Oh my name it is nothin'

SONG With God on Our Side by Bob Dylan with Joan Baez

Heard it on the radio:

Oh my name it is nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I’s taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that the land that I live in
Has God on its side

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side

Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
l’s made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side

Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don’t count the dead
When God’s on your side

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side

I’ve learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we’re forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God’s on your side

Through many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side

So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war

Gill Tract

URBAN FARM UC Berkeley Gill Tract Occupation

Although the occupation of this space is technically illegal and lead by a group of law breakers who are trespassing on an enclosed property, I can't help but wonder if stepping over democratic processes as they currently stand might ever be worth it. The University is tasked with administering and managing the Gill Tract property in the public interest of California - it's funded in part by student tuition, tax payer dollars, and largely by private endowment. So, in terms of funding, it is a mixed bag of people financially investing in the institution. How useful is local resistance as a leveraging tool in negotiating the University's bureaucratic hierarchy and systems of operation - futile/absolutely necessary? In terms of how the institution runs, by its bureaucratic hierarchy and operational systems, whose values are reflected - students, taxpayers, private donors; how do local, state, and corporate powers fit into the idea of a cohesive community, of one's individual identity? Here's a poster with tools that have EYES:

magic

QUOTES from The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac and The Ecology of Magic by David Abram

Happen to be reading both these things. Also, in honor of the acres of grass field in the backyard that was mowed yesterday, with its season of hidden nooks and swaying in the wind:

"Magic in its perhaps most primordial sense, is the experience of existing in a world made up of multiple intelligences, the intuition that every form one perceives - from the swallow swooping overhead to the fly on a blade of grass, and indeed the blade of grass itself - is an experiencing form, an entity with its own predilections and sensations, albeit sensations that are very different from our own."  The Ecology of Magic

"... in that colyacolor wall of flowers pink and red and ivory white, among aviaries of magic transcendent birds recognizing my awakening mind with sweet weird cries (the pathless lark), in the ethereal perfume, mysteriously ancient, the bliss of the Buddha-fields, I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted."  The Dharma Bums

recycle

HAPPY May 12, 2013

soil/symphony

FILM Symphony of the Soil

soil is the soul of our society

Trailer here.

Chinatown Urban Institute

YOUTH Fellowship at the Chinatown Urban Institute

8-week professional development program in San Francisco for youth ages 18-24: urban planning case studies, hands-on research, local engagement, fun.

The Chinatown Urban Institute is a youth empowerment and professional development program offered by the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco. Our mission is to educate and empower young leaders ages 18-24 to understand and take action on urban planning issues, using the City as a living and breathing laboratory for knowledge. Through an inquiry-based approach, Urban Fellows will learn the history, technical skills, and pragmatic applications of the planning profession as a tool for social justice and advocacy. Biweekly sessions feature seminars, walking (or bike) tours, and interactive fieldwork components to give the participants hands-on experience in grassroots community planning.