Statement of the Moment #10

Clinton campaign plans to keep going — but isn't saying where
-CNN Political Ticker headline




BWAHAHAHA.

TED on a new approach to poverty

"...it's understanding that people really don't want handouts, that they want to make their own decisions, they want to solve their own problems and by engaging with them, not only do we create much more dignity for them but for us as well."
-Jacqueline Novogratz

sir Harvey made me speak to a group of young SK leaders at QC hall yesterday, for their youth leadership and social entrepeneurship training seminar. but i didn't get to see that video above before i gave my talk.

instead i looked at Shertloff's Audition (a book about theatre) and Obama's address at Wesleyan. what is really interesting is how all three of them have the same message: that fighting for others is a fight for one's self too.

which is what i basically shared to the kids. they seemed to be happy.

vitamins

first, it's nice to read Obama's speech with The String Quartet as your background.

second, it sometimes takes a fine and dandy piece of pop culture to slap the gore and glory of forgiveness on your face. though it was poorly edited, watching Mrs. Big again (with Steph, Carlos, Raissa and Dustin this time) still gets me teary-eyed, more like the average American gay guy. but who cares.

third, it's nice to read with The String Quartet as your background. thanks Raissa for the reintroduction. and i'm happy i didn't get Carlos into trouble today. not like yesterday after losing during round 1 of the first annual magnet high street spelling bee (congrats blueREP, you were great. so was spit).

fourth, those two stories Obama mentioned recently (read here):
1 "the story of our everyday cares and concerns" and
2 "the story of what happens in the wider world"

"a world that makes it easy to get caught up in the notion that there are actually two different stories at work in our lives," well i think i'm making progress.

yes, 21 made me even more guilty but this other movie allowed me to laugh at myself all the more. and a giggle, a chuckle, a laugh

especially at your own self
makes a lot of good sense.


fifth, babushka is spelled as such.

there are songs

there are songs
that make you go crazy
there are songs
that are short and sweet

there are songs
that make you lazy
there are songs
that make you weak

there are songs
that you don't want to hear
there are songs
that you wish went over and over

there are songs
that so move you
that so crush you
so inspire you

but at the end of each day
no matter what songs do
remember all your wrongs
and be happy

there are songs

Obama on 'service to one's country'

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama

Wesleyan University Commencement
Sunday, May 25th, 2008
Middletown, CT


As Prepared for Delivery


Thank you, President Roth, for that generous introduction, and congratulations on your first year at the helm of Wesleyan. Congratulations also to the class of 2008, and thank you for allowing me to be a part of your graduation.


I have the distinct honor today of pinch-hitting for one of my personal heroes and a hero to this country, Senator Edward Kennedy. Teddy wanted to be here very much, but as you know, he’s had a very long week and is taking some much-needed rest. He called me up a few days ago and I said that I’d be happy to be his stand-in, even if there was no way I could fill his shoes.



I did, however, get the chance to glance at the speech he planned on delivering today, and I’d like to start by passing along a message from him: “To all those praying for my return to good health, I offer my heartfelt thanks. And to any who’d rather have a different result, I say, don’t get your hopes up just yet!”



So we know that Ted Kennedy’s legendary sense of humor is as strong as ever, and I have no doubt that his equally legendary fighting spirit will carry him through this latest challenge. He is our friend, he is our champion, and we hope and pray for his return to good health.



The topic of his speech today was common for a commencement, but one that nobody could discuss with more authority or inspiration than Ted Kennedy. And that is the topic of service to one’s country – a cause that is synonymous with his family’s name and their legacy.



I was born the year that his brother John called a generation of Americans to ask their country what they could do. And I came of age at a time when they did it. They were the Peace Corps volunteers who won a generation of goodwill toward America at a time when America’s ideals were challenged. They were the teenagers and college students, not much older than you, who watched the Civil Rights Movement unfold on their television sets; who saw the dogs and the fire hoses and the footage of marchers beaten within an inch or their lives; who knew it was probably smarter and safer to stay at home, but still decided to take those Freedom Rides down south – who still decided to march. And because they did, they changed the world.



I bring this up because today, you are about to enter a world that makes it easy to get caught up in the notion that there are actually two different stories at work in our lives.



The first is the story of our everyday cares and concerns – the responsibilities we have to our jobs and our families – the bustle and busyness of what happens in our own life. And the second is the story of what happens in the life of our country – of what happens in the wider world. It’s the story you see when you catch a glimpse of the day’s headlines or turn on the news at night – a story of big challenges like war and recession; hunger and climate change; injustice and inequality. It’s a story that can sometimes seem distant and separate from our own – a destiny to be shaped by forces beyond our control.



And yet, the history of this nation tells us this isn’t so. It tells us that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us, but by us – by generations of men and women, young and old, who have always believed that their story and the American story are not separate, but shared. And for more than two centuries, they have served this country in ways that have forever enriched both.



I say this to you as someone who couldn’t be standing here today if not for the service of others, and wouldn’t be standing here today if not for the purpose that service gave my own life.



You see, I spent much of my childhood adrift. My father left my mother and I when I was two. When my mother remarried, I lived in Indonesia for a time, but was mostly raised in Hawaii by her and my grandparents from Kansas. My teenage years were filled with more than the usual dose of adolescent rebellion, and I’ll admit that I didn’t always take myself or my studies very seriously. I realize that none of you can probably relate to this, but there were many times when I wasn’t sure where I was going, or what I would do.



But during my first two years of college, perhaps because the values my mother had taught me –hard work, honesty, empathy – had resurfaced after a long hibernation; or perhaps because of the example of wonderful teachers and lasting friends, I began to notice a world beyond myself. I became active in the movement to oppose the apartheid regime of South Africa. I began following the debates in this country about poverty and health care. So that by the time I graduated from college, I was possessed with a crazy idea – that I would work at a grassroots level to bring about change.



I wrote letters to every organization in the country I could think of. And one day, a small group of churches on the South Side of Chicago offered me a job to come work as a community organizer in neighborhoods that had been devastated by steel plant closings. My mother and grandparents wanted me to go to law school. My friends were applying to jobs on Wall Street. Meanwhile, this organization offered me $12,000 a year plus $2,000 for an old, beat-up car.



And I said yes.



Now, I didn’t know a soul in Chicago, and I wasn’t sure what this community organizing business was all about. I had always been inspired by stories of the Civil Rights Movement and JFK’s call to service, but when I got to the South Side, there were no marches, and no soaring speeches. In the shadow of an empty steel plant, there were just a lot of folks who were struggling. And we didn’t get very far at first.



I still remember one of the very first meetings we put together to discuss gang violence with a group of community leaders. We waited and waited for people to show up, and finally, a group of older people walked into the hall. And they sat down. And a little old lady raised her hand and asked, “Is this where the bingo game is?”



It wasn’t easy, but eventually, we made progress. Day by day, block by block, we brought the community together, and registered new voters, and set up after school programs, and fought for new jobs, and helped people live lives with some measure of dignity.



But I also began to realize that I wasn’t just helping other people. Through service, I found a community that embraced me; citizenship that was meaningful; the direction I’d been seeking. Through service, I discovered how my own improbable story fit into the larger story of America.



Each of you will have the chance to make your own discovery in the years to come. And I say “chance” because you won’t have to take it. There’s no community service requirement in the real world; no one forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should by. You can choose to narrow your concerns and live your life in a way that tries to keep your story separate from America’s.



But I hope you don’t. Not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate, though you do have that obligation. Not because you have a debt to all those who helped you get here, though you do have that debt.



It’s because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in America’s story



There are so many ways to serve and so much need at this defining moment in our history. You don’t have to be a community organizer or do something crazy like run for President. Right here at Wesleyan, many of you have already volunteered at local schools, contributed to United Way, and even started a program that brings fresh produce to needy families in the area. One hundred and sixty-four graduates of this school have joined the Peace Corps since 2001, and I’m especially proud that two of you are about to leave for my father’s homeland of Kenya to bring alternative sources of energy to impoverished areas.



I ask you to seek these opportunities when you leave here, because the future of this country – your future – depends on it. At a time when our security and moral standing depend on winning hearts and minds in the forgotten corners of this world, we need more of you to serve abroad. As President, I intend to grow the Foreign Service, double the Peace Corps over the next few years, and engage the young people of other nations in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity.



At a time when our ice caps are melting and our oceans are rising, we need you to help lead a green revolution. We still have time to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change if we get serious about investing in renewable sources of energy, and if we get a generation of volunteers to work on renewable energy projects, and teach folks about conservation, and help clean up polluted areas; if we send talented engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote clean energy.



At a time when a child in Boston must compete with children in Beijing and Bangalore, we need an army of you to become teachers and principals in schools that this nation cannot afford to give up on. I will pay our educators what they deserve, and give them more support, but I will also ask more of them to be mentors to other teachers, and serve in high-need schools and high-need subject areas like math and science.



At a time when there are children in the city of New Orleans who still spend each night in a lonely trailer, we need more of you to take a weekend or a week off from work, and head down South, and help rebuild. If you can’t get the time, volunteer at the local homeless shelter or soup kitchen in your own community. Find an organization that’s fighting poverty, or a candidate who promotes policies you believe in, and find a way to help them.



At a time of war, we need you to work for peace. At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again.



Now understand this - believing that change is possible is not the same as being naïve. Go into service with your eyes wide open, for change will not come easily. On the big issues that our nation faces, difficult choices await. We’ll have to face some hard truths, and some sacrifice will be required – not only from you individually, but from the nation as a whole.



There is no magic bullet to our energy problems, for example; no perfect energy source - so all of us will have to use the energy sources we have more wisely. Deep-rooted poverty will not be reversed overnight, and will require both money and reform at a time when our federal and state budgets are strapped and Washington is skeptical that reform is possible. Transforming our education system will require not only bold government action, but a change in attitudes among parents and students. Bringing an end to the slaughter in Darfur will involve navigating extremely difficult realities on the ground, even for those with the best of intentions.



And so, should you take the path of service, should you choose to take up one of these causes as your own, know that you’ll experience frustrations and failures. Even your successes will be marked by imperfections and unintended consequences. I guarantee you, there will certainly be times when friends or family urge you to pursue more sensible endeavors with more tangible rewards. And there will be times when you are tempted to take their advice.



But I hope you’ll remember, during those times of doubt and frustration, that there is nothing naïve about your impulse to change this world. Because all it takes is one act of service – one blow against injustice – to send forth that tiny ripple of hope that Robert Kennedy spoke of.



You know, Ted Kennedy often tells a story about the fifth anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps. He was there, and he asked one of the young Americans why he had chosen to volunteer. And the man replied, “Because it was the first time someone asked me to do something for my country.”



I don’t know how many of you have been asked that question, but after today, you have no excuses. I am asking you, and if I should have the honor of serving this nation as President, I will be asking again in the coming years. We may disagree on certain issues and positions, but I believe we can be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe with all my heart that this generation is ready, and eager, and up to the challenge.



We will face our share of cynics and doubters. But we always have. I can still remember a conversation I had with an older man all those years ago just before I left for Chicago. He said, “Barack, I’ll give you a bit of advice. Forget this community organizing business and do something that’s gonna make you some money. You can’t change the world, and people won’t appreciate you trying. But you’ve got a nice voice, so you should think about going into television broadcasting. I’m telling you, you’ve got a future.”



Now, he may have been right about the TV thing, but he was wrong about everything else. For that old man has not seen what I have seen. He has not seen the faces of ordinary people the first time they clear a vacant lot or build a new playground or force an unresponsive leader to provide services to their community. He has not seen the face of a child brighten because of an inspiring teacher or mentor. He has not seen scores of young people educate their parents on issues like Darfur, or mobilize the conscience of a nation around the challenge of climate change. He has not seen lines of men and women that wrap around schools and churches, that stretch block after block just so they could make their voices heard, many for the very first time.



And that old man who didn’t believe the world could change – who didn’t think one person could make a difference – well he certainly didn’t know much about the life of Joseph Kennedy’s youngest son.



It is rare in this country of ours that a person exists who has touched the lives of nearly every single American without many of us even realizing it. And yet, because of Ted Kennedy, millions of children can see a doctor when they get sick. Mothers and fathers can leave work to spend time with their newborns. Working Americans are paid higher wages, and compensated for overtime, and can keep their health insurance when they change jobs. They are protected from discrimination in the workplace, and those who are born with disabilities can still get an education, and health care, and fair treatment on the job. Our schools are stronger and our colleges are filled with more Americans who can afford it. And I have a feeling that Ted Kennedy is not done just yet.



But surely, if one man can achieve so much and make such a difference in the lives of so many, then each of us can do our part. Surely, if his service and his story can forever shape America’s story, then our collective service can shape the destiny of this generation. At the very least, his living example calls each of us to try. That is all I ask of you on this joyous day of new beginnings; that is what Senator Kennedy asks of you as well, and that is how we will keep so much needed work going, and the cause of justice everlasting, and the dream alive for generations to come. Thank you so much to the class of 2008, and congratulations on your graduation.



Source: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGBPzl

Statement of the Moment #9

My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it.

-Hillary Clinton


thank you Sir Leland for the link.

i have a strange feeling about this

i have a bad feeling about this

is a phrase you'll hear in every Star Wars movie. yes, all six episodes of them.
(if you don't believe me, there's a youtube clip here or a wookiepedia entry here)

i heard Indiana Jones say it too yesterday, right before those crystal skulls came alive.

and if you noticed that i have placed two links above, embedded a number of ted and youtube clips, mentioned a couple of movies, quoted both Obama and O'Brien, you will conclude that i seem to have so much time lately.

as a matter of fact i do. and this is the this that that this on the entry title is referring to.
in short, i have a strange feeling about this summer vacation that i'm recklessly spending on sheer joy and entertainment.

there's the occasional errand or two. or that meeting or this dialogue about some lofty ideal or noble pursuit.

but here i am couch potato-ing through my last summer vacation as a student. a friend told me he'd trade his life for mine and it just made me feel so strange (almost bad) all of a sudden. the next few weeks must be the most exciting weeks of my life.

i said life can wait. now i can't.

and i leave you with yet another source of pleasure, Lollipop by Mika.

Mama told me what I should know,
too much candy gonna ride your soul,
if she loves you, let her go,
'cause love only gets you down.
Take a look at the boy like me,
never stood on my own two feet,
now I'm blue, as I can be,
oh love couldn't get me down.

Yves Behar on his iconic objects

as a self-proclaimed devout TEDster, i have no choice but to embed this video here.
it's just brilliant.

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Yves Behar: Creating objects that tell stories

Statement of the Moment #8

Hillary Clinton still campaigning hard. In a speech this weekend that she just gave, Hillary Clinton said that John McCain "couldn't be more out of touch." Yeah, then Hillary said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to win the Democratic nomination."

-Conan O'Brien

ideas worth sharing

yes, ideas worth sharing.
so say a group of people who thought of sharing to the world the brilliant thoughts of the world's most brilliant thinkers about any thought you can think of.

and that is what TED.com is.

i mentioned opencourseware before and i know you've copy-pasted a thing or two from wikipedia too. and now, here we have a site full of some of the coolest lectures from some of the coolest people in the world.

limitless, just limitless.
i typed it before, i type it again...


...oh the possibilities.


some of my favorites:

1. david gallo on underwater astonishments

2. hans rosling on poverty

3. jane goodall on what separates us from apes

4. eve ensler on vaginas and happiness

just check them out yourself.

oh the possibilities

Next Provincial Named

http://www.jesuits.ph/articles/newprovincial


Next Provincial Named

Excerpt from Fr. Daniel Huang's letter dated 10 May 2008:

It is with great joy and gratitude to the Lord that I wish to announce that, in his letter dated 9 May 2008, Fr. General Adolfo Nicolas has “decided in the Lord to appoint” as the next Provincial of the Philippine Province

FR. JOSE CECILIO J. MAGADIA, S.J.

In his letter, Fr. General asks me to extend his “thanks and encouragement to Fr. Magadia as he prepares to assume this very important service to the universal Society, and to his Jesuit brethren and all your lay colleagues in the Philippine Province and its apostolates.”

Fr. Magadia will assume office some time in early June, after his Installation, the date of which be announced to the Province soon.

In the meantime, I wish to join Fr. General in thanking Fr. Magadia for his generous availability for this new mission. I ask too that, on the eve of the feast of Pentecost, we pray in a special way that the gifts of the Holy Spirit be poured out in abundance on our new Provincial, so that he might know the “love, joy, [and] peace” (Gal. 5: 22) which are the first fruits of the Spirit’s presence.

Fraternally in our Lord,

DANIEL PATRICK L. HUANG, S.J.
Provincial


Fr. Jose Cecilio "Jojo" Magadia was born on 19 December 1960. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1980 and graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1985 with a degree in Philosophy. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1991 and pronounced his final vows in 2003. He has a Ph. D. in Political Science (Major in Comparative Politics, Minor in Political Theory) from Columbia University.

Among the many hats he has worn as a Jesuit are: English teacher (Xavier Univeristy High School); parish priest (Mabuhay, Zamboanga del Sur); Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and rector and formator (Loyola House of Studies).

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Fr. Danny and Fr. Jojo, some of the coolest people i have ever met. Sirs, congratulations (to more work hehe)!