I found a post on FB that summarizes very succinctly what @Vestralux and I were trying to say about the post from @Ana regarding the protests:
An example of a statement grounded in white privilege:
"It's horrible that an innocent black man was killed, but the property damage has to stop."
What it SHOULD say:
"It's horrible that property is being damaged, but the killing of innocent black people has to stop."
Check your privilege and your priorities.
My sympathy at the loss of your cousin. Sending you and your family some white light now! ? ?Â
Good news: A Minneapolis school asked for food donations and the results were overwhelming. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/06/02/minneapolis-school-asked-people-donate-food-students-after-looting-closed-stores-miles-cars-lined-up/
Back in the 70's I worked with a black man at a small plant. He good natured, and funny, even outside work. A good guy. I left that job and didn't hear anymore about him, until I heard the cops had beat him to death outside of town. That still bothers me. What had happened to have him killed. I have a deep distrust in police, and I'm not black. I might look a little indian, but that's not the same.
@suspira44 I’m so sorry for the loss of your family members.  Devastating times are upon us.  Sending you love, peace and prayers that your heart be filled with calm and comfort.  Bless you and yours. ❤️??☮️
@laura-f, I just read that those troops are stationed at both Andrews AFB in Maryland and Fort Belvoir in Virginia.  Also additional 82nd Airborne battalions are on standby at Fort Bragg in NC.  Two soldiers anonymously reported receiving orders that they would not need the bayonets. The AP was speculating it’s a result of public outcry on social media, but who knows. There's gotta be a few saner minds out there.
T. is so horrendous that yesterday I forgot we are in the middle of a pandemic! I’m grateful for tonight’s meditation. Right now I can’t seem to settle down as well on my own.
@laura-f, how is your migraine this morning? Take care of yourself, cookie.Â
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Morning, all. Still pretty wobbly this morning but not as severe. Regarding the "disturbance in the force," (love that!), wasn't the SC supposed to rule on T's taxes early June?
Thanks for asking about my migraine, deetoo. ?Â
Seriously, I hate being in bed during the day. I get a sore back and I hate feeling/knowing that I haven't gotten anything done. Dogs are staring at me too, like what's going on?
@polarberry, Doh! (I'm making a Homer Simpson face right now, since I couldn't find the proper emoji ...) I'm sorry!  I am glad to hear that your headache isn't as severe today.  I pray that it passes soon for you.
The last thing I'd heard about T's taxes was the decision coming sometime this summer. Â
I had to laugh about your dogs. One day when I was walking our dog, Gracie, I tripped on our front stoop, fell down and hit my head on our glass storm door. The fall almost knocked me out, my head immediately swelled up like a balloon, huge gash and lots of blood. I got up and as I rushed inside my house to attend to my head, Gracie pulled me in the opposite direction, towards the kitchen door. She wanted me to let her out so she could chase squirrels and play. Gracie was no Lassie! But I miss her to this day.
Better today - also still "wobbly" - there's like a hangover... I have to remember to taper down my meds today so it doesn't rebound...
Everyone else - sorry for our migraine tangent! Back to your regular programming!
I too suffer from migraines. I usually have at least 2 to 3 migraines a week even more now since the temperature is up and between that after a migraine the next day your exhausted and then I have small headaches.
I have tried almost everything. Botox, physical therapy (caused more pain and migraines) Amovig and many medications. I also had a PFO closure. It corrects a wall defect. I was actually part of a study that a cardiologist from NY Presbyterian Hospital. He said that dirty blood passes through your brain and causes the headaches. I had the trial and I failed. I still have the closure but nothing improved. I know someone who had it done and she had less headaches. I don’t know if you heard of this?Â
@deetoo.I get two things: (1) I keep hearing in my mind that Trump will not leave office no matter what the election outcome is. Â I hear it often now in my mind, the way I heard that the crash was coming in 2020, louder and louder as the time approached. Â
The Republican leadership are in on it, and Putin is privy to the plan and is guiding Trump the whole way. Â
(2) What would explode?  I feel Trump is itching for a  violent military response to protestors that ends in mass civilian casualties.  A kind of Tiananmen Square massacre, a Boston Massacre, a Kent State massacre of students is the first thought I have.
Waking this morning to more reports of senseless murder and destruction, I am sick at heart.
An old friend says [removed content] that to disperse a deep shadow, one must illuminate it from the four directions. He is also a great admirer of HH Dalai Lama,as I am.
I am impressed by the parallels of our current strife here in the USA and those of some of the most oppressed peoples in the world, the Tibetans.
For your consideration :
"Human Rights in Tibet" (freetibet.org source)
"The Dalai Lama Blames George Floyd's Death On Racism During Virtual Talk On Compassion".      (CNN news source)
This from HH the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, now surviving in exile in Nepal :
"There is a saying in Tibetan, ' Hard times build determination and inner strength.'Â
Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destruction, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.
Never give up. No matter what is going on.Never give up. Develop the heart. Too much energy in your country is spent developing the mind instead of the heart.Â
Be compassionate, not just to your friends but to everyone. Be compassionate. Work for peace in your heart. And in the world, work for peace.
And I say again, never give up. No matter what is going on around you. "
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If course if he loses he will contest it. He needs to be in power he knows what is awaiting him when he leaves his cocoon of protection.
If he does this, I am most assured this will happen, there will be civil unrest. At a scale we have not seen yet. How will he get removed?Â
@jeanne-mayell, I agree that he won't leave office (Bill Maher has been saying that ever since T got into office). I don't know what that will look like or what can be done, since we've never encountered this before.  I hope that behind the scenes Ds are seriously looking at this. I agree with @jessi1978 that there will be civil unrest if that occurs.  I also agree that the R leadership are in on it. And didn't @triciact post that T had a recent conversation with Puty? I'm sure T and his band of thieves are communicating with P. on a regular basis. Â
I agree that he wants a violent military response to the protestors. He wants them GONE. I'm not sensing that will happen -- just that he wants it badly. It feels like a forewarning. Maybe that's why I ended my night with a sense of peace, i.e. whatever explosion I was sensing wasn't inevitable?  Â
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@jeanne-mayell Trump may use the protests to his advantage. However, something or a group will stop him. However, I feel that Biden will still win. What can we expect in the coming months until the election?
Three former Minneapolis police officers will be criminally charged Wednesday in connection with the death of George Floyd, Sen. Amy Klobuchar wrote in a post on Twitter.
But a local newspaper, the Star Tribune, earlier said the trio will be charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, citing sources.Â
Derek Chauvin, who had already been charged with third-degree murder in the case, will now be charged with second-degree murder, the Minnesota Democrat wrote.
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I am strangely calm about this. He is petrified about losing the election because he knows indictments and prison await him and his circle. But I am overwhelmed with a strong feeling that the coming blue wave will make it impossible for him and the GOP to cry voter fraud, or anything else they've got in the works. If he won't leave he will be removed (I believe the Secret Service would do that) The majority of Americans are not taking kindly to his blatant dictatorial moves that he isn't even trying to conceal anymore.
@deetoo.I get two things: (1) I keep hearing in my mind that Trump will not leave office no matter what the election outcome is. Â I hear it often now in my mind, the way I heard that the crash was coming in 2020, louder and louder as the time approached. Â
The Republican leadership are in on it, and Putin is privy to the plan and is guiding Trump the whole way. Â
(2) What would explode?  I feel Trump is itching for a  violent military response to protestors that ends in mass civilian casualties.  A kind of Tiananmen Square massacre, a Boston Massacre, a Kent State massacre of students is the first thought I have.
I couldn't bring myself to click "like" for this post because this possibility is such a horror, and I very much think you are right on the mark. You warned years ago about your Mussolini-esque visions of fascism and we are seeing it now clearly.
I've been getting the CSNY song "Ohio" in my mind as well. When I was 16, I fell in love with the hippie movement and for years I wished I had been born earlier to come of age in the late sixties. (I was born in '72.) Now I understand that was an incredibly WHITE thing to think. I've since seen films about the civil rights movement, the dogs and fire hoses on the children of Birmingham, the brutal beatings on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and more. It certainly wasn't all Woodstock and protesters placing flowers in gun barrels. And yes, four dead in Ohio. Soldiers are again cutting us down.
Last night the national guard was brought into my city, which started a curfew between 8pm and 6am. Protests here have been mostly peaceful, but after HOURS of peace, toward midnight videos show white agitators throwing fireworks and water bottles at the police, and then the police in turn deploy tear-gas and flash grenades. Monday morning there was graffiti and smashed windows through much of downtown, hence the implementation of the curfew. Evidence suggests that these acts were committed by white people--the same pattern we've seen in videos of protests in other cities, where black-clad, gear-laden white folks are vandalizing property against the wishes of actual protestors. Right at 8pm as the curfew began last night, the police destroyed a medic station, pushing medical volunteers (a doctor and a couple EMTs) to the ground quite roughly and smashing and stabbing their supplies, including a large amount of bottled water. These folks had permission from the city to be there; they spoke with the police before the protest and explained the whole situation. I shared a video testimonial from one of these medics and facebook or someone deleted it. I fear there's an effort to downplay the evidence of police-instigated violence to control the narrative.
Coming from a working class background, I wanted to give the police the benefit of the doubt. But there are so many reports of fascist, violent behavior all over the country, I just can't. I won't even share links because the videos are so upsetting, but the violence of law enforcement and our criminal justice system is on display to the world right now. We need substantial reform or even better, to build something new from the ground-up that truly serves the community and EVERYONE in it. I've been writing to my local government, but they haven't responded. This is a liberal city, but one that depends on tourism, so they are vested in maintaining a positive image, and I fear they will attend to public relations more than real solutions.
But I want to end on a positive note--looking toward the "turning" of our visions. I see many examples of mutual aid. People came out to volunteer together to clean up the graffiti. People are donating money and supplies to support others in our community. More & more people are waking up to the profound structural inequities of our society. When the vandalism started in the wee hours Sunday night/Monday morning, people stood together to shield local businesses. Heck, even Lowes donated supplies so businesses could board up to prepare for another night. I pray that what's rotten will continue to decay and we will see a better world grow and bloom.