And... one last one. (I take my ongoing Spanish self-study time seriously! Crosswords and news!) #Colombia

Remember how I mentioned that it's already Christmas in Colombia once we hit September?

On walkabout I passed tons of stores with Christmas swag out, and here's an article writing about all the early commercial presence. Is Medellín a bit nuts about Navidad? Heck yes. But it's all part of the culture of thankfulness and fiestas.

Two of the most important parts of healthy living, right?

Another key lesson from Colombia, where there's going to be a passport shortage due to bad contracting / scandals.

All our institutions run on arbitrary rules shaped by money and political whim. The rules for who gets to go where, whose passport is most powerful... all run along paths shaped by ancient tribalism and ongoing corruption.

It's up to us to remember that we are *not* the states we inhabit - even though our fortunes are shaped by them.

Todos somos humanos.
Todos somos iguales. 🇺🇳🕊

This news in yesterday's paper is from Venezuela, but you can bet your bippy folks here are familiar with someone turning a so-called prison into a resort. 🙃 He's escaped with an unknown number of accomplices, too.

Sometimes I really, really wonder about the absurdity of it all.

#ColombianNews #Colombia

Okay, CoSo.

This week's #newsletter is a reflection from Wednesday's walkabout, when I took my grief and anger for six hours through the city, and reminded myself (if of nothing else) of all the ways in which human beings can live in service to their rich and diverse surroundings.

Even if it's too much to ask that any one life or livelihood will ever alleviate all the wounds in our hurting world, it is enough that we are here.

(CW: Genocide and suicide do come up!)
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/walkabout-or-when-the-world-is-too

Shout-out to our dear @BosmangBeratna, who's living in the middle of some of Canada's recent importation of US hatemongering (not that "buying local" is any better: just don't buy the hate at all!).

On one of his latest YouTube shorts, he's got a little message of "frayed nerves but still fightin'" uplift for us all. 💪🏻

(And hey, remember: It's okay to go mad in mad times - but if one must, it's always best to go mad together!)
https://youtube.com/shorts/v91mPARyYpE?si=Uv0FwCHDbrOJlMcL

The marching band across the street is learning a new song.

They'll probably get the hang of it... in a few days.

🙃 For now, since I cannot edit under these circumstances, I'm going out for a bit. Be good, CoSo - but not *too* good. 😈 A full life needs its surprises!

🤣 There's definitely an audience that would be flattered by this appeal to elitism, but I just burst into laughter at this notification. (And no, I'm not humouring it. Notifications are now turned off.)

We are all smart *and* S-M-R-T in our own ways - but anyone who thinks that someone is "smarter" for reading stuff on Substack is the S-M-R-T-est of them all.

(That said, I'll have a free-to-read Substack up tonight. No pressure, smarty-pantses!)

👀 What are *you* reading, friends?

I love folks who know their expertise and use it constructively.

Folks who direct you to the experts in other fields.

Folks who make light of themselves not in a pity-party sort of way, but to remind you of their humanity, so no one puts them on an untenable pedestal.

When I see news about the latest 'wads who swaggered about with impunity for years, I just wish that level of self-aggrandizement didn't *work* for as long as it often does.

Can we address that in the next software update? 👀

Here's the full article, for anyone curious. This part made me chuckle:

“It can be very difficult to say who is a member of a criminal organisation, and who isn’t,” said Dittmar. “What about a politician that receives money? Or someone who cooperates with the group just once?”

The article also points out that Mexico has a hypermilitarized problem--its cartels have access to heavy-duty stuff--but... so does too much of US "law" (property) enforcement.

Where's the line?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/21/mexico-cartels-fifth-largest-employer-study

Y'know... between news like this & actions like Colombia's program to pay guerrillas *not* to kidnap people...

I'm starting to wonder if it'll be the threat of outright violence that finally shifts the US & other Western nations into supporting UBI.

Because at the core of a great deal of the world's criminal activity is simply the failure of legal systems to provide a path to security for all.

We're at "baby formula locked up in US stores" panic now.

How much worse does it need to get first?

...And you know it's back to business because even the typos came back to work. 🙃 Good for them. I hope they get benefits!

Coffee time!

Okay, lovely critters! 💫

Back to business.

Today for #OnlySky, I had some *catch-up* to do on world news.

But you know I don't do quickie news briefs if I can help it.

So here's a piece tying the Canada-India crisis, Poland and Ukraine's tensions, and recent UN's absenteeism together.

What do they share?

A struggle to keep the myth of international relationships alive in a way that serves human thriving well.

What are we willing to believe in?

#GlobalHumanism
https://onlysky.media/mclark/breaking-points-canada-india-poland-ukraine-and-the-un/

Oh CoSo boy...

The hips! The hips are calling!
From bone to bone, and all down the thigh-thick sides.
The big toes are gone, too, to caterwauling.
It's I, it's I must go, to healing bed.

But I'll come back when the big toes are feeling better,
or when the hips have hushed and mellowed.
I'll be here in sunshine then, to tell of cast-off shadows--
Oh CoSonauts, oh CoSonauts, I love you so!

(Entirely possible I have a touch of heat exhaustion, too. Not *quite* like being drunk, but kinda close!)

I do want to call attention to the pigeon in this one, though. When I saw the murals, I came up to snap them, but the pigeon was just staring at the wall, and only turned its head a bit on my approach. I don't *really* think it understood the imagery on the mural, but the idea of a pigeon contemplating animal kin in far-off spaces was ridiculously endearing to me all the same.