GROUND
ZERO PLUS 1203 DAYS,--New York, NY, Tuesday,
December 28, 2004--On
the angry side of nature, Mother Earth lifted her powerful head
from the depths of the sea and shoved billions of pounds of
waves along heavily populated shores in Southeast Asia, wiping
out in one great day of flooding tides at least 40,000 people.
Earthquake
driven waves decimated Southeast Asia on one day .....
while....
On the
brighter side of life's coin, today is the 30th anniversary
of Hello Kitty. Introduced as a logo for Japan's Sanrio Company
in 1974, the kitten with no mouth is sported on some 22,000
products ranging from stationary to clocks and pajamas and generates
billions in revenue.
In an ironic
way, Hello Kitty is the opposite of the Terrorism facing millions
in Indonesia and Africa where a major undersea earthquake heaved
and shoved billions of gallons of sea water into a massive set
of waves that crushed life and property along the heavily populated
Asian/African coasts.
...on
another....top model Ai Tominaga, 22, poses with Hello
Kitty at the opening of a new attraction at Sanrio Puroland
to mark the popular character's 30th birthday
In Sri
Lanka, a major resort area, the devastation took the lives of
some 20,000.
A series
of waves caused by the volcanic eruption in the ocean's floor
took mostly the young and old as victims. Children unable to
grab hold of trees and aged people too weak or frail to fight
the tidal claws, were sucked out to sea as the giant wall of
sea water smashed villages and resorts, sweeping all in sight
into oblivion.
There is
a sadness and horror about the events surrounding the deaths
of so many so quickly. There was no warning of the event. Suddenly,
the waves appeared like a nightmare.
Mother
Nature's Terrorism can be termed "natural" because
she acts without mens rea--evil intent. The earth is
constantly changing, evolving as any living creature. Inside
the core of the earth is a boiling mass of magma that creates
gas and seeks, as with a tea kettle reaching boiling, a place
to escape.
That's
where volcanoes come from. And, the tsunami is alleged to be
the result of a great undersea earthquake and volcanic eruption
as the earth stretches and expands. The explosion heaved the
sea, throwing it with abandon toward the land.
The world
is rushing to help the victims.
Mother
Nature's Terrorism can be termed "natural"
One of
those is Hello Kitty.
On her
30th birthday, a big bash was held in celebration. It included
a silent auction of her most precious collectibles. Proceeds
from the auction went to Hello Kitty's favorite charity--UNICEF.
UNICEF
is the only organization in the United Nations that specifically
focuses on helping children around the world. Formed in 1946
to help the children of World War II, it was originally called
the UN International Children's Emergency Fund. The name has
been shortened to the United Nations Children Fund. Its mission
is to deal with the needs of children throughout the world.
One third
of the victims of the tsunami tragedy are children.
In her
own way, Hello Kitty is providing support. One of her trademarks
is the lack of a mouth. Her creators claim she doesn't need
one because she speaks from the heart.
There is
little doubt the children of the world, especially little girls,
beam when their Hello Kitty is snuggled in their arms.
For a frightened
child, the warmth of a Hello Kitty can become a Sentinel of
Vigilance, a protector of the heart from the pain and anguish
of life's often cruel forces.
UNICEF's
"2005 State of the World's Children Report" claims
that more than one billion children live in poverty.
Hello Kitty
is helping children out of that dilemma.
Unicef reports
more than one billion children live in poverty
But the
poverty of children is the result of the parents. We, the guardians
of the children, can never forget that the lives we live are
the foundations for our children. If we are to offer our children
a better world, then we must improve theirs by improving ours.
Terrorism's
three faces--Fear, Intimidation and Complacency--try to quash
our belief we can rise out of poverty--whether it be physical
or mental.
A
child starving from food in Sri Lanka may be no different
than a child starving from love in a rich Americanfamily
A child
starving for food and water in Sri Lanka may be no different
than a child living in a rich home in America with cupboards
full of food who is starving to have his or her parents put
their arms around them and tell them from the heart--"I
love you."
Children
speak from the heart.
When adults
don't, a child is shut down--starved as surely as an emaciated
Ethiopian youth with a distended belly and flies buzzing about
open sores.
Inside
many children is an emptiness, an ache to be loved, respected,
cared for by their parents in ways the parent may never truly
understand because the parent wasn't given that kind of "inner
love from the heart" that Hello Kitty is so well known
to offer.
If we look
at Sri Lanka and the tragedy of Mother Nature and relate it
to our own lives, we may find that there isn't that much distance
between the ravaged land of the tsunami and our own homes.
The
message from Hello Kitty: Learn how to speak from the
heart!
Maybe the
insides of a child feel as though he or she is drowning and
being pulled out to sea by the rip tides of Emotional volcanos
that erupt out of a parent's mouth: "Don't bother me..."
"Why do you act that way..." "I wish you were
like..." "Go watch television..."
Perhaps
Hello Kitty has a message that we all can utilize--Learning
how to speak from the heart.
While we
may wish to let our hearts go out to the victims of the great
tragedy in Sri Lanka, we also might allow our hearts to go out
to the children around us....the ones who need us to be Hello
Kitty so that we don't become the tsunami to them.
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help by investing in a local ad in your community paper promoting the
Principles of Vigilance and how to overcome
Emotional Terrorism.
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