Madam Jane predicts: It's time to leave....

Last night, the wise and all-knowing Madam Jane stayed up until 5:00 am in the morning playing computer solitaire. "What in the freak did you do that for?" I asked her. "You know that your brain is gonna be all wrecked and worthless the next day." But Madam Jane just shrugged.

"After having played computer solitaire for seven or eight hours straight, in that spooky twilight time just before dawn, my brain goes into a weird hazy fugue state and I start to see through the veil that stands between us mere mortals and The Future -- as if through a glass darkly," she replied. Yeah right.

"And what I am seeing now is not good. With this new neo-con 'Massachusetts Miracle' election victory brought to us courtesy of Diebold, plus the Supreme Court decision to open the floodgates of lobby money available to Congress and the foreboding return of Karl Rove and his boys, I predict that the average American is gonna be even more screwed over in the future than he or she already is now." But are you sure that Diebold stole the election??? Never mind. Nobody seems to even care anyway -- least of all the losing Dems.

"Between Diebold Republicans owning most our voting machines and most of our Supreme Court," the Madam glumly continued, "plus 65% of our nation's wealth being spent on guns that kill people for fun and profit, the economy tanking into the pockets of the bankers, all those sweetness-and-light lies about how wonderful neo-cons are that are being spewed out at us by Fox News and corporatist-shill talk-show hosts braying 24-7 that all our problems are being caused by emasculated sissies who still believe in justice, honesty, fair play and kindness, we're pretty much all gonna be doomed fairly soon."

Guess what, Madam Jane? I didn't have to stay up to 5:00 am numbing my brain with computer solitaire to be able to tell you that! Americans seem to love having their pockets picked by rich guys in Washington and their homes foreclosed on by Wall-Street-sponsored "populists". It's like Ron White the comedian says. "There ain't no cure for stupid."

Of course it's easy for almost anyone -- even those born without The Sight -- to see all of America's problems. "But just exactly what, Madam Jane, do you suggest that we DO about all this? Did you see any rays of hope or any plans of action at all while gazing into your new computer-solitaire-generated crystal ball?" Did you?

Then M.J. adjusted her turban and glared at me with those flaming-hot all-knowing deep gypsy eyes. Then she sighed. "As a matter of fact I did. I saw it all. And there's no hope left. And it's time to get out." Fine. But where, exactly, are we all supposed to go to? The neo-cons' One World Order globalized march to the ends of the earth has pretty much taken over the entire planet. Between the World Bank, the IMF, the Pentagon's 500-odd bases in almost every country in the world, the corporatists' and oil companies' stranglehold on most natural resources, the decay of the dollar everywhere, the CIA-sponsored covert ops hovering around on almost every street corner from Tasmania to Greenland and whatever all else is going on, just exactly where are we supposed to be going to get away from this mess? The neo-cons have pretty much pooped in the nest everywhere."

"Well, I'm thinking that going to the moon would be a rather nice change of pace...."

Or you could take the easy way out like most Americans seem to be doing -- put your head in the sand, do nothing at all and kill time shopping while you're waiting around to die.

PS: Me and my family went off in search of the illusive Madam Jane but couldn't find her. We looked all over the Lawrence Hall of Science of course -- what could be more scientific than a psychic mind-reader! And here's the video to prove it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLLNqiBHP-Q

PPS: When my friends David and Pia visited me from Italy this week, we all went out and treated ourselves to a "Weekday Combination Breakfast" at the Homemade Cafe. "You know, I like reading articles in the left-wing blogosphere most of the time but one thing I hate is that a lot of the commentators seem so pessimistic," David said. Yeah, well. There is SO much to be pessimistic about these days.

"Still and all," David continued, "there does seem to be a ground surge of people throughout the world who are sincerely working toward getting rid of our old out-dated caveman mentality in favor of more humane and positive thinking and action." Let us hope!

Right now I'm busy reading the Dalai Lama's new book, "Becoming Enlightened," and the D.L. says that the only way to alleviate our own individual suffering is to become Enlightened (No, sorry, shopping won't cut it, you'll be stylishly dressed but still be in pain). And the ONLY way to become enlightened is to do good deeds. Nothing else makes the grade. Whether it's getting a single-payer healthcare bill finally passed and thus saving 45,000 American lives a year or helping the people of Haiti recover or teaching children to read or just giving an occasional dollar to that homeless guy who is hunkered down out in the rain, you too will be well on your way to becoming enlightened and saving yourself from a world of hurt.

"But that indicates that you are being compassionate for selfish reasons only," you might say. Sure. Whatever. Whatever it takes to finally get the human race to finally start to evolve into something bigger and better than just glorified cavemen beating each other to death head with nuclear-warhead sticks. And maybe then I can finally stop being so pessimistic.

And maybe then our poor sweet Madam Jane can safely give up playing computer solitaire all night.

****

To purchase Katie Miranda's beautiful jewelry that integrates pre-1949 Palestine coins into her designs, click here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bazaarkhalil. "The items for sale here are a unique way to express your solidarity and support; a percentage of each purchase goes to a university scholarship fund for young people in the city of al Khalil (Hebron) in Palestine."

Haiti, Palestine & Louisiana: Land of no cement

The main difference between Cuba and Haiti seems to be that Cuba finally gave up waiting around for the powers-that-be in Washington to do right by it and decided to go its own way -- whereas Haiti was pretty much forced to stay sheltered under the wing of American corporatists' benevolence for the past century. Cuba now offers all of its citizens a free education up to and past university level and there is no one starving in Cuba. Just compare that to the shape that Haiti is in now -- and was in even before the earthquake.

It's the little things that count I guess.

The main difference between Vermont and some of our less fortunate states -- states like Mississippi, Louisiana, California and others that had bought the whole "privatization" package and now appear to be on the verge of bankruptcy after having given a bunch of corporatist con-men all of their money -- seems to be that Vermont didn't fall for all that private-businesses-can-do-it-better corporate welfare propaganda crap being pumped out by the media. Instead, Vermont simply developed its own healthcare system, remained solvent and went its own way.

No matter what they may tell you, no one can make a profit from performing necessary-but-unprofitable functions that benefit the public -- unless of course you either charge extra money to cover your profit margin as well as your goods and services or else deal out shoddy merchandise. Duh.

The main difference between Israel and Palestine appears to be that parts of Palestine have no cement. Israel apparently played ball with the American globalization rich kids and Palestine didn't. And as a result, now no one is allowed to import CEMENT into Gaza. Cement? Can you imagine life without cement? If you can't, stop by Gaza and see for yourself -- if they will let you in.

There's a moral here somewhere and I personally believe that the moral is this: If you play ball with the Washington-driven "Ugly American" globalization One-World-Order get-rich-quick-at-any-cost privatization profit machines, then sooner or later you too are gonna end up looking like Palestine, Haiti or post-Katrina Louisiana. But if you don't play ball with the rich kids, you may risk ending up with no cement. Either way, the rich kids win and the rest of us lose.

PS: If anyone has any suggestions on how I can be allowed into Haiti (or even Gaza Afghanistan or Louisiana!) as a journalist or as a volunteer (I have knowledge and experience with emergency pain relief, infant nurturing and hospice care), please let me know.

PPS: Speaking of states that have fallen for corporatist propaganda to their own peril, I'd really like to recommend that a hand-recount of the ballots in Massachusetts be undertaken immediately. We all know who brought that electronic vote-counting software to the Boston tea party on January 19 -- and it wasn't We the People.

But if Scott Brown did win the January 19 election fair and square (which I doubt), then the people of the great state of Massachusetts have just cut off their noses to spite corporatist Barack Obama's face -- by electing yet another one of the corporatist foxes who helped invade their hen house in the first place. It's a lose-lose situation for yet another American state. And it's a good thing that Massachusetts isn't prone to earthquakes.

Eat your heart out Donner Party: No snow in the Sierra Nevadas

My daughter Ashley's boyfriend Hugo had never seen snow before and seeing snow was very high up on his to-do list. "Can we drive up and see snow on my birthday?" he asked. That sounded like a reasonable request so we all snagged up baby Mena, slapped her in a carseat and headed off for the snow. And drove. And drove.

"You'll see snow almost immediately after you drive past Sacramento," the internet assured us before we left Berkeley and took I-80 east toward the Sierra Nevadas. But when we reached Placerville it was still sunny and warm.

Then we stopped at the Boeger winery to give young Mena a break and let her run around in the vineyard. "How far to the snow?" we asked the vineyard people.

"About 20 minutes." But two hours later, we were still driving. 2,000 feet -- no snow. 4,000 feet -- no snow. 6,000 feet -- no snow.

Finally at 6,500 feet, just 50 miles west of Lake Tahoe, away the freak up in the middle of the Sierra Nevadas, in 65-degree weather, we finally found snow.

Hugo loved the snow. Mena had no idea what to do with it. I complained about cold feet. Ashley slid down a hill on her bottom -- in one foot of snow. (Ashley says that there was at least two feet of snow up there but she's wrong. That was just the left-over stuff from the snow plow. Had there actually been two feet of snow on the ground, I would never have gotten out of the car.)

Remember the ill-fated Donner Party back in 1846 -- and how, even though it was only October, they ran into a severe blizzard and got snowed at 5,698 feet (that's 1,000 feet lower than we were) up in the wretched Sierra Nevadas for the next three months and couldn't get out and had to resort to cannibalism just to survive? Imagine if they had been crossing the Sierras during October of 2010! They coulda all walked out alive and been safely home sitting by a warm fire in San Francisco in plenty of time for Thanksgiving. And even if they had crossed the Sierras like we did -- in January -- they still would have made it safely down to Frisco by Valentines Day.

PS: Here's a video of me, Ashley, Hugo and young Mena cavorting in some hard-to-find snow. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hePq1pZwpj8

Women without men: Problems in Iraq and in Berkeley

Recently an African-American friend of mine asked me a rather strange question. "Do you know what really annoys me?" he asked. I don't know, what? That Obama sold out healthcare? The high price of gold? My current bad hair day? Sarah Palin pretending to be a populist? What? "It's the way that some African-American women just look at me like I was a piece of fresh meat." Oh dear. Do we really want to go there?

"Sometimes you can just see their minds working. 'If I can just convince him that I'm sexy, then he'll want me for my body and if he wants me badly enough, then he'll marry me and then we can have children.' I call it 'Motherhood Fever'. And it just drives me nuts."

I can get behind that. Babies are totally cute -- and for a very good reason. They are purposely made that way in order to preserve the species. If a baby is cute enough, then you will be more likely to put up with all that diaper-changing and incessant crying and having to walk the floor with them at night.

In fact, I'm even about to bounce up to the local maternity hospital and ask them if I can volunteer in the baby nursery there. Why not? I'm a world record-holder for getting a colicky baby to smile -- two minutes or less! You got a colicky one-month-old? Call me! I'm there! But I digress.

"These time-ticking lady baby machines don't even see me as a person," continued my friend. "It's enough to put one off of sex forever. Whenever I see one of those women coming in those tight spandex dresses that show everything, all I want to do is run!" I used to be that way. I used to equate sex with love. Back in the 1960s, almost every man in Berkeley wanted me because I was HOT. But none of them loved me for myself. But then finally it dawned on me. Men DO NOT equate sex with love. Except perhaps for Tiger Woods. I totally understand where these women are coming from. I used to be that way too.

"Will somebody PLEEZE up the supply of eligible Black men so I can just get on with my life!" sighed my friend.

Hey, that's easy to do. Let's stop putting so many African-American men in jail for crimes that don't involve others (such as Lil' Wayne being jailed for smoking pot and owning guns -- where is the NRA when you really need it?) and spend all the tax money we save on better schools and more jobs. Problem solved.

And then I got to thinking about how my friend's situation might also apply to the men of Afghanistan and Iraq. Perhaps as many as one million men have been killed over there in the last nine years, plus, to quote a recent article in Yahoo News, "Cancer is spreading like wildfire in Iraq.... The cancer rate in the province of Babil, south of Baghdad, has risen from 500 diagnosed cases in 2004 to 9,082 in 2009." Just think about that.

What if the women of Iraq and Afghanistan are now developing "Motherhood Fever" too? Then the counterinsurgents will not only have to be out fighting off the U.S. military all the time, but also they will have to be spending every spare moment fighting off prospective brides as well. With all that cat-fighting going on, it's becoming like an Afghan version of "The Bachelor".

I got an answer to that problem too. Just ship all the excess women that have been created by "war" in the Middle East off to rural China. There's a vast shortage of women in rural China I've been told. Arab women would be appreciated in China. And I bet that African-American women would be appreciated there too. Heck, ship me off there as well -- but I would prefer not to marry a farmer. Plowing ruins the nails.

PS: I think that white American women probably also have the same problem as African-American and Arab women. Apparently the toll on the number of eligible white American males as a result of the "wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan has been fairly high too -- much higher than we think. There are a lot less American men than there used to be due to all those unnecessary Bush-Obama administration "wars" in the Middle East. If you don't just count the soldiers who have died in-country but also count in all those soldiers who died after being evacuated, all the military suicides, all the victims of Gulf War Syndrome, all the violent deaths of victims of returned soldiers with PTSD and all the soldiers who nobody would want to marry anyway because they have already died inside their minds after returning from the horrors of those wars, then you have a significantly lower number of eligible white American men for all America's desperate "Bachelorettes".

According to Army Times, "Americans should prepare to accept hundreds of U.S. casualties each month in Afghanistan during spring offensives with enemy forces." Then they quote Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an adjunct professor of international affairs at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as saying, “What I want to do is signal that this thing is going to be $5 billion to $10 billion a month and 300 to 500 killed and wounded a month by next summer. That’s what we probably should expect. And that’s light casualties,"

Long-time war correspondent Lori Gricker just published a book entitled, "Afterwar: Veterans From a World of Conflict". In Chris Hedges' review of Gricker's book in the Los Angeles Times, he stated that, "Those who pay the price, those who are maimed forever by war, are shunted aside, crumpled up and thrown away. They are war's refuse. We do not see them. We do not hear them.... The message they bring is too painful for us to hear." But these huge numbers of American men who are no longer on the marriage market still exist.

"How many?" you might ask.

In 2007, blogger-activist Clive Boustred collected data from a Veterans Administration website and added up the figures. "On page 7 of the official VA report, the number of U.S. soldiers partaking in the illegal invasion of the Gulf is listed as 6,838,541 soldiers. Just below that the VA estimated number of living soldiers is listed at 4,525,865. In other words 2,312,676 US Gulf War Veterans are dead! Not many active duty soldiers serving from 1990 are likely to have died from old age or natural causes by April 2007. The report details deaths in various conflicts as reported to the VA by DoD, utterly contradicting the government and mainstream media number of 4,000 dead."

With regard to the more recent Middle East "wars," Boustred supplied the following information: "Total U.S. Military Gulf War Deaths: 73,846," based on 17,847 deployed deaths and 55,999 non-deployed deaths. "Total number of disability claims filed: 1,620,906. Disability Claims amongst Deployed: 407,911. Total 'Undiagnosed Illness' (UDX) claims: 14,874. Disability Claims amongst Non-Deployed: 1,212,995." And that number has probably risen considerably since 2007.

That's a whole big bunch of non-eligible marriageable men!

According to journalist T. Christian Miller, there is also a big problem among contractors who worked abroad for such companies as Blackwater and KBR and came back disabled and maimed for life. Are they being counted too? Not according to Miller. In an article entitled, "Injured Abroad, Neglected at Home: Labor Dept. Slow to Help War Zone Contractors," Miller stated that, "More than 1,600 civilian [contractors] have died and 37,000 have reported injuries."

I myself wrote an article on the subject of injured returned contractors -- regarding an acquaintance of mine named Dave Crow. Dave allegedly committed suicide after returning from Iraq, where he was exposed to toxic waste. Whether he killed himself or died some other way, Dave had become a "Dead Man Walking" from the moment he came home from Iraq. "I was only over there for four months," he told me. "I was a truck driver for KBR. The money was good. But our camp was located over the site of a former depleted uranium dump and I got really sick. My body started just wasting away and now I'm weak, unhealthy, living in a trailer outside of San Diego and basically screwed up." Our Dave is now dead. No wedding date for him.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_jane_sti_080312_death_on_the_freeway.htm

PPS: in Argentina last month, I heard a lot of talk about the mistreatment of both soldiers and veterans of the Falkland Island wars. Apparently Argentina's military dictatorship had wanted this war as a means of distracting people away from hatred of their totalitarian regime. So the dictatorship sent a bunch of ill-equipped and ill-trained young boys out to the Falklands in sub-zero-degree temperatures to die horrendous, painful and unnecessary deaths for no reason. These boys were not even given warm overcoats. Many -- if not most -- of them simply froze to death. Argentinians are still really pissed off about that -- especially the women.

And if I was a young Afghan, Iraqi or American woman today, I would be pissed off too -- and angry enough to put an end to all war!

PPS: If anyone knows how I could volunteer to help out in Haiti, please let me know. I have knowledge and experience with emergency Jin shin Jyutsu pain relief techniques and with P'howa pre-death counseling. And if you want to make a donation, my friend Arla suggests this site:

Since its inception in March 2004, the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (H.E.R.F.) has given concrete aid to Haiti’s grassroots democratic movement as they attempted to survive the brutal coup and to rebuild shattered development projects. We urge you to contribute generously, not only for this immediate crisis, but in order to support the long-run development of human rights, sustainable agriculture and economic justice in Haiti. ALL MONEY GOES DIRECTLY TO GRASS ROOTS ORGANIZATIONS.

There are two ways to donate: By Pay Pal at: <http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/1_12_10.html>

or Mail -- check made out to: "Haiti Emergency Relief Fund/EBSC". Donations tax deductible. Send mail to:

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

2362 Bancroft Way

Berkeley, CA 94704

EBSC is a non-profit 502(c)(3) organization tax ID#94-249753

Cancer gets a makeover: Chanel and Mary Kay to the rescue!

"Hey, Ashley," I said to my youngest daughter, "wanna come keep me company while I get a makeover?"

"Sure." What a good daughter she is! But this isn't just any makeover. This is a makeover sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the Personal Care Products Council Foundation and the National Cosmetology Association -- and its whole goal is to help cancer patients feel good about themselves.

Several years ago, some creepy plastic surgeon told me that I had just a touch of skin cancer on my face and then proceeded to cut off my entire top lip. "Oh you can't even tell that it's gone," most of my friends said. But I can tell. So when this makeover class was offered I got all excited and pleased. I want one! I want my lip to "Feel good..Look better!" like the class brochure says.

First one cosmetologist taught us how to tie scarves and wear wigs. I didn't have a problem with my hair falling out due to chemotherapy but the other women in my class did. "I get chemo once every three weeks," the woman next to me said. "I've had it one time already and my hair has already started to fall out."

"How many chemo sessions will you have?"

"We're hoping that four should do it but you never can tell." She had breast cancer.

The woman sitting next to her also had breast cancer. "My hair came down to my waist just three weeks ago. And now I'm practically bald." Then she expressed her worst fear. "I just don't want to look like a sick cancer patient."

Hats to the rescue! A volunteer group called "Knots of Love" crochets hats for chemo patients. They're mostly in the 1930s cloche style. They're totally cute. "I'd wear one of those," said Ashley. Then they taught us how to cut the bottoms off T-shirts and turn them into coolness head wraps. And Ashley suggested wearing hoop earrings as well -- to add a touch of panache. And I of course suggested big, bold colorful glasses -- like glasses manufacturers keep refusing to make. Have you ever noticed that almost every pair of glasses on sale in the entire WORLD are stupid and unflattering rectangular shapes in only two or three dull colors? It's true. But I digress.

"Cut your hair BEFORE you start chemo," the instructors warned the class, "or you will just feel bad when you see it all falling out. And stop getting manicures and pedicures unless you bring your own tools to the salon. As a cancer patient, you are more susceptible to infections than most and need to take extra precautions. Also, only use light-colored nail polish. The darker shades and acrylic nails have too many chemicals. You already have enough chemicals in your bodies. You don't need any more. Also avoid showering in very hot water, to keep your skin from drying out. And put oil or lotion on your skin before showering. Cetaphil is good.

"The first week of chemo is the worst."

And then they brought out the cosmetics. We each got our own gift bag. There must have been hundreds of dollars worth of war paint in those bags. Geez Louise. If you gotta have cancer, you might as well enjoy whatever aspect of this horrible disease that you can.

"Did they detect your cancer with a mammogram?" I asked the woman next to me.

"No, it was too deep." And the woman next to her had the same problem. No lumps or nothing. Now with me it was just the opposite. I've had mammograms, biopsies and lord knows what all else -- but thankfully no cancer. Except for my lip. But I was too focused on trying on hats to remember exactly how these women's cancers DID get detected. Sorry about that.

"Now we are going to tell you how to shape your eyebrows with your new NYC eyebrow pencil." Good luck with that one. I looked like a clown. "You could practice at home," the cosmetologist said, tactfully. Ashley volunteered to give me lessons. Fine.

Next came the Bobbi Brown eye shadow. "Use a light color for all the area from your lashes to your brow. Then fill in the crease with a darker color." They gave us shades of tan and brown.

"But what about blue and purple?" I asked.

"Uh no." Ashley was firm. But I bet that's just because she coveted the bottle of Chanel iridescent blue eye shadow that I got. Hey that's mine!

We also learned how to use American Beauty blush, Mary Kay cleansing cream, Clarins foundation makeup, Physicians Formula concealer and Este Lauder powder in a coolness golden compact case. Then came the important part. "Jane, you need to enlarge your upper lip with this Wet N Wild lip liner and then use the Aveda lipstick to make it pop." Which I did. Hey, not bad!

Then came the MOST important part. We all gave everyone in the class -- and each other -- high-fives and hugs. And Ashley promised to buy them all a scoop of Ciao Bella gelato in North Berkeley (she works there) on the day that they finished their chemo. Brave women all. Even me. And nice women too. Have you ever noticed that most cancer patients seem to be both very brave -- and very nice. Hell, even I had fun and laughed a lot.

Cancer got a makeover. Yaay!

Then Ashley and I went off to Carl's Jr to celebrate our victory with Superstar burgers and to show off my new look. Angelina Jolie, eat your heart out! My upper lip is PERFECT right now. And here's the video to prove it too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrIIRvy_R7Q

PS: I was a little hesitant to write about this "Look Good..Feel Better" makeover class but as I was leaving one of the instructors asked me to tell as many people as I could about this wonderful program. So I am. If you know any women with cancer, tell them about it. And even men too. Here's the link to help find a program near you:

http://www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org/women/program_finder/

PPS: If anyone knows how I could volunteer to go help out in Haiti, please let me know. I have knowledge and experience with Jin Shin Jyutsu emergency first aid techniques and with Tibetan P'howa pre-death counseling aids. And if you want to make a monetary donation, my friend Arla suggests this site:

Since its inception in March 2004, the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (H.E.R.F.) has given concrete aid to Haiti’s grassroots democratic movement as they attempted to survive the brutal coup and to rebuild shattered development projects. We urge you to contribute generously, not only for this immediate crisis, but in order to support the long-run development of human rights, sustainable agriculture and economic justice in Haiti. ALL MONEY GOES DIRECTLY TO GRASS ROOTS ORGANIZATIONS.

There are two ways to donate: By Pay Pal at: <http://www.haitiaction.net/About/HERF/1_12_10.html>

Or by mail -- check made out to: "Haiti Emergency Relief Fund/EBSC". Send mail to:

East Bay Sanctuary Covenant

2362 Bancroft Way

Berkeley, CA 94704

EBSC is a non-profit 502(c)(3) organization tax ID#94-249753. Donations tax deductible.

The cathedrals of South America: Breaking the parent-child bond...

While in South America this month, I first visited the main cathedral in Santiago, Chile, and then I saw the main cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were both highly lovely. And they both featured a multitude of paintings, murals and statues that glorified the strong physical and emotional bond that exists between adults and children. There were many statues depicting St. Mary nurturing and protecting the baby Jesus. Then there was St. Christopher, helping the young Jesus to safely cross a river. And of course there was St. Anthony. And I forget who all else. In the Buenos Aires cathedral especially, almost every icon there emphasized and illuminated the loving and protective nature of this strong protective adult-child bond.

There was also a bunch of artwork portraying the protective and nurturing bond that is supposed to exist between God the Son and all the rest of us poor lost sheep, God's children.

The artwork in both churches made this very meaningful, holy and protective relationship absolutely jump out at me. "Adults are SUPPOSED to protect and nurture children," these statues practically screamed. "There is a sacred and profound nature that exists within the parent-child bond."

And face it, guys. The archetype of a benevolent god is based on the protective nature of adults toward children.

I bet that you know what is coming up next, right? The world's adults today are NOT doing a good job of protecting their children. Napalm, white phosphorus, drones, Shock and Awe, child pornography, "spare the rod and spoil the child," child prostitution, child slavery, child molestation, children soldiers, you name it. "How could ANYONE stoop so low as to hurt a child?" you might ask. And yet children's trust in their adult protectors is violated daily and routinely at least a million times a day. Nothing justifies that. End of lecture.

Another thing about Chile and Argentina that almost blew my mind is that both countries used to be democracies and then both countries were seized by brutal dictatorships -- dictatorships that involved torture, death squads, disappearances, concentration camps, assassinations and all that other messy stuff. Full-out dictatorships. No holds barred. CIA "advisors" in the background. Knocks on the door at midnight. Krystallnachts. Cattle prods. The whole nine yards.

And yet today both Chile and Argentina are democracies again. Go figure. It gives one pause. Perhaps this means that if the USA is ever taken over by dictators too, then we too might be able to find our way back. And I'm even going to go out on a limb here and suggest that had America and Britain not battled Hitler to the teeth, then sooner or later the German people would have given him the boot too. Look what happened in the Soviet Union. Eventually people do tend to speak up.

Maybe there is hope for the human race yet.

And maybe, just maybe, adults and governments will finally stop creating "collateral damage" that involves barbecuing babies -- like what has happened or is still happening in places like Auschwitz, Rwanda, Baghdad and Gaza.