And why not. There are too many weapons in the world. Guns and missiles. Bombs and tanks. It’s about time we reconsidered what on earth we are doing to this planet of ours with so many wars and gangs and terrorists. Take the guns away, it’s harder to hurt people. I wish aliens would turn up and turn weapons into dust or soil. Just stop the killing, stop the greed, stop the misery. Use our resources to improve lives not destroy them. Imagine a world of peace if you can.
We saw the altercation in the White House here in the UK. Most of the UK is not impressed. It looked like two bullies ganging up on someone whose having trouble but could succeeded with their help. Utterly disgusting behaviour. The fact that Ukraine was considering giving up half their mineral rights to the great galumphing orange one is bad enough, it’s basically blackmail. But then the smug one with mascara and a reporter complained their victim wasn’t wearing a suit and was being disrespectful? So why was it OK for the owner of X marks the spot to go in wearing civvies when he bought his kid to work at the Oval office, some double standards there.
So there they were, shouting down a president of a sovereign state, telling him he had a bad hand of cards. When he respectfully tried to say he wasn’t in a card game the orange turnip shouted and pointed and pouted and ranted. He showed the world what he really was, a tyrant and a bully (allegedly).
He’s coming over to the UK on a state visit to see the King, maybe the invitation should be rescinded?
Is Lady Liberty disappearing into mist and fog? What happened to the support of huddled masses? Can there possibly be mass deportations?
Looking up the name of the island where people arrived in America, Google says:
On 1 January 1892, Ellis Island opened to receive immigrants. At its peak, during the early years of the 20th Century, thousands of people passed through its gates each day. Angel Island in San Francisco Bay had the same role on the west coast from 1910 to 1940.
So why is this aspect of America. Support and kindness now being curtailed? Perhaps it is through fear, perhaps it is selfishness. I don’t know. There seems to be almost a mass hysteria around the world where xenophobia is taking control. We see it in the UK where the legal routes to migration have been reduced and people fleeing conflict have been forced to risk travelling across the Channel in small boats to get to the UK. Vicious rumours about those poor people have caused riots and misinformed so many people in negative ways.
We see war in Syria now that has started to maim and kill people again. Destabilising countries causes strife and fear and forces people to move. Gaza is in crisis, Ukraine is being destroyed. Sudan has floods and starvation to mention a few current crises. But instead of dealing with the bad actors we allow the oligarchs of the world to feel they can get away with their cruelty.
All of us need to stop and think about kindness, caring and love. It’s about time we thought as President Kennedy did, not what we can do for ourselves but what we can do for others. Somewhere humanity needs to think about our fellow humans and not just grabbing what we can and damn the rest.
It makes me dispair and worry about what we are doing. Maybe fear of what’s happening to the Earth’s environment is now impacting on its population. Somehow we must start to care more about each other.
Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?
I think I am patriotic, but not in a strong way. I disagree with acting in a xenophobic way. I think arguing that one race should rule one country isn’t right. I believe there is good and bad in all people’s and countries. Also there should be fairness to all. Attacking people because they are different is not a good thing to do.
Think about it, humans draw borders on maps, lines in the sand, rivers that seperate one place from another. But when you look at where humans came from in Africa, and how they spread out across the Earth, there was always movement. People gradually changed depending on the climate and amount of sunlight. In hotter countries skin colour was darker to protect skin. In Northern climbs lighter because of the lack of sun. I know it doesn’t completely fit that pattern, but I guess through evolution other changes occurred.
Once there is a slight difference in appearance or language it’s easy to get into an ‘us or them’ situation. We have probably always warred but I think its time the human race grew up. Learnt to be tolerant and fought for fairness not patriotic excuses such as invading neighbouring countries. Race, religion, money, fear can all cause problems, but sometimes strong patriotism can make it much worse.
If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?
When I searched for “dove of peace by Picasso” in the WordPress image search engine this was one of the pictures I got!
If a search engine can’t find an image of a dove of peace what chance have we got? There were pictures of a woman with sun tan lotion under her eyes? A sunset, clouds, a possible white wing with feathers. I guess I should do my own version but it’s late and I just wanted to write this.
Symbological images are important. An image of a white dove is, I would guess, almost universally understood as meaning peace. White doves are released at sporting events. They are clean and innocent looking (why don’t they use black doves too?), in some ways it could be stereotyping white to equal good? But I’m not seeking to answer that question here.
What we need is not the symbol, but the actuality, where are the people with the moral strength to say enough is enough. Oppression must end, fairness must reign, understanding must come to the fore, eventually instead of collateral damage and bloody mayhem..war must end. We must give peace a chance.
I just know I have to be calm and try and deal with life. I’ve got to try and worry less. That’s what my hubby kept telling me ‘don’t worry’.
I hope I can do that, anxiety levels have risen. Fears of what’s happening in the world, the level of cruelty and destruction and war seems to be worse than ever. Or is it just that it’s more reported? Don’t worry?
Of course I’m going to worry, I need to know I’m safe. That I can get my life sorted out for the next three or four years. I need stability, I need support, I have to be realistic.
What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?
The world’s a mixed up place. There’s too much fake information out there. How can my small blog cut through it all?
I had a silly idea that I could write and prevent the War in Ukraine escalating. I even wrote to the Russian embassy in London to think about what Putin was doing and going to do.
I have written about global warming and famines. But I’m one person. Clearly if everyone agreed, then we as humanity could change things. But who’s going to listen? I don’t have a large reach here or anywhere else. I’m no influencer.
It’s nice to feel I might make a difference. But it’s like winning the lottery, a 14 million to 1 chance that someone might care. That’s all I can say.
How would you like your blog to influence people? When will individuals work together, team up, care enough to change things?
Obviously there are people out there in groups and teams who try. I hope you give them half a chance. The world needs changing but it might be too late!
Ukrainian grain silos and stores came under fire in Oddessa yesterday after President Putin of Russia stopped allowing ships transporting grain to leave the port and travel in safety.
By doing this Russia is not only attacking the country of Ukraine and it’s Crimean cities, but also the countries that they supply with food.
Before the war started Ukraine exported food around the world. They helped feed hungry people. Now with all the war and vile behaviour the Russia has enacted on the country they are not able to continue. So the behaviour of one man is impacting on people in many countries.
I don’t know what the outcome will be, but the war and destruction, killing of innocent men women and children, and the threats against their infrastructure must stop.
Mallaband-Brown 