PETE SEEGER REMEMBERED

Pete Seeger musician, folk singer, philosopher, activist died on
January 27, 2014 at the age of 94.  He lived a life committed to
fairness and justice.

He used a 12 string guitar, and a five-string banjo to pluck out melody.
With lyrics that spoke to all people, he told the story of the
power of people working together to overcome injustice, intolerance
and inequality.

Activist since the age of 17, he lived through nearly 100 years of
America's individual and communal violence at the same time
inspiring many to believe in their power to overcome intolerable
conditions. His dignity and personal simplicity was inspired by his
love of people and nature.

Whether marching with "Occupy Wall Street", or recognizing the
need for labor unions, or refusing to swear that he was not a communist
before a US Senate Committe, Seeger swore allegiance to America's
promise to lift humanity beyond the narrow confines of bigotry.

At an age when many people resist change, when many seniors refuse
to read or hear or learn about other regions of the world, Pete Seeger
was still marching with young and old for social causes and urging
people to "think globally and act locally."

Pete Seeger will be missed but his music and lyrics will still, and always
call us to values of fairness and respect for each other and our country
and America will be the better for it.

SOUNDS OF THE FUTURE?

Just about kick off time at the Super Bowl, Missouri as well as states
North, East and South of us heard a strange, loud sound. 

Here in St. Louis the noise reached us at dinner time and than it was
repeated before our lights went out leaving us in total darkness for a
short time.  The sound was described variously by people as a sonic
boom, a late afternoon truck delivery or a big highway accident, or
something being dropped on the roof.

According to Andrew Long researcher at the University of Toronto
Scarborough Climate Laboratory it was a "frost quake"  produced
by the zero and below degree climate we have been experiencing
since the first of the year. These temperatures cause the earth's plates
to move about and crash into each other creating odd sounds.

"Frost quake" or no, our lights came back on quickly, we went on with
our dinner and I was left with the strong feeling that this will not be the
last time we experience these "noises" and occurrences in the future.

C O R R E C T I O N

In my January  20 post, "LABADIE ANOTHER KANAWHA?"

 the Missouri River was improperly identified. 

The River runs next to Ameren's Labadie plant where plans for a landfill

 are being contested by the Labadie Environmental Organization.

KIEV: CONNECTING THE DOTS!

My grandparents often spoke of Kiev.  They referred to it as a City
in Russia close to where they lived.  They spoke of it fondly while
describing how threatened they were by Russian authorities.

They came to America because of fear of the Russian military and
because their 15-year old son was participating in efforts that today
we might call an uprising.

It is only recently after reading about the uprising in the Ukraine
that I realized that the Kiev my grandparents spoke of was indeed
the Ukainian Capital and not a Russian  city. 

I find it odd to read about and watch men and women in the heart
of Ukraine's political crisis without wondering could they be my kin?

I have always believed the world is small and that as a species
we humans are related, somehow.  The Ukarinian upheaval
connects the dots to the oppression felt by my grandparents
to me in a very personal way, and there too am I.