Entertainment Overnight -- Happy Birthday, John

I hope one day we'll join up,

and the world will live in peace

Libertarian vs Socialist

I saw this earlier and loved it. Naturally, there's at least a bit of truth to it or it wouldn't work.

I ask you, which would you prefer?

We all work together vs. "every man--and woman--for themselves"?

Where We Are, Where We Could Be

What we're actually capable of, now.

If only we'd work together.

Imagine.

Missouri's Senators working together!

Yahoo!

I'd never seen this before.

Maybe it's happened but I don't know of any instances of it. This from Senator Claire McCaskill's Facebook  page today:

Claire and Senator Blunt brought federal agencies together yesterday to help resolve a decades-long dispute that’s been delaying a project critical to families and businesses in the Bootheel. The Senators pledged to continue working together to resolved outstanding issues and bring a conclusion to these delays.

Now, if our Senators and legislators in Washington, particularly, but in Jefferson City, too, could only come up with a jobs bill, one that would repair, modernize and widen I-70 from St. Louis on the East to Kansas City on the West, so it isn't so dangerous, we'd really have some progress.

More on the meeting here: http://1.usa.gov/YZE9Xd

and here:  McCaskill seeks action on delayed St. John's Bayou project

Quote of the day

"We can solve problems. We can solve really big, really scary and really impossible problems. We can do amazing things. But we can only do these things when, collectively, we step up and take on the mantle of adulthood. We can only do these amazing things when we set aside the childish pleasures of fits and tantrums and rise to the level of responsibility that maturity demands.

The challenges we face — from climate change to resource depletion — have appeared just now because we are at a turning point in our evolution. You don't alter you planet's atmospheric chemistry unless you have reached a certain level of, let's say, "ability". But to paraphrase Spiderman's uncle, abilities come with responsibility and responsibility demands maturity. As a species, we are called to new kinds of behaviors never before seen in the entire history of our evolution. Curiosity shows that, perhaps, we are ready. It shows us that we can face impossible challenges and find real, successful solutions.

We can do anything if we are creative, if we are responsible in our collaborations, if we step up to the demands of our families, our communities, our nation and our planet as adults." --Adam Frank, Astrophysicist, from an NPR guest post. Link below.

And to do this, we must work together, as one.

Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/08/07/158342268/curiosity-signals-from-mars-that-we-can-solve-our-problems-on-earth

Americans, working together

''What exactly was this? I can't control what people thought this was. I can only tell intentions. This was not to ridicule people of faith. Or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland, or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.'' —Jon Stewart, in his closing remarks at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Quote of the day: Americans need to come together

"The greatest threat to our economy is neither corporations nor the government. The greatest threat to our economy is both of them working together. There are currently two sizable coalitions of angry citizens that are almost on the same page about that, and they're too busy insulting each other to notice." --James Sinclair Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/10/a-very-simple-venn-diagram-of-where-the-tea-party-and-occupy-wall-street-agree/246687/

Two telling articles on China today

Check out these two today from Yahoo! News, the AP and AFP. First this: GM's China sales hit record for August. And then this: European group: China imposing new market barriers. Not good. Not good at all. In the midst of worldwide recessions and worse, this is the kind of thing that starts world wars. Fortunately, China and the US need each other far too much. Let's hope that always holds. Links: http://news.yahoo.com/gms-china-sales-hit-record-august-075116832.html; http://news.yahoo.com/european-group-china-imposing-market-barriers-042147073.html

An email going around about changing Congress

Have you received this email on changing our Congress? The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple. The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc. We can now communicate with one another far quicker. Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure. Congressional Reform Act of 2011 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office. 2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just like the rest of us. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this current contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress should be an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. I have to say, it seems like a great idea to me and, I'd bet, to most Americans.

Quote of the day

"War is a failure of human intelligence." --Patricia Sun




Enjoy your beautiful, sunny Sunday, y'all.

Americans first. And last

"Before we are Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans."

Let's never forget that.

Enjoy your Sunday, y'all.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on war...and peace

"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."  --Martin Luther King, Jr. 

An open letter to the citizens of the World (guest post)

We stand at a unique time in our history, the rise of the internet and computer technology have contributed to an unparallelled rate of prosperity for the First World. We have created for ourselves and empire unlike any other, a global network of constant trade and communication, a new age of technological advancement. We have come a long way from our humble roots in the Industrial Revolution and the days of Manifest Destiny. We are now pioneers on new digital frontiers expanding our domain from the quantum world to the far reaches of space. 

And yet, the empire faces a crisis, a global recession, growing poverty, rampant violence, corruption in politics, and threats to personal freedom. As it was before in other times of crisis, the old stories have begun to repeat themselves. The half truths, this time repeated nightly on cable news and echoed through a series of tubes onto the internet: the empire is strong, change is unwise, business as usual is the answer. In times of uncertainty there are those who seek to add to the confusion, to prey on our insecurities and fears. Those who would seek to keep us divided for their own gain. The pervasive strategy takes many very convincing forms: Liberals and Conservatives, Christians and Muslims, Black and White, Saved and Sinner. 

But something unexpected is happening. We have begun telling each other our own stories. Sharing our lives, our hopes, our dreams, our demons. Every second, day in day out, into all hours of the night the gritty details of life on this earth are streaming around the world. As we see the lives of others played out in our living rooms we are beginning to understand the consequences of our actions and the error of the old ways. We are questioning the old assumptions that we are made to consume not to create, that the world was made for our taking, that wars are inevitable, that poverty is unavoidable. As we learn more about our global community a fundamental truth has been rediscovered: We are not so different as we may seem. Every human has strengths, weaknesses, and deep emotions. We crave love, love laughter, fear being alone and dream for a better life. 

You must create a better life.

You cannot sit on the couch playing video games waiting for a revolution. You are the revolution. Every time you decide not to exercise your rights, every time you refuse to hear another view point, every time you ignore the world around you, every time you spend a dollar at a business that doesn't pay a fair wage you are contributing to the oppression of the human body and the repression of the human mind. You have a choice, a choice to take the easy path, the familiar path, to walk willingly into your own submission. Or a choice get up, to go outside and talk to your neighbor, to come together in new forums to create lasting, meaningful change for the human race. 

This is our challenge: 

A peaceful revolution, a revolution of ideas, a revolution of creation. The twenty-first century enlightenment. A global movement to create a new age of tolerance and understanding, empathy and respect. An age of unfettered technological development. An age of sharing ideas and cooperation. An age of artistic and personal expression. We can choose to use new technology for radical positive change or let it be used against us. We can choose to keep the internet free, keep channels of communication open and dig new tunnels into those places where information is still guarded. Or we can let it all close in around us. As we move in to new digital worlds, we must acknowledge the need for honest information and free expression. We must fight to keep the internet open as a marketplace of ideas where all are seated as equals. We must defend our freedoms from those who would seek to control us. We must fight for those who do not yet have a voice. Keep telling your story. All must be heard.

-V


(From Facebook, truth be told)

Great question (for the president)

"Whom now will the president choose to fight? The left, who wants him to succeed, or the right, who wants him to fail?"  --Kalli Joy Gray, posted at Daily Kos








Link to original post:  http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/12/12/928215/-The-presidents-promise-to-fight?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+dailykos/index+(Daily+Kos)

Quote of the day--on cooperation

"We must all learn to live together as brothers or we shall perish together as fools."  --The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This so applies, I strongly believe, to all America and Americans now, today.

Instead of calling out our differences and emphasizing those--especially as they relate to what political party or group we identify with (Democrat, Republican, Tea Party, Libertarian, Left, Right, Independent, whatever), it can't be said enough--we need to work together as Americans, first and last, in identifying and prioritizing our problems and then doing the same with solutions.  Then, when finished with all that, to "roll up our sleeves", figuratively or literally, as required, and again, work together on those solutions.

Let's stop with the names.  Let's start with the solutions.

Quote of the day--on Republican control of the House

"The ultimate measure of whether we have a functioning House is not bipartisanship. Our focus shouldn't be on working across party lines for its own sake," Boehner said in a recent speech at the American Enterprise Institute where he laid out his governing philosophy and proposed reforms.

No, that pesky "cooperation" and "working together for the betterment of the country" is nonsense.

Right, Mr. Boehner?


Link to original post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/02/how-the-gop-plans-to-run-_n_777678.html

Quote of the day--on The United States of America

"...the present election offers us a choice: not a choice among those who call themselves Republicans, Democrats, or Tea Partiers, but a choice between sustaining the paralyzing divisiveness that we have seen over the past two years and committing ourselves to co-operation, collaboration, and--yes--political compromise across ideological lines. Without such a commitment, I fear for the survival of these dis-United States. "  --James Herrenan


Link to original post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-heffernan/how-a-government-takeover_b_763017.html

John Lennon's "Imagine", revised

I've always loved John Lennon's song "Imagine", as so many of us do. No surprise. Anyone who reads here (both of you) would likely be able to guess that, right? But I've always thought it had one problem. I've always believed it should be more inclusive and not require that "you join us" but that "we join together", period. Herewith, below, is how I think the lyrics should go, should have been written, with apologies to John Lennon, may he rest in peace, for my chutzpah: You may say that I'm a dreamer, But I'm not the only one, I hope someday we'll join up, And the world will live as one. See? There's a lot less self-assumption here that "I'm/we're right" and you need to join us. That, after all, is what causes wars in the first place. Peace, y'all.

Another salute to Howard Zinn, historian

“Let’s talk about socialism. … I think it’s very important to bring back the idea of socialism into the national discussion to where it was at the turn of the [last] century before the Soviet Union gave it a bad name. Socialism had a good name in this country. Socialism had Eugene Debs. It had Clarence Darrow. It had Mother Jones. It had Emma Goldman. It had several million people reading socialist newspapers around the country… Socialism basically said, hey, let’s have a kinder, gentler society. Let’s share things. Let’s have an economic system that produces things not because they’re profitable for some corporation, but produces things that people need. People should not be retreating from the word socialism because you have to go beyond capitalism." --Howard Zinn (who died yesterday)

It frustrates the crap out of me that most Americans think Socialism is a) purely evil and b) right up there with the worst of Communism and anything and everything else bad they can throw in.

It's maddening.

Most Americans haven't the foggiest idea what it means in Europe and Scandinavia what the benefits are, for example.

Ignorant gits.

Now, go read up on Howard Zinn.

And while you're at it, get a copy of his book "A People's History of the United States".

***With specific and sincere thanks to Matt Payton and his Tumble-o-rama for pointing out this quote.

War and Peace

I'm a major proponent of the idea that the arts are the antithesis of war. Not a new idea but an important and good one.

With that thought in mind, I think it's important to point out that the more arts and exposure to the arts we can get (along with education, frankly), the less likely, I believe, we would take it upon ourselves to fight and go to war.

It was Lenin, I believe, who said there was a piece of music that, if he heard it too much, couldn't go to war.

I propose, then, that "Improv Everywhere" is to peace and sanity and cooperation what terrorists blowing themselves up, seemingly randomly, is to war, carnage and insanity.

So for today, for the Saturday, I present this video from the Improv Everywhere people, whom I respect and admire. We need more of this in our lives and in the world.

Enjoy and have a great weekend.