This month’s recipient will be the Environmental Defense Fund. Why? Because in his State of the Union Address to much applause by Democrats (Republicans don’t clap for a Democratic President even if he is giving them everything they want), President Obama announced that part of the support for “clean” energy would be for nuclear power plants, “clean” coal (an oxymoron if I ever heard one), and off-shore drilling.
You might wonder why not have the February cause be an organization that is doing work in Haiti? I feel it is important to support organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee and Doctors Without Borders, who are doing yeoman-like work to ease suffering in Haiti and other places around the globe, and I have given some support. Following disasters or major incidents, though, society as a whole often experiences “donor fatigue.” I want to make sure that in the aftermath, the other changes I seek in the world do not go unsupported by me. So I try to give extra, and I try to remember all the things about which I care.
I’ve been working on illusion busting this week, finding more places where my eyes have been turned away.
March Against Mass Incarceration, Lafayette Park, August 19, 2017
Last week my computer crashed. I have purchased a new one, but it needs to be configured and brought to the house. With luck, it will be possible to recover all the the data since my last system back-up. I have everything since May (that’s five years worth) and all my photos since the end of August (that’s most everything), and some more that is stored on email or this server or facebook.
It is a good opportunity to reflect on attachment. It is an even better opportunity to think about the difference between necessities and wants and how our current way of living and communicating blurs the two.
Of course, being human and a product of this society, I am not happy about it. I’m just trying really hard to approach this in a positive way. I know I will fully enjoy having an up-to-date system.
I will be mostly not blogging until I have my own computer, but hope to be back fully soon.
They are what they are. Sometimes it is better to be in shadow, sometimes in the light.
