Displaying 16,381 To 16,410 Of 18,974 Comments What Martin Luther King Jr. Day means to me My father was in the army stationed not far from my grandparents house, he was a family friend, madly in love with my mother, heartbroken when she married my good-for-nothing Estonian father and knew me since I was born. On his visits he would bring me gifts from the PX at the base. Once he bought me a tiny transistor radio, that’s how I found, “American Forces Radio” and fell in love with the Motown sound. He cared about me even before my mother accepted his proposal, and I was 7 when they married. When he found out about the abuse he went ballistic but my mother asked him not to go to my school, she would handle it. On my final return to England, he taught me how to fight and how to shoot a rifle but I have never touched a gun since. To this day I’m eternally grateful to him,yes, the only way to stop this obnoxious bully was to fight back and make him look a fool in front of his friends. I never fought with anyone again during the rest of my life. It had to be done and I have no regrets. The next time, he might have killed me. » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 7:16 pm A sad story Pepe, I’m glad that you made it out of all this racism which was so much a part of your childhood. My own story is not about racism but rather my xenophobia experience as a child of 9 when my mother remarried and we moved to England with my new father, a Welshman. I arrived in England from Germany, not speaking the language, I could say only yes and no. The Catholic schools were full and my parents found a Protestant school about 30 minutes walk from our house. Lucky for me the Headmaster spoke German and he laboured after school hours to teach me English. The first sign of trouble started about 3 weeks into my arrival there. I was pushed to the ground, my school books were scattered and kicked in the playground and I was spit on by boys much bigger than me. The violence escalated, I was hit on my head, my glasses ripped off my face, stepped on and smashed while these boys screamed Nazi and Kraut in my face. On my walk back from school one day, a stone hit me squarely in my face, my nose bled endlessly and I could no longer hide the abuse from my mother. She went to the school immediately and confronted both my teachers and the Headmaster who said that they had no idea that this had been going on, I hadn’t told a soul, I was 9 years old and was afraid to say anything to anyone, fearing the violence would become worse if I did. My mother took me out of school, contacted my grandparents and I returned to Germany for a year, continuing my education there. Aged 11 I returned to England and tried to settle back into my old school. I continued learning English but now there seemed one more reason for the kids to bully me, I was a Roman Catholic and after a religious class, where the teacher stated that Jesus had many brothers and sisters, I asked to be excused from the class, causing a virtual hailstorm when my teacher decided to admonish me in front of the class for trying to be “special” and the beating began again. For a second time I was taken out of school and returned to the safety of my grandparents loving arms. The next time I returned to England was when I was almost 14. My father taught me how to defend myself from blows, he taught me how to fight back. I returned to the same school, continued my studies and was prepared for just about anything. They left me alone for about a month this time but were waiting outside the school gates one afternoon. The biggest bully was almost a foot taller than me, when he tried to grab my hair, I kicked him hard in the “family jewels” and punched him in the nose which bled on to his white, school uniform shirt. The others had backed away and I left with my head held high, continuing my long walk home. The next day I was expecting to be called to the Headmasters study, the call never came but one afternoon we passed each other in the hall, he smiled, winked and patted me on the back. I continued my studies in peace I was way behind of my class, managed to learn enough English to make myself understood and tried hard to not let my experiences with this group of xenophobic kids cloud my vision of the entire British population. When I was 19, I became a naturalized British citizen, this passport allows me access to just about every country in the world. “God save the Queen!” 🙂 » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 6:39 pm I do but I think it’s probably just a little last minute burst of energy in my brain before I sleep. Been waiting for Mr.K, he’s not home yet. 🙁 » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 6:49 am 😆 » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 6:46 am Dump the Junk Room! » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 6:45 am Here I am thinking that my eyes are useless and what do you know, I have ex-ray eyes. What’s next for me, a Wonder Woman costume? » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 6:18 am Can I help, wts has gone out into the cold Tokyo night. Rosie is there on what would be his right shoulder, her eyes wide open staring at the sky I think. Good to see you Q, will answer last email soon, have been sooooo busy in the “Junk Room.” » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 2:46 am Dress up warm wts, it’s quite nippy outside. » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 12:55 am Do you mean to say that you still frequent the “dark side?” I don’t go there, but might, just to take a quick peep. 🙂 » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 12:53 am That’s nice K but it still doesn’t make ball games any more interesting for me now, too many boring golf games on the TV I suppose, you can blame the hubby for that. When I was in school I loved tennis and netball. Netball is just like basketball but only played by girls and you can’t run with the ball, you have to pass it. I wonder if that is where your basketball originated from? » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 12:48 am That actually sounds like fun but I’m sure that your mother didn’t think so at the time. Golf balls are quite heavy and I had to replace the one hubby gave the cats to play with after one of them flicked it with a paw from the second floor and it managed to hit another one waiting to catch it on the head. It was quite a nasty bump and required a visit to Uncle doctor and a boring ex-ray too. No damage done thank the Lord, but exchanged the offending golf ball for a Ping-Pong ball and they still have it when it hasn’t rolled under the sofa that is. Btw, I just love it when I have to look very closely and find you and Rosie there, great fun. Does she know how famous she has become? » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 12:38 am You are welcome, it wasn’t as painful as I thought, reading through your article on sport I mean. 😉 No balls for me in the house after breaking my grandmother’s treasured coffee pot when I lobbed a tennis ball at the house wall and it flew in through an open window knocking the pot right off the table. I caught it for that one, it was a wedding present from her sister. 😳 » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 12:21 am Brilliant illustration as always wts! Forgive me if I’m not all that enthusiastic about sports but I did read the article even though I don’t know who you are writing about, being an ignorant European and all that, it sounded good, as though you know what you are talking about, well done! My days of playing football with the boys ended unfortunately when I turned 14. My mother got tired of patching up the “wounds” the black eyes and the bruises. She asked me to behave and act like a girl. I can honestly say that over the years, I have tried my best, but still hate to wear dresses, would never buy anything with bows or ribbons and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing lace. 🙂 » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 11:53 pm I really know the feeling boomer and like you, wouldn’t know how and probably couldn’t or wouldn’t ask even if I did. » Posted By Kalima On January 18, 2010 @ 6:03 am Your words have touched me deeply today as they have on many days and again I thank you. I don’t consider myself worthy yet but might by the end of this lifetime, who knows, but I’m eternally grateful for all the kind words and feelings that I’ve encountered here at the Planet. I am both proud and honoured to be a part of this wonderful community, have learned so much from each and every one of you, will continue to do so and looking forward to it too. » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 11:41 pm My own journey with true spirituality started after I could no longer attend Mass on Sundays or in fact any day. I began to see that I didn’t need a Church to be a good Christian, the part about being kind to others and helping strangers had always been there in my heart and would continue as long as I drew a breath on this earth. I have seen people who attended Sunday Mass, go off to the pub, come home drunk and beat up their wives and children. The hypocrisy turned me sour. The teachings of Jesus seem so simple to follow, Love your neighbour as thyselves, his way of saying that we should respect others no matter which part of the world they reside in is simplistic in the beauty of his words. We possess it naturally as small children, see no difference in skin colour, are too busy playing or too young to understand about the difference of religious beliefs and are happy. Then we mature, hear the first stirrings of prejudice from family members, our peers who heard it from their families, we see and hear it in our streets, on the TV and the radio. For many of us it will never infect us and we will leave our childhood homes to start lives of our own, for some staying behind in the towns and cites of their birth, it will escalate, growing like a large open sore in the soul, it will consume them like a gigantic trap they can never escape and they will blindly continue with their hate of anyone who is different from them. This is how I see your teabaggers your Fundies clinging to a God they have created in their own image, a God that I do not know. Giving is better than receiving, kindness to others costs us nothing, peaceful understanding or the need for communication is worth so much more than fighting or endless wars and yet people never seem to learn. The world is in turmoil and so few of us are willing to try to make it right. The everyday news from around the world, makes my heart heavy and sad knowing that alone, there will be no way that I can change it or the way that people think. » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 11:17 pm I am extremely humbled my friend and thank you. I’ve never been very good about asking for things, especially help from others, I tend to plod on alone. I’ve done this for as long as I can remember and fear that it’s now a part of who I am. Even with my family near and far, I have always put myself last and it has never been a burden or even a hardship for me. I appreciate the sentiment though, I really do. 🙂 » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 10:29 pm That is so very kind of you choicelady and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. A little secret, I have never, since I was a small child, asked God for anything directly for myself. I will ask for suffering family members, friends or often strangers but asking for myself, I find that it’s always impossible. My illness is chronic for more than 2 decades, but I probably won’t die from it and there are millions of more deserving people in the world besides me. It’s just the way I’m made. Thanks again. » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 8:56 pm I’m a lapsed Catholic, still believe in a higher power because to believe that we are the only life form in this vast universe is at the very best, naive. God as I see him, doesn’t make things happen or prevent them from happening either. He guides us through the prayers we offer, we find the answers ourselves sooner or later or maybe for some, never. To me people who blame God for anything bad that happens in their lives or destruction in the world around us are just coping out of their own responsibilities of being in charge of the path they chose that can either improve or in the end ruin their own lives. A murderer says, “God made me do it” I say oh please, pull the other leg, it’s got bells on. To Pat, who says he talks to God and that God talks to him I say, Pat, you say things out loud like you have a rabid case of verbal diarrhea, things that a true Christian would never even think. The voices in your head are your own voice and not the voice of God, he wouldn’t spend a nanosecond of his time on you, you go against everything that Jesus preached and tried to teach us, you are a disgrace to the the human race and I wish you an eternity of listening to your own BS over and over again. Asking for things like winning the lottery or being rich will not reach his ears. Prayers for unity in this world of endless turmoil might, if enough people thought more about others than they do about themselves. I have no time for people who either blame God or praise him for things that are on the cards to happen anyway. We can’t control nature, it is much more forceful than all the people put together on this Planet of ours, it always has been. Maybe instead of fearing God, they should be fearing what progress by man has done to this once plentiful earth instead of complaining about or using God as excuse for their own shortcomings. The world would be a much better place for all of us I believe. My apologies God, these people are weak and make me hopping mad. Now I will promise to pray much more if you will make me better, so tired of being sick. J/K that would be something I would and have said as a child, but never as an adult, sorry about that. 🙁 » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 6:13 pm Which comes first? The chicken or the egg? I’ve always thought that the President looks much further into the future than most people do. He has two choices, sign the bill as it stands, warts and bumps included and amend it down the road or wait for another window to come along in 15 years and who knows who will be in power then. If the numbers stated that up to 44;000 people die every year due to lack of insurance, it would make a total of 660,000 people losing their lives because some elected person cared more about deals and their “nest egg” from offending insurance companies than fighting for the basic rights of the people who elected them to office. I would be livid if I knew that people who have no worries about their own insurance plans, would chose to play Russian roulette with my life. Playing “God” at the expense of others, the loss of 660,000 lives sounds a lot like a silent massacre. I believe that denying healthcare to your nation’s people somehow sounds like a declaration of “war” in a sense, so it could be even viewed as a kind of genocide. » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 8:00 pm Although I agree with the fact that there are progressives who believe only in their own agendas and are trying to disparage the work that President Obama has managed to complete in his one year of office, I still believe that more than half of the people posting as progressives on HP are not what they seem. During the primaries there were many posters who claimed that they were for Obama. After the Rev. Wright fiasco, the same posters started to whine and lament in unison,”I was going to vote for Obama but if he’s involved with Wright, I’ll vote for Hillary.” These were progressives, these were free thinking Democrats, I began to shake my head in doubt. As the primaries progressed and only Obama and Hillary were remaining, Operation Chaos started to rear it’s ugly head on HP. Posters I knew for a fact to be RW trolls suddenly sprung countless socks and jumped on the Hillary bandwagon. I know because at this time, I was there for many hours each and every day fighting their BS. After Obama became the nominee, the huge majority of the so called “progressives” reverted back to their anti-Obama mudslinging and racists posts, they felt as if they had nothing to lose by revealing their identity. I watched this chameleon change on HP for the next few weeks and can’t say it surprised me all that much. AdLib witnessed it at the same time as I and a few of my friends there at the same time did. HP pushed anything negative about Obama, milked it for weeks and it was no longer as subtle as it had been in the past, their tabloid style headlines started to get even crazier. Look at them now, you would think that they were competing with Faux Snooze or Lush Limpb@lls. I won’t argue that there are a minority of progressives who expected the President to forget about the rest of the 300 million people who live in your country, they are pathetic if they still don’t understand that he is and must be everyone’s President and their selfish “me” agendas are just a grain of sand on a beach considering the more important dire needs of so many around your nation. Their way of thinking and demanding is not at all democratic in my point of view and to quote a line from a Rolling Stones song for them that we all should learn to understand, “You can’t always get what you want.” » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 4:53 pm You know something escribacat, in my experience on Huff June 07 to April 09, many of the posters claiming to be progressives, especially during the primaries, turned out to be RW trolls, paid trolls. You just can’t believe people over there unless they have been there quite some time and seem constant in their views. I don’t believe for a second that there is suddenly a new breed of progressives spouting hate and anti- Obama crapola day in and day out. During the primaries there were also RW trolls claiming they were Hillary supporters, they would say anything during that time to make sure that a black man never set foot in the WH. Please don’t be fooled, they are being payed for every negative comment that stays up, sooner or later they show their real colours and slip up, then the next batch takes over » Posted By Kalima On January 17, 2010 @ 12:34 am The Haitian People Need Everyone’s Help I’ll feel safer with the camera, I’m alone a lot, hubby travels here and also to Europe. My cats sleep though an earthquake, they certainly aren’t much use. » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 8:45 pm He rang my doorbell and said he was collecting donations for schools in Africa, the phone rang, I closed the door but didn’t lock it. The money was on the floor in a bag from the bank, when I came back, he, my money and bank books were gone. Thank you for your concern, I was worried for my safety too, but we are installing a security camera next month, I doubt if he would try it here again, that would be really stupid. » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 8:18 pm Thanks kesmarn, he could have spent it all but my account was closed a few hours later when I realized that the bag was gone. I was lucky because there had been so many similar cases in my neighbourhood and someone had been able to describe him, something I couldn’t do because it was a busy day, and so many people had been to my door. I did manage to point out his face from a photo though, but couldn’t tell you what he was wearing. In future I’ll take note of things like that » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 7:53 pm F has one, but of course everything is in Japanese, neither use nor ornament to me. In your case you need one, and I’m glad that you do have access now. » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 6:06 pm Yes javaz, I got a little over $4,000 back, it was a miracle and now I can go ahead and do as I intended with the money. Better late than never. » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 5:30 pm Hi bito, it was a bloody nightmare and caused me many sleepless nights which in turn led me to not being able to eat anything for 5 solid days. I became very ill during this time and hubby gave me hell for being careless in leaving the money on a step in our hallway. Yes there was a lot of stress involved, but as you can see, I’m on the mend. Thank you for your kind words, I always appreciate them. 🙂 » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 5:28 pm Why pay $40 every month for the pleasure of never using a cell phone even if you have one, I have 16 cats to feed every day. That leaves me wearing sweats with holes in and I never get a verbal thank you from any of them, all I ever hear is more please. 🙂 » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 5:23 pm I don’t own a cell phone or a check card K, I don’t go anywhere out of my house to use a phone. I think my Visa card will be here next week and I’ll PayPal a donation then. Thanks btw. » Posted By Kalima On January 16, 2010 @ 4:54 pmComments Posted By Kalima
People praying by shouting out loud in a church for Obama to fail, I say, God is not deaf and you have just sealed your own fate with your hatred.
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Huffy just love their troll gibberish, makes lots of money for the Queen Bee to stuff her mattress with so she can smell it and fall asleep at night inhaling her spoils.
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