“We know that there is no help for us but from one another, that no hand will save us if we do not reach out our hand. And the hand that you reach out is empty, as mine is. You have nothing. You possess nothing. You own nothing. You are free. All you have is what you are, and what you give.” ~ Ursula K. Le Guin
‘Nonviolence is a kind of energy that resides in an individual’
“We do not need different individuals in power so much as we need a different kind of power in individuals.” ~ Michael Nagler, The Search for a Nonviolent Future
Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance
The Times obtained Donald Trump’s tax information extending over more than two decades, revealing struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due.
Source: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance – The New York Times
Response to “We are fighting ‘two pandemics’ Covid-19 and stupidity” meme
I believe the “we” have always been fighting stupidity just as the “they” have always been fighting it too, just a different sort or from a different angle. I saw a headline today about “left-leaning groups” lobbying Biden over the defense budget. When writing and reporting for possibly millions of eyeballs, why don’t we use true descriptive words — like progressive, or ethical, or peaceful, or socially just, or traditional, change-averse, anti-innovation, religious, whatever — when we refer to groups or people associated with certain values, rather than generalizing by saying they are “left” and “right?” Is it because we have lazily allowed ourselves (and the media) to assume that everyone knows what left and right means (“good” and “bad” probably mostly), depending on what side you’re on? Rhetoric. Semantics. Language. La Langue. They are more powerful forces than most realize and we need to deploy them specifically and with great care and attention. ~ cjzurcher
Half the world is under stay-at-home orders
It’s comforting to know that I’m one of millions who are having a difficult time truly understanding what it means that half the world is under stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 virus. There’s a feeling of solidarity with those millions that you can, or maybe that you must take for granted. I would think that feeling — the feeling of being a part of a global community that shares the feelings that you’re having — I would think that alone might help ease the feelings, whether they are feelings of fear, anxiety, dread, boredom, or a gazillion other things that are the result of the absolutely unimaginable effects that a microscopic molecule is having on all the human inhabitants of this blue planet of ours.
Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break, and all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.” ~ L.R. Knost
How Weak I Am/Chain of Fools, Chris Webster and Nina Gerber
Two of my favorite artists.
Rilke says to stand guard over the solitude of each other
“I hold this to be the highest task of a bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of the other.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Do Not Forget Who You Are…
You are brave You are strong You are inspiring You are a king among all others Most importantly you are loved You are cherished You are appreciated You are valued You are someone’s everything. Couples affirmations -- Print as many as you like, or need. (download)
Allen Ginsberg on losing Kerouac Oct. 21, ’69
He threw up his hands
& wrote the universe dont exist
& died to prove it.
‘War is indiscriminate in our time’
“We need to decide that we will not go to war, whatever reason is conjured up by the politicians or the media, because war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children.” ~ Howard Zinn
Will it be already too late?
The French poet Aragon said “By the time we learn to live, it is already too late.”
New tax plan to promote equality, justice and peace!
Reuters says “White House to roll out tax cut plan mid-2020” — Filthy rich to pay fair share and society’s ills to be addressed …. Hahahahahahaha
Do you write to change the world?
“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” ~ James Baldwin
Are we really free to do what we want?
Why do we tend to let ourselves do only the things we think we’re good at, trained at, educated in, experienced with, experts at?
How do we do let go of this constraint? Why don’t we do it more often? And what happens when we do?
Which is to say: Don’t restrict yourself to doing only what you’re good at. Try doing something you yearn to do. Something that excites you. Something you may think you’re not good at but you’ve always wanted to try.
You’re never too small to make a difference
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, just think of sleeping with a mosquito in the room.” ~ Tenzin Gyatzo, 14th Dalai Lama
Also, from @SwissMiss: The ‘3.5% rule’: How a small minority can change the world: Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, confirms that civil disobedience is not only the moral choice; it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics – by a long way.