January 10, 2021

RayFltr Jan 10 NewsPerspective

I DREAM A WORLD.
I dream a world where man  
  No other man will scorn, 
Where love will bless the earth 
  And peace its paths adorn  
  I dream a world where all 
Will know sweet freedom’s way,  
Where greed no longer saps the soul  
   Nor avarice blights our day. 
 A world I dream where black or white, 
    Whatever race you be,  
Will share the bounties of the earth 
    And every man is free, 
 Where wretchedness will hang its head 
    And joy, like a pearl, 
Attends the needs of all mankind  
  Of such I dream, my world!
   — Langston Hughes
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Tump says his life was better before becoming President. … I understand, my life as also better before he became President. — ???
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Let us be enraged about injustice but let us not be destroyed by it. — Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)
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Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president. — Teddy Roosevelt 
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Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness… In the name of democracy, let us all unite! — Charlie Chaplin
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Weird how all these people are out here dying from a hoax that was supposed to be over by Easter, and that companies are creating millions of vaccine doses for all these… COVID deniers who are rushing to get it first. WEIRD. — ??? 
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…  It has been a while. Dec was a mess to pick ’news’ that was maybe different or less pure politics. Don’t know if I’ll be able to get back to what I like - hopefully there are items that appeal to you. I’ll keep trying to ‘find’.
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>
Good story - give up for someone else —
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Good stories - even in 2020 - 50 positive —
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Good story - humanity priority —
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Optimism for 2021 - Jeffrey Sachs —
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Sachs on the ‘Mob’ —
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Attempted coup - are we experiencing what we’ve done in other countries? - Honduras, Bolivia, Venezuela —
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Better angels - we need reality —
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Peru - 5000 yr old civilization - oldest in Americas - can it be preserved? - hope —
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Canada - Syrian refugees - a new life - and the US ?? —
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Birds falling from the sky - climate change? - yes —
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Restore multilateralism - Stiglitz —
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China - EU - investment agreement - US? - Sachs ---
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I am including several pieces from ‘Letters from an American’ - I like the way Richardson puts it together. Thanks Lynnette. - I hope this works - a mess - sorry
This first one provides some insight as to how we got where we are. Written before current ‘news’ 
 
 
 
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<<<>>> 
Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world… would do this, it would change the earth. — William Faulkner
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…. we must work for the community of love, peace, and true brotherhood. Our minds, souls and hearts cannot rest until freedom and justice exist for all people. — John Lewis
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My suggestion is that you separate mystery from history and then enter into and enjoy the mystery of the season. Dream of Peace on earth and good will  among men and women, and then dedicate yourself to bringing that vision into being. — Bishop John Shelby Spong
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Love is more potent than anger and hate. Together we have the power to change the world, to heal the world, and to achieve the culture of peace that is our highest calling. — Diana Ohlbaum
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The evil that men do lives after them. — Shakespeare
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ZZZZZZZ 
20s/30s/40s - days lengthening - morning walk after sunrise yet - Nature is still beautiful in different ways

January 10, 2021 | | Comments (0)

December 05, 2020

RayFltr December 5 NewsPerspective

Humanity 
Man sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; 
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die,
and then dies having never really lived.
— Dalai Lama
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— Each of us has a responsibility to affirmatively support leaders who respect nature, believe in science, who act on climate change, and who will advance sustainable green economies… please vote. — Jane Goodall
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When we are in partnership and have stopped clutching each other’s throats; when we’ve stopped enslaving each other, we will stand together, hands clasped, and be friends. — Eugene Debs
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Don’t ask kids what they want to be when they grow up but what problems do they want to solve. This changes the conversation from who do I want to work for, to what do I need to learn to be able to do that. — Jaime Casap, Google Global Education Evangelist
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Never doubt - That a small group - of thoughtful committed citizens - can change the world: - indeed it’s the only thing - That ever has. — Margaret Mead
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I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell. — Harry Truman
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
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Good story - good fortune - pure luck —
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Good story - 8 miles of Colombian cave paintings - 12,000 yrs old - Sistine Chapel of ancients - incredible ---
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Good story - deliver family 1000 miles in snow to Alaska - humanity —
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Invest in healthy child development - essential for our nation —
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Food systems - famine - fragility of global food system - no excuse - it must be fixed - not based on profits —
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Increase funding for IRS - YES - about time —
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Democracy and racism - is there a future for ‘all’  - Bill Moyers - Heather McGhee - excellent —
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Seed (gene) banks - extremely important for humankind - this reminded me of my visit to ICARDA at Aleppo more than 30 years ago - great experience of seeing ancient civilization bases —
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The future? - solar cells and agriculture —
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USDA - change is needed - for the people —
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Corporate Media - slanted on Latino voting - ensured Biden’s victory —
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Slanted on Iran —
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Depressing state of US politics —
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Economic needs - James Galbraith - good advice —
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Yellen - recovery - hope - Joseph Stiglitz - it can be done —
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Afghanistan - bring them home - do as we did with Viet Nam - need a reality check —
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The warmongers get what they wish - Yemen - kill w/o reason - Eisenhower was right - military complex is in charge and without mercy —
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More on actual national defense rather than global military domination —
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Or just execute the mentally ill - legally - justice? - hardly —
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Comics/Humor/Reality:
Reality - unfortunately —
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Yes —
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<<<>>>
Hope is one of the principal springs that keep mankind in motion. — Andrew Fuller
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Speak truth, act from hope, show love. Together we can work for the world we imagine. — Diane Randal
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I am grateful, not in order that my neighbor, provoked by the earlier act of kindness, may be more ready to benefit me, but simply in order that I may perform a most pleasant and beautiful act. — Seneca
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Citizenship is a way of being in the world rooted in the knowledge that I am a member of a vast community of human and nonhuman beings that I depend on for essentials I could never provide for myself. — Parker J. Palmer
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We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more…  — Albert Camus
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ZZZZZZZ 
20s/30s/40s/50s - highs in 40s - morning walk at sunrise - Nature is still beautiful in different ways

December 05, 2020 | | Comments (0)

November 14, 2020

Ray Fltr November 14 NewsPerspective

 

‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words - 
And never stops - at all -
 
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
 
I’ve heard it in the chillest land - 
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.  — Emily Dickinson  (thanks Tina, Lynnette)
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I will state boldly right now that I believe we face a crisis — one of our own making — and if we fail to negotiate it with vision, we will lay a curse of unimaginable magnitude on future generations. — Richard Leakey
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Abnormal thinking process are especially evident in politics. Confusion is the norm in political rhetoric … Innuendos, assumptions, vague statements, planned misinformation and suggestions, are the stuff of the political world. — Anne Wilson Schaef
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Socialism is a scare word they’ve hurled at every advance the people have made. Socialism is what they called public power, social security, deposit insurance, and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for anything that helps all people. — Harry Truman,1952
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There is no defense for the President’s comments tonight undermining our Democratic process. America is counting the votes, and we must respect the results as we always have before. No election or person is more important than our Democracy. — Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD)
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Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. — John Lewis
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######
…  Issues only (I hope) - minimal pure politics - very difficult - delayed because of all the crap in the news - hard to find real non-political issues - the political are too much opinion - hopefully there are several items that appeal to you.
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
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Good story - seagrass restoration - VA ---
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Good story - Grandpa - humanity —
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There are ways of beating Covid - RPI - takes technical ability - science - money - maybe less spending on armaments for US —
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Dean Baker on improving the economic system - I think this is useful and important —
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Last stand for Apartheid America - Jeffrey Sachs —
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Case for Supreme Court reform - Justice Alito’s political speech to Federalist Society ---
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Why not collect taxes on Wall Street that are available - end the corporate socialism —
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Media - again - protests - violence - when does it start? - with protesters or the original violence/killing? - Walmart wage theft —
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Black and Blue in America - need to reclaim American Idealism ---
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Big Bang never happened - what? - I certainly wasn’t aware of this - not that I needed to be —
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Next Donald Trump - reality? —
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Israel/Palestine - destroy Palestinian property - Trump legacy? —
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Comics/Humor/Reality:
The last one - what will I do? —
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Reality - today's New Know-Nothings - the current Republican Party
Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, had his own thoughts on the Know-Nothings. If they won, Lincoln wrote, he would prefer emigrating “to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”
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<<<>>>    
I think that having a beautiful, brilliant, Black family in the White House for 8 years, absolutely drove a lot of people crazy. — Henry Louis gates Jr.
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I tell you: one must still have chaos in one, to give birth to a dancing star. — Frederick Nietzsche
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Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. — Marthe Troly-Curtin
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You make a living by what you get. You make a life by that you give. — Winston Churchill
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You don’t need religion to have morals. If you can’t determine right from wrong, then you lack empathy, not religion. — ???
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Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow. — Kurt Vonnegut
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When did the American Dream die for you? … When I realized just how many of my fellow Americans valued selfishness over community, power over justice, prejudice over fairness, greed over generosity, demagogy over science. — NYT
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ZZZZZZZ 
30s/40s/50s - low 20s coming - days shortening more - morning walk after sunrise yet - Nature is still beautiful in different ways

November 14, 2020 | | Comments (0)

October 24, 2020

RayFltr Oct 24 NewsPerspective

No, you can’t deny women their basic rights and pretend it’s about your ‘religious freedom.’ If you don’t like birth control, don’t use it. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs. — Barack Obama
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How much more philosophical it would be to take what we’re given and show uprightness, self-control, obedience to God, without making a production of it. There’s nothing more insufferable than people who boast about their own humility. — Marcus Aurelius
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Pence: President Trump has Jewish grandchildren. Me: Slaveowners had black grandchildren. — ???
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Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. — Voltaire
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Eight guys in this country have more money than 4 billion people combined, but yeah the mom buying groceries with food stamps is the problem. — Mat Molina
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Sometimes we feel we can’t do much by ourselves, but humanity is made up of individuals; we can make a difference. Together we can make a better world. — Dalai Lama
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
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Good story - empathy - common humanity —
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Good story - common existence —
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Good story - re-wilding - biodiversity —
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Good story - animal ‘unity’ —
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Good story - why we like Fall —
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Good story - community - humanity —
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Good story - quiet helps birds singing —
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Good story - 14 yr old - girl - Covid cure? - science - hope —
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ICE - torture - is there no limit to their depravity? —
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I think this is of major importance - the media’s role in disinformation - author was on Amanpour & Co. Oct 7 - IMO the same media issues were present in getting the Tea Party in power years earlier free publicity w/o discriminating ’true' info ---  
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Can we democratize US foreign policy? - Andrew Bacevich - I thought this very interesting - helpful ---
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The second F-word - coming - Mark Edelman ---
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Threat to our Republic/democracy - Joseph Stiglitz ---
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Impact of anti-science - Jeffrey Sachs —
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Neo-colonialism - Imperialism - CIA - the more things change the more they stay the same —
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Need for developmental aid because of Covid-19 - unfortunately the US has cut its contribution —
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Covid vaccine - patent monopoly - why? - expensive - inefficient —
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Pompeo - international man of catastrophe? ---
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Political Correct v-a-v - Media Correct - FAIR - today’s ‘news’ world ---
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Comics/Humor/Reality:  
Reality —
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Reality -  I liked this —
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<<<>>>
The law of life is not always clear — not even to the wise. But if we make the effort, it can be understood. — Confucius
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Strength of feeling, reverence for mystery, and clarity of intellect must be kept in balance with one another. Neither the passive nor the active must dominate, they must work in conjunction. — Denise Levertov
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When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. — Maya Angelou
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Do what you feel in your heart to be right — for you’ll be criticized anyway. — Eleanor Roosevelt
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ZZZZZZZ 
40s,50s/60s - days shortening - Nature is beautiful in different ways
 

October 24, 2020 | | Comments (0)

October 03, 2020

RayFltr October 3 NewsPerspective

 

My People
— Langston Hughes
Dream-singers,
Story-tellers,
Dancers,
Loud laughers in the hands of Fate —
My People.
Dish-washers,
Elevator-boys,
Ladies’ maids,
Crap-shooters,
Cooks,
Waiters,
Jazzers, 
Nurses of babies,
Loaders of ships,
Porters,
Hairdressers,
Comedians in vaudeville
And band-men in circuses —
Dream-singers all,
Story-tellers all.
Dancers —
God! What dancers!
Singers —
God! What singers!
Singers and dancers,
Dancers and laughers.
Laughers?
Yes, laughers….laughers….laughers —
Loud-Mouthed laughers in the hands of Fate.
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The history of Nazis holding rallies in left-wing areas of Weimar Germany, instigating street fights, and then telling the press that only they could save Germany from the ‘violent communists’ seems like an important thing for people to be studying right now. — Lee J. Carter
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Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the (Republican) party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. but these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them. — Republican Barry Goldwater (the truth hurts)
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Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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Trump voters will usher in fascism to avoid socialism — because they don’t know the definition of either term. — John Pavlovitz
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Good Story - humanity —
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Good story - nature’s resiliency —
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Good story - LATimes - racism —
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Good story - bugs to eat plastic bottles —
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Good story - Pizza Deliverer - humanity —
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Good story - Rat wins gold medal for identifying landmines in Cambodia ---
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Good story - humanity - homeless >> —
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Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) - it should/must be revived - it was controlled by Congress and trusted by Congress - It was defunded by Newt Gingrich during my time - IMO it was the start of Congress decreasing its acceptance/understanding of science - Newt said that if Congress needed to have info about a technology it could just ask the Companies involved - however, Congress accepted OTA’s info as it was/belonged to Congress - admittedly I am prejudiced - I was privileged to be on a Panel to provide understanding of ‘Sustainable Agriculture’ - one of the last efforts - Newt is still around - unfortunately —
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Science - put Nature at the center for sustainable development —
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US drinking water - safe? - some real questions with ‘forever’ chemicals - won’t change with current EPA ---
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Peace accords? - Israel/UAE/Bahrain - hardly - media slants ---
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Making America great again - possible? - JoeStiglitz ---
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U.S. war on terror - displaced more than 37 million people —
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Why is the ‘media’ ignoring the trial of Assange? - he represents ‘Freedom of the Press’ ---
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Justice Roberts actions against voter rights - unbelievable —
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SCOTUS - Justice/‘justice’ - what? ---
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Priorities - perspective - would that healthcare would get this kind of ‘priority’ —
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The future - perspective - ‘trump’ cards? - restore our democracy or the national government will never be the same —
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Accidental laboratory releases of pathogens —
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Africa - crossroads - time to abandon the ‘green revolution’? - 250 million suffer from ‘undernourishment’ ---
 
Rise of Christian Nationalism - legislate evil - punish the poor ---
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Comics/Humor/Reality:
Can’’t get enough —
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The US today —
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Reality —
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Truth —
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<<<>>>
Is racism an inability — or refusal — to see the goodness in others? — Thomas Aquinas
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My philosophy is very simple. When you see something that is not right. Not fair. Not just. Say something. Do something. Get in trouble. Good trouble. Necessary trouble. — John Lewis
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Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being… Then do it, without hesitation , and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy. — ???
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Loneliness is difficult to confess; difficult too to categorize. Like depression, a state with which it often intersects, it can run deep in the fabric of a person. — ???
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To achieve something, you need to make an effort. The most difficult, and also the most important, effort is to abstain from talking. Listen, be attentive, and speak only a little. — Sufi Wisdom
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ZZZZZZZ 
30s,40s,50s/60s - Fall - very cool mornings - great for walking - days shortening - Nature is beautiful in different ways

October 03, 2020 | | Comments (0)

September 20, 2020

RayFltr September 20 NewsPerspective


If you want to be a true professional.
You will do something outside yourself.
Something to repair tears in your community.
Something to make life a little better for people less fortunate than you.
THAT’S WHAT I THINK A MEANINGFUL LIFE IS - LIVING NOT FOR ONESELF, BUT FOR ONE’S COMMUNITY.
— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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It is not women’s liberation. it is women’s and men’s liberation. 
I … try to teach through my opinions, through my speeches, how wrong it is to judge people on the basis of what they look like, color of their skin, whether they’re men or women.  
Ruth Bader Ginsburg led a life of constantly swimming upstream. Everything from institutionalized sexism, misogyny, ignorance, bigotry, anti-Semitism, and for her final curtain, five times with various types of cancer. FIVE. 
We didn’t love RBG because she was a liberal vote. We loved her because her whole life she stood selflessly for things beyond herself, bigger than herself. The men leading the rush to replace her will do so because they stand for nothing but themselves.
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We can have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. — Justice Louis D. Brandeis
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I wear my mask in public for three reasons; HUMILITY; I don’t know if I have COVID as it is clear that people can spread the disease before they have symptoms.  KINDNESS; I don’t know if the person I am near has a child battling cancer, or cares for their elderly mom. While I might be fine they might not. COMMUNITY; I want my community to thrive, businesses to stay open, employees to stay healthy. Keeping a lid on COVID helps us all. 
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######
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
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Good story - new park —
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Good story - humanity —
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Good story - roof top ‘gardens’ —
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Good story - give it away —
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Good story - just do what’s right —
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Reclaim America - Stiglitz - summary - perspective —
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Inequity - 2.5 trillion annual theft -
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Religion - losing - still important? —
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Teachers pay penalty - 20% - why can’t we pay them  a decent wage? —
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Nothing matters - nothing changes - thanks Pat —
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Perspective - terrorism - whose? - are we going to see this ‘here’? - more Tim McVeigh?(OK City) —
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US judiciary system - corporate leaning - /Chevron/Ecuador - justice? - where? —
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Africa - agricultural change - essential - leadership? —
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Pandemic - military Industrial nightmare —
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Theft - inequality - trillions —
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Fight fire with fire - indigenous knowledge is essential —
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Fires - media refuse to consider climate change - why? —
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Piracy - its OK if US does it —
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Israel/Palestine - peace? - reality - shameful —
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Comics/Humor/Reality:
Law and Order ---
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Truth?? —
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Truth? - reality? - fixable?  —
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Prophecy —
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Climate Change? —
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Carry On —
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Loss - but hope —
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<<<>>>
Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul… Lean toward the whispers of your own heart… Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge… But when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. — John Lewis
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There is but one solution to the intricate riddle of life; to improve ourselves, and contribute to the happiness of others. — Mary Shelley
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Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, the we may hear from others twice as much as we speak. — Epictetus
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Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives. — Martin Luther King Jr.
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ZZZZZZZ 
30s,40s,50s/60s - Summer has left - equinox - very cool mornings - great for walking - days shortening - Nature is still beautiful 

September 20, 2020 | | Comments (0)

September 06, 2020

RayFltr Sep 6 NewsPerspective

 

Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.
— Langston Hughes
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Only a fool would try to deprive working men and women of their right to join the union of their choice. — President Dwight Eisenhower, 1959 (where are leaders like this today?)
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… the richest 1 percent own half of the stock market, and the richest 10 percent own almost all (92%) of it. … bragging about the stock market … is not about the economy that 90 percent of Americans inhabit. — R. Reich
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After watching people defend Trump over the last few years, I will never again question how Hitler came to power in Germany. — ???
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The constitution will endure as a vital charter of human liberty as long as there are those with the courage to defend it, the vision to interpret it, and the fidelity to live by it. — Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.
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Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced. — James Baldwin
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
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Good story - lung cancer deaths decline —
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Asymptomatic testing needed - necessary for contact tracing —
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Covid-19 - economic loss - particularly for women —
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Brutal week to be Black in America —
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Indigenous heritage - Paraguay - US? - I remember Paraguay from our S.America road trip —
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Global biodiversity - racism - white supremacy - who benefits? —
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Sanctions - always No. 1 - 25% of people on earth live in a country under US sanctions - minimizes competition  —
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Hatch Act - for Al Gore et.al. - not for current —
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Child trafficking - by whom? - 2 guesses —
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Call the police if? - interesting - needs to be fixed —
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Monopoly capitalism - lower life expectancy —
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Rebuilding the economy - very different than 2008/9 - Galbraith —
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Presidential elections are unimportant for investments - very interesting - thanks JohnD ---
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Media again - WaPo - op-ed - Thiessen - truth? - where? ---
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Agricultural system - needs change —
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Meatpacking plants - we can make them worse - no limit to ‘our’ idiocy —
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Comics/Humor/Reality:
True —
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Reality —
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Here to ‘help’ ---
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Reality? - scary —
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<<<>>>
Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society. … The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil… — Albert Einstein
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Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken. — Warren Buffet
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Pay attention to everything you do, and do not think anything unworthy of your attention. — Confucius
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I not only have my secrets. I am my secrets. And you are your secrets … Our trusting each other enough to share them with each other has much to do with the secret of what it is to be human. — Frederick Buchner
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History is not the past, it is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history. — James Baldwin
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ZZZZZZZ 
50s/60s/70s/80s - really cool mornings - great for walking - humid days - some rain - days shortening - Nature is still beautiful 

September 06, 2020 | | Comments (0)

August 19, 2020

RayFltr Aug 19 NewsPerspective

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible - will make violent revolution inevitable. — John F. Kennedy
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China was never our problem. China never ‘stole’ a single job. Our jobs were sent to China by rich people like the Trumps (Ivanka) who sought to increase their profits and not give a damn about their country or its workers. — ???
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No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster. — Dalai Lama
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Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. — John F. Kennedy (If only)
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Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society. — John Lewis
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Men tend to choose higher paying careers like doctor, engineer, lawyer, or CEO. While women tend to choose lower paying careers like female doctor, female engineer, female lawyer, or female CEO. — Anne Henslee
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
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Good story - donations only restaurant —
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Good story - Apple - 100% carbon neutral by 2030 —
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Are we in a period of American Awakening? - Arousal? - hope —
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Six months - meditation - this speaks to/for me - from a long-term friend/colleague (30+years) - an indication/illustration of what long-term relationships are - ‘life’ —
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Toward a new normal - not a return to ‘business as usual’ - re-build to a non-carbon economy - a fairer economy - a green economy - letter from 100+ Economists —
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Enriching from the Pandemic —
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Fix it — Tax policy —
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Toward a new normal - not a return to ‘business as usual’ - re-build to a non-carbon economy - a fairer economy - a green economy - letter from 100+ Economists —
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Bureaucratic violence - Jim Crow 2 —
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Justice? - NO! - fix it - need a Congress —
...
Media - why can’t the media report accurately right-wing violence? …
…. 
Biden’s first 2 weeks in office - Bacevich - I liked this - wishes? - hope —
…
This not so good - Harris record as prosecutor - get ready for detailed expansion - she will be a target  —
...
More on Harris - this is only the beginning - keep your perspective —
…
Continuing nightmare - forever global war - forever domestic ‘war’ - reality? - future? —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Too true —
...
Yessss —
...
Believe it —
...
A loss? —
...
<<<>>>
I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. — Lao Tzu
...
They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world; someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. — Tom Bodeff
...
It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows. — Epictetus
...
There is no rigid barrier between makers of culture and its consumers. Art belongs to all and is a ‘function’ of society. — China Achebe
...
ZZZZZZZ 
60s/70s/80s - cool mornings - great for walking - very humid days - some rain - days shortening - Nature is still beautiful 

August 19, 2020 | | Comments (0)

August 18, 2020

Six Months On --- A Meditation

Six months on.

A meditation on July 1 2020

 

Thanks to the virus, George Floyd’s murder and Black Lives Matter

You and I have been 

rudely yanked out of the murky waters of

confusing, chaotic, stuff-burdened,

and tomorrow- and days after tomorrow-directed, 

and list-anchored, 

and goals and plans-steered, 

multi leveled, oft-conflicting, and counter-intuitive

actions and thoughts

Informed by memories and obligations and

thousands of opinions and interpretations

that coalesce into the viscous thick, layer of collective human experience 

that some call 

modernity 

or post modernity

or reality 

or just life.

A layer of rapidly accumulating Knowledge 

about ourselves and the world 

And how we came to be here.

The heavy, murky now that we all swim in.

Often on auto pilot.

 

Here we remain after six months

Deposited on a muddy shore by a pandemic, 

Into a temporary (we are assured) reality

that reveals and illuminates certain facts,

That has stripped away our internal and external distractions 

that displays things that are intolerable:

Racism - and the slavery that preceded it,

Our reliance on racism to have cheap labor and superiority

Our reliance on a socio-economic system that is rooted in Injustice and inequality

Our human propensity to control and subjugate 

The Other,

Known by the color of the skin, shape of eye, of nose or of lip

Or by language, 

or cosmologies 

or theologies

Or by resistance to subjugation

 

This is the muddy shore where we’ve been thrown

And where we futilely squirm, attempting to get back 

into the viscous, somniferous

murky waters of misinformed, misinterpreted

Unquestioned histories and 

The comfortable swim of some

who feel more equal than others and

some of who see themselves as chosen

Or whose country they deem to be exceptional

 

The problem is

You and I and almost everyone else don’t know

When we’ll be lifted off of this muddy strand

where we’re rendered impotent by the virus and are

Confronted by the irrefutable and systemic racism 

that afflicts our society and 

many others around the world.

And many other ignored, uncomfortable facts.

 

We don’t know if and how we can co-exist with

The COVID-19 disease and its virus

We don’t know whether we can

Congregate as before without fear of infection.

We don’t know if we can invent immunity to the virus 

or if our bodies can create immunity to it.

 

We do know that for the foreseeable future we cannot

- live our lives as before

-be in crowds without risking our health

-enjoy the close company of others who are strangers

-enjoy the close company of our friends and family 

   unless they have all been tested and found negative

-continue as a racist society and a racist world

 

We do know that for the foreseeable future,

We all will have to be tested and re-tested and certified negative.

Testing will have to be done throughout the country and globally.

Cheap and effective PPEs must be made widely available. 

Quarantine quarters will have to be created 

-near international airports and water ports, 

-in hospitals, in nursing homes, prisons, military barracks, and student as well as worker  dormitories.

Permanent pandemic response procedures, structures, and data collection will be needed at all levels of government.

 

We do know that we in the USA and all peoples around the world must confront racism and slavery, end it, and repair the damage caused to its victims - the Other.

And the collateral damage to those who have been born and raised as not-the-Other,

who have seen and witnessed racism

and whose hearts have been wounded,

spirits distressed, compassion repressed

Children know and feel this. Before they learn to be racist.

Adults endure it or become inured to it.

Is this the moment when we change? .

 

 

Peter Freeman

New Bern NC

July 2, 2020

 

August 18, 2020 | | Comments (0)

August 02, 2020

RayFltr August 2 NewsPerspective

Ordinary  people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society. You must use it because it is not guaranteed. You can lose it.
 
You must also study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time. People on every continent have stood in your shoes, through decades and centuries before you. The truth does not change, and that is why the answers worked out long ago can help you find solutions to the challenges of our time. Continue to build union between movements stretching across the globe because we must put away our willingness to profit from the exploitation of others.
 
Though  I may not be here with you, I urge you to answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe. In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. Now it is your turn to let freedom ring.
 
When  historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.
—— partial of essay by John Lewis shortly before his death
...
If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have  moral obligation do something about it.  — John Lewis
…
We can as a nation and as a people come together for the common good, and believe again that we can get things done for all America and not just for some. — John Lewis
~~~~
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed —
Let it be that great strong land of love 
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme 
That any man be crushed by one above.  — Langston Hughes
...
Do we not know the feeling that overtakes us when we are in the presence of a particular person and, roughly  translates as, The fact that this person exists in the world beats all, this alone makes this world, and a life in it, meaningful. — Viktor Frankl
...
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….
Good story - trap fog to produce beer - Chile —
…
Good story - rooftop farming —
...
Good story - basic humanity —
...
Good story - it only takes one to start something - just do it —
…
Good story - hope out of pandemic - save food being thrown away - for food banks - just do it —
...
What will be the ‘new normal’ - emerging trends ---
...
Pandemic - upend geopolitics - loss of faith in government - replace bridges to future with walls? —
...
Media - coverage of Covid in South American countries - accepts US interpretation - slanted —
...
Covid widens racial inequality —
...
Israel lobbies - unseat Ilan Omar? ---
...
Israel - destroys Covid clinic bldg - lack of basic humanity - are we following - certainly not leading ---
...
‘Our' Postal Service - at risk - why? - future privatization - riches - I thought this one of the best I’ve read —
...
Hong Kong/China - bad - US/Puerto Rico - OK - Israel/Palestinian - OK? - depends on whose ‘colony’ —
…
Americas’ Social Hell - will we be able to come to a new ‘normal’ after our current disaster? - will there be ‘real’ change? - hope ---
...
Military ‘needs’ - changes to address pandemics - hint - it requires more funds - but of course —
...
Unthinkable - military/industrial complex - second virus - forever wars —
...
Reality/Comics/Humor:
What an example for humanity —
…
More —
...
More —
...
Is there no bottom to this group? ---
...
Reality? - too true —
...
Reality - John Lewis —
…
Virus - reality —
...
<<<>>>
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. — Epictetus
…
To be human, one must make room in one’s heart for the universe. — meso-American lineage
…
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you. — Frank Lloyd Wright
…
Let us never  forget - that Creation  contains the possibility of heaven on earth, a fellowship of humanity — ???
...
ZZZZZZZ 
60s/70s/80s/90s - little change - very warm/humid days - some rain - Summer is here - Nature is still beautiful 

August 02, 2020 | | Comments (0)

July 12, 2020

RayFltr July 12 NewsPerspective

This pandemic has shaken up the status quo and laid bare a lot of our country’s deep-seated problems.
Our society and our democracy only work when we think not just about ourselves, but about each other.  — Barack Obama
...
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. — Abraham Lincoln
...
As we experience discomfort in this time, let’s begin to dream of a new normal, a new normal that addresses the weaknesses and problems that were going unaddressed in the old normal. If we’re wise, we won’t go back; we’ll go forward. —Brian McLaren
...
It is always important in matters of high politics to know what you do not know. Those who think that they know, but are mistaken and act upon their mistake, are the most dangerous people to have in charge. — Thatcher
...
Fear an ignorant man more than a lion. — Turkish proverb (reality for today)
...
######
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….
Good story - Wear a mask - it works —
...
Good story - empathy - concern - humanity —
...
Hunger - Pandemic? - 12000 deaths/day? - what crisis? —
...
Schools - underfunded - but save the economy - teachers on the block —
...
Inequality - Covid-19 deaths - linked? - Jeffrey Sachs  —
...
Cover-19 - economic outlook/needs - Joe Stiglitz —
….
Did we do to Russia in the 80s in Afghanistan what we are accusing them of doing to us now? —
...
Who/what to believe - Russia - Taliban —
...
More - is the NYT following the Iraq ‘smell’? —
...
More ‘analysis’ ? —
...
Defense - needs? - Covid-19 - good times for Pentagon —
…
Pure idiocy - we keep cutting IRS staff - decrease review of the rich because it’s too expensive - review poor as much as rich —
...
US - number one export - obesity —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Trump’s responses ---
…
It’s war —
...
<<<>>>
The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and he has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.  — RabindranathTagore
...
All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die. — David Whyte
…
Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, That is strength… — Mahatma Gandhi
…
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food they call me a communist. — Dom Holder Camara
...
If there were none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better. — Florence Nightingale
...
The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. — Pablo Picasso
...
ZZZZZZZ 
70s/80s/90s - little change - some very warm/humid days - some rain - Spring continues - Morning Walks - OK - Summer is here - Nature is beautiful 

July 12, 2020 | | Comments (0)

June 28, 2020

RayFltr June 28 NewsPerspective

Hold fast to dreams 
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
 
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
           — Langston Hughes
….
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability  but comes through continuous struggle. - Martin Luther King, Jr.
...
Sadism and racial hatred: The core of sadism, common to all its manifestations, is the passion to have absolute and unrestricted control over a living being, whether an animal, a child, a man, or a woman. — Erich Fromm
...
Democratic socialism isn’t free stuff. It’s getting what you paid for with your taxes rather than giving it away to war and corporate subsidies. ???
…
If my wife comes to me in obvious pain and asks “Do you love me?” an answer of “I love everyone” would be truthful, but also hurtful and cruel in the moment. If a co-worker comes to me upset and says “My father just died,” a response of “Everyone’s parents die,” would be truthful, but hurtful and cruel in the moment. So when a friend speaks up in a time of obvious pain and hurt and says “Black lives matter,” a response of “All lives matter,” is truthful. But it’s hurtful and cruel in the moment”. — Doug Williford
...
######
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….
Good story - libraries closed - book delivery by drones to kids in Virginia —
…
Good story - just do it - reward those who do it —
…
Good story - SCOTUS - ruling for LGBTQ - progress —
...
Good story - TARGET raises minimum wage to $15/hr —
...
Good story - ‘neighbor’ - support - hope —
...
Poor Peoples’ Campaign - systemic racism/Black/Brown/FirstNation - systemic poverty - ecological devastation - war economy - religious nationalism —
...
Three questions white students should ask themselves —
…
Today’s modern slavery - very much present - Asia is major source —
...
Are we being gaslit again - perspective - Chris Hedges ---
…
True ‘looter’ - no experience but 3 million contract to deliver masks to Navajos - couldn’t deliver ---
...
Looters? - Billionaires increased wealth by 20% or more in 3 months - bottom 80% - ??? —
…
Looters - SCOTUS OKs financial looting - pension funds - no shame ---
...
MLKjr - giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, militarism - Bacevich ---
...
Media Reporting - accuracy/control?? ---
News control - who?? - why?? —
...
Brazil - rehabilitating Justice Minister ---
...
FAIR - China/WHO coverup? - Media game —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Awoke? - hope —
...
Cancel culture —
...
<<<<>>>>
Though we do not wholly believe it yet, the interior life, and the intangible dreams of people have a tangible effect on the world. — James Baldwin
…
Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only with what you are expecting to give — which is everything. — ???
…
We are each other’s harvest: we are each other’s business: we are each other’s magnitude and bond. — Gwendolyn Brooks
…
Our origins are of the earth. And so there is in us a deeply seated response to the natural universe, which is part of our humanity. — Rachel Carson
...
ZZZZZZZ 
60s/70s/80 - little change - some very warm/humid days - some rain - Spring continues - Morning Walks - great - Summer approaches - beautiful Nature 

June 28, 2020 | | Comments (0)

June 14, 2020

RayFltr June 14 NewsPerspective

Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes (1935-excerpt)

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above. (It never was America to me.)

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine—the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!  

HOPE  ****
...
It is evident that legal justice stands foremost among all the moral virtues, because the common good transcends the individual good of one person. — Thomas Aquinas
...
I think there is a spirit among today’s young people that wants to combat injustice. I would do everything I could to encourage that. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
...
When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross (Bible) — ??
…
We have to do more than the bare minimum. We have to do better than ‘not being disrespectful.’ We need to be anti-disrespect. — ???
…
######
 
I continue to have trouble finding/deciding what to put out - just too much to see etc. but I want to put ‘issues’ rather than political aspects.  I have become addicted to Amanpour & Co. on PBS for what I think is really good info. She has people on that I don’t know but are in the midst of current issues and she asks, IMO, deeper questions for discussion.
...
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….
Good story - can’t isn’t in her vocabulary —
…
Good story - racial injustice - hope —
...
Good story - thanks to Nature Conservancy —
…
Good story - protect Monarch butterflies - hope —
…
Bill Moyers - Can it happen here? - it is happening here ---
...
Police reform - can it be done - Camden, NJ - hope —
...
Reform/defund police - learn from others - it can be done - but - US is more difficult because of its gun-based society —
...
How to overcome racism - not simple —
...
Black Liberals - perspective changes everything —
...
Economic stimulus - what works? - Stiglitz —
…
The Future - judicial appointments - scary —
...
Reopen America - rapid recovery? - economic/political fantasy - Galbraith ---
...
Russia/China - EuroAsia - Pepe Escobar —
...
Pepe Escobar again - pipelineistan again - continues without ‘our’ consent ---
...
American policing - 19 facts —
...
Military - warrior - police - warrior - forever wars - where does it end? - militarization of American culture - I thought this is good - interesting ‘connections' —
…
Fair - Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting:
Cuba’s medical teams - why are we against them? - maybe we should send medical teams instead of military teams —
...
Iran/Venezuela - meddling in other countries’ affairs - why? —
... 
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Looters - who? - reality —
…
Inequality - schools —
…
What can one say? —
...
<<<<>>>>
Everything depends on the individual human being, regardless of how small a number of like-minded people there is… each person, through action and not mere words, creatively making the meaning of life a reality in his or her own being. — Viktor Frankl
…
I slept and dreamt // that life was joy. // I awoke and saw // that life was duty. // I worked — and behold. // duty was joy. — Rabindranath Tagore
…
Full humanization…. requires the breakthrough from the possession-centered to the activity-centered orientation, from selfishness and egotism to solidarity and altruism. — Erich From
…
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. — Winston Churchill
...
ZZZZZZZ 
60s/70s/80/90 - little change - some very warm/humid days - today cool - some rain - Spring continues - Summer approaches - beautiful Nature 

June 14, 2020 | | Comments (0)

May 31, 2020

RayFltr May 31 NewsPerspective

America should stop trying to police the world and invest instead in rebuilding America, including its crumbling infrastructure and social services. — 77% of Americans Agreed
...
In the US there are: 
- more empty homes than homeless // - more food wasted than hungry stomachs // -more skilled jobs than educational opportunity // - more profit margins than living wage // - more MX immigrants leaving than coming  
There is enough. Scarcity isn’t the problem - greed is. — Ocasio-Cortez
...
Consciousness precedes being, and not the other way around, as Marxists claim. For this reason the salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human modesty, in human responsibility. Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better. — Vaclav Havel
...
Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are. — Benjamin Franklin
…
A people that elect corrupt politicians, impostors, thieves and traitors are not victims … but accomplices. — George Orwell
...
I couldn’t ‘find’ among all the info on racism, discrimination etc. something unique but also assumed you read/saw enough. There were some really good presentations. The real looters are the billionaires who gained over 0.5 trillion in wealth the past few months.
...
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….
Good story - Spring —
...
Good story - plant based plastics - solution? - hope —
...
Good story - there is ‘good’ - humanity - in everyone - if we can ‘obtain’ - ‘free’  it —
...
Good story - indigenous group in Brazil wins decades long case - hope —
…
Good story - after 600 years —
...
Technology - AI - Collective Intelligence - game changer —
...
Somalia - US ‘war’ - why? - a failure from the start - I remember my 2 trips to Somalia - they don’t deserve this —
...
Pentagon understates civilian deaths in its operations - media takes a pass —
...
Perspective:
Takeover of the U.S. - the ’new' modern feudal system - ‘our’ nation depends on next November - next November depends on the ‘young’ (18-24) vote - hope —
...
Public schools - working to remove? - anti-union primarily? - how about just ‘fixing’ the problem? —
… 
America’s wars - will they change? - quite likely —
...
History - future? - reality? - fascism? —
...
Who to believe - I believe David Corn - a long time legal mind of the ‘people’ ---
...
Who to believe - Consortium News was a great source with regard to the Iraq fiasco - now - I don’t know —
...
China/US - I like Pepe Escobar’s take —
...
Cuba - what to believe - sends medical help around the world - humanitarian? - financial income? - does it make a difference with ‘our’ efforts against them —
….“Cuban doctors represented the threat of a good example of what public health could be—and that’s why they had to be stopped.”
...
Hong Kong betrayal - US involvement in the current disaster - like Ukraine, Syria etc.? —
...
Michael Flynn - FBI set-up? - happens all the time - charge stacking - venue shopping - prosecutorial mis-conduct ---
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Too true - reality —
...
Teacher reality/hope —
…
<<<>>>
Our respect of other people… can only grow from a humble respect for the cosmic order and from an awareness that we are a part of it… and that nothing of what we do is lost, but rather becomes part of the eternal memory of being. — Vaclav Havel
...
Kindness makes you the most beautiful person in  the world, no matter what you look like. — lyndafield.com
…
Humor, more than anything else in the human make-up, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds. — Viktor Frankl
…
Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping. — Hubert Reeves (Canadian-French astrophysicist)
...
ZZZZZZZ 
60s/70s/80 - little change - Spring continues - Summer approaches - beautiful Nature 

May 31, 2020 | | Comments (0)

May 16, 2020

RayFltr May 16 NewsPerspective

We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more… — Albert Camus 
...
I’m so tired of the Left // They never stop with their quest for justice and equality. // They just can’t accept compromise with fascists. // They won’t chill out and cooperate with white supremacists. // They’re so damn persistent about giving everyone a dignified and meaningful life. — Peter Daou
...
I wonder what we will be like after this pandemic? But I really don’t want to get ‘back to normal’. I hope that in facing my fear and anger and learning the new rules of social behaviors, there will arise within me a more willing spirit to [embrace] ‘us’ rather than ‘me’. — E. Eachus
...
There have been as many plagues as wars in history, yet plagues and wars take people equally by surprise. — Albert Camus, The Plague
...
If you hate wearing a mask, you’re really not going to like the ventilator. Be Smart! Be Safe! — ??
...
****
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….
Good story - humanity - cab driver —
...
Good story - record greenhouse gas emissions decrease —
...
Good story - basic humanity - Irish - Native Americans —
…
Good story - as a former dairyman, I think this is good - some think they should turn to Oat milk —
...
Our food system - farmers plowing down food - why? - good detail - difficult to change - but - it can be addressed better —
...
New role - armed Blacks - escorting Black legislator - the future? —
…
COVID-19 - racism - police bias - violence —
…
Passing the buck - was China negligent? - maybe not - conspiracy? - truth? - where? —
...
Dialogue - Death or Economy? ---
...
Military or Healthcare spending? —
...
Wasted money on Iraq/Afghanistan - now? - don’t have for pandemic - will there be ‘change’ after ‘this’? - hope —
…
Education - classrooms - misplaced priorities - lack of resources - will there be ‘change’ - hope —
...
Pandemic - wash hands - how? - don’t have water - stay home? - homeless —
...
Fix unemployment - radical - maybe - but works in other countries —
…
Require foundations to pay out 10% instead of 5% for 3 years - provide billions without taxpayer cost —
...
This is a good story but different - Warren Buffet - we need to fix inequality - he thinks very wealthy should be taxed more - how different from Trump and Bezos - republicans in general —
… For example - Amazon - warehouses don’t count --- 
…
Maryland Gov. Hogan - Covid testing supplies from S Korea - ‘story’ —
...
Pence wouldn’t be any better than Trump - lying is OK for some people —
...
Israel - discriminates against Israeli Palestinian citizens - contrary to Israel - it is not a democracy —
...
Media - journalistic pick-pocketing - NYT - accused of stealing by Russian journalist ---
...
Venezuela - mercenaries - media mis representation - again —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Unbelievable but true - get rid of anything linked to Obama —
...
Media - repeating Tea Party - excessive publicity —
...
Yes —
...
<<<>>>
We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth. — George Bernard Shaw
...
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. — Mother Teresa
…
Worrying won’t stop the bad stuff from happening it just stops you from enjoying the good. — Charlie Brown
…
The self-renewing man … looks forward to an endless and unpredictable dialogue between his potentialities and the claims  of life — not only the claims he encounters but the claims he invents. — John Gardner
…
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for. — Thomas Merton
...
ZZZZZZZ 
50s/60s/70s/80 -  Spring continues - Summer approaches - beautiful Nature 

May 16, 2020 | | Comments (0)

May 02, 2020

RayFltr May 2 NewsPerspective

I dream a world where man
No other will scorn.
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way.
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head,
And joy, like a pearl,
Attend the needs of all mankind,
Of such i dream —
Our world! 
— Langston Hughes
...
The Coronavirus is an important reminder that health isn’t private. As a species we live in herds. Everyone’s health relies to some extent on everyone else’s. Healthcare has to be public because health is public. — Adam Ramsay
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We have come to live in a society based on insults, on lies, and on things that just aren’t true. It creates an environment where deranged people feel empowered. — Colin Powell
…
After watching people defend Trump over the last few years, I will never again question how Hitler came to power in Germany. ???
…
Radical reforms — reversing the prevailing policy direction of the last four decades — will need to be put on the table. Governments will have to accept a more active role in the economy. They must see public services as investments rather than liabilities, and look for ways to make labour markets less insecure. Redistribution will again be on the agenda; the privileges of the elderly and wealthy in question. Policies until recently considered eccentric, such as basic income and wealth taxes, will have to be in the mix. — Financial Times
…
Sometimes it still stops me in my tracks that because I believe insulin should be free, workers should be paid justly, we should house the homeless and not cage families, and that all people should be free to pursue education as they wish, and for that we are treated as radical & dangerous. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
****
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….

Good story - ear guards for masks - thanks to the youth —

….
Good story - Understandable but unbelievable - canoe from mushrooms - green - sustainable? —
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Good story - most of you have probably seen this already but I thought it really exemplifies what is possible with right leadership —
...
Good story - removes doubt about our impact on ‘nature’ —
...
Good story - pictures - EARTH —
...
Vaccine - Covid-19 - can we prevent monopoly control? - hope —
...
Conspiracy and hate - what has happened to our basic sense of humanity? —
...
Israel - Palestine - International Law? - what’s that? - war crimes? —
...
Feminist work in the global pandemic —
…
Voting rights - Florida - court case - on-line - the future? —
...
Lockdown - farmers - rotting food - India - also here —
...
Pandemic profiteers - billionaires —
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Charter Schools - DeVos - money - but of course —
...
More American deaths than in Viet Nam - but - more than a million total deaths in Viet Nam - don’t they count? —
...
Assassin-in-Chief - still - only more so —
…
Interesting analysis - butttt - Pepe Escobar —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Couldn’t pass this one by —
...
What can you say? —
...
<<<>>>
Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. — Tom Peters
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If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. — Mother Teresa
…
Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination. — Mae Jemison
…
Keep my anger from becoming meanness. // Keep my sorrow from collapsing into self-pity. // Keep my heart soft enough to keep breaking. Keep my anger turned towards justice, not cruelty. // Remind me that all of this, every bit of it, is for love. // Keep me fiercely kind. — Sharrianna Rice
…
The happy heart runs with the river, floats on the air, lifts to the music, soars with the eagle, hopes with the prayer. — Maya Angelou
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ZZZZZZZ
40s/50s/60s — cool for May - good rains -  Spring continues - bushes/trees greening/leafing - beautiful Nature 

May 02, 2020 | | Comments (0)

April 18, 2020

RayFltr Apr 18 NewsPerspective

Pandemic
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.

And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love--
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live. -

~ Lynn Ungar 3/11/20  (UU religious educator)
…
Man, we’ve gotta open the gates.
We’ve been through this, Phil. The Mongols are still outside.
But I’ve gotta harvest my turnips.
MONGOLS
Ugh. But we’ve been here for WEEKS.
That’s how sieges work, Phil.
— Bryan Mac 
…
People keep asking me, Is COVID-19 REALLY that serious? Listen y’all, the casinos and church’s are closed. When Heaven and Hell AGREE on the same thing, it’s probably pretty serious. — #saferathome
...
This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.  — Maya Angelou
...
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping. — Mr. Rogers
… 
****
Difficult to screen what is important, what are issues, what is ‘news’, mostly about  Covid-19, I hope you can find something of interest. I thought “Pandemic” above was useful.
 
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
….
Good story - a very good ‘deed’ —
...
Good story - new technology —
...
The East-West divide in Covid-19 response - Jeffrey Sachs --- 
...
Women are on the front line globally - Covid-19 -  and now still more subject to violence - patriarchy is still out front —
…
Doctors not bombs - Cuba - but please don’t give them any credit or slack —
...
Is it possible to re-engage with Russia? - finally end the last cold war rather than start another - I have long thought we make little effort in this —
...
A global response is essential to alleviate the health and economic crisis - Joseph Stiglitz —
...
West Point Mafia - too true - where is Dwight Eisenhower —
...
Cut the socialism for the wealthy - their tax has decreased tremendously - why? —
…
Government bailouts - socialism or making money on loans —
...
Mental health - human chaining - no limit to the depravity of humankind ---
…
And we - the US - are responsible for the more modern means of depravity - sanctions —
….
Voter suppression - US Supreme Court makes voter law for Wisconsin - Democracy? - where? —
...
Nurses - trying to take care of their own safety - suspended - what is the world coming to? —
...
LA Times - coronavirus in CA - I think the LA Times has done a good job of info - short - relevant —
...
Disease and denial - a little history - misconception about disease —
...
I couldn’t decide which of these would be most useful - so you can look at the titles and decide —
...
Again - corporate media - NYT - post-mortem for Bernie —
…
How much did Trump’s delayed response cost us? —
...
Accuse others of doing what you’re doing —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Priorities —
...
Priorities —
...
Winning —
…
Truth? —
...
???? - I couldn’t pass this —
…
<<<>>>
The fact that we are connected through space and time shows that life is a unitary phenomenon, no matter how we express that fact. — Lynn Margulis
…
In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
…
Fear does not stop death. It stops life. And worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles. It takes away today’s peace. — ???
…
Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.  — Luther Burbank
...
ZZZZZZZ
30s/40s/50s - snow no longer expected - some rain but still dry - some cold mornings - Spring is here - bushes are turning green - trees are flowering

April 18, 2020 | | Comments (0)

April 04, 2020

RayFltr April 4 NewsPerspective

And The People Stayed Home
 
And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art and played games, 
and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. 
Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
 
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, 
the earth began to heal.
 
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new 
choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.
 
Kitty O’Meara
…
Consider also Mahatma Gandhi’s response when he was asked one day: What do you think of Western civilization? Pausing a moment, he responded: I think it would be a good idea. — ???
...
Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well. — Dwight Eisenhower
…
This virus is teaching us that from now on, living wages, guaranteed health care for all, unemployment & labor rights are not far left issues, but issues of right vs. wrong & life vs. death. — William J. Barber II
…
The market doesn’t work very well in addressing the major problems our society faces — resilience, inequality, climate change, you name it. — Joseph Stiglitz
...
If there is too much in your inbox - delete or reply with enough in subject line - please do not send to spam.
…
Difficult to screen what is important, what is ‘news’, mostly about  Covid-19, but since most of you have more ‘time’ now maybe you can find something of interest.
...
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
…
Good story - humanity —
...
Good story - China >> Italy - global responsibility/cooperation —
...
Good story - technology —
...
Our sorry health care system - Kansas/my ‘home’ - hospital closes without warning - incredible —
…
Sickening - empty hospital - but - greed has no limits - no humanity —
...
Corporate media - lives or livelihoods - invisible hand >> the finger - perspective? or … ---
….
More from Chomsky - neoliberal capitalism - ventilator shortages - so what else is new? ---
...
Cuomo is the ‘latest’ ‘god’ - be careful - look at his ‘record’ - he hasn’t been a particular friend of the ‘disadvantaged’ —
...
A good article on paid sick leave - thanks Karl - WaPo passed on the article —
…
I thought the last part on Globalization and Global responsibility was good and misunderstood —
…
A ‘new’ approach for our country - why not? —
…
The military ‘expected’ the coronavirus several years ago - nothing —
...
I liked this by Stiglitz - Progressive Capitalism —
…
A public option on pharms - possible? - likely? - needed —
...
Our prison system - antifascists et.al. —
…
Corporate media - ‘disproving’ Bernie’s claim about Biden’s wanting to cut Social Security - how does one ‘determine’ ‘assess’ truth? —
...
Media - Canadian is just as bad or worse - indigenous rights —
…
Media - US - Venezuela - sorry - I can’t ignore it —
…
More Venezuela - perspective - what is truth? - what should/must be done? - who knows? —
...
CEO excessive pay - something must be done - it should be at the center of the Covid-19 bailout debate —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Too true —
…
Reality —
...
Yes - please —
…
Reality - may we recognize it, keep it, and improve it —
...
Yesss!! —
…
But of course —
...
Good —
...
<<<>>>
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. — Rachel Carson
...
You have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired before recovery can begin. — Twelve Step wisdom
…
Let gratitude be like the sun to your flower. Keep your face always turned toward its light. — Leah D. Schade
…
At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. — Albert Schweitzer
…
Increasingly, I have come to celebrate life. I may not be here tomorrow… Today, I must do the best I can — for myself and for others. — Rocky Stone
...
ZZZZZZZ
30s/40s/50s/60s - some rainy mornings - also some windy days - but continuing Spring bursting forth - flowers, shrubs, trees

April 04, 2020 | | Comments (0)

March 22, 2020

RayFltr Mar 22 NewsPerspective

*** I thought this ‘Lockdown’ was quite appropriate in today’s world. Will we learn anything from this ‘pandemic/lockdown’? Will there by any long-term sustainable benefit?  HOPE!!
...

Lockdown

Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other 
across the empty squares, 
keeping their windows open 
so that those who are alone 
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know 
is busy spreading fliers with her number 
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples 
are preparing to welcome 
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able 
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.

Richard Hendrick; March 13th 2020; (Franciscan Priest in Ireland)

…
Also highly contagious is -- Kindness, Patience, Love, Enthusiasm, and a Positive Attitude — Don’t wait to catch it from others — Be the Carrier — ???
...
Three weeks ago, we were told those working in supermarkets, social care, and cleaners were ‘low-skilled’. Now these are the people crucial to managing the COVID19 outbreak. Everyone plays their part in society. These workers deserve decent wages and sick pay, not just now but always. — Faiza Shaheen
….
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. — Albert Einstein
…
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch. — Garrison Keillor
...
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
…
Good story - ‘Neighbor’ —
...
Good story - Rep. Katie Porter gets free coronavirus testing - would that we had more in Congress doing this - particularly in Senate —
...
Good story - New solar energy system —
...
Paid sick leave - of course if you’re in Congress - for the ‘uppers’ - not for the ‘lowly’ - a modern form of ‘slavery’? —
...
Will this prove the ‘final’ end to the Reagan dogma - “government is not the solution to our problem: it is the problem” - JosephStiglitz - hope ---
...
Today’s world - past/future - Noam Chomsky —
...
Media - Voter suppression or just ‘problems’ - perspective —
...
Media - ‘bail-outs’ —
...
Media - flatten or defeat Coronavirus curve? - did China do right in its approach? —
...
WOW!! - I don’t know what to think let alone believe - I’ve always liked Pepe Escobar on bringing out somewhat different aspects - likewise ConsortiumNews - CIA et.al. ‘games’ using a coronavirus - shortly before the outbreak in China? - how to ‘know’?? ---
...
Corporate media - Venezuela - voting machines - what to believe —
Venezuela is the only country in the world that does an on-the-spot citizens’ audit after voting centers close, in which the electronic tallies of 53% of randomly selected voting machines are compared to the physical receipts printed by those machines and deposited by voters in a sealed box.
…
Venezuela - Bolivia - not enough - add Nicaragua —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality:
Nikki Haley - If this happens - goodbye - Repubs with first woman Prez —
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Reality - truth —
…
Be Safe —
...
Support them —
...
Too true —
…
Truth —
...
<<<>>> 
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. — Anais Nin
...
One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let  people know they are not alone. — Shannon L. Alder, author
…
People speaking to each other in Spanish or any other language doesn’t bother me. Why? Because I have a life. — ???
…
One of the scariest things about America is that there are millions of people who are more scared by the idea of socialism than the idea of dictatorship. — Joshua Potash
...
ZZZZZZZ
30s/40s/50s - snow no longer expected - some rain but still dry - some cold mornings - Spring is here - bushes are turning green - trees are flowering

March 22, 2020 | | Comments (0)

March 08, 2020

RayFltr Mar 8 NewsPerspective

 

The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe. For the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was wood he was one of them. — West Asian Fable (today’s political reality)
...
The EPA, Interior Department, Dept. of Defense, and now the Energy Department are all run by former corporate lobbyists. Remember when Donald Trump promised us he was going to ‘drain the swamp’. — Rep. Pramila Jayapal
...
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. — Theodore Roosevelt
...
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. — Plato
...
If it’s a policy that benefits the rich, then it doesn’t have to be paid for, should last forever and is good for America. But if it benefits the poor, we can’t afford it, we should end it as soon as possible and it will destroy our nation from within. — Jon Stewart
...
>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed >>>>>>
…
Good story - truth/reality - put yourself in a handicapped person’s wheelchair - actually —
...
Good story - empathy - understanding —
...
Flu v-a-v coronavirus - 18000 deaths due to flu in US - 3000 deaths due to coronavirus globally - why the concern? - was Trump right? - this gives some explanation —
...
Reality - sensible - Coronavirus response - Kenneth Galbraith - is it possible? - who knows —
...
International Women’s Day —
...
Gender equality - milestones but limited progress —
…
Modern slave labor —
…
World disorder/illusion - mishandling the end of the cold war - Bill Moyers/Andrew Bacevich - I really liked this - understanding today’s reality —
America though, life seems to move faster than anywhere else on the globe. And each generation is promised more than it will get, which creates in each generation a furious, bewildered rage. The rage of a people who cannot find solid ground beneath their feet.  
— JAMES BALDWIN
…. we came to believe that we could put the military to work. An instrument to use to fix problems.
...
Who/what to believe? - corporate media and Russia supporting Bernie —
...
A little reality - Wall Street Plutocrats and Bernie - I thought this quite good regarding today’s political world whether you’re for Bernie or not - Jeffrey Sachs —
...
Bolivia - coup - why do we always ‘push’ ‘our’ political wishes regardless of ‘truth’? - maybe we should just stay out of other countries —
...
US regime change - Venezuela —
...
Media - perspective? - Bernie - Socialism - ignore ‘other’ —
…
Warren - Wall Street - future? —
Elizabeth Warren has taken on the most powerful corporate interests because she cares about those who have been left behind…. Without her, the progressive movement would not be nearly as strong as it is today. I know that she’ll stay in this fight and we are grateful that she will.” — Bernie Sanders
...
Border Patrol - Native Americans - National Monument - the ‘Wall’ - shame? - why? —
...
Fascism - in the US? - remember the past —
...
Comics/Humor/Reality
The ‘Wall’ —
…
<<<>>>
Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness. — Leo Tolstoy
...
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. — Helen Keller
...
We are reminded that, in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame, but rather how well we have loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better. — Barack Obama
...
You don’t stop doing things because you get old. You get old because you stop doing things. — Rosamund Pilcher
…
Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. It is possible to live and NOT know. — Rilke 
...
ZZZZZZZ
30s/40s/50s/60s - 70s expected - some rain but still dry - some cold mornings, strong winds - Spring is coming - bushes are turning green

March 08, 2020 | | Comments (0)

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