From Democracy Now!:
Legendary antiwar priest Father Daniel Berrigan has died just short of his 95th birthday. Berrigan was a poet, pacifist, educator, social activist, playwright and lifelong resister to what he called “American military imperialism. Continue reading Remembering Fr. Daniel Berrigan
Alice’s Restaurant is experiencing a 50th Anniversary bump.
Tune in to your local radio station at noon to hear Arlo Guthrie’s famous Thanksgiving, Draft Resisting, Garbage Dumping, Epic.
And, at 8pm, you can watch an Alice’s Restaurant special program on PBS. More info, and some links at our onthewilderside website: here
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Check out our PeaceCouple post on “The Genius of Alice’s Restaurant”: here (with preview below)
Reflections from December 2012, excerpt from “The Genius of Alice’s Restaurant”
… I realized a little after 12 noon this Thanksgiving that Arlo Guthrie has had a much broader cultural impact in terms of bringing a progressive message to the general population than his father, Woody Guthrie…
For those of us who already love vintage jewelry, we don’t need any more reasons to hunt it down, wear it, and gift it. Though, if you haven’t included vintage in your wardrobe, yet, or you are still mulling over holiday gift ideas, we wanted to give a shout out for how vintage jewelry can add sparkle to your life and help save the world!
1. “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” – Keats. You will always look beautiful wearing a graceful cameo, or something elegant with pearls.
1b. Something unique and funky will stand out in any era. (Didn’t want to forget those of us who like Retro, Kitsch, and/or the Austin Powers influence.)
2. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” makes the world a better place. Vintage fashion is inspired reuse. And, crafts that make old jewelry into new are an artsy way to recycle (upcycle).
3. An Antique or Vintage piece is often unique or one-of-a-kind. Sometime, you may have the only piece like it left in existence. Though, at least you can be fairly certain that no one else at the party will have the same thing!
4. Put your money where you heart is. Buying vintage items take money away from big corporations and mass market spending, and diverts resources to more local businesses and artful marketplaces.
4b. Vintage and Antique jewelry supports ethical buying. There are no worries about new impacts regarding unfair trade or cruelly mined gemstones. Continue reading Why we love vintage jewelry…for us, for gifts, for the earth
I was sitting in a class on how to build support for making social change, and one of the discussions we had is a comparison of the differences between the civil rights era environment and today’s civic environment. This made my mind leap into making a list of a score of dozen ways to be an empowered citizen and an empowered consumer.
Writing this post, I realized that this list is a micro version of Gandhi’s Constructive Program. In the period between civil Disobedience Campaigns, Gandhi kept his followers engaged and progressing by building a sustainable community-based economy to replace the imperial system which oppressed them.
Libraries are the most American of institutions: community-based, democratic, pull-yourself-up by- your-own-bootstraps gathering places. Libraries were kicked off in this country by the most American of our founders: the self-made , earthy, inventor-scientist polymath Ben Franklin.
Libraries are about community. They are a barn-raising or quilting bee for the mind, especially the young mind. Everyone pools their resources so we can all have more than anyone of us could individually have access to when we need it. and when we don’t need it, we leave it their for someone else to use. Libraries are the well in the town square, where all can draw water and all have a stake in keeping them available. Continue reading TWL: Libraries
I admit that I do like the fancy Balsamic Vinegar that come in wine bottle shapes and make awesome dressings and marinades. This post is not about that vinegar.
This post is about the white vinegar that you can find in the clear plastic gallon jug in the bottom shelf of the supermarket. Even better is the extra-cheap store or generic brand. We usually have at least two jugs of it around the house at a time.
No, we don’t use that much by putting it on our breakfast cereal every morning.
