The World has new needs in 2018


For thousands of years, religion has been used to promote different political and economic issues. Religions have often been abused and twisted to make them fit what is needed.

The Dalai Lama is speaking out now about what the world needs to counteract the increase of hatred and violence that have descended on our world. The Dalai Lama is the refugee who has been the world’s longest refugee. He has been a refugee since China invaded is home country of Tibet in the 1959. He and many of his fellow citizens fled for their lives to India. They continue to reside in India to this day.

He has been a tireless advocate for peace and non-violence. His motto is that “He has no enemies, just people he has not met yet.” He has toured the world doing speaking engagements. I met him in 1989. He is a quite fascinating individual.

He has been looking at the world and its values. The world’s morals are changing due to the Nationalism being found everywhere in the world. Does religion address these issues? The Dalai Lama does not think so.

For centuries, violence has been committed and justified in the name of religion. Religions have often been intolerent and often still are. Religion is often abused by many even by religious people. Often their purpose is to further political or economic issues. We need a new form of ethics that goes beyond religion…anyone’s religion. The Dalai Lama speaks of an ethics that goes into a new form. A secular ethics for over a billion atheists and an increasing number of agnostics. These ethics would address human spiritualality. Humans need inner values, no matter what religion we have, we believe in life, benevolence,and affection.

Human beings need inner values and ethics. Ethics run deeper and are more natural than religion. We must learn that humanity is all one family. We are all brothers and sisters: physically, mentally, and emotionally. We are focusing far too much on our differences instead of our commonalities. After all, every one of us is born the same way and dies the same way. It doesn’t make much sense to take pride in our nations and religions–all the way to the graveyard. Ethics run deeper and are more natural than religion.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

 

Life needs to be filled with beauty. Photograph by Barbara Mattio 2018

 

The Good and the Bad


 

His Soprano Is As Good As His Tenor! How Is This Possible?

Today, we introduce to you another unique talent, Marcelito Pomoy from The Philippines. He is the winner of the second season of Pilipinas Got Talent. After being abandoned by his parents, Marcelito was adopted by a police officer. He started working at an yearly age, and that’s how he discovered his talent. Trying to entertain himself while doing some terrible dirty work, Pomoy was goofing off singing both tenor and soprano. Realizing how unique his talent was, Marcelito started participating in competitions. Please, enjoy his unique rendition of “The Praier.”

 

 

 

 

 

Trump Stomps Planet Earth

Democratic Senators Act Like Democrats


Red-State Democratic Senators Don’t Seem Scared to Act Like Democrats

By

 

When it came to managing the U.S. Senate, the supposed ace in the hole for Republicans this year was supposed to be the political tremors experienced by the ten Democratic senators up for reelection in 2018 who were from states carried by Donald Trump last year. It’s not really working out that way.

So far the only controversial thing the Senate has been able to pass was the overturning of an Obama administration regulation that kept states from banning use of federal funds by Planned Parenthood. And that happened only because (a) it was under the aegis of the Congressional Review Act that prevents filibusters, (b) one ailing Republican, Johnny Isakson, arrived on the floor with a walker, and (c) Vice-President Mike Pence broke a tie vote. For all their occasional talk of bipartisanship and willingness to work with Donald Trump, Senate Democrats haven’t broken ranks yet.

It was widely thought the question of confirming Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court might break the mold, partially because he did well in his confirmation hearings, and partially because the Democratic leadership has signaled it will pursue an unprecedented SCOTUS filibuster, which in turn is very likely to lead to the invocation of the “nuclear option” to eliminate future SCOTUS filibusters.

So far just two of the 11 red-state Senate Democrats have indicated that they will vote to confirm Gorsuch, and they do happen to be from two states Trump carried by massive landslides, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Five Democrats from states carried by Trump, however, have publicly announced they will join the filibuster: Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. All but Peters are up for reelection in 2018. Nelson was the real revelation: He’s a longtime centrist who had voted for cloture when fellow Democrats sought to filibuster Samuel Alito’s confirmation in 2006, and who faces a potentially crazy-expensive reelection challenge from Governor Rick Scott next year. Call it a matter of fearing “the base” more than the opposition, or call it revenge for the GOP’s treatment of Merrick Garland, or call it a recognition that the GOP won’t cut Democrats any slack for playing pretty: Any way you slice it, there’s a new calculation Democrats seem to be making on votes like this. It may well be they’re thinking the wind may blow in a very favorable direction in this particular midterm.

It’s unclear, however, what is going to happen in the end, since according to the Washington Post’s whip count, 12 Democrats — including four (Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Jon Tester of Montana) from states carried by Trump — are publicly undecided. Gorsuch needs six more votes to break the filibuster. It’s hard to imagine Brown voting to help Gorsuch get confirmed, and there is at least one blue-state senator (Pat Leahy) who has made noises about not favoring SCOTUS filibusters. So it will be close, but either way, there are few indications the GOP can regularly count on any Democratic senators, no matter where they are from and how tough a row they have to hoe in 2018. And that’s definitely a problem for a Republican Party that is having its own discipline issues of late.

A Funny Response to an UnFunny Night


 

We are in that lovely part of the election cycle called “the Conventions”. I decided that we needed to think of the RNC with a little change of perspective. I found some and I would like to share it with you. The video is really funny and right now funny is the thing we need. So I hope at least some of you will laugh and the internal pressure will decrease for a little bit. If you don’t like it, blame it on the heat and forgive me.

 

Namaste,

Barbara

 

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Trump on etch a sketch

Trump on etch a sketch

 

Violence Against Women in Politics


A hidden reality: Violence against women in politics

waronwomen

waronwomen2

State of DisUnion (Guest Rant)


Hi, all.  This is The Sister, stealing the keyboard for an evening, as the United States faces another State of the Union Address.

You may watch the Address, you may not, but I think, without having seen anything about the content, I can sum the entire thing up thusly:

“Hey, Republicans!  We’re moving the country forward.  Either help me, or get out of the way.”

Because, here’s the thing, all the right-wingers, conservatives, Republicans, Tea Partiers — everyone who has been working against the President for the last six years:

Nobody is asking you to agree with the man.

Nobody is expecting you to cow-tow to him.

Nobody expects you to give up your principles, your ethics, your beliefs.

But…

NO is not a viable governmental policy.

Nobody is asking you to agree with the man.  Everyone is asking you to work with him.

Nobody is expecting you to cow-tow to him.  Everyone expects you to have the common decency to respect him as a person, and to respect the office to which he was elected.  Twice.

Nobody expects you to give up your principles, your ethics, your beliefs.  Everyone expects you to be willing to compromise.

You don’t like the policies proposed?  Fine.  Propose something else.  Don’t just keep saying NO, with no alternatives given.

You don’t like the Executive Orders?  Fine.  Take some action as the elected body you are – POSITIVE action, not just repeating the tired phrase “NO, Obama, No,” like he’s a puppy on the furniture.

Like it or not, this IS your President.  You are his Congress.

WORK TOGETHER, or expect us to vote you the out at the first opportunity.

Flag unfurled by vets

Flag unfurled by vets

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Hello, everyone.  This is Barbara.  I took the keyboard back, and there’s something I would like to add to my Sister’s Rant.

I agree with what my Sister said, however I feel that she didn’t go quite far enough.

We are in the 21st Century.  The American people have elected Barak Obama, twice, to be our President, because he is a progressive liberal.  This said, I do not think that everything he has said or done is correct.  I think he missed the target a few times.  I know that has upset some liberal progressives.  But, being a part of Congress, whichever house you may be in, gives you a responsibility; a responsibility to your constituents, and a responsibility to be part of what makes America work better.

You cannot just say, “well, we’re Republicans, or Conservatives, or Tea Partiers, and we just won’t cooperate.  We will not do what Obama wants.”  That behavior is juvenile, and reminds me of children playing in a backyard, when one child gets angry and picks up his toys and goes home, vowing never to play again.

I challenge — nay, I dare — Congress to put politics aside and to think about their constituents who are middle class or poor, not just the rich.  Poverty is the largest problem we have.  1% of the population has all the money.  Yes, they’ve earned it.  But have they earned it ethically and morally? Is giving them shortcuts and loopholes to pay less taxes fair?  I think not.

I think that if a woman has to decide whether to pay taxes or feed her children, this is not what the founding fathers had in mind when they designed our form of democracy.

I think that we need to remember, or we need to find out, what the founding fathers had in mind.  If you don’t know, I challenge you to look it up, to read it, to get into their minds.

Thursday, January 25th, on the History Channel, a three-night mini series begins, called the Sons of Liberty.  It is about the founding fathers, and the passion and the politics of an English colony trying to decide if they wanted freedom or not.

At that time, in America, freedom was very controversial, and there were many people who did not want freedom from Mother England.  The controversies and arguments were plentiful, back in those days.  The desire for a better life, a life of equality and freedom was a strong inspiration to the progressive Colonists at that time.

Equality – that’s another problem. That was the one thing they could not come to an agreement about.  They felt that, after the country had stood on its own, as a nation, following generations would be able to figure out a plan which would satisfy everyone.  This was the only place they were mistaken, and because politics was allowed to dominate this discussion of the ownership of human beings, Four Score and Seven years later, we had a Civil War which nearly tore our country permanently asunder.

To be truthful, we still don’t have it right.  We still have racism in America.  We still have people who are treated differently because of their color, and because of other factors, but color is still the largest divider.  The irony, to me, is that there is less racism in Mother England than there is here.

A nation looking out for the lives of all its citizens, rich or poor, is a responsibility.  Many nations in the world today are walking away from their responsibilities to their citizens.

America, the Brave and Beautiful, must not walk away from her citizens.

God’s Children Include Women


Women can not be equal without legally being equal.

Women can not be equal without legally being equal.

Our world is living within a horrible hangover. In most religious communities there is something leftover from the past. It is the subordination and subjugation of women. We are striving to live in a world very different from that of our ancestors. Now this has been a cultural earthquake. Many people from different cultures are grasping to hold on, to hold on to their version of the past.  They want the past to remain immovable.  There are people who are even coerced into sexism.

The Vatican has tried to do this with Catholic nuns. American Catholic bishops consult with women to try to make them not use contraceptions. Without adequate contraceptives the size of families becomes too large to give each child the education they need to be productive members of our world.

In Israel, some state-supported Orthodox people have used physical violence. Groups of Jewish women have been praying as a group, chanting and wearing prayer shawls at the Western Wall. Jewish traditions see the Wall as the refuge of Shechinah, the Feminine Indwelling Immanent aspect of God, after the destruction of the nearby Temple.

This war on women

This war on women

We are moving into a new world, given us by God. Women and men are learning the difficult practice of dancing in God’s earthquake. Men and women need to resist the subjugation of women. Women who have tried to pray at the Western Wall are being mishandled and forced to leave the Wall because it is holy and women have no right to pray there.

In other countries, women are still participating in genital mutilation. Female midwives with the cooperation of mothers, will perform a clitorectomy and cut out the clitoris. This makes sure the child will never enjoy sex when she grows up. In some countries, the vagina is sown up to prevent her from having sex with a different man while her husband is away on business. A girl who has not had this done will not be able to marry. No one will want her. These procedures are done without anesthesia or pain medication.  These procedures make child birth more dangerous. I don’t know about everyone else but this makes me want to throw up.

Women are equal and deserve to receive equal pay for equal work. They deserve equal recognition for their work. They also deserve promotions when their work equals that of a male co-worker.

Two thirds of females in the world are illiterate.

Two thirds of females in the world are illiterate.

The majority of women in the world are considered so insignificant that it is felt they are not worth educating. They stay at home while brothers go off to schools to learn to do math and to read. This is why Oprah’s schools for girls are so important. Knowing someone believes in them helps them to believe in themselves. They know, when they are grown up they will be able to get a job in a city and save money to help their families.

God did not make a mistake when he created Eve, if you accept the story. Eve was not a secondary creation.  I think that if there was a serpent and he talked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, then she made a choice. Adam also made a choice. When she offered the apple to Adam, he could have said no. He was responsible for his choice not to say no. Eve was not at fault. Women don’t have to carry that guilt. There is also a legend in Judiasm that Lillith was created to be Adam’s partner and she lived with him in equality. Adam complained to God and he got Eve instead.

Whatever you believe, women are equal. All human beings are equal. Where inequality remains, we will squelch it and make sure everyone is equal. Teach your daughters to be confident in themselves and your sons to respect women.

Betty is a feminist to help women receive equality

Betty Freidan is a feminist and writer who worked to help women receive equality

We are now Talking About War and Peace


We honor and desire peace

We honor and desire peace

” The next dreadful thing to a battle lost is a battle one.” —-Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

“I think that people want peace so much that one of these days the government had better get out of their way and let them have it.” —-Dwight D. Eisenhower

“War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objectors enjoy the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.” —-John F. Kennedy

“Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous” —George Bernard Shaw

“Never think that war, no matter how justified, is not a crime.” —-Ernest Hemmingway

scales

“Peace, shalom,

is not

the absence of difficulties but

the handling of difficulties without

loss of balance.

Shalom is not the absence of tension

but the acceptance of it as part of the Way.

Shalom is not the absence of war

but the careful waging of war

without losing one’s balance.

Shalom, is not passive non-violence,

but active confrontation with truth. Shalom is the ablitity to see the

grain of life

and act in accord with it;

to discover that effortless effort,

action in tune with the Way of Universe,

is the secret of both peace and power.”  —Rabbi Bami Shapiro

Peace is the Way

Peace is the Way

“It is not how much we do that is important; rather, it is the love with which our actions are performed that is most important. The smallest action, done with love, will lead us toward peace.:   —-Mother Teresa

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                                                                                                                                       One of the most brilliant minds in the world

                                                                                                                                        enbracing the cause of peace.

We Will Use Our Freedom


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3bf_1378009165

Now I want to explain that I remain a dove. I believe in peace. I believe in living side by side as the sisters and brothers we were created to be. I do not believe that all that is Divine created the peoples who live on this planet to fight and kill each other. That is illogical. We were certainly not created here to kill children and women with any weapons but certainly not chemical weapons. Sarin is the chemical used in the attack on the Tokoyo subway. But Syria has used them upon its own citizens. I condemn the use of chemical weapons, as had the international community for 100 years. There was an agreement put in place over 100 years ago that no country will in future use chemicals to kill human beings.

I am sharing this video with you all because of the treatment of this protester. Having had experience protesting, I will say that things often get out of order. I am not talking today  about war or peace. I am talking about the right that this young woman had to protest. To stand and play her banjo and speak her truth. One small young women and all of those cops to handcuff her. My point today is that no matter whether you believe that we should stop Assad from continuing the chemical warfare,  we live in the United States of America and we the people have the right to gather in groups and to protest what our country is doing. This is part of freedom.

We the people have the right to meet and to say what we believe to be true. Freedom is for all citizens and people in our country. The police were, I feel, sexist in their actions of taking this young woman into custody. They should have left her alone but chose to try to humiliate her and violate her rights as an American citizen. Situations in America are violent enough, they are filled with enough hatred that the police do not need to add to this serious problem. This incident will only grow and spread across the country if the police do not control their behaviour. Google Kent State if you have any doubts about my words. The question of going to war or not is always a tough one to deal with. But as this situation expands, we do not want to revisit the protests of Vietnam. We do not need to be attacking each other here in America.

So if you see police violating the rights of citizens, take pictures or video and take this evidence to the media. If we shine a light on police brutality, it will stop. It will have to because they won’t be able to defend their actions. Remember this country belongs to all of us: We who are the citizens of America.

Four killed at Kent state protest

Four killed at Kent state protest

National Guard killed four protestors at Kent State

National Guard killed four protestors at Kent State