Titanic Post

Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother’s Day, hated flowers, candy, and greeting cards. Our kind of mom!

By Mary Beth Crain

SOMA – Published in the Society Of  Mutual Autopsy

I’ve been trying to think of what I could give my 89-year-old mom for Mother’s Day. Flowers and candy seem just too trite. So do those distinctly unoriginal Mother’s Day cards with the flowers and butterflies and syrupy verse.

Little did I know that the founder of Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis, shared my sentiments exactly. (more…)

Ken Nicholson

Almost two years after this was first published there is still no new library in sight. The city of Alamogordo has decided that a new bond would not pass and they are probably right. The small, but noisy group of anti-library, anti-social, anti-tax, Eagle-nuts have almost convinced the rest of us that it is futile to want something that could help the minds , but not the bank accounts, of the noisy ones.

First published here on February 22, 2005
Our City of Alamogordo needs a new library. The old one is bursting at the seams with not enough space for new bookshelves, archives, meeting rooms, and public computers. The Alamogordo Public Library is one of the most used public spaces in the county. Recently, a water line break under the building caused a corner of the building to sink. The foundation, a wall, and several roof structural supports cracked and portions of the library had to be closed off until they could be supported. (more…)

Progressive Taxation: Some Hidden Truths

By George Lakoff and Bruce Budner, AlterNet
Printed on April 16, 2007

At this time of year it seems there are only two things certain in life, taxes and anxiety about taxes. Instead of the perennial talk of a simplified tax form, how about a simplified understanding of the progressive values that underlie our tradition of progressive taxation?

Such an understanding won’t move the tax deadline. But it might eliminate some of the anxiety. Understanding the hidden truths behind progressive taxation might also lead to more coherent — and more just — tax policies.

(more…)

Published on Thursday, March 22, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
A Time For Anger, A Call To Action
by Bill Moyers

The following is a transcript of a speech given on February 7, 2007 at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

I am grateful to you for this opportunity and to President Prager for the hospitality of this evening, to Diana Akiyama, Director of the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life, whose idea it was to invite me and with whom you can have an accounting after I’ve left. And to the Lilly Endowment for funding the Values and Vocations project to encourage students at Occidental to explore how their beliefs and values shape their choices in life, how to make choices for meaningful work and how to make a contribution to the common good. It’s a recognition of a unique venture: to demonstrate that the life of the mind and the longing of the spirit are mirror images of the human organism. I’m grateful to be here under their auspices.

I have come across the continent to talk to you about two subjects close to my heart. I care about them as a journalist, a citizen and a grandfather who looks at the pictures next to my computer of my five young grandchildren who do not have a vote, a lobbyist in Washington, or the means to contribute to a presidential candidate. If I don’t act in their behalf, who will? (more…)