Politics
Including Iraq, etc.
I wish to join the call for calm. To those who feel insurrection is treason, punishable by death, I council calm and mercy. We are bigger than those insurgents of January 6, 2021 who sought to topple our government, our constitution, our core belief in rule by law.
Well, you know
We all want to see the votes
You tell me that it's mass collusion
Well, you know
We all want to see the votes
Don't you know the courts have thrown you out…
"Even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task, it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction - purpose and dignity - that afflicts us all.
Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways…
I dreamt I was in a reception line at a formal event. At the head of the line was the President of the United States, shaking hands one by one.
He took my hand firmly as I stepped forward for my turn. I leaned slightly toward him and said "We have something in common, you and I."
"Really? What's that?"
I let his strong grip pull me closer, and spoke in a hushed tone so only he could hear: "Neither of us belongs here."
Can't find it right now, but one of my friends posted an old video, an interview with Martin Luther King, Jr, one of America's greatest leaders of all time. That post reminded me of MLKs "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
You've heard of it, no doubt. But if you've never actually read it, do so now. It will stay with you and inform the rest of your life. As you read, remind yourself he's in jail at the time,…
Jack and Jill
Went up the Hill
To beg for something safer
Jack fell down
Blood all around
And Jill died crawling after
Up Jack got
He, badly shot,
Remembered in the paper
Empty stares
Thoughts and prayers
We mourn the dead tenth grader
They call B.S.
Children address
This homegrown bloody terror
Endured in school
Just so you'll
From tyrants slightly safer
Stop the guns
The deadly ones
That leave our children slaughtered
The tyranny
You fear is thee
Killing our sons and daughters
Stop killing our…
I am Sam.
Uncle Sam.
That Sam I Am.
That Uncle Sam.
I do not like that White House man.
Do you like green, brown, or tan?
I do not like them, Uncle Sam.
I do not like green, brown, or tan.
Would you like them here or there?
I would not like them here or there.
I would not like them anywhere.
I do not like green, brown or tan.
I just don't like them, Uncle Sam.
Would you like them were they housed?
Would you like them thrice deloused?
I do not like them in a house.
I do not like them thrice deloused.
I do not like…
A fascinating tale of a state Senator's experience in prison after conviction for obstruction of justice related to violation of federal campaign laws. He's smart, educated and white, thrown into federal prison, full of men exactly unlike him. It's a kind of expose of prison life in the US and well worth the read.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/mag-prison-smith-213098
This Australian born comic has nailed the gun control debate:
A powerful piece by Graeme Wood discusses
What ISIS Really Wants
The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it.
…