Darfur - Please read

Hope you can find time to read this and help our (lifenets) campaign.

Over 450,000 have been killed in Darfur. 2.5 million are crammed into refugee camps with little access to medical care, clean drinking water, and security.

Oxfam International discontinued its humanitarian operation after a staff worker was raped. The government of Sudan is attacking aid groups in order to target the refugee population.

For four years, the Sudanese government has pretended to negotiate on a peacekeeping force, only to cancel arrangements at the last minute. Negotiation cannot end genocide -- The United States should immediately implement a No-Fly Zone to protect civilians.
____________________________________________________

"If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different."

-Senator Paul Simon [About Rwanda]


TODAY ANOTHER CRISIS EXISTS. THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY WRITING TO THE HOUSE OF SENATE SO THAT THEY ARE MORE INFORMED TO TAKE ACTION.
IT'S SIMPLE AND ONLY TAKES A FEW MINUTES.
JOIN THE 100 VOICES CAMPAIGN.
THE GOAL IS TO COLLECT100 PERSONALIZED LETTERS ON DARFUR TO SEND TO EACH U.S SENATOR.
HELP REACH THIS GOAL; FOR THE PEOPLE OF DARFUR.
THEY NEED YOUR HELP.

http://www.lifenets.net/dev/?q=node/15&refid=43

COPY AND PASTE ALL OF THE ABOVE LINK TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

SDM

Life in a Breath

Like the Man of La Mancha I had what I thought to be an impossible dream –
One that was so incredible as to delight the soul. I dreamt of a world in which all there was is love, of an emotion so life affirming so as to give new meaning to life itself. I dreamt of any eye that would meet with mine, without blinking so that two souls could touch. I dreamt of a warm heart, so warm as to dull the warmth of the sun. I dreamt of lips that when pursed caught my full attention… My dream – Impossible – was for a love that was the very breathe of life, impossible, until you, my love, eternal.

SDM

Response to email rec'd

You see... this is exactly what I am talking about. When you say; "I do believe that god is with all people but closest to the Muslim people." This for me is the embodiment of one who is not willing to step beyond artificial grounds. Grounds set forth under artificial terms.

I think that you misunderstood, my father married a Muslim although he himself is not. But I believe that that union is actually the result of two people who can reach beyond artificial and man (or woman) made restrictions and beliefs. Mohommad, Abraham, Isaac & Ishmael were all men were they not?

I wonder if when you meet your God and I meet mine if he, she or it will prefer you to me? According to your faith (which you've converted to) it is so! Is this not the same as George Bush saying (although I'm paraphrasing here) that his God told him to go to war with Iraq and that it was right? I know that the illustration may not be immediately clear. Let me please refer you to the following; http://sdmupwords.blogspot.com/2007/07/pope-and-slippery-slope.html

This is something I wrote just the other day.

I am willing to accept that Mohammad was a Prophet, yet I take umbrage with the statement that he is to be the last.

As you will see from what I wrote. I am a prophet, as potentially are you. So does this mean that Mohammad was wrong or merely overstated? And what ramifications are there from that statement? War, strife, discontent? etc?

Before attacking what I'm saying examine yourself deep within your soul. The God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is the same God and yet each religion says that their God will prefer one over the other. If that is the case then I am not sure that I want to believe in that God. Do you follow what I am saying here?

My God which by no means is better or worse than any other God accepts all people equally. Treats all people equally. Will receive all people equally that accept that they are but one in a much wider scheme.

SD Mac

Response to a friend request from American Muslim on MySpace

As-Salamu Alaykum, Shalom Aleichem, Peace Unto You,

I am not a religious man. I was however raised in the spirit of tolerance. I was raised both Catholic and Jewish and my father then married a Muslim after my parents divorce.

I believe that religion has been used as a pretext for much of that which is wrong in the world. I strongly believe that each of the monotheists state that their God is right and all others is wrong. This is a belief which will ultimately cause (and has already) great strife in the world.

I categorically state that we are all but players on this world stage. Further that none of us have met God, be God a man, woman or it, none of us know.

I say to many that I am a Rabu (Rasta Buddhist).

I too am curious how you came to find me? As you can see from my profile I am trying to effect positive change in the world by operating outside the normal confines (or boxes) of all religion, corporate culture and charitable causes.

How did you come to find me and in what spirit is it that you would like to be friends?

Do you believe as I do that we can imbue children with the ability to think outside of the box that for so long has caused so much strife on this planet?

Do you believe as I do that we can channel the purity and innocence of childrens thoughts to effect positive change?

Do you believe as I do that someday we will be called to account by something greater than ourselves?

Do you believe that our reward is in the way that we live our lives here in this moment, at this time and in this place?

As a Jew who is now converting to Islam have you considered the possibility that all religion may not have the final answer that so many search for?

As a human being living on this planet, one of seven billion constituents, all interrelated, what is your responsibility?

I am a friend of all on this planet who are concerned with righting iniquity, recognizing our shortfalls and trying to correct them.

Do you feel the same?

I ask all this not to be a thorn or righteous, I ask this to determine what your true self is and whether we are on the same path.

I look forward to hearing your response. Best regards,

SD Mac

Obstruction by a chosen Non Canadian

Conrad Black,
A man of the house of lords,
raised in Canada,
a citizen once, no more,
giving up that right,
for a pompous title,
and a red robe,
now guilty,
a Canadian again he wants to be,
Mail Fraud,
2 counts Guilty,
Obstruction,
Guilty,
A bed he made,
no must he lie,
Canadian no more, nor should he be
I wonder,
will he look as dignified in American Penal System Orange.



SDM

Truth and Poison

I feel the truth like poison seeping into our water table.
From the ground water we drink this tainted reality as half truths from the past are coming back to take their final due and there can be no escape.
These half lies, half truth, have served to stunt our collective consciousness lulling us into a very false sense of security.
It has weaved its way into our every day brought to us by those that seek to fatten their pockets not enrich the global brother and sisterhood.

I feel the truth, at least half, like arsenic, slowly stunting my nervous system until I am numb and desensitized so that when 100% truth is given (which is rare) I am somehow more ready to deal with it.

I’d like my truth like I like my water;

Fresh, clean and the source of life’s affirmations.

SDM

Heaven's Gift

With visions of tomorrow,
Dancing in our heads,
Its reality today,
That sets our souls ablaze,
Loves consistent and steady hand,
Firming its hold on our hearts,
As this truth, our love, tickles our memories,
In high esteem,
Each day will fade,
Bringing us another to experience and enjoy,
Brought together by God,
Reaffirming faith,
Believing in all that’s real,
Kiss me once,
Again and again,
Mounting a story for ages told,
As each day we live and learn,
Watching this beautiful gift,
Blossom and unfold,
Hold my hand,
While we take this stand,
Indeed our last hurrah,
For in you I know,
All I need to know,
And believe me that is much,
I hunger more,
And crave for sure,
Your love from heaven sent.

SDM

The Pope and a Slippery Slope

Today is a weird day for me,
The birthday of my mother,
The death of a man, who taught me greatly in a very personal way,
To the family of Ed Mirvish I send my deepest condolences and I thank them for his influence and theirs,
Please celebrate his life,
And now the Pope saying that Protestants are less than Church goers.

This Pope is undoing the great work that was accomplished by the church in the last 30 years. I stand opposed to what he is saying today and I believe that the latest instruments of the Roman Catholic Church are heading down a slippery slope designed to cause a further deep struggle between monotheists.

I have always had a problem with any religion that preaches that its God is right and the rest wrong. That it may be written by the last prophet. I am a prophet. You are a prophet. Bob Marley was a prophet, Gandhi, etc, etc, etc.

But why? To what end? What is the benefit?

To this I say the following;

The Catholic Church is more an instrument of political power today than it is a religious organization. More a bank than a religious organization. More an art museum than a religious organization.

The moves by this Pope have set the church back to a different time. And it is one which is destined to begin a dangerous dialogue.

Please bear in mind that this is the same Church that has a document purportedly written by the hand of Christ that says (paraphrasing here); "Where ever you turn rock I am there, where ever you split timber I am there" and this church says that this is blasphemous.

I left the Catholic Church long ago. I am a spiritual man, a man that believes that there is something in this universe that is far beyond me. I believe that the practice of making oneself better brings one closer to God. Whether God is male or female, animal or it, neither I nor anyone else today knows. But I do know this; we are now headed down a very slippery slope.

To any and all that read this; acknowledge that we are not alone. Acknowledge that there is something greater than you and I. Acknowledge that there is a way to live our life where that living is the reward of its own.

Please think about this…

SDM

Interconnectability

Would you like to play a game with profound ramifications based on the limitations of humanity?
Right now the game is afoot and Saddam is Moriarty to Bush’s Watson.
Elementary my dear, that this is war, Round 2, finish the job that was started twelve years ago.

From behind the veil of the right to defend liberty and responsibility to instill a truly representative government for the Shias, the Sunni and the Kurds a new Iraq will emerge.

For winter months when the sun was high, heating the says and chilling the nights the soldiers of liberation at Camp Shughart Gordon learned of their fight, the plight of a nation and the resolve of another.

With the precision of lightning and the new high speed of the internet, this war is different and new.

No one ever suggested or expected that the internet would be so swift – Like the justice that is now being enforced. In the information age it almost seems as information, or the opposite of it, is the weapon of choice.

As the sun emerges and the birds begin to squawk and Indian woman chants something barely understandable but the meaning is not lost; Anger very rarely is misunderstood and it would seem in this age anger is an acceptable response to fear as war looms in a new way – The interconnectability of the universe, sitting here, now is emblazoned, bold for the eye.

SDM

context - right after it was clear US was going to invade Iraq.

"Liberators?"

You have to admit that in this age of information we seem to be getting short changed. Propaganda and rhetoric in this time of war seem to have taken the place of information. For example, the well crafted, public relations, “Code Name” for this ongoing coalition of the willing action is “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. For months leading up to this war, Rumsfeld, Bush, Powell, Cheney and Rice told the world that Iraqi military would roll over and play dead. It hasn’t. We were told that the people of Iraq would welcome the coalition as liberators. As yet, that remains to be seen, perhaps when the regime has truly folded that will be the case? Perhaps! At this moment Rumsfeld is on the screen, on the street in DC, asked about the progress of the coalition the first words he said of coalition success; “We’ve secured the southern oil fields.”

I’ve tried hard not to be cynical, tried hard not to buy the conspiracy theory line. Unfortunately, its beginning to seem as if we’ve been witnessing and buying, hook, “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Line; “Coalition of the Willing” and the unfortunate sinker; “We are liberators.”

Its quite sad for me to say as a lifelong friend of the United States of America, the land of liberty, the center of the free world, democracies great proponent, that it appears this mission should be called;

“Operation Earthen Prize.”

I hope history reflects on the aftermath of this war; I pray for us all!

SDM

_________

context - written just after America invaded

May I?

May I, will you allow, these words,
To enter your mind in one simple action,
Directing your though away form the negative,
To embrace the incredibly positive,
May I?
May I love you as Astaires Body loved Music?
Picasso’s hand loved art? Shakespeare’s words and Galileo the sky?
May I,
Will you see that this love reaches into the depths of the soul,
Opening the window on an emotion,
This time, our time, unconditional;
May I love you as a baker bread, a teacher teaching, a doctor healing and assuredly a writer writing?
May I entreat you love lover,
To read these words,
Trying to express what God so often has shown us is right,
This night,
Despite the ominous tone in the air,
May I love you,
Fully.

SDM

Context - Written the night that Shock and Awe began

Do you ever...

Feel like a pariah?
Fell as if no matter how hard you try to do things right somehow they never are?
Feel as if you have so many people around but save for a few gems in the universe you are completely alone?
Feel as if you are the happiest person on earth but something is trying so hard to bring you down?
Feel as if you are too smart for your own good?
Feel as if there has to be a better way but have no idea what it is or how to achieve it?
Feel as if although you are paddling forward three strokes but somehow go back two and a half...
Feel as if...



SDM

Invoking God's Name

History has a unique position in humanity, precariously perched as a guide, a beacon and also an excuse. Funny you might say, an excuse, but think about it and you’ll see, an excuse of ridiculous proportions.

When Hitler rose to power certainly not our greatest hour, we stood by for a while to see. While building outlawed armies, reclaiming treaty lost land and shipping Jews out of his Aryan land the rich tapestry of history was used to incite the people. He used history as a weapon more powerful than the atomic bomb for his seething hatred became full only in his propagandas success to win German’s hearts and minds. History was a great source of power and he wielded it as if it was his own.

He spoke of the rise of the Third Reich with great fervour and precise ammunition as he claimed it was his mission to reclaim the greatness of the Fatherland. Behind his rhetoric, the Aryan rants he assured his people of histories favour.

That with time all things would come to pass and that history would shine on the Third Reich for a thousand years. The world now rejoices that his maniacal rants were just that and further that history bears witness to the horror of that, one of the darkest chapters in our history. He invoked the name of God to champion his brutal goal.

History is now knocking again, loudly and distinctly on the door of humanities conscience and again is being used as a reference of justification for our current hostilities.

Around Baghdad in the ravaged country of Iraq, Saddam beams out his message to all who will listen This tyrant in the same vane as Hitler, uses history and God as uplifting evidence of the righteousness of his cause. So I wonder - Am I the only one that sees?

The American sanctioned despot, once friend, now enemy, is using the same tactics Hitler did. Calling for the destruction of the invader as God instructed, topple the infidel and God will reward you: The empty words he uses now, the timing is suspect. Saddam only knows one God: Himself!

But it is not only Saddam debasing God. No, our friends to the south are just as guilty. Bush also uses God and history to justify his actions.

History should not be used as a tool and God is not rhetoric, one sheds lights on our current state, the other light to guide us.

SDM

Choose - Live or Die

10 minutes to midnight,
what will happen when the clock strikes twelve,
will Saddam’s maniacal Cinderella tale come to an end,
on the screen I just saw,
the B – 52’s getting ready,
on the runway,
fueled,
Is it time to go?
8 minutes to midnight,
is it time for blanket bombing to begin?
7 minutes to midnight,
at least in Baghdad;
the coalition of the willing,
about to drop bombs,
defense contractors pockets filling,
6 minutes now,
what are we to think?
5 minutes,
I’d really like a drink,
My mind wandering,
I’d really like to know,
Are the B – 52’s just for show,
Ask the Vietnamese,
They’ll tell us true,
4 minutes now,
oil fires in Basra await,
3 minutes,
surrender or fight,
2 minutes,
expedition in Iraq two hours ago,
12 hours early,
1 minute:
Choose –
Live or die?

SDM

______________________________

Context: Written the night the US invaded Iraq

You(My 31)

If only we could see each other from the perspective of the other,
oh that you would see the very picture and personification of love
contained in the view that is your inner shine and your outer radiance.
From within your soul commands the greatest attention as it emanates, fresh:
Imagine the taste of strawberries,
the smell of freshly cut grass,
the look of a French masterpiece
and the feel of love as understood by a child:
This is the impact of your souls amazing shine.
One might think that this is enough to explain
yet this is merely a scratching of the inner surface
while the exterior also delights and intoxicates.
From the tip of your gorgeous toes
to the ends of your magically blonde hair,
a new picture of a package rare emerges.
As Doisneau captured lovers in the city of lights
with the feel of love caught in single images,
yours is much more than a thousand words,
with the richness of chocolate, milky,
the elegance of truffles,
and the rarity of Fugu.
Your beauty is the realization of every artists desire.
Van Gogh had sunflowers and starry nights,
da Vinci his Mona Lisa,
the Group of Seven the gracious Canadian landscape
and Fellini his films,
But I know a joy they never did –
For I know love as truth, innocence, beauty and light –
Charmaine,
a muse like none other and these words are but an attempt to seize the essence
that I am fortunate enough to know –
Love,
perfectly imperfect,
by divine design,
I know you and now my life,
Shines,
As you!

Happy Independence Day

To any and all Americans that read me;

I wish you the happiest of Independence Days. As one of my favorite lines says; "don't forget what you're celebrating, and that's the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn't want to pay their taxes."

In that spirit I hope that you all take at least a piece of this day to reflect on the past and to first conceive of and then create a better future.

SDM

Prescription for a TRUE generation (NEW)

A one time late night infomercial Diva used to say; “Stop the insanity!” Of course I must agree. Yet before any meaningful progress can be made stopping the insanity we must identify its very roots. Its no accident that I chose those words from Susan Powter, as they came to me via one of the very tools of distraction which must clearly be seen as one of the root problems we as a society face.

Each day, with as little effort as a touch of your finger a screen lights up – Sometimes in black and white, sometimes in colour – Almost always a distraction with relatively few exceptions save those nuggets of wisdom – Jewels of education that seek to inform and incite. The rest of the time your children and mine sit in front of a screen which often times has become a very dangerous surrogate parent.

For hours on end, care of the stupefying technological advance of the last century, our children sit before the television bombarded by images they can’t possibly understand: Perfectly crafted messages inspiring a new breed of consumption. Confronted by sex and drugs at every turn is it any wonder that our children are having children.
By giving the television this kind of dominion over your children and relegating yourself to third tier caregiver why are you surprised when your 13 year old son or daughter (in the brief time away from TV) are mimicking the things they see? Pregnant? Drunk? High? Violent or dead?

This started long ago, when you put your child down to watch Sesame Street or Romper Room, Barney or the Teletubbies to buy you a few minutes so you could do something else. You teach them that the TV is their friend in essence. One that would never leave them alone – Unlike you!

Now see, this wouldn’t be so bad if from your office now that your child is off at school you didn’t blame the television for the ways your child has developed. Every time the principal calls to let you know they’ve found a gun in their locker, or were in a fight, or were stoned – Only then after letting your child’s development come at the flick of a remote for the most important years of their mental growth do you try to intervene. Too late! You’ve lost that battle.

So now that your child is getting older and you sense the need to get involved you try to analyze, to get inside your child’s head so once again you relegate that duty to a doctor, a shrink, a head doctor, a psychiatrist or psychologist and your not at all surprised when the doctor says it’s A.D.D. or obsessive compulsive disorder, manic depression or any other gamut of mental diagnosis that could be. But you are assured that there are dozens of ways to aid your child – Therapy or Medication. Therapy is a good start, at least there’s some talking involved, but, more often than not, the children, your children, fall into another distraction – The medication trap. The doctor says Prozac or Paxil and you agree, Luvox or Cylexa and you ask if the doctors sure – Perhaps Zoloft or Xanax they suggest while inside your mind you curse professing you did your best.


But did you?

It seems that the parental role has been diminished by distracted parents creating distracted kids who pay the price and I’m here to say that price is too high and the suffering must stop: Collectively. So forget the television for a moment its not its producers fault – Forget about schools and doctors and all the other distractions paying careful attention to this prescriptions for action to take back a true generation.

From birth, do you remember the first time you locked eyes with your child? That little boy or girl is like a sponge waiting for the water of life that you will give it. Your child will learn to speak, to read, to write – What will you do with them tonight? Perhaps one show, but then no more, show them a book which will open the door. Embrace your child’s passion and give them a way to celebrate each day. Teach them to love, learning to decipher relative truth, this is the way to save our youth.

Show them love, caring and support and let them know your there for them. Teach them to ask question, to be as inquisitive as they were when your eyes met their the first time. Let them know that failure and that its okay but its important to get back up and face the day.

Read with them, write with them, laugh with them, cry with them and make sure you play too. Be a parent and a friend; Parent first, friend next.

We, this generation, gathered here today, if we can ease the distraction and be the parents we’re all capable of being with this prescription a new generation we’ll see: True!

Fit to Print

What’s the story, all the news that’s fit to print, save that now so few of us seem to pay attention to the wholesale value of words and what they truly mean, let alone read, in this age of television. In days gone by long ago, words came from storytellers, first spoken through a glorious oral tradition to let us know of our past and where we came from. Soon, the spoken word gave way to the written word giving a freedom of conscience and consideration that the spoken never did, as from behind closed doors we could choose in dimly lit rooms whether to consume tawdry tales of the Marquis or moral dilemmas from Voltaire, Choice; Where should our minds advance? As technology advanced and the industrial revolution gave birth and rise to the marvels of invention again our focus changed, albeit temporarily to radio – The magic of invisible waves renewing and invigorating the spirit of the oral tradition. Families sat in rooms to listen to the news or stories of the world at war or of mystery and intrigue, our imaginations still active as with our minds eye we still had to create the images of people, places and things that we had no firm knowledge of, or belief that we could ever see. Still challenged by the media that fueled our souls by leaving us wanting and hungry. As history shows us, technology allowed us to become intellectually lazy, as again, invisible waves brought pictures to us of places we would never go, to see things we could never see, save for the images that now confronted our senses, first in black and white, then in colour.

The golden age of that technologies advance brought us presidential debates, the Cuban missile crisis, assassinations and the first step on the moon. Respected veterans of that by gone age like Cronkite, I can only imagine what they would think, as now, from the cradle of civilization, in stark contrast to an age of moderately objective truth I now see Babylon falling again brought to me by talking heads that talk a lot but don’t seem to be using their heads.

Brokaw, speaks of death, destruction and terror, Arnett of failed war plans, Mansbridge of suicide bombers and Entertainment Tonight of embedded reporters fired for not following the rules.

What is the story? Is it any of these? Or all? Or none – Was Pandora’s box opened when we gave our intellectual ability to services whose only job is to keep us dumbfounded and staring at the screen, why you might ask; so GE, GM, NIKE and McDonalds can sell me just one more, anything, as long as I watch and consume.

SDM

Happy Canada Day

To one and all I wish a Happy Canada Day!

I feel privileged to live in this great country.

I thank all those that sacrificed so that I could celebrate this day in the most wonderful (and inclusively multicultural) country on earth.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

SDM

Dropping the Other shoe

The other shoe has to drop, but it seems maybe an end is in sight, the plight of those in the Middle East, some looking for a homeland, all concerned with peace. Yet, are they really? Its often said that actions speak louder than words and all I can hear is the consistent ringing of my ears from the continuing bombardment perpetrated by fanatics, not just of the religious persuasion either. I can see terror lashing out at the soul while ravaging the body, blood stained streets, cleaned by the same street sweepers that clean the streets that I walk. Morosely confronted by the thought of what cleaning solution, what mixture removes blood from cement, or brick and curious as to whether that same solution can cleanse the soul?

In that same region, home to the birthplace of three religions, the cradle of civilization, the attention of the global nation is transfixed by what might happen next. We stand on guard like idiot savants watching the news mistaking sounds bites for truth! Truth?

Whose truth and at whose expense? Where great kings and queens used to come together, where once great empires stood, hanging gardens and entire civilizations knowledge weighed heavily on the hearts and minds of men who had to balance their desire for power with the will of invading armies. Armies whose appetite for destruction included turning back the hands of time by pilfering, then looting, then burning and destroying this history, tradition and cultural awareness to replace it with, well, their own and where the people would not go willingly, or quiet enough for the powers that be, THEY were eradicated, simply wiped from the face of the earth.

Times have changed indeed, or have they?

People in search of a homeland, people in search of self, people in search of meaning and people in search of wealth. Oh sure, times have changed, but PEOPLE remain the SAME, playing still an age old game. It is as old as time and still people in search of illusive truth justify the quelling of the sprit of youth.

For with the innocence of youth the spirit can feel searching for answers that somehow is real and here I am. Contemplating far off lands and the wishes of men with best laid plans. Like pipe lines and oil for societies rich yet entirely poor I think that’s why we still know war.

Like lions and tigers and bears we fight for riches without despair. With nary a care for our time and space we’re confronted by images surely in poor taste, ours! With all the elegance and class that money can buy we drive our vehicles while people do die.

At our expense and in our place the other shoe now falls and I wonder is any are aware at all. We’re killing ourselves one barrel at a time, drunk on oil as if it were wine. Deposing tyrants where once civilizations story was told, where aqueducts and math, the science of thought and religion did unfold.

Not today, nor tomorrow or yesterdays sorrow unchain us from our past and the revolution coming most surely must last. Go get your oil and effect regime change but realize this its us and our basic instinct that remains the same.

SDM