Month: March 2007

Subscribe to “Democracy”

The non-profit Participatory Culture Foundation is trying to raise extra donations as they push towards the 1.0 release of their open-source video player Democracy (Miro): “Because TV is too important to leave up to Microsoft and Apple.” (Cory Doctorow)

If you love this sweet piece of software (even my dad likes it), they’re asking you to “subscribe” and donate $5/month. In exchange, you’ll get a shirt with the new logo.

Democracy: Internet TVMy philanthropy strategy is to give to my church first, then to Oxfam or UNICEF for childhood disease prevention, then to small groups that are doing effective work in areas where a little work has a big impact. These days, for me, those would include groups like Vegan Outreach, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the PCF.

Perhaps you would care to Digg this project.

CitySquare: money being spent, streets being named

A tipster points out that documents show the names of four streets in Worcester’s CitySquare project: an extension of Front Street, Mercantile Street, Eaton Place, and Trumbull Street.

Telegram & Gazette:

City Manager Michael V. O’Brien said all the conditions of the General Development Agreement with Berkeley Investments Inc. of Boston, the project developer, have now been satisfied, enabling the city to proceed with its first disbursement at the negotiated sum of $6.1 million.

Mr. O’Brien said the amount, nearly $1 million less than originally projected, comprises expenses in the approved DIF program — such as tenant relocations, engineering, land transfers and design — that must be done for the new public street and block pattern, the public underground parking garage and other public amenities.

Midwest Catholic Worker retreat ends in protest, one arrest at Notre Dame

South Bend (Indiana) Tribune:

A few dozen members of the Catholic Worker movement staged a protest in front of the University of Notre Dame’s administration building today, saying the university’s ROTC program contradicts Catholic teaching.

“It saddens us that one of the preeminent universities is training warriors,” said the Rev. Ben Jimenez, a Catholic priest from Cleveland.

An appropriate quotation from the pope (Feb 18, 2007):

Why does Jesus ask us to love our very enemies, that is, ask a love that exceeds human capacities? What is certain is that Christ’s proposal is realistic, because it takes into account that in the world there is too much violence, too much injustice, and that this situation cannot be overcome without positing more love, more kindness. This “more” comes from God: It is his mercy that has become flesh in Jesus and that alone can redress the balance of the world from evil to good, beginning from that small and decisive “world” which is man’s heart.

This page of the Gospel is rightly considered the “magna carta” of Christian nonviolence; it does not consist in surrendering to evil — as claims a false interpretation of “turn the other cheek” (Luke 6:29) — but in responding to evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21), and thus breaking the chain of injustice. It is thus understood that nonviolence, for Christians, is not mere tactical behavior but a person’s way of being, the attitude of one who is convinced of God’s love and power, who is not afraid to confront evil with the weapons of love and truth alone. Loving the enemy is the nucleus of the “Christian revolution,” a revolution not based on strategies of economic, political or media power. The revolution of love, a love that does not base itself definitively in human resources, but in the gift of God, that is obtained only and unreservedly in his merciful goodness. Herein lies the novelty of the Gospel, which changes the world without making noise. Herein lies the heroism of the “little ones,” who believe in the love of God and spread it even at the cost of life.

Emphasis added.

See also: Father Michael Bafaro’s address to the Worcester March 24 antiwar rally.

Mason Street Musings

Reprinted from The Catholic Radical, April/May 2007

“You people make me sick!” our guest screamed. “You call yourselves Christians! You’re a bunch of hypocrites! I’ll sue you for throwing me out on the street!”

Although it’s our preference to feature heartwarming stories of guests who are grateful for our hospitality and leave us for a better future, it’s not honest to sugarcoat Catholic Worker reality. Some of those who stay with us have life-long problems which we hardly understand, much less resolve. Some are prevented by addiction or mental illness from making healthy choices. Some steal from each other or from us. A very small number, thanks be to God, fly off the handle.

We had just about every type of challenging guest in February. Several got drunk and lied to us about it. One got up in the middle of the night to smoke in the bathroom. Another relapsed on drugs. An alcoholic former guest tried to sneak into the house at five in the morning to “use the bathroom.” During a previous restroom stop, he stole a guest’s leather jacket. Several guests lied to us about their income and housing plans. One of them told a story so ridiculous that I felt like saying, “Do yourself a favor. Before you tell me another lie, run it by someone else to see if they would believe you.” It’s disrespectful enough that someone lies to me without treating me as a complete idiot.
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Continuing our struggle, and remembering El Salvador’s

Today is the anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Óscar Romero, which happens to coincide with antiwar demonstrations across the country.

In honor of the former, here’s a prayer from Bob Waldrop.

As regards the latter, here’s a report from Bruce and I at the huge peace march in downtown Worcester, which drew as many as 250 people.


Click To Play

Much more coverage at Indymedia

Items, many about journalism

Thanks for the outpouring of support after I wrote I was sick! Some people would claim nobody reads this site, but I’ll tell you, at least my pals do. I’m feeling a little better today.

Binnacle of the week#
At Hooting Yard.

Tom Crouse watch#
From a rant about literacy:

There might not be a worse sign for country.

Zombies of Worcester#
I love the photo that illlustrates the Elm Park-Lincoln Estate Neighborhood Association’s article With Warm Weather Comes New Crime Concerns. What’s up with that guy’s hand? With warm weather comes—zombie attack!

elmpark.jpg
Continue reading “Items, many about journalism”

The long, dark sickday of the soul

I’ve felt spiritually derailed this year, and the Lenten season just makes it that much more obvious. A day or two of prayer and fasting usually gets me back on track–in fact, I’ve never known it to fail. But I’ve been sick for a week and a half, and in no mood to take on any more spiritual disciplines till I’m feeling better.

Part of the trouble is that I haven’t lived in a Catholic Worker community for six months. For all the drawbacks of the Catholic Worker lifestyle, it does make it easy to integrate spirituality into the flow of your life.

When my life isn’t spiritually grounded, my activism isn’t grounded, either. When the rest of my life is going well, activism is a joy, or at least fun in a quixotic way. But these days, my projects have been a real chore.

Many radicals of vastly more experience than myself refer to their work as “resistance,” which is a word I don’t really like. As a Christian, I think that Truth and Love are the background of reality. I don’t want to stand up to Evil like a wall, I want my life to be sharp like a pin, so that when confronted with Evil I can make little pinpricks in it, letting Truth and Love seep through, eventually eroding it. But at the moment, my work feels like “resistance,” as though I’m standing against evil alone, rather than being a tool of God’s love.