Life and Pain

There is no escaping some level of pain in life, be it mental, emotional or physical; therefore doesn't it make sense to do the least harm possible? Why add to it?

Just by being alive we will cause some harm. For example, just walking down the road likely involves the death of some kind of insect. Therefore, why slaughter an animal when you don't need to? Why steal cows' milk when it is unnecessary for human health? Why plunder the sea for fish when you can go right to the source and eat algae? And so on!

Why make life harder by creating and promoting hierarchical societies where some have plenty and others are wanting? Food, shelter, education and healthcare are fundamental needs and should be easily accessible to all. Politicians work for us. We hired them. They should represent the needs of the people, not soulless corporations and their infinite greed. Our taxes should go to benefiting the societies we live in, not funding billionaires and wars. Shouldn't the wellbeing of children be an unspoken must for humanity. Their future requires a stable and loving present.

Why not make life as easy, enjoyable and fulfilling as possible for everyone by cultivating caring communities that welcome individuality? No one is special, but we are all unique. And we need each other.

It's wrong to think humans are fundamentally aggressive and there's no way to change that. Violence is an aspect of human nature that shouldn't be nurtured. If a culture nurtures violence then you get a culture of violence that plays on this part of human nature.

I understand that violence can be an expression of unfathomable pain and anger, but in a healthy society such depths would never be reached.   

Anger can be necessary to fuel the fire of change. But in excess, the bearer of these emotions is negatively affected along with their community and wider communities. It creates a never-ending circle of problems that get passed on. 

Think about it,

Abdul El-Sayed is the first Muslim ever elected to the US Senate. 

The land of "liberty for all" has its halls of power gatekept by white, middle-aged Christian men. What a disgrace!

Yes, the US is known for being racist and bigoted, so no surprise. Nonetheless, when you really let it sink in, it's quite shocking that this terrible status quo has continued largely unchallenged, along with all the bigoted and racist comments about an opposition candidate.   

It's irrelevant what religion, age, or gender a politician is. These should not be talking points of an election. What matters is what they say and, more importantly, what they do. And I hope that El-Sayed lives up as much as he possibly can to what he said he would do (not just, in the end, being another capitalist warmonger like Obama and Hillary, for example). El-Sayed isn't socialist enough (he stated he was a capitalist), but, let's hope, he's a promising step in the right direction. Do I dare be hopeful?  

It's, at least, heartening to see that people were not swayed by divisive rhetoric. 

People's hearts and minds have been opened by the horrific and depraved violence inflicted on the Palestinians and the despicable lies told to defend and deflect.

Free Palestine!

Free the world!

Happy Halloween-Samhain Greetings

 

A Micro History of Halloween

Bound for the New World, they boarded ships, away from Ireland, away from famine. Their belongings were scant, but their lore was plenty and Halloween arrived in America. The Celtic Festival of Samhain (sow-wen) absorbed by the church.

All Saints’ Eve, All Hallows’ Eve, Halloween; Samhain is at their core. The end of a lunar year. The split between the light time and the dark. The thinning veil between this world and the Other. Samhain, three nights of ritual and revelry under a full, autumnal moon.

Turnips now pumpkins; commercialised, plasticized and much-loved; Halloween returned home as an American holiday.   

THE ONES WHO WERE HERE

 

 Halloween in County Roscommon, Ireland

As darkness shrouds the land, the others emerge, one by one, slipping through the now open portal of Uaimh na gCat.

It is the night of Samhain and some come to wreak havoc on the countryside, some to visit their loved ones still of flesh.

Or these are the stories told.  

Face close to the window, a boy searches the night for them. Monsters? Spirits? He hopes for a spirit. But could you imagine seeing an actual monster? He knows there is a hawthorn tree out there in a dark field that guards the even darker entrance to the cave. The true home of Halloween, the night when the gate between this world and the other opens. Liam has known this since he can remember. Every October as the days grew shorter his granddad had told him the stories of Samhain.

 “As the dark time takes hold, the otherworld stirs until, overwhelmed with a yearn for freedom, they pace with a ferocious restlessness, waiting, waiting.”

Eyes wide, Liam always asked the same question. “Did you ever see them?”

Granddad was quiet a moment. “Sometimes I sensed them, but after your granny passed, I swear I saw her.” He stood and pointed to the front gate. “There. Just standing there.”

 

A shiver moves through Liam. Of fear, yes, but equally excitement. And longing. While the other children don costumes and go door to door gathering sweets, Liam watches and waits.  Will Granddad be among the spirits? His cap and a glass of whiskey have been placed on a table by his chair.

“He really took those stories to heart,” he hears his mammy say. “Those two were cut from the same cloth.”

His dad mumbles something, walks into the sitting room and once again offers to take him into town for trick-or-treating. “Are ya sure?”

Liam nods. Two mini chocolate bars are placed before him and his dad’s sturdy hand pats him on the shoulder. The scent of brack wafts into the room. Liam pictures the loaf set out to cool. He looks forward to a slice later, but now he must watch. Next to him, the glowing eyes of a carved turnip also keep vigil.

 

KEEP IN MIND THAT

the county called Israel may be small, 

BUT

it is armed to the teeth by the US,

it has nuclear bombs, but refuses to confirm that fact,

it has incarcerated around 10 thousand Palestinians without due process (including children),

it is murdering Palestinians in Gaza even during a so-called ceasefire, 

it has soldiers on film admitting to horrendous war crimes and crimes against humanity,

it is illegally occupying the West Bank and terrorizing and murdering the Palestinians who live there, 

it spends millions on pro Israel propaganda,

its citizens are deeply indoctrinated,

its borders are not fixed,

some politicians and citizens have expansionist goals for a greater Israel, "the most extreme definition of Greater Israel: between the Nile and the Euphrates" (Al Jazeera 26/02/26).

for all this biblical talk about reclaiming the "homeland," when you have to displace, torture, imprison, rape, maim and murder to reclaim your "little" homeland, then maybe it’s not a great idea and certainly indefensible. For all this talk about it being a sanctuary for Jewish people, this month, a gang of Jewish Israeli terrorists beat up a Jewish journalist in the West Bank.

It's very telling that many of the descendants of colonialists (UK, US) refer to anyone who resists colonialism as a terrorist, yet would be the first ones to violently defend their land if another people tried to take it. Of course, they would refer to their own actions as noble and manly. 

According to international law, as occupiers committing acts of aggression, Israel does not have the right to defend itself. But Palestinians, as an occupied people and victims of said aggression, do!

https://www.cjpme.org/fs_236

Countries do not have a right to exist (morally or legally). People do! 

Anthropocentric Climate Change and Environmental Degradation

We were warned about climate change in the 1800s.

ExxonMobil has been funding climate change denial since 1980.

 

"Between 1998 and 2004, ExxonMobil granted $16 million to advocacy organizations which disputed the impact of global warming" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExxonMobil_climate_change_denial).

First environmental activist making a speech was a young girl in the 90s, Severn Cullis-Suzuki, thirty years before Greta. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGdS8ts63Ck&t=4s. 

I had never heard her speech before, but in it she says something that took me until adulthood to realise. A few years back I recall thinking how as children we are taught to share and be respectful to other humans, animals and the earth. Yet, as adults so many defend greed as just the way humans are, and destruction of the earth as just the way things are if you want progress. We expect our children to be more mature than adults and have a stronger moral compass.

You can't believe or disbelieve a fact. You can only choose to accept or deny it.

A book and a YouTuber worth checking out. 

"Losing Earth: A Recent History"

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/41940347-losing-earth

Simon Clarke

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRRr_xrOm66qaigIbwFLvbQ

Mother Earth's Night Terrors

 

Mother Earth awoke with a start,

reached out a hand and clutched her heart.

Terrible images swirled in her head,

poisoned waters, illness and dread.

Lands scarred, bombed and dried up,

humans sneering, twisted and corrupt.

Oh, my children it was just something I dreamed,

then she looked out the window and screamed.

Keep in mind

that Palestinians do not have to be perfect to be liberated. No human does; no human is. Freedom is an unconditional human right and you cannot criminalize and demonise a people for resisting occupation and ethnic cleansing. I'll say it again, if perfection is the criterion for existing, then goodbye humans.

that Palestinians have a right to be angry about their plight. They have a legal right to defend themselves. 

that in the midst of a genocide, a US charity in Gaza, funded by Israelis, intends to use AI to monitor "hateful" speech about Israel in classrooms.

https://apnews.com/article/gaza-children-village-ai-speech-schools-7a41b3986524877b3e7ade7985853c53

that never again, never happened!

that countries don't have a right to exist, people do!

that Trump and Hegseth are also responsible for the deaths of US soldiers. Will they stream their own executions?

that if you haven't been paying attention to what's going on in Palestine for the last three years, please don't offer an opinion. Inform yourself!

that Israel has swiftly come out with a propaganda version of "NAZA," titled "NAZA, The Full Story," to confuse and mislead the public. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/08/israel-promotes-film-that-mimics-naza-documentary

that the original, award winning film will be free to stream on the Guardian website in late November. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIBRLEEaueo 

that members of the former Biden administration are working to rehabilitate their image regarding their role in aiding and abetting the Gaza genocide. Don't fall for it. They are guilty and should face justice.

that the outrage most people feel about being manipulated and deceived by those in power is the correct conclusion and emotional response. Where too many go wrong, though, is the false conclusions they draw. Immigrants, Muslims, Jews, trans and any other scapegoated/marginalised people are not the cause of the terrible state of the world, despite what any political party or their online shills and media outlets want you to believe. Governments and corporations are the culprits, be they Democrats, Republicans or their equivalents worldwide. Their insatiable greed and runaway corruption are destroying humans, non-human animals and the planet. Time for something new!

that Gaza and the West Bank are laboratories for surveillance, suppression and weaponry. How to inflict sustained cruelty on a population. And for anyone that can't muster up concern for those of Arab descent, don't fool yourself that this isn't coming west.  

that the Netanyahu government is the true face of Israel. Do not allow the Zionists to make him the fall guy.

that no one expected Ed Sheeran to say anything about Palestine, he only had to stand up for his friend and fellow artist by saying if Macklemore goes, we all go.

that Metallica have many anti war (political) songs and that by saying what he said on stage, James Hetfield was being political and gave all the Zionists political fodder. He also got everyone talking about something he didn't want to talk about. Just shut up if you must, but don't talk about shutting up.

that the powerful (the subjects of the protests) count on a societal aversion to images of burning buildings and rampaging youth. They know how to use the media to stoke up fear, disgust, division and confusion. They know to bring in police and agitators to incite violence. But keep in mind that an aggressive/violent form of activism does not diminish the core message. The core message remains unchanged despite the behaviour of the message bearers. 

And keep in mind that the word race (as in human categorisation) had no meaning until the late 18 century.