Everything is a human being-- a la Alice Walker

.....even spiders

From Alice Walker dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr, 1983 

And,  it comes to me as I follow her reasoning THAT I believe we should be allowed to declare  war only against people whose language we speak and whose culture we understand.  In fact I am quite sure that if we had a Ministry or Department of Old Women (aka Crones) in our political system that they would over-rule a war between strangers as  irrational and self-destructive.  If we do not know people well enough to skillfully befriend them then neither do we know them well enough to hate them.  The opposite of love is not hatred but indifference; whereas the source of most hate is fear born of ignorance (and unfamiliarity).    Moreover, the chances of winning a war are significantly reduced if we do not take the time to know who we are fighting and why they are fighting back.  Remarkably, knowing people well enough to wage war against them effectively also exactly what protects us from ever starting a war against each other. 

I am shaking my head that so few Americans speak Dari or Pashtu and I think wishfully about a Ministry of Crones. So it is to Alice Walker that I return (certainly she would be in the Ministry) but this time on the topic of war.  In her essay "The Universe Responds: Or, How I learned we can have Peace on Earth," she says,

"War will stop when we no longer praise it, or give it any attention at all. 

Peace will come wherever it is sincerely invited. Love will overflow every sanctuary given it. Truth will grow where the fertilizer that nourishes it is also truth".

How difficult for us to do.... 
Meanwhile, everything is human, yes, my lovely daughter, Natalya, even spiders, or if not exactly human they are enough "us" to be worthy of our respect and far beyond our capacity to imitate - or create. They are weavers and spinners and since time out of mind there have been stories woven with spiders-- remember Arachne? 

Here -- to all the lovely forms of existence-- we dedicate these images to our many legged spinning friends that live life on their toes & up in the air like members of cirque du soleil.

Spiders: Artistry and competency - Story by Sharon McDonnell

Our voices our stories: Abortion

 

First Person: Your Voices, Your Stories

“I wish we could offer each other the kindness of respectful listening.”

In 2008 the radio program "On Being" (formerly "Speaking of Faith") asked listeners to write to them about the topic of abortion.   I was moved to respond and now they are updating and re-airing the program they have selected among the comments offered, and mine was posted on their main page.  Check it out.

Our voices: About abortion and how we talk to each other

Moreover, not long ago, Jane Flink sent me this story as part of a conversation we had on the topic of abortion.  One of the wonderful things about it was that I had no idea what her opinion was and so I had to listen carefully and open my mind.  Another wonderful thing is that the story is full of forgiveness.  That is always a good thing when important issues are being discussed.  So, I include a link to her short story.  It is excellent and its is called "God has a good idea"

God has a good idea: Many voices of women

I believe that we must move the topic of abortion back into dialogue, particularly among women of all ages and tell each other our stories and what is in our hearts.  It is a topic so laden with emotional meaning  and political significance that it has become unspeakable.  This sense of danger is often a sign that an issue has become wholly symbolic and is no longer connected to real peoples' lives.  Reductionism has occurred and this is a great pity because polling from many sources show that almost 80% of people agree while only 20% of people are in conflict. This is where the media and our fear of conflict collide to make a difficult situation worse.  I think there is more agreement and forgiveness than we know.

Sharon

A reminder about the history of the budget as context for the histrionics over the deficit

Let some truth be told. 

This is a clip from the Newshour and it is important.  Mark Shields walks us back over recent history and reminds us of the facts. 

I need to remember we had a national budget surplus not  long ago and that those who now protest so violently about the deficit seem to have a very different vision of what is good for America. Listening to the threats to dissemble health care reform, planned parenthood, public broadcasting, and most public workers jobs is unbelievable and sad. Am I being asked to accept that I may enter my 80th year working at Walmart sans health insurance watching my grandchildren attend an ever declining education system?  If so then why o why must they also take away public radio?

Make a fuss, do not let the chanting of untruth overwhelm good sense and kindness.
We must not let our best programs and social supports be taken apart as waste or non-essential. I want a government, I want to contribute to joint action, I want nurses and teachers, public health workers, and to know my country has a plan that is more detailed and thoughtful than "Cut funding". To know if our government is too big then we need to talk about what we expect it to do. If we say we cannot afford something then it is because we have chosen not to either because we don't want to afford it or we have decided something else is more important.  In the recent budget wrangling it is clear that cutting taxes for higher income people is more important than education, heat assistance, secure aging, and public health.

I would like to know what the vision is for people who are old, cannot work, lost their retirement savings to wall street, and now have a medical condition that their insurance will not cover. If there is a plan that does not punish these people but provides some semblance of kindness and support now would be a good time to start talking about it.  The strident repetition of slogans about socialism, big government, and the President give me the willies. Fear mongering is not a plan. Taking the government apart sounds more like treason than fiscal responsibility.  In this case, here in the US, we are supposed to be nation building.
Mr Boehner stop telling me about what you are going to take apart and talk about a specific series of steps that will be taken to invest in America.  How shall my grandchildren live and will they still be paying for or fighting in the fake war?

  

To Stories from Mogadishu and responses from Vermont

We have been enriched by a conversation with new friends in Africa and one of the topics has been snow. They live at the equator and have an idea of snow that has charmed us here and made us laugh. So this video is for them to give them a sense of snow.



If you haven't heard it yet check out "The story" and Messages from Mogadishu.  This is citizen journalism at its best.  Our response back via this lighthearted video may seem trivial in light of the difficulties there. How can we laugh or complain about the snow when their lives are so constrained and difficult? I don't know how to balance these things, I just know that all I can offer are authentic responses and images of my life.  Sometimes "help" comes as humor, sometimes as questions and always listening.

The reporter, a young man called Abdi, encouraged by Dick Gordon from the radio program "The Story", has gained a voice, an audience, and in our case friends and supporters. This affection and concern has spread and includes his family spread far and wide who worry for him and help him. Abdi, through Dick Gordon and Paul Salopek, an award-winning journalist from Chicago, has begun a conversation with our family, friends and a community of public radio listeners, that makes the far-flung country of Somalia much more pressing and real. Everyday we try to cast a net of safety and connectedness over him. This type of reporting is amazing and life-changing.

Listen. If you want to support The Story or Abdi please do.

Peace

Sharon

What now: Rally to restore sanity - pictures and thoughts

Vote!

Tomorrow... today.  WE HAVE TO VOTE!

Vote!

Vote!

Vote!

Vote with your feet, your time and, of course,

your Ballot.

See more pictures and signs from our time there

Natalya and I just returned from the Rally to Restore Sanity, and on our way there a question was raised in an article in the NY Times and then repeatedly by other news organizations, gaining steam as these things do when the media amplifies itself. 
"Why are you going, and what do you expect to happen?"
The question surprised me because it had not crossed my mind: the reason(s) seemed obvious.  Beforehand,  no one asked me why I was going.   But, once we began traveling, the question kept coming up, and this set me to the task of trying to articulate, at least to myself, why I was there.

I went because I wanted to vote with my feet.  I knew that if many of us went to the Rally -- all stripes and spots -- it would make an impression.  So, what did we say or learn?

• That civility is important; it might save us.
• Showing up matters, in whatever way possible (in costume, via internet, in other satellite locations).  It makes the wacky voices seem less important. It puts people on notice.
• Humor helps.  It only hurts when we don't laugh, and much of life and politics has not felt funny enough to me recently.  Outrage and frustration were getting the best of my normally wry optimism.
• We are not alone.  There is a community and I am not alone with my concern (alarm?) and sense of loss, but what to do? I wanted, nay needed, ideas. I needed to explore my confusion with others that felt as I did and hopefully build community, a plan, a great slogan, and  hope. 

Certain formative experiences prior to, during, and following the Rally helped me clarify why attending was important to me and galvanized me to begin framing that answer that the media kept putting out there. 

The first experience was when "we" -- my daughter, and two friends that are college students at Tufts, and I finally arrived at the Mall after having battled our way via Metro.  We saw so many people that had been forced to give up and simply couldn't get there. There were too many people for the trains and the roads.  Throngs of people greater than any I had seen at other rallies.  Getting to the Mall in Washington DC required physical strength and endurance, which many could not muster so they had to settle for sending their best wishes.  It also required a financial commitment especially for those coming from outside the Washington area, which meant that many simply could not attend. Fortunately, there are those -- to whom I offer my blessing -- that made it possible for others to share the experience via the "inter-tubes",  satellite events, and a bazillion websites.

The second and third moments came to me and with the crowd.  It was a roiling, moving, ever increasing, crowd.  Tightly packed, disorganized, straining, and almost scary.  We had to be careful: there were dogs, little kids, wheelchairs, old folks. I was aware of a mounting frustration and the fact that my feet were barely on the pavement. My daughter Natalya and I were holding hands, but sometimes we were separated by cross-currents of people who almost broke our outstretched arms and handhold.  People were uncertain and trying to find their place.  There was grumbling, pushing and rising tension-- a sense of scarcity.  Then something started; A woman's voice was close by saying, "It's OK", "Be kind", "Give way".  It was like a murmur from your mother.  I joined in, quietly offering encouragement and support for my daughter and for others around us who looked nervous and were caught in the eddies.  "We are OK", "We are here", "Maybe this is the event, a huge Conga line emerging, and it's OK". Then a man somewhere behind wryly commented, "OK, we relax for wheelchairs, but not Segways!", which was followed by laughter.  It caught on and other voices spoke kindly reminding us of our better selves.  We looked up at each other instead of our feet and we smiled.  In this way we were drawn away from the edge of impatience, bad behavior and whining.

And then it became clear that my daughter and I would not be among those who would be close enough to actually see or hear what was happening on the stage at the Mall.  We are crowd sissies.  Yes, this was disappointing and relieving.   Natalya and I headed out toward the edge of the crowd where there was more space, and where it was a circus, a picnic, a party, a place to meet.  By 1:30 pm a lot of us along the margins and edges recognized this reality and settled into the fact that our version of the event was going to be between us and that whatever was happening on stage we could watch later.  It was a great comfort to know that the event would be well documented and easy to find on the Internet and that simultaneously most of my friends were watching it from wherever they were.  Now we weren't trying to get anywhere; we had arrived!  We introduced ourselves to each other and laughed at signs, helped hold signs, wrote more signs, took pictures, and spoke of many things.  As Ariana Huffington rightly pointed out in an interview on Sunday,

"It was just amazing, the fact that they were there, even though they had flown from other parts of the country.  Because they wanted to have that sense of community and connection. And that is what you observed if you walked around the rally. It wasn't just what was happening on stage, it was what was happening among people there."  

I  decided that being there was still important: I waved to the helicoptors overhead and occupied my bit of landscape for the body count.

The other epiphanal event was later that afternoon when I introduced myself to an Arabic news reporter who was willing to talk to me after he finished filming.  I asked him, "How will you tell this story?" my arm sweeps out towards the crowd, I wondered, "What does your audience want to know and what will surprise them?" He said, "A comedian calls and people come! There are people here from all over the US and so many.  There are more here than even for the President who was recently in Chicago.  It is amazing!    Why do you all come?  What has he done? He has never run anything-- it is easy to make fun of politicians"  He was polite and these were sensible questions.

I nodded agreeably, admitting that we had traveled all the way from northern Vermont. He gawked and asked, "Why?"
It was then, as I stretched myself to respectfully and clearly answer his question, while desiring not to appear like a kook, that the windshield cleared.  I've spent years in the Middle-East, Afghanistan, and with Arabic, Farsi and Pashtun speakers. They would get it, and I wanted to tell them directly why this odd sight was, in fact, wonderful and, I hoped, important.

"So now what?"asks a sign.

Well..... Vote!  You have to vote!
Then....what to do is at least this much, nothing fancy or new,  just a good place to start.
Keep voting everyday with your money and your attention.
Lets give our attention to things that deserve it and stop being distracted by "squirrels". We do not have time for this. 
Gossip is harmful.
Name calling is mean, and it never makes anyone more likely listen
Facts are important.
In fact, facts are findable, and on this lets not be fooled or fooled with. Its not playing politics, advocacy, campaigning or marketing.  It is lying.

Be encouraging,
To laugh at your (my) self, and
To be quiet and listen.
And, perhaps to make and wear more signs -- maybe this should become a habit.  We can explore the creativity and fun of signs, buttons, and T-shirts.  Who knows some of what comes may turn out the be a rallying cry, a marching song, a lightening bolt straight to the heart, the funny bone, and the truth. We could use something like that.

Meanwhile, as in the manner of Friends (Quakers), truth emerges from many voices well heard.  Go online and read more signs.  They are on Facebook, Huffington Post, everywhere and taken together all of them are a message and the truth. Yep, even the one about scrabble; and the one that says, "Merge left"; and the one that says, "Obama kills kittens"; and the one that suggests, "Hey, what if we all chipped in? We could make sure there is enough medicine, schools, and places to play." 

Vote....please Vote...encourage great acts of civil obedience and revolution by voting.
Make sure that the narrative that the media has been chanting incessently becomes part of a new storyline that reads, "OH MY! Big News! We all thought there would be a blood bath, but now, it seems sanity prevailed."

 Photos by Sharon and Natalya McDonnell

What do  you think.... did the rally change anything?

Managing the message of sacrifice and economic austerity

What do we need to spur us on when asked to sacrifice and tighten our belts for the greater good?   A good slogan, of course.  Cultural voyeur Dr. Meg Harper, now of Limerick, Ireland, and Limerick University, offers this:

"I'm seriously committed to informing you all about the culture here, as you know. I've recently found a way to encapsulate Irish attitudes towards the current economic and political troubles. In England (and Northern Ireland), there's a resurgence of (commercially inspired) interest in a slogan and poster that was printed and put up all over Britain in 1939. On a red background, simple white letters read "Keep Calm and Carry On." 

She goes on to say, "I recently saw an Irish equivalent, which I'm enclosing for your edification."

 

Thanks Meg!  This speaks volumes, and just as the Irish equivalent might confuse or scandalize Americans I suppose we need a uniquely American version.   Let me leap into the fray and offer two (tongue in cheek) American options. 

  

Or perhaps this...with a nod to our French comrades:

 

If you have a alternative or perhaps a suggestion for a more positive message, please speak up.   I would love to hear your suggestions.

China & a view of overpriced appliances that do what the sun does anyway

 Wash and Fly.... no need to dry: 

A demonstration of energy efficiency by 

the American field sparrow

This from author Sharon Astyks's science blog called  Casaubon's Book is a vignette I shall call-- Dryers and China

 "As increasingly affluent Chinese embrace all the accouterments of the modern, middle-class Western lifestyle -- big-screen televisions, automobiles, washing machines, double-door refrigerators with automatic icemakers -- one glaring exception stands out: the clothes dryer.
For reasons practical as well as cultural, most Chinese consumers simply don't like clothes dryers. Don't want them. Don't trust them. Won't buy them. And, even when they have them around, won't use them.

 According to a spokesman for the appliance store Best Buy, the Chinese market for dryers -- or even washer-dryer combinations -- "is by no means fully developed.'' In the chain's stores, dryers and washing machines with dryer functions make up just 10 percent of all washing machine sales.
Other businesses report similar experiences. Zhao Na, a saleswoman for Haier washing machines, a domestic brand, said, "Our factory stopped producing dryers since last year because they don't sell.'
It certainly isn't true that a couple of billion non-dryer users "can't" be wrong, but in this case, there's a real likelihood that they aren't".

 You may not agree with this choice in your life but it is always useful to consider the query:  

Are my time-saving appliances and methods (e.g., hair dryers and even clothes dryers) actually, or possibly, enslaving me?

 There follows a remarkably entertaining and civil discussion about dryers, line drying, the role of women and how to keep your clothes from getting stiff sans electric dryer (versus solar passive or "line" drying).   I just couldn't help adding the illustration of 'fly and dry' by the Field sparrow (Spizella Passerina). Enjoy!

Local Photographers collaborate with Marriott to decorate new Residence Hotel In Colchester, VT

Marriott opens new Residence Inn hotel near Burlington, Vermont On Tuesday, September 14 Marriott opened The Residence Inn Burlington Colchester, located at 71 Rathe Road, six miles from the Burlington International Airport. With 4 floors and 108 suites this new hotel offers accommodations with separate kitchens, sleeping and work spaces. What else is new about this facility? A few years ago the President of Marriott Corp, J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr. visited the Burlington Marriott on Battery street and noticed the work of Bill and Bene Dodge on display in the dining room. The specialty of Dodge Studio's are breathtaking images of Lake Champlain and Vermont. Mr. Marriott liked what he saw, and suggested that for a new facility being planned near Colchester that Dodge studios collaborate with the Marriott interior design teams proposing the use of art in the hotel that would feature the landscapes and highlights of the local area with the intention that guests not only feel at home but also that they see the best of the region they are visiting. Artists and photographers Bill and Bene Dodge from Dodge Studios and Silver Maple Editions along with Sharon McDonnell of Mother-Daughter Press and Gay Bumgarner Images produced this novel "staying in place" concept for Marriott. A chance to deepen the sense of having visited somewhere and gaining familiarity with a place. The pictures are large-scale, breathtaking images of Vermont -- including Lake Champlain, the Northeast Kingdom, the animals and plants of the area and other unique aspects of Vermont that make it a top travel destination. In choosing to decorate the hotel in a way that honors both Vermont and Vermonters, the Marriott organization has made a beautiful environment for both employees and guests. See the slide show below -- it gives only a wee taste of the many pictures used. Or better yet, visit the hotel in person to experience this art first hand: Marriott - Images by Gay Bumgarner Images and Mother-Daughter Press and Dodge Studios, Bill and Bene Dodge If you like the idea, talk it up. Let the Marriott know, let the artists know. Tell the guests that what they are seeing is Vermont and even if they cannot get to all its lovely places-- soak it up-- in pictures. Hotel art is for once something to brag about. I hope the Marriott is rewarded by their "risk". The Marriott Corp may not be playing it up in their advertising yet--perhaps they should take more credit and brag. We hope it is an idea that catches on. Maybe when we go on business trips and stay in nice hotels we can expect to learn more about the place rather than see generic pictures from "anywhere" off Art.com. Art as conversation, as a guest service, facilitating a nice experience and familiarity. Wahoo!! We will try to get more pictures to share.

What does big government mean?

  Greetings I have had it! I have listened to people shout bumper stickers at each other and the other day one more person said "no more big government" and I had to start researching. I have started tables of data to show trends and yet I would really like to know.... what do you think "Big government" means and what should I count to see if it is big, bigger, less big or whatever?  Can you help. What do you think I should "count" as I try to define the size or "bigness" of government?


Thanks Please leave ideas on this blog, facebook or email. You do not have to register.

Sharon

Making news...PBS NewsHour and the effects of stories and images

See NewsHour coverage about an initiative
called Peaceworks and OneVoice

Male Peacock, Pavo cristatus, displaying

Images matter

If I cannot picture it I cannot create it

In the tangled story of something like the Middle-East
the PBS NewsHour tells me story

about how peace is kindled and possibly made

about how journalism chooses the stories we tell,

the pictures we see

These images re-form in our minds

reform our minds

they become our stories

they are possibilities

a story about

how reality starts

As the young business visionary who started the projects says "We're moving from theory into action. And the first part of the action is actually visualizing what is it that the people are going to do and then helping empower the people to actually start..."

See the clip "Hostile Neighbors Come Together as Trade Partners"

Courage applied to peace in practical measures is something I need to see more often. I want to tell the NewsHour that this journalism helps-- this type of story is important. It is news.
If you do too, you can click on their feedback page and tell them so.

Sharon

This post is dedicated to Bruce Dan MD who makes fun of me for watching PBS because, as he says, I am the only one.

Just say no: NIH director Francis Collins asks us to tweet for a festival about biomedicine and medical care.....sigh

I shall start first with an announcement and a request that I received tonight. It goes like this....

"The Inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival will be the country’s first national science festival and will descend on the Washington, D.C. area in the Fall of 2010. The Festival promises to be the ultimate multi-cultural, multi-generational and multi-disciplinary celebration of science in the United States. On this blog, you can keep updated on Festival events and scheduling, and follow along as the Festival's organizers and presenters further discuss the ideas and themes that shape the agenda.

NIH Director Francis Collins' 5 Critical Pathways for Science

Category: shout out • social media

We need your help to get the word out about the USA Science and Engineering Festival. Social Media cannot be done in a vacuum so we continue to ask those of you who are listening to help us get the word out through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogging. I think this is just another great example of how to help us get the word out. This blog was posted on Forbes Wolfe blog, Josh Wolfe is one of the Festival's Nifty Fifty Speakers as well as Francis Collins. Dr. Collins then gives insight into the role the USA Science and Engineering Festival will play in inspiring the future of science in the up and coming generations.
Thanks for helping us get the word out about the USA Science and Engineering Festival"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
What follows is a short article in which Dr. Collins names "5 critical pathways for the future of health sciences"
you can check it out....
This is where I want to put my head in the water like the ducks above.

Instead I write back to them about their request to tweet or facebook or social network on behalf of the conference.  Is it just me....that is getting tired of the language and the tone?

So, here goes ..... Dear .....
With due respect to Dr. Collins I would like to disagree about some of the points made in the announcement of this conference.

In the 3rd point he stresses the need to develop a science of health care reform by measuring outcomes, assessing efficacy, and developing "personalized" medicine.  In fact, the science of health care reform would be much more important and effective if we would act on and expand the  research about what determines health and more emphatically explore the connections between social and community influences on human health.

Health reform has two main elements first, quality improvement and cost-effectiveness efforts directed at our current medical system and second, improving access to this  system for more people.  However, the five biomedical and technological areas Dr. Collins suggests in this post will not improve quality, access or reduce costs of medical care, the cannot.
We have obsessively spent our time, money, and intellect on the uni-modal biomedical model and we have tweaked the medical system enough to demonstrate that:
a. The health care system as described includes only the formal medical system and thus, includes a very limited set of places and activities. We can keep fixing the formal system and rearranging its elements but it will not produce health in the population or the individual.  Health reform efforts that  ignore community-based inputs and impacts will be limited in their reach-- in fact, the working estimate is that the health care system is responsible for only 10% of the "health" experienced by the American population although it garners 97% of health resources (dollars).  We indeed know a lot about the individual but too little about their context and how that context interacts to create or undermine "health". 
b. human health is intricately and demonstrably associated with social and psychological factors that have more "weight" than many of the traditional risk factors we are so fond of emphasizing. I think the health care reform we need is first conceptual.  What is happening in the homes and streets is more important than the hospital. If we simply improved high school graduation rates in the US we would have a more sizable and lasting effect on the health of Americans by any standard measure than any of the activities suggested in the post above. 

The health care reform needed is transformational and should include a demand by health workers and the public for a system that that produces health, promotes well-being, prevents disease, cares for illness, and assists in rehabilitation and comfort. 
I have worked with Dr. Collins and I know he appreciates that population and community forces are critical components of the "health system" and to creating health. However, what is described here is limited to the commodity of health care delivery and I fear the entire conference will be a festival celebrating genetics, the biomedical model, and simply more of the same.
Finally, I am concerned that the global health strategy of "de-risking" thus, encouraging private sector engagement assumes profitability that may not be true or good.  Some activities are investments and will not bear profits for some time if ever.  Educating children, clean water that is tested and widely accessible, fire stations, and libraries are all activities with benefits that far exceed the individual and will not likely be profitable business ventures.  In fact, I am not aware of them being profitable anywhere.   Investment in communities may sometimes require more than the profit motive and the "de-risking" alluded to-- recognizing that there was not enough space to adequately define the term-- could also come with great harm.

The announcement asks the recipient to share it through our social networks however, unless I was reassured that the conference had a more balanced and innovative plan I would actually encourage people to miss it. Thus, my twitter feed will remain quiet for now.

Respectfully,

Sharon McDonnell MD MPH
Associate Professor Dartmouth Medical School and
The Dartmouth Institute

Alarming Cost cutting measures-- UGH-- make a fuss

UGH!  Now what will they feed us?

Linda Hanson (Photographer San Francisco) who shared a link to a NYT article ( "Governments go to extremes as downturns wears on") and a follow up editorial in Calitics by Robert Cruickshank that
describe bone-chilling measures to cut costs in various states -- reducing school days, turning off street lights, cutting community policing-- just to name a few. After I shout at the computer and stomp around the house I wear a look on my face much like the turtle above. UGH....

The buildings, institutions, and infrastructure that we inherited from our grandparents and their grandparents rose from the urge to create the future and demonstrated their belief in a national society.  But, we have re-framed their investments and  accomplishments -- making them admirable and relevant for those days but not these.  The view of joint action and shared costs as efficient, as a sign of wealth and civilization, as a gift to our children, the same force that created firehouses, libraries, and laboratories, is now spoken of with distrust and cast as oppression -- Big Government, socialism and taxation as over-burdensome.

The long run of good fortune and global economic dominance that was the the hope then the reality for the US during most of the 20th century was a byproduct not a birthright.  The optimism that characterized Americans, and for which we were belittled and beloved, has been replaced by magical thinking and denial. I am puzzled and alarmed by our willingness to abdicate the strategies and products of our national optimism and power.  Have we really decided that well proven solutions and critical investments are not important anymore or will not benefit us or those we care about? 

It seems we no longer consider our society or community as a valuable commodity that can be created and inherited.  I want to be proud of what we have contributed.  We cannot afford to do less or to back away.  Our national security is tightly bound to much much more than military spending and selling arms.  We must not be fooled, by these "cost cutting" steps and the situation that made it necessary was constructed, partly designed, and it is not simply to be accepted.  Make a fuss.
Or, at least make a face.
Sharon

AP wire article about Arts vs oil and other endeavors to show outrage and support

Artists find ways to protest Gulf spill

This is something I proud to have contributed to and I will send along prints that can be used in the local art shows and sales. Its a problem that belongs to all of us. I will turn down our lights and use less oil and it is wonderful to share the pictures of these beautiful animals and birds along the southern gulf coast. All I can hope is that this heartfelt wish adds to a sense of support by those whose lives have been so severely affected-- animal and human.

By ALLEN G. BREED (AP) – 16 hours ago

NEW ORLEANS — Musician Shamarr Allen was flying back into Louis Armstrong International Airport when he got his first real glimpse of the BP oil spill. The words of CEO Tony Hayward's TV spot — "To those affected and your families, I'm deeply sorry" — were ringing in his ears.
Allen was exhausted after playing a private party, but he couldn't sleep until he and some friends had laid down their response. Like the oil from the Deepwater Horizon drill rig, "Sorry Ain't Enough No More" came gushing out.
"To whom it may concern, come here, first things first.
"Tell me, how much is this dead pelican worth?
"How does it feel to have a man's blood on your shirt?
"To single-handedly put a whole industry out of work?"
The song — a blend of rap, blues and brass-band jazz — begins with Hayward himself speaking about the "tragedy that never should have happened," and ends with Allen's simple plea: "Think, people."
For the 29-year-old trumpet player, whose home in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward was wiped away when the levees failed during Hurricane Katrina, the song was an exercise in catharsis, his "way of getting it off my chest." For others, far beyond the Gulf Coast, art has become a means of raising awareness and money, of showing solidarity and venting anger at a system that has failed on so many levels.
Editorial cartoonist Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune had done several spill-related panels since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. But simple black India ink didn't seem sufficient to convey his anger at BP and federal regulators.
"I wanted to channel that outrage in a unique way," he wrote in an e-mail to the AP, "and since I'm in the powerful image business, I came up with the oil idea."
Breen flew across the continent on his own dime to spend the Fourth of July weekend collecting tar balls on Florida's Santa Rosa Island. He took the globs home to California, thinned them with gasoline and created four cartoons.
One panel shows a BP logo made up of oiled birds and sea creatures, another the Statue of Liberty holding a dripping oil drum aloft instead of a torch. The brownish-orange oil — darker or lighter, depending on the amount of gasoline Breen used — seems almost to bleed from the page.
"Some people I bounced it off said I was crazy," he wrote. "Luckily my wife, Cathy, supported it and told me I should book a ticket ..."
As an ornithologist's son, watercolor artist Paul Jackson grew up spending Christmases in the park ranger's cabin on Horn Island, Miss. Over several weeks, he turned his outrage into "Fowl Language," in which a least tern, stilt, egret, cormorant and other Gulf birds sit atop a dropping-streaked BP sign as an oil rig smokes in the background.
He posted a photo of the painting on his Web site while the paper was still damp. Within two hours, it was selling as a T-shirt on the art-sale Web site Zazzle.com.
The Columbia, Mo., painter has since created his own site, "Art vs. Oil Spill." About 100 artists from as far away as India and Malaysia have offered works, with all proceeds going to nonprofit groups working to clean up the oil or oiled animals.
So far, the group has raised $5,500.
"I realize that our efforts are merely a drop in the barrel of what is needed," says Jackson, who is also donating his earnings from a show currently under way in Pensacola, Fla. "But every bit helps."
By launching the online "action" Poets for Living Waters, writers Amy King and Heidi Lynn Staples were hoping to reduce the disaster's "overwhelming enormity to a more manageable individual scale."
Dozens of poets have submitted works to the site. In "Chandeleur Sound," an elegy to a wildlife refuge fouled by the spill, poet Marthe Reed — director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette — turns the dry corporate jargon of BP's own regulatory documents against the company.
"Residual marsh sequesters toxicity, pompom booms mimicking widgeon-grass. A regulatory regime cut-to-fit Big Oil, profit, thirst of our idealized machines. Fill in the blank. `No clear strategic objectives'tern estuary, soak, seat`linked to statutory requirements.' What is required?"
Like the rest of us, New Orleans artist Mitchell Gaudet was just trying to "wrap my head around" the shapeless, relentless menace floating out in the Gulf, to put form to the seemingly unfathomable.
Long before the spill, the nationally recognized glass artist had received permission for an installation at New Orleans' Longue Vue House, a classical revival estate renowned for its gardens and collection of decorative and fine arts pieces. Nestled between the stately mansion and the seventh hole of the New Orleans Country Club, Gaudet's piece is as incongruous as mats of oil in a wildlife refuge.
A stark row of black-painted steel drums stretches across the mansion's meticulously manicured back lawn, ending beneath the outstretched branches of an ancient oak. Fifty-three 55-gallon barrels — the amount of crude that would have leaked into the Gulf every minute under BP's worst-case scenario.
As Gaudet repositions the water-filled drums every two weeks, the spreading "stain" of dead grass becomes another symbol of the migrating oil slick.
"I'm not one of these people who thinks art should confuse or confound," says Gaudet, who owns Studio Inferno in New Orleans' Bywater district. "It has a pretty sinister impact."
Like Breen, Gaudet funded the project out of his own pocket. And, as with Breen, not everyone has been supportive.
"There's been a couple of people that have been upset, that it's a very ugly thing in a very peaceful and green space," he says as a golfer glides by in a cart. "And although that wasn't my intention, to make something ugly or provoke people in that way, I'm kind of happy. Because I think people need to think about that — that this is, on a very small scale, what's happening in a massive area on the Gulf."
"It's hit me on a pretty personal level," he says. "I mean, my backyard is a bayou."
___
Associated Press Writer Janet McConnaughey in New Orleans also contributed to this report.
___
Online:
Music video: http://www.youtube.com/user/shamarrallenmusic
Art vs. Oil: http://blog.pauljackson.com/2010/06/art-vs-oil-spill.html
Poetry action: http://poetsgulfcoast.wordpress.com/

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Artvsoil-- Helping art

Check out the Art vs Oil Spill (its not a spill!)

[but we know what they mean]

Helping art -- Art versus oil 

This project was created by Paul Jackson in Columbia MO, an amazing watercolor artist among other things.  He started it and the idea has caught on with many artists participating by donating some gorgeous, moving, and heart-breaking images.   Proceeds from purchases will benefit an all-volunteer organization that will use the funds where they can do the most good. Feel free to also donate to them directly!

The name of the organization is Wildlife Rehabilitation & Nature Preservation Society, Inc. or WRANPS. They are a 501(c)3 and their info can be verified on Guidestar, the official website that monitors US Non-Profits. They are also registered with the Secretary of State of MS as a Charity. Their address is P O Box 209; Long Beach, MS 39560.

I contributed Gay's picture of the Atchafalaya swamp (say that 3 times fast) in Louisiana.  It is a mystical, almost unbelievable place especially if you live someplace else and have not spent time in the "deep south".  To me it looks like an image from a video game-- fantastical and ideal -- in a good way.

To see it on a T-shirt go to.....FUN!!
Art to heal and help- Gay Bumgarner

To see more gorgeous pictures of oil-free (as it should be) Gulf Coast animals and landscape go to:
Hearts-to-the-Gulf-Coast

Meanwhile here is a favorite. I call it "dating" in the way of the snowy egret. The fellow with the "hair do" and yellow shoes/feet really makes an impression.

Below is a note from Paul Jackson about the efforts to date and the plans for auctions of the artwork to raise funds in 4 places.

All proceeds donated to local environmental groups to help animals, birds and communities.

Join us...go look...take something with you.

Sharon
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Greetings All,

The Zazzle site is doing very well for it's first month. We've raised close to $2000 for WRANPS already and the site is still growing! We have about 100 images listed and nearly 2000 different products. I continue to list them every time I have a spare moment.

We have set up four art auctions along the Gulf Coast for October The auctions will be held in Pensacola FL, Mobile AL, Gulfport MS and Baton Rouge LA.

Lamar advertising has offered us billboard advertising and a place to ship and receive artwork.
Thanks you for doing what you do best in the face of this overwhelming and ongoing travesty!

Paul & Marla Jackson

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Rant for Booming-- mitigating the damage from oil blowout

Why O why aren’t we really Booming? Mitigating the oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico

I heard this as an audio and was galvanized.

There are things I know well, like Afghanistan, and disaster response (like refugee camps, post hurricane response) & on those subject I fing that watching people (us) do them poorly is an outrage, a pain, & a catastrophe. Like Katrina or the Afhgan war-- I shout at the television is despair and disbelief. The pain and frustration is unbearable. In fact, on those subjects I sound a lot like Ms. Fishgrease.




What I want to know is if it is too late to do good booming and if not what exactly is being done.

In case the suggestions or questions I have go past too fast in the video I have restated them here. Let me know if you have suggestions. I can only imagine how heartbreaking it would be to watch NOTHING happening as the oil rises on the gulf.

Based on what we hear here from this video, it sounds like there is a job we can do:
a. Get the experts to tell us what to do at this stage about booming & any other ways to mitigate the exposure to and effects of oil on the living things in the water and on shore.
b. Get boom made and delivered. If it really matters we can get the women and the equipment. Can we make more of it with sewing machines, a standard pattern, and the right “material”? If it is money-- get money and then watch it like a hawk.
c. Help in whatever way to get it in place, keep it right and use every means possible to monitor the process. Use google earth, airplanes, boats, word of mouth, radios, and real science.
d. Best I’ve found so far is called "skytruth”  Follow the oil catastrophe via Gulf Oil Tracker 
e. Maybe this is nuts and its too late. If so, tell us. But, tell us if there are other ways we can chip and do things that matter.
f. The Coast Guard is meant to guard our coasts. They should do that, we should demand that.

Our hearts go to all lives connected to the gulf of Mexico.  I've made a gallery of photos from there and add it it every day.  Hearts to the gulf

I for one would be willing to be a boom-tender.  Hopefully I would be better at it than making videos but, in both cases I am trying to improve.

Sharon

The Gulf is Your Fault -- A Story

I heard this story by Mark Fiore while listening to Best of the left podcast. It has a Grinchlike feel with humor and sharpness. I've been modifying various childrens songs with "relevant" content, so beware there may be more to come. But, Thanks to Best of the Left. This fits under "I wish I had written it" and "it only hurts when I don't laugh". We picked the Florida burrowing owl to compliment the Dr. Suess style.

Oil in perspective

Images of oil-- picturing scale

I am trying to construct a narrative that is large enough to encompass the new facts and ensuing time since the Deep Horizon oil rig explosion and the unfolding disaster began in the gulf of Mexico.

I gather that the trouble started because they were attempting to cap the oil well.   Some report this was an exploratory drill that was to be capped and then possibly returned to in the future.  Others say that the  well was disappointingly "unproductive"and British Petroleum (BP) who bought the rights to this oil field wanted to move the oil rig elsewhere in the gulf.  Reportedly it costs $500,000 per day for BP to rent an oil rig from its owner Transocean Ltd, and, running the operation costs another $ 500,000 per day so, one day and  ~$ 1million gets the crude oil out of the ground (water).   Thus, the amount of oil we see spewing into the gulf waters via webcam was, prior to April 20, 2010, "trivial" relative to some level of profitability and consumption.  At day 35 in this ecological, humanitarian, economic, political, and moral disaster, lack of oil production is not the problem.

Looking for ways to chip in and help I donated money to Audubon and then 34 more days have passed. In an effort match the personal response needed or, at the very least, visualize it, I thought perhaps I should reduce my own daily consumption (and that of my less enthusiastic family members) by the amount this represents.  This led me to review some basic facts and then try to shake these into some pattern that I could work with.  What I have is not a coherent story but a pile of shattered fragments that, taken together, are unbelievable.

A barrel of crude oil is 42 gallons. Out of every 100 measures of liquid crude oil one would get about 40 measures of gasoline (or about 40% of crude oil is gasoline). Chemical means have allowed us to increase this proportion by breaking larger hydrocarbons or combining smaller ones to make more gasoline.

What is flowing out of that 21 inch diameter pipe is crude oil-- at a rate that was, until yesterday reported to be 5000 to 100,000 barrels per day or 210,000 to 4,200,000 US gallons.  However according to the Associate Press reports today two separate teams of experts using different methods report that 17 million to 39 million gallons of oil have leaked thus far (1/2-1 million gallons per day).
So how much is that? 

In America we use 20 billion barrels of oil per day.
A billion is a thousand million or 1,000,000,000.
Of this total, 9 billion barrels per day is used in cars.  In the more familiar measure this is ~390 billion gallons per day of gasoline.
The ANWR reserve in Alaska that we keep almost drilling, "drill baby drill", is estimated to have 10.4 billion barrels of oil total. As someone pointed out, not enough for a day.
The oil field in the gulf that was tapped by the Deep Horizon was estimated by BP to have a total of 50 million barrels (7.9×10^⁶ m³) of oil prior to the blowout.  When BP submitted documents for permits they estimated 160,000 barrels per day as "worst case scenario". These were updated by them to 240,000 barrels per day.  Thus, presumably unless the fish get mechanically inclined we may have a calculable, albeit tragic, end point.  No, I do not know why I would believe that number was credible.

The largest oil spill in history was not the Exxon Valdez with the paltry 11 million (mind your zeros) gallons (not barrels) it was a 10 month long spill in Mexico.

BP has accepted responsibility for the oil spill and the cleanup costs, but indicated they are not at fault as the platform was run by Transocean personnel.
Haliburton corp (yes, they do seem to do everything and be everywhere) put the cement in the well pipes 20 hours prior to the explosion and were to put in a final cement cap so that the well could be re-tapped in the future if it became more profitable to do so.


A group of BP executives were on board the platform celebrating the project's safety record when the blowout occurred;^[46] they were injured but survived.

The US coastguard discovered the spill on April 22.
On April 23 BP sent a remotely operated vehicle and reported there was no oil leakage. The coast guard agreed.
On April 24 the coast guard said there was a leak.
As of May 2, 2010, BP had sent six remotely operated underwater vehicles to close the blowout preventer valves, but all attempts were ultimately unsuccessful.
Oil was known to be leaking into the gulf from three different locations. On May 5, BP announced that the smallest of three known leaks had been capped. This did not reduce the amount of oil flowing out, but it did allow the repair group to focus their efforts on the two remaining leaks.^[103]
On May 18, 2010, CBS reporter Kelly Cobiella tried to visit the beaches in the Gulf of Mexico to report on the disaster. She was met by BP contractors and American Coast Guard officers who threatened her with arrest if she did not leave. The Coast Guard officials specified that they were acting under the authority of BP.^[98]
On May 19, scientists monitoring the spill with the European Space Agency Envisat radar satellite stated that oil reached the Loop Current, which flows clockwise around the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida, and may reach Florida within 6 days
On May 20, 2010 (one month or 30 days) the US secretary of the interior stated that the U.S. government will verify how much oil has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico
On May 14, engineers began the process of positioning a riser insertion tube tool at the largest oil leak site. After three days, BP reported the tube was working. Since then, collection rates have varied daily between 1,000 and 5,000 barrels (42,000 and 210,000 US gallons; 160,000 and 790,000 litres), the average being 2,000 barrels (84,000 US gallons; 320,000 litres) a day,
U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, the chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming discovers that there is a video clip of the oil leak on Youtube and demands BP release video footage and feed to US government.
May 21 tube removed so BP can "close the well".
At this point BP continues to report spill rates of 5000 barrels per day.
On May 25, a scheduled flyover was denied permission after BP officials learned that a member of the press would be on board.^[99]
PBS' "Newshour" converted a video feed from BP to make it work on most Web browsers and has made that available for free.
May 26th BP starts the "top kill" operation
On May 27, U.S. Coast Guard reports that BP engineers had succeeded in stopping the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico. He further stated that the well still has low pressure, but cement will be used to cap the well permanently as soon as the pressure hits zero.^[114]

Tonight we learned that the US government and BP officials reported to the news media that "things" were going well with the newest operation to stop the oil spill by blocking the pipe with mud and concrete from above.  These reports were provided to us when in fact the operation stopped at 11 pm the previous evening.  Incredibly, this means the US government is relying on BP to provide valid and timely information.  Couldn't the US government wiretap BP officials or constrain them in some way to operate under surveillance? Perhaps it is a trend in the right direction insofar as the lifespan of lies is less than 12 hours.

Seven fisherpeople of the gulf were taken to hospital today with what was deemed toxic effects of oil and dehydration. Thus, all private (or non-corporate) boats working to mitigate the effects of the oil spill were called back to shore.

Two additional relief wells are being drilled into the oil field to reduce the pressure. These will take 2-3 months before they will be able to contribute significantly to the solution.

The head of the Mining agency resigned today. It was cited that this agency was given tickets to ballgames by BP and shared computer porn.

All the means of prevention that are standard in other countries we do not employ- cost you know.

I will keep up my calculations to see if I can figure out means to express the amount of oil as percent of daily energy use or car drives or something that we can respond. I do know that I want people to stop telling me their response is adequate unless they are closing the well or washing birds. Our leadership needs to get the data, get in charge, and then give us all a way to take this disaster and make a commitment to lower cost (lower environmentally costly) fuels and reduced consumption. High oil prices in 2008 reduced our use and changed our habit in one month. For example, Americans travel 7 billion miles per day but with hike in gas prices we reduced our miles driven by 9.6 billion in the 31 days of May 2008.

We act like we cannot change. Its simply impossible to expect sacrifices in terms of energy or the need to use petrochemicals and coals. But, the people that live in LA, FL, AL, are sacrificing again, with everything and maybe a few of us could make life changing moves too. To reduce the risks of oil spills, oil wars, loss of integrity and oh, yes, global warming.

With great sorrow I see so many dirty hands and shortcuts from years of the same until its normalized.

Let me know if this is useful to you or what you think would help tell the story better.

Sharon

In Vermont there is legislation pending to stop public funding for local schools that are "independent" or that have public and private money. Many of us that use these schools do so via a voucher system which is very popular here. Vermont leads the US in education measures and our system is comprised of students in the second most rural state in the US. Nearly 15% of students (11,000 out of 90,000 total) attend these independent schools in our local communities or in some cases we drive a long way to match the needs of our kids with the school. These are not trivial choices, they are painful, expensive and grinding. We lose friends because it is assumed we have become elitist or angry.

Our little cross section of Vermont-- the families and communities that use local public funds for local schools that are "independent" are as varied as any group can be. We are rich and poor, troubled and gifted, too smart, too slow, too fast, too sensitive, too energetic, .... you know.  And using the best we can do the kids in these situations have some of the best performance measures in the state compared to all other groups.  These schools are less costly not because they are cheap but because their survival depends on living within the guidelines set by the communities as "fair" price.  The cost is capped for the public contribution.

I don't know what problem is being "solved" by this proposal but I don't believe the ones that say it is a way to "save money" or reduce costs.  What is involved is much more complicated and the unintended consequences of this legislation could be not only ineffective-- it can't cut costs-- but disastrous and devastating.  Destroying the livelihood of the major employers in small towns (schools) and hoping to disperse the children into schools we left or didn't choose in the first place will not save money--our town would pay 50% to 100% more per pupil if this legislation is passed.

It isn't about money nor should it be. I beseech the VT legislature, please do not "fix" what is not broken.  We are public education, VT style, and rather than remove this option for the significant minority involved we should explore and expand the best elements and make them available to all VT students.  Ask more questions.

Here is Taylor Mali in "what teachers make" a moving call to activism and I hope a boost for the families driving to Montpelier in the cold dark Wednesday night from all over Vermont to speak with the legislators and who fervently hope to find that we are all ready to listen.

Welcome guest author Jane Flink from Columbia Missouri.   

The "Raging Grannies" Youtube video (see earlier post) and their rollicking response to CBS "right to life" advertising funds inspired Jane.  She mobilized her inspiration and wrote a wee story called "Gods Idea" and I have included it below.  

GOD HAS A GOOD IDEA - By Jane Flink

God is sitting in the Garden of Eden, contemplating all that s/he has made. “I want another experiment with Persons,” God thinks.  S/he wants to create a tiny Person.  S/he will call it a Baby and Adam and Eve will learn about themselves as they watch the Baby grow to be like them.

“Where will I put this Baby I will create?” God wonders.  “I could hide the Baby under a large cabbage leaf in the garden and when the Persons come out to gather food, they will find the baby.  But will they understand what a Baby is if they find it under a cabbage leaf?”  And God says, “That is not a good idea”.

I could drop the baby from the sky, God thinks, perhaps from the beak of some large flying bird.  But the Baby, as I envision it, would not withstand the fall to earth.  “So that,” God says, “ is not a good idea.”

God thinks longer.  “Perhaps I should first create a council of elders, made in the form of Adam, and when they open their council meeting lo, a baby shall be in front of them, and these wise elders can decide what to do with it.  But for all their wisdom, will they understand what a Baby is, and what a Baby needs?  God thinks it likely a council of elders would find a Baby only something more to argue about.

God’s mind roams over his/her creation. “I could give the baby to Adam, but he is always jumping and plunging into streams to swim and climbing tall trees.   Adam might not understand how to grow the Baby to become a Person, male or female, as I have created them.” 

As God is thinking, Eve strolls down a path near the place where God is sitting. She has built a raft to cross a stream to gather berries and along the way she finds a young rabbit, one of God’s newer Creations. Eve is playing with the rabbit, feeding it bits of lettuce from the garden and she and the rabbit roll over together in the soft grass.  When the young rabbit grows tired, Eve nestles it against the hollow of her throat. Carrying the rabbit, Eve finds a soft tussocky place under the shade of a tree and she and the rabbit curl up together, and they sleep.

God loves them all -- s/he loves the cabbages and the high-flying bird, and Adam and the Council of Elders, and Eve and the little rabbit and so it is  hard to know where to put the Baby he is planning to create.  S/he looks again at Eve and the rabbit.  When she found it in need of play and food and sleep and love she gave the rabbit all of them. The Baby God is thinking of would need all those things, not just for an afternoon; not just in cabbage season; not just when high-flying birds cared to carry cargo, or when councils of elders sat down to disagree. For the Baby, God wants love that will never die.

Finally, God decides.  He gives dominion over the animals to Adam.  But he gives dominion over the Baby to Eve, to carry inside her body until it is strong, until God himself can breathe life into its nostrils and make of it a living soul.  When God tells Adam about the animals, Adam leaps with joy. But when he gives the Baby to Eve, her head is full of visions of the blessing of life given and the sadness of life taken and the need for a love that never dies.

The sun closes down the day, casting shadows of blue and gold and God sits quietly, looking with satisfaction over all her/his Creation. “The one about the Baby,” God thinks, musing  –“that was a very good idea,”

The End....

Abortion politics is nasty business and unsteady ground.  It has divided and hurt us for so long.  In the middle of Jane's story I felt suddenly disorientated as if air was rushing into my mind bringing me a sense of space.   Into this space came laughter and its near companion, compassion.  We need all the questions, all the wisdom, and all the humor that we can muster for this collective heart-sore. 

Then, Jane added in our email exchange, "At any rate, God's decision carries everything I believe about how necessary and delightful and strong and needy and merciful and fun-loving and caring women are, and I have thought, since my first pregnancy, that God was a pretty wise old guy to put the Baby where he put it.  And if there are times when Woman finds she cannot give the Baby what it needs, and must part with it, I believe with all my heart that abortion is her decision and hers alone -- not only do I believe that, but I think God believes it, too. All those televangelists can't fool me!"


Thanks for being the inspiration for something i have long wanted to write!"    Love, Jane 

Ah but the honor is mine....Love Sharon 
and
Thanks to the Salonistas in Missouri and to other warm hearted strong minded women who have inspired us to continue to explore, talk, and listen.