Returning to Friday (Five) the 13th in MARCH!!

Almost three months since I last blogged, I am going to participate in today's RevGalBlogPals' Friday Five before going on a short (6 days) trip to Washington State. So here it is:

Woo hoo!  It’s not only Random Friday Five time, but it is also Friday the 13th.  And also Lent.  And, in my neighborhood, the snow is starting to melt and I can see a patch of grass in my front yard.  Oh my,  what could be more wonderful?  (Okay, a lot of things, I know.  At least little things make me happy.)
So, without further ado, I present you F13RFF!

1.  What have you got going on today?
In two hours, Chuck and I are driving to San Antonio to go on a direct flight on Alaska Airlines to Seattle. We'll get there tonight, thankfully met by our daughter AE. We planned this quick trip during Chuck's spring break from teaching chemistry at the local community college, so we could visit his younger brother Tom and wife Chris, who is under hospice care for rampant breast cancer.

2.  What about a prayer request, how can we pray for you today?
Please prayer for Chris and Tom, but now I also add Dennis and Terry. Terry texted me yesterday about her husband Dennis going back into the hospital with a severe infection, probably due to sores on his feet which brought sepsis to his artificial knee. This is what he went through last year, too. Today he will have surgery where they might even replace his knee replacement. I am glad we'll arrive tonight.
 
3.  What makes you curious?
Right now I am very curious about the changes in U.S. culture in all aspects as related by Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, which is a book I continue to cite in classes and to friends. His latest book was just published and addresses what is affecting our children in Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis and I am reading it now. It connects in places with the new book for the Wisdom Class: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, even though the authors are focusing on different viewpoints
of U.S. society.

4.  If you got stuck in an elevator for three hours, (if that is too scary, locked in a room or stuck in a traffic jam), and could magically have any book or activity appear in a pouf to you to while away the time, what would it be?
 I guess I would like my smart phone or Ipad to magically appear, because I could contact people, see the news, and access a book! Otherwise, I would probably pray--a "good" chance to do contemplative prayer.

5.  Use these words in a sentence.   Thirteen, lampshade, [a historical person, like Cotton Mather or Judy Garland} basket, hedgehog, and daffodils.
Saint Francis watched a hedgehog sniff the basket of thirteen daffodils, while the lampshade was non-existent.

 As always, have fun, be fabulous, and let us know you played in the comments, and take care!

Do Your Little Bit

Found on Facebook from Kissing Fish

And I just learned about and ordered the book Kissing Fish: Christianity for People Who Don't Like Christianity by the same person, Roger Woolsey. The Kindle edition only costs $3.03!

Imagine for 1 Minute

Wealth Inequality in America

My daughter KA shared this on Facebook, and I keep thinking about it. Please watch:. Then you can tell me what you think.

After Christmas

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.

 

~~Howard Thurman

• The Mood of Christmas

From Inward/Outward. Subscribe here. 

1/10,000th of a Second!

1/10,000 of a second 

When I visited Jan at Happening Here I found this great video of a wombat that is a flash animation of the world and how "we have to get along" with all our neighbors. I went to the website this was from Global Mind Shift and found the link to the above little animated video about time. Since I've been teaching Sunday School lessons about God, cosmos, and evolution again, this quickie trip through time really hit me. So go up and click on the clock and you can see it, too!

And if you go and explore the website, you'll find many more little videos under the category of Memes.

Quotes on Equality

Diane Vogel Ferri compiled these quotes on her blog Co Exist.

Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths. They are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes. And whether we know it, or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, out friends, and our neighbors. Being gay is not a western invention. It is a human reality.

Hilary Clinton

The truth is that male religious figures have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have for their own selfish ends overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuous choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world.

Jimmy Carter

Glass Recycling Here!

Today is Glass Recycling Day in Corpus Christi, TX--through efforts of private citizens. Our city recycling service does a pick-up every two weeks, but does not take glass. A local company plans to incorporate the glass into road composites for paving in Corpus Christi. I'm so glad, because my husband always tells me that glass recycling is not cost effective. Even so, it is environmentally effective!

These community-minded volunteers collect the glass quarterly and today is the day! I did not bring my glass to be collected three months ago, because I was still inhibited by my shoulder recovery. I have quite a bit to take today. Yay!

Universal Golden Rule

Baha’i Faith

Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.
Baha'u'llah, Gleanings

Buddhism

Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.
The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.18

Christianity

In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
Jesus, Matthew 7:12

Confucianism

One word which sums up the basis of all good conduct....loving-kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.
Confucius, Analects 15.23

Hinduism

This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.

Mahabharata 5:1517

Islam

Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.

The Prophet Muhammad, Hadith

Jainism

One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.

Mahavira, Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

Judaism

What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.

Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath 31a

Native Spirituality

We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive.

Chief Dan George

Sikhism
I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.

Guru Granth Sahib, p.1299

Taoism

Regard your neighbour's gain as your own gain and your neighbour's loss as your own loss.

Lao Tzu, T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien,

213-218

Unitarianism

We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Unitarian principle

Zoroastrianism
Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.

Shayast-na-Shayast 13.29

This original English version was prepared by Paul McKenna and found here.

Movie: The Dark Side of Chocolate

Smally daily difference

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily difference we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Marion Wright Edelman

To receive such quotations every day, subscribe to Word for the Day at Gratefulness.org.

I know these words apply to social justice, but right now they connect me to all my reading and thinking about fair trade, which is also social justice. My little effort at only buying Fair Trade chocolate bars has made a big impact on me, but it seems insignificant. But I'm sticking with this.

BLOG ACTION DAY!

Pause and think about that for a moment!

Today is Blog Action Day concerning our need and access to WATER around the world.

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

• Every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.
• 890 million people lack access to safe water.
• 2.5 billion people don’t have a toilet.
• $25 brings one person clean water for life.
• Over 200 million hours of labor each day are consumed each day to collect water.
• The majority of the world’s illness is caused by fecal matter.
• More people on earth have cell phones than toilets.

For more information about FACTS about the water crisis go here.

Blog Action Day 2010

Blog Action Day is October 15, 2010

This day is to unite the world's bloggers in posting
about the need for clean water throughout the world.

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week.
2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.
3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.
4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.
5. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

While these facts may be grim, there is hope for real solutions as more and more people around the world are waking up to the clean water crisis. Earlier this year, the UN declared access to clean water a human right and groups like charity: water and Water.org continue to work tirelessly to bring water access to the developing world.

And now, on October 15th we all have a chance to help shed more light on water issues around the world. Take a moment to make sure to register your blog and grab an action widget, and get ready for an amazing day of blog activism.

World Habitat Day!

The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October
as annual World Habitat Day.
World Habitat Day 2010 will be held on October 4.

My husband CB has volunteered for our local Habitat for Humanity chapter in Corpus Christi since 2006. They build about four houses from scratch a year. He is helped to build the 16th and 17th houses since he began helping. He works four days every week, even in the heat and humidity rampant in south TX. Thus, we heartily support Habitat for Humanity efforts in the USA and around the world!

Here is more info about today's World Habitat Day:

"On Oct. 4, 2010, in recognition of World Habitat Day, Habitat for Humanity will raise awareness of the need for improved shelter and highlight Habitat’s priorities: the worldwide connection between human health and housing, and, in the United States, neighborhood revitalization. These themes echo the United Nations’ chosen theme for 2010 for events in the host city of Shanghai, China and the rest of the world: “Better City, Better Life.”

"Every week, more than a million people are born in, or move to, cities in the developing world. As a result, the urban population of developing countries will double from 2 billion to 4 billion in the next 30 years. (Kissick, et al: 2006)

By the year 2030, an additional 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need access to housing. This translates into a demand for 96,150 new affordable units every day and 4,000 every hour. (UN-HABITAT: 2005)

"Habitat for Humanity hopes that by raising awareness and advocating for universal decent housing we can dismantle and alter the systems that allow for poverty housing and make an affordable, decent place to live a reality for all."

For more information about World Habitat Day 2010, go here.

Fair Trade Chocolate

I have always loved chocolate, especially milk chocolate. Avoiding milk chocolate is one of the difficult things about being on a diet. However, now I am not sure that I like milk chocolate best of all, because I have tasted Fair Trade chocolate.

MJ brought me varieties of Fair Trade chocolate bars from the Whole Foods Market in San Antonio, since not much is available around Corpus Christi, TX. After eating Fair Trade milk chocolate, which has 40-45% cocoa in it, I find that I prefer it much more than the normal U.S. milk chocolate bar. I bought one (on impulse) and found it to be too sweet. Plus, such an average milk chocolate bar has only 10% cocoa and lots more sugar; no wonder I find it so much sweeter.

Since preparing for and participating in the Green Fair at First United Methodist Church this past Sunday, I have learned about the injustice and cruelty perpetrated in the production of cocoa/chocolate. An excellent source to learn about this is here. This site also has an extensive chart showing whether various chocolate companies use slave labor and/or have organic ingredients. Also the book Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off has extensive data and information about the history and current production of chocolate.

Here is a little bit of info about cocoa and slavery:

• West Africa collectively supplies nearly 70% of the world's cocoa AND the Ivory Coast produces nearly half of all all the world's cocoa.

• There are about 600,000 cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, with an estimated 15,000 children forced to work as slaves on these farms.

• It is estimated that 90% of cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast use child labor.

Since 90% of most U.S. candy purchases are impulse buys, we can affect the large chocolate companies by NOT buying the "slave chocolate" so readily.

We can write to the big chocolate companies and ask them to buy Fair Trade cocoa. (I just ordered some from Amazon.com here.) Tell them that you expect something to be done immediately to ensure that cocoa imported into the U.S. is not harvested by enslaved children.

• Hershey Foods Corporation, 100 Crystal A Drive, Hershey, PA 17033; (717) 534-6799--POST on their Facebook site.
  

• Mars., Inc., 6885 Elm Street, McLean, VA 22101; (703) 821-4900

• Nestle USA, (800) 225-2270
  

Fair Trade

I finished my school project board about fair trade for tomorrow's Green Fair at First United Methodist Church. I pasted info that I typed and wrappers from Fair Trade chocolate bars, tea and coffee on it.

A couple quotes I found from Clawson's book Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices:

"Researchers estimate that there are more slaves in the world today than there were during the four hundred years of the African slave trade during the colonial era. The current estimate stands at 27 million." (59)

"Candy companies rely on impulse buys for 90% of their sales. Altering this everyday action can send a huge message to the chocolate companies." (68)

"If we purchase items made by underpaid and abused workers, we participate in their exploitation." (133)

JUST a Girl!

Why Glenn Beck Hates. . . .

I really like the cover of the newest edition of Sojourners magazine. You can go here to read the article "Why Does Glenn Beck Hate Community Organizers?"

If you find the cover difficult to read, here are the answers to that question:

Why Glenn Beck Hates Community Organizers--

1. They give power to the people
2. They change the future
3. They help people stand together
4. They help churches work for justice
5. And they're making a difference

You can also sign up for Sojourners to send an email from you to tell Glenn Beck that you are a Social Justice Christian. I did!

The caption is "No Words"

The caption for this is "no words," which is how I've been feeling lately.

I hope I am not joining the ranks of former bloggers who just leave. Since vacation to Alaska, where I pre-posted, I have had little interest in blogging, not even putting pictures from the trip here. To capture my interest tonight, I thought I'd do one of those me-me-me bullet points of what is/is not going on lately.

• My mouth has mostly healed from my splat accident in Seattle two weeks ago. I have an annoying bump that still needs to heal inside of my mouth, which seems to be the remnant of the hole.

• I continue in my reading of mysteries checked out from our public library. I really like the authors recommended in the "Newsweek" editorial that I mentioned here. Denise Mina and Benjamin Black are my current favorites. I am able to find more books by Denise Mina at the local libraries. I really like the young journalist in Glasgow that Mina writes about; she is an interesting character from an Irish Catholic background but in Scotland.

• I am reading too much to be de-cluttering. It's more than likely a procrastination ploy. I am enjoying these last few weeks before all the classes and commitments start up again with the advent of Labor Day.

• A friend asked me to help at the Green Fair she organized for next Sunday at First United Methodist Church. I was excited about reading Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices by Julie Clawson, which prompted my interest in participating in the Green Fair--especially about fair trade items. Today I bought a cardboard project board, which I will be decorating with info this week.

• Among the interesting and disturbing topics I have learned about is the slavery and human trafficking involved in the farming and production of cocoa beans. I learned much more when I read Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off. The author dramatically quotes a young cocoa worker saying, "When people eat chocolate, they are eating my flesh." (134)

• Go here to see a chart that shows which chocolate companies have slave-free chocolate, as well as reading a well-researched articled about chocolate and its production.

• Oddly, both husband CB and I are called to show up for jury duty on the same date and time--next Monday, August 30 at 8 am.

• My friend Terry in Seattle will be 60 years old tomorrow. Happy Birthday to Terry! I will be 60 in two months.

• CB and I saw the movie "Inception" yesterday at a matinee. We really enjoyed it. I liked it better than CB, who said it got too complicated. I want to see it again to wait until after all the credits are run to see if the top stops spinning.

Sex Trade

An article on Human Trafficking brings my attention back to a movie we recently rented on Netflix: Trade starring Kevin Kline.


The only reason I ordered it was Kevin Kline, as we like his acting and acting choices.

The movie turned out to be eye-opening and emotional; it is truly a terrible story. A young Mexican gangster is trying to find his kidnapped 13-year old sister, eventually with the help of a police officer played by Kevin Kline. The movie is a must see, but not because it will make you feel good. It is as dark and disturbing a film as you will see and yet reveals an all too real evil in our world.

The above mentioned article states:

"The report (2010 Trafficking in Persons Report) also indicates that U.S. citizens are more likely to be victims of sexual trafficking, as opposed to labor trafficking. Of these, child victims are often runaways and homeless. A 2001 study from the University of Pennsylvania estimated that almost 300,000 U.S. children are at risk of being forced into the sex trade."

This article ends with:

More information on human trafficking is available at the following:

U.S. Dept. of State Office to Monitor & Combat Trafficking in Persons.

U.S. Dept. of Justice Child Exploitation & Obscenities Section.

“The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico”, Richard J. Estes and Neil Alan Weiner. University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work. 2001.

“Playground: The Child Sex Trade in America,” documentary directed by Libby Spears.

“Thoughts Upon Slavery,” John Wesley (1774).

"U.S. reports 'serious problem' with trafficking," (United Methodist News Service, June 24)

This is an important issue I know I need to learn more about. And pray about, especially with the help of the Ho'opono Cleansing Prayer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MomPriest wrote in the comments below:

"This is one of the biggest concerns with immigration legistlation. The desert of southern Arizona is littered with the remnants of this issue called, "rape trees" - literally trees where the woman (usually) was tied up and raped and left for dead, her clothes flung into the branches above. It's awful."

That brings it closer to home. Thanks, MomPriest for writing.