Clare Consultation, LLCSmarter Than We Think We Are
Way smarter than most media and elected officials give us credit. Way! I’ve been spending the past weeks looking hard for ways to get the attention of professionals engaged in the publishing industry in our country. It is, for sure, a culture all its own. As with any culture, there are conventions. There is jargon and there are protocols for what represents communication worth attending to. All of these, at least in… Read More
Ancient Trees and Taxes
On matters of taxation, there’s confusion in our country. Just where does that money go? Another way to say this is to suggest that there’s too little education of everyday citizens on the whole economic thing. How does it all fit together – the business part, the investment part, the tax part, the public interest part? And how do we participate in it for the wellbeing of ourselves, our families, our communities… Read More
Go Ahead, Refudiate … Overly Olbermanize – But Watch Out for Momma
The 19th voice in the EX:Change was Lena Baucum. I’ve found myself quoting her often in these entries. Maybe it’s by chance, but more likely for reasons of her attentiveness. Many of the themes of the 100 voices were given first mention in Lena’s words that early February day in 2009. Just now I ran across commentary entitled The Willie Hortonization of Barack Obama. Ari Rabin-Havt’s blog responds to the effect of… Read More
Here in the Waning Days of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
I was raised by straight parents. I benefited from that. I continue to benefit from living as a heterosexual adult. People don’t ask about my sexual orientation or identity, but there’s no law saying they can’t. I can write this stuff down here and not offend any law or anyone at all. I’ve never been afraid or harassed because my romantic affections go to men. Every bit of that is privilege. Today… Read More
The Day after Independence Day
Feelin’ it? The independence? Last night I sat under a sky that, after a day blanketed with marine clouds, cleared for this: The exquisite blues riffed from Curtis Salgado’s voice and Lloyd Jones’ fingers dancing the way they do on the neck of his guitar. But that’s not all. The music those guys sent into the air around the Willamette River bounced off the buildings of the city, soaked into the vast… Read More
Working Change
“We have an amazing work ethic in this country. We’re not all working in the same direction, and that’s normal to some point. You’re not supposed to always be working in harmony, but I hope the work ethic and the sense of shared humanity in that continue.” Lena This morning in the New York Times, Paul Krugman, an esteemed if controversial economist, forecast again the third Great Depression for the U.S. economy… Read More
Delta Park Powwow: Fathers’ Day for a Change
“It will always be important to have a community of people who support each other and work together for the struggle, I guess. Yes, for the struggle for all people.” Bruce McQuakay It took a bit of coaxing by the emcee, but today, 50 or so fathers made their way into the dance circle at the center of the Delta Park Powwow gathering for the honor song led by the Four Directions drum… Read More
Change: Who Cares?
So here we are, lots of us feeling somehow betrayed with many of the most vocal folks on both ends of the conservative/progressive spectrum heavy into tape loops of public diatribe. The change just isn’t right. It falls short. It isn’t giving the same feel we signed on for during the campaigns. The pressing issue here in the middle of the EX:Change project is finding the right words to answer a question… Read More
Graduation Season: Your Tax Dollars at Work
“It will be good change when any person in the country has a right to get a good public education and to go as far as they want in advanced education.” Sue Klapstein It’s that time again. May and June – when here in the U.S. the landscape is dotted with the cheers and colors, the pomp and circumstance of graduation ceremonies. Across the country schools, families and communities take the opportunity… Read More
Oil Spills, Financial Crises and the EX:Change Voices Who Will Inherit It All
This morning I had tea in a coffee shop in the Oakhurst neighborhood of Decatur, GA. Yep, back in Georgia. In fact, as I type, I’m sitting in front of the courthouse in the photo atop the February 27, 2009 blog entry from the EX:Change Road Trip (EX:C blog, The Heart of Dixie). Family lives here. I’m visiting. Thus tea in Oakhurst. I sat at the table with a grandmother, two moms… Read More