This information presents a connection seen earlier in the previous page regarding the ancient Egyptian Akhenaton, with modern proposals by astronomers, astrologers, gnostic and hermetic science groups to validate their positions in the New Age of Aquarius. As seen in the full length star chart below (scroll to the right to view it all) is the bright red outline of the very large constellation called Ophiuchus (oh-fee-U-kus), the Serpent Bearer. As you can plainly see it is north of the bright green line, which represents the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the 12 archetype asterisms or constellations.
Ophiuchus, a decan of Scorpius, does spend as much time with the sun on the ecliptic, as does Scorpius. Both are on the same real estate. The only difference is that Ophiuchus, is not in the natural southernly path of the 12 major constellations of the Zodiac like Scorpius. Ophiuchus is well above this path and it would be very awkward to promote it as part of the natural universal precession or wave that the archetype twelve constellations have on their circuit along the ecliptic. Can the time that Ophiuchus spends on the ecliptic determine or merit it to be called the thirteenth archetype constellation of the Zodiac? If so, maybe we should count Virgo twice, since it is on the ecliptic the longest. Therefore, Aries which does not even touch the ecliptic should not be counted at all. There has always been twelve archetype symbols or asterism, from prehistoric times well before the occult groups misunderstood them or modern science changed them. It is even clarified in the definition of the Zodiac.
In modern times names and groupings are only accepted by professional astronomers, if they have the approval of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Modern astronomers define a constellation as a particular region of the sky, often enclosing the "figure" that may first have been noticed millennia ago. These designated regions of the celestial sphere are like states or countries on a map; every portion of the sky is now said to belong within a particular constellation. Because the constellations have been reconfigured in modern times, some stars and deep-sky objects that were once placed in one constellation are now in another. According to "The Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky," published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1991-1992, which is a text book on astronomy. This source never comments on the existence of thirteen constellations, nor makes mention of Ophiuchus as one of the twelve. It does mention the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and it's role in astronomical naming standards, and does present the 88 constellations in a mapped format. Astronomers tried to settle this problem in 1930 when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) laid out the official constellation boundaries, and published a set of specifications. Thus the redrawing of the boundaries added a constellation to the zodiac, according only to the official modern constellation boundaries that all astronomers use. Therefore initiating the claim that the sun passes through 13 constellations, instead of the original 12 archetypes. This "thirteenth constellation" of the zodiac was declared to be Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, in the news in the late 1990's.
The modern changing from twelve to thirteen is probably an innocent justification of an outdated system used by astrologers. Although one could compare it to the level of the ancient Egyptians who for two thousand years when the equinox was in the age of Taurus, the Pharaohs worshipped the Apis Bull and at the rule of opposites the Pharaoh's wife wore a boldly erect scorpion on her headdress. During this age the Egyptians lost the art of predicting the equinoctial floods, so their priest fell into idolatry. They even considered the scorpion (Scorpius) as an unpleasant animal, so interned replaced it with the scarab beetle, which is one of the configurations of Cancer, the crab. Of course this was justified in their minds, although the ancient text and the meaning of the words are still scorpion/ crab oriented. As we all know eventually the story of Joseph and of Moses was a result of individuals that turned the Egyptians world around because they could no longer distinguish the original truth (the meaning of the twelve archetype symbols). Is modern science and the New Agers of Aquarius making the same mistake? Those who prefer the goods of this world to spiritual research are lost. We must learn to live with our past as it is, and not as we would like it to have been.
Recent attempts by modern science in creating a "thirteenth" constellation of the Zodiac, the Ophiuchus, has created a great rift with modern astrologers, who if they accept it, could not justify why their charts are so out of alignment with the real world. Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, has the sun in front of its stars during the first half of December. Also of interest is that one person in twenty is an "Ophiuchus." This creates quite a dilemma for the astrologer to explain why all the "Signs of the Zodiac" are off by about one month, resulting in inaccuracy of their horoscope charting. As it will for anyone who uses it to forecast or predict the future in that manner. The "sun sign," system has been out of kilter for the past few thousand years. Thus all those who believe they were born under a certain astrological sun sign, may not realize that it is not possible. When the Babylonians chose the twelve equally spaced "signs," each 30 degrees wide, even then they only approximately coincided with the constellations as to views of astronomers today. As seen in the 1990's the sun, due to the precession of the equinoxes, has shifted to be two constellations off of its original position claimed by the Babylonian astrologers of 5th century B.C. This makes perfect sense to me, since God never intended the 12 archetype symbols or asterisms to be used for that purpose any way.
The dates in the following table represent 1985 through 1992, and the dates can flutuate by a day from year to year. As you can see that even with the differences caused by the precession, the chronological time of the twelve archetype symbols or asterism still comply, with or without Ophiuchus.
Above the constellation Scorpius, we have Ophiuchus who is identified as Asclepius, a legendary physician known as the god of medicine. It is said that Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician and the father of medicine, was his 15th grandson. According to legend, one day Asclepius killed a snake, but to his surprise another snake arrived and revived its companion with herbs. This is how Asclepius learned of the medicinal powers of plants. Snakes have long been associated with the medical arts; the symbol of the medical profession is the caduceus, a staff entwined with serpents. Caduceus was a herald's wand or staff, especially in ancient times. In Greek Mythology a winged staff with two serpents twined around it, carried by Hermes. An insignia modeled on Hermes' staff and used as the symbol of the medical profession [Latin caduceus, alteration of Greek karukeion, from karux, herald]. As his medical skills grew, Asclepius even learned to revive the dead. This knowledge worried Hades (Roman, Pluto), god of the underworld, who feared that his domain would not receive any new souls. Hades persuaded his brother Zeus to kill Asclepius with a thunderbolt and to decree all mortals must one day die. Zeus did strike Asclepius dead, but to his honor his skills as a healer Zeus placed Asclepius in the sky with his serpents. From the Arabic Ophiuchus we go to the Greek Aesculapius, who was a favorite of the Greek gods, a son of Apollo. Homer described him as a god-man, which suggests Nimrod. According to Greek mythology, he was a healer: he cured the sick, and was reported to have brought the dead back to life by means of blood taken from the side of the goddess of justice which is the Libra connection in this chapter. He is called the "Physician," "The Desired One," "The Health-Giver," the "Universal Remedy." He finally suffered death from the lightnings of heaven, but was raised from death to glory through the influence of his father, Apollo.
The coming Savior of the world is revealed, as the Great Physician who cures various diseases, who brings life out of death by blood taken from the side of the goddess of justice.
MLK - Dedicated to you
We gathered 13,400 pounds of food -- with more to come tomorrow -- the second largest amount for a single drive for the year!
We brought in $4300 in cash and checks -- the largest amount of any drive for the year!
To put that in context, the Food Bank serves an average of 200 households each, three days a week. The food we brought in in one afternoon, including the bulk food that can be bought with those donations, is almost enough to feed the community for an entire month!
Today, My son's GF Carly and I went out and helped clean a local beach as part of the National Day of Service.
Any of you who know me, I have spent the last 20+ years of my life in community service, and now find that my health limits me on the things I can do. That's really touch for someone who has it in their blood...
Either way, today was a great day! I hope that people will find it in their heart to continue with their community service efforts. You don't need to give up an un-Godly amount of time, but I betcha the local animal shelter, or soup kitchen, or your neighbors, for that matter, would appreciate one or two days a month dedicated to helping out our fellow human beings. It feels good, AND it's good for you, too!
here are some pictures:
THE WELL WILL NEVER RUN DRY
BY ANTHONY M. XXXXXX
(Published in the Canonsburg Daily Notes, April 5 1968)
Deep inside each human is a desire to be free, almost a commanding incentive that defies description. It comes about by sincere reasoning, by superhuman effort, by logic and by written commandments. It is the lifeline of dreams.
Anything that disturbs it immediately creates a counterguard of that dream. Violent death cannot stop the leadership that struggles to remove the barricades that deny complete freedom. It did not stop Christ, it did not stop Lincoln, it did not stop the Kennedy dream, and it will not stop the Martin Luther King dream.
"The American Creed of truths that are self-evident, that all men are equal" is alive in many free people and mere bullets cannot ever change that realism. Those who guide the destinies of people everywhere, are reassessing their positions.
They know the Constitutional wording, they know the intent of the meaning, but the politics they are entangled with, and the influences that command their political life, restrains them from permitting the full impact of the realities of those sacred words, that our American forefathers, so sincerely demanded to be the base of our individual freedom, in this great democracy.
The "well of blood" that keeps alive the desire to be totally free, will never run dry. It is born into each individual and only the total end of humanity will ever cause it to die, it gets stronger as it is suppressed and more desirous as it is denied.
Non violent efforts to gain that freedom seem slow and trying but it is becoming more evident that the non violent road is the shortest route.
Martin Luther King and his stubborn beliefs, that truth will prevail, are becoming beliefs that only a chosen few would dare predict to be the only way. The physical end of his person is only the beginning of his teachings.
The great impact of the violent death he suffered is the straw that broke the barricade of light that now is flooding the reasoning and acceptance of complacent people.
Give a man his freedom and he guards it well. Give him education and he learns to use his freedom wisely. Give him equal opportunity and he suddenly become competitive and productive. Give him his complete life and he shoulders all the responsibilities that unburdens a free society. Give a man light and he will follow Martin Luther King to the "promised land".
Yesterday was the beginning of today and the end of today is the beginning of tomorrow. Dr. Martin Luther King had his tomorrows, his yesterdays and his todays all wrapped into a future of non-violent free people that will guide their own destinies.
HE HAD A DREAM, it will take all of us to make it a reality.
Sincerely,
This message comes from USAservice.org.
Join today to do service tomorrow,
January 19th, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
fib
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USA Service Blog The New Vanguard of Poverty-Fighting Volunteers Sunday, January 18, 2009
Between now and January 19th, we’ll feature a series of guest bloggers on USAservice.org. Today we’re pleased to share a post by Maya Ajmera, Founder and President of The Global Fund for Children, and Nancy Lindborg, President of Mercy Corps.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is often viewed strictly through an American lens. But, much like similarly powerful figures, such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa, Dr. King’s legacy continues to inspire hope among millions of citizens around the world. For this reason, amidst President-Elect Obama’s call to service, we reflect on the importance of connecting our great history of community action and service with the world at large. The current recession is, after all, a global recession. It is precisely during these times of great economic hardship that it is most vital to include those most in need throughout the world. We live in an unmistakably interconnected world where the actions of one affect the whole.Both of our organizations are dedicated to supporting the people and organizations on the frontlines of forging innovative, powerful solutions to the world’s most pressing social and economic issues. Those solutions must include the active participation of American citizens in the global community The Global Fund for Children’s (GFC) mission is to advance the dignity of children and youth around the world. GFC pursues its mission by making small grants to innovative community-based organizations working with some of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth. At the heart of GFC’s effort to expand and connect the global network is our books program. Our vibrant children’s books present the many common experiences that young people in our country and around the world share. We encourage you to visit our web site to review titles that connect children in your community with the rest of the world.GFC also works with New Global Citizens, and Executive Director Courtney Klein wrote a post earlier this week on the group. We encourage you to read the article.
Mercy Corps works globally in 40 countries to support communities to achieve fast and lasting recovery from disaster, conflict or economic collapse. We catalyze community-led action and foster economic opportunities wherever we work.
In the U.S., Mercy Corps is committed to radically altering the way people, particularly youth, think about the world and their role within it, by educating, inspiring and equipping them to tackle the global challenges of poverty, conflict and hunger. We launched the first Action Center to End World Hunger, www.actioncenter.org, to catalyze citizen action, whether they have one day, one month or one lifetime.
Through Global Citizen Corps, www.globalcitizencorps.org we are building a network of young people in the United States and the U.K. who serve as the vanguard of a new generation of poverty fighting volunteers and advocates. We encourage you to participate on Martin Luther King Day to honor Dr. King by becoming involved with service and action projects and to continue to find ways to do more throughout the year. We also invite you to visit our web sites to learn more about international efforts to make a difference around the world. As Dr. King so powerfully said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Each of us has the responsibility to help build a just and responsive world, where people are accountable to one another, and the injustice of poverty is eliminated. President Obama offers us all a moment to recommit ourselves to action, to justice and peace, now more than ever.
The local Libertarian candidate sent out another hilarious campaign letter. I quote: "HIRE me to represent you!" *ROTFLMAO*
The gist of his message this time is that he needs some money to finish out another leg of his campaign. This is the same guy that invited all the interested readers of the Libertarian news to show up and give to the government-run & Clintonite feminist food pantry to support his campaign without realizing a few things: #1: at the local level, we do know which food pantries are connected with corrupt political finances and which ones are not. It is always a risk for a young politician to identify himself with one if he is not privy to the food pantry's back office, and frankly, young men are not privy to most of the corruption among feminist activists that has crippled the legitimate womens' rights movement.
So his food-pantry gamble backfired and now he needs money.
And I guess maybe he did learn something from the female crack-heads that the food pantry staff keep out front in order to discourage close contact with honest women, because he is openly asking for money for his services!
I laugh, but at the same time I cry. The Libertarians have a couple of important things going for them: a strong reminder of the original character of American constitutional government, and a damn good reggae band.
Which brings me to another thing: if the lengthy, unedited video I watched on Austin Public Access the other night is any indication, my fears that we are headed for a period of serious civil violence is unfounded. The tape was made by one of the Austin citizen-journalists who was documenting the protest "demonstration" outside the Republican Convention.
PUUULEEEEZE!!!! I could not tell if the demonstrators were Democrat activists, disgruntled anarchist Republicans, or what.... There was nothing but one apparently leftwing woman yelling through a bullhorn about ending the war and stopping bombs and a bunch of people kind of ambling around in a disconnected fashion. The woman's statements made some sense, but there was no back-up team, there was no MUSIC facrissake, and her statements were not part of even a short speech. There were no signs, no banners. At one point the camera showed a young man with apparently the same bullhorn reading a statement about "Congress shall make no law....." etc from the Bill of Rights.... at other points the camera followed a street performer who tried in vain to get attention to Satanic paraphernalia and gestures, and the camera man speculated that this was a police-planted provocateur but a bystander told him the performer was a homeless man well-known in the neighborhood for his antics. A few activists wore kerchief covers on their faces and looked kind of strange, given the total lack of any reason for anyone being concerned about the crowd's behavior.
The camera cut back to the woman with the bullhorn and another woman who were acting as if they led a rally but no rally appeared, just, as I said, a disconnected collection of bemused pedestrians. Some police rode up and announced that the "parade permit" was about to expire and everyone would have to disperse at 5 o'clock. The bullhorn yellers tried to inspire social outrage as people began to amble more or less away from the area. Lines of police in riot gear stood around the perimeter,. They were probably, by their fence-like posture, more responsible for the gathering looking slightly like a crowd than any intention of people to actually gather for any purpose. A couople of bystanders were caught discussing the way they had to drive around police blockades just to get about the city, and they strengthened the impression this was a randomly herded cluster of pedestrians, not a gathering of people with a political purpose of any kind.
I want to tell you all something, ok, just IN CASE we Americans need to act together as a group: PICK UP SOME VIDEO FROM THE '60'S AND TAKE A LESSON!
Lesson #1. Get SOME MUSIC out there, and with a message in the lyrics! It serves the ancient human purpose of signalling people that there is in fact a gathering point. Make it easy to sing and relatively upbeat and energetic. Give people the impression that victory is possible without bloodshed.
#2. Provide at least a few large, multi-person banners that spell out your grievance in a full sentence, without cusswords. This not only identifies your demonstrartion in photos around the world, it gives your group a sense of team leadership. Let other people get creative with individual small signs, and provide a stack of posters and markers off to one side to encourage that.
#3. Don't focus your bullhorn rage on the cops! Those are just men and women doing their job. They do not act independently. Focus on their bosses and the poltical beliefs that drive them, which ultimately, is YOU, and YOUR political beliefs.
Back in the Sixties, after the initial shock of the gunning down of the students at Kent State, cops and others who were sent in to do the state's dirty work often showed sympathy with the crowd and reluctance to carry out arrests. This is important. It happened because most of the big demonstrations were filled with people who followed Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr's teachings of nonviolence and we made friendly eye-contact with the police, and appealed to them as fellow citizens. And, by the way, Gandhi and MLK WON the day! Please remember that!
The jackasses who did the Bill Ayer Bernadine Dorn thing did take control of the money side of politics, but the victory of the people was not at all a result of their ignorant hate and violence.
The movements of the Sixties scared the government into redesigning police gear to actually make it more difficult to make eye-contact and a friendly social connection with the individual police officer, and that is because such human contact is, by itself, far more powerful than bullhorns and angry gestures.
That ambling crowd of bemused pedestrians was truly a sad sight to see. The only good thing I can take away from it is that perhaps we will not see civil collapse in the next few years, but the bad thing is that there is NO popular muscle-coordination to resist the state machine when it comes to mow us all down at once.
4 April 200840 years ago today a plain brown man was shot and killed. The forces that killed him were massive, yet not nearly as grand as his heart. His courage is unimaginable to me, but a courage by which I measure my own; I want to measure up to his tall legacy, for I, too, am a plain brown man. So are we all, and that is what he said.
Dr. King was shot while supporting sanitation workers in Memphis. And Elvis Presley is racist, white and died rich despite his humble upbringing. Rarely did Elvis ever use his glory for the good of the people. Yet, Elvis’s home in Memphis and cities like it around the country mourn over the superficial affectations of pop stars; stardom simply reproduces itself. These stars inform our everyday lives as we hear their words, see their images and imitate their style. Elvis exploited the images of plain brown men like Jackie Wilson and Little Richard, whose courage informs my own. And Dr. King likely heard the wails and calls of these brothers and instigated some calls of his own: He ran to the aid of the common man (very different from selling the common man an image of wealth and austerity). But unlike the glimmer of Elvis and his Memphis home, Graceland, I am a plain brown man, and all I want is peace.
I'll match another $50. Well it's 30 now as I just got $20 about an hour ago.
You have to go to My Act Blue Page for me to give you Credit though.
1. I am a lifelong Democrat
2. My best friend from law school just had his second child - second baby girl this morning. He's also a big Barack supporter. 3. I saw Barack speak three times this election cycle:
4. I marched with Barack and the Clinton's across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in 2007.
5. Beau Biden gave an emotional heartfelt speech last night that brought his father, Michelle Obama and myself and millions of others to tears.
6. John Kerry gave the best speech of his life last night including my favorite line - "Before McCain can debate Obama he needs to finish the debate with himself."
7. My Congressman Artur Davis from Alabama gave a phenomenal nominating speech yesterday.
8. Gov Sebilius gave us this gem - I'm sure you remember a girl from Kansas who said there's no place like home. Well, in John McCain's version, there's no place like home. And a home. And home. And home.
9. My mother in law cried yesterday when Barack won the nomination
10. Brian Schweitzer is great
11. I just read Kos's endorsement of electronic filing for the Senate FEC reports
12. I only own two houses. Well the bank really owns both of them.
13. Chris Van Hollen gave a good speech yesterday that nobody saw.
14. One of our Two For Tuesday Candidates took the Stage with Van Hollen - Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico 3
15. Another one of our Two for Tuesday Candidates took the stage yesterday - Jeff Merkley of Oregon
16. Hillary Clinton ended the roll call yesterday in support of Obama
17. Republicans like Jim Leach and some other guy I saw from Iowa support Obama
18. "No way, no how, no McCain!!!"
19. That's not Change, that's more of the same.
20. Did I saw that I like Joe Biden
21. Bill Richardson takes the stage today
22. I get to rub it in my wife's face that I was right and she is wrong.
23. I'm proud of my wife for being at the convention today
24. Because Left in Alabama <a href="http://www.leftinalabama.com">Left in Alabama</a> has provide great coverage throughout.
25. Because CSPAN has been great.
26. Dennis Kucinich gave an entertaining speech the other day
27. Because i only have to come up with 23 more reasons
28. That's not Change we can Believe in
29. Fire it up
30. I'm a big Dick Durbin fan. We met at the DuQuoin State Fair and he remember me two weeks later in Chicago and then four months later in the halls of Congress.
31. Dick Durbin still doesn't know I was the one that wrecked his campaign truck (it really wasn't that bad, but just wanted it to sound dramatic)
32. AlObama voted for Barack on super tuesday.
33. I have a picture of me with Hillary when i was 17 at a conference in DC. that I kept up the entire primary season
34. I endorsed Barack for President in 2008 4 years ago
35. Because John McCain was a POW - had to be in here somewhere right?
36. John McCain is not a maverick - he's a sidekick says Sen. Bob Casey
37. McCain will announce his awful VP choice sometime in the next 48 hours
38. Al Gore will give a great speech tonight
39. Ted Kennedy - enough said
40. We can't have 12 more years of Bush economics
41. McCain doesn't understand the economy by his own admission
42. Only 8 more to go and after 8 we are rid of W.
43. John Conyers said he will hold Rove in contempt
44. Michelle Obama gave a great speech
45. 45 years ago Martin Luther King had a dream on this very same day.
46. 4 more to go and only 4 more months of Bush
47. 3 more to go - 3 states to tour this weekend or Obama-Biden - Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio
48. 75,000 plus at Invesco field tonight
49 Obama- Biden supported the GI Bill
50 Change is something I can Believe in !!!
wow that was tough. it took about 50 minutes.
click the thermometer and join me
<a href="https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/twofortuesdays?refcode=thermometer"><img src="http://www.actblue.com/page/twofortuesdays/goal/dark.png" alt="Goal Thermometer"/></a>
As far as Barack's blackness is concerned, I don't believe he was given a choice. Blackness is defined on the idea that one has negroid features and hair and dark skin. It is a racist idea that defines this peculiar institution called race. Some hispanics, South Asians and in particular Asian Indians reject the notion of obvious physical attributes and call themselves "caucasians". Face it there is a stigma, especially in this country, attached to "blackness' and slave descendency.
I doubt if Obama, while driving in a white neighborhood at night ,would not be stopped by police and racially profiled, if he met a description of a 'black" suspect he would also be questioned. So he is defined, in large part, by other's perception. If you were to ask him, and any thinking person, of course he is genetically both therefore neither. Unfortunately that is not his reality when people everyday both black and white react to him in a way that is primarily based on his appearance.
That is why he is so unique, he is like a Rosetta Stone, raised by whites as an almost first generation African immigrant, without the slave history. His African American experience seen through his eyes as the brilliant son of an anthropologist is nothing short of conscience shifting. His vantage point from history to empirical experience sees the best and the worst of us as a nation. His reluctant speech on race was a window on that consciousness and I suspect it is much, much deeper.
As far as Afirmative Action goes, I take Colin Powell's opinion as guidance. How can a people blessed with so much be so selfish? According to reports only 75,000 students a year benefit from affirmative action. There is no evidence that any white student was ever denied a quality higher education because a black student kept them out of school. In particular cases, white students were denied access to their school of choice, but only because considering their advantages, they didn't compete with students with similar advantages.
Admission programs should and in many cases have considered social and economic circumstances to weight their decisions more evenly with the race factor and that is why the Supreme Court is right in saying race can be one of many factors in determining how a college or university chooses to serve the community and this nation through diversity. They are playing a vital role in the education, stability and social mobility of the citizens of this nation.
As far as business and government goes, until racism and bigotry no longer form the basis upon which some people make decisions in this area in whatever percentage, then a vigorous enforcement needs to happen to continue to integrate traditionally excluded minorities into the mainstream.
Business and government contracts continue to flow to the well networked persons. A cultural barrier to that network still exists, some of this is attributable to bigotry and/or racism, some is just institutional sluggishness. Whatever the cause it is continuing the legacy of economic and social deprivation started in the slave trade, institutionalized by state, local and Federal goverments, private social organizations and businesses through Jim Crow laws and social mores. This is what affirmative action, with shifting modifications based on empirical evidence, should address as we perfect our union.
You've heard of Fantasy Football? Introducing Fantasy Oratory.
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Thoreau reminds us we started with freedom.
It happened over 200 years ago by families; all looking for a better life, free from oppression and persecution, free to live their dreams and to pass those dreams onto their children. They braved hardship, they risked their own lives and the lives of their children just to get here, just to get to a land that offered no promises save for hope.
These brave pilgrims who dared to dream, who had the audacity to hope for a better tomorrow than they one that lay open to them at home. But what they accomplished far exceeded the goal. Their temerity did not cease once they arrived upon the vast wilderness that was America. That spirit to create opportunity rose from those first days.
Their daring did not die with them, but rather carried on to their children and their children’s children until the will to live on their own, to steer the course of their own destiny and to live as free men caused them to shake off the yoke of the most powerful imperial force of its time.
It was in that spirit that the founders of this nation resolved to face an uncertain future with the power of ideas, forged from the best minds who came before them. It was here that Jefferson, Adams, and Madison laid forth their idea for a new nation; governed not by kings or the elite, but by the people themselves, which to this day remains one of the most radical ideas ever to take shape and has become the model countries across the world seek to emulate centuries later.
This was the idea that men and women have sacrificed for, have laid down their very lives for. That we have a right to happiness, a right to live free from persecution, a right to live our private lives free from government intrusion. These first architects of freedom then laid the foundation for a government which would protect and preserve them; who would recognize that we have these rights because we exist, in spite of government, not because of it. That these rights must be preserved by maintaining the awareness of the common humanity that binds us all together in this village called America.
We have overcome many obstacles on our journey toward an egalitarian society. There is not a town in this country that hasn’t fiercely debated what it means for us to call ourselves a truly fair people, a truly just people.
400 years ago, men, women and children were brought forth on this continent, against their will, to plow the fields, sow the crops, and lay the tracks that connected the east to the west. It was ordinary people who stood up, who shouted out, and even fought one another to declare this is not how we treat our fellow man.
Finally it took a young man from Illinois, a simple self-educated prairie lawyer, to remember our common humanity, to recognize that we were always free, that we always mattered and were vital the success of our young nation.
It was just in this last century where african-americans and women could not be trusted with a vote to determine their own destiny. But people rose up, demanded their rights, through debate, through the courts, through action and again the government recognized that liberty cannot advance half-heartily. We must advance it together.
But our story is not over, our unfinished work has not so nearly reached its end. My friends, we have a difficult truth to face. We have not yet lived up to the promise of America. If we are to recover it, difficult questions need to asked and answered.
When did we say it was ok to send our children to war because of a lie?
When did we say that the torture of another human being is compatible with our collective morality?
When did we say it was ok to sanctify love between a man and woman, but desecrate all others?
When did we say it was ok to ignore our stewardship to the land?
When did we say it was ok break our word to our neighbor?
When did we say that it is acceptable for our schools to become so overrun with violence that we need metal detectors just to get our sons and daughters to class?
When did we say it’s ok to father a child, then walk away?
When did we say its ok to live in a culture that says I’m gonna get mine and I don’t care if you get yours?
When did we say it was ok to let my brothers and sisters freeze in the cold without shelter, without food, without hope?
Because its not. It’s not right. It’s not ok. We’re better than this. I’ve traveled this country 100 times over for nearly two years and I can tell you with a certainty that I’ve seen it. I know what you’re capable of.
Anyone here read Thomas Frank's truly fab excerpt from his book, The Wrecking Crew, in Harper's? Anyone else here read about how ultimate loser, Ralph Reed, skipped his own McCain fundraiser?
***** How is it that the Right Wing has taken the lead re the language of both policy & social politics? Obama is our best hope since Kennedy & FDR to reverse this travesty.
***** Hate to come on like Lichtenstein, or a tired, old semiotics don, but, Democrats must learn how to use language better. Liberal should not be a swear word.
***** Andrew Sullivan on the Daily Dish today nailed it re McCain's torture. By Bush's, Cheney's, Rumsfeld's, Fleith's, Gonzalez's, Yoo's, HELL, even Mukasey's definition, McCain was not tortured. Of course, McCain was tortured. I would wish that hell on no one, but the double standard & Orwellian Newspeak of this administration is so disgusting as to make me ill.
***** Just for kicks: Time Horizon.
***** My idea of Freedom Fighter does not include Oliver North within its purview. I think more of John Henry Faulk, or Barbara Jordan.
***** I wish I was there at that meeting between McCain, Bush, & Rove, to hear the apologies for So Carolina 2000, & the grim mafia-like assurances re this current election. McCain is nowt himself anymore, a Faustian bargain made in order to win.
***** The McCain campaign's negative, ridiculous TV ads have had their effect & have since been toned down in order to absorb a backlash. They are desperate, Faustian howls at the moon; Rovian war games. There will be more ugliness from Camp McBush/Rove, for sure, but they have yet to define their candidate. Watch how the "Morning in America" McCain moments fall flat & Obama seizes the high ground & makes this country feel good again, & begin to squelch fear in their hearts & believe.
***** "Evrybody had a hard year ... Evrybody pulled their socks up/Everybody put their foot down."
***** All credit to Jon Stewart & his fab Daily Show for these "just for kicks" language notes. & here's another one: Enhanced Interrogation.
***** Michigan is ours, but it will be tight. Colorado is ours, but it will be tight.
***** The convention will be magical. Clinton speaking on the anniversary of a Woman's right to vote, & Obama accepting the nomination on Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" anniversary. I cannot wait.
Let's win this thing folks. My polling station is within walking distance (by the way, I don't have a drivers license & have never driven!) & so is the Contra Costa County dem HQ! I'll be hitting the phone lines & the doors these coming months & I want you folks to do the same.
Just wond'rin’ - Should Scarlet Johansson's e-mails to Obama be called "Scarlet Letters"?
"I face this challenge...with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.”[Senator Barack Obama]"[Dr. King’s] appeal was rooted in the larger context of nonviolence. His stated purpose was always to redeem the soul of America… To see Dr. King and his colleagues as anything less than modern founders of democracy - even as racial healers and reconcilers - is to diminish them under the spell of myth. Dr. King said the movement would liberate not only segregated black people but also the white South. Surely this is true." [Taylor Branch, “The Last Wish of Martin Luther King”]
http://www.revart.blogs.com/
I will forever call January 5th, 2008 The Night That Martin Luther King's Dream Came True. That was when Senator Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus. When I looked up at that TV screen and saw on the MSNBC scroll that he had just won in a Mid-Western state with a voting population that was about 95% white, I realized in that moment, that a man had just been chosen to be President of the United States for his character, not by the color of his skin.
Barack Obama is now the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. It is a marvel how quickly our perceptions change – what would have seemed impossible four years ago has come to pass. For those of us older than, say 30, the amazement we felt a few weeks ago at having an African-American nominee has already slipped into normality.
As in all dreams, a moment is infinitely fleeting, sometimes it is captured and always we must wake up. Inevitably moving deeper into the 21st Century, we must strive to make those instances of MLK’s dreams-come-true happen ever closer together, so much so that they no longer becomes discernable or even noteworthy. That is my dream.
--Nancy Lloyd 06/15/08
I had 4 heroes on April 3, 1968, my 8th birthday: Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.
When a kid that young loses half his heroes, it's pretty awful. I grew harder that year, much faster than I otherwise would have, no doubt. But, more importantly, and far sadder: America hasn't been what we would have been today if MLK and Bobby K hadn't been snatched away from us. Imagine Martin continuing to lead from his fiery but ever peaceful pulpit all these years. Imagine Bobby, not Nixon, winning the presidency in '68 and again in '72. When King and Kennedy were both taken away in such a short time, it seemed like the world would end. And whole worlds of possibilities did, indeed, end.
Forty years later, America has a chance to restore some of what was taken from us. From the first time I saw Barack Obama speak, a man who lost half his heroes in '68 saw nothing less than a cross between Martin and Bobby. Call me corny. Call me crazy. Call me naive. But some of the world's better history has been steered by idealistic leaders who inspire people to better than they otherwise are. Barack Obama's candidacy is an historic opportunity to turn this country toward the more fair, humane and admirable direction it would have gone in 1968 if we had not been tragically interrupted on our way to making a better place named America.
Both of my parents have passed. I am States away from their resting place, but I will be sending out prayers and have personal conversations with both. My father was a Veteran....Korea. I have his War Bonds tucked away in a safe place...along with his photos of those with whom he served. I wonder what both of my parents would think of the current state of political affairs. I remember vividly the grief of my mother (she would be 83) surrounding the JKF - MLK - RFK assassinations. I grew up in a wonderful rural Iowa home and blessed by my parents with a strong foundation of Christian values. My father was a farmer. My mother was a teacher. My mother didn't always agree with the course I pursued in life - we would argue about "why she was doing everything for dad....jump when he said jump." She was from a different era and didn't understand why I wanted to "burn my bra" and identify with Steinem and "those feminists."
As I reflect upon this with fond memories, the Friday before Memorial Day, Hillary Rodham Clinton makes an unforgivable statement. She not so subtlely references waiting in the wings for Obama to be assassinated. This has been on my mind, as she continues to move the bar, play with the math and wants to be VP if she can't have the whole enchilada. And I should be shocked that she said it on camera - but I am not shocked. I am not shocked that she has issued no apology to the people of this nation, or other nations, that she has made no apology to Sen. Obama. She has no remorse. This is the clearest example of where we have come politically in 40 years. Full circle.
I got my degree in Women's Studies. I wrote a research paper in the course of that degree based on my theory that "feminism" was analogous to all other "isms." But not in the sense you may think. I likened feminists to racists, classists, etc. It was a well written paper. I got a D- but was offered an opportunity to rewrite it for a better grade. I had spent 3 weeks on that first paper. The second one was haphazardly written overnight and - because it said what it was "supposed" to say, I received a B. It probably would have been an A - had not the first paper been submitted. So with my degree in Women's Studies in hand - and my own set of ideas about feminism in mind, I graduated with honors. But I would not "cling to" the feminist bible. I would not identify with the hatred of men - of all the whining and complaints of what had been done to "us women." I had chosen to be force fed the anger of decades and sent out without any tools to do make real change. But HARK: I saw the bigger picture. It was plain and simple - I made a wiser choice to become a humanitarian with a degree that would MARK me as I stepped into my future - but I would choose my battles wisely and eradicate all forms of ISMS in my work as an advocate for change. And with this knowledge, I better understood my mother.
I have supported Sen. Obama from day one. I have had a difficult time with "feminists" that would call me a traitor - they are feminISTS....like racist, classist and sexist. That "ism" is inherent in the feminist movement as a whole. White middle class women marginalizing all others, including women that aren't the "right" race or class.... who aren't WHITE enough. It isn't as though they don't address the marginalized women - they do - in well written articles - but ACTION is always based on the REAL feminist agenda. Thus Hillary Rodham Clinton - unafraid to race-bait - use class, do "anything" to get elected. I am not an Obama supporter because I am afraid to see a woman in the White House - as President. That day will come. But it will come when we have the RIGHT woman to rally behind. HRC is not that woman...her divisiveness, her words and her actions have made that clear. I have HOPE for the future. Sen. Obama offers that HOPE to UNIFY ALL - women are a part of ALL!
I pray that the feminists who want to see a Woman President in their lifetime will begin to look inside themselves and then look beyond their agenda to see clearly the bigger picture. I pray too, that they get beyond their notion that WOMEN have got to do it before BLACK MEN! That they can see that their actions are racist! To see the bigger picture is to be human - not categorized, marginalized or divided. I understand that feminists want it so much - and have worked hard throughout their whole lives - they want to see the OUTCOME of their efforts on a grand scale. But there is a refusal to see that Hillary Rodham Clinton - if elected - would undermine all of their years od work. Because it would be a long long long time before there was ever a second President of the USA that "happens to be a woman." I pray that they begin to see this and think not of themselves - but of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Martin Luther King, jr.:"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream."
I still have a dream of Senator Obama as President Obama and Michelle as First Lady. Do you?
