Staying Positive

For some reason, American Prez, Obama "pardoned" two turkeys this year, for  Americans' Thanksgiving. In everything I've read, there was no mention of why he chose to spare the life of two beautiful creatures. Surely he's not a vegetarian, that wouldn't fit the profile of what America expects from it's leaders. For many his being of colour is still difficult to swallow, maybe it would go down better with a dead mammal?

Turkeys' are beautiful. I'm glad I’m moving more and more towards a vegetarian and to some extent vegan diet. 

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The other day, I watched an episode of The Golden Girls, wherein Blanche's brother came to visit with his  and I quote, "special friend". The show was about how the brother and his very gay looking—(his moustache was so late 80s) boyfriend wanted to get married, and Blanche's homophobia. When he told Blanche that the reason he had come to Miami was to tell her their big plans, the real audience  watching the taping, burst out laughing. Cue Blanche's totally baffled expression. Even though the GG was tackling big deal issues, it was still, after all, a comedy show, hence the apt topic.

The final scene had Blanche go into the bedroom the boys had been staying in, to try and wend her way through her feelings of uneasiness. She asked the bf if he loved her brother, he said he did, and then they hugged, and her brother joined them, being careful to do no more than give a manly slap on the back to his bf in the hug circle.

The reason I mention this episode, is because that was in my lifetime, and still in my lifetime I have seen my own country change the laws to recognize queer people as people with rights and dignity who may choose to marry, legally.

Therefore, Obama’s small, and to many, seemingly silly act of “pardoning”—which is the wrong word, but he knows people will react to political martial language, versus heart-centered , and correct language, such as: saving, respecting, etc., two beings is a beginning.

Just recently, here in Toronto, the city banned the sale of shark fins. At first Toronto dug it’s feet in, and refused to join the growing worldwide movement to ban shark fins. Finally, with mounting pressure, my city has done the right thing for sharks.

I believe that our consciousness is changing, slowly, in some cases. Granted, not everyone’s; I’m thinking of the magazines who have refused to have me write articles promoting animal rights and respects in Canada, in order to promote my petition.

I’m sure when that episode of the GG aired back in the late 80s, early 90s, mainstream types thought marriage between people of the same gender was as funny, and impossible as seeing pigs fly. Queer people were seen much like animals still are, with fear, suspicion, and a sense of “why should we give them their rights? They aren’t like us, they don’t have the right to have rights”

In one generation, we have gone from maintaining the status quo to seeing the walls of hate, intolerance and limitations come tumbling down. My generation has attended queer weddings, marched in Pride Parades, and is taking an active part in helping to change consciousness.

Be The Change!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/put-animal-rights-into-the-constitution/

Vitality Magazine is not the only alternative health magazine that talks shit; saying it supports the environment and wanting to tread lightly but refusing to promote my petition to have animal rights become part of Canada's constitution. To the growing list of shit-talkers, I can now add: Tonic Toronto, another supposedly health-based free rag and,  Alternatives: Environmental Ideas + Actions, who have told me the main reason they refuse to support my article proposal is because a large percentage of their readers are American, and, they said, Americans just aren't the interested in Canadian causes. 

Seriously, that's the best they could come up with!

When I initially wrote to them, to inquire about writing an article to promote the issue of animal rights in Canada and my petition, they had this to say:

"Thanks for the offer, but our magazine covers issues such as animal rights when written by someone with some independence from the issue. Our goal is to analyze the broader issue.
Good luck with your efforts. Nicola" (Nicola Ross, Editor In Chief)

What the hell kind of response is that, though? It just sounds like a a really crappy excuse, so I responded with this:

Nicola,

I'm not even sure I understand what it is you are trying to convey. Why would you not want someone who is passionate about animal rights and interconnectivity to write an article about those very issues? When your magazine covers issues such as veganism, alternative diets, etc, are the writers of those articles actually meat-eaters who are posing as journalists?

___________

Ugh!!!

Frustration is setting in. I must remember to breathe deeply, and not let petty idiots deter me from the big(ger) picture, that being rights and respects for animals, starting here, where I live.
 

 

Vitality Magazine is a two-faced hypocrite

I have been writing to different alternative health magazines from in and around Toronto, in order to be able to plug my petition on Animal Rights and Respect to be included in our constitution, and to reach a wider audience of people interested in changing their consciousness. I keep getting told that these so-called alternative health rags don't write about animal rights. As Vitality magazine's chief editor put it, 
"We don’t do features on animal rights in Vitality because it’s not our beat."

Not our beat. What the fuck does that mean? Whose beat is it then? 

To my initial inquiry, regarding an article proposal to Vitality Magazine, here is what Vitality's assistant editor responded with:

"As a magazine focused on human health, we don’t often publish articles on animal rights topics. We do wish you the best of luck in your pursuits."
Best,

Drew Halfnight
 To that idiotic response, I then wrote the following: 

How can you separate the issues of human and animal health?  We are all beings, and the issues of rights, consciousness and vegetarianism should ring true for your readers.

That seems completely antithetical to the "holistic" health movement, which purports to be interested in connectivity.

The reason why progressions and revolutions won't happen in the in areas of animal rights and respects is because of people like you who continue to compartmentalize issues, and refuse to acknowledge that all of us are connected. Your magazine is filled with articles and recipes about 'alternative' diets; people interested in animal-free eating, so why would you not connect the dots and encourage an activist like me to write an article in your magazine speaking directly to the issues of raising our consciousness and respecting all forms of life?
I encourage you to reconsider your initial decision to separate the issues of human and animal health and put my article in Vitality.

---
  To the above response letter, see the crap about animal rights not being their beat. We will never move forward if all we do is compartmentalize and continually create schisms of Us and Them.

trains and leaves

It's October; my favourite month. I love the moody weather, the gray skies, the rainyness, the smell of the earth, harvesting the fruits and vegetables, and the cold, but cozy feeling of wrapping up in warm layers.

Here are some photos I took last weekend, on Thanksgiving Monday. My mom and I went on a train ride through a  southern Ontario valley, just outside of the city. The route was established over 100 years ago, but of course, is no longer in use. The train was from the 50s. The train's shots are of it's engine. The train tracks are the original tracks from the 1800s.

tv shows and monsters

Looking at Dancing With The Stars, one might be under the insane, but albeit, vaguely plausible misconception that America really is the great melting pot, or is that Canada, somebody’s a tossed salad, right?

A place where, much like Cheers, everyone’s troubles can, at least seem, as the same, and gosh, everyone really can accept you for, well, who you are. That’s the equalizing power of tv dance shows.

A microcosm of America via a “reality” show with bad dancing; however, as much of a true-grit reality as it would like to portray, it falls way too flat.

This season, the show boats an openly transgender guy, who happens to be Cher’s son, and daughter-once-removed . Everyone is super supportive of him, cuz they’re all bonding over the emotional roller coaster of the rough side of ..well, earning money and dancing. There’s another white man on the show who’s also queer.

Today on the BBC I saw an horrific story about a monster. Not the fabled kind who lives under bridges, but the true kind who lives amongst us, in this case, Philadelphia, a city lacking love. This particular monster takes advantage of people with learning issues/abilities. The story explained how 4 people were locked in a basement with nothing to eat, no where to go to the bathroom, and there were dogs down there too. The people were tortured and somehow they have been rescued, but how the fuck are they ever going to heal?!

This kind of evil is some kind of sickness that is all too horrendously “common”.

Here in Canada, where I live, I gave my seat to 4 people on my long bus ride home, only 1 person bothered to acknowledge me, the others acted as if it was my duty to get up and let them sit. What’s happening to our hearts? Fuck, or just our damn manners!

Happy New Year

                                        Shana Tova, or, Happy New Year!

The Jewish New Year  of  the year 5,772, began last night at sundown, so today eat sweet and delicious things and make a wish for your year to come:)

Here's some beautiful advice to meditate on, not only for a new year, but for life, c/o The Findhorn Foundation's Eileen Caddy.

Eileen Caddy's Daily Guidance

Guidance for 29 September

Many times you have heard the words, "Life is what you make it," but what have you done about it? Do you not realise that you control your life, your happiness, your success, your joys and your sorrows? Life can be wonderful, thrilling and glorious, but it is up to you to make it so by expecting the very best. Live one day at a time and live it to the full. Never waste time worrying about tomorrow and what it may bring, or allow yourself to become depressed because you feel you cannot cope with whatever that may be. Always look on the bright side of life and concentrate on it in the everpresent now. Because yesterday did not go smoothly does not mean that today will be the same. Leave yesterday behind; learn from it, but do not allow it to spoil today. Today lies in front of you, untouched and unblemished. What are you going to do with it?

Boundaries and Limitations

I just read an article, in a "women's magazine", about an idiotic woman, painted as a victim, which makes me furious. The woman got together with a guy who told her right off the hop, even before they started anything, that he had a criminal record ..ok , you may be thinking, no big deal, whatever.  His record was for second -degree murder. If you, like her, are still nonplussed, I find that odd, but, there’s still more. This man openly told the woman that his second -degree murder charge was due to his violent rage that caused him to beat his girlfriend, at the time, to death.

For many sane, non-desperate, or pathetic types, being told by someone you are interested in that he/she has a criminal record,  for murder, of his/her partner, should be the ultimate "deal-breaker", as it were. Though, if you are just as vampiristic as the killer you've hooked up with, you get what you chose.

This sick fuck of a man gets painted, by the same women, as a sweet man who had a bad time growing up. She was so able to look past that "flaw" of his; ie: is terrifying rage, culminating in murder that she even married him. A real trooper, right? . So, how then is she a fucking victim, is what I’d like to know?

The article went on to say how the idiot woman has a hard time trusting since her divorce from her killer husband, whom she learned, from the police, was also a rapist. The shock the horra. She went on to say how he had been living  double lives. Right, he tells her who is is, up front before the dating phase, she accepts him and his murderous rage, and  he keeps behaving the same way, mm, pretty suspicious to me.

The article also went on to mention the wives/victims of two other “unsuspecting” psychos. There was mention of a woman married to a sicko who killed a lot of people and buried them in his basement. The wife asked the sicko what the horrible smell was coming from the basement, as opposed to just going to see for her damn self. He spun some crap about the smell being mildew, and that was that.  She, apparently believed him and was that stupid.

There was mention of the woman married to the filth in Austria who raped his daughter and kept her in the basement. Somehow the fucking wife kept her blinders on the whole time , and chose to have no clue  about what was going on in her own home.

Disgusting!

I knew a family like that. The filthy fuck of a father was molesting both daughters, and somehow the mother stayed completely oblivious. I was friends with the oldest daughter, and I didn’t know but I hated the father and he scared and creeped me out. So, when she finally told me, it was not surprising. What was, was that the mother still allowed him to use their joint credit card. I was furious!

Most women are pathetic, while most men are scary, and manipulative. Most women's only goal is to get and keep a man, and they will go to any lengths to do that. God forbid, who wants to be a social pariah, and go out alone, (gasp!)

The article ended on a “good” note, so us readers can feel that love can trump all, isn’t that what it’s all about, after all, that, that, and having that right handbag? The idiot woman found a new wallet, oh, rather, man, to marry. And, we were duly informed that he works in finance. Here’s the thing, that bitch was stupid and desperate enough to accept a killer, what else will she accept?

Here’s a poem I wrote and published in a zine I used to write.

For me

This is for my silence

And for pain

For forgotten friendships

And for misplaced sadness

And for another homo-cide

This is for forgetting my fear

in labour camps and Gucci boots

For replacing my misanthropy with

dinner forks--they're not for

dessert.

This is for remembering cold hands,

long hair, warm, blue sweaters, sweet-sadness

               Love and blood

This is also for my cat's eyes;

glowing hollow and iridescent in the

darkness of my room.

For forgetting the words to a song

I cling to

       And for longing to be "nothing more than cute"

For the brutal destruction of

war AND HATE CRIMES.

[For always being alone]

This is for stereotypes that represent

reality-          though, not truth

       And this is for the warm, blue

blanket I fell asleep in, listening

to the wind howl

in excruciating

pain

       And,

               I  slept

on, till the dawn

woke me

with violent sun and sarcasm

This is for waking up

in a bed

And for waking up

       And refusing to

participate , in the eating of any more,

however seemingly palpable,

apples.

       This is for peace

And this is for My own voice and

spirit to be carried through

the lands of the Ogoni people,

Dubrovnik and Southern Italy

       For sexism

For religion---, yoking us together

in a state of power-over

And for nihilism, existenz

Trembling

and Solace.

This is political

This is for me.(c) 2001 M.K