I am a Proud Minnesotan

This is my land, my home and the place where my remains shall rest throughout eternity. As the anniversary of the battles of Gettysburg approach, my pride in homeland is heightened.
by Charlie Leck

There’s a lovely, peaceful, little spot in Orono, on a gentle hill that overlooks Long Lake, that I often visit. My wife’s great-great Grandfather, Bradford Wakefield, sold the spot, which had been a part of his farm, to the city for one dollar. Back then, before he gave the property away, the locals called it Teepee Hill because the Native Americans (the Dakotah) of the area often set up camp there.

In 1861, however, with the Civil War raging and the bodies of Minnesota boys being returned from the battlefield, the community was in need of a cemetery. One of Bradford’s sons, John Wakefield, is buried there. He, like many troops on both sides of battle, lost his life to typhoid while he was in Tennessee. So, today, the little hillside is known at Union Cemetery.

The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg is upon us (July 1 – 3). It caused me to stop at the cemetery yesterday. It looked wonderful from atop the little hill. The lake looked peaceful. I found John’s marker. He’s surrounded by other members of his family, including his parents and many of his siblings.

I may have been born, too many years ago, in New York City, but I have become a solid Minnesotan. I thought about that yesterday as I leaned back against grandpa Warren Wakefield’s big tombstone. This spot, where Warren liked to come to play, represents home for me about as much as any place in the world. There’s another cemetery – even older and about 7 miles west of this one and attached to our farm property – that I also find extremely peaceful. It’s called Pioneer Cemetery because, I think, it lies alongside what was a wagon train trail to the west. It appears that one of the parties of adventurers had a difficult time and pulled up in this area. They lost a number of their children to disease and buried the tikes here and marked the graves with crude stones on which names and dates are carved. That’s the story I’ve built up in my mind from what I find there.

This is my Minnesota. I am a part of this land now – part of these lakes and rolling meadows. When my soul departs for the stars, it is here – near this old cemetery – that I want my ashes to be scattered. This was all once a part of the famous Big Woods, an area so dense with giant hardwood trees that arriving white settlers did not know that one of the most magnificent lakes in the world was hidden deep inside these trees.

I am proud of this place and its hearty pioneers of the past. I often wish there could be some way to reverse history to such a point that more kindness and fairness could have been extended to the beautiful people who lived here before our white ancestors arrived.

And, I am damned proud of those young Minnesota men and boys who trooped off to join the fight to end slavery. Their story is legendary here in Minnesota and those troops are held in positions of near reverence to this day. President Calvin Coolidge would say of that Minnesota Volunteer Regiment that they had… “few if any equals and no superiors in the history of warfare!”

At Gettysburg, the Minnesota Volunteers would suffer the highest rate of casualties of any Union regiment.

Those brave soldiers left Minnesota before the break of light on 22 June 1861. They marched down to the Mississippi River from Fort Snelling and boarded steam boats that headed south. Others of them boarded trains out of St. Paul. Their reputation preceded them. A reporter for the Chicago Tribune, having seen the Minnesota soldiers changing trains in his city, wrote of them…

“There are few regiments we have ever seen that can compare to the brawn and muscle with these Minnesotans, used to the axe, the rifle, the oar and the setting pole. They are unquestionably the finest body of troops that has yet to appear in our streets.”

They went proudly and bravely and they fought in places like Antietam, Bull Run and Fredericksburg. Then history led them to Gettysburg and to one of the ugliest, fiercest, most violent encounters of the Civil War.

Tomorrow, 1 July (150 years later), I shall write about these proud and brave Minnesota boys and their part in the great battle in Pennsylvania.

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Stories by Boomers

       This photograph is on display at the

         U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

I recommend this remarkable story to you!
by Charlie Leck

I came across a fascinating story today in the New York Times… A Son of the Holocaust Buys German. It is part of a series called Booming, columns written by baby boomers about their lives.

This particular story was written by Henry Rozycki, a physician in Richmond, VA. It is a touching account of growing up as the child of holocaust survivors.

I found it a remarkable piece about healing. I strongly recommend it to you. It begins this way…

“I bought an Audi this year and with that, World War II finally ended for me.!

It’s brief – a quick read – and it is beautifully written!

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The 1% or the 1%

American politics has changed dramatically since the Supreme Court of United States (SCOTUS) ruled in the Citizens United case. Dramatic political power now resides in the hands of a very small minority and elected officials don’t have to feel compelled to stay tuned-in to the majority.
by Charlie Leck

This is really a blog about a blog. This is an attempt to get you to go to another blog that can introduce you to the one percent of the one percent of Americans who have enormous control over the machinery of politics. The Sunlight Foundation Blog is one of the most important sources of information in America for those of us who want government to be open and transparent. In the link above I’m sending you to a particular and intriguing blog

The opening statement of the blog (the hook) really grabbed me…

“In the 2012 election, 28 percent of all disclosed political contributions came from just 31,385 people. In a nation of 313.85 million, these donors represent the 1% of the 1%, an elite class that increasingly serves as the gatekeepers of public office in the United States."

And, then, this remarkable statement of fact…

“One sign of the reach of this elite “1% of the 1%: Not a single member of the House or Senate elected last year won without financial assistance from this group. Money from the nation’s 31,385 biggest givers found its way into the coffers of every successful congressional candidate. And 84 percent of those elected in 2012 took more money from the 1% of the 1% donors than they did from all their other small donors (individuals who gave $200 or less) combined.”

Do read this important blog! Don’t let it enrage you! Allow it to stimulate you – to cause you to think and wonder about the whys and the therefores of this extraordinary fact.

The Characteristics of the 1% of the 1%
This uncommon group lives predominantly in big cities (New York, Washington, etc.). They generally work for blue chip companies. A fifth of them work for blue-chip companies and a fifth of them work in finance or for financial institutions, real estate or insurance. A tenth works in law or lobbying.

The smallest political contribution required
to make it into this elite and tiny group? You would have had to give at least $12,950 to get into this 1% of the 1% club in 2012. This little, elite club gave $1.68 billion dollars in the 2012 election cycle. Of that, $500.4 million came through super PACs (given such instant popularity by the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United).

One couple gave nearly $100 million!
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson gave nearly $100 million to that election campaign. Harold Simmons gave $25 million. Bob Perry, Texas, gave over $23 million. Michael Bloomberg, NY Mayor, gave over $10 million. Though it is possible to look at the very long list of all 31,385 donors, which will take some time to open on your computer, by clicking here, I do not recommend it.

The overwhelming majority of the club gave directly to campaigns and not to Super PACS. There were 1,635 individuals who contributed more than $10,000 to Super PACS.

So what?
If you raise the question: What difference does it all make? So what? Well then, I really suggest you go to the blog and read it carefully in order to find out.

Believe me, the above is only a tiny summary of Sunlight’s very extensive and valuable report. I’ve become a fan of the organization and I am very pleased to receive regular, personal alert emails and notes from Zubedah Nanfuka.

By video…
If you prefer, you can also look at a video version of this extensive report. It’s extremely well done.

We still count!
Politics in America has changed dramatically. We must fight the inclination that we don’t count. In fact, these developments call for us to be more involved and informed than ever.

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If the Creek Don’t Rise!

Wasn’t that a Tennessee Ernie Ford song?... Oh, well, it was something like that. Remind me! And, the President was remarkable in the Miami heat yesterday, laying it all out for us so clearly. Yet, the House of Representatives, the Koch brothers, the Tea Party and the U.S. Senators from the traditional southern states will disagree.
by Charlie Leck

As a young man, I was a Tennessee Ernie Ford fan. Oh, my, but the man could sing. He had a weekly television show (black and white) and he always closed it out by saying: “See you next week if the good Lord is willin’ and the creek don’t rise!” Since I hadn’t heard one of Ernie’s songs in so many years, I had to hunt one down on the internet. When Ernie sings How Great Thou Art, a guy almost wants to fall to his knees in devotion – almost! (Hear him sing the great hymn here.)

The creek rose this week here at Native Oaks Farm and it rose up with a bit of ferocity. It took the bridge into our farm with it – the only civilized way to get into the place.

The weather events of the last week have seriously tested my devotion. I looked up to the heavens and shouted out my question: “What the f-bleep is going on here?”

My wife is devastated. This is really her farm and not mine. She’s lovingly poured the last 33 years of her life into this place, working most days from early in the morning until late into the evening. We’ve had our disagreements about the time and energy she puts into this place and the time and attention that I don’t get as a result. Yet, I’ve always admired the love she’s had for this farm and how devoted she's been to it.

Well, the weekend storm, a week ago, was a little too much for our wonderful spot on this earth to handle. The lovely, little creek that meanders through it turned into a bit of a monster and kept on rising over the weekend and also even in the week following the storm as the run-off water leaked into it.

A bridge – maybe 70 or 80 years old – was the main victim of the rising creek. It’s quite amazing how we get attached to such things. I liked that old bridge and didn’t want to see it go.

I’ve told myself a couple dozen times to stop feeling sorry for myself. “There are people with real problems,” I’ve said, “ – real problems! You’ll awaken in a cozy bed tomorrow and there will be orange juice awaiting you and a wonderful, hot cup of coffee. It isn’t the Earth’s fault – all these problems – but it is just that we don’t know how to plan properly for special times like this. I’m sorry that I snapped at you, Earth. You are wonderful and your abundance sustains us!”

This isn’t really a blog about our little bridge or our farm…
Did you listen to the President’s speech in Miami yesterday? Now, those are real problems that the man is outlining for us. Within 50 to 100 years, Miami may be considered America’s Atlantis. Most of the city is only five feet above sea level. The current pace of global warming will mean that Miami would be totally disabled in the near future. Still folks won’t believe it! We simply won’t learn to get along with this precious Earth.

Those phenomenally wealthy Koch brothers don’t agree either. They call the president “Chicken Little.” The creek simply won’t rise they tell us; and it seems like many Americans are willing to gamble on that.

Well, the president may be lots of things, but he isn’t chicken. The actions he announced in Miami yesterday will put both his reputation and his legacy at stake. Faced with a Congress that will not act, the president is trying to use the power of the executive office to initiate environment actions to save the earth. In my opinion it rivals President Lyndon Johnson’s brave actions surrounding the Voting Rights Act (to which SCOTUS* did great damage yesterday).

As I sit here, in my wonderful tree-top study, I can look out at the rising creek – higher and wider than I have ever seen it -- higher and higher and higher.

"And God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, 'Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.'  And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." [Genesis 1:9-13]

  

SCOTUS = Supreme Court of the United States

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Feed the Hungry in Your Own Backyard

Carlson Meats, in Grove City, does the processing work
for my wife's farm. They recently celebrated 100 years of
business in their community. We admire the Carlsons a
great deal. I took this little photograph last week at their
big anniversary party. 

You probably have a food shelf in your community. If you do, I hope you know where it is and what it’s doing to feed the hungry; and, I hope you’re involved and helpful.
by Charlie Leck

I don’t do actual work anymore in the local food-shelf, but I still stop by occasionally and I am always saddened to see the number of people who need to use the service. I’m thinking about this because I had a wonderful dinner last night – splendid and perfect in every way.

“Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.”
[Proverbs 22:9 ]

This morning, I was going through our pantry shelves and found so many, many things we’ve stored there that will probably never get used. I began to pack these things up, to take over to the food shelf on Thursday. When I see volumes of food like this it makes me wonder and think about the hungry. How can I have so much? How can I not share what I have?

We must never allow our neighbors to go hungry. It’s a rule I have. I worry about the world’s hungry also, but, at the very least, here at home I can do something. Here are some rules I have about local hunger…

Know where your local food shelf is! There’s a good chance it’s in a church – or maybe a community center. Wherever, know where it is. If you don’t, check it out (make a real effort to find out).

Visit the food shelf
and talk to some of the volunteers about how you might help. Ask about the kinds of foods they most need. Find out how and when you can drop off donations of food.

Find out what your local grocer is doing about local hunger!
One of my local food stores (Coburns) has a hunger bag program. I buy a hunger bag every time I shop there. I pay $6 for the bag that contains more than $10 worth of groceries. There’s a spot in the store to drop off the bag. The local food shelf comes around and picks up the bags. Wholefoods is famous for its community support program. The one where I shop has good connections and relations with the local food shelf.

Check your pantry or food closet regularly for items you are not consuming.
Make sure you do this at least quarterly. Clean it out and take appropriate items over to your local food shelf. Donate them and, while you’re at it, pull out a few of those cobweb covered dollar bills from your wallet and donate those, too.

Find out if your local food shelf needs more help!
If it does, help it find volunteers to staff its services. Volunteer yourself if you’re able. Chat with neighbors about people they might know who could help.

Encourage your church or place of worship to be active in feeding the hungry!
If you go to church or to any kind of place of worship, try to get your fellow worshippers to get involved in feeding the hungry. Have a place where food can be gathered and then transported to the local food shelf. A lot of churches have food shelves right within their building. Make sure they have plenty of volunteers. Get involved yourself or recruit volunteers to work there.

Find out about the extent of hunger in your own community!
How much hunger is there in your town? I am amazed to see how many people here are struggling. It just shouldn’t happen in a remarkable nation like our own.

Don’t moralize!
Don’t get your head spinning trying to figure out all the reasons for hunger. And don’t moralize about it. You can’t worry about why that mother spent two dollars on a Powerball lottery ticket instead of on food. Wasting money is not very common among those who are hungry. Remember your own little and big addictions and foibles and don’t think about those of other people. Just don’t allow people to be hungry. There are all kinds of pulls and tugs in this world that work on the minds of all people. Get past that! Instead, get involved in making sure families are not hungry.

Well, those are my simple little rules. I try to follow them myself. Be generous and give to your local food shelf as generously as you can.

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Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Well, I can’t write about dunderheads, like Tom Emmer, Michele Bachmann and Gregg Steinhafel all the time. Sometimes I must write about the wonderful people; and Amy Krouse Rosenthal is certainly won wonderful won of them (as I put it – because it’s the way she might do it).
by Charlie Leck

I’ve written here before about Amy…

Once in Love with Amy

Beckoning of Lovely

A Couple of Quotes

…but, Amy is a constantly evolving wonder and it’s difficult to keep up with her and what she’s writing or filming – or just plain doing – next. I’ve never – in all these lonnnng years met anyone like her. Is it enough to say she’s creative? No, it’s not nearly enough. You must add that she’s delightfully and ingeniously creative. As a communicator, she may be the best I’ve ever encountered. If you don’t know about Amy Krouse Rosenthal, you simply must, must, must!

The latest extraordinary, entrepreneurial adventure of Amy Krouse Rosenthal is the Mending Machine. New Yorkers are going crazy looking for this hot new item. And just below is a beautiful video about the Mending Machine that you must watch.

I hope it took your breath away, as it did mine.

Then, if you have a hankering to learn just a little more about this wonderful woman, go to this blog, Watch. Connect. Read. (Exploring Children’s Literature through Book Trailers). Your heart will soar as you get to know her. There are four or five videos on this blog that will allow you to get some of the same feelings about Amy that I have.

Amy has taught me an awful lot about being a better person. I feel her impact on my life nearly every day. Her life’s theme is beckoning lovely! Because of her, I try to surprise someone every day with little acts of unexpected and joyful generosity. I suggest to people that they try to raise their kids on the idea of beckoning lovely! What a way to go!

Thanks again, Amy, for all these new and wonderful ideas. Keep on keeping on, girl!

And, I mustn’t ever forget that it was my daughter, Erika, who introduced me to Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Her children know all about Amy and they feel about her as I do. I’m a 70+ year old crotchety old coot, but Amy makes me feel like a kid.

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Target & Republicans, Please Don’t Fall for Tom Emmer!

The Tom Emmer watch has begun! When it comes to Tom Emmer, I just expect that Minnesotans in the sixth district will be smarter than that; but, then, I thought Target would be brighter than that, too!
by Charlie Leck

Tom Emmer wants to run for Congress in the sixth district. Aren’t Republicans getting tired of supporting whacko-nut-case candidates who leak such massive amounts of murky bullshit? I mean, common man!

And how about Target Stores?
Target and its CEO supported Michele Bachmann in the 2010 and 2012 elections. They supported Tom Emmer in the last gubernatorial race. Are they really that stupid? And, are their stockholders wising up? Target is embarrassed this morning by a story in the Minneapolis newspaper that points out that Target’s shareholder approval of executive pay bonuses has fallen in the last three years from 92 percent to 52 percent. And I think it is going to fall even more when a lot of shareholders, who don’t pay attention, wake up and get in on the voting. Paying an executive 23 million dollars when his company is under-performing is outrageous. Standing aside and approving large political donations to PACS who support ultra-conservatives is also stupid – especially when most of those stock holders are moderates politically (and many of them Democrat moderates)!

Tom Emmer claims to be big into God, even while his list of people and organizations he hates grows longer and longer. Such rage doesn’t seem very godly to me. Target, pay attention!

One doesn’t exactly use the word compassionate when trying to describe Emmer. The adjectives that come immediately to mind are more like fierce, angry, hateful, disrespectful, cantankerous, negative and rigid.

Tom Emmer is not your stereotypical Minnesotan; that is, there is nothing Lake Wobegonish about this guy.

Here’s what a lot of Minnesotans are going to hold against Tom Emmer…

He authored a bill that required a baffling connection in school between religious reference and the “world view of America’s founders” and “American or Minnesota state history.” There are some political scholars still trying to figure out what Emmer was talking about in that piece of legislative slop.

Tom Emmer stands staunchly behind the view that marriage is a “union of one man and one woman.” Our state compassionately rejected that notion.

He wanted to pass a constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote in the state legislature in order to put federal laws into effect. What? Huh? Is the man on something?

If those little tid-bits are really not enough to help you understand that Tom Emmer is a little off-kilter politically, then you can find plenty more.

As well, someone ought to take a long, careful look at Tom Emmer’s career as an attorney-at-law. I think there would be a gold-mine of stupidity there.

What astounds me is that the Target Corporation, owner of the Target Stores, has given a significant amount of money to political causes that have supported Tom Emmer – just like they did on behalf of Michele Bachmann. You wouldn’t think that the CEO at Target would be so stupid as to allow that; but, then, he (Gregg Steinhafel) also personally contributed to the congressional campaign of Michele Bachmann and he’ll probably support Tom Emmer as well.

Target, wise up! You really don’t want to get caught in bed with Tom Emmer. Perish the thought! I can’t stop my wife from shopping at Target even though she agrees with me about the company’s stupidity. She tells me it’s so convenient and tidy. That means a percentage of my money (spent at Target) is going to ultra-conservative Republican candidates.

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Creative Facebook

This blog is about a few of my friends who use Facebook creatively. You know, some people really do get creative with it. Really!
by Charlie Leck

“More than enough is too much!” [Confucius]

I struggle with Facebook. I don’t know how to use the social contact service very well. I’m awkward when responding to posts others put up. Some of my friends, who I’d like to really know more about, are desperately simple and, sometimes, alienating in what they post. I don’t want to unfriend people (which I wouldn’t know how to do) or to even block them (which I probably ought to do to keep my peace of mind). One of my children tried to explain, but I didn’t get it. So, I just scroll over most of the ordinary posts to get to the really creative stuff that a few of my Facebook friends put up. By the way, I put nothing up because I don’t know how to use Facebook creatively – to say things there that would really be interesting to people. Maybe someday I’ll learn!

Here are a few of my favorite Facebook friends – the creative ones…
– ones who I think are really creative about “the stuff” they put up and share. I look forward to finding a post from them whenever I load up Facebook.

Laurence Nobile
Laurence is the wife of a young cousin of mine (actually the son of a first cousin, so what do I call him? Is “cousin” okay?). His name is Patrice. He and Laurence live en France, southwest of Paris. Laurence and Patrice have 3 children. I love them all dearly. They are a wonderful family (ils sont une merveilleuse famille). Laurence and Patti are artists – and not just ordinary ones. All of Laurence’s Facebook posts are creative and interesting – and often artistic. I look forward to them. Sometimes they leave me so moved I don’t know what to say in commenting on them. Often, it’s just “thank you (merci, merci).” Laurence, I think, should write a book on “creative facebooking.”

Last week Laurence pointed me to this remarkable video that wonders what the world will be like in fifty years… think about it... the world in fifty years – or a hundred years. It’s a brief video, but quite interesting and artistic. I include it here for you.

We live in a networked world. Premal Shah, in the video, says: “The power of a correct idea is spread so quickly in this internet connected age that scale can happen on a never before pace.”

In another post, a few weeks ago, Laurence tried to explain the approach to education that her family takes (she calls it “World Schooling” rather than home-schooling). The family made a presentation to a gathering of interested people in the village of Montargis. Laurence included a summary of the family’s presentation (in French) and I’ve tried to help with the translation a bit and hope I haven’t been unfaithful to what Laurence and her family said… (it is included at the very end of this blog)…

R.T. Rybak
The Mayor of Minneapolis is R.T. Rybak. His Facebook postings are always worth checking out. They tell me interesting things about what’s going on in the city. Sometimes they alert me to things that could be happening – good or bad. Sometimes they are touching and personal. Sometimes they’re funny and comforting. R.T. has a sense of humor and sometimes a devilish attitude. He just plain knows how to use Facebook. He has accumulated the maximum number of friends allowed on Facebook (5,000).

The mayor went to Boston College after graduating from one of our best private school here. He’s a journalist in his civilian life.

You can listen to a piece on Minnesota Public Radio about R.T. using Facebook. In it he says that his social connections (he also uses Twitter) are really him. He makes the posts and he doesn’t leave it to staff members.

The Daily Planet calls our mayor a “hipster.” And, he is hip. Most of his posts are light, cheery and often comical. You don’t get the usual political stuff out of him. He lets us know about things we ought to do in town – things we ought to see and places we ought to visit. His great love for the city comes out in his blogs and I really like that.

Anna Hillegas
Foundry Home Goods is a little shop in downtown Minneapolis (in the Warehouse District) run by Anna Hillegas. I don’t know how I ended up friending Anna, but I’m glad I did. She

doesn’t post frequently, but, when she does, she puts up something really neat, interesting and informative about her shop, her neighborhood or the city. She doesn’t go on and on. She’s short and sweet and I often follow up on suggestions she makes and I listen to her advice. I knew her when she was little and now I’m mighty proud of the woman she’s become.

Brook Hutchinson
is quite good also. She shows off her good taste. She posts terrific photography and she also recommends some really good reading. The other day she sent me off to a splendid article in the NY Times, called How Not to be Alone. Terrific reading! Brook comes out of the western suburban horse community but she’s not stereotypical by any means. She has broader interests, a wonderful sense of justice and a passionate mind that seems hungry to learn.

Sam Stern
My neighbor and fellow-blogger (and good friend), Sam Stern, is a pretty good Facebook poster. He’s brief and to the point. He’s highly personal and reports on his own life and adventures. He also lets folks know about activities in the liberal political world and he alerts us to developments we ought to know about. I think Sam is a perfect Facebook friend. People in Egypt are not going to read him, but his friends, neighbors and Minnesotans are – and they’re going to find his “stuff” interesting.

As for me?
I don’t know how to Facebook. I can’t get the feel of it and I can’t get comfortable. A couple of friends have told me that my blog is my Facebook. That may be true. I rarely put up a Facebook post because I just don’t know what to say – and how to say it that briefly. Who cares about dull? [“I hit golf balls for nearly two hours today and I played nine holes with Tim, a very nice man from Virginia.”] Wow! That’s hot! Can you believe it?

One of my Facebook friends – the first girl I ever kissed – has gone in an immensely different direction than I since our childhood. And, she uses Facebook like an evangelist. She’s always telling me, on Facebook, to indicate I like Jesus or that I respect and devote myself to him – or that God is great and loves us and has our backs. She also tells me I ought to hate the President and love George W. She’s mum on Mitt Romney. I wish she’d tell me how life’s gone for her because I’m interested in that. Is she happy? Healthy? How does she like Pope Francis? How is Maureen? What makes her smile every day? She ought to friend Laurence on Facebook. It would expand her horizons significantly!

Even my family doesn’t light me up with “the stuff” they post. The photos are usually hurried and don’t do their kids justice. Maybe it’s because they understand Facebook better than I and they know to save the good material for private emails. When I talk to them about this they just tell me that I don’t understand. I guess they’re correct.

In these elderly years I’m hungry for creative thinking and signs of hopefulness in the world.

Most Facebook people who read this probably think I should just give up on it and stay off it. But then I’d miss the wonderful stuff I get from the mayor – and Brook – and Anna – and San.

Here’s the little presentation summary by Laurence that I told you about. She’s talking about her family’s approach to education…

The Nobile family are five, including Patrice (father), Laurence (mother), Armand, nearly 16 years, Hélène 14 years and André nearly 11 years. Invited by Art and Culture to Montargis, they have come to talk about their approach to the education of their children…

The most beautiful school in the world!
The Nobile, children do not attend school, they receive their education at home by their parents, whose educational base is found in a book written by thinkers on education (Illich, Freinet and the Montessori School) and take advantage of all the occasions and external opportunities to grow and learn. It means many things in life. Patrice is artist, painter and decorator. Laurence is an artist. Very early in their lives, influenced by their personal experiences, Laurence and Patrice knew that their children would not go to school.

If they are not watching TV the children have access to the Internet, Skype, and a wide variety of current media, cultural and naturalist associations. In other words, they have nearly the very world “at hand.” They have had the fortunate opportunity to travel and stay in various countries – such as the USA, Mexico, India, Morocco... where their father (Patrice) did not hesitate to accept “on the spot” opportunities and contracts for several months. They lived in motor homes, hostels, bed-and-breakfasts and in Earth houses...

School is not compulsory
Remember that school is not compulsory. It is education that is compulsory. What the Nobile contend is that school is too bound up with overloaded programs, that rhythms are not respected for the child and the teacher-student relationship is too rigidly formatted (as if every student was alike or the same).

The idea of school at home and as a world approach is a more well-developed phenomenon in other countries than in France. Here [in France] there are approximately 40,000 children between 6-16 years of age in home-schooling situations, or 0.4 per cent of the young people of school age.

We are all able to do that [home school and world schooling], but it has been formatted otherwise by the educational structure. Other countries, such as the India, are better than we are at flexible educational techniques and we need to change our methodology and approach.

The United States
The Nobile children returned bilingual after a year’s journey through the United States and Mexico. In their world travels they observed and reflected as "anthropologists looked for early evidence of human life. The children were able to reflect on this and learn from these observations. In India, they went into the rice paddies and planted rice.

"Observation is a powerful learning tool," explains Laurence. “Here in France, our children are given the opportunity to participate in sports and cultural clubs – in conservatories of music... All they observe and exchange outside the home, is discussed again in family gatherings and it is illustrated in their art and developed in the accounts and narratives they write down. The children – and, mind you, their parents – learn poetry and music and become creative in many different areas.

The teaching of the children Nobile
is “a natural learning process” and not the result of an imposed education.

This kind of education – this way of learning – is actually within the reach of nearly all of us. It is achievable by most all of us in the world. Think of the world as the school of the Republic. Yes, it has some flaws, but it also has huge qualities and possibilities?

You may judge what we have done. Our children are our evidence and our testimony. The Nobile family is generous. We try to share the rich experiences we have had in the world and the great opportunities we have had in our travels. We are proud to make the dream and our ideas public to as many people as we can. There are so many families yet to contact and to whom we want to explain what we have done.

You would need to know the Nobile children to see and understand just how successful their world education program is. Their children are a match for those educated in the most celebrated systems in the world. I guess it figures that one so successful in establishing such a system of education for her children would also be such a creative Facebook participant.

I’m not giving up on Facebook – not when there are such creative people making use of it. A happy Sunday morning to you all!

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One Loving, Blind Desire for God

My 70 year struggle to understand the concept of God goes on (I should add… without great success).
by Charlie Leck

I have written here a number of times of God.

The following was included in an email yesterday from the Sojourners organization. I found it pleasing (in other words, I liked it). And, it provides something to think about…

"For I tell you this: one loving, blind desire for God alone is more valuable in itself, more pleasing to God and to the saints, more beneficial to your own growth, and more helpful to your friends, both living and dead, than anything else you could do."
   [From a fourteenth-century anonymous work, The Cloud of Unknowing]

I could write more, but this morning I believe this is enough.

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Antoni Gaudi and Sonia Sotomayor

Over the years, the television news show, 60 Minutes, has brought me immense and remarkable pleasure and it is difficult to measure the benefit I've also received from watching so many informative segments; yet, this Sunday night I watched two reruns of productions I’d not seen before and I thought they were among the best ever.
by Charlie Leck

When the magnificent they rank the greatest of weekly TV shows ever, they are going to need to give great consideration to putting CBS’ 60 Minutes in first place. I don’t need to say much more about this, do I? There are millions of people who agree with me.

Yet, what I find even more pleasurable and informative is the ability to nowadays go on-line and watch the entire show – or those portions you wish to watch again – and then to get much of the back-story behind the making of a segment and to see a bit of the material that got left behind on the cutting room floor.

Never was this made more clear to me than last night, when I watched two remarkable, informative and beautiful segments about Sonia Sotomajor and the brilliant and artistic architect, Antoni Gaudi. And then I went on-line and watched them again this morning along with some additional delicious material.

This blog is not going to provide you much more information about either of them; rather, it’s a tease that urges you to go to the 60 Minutes web site and watch these two segments if you have not yet seen them. Watch them and you’ll understand why I’m doing this and you’ll feel like you should thank me if you didn't already see them on your own (and there is a 75 percent chance that you have).

By God (and I mean it), I thought to myself after watching these two segments last night, I think this is a remarkable and wonderful world. Sing it, Louie!

“…and I say to myself what a wonderful world…”

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Wisconsin and Minnesota: Different Directions

Neighboring states, with a lot of similarities and with distinctive differences, Minnesota and Wisconsin are moving in starkly different directions due to very contrasting state political leaders.
by Charlie Leck

We have a bit of a rivalry up here in the northland when it comes to matters of difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The rivalry may mostly be one-way in that Minnesota frequently and regular compares itself to Wisconsin. The badger-state, however, has two other very significant and populated states that touch its borders (Illinois and Michigan) and it is often more in a rival relationship with those states than Minnesota. Right now there is a distinct difference between Minnesota and Wisconsin in the political arena and in how they have chosen to approach state spending and social services questions. The differences are worth taking a look at. It was an article in this morning’s edition of the StarTribune, our local newspaper, that got me thinking about these varying directions. The piece was written by one of the paper’s top-notch reporters, Jim Ragsdale (click here to read it).

In Minnesota’s most recent legislative session, controlled by Democrats, a significant tax increase on the state’s wealthiest residents was passed. This was in spite of warnings that many of these residents might move their places of residence to other states, like Florida. I know a number of people who’ve already done this in spite of the fact that their real home base is clearly in Minnesota.

In addition, Minnesota boldly increased spending on public education – from pre-school through post-high-school. Wisconsin passed legislation in this most recent session to cut both personal and business income taxes; and it also passed legislation that will encourage parents to used a strong private school system by expanding the use of vouchers.

Wisconsin passed legislation that will distance itself from Obama Care (as it is routinely labeled over there across our eastern border).

Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker, has publically predicted that many Minnesota businesses will up and move into Wisconsin – and if they don’t move, he indicated, they will likely do any future expansions of their businesses in Wisconsin. Be aware that Wisconsin has not done a good job in expanding job possibilities in its state in the last two year.

Though Governor Walker regularly blasts all things Obama, the President carried Wisconsin in the presidential election last year by 7 percentage points.

Ragsdale puts the main emphasis of his article on the way the two states have approached health care. Wisconsin’s legislature looked hard at the idea of signing on to Medicaid expansion that would expand health care coverage for more adults and low-income citizens. They decided against that expansion. Minnesota’s legislature decided to go in a completely opposite direction on those questions. Here’s what a June 5 NY Times editorial said about these two decisions…

“Wisconsin and Minnesota are neighboring states with long traditions of caring for the least fortunate, but, at the moment, only one of them is concerned about the health of the poor and uninsured.

In February, more than 130,000 Minnesota residents who lack health insurance became eligible for coverage when the state expanded its Medicaid program under the health care reform law. That will save the state $129 million in the first two years alone.

“Wisconsin, however, has chosen to take the path of indifference. On Tuesday, the Republicans who control the State Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted to reject the expansion of Medicaid, even though it would have covered 85,000 people at less cost to the state. The committee was marching in lock step behind the governor, Scott Walker, who claims to be worried that federal financing will run out. What’s really going on, of course, is that state Republicans have made poor people the victims of their ideological resistance to President Obama and his health care law.”

Wisconsin’s promoters claim all these legislative changes will mean a very favorable climate for business and produce rewards for those who seek job productivity. They also argue Wisconsin will make significant gains in improving the quality of it educational system as a result of taking bargaining rights away from public employee unions. The actions of our neighboring state smack clearly of the political ideologies of the nation’s most conservative political movements. And, these actions don’t seem to be in step with Wisconsin’s historical moderate political climate.

It will take time to see which direction proves to be the better. As of now, it appears that Minnesota is making much more significant gains in reducing unemployment rates. Minnesota Public Radio last week noted: “…Wisconsin talks a better game than it plays when it comes to economic success. The facts show Minnesota performed better than the Badger State in keeping people employed during the Great Recession and adding jobs in the recovery.”

And, the StarTribune noted a couple of weeks ago: “Minnesota’s economy grew faster in 2012 than it has in nearly a decade, spurred by broad gains in manufacturing, wholesale trade, finance and insurance, and real estate rental and leasing.”

Minnesota turned back an attempt to initiate photo identification in state elections. Wisconsin enacted such a law. Minnesota legalized marriage between gays and lesbians while Wisconsin passed in 2006 a constitutional ban against such marriage.

Many observers argue that Minnesota’s significant support of gay marriage and increased education spending will attract more top-level corporations than will Wisconsin’s very conservative and thrift minded approach.

My own prediction is that Wisconsin voters are tiring of Governor Walker’s mean-streak approach to governance and politics. Wisconsin moderates are beginning to shake their heads over there, waking up to the fact that this is not the kind of state they want. Minnesotans are proud to be part of a more moderate approach to social issues – from education to unionization to caring for the needs of lower income citizens. In both states it’s the moderates who make up the massive base of political power. We’ll soon see Wisconsin swing back more to the center position it has mostly favored in the past.

Don’t get me wrong. Wisconsin is a great state. I love it over there. It’s just that for the moment, and temporarily, they are a bit off kilter.

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