Onslaught

Consider these two short video advertisements. Take a moment to think about the story they tell of the messages the media and our culture blast each second. Consider the daily bombardment of messages telling us how much better we could be if only we would buy Brand X. Or how much more perfect we would look if only we work Brand Z.

As adults, probably the most important thing we can do is talk to our children, sending them messages about their inherent beauty and worth. Girls are particularly targeted, but boys certainly get similar messages from sports as well as the media.

We are not our jobs, the cars we drive, or the clothes we wear. We will be remembered by the deeds we do, the people we touch, and the beauty we add to this world.

I first found these on Jeff Ventura’s “techie” but eclectic blog, Graceful Flavor. Jeff also offers up a bit of research on The Campaign for Real Beauty, creators of these videos.

More video on this topic can be found at Reality on a Stick.

 

Independence Day 2004

It’s July 4, 2004 on the grounds of the State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia.  President Bush is giving a speech on something or other.  In attendance are Nicole and Jeffrey Rank, registered Republicans from Corpus Christi, Texas.  Like others that day, they had obtained tickets prior to the event and were admitted to the capitol grounds without issue.

During the speech, the Ranks removed their outer shirts, revealing t-shirts sporting a red circle with a diagonal line through it.  Inside the circle was “Bush”, effectively symbolizing “No Bush”.  On the back of their shirts were the phrases “Regime Change Begins at Home” and “Love America, Hate Bush”.  According to the ACLU article,

“…the couple stood peacefully on the public grounds with the rest of the audience, two men believed to be working for the Secret Service or White House approached the Ranks and demanded that they remove or cover their t-shirts. When the couple refused, the officials instructed city police to arrest Jeff and Nicole, causing them to be removed from the Capitol grounds in handcuffs, jailed for one to two hours and charged with trespassing. Nicole Rank was also temporarily suspended from her work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “

Apparently they were escorted in handcuffs from the grounds while America The Beautiful was playing in the background.

Attorneys for the ACLU in both Charleston, WV and Pittsburgh, PA took the case and filed a lawsuit against the US Secret Service as well as against a White House department.

Fast forward to August 16, 2007.  Both parties settled the lawsuit against the US government for $80,000.  The government, of course, admitted no wrong-doing and the taxpayers got stuck with yet another bill.

Take this as a warning.  Our First Amendment rights of  free speech and assembly are gradually being eroded, often in the name of “national security.”

A Father’s Pride

Last night at the Senior Awards Night at Anderson High School, where my children attend, over 100 members of the Class of 2007 received scholarships and recognition for their academic accomplishments. As the last award of the evening, my son, Josh, received the honor of Valedictorian of the Anderson High Class of 2007. This special honor is given to the student with the highest grade point average in his class.

It is very easy to take for granted the excellent grades, when I live with a boy as intellectually gifted as my son. His accomplishment only serves to recognize the hours of study, even for someone as bright as Josh, the pages of reading, the interminable term papers, and answer after answer on all those tests and quizzes given by his teachers.

One night at dinner we were discussing the possibility of him being named Valedictorian.  His comment, age appropriate, of course:  “…and three days after graduation, who will remember who the Valedictorian was anyhow?”

He will.  His family will.  I’ll never forget.

I am proud of my son, Josh! Proud of the gifts he has been given and chosen to use so well. Proud of the kind, considerate, and gentle young man he is becoming.

Next Sunday, as Josh walks across the stage at Commencement, I’m sure there will be tears in my eyes and a smile on my face as he receives his diploma. That boy will soar!

In Times Like These

Tonight, Voices of Freedom, a choir I sing with gave its last performance of our “season” at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The occasion was a celebration of International Women’s Day and we were privileged to share the podium with MUSE, a women’s chorus and several speakers discussing peace and justice.

Although the discussion was obviously addressing women, so many of the issues are absolutely relevant to men. Violence and war were on the minds of several speakers. Violence in our streets kills and maims all people, making our communities hostile places to live and raise a family. Women and children are often innocent victims in times of war, while our men and boys come home wounded, maimed, incapacitated, or worse yet, in a body bag to the families who loved and needed them.

The talk was of women joining hands to bring peace to the world. Violence and warfare kill humanity, regardless of gender. Peace helps us all!

The songs of MUSE and our Voices of Freedom chorus, nourished my soul, while the talks stimulated my mind.

I’ll end with the words of Mavis Staples from In Times Like These, out of our repertoire.

In times like these we have to be strong, we have to carry on
We have to get along, hold on, and right what’s wrong
In times like these, we need to find a way, to make a better day
Keep our feet on the ground, turnin’ round, come what may

Redemption Song

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds

– Bob Marley (Redemption Song)

The Terra Bite Lounge

The Terra Bite Lounge is a coffee bar and deli located in Kirkland, Washington. I had to locate Kirkland on a map and it is apparently between Redmond and Seattle.   But I digress…

According to their web site, at the Terra Bite Lounge…

Patrons choose what to pay, and are encouraged to pay what they would elsewhere. You may use this as a convenience feature, e.g. get your daily coffee and drop in a $20 at the end of the week.

In other words, there is apparently no cash register, credit card machine, or cashier waiting to take your money for their coffee and food.  People simply pay what they feel it should be and drop it into a box.

I discovered the Terra Bite Lounge through another blog called Web Worker Daily where those folks have an article that goes into more detail about this rather unique business model.

How refreshing!  I hope they succeed.  In an environment where, for the most part, the customer is assumed to be a criminal, this is a great leap forward.  By the way, if you don’t believe me about the customer being a criminal, just walk into any Best Buy, Sam’s Club, or any store in any mall.

In this case, the Terra Bite Lounge expects and assumes that their customers are honest and will pay fairly for their products.  I’m sure there are some that will take advanage of the “free ride”, but hopefully goodwill might prevail.

I’m surprised how many times people will rise, or sink to the level of expectation.  When we expect people to be of goodwill, and radiate that karma ourselves, people respond.

I wish the folks at the Terra Bite Lounge a lot of success.  It seems that they are doing their part to positively add to their community.

Barbaro Put Down

 

There is something about the outside of a horse that’s good for the inside of a man. (Winston Churchill)

The brilliant race horse, Barbaro was euthanized today after a series of surgeries and long recovery following a breakdown in the Preakness last May. You can read details from The Daily Racing Form in this link. His past performances may be found in this PDF, thanks to The Daily Racing Form.

Excepting his breakdown in the Preakness, Barbaro won every race he ever ran. In the 2006 Kentucky Derby, he crushed a decent Derby field, beating Bluegrass Cat by 6 1/2 lengths, finishing less than two seconds off Secretariat’s Derby record. Many, myself included, believed this extraordinary three year-old athlete was “the one” to finally capture the absolutely difficult Triple Crown by winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.

This was not to be as he broke his leg soon after breaking from the starting gate at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Barbaro’s death is once again a reminder of these marvelous animals who give their all and often their life for our entertainment. It would be worthy to take a moment of gratitude.

Muhammed Ali - Truly the Greatest

Muhammad Ali is a special man. Not only did he bring joy, passion, humor, power and grace to the brutal sport of boxing, he moved through the world in the same way. He was outspoken, confident, strong, and he was willing to stand up and take a lick for what he believed. He shunned his given name of Cassius Clay, Jr. for an Islamic name, Muhammed Ali, one who is worthy of praise.

Ali refused to step forward and be drafted by the US Army during the Vietnam War, and ended up being a conscientious objector. He was quoted as saying, “I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong.”

As a young boy, I recall staying up late to listen to his early fights on the radio. They rarely started before 10PM, but I would remain awake, even if I had school the next day, to root for The Champ. As you can imagine, boxing is entirely a visual sport, so listening to a bout forced me to visualize the fight in my imagination.

Here are a few of his quotations, clearly indicating his belief in self, pride, passion, and joy of living in this world.

• Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.
• Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.
• Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.
• A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.
• I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.
• I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.
• Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.
• The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.

This month, Muhammed Ali turned 65. It was a pleasure to watch this gifted person in the ring as he would “dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”

The world needs more people like Muhammed Ali.

Free At Last!

The words of Dr. Martin Luther King:

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring — when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children — black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Hear the voice of Dr. King in a video of his “I Have a Dream Speech” from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

My Holiday Wish

 

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now

 

– John Lennon, Yoko Onno (1971)

 

Imagine, if we could.