Be part of the solution

The art of wine

2011-02-25T13:32:00.008-06:00

I happened across a discussion at vinography.com, "A Short Conversation Between Wine Writers About Wine as Art. Or Not." Not all that is created amazes me, but to the extent that the process is creative wine-makers are artists by definition.

Are the folks who create the images hung over hotel beds artists? You may not appreciate their craft, choices, or seek their work, but they create and synthesize which is my definition of art. Let me be clear: the definition of art has nothing to do with critics, but if there are critics judging the style and substance of a thing or the category it's in then the odds are good that somewhere in the mix there's at least some art.

Ah, but what about that mass-produced wine - the cases of yellowtail and similar products cranked out in nearly mind-boggling quantities?

...in the glass of the beholder?

One way to look at this is in comparison to what I'll call bulk art (usually in frames, but there's a certain amount of sculpture, etc., that I'd classify this way, too,) such as you find in hotels, or for sale at department stores and online retailers. Among all that, we must still acknowledge certain pieces widely considered more impressive, or more artistic, reproduced extensively, and sold to appreciative consumers. A postcard-sized rendition of a Monet painting may not do the original justice, but it's art even when and if it appeals to the masses.

Some wine companies are indisputably in the business of replicating a mass-consumed commodity via a less-creative process precisely because their product appeals to many. Is it still art? Is the entrepreneur who guided the growth of a popular wine brand an artist? Is the winemaker striving to maintain a consistent, familiar taste despite the vagaries and variations across vintages less an artist than, say, the potter trying to make a set of cups that match?

The fruit of the winemakers' labor at Kistler, Graziano, Sea Smoke, Banfi, etc., is fine art, more worthy of exploring and savoring in my opinion (and perhaps yours) than bulk wines that may be decent representations of the varietal, yet lack the grace, the subtlety of craft typically imparted to smaller batches by attentive winemakers more focused on the excellence of the finished product than the absolute quantity that will be sent to the markets.

"Art is indeed not the bread but the wine of life."
~Jean Paul Richter

In the end how much wine is - or is not - art cannot be reduced to a "black versus white" sort of yes/no question; the truth spreads along a continuum. The value of art is in the appreciative eye of the beholder. What is created is usually considered "more artful" if it's done in smaller quantites, which by their nature are subject to greater variation. Anything is more likely to be perceived and recognized as art in inverse proportion to the amount it is re-produced; reproduction - in the form of technicians or production lines - distances the original artist from the final product.

Still, like it or not, the products of creative processes are art.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Congressional Campaign Manager, strategist, journalist, and photographer who writes about topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter.

Are WI Governor's Consequences Really Unintended?

2011-02-22T14:15:00.008-06:00

The storyline from Madison has featured everything from pizza for the protesters being ordered and paid for by people in Egypt to revelations about Scott Walker's curious spending decisions to precipitate the "crisis" and State Troopers in search of wayward state Senators. There are countless pictures, inflammatory comparisons between Walker and Hosni Mubarak, videos of members of the Firefighters Union, and stories of infiltrators hoping to discredit the participants. The eyes of the nation are on the struggle in Wisconsin, even as similar events unfold in other state capitols.

Leaving the children behind

But what about tomorrow's teachers? What about those dedicated young men and women just launching their careers, the ones who are student teachers right now? Why would any recent college graduate want to go into teaching now, particularly in a state that might defund pension plans and/or remove collective bargaining rights from public employees? Teaching has never been the way to get rich quick: it's a path rife with long hours, low pay, and in most cases even shelling out your own cash to provide classroom supplies.

GOP abandons NCLB?

Unlike the 5 states that don't allow collective bargaining for public employees, Wisconsin has historically turned out very accomplished, academically superior students, at least as measured by SAT/ACT scores. Sure, the students obviously get a lot of credit, but they're blessed by excellent school systems and teachers, too. Wisconsin has created a great education system, but Scott Walker has new priorities, and new spending plans, and his values clearly don't include looking out for children.

If, somehow, Wisconsin's new Governor pulls off this rollback of not just salaries and pensions but even the right of teachers and firefighters to rely on unions to negotiate for them, where will he find the next generation of public servants?

There are more creative ways to plug budget gaps; Scott Walker is steadfastly refusing to negotiate, holding the future of the children of Wisconsin hostage and threatening the standard of living of his entire state.

Two questions:

Just who is Governor Scott Walker really representing?

What would Laura Bush say?

“The question we must answer now is how do we nurture the development of the next generation...

The answer begins with education.

...Educated children grow up to be adults who have more opportunities to work, to support their families, and to fully participate in the life of their communities.”
Former First Lady Laura Bush

Let's not settle for ruining education and public service jobs in a rush to adjust spending priorities. We can do better than that. We are better than that.

You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter.

Loving Story - The Movie

2010-12-01T19:10:00.001-06:00

A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in the history of Richard and Mildred Loving. Their struggle for respect and dignity is set against a backdrop of historic racial prejudice and anti-miscegenation sentiments in the United States not solved by the federal Civil Rights Act.

With the help of two young lawyers driven to pave the way for social justice and equal rights through the historic 1967 Supreme Court case, "Loving v. Virginia" overturned lingering bans on interracial marriage in sixteen states.

Told through never-before-seen cinema verité footage of the Lovings and their lawyers, with other authentic footage of the times and pictures by Grey Villet. Together with oral accounts and interviews with their family and friends, the film captures their saga – from their courtship, to their arrest and exile, to their preparation for the 1967 Supreme Court case.

THE LOVING STORY is an intimate look into a poignant and enduring romance set against the turbulent backdrop of race relations in America in the wake of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act -- intended to expand equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment to all citizens of the U.S.

Bans against interracial marriage had persisted in nearly one-third of the states.

"Loving v. Virginia" was the turning point for marriage equality in the United States. The movie premiere will be in early 2011, and interested supporters can be a part of the final production phase.

Currently Sandra Booker's "When Love Happens" -- the first CD ever to commemorate Loving Day and the Loving's story -- is up for Grammy nomination consideration.

Loving Day celebrations mark the anniversary of the Loving Decision on or around June 12th each year in many cities throughout the United States.

Learning from Deepwater Horizon Disaster

2010-07-11T11:37:00.004-05:00

We won't change overnight - we can't. But if the 20th century U.S. reliance on gas-guzzling vehicles forms the pattern for economic growth, then cash just keeps flowing to big oil companies even faster than the crude oil is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico today (while BP attempts to put a better cap on the gusher.) Big oil companies spend nearly unfathomable amounts of money hoping to convince consumers how "green" they are via slick ad campaigns and quiet, dignified, sincere-sounding sponsorship messages on public TV.

The reality is hidden, or at least obscured. But it's there to be seen despite the advertising, and the coverup in progress in the Gulf.

Boycotts of one company merely shift the profits to another. This isn't like trying to get Nestle to be responsible about how baby formula is distributed in third world countries, after all. So what's to do?

We have to approach it in several ways, because oil-consumption is woven into the very fabric of our daily lives. No single action will solve this, it's too big. It's likely to take longer to fix than it did to create.

12 Steps to a better tomorrow

» First and foremost we have to admit that we have an oil problem.

» Next we resolve to restore sanity to our decisions rather than letting massive multi-national corporations continue to exploit our oil habit.

» Join those who have to decided to prioritize our decisions on what's best for our planet, family, and neighbors.

» To move forward, we have to understand why we rely on oil - we have to consider our past decisions as objectively as possible.

» Like any other addict, we must admit we got it wrong - we may have been duped, but we own the decisions we made regardless.

» We have to decide to change - we have to be ready to give up these dangerous habits. To do otherwise feeds both the oil pushers and others who haven't yet come to understand just how big the problem really is.

» We have to be willing to lead in progressively reducing and surrendering our reliance on oil-fueled existence.

» Think of all the people harmed by our cars, trucks, and other petroleum-based self-indulgences such as plastic shopping bags and bottles, and admit that it's not just BP and their peers that should make amends for the problem.

» We have to actually make amends, not just think and talk; Boycotts alone won't solve the problem, and we can't wait for BP, Exxon, or governments to fix our demand, which is the real problem, when they can barely figure out how to contain the leaks from a single well.

» We can't stop thinking. We have to consider that no matter how big it is, and how we continue to drive up the demand for petroleum, we must consciously act to reduce our own use over the days, months, and decades ahead while working to mitigate and remediate the effects as we find our way forward to new approaches that reflect our need to thrive in balance with the planet.

» Deliberately improve our contact with nature. Nobody who has ever fished or been a bird-watcher can fail to be moved by the images from the Gulf; only by insulating ourselves from the environment can we pretend our petroleum consumption might not matter. We have had our heads in the sand so long even it has become oil-soaked.

» Lastly, we must spread the word to practice this awareness and perspective to others, as Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) did in his commentary on the the BP oil spill and the need for transportation reform at dc.streetsblog.org - it's a start.

Carpe diem!

Will Irony Defeat Logic in November 2010?

2010-06-21T11:20:00.001-05:00

Irony:
When voters in the United States reckon their President isn't getting enough done, they often make it harder for him in the "off years" by voting for his opposition.

Logic evidently doesn't over-rule their gut reaction. It may not even enter the calculation.

Veteran Texas Congressman Joe "BP" Barton is the ranking GOP member (and former chair) of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. That means if the Republicans gain a simple majority of seats in the House, Barton is the heir-apparent for the chairmanship.

You can bet your colourful-deleted-British-expletive that big oil is looking forward to that day, and supporting those who are willing to apologize to BP in the November 2010 election cycle.

Consider the 2^nd District in Minnesota, where a below-the-radar Rep, John Kline, is hoping nobody will notice how closely his votes parallel Bachmann and Barton's. As his challenger Shelley Madore (a former MN House Rep) has been saying since she announced her campaign for U.S. Congress in January of this year, Kline is no less extreme then Michelle Bachmann if you look at his votes. Kline, on the other side of the Twin Cities from the infamous Bachmann, is just Michelle in sheep's clothing.

And I use "sheep's clothing" with all seriousness, because John Kline has done almost nothing but follow the Republican flock during his entire time in office.

We all know that the "off years" are when the party that doesn't hold the presidency traditionally gains traction. People realize the President can't actually get done everything they hoped he could, and so they decide to make it harder for him.

What? You were expecting logic from the voters?

Here's the hard fact about elecctions: Most folks vote for a gut reason, not a head reason. They'll cite logical reasons in many cases, but the truth is they mostly vote for politicians they like, or they think they'd like to have a beer with, etc.

Here's more truth: The GOP is about to spend a lot of money in key races, including big oil money, and the more headway they make the more gridlocked Washington becomes.

The GOP has decided to prove that government is ineffective, as part of their "small government" platform that sounds so good until you realize that only our elected leaders -- our government -- is sufficient to stand up to BP and hold them accountable. The Free Market sure the heck can't do it.

Will voters pick the party of Joe "BP" Barton and Michelle Bachmann, with their faithful flock of followers such as John Kline to take on the aftermath of the disaster in the Gulf? Opinions vary, but I'd rather see folks running the government who not only know how to get things done, but who believe there's more to being in Congress than saying the government should apologize and get out of BP's business.

That's why I like Shelley Madore's track record, and leadership, and her chances running against a "below the radar" extremist in Minnesota (where, let's face it, all eyes are on the Bachmann~Clark contest, and massive amounts of money are being raised and spent.) It's time for proven, effective leadership that knows how to partner with small businesses, not bail out and apologize for big business.

I admire hard workers such as Madore, and Tarryl Clark, and the bravery they show taking on the broken system. I hope more voters like that kind of person this time around.

Julius Shulman: Architecture & Community

2010-03-01T09:49:00.001-06:00

The late Julius Shulman (October 10, 1910 – July 15, 2009) was an American photographer specializing in modernist architecture. His works have been displayed at the Getty Museum and numerous colleges and universities.

Below is a slide show from a forum on "Architecture and Community" highlighting the work of Julius Shulman.
Find more photos like this on One Community

The Haitians are not, "Being Punished by God"

2010-01-14T09:21:00.000-06:00

"The Haitians are Being Punished by God," proclaims Pat Robertson, they are "cursed" as a result of a "pact to the devil," and I have to disagree.

The tragedy in Haiti is being exploited by many who have rushed to set up false charities, just as there were those who adopted the camouflage of charity in the wake of the Tsunami, and almost every other natural disaster in recent memory.

But how we react says more about our nature. If your impulse is to pray, by all means do so. If your impulse is to donate money, food, or other resources to a reputable organization that is sure to get the aid to the needy in a timely manner, go now and do it. If your urge is compassionate, I don't care if you call yourself a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, an atheist, a Hindu, an agnostic, a Jew, a Sikh, a Shinto, a Pagan, or any other label that suits you, I simply applaud the urge to help - even if your capacity to do so is hampered. The need is great.

If your urge is to judge the millions of people living in Haiti, as Pat Robertson has done, I suggest you heed the biblical admonition to, "judge not, lest ye be judged." Robertson is bringing even more awareness to the crisis, and possibly making millions reflect on what it means to act with Christian charity, for which I'd thank him if I thought it was deliberately done.

Before you email, retweet or suggest others update their status, please check with American Airlines, UPS, the Red Cross, and others such as this growing list about the reliability of the organization. Misinformation will not help those in crisis.

World-famous Haitian performer-activist Wyclef Jean has requested that you assist by Texting "YELE" to 501501 to send $5 to YeleHaiti for relief efforts. Wyclef founded the grassroots organization Yéle Haiti in 2005 to promote awareness about Haiti.

For non-text donations or secure donations larger than $5 to Yéle go to click-and-pledge.

Are the people in Haiti part of your community? Do you feel compassion for the suffering of those who are caught in the aftermath of an earthquake?

Kindness in words creates confidence;
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness;
Kindness in giving creates love.
Tao Te Ching

The Loving Story

2009-11-25T22:12:00.004-06:00

Thrown into rat-invested jails and exiled from their hometown for 25 years, the Lovings fought back and changed history.

Using rare archival footage, home movies, photographs, interviews with witnesses, friends and family, and poetic visual and narrative sequences, the documentary builds a complex portrait of the couple at the heart of marriage equality in this country -- how the changes their now-famous bravery and the anti-miscegenation case argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 have influenced our definition of community and family in modern America.

But the movie, due to be released in 2010, intends to do more: to look at how the story itself as it has mutated over the years, with the understanding that history is only as reliable as those who tell it.

Mildred Delores Jeter Loving and her husband Richard Perry Loving lived in Virginia, where interracial marriage was banned by the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. When Mildred was 18 she became pregnant, and the couple decided travel to Washington D.C. (importantly, out of Virginia) to get married.

In 2007, on the 40th anniversary of the unanimous Supreme Court Decision, Mildred issued a statement which concluded:

My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God's plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation's fears and prejudices have given way, and today's young people realize that if someone loves someone, they have a right to marry.

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the 'wrong kind of person' for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people's civil rights.

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

To learn more about the annual celebration of the anniversary, visit: www.lovingday.org, but bear in mind there are events year round, not just on June 12.

Kleis and Clark bridge the political divide

2009-10-28T10:42:00.002-05:00

Almost two years ago, in the anxious wake of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, bridge inspectors determined that flaws merited shutting down the so-called "De Soto/Highway 23" bridge in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The news was bad - it would be seven (7) years before reconstruction of a heavily travelled bridge. No help was forthcoming from Washington.

In St. Paul, legislators at the State Capitol dealing with budget shortfalls - and despite a governor famously opposed to transportation spending - nonetheless found the will and the resources to replace this bridge seen as vital to the community. They got traffic moving again not in seven years, but in less than two.

The new bridge, the “Granite City Crossing,” is a tribute to the persistence of state and local legislators, and local contractors, working with no help from Washington on a project they knew was important to nearby residents and businesses. Tomorrow (Thursday, 29 Oct 2009) the crossing will re-open to vehicular traffic. Sure, members of the Minnesota delegation to the U.S. Congress were on hand for the dedication; but the initiative and drive, the funding that made it a reality, are a credit to dedicated local politicians, such as St. Cloud's Mayor, Dave Kleis who'd spent seven years at the Capitol as Assistant Minnesota Senate Minority Leader and Minnesota state Senator Tarryl Clark. It was local commitment and leadership that solved this problem for their community.

Pictures of ribbon cuttings don't put people to work - fundamentally sound priorities such as investing in returning this bridge to service, and the courage to find money to invest in our infrastructure even in difficult financial times instead of lining the pockets of special interests, are precisely the qualities we deserve from elected officials at any level. People who act for the good of their neighbors and community are to be applauded - and encouraged to do more.

When politicians overcome partisan political posturing - when they bridge that divide - the consistent winners are the citizens they represent.

Michelle Obama: I thought we had our stuff together.

2009-10-17T22:29:00.007-05:00

Nearly one out of three children in the USA are overweight or obese, with that number rising to one half in African American and Hispanic communities. Focusing on the profound implications of these growing numbers, First Lady Michelle Obama discussed her concern over the diminished quality of life for affected children in an appearance at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on October 16, 2009.

Childhood obesity is particularly troubling because the extra pounds often start kids on the path to health problems that were once confined to adults, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Ms. Obama discussed the challenges that today’s parents, particularly working mothers, face in consistently providing healthy meals and snacks for their children. She shared some of her personal stories with this struggle.

"...I got a little tap on my shoulder from our kids' pediatrician who basically said, "You know, you may want to look at changing the way your children are eating," because he could see the effects. And I was shocked. I thought we all had our stuff together.

But it's a little startling when somebody tells you you need to, you know, rethink things. So you just try to figure out, well, where do you begin, what do you change, how can you change things? But what I found was that if we start small and not try to bite off too much, if we just added a few more fruits and vegetables into every single meal, if we cut down on sugary drinks and processed fruit -- foods, that we could see some changes."

The prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years according to the Centers for Disease Control. The rate among adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled!

What can be done?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines, the first to be issued by the federal government, present science-based recommendations to help persons aged 6 years or older improve their health through physical activity.

Read Ms. Obama's full remarks online. Visit CDC.gov to learn more about the contributing factors, prevalence, and statistics of childhood obesity and get tips for parents interested encouraging healthy eating habits and making sure that their kids' lifespan is longer than their own.

The greening of a city

2009-10-16T18:03:00.005-05:00

Minneapolis is slated to receive $31.8 Million from the ARRA funds to further innovative housing projects according to Mayor Raymond "R.T." Rybak, a fiscal bulldog who is poised to win re-election to a third term.

In north Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) is partnering with an array of community organizations to create a brand new senior community center that will provide a variety of medical, recreational and social services to the senior population.

Near that proposed community center, the ARRA funds will also be used to develop a new 48-unit cutting edge "green" senior housing development incorporating technologies such as solar and geothermal to provide a supportive home to the frail and elderly, particularly those who have severe memory issues. The innovative structure, built from green materials, will reduce energy costs and consumption to reduce the structure’s carbon footprint.

Green economic initiatives go beyond environmental awareness; it starts with construction jobs that help get money flowing in the area, while the community benefits long-term -- in this case from the new facility to take care of senior citizens while having a low impact on critical resources.

Rybak says that improvements on 733 already existing MPHA properties will also be undertaken using ARRA funds. Properties have severely outdated energy and water systems will be enhanced to be more efficient and to save energy. Even in the land of 10,000 lakes, water is one of our most precious resources, and obviously energy efficiency goes beyond economic and environmental concerns to actually enhance national security by reducing our dependence on supplies from those who have historically opposed American success.

Such investments in a community give a boost to the local economy while ultimately reducing burdens on tax-payers as well. Rybak's Minneapolis continues to be a strong competitor for recovery funds and innovative, beneficial projects like this illustrate what a strong, effective leader skilled at advocating on behalf of their community can do.

Reminder:
Recovery.gov is online to see projections -- based on language in the legislation -- of where ARRA money will go, broken down state-by-state.

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A letter from U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN)

2009-10-14T23:53:00.007-05:00

Dear Friends,

American families continue to struggle during these tough economic times. Job loses, rising health care costs, and the foreclosure crisis combine to put unprecedented stress on hard-working Americans.

Since entering Congress, I have worked to reduce the financial crisis' impact on our communities by supporting legislation to extend unemployment insurance, curtail predatory lending, and save working families from losing their homes.

We all know someone who has been forced to make hard choices due to the sagging economy. For example, some parents are forced to make ends meet by sending their children to school without a lunch.

I recently introduced the Expand School Meals Act (HR 3705), which would ensure that more students receive the nutritious meals they need to learn and succeed. Senator Franken joined me by introducing a Senate version of the bill.

My campaigns have always been about more than electoral victory. Since my election in 2006, I've run vigorous campaigns focused on what I call "the politics of generosity and inclusion" - a movement based on the reality that there are enough resources to go around - and that we should act that way.

In order to build the politics of generosity and inclusion, our campaign reaches out to underrepresented communities, helping citizens organize and fight for the change we need on issues like affordable health care, green jobs, and reforming our financial system.

I need your help to get out the word and organize for our progressive agenda. Conservative commentators are working overtime to spread lies and distortions, but you can fight back by making your voice heard.

Help me continue building the politics of generosity and inclusion by making a contribution of $10, $25, $50, or $100.

Thank you for your support!

Sincerely,

Keith Ellison
Member of Congress

Learn more about the Expand School Meals Act - HR 3705 either by following that link or by using the convenient Google search box below.

Tick tick tick... Time for Climate Justice

2009-10-14T10:52:00.005-05:00

The former U.N. Secretary General is campaigning for a climate-change initiative. Kofi Annan, winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, responds to questions posed by Tim Morrison of Time Magazine...

"Climate change is having a real impact on the lives of individuals and communites around the world. We must do something about it."
Former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan

Download "Beds Are Burning" freely, and become a Climate Ally at: www.TimeForClimateJustice.org

The time has come
To take a stand...

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Are we running out of water?

2009-10-12T18:53:00.005-05:00

Over two billion people do not have adequate water to address basic sanitation needs (according to the World Health Organization/UNICEF report, “Meeting the MDG drinking water and sanitation target: the urban and rural challenge of the decade,” Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment, [World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund, 2006].)

Do you know how much water it takes to put a pound of beef on the table?
Is there much difference in the water content between a cup of coffee and/or a cup of tea?
How many people don't have access to clean drinking water?

answers below

In the United States and elsewhere a number of local governments now rely on "privatized" water systems. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy [IATP] has produced a map and a report on the impact of water privatization in the U.S. Links to those documents and other related materials can be found at "Helping Local Communities Thrive" at the henoticworld blog.

Water "Remunicipalization"

Nonetheless, some communities have insisted on returning water and sewage treatment services to public management -- "remunicipalization" -- forcing water multinationals to pull services out of communities world-wide. Do you know how many communities in your state are buying their water from for-profit multi-national corporations? Is it the end of water as we know it? I know this: it's enough to make Lewis Black curse. (The following clip contains strong language that may not be appropriate for some readers.)

The answers:

It requires 1500 gallons to raise and deliver a pound of beef to your kitchen (over six times more than a pound of chicken!)
It takes roughly 4 times as much water to make a cup of coffee compared to a cup of tea.
Over 1 billion people do NOT have access to clean drinking water.

Communities of Interest

2009-09-25T11:00:00.014-05:00

There was a time when the concept of community was strictly geographic - in practical terms, what happened to people who directly affected your chance of survival was what mattered. Trade started to broaden the area, of course, since a trader serves as a broker in cases where geography makes it impractical for interested folks from one community to deal directly with those in another, say to obtain tea from hundreds of miles away while still maintaining your agrarian way of life, working as a blacksmith, etc.

Money, (the use of a system with banks and other financial entities) and technology (such as transportation, and rapid, non-face-to-face communication) have profound ramifications for how we see communities and how they function. It's not necessary, for example, to persuade neighbors to give up their time and labor to help build a home or raise a barn, we negotiate with a banker about the value of such projects and either arrange a mortgage or engage a contractor to attain our goals. We can eat blueberries or other perishable delicacies from halfway around the world; we can see pictures of natural disasters, or wars, as they happen. We are touched by evidence of suffering after a tsunami, or the plight of refugees.

Our sense of community grows - our definition of community is no longer about neighbors in the original sense; our neighbors, the non-family people we are concerned about, include not only those who might dump noxious stuff into our water supply or start a fire that threatens our property, but some living on other continents. We know the plight of workers in India, or China, impacts the standard of living of our relatives and "proximate" neighbors as surely as if they were competing for the same jobs - because in point of fact, they are.

It behooves us, according to most philosophies and religions, to treat our neighbors with the care, interest, and respect we want them to employ when dealing with us.

Yet, in the most technologically advanced nation in the world, the United States of America, we are debating the merit of extending health care coverage to tens of millions of our closest friends and neighbors by making it affordable.

Large capitalist organizations are trying to avoid competing in an open, free market for customers, preferring to pick and choose those they can make the most profits on - while the reality is that everybody does get health care, because if you get sick and you can't afford it the hospitals will admit you to the Emergency Room, but then to insure their own survival they must absorb that effort by raising the prices on their other services. Logic alone obviously dictates that we find a method to spread those costs fairly.

Human compassion argues for doing so, as well.

We're not getting great health care in the United States, we're getting very expensive health care that costs even the wealthy more than it should. Yet, rather than examine the successes in other countries and adopting their best practices, big business interests in this debate are spending millions of dollars every day (collected from health care premiums) to influence the men and women in Congress, who are sorely outnumbered by the lobbyists. It's a travesty - a sham - that makes a mockery of the alleged reliance on free markets to insure efficiency and improvement of goods and services.

The "profit motive" is great. It brings consumers choices for fair trade coffee and tea parties, and "out-of-season" blueberries, and Blackberries™, and a veritable plethora of choices for our transportation, wardrobes, and more. It also brings the cost of MRIs down in Japan, by an astonishing margin compared to what we pay in the USA - why is that? Because we've let the system of paying for health care mimic a competitive market, while in practice it's not possible for a consumer to make a real, let alone well-informed choice.

When you're in a serious car accident you don't shop around for the best doctor charging the lowest rates, you trust an ambulance or flight for life chopper (is that socialized health care?) will transport you to the nearest hospital or clinic (are those for-profit entities?) and you agree to pay the price that facility needs to charge you to cover being there, on call, day and night, and cover their overhead, which includes doing all the paperwork for insurance claims and the costs of those who arrive uninsured and broke.

Half of the personal bankruptcies in the USA are triggered by medical expenses. Bankruptcy isn't some magic wand, though, it means that all the people who were owed money by that person end up getting less than they agreed to originally - sometimes virtually nothing at all - and so THEIR costs of doing business go up much the same way a hospital or clinic has to "absorb" the costs of treating those in the community who cannot afford it.

One way or another, we pay. One way, we also pay 8-digit salaries and bonuses to CEOs and lobbyists who profit from rising costs that have outstripped inflation for three decades. Those costs do get spread across the area where the insurers do business, of course.

There's certainly no "perfect" system, and there's big money riding on keeping things "as is," but one thing has become obvious to even the most casual observer: there's lots of room for improvement in the current scheme, for finding a fairer way to distribute the costs while controlling the expenses, and the benefit of improvement will flow to you, and me, and our community - no matter if you think of community as the neighborhood, the city, the country, or the planet.

The Congressional Budget Office figures show that tethering a public option to Medicare reimbursement rates would save the government $110 billion! That's even more than the "public option" in which the government has to negotiate rates with doctors and other health care providers. There are LOTS of fiscally conservative ways to improve the bottom line, and places where the profit motive can drive innovation and reduce costs -- but the bottom line is:

Let's get the profit motive out of health care payment.

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How to end illegal immigration

2009-09-14T09:18:00.010-05:00

"We don't want the government to do anything."

That's the mindset of some folks, despite the fact the U.S. Constitution actually calls for government to manage things such as defense, domestic tranquility, etc. Oddly, by doing away with the government, we no longer have illegal immigrants. We also do away with pundits pretending to be objectively covering politics and all those ads during the election. That's a fair trade-off for no more taxes, right? In a way, it's interesting - it's utopian:

I don't need anybody regulating the food I buy; I don't need anybody checking the efficacy of the drugs I use; I'm never going to need a fire-fighter or a policeman! I don't need roads and bridges built or maintained by some big agency - no not me! I'm fine with private, "free market" solutions to everything, including education, defense, and immigration.

Call it a little naive, maybe, but... the sound bites seem appealing until you ponder little things such as: who deals with pollution in the streams you fish in, or how a family living in a hut copes with forest fires, hurricanes, or immigration (at least there'd be no more illegal immigrants.)

The problem seems to stem from how any given person views and values their community. If you believe you can be totally self-sufficient, that there's no gain from being able to drive to the grocery store, have utilities connected to your property, or turn to an outside authority about a potential dispute about just what IS your property, well, then there's not much the government offers, I suppose. But if you value other people (say, for instance, somebody who will make your bullets, or mine copper to help make pipes so you can build solar heating panels, or simply to keep your descendants from inbreeding,) then unless you always get along perfectly with everybody it follows that there's a certain value in civilization - which is to say, society.

Community values, shared vision and common goals, lead to things such as fire departments, public beaches, Navies to deal with piracy on the seas so you can get certain goods you can't grow or make yourself, the FDA, even bridges and national parks - but none of that is without a cost, that we must share. Even hermits benefit from agencies that limit the pollution in the water and connect the dots between pesticides and reproduction in wild animal populations, after all. What will the mountain man, living on the fish in his stream, do when somebody removes that food supply?

Debating the role of government is great...

Look, I'm no fan of paying for somebody else to sit around doing nothing, and I think the IRS rules are needlessly obscure and convoluted for the wrong reasons -- but as long as my share of the taxes collected is fair I'm not against taxes or governments in principle. The process of democracy in the U.S. is obviously not perfect; I envy the Iraqis who have health care access guaranteed by their new constitution, but I'm very fond of what we've built in this country and I'm fine with contributing to the betterment of my community - which extends considerably beyond the edges of my little chunk of land.

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Have Town Halls jumped the shark?

2009-08-31T11:53:00.008-05:00

The town hall format is attracting a lot of attention, but people obviously come based on partisan goals, emotions run high, and political reporters determine how the story is played in the media.

The Washington Post, for instance, recently ran with

"The DNC kickoff rally in Phoenix attracted about 1,200 reform supporters, but a raucous meeting on the other side of town hosted by Obama's former presidential campaign rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) attracted hundreds more -- most of whom were loudly opposed to Democratic reform proposals."

This at best inconsistent with the reports from the Associated Press, which indicated McCain faced a hostile town hall crowd in favor of health care reform. Quoting, again,

"After McCain opened it up to questioning, one man angrily pointed at him and asked the senator why he deserves a better health care plan than him."

A more academic setting where the focus is on facts rather than carefully scripted appearances intended to mimic open forums quite probably does more to forward any discussion. Given how adept partisans and pundits of both sides are at dismissing any assertions advanced by their opponents, the chance to have a voice from outside politics, an experienced respected scientific researcher, discussing facts is overdue.

Recognizing that, Dr. Morrison Hodges, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine (and formerly the Director of Cardiology at Hennepin County Medical Center) will describe the forces that shaped the U.S. health care system in a lecture on September 17, 2009. He intends to cover how we arrived at a "market based health care system funded by employers" and how well is it's working in comparison to other countries. Dr. Hodges will explain the history of U.S. health care and how it compares in quality and cost to other functioning systems. Dr. Hodges believes he can outline how the United States can cover everyone with quality health care "without breaking the bank."

The town hall format has done much to illuminate how central the problems with our health care insurance system are in our communities. With one in six citizens uncovered, we've all come to realize that we end up paying for their medical problems anyway, be it through increased premiums, or more subtly when they're forced to file for bankruptcy protection (over half of personal bankruptcy filings in the U.S. are triggered by medical costs.) We've come to resent that money collected to pay health care premiums is spent at a rate of over a million dollars per day just to support lobbyists seeking to continue "business as usual" in D.C., and resent paperwork that drives up costs and bureaucrats that countermand medical decisions without improving outcomes.

It's time to peel back the rhetoric, to get past the sound-bites and the spin-mongering "pundits" -- to stop pretending this is about death panels or a way to cover illegal immigrants, and find a way to preserve our American way of life by insuring that every citizen can afford decent medical care as needed. I applaud Dr. Hodges and those who have made it possible for him to share his knowledge in an academic setting, even if it doesn't make for such dramatic TV coverage.

For more information about the Hodges lecture, see:
http://tinyurl.com/kqvg2c

Working effectively for change

2009-05-20T16:16:00.007-05:00

Getting people out to vote was what put Obama into the Oval Office, but obviously different tactics are required to bring about change, particularly at the national level, when the issue won't be decided at the polls. Part of what we do is spread the messages, and arm people with the facts, but most of the change between elections depends on legislative persuasion, and incumbents aren't typically "scared" of losing votes unless their re-election date is looming very closely indeed.

Do you know how your legislator voted on the issue, or similar ones, in the past?

Voting records can be found at watchdog sites such as OpenCongress and Project Vote Smart. Search voting records by member of congress or by topic, check in on committee and bill activity, or call the office and ask for their voting record or a position paper on how your representative stands on the issue of concern to you. Not only will you understand the position your elected official has already taken, it may help you learn about the issue in terms of what's in play in D.C., or where the pressure from the other side is concentrated.

The Wellstone Action organization always stresses what you have in common with your reps...

They're people with a history, experiences, and most importantly commitments to various issues. There are lots of great tips at Wellstone.org, but here are a few highlights for effectively dealing with a legislator at any level of government. It is crucial to get to know them and their story - they're people.

Learn their biographies - including family, profession, education, etc.

Know their districts. If it's not your representative you're lobbying you'd better research the demographics, geography, economy, and the challenges of the person's state or district.

Discover their policy interests. What issues motivated them to become an elected official? On which issues do they exert leadership? What life experiences have made certain issues real to them? Whose opinion on issues do they value?

Learn their community interests. Find out where they volunteer, and worship -- what they care about in their communities both now and historically.

Exhibit your shared interests by letting them get to know you. Sales professionals know it's all about personal relationships, and that means your success is tied to your willingness to talk about yourself, not just the issue. They know you have an agenda, everybody who approaches an elected official has an agenda, that's the nature of their position - but if they like you as a person you will, frankly, make better progress.

Take the time to listen to elected officials, not just study them. Hear their concerns. Become a resource to them and look for opportunities to provide them information and other assistance. These folks are all about networking. If you go to a town hall meeting or a fund-raiser, or any other event they're at, they WILL talk to you, they love to talk - so listen, don't just cram your idea down their throat.

Maintain contact and notice things that deserve praise and support. You're pitching an idea, and you can bet somebody else is pitching a totally contrary plan - so be respectful and genuine to make yourself worthy of consideration. When you're up against the hopes and ambitions of major campaign donors (and you almost always are) or influential special interests you'll have to be persistent and persuasive to make much headway, as the current negotiations over health care reform show.

An opportunity to create millions of new U.S. jobs

2009-05-14T21:44:00.005-05:00

At a time when outsourcing undermines the middle class, and deregulation has wounded our entire economy, we have a chance to be creating millions of new jobs right here in the U.S.A.

It's time for our leaders to take charge of the economy. Deregulation has helped the wealthy long enough: it's time to reward those who WORK for a living by insuring there are jobs for anybody in the U.S.A. willing to be productive.

Investing in energy independence isn't simply a national defense priority, it makes sense for the environment and our economy - it means jobs right here at home.

The Economic Policy Institute recently showed that a $100 billion in green investment annually would yield $160 billion in additional output for each of the next two years, creating approximately 1.1 million new jobs and resulting in an increase of approximately 100,000 in the number of unionized jobs in the United States. EPI points out that this would lead to rising median incomes, a reduction in inequality and more access to job-training and mentorship programs. Read the EPI Issue Brief.

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Fixing Health Care in the U.S. is not the sole province of Democrats

2009-04-05T09:45:00.012-05:00

We expect elected U.S. Senators and Representatives to be our eyes and ears tackling the often thorny issues that are best solved with a national perspective. We don't want state legislatures to spend time re-inventing the wheel on problems confronting us all - what to do on behalf of military veterans, or the mortgage foreclosure crisis, for instance, are challenges for the national government.

It's easy to blame that government for being slow to solve problems: the bodies that craft the laws are deliberative by nature, the departments they oversee are engaged in large undertakings - getting the government to change course or take up new challenges is not trivial. The perception that government isn't quick to solve problems has led to calls for privatization of various functions over the years - retirement accounts, for instance. The far-reaching effects of deregulating our financial institutions and the credit-default swap game have shown us the downside of privatizing.

Partisan posturing placates lobbyists, postpones problem-solving.

Putting health care administration into the hands of the insurance industry has arguably had similarly disastrous results. We spend more per capita than other nations, yet their innovations have thus far led only to higher costs that keep rising faster than inflation, faltering quality,and red-tape, with non-medical personnel making decisions about treatments and medications.

We've given the responsibility to big insurance companies because we expected creative, cost-effective solutions that improved the delivery of health care services; that's the strength big business brings to any challenge, right? That's why they earn the big salaries and lavish bonuses. Yet the insurance industry hasn't helped get health care right. The costs are out of control, and with millions of Americans - from children through the elderly - uninsured, their system is plainly failing.

"In 2009, Congress must take up and act on meaningful health reform legislation that achieves coverage for every American while also addressing the underlying problems in our health system. The urgency of this task has become undeniable."
~Senator Max Baucus, (D-MT)
Chairman, Senate Finance Committee
12 November 2008

When the Senate Finance Committee gets involved it's because the repercussions of the current mess are dangerous for the entire U.S. economy. One innovative solution with bi-partisan Finance Committee support is The GREEN HOUSE^® Replication Initiative. The concept of Green House^® homes is residences for 6 to 10 elders who require skilled nursing care and want to live a rich life. We're talking about significant departure from traditional skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities, organized to foster community and services by enhancing both autonomy and support. Creating places for senior citizens to enjoy calling home without the necessary assistance and care becoming the focus of life seems an obvious idea, doesn't it?

Success:
more than bottom line numbers

Insurance actuaries and CEOs know the number of elderly Americans is on the rise, and that their health care is costly - but the solutions haven't been coming from their industry. This particular solution is coming from NCB Capital Impact (the nonprofit affiliate of NCB) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. We need to re-define success. Big business is ignoring the problem, looking instead to their separate bottom lines, while non-profit organizations are bringing real innovation and proactive thinking to bear. We need insurance profiteers out of the health care industry - now.

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Note: THE GREEN HOUSE® is a registered trademark. Only projects with an executed sub-license agreement may use the "Green House" term, or a confusingly similar term, in association with a long-term care facility.

Feminist Advisory Board

2009-04-01T23:24:00.008-05:00

The Feminist Advisory Board [FAB] for Obama is now an official group within Organizing for America.

The founder, Madama Ambi, is now exploring turning FAB, which first gained notice during the 2008 Presidential campaign, into a platform for communicating with The White House Council on Women and Girls. She also hopes for the women's movement to "unify and strengthen its networks, but this doesn't mean that any one group has to be dominant." In Ambi's opinion, "the smart way to organize when you have so much talent is to create a horizontal, transparent network with high-powered communication infrastructures." Certainly staying within the construct of Organizing for America provides tools for that work.

"We are all in this together.
No one is free until everyone is free."

A draft proposal is available for comment at http://needia.blogspot.com, a needs-based women's media network driven by user interactivity. The draft proposal may also be posted at Wikipedia so that it can "take advantage of crowd-sourcing and collective intelligence." Ultimately, despite a feminist focus, you do not have to consider yourself feminist in order to participate in FAB: the group seeks support for dismantling the systems of domination that deprive all people of their human rights.

In the words of U.S. President Barack H. Obama,

"...it's up to us to carry that work forward, to ensure that our daughters and granddaughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacles to their achievements -- and that they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers and great grandmothers never dreamed of."

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Tempest-tossed (two-boat) Irish Immigrants not welcomed in U.S.

2009-03-17T08:28:00.005-05:00

While the history of the "No Irish Need Apply" signs may have grown in the telling, there was resistance to Irish immigration to the United States; the Ku Klux Klan greeted the newcomers (with their unpopular Christian religion and their strangely fair skin) with the intolerance, rumors about lifestyle, and prejudice previously reserved for non-white people. Perhaps the KKK was confused by the term "Black Irish." There is abundant evidence that such "NINA" signs were prevalent among a certain class in London in the early 1800s, (the British had famously broken away from the Catholic Church under Henry VIII) and scattered elsewhere throughout continental Europe, and no doubt they appeared in the USA as many Irish were fleeing violence and famine in their native land - arriving in America full of dreams and hope.

Regardless, today the President of the United States, Barack Obama, traces some of his ancestry to the Emerald Isle, and one of the better-known "ethnic" holidays in the USA is St. Patrick's Day, and people from all walks of life will take note of it today. Many will adopt caricatures of Irishness for the day, hats fit for a Leprechaun, green buttons and shirts saying "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" as they celebrate Irish culture, tradition, and people. Reporters and journalists across the country will cover people across the country enjoying parades and parties where people sing in faux accents, marvel about Irish jigs, drink beverages from Ireland, and put an O in front of their last name while overlooking the fact they'd never venture into a Catholic church and aren't quite sure how to pronounce shillelagh.

This is a success Americans could do well to reflect on as they consider their current struggle with immigration laws and issues. More than a president noted for an ethnically rich heritage, the United States is a country strengthened by the nature of being an alloy of many cultures and philosophies. The Irish endured invasions over the centuries, yet retained a unique (albeit somewhat misunderstood) cultural identity: both unity and diversity persist proudly on that one smallish island. Surely there is room in the United States for all who dream of freedom and hope to improve their lives.

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

It's time for the great minds of American leadership to embrace the American dream, to bring immigrants who treasure the opportunities embodied into our constitution into full participation in our way of life. They must be required to abide by our laws, to value their citizenship and patriotism as highly as their neighbors, to participate in our democracy in every way, and if they don't want to participate wearing green on St. Patrick's Day they must at least recognize that it's about more than a Catholic saint - it's about valuing diversity by walking a mile in somebody else's shoes for one day each year.

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A bi-partisan message in support of volunteer service.

2009-03-06T08:11:00.007-06:00

Two congressmen, Michael Honda (D-CA), and Thomas Petri (R-WI), who served as Peace Corps volunteers in the late 1960s, have teamed up to write an opinion piece published by the Christian Science Monitor describing their experiences in support of the bi-partisan initiative of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who are championing the Serve America Act to, "bolster volunteerism across the board – from a Clean Energy Service Corps to an Education Corps to a Healthy Futures Corps."

Citing links between unemployment and murder rates, among others, the Congressmen demonstrate that violent crime rates are tied to relative poverty - and the U.S.A. ranks highest among developed nations in its inequality levels and poverty rates. We've got a problem.

"Poverty is not political, nor is the need or call for service. Helping our neighbors through public service, whether on this continent or another, brings a broad spectrum of benefits, from boosted self-esteem to a bolstered sense of security. It serves the greater good of our community and theirs."

From something as fundamental as a food drive to the much longer commitment of living overseas in El Salvador or Somalia as the two Congressmen did as Peace Corps Volunteers, simply giving to others - to bring hope and build the capacity for self-improvement - is one of the most personally rewarding actions we ever undertake.

Be inspired - however you define your community, be it your neighborhood or the planet - act.

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If you're not part of the solution...

2009-03-02T23:53:00.014-06:00

It’s time for politicians to pay attention to what voters said in November 2008. Voters said, government is here to stay, so stop running against government and just start running the government well. We had a failure of leadership in Washington, and Obama won the Presidency because most voters felt it was time for a change. The task of restoring the jobs, the task of rebuilding the American dream, is urgent. Real people are losing their paychecks every day. Real people are losing their health insurance every day, while millionaire bankers send their lobbyists to D.C. to make sure executives of badly run companies don't lose their bonuses, let alone their pensions or their jobs.

Barack Obama and his team in the White House are clear that they work for the people who elected them, because special interests didn't fund his campaign. He's turned his attention to health care plans that regular people can afford, and won't lose when they lose their jobs - the President knows our wages aren’t keeping pace with the price of gas, food, and prescription drugs. He's rolled up his sleeves; Obama's working every day.

This is what happens when you elect a former community organizer. Voters saw that this is a man who leads by example, a man who's more interested in action than repeating memorized talking points in a press conference. Will you be part of the solution? If you're not talking with your neighbors about community needs and priorities, rest assured there are people who have every intention of controlling how the money is spent.

Obama won’t sit idly by and let our country become even more dependent on foreign oil and imported goods while big companies outsource our jobs. He's targeted education, for example, an investment in our children that will renew our economic power and secure their future.

President Obama gets that government is only as good as the people who run it; he and his staff were working even before the inaugural. Voters are hungry for more leaders with the common sense values Obama has shown, with the courage to do what it takes to lead a clean up of the mess in Washington - so that government "for the people" serves us all by keeping teachers and policemen employed despite special interests and partisan posturing that most of us find disingenuous if not downright unpatriotic in a time of crisis.

I'm not asking who you voted for, or if you're a member of a political party. My question is: What are you doing while Obama's team works to save the economy, jobs, and our environment?

I'm not asking if you can help, but as a citizen of the USA I'm hoping you will.

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Tea Party

2009-02-27T21:52:00.005-06:00

No, I'm not talking about impersonating natives to perpetrate an act of insurrection against the British by vandalizing the cargo in Boston Harbor, but that does set the stage. You see, unlike countries that have longer history, such as Britain, China, and Japan, we've gotten away from tea in the U.S.A because of an oppressive tax burden - it didn't really bother the rich, mind you, but when an everyday beverage becomes so expensive that normal people find the price problematic, something has to be done.

And now we have coffee shops stacked so close together that you can hardly see between them in some places, and they charge - guess what? - a fortune for a cuppa Joe. For the price of one Starbuck's half-caf latte I can get well over an ounce of remarkably good tea. I'm not talking about Lipton's here, either. I'm talking visit a tea shop run by a tea loving entrepreneur, such as Indigo Tea in Burnsville, MN. Food Co-ops offer tea in bulk - even that bastion of new capitalism, Amazon, offers remarkable deals on better-than-average tea. The coffee shops work as fast as they can to get me in and out, but the tea shops encourage me to linger, they offer me tastes of something new, and conversation about the trade.

Tea is the wine of the warm beverage industry. It reflects where it was grown, with influences from how it was prepared between harvesting and arriving at the market. The history of tea is as rich as the beverage itself, which is considerably more diverse than most U.S. coffee-drinkers realize.

Learn about tea; Camellia sinensis.

Learn about Teaism.

I've got nothing against Starbuck's making a noisy buck in their frantic shops, or regional chains such as Caribou and Dunn Brothers that offer jobs in a good environment (albeit often still noisy,) and I applaud the entrepreneurs who run their own operation without the support of national ad budgets... after all, you can get a cup of tea, too, at many of these places.

But in an era when families face foreclosure and loss of health care coverage because the financial industry gamed the mortgage business and we left the foxes guarding the henhouse, it just makes me wonder about our consumer-oriented mindset and economic priorities.

So try something different - have some tea. If you're a coffee drinker and you need something dark and full-bodied to entice you into enjoying what billions of people around the world already enjoy, try aged Pu'erh from China's Yunnan province for a start - check a local supplier, order it through Amazon, or order it in tuocha form online from various small businesses, you won't be disappointed.

Next time you're in New Jersey, visit Cape May and you'll find an amazing array of tea rooms. You're been reading about the health benefits, now I'm telling you that there's more to "Green Tea" than just the stuff from Stash at the grocery store. Slow down and have a tea party.

Obama's Visit to Arizona Brings Hope to Foreclosure Alley

2009-02-18T20:33:00.006-06:00

President Obama has people engaged, and Dawn Teo's covering both sides of the story for Huffington Post:

Dueling groups of anti- and pro-Obama demonstrators were setup in several "free speech zones" near the high school, smaller groups were scattered across sidewalks and street corners for several blocks, where former Governor Janet Napolitano's departure to take over as the new United States Secretary of Homeland Security gave Republicans full control of Arizona's state government.

Ms. Teo wrote:
"According to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, who spoke to the press before the event, about 6 percent of Arizona mortgages either are in foreclosure or are more than 90 days behind today. Across the country, nearly 10 percent of mortgages are behind, and in December, close to half of home sales across the country were "distressed" sales. Donovan says he expects about 6 million more foreclosures over the next 3 years."

The Obama administration is supporting legislation that, if passed, would allow judges to write down the principle and/or interest of mortgages when mortgage holders file for bankruptcy, and will be releasing new mortgage guidelines, which go into effect in 2 weeks that will standardize the mortgage loan process, including the appraisal process.

"Eyes brimmed with tears, attendees described the bleak outlook of being uprooted from their homes, a common fate in the Valley of the Sun. Besides the obvious transition from pre-election rallies to stately policy talks, today's topic -- the foreclosure crisis -- was sobering for the Mesa crowd."

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A call to service on January 19th, 2009

2009-01-12T22:28:00.001-06:00

Michelle Obama recorded a short video to tell you more about an important effort on Monday, January 19th in anticipation of the Inauguration of America's 44th President, Barack H. Obama. Please take a minute to watch it and sign up to host or attend a service event near you.

People like you are committing to renew America together, one community at a time. Volunteer part of your day on the eve of the Inaugural - you'll never forget it.

Whatever service activity you organize or take part in -- cleaning up a park, giving blood, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or mentoring an at-risk youth -- you can help start this important journey. But this is about more than just a single day of service, it's the beginning of ongoing commitment to your community.

Monday, January 19th, is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Dr. King taught us to live a life of service, and he led by example. He once said:

"If you want to be important -- wonderful. If you want to be recognized -- wonderful. If you want to be great -- wonderful. But, recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness."

Ordinary citizens working together with a common purpose can get this country back on track. Join the Obama's national day of service as your next step. Whatever service activity you organize or take part in -- cleaning up a park, giving blood, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or mentoring an at-risk youth -- you can help start this important journey. Click below to find a service opportunity in your area or to organize one yourself.

Find an Event
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Human rights: HEALTH

2008-12-29T10:59:00.004-06:00

Fighting against "stupid deaths," is, "never the work of one," according to Dr. Paul Farmer, founding director of Partners In Health, "or even of a small group." His goal is lofty:

"...nothing less than the refashioning of our world into one in which no one starves, drinks impure water, lives in fear of the powerful and violent, or dies ill and unattended."

Dr. Farmer recently wrote an article in The Rotarian to address the lack of access to effective prevention and care--a primary barrier to health equity across the globe. He has contributed a brief summary of his values, presented as one chapter in National Public Radio's series, This I believe. In fact, NPR invites everyone to share the beliefs that guide them - you, too, can contribute. Tell NPR what you believe »

60 Minutes to watch... and a lifetime to act

This May, CBS's 60 Minutes featured a segment on the work of Partners In Health. In case you missed any part of the broadcast, it can be viewed here. If the images you saw and the voices you heard have inspired you, learn more about how you can contribute to PIH's work in Haiti, and the movement for health and social justice around the world.

Among other initiatives supporting the work of PIH:

Choppers for doctors!

In Lesotho, it’s difficult to get around. Villages are sometimes accessible only by single-engine propeller aircraft or on horseback. There are often no roads in rural areas and patients must walk hours to clinics. Transporting patients and medical supplies is often an ordeal.

The nonprofit organization Riders for Health is working to help change this by donating ultra-rugged motorcycles for PIH Lesotho staff to use. The vehicles are expected to greatly enhance health-care delivery, allowing health workers to regularly and reliably visit communities previously inaccessible except on foot.

Riders for Health’s first-ever program started in Lesotho in 1991, running a fleet of 47 motorcycles that ran for seven years without a single breakdown. Mahali Hlasa, a dedicated health professional who qualified as the first “rider trainer” under Riders for Health in 1991, is now the program director of Riders’ new program in Lesotho. Riders’ return to Lesotho was prompted by the rapid and alarming decline of the country's public-health status following the growth of HIV/AIDS and associated TB.

Seihan Mori declared "change" to be Japan's "character of the year."

2008-12-13T23:39:00.004-06:00

TOKYO (AFP) – After helping Barack Obama sweep to victory in the US election, the president-elect's motto of "change" was Friday declared character of the year by a monk at one of Japan's most revered temples.
Using a calligraphy brush to write the single character on a wooden platform as tourists looked on, Seihan Mori, chief monk at Kiyomizu temple in the ancient capital of Kyoto, declared "change" to be Japan's character of the year.

The event was hosted by a Kyoto-based group that promotes the use of "kanji," the Chinese characters used in the Japanese language.

The public sent in 111,200 nominations for the kanji of the year.

Of those, a majority 5.42 percent endorsed "change," followed by "gold," suggesting the Beijing Olympics, and "fall" to reflect the global market plunge.

"I think it is an expression of the Japanese people's wishes to see political, economic and societal changes, as they were impressed by Mr. Obama's message of change," Mori said.

He added that the term's significance also came into prominence because of the world's growing attention to the impact of climate change.
"What is important to note, however, is that it is (the individual) who must change," he said.

The Kiyomizu temple dates back to 798, and its present buildings were constructed in 1633. It takes its name from the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water drop into a pond within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills.

Otowa-no-taki, the waterfall where visitors drink for health, longevity, and success in studies:

Obama's impact going global already.

2008-11-09T12:41:00.012-06:00

"Oui, nous pouvons!"

Inspired by Obama's ascendancy as President-elect of the U.S.A , the French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy joined leading French figures to say it's time to stamp out racism and shake up a white elitism that smacks of colonial times.

"Our prejudices are insidious."
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

A manifesto written by Yazid Sabeg, a self-made millionaire whose parents were Algerian immigrants to France, was signed by politicians from the left and right and other public figures. It urges steps to turn long-held French ideals of equality into reality for blacks, Arabs and other alienated minorities.

"We shouldn't be surprised that Obama's popularity is so high here: It testifies to the aspirations of all the children of France who are experiencing by proxy a recognition that France does not give them..."
Yazid Sabeg

Ms. Bruni-Sarkozy said her status as first lady prevented her signing Saberg's manifesto, but expressed total support. Born in Italy, France's first lady cites her husband's ethnically mixed background as a sign France is open to change, though Saberg has been critical of President Sarkozy's previous efforts to bring changes to minority neighborhoods.

The fever of hope is contagious

Less than one week after his election as the 44th President of the U.S.A., Barack Obama's ethnicity begins not only to figure in world-wide perception of political reality in the U.S., but also precipitates the potential for real change on another continent. His candor about skin color has elevated the conversations everywhere about not-like-me-ism.

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There are not red states, and blue states, there is:

2008-10-31T16:11:00.003-05:00

The United States of America

There is a special feeling pervading the polling place on voting day, a sense of participation that transcends the partisan posturing of the preceding weeks and months. If you’ve never voted before I hesitate to shape your anticipation, but there’s no denying the sense of being a part of something that’s happening nationwide. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I wish that there were fewer people exercising “early voting” options, though I grant that there are fine, legitimate reasons that every state and territory should make that not merely possible, but easy.

I also understand the desire to flash your allegiance in a year when the focus is on national politics, particularly as the rhetoric from certain candidates has been more inflammatory than inspirational. I feel strongly about who I’ve campaigned for - there are signs in my yard right down to the level of my choice for city council, my car is practically a rolling billboard, and there’s no time I’m seen in public when there’s any doubt which candidate I support in the presidential election.

But on Tuesday, to puzzle the prognosticators and express my pride as a citizen, I’ll wear purple to the polls. Let the exit poller work that one out!

No matter who you think is the best candidate or party there is one truth Barack Obama articulated way back in 2004. “The pundits like to slice and dice us…" It makes for better television coverage, and they want you watching their network(s) to insure their ad revenues are high, so every year they seek to make it more compelling coverage of what they seek to portray as a more dramatic election. Despite that, on Tuesday when we make our communal pilgrimage to express our preferences, “there are not red states or blue states. There is the United States of America.”

On Tuesday, November 4th, what will you wear while you cast your ballot?

Got purple?

If you lived through the depression, who would you support in 2008?

2008-10-29T12:53:00.004-05:00

It's a question of style versus substance.

If one person working the Obama campaign could actually be said to deserve to meet Senator Obama, Charles Alexander is that person.

Everybody my age is dying off. Everybody. Next four or five years, I probably won't be around. These young people are gonna take the lead. That's what I love seeing about all these people sitting here as volunteers - 'cause they are our tomorrow.

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Voter's Rights: Minnesota

2008-10-25T18:23:00.010-05:00

Any U.S. citizen who has been resident in Minnesota for 20 days prior to the election who will be 18 by November 4th, 2008 has the right to register on election day 2008 in the precinct they live in. (There is information pertaining to other states at the bottom of this post.)

You also have the following rights:

To be absent from work for the purpose of voting during the morning of Election Day without a deduction in wages.
To vote if you are in line at your polling place prior to 8:00 p.m.
To vote without proof of residency if you are already registered.
To receive a replacement ballot if you make a mistake or spoil your ballot before it is submitted.
To cast an "absentee ballot" if you are unable to vote in person on election day for any of the following reasons:
* away from home (your precinct)
* ill or disabled
* an election judge serving in another precinct
* unable to go to the polling place due to a religious holiday or beliefs
* you are in the military or otherwise outside the U.S.A.
To bring your minor children into the polling place and into the voting booth with you.
To vote without anyone in the polling place trying to influence your vote.
To take a sample ballot into the voting booth with you.
To take a copy of the official Minnesota Voter's Bill of Rights into the voting booth with you.
To orally confirm your identity with an election judge and to direct another person to sign your name if you are unable to sign your name.
To receive special ballot assistance when voting because of an inability to read English or physical inability to mark a ballot.
To have a person of your choice accompany you into the voting booth if you need assistance, except an agent of your employer or union or a candidate.
To large print or audio instructions and assistance if you have limited vision (provided by the AutoMARK ballot marker.)
To have election judges come to your vehicle with the ballot if you cannot easily leave your car.
To vote after a felony conviction if your sentence has been completed. (Also known as being "off paper.")
To vote even if you are under guardianship, unless a court order has specifically revoked your right to vote.
To file a written complaint at your polling place if you are dissatisfied with the way an election is being run.

Anyone lawfully in a polling place can ask an election judge to make a challenge to a person's eligibility to cast a vote in that precinct (including other election judges and designated Republican or DFL observers.) However, "challenges" must be based upon that individual's personal knowledge that the voter is not eligible.

Challenges may not be automatic, or frivolous. They may not be based upon lists developed by political mailings - including those returned as either undeliverable or refused. They must be in writing, and under oath that the challenge is based on the challenger's personal knowledge.

Home foreclosure is not a sufficient basis for a challenge, since not only may the voter intend to return to the home, but they may legally be in residence in a foreclosed property for many months; knowledge of foreclosure does not constitute knowledge of where the voter lives.

Students are often challenged as "non-resident" but by Minnesota law may vote in the precinct they live in while they attend school, even in school-provided housing. Students still residing in a parent's home should vote in the precinct that home is in.

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation in government, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. I strongly urge you to visit their website for additional information. There is information in the following video regarding voting in both primaries and the general election.

Do you know where your Minnesota precinct polling place is?

Elsewhere around the country...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has information on voting in all 50 states collected in one handy location. They are a non-partisan organization committed to helping all eligible voters cast ballots, and working to limit and mitigate disenfranchisement as the ultimate anti-American activity. Here are shortcuts directly to the information in a few states likely to be in the limelight due either to being closely contested on election day 2008, or to recent history of balloting problems:

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All that is necessary for evil to triumph

2008-10-10T13:50:00.005-05:00

"Those of us who know better can't afford to sit silently or look the other way while it's happening..."

AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka,

July 20, 2008

Obviously, his support is for the Obama campaign, and his message is intended to inspire partisan support. Underneath that reality, however, is the color-blind foundation of the value of unity.

"We've seen that when we have the courage, the good sense, the trade union values to cross the color line and stand together, arms locked, no one - no one - has ever been able to keep us down."

AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka,

July 20, 2008

We've also seen the use of code words intended to convey and condone racial bigotry as basis for making a choice about who to vote for. Questions raised with no intent other than to smear a man's character, and raise fears among those listening. That's wrong.

"Obama has set the bar high for his campaign. So, precisely because Barack isn’t just saying what’s politically expedient, if the country dares to put him into the Oval Office he will bind us all to this higher standard. That change - Senator Obama’s audacious challenge to each and every citizen to be more, to live better, to aspire higher, to deal candidly, respectfully and honestly with each other, and to surrender some of our self-interest - scares people.
We must examine, “where we are and whither we are tending.” Can America live up to Barack Obama’s vision, his belief that we’re all connected as one people?"

As Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing..." no matter if the problem they see is in the Middle East, or at a political rally in North America. Resentment - possibly racially motivated - against Obama's rise in the polls, as reported from McCain~Palin rallies, seems to also be "spilling into down-ticket races," with one woman yelling "bomb Obama!" during a Thursday debate between Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss and his Democratic challenger.

John McCain has made the following observation:

"It's easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that's not what we need right now in the United States. The times are too serious. The challenges are too great. The American people aren't looking for someone who can divide this country -- they're looking for someone who will lead it. We're in a serious crisis -- now, more than ever, it is time to put country ahead of politics. Now, more than ever, it is time to bring change to Washington so that it works for the people of this country that we love."

What he has not, however, done, is react to condemn angry anti-Obama outbursts at his rallies this week. If he really is ready to put country ahead of politics, the change will be welcome. I'd say he has less than a week.

Do the causes of global warming matter?

2008-10-04T16:05:00.004-05:00

Let's try a little hypothetical situation:

You're standing on a riverbank and you see more and more people who appear to be trying to get out of the river, but they're tired and can't swim to shore so they're being swept on out to sea. Do you

go upstream and figure out why they're all in the river, or
blame the policies of the Bush Administration, or
ignore the cause and hope sound-bites on the 6:00 news will make it clear that you're not pointing fingers but definitely in favor of keeping people from drowning?

If you picked "3" you were likely impressed by Governor Sarah Palin's amazing winking soundbite show in what was supposed to be a debate Thursday night. I suggest you move to Alaska where you can rest assured you'll be hearing a lot more from her in the coming months and years.

If you picked "2" I sympathize, but you'd better be out working to get Obama elected, and working to add forward-thinking progressives who think about energy and the environment in terms of the future to both the U.S. House and Senate or you'll be whining on November 5th.

If you picked "1" feel free to add me to your friends list, we just might have something in common.

We urgently need a comprehensive energy policy for the United State that will, at a minimum:

Provide short-term relief to American families facing pain at the pump
Help create new jobs by strategically investing to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future.
Provide incentives to save more oil than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.
Put hundreds of thousands of Plug-In Hybrid cars on the road sooner rather than later. Our government must work to encourage those vehicles are being built here in America.
Ensure 10 percent or more of our electricity comes from renewable sources within 5 years, and aim for 25% within 15 years.
Implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to substantively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The causes of global warming do matter. And while there is more than one reason people may fall in the river, making sure other people aren't pushing them in and figuring out what the main causes are -- and preventing those -- will save us a lot of time and risk we'll otherwise invest in hauling drowning people to shore.

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Obama Works with Habitat for Humanity in Minneapolis in September 2008

2008-09-14T17:37:00.003-05:00

Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to the simple idea that shelter from rain, wind and sun is a basic human need. Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) works to provide decent shelter and eliminate "poverty housing." Relying on donations and volunteer help, deserving families can have genuinely adequate places to call home; places which in turn foster self-respect and the hope of a better life. HFHI has built more than 250,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1 million people in thousands of communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter.

Obama Works is a national grassroots organization comprised of volunteers dedicated to implementing Senator Barack Obama’s message of positive change through public service. These are volunteer organizers harnessing the energy of people inspired by Obama's example as a community organizer and highlighted by his campaign for the U.S. Presidency to serve by undertaking activities such as food drives, clean-up up after parades, and other community service. Obama works is not affiliated with the Obama campaign, yet there's an obvious harmony between Obama's message of hope and the goals of HFHI.

Energized by their success cleaning up the Dodge Nature Center, on September 13th, 2008, the Obama Works Twin Cities group partnered with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity to apply some elbow grease to two projects in Minneapolis. What follows hints at what transpired leading up to and during the work at the south Minneapolis location (I couldn't be two places at one time.)

Making a house into a home.

While home is ultimately about people, we often think in terms of walls, a roof, and plumbing when describing the house. Saturday a group of about a dozen intrepid volunteers set aside campaign efforts and worked, instead, under the guidance of two volunteer Master Gardeners (connected with the Hennepin County Extension Service) to perk up the landscaping for a family that had moved into their property during the summer. According to Meleah Maynard, a Minneapolis freelance writer and master gardener who has volunteered with Habitat for the past three years, the Habitat/master gardener partnership began in the mid-1990s when master gardener Jack Duchow was landscaping Habitat properties and realized they were sorely in need of a plan.

Habitat for Humanity Twin Cities was glad to have the help even though the Obama Works volunteers had come together originally based on shared political goals. We dug up new areas for planting, re-worked some gardens that needed help, and added plants that the family had selected (in consultation with the Master Gardeners) which were donated by Bailey Nursery.

The Master Gardeners had worked with the local Habitat organization to insure sufficient tools, compost, and mulch would be available on site.

They had laid out a plan with the homeowner in advance; on Saturday they coached, taught, and helped lay out, dig, plant, and liberally mulch the beds.

It was a cool, cloudy day, raining on and off, but the material, tools, and plants were there so we worked through the drizzle digging new garden areas, a spot for a new tree in the front yard, and then moving wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow full of compost and mulch from the alley to be spread around the new plantings.

While I was busy editing video, cropping pictures, uploading, and trying to figure out what to say here, other Obama Works Twin Cities volunteers spent Sunday doing Mexican Independence Day parade clean-up, (and probably some voter registration as time allowed.) If you'd like to learn more about the Twin Cities group you can follow the links to their pages on the BarackObama.com website, or at Facebook. (The national Obama Works group also has a Facebook page.)

If you'd like to attend the next Twin Cities planning and community organizing meeting, it's on October 8th. No experience necessary -- but you'll have a great experience at either the meetings or the events.

There were a few pictures I took that didn't get published here. To see the album in its entirety do that click thing. Remember: Together We Can!

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth." ~Mohammed Ali

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Civic Pride

2008-09-09T08:12:00.002-05:00

In early September of 1876 the combined James-Younger gang attempted a brazen robbery of the First National Bank of Northfield, a community about 30 miles south of the state capitol. It went wrong, as has been detailed in books and movies, and resulted in a thousand-man posse and the downfall of one of the most notorious, dangerous gangs of the era.

This is not a history lesson, however.

This is about how the city of Northfield commemorates the September 1876 defeat of the Jesse James Gang each year on the weekend following Labor Day, with an art festival, rodeos, fair rides, bank raid re-enactments, and then on the last day, a parade featuring over 100 entries - one of the longest parades in the state, and officially the third largest gathering since it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to a community that's home to under 20,000 people (and two fine colleges.)

Here are two video clips. First, the Northfield High School Marching band passing the now famous First National Bank while they're approaching Bridge Square, the heart of the modern downtown:

Next, a short excerpt of the last ride by the re-enactment gang riders, firing their 6-shooters as they file down Division Street approaching the end of the parade route on Sunday, 7 September 2008:

This is a civic pride exercise. High School students who could be watching the NFL give up their Sunday afternoon to march through town, attorneys and others set aside their craft and become street performers to lend authenticity to the scene... the town celebrates that by working together regular citizens defeated one of the most feared groups of armed desperados in the late 1800s.

There go the riders...
...more stills to follow soon!

Do you volunteer? One person can make a difference.

2008-07-27T08:46:00.009-05:00

"Learn to lead in a nourishing manner.
Learn to lead without being possessive.
Learn to be helpful without taking the credit.
Learn to lead without coercion."

Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu sounds more like a modern mayor or community organizer than an ancient philosopher. As you've heard, "Those who can, do." However, those who can do more, volunteer. They know the reward of giving with no expectation of "taking the credit" (or even a tax deduction) for their effort. Nationally, about one in three people who volunteer in a given year do not do so the following year. In Miami, the metro area with the lowest ranking of the cities cited in the study, the drop-out rate is six in 10.

"There's interest in volunteering in a lot of people but they're just not staying with it," according to Robert Grimm, director of research for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).

Rapid turnover is a problem across the country, but the report concluded that "volunteer intensity" is increasing, with one-third of volunteers contributing more than 100 hours of service in a year - the highest rate for that category since 2002. However the overall national participation rate dropped again in 2007 after reaching 28.8% in 2005.

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

Antoine de Saint Exupery

The CNCS, an independent federal agency, used Census Bureau data to determine its state and city rankings, which are based on three-year averages for 2005 through 2007. In all, the study found that 60.8 million Americans (aged 16 and older) performed roughly 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service in 2007.

"We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service relationship to humanity."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

By region, the Midwest had the highest volunteer rate at 31.1% in the recent CNCS study, followed by the West at 26.1, the South with 24.7 and the Northeast at 23.4 -- the number one metro area of the top 50 ranked? That honor goes to the twin cities, Minneapolis/Saint Paul with an impressive 39.3% participation rate, possibly due in part to the efforts of their Corporate Volunteerism Council, the CVC. It's difficult to tease apart cause and effect: but maybe there really is something to that so-called "Minnesota nice" since even the sometimes contentious 2008 presidential campaign has spawned volunteerism in Minnesota.

Then, too, it was Mayor Raymond Thomas "R.T." Rybak of Minneapolis who declared July 9, 2007 as “Volunteer Day” in his city, to celebrate the important role that volunteers play in the life of any community. Since being elected he's been tirelessly leading by example, enlisting his community in reweaving what he calls the urban fabric while laying the groundwork for the future of his city.

So obviously there are many things coming together in Minnesota, (maybe R.T. has studied Lao Tzu) but the lessons can be applied anywhere in the world.
Act to help others, no matter if you're 7 or 77:

Learn to be helpful without taking the credit.

Interesting giveaway...

2008-07-21T16:18:00.003-05:00

Sunnight Solar is set to launch the new SL2 (SunLight2) or SuperBoGo, solar powered flashlight by giving them away.

There are no charges, nothing to buy and they say they'll send them to you at cost, from a warehouse in Houston, when they arrive in mid-August. Each is individually numbered – 1/500 and they are in blue ABS plastic and on the side, laser etched – it says “Changing the World – Limited Edition” May 2008.

They welcome requests from people who want a free light, so send e-mail to info@sunnightsolar.com with the reason(s) why you think they should send you a light. They will decide who gets a light – and obviously, people who are in a position to either blog to a large audience, put out a media article, buy lots of lights in the future, are heavily involved in environmental or humanitarian work, work for FEMA, the upper management of Red Cross or Greenpeace, in charge of the US Senate’s oversight committee on incredibly large sums of money for foreign aid and really huge contracts for small businesses, the Governors of any the Gulf Coast states, the Pope, Al Gore or Angelina Jolie – all of these people are cited as "probably going to get a light" if they send a request. If you just want a free light, because you like to get free things - I can certainly sympathize, but you are probably not going to make the cut any more than I am.

Peace Corps volunteers getting ready to go abroad are high on the list of people they'd consider seriously, people set to trek alone across large parts of the globe, people working in remote places, American men and women heading to war, or people with just really good stories... you'll want to check the rules.

Don't play small; the world needs us to be fully engaged

2008-06-10T13:30:00.000-05:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

Your playing small doesn't serve the world."
~ Marianne Williamson

“There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?”
~ Richard Dawkins

“Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
~ Harold Whitman

Unless you have never been wrong.

2008-05-19T11:09:00.006-05:00

Oregon's primary on Tuesday may be the harbinger of the autumn elections. Yes, I know; pundits, pollsters, and sound-bite aficionados are quick to point out that there's a near certainty that it will be a "split decision" when the votes are tallied in the two primaries. Yet the rally on the banks of the Willamette River in Portland on Sunday (18 May 2008) seems to indicate that one candidate's campaign has captured the collective imagination of the voters.

Beyond the forecasts and the numbers, beyond the sorts of events that are sought by ratings-hungry media organizations, the fall election in the U.S.A. hinges on a unification that must be accomplished by whichever candidate eventually prevails. While each newly elected President enjoys a form of honeymoon with the voters and the Congress (that they often seek to characterize as a "mandate") the truth has been expressed in one of the most fundamental tenets of this country: United We Stand.

Angry rhetoric and subtle innuendo intended to undermine an opponent's support among the public surely make the challenge of unifying the electorate in 2008 daunting. Fear and intolerance have been fanned by those who seek to divide and conquer since before we began recording history. Students and observers of politics have no trouble citing examples from this election cycle, and doubtless there will be more to come. Yet history also teaches that there is a simple formula for moving forward despite the cunning practitioners who rely on misinformation to separate us into manageable-sized chunks for them to dominate: respect.

Mutual respect is what enables mature debate. Disagreeing with a person's beliefs or conclusions without being disagreeable is entirely possible. Only when I trust that while you disagree with what I say yet will defend my right to be "wrong" is it possible for us to approach each other with an open mind. Those who adamantly support Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), for one example, believe they have examined the issues and attained an understanding sufficient to advocate that his is the best course to follow - they act in what they believe is the best interest of the country. But so, too, the supporters of Senators Clinton (D-NY), McCain (R-AZ), and Obama (D-IL). Ironically, there's no way to know who's "right." One of the candidates for the Presidency will prevail, and be faced with steering the country for some number of years, and we will never have the chance to test the others under identical conditions, so at some level the disagreement will persist, we can only actually test one of them.

According to Francis Bacon, "Assuetude of things hurtful doth make them lost their force to hurt." Let us resolve to respect those we disagree with, and have fought with, both here in the United States and abroad. Let us hope that whoever voters select to take over the Office of the President of the U.S.A. in January 2009 has both the wisdom and support necessary to improve our lot at home and our standing in the world by renewing our unified strength. Let us recall, too, that one person in the Oval Office, even with their obvious influence and the power to make political appointments does not hold the key - the President deserves neither all of the credit nor all of the blame for how the country fares. Neither the voters nor the candidates know today what challenges will come tomorrow. The best we can do is use the tools of democracy to elect a leader, and hope the wisdom, instinct, and advisors of our President are up to the task.

We are the world's greatest melting pot.

We can allow ourselves to grow apart, isolated and increasingly vulnerable, or we can choose deliberately to grow together. Let us respect each other, and exhibit that respect, because despite our disagreements on nearly countless issues it is as true today as it was in 1776, we are still seeking to form a more perfect union, and we flourish by combining the myriad diverse strengths of individuals into a synergistic, unified democracy.

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NYTimes Obama's Voting Record with over 800 Bills Sponsored

2008-04-28T21:26:00.003-05:00

Graphic of the 800 bills, broken down into Crime, Health Care, Economy, Education, Ethics, Etc. Showing his strong and persistent record of public advocacy and proving his words match his actions.

Click to enlarge

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Obama Supporters Put Their $$$ Where Their Mouth Is.

2008-04-28T09:03:00.002-05:00

Over 1,400,000 Obama Supporters have given to his campaign for the nomination of the Democratic party. The established media spins the question of "whether Obama is electable" because of his "loss" in PA though he closed the gap (which had been huge/) Let's note: Clinton's campaign is in serious debt while Obama's supporters continue to send in small donations - like the "$5 on 5/5, Cinco de Mayo, Cinco de B.O." concept found here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4rrjzHis Grassroots Fundraising Committee is hard at work, and while considerably more money is coming from individual donors acting on their own, the unprecedented numbers tell the tale: more people are actively supporting this candidate than any other in history.

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Philadelphia Weekly: We want Barack Obama to be president.

2008-04-16T10:23:00.002-05:00

Philadelphia Weekly endorses Obama for president. Among the reasons they give for their endorsement: the way Obama managed the latest controversy as well as the one about his pastor showed that "standing up is what Obama does best."

The choice has never been more clear: there are old-school self-serving politicians who will attack the least thing an opponent says in an attempt to focus attention on negative, divisive sound-bites, or there is a new opportunity to elect a candid, bold, honest man who has a track record of service, commitment, and honesty.

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Is Obama 'Elitist' and 'Out of Touch' About Religion?

2008-04-15T11:43:00.002-05:00

Frank Schaeffer, son of a pastor and lifelong Republican, shows how if Obama isn't in touch with religious America, no one is. The fallout generated from this whole bittergate thing is just amazing. The press prefers this to issues, and ignores that his competitors are considerably more insulated that he is, while repeating that "elitist" word as though we all want an idiot who never finished college for president.

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...our life here is eternally fresh

2008-04-13T23:12:00.004-05:00

Nothing lasts forever.

Nothing lasts forever.
No one lives forever.
Keep that in mind, and love.

Our life is not the same old burden.
Our path is not the same long journey.

The flower fades and dies.
We must pause to weave perfection in the music.
Keep that in mind, and love.

Love droops toward its sunset.
We drown in the golden shadows;
Love must be called from its play.
Love must be born again to be free.
Keep that in mind, and love.

Let us hurry to gather our flowers
Before they are plundered by the passing winds.
It quickens our blood and brightens our eyes
To snatch kisses that would vanish if we delayed

Our life is eager,
Our desires are keen,
For time rolls by.
Keep that in mind, and love.

Beauty is sweet for a short time
And then it is gone.
Knowledge is precious,
but we will never have time to complete it.
All is done and finished in eternal heaven

But our life here is eternally fresh.
Keep that in mind, and love.
~ Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. also known as Bhanushingho, received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913, the first time it was awarded to an Asian. Philosopher, artist, playwright, composer, and novelist, he soon became the best known voice of India's spiritual heritage in his time, touring widely.

A contemporary of Ghandi, in 1919 he resigned his knighthood after the "incident in Jallian Wala Bagh," which came to be known as the Amritsar Massacre, in protest of British policies and to draw attention to the atrocity that had been perpetrated in a Punjab city.

I was wise enough to never grow up while fooling most people into believing I had.

2008-04-10T14:30:00.001-05:00

A handful of quotes, to start you thinking:

"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place."

"Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

"For the very first time the young are seeing history being made before it is censored by their elders."

"Instead of being presented with stereotypes by age, sex, color, class, or religion, children must have the opportunity to learn that within each range, some people are loathsome and some are delightful."

"We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet."

Those are all thoughts from one insightful anthropologist, Margaret Mead. If you don't know who she is, obviously you should. What about these next four names... do they ring any bells? Do you know why they matter?

Bob Geldorf
Betty Williams
Peter Benenson
Nelson Mandela

I hope you recognize at least one from that list. In each case, their story is how one person who cares can matter immensely - how one person, moved to act, can change the world. The following video, from Nickelback, may help you understand. They get it.

Do you?

Memphis, Tennesee, April 4th, 1968

2008-04-03T21:39:00.002-05:00

A patriot with a hopeful dream was shot and killed, fighting for freedom, truth, justice, and the rights of all citizens of the United States of America to be treated equally. "The time is always right to do what is right." Nearly 200 years earlier, patriots had penned a document that gave rise to a new, unique nation.

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...
[read the entire Declaration of Independence]

"We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."

~ Senator Barack Obama

"Isn't segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, an expression of his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness?"

~ Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963

It is difficult to convey to those who were not present at the time, just how turbulent the year 1968 was for those of us in the U.S.A. One can cite assassinations and riots, or talk about the mood, the palpable acrimony that seemed to seize nearly everyone. Passions ran hot, and blood spilled - not just in the U.S., but half-way around the globe in the war-torn nation of Viet Nam.

At a time when we were, ostensibly, trying to come together, it seemed the divisions had never been more pronounced. Each of us who lived through, and recalls, those times bears a certain number of wounds - for like it or not, the events of 1968 touched and shaped us all without reference to our beliefs or the color of our skin, they set us on the course we have followed ever since. In some cases, we have scars; for others the wounds are still vivid, real, and open.

We must not forget. For the sake of our children, we dare not.

"Early morning, April 4,

A shot rings out in the Memphis sky.

'Free at last,' they took your life,

But they could not take your pride."

~ U2

In NYC's South Bronx, in a very tough neighborhood, amazing things happen in the Bronx HS for Performance and Stagecraft

2008-03-31T15:52:00.002-05:00

Talking about racism is far more effective than pretending it's not there. We may have different stories, but we hold common hopes. If challenged High School students in the Bronx have become this engaged, can there be any doubt that the country is moving in the right direction, that slowly but surely, the tide is turning? Listen, as some share their speeches, entitled, "Yes, we can."

Here, in the south Bronx, the audacity of hope is flourishing. It's been 40 years since a bullet took Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but that dream is alive and well in the minds of young Americans.

Think globally, then act locally

2008-03-28T08:21:00.001-05:00

March 29th, at 8 p.m. your time, can you spare one hour for the planet?

You can make a difference. [Hora de la Tierra en Español]

Here are some ideas for how to spend your time. Now: Go tell three friends. Be part of the solution.

↑ Grab the MIXED GREENS Headline Animator

From the mind of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

2008-03-26T21:56:00.005-05:00

Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though t'were his own.

We know accurately only when we know little; with knowledge doubt increases.

Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be.

Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.

Patience is a virtue

2008-03-20T10:49:00.003-05:00

There's a life lesson for all of us that Barack Obama has been trying to explain. In so doing, he offers more than slogans, he represents an opportunity. Some of us grasp his lesson intuitively, some of us learn it through our own experiences, and others rely on pithy phrases, such as "Don't throw out the baby with the bath water." The lesson is about the power of, and increasingly urgent need for, forgiveness. A leader needs more than patience, compassion, and forgiveness, (and the Senator clearly has extensive, well-articulated, widely documented plans,) but this acceptance and willingness to forgive is arguably the cornerstone of Barack Obama's personal philosophy, which he is translating into a political call to action.

Anger is valid; it's real. Yet if we cling to the offenses of the past, if we use them to justify escalation, if we prefer old quarrels over the opportunity to move forward, we are wasting time. Anger cannot be allowed to flourish and grow - down that path there is nothing but escalation.

The wisest parents know this, though even they sometimes forget. Nobody's perfect. When you're dealing with human beings it is often necessary to separate the actions (or words) from the person. When a child makes a mistake should you love the child less? Their behavior may be wrong - unacceptable - but that doesn't ordinarily equate to loving them less. We all make mistakes.

Presidents make mistakes. If Hillary Clinton could not separate her husband's actions from who he is as a man, if she could not forgive him, the scandals that rocked his presidency would have been their downfall as a couple. Hillary took some heat for this, she still does; there are those who say his mistake was too egregious to forgive, but Mrs. Clinton distinguishes what her husband has done from who he is.

We have all been wronged.

When wrongs are committed by institutions it is our collective moral obligation to respond by standing firm and changing that structure, up to and including abolishing the institution and/or its influence over people.

"...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

When a transgression is committed by an individual, acting not as part of some larger whole but out of their own, momentary will, the needful responses are less clear. The commission of a crime against one person or their property impacts and diminishes us all. Centuries of practice have not resulted in wisdom adequate to forecast and codify the proper response(s) sufficiently to remove human judgment from the exercise of justice.

Human experience has taught us that we must, at times, find a way to get beyond even the most horrific actions. Where would we be today if the people of Japan could not separate the nuclear holocaust that ravaged their nation at the conclusion of World War II from the people who undertook those actions - if they pursued to this day some form of retribution for the deaths of innocent relatives, defining that as justice? Most if not all vibrant religions and widely embraced philosophies have incorporated a, "turning the other cheek," and forgiveness based on understanding and acceptance of transgressions as a fundamental tenet.

The studious observation of teaching, particularly parenting, has taught us the value of distinguishing the actors from their actions. One need not rely on religious pronouncements to agree that unacceptable behavior must have consequences associated with it. Yet if we did not allow for any possibility that most people can and do learn from experience, that they will grow, and improve, it follows there would be no point in lessons, patience, or ever trying to foster development. No child is a failure simply because they haven't yet mastered tying their shoes, controlling their bladder, or long division. In most circumstances it is efficacious and appropriate to reserve our judgment(s) for a person's words and deeds, distinguishing that explicitly from judging them, no matter how much consternation their actions cause.

That is Barack Obama's message; it resonates through everything he advocates. He is right in renouncing Reverend Jeremiah Wright's most excessive, divisive, and inflammatory rhetoric, which has particularly aided those those who seek to perpetuate divisions based on skin color, yet Barack is righteous to abstain from judging, or rejecting, the man. That is the Audacity of Hope that Obama's supporters understand and cherish.

Every journey begins with a single step

2008-03-18T19:43:00.002-05:00

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
~Robert F. Kennedy

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
~Anne Frank

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.
~Edward Everett Hale

History beckons.

When history beckoned, Ruby Bridges answered.
When history beckoned, the Little Rock 9 answered.

History beckons. Answer.

The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Don't tell Peter he can't do it.

2008-03-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

What does it take to break into politics in America, if that's your dream?

Does it matter if you're a person of color and the United States population is approximately 75% white?

Would success be too much to expect if you were born on an island far from North America and educated partly outside the U.S.? Would voters approve of that "worldly" heritage?

What if your name was less familiar than McCain or Kennedy? What's in a name?

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Flight to Arras, 1942

London-born African-American Peter Idusogie began his political career with Clean Water Action as a grassroots canvasser, field manager and lobbyist, and he ran unsuccessfully for political office in Minnesota in 2004. Peter went on to found and host “Inside Minnesota Politics,” the first regular podcast focused on Minnesota politics. He could have stopped there, and worked as a commentator and pundit, but instead he stepped down from his duties to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest as he sought the U.S. Senate seat ultimately won by Amy Klobuchar in 2006. Idusogie, a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus college in St. Peter, Minnesota, had a dream. Recognizing the advantages (particularly name recognition) his major-party opponents had in 2006, Peter, who had run as an independent, is now seeking the endorsement of the Democratic (DFL) party in MN over former Watertown Mayor Steve Sarvi to run in the 2008 elections against the incumbent Republican in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District. Idusogie, it may be noted, is approaching the election much the way U.S. Senator Barack Obama has, organizing a very grass-roots style campaign which is attracting considerable interest from voters representing a wide range of ages and backgrounds, celebrating a worldly heritage highlighted by a relatively unfamiliar name.

How will Obama and Idusogie fare? Judging by the primaries in early 2008 in Iowa, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, richer backgrounds suggesting broader sensitivity and awareness seem to be trumping skin color in the upper midwest in the 21st century. While Idusogie clearly still faces name-recognition issues despite prior political campaigns, the voters of the state that not only elected the first Asian-Indian (Satveer Chaudhary) state Senator but then also sent the first practicing Muslim (Keith Ellison) to the U.S. Congress embrace diversity despite suggestions in the national media that ethnicity remains a significant, divisive factor when considering the "white vote."

The American dream, the belief that here anybody can be anything, is alive and well. While we may not have yet reached the point where skin color is irrelevant, (let alone an advantage, as optimists have recently suggested,) surely Barack Obama’s ascendancy, and his audacious insistence that we remember the self-evident truth that all people are, in fact, created equal, will continue our progress in that direction. If Peter Idusogie can win sufficient support to become his party’s nominee he still faces a daunting contest in the autumn elections, but don't tell Peter he can't do it.

Consider the postage stamp:
its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.
~Josh Billings

Children are one third of our population and all of our future.

2008-03-05T15:21:00.002-06:00

"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."
~John W. Whitehead
The Stealing of America, 1983

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit provides insufficient relief to families struggling with child care expenses. Reforming the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to get at least partial credit for their child care expenses would substantially ease the burden on families with young children, leaving more of their income to be put toward basic necessities.

Ensuring that all children can meet high standards, even those from lower economic strata who often start with as much as a two year deficit when entering school, is a laudable goal - but the current law forces teachers, principals and schools to accomplish the goals of No Child Left Behind without providing adequate resources. It has failed to provide high-quality teachers in every classroom and failed to support and pay those teachers. Too many of our educators are now demoralized, and while no amount of money will solve the issues if parents don't take an active role, we need our elected officials to ensure that NCLB reform addresses the need for a broader and better range of assessments and an accountability system that focuses on improving schools, rather than punishing them.

Children are our most precious resource, they are our future. It is our duty as a society to strive to provide them optimal skills and support to learn and flourish. Tests administered early in the academic year, for example, can better inform a teacher's lesson plans to address the specific needs - and deficiencies - of the current year's cohort in the classroom. Course corrections are most effective done early, no matter if one is sailing the ocean or seeking academic excellence.

"Children's talent to endure stems from their ignorance of alternatives."
~Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969

We must support programs such as the Nurse-Family Partnership to low-income, first-time mothers. The Nurse-Family Partnership provides home visits by trained RNs using proven methods to help improve the mental and physical health of the family by providing counseling on substance abuse, creating and achieving personal goals, and effective methods of nurturing children. Researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis concluded that these programs produced an average of five dollars in savings for every dollar invested and produced more than $28,000 in net savings for every high-risk family enrolled in the program to improve women's prenatal health while contributing to a reduction in childhood injuries, increased father involvement, and reduced reliance upon welfare and food stamps, while also improving children's readiness for school.

Talk to your elected officials about their stands on these critical issues. Write letters to your Senators and Congressional Representatives letting them know your continued support depends on their ensuring NCLB is reformed so that its stated goals become motivators. Encourage more reading and conversation, more interpersonal interaction - we cannot all sit back and watch TV if we want to make progress, we much take action and lead by example.

"...at the dawn of the 21st century we also have a collective responsibility to recommit ourselves to the dream; to strengthen that safety net, put the rungs back on that ladder to the middle-class, and give every family the chance that so many of our parents and grandparents had. This responsibility is one that's been missing from Washington for far too long..."
U.S. Senator Barack Obama,
Spartanburg, SC, June 15, 2007

"Children are one third of our population and all of our future."
~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981

Be yourself

2008-02-25T10:10:00.005-06:00

Yesterday is history. The future is in the hands of those who act; to postpone participating is to give away control and influence.

If you've ever said, "Somebody ought to do something," you know that action is necessary; you've acknowledged that individuals can and do make a difference.

By uniting we grow stronger. Don't allow others to tell you something can't be done. As Mahatma Ghandi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Abandon cynicism.

Be yourself.

Spend your energy creating and advocating what you hope for. The future is but a split-second away.

Take the first step toward synergy and success:

Be the one you've been waiting for.

Be part of the solution

The art of wine

Are WI Governor's Consequences Really Unintended?

Loving Story - The Movie

Learning from Deepwater Horizon Disaster

Will Irony Defeat Logic in November 2010?

Julius Shulman: Architecture & Community

The Haitians are not, "Being Punished by God"

The Loving Story

Kleis and Clark bridge the political divide

Michelle Obama: I thought we had our stuff together.

What can be done?

The greening of a city

A letter from U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN)

Tick tick tick... Time for Climate Justice

Are we running out of water?

Water "Remunicipalization"

The answers:

Communities of Interest

How to end illegal immigration

"We don't want the government to do anything."

Debating the role of government is great...

Have Town Halls jumped the shark?

Working effectively for change

An opportunity to create millions of new U.S. jobs

Fixing Health Care in the U.S. is not the sole province of Democrats

Partisan posturing placates lobbyists, postpones problem-solving.

Success:more than bottom line numbers

Feminist Advisory Board

Tempest-tossed (two-boat) Irish Immigrants not welcomed in U.S.

A bi-partisan message in support of volunteer service.

If you're not part of the solution...

Tea Party

Obama's Visit to Arizona Brings Hope to Foreclosure Alley

A call to service on January 19th, 2009

Human rights: HEALTH

60 Minutes to watch... and a lifetime to act

Choppers for doctors!

Seihan Mori declared "change" to be Japan's "character of the year."

Obama's impact going global already.

"Oui, nous pouvons!"

The fever of hope is contagious

There are not red states, and blue states, there is:

The United States of America

If you lived through the depression, who would you support in 2008?

Voter's Rights: Minnesota

Elsewhere around the country...

All that is necessary for evil to triumph

Do the causes of global warming matter?

Obama Works with Habitat for Humanity in Minneapolis in September 2008

Making a house into a home.

Civic Pride

Do you volunteer? One person can make a difference.

Interesting giveaway...

Don't play small; the world needs us to be fully engaged

Unless you have never been wrong.

NYTimes Obama's Voting Record with over 800 Bills Sponsored

Obama Supporters Put Their $$$ Where Their Mouth Is.

Philadelphia Weekly: We want Barack Obama to be president.

Is Obama 'Elitist' and 'Out of Touch' About Religion?

...our life here is eternally fresh

Nothing lasts forever.

I was wise enough to never grow up while fooling most people into believing I had.

Memphis, Tennesee, April 4th, 1968

In NYC's South Bronx, in a very tough neighborhood, amazing things happen in the Bronx HS for Performance and Stagecraft

Think globally, then act locally

From the mind of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Patience is a virtue

Every journey begins with a single step

Don't tell Peter he can't do it.

Children are one third of our population and all of our future.

Be yourself

Success:
more than bottom line numbers