with her marriage. She did, and out flew the Evils of Mankind, Greed,Vanity, Slander, Lies, and she looked a little closer and there in the bottem was Hope. Some say that there was Insight and Foreknowledge that came with the Hope.After experiencing the Evils, I wonder , did she have Hope because she had experienced the Evils, she had Confronted the Evils, so did that give her Insight and Wisdom ?
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Is it possible to have Any Hope after all that we have been through, all the lies, and the deception, and manipulation.
After all that we have been through and Witnessed in the past 6 years, do you feel you have Wisdom, Do you feel you have Insight, Do you have Hope ?

A Cool Place to Go......

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Okay so today is LABOR DAY the last day of the summer ( unofficially). It is the closing day for many pools, and many people take their final vacations. ( Picture above is a Wave Pool in Tokyo.). Maybe you don't know where to hang out today....if you are in Blogland, I reccomend Left of Centerist....Click the title....you won't regret it, and you don't even need an Intertube. He makes his own videos even, and they are amazing.....

Felix Looks Nasty

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This storm did indeed absorb a large amount of tropical hot waters, and is gaining speed and strength. As of 5am Monday, it is now a CAT5.Stay tuned....where the winds take it in the next 24 hours determine alot. (Funny they did not name the storm Fred).Click the title to go to the Weather Underground.

This Man is Not Loved...

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Okay sooo Mr.TurdBlossum's car was "decorated" while he was out of town....the same week he announced his Resignation. It is a beautiful new Jacguar.Susposedly his staffers decorated it in good fun. Have any of you ever had a job , and the Boss was not Loved, matter of fact he was hated ? And when he was transfered or quit the Underlings behaved in a less than supportive manner.....Think about it. I mean they saran wrapped and plastic taped the car, and put Stuffed Eagles on the hood, and also Obama Bumper Stickers.