tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82759746725892303032024-02-20T00:28:39.089-08:00PRESKINDay to day miracles and musings about our lives. Please join us in our conversation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-90379631937167303422011-05-08T07:33:00.000-07:002011-05-08T07:33:56.758-07:00Happy Mothers Day to us all - San Francisco community<a href="http://www.examiner.com/community-in-san-francisco/happy-mothers-day-to-us-all">Happy Mothers Day to us all - San Francisco community</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-37246822774769950772009-05-30T16:53:00.001-07:002009-05-31T07:46:26.850-07:00Renewal of spirit, renewal of heartIt's eighteen years since my husband and I begin to notice and enjoy each other's company. We found more and more things and people and places that we enjoyed, so we took out the contract and were married in Oakland on Grand Lake under the arches there. We arrived in a vintage purple limosine, some friends played our favorite song at the time -Mo Better Blues. They were joined by a person who happened to be there playing his trumpet with his case open, and rather than disturb his day, they added him into the mix. My almost grown children stood and watched -not unpleased, but not sure what this would bring to their life. We considered our getting together a miracle having survived some loss and trauma around the relationship department.<br /><br />And really we went along coming together to have a good time whenever we wanted to do that, cause we were certain that was what our life together would be about. Not that we didn't have our share of life's tragedies-the loss of his parents, my parents and most heartbreaking my daughter to cancer. My husband was amazing, and I made my way day to day not knowing if I would return, much less WE would return to a happy life. Within a year or so, we had found our way back to a rhythm of enjoyment in our life and each other that seemed to create new options and joys BECAUSE we were happy with each other. When the last child fairly abruptly left the house, we were in this odd position - looking to see what was the cause of our relationship if not to have people to take care of and a schedule around those events. That journey took us to a renewal of spirit and heart, but I'll save that for another day, another blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-77502507262346936182009-05-30T16:42:00.000-07:002009-05-30T16:52:15.904-07:00Bringing the light back-when it's good, it's very good!Summer in Berkeley - nice and cool, 67 degrees, blue jeans and down vest will get you all around town! Berkeley Bowl, never to be beaten in terms of the array and quality of vegetables and fruit is jammed pack. It's kind of an intelligence course, just to get around -there are no aisles, and everything would be cool except for the people who are talking on cell phones while folks dodge and weave-bags of produce in their hands. Still folks are willing to make contact, meet eyes and exchange pleasantries. After all, it's Sunday! <br /><br />So different from the Whole Foods crowd who are considerably younger and more well dressed, and well, I'll go ahead and say it, not as concerned with the bill at the line at the end of their shopping. Having lived in the neighborhood for 13 years, I've noticed the snob effect at the Telegraph Whole Foods has given way to the real competition they have for good produce and better prices at Berkeley Bowl. The Deli at the Whole Foods however is hard to beat. One lady standing next to me said, why cook for one, and I think most of the people who show up there are cooking for one or two at most at the prices offered. Still the quality is very consistent and reliable. I've come to Whole Foods this Sunday for the Coconut Sorbet, which if you haven't tried it would be worth the quick trip in and out-Coconut Bliss. It tastes like it sounds.<br /><br />The students are gone this time of year, most returning in August so this time of year you can get into the theatres and restaurants, no problem and parking is accessible. Sunday in the City, Summer in the City-Berkeley is a treasure.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-7184459212555590922009-05-30T13:39:00.000-07:002009-05-31T07:55:49.069-07:00Berkeley's Ed Roberts CenterIn 1970, four students in wheelchairs were the first to leave the rehabilitation centers, or the homes from which they never left, to be admitted to UC Berkeley. The condition required was that they stay in the Cowell University Hospital so they could be cared for, in and out of their wheelchair, bathing, and daily life maintenance. It was a time when people were considering new ways to hold truths, some call it a social revolution period race, sex, age, class and physical disability found light of day in that time frame. Ed Roberts was one of those students, and he and his fellow mates at Cowell soon came up with a system of using Attendants who would allow them to live outside of Cowell independently. This was truly the beginning of the expectations of those with a physical disability that restricted their movement without a wheelchair to leave behind the life in the back room of their homes or the rehab sites, and go to college, get jobs, get married, have families, have their voice counted and heard in the community. For some time, University of California Berkeley was the Mecca of the Physically Disabled as a result. Ed Roberts graduated from Berkeley and in time went to Sacramento and was one of the authors of the Rehabilitation Bill that took the experience of these students from the site of Berkeley, California to all over the United States.<br /><br />The neighborhood had a lukewarm response to the development of the Ed Roberts Center at the Ashby Bart Station initially. Real estate concerns about blocked views, etc. and the neighborhood felt sold out-"why South Berkeley, they wouldn't put up with this at the North Berkeley Bart Station." Many edgy, irritable, even angry meetings. That was years ago when the first notice was given of the Ed Roberts Center, a place of professional services and offices for the Physically Disabled community. South Berkeley is where La Pena, the former Black Panther office, and Starrey Plough, the first IRA bar are centered. People are active politically and skepticism is parr for the course. But as the construction takes form, the steel rigors and concrete are poured, you can literally feel the Ed Roberts Center pulling up and pulling together this neighborhood: Pushing the neighborhood towards a future worth sharing uniquely Berkeley.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-23361268364427701572009-05-30T13:22:00.000-07:002009-05-31T18:47:38.580-07:00AB999-Books not BARS-no more ADD ONSThe mothers, sister, brothers and people who together from Ella Baker's Book Not Bars got on a bus May 7th bound for Sacramento; they carried the message that youth given a sentence by a judge and or jury should not have time Add Ons made by the staff of the institution in which they were incarcerated. Unlike the judge and the jury, there is no accounting by staff as to the decision to ADD ON weeks or months which on record increase the time for up to 15 months longer on average. As well, AB999 challenges the use of solitary confinement as punishment for weeks and months. The real issue was represented by one young man who had successfully gotten past his term in jail, past his probation; he said he entered the system at 12 and returned to society at age 19, but he was still 12 in terms of education, ability to work and emotional maturity. The Need for youth to get education and job training to have a means to enter society is for the offenders, that's true. But who benefits really is the taxpayer upon whom the cost of $200,000 per offender per year lands. AB999 looks to have job training, education and the hope of a future. In comparison, in states where the prison system does provide education and training, there is a huge difference in what happens after the youth offender leaves prison. The ratio of return is a third of the Youth System in California. Throughout the country, the reality of the failure of the prison system in terms of the cost to everyone is unquestioned. In the case of the youth in prison, we have the possibility of providing the education and the job training with the taxpayer's dollar rather than paying for extended stays that cultivate waste and reduce the possibility of reentry. Van Jones is now in Washington working with the President on Green Jobs for the country, having started Green Jobs in Oakland with Ella Baker Center.<br /><br />AB999, the bill resulting from Books Not Bars going to Sacramento on May 7th will soon reach the Assembly in California. The choice seems simple: the prisons are overcrowded, the economy is not job training friendly and the cost in dollars and lives is unforgiveable if we don't provide a change in policy now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-12090976815668987632009-05-26T13:19:00.000-07:002009-07-20T14:16:25.890-07:00Taking it to Sacramento-AB999-Ending the waste of a whole generation.A group from Books not Bars, of mothers, sisters, brothers and fathers climbed on a bus and went to Sacramento on May 7th to promote AB999. The good news it will be presented to the Assembly in the very near future, having passed from them to public attention and the assembly. This is a bill that would prohibit there being Add ons to the length of time a youth offender can have additional time added on to his sentence by the guards and staff at the places of incareration. Without a judge, or any kind of hearing or even acknowledgement to the courts, the jail staff unlike the judge and court have no accounting to any group outside themselves for the actions taken against a youth in jail. But that's not all the AB999 is about, it's about the guards not putting youth into solitary confinement for weeks and months, it's about providing education and training, so these young people come out not deadened angry young men. With the recidivist cycle a given under the current condition, AB999 would require the monies spent by taxpayers to be directed toward improving the conditions: job training, education for starters, of youth in such a way as they are ready for reentry, rather than left to waste. What we'd be paying for as taxpayers would be on the positive side instead of keeping the jails staffed and recycling the offenders. as people who have been given the opportunity to return to society rather than youth wasted. <br /><br />President Obama said not that long ago, that it's important to our country that the youth of today get the education and job training they need to have our country keep its place in the world. All the young people. Not just for the individual, but the future we're all going to take part. Books Not Bars has taken that to Sacramento and is working not just for the youth, their families and the future that will be there, but they're working for all of us for a better world.<br /><br />Keep a look out for AB999 will be in the State Assembly this week.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-66989413577392101462009-03-28T13:37:00.000-07:002009-04-02T09:28:29.030-07:00Youth In Prison: The Waste of a Whole GenerationIn shock and grief, Oakland faced the death of 4 police officers with 20,000 mourners at the Oakland Coliseum. The bagpipes mournful call with the view of 1000's of raised white gloved arms saluting the caskets was shocking as the four caskets were brought in with the families following each casket. Clearly these were fine irreplaceable officers, husbands, fathers and sons. Not two hours later, on talk radio 560, the savage voice raged that the fault of this whole incident lay at the hands of the liberals. He raged that shoot now, ask questions later should be the policy after these policeman were gunned down.<br /><br />Today I sat with a very small group looking at the other victim of this carnage. The young man who with his 10th grade education in special education classes who had not met with his parole officer and was so desperate to avoid going back to the jail where he had spent 2-4 years that he shot the two officers who came to his car for a traffic stop, then blasted through a door with a AK47 two other officers. Waiting all week for this scheduled meeting this morning since it offered a discussion about youth in prison, the Books Not Bars meeting did connect with the most recent events.<br /><br />In the room, there were young men on probation having found their way, there were mothers who had gone step by step through the process with their 16 year old, or their 12 year old through their prison experience. One woman said her son had spent the last seven months in solitary at the age of 17, then was released and soon had broken the rules of his probation again, and now at 25 was beginning to comprehend the tragedy of his situation. She expressed her strong belief that all youth should be tried as youth until the age of 25, and that being thrown into a cell the early part of their lives has the effect of being a person less able to function in the world once he gets out. As one young man said-hey, I was in jail at 12 and when I got out at 19, I was still a twelve year old; he reflected the fact that once a youth is in the system, for every infraction: wrong attitude, didn't pick up the tray quick enough or whatever, time can be added to the term of his sentence. The guards do not as is the case with adult offenders have to get approval or bring recommendations to any other authority other than their own. Add Ons-adding months or years on a sentence by a court to a youth offender, as they are called keep youth in jail, untrained, unskilled and under their probation terms they cannot relate with others who have been in jail. And guess what we're all paying for this laying to waste of young men, black, spanish or white, both the cost of their extended stays and for their return to society, untrained, unskilled - their young bodies and minds in holding pattern from which they have neither the experience or the expectation to be found or find their way the benefits of personhood. Books not Bars is going to Sacramento in May to bring about a bill that will stop the unilateral unstructured and often self perpetuating system that kills the body and the soul of youth in prison. Many of those present were planning to go.<div><br /></div><div>Here's what it was like for one of the moms present. For Lynn, a phone call from the police that they had her 14 year old on a assault charge: her son had taken a gun to school to deal with a bully and the gun went off grazing the boys thigh when he came after the kid. Lynn's mother was the first black police woman in San Francisco, and she couldn't have been more taken by surprise. She expressed it as - as a mom, you just do what you can do, everything you can think of doing to get to your child what you can to support them. She got in there and presented herself to the guards and staff and did what it took to have a regularly pleasant interaction with them every time out so they knew her and they knew her son- that made a big difference. She was invited to be part of the parents group and they actually together and presented some changes to benefit the conditions of the prison. She said as much as she invested in knowing what was happening for her son and other prisoners, they only knew about 20% of the actual experience for them. But out on parole is the most dangerous time, the mothers all agreed. The meeting had skits to demonstrate how the mothers could assist their sons to stay within the guidelines and how to relate to the probation officers; the ability to manage probation one mom said is basically by keeping them home and helping them get work. Keeping them out of trouble taking very seriously the parole officers authority and keeping the rules as the first priority is the task at hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>But back to Lovelle Mixon, a man on parole who was so desperate not to go to jail or deal with his parole officer that he committed a murder suicide. Really that's what it amounts to. The tragedy of murder suicide is the muffled cry in the night in the wealthiest of suburbs , Cupertino, Fremont, San Francisco just in this year alone. How is it that a job loss, a relationship betrayal or loss in the suburbs, and a desparate young man turn to guns and not other human beings? Guns are not the answer, Books not Bars is looking from all sides to see what is. One young man at the meeting said that when his mother was killed by the police when he was ten, he was sent to a community house that everyone in the room recognized the name of and there were approving, "ohh, that was good" throughout the room. "Yes," he said, "they just kept being nice to me, every day all day and I was angry every day, but they kept being nice to me and that helped me remember who I was." <br /><br /><br /> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-82285965899045645132009-03-02T17:50:00.000-08:002009-03-02T18:40:00.485-08:00Down Home at Freight and SalvageOur friends picked the entertainment for the evening, and we followed along not knowing what a treat we had coming our way. The Freight and Salvage is representative of the gray haired folks who quietly filed into the performance that evening; I'm pretty sure few were younger than 40 and most were Country Joe McDonald's generation. I bet most folks there had been to a concert with a headband like the one of the singer in a poster, back in the day. Anti war protesting is just a thread of the fabric of life in Berkeley and has been since the days when Country Joe and most of us present milled around People's Park and maybe even faced the "Blue Meanies" as they pushed the people back on Telegraph nudging us along, their helmets secured. But tonight the hall was a lot of quiet murmurs as we got our coffee and hot cider and waited for the show to start.<br /><br />Joe McDonald walked on stage with a haircut that in no way reflected the long wavy hair of the 60's; his eyes were clear and his message straight. Turns out he has spent a lot of time studying Woody Guthrie. Other than an association with the depression days, grapes of wrath period I knew little about Woody Guthrie. As Country Joe conveyed through Guthrie's writings the life Woody Guthrie led and the people he encountered, shocked oh's and ahs erupted from people involuntairly. To say life was hard during the depression doesn't do it justice and these writings filled in the blanks and cravices having those people and those experiences become a presence to us, just as Woody Guthrie himself did. The depth of this man in his descriptions of the men who took the long hard roads revealed in fact a full on romantic and a gentle person who saw on so many levels everything around him. His songs and his poems were stunning in their impact and the comparison to today and the talk of a depression had to be made as we sat in the darkness as Country Joe strummed his guitar and spoke. <br /><br />It suddenly seemed ridiculous that our culture, present time, there is a conversation about depression as if it had something to do with the event that happened in the 30's. Cable news personalities rant and rave about the losses and possible losses all day long, throwing around terms that seem to convey that our country is in real trouble because we have all, all lived way too well for too long relying on a bunch of possessions that we couldn't pay for except through credit. Compare Woody Guthrie who spoke about the line around the hardware store where men went in and got JAKE, in the darkest days of the depression. It was supposed to help whatever ailed you and had a content of at least 80% alcohol; poisoning by alcohol was not at all uncommon in the 30's Guthrie reports in his writing. This was where men turned when all was lost and the road was all that lay ahead as they piled up the wagons with everything they could carry in the dust storms of Oklahoma.<br />And let's see by comparison, what we have to deal is all these entertainers on television telling us how bad it is amped up and hysterical. The truth is right across the board, we're all taking a cut in pay, a reduction in our lifestyle and hopefully having a look see at what is really valuable about our life and where we can contribute what extra we have, be that time or resources to support the community around us. <br /><br />The highlight of the evening with Country Joe as he gave us Woody Guthrie was an amazingly sensuous poem - describing his profound joy at being a man found who didn't realize he was lost till he found himself in the heart of his woman. A gentle giant who suffered kindness in the face of defeat was who this man seemed to be. We sitting together left the show stunned and appreciative of the impact that man Woody through Country Joe, and Country Joe himself contributed to us. Our cup runneth over.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-23117025554458766442009-02-14T11:13:00.001-08:002009-02-17T16:21:22.696-08:00A New Economy-Back to the Future and Karl MarxHaving just returned from two weeks in Sayulita, Mexico where the news whenever I saw it was a couple of copies of items in the NY Times on a sheet of paper printed and left at the coffee houses. Iam refreshed and seeing a little differently than before. I've decided to take myself away from the addiction of having the TV on blasting away all day with the same headlines generating and regurgitating the same headlines all day long. And the moderators who give the impression they are in a position to make a judgement we the public should respond to, agree with or the like. Kind of like going to the grocer and having the grocer tell you what you should have for dinner authoritatively. How would the grocer know what you require or what you should consume. Even Rachel Maddow is a bit taxing and she is fresher than most with questions that provoke your thinking, not rehasing and selling specific viewpoints that engrandize her importance. I am being selective with The Nation Magazine, Newsweek and the New York Times, Daily Kos and the Huffington Post. But the best info this week in reference to "Economic Crisis and the Bailout" I found on Public radio; a series on how Cuba formed community during their economic crisis when the US had an embargo that had oil, gas and food become non existent for their people's use. Also on KPFA, there was an Economist, Rick Wolf,in New York who basically gave a view of our situation that Karl Marx spoke of long ago. Karl Marx is coming up in references as the discussions of the economy; in that the infusion of $787 trillion may not do more than emergency repair to our economic problem we're being asked to take a deeper look. Looking deeper into the means by which we got where wee are and a shift in our relationships and our lifestyles may be the necessary true element of change that is required. Comparing our sitation with Cuba may be like Apples and organges given our ethos and identity are embedded in individualism and competition; this does not exclude a shift to seeing our lives through shared goals and common good or community, but it does require a step in that we have not considered but may now need to take on.<br /><br />Marxism speaks of the fact that when you separate people from their ability to produce their own food, specifically out of the farm land and into the urban area, you have lessened people's power in their own lives. They now need to go to the city, get a job and with the money from the job purchase the food, pay the rent. A breakdown in the job and the money loss leaves the person unable to provide for themselves or their families. Well, Rick Wolf of the New School of New York, gives a full discussion of how our lives have changed specifically since 1970. That is the monies we have available have decreased since then. Money had more value relative to the costs at that time, and the families had women at home to take care of them, and the women had the means to be taken care of throughout their lives. At that time only 7% of the women worked outside the home; in the households and these women were in the position of taking emotional and physical care of their families and had the expectation of being taken care of themselves. Divorce was rare. At that time the cost of living began to increase and even with the increase in salaries, the actual value of the monies was reduced ongoingly. These monies were important to the workers in relation to their ability to consume, Wolf says. Consumption is vital because when people are separate from the power of producing their work, consumption becomes increasingly important. The lack of satisfaction in work that is not creative nor does it include the power of the individual to determine its outcome or use, Wolf points out, is the basis for the need for the shopping malls and the entertainment required by the worker. Since the paychecks by the men don't cover the lifestyle and haven't for sometime, the women have gone to work now at a rate of 74% of women work and those monies only allow the family to keep up. 4% of the women worked in 1970. The caretaking of the family is still on the woman's shoulders primarily as the sociologist have maintained, and the women come home tired and cope with the stress of their situations in many cases by the use of antidepressents-some 43% of the population use one form of antidepressent, Wolf claims.<br /><br />OK, so what is the opportunity given these facts by Wolf and other economists? Back to the land, back to the future is what it looks like to me. Sharing households-only 22% of the population are in the man/woman/children scenario, the remainder are a mixture of friends and family members or living alone. A shift in our reality to see our lives through a different lense that offers more clumping of resourses, clusters of arrangements in dealing with the costs of our lives, financially and psychologically it would seem. Every word about the US economy says we are not going back, can't go back to the economy we have exploited and maybe it's not all bad is what I'm saying. What are your thoughts on this subject? Let's engage in nothing less than creating the future that lies ahead with intelligent optimism-what do you say?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-66419065068851180572009-02-14T11:12:00.000-08:002009-02-17T16:22:08.556-08:00Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-52167911632010364072009-01-15T19:00:00.000-08:002009-07-21T13:04:48.156-07:00Stone Cold Winter in 75 degree weatherLiving in California, Winter has in the past been several weeks of rain off and on and enough chill in the air to make the hot tub in our back yard a rewarding excursion-warming us to the bone, a warming that stays with you, takes the stuff out of you. Whatever you've been carrying around, in the chilled darkness as you dissolve into the liquid heat of 102 degrees, disappears as your body is enveloped by the heat. No more bones, no more sharp angles or sharp thoughts-it mellows you out. Well, that is not this year. It's hot. And it feels wrong. The winter duldrums, the stone gardens bereft of new life in the 75 degree weather and strange white sun light have me longing for rain to cool the earth, to feed the earth, to replenish the earth. The promise of the mission of the Spring to bring life to everything around us is not now. The winter's gray and wet imposes our sealing ourselves off from the outside. That provides the opportunity to regroup, rethink, reevaluate, take less action and more focus and concentration as a response to the demand of the outside being difficult to deal with at best. Waiting for spring, waiting for the buds to appear that's how it is in Winter, but how it is is that the red maple has not lost it's leaves and some other trees have started to bloom-out of synch, out of time.<br /><br />Global warming, that's what they say. A perfectly brilliant woman said today-oh how can they talk about global warming when it's freezing cold, extrememely cold in different parts of the country, more freezing than usual. Well, of course, that's global warming also actually. What I think is there is adaptation, there is accommodation and change is underway and we will meet this change. We already are becoming conscious of the our carbon offset, the steps we can take to account for our use of the planet is the green book philosophy and this is huge compared to 5 years ago when only the "freaks" were looking in that direction. Now we're all some degree aware and some degree responsible. More would be good, but everyone has the question: are we going to get to keep the world as we know it and if so what can we personally do to have it be that way. Give up our cars and bike or walk, some amount of that goes on where I live but it's because this is a university town and walking is definitely reasonable and biking, a bit of a gamble out there with cars and an occasional bust up with the bike participant being the loser of any such occurance.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-72042093884618714912009-01-07T19:03:00.000-08:002009-01-07T19:54:03.476-08:00The New Year! The New President!Today in my dance class, Evelyn, who inspires and drives us to an effort that took abit after my taking a 3 week vacation from class, was talking about going to Washington to see Barrack Obama become President. Just getting on the plane with her husband, putting on a backpack and doing whatever it takes to get close enough to see the new President come down Pennsylvania Avenue is her goal. Sounds good to me! <br /><br />What are your plans for the 20th of January 2009? My friend, Nancy, just invited me to go to Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on Nob Hill where there will be a vigil the night before and a service at Grace Cathedral for the new President. That's the night before. But the day of the actual Inaguration, we plan to be at the Ella Baker Center. Now, especially now, that's where I want us to be.<br /><br />I was introduced to the Ella Baker Center after hearing Van Jones speak at a Pachimama event; I was so taken by him, what he had to say. He said the Pachimama people had heard of his work in Oakland to stop the Violence on the streets. Young black men killing young black men. Police shooting young black men; young black men shooting police often enough to have the city of Oakland on edge and the people in a state of resignation about what to do. I had experienced the grief of a family that lost their twin sons 21 years old years back. The thing I most remember about that experience was the minister saying: remember the young black men - in prison or dead- are not the end users. They are being exploited, their lives wasted --used and spit out or laid out on the concrete while the people making the money and the people with the money to purchase walk on. Ab and Ob were the twins. I also remember their mother singing with all that she had surrendering her pain to the Lord she said. <br /><br />But what drew me to Van Jones and the Ella Baker Center was that they are dealing with this loss with the families, with the community and they ARE having an effect. In a meeting I attended not long ago for the families affected by the violence, I realized that both sides of the violence are victims and in the context of this work, both are brought in, both are given the knowledge that they are not alone. When you figure that something like 48% of the young black men bail on high school and have little to look forward to in the future, you can see that the excitement and the glory of having a moment even if it involves a gun but that they don't plan on getting killed or being killed, but think this action might bring them a semblence of a life, you can see where they'e coming from. So what I witnessed in this last meeting was the embrace of the people who come to the Ella Baker Center: to show love to all the parties involved. The Center wants to give hope to young people by giving them training and a dorm instead of a dead end jail that communicates they're nothing to anyone. The Center wants to educate the public on the fact that in the current youth system produces a recidivist rate of 68%, offering no hope and a turn around almost guaranteed. And very simply what I saw was inclusion and compassion in their mission is making a dent. <br /><br />There are people who have worked with the Ella Baker Center and Van Jones since the beginning, I think it started with 400 seven or eight years ago, and at awards dinner, there were 4000; a growing recognition that a difference is being made. In 2008, there was a reduction in the killings on the street, and in the meeting I attended, a solid number present were the young people speaking about the part they want to make in having this change happen. The lights are on. Someone is home. And there is going to be a new president.<br /><br />And then you have a man of 22, at the Fruitvale Bart station, two other friends sitting next to him on the concrete platform, he is pushed down on his face by one BART officer who has his knee in his back while another officer is looking in the direction of the car full of New Years Eve celebrants on the train taking the picture shouting out in outrage at the treatment they can see from the BART train. Another officer has his knee on the back of this young man, this young man having at best only his mouth as a means to respond to the officers pressing him to the concrete when the BART policemen reaches for his gun and fires it into this 22 year old's body point blank. <br /><br />So where I want to be as Obama takes office is with the Ella Baker Center. I heard that Obama asked Van Jones to be on his Transition Team, and I felt like the same lines that reached people so far and so deeply in the population can be a current to actually produce light in the darkest corners of the darkest hours and shed light to heal and bring about the needed change for this segment of the population that is beginning to feel they will be heard and seen. This is the new year and the new possibility.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-47732150061480096742008-11-18T14:48:00.000-08:002008-11-18T15:11:16.360-08:00SIGNS OF THE TIMETwo things happened yesterday I wanted to put out there: 1) a friend in my dance class that I've attended for 8 years had gone missing for a couple of weeks; it turns out Lisa was in Japan; she is an author whose work on Japanese culture is well credited, particularly the giesha girl as her area of expertise. Last time she was gone it was to go to Hollywood to be the technical adviser for the Geisha film a couple of years ago. But this time she wasn't in Japan for that purpose. Far away from the US of A with the election happening, she and her party up and decided to take a trip Obama, Japan, a few hours away from their location. Who knew there was an Obama, Japan? But that morning, the morning after the election, her party went to the township arriving around noon only to find the whole town not on their jobs or visible. They were told the whole town was up celebrating throughout the night the win of Barrack Obama as President of the United States.<br /><br />Then a very dear friend studies with Lazarus very seriously every year. She shared with me this content: Obama is the perfect leader for this time; his brings less fear and all the hope of the NEW NOW. This higher place we are all reaching for has brought Obama forth as the leader of the Western World. That's funny, he has always said 'it's about you, not about me."<br /><br />Meanwhile I'm filling out the forms available at change.gov that allow any of us who want to engage to find a place where we can serve in this next Administration. I'm thinking here in oru communities, just like in the campaign. Kind of like millions of people are responsible for the election of Obama and the change underway; we might never know their names or them ours. But there is something we can all contribute. Step one - filling out the application, doubts and all, that that will result in finding that place, cog in the wheel dynamic. The hardest part!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-10200389752117370672008-11-17T07:41:00.000-08:002008-11-17T07:55:28.873-08:00A New Day-A New TimeYesterday George and I went down to the flea market to hear the drums. We don't go very often, usually when we have friends from out of town who have brought us down the block to visit the market and enjoy the drums, but they can be heard from our house every Sunday late PM. On the way we met two neighbors who over the past ten years, a vague wave has been the agreed upon acknowledgement from them. But the invitation was there to speak, and visit about the project across the street and was a warm exchange. Then once we were there at the drum circle, two of the women there and a couple of the drummers made eye contact, head dipping slightly in greeting. What's so unusual about this you may well ask. Well, we have been here for ten years and this is the first time my black neighbors and the black musicians did more than than the vague wave no eye contact. And this is what I believe the election of Obama has done for us: there is the invitation to engage and a trust I haven't seen ever, an opening allowing expression beyond the limits we all agreed to. I saw that in working in the campaign office and wondered if it would prevail; it's like in that environment young old, rich poor, black, brown or white the walls were down and the commonality of our purpose and our enthusiasm prevailed. To see that out in the world we are all reaching out to have this whiff of possibility become reality is so gratifying, and makes more real the potential I experienced the night of Obama's election. No misunderstanding here, the work is all in front of us but we're ready for this NEW DAY-NEW TIME.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-72853282695849602812008-11-16T17:44:00.001-08:002008-11-16T17:44:52.228-08:00Oakland Convention Center Election NightToday George and I had a very impressive experience. We went down to the Oakland Convention Center for the 36 hour Calling Party for Obama. The Convention is quite large, can hold thousands of people, and when we arrived at 10 AM we found tables set up and a very comfortable ambiance with people busily dialing up people on their cell phones. We had been to previous calling parties at the Berkeley Center, but this was IT. The election was happening as we were calling. We were calling first Missouri, then Indiana, North Carolina, Nevada being led by a staff that brought different groups to call around according to the different hour of the day given the polliing hours as people voted across the United States. The atmosphere was pretty relaxed and friendly with a substantial number of all ages, all races working together side by side. The calls were pretty straightforward and on the big screen in front of us with the sound off, what was happening across the country on MNBC. In Chicago, the big party gathering for Obama should he win, in Phoenix Mc Cain's party should he win. Right now as I write this, it's hard to concentrate because of all the horns and shouts and energetic whoopees all around town right now. But then things were a bit somber. When we called people, it wasn't a sales call in as much as we identified ourselves as calling from the Obama campaign and asked them to vote and sometimes they offered to say who they were voting for, but that wasn't required and mostly those who were voting for Obama brought up that's who they were voting for, and those who were not simply said they were voting or that they had voted without giving a candidate or being very chatty about it. We also gave Poll information, where they should go, encouraging them to vote, etc. The day went on with a rhythm of the district manager announcing now and then where we were and where we were going. The first polls closed at 3 and so we would begin to have some results then of the voting. There was only one other person that I knew from my dance group but it was a very friendly space so we all chatted as we worked together. The reports from the staff about how we were doing, the number of people we reached and so forth kept the flow moving. A group of black students from a near by high school came in and sat down to get trained to make calls and were enthusiastic about being there. When we left for some lunch at Le Cheval's right across the street, a group of young black students from another high school came marching up playing drums and shouting OOOBAM-AH. It brought tears to my eyes because I couldn't even begin to look at what their disappointment would look like if Obama were not elected. I felt a bit of panic about being in this large group of thousands if that kind of disappointment happened, or if there was some kind of weird breakdown and betrayal as in other elections. <br /><br />When we came back from lunch at 3:15, the pace had picked up and on the big screen reports began to come in as we were making calls to Indiana and Pennsylvania. The results didn't look that good and the huge room got quiet and I felt a kind of dread that maybe all was for naught. See, the all was about breaking a barrier, breaking a limitation. Everybody knew this was about a black man getting to be President and in so doing, projecting a new image to the world of who and what America is. And how we look at the world and how we are seen by the world will most definitely be altered. So in the Oakland Convention Center as I looked around at the worried faces, as the results came in, and felt the dread of experiencing this potential loss, it was disturbing and then I discovered next to me Bart. One of those young men who knows everything a computer can give you information about, who good naturedly told me the states that were showing up as they did were expected. The tone and the tempo picked up again as we all continued our calls now changing to another time zone of calls. Things went along like that for awhile, and then since the sound had been off and we were all busy with our tasks, it was rather stunning to see the projections appear that had Obama projected as the leader in Pennsylvania, in Indiana, in North Carolina, then in Nevada. Cheers erupted and things sped up from there. Bart, the young man who knew everything who had been very seriously at work next to me suddenly said- it's over. Barrack has one. 538, a now famous poll site, had given evidence that all the rest was going to fall into place and that Barack Obama was at 242 in electoral votes, though the TV was only saying 207. Bart picked up his cell phone and shoulder bag and was on his way out the door.<br /><br />Then the floor manager announced that there had been something like 1100 people who had worked that day at the Oakland Center and they had made 300,000 calls and had done great work and things were closing down as the door between where we were calling slid open to a party room, balloons, bar, food and party tables with decorations awaiting us. We all strolled over and stood in front of yet another even bigger TV and then it was announced that Barrack Obama was elected President. I saw faces fall and collapse, many faces full of tears and kind of in a devastated state at that news as it wasn't expected. I think we all thought there would be some drama, some trauma, a set back and what there was was an amazing victory. And what I could see on those faces was the removal of the crimp. The young and old black faces trained to think in terms of their race, accepting the limits even as they fought and lost around them, were laid bare by this removal of a reality, a perception that was removed in the election of this Black man as President.<br /><br />I realize not eveyrone is a Democrat and not everyone is for Barack Obama, but what I was seeing in the faces and the laid open bare and vulnerable young and old African Americans was a sharp removal of something they have carried in one form or another since they had any kind of self concept of themselves, perception of what they are and who they are and what they see in each other that has had them be and feel separate. In that ballroom, those barriers were lifted and the expression was amazing and unique. Where do we go from here I wondered? Barbara Lee, a very brave congresswoman who has time and time again stood and held the line alone quite often spoke. She and the other black congressmen present all acknowledged the impact of this experience of having this major limitation of a group excluded from the office of the Presidency. <br /><br />Hearing Obama's speech, I felt further that the crimp of self perception and social relevance provided by Obama's campaign and election is responsible for removing in not only the faces of the African Americans, but other minorities in the crowd as we all looked at each other pretty laid bare by this experience. I saw others like myself, who have allowed and accepted things as they are unchallenged, as if it has to be a particular way also laid bare by the potential of what his presidency represents. Will we like animals who have lived in a cage stay within the range of our comfort even as we mumble and grumble about how confining it is, or will we go out there where we don't know how it will be and do what we can to have it be the way we truly want it to be with our fellow human beings. Like Barack said: we can, we did and now every one needs to kept shuffling, keep the essence of the work that has been started out and known to people. There is every reason for optimism though no easy answers and no short term proposition. And, we are all in it together.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-56425394105021123482008-09-04T09:19:00.000-07:002008-09-05T20:59:49.721-07:00San Francisco Symphony Opening Night GalaFor seven years, my husband has been responsible for raising over a million dollars a year for the San Francisco Symphony. We share alot of enthusiasm for the Symphony-both for the fundraisers and the experiences with and around the Symphony. Especially Robbie who made last evening possible, and is the reason my husband's life flows through river and dales with equanimity. Robbie is the Director of Membership Gifts for the Symphony and my husband's boss. Robbie is the gracious waters that provide the channel for symphony giving, and a delight in our life. Each season is unique and this year due to the economy, the gifts have not flowed and it's been a touch year. Even so, because of George and his staff, the steady Brian, the relentless Cyd, the long reach of interest and empathy provided by Ellen, and the dynamic Kassy, the campaign has done all right, better than most across the country. But then it is San Francisco; It is the San Francisco Symphony.<br /><br />Part of the charm of life with the Symphony has definitely been our sharing the delight of a Symphony evening like last night. It's unique. You see, only at the San Francisco Symphony do you find such a mixture of class and style. You have the old guard dressed to the nines, very regal and yet accessible; you have the young successful professionals with gowns beyond your imagination and all the young men with good haircuts who probably had their $250/person ticket given to them by their employers as a benefit/compensation for their good work; and you have your in tune couples from Noe Valley, Los Altos, Marin and Walnut Creek who enjoy the experience the City provides within the context of the warmth of the the Symphony community. Eyes meet, expressions are shared as you walk the promenade and receive your first glass of champagne.<br />And then there's Michael Tilton Thomas who speaks to the audience as the world class Conductor and pride of the City; he steps from the side door of the stage and takes his rightful place, turning to the audience and commanding elegantly and wordlessly, their respectful silence by his own as he looks deeply into the full house. Before he turns and begins the experience of West Side Story, "Are you ready?" he asks then turns and begins the evening's main offering. West Side Story has never sounded like it sounded last night. My husband told me Leonard Bernstein had been a mentor to child prodigy Michael Tilton Thomas at the age of 13. The mellowness of the saxophone in Somewhere had the audience motionless and receiving each note fully and every sound, every snap of the fingers held us all spellbound.<br /><br />And then the dancing: On the dance floor, everyone is a San Franciscan. Up for fun, down for rocking, and Out for a good time. Great food by several restaurants was offered, the wine and vodka flowed and it was a fitting celebration to begin the season for the Symphony. Some years we've danced next to Nancy Pelosi and her husband, the Gettys highly visible near the dance floor enjoying all the action but not engaging, the Mayor around flashing his attention to different people like a beacon of light. Unexpected delights in seeing everyone enjoying themselves and each other. But what I loved was meeting a new friend. Standing at the long bar almost the length of the entry to the lobby, a gorgeous bar laden with poured glasses of champagne allowed a great vantage point to see the people, the gowns and make contact. A smile here. A nod there. Appreciating exchanges going on throughtout the large floor space with the ceiling to floor windows looking out at City Hall all lit up in blue lighting. Even with the crowd, I noticed a woman and her husband, and simultaneously, I inched over feeling her turn in the direction toward us as I did so and proceed towards us. Katherine with a K and I launched into such an intense conversation and found so many common areas of interest that Katherine exploded with 'I love you" right there in the lobby of the Symphony, while our husbands also were deeply involved in a conversation. Actually Katherine and I made plans as she is very much involved in the education of womens health issues, an area of common interests to us both. Did you know, she said, that the one correlation they have established that is consistent in the area of Breast cancer is that Exercise is the main prohibito, the one and only definite claim of a prohibitor. I'm going to go to be her guest on Monday for her presentation, and I invited her to be my guest at the Wisdom Connection. We left with a - This is great! We have a future now! A future plan.<br /><br />As we left around midnight, the click of heels on pavement and lights ablaze, the energy still high and the bands and dancing still going strong, I felt the future with the Symphony is one I will count on as well. More than just a great evening, which it was, it also is a validation of best parts of the City open to the people for their pleasure represented so well by its Symphony.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-91965993014704613122008-09-02T07:47:00.000-07:002008-09-02T12:47:04.848-07:00FeminineWisdomNine of us began a nine month course of study on feminine wisdom together: a discovery of a state of being and communication distinct and clear bringing into our lives the reality of what that is Like many things what it isn't defines it as well as the essence of what it is. For me, it has been the hearing, feeling and seeing between the cracks of positions that have served me to a point, to reach for a broader deeper realm of knowing, allowing, and acknowledging. All of the women in this group have researched with their lives the elements of knowing and discerning the passion and desire, the call that we honor and respond to. Witnessing in each other the shifts and changes that provide the inspiration toward realizing what femine is to the world- distinct and precise. in our daily lives is what we're up to. What it isn't is equally clear-emulating the masculine model of power, masculine standards and measures.<br /><br />To that point: Hello Sarah Palin. Wow. It's all right with me that a woman is running with McCain if she has the ability to take on the office of the Presidency. However to try to lump Sarah Palin's stand/position in any way as related to the depth of respect for the issues truly worthy of passion and desire for good as demonstrated by Senator Hillary Clinton at the DNC last week is inaccurate. Insulting to all women everywhere, to all people. A bad joke. To slur because you're a woman and feisty, you are the same IS sexism at its most rank form. It is completely insultiing to women who stood for Hillary Clinton that the Republican candidate for President would attempt to confuse and purchase that affection earned by Hillary for her candidacy as President to a woman with totally different positions; Sarah is pro life and a creationist, a step back to the 50's is not what we need. Mc Cain and the Republican party owe the women of America an apology for their obvious sexism, but the pundits are all saying - hey, the blue collared women in the midwest may vote for Sarah since they were going to vote for Hillary. The steps forward that Senator Clinton relentlessly pursued then will not be taken away by Barack Obama and Joe Biden as they go towards the Presidency and include her work, her voice and her commitment to quality of life for American people, Instead that work is being toyed with by as a strategy, an attempt to misguide and bamboozle the women who followed Senator Clinton. Shameless exploitation, and not of Sarah Pain's doing. And you know, there's a hall pass for the RNC here, they can attribute the loss of the election to this woman. Sarah Palin obviously has no women friends in the senate or house of representatives to give her a heads up, no Nancy Pelosi, no Diane Feinstein with whom to take measure of the politics she has been thrown into hells bells. The Republicans have wanted this election to be about personalities rather than their record of the last 8 years, and this is their latest attempt to do that and they have shoved this woman on the political stage to, as Rushed Limbo would say, create chaos and confusion.<br /><br />More tomorrow on feminine wisdomUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-83893035683422837302008-07-15T09:37:00.000-07:002008-07-15T09:51:42.145-07:00NEW YORKER COVERThe interview on NPR with the Author regarding the NEW YORKER Magazine cover explained that the cover was satire. That we shouldn't take ourselves so seriously that we can't have humor when exaggeration to the extreme which actually contradicts the meaning conveyed is the idea and so no one should be upset about it. Michelle carrying a machine gun and sporting an Afro, the flag burning in the fireplace, Obama in a turban. Satire, political satire to my mind is supposed to give a punch to social ideals that are held as reverent to dispell the hot air and make room for new notions and possibilities , and new ground. This cartoon might have done that, but it failed. It is as funny, as they say, as a rubber crutch. Something not given to joy or humor, but hurtful to watch. The Authors, the Editors, all of the NEW YORKER Magazine staff should just flat out apologize not just to the Obama family, but to the American public for the insult. Even the NEW YORKER makes mistakes, they could say. And we did.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-36775091150727282492008-07-14T12:31:00.000-07:002008-07-15T09:37:44.502-07:00Out of resignationReally have appreciated feedback from folks about the blog, and you know the real value to me and I hope to those who read it is that there are things happening in the world, not all bad even, that kind of invite exploration and I have the time and the resources to investigate some of the issues and concerns slung around the news and TV as if they are for real, while real information is possible. The issues or concerns I bring up and direction I take in researching available information is not the definitive statement in any sense on any issue. But I will make known the sources of the material that I present and make the distinction between my own opinion and the material I find on different subjects. The subjects I choose are those that present themselves to me as I go through life. One can either ignore, deny, suffer or take it on out of/away from resignation towards some kind of responsibility if only to come to an accurate understanding of the issue.<br /><br />Like, for instance, Friday afternoon I'm driving home from Lafayette feeling happy about the upcoming weekend, satisfied with the day and the week that has passed, when I hear on NPR that Israel may- upon sufficient threat and intimidation from Iran- respond with bombs and the question is air space: Turkey has said no to their coming across their country to bomb Iran, and the US has control of Iraq and may be in a position to not have Israel use Iraq's airspace to bomb Iran. Or not. And, Israel does bomb Iran, the NPR report said, Iran has indicated that the missles reach will extend to the high density area where there is the largest American population of soldiers and workers. Now see, for me it's hard to change the station and go home and have dinner like this is none of my business. What IS there to do? I decide the thing to do is to try to get information from a creditable source. Strangely enough, there wasn't much info on line or otherwise that I could find directly addressing Israel and Iran, but then I found an article in the Washington Post Sunday paper by Jim Hoegland.<br />.<br />The article showed the relationships in the Middle East have a pattern, an understanding that if pressure goes down in one area of the closed Middle East system, it must come out elsewhere. "If Isreal smiles at Syria, Iran must growl at Israel." He went on the describe the process: Israel has approached Iran saberrattling as follows : 1) Israel is moving towards a US led effort in a series of talks in Tehran; 2) Israel is having direct peace talks with Syria in an effort to wean the Arab country from its partial alliance with Iran; and 3) Israel recently accepted a cease fire in Gaza in large part to rebuild political bridges with Egypt. These measures, Hoegland points out have had the effect of their being a new calm last week and bringing down oil prices. Iran then fired off new missles and bragged that they could reach all parts of Israel as well as where the US troops and ships are in the Persion Gulf. Hoegland then goes on to say that the actual threat to global stability has more to do with Tehran than with Bush and Washington. Polarization and conflict help Iranian President Mahmaud Ahmadinejad maintian his shaky grip on power. Bush, only in the past six months, the article states, has stopped playing into Ahmadinejad's political need for conflict and tension. Thus the most significant change in the Middle East scenario is from the US putting public and private pressure on Israel.<br /><br />And that pressure is focused on the use of sanctions. Israel Ambassador M. Sallai Mandoor has requested that the Worlds' oil companies not sell gasoline that is used by Iran's nuclear scientists, as well as sanctions on insurance and maritime and air transportation that would raise the cost of Iran's doing business.<br /><br />Somehow the Washington Post article gave some gravitas to the floaty threats and intimidating blurbs from the radio and TV news. It even sounded hopeful to me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-30395896653062548502008-07-06T12:35:00.000-07:002008-07-06T13:47:37.490-07:00MUST SEE WALL ELast night my son mentioned going to see Wall-E, always ahead of us in music and film but his choices not necessarily always in the realm of our interest, or vice versa. Then reviews this morning from Frank Rich of the New York Times sealed the deal. My husband is an artist and loves Pixar films, but I'm only thinking CARS was fun because I was with my two grandsons. But no, Pixar has come up with a film that as Frank Rich today in the New York Times, states is an enormous box office Independence Weekend success, similar to Farrenheit 9/11 which prior to this had the largest summer weekend success. 2004, Rich points out, looks like the good old days compared to now: Today Oil is $140/barrell compared to $38/barrell then; The June 2008 stock market has taken its greatest dive since the depression, there are layoffs and forclosures across all income line and no end in sight. WALL-E, Rich describes as a robot meets robot lovestory set in the smoldering and abandoned earth of the year 2700; he observes the effect on the young audience predominantly under 12 with the film featuring visual and musical similarities to the film 2001:A Space Oddysey; he points out that it's a story not about good over evil but an awakening, an inspiration to take care of the world as we know it before time runs out. <br /><br />Rich began the article talking about getting away from the 24/7 coverage of the presidential campaign, it's clatter and crass filling our lives claiming to represent the real world, but his take on WALL-E is this is where we can find more reality about the world, any semblance of truth. Further he thinks Obama and McCain should see this film, as they have both slide into the complacency of their candidacies looking to dodge and weave their way into the white house. Who doesn't find it alarming to consider Obama using Mark Penn and other Clinton staffers and directing his campaign towards the middle to pander votes. <br /><br /> It's hard not to see I have noticed since Obama's candidacy nomination the deft oppotunistic moves away from his stand on government snooping, and conditions on ending the war using the "the generals to inform his decisions when I am President". Trying to be everyman's man just never has really worked, just like Lincoln said: " You can fool some of the people some of the time..." Impossible to tolerate it seems to me. It's like the Safeway/Clintons or Bush moved out of the shopping center and Albertsons /Obama or McCain moved in and life goes on. Trying hard not to notice but can't help but see the Vice Presidency issue is huge this time around. <br /><br /> Nora Ephron today in the Huffington Post had a column on Gore as the Vice Presidential candidate with all the attributes Obama needs, especially his strong immutable stake in all the important issues of our times. He wouldn't change jerseys no matter what was required of him I'm thinking.<br /><br />But back to Rich who had somethings to say about McCain that rang true also. The real problem with McCain is not his age in terms of number of years, he says, but his rigidity and the fact that he is willing to not do as much as develop computer skills to engage with the rest of the world, and remains in fixed position where flexible and creative thinking is the very least we can have with the new leader of the Western world. <br /><br />So we will be off to WALL-E and what I'm wanting from the film is that there is the renewal of spirit to buttress people to withstand the campaign propoganda to determine their own information and action to take to back that up. The cable network is selling us on news while they sell cars, drugs and other network shows. Back to the Safeway analogy, when we go to the store, we decide on the product we want that suits us and know all the clerks are there making a living and don't know what we need or want. We'd hardly be looking to them to guide our decisions or pocketbooks; same is true for all of the self important newscasters with their opinions and selling points toward some position that has a lifespan of 5 minutes till the next thing comes along. We're on our own here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-20556828553040706422008-07-03T17:06:00.000-07:002008-07-06T20:19:08.336-07:00PATRIOTISM - A VIRTUE OR LIMITATIONRecently I heard "Rushed Limbo" (you know who I mean) say on the radio at 9 AM, Democrats hate soldiers and it's so unfair that the service men are going to come home to nothing because the Democrats hate soldiers. Not the first time I've heard this man do his insane rant designed to confuse and abuse reason. Nothing could be further from the truth I thought; all of us, everyone of us feels the incredible sense of loss and heartache over the in many cases late teen, early '20's soldiers whose lives have been lost or will never be the same. The Post Traumatic Stress indicator of perhaps 49% of the soldiers who will admit to symptoms of PTSD are only the tip of the iceberg they say, because in the military if you admit to that form of fragility or damage, you could be put out of the military poste haste or at least have your function limited and diminished. No Democrats don't hate Soldiers, they hate the lies that sent them to do duty that has been destructive hurting the people we supposedly are helping beyond scope and measure; they hate the poor care and respect the soldiers receive upon their homecomings; they hate the lack of standards that allowed in soldiers who are not equipped to deal with the war, barely able to function and seeing poor alternatives outside the military getting in because of the limited entry standards.<br />Patriotism is a word that is being cast about to attempt to reduce the value of the distinctions of individuality which is what this country was based on. Anybody who didn't read or see on HBO John Adams ought to do whatever it takes to take in the information of what actually patriotism looks like. It has rough edges, it is combative, it is the willingness to see where mistakes have been made - mistakes are a fact, it's the admitting and cleaning up that makes for courage. Time's article by Richard Stengel on The New Patriotism makes the distinction between the conservative and liberal strains of what is definited as patriotism and through which they debate their politics. "The True Patriot" by Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer is the New Patriotism means appreciating what's great about our country but what it takes to creat and sustain greatness.<br /><br />Paternalism is not necessary patriotic and on Father's Day on NPR, there was an amazing program discussing both Obama and McCain's relationships with their fathers on tape from their books on their fathers. So different and so much the same. McCain's Admiral father whose father was an Admiral was a hero figure not often present with his family in naval life. But the father's presence in spirit as the moral judge of how McCain measured his own conduct was a primary influence sustained all the way through his POW capture and release. It was noted that his father ordered the bombing over the area where he was known to be a POW. McCain felt privileged with having his father as a presence in his life, even though their contact was limited and in his dad's later years he was exposed to what his father became, somewhat bitter and alcoholic and a man he couldn't relate to or identify when McCain was in his company during those times. The relationship with his father he credited with the hold he had over himself of not wanting to disappoint his father or let his country down irregardless of whatever they did to him, in prison.<br />Obama's father was a Head man in Kenya, and therefore Obama was a prince in the tribal group where his father lived, Obama reports in the tape of his book The Dreams of My Father. He was taken away by his mother to the US and had no contact with his father and in the absence of that contact, he made up who his father was with family stories. These stories had him take on rigorous moral standards for himself pleasing his grandparents and mother, but actually designed to meet the height of strength that he attributed to his father. When his father died, he returned to his father's country and there he heard different stories about who his father was: am embittered man who turned to drink in the losses that were the mainstay of his later years.<br /><br />In both cases, the imagined status of the father propelled the sons to take on strong moral stances, higher and harder positions in valuing service and patriotism. McCain has had the reputation of a Maverick, a loner who doesn't fit it, not a very popular Republican candidate with only 33% of the Republican donors coming through for him because of his reliance not on the ideals of other people's interpretion of what is right, but marking his own territory. Obama, mixed race child of a single mother has a wider and more inclusive interpretation and perspective. Both have taken on the view of America having a greatness of purpose, but defining what their role will be is the history we are about to see unfold.<br /><br />Each of us are patriots, back to the John Adams book, to the degree we work to see our truth and act in ways that demonstrate that democracy exists simply because we say so. It is a concept we fill out by how we see and act out our view of how we see the world and the responsibility we take to bring about the elements of the Declaration of Independence. It lives through us or not at all. Pretty scairy stuff, and something to be excited about in this election.<br />Happy 4th of July!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-50049147114568474692008-07-03T16:37:00.000-07:002008-07-03T17:05:35.021-07:00WHO'S HAPPY OUT THERE?The July edition of Newsweek had a riveting article by Lorraine Ali: Who Says Kids Make You Happy. Turns out that Daniel Gilbert's 2006 book "Stumbling on Happiness" indicates that marital satisfaction dsecreases dramatically after the birth of the firs tchild, and increases only after the last child has left home. Arthur C. Brooks, Author of 2008 "Gross National Happiness" finds that parents are <img alt="Italic" src="http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.italic.gif" border="0" />about 7 percentage points less likely to report being happy than the childless. This goes against the cultural graine for sure and the authors reported getting hate mail in response to some of their survey work according to Robin Simon, a sociology professor who gathered information from 13,000 families. The childless couples, it is suggested, must feel redeemed for their heretofore unpopular stance of choosing child free marriages.<br /><br />Then again in a recent Time magazine series on love, the research showed that while falling in love a temporary insanity highly positive in value, has a term limit of approximately 18 months, and that the mythology of the 7 year itch where the bloom is off the rose, the honeymoon is over, and intensity in the relationship is diminished-is an actual measureable outcome. In the state of being in love, as opposed to before was researched What makes people happy in love is how they feel about themselves as much as how they feel about their fascination with the object of their affection. However, after 7 years people pretty much go back to whatever their former state of happiness or unhappiness before the falling in love. <br /><br />Seems like what makes people happy is themselves: what they choose to put their attention on or are compelled to find attractive that requires something more of themselves that they respond to than they would find within themselves would be one assessment of these studies reported. <br /><br />Having a necessary funtion/role/passion fulfills and maybe that's what makes us happy. Another report of the Newsweek July 7th article is that married people are significantly less likely than the unmarried to visit their parents or siblings; 80% of the unmarried contacted parents with the the past month was the report. Hmmm, so what makes us happy might be intimate contact and two can be the loneliest number accordingly to this data, wedded bliss and isolation chosen over contact outside the unit. <br /><br />My happiness is all about intimate contact sharing my life with other people, experiencing what other people feel and care about even if I don't agree with them. That is the very reason for this blog. How about you? Who's happy out there and what do you attribute to your state of happiness or unhappiness?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275974672589230303.post-6630829706301019132008-06-18T14:16:00.000-07:002008-06-18T17:52:05.863-07:00Michelle Obama was on the View TodayDon't know about your politics, who you favored Hillary, Michelle or Cindy McCain, but for me, Michelle is all about straight talk and the ladies of the View have benefit of her company on the view today. I think the thing that impresses me most about Mrs. Obama is that her life with her family will definitely have the cost of the public glare and misrepresentation of her motives and intentions will be her unpleasant company in the months ahead. But I like the straight ahead that she demonstrates. Watching the Obama's navigate the tricky waters and stormy attacks with grace and dignity is what I have seen consistently. Take a look.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFPMjtj5Jcc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFPMjtj5Jcc</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1