Eastlake TerraceEastlake Terrace
Category: Verandah
CongratulationsCongratulations
Grandma’s gettin’ old nowGrandma’s gettin’ old now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGVaEOeFgiI
Don’t tell anyoneDon’t tell anyone
“The secret to being a writer is…writing. Writing and revising, which are the essence of discipline. Can’t sit in the chair eight hours a day? Then this probably isn’t the life for you.” – Fiona Maazel, “The ‘It’ Factor” (ellipsis in original)
The Reverend Dr. KingThe Reverend Dr. King
“One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Statement of intentStatement of intent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ9ndhKEjqQ
The Reverend Dr. KingThe Reverend Dr. King
“An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
The Reverend Dr. KingThe Reverend Dr. King
“How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
The Reverend Dr. KingThe Reverend Dr. King
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
ShadowtimeShadowtime
Alien LovestockAlien Lovestock
Be nice to your momBe nice to your mom
“You knock nature off balance, and ain’t nobody there to catch her.” – Tom Raspberry (quoted by Jon Mooallem in “There’s a Reason They Call Them ‘Crazy Ants’”)
Song for Palm SundaySong for Palm Sunday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46_Ynl1ARgM
Who shall I be today?Who shall I be today?
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. I felt fear myself more times than I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Methods of moltingMethods of molting
“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” – Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
It’s all you needIt’s all you need
“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Here we are. Now, entertain us.Here we are. Now, entertain us.
“Modern society will largely accept anything as long as it’s encapsulated in a joke, conveniently delivered and doesn’t threaten the fragile sense of self-worth.” – Jereme Dean (interview with Rauan Klassnik in HTMLGIANT)
You may not be able to, anywayYou may not be able to, anyway
“You can’t learn from your mistakes if you don’t think they’re mistakes.” – Rick Morrissey, Chicago Sun-Times
Valerie JuneValerie June
The very ground upon which we stand shall shiftThe very ground upon which we stand shall shift
“Today’s economic mechanisms promote inordinate consumption, yet it is evident that unbridled consumerism combined with inequality proves doubly damaging to the social fabric. Inequality eventually engenders a violence which recourse to arms cannot and never will be able to resolve. This serves only to offer false hopes to those clamouring for heightened security, even though nowadays we know that weapons and violence, rather than providing solutions, create new and more serious conflicts. Some simply content themselves with blaming the poor and the poorer countries themselves for their troubles; indulging in unwarranted generalizations, they claim that the solution is an ‘education’ that would tranquilize them, making them tame and harmless. All this becomes even more exasperating for the marginalized in the light of the widespread and deeply rooted corruption found in many countries – in their governments, businesses and institutions – whatever the political ideology of their leaders.” – Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father
How safe are the unjust?How safe are the unjust?
“Today in many places we hear a call for greater security. But until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence. The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. When a society – whether local, national or global – is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programmes or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility. This is not the case simply because inequality provokes a violent reaction from those excluded from the system, but because the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root. Just as goodness tends to spread, the toleration of evil, which is injustice, tends to expand its baneful influence and quietly to undermine any political and social system, no matter how solid it may appear. If every action has its consequences, an evil embedded in the structures of a society has a constant potential for disintegration and death. It is evil crystallized in unjust social structures, which cannot be the basis of hope for a better future. We are far from the so-called ‘end of history’, since the conditions for a sustainable and peaceful development have not yet been adequately articulated and realized.” – Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father
Meet the new bossMeet the new boss
“While the earnings of a minority are growing exponentially, so too is the gap separating the majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own economies and keep citizens from enjoying their real purchasing power. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.” – Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father
Thou shalt not pillageThou shalt not pillage
“Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say ‘thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.
“Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a ‘disposable’ culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers’.
“In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase; and in the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.”
– Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father
SuccinctSuccinct
“Be humble. Stay hungry. Do more with less. Don’t suck.” – Andrew Sieja, CEO, kCura
Call for Vladimir PutinCall for Vladimir Putin
“All users should consider how their actions may impact the current load in an environment when they kick off large operations.” – kCura, “Infrastructure Solutions for Very Large Workspaces”
American TuneAmerican Tune
You probably think this post is about youYou probably think this post is about you
“The truest of all men was the Man of Sorrows, and the truest of all books is Solomon’s, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe. ‘All is vanity.’ ALL. This willful world hath not got hold of unchristian Solomon’s wisdom yet.” – Herman Melville, Moby Dick
A tail to pin on any handy jackassA tail to pin on any handy jackass
“There is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men.” – Herman Melville, Moby Dick
Words to compose byWords to compose by
“In your life there are a few places, or maybe only one place, where something has happened. And then there are the other places, which are just other places.” – Alice Munro, “Face”