All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

It’s All About Life, so Let’s Get Excited!

From Behind the Pen

Image Credit: Zachary Nelson

Oh my, we have landed on another new day, and we’re off to another new week. What excites you today, even if things aren’t going as you planned? Even if it is simply for the joy of waking up, and rising to see a brand new day, get excited!

Zero in on that excitement quotient, and allow it to penetrate deep into your pulse points. It just may be that special ingredient to recharge your outlook and input, even if it is just for today.GET EXCITED!

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Mastriano’s Attacks on Jewish School Set Off Outcry Over Antisemitic Signaling – The New York Times

Mr. Mastriano, who promotes Christian power and disdains the separation of church and state, has repeatedly lashed Mr. Shapiro for attending and sending his children to what Mr. Mastriano calls a “privileged, exclusive, elite” school, suggesting to one audience that it evinced Mr. Shapiro’s “disdain for people like us.”

It is a Jewish day school, where students are given both secular and religious instruction. But Mr. Mastriano’s language in portraying it as an elitist reserve seemed to be a dog whistle.

A Day In Honour Of Indigenous Peoples

Filosofa's Word

This is a partial reprise of a post I did in 2019, but with some revisions/additions/updates.


Last Friday, 7 October 2022, President Biden issued the 2nd Presidential Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  There has been a growing movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day and at least ten states have already done so.  Ten other states officially observe the day, though they have not replaced Columbus Day as yet.  In addition, more than 100 cities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver, Phoenix and San Francisco.

Many students learn the phrase, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”. But Columbus was not the first foreign explorer to land in the Americas. Neither he nor those that came before him discovered America—because Indigenous Peoples have populated the Western Hemisphere for tens of thousands of years. European contact resulted in devastating loss…

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On a mountain peak

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem in English by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Translator: Lê Vĩnh Tài
Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

On a mountain peak she paused 
Clear divide: her future, her past
From there, the paths were shrouded by clouds
She stood, head high, eyes bright, proud.

The ice cap, top of the world
A lighting strike, a storm grew wild
She saw her mother's womb, her death
Facing turmoil, she met herself.

October 2013

thơ nguyễn thị phương trâm  

Trên đỉnh núi cô ấy dừng lại
Phân chia rõ ràng: tương lai của cô ấy, quá khứ của cô ấy
Từ đó những con đường mây che kín

Cô ấy đứng, ngẩng cao đầu, đôi mắt sáng, kiêu hãnh.

Nắp băng, đỉnh của đỉnh
Một cú đánh ánh sáng, một cơn bão trở nên hoang dã
Cô ấy nhìn thấy bụng mẹ, cái chết của cô ấy
Đối mặt với sự…

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Why A Property Worth Millions Was Returned To The Tongva Tribe | LAist – California

The Altadena property was donated by Sharon Alexander, whose grandparents purchased the parcel as a young couple. When she inherited it in 2015, Alexander — who lives in the South Bay and has no interest in moving — decided to give it back to the Tongva tribe, whose members lived in the area we now call Los Angeles for at least 10,000 years.

“I didn’t want somebody to move in and … destroy the property,” said Alexander. “It’s quite special. And what my grandparents used it for was quite special. And I just thought it should go to somebody that’s going to honor that vision.”

It’s one of the first private land returns to Native Americans in the Los Angeles area. The process of transferring the property hasn’t been without its challenges, but now, both giver and receivers hope it serves as a place for healing.

Source: Why A Property Worth Millions Was Returned To The Tongva Tribe | LAist

♫ Monday, Monday ♫ (Redux)

Filosofa's Word

Another Monday, another Monday song!  Don’t know how much longer I’ll keep this up, but at least for this week and next week, I have Monday songs to play!

While awaiting the release of California Dreamin’, band member Denny Doherty was prodding songwriter John Phillips to come up with some new material. Phillips said he would come back in the morning with “A song with universal appeal.”  Monday, Monday was that song, which Phillips said took him all of about 20 minutes to write.

Interestingly, Doherty, who sang lead on this song for The Mamas & the Papas thought very little of Monday Monday when they recorded it.

“Nobody likes Monday, so I thought it was just a song about the working man. Nothing about it stood out to me; it was a dumb f–kin’ song about a day of the week.”

As you can imagine, he was taken…

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