At Liberti

More people live in poverty while we the people pay obscene amounts to finance war. What’s wrong with this picture?

1 in 7 U.S. people living in poverty

“The percentage of Americans struggling below the poverty line in 2009 was the highest it has been in 15 years, the Census Bureau reported Thursday, and interviews with poverty experts and aid groups said the increase appeared to be continuing this year.” Source: Recession Raises Poverty Rate to a 15-Year High - NYTimes.com

More money spent on  war 

According to the Center for Defense Information, the estimated cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will reach $1.08 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2010.

Read more: Estimated War-Related Costs, Iraq and Afghanistan — Infoplease.com

Crazy priorities

According to the National Priorities Project taxpayers in Mississippi, a state with 1 in 5 people earning below the poverty level, will pay $663.4 million for proposed total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending in FY2011. For the same amount of money, 83,746 people in Mississippi could receive low income healthcare for one year.

Use the interactive calculator at NPP to see the Federal Budget tradeoffs for your city or state.

How do we stop the craziness and reorder our priorities?  Your idea?

Colorado Citizens: Don’t miss the chance to give your input on Over The River. Comments may be submitted by e-mail to co_otr_comments@blm.gov or by fax to 269-8599, enter the words OTR Comments on the cover sheet subject line.

The volume of feedback will be important in the decision. Here’s a copy of my email feel free to use any part of it:

Please, please don’t compromise the safety and well being of many to satisfy one man’s ego. There are too many reasons to say no!

The project compromises our safety and well being!

Highway 50 can be a sometimes dangerous and difficult drive. I drive it regularly and have been stopped in traffic a number of times - once as much as four hours. I now carry emergency supplies including food for me and my dog, in my vehicle. If I had a medical emergency I could have easily died before I could get help. I know others have reported close calls, without the obstacles that OTR will cause. The report does not measure the cost of human hours - how much my time worth and the time of all of us subjected to Christo’s whim. what is the cost of wasted fuel?

The project damages the health of our wildlife.

I love Colorado and our natural resources. It was a primary reason for my move hear many years ago. I care about the wildlife and am deeply concerned with the risk to the bighorn sheep and all the others critters who will be adversely affected. Study show that the health and habit of one of our precious resources, wildlife, will be damaged. And they have a right to life but  no voice. For what? So one man can say “I did it” and profit enormously from the sale of his drawings and the publicity?

The project will damage our environment.

There’s no question that damage will be done that can not be repaired. We make public decision like this all the time basing our decision on whether or not such damage is “justifiable.” That is does it benefit more that the cost of damage. If we were talking about a project that saved lives or improved our well being it might be justified. The supposed economic benefit of extra money flowing to certain residents of our area is not sufficient justification.We should not be in the position of selling our natural resources to temporarily enrich some people.

This project is NOT about supporting art.

Rejecting this project does not mean we are rejecting art. We are simply rejecting the artist imposing cost and inconvenience to force us to experience his art. Love his art? Fine support him to create where the damage is not so great. 

Christo has an unfair advantage and You are our only voice.

Christo has the ability to acquire influence. He has the financing to purchase all kinds of worldwide publicity. He has the backing of the arts community because he is an artist. He gets invited to speak at colleges and promote his art. He has the backing of politicians and business organizations who only see the lure of economic benefits. He has used his influence to mobilize worldwide support. We the people do not have that kind of influence. We don’t get invited to speak. We can not buy public relations. We can’t compete with the millions Christo spends, just to get our voices heard.

You are our only hope. Please, please protect us. Preserve our safety, our wildlife, our natural resources and our quality of life.

Thank you!

A faint breeze was barely stirring the aspens. Eddie and I on our morning hike; more a walking meditation. The profound silence penetrated occasionally by the call of a crow or the first songs of a meadowlark. The silence is without and within. I am blessed with peace and happiness. This dawn will pass. The stillness and the peace reside in me.

As a coach I recommend people write to the editor of their newspaper, on things they feel strongly about, as a way to access and express their authenticity. Have you? I highly recommend the process to you. Let me know how you feel afterward.

Here’s a letter I wrote regarding artist Christo’s proposed Over The River Project - a plan to install 5.9 miles of fabric over the Arkasas River:

“Sorry citizens of Howard, canyon neighbors and US 50 commuters, our goose is cooked, or should I say our lamb is skewered. Complain, stick pins in a Christo voodoo doll, but nothing will stop Over The River. It’s a done deal.  

Christo has a right to be artistically selfish. We have the right to like or dislike his art. He should not have the right to impose his art and the colossal disturbance it creates, on any of us! And no, the gift is not free. At the least, the project will cause inevitable death of sheep and the loss of many hours of life waiting in traffic jams. 

Comment on the EIS? Write your representative? I think you must but I don’t think it will matter. What’s three years of miserable inconvenience, risk of life in emergencies and the death of a few critters when money’s at stake? 

Incidentally, the EIS, financed by Christo, reads like a prospectus, justifying each risk with a statement about how locals will profit. EG “…increased traffic from OTR visitors would cause some delays and congestion on US 50…” Followed by “…Additional visitor spending during the exhibition period would temporarily add to residents’ personal income. (DEIS 4-133)  What’ wrong here?. 

As a society we justify inconvenience, risk to life or damage to nature in the name of progress or necessity. This project is neither. It is a profitable ego trip for the artist and a potential cash bonus for some others.  Stop it? How?’ 

 Racing my dog Eddie down a steep, rocky mountain wash at 6 AM this morning, and laughing crazily I thought: “Im insane.”

A fall or even a stumble could be a disaster, especially to my no longer young body. But I don’t care. I’m insanely happy. Perhaps happier than at any time in my life. Why? I’m doing what I love, taking risks and letting go of more fear. Performing in a jazz concert last week, doing my thing, looking out from the stage at the first stars twinkling over the mountains. I though “If I died right now I would be fulfilled.”

Why didn’t I do this before? Who cares. It’s never too late to let go and live. Whatcha think?

A new study published online in the journal Psychological Science makes a compelling case that each of us should find lucky underwear of our own.

“Activating a good-luck superstition,” the authors wrote, “leads to improved performance by boosting people’s belief in their ability to master a task.”

link: Phys Ed: Does Lucky Underwear Improve Athletic Performance? - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

It’s not about your underwear, it is about what you believe. W. Clement Stone had it right years ago: 

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” W. Clement Stone

Believe in you!