Monday, July 28, 2008
Way too much to blog on, and I'm way too low on time and energy
If I had the energy, I would be blogging on:
1. Senator Obama's recent resounding speech in Berlin, coupled with the ColorOfChange.org's petition to Fox News (rejected, BTW) to stop being racist. And Fox News' new ploy to call MoveOn.org (related somehow to ColorOfChange.org) 'the new Klan'. Buh??????? As a person who majored in psychology, I will ask, "Project much?"
2. How awesome is it that Texas is plunking down several billion dollars to connect wind energy to the electrical grid, and hopefully other stuff? And also, that GM is pushing to get electrical charging infrastructure set up in many communities around the country, in support of the 2010 release of their electric hybrid car called Volt? (Though big demerits to them for trying to be proprietary about it, and wanting to charge an extra $500 for electric vehicles produced by other companies to get a converter.)
3. The ongoing "trickle down" theory going on with respect to the housing loan travesty. The assumption by those advocates is that by bailing out the big centralized banks, it will somehow help the end user. Sheesh! And with the method of the bailout being related to tax dollars propping up Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, we are finally seeing the black hole that will consume the U.S. economy. This stands to be a very painful event horizon, and I am afraid our nation's economic might has been badly wounded by the Bush Administration's borrow and spend policies (News today: $482 Billion deficit predicted for 2009).
4. My ongoing experience working at a state mental health facility this summer. It has been intense, and deeply instructional. I am seeing mental illness, and spiritual illness, in a whole new light. At the same time, it has been devastating hearing the stories and seeing the conditions of some of the people there, as a result of parents and family, organic brain damage, religiously-based delusions (that run along a continuum), drug abuse, abandonment, stress, and a system that doesn't have the political will to deal properly with mental illness. Along with the prison system, our mental health system could use a lot more support, and some serious reform, bordering on abolition, because our current system is very much still punitive and not designed to be restorative. I'm not happy to say that the prison system sees minimum sentencing laws and recidivism as good for business. I'm also not happy to say that the prison business is not good for the inmates, the correctional officers, or the communities with prisons.
5. The big thing to comment on, that I can barely begin is the hostile shooting with a shotgun at a UU church in Tennessee, by a man who was upset about not having a job, and blaming the "liberals and the gays." This, shortly after the supreme court took the time out to further validate the second amendment. I can't even begin, other than to pray for healing. Healing for everyone involved. Healing of the whole. When I heard that it was an usher who jumped in front of the gunman who was one of the ones who died, it finally brought me to tears.
When time allows, I hope to do a bit more research and reflection and get a bit more detailed on all this.
lyrics:
"Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend."
-Aenima, by Tool
colors: light brown, the color worn by all of the "Individuals" in the "Secure Treatment Area" (behind the razor wire fence and multi-port gate) at Napa State Hospital.
mood: soul tired
chant/prayer/mantra: May the people of this world, and of this world's religions, and this world's politics, and the world's cultures, come together and be made whole, and allow for authenticity without harm or intentional transgression. And may there be grace. Amen.
pax hominibus, (for now and the future)
agape to all,
joel
1. Senator Obama's recent resounding speech in Berlin, coupled with the ColorOfChange.org's petition to Fox News (rejected, BTW) to stop being racist. And Fox News' new ploy to call MoveOn.org (related somehow to ColorOfChange.org) 'the new Klan'. Buh??????? As a person who majored in psychology, I will ask, "Project much?"
2. How awesome is it that Texas is plunking down several billion dollars to connect wind energy to the electrical grid, and hopefully other stuff? And also, that GM is pushing to get electrical charging infrastructure set up in many communities around the country, in support of the 2010 release of their electric hybrid car called Volt? (Though big demerits to them for trying to be proprietary about it, and wanting to charge an extra $500 for electric vehicles produced by other companies to get a converter.)
3. The ongoing "trickle down" theory going on with respect to the housing loan travesty. The assumption by those advocates is that by bailing out the big centralized banks, it will somehow help the end user. Sheesh! And with the method of the bailout being related to tax dollars propping up Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, we are finally seeing the black hole that will consume the U.S. economy. This stands to be a very painful event horizon, and I am afraid our nation's economic might has been badly wounded by the Bush Administration's borrow and spend policies (News today: $482 Billion deficit predicted for 2009).
4. My ongoing experience working at a state mental health facility this summer. It has been intense, and deeply instructional. I am seeing mental illness, and spiritual illness, in a whole new light. At the same time, it has been devastating hearing the stories and seeing the conditions of some of the people there, as a result of parents and family, organic brain damage, religiously-based delusions (that run along a continuum), drug abuse, abandonment, stress, and a system that doesn't have the political will to deal properly with mental illness. Along with the prison system, our mental health system could use a lot more support, and some serious reform, bordering on abolition, because our current system is very much still punitive and not designed to be restorative. I'm not happy to say that the prison system sees minimum sentencing laws and recidivism as good for business. I'm also not happy to say that the prison business is not good for the inmates, the correctional officers, or the communities with prisons.
5. The big thing to comment on, that I can barely begin is the hostile shooting with a shotgun at a UU church in Tennessee, by a man who was upset about not having a job, and blaming the "liberals and the gays." This, shortly after the supreme court took the time out to further validate the second amendment. I can't even begin, other than to pray for healing. Healing for everyone involved. Healing of the whole. When I heard that it was an usher who jumped in front of the gunman who was one of the ones who died, it finally brought me to tears.
When time allows, I hope to do a bit more research and reflection and get a bit more detailed on all this.
lyrics:
"Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend."
-Aenima, by Tool
colors: light brown, the color worn by all of the "Individuals" in the "Secure Treatment Area" (behind the razor wire fence and multi-port gate) at Napa State Hospital.
mood: soul tired
chant/prayer/mantra: May the people of this world, and of this world's religions, and this world's politics, and the world's cultures, come together and be made whole, and allow for authenticity without harm or intentional transgression. And may there be grace. Amen.
pax hominibus, (for now and the future)
agape to all,
joel
Labels: changing the prison paradigm, Christianity, freedom versus freedom, mental health issues, oppression, paradigm shift, politics, racism, renewable energy, Satan/devil, Universalism
Saturday, July 26, 2008
hope4kids international
here is a link to a video on an organization that my sister and brother-in-law have become very devoted to.
chant/prayer/mantra: for justice in many facets, and many forms.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
chant/prayer/mantra: for justice in many facets, and many forms.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: anti-oppression, Christianity, parousia, religious community
Friday, July 18, 2008
Energy, Security, Economy = The Big Issues of the Upcoming Election
Al Gore just delivered a landmark speech this week.
In this speech, he challenges the U.S. to use 100% renewable energy by 2018.
A classic quote from his speech:
Energy Policy is going to be key for the upcoming election, because it affects the economy, the environment, and our nation's/planet's security. Mobilizing our unemployed workforce toward creating and implementing systems of renewable energy would be a stunningly effective boost to our sagging economy.
Mr. Gore, thank you for your intitiative.
chant/prayer/mantra: One planet of people, whole.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
In this speech, he challenges the U.S. to use 100% renewable energy by 2018.
A classic quote from his speech:
"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change..."
Energy Policy is going to be key for the upcoming election, because it affects the economy, the environment, and our nation's/planet's security. Mobilizing our unemployed workforce toward creating and implementing systems of renewable energy would be a stunningly effective boost to our sagging economy.
Mr. Gore, thank you for your intitiative.
chant/prayer/mantra: One planet of people, whole.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: Capitalism, economics, environment, globalism, paradigm shift, pax hominibus/bright shiny future, politics, renewable energy, USA
Saturday, July 12, 2008
I should probably explain that last post
Today, I went to disc golfing with a friend at the Berkeley Aquatic Park. It was a very bad day. The very first thing I did was throw my best driver (A "Lightning Discs" #1 driver) into the water. It was only a few feet in, so I slipped off my shoes and socks and waded in to get it. Ugh, the water and rocks seemed kind of gross, and my feet felt a little sting-y after getting out.
Then we continued to play (must more carefully, since I'd rather not throw my favorite discs into the water). The entire course is lined by water on one side, and even though the wind was blowing toward the land, a mis-throw can end up as a lost disc. So a few holes later, I started the hole by throwing the #1 Helix into the water, about 50 feet in. It was long gone. Then we ran into a woman walking on the path who had just lost her house keys, and we met a really interesting Mexican man wearing a bicycle helmet and selling discs that he'd found (they seemed like they were pretty water-worn, or at least all of the labels had worn off) for $2 a piece. I bought three, to remember the occasion if nothing else. He walked on ahead, and when he was at a safe distance, I threw the disc at him by accident. He laughed, and pointed to his helmet.
Then we ran into a couple guys going the other direction, one of whom was wearing a fedora-type hat and a Pat Tillman football jersey with some flag patches on it.
Later, when we got back to the car, we found it unlocked (we had locked it), and my book bag was missing, including the red "comma" pin I'd gotten from a UCC woman while working at the GTU library, my palm pilot (last synch'ed a few weeks ago, so now i've lost several pages of reflections about my clinical pastoral chaplaincy experience, along with a handful of songs that I wanted to work into the next CD/.mp3 mix), my brand new prescription glasses, a book called "the unitarians and the universalists", my custom ear plugs (since I no longer own them, I should call them "some custom ear plugs that only fit my ears).
So that's a bummer. But I'm still learning. Today I'm learning what its like to lose something, and all of the stress and anxiety associated with being afraid of losing something "important". Still a bit of a bummer, since I have to replace a few of those things, and that will cost time and money. I hope your day is going better than mine.
A little bit of good news is that it was my friend's first time in about a decade and she played wonderfully. And we got to discuss the idea of floating sustainable communities, gardening, and just catch up in general.
lyrics: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found."
colors: water-washed white.
mood: still catching up with my feelings about today and about the last three intense weeks at Napa.
chant/prayer/mantra: may i have the wisdom to understand the nuances and ambiguities in many challenging life situations, the strength and energy to endure even when its being tapped off, and the serenity to accept that life is composed of (among other things) love, living, and loss.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Then we continued to play (must more carefully, since I'd rather not throw my favorite discs into the water). The entire course is lined by water on one side, and even though the wind was blowing toward the land, a mis-throw can end up as a lost disc. So a few holes later, I started the hole by throwing the #1 Helix into the water, about 50 feet in. It was long gone. Then we ran into a woman walking on the path who had just lost her house keys, and we met a really interesting Mexican man wearing a bicycle helmet and selling discs that he'd found (they seemed like they were pretty water-worn, or at least all of the labels had worn off) for $2 a piece. I bought three, to remember the occasion if nothing else. He walked on ahead, and when he was at a safe distance, I threw the disc at him by accident. He laughed, and pointed to his helmet.
Then we ran into a couple guys going the other direction, one of whom was wearing a fedora-type hat and a Pat Tillman football jersey with some flag patches on it.
Later, when we got back to the car, we found it unlocked (we had locked it), and my book bag was missing, including the red "comma" pin I'd gotten from a UCC woman while working at the GTU library, my palm pilot (last synch'ed a few weeks ago, so now i've lost several pages of reflections about my clinical pastoral chaplaincy experience, along with a handful of songs that I wanted to work into the next CD/.mp3 mix), my brand new prescription glasses, a book called "the unitarians and the universalists", my custom ear plugs (since I no longer own them, I should call them "some custom ear plugs that only fit my ears).
So that's a bummer. But I'm still learning. Today I'm learning what its like to lose something, and all of the stress and anxiety associated with being afraid of losing something "important". Still a bit of a bummer, since I have to replace a few of those things, and that will cost time and money. I hope your day is going better than mine.
A little bit of good news is that it was my friend's first time in about a decade and she played wonderfully. And we got to discuss the idea of floating sustainable communities, gardening, and just catch up in general.
lyrics: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found."
colors: water-washed white.
mood: still catching up with my feelings about today and about the last three intense weeks at Napa.
chant/prayer/mantra: may i have the wisdom to understand the nuances and ambiguities in many challenging life situations, the strength and energy to endure even when its being tapped off, and the serenity to accept that life is composed of (among other things) love, living, and loss.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: Disc golf
FW: Sad day at Disc Golf
[This post was originally submitted by mobile phone. I took several other pictures, maybe the next time I sync I'll upload some...]
Labels: Disc golf
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Solar Powered Curtains
This is just so cool. It will be a very good day when you can buy a set of curtains and plug a battery appliance into them and then power your laptop, your fridge, and your lights from it in the evening. Hopefully not too long.
More later.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
More later.
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
