politics

lens-artists: phone photography

Over the past year a current events discussion group has opened up a number of challenging questions for me: 1) how to move from an understanding and then to thinking and feeling acceptance that each person sees and understands identical situations differently as told within the parable of the Six Blind Men and the Elephant? 2) is there a moral imperative within politics that includes elements of responsibility (short and long term) of actions, empathy and compassion for all life that is harmed (physically, mentally, and emotional), and guiding principles of shame and fear of one’s immoral actions that override the energy of self direction toward a greater connection with humanity? 3) how do I unite the elephant with the diversity of moral principles?

At this point you may be asking, “What does this have to do with phone photography?” Well … yeah …. maybe … these questions do validate that I spend way too much time in my head as well as an excessive amount of time alone. Yet, how does one turn off this search for congruence while world events are like rip currents, undertows, and rip tides that clash with my moral principles and leave me with an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.

I resist these tides of hate-filled political and self serving actions that attempt to erode the who of me and the humanity of we.

Yet, since the camera’s eye has opened me to different ways of seeing and moments of gasping beauty could this phone photography challenge invited me begin to explore the first question; that is, to begin to explore how to move out of my conceptions of the restrictive creative use of phones, “they are only good for happy snaps of people, flowers, and places” to engage with different perspectives?

A phone’s happy snap as seen during a photowalk:

to the morning’s sun relationship with a light switch?

Thank you Tina for this week’s lens-artists’ challenge as it was great fun exploring the camera in ways I never thought possible.

a dove-grey morning of mourning


It was a perfect morning – a dove-gray sky with the amazing saturation of reds, oranges, and yellows … a braking car, a Pepsi truck, Target’s target …


A dove-gray morning that felt like 31 degrees with its 3 mph SSE breeze and 51% precipitation.


A dove-gray morning with the chilly tickle of the breeze upon my face as I walked sure footed in barefoot shoes and freed from hip and knee arthritic pain … a temporary release from the imprisonments of fading health.


A dove-gray morning with blooming trees filled with Spring’s whites and purple blossoms that seemingly woke during the night as I slumbered.


A dove-grey morning that carried the silent memories of fog horns, condensed-covered windows, pajama breakfasts with melting buttered waffles, maple syrup, bacon, rich dark coffee, unique scent of the newspaper, and the medley of sounds — crunchy folded newspaper, laughter, and voices of morning kitchen reunions from slumber to wakie-wakieness.


A gray-dove morning with unknown and unheard sounds of explosions as drones fill the sky; fear-filled, pain-filled screams intermixing with crumbling buildings … lives forever traumatized … all deafened by distance voices filling the air, “keep blowing them away” – “keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy.”

A gray-dove morning with a 9 year old bully in his ill-fitting Sunday clothes at the helm.

A gray-dove morning where more than 1,900 people have been killed and at least 20,000 injured in Iran.” …”more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced nearly 1 million, 20% of the country’s entire population, creating a humanitarian crisis.”

A dove-grey morning of mourning

The Two Guardians of the World

The two guardians of the world – the bright states that protect the world – moral shame and moral fear.

The Buddha shared that a sense of shame and the fear of blame are two bright states that protect the world. Having a sense of shame means that we refrain from doing evil because we do not want to harm ourselves. It is because we wish to preserve our self-respect that we develop a sense of shame. We wish to be respected by others, so we develop the fear of blame.

When there is a leader who does not ask his predecessor to give him advice of how to govern, he will rule according to his own opinion which sets the stage for a decline in morality and consequently the quality of peoples’ lives. If we look at the world today, the two guardians of the world are fading away.

We have stories of immoral characters who go unpunished.

We begin to see and hear of increasing violence in its manifestation of negation of others, verbal and physical abuse, threats, power and control, and murder.

There are increasing rigid polarizations within families, between friends, and among neighbors and strangers.

There are reports of increasing incidents of racism.

There is a growing absence of social governance and increasing incidents of lawlessness; as well as, a growing sense of distrust, fear, anger, isolation, and sadness.

Looking to find resolution we find that government figures are more concerned with winning votes than with governing.

Some religious leaders seem ready to do almost anything to accommodate their followers while others resort to fanaticism.

What are the variables that can begin to nudge us out of this time of discontent? Faith, virtue, a sense of shame, the fear of blame, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom, compassion, and/or loving-kindness?

~reference: The Two Guardians of the World

the field outside my window…

Outside my window looking eastward is a field …once a hay field that silently told stories of seasonal changes. My favorite was during time of haying as it awakened childhood memories of harvesting … especially of those times of baling.

All of this ended when the construction of a new housing development began with dust and noise and then the absence of the hawk soaring through the late afternoon sky. After that it became a time of remembering when I was 7, and the sense of okay-ness to wander over to work sites accompanied with childhood curiosity, “what ya doin’?” during the beginning stages of construction.

Then … the clock towers ... of importance, of course, was the building of the tower right across the street and questions about possible blocking of the eastern horizon’s dawn. So a shift from my year long photo project from …

the morning’s sun north to south – south to north travels to a focus on a section of the horizon – away from the clock tower which began to look like a prison guard tower.

Yet, this morning as I pulled the drapes open with joyful anticipation suddenly silenced by …

feeding america

Oatmeal, walnuts, sugar

Mother Earth, sunshine, and rain

in my breakfast bowl

Did you know 1 in 6 military and Veteran families experience food insecurity? Many of these families are forced to choose between paying their bills or putting food on the table.

During a research project for a sociology class while an undergraduate at San Diego City College in 1982, I was stunned to learn that many enlisted Navy Families relied on Food Stamps to feed their families. I found myself questioning then and again now the justification for service personnel whose lives are on the line for all of us to be experiencing food insecurity.

I recently learned that Navy Federal Credit Union is partnering with Feeding America to get more meals to those in need in the military community. With a little help from augmented reality (AR), you can join them in their mission to help combat hunger for Veteran and military families

March 23, 2023

Utah Governor Signs New Laws to Protect Children From the Harms of Social Media Usage

Utah took aggressive steps on March 23, 2023 to rein in teens’ social media use when Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation designed to limit kids’ social media exposure, including a 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. curfew on social media use and age verification requirements.

East High students march on State Capitol and call for gun control a day after school shooting (March 23, 2023)

“We just buried Luis”: East High parents, students fume after another shooting and call for stricter security

  • More than 100,000 American children attended a school at which a shooting took place in 2018 and 2019.
  • Research indicates a higher rate of antidepressant use among those exposed to a school shooting in the years following the gun violence.
  • School shootings lead to drops in student enrollment and a decline in average test scores.
  • School shootings also lead to an increase in student absenteeism and the likelihood of needing to repeat a grade in the two following years.
  • Students exposed to shootings at their schools are less likely to graduate high school, go to college, and graduate college, and they are less likely to be employed and have lower earnings in their mid-20s.

Postscript

In 2019, authorities within CHINA restricted minors to playing 90 minutes a day on weekdays and banned them from playing between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. In 2021, they issued restrictions in which minors are allowed to play online games for only an hour a day and only on Fridays, weekends and public holidays. Game approvals were halted for eight months.

it feels as though…

I’ve been stuck in a family’s surgical waiting room since November 3, 2020. Today as I wait for the results of the Electoral College I fear that a widespread uncritical acceptance of questionable concepts is tearing our county apart.

I’ve also come to fear that the foundation of our democracy was built from a “gentlemen’s agreement” and not upon laws as this anxiety-filled waiting now extends to January 6th when the the vice president, as assigned by the Constitution, tallies the Electoral College results and declares a winner.

Putting aside uncritical acceptance, laws, and gentleman’s agreements would there be a coming together of beliefs so that we may begin to heal in unity if our leaders practiced the qualities listed below?

▪ Charity — Willingness to sacrifice one’s interest for the good of the people.

▪ Morality — Maintaining a high moral order in one’s personal conduct. 

▪ Altruism — Generosity toward people, avoiding selfishness.

▪ Honesty — Fulfilling one’s duties with loyalty and integrity. 

▪ Gentleness — Being kind and gentle, never arrogant. 

▪ Self-control — Performing one’s duties with dispassion. 

▪ Non-anger — Remaining calm in the midst of confusion. 

▪ Nonviolence — Being nonviolent, not persecuting the people

▪ Forbearance — Practicing patience in one’s duties. 

▪ Uprightness — Respecting public opinion, promoting harmony.

Just saying as I wait, wait, and wait ….

Wet’suwet’en’s resistance

As the Government refuses to move an inch continuing the resistance is critical! 

facebook
Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/2000s 85mm 800 ISO

“The BC and Federal Governments have abruptly stepped away from talks that were scheduled for this week as the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary chiefs justly stated they would not ask other Nations to stand down as a precondition to having Nation to Nation talks. 

“Powerful actions and a widespread will to struggle against injustice have proliferated in response to the raid on Tyendinaga as anger grows at the Government’s use of force and steadfast refusal to negotiate in good faith. 

“The Government’s demand that blockades end for talks to begin illustrate how powerful this movement is and how afraid they are of widespread and sustained Indigenous resistance. The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary chiefs have asked for people to continue to act in support of their demands.   

“… people have risen up in defiance of colonial injunctions and set up new rail and road blockades across the country: Over 500 people shut down rail traffic in Toronto, The Port of Vancouver was shut down for over 24 hours, Kahnawake Mohawks reinforced their barricades in response to an injunction, Indigenous youth retook the BC Legislature vowing to stay until Nation to Nation talks occur, and new rail blockades went up in Chase, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, Hamilton, Gitxsan territory, Lennoxville among many other incredible actions. 

“As police begin to act more aggressively towards new blockades many people have made tactical temporary retreats avoiding arrests and setting themselves up to continue to struggle in a sustained fashion.” 

cited: facebook

this is OUR LAND…

It is time to fight for our land, our lives, our children, our future. 

FB
speaking to the media

Cited from fb

“Canada invades. Invades on behalf of industry. Invades during ceremony. Canada tears us from our land. Tears us from our families, from our homes. Takes our drums away. Takes our women away. Jails us for protecting the land, for being in ceremony, for honouring our ancestors. 

Unist’ot’en Women Arrested in ceremony

On February 10, RCMP invaded unceded Unist’ot’en territory, arresting and forcibly removing Freda Huson (Chief Howilhkat), Brenda Michell (Chief Geltiy), Dr. Karla Tait, and four Indigenous land defenders from our yintah. They were arrested in the middle of a ceremony to honour the ancestors. Police tore down the red dresses that were hung to hold the spirits of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two spirit people. They extinguished our sacred fire. 

We have had enough. Enough dialogue, discussion, negotiation at the barrel of a gun. Canada comes to colonize. Reconciliation is dead.

It is time to fight for our land, our lives, our children, our future. 
Revolution lives.”