Californication meets Tranpacificism

In searching for the exact wording of the Cicero quote “Freedom is participation in power” I came across this extremely interesting page.  It’s about power, but not in any way that I have seen it talked about before.  He quotes different views on power, somehow seems to dismiss them all, but also talks about the power of our perspectives, the way we talk about “helping” others, and more.  It impacted me in giving me a slice of perspective from the world of the blind, but I want to say it wasn’t, and isn’t, about that — it’s more.

After all, anything worthwhile has to be more thoughtful, deep and meaningful than the obvious meaning.  Here’s a quote from the piece and a link to it, I thought it was amazing, and it really captivated me.  What do you think?

Power denotes the ability to do what the person, organization, or country wants done at the time and in the way that the entity possessing power wants it done with minimal inconvenience. It is neither morally corrupt nor spiritually invigorating. It is neutral.

via Leadership and the Matrix of Power.

PS: Happy Holidays everyone! 

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(Okay, so I don’t actually believe those commercials that people should feel obligated or responsibility for other people and their actions, but it makes a catchy title.

But honestly. The polls show the majority of people in this country are against the Iraq war. I’ll assume (without any empirical evidence) that largely applies to my FB friends. So, why vote for a War candidate? I’m afraid that we often let the media write history for us, rather than remembering what had actually happened.
By that, I mean we have had (except possibly Carter?) nothing but war presidents since WW2. Lest we forget one of the most famous leaders (who was of course shut up, because people largely shutdown when they are left leader-less) in our country, he said:

The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own country. – Martin Luther King Jr.

But I’m not the best spoken or most thoughtful, so check out this video which touches on social movements and the future of our country.
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I visited this NGO called SCOPE in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As their website seems currently inaccessible, you can take a look at their a photo album which showcases some of their projects.

I was a little frustrated during my time spent with them. They didn’t have the vision for projects like greywater re-use, or affecting the sewage outfall from normal houses. They also seemed un or under-interested in spreading gardening, notably on a household scale which could not only directly affect hunger, but also give a place for their compost to go, easily closing the loop.
Here’s a cool Wired story: “Build a Square foot Garden,” which helps illustrate that a lot can be down with a little. (Bit of space, in this case.)

I also ran across a WSJ video, posted on Conscious Consuming‘s blog, about Urban Farming. I’m a really big advocate of urban farming. Partially because people are leaving the “Rural”/”countryside,” but also because that’s where the people are, and there’s a _lot_ of wasted space in cities. People should be close to their food, in location, understanding, and more.

I think I had a lot more to say on this, but going to close this post at this..

Wow, as of nov’11, most links in this post are dead! Eek.

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I could have blogged about my time at the WTS, or in Delhi generally, but this was interesting (and important?) enough that I thought I’d just make sure it was online+accessible to folks. To see my pictures though, you can check on Flickr. Oh, and after typing this out I realize that it’s already online! Eh, maybe i’ll add more to this post or change it later on.

“Following a successful World Toilet Summit-2007 (WTS 2007) it has been noted that there is a need to accelerate the progress on achieveing the MDG on sanitation by 2015. The participants advocate to reconfirmation of the pledge that nations took at Johannesburg in 2002. WTS 2007 adopts the Delhi Declaration on Sanitation- 2007:
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Subject: HSU degree granted!

Okay, maybe it’s not so exciting to you, but since the most important parts are short:

Dear Ajay,

On behalf of Humboldt State University, congratulations on earning your degree! Your official date of graduation is 16-May-07.
[.. extra stuff you don't care about...]
Congratulations again, and best wishes for future success and personal satisfaction.

(Sent by one Travis Brunner, but signed by Hillary A. Dashiell of the Registrar’s office, which I think is a funny inconsistency, plus it’s from the former’s personal HSU address. Silly ppl. heh)  (PS: As aforementioned, my Grad pics are online.)
I do like that last line though.. isn’t that what it’s all about?

So I started thinking, “Nah, they wouldn’t want to read about me graduating, my degree and all that (esp since so many of the FB’ers reading this are still in “school”)” and thought instead of quoting another old email I found, fwd’d from my school’s President, Rollin Richmond, but originally from the Graduation Alliance Pledge Coordinators. (more…)

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