To President Obama and all 535 voting members of Congress:

It is now official you are ALL corrupt morons:

 The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775 You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.

Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.

War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and 45 years to transferred to “the poor” and they only want more.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.

Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.

The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every “government service” you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN a  HEALTH CARE SYSTEM?? 

Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end up in the e-mails of some of our “duly elected officials” in Washington !!

These thougts are floating about the web, thanks CK for sharing the input.

Take back our country and hold the highly paid officials accountable NOW!

 (Thanks CK for voicing the outrage and anger of so many Americans….)

I was pleased to open up my copy of Sojourners this month and see an interview with one of my heroes, Joel Salain, founder of Polyface Farms.  Some sweet excerpts:

Jeannie Choi: What’s the vision behind Polyface farm?

Joel Salatin: Healing—healing in all dimensions. We want to develop emotionally, environmentally, and economically enhancing agricultural prototypes throughout the world. We want to heal the relationships of the people involved with the farm and our business and our family. We want to heal the land, soil, air, water, and, ultimately, the food system.

From what disease is our current food system suffering?

Well, when is the last time a farmer went and asked for money from a banker and the banker said, “Well, that’s all well and good. I’m glad you’re going to be able to grow a corn crop. But what is that going to do to the earthworms? Or to the topsoil? Is that going to go down the Mississippi and add to the Rhode Island-sized dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico that’s been created because of erosion and run-off chemicals?”

We don’t measure those kinds of things, and yet each of us intuitively understands that those immeasurable or non-quantifiable parts in a business plan are actually the most precious resources we have.

How can we revolutionize the food industry?

Healing the food system would fundamentally flip-flop the political and economic powers of our culture. Wendell Berry says that what’s wrong with us creates more gross national product than what’s right with us. It’s a fantastic observation. Right now, our culture thrives on things being sick. Dead soil brings more people to chemical companies because they need chemical fertilizers, which makes people sick. When people are sick, obviously the medical establishment thrives. If a neighborhood or community’s food system is sick, then of course you need to import food from a foreign country, which stimulates global trade. So when you start talking about healing the food system, we need a fundamental realignment of all the power and money in our culture, and that’s why there is a tremendous amount of inertia against healing the system.

So what can we do? If you want to dream out of the box for a minute, here’s an idea: If every American for one week refused to eat at a fast-food joint, it would bring concentrated animal feeding operations to their knees. What can one person do? We have a sick, evil system, and a healing system, and the question is, which one are you going to feed? Have you gone down to the farmers market or patronized local livestock farms? Or have you had candy bars and cokes? Whichever one you’ve fed is going to get bigger, and the one you’ve starved is going to get smaller.

How does your faith inform your work?

It makes me want to farm like Jesus would if he were here right now, in charge of this place. God actually loved us and provided a salvation experience for us that shapes the way we should, with the same grace and appreciation and respect, honor the creation that God made. It’s in respecting and honoring the “pig-ness” of the pig that we create our ethical and moral background for respecting and honoring the “Tony-ness” of Tony and the “Mary-ness” of Mary. And so it’s how we respect and honor the “least of these” that creates a theological and philosophical framework for how we respect and honor the creation that God made. It’s in respecting and honoring the “pig-ness” of the pig that we create our ethical and moral background for respecting and honoring the “Tony-ness” of Tony and the “Mary-ness” of Mary. And so it’s how we respect and honor the “least of these” that creates a theological and philosophical framework for how we respect and honor the greatest of these.

Our culture simply views our plants and animals as so many inanimate piles of protoplasmic structure to be manipulated however cleverly hubris can imagine to manipulate it. I would suggest that a culture that views its life in that respect will be a culture that views its citizens and the citizens of other cultures in the same manipulative and arrogant way.

For the entire interview article, go here. And for an expanded audio interview with Salatin, go here.

His books are well worth reading (Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal is illuminating and outraging), as are these other articles about Polyface Farms.

Finally, I leave you with a video of Salatin and Chipotle founder Steve Ells, a food activist superstar in his own right.

Futurologia jest dosyć wyjątkową dyscypliną naukową. Najprościej rzecz ujmując jest to część nauki zajmująca się przewidywaniem i prognozowaniem przyszłości. Futurologia (future studies, foresight) narodziła się w czasie II wojny światowej. Wtedy powstały pierwsze systemowe rozwiązania mające na celu wspomaganie decyzji. Bo tym zajmuje się w dużej mierze futurologia – konstruowaniem scenariuszy przyszłości po to by wspomagać decyzje podejmowane teraz – tak by jak najbardziej zwiększyć prawdopodobieństwo wystąpienia scenariusza najbardziej pożądanego przez decydenta.

Po II wojnie światowej zaczęły powstawać cywilne firmy foresightowe oferujące swoje usługi organom rządowym, organizacjom pozarządowym lub międzynarodowym czy podmiotom biznesowym, takim jak duże, międzynarodowe korporacje. Najsłynniejszą bodaj takiego rodzaju firmą jest amerykańska RAND Corporation.

Obecnie istnieje na świecie wiele instytucji – naukowych, rządowych czy prywatnych – zajmujących się foresightem (czyli przewidywaniem przyszłości – oczywiście nie chodzi tutaj o wróżenie ale o zastosowanie narzędzi o ściśle ustalonej metodyce). Prawdopodobnie większa część dużych korporacji utrzymuje zespół ludzi zajmujący się foresightem, zwykle powiązany z departamentami strategii i analiz bądź departamentami R&D. Uczelnie także często zajmują się projektami tego typu, przykładem może być projekt SCENES (Water Scenarios for Europe and Neighbouring States) współtworzony przez moją rodzimą uczelnię – Szkołę Główną Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego. Nawet polski rząd zaczyna nieśmiało wykorzystywać narzędzia futurologiczne do tworzenia scenariuszy rozwoju (lub jego braku) naszego kraju czego przykładem jest Narodowy Program Foresight Polska 2020.

Na odrębnych stronach zlokalizowanych na pasku bocznym będę zamieszczał opisy najpopularniejszych technik stosowanych w projektach typu foresight. Są to dosyć proste metody pracy grupowej więc tak naprawdę każdy może być futurologiem. Każdy może z przyjaciółmi lub rodziną pobawić się w futurologię wybierając sobie jedną z technik foresightu oraz obierając temat do analizy. Może to być coś tak poważnego jak przyszłość polskiej energetyki lub coś bardziej wesołego w stylu np. przyszłości politycznej naszego „genialnego” premiera Donalda. Może to być nawet temat niezwiązany z futurologią. Metody te są bardzo elastyczne i mogą być zastosowane do analizy różnorodnych tematów, obszarów (np. przemysłu czy życia społecznego), zagadnień geopolitycznych, środowiskowych czy trendów konsumenckich a nawet do terapii psychologicznej.

Soo…9 days without Facebook. What have I been doing with myself? Mowing the lawn, taking long walks outside, working on projects for work and school; I’ve also been revisiting the various social networks and micro-networks I’ve joined over the last several years…and I’ve joined a coupla more. Presented here, for my benefit and yours, are the places I’m connected to online – and why I’m on a particular network. This doesn’t count email discussion groups I’m part of; I suppose that’d be a whole ‘nother post!

General/Meta

Twitter – @zoecarnate

FriendFeed – FriendFeed is awesome; let’s hope Facebook buying them doesn’t screw it up.

LinkedIn – my business, my biz-nass.

Myspace – because sometimes I’m nostalgic for 2003.

Plaxo – does anyone remember what Plaxo is for?

YouTube – my vids, vids, vids.

Futurist

ShapingTomorrow – a large global community; primarily devoted to environmental scanning and trend analysis

The New Futurists – a younger crop of futurists, centered primarily in the northeast United States.

Faith

TransFORM – there’s more than meets the eye here.

Christiarchy! – Christian anarchists and Anabaptists (is there a difference?)

Christian Mysticism & Contemplative Spirituality – what it says. Contemplate that.

Missional Tribe – this one had a strong start but I think WordPress infrastructure, while great for blogs, isn’t great for supporting social networks.

Recovering Evangelical – hee-hee.

Metro Atlanta Emergent Cohort – my once and future cohort.

The Hyphenateds:

Anglimergent – I’m not Episcopalian, but I’m inspired by ‘em…especially St Gregory of Nyssa in San Francisco.

Baptimergent – I’m not Baptist, but I used to be! And I’m inspired by New Community Church in Raleigh.

Emerging Leaders Network – aka Luthermergent. I’m not Lutheran, but…you see where this is going? Mad props to House For All in Denver.

The Common Root – formerly Submergent; an awesome group of Anabaptist-minded peeps.

QuakerQuaker – aka Convergent Friends.

House Church Homies

Simple Church

Organic Church Today

Healing Communities

Bleeding-Edge Creatives

Love Is Concrete – you can actually draw stuff in this network.

Wisefire – a great group of people.

iEvolve: Global Practice Community – Integral peeps.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve heard that last week an army psychologist, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, opened fire at Fort Hood and killed 13 people. You’ve probably also heard the inevitable discussion that follows senseless violent tragedy, focusing on the nearly-unanswerable question “Why?” From a ’systems thinking’ point of view, there are many legitimate facets to put on the table, including mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, the general morale and collective mental state of troops involved in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, and – yes – the influence of radicalized, fundamentalist Islam.

All well and necessary. But what happens when fundamentalist Christians – and their more respectable evangelical neighbors – ignore 3 of the 4 above factors and generalize the last one, painting all Muslims as a potential fifth column ’sleeper cell’ in our midst? It isn’t pretty. I’ve been avoiding the typical watering holes for such ‘reasoning’ – Fox News, CBN, WorldNetDaily. I know better. But one place I’ve been unable to avoid seeing it is on my own Facebook network. In some cases dear friends making statements like “If three friends from my local [Christian] congregation were involved in shootings, I don’t know if you could claim that my religion is peaceful. Hmm.” What follows is some of my tentative, in-process response, to my friends and family members who are scared, and want to know how followers of Jesus should respond in the wake of this tragedy.

Where to begin? First off, I do agree that Major Hasan had some shady connections. Not only was he not investigated for those connections, but he was actually appointed by the Bush administration to be high up in Homeland Security if this source is to be believed! This is very odd, and needs to be investigated.

But I’ve gotta be honest with you: It makes me sick to my stomach to hear people compare the best of their faith with the worst in others’ faiths. Of course your truncated version of Christianity will come out smelling like a rose! But we cannot forget that we have a legacy of violence, terror, shame, and intimidation along with the worst of Islam. We too have ‘texts of terror’ in our sacred scriptures, and we do best to handle them with the utmost care so as not to let their volatility spill out into the fragility of our interconnected lives. How is caricaturing a faith held by a billion people worldwide loving our enemies? How is it going to show them the love of Christ?

I agree that PTSD doesn’t excuse someone for their actions. But as someone who personally suffers from anxiety-related issues, I can assure you it’s very real. Radical Islam is doubtless a factor in this man’s thinking, but it’s equally obvious to me that he tried, repeatedly, to get discharged so that he would not enter an arena of war that is increasingly demoralizing our troops – troops that he dealt with frequently as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed hospital. Suicide and domestic violence rates are up exponentially among troops involved in our neverending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. If we Christians wish to focus our indignation somewhere, perhaps it should be on why we entered these zero-sum conflicts to begin with.

Does The Qur’an Uniformly Promote Violence?

So we all hear the ‘naughty bits’ of the Qur’an trumpeted daily via sources like FAUX FOX news and WND, and on increasingly hysterical and polarizing talk radio. But have we ever heard these passages?

“On that account: We (Allah) ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land. (The Noble Qur’an, 5:32)”

“Fight in the cause of Allah (God) those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah (God) loveth not transgressors. (The Noble Qur’an, 2:190)”

“But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in Allah (God) : for He is One that heareth and knoweth (all things). (The Noble Qur’an, 8:61)”

“If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear God, the cherisher of the worlds. (The Noble Qur’an, 5:28)”

“Allah does not forbid you from showing kindness and dealing justly with those who have not fought you about religion and have not driven you out of your homes. Allah loves just dealers. (The Noble Qur’an, 60:8)”

“And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah (God). But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrongdoers. (The Noble Qur’an 2:193)”

“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things. (The Noble Qur’an, 2:256)”

“Say, ‘The truth is from your Lord’: Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it):……(The Noble Qur’an, 18:29)”

“If it had been thy Lord’s will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! Wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe? (The Noble Quran, 10:99)”

“Say: ‘Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger: but if ye turn away, he is only responsible for the duty placed on him and ye for that placed on you. If ye obey him, ye shall be on right guidance. The Messenger’s duty is only to preach the clear (Message). (The Noble Quran, 24:54)”

“Say : O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine. (The Noble Qur’an, 109:1-6)”

Allah Almighty loves those who restrain anger: “Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all) men; for Allah loves those who do good. (The Noble Qur’an, 3:134)”

“And you (O Muslims) shall certainly hear much that will grieve you from those who received the Scripture before you (Jews and Christians) and from those who ascribe partners to Allah; but if you persevere patiently, and become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious) then verily, that will be a determining factor in all affairs” (The Noble Qur’an 3:186)

Narrated Aisha(prophet’s wife) : “Whenever the Prophet was given an option between two things, he used to select the easier of the tow as long as it was not sinful; but if it was sinful, he would remain far from it. By Allah, he never took revenge for himself concerning any matter that was presented to him, but when Allah’s Limits were transgressed, he would take revenge for Allah’s Sake. (Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Limits and Punishments set by Allah (Hudood), Volume 8, Book 81, Number 777)”

The Prophet said, “When Allah had finished His creation, He wrote over his Throne: ‘My Mercy preceded My Anger.’

…these are just a few passages that some quick research pulled up. They adequately illustrate, I think, that the Qur’an is a multifaceted work that requires thoughtful interpretation; a text that provides ample inspiration for living a life of peace and love toward God and each other…just like the Bible for Christians. (No, I’m not saying their identically equivalent, nor am I saying that the Qur’an is my holy book. Only that we shouldn’t blithely quote a few less-than-flattering passages out of context and then claim that terrorists are ‘being good Muslims’ by emulating them. That’s not good hermeneutics for any faith. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and all that jazz.)

Extending Hospitality in the Name of Jesus

Some of my friends are upset that I’d quote peaceful passages from the Qur’an and spend so much energy defending Muslims from their detractors. “Why defend a false and hateful religion?” they implore. This makes me think of the psychological term projection. We tend to externalize what we most fear within ourselves. People who find falsehood and hatred in others’ faiths might be anxious about their own collective legacy of deceit and mistreatment of outsiders. If we don’t deal with our shadow sides, we tend to see them writ large in the external world. As Richard Rohr puts it, “If we don’t transform our pain, we transmit it.”

Jesus tells us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. I don’t want to be Pollyanna-ish about the current state of affairs: I know that there are violent Muslims in the world, and I know that I would not want to live in several countries where extreme interpretations of Sharia law are in place – laws that severely restrict the freedom of women, of faith, and of conscience. Please understand this, all friends who think that I (and hordes of ’self-hating liberal Christians,’ I suppose) am simplistically giving the entire Islamic world of all facets a blank check. I had a great Global Civilizations teacher in undergrad days – s/he had ties to US Intelligence. And I’ve kept up with reading since then. I am not hiding my head in the sand from certain harsher global realities. What I am doing, though, is soberly acknowledging the truth of Jesus’ words – violence begets violence. A cursory examination of the past thousand years of world history – of Christian Crusaders versus Muslim Crusaders, of the West versus the Ottoman Empire, of America funding Islamic leaders over and against Communism during the Cold War when it suited our purposes, then reversing support – shows a vicious cycle of manipulation, domination, and propaganda against ‘the Enemy’ – on both sides. And now, thanks in part to the Internet, peace-loving people on all sides of this conflict are saying ‘Enough!’

For me as a follower of Jesus, I believe that hospitality is the antidote to violence in our day. In the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, God commands us to show love and hospitality to three kinds of people: Strangers, Neighbors, and Enemies. (Also Widows, Orphans, and Immigrants, but those can be considered under the previous headings, yes?) Jesus came to offer us a Way out of the patterns of violence and oppression that beset us. In first century Palestine, the ‘ways of being’ in the world were either that you were with Empire (as a Roman citizen and/or a member of the Herodian ruling Jewish elite), warily alongside empire, but focusing on personal piety (like the Pharisee party), a separatist (like the Essenes), or a violent revolutionary (like the Sicarii or Zealot Party). Jesus accurately predicted that these four options would lead to death and destruction, especially for the people of God, as they were all based on fear of ‘the other’ and self-preservation. (This happened, by the way, in AD 70, as Jerusalem was consumed with a bloody civil war and then finished off by Roman armies. It was the end of an epoch; this is what Jesus wept over.) The only way out of this deadly impasse, ironically, was to lose one’s life in self-giving love  – especially toward The Other.

So which is it, contemporary Western Christians? Are Muslims our neighbors? Frankly, we have to do a much better job getting to know them – as people, and on their own terms – before we have the right to refer to Muslims living in our locality as our neighbors. So are they Strangers? Probably. Are they enemies? Probably not, not any Muslims you personally know. (Remember, projection! What have the actual Muslims in your community, and at your job, ever done to you? Sit with God a moment and see what shadows seep out from within; name them for what they are, and release them back to the compassionate and truthful One. See how this enlarges your perspective.) But even if they were enemies, even if all Muslims were our honest-to-God enemies – then what is our responsibility toward them? Jesus once again has a real counter-intuitive zinger:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (from Matthew 5)

Perfection according to God is expression love and doing good toward “the just and unjust” alike. This shouldn’t surprise Christians, since our Scripture boldly proclaims that God is love, and that those who have love have God. This is certainly the scandalous, prodigal inclusion Jesus practices toward the ‘Muslim’ of his day, the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Think about it: First century Samaritans were to Jews what 21st century Muslims are to Christians: Same family tree, divergent ideas about God, legitimate prophets, and worship. Many Jews of Jesus’ day – like many Christians of our own – shunned the SamariMuslims, finding their worship and culture backwards and oppressive. But Jesus, while he did get a word in edgewise about the technical correct-ness of Jewish worship (I guess He couldn’t help Himself), re-oriented the both of them to a coming eschaton where the minutiae of theology and modalities of worship would fade away in light of the brilliant soon-coming epoch were all people would worship together in spirit and reality. We might not be quite there yet – and we shouldn’t gloss over differences, but discuss them, passionately, once we have a relational right to – but abundant, joyful hospitality to strangers, neighbors, and enemies is the Royal Road of Love that Jesus invites us to walk.

It’s Really All About God

A book by this title by Christian pastor Samir Selmanovic has been saving my sanity in these tumultuous times. Do yourself a favor and read it. If you’re too cheap to immediately spring for a copy merely on my recommendation, listen to this recent talk he gave. And hear him read excerpts from his book. But then buy it! You’ll be glad you did.

While you’re reading, I’d also recommend Sufi poetry, by folks like Rumi and Hafiz. The point in gaining appreciation for the peace and love expressed by the vast majority of Islam is not to convert to Islam, or to excuse the very real atrocities carried out by a minority of those professing Islam. Rather, by comparing their best to our best, Christians can have better conversations and relationships with real-life Muslims who suffer – a lot – whenever an incident like the Ft Hood Shootings splash across the media.

Recommended Contemporary Muslim Reading:

Eboo Patel
Zia Sardar
Alt.Muslim
Muslim Futures Network
Islamicate
Muslim Peace Fellowship
Islam Is Peace

Placing the shooting in perspective

Muslim Communities Rally To Support Victims of Fort Hood
Why Home-Grown Islamic Terrorism Isn’t A Threat
Don’t blame Islam for Fort Hood killings, Baptist leader says
The Fort Hood Shootings and the White Privilege of Disassociation
Fort Hood and Prejudice
Five Futures for Muslims by Sohail Inayatullah

That’s it for now. Shalom, Salaam, and Pax Christi.

…sanoi entinen ukko jo kymmenettä vuotta kuolleena olleesta muijastaan.

Aattelin tässä ohijuostessa päivittää blogitilanteen, ikään kuin tarkastaakseni, onko uutta kirjailun aihetta.

Eipä näytä olevan, sillä kaikki on entisellään kuin tuon ukon muija: puoluerahasotkut elävät jo ihan omaa elämäänsä, ainoastaan Keskusrikospoliisi taitaa alkaa lopultakin aktivoitua. RAY:ssa ja muissa rahastoissa ja säätiöissä yritetään sen sijaan keksiä uusia tapoja kiertää säännöt. Ja se onnistunee, onhan Suomessa vielä päteviä lakimiehiä.

Talous on edelleen taantumassa, eikä hevillä näytä sieltä nousevan. Ihmisiä aletaan pikkuhiljaa innostaa joulu-hypeen. Se onnistuu niin, että valutellaan mediaan pieniä positiivisuuksia hölmöimpien uskottavaksi. Nämä ihmiset juoksevat ajallaan kauppoihin ostamaan lahjansa luotolle. Kevät koittaakin sitten entisiä maksellessa.

Sillä totuushan lienee se, että vain köyhimmät ostavat tuloihinsa verrattuna eniten. Ne joilla rahaa on, säästelevät ostamalla vähemmän ja laadukkainta. Tulojen suhteen kansan ylimmälle desiilille lienee sama mitä ostavat tai jättävät ostamatta, kun eivät kuitenkaan tarvitse käydä kaupoissa. Kodinhoitajat ja chaufförithän sen tekevät.

Mitenkäs poliittisella rintamalla sitten hurisee. Ennallaan sekin. Jopa niin pitkälle, että pääministeri Vanhanen ei enää kuuntele edes omiaan. Ja oikeastaan: mitäpä järkeä olisikaan kierrättää ministereitä. Toinen vanha sanontahan kuuluu: sama paska uudessa paketissa.

Loppuun hjuumoripläjäys: Vanhasen rakennukselta ei löytynyt tuppeensahattua lautakasaa. Ai, etteikö naurattanut?! No, näin lama-aikaan vitsitkin ovat kokeneet alennustilan. Valitettavasti.

Palataan asiaan, jos jotakin muutosta tapahtuu valtiossa nimeltä Suomi. Sillä aikaa en mene sikaflunssarokotusjonoon. Siellä saa kuulemma turpiinsa varmemmin kuin uudenvuodenyönä asematunnelissa.

So the end of the year is coming up and that means holiday season (fuck my wallet lol). But it also means a new year approaching and lookin back at the year passing. And when I look back at my year I think its been actually ok. I started off movin back to Brooklyn, wasn’t to thrilled about it but so far so good. Got rid of my ex-girlfriend, had trio date for Valentines Day lol. Lost my grandmother (R.I.P.) after my b-day, one point I almost became unemployed. Summer went by quickly didn’t really do much. Lost my best friend, got my best friend back. Back into school. Became a twitter addict. Met some new/old friend (shellaine, lauren, kalli). Created brand new (seems to be long lasting) friendships (nina, ashley, ashley, beth, karina, kennya, kaliyah, khadija, tai, crystal,) wow that’s a lot. Up for promotion. My  contact list got pregnant lmao. Family issues still lie. New money. New lifestyle. New mindset. New Steven. But so many things I’ve left on table to gain and achieve. My apartment. My license. My tattoos. Better money. Better lifestyle. Great mindset. Best Steven. So as these two months start to wind down I must enjoy it for as the new year comes its back to work. So I can make it the year of Stevinchy lmao

Yesterday, 29 October 2009, marked forty years since the first pieces of data travelled via a computer connection between the University of California in Los Angeles and the Stanford Research Institute. The BBC published an insightful account of the fascinating early years of the internet, which by 1971 was already connecting universities on the East and the West Coast of USA. Looking at the two solitary lines on the map illustrating the early net I could not help but feel overwhelmed by the speed of the change which has thrown us into the super-connected super-fast world of today. And I wonder if in 2050 there might be someone, writing a blog or whatever the communication channel of the day is, reviewing technology from 2010 and thinking “If they only knew what was coming at them…”

Following the links on the BBC website I listened to the oldest computer music recording – Baa Baa Black Sheep - played on a Ferranti Mark 1 computer at the University of Manchester in 1951. Below is a photo of the “Player” followed by a photo of a music player of today. Can you spot the 7 differences?

In coverage of the other astonishing talents of the machine, a BBC reporter breathless with excitement revealed that “the electronic brain” could tell you whether 2 to the power of 127 is a prime number in 25 minutes, compared to the 6 months it would take for the human brain to make the calculation.

Every time that I get reminded of the amazing progress that has been achieved since these early days of computer technology, I ask myself – what could possibly come next? Can a music player become even smaller? Or bigger? Or disappear completely and leave the music streaming through the air? Sometimes I discover I sympathise more than I would have liked with Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of the US Office of Patents who said in 1899 that “Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

 Any trip down history lane would be wasted if one comes back without a lesson or two for the future. One of the comments in the BBC material on the early net could turn out to be just that. It is about the initial reaction to the idea for a computer network – “A horrible idea” people thought. Larry Roberts, the MIT scientist who was working on the project said that institutions were opposing the concept because they wanted to keep control of their resources. Now that objection suddenly does not come across as outdated and archaic as the Ba Ba Black Sheep music player, does it? Blackboard, anyone? Are there ground-breaking, rule-bending, mind-blowing innovations at the door step of higher education institutions today that are being shunned because people want to keep control of their resources?  What can we do about it?

Sandra Romenska

30/10/2009

BDRA

In the olden days of Los Frios the entire town owned a single pair of shoes. When someone needed to go into the nearby city of San Juan they would take the single pair of shoes sling them around their shoulders by the laces and walk to the city. After crossing miles of rough terrain on foot they would reach the final river before entering the city. The rivers name translates from Spanish into English as, ”Wash your feet here.” There the traveler would wash his feet, put the shoes on, and strut proudly into town wearing the borrowed shoes.

I finally saw him swaggering in with an overstuffed camping pack on his back.

Saturday, September 5, 2009 9:45am I stood near the window of the cafe on the second floor overlooking the waiting area at Caribe Tours. Byron would be showing up any minute now. Eight-thirty had turned into nine and finally almost ten o’clock I was beginning to wonder what had happened to him. I went out front to smoke a cigarette finished up and walked back inside the air conditioned terminal to the waiting area on the first floor. At about eight minutes until ten I finally saw him swaggering in with an overstuffed camping pack on his back. As soon as he removed the floppy brown brimmed hat I was absolutely sure.

A couple of German tourists held him up at the airport, he explained. They split a cab into the city so he could drop them off at Pension Quisqueya where he recommended they stay. The fare for the couple came to six hundred Dominican Pesos, they only had eight US Dollars not even enough to cover half of what they owed, no Euros, nothing, just their word. “We can send you money.” They promised. The card he gave them had printed on it, Byron Holcomb, Young Tree Coffee. It would be nice if they would. With just minutes to spare we boarded up the next bus heading North toward San Juan making our way to Los Frios.

A single electric bulb sent sharp deep golden rays shining from the slats in the windows of Antonio’s house.

Saturday, September 5, 2009 6:30pm At near sunset Antonio, Byron’s farm manager and good friend, led us to the edge of one property near his house where the cell phone reception is clearest. The golden light was spilling onto Byron, Antonio, and all of the children following close behind. Another man showed up and the three of them discussed matters of the farm.

The sunset view from where they all stood looked over Byron’s property in the valley below. You could see the tall shade trees in a dense thicket which formed part of his farm. After wards the sun went down and the misty clouds made ghosts of everyone. A single electric bulb sent sharp deep golden rays shining from the slats in the windows of Antonio’s house. Eventually we walked back in the dark Byron lighting up the path with his blueish LED headlamp.

His broken leg was propped up on the couch covered with a blanket

Sunday, September 6, 2009 6:00pm “Euplina is telling me about the way things used to be in Los Frios.” Byron spoke with a wide grin on his face between one of her stories. I was listening politely but do could not understand most of what she was saying I continued eating the dinner that she had cooked for us rice and beans, boiled plantains and yukka. After dinner we all joined Lin, Euplinas husband, in their living room. His broken leg was propped up on the couch covered with a blanket, underneath crude looking bolts and screws were driven deep into the bone like someone had built a scaffolding around his limb with an erector set.

The couple who appeared to be in their sixties recounted old stories about Los Frios concerned that they might bore us. Byron however could spend hours with Lin and Euplina, and he has, having lived in Los Frios for two years as a Peace Corp volunteer. “The first time I met Lin,” Byron likes telling this story, “I thought he was going to shoot me.”

some older people complain about the passing of the olden days, they say back then there was no delinquency in society.

These days Lin who used to break wild horses and mules is recovering from a motorcycle accident from six months ago on one of the muddy steep roads. Euplina offered to heat up some milk for us then disappeared into the kitchen. Byron is like a son to them and he admires and respects them as if they were his own mother and father. He laughed again translating what Euplina had just told him, “She says that some older people complain about the passing of the olden days, they say back then there was no delinquency in society. But she also says, there wasn’t much of anything else either.”

Monday, September 7, 2009 9:00am Antonio was busy pulling up a plant from the ground, it is a tuber or root called rabano it grows the way potatoes do. “He planted this particular root because I like it so much.” Byron proudly told me, “Whenever Antonio pulls up anything he plants two or three more.” After inspecting the root they throw most of it away. “The rats have eaten it.” 

I watched as Antonio hacked away at the thickest branch of the rabano that he had pulled up holding it in the air with one hand slicing off arm length pieces with wedge shaped incisions at either end. The machete was then driven into the ground to dig a shallow hole to insert the branch. Scattered around I could see where other branches had been planted some rabano, mostly yukka, another root that is planted in the same manner.

Our synthetic woven sacks and tin buckets used to collect the coffee were placed on the ground, filled with what we had picked all morning.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 1:00pm We had been picking coffee all morning, eight workers in a pack scouring each tree by hand, careful to leave the unripe cherries, picking only those that were ready or beyond ready. When coffee is left beyond its optimal time to be picked as a red cherry it will eventually dry on the branch in the sun, it gets shriveled up like a raisin becoming black and hard. Our synthetic woven sacks and tin buckets used to collect the coffee were placed on the ground, filled with what we had picked all morning.

The meal that morning was similar to what we had at every meal on the job, boiled plantains and yukka, rice and beans. For the most part we ate quietly, resting. Byron showed up after most of us had already started eating. “¿Como tú ta?” He asked, everyone replied, “bien” or “muy bien” One of the workers then explained in Spanish how bien is always the answer you will always hear from a Dominican when you ask how they are doing.

Local wisdom dictates that it is best to accept the present state and focus on moving forward. “I learned that lesson early on” Byron later told me about an experience he had years ago. He was visiting, sending his condolences to a Dominican family, friends of his from the area and there they were getting ready to bury the deceased when he greeted them. He says he was shocked and surprised that they could answer him saying things were good.

like rice crispy cereal, a steady smoldering snap, crackle, pop.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:45pm There were a million tiny pine trees all sprouting tiny little pine needles in a single tassel on a single branch each separated by the tiny round pot it grew in. In a single glance the whole life of the pine flashed before my eyes, trees at every stage of life. A bed of pine cones was laid out in the sun to harvest their seeds they crackled like rice crispy cereal, a steady smoldering snap, crackle, pop.

I returned from wandering around the property and found Byron again. “How much longer?” I asked wondering when the Sur Futuro coffee meeting would be finishing up. ”Two more hours.” he said confidently. “Really?” I asked as more of a question of the existence of an itinerary at all. “It is always two more hours when you are in the Dominican Republic.” He qualified.

Running my hands through my hair it felt course and dry, dusty and ridged.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:00pm Traveling up the steep clay and mud road on the bed of a four wheel drive pick-up truck there were about seven people in the back and a few more crammed into the cab. A young man on a motorcycle by the side of the road got the attention of one of the passengers sitting in the back sliding his pointed index finger along the bottom of his neck. The young woman began sobbing.

We got off the truck at Lin’s house he sat a plastic lawn chair on his patio resting his broken leg upon a second chair. It looked like an infection had been spreading. The day before he had to have it re-set because it was not lined up correctly, painfully it had been rebroken. Byron spoke for awhile explaining the significance of the Sur Futuro meeting we were just returning from. Running my hands through my hair it felt course and dry, dusty and ridged.

Lin had already heard about the death, the news of which was just reaching the young woman on the truck. Her younger sister who had been living in the United States was tragically shot when a gun accidentally went off. Lin’s father, Ramoncito a shrinking man with leathery skin who had been quietly standing nearby now joined the conversation. “Machetes are for planting yukka, guns are only for killing.” Byron translated for me.

The sun was setting making the clouds a pinkish salmon tangerine color against the clear blue patches of sky.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 6:50pm We climbed the steep hill to the top where Boliviar’s house is. From up here there is an unobstructed view of the mountains except for the tops of the pine trees and a few small bushes that form a green fence around the small dirt yard. The sun was setting making the clouds a pinkish salmon tangerine color against the clear blue patches of sky. We sat down on five simple wooden chairs Boliviar, his wife, his daughter, Byron, and myself, leaving his young boy standing by curiously watching the conversation.

It was about a copy of a birth certificate that Byron needs to square away some legal paperwork concerning land he has purchased. Byron and Boliviar dance around the subject as I watch a rooster poking his head out of a sack in the shack that is their kitchen wiggling in vain for his freedom as flames dance in the fire pit nearby. On the way back Byron was counting the amount of times has had to ask Boliviar about this paperwork while I was counted the pine tree lined peaks in the distance.

the conversation eventually turned to the weather, the flooding to be more accurate.

Friday, September 18, 2009 9:00pm “I have some terrible news,” he began. I ran into Byron a week after we had returned from the Dominican Republic. This sounded serious, I thought someone had died. “Well, not terrible” he clarified. We had run into each other at the Castleberry Hill art stroll in Southwest downtown Atlanta. “That makes it sounds like something really bad happened.” I was a bit relieved. He continued, ”I got laid off from Counter Culture.” He was still absorbing the shock of it. “What happened?” I asked, this seemed so unexpected. He explained that the company came to the decision to cut four full time positions and he happened to be one of them. He had already begun to tap his network of contacts in search of a new job.

There was not much else to say about the subject that would help and the conversation eventually turned to the weather, the flooding to be more accurate. “The Krog Street tunnel was completely under water.” Someone else in the group was saying. “One poor guy had just moved his family back into their home in cabbage town after finally finishing months of repairs from last years tornado.” His house was now a disaster once again, he has decided to call it quits, sell it for cheap, and move out.

In the DR till November 24th Byrons status update reads. It takes foresight to endure present hardship for an uncertain future yield. In environments so removed from rituals of perseverence time is perceived as a unit that mournfully slips away. “There is no such thing as not enough time.” Byron told me before he left to spend seven weeks back in Los Frios patiently harvesting this years crop of coffee. Agriculture, it is said, provided the means for civilization, that uniquely human phenomenon. Perhaps farming was the first step, the very first human act of faith, it seems an appropriate place to start again. (a)

www.youngtreecoffee.com

I have this horrible/wonderful problem/gift.  It’s called way too much foresight.  Dictionary.com says that Foresight is:

A couple of years ago when I was in between jobs I paid way too much money to take do Aptitude testing.  I spent two days taking all sorts of tests, from using tweezers to stick pins in a board to hearing tones and determining whether it was higher or lower than the tone preceding it.  The one area I scored virtually off the charts was foresight.

The problem piece is this: it can be incredibly difficult for me to stay in the moment.  I can be having the best time of my life, learning a new sport, starting a new relationship or a new job or a new project, and sometimes all I can think about is where this will take me.  I think 5 or 10 years ahead of myself constantly.  I get impatient if I feel like things aren’t moving forward as fast as I’d like them too.  Climbing for instance.  I started  climbing in January, and instantly became obsessed with it.  I’d hit the climbing gym 2-3 hours a night a few times a week and loved every minute of it.  But all I could think about was when I could get to the next level, and when I started to plateau I got frustrated and now I’ve sort of dropped off.

In new jobs, I usually love the first few months, when everything is new and I feel like I’m learning and progressing.  Once I can do it in my sleep I get bored and miserable.  I hate doing little pointless projects, but I like planning and long term strategy.  Unfortunately at the level where I am in my career there are a lot of little one off things.

The gift part of this equation?  I have incredibly vivid and beautiful daydreams.  I zone out for awhile and fantasize about where my life is headed.  Lately this involves teaching at a little liberal arts college somewhere.  I can picture my office, books bursting from the built-in shelves, the unmistakable smell of well-thumbed pages.  I picture a little cottage house with a teeming garden in the back, full of zucchini and tomatoes and spaghetti squash and green beans.  My house has overstuffed couches and armchairs, perfect for curling up with a book, and really great lighting.  The kitchen is, of course, spectacular.  Deep cabinets, a six-burner stove, a big island 4″ higher than standard counter height (because I am 4″ taller than the standard woman), double ovens…  There is a little sun-drenched office for me, tucked away in a corner, exploding with books.

My life may not turn out that way, in fact the chances are pretty slim.  Still, I wouldn’t trade my daydreams for anything.

Dagoo- During interviews with village leaders in Kersa Illala about this program, they compared key elements of this program to “Dagoo”.  Dagoo was a term used that described when the villagers would gather together and work as a group in support of one another.  This spirit of working together for a common cause has become lost in the villagers efforts to simply survive.  Villagers described Dagoo as a “dead word” and look favorably on the days when “people used to know the value of dagoo”.  One villager made the statement “Since the word dagoo disappeared from the society they have seen poverty enter into the village.  In the past, when people helped each other, no one knew whether they had an ox or not, everyone helped each other and there were no poor.”  A goal of the program is to help bring the spirit of “dagoo” alive in the village of Kersa Illala.  Key elements of this program are based upon the principles of dagoo including; hard work, obligation, support of community and quality. Dagoo Harawaa means “The New Dagoo”.

Dagoo is helping your neighbors plant and harvest their crops.

Dagoo is working as a village to repair roads that arent your own.

Dagoo is taking in your extended family members to help take care of them.

Dagoo is helping to improve the local public school so that more children will received an education.

Dagoo is giving up what little you have to help each other.

Do you have the spirit of DAGOO in your heart?

Have you helped someone in your community during this financial crisis? Do you look out for the people in your neighborhood & your extended family members? Have you donated your time or energy or resources to a worthy cause?

We can learn from the spirit and hearts of the people in Kersa. What can YOU do to bring the spirit of Dagoo home?

Lately I’ve been worrying that we really are storing up a problem for the future unless we find a way of helping children to take more regular exercise.  Just this week the British Heart Foundation reported that only one in eight young people is getting the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day.  This is based on a survey they did in July and August, involving over 1,000 8-15 year olds.   This is a new problem – anyone who has tried to keep a toddler still for more than 30 seconds knows that a young child is a study in perpetual motion!  Children have been naturally active throughout the millennia, so what is the current lifestyle in the developed world doing to change this and how we can move things back to the way they have always been?

I’m particularly concerned about this from the perspective of the latest research on physical exercise and psychological well-being.  The connection between the two has now been shown to be so strong that some people are calling exercise “the magic bullet” for treating stress and improving how we feel about ourselves and our world.

Exercise is one of the most sure-fire ways of lifting your mood – for a number of reasons.  Some of these relate to feeling better about ourselves and making new social contacts.  Then there is the automatic release of feel-good chemicals in the brain triggered by physical exercise and the effect that has on psychological well-being.  When a threatening situation increases the amount of adrenalin in our body, physical exercise helps us to use this up so that it doesn’t turn into stress.  What’s more, people who take regular exercise report lower depression scores than those who don’t .

So it’s vitally important that we think about the long-term implications of lack of exercise for the mental well-being of future generations.  Mental well-being is high on the agenda these days: Foresight (which I’ve featured here before),  BIS’s engagement report, Dame Carol Black and the Boorman review have raise the public’s awareness in general. Of these, Foresight was the one that really focused on childhood and the needs of children in this respect and we must not lose sight of its recommendations: http://www.foresight.gov.uk/OurWork/ActiveProjects/Mental%20Capital/Welcome.asp

And to finish, here are a couple of fun ideas – and the kind of thing I think we need to see more of.  One of my colleagues was in Singapore recently.  The government there is trying hard to encourage everyone to take more exercise, but there isn’t a lot of outdoor space in Singapore.  So they’ve built amazing curving wooden walkways across the city from one park to another, and families are using the walkways to exercise and socialise at the same time.  Also while in Singapore my colleague spotted thousands of people gathering outside her hotel in preparation for a marathon.  She wondered what route they would be taking, but all was revealed when she was told it was a vertical marathon – they ran up the stairs of her hotel, all 73 stories of South East Asia’s tallest hotel! We need to think outside the box and make exercise for the young the norm again.

I would like to extend special regards and greetings to you in the behalf of sponsored family in the village of Kersa Ilala, communities and my self.

Peace and Love be to you, your friends, relatives, neighbors and families.

You are so special people who really love and care the poor. We are so happy and proud to have you there.  Our village has been changing since you have started to support us. The families are so happy and proud to have you because they get quality education at private school, because they get opportunity to work and earn some amount of payment that they may use it to help their family by participating in “Dagoo Harawaa”- team-work.

The sponsored family do not benefit themselves only but also help the weak in the village by repairing their homes, fencing, making roads in the village, harvesting for the poor.

These all are because of your decision to help and sponsor families here.

I am, specially, grateful to CHURCH OF LATER DAYS SAINTS. Lon and Deanna, the founders of the Village of HOPE, Ethiopia, Dan and Lita, Foresight program owners, Paul Morrell and other potential sponsors.

You may think that your help is so small, but your little move and support means a lot to the poor here. You are putting your bread on the river which will help you some day in  very near future. God has created each one of us to help one another since we are social beings.

I am so confidant that God will bless you with what you are doing to help your brothers and sisters who live far and have never seen them.

Please convey my special regards to families and sponsors who can not get this letter.

I hope Fayisa Miessa, Foresight program Director, Ethiopia, is there to share some of the issue with you concerning what you have been doing to help the families here.

Thank you very much for your concern to help the poor here.

May God bless you and what you have in your hand.

Yours Faithful,

Tariku Gebre, B

Donor Communication Director

Village of Hope, Ethiopia 

P. O. Box 1267, Shashemene, Ethiopia

Tariku Gebre is the Foresight Donor communication Director. Tariku is shown here with his wife Dureti. They were married in January 2009. Tariku completed his college education at the Adventist college and was an English teacher there. He continues to volunteer helping a underprivileged school in Awasa and helps support his wife and  12 siblings as they persue their educations.

Tariku is a great addition to the Foresight team and has helped completely change the way donors and families in Ethiopia communicate.

If you are interested in getting involved in the Village of Hope please visit our website here.

To see More Pictures from the Village of Hope check out our Flickr account here.

…simple yet profound. For more, see The Fun Theory.

(Thanks to Peter Bell!)

So, I liked inking #002 a lot.  A lot, a lot.  SO I did the same thing for the first one!  And it’s up now, instead of the original.  Because I like it a lot.  New comic coming in the next day or two.  Woo!

Long sight with a short stick.