Troubadours of Divine Bliss
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An open-hearted fireside forum of expression. We welcome your wisdom in poetry, song, storytelling, or simply a Dear Diary entry of your inner-most feelings and dreams. Please share the purest parts of yourself and know that everything shared will become a key unlocking inspiration in someone else. We are all Troubadours on spiraling on parallel paths...take the talking stick, share your walk and lead us into your realm of Divine Bliss!!!!
| Name: | Losgunna Mositrow |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | I have no word for "want" |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | sometimes I feel like St.Joan
sometimes I feel like a bride left at the altar some days I feel like an owl singing Spring I have been a widow someone's secret a rejected virgin a flea market jewel the flaw in a persian rug I am a Moken Sea Gypsy I have no words for "when" or "want", "hello" or goodbye |
| Name: | Sojourn |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Mad Farmer Liberation Front |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery any more. Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer. When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know. So, friends, every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Denounce the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands. Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed. Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest. Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns. Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years. Listen to carrion - put your ear close, and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come. Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts. So long as women do not go cheap for power, please women more than men. Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child? Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth? Go with your love to the fields. Lie down in the shade. Rest your head in her lap. Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts. As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection |
| Name: | Laura |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | A heavy heart . . . |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | This morning I sat watching "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", drinking my coffee and checking my email. Half watching, half not - I glimpsed a few shots of Dan Fogelberg - and subliminal feelings of comfort turned to horror as I realized I was seeing the "In Memoriam" series of the show. My jaw dropped, my heart sank, as it began to sink in - Dan was no longer among the living. I hadn't even realized he was ill - now here he was, gone 7days.
I began crying, and here I sit three hours later, still crying. I don't think I cried like this when my mother passed away - and of course that made me feel like a dog. I never even met this man, but he obviously had a tremendous impact on my life. His music and lyrics took hold of my heart in my teenage years. Like golden thread woven through the days of despair, his music was such an uplifting comfort for me throughout some really tough times - the adolescent years. As those years passed slowly into what was, Dan's influence was permanently infused in my being. The lessons learned molded and shaped me into the person I've become. No other person, philosophy, or institution has influenced me as intensely and intimately as Dan's music. To this day, I still play guitar and sing his songs for others, just like I did all those years ago. His music is timeless - the lessons are still pertinent - and my heart is so heavy . . . |
| Name: | N-dig0 |
| E-mail address: | ndig0feather@gmail.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://myspace.com/blut0pia |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | The Troubadours of Divine Bliss and their lasting impression on my soul... |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | April 14, 2004
Here and now it's the train. I am... in the rhythm. Whooah whooah WHOOAH WHOOAH Ticketicketicketdooamdooam Ticketicketicketdooamdooam ticktunkdonkticktunkdonk frickedigech--rututututchutututut... Here and now this could be 'Dancer'... "Then" i thought of these instances--these times i'd get sucked into the rhythms of life flowing over and above and under and through. Ritetetetritetetet SHHHH! SHHHH!!! Here and now the doors are opening. Mooouamb. Tick doon da tic. Tick doon da tic ti-- Here and just then; i won a small victory. Just for myself. Just because it needed to be done. See.. This girl... she got on the train. So did many others. I didn't even notice her, except.. that's a lie! Her friend and she reminded me of a trio of girls i had encountered on my way up to Madison this last time. I was on the train. Got on a really foul, stinky train. It must have been the way back. I was exhausted, anyway, and these girls had provided some much needed comic relief; talkin' about how the person who'd been foul needed some soap, or something. At any rate, they were pretty loud about it. It was funny to me, although i could read from other people's faces that they found the banter annoying. At some point one of them said something to the effect of "that someone's probably gone and leff they stink behind!" at which point i finally spoke up and said, laughingly, "That's probably what happened". These two today looked the same, but i doubt that it was them. As the doors closed behind them, a blind man began to speak. Begging. "I don't want to offend anyone. I'm a blind man, completely blind.." and his bulging blank eyes attest to that, or excellent Dramatic Acting Techniques and Methods classes. Finally he began his trek through the car. As he reached the first set of doors, the thinner of the two girls began... "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but I am here to ask a blessing on us through the blood of Jesus Christ and to testify as a witness to our savior with this song..." And it began: a melody that lacked it. And i became a little annoyed at the length and its' repetitious nature, but could hardly bring myself to display that, or wear that on my face, but noticed that others were turning up their radios and headsets in a futile effort to tune her out. When she was done, because it had gotten pretty quiet, she said something along the lines of "Yeah, I ain't got no shame!" and then walked to the middle of the train, and began to preach. "I'm a twenty year old who has found the path and taken on the blood of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Remember, y'all, Easter just passed, and it's not just about eggs and candy and new clothes. It's about our Savior rising up...." and she continued on in this way. And i could somewhat bear it. I mean... an individual's chosen path is fine with me if it works for them. Why wouldn't it be? There are many paths to that which we call 'God'. As long as you don't press *your* beliefs on anyone else (especially me).. well.. kudos for you for having a path in the first place. A good majority are just sort of lost and wandering aimlessly. Worse are those who think they're on a path but really aren't. But i digress... I could somewhat bear it, had it not come to "...and you homosexuals, I'm not going to say it's okay, but god loves you. This world is all about will, free will, and if you choose to act on it, and live in sin...." And further: "... Bible didn't create Adam and Adam, God created Adam and Eve..." and into the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. "Get away from men with men and women with women; fall of negativity. You are a sinner. We are all sinners..." DOOOOOM!! DOOOOOOOooOOOoooooOOOOOM!!!! ~~~Here and now. Here and now it comes back to the coffee shop where the barista says to me--"you have beautiful hair" and i ask "what?" because i was still singing. Feeling high on my way. And she's laughing back there, because she's happy and this song comes on: "Listen as your day unfolds, see what you future holds, keep your head up. You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser... you gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger... you gotta be cool, you gotta be kind, you gotta stay together.. all i know, all i know is love will save the day" "Let's dance", i want to say.~~~ ALRIGHT. Where were we? ah, yes. The train and the girl preacher. And so.. I'm snapping my fingers near my ear, at first, just trying to center myself on my own divinity, which sounds an awful lot like Mari Boine. But all that came when i began to sing was "What if god was a homo..." but after the second whispered verse, before my voice could carry it louder and further away from me, i reconsidered. That could be just as offensive as the crap she's spouting. I'm not here to tromp through anyone's garden. What about... "Jesus loves all the little faeries"? Thank you Pistol Pete and Popgun Paul, a fun fae duo i've met and hosted as they passed through Madison on tour..based out of New Orleans [pre-Katrina] for such beautiful inspiration (slash weaponry). Instead, my mind, ever insistent... s'been stuck on... "Be brave and hold your head up high, your spirit's high enough to reach the sky. Be brave and set yourself free, it's time to take part in your destiny... OOOooooOOOOh.. lalalalaaaa..ooOOOoooooOOOH.. lala lalalalalalaaaa..." It's a very inspirational song by The Troubadours of Divine Bliss, another beautiful duo producing homegrown music that i've met and admire. [Also out of New Orleans, pre-Katrina] I'm singing it quietly, still under my breath. And she's gotten so loud and it's been so long that she's gone on and on and so many people have stormed out, downright insulted... which *can* happen any time a truth is spoken. After all, the saying goes, "The truth will set you free, but first it may make you miserable." But what she speaks is no truth. And so, at Fullerton, i stand, for mine is the next exit. ~~~Here and now "Everything is going my way" and that barista's hair is beautiful, too. I think it might not be hers.. Here and now i'm afraid to ask. "Sure" she'll say "I paid for it.."~~~ I'm standing up. Moving toward the train's door. I spin like a pole dancer..{dancer}.. already mouthing the first verse.. "I've been broken, i've been used, lost my voice; lost my muse-- trampled by the best.. oh yeah.. oh yeah-eah-eah... " and it's me singing it.. this song by The Troubadours of Divine Bliss, but my voice is carrying it away. She's loud. Suddenly i'm louder. "LET MY VOICE OUT, LET IT SHOUT, LET IT SCREAM... LET IT FALL DOWN LIKE A RAIN OF SHATTERED DREAMS... " "Alright!" she says, smiling. She'd stopped the moment i overcame her. Others had already noticed me singing. "Alright..." she says, as an affirmation of me, not of frustration. I lower my hand from my forehead, like tipping my hat in her direction... "...in front of you....Be brave and hold your head up HIGH! Your SPIRIT'S HIGH Enough to reach the sky..y..y... be brave and set yourself FREEEeeeEEE.. it's time to take part in your Destiny.. OOooOOOoooOOH! LAlalaLAlaaaa... OOOoooOOOOOOooOOH.. LALALAlalalalLAlalaaaaaaa.." And all along she's really enjoying it, is what it looked like. It's as though i am an affirmation of her. Yes. PRO-JECT. I am Chameleon. Blue. So many shades. And i finish at the laaaa and trail off. The blind man. He's standing at the other set of doors. And he starts to sing. Another song. See.. he's picked up on what i've done. The blind and their heightened senses. I can't tell what the message is to me, but it's meant the same way i gave mine. And my stop is come, and i look at them and i say "But you know what?? 'JESUS loves ALL the little faeries of the cities and the towns, both the hidden and the found.. jesus loves... " And because she's not heard 'little faeries' the first time (partly because she's done another one of those "Amen" type affirmations) "--ALL THE LITTLE FAERIES WHEREVER THEY MAY BE, INSIDE YOU OR INSIDE ME..." and i'm pointing at her and lifting my eyebrows, 'this one's for you' i seem to say... "God bless you more" she's saying, as i'm walking out, and as the doors lag a little bit behind me.. "CAUSE JESUS IS LOVE... and Jesus LOOOoooooOOOooOOoves.. ALL the little FAERIES!" ~~~And here and now i've gone up to the counter to get a refill on my coffee, and the barista says again, "You have beautiful hair" and i have to say "i'm tickled.. i.. i've just gotten so tired of people messing up my hair that i've taken it upon myself to... y'know.. cut it myself.." i say... miming scissors in my hand. To my head. "...and my... boyfriend... finishes up the back, or evens out any, and there have been, mistakes.." "You could never tell" "Art of disguise." I say. "I love your hair, too. Just makes me want to..." and i mime, running my fingers through her Madeleine hair. "Yes, I get that all the time..." "I understand..." and i relate the story of a friend, Madeleine, and her big hair; same texture. And how she'll hide her newest little sculpture in there... or odd little trinkets.. miming the whole time. Both of the women behind the counter crack up in peals of laughter. Dolores O'Riorden is singing about this not being 'just my imagination'... and it's reminiscent... Where am i? Am i Blue? Yes. yes. I think i am. And to think, this morning i was still thinking.. "I am I, and wish i wasn't." But that's just another me. He's not here and now. Here and now i remember i want to call xxxx. xxxx, who's stolen a piece of my heart, totally run away with it. Did i mention I let "Dancer in the Dark" shred my living soul last night? Ripped me into tiny pieces and left me teary and sad and mad and confused. But most of all with a deepest longing for the friend who recommended it, only days before his demise. And yet, all the same, feeling his presence in that fucked up way the dead have of visiting the living. He was there. How. Could. We. Know. ***** |
| Name: | Patricia Cori |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Help Wanted |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | *Help Wanted*
> *by Patricia Cori * > *Large, blue-green multinational planetary body, Planet E-A-R-T-H, > Inc. (formerly The Garden of Eden) seeks highly-qualified hero to help > restructure existing management policies and procedures as required to > redefine our objectives and help bring us into the foreground as > active members of the consciously evolving intelligent universe.* > Duties will include but are not limited to: > > * Successfully contributing to directing our six billion member > team in re-establishing the balance of life in all sectors to > include all species and elements upon (and within) PLANET > E-A-R-T-H, Inc. (herein referred to as 'PE, Inc.') > * Implementing seed thoughts that drop into the waters of our > think tanks –the human spirit –and ripple out through all > departments to create hope and the will to achieve overall PE., > Inc. goals and objectives. > * Developing of mind-stimulating alternatives to failing belief > structures currently stripping the organization of its potential > – to be distributed through all departments and sectors, > throughout all international and regional locations and divisions. > * Serving as an inspirational model of the greatness and nobility > of our founding fathers (and mothers), for whom Planet Earth was > originally selected as the ideal environment to foster the Great > Race of our members. > * Creating inspirational works of art, communication, public > relations and related activities to be utilized by all members > to successfully improve morale and instill a sense of hopeful > determination in our members. > * Encouraging personal and global actions to implement ecological > reforms required to return PE, Inc. to its former glory, as > established and directly overseen by GAIA, the CEO of Planet > Earth, Inc. > > *Some travel and uprooting from comfort zones may be required.* > Salary (rewards) commensurate with abilities. > *The ideal candidate will be a fearless speaker of truth and justice, > will inspire trust and instill a sense of empowerment at all levels, > will have highly-developed motivational skills, believe in a positive > outcome and be willing to face personal risks in the name of Planet > Earth, Inc. She or he must also have the following qualifications:* > > * Experience of 'outside the box' thinking as required for > developing new and dynamic alternatives to existing > dysfunctional and disruptive Planet Earth, Inc. management > strategies. > * A strong and unwavering voice in calling all peaceful warriors > to become personally involved in social rebellion and reform, > despite resistance from some mid-level management and union > members within PE, Inc. > * Human resources expertise and experience in all areas of soul > development and character building. > A charismatic, light-filled energy field. > * Significant education in the nature of human will and the > journey of spirit, for which some knowledge of multidimensional > geometry, physics, hyperspace and universal law will be an > advantage. > * A love for all living beings, as exhibited in PE, Inc.'s > Original Blueprint. > * Compassion, vision and a strong sense that each member of the > Planet Earth, Inc., if properly directed and motivated, can > achieve extraordinary results throughout our organization. > * Focused will and the desire to serve the highest good. > > > Political, military and/or high ranking corporate officials, those > with a history of violence or links to shadow figures or those related > to people with these qualifications are currently not being considered > for the position and need not apply. > Additional opportunities are available for healers, lightworkers, > environmentalists and activists – please contact Planet Earth, Inc. if > you fall into these categories and offer your services to the > department relative to your area of expertise. > Send your VITAL INFORMATION to: > Human Resources Department > Planet Earth Inc. > 22-22 In Your Soul, > NE Quadrant, Milky Way Galaxy > 00000 |
| Name: | Matthew Ian Presley |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Just for the sake of balance |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | IMAGINE A MAN
Imagine a man who believes it is right and good he is a man. A man who honors his experience and tells his stories. Who refuses to carry the sins of others within his body and life. Imagine a man who has acknowledged the past's influence On the present. A man who has walked through his past. Who has healed into the present. Imagine a man in love with his own body. A man who believes his body is enough, just as it is. Who celebrates his body's very being, knowing there is nothing to prove. Imagine a man who embraces his sexuality as his own. A man who delights in pleasuring himself rather than focing himself on others. Who experiences his erotic sensations without any need for shame or guilt. Imagine a man who honors the body of All That Is within his Changing body A man who celebrates the accumulation of his years and his wisdom. Who refuses to use his precious life-energy disguising the changes in his Body and life Imagine a man who has access to the full range of human emotion. A man who expresses his feelings clearly and directly instead of hiding them Who allows them to pass through him as gracefully as a breath Imagine a man who tells the truth. A man who trusts his experience of the world and expresses it. Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions, and responses of others. Imagine a man who follows his creative impulses. A man who produces original creations. Who refuses to color inside someone else's lines. Imagine a man who names his own gods. A man who imagines the divine in his image and likeness. Who designs a personal spirituality in inform his daily life. Imagine a man who refuses to surrender to gods, gurus, and higher powers. A man who descended into his own inner life. Who asserts his will in harmony with its impulses and instincts instead of trying to conquer. Imagine a man who is interested in his own life. A man who embraces his life as teacher, healer, and challenge. Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace. Imagine a man who authors his own life. A man who trusts his inner sense of what is right for him. Who refuses to twist his life out of shape to meet the expectations of others. Imagine a man who participates in his own life. A man who meets each challenge with creativity and compassion. Who takes action on his own behalf with clarity and strength. Imagine a man who has crafted a fully formed solitude. A man who is available to himself. Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to respect his solitude. Imagine a man who does not expect others to diminish their lives so he will feel better. A man who brings the fullness of his years, experience, and wisdom into each relationship. Who recognizes he is challenged and blessed by the presence of others in his life. Imagine a man who assumes equality in his relationships. A man who no longer believes he is superior to women and in need of Their indenture. Who has taken his rightful place beside them in the human community. Imagine a man who refuses to use his precious life-energy creating Crises and conflict. A man whose relationships deepen in satisfaction and contentment Without depleting him. Who chooses friends and lovers with the necessary skills to navigate Through the challenges of life. Imagine a man who values the women and men in his life. A man who sits in circles with women and men. Who is reminded of the truth about himself when he forgets. Imagine a man who has relinquished the desire for the safety of power over others and approval. A man who makes a powerful statement with every word he speaks, Every action he takes Who asserts to himself the right to reorder the world. Imagine a man who has grown in knowledge and love of himself. A man who has vowed faithfulness to his own life and capacities. Who remains loyal to himself. Regardless. Imagine yourself as this man, working together, in harmony, with the woman described below. |
| Name: | Jen |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Imagine a Woman |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: |
IMAGINE A WOMAN Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is woman. A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories. Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life. Imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past's influence On the present. A woman who has walked through her past. Who has healed into the present. Imagine a woman in love with her own body. A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is. Who celebrates her body's rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource. Imagine a woman who embraces her sexuality as her own. A woman who delights in pleasuring herself. Who experiences her erotic sensations without shame or guilt. Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her Changing body A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom. Who refuses to use her precious life-energy disguising the changes in her Body and life Imagine a woman who has access to the full range of human emotion. A woman who expresses her feelings clearly and directly Who allows them to pass through her a gracefully as a breath Imagine a woman who tells the truth. A woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it. Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions, and responses of others. Imagine a woman who follows her creative impulses. A woman who produces original creations. Who refuses to color inside someone else's lines. Imagine a woman who names her own gods. A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness. Who designs a personal spirituality in inform her daily life. Imagine a woman who refuses to surrender to gods, gurus, and higher powers. A woman who descended into her own inner life. Who asserts her will in harmony with its impulses and instincts. Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life. A woman who embraces her life as teacher, healer, and challenge. Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace. Imagine a woman who authors her own life. A woman who trusts her inner sense of what is right for her. Who refuses to twist her life out of shape to meet the expectations of others. Imagine a woman who participates in her own life. A woman who meets each challenge with creativity. Who takes action on her own behalf with clarity and strength. Imagine a woman who has crafted a fully formed solitude. A woman who is available to herself. Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to respect her solitude. Imagine a woman who refuses to diminish her life so others will feel better. A woman who brings the fullness of her years, experience, and wisdom into each relationship. Who expects others to be challenged and blessed by her presence in their lives. Imagine a woman who assumes equality in her relationships. A woman who no longer believes she is inferior to men and in need of Their salvation. Who has taken her rightful place beside them in the human community. Imagine a woman who refuses to use her precious life-energy managing Crises and conflict. A woman whose relationships deepen in satisfaction and contentment Without depleting her. Who chooses friends and lovers with the necessary skills to navigate Through the challenges of life. Imagine a woman who values the women in her life. A woman who sits in circles of women. Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets. Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safety and approval. A woman who makes a powerful statement with every word she speaks, Every action she takes Who asserts to herself the right to reorder the world. Imagine a woman who has grown in knowledge and love of herself. A woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life and capacities. Who remains loyal to herself. Regardless. Imagine yourself as this woman. --Patricia Lynn Reilly |
| Name: | Trevor |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Create your own Roadshow |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | "Catalysts to say what has never been said, to see what has never been seen, to draw, paint, sing, sculpt, dance and act what has never before been done. To push the envelope of creativity and language, and whats really important is, what I call it, the felt presence of direct experience. Which is a fancy term which just simply means we have to stop consuming our culture, we have to CREATE culture. Don't watch TV, don't read magazines, don't even listen to NPR. Create your OWN road show. The nexus of space and time, where you are now, is the most immediate sector of your universe. And if you're worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody else, you are disempowered: you are giving it all away to icons, icons which are maintained by an electronic media. So that you know you want to dress like X or have lips like Y. This is shit-brained this kind of thinking. That is all cultural diversion and what is real is you and your friends, and your associations, your highs, your orgasms, your hopes, your plans, and your fears. But we are told, no - we're unimportant, we're peripheral, "get a degree, get a job", get a this, get a that, and then you're a player. You don't even want to play in that game, you want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers, who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that's being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world."
- Terence McKenna |
| Name: | Lindsay |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | The Day things went wrong |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | The day things went wrong
By: Lindsay There was a child She was gentle and sometimes wild Until that day When things went the wrong way Her dad was nice Keen and precise Until that day When things went the wrong way She was scared But stuck in his lair Her dad went crazy And a bit hazy He did things he shouldn’t Things that he wouldn’t He did a sin One she could not comprehend She knew she had to get out So she started to scream and shout To the neighbor next door The one she adored He came in a rush But then came a hush He carried the child out Out into the night He called the police He told them to never file a release They drove her dad away And locked him up that day The child went to foster care To go see her dad she did not dare She went to a good home In which she would never be alone It was this family she felt she belonged In this family she did belong This wronged child found right And then she began to see the light |
| Name: | Elizabeth |
| E-mail address: | dragonlover587@hotmail.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.myspace.com/soulweaver |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Just a poem.. |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | I just recently turned in my senior writing portfolio for school, and this poem was stuck at the end as a little extra for the judges to read. It's definitely the best poem I've ever written:
He said "You're like an angel- so innocent and pure. But he's not plagued with memories that even time can't cure. Nighttime visions circling round to bring their ghostly fear. A million different deathly scenes that only I can hear. But then he came and held me close, and chased away the blight. He wrapped his feathered wings around and fended off the night. The horns atop his black-haired head- to me they shimmered gold. His hardened eyes turned soft with love and somehow didn't seem as cold. He said "I am a demon," but I don't think that's true. For angels come in many forms, and even demons start anew. |
| Name: | Mykl Perkins |
| E-mail address: | myklperkins@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.myklperkins.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | "Divine Bliss"
A song I wrote for The Troubadours. I wish you could hear it. |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | “Divine Bliss”
These Angels came to me; this is what they said, “You cannot stay here long, The time has come; you know what to do, Act as if you know what you’ll do. It’s time to fly, you are ready to motivate, You can’t afford to wait.” Then they grabbed my hands and swept me off my feet. “You are ready to complete this journey that you’re on, It has gotten so very long, just when you thought you knew, The world changed, it’s time you followed through.” Diversions come, diversions go, And the Angels came to let me know, The only thing stopping me is my own fear of failure. It’s time to paint a new picture; I’ll see myself shinning bright, A bigger brighter star tonight. I feel the Angels carry me, The world they’ve shown has excited me. I’m glad the universe prepared me To spread my wings and set me free. I never want myself to be, The one to cause the pain I’ve seen. I know that I can be, anything that I want to be, The time has come for me to let me be. Diversions come, diversions go, And the Angels came to let me know, The only thing stopping me is my own fear of failure. It’s time to paint a new picture; I’ll see myself shinning bright, A bigger brighter star tonight. © 2004 Nothing Grand Ever Came Of Moderation Publishing and Dreamer Music Productions™. From my book "The Friends That We Collect". This was written on February 1, 2000 in Boulder, Colorado shortly before I started recording my CD in March of that year. This one was not ready for the CD by the time I went into the studio. The Angels in this song are The Troubadours of Divine Bliss, Aim Me and Renee, two musical people based at the time in Kentucky (now Indiana), traveling around the country spreading their Bliss. I had originally met them over the summer of '99 while they were playing music on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. It turns out that they were also good friends of a musical friend of mine who lived in Cleveland and was to be visiting me in Boulder. How random… or was it? They have been quite an inspiration to me and I have always enjoyed all the epic adventures I have had with them. Some of the greatest moments in my musical memory have included The Troubadours. I was very fortunate to have met them and I am very grateful for all the opportunities I have had to play with them in Colorado and in Ohio. As you can imagine by the lyrics, I felt like I was at ready for the next stage. At this point I felt as if what I had started had a mind of its own and there was nothing that I could do to stop it. Not that I would have wanted to. |
| Name: | Miss Lula Neal |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Wisdom from our ancestors...discovered recently by Miss Lula's great, great, great granddaughter |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: |
1:06 AM - Happiness - 1884 Current mood: ecstatic Category: Life Happiness is that single and glorious thing which is the light and sun of the whole world. Happiness is like tomorrow, only one day from us, yet never arriving. It is, in a word, hope or anticipation. In this life we pursue it. In this future we hope to overtake it. It is the experience of all that having realized our hope, of whatever nature they may be. We are not satisfied to be happy in the summing up of all the ends and aims on earth. It is a noble desire implanted in the human breast by the Creator for a purpose known only to His wisdom. We must seek happiness in the right state of mind, in labors, duties, and pleasure of life, and then we shall find what we seek. Yet we may find it under very different circumstances from what we expected. We may look for it in one direction but find it in another, and sometimes where we expect the least we my find the most and where we look the most, find the least. A great deal of the miseries of life come from this disposition to have our own way about everything. Circumstances are not half so essential to our happiness as we think. A cabin is often the seat of more true happiness than a palace. The disposition to make the best of life is what we want to make us happy. A little thing may shadow our life for days. We often bear great disappointments better than we can a small one, because we nerve ourselves to meet the former and yield to the latter without an effort to resist. The very things we ought to have come unasked for, and because we are not ready for them, we will not enjoy them. Some spend life de-termined to be happy at some future time, but for the present put off all enjoyment, even of passing pleasures , seemingly for fear lest all such present comforts detract from the sum total of future enjoyments. We must seek happiness in Heaven's appointed ways, in studying exalted pleasure with a constant effort to find it. We must seek happiness, not by way of impulse, not seeking selfishly, our own good, but with a forgetfulness of self, doing all the good we can do. Composition Miss Lula Neal --Chaplin, Ky. May the 12th 1884 |
| Name: | Angie Impellizzeri |
| E-mail address: | noodleheadpig@gmail.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Happiness |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Happiness is that single and glorious thing which is the light and sun of the whole world. Happiness is like tomorrow, only one day from us, yet never arriving.
It is, in a word, hope or anticipation. In this life we pursue it. In this future we hope to overtake it. It is the experience of all that having realized our hope, of whatever nature they may be. We are not satisfied to be happy in the summing up of all the ends and aims on earth. It is a noble desire implanted in the human breast by the Creator for a purpose known only to His wisdom. We must seek happiness in the right state of mind, in labors, duties, and pleasure of life, and then we shall find what we seek. Yet we may find it under very different circumstances from what we expected. We may look for it in one direction but find it in another, and sometimes where we expect the least we my find the most and where we look the most, find the least. A great deal of the miseries of life come from this disposition to have our own way about everything. Circumstances are not half so essential to our happiness as we think. A cabin is often the seat of more true happiness than a palace. The disposition to make the best of life is what we want to make us happy. A little thing may shadow our life for days. We often bear great disappointments better than we can a small one, because we nerve ourselves to meet the former and yield to the latter without an effort to resist. The very things we ought to have come unasked for, and because we are not ready for them, we will not enjoy them. Some spend life de-termined to be happy at some future time, but for the present put off all enjoyment, even of passing pleasures, seemingly for fear lest all such present comforts detract from the sum total of future enjoyments. We must seek happiness in Heaven's appointed ways, in studying exalted pleasure with a constant effort to find it. We must seek happiness, not by way of impulse, not seeking selfishly, our own good, but with a forgetfulness of self, doing all the good we can do. Composition Miss Lula Neal --Chaplin, Ky. May the 12th 1884 |
| Name: | Elizabeth |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | It's all in the Dice... |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | There are gods, little one.
Some are worshipped. Some are feared. Some are worshipped out of fear. Others have been forgotten; Sealed away for better or worse. But make no mistake little one. To the gods, this is all just a game. A simple roll of the dice. But all games must obey rules, And that is where our order Comes into play. Many are content to merely Live by the rules. To go Through the entirety of their Lives without understanding Them. Not those such as we. We have begun to uncover The systems, the machinery That works our world. For Centuries we have catalogued And reasearched and cross- Indexed the rules in order to Seek a greater understanding Of them so that we too may Become as gods. So that We may transcend from mere Playthings into the players. Our understanding is not yet complete. We haven’t enough knowledge to fully Break the rules, but we may…bend them To our favor from time to time. These Are the first steps little one. The first Steps to ascension. In your travels you will learn much of The world and much of yourself. You Will bend the rules, and the rules will Bend you. That is the very nature of The game. But remember this. Their Dice is our free will. It’s all in the dice… |
| Name: | Matthew Ian Presley |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | "Hideaway" |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | You can lose yourself in traffic
You can lose yourself in school You can lose yourself at work Lose your temper, lose your cool You can lose yourself in romance When feelings go astray And when you’re feeling lost You may push the ones you love away It’s like you’re the only sane one In a house full of fools Or maybe like you’re winning in Life And God changed all the rules But there’s a little place Where it’s safe to stay A sweet divine irony You can find yourself at the Hideaway Each Sunday night, come Release your talents to all who care In this little place where the music flows Freely as the Wind flows through your hair We’re reminded we are made of stars Sparkling brighter than fresh fallen snow ‘Cause the Troubadours invite you To be the star of their show If you’re happy or sad You can let your inhibitions go I’m telling you this secret, So now you know! We are all your friends forever, and a day Come; find yourself, sing and play With the Troubadours, Aim Me and Renee, At our secret little Hideaway Don't let this stay a secret, pass it on! ~Matt |
| Name: | Kavinaugh Connor |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Protesting the Iraq War
Why We Do It |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Protesting the Iraq War
Why We Do It We stand on the corner with signs to remind passersby that the voice of dissent in our Democracy is still alive and necessary, that it has not succumbed to the disregard of our politicians. We do it to encourage thoughtful people to believe in their own conclusions – that though our elected representatives ignore us, we, by our example, are representatives for common, legitimate concerns. We do it because the Congress failed the people at the moment of truth when the question was put before them: does the evidence presented confirm beyond the shadow of a doubt that Iraq poses an imminent threat of attack upon us such that the only reasonable and moral response is an immediate and overwhelming military strike. We are aghast that among those we elected there was no immediate and overwhelming cry of dissent at such an idea. Indeed, the few with conscience were sadly overwhelmed by the politically motivated who feared more to be left out of a majority of wrong thinking than included in the small heroic minority thinking rightly. And so now we ponder the question put before us with dread – do we, the people, have reason to fear our own leaders? Instead, we choose to protest! We stand forward because we are especially loath to stand back when the honest trust of our faithful soldiers is so blatantly betrayed by their commander-in-chief and the military hierarchy who are sworn to protect them. It is unconscionable to sacrifice a soldier in the service of a lust for power. We speak up believing that it takes just a few to keep the homefire of integrity burning. We stand in service to our country as a beacon, a lighthouse above the rocks of corruption. That light we share maintains faith in the inherent goodness of our fellow citizens. We stand rejoicing in the certainty that the day is closing in fast upon us when all the American people will see through the sham of our leadership and its false and vapid nationalism. That day will dawn when enough people awaken within themselves and realize that patriotism is a matter of the heart – that has a conscience – that love of country is love and care for the land and its people and is not expressed in conquering the defenseless. When that day dawns, just as our leaders have quietly usurped our power while we slept, the people will, just as quietly, go to the polls and dismiss them. Though we can be lulled into complacency, the power of the people is shared by the people forever, while the authority of any elected official is but temporarily granted – by US. That is why they fear us; that is why they hide. So we raise protest against this illegal, egregious and immoral war, and all those who perpetrated it, because our country is in such grave danger from our leadership. They strain our credibility. What could have induced this crowd to decide that it would be best for us to live by the sword? We consider these politics so awful that we must protest out of responsibility for the country we hold so dear. The killing of thousands of innocent people by our aggression must stop – now! We also plea for representatives who are true patriots, willing to sacrifice their careers for our country, rather than anyone’s life, for wanton purposes. Our truly patriotic representatives don’t fear us because they have nothing to hide; they know, as we do, that love and fear cannot abide together. Kavinaugh Connor |
| Name: | Trevor |
| Homepage URL: | http://myspace.com/trebastille |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | The "BRING OUR HEROES HOME RALLY!" this past Saturday... |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | I was also one of the folks out there. All the people I knew that were out there, which alone adds up to more than 12, a moot point at any rate, regularly write their respective congressmen and 'women. I know I do as well. We also send them e-mails and call their offices and visit our state capitals. In addition, we give out these addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers to other people so they might do the same. And yes we also rally.
All of these are valid and effective ways of influencing change. We work at all levels. We don't deem ourselves more crucial gears in the machine simply because we make phone calls while others do not, simply because we talk face-to-face on occasion with our actual representatives while others do not, or simply because we have the guts to stand out on the side of the street looking like fools and meet face-to-face the assortment of passers-by, whom may or may not agree with us and may or may not do so in an aggressive manner. If we do these things and decide that they make us better than others, then we have lost sight of what we were trying to accomplish in the first place. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Yes, this is the 21st century. However, holding up signs has been able to get things done for a long, long time. The people who actually died for most of the freedoms you enjoy today, did so on the picketline, not in a war. Most of us wouldn't know that because our history books tell us that people died for our freedom by going to war. Yes, this is also true to an extent. Yet, most of the wars fought in this country, or by this country since its inception, have been over money or land or oil or slaves. Do you think there's a possibility that the collective "they" put certain stories in our history books to influence the way we think while they omit others that have widespread relevance to our lives today? Even before I knew the stories being left out, I knew something was amiss. Now that I know a lot of those stories, I know why I didn't learn about them in school. Because you teach people what it takes to get something done and they will try to do it. Therefore, it stands to reason that a government which is in charge of its nation's education, would wish not to give us, the people, the tools to go after the real American dream, which has always been sought on or through picketlines, to get what you want, and conversely would desire to prepare you towards the house and picket fence that's been whitewashed on the back of all your eyelids. And anything you could ever want you can get with your credit card. People, your beloved President lies to you. But it doesn't stop with him. It's a whole way of life now. We can pretend we have money with our credit cards. We can pretend we have endless supplies of nourishing food with our High Fructose Corn Syrup Salads and Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil Vinaigrettes. We can pretend we're happy with our Zoloft and our Lexapro. We can pretend our government isn't engaging in some form of genocide because American Idol hasn't yet gone to commercial break. I don't plan to change the world all at once. Anyone who does is delusional. But, anyone who would criticize me for doing what I do or how I do it, who would tell me I'm being counterproductive, by definition becomes they who are being counterproductive. I effect change in my way. And trust me, I've seen real changes occur via all of the methods I've used to bring it about. And in all actuality, when I hold up my signs, and I'm sure my friends who have done the same can vouch for this, the change I see is more visceral and tangible. A revolution is a revolution of the people and does not wait for a representative of the people. Thank you. |
| Name: | Debby Donellan |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | MIDNIGHT MASS... at The Hideaway Saloon |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | I don't want to take Christ out of Christmas.
I just want to add some things. Like: red crescent Christmas cookies a green menorah with tinsel Kali as Mrs.Claus A fertility god with a penis filled with twinkle lights that sings chestnuts roasting on an open fire through it's bobble head...to remind us of what to do on a snowy night. Life's not about subtraction, deletion, diminution or contraction. The universe is expanding, and so am I. And I'm in an excellent position to watch it. I live on the edge of society, the fringe. My friends are not sport uting grass mowers whose kids play soccer on play dates. My friends are tree hugging, animal saving, vegan, flat earthers. Solstice singing, drum circling, lesbian gay, sign carriers who live on the fringe, too. And what, after all, is a fringe? It's a decoration, bling bling, beauty On the border twirling glowing. There's nothing tight woven, tight assed about us. And so we come together on this night, Birthday of earth abounding. Here at the Hideaway Saloon. Order another beer and raise your glass. We're gathered in our Midnight Mass. And those who don't like it- Kiss my ass! |
| Name: | Angie |
| E-mail address: | noodleheadpig@gmail.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://soapboxsirens.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Combination |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | And I stand here on this stage
Wearing this black dress My own thoughts boxed me in Only me have I oppressed But I am who I am today A combination of many yesterdays I have the right to change my mind I have the right to shut up and sit still Raging as determined, a tornado Quiet and peaceful, a busted windmill But I am who I am today A combination of many yesterdays I am many things to many people One thing always remained My heart and intent standing pure I am everything I have gained But I am who I am today A combination of many yesterdays I censor myself not for sake of others Thoughts carefully conceived But for integrity of THE woman, I stand Never wanting to be misperceived For I am who I am today A combination of many women before me. -ami 12/06 |
| Name: | Matthew Ian Presley |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | "Troubadours"
Aim Me Smiley She's cute and dynamic To her name, she's true As she strums her guitar Playing a uniquely beautiful tune Her honey sweet voice ranges >From the loudest cry to the softest croon Allowing the Energy to overtake her Like a wolf overcome by the moon Renee Ananda A simply subtle beauty Her accordion brings tears to my eyes They are not tears of sadness - mind you But of Joy, Wonder, and Surprise Accompanied by her soft voice Soothing as the current of a stream Or a breeze carrying a lullaby By which I can't help but dream Troubadours Both of you work Wonders Through the songs you perform and write There's no doubt you are messengers Of Pure Love, Joy, and Light You could each stand alone, But together, you add up to this: More than the sum of one and one, You truly are Troubadours of Divine Bliss ----------------------------------------- |
| Name: | lil Queen Hannah |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Troubadours |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Your music is wonderful
Your music is sweet It makes me dance On both my feet You sing wonderful You sing loud Whenever you sing You make me proud |
| Name: | Ev |
| E-mail address: | bestway@insightbb.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Disagree |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: |
The battle cry rose from shadowy fringe As over-played as it was misapplied Cloaked in sheep clothing, bloody skin The querulous crowd took a most precious pride of ancestors who gave beyond their limit so that wisdom could grow and flourish But these modern day thieves robbed us of civility And that stopped the conversation That has been going for hundreds of years Let them not hide themselves, any longer, in the robes Of faith and forgiveness Oh minister, pastor, priestess, father, rabbi, cry out Cry loud, cry long. Tell them, these purveyors of fear, that the faith In which they seek the trust of our tribe, theirs in not the faith that creates but one that destroys Theirs is not a faith that bargains for peace but for power Theirs is not a faith that casts for goodness but for evil Now is the time, before it is too late, to protect the faith of Generations not yet born. Let our religions and faiths remain safe harbor and not Be jaundiced with derision and disbelief Now, put your voice forward. Now, to quiet theirs. Now, to save A faith that has been with us always, that is here, that will always be here. A faith that has no name, one that weaves through those that do. Step forward, Step Up, Step Into Them. Only Peace and Truth, properly applied, will turn the tide. |
| Name: | bejesus |
| E-mail address: | grq04@dial.pipex.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.usk.org |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Is that me? |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Hey Dreamerz told me I ought to check out your videos and I have just seen myself dancing on the second video, dam I look like a freak unlike your good selves!!
I look forward to your return to these shores at some point in the not too distant future! Oh and do you guys have a Myspace page yet? I know it is spawn of Murdoch but what a networking tool to spread your music with.... Peace and good vibes, Bejesus. XX |
| Name: | Kevin |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Imagine a Woman |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | IMAGINE A WOMAN
Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is woman. A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories. Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life. Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her Changing body A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom. Who refuses to use her precious life-energy disguising the changes in her Body and life Imagine a woman who has access to the full range of human emotion. A woman who expresses her feelings clearly and directly Who allows them to pass through her a gracefully as a breath Imagine a woman who tells the truth. A woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it. Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions, and responses of others. Imagine a woman who follows her creative impulses. A woman who produces original creations. Who refuses to color inside someone else's lines. Imagine a woman who knows her God. A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness. Who designs a personal spirituality in inform her daily life. Imagine a woman who descended into her own inner life. Who asserts her will in harmony with its impulses and instincts. Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life. A woman who embraces her life as teacher, healer, and challenge. Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty and grace. Imagine a woman who authors her own life. A woman who trusts her inner sense of what is right for her. Who refuses to twist her life out of shape to meet the expectations of others. Imagine a woman who participates in her own life. A woman who meets each challenge with creativity. Who takes action on her own behalf with clarity and strength. Imagine a woman who has crafted a fully formed solitude. A woman who is available to herself. Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to respect her solitude. Imagine a woman who refuses to diminish her life so others will feel better. A woman who brings the fullness of her years, experience, and wisdom into each relationship. Who expects others to be challenged and blessed by her presence in their lives. Imagine a woman who assumes equality in her relationships. A woman who no longer believes she is inferior to men and in need of Their salvation. Who has taken her rightful place beside them in the human community. Imagine a woman who refuses to use her precious life-energy managingCrises and conflict. A woman whose relationships deepen in satisfaction and contentment Without depleting her. Who chooses friends and lovers with the necessary skills to navigate Through the challenges of life. Imagine a woman who values the women in her life. A woman who sits in circles of women. Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets. Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safetyand approval. A woman who makes a powerful statement with every word she speaks, Every action she takes Who asserts to herself the right to reorder the world. Imagine a woman who has grown in knowledge and love of herself. A woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life and capacities. Who remains loyal to herself. Regardless. Imagine yourself as this woman. --Patricia Lynn Reilly |
| Name: | Troubadours |
| Homepage URL: | http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879 |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | DO YOURSELF A BIG FAVOR AND WATCH THIS CLIP...BUSH GETS BURNED BY STEPHEN COLBERT! |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | GO HERE AND MAKE YOURSELF VERY VERY HAPPY....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879 WATCH IT AGAIN AN AGAIN AND SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS! CHECK OUT...WWW.THANKYOUSTEPHENCOLBERT.ORG STEPHEN COLBERT...YOU ARE MY HERO!! |
| Name: | Kiersta |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | summertime... |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | and the living is, well, uneasy. Fish are jumpin', and the panic is high.
Hurricane season starts in less than 12 hours, and the citizens of the Gulf South have a few things left on the "to do" list. Got your important papers in a suitcase? A full tank of gas? An extra gas can in the trunk? A hachet and raft in the attic, just in case? Water, MREs, a generator? Call your friends in Houston and Atlanta and make sure you have directions to their places. They may be seeing a lot of you between now and November 1st.... But this year will be different, right? We have a new levee system. Disregard the fact that 400 feet of it collapsed last weekend. And a new, improved evacuation plan. Mandatory evacuation for Cat 2 and above. Trains, buses, FEMA at the ready. Okay, that last part terrifies us. But chin up: we have a new mayor. Oh, whoops, not exactly new, but the old one, just even nuttier this time around. Still, Nagin has a certain, gee, LOOK about him that is downright familiar to all of us. Sweaty, dog-tired, and easily startled. The Big Queasy, that's right. We have been generally lucky--none of our friends have left the city yet, but several are making the break in the next few weeks. Not the first exodus, but the new wave. Sudha would love to stay, but with the closing of major teaching hospitals, she needs to get her education in NYC. Gioja and Sonja, teachers both, have not been able to find the jobs they want and deserve, so they're off to greener pastures. Soaring rents, closed schools, major lay-offs are causing many others to go, and let's face it---the overall yucky, scary feeling doesn't help. Who can blame them? They gave it the old college try. Going away parties have replaced crawfish boils as the major form of entertainment. Bon voyage....and always a little, nagging voice: what about me? Am I standing on the deck of the Titanic, waving to my friends as they get on rescue boats? Or am I a proud,gritty warrior, willing to stick it out for the good of something-or-other? The truth is...who knows. It is certainly not honorable, or boast-worthy, to stay on a sinking island and re-build your house under the sea. And as much as we tell ourselves otherwise, we don't stick around to preserve this cultural treasure, or fight the good fight, or be part of history or whatever. It's just a love affair gone wrong. Yep, most of us fell in love with a beautiful creature some time ago.Okay not beautiful but stunning in the right light, and wretched in others. And sure, this creature was deeply flawed, and sometimes drank too much, and didn't pay attention or plan for the future, and laughed too loud at parties, and sometimes threw the dishes against the wall and seemed generally self-destructive. But, man, we had some good times. Some good old times. Some glorious, magical, fabulous times together. And that's why we stay. Hard to understand, perhaps, but try not to judge us unless you've walked ten months in our soggy shoes. We're all one step away from the nuthouse, and we can't let go. I told Justin: We need a free pass this season. A get-out-of-jail-avoid-all-major-storms pass. Are you with me? So whatever your beliefs, say a little prayer for us. Good vibrations? We'll take it. A lit candle? Perfect. Voodoo ritual? How appropriate. And I know so many people across the country have given money, time, clothing, their hearts to us this past year. But we just need this one last favor. We have always depended on the kindness of strangers, dawlin. Kiersta CHECK OUT JUSTIN'S NEW ORLEANS ART PROJECT ON NPR'S "DAY BY DAY" ON WEDNESDAY @ NOON OR ON WWW.NPR.ORG!!! |
| Name: | Jess |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | The pictures speak for themselves. |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | 
I love you, girls! Cant wait to see you in Louisville soon. |
| Name: | David Nelson |
| E-mail address: | nlsndav1@sbcglobal.net |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Sharing "My Girls" |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | I have been thrilled, blessed and overjoyed to have had the opportunity to share the Troubadours with my friends in St Louis. As I read the Walkstick entries, I find myself welling up with tears to see that they have had such an overwhelming effect on so many others in the states and now abroad. I cherish our times together, am warmed by their song and am so proud of the love and life they have brought to so many. Thank you Aimee and Renee' for being such a special part of my life. I wish all a lifetime of bliss and proudly share "My Girls" |
| Name: | thomas self |
| E-mail address: | self9@peoplepc.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | farewell |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | hello troubadours,
i've enjoyed your performances over the years and i wanted to say thank you. i was a regular at the heine bros. patio in louisville and occasionally caught you at clifton's and browning's. we spoke often and sometimes i'd leave little written meanderings in the tip jar. regardless, i'll miss your music and our chats...i'm moving to seattle in three weeks and your calendar is jam-packed elsewhere. when i'm back in louisville to see my family, perhaps i'll catch a show. i wish you both well... ts |
| Name: | Brad |
| E-mail address: | rhinosdirector@ameritech.net |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Great to see you both |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Awesome to listen, however briefly, to the TODB today.
My Daughter Samantha was ready to leave so we only caught 3 songs. I was able to donate some $ to a worthy cause and see you both so it was worth it on my end. Just to put our attendance in perspective, the lovely giggle you heard that stopped your show was from Sam, and it was because she was sitting on my lap and "tooted". Peace, Brad |
| Name: | Eric |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.clearwaterforcongress.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Eric |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Troubadours, thanks for agreeing to do a benefit concert for Gretchen Clearwater's campaign for Congress (Sunday, April 2 in Bloomington, IN)! I hope Troubadours fans from far and wide come out to support this worthy cause-- Gretchen is fighting to take back our democracy for justice and decency, for the needs of working people. It's a people's campaign, and we need all the help we can get from the grassroots! If you live in the 9th district of Indiana, please vote on May 2nd. If you live elsewhere, check Gretchen's webpage out and consider supporting her campaign. |
| Name: | Erika |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | STOP THE GENOCIDE IN AFRICA |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | In the wake of the third anniversary of the U.S.
invasion of Iraq, the world's attention is focused on Iraq and Iran. But in Africa, a horrible war is raging against innocent civilians - and the world is watching it happen. After the Holocaust, the world said, "Never again." But genocide did happen again, in Cambodia, in Rwanda, and now in Darfur, Sudan. President Bush declared the situation in Darfur to be genocide in 2004, yet the administration has not done enough since to end the violence. Please take action today to help stop the killing before it's too late. http://go.care2.com/e/j3y/jg/PeuE When President Bush came into office he wrote of the devastating 1994 genocide in Rwanda: "Not on my watch." But America and the world are watching as tens of thousands of innocent civilians face the threat of torture, starvation, rape, and uprooting from their homes, families, and livelihoods every day in Darfur. While President Bush has taken some notable steps very recently to increase international peace keepers in the region, it is not enough to stop the horrific violence. President Bush needs to know that the American people care about Darfur, and that we want him to make ending this genocide a top priority for his administration. Act now to end the violence: http://go.care2.com/e/j3y/jg/PeuE Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and author, has written about genocide, "Let us remember: what hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander." The international community has remained silent for too long while the people of Darfur have suffered. We need to speak up now, before it's too late. Sign the petition to urge President Bush to make ending the genocide an immediate priority for America and the world. http://go.care2.com/e/j3y/jg/PeuE Thank you for caring about the people of Darfur, - Rebecca Young, Care2 and ThePetitionSite team Thank you for signing up to receive Peace Alerts via ThePetitionSite or Care2 website! Your email address has not been bought from other sources. If you learned something interesting from this newsletter, please forward it to your friends, family and colleagues. ------------------------------------------- |
| Name: | Angie |
| E-mail address: | noodleheadpig@gmail.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://amiproductions.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Fabulous... |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Girls, the site looks great! You've been busy...
Thoughts to you both.. Angie |
| Name: | K & J |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.greetingsfromneworleans.typepad.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Yes Viginia, There is a Mardi Gras... |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | yes, Virginia...
...there is a Mardi Gras. It started in earnest a week ago, the parades not very crowded at first, but has steamrolled into a much smaller, but rowdy version of our beloved carnival. The sights, the smells, all bring us back to life "pre-K".....brass bands march in the streets, co-eds vomit on the curb, and beads, beads, beads. Justin is a bead competitor to watch---he nearly pushed a four-year old under a float in an attempt to get the precious plastic...although he maintains: "That kid was kind of falling anyway...." Never has a Mardi Gras been so hotly contested---the very existence of it, that is. What does it mean, in the midst of a city still full of sorrow and debris? Is is an important catharsis? Or frivolous and decadent? The way to preserve tradition? Or a affront to the memory of those who died? I only know this: I've seen groups of people laughing and dancing for the first time in six months, met families still living in trailers in Houston who came back so their kids could go to the parades, and got a glimmer of why we should re-build this broken, ridiculous city under the sea anyway. And "The Thing" is never far from our minds...costumes and floats mock the "leaders" who failed us, our blue tarps, our FEMA checks, our obstinancy, and even our tendency to joke about tragic events and drink our cares away. The last float of the night rolls by, no riders, just a sign that says "We celebrate life. We Mourn the Past. We will Never Forget." Amen, babies. And have a happy, happy Mardi Gras. We've never needed it more. Love, K |
| Name: | elsie |
| E-mail address: | pilgrimspromise@hotmail.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Love the Bliss!! |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | You girls, you girls, you girls have blessed and blissed me along my way. I'm not going to give up and I have God to thank for sending your spirits my way!
love ya, els |
| Name: | stephanie parker |
| E-mail address: | yellojeepgirl@yahoo.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://outofhabit.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | sis in bliss |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Hey ladies! Thank you so much for the beer & taking the time out of your busy schedule to spend some time alone with us. Just talking to you both about life and love and the intricacies therein gave me peace and understanding. Your music has also always done the same for me, as I know it does to most that HEAR you and what you have to say.
I love you both & may the universe continue to bless you in your walk to spread peace, truth & unconditional love. Peace be with you both! |
| Name: | Simeon |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | BLISS ROCKED THE UK!! |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | I saw you girls LIVE in London and it was just incredible! How can we get you back here? The UK needs its bliss fix too! |
| Name: | Angie Impellizzeri |
| E-mail address: | noodleheadpig@gmail.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Groupies of Divine Bliss |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Starting a fan club... |
| Name: | Dora Boone Cake |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Dora Boone Cake |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Dear Aim Me & Renee,
hey trubidores my name is dora and i love to watch you guys play at hinie brothers! i think that you guys are groovie. rock on. fight the power man. free your dream and all that stuff. one of my faveorite songs of yours is be brave. it helps me when i'm sad and gives me confidence in myself. hope to hear from you soon signed dora boone cake Referred by:: my friend's brothers, aunt's cusin's uncle's firiend's daughter's boys friend beliefs: my dreams and my self. my friends and the lady i work with. she wants to become a singer one day and i think that she can go far. i also love to vote. i also believe in peace on earth and hippies comming back to earth and conquering us all. and being a veggie head i believe that animals should be taken care of and not eaten. they should run free unless there house pets. i think that we should help the poor all we can. you can only be truly wealthy wen you have doNE your part to helping others! DONT YOU AGREE? I ALSO THINK THAT BLACK IS COOL AND CLOTHES THAT DONT MATCH ARE AWESUM! YOU CAN ALSO WEAR WHITE AFTER LABOR DAY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Name: | Leo |
| E-mail address: | leo@leolyons.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Leo |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Hi Aim me & Renee, hope you got home safe & sound and are resting ready for a groovy Christmas. Hope Kent made you feel welcome - well those of us that bothered to leave our firesides! We had fun and hope that you will grace our shores once more in the future. Hope Mum had fun too. Did you got to Dover Castle? Heard your gigs in Faversham & Gillingham went well. Its getting mighty cold here now - deep frost this week and they say it will get worse. Still its party season so lots of dancing and singing to keep us warm until spring. All the gang say hi - Marianne, Lief, Pete, Katy et al. Lots of yuletide love from Blighty. |
| Name: | Keith |
| E-mail address: | keith@dalyanlad.fsnet.co.uk |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Thanks for the music |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Just a quick note as you guys are winging your way back to home. Saw you at The Anchor Faversham and The Barge Gillingham and thought you were fantastic!! Much power to you, keep spreading the message - one day the ordinary people will win through. Love and respect. keith xx |
| Name: | Bejesus |
| E-mail address: | grq04@dial.pipex.com |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.usk.org |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Reviews For The 2 London Shows |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Hi I just thought I'd paste in the reviews I did for the two London Shows in the Unofficial Soup Kitchen website www.usk.org I hope the tour goes well.
Simon Phillips AKA Bejesus. Troubadors Of Divine Bliss 1st London Show 1st show at The Bedford Pub on Bedford Hill in Balham 15.11.05. This was the opening night of the Troubadours of Divine Bliss UK invasion 2005 and the girls had chosen an incredible venue to start a tour in. Now I have lived in London all my life and had never been to the Bedford before and I wished I had from the moment I stepped inside this huge Victorian pub that had 2 public bars plus a Ballroom and entertainments room as well as the Shakespearian Globe Theatre that tonights gig was in! Yes a beautiful victorian attempt at asn Elizabethan theatre with wooden gallery covered in Family shields and set out with tables so you could eat and be entertained properly, well the Violetti Di Aubergine were delicious and a good foretaste before the nights host came on stage and explained the nights format that was that all tonights acts would come on and play 2 songs before the interval and two more songs after the interval, while being webcast on the pubs website www.thebedford.co.uk I think, I don't know if old stream are available or not. Well first act on were The Medicine whose parents were sitting infront of me! An interesting Anglo indian three piece who sing slightly psychedelic protest songs almost in the style of 5.30 but without the Satanism! Next up was David Ribi whose fliers claimed he was an 18 year old singer songwriter pianist, who then failed to play piano on his first set instead being accompanied by a guitarist. David;s mum was sitting at the front encouraging him, which wasn't needed as he has a great voice and gave us two songs of emotional heartbreak that should have been sung by someone much older than him, still he may go far. Then we had some real boring Irishman with lots of Angst but that was it. Then it was time for the Troubadors of Divine Bliss to infuse a little of there Louisiana magic into the room, the first number had Renee singing sweet harmonies along to Aim Mee's song and percussion from her guitar, right from the start the packed club was pretty much rivetted a great opener and then they did a song that used the accordian that almost enveloped the room, sorry i don't know the song titles. But they went down really well with lots of good interplay between the girls and I loved Aim Mee's customised acoustic. There was then one more act an angst ridden woman who was very forgettable and then into the break. During the break I went and introduced myself using the magical friend of Dreamerz line, why does that line always put the smile on womens faces? Had a good chat with them about the early days of the USK and there friendship with Tom Luplow and the last time they saw him a few days before he died, all sorts of other stuff too. Then it was back for part two, first up thsi half was Jason Ribi this time on Piano and two more emotion wrenched to the max songs one about his love for his Mum, she had tears streaming down her face throughout it, it was quite touching seeing such a private moment in public, not bad song either. Next back was Angst girl who was starting to annoy me. Then it was The Medicine once more and they got a lot more political on us which was cool. Then the Troubadors were back this time to sing about Louisianna and New Orleans and all the flood and devastation in there home town, this song brought the house down, total hit They followed that with a song about Bush et al not caring about the people it went down well and sounded great with some very gospelly vocals and great harmonies. The evening was then rounded off by the boring irishman once more whose trio stayed on to Jam wioth the Host on the show closer a good end to a great show in an incredible hidden venue, apparently recent shows included a solo free gig by Pete Townsend! After the show I stayed and chatted with the girls and got the two cd's they are promoting on this tour "Dying, Laughing Firecrackers On A Feneral Pyre" And the double set "Off The Cuff" live at the Winchester that comes complete with credits to a certain Mr Voit. They are available from www.troubadorsofdivinebliss.com. We had a good talk and were just about the last people out of the place while they were clearing the place. Damn I am out of time to write the second review, it's coming soon Ipromise. Troubadours Of Divine Bliss 2nd London Show Tue, November 22,2005 10:24:25AM At the Troubadour Club, Earls Court 16th November. Well these girls know how to choose a venue as the second London Show is at the Legendary Troubadour that had gigs by everyone from Dylan to Hendrix and The Who back in the 60's, a real classic "Folk Cellar". The only downside is it is next door to one of Londons Oldest Leather Bars! Well I was about the first paying customer down the stairs in a sparsely populated club that all night had people slouching in corners and against the wall, it's that kind of a place! I got a very warm welcome from Aim Me and Renee who both thought I wouldn't show up! No I had a real good time in Balham and wanted to hear more of a proper set that had more than 4 songs in it. Oh and Brian as for the line that makes the girls smile you have to ask Dreamerz for the secret code, I promise you however it always works if used sparingly! Still the evening started with a song or two from our host for the evening followed by the first act Millpond Moon who are a Norwegian Husband Wife duo with some cool songs and some pretty damn fine guitar playing. Then it was the Troubadours Of Divine Bliss who came on to a better populated club and grabbed everyones attention with a good six song set that a great version of Leonard Cohens Dance me To the End Of Love almost as it's centrpiece, although the hit of the show was the New Orleans Tribute song, Aim Mee said afterwards that it will now be in the set every night of the tour! It was a real shame they couldn't play longer, but they certainly sold a few cd's afterwards! Next on were The Mb's a classic English funk band in sort of a Cymandi stylee, who were totally out of place on this bill, but boy did they take the place by storm couldn't help but get up and dance to them, but don't ask me for the video proof of that, Only Renee has control of that footage! Then it was the turn of Matt Sage & The Orchestra Of Love to finish the night off. well the Orchestra turn out to be a very cool Double Bass player and a weird barefoot Hippy Chick violinist, both of whome sounded great, the problem was Matt Sage he was awful with no charisma or much ability on the guitar he was trying to play. I was bored of him in less than a song, he totally ruined what his backing musicians were doing. It got even worse when he did a solo song! No he should give up and let the other two join a decent band instead! I stayed chatting with the girls for quite a while it was a cool chat and I gave them good directions to there next show in Newbury, I hope the tour is still a roaring sucess and they enjoy Scotland. |
| Name: | Who Dat Danny |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.epi.org & http://www.thenation.com & http://votescam.com |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Who Dat talkin 'bout building back, WHO DATS! |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Principles for Gulf Coast Reconstruction 9-29-05
Prepared by the Working Group for a Fair Response The destruction to life and property caused by Hurricane Katrina surely renders this the most severe natural disaster in our history. Though the extent of damage and death is still being assessed, the storm covered 90,000 square miles. The city of New Orleans was devastated—80% of the city was underwater until a few days ago—but other areas, such as the Gulfport-Biloxi area, were also hit hard. More than one million persons fled their homes in the wake of the storm and its aftermath. The federal government has already allocated $62 billion to address the needs of the hundreds of thousands of evacuees who have fled from uninhabitable areas, as well as to begin the massive rebuilding effort. Much more federal funding is expected to follow. This policy memo is focused on the rebuilding effort. The crisis of Katrina presents our government with a unique opportunity to simultaneously address the destruction done by the storm and the needs of the citizens of the affected areas, many of whom are dispersed throughout the region and even the country. In the coming months and years, substantial federal resources will be committed to cleaning up and rebuilding Gulf Coast infrastructure and communities. While federal resources are essential to this process, community engagement in planning for and doing the actual work is also essential. Specifically this means that: 1. People who lost everything in the storm need to play a central role in rebuilding their communities. Federal policy should require that residents of the affected communities, including displaced residents, have a preference for all jobs that are created in the reconstruction process, to the maximum extent practicable. Contractors in the rebuilding process should be required to do outreach, assisted by government at all levels, to identify and hire residents to fill these jobs. The rules regarding hiring, training, etc., should be made explicitly part of every clean-up or rebuilding grant or contract. 2. Now, more than ever, residents and others who rebuild need fair and decent wages for the work they do. Their wages and income are as much a part of rebuilding their communities as the contracts on which they work. Requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act should apply to all reconstruction projects funded in whole or in part with federal funds. Unfortunately, on September 8, the president suspended the Davis-Bacon Act in areas affected by the flood, even as the federal government was in the midst of letting contracts related to the disaster. The stated rationale for the suspension was to save the taxpayers money. However, there are many reasons why the suspension is especially misguided. First, a foremost goal of the reconstruction should be to provide decent jobs and incomes to the residents of affected areas. While there is an obvious need to move quickly and efficiently, it is equally important to avoid exacerbating the racial and income inequities that pervade the affected areas. New Orleans, for example, has a poverty rate of 23%, close to twice that of the nation (about 13%). Second, the devastation of the storm means that in some of these areas, such as New Orleans, there is little in the way of a recognizable market economy. That means there is no market wage to speak of, no competitive forces at work that we could count on to set a fair wage. In the face of such a market failure, government contractors will, in effect, set the market wage, and the fairest way to do this is to use prevailing wage guidelines. Third, our goal is to return the Gulf Coast to normalcy. By definition, the wages that prevailed before the hurricane should be reestablished in its wake. An argument could even be made that wages should be higher in light of the new hazards of biological and toxic contamination that are present in some locales. There is no justification for the federal government to drive wages lower than those that prevailed before the disaster. A New York Times editorial on the suspension raised this point: “Does Mr. Bush really believe it is the will of the American people to deny the prevailing wage to construction workers in New Orleans, Biloxi and other hard-hit areas?” Davis-Bacon rules apply only to the construction sector, but there will be many employment opportunities in other sectors as well. In services, wage standards are also necessary, and the prevailing wage rates under the Service Contract Act should apply. According to recent SCA wage determination documents for the New Orleans area (which are posted on the Web at http://www.wdol.gov/wdol/scafiles/std/94-2233.txt ) wages in occupations likely to be relevant in the reconstruction cover a wide range. Food service wages range from $7-10/hour; transportation jobs pay from $8-15; licensed practical nurses are in the $14 range; registered nurses average around $30/hour. Note that unlike Davis-Bacon, the SCA does not explicitly allow for suspension in times of emergencies. 3. The plans to rebuild the city of New Orleans and other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina must include provisions to provide comprehensive healthcare to those workers. Every victim of the hurricane should be covered by Medicaid for six months, unless private insurance can be obtained sooner. To ensure adequate health care for those rebuilding the city, all FEMA/disaster relief contractors should be required to spend at least the national average — 11 percent of their payroll — towards health care. If contractors do not offer 11 percent, they should be required to pay the difference between what they do offer and 11 percent into a fund, which will be dedicated to providing Medicaid coverage to uninsured and underinsured workers. Another reason for ensuring broad health-care coverage is that hospitals struggling to recover from the storm will likely be treating large numbers of patients without private coverage. 4. Building the skills of residents will help them participate in the rebuilding process and is an investment in the future for them and their communities. Residents should have access to skill training they need to qualify for jobs that will become available, including access to apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, consistent with the need to get work done as soon as possible. 5. The distribution of rebuilding work should be fair, not just another avenue to reward political heavyweights and insiders. The recent weakening of contracting requirements that ensure opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses should be reversed. Similarly, the recent weakening of affirmative action employment requirements for federal contractors should be reversed. 6. The rebuilding process needs to be about rebuilding public confidence in government at all levels, and there needs to be transparency to help insure that the rules established for rebuilding are met. All companies that participate in clean-up or reconstruction activities as direct government contractors or subcontractors should maintain and make available to the public information relating to their compliance, and efforts to comply with prescribed hiring and compensation requirements. 7. The voices of residents need to be heard throughout the rebuilding process. Government officials need to confer with community representatives throughout the planning and rebuilding, including monitoring these standards for rebuilding, to help insure that stronger and healthier communities emerge for the future. Relocation, Housing: Some of those who left the affected areas may not have the resources to return, and many will not have housing. The Housing Area Command, HAC, was created by FEMA to play the central role in providing emergency housing. Along with FEMA, HAC includes private sector contractors and partners from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the American Red Cross. HAC is actively letting contracts with private firms—five are listed in this press release: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18708. Such efforts are likely to escalate quickly, meaning the HAC may be an important leverage point for accomplishing the goals of local Thus, we suggest that Congress specify that Federal contracts let by HAC must include training, wage, and local hiring requirements. By Economic Policy Institute, Center for Community Change, and the Center for Law and Social Policy Printed from http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/memo_gulf _______________________________________________________ Let the People Rebuild New Orleans (The Nation) [from the September 26, 2005 issue] On September 4, six days after Katrina hit, I saw the first glimmer of hope. "The people of New Orleans will not go quietly into the night, scattering across this country to become homeless in countless other cities while federal relief funds are funneled into rebuilding casinos, hotels, chemical plants.... We will not stand idly by while this disaster is used as an opportunity to replace our homes with newly built mansions and condos in a gentrified New Orleans." The statement came from Community Labor United, a coalition of low-income groups in New Orleans. It went on to demand that a committee made up of evacuees "oversee FEMA, the Red Cross and other organizations collecting resources on behalf of our people.... We are calling for evacuees from our community to actively participate in the rebuilding of New Orleans." It's a radical concept: The $10.5 billion released by Congress and the $500 million raised by private charities doesn't actually belong to the relief agencies or the government; it belongs to the victims. The agencies entrusted with the money should be accountable to them. Put another way, the people Barbara Bush tactfully described as "underprivileged anyway" just got very rich. Except relief and reconstruction never seem to work like that. When I was in Sri Lanka six months after the tsunami, many survivors told me that the reconstruction was victimizing them all over again. A council of the country's most prominent businesspeople had been put in charge of the process, and they were handing the coast over to tourist developers at a frantic pace. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of poor fishing people were still stuck in sweltering inland camps, patrolled by soldiers with machine guns and entirely dependent on relief agencies for food and water. They called reconstruction "the second tsunami." There are already signs that New Orleans evacuees could face a similarly brutal second storm. Jimmy Reiss, chairman of the New Orleans Business Council, told Newsweek that he has been brainstorming about how "to use this catastrophe as a once-in-an-eon opportunity to change the dynamic." The Business Council's wish list is well-known: low wages, low taxes, more luxury condos and hotels. Before the flood, this highly profitable vision was already displacing thousands of poor African-Americans: While their music and culture was for sale in an increasingly corporatized French Quarter (where only 4.3 percent of residents are black), their housing developments were being torn down. "For white tourists and businesspeople, New Orleans' reputation is 'a great place to have a vacation but don't leave the French Quarter or you'll get shot,'" Jordan Flaherty, a New Orleans-based labor organizer told me the day after he left the city by boat. "Now the developers have their big chance to disperse the obstacle to gentrification--poor people." Here's a better idea: New Orleans could be reconstructed by and for the very people most victimized by the flood. Schools and hospitals that were falling apart before could finally have adequate resources; the rebuilding could create thousands of local jobs and provide massive skills training in decent paying industries. Rather than handing over the reconstruction to the same corrupt elite that failed the city so spectacularly, the effort could be led by groups like Douglass Community Coalition. Before the hurricane this remarkable assembly of parents, teachers, students and artists was trying to reconstruct the city from the ravages of poverty by transforming Frederick Douglass Senior High School into a model of community learning. They have already done the painstaking work of building consensus around education reform. Now that the funds are flowing, shouldn't they have the tools to rebuild every ailing public school in the city? For a people's reconstruction process to become a reality (and to keep more contracts from going to Halliburton), the evacuees must be at the center of all decision-making. According to Curtis Muhammad of Community Labor United, the disaster's starkest lesson is that African-Americans cannot count on any level of government to protect them. "We had no caretakers," he says. That means the community groups that do represent African-Americans in Louisiana and Mississippi -- many of which lost staff, office space and equipment in the flood -- need our support now. Only a massive injection of cash and volunteers will enable them to do the crucial work of organizing evacuees -- currently scattered through forty-one states--into a powerful political constituency. The most pressing question is where evacuees will live over the next few months. A dangerous consensus is building that they should collect a little charity, apply for a job at the Houston Wal-Mart and move on. Muhammad and CLU, however, are calling for the right to return: they know that if evacuees are going to have houses and schools to come back to, many will need to return to their home states and fight for them. These ideas are not without precedent. When Mexico City was struck by a devastating earthquake in 1985, the state also failed the people: poorly constructed public housing crumbled and the army was ready to bulldoze buildings with survivors still trapped inside. A month after the quake 40,000 angry refugees marched on the government, refusing to be relocated out of their neighborhoods and demanding a "Democratic Reconstruction." Not only were 50,000 new dwellings for the homeless built in a year; the neighborhood groups that grew out of the rubble launched a movement that is challenging Mexico's traditional power holders to this day. And the people I met in Sri Lanka have grown tired of waiting for the promised relief. Some survivors are now calling for a People's Planning Commission for Post-Tsunami Recovery. They say the relief agencies should answer to them; it's their money, after all. The idea could take hold in the United States, and it must. Because there is only one thing that can compensate the victims of this most human of natural disasters, and that is what has been denied them throughout: power. It will be a long and difficult battle, but New Orleans' evacuees should draw strength from the knowledge that they are no longer poor people; they are rich people who have been temporarily locked out of their bank accounts. Those wanting to donate to a people's reconstruction can make checks out to the Vanguard Public Foundation, 383 Rhode Island St., Suite 301, San Francisco, CA 94103. Checks should be earmarked "People's Hurricane Fund." http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050926/klein |
| Name: | jIM Poyser @Indy's NUVO |
| Homepage URL: | http://www.nuvo.net |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | FROM INDY NUVO-"BEST COOPERATIVE EFFORT TO GET OUT OF THE RAIN...JUST IN TIME!" |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | Best cooperative effort to get out of the rain … just in time
Easley Winery; Aug. 27. On a Saturday afternoon, a couple dozen of us sat outside at Easley Winery drinking wine and listening to the Troubadours of Divine Bliss, an accordion/guitar duo from Louisville. As the Troubadours sang one sweet song after another, the roar of the visiting U.S. Navy Blue Angels mingled with the sound of thunder. Temperature dropped and breezes stirred and the wise management at Easley decided it was time to move the show inside. Everyone helped. I mean everyone. There was all the sound equipment to haul inside, but there was also the need to secure the umbrellas that span above the tables. The plastic receptacles for ice to keep the wine chilled and the metal containers that house various bits of menu information — both of which had been useful earlier as percussion devices — all had to be schlepped. At one point I turned in the parking lot and saw six people carrying a giant white tent, three people per side grasping onto the tent pole infrastructure. They were like a site-specific theater performance, or a piece of public art worthy of Christo. We finished and as the last person escaped the roiling outdoors, the final items in hand, the cloudburst began. We gathered then to hear more music, a bunch of strangers no longer strange to each other. The Troubadours took it all in stride and unplugged; no need for electricity in this space. What performer wouldn’t pine for a circumstance to create this level of intimacy and shared experience? —Jim Poyser |
| Name: | David Ray Griffin |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | Theologian Says Controlled Demolition is Now a Fact, Not a Theory |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | "Many people who know or at least suspect the truth about 9/11 probably believe that revealing it would be so disturbing to the American psyche, the American form of government, and global stability that it is better to pretend to believe the official version. I would suggest, however, that any merit this argument may have had earlier has been overcome by more recent events and realizations. Far more devastating to the American psyche, the American form of government, and the world as a whole will be the continued rule of those who brought us 9/11, because the values reflected in that horrendous event have been reflected in the Bush administration’s lies to justify the attack on Iraq, its disregard for environmental science and the Bill of Rights, its criminal negligence both before and after Katrina, and now its apparent plan not only to weaponize space but also to authorize the use of nuclear weapons in a preemptive strike."
Want to prevent more of the same? Impeachment (of the whole crew) is more urgent now than ever before. Infuse your Representative with some courage: www.house.org Theologian Says Controlled Demolition is Now a Fact, Not a Theory Kevin Barrett, http://mujca.com October 21, 2005 In two speeches to overflow crowds in New York last weekend, notable theologian David Ray Griffin argued that recently revealed evidence seals the case that the Twin Towers and WTC-7 were destroyed by controlled demolition with explosives. Despite the many enduring mysteries of the 9/11 attacks, Dr. Griffin concluded, "It is already possible to know, beyond a reasonable doubt, one very important thing: the destruction of the World Trade Center was an inside job, orchestrated by terrorists within our own government." On Oct. 15th and 16th, New Yorkers filled two venues to hear the prominent theologian and author of two books on 9/11 give a presentation entitled “The Destruction of the Trade Towers: A Christian Theologian Speaks Out.” Dr. Griffin has continued to blaze a trail of courage, leading where most media and elected officials have feared to tread. His presentation went straight to the core of one of the most powerful indictments of the official story, the collapse of the towers and WTC 7. Dr. Griffin included excerpts from the firemen’s tapes which were recently released as a result of a prolonged court battle led by victim’s families represented by attorney Norman Siegel and reported in the NY Times. He also included statements by many witnesses. These sources gave ample testimony giving evidence of explosions going off in the buildings. A 12 minute film was shown for the audiences, who saw for themselves the undeniable evidence for controlled demolition. Dr. Griffin listed ten characteristics of the collapses which all indicate that the buildings did not fall due to being struck by planes or the ensuing fires. He explained the buildings fell suddenly without any indication of collapse. They fell straight into their own footprint at free-fall speed, meeting virtually no resistance as they fell--a physical impossibility unless all vertical support was being progressively removed by explosives severing the core columns. The towers were built to withstand the impact of a Boeing 707 and 160 mile per hour winds, and nothing about the plane crashes or ensuing fires gave any indication of causing the kind of damage that would be necessary to trigger even a partial or progressive collapse, much less the shredding of the buildings into dust and fragments that could drop at free-fall speed. The massive core columns--the most significant structural feature of the buildings, whose very existence is denied in the official 9/11 Commission Report--were severed into uniform 30 foot sections, just right for the 30-foot trucks used to remove them quickly before a real investigation could transpire. There was a volcanic-like dust cloud from the concrete being pulverized, and no physical mechanism other than explosives can begin to explain how so much of the buildings' concrete was rendered into extremely fine dust. The debris was ejected horizontally several hundred feet in huge fan shaped plumes stretching in all directions, with telltale "squibs" following the path of the explosives downward. These are all facts that have been avoided by mainstream and even most of the alternative media. Again, these are characteristics of the kind of controlled demolitions that news people and firefighters were describing on the morning of 9/11. Those multiple first-person descriptions of controlled demolition were hidden away for almost four years by the City of New York until a lawsuit finally forced the city to release them. Dr. Griffin's study of these accounts has led him beyond his earlier questioning of the official story of the collapses, to his above-quoted conclusion: The destruction of the three WTC buildings with explosives by US government terrorists is no longer a hypothesis, but a fact that has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s important to note that Dr. Griffin is one of many prominent intellectuals--including the likes of Gore Vidal, Howard Zinn, Peter Dale Scott, Richard Falk, Paul Craig Roberts, Morgan Reynolds and Peter Phillips--who have seen through the major discrepancies of the official explanation of 9/11 and have risen to challenge it. These brave individuals represent the tip of an ever-growing iceberg of discreet 9/11 skeptics. Indeed, 9/11 skepticism appears to be almost universal among intellectuals who have examined the evidence, since there has not yet been a single serious attempt to refute the case developed by Dr. Griffin and such like-minded thinkers as Nafeez Ahmed and Mike Ruppert. As for the general public, polls have shown that a strong majority of Canadians (63%, Toronto Star, May '04) and half of New Yorkers (Zogby, August 2004) agree that top US leaders conspired to murder nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11/01. |
| Name: | THE nATION |
| Your Talking Stick Title: | THE MURDER OF NEW ORLEANS |
| Your Talking Stick Entry: | questions | posted September 30, 2005 (web only)
25 Questions About the Murder of New Orleans Mike Davis & Anthony Fontenat PRINT THIS ARTICLE EMAIL THIS ARTICLE WRITE TO THE EDITORS TAKE ACTION NOW SUBSCRIBE TO THE NATION This essay was reprinted with permission from tomdispatch.com We recently spent a week in New Orleans and southern Louisiana interviewing relief workers, community activists, urban planners, artists and neighborhood folks. Even as the latest flood waters from Hurricane Rita recede, the city remains submerged in anger and frustration. Indeed, the most toxic debris in New Orleans isn't the sinister gray sludge that coats the streets of the historic Creole neighborhood of Treme or the Lower Ninth Ward but all the unanswered questions that have accumulated in the wake of so much official betrayal and hypocrisy. Where outsiders see simple "incompetence" or "failure of leadership," locals are more inclined to discern deliberate design and planned neglect--the murder, not the accidental death, of a great city. In almost random order, here are twenty-five of the urgent questions that deeply trouble the local people we spoke with. Until a grand jury or Congressional committee begins to uncover the answers, the moral (as opposed to simply physical) reconstruction of the New Orleans region will remain impossible. 1. Why did the floodwalls along the 17th Street Canal only break on the New Orleans side and not on the Metairie side? Was this the result of neglect and poor maintenance by New Orleans authorities? 2. Who owned the huge barge that was catapulted through the wall of the Industrial Canal, killing hundreds in the Lower Ninth Ward--the most deadly hit-and-run accident in US history? 3. All of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish east of the Industrial Canal were drowned, except for the Almonaster-Michoud Industrial District along Chef Menteur Highway. Why was industrial land apparently prot |