What is an activist?

It's been almost five years since I took to activism. Often, I am asked by the uninitiated (or the apathetic) what an activist is. What do they do? Where do they do it? How is it done? And of course, why do they do it? They all expect uncomplicated answers. Like cereal straight out of the box. If only it was that easy.

There's a point where anyone can become an activist. I mean, you see something so wrong. And you have to act on it. To the more radical extremist elements, this means even if it leads to the end of you.

In the early days, although I had an uneasy time explaining the complexities associated with this occupation, it did not deter me from obliging as I harbored hopes that it will touch, move or inspire others 'to take up arms', per se. I never ceased trying to illuminate injustices or atrocities that are so well hidden from the general population by 'the System'. However, as time passed along, cynicism manifested and overtook my way of being. Facing such questions and defining an answer now bordered on the point of being an inconvenience. So while I look forward to extending my days as a 'troublemaker' (Yes, that's what governments and corporate bigwigs will have others think of people such as us) to a full decade, this posting is my reply to the subject matter one more time.

Now scoot and leave me alone, all of you! Heh. ;p

Tonight I can write the saddest lines....

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, "The night is shattered, 
And the blue stars shiver in the distance."
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one, I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me sometimes, and I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes? 

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her. 
To hear the immense night, still more immense without her. 
And the verse falls to the soul, like dew to the pasture. 

What does it matter that my love could not keep her?
The night is shattered and she is not with me. 

This is all. 
In the distance, someone is singing. In the distance. 
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight searches for her as though to go to her. 
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her. 
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. Like my kisses before. 
Her voice. Her bright body. Her infinite eyes. 

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. 
Love is so short, forgetting is so long. 

Because through the nights like this one, I held her in my arms.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her. 

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.   

~ Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 - September 23, 1973)

The Activist: The Creed

The Revolution is Our Only Hope

In Activism, Democracy, The Revolution on August 21, 2011 at 1:19 am

It is time for humanity to act upon the oppression. It is time for us to push back against the waves of injustice. No child should die of hunger. No economy should be allowed to expand by squeezing out the poor. No mass culture should be justified as it deceives the people.

The revolution is the only way to clear the clouds of misery that hover above the human condition. Capitalism is a lie. Economic growth is a myth, the wealth of the people is being siphoned as we speak. The governments are nothing more than charades.

It is time for the people to rise, the frenetic energy of the crowds to manifest itself in every fashion possible.

The revolution is the only way in which we can free ourselves from 400 years of capitalist bondage and accumulation. The revolution is the only way to wipe out the remnants of slavery that will otherwise remain a part of our psychology forever.

Anyone who is afraid of the revolution has something to hide. Anyone who questions the rationale of the revolution is complicit in the injustices that continue to grow as stock market indices skyrocket.

We are the people, we are the ones, we are the voice and it is our duty to resist. It is our obligation to rebel against those who insist on subduing human freedom. It is our responsibility to ourselves and to future generations to do away with the corporate schemes, with the military-industrial machines, with greedy entities that are bent on destroying humanity.

Fear is their weapon, it is not ours. Fear is the instrument that they surgically put into our chests. We are afraid of nothing, we stand together, the collective, the people, the ones who have nothing to hide, the ones who have no desire to hoard the resources of the world.

Our asset is our will power. Our hope lies in our political consciousness. Our freedom is the only air that we need to breathe.

Gertrude Taylor

What the heck are Bong trees???

I want to go to the land where the Bong tree grows......

春夜喜雨 Welcome Rain on a Spring Night

Touched and moved by this....

好雨知时节 The good rain knows its season,

当春乃发生 When spring arrives, it brings life.

随风潜入夜 It follows the wind secretly into the night,

润物细无声 And moistens all things softly, without sound.

野径云俱黑 On the country road, the clouds are all black,

江船火独明 On the riverboat, a single fire bright.

晓看红湿处 At dawn one sees this place now red and wet,

花重锦官城 The flowers are heavy in the brocade city.

~ A poem by 杜甫 Du Fu (712-770)

Western Union and its predatory ways

I subscribe to the mailing list of Avaaz, an independent non-profit making lobby group with a global presence. This morning, I received the below email. The core story it told made my stomach churn. So I decided to reproduce it here. If it has the same effect on you, please kindly add your name to the petition by signing at the below link.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/make_giving_powerful/?vl

Thank you.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Luis Morago - Avaaz.org
Date: Fri, Dec 31, 2010 at 4:30 AM
Subject: Predators
To: "ng.steven@gmail.com"

Dear friends,

Western Union is taking critical money from the world's working poor by charging predatory transfer fees. As we move through the giving season, let's urgently shame them into action! Add your voice to the petition for fair fees:

This holiday season, Josh, a Kenyan student in the Netherlands, scraped together a year's worth of savings and sent it home to support 10 struggling family members. Shockingly, the giant money transfer company Western Union skimmed off 20% of the cash meant for Josh's family in fees.

Josh’s story is painfully retold every day, the world over, on a staggering scale -- an estimated $44.3 billion worldwide was lost in transfer fees last year! The World Bank recommends that transaction costs not exceed 5% of the total, but Western Union has never faced serious pressure to lower its crippling charges. If we unite in a global outcry now, we can expose its predatory practices when its carefully crafted, family-friendly image is most vulnerable: the giving season.

Josh's generosity -- and that of millions of workers around the world -- shouldn't go to waste! Let's call on Western Union to lower its fees to 5% for the poorest countries, and when the petition reaches 250,000 we’ll deliver it to the company’s image-sensitive board of directors. Sign now and then forward this to friends and family:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/make_giving_powerful/?vl

Sacrifices like Josh’s dwarf foreign governmental aid every year and provide a vital lifeline to the world’s poorest economies. Slashing the obscene profits of companies like Western Union would dramatically increase assistance flowing into developing countries. Instead, families around the world received far less than they deserved so that Western Union's CEO could take home $8.1 million in 2009.

The World Bank recommends that transfer companies limit fees to 5% of the amount being transferred, but some banks and companies have astronomical hidden charges. Perversely, the neediest countries coming out of war or disaster suffer the greatest losses, because of transfer companies' monopolistic privileges and exclusive deals with local banks.

The yearly savings of men and women laboring in hospitals, construction sites and restaurants end up padding Western Union's profits. The company funds charity projects to improve its corporate image – but these do nothing to hide the massive inequity that their business model perpetrates. Let's raise our voices loudly to support true generosity during the holiday season – and help bring immediate benefits to workers and the relatives they sustain. Together we can make sure that needy families – rather than CEOs – benefit from holiday giving:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/make_giving_powerful/?vl

When citizens around the world stand together to protest injustice, we can force back unchecked greed and inequality – as we've done together before. Buoyed by the warmth and empathy of the holiday season, let's make sure that generous gifts arrive where they're most needed.

With hope and gratitude,

Luis, Stephanie, Graziela, David, Paula, Ben, and the rest of the Avaaz team

SOURCES:

Western Union CEO's pay more than triples in 2009, Associated Press:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10241684

Past Time for Remittance Justice, ACORN International:
https://secure.avaaz.org/remittance_justice_report

World Bank Remittance Pricing resource:
http://remittanceprices.worldbank.org/


Support the Avaaz community! We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way -- donate here.

---

Avaaz.org is a 6.5-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

This message was sent to ng.steven@gmail.com. To change your email address, language, or other information, contact us via this form -- or simply click here to unsubscribe.

To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).

Coming Full Circle.... 50 Years Later.

(Click on each individual comic strip for a higher resolution image)

I wish there was a way to to provide a profound narrative for these few frames of images but I can't. I'm dumbstruck!

Idiota!

(Click on comic strip for a higher resolution image)

I'm dreading this but I think Mr. Walking Cane up in First Class is about to disprove the hypothesis of my two previous posts.

Goddammit! Which idiot thought up this lousy comic strip anyway?

Antique Chapter, Antique People....

(Click on comic strip for a higher resolution image)

It used to be so natural

To talk about forever

But "used to be's" don't count anymore

They just lay on the floor

'Til we sweep them away.....

- You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Neil Diamond & Barbara Streisand

五十年不變 (Fifty Years, Unrequited Love)

(Click on each individual comic strip for higher resolution images)

I'd like to say that I still believe in love but...

Somehow the fallacies that befalls men and women of today no longer allow for the romantic notions of yesteryears to thrive beyond eras past.

Sigh....

Personal announcement...Not!

As of time anew commencing August, I would like to announce that I shall be embarking on a new career. It is called 'Professional Bumming', and from my comprehension of the recruitment brochure, it is a vocation that requires one to only meet 2 conditions; that is, a commitment to take the meaning of leisurely idleness to new heights and a willingness to sacrifice time (which I currently have in over-abundance). I am unsure if lazing on a hammock after lunch and drinking beer by the beach at night is the right career move but as they say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Wish me luck, guys. Danke! ; )

What should one do....

Somehow, lurking somewhere within the shadows of conflicts, there will always be some semblance of profound humanistic philosophy to cling to; albeit, one that does not necessarily not arise by succumbing to one's weaknesses and one's compromise of moral values to do the right thing.

(Click on comic strip for a higher resolution image)

If Ever....

If ever we meet again, and you were to ask if there had been anything that I had longed to say to you, I think this would be it.

(Click on comic strip for a higher resolution image)

If ever....

A year. Twelve months.

A year passed.
Though twelve months it is not like.
I don't know where you are.
I don't know where you've been.

Time heals.
Wounds closes.
And pain eases.
I thank God.

Should the wind carry this,
Know that I have long forgiven you.
And that my heart still skips a beat,
Each time I hear your name.

I ask that you forgive me too, Bibi...

James Cameron on mankind...

Long quote here that's fresh out of the oven but I think it sums up nicely how we're all f**king and messing up this world that we live in.

"I think there's this long wonderful history of the human race written in blood going back as far as we can remember... where we have this tendency to just take what we want without asking.

That's how we treat the natural world as well - there's a sense of entitlement. We're here, we're big, we've got the guns, we've got the technology, we've got the brains. We are therefore entitled to every damn thing on this planet.

And that's not how it works - and we're going to find out the hard way if we don't wise up and start seeking a life that's in balance with the natural world [and] the natural cycles of life on Earth."

- Comments by James Cameron on the sidelines of the premiere of his new film, Avatar.

Meet Mr. Moo....

Meet Mr. Moo. He's a sitting cow. Picked him up on my last trip to Kuching. Heh. :)

This is the look of my heart....

Tomorrow is Monday, August 31st 2009.

Once a year in the remaining days that lead up to tomorrow's day, I will undertake to re-evaluate this life that I live. When the last 12 months of my life has been measured and weighed, I dare not permit myself the gall to fashion any particular positive spin onto it just so I can lie to myself that it's been a great past year. Certainly not when cumulative multiple 'Highs' could be so easily overwhelmed by the few dastardly 'Lows' to leave distaste in one's mouth.

This year, I created a list; an inventory of what currently exist within me and my life, complete with options to retain or discard the things that worked (and is still working) and those that didn't. I will refrain from sharing the more intimate details surrounding this exercise but what moods and feelings I currently harbor, I will reveal via my writings below.

This is the look of my heart
When the unforgiving cold had ravaged through
When it's not camouflaged; not shielded
This is often the look of my heart

Time and again
When heartless painters impose on it
They oft forget a smile to draw
This is thereupon the look of my heart

With each passing encounters
Violations ensues, endured
And days are mourned
This is often the look of my heart

I took chances on all
I reminisce with no regrets
Yet when the all of what is lost
This becomes the look of my heart

Unprovoked, dark unlucky days
Rocked drunken by earthly struggles
Raised a glass to toast I will
The look of this heart; a broken dandelion's heart.

"Forgive me, Lord but the dandelion's heart I am not deserving to keep...."

How to deal with strife and struggles....

"A dandelion against a whistling wind."

The ascent to the hill of the Lord is through a cumulative collection of small babysteps. For almost all of us who believes in God, it includes even our last dying breath. So I tell you the truth when I say, "Fear not". Release the false urgency you feel within so that you may breathe again. One day, one night or one event solely determines not the final outcome of the journey to this destination. Even if we fail to perform well, even if we utterly mess up, He will forgive and allow us to try again another time. For this is one of the ways of God's grace; to watch the believers who strives to not give up.

"It's going to be a long walk. I ain't going away no where, no time soon. Are you?"

Dance Of A Dandelion

IT'S RAY....

In time a distance away,

Appeared a day when all seemed right.

A tune beckoned; it's 'Sunday Morning'.

It's gay. It's happy. It's alive.

Akin to being courted by a gentle breeze,

A dandelion dances solo in full glory.

Mesmerised by the beat,

It loses itself in transitionary bliss.

The music fades.

"What's next?", she wondered.

Suddenly it came.

It's this song. It's Ray.

Odd, but it's not the same familiarity she's accustomed to.

For it's like a wind chasing down the dandelion. It's whistled.

Frozen by realization, brace yourself with a little prayer.

It just may be. And it may just be.....

Ode To An Orange Moon

In the furthest of distance,
An orange half moon I gazed.
Inhaling crisp air of a breezy night,
My thoughts wandered to wonder.
That if from where you stand,
You can witness what I see.
Then in time, you will be in unison with me.
Slowly falling for it too...