Seize the Day, Seize the Good News/Carpe diem, Carpe bonam

Orwell had a fear of totalitarian
Communism in mind, but his dystopia
applies as well to totalitarianism
on the extreme right. It's the message
that resonates. 

The news coming out of the Twitter-in-Chief, as a fellow resister calls him, and the "alternative facts" spewing forth from his ugly surrogates, were affecting my mood. Coming off the high of the Women's March in Washington, so full of hope, exuberant, I found myself stewing, feeling blue. I went to bed full of anger and continuing disbelief at the Orwellian world in which we find ourselves. Damn, how will we survive this nightmare?

That's why I was surprised that I actually spent the night with my unconscious self having a good dream, a happy dream. Where did that come from?

I woke up mulling this over, remembering it, going over the details so as not to forget it. It wasn't my usual anxiety dream. I was with my family of origin and we were having a wonderful time being together. We were at my sister's house on a lake, and I jumped into the clear blue water spontaneously and splashed around with gay abandon, smiling and waving. I wouldn't normally do that.

As I was congratulating myself on the power of positive thinking, another thought immediately came to me:  You need to avoid the bad news. Seize the day. Seize the good news coming out in reputable media outlets, and ignore the rest. We need hope. We need what my dearest brother Loren called "lifelines" to keep us going, to keep us strong, to keep us resisting.

I made coffee and sat at the computer to glance at the news.  Yep, I only glance.  I turn my head kind of sideways to my screen to get the gist of what's coming out there, the horrible, no-good news of the day, about censorship, shutting down agencies, building a wall, having $12 billion for the wall but nothing for social safety nets, leaving the UN, resuming waterboarding, taking credit when it is not due, saying hateful things, lying, outright lying. If I happen to alight on a photo of tRump, kellylyingannspicer, McConnell, Ryan or Pence, my stomach turns, and I quickly look away.

I just need to stay informed, I tell myself, not immersed.  Informed enough to contact my Senators, Sherrod Brown (D, OH) and Rob Portman (alt-right R funded by the Koch brothers), and my representative in the House, Marcy Kaptur (D, Toledo, OH), a quiet but stalwart fighter on whom we can count.

Klima (climate change) image by Szelsokozep.com

So, mornin' joe in hand, my dream made conscious, I saw the bad news out of the corner of my eye.  Then just as fast I spotted the good news, on which I lingered. "U.S. government scientists go 'rogue' in defiance of trump" 
(Steven Gorman, Reuters, January 26, 2017). Yes!  "Employees from more than a dozen U.S. government agencies have established a network of unofficial "rogue" Twitter feeds in defiance of what they see as attempts by President Donald Trump to muzzle federal climate change research and other science./ Seizing on Trump's favorite mode of discourse, scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and other bureaus have privately launched Twitter accounts - borrowing names and logos of their agencies - to protest restrictions they view as censorship and provide unfettered platforms for information the new administration has curtailed. "Can't wait for President Trump to call us FAKE NEWS," one anonymous National Park Service employee posted on the newly opened Twitter account @AltNatParkService. "You can take our official twitter, but you'll never take our free time!""

I also spotted this good news.  The Hill reported that "Scientists are planning their own March on Washington" (http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/316023-scientists-are-planning-their-own-march-on-washington).  More protests.  More honesty.  Especially uplifting to learn that federal employees will not be stifled and silenced without a fight.  That is fabulous news, because I'm sure more will follow. I'm sure resistance will rise inside as well as outside of the government.  Maybe I'll have to go back to Washington to march!

Since I'm especially interested in knowing more about tRump's conflicts of interest and Russian ties, and those of his billionaire oil, gas, and corporate cronies who will make up his cabinet, I savor any news about ongoing and new lawsuits and investigations. An article about the ACLU filing suit to get information about tRump's conflicts of interest under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) made my day.

So did the news that the House Intelligence Committee will investigate these issues and the question of interference in our election, and that it will call on the six intelligence agencies that are doing the same thing to provide information and report to the Committee.  The Twitter-in Chief won't be able to escape the truth, won't be able to twist the facts.  Not for long.  Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Ranking member Adam Schiff (D, CA), in a joint statement, promised a full investigation, "no matter where the facts lead, including, among other things, allegations of collusion."  (http://shareblue.com/
breaking-house-intel-committee-will-investigate-trump-camps-russia-ties/ by Tommy Christopher, 25 January 2017)

We absolutely need this kind of news to keep us going. Forget the bad news about what the White House and Congress are doing.  It will all implode in time. Forget the propaganda, the stupifying self-aggrandizement, the self-promoting twitters, the "alternative facts" that are simply another name for lies. Seize the day. Seize the real news, news of protest and resistance, news that questions the false narratives spun by the White House propagandists and their Congressional alt-right allies, the "fake" news and lies from fake outlets like Breitbart. Carpe diem, Carpe bonam.  

Women Make America Great:The Women's March, January 21, 2017

Women's March, Jan.21, 2017, Washington, DC.  Scenes from the March, great signs, DC landmarks, crowds roar. Also, welcoming Rep. John Lewis as he came off a flight from Atlanta into a crowded National airport. The crowd burst into applause and loud shouts of thanks. Lucky my plane was late!

What a March! A women's march. An awesome experience of a lifetime. These old bones may be sore, because I put more miles on them than I have in years, all for one massive effort of protest, but my spirit was lifted up, way up! Women's voices united.

Suz marching, looking around to
make sure I was still with her.

I marched with friends Suz, an ethicist, and Virginia, a public health nurse, dedicated justice fighters, knowledgeable, savvy, thoughtful. Suz prepared a nice bag lunch for us, with bagels, fruit and water, and off we went.

Suz and me.

The streets of DC, where I had lived and worked for over 15 years for an agency marked for extinction, the National Endowment for the Humanities, overflowed with tens of thousands of women and supporters of all ages, races, nationalities, sexual identities. Diversity was its hallmark.

Lots of women I knew were here. Friends from across the US and from Sylvania, Ohio, my hometown; Peace Corps friends; old friends from my DC days, all here, all marching. I would love to have seen them, reconnected, but it was impossible to meet up.Too many people. Massive crowds so tightly packed in places as to make marching almost impossible. More people than I've ever seen at a protest in DC. I knew my friends were in the crowd somewhere, knew my sister Andy and brother Loren, my children and grandchildren were with me in spirit, too, and I found comfort in that. And what noise we made! Women's diverse voices raised to the strongest chorus America has heard in a long time.

A sea of pink hats, pussy hats, flooded the nation's capital with powerful messages: Women's rights are human rights. This takeover of our government by alt-right extremists, bought and paid for by billionaires, will not be tolerated. We are no longer accepting the things we cannot change; we are changing the things we cannot accept. Women deserve respect. We are resilient. We will resist all efforts to put us down and deny our rights, and we will support all efforts that promote harmony and real progress.We believe in the common good. We are stronger together.

And here's something I found amazing: The Women's March was largely a mob. That is, there were no obvious leaders to lead the crowds, no one directing the marchers, no big names leading the charge ahead of us, no banners marking off states or organizations, no signposts about the route, no monitors along the way to assure us we were on the right path or to offer help. We were just an overwhelming mass of humanity that walked and walked, shouted out slogans, chanted, held up the best signs I've ever seen at any march. We roared. Protested loud and clear. A peaceful mob. Women will have our say. We had our say.


I haven't walked this much in years. To and from the Adams Morgan rowhouse where I stayed, thanks to a kind stranger who offered a room; to and from the Dupont Circle Metro; to and from the long March. This old body was not about to stop me.

Virginia,our marching buddy.
. Looks like she's in front of tRump's hotel. Really, Virginia?

Suz, Virginia and I got to about 7th Street and jostled with a thousand and more people. "This is what democracy looks like," a few women on top of some fences shouted into the teeming masses, who picked up the chant. "This is what democracy looks like!" We joined them and walked to about 14th and Constitution, along the Mall, stopped in the Smithsonian castle (as beautiful as ever), walked past the the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture (interesting architecture and I was happy to see it for the first time), up to 17th and past the Old Executive Office Building toward the White House, where the March was supposed to end, where the marchers would join together with our messages to the current occupant.

But then we learned that the route had changed. Pennsylvania Avenue was blocked off by police. No marchers allowed. Police were adamant. No way. Marchers, though disappointed, remained peaceful, and resolute.

We looked at the White House, shrouded in grey mist, a house of terror to us now, a house of hate. Barack Obama,his family and dedicated staff were gone. It was occupied by a president and his cronies determined to undo Obama's legacy, and with more conflicts of interest than you could shake a stick at, more conflicts than ever before in our history. A president who denigrates women and promotes disunity and hate. It was heartbreaking.

The immense crowd paused, shouted slogans, waved fists, and wondered why, why had the route changed? Suz and Virginia were among those who argued with the police blocking the way. Others joined them.The police said the stands and stuff in front of the White House for the inauguration hadn't been taken down. It looked rather empty to us. A low platform lay on the street, but we could have marched over that. Suspicions grew.

The crowd hesitated, then kept going. Virginia, Suz and I, and the folks around us, had a theory: the trumpsters didn't want to see marchers in front of the White House vastly outnumbering the people who had been at the inauguration the day before. We knew instinctively that numbers really mattered to them. We knew it would lead to infantile tweets as well as "alternative facts."

Our instincts were right, but then we learned that the March organizers (whom we never saw, not a one!) had been sending texts to whomever they could in the sea of resisters to change the route, because there were too many of us, way too many people. We couldn't all fit in front of the White House. Close to a million, some said. That's when the marchers took off in any direction possible, to streets not even blocked off, into traffic that was kept waiting probably for hours. Determined. Peaceful. No violence, no outbursts.

Suz in pink.

I found myself in a group of several thousand heading North, away from the White House, away from the Mall, away from Pennsylvania, up 17th Street toward Adams Morgan. Good lord! I asked a few folks next to me where they thought they were going "Don't know," they shrugged, "we just keep walking!" That's when I decided to keep on walking straight to my room on Seaton Place, NW. It was almost 5:00. I was not far from Dupont Circle. I felt confident the crowd would find its way. I felt as if I was leaving new friends behind, saying goodbye to kindred spirits. A few marchers waved and I waved back, fighting back tears. Somehow I knew in my heart that the battle had been joined, and we would win the war, whatever it took, however long it took. I barely made it to my room, my hips throbbing, my knees, ankles and feet killing me, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was that I had been on the Women's March, one of the biggest protests for truth, equality and justice ever seen in America. The women of America stepped up and had their say, joined by people all over the USA and abroad. We were the majority, no doubt about it. We were the wave of the future.

I don't know who designed this
beautiful poster, but it sure
resonated with me.

The next day, Sunday, I could hardly move. I took hot showers, rested and read. Thank goodness a little cafe, once visited by President Obama and his daughters, was nearby so I could get coffee and snacks. My Peace Corps friend Jud invited me for dinner at his beautiful condo next to Van Ness Metro. I didn't think I could make the walk to Dupont Metro and back, but I pumped myself up and went for it. It was wonderful to see Jud again after some 5 years. I also had the pleasure of meeting his lovely and informed activist friends Bruce and Jan, down from Maine, where Jud had once lived. A great vegetarian meal and lively conversation, plus peach tea in the beautiful tea pot I remember Jud buying at the Istanbul Bazaar! I got on the Metro and walked to Adams Morgan, slowly, step by step, exhausted but exhilarated.

On Monday I was ready to go home, back to Sylvania, Ohio, via Detroit airport where my daughter Elissa would pick me up. I walked to Dupont Circle one last time, the heels of my feet sore as hell. I took the metro from the Red line to the Yellow line to Washington National Airport. It was a cold, grey, rainy day. The wind blew ominously. It almost blew my umbrella inside out and me away with it. The streets seemed silent, but somehow not the same. Some energy had risen, and I needed it. I made it to the airport and collapsed at the first seat available near my gate.

The airport was jam packed, as if those crowds diverted from Pennsylvania Ave had found their way here. I learned that a storm, a 'noreaster, was wrecking havoc along the East coast, and that dozens of flights had been cancelled the night before. Weary marchers were still waiting to get home, plopping wherever they could. Not surprisingly my flight to Detroit was delayed, too.

John Lewis comes off a plane from 
Atlanta, into an adoring and loud crowd.
 Photo by Monica of Texas.  

I was just about at the end of my rope, my almost 77-year-old body complaining, when I heard the crowd stir. A murmur, then a roar. We were shoulder to shoulder near the Atlanta gates, which apparently bore the brunt of the delays. Another roar went up. What the heck? Then I saw: Rep. John Lewis had just stepped off an Atlanta flight, returning to DC for a busy week ahead in the U.S. Congress.Yes! John Lewis.There he was! OMG.The airport burst into applause, shouts and chants. The marchers had continued from the streets of DC to the airport. I looked John Lewis in the eye, struggling to get a photo as people surrounded him for selfies. I wished that I had a real smart phone, dammit. I couldn't get close, but I shouted, "We will carry on the fight, we won't give up! Ohio is with you!" He gave me a high five, and a big smile. Oh what a smile! My heart swelled with respect, so honored to be in this great man's presence.

What a perfect ending to the Women's March.

An hour or so later, energized, feeling blessed, I moved toward my gate to catch my flight. Then, another wonderful surprise. Walking towards me off that Detroit flight was my own U.S. Representative from Toledo, Ohio, Marcy Kaptur! She saw me and we shared a big hug and a few words, enough to know we were on the same page. We would be fighting together.

Looking at the crowd on the Mall,
through the graceful door of the Smithsonian Castle.

If my plane had been on time, not over three hours late, I thought to myself, I would have missed out on these wonderful serendipitous crossings. How amazing to be at the right place at the right time, to enjoy the moment. No matter how exhausted I was, I could not have been happier, could not have felt more hopeful. We, the women of America and the world, the doves of peace, the diverse warriors of justice all over the world, we are with you John Lewis and Marcy Kaptur, with all our Senators and representatives who will resist the onslaught, with all people of knowledge and discernment, and all activists who resist tyranny and fight for justice. We are the wind beneath your wings. We are indeed stronger together.

Freedom to Enslave Yourself

"There is a quote (often misattributed to Sinclair Lewis) that states, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”' No matter who said it, to me this perfectly describes Mike Pence, head of the transition team selecting cabinet posts and agency heads with billionaires who oppose their mission and programs.  "While the actual quote seems to be a condensed meme of a collection of prognostications from the 1930’s as Hitler came to power, it is very true of where we find ourselves headed in the 21st century here in the United States." Trump embodies the substance and style of fascism,a know-nothing  infantile demagogue.  Quotes from article by Manny Schewitz@ http://www.forwardprogressives.com/when-fascism-comes-to-america-it-will-be-cloaked-in-patriotism/  

White Nationalists' Nazi salute trump.
Photo: Daniel Lombroso, The Atlantic.

The poor "suppressed" white minority who couldn't say the N word in public or shout out racist obscenities because of libtard "political correctness," aka "human decency," are released. The misunderstood suppressed alts, who suffered under eight years of Obama, can feel free to say what they want in public. 

yahoo public image.

You can say Merry Christmas again, and wave the Confederate flag. You can wear clothes featuring Nazi symbols and AK15s, and parade them in the streets. You can gleefully give the Nazi salute. You can put on your hoods and burn crosses on lawns. Feel free to embrace Putin's Russia and forget about the illegal occupation of Ukraine and the genocide in Aleppo. You can embrace the multinational corporations like Exxon that love pipelines and oil and and gas deals all over the planet, and for sure you do not have to worry about Native lands or public lands.

Now you are free to deny climate change and advocate the end of social safety nets, Medicare and Social Security.  You can climb on the Pence/McConnell/Ryan Tea Party bandwagon of destruction to end the departments of education, health and human services, environmental protection.  You can enjoy the purges of agencies dealing with women's rights and gay rights.  Sure you're scared of people of color, Muslims, Mexicans, new immigrants, "foreigners," and you're free to advocate their deportation or internment in special camps, like those camps for the Japanese during WWII. You can yell at them in stores, too, tell them to "go back where they belong." Say what you think to whomever you want, whenever you want. Let your anger be heard. No more "political correctness." No more civil discourse.You are free to hate and to act on that hate.  

Welcome to Trump's America.

Sources:
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/when-fascism-comes-to-america-it-will-be-cloaked-in-patriotism/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-is-how-fascism-comes-to-america/2016/05/17/c4e32c58-1c47-11e6-8c7b-6931e66333e7_story.html?utm_term=.c97edf8fd046

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/12/13/trump-and-tillerson-an-ethical-pigpen/?tid=pm_opinions_pop&utm_term=.b94be6f3730e

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/pence-heritage-foundation-regulatory-rollback-232286
   Follow Mike Pence, head of the transition team selecting all those billionaire alt-rightist to lead agencies whose missions they oppose.  "We truly do believe our president-elect has secured a mandate for leadership,” Mike Pence said Tuesday evening during a Heritage Foundation event at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C."  Really?

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/06/how_should_america_resist_a_fascist.html

https://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-12-13/the-history-of-fascism-and-its-relevance-to-u-s-politics-today

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doctrine_of_Fascism

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/robert-kagan-donald-trump-fascisim-comes-to-america
    "To understand how such movements take over a democracy, one only has to watch the Republican Party today. These movements play on all the fears, vanities, ambitions and insecurities that make up the human psyche. In democracies, at least for politicians, the only thing that matters is what the voters say they want — vox populi vox Dei. A mass political movement....when controlled and directed by a single leader, can be aimed at whomever the leader chooses. If someone criticizes or opposes the leader, it doesn’t matter how popular or admired that person has been. He might be a famous war hero, but if the leader derides and ridicules his heroism, the followers laugh and jeer. He might be the highest-ranking elected guardian of the party’s most cherished principles. But if he hesitates to support the leader, he faces political death."  

http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505442914/trumps-cabinet-picks-take-the-establishment-and-shake-it-upside-down

http://www.npr.org/2016/12/13/505442914/trumps-cabinet-picks-take-the-establishment-and-shake-it-upside-down

Putin wants Mariupol, but Mariupol doesn't want Putin

The Battle of Mariupol, almost 2 years ago. Death and destruction, which the world ignored. 

Mariupol at peace. Luba and Starobelsk friends took me to Berdyansk, just down the road from Mariupol, for a great holiday on the Sea of Azov. I argued to PC headquarters that this trip away from my site was for "cultural immersion," and it really was that.

"...Mariupol is a tempting target for the leaderships of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk ‘people’s republics’. . . .seizing Mariupol would be an important step to make a frozen separatist-occupied Donbas economically viable. Mariupol is the port through which much of the steel and other industrial products of the Donbas are exported. Mariupol is also key if the Russians desire a land bridge to Crimea. While taking the land bridge would be doable for the Russian army, holding it would prove costly. It would mean occupying a strip of territory 300 kilometers long, territory that has not shown great sympathy for the separatists or the idea of ‘Novorossiya.’ The Russian army would have to garrison the territory to fend off almost certain partisan attacks." Brookings Institute, March 2015

Loyal to Ukraine, Mariupol continues to protest
 Russian aggression. The war's taken its toll..

Mariupol is back in the news, though the ongoing war in Ukraine, the ongoing killing and destruction, the every day battles and skirmages, the daily death toll, have been on the media back burner for a while now. Putin's war no longer makes the headlines, unless the story has to do with the Trump campaign and traitors like Paul Manafort helping Putin take over Crimea and the Donbas. Ukraine is suffering, mightily, weeping in pain, and the world seems not to care.

I care. I care deeply. I served with the Peace Corps in far-eastern Ukraine, 2009-2011, in the lovely town of Starobilsk in eastern Lugansk oblast. My friends are in harm's way. 

Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, is a main access route to the strategic Black Sea. My host mom Luba and friends took me on a fantastic vacation in Berdyansk, near Mariupol. It's a busy seaport area, and it's pretty.  That area is now encircled by heavily armed Russian troops that can strike anywhere, anytime. Putin wants access to the Black Sea. 

What about the Minsk agreement? I don't see it accomplishing anything. It's certainly been a sham since the brutal destruction of Debaltseve, the strategic link between Lugansk and Donetsk.  The western nations talk a lot, but actions speak louder than words, and no action makes any words meaningless.

Unless there is a will and a way to stop Putin's aggression, there is no end in sight. He will use Ukraine as a target for his revanchinist goals, and who knows, other eastern European countries as well.  It's a sad commentary on international uselessness and helplessness in the face of illegal aggression that breaks accepted international treaties and the sanctity of international borders.

Battle of Mariupol. War photos
from Yahoo images,
 and they are disturbing.

The Brookings Institute predicted that if Mariupol came under renewed Russian attack, sanctions would not only continue but increase.  I hope so. A meeting with Putin is taking place now, in Crimea of all places. The image sickens me. So far nothing has halted Putin's sending in more mercenaries, arms, and heavy weapons of destruction.  

How does this illegal aggression continue? Why isn't Putin arrested and tried before a Hague tribunal? If Putin was stopped, the war would stop. The destruction, the mass graves, the laying waste to human lives and human habitats, is all Putin's responsibility.  Supplying the BUK that took down MH-17 is his responsibility.  It's his war.

The Battle of Mariupol. Senseless destruction, and a gruesome mass grave. 
That photo shocked me. I don't think the world was paying much attention, 
unaware of how invasive and tragic this battle was (yahoo images).

Mariupol has put up brave resistance, and will continue to do so.  But how can it stop the Russian military giant? It's David and Goliath.  It doesn't matter if the war drums beat loudly or softly, if the Russian forces are in attack mode or about to be in attack mode, if Putin changes his mind or not.  The presence of so many troops and weapons, the threats of violence, are ever-present, ever-unsettling. Imagine living under these threats day in and day out.

The people of Mariupol remain loyal to Ukraine, and they let that be known time and again.  It's hard to think that a crooked referendum could install a Russian- backed regime there, a regime that knows only how to be at war, as demonstrated in the Donbas. 

Mariupol does not want and will never welcome the Russian-supported brutal anarchy, the break down of civil society, that now dominate southern Lugansk and Donetsk oblasts.

Dear friend Olga at Starobilsk war protest. Many fallen Ukrainian
soldiers are being buried there. And many Internally Displaced Persons
are fleeing there, including the main campus of Lugansk University. 











                         

"Every day you hear that a soldier(s) was killed, and if you imagine that that soldier was given just one life and was also somebody's son, father, uncle, husband, friend, it is becoming so hard to bear," wrote my dear friend Marat, who lives in Kiev. "So the war is near even though the fighting is far, and it affects all aspects of our lives."

How can we allow such violence to continue, the killing fields of eastern Ukraine? How can we succumb to Putin's manipulation, lies and stealth? I hope the US and EU and NATO  nations will not allow or sanction further aggression into other parts of Ukraine, and that includes Starobilsk, the village where I lived for two years. My friends there are living under the same threats as the brave citizens of Mariupol. 

"The stress is unbearable at times," my friend Olga writes, echoing Marat's sadness. "We do all we can to live normally, one day at a time. We are proud Ukrainians, and we are strong. But our hearts are broken; we weep in fear and in silence. Does anyone hear our cries?"

Just looking at a map, with the great Russian bear dominating that part of the world, and the tiny eastern European countries like Ukraine on its western border, makes you wonder how Putin can view Ukraine or any former Soviet republic as a threat. No country wants to attack Russia, no country threatens its borders. NATO is scared to death to start a war with Russia, so is the US and EU nations.  There might be a little saber-rattling, even a lot of noise, but no one wants war with Russia. And no eastern European country has the military might of the Russian giant. The war in Ukraine is all about Putin's aggression and war games, with disatrous consequences for the world.  

It's the little guys vs. the big guys, an underdog against a superpower, David vs. Goliath.  It took a while to get here, to descend to this level of  war and destruction. Donbas destroyed. Crimea occupied. Rule of Law toppled.  This CNN graph tells the story. It's a few years old, but not much has changed. It makes me weep.

America the Beautiful: Our National Parks, Our Crowning Glory

Awesome Bryce Canyon National Park, one of five
National parks in Utah, visited with my brother
 Loren  several years ago. 

The smallest agencies of our national government are, in my mind, some of the very best agencies of all. These include the United States Peace Corps, the National Endowment for the Humanities and, yes, the National Park Service.  Just think how much we could do for our country and our planet if these agencies received the funding they deserved!

Yosemite, one of naturalist John Muir's stunning legacies.
California has 9 National Parks, the most of any state.

This month we celebrate the 100th year of the creation of the National Park Service (NPS) in the Department of the Interior in 1916.  While World War I raged in Europe, the US Congress passed the act creating the NPS, and President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law.  Today, with politics, gun violence, and terrorism as the ongoing backdrop, along with dangerous changes to our global environment, we celebrate America's greatest natural resources.

Our National Parks encompass the glorious natural beauty of our country, from sea to shining sea. They have been called by pioneer naturalists like John Muir "our national cathedrals," counterpoints to the built environment and monuments of old Europe, open and accessible to one and all.

Zion National Park, which I'm so glad I visited with
my brother Loren. Incredible beauty.

I have visited several parks but hardly all of them. They are high on my travel list. They awe and inspire. They open our eyes to the incredible beauty of America and of our planet. They preserve nature's diversity, native fauna and flora, ecological processes, free-flowing waters, geology in its raw eloquence. They are exemplars of Earth's complexity, as well as scenic wonderlands.  (National Geographic, "The Power of Parks, January 2016).

At the Grand Canyon, cold but awestruck
by its vastness, ancient geology, layered beauty.

Love this North Carolina Park.

The National Park Service preserves and maintains 59 National Parks.  It also oversees hundreds of natural history sites such as battefields like Gettysburg, forts, seashores, scenic rivers, historic grave sites and other significant places that are recognized as national historic landmarks.

Jon Jarvis, the current director of the NPS, says that his agency's purpose is to tell America's story as well as protect our natural environment and natural historic places. "If not us, who else? It's our job."

Maybe our next president will jump on the National Parks bandwagon and advocate for huge budget increases, and a new Congress will approve it. This would be the best birthday gift of all! NPS could continue to update and upgrade the parks, support deferred maintenance, including damage being done by climate change, and improve the amenities that draw us into the parks. The lodges themselves are magnificent historic structures, built over the years on some of the most beautiful land in the world. And National Park Service rangers, and we need many more, are among the best teachers and quardians of these natural resources on earth.

Yes, our federal government's smallest agencies give us the biggest bang for the buck.  What's more important than preserving our natural environment (NPS), promoting civic discourse (NEH), and fostering peaceful relations in the world (Peace Corps)?  Let's put our money where our deepest values lie. Let's celebrate our National Parks in a big way!

Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/about/ for Ken Burn's documentary on our National Parks.

National Geographic, "The Power of Parks," January 2016.

http://nationalparkservice.gov

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/national-parks/top-10-landmarks/#/landmark-national-park-grand-canyon-north-rim_34817_600x450.jp

Shandong Province, China, home of my 'Conversation Partner'

China today.
The ancient and the modern in Jing'na exist side-by-side.
Image from Chinese Culture and Education Center in Spartanburg, SC.

Fenghua Xu, from northern China, is my "conversation partner" through the faith-based nonprofit international program Water for Ishmael in Toledo.  This outreach program is a way to help foreign students, new immigrants, and refugees who are studying English to practice with native speakers. It's also a wonderful way to promote cultural exchange.

Fenghua's English is excellent, so we learn from each other.  We meet weekly, explore different sites around town, share gifts, and talk about wide-ranging subjects. Fenghua has a PhD in a science field, as does her husband, a post-doctorate fellow in physical chemistry at the University of Toledo. Our university is noted for its diverse student body and its attraction to many students from abroad, a majority from the Middle East, many from China and the Far East. Fenghua is now pregnant with their first child, a happy occasion.

Elissa with her conversation
partner Negin, from Iran,
and Fenghua at TMA

Fenghua knows more about the USA than I know about China.  I find this to be true wherever I am in the world, by the way. People in other countries study American history, study our language, and are curious about who we are, how we live, and especially our popular culture. They follow us on TV and on the internet, no doubt getting all kinds of mixed messages.  There's a curiosity about America. I remember conversations in Ukraine about the first time most people were able to watch American TV, after 1991. "Pow, America popped out at us!" a young counselor at Sosnovy summer camp outside of Starobelsk said to me, international hip hop music blaring loudly in the background. For many, I was the first real American they had ever met.

Fenghua is from Shandong(山东) province on the northeast coast of China, situated on the Bohai Sea to the North and the Yellow (Huanghe) River to the south. It's about halfway between Beijing and Shanghai.

Jinai (wikimedia image) 

The history of Shandong goes back to before 6500 BC. It embraces layers upon layers of cities, provinces, and dynasties. This complex layered mosaic of cultural, economic and political threads continued up to 1945-1949, when the People's Republic of China was created. Another layer was added to the mosaic and continues into the present.

Shandong Coastal Vineyards 
(wikimedia/Alan Korol)

Shandong is one of the most populous provinces in China (there are 22 provinces), with almost 96,000,000 people. Jinai is the province's economic and cultural hub. The modern cities of Quindao, Wechai, and Yantai dominate the coastline. They are surrounded by vast vineyards that provide almost 50% of China's wine, the Tuscany of China. Fenhghua added that Quindao is known for its beer, Wochai for its many Korean companies, and Yantai for its university.

The Confucious Temple, Qufu

I did some online research to learn more and read that Shandong province "is a major cultural and religious center for three religions: Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, and Confucianism....Mount Tai is a revered Taoism site; Jinai, the provincial capital, is a Buddhist site; the city of Qufu is the birthplace of Confucious."  I asked Fenghua about this. She shook her head. No this is not the way we view these places. Not at all.  China is a secular society, she noted, and these are different philosophies and not foremost, not like religion in the West, more like guides to daily life for some people but certainly not all. The Chinese view Mount Tai not as a Taoism site but as a recreation and vacation destination known for its beauty and mountain climbing. Jinai is noted for many things, but Buddhism is the least of them. Yes, Qufu is the birthplace of Confucious, but it is not in any sense a religious shrine.

It seems that my research offered more a tourist's point of view than a native's insight, and it made Fenghua uncomfortable.  Maybe I was on conflicted ground here, so I backed off and asked her how she would describe her country. She hesitated. She talked about geography, environment, and regional variations, which she said are vast. Life is different in the mountains, in the plains, in the northern desert region, on the coast, she explained.  Cuisine is very different from one place to another.  So is language.  The Chinese value education and study very hard to get into universities, which are highly competitive and require passing a difficult multi-day exam called the "gaokao." Students spend their young lives preparing for this test.  The high school years are exceedingly intense since test scores determine whether or not students will go to university.   Fenghua praised this educational system.

So my first Chinese lesson ended. I realized the huge cultural differences between us, an eye-opener in itself.  I must admit the views and images I have in my head about China are one-sided and limited, and even outdated.  Life is an adventure and we learn as we go, I thought to myself. The Water for Ishmael program is a good reminder of this.

Mount Tai, China
I think of China this way....

....But it's actually more this way today!  Quindao skyline 2016 (wikimedia image)

There's a restaurant called Shandong in Portland, Oregon,
which specializes in northern Chinese cuisine. Fenghua
says northern cooking is different from southern cooking,
like regional variations here in the US, in Italy, or anywhere in the world actually.
This is Pork Soup Shao Loong Bao from the Shandong restaurant menu.
Fenghua made me a similar dish.  Delicious! 

Young Ukrainians Step up for Open World Program

A new group of young Ukrainian professionals is in Northwest, Ohio, for  an Open World Program focusing on NGO management, building partnerships, developing resources, and empowering the people they serve. The Ukrainians will have opportunities to learn about local government as well as the daily lives of Americans through staying with host families and visiting various sites.  They will participate in social service and cultural programs; visit local and regional nonprofits and faith-based organizations such as Cherry Street mission; visit Port Clinton to learn about the Ottawa County Court House, United Way and Sutton Center; enjoy a day on Lake Erie and at Cedar Point; and spend time exploring and sharing. It's what these kinds of cultural exchanges are all about. Meanwhile, we will also learn from them, and increase our understanding of other cultures.

Our guests are:
*Yevhenii Olehovych Bondarets, from Kiev, who works with internally displaced refugees fleeing the war in eastern Ukraine.
*Oleksandra (Sasha) Kolomiichuk, from Zhytomyr, an instructor and student at Ivano Franco State University and volunteer with at-risk children, AIDs/HIV prevention, and stopping human trafficking.  Rep. Marcy Kaptur was thrilled to learn her parents are beekeepers!
*Lina Mykhailovska, a restoration artist at the Lviv Historic Museum, deputy editor of a Legal Protection League newspaper, dedicated to promoting Rule of Law and civil society.
*Kateryna Ivanivna Lovinska, from Burtyn, who works with various projects established by our US Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, helping to manage and distribute humanitarian shipments and support public-private partnership projects to help the needy, educate children, and build sustainable agricultural projects.
*Alla Pavlivna Salatska, mayor of the rural villages of Kotiurzhyntsi, Blydni, and Cherniivka, under the Polonne City Council Unified Territory. She focuses on economc development, social services, addressing the need for jobs, fixing roads, improving the quality of life in small villages.
*Tamara Zykova is the facilitator of this delegation, as she was for the group from Burtyn and Starobilsk two years ago. She works with the American program Save Ukraine Now in Kiev, and is a long-time partner for a host of humanitarian, educational and professional programs.  She is a great friend of Open World, which is an extraordinary Library of Congress and US Congress international exchange and professional development program.

I was happy to meet this latest group of Ukrainians at a welcoming lunch at the Toledo Hungarian Club this past Sunday, sponsored by the Great Lakes Consortium for Training and Development (GLC).  The GLC, under the indefatiguable leadership of Elizabeth Balint, organizes and manages Open World programs here in the Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan region. Viktoriya Maryamova is her hardworking assistant. The program is administered by World Services of LaCrosse, Inc.

At Life Revitalization Center(l-r):Yev Bondarets,
 Lina Mykhailovska, Tamara, Kateryna
Lovinska, CEO Liz Simon, Alla Salatska,
and Oleksandra Kolomiichuk

I also joined the lively group at the Cherry Street Mission's Life Revitalization Center, a multi-purpose program for the homeless and needy. Liz Simon, the CEO, talked about the range of services, partnerships, resources, and opportunities the center offers. Impressive! The group then went to serve lunch and meet people at
the Mission, eager to volunteer and to help out.  After lunch, they headed to Shared Lives Studio and Gallery in downtown Toledo, a beautiful art space filled with the beautiful work, in every medium, of artists with developmental disabilities. A major interest of the Open World delegation is how to generate income to sustain your NGO's mission and goals. Shared Lives is a great model.

Olga Shostachuk, left, interpreter par excellence,
who travels here from Cleveland, and Alla and Tamara   

Rep. Marcy Kaptur with
Sasha, whose parents are
beekeepers.

Our Ukrainian visitors started their cultural exchange journey with a bang and have a busy week ahead of them, learning about local government, agricultural organizations and projects, cultural NGOs like Common Space, and having meetings and exchanges with Bill Hilt of the World Affairs Council, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Toledo City Councilmember Peter Uvjagi, and more dedicated nonprofit leaders.

With Rep.Marcy Kaptur (far right) at the Hungarian Club

Kudos to all of them, to Elizabeth and the GLC, to Tamara and translator Olga, to Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Open World, and to the latest Ukrainian delegation for their commitment to building a strong Ukraine and a peaceful world.  These young professionals are the future of Ukraine.

Some of the members of an Open World delegation
from western Ukraine, Nov. 2012

An Open World delegation from Burtyn, thanks to the work of Marcy Kaptur, 

and from Starobelsk in far-eastern Ukraine where I served with the Peace Corps, Nov. 2014.