In memory of Ralph James Wilson, my Daddy

Daddy was a Machinist Mate 2 in the naval forces of the United States. Most of his service was on the destroyer Decatur DD-341.b. Daddy, in memory of your service to this country I honor you today!

RALPH JAMES WILSON

Rate / RankMM2
Service BranchUSN
Service Dates8/1943 -4/1946
Born4/27/1922 BROOKLYN, NY

NTS SAMPSON, NY
USS DECATUR DD-341
RS & COUSN PIER 92, NEW YORK, NY
INDUSTRIAL COMMNAVREPBASE, SAN DIEGO, CA
PSC LIDO BEACH, L.I., NY

AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL
EUROPEAN AFRICAN MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL W/2 STARS
WORLD WAR II VICTORY MEDAL

TORTURE

There are not that many people which we happen to call terrorists that have any concrete information that we want or need. Missions are carried out by what we call “terrorists, CIA agents, or our military.” Know that each person carrying out the mission in any of the groups I reference here are not privy to the information of each other. This my friends is where the torture issue breaks down and does not work. Why? We don’t know if Johns’s information is related to Sam’s or if he knows anything at all. These unknown factors make torture an act of trial and error. How on earth are we going to torture people on a trial and error basis? How can we move forward believing that this is an act of self-preservation of a nation? How can we involve ourselves in such grievous and heinous crimes against humans whether they are guilty or not, just because we are out to find the truth? How can we search for the truth employing our own men? Do you think our men will be the same after they torture someone? We turn gthem into victims as the ones they are torturing? Why do we do this to our own?

How, please tell me how, can conservatives that are out there in search of preservation of life, as in the unborn child, risk the adult child’s mind by forcing them to torture others? How, can the conservatives who claim to have such fundamental truths to withhold do such atrocities to other human beings? How, can conservatives claim that life is to be honored and cherished and yet have such double standards for US citizens vs. the rest of the world? Why? I am appalled today and disgusted with this. I am furious that we are even discussing this. How can self-righteousness make us cruel? How? Two wrongs do not make a right! And worse of all when we don’t even know if we are taking our "6th degree of separation terrorist cousin" that grew up in the other side of the word and degrading his human nature to the point of total surrender!

Yes, why don’t you conservatives ask McCain? Ask him why he does not agree with torture. Ask McCain why this practice has to be abolished. Ask McCain how he broke down. For what? If Sam is captured, do not fool yourselves, someone else will carry out his mission. There is always a plan B!

Cheney can talk, Rumsfeld can talk, and everyone out there Republican, Democrats, Independents can talk…. But the truth of the matter is that we hurt our own! Why? Why?
Has humanity gone bonkers? Today I am angry at this issue. Angry that we even have to discuss it!

Conservatives, do on to others… does not mean just us, it means humans… wake up people…. Wake up!

Para ti mami... Preciosa por Marc Anthony

En honor a mi madre, que adoraba su isla, Puerto Rico! Mami, you represent what this song says about our island... dedicated to Rafael Hernadez the composer... Such love of our heritage... I always attribute it to the territorial issues... the smaller the place the more territorial you are... island people experience this... the island calls you... hear the drums beating... listen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEdfvyS1WnU

Mami... besame mucho

Good morning world. Today as I go into this day I want to acknowledge and remember that there is a very large world out there who I shy away from or do not reach out to give them love. Something has changed since mami’s death… within me. I want to be alone… or is it because I am alone and have to make peace with this… whichever one it is , it is one that I am feeling today, the day before my first mother’s day without my mami. So I will share a mami story and my feelings and I welcome you to take this journey with me.

I remember that after mami's stroke, I was constantly attempting to discover whether or not she recognized me and if she had some brain acitivity. The Saturday, after her stroke I was visiting her in the CIU and had been there about 2 hours reading and talking to her. When I was leaving and I was saying goodbye she opened her eyes… I grabbed her good hand and held it in my hand. She then with her thumb kept rubbing my thumb… stroking, stroking… and she would not stop. It was a precious moment.

I am going to attach the music of Placido Domingo, the tenor… one of mami’s favorite in her honor and I will play Besame Mucho (Kiss me a lot). When at the hospital after her stroke I would bring mami out of her mental state with her music and CDs. And one day I knew she understood what I was saying because Besame Mucho came on and I asked her if she knew this song and she threw kisses at me! So I was getting through! A Hallmark moment indeed… Now go and listen to Placido Domingo and Paloma San Bacilio singing "Besame Mucho!"

http://bit.ly/AJcsW

Mami and I took a day trip some years ago, about 7 to be precise from Washington, D.C. suburbs, Silver Spring, MD to New York City to see a show, have dinner, whatever the day gave us. On our way we stopped at the home of a high school classmate of mine from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Ismael Vega. He lives in South Jersey. They had all kinds of pastries and coffee and we ate so much we barely made it to our show downtown at 1:00 pm. We drove into the city via the Tunnel, parked our car and took a cab to Broadway.

This beautiful photo was taken in New York City in a small restaurant after seeing Man of la Mancha with second row seats (yeah) by Brian Stokes Mitchell... he had been in Trapper, M.D., he was the doctor with the afro. I will post his two magnificent songs of the musical so you can feel his interpretation of Cervantes Don Quijote de la Mancha 's essence of life, purity of spirit, and love towards Dulcinea. Mami and I purchased the CD and on our drive back to Washington, D.C. we heard it over and over again. This is is Brian Stokes singing to Dulcinea and The Impossible Dream. Don Quijote I believe was schizophrenic and he saw more than the common folks... No son gigantes que son Molinos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZE4KGB6Wt4&feature=related

We can experience his purity of heart as he sings to his beloved Dulcinea... or so he thinks she is... but is she... we all fell in love with this Quijote... what do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLsQvCKG58k

Peace out on this day... me I am having conflicting feelings and I am very sad. It is what it is... Tomorrow is another day... and so is Monday... so this in my mami's honor... a bit of my heart and joy we experienced some years ago. You are welcome to comment at the bottom. I love to get remarks and answers to my questions, although some are hypotheticals. Again PEACE OUT PEOPLE!

...we open the door to torture our kids.

Every time we torture someone we open the door for someone to torture our kids. It is the universal law of karma. Besides this holistic interpretation of same, you can also say, "what you put out you will get back multipled (good or bad)!"

We cannot lose ourselves as citizens of USA and this world attempting to equate our actions with the people we named as "terrorists!"

We need to learn from them, we need to familiarize ourselves with their beliefs, as we would do with any child in our home that was experiencing difficulties relating to the rest of the family... with careful attention and an open mind. Tit for tat is not going to cut it... not at this moment in history. Our president is not perfect but he is attempting to rise above policies which come from a fear based center.

Never, never, never, never, let them see you sweat! Fear based attacks on people we do not understand, is just that, attacks without fundamental basic respect, seeking our commonalities rather than our differences, just as we do with our inner circle of friends and others around us.

Good Morning World - BLISS!

Here in my apartment at 6:26 am in Miami, FL... quiet, dark... I am going to experience my coffee moment, which is that first sip of coffee that tingles my lips from the heat of the scalding milk and the bitterness of the smooth dark arabica beans mixed with the sweet sugar... as it goes down and warms my insides it invigorates me to welcome the morning with a big gentle smile. You can look at my makeup, it is flawless this morning! LOL. Yes I am sleepy, but its still me.

This month on the 29th is mami's 1/2 year anniversary of being gone from this earth. It saddens me at times to think that I will never see her or talk to her again. Life continues and the plants still grow and the years go and as my dearest friend says, "Life is not a dress rehearsal!" So on you go and you learn to live life without the person that loved you the most in this whole wide earth, your mother. That feeling I had the first few days after she passed away... as if someone had pulled her from my life and my body by the umbilical cord being wripped out of me... leaving me with a huge hole in my soul... I have not felt again!

Now that sounds drastic and very dramatic but this is part of the healing process and not one that should be ignored. I just feel emptyness and sadness at times. I feel the desire to be alone during the holidays this year. It is my "wear black" for a year as they do in Puerto Rico. But 99% of my closet is black so it is appropriate even in that sense. I like to take mami's photo out from my extra bedroom and put it where I will see it all day, with a traditional candle. Not that I believe the candle has any powers that the religious people have given them, but for me it has a comforting and a spiritual symbolism.

This is my favorite photo of mami when I lived in Washington, D.C. from inside the White House grounds. Nice. So I share it with you. She has a Kodak camera, how things have changed!

... see the resemblance between my mami and I, yes... we were the same. Even though my coffee moment photo does not look too much like me, but it was meant to show a feeling, a moment, BLISS!

Prohibido by Pablo Neruda

This is a beautiful visual interpretation of Pablo Neruda's poem Prohibido. There is a song in English and the art is very interesting. So even if you do not know Spanish, it is worth checking it out.

http://www.slideshare.net/Escritor/prohibido-neruda-492526