SEEING PAST RED: January 2009

Monday, January 26, 2009

My Birthday Present- A Personal Trainer!

http://www.jessiepavelka.com/index.html

I heartily recommend Jesse solo for ensuring CPW- Continued Physical Wellbeing.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

No Time For Poetry? hmmmm...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/opinion/25rich.html

Charliner North promised me
She had saved up rubies in pickle jars...
Promises to be kept-
Lost among dilapidated Cincinnati row houses
And the faded deco tiles of Midwestern decline
Where those drinking the strychnine
Saw the Holy Ghost!
And old men drank scotch watching the plasma screens-
RFK dies in '68 deep beneath 2008
In a subway bar next to Ohio Books
Rows of shelves reminding us quietly
Of a past of greater depths, despite the pain.
Pain I still felt riding that bus home-
With others- normal, poor and backpacked
Riding to Washington to watch the World change.
Politics aside, the morality shifted...
As we took note of a prayer shedding real
And not imaginary tears...
The tide turned in the sunlight-
Our histories, our families, our violations transcended
Began to matter again,
Giving birth to overcoming hope-
"A new birth of freedom" in all its complexity-
Renewing vows
As the veil of the simpletons lifted
The thinking people valuated good
And we tasted and saw the future again.
In a moment where philosophy fails,
The emptiness of "new ideas" midwifes the birth of old ones,
And all is rediscovered.

cjk 2009

Friday, January 23, 2009

Coastin' Thru Da Hood-

http://www.theurbancoaster.com/

Refreshers-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1883387/posts

http://www.ednews.org/articles/438/1/An-Interview-with-Ruby-Payne-About-Teaching-Students-from-Poverty-in-2005/Page1.html

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Alternatives-

http://www.thisisreality.org/#/?p=facility

www.repoweramerica.com

INAUGURAL AND NEXT-

The President: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PuHGKnboNY

The Prayer:

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far along the way, thou who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee. Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand -- true to thee, O God, and true to our native land. We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day. We pray now, O Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant, Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national and, indeed, the global fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hand, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills. For we know that, Lord, you're able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these. We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that, yes, we can work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other. And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance. And as we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will. Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little, angelic Sasha and Malia. We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love. Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream. Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around -- (laughter) -- when yellow will be mellow -- (laughter) -- when the red man can get ahead, man -- (laughter) -- and when white will embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.
-Joseph Lowery

The Promise: