A Hole In The World

March 14, 2014

Which Way Will You Choose To Live? Do you remember the Eagle's song "Hole in the World"? It begins like this: There's a hole in the world tonight. There's a cloud of fear and sorrow. There's a hole in the world tonight. Don't let there be a hole in the world tomorrow. [Music and lyrics by Don Henley and Glenn Frey] I am an optimist and constantly look for the best.  But it does seem, at least at times, that there is a hole in the world. We live in a day of almost unrestrained violence.  Children can be snatched from homes and slain at school.  Bombs and missiles are exploded in public places.  There is war and there are rumors of war.  No community, no race, no nation is immune to nor protected  from a growing culture of violence.  It's as if there is a hole in the world.  Now, more than ever, we need to learn a different way, for the path we're following  leads to a dark and dangerous wilderness. I like the way of Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix, two men who experienced first hand  a cloud of fear and sorrow.  One deadly evening in 1995, 14-year-old Tony Hicks shot and killed a 20-year-old  college student and pizza deliveryman in San Diego, California.  Tony and several other gang members ordered pizza and, when it was delivered,  Tony was told by his gang to shoot the young man who delivered the food, Tariq Khamisa. Tariq's father Azim was enraged at the senseless killing. "There's something really wrong with a society where kids kill kids," he spat. He was angry with the kids, but he was even more upset with a culture that breeds so much violence. Shortly after his son's death, Azim heard from a gentleman named Ples Felix.  Ples was Tony Hick's grandfather and guardian.  Azim invited Ples to his home and the two men shared their mutual grief and heartache.  But it didn't stop there -- they also decided to do something. "I realized that change had to start with me," Azim reasoned.  Therefore, though he may have wanted revenge, the grieving father chose a different way to respond to his son's death. What happened?  The victim's father toured the United States with the killer's grandfather.  The two men visited schools with a message of nonviolence.  They told the story of Tariq and Tony -- one child dead and the other in prison.  And in a growing worldwide culture of violence, these two men of peace changed lives.  They warmed hearts and stimulated minds of countless young people.  They showed us all there is a different way to live. David Orr, college professor and author, talks about this different way of living.  "The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people," he says.  "But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places." I like that...the world needs "people who live well in their places."  People like Azim Khamisa and Ples Felix. I want to be one of those people.  So I will choose a different way.  I will choose to be a peacemaker, a healer and a life-bringer.  To the best of my ability, I will try to live well in my place  because I believe there does not have to be a hole in the world tomorrow. --- Copyright © 2014 Steve Goodier

Alignment with your own self

I am becoming a fan of  their writings and thoughts.

So profound.

There are always those who thrive when masses are dying of sickness. 

There are always those who thrive economically when economic decline seems to be the order of your nation. 

There are always those who are clear-minded in environments of confusion. 

You do not need everyone or anyone else to align with your desire—only you need to align with your desire.

Excerpted from the workshop: San Francisco, CA on March 08, 2003

Copyright © 2014 Abraham-Hicks Publications

Speaking up for the majority - I am number 26

Just signed an online petition, in support of the Group of 25.

Take a moment to read why we must speak up. And then sign the petition too.

https://www.change.org/p/the-prime-minister-of-malaysia-i-am-26?utm_campaign=responsive_friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&recruiter=42283461

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II,

owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come.

My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that everyone just wants to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of race or religion.

The fact is that the fanatics are the ones who march. 

It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. 

It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. 

It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. 

It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

peace-loving moderates have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving moderates will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like that example from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

Remember to sign!

https://www.change.org/p/the-prime-minister-of-malaysia-i-am-26?utm_campaign=responsive_friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&recruiter=42283461

A promise to insensitive politicians

By Lim Kit Siang

Dear sirs,
At some point in the future, you will depart from this world, as I will. 

It would be a time of intense grief and mourning for your loved ones. During that particular period, I promise not to gleefully gloat over your death. I further give you my word, that I will not claim, that my Maker, unique to my faith, had a hand in it. Although you may not realise it, to do so is despicably cruel and completely unbecoming of any human being. Only a beast or an imbecile would behave in such a manner. 

I also promise not to splash your morbid or gory photos in death over the internet, to boost my twitter and facebook ratings. You may not be aware that such a move does not bring fame, only infamy. 

In addition, I give you my word that if I can’t find a decent word or two to express my condolences, I shall keep mum. This is because, to condemn you in death would only bring shame to me. I sincerely believe that I am above such behaviour, as most Malaysians are, save for a lunatic fringe of the society.

I will also endeavour not to attribute your passing to divine retribution, after all, who am I to pass judgement? I am not the Almighty, after all.

In the event you have difficulty understanding or appreciating the promises that I have agreed to undertake, I have little else to offer you, but my condolences. For it is truly a tragedy to be cursed with so little insight and compassion.

Very truly yours,
A fellow human.

Why do Chinese survive? And then thrive

Why do Chinese people work so hard to succeed in life? 

Here is the plain truth.

 

#1. There are over 1 billion of us on this earth. We are like photostat copies of each other. You get rid of one, 5 magically appears (like ballot boxes). Yes, it is scary, especially for us. We acknowledge that we are replaceable, thus we are not particularly 'special'. If you think you are smart, there are a few thousand more people smarter than you. If you think you are strong, there are a few thousand people stronger than you.

 

#2. We have been crawling all over this earth for far more centuries that most civilizations. Our DNA is designed for survival. We are like cockroaches. Put us anywhere on earth and we will make a colony and thrive. We survive on anything around us and make the best of it. Some keep migrating but others will stay and multiply.

 

#3. NOBODY cares if we succeed as individuals or not. But our families take pride in knowing we have succeeded. Yes, some will fail. We take nothing for granted. We don't expect privileges to fall on our laps. No one owes us anything.

 

#4. We know we have nothing to lose if we try to succeed. Thus, we have no fear trying. That is why Chinese are addicted to gambling. We thrive on taking risks. All or nothing.

 

#5. From young we are taught to count every cent. What we take for granted like money management, I have found out recently, is not something other cultures practice at home with their children. It surprised me. But truth is not all societies or cultures teach their young this set of skills because it is rude to them. Yes, most of us can count because we are forced to and the logic of money is pounded into us from the beginning of time (when mama tells us how much she has spent on our milk and diapers)

 

#6. We acknowledge life cycles. We accept that wealth in a family stays for three generations (urban myth?). Thus, every 4th generation will have to work from scratch. I.e. first generation earns the money from scratch, second generation spends the money on education, third generation gets spoiled and wastes all the inheritance. Then we are back to square one. Some families hang on to their wealth a little longer than most.

 

#7. It is our culture to push our next generation to do better than the last. Be smarter. Be stronger. Be faster. Be more righteous. Be more pious. Be more innovative. Be more creative. Be richer. Be everything that you can be in this lifetime. Be KIASU.

 

#8. Our society judges us by our achievements...and we have no choice but to do something worthwhile because Chinese New Year comes around every year and Chinese relatives have no qualms about asking you straight in your face - how much are you making? When was your last promotion? How big is your office? What car do you drive? Where do you stay? You have boyfriend? You have girlfriend? When are you getting married? When are you having children? When is the next child? When you getting a boy? Got maid yet? Does your company send you overseas? etc etc etc. It NEVER ENDS...so, we can't stop chasing the illusive train - we are damned to a materialistic society. If you are not Chinese, consider yourself lucky!

 

#9. We have been taught from young - if you have two hands, two feet, two eyes, and a mouth, what are you doing with it? People with no hands can do better than you (and the OKU artists do put us to shame)

 

#10. Ironically, the Chinese also believe in giving back to save their wretched materialistic souls. Balance is needed. The more their children succeed in life, the more our parents will give back to society (not for profit) as gratitude for the good fortune bestowed on their children. Yes. That is true. And that is why our society progresses forward in all conditions.

 

Nobody pities us. We accept that.

No one owes us anything. We know that.

There are too many of us for charity to reach all of us. We acknowledge that.

But that does not stop us from making a better life. This lifetime.

Opportunity is as we make of it.

So, pardon us if we feel obliged to make a better place for ourselves in this country we call home. It is in our DNA to progress forward for a more comfortable life.

 

But if history were to be our teacher, look around this globe.

Every country has a Chinatown (seriously) but how many government/countries are 'taken' over by the Chinese people. 

Don't be afraid of us overwhelming your majority, we are not looking to conquer. 

If we have moved away from China and Chinese governed countries, we are NOT looking for another country to administer. 

Our representatives are only there to look after our collective welfare. They are duty bound. We prefer to blend in and enjoy the fruits of our labor. 

We enjoy the company of like minded people of all races. After all, we are only passing through a small period in the history of time...so, use our skills and we can all progress forward together.

A picture of peace

There once was a King who offered a prize to any artist who would paint the best picture of peace.

Many artists tried. 

The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake. 

The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. 

Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. 

All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains too. 

But these were rugged and bare. 

Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. 

Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. 

This did not look peaceful at all. 

But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. 

In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. 

There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest... perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize?

The King chose the second picture. 

Do you know why? 

"Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. 

Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. 

That is the real meaning of peace."

Quote for the Day

Seems there's a lot of hatred being spewed out there in the country.
Most important is to keep in mind this quote from Gandhi,

"First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,

THEN YOU WIN!"

U.S. Professor Becomes First Jew To Win Arab Nobel Prize

I suppose if things like this can happen, there's still hope for peace in our world.

An American professor has become the first Jew to win the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine, popularly known as the "Arab Nobel Prize."
Stanford professor Ronald Levy, who heads of the university's Oncology department, told Haaretz that as an American Jew married to an Israeli it never crossed his mind that he might win the Saudi-financed competition.
After he was informed of his victory, Levy rushed to check the contest Web site, where he found his picture and biography already on the homepage. The prize committee had posted Levy's biography exactly as he submitted it, with one glaring exception: the line showing his post-doctoral work at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot had been deleted.
The prize, which included $200,000, a medal, and a certificate in English and Arabic, also came with a dinner with Saudi King Abdullah.
Levy told Haaretz he was certain his wife and daughters would not be able to attend the ceremony, as their passports are full of visas from Israel and his wife and one of his daughters were born in Israel. To his surprise, when he went to the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, the attendants stamped their passports, and no one asked any questions.
In spite of their fears before the trip, Levy said his family was treated to royal hospitality during their entire stay in Saudi Arabia. He said that even when people were aware of his religion and his family's background, he was treated no different than anyone else. Also, Levy said Saudis were fascinated with hearing what he and other visitors think of their country, and if their expectations were proved wrong or not.
Levy's victory is the first time in the award's 30 years that a Jew has won, which Levy says he took as a sign that Saudi Arabia is becoming more open.
Levy won the prize for his part in the development of a drug used in the treatment of many types of cancer that is being widely viewed as revolutionary.
For over 30 years, Levy has researched methods of using the body's immune system to fight cancer. His research led to the development of the concept that a drug made from antibody could be used to fight cancer.