::: One Voice Left :::

Wed - August 31, 2005

Please help the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

The Gulf states are in serious trouble. Please consider helping.

from:

"Cash donations "allow volunteer agencies to issue cash vouchers to victims so they can meet their needs. Cash donations also allow agencies to avoid the labor-intensive need to store, sort, pack and distribute donated goods. Donated money prevents, too, the prohibitive cost of air or sea transportation that donated goods require."

FEMA listed the following agencies as needing cash to assist hurricane victims:

Posted at 02:20 AM Read More

Fri - June 24, 2005

Flag Burning

Here's a cute little phrase I picked up somewhere along the line recently:

"It's better to burn the Flag and uphold the Constitution, than to hold up the Flag and burn the Constitution."

Don't you think?

Posted at 01:20 AM Read More

Life is just the same damn thing over and over

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fever, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I Know? For this is what I have done, and I am Caesar. Julius Caesar."

Who said Shakespeare wasn't worth reading?

Posted at 01:09 AM Read More

Mon - May 9, 2005

RealID is dangerous to the freedoms of citizens

Do we really want a National ID card? Will it make finding 'terrorists' easier? or just make it easier to hassle dissenting voices?

If you agree with me, visit UnRealID.com and send a fax expressing your opposition to your senators.

Read on to see the fax I sent to Senators Levin and Stabenow:

Posted at 09:43 PM Read More

Wed - May 4, 2005

KEITH is home!

Yesterday, I received a very pleasant surprise!

The Grandson is home!

Posted at 08:21 PM Read More

Thu - April 14, 2005

New Adventures

Well, some of you know that I've been practicing Tibetan Buddhism for a little while now. Part of the reason why One Voice Left has gotten a little 'quiet' (to say the least!) lately is because some of the contentious and angry posts I've made in the past just didn't really seem in keeping with my new practice. I didn't really have a clue how to balance my new practice with my old politically progressive self. Well, until now anyway.

In the next few days, I'll be unveiling a new blog, devoted entirely to sharing my experiences in practice, news of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, progress in Tibetan self determination efforts, vegetarianism, and meditation...

Posted at 10:39 PM Read More

Wed - April 6, 2005

Peace Not Poverty Declaration

Friends, it has been some time since I've posted.

Not for a lack of something to say; in fact, at times it has been difficult to keep myself from engaging in verbal dysentery. Rather than join the fray in ranting about this and that (Tsunami Relief, Terry Schiavo, Gannongate, WMD intelligence fingerpointing, etc, etc), I've been trying to adhere to the old adage of "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all."

I haven't had too many nice things to say about very many things, so I've kept my trap shut.

So... what, you ask, has motivated me to get off my sizeable duff and post? Well, I took part in helping write the Peace Not Poverty Declaration.

This was a cool experience, which resulted in a powerful and heartfelt call to the end of the war in Iraq. It was an online work of collaboration, with several revisions and changes over the course of two hours.

The complete declaration follows...

Posted at 11:25 PM Read More

Fri - December 10, 2004

Celebrate Human Rights Day!

From Amnesty International USA:

December 10, 2004 marks the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This is a great opportunity to bring awareness to and take action around human rights issues.

Posted at 04:10 PM Read More

'Tis the Season

Yes, it's that time of year again. The vast international sales and merchandising engine is in full roar -- stirring up demand for stuff you didn't even know you wanted.

Posted at 03:50 PM Read More

Mon - December 6, 2004

Model Work

Nobody starts out a new venture expecting it to fail. Yet, so many do that you have to wonder how we all keep going.

I spent a few weekends earlier this fall trying my hand at working with some local models. In my seemingly endless supply of naivete, I thought this would be a walk in the park of sorts.

In some ways it was. In other ways... much less so.

Posted at 08:34 PM Read More

On Facing Adversity - Part 4

This recurring piece has become something of a tale of the perils of parenting; questions about what to do, when, and how (and facing the feeling of futility when nothing CAN be done).

Today's drama: What do you do when the mother of your Grandson decides to take him out of state for several months?

Posted at 08:13 PM Read More

Go Listen: Kaki King

New music nowadays seems to be an endless stream of commercial, derivative slop with a few shades of brilliance that pop up once in a while just to keep things interesting. So, when the shades of brilliance come along, you gotta ACT!

Don't walk, RUN and go buy Kaki King. Her fingerstyle guitar work is an amazing blending of styles you didn't even know about, let alone guess they could work so well together.

Posted at 07:49 PM Read More

Mon - November 8, 2004

Waiting for the next shoe to drop

As the election drew near, and it became obvious that a majority of people in our country were blinded (by their faith?) to the abuses, crimes and atrocities done by and in the name of the United States, I withdrew from political activity. I felt that things were so bad, so self evident, that no amount of activism would be enough to force their heads out of the sand. Unfortunately, I was right.

Posted at 05:01 PM Read More

Thu - November 4, 2004

Small Comfort: Living in a 'Blue' county in a 'Blue' state

There's a lot of angry disaffected people out there. There's talk about moving to Canada, the usual paranoid conspiracy theories, etc.

Get over it people.

Progressives often accuse conservatives of an 'American Superiority Complex', of not caring what our actions or policies do to the rest of the world. They call us 'Elitist Liberals' who look down upon the simple values of the common man.

Guess what? The legions of the 'Common Man' whupped our collective asses the other night.

Posted at 11:44 PM Read More

Election Aftermath. Faith vs. Reason. Did anyone really win?

Like most progressive-minded people, I was stunned by the results of November 2.

We're all at a loss to explain how anyone, let alone 59,283,101 people, would be willing to vote for four more years of the Bush II regime. Even in the face of so many lies, so much hypocrisy and so much arrogance, the majority of Americans voted for a man for his 'moral values'.

If moral values means loosening pollution standards, torturing prisoners of war, engaging in imperialistic wars of profiteering and dooming future generations to pay for an ever growing deficit, then yes; George W. Bush was the man for the job.

Posted at 06:51 PM Read More

Thoughts on the eve of election

Ohio Secretary of State trying to limit ballot access

Bush hometown paper endorses Kerry

Republicans Admit Mailing Campaign Literature Saying Liberals Will Ban the Bible

Annan: Invasion of Iraq 'Illegal'

Bush grandfather helped Hitler in rise to power

Sailing as a political metaphor

Fun with quotes 9/27 - Who said this?

Keillor: We're Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore

Bush Comes to Muskegon (Sorta)