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A dialogue on protest, sharing and justice
As the economic crisis worsens, the foremost responsibility of governments is to redesign our political and economic systems so that no-one dies of hunger. But this will never happen without an unparalleled uprising of public support, writes Mohammed Sofiane Mesbahi.
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All the commentary from expert analysts about the melting financial system is almost useless to understand what is really happening in the world today. Countless articles are written about how to fix the economy and restore growth to the system, but they are only relevant to a system that was never sustainable and is now coming to an end. What we call the 'system' has become so complicated that it appears to have a life of its own, and not even the most sophisticated banker understands what is going on anymore. Few economists speak in terms that mean anything to the ordinary person who is struggling to find or keep a job, make ends meet and provide for their family. The disconnection between the worlds of powerful politicians in their private meetings, and the everyday lives of the people they are called to serve is more apparent than ever before. But at the same time, something profoundly new is happening throughout the world that requires a much simpler way of looking at things if we are to comprehend what it means.
The protests taking place in almost every country are a magnificent sight, but it is important to recognise that every one of us who participates in protests against 'the system' is also implicated in the mess created by bankers and politicians. Without exception, we are all part of the system. Unless we recognise that society is an extension of ourselves then the final result could be tremendous chaos and violence if the economic situation continues to worsen, while the political parties of left and right fail to provide an answer to increasing social problems and inequalities. The system is made up of ordinary people like you and me, of men and women with families and children, which is why it is imperative not to attack 'the system' when this would be tantamount to going against each other.
In modern history many governments have tried, with good intentions, to completely change the system. This change was always imposed on the basis of a political ideology, but the time has come when ideologies are not needed any more. There was nothing inherently wrong with the principles underlying capitalism, socialism and communism, but governments abused these principles with an imposing, violent and arrogant attitude towards their people in the name of a belief. Today, more and more people are becoming conscious of the need to be free from these political 'isms' that have caused so much suffering and conflict throughout the world. More than a decade after the Millennium it would appear inane to call oneself a communist, a socialist or a capitalist, or to believe that freedom can be acquired through wearing a uniform - in other words, that we can destroy one ideology by replacing it with another.
Witnessing the uprisings and demonstrations that are now taking place, we could say in a literal sense that people are becoming more aware. Without any condescension, this is one way to put it - that many more people have started to think for themselves, and are no longer relying upon what other people tell them to think, are no longer 'believing in a belief'. Our education systems do not help us to understand that ideologies are a denial of human freedom, they do not teach us what it means to be free within, but today people are realising this intuitively for themselves. Hence all the changes that are happening so dramatically across the world.
Please observe the so-called Arab Spring; millions of people courageously freed themselves from dictators who had imposed beliefs and ideologies on their people for decades, but now that the revolution has unfolded many different factions are trying to impose all manner of new beliefs upon each other. In Egypt, the army quickly tried to rebuild the old system based on power and privilege even when a million people again took to the streets. In Zucotti Park and at St Paul's, as in any mass protest movement, you also have many intellectual factions with different beliefs all combating for attention within the crowd. Let us not be fooled. Democracy is closely related to freedom, but the kind of democracies we have today are an imposed and controlling form of social organisation. We will only know the true meaning of democracy when each and every one of us experiences the freedom that comes from within, and not before. As any protester knows, it is not enough to vote for a political party once every few years when no politician has an answer to our social and economic problems.
The cry for justice
As we stand with the new movement of protestors, we must look closely at what it means when we cry for justice. There are many stories now being reported about the accumulating wealth of the richest people in the midst of economic austerity, which of course leads to rightful anger against bankers and the unbridled greed that has been sanctified in modern-day society. But which is the greater sin: the banker's bonus, or the fact that thousands of people are dying from hunger each day in a world of plenty? The global economy is sinking and so the people's voice is rising, but why are there no demonstrations in our city squares when people are dying from hunger?
It is because we do not see the interconnection between our different lives. We have not been educated to see the very poorest people as our brothers and sisters, or to see the world as a whole. A child is not taught how to be in touch with himself, with his own nature, but is rather conditioned in how to become a 'somebody' in a dysfunctional society based on competition and stress. In universities we may study many books about the history of human civilization, philosophy, politics, the arts and so forth, but we are not taught in the simplest human terms how to serve other people. The consequence, in a global and collective sense, is that we do not understand that we are one humanity, that we are all dependent upon each other, and that we have a responsibility to care for those less fortunate than ourselves.
The protests erupting in Wall Street and elsewhere could have happened a long, long time ago. So why now, all of a sudden? Because millions of people in the affluent countries are beginning to feel the pinch. Even when we cannot pay our mortgages, however unjust the circumstances, why don't we think about those who are poorer than ourselves? There are many different levels of poverty, and as we know in the USA and other rich countries there are an extraordinary number of people living in relative poverty, but how about the kind of poverty when you cannot find enough food to eat, or for your children to eat? When you do not have shelter, or money, or even the most basic form of healthcare to prevent you from dying? We are all familiar with the phrase a 'crime against humanity', but why doesn't the international community ascribe this phrase to the thousands of people dying from hunger each day, or to the 1.4 billion people that the World Bank cursorily describes as the extreme poor?
Now that the economic system is collapsing every nation has to begin to restructure itself, and we can all play a part in this process. But we have to understand that this begins with ending hunger. We cannot even look at the word injustice without first looking at the problem of hunger. It is as if we have bought a new home, but first we must clean up the mess left by the old tenants. That mess is the problem of hunger. We cannot go out into the world and campaign for justice for ourselves when our own children are waiting at home, abandoned by us and hungry. The world is in a state of disrepair and requires a dramatic process of rehabilitation, but first we have to look after our own children, who are the hungry people of the world.
After 9-11 happened, a huge army was sent to Iraq over land and sea and air within a month. Notwithstanding the terrible consequences of that illegal war, just imagine if all that manpower and expertise was redirected to giving life, not taking life away. Imagine if the world's military resources was mobilised to eradicate hunger as a foremost priority - above hegemony, defence or corporate profit. Recently, NATO sent hundreds of millions of dollars effectively flying through the air to stop Gadaffi from massacring his own people. Whether or not we agree that this was a necessary action, there is another question we should ask: why doesn't NATO send all their planes and armies into Africa to help feed the people? Many more people in Benghazi may have died without outside intervention, but at the same time thousands of people were dying from hunger and poverty in other parts of the world, and continue to die each day. Why doesn't NATO prevent Al-Shabab from diverting aid away from the Somalian people? We all know the answer: because there is no strategic or economic interest for them there. But this is not a cause that gets people to protest en masse in the streets, demanding an answer from our governments: 'why don't we help the hungry millions?'
Even the Church has failed in its duty to shake the world's conscience about the blasphemy of hunger, despite there being no cardinal rule to prevent the clergy from demonstrating in our city squares for freedom from want. When protesters camped outside St Paul's Cathedral in London, many banners posed the question 'What would Jesus do?' We might wonder how the Church would respond if Christ was to reappear today as a 'divine activist' moving among the mass rallies for freedom and justice across the world. Unfortunately, when we label the very few people who attempt to do the right thing for the world as 'activists', we infer that an activist is somehow different and set apart from the ordinary citizen. The media and advertising industry encourage us to adopt such labels, which enable us to separate our social identities and not feel connected to the suffering and vast inequity that plagues the earth. It is these same divisions in our consciousness that allow us to say: 'there has always been hunger, and always will be'. Or to nod our head at the warnings of environmentalists, and then to say: 'but it is naive to believe that we can change the world'. In this sense, the word activist really means 'the one whom nobody listens to'.
An understanding of justice also requires awareness, which means to see things clearly, to think for oneself, to not have a belief in a belief. Now that the old order is collapsing and no government knows what to do, we can no longer point the finger at our politicians alone. That finger must also be pointed towards ourselves. We like to say 'it's the fault of my government', but is it really the government or our own lack of action, our own lack of concern, our own complacency? As we have seen in the Middle East, when two million people stand in the street and peacefully shake their fists then the government has no choice but to listen or leave office.
Emergency redistribution
Let us try and understand, in the simplest terms, what this means for the economist and the politician. Now that it is obvious that our economic, social and political systems need to be totally restructured, the correct responsibility of governments is to redesign these systems specifically so that no-one dies of hunger. In the first instance, this requires international cooperation for an emergency program of redistribution unlike anything we have seen before. Such a program cannot be based on charity, which has absolutely nothing to do with justice. Charity is of course venerable in the kind of world we have today in which billions of people are suffering in poverty, but the necessity of charity is a sad representation of public complacency. An emergency program cannot be based on the existing premise of 'let's do our best to feed the starving people', but must rather be initiated on the basis of 'this should never happen again'.
There is plenty of food and resources to feed, clothe, house and care for everyone in the world, as long stipulated as a human right in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration. This Article must become the law for every nation, which is the expression of justice in its strictest sense. Just as there are laws to obey when a country joins the European Community, the articles of the United Nations must obligate member states to collectively ensure that no person ever dies from hunger in any country. Article 25 must be translated into the rule of law, backed up by the force of public opinion around the world. The voice of the people should be heard and represented in the United Nations - that is what the United Nations is for. It should come to represent the heart and minds of all the people. This will inevitably take a long time, and each nation should continue to grow within its own traditions. But as a very first step, enlightened politicians and the public should voice their demand for an emergency redistribution program to be initiated under the aegis of the United Nations, which should become the most important work that the United Nations has ever undertaken.
The logistical details of such a program will be a formidable challenge for governments to negotiate and plan, but there can be no gainsaying its broad mandate. Again and again we see humanitarian emergencies with the same old story, as in Turkey's earthquake recently or the floods in Thailand: not enough resources, not enough support, not enough aid to go around. Even in the richest country with the largest military, people in New Orleans were left to fend for themselves in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, calling out to the world 'Where's President Bush?' When we want to protect our own interests or go to war, everything happens so quickly - we have all the equipment, all the weapons, all the manpower, all the money. But when it comes to the suffering of poor people, all of a sudden money is non-existent. This is the trend that must be reversed. This is why the prevention of human deprivation, whatever its cause - poverty, conflict or natural disaster - must be guaranteed by an international authority. Think of it like a worldwide emergency services, funded by contributions from every nation. We should not even consider this to be a 'humanitarian' operation, which has connotations too similar to charity: such programs should be structured into our reformed political and economic institutions and enshrined in international law.
None of this will happen without an unparalleled uprising of public support. A solution to the world's problems cannot be brought about by any political party or ideology, and can only happen through a free, united and single voice of the people of the world. Ideologies and belief systems have no further part to play in the changes that lie ahead. A healthy revolution in fact begins with the act of wanting to be free of all 'isms' and ideologies that constantly harass human free will and prevent us from demonstrating love between people of every race and culture. To be free from beliefs and ideologies will naturally allow our minds the space to know ourselves, which in turn will give us the ability, the energy and the love to identify ourselves with others.
The principle of sharing
But it is futile to become 'anti' any belief or ideology, such as to go against capitalism; it is time to put capitalism in its right place and redistribute the world's resources to where they are needed most. Capitalism came very naturally to us - it is natural to say 'this is yours, and this is mine', but the time is coming when we must say 'let us share what we have'. Sharing means 'to be with', because we cannot share with another person without silently acknowledging that we are together, that we are here to help one another, hence the principle of sharing has the ability to unite and not divide.
The beauty of sharing is that it does not belong to any political party or 'ism', but to the people of the world. It doesn't belong to the socialist party, or the communists, or anyone else. It is the freeing agent from a painful history of ideologies and beliefs that have caused such tremendous conflicts with each other. When we understand that the principle of sharing is fundamental to our survival but tragically neglected at every level of society, we will recognise that sharing is the surest guide to justice and peace. Then we will each know ourselves as an ambassador of humanity, for above all nations is the united people of the world.
What could this mean for the people protesting in New York and every other city? The protest movements well know that we need to redistribute wealth, that we need to stop money from going through the wrong hands - to the arms industry in particular. Whichever way you look at it, war must come to an end. Nobody wants war any more - or rather, nobody can afford to go to war anymore as the world economy continues to melt and collapse. The protest movements also well know that there is more than enough money to go around, but it is hoarded by powerful families and corporations, even by the governments who spend it injudiciously. So each nation has to redistribute its wealth and resources among its own people.
But we also need to redistribute resources globally, initially on the basis of an emergency to all people without the basic necessities of life, and eventually through new international economic arrangements no longer based on competition and material gain. This requires visionary thinking and a new kind of economist, and it may take many years to restructure our international governance systems. Through the sharing of world resources, laws will have to change by the shovel; everything will need to be simplified. This is why we should not waste our time listening to the advice of the orthodox economist or politician, as their theories are outdated and irrelevant to the coming era. When the principle of sharing begins to influence government policy, the present economic system will naturally fade away. Both cannot coexist for one is divisive in its complexity and the other is unifying in its simplicity.
No one is immune from the changes that lie ahead, so let us not work against the system, but together let's change it. This requires an attitude of confidence that we can change the system, that a better world is possible. And this requires awareness, and togetherness, and more and more perseverance - especially perseverance. As we have seen, governments instinctively abhor any uprising of the people because soon their power is in jeopardy, so their tactic through the police is to discourage even the most peaceful form of protest. So we have to carry on and on, otherwise change is impossible.
We are already becoming a powerful force, structuring ourselves and becoming organised into one voice. Every demonstration around the world should express, in its own creative way, a refusal to carry on living as before. But we cannot change the world without first looking after the most vulnerable people, which means that we have to demand from our governments an immediate end to hunger, everywhere. A true social revolution has to have morality at its heart, which is why an end to life-threatening deprivation in every country must become our first priority. The key is for everyone to raise their voice for greater economic sharing, and to continually push the boundaries of our demands until governments implement this unifying principle into world affairs. Now is the time, as it always has been.
Mohammed Sofiane Mesbahi is STWR's founder.
Editorial assistance: Adam Parsons.
Image credit: geralt [2], pixabay

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The Lord Watches over His Word
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Jeremiah the Weeping Prophet
Jeremiah 1:1–8 has much to say to us theologically. First, that God formed Jeremiah in the womb affirms that human beings are made in the Lord's image from the earliest stages of development and worthy of protection from conception onward. ...Read More
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In the church today, we are seeing a renewed emphasis on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, much of this emphasis is not on His work in creation and redemption to bring order out of chaos. Wherever ...Read More
God Judges the Nations
Under the fuller revelation of the new covenant, the idea of God as our stronghold is seen more clearly. The Lord protects us from His final wrath by clothing us in the perfect righteousness of Christ, which means He can ...Read More
Joel and the Locust Invasion
The Lord is not presently speaking in such a way as to tell us the reasons for every disaster; thus, we cannot with certainty identify any natural disaster today as His direct judgment on sin. Yet Scripture says natural disasters ...Read More
The Lord's Answer to Habakkuk
God's answer to Habakkuk reminds us of the limitations of our perspective. To us, it sometimes seems as if the wicked will prosper forever. However, since the Lord uses even the wicked to achieve His purposes, one day they will ...Read More
The Word of the Lord through Micah
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They Want You
Here's something to try: spend the next day actually noticing every ad that features a photo of someone looking at you. Magazine ads, bus station posters, billboards: all these. Now think about what kind of situation you'd have to be in for this person to be looking at you like that in real life.
If where you live is anything like where I live, you'll find that for a very high number of these, the situation would have to be one of:
- They want to have sex with you
- You just told them the funniest joke in the world ever
- You just told them the funniest joke in the world ever and now they want to have sex with you
This is an entertaining exercise not just because it's amusing to think about Kate Moss wanting your body, but also because it reminds you how far the arms race between advertising agencies and your brain's perceptual filters has advanced. The more ads there are, and the more they try to get our attention, the better we get at not noticing them, so marketers have to continually up the ante. Apparently we're now in a state where most ads are full of people looking at us in a way that would heat us up down to our toes if it happened in real life, and we don't think anything of it.


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Rethinking BJP 5
Three months back Pritish Nandy wrote a hard hitting article " The irrelevance of BJP" lamenting on its state of affairs with a view to bring it out of its stupor. On the other hand Rajesh Jain, India's numero uno digital entrepreneur and also a leading light of the 'Friends of BJP' has long maintained that it would be too much for us to expect the rise of another National Party in our lifetime, so we are stuck with the choice between the two mainstream political parties – Congress and BJP. Both got me thinking on what would it take to revive BJP. BJP after all is not just a Hindu nationalist party of right leaning individuals. Its our only hope for creating a bipolar polity in out country. It is almost 30 years old (if we disregard its previous avatar of 'Janasangh'), yet it has just managed to cross the Vindhyas to form a government in Karnataka. There are still many regions and states where it does not have a presence and several others where it had a dominant position earlier, but is now in decline. Hoping another new, emergent party to match the national presence of Congress might be nothing short of asking for a miracle.
That BJP is in shambles, there is no doubt. Loosing two elections in a row seem to have brought it down to its knees and exposed all the chinks in its armour. From being a party of youthful leaders most of its youthful leaders have shown themselves to be made of clay. They specialise in bringing down each other while giving a walkover to the ruling party. It has miserably failed to be an effective opposition even though they have been handed price rise as an issue on the platter.
Its time, BJP rethinks its vision as a party right of centre that aspires to dominate Indian Politics as one of the two major national parties. While its roots and ascendancy did lie in being a pro-Hindu, anti-Muslim party, going further it may need to do a rethink. In a country where a large majority (almost 90%) of politicians are all hindus, being pro-Hindu does not count for much. Whatever boost it got from the Ayodhya issue can hardly ever be replicated again,as people tend to quickly return to their normal state after the aberrations of agitations like L. K. Advani's Rath Yatra subside. As for being anti-Muslim, they needs to do a dispassionate analysis of the baggage that it brings and its advantages, if any. It may have helped them consolidate their position in Gujarat to successfully ward off the challenge from Congress in successive elections. But while they won the battle in Gujarat, they lost the war of India. From Trinamool Congress to Biju Janata Dal, they lost critical allies as a result of their stance on Gujarat issue. Even now, this issue remains the sore point with their only remaining major ally, Janata Dal United (JDU) in Bihar. Its longest standing pro-Hindu ally, Shiv Sena on the other hand is turning more and more into a liability rather than an asset. In the process, BJP has failed even to become the epicenter of the non-Congress, non-left opposition. The biggest worry for BJP should be that even in opposition, anti-BJP-ism is a bigger draw than anti-Congress-ism. For those who think that Gujarat can be replicated in India, they need to draw lessons from the Communist plight in West Bengal. Indoctrination such as Gujarat or West Bengal, only has a limited shelf life and can never be replicated nationally. Every party can have a set of moderates and hawks, however its important to reign in the hawks or they will eat up the party itself.
In its desperation to play the Hindu card BJP might have failed to notice another virtue within its fold – its track of 'Good Governance' . Most BJP governments have provided clean and efficient governance. Even in states where its government was ousted due to defections such as Goa and Jharkhand, its earlier performance is remembered fondly. So too in coalition governments, the BJP ministers normally come out in flying colours. It was also the first one to use BSP – Bijlee, Sadak, Panee (Electricity, Road, Water), issues of everyday concern to win elections in M.P.. Its Golden Quadrilateral road project is still acknowledged as one of the most ambitious infrastructure project of modern India. Its decisive nuclear action has had far reaching implications stretching long beyond their reign. It needs to draw upon all these experiences and consolidate them to appeal to an electorate that is tired of mere identity politics and is looking for real solutions to real problems. While its earlier claim of 'a party with a difference' may have withered off, it should now re-brand itself as the party with governance. The coming elections in Bihar where its ally Nitish Kumar is attempting to put governance as the central issue, may turn out to be a test case for the entire country whether governance can take on the more emotive issues. If he succeeds, he might become a trend setter. Therein might lie a ray of hope for BJP too.


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The world may appear to be sharply divided among the far left and the far right on the social media, and even on the mainstream media these days. However, you could make the case that with the election of Emmanuel Macron as the French President, some hope has been revived in centrism and globalist liberalism. Because the polls in late April were nothing less than a scare with Marine Le Pen ending up neck-a-neck.
One of the features of the shifts to far left and far right camps in public discourse has been the cynicism toward centrism and pragmatism. Candidates such as Hillary Clinton have been condemned as "neo-liberal" by progressive and leftist activists, who could have prevented the Trump Presidency by turning out in greater numbers for her favor. The shift toward absolutism might sound romantic to some in a twisted way, but it has given us politicians such as Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen and perhaps even Trump on the right and Jeremy Corbyn and Tulsi Gabbard on the left. Of course, each honest in their own dangerous way. I am deliberately not mentioning Bernie Sanders in this list, whose proposals of single payer healthcare is anything but an extreme view for a centrist liberal, but he has a rather unhealthy obsession with the Wall Street.
While still both the left and right in the West are variants of liberalism, relatively speaking, but both have seemed to lose the essence of its ideals of late. The left continues to demonize the idea of private property while the right frequently compromises the liberties of people who either look different or are less fortunate. And another group simply refuses to pay for just about anything. Did I mention Ron Paul in the list?
Since when have these ideas become abominations to the people?
There is no wonder even today a majority of the population might agree on centrist ideas and fortunately that is still what a lot of voting pattern around the world follows. Though that voting pattern has been consistently shifting rightward, evident in Turkey, India, and Israel. Common sense, yes, you hear this expression very frequently in the campaigns of more conservative politicians in the West. But actually, you would rather associate this term with more centrist and pragmatic liberals beyond party lines.
The disillusionment and cynicism of the recent years have particularly been on the rise as a "people's awakening" of sorts. This has been generally true for the attitude toward the United Nations but the precarious unity of the EU has particularly brought it into light. Blame it on the operational and bureaucratic flaws of these globalist bodies but there is no reason why the ideals behind them should be targeted without anyone putting up a reasonable defense for them.
On the other hand, there is really nothing about centrism or economic liberalism that necessitates apathy toward those who are less fortunate in the society. This ideological direction does not necessarily eliminate a social democracy. It is not as if most of the moderate British conservatives would be effectively killing the NHS, despite their fiscal conservatism. Certainly, not the Liberal Democrats. I guess centrist liberals would only be more respectful of private property and freedom for businesses than obsessing over bringing the budget into surplus too much.
Most moderate Republicans would not dare criticize late night host Jimmy Kimmel making a case for healthcare safety nets by bringing up his sick child. It is precisely the mindset that attacked him for it that a centrist liberal would discourage. Long story short, centrist liberals are more likely to side with a pragmatic, practical direction, keeping a balance between the bleeding heart and the facts of the world. Most of them would at least entertain the idea of a single payer healthcare approach while respecting private caregivers for humanitarian reasons, despite the controversy around its ideological correctness.
Another reason why globalist and centrist liberals are important is their interventionism, another point that gets under the skin of people on both extreme left and right. While there is no point getting behind a warmonger, an isolationist progressive or libertarian would be as caustic to world peace as a relentless hawk.
As much as we would like to hate President Bill Clinton and President George H. W. Bush, their timely humanitarian action in Bosnia and Kuwait goes unappreciated. It is amazing how the critics of American imperialism completely fail to recognize how the intervention has saved the freedom for the people of South Korea and West Germany. Furthermore, globalist liberals would be all for aid and accepting refugees and intervening to prevent a genocide, while an isolationist nationalist or an apathetic progressive could prove to be a humanitarian disaster. But enough of what they might mean for a government.
Despite the apparent lack of enthusiasm, the ideological polarity itself ironically presents an opportunity to the third way liberalism to bring people from left and right together. At least as a practical electoral alliance holding your nose. In a way, the rise of Donald Trump represents that possibility as opposed to someone like Sen. Ted Cruz who could become the President too. Although some could argue the same about Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton.
The person of Donald Trump has always appeared to be pragmatic and centrist, even liberal, in his approach to things but it is unfortunate that he relied on more far right policies and people to run his campaign. Perhaps that was the only way he could win this election. The policies he is enacting are not any more encouraging either. But who knows, that might change with time as he is beginning to figure out the realities of the political world and governance. And say, if Jared and Ivanka do not stay too far. Hanging on to a thread, are we not?
But don't get too depressed. The world may still give sanity a chance.
It's not too late.
The post was originally published in The Nation blogs.
Filed under: Articles, Commentary | Tagged: Bernie Sanders, centrism, conservative, Donald Trump, economic liberalism, Emmanuel Macron, far left, far right, fiscal conservatism, France, governance, isolationis, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, left wing, liberal, liberalism, Marine Le Pen, military intervention, neo-liberal, politics, pragmatism, President Bill Clinton, President George H. W. Bush, Presidential elections, progressive, realism, right wing, single payer healthcare, Ted Cruz, third way, United States |


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Humboldt Hens
The pampered lives of our backyard chickens, along with crazy chicken news from around the world.
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Author of The Drunken Botanist, Wicked Plants, and the Kopp Sisters novels.
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Sunday, June 12, 2005


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Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Becoming My Mother
Growing up my sister and I were lucky enough to have an elementary school teacher for a Mom. Some people wouldn't know what's so special about that, but those who have had the experience know exactly what I mean. Our days were virtual classrooms and filled with crafts, plays, books, different activities for different days of the week, for different months, for every season, and so many songs. Oh, the songs! We had a little diddy for absolutely everything- bed time, teeth brushing time, clean up time, you name it.
I have very vivid memories of every kind of moment with my Mom- some simple things, like sitting with her at Island Beach State Park, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, careful not to let the breeze blow sand into the strawberry preserves. Funny things- like when she visited me up at college and we got a little tipsy, my Dad driving us all the way back to their hotel with her singing Bruce Springsteen's "Jersey Girl" out the window. Or that time when we were so bundled up we could barely move, let alone run a few miles in the middle of a Wyoming snowstorm two weeks before my wedding because I just had to stick to my workout regime. I remember more complicated things too- many of them- like that one time in high school I knew I really, really disappointed her, and the way it felt to see her cry, my too-cool-for-anything teenage heart breaking at the sight of her tears. Most memories are happy though, like the pb&j on the beach, or baking a million cookies at Christmas, or being so little and hearing the sound of her favorite songs wafting up through the house on Saturdays, straight from the 8-track player downstairs.
There are so many times now where I'll catch myself doing something that is 100% my Mom. I'll be cooking dinner and find myself singing a silly, made-up song under my breath, "yeah, put in that pepper and stir, stir, stir- mix up good, oh yeah, yeah, yeah," and I'll stop for a moment and think "oh my god, I am my mother." I'll be at the grocery store and be in the middle of a five minute conversation with the cashier, and think back to my eye-rolling teenage self, mortified that my mother just had to talk to everyone. It's how I always have to say "I love you, bye" when hanging up the phone, the way I call Henry's feet his tootsies, the big deal I make over every holiday, and the "good morning to you" song whenever I come into H.'s room at 7am. I'll catch myself tapping my hands on the steering wheel in the exact way that would annoy me to no end back in the day and I'll think "I am my mother." It's bizarre.
It's all of the little things, the everyday things, that remind me so much of her. And it's pretty crazy to now have a son of my own, and to understand what hard work she and my Dad put in over all of those years to have both my sister and I look back and say, without a doubt, that we loved our childhood so, so much. I get now why she and my father were so protective and I understand why they made the choices they made. Isn't perspective amazing? There were quite a few years growing up where the last thing I wanted to be was anything like my parents (those jerky people who enforced too many rules and took away all my fun!), but now, I wear the "I am becoming my Mother" badge with honor. I couldn't be prouder to share so many qualities with the best woman I know, and now every time a silly little song comes into my mind, or I find myself small-talking with a stranger, or eating dark chocolate before I go to bed I smile, because I know exactly where that comes from.
68 comments:
- AnonymousMay 2, 2012 at 12:05 AM
What a sweet post! I too had a mother who was a teacher (middle school) and she always found fun and creative ways to keep me entertained! It was truly the best and I cannot imagine growing up any other way.ReplyDelete
- Angela Marie @ http://sunkissedivory.blogspot.com
How gorgeous Danielle, your Mum should feel so proud (I'm sure she does) that all her and your Fathers dedication has paid off. I too have an amazing Mum, who has taught me many things. Also filling raining days with fun activites and lots of baking, etc. My Mum isn't a teacher, but a very amazing woman who I adore and look up to. Sweet post xoxoReplyDelete
What a beautiful post and what an honor for your mother. :-)ReplyDelete
I have been turning into my mother for years now. At first I was appalled (I seemed to only be taking on those habits of hers that drove me the most insane in my teen years, like singing Christmas carols in April) but now I realize that I am lucky to be anything like the amazing woman who raised me.ReplyDelete
Such a lovely post
What a sweet post!ReplyDelete
That's so sweet! And what a special bond you have with your mother.ReplyDelete
Every now and then I hear my parent's voices coming out of my mouth, but usually it makes me smile!
- AnonymousMay 2, 2012 at 4:02 AM
Wow that was just the sweetest post. The sweetest. :)ReplyDelete
Such a lovely post!ReplyDelete
This post made me cry!! What a beautiful tribute to your mother! And an amazing way to reflect on your own growth as a mother!ReplyDelete
- Patty darranguiseMay 2, 2012 at 6:23 AM
Beautiful post. It's wonderful being a mum. I am nothing like mine though.... Yours sounds like a dreamReplyDelete
Mum xx
So sweet and heartfelt =) It's funny, I don't even had kids and I already am becoming my mother in so many ways... she's also an elementary school teacher.ReplyDelete
Thanks for brightening my morning :)
This is such a lovely post, Danielle. As a relatively new follower to Sometimes Sweet, your writing skills have been such a welcome change. For a lot of bloggers it's all about the photos and while photos are certainly important (and yours are great!), it's so refreshing to find a blogger who can actually write, too! Thanks for sharing.ReplyDelete
i first realized that i do things like my mother when i was about 15. i rearranged and redecorated my bedroom every few weeks and my mother woult always do that. everytime i come to visit my parents their place looks different.ReplyDelete
by now there are so many thing i do just like she would, even the way i sit is the exact same. (and i talk to myself sometimes, a thing i always made fun of).
back when i was 15 i was too cool to appreciate what i got from her but now it makes me smile, i'm proud to be like her so i totally get you!
I went through a "Oh my gosh, my mom is so annoying" phase, as I'm sure we all did. I never wanted to be like her and as I grow older, although I am still not a mother, I can appreciate how she and my father raised me. There are certain habits she has that I wish I never get, but I wish one day I can be half the mom to my children as she was to my sister and me.ReplyDelete
It's shocking at first, but then you kind of embrace it and realize "I didn't turn out so bad, so my kid is in good hands". :)ReplyDelete
LOVE this post! I so am showing signs of turning into my mother and I too, wear this badge with honor. I didn't used to because there is such a stigma attached to becoming your mother BUT I truly love the things I learned from her and I don't give the stigma credence anymore! Cheers to our mothers!ReplyDelete
I hope that your Mom reads this. What a wonderfully sweet post!ReplyDelete
That was such a great post... I loved reading it.ReplyDelete
I remember growing up in highschool, I completely resented my mother. You know, I was my dramatic 15 year old self. I never wanted to be like her. Now, like yourself, I see so many qualities in myself that are so HER. And its so funny because they are the qualities I cherish the most. Her creativity, her love, her ability to make friends with LITERALLY everyone she comes in contact with, etc. So funny how this life thing works.ReplyDelete
Blake Reynolds
i love that you love your mom so much! it's so nice to read about. :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 2, 2012 at 1:20 PM
i'm not a mom, but i see myself becoming more like my mother all the time. it's kind of scary, because i want to be my own person, but my mom is one of my best friends so it can't be too bad to be like her in some ways.ReplyDelete
this was a really touching entry to read. hope your mom reads it too!:)
I feel this post soooo much.ReplyDelete
My mom died in 2008, and she never got to meet her grandchildren. Still, I catch myself channeling her several times a day. From the inflection in my voice to the pet names I call Alexa. My husband says I'm starting to LOOK more like her. It's all very bittersweet because I just wish she were still here.
This is so beautiful.ReplyDelete
Oh my god, Danielle. Thank you for making me tear up at work! How embarrasing! :)ReplyDelete
Loved this post xo
Your Mum sounds wonderful, you're very lucky to have had such a creative and engaged parent growing up, and your kids are lucky too! Unfortunately sometimes when I recognise my Mum in myself it's for negative reasons; I love her but there are many ways in which I want to be very different! Have just discovered your blog, it's lovely. Rachel :)ReplyDelete
Your Mother sounds like a wonderful one, and it seems that you are to Henry as well. Thank you for sharing a piece of your heart today, it is so very special to read about. That's why I keep coming back to your blog, I've been reading for 3 years, and this post is a perfect example why. You've got HEART, thank you for that. So many blogs have pretty pictures or awesome tutorials, but what is in your space is REAL and its so refreshing. Thank you Danielle. :) God bless you!ReplyDelete
I love this post so much! Your mother (and, by extension, you!) remind me of my mom so much, and I have these exact feelings often, minus having my own son to pass it to. Is your 'good morning song' the 'good morning, good morning, it's great to stay up late' one? I thought that straight away! I cut my hair into a short bob today and I am the spitting image of her too...it's crazy how much we become what came before.ReplyDelete
Such a sweet post! I too have an elementary school teacher mother, and my childhood couldn't have been better. I know exactly what you're taking about.ReplyDelete
Perspective is a funny thing indeed. I'm not a mother yet, but when I look back on life I understand why my parents were the way they were, and I hope when I have children of my own and they have grown up, they will understand as well.
I catch myself becoming my mother too! I love this post, and its extremely timely with mother's day coming up...ReplyDelete
This is really beautiful. Though I don't have a child yet, I catch myself becoming my own mother at times too. When I was younger and it would happen, I would hate it and try to correct the behavior immediately. But now, like you said, I get it. And I don't want to correct those traits anymore.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 3, 2012 at 6:35 AM
Beautiful. I have a few tears in my eyes, happy tears. Because I totally relate, I am my mother - and I couldn't be happier and more proud to be her. Thank you for this.:)ReplyDelete
All of your posts sound like poetry to me. I'm only 19 years old, and I'm already starting to become my mother! Yikes! Except instead of singing whilst doing random household activities... We dance. Gotta put the dishes away? Let's shimmy down to the dishwasher. Cooking pancakes? Let's twirl around each time we flip them. The other day, I was waiting for something in the microwave and was shaking my booty each time the second-timer counted down. (Oh god) It's starting to happen in public places as well... Ohhhh noooo!ReplyDelete
I am in tears! I personally didn't have a good childhood or great parents. My counselor actually forbid me to talk to my mother and father because of the horrific abuse they have done to me and my siblings. But deep in my heart I've always wanted a mother, one who makes up silly songs, finds fun things to do, teaches me everything. But growing up since I was the oldest, I was the mom for my siblings. But now I get to be that mom that I always wanted for myself. I get to wake up Judah with a morning song, sing together in the mirror while we brush our teeth, find fun things to do, take him out with me, meet new fun strangers or like today I was trying to teach him how to make a "Silly face". I hope to be the kind of mom to Judah that your mom was to you.ReplyDelete
Your mom is pretty darn amazing and I am so grateful she is your mom.
This is such a lovely post.ReplyDelete
I always used to hate the idea of becoming my mother - especially as we already look so alike. But nowadays, there are certain things I say or certain mannerisms I have where I catch myself and realise they're exactly like her. And, at time, when I'm looking in the mirror, I see her completely. I'm not so afraid anymore though. I wouldn't mind becoming my mother. :)
This was beautiful. Actually made me tear up. It's quite crazy becoming your mom, but there's also nothing better.ReplyDelete
Such a beautifully written post - I can picture it all so clearly.ReplyDelete
So beautiful! Made me tear up this morning :) Thank God for our wonderful parents - we are so lucky!ReplyDelete
Happy Mother's Day to you and to your wonderful mother. Thank you for sharing such sweet memories!ReplyDelete
This was a beautiful post, Danielle! My Mom homeschooled me and my sister our whole lives. From baby to graduating high school she was the one who taught us. Growing up she always had so many creative things for us to do and ways to teach us. I have such good childhood memories. Mom's who teach are pretty awesome :)ReplyDelete


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LMC Brings Same Day/Next Day Surgery to the Midlands
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text:
Stateful firewall
In computing, a stateful firewall is a network firewall that tracks the operating state and characteristics of network connections traversing it. The firewall is configured to distinguish legitimate network packets for different types of connections. Only packets matching a known active connection are allowed to pass the firewall. In contrast, a stateless firewall does not take context into account when determining whether to allow or block packets.
Stateful packet inspection (SPI), also referred to as dynamic packet filtering,[1] is a security feature often included in business networks.
Stateful firewall technology was introduced by Check Point Software with the FireWall-1 product in 1994.[2][3][failed verification]
Before the development of stateful firewalls, firewalls were stateless. A stateless firewall treats each network frame or packet individually. Such packet filters operate at the OSI Network Layer (layer 3) and function more efficiently because they only look at the header part of a packet.[4] They do not keep track of the packet context such as the nature of the traffic.[5] Such a firewall has no way of knowing if any given packet is part of an existing connection, is trying to establish a new connection or is just a rogue packet. Modern firewalls are connection-aware (or state-aware), offering network administrators finer-grained control of network traffic.
The classic example of a network operation that may fail with a stateless firewall is the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). By design, such protocols need to be able to open connections to arbitrary high ports to function properly. Since a stateless firewall has no way of knowing that the packet destined to the protected network (to some host's destination port 4970, for example) is part of a legitimate FTP session, it will drop the packet. Stateful firewalls with application inspection solve this problem by maintaining a table of open connections, inspecting the payload of some packets and intelligently associating new connection requests with existing legitimate connections.
Early attempts at producing firewalls operated at the application layer, which is the very top of the seven-layer OSI model. This method required exorbitant amounts of computing power and is not commonly used in modern implementations.[6]
A stateful firewall keeps track of the state of network connections (such as TCP streams or UDP communication) and is able to hold significant attributes of each connection in memory. These attributes are collectively known as the state of the connection and may include such details as the IP addresses and ports involved in the connection and the sequence numbers of the packets traversing the connection. Stateful inspection monitors incoming and outgoing packets over time, as well as the state of the connection, and stores the data in dynamic state tables. This cumulative data is evaluated so that filtering decisions would not only be based on administrator-defined rules, but also on context that has been built by previous connections as well as previous packets belonging to the same connection.
The most CPU intensive checking is performed at the time of setup of the connection. Entries are created only for TCP connections or UDP streams that satisfy a defined security policy. After that, all packets (for that session) are processed rapidly because it is simple and fast to determine whether it belongs to an existing, pre-screened session. Packets associated with these sessions are permitted to pass through the firewall. Sessions that do not match any policy are denied, as packets that do not match an existing table entry.
In order to prevent the state table from filling up, sessions will time out if no traffic has passed for a certain period. These stale connections are removed from the state table. Many applications, therefore, send keepalive messages periodically in order to stop a firewall from dropping the connection during periods of no user-activity, though some firewalls can be instructed to send these messages for applications.
Depending on the connection protocol, maintaining a connection's state is more or less complex for the firewall. For example, TCP is inherently a stateful protocol as connections are established with a three-way handshake ("SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK") and ended with a "FIN, FIN-ACK, ACK" exchange. This means that all packets with "SYN" in their header received by the firewall are interpreted to open new connections. If the service requested by the client is available on the server, it will respond with a "SYN-ACK" packet which the firewall will also track. Once the firewall receives the client's "ACK" response, it transfers the connection to the "ESTABLISHED" state as the connection has been authenticated bidirectionally. This allows tracking of future packets through the established connection. Simultaneously, the firewall drops all packets which are not associated with an existing connection recorded in its state table (or "SYN" packets), preventing unsolicited connections with the protected machine by black hat hacking.
Other connection protocols, namely UDP and ICMP, are not based on bidirectional connections like TCP, making a stateful firewall somewhat less secure. In order to track a connection state in these cases, a firewall must transfer sessions to the ESTABLISHED state after seeing the first valid packet. It can then only track the connection through addresses and ports of the following packets' source and destination. Unlike TCP connections, which can be closed by a "FIN, ACK" exchange, these connectionless protocols allow a session to end only by time-out. This, for example, enables UDP hole punching.
By keeping track of the connection state, stateful firewalls provide added efficiency in terms of packet inspection. This is because for existing connections the firewall need only check the state table, instead of checking the packet against the firewall's rule set, which can be extensive. Additionally, in the case of a match with the state table, the firewall does not need to perform deep packet inspection.
Application-level filters[edit]
Packet filtering alone is not regarded as providing enough protection. In order to effectively block peer-to-peer-related network traffic, what is needed is a firewall that does application filtering, which can be regarded as an extension to stateful packet inspection. Stateful packet inspection can determine what type of protocol is being sent over each port, but application-level filters look at what a protocol is being used for. For example, an application-level filter might be able to tell the difference between HTTP traffic used to access a Web page and HTTP traffic used for file sharing, whereas a firewall that is only performing packet filtering would treat all HTTP traffic equally.
Application layer firewalls are generally slower than stateful inspection. Application-layer firewalls are sometimes implemented using application proxies. Two TCP connections are established: one between the packet source and the firewall, another between the firewall and the packet destination. Application proxies intercept arriving packets on behalf of the destination, examine application payload, and then relay permitted packets to the destination. Suspicious data is dropped and the client and server never communicate directly with each other. Proxies necessarily involve more protocol stack overhead than inspecting packets at the network layer. Furthermore, because a unique proxy is required for each application, proxy firewalls can be less flexible and slower to upgrade than stateful inspection firewalls. Nevertheless, because application-level proxies are application-aware, the proxies can more easily handle complex protocols like H.323 or SIP, which are used for videoconferencing and VoIP (Voice over IP).
There is a risk that vulnerabilities in individual protocol decoders could allow an attacker to gain control over the firewall. This concern highlights the need to keep firewall software updated.[7]
See also[edit]
- ^ Goralski, Walter, author. The illustrated network : how TCP/IP works in a modern network. ISBN 978-0-12-811027-0. OCLC 986540207.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- ^ United States Patent 5,606,668
- ^ Check Point's Press Release Archived 2006-10-18 at the Wayback Machine "Check Point Introduces Revolutionary Internet Firewall Product Providing Full Internet Connectivity with Security; Wins 'BEST OF SHOW' Award at Networld+Interop '94". 1994-05-06
- ^ Suehring, Steve (Jan 29, 2015). Linux Firewalls: Enhancing Security with Nftables and Beyond (Iillustrated ed.). Pearson Education. p. 25. ISBN 0134000021.
- ^ Shinder, Thomas W. Shinder, Cheri Amon, Robert J. Shimonski, Debra Littlejohn (2003). Best damn firewall book period. Rockland, Mass.: Syngress. p. 233. ISBN 0080476066.
- ^ Sherri Davidoff and Jonathan Ham, Network forensics: tracking hackers through cyberspace, Prentice hall, 2012
- ^ Review of Tomato firewall "...both L7-Filter and IPP2P are explicitly unmaintained. Given the steady stream of security updates for protocol dissectors in WireShark, your editor has a hard time believing that these other classifiers can be completely free of security issues."
- ^ Hacker pierces hardware firewalls with web page


text:
In the October 2008 issue (Vol. 136, No. 9)
of the
Revue Sainte-Anne
you'll find an interesting article about the ancestor of the PINEL's in QUÉBEC.
Born in Campagnolles, Normandie, FRANCE, Nicolas PINEL married Madeleine MARANDA dit MARAULT in 1630 in Ste-Marguerite-de-LaRochelle. The couple had 5 children:
Pierre (1-died very young)
Gilles (twin) married Anne LÉODET in 1657,
Pierre (2) married Charlotte FOUCHERAT in 1662,
2nd marriage to Barbe (Anne) DUPONT in 1692,
Gilles is the only child to have assure the survival of the PINEL surname, although some of his children took on the name of LAFRANCE. In 1729, the PINEL's had 276 descendants.
For more information,
click on the title above
to be brought to the Ste-Anne website.


text:
Ubuntu Linux Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 has been released and available for download. The desktop CD allows you to try Ubuntu without changing your computer at all, and at your option to install it permanently later. Ubuntu 7.10 Adds Enhanced User Interface, Integrated Desktop search, Plug and Play Printing. Canonical Ltd. today announced the upcoming availability of Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop Edition, further improving the desktop Linux experience. Ubuntu 7.10 will be available for free download on Thursday 18 October. Canonical is the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is the award-winning Linux distribution for the desktop, laptop and server which delivers the best of open source software every 6 months. Ubuntu 7.10 Desktop Edition includes advanced plug and play printing, enhanced browsing and the option of a smooth new user interface built on top of the latest enhancements to GNOME.
Ubuntu 7.10 fast mirror (2Gbps pipe)
- Main site is under load so I recommend the Argonne National Laboratory Public Software Mirror (2Gbps speed)
Download link – ( Download Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 )
=> Visit mirror to download Ubuntu Linux 7.10 CD ISO (32 bit 499M)
=> Visit mirror to download Ubuntu Linux 7.10 CD ISO (64 bit for AMD64 or EM64T – Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad and Xeon etc architecture ~ 510M)
Ubuntu Linux 7.10 Torrent
=> Download Ubuntu Linux 7.10 using your favorite torrent client.
Ubuntu Gutsy DVD / CD mirrors
=> Try a location near you to see a full list of download options, including download links for all supported cd images.
How do I burn CD ISO Image under MS – Windows 95 / 98 / ME / 2000 / XP / Server 2003 / Vista?
- Please download and install Infra Recorder, a free and open source image burning program.
- Open Infra Recorder, and select the 'Actions' menu, then 'Burn image'.
How do I burn CD / DVD under any Linux distribution?
See following tutorials, if you would like to burn from the command line:
- Linux DVD Writing How to
- Linux CD Writing How to
Upgrade information
Please note that if you have Ubuntu Linux 7.04, just follow these upgrade instructions.
Here is my updated version:
$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_RELEASE=7.10 DISTRIB_CODENAME=gutsy DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 7.10"
Updated for accuracy!


text:
"You don't want to be the outsider who betrays the institution; whistleblowers are always the weirdos," Lessig said. "There are so many ways to rationalize doing the easy thing. And it's really easy for us to overlook how our inaction to step up and do even the simplest thing leads to profoundly destructive consequences in our society."
I asked Cory Booker, the Newark mayor, why he ignored his security team and made a snap decision to run into a burning house to save his neighbor. He said his parents taught him to feel indebted to all the people who had sacrificed for his family. And he recoiled in law school at the idea that there was not always a legal obligation to help the vulnerable.
"We have to fight the dangerous streams in culture, the consumerism and narcissism and me-ism that erode the borders of our moral culture," he said. "We can't put shallow celebrity before core decency. We have to have a deeper faith in the human spirit. As they say, he who has the heart to help has the right to complain."
Maureen Dowd
The New York Times