mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

You can scroll the shelf using ← and → keys

Robots

January 3, 2014 — 1 Comment

If you had a robot to live part of your life you preferred not to live, what would that machine do?  I saw a news segment on PBS last night featuring Sherry Turkle, author of Alone Together.  She was appearing with robots who are built to illicit emotions from humans.  I had heard of her book from friends who read it and were very impressed.  Her ideas already made sense to me, but the robot segment  clenched the deal.  I always think of slot machines when I think of machines that are built to beguile.  Now there are robots in development to “care” for seniors.  This is pretty freaky, gentle readers.  I know I do not want robot care in my dotage.

The medium used to be the message; now it is the messenger as well.  There is growing evidence that the ties that bind us are the same ones that are making us lame.  I am a big fan of technology, but it needs to be the servant not the master in the relationship.  What strikes me as most ironic is that devices are used for self hypnosis of a kind.  In the trance state induced by too much busy busy update/like/comment one is an easy target for marketers and anyone with ulterior motives.  I believe it is time to reel in the relationships with devices in favor of more time connecting to nature (which includes other humans in real life).

Defining Waste

December 8, 2013

During this December of deletion it has become abundantly clear to me that waste of all kinds can be nipped in the bud by simply defining it.  I, for instance, have not been willing to admit that owning 5 times more clothing than can be worn in a year is wasteful. Hoarding and waste are the exactly same thing, but hoarding is waste without boundaries . This shocking realization has deep meaning in my closet, in my office, in my kitchen, my garden, my barn, and even in my social life.  The most notable waste that can be eliminated is time spent seeking more acquisitions.  If you don’t need anything, is it not a waste of your time to go around trying to mindlessly acquire something, just to be consuming?  Even more devastating to my health and happiness is allotting my space to extra junk. I pay taxes, insurance, and utility bills to basically own the space in which I keep all my gear.  Although I am not approaching the level of the hoarding crazy people on reality television, I see no reason to continue owning extra stuff I never use. I now define that as a waste of my time, energy, and space.  As the hoarder in the video explains, the junk is like a barrier or a wall created to hide himself from the world.  All possessions can be treated as self-limiting boundaries, from your Mercedes to your expensive signature haircut.  Marketing is the process of changing the desires of the people to match what is available in the marketplace.  In itself, it is not evil.  Something has changed our attitudes about consuming to the detriment of our society and economy.  We are building a landfill to heaven.

When I was a child we never thought of wasting energy, or carbon footprints, or even about world peace.  I grew up in an industrial era during which producing goods and shipping them around the world was exciting and considered to be the highest and best use of time and resources.  Owning things was very important to my parents.  Pride of ownership was a distinct value they impressed upon me.  They were both very seriously into wardrobe, theirs and mine.  They had super high standards for tidiness and order that would not allow them to acquire more stuff than they could store.  The material world was in balance because they did not mistake quantity for quality.  I rejected their materialistic version of reality, but ended up with plenty of material goods anyhow.   It is time to examine, eliminate, and most importantly be vigilant about portions.  Time, interest, talent, and resources need to be spent in the right proportion.  As we head into the darkest time of the year it is my goal to emerge with a highly organized and clear space.  There is much to do.

Obstruction of Justice

November 12, 2013 — 5 Comments

Justice

Justice

What is obstruction of justice, exactly? Many of us feel that somehow our relationship with the government is unjust. We think our tax dollars are spent without enough consideration. We feel cheated.  We feel mislead.  The formal definition of obstruction of justice is complex and complicated.  Federal law defines perjury as obstruction thusly:

I. Whoever

II. a. under oath or b. in any

i. declaration,
ii. certificate,
iii. verification, or iv. statement

under penalty of perjury as permitted under Section 1746 of title 28, United States Code376 III. in any proceeding before or ancillary to

a. any court or
b. grand jury of the United States

IV. knowingly

V. a. makes any false material declaration or
b. makes or uses any other information, including any

i. book,
ii. paper,
iii. document,
iv. record,
v. recording, or vi. other material,

knowing the same to contain any false material declaration,
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.377

So if you lie to the Feds about Federal law you will be in trouble with the court.  Richard Nixon was brought down for his mendacity.  He made an effort to mislead the judicial system.  If you were alive for Watergate his is probably the face of political hanky panky at it’s most absurd.  Since Nixon, however, we are not feeling that our democratic tax dollars are used fairly.  We see our elected officials blatantly serving the lobbyists who support them.  We see the giant and growing discrepancies between the most wealthy and the poverty-stricken.  We are watching as liberty and justice for all vanishes from the United States of America.  A sliding scale for prosecution of crime fills the jails and penitentiaries with people of color while the banker robbers of the world are still mostly loose on the town.  There is now a sense that the government spies on the citizens, lies to the citizens, and often fails to serve the interests of the citizens.  The fourth branch of government is now lobbyists.  We never see their faces, but we know they are out to lunch with our elected officials and we are not.  In  our guts we know this is unfair.

Probable Cause

November 11, 2013 — 5 Comments

I became familiar with this legal term when my parents were robbed by lawyers who worked for a care home owner.  A young lawyer obtained the signatures of my severely mentally impaired parents in front of no witnesses and proceeded to use those signatures to rob them at the bank, destroy all their civil rights, trapping my dad in the care home, as was the plan.  Two weeks after they robbed and attacked my parents they ran away but kept about $8000 or so for the so called services they had performed.  To recover from this attack my parents’ real lawyer had to work and be paid to restore their estate plans and civil rights. It was costly and destructive as well as blatantly criminal.  I wrote to everyone including John Evans, the Federal prosecuting attorney in Tucson.  I was told that since they had obtained the signatures, even though they did not know my parents and had drastically damaged their health and well being, as well as their finances, they were allowed to pretend for those two weeks to represent my parents and be paid for it.  The FBI initially investigated the case and told me there was obvious fraud. Later they told me they had to drop the case because the border issues demanded all the man power in Tucson.  It felt distinctly as if the Feds decided that lawyers can commit crimes because they will fight back if you attempt to bust them for their obvious crimes.  It is easier to pick on border crossers than your friends at the AZ Bar.  Eventually the Bar did slap the young lawyer on the wrist, but he had already left the firm where he had robbed my parents. To say that I lost all respect would be an extreme understatement.

I have now owned a home that is supposed to be governed by an HOA.  The people on our HOA board have refused to do anything that AZ law requires of them, but have insisted that they have a right to invite the general public here to donate to a charity scam they have run in the condo next door to me and at the curb for many years. Feeding the Homeless in Tucson Parks is the philanthropical outreach our HOA board has used to express their special jurisdiction here in our public areas.  This 100% criminal operation has been been in operation in this same location for many years.  Since they have never been stopped breaking AZ law or stealing money from the dues directly they decided to give themselves the right to use the non profit corporation (our HOA) and our public areas and driveway to operate this charity scam.  None of the volunteer hours, or truck loads of bread, or cash donations that came in the mail, or items left in the driveway for many years has ever been reported to the IRS.  I have been informed by the HOA lawyer that the board has broken no laws by using our property to run this criminal scam. That means they plan to continue to use the fire lane in front of my home to invite the public here to be hostile to the entire neighborhood and pretend they are doing philanthropy.  The latest known solicitation for donations was done to Tucson Appliance for a new stove this spring.  That stove belongs in a homeless shelter or the food bank, not in a residential condo that has been used for criminal purposes.  If soliciting drive by donations and pretending to be a charity is not a crime against the neighbors and society I think it would be very hard to find one. My neighbors and I have reported these crimes for years, but law enforcement has not been available to stop this.  I have the impression that law enforcement cares very little about stopping crime or enforcing laws.  I may be wrong, but we shall see.

If you are asked for donations from anyone, ask to see the 501C3 the IRS issues legal charities. It is apparently easy to operate fraudulent philanthropical donation sites for many years with no interference from the IRS. Our local law enforcement has practiced and advised willful blindness to these crimes, which I think is incredibly weird.  I have hired and put  a lawyer on retainer because this has gone on for too long and seriously damaged our property value. I think we are entitled to law enforcement from the agencies we pay to enforce the law.  However, if you need to hire and pay a lawyer to show those agencies probable cause it is better than allowing crime to trash your neighborhood.

Avenger Archetype

October 5, 2013 — 3 Comments

The Avenger character is a masked marvel. Crusades for righteousness and fairness are the territory of this archetype.  Comic book characters and super heroes use the avenger character  to tell stories about balancing the scales of justice .  The obvious shadow attribute the avenger can possess is the willingness to use violence to defend a cause.  Frequently we see the misguided avenger on the loose; That is called the loose cannon because the lack of control is too obvious.  They may be warriors or politicians, but their primary motive is to represent causes for the sake of others.  They are aggressive.

Religious zealots in history  have often convinced others to seek revenge or fight a holy war.  Terrorism and family feuds are examples of avengers gone bad.  When nations or political factions  square off to avenge some perceived wrong this is the archetype in control.  When the Republicans and the Democrats cut off all their noses to spite all their faces they are doing it because they believe they are finding vengeance.  They tell the taxpayers they are fighting for us, but they are isolated in their own cartoon, unaware of the roles they play in our big drama.  They fight because they feel entitled, and because we have allowed them to become so extreme.  Their capes and masks must be recalled.

avenger card

avenger card

Environmental Creativity #DooFrudumpsdogdoo

September 29, 2013 — 4 Comments

message for dog owners

message for dog owners

practical design

practical design

Our midtown Tucson neighborhood has pride of ownership issues. The landlords are not prone to take care of  rental properties and the residents have become used to a very low level of environmental pride.  Tagging of gang signs is chronic and dog owners leave waste behind everywhere.  Doolen-Fruitvale Neighborhood, or DooFru for short, has an elementary school, an art college, and a Boys and Girls Club all adjacent to each other.  I am asking the kids interested in art and design to enter a competition.  The DooFru Design Derby  will be an annual competition to design the best small enhancement to our neighborhood environment.  We want to create a positive artful outlet that says we care about the space in which we live. We don’t have a place for mural art or sculpture, but we can do small, individual projects that make a difference.

This year we are designing dog doo bag dispensers out of used plastic containers.  When filled with plastic bags, they not only remind dog owners to do the right thing, but provide the means with which to do it.  Some other neighborhoods have employed the bag dispensers with great success.  I walk my dog in one of these adjoining areas and have noticed a big improvement in the waste problem since they put up the bag dispensers.  We hope by involving kids and art we will have an even bigger impact to create a cleaner and more well cared for environment.  The kids from Boys and Girls Club have joined in many neighborhood clean up efforts, only to see the same trashy behavior arise.  I believe they can have a bigger influence than adults if they sincerely take on the #DooFrudumpsdogdoo initiative.   They can shame the adults and set a standard of awareness simply by making art for the good of the neighborhood.  My own design is designed to give the idea to the kids, but definitely not to win the derby. My #DooFrudumpsdogdoo lady is a neighborhood spokesperson in need of kids’ art.

Congress, Creativity, Connessione

September 27, 2013 — 3 Comments

Watching the US congressional dramatists perform for the nation I wonder how these folks make contact with reality. Systems thinking, or connessione provides a holistic, integrated, well proportioned view.  The interests of many networks can be connected for the good of the entire system.  Our congressional employees seem stuck on the idea that hostile, unproductive bickering is what the taxpayers deserve.  Fractured care for our precious resources is eroding the national confidence.  Rather than forming natural helpful alliances bills are created with purposeful conflicts of interests from the get go.  It looks as if these representatives of the people are on some kind of very bad bummer trip, unable to view any kind of broad picture for fear of heavy freak out.  They use their imaginations and creativity to whip up disharmony rather than working to connect the whole.

How can we use our own creativity as taxpayers to force these clowns to get it together on behalf of the American people?  Can we imagine them working for us rather than wasting our money?  I find that difficult.  In the season of Halloween let us consult history and the ancestors to learn from the past.  How did our ancestors off insane rulers?  There have been plenty of them.  We must connect the dots to understand the deep lessons history teaches.  We must find the strength and the will to create a congress that works for us.  We are capable of balance, even if we are not witnessing it in our elected officials.

Smart Phone Life

September 21, 2013 — 5 Comments

I am afraid of the  mix of media and social media consumed by the population in 2013.  There are distractions of all shapes and sizes.  Being over busy overbooked and overly self centered is a modern sign of success.  Emotional wellbeing of average people has been sinking while stability slips out of sight.  The youth will use technology in ways that are modeled by the adults they see.  When parents and other adults  lead the way to digital detox younger people may also consider life outside the smartphone.

I think the point Louis C.K. makes in this video about emotional range of motion is key.  His claim that smartphone distraction is avoidance of fully feeling sadness or happiness in favor of a phone buzz strikes me as a valid observation.  It is impossible to be engaged in meditation and smart phone love at the same time.  Some feel the attachment to the full time companion, Phoney, is destroying social skills.  I agree, but the strongest argument for limiting time and energy with Phoney is productivity.  Phoney is there to procrastinate with you, to deny reality and to take you away from all the pending doom.  It can never make you feel truly happy, but it does kill time.

Digital detox has entered the dictionary and folks are in treatment for FOMO ( fear of missing out).  This is perhaps the most ironic of all conditions…to abandon real life with no fear of missing reality in favor of never missing out on the ability to respond to a phone.   Do you know anyone who is in need of intervention for this tragic ailment?  I do, but would not know where or how to begin.

Culture in Need of Lovingkindness

September 16, 2013 — 4 Comments

Today we watch another mass shooting unfold in DC like the reality show that it is. The constant reminder of violence must have something to do with the growth and spread of violence. Lovingkindnessis the remedy for our growing epidemic of right and wrong.  If everyone is busy deciding to be right and seek vengeance from those who are wrong who will get in touch with reality?  Have we given up reality to watch it on television and tweet it live?  How riveting will it be to live tweet the IPO of twitter?  While some see gun control or calorie control as the way to solve of cultural problems, I believe we are highly delusional as a society.  The guns and the health issues are symptoms of systems that do not work.  Our distraction is killing us as individuals and as a culture.

Numb and nihilistic as we witness weather and violent torrents of human hatred wash over our land, we twist the truth by looking for the single issue or party on which to place blame.  The events in the world must blur for those who play computer games as well as absorb world tragedy as it unfolds.  The digital distance we have from other other humans and the truth is dragging us in a downward spiral of delusion.  I wonder if people can wake up and think they are in the World of Warcraft…or some variation on it.  We are cultivating violence and maya, when our only hope is in truth and lovingkindness.  Each of us generates energy that fuels the hatred; none of us is perfect.  On an individual basis we must take responsibility to feed and care for the soul of the world until al beings are free.  This will require centering.  This will require a shift in focus and a pivot in the direction of our thinking.

What’s on Our Menu?

September 12, 2013 — 2 Comments

squash blossom

squash blossom

Although this well produced story is actually an ad for Chipotle Mexican Grill I believe it is worth sharing with everyone who buys and eats food. I believe cruelty and waste are built into the American economy and fed to all of us; this is not inevitable or even reasonable.  Cruelty and waste are the root cause of our environmental problems, including the human obesity epidemic.  While I would love to see more whole foods produced and eaten locally, just stepping away from heavily processed and transported foods is the first baby step to liberate the energy we spend freezing, storing and shipping our nutrients.  American kids are not familiar with the sources of food, other than the drive up window. The entire society pays for the ignorance in the form of what is known as health care.  It is time to put self-care and prehabilitaion on the menu in the United States.  It is easy, clean, and leads to tastier dining. Stop feeding the industrialized food monster and start nourishing your home and family. Eat something raw and local today, Gentle Reader.  Sorry it is so hard for most of you Americans to find.