The song was recorded by The Silhouettes in 1958, the year that I got a job that turned into a 37 year career. In the 1950’s the expectation was that you would work at your career, build your home and family, retire on your pension and spend the rest of
Continue readingTag: Social Justice
350 or bust: Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction. ~Albert Einstein
Continue readingA Sustainable Now: Carpenters for a Dream: Lessons from the ‘Shock Troops’ that helped lay Foundation for Dr. King’s Legacy
In his acceptance speech for theNobel Prize in 1964 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ushers words of gratitude to those who helped build the foundations of change he valiently stood for during the civil rights movement. “Every time I take flight I am always mindful of the many people who
Continue reading350 or bust: Martin Luther King: If You Don’t Stand Up For Justice, You Die Even If You Live To Be 90
Today in the United States it is Martin Luther King Day. Reverend King delivered this rousing sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in November, 1967, less than 5 months before he was murdered. Now, 45 years later, Reverend King continues to inspire people of conscience. In this day,
Continue reading350 or bust: Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald are a Northern California-based folk duo. This song, Ship Gonna Sail, was written to discouraged activists several years ago: Paul wrote the song with the late Utah Phillips in response to frustration their local Peace Center friends felt when they tried to affect change, in
Continue reading350 or bust: Saturday At the Movies: The Bible Tells Me So
This video is an excerpt from the powerful documentary titled: For the Bible Tells Me So. The movie looks at Biblical literalism, a 20th Century creation that has been used as a weapon against civil rights, female equality, and homosexuality. Unfortunately, Christians have often stood in contradiction to what one
Continue reading350 or bust: Take Time To Renew Your Spirit
If an elephant has its foot on a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Continue reading350 or bust: Musical Medicine
Feel in need of some healing in these turbulent times? I know I do, and this video does that for me. Enjoy, and take these words to heart: Live by example. Live your truth. Sing loud. Be heard. Medicine for the People is a non-profit organization working with every kind
Continue reading350 or bust: Happy Hogmanay
Tis the season for ‘best of” lists. So, to quote Julie Andrews, here are a few of my favourite things of this past year: Best book on the coming paradigm shift in “business as usual”: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by architect William McDonough & chemist Michael
Continue reading350 or bust: Deck The Jails With Wall Street Bankers: The 99% Choir Goes Christmas Caroling
This youtube gem came my way via MyFireDogLake.com, and I knew I had to share it. Here’s the 99% Choir, made up of members from The Backbone Campaign, Washington Community Action Network, Seattle Labor Chorus, and The Other 98%, singing their renditions of some familiar Christmas tunes in front of
Continue reading350 or bust: Spring is Radical, And It’s Just Begun
Here’s a Solstice message from Reverend Billy, from the Church of Earthalujah, from Zuccotti Square in New York City: What did I learn this year. We are the 99%. I learned that. So we’re not divided into separate causes anymore who pass like ships in the night – we are
Continue reading350 or bust: An Advent Conspiracy – Mending the World
As this is the season for traditions, here is a reposting from last December: There is a Hebrew phrase, Tikkun Olam, which means mending or perfecting the world. For many of the Jewish faith, Tikkun Olam has come to connote social action and the pursuit of social justice. Yesterday was
Continue reading350 or bust: Canada At Durban Climate Talks: Talking Green, Walking Dirty
Fresh from Ani’s blog, this video of the large crowd of people have gathered outside the negotiations room at COP17 to stand with Africa as the negotiations come to a close: Here are other recent posts from Ani, with her observations of COP17: Talking green, walking dirty: a snapshot of
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Credit where it’s due: Conservatives speak out against Nigeria’s anti-same-sex marriage bill.
The Stephen Harper Conservatives have spoken out against a proposal in Nigeria to further criminalize gays and lesbians, and — at least as significantly — those who would ally, advocate for or even just silently tolerate their existence. Yup, you heard that right. If you’ve read my other writings about
Continue reading350 or bust: Some Honesty At Durban Climate Conference: Youth Told “No One Is Listening To You”
Willard Metzger is the General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada and blogs at Church Guy. He is well acquainted with the suffering that climate change is already inflicting on the most vulnerable among us, as the former Director-Church Relation of World Vision Canada and the author of Thanking God With
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: In Defense of Affirming Christians
This post is long overdue. It really is. I’ve made this distinction in my blog before and also in comment threads, but it keeps coming up and requires a post of its own. When I decry some of the radical and unhinged rhetoric that comes from some people who use
Continue reading350 or bust: COP17: Politicians, Get Your Head Out Of The Sands And Lead!
Our eyes on the ground of the Durban climate conference, Ani, updates us from Day 6 of COP17. To read more, visit Ani’s blog at YouthDelegateManitoba.wordpress.com: I could spend my time writing this blog about a draft text for the Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention, which has been circulated
Continue reading350 or bust: Canadian Youth: We Are Truly Sorry For Our Government’s Stance On Climate Change
Ani, a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation representing Manitoba at the Durban climate conference, will be a regular guest blogger during COP17 in Durban. Ani works as a Public Education and Outreach Coordinator for Climate Change Connection, a project of the Manitoba Eco-Network. To read more about Ani, visit
Continue reading350 or bust: These Are Times That Try Our Souls
At a time during the American Revolution, when things looked very dire, Tom Paine wrote the following (gender-updated language added). As things look mighty dire in Durban right now, this might be appropriate for the current times as well: These are the times that try our souls. The summer soldier
Continue reading350 or bust: We Are The Many
Occupy yourself with this powerful video by Makana, a popular Hawaiian recording artist. At the APEC summit in Hawaii this past weekend Makana made a bold and courageous statement. He was enlisted to play a luau on Saturday night for leaders gathered…
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