WE ARE ALL – “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer
https://youtu.be/jmFr4Z4xFBQ
By Rege Behe
Certain subjects have long been considered risky for polite conversation, including race, politics, money, sex and religion.
But Cora Daniels thinks it’s important for people to express their opinions, even if broaching such topics makes people uncomfortable.
“It’s not as hard as we think it’s going to be,” says Daniels, the co-author of “Impolite Conversations On Race, Politics Sex, Money, and Religion” (Atria Books). “Part of it is that we work ourselves up into being afraid to own up to our honest thoughts. It’s not an easy thing to do, to speak honest and openly. But there is a desire to do it. If there wasn’t, there wouldn’t be all this anonymous chatter on Twitter.”
Daniels will speak at 7 PM, Monday, March 23, at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Oakland. Her appearance is free and open to the public.
Despite the book’s title, Daniels, who wrote the book with lifelong friend John L. Jackson Jr., the dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice, isn’t advocating for coarser discourse. A journalist and writer who teaches journalism at New York University, Daniels merely wants people to be open to subjects and ideas that are shied away from in social settings.
“Because we’re not willing to come together and have a real dialogue on these issues, we never get to move forward,” she says. “We never get to move past the divided state that we’re in and change our thinking on these things and think more innovatively and creatively.”
The place to start, Daniels says, is at home. As a mother of children ages 6 and 9, she constantly tries engage them in conversations about important issues. But that’s only the start of the process.
“Whatever we’re wagging our finger upset about, what’s going on in society on a larger scale, we have to make sure it’s going on in our house first,” Daniels says. “In our block, in our neighborhood, in our community. Those are little steps, one by one.”
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to engaging in constructive and illuminating conversations is the lack of opportunities to do so. Daniels believes most people live segregated lives and don’t give themselves the opportunity to engage others of varying races or beliefs.
“If most of us really take an honest look at our social groups and the core relationships we have, we’re just not integrated,” she says.
Even though the next generation is expected to be more diverse, Daniels doesn’t expect race or gender issues to suddenly disappear. Nothing will change, she thinks, until people become open to expressing their feelings, especially about race.
“There’s this whole thing about the generation coming after us being the most diverse, but it’s not like race has just disappeared,” Daniels says. “They are still conscious of it and they still notice it, even down to my kids who are just in elementary school, where it’s still an issue and it still comes up. We have to acknowledge it and not ignore it. Even if we’re unhappy with our reaction at the moment, don’t hide from it, don’t ignore. Because our children notice it and then it becomes this weird, untouchable topic because none of the grown-ups are talking about it.”
By Rege Behe
About eleven years ago, Rusted Root’s Michael Glabicki met with a group of Pittsburghers concerned about plans to introduce fracking within the city’s limits. Since then, he’s become increasingly concerned about the procedure’s effects.
“I hear from fans whose drinking water has been devastated in their towns and others who have started experiencing earthquakes in their community from fracking,” Glabicki says. “People are scared. I am scared.”
Glabicki and Rusted Root will headlined “Freedom From Fracking: A Benefit for the Friends of the Harmed” May 16, 2015 at Mr. Small’s in Millvale. Mike Stout & the Human Union, Kellee Maize & Friends, Liz Berlin, UJAMAA, Anne Feeney, Smokestack Lightning, DJ Paul Dang, Gene Stovall, Jasiri X, Palermo Stone, Vanessa German, the Benevolent Sneaky Mike and Tom Breiding also are scheduled to perform.
Proceeds will benefit The Friends of the Harmed, which assists families who have been harmed from fracking related activities in the region, via The Thomas Merton Center.
The US Energy Information Administration estimates that there are 2.119 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 25.2 billion barrels of crude oil available in the US via fracking. Fracking is responsible for 90 percent of oil and gas production in the United States, according to National Parks Conservation Organization.
But at what cost?
Food & Water Watch, a public interest organization based in Washington, DC, states that communities in proximity to fracking activities are subject to increased crime, decreased property values, and losses in tourism and agriculture.
Fracking also is exempt from major environmental laws including the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the process uses approximately five million gallons per well. The waste water from fracking can pollute streams, lakes and rivers, and the water supply
“The New York Times just came out with an article citing a new study showing that high levels of Butoxyethanol are showing up in Pennsylvania’s drinking water from fracking,” Glabicki says. “This stuff is irreversible. I went up to Dimock, (in Susquehanna County) and sat in the living rooms of several families listening to their horror stories. Many had no drinking water and had to ship it in. Many of the children were sick for months before figuring out it was from fracking. I can go on and on. There are so many wells around Pittsburgh and it is just a matter of time before a major disaster happens here.”
Glabicki met a former worker in the fracking industry who said he’d dumped truckloads of contaminated water on the side of the road near Dimock. The worker was fearful he’d lose his job if he didn’t dump the water.
But contaminated drinking water may be just one consequence of fracking.
“There are so many other issues that we don’t know the full extent of yet,” Glabicki says. “We just added earthquakes to the list! They are happening in Michigan and West Virginia as well as other areas. Who know what this might turn into? There is much we don’t know about the dangers of fracking. Oil companies are going full steam with it, trying to make as much money as they can, before we can figure it out.”
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By Joel Pirchesky
Joel Pirchesky – Founder of One World Blue, LLC and Blupela.net (on Right)
Friend Buddy Parco (on Left)
https://youtu.be/nFmeTsB4Bgo
https://youtu.be/k3sRli3btDQ
Excerpted from “So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead”
Three songs into the show, the house lights still on, the time had come for “Dire Wolf,” but with a perverse twist no one had anticipated. Twenty-five years had passed since the Dead had recorded that song at Pacific High studio. They’d played it innumerable times since, occasionally slowing it down a half step. But tonight, in the middle of Indiana, they again injected it with the crisp, merry gait of the recorded version, and even the song’s refrain harked back to its original impending-death inspiration. “Please, don’t murder me,” Jerry Garcia sang again, now in a voice weathered by age and abuse, as cops pivoted their heads, hoping to catch sight of the man who’d vowed to kill Garcia before the night was over.
Along with the likes of Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin, the Deer Creek Music Center had become a destination spot, a revered haven, for the Dead and their fans alike. Springing up amid cornfields and cow pastures a half-hour north of Indianapolis, the amphitheater was, like the band, an enclave unto itself. Out there the straight world never felt so distant. Although the Dead had played Deer Creek six times before without major incident, tonight began on a sour note. On their way from their hotel (north of Indianapolis) to the venue word filtered down to band and its management: a death threat had been called in to Deer Creek. Similar calls and warnings had arrived before, but this one felt creepier. An anonymous person had called local police claiming to have overheard the distraught father of a young female Deadhead. The information was unclear, but the implication was that the girl couldn’t be found and had run off on the road with them, and that the father was planning to attend the show and shoot Garcia.
Huddling backstage with the head of security, the band grappled with what to do. Verifying the threat was difficult, but Phil Lesh, the most immediately concerned because his family was there, made the case for canceling the show and heading out. “I was not going to stand up there and be a target,” he recalls. But Garcia brushed it off, saying he’d dealt with crazies before and wouldn’t let this one stop him. “Would you sacrifice yourself for the music?” Mickey Hart recalls of that night. “All those things run around in your brain. But I remember joking, ‘Jerry, could you move over six inches onstage? At least I’ll make it!’ We were screaming laughing. The decision was made and everyone came around. We were worried, of course, but we didn’t want some lunatic to shut us down.” Indiana state police made their way into the crowd and the stage pit; there they were joined by other Dead employees, including publicist Dennis McNally and Steve Marcus of Grateful Dead Ticket Sales, all nervously glancing around for . . . something. No one knew what the supposed shooter looked or dressed like, and no one even knew for sure whether the threat was real. But they weren’t about to take any chances.
Ironically, the show opened with “Here Comes Sunshine,” the twinkling kaleidoscope of a song that was dropped from the repertoire after 1974 but had returned starting in 1992. At one point in the show a piece of electronics gear began misbehaving, and keyboard technician Bob Bralove, who usually stood behind the keyboards or drum riser, was forced to walk to the front of the stage to fix it. He’d performed the task dozens if not hundreds of times before, but never before had he felt as if a bull’s eye was plastered on his chest. “You could feel it,” he says. “This was normally the place that was always safe and you felt the love from the audience. But all of a sudden I’m realizing I’m standing next to the guy they said they wanted to kill. It was very, very intense.” After tending to the repair Bralove quickly retreated back to the darkened part of the stage.
For years they’d defied the odds; so many times they’d been written off creatively, physically, or economically, only to return, sometimes as vital as before. But the last few months had made even those closest and most loyal to the Dead wonder whether they, Garcia especially, would be able to pull back from the darkness. During a set break Garcia called his loyal driver, Leon Day. “I had a threat on my life,” he told him. Day joked back: “I got your back—you got mine?”
See rest of story here:
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/04/i_wont_see_the_end_of_the_year_backstage_at_jerry_garcia_and_the_grateful_deads_final_shows/
Two seconds. That’s all it took for Miguel Rodriguez, Long Beach Gladiators wrestling coach and a teaching assistant in the Long Beach Schools to know he had to work with Isaiah Bird.
“My boss asked me to meet with a new kid to the school, a child without legs,” Rodriguez said. “As soon as I met him, I knew right away that I wanted to work with him. He asked me to pick up him so we could play basketball. He was so friendly and outgoing. I knew he was special.”
Six-year old Bird has indeed done special things already. He may have wanted to shoot hoops with Rodriguez when they first interacted, but that’s no longer his activity of choice.
Rodriguez introduced him to wrestling through the Long Beach Gladiators over a year ago and he quickly embraced the sport.
“He pushed basketball to the side,” Rodriguez said. “It’s all about wrestling for him now – he got really into it. He liked it right away. He saw that not having legs could be an advantage – it’s hard for people to take you down. He also has amazing upper body strength. He walks on his hands so his hands are basically his legs. He practiced and practiced and practiced and he did very well in his first year. Actually, as soon as he wrestled his first match, we realized we could teach him and he would develop his own style.”
That style is heavily influenced by a wrestler who faced some of the same challenges as Bird while growing up in the sport on Long Island. Rohan Murphy lost his legs at birth, but went on to wrestle at Penn State before representing the United States internationally in powerlifting.
“When Isaiah started, we called Rohan and he came down,” said Long Beach High School head coach Ray Adams. “The first time Isaiah saw Rohan, the look on his face was amazing; it was like seeing himself in the future. It’s been nice to see that relationship develop.”
“Rohan Murphy is Isaiah’s idol,” Rodriguez added. “That’s his superhero. He accomplished so much without legs. Isaiah talks about how he needs to do well in math and all his subjects so he can go to college and wrestle like Rohan Murphy. We spoke to Rohan and his high school coach about what they did when he was learning to wrestle – how to teach Isaiah the right things to make him as successful as possible. Isaiah continues to get better. He’s been outstanding.”
Indeed, he has. According to Rodriguez, Bird placed third in the state and sixth at the War at the Shore Nationals, among other achievements. His medal count continues to climb.
“Isaiah loves his medals, but now he’s talking more about the big trophy he got taking sixth at Nationals,” Rodriguez said. “That was unexpected and amazing.”
Words like “amazing” are often used to describe Bird.
“It’s inspiring to watch him wrestle,” Adams said. “He goes out there and operates with what he has and makes no excuses about anything. It’s great to see someone overcoming the odds the way Isaiah does.”
“I think he shows that anything is possible,” Rodriguez added. “Here you have a child with no legs, who says he doesn’t need them. Everything we do, he tries the best he can. If he can do it, the others can do it. There are no excuses – that’s Isaiah’s line. That’s his motto. We’re very lucky to have him as part of Long Beach Gladiators and at the same time, he’s lucky to have the wrestling family and wrestling community. The community has shown that it will come together and help him when he’s in need.”
Bird does face additional challenges off the mat. He is homeless – currently living in a shelter with his mother and younger brother.
After a story about him appeared on News 12 Long Island earlier this spring, some assistance arrived, including a wheelchair.
Retrieved on December 8, 2014 from:
http://www.newyorkwrestlingnews.com/news_article/show/388792?referrer_id=1024271
Pooh bear holding onto a Tao kite
Winnie the Pooh has a certain way about him, a way of doing things which has made him the world’s most beloved bear. And Pooh’s Way, as Benjamin Hoff brilliantly demonstrates, seems strangely close to the ancient Chinese principles of Taoism. The ‘Tao of Pooh’ explains Taoism by Winnie the Pooh and explains Winnie the Pooh by Taoism. It makes you understand what A.A. Milne probably meant when he said he didn’t write the Pooh-books for children in the first place.
Over the centuries, Taoism classic teachings were developed and divided into philosophical, monastic, and folk religious forms. All of these could be included under the general heading of Taoism. But the basic Taoism is simply a particular way of appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life. From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness.
One of the basic principles of Taoism is P’U; the Uncarved Block. The essence of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed. This principle applies not only to things, but to people as well. Or Bears. Which brings us to Pooh, the very Epitome of the Uncarved Block. When you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few, other things that get in the way, sooner or later you will discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the Uncarved Block: Life is Fun. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times. As Piglet put it in ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’, “Pooh hasn’t much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right.”
Owl sitting in his chair
Owl instead, is the opposite of Pooh, the Knowledge for the sake of Appearing Wise, the one who studies Knowledge for the sake of Knowledge, and who keeps what he learns to himself or to his own small group, rather than working for the enlightenment of others. That way, the scholars can appear Superior, and will not likely be suspected of Not Knowing Something. After all, from the scholarly point of view, it’s practically a crime not to know everything. But sometimes the knowledge of the scholar is a bit hard to understand because it doesn’t seem to match up with our own experience of things. Isn’t the knowledge that comes from experience more valuable than the knowledge that doesn’t?
While Owl’s little routine is that of Knowledge for the sake of Appearing Wise, Eeyore’s is that of Knowledge for the sake of Complaining About Something and Rabbit’s is that of Knowledge of Being Clever. As anyone who doesn’t have it can see, the Eeyore Attitude gets in the way of things like wisdom and happiness, and pretty much prevents any sort of real Accomplishment in life. Cleverness, after all, has its limitations. Its mechanical judgements and clever remarks tend to prove inaccurate with passing time, because it doesn’t look very deeply into things to begin with. The thing that makes someone truly different -unique, in fact- is something that Cleverness cannot really understand.
Pooh and Christopher Robin help Tigger
“A fish can’t whistle and neither can I.” There’s nothing wrong with not being able to whistle, especially if you’re a fish. But there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren’t designed for. Unfortunately, some people aren’t so wise, and end up causing big trouble for themselves and others. The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not. To demonstrate what we mean, we can think of no one better than Tigger, who doesn’t know his limitations (‘Tiggers’ can do everything’), which brings him in lots of trouble. Piglet instead knows his limitations and that’s what makes him sometimes more brave than you would expect from such a small animal. So, the first thing we need to do is recognize and trust our own Inner Nature, and not lose sight of it. Inside the Bouncy Tigger is the Rescuer who knows the Way, and in each of us is something Special, and that we need to keep:
“Tigger is all right really,” said Piglet lazily.
“Of course he is,” said Christopher Robin.
“Everybody is really,” said Pooh. “That’s what I think,” said Pooh.
“But I don’t suppose I’m right,” he said.
“Of course you are,” said Christopher Robin.
.
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kretshnif_(Hasidic_dynasty)
Kretshnif (also written as Kretchinev, Kretchniv, Kretshniff) is a Hasidic Jewish dynasty that comes from the Nadvorna dynasty.
The first rebbe of Kretshnif was Grand Rabbi Meir Rosenbaum, a son of Grand Rabbi Mordechai of Nadvorna. His sons and successors included Rabbi Eliezer Zev in Kretshnif, Romania and Sighit, and Rebbe Issamar of Nadvorna (d. 1973) in Chernowitz. The descendant rabbis of this dynasty span the globe, mainly in Israel, New York City, England, and Canada.
Dynasty[edit]
Grand Rabbi Meir Rosenbaum of Nadvorna-Kretshniff (d. 1908), son of Rabbi Mordechai Leifer (changed last name to Rosenbaum), son-in-law of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tirer of Dorohoi Grand Rabbi Eliezer Zev Rosenbaum of Kretshniff (d. 1944) author of Raza d’Shabbos, son of Rabbi Meir of Kretshniff Grand Rabbi Nissan Chaim Rosenbaum, of Bradshin, son of Rabbi Eliezer Zev of Kretshniff Grand Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Rosenbaum of Kretshniff-Sighet (1920-2006) in Jerusalem, son of Rabbi Nissan Chaim of Bradshin, son in law of Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Rosenbaum of Nadvorna Grand Rabbi Nissan Chaim Rosenbaum of Kretshniff-Jerusalem, son of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Rosenbaum of Kretchnif-Sighit in Jerusalem,
Grand Rabbi Zeidel Rosenbaum of Kretshniff-New York, son of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Rosenbaum of Kretchnif-Sighit
Grand Rabbi David Moshe Rosenbaum of Kretshniff (d. 1969), son of Rabbi Eliezer Zev, son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim Mordechai of Nadvorna Grand Rabbi Menachem Eliezer Zev Rosenbaum of Kretshnif-Rechovos, present Rebbe of Kretshnif-Rechovos, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Yisroel Nisan Rosenbaum of Kretshniff, present Rebbe of Kretshnif-Kiryath Gath, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Meir Rosenbaum of Premishlan, present Premishlaner Rebbe, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Zeyda Shmuel Shmelke Rosenbaum of Bitschkov in Yaffo, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Rosenbaum of Kretshnif-Monsey, son of Rabbi David Moshe of Kretshnif and son-in-law of Rabbi Israel Rosenbaum of Stanislov[1]
From Source:
https://ainaaloha.wordpress.com/who-are-native-hawaiians/
Marked by ingenuity and resourcefulness, the indigenous Hawaiian culture is internationally celebrated for its artistry and sophistication. While excelling in such arts as poetry, dance and sculpture, Hawaiians also established a well-developed judicial system and instituted complex scientific and agricultural methods.
But, who are Native Hawaiians?
Congress defines “Native Hawaiian” as “any individual who is a descendant of the aboriginal people who, prior to 1778, occupied and exercised sovereignty in the area that now constitutes the State of Hawai‘i.” (U.S. Public Law 103-150)
However, Native Hawaiians are so much more. We define ourselves by our relationships with each other, our ancestors and our land. Without these bonds of interconnectedness, we are incomplete.
Being Hawaiian involves nurturing and honoring these ties. In the Hawaiian society, one is expected to know and understand what it means to be a contributing member of the community. Everyone has a kuleana, responsibility, to use his or her talents to the benefit of the entire ‘ohana (literally, family). By fulfilling our duties to the ‘ohana and recognizing the accomplishments of others, Hawaiians increase their mana or spirituality.
Built upon the foundation of the ‘ohana, Hawaiian culture ensures the health of the community as a whole. The Western concept of “immediate family” is alien to indigenous Hawaiians. The Hawaiian ‘ohana encompasses not only those related by blood, but all who share a common sense of aloha (love and compassion). It is common to hear Native Hawaiians who are meeting for the first time ask “Who is your family?” and then joke we must be related “because we are all related.”
The ties that bind ‘ohana together cannot be broken, even by death. As loved ones pass, they continue to fulfill their obligations to the rest of the ‘ohana from the next realm. Hawaiians cherish their ancestors, committing to memory generation upon generation of lineage and composing beautiful chants heralding our ancestors’ abilities.
A lo‘i of kalo
The most important ancestor for all Hawaiians is the land itself. Legend names the first Hawaiian as the kalo (taro) plant. Therefore, as the Hawaiian progenitor, it is every Hawaiians obligation to care for their elder brother, the land.
The Creation
In the beginning, there was Papa (Earth mother) and Wākea (sky father). From these gods descended a still-born child, Hāloa (literally, long stem). Papa and Wākea buried their child, and watched as he changed and grew into the Hawaiian staff of life, kalo (the taro plant).
After Hāloa, another child was born, the first Hawaiian was born. Also named Hāloa in honor of his older brother, the first human to inhabit these islands was inextricably linked to the land that gave birth to him. As the younger siblings, Hawaiians understood their duty to care for their ‘āina, their land, so that it would in turn sustain them.
The Native Hawaiian people cherish their connection to the land. Our language is resonant with allusions to our heritage as kama‘āina, children of the land. The word for “family,” ‘ohana, literally translates as “from the kalo stem.” In acknowledging their interdependence with their ‘āina, Hawaiians created a unique culture, vibrant, sophisticated and efficient in its perceptiveness of the natural world.
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