Sunday, December 6, 2015

On Our World: Reflections As A New Week Dawns (#Guns & #Refugees & #Hope)

It has been quite a few days in our World.    It was of note as our team came down firmly in support of the Front Page Editorial in the New York Times.     

I saw the Erick Erickson stunt yesterday and my first reaction was:  Get a life dude!!!   If you have that much time to pick up your gun and shoot up a newspaper article, you really don't have a life.   Beyond that, though, the disturing nature of his email really was of profound concern--and he's still one of the more mainstream elements within the conservative movement.   I have not visited oathkeepers or the Gun Owners of America to see what their views are, yet.   

I caught a glimpse of the debate on this as CBS interviewed Donald Trump.    What was so disturbing about Trump's views was that he basically said the entire 3 Million Estimated Muslims in the United States must be subject to "tracking"--something I am very pleased that more mainstream Republicans have condemned.  What is striking is how he continues to be leading the polls.    He was also "gung ho" on the 2nd Amendment (never mind he was for Gun Control before he was against it) and talked about if folks were armed in Paris the carnage would not have occured.   The culture of "every person for himself" is quite problematic to say the least.

I was shocked by this I saw on the Guardian of London that I released to my personal Grid within the past hour--but not too shocked as I stepped back to think about Erick Erickson's stunt and then a report that Iowa is beginning to issue Gun Permits to the legally Blind:   
Ben Jennings 7.12.2015



This the perception that the World has--America can do better than this. What I find problematic is how facts and reality seem not to matter in the current political narrative that is before us.    #Outsiders has been an attemp to work to change the narrative one notation at a time--whether we can do it in light of the profound noise is a struggle.

As I was supporting #Outsiders throughout the day, I took a little time to catch Gandhi.   There is a scene it as he decides on the next phase of the campaign that led to the indepedence of India and he reflects on a song at his temple and reflected upon this, "...He bows to all and despises none...".   It was a lesson to be remebered by us all.

I continue to remain hopeful though beyond words.   I was witness to the geneorsity of spirit this past Saturday as I along with the youth of Aliso Niguel High School was at The @Second Harvest Bank of Orange County to plant, prepare field and thereafter join the Adopt-A-Pantry sponsored by the Indian Southern California Basketball League assisting with serving some 249 Families with their weekly meals.    It is such that continues to give me hope that we can and will overcome this level of "noise" as a dose of reality was again noted by Nicholas Kristoff earlier today: 

"785,000 refugees have been admitted to the United States since 9/11 and not one has been convicted of killing a person...
Posted by The New York Times on Sunday, December 6, 2015




Wednesday, December 2, 2015

On #SanBernardinoShootings: Thoughts For the Night

We here in the United States were again witness to another mass shooting.     The GOP was out in force to offer prayers.    Tomorrow New York Daily News Headline noted below is telling: 



Meanwhile, there was another shooting too in Georgia that hardly made the news.    As I am writing this, the Police Chief of San Bernandino is on the air providing an update and has named the suspects who were shot dead by police and going through the facts as known.    Although I noted the names of the suspects in my rounds on the "Grid", I am not going to repeat it here.    The Police Chief is ending the news conference now.

I can't help but wonder whether our society will muster the courage to truly deal with this menace once in for all.   






Working Away With Some Mid-Week Notations.....

It has been a interesting few days yet again as the team has been on the "prowl".      I ran across this that was a stark reminder about the challenge we have here in #Outsiders as we work to provide a potential trail to help transform the conversation about our World: 

 “Not everyone thinks the way you think,
knows the things you know,
believes the things you believe,
nor acts the way you would act.
Remember this
and you will go a long way
in getting along with people.”
~ Arthur Forman

This admontion underscores the simple fact that we have to respect each other.    This sense of respect is clearly lacking in some of the utterances that have been prevalent in the GOP so far which is of profound concern.   This is also as the World is witness to @COP21 that our team has been assessing (and finished off a notation on it late last night).   This is also as the War against #Daesh is being ramped up.    What Patrick Cockburn wrote about the fate of the War though was absolutely devastating: 

As I reflected upon the work done here in #Outsiders, all I could do was to take comfort in what these thoughts were from +Jonathan Huie  that the team was gracious enough to allow me to use because in the end it is about a sense of serenity that is necessary if we are to deal with the profound challenges our World continues to face in that it all begins with a sense of faith that we must have: 





He who has faith has...
an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness,
and assuring trust that all will come out well -
even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.
- B. C. Forbes