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The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
   

BLOCK POWER - PART III

Jim Tull

Posted: 05/10/2007
As I personally go about my daily business in life, expressing through my actions a reluctant allegiance to the big culture and its systems, I also carry with me some fluidly changing version of the following reminders: Release your faith in the capacity of our dominant culture, its systems and tools, to save us from social oppression and biological extinction. Though some of its tools (solar panels?) may be employed in the cultural hereafter, they are [Full Story...]


We are at War, out there and in here

Joseph E. Newsome

Posted: 05/09/2007
It's a rainy, dreary morning. The occasional flash of lightning and clap of thunder brings me back to the present moment. Like most Americans, especially those with young adult sons, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are a constant source of angst. I cannot fathom any positive end to the ugly mess we've created. In this moment of contemplation, I also realize that there is much more to worry about than this war-for-oil against our [Full Story...]


Electing Hillary would be Un-American

Joseph E. Newsome

Posted: 05/01/2007
History is teaching us that a second round of Bushs governing the nation can be far worse than the first. It is reasonable to assume that a second round of Clintons would yield the same dismal results. Extreme caution should be exercised next year before giving Hillary Rodhan Clinton the nod to lead our nation, no matter how qualified she might be. Setting a pattern of reducing our presidential leadership pool to 2 super-powerful and rich [Full Story...]


Superpower

Karina Lutz

Posted: 04/30/2007
We live in a land where the people preparing food have no time or patience to wait for fruit to ripen. We live in a land where adults give children presents of toys that train them to press the buttons that shoot and bomb aliens, critters, invaders, anyone else coming towards them. No time to look. We live in a land where it is considered a luxury to need a car to get to day care to get to work [Full Story...]


5 Tips on How to Save the Human Species

Phil Edmonds

Posted: 04/23/2007
There is good news and bad news. First the bad news. Let's face it: we are in serious trouble. All the signs are there. The depletion of our national resources, global warming, the loss of several species of life, all kinds of weapons proliferation, etc. Now for the good news. Just maybe we have a chance to turn this around. A combination of these five tips just might save the human species: 1. Come out of our [Full Story...]

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chestnut, elm, maple

Karina Lutz

Posted: 04/23/2007
I know I am dreaming but I cant wake up. I shake myself, but it is not the earth body, it is the dream body that shudders. I know I am dreaming when I drive down Maple Street, simultaneously mourning the dying maples; loving them as I kill them with my exhaust. I know I am dreaming when I turn onto Chestnut Street and there are no chestnuts. I know I am dreaming when I turn onto Elm Street and the grand [Full Story...]


Block Power - Part II

Jim Tull

Posted: 04/23/2007
LESSONS Radical isn't always dramatic. And it's not always a matter of getting to the root of a problem. Sometimes it's about getting to the root of what we need to do to get what we most want out of life. Block parties and consultation exchange directories don't do much, in the wider scheme of things. But efforts like these point in a direction of a life we might prefer to live over what we have [Full Story...]


Moving Toward a Green Economy

Greg Gerritt

Posted: 04/14/2007

I have been involved in a recent set of discussions about the economy and its relationship to the ecology of the earth.  Some of the participants in the discussion believe that everything is fine, poverty is going down, incomes are up.  I have been arguing that the rise in income that we see in many parts of the world is the destruction of natural capital that humans claim [Full Story...]


This is Our War, Not Bush's

Joseph Newsome

Posted: 04/01/2007
Democracies function better when their citizens are fully awake, face reality squarely, and everyone has a voice or at least think they do. We must all take responsibility for the decisions our leaders make, especially when it comes to the business of war. In the USA, it is hard to deal with any subject of consequence and not have one's race influence their perspective. While this may be unfortunate, it's still true. I am an [Full Story...]

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Show Me What You Got

Atty. Richard Rose

Posted: 04/01/2007
In May, 2005 the Attorney General of the United States, Alberto R. Gonzales, identified gang and gun violence as a national priority for the Department of Justice. The Rhode Island U.S. Attorney's Office has a two tiered approach to address the problem. We combine aggressive enforcement with an educational outreach component we call Street Smarts. The enforcement strategy is simple. We aggressively pursue all gang and gun crimes within the District. Gang membership will trigger [Full Story...]

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Block Power

Jim Tull

Posted: 04/01/2007
Nobody went to jail. No one burned down the State House or forcibly removed the President of the United States from office. What a few people on our city block on the south side of Providence decided to do instead was something more radical, if less dramatic. We tried to get our neighbors to turn to each other a little bit more for personal support. As radical - meaning 'getting to the root' - as [Full Story...]

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