Jen Chapin on Occupy, Parenting, Food, and Creativity

Jen Chapin album Reckoning
Jen Chapin album Reckoning

OnTheWilderSide had a free-flowing  chat with Jen Chapin about her new album, Reckoning.   We covered topics ranging from Occupy to parenthood.

We started our discussion with Chapin by asking her about the balance between the intimate and the political on the new album, Reckoning. The album includes songs on both ends of the spectrum, such as Insatiable about never-ending war and “Don’t Talk” which praises making love as a needed form of marital communication.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWnouX5VSrg]

Chapin described the intimate and the political as “a balance I am always trying to strike.”  She saw it as something stretching back through her life:

Read the rest of the article on the original website.

Review: “Share or Die!”, Millennials’ Response to Scarcity

The world view envisioned in the anthology of essays, Share or Die!, Voices of the Get Lost Generation in the Age of Crisis, is one in which human interaction is re-shaped by Generation Y (the Millennials).  This new kind of interaction is to be based upon sharing, using a mixture of high-tech and high-touch.  Serendipitously, about the same time as our review copy of the book appeared in the mail, an example of what the book was hoping to achieve also arrived in the mail.

Read the rest of the review at onthewilderside.com  Continue reading Review: “Share or Die!”, Millennials’ Response to Scarcity

Remembering All on Memorial Day

Peace Couple’s perspective on Memorial Day

Today we mourn all the women, men, and children from all countries, who have died as victims of war, both as soldiers and as civilians.  All human life is sacred. We re-dedicate ourselves to working for a day when a Memorial Day is no longer needed.

The PAXi Daily Peace Index for Sunday, May 26, 2013 was 540.

The PAXi Daily Peace Index for Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, 2013 was 534.

“Share or Die!” Arrived

From "A Post College Flowchart of Misery and Pain" on Shareable.
From “A Post College Flowchart of Misery and Pain” on Shareable.

I received an email today from the Schumacher Society(“Small is Beautiful”) providing an report on the continuing success of the Mondragon Co-ops.  Along the same lines, my review copy of Share or Die!, Voices of the Get Lost Generation in the Age of Crisisedited by Malcolm Harris with Neal Gorenflo, arrived in the mail today.  The book is not as foreboding as the title seems.  It is about the need to build a collaborative society in order for Gen Y  to flourish in an extractive economy.  I will be putting aside the copy of  The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace that I have been writing essays on in this space in order to read through the essays, and cartoons, in Share or Die!  To give you a flavor of the book, please see the cartoon from the inside cover, posted at right.

This is how the editors describe their collection of essays and art:  Continue reading “Share or Die!” Arrived

Richie Havens, Rest in Peace

Richie Havens passed away April 22, 2013. Rest in peace, Richie Havens.

__________________________________

Dear Richie,

English: Richie Havens Live, Musikhalle Hambur...
Richie Havens

The loss of your bright shining heart and soul from our world is a shock.  I realized that that I had seen you perform four times.  More than I have seen any other nationally touring performer.

I first saw you at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, NY when I was barely out of college.  My best friend had gotten concert tickets from his older brother.  His brother decided he didn’t want to go to see some oldies acts.  We were psyched to see Country Joe and the Fish.   We reveled in his famous anti-war song.  Joe was fun.  We stayed to see the next act that — in our ignorance — we had never heard of.  We figured we were there anyway.  Why not give you a listen?

You blew us through the doors.

Continue reading Richie Havens, Rest in Peace

EFF: Congress Shamefully Passes CISPA; Stop US Senate

from the Electronic Freedom Foundation

U.S. House of Representatives Shamefully Passes CISPA;

Internet Freedom Advocates Prepare for a Battle in the Senate

CISPA - The solution is the problem
CISPA – The solution is the problem (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

Today, Internet freedom advocates everywhere turned their eyes to the U.S. House of Representatives as that legislative body considered the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.

For the second year in a row,  the House voted to approve CISPA, a bill that would allow companies to bypass all existing privacy law to spy on communications and pass sensitive user data to the government.  EFF condemns the vote in the House and vows to continue the fight in the Senate.

“CISPA is a poorly drafted bill that would provide a gaping exception to bedrock privacy law,” EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl said. “While we all agree that our nation needs to address pressing Internet security issues, this bill sacrifices online privacy while failing to take common-sense steps to improve security.”

The legislation passed 288-127, despite a veto threat from Pres. Barack Obama, who expressed serious concerns about the danger CISPA poses to civil liberties.  Continue reading EFF: Congress Shamefully Passes CISPA; Stop US Senate

March 14, 2013: Sharp rise in PAXi Peace Index

Peace received a lot of attention today.

The PAXi Peace Index uses many indicators to determine how much people in the United States are focused on peace each day.

The PAXi Index number for today, Thursday, March 14th, is 543. (The all-time high for PAXi was 979, which occurred with Nobel Peace Prize discussion on line.)

Today’s number represents a 348 rise since yesterday, an unusual climb. Most of the magnitude of the increase happened with the “Google News for the word ‘peace'” indicator. The top stories which impacted this Google News indicator were: Continue reading March 14, 2013: Sharp rise in PAXi Peace Index