Blog Archives - Northern Overexposure

Wynne Wins

1/28/2013

Kathleen Wynne made history this weekend by becoming the first openly gay, woman premier of the province of Ontario. Ideologically, she is to the right of Mcguinty. The new legislature is set to begin on the 19th and she is in the process of appointing her cabinet.

There are clearly a lot of challenges facing the premier. The Drummond Report called for massive cutbacks in spending not seen since the Harris days in order to keep Ontario competitive. Already the Ontario government has changed some policies to social assistance and reduced some benefits such as the C- SUMB benefit. The LHINs continue to press for integration and a more cost effective health care system.

Added to these challenges, she is governing with a minority which makes decision making much more difficult and requires considerable collaboration skills.

The response from both the Conservatives and NDP has been muted aside from the perfunctory congratulations.

In one of her victory speeches, she called on parliament to be rid of its' rancor and viciousness pleading for more civility and constructive dialogue over differences. Of course every leader elected in a democracy for the last 300 - 400 years of Western styled democracy has pleaded for that. And, "working across the aisle", "coming together on those things that we can agree on" are as familiar as mom and apple pie in elections. Still a good reminder and at least setting a positive tone from the outset.

She was adamant that Ontarians do not want an election and so do not look for an election in the near term (unless the NDP and Conservatives smell blood in the water).

Overall, she appears strong, focused and clear. She may be more effective than Mcguinty in moving a progressive, fiscally responsible agenda forward. Good luck Premier Wynne in the months and years ahead. See CP's story here:

Wynne want to rid Ontario legislature of poison.

The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life

1/21/2013

In my view, this is one of Martin Luther King's greatest speeches. For those seeking to understand what constitutes a complete life, there are very few speeches that you will be able to find that might top this. Here is a sampling. You can hear it below. Unfortunately, it cuts out before the end after 40 minutes. Still, well worth the time on this Martin Luther King day.

Now the other thing about the length of life: after accepting ourselves and our tools, we must discover what we are called to do. And once we discover it we should set out to do it with all of the strength and all of the power that we have in our systems. And after we’ve discovered what God called us to do, after we’ve discovered our life’s work, we should set out to do that work so well that the living, the dead, or the unborn couldn’t do it any better....

What I’m saying to you this morning, my friends, even if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; (Go ahead) sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well."

If you can’t be a pine on the top of a hill

Be a scrub in the valley—but be

The best little scrub on the side of the hill,

Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.

If you can’t be a highway just be a trail

If you can’t be the sun be a star;

It isn’t by size that you win or fail--

Be the best of whatever you are.

And when you do this, when you do this, you’ve mastered the length of life...

And on an excellent riff on the story of the Good Samaritan, Rev. King analyzes why the Samaritan helped the man who was injured but the Levite did not.

The first question that the Levite asked was, ‘’If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?". But the good Samaritan came by and he reversed the question. Not "What will happen to me if I stop to help this man?" but "What will happen to this man if I do not stop to help him?" This was why that man was good and great. He was great because he was willing to take a risk for humanity; he was willing to ask, "What will happen to this man?" not "What will happen to me?"

And on the theme of interdependency

We are tied together in life and in the world...And you may think you got all you got by yourself. But you know, before you got out here to church this morning, you were dependent on more than half of the world. You get up in the morning and go to the bathroom, and you reach over for a bar of soap, and that’s handed to you by a Frenchman. You reach over for a sponge, and that’s given to you by a turk. You reach over for a towel, and that comes to your hand from the hands of a Pacific Islander. And then you go on to the kitchen to get your breakfast. You reach on over to get a little coffee, and that’s poured in your cup by a South American. Or maybe you decide that you want a little tea this morning, only to discover that that’s poured in your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you want a little cocoa, that’s poured in your cup by a West African. Then you want a little bread and you reach over to get it, and that’s given to you by the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. Before you get through eating breakfast in the morning, you’re dependent on more than half the world. That’s the way God structured it; that’s the way God structured this world. So let us be concerned about others because we are dependent on others.

The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life from Sweet Speeches on Vimeo.

Martin Luther King Day

1/20/2013

It is Martin Luther King Day holiday tomorrow in the USA. I am a deep admirer of Martin Luther King. He captured my father's imagination and my father had plans to march with Martin Luther King in the southern United States. I studied Martin Luther King, among many other social justice leaders, in my undergraduate years.

During Martin Luther King's time in the 1960's there was significant debate in the African American community concerning the best methods for civil rights. At the same time that the civil rights movement was gaining public and political traction, there were debates within the broader civil rigths community around appropriate methods.

Martin Luther King's method of non-violent civil disobedience was rooted in the political philosophy of Mahatma Ghandi and Henry David Thoreau. Ultimately, he was effective and captured the moral imagination of the American people.

At the same time, Malcom X was advancing very different ideas in terms of how the civil rights movement should be advanced and supported. Malcom X's story is compelling as well. He adopted the surname "X" as a repudiation of his slave name. He was an articulate and impassioned spokesman for the Nation of Islam. He inspired the "black power" movement. Clearly, he had some valid points as well.

The clip below, provides some juxtaposition of their positions. What this illustrates is that every movement has its variants. It is useful to consider this in light of the Idle No More movement which in many ways is also agitating for civil rights and honouring of commitments made to First Nation people. All those committed to social justice and civil rights are fellow travellers with Idle No More. The question, as it always is for any movement, is tactics and strategy. It is difficult to argue with the results of Martin Luther King's moral approach and style for civil rights. His was an inclusive vision rooted in love. Dr. King does and excellent job in defending the role of love in the civil rights movement.

Pinterest

1/16/2013

I have discovered the new social media website, Pinterest. According to reports, traffic in Pinterest rose dramatically in August of 2012. Essentially, Pinterest is a social messaging board that allows users to manage images, videos and other visual kinds of representations on their own boards. Users can view and "repin" other images that they find interesting. The community polices itself so that nothing that the community deems inappropriate such as pornography is in public view.

My impression of Pinterest, and this is borne out through conversations and market research, is that Pinterest attracts females more than males. My sense is that this is probably accurate. I find visual representation of ideas a very creative way to convey thoughts and Pinterest has sparked my interest. I have an account and have created several boards containing a variety of images in particular areas that I find interesting.

I am noticing that some, but not all, sites have added the Pinterest tab along with other notable social networking icons such as Twitter and Facebook, thereby allowing users to pin images from websites that they have visited. Or they can copy the image and paste it onto their board.

For those who are looking for an effective way to obtain and store images and other kinds of visuals for future use in presentations or even websites, Pinterest is a great place to start. You tube videos may also be pinned and shared in particular categories.

As an aside, I am sharing one pin that I found. The image below is the Arabic representation of jazz. It is from the Arabic, Palestinian engineer Nihad Dukhan. He writes, "Arabic calligraphy is the most typical expression of the Islamic spirit... The contemporary designs presented here indirectly utilize these styles to create an abstract, yet readable representation of words and provide a postmodern interpretation of the letters. The intent is to cross barriers and touch other languages and cultures for it is said: "The written word is a talisman, and the process of writing is a magic connected not only with the master's technique and skill, but also with his spiritual and moral character."

Here is is his website where he features a variety of other representations.

Contemporary Arabic Calligraphy Designs

Consider joining and happy pinning!

Uprising (Documentary on the Egyptian Revolution)

1/12/2013

There is a new documentary out about the revolution in Egypt that displaced Mubarek and ushered in what has been described as the Arab spring. Hope of renewal and regeneration from within is a dominant feature of this expectation.

As the scholars presented in the film note, "this was the first revolution in the world that was on Facebook before it happened". Tahir Square means "liberty" in Arabic. Nobody was certain of the outcome and in many respects it is, like all democracies, a living experiment.

I will certainly be watching this film as it was a historical and monumental movement in world history. It has been said that Egypt is a leading indicator of where the Arabic world is going.

One wonders if any lessons can be learned from the Egyptian experience as we consider the Idle No More movement and the anxiety by some that there may be violent confrontation with blockades, blockages and other less civil forms of resistance and disruption.

As Amr Waked concludes, "28th of January was the day fear died in Egypt"

Forgive Our Fathers and Idle No More

1/11/2013

I presented to class today the film Smoke Signals for analysis of themes of ethnic classification, identity, displacement, and how marginalized cultures have decentered dominant meta-narratives.

I had forgotten how powerful a film it is. The themes of the absence and presence of the father features prominently. At the end of the film, in a moving scene of solidarity, Victor presents part of the remains of his father's ashes to Thomas. Victor's father acted as a kind of foster-father for Thomas. The relationship between Victor and his father was complicated to say the least. Victor experienced both the effects of alcoholism and abandonment from his father. In a poignant scene, Victor asks his father's girlfriend if his father ever talked about him.

When Thomas receives the ashes he says that he is going to go to the river and throw the ashes in and the spirit of his father will rise like a phoenix once again. Victor laughs and says he was going to to do the same thing but for a different reason. For Victor, the journey was going to be like cleaning the attic; getting rid of things that are no longer necessary.

The poem that Thomas recites at the end is a powerful poem of moving forward.

By analogy, there is something stirring in the native community with the Idle No More movement. Historical grievances felt by the grassroots are being expressed somewhat inchoately but with great energy. First Nation leaders are not necessarily always connected with the rhythms or moods of the movement. There is a realignment occurring and a certain dissatisfaction with the status quo. The movement itself arose from four First Nation women and has caught on through the grassroots and net-roots. Certainly Theresa Spence and the entire Attawapiskat situation has occupied a central place in the coverage but Attawapiskat is not the central focus. The focus, as far as I can discern, is on the basic relationship of Canada and the First Nation people. It is stirring up passions on all sides. Letters to the editor have expressed anger and frustration by many Eur0-Canadians replete with stereotypical prejudices and attitudes. Matthew Coon come was booed by a group of Cree women when he entered Parliament to meet with officials from the government. The point is that from all sides a coming together to talk, dialogue is being frustrated by grassroots anger. Both First Nation leaders and Canadian leaders alike seem unable to stem the tide of resentment and grievances emerging.

Many scholars have referred to this period of history as post-colonial. This means that emancipation and liberation movements all across the world from India, Australia, South Africa, and Canada have shifted dramatically. The legacy of mostly British inspired colonialism is being supplanted by new relationships; hence the terms post(after)-colonialism (the colonial historical project).

Yet, what will this new post-colonial relationship like? What kind of relationship will emerge? Idle No More correctly asserts that the government of Canada needs to negotiate with indigenous people on a nation to nation basis. However, there has been such a history of dependency particularly through the Indian Act which many activists have been trying to have repealed for at least 40 years that envisioning a new pre-Indian Act arrangement seems insurmountable.

And so in this journey of ridding ourselves of a paternalistic past, what path will the First Nation people follow? Shall we live forever in historical grievances and attempt to rewrite historical narratives (forgive our father's in their time) or shall we look at what exists now and let go of existing structures and begin anew (forgive our fathers in our time). And finally, as the poem concludes, "if we forgive our father's what is left?"

Like the grandmother in this clip, we ask the prophet, "tell me what happened, tell me what's going to happen?"

Are we Over-Medicalized

1/7/2013

I personally found this talk by Ivan Oransky, editor of Reuters Health, effective. I don't think, as some of the comments at TED alluded to that he is suggesting that proactive measures in preventing diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack are not useful.

What he is saying is that, by creating medical classifications of pre-diabetes, etc., we are giving many more people medical conditions that they otherwise would not have had and that these "conditions" require medical intervention. And this expands the health care system and ultimately spirals health care costs out of control. What drives some of this is not so much health concerns and values of human thriving but, instead, parochial economic interests from medical sector as well as pharmaceutical sector. We have created a system where we have convinced people that they have to come because they might have pre-conditions.

Part of the problem is that we are making people worried unnecessarily. By focusing on simple messages, rest, exercise, stress free living, we can improve the overall health of our communities.

Landfill Harmonic

1/3/2013

This video has been making the rounds in the digital world. It is an inspiring video of a community in Paraguay built on trash. The community recycled the trash into instruments and taught the children to play. Beautiful results.

The lesson? As one of the leaders comments, "people realize that we shouldn't throw trash away so carelessly...well, we shouldn't throw away people either"

Word!

The Darkling Thrush

1/1/2013

Last year, I began this blog with Emily Dickinson's famous poem on hope entitled "Hope is the Thing with Feathers". Continuing on the theme of hope, I am sharing Thomas Hardy's poem on the subject of hope entitled "The Darkling Thrush". Both poets use the symbols of birds to convey themes of hope. Both contrast hope with darkness and gloom. Hardy wrote his poem in 1900 at the turn of the century.

In Hardy's poem the thrush seems to be able to access a hope, in particular, a blessed hope that he, the observer, was unaware.

Thanks to Slate Magazine for the audio of the poem and the text.

I leant upon a coppice gate
    When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
    The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
    Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
    Had sought their household fires.

The land's sharp features seemed to be
    The Century's corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
    The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
    Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
    Seemed fervorless as I.

At once a voice arose among
    The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
    Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small
    In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
    Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
    Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
    Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
    His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
    And I was unaware.

31 December 1900

My Pensées

The title of this blog is an allusion to the famous work of Blaise Pascal. This blog represents the variety of my interests and thoughts on any given day and are strung together, like Pascal's Pensees, in no particular order. I work in the field of mental health, education, and human rights. I write and am a human rights advocate. I enjoy poetry, jazz, spirituality, politics and a potpourri of other interests that you will see reflected in this blog.

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