In today's New York Times there is a travel feature on Oslo. I couldn't stop laughing after reading the opening paragraphs:
The first thing anyone who knows Oslo says when you mention that you are headed there is, "It's really expensive." The second thing they say is, "No, I'm not kidding. It's really expensive."
And indeed, a visit to Oslo brings with it immediate sticker shock: a bottle of water costs the equivalent of $6, a small glass of beer will set you back $10 or more, and a bottle of wine at dinner can practically equal a month's mortgage payment back home.
- Stuart Emmrich
E-NOTES: WHEN THE NEWS IS NOT ENOUGH. THE BLOG OF E. ETHELBERT MILLER
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Individual poets, whatever their imperfections may be, are driven all their lives by that inner companion of the conscience which is, after all,the genius of poetry in their hearts and minds. I speak of a companion of the conscience because to every faithful poet, the faithful poem is an act of conscience.
- Wallace Stevens
- Wallace Stevens
THIS IS THE WHAT:
So, what's going on in Mauritania? Here is a nation that will soon become part of our geography lessons. The world is slowly being reduced down to "zones" and what we might call "air" pockets between nations. This is where those lawless Warlords reside. This is the movie set and background to what I call those Sci-Fi rubble flicks. You know, the movie where one man is surviving with a dog. The dog always barks (and bites) when the bad guys bring trouble. We already live in a land of mutants and mutation. A glimpse of the future can be found by looking at the nomadic lives of the homeless. Notice, how many of us are on the move today. We are all refugees. Now and then I smell feudalism in the air. I look around the world and every democracy seems to be wearing a gun. Some folks want an Islamic State with Islamic laws. I have problems when people prefer to be strict instead of happy. I have no desire to pick out my neighbor's wardrobe. I list everyone as a suspect if they have to read a book to learn how to love. I love God as much as God loves me. Sometimes it feels as if we might be too young to go steady. Still I love the attention and how God flirts - how else can you explain nature's beauty?
So, what's going on in Mauritania? Here is a nation that will soon become part of our geography lessons. The world is slowly being reduced down to "zones" and what we might call "air" pockets between nations. This is where those lawless Warlords reside. This is the movie set and background to what I call those Sci-Fi rubble flicks. You know, the movie where one man is surviving with a dog. The dog always barks (and bites) when the bad guys bring trouble. We already live in a land of mutants and mutation. A glimpse of the future can be found by looking at the nomadic lives of the homeless. Notice, how many of us are on the move today. We are all refugees. Now and then I smell feudalism in the air. I look around the world and every democracy seems to be wearing a gun. Some folks want an Islamic State with Islamic laws. I have problems when people prefer to be strict instead of happy. I have no desire to pick out my neighbor's wardrobe. I list everyone as a suspect if they have to read a book to learn how to love. I love God as much as God loves me. Sometimes it feels as if we might be too young to go steady. Still I love the attention and how God flirts - how else can you explain nature's beauty?
THE VIEWS OF COOL PAPA BARAKA:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=33801
In October he turns a mean 75.
WE MUST WALK WHILE OTHERS RUN?
Last week Metro said they were putting in place stricter hiring standards. This means that many black men will be confronted with the box instead of the cell. The box they will have to check on applications if they are honest and want a job. Any type of felony conviction might just close the door to employment. This is something many men coming out of jail face. Where are they going to find work? Who will hire them after they have serve their time? Everyone can't be an Eagle like Vick. It seems as if we are creating an underclass of black men who will "age" into obsolescence. They will be forced to play the lottery - which might mean nothing more than taking the risk of creating another crime and hoping for a big payday. Without proper employment outlets people result to hustling, playing the scams or just becoming parasitic. There is a type of health care we don't talk about in the media. It has nothing to do with coverage and payments. It's the state of the black race. Who cares? Slowly the word "wretched" will return to our vocabulary. It will refer to men who will prefer to destroy rather than build.
It will refer to those who live outside human compassion. If you want to know who let the dogs out, just look in the mirror. Our failure to deal with prison reform will only result in new bars around civilization or what someone might consider the good neighborhoods. We tend to see prisoners when there are prison disturbances. We focus on crime and trials. Little attention is given to those men trapped inside the prison network for misdemeanor convictions, and crimes of love gone crazy. How many boyfriends slapped -loved their girlfriends or worse? How long must a person suffer for a crime committed during youth? Forgiveness can be a MF - just ask Scotland.
Last week Metro said they were putting in place stricter hiring standards. This means that many black men will be confronted with the box instead of the cell. The box they will have to check on applications if they are honest and want a job. Any type of felony conviction might just close the door to employment. This is something many men coming out of jail face. Where are they going to find work? Who will hire them after they have serve their time? Everyone can't be an Eagle like Vick. It seems as if we are creating an underclass of black men who will "age" into obsolescence. They will be forced to play the lottery - which might mean nothing more than taking the risk of creating another crime and hoping for a big payday. Without proper employment outlets people result to hustling, playing the scams or just becoming parasitic. There is a type of health care we don't talk about in the media. It has nothing to do with coverage and payments. It's the state of the black race. Who cares? Slowly the word "wretched" will return to our vocabulary. It will refer to men who will prefer to destroy rather than build.
It will refer to those who live outside human compassion. If you want to know who let the dogs out, just look in the mirror. Our failure to deal with prison reform will only result in new bars around civilization or what someone might consider the good neighborhoods. We tend to see prisoners when there are prison disturbances. We focus on crime and trials. Little attention is given to those men trapped inside the prison network for misdemeanor convictions, and crimes of love gone crazy. How many boyfriends slapped -loved their girlfriends or worse? How long must a person suffer for a crime committed during youth? Forgiveness can be a MF - just ask Scotland.
I finally have a cleared desk at home. I guess I'm ready for the fall. Will post a September schedule this week. Maybe you might want to come to some of my programs. The big event will be the book party at HueMan Bookstore and Cafe in Harlem on September 20th, at 1PM. It's being organized by BFF Ginger G, Brenda Greene and Heather Tamir. The book gathering will follow the celebration of my mom's 90th birthday on September 19th.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
A BASEBALL COMMENT:
The ethical problems are bad enough: Sammy Sosa may be a fraud and a hypocrite, but his drug test was supposed to be anonymous. Turning a private screening program into a public blacklist is a much more serious breach of trust than trashing the home-run record book ever was - even if the list were to tell us what we want to know.
- Tom Scocca, The New York Observer, August 24, 2009
The ethical problems are bad enough: Sammy Sosa may be a fraud and a hypocrite, but his drug test was supposed to be anonymous. Turning a private screening program into a public blacklist is a much more serious breach of trust than trashing the home-run record book ever was - even if the list were to tell us what we want to know.
- Tom Scocca, The New York Observer, August 24, 2009
Quote of the Day:
The United States has worked harder and gone father than any other advanced majority -white nation in confronting and righting the wrongs of its racist past. The crucial questions that the country now faces are these: How can white citizens, who publicly embrace black citizens as athletic heroes, matinee idols, pop-music kings, talk-show queens, senators, governors and now president, continue to shun them in their neighborhoods, schools and private lives? In their insistent celebration of racial identity,how complicit are black Americans in their own social isolation? And will Barack Obama, who delicately straddles both worlds of immigrant success and black identity, be able to broaden the inclusion of African-Americans? We watch and wait.
- Orlando Patterson
The United States has worked harder and gone father than any other advanced majority -white nation in confronting and righting the wrongs of its racist past. The crucial questions that the country now faces are these: How can white citizens, who publicly embrace black citizens as athletic heroes, matinee idols, pop-music kings, talk-show queens, senators, governors and now president, continue to shun them in their neighborhoods, schools and private lives? In their insistent celebration of racial identity,how complicit are black Americans in their own social isolation? And will Barack Obama, who delicately straddles both worlds of immigrant success and black identity, be able to broaden the inclusion of African-Americans? We watch and wait.
- Orlando Patterson
The Obama Watch:
Here are his own words:
Our nation is now engaged in a great debate about the future of health care in America. And over the past few weeks, much of the media attention has been focused on the loudest voices. What we haven't heard are the voices of the millions upon millions of Americans who quietly struggle every day with a system that often works better for the health-insurance companies than it does for them.
- President Barack Obama, The New York Times, August 16, 2009
Here are his own words:
Our nation is now engaged in a great debate about the future of health care in America. And over the past few weeks, much of the media attention has been focused on the loudest voices. What we haven't heard are the voices of the millions upon millions of Americans who quietly struggle every day with a system that often works better for the health-insurance companies than it does for them.
- President Barack Obama, The New York Times, August 16, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Taliban cannot be defeated militarily unless they are also defeated politically.
- The New York Times, editorial, August 21, 2009
The above quote is an indication that the Obama Administration is going to get stuck in Afghanistan. The problem is more about religion and Islamic law. It's almost a completely different worldview. I don't see certain "ideas and beliefs" being defeated. Is anyone talking about the end of Christianity or Buddhism?
The same editorial made reference to the need to help Afghanistan improve its infrastructure.
Roads and irrigation projects are being encouraged. Isn't this nation building? Is this what our military was organized to do?
- The New York Times, editorial, August 21, 2009
The above quote is an indication that the Obama Administration is going to get stuck in Afghanistan. The problem is more about religion and Islamic law. It's almost a completely different worldview. I don't see certain "ideas and beliefs" being defeated. Is anyone talking about the end of Christianity or Buddhism?
The same editorial made reference to the need to help Afghanistan improve its infrastructure.
Roads and irrigation projects are being encouraged. Isn't this nation building? Is this what our military was organized to do?
NAOMI AYALA MAKES NEWS:
Capitol Letters Writing Center Hires First Executive Director
Washington, D.C.-based Writing Center Strengthens Commitment to OfferingFree, Challenging Programming to District Students
Washington, D.C. - Capitol Letters Writing Center (CLWC) (http://www.capitolletters.org/), a nonprofit youth writing center that offers a range of writing and other academic programming to students in the nation's capital, announced today that it has hired poet and educator Naomi Ayala as its first Executive Director. Ms. Ayala comes with a wealth of experience in creative writing, education, and nonprofit work.
Ayala joins CLWC as Executive Director to continue CLWC’s recent success providing workshops, tutoring, book publishing projects, and other programming to students throughout the District. "I'm delighted to be joining Capitol Letters at such an exciting time," said Ayala.
"This is a wonderful organization with a strong track record of helping students with their writing, and I look forward to working with the volunteers to continue and expand its work."
“We could not be happier to have found Naomi Ayala. She brings so much to the table,” said Holly Jones, Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors. “With her talent as a a poet, her ties to the community, and her experience as an educator and community organizer, she is a perfect fit to further the mission of Capitol Letters Writing Center.”Ayala has more than 25 years of experience as a teacher, workshop leader, and training facilitator and more than 15 years of experience in instructional design and development, technical writing, editing, translation, and project management.
She most recently worked as a Senior Writer/Editor at Links Media, a public health communications company, where she was project lead on the development of a pandemic preparedness toolkit for municipal leaders in the Latin American-Caribbean region. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature from Bennington College, is the author of several curricula, and two books of poetry--Wild Animals on the Moon (Curbstone, 1997) and This Side of Early (Curbstone, 2008). Her third book of poetry will be published by Bilingual Review Press next year.
About Capitol Letters Writing Center
Founded in 2007 in Washington, DC, Capitol Letters Writing Center believes that within every student lives a writer. Its supports and challenges those writers through workshops, tutoring, and student publications that complement the classroom goals of educators in a safe and creative environment. Its first publication, The Way We See It: Complete Coverage of the Nation's Capital From the Inside Out, written by students at Cardozo High School, was released in May 2009.
Founded in 2007 in Washington, DC, Capitol Letters Writing Center believes that within every student lives a writer. Its supports and challenges those writers through workshops, tutoring, and student publications that complement the classroom goals of educators in a safe and creative environment. Its first publication, The Way We See It: Complete Coverage of the Nation's Capital From the Inside Out, written by students at Cardozo High School, was released in May 2009.
Tricycle's Daily Dharma
Showing Gratitude
Gratitude is a way of undercutting your ego—that is, it is a way of being Buddhist. It really goes back to interdependence and those basic Buddhist concepts. There is an awareness that we get now and then about what we owe to others, and Shinran feels that that should become the moving force of one’s life. Then the egoism kind of takes care of itself. That awakening, that awareness, transforms your way of dealing with life, with people, and with all things. One thing that really comes through in Tannisho is Shinran’s down-to-earth humanity.
–Alfred Bloom, from "Beyond Religion," in the current issue of Tricycle (available on newsstands now)