Friday, May 25, 2012

Friday Peace Vigil, Youngstown, OH, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
YOUNGSTOWN, OH
Friday, May 25, 2012
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Midlothian Blvd. & Southern Blvd.

Ray Nakley (330-506-1999) and Ron Dull (330-518-9881) will hold their weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, May 25, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the corner of Midlothian Blvd. & Southern Blvd. Youngstown, OH. They invite anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join them. Hold out positive thoughts for that!


This week:
Another week, a few more steps forward. We’ve just signed tenants for the manufactured home I’ve mentioned on this blog before. Since they’re moving to the bigger home from one of our duplex units, we’ll be looking for a tenant for that place next month. Still, we’re very happy about this development. Otherwise, I’m taking care of little administrative things. I hope to clear this list in the next couple of weeks or so, and then get back to some of my work, sharing my thoughts on this blog. Stay tuned!
Positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Friday Peace Vigil, Youngstown, OH, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
YOUNGSTOWN, OH
Friday, May 18, 2012
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Downtown on the Square (Federal Plaza E. & Wick Ave.)

Ray Nakley (330-506-1999) and Ron Dull (330-518-9881) will hold their weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, May 18, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the corner of Downtown on the Square (Federal Plaza E. & Wick Ave.), Youngstown, OH. They invite anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join them. Hold out positive thoughts for that!


This week:

Weather in southern Arizona is sliding steadily from spring into full summer, my best time of year. Since this is the first hot season when I’ve had Jim to help with household projects, we’re plowing through that great mound of things that grew to immense proportions through the long years we’ve been together. Everything’s going into one of three piles: donate, recycle, or discard.

We’re doing everything possible to make sure the first pile is largest and the last one the smallest. Fortunately, our house backs up to an old-fashioned alley. If we can’t find anything else to do with a particular item that still seems to have some purpose to it, Jim will just set it out beside the community trash barrel, and in no time at all, it disappears into some other household.

There it will no doubt haunt another hapless family until they grow as old as we are now and realize they have too much stuff chaining them to this unreal plane. We wish them the best, and hope they get at least as much good out of these items as we did--or at least, dreamed of doing once upon a time when we first brought it into our world.

If all goes well, when it’s time for either of us to go, we hope to travel light. We won’t need all that baggage in the next plane, and we don’t want anything to hold us back when we hear the inevitable call. But never fear. Neither of us is in a hurry to go. We’ve still got plenty of things besides possessions to keep us busy here. On the other hand, the less stuff we’re saddled with, the easier our work will be, anywhere we are.

So, bye-bye, all you pesky little material possessions. We’ll probably miss you for a minute or two. Then we’ll get on with the rest of this existence and enjoy doing whatever is left for a couple of broken-down old geezers like us to do.

Positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Monday, April 30, 2012

April: National Child Abuse Prevention Month

I can’t let the month of April pass without posting something about child abuse and the need to help those poor innocents who can’t help themselves. So, before the national consciousness becomes lost in the ubiquitous hype of honoring moms and dads, many of whom don’t deserve such positive attention, I’m posting a reprint of an essay I wrote for my column in the Arizona City Independent/Edition and later reprinted in my essay collection, The World I Imagine: A creative manual for ending poverty and building peace. Here, then, is a reminder of our responsibility to the children in need of protection:



REMEMBER THE CHILDREN

Each year our national consciousness is directed to the celebration of parents. Institutions ranging from local churches to retail stores tell us to "Remember Mom" and "Don’t Forget Dad."

No doubt many parents deserve respect for their sacrifices in raising children. But what of those children who are abused by their parents? What do victims owe to the people who torture them in so many ways?

Most people know Mothers Day is celebrated in May and Fathers Day in June. But did you know that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month? I wasn’t aware of it, though I’m an adult survivor of abuse.

My relatives’ attempts to continue punishing me for my illness, after all the years I’d suffered their physical abuse and medical neglect, continued into my 50s. Though they’re responsible for the extent of my disability, I fought them as I’d always done, by trying to talk sensibly to people who’ll never accept me as a human being with basic civil rights. Until their attitude changes, I’ve had to accept that my first duty is to protect myself from their toxicity, which only exacerbates my medical condition. The choice is theirs.

One day I’ll share my story, but for now, I want to introduce some basic facts about abuse. Perhaps I can help someone who needs to understand that if it’s happening to them or to someone they love, they have a right to do what they must to make it stop.

Perhaps the biggest myth that prevents abuse victims from getting protection, especially from their own parents, is the claim that "parents give children life." Thus, all children are expected to respect their parents, even when parents so completely disrespect their own children.

My favorite response to this claim comes from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1923, 1951), in his poem "On Children":

"They come through you but not from you,

"And though they are with you yet they belong not to you."

Though Gibran never uses the word in this poem, his vivid imagery credits the source of life as God:

"You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

"The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far."

Thus, it is not parents who give children life but the Creator. Children are a gift from God, and parents must treat them with tender loving care. Abusing a child is a rejection of that precious gift, an act of disrespect toward the Great Giver of Life.

Though the 20th chapter of Exodus, in verse 5, connects "iniquity of the fathers" to idol worship, I often wonder if the warning that "visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me" (KJV) refers to the fact that the abuse of children--rejection of God’s most sacred Gift to humans--tends to run in families, since parents who abuse children are likely to have been abused themselves.

On the other hand, abused children don’t necessarily become abusers too. The behavior can be unlearned; the cycle can be broken. It is a matter of education and choice. But if we don’t talk about it, it cannot be eradicated, and victims will never find a way out of the cycle of abuse.

It’s important to note that no matter what form abuse takes, the goal is always the same: power. Abusers have an inordinate need to control someone who can’t fight back. Abuse, whether verbal, physical, sexual, or medical, is merely the tool that the abuser uses to exercise control over someone they consider weak, which is the only way abusers can feel powerful about themselves.

Abusers become angry when victims speak out, but it is the only way to protect their victims and stop the abuse. That’s why we must bring the issue into the light and teach children to stand up for themselves and speak out until they find someone to protect them. Children must understand that anyone can be an abuser: strangers, friends, and relatives--especially parents. Children must be taught that when they’re betrayed by the people they should be able to trust more than anyone else, parents lose the right to their loyalty and respect.

In the world I imagine, poverty ("the worst violence," according to Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi) will be a distant memory and war will be a mere footnote in the history books. In such a society, abusive parents will be exposed and children will be protected from harm. Then, and only then, can we build a truly peaceful society throughout the world.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, April 13, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Arizola Rd.. & E. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, April 13, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Arizola Rd. & E. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!


This week:

Last week in this space, I committed myself to finish cutting fabric for a couple of garments I plan to sew. I’m delighted to report that I’ve finished cutting the first one and should be done with the second over the weekend. Then I can get to the far easier part of the job, actually sewing up all the pieces of my new robe and dress.

This Friday’s peace vigil is Tony Fasline’s final vigil for the 2011-2012 season here in nice warm Casa Grande, AZ. Next week, he’ll join the many ‘flocks’ of ‘snowbirds’ who fly back to their chilly northern homes for the warm months of the year. He plans to join his many friends who demonstrate for peace each week in and around the Youngstown area. In recent months they’ve also partnered with the local Occupy group, so Tony will be sending me reports of both those activities throughout the summer months.

Meanwhile, Tony promises to return to Arizona in the fall and continue standing vigil for peace at various street corners around Casa Grande from late 2012 into the spring of 2013. And I’ll share news about all these events on a regular basis. So, keep checking back, because we’re holding onto the dream of a world without poverty and war, where everyone enjoys the benefits of prosperity and peace throughout the planet.

Meanwhile, remember to check out all my videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

I hope to have more posted pretty soon. That’s another task on the dream list. Just got to keep on moving forward!

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, April 6, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Colorado St.. & W. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, April 6, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Colorado St. & W. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!



This week:

Last week, I made a pact with my (baby) sister, who lives up in the cold north (brr!), that we’ll both get back to our respective sewing projects. Lately we’d both put off this more enjoyable but productive task while we caught up with taxes and other accounts, so it will be easier to do our taxes next year. Meanwhile, I’m focusing my unconscious mind on where I want to take my writing from this point. I’ll be posting more of my own stuff here after I get a couple of patterns cut out so I can spend my late-night hours alternating between my sewing machine on one side of my workroom and my computer on the other side.
Otherwise, all I need is for my old Swiss-cheese brain cells to start focusing on ideas and facts. Simple as that. Wish me luck, everybody!

Meanwhile, remember to check out all my videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

I hope to have more posted pretty soon. That’s another task on the dream list. Just got to keep on moving forward!

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, March 30, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Trekell Rd.. & W. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, March 30, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Trekell Rd. & W. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!

This week:

Wow! Taxes done and filed, a string of doctors updated on our health, and 2012 Major League Baseball season now underway–sort of, since spring training is still in session even though two official games are already in the books. This week I’ve started on some projects I’ve wanted to work on for a while: especially tackling that mess in my office. I’d appreciate any positive thoughts about a beautifully organized work space being sent my way. Such a miracle might never take place, but one can always dream!

Meanwhile, remember to check out all my videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

I hope to have more posted pretty soon. That’s another task on the dream list. Just got to keep on moving forward!

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Friday Peace Vigil, Casa Grande, AZ, and surrounding area:

PEACE VIGIL
CASA GRANDE, AZ
Friday, March 16, 2012
4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
N. Pinal Ave.. & W. Florence Blvd.

Tony Fasline (520-426-0070) will hold his weekly Peace Vigil this Friday, March 16, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m., at the corner of N. Pinal Ave. & W. Florence Blvd. in Casa Grande, AZ. Tony invites anyone who is interested in showing their support for ending conflict in the world to join him. Hold out positive thoughts for that!

This week:

I have only one goal this week: finish those income taxes! Everything else waits till that task is off my plate and my agenda! At that time, I plan to do more videos. Until then, if you haven’t seen the ones I’ve already finished and posted, be sure to check these out:

We still haven’t found a qualified tenant for our last vacant rental home. If you’re in the Arizona City/Casa Grande area and would like to live in a beautiful 2026 square foot manufactured with 4-bedrooms, a huge master retreat, 2 full bathrooms, huge kitchen and laundry room and comfortable living room, formal dining area, and family room, take the video tour and learn all the details here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6X629-mkA

And don’t forget to check out my other videos in this YouTube account. My favorites are the latest ones that I’ve made right here at home:

Speech Is Not Always Free: Living with a hidden disability but still a useful, productive, contributing citizen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEayDKlLYw

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 1: The Religious Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVkiNU9J48

Gay Marriage: Why the Right Has Got It All Wrong (Part 2: The Secular Issues):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbrI5NquTQ

And of course, here’s my February 3rd video and interview during Tony’s weekly peace vigil:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7shGDgzGXsQ

Meanwhile, send out your positive thoughts and, for those who are believers, prayers for all the suffering souls all around the world!