A letter to the editor — 12/05/2007 9:21 am

Dear Editor: I read the article on the threats made at Park Falls High School. Violence has increased in many schools throughout the U.S. This is not surprising. In the past there has always been more violence in our society whenever our country violently invaded another country. I still remember the great increase in the incidences of violence in our cities at the time of the Vietnam War.

Children learn from us adults. Their conduct will not be much different from our conduct. When we adults use violence as a means to achieve a goal, no matter how noble it may be, we can expect our children to do the same. We can tell our children to be nonviolent and not hurt other people all we want, but if we do not do it ourselves, we are wasting our breath.

St. Francis once said, "We should preach the Gospel sometimes with words."

I suggest that the way to stop violence in our schools is to start teaching nonviolence to our students both in word and deed. We, the members of the clergy, need to take the lead in this since we especially are supposed to preach the nonviolent Christ, the Prince of Peace, to all. This Christmas season would be a good time to start.

Rev. Don Timmerman, Park Falls, Wis.

The Capital Times

Where can we learn about character and courage?

Regular people standing up for justice and equality. Better to let their acts speak for their own courage:

On June 10, 1963, nightsticks were raised and fire hoses turned on black residents, who dared to protest Danville’s resistance to the civil rights movement with a peaceful demonstration in front of Danville’s jailhouse.

The day was so vicious, it became known as “Bloody Monday” to honor the victims that day - nearly 50 brutally beaten and at least 60 arrested.

It has taken more than 40 years, but on Saturday, at the site of the attack - now Danville’s courthouse - firefighters were lined up in front of a fire truck, hoses rolled up tight, to applaud along with the rest of the audience as a historical plaque was unveiled to honor those who fought for equality.

Bloody Monday' marker dedicated, Dansville Register Bee, Dansville, VA

This is a very nice story

Calling themselves “H.ighly I.ntelligent P.eople H.ealing O.ur P.lanet,” the group will announce their newly-produced CD, which they hope will spark discussion among other youth in Westchester schools and community centers about possibilities for bringing positive change to their communities and the wider world.

The 15 young people are students of White Plains resident Cornell Carelock, an educator and hip-hop artist known as “Lord Judah.” Under the auspices of the Westchester Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute for Nonviolence, Mr. Carelock presented his students Dr. King’s Six Principles of Nonviolence (as compiled by the King Center in Atlanta), and gave six small groups the chance to create a song in response to what they read. The group’s name reflects Mr. Carelock’s and his students’ visions that hip-hop can be a way for young people who want to build a world without violence to express their hopes and dreams.

Martin Luther King Jr. Hip Hop on Wstchester.com

I have been reading the Confessions of St. Augustine for about a week now. I am currently in book 7, at the point where he has come back to the teachings of the Church but is still tormented by theological doubts. In the first seven chapters, his big problem is dealing with evil.

Augustine, who previously was a Manichee, discounts the Manichean belief that there are two forces in the world, good and evil, where good would eventually win over evil. This idea is very widespread, mainly because it explains the world in a very efficient way. God is all good, and he battles the forces of all evil. So under this kind of a theology, there is no evil paradox.

That is not the case under Christian monotheism were God is by definition all good, all powerful, and all knowing. Then evil becomes a puzzle. For the thoughtful believer, this can be very hard.

Augustine starts with the definition that God is perfect, and then begins exploring different arguments explaining the existence of evil. He quickly dismisses the common explanations of the day--which happen to be the same explanations that we hear in the present.

So, evil cannot come from humans because then evil implies imperfection, and God creating an imperfect being would be a contradiction unless he was not all good. So this common explanation quickly is dismissed.

Evil cannot come from the devil either because the devil also was a creation of God. Moreover, since the devil was first an angle, he only became evil later on. This implies that evil must have existed before the devil became evil, and the only creator is God. But then God would have created something imperfect, so we run into another contradiction.

It is a delight to read, even if one must slow down.

Once in a while I will post summaries on my readings and some comments.

I was greeted this morning with a visit of the Ghost of Retirement Future:

In a matter of months, I went from a comfortable life with decent pay and health insurance to a $6.50-an-hour job with no insurance, no furniture and just enough resources to keep the wolf from the door.

I no longer buy anything unless it's absolutely essential. I spend $40 at the supermarket and make it last for more than two weeks. I never turn down a free meal. I've learned to graciously accept money, furniture, elk meat and encouragement from worried friends.

I am no longer proud.

Suddenly Poor in her 50s

I have been practicing Lakoff's framing when I engage in political or religious debates. Lakoff is a linguist and cognative scientist who has applied his findings to create a rhetorical techniques to find common ground with people we disagree with.

It has its own technical language, but I think it can be reduced to the following:

Appeal to common values, and pick your language carefully to reflect these common values. The new terms will help us frame the conversation so that we united through our common values.

I wrote a short entry on my experience with framing in Lakoff's community blog site:

My Entry in Rockridge Nation

Political scientist John McCormick uses Machiavelli's analysis of Roman Tribune of plebeians for the purpose of curbing the power of the elites in the U.S.

McCormick himself understands that this is not going to happen, but please consider the idea.

But McCormick has a more radically Machiavellian idea. He proposes amending the Constitution to create America's own Tribunate Assembly. (Yes, he realizes this is not going to happen anytime soon.)

McCormick's Tribunate would consist of 51 private citizens (more or less a random number), selected by lottery (no campaign expenses!) from among those whose household net worth falls below $345,000, thereby excluding the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans. In his thought experiment, the plebeians, during one-year terms, would discuss the business of government five days a week and would be empowered to veto one Supreme Court decision, one act of congressional legislation, and one executive order each year. They could also call one nationwide referendum on any issue they chose, and initiate impeachment proceedings.

I translated this very nice piece on how to run a local blog. Please follow the link to read it in English.

Trajude esta pieza del dailykos al espanol.

NO NOMAS HAGAS ALGO, sientate! Empieza a blogear para el cambio de Republicano a Democrata en 2008 hoy

Vives en uno de los 200 distritos federales con un diputado republicano? Vivies en uno de los 21 estados con un senador republicano que va a buscar la re-eleccion en el 2008? Puedes ofrecer una hora a la semana para ayudar que todos los distristos tengan un candidato el dia de la eleccion en 2008?

Esto es lo mejor: este trabajo es divertido y lo puedes hacer desde la comodidad de tu silla favorita.

El Sendero de Fecal nos ofrece la siguiente historia
Wolf owitz quiere meter mano en México

El artículo que Wolfowitz, lider del Banco Mundial y arquitecto de la guerra en Irak, piensa que México necesita más reformas económicas, no menos. El artículo termina diciendo como un grupo de investigación que pertenece al Banco Mundial acaba de publicar un documento que dice que México es uno de los paises que ha implementado más reformas económicas en el mundo.

Qué ironía! Resulta que para Wolfowitz la solución para el fracaso económico del neoliberalismo, es, bueno, más neoliberalismo.

Si tienes un blog, y puedes participar, por favor, escribele a esta direccion.

::: URGENTE A LOS BLOGGERS DE TODO EL PAÍS QUE SE QUIEREN SUMAR A LA LUCHA ::: para blog, sitios, grupos PRO AMLO

ENVÍA LOS DATOS DE TU BLOG, ESTADO AL QUE PERTENECES, TU CORREO ELECTRÓNICO Y COMENTARIO SOBRE LO SIGUIENTE A: sonrievamosaganar arroba hotmail punto com

Del sendero de Fecal

La imposibilidad de la democracia

Por MARIO MÉNDEZ ACOSTA

(Exclusivo para VOCES DEL PERIODISTA)

Algunos de los intelectuales orgánicos, agrupados sobre todo en la revista Letras Libre, se han puesto del lado del sistema neoliberal y con inquietante insistencia descalifican a todo aquel político que no acepte los dudosos méritos de esta política, la cual ha mantenido en el estancamiento económico y en el desempleo crónico a Latinoamérica y a nuestro país durante más de 25 años. Estas personas han dado a conocer una tesis que de hecho anula formalmente la posibilidad de que surja una verdadera democracia en México; es decir, un sistema político que permita lleva al poder a algún dirigente social o algún partido que reestablezca a la función del Estado

La transicion a la democracia pacifica duro todo un sexenio. Al finalizar este sexenio, vemos como el PAN, antiguo defensor de la limpieza electoral y la sociedad civil, se empeiza a eregir como el sucesor del PRI, ahora cansado y sin capital politica.

El PAN moderno esta en las primeras etapas de construir, o intentar contruir, un neo-priismo. No, el presidente no unge a su sucesor con el dedazo. Tambien estan ausentes la retorica de la revolucion Mexicana. Pero si vemos el espiritu de autocracia, de trampas, y violaciones legales y morales de la ley porque le conviene y porque puede hacerlo con impunidad.

Today we are looking at the emergence of a new, bigger poor class.

The new poor are the mirror image of the new middle class that emerged after WWII. It is a big sector of the population that is entering into the poor classes, just as in the late 1940s they entered into the middle class.

Poverty is a dirty word in the U.S. Ever since the post-war; we live in a classless society because we like to think of it that way.

The definition of poverty doesn't reflect the true level of poverty that the U.S. experiences.

Yes, those who earn between the median salary and the poverty line are considered lower middle class or lower working class. And many do live better than other people.