Does "gentle soul" describe a very large man who steals from a merchant and then becomes physically assertive when the merchant confronts him with the theft?
Does "peaceful protest" describe unruly mobs of thugs and vandals who tear apart the business district of their hometown while allegedly seeking "justice" for the death of one of their members?
Does anyone really want "justice" based on evidence and facts, or do the non-white people of Ferguson want vengeance for what they perceive is a racially motivated hate crime?
Do all the non-black residents of Ferguson believe the officer involved shooting was justified?
Do all the non-white residents of Ferguson believe the officer involved shooting was unprovoked and a criminal act?
If I listen to the TV commentary, I hear polarization on the part of the residents of Ferguson that is sold by the commentators as truth. Seldom have I heard a commentator say let's not rush to judgment; let's wait and see what the facts are before we come to a conclusion. Instead, there is a constant clambor for being the first on-air with the latest street gossip, and the more polarizing the commentary, the better the station's ratings. And it's always all about ratings.
News requires the test of time, especially because we all tend to react emotionally at first, and seem to calm down and see events more rationally with the passing of time. In this day of the focus on the needs and wants of I, we no longer seem willing to take the time to allow a process to occur that clarifies and provides perspective. My mother's favorite saying was that we can't put an old head onto young shoulders; wisdom comes with age and living through life's experiences--the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The hot-headed youth have to take to the streets in violent protests that show who's in charge and who's going to tell the world the way things are going to be. It's challenging to tell the youth to slow down, calm down, sit down and think before you do something you'll later regret. And, truthfully, sometimes the senior citizens want to take too much time to think about situations and events that could benefit from moving a bit more quickly to resolution. Somewhere in between there is rational thinking, wisdom, and the truth, and once we have that, we can also have justice.
Success is not determined so much by the position one has reached in life, but more so by the obstacles one has overcome while attempting to succeed. --Unknown
Vegetation
What happens when one forgets the basket of onions one left on top of the 'fridge
Soaring above the competition is all in how you see it.
"... there are great perils in rising too quickly in any organization. Hawks may soar, but chipmunks don't get sucked into jet engines."
--Joseph Finder, Paranoia, p.183
--Joseph Finder, Paranoia, p.183
Metal Sculpture
photo by Monique
Ignorance is so not Bliss
As Issac Asimov said, "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States ... nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge'." (Jan. 21, 1980).
Ranger
Our little guy grows up
Another perspective
If you think you're a leader but no one is following you, you're just taking a walk.
When Mia shares her floor cushion,
you know the dogs have bonded.
Every Day is Mother's Day
He asked, "What's your mother going to say when you tell her?"
The round black face screwed up in astonishment. "I ain' gonna tell her. That'd be fucked up. You never win no arguments 'gainst yo' mother." --Jeffery Deaver, The Broken Window (266)
The round black face screwed up in astonishment. "I ain' gonna tell her. That'd be fucked up. You never win no arguments 'gainst yo' mother." --Jeffery Deaver, The Broken Window (266)
Perspective on Self
"But with adults I see absolutely no justification for setting other people's views of what is good for them above their own ideas of what is good for themselves." --The Reader, Bernhard Schlink, p 141-42
I'm Watching You ...
but you can't see me!
Explaining the Moment
"You know ... sometimes you do things you don't really understand. You just have to do them. Sense or no sense--it really doesn't matter much." --Scott Turow, Innocent, p 64.
Albert Einstein on teaching ...
"One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community."
Blog Archive
from The Innocent, by author Harlan Coben
"The world is neither cruel nor joyous. It is simply random, full of particles hurtling, chemicals mixing and reacting. There is no real order. There is no preordained cursing of the evil and protecting of the righteous.
Chaos, baby, It's all about chaos."
Chaos, baby, It's all about chaos."
Spotting Daisy
... casing the neighborhood from the front room window.
Confucius said ...
By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.
About Me
- Liza
- I am the person who lives inside my soul; I just have to figure out who she is and where she's been all these years.
Please, don't disturb me: I'm reading a book
"I love the solitude of reading. I love the deep dive into someone else's story, the delicious ache of a last page."
--Naomi Shihab Nye
--Naomi Shihab Nye
Primary Motivation: an unread book
"Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier." --Kathleen Norris
George Orwell
Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
Life Lesson
One of the things I noticed in all of this was the simultaneous delicacy and brutality of the scalpel. How much people can hurt, the ways they hurt, and how sometimes they have to get hurt even more so they'll get better in the long run.
--John Sandford, Preface, Eyes of Prey
--John Sandford, Preface, Eyes of Prey
A Book Makes Any Day a Better Day
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers."--Charles W. Eliot
Quotation
The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious -- because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority. We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe -- some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they're born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others--some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men.
--Atticus Finch, closing remarks to the jury, To Kill a Mockingbird
--Atticus Finch, closing remarks to the jury, To Kill a Mockingbird
No comments:
Post a Comment