I’m really happy to be part of this writers’ alliance and the opportunity it affords to reconnect with some of my favorite bloggers. It feels good.

Here are some of the essays on our reading list, including birthday girl Diane G’s Groundhog’s Day post…

cometman describes Mohamed Bouazizi as a World Shaker, a man who had nothing and yet managed to change the course of history…

Mexican Culture Tour Ends In Super Bowl Tailgate for a couple of accidental tourists. Penned by Pinche Tejano

The GrandWazoo writes that this might be a good Time for Strange Bedfellows, politically speaking.

Most nights, Night Owl publishes his Overnight Caption Contest party… and it’s always a hoot!

“What is a LEADER?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

“A LEADER isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. It’s realizing that every experience develops some latent force within you.¹ You begin to understand that vision is the art of seeing the invisible² so that when you want to build a wagon, you don’t gather the other toys to collect wood or assign them tasks, but rather you teach them to long for ways to traverse the endless immensity of the backyard.³ Then you become a LEADER.”

Doing some reading before bed last night and opened nyceve’s diary over at dKos titled In 2011, these people will launch holy war against the health insurance Industry.

I get here, where she writes:

As insurers continue to raise premiums and cut benefits, Health and Human Services is relegated to pleading, cajoling and threatening, but in the end, can do little to control them. This is an uncontrollable industry.

… and my head explodes: they can’t they be controlled???? Why is that?????? Isn’t that what we should focus on???

nyceve… she’s great, heroic even… out there fighting to make things better. But there’s this one little thing: we are engulfed in lawlessness and lack of accountability. Nobody… nobody… is enforcing the law or holding the powerful accountable.

What does this have to do with health insurance?

Just . . . everything.

cross-posted at writing in the rAw and at dKos

There are over 400 dogs in the Prietenii Nostri shelter facing another very cold Romanian winter.

If you have just a few dollars, please consider sending to the shelter. Founder Teodora Ristea and her daughter Gratiela are two of my heros. Teodora gives everything she’s got to these dogs. $10 feeds one dog for a month.

here is the link to the site’s donate page for pay pal

and here’s the bank transfer info:

Asociatia Pentru Protectia Animalelor “Prieteni Nostri”

Tudor Vladimirescu Street, Number 169

Slatina City, Romania

BANCA COMERCIALA ROMANA – Slatina

• COD BIC: RNCBROBU

• CONT IBAN RO29RNCB0200042737330002

• COD SWIFT:RNCBROBUOT0

Elizabeth Edwards stops cancer treatment

“You all know that I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces – my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined.

The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren’t able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It’s called being human.

“But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful. It isn’t possible to put into words the love and gratitude I feel to everyone who has and continues to support and inspire me every day. To you I simply say: you know.”

My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold

My heart leaps up when I behold

  A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

  Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man;

  I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.

William Wordsworth

Starting a new blog is a funny endeavor. Why do it? People ask about mission statements and intentions and they want to know: what will this accomplish?

Honestly, I don’t know. This might be the very first time in my life that I have no expectations. I don’t know what this place will become. I have no set idea on what is success and what is failure.

In fact, this isn’t even my blog. I’ve funded it, but I don’t own it. Ownership seems hard to claim in a venture so open to other people’s ideas and vision shaping and driving it.

Perhaps it is a bit experimental: I’m curious what evolves from chaos: there are few rules, no boss, and an eclectic group of writers, poets, musicians, and thinkers who may find themselves here from time-to-time.

For me, this is about finding a way to influence an entire planet in thousands of small and profound ways. But these are my own intentions and I do not speak on behalf of the others who may join in here. I can only tell you I am looking for ways to break communication barriers, discover common ground, and reclaim options over how this life thing goes forward.

With that said, I’d like to make some very necessary acknowledgments.