Oct 24, 2012

Poet's Nook: "A Spiritual Journey" by Wendell Berry

And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles,

no matter how long,

but only by a spiritual journey,

a journey of one inch,

very arduous and humbling and joyful,

by which we arrive at the ground at our feet,

and learn to be at home.

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Musings

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( I highly recommend listening to the full speech here)
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

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This is quite an interesting presentation of the fight for control of the web, life in the digital age and the threat to cyber freedom, asking a critical question: Are US authorities increasingly trying to regulate user freedoms in the name of national and economic security?
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Absorb.....
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 22, 2012

A Shining Light Departs

"From secrecy and deception in high places; come home, America.

From military spending so wasteful that it weakens our nation; come home, America.

From the entrenchment of special privileges in tax favoritism; from the waste of idle lands to the joy of useful labor; from the prejudice based on race and sex; from the loneliness of the aging poor and the despair of the neglected sick—come home, America.

Come home to the affirmation that we have a dream. Come home to the conviction that we can move our country forward.

Come home to the belief that we can seek a newer world, and let us be joyful in that homecoming, for “this is your land, this land is my land—from California to New York island, from the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters—this land was made for you and me.”

So let us close on this note: May God grant each one of us the wisdom to cherish this good land and to meet the great challenge that beckons us home.

And now is the time to meet that challenge.

Good night, and Godspeed to you all."

-George McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012)

OneLove

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:::MME:::

Oct 21, 2012

Baltimore: Anatomy of an American City

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This is truly a sad & tragic documentary of the some of the most vulnerable & neglected members of US society. I was elated that Michelle Alexander & Ed Burns were consulted for their keen observations and analysis. The people who were interviewed in the street were also on point with regards to the politics and economics of their condition. It is absolutely essential that you read Michelle Alexander's chilling & devastating classic' "The New Jim Crow" which provides a detailed breakdown of how the spiral of misery, poverty & death evolved which this documentary briefly touches upon.

"So no. I don’t think we’re being cynical. I think we’re being factual. We’ve been fighting the drug war for 30 years. Thirty years of failure. But there’s some reason that we persist in this. What is it? We never explore why that is. But you just can’t spend this much money and get these few results and continue on like this. Someone has to start wondering what the fuck is going on." ~~Ed Burns

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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 18, 2012

A Synopsis of How the World Really Works

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John Perkins - Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption

(This short presentation should be shown in every high school history course in the US & debated. The narrator of this piece, John Perkins, wrote two books which I highly recommend, namely, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man & The Secret History of the American Empire)
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OneLove
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::::MME:::

Oct 17, 2012

BAM!!

(eat this!)

From the moment I saw President Obama's face on the highly-anticipated second debate with Gov. Mitt Romney last night, I had a feeling that he was going to knock Mitt's dentures straight out his mouth. For the most part, the President did not disappoint as he circled the ring, deftly deflecting Romney's attacks & landing punch after punch on issues ranging from foreign policy to gender equality in the work place saving a crucial round-house blow to the jaw at the end when he mentioned Mitt's remarks at a fundraiser concerning the 47%. Romney, being the bully & sour loser that he is, tried to work the referee, Candy Crowly, with punches & headbutts after the bell, but she was not having it unlike that punk-ass Jim Lehrer in the prior debate. It was fantastic political theatre - from their ties (Obama's Republican red/ Romney's Democratic blue) to the icy stare-downs to the angry, alpha-male crosstalk. At one point it looked as if they would come to blows! Gotta love when a perennial liar , corporate raider & tax evader takes a fall!
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Truth be told, in spite of what was handed to Pres. Obama from the disastrous Bush Administration, I don't like a lot of what Pres. Obama has done domestically and internationally, but given the limited choices we are given in presidential elections, he is really the lesser of the two evils. Sadly, the mainstream media has blocked out the other candidates who are running which puts into question what this strange perversion of democracy is leading us towards. Yes, there are other candidates out there: Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), Jill Stein (Green Party), Virgil Goode (Constitution Party), and Rocky Anderson (Justice Party), but they are all invisible to most for obvious reasons. Real change in the United States will not happen until we the people deliver a knockout punch of our own.
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 16, 2012

Poet's Nook: "Things I Want Decided" by Izumi Shikibu

Which shouldn’t exist
in this world,
the one who forgets
or the one
who is forgotten?

Which is better,
to love
one who has died
or not to see
each other when you are alive?

Which is better,
the distant lover
you long for
or the one you see daily
without desire?

Which is the least unreliable
among fickle things—
the swift rapids,
a flowing river,
or this human world?
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 12, 2012

Musings

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How can a three-pound mass of jelly that you can hold in your palm imagine angels, contemplate the meaning of infinity, and even question its own place in the cosmos?

Especially awe inspiring is the fact that any single brain, including yours, is made up of atoms that were forged in the hearts of countless, far-flung stars billions of years ago.

These particles drifted for eons and light-years until gravity and change brought them together here, now. These atoms now form a conglomerate - your brain - that can not only ponder the very stars that gave it birth but can also think about its own ability to think and wonder about its own ability to wonder.

With the arrival of humans, it has been said, the universe has suddenly become conscious of itself. This, truly, it the greatest mystery of all.

―V.S. Ramachandran,
(The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human)

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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 11, 2012

Today, A Promise to Girls by Desmond Tutu & Ela Bhatt

"This is a day to celebrate the fact that it is girls who will change the world; that the empowerment of girls holds the key to development and security for families, communities and societies worldwide. It also recognizes the discrimination and violence that girls disproportionately endure -- and it is especially important that one of the cruelest hardships to befall girls, child marriage, should be the UN's chosen theme for this inaugural day.

The marriage of adolescent girls, sometimes to much older men, sums up much of the harm, injustice and stolen potential that afflict so many girls around the world.

Ten million girls under the age of 18 are married off, every year, with little or no say in the matter. That's 100 million girls in the next decade. Their parents may feel they are doing the right thing to protect their daughters, but in reality these brides will be vulnerable to ill health, violence, inadequate education and poverty -- as will their children.

Imagine, instead, the wonderful force we would unleash if these girls could be spared such a life.

They would be more likely to stay in school. Studies have shown that when girls stay longer in primary school, they earn wages up to 10 to 20 percent higher in their adult lives. As they get older, the differences in earnings are even more encouraging: For every extra year in secondary school, they can earn up to 25 percent more in adulthood.

These girls would also be more likely to be healthy, and less likely to contract diseases such as HIV/AIDS than married girls of the same age. And when a woman does eventually start a family, again experts have shown the benefit of having enjoyed a healthy, educated and safe childhood: Rates of maternal and child mortality are also improved by better education, while there are also likely to be happier relations between husband and wife and within the family. What is more, women reinvest more money into their family than men do -- so everyone benefits from the higher earnings.

And we know, having seen it first-hand in successful efforts to reduce child marriage, that these women won't let their daughters marry as children. Child marriage could cease to exist with their generation.

Today, we have the opportunity to enshrine such a global pledge to end child marriage.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), international targets set at the turn of the century, proved it was possible to think, and to act, on the largest of scales: halving extreme poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education are some of its objectives, all by the target date of 2015. Unlike many international commitments, the MDGs are still remembered years later, and helped galvanize unprecedented efforts by governments.

Important progress has been made towards meeting the MDGs: For instance, the target of halving the proportion of people without reliable access to improved drinking water has already been met, and primary school enrolment of girls has equaled that of boys. Overall the MDGs have made a historic contribution towards reducing poverty.

But this progress will be stunted if we fail to address injustices as staggering, persistent and widespread as child marriage. As our leaders begin the process of preparing new development goals to succeed the MDGs, the persistence of child marriage should be seen as one of the major barriers to the well-being of our human family.

Too often, child marriage is justified on the basis of custom or tradition. While traditions often serve to bind societies together, we also want to point out that traditions are man-made. If we learn that they are harmful, we should change them.

In our travels, as Elders, in Asia and Africa, we have met brave girls -- and boys -- who do not hesitate to stand up to tradition and say no to child marriage. In Bihar, a state in northeast India where nearly 70 percent of girls marry before they turn 18 (contrary to national law), we met admirable young people who were signing pledges not to marry before 18. In Amhara, a region in northern Ethiopia, where the most common age for a girl to marry is 12, we visited girls who participated in workshops to discuss collectively the benefits of ending child marriage.

These meetings have convinced us that there is a real need to connect groups around the world, enable them to work together and help to end this practice for the benefit of us all. This led to the creation, last year, of Girls Not Brides, a global partnership of organizations dedicated to stopping the practice, with a membership now growing in the hundreds.

Day after day, the voices of these girls and boys continue to rise higher up the international agenda. We believe that an international consensus on the need to end child marriage is within sight.

When we created Girls Not Brides in 2011, we committed to ending child marriage in one generation. Why not, then, pledge the elimination of this harmful practice by 2030?

Development targets to improve global health, education and gender equality would also be directly tackled by a pledge to end this devastating practice.

And generation after generation, girls would be able to fulfill their potential, amplify the benefits bestowed upon them by their own mothers -- and bless their daughters to do the same.

On this inaugural Day of the Girl, we call on the international community to promise a different life to those girls -- a life of their choosing."

OneLove

:::MME:::

Oct 10, 2012

MME's Jam Of The Day

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This crucial cut is taken from R.Kelly's latest CD, "Write Me Back". There's some serious truth-telling here!
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How he makes her feel
When he look her in the eyes and tell her
I love you, yeah
He seems so for real
When he whispers and says
I'll never leave you, no
And he speaks them words to her heart
And make her feel like she on top
Of the world, yeah, oh my
Then turn around and break her heart
And make her feel like the whole world's on top of her, whoa
And now something other made me talk about it

When a man lies, he pierces the very soul of that woman
Yes he does, yeah
I'm just telling the truth
When a man lies, he kills every reason
She ever had for loving him, yeah
Mirror I'm talking to you, yeah

How he promised her things
While he's making sweet love to her mind
Selling big dreams, yeah
That's what he do, or he can paint the scene
With every word out of his mouth
Make her wanna believe, oh she believes

That everything that he says is true
Now all the dreams she bought and the tales he told
Cinderella to the old pot of gold
Broke up for a heart and stole the glory
And it let me here to tell the story

When a man lies, he pierces the very soul of that woman
Yes he does, yeah
I'm just telling the truth
When a man lies, he kills every reason
She ever had for loving him, yeah
Mirror I'm talking to you, yeah

Hey now don't ya all shoot the messenger, nah, nah
I was sent here to deliver, whoa
Y'all can go ahead and call me a lawyer
Call me... to the day I'll represent, the woman

Cause when a man lies, he pierces the very soul of that woman
Yes he does, hey
I'm just telling the truth
When a man lies, he kills every reason
She ever had for loving him, yeah
Mirror I'm talking to you, yeah.
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(We have to do better fellas.... )
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:::MME:::

Oct 8, 2012

The Power Principle

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I would not recommend this documentary for those who choose to remain stuck in inertia & blissful ignorance - their irksome defensiveness of a system that does not give a shit about them is so intellectually and spiritually vacuous as to be a public danger. It is my belief though that folks of this ilk are a dwindling breed as more and more people are waking up.
This presentation is quite a gripping, deeply informative account of the nature of power, plutocracy and empire. With meticulous research that is historically grounded and highly relevant to the events of today, it provides a lesson for all who care about democracy, justice & the revolutionary potential of telling the truth, no matter the risks.
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OneLove
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::MME:::

Oct 7, 2012

How To Reduce Poverty In 7 Easy Steps

This is a satirical look at structural adjustment policies by international financial institutions, as part of a campaign for "real independence" in the Philippines. (NOTE: Contains one scene requiring parental discretion.)
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 5, 2012

Tales of Wonder, Beauty & Genius

This is quite an uplifting, & oftentimes witty & iconoclastic, presentation by social activist and educator, Bunker Roy. To find out more about the Barefoot College he initiated, check here.
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 4, 2012

Contemplating Death Clarifies Life

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Quite a thought-provoking presentation. I was inspired to reflect upon death by a friend who lost her precious grandmother recently & like the presenter mentioned in her riveting speech, became vividly aware of our short time here. As a tour bus guide in New York stated last weekend while I was there on a visit, "yesterday is frozen...tomorrow...can't say what's gonna happen, you know....just have today to appreciate this thing....life, man".
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

MME's Jam Of The Day

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This is slammin'! Newcomer Azealia Banks is definitely one to look out for. She has that Missy Elliot/Crystal Waters vibe which is kinda fly & her bold yet playful attitude, infused with an infectious, sensual charm, just makes you wanna get up & move somethin'!

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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Poet's Nook: "Breaking The Silence" by Brian Carlin

“People at the school sat -
hours in the sun.

They could get water
once in a while,

but let’s say some kid asked for water

five times,

a soldier could come to him and slap him
just like that.
I saw many soldiers using their knees
to hit them,

just out of boredom.

Because
you’re standing around for 10 hours doing nothing,
you’re bored,

so you hit them.

At the bathroom, there was this ‘demons’ dance’
as it was called.
Anyone who brought a Palestinian there –
it was catastrophic.

Not bleeding beatings –
they stayed dry –

but still beatings.”

(The poet of this piece stated that this poem was inspired by an article he had read in a newspaper detailing an Israeli soldier's testimonial to a veterans organization which deeply affected him. The whole poem is an uninterrupted quote from an Israeli soldier and only has a couple of words changed for the sake of the read…Very impressive even though quite sad & brutal.)

OneLove

:::MME:::

Oct 3, 2012

The Enemy Within

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Our real enemy is not the ones living in a distant land whose names or policies we don't understand; The real enemy is a system that wages war when it's profitable, the CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, the Insurance Companies who deny us Health care when it's profitable, the Banks who take away our homes when it's profitable. Our enemies are not several hundred thousands away. They are right here in front of us
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- Mike Prysner

(I expect a lot of armchair warriors to throw stones at this courageous war veteran who dares uncover the grand delusion. Props to Mike Prysner for stepping out & speaking truth in the face of an avalanche of lies)
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OneLove
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:::MME:::

Oct 2, 2012

Poet's Nook: "Monster" by Steppenwolf

Chen Wenling’s “God of Materialism”

Once the religious, the hunted and weary

Chasing the promise of freedom and hope

Came to this country to build a new vision

Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope

Like good Christians, some would burn the witches

Later some got slaves to gather riches

But from near and far to seek America

They came by thousands to court the wild

But she just patiently smiled and bore a child

To be their spirit and guiding light

Then once the ties with the crown had been broken

Westward in saddle and wagon it went

And 'til the railroad linked ocean to ocean

Many the lives which had come to an end

While we bullied, stole and bought our a homeland

We began the slaughter of the red man

But still from near and far to seek America

They came by thousands to court the wild

And she just patiently smiled and bore a child

To be their spirit and guiding light

The blue and grey they stomped it

They kicked it just like a dog

And when the war over

They stuffed it just like a hog

And though the past has it's share of injustice

Kind was the spirit in many a way

But it's protectors and friends have been sleeping

Now it's a monster and will not obey

(Suicide)

The spirit was freedom and justice

And it's keepers seem "friendly" and kind

It's leaders were supposed to serve the country

But now they were paying no mind

'Cause the people "got" fat and "grew" lazy

now their vote "is like a" meaningless "Tune"

"You know they talk about law "about" order

But it's all just an echo of what they've been told

Yeah, there's a monster on the loose

It's got our heads into a noose

And it just sits there watchin'

Our cities have turned into jungles

And corruption is stranglin' the land

The police force is watching the people

And the people just can't understand

We don't know how to mind our own business

'Cause the whole worlds got to be just like us

Now we are fighting a war over there

No matter who's the winner

We can't pay the cost

'Cause there's a monster on the loose

It's got our heads into a noose

And it just sits there watching

(America)

America where are you now?

Don't you care about your sons and daughters?

Don't you know we need you now

We can't fight alone against the monster

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OneLove

:::MME:::

MME's Jam Of The Day

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Lupe Fiasco – Around My Way

[Verse 1]

First off say peace to Pine Ridge

Shame at all the damage the white man wine did

Ghost dance, Trail of Tears, 5 million beers a year

And all that other crime did

More peace to the teachers of blind kids

To rebels in small cells keeping their mind big

Say everything’s hostile

Suicide bombers and prosperity gospels, emaciated models

With cocaine and blood pouring out their nostrils, they got to

Just to stay awake on the catwalk of life where everybody watch you

Straight hair, high heels and a handbag

Crucifixes, racism and a land grab

Katrina, FEMA trailers, human body sandbags

A peace sign and a pants sag

A money toss cause a 9 stripper mad dash

A friend request following a hash tag

Now everybody want it like the last laugh

A Michael Jackson jacket or a daft mask

Purple Jordans or the mixed girl in your math class

Stable is when the Ba’ath had Baghdad

But corporate jets really had to have that gas bad

War and they hope they all fall from the ratatat

Cause that’s just more dinosaur for the Cadillac

[Hook]

Live from the other side what you see

A bunch of nonsense on my TV

Heaven on Earth is what I need

But I feel I’m in hell every time I breathe

Reporting live from the other side what you hear

A bunch of nonsense all in my ear

Rich man, poor man, we all gotta pay

Cause freedom ain’t free, especially ’round my way

[Verse 2]

And we marvel at the state of Ottoman

Then turn around and treat Ghana like a garbage can

America’s a big motherfuckin’ garbageman

If you ain’t know, you’re part and parcel of the problem

You say no you ain’t, and I say yes you is

Soon as you find out what planned obsolescence is

You say no they didn’t, and I say yes they did

The definition of unnecessary-ness

Manifested

Say that we should protest just to get arrested

That goes against all my hustling ethics

A bunch of jail niggas say its highly ineffective

Depart from Martin, connect on Malcolm X tip

Insert Baldwin to similar the separate

To me, the truth is more fulfilling than a meth hit

Or finding really fast internet to have some sex with

It’s all one song short of a set list

Couple croissants shy of a continental breakfast

Or blowing out your birthday candles just to make a death wish

So absurd word to Chief Bone Necklace

Down at the Lakota Sioux Casino

A whole culture boiled down to giving you paquino

I go as left as a heart in the chest

Cause the Horn of Africa is now starving to death

[Verse 3]

An all white Los Angeles, the dream of Mr. Chandler

Hope and pray they take Columbus day up off the calendar

South Central an example of God’s gifts

So shout to all the mothers raising babies in spa 6

The projects of Oakland city, Detroit ghost towns

Monopolies on poverty where D-boy coke bound

It’s parts of Manilla like the video for Thriller

But the US Embassy is reminiscent of a villa

If poverty is chocolate and privilege vanilla

Then what’s the flavor of the Sunday preacher’s pedophilia

Cash rules everything around these niggas

As classrooms everywhere around me wither

Hither you can be Mr. Burns or Mr. Smithers

The tyrant or the slave but nowhere in the middle

Of the extremes of America’s dream

Freud fighting Neo, Freddy Krueger refereeing, naaa…

OneLove

:::MME:::

Oct 1, 2012

Welcome To Dystopia

OneLove
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:::MME:::