after 22 days of death and destruction...

... Israel finally announces a ceasefire... they say they have "achieved their goal"... so their 'goal' must have been the MURDER of over 1200 Palestinians - and of course the destruction of infrastructure and resources for the surviving civilian population ...

according to the New York Times ...

"The announcement came on a day in which Israel was again criticized by the United Nations over civilian deaths in Gaza — this time after a tank fired at a United Nations school, killing two young brothers taking shelter there.

United Nations aid officials raised questions about whether the attack, and others like it, should be investigated as war crimes. The Israeli Army said that it was investigating the reports at the highest level but that initial inquiries indicated that troops were returning fire from near or within the school."

It's about time the international community stopped being apologists for israel; where america and the united nations (United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine or United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181) stopped backing them to the hilt and started treating them as what they are - war criminals intent on genocide (perpetrating their own holocaust against the Palestinians!!!) where's the International Court and Security Council in all of this??? oops, forgot... part of the united nations which means dominated by america!!!! who really don't give a damn... or will they now that 'new blood' is in the white house???? I'm skeptical...

Just had to do another quick post in support of the Palestinian people... now I'm going to think about getting ready for work this afternoon... working with Katherine so I know it's going to be a good shift!!!!

Tomorrow I'm off to the hospital (at 7.30 am!!!) with me mum to find out results of tests she had last week and to (hopefully) get some insight into where her kidney disease is at and what we can expect over what period of time...

and then maybe another post tomorrow arvo on something far less gloomy!!!!

ever had that desire....

to curl up and hibernate for a month or so - no pressures, no dealing with anyone or anything??? that's how I've felt this week...

I seem to have slowed down, almost ground to a halt, while life still moves on at a frantic pace!!! there have been times where I just wanted to shout

but of course you can't get off - life goes on... and so do you... because you have to... and time is a great 'healer'... and so are memories...

and then there are my animal companions - now they wouldn't be very impressed - they can't open the fridge or use a can opener... although Shadow can get into the pantry!!!! and being a cat he can get out where Allie and Louis have to be on leads!!!! ahhh, no wonder there's so much rivalry between the two black boys!!!

but you can't help but think about mortality when someone close to you (and your own age) dies... or your partner collapses and gets 'ambulanced' to hospital... you think about your own mortality... the mortality of those around you... and then you get right back into dealing with life, because death is part of the life cycle!!!

anyway, I'm thinking about my '60s' post(s) and how I'm going to approach it (them)... and hopefully I'll get some motivation, drive and time this weekend to actually start writing... that's the 'plan' so far - we'll see what happens...

here's a nice serene graphic to help with the creative flow of things...

a sad goodbye my friend...

tranquility was a long time in coming... but you did it womon - you made it home before you let go...

I came across this poem written by "Anon"... it just seemed right...

They are not dead,
those who leave us this great heritage of remembering joy.

They still live in our hearts,
in the happiness we knew, in the dreams we shared.

They still breathe,
in the lingering fragrance, windblown, from their favourite flowers.

They still smile in the moonlight’s silver,
and laugh in the sunlight’s sparking gold.

They still speak in the echoes of the words we’ve heard them say again
and again.

They still move,
in the rhythm of waving grasses, in the dance of the tossing
branches.

They are not dead;
their memory is warm in our hearts, comfort in our sorrow.

They are not apart from us, but part of us, always.

farewell Janis... forever in our hearts sister.....