We are at a pivotal moment in American democracy. The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, has reached levels that were previously unimaginable. It's too easy and too partisan to simply place the blame on the policies of President George W. Bush. We are all responsible for the decisions our country makes.

Reasoned, focused discourse is vital to our democracy to ensure a well-informed citizenry. But this is difficult in an environment in which we are experiencing a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time--from the O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson trials to Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith.

Never has it been more vital for us to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from the climate crisis to the war in Iraq to the deficits and health and social welfare. Today, reason is under assault by forces using sophisticated techniques such as propaganda, psychology, and electronic mass media. Yet, democracy's advocates are beginning to use their own sophisticated techniques: the Internet, online organizing, blogs, and wikis. Although the challenges we face are great, I am more confident than ever before that democracy will prevail and that the American people are rising to the challenge of reinvigorating self-government. It is my great hope that those who read my book will choose to become part of a new movement to rekindle the true spirit of America.
http://www.amazon.com/Assault-Reason-Al-Gore/dp/1594201226

Many of you may already know about this--I just heard about it in a email from Deepak Chopra--

People in Haiti are eating mud cakes to stay alive...I know food prices here have soared, but people please--people around the world are starving--in places that didnt know food shortages of these porpotions before. This war has to end and we have got to make some major changes in the way we live our lives. There is no more saying--everythings ok and the climate is fine and we can just keep going the way we always have. Yes this is a "wake up rant"...we need to WAKE UP!!!

Sigh~ Love you all

Ange

 

"Food Security: Why has the Global Food Crisis reached Emergency Proportions?"

For months, people in Haiti have been going hungry. The recent rises, particularly in the price of rice, have tipped people over the edge. They are having to eat mud cakes, known as Teh, to help quiet their excruciating hunger pangs. Starvation is the main cause for doing so, although Pica, which occurs sometimes with iron deficiency anaemia, may also be present in the Haitian population.

Food riots in Haiti caused the deaths of five people about a fortnight ago, including a UN peacekeeper, and forced the country's prime minister out of office. No country has escaped the effects of escalating wheat and rice prices. The poor nations like Haiti have been hardest hit. The country is in terrible turmoil because Haiti is forced to buy imported food staples which are getting more expensive by the month.

Mud Cake Preparation in Haiti

Many of the Haiti people have turned to eating mud cakes. They first strain the mud to remove stones in it, put some mixture of vegetables and then they let it dry under the sun. Though this mud cake is rich in calcium, eating it on a regular basis is not good for their health according to the health specialists. At present, this is the food being eaten by the poorest people in the hemisphere.

Decline of The US Dollar

The decline of the US dollar has affected many countries and Haiti is one of the most affected ones. The increased price of fuel and food has led to most -- if not all -- of the products being sold in Haiti, to have inflated prices too. Haiti is already poor and it is getting poorer and poorer as it can afford to buy less and less of food and fuel on the world markets.

Haiti's history is terribly sad. Christopher Columbus discovered it in 1492, and soon after, Europeans completely killed the indigenous population, in one of the worst genocides ever. Then it was repopulated, primarily by African slaves and Irish Indentured Servants. Most Haitians are descendants of those slaves, who overthrew their French masters in the Haitian Revolution in 1804. Unfortunately this did not end neo-colonial intervention...

How do you feel about this adverse developments in Haiti? Imagine having to eat mud cakes to cope with hunger. It makes the soul tremble...

 

Labels are problematic. Human languages are inadequate to the task of describing the complexities of human experience. Even women who embrace a given label may find it only partially succeeds in serving its descriptive function. And those who reject a label may still recognize its merits. The responses above are clear evidence that choosing how to identify is a complex issue with a myriad of possible opinions and strategies, and no simple solution or correct answer. Each individual must find her own way.

            My own experience of identity has been an ongoing process and may serve as one example. The bisexual label works for me, and has greatly enhanced my life. It has also, at times, cost me dearly.

            I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge in myself the capacity to be attracted to and sexual with people of more than one sex, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree. It is clear to me that I was bisexual long before I ever “acted on it,” just as a person who has never had sex can be lesbian or straight. After all, identity is not only about behavior. It is also about what we feel inside. A woman can be bisexual even if she never ends up acting on it, or even if—like me—she is in a monogamous relationship that she expects will last the rest of her life.

            On the negative side, by calling myself bisexual I exposed myself to anger, hostility, stereotyping, and lowered my status in the “gay and lesbian” community.

            On the positive side, my bisexual identity was a route to community. By responding in September 1982 to an announcement in the paper about a discussion about bisexuality, I found my way into a room of women who also identified as bisexual, who understood my experience. This led to membership in a support group, to friendships, and subsequently to advocacy and activism, all of which have greatly enhanced my life.

            I have become, over time, less a believer that there is some sort of essential difference between people who use various words to describe ourselves. Lesbian, bisexual, queer, even “choose-not-to-label”—these are tags that we place on ourselves to give others information about how we understand ourselves. These words mean different things to different women.

            I have been committed to a woman (for life, we hope) for eight years, and we have been legally married since the first day it was legal in Massachusetts to do so: May 17, 2004. I haven’t slept with a man since 1992. Many other women whose stories are similar to mine would by now have adopted a  lesbian label. I haven’t. I am happy to be grouped with lesbians. Queers too. But it is important to me that I be seen in full: past, present, and potential future; internal and external, and that no part of me be obscured or erased.

            We use words to describe ourselves, but these words are at best tools to help us explain—to ourselves and to others—who we are and how we see ourselves. They have value in so far as they can be used to make us visible, and to help us find others with similar experiences, but in reality each of us has our own path and unique experience. And while this may not feel like a very stable foundation upon which to hang one’s hat, it is in fact facing up to reality.
            It can be very frustrating for those of us who identify as bisexual when others reject the label we have worked so long and hard to create a space for. I am left with the question: is my bisexual activism about making it safe for these women to identify as bisexual? Or is it about making it safe for all of us to identify, or not identify, however we choose, and to be respected as we are.
            My answer, clearly, is the latter. However, we still live in a world in which people think in either/or binaries, and most people believe we are either one thing or the other, and are uncomfortable with notions of fluidity. How can we make it safe for women who identify as bisexual? Or not? How can “not bi” women be visibly “not straight” and “not gay” either so that they can help dispel binary notions? This is the challenge that I put forth to all of us: let us respect one another, speak our truths, listen to each other’s stories, refrain from imposing our own assumptions and understanding on others, and figure out ways that we can increase the space available for all of us. ~ Roybn Ochs

http://transition.turbulence.org/robynochs.com/writing/essays/whats_in_a_name.html

I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace, When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.

I snagged this from a friend in my network this morning. Thanks Gene--your site Rawks!!!

 I am curious to your responses.I love Def Poetry Jam. It is always so REAL. Anyway--where are you at with this topic?

Love and Light

Ravie

 

http://ebonypoet.multiply.com/journal

Take a look at this simple visual glimpse at history and give me your thoughts.