Show Me Your Papers, Ese (comics)

Ashley Wells, Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

How our dictators justify killing. "This Modern World" by Tom Tomorrow (East Bay Express)

  

In "Show Me Your Papers, Comrade" we pointed out how the US was more and more becoming a police state.

  

A police state is all about authoritarian control -- where we go, what we do, whom we associate with, what is said, and ultimately what we think.
  
The worst offense in Nineteen Eighty-Four's dystopia was "thought crime." If one even seems to be thinking a radical thought, one is hauled into the Ministry of Love and violently and painfully re-educated, sometimes to death.

   

If the Bush Family wants Obama, should we?

Sure, why should people who live in the "Land of the Free" (that's what we Americans are told is the other name of our country) not be asked for papers and passports to step over into Canada or Mexico? But now there are border checks at every state line. There are "sobriety" checks whenever police feel like it. There are wanton "stop and frisk" policy violation, but no one cares if most of the people complaining are black and brown.

   

Now the Supreme Court has let stand a small but significant portion of Arizona's draconian anti-undesirable statutes. The "Show Me Your Papers, Ese" portion targets Latinos throughout Arizona and copycat states.
   
The police are merely asking a question, we are told. The fact is they are being put in a position to lie while engaging in racial profiling, stopping, frisking, and detaining those the law (blind Lady Justice) presumes to be innocent. They might be guilty of something. Then police look for that something, anything, in violation of every freedom we once took for granted.
  
But it's not happening to us (yet), so what do we care?

  

Thank you, Obama. You have made the Bush Dynasty and your cousin Dick Cheney very proud to have voted for an ostensibly black president.

The allowance is rife for police abuse and civil rights violations.

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange goes to Eucador Embassy for help.

Read More

The Therapeutic Role of Animals: Dogs Help Victims Testify in Court.

James: Animals are perfect for therapy because their instincts and intuition are heightened to allow them to survive in the wilds of nature. Animals often instinctively know when turbulent weather (or even natural disasters) will strike, before humans do. This intuition enables them to detect subtleties in human behavior.



As I've said before, I often struggle with depression. Well, one day, I was visiting my parents, who care for my sister's dog while she's at work. I began talking about my depression with my parents and at one point, began to cry. Immediately, my sister's little dog, Maya, walked over to me and jumped up on my legs. Then she stretched her little body vertically across my stomach and rested there while trying to lick my face. She instinctively knew that I was hurting and rushed to my side. Her and I have shared a strong bond for a lot of years, and she's a joy and a gift to me.



I had a similar experience with my brother's dog during a bout of depression, and crying over Christmas. I retreated to the basement because all the commotion and stimuli from the party was overwhelming. Yet it depressed me knowing I was missing the family time. Well, not long after I went downstairs, my brother's little dog, Weston, appeared and sat right at my feet. He stayed there the whole time I was lying on the couch. It was like he was watching over me and trying to comfort my emotional turmoil.



Therefore, I'm not at all surprised that these therapy dogs are helping calm victims of crime, so that they can be strong in court. Animals aren't simply here as "scenery" and food. They are our cousins, family, teachers and guides. Animals teach us in so many ways and I think that is partly because they are close to being reborn into the human realm. Or, perhaps they were a human in a past life and therefore are able to respond to human behavior. It could also be the connection we share on the animal level, since all of us who believe in past lives spent time in the animal realm. If we are open to what we experienced and learned in our animal lives then I think our understanding of animal rights will expand too. Maybe it's simply the bond we share of being interconnected as sentient beings. One things is sure, animals are smarter than some humans believe.



I'll finish with this closing thought; animals give us great opportunities to practice our compassion and abilities to care for those who are the most vulnerable. In the past, animals have been an easy target for human exploitation because of their natural innocence. I have found that a good indicator of a person's compassion is to see how they treat animals. If they are mean to animals, then it's likely they treat humans poorly, as well. In some ways, an animals vulnerability is a test for the many powers of humanity; as the saying goes, "With great ability comes great responsibility." We know that we are all interconnected (even science teaches this concept). So, as go the animals, so go humanity. We can't survive as humanity if we allow animals to be eradicated (or abused) through our excessive greed for land, money and power.

~peace to all beings~

Read More

CSI and Other Violent TV and Film

Over the last 5 years or so I have seen a disturbing rise in interest of violent movies and television shows. Take for example the CSI franchise--yes, I say franchise because this show about fictional cases regarding Crime Scene Investigative units have three different versions of the show.

They consist of the regular CSI, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York. These shows are violent and often gory. The fact that there are three versions of this show tells me that there are a lot of people interested in watching this stuff. Then, on the same channel there is a show called Criminal Minds and Cold Case which is another show that looks into the criminal mind and their twisted actions. One another channel you can find the Law and Order franchise which includes Law and Order: Special Victims Unit which emphasizes cases regarding sexual crimes that are particularly heinous. Just the thought of such television makes my stomach churn. This is all just on TV. The movies are an even worse problem.

Whenever we go to the video store to rent a DVD we walk past video after video about some violent, serial killer style film. It seems that they are starting to crowd out the other movies on the shelf!! It is pretty rare now to find a good, funny comedy.

Have there always been so many violent, twisted and gory movies on TV and film or is our society becoming more and more violent, angry and disturbed? Why are we so obsessed with violence as a people??

I use to be able to watch such movies and shows but since I found the Dharma I no longer have a taste for such heavy energy. I'm certainly not the best moral example around though. Perhaps I'm making too much of all of this and being a bit of a hypocrite as I do still watch movies where sexuality is involved. Never the less, I find violence to be the one of the most critical issues (if not THE most critical issue) that we as humanity must face.

I hope everyone is in a safe place right now and if not--hold my hand and we will get through this sometimes difficult state of existence together in Oneness of mind, body and spirit.

~Peace to all beings~

Read More