Give, Buy, Listen

Like most of us, I'm sure, I was stunned, dismayed and heartbroken this week by the terrible turn of events in Haiti. There were a number of Haitian students in my high school class, and some were friends. One of the sad realities when I worked at City Year was going into urban schools and seeing how Haitian students were discriminated against... by other black students! I can only imagine the heartbreak, fear and anger in the community right now.

In addition to all the other ways you can help, CD Baby, my online record distributor, is donating $1 of every CD sold for the next two weeks to relief efforts in Haiti, via Portland OR based Mercy Corps. Artists still get their full payment- this is coming right out of CD Baby's pocket. So, for the music connoisseur, this is a win-win. You get great music on very artist-friendly terms, CD Baby gets business, Haiti gets money. If you haven't checked them out, CD Baby has an incredible number of great artists, famous and obscure. Let me suggest:

No Sale Value- my second CD, and a good one if I say so myself. Featuring Jenny Scheinman (now touring with Bill Frisell), Chris Vataloro (now playing with Antibalas on Broadway in Fela), and well as many other great players. And me...

Ron Miles - one of my personal heroes. The album with Frisell is great.

Anna Dagmar- an old friend and wonderful songwriter

Four Across- with friends Josh Deutch and Carmen Staff. Great players, great writers.

Erik Deutsch- the toast of Brooklyn these days, I'm told.

Kellie Lin Knott- another old friend and good songwriter.

Maybe Baby- It has Jennifer Kimball on it. What more need I say?

Leni Stern - great guitarist, mainstay of the 55 Bar.

And that's just scratching the surface. So go buy already, K?

we've seen this show before

It's time for a political tangent- those of you who don't care or hate my politics please come back later this week, when I finally get around to more decade recaps, and actually review recent offerings by Vijay Iyer, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Rez Abassi. Now then:

I posted this as my Facebook comment yesterday, but felt like saying more about it. In case you don't read the news, tomorrow in Massachusetts voters will elect Ted Kennedy's successor in the Senate, in a surprisingly close race between Democratic attorney general Martha Coakley and Republican state senator Scott Brown- here's some analysis from the NY Times.

This race reminds me eerily of the Bush-Gore 2000 campaign- not in the hanging chads and court case sense (I somehow doubt it will come to that), but in voter mood and the disconnect between what people say they want and how they say they'll vote. You have a very likable, handsome (certainly moreso than Bush) very conservative (for Massachusetts, anyway) Republican anyway running a great campaign against a seemingly aloof Democrat, who people are more likely to agree with on positions, but who is running a campaign that could charitably be called lackluster. (I'd use the word awful) Then you had a lot of folks vote Bush because he was the one they'd rather have a beer with. Now you have Brown, a former Cosmo model who rides around the state in a pickup and smiles real big. (To be fair, his grammar is vastly better than Bush's) Then and now you have an electorate disenchanted with what they see as the mess in Washington- then the moral and ethical stink the Clinton White House left, now the bad economy, sputtering legislative agenda and seeming aloofness of Washington (and certainly Boston) Democrats.

People, step back a second. By most reasonable measure most Massachusetts residents are worse off economically, and less optimistic about their prospects, than they were in 2001.

But what you have in Scott Brown is a man advancing the agenda of, well, George Bush circa 2001. There is one candidate who has actually gone after corporate and government corruption, huge causes of our current mess, and it isn't Scott Brown. Based on statements re: waterboarding and "war on terror" legal issues, there is one lawyer (they're both lawyers) in the race who actually seems to understand law regarding war, and it isn't Scott Brown. You catch a pattern here?

I know Coakley is a uninspiring candidate who's run a terrible campaign, but I firmly believe, based on both record and policy positions, she will be a much better senator than Brown. (We forget that for his first ten years, Ted Kennedy was nothing to write home about, but I digress.) But I would ask voters to remember what happened the last time we chose a "likable" major officeholder ahead of a competent one, and how that puppy worked out. So Massholes, vote tomorrow, vote Coakley. Thanks.

Twist us, roll us in your mouth, light us up and take a hit...

(Any excuse to quote Prince is a good one...)

As some of you know, I am a volunteer for YogaHope, a wonderful non-profit that provides free yoga to women in transition from difficult (read hellish) situations, often substance abuse or domestic violence. I have been working with YH for more than two years, and firmly believe in the mission and the work of this organization.

And I'm putting my money where my mouth is- I am auctioning myself off, both as a musician and a yogi. You can have an intimate concert with my duo, or a yoga private lesson with me, for well below my retail value. (Well, hopefully well above, but, y'know.) The auction ends sometime on Sunday. Right now I'm a bargain, and them some... let's change that.

Seriously, Yogahope is a great organization, and I hope you'll consider bidding on me, or many of the other very cool items available. I would be very grateful.

P.S. Much love to BTI Consultants, one of whose executives is a yoga client of mine, for making YogaHope one of their two holiday donation recipients. We are tremendously thankful!

you'll have to bang your drum somewhere else

The sad thing is, I'm not even surprised at this anymore. If you're around Cambridge tomorrow, this is a worthy cause. And call Kennedy and Kerry as well. This is somehow making us safer? (via Jennifer Kimball)

Wednesday, 7/17, 8pm til...
Ryles, Inman Square

Benefit concert for Vicente Lebron,
a beloved local musician who was detained by Immigration and Naturalization Services (working under the auspices of Homeland Security) on his last trip through Logan airport in with the band he's played with for 10 yrs, the Either/Orchestra. His passport and green card were confiscated and after a hearing June 9 was incarcerated in the S. Bay Correctional center where he remains indefinitely. A native of the Dominican Republic and a great conga/timbales player, he's lived here for more than 30 years, has a wife, children and grandchildren all here in Cambridge. The proceeds will help with legal expenses...

featuring Orchestra Morphine, Club d'Elf, Gabrielle Agachiko, Russ Gershon's Mood Elevator and more....

full stories here in the Phoenix..

Lindsay notes that the terror watch list is now at a million names, with no end in sight... I'm sure there are many Vincente Lopezes who may not have benefit of visible friends...

these people are a part of me

In my freshman year at Eastman, I became a member of Corpus Christi Church on East Main Street, now known as the Spiritus Christi community. It was a open, very progressive Catholic church, (Yes, I know that that seems like a contradiction in terms to many folks) who tithed more than 10% of its weekly collection to local and national charities, who had a woman deacon (!), a large gay ministry, and a policy that communion was open to all, no questions, no judgements. (Any Catholics reading this know how far left that is, especially in 1993.) There were things about Corpus that I found downright strange, or corny, or abrasive some times, but the remarkable feeling of community I found, both with others in the parish and in the “union with Christ” sense that churches love to talk about but rarely live up to, is one I've never quite matched before or since. While I no longer call myself Catholic, in large part because of how my community was basically told to leave the Roman Catholic Church, that place is a huge part of my spiritual formation, and informs my goals and behaviors as an artist and teacher in ways I rarely think about, but always know. (A decent wiki entry about Corpus/Spiritus is here)

I bring this up in chewing on Barack Obama's monumental, much talked about speech yesterday. (I swear at the gym I teach at this morning that even ESPN and the Cartoon Network had Obama coverage.) For what it's worth, I thought it was a remarkable piece of rhetoric, for it's language, it's thoughtfulness, and the fact that he didn't really take the easy way out. I had other reactions that are better articulated by others:

Matana's reaction resonated with me tremendously- go read it. It's ridiculous and shameful that he had to give this speech in the first place (but God did he have to). I'm never asked to explain my Irish-ness, nor was John Kerry, nor Lieberman his Jewish-ness, nor Hillary or McCain explain their whiteness, ethnic or otherwise, but somehow every black person in the public square, scholar, artist, athlete, politician should somehow have to articulate, no, justify their blackness? That double standard is absurd on its face, but is taken for granted in American public life- huh?

The best political calculus I read was Glen Greenwald's- I think he analyzes it with a very clear head. (Which given how little I've thought of his last two weeks of posts, particularly about Spitzer, surprised me) From a tactical point of view, I think the best thing Obama supporters can do, (and Democrats in general, since Hillary can use this tactic if she wins) is to hammer at the double standard being presented between Obama's distancing himself from Rev. Wright, and John McCain's embrace of the far more toxic Rev. John Hagee. (I wrote a brief letter to the editor of the Globe today making this point about their token conservative Jeff Jacoby's shallow bromide about the speech this morning. Let's see if it gets published...) Greenwald gets into it more in a previous post well worth reading.

But getting back to Corpus Christi, people are in all kinds of communities for all kinds of reasons, and if you haven't belonged to a non-mainstream, open church, it can be hard to see the allure. Or why you'd stay even with a preacher who's up there yelling crazy things sometimes. But I firmly believe that the early Christian church, which most evangelicals give lip service to without having a bleepin' clue what that kind of community involves, looks a whole lot more like Spiritus Christi, or Reverend White's church in Chicago than it does Reverand Hagee's. And I'll throw my lot in with someone from that church every day of the week.

Doctor doctor

First, thanks much to the folks that came out on Saturday night. It was fun to visit, or revisit in some cases, so many cool tunes. And even some less cool tunes. Sadly, there weren't enough of us to send a big check Andrew D'Angelo's way, but every bit helps I suppose. To that end, Nate Chinen wrote a piece for the Times that we all hope will help, Darcy commented, then reviewed the Tea Lounge benefit in Brooklyn, and Andrew continues to blog about his progress. For those of you have never heard Andrew play, there is a straight line from the way he writes to the way he plays, no question.

I've been thinking about health care a fair bit lately, even before the situations with Dennis Irwin and Andrew surface. You see, for the non-Bostonians, I am one of about 40,000 guinea pigs in Massachusetts great experiment in mandatory health care. I was compelled by the state to buy health care, at a prorated monthly fee based on my tax return income. My plan starts this month. On paper, at least, it's a good deal- I pay less than $40 per month in premiums, the co-pays are in line with the going rate, and I badly need health insurance. My plan kicks in March first, so I have no idea what will actually happen when I need services- stay tuned.

That said, while I'm grateful, I'm also equally skeptical that this can work. For one, even before this law went into effect, primary care physicians (PCPs) were in short supply in this area. My roommate, who has Blue Cross, was told last week the next time his doctor could see him was August(!) To my knowledge, nothing in the law addresses that. Second, the state is already projecting billions of additional costs in the next few years, with no idea of how to pay for it. It's my (limited) understanding that both the Obama and Clinton plans are similar to the Massachusetts law. While I think it will make some things better, get ready for the same problems.

Second, I don't see anything, at least in my coverage, that adequately addresses diet and lifestyle issues, which are the two biggest factors in most common American maladies. Of course, that would mean taking on the food industry, and what are the odds of that...

Honestly, I don't see any way we really "solve" health care in this country without a national single-payer system. Sure it'll ration care, but what do you call what we have now? And more importantly, talk to anyone working in the system (I was a secretary at a hospital in one of my many day jobs). Medicare covers more, and hassles less, than any private insurer, with about one eighth of the overhead costs. (I need sources) So explain again why private is so much better???

Yes we can

Okay, just disregard most of that last post... (coughs and looks at floor) Maybe us Bostonians were due for some come-uppance.

Yesterday as I was coming home from teaching, I passed through Coolidge Corner to be met by sign-wavers from Clinton and Obama. To me, this is remarkable- this is the first time in my lifetime that Massachusetts has mattered in a presidential campaign. We've voted for the Democrat every time except '84 by large margins, and the primaries have always been too late to mean much. Not this year, so go take advantage.

Some of you have seen this video making the rounds. Barack's my guy this time too. I have real questions about Obama- in Massachusetts we've seen the hot glow of Gov. Deval Patrick's rhetoric has been extinguished by the cold realities of governing, (And a few boneheaded decisions at the outset, not the least of which was trying to take us headlong into the casino business) and while that may not be a fair comparison, it sticks in my brain. But he has captivated the American imagination, particularly that of young people, in a way that I've never seen, and offers us an opportunity to put new face forward that the world can embrace more readily.

While I'm not convinced that he can deliver, I know Hillary will deliver the same tone and harshness of politics that we've seen for the past 15 years, and I believe is much more vulnerable to McCain in the generals for just that reason. I want change, and believe in the power of hope. So I'll vote Obama tomorrow, and hope you consider it. (But for god's sake, vote! It really matters this time)

Greatness

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love." Dr. Martin Luther King

Yes!

(Adapted from a Franciscan proverb):

For all that has been, thank you.
For all that is to come, YES.

Thanks to everyone as always for reading. Have a safe and beautiful 2008.

soon we'll pull the lever, and all hell will break loose

Recently, in a rare and feeble act of legislative initiative, Massachusetts shifted its presidential primary to "Super-Duper Tuesday", in the hopes that we would have a little more say in the nominating process. In a small attempt at civic duty (standing in line at City Hall to update my voter registration comes next week, I swear...), I caught big pieces of the last two candidate debates, the Republican Youtube... thing and the Democrats' far more useful NPR debate.

This isn't a political blog, so I'll be relatively brief in this matter- I was impressed in general with the Democratic debate. Maybe because it was on radio, it was thoughtful, interesting, and remarkably devoid of grandstanding. I came away feeling like there were several people I could vote for there. (Dodd, Biden, Obama, and Kucinich. I like Richardson, but if he ran the country like he's run his campaign, we're doomed. And I don't trust Clinton or Edwards at all, and Gravel is, well, not all there)

As for the Gory Old Party, this post at Salon speaks far better than I could. Are the Republicans that small, and that scared, that that lot of twits is the best we can do? That Mike Huckabee, a small-minded, small time revivalist preacher, comes across as the only human being in the lot? I am reminded of the idea put forward by Marianne Williamson, that we can live from fear, or we can live from love. Neither is perfect, but where would you rather go? I'd rather live from love, and pray every day that our country can choose a route where that becomes possible.

I leave you for now (blogging is resuming, at last) with a famous quote from Ms. Williamson herself:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

stay alive

Through my affiliation with CD Baby, I get e-mails from an outfit called JPF (just plain folk), a sort of crunchy/poppy netroots music marketing/advocacy group. I usually look it over and throw it away, but the following essay from the founder Brian caught my eye. I don't share his love for Boston's music, and don't know a thing about Brad Delp, but I share his sentiments otherwise (italics are mine):

"It was reported that fellow JPF member and Boston lead singer Brad Delp committed suicide at his home in a fairly planned out and awful way. Though I never had a chance to meet him in person, he had entered the JPF music awards with his duo Delp and Goudreau and I actually planned to try and make direct contact with him and Barry this year because I've been a long time fan and Boston was a seminal group for people my age (42). His soaring vocals are forever burned into my musical DNA. Sadly, his end wasn't as unusual as it should be. Suicide and the thoughts and emotions that lead to it are all too common in our industry. We often focus on the major names due to celebrity factors. While this may bring some attention to the issue briefly, once the news cycle runs, it disappears again quickly. I was very disappointed that the mainstream media made no attempt to use this tragic end to discuss resources for others out there facing the same illness. I am no doctor and I am no mental health professional. But I feel like I can't just move on from this topic while I know some of you reading this are suffering. Help does exist. Though I've had my share of health problems, I am fortunate that suicidal thoughts have not been one of them. My Grandfather, however, was not as lucky and killed himself when I was an adolescent after a series of debilitating strokes. For those of us lucky enough NOT to personally have these feelings, we should educate ourselves because it's likely someone in our family or friends are already or will some day be suffering from this. We all suffer at one time or another. All we can hope is that when we're not suffering, we're helping those who are and when we are, they'll return the favor. So here's my attempt to do some of that now.
If you are having suicidal thoughts (or have had them in the past), please call this toll free number 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you have transportation, you can also go to the local emergency room. Even if you don't have health insurance you can go and get treatment at any emergency room.
Here's a Q&A about Suicide and Depression that everyone should read: http://www.save.org/basics/qna.html
Here's what you should do if you know someone else is suicidal:
http://www.save.org/prevention/someone_you_know.html
You can get all sorts of information and help at these sites:
www.save.org
www.afsp.org
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

One of the best resources to deal with musicians and mental health I have ever come across is a grassroots facility in Athens, Georgia called Nuci's Space. It's an amazing facility created by the mother of a 22 year old suicide victim named Nuci. We've written about them before, but it's worth repeating here. They offer mental health and other medical support services for musicians without health insurance. I haven't come across anything else like it in the 9 years I've been running JPF. Visit their site at http://www.nuci.org
Most of us can't really understand how you might be feeling, but it doesn't mean we don't care and we don't want to help you. Just as we'd want to help you if you had cancer or heart disease or alcoholism. All these things are physical illnesses and though not everyone can be cured, everyone CAN get treatment and help. Please don't hesitate to seek help. All of us need a little help now and then. We can't afford to lose another musical genius and more importantly, we can't afford to lose another friend.

If you are having suicidal thoughts (or have had them in the past), please call this toll free number 1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you have transportation, you can also go to the local emergency room. Even if you don't have health insurance you can go and get treatment at any emergency room.Here's a Q&A about Suicide and Depression that everyone should read:http://www.save.org/basics/qna.htmlHere's what you should do if you know someone else is suicidal:http://www.save.org/prevention/someone_you_know.htmlYou can get all sorts of information and help at these sites:http://www.save.org/http://www.afsp.org/www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/One of the best resources to deal with musicians and mental health I have ever come across is a grassroots facility in Athens, Georgia called Nuci's Space. It's an amazing facility created by the mother of a 22 year old suicide victim named Nuci. We've written about them before, but it's worth repeating here. They offer mental health and other medical support services for musicians without health insurance. I haven't come across anything else like it in the 9 years I've been running JPF. Visit their site at http://www.nuci.org/.Most of us can't really understand how you might be feeling, but it doesn't mean we don't care and we don't want to help you. Just as we'd want to help you if you had cancer or heart disease or alcoholism. All these things are physical illnesses and though not everyone can be cured, everyone CAN get treatment and help. Please don't hesitate to seek help. All of us need a little help now and then. We can't afford to lose another musical genius and more importantly, we can't afford to lose another friend."

On a note more along recent lines, JPF have a much different take on the internet radio rate increase that I mentioned last week. Again, from them (italics mine):

"I planned to cover this in more depth, but I just want to let all JPF members know that the hysteria over the new Sound Exchange Internet Royalty rates are no reason to panic. I was initially shocked, but then I had a talk with Jenny Toomey of the Future of Music Coalition and I understood what was going on. This rate is a GOOD thing. Many of you many not realize that in the US, Radio Stations do not pay a Performance Royalty like they do in nearly every other Western Civilization in the world. That means that all the income that ARTISTS make from Radio in other countries for Radio Play isn't paid to US Artists. And because of that, no foreign artists get paid either for US Airplay, so those countries retaliate and don't pay the US Artists for airplay in their countries either! It's unfair but Radio was able to get away with it many years ago and it stuck. If Madonna does a song she didn't write and it goes #1, she doesn't make a dime from airplay. It sucks. But the good news is that as music shifts to Digital/Satellite and Internet Radio, everyone will now get paid who performs on a song or owns the copyright of the recording. (You'll also still get your songwriter royalties from the PRO's). In the next decade, that is going to start becoming a major source of income for every artist who get's airplay. This is setting the foundation for that. So why the panic? Small hobby level or non commercial Internet Radio stations can't possibly pay the new fees. Small commercial operations are also in danger. But Jenny explained to me that it's likely there will be waivers for non commercial stations or at least a small blanket license fee. There may also be options for small broadcasters to share a % of their income so it's affordable to keep going. It's not in anyone's interest to shut down the little guys (except perhaps the major players who want less competition) and fortunately we have a representative on the Board of Sound Exchange from the Future of Music Coalition (and he's a brilliant guy and a good friend of the JPF Organization). I am confident a reasonable resolution will be made and it will allow folks to continue playing music they love, exposing new and developing writers and artists and helping nudge everyone into the next generation of the music industry. So take a deep breath and be a little patient while the details come out."

I don't know what I make of this yet, and I think we need to be very alert to the details that follow. Especially with this administration's aversion to the little guy, I'll believe the waiver rhetoric when I see the piece of paper. If "likely" doesn't get written into the new rules unambiguously and clearly, this is a bad idea IMHO. So let's stay diligent, and noisy, and work to see a win/win solution here.

the price of war

Lindsay Beyerstein continues her writing for Salon today with an interview with photojournalist Nina Bermanabout her award-winning photos of a newleywed couple, one of whom was severely injured and disfigured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. I saw the wedding portrait on Lindsay's blog, and it was haunting, distrubing, moving... any adjective you can think of.

Berman comments about how this photo brings the cost of war home, especially to those of us who don't know any soldiers there. In many small towns across America, especially in "red states", this is the reality of coming home- warriors who return without limbs, without faces, and really without anything to show for their sacrifice. Both sides of the war debate have seized on these photos to advance their position, and they'll argue much more eloquently than I can at present. But...

I reckon that Ty Ziegel is the kind of guy I went out of my way to avoid in high school (if berman's description is accurate), and not the kind of guy I'd enjoy having a drink with, regardless of how he looks. But, I have nothing but respect and admiration for his (and his wife's) sacrifice, their courage and determination. And his picture only makes me madder about the war. As I mentioned previously, I do have a neighbor who will be in Iraq soon, a 19-year old Marine. In his pre-war life he was not exactly a model citizen, and probably still isn't, but no one, NO ONE, deserves what Ty Ziegel and thousands of his comrades (and enemies, frankly) got, and the pain he endures, especially for what appears more and more to be a lost cause. I'm scared S*&%tless that that's how I'll see my neighbor a year from now. It makes me more certain that the best way through the war is getting out, NOW.

One link for those who can't wait for 1.20.09- maybe you shouldn't wait that long to start a personal purge...

Action points

A couple of action points for the day:

(Via Salon) The Wall Street Journal reports today on a change that could all but obliterate internet radio, including Pandora and NPR. The MO of the Republican party regarding media is clear- more consolodation, and less choices controlled by fewer people. Which, of course, equals a less informed, less thinking populace, who is more willing to do what they're told. (I also see this in their solely testing-focused approach to education, but that's another column.) Good for moguls, bad for listeners, and really the nation as a whole. American readers, please call and e-mail your congressperson and Senator NOW- this one can easily get passed by by "bigger issues", to our peril.

Addendum: In fairness, I should not that the current wave of consolidations, especially in media and the like, started in the Clinton Administration, who rarely met a merger it didn't like. It has been made substantially worse, though, by Michael Powell and those who followed him into the FCC. But it's not just a republican thing.

Darcy points to the New York Times piece about bassist Tarik Shaw, jailed for alleged terrorist activities, and his brother Antione Dowdell. I can't comment on the case- David Adler's blog has had fuller coverage- but I am very skeptical of most of the Bush administration's prosecutions of "terrorist sympathizers". Outside the Padilla case, I've yet to see one where there was anything but the flimsiest of cases (and the Padilla evidence is not exactly ironclad either), and the way they manhandled Padilla's rights made that case much more dubious as well. I was working from Miami when the Justice Dept. did a "big bust" down there, and once you got past the headline the case was beyond silly- literally teenagers talking big and playing with matches. It's well past time we demand equal protection for these defendents- if they're guilty, try them and send them far away, by all means. But if this is just more fear mongering, don't waste our time and tax dollars.

Martin Luther King would be 78 today. This is what he said

From his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Oslo 1964:

"Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.

If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love...

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him.

I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

I believe that even amid today's motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land."

Idiocy

No news here- President Wubba is going to announce his "new Iraq" strategy tomorrow, the lynchpin of which is a 20,000 troop surge. Despite the opposition of a majority of Americans, most of the Democratic party, and even the firebrand neocons (they like the idea, they just think he'll screw it up, as he's done with the rest of the war effort)

MoveOn is circulating an online petition asking Congress to stop this new effort by, well, not funding it. If you're a US citizen, please Click here to sign. A neighbor I grew up with just joined the Marines, and will no doubt head to Iraq- I want to see him home on leave, not attend his funeral.

Peace piece

I've been meaning to get to this one for awhile. Last week Marianne Williamson, known to me through some of my yoga friends for her new-agey self-help books, published an op-ed in the Boston Globe next week advocating a Department of Peace, a new Cabinet-level department in the US government. This may seem pie in the sky, but the more I read over it and thought about it the more sense it makes. For less than a tenth of the defense department's budget, imagine what could happen. Call your rep- let's start the ball rolling on this one.

public mallings

A brief (if belated) reminder that today is Buy Nothing Day, a day where we are encouraged to boycott the consumerist mess that is the American day after Thansgiving. (aka Black Friday). Just avoiding the crowds is all the reason that I need, but BND gives many, many other good ones.

Full disclosure: despite my best intentions, I did buy a toothbrush today. And a cup of coffee. Next year I will plan better...

We ARE the spaceways

I was just reminded by Ryshpen that the new govenor of my fair state, Massachusetts, is the son of a member of Sun Ra's Intergalactic Arkestra, the late Pat Patrick. (more here) Gov. Deval Patrick was not at all close to his dad, but according to an old teach who interviewed Pat in research on a Sun Ra project, Pat was aware of Deval's success earthbound. As if anyone needed any more evidence that our state, where the legislature will spend today (again) fightin over gay marraige, isn't quite in the same orbit as the rest of the country...

While I'm on topic, I was grateful for the outcome of the election, though not due to either Deval's name or his jazz roots. Patrick's major opponent, Kerry Healy, ran a tasteless, bitter campaign, trying to tar Patrick (unfairly) as a lover of rapists and danger to children and small animals. And it didn't work. It was nice, at least here, that voters were energized to beat back such a vicious and unnecessary attack. (Don't get me wrong, I don't mind negative ads, if they're on issues. My favorites of the year are probably these two, this rather off-color bit run by one of the others vanquished by Patrick in Massachusetts, and this one that ran in several swing races across the country. Negative, yes. Below the belt, absolutely not. (insert joke here) There's a difference.

Now, let's see what our new govenor and his bastion of excited supporters (myself included) can do. There's no lack of hard work to do...

hang your chad

To all the Americans in the house:

VOTE, gaddamit!

Tuesday is the day. I've heard every excuse there is, and I don't buy any of them. You either are happy with the way things are (which most likely means I've never met you, or your the parent of one of my suburban students, in which case have a lovely day) or you think like I do that the bunch in power are not up to the task. (and that's being kind) In either case, there are a lot of interests that are working hard to make sure what you care about is NOT the law of the land, and this is one small chance to make some noise.

I have a couple of other, not so partisan election thoughts, but they can wait until tomorrow.

Revision: see Alex Ross today. I'm sure this ain't the only one. As Darcy mentioned, if you have a problem voting, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE - lawyers for both parties are geared up to make sure their side is heard, so take advantage if you need to.

Remembering today, and fixing the hole

A few months after 9-11, I went to a talk by Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hahn. Thay (his nickname, translates loosely as “teacher”) said early in the talk that were he given the opportunity to talk to Bin Laden, the first thing he would do is listen, and let Bin Laden air his grievances. Only then would he speak, and try to address him and the horror that he has directly or indirectly created. (Here he explains that comment, and what he’d say to America) Even for a very sympathetic crowd, this was a hard statement to swallow. He was called on it in the Q&A portion of the talk, and didn't change his tune an inch. He believes fervently that a radical non-violence, rooted in listening and compassion, is ultimately the only way out of the violence we're in, personally and societally.

I don’t care to a lot of time or space resurrecting 9-11. But I’ve been thinking a lot about Thay’s talk, and what it still means five years later. I don't know what I'd say to Bin Laden, or Bush for that matter, but I doubt I'd be able to be so equanimous. What I, and I think many of us here in the States do remember most about 9-11 is first the horror of the day, but then the remarkable way that Americans opened their hearts in the days following. In all of the fear and pain, we reminded ourselves of the amazing human potential to love, to reach beyond ourselves in service of a bigger whole.

… And then, collectively, we promptly forgot. Perhaps because we’re jaded, perhaps because we weren’t sufficiently asked*, perhaps because it all seemed so big and overwhelming, we allowed our nation to take a policy of creating a big terrible “them”, (first the Taliban and Al Queda, then Hussein and the Iraqi insurgency) rather than really probing difficult questions about our problems and culpability. We allowed politicians, particularly but not exclusively Bush and his ilk, to exploit our fear and anger into an unprovoked, reckless war with no end in sight. We went back into the Middle East with too many bombs and not enough butter, and didn’t even to attempt to understand things from a Muslim perspective. We forgot the adage of keeping our friends close and our enemies closer, and that the less enemies you make, the less time you spend fighting them.

I don’t pretend to have answers to the big questions this anniversary poses, of security versus personal liberties, of how to allocate resources, of how to leave Iraq without further destabilizing the region. But I believe deeply that the only way out in the long term is if we, individually and collectively, operate from a place of love, open our hearts and listen to the suffering of the victims of 9-11 and its aftermath- American, Afghani, Iraqi, whoever- even the ones we find odious, even the ones who want to destroy us. I know this sounds tremendously naïve to many, and I don’t mean “love” in a hippie or Hallmark way; I mean the ability to face the truths about ourselves, and to operate with compassion- not pity, not denial- towards ourselves and others. When we do that, when we wake up, positive change is possible. We saw it five years ago, and we let it slide away. We can see it again.

Another way of putting it, from old friends at Spiritus Christi in Rochester (pdf file):

"Fighting terrorism has become the rational for a myriad of actions including bombing cities, killing innocent people, locking people up without telling them the charges, dumping shampoo bottles at airports, and most importantly, securing access to oil. I believe we need a different national goal than fighting terrorism. What if our actions were designed instead to “create peace”? Would we choose a different means to achieve that end? Would our military strategy be different? Would the terrorists have less effect on young men and women if we were known as a peaceful country? Please reflect on this and share your thoughts with your congress people. The world cannot afford our silence."

* Aside- I think the single biggest political missed opportunity since 9-11 has been on the issue of energy independence. We had both the opportunity and the rationale to put forward a program on the scale of the Marshall Plan or the man on the moon to make America energy independent, and to rapidly accelerate the development of “alternative fuels”. This would go a long way towards bolstering our national security, making our biggest adversaries less potent by making them less crucial to our economy, and oh, yeah, saving the planet. Instead, it’s taken five year, Iraq, Katrina, and $3 a gallon gas to even put these issues on the table a little bit. It’s not surprising, given both parties connections to and fiscal dependence on big oil, but it’s no less shameful. On a personal level, here’s a starting point.

Other links:
The most interesting and useful reflections I've seen has been the lead in this week's Boston Phoenix. Other thoughts, suggestions and links always welcome.
Alex Ross on music and the days following 9-11.
Sasha Free Jones