Gay Penquins and The Flat Earth

When I started this blog, I was unsure of just what topics I would write about or where the journey might lead but it is becoming increasingly clear to me that it is leading me into a head-on clash with hypocrisy, hatred and stupidity.

I wish I could claim that this was a noble decision and that I woke up one morning and decided I must stand up and try to rid the world of its ills but that wouldn’t be true. I’m kind of falling into it whether I want to or not and I’m not sure that is all that noble. It appears that in writing every day, my own thoughts and opinions are crystallizing and they have taken control of the agenda.

I never thought, for example, that I would write as often as I have about children at risk or that I would be as critical of the conservative agenda as that of the liberal. I thought I would rant about a few things like customer service and stupidity, pour myself a coffee and then maybe go fishing or something. That hasn’t turned out to be a very accurate analysis on my part.

I don’t know if it is because there are things within me that have wanted out for a very long time or it is just that my radar is more finely tuned now that the blog provides an outlet for expressing what it picks up on an almost daily basis. Certainly, you don’t have to read more than a couple of headlines in the newspaper or spend much more than 10 minutes in a place like Twitter before you feel a need to say something about what is going on in your community, your society and your country.

We are swimming in a sea that has a great deal of anger, fear and hate. It is palpable and it is eroding our values in a way only it can.

All of that to say, it is this that brought me to write about the gay issue in yesterday’s post “The Problem With Being Gay”. I was prepared for a significant backlash by homophobes and fundamentalists from various religions. I was not prepared for the level of encouragement and support I received from heterosexual men and women, from the parents of gay children and from some gays for the piece.

While I did receive some hate mail, I was equally unprepared for the polite and reasoned disagreement I received from some who continue to maintain that being gay is a choice rather than a circumstance of genetics. I’ve never believed that it is important for us all to agree, it is only necessary to disagree with mutual respect for each other and for the right of us each to hold our opinions.

To all of them, I extend my thanks.

But I want to expand on one small part of what I wrote yesterday, not because I’m a gay activist, but because one particularly ignorant message challenged my facts and nothing annoys me more than having facts challenged by prejudiced opinion.

I asserted in yesterday’s piece that homosexuality had more to do with genetic wiring or programming than making a moral choice and I continue to hold that belief based on what I have learned over the years. I don’t pull these opinions out of my butt and while I am not an authority on very much, I’m anything but stupid. I tend to research based on curiosity rather than to support a pre-held opinion. I am more interested in learning than in shoring up my particular belief system.

Same-sex behavior is not unique to humans. It has been observed in more than 1500 species across the animal kingdom, including mammals, insects and birds. Animals don’t have a moral code or make moral decisions. They are programmed genetically to do certain things. Same-sex behavior seems to be part of the programming of many in nature.

To be sure, animals are also programmed to do certain things we are not programmed to do. Male lions, for example, will brutally kill all of the cubs in the pride they have just taken over and the females will not intrude or interfere in the infanticide. These are the same females that will immediately kill anything that threatens their cubs but they are programmed to stand passively and watch as those same cubs are slaughtered by the new head of the pride. They almost immediately go into heat and mate with the new alpha male and in that brutal way; nature programs survival of the fittest for that pride.

Fortunately we aren’t programmed that way or a significant number of us would never have made it into our teens considering the high divorce and remarriage rates.

Some conservative fundamentalist’s use this as an argument to try and prove their point that homosexuality is a choice because people don’t ‘choose’ to follow some of the other programmed activity of animals.

It’s a bad comparison. Not all species are programmed exactly the same way. Bears, as an example, are programmed to hibernate for the winter. Geese are programmed to migrate. Both have members of their species that are programmed to have same-sex behavior even though not all of their other programming is the same. To put it more simply, some genetic programming seems to be species specific while others seem to be more universal.

Male penguins have been observed forming life-long relationships with other males to the exclusion of females and have actually refused to mate with a female when given the chance. Some gays in the human race are programmed the same way although I have never heard of any gays or lesbians being programmed to live in the Antarctic and hunt for live fish (sushi doesn’t count).

Female chimpanzees often engage in same-sex activity throughout their lives and even elephants, giraffes (I can’t even begin to imagine how) and cute little dolphins all have members of their species that form same-sex relationships.

In other words, the basic concept of homosexuality seems to be far more wide-spread in nature and far more naturally occurring than some would like to believe or accept.

I didn’t always hold my current view on homosexuality. I am conservative by nature and a Christian but it is difficult to argue with the evidence. Over the years, I have come to know many who were gay and found most of them to be decent, moral and contributing members of our community although being gay, like being heterosexual is no protection from being stupid or intolerant. I've met more than a few of those in my days too.

Considering how much contempt, intolerance and even violence has been leveled at gay men and women over the years, it's difficult to imagine very many people deciding that would be the preferred life-style choice, given the option. Many have agnonized over their sexuality and more than a few have tried to live hetero-sexual lives in contradiction to the feelings and programming within them. Too many have been unable to reconcile their feelings with the anti-gay intolerance in society and have committed suicide. That doesn't seem to confirm that being gay is a simple choice to be made.

I have also had some experience with religion.

Religion doesn’t come from God. It is man-made and accordingly very flawed. One only has to remember that it was religion that once persecuted Copernicus and Galileo for asserting that the earth wasn’t flat and that it wasn’t the centre of the universe.

Religion justified the love of God by burning women alive for witchcraft and for torturing and then burning both men and women for heresy during the Inquisition. It was religion that allowed the extremists behind ‘the troubles’ in Ireland to murder innocents with indiscriminate bombs and radical Muslims to kill thousands, including many other Muslims. No religion has been immune from the distortion of the fundamental message of faith.

 Matthew 22:37-40 ...'Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'

You’ll notice that there are no qualifiers in there. The commandment isn’t to love only those neighbours who agree with you, who look like you or who don’t annoy or piss you off. Too many have rationalized that away over the centuries, decided they had the right to interpret that teaching to suit their prejudice and to judge, sometimes quite harshly, those with whom they disagreed.

All of this to say that religion got it wrong so many times, it is difficult for me to accept that it got it right on homosexuality, especially in the face of overwhelming evidence that same-sex behavior is observed throughout nature.

Personally I believe that persecuting others out of hate is more of a moral choice than homosexuality ever will be and how the righteous justify that is beyond me; especially considering that it is the antithesis of the teachings of Christ and most of the world's great religions which generally promote tolerance, love and forgiveness.

As I said at the outset, I’m not an activist for gay rights. My issue is with respect for life. If I’m going to make a mistake, it’s going to be for trying to understand and to be tolerant of others rather than discriminating and persecuting the rights and lives of those with whom I might disagree or even disapprove. For that I make no apology.

It doesn’t quite meet the commandment to love your neighbour as yourself because even I admit that I have trouble loving some stupid people…but it’s a beginning.

LINKS

The Problem With Being Gay
http://bearsrant.blogspot.ca/2012/03/problem-with-being-gay.html

1500 Animal Species Practice Homosexuality
http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/20718.aspx

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

all rights reserved

The content of this article is the sole property of Maggie's Bear but a link to it may be shared by those who think it may be of interest to others

The Problem With Being Gay

I still remember when my sister told me that her youngest had come out.

I knew something was going on. She was distressed. The family priest had been called in for counseling about something and it quickly became self-evident that whatever it was, she found it troubling. I didn’t interfere but waited until she had time to deal with it and was ready to share it with the rest of the family and eventually she did.

She said to me, “I guess you’ve heard about Terry (not his real name).” I hadn’t heard anything, so my first thought was that he had been injured or become seriously ill. I told her “No”, I hadn’t heard anything and asked if he was ok. She went on to tell me in a halting voice that he wasn’t injured but that he had come out. I was still thinking injury so asked her what he had come out of and she said, “The closet.” She couldn’t bring herself to use the word gay. She asked me how I felt about that.

I said, “Relieved.” She gave me a confused look and asked, “Relieved?” I said yes, “I thought you were going to tell me he had switched politics and was going to vote left-wing socialist,” and smiled at her.

I don’t actually care how he or anyone votes, my response was an attempt to put Terry’s announcement in some kind of perspective. I didn’t consider his sexual orientation to be all that important and, as it turned out; neither did the rest of the extended family.

The problem with being gay isn’t being gay; it’s the prejudiced and ill-informed attitudes of too many who aren’t.

An excellent perspective on gays and  on gay marriage from

www.funnyordie.com

Being gay isn’t a choice. People don’t get out of bed one morning and decide to change their sexual orientation out of boredom or for a lark, it’s genetic. Sexual orientation is simply how we are wired and some are wired heterosexual and some homosexual. Big deal. Being upset about it is like being upset because we don’t all have the same hair colour.

Fundamentalists in most religions are violently opposed to homosexuality, sometimes with deadly results. More than one gay has been bullied, beaten or murdered simply because the righteous disapprove of that person’s sexuality. I confess that I don’t get it.

If you believe that all people come from God and that God is perfect how can you possibly bring yourself to believe that God screwed up by creating gay people? The simple fact is that fundamentalists, of all people, should be leading the charge to defend gays based on the principle that their God never makes a mistake.

You would also think that people of faith, particularly Christians, who preach love, tolerance and forgiveness, would be among the first to accept that gays are just one more of their God’s happy creation.

The prejudice isn’t limited to people of faith, however and you don’t have to believe in anything to be intolerant of others. All it takes is a narrow mind afraid of and threatened by something different from it. There is a lot of that going around these days. Much of it is political, some of it is based on religious affiliation, some racial and, of course, sexuality.

Sexuality? Are we really so insecure that we are threatened by who someone else loves or has sex with? There are more people upset about gays than pedophiles and that seems an awfully confused set of values to me. Of course, too many think that gays are some kind of evil manifestation only too ready to prey on children. I suggest you worry more about priests and the righteous with their repressed sexuality. Far more of the faithful have been charged with molesting children than gays. In fact, I don’t recall ever seeing a news report about a gay person abusing a child but I’ve seen many about the heterosexual righteous pursuing children.

The simple reality is that gays are no different from anyone else and there are gays in all areas of society including business, entertainment, politics, professional sports, academia and the trades. There are incredibly intelligent, accomplished gays and there are some who are just as stupid as the rest of us. 

I’ll grant you that some gays are a bit extreme with their ‘in-your-face’ attitude but we have to live with that in all areas of life including religion, politics and education. Sexual orientation, like everything else has its share of self-absorbed extrpverts and even dishonest people but that simply confirms that they're like the rest of us. It has nothing to do with being gay.

In my family we have people of all races (Japanese/Chinese, Nigerian, Caucasian, Pakistani and a blend of more than one of those). We have gays, lesbians, Christians, Buddhists (nope, not the Asians), atheists, agnostics, jerks and all are some really loving and wonderful people. We are a mini-United Nations but unlike the UN, we are actually united and care about each other, even those within the family with whom we disagree or who are different from us.

We are bemused by the intolerance thing because there is almost none of it among us. It isn’t that we’re better than anyone else, we’ve just lived with cultural, racial, political and sexual orientation differences and discovered they really aren’t as important as caring about each other. In fact, we’ve discovered they aren’t important at all because they don’t define who we are as a family or as individuals.

As a family, we believe we are defined by our values, our actions and our characters. It is those things that make us who and what we are collectively and individually. Hair colour, race and sexual orientation are irrelevant. It is the same with a society. We are defined by our values and when we allow the trivial to become more important than what really is important, we fail ourselves and each other.

I think there is a reason that homosexuality is called gay. There is nothing ugly or abnormal about it and we need to step back, take a breath and move on to bigger issues. As long as we aren’t prepared to do that, it is impossible to see how we will ever resolve the truly important issues facing us these days.

So what's the problem with being gay? There isn't one. The problem lies with those who think there is.

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

all rights reserved

The content of this article is the sole property of Maggie's Bear but a link to it may be shared by those who think it may be of interest to others

Apple And Foxconn - A Fabricated Scandal

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." -Winston Churchill


I stumbled across an interesting little sidebar tale shortly after posting my last article about the release of the latest Apple iPad. Someone on Twitter sent me a note that they were boycotting Apple products because of the Foxconn situation. Having never heard of Foxconn, my first thought was that Apple must be advertising on Fox News and the person who messaged me was opposed to that but I decided I should probably do some quick research just to confirm that and so I did.

On January 6, This American Life aired a documentary by independent producer Mike Daisey about the manufacturing of Apple products like the iPad, the iPod and the iPhone at a plant in China called Foxconn. The documentary detailed dangerous working conditions, abuse of employees and basically put Apple in the same category as a 19th century sweat shop.

It appears that the folks at This American Life have pulled the documentary and are retracting its content declaring it inaccurate and somewhat fabricated. It should be noted that they were not responsible for the content and that they are dedicating an hour program to correcting the misleading information presented in the documentary that aired.

Mike Daisey documentary journalist
turned entertainer

Apparently, Mr. Daisey didn’t feel that he was engaging in journalism when he produced his documentary or at least, that's his spin now that the jig is up. He stated, “My show is a theatrical piece whose goal is to create a human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge.”

He went on to state, “It uses a combination of fact, memoir and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity.”

Excuse me? We now call making stuff up and presenting it as fact, integrity?

This is one of those tiny little stories that usually whip by unnoticed but which are representative of the real problem in our society today. Consider the objective of what Mr. Daisey now calls entertainment but was nothing more than a melange of some fact and a lot of  fiction. He wanted to create a “human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge.”

Wait a minute. If the “brutal circumstances from which they emerge” were fabricated as “entertainment” rather than journalism, what is the real point of this piece?

I believe that the real point was yet one more example of somebody with a biased opinion blending a bit of fact with a lot of opinionated fabrications to justify and validate their point. There is no dramatic license when you are presenting something as factual about someone or something else. It is either true or it isn't. This was a deliberate attempt to prove a point that was not supported by the facts so…..some facts were made up.

I call it the Wikipedia - Guitar Hero Syndrome or Wikipedia - Guitar Hero Syndrome for short.

Wikipedia is a lovely, egalitarian concept where anyone who wants can add stuff to anything regardless of whether or not it is true. The concept is that eventually, after enough people have viewed and edited the material, it will be accurate. The problem is that during the period of evolution, many thousands of people may have been exposed to the incorrect information.

This was underscored this past week when Soledad O’Brien, from CNN used Wikipedia as her source for information about Critical Race Theory. That particular Wikipedia entry has been updated no less than 82 times since Ms O’Brien’s shortcut to inaccuracy and being a Harvard graduate, she really should have known better.

I don’t fault Wikipedia, the concept is interesting but we are now the ‘shortcut’ generation. People are looking for quick information, quick resolution and quick instant gratification. In other words, we’re looking for the shortcut to get what we want. Why learn to play the guitar when you can buy Guitar Hero and have your every musical dream fulfilled without any effort or talent required?

Personally, it’s not all that surprising or important except for the fact that the same lazy attitude to attaining what we want is now seeping into all areas of how we think. Why bother to properly research something when we can grab it off Wikipedia in a flash or from any one of thousands of blogs and websites that will support our opinion?

We no longer formulate what we think or believe based on what we are learning or have learned from reliable sources. We pick up our information online from sources that confirm our suspicions and which too often bend facts and even invent some to fit their opinions. In the process we are not only being intellectually dishonest, we are dumbing down society as a whole.

It really doesn’t get much more stupid than presenting a documentary that is full of errors and outright fabrications  as factual and then trying to pass it off as entertainment after your caught for sloppy and dishonest journalism.

Mr. Daisey can claim what he likes about his piece now but the simple fact remains. He made no attempt prior to his 'piece' being aired to qualify it as entertainment rather than a fact-filled documentary. It was a dishonest and deliberate attempt to prove a point by misleading those who listened to the piece, a point that doesn't actually exist except in Mr. Daisey's mind and those now of countless people who bought into the misrepresentation.. It slandered a corporation with fabrications and that created the usual tidal wave of uninformed social media condemnation. No amount of rationalization or obfuscation is going to change that.

It's reminiscent of the "Vaccinations Cause Autism" scandal which lead hundreds of thousands to stop vaccinating their children based on a deliberately fraudulent medical study produced in England. To this day, there are still people who believe that vaccinations cause autism even though the study was proven to have been deliberately fabricated to help a pharmaceutical company.

This is the era we live in now, an era where opinion trumps fact and facts can be invented when they don't support our opinions.  It's a dangerous business and one of which people need to become more aware.

There was a time when the dissemination of accurate information was almost a sacred trust. That time is gone. Today, we lie to each other but more importantly, increasingly we lie to ourselves.

LINKS

This American Life Retracts Apple Story
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/03/16/radios_this_american_life_retracts_apple_story/

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

all rights reserved

The content of this article is the sole property of Maggie's Bear but a link to it may be shared by those who think it may be of interest to others

The Apple iPad - More Pointless Hype

I dropped Maggie off at work this morning and was listening to the news on the way back to the ranch. Guess what the top news story was. If you guessed the robo call election scandal, the trial of an accused child murderer currently under way or even the ongoing election coverage in the United States, you’d be wrong.

The leading news story was about people who had lined up since yesterday morning at 9:30 to purchase the new Apple iPad. This wasn’t a phenomenon in my own city, it happened all over North America, Europe and Asia and not for the first time. I confess that I don’t get it.

I have no idea whether or not the new iPad is a major technological advancement but I’m willing to accept that it is. I’m even willing to accept that it is so revolutionary that it not only advances technology but peels vegetables and makes the bed.

So what?

It’s not like this is the only day it will ever be offered for sale and it’s not like it was a special introductory price. In fact, it will probably be cheaper six months from now, like most technology usually is after it has been around for awhile.

What’s the big deal? Why do so many put themselves through ridiculous hoops and waste so much time waiting to buy something that is going to be widely available for at least the next year and not just at specialty stores. Stores from Best Buy and Future Shop to Wal-Mart and Target will carry the new Apple iPad along with a whole lot of other tech gadgets, some of which people lined up to buy when they were first released and which now gather dust on the sale rack.

In fact, this latest precious icon of Apple technology will be replaced within 18 months by a newer version or something else equally as temporary because that is what all of these products actually are….temporary. They come and go with increasing frequency.

Does all this tech enhancement really change our lives to the extent that it is worth standing in the rain overnight to get it when the store opens in the morning?

I can understand lining up for food during a famine or water during a drought but a new iPad in the middle of a perfectly normal retail/manufacturing environment? Please….give your head a shake.

This is nothing more than an absurd hysteria over nothing.

Are we really that shallow as a society that being the first to buy something is more important than actually purchasing something for its functionality? Like I said, I don’t know if the new iPad will really enhance that functionality for users but assuming it does, so what? If there isn’t one in the store today, there will be in a couple of days. Whose life is so important that they will not be able to survive those few days without the increased functionality Apple is offering.

People worry about government control but are led around by the nose by companies like Apple who create this artificial hype which serves no other purpose than to keep the price high. The people who line up at the store to be ‘first’ are their own worst enemies because they are the ones who pay the most. If you want a new Apple iPad at a reduced price, encourage your friends not to be at the store on launch day or for a week or two after and guess what, the price will drop like a stone.

I've owned a dozen computers since I first started buying them and almost as many mobile phones. I never paid the initial price for any of them or lined to buy any of them. Surprisingly, my life was never diminished for being a few weeks behind the sales curve.

Still, I believe that everyone gets to choose for themselves so if the only way that someone can feel fulfilled is by being one of the first to own the latest gadget from Apple, Blackberry or Microsoft, fill your hat.

But….CNN and the rest of you in the media….it ain’t news. It’s just another gadget so let’s move on and try to get back to some semblance of rational reality.

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

all rights reserved

The content of this article is the sole property of Maggie's Bear but a link to it may be shared by those who think it may be of interest to others

Government Takes Over Where The Mob Left Off

The Ontario Government in Canada is overhauling its casino operations. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is planning to close some casinos and open others with a view to expanding the games offered in its casinos. 

This, in and of itself, isn’t really big news. Governments in democracies around the world are involved in gambling although they prefer to call it 'gaming'. Some own and operate casinos, most operate lotteries and it isn’t really all that surprising that they would revise their services from time to time. They have to in order to achieve the revenues they need to combat the deficits they’ve incurred.

In Canada, the sale of liquor in most provinces is controlled by government-run retail outlets. Where it is available through private retailers, it is still (as it is in other countries) subject to significant taxes. Cigarettes are heavily taxed and their sales controlled. There is even a move to legalize marijuana. I don’t believe this to be an altruistic decision or one based on any evidence of the medicinal properties of weed. I suspect governments are standing by, rubbing their hands in anticipation at the potential tax revenues.

Many governments have legalized prostitution, including the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Nevada and even stodgy old Canada although in Canada we apply a typical schizophrenic approach. Prostitution is legal, soliciting a prostitute is a crime. It's sort of like making the sale of chocolate legal but asking how much it costs illegal. Only government could come up with something like that.

All of this got me thinking…..just exactly what is the difference between government and the Mob?

Booze used to be illegal. It was illegal to sell or purchase liquor during prohibition and while I don’t support a ban on alcohol, why is the government now in a business it used to prohibit?

It’s the same with gambling. The Mob used to run a simple lottery called The Numbers which was basically nothing more sophisticated than players picking three numbers and if your number hit, you won a jackpot.

In Canada, the government runs exactly the same game only they call it Pick 3. In other words, government now engages in precisely the same activity that it once declared illegal. How does giving it a new name make it more moral than the game run by the Mob. Of course, government took it a step further and now runs dozens of lotteries the Mob never dreamt of and realizes billions in revenues as a result.

Government casinos have significantly lower payouts than the old mob-owned casinos. In Vegas, the slot payback typically is around 95% to 97%. In most government run casinos, the payout drops to between 80% and 90% and many of them still don't make a profit or only a small profit. How is that possible?

I’m not prude. I like to have a drink here and there, smoke cigarettes and the odd cigar, have gambled in casinos and even smoked some Mother Nature in my day but it just seems to me that there is something both hypocritical and distasteful about government being in the businesses it used to convict and imprison others for. It seems more than just a tad hypocritical to me that  government was attracted to the business of 'sin' (their old name for it) for the same reason that first attracted the Mob......cash!

Al Capone

Each of these money-makers for government have some things in common besides having been formerly illegal and the sole province of the Mob in the past.

First, all of them are addictive and can ruin lives. I believe in people taking responsibility for their actions, I just don’t think government should be encouraging people to flirt with addiction in order to make money. Thousands of books and documentaries have been produced on the immorality of the Mafia for doing that very thing. The fact that government now sanctions and benefits from the cash doesn’t suddenly make it morally ethical.

Secondly, they are all a form of taxation and typically, taxation targeted most to those who really can’t afford the extra cost. We’ve all read stories in the news about people who have ruined their lives because of booze, dope and gambling; sometimes to the extent of committing suicide. Again, I believe in buyer beware. I don’t think we should prohibit these products or activities, I just question the ethics of government living off what they used to call ‘the avails of crime.’

Finally, there is something extremely distasteful to me about governments that are so desperate for money that they have to constantly twist what is and is not acceptable in society just to make some cash. It is particularly galling considering that governments need the money because of the lack of integrity in politics.

Governments need cash because politicians squander our taxes to buy votes. It’s really that simple. Election after election, promises are made and some even kept. Inevitably, those promises cost more than was detailed in the campaign and government finds itself in debt, scrambling to find new and innovative ways to get some money to pay for the crumbling economic reality they’ve created.

Stupid economic decisions are made like the bailout of the banks in 2008, a bailout that cost the U.S. alone close to $7 trillion. Wonder where that $15 trillion deficit came from? Look no further than Wall Street for half of it.

Wars, entitlements, bailouts, healthcare yadda yadda yadda. Promises made, money borrowed and eventually the government is left with no option but to find new revenue sources.

And that is how government ends up in the sin business. 

At the rate some governments are going, they will soon drive the mob right out of business. Of course then, they will declare that a victory. Some victory. It seems we are being governed by those who have more in common with Al Capone and Bugsy Segal than Winston Churchill or John Kennedy.

It makes you wonder if this was what Canada’s Fathers of Confederation or the founders of The United States envisioned as they drafted those noble documents that became our constitutions and then put their signatures to them.

Probably not. I doubt they envisioned the government concept they were creating eventually becoming pimps, bootleggers, pushers and casino operators but then, they had never heard of the Mob or the opportunities horning in on Mob's territory might provide.

As Elvis said before he left the building. "Viva Las Vegas!"

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

all rights reserved

The content of this article is the sole property of Maggie's Bear but a link to it may be shared by those who think it may be of interest to others

After The Storm - A Rainbow's Rant

There is a dirty little secret about abuse and the damage it does. There are too many victims but not everyone is content to remain a victim. Some, sometimes with help, sometimes alone, overcome the gift that keeps on giving. The truly brave ones bring it out into the light, not in a search for sympathy, but to expose to the light the darkness thrust on them by someone else.

I invited today's guest contributor to share her story, not the petty details but the dark side the abused go through in order to find the life we were meant to have. She kindly consented and I admire her for the courage it takes to expose yourself to the world without reservation or apology.

She has a real name but I met her as Rainbow Woman and she will remain Rainbow Woman to me. She exemplifies what life can be like after the storm and I admire her courage and for the optimism she reclaimed in her life.

The Rainbow Woman

Not long ago I visited a Shaman for the usual reasons; life was seriously messed up and it seemed like something someone more qualified should take care of.  During the wondrously kooky session Bandana Shaman referred to me as “a great she-bear protecting her family.”  Perhaps it is from this element of myself this piece is written for A Bear’s Rant.   The weekly words for this blog come from a passionate and aware human and mine are in an effort to bring 3D light to his tireless effort to make people look at what’s under the wrapping paper.

     As a child I could have been described as Chicken Little warning villagers.

     “The sky is falling!”

     “I am being kicked, punched, demeaned and molested!”

     Shhhhh.  It’s a secret.

Mayhem swirled around the wee girl while no one spoke or offered a hand, leaving her to search for those who would show great courage.  Grandma Lupe stood at the door of her run down castle in East Los Angeles, smelling of bacon grease and roses offering comfort when there was none.  

A middle school teacher, Mr. Curtis showed there are safe and kind males mentoring other people’s leftovers.  Junior year, Mrs. Paulsen impersonated Miss Haversham from Great Expectations, presenting a book world full of truth and hope to a young girl with nothing left to lose.  

Later, my husband stood still and didn’t run when the tidal wave of childhood haunted every aspect of life, threatening to consume all light.  Gabrielle rode the wave alongside, listening to ugly words about pain and horror, showering me with friendship.  Dr. D. the wise sage heard stories no one should have to hear and held the hand of a human enduring the agony of review.

Heroes are those who see and act.  They don’t sit behind a reefer hiding from truth or ignore what’s happening in the neighborhood because things could get messy if someone got involved.  Those two teachers provided hope of possibility and for that to happen it was nurtured inside them against the onslaught of adult reality.  

Grandma stood at the door of a ramshackle house after a lifetime of abuse, decades picking vegetables for farmers or working a factory line while raising six kids unassisted by church or government, accompanied by a drunken gambler.  Yet standing before a broken child her spirit managed to well forth sprinkling the hope of possibility.  

The man I married couldn’t possibly have imagined the putrid stew which lay hidden under the white dress as I walked toward him at the altar.  When mayhem reactivated, he faced it with eyes wide open holding my hand, asking me to hang onto hope and possibility.  Gabrielle and Dr. D. didn’t shy from what emerged before them, each took time and care to scrape what was left of me from the bottom of my shoe, all while encouraging to look for hope and possibility.  

     Each person in this story took a risk.  It is difficult to stand in vomit and not want to take a shower or cover the smell.  Under the illusion of the “pursuit of happiness”, life is being missed while people bathe reality away.

     “Does facing reality destroy the pursuit of happiness?”

Yes, because it is the carrot on the stick dangled in front of a tired half dead animal dragging a gaggle of tourists through dirty city streets.  Put the reefer, illusion, the pursuit down and stand in the vomit.  Hiding eyes in the middle of a horror movie doesn’t make the sounds go away or action stop, it merely saves the nightmare for bedtime.

As a child I searched for heroes, people to step out of the fray and give me a reason not to quit.  Life is ridiculously hard and surprisingly beautiful.  Each layer of flesh laboriously debrided brought healing.  It is difficult to fathom the importance of healing when it is considered under the downy comfort of delusion.  Hope and possibility are not about happiness, the wrong words were put together all those years ago or our interpretation is flawed.  A wounded people arrived in America to heal from subjugation and create something from nothing.  The forefathers came from pain and over the centuries all people have continued to create more in a pointless pursuit which is killing the possibility for hope.  

Ignoring mayhem doesn’t make it go away, the nightmare unfolds without ceasing.  Careful, thoughtful agonizing debridement lights a path towards healing.  Beat up, fucked up and lost, people reached out and wiped the blood from my knees.  

Today, I am called Rainbow Woman.  I believe in the bridge between horror and healing.  The vibrant colorful arc is called awareness.  Bear is a hero standing in the vomit pointing out truth, humans need to put on the hip waders and start cleaning up the mess.

To read more from Rainbow Woman:  http://20gurusandadog.com

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

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The content of this article is the sole property of Maggie's Bear but a link to it may be shared by those who think it may be of interest to others

We Are Not A Village

On Saturday, a rogue member of the United States military left his post to go to a small Afghan village in the dark of night where he broke into four small huts and murdered 16 people including 9 children. This isn’t a tragedy, this is a horror. The tragedy is that this horror is no longer unique.

CNN and other mainstream media have already begun their entertainment-driven in depth analysis, dissecting every minute detail from every conceivable angle. Air time must be filled and an audience entertained. Psychologists are produced to comment on post-traumatic-stress-disorder.  The military base at which the serviceman served is analyzed, as much as can be learned about his family is revealed and endless repeats of comments from the military, politicians and Afghan leaders and citizens are  replayed like the halftime highlights of a football game.


Even videos, like the one posted here begin with a commercial because no horror, no loss of life can be allowed to interfere with the business of doing business,. Nothing is sacred and especially not human life.

In the end, nothing is learned, nothing is changed, and nothing is resolved. The following day will be a continuation of how we lived the day before.

Political and military leaders are speaking out using words like 'shocking', 'tragedy' and 'rampage'. They were once again caught by surprise just as they were caught by surprise when marines urinated on dead members of the Taliban, the ensuing violent protests by a people outraged and two American officers were shot in the Afghan Security Headquarters in retaliation for American soldiers burning copies of the Koran.

It isn't a secret that these horrors happen but our societies never anticipate them happening and is never prepared when they do. We stop for a moment, express our concern but we don't seriously consider the root causes and attempt to take measures to prevent these horrors. They always come on us unexpectedly.

This is not a condemnation of the U.S. military, this latest horror simply exemplifies the society in which we now live. These horrific events are not exclusive to the U.S. military or any military for that matter. They happen in war zones, in schools, in homes and in offices. They happen in democracies and theocracies, dictatorships and monarchies.  They happen when it is least expected and with increasing frequency.

They happen because we are not a village.

Terrorists kill. The military kills. Parents kill. Criminals, neighbours, colleagues and drug gangs kill.  Even government kills in many countries and places like China and Iran, routinely execute people in the same numbers and with the same expediency as was seen in France during the Reign of Terror. Just line 'em up and move 'em out.

Life is cheap.

In our conceit we debate abortion as if we know with certainty when a life is or is not human. We discuss euthanasia with the compassion of convenience that is lower than anything we might bring to putting down a pet. We give more support to causes to save environment and to groups like PETA to save animals than we do the sanctity of human life.

We are arrogant and indifferent.

We have built a world that puts a higher value on a new Apple iPad and the cost of gasoline than it does on human life. The discussions online are about politics, technology and criticisms of those who annoy us or with whom we violently disagree. Somewhere, in that clutter of shallow discourse is the odd comment about the latest horror or atrocity but within moments of the comment, it is back to the real business at hand.

We blame government because it's easy. We blame the system because it's convenient but we never blame ourselves. We never stop and look at what we each are doing to the world we think we want. It is always the responsibility or fault of someone else.

Hillary Clinton wrote that ‘it takes a village’ to raise a child and many on social media like to think they are part of a global village but we aren’t. Villages are filled with people who care for and who protect each other. Despite their daily disagreements and tasks, they never lose sight of the fact that the success of the village comes from unity.

Their priorities always start with the village’s obligation to protect every member of the village, especially its children.  It is a simple concept where recognition of the need to work daily to provide food, shelter and safety coupled with respect for others is how unity is maintained. Children are protected by the village. The poor are fed by the village. The infirm and the ill are cared for by the village. Individual accomplishment is encouraged and celebrated, those who struggle are helped by those who succeed.

It is not communism. It is something else.

It is something that we, for all of our sophistication, no longer understand. It is a sense of community, an understanding of belonging to something greater than ourselves, a unity which not only protects us but gives us the freedom to live our individual lives.

We are not a village. We are a world of self-absorbed clusters of hate, economic class, ideology, hypocrisy and intolerance for anyone and anything not part of our current cluster.

In the past month, three children were murdered by their parents. There is more horror coming but we are not prepared. Our children are either bullies, the victims of bullies or merely observers of bullying. Whichever they are, they have learned that indifference or anger from us. We have taught them well. Too many of our children give up and teen suicides are increasing as we debate the trivia of the day or scramble for more money to buy more things.

Life is cheap. We no longer consider the lives of anyone but those closest to us to have much value. We are too busy for much more than a passing comment over the death of nine children. They weren’t our children or even the children of those near us. They were ‘their’ children and their lives are cheap. We don't even have time to stop and reconsider how to stop the carnage of our own.

We live in a world where we devote more time to discussing trivia than to children at risk. We live in a world where abject poverty exists in the richest countries in the world. We live in a world where excuses and vested-self interest reign supreme.

We will see the horror of that Saturday night in Afghanistan again and then again because we are too sophisticated to remember how to be a village.

© 2012 Maggie's Bear

all rights reserved

The content of this article is the sole property of Maggie's Bear but a link to it may be shared by those who think it may be of interest to others