Eight Years of Afghanistan War - What Are You Thinking Today?

What are we fighting for?
Last Night, I had the Strangest Dream:
I know I am not alone:
Still I Rise -

Can we best support our troops by bringing them home and the child by helping rebuild his home?

Sons on buffalo

Sons on buffalo,
originally uploaded by martien van asseldonk.

Who needs a Radio Flyer to have fun and a ride? Kids find simple joy, if you let them. They don't need any downloads, coal-powered electricity, or a TV, or even a cell phone just to have fun!

US Troops Risk All for Safety of Chinese and USA imperialism?

At first blush, the story sounds win-win: China "invests" in Afghanistan, hires out of work Afghans, helps stabilize economy. US troops make it safe for Chinese "private" company to exploit mineral resources.

Exploit is the right word. Two thirds of the economies in the developing world are still structured by past imperialistic dictates to supply North America, Europe, and Japan with raw materials to make products for themselves and to sell worldwide are greater profit. So Afghan copper profits will go to Chinese banks and when copper runs out, what do Afghans have? In a number of African nations who have sold such rights to Chinese, they did not get the jobs either; the Chinese brought in Chinese workers. Imperialism 21st century style is no kinder than it was in 18th century.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Beijing’s Afghan Gamble IN Afghanistan’s Logar Province, just south of Kabul, the geopolitical future of Asia is becoming apparent: American troops are providing security for a Chinese state-owned company to exploit the Aynak copper reserves, which are worth tens of billions of dollars. By exploiting Afghanistan’s metal and mineral reserves, China can provide thousands of Afghans with jobs, thus generating tax revenues to help stabilize a tottering Kabul government. Just as America has a vision of a modestly stable Afghanistan that will no longer be a haven for extremists, China has a vision of Afghanistan as a secure conduit for roads and energy pipelines that will bring natural resources from the Indian Ocean and elsewhere.

Just Do It - Help a Kid Get a Book

Why continue to dust those books you don't re-read anymore? Send them to kids in Africa - who knows what new world genius will be helped along the way. Or find a local group to get books to young people who might need them. Just do it - OK? Grin.

clipped from www.booksforafrica.org Books For Africa Books For Africa. A simple name for an organization with a simple mission. We collect, sort, ship, and distribute books to children in Africa. Our goal: to end the book famine in Africa. Books For Africa is the world’s largest shipper of donated books to the African continent. Since 1988, Books For Africa has shipped over 20 million high-quality text and library books to 45 African countries. Millions more are needed.

I need to recharge my cell phone - everyone into the loo!

How much will you do to make the planet greener? How about installing a biodigester to power your computer - pass the beans please? Grin. It really is tried a true way to produce electricity but not usually one household at a time. In India and China folks bring their waste to a communal digester that gives them all some needed cheap electricity from burning methane or just gas for the stove.

clipped from www.ipsnews.net ENERGY-BRAZIL: Putting (Human) Waste to Work PETROPOLIS, Brazil, Oct 6 (IPS) - Biodigester technology, which originated in Asia as a natural process for treating sewage waste, is reemerging in Latin America as an integrated system providing cheap energy, improved sanitation, and even attractive landscaping. Surrounded by streams and waterfalls, the house uses the biodigester sewage treatment system as part of a more complex, yet simple, process called an integrated biosystem.

Pure Joy: Pura Fe, Singing the Blues

About a year ago, I made a really good find of a great blues singer who brings her Native-American soul into the blues. Check her out sometime - if you like the blues, you will have found a new love, as I did.

clipped from www.youtube.com Pura Fe Native American Singer-Songwriter Pura Fe' is a founding member of the internationally renowned native womans a capella trio, Ulali, and is recognized for creating a new genre, bringing Native contemporary music to the forefront of the mainstream music industry. Pura Fe has now launched her solo career touring her new album Follow Your Heart's Desire on the Music Maker Relief Foundation blues label. Her soulful voice and acoustic lap steel slide guitar, carries the ancestral message of the Indigenous World and the missing history that unified and separated the blood ties of Black and Indian people of the South. With a fresh new take, Pura Fe resurrects and elegantly states the common bond and the indigenous influence on the birth of the blues!

A Life Long Journey

Becoming a social artist, being in the flow, part of deep ecology and planetary movement are all things that Frank Heckman can help you with if your spirit of adventure is high and you can go to Rotterdam to study.

Learn with Performance/Social Artist Master

I could go on and on but my friend and colleague Frank Heckman comes about as close as one can to integrating artistry, athletics, flow, organizational development, deep social and planetary ecology, as I know. If you put Buckminster Fuller, Margaret Mead, Nina Simone, Rafael Nadal, and Mikhael Barishnakov all together That's sort of describes Heckman who had a Balinese grandmother, Dutch Admiral father, martial arts training from one of the last samari teachers, mountain climber, adopted by the Ojibwe as their Crowman brother.

If you are a performance artist looking to reach new heights and stay there, you may want to meet and study with Frank.

clipped from www.codarts.nl ‘Am I still on the journey?’ Coach, traveller, organizational expert and movement specialist Frank Heckman is the Sustainable Performance lector for the coming four years at Codarts, University for the Arts. ‘What I do is actually emotional intelligence for performing artists.’ He lays the stress on the dance academy for a reason. Since Heckman got to know the Laban dance notation system many years ago, he became interested in interpreting movement. He was already curious about this ‘dance’ in the sports world as well. ‘I look at how athletes move. For me, the core of the movement is a dance. I observe how authentic this dance is. When you’re your authentic self, you’re closest to your movement signature. If you treat this signature with care, it’s the best way to guarantee the sustainable development of your talent.’

A Life Long Journey

Interested in pulling together social artistry, flow, open systems and the hero's journey? This Dutchman may be your start in Rotterdam!

Mama said: "there'd be days like this." Hopeless Hopi

What I like to know is where do you go to report a planetary rapist, pimps for Peabody Coal, and the ravaging of land held sacred for thousands of years by Hopi and Navajo who only walk with us as spirits now?

The sickest of criminals and lifelong bullies are those who commit crimes against humanity just because they can - aka: Peabody Coal.

clipped from bsnorrell.blogspot.com CounterPunch: A new dirty low for Peabody Coal October 5, 2009 Takeover in Hopiland A Dirty New Low for Peabody Coal By BRENDA NORRELL Former chairmen of the Hopi Nation have revealed that the Hopi Tribal Council has been taken over by a pro-Peabody Coal faction. Further, Hopi reveal that the tribe's attorney and the media are being used to carry out Peabody Coal's agenda. Peabody Coal used the same tactic originally to seize Black Mesa for coal mining and bring about Navajo relocation for coal mining, by way of attorney John Boyden, who worked for Peabody and the Hopi Tribe. The media was also coopted in the original seizure of Black Mesa by Peabody Coal, with the media cheerleading and proclaiming the so-called Navajo Hopi land dispute.

Baring All for Climate Change Action!

And I thought the French were really supposed to be prudish. Guess, you have to say they have nothing to hide in their support for positive actions for a healthy planet and climate!

clipped from www.greenpeace.org 700 strip naked for climate message Burgundy, France — 700 volunteers posed nude in a French vineyard to send a message about climate change. This human art installation in the South of Burgundy was created by artist Spencer Tunick - to warn about the dangers of global warming. Dear Obama, Merkel, Jintao, Lula, Sarkozy, Zapatero, Tusk etc. 700 people have stripped naked in a vineyard to warn the world of the effects climate change will have on French wine. And a while ago, hundreds of others were prepared to pose nude on a glacier in Switzerland.

Cincinnati Metro Needs New Ideas and Leaders

Here's a Cincinnati bus rider since 1971, who is finally fed up with Metro's lack of business-like leadership and news ideas to keep and attract more riders.

Maintaining and attracting bus riders means no fare hikes, less dependence of foreign oil, and a positive contribution to cleaner air  and not adding to climate warming. Leadership of Metro at the board of directors and operations levels over the last ten years has just two answers for losing riders: raise fares and cut service. That is the General Motors model of losing business, customers and control of their future.

Here are three innovations that are really no brainers for people who ride busses or think they might.

1. Where's the schedule for the Shopping Mall Crosstown? How many  workers and shoppers are Glenway Crossings, Northgate, Tri-County, Kenwood and Eastgate missing because there is no bus scheduled between them?
2. Where are the handy fare card vending machines that should be in every Kroger, United Dairy Farms, Walgreens, and CVS? Don't you think Kroger would love to offer the service?
3. Designate park and ride sections at public and private parking lots with posted schedules, signs and perhaps web cam security so riders and police could keep a check on the security of the the parked cars.

Retailers on Glenway, Warsaw, Westwood Northern, Harrison, Colerain, Hamilton, Winton, Vine, Reading, Montgomery, Madison, Eastern, and Beechmont would all benefit by adding 25-50-100 before and after work customers in front sections of their parking lots.

Two minutes of searching turned up two locations as examples and a supplier who will sell Metro a 3-camera system for $170. I am sure if Metro was buying many, the price would drop and security of citizens and parking lots increase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7aQ0xUGTaI Web Cam in Santa Ana, CA parking lot
http://www.clemson.edu/webcams/watch.html?cam=long Clemson University Parking lot
http://www.x10.com/homepage.htm

Where's the Beef - Coming From?

USDA Inspected - so it's safe - right? Well it used to be, when there were enough government inspectors on the job. But take 99 out of the 100 there used to be and the results is lots of people get sick, some die, and some get paralyzed for life like then-22 year-old dance instructor Stephanie Smith. Why is the US meat market less safe than in Japan or Europe? Ideology, not science. Greed, not any care for the consumer.

clipped from www.nytimes.com E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes. Then her diarrhea turned bloody. Her kidneys shut down. Seizures knocked her unconscious. The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks. When she emerged, she could no longer walk. The affliction had ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed. Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that her mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007. Stephanie Smith, 22, was paralyzed after being stricken by E. coli in 2007. Officials traced the E. coli to hamburger her family had eaten.

Update on Hopi's who love the land, not Peabody Coal

The latest Hopi words on how their government and that of the Navajo has been corrupted and stolen.

clipped from narcosphere.narconews.com Hopi and Navajo environmentalists galvanized by politicians' ban Today, Vernon Masayesva, Hopi, reveals that the Hopi Tribal Council has been taken over by a pro-Peabody Coal faction. Further, Masayesva reveals that the Hopi Tribal Council hired Tina May as its press officer and the Arizona Republic is publishing one-sided, biased press release coverage by Tina May, former senior editor at the Arizona Republic. "My grandmother Roberta Blackgoat once said, ‘I know each tree, each plant that grows right there. And they know me. The children, grandchildren, great grandchildren need to be right there. We need them to get back to the land and live on our ancestors' land.' She said that the ‘relocatees' die of ‘worriness,' ‘missing their traditional food and not knowing where to go to pray.' Blackgoat said, ‘As long as I live, I'm not going to sign' and continued to demand ‘(Peabody) stop destroying the Mother Earth's liver and blood; the coal and the water.'"

Be Proud America - Afghan Women's Writing Project

Get a tissue or two, sit back and read this account of a young Afghan woman about the last few days she had with her American mentor - Rosemary. It is truly amazing how brave and dedicated some people are and that more often than not - their story does not go nearly as far as the people they touch.

clipped from awwproject.wordpress.com Be Proud, America It was a Wednesday in June when I had my interview with Rosemary. She accepted me as program assistant for her organization, “A Little Help.” I was glad and I was afraid. But she was not like a boss to me. She was like a teacher. The first days, everything was new. She gave me some letters to print. I tried and I tried, but the printer was angry; it was not printing, I went to Rosemary and told her, “Please, come check the printer.” She came and checked, and plugged the cable on the printer and smiled at me. Her office with its green lawn and roses was also her house, but it was my home too. I felt calm there. She was not like a foreigner. She was a family member. She stayed in Afghanistan almost six years and Afghanistan was her home. But life is unfaithful sometimes. She laughed and her laugh was an ocean of love. It is very hard when you are alone, and you lose someone who you love.

Project 10^100 Google Doing Good by Helping Us Do Good

Great ideas on how to make the world a better place - vote for your favorite!

A Solar Village in the Works

Some dream, some talk, some do and do well! A solar village being built in Portugal with the help of friends around Europe and the world.

clipped from www.facebook.com Simon du Vinage's Photos - SolarVillage

Art Can Become Very Personal and Healing

A wall facing the fallen federal building in Oklahoma City - America's first public experience with massive terrorism - became the focus of a temporary tape art mural dedicated to the victims and those helping to find victims and survivors. That project began just four days after the bombing and they were still searching for survivors.

clipped from www.tapeart.com The following text was written in 1995 to describe our experiences at Oklahoma City, amidst the aftermath of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building on 19th April. We were half-way through our tour of 40 states when we arrived in Oklahoma. Little did we know that our experiences there were about to redefine Tape Art as a healing tool and demonstrate that public artists can play a pivotal role in times of crisis. We also described our idea for a Hope mural which we proposed to make for the rescue workers. The mural attracted people. It seemed to provide a kind of catalyst for discussion. The Hope mural, unlike most all of our murals which are removed within a day, is still up in the now quiet Myriad conference center. To rescue workers, the angelic mural on the wall at the Myriad Convention Center provided comfort in the days following the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Unique 9-11 project - 490 tape art figures in Manhattan

This project, stunning in its impact, was carried out by Michael Townsend -artist and son of a guy I used to work with. In his words: "This website, the Eleventh of September: an act of remembrance, is the cumulative result of 30,000 hours of volunteer effort, compiling five years of documentation and biographical information relating to the those who passed away and the journeys through New York City. "

clipped from www.tapeart.com The Drawings This one page shows all 490 drawings, cutout as silhouettes. Clicking on a figure will take you to the webpage dedicated to that person.

Kseniya Simonova - Sand Animation (Україна має талант / Ukraine's Got Talent)

Amazing Sand Animation depicting love and loss, peace and war.

Chris Rock - rocks on Roman Polanski

You just have to watch it. Chris Rock is the master of irony on this one.

clipped from www.feministing.com Chris Rock on Roman Polanski It's awesome to see him not join the legion of celebrities who have defended Polanski.

Who are the Quetta Shura Taliban? The key to understanding Helmand, Afghanistan

Good analysis of why things are not going well for US, Brits or other outsiders in Afghanistan - the Afghans really know how to organize to defeat those who want to dominate them. As the late election shows, that talent is not applied to bringing the people of Afghanistan together. That may be understandable since for more than 1,000 years they have "survived" all the invaders by being expert at decentralized governing.

clipped from circlingthelionsden.blogspot.com Insight into the military campaign in Helmand Jeffrey A. Dressler, Securing Helmand: Understanding and responding to the enemy explains to the reader the ebbs and flows of attack and counter-attack in this critical region. Dressler says, for example, that "The enemy system in Helmand is resourced and directed by the Quetta Shura Taliban (QST). The enemy is determined, well-organized, and entrenched in the province. In recent years, the enemy has shown its ability to adapt to the evolving conflict by developing and executing coherent campaign plans." He goes through these campaigns, showing how they evolved and who was behind the decision making. This report contains much very useful information and is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand how the Taliban fights and organises in its most important battlefield.

Asylum for those who push GM food and us from them

GM food sounds so attractive until you think about this: Is Monsanto, Bayer, or whomever big corp thinking first about

1. their profit; 2. people's health; 3. dangers to the environment; 4. making crops and farmers more susceptible to crop collapse due to unforeseen or unintended consequences.

Who did not vote for #1 as their first priority? What works best for profit is to plant all the same crop - right. What works best for a new insect, fungus, or bacteria - humans plant all the same crop.

clipped from www.commondreams.org Getting Corny: Environmentalists Seek 'Agricultural Asylum' MADRID — Environmentalists dressed as giant ears of corn Tuesday asked for "agricultural asylum" in the French embassy in Madrid in a protest over genetically modified crops. Environmentalist rallying against genetically-modified corn. (AFP image) The environmental organisation Friends of the Earth organised the symbolic act to protest Spain's "large-scale" production of genetically modified corn, which is banned in France.

You Can't Take Back Executing an Innocent

Long past time in Ohio to end the death penalty and in the other states and the Federal government - why? Think about all the headlines over the past few years about the mess in Illinois over people on death row or in for life who were proved innocent. This has been repeated in a number of other states due to the effort, in part, of the Innocent Project. But they cannot be everywhere nor investigate all cases.

Here's the point: If you sentence someone to life and find later on a mistake was made, the solution is to release the person and look for the real offender. If you execute an innocent, there is no way out. Across the country, people who have been accused of nearly the same kind or type of murder get death penalty specifications in once jurisdiction and not in another. We are not just talking about one state versus another state - the variation exists within states, county to county. That means no equal justice for the accused or the relatives and friends of the victims.

W

clipped from takeaction.amnestyusa.org Stop Executions in Ohio Three men on death row in the State of Ohio are due to be executed by lethal injection by early December. The state continues to defend its execution process, and the death penalty more generally, despite the recent "botched" lethal injection of Romell Broom. Call on Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to halt executions in his state.

Live East of Arizona? Say "Thanks EPA!"

If you live east of Arizona and this proposed $3 billion coal fired plant were to be built - all of us to the east would have more coal produced pollution thrust in to your air, rain, and land, as well as lungs.

The ash and mercury from Ohio coal fired plants more or less killed the once pristine lakes in New York. Be happy that you may not have this Arizona coal air to sift through you lungs and the lungs of our land.

clipped from www.biologicaldiversity.org EPA to reconsider Navajo power plant permit ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will have to reconsider an air permit the agency issued last year for a proposed $3 billion coal-fired power plant on the nation's largest American Indian reservation, a federal appeals board has ruled. The decision by the Environmental Appeals Board in part grants a request by regional EPA officials who wanted to take another look at parts of the permit for the $3 billion Desert Rock Energy Project on the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico. The board, in a ruling released Friday, also said the EPA abused its discretion by not considering integrated gasification combined cycle technology in its analysis of best available pollution control systems for the plant.