INTERESTING TIMES

These words were found in my father's handwriting:

THE HAPPY WANDERER

I. I love to go a wandering, along a mountain track,
And as I go I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.

II. I tip my hat to all I meet, and they wave back to me,
And blue birds sing so loud and sweet, from every greenwood tree. 

IIII. Oh may I always wander, until the day I die,
And may I always laugh and sing, beneath God's dear blue sky.


VIVA LA COMPANIE

I. Let every good fellow now join in the song.
Success to each other and pass it along.

II. A friend on your left and a friend on your right
In love and good fellowship now let us unite.

III. Now wider and wider our circle expands,
Let's sing to our comrades in far away lands.

Factoid: 1/100 people in the US and Europe live in a cult at some point in their lives

Distinction: living in not same as belonging to (do second generation adults *SGAs* who are plotting to escape count as members? perhaps not)

Sources not viewed by my own eyes: International Cultic Studies Assoc in Florida, European anti-cultic groups ...

This factoid in combination with the assertion that most people in cults do not call them that, means that lots of people have probably been in something Lisa would call a cult, but who would deny it.

This is very interesting for anyone interested in regional accents. Answer ten or so questions about your words for things, and it will tell you where it thinks you come from. It had a hard time localizing me though I attempted to use my childhood words for things, but some people it totally pegs. My language is most different from the Great Lakes area, which makes sense because I've never been there.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?

I'm surprised I haven't heard this one before. It's short, and good.



( text of speech thanks to Fresh Brains )

http://www.resilience.org/
Looks like a great forum for the effort to build resilient communities.

Twenty eight percent (28%) of US households are now just one person living alone. This is the most ever. These singles are the biggest spenders, contributing 1.9 trillion to "the economy" each year. (According to The Week 2/10/12 which is in turn quoting Fortune magazine)

And another factoid from the same source: the number of US prisoners age 65 and over has increased 63% between 2007 and 2010. I guess we're keeping them put away so long that now they need more medical care, and it's becoming an issue. The total number of prisoners has been flat for that same period.

At least, that's what I heard on the radio. Whenever I hear that "Everybody" says something, I am immediately suspicious. Everybody? OK then, what jobs do we want? Jobs with health insurance, and a paycheck, right? How about a desk, a telephone, and a computer? A window? A coffee maker? Boy now we're talking about the kind of job I could go for. But is that really what we need? I mean WHAT DO WE NEED?

I think we need a bunch of adventurous entrepreneurs to figure out what it is that we really need, and get busy developing the means of production. I went to naturopathic medical school because I see natural medicine as a sustainable and beneficial profession in which I can continue to serve no matter what the economic condition of my community. I am going to offer my assistance, and I trust that my knowledge and service will be of adequate value to allow me to live a good life.

I don't want a job!!! Jobs for me have been dead ends, places where I can get comfortable while my life drains away doing someone else's work. When do I get to do MY work? To be creative? To do my good for the world?? I saw this culture headed for the brink a long time ago. And it's still headed that way. I want to create a window to a better future.

What do we really need after all? A safe and comfortable place to call our own. It doesn't have to be fancy. We all need shelter, somewhere to keep our pillow and toothbrush. We all need fresh water, and good food, and we all need touch and love. That's about it! Jobs and insurance are figments of this paradigm that's headed for the drink.

( today's news: U.S. poverty rate rises to 15.1 percent, number of uninsured Americans hits record high  )

I haven't read the news, but just the headline sparks some questions. Do all those people who bought more house than they could afford and then lost their jobs get to keep their houses? Doesn't it make some sense to allow the economic contraction to force families to condense and become cooperative again? We have become so scattered and "independent" that we have no safety net anymore, except for the government, but is that how we really want our lives to be? Certainly a reduction in government payouts to the populace would cause some crises, but it takes some crises to change society at a fundamental level, and that is what is coming down the pipe whether we do it on purpose or wait for it to be done to us. We the people are bleeding our government which is in turn bleeding us. Won't be much left behind when the pretend money runs out. We'll have to figure out how to grow food again, how to barter for what we need and how to hibernate in the winter. Our bipartisan political system and the corporatocracy that runs it are not going to save us.

Here in the US we desperately need to get on the ball and pass a law by which same sex couples can have all the same legal rights as religiously married couples. Seriously now folks. It's not about HOMOSEXUALITY, and it's not about MARRIAGE. It's about human rights. Asexual, monosexual, bisexual, trisexual, whatever any kind of people, even a-religious people should be permitted to join their fates in a legal way with the person (or persons!) of their choosing. That person should be the one contacted first when there is a need. Everyone deserves to have someone at their back. Period. (Shut up you pervs.) It is a crime that as a society we disallow some people's families.

On the other hand, thinking about the military, I think it is reasonable to extend some of the requirements of DADT to all servicepeople. Lust of all kinds should be on the downlow while on duty. Military service is not about getting laid. I know that packs of high testosterone men are a sexual liability, so figure out somehow to manage it, eh? There must be a way to let these men have healthy outlets to prevent them from embarrassing themselves and from raping anybody's daughter.