Mab of Dream

Today, fox-hunting in England and Wales became illegal. There are some get out clauses, for example, they can still hunt as long as they shoot the fox, after having the dogs flush it out, instead of letting it be torn apart by the dogs. Breakfast TV was full of people, who obviously don't realize how psychopathic they sound, being interview in full hunting regalia yesterday.

"Foxes are vermin!"

"We will continue hunting within the law until such time as the law is overturned and we can return to traditional hunting."

Trouble is, last time I heard the word 'vermin' was in the lecture by a holocaust survivor, in which she was saying that she and her family were considered vermin. It's not a word I really encounter elsewhere. I'm not trying to compare the two here, just pointing out that the word 'vermin' is only ever used by a person trying to justify the taking of a life somewhere.

Yesterday, the Surrey hunt alone tore apart seven foxes. All the hunts were out to enjoy the last day when they could sadistically kill something within the confines of the law.

I thought I'd be more ecstatic than this, because it's something I've been fighting since I was 12-13. I am smiling here, but... seven foxes were torn apart by the Surrey hunt yesterday... *stops smiling*

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Also this week, Kyoto has come into force. Everyone is really happy about this one, but each news report, each conversation etc has the line in there somewhere - the world's biggest pollutor has refused to ratify it. The underlying part of this is that you now no longer have to be in Iraq or Afghanistan for an American to kill you; it's global, it's real and it's all America's fault. Everywhere you look, it's being spelt out PRECISELY what Kyoto is trying to forestall. Britain is evil too, but we signed up to Kyoto, which makes us less evil than America. America is trying to kill us. All of us.

I think that's the basic underlying message being rammed into each and every one of us now. The jokes have been doing the rounds for years, but they are really picking up this week. And I AM desensitized now. I spotted that this week... well... this morning... and I hadn't even noticed. On an academic level, that's fascinating; on a human level, that's shameful.

When the jokes first started coming out, I'd sit there thinking, 'You're dehumanizing the Americans, this is bad. This is how genocide starts, just a scale of things.' But these many years down the line, it's occurred to me this morning that I must have some mental division going on in my head. American does NOT mean any of my friends (who happen to have been born and bred in America), it's the others. I think that when I consider them as Americans, I have a whole different meaning than when I think of Americans per se. I no longer look at the jokes and think bad/dehumanizing/genocide, I might instead have a wry smile, then delete them without passing them on.

What's just given me the wake up call of the century is that two of these jokes made it to a group where I didn't know any of my American friends were. Morganna Skye has just delurked for the first time ever to defend her country. And she's right. It's like a wall has just collapsed in my head - if Morganna feels like she has to make a stand, then she's offended. She can only be offended if she's American. That joke is about Americans full stop... not just the Bush administration. Not just the Republicans. It's about people I love to bits like Morganna Skye as well.

'And what's one more dead soldier in the endless scheme of things?
It means one less pair of eyes which are open, and cannot shut,
In the kingdom of the blind.' (Joolz)

I think I've been sojourning in the kingdom of the blind. Now I just have to re-learn that people whom I love to bits are also American.

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Talking about great Americans, other than Morganna Skye, who made her point very well. There's also Pixie, who, having read my previous blog, e-mailed me and ended up looking at my finances. She pointed out several places where I was not only over-complicating things, but where I couldn't possibly work out reliably what was in there and what needed paying. By the time she'd finished with it, even I'm not confused anymore. :-D I managed a whole day yesterday without spending hours in utter confusion and frustration over money. YAY!

I also had Andrea, Seren Lleuad and Aud offer to help too. I have some great friends! :-D But Pixie's sorted it.

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Talking about great friends, I'm still loving my Jedi robes. I've now got my eye on the tunic for underneath. Things to buy plan: * Fix car * Get three certificates for genealogy * Then order the tunic. I'm going to try and save up to get it before August, so I can wear it at Shambala.

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Talking about Shambala, I think I need a holiday. I've had half a dozen people, from different places, tell me to stop worrying or stop stressing, within the past 24 hours. I didn't think I was. Georgia reckons I'm being more intense than normal and that just looks like stress to the uninitiated.

Hey! I'm intense!

:-D

Mind you, the thing I was aiming for was hedonistic and laid back... I've set off in the wrong direction again, haven't I? Mmmm... u-turn!

yours
Mab
xxxxx