Motley Moose – Archive

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 President described the historic understanding the United States — with our allies and partners — reached with Iran, which, if fully implemented, will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and will make our country, our allies, and our world safer. The deal, announced on Thursday, meets our core objectives of cutting off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon.

It is both comprehensive and long-term, and includes robust and intrusive inspections of the country’s nuclear program. The President reiterated that the deal is not yet done — and if there is backsliding from Iran in the months to come, there will be no deal. He echoed his belief that a diplomatic resolution is by far the best option, and promised to continue to fully brief Congress and the American people on the substance and progress of the negotiations in the months to come.

Happy Solstice, everyone. At my house we celebrate this day with the mantra, “May you walk in peace and love.”

I work in non-profit. In short, I translate perspectives from people living in a war-addled country for a western ear. An American ear.

As I watch the media whip into a froth about Iraq, I can’t help but notice that our perceptions about nation building are similar to our more misguided ideas about humanitarian aid. They both start by thinking that “they” are a problem that “we” can solve. Or control.

(An old diary from GOS)

From a distance

The world looks blue and green

And the snow capped mountain is white

From a distance

The ocean meets the stream

And the eagle takes to flight

From a distance

There is harmony

And it echoes through the land

It’s the voice of hope

It’s the voice of peace

It’s the voice of every man

From a distance

We all have enough

And no one is in need

And there are no guns,

No bombs

       and no disease,

No hungry mouths to feed

From a distance

We are instruments

Marching in a common band

Playing songs of hope

Playing songs of peace

They are the songs of every man

God is watching us

God is watching us

God is watching us

From a distance

From a distance

You look like my friend

Even though we are at war

From a distance

I just cannot comprehend

What all this fighting is for

From a distance

There is harmony

And it echoes through the land

And it’s the hope of hopes

It’s the love of loves

It’s the heart of every man

God is watching us

God is watching us

God is watching us

From a distance

Eighteenth-century Dresden was one of the loveliest cities in Europe. The capital of Saxony since the Middle Ages, under the rule of Prince-Elector Augustus the Strong (who ruled 1694-1733) Dresden was a leading center of art, culture and technology. All of these came together in some surpassingly lovely architecture, including a large Lutheran church in central Dresden’s Neumarktplatz (New Market Square).

The Dresdner Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) was begun in 1726 and completed in 1743; it represents in stone something akin to what the music of J.S. Bach does in notes and staves: the apotheosis of the German Late Baroque style. (It is poetically appropriate that Bach, on a visit to Dresden in 1736, gave a recital on the Frauenkirche’s superb Silbermann organ.)

The church’s most distinctive feature was its unconventional 96 m-high dome, called die Steinerne Glocke or “Stone Bell”. An engineering feat comparable to Michelangelo’s dome for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the Frauenkirche’s 12,000-ton sandstone dome stood high resting on eight slender supports. Despite initial doubts, the dome proved to be extremely stable. Witnesses in 1760 said that the dome had been hit by more than 100 cannonballs fired by the Prussian army led by Friedrich II during the Seven Years’ War. The projectiles bounced off and the church survived.

Hiroshima Peace Park, no known attribution. Because we all probably could use a bit more, or a lot more, peace.

Tonight’s title involves the opening photo and last link.  I normally host this on Sunday evenings at the GOS, and am experimenting with a cross-post right now.

Opening Commentary by Denise Oliver Velez

Black Kos – Young Martin Luther King, Jr.

Oh, I know we celebrate his birthday later on this month, but I wanted to think about him as a young child, and as a young man before he went on to become an icon of the civil rights movement.  

He was not so very different from many young black men born into a black middle class family.

Like many members of the black middle class his father, Michael was a preacher.

Like many members of the black middle class his mama was a teacher.

Like many members of the black middle class, the family roots were not far removed from poverty.

He was really born with the name Michael King Jr. His father changed his own name and his sons’ in 1939 after a trip to Germany-to honor Martin Luther.

When I read about his childhood I am reminded that being middle class-and black-was not a protection from racism.

It still isn’t.  

Crossposted with permission from Blue Pagans

By Rita Moran

This evening, after a great supper at the Mercury Cafe (witchy, hippy hangout, great food, well worth visiting when you’re next in Denver), I had the privilege of attended a Circle for Peace in Downtown Denver.

As someone far more used to holding ritual surrounded by trees, I’ll admit I had a few misgivings. How could we create the same feeling of closeness to Nature in a downtown parking lot? No problem. If the people involved truly believe in Peace, and in each other….if those in the circle connect with Nature as it exists in that parking lot, the circle just might work.

And so it did.