mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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Pamela Morse, Private Eye

December 29, 2012 — 1 Comment

I got my early training from Nancy Drew in proper detective work. I read all her adventures when I was very young.  She was popular with my friends and neighbors so we used to recreate little Nancy Drew dramas for play.  I fixate on detail like Sherlock, but I like to fashion myself after Jim Morrison’s Spy. My espionage skills are good. My dog is a red bone coon hound named Artemisia. My all time favorite look forever is the performing costume of Mata Hari.  Ironically, I can find no detectives in my ancestry.  Since they were and are undercover, maybe there is no way to find them.  There were many with military careers, which should involve some kind of recon and or intelligence.  To say that I am nosey is an understatement, but I am not interested in the gossip and the trash generally accepted as truth. There is something about my nature that needs to investigate…….everything.  The detective is a dominant archetype in my personality.  I enjoy stealth more than almost anything.

I used to hang out for many months in the winter on a small island in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas called Frazier’s Hog Cay.  The practically unpopulated island had about 6 homes for foreigners to use for holidays.  It is connected by a land bridge to Chubb Cay, where a marina, yacht club, and landing strip makes it possible for life to exist on Frazier’s.  I used to go fishing with hand lines at night and hang out with  two old Bahamian ladies who were my very good friends.  We had our own detective agency to snoop on all the dope dealers.  This was inherently dangerous, but we  were drawn like moths to flame.  I was an instigator in the gang, but they lived there full-time. I only came for a while in the winter, which was height of the smuggling season as well, because of Miami Vice (the lucrative market in 1980’s).   I was contributing to the danger in their lives by organizing reconnaissance expeditions to spy on the Colombians who sailed big boats into the shallow water, unloaded onto fast cigarette boats every night and took off for Florida through the Bimini Straights.  One day on the beach we found an entire bale of Colombian pot, but it was buried deeply in the sand and had been salt-watered to death.  I walked right past it, but my Bahamian friend, who was about 75 at the time said, ” Ain’t that the grass?”   When I think of it now we are all so lucky we did not loose our lives hiding in the mangrove at night to confirm our suspicions.  We were very old ladies to be playing Nancy Drew, but we were compelled by curiosity that ignored all danger.

most excellent spy gear

most excellent spy gear

To Tweet or Not to Tweet,

December 28, 2012 — 3 Comments

Hamlet and skull

Hamlet and skull

that is the question…..wheather it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of 140 character communication, or ignore it. Peeps who do not tweet are not neccesarily out of touch, while tweeps who do may be wildly deranged or just killing time. Considering how much time is killed in real time, we must admit that this double edged sword cuts both ways. Our challenge is to use it for the benefit of mankind. I am sure there were many fatal errors while humans became familiar with the properties of fire, but eventually the power was harnessed for beneficial uses. The printing press, and, Oy Vey!, the printed Bible have drastically changed the course of history. The tool itself must not be maligned, but investigated to find the highest and best use.

We have a tool for democracy called congress which,in itself,is not a bad idea. It was created to govern our republic. There were corporations in early America, but there were no superpacs. Carolyn Myss uses an excellent example in the book Sacred Contracts to explain the use of tools on earth. She used the example of learning to use a knife. If you grab the knife by the blade it will be painful and destructive. When the paid becomes too great you may decide to use the handle of the knife which makes the knife useful for many purposes. Then the knife can cut food and perform a number of other useful tasks. We need to grab congress by the handle now. This is much too painful. This is our time in history, post Zombie Appocolypse global hot house. How shall we handle this?

On the Bus or Off the Bus

December 27, 2012 — 2 Comments

Merry Praksters

Merry Praksters

There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all – suspicion. –Demosthenes

How can we cultivate a healthy sense of disrespect and suspicion that is mindful of and careful with  the opinions of others?  We see no mature examples set by politicians.  Religious leaders all teach healthy disrespect for worldly authority.  Some religions teach that all worldly authority is to be shunned because of the wicked nature of it.  The nuns on the bus dissing the Pope showed healthy suspicion of politicians trashing the poor to be elected by the rich. There was a saying that resonated back in the hippie world.  “You are either on the bus or off the bus.”  The phrase came from the book The Electric Acid Kool-Aid Test by Tom Wolfe.  We also talked constantly about revolution, and the end of the empire.  Bob Dylan, The Dead, Angela Davis, Black Panthers, SDS….. it was all very meaningful….and then it faded like morning dew in a folk song.  Perhaps these nuns were hippies who never lost the baby faith.

Double Down to Feed Our Neighbors

December 27, 2012

In Tucson we host a lot of transients, create crime/residual poverty, and our economy has depended on boom and bust construction. The present condition of our social safety net to protect our weakest is critical. Our Community Food Bank is now $400,000 underfunded for the year. The shelves are bare and the need increases daily. Last night on PBS Newshour I listed to philanthropy experts discuss the fiscal cliff fiasco and non profit businesses. Small donors are fewer this year because of both uncertainty and lack of extra funds for giving. The uncertainty is exacerbated by the fact that non profits also receive 30% of all funding from government programs. They know that falling off the cliff will eliminate many non profit agencies by simply removing the government support. I take a very dim view of congress in the steam room while non profits fold.

A glimmer of hope in Tucson: “Hi e’rybody, I’m Jim Click.” A well known cowboy car dealer hero has stepped up with Sandy Peebles to double all the contributions made to the Community Food Bank from now until the end of the year. I usually take mine to a local lawyer’s office for doubling, but she was not offering the matching funds this year, so I am late. I am thrilled to see our wealthy business owners ride up on the white horses in the white hats to do the right thing. I always ask friends and neighbors to support the Food Bank of Southern AZ because they get the most bang for the buck. When you give a dollar to the Food Bank they use their leverage to buy $9 worth of food for those in need in Tucson. Some non profits have heavy staff and administrative costs, but the Food Bank is lean and clean. They recently won a grant to put gardens in the schools. Please follow me to the website and donate now while the need is great and your donation will be doubled. Let’s all help Jim dig a little deeper into his car bucks.

I also ask everyone to help me end fraudulent philanthropy. Criminals take advantage of the public by seeking donations for bogus entities. Please have some scrutiny and some consideration when you donate. The experts on PBS taught me that small donors usually do not write off their gifting on Federal income tax. That was surprising to me. Wealthy people strategically use giving to pay less in taxes. If you do not have an extra million to give, please make sure your donation is going to a legitimate non profit with an ethical goal. The gifts are needed by the legitimate non profits more than ever, and it is important to know what happens to your hard earned donation.

Quadequina Wampanoag, 11th Great Grandfather

December 26, 2012 — 79 Comments

Natives of New England

Natives of New England

It is with great excitement that I have found an ancestor from my mother’s side in Plymouth Colony.  Most of her forefathers sailed to Virginia or below, but this particular Taylor branch had some distinctions. Margaret Diguina Weeks is said to be the Wampanoag daughter of Quadequina. There is  dispute about this, but I do hope I can confirm these facts. My 11th great-grandfather, Quadequina, introduced popcorn to the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving.

It becomes complicated because there were two Richard Taylors, both married to women named Ruth. I have not traced them back in England to know if they match up in the old country  with the other Taylors.  Ruth Wheldon’s father officially objected to her marriage to my Mr. Taylor, helping us narrow down some of the facts.  If Ruth Wheldon had a full-blooded Wampanoag mother,  Ruth was a kind of Pocahontas of the north.  I need to do some research on this to see what I can learn.  The story is amazing.

Quadequina Wampanoag (1576 – 1623)
is my 11th great-grandfather
Margaret Diguina Weeks (1613 – 1651)
Daughter of Quadequina
Ruth Whelden (1625 – 1673)
Daughter of Margaret Diguina
John TAYLOR (1651 – 1690)
Son of Ruth
Abigail Taylor (1663 – 1730)
Daughter of John
Martha Goodwin (1693 – 1769)
Daughter of Abigail
Grace Raiford (1725 – 1778)
Daughter of Martha
Sarah Hirons (1751 – 1817)
Daughter of Grace
John Nimrod Taylor (1770 – 1816)
Son of Sarah
John Samuel Taylor (1798 – 1873)
Son of John Nimrod
William Ellison Taylor (1839 – 1918)
Son of John Samuel
George Harvey Taylor (1884 – 1941)
Son of William Ellison
Ruby Lee Taylor (1922 – 2008)
Daughter of George Harvey
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Ruby Lee

Here is one account of the story of Margaret Diguina and her tribe:

“Gordon B. Hinckley, Shoulder for the Lord” by George M. McCune page 35- ” Two of the early immigrants to Plymouth colony were Gabriel Wheldon, of Arnold, Nottingham, England, and his brother (name unknown). Gabriel had been married in England before sailing to America but his first wife named Margaret evidently was deceased at the time of his migration.

Both brothers had a free spirit much like Stephen Hopkins and found their way to the camps of the Wampanoags. There they both fell in love with two of the daughters of Chief Quadequina, younger brother of the Great Chief. They each married and Gabriel gave his second wife the English name ‘Margaret’ after his first spouse. The two counseled with their father-in-law and his older brother Massasoit regarding what to do. The Plymouth Colony would probably punish them for their intermarriage. Massasoit advised them to return to the colony and all would be well.

The Plymouth Colony tribunals saved face by banishing the couples from Plymouth for life but did not send them back to England. Gabriel and Margaret established their home in Barnstable where the Hinckleys came in late 1630’s and here Gabriel and Margaret raised a large family of girls.

One of those girls was Ruth Wheldon.  This is a score!!

Christmas Dog Party

December 26, 2012 — 3 Comments

When we arrived for our Christmas party for two at the Lodge on the Desert we were greeted by a festive group of dogs and their owners who clearly came to be of good cheer. These jolly folks gather to eat outside at the Lodge on the Desert because the canine companions are welcome to join in the fun. The Retriever in the fancy dress was given an order of scrambled eggs, which we were able to observe from our seats just inside the doggie patio. A rip-roaring good time was had by all. We are more than pleased to have chosen Lodge on the Desert as our restaurant of the year for 2013. We don’t go out to eat very often, and look for a superior quality that sets a place apart from the rest. Tucson’s reigning Iron Chef is on the job there, and was willing to adapt for my vegetarian requests. He was personally riding the range on Christmas, and waved to us at our table as he walked across the patio. Our food was superb, as was the service. I will detail the gourmet delights for you at another time. For now, if you love your dog and want to party, this is my highest recommendation. My coon hound Artemisia was none the wiser that her parents celebrated Christmas dinner at a dog restaurant without her. I will appreciate it, gentle readers, if you keep this as our little secret. She howls at other dogs, and at food, therefore would be too loud and rowdy at a food centered event. We do love to see quiet well-behaved dogs enjoy the restaurant privileges the Euro dogs take for granted. I believe this hotel, with a recent remodel that has brought back the charm, will build a reputation for hospitality and gourmet dining among the human and the canine connoisseurs of elegance and good taste.

Hermes and the Underworld

December 24, 2012 — 3 Comments

Hermes guides souls to the Underworld

Hermes guides souls to the Underworld

Zues has a son able to enter and leave underworld unharmed. His name is Hermes. He carries a staff with two snakes signifying his role in commerce and negotiation. The Caduceus with two snakes and wings is used by the AMA today as a symbol of medicine. It is a very apt symbol for the medical professionals tied to drug company profits. They used to get into the Hippocratic oath by swearing to Aesclepius that they would would first do no harm. Now they borrow the winged staff of Mercury and make a deal with pharmaceutical companies to produce as many ills as there are pills.

What harm could this little mix up do? If they forgot the meaning of the the symbol for medicine and both the healing and the negotiating staffs have snakes, what is the big deal? A snake is a snake, right? When they lurk in the tall grass of Medicare and Medicaid those snakes can and do major damage putting profit before wellness. Maybe we don’t have to be concerned that they no longer understand Latin. We are probably better off seeing only an assistant rather than the Wizard of Oz himself when we go to a doctor’s office. It costs significantly more to be harmed by a real doc, whose harm comes at a premium price. The intent from the get go is warped, so we are diagnosed at warp speed and matched with one or more drugs, faster than you can say Jack’s you’re uncle. They thought “Primum non nocerum. (First do no harm)” meant first push drugs. Hippocrates would plotz. They are an insult to Hermes as well. He protects shepherds, smugglers and thieves with cunning.

Hermes and Appollo's staff

Hermes negotiates for staff

As Above, so Below-the Border

December 24, 2012 — 1 Comment

How irresistible is untaxed profit?  So magnetic that a Border Patrol agent just was stupid enough to load a large shipment of dirt weed into to his migramobile for transport right next to the border recently.  I live in Tucson, in the slipstream of untaxed profit provided by the border. It feels to me like the economy that transpires outside the law, under the table, is much greater than legal business in my state. We are so damn fast, furious, heavily armed, and racist that anything can and does happen.  South of the border, down Mexico way, kingpins of crime created  a much stronger economy than the local legal economy. They now have their own saint which is a sure sign that they are in control. The border itself offers them the risk reward system of illegal commerce that increases their power and wealth. Sure, they have guns (supplied by us), but they only enforce their special jurisdiction with guns. If they had no economy based on smuggling they would have no power in Mexico or the US, thus no need for a saint.

  • The closer to the border, the higher the risk/reward.
  • The closer to the border, the more violent the scene
  • The closer to the border, the higher the pay for crime
  • The closer to the border, the higher the bribes

At the border everything is exponentially magnified and all the cops are criminals, all the sinners saints.  Stakes are high and the dominant criminal precedent has been set in place forever.  Smuggling pays well, and pays law enforcement the highest salaries, one would imagine.  The fence that was built to solve our bizzillion border issues has magnetized them.  The pay is now higher to break laws at the border, and the violence much greater.  Every pendejo who loves lawlessness is attracted to the Arizona/Sonora border. Why?  It is simple.  The pinche-punk criminals flock to both sides of the border because the border itself is pura pendejada.  The migra doesn’t even have a saint. How pathetic is that?

What Would My Ancestors Do?

December 23, 2012 — 1 Comment

Sears Cemetery

Sears Cemetery, Barnstable

You do not need to hold a seance to contact the spirits of the dead. You can use a few facts, or many facts if you have them, to query your ancestors. These are not fictional characters of history, but your DNA connection to the past. The novels you have read in your life can not possibly match the drama of the story of your particular historical survival.  Your ancestors handed down to you an ethical will.  Those who left no written document have nonetheless passed values to the future, with less precision. You are now actively creating the history and the ethics you want to survive in the world.

I started to study my ancestry to learn about the ethical will of my people, whoever they were.  My mother had never described her family in any racial terms.  I was taught that the Taylors were, in no uncertain terms, Confederate Rebels.  My mother, Ruby Taylor’s very large family all lived in Texas.  They were involved in religion to a much greater degree than our family living in Pittsburgh. The went to church at least three times a week, including Wednesday.  They did a bit of holy rolling and other practices foreign to me. Indeed, my great grandfather Taylor fought in the civil war and received a Confederate pension in Texas in his old age.  He was a farmer and preacher in the Church of Christ.  This story was the known history of the  Taylor tribe, and even this information was never retold to the Taylors of the 1960’s.

What nobody knew at the Taylor family reunion in Houston on the 4th of July each year in the 1960’s was that our Taylor forefather and his wife’s uncle had been burned at the stake as Protestant martyrs in England.  Now that is what I call a Rebel.  The roots of each family feed the ethical expression (also known as fruit) of the family spirit.  The tongue speaking, chicken frying Taylors of Humble/Houston all shared a particular extreme view of the Bible that freaked me out when I was young. The Pentecostal experience, when I was exposed to it, frightened me.   Now that I know about the stake burning it all makes perfect sense.

My forefathers and mothers in the grave yard pictured above lived in Holland, then sailed to Plymouth to build a shining city on a hill, creating a strong, complex ethical will.  They  had a lot to say about the way they thought all cosmology worked in harmony with government.  They had strong convictions by which they lived and died.  Now that I know more about the lives of these elders in my tribe I have a greater responsibility.  I can no longer look at Thanksgiving as a bunch of stuffing.  I need to discover the meaning of  the Puritan Ethic they created. The values they held are more significant than the physical goods they once owned in old Cape Cod.

On the surface they all seem to use the Bible as an excuse for their own human folly.  Just under the surface is the fact that humans have always indulged in folly to learn the folly of our ways.  What did they learn?  How can we acquire wisdom from their knowledge?

Drugs, Guns, and Risk

December 22, 2012 — 2 Comments

If Mr. McMurphy doesn’t want to take his medication orally, I’m sure we can arrange that he can have it some other way. But I don’t think that he would like it.-Nurse Ratched

The shadow America does not want to face is our mental health system.  Mental health treatment has been a barbaric system of emergency drug administration with no hope for cure.  My parents could afford the best available when they needed help in their last years.  The problem was finding any ethical and effective treatment for them.  Everyone was ready to charge big bucks, but nobody had any real therapy (or even care) for the patient.  They had unlimited access to all drugs, but no access to careful diagnosis or medical ethics.  When I volunteered for the VA my Vet was long-term suicidal, and there was no available help for him either.  I am sure there are some quality programs somewhere, but before going out and spending twice as much money  giving people twice as many drugs, why not evaluate the efficacy of the treatments used now? I am going out on a limb and say our neighborhood system of mental health treatment is damaging to all concerned.  Random pharmaceutical drug use is not healthy, mentally or physically.

In my neighborhood, here in central Tucson, where you can virtually buy drugs in the middle of the street and there is probably  a weapons concierge who will bring a selection of guns to your house for purchase, a 6-year-old was found with a loaded gun in has backpack at school.  His dad was arrested for an old felony charge so the kid who said he did not know how the gun got into his backpack is now probably a foster kid while his father serves time.  This is the reality for the youth here, and they may or may not know how the gun got there, but they know it will not be the last gun they will see.  This deep, sociological, complex problem will be resolved by government programs with an arsenal of pills.  Is that, in any way, believable?

We also have a very large mental health center available to the public and funded by Medicare.  It is close to a public bus stop with a convenience store on the corner.  People from all over the city can come, buy enough alcohol to be over the limit, and be admitted for the night to the mental health clinic.  If they are not at the limit, they simply walk back to the store and buy another pint of liquor. They will be given prescription drugs as a result of the entry to the clinic which they can sell right there in my neighborhood.  The clinic is supposed to make sure that the patients leave the area, but of course there is no way to enforce that rule.  So the patients are released to repeat the cycle.  Spending twice as much money on this will create at least twice the  insanity and grow creepy petty crime around here.  It is a risk to continue to pretend we are treating mental illness or Vet suicide.  Money spent on this denial while asking for more funding is running from the reality that systems profit from status quo, and not from change.  We need fundamental change, comprehensive.  Stopping the madness will involve stopping the flow of drugs as a substitute for therapy.  This is a war on drugs worth fighting and well within our power.