http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss jimjohnson@mac.com © James L. Johnson Jr. Wed, 31 Aug 2005 02:27:51 -0400 Wed, 31 Aug 2005 02:29:11 -0400 iBlog 1.4.5 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E1965373895/index.html 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:   ]]> Wed, 31 Aug 2005 02:20:06 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E1965373895/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E2062816606/index.html 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? ]]> Fri, 24 Jun 2005 01:20:43 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E2062816606/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E391282307/index.html 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? ]]> Fri, 24 Jun 2005 01:09:15 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E391282307/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C641750761/E848891553/index.html 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: ]]> Mon, 09 May 2005 21:43:46 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C641750761/E848891553/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E1387782355/index.html Yesterday, I received a very pleasant surprise!

The Grandson is home! ]]> Wed, 04 May 2005 20:21:05 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E1387782355/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C595959138/E758366264/index.html 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... ]]> Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:39:57 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C595959138/E758366264/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1136589095/E1837013408/index.html 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... ]]> Wed, 06 Apr 2005 23:25:03 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1136589095/E1837013408/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1136589095/E522734869/index.html
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. ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2004 16:10:51 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1136589095/E522734869/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E515626672/index.html 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. ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2004 15:50:57 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E515626672/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1741146848/E26323551/index.html 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. ]]> Mon, 06 Dec 2004 20:34:12 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1741146848/E26323551/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E128520471/index.html 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? ]]> Mon, 06 Dec 2004 20:13:17 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E128520471/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C764888145/E1771479914/index.html

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. ]]> Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:49:28 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C764888145/E1771479914/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E1620962846/index.html 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. ]]> Mon, 08 Nov 2004 17:01:36 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E1620962846/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E789512181/index.html 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. ]]> Thu, 04 Nov 2004 23:44:28 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E789512181/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E693150536/index.html 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. ]]> Thu, 04 Nov 2004 18:51:15 -0500 http://homepage.mac.com/jimjohnson/iblog/C1586600951/E693150536/index.html