SOME THOUGHTS ON UPCOMING VILLAGE ELECTION

SOME THOUGHTS ON UPCOMING VILLAGE ELECTION

1.      An option would be to run three people as a party. All with a central theme: to open up the village governance.  Perhaps there could-would be other central issues.  The group of three would use an identifying name, to counter the village status-quo group.

2.      The group would immediately call for a revision of the Village open meetings policy.

3.      The group would insist that any policy being discussed would first be shared with the public, and then, after that input, a specific policy would be voted on. No business should be allowed to keep secrets from us for proprietary reasons. The board is first and foremost responsible to the citizens, not to an outside business.

4.      The group needs to push for a project manager to oversee all projects being started in the Village. Projects need to have timelines adhered to, fiscal accountability, and be able to show how any particular project will meet the needs and desires of the citizens. And perhaps what kind of payback we might expect.

5.      This group should stress that the directors are in charge and accountable for the direction of the Village, with input from the general manager. The general manager should not be in charge of the Village. He or she is not elected. The general manager is advisory.

6.      This group should make it clear that the committees used in the Village will be given projects and will be able to make suggestions about goals and directions the directors are planning before the fact, not after. The committees need a great deal of empowering. The current situation is like a cheerleading system devised for the directors. It is an affront to the very capable people we have in the Village. All the expertise and potential leadership we have in the Village needs to be utilized to the fullest extent.

There might well be other themes that the three persons might emphasis. This is my first impression of what at least six might look like.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.”  

G.K. Chesterton

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

I'm afraid it's going to be a trying year. Washington is going to do nothing but stomp on the middle class and the poor. The country elected a damaging number of right-wing ideologists, backed by the money of the rich. It all makes for a strong oligarchy, which essentially means "rule by the few." 2015 will see a great deal of sorrow and unruly behavior by the very people who elected these individuals. We haven't seen anything yet regarding people who are going to take to the streets for justice and to be heard. Still, we will survive and hopefully things will get better. 2015 will be a turning point in our movement towards an oligarchy. The "few" will be called into question.  My New Year resolutions:

1. To volunteer to help those less fortunate than myself. This will be hunger related. In Arkansas, one in five children go to bed hungry. That is a disgrace. I probably can't do a whole lot, but I can do something.
2. I'm going to do everything I can to bring down the oligarchy. I don't know exactly what this all may mean, but I do know that I will put everything I can into doing so. Writing, letters to the editor, street protests. I'm getting a little too old for this crap, but I am not happy with what we are handing over to our children, and their children, and their children.
3. I would say I'm going to try to be a bit nicer, but I doubt that's going to work out. Nice is not going to get the above job done.
4. I'm going to finish my 2nd book. "The Art of the Peeve." I've worked on it for over a year. I will be lucky to finish it in 2015. It will be, I hope, a big improvement over my first. I did sell three copies, all to my mother.
5. Something has to be done about our leadership here in the Village. They are copying the national trend, which is leaning towards an oligarchy. We have seven directors, four of whom prefer secret meetings and allowing citizens to comment on what they decide "after the fact." They call that a democracy. I call it bull. I'm still not sure how this will play itself out. I have written probably six letters to the editor and voiced my opinion at several meetings. The opposition is growing, which so far has satisfied my objection to the leadership. Elections are coming up. We'll see.
6. I will keep my two blog sites going. "thepeever.com," and "thevillageplanet.com." I have written The Peeves for twenty years. So far it hasn't helped. I'm still peeved. 

I guess that's about it. Those should keep me busy during the year.
Have a good and lucky New Year.
Bruce

PEEVER LAW #44

NEVER TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE.

NEW NATIONAL MOTTO

I THINK OUR NATIONAL MOTTO SHOULD BE CHANGED FROM "IN GOD WE TRUST" TO "HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN." JUST A THOUGHT.

An Interview With Bill Moyers | BillMoyers.com

An Interview With Bill Moyers | BillMoyers.com



THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS

QUOTE OF THE DAY-BILL MOYERS

Q: What’s your view of the political influence of the conservative echo chamber, such as Fox News and Rush Limbaugh?

Moyers: They have raised ignorance to ideology and stupefied an entire political party. No more roguish and rowdy band of predators ever did more to demean and despoil the democracy on whose carcass they feed.

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW

Some days, you have to make your own rainbows.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

TODAY IS THE DAY OF CHANGE. CHRIST WAS BORN. NOTHING WOULD EVER BE THE SAME. CHRIST WAS NOT YOUR USUAL CITIZEN. HE DID NOT TURN HIS BACK WHEN FACED WITH THE STATUS QUO. HE MET "WHAT IS" HEAD ON AND SUGGESTED THERE WAS A BETTER WAY. HE CHAMPIONED THE POOR, THE SICK, THE OUTCAST, THE MINORITY, THE IMMIGRANT. HE LIVED ON THE STREET, MOST GENERALLY OUT OF A TENT, AND HAD NO INTENTION OF FOLLOWING THE RULES SET DOWN BY THE POLITICIANS. HE WAS BOUND BY A GREATER RULE. HE SHOWED US HOW WE SHOULD BE LIVING, WHAT WE SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN. AT TIMES, HE MORE THAN SHOWED, HE DEMANDED. IT IS A HARD LIFE TO PURSUE, BUT ONE WE ARE CALLED TO DO IF WE CALL OURSELVES CHRISTIANS. A LOT OF THINGS STIR US AWAY FROM THE COMMON GOOD. THIS CHRISTMAS, LET'S TRY TO REMEMBER: IT'S NOT HOW MUCH YOU CAN ACCUMULATE, OR HOW FANCY OF A HOUSE YOU LIVE IN, OR HOW NEW OF A CAR YOU DRIVE. IT'S HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FELLOW MAN AND WOMAN. AT ANY RATE, THAT'S MY CHRISTMAS WISH, FOR ME AND FOR YOU. TO DO BETTER.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
BRUCE

BENEDICTION

As you go out, go with the light of joy. In moments of delight, in moments of frustration; in moments of beauty, in moments of fear; in moments of enthusiasm and moments of exhaustion; may the joy of Christ be ever-present, grounding you in the deep love of God–our Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Amen.

CHRISTMAS HYMN: Marc Scibilia - How Bad We Need Each Other - Amazing Live Performance (w...

CHRISTMAS SCRIPTURE

"MARY DID YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU KISS YOUR LITTLE BABY, YOU KISSED THE FACE OF GOD."

Mary Did You Know, lyrics by Mark Lowry

CHRISTMAS PRAYER: CHRISTMAS, THE VERY NEXT DAY

Had we the chance, we would have rushed
         to Bethlehem
             to see this thing that had come to pass.

Had we been a day later,
        we would have found the manger empty
              and the family departed.

We would have learned that they fled to Egypt,
    warned that the baby was endangered,
    sought by the establishment of the day
         that understood how his very life
              threatened the way things are.

We would have paused at the empty stall
    and pondered how this baby
            from the very beginning was under threat.

The powers understood that his grace threatened all our
          coercions;
they understood that his truth challenged all our lies;
they understood that his power to heal
          nullified our many pathologies;
they understood that his power to forgive
          vetoed the power of guilt and
                      the drama of debt among us.

From day one they pursued him,
         and schemed and conspired
         until finally....on a gray Friday....
                they got him!
    No wonder the family fled, in order to give him time
                for is life.

We could still pause at the empty barn---
    and ponder that all our babies are under threat, all the
       vulnerable who stand at risk
                        before predators,
    our babies who face the slow erosion of consumerism,
    our babies who face the reach of sexual exploitation,
    our babies who face the call to war,
       placed as we say, "in harm's way."
    our babies, elsewhere in the world,
       who know of cold steel against soft arms
       and distended bellies from lack of food;
    our babies everywhere who are caught in the fearful display
       of ruthless adult power.

We ponder how peculiar this baby at Bethlehem is,
       summoned to save the world,
              and yet
we know, how like every child, this one also was at risk.
        The manger is empty a day later...
               the father warned in a dream.
 Our world is so at risk, and yet we seek after and wait for
               this child named "Emmanuel."
         Come be with us, you who are called "God with us."

Walter Brueggemann, Prayers of a Privileged People

CHRISTMAS HYMN: [Official Video] Mary, Did You Know? - Pentatonix

Endless Wars Have Cost Americans $1.6 Trillion, Report Finds

Endless Wars Have Cost Americans $1.6 Trillion, Report Finds



THIS CHRISTMAS: WAR NO MORE

Book the Americans

Book the Americans



PRISON

Greenwald: Dick Cheney Should Be in 'Federal Prison' Not on 'Meet The Press'

Greenwald: Dick Cheney Should Be in 'Federal Prison' Not on 'Meet The Press'



PRISON

CHRISTMAS FUTURE

Christmas. I don't think much of shopping, or presents, or all the hoopla centered around our present day version of commercial Christmas. Christmas helps me to think about a turning away from buying things; turning away from Herod, Caesar, Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, the Pharisees, purveyors of doom and lost hope, toward a new King. Born not in a grand hotel, but in a dirty, filthy stable; born not to rich parents, but to lower class citizens; born not to enslave people and make them work 60 hours per weeks, but to free them; born not to limit possibilities, but to increase them; born not to make the rich richer, but to praise the poor; born not to withhold health-care, but to make it available to everyone; born not to allow people to go to bed hungry at night, which one in four children do in Arkansas, but to demonstrate God's abundance to feed everyone; born not to praise government with senseless slogans and flags, but to confront a government and its leaders who have lost their way and are no longer responsive to its citizens needs and well being. Christmas is a time of change. It is really the biggest change that the world has ever seen. Nothing was the same after that first Christmas. There was a new King, not fancily dressed or living in a huge house, but one living on the street, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, healing them, giving them hope. I like to remember Christ at Christmas, not all the fancy renderings. He was the greatest revolutionary to have ever emerged, demonstrating the power of a people who need to believe in themselves, but more importantly, believe in the power and guidance of God's abundant goodwill. So this Christmas, and the next, and the next, make sure we don't make it about buying things, but about changing things.

BUMPER STICKER OF THE MONTH

SANDERS VS BUSH-2016

Sanders Has a Couple of Good Ideas: Break Up Big Banks, Expand Social Security

Sanders Has a Couple of Good Ideas: Break Up Big Banks, Expand Social Security



HOPEFULLY, THE NEXT DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE  FOR THE PRESIDENCY.

WORDS

THE CALL

I've heard it all my life, but have not always answered. It doesn't come on a cell phone. It's not written in a book, or seen on TV. It comes out of nowhere. It tugs at your heart. It is an invitation to your soul. It carries with it the promise of freedom. It is what Joseph Campbell calls, "following your bliss." It is a transformative and sacred call. As Maimonides, the twelfth-century rabbinic authority, physician, and philosopher said, "The sound of the shofar calls to us: Awaken, sleepers, from your sleep, arise, slumberers, from our slumber, and examine your deeds...look after your own souls, and improve your ways." Our purpose on Earth as humans might well be to hear the Call and respond. It might take you a long time to answer: yes.

TO CHURCH OR NOT TO CHURCH

I don’t go to church. I don’t like sermons. They drive me crazy. I like singing, or rather listening to singing, and I don’t mind praying, but I don’t have to go to church for either. I probably should be a little more specific. I don’t like Sunday morning church. But I do like some churches. There are some where I get a sense of the divine, where the sacred is obviously present. There are other places where I get that same feeling, like the ocean, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Rainier, Aztec temples, Stonehenge, the pyramids. I think it is good to visit and partake of sacred sites. I’d love to go to the Chartres Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris, the Sistine Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral. I just don’t need the sermons that go along with them. I got enough hangups the way it is, I don’t need someone telling me I’m a sinner. I can figure that out on my own.

SUNDAY MORNING PRAYER: NEWBORN BEGINNING...AFTER CAESAR

THE CHRIST CHILD IS ABOUT TO BE BORN,
     THE ONE PROMISED BY THE ANGEL.
   MARY'S "FULLNESS OF TIME" HAS ARRIVED.
EXCEPT THAT THE BIRTH IS SCHEDULED
      ACCORDING TO THE EMPEROR:
   A DECREE WENT OUT THAT ALL SHOULD BE NUMBERED.

CAESAR DECREED A CENSUS, EVERYONE COUNTED;
CAESAR INTENDED TO HAVE UP-TO-DATE DATA FOR THE TAX ROLLS;
CAESAR INTENDED TO HAVE CURRENT LISTS OF DRAFT ELIGIBILITY;
CAESAR INTENDED TAXES TO SUPPORT ARMIES,
      BECAUSE THE EMPEROR, IN WHATEVER ERA,
          IS ALWAYS ABOUT MONEY AND POWER,
              ABOUT POWER AND FORCE,
              ABOUT FORCE AND CONTROL,
                  AND EVENTUALLY VIOLENCE.

AND WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE CHRIST CHILD,
         WE ARE ENTHRALLED BY THE THINGS OF CAESAR---
              MONEY.....POWER...CONTROL,
                    AND ALL THE WELL-BEING THAT COMES FROM
                    SUCH CONTROL, EVEN IF IT REQUIRES A LITTLE VIOLENCE.

BUT IN THE MIDST OF THE DECREE
        WILL COME THIS LONG-EXPECTED JESUS,
                 INNOCENT, VULNERABLE,
                 FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH,
                 GRACE AND NOT POWER,
                 TRUTH AND NOT MONEY,
                 MERCY AND NOT CONTROL.

WE ALSO DWELL IN THE LAND OF CAESAR;
       WE PRAY FOR THE GIFT OF YOUR SPIRIT,
       THAT WE MAY LOOSEN OUR GRIP ON THE THINGS OF CAESAR,
       THAT WE MAY TURN OUR EYES TOWARD THE BABY,
                           OUR EARS TOWARD THE NEWNESS,
                           OUR HEARTS TOWARD THE GENTLENESS,
                           OUR POWER AND MONEY AND CONTROL
                                     TOWARD THE NEW GOVERNANCE.

WE CRAVE THE NEWNESS.
      AND WHILE THE DECREE OF THE EMPEROR
             RINGS IN OUR EARS WITH SUCH AUTHORITY,
      GIVE US NEWNESS THAT WE MAY START AGAIN
                     AT THE BEGINNING,
      THAT THE INNOCENCE OF THE BABY MAY
                      INTRUDE UPON OUR AMBIGUITY,
       THAT THE VULNERABILITY OF THE CHILD MAY
                     VETO OUR LUST FOR CONTROL,
       THAT WE MAY BE FILLED WITH WONDER
                     AND SO LESS OF ANXIETY,
           IN THE BLESSED NAME OF THE BABY WE PRAY.

Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People

Progressives to Dems on Budget Deal: 'We Will Remember This Betrayal'

Progressives to Dems on Budget Deal: 'We Will Remember This Betrayal'



The rich get richer and the poor just keep on getting it.
This is nothing compared to what will soon happen. Obama's
transformation from Democrat to moderate Republican is complete. Let the
destruction of democracy and justice begin. 

Refusing to Take Sides, NPR Takes Sides With Torture Deniers

Refusing to Take Sides, NPR Takes Sides With Torture Deniers



They want a little Washington money. Not calling torture torture is shameless and cowardly reporting.

SPECIAL NEWS FLASH

OBAMA HAS OFFICIALLY CHANGED HIS PARTY TO MODERATE REPUBLICAN. NO COMMENT FROM WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY. SEEMS THEY ARE TOO BUSY KISSING REPUBLICAN ASSES.

MY CHRISTMAS WISHES

1. I'M WISHING SANTA WOULD PACK UP ALL THE RIGHT-WING REPUBLICANS AND TAKE THEM BACK TO THE NORTH POLE. THIS WOULD BE GOOD FOR US BUT BAD FOR SANTA AND THE ELVES.
2. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING A BRAND NEW LEXUS, BUT I DOUBT SANTA HAS THAT ON HIS LIST. I DO, HOWEVER, HAVE IT ON MINE.
3. I'D ASK FOR A GUN, BUT IT SEEMS EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING THE SAME. I WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT ANYWAY. I'D PUT IT IN MY FRONT POCKET AND PRETEND.
4. I DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT TO SEE A WHITE CHRISTMAS. THAT'S THE WEATHER I'M TALKING ABOUT. THE OTHER WHITE IS DEFINITELY ALREADY HERE. 98% HERE.
5. ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY TWO FRONT TEETH, (MAYBE A FEW MORE). EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT OF ARKANSAS RESIDENTS ARE WISHING THE SAME THING.
6. I WISH EVERYONE WOULD HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT. ACTUALLY, I WISH EVERYONE WOULD HAVE ALL THE FOOD RICH PEOPLE ARE GOING TO EAT, AND THEY WOULD HAVE NONE. JUST ONE DAY, AND THE WELFARE MONEY FOR THE POOR WOULD TRIPLE.
7. I AM A BIT AMBIVALENT ABOUT CHRISTMAS.  I DON'T LIKE ALL THE SHOPPING. CHRIST WAS BORN POOR, IN A STABLE WITH STINKING ANIMALS, AND DRESSED IN SWADDLING (NOT DESIGNER) CLOTHES. CHRISTMAS SHOULD NOT BE A TIME FOR EXTRAVAGANT GIVING OR GOING INTO DEBT TO BUY PRESENTS. CHRISTMAS IS A TIME TO BE HUMBLE, COMPASSIONATE, AND GIVING, NOT TO THOSE WHO HAVE, BUT TO THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

THE CURRENT BUDGET BEING APPROVED BY CONGRESS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF MONEY THAT WILL BE DIVERTED FROM PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO HELP THE POOR AND MIDDLE CLASSES, AND REDIRECTING THAT MONEY TO THE RICH. ADD-ON'S IN THE BUDGET WILL ALSO STRENGTHEN POLICIES THAT HARM THE UNITED STATES AND ITS CITIZENS, AIMED AT KEEPING US IN POVERTY, AND UNDER THE RULE OF THE NEW REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC OLIGARCHY.  THE WHOLE THING IS GOING TO BE ONE MISERABLE ORDEAL, BROUGHT ON, BY, GUESS WHO, US.

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

The Board of Directors decides to submit the two-tier proposal to the membership for a second vote. This time they only need 25% to reach a quorum. They should save the money and just declare 45% of us irrelevant. There may actually be a higher percent than that, with all of us who didn't vote the first time around casting no votes this time.
While very few are arguing that we don't need more money, the fact still remains that this proposal was brought to fruition in secret, closed meetings, and that there are clearly more equitable ways to raise money. We still have a judge who will decide how legal or illegal the whole thing may be, although I doubt he will want to get overly involved. He is not going to stake his reputation on a bunch of rich, white people squabbling over money, who live behind closed gates in a private club.
I tried to mention something about the two-tier system at the Recreation Committee meeting the other day but was shouted down by, mainly, wouldn't you know it, a board member. Seems such things should not be talked about at committee meetings, even though the recreation committee should be very interested in how and how much money will be available to promote recreational activities. I guess maybe I’m out of touch with Village reality. Seems it's the same old story: the directors want to make the decisions and let us discuss them after the fact. This is their version of democracy. Mine is a little different. As an ex-politician, my thing has always been to provide leadership out in the open, with as much public input as possible before arriving at a final decision. This has often put me at odds with the status quo. So much so that I have been labeled a curmudgeon, defined as “a mean spirited old man.” That does have a certain ring to it.

'The CIA Is Lying': On Senate Floor, Udall Blasts Continued Torture Cover-Up

'The CIA Is Lying': On Senate Floor, Udall Blasts Continued Torture Cover-Up

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"ANOTHER WORLD IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE, SHE IS ON HER WAY.
  ON A QUIET DAY, I CAN HEAR HER BREATHING."

Arundhati Roy

THE ART OF COUNSELING

• Normal means never having to say, "I shot him."
• At the heart of all listening lurks the payment.
• Helping others is a noble profession. Of course, so is emptying septic tanks.
• Seeing and hearing has nothing to do with understanding.
• It is far better to live in silence than it is to live in spoken nonsense.
• Money cannot buy you happiness. Neither can antidepressants.
• When taking a look at yourself, be prepared to throw up.
• If someone comes up to you claiming they know what is best for you, run.
• Counselors give advise. Therapists must, if they claim to be a therapist, produce change. Don't mistake one for the other.
• In the end, it will be you who has to do all the work. Don't expect it to be any other way.

SUNDAY MORNING HYMN: John Martyn Live. rock, salt and nails

SUNDAY MORNING

Despite (or because of) privilege, we live in a dangerous world of brutality, force, and threat. We are surrounded by terrorism, war, abuse, exploitation, and death. Evil is rampant, and fear too easily pervades. Despair overtakes us when we realize that our lives are not free of danger. Yet we are not always the innocent victims. We sometimes engage in collusion and complicity. We might easily be called perpetrators. 

Walter Brueggemann, world renowned old testament scholar.

Operation Endless War: How Long Must US Troops Stay in Afghanistan?

Operation Endless War: How Long Must US Troops Stay in Afghanistan?



YOU CANNOT KILL YOUR WAY TO PEACE.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.”
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

"I Can't Breathe": Eric Garner's Plea Becomes Rallying Cry for Justice

"I Can't Breathe": Eric Garner's Plea Becomes Rallying Cry for Justice



JUSTICE. IT HAS GONE BY THE WAYSIDE. IT IS NOW PURCHASED, LIKE FINE WINE OR FANCY CLOTHES. THE POOR CANT AFFORD IT. ACTUALLY, NEITHER CAN THE MIDDLE-CLASS. JUSTICE IS NOW EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE 10%, WHICH INCLUDES THEIR PROTESTORS, THE POLICE.

A QUOTE YOU DON'T WANT TO FORGET

“Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home--but not for housing. They are strong for labor--but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor minimum wage--the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all--but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine--for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing--but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing--so long as it doesn't spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.”
Harry S. Truman

RECOVERY

It's good if you can admit being a right-wing, Republican. That's the first step towards recovery.

TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT

At what point is it that government becomes too much government? I think I've pinpointed the exact moment, which just happens to coincide with the times Congress is in session.