Talking About Homosexuality

Well, I have a controversial story to tell.
I am going to tell it soon, but it is not an easy thing for me to discuss. it is controversial and likely to draw a backlash, but it has to be said. I have been writing a lot about Katniss and the Revolution in Panem of the Hunger Games, and it is motivating me to be less afraid of retaliation and more interested in just letting the truth prevail.
So, within the next few days, I expect to have a post up on this completely unsafe topic.
Until then,be blessed and be well, and please pray for me as I work on this draft.
Godspeed

~Mother Star

Lessons From the Hunger Games - Part 5

If somebody put real Hunger Games on tv or a webcast, would you watch it? Would you feed the monster and help it grow?

Suzanne Collins put, in my opinion, an allegory to our time in a book and on a screen. Ironically, it may only be lost in the mix of media messages for most people.I offer some thoughts on how the world of The Hunger Games is really parallel to our own. There are a lot of questions here to ask yourself, I am not really looking for people to give me their answers, some of these are quite personal. Just answer them to your God and yourself.

I have said how the world of The Hunger Games resembles our world in how media redirects our attention from serious issues onto non-issues, hoe many of the effects are harmful, and how we need to genuinely stand up to the system and attack the problems at the root. In The Hunger Games the people of Panem need to recognize that the violence they and their countrymen, their children, are subjected to is senseless. 

That is often true in our lives today. Every day in America, young people die in gang violence. Every day in America and around the world, people consume media glamorizing this real-life bloodbath and get the same things out of it that Panem got from watching the Hunger Games: sense of identity, and excitement. Like The Hunger Games' characters, real people relish the "action," while refusing to face the hideous reality affecting people in our cities or at least our states. We focus on non-issues, like how this media puts minorities in the limelight, how they "represent" their socioeconomic class or their "race." Likewise, The Hunger Games' media personalities went on about how Peeta and Katniss raised their hands together "I am proud I come from District 12," putting a little band-aid on the compound fracture of District 12's problems. Some of those problems were right in front of them, in the form of two young people who were not really there by choice. The celebrity commentators made lots of emotional appeals that shifted focus and ignored the real issues. They went on and on about superficial things like clothes and mannerisms. They made very significant mountains out of some psychological molehills in order to justify celebrating such extreme tragedy - tragedy that can be equaled, if not exceeded, by the realities in some of our own communities.

The Lesson: Like the Capitol of Panem in The Hunger Games, middle-class Americans and Europeans get most of the resources the rest of the world breaks their back to produce, and enjoys the services of those who must slave at three jobs to make ends meet. There are numerous inequalities built into the system we have in our real world, too. Violence will not solve the problem. Being amused by a problem does not solve it, either. There are things that can be done, things that must be done. Step one is calling reality exactly what it is. Media that presents these problems in a way that does not inspire people to take serious action is probably not "calling attention" to it effectively.

Some info on what's really driving there unpleasant realities: I grew up in a minority neighborhood, a black neighborhood, though I am white. People finished school there without learning how to read. Teachers did not really teach them and did not really grade their work. I was homeschooled and learned to read "The Cat Sat on a Mat" the first day. One of my childhood friends who was a year older than me, Latoya, did not believe that I could read. I read her a story from my reader. She asked to borrow it, went into my house and asked my mom to teach her to read. There were, and I think are, laws on the books that might have gotten my mom in a lot of trouble if she had done so, so she refused. I have no idea if, or how well, Latoya ever learned because we moved away.
I had heat in my house during winter, usually. During middle school, some of my friends wore their heavy winter coats to some of the their classes at school because the heat did not work on the second floor. The teacher had a small heater under her desk that helped keep her warm but the students shivered while they tried to learn. THAT will bring your grades down very quickly! It went on like that for years.
Many students in poor and/or minority dominant schools, receive even decades-old, outdated textbooks that are basically destroyed. When I was in college, I attended a meeting with local organizations, high school students, and members of the local NAACP chapter. The problems in my old neighborhood are common across the nation, and are getting worse. There was no heat in Eisenhower High School (in Decatur, IL) at that time. I do not know if the heat was ever fixed, but I do know they now have to strip down and surrender their coats, sweaters, and jackets when they arrive at school so that they cannot hide drugs or weapons in them. They get their coats back at the end of the day. There were flat screen TVs (a luxury at the time) on the walls in every hallway but they were never turned on or used for education. The books they used remained tattered and outdated. The building has been renovated,and is almost made of windows now. If the pattern I have heard of in other cities persists here, they still will not have new books and the higher heat bills will be an excuse for even less effective education. A friend in social work found out at a conference the same thing was happening in our state's capitol.
In all of these communities, drugs and gangs are a serious problem. A SERIOUS problem. I said, a serious PROBLEM, not a serious charade or show. The forces driving these problem are largely in the majority's control. People can and should hold school boards accountable. People can and must and demand transparency about whether books in poorer school districts are up to date, whether the buildings have climate control, and etc. Few, if any, ever do. People in power are not inclined to pay attention to letters written in Ebonics or street slang, and that is how a lot of people, from my old neighborhood at least, would write. People with good enough education to be taken seriously need to write the letters and they don't. Often they have no idea what is going on, and rely on an entertainment oriented news media to tell them.
People showed up at the local community college needing remedials for material that should have been taught them in Kindergarten; this includes both math and English. I heard an English tutor say he was helping someone with a paper that said, "Ain't nobody gonna PMD" which, he was told meant "put me down." The student actually planned to hand that in to a (remedial) English teacher in their freshman year of college. Seriously. Imagine trying to get a job as a secretary with math and language skills like that. Imagine trying to write a resume with that education level. Forget it. 
The kids know that they do not have decent books and adequate facilities that other schools do have, and they deduce that no one believes in them. People of every race and class need to stand up and fight for them, and make education truly equal and right. Unlike people in The Hunger Games it will not cost you floggings, executions and war to make the needed changes. It only costs the time to write a strong letter to your local elected officials. It will probably save you a lot in taxes later too, honestly.

Many middle class whites from the U.S. and Europe plug in every day, getting their adrenaline fix off of glamorization of real people's real problems. Media commentators glorify how those "artists" are so rebellious and courageous, and how the violence and misogyny and references to drugs are understandable because of where they come from. "They are black people in the media representing their community. Don't expect them to act responsibly." Thus, "gangsta" media puts minorities in the limelight much like black-face did in the 1930's. Do the middle class knuckleheads who carry on about how those "artists" are "telling it like it is" ever do anything to change "how it is"? No. If ghettos ceased to exist, if people of every race and class got the same opportunities, if organized crime disappeared tomorrow, where would they get their entertainment? Who would smuggle in their drugs? Who would they pretend to be a part of, rather than facing their own "boring," relatively privileged lives? Do those who allegedly "call attention to" these issues explain why minority-dominant schools score so poorly and their students do not get jobs? Do they tell what specifically can be done about it? No. They exploit these problems, and the broken emotions of their genuinely poor-minority fans, for personal wealth. That is not admirable.

The Lesson: What is going on in your city, your country, and your world that you need to stop getting entertained by and start standing up to? Are you willing to raise the three-fingered sign, like Katniss and District 11 did, and start the revolution? If you had to bring the news to one of those boys' mothers that her son has become a statistic, or had to watch her get the news like District 11 watched Katniss weep over Rue, I bet you would be ready to stop enjoying and consuming, and start acting and resolving. Immediately.

Godspeed.
~ M.S.

Lessons From the Hunger Games - Part 4

If somebody put real Hunger Games on tv or a webcast, would you watch it? Would you feed the monster and help it grow?

Suzanne Collins put, in my opinion, an allegory to our time in a book and on a screen. Ironically, it may only be lost in the mix of media messages for most people.I offer some thoughts on how the world of The Hunger Games is really parallel to our own. There are a lot of questions here to ask yourself, I am not really looking for people to give me their answers, some of these are quite personal. Just answer them to your God and yourself.

The make-overs the tributes are given remind me of how overly focused on appearances we are in our society. It might be more serious in The Hunger Games, but perhaps not. Our definitions of “really looking good” are already outside the range human variation. In The Hunger Games, people focus on tributes' hair and clothes and not on the fact that they are children forced against their will – usually – to go out killing each other.
In our own society, people risk their lives and health to “look good” and I am not only talking about anorexia and anabolic steroids. People sometimes take their lives because they think they are "ugly"and unacceptable. No one in The Hunger Games committed suicide because they believed they were ugly (at least not to my knowledge, I have only seen the films, not the books). Looking at it that way, we might be more obsessed with looks than The Hunger Games' Panem was. People's looks mattered more than their lives there. Here the overemphasis on appearance causes people to get rid of their lives, intentionally or otherwise, all by themselves. It's due to media-driven, unrealistic “standards.” We have an internalized, voluntarily accepted, brainwashing that distracts us from what is important and also extracts money from our pockets.

President Snow said the reason the Hunger Games had a winner was to give people a certain amount of hope. They had to have just a little hope, just enough to keep people going doing things that lined his pockets. Enough to secure his control over them. Not enough to stand up and become free though. Never that.There is a high enough demand for a change that media powerhouses often pretend to concede, without messing up the idea they need: that these people are much better than you, that being chosen and employed by these powerhouse corporations truly makes you above others. "Give people some hope, or you lose control over them. Make sure you don't actually empower them though". They do that periodically, much like President Snow from The Hunger Games did every year. So many "rebels" in the media are not rebels at all. For example, Lady Gaga is a skinny, blatant sex-object. This does nothing to challenge the belief that women's purpose and value comes in sex-appeal, that we are objects, or that women should be thin. THOSE are the messages that help drive girls to suicide or terrible life-choices, motivate law enforcement not to take rape seriously, contribute to anorexia, or inspire males to misuse women. It also presents sex as power, which is one characteristic of rape-prone societies. Even many who should know better believe she is "someone standing up to the status quo". She IS the status quo. Nothing changed that was truly destructive. No hair and make-up colors are destructive. No sounds are inherently destructive. Messages can be harmful though, and the messages these so-called "rebels" send are often more extreme versions of the same old poison. 

The lesson: Next time you hear about yet another media icon who "stands up to the system" remember it is not real - especially if they continue the images that truly drive real problems, or even take the harmful parts to new levels. The system they supposedly rebel against is the one telling you all this to get you to buy their stuff. If artists truly "rebel against the demands of the entertainment industry", they will not be on top of that industry, or even get signed by major companies. Forget it. No one is going to the top by genuinely standing up to the system. The entertainment industry will not give you better things to buy if what they are already doing is selling like hotcakes. Stop buying the harmful things they're giving, and then maybe they will.



Personally, I haven't watched TV in years. I do not buy magazines from the grocery counter or read the ones in doctor's offices and laundry mats. I bring my own reading material, usually something that helps me build a skill or grow spiritually. Occasionally it is just for entertainment. All of it is very carefully selected. Sometimes I just write. Doing these things was difficult at first, and got easier with time. Soon, I thought I had eliminated the things that degraded me, or shifted my focus to stupid and shallow things. Then, I began to realize how many other ways I was being degraded, insulted, or inspired toward misplaced priorities by what I still had, or was adding, in my media collection. A lot of stuff got deleted that had originally passed my tests. It did not matter what it had cost, it needed to go. Sometimes I temporarily grieved for it, sorta, but usually I did not. The best thing that has come from all this is, I like what the mirror shows me more, and when I go to the store I do not notice people's big flabby butts as much. I may notice if people are big, but it does not “stand out” to me as much, or in as vivid of detail. It is not what I talk about when my friends and I leave the store, or if I need a laugh. Not anymore. If I need a laugh, I sometimes laugh at people who watch too much TV and, apparently, unconsciously believe what they see there. That will either make one laugh or cry. For a long time I resisted any interest in The Hunger Games too, because I figured it was more “mainstream media b.s.” and senseless violence, just like what is depicted in the story itself. For some people, it may indeed be just another source of escape from reality, another blood, guts and adrenaline “escape from the realities of my rather wasted life.” It does not have to be. It is very much an allegory, and an empowering wake-up call.

We may be shunned by some if we do not conform, but not by everyone. Our society does not need an armed revolution to turn things around. We need self-discipline, and an unrelenting self-respect that refuses even passive participation in things we don't believe in. 

The primary lesson for today: Brainwashing via entertainment.
The largest difference between us and The Hunger Games really isn't the basic nature or even the intensity of the problem. The biggest difference is we are free to say no, and they weren't – not without armed revolt anyway. In The Hunger Games, the media that brainwashed everyone to ignore what was important and obsess about what wasn't was backed by physical force. If you rebelled, you were beaten or killed. No one is going to shoot us if we do not watch TV or buy magazines, and start genuinely thinking for ourselves. If you threw harmful brainwashing out of your life, who could stop you? Really? 
We could armed-revolt without results, as the worst of our problem is in our addictions and appetites for the poisons of the powerful. We don't just need to say “no” to politicians and corporations to reclaim our lives and dignity. We need to say no to ourselves, first, to become free to say “no” to them. The problem and the solution is, in the real world, you must be your own Mockingjay. The only question about whether or not you can do it is whether or not you will. It is up to you, and like Katniss Everdeen, your decisions may have more impact than you expect.

Goodnight and Godspeed


~Mother Star

NEVER! GIVE! UP!: Drive, Drive, Drive, Drive, Drive

You gotta know what you want before you can know how to succeed at it.
I know what I want and my dreams are as big as my obstacles have ever been, much bigger than they are now.

I have been writing, writing, writing. I have also done a lot of studying. There is lots to learn. Always lots to learn. There  will never come a time when that is not the case. No matter how much learning one has done, there is always so much to learn.

The landlord has offered to sell us the house on CFD. We would just pay the same amount we pay for rent,just like normal, until it is paid off. At this rent rate,that would be just under three years. My roommate doesn't want it,but I do. I do not want to take on that kind of responsibility in this situation though, so I have to wait.

I am still planning to study graphic art, but am no longer sure which institution to study through. I am considering the local community college here, just because it will be a lot more stuff, including some multimedia and 3D animation classes, plus hand-drawing which I want to get back into. It also offers an internship,which I could put on a resume and would go a ways toward building the all-important portfolio. The online one is cheaper though, is all online, and self-paced so it would not put any constraints on my time or miles on my car. Decisions decisions. Registration for the local school,which I already have a A.A. degree from and do not much care for, does not open until  late march or early April. Registration for the online one is always open. At least I am not under pressure to make a decision immediately.

I am getting through a MOOC creative writing class, little by little, as I can. It is going pretty well, I think. I am getting more serious than ever about my blog - well,there are two blogs actually. This one and one I only poston once or twice a week. I have done some research on SEO (search engine optimization) and learned some new techniques to try.

I also recently ordered a course for real estate investment. It checks out with the BBB and has pretty positive ratings and checks everywhere I have looked. So, I took the plunge a couple days ago and ordered it. I have been reading the e-book and am on page 16 or so out of 119. I hope to start seriously putting it to use in early January, maybe just a bit later.

I find myself pretty much where I most did not want to be. Living in Decatur in Winter without a job. However, I am holding my own for the most part, and am putting this time and disappointment to good use to make what REALLY want a reality. Decatur,IL does not have a lot of job prospects,especially in winter. The place that laid me off was in Champaign. The main reason I wanted to return to this region - not to this town, but oh well - was to be nearer to people that are far better family to me than my biological family. I had to escape my biological family, but I just had the best Thanksgiving Day I have ever had, despite my living in Decatur.

I am anxious to see some of this hard work pay off monetarily, but I know that is not going to happen in two weeks or anything like that. It takes months to get projects like these off the ground - especially for ones where the full course for how to do it has not even arrived in the mail yet!
In the mean time, I have gotten a couple of really short temp jobs lined up for December, a somewhat regular client expects to have more writing for me to do next month ("freelance" is usually never steady), and have unemployment coming in every couple of weeks (I do report anything I make to them, of course, and recommend doing so to anyone in that situation). Progress is actually moving at a pretty good clip, perhaps that is the reason why it often still feels like it is standing still....

Until next time, don't you ever give up on your dreams. And I will not do so either. :)

Godspeed.

Thanksgiving Day/The Day of Mourning

First of all, I'm of the opinion that being thankful makes people consume less, not more.

The real story of thanksgiving is not nearly as pretty as our traditions would have us believe, but we have an opportunity before us to change that,

The real story of Thanksgiving involves a war between the white settlers and the resident tribal people, the Pequot. The biggest Pequot settlement was surprised, and 500-600 people were massacred, Many were burned alive. Sadly, the Puritans were a driving force behind this attack; these individuals viewed the native peoples as "infidels"much like ISIS leaders might view mom-Muslims right now. Those who fled or surrendered were killed, or sold into slavery. Only a few Pequots remained. The first celebration of Thanksgiving was, unfortunately, thanking Jehovah and Jesus for the successful completion of this atrocity. Obviously, Jesus was not pleased with this, but that is what was thought.
The National Day of Mourning, celebrated by American Indians and their allies on Thanksgiving Day, is not celebrated by its founders as an anti-Thanksgiving Day event. It actually functions much the way we are told - inaccurately - that the original Thanksgiving event did.  It celebrates diversity of cultures, including but not limited to American Indians. The event brings cultures together and serves a great deal of food, prepared and served by volunteers, In 2014, 400-500 people were served. The event does offer thanks for what we have now, and has multiple purposes. First of all, it raises awareness of what really happened, and remembers the victims of the American Holocaust. It also brings attention to current hardships facing American Indians today, including an astronomically high youth suicide rate, abnormally high rates of diabetes and poverty and inaccessibility of medical care.

The reality of our ancestors' greed is an ugly thing, and it needs to be confronted and corrected. The National day of Mourning both shows us the unpleasant truth of our past, and offers us a chance to move forward. It is an opportunity to start making new history the way we really wanted the old history to be.
A 21st century count numbers the Pequot at about 3000. Four-hundred years time has allowed this population to begin to recover. In the same way, our nation can recover from centuries of lies. and the ugly repressed truth of our beginnings. The restoration offered by The National Day of Mourning gives us a chance to make the future hopeful for the Pequot and other tribes. It also offers us a chance to put the shame of our past, and the temptation to keep hiding from the truth, behind us.

Cross Castle also supports the Lakotah Oyate, which means "Republic of Lakotah" in Lakotah.

Godspeed

~Mother Star

Lessons from The Hunger Games pt 3

If somebody put real Hunger Games on tv or a webcast, would you watch it? Would you feed the monster and help it grow?

Suzanne Collins put, in my opinion, an allegory to our time in a book and on a screen. Ironically, it may only be lost in the mix of media messages for most people.I offer some thoughts on how the world of The Hunger Games is really parallel to our own. There are a lot of questions here to ask yourself, I am not really looking for people to give me their answers, some of these are quite personal. Just answer them to your God and yourself.

How many in our society can relate to Heymitch? What does he do with his life? To save his life, he sends kids like he once was to their death every year. All the money/winnings he has came from killing other kids, back when he was a kid. He does something that he doesn't believe in to survive. Within that system, he does his best to try to help, but more often than not they still die.

Before we go off on Heymitch for what he does, remember he grew up with it. When he was a kid he probably had some amount of expectations and hoped for how his life might go. Now, he hides in his alcohol and does his best to stay alive. He feels he has no control over the situation. Something that has not changed for him since he was sent to the hunger games, is he just tries to stay alive. He dares not bond with his charges, since they will probably die. Meanwhile, he is not really living, he lives to escape from his life with booze. There are many people who do that in our society, either through substances, or media, or other activities that takeover and become their consolation prize for perpetually surrendered hopes, dreams, or ideals.

The lesson: Sometimes people become - or believe they've become- trapped in circumstances that force them to participate in what they know is wrong. Pharmacists who do not believe in abortion go through this because the laws now force them to carry abortion drugs, at least in Illinois. Many trafficking victims may go through this as well. This is a terrible thing to experience and a terrible thing to do to other people. It is a sign that something is horribly wrong in the society, or with the laws thereof.

Sponsors – Create a demand that tributes kiss-butt and be someone else in order to please, so that they might be given some necessities for survival.

The corporate world – Expectations for how to dress, and how to talk and the impression you must give. Why? Essentially, in order to literally stay alive. How is “I will take your livelihood away from you, or not give it to you in the first place,” that much less severe than “I will beat you up, or shoot you”? The whole, “I will not allow you any of the wherewithal you need to survive, no matter how hard you work, or what you do, unless you impress me. Most grounds I expect to be impressed on do not relate to what anybody even needs from you, and I am also looking for reasons not to be impressed.” Sounds a lot like a job interview to me. “Pretend you are passionate about this company and everything we do and stand for, or else you have no reason to exist.” Why do employers do that? To survive. Just like the sponsors. They adapt to their environment without really changing it the ways that it needs. Perhaps they do not know how, or perhaps they also have surrendered.

The system becomes very complicated, very dishonest, and very self-serving and all the while, the idea is to look like you are not self-serving, complicated, or dishonest.

The lesson: life in a system that forces everybody to lie, or to refuse to face some truth, in order to get by is a system that requires change.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Throwing Down Both Gauntlets - Part 3 Surviving the Floods

When I read the back story of the Polysha Foundation, my heart warmed and at the same time it broke. It inspired me to write this story. This is not about Yves and Sharon Polycarpe, but their story did inspire this one. This is a work of fiction which is very loosely based on the true story of Yves Polycarpe's family, found on the About Us page of the Polysha Foundation's website. I have done my best, through research and looking at numerous pictures, to make Bronte Lamarre's story resemble that of a woman in the same situation in Haiti today. Information on the daily lives of the poor are hard to come by, and where necessary I let my imagination lead the way. I recommend anyone moved by this story visit their page, and like them on Facebook. This story is not to make anyone feel guilty, but to see just how much can be overcome by the human heart if we choose never to give up, like Mr. Yves Polycarpe's amazing mother.
The links in the story show you images, or at times videos, which I used to determine what my character's world was really like. They also serve as illustrations of the story. Enjoy!!

"Everything works together," Fredaline was saying as she bailed water out of the house. The rains had come with a vengeance this time. It was one the worst floods Bronte had ever seen. Luckily, The Lamarre home was on relatively high ground. Only a couple of inches puddled in this house. A few blocks away, Fredaline's home probably had at least four. "The rains are so heavy because there are not enough trees to drink it now, higher up on the mountains. Too many of the trees are cut down. So it comes here, and it pools and it stays and by the time it is dry, it has returned to the sky to come down again. It comes too fast, too fast down the mountains and too fast back to the sky, because we need more trees."
Fredaline had been involved with people who taught her to save seeds and taught her to grow food in her little space, and who taught her about how the earth and nature work.They told her why cholera comes, so Bronte knew this water was dangerous, and not to use the yard as a latrine. Fredaline had told her all about it. Soon, Fredaline was getting a toilet in her house. She was trying to help Bronte get one too. Now, Fredaline thought she knew why the rains were so heavy and how to fix it. It was getting a little old, and a lot ridiculous. But, maybe she was right? It did sort of make sense. The water went up to the sky if the sun touched it, and became clouds, and then made rain. The children learned this in school, and told her about it. Maybe enough trees would stop the floods. Either way, they were dealing with floods now, like they often did if it rained. Knowing the answers did not get any more water out of the house. Bailing it did.
The children tried to help, scooping up water into their cups, much to Bronte's dismay, and throwing it out into the street. The street was like a very shallow stream flowing between all the houses, at present. It would dry off later. The drains and sewers in the city were backed up and not functioning. Who knew what might be contaminating that water? Bronte found that it was hard to keep her attention on the task at hand, as she was worried the children might put the cups back into their mouths. She and Fredaline kept on bailing, with pushing the water toward the door with dirty clothes, scooping it up with fry pans and small buckets, and throwing it into the allay-turned-creek. Visions of her children struck with diarrhea, fever and cholera buzzed around in Bronte's mind like obnoxious swarms of flies. It put her in an ill temper. The gray and brown hues of the buildings and alleys blended together into one, big mass of solid color, rippling here and there with the putrid water. At least it was moving water. If it stopped moving, there would be far more trouble before long.
Carrefour had beaches all long the Northern edge, and Bronte's family home was closer to the beach than most of the houses in town, though it was still a long way from the ocean.
Several blocks North, well past Fredaline's dwelling, the highway bordered a steep drop in altitude, so that the houses nearby on the South side looked down on the road, but the road passed just above the roofs of the houses on it's North side. Life would be hard there today, for sure. All the water running off from higher ground, and all the garbage and pollution it carried with it, would be accumulating there in alleys and homes and streets. Bronte did not want to think about the dangers all that water probably brought with it, and what is must be like to live in those houses.She hoped this flood would not bring another round of cholera.
"DON'T DO THAT!!!!" she screamed, seeing Ritha raising her cup toward her mouth. She quickly tore the cup out of Ritha's hands. She looked around frantically, getting a head count of the other young children, making sure no one else was doing anything so dangerous. Guerda was sitting down on a table, playing with a spoon. Toussaint was asleep in a carrier on the counter. Stephane was gathering wet clothes into a pile so Stevenson could use it to push water their way. Stephenson was quite clumsy though, and was mostly just making a mess with the dirty clothes amid all the nasty water. Ritha darted over them, giggling and tried to help.
The older children had all left with their school books to find higher ground so they could bring dry books to school, and turn in at least reasonably dry homework. Stevenson's homework was done, Webster had helped him with it. Tears sprang quickly to Bronte's eyes as she remembered how Seydou had done this for the older kids, especially the boys. It had been nice to see Webster carrying on the tradition already, sharing with his little brother what their father would not be able to, now.
We're going to get through this she thought as she wrung the last of the water out of a soggy shirt, Things are going to get better. She turned her eyes back to Stevenson, as he helped his little brother wring out the laundry. Seydou would be very proud.
Soon the house was reasonably dry, as dry as they could get it. there were no puddles anywhere. Dinner was going to be very late, as it had not even been started. When the big kids returned, Bronte would send them to Fredaline's house to help purge the water there. Truly, they would all get through this.

As Bronte sat down to catch her breath, looking around her relatively dry domain as the waters trickled by in the street, she couldn't help but just be thankful. The children's dark blue uniforms were all over the floor,soaking wet,and this water did nothing to clean them. Yet she was thankful that they had those uniforms, and especially thankful that, this week at least, he children were attending school - the boys and the girls alike.
Maybe they would actually get a toilet in their house before long, like Fredaline insisted they could. Bronte watched her best friend playing "This little piggy"with Toussaint's toes, Maybe they would, Bronte chuckled at the thought, even go up onto the mountains and plant some more trees.

Adventures in RCIA: More on the Bible

I have been reading the notes in my New Oxford Annotated Bible, NRSV, with Apocrypha. It says on the cover it is "An Ecumenical Study Bible." It has the disputed books in between the Old and New Testaments, and gives a lengthy intro to the section. Here is what I learned so far today:
The books called Apocrypha by Protestants, some of which are called Deuterocanonical (while the rest of the OT is called "protocanonical") by Catholics, are as follows:
Tobit, Judith, the Greek version of the Book of Esther, The Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (or the Book of Sirach), Baruch, The Letter of Jeremiah, The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, 3 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, 3 Esdras, The Prayer of Manasseh, and Psalm 151. 4 Maccabees is not, canonized by any present Christian church, but was included in the appendix of many of the first Bibles because of inspirational value.

The only Catholic doctrine I know of at this time which is founded on Deuterocanonical writings is Purgatory, with all the associated practices of offering prayers, masses, and sacraments for the dead. I will not offer my current, personal view on that here right now, because I am not sure if I even have one.

The word "Apocrypha" means "hidden things," and scholars only speculate at why this term was used. The early church included all of these works in the Septuagint. Early scholars, who usually did not know any Hebrew, quoted from the disputed works and the works found in the original Hebrew Bible without differentiation. This may, or may not, be solely because they did not know any Hebrew and the Greek Bible was the only one they had. Over time, people started questioning the parts that Protestants now call the Apocrypha. Perhaps this is because of exposure to the Hebrew, which it was all supposed to be based on, but I do not know at this time.

All of these works were included in the Latin Vulgate, which was complied in the fourth century. However, there were prefaces noting that these disputed writings were, despite being very valuable teachings, not to be treated as authoritative scripture. Over time, translators and scribes started skipping the prefaces for whatever reason(s), and the whole thing was again treated as infallible, doctrinal scripture. This was the status through most of the middle ages.

So when were these books written? What is in them and what was going on? Evidently, after the Perisan exile and the Jews' return to their homeland, Alexander the Great's campaigns took a lot of territory where Jews lived as ethnic minorities, and also took Israel itself. Later, control of Israel went back and forth between tyrants from Greece and from Egypt. In Israel, Jewish culture stayed pretty strong, but Greek and other polytheistic influences started to take root and create controversy among the diaspora. There were also intermittent attempts at deliberate ethnocide (that means the dominant culture actively forcing an end to the minority culture - or at leas trying to. This is like genocide except the people's genetics and physical presence is not destroyed) by some Greek rulers.

During this time, some new books were written and the established Hebrew Canonical texts were translated into Greek. Some of these translations contain parts that have never been found in any discovered Hebrew texts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. For example, the Hebrew Bible version of Esther that Protestants use never mentions God's name at all, and it records no prayers or songs of worship. The Greek version contains prayers and songs of praise and does mention God's name several times. Other than than, the story is the same. The additions in the Greek versions of ancient Jewish canonical books, plus the books written about the trials and deeds of God's people in the Hellenistic age, compose the Protestant "Apocrypha". Major recurring themes in these Greek writings are the folly of idolatry, being faithful to the true God instead of mixing religious practice with popular pagan and unholy activities, and maintaining acceptable practices of worship and doctrine regardless of personal cost. These themes are becoming increasingly relevant today, and regardless of whether one views these writings as canonical or apocryphal, it is probably a good idea to at least look over many of them. I might add that these themes were probably very helpful/relevant to persecuted Christians in the Pagan Roman Empire, just as they were to persecuted Jews under the Greek empire.

Some of the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works contain serious historical errors, like the book of Judith. The book of Judith has Nebuchadnezzar as king of Assyria, and his invasion taking place after the Jews' return from exile, so pretty extreme historical flaws. In theology class at SLU, I was taught that the book of Job is a work of fiction, but it is still viewed by all Christians and by Jews as inspired. The lessons of the book of Job are understood to come from God and to be revelatory, just like Genesis and Revelation and everything that is consistently found in between. Likewise, the Deuterocanonical works contain historical fiction: Judith, Tobit, 3 Maccabees, and Bel and the Dragon. These cannot be accepted as fact, and cannot be treated the way my fundamentalist family, and church acquaintances over the years, read the Bible. If you cannot adjust to hearing historical fiction stories that present precepts and truths to you, sort of like parables, then it is probably best for you to leave these works alone - at least for your study of Scripture.

Many of these writings have quite disputable authorship. The Wisdom of Solomon is not written in the Hebrew style, but with the Greek style and also is perceived to have some Greek philosophy mixed in with it. That would indicate pretty strongly that Solomon did not write it. The Song of the Three Jews records the story of Daniel's three friends being delivered out of the furnace with more detail, and consists mostly of a worship song sung by them as they went through the trial and came out of it. Scholars believe it could have been written during the time of the Persian empire. The Catholic Bible has this writing in between Daniel 3:23 and 3:24. For some reason, scholars doubt that Daniel actually wrote it, perhaps because they think it was written too late. Psalm 151 is clearly supposed to be David writing about Shepherding his flock and how God gave him victory over Goliath. Copies of it were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, however, scholars think it was written during the time of the Persian empire, or possibly as late as 3  B.C. If that is the case, David couldn't have written it.

May of the Greek texts contain noticeable Hellenistic influence. Tobit even includes a popular Greek fictional character in the narrative. 4 Maccabees is not really connected to the family of the Maccabees, and neither is 3 Maccabees. 3 Maccabees is about the dispersed Jews suffering extreme persecution under the Ptolemies and, I believe, being delivered from genocide (I have not read it yet, just a synopsis). All of the Orthodox Churches canonize 3 Maccabees, but the Catholic and Protestant churches do not. 4 Maccabees is a Greek philosophical diatribe aimed at Jews, citing from the stories of 1 and 2 Maccabees, and trying to convince them of the supremacy of reason over the body and soul. The trouble with this is, I note, reason is also part of the soul realm, and is fallen. 4 Maccabees is not canonized in any Christian Bible now, evidently for very good reasons..

The Roman Catholic Deuterocanonical works are: all the additions to Daniel (Bel and the Dragon, Susanna, The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews), the Greek version of Esther, Tobit, Judith, The Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (also called the Ecclesiasticus, not to be confused with Ecclesiastes), 1 and 2 Maccabees, Baruch, and the letter of Jeremiah (Which appears as ch.6 of Baruch).

Some of the Septuagint books were left out of both Protestant and Catholic canons, but included in others. The Eastern Orthodox churches canonized all the Deuterocanonical works of the Catholic Bible, 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 Esdras but not 2 Esdras. The Russian orthodox churches canonized all the Catholic Deuterocanonical works, 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, and both the books of Esdras (though they call them 2 and 3 Esdras instead of 1 and 2), but not The Prayer of Manasseh. Esdras is seen as trying to write like a prophet, using the figurative imagery and such, and his writings include  an apocalypse. Nevertheless, Esdras never says,"Thus saith the Lord," not even once. No one of his time called him a prophet, and his works were not part of the Hebrew canon, nor do the Protestant and Catholic canons The Prayer of Manasseh is believed to have been written during the second temple period. It is an extremely passionate and skillful prayer and worship piece, comparable in theme to Psalm 51 but without the complaints about God's seeming inaction. I have no idea why it was rejected by both Luther and the Council of Trent.

In some ways,this is a very discouraging topic to study, because it reveals the depth of the division in God's church. Nevertheless, it is a good study and a profitable study. So many beautiful worship songs, and stories of triumph and commitment in the face of opposition and persecution are revealed - "hidden things" no more.

Godspeed

~ Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA - Ecumenism

For those who want to know, Catholicism and Protestantism are essentially the same. The things that unite protestant churches also unite them to Catholicism.
There are people within every sect that have notions outside of the precepts of that sect. There are also misunderstandings and mistakes that people sometimes assume are a reflection of the beliefs of a sect or determine whether or not the whole sect is Christian or not.
This is where prejudice often comes from.

Calvinists and Pentecostals have HUGE differences between themselves. Larger, I think, then between Pentecostals and Orthodox or Pentecostals and Catholics. There are also Charismatic Catholics. Pope Francis is one of these , He has addressed several Charismatic conventions. It was upon reading this I decided it was time to join the Catholic Church. It was something I though seriously about for along time, and that is what did it. I note that this Pope is extremely interested in unifying Christians from everywhere, and emphasizes ecumenism.He feels the Charismatic movement plays a vital role in this, and I agree.

So, in the spirit of unity and ecumenism, I present some of my thoughts about ecumenism, and how it could be practiced. I do intend to resume volunteering and activity with the local A.G. church after my RCIA class ends, provided my services are needed and accepted and the demands of making a living allow it. It will not interfere with Mass, as I go to Mass on Saturday afternoons and can attend any day of the week - that was actually another reason for making the move now, I had a work schedule that made Sunday morning service hard to get to and the A.G. church stopped having service on Wednesday nights.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA: The Bible

Well, I am in the process of joining the Catholic church. I am looking for the first time at these "new" books, which my protestant brothers call "The Apocrypha." The book of Sirach, which I read from in the video, was not canonized by Jews, but the earlychuch canonized it. I do not know when, and do not yet know whether the original apostles like Peter and St. Paul the Great considered it the inspired word of God or not. I doubt it. I donot think it is, though I do think parts of it are anointed and that is has some value. I just do not believe it has the divine authority of Scripture. Sirach was openly misogynistic, he did not just have a differentiating view of gender roles, he came out and said having a daguhter was a curse, not a blessing. El Shaddai spoke to Moses and said to give daughters land,justliek was customarily done with boys, and many other things that indicate a respectful and valuing attitude toward women. Lady Wisdom was not sexualized in Proverbs like she was in Sirach. This may be why the ancient Jews never considered him insired. In any case, they didn't and I don't either. Most of these were written during the time my protestant brethren call, "400 years of silence," the ideabeing that godjust shut up the wholetime and did not send any important prophets or offer any guidance. Then, I was taught, God started talking again like crazy. Well, maybe so. But we talk a lot about the early church and how the early church did tis ad that. The early church cannonized alot of this, and the oldest churches there are still use some or all of it. So, I am beginning my journey through "the Apocrypha" if indeed that is what it all is.



I will post more about this when I know more. I am excited to read about Bel and the Dragon, and Judith, and Susanna. The Song of the Three Jews is beautiful. I just do not have a clue about whether it really was sung by Daniel's three freinds when they were thrown into the furnace for being faithful to God. Their names may have been put in later, when people shoved it in with Daniel's writings, but maybe not. SOMEBODY wrote an annointed worship song, I just do not know if it was really written by who it is attributed to.

 I hope everyone has a wonderful day.
Goodnight and Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Not cool at all! Parents be aware! #dangerous toys #alert #parental advisory

Ok,

This is not a cool toy. This is especially not a cool toy for three year olds.

Please parents, be aware, people devoid of common sense are making toys this year.




Take care

~M. S.

More on How to Save the World

Continuing the vein of using real estate investment to turn communities, neighborhoods and spaces around, it is time to consider some of the social aspects.
In America, classes have been segregated from each other. There are poor communities and wealthy ones. There is truth to the statement that when generations of people do not find work, they come to see the welfare state as a means of living. Sadly, when people do not have to invest anything in what they have, they often fail to appreciate it. This, in America at least, leads to destructive levels of neglect that lower property values and people's self-worth and helps produce things like ghettos.

Students in Florida who receive scholarships to attend private schools often report that being surrounded by the middle class, where work and college is just expected and value routinely been placed on education, changed their thinking and helped redirect their lives. An environment where poverty is expected and hope is limited or non-existent plays a big role in numerous social problems.

We need to mix up the pot. Raising rent to levels only the middle class can afford in school districts that are beyond undesirable in not a solution, it is financial suicide. So how so might we shuffle the deck?

Using my own city as an example, let me paint a picture of my proposal.
Decatur, IL is one of the most declined economies in the USA. In 2013, only Detroit was going down worse. The homeless population is high, as is vacant housing. It has been this way for a long time. Decatur is home to Archer-Daniels Midland's headquarters, a Caterpillar plant, two heavy polluters similar to ADM, and a very good private University. The Decatur Public schools are barely worthy of being called schools. There are two private high school options and three private elementary school options.

The adjacent towns of Forsyth and Mount Zion are predominantly white and middle class. Their schools are very good, as U.S. public schools go, and they serve several small farming communities nearby as well as Decatur's elite classes residing on the outskirts of town. So there are good schools around, if you live in the right place.

Thanks to House Hunters for this photo

Starting as near to Milikin U. as possible but in the low income neighborhoods, begin a project that will have a food forest and renewables. Plant the trees and start making the food forest as soon as possession of the house is secured. If possible, so a quicker flip of another property to make a lot of money faster, and start adding the renewables a.s.a.p. Advertise with the campus rooms in a community house that has renewables on low utility bills. When the fruit and nut trees are producing, start mentioning that in the ads. Pay the house off, or perhaps refinance for lower payments, as soon as possible in order to offer students discounted rates over summer if they will help with the garden. When more than one property is secured, estimate the man-hours required and try to meet it by helping impressionable young tenants get through school - and give them some permaculture school in the process. This creates a captive audience of sorts, for permaculture classes. After the houses have generated enough income to pay for the improvements - especially the renewables - and the projects are complete (both, which may not happen at the same time) it is time to think about selling.

Thanks to permaculture for this cool photo

Wait until someone who likes the house and understands/appreciates the permaculture finds a good-paying job locally. Offer the house to them a little below market value, or right at it if you expect housing values to go up, on a rent-to own basis. Draw up paperwork that locks in that price. Half the rent every month goes into the price while you retain landlord status and fix things and help solve garden problems if they should arise. They will still be responsible for damages caused by neglect or abuse. After a certain number of years (perhaps 3-5?), according to your contract, the buyer needs to pay the balance. This will give them time to reduce student loan debt and get in a position to take on a mortgage. The renewables and the food forest will help facilitate that, especially since they will be allowed to sell surplus production of the garden.

 These just-starting outs will not likely need to send children to school before they get into a position to be able to send they kids to the private schools, and avoid the appalling district 61 public schools. They will be incentivized to stay because of the food forest and the renewables and the affordability of the house. Their good job will allow them to handle the real estate taxes. Your continuing to reproduce this pattern nearby will create a mixed-income neighborhood, with college students, career people, Young middle class families and people who have been on assistance for generations. The higher property values will feed real estate taxes into the local schools, hopefully helping solve the problem. The relationship with the tenants could create opportunity to tell them about the issues with the local schools so they will be a.) aware they should not send their kids there when they have them and b.) hopefully inspire them to hold the local authorities accountable.



On the other side of the coin, getting the low-income children OUT of district 61's mess and into a place where they are actually educated and prepared for life will take a different approach. Use section 8 to do this. In this area, section 8 does pay enough to cover the more expensive houses, because Decatur is zoned with a larger town that has higher housing costs than any of the neighboring towns. It is more likely to require some quick flips with very few changes made in order to jump start or speed up the project. Houses in low-income areas of Decatur are very cheap. Houses in Mount Zion or Forsyth, or areas of Dectur zoned for Mount Zion or Argenta-Maroa schools are NOT.

Thanks to House Hunters for this photo

During the summer, if you have students staying over summer, they can help work on putting in the food forest in order to cover the part of their rent. If you are certified to teach permaculture, they can put in extra time and get extra education there for free if they want the extra education; it would then be a work-study situation or an apprenticeship or something. This could alo open doors for people who just wantto study permaculture, they can work their fees off helping to change the town.

Thanks to Pushing through the Pavement: A Permaculture Action Tour for this photo

Again, start the food forest as soon as possible. Addrenewables as soon as possible. Pay attention to the Section 8 Guidelines. Baby-proof the place or design it with infants, pre-schoolers, and elementary school children in mind. Ideally, the house will have a space that can be turned into a bedroom, easily so that if another kid comes into the picture, the family is ready. If you can find one the housing authority will approve, put in a swingset. You want people incentivized to stay where their kids get better education and ther are more jobs available when the kids become teens.
You might have to make a summerstudent-house out of this for a few years. If they have a job they do not want to give up (in Decatur area, jobs are precious! You might not be able to get another one when you come back in the fall), being able to stay in the area over summer will help a lot. (The rent goes back up to full price forthat vicinity as of September 1st. That will almost certianly get the students planning to move out by the time school begins.) Obviously, you need to have flipped another house to about pay this one off in order to afford going with no tenants or discounted tenants until the food forest is ready!

Thanks to Permaculture for this photo


After the food forest is ready, and the students are back in school, get it section 8 approved if you haven't already. Advertise through the the foodbank, and local homeless or battered-woman shelters, not craigslist or the newspaper. This one is not likely to be sold for a long time.
If a tenenat family becomes upwardly mobile to the point where they no longer qualify for section 8, you can, at your discretion, work something outwith them to rent to own the place, like in the case above. You might also accept work for part of the rent, in which case you can teach permatulcure to more people. Be creative. They might not, or probably won't though, if nothing else because minimum wage went up and low-skill jobs can be expected to be scarcer. Sadly...

The end result of these practices is facilitating change through permaculture education and utilization, and by improving opportunity for education.

On Criticisms of Catholicism - expensive buildings

High, arched ceilings. Exposed beams. Carvings. A choir loft. Statuary. Stained glass on every window. What comes to mind when you think of a Catholic church? Does this sound expensive? Like a waste of kingdom resources? Like an outward show that must be hypocritical? Something else?

Electric lights. Video walls. High ceilings, many windows. Images of clouds, or of a cross, or of weather, or of roads, or of the sun shining. Ever changing images, on the big movie screen, and contemporary music thumping from the PA system to go along with the images, or else the images go with the song. Power point presentations or short, professionally shot videos to update you on announcements for church. Sound familiar? Does your church do any of the above?
That sounds a bit expensive too.

I am currently in RCIA, which is the class you take to join the Catholic church. My last protestant church was big, They were doing a lot of good things and coming up with innovative ways to pay for it. I was pleased with it.
They also paid for a TV spot on the local station and put their services and sermons out on webcasts and post the recordings online. This led to people with all sorts of problems contacting them for advice and answers, and they started a support group for people recovering from various addictions.
Another large church in town ran a school and two daycare centers. All of these things were expensive, but productive. I have no issues with that (A.G.) church, I did not leave out of any big disagreement or bitterness whatever.

Some people who have serious issues with Catholicism - or who at least think that they do, some people have only ever heard of it through people who seek to discred it - make snide comments about how much it cost to build or maintain cathedrals. Some protestants point fingers and pass judgments, acting like or saying, "WE are not like that, we are better." I grew up exposed to such things.

When catholic churches started building cathedrals and doing stained glass, mosaics, and statuary, there were no printing presses mass producing Bibles and almost nobody could read. Nowadays we have "picture bibles" for non-literate tribes. In the middle ages, the picture bibles WERE the stained glass and the statues. The Vatican and surrounding buildings are designed to be a Bible for people who could not read. Obviously, this artwork was expensive too, so having it on the church building, which was shared with the whole community, helped get the stories and messages to everyone around it. Having little pieces of such work at home, and using the original rosary, helped people get their spirits fed at home. The original use of the rosary was recitation of the Psalms. You can look it up, if you like.

Its funny how we hear those criticisms from people who's churches have purchased expensive PA systems and musical instruments but have no one to play them, or who have video walls behind their pulpits, and every bit as high of ceilings as the cathedral down the block. None of that stuff is cheap, and it actually serves the same basic purpose. People in modern protestant churches usually do not need picture stories of the Bible, but images that "minister," or bring about prayerful or hopeful attitudes, or that evoke emotions matching the sermon or theme are very common. There is nothing wrong with this, ever. Nevertheless it costs money. In modern Catholic churches, the architecture serves the same purpose as the powerpoints and videos in so many protestant churches that I have been fortunate to visit the last several years. I also find it helps me feel connected to earlier Christians and brings the depth and size and timelessness of the family of God to the forefront. Catholic churches in ornate buildings continue to help the poor in many regions, and in many ways, to protest abortion and offer alternatives to it, to shelter the homeless and minister to the sick and the dying in local communities and across the world, just like protestant churches usually do.

Disagreeing with doctrine is one thing, slandering people is another. Please check yourself if you have been judging others.

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Adventures in RCIA - Communion/The Eucharist and Perpetual Adoration

Hi,
I am Mother Star, and I am joining the Catholic Church. I have been protestant most of my life, and have been involved in ministry in Protestant churches and ministries, up to and including preaching on one occasion.
Advenetures in RCIA is about finding God in Catholicism, and how Catholicism is the same or differs from protestantism of various types. Naturally, I can only go with what I have been exposed to, and I have not attended every church in the world. These comparisons are a synopsis of what I know and believe, based on my experiences in multiple churches and my own walk with God. You might have a different experience. I respect that, and appreciate your respecting mine.

Adventures in RCIA is not, I repeat in NOT  an attempt to convert more people to Catholicism. I do not like the term "convert" used in this sense anyway. I do not feel like I am converting to anything; I am moving on in my walk with God, learning more about God and the worldwide church family I have long been a part of, and approaching or experiencing God in - for me - a new and fresh way. That's what's going on with me and Catholicism, just to make that clear.

I am going to include a video with this post, but it may take sometime to finish, so I will add that when it is complete.
Thanks and God bless

~Mother Star

Making Money Online 2 - further discourse on sites that pay

It has been a very long time since I wrote about this. I spent about six months not involved in any online financial ventures whatsoever. These last few months I have learned a great deal. I have learned enough recently to make a few decisions about how to proceed, and here I will offer some insights gleaned from that learning process. Perhaps these insights will assist you in your own journey.

The most important thing I learned was, the internet is a good place to follow your passion in your work. Most of the more successful people making their livelihood online decided what they wanted to do or were interested in, money aside and began with that. In my particular case, I have several, and so utilizing them all will involve utilizing a variety of techniques creatively. Whatever your passion may be, it will likely take building.

I have come to a decision about microworker.com, I am not going to use it anymore, unless something pretty drastic were to happen and I would need to resort to that again. There is nothing really wrong with the site itself, The reason I will not use it anymore is it does not build up to anything, It offers little micro-jobs for micro-pay and no real chance for advancement. If you are new to sites like mechanical turk and are only eligible for $0.01 or $0.02 jobs, and not even that many of those, I recommend doing a little on miroworkers to have access to $0.25 and higher things, or at least $0.7 - $.10 ones. It will help keep your sanity while you literally work for pennies. Once you break 100 HITs and especially when you get close to 500, I would suggest cashing in your microworkers earnings, or work until you build up enough to withdraw and then withdraw it. Microworkers will retain about $0.06 no matter what, and that is a fact I just had to accept.

When I was working with mechanical turk frequently, I found I could make around $30.00 to $40.00 a week without having any real transcription skills when I had about 200 HITs accepted and a 98% approval rating. I got stupid though, and started experimenting with different kinds of tasks to see what all I could do. I found out the hard way not to do that. A few rejected HITs can bring your approval % down low enough you will only get penny jobs and $0.10 jobs again. I tried to do many short jobs to fix this and worked for an appalling requester called p9r. p9r does not communicate well, and if you make the wrong move, your HIT will be rejected and your rating will suffer. I knocked out several on their HITs and received enough rejections in a short time to be demoted back to penny jobs and it has taken me a long time to get my rating back over 97%. AVOID p9r unless you feel you can afford to take rating losses.

Elance.com has a complex system if you are an American. They have several forms you must fill out. Fill out your W-9, and your 1099 and a few others. If you relocate, it is difficult to change your address. In my case, I was told my W-9 info did not match what the IRS had on file. The IRS office told a different story. My information did match what they had on file, and Elance does not have access to IRS records. Nevertheless, Their finance office insisted they had discovered a discrepancy between my W-9 and IRS  files. Eventually, an exceptional customer service person talked me through every file and form Elance had, and we fixed all of the information on each file. After that, the finance team said my information "matched IRS records" which they probably never even saw. This was in addition to my adventures trying to get my address changed on my profile. Customer service had to escalate that all the way to the web programmers.After THAT was fixed I was able to change my information on the forms and expect the changes to still be there the next time I logged in or if I refreshed the page.
If I had it to do over again, I would go to the page that has all the forms on one spot and try filling them all out. Maybe I would have had less trouble, or maybe I still would have had a help request go all the way to the engineers. Either way, it would have saved me the trouble of dealing with the finance departments MISERABLE communication and service.
Here's how to do that:
In the upper right corner, click your username. A drop down menu will show up. Click on "settings."

Then, click on "Billing & Payment," in the left-side menu.

This menu will come up. You can see all the forms you have to fill out as an American. If you are not an American, it still is wise to enter here and check any boxes that tell Elance you are not an American and do not need those forms. The "Invoice and Tax," the "1099 information," the "W-9 Info" and "Currency," are all things you need to do before even messing with looking for work.

All that is if you want to do freelance work answering directly to someone else. As far as avialable jobs, at the time of this writing there were 25,313 jobs on all of Elance. 9,599 IT jobs, 5477 were Design and Multimedia jobs. 3872 were Writing & Translation jobs, 3142 were Sales & Marketing jobs, 1950 were Admin & Support jobs, 656 were Engineering & Manufacturing jobs, 408 were Finance & Management jobs, and 239 were Legal jobs. If those numbers do not add up to 25,313, it is because jobs were filled or more were posted while I went through the categories and recorded the number in each. I have found that many of the employers posting jobs here wants lave labor, by U.S. standards.
You must beware of sharks in the waters of the freelance market. I am exclusively in the writing and translation category and I have seen 500 to 2,000 words for as little as $1 USD. This is often because the employer is from a place like the Philippines, where $5 can buy a week worth of groceries or something close to that. I have seen Brits and Americans offer that little as well though, while specifically asking for native English speakers. Beware of those who are out to take advantage of you. When employers want "Price per word"or tell you how much they want to pay per word without telling how many words they want, I would not even bother. They did not read the directions. Elance does not allow less than $20 billed-to-client for fixed-rate jobs, or less than $3.00/hr billed-to-client for hourly jobs. If they are not paying attention to what they are doing, do not pay attention to them. You do not want clients who do not communicate well or consider the constraints you must bid within (or Elance will not even let you submit the bid). I have also found out the hard way not to work for clients who do not know what they want. If you submit a sample and an idea and they like it, they might change their mind later and expect you to be able to do something you never agreed to do. Also beware of people who want you to submit a sample in the form of doing a part of the job for them before they will hire you. That is either an idiot not thinking through what they are asking, or a scammer who wants to get the job done for free. Elance.com rules say that you are under no obligation to start work until a milestone payment has been submitted by the employer. That milestone is your insurance that you will be paid and they will not take the work you did and run without paying. I had a person needing 100 to 200 product descriptions written. He said, "price me per product." Of course the lowest you can bid is $20.00. After a long time, he asked me to write descriptions for about 15 products so he could decide if he wanted to hire me. I wrote two and sent them in, not willing to do up to 15% of the job for free. He probably did that to a lot of people and tried to get it all for nothing. I never heard from him again.
I worked for a lady who asked for my email address after she hired me, She gave me a 5-star rating and did indeed contact me for more work OFF of Elance. I did $50 worth of work, based on the agreed price,and was supposed to be paid in two weeks. Three weeks later I got two thirds of it, and after a month she was paid up. She is a freelance writer who farms out some of her work to others and pays them a smaller cut. This will never advance your career. Clients will know the persons who hired you are, but not you. The employer will build a reputation and grow their business, you will not. Off of Elance, you do not even have the rating or records to show you did anything. It will look like you have no experience from all that work. You will also might get less money than the person who hires you does. I did five articles for a very grumpy client that the aforementioned client outsourced to me, and I got $10 a piece. She went between us as a middle person so all the communication came to me through "the grapevine," and got very confusing at times. On their files, it looked like she was the one doing the work. On Elance, those articles would have been $20; it also was way too much work for $10 - or even $20, as those were terrible clients. If I take a job on Elance that says "there will be more work if you do a good job," I am going to let them know I do not usually do additional work if it is not on Elance, because Elance protects both of us in a lot of ways, and is worth the small percentage I must pay.

In the writing field, I have noticed so many of the potential clients want content for a website or blog to get them more hits. Usually they want it SEO optimized. I guess some are aspiring professional bloggers who do not actually wish to blog. A high volume of these jobs on Elance led me to investigate how to generate income from a blog. In the process of learning this, I realized I would be happier writing about things I care about and helping people who have similar interests or challenges. I also realized that such things take a lot of building, so instead of working for low fees to build someone else's corner of the web, I should spend that time building my own. It could eventually pay better and will make me far happier. If you would not mind working hard to take others to the top and getting crumbs thrown your way for doing it, feel free to take those Elance blogging jobs.

Blogs need to be focused, or readers never know what tto expect from you or whether what you write will be any use. People do not get interested in literary Russian roulette. The topic of this one is actually not how to make money online, so this topic will be found at erdavis01.tumblr.com from now on. I expect to update the Tumblr blog once a week or more. CrossCastle will hereafter be about various inspirational or spiritual things. In my case, I find that I have several interests I would enjoy writing about. Therefore, I write more than one blog, with focus aimed primarily at one at a time. I advise others with multiple interests to start with one thing and progressively expand, as you are able. Working online is a journey, not a destination. It is a road, not a doorway, into a new lifestyle. Enjoy the process. :)

Godspeed.

~Mother Star

Lessons from The Hunger Games - Part 2

If somebody put real Hunger Games on tv or a webcast, would you watch it? Would you feed the monster and help it grow?

Suzanne Collins put, in my opinion, an allegory to our time in a book and on a screen. Ironically, it may only be lost in the mix of media messages for most people.I offer some thoughts on how the world of The Hunger Games is really parallel to our own. There are a lot of questions here to ask yourself, I am not really looking for people to give me their answers, some of these are quite personal. Just answer them to your God and yourself.


As, promised, we continue the topic of what serious and life-altering lessons we can learn from Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. One challenging thing we find is their world differs from ours only in the extreme, and in some of the details. The basic problems are the often same.

How many Haymitches do we have? We no longer have a draft, but veterans from the drafts are still with us today. We have many warriors walking wounded, trying to drown their misery in substances. What did Katniss want to do after she won? To forget. Many veterans want to forget. While we honor our veterans for their service, many of us and many of them do not believe the missions our rulers send them on are necessarily in our best interests. The only thing in the world more painful than losing people you love to violence -or really any other tragedy - is to believe that there was no pupose in the tragedy, or that the purpose was worth less than it cost.
There were even people in Panem who sent their kids to special schools to make them bloodthirsty killers, brainwashed them to "bring pride to our district." Perhaps it was to avoid the pain of losing two kids every year, for no reason. Perhaps they got caught up in the lie that it was about pride, and that the kids were there to show that they really were better than the other districts. Hide from the fact that you have no power against this injustice by actively choosing what you have no choice but to choose. Make yourself feel empowered that way, raise your kids to have no respect for human life so they will have a better chance of winning. Give your community an ego-boost about something that is really quite shameful. Don't stand up to the system that makes you economically better off than most. Take your losses in your morals, not your sense of security. In this film, it backfires and none of those kids return home.




The people of Panem in The Hunger Games need to face the pain of losing their children for no reason, especially in Districts 1 and 2. They need to face reality, and call it by its true, ugly name. Turning an oppressive system meant to put you under the oppressors shoe into a source of pride and identity, and raising your kids to "win" these atrocious "games" to "bring pride to the district" is to try to get rid of the pain caused by a problem without addressing its cause. The games were there to make sure they knew their "place," by taking their children away to fight and die for no reason. The idea was to make it clear there was nothing they could do about it, to let them know who was "really in charge". They "empowered" themselves and prided themselves on "thriving" in that system, training their kids think that it elevated their district if they killed all the other kids every year. They perceived this as empowerment and pride because they accepted the lies and ideology of the corrupt system that instituted the Hunger Games in the first place.

The Lesson: Not everything that makes you feel better is healthy or helpful or good.  There are many applications for this. Calling yourself by racial or gender slurs could resemble this, because that is also surrendering while priding yourself on how well you are fighting. I see this everywhere. Women calling themselves b****es, black people calling each other n****s, and saying it means something they must know - at least deep sown inside - that it does not. Hide from the pain and call oneself courageous for doing so. Ease the misery at the cost of perpetuating the problem.

I see this frequently in the feminist movement. To some people, any time a woman does something conforming to male gender roles, it is seen as liberating. Self-identified (though not necessarily qualifying for the label) "feminists" do not consider whether the things being imitated are negative, or even oppressive and unproductive to men as well as to women. Taking on males' shackles is not going to free us, it only adds additional or different chains.

In the same vein, an abused woman who prostitutes herself to try and turn an abusive system into cash and calls herself "empowered" is lying to herself. She is never treated with any respect, so she declares war on the idea of respect and spurns her humanity by volunteering to be an object rather than declaring was on the objectification of women and confronting the source of the problem. She is not empowered, she is too weak, or weakened, to even face reality. Not a good candidate for a "Mockingjay" for herself or anyone else. She is not elevating or empowering herself or anyone. These decisions are founded on conformity to the mindset of the perpetrators who think they exert power over others by sleeping with them, it's built on never solving the problem.

Calling yourself a b**** and acting like a stereotypical, pig-headed male by pushing your way to the top and not caring about anyone else, or being rude,or being odious and vulgar, or making hateful words into "good words" and reversing hateful imagery is very unhelpful and hypocritical. The key to destroying oppressive systems is not to imitate anything said or done by the oppressor. Do not allow people that hate you to name you, keep their hateful words out of your vocabulary - all of them. Keep their actions not worthy of being called human, and that make the world an unhappy place, out of your behaviour. Women who prostitute other human beings,women who emotionally manipulate men, women who are physically and verbally violent, are not "empowered." They do no more to elevate womanhood than the tributes of Districts 1 and 2 in The Hunger Games elevated their districts.

Godspeed.

~ M.S.