In reading the comments on the feed at Lifehack.org that I wrote about yesterday I’m struck by the tone of some of the comments. Life is not as some would have us believe an us vs. them. It’s not conservative vs. liberal. Life is very nuanced. Life in the 1960’s that’s drawn the ire of some conservatives was very unsettling. It was a time of flux much like today. There were wonderful things that happened like Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 1964 Worlds Fair, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. There were terrible things that happened like the little girls getting killed in the 16th Street Baptist church bombing, the Kennedy assasinations, the Martin Luther King assasination and the Vietnam war. Continue reading “Thoughts on the 1960’s and now”
Indebted
I’m indebted to a recent visitor to this blog for the following powerful message from Fr. Stan Fortuna, CFR. I had not heard of Fr. Stan nor his ministry until tonight, but I’m impressed and blessed. I hope you will be too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-aaKUnzfXA]
Bill Moyers trumps Turdblossom
I came across this video from Bill Moyers and PBS. It speaks for itself and framed by the last post this makes it all the more poignant.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmwdevPRycY]
All are welcome
Today as I made my way to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass I could not shut out the specter of war and an overall feeling of helplessness from my mind. Saber rattling by the Bush Administration both in Iraq and lately Iran, along with news that Russia has put its long range bomber fleet back into the air for the first time since 1992. As the father of two draft age children I cringe at the thought of a return to conscription. Continue reading “All are welcome”
Hacking democracy
This short video is worth watching. It came from NYC Ron Paul website. Here is a link to Dr. Ron Paul’s website. Ron Paul is one of my favorite anti-establishment candidates for President of the United States in 2008. Dr. Paul and Dennis Kucinich represent real people and not faceless corporations and that is the heart of our democracy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzPXer7946E]
Ohio
This song became the anthem of a generation that opposed the war in Vietnam. There is no question that Iraq is not quite as bad as Vietnam, but if you’re the relative of someone serving there numbers are not important. The life and health of your family member is the only important thing.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iPBm_cES94]
Working Assets’, Working for Change campaign to pressure pro-war Congressmen and women recalled to my mind the pressure that we had to exert back then to end the war. The lyrics and melody of this song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young still cause the hair on my arm to stand. I have not forgotten Vietnam nor its lessons. Human life is precious and war will never bring peace or security. War only brings more of itself.
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?Gotta get down to it
Well said..
I came across this video on TalkingPointsMemo. It’s to the point and part of what is wrong with both Democrats and Republicans.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRnAUFMSUZc]
No Room at the Inn
This short video clip chronicles some of the unbelievable devastation of the Kensington area of Philadelphia. We should have a new war on terror that focuses on the terror that our nation’s poor and homeless face each day. Continue reading “No Room at the Inn”
The Lord hears the cry of the poor..
I just got home from a few days at St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia. I went there to help and I was helped. St. Francis of Assisi said, “it is in giving that we receive,” and that is what happened. I have never witnessed such poverty nor ever lived among its victims and I am deeply touched by what I have witnessed. I don’t have the words yet for all that has happened in the last few days. There are not words adequate to explain what I have seen and heard. Continue reading “The Lord hears the cry of the poor..”
St. Francis Inn
Tonight while attending an Evening of Re-Creation at Mt. Irenaeus a fellow Secular Franciscan asked if I’d like to accompany a group of seculars to St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia, PA. I really wasn’t sure, but after asking my wife I consented to go. Continue reading “St. Francis Inn”