Items

But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here is not eros, a sort of esthetic or romantic love; not philia, a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends; but it is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization.
–Martin Luther King, Jr.

Deborah Plummer, Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Equal Opportunity at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, will be speaking on “The Beloved Community” at St. Peter’s Church in Worcester, Monday, April 11, 6:30pm.

The church is at 929 Main Street in Worcester, across from Clark University.

Worth noting that not only does Dr. Plummer specialize in the issues surrounding “diversity,” she was a nun for 13 years.

Happiness Pony

Asa Needle, Sarah Assefa, and I have published the first issue of a new newspaper for Worcester, Happiness Pony. We’re still figuring out distribution stuff–if you have a suggestion of a place you want to be able to find it, please post a comment.

And yes, we’ve talked about this title before.

Want to help with this week’s 508 show? Make a short video (3 seconds to 3 minutes) that has to do with Worcester, Christmas, the holidays, or whatever is preoccupying you this week. Send it to me. I’ll edit the ones that go best together into a show, and link to the rest.

The video will be posted to the net and cablecast on WCCA TV13.

How to contact the 508 show.

Read the rest of this entry »

There hasn’t been a meetup of Worcester bloggers in some time, so this Saturday, Sept 11, at 9am there will be a Worcester “blogger coffee” at the Friendly’s in Tatnuck Square (642 Chandler Street). This is a chance to meet some of the other folks making our local internet an interesting place. If you are a non-blogger looking to chat with bloggers (I know at least one political campaign manager in this category), you’re certainly welcome, but be warned that 6 or 7 bloggers is a great turnout for these things–this isn’t a big networking event.

Read the rest of this entry »

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican.

Standard Podcast Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Audio: mp3 link, other formats, feed

Video: Downloads and other formats
Read the rest of this entry »

Our old college buddy Zack Berger, medical doctor and Yiddish poet, got a shout-out on Boing Boing this week, highlighting his Yiddish versions of classic children’s books. Good job! You can order the books here. I don’t speak Yiddish, but reading them aloud is a treat anyway.

Catholic anarchism
Michael Iafrate excerpts an essay from the latest Catholic Worker. If I find the thing online I’ll post a link.

Telegram & Gazette paywall
Our local paper, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette is planning to charge for some local stories on their website, starting this summer. The first few stories each day would be free, after that you’d have to pay. Jeff Barnard has an impressive rant about the modern economics of newspapers and how they relate to the T&G and its plans.

New Ubuntu released today
For the past few years, I’ve mostly used computers running the Ubuntu operating system, the most popular flavor of Linux. The latest version is out today.

On Palm Sunday many churchgoers hold palms during the service. I’m used to seeing people weave them into large crosses. Here are two smaller (East African?) designs that I saw for the first time.

“Song for Holy Saturday”
Following tradition, here’s a link to this poem by James K. Baxter.

“Enjoy the Silence: Triduum, sexual abuse, and the disappearance of the crucified”
Michael Iafrate:

It is truly difficult to hear the continued reports of children raped by priests and not be struck by the presence of the Crucified One there. But this presence is denied—“I do not know the man!”—each and every time church leaders and members alike remain silent or utter words of defensiveness that embarrassingly fill nearly every news story or ecclesial statement covering the abuse.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nice profile of local Catholic Worker and awesome person Patty Angevine in the Telegram and Gazette. Among other things, she co-founded the great soup kitchen at St. John’s. (Note that it’s rarer than you might think for Catholic Workers, like Patty, to work professionally in social services.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Michael Iafrate makes the case against Thanksgiving, then admits:

. . . I am not about to be so politically smug that I would simply refuse to participate in my own family’s traditions.

Me neither. I love celebrating a fall feast with family, and I love celebrating a utopia in which natives and immigrants could co-exist. I’d embrace a chance to have a more honest celebration without giving up the joy.

Don’t forget that the day after Thanksgiving is Buy Nothing Day. I’ll be doing my bit to “keep the Christ in Christmas” by keeping myself out of the mall. For a great example of a joyous Buy Nothing Day, see Mark Dixon’s 49 Hours at Wal-Mart.

Worcester Police on Twitter

The WPD’s Twitter feed makes me wonder when we’ll see our first Worcester crime blogger. Seems like anyone could gather quite a bit of info with a computer, police scanner, and telephone.

River Sims
Thanks to River Sims and Mike the intern for a wonderful, unexpected tour of San Francisco last week.

If you’re interested in the Catholic Worker movement in 2009, you might want to read about River’s ministry, read his blog, or follow him on Twitter.

Michael Spencer on the death of Michael Jackson
From the Internet Monk podcast:

We should remember how many people came to Christ because they had concluded that the gods of the old world were empty and meaningless. Our task is to keep Jesus from being one of the gods of the old world.

Amen.

Bonus mp3 link: Stale Urine covers “Billie Jean”

Organizing a Janitor’s Union in Worcester: July 8, 7pm, 52 Mason St
A presentation at the SS. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker:

Chris Patterson, a community organizer with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 615, will speak about the campaign to expand membership in Worcester’s union of janitors. Discussions and refreshments to follow. The event is free and open to the public. All are welcome. For more information, please call 508 753-3588.

“Pope Calls for New Economic Order”
Dave Griffith:

So, I know that the any headline that begins with “Pope” is going to be divisive–either you’re on the bus or off right away. But I think the new encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” ( “Charity in Truth”) should be of great interest to many, Catholic or not, because it calls for an end to capitalism as we know it.

Haven’t read this encyclical yet. Will revisit the topic when I do.

Last week, a friend asked: Do Catholic Workers go to church? His impression was that the answer was No, and that “not going to church was part of the thing.”

I would say, by-and-large, the answer is Yes.

• The Catholic Worker movement is decentralized, and there’s nobody in a position to enforce these things.
• Many folks in Catholic Worker communities are not Catholic or not church-goers.
• That said, based on visits to dozens of communities and meetings with hundreds of Catholic Workers, I think that most Catholic Workers are at least occasional churchgoers.
• Some Catholic Workers make churchgoing a priority. Co-founder Dorothy Day attended mass every day. There are Catholic Workers who are priests, nuns, and deacons. On this website, we have archived many homilies from masses at the Mustard Seed Catholic Worker in Worcester. I think most of those who go to mass there on Fridays also attend at their own churches on Sundays.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s This American Life has a great piece on activist Brandon Darby, who became an FBI informant whose work led to the conviction of 2 young RNC 2008 protesters.

I’d never heard of him before fellow RNC arrestee Drew Wilson told me about him; turns out several of my friends worked with him and admired him.

If you’ve listened to the radio piece, it’s worth reading Scott Crow’s critique. (Scroll past the first few comments to see it.)

Worcester Chopped Sea Clams
Holmes looks up trademarked items named after Worcester.

The Foundation of All Activism . . . Dental Floss
Erik Marcus makes a point about taking care of yourself.