Real Talk!

Chee Ying “Jimmy” Lai founder and chairman of Hong Kong’s Next Media, Ltd has recently said "Newspapers are sentimental and emotional products. It’s not the news, it is the emotion behind the story that counts. Media is about life. Life is about drama. Drama is about pain, fear, happiness – all of that. The media has to reflect that. People need media not because they need news, but because they need shared sentiment.”

I have heard many people complain about the fact that China has spent so much money in preparation for the Olympics- money that could have been spent improving living conditions for the Chinese people.

Chinese authorities are desperate to shift attention away from human rights and on to sporting matters. They say that human rights have improved, citing fewer death sentences, an increased number of religious worshippers and lifted travel restrictions for foreign journalists.

Amnesty International estimates that China executes 22 people per day. They claim that the Chinese government will execute 374 people during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since 1996, they have carried out by executions by lethal injection- although a bullet to the back of the head or to the heart is still the most common method. Often, the family must pay for the bullet.

China's organ transplantation program began during the 1960s. In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that executed prisoners are the principal source of supply of body organs for medical transplantation purposes in China.

The extensive use of the death penalty and the country's burgeoning organ trade and transplant program is only one of the socio-political issues in China that has attracted mounting international attention and alarm.

& who will ever forget the 1989 massacre at Tianamen Square?

Such a startling contrast....

The opening ceremony for the 2008 summer Olympics was an extraordinary display of the some of the most powerful, captivating, dynamic, rich aspects of the Chinese culture. They are capable of such beauty.

Just a brief note here... with totals...

seems we went 4240 kilometers and it cost us $172.38 in premium gas

Along with the price of gas, the past 10 days have been filled with intense discussion from a variety of sources... favourite topics included: Real Estate, Real Estate Prices, Mortgage Financing, Mortgage Companies, Bank Failures, Interest Rates, Politics, Race, Religion, Heritage, History, Culture, Motorcycles, Life, Death and a whole lotta stuff in between.

We sampled the North Eastern United States and the Eastern portions of Canada. & we're soon planning to do the same for the Western parts... but that's for future blogs.

I can't help but mention that Mrs. Sampson makes the WORLD'S BEST Carrot Cake. I didn't dare ask for her recipe... and her closest friends and family think she has a secret ingredient that she wouldn't tell about, anyway.

It's okay, because we figured out what it is... and it isn't nutmeg, Marge!

But seriously, her stuff was so good that there was a major cribbage tournament to decide who would get the last of the carrot cake... and it had to be three pieces in one!

The Boss was the Hog...

but that's all I'm going to say about THAT!

Here is the first layer of what I learned last week:

The world is very close to having finally recognized the value of emancipation. The world is very close to having healed a number of wounds.

In spite of the bad... there's a whole lot of good. The world cares about what is happening else where and in their twisted ways are trying to accomplish the same goals. Terrosits are no different than playground bullies... they exist and they are not necessarily representative of the majority...

Essentially, most people want to be part of a good, fair and reasonable society that does not condone violence or slavery. A society in which each life is honoured and respected in solidarity.

We live at a time in which we are being asked to take responsibility. We live at a time where we have the wisdom of generations remind us to never forget the horrors of the planet's past... We live at a time where there are several generations who have experienced the wisdom and expect, not accept, the gift of our forefathers.

I visited Deerfield Massachusetts... and some of my own puritanical history... only 6 generations back... on the other hand... WAY BACK... in 1700... I think Granny Abigail (as she might have been known, had circumstances been different)... was one of the first "women's libbers"- she chose to stay with her native captors... because their way of life was far more gender balanced.

Granny Abigail conveyed property through inheritance in the 1700s... I don't think she would have had the same experience in Deerfield...
so much has happened since then. So much has changed and grown and been invented and been discovered...

Still, we haven't perfected the system. Perhaps a few still hang on to the anger and perhaps a few still hang on to out-dated values... whatever the reason, it is time for us to fully emancipate...

The timing is right. I know my daughter, now aged 16 knows that woman had to fight to get rights... she knows that there were slaves... she knows that there were concentration camps... she knows that there are ongoing atrocities and still, she knows that she will not participate in anything that would perpetuate bullying- of any sort.

My daughter is about a year older than the age that Granny Abigail was when she married Grandpa Josiah. I suppose I should tell them "Nia:wen" which I believe is Mohawk for Thank You and however you would say: "We have learned much in the time since you made your choices." and "We still have much to learn."

While contemplating this, I thought about the current CNN documentary "Black in America"... and I googled a man who became one of my greatest heroes (when I was in grade three) "Martin Luther King" and the word "emancipation"...

I discovered a website: http://www.holidays.net/mlk/emancipation_days_of_respect.htm

The Emancipation Days of Respect

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., three Emancipation Days of Respect have been established to promoting unity, respect and remembrance for those who have struggled and sacrificed to help change America's unjust laws of racial segregation, as well as support and solidarity with victims of slavery and violence.

The Emancipation Days of Respect are ''Humanitarian Day'' (January 15th - MLK's Birthday), ''Victims of Violence Holy Day'' (April 4th - Anniversary of MLK's death) and ''Dream Day Quest and Jubilee'' (August 28th - Anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech)

Humanitarian Day
The first of 3 annual Emancipation Days of Respect honoring the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Observed on King's birthday (January 15), the wearing of white is encouraged to show respect and remembrance for all those who have helped change America's unjust laws of racial segregation.

Victims of Violence Holy Day
The 2nd of 3 annual Emancipation Days of Respect honoring the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Observed on the day of King's assasination (April 4), the wearing black is encouraged to show solidarity with victims of slavery and violence.

Dream Day Quest and Jubilee
The third of 3 annual Emancipation Days of Respect honoring the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Observed on the anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream speech" (August 28). The wearing of black and white is encouraged as a show of respect.

WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS BEFORE???

I think we need a day of respect we could call it: Emancipation Day, a day of unity, respect and remembrance in honour of those who have struggled and sacrified to help the world achieve peace. Oh wait a minute... that might be "World Peace Day"???

Try googling that!

I suggest the 9th of October

Final Leg of Journey:

gassed up in Little Falls NY: $19.00 Odometer: 10062
gassed up near Kingston Ontario: $29.51 Odometer: 10414

got home: Odometer 10585

Too tired to do the math... see my own bed. I've been emancipated.

Leaving Lake George was easy. I'm afraid I'm not a big fan of wax museums and crowds. We slept through torrential downpours and thunder. That part was good.

Today, we managed to watch the sky and avert pockets of pouring rain. We missed a wicked downpour when we pulled into "Ronnie's", a motorcyle shop, in New Ashford. I noticed my microphone was loose in my helmet. They were awesome. Fixed us up with a new screw... no charge. Much nicer than the Honda dealership we encountered in Panama City, Florida!

We took smaller highway routes and the roads were perfect for biking. We went through the "Green Mountains" riding way way up and then all the way down. The scenery was spectacular.

We paid a visit to the Historic Village of Deerfield Massachusetts. This is the town from which my 6th gr-grandparents were taken captive in 1704 and marched through the January snow, over the mountains, into Montreal.

Deerfield in 1704 was a seriously Puritanical society... it's no wonder that Abigail decided to stay with her adoptive native family in Canada. The native culture treated people with far more equality.

I had Fabian take my picture beside some of the monuments to my ancestors. I looked into the library, but frankly, most of the books seemed to offer the same information that I have been able to find elsewhere, already.

A great number of my ancestors, on both sides, started out in the North-Eastern U.S.... way back in the 1600s.

Still, there is something quite humbling about making the trip through the mountains to Deerfield and knowing that 304 years ago, my ancestors were forced to make the trek on foot, in the winter.

Now, we're in Brattleboro Vermont, packing it in for the day. Odometer: 9792 and $24.50 in fuel.