Another Catholic Being Awesome

Filed Under ao resources, current affairs, media, people, politics, race | 7 Comments

I’ve heard the questions the reporter poses - in some form or another, just change out some of the names if you want - my whole adult life (and longer). Father Phleger - who was dubbed a “black a** kisser” at one website I visited - has responses that I can only characterize as “real.” I love how his last words apparently stun the reporter into quickly ending the conversation. I guess the reporter just didn’t want to go there.

Everything Father Phleger has said, I’ve heard black people say growing up. Everything. It’s still incredible to me that there are millions of people out there who aren’t even familiar - they don’t have to agree - with these views.

Popularity: 62% [?]

Mar

14

Remembrance of Things Past

Filed Under inspiration, islam, media, nostalgia, spiritual practice | 2 Comments

This excellent 5 minute video won a national contest, and brought back some memories for me of being a young Muslimah trying to do my faith thing in a non-Muslim world. This made me think of the current UUA/YRUU troubles, and … I don’t know. I felt sentimental. I’m so not a kid anymore, but some of the same issues still linger. In any case, watch the video. It manages to be both dead-on and inspiring. (And who knows, maybe even evangelical.) What do you all think?

*** The website this video is posted to (netmuslims.com) was sent to me today by an old friend I haven’t spoken to in over a decade. He manages netmuslims.com and says I first taught him how to design a website, for which he’ll “always be thankful.” Who’d a thunkit?

Popularity: 30% [?]

Mar

3

Thoughts on Prisons

Filed Under heteropatriarchy, media, rants, sadness | 3 Comments

I had the misfortune of seeing a few minutes of an MSNBC show about prisons. It was about “dangerous” teenagers in jail. I got to see a young man be pepper-sprayed and then face planted by four guards for kicking a door and resisting going into segregation. Something about the way prison was depicted in this show - and in a previous episode that I watched with my grandmother the other day - dismayed me. It was a flat portrayal - no analysis, no critical eye, no reflection … just a paint by numbers depiction of how tough and scary working in a prison is.

I’ve been in prisons before; it’s not fun. It’s not a place you want to be, even as a visitor. But didn’t it disturb anyone else - the people making this show - to see a teenage boy on the floor groaning while grown men called out “get the shackles?” And “decontamination” showers. What are we doing here? What is the point?

The LH says that he’d like to see prisons operate on a completely different model. Right now they are run like schools; but perhaps instead they could get funding based on how well they rehabilitate. Prisons who churn out repeat offenders lose funding, and lose inmates. Competition can be a good thing; the people running prisons would be motivated to do a better job. As it stands today, it’s actually good for prisons when someone gets locked up again, and again, and again. Hey, who says crime doesn’t pay?

Popularity: 17% [?]

Jan

11

Why Our Money Doesn’t Make Any Sense

Filed Under capitalism, class, local, media, politics, questions | 2 Comments

I recently learned where our money comes from. The fog is lifting. Observations of the way things work aren’t quite so puzzling anymore. For example, I now have some understanding of:

Why inflation really occurs
Why banks were trading our debts (mortgages and home equity lines of credit) on the stock market
Why the banks are pushing second/third/fourth/infinite mortgages like a dealer pushes dope
Why a year ago my mortgage broker sent me a package explaining why it was foolish to pay off one’s house loan
Why the US is increasingly in debt - and to whom!
Who the most powerful people in the world are
Why the American Revolution happened, according to Ben Franklin

I’m learning about economics as part of my participation in the The Real Wealth of Portland. One of the people involved, Alan, is a filmmaker who has been studying the Federal Reserve system for several years. Several months ago he told me about this 47 minute animated video (see below) by Paul Grignon, which gives a clear and concise overview of how money actually works in the world today. Most people - including very educated, intelligent, opinionated, and activist oriented people - have no idea. Do you?

He’s working with others to start a community credit program here in Portland. After watching the video, I have to say it seems like one of the most rational things in the world to do. The “real wealth” is the resources of you and me - all of us! - not in the IOUs our banks hold. One of the questions the film had me asking myself was: if there were no money, what skills and services would I, Hafidha, be able to barter for the goods and services that I needed?

What about you?

*Note: The quote attributed to Woodrow Wilson at the end is not entirely accurate. While he did say some of the things in that quote, they were not necessarily all said in that order. The Legal Husband (LH) checked on that. I don’t think this detracts from the efficacy of the video’s overview of the monetary system.

Popularity: 29% [?]