{as promised to dharmasyd}

Okay, enough with the doom and gloom for me, for a little bit at least. (Snap out of it, LL!!)

Sanjay Khanna at YES! Magazine writes “Stories That Light Up The Dark, The experiences of our ancestors offer us wisdom for surviving today’s crises. “:

In August 2008, at 91 years old, my grandmother participated in the first official Khanna family reunion, which my aunt organized and held at her and my uncle’s Mill Valley home.

I was feeling depressed at that family reunion. When you spend most of your time writing and researching on climate change scenarios and the downward direction of the economy, it’s easy to be overwhelmed.

One afternoon, I sat down with my grandmother when almost everyone else was on an excursion.

She saw straight through my unhappiness. She peered into me, smiled calmly, and said two words: “Bring gladness.”

In spite of the specter of rising seas, increased drought, human displacement, and inundated cities prognosticated by climate scientists, I needed to find ways to inspire gladness in myself and other people. It’s that simple.

Now I hope the inner strength I witnessed in my grandmother remains a seed within me. As times grow more difficult, I pray that her ability to heal mind and body is a quality I can develop and call on.

The changes wrought by peak oil, climate disruption, and economic instability will affect all of us. Yet, those who gather strength from stories of beauty, courage, love, kindness, generosity, and good will can, in a social environment of growing uneasiness, store and spread the seeds of human welfare.

Okay … is it just me … ? Since reading and discussing the many concepts in Tocque’s essay the other day, I’m now seeing either the word compassion, or the idea, all over the place! lol.

A scattering of sentences, maybe paragraphs, from here and there this morning, that leaped out at me as being especially well said…  Follow me.

And, please! feel free to add any of your own pearls!

This phrase from Chris Hedges piece, I blogged about it yesterday, keeps haunting me. I thought of it immediately when I read about those people in Tennessee whose house burned down because they didn’t pay the fee.

If the hegemony of the corporate state is not soon broken,

we will descend into a technologically enhanced age of barbarism.

I really have Real Fear for our kids. But I have hope as well. Not a lot, but… some.

UnderAge Records presents One Eyed Rhyno!

Great young band from Sacramento, CA, addressing the devastating and deadly conditions that impact wildlife after an oil spill.

The hat tip goes to Subhankar Banerjee from Youth Across North America Are Fighting for Their Future Climate.

 

A fellow traveler, Diane G, needs a new roof. So do I.  She needs help. I do not.

I was so delighted this morning to find this incredibly fascinating eKos diary over at GOS (by FishOutofWater)… what a welcome respite for me. I’ll probably be snooping around all day, looking for more info and background about the Kogi, located in northern Colombia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

The Kogi are the last surviving civilization from the world of the Inca and Aztec, and their cities are untouched by our world. The mountain they inhabit is an isolated triangular pyramid rising over 18,000 feet from the sea, the highest coastal mountain on earth. It is on a separate tectonic plate from the Andes, and its unique structure means that it is virtually a miniature version of the planet, with all the world’s climates represented. The mountain is quite literally a micro-cosmos, a mirror of the planet on which every ecological zone is represented and in which most of the plants and animals of the planet can find homes.more

The diary is well sourced, full of links, and there’s quite a few video’s to see, I’m still watching. I figured I’d post about it here so y’all can try to catch up! It’s right up our alley, DharmaKids. lol. I’ll update with more thoughts or links as I go along. I’ve pretty much decided to devote my blog day to this.  Please add or embellish at will in comments.

When the priests, or Mamas, speak, they immediately reveal that their reference points are not of our world. They refer to the Spanish conquest as if it were a recent event. They talk openly of the force of creation, or Se, the spiritual core of all existence, and aluna, human thought, soul, and imagination. What is important, what has ultimate value, is not what is measured and seen but what exists in the many realms of meanings and connections that lie beneath the tangible realities of the world, linking all things. The nine-layered universe of their cosmology, the nine-tiered temple where they gather, the nine months a child spends in its mother’s womb are all expressions of creation, and each reflects and informs the other. A hill can also be a house, the mountains a model of the cosmos. The white hats worn by Arhuaco men also symbolize the snowfields of the sacred peaks. The hairs on a person’s body echo the forest trees that cover the mountain flanks. Every element of nature is imbued with higher significance, so that even the most modest of creatures can be seen as a teacher, and every feature of the world mirrors the whole. NG

And they have some warnings for the rest of us.

still waiting….

Going on now… (in the Senate), sorta …

DREAM Act … ?

A vote on the legislation, which could happen Tuesday, would clear the way for a floor debate in the Senate about it. read more

DADT Repeal … ?

In another blow to the bill, Obama’s pick to lead the Marine Corps told a Senate panel on Tuesday that he worried that changing the policy would serve as a “distraction” to Marines fighting in Afghanistan.

“My primary concern with proposed repeal is the potential disruption to cohesion that may be caused by significant change during a period of extended combat operations,” Gen. James Amos said in a written statement provided to the panel for his confirmation hearing.

But wait… there’s more… things we’re still waiting for…

THE FINAL HOUR: Waiting With Aafia…. 24 HOUR VIGIL ON EVE OF AAFIA SIDDIQUI’S SENTENCING

Dr Aafia Siddiqui will be sentenced on Thursday 23rd September 2010, at 9am. The hearing will be held in Judge Berman’s court at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan, New York. Protesters in the UK will mark this with a 24 hour vigil from the eve of her sentencing.

Wait. Who ? ? ?

Amusing little post at alternet this morning…. seems to suit my mood today. Not to say that I’m mad, lol, more like… the kind of tired that I’m easily amused.

I’m mad at both of the parties. All of the parties. Political parties and birthday parties and tailgate parties. I’m mad at Democrats because they’re the polar opposite of mad and I’m mad at Republicans because they’re mad at me. And if my maddish spews hurt them, tough. Because they’re not as mad as I am. I’m so mad I’ll bite off both my hands one finger at a time if that’s what it takes. To prove I’m mad. Which I am.

read the whole post: Tea Party War Cry: I’m Mad and I Don’t Want to Hear Your ‘Facts’

You know how it is….. that moment…? You’re sitting at a stop light maybe, or just at a park, and the birds are chirping and squawking, dotting a the power line or blanketing the limbs of an oak tree. Then suddenly, they take flight. Almost as one. What was their cue?  And … how do they DO that … with no committee meetings, no caucus, no vote… ?

We’re not the only ones scratchin’ our heads… Saw this posted at commondreams (and elsewhere I think, but I dont see where)…

We Need Your Ideas: A Call for Direct Action in the Climate Movement

An open letter from the Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace USA, and 350.org:

What will it take to finally get serious about climate change?

by Bill McKibben, Phil Radford, & Becky Tarbotton

… Time is not on our side, so we’ve concluded that going forward mass direct action must play a bigger role in this movement, as it eventually did in the suffrage movement, the civil-rights movement, and the fight against corporate globalization. Even now, environmentalists in places like the coalfields of Appalachia have been putting these tactics to good use, albeit in small ways. (In the spring of 2009, our three groups worked with others to pull off a large-scale action outside the congressional power plant in D.C. that resulted in a promise that it would cease to burn coal.) History suggests, in other words, that one way to effectively communicate both to the general public and to our leaders the urgency of the crisis is to put our bodies on the line.

Nobody can predict which one event will trigger social change. Paul Revere was not the only rider to warn of the British advance, and many people refused to move to the back of the bus before Rosa Parks. But we do know two things. First, that we must act with unity, and second, many minds working together are likely to be smarter. So we’re asking for your help. As you go about your other work on behalf of the planet and its diverse communities, think about the possibilities for direct action, and write them down and send them to us.

snip

Note too that though this letter comes from just three environmental groups, we want this fight open to everyone. We’ll happily work with any organization that shares our goals and tactics as plans go forward; in fact, we think that breaking down boundaries between groups is key to any chance at success. We’ll do our best to reach out, but please make sure you let us know you want to be involved.

We’ve set up a special email address for ideas: [email protected]

By late autumn, we hope we’ll have been able to mine those ideas and start coming up with coherent plans for actions starting next spring.

Hi folks.

I just thought I’d go ahead and pitch this here, although it’s not really up our alley so much at DD. But thats okay, right? lol. This is being highlighted at GOS in the regular Friday series there, by my request.

DONORS CHOOSE dot org is the website. It is for Teachers…. they explain & request DIRECT funds for a particular project. No middle man (well, hardly none). There’s some very cool projects on there, but you have to look for them.

But you won’t have to go digging to find this one: 6th Grade Science Fair Here We Come! ! This was posted by a teacher I DO NOT know but it is my husband’s school. (He teaches Band there). I can absolutely confirm that this is a very worthwhile recipient group.

more details below

Soooooooo… imagine if Buhdydharma had the desire and wherewithal to write (and publish!) a really good dystopia styled book, and orient it for a teen audience. (I’m totally convinced he has the talent!) He might just come up with something like this trilogy from Suzanne Collins:

Hunger Games (1)   Catching Fire (2)   Mockingjay (3)

Note: You really need to read these books before they come out with the movie and ruin it. heh. Well, you probably have a year or so.

Here’s an official video promo for the book: