Motley Moose – Archive

September 9th was the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA.

Vice President Joe Biden, who as a United States Senator was one of the original sponsors of the law (and who has been a strong proponent of its reauthorization and expansion), spoke about the anniversary.

Today, standing in front of the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives, Vice President Biden reflected on how far we’ve come in our ability — and willingness — to address domestic violence:

   Even just 20 years ago, few people wanted to talk about violence against women as a national epidemic, let alone something to do something about. No one even back then denied that kicking your wife in the stomach, or smashing her in the face, or pushing her down the stairs in public was repugnant. But our society basically turned a blind eye. And hardly anyone ever intervened, directly intervened — other than my father and a few other people I knew.

   And no one — virtually no one called it a crime. It was a family affair. It was a family affair. Laws — state laws when we attempted at a state or a federal level to design laws to prevent actions that were said that we now are celebrating, we were told, I was told, many of us were told that it would cause the disintegration of the family. That was the phrase used. It would cause the disintegration of the family.

“This was the ugliest form of violence that exists,” he said, and though many wanted to see these crimes remain hidden in the shadows, the Vice President was committed to bringing them out into the light. “We had to let the nation know,” he said, “because I was absolutely convinced — and remain absolutely convinced — in the basic decency of the American people, and that if they knew, they would begin to demand change.”[…]

Though we’ve come a long way as a society, the Vice President made it clear that much work remains:

   We have so much more to do, because there’s still sex bias that remains in the American criminal justice system in dealing with rape — stereotypes like she deserved it, she wore a short skirt still taint prosecutions for rape and domestic violence. We’re not going to succeed until America embraces the notion — my father’s notion — that under no circumstance does a man ever have a right to raise a hand to a woman other than in self-defense — under no circumstance; that no means no, whether it’s in a bedroom, or on the street, on in the back of a car — no means no.  Rape is rape — no exceptions.

   Until we reach that point, we are not going to succeed.  But I believe that we can get to that point.  It’s still imperfect, but the change is real that’s happening.  

To pursue that progress, the Vice President announced that he will hold a Summit on Civil Rights and Equal Protection for Women in order to expand civil rights remedies in the law — because, as he said, “You can’t talk about human rights and human dignity without talking about the right of every woman on the planet to be free from violence and free from fear.”  

From the White House:

– FACT SHEET: Standing Up for Women’s Civil Rights, 20 Years After VAWA

“The original law had three simple goals: make streets safer for women; make homes safer for women; and protect women’s civil rights.” – Senator Biden, 1990

“In its totality, the Violence Against Women Act was the first federal law that directly held violence against women as a violation of basic civil rights and fundamental human dignity.” -Vice President Biden, 2013

Nearly 20 years ago, the Vice President first brought to national attention the need to end domestic violence and sexual assault by championing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  Today, recognizing the 20th Anniversary of VAWA, the Vice President is taking two significant actions as part of the Administration’s ongoing commitment to put an end to this senseless violence.

First, the Vice President is announcing a Summit on Civil Rights and Equal Protection for Women, which will bring together legal scholars, state and local prosecutors, and the Department of Justice to find a way to let survivors sue their abusers in federal court-which VAWA allowed but the Supreme Court rejected.

Second, the Vice President’s office is releasing a comprehensive report detailing how far we’ve come since VAWA first passed while noting there are many challenges ahead.  

Twenty years after VAWA first became law, it has helped change a prevailing culture from a refusal to intervene to a responsibility to act – where violence against women is no longer accepted as a societal secret and where we all understand that one case is too many.  There are still many challenges to overcome, and this week’s anniversary is a reminder of the important work ahead.

– Presidential Proclamation:

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

– – – – – – –

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Twenty years ago, our Nation came together to declare our commitment to end violence against women. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), written by then United States Senator Joe Biden and signed into law on September 13, 1994, changed the way our country responds to domestic abuse and sexual assault. At a time when many considered domestic abuse to be a private family matter and victims were left to suffer in silence, this law enshrined a simple promise: every American should be able to pursue her or his own measure of happiness free from the fear of harm. On the anniversary of this landmark legislation, we rededicate ourselves to strengthening the protections it first codified, and we reaffirm the basic human right to be free from violence and abuse.

The Violence Against Women Act created a vital network of services for victims. It expanded the number of shelters and rape crisis centers across America and established a national hotline. The law improved our criminal justice system and provided specialized training to law enforcement, helping them better understand the unique challenges victims face. It spurred new State laws and protections and changed the way people think about domestic abuse; today, more women are empowered to speak out, and more girls grow up aware of their right to be free from abuse.

Last year, I was proud to renew our pledge to our mothers and daughters by reauthorizing VAWA and extending its protections — because no matter where you live or who you love, everybody deserves security, justice, and dignity. These new protections make Native American communities safer and more secure and help ensure victims do not face discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity when they seek assistance. They provide our law enforcement officials with better tools to investigate rape and increase access to housing so no woman has to choose between a violent home and no home at all. And my Administration continues to build on the foundation of this legislation, launching new initiatives to reduce teen dating violence and to combat sexual assault on college campuses.

VAWA has provided hope, safety, and a new chance at life for women and children across our Nation. With advocates, law enforcement officers, and courageous women who have shared their stories joined in common purpose, our country has changed its culture; we have made clear to victims that they are not alone and reduced the incidence of domestic violence. But we still have more work to do. Too many women continue to live in fear in their own homes, too many victims still know the pain of abuse, and too many families have had to mourn the loss of their loved ones. It has to end — because even one is too many. For as long as it takes, my Administration will keep pushing to make progress on our military bases, in our homes, at schools, and across our country.

Two decades later, a tireless effort has yielded a better, stronger Nation. And on the anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, we continue to work toward a more perfect society, where the dreams of our mothers and daughters are not limited by fear and where every person can feel safe.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the Twentieth Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act. I call upon men and women of all ages, communities, organizations, and all levels of government, to work in collaboration to end violence against women.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.

BARACK OBAMA

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”.

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – an exhibition entitled Chivalry in the Middle Ages is at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles through November 30th.

AN EXCELLENT meet-up took place yesterday in suburban Boston hosted by Cheers & Jeers – with around 25 attendees, nice birthday wishes given to me and a chance to welcome a woman who has recently relocated to New England. Unseasonably hot (how the hell did we get September weather in August, and August weather in September, anyway?) yet a great time had-by-all. Here is a brief photo diary – there may possibly be another in the very-near-future …. Navajo insisted upon this (and we were not about to tempt fate).  

LEGAL NOTES – due to clogged courthouses, the nation of Trinidad & Tobago seeks to join other small Caribbean nations in abolishing (or restricting) trial-by-jury.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Tucker the Cat – whose medical conditions (a sad face/sensitive skin, due to genetic abnormalities) were too much for her family to care for … but now adopted.

IN A WORRYING SIGN the government of Japan threatens to upset relations with China and South Korea by embracing its right-wing flank – which seeks to retract a 1993 apology for the use of ‘comfort women’ during WW-II, among other things.

FOR THE FIRST TIME the leader of the EU’s European Council in Brussels will be an eastern European, Donald Tusk – the prime minister of Poland since 2007.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Sally the Cat – an Australian hero kitteh who jumped on a man and screamed at him … alerting him to a fire that consumed nearly 80% of his home.

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

THIS PAST WEEK saw the death of my Aunt Kay – a few weeks short of age 92. She lived well and died after a short illness so it was not a dirge; people were remarkably composed (as we had expected it).

But I did like one story told: her daughter called her to come downstairs for dinner a few years back, which she did .. then went back for a few minutes. “Mom, was anything wrong?” Mary Lou asked. But like a woman of her generation she replied, “No, I just forgot to put on my earrings”. For a mid-week dinner of leftovers.

DIRECT DESCENDANTS? – musician Buddy Holly – as well as the 20-year-old Georgia college student Daniel Ashley Pierce – whose family tried an anti-gay ‘intervention’ recently.

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week ……………………. while Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey were more famous, another female singer of the Blues Era of the 1920’s was Ida Cox – whose career lasted until the 1940’s, leading Paramount Records to to declare her to be the “Uncrowned Queen of the Blues”. And unlike many of her contemporaries: she was in charge of much of her own career and material.

Born as Ida Prather in Toccoa, Georgia in 1896 (the daughter of sharecroppers) she began singing in church before leaving at age 14 to sing in vaudeville shows. Making a name for herself, she eventually joined the Rabbit Foot Minstrels – whose success had helped Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey before. While life on this circuit was not easy for its performers, Ida Cox became well-known enough to escape it in the 1920’s.

She was married three times, first in 1916 to trumpeter Adler Cox, who died during World War I. The second time (briefly) was to Eugene Williams, with whom Cox had her only child. In 1927 she married Jesse Crump – a pianist (ten years her junior) who helped manage her career before they split during the late 1930’s.

It was the success in 1920 of Mamie Smith’s Crazy Blues – part of the National Recording Registry – that opened-the-door to the Blues Era. Ida Cox performed with Jelly Roll Morton before receiving her own recording contract in 1923 at the age of twenty-seven: where she recorded a total of 78 singles for Paramount Records before the decade was out.

Ida Cox had several noteworthy distinctions as a female black performer: (a) most others sang songs written by men: she wrote (or co-wrote) much of her own material, adding a woman’s touch to her material, (b) she often used as a pianist/bandleader Lovie Austin – unusually, a female instrumental accompanist to another female performer, (c) she managed or co-managed her own career and (d) her songs touched on themes of female independence, feminism, unemployment during the Depression, death and sexuality … rarely explored in detail like she did.

As the Blues Decade began to wane with the onset of the Depression, she and Jesse Crump founded a travelling tent show revue named Raisin’ Cain – which performed at Harlem’s Apollo Theater at a time when other blues singers faltered. Her troupe was eventually re-named the Darktown Scandals which had an interesting sidenote: a young tapdancer in the troupe was Earl Palmer – a future Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member as a session drummer.

In 1939, she had a chance to perform at the concert that John Hammond arranged at Carnegie Hall entitled From Spirituals to Swing – a tribute show to Bessie Smith who had died a year earlier – and the success of the soundtrack album helped Ida Cox gain new audiences.

One tune of hers that became noted (and which she sang at that concert) was “Fore Day Creep” – about adultery ‘before day(light)’ – that seems to be a (female) mirror-image of the song by Blind Joe Reynolds entitled Outside Woman Blues – which the supergroup Cream popularized in 1967. Over the years, Ida Cox’s song title morphed into “Four Day Creep” – and which she was credited for when it was performed on the landmark live album by Humble Pie in 1971, yet which sounds nothing like how Ida Cox performed it at this link herself.

She performed with many jazz performers (such as Lionel Hampton and Charlie Christian) and big bands into the 1940’s. All along, Ida Cox’s vocal range was limited (not much more than an octave) yet her phrasing was what won over audiences, as well her persona: often appearing in a tiara, cape and with a rhinestone wand.

Her career ended when she suffered a stroke on-stage in Buffalo, New York in 1945, and she retired to her home in Knoxville, Tennessee with her daughter. Yet in 1959, she was sought out once again (twenty years later) by John Hammond: this time with an ad in Variety Magazine. Hammond persuaded her to make one final recording, which was released in 1961. And while critics noted her voice had suffered (not only due to the stroke but by turning age 65) they did praise her delivery, making Blues for Rampart Street a success … of course, having musicians such as Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge helped.

Ida Cox suffered another stroke in 1965, and died in 1967 at the age of seventy-one.

While Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues is her best-known tune (and at this link you can hear her final 1961 rendition, with a cleaner sound and a mature voice) – I am also partial to a song she and her husband wrote, Last Mile Blues from 1940 – a look at capital punishment, and while lynchings were still going on. And below you can listen to it.

New Moosings —> Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania (Part Deux): Thursday, Sept. 11

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

In lieu of daily check-ins, which have gone on hiatus, Welcomings diaries will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning) and then, if necessary due to a large number of comments, again on Wednesday or Thursday to close out the week. To find the diaries, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

…

The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the Vice President discusses our continued economic recovery, with 10 million private sector jobs created over 54 straight months of job creation. Yet even with this good news, too many Americans are still not seeing the effects of our recovery.

As the Vice President explains, there’s more that can be done to continue to bolster our economy and ensure that middle class families benefit from the growth they helped create, including closing tax loopholes, expanding education opportunities, and raising the minimum wage.

Transcript: Weekly Address: Time to Give the Middle Class a Chance

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Joe Biden, I’m filling in for President Obama, while he addresses the NATO summit in Wales.

When the President and I took office in January of 2009, this nation was in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the great depression. Our economy had plummeted at a rate of 8% in a single quarter – part of the fastest economic decline any time in the last half century. Millions of families were falling underwater on their homes and threatened with foreclosure. The iconic American automobile industry was under siege.

But yesterday’s jobs report was another reminder of how far we’ve come. We’ve had 54 straight months of job creation. And that’s the longest streak of uninterrupted job growth in the United States’ history.

We’ve gone from losing 9 million jobs during the financial crisis to creating 10 million jobs. We’ve reduced the unemployment rate from 10% in October of 2009 to 6.1% today. And for the first time since the 1990s, American manufacturing is steadily adding jobs – over 700,000 since 2010. And surveys of both American and foreign business leaders confirm that America once again is viewed as the best place in the world to build and invest.

That’s all good news. But an awful lot of middle class Americans are still not feeling the effects of this recovery. Since the year 2000, Gross Domestic Product – our GDP – has risen by 25%. And productivity in America is up by 30%. But middle class wages during that same time period have gone up by only fourteen cents.

Folks, it’s long past time to cut the middle class back into the deal, so they can benefit from the economic growth they helped create. Folks, there used to be a bargain in this country supported by Democrats and Republicans, business and labor. The bargain was simple. If an employee contributed to the growth and profitability of the company, they got to share in the profits and the benefits as well. That’s what built the middle class. It’s time to restore the bargain, to deal the middle class back in. Because, folks, when the middle class does well, everybody does well – the wealthy get wealthier and the poor have a way up.

You know, the middle class is not a number. It’s a value set. It means being able to own your home; raise your children in a safe neighborhood; send them to a good school where if they do well they can qualify to go to college and if they get accepted you’d be able to find a way to be able to send them to college. And in the meantime, if your parents need help, being able to take care of them, and hope to put aside enough money so that your children will not have to take care of you.

That’s the American dream. That’s what this country was built on. And that’s what we’re determined to restore.

In order to do that, it’s time to have a fair tax structure, one that values paychecks as much as unearned income and inherited wealth, to take some of the burden off of the middle class. It’s time to close tax loopholes so we can reduce the deficit, and invest in rebuilding America – our bridges, our ports, our highways, rails, providing good jobs.

With corporate profits at near record highs, we should encourage corporations to invest more in research and development and the salaries of their employees. It’s time for us to invest in educational opportunity to guarantee that we have the most highly skilled workforce in the world, for 6 out of every 10 jobs in the near term is going to require some education beyond high school. Folks, it’s long past due to increase the minimum wage that will lift millions of hardworking families out of poverty and in the process produce a ripple effect that boosts wages for the middle class and spurs economic growth for the United States of America. Economists acknowledge that if we do these and other things, wages will go up and we’ll increase the Gross Domestic Product of the United States.

My fellow Americans, we know how to do this. We’ve done it before. It’s the way we used to do business and we can do it that way again. All the middle class in this country want is a chance. No guarantee, just a chance.

Americans want to work. And when given a fair shot, the American worker has never, ever, ever, let his country down. Folks, it’s never a good bet to bet against the American people.

Thanks for listening.

May God bless you, and may God protect our troops.

Bolding added.

~

Found on the Internets …

Judge blocks early voting cuts in Ohio

A federal judge has blocked Ohio’s cuts to early voting and its elimination of same-day voter registration-a major voting rights victory in the nation’s ultimate presidential battleground state.

Judge Peter Economus ruled Thursday that the cuts violated the Voting Rights Act’s ban on racial discrimination in voting, as well as the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. He issued an injunction barring them from going into effect before the November election, and directed Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to add a second Sunday of early voting.[…]

Voting rights advocates cheered.

“This ruling will safeguard the vote for thousands of Ohioans during the midterm election,” said Dale Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, which brought the case. “If these cuts had been allowed to remain in place, many voters would have lost a critical opportunity to participate in our democratic process this November. This is a huge victory for Ohio voters and for all those who believe in protecting the integrity of our elections.”

“Today’s outcome represents a milestone in our effort to continue to protect voting rights even after the Supreme Court’s deeply misguided decision in Shelby County,” said Attorney General Eric Holder, during a speech about the Justice Department’s investigation into the Ferguson, Missouri police department. The Justice Department had filed a supporting brief in the Ohio challenge.

Of course, Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State plans to appeal. We outnumber them and the only hope they have to remain in power is to disenfranchise us. Another reminder of why the presidency — and the Senate, where judicial nominations are confirmed — are so important.  

Judge Finds BP Was ‘Reckless’ And Grossly Negligent In 2010 Deepwater Horizon Spill

A federal judge ruled Thursday that BP was grossly negligent in helping cause the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, and that the oil company is liable for 67 percent of the blame.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said in his decision that BP’s conduct was “reckless,” while the conduct of Halliburton and Transocean – the other two companies involved in the spill – was “negligent.” While BP was 67 percent responsible for the spill, Transocean, an offshore drilling company that owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, was 30 percent responsible, and Halliburton, the contracting company that was responsible for cementing the Macondo well, was only 3 percent responsible. […]

The ruling opens BP up to a fine of $18 billion – the maxiumum penalty under the Clean Water Act – which the company could be charged if Judge Barbier later rules that, as U.S. prosecutors say, the disaster spilled more than 4 million gallons into the Gulf. BP told the Wall Street Journal that it plans to appeal the decision.

The wheels of justice spin slowly but with good government and strong laws, people can often prevail in the courts.

More …

Health Law Gets Reprieve As Appeals Court Agrees To Rehear Key Case

The controversial federal court decision that threatened the future of the Affordable Care Act is no more.

The full District of Columbia Court of Appeals Thursday agreed to rehear Halbig v. Burwell, a case charging that the federal government lacks the authority to provide consumers tax credits in health insurance exchanges not run by states.

The order technically cancels the three-judge ruling from July that found for the plaintiffs. That ruling, if upheld, could jeopardize the entire structure of the Affordable Care Act by making insurance unaffordable for millions of consumers in the 36 states where the federal government operates the exchange.

The full court, with its ideological makeup, is unlikely to rule in favor of Halbig. The most important part of the set aside of the ruling is this:

For the time being, the order also eliminates the so-called circuit split that could prompt the Supreme Court to take up the case. The same day the panel from the Washington, D.C., circuit had decided that tax credits are not allowed in federal exchanges, a three-judge panel from the 4th Circuit in Richmond, Va., decided exactly the opposite.

But now that there are no appeals courts in technical disagreement, “it’s much less likely the Supreme Court will take it,” said Ian Millhiser of the Center for American Progress.

Scottie Thomaston at EOT: Seventh Circuit rules marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin are unconstitutional

In an opinion by Judge Richard Posner, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in Wolf v. Walker and Baskin v. Bogan that same-sex marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana are unconstitutional.

Posner writes:

   To return to where we started in this opinion, more than unsupported conjecture that same-sex marriage will harm heterosexual marriage or children or any other valid and important interest of a state is necessary to justify discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As we have been at pains to explain, the grounds advanced by Indiana and Wisconsin for their discriminatory policies are not only conjectural; they are totally implausible.

Apparently Judge Posner added himself to the list of federal judges who found Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia mockworthy. Oops, it appears that he was already there:

Scalia and Posner, both appointed by Ronald Reagan, have been feuding for several years. In 2012, Posner wrote a lengthy piece in The New Republic attacking Scalia’s newly published book, arguing that the justice’s philosophy of “originalism” was a smokescreen for the goal of achieving conservative ideological outcomes.

Speaking of which, another reminder that Justice Scalia is often wrong but always unpleasant. Yesterday, a wrongfully convicted man was released from death row after DNA evidence exonerated him. Scalia used that case to make a point in 1994 that the death penalty was “exactly what was needed” for such a terrible crime:

The man, Henry Lee McCollum, was described by Justice Antonin Scalia in 1994 as an example of why the death penalty was justified.

That year, the Supreme Court declined to review the case. Scalia and Justice Harry Blackmun wrote rivaling dissenting opinions in Callins v. Collins stating their strong beliefs for and against the death penalty, respectively.

The “death of a convicted murderer by lethal injection,” Scalia wrote, “looks even better next to some of the other cases currently before us, which Justice Blackmun did not select as the vehicle for his announcement that the death penalty is always unconstitutional, for example, the case of the 11-year-old girl raped by four men and then killed by stuffing her panties down her throat. How enviable a quiet death by lethal injection compared with that!”

His comment is a call for revenge: that someone — anyone, apparently — must pay the ultimate price for the awful murder he describes. But what it missed is that to be murdered for a crime you did not commit simply to satisfy the blood lust of Antonin Scalia is just as awful, maybe more so because our jurists, unlike the murderer, are supposedly civilized. Oh, and this:

The New York Times reported that the two men, both African-Americans, were booked in 1983 despite physical evidence; McCollum eventually said he and his half brother gave false confessions after being coerced and threatened by the authorities, disavowing them during the trial.

That would surely never happen in post-racial America … except maybe every day.

Editor’s Note: Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House: President Obama Addresses the People of Estonia

At the Nordea Concert Hall in Tallinn, Estonia today, President Obama spoke to students, young professionals, and civic leaders about the enduring strength and promise of democracy. “I am honored to be the first President of the United States to deliver an address like this to the people of Estonia,” he said.

We’re stronger because we’re democracies.  We’re not afraid of free and fair elections, because true legitimacy can only come from one source — and that is the people. We’re not afraid of an independent judiciary, because no one is above the law.  We’re not afraid of a free press or vibrant debate or a strong civil society, because leaders must be held accountable. We’re not afraid to let our young people go online to learn and discover and organize, because we know that countries are more successful when citizens are free to think for themselves.

Transcript

Selected quotes:

[Your] dream of freedom endured through centuries of occupation and oppression.  It blossomed into independence, only to have it stolen by foreign pacts and secret protocols.  It survived the mass deportations that ripped parents from their children.  It was defended by Forest Brothers in their resistance and sustained by poets and authors who kept alive your languages and cultures.  And here in Estonia, it was a dream that found its most eloquent expression in your voices — on a grassy field not far from here, when Estonians found the courage to stand up against an empire and sing “land of my fathers, land that I love.”  And Heinz Valk, who is here today, spoke for the entire Singing Revolution when he said, “One day, no matter what, we will win!”  (Applause.)  

Today, people working to build their own democracies — from Kyiv to Tunis — look to you for inspiration.  Your experience cautions that progress is neither easy nor quick.   Here in the Baltics, after decades of authoritarian rule, the habits of democracy had to be learned.  The institutions of good governance had to be built.  Economies had to be reformed.  Foreign forces had to be removed from your territory.

And transitions of this magnitude are daunting for any nation.  But the Baltics show the world what’s possible when free peoples come together for the change that they seek.  And in that great contest of ideas — between freedom and authoritarianism, between liberty and oppression — your success proves, like that human chain 25 years ago, that our way will always be stronger.

We’re stronger because we’re democracies.  We’re not afraid of free and fair elections, because true legitimacy can only come from one source — and that is the people.  We’re not afraid of an independent judiciary, because no one is above the law.  We’re not afraid of a free press or vibrant debate or a strong civil society, because leaders must be held accountable.  We’re not afraid to let our young people go online to learn and discover and organize, because we know that countries are more successful when citizens are free to think for themselves.

We’re stronger because we embrace open economies.  Look at the evidence.  Here in Estonia, we see the success of free markets, integration with Europe, taking on tough reforms.  You’ve become one of the most wired countries on Earth — a global leader in e-government and high-tech start-ups.  The entrepreneurial spirit of the Estonian people has been unleashed, and your innovations, like Skype, are transforming the world.

And we’re stronger because we stand together.  This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Baltics in NATO.  A decade ago, skeptics wondered whether your countries were up to the task.  And today, they need only look at our training exercises, where our troops grow even stronger together, shoulder to shoulder.  They can look at Afghanistan, where our forces have sacrificed together to keep us safe — and where, in just three months, the largest operation in NATO history will come to an end, as planned.  There’s no doubt the Baltics have made our alliance stronger.

… as we gather here today, we know that this vision is threatened by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.  It is a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine — a sovereign and independent European nation.  It challenges that most basic of principles of our international system — that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun; that nations have the right to determine their own future.  It undermines an international order where the rights of peoples and nations are upheld and can’t simply be taken away by brute force.  This is what’s at stake in Ukraine.  This is why we stand with the people of Ukraine today.  (Applause.)

As a result of state-run propaganda, many Russians have become convinced that the actions taken by their government is strengthening Russia.  But reaching back to the days of the tsars — trying to reclaim lands “lost” in the 19th century — is surely not the way to secure Russia’s greatness in the 21st century.  (Applause.)  It only shows that unrestrained nationalism is the last refuge of those who cannot or will not deliver real progress and opportunity for their own people at home.

Let’s also be clear where we stand.  Just as we refused to accept smaller European nations being dominated by bigger neighbors in the last century, we reject any talk of spheres of influence today.  (Applause.)  And just as we never accepted the occupation and illegal annexation of the Baltic nations, we will not accept Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea or any part of Ukraine.  (Applause.)  

So this is a moment of testing.  The actions of the separatists in Ukraine and Russia evoke dark tactics from Europe’s past that ought to be consigned to a distant history. Masked men storming buildings.  Soldiers without flags slipping across the border.  Violence sending families fleeing and killing thousands, including nearly 300 innocent men, women and children from all across Europe and around the world when that airliner was shot out of the sky.  In the face of violence that seems intractable and suffering that is so senseless, it is easy to grow cynical, and I think tempting to give in to the notion that peace and security may be beyond our grasp.

But I say to all of you here today, especially the young people, do not give into that cynicism.  Do not lose the idealism and optimism that is the root of all great change.  (Applause.)  Don’t ever lose the faith that says, if we want it, if we are willing to work for it, if we stand together, the future can be different; tomorrow can be better.  After all, the only reason we’re here today in a free and democratic Estonia is because the Estonian people never gave up.

… freedom will win — not because it’s inevitable, not because it is ordained, but because these basic human yearnings for dignity and justice and democracy do not go away.  They can be suppressed.  At times, they can be silenced, but they burn in every human heart in a place where no regime could ever reach, a light that no army can ever extinguish.  And so long as free peoples summon the confidence and the courage and the will to defend the values that we cherish, then freedom will always be stronger and our ideas will always prevail no matter what.

(I wrote this yesterday and sharing it here today) I’ve never been good with dates, remembering birthdays or anniversaries. But September 3rd is a date I will always pause and remember.

Thirty years ago today, I got into the cab of a big U-haul truck, with my car in tow and left Key West and moved to Orlando. It was 1984. My friend Buddha sat shotgun. He had helped me load the truck in 90 degree weather and he took time off work to drive up to Orlando with me. I was moving because my partner, Sydney was sick, he had flown up to Princeton University because his family was up there and his mother worked at the hospital. The plan was for him to return and join me in Orlando, where I could care for him in a more affordable place, with better health care options than were offered in the Keys.

We arrived in Orlando and unpacked some of my stuff, I took Buddha to dinner and we stopped for a drink at a club where we both knew people. One of our friends grabbed Buddha and pulled him aside, and whispered something in Buddha’s ear. I can still see his face. Sydney had died.

We went back to where I was staying and walked around Lake Eola in tears. The truck wasn’t even unloaded. Sydney’s illness had taken him in a matter of weeks, suddenly everything changed. Everything changed.

He was one of the first people to die of AIDS. The uncertainty and isolation at the time was unbearable. Following that day nearly everyone I knew was taken from me, one at a time, over and over again until the pain just glossed over all emotion. I waited for my turn.

Well… I am still here. It hasn’t been without a struggle however. Every day is a challenge. Every day is a blessing. There isn’t a day I don’t look around, smile at the sunrise, feel my dog Frank nudge my hand looking for attention, or see some colors in the clouds I never noticed before.

So today I will look back fondly on all those wonderful days before September 3rd, 1984, remembering the smiles of Sydney and all my friends. We were all so happy, so carefree, so full of life! And it’s because of them, because of their love that I’m still here. I’m just not ready to let that all go.

Every day is a blessing.

Wanted to post something with some happy, peaceful music — and of course to say something about the AIDS Walk. But mostly I wanted to post a meta-free place where people can take a deep breath & listen to some happy, peaceful tunes.

It is September, though, and the Walk is only 6 weeks away, so if you can, please donate, even $5, to my AIDS Walk Austin page

So yesterday, this song popped into my head. I haven’t heard it in years, but I took it as a sign

AIDS Walk Austin is about getting together to help people. Research is great – I saw a story last week about another possible breakthrough. But what AIDS Walk Austin does is raise money to help people who are sick, right now. Food bank, discounted meds, specialized dental services – these are all things that people affected by HIV & AIDS need & what the organizations benefitting from the Walk do.

There has been a lot of yelling & fighting lately. I just want the answer to one question:

One place where there is love is at the Wright House, one of the beneficiaries. They provide wellness services, holistic medicine, transportation services and other ways of helping people with HIV& AIDS. You can help them so this by donating: my AIDS Walk Austin page

and this song is perhaps even more relevant today than when it was released:

People affected by HIV & AIDS need specialized dental services. ASA’s Jack Sansing Dental Clinic provides routine and emergency dental care for people living with HIV and AIDS. When you donate, you make this possible.

And here’s a song about the really important things in life ( I picked a “lyrics” version instead of a performance version because I like the words, but they are great performers, you should check them out) One of the things he sings about is a chance to give back:

and here’s me a couple of years ago, talking about why I’ve done this walk every year:

And because no diary of mine would be complete without hearing from my boys, here’s the last word – Love & Peace:

Post your favorite peace & love themed music. And once again, please donate at my AIDS Walk Austin page