June 2019
Welcome to my month-end, heart-and-mind-shap
“Recommended”
Viewing, Listening & Reading
The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben, Jane Billinghurst, et. al. — Continuing the topic of “wood wide webs” and their far-reaching senses, this book is well worth a read.
“This Land,” a podcast hosted by Rebecca Nagle — Nagle, an Oklahoma journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, examines how a cut-and-dry murder case opened an investigation into half the land in Oklahoma and the treaty rights of five tribes. Now up to four episodes. Must listen!
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle — This popular author’s gift to the world is his insistence on living in the present, a message we all should take to heart.
“Food for Thought”
Affordable housing is great as long as it’s in someone else’s community? — The City Council of Basalt, Colo., voted 4-2 to approve a controversial 46-unit affordable housing project for employees of the nearby Aspen Skiing Co.
Mental health legislation — The Colorado Legislature has passed almost 30 bills related to mental health in the last two years.
Underestimating an oil leak — An oil-rig leak in the Gulf of Mexico is estimated to be 1,000 times greater than originally reported.
“Stories of Need”
At Home — The Asylum Officers’ Union announced its opposition to the current administration’s migration policy, while companies like Wayfair and Bank of America are “divesting” from contracts with immigration-related detention centers…Minor children continue to be held in inhuman conditions at U.S. border facilities…Protests against the GEO Group and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have grown in Colorado and around the country…Charles Ray Finch became the 166th U.S. death row inmate to be exonerated…
Abroad — Firearms from the United States are more likely to be used to murder a Mexican than an American…71 years ago, 750,000 Palestinians were forcefully displaced from their homes…The Mexican Government promised to identify thousands of remains in morgues and mass graves from years of cartel-related violence…According to the United Nations, 70 million people or 1 in every 108 people in the world have been displaced due to violence or persecution…
“Everyday Epics”
These “ordinary” individuals, families, businesses and communities have done or are doing extraordinary things…or both:
WALL STREET — Descendents of Standard Oil’s Lauren J. Drake have sold off their inherited shares of the company (now ExxonMobil) “on the basis of environmentalism.”
LONGMONT (Colo.) — The Firehouse Arts Center hosted youth emissaries from Longmont and the Northern Arapaho people of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming as a “first step” toward new cultural connections.
MUNICH (Germany) — On June 27, 1942, a group of German students started a movement of moral opposition to the Nazi regime. It became known as the “White Rose.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three members of Congress — two Democrats and one Republican — introduced a bill to strip Medals of Honor from 20 soldiers who participated in the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
CALIFORNIA — The Los Angeles Times wrote a courageous editorial on owning California’s history as “written with Native American blood.”
