January 2008 archive

Jan 22 2008

Rhetoric and Reality

Jeralyn links to this Las Vegas Sun analysis of the Nevada Caucuses. According to the Sun, it all boiled down to this:

And though it’s easy to slice and dice and analyze strategy, there’s this: Nevadan Democrats put their faith in Clinton and her experience.

At dozens of precinct locations voters interviewed by the Sun cited Clinton’s experience as the overriding factor in their decision.

Clinton’s “experience” over Obama’s call for “change.”

Jeralyn says this:

I continue to believe that when it comes time to vote, those adversely affected by our tumbling economy are going to be less concerned with aspirational change and more apt to ask which candidate has both a concrete economic program and a track record showing the ability to push it through.

I hope that’s true, but on an even broader scale. Because I don’t hear much about anyone’s economic programs. Even in the endlessly blithering blogosphere, the campaign themes are repetitively dumbed down to “experience” vs. “change.” And Jeralyn is spot on that people actually want to know about concrete policies. It would be nice if the campaigns and their supporters realized that.

If people really want real experience, they’d have supported Bill Richardson. If people really want real change, they’d be supporting Dennis Kucinich. The people who continually hype the illusion of Clinton’s “experience” or Obama’s “change” need to be a bit more honest with themselves, and figure out what it really is that makes them so adore their favorites. Maybe, then, they will do a better job of selling their candidates to we skeptics. Or maybe they won’t.  

Jan 22 2008

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan

Once Again, Our Country Needs Winter Soldiers

Jan 22 2008

Heroes

(originally at dailyKos, long ago)

Today, we honor Dr. King.  But there are other heroes.  You probably haven’t heard of these, some of my heroes.  But I hope you will read on.

Who makes you proud?

Proud of what?  Proud of being human.  Name some heroes, and try to tell us WHY they make you proud or ashamed. And try to pick some people who won’t be on EVERYONE’S list unless you have some special thing to say – soem special bit of knowledge.

So….in no particular order….and I am NOT saying these are the greatest  people in history….just some who I think aren’t that well known

Heroes:

S. Michael Gelber, who was my rabbi, and who I diaried about here

My father – who not only led a life that would fit into a Horatio Alger story (except Alger didn’t write about Jews) but is totally committed to giving back to the community, and who may be the least prejudiced person I know (certainly less prejudiced than I am).  

Paul Farmer – for his stunning work in bringing free health care to some of the most impoverished places on Earth – most especially Haiti.

Wayne Inman – In Billings, MT, in 1993, the KKK and other groups were vandalizing the homes of the few Jews who live there, who they identified because they were displaying menorahs in their windows. Cemeteries were desecrated, swastikas painted….etc.  Inman, the police chief at the time, reacted brilliantly.  He publicized the incidents, got religious groups to sponsor marches against hate, and, in what I regard as the most brilliant move, got 10,000 menorahs printed up and urged residents to place them in their windows.  Kudos to word is bond for helping me find the info, and posting it here

David Smith of Whitwell, TN, a teacher and assistant principal who came up with the idea that led to a great film.  The basic story: He decided that the kids in this nearly-all-White, all-Christian town needed to learn about the Holocaust.  Then he had the idea to collect a paper clip for each Jew killed by the Nazis.  It really is a great film , and a testament to what ordinary people can do, and how ordinary people can grow.  

Who are your heroes?

Why?

Jan 22 2008

A Promise Lives Within You Now

As we honor Martin Luther King Jr., it is also fitting to honor the unknown men and women across America who shared his dream and took a stand for justice and equality in the 1960’s.  A promise lived within them, a promise of justice and equality in a land of injustice and prejudice.  They believed in that promise and redeemed it with their courage, determination, and sacrifice.            

We will never know their names, but they deserve remembrance and gratitude too, for even the most inspiring leaders can accomplish nothing if people like you and me do not transform inspiration into real change in our own lives, in our own families, in our own neighborhoods, and in our own communities.  Leaders talk the talk, it’s up to us to walk the walk.                

During the civil rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s, many courageous Americans fought for justice and equality in the face of hostile resistance.  Among the bravest of them were a small group of men and women who boarded a bus in May of 1961 and headed south in the name of freedom.  With nothing but idealism, courage, and their belief in justice to shield them from harm, these Freedom Riders rode into racist Alabama to show Alabamans what human dignity looks like.  

Human dignity was not welcome in Montgomery, where the Freedom Riders were met by a mob armed with chains, lead pipes, and hammers.  They were badly beaten and their bus was firebombed:

Freedom Ride

Human beings can be beaten, buses can be firebombed, but human dignity cannot be beaten or firebombed into submission by racists or anyone else.  The ordeal of the Freedom Riders awakened the conscience of America:

The Freedom Rides were a central part of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s that fought to win equal rights for African Americans. It was a bloody and difficult battle. It was fought on one side by policemen and private citizens who used dogs, fire hoses, guns, and burning crosses. It was fought on the other side by protesters who used marches, songs, signs, and nonviolence.  It was a battle the Freedom Riders helped win.

Jan 22 2008

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the legacy remembered, the message that should not be forgotten

From Dennis Kucinich’s campaign site: http://www.dennis4president.co…

Jan 22 2008

Pony Party: Dead Parrot

M’kay, so this one is nominally (nominally) better than the last. At least I bring you Python:

Jan 22 2008

Keeping Dr. King’s Dream Alive — by mikepridmore

reposted with permission

Dr. King went to Democratic politicians for legislative support of his call for change. One of the most insightful explanations you will find on that is the one from Bill Moyers here:

Jan 21 2008

A Dream of Trees

A Dream of Trees by Mary Oliver

There is a thing in me that dreamed of trees,

A quiet house, some green and modest acres

A little way from every troubing town,

A little way from factories, schools, laments.

I would have time, I thought, and time to spare,

With only streams and birds for company,

To build out of my life a few wild stanzas.

And then it came to me, that so was death,

A little way away from everywhere.

There is a thing in me still dreams of trees.

But let it go. Homesick for moderation,

Half the world’s artists shrink or fall away.

If any find solution, let him tell it.

Meanwhile I bend my heart toward lamentation

Where, as the times implore our true involvement,

The blades of every crisis point the way.

I would it were not so, but so it is.

Who ever made music of a mild day?

Jan 21 2008

What I Said At The TIme

I started writing a journal when I was 13 years old.  I still have that raggedy old spiral notebook.

Here’s what I said about Viet Nam.  Please don’t hate me for my prodigy-like brilliance:

I wonder when World War III will be.  I’m almost sure there’ll be one, because of all the fighting going on in Viet Nam.  You see, it all started because we didn’t want South Viet Nam to become Communist (a form of government where the government owns and controls everything) so we fought the Communists so that Viet Nam would be a democracy (an individualistic government, where it is run by the people, for the people).

Well so far, all that has happened is a lot of killing!  Also, Presidential elections are coming up in 1968 (November).  I sure hope Johnson isn’t re-elected.  I’m rooting for Bobby Kennedy or McCarthy!  (Even though I can’t vote, I’m only 13 years old!)

I wish that wars wouldn’t “be.”  We have such a short time to live, why does it have to be spent in fighting?

 

Jan 21 2008

Four at Four

  1. Obama, Clinton, and EdwardsThe New York Times reports Dr. King honored by Democratic presidential candidates. “The three rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination stood together on the steps of the state capitol here on Monday in a brief display of political unity as they remembered the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With a bitter chill in the air, the candidates addressed a crowd that overflowed onto a sprawling downtown plaza, vowing to complete the unfinished business of the slain civil rights leader… As the candidates spoke, a Confederate flag whipped into the stiff wind, a poignant reminder of South Carolina’s historic racial divide that still hangs over politics here.” The Democrats are in S.C. for tonight’s Congressional Black Caucus debate on CNN at 8 p.m. Eastern.

  2. AFP reports scientists have found evidence of a Massive volcano that exploded under Antarctic icesheet. “A powerful volcano erupted under the icesheet of West Antarctica around 2,000 years ago and it might still be active today, a finding that prompts questions about ice loss from the white continent… The explosive event — rated “severe” to “cataclysmic” on an international scale of volcanic force — punched a massive breach in the icesheet and spat out a plume some 12,000 metres (eight miles) into the sky”. The British scientists calculated the blast happened around 207 B.C, give or take 240 years, which is roughly during the lifetime of Alexander the Great. While volcanic heat may be the cause of some Antarctic ice melt, the scientists state warming ocean water is the primary factor.

  3. The Guardian reports on the Drive to save weird and endangered amphibians. “British scientists have launched an ambitious conservation project to protect some of the weirdest and slimiest creatures on the planet from extinction. The Zoological Society of London’s Edge project has identified 100 species of amphibians that have the fewest living relatives, making them evolutionary rarities and precious examples of Earth’s biodiversity… Climate change, habitat loss and outbreaks of disease have taken their toll on amphibians around the world. Half of all amphibian species are in decline, while a third are threatened with extinction.” 2008 is the Year of the Frog.

  4. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Local architects offer visions of SF in 2108. If the winning proposal of IwamotoScott Architecture vision of San Francisco’s future should come to pass, the city will “be a place where forests of towers grow algae as well as house people, and where geothermal steam baths sprout atop Twin Peaks.” The firm “said a city that produces its own energy – such as the hydrogen that would be generated by vast vertical fields of algae – and moves most travel underground shouldn’t be all that far-fetched.”

    “We were thinking of the city as an evolutionary beast,” said [Lisa] Iwamoto, a design lecturer at UC Berkeley as well as the operator, with [Craig] Scott, her husband, of a four-person firm based in the couple’s Mission District loft. “You create certain conditions, and that allows other things to happen.”

Jan 21 2008

Tech Talk – Uploading your first web page!

So you’ve made your first web page based on the last tutorial and now you want to know how to change it and upload it.  The most important thing to remember when working with web sites, web hosts and servers is that everything is based on files and folders just like your computer.  On most hosts you’ll be allowed to access the folder “www” or “public-html” in your account.  This is where you’ll be doing 99% of your work.  Inside that folder you can create unlimited new folders for various parts of your website.

Editing Your Page

You already know the basics of HTML if you are posting on blogs.  You know how to create links and most know how to add images.  How the page looks now, however, is up to you.  There are a number of free web design programs but I think it is important that you know how to do coding by hand.  This way you’ll be able to locate and fix mistakes later on.

Open up your “myfirstpage.html” page which you stored on your desktop last time.  Right click or double click anywhere on the page to and select “View Source” or “View Page Source”.  You will see the coding you cut and pasted last time.

Now let’s personalize it:  

Jan 21 2008

MLK and Ghandi Today, Can Non-Violence and People Power Work?

In the 20th Century two groups of oppressed people were led to greater freedom by two different men in two different places. The circumstances, other than shared oppression, were wholly different. But but both movements were successful, to a large and undeniable extent. Will this method of change work today?

Yes it will.

But only if the People choose to make it work. And only if the People learn not just the lessons and the methods of non-violent change….but also learn the lessons of how that changed was stopped.

If the method of non-violent change was so successful, why are we not practicing it now in large numbers to fight the current battle of Justice vs. Oppression?

What is lacking is not the method, but someone to lead the movement.

Without the charismatic presence of Ghandi and MLK, neither movement would have succeeded. The People rallied around them and bought into nonviolence because of their personal examples and their personal sacrifices. But Ghandi took on the whole British Empire. And King took on a whole culture. And won.  

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