A Spring Outing

In an episode of a series my husband and I love one of the main characters, an accomplished diplomat, is trying to establish relations with another woman who is antagonistic. To establish an emotional bond she tells the second woman a deeply personal and painful story. She then concludes, "I don't usually lead with that."

Nearly 50 years ago I had sex reassignment surgery. "I don't usually lead with that." In fact, I really don't consider it a stranger's business. Unfortunately the Trump administration, as one wit put it, " wants to make the federal government just small enuff to fit under bedroom doors."  

So, with all the misogynistic misinformation abou "trans" on the media now, I feel compelled to try and correct at little of it. Despite reticence about discussing anything to do with sex in this schizo purient/prudish society  I feel compelled to have a spring outing. This is not to say that I ever hid my situation before, I didn't. Nor is it to say that my opinion represents any other than my own. Indeed, I often find myself at odds with my sisters and brothers particularly over perceived injustices which often have more to do with the perpetrators. 

Time after time people and the media want to paint me as a victim. I am not a victim. I am a survivor. Have I been discriminated against? Undoubtedly: foolish bigotry is ubiquitous. I paid my dues in pain & humiliation:

   We had finished migrant work picking apples and were in Bellingham,             Washington looking for a shelter. My companion found lodging that cold        night in a men's shelter. When I went to find a bed at a "Christian" shelter      the matron made sure to humiliate me as much as pssible by having me        completely strip before throwing me out. 

This pales against the organised bigotry of the Trump administration that is trying to dehumanize all of women differing from a 1950's American ideal housewife.

 It's not, and never has been about "men in women's sports" it is very much about the neo-nazi "Christians" taking charge of women's bodies. The Trump agenda aligns with Margret Atwood's distopian *The Handmaid's Tale*. 

Trump's idea of a woman is Karolyn Leavett. Frankly, I pity her. Poor girl is a two dimensional cardboard cut out. Stand Barbie behind the podium and pull her string.  Trump doesn't want to see women who think for themselves. This makes trans folks a big problem for him because we felt so impelled by biological imperatives that we defied social mores. I have not followed closely but there was evidence that trans brains are wired diferently. For myself I felt I had three options:

          suicide, self Mutilation, or surgery

I call myself a follower of Christ and when I considered how I wanted to meet my maker, the choice was obvious. Yes, for me there was a very spiritual component to my decision. "If thine eye offend thee..." What would Barbie do?

So, maybe a little insight into my decision process. Over the years people with different gender/sex issues have asked me for advice or insight. I help what little I can but never would I recommend anyone do anything without serious soul searching and professional counseling. The path I have chosen is not particularly smooth and I don't recommend it except in extreme circumstances. Why there seem to be so many surgeries these days I can only speculate. At the time I had mine I was the only person I knew in Colorado Springs going thru the transition. There was no "trans community". The condition is not associated with being homosexual. The only " trans communities " I know of are online. I know of no army of trans coming to convert your boys  (or girls). When I go to the bathroom, I'm going to the bathroom. (As a side note, I'm a big gal and have defended other women from agression more than once so lady's rooms with me in them are safer than usual). Fear of me is wasted energy. Besides, you can be sure I'm going to be a little bit afraid of you.

I'd like to address the silly issue of "trans men" in women's sports. "It's unfair for men to compete against women." Unfair. Trans people know about unfair. Trans folk know that the world is intrinsically unfair on an individual level. Athletes know it too. The  inspiring Olympic star,  Mary Lou Retton , would have done poorly in women's distance running. Long, lanky runners don't compete in gymnastics.  Different bodies by nature. Different inherited DNA. 

So what is it that is so unfair? And who's damn business is it? Two choices:

1)The athletes and organizers decide amongst themselves who participates

2) The government intervenes

 We will never have a sensible government as long as we fail to make all attempts arbitrate social policy from at the lowest possible level. Just as the Republicans corporate greed threatens economic chaos on all our social programs to provide for the "common welfare" (Constitution), so does a forced authority without inclusion threaten emotional chaos. 

Who claims the wisdom of Solomon? Apparently California Governor Gavin Newsome claim's to be as wise. As a California progressive,  I am incised by Gov. Newsome's actions. Here in one case presents the Democratic party policy approach that illustrates their hypocrisy. Here is a chief reason conservatives hate the Democrats. Incessent attempts to mandate social policy from on high. Who asked for Newsome's intervention? What a cheap trick to gain a few votes. Newsome promotes bigotry which puts me (in a ruby red county) in physical danger. It also violates the basic  principles of democracy by failing to give us equal protection under the law. Let the relevant parties decide. Newsome, stay the F out, you cheap ... My better angels tell me to mitigate my anger. Bless you hypocrite.

And I can only hope I never need to address these issues again. I don't usually lead with them.

E Pluribus Unum

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union...

This holiday weekend our country celebrates its two hundred forty seventh birthday. The grand experiment in democracy continues. Yet, the edifice is beginning to show cracks. Demagogues of all political persuasions are attempting to divide us into waring camps. These fractures, particularly those which throw our election process into doubt, threaten our ability to function as a society at the very time we most need some cohesion to face global challenges.

Each of us who served have faced the challenges of working with others of quite different backgrounds than our own and each of us have overcome those challenges. I believe in the Spirit of democracy. I believe that group decisions can be wrong but that we do strive "to form a more perfect union." I believe participation in a functional democracy means each must continue that effort. 

There was a time when I quit voting because the system was flawed. I requested an absentee ballot while I was overseas. The administrative structure of the Army found it was too much trouble and I never got my ballot, so in a childish fit, I quit voting. I see now that I was wrong. I was demanding perfection. We human beings don't make perfect institutions. No election is ever likely to be perfect. We've seen what happens in other countries when the citizens failed in their duties to participate. Our democracy is imperfect because we are still in the process of forming a more perfect union. With intractable party politics the democratic spirit of compromise threatening our government, let's take a step away from partisanship.

What can we do to face the challenges of divisiveness? I think the first thing is that we need to stop and listen. 95% of the people I've met want the same thing: to have a peaceful and prosperous life for themselves and their own. What always seems to set people against each other is fear. The shrinks say that fear of loss is more motivating for humans than hope of gain. With so many changes hitting the world fear of loss has become a kind of group paranoia. We can't afford it. When I try to talk to friends with very different politics, I hear what those fears are. I can then reassure them that their fears or unfounded or I can accept their viewpoint and begin to try and figure how the issues they express can be addressed.

 When I first joined the women's veteran group, I was cautioned about expressing political views. I can understand that. I'm a bit strange already and looking for an argument would be pretty stupid on my part.

 Nonetheless, I think we should exercise adult discussion on politics. We've handled differences between us before. Each of us has some sense of service and of duty. I believe it is our duty to talk calmly about our differences. In this way we can continue our service to protect the goal of forming a more perfect union. E Pluribus Unum. One out of many - because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY.🇺🇸

Dear Viet Nam,

It's been many years since we've spoken. I hope you can forgive me. I was wrong. I owe the Buddhist master in the flames a debt. Perhaps, somewhen I can humbly offer my apologies in person. I will not say that my naive ignorance mitigates my error but I can say that I believe I've grown since then. That I was deceived is an explanation, not a justification.

To Screaming Man

I met a man that screamed at things

That none the rest of us could see

So little could I give to him

For all I had was sympathy

I tried to tell him all is well

He barely could respond to me

But for a moment thru his eyes -

A  glimpse to his infinity

A window to another world

This frightening reality

In revelation then I knew

That All depends on point of view

 

And all the terrors that he gave voice

Had come to him by his own choice.

Iniyat Kahn

Foundational principlesEdit

Ten principles, known as the Ten Sufi Thoughts, enunciate the universal spiritual values that are foundational to Inayat Khan's mystical philosophy.

1. There is One God, the Eternal, the Only Being; none exists save God.
2. There is One Master, the Guiding Spirit of all Souls, Who constantly leads followers towards the light.
3. There is One Holy Book, the sacred manuscript of nature, the only scripture which can enlighten the reader.
4. There is One Religion, the unswerving progress in the right direction towards the ideal, which fulfills the life's purpose of every soul.
5. There is One Law, the law of reciprocity, which can be observed by a selfless conscience together with a sense of awakened justice.
6. There is One Brotherhood and Sisterhood, the human brotherhood and sisterhood, which unites the children of earth indiscriminately in the Parenthood of God.
7. There is One Moral, the love which springs forth from self-denial, and blooms in deeds of beneficence.
8. There is One Object of Praise, the beauty which uplifts the heart of its worshippers through all aspects from the seen to the unseen.
9. There is One Truth, the true knowledge of our being, within and without, which is the essence of all wisdom.
10. There is One Path, the annihilation of the false ego in the real, which raises the mortal to immortality, and in which resides all perfection.^[13]

Merry Yule, year end update

I find it difficult to report unfavorable news. Adding negativity to the world is the opposite of my intent. Nonetheless, I haven't reported on our situation here at Lidster South for some time and that may be more negative at some point than no news. So, we're doing OK but it has been a hard year.

As another year ticks off the calendar it's time to at least get a mass mailing off. We had a low key but pleasant Christmas day. Watched "Hogfather", our Christmas tradition, a movie from author Terry Pratchett's Disc World series. I gave up and ordered a whole case of Quorn roasts. Fixed two turkey style for pur dinner, a quiche for breakfast & a mincemeat pie for dessert. I can't recommend the Quorn enuff as a vegetarian turkey substitute. It is so superior to the usual to turkey it's like comparing roast beef to bologna. Problem is that few know about it so the stores don't carry it. So, I had to order an entire case & now need to figure out how to preserve the rest of them. Its been cold & snowy which helps.

We both caught serious head colds two weeks ago and are on a slow mend. Most of last week was spent in hibernaton.

In brief, this past year has been a ruff one for us. Both of our cats died. Nellie was over fifteen and went blind in June. She just wandered off one night. Noel, the kitten who showed up on our doorstep Christmas day 5 years ago came home sick one evening and died in my arms in April after a day of struggling. I buried him in the back yard & marked the grave with a piece of silver for the fair folk. For myself, the year has seen a decrease in energy level. I tire very easily and there has been a lot of back pain.

On a more positive note we have two new wonderful cats. Nellie & El (named shortened to avoid confusion with "no") were both long hair. Apache is a white Japanese Bob trail with tan markings who became family after El died in April. Lexus was 6 weeks old when we adopted her at the end of August. She's more active, curious, and into everything. My nickname for her is " Princess Pounce". I  think the two cats are one of the main things that keeps me going. They get along well and seem happy.

I feel my own days shortening like the year. This bothers me little as I'm ready for the next big adventure. I'd hoped to see the 1st contact scenario with the galactics I hypothesize but that now seems unlikely. My primary concern is the family, Vincent & the kitties. Hope they're looked after. Don't really expect to have one of these missives next year but who knows.

We are wishing everyone a happy holiday season and best wishes for the new year. One day of joy and love at a time.

REMF Correspondent

As I have discussed elsewhere, I believe that the Russia Ukraine War is indicative of a greater struggle for the mind of humanity leading to a greater awareness on the part if its members . As such I have monitored this situation closely and repeatedly found noteworthy observations that I have not seen reflected in other media. To this end, I'm starting this blog entry to chronicle some of them. 

221104:

Conflicting reports are coming out concerning the current situation in the Kherson region.  Both reinforcements from and withdrawals to the western bank of the Dinipro river have been reported. Ukrainian sources have concluded this is arise to draw their forces into a "trap". My conclusions are somewhat different.

Russian units on the  eastern bank are some of their best, including the airborne units that initially assaulted the airport outside Kiev. A number of intercepted phone calls from Russian troops indicate that the troops moving in are " mobics",  untrained, poorly equiped, recently mobilized troops. Meanwhile, interdiction on the Andropov bridge and ferries continue. The bridge itself appears to have been heavily damaged.  This has been the main corridor onto the west bank for Russia for some time but is not adequate for removal of heavy equipment as the pontoon bridge constructed in its (Andropov bridge) shadow can't support a 70+ ton T-62 tank. 

I surmise that the mobics are being moved into Kherson as a "canon fodder" covering force to protect the withdrawal of elite Russian regulars. I doubt that Russia expects to hold Kherson or that it is a trap. It's simply a mechanism for Russia to recover as much of its heavy equipment & as many of its best regular  troops as possible.

221104:

It's been reported on multiple sources that Russian troops have moved into neighboring Belarus while at least 100 tanks have been moved from Belarus to Russia. This has raised concerns that Belarus may join the war with an attack on Ukraine's northern border. These apparently contradictory moves seem confusing to western media. I believe that these are strategic political moves with the intent of 1) causing a relocation of Ukrainian troops from frontline area to defend against the possible threat & 2) providing a military force to prop-up Lukashenko's unpopular regime. IMO, an attack along the difficult terrain of the northern Ukrainian border is very unlikely.

221108:

"Owner" of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, Pergozhin, has twice complimented the Ukrainians in the last week. He complimented the Ukrainian defense of Bakhmut where his group is taking massive casualties [small strategic but large propognda value].  He also complimented Zelinsky's leadership. This is completely out of line with the official rhetoric that the Ukrainians are "satanists".  I venture that, as Zelensky has stated that he won't deal with Putin, Pergozhin is positioning for a takeover bid in the wake of Putin's failures. Not an improvement as he appears even more rabid.