mermaidcamp
Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water
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Willful Blindness vs Blind Justice
September 26, 2016
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Our era in history may become known as the time of willful blindness. We have access to information from all over the world instantly, but people prefer to keep blind spots in place to protect status quo. As individuals and as institutions we choose to stay in the dark because we either have no confidence in evolution and change, or we may benefit from the circumstances as they stand.
Can you think of an example of willful blindness that has played havoc with your life? Can you remember choosing to stay blind yourself rather than standing up for the truth? I am pretty sure all of us have stood on both sides of this line. The saddest reason for staying willfully blind is a belief that one person can not change the course of history. The desire to be ignorant is more dangerous than we might want to believe.
Fall
Weekend Coffee Share #CommunityMatters
September 18, 2016
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painting
fall flora in Tucson
fall flora in Tucson
Although I see some of you around the inter webs I have not taken the time to sit down and share coffee and life events with the group for a long time. I follow with interest your writing projects and day to day issues because although we are scattered around the globe, we have much in common. If you read and write as a primary source of pleasure and value, this coffee share is for you. The diversity of nationality and interests makes this the perfect place to just chat about this and that.
Fall is finally arriving at a snail’s pace in Baja Arizona. I have been writing about a serious crime problem we have had with the city government in Tucson for years. I think after almost a decade we will finally get a little rule of law in the neighborhood where I live. It has been a ridiculous struggle to communicate with all departments of this highly convoluted system. You never know how crazy it all is until you try to make it perform for the benefit of the community. I started writing blog posts about our predicament in 2013, never thinking I was creating an e book about government dysfunction. I thought that as soon as I presented the facts the problem would be solved by our paid public servants. This turned out to be a serious joke. Not only did all the departments refuse to perform in their respective jurisdictions, they refused to respond when citizens petitioned and pleaded for law enforcement services. I was dragged into the vortex of government dysfunction, to my horror. There was no bottom to this high speed waste of public funds and energy.
I wrote a post every few months and sent them all to the officials I hoped to make aware of our dire straights. This practice continues until today because every department has refused to address the crime problems we have reported to them. Without an hero I could never end the book or get any help to end obvious crime in my neighborhood. I searched high and wide for a hero for ages, finally finding one at the police department. This is very fitting since we have been plagued with crime and willful blindness to it courtesy of the inaction and or refusal to respond by the police department. We actually had a fake neighborhood watch to promote crime and willful blindness, funded by taxpayers. The damage done was, and continues to be, significant to property value as well as quality of life. It tuns out that once you set a precedent of non compliance and willful blindness it is very hard to change the direction. It continues to drag the community down until it is reformed.
There were two working titles before I settled on the current, and very apt one. The first few years the book was named after the neighborhood watch cop who supported charity scamming in the fire lane of our condo village. I called the work in progress “Dirty Becky”. Then Tucson elected a mayor who is a lawyer. Neighbors got all excited and petitioned this lawyer mayor to stop the 24 hour donation drop off inviting the general public to drive through our condo village to “donate” or volunteer to handle food for a charity scam. He never responded to us, even after we petitioned two years in a row. He told some cops to just stonewall us, and all the crime continued full speed ahead. Naturally with all this official help the scam stayed in business and completely trashed our hood as well as our respect for law enforcement. The working title changed to “The Emperor’s New Neighborhood Watch” to indicate that the lawyer mayor still had no idea the neighborhood watch was working hard to promote crime in the hood.
I have, after all these years, and all this inability to find a government agency that functions for our benefit, created a third and final title for my e book. It is “Clulusion, The Sinister Fusion of Cluelessness and Colusion in Government.” I do think the title perfectly evokes the spirit of the book I never wanted to write. Now all I need is a denouement. The hero will need to move mountains because changing the government is a gigantic task. When I am able to put this one in the can I think I can write an e book on purpose. Have you ever written an e book, gentle reader?
If you care to join the weekend coffee share party, share your link here.
Mansplaining Explained
September 14, 2016
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For those of you who do not know what mansplaining is, you may be inadvertently doing it. You may also be a victim of it. Not all mansplaining is done by men, unfortunately. This powerful force in society is spreading like wildfire. The comedy of it is hilarious, but the reality is disconcerting. It plays out in the political campaign, naturally. It also plays out when any woman has interactions with the government. Our government has completely embraced the custom of condescending to citizens who want functional systems. We pay for everything these public “servants” do, but they live in a highly insular world where it is perfectly acceptable to sit around and mansplain to each other. The #squadgoals seem to be ignorance and sexist bliss.
If mansplaining does not work it is usually followed by some gaslighting. This is a practice of indicating that a woman must be out of her mind to be the way she is. This is a more sinister form of mansplain, just more extreme. Here in Tucson I reported the same egregious crimes to the Tucson Police Department for a decade, always being told that the crimes were not crimes at all, but civil matters. I persisted because the crimes seriously effect everyone in my neighborhood. Groups of neighbors, both male and female, petitioned to stop the crimes for years to no avail. The situation had been totally mansplained internally, so we could get no law enforcement help. Finally this year a cop came out in person to mansplain to me why the fake neighborhood watch to promote crime and willful blindness in our neighborhood was serving and protecting us. He informed me that he is the law, as if a person could be the law. When I did not accept this concept he came back the next day to gaslight me with the mental health division of the TPD. After passing my mental exam they just decided to pretend that I did not exist, which after all, is the goal of both mansplaining and gaslighting.
This disastrous plague needs to be exposed as well as eradicated. Everyone’s justice is compromised by this common practice. Have you had experience with mansplaining or gas lighting, gentle reader? Do tell.
Stairway To Ethical Heaven
August 31, 2016
— 1 Comment
Fraud Triangle
There is an ethical ladder that ascends to the highest moral code. As children we should be taught how to climb that ladder by example. Unfortunately many children are witnesses to adult misbehavior that leads them to cling to a low rung on the ladder. As we go through life we respond to situations according to our ethical code. There is a sliding scale for moral fortitude, depending on the difficulty of the stand, or the popular opposition to the truth. It is obviously easier to go along with the crowd no matter what they do. People who stay down at that level just want to not make waves. They do not consider how they contribute to the morality of the entire world.
At the bottom of the ethical stairway is only one consideration:
- Will I get caught? This is where people in grade school reside.
If we mature we start to realize there could be more:
- How does my behavior effect others? This usually comes as a hard lesson.
As educated adults participating in a community we may start to notice:
- What would the world be like if everyone acted like this?
On which rung do you live most of your life, gentle reader? I encourage you to take the highest ground possible, not just for yourself, but for the entire world.
Compromise Triangle
Being Authentic
August 16, 2016
— 8 Comments
I am hearing the same message from all the books and posts I read these days. In a world that conforms all too easily it is essential to be particularly true to one’s self. My teacher Chris Brogan just hit me this morning with some excellent thoughts on what is lost when one fits in with the crowd these days. Popularity and authenticity are not the same thing, and sometimes are completely opposed to each other. Our politics reflect a chaos and lack of discipline that runs through society. Mob mentality seems to be taking over our thinking in America.
I wonder if we can step back and take individual action to change the crazy status quo in our country. I wonder if we can stand up for law and order and for justice at the same time. We have reached a tipping point that demands we be awake and aware of the reality we are creating. What do you think, gentle reader? Obviously vote. What else can we do?
Pandora, What is in That Box?
August 11, 2016
— 1 Comment
Pandora and box
The myth of Pandora is a Greek creation story. Zeus ordered Hephaestus (blacksmith of the gods) to make the first woman. He did this using water and earth. Her name means all gifted because various gods gifted her with talents. She was married to Epimethius as a major prank. She was designed to punish disobedient humans. She was irresistible. She arrived with a box which was not to be opened. We know the part of the story in which she does open the box and evil and suffering escapes. In fact, evil runs rampant on earth as a result of Pandora’s weakness of curiosity. She has something in common with Eve, the first woman who just had to try the forbidden fruit in the garden.
When Pandora sees that she has released illness and evil on the earth she attempts to close the box quickly. In the original story she came with a jar (pithos). Later translations from the Greek changed the jar to a box. Either way, she managed to close the container with hope trapped inside. I feel this myth is pertinent to our world situation today. The evil, the misery, the illness has been released into our atmosphere. It is swirling all around us everywhere. Hope is often obscured, as if it is enclosed in some secret vessel.
Pandora and box
The Fine Line Between Culture and Cult
August 10, 2016
— 2 Comments
Originals by Adam Grant
I am listening to the book Originals by Adam Grant. This audio book is the second of my free treats in the 3 month Audible subscription I have initiated. I am employing Alexa in the Echo to read the book to me at home. When I go to the gym I switch to the iPod or iPad for a workout. The system knows how to bookmark my last page and start in that spot without a hitch. This is fun for now, but I don’t see myself keeping the membership for the extra $15 a month. You still have to purchase the audio books beyond that basic dues payment. I like it as a temporary novelty, but I still have some of my favorite books on audio CD, which is the only way I can listen in my car.
I love the theory as well as the writing in this book. The way originality develops and makes change possible in the world is a subject this author has studied from many perspectives. His many concrete examples of entrepreneurs who both fail and succeed to execute meaningful change help the reader understand how power and status quo operate. The common beliefs that great risk and speed are the keys to cultural change are disproven with real stories. Procrastination may well be the innovator’s best friend. By waiting for the first line to fail in various ways, the second line is an a much better position to correct mistakes while proving the need for the same innovations. “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” Mark 6:4
Birth order and other lifestyle factors are studied as possible catalysts for becoming a meaningful leader. Groupthink is the enemy of originality. When non-conformists are able to use influence to create a change in culture, in business or in politics, it is because the original has learned to open a cultural mentality, destroying the myth of the cult. Even in our fast-changing world with innovation running copiously toward individualization status quo is still the strongest force.
Establishing Borders
August 9, 2016
— 3 Comments
“I encourage people to remember that “No” is a complete sentence.” ~ Gavin de Becker 1. Identify current boundary crossers The first step in setting healthy boundaries is identifying who it is that is the boundary crosser. How does this person make you feel? Most likely, telling this person how you feel will get you no […]
Munich Shooter Planned Attack for a Year, Officials Say — TIME
July 24, 2016
(MUNICH) — The teenager behind Friday’s deadly shooting rampage at a Munich mall had planned his attack for a year and chose his victims at random, investigators said Sunday. Bavarian investigator Robert Heimberger said the shooter, an 18-year-old German-Iranian identified only as David S., visited the site of a previous school shooting in the German…
via Munich Shooter Planned Attack for a Year, Officials Say — TIME
Resisting Evidence
July 23, 2016
— 3 Comments
babes of justice
What is the opposite of resisting arrest? The cops resisting citizens who want to present evidence to stop crime is that. I have spent almost a decade trying to stop the obvious crime in my immediate neighborhood. This has turned out to be an illusive dream because I could not manage to show the TPD the evidence. Once this had been going on for a few years, we were then subjected to a fake neighborhood watch for the sole purpose of willfully denying crime is crime. This proved the point that crime left to fester just get worse. Now we were forced to keep all the crime in place, and pay taxes to support a fraudulent neighborhood watch. Everything has gone in the opposite direction of justice. We have been forced to keep the crime we have (which is significant) by a completely clueless system designed to serve and protect us. You don’t have to be shot in the back by the cops to have your life ruined by their dishonesty.
Finally, about a month ago I physically took the evidence to the station for the captain to review. During the month nobody has contacted me or informed me at all. This week TPD sent 3 cops to my house to ask what is happening, as if this is the first time they have heard of this. I showed them the evidence I still had at the house and told this very long complicated story one more time. They did not understand and asked me to call 911 if the ongoing financial fraud continued. This is not a realistic way to stop financial fraud.
Still TPD is completely silent. I told them I am not at all comfortable leaving that evidence at the station since the captain is on vacation, and he is specifically the only one I can trust. Silence. I fully expect that evidence to disappear at the Midtown police station and the whole 10 years of obstruction of justice to be swept under the table. We hear about corruption in government, but I have lived through a decade of it at the most extreme levels. These people aren’t even in collusion. They are simply clueless, too clueless to even collude. This is the scariest discovery I have made. They don’t intend to prevaricate. They just have no contact with reality. This corrupt bubble must be broken for the safety of us all.
