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You Say You Want A Revolution?

Civil rights, regardless of race, was not truly protected in this country for almost 200 years. Despite the fact that the Bill of Rights itself should have had it covered, it had to be spelled out and made clear by passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 and was not fully protected until nearly 100 years after that with the passage of Twenty-fourth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

Those who have taken a US History class in elementary school should know this, of course. But, the larger takeaway here is that sometimes, our Bill of Rights is not clear enough. The framers knew this would be the case. Thus, a process was put into place so that we, as a nation, may further add, clarify and refine these rights through amendments.

Yet, the movement to take such measures has never been motivated by the people in power — especially those concerning our most basic of rights (Freedom, Voting, Ownership, etc.). It was the power of people — millions of people — that forced the people in power to act. This is, after all, the spirit of the “American Experiment”. That those in power act and serve according to the will of the people1.

It was not Abraham Lincoln alone who motivated the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment. It was not the thousands of abolitionists who spoke out against slavery. It was not the tens of thousands who actively supported the abolitionist’s cause or the hundreds of thousands who did so silently. It was the millions of those trapped in Southern bondage and the millions more affected by the War Between The States, that tore at the very idea of our nation, who did. Only through the struggle, bloodshed, toil, and service of millions did our government then see fit to act.

And, when it came time to clarify and ensure the rights granted by that amendment through passage of other laws, it was not Lyndon B. Johnson alone who drove the cause. It was not hundreds sitting-in at lunch counters or the thousands filling the jails. It was not the tens of thousands boycotting busses or the hundreds of thousands marching in the streets and to government’s front door. It was the millions actively supporting the movements of all of these actors. Those recognizing that all freedom is threatened when even one freedom is denied. Demanding from their President and Representatives that a change be made.

I feel that we have reached another such a defining time with other freedoms granted by our Bill of Rights. As previously stated, a process was left in place by which we as a nation can and should further clarify, adjust, and refine these original and basic rights for a modern age. The judicial system alone has shown to be not enough. The people in power have never, historically, motivated such change. It is time for we the people to act once again.

Several of the original amendments are currently in question by those in power. The First Amendment might need such clarification2. As well, the Fourth3, Fifth4, and Sixth5 are all in question by those we have elected to serve us. And, I would even go so far to argue that the Second is ripe for clarification as it is the one that gives the power to the people to ensure that the others shall not be peaceably taken 6.

But such change will never come by hundreds getting out the truth. It will not come from the thousands calling for change on the Internet. It will not come from the tens of thousands actively in support of such change. Or from the hundreds of thousands who silently believe such change is needed but feel powerless to act. Revolutions are counted in the millions. And it will take millions of us to actively demand that those in positions of power act or be removed through our action. It will take marching by the hundreds of thousands in every street or taking millions to the doorsteps of power once again.

Until such time, expect no change. If we want such change that clarifies, protects, and ensures our rights, we must as a nation demand them. For, as history has repeatedly shown us, the people in power will only respond to the overwhelming power of the people.

I’m a full-time independent writer who works hard to bring you quality reading and ideas here daily. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider a free will donation of any amount.

  1. Though we all know this is not always their practice. ↩
  2. See: Peter King: Prosecute Glenn Greenwald and I am James Bamford, one of the journalists investigating the NSA. ↩
  3. See: In Secret, Court Vastly Broadens Powers of N.S.A. – NYTimes.com and The top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant | World news | guardian.co.uk. ↩
  4. The Ethics of Whistleblowing – Ben O’Neill – Mises Daily and U.S. charges Snowden with espionage – The Washington Post. ↩
  5. See: Rights Activists “Appalled” as Senate Passes Prison Without Trial Bill ↩
  6. See: Second Amendment to the United States Constitution — Late 20th century commentary ↩

Love The One You’re With

Our first love must be self love.

To love one’s neighbor as oneself, one must first learn to love oneself. If one hates themselves, then how could they love their neighbor? To love your neighbor, you must love yourself.

First care is self care. If one does not care for self, how can one ensure they will be in an able position to care for others? To care for others, first care for your self.

To be able to give all of ourselves to others, we must first know ourselves fully. How else might we know the depth of that we have to give? In order to give of yourself to others, know yourself deeply.

In order to give, you must first have earned and received. How would one have anything to give otherwise? Receive first, so that you may have something to give.

Place love of self first so that one may know love and have that to give. The action may seem selfish yet the reason and intent is selfless.

This is an unfinished thought exercise from my writing journal. I think it makes the point as is so I’ve decided to leave it undone.

Everyday Software (Mac)

Screen Shot 2013-07-08 at 9.12.46 AM

For no particular reason, other than the fact the people like to know these things sometimes and full disclosure, here are the apps I use every single day on my Mac. This does not account for everything installed and used. This is just the stuff I use every day without fail. I’ll likely do one of these in the future for iPhone and iPad as well.

  • Safari — I believe in using the built-in tools whenever possible. It helps when the built-in tools are pretty darn good. I find Safari pretty darn good most of the time.

  • Mail — The one email client I have used long enough and learned deeply enough to be maximally efficient with it.

  • BusyCal — Way better than the built in Calendar app (formerly iCal) and has easy sharing of calendars which my wife and I depend on.

  • nvALT — I’ve been a Notational Velocity user for over 8 years. I use it for all sorts of things. Currently contains 867 notes. nvALT is Brett Terpstra’s fork of this open sourse project that adds a ton of useful features which make it that much better.

  • Byword — What I use for most writing when on my Mac.

  • Twitter — Yes, Twitter. The official client. I still check in here daily despite having mostly moved to App.net.

  • Reeder (awaiting update) — My RSS reader of choice. Only worked with Google Reeder so I have not used it since that shut down on the first of this month. Once it updates to support FeedWrangler I’ll gladly fire it up once again.

So, those are all the “app” apps I use. But, what about the menubar and “just runs in the background” sorts of things? Here are those:

  • Droplr — For sharing files, screenshots, and quick one off notes easily.

  • Dropbox — If it is a file of any sort it is likely in here.

  • Day One — Which I use more as a daily log than a journal.

  • Jumpcut — Clipboard buffering. Keyboard driven. Full on awesomesauce.

  • Shortcat — Use your keyboard to find and click on buttons and links. The less I have to touch my trackpad/mouse, the faster I am.

  • FastScripts — Execute scripts with keyboard commands.

  • QuickCal — Enter calendar events quickly using your keyboard and natural language processing.

  • Quicksilver — Launch apps and do all sorts of other cool things using your keyboard (Are you sensing a theme here?).

  • DragonDrop — Provides a “shelf” with the shake of your mouse to drag stuff temporarily before dropping it.

I might have missed a few things but that’s what I use every single day on my Mac.

I’m a full-time independent writer who works hard to bring you quality reading and ideas here daily. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider a free will donation of any amount.

Items Of Interest — #3

Another round of the items I found worth of short mention in the past week or so:

While personal online privacy and security (Yes, Virginia. You can and should have both.) continues to be an topic worthy of our discussion, I enjoyed this breakdown by Ben Brooks of how to best encrypt your stuff against “Starbucks Hacker Bob”. It might not protect you from the real spooks but it should help you in most public spaces.

Jack Cheng recently wrote one of the most insightful things on creativity I’ve read in a while. It is the idea that many of are motivated to create out of a desire to be loved. Yet, it is this desire that in fact keeps us from creating great art. That, great art is created out of the desire to love.

Here’s a very interesting post about Pope Francis’s daily meditation practice. It is a Jesuit twice-daily mindfulness practice called the examen, which is, as the name suggests, a quick examination of your state of mind.

While we are speaking of meditation and Catholicism, Pacem in Terris (which translates to ‘Peace on Earth’) is a Franciscan hermitage that is just a couple of hours away from me. I’m not Catholic (which is OK because they welcome all), but I would love to spend a two or three days alone here. I put it on my wish list.

Memez is a new iPhone game that looks like an interesting mashup of Tetris and puzzles.

Today, I’ll be doing all I can to attend the book signing for my friend Kelly’s latest book in the Fallen Blade series, Blade Reforged. I’ve read the first two in the series and they are fantastic. Now, I’m going to get the rest.

Have a great weekend!

I’m a full-time independent writer who works hard to bring you quality reading and ideas here daily. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider a free will donation of any amount.

The Revolution Won’t Have To Be Televised

The old guard has not learned that yet. They still believe in a world where, if they don’t cover it, no one will find out. That the truth only exists the way they wish to tell it, when they wish to tell it, if they wish to tell the truth at all.

We on the ground know that time is long since past. That we don’t need them to televise revolutions and that there is no such thing as a local story. We know that history is best told by those who are living it and we have the tools to hear directly from the source.

We know that what seems to them like a tiny protest in another country is the spark of a full scale revolt. Even if their media does not cover it. We hear the truth the media doesn’t tell. We see the photos. We hear the news. And we watch it unfold in real time.

We know what seems to them as a lone whistle blower and a bad PowerPoint presentation to us is the hint of something deeper. The chink in the armor reveals the weakness within. And while they are focused on who and where the whistleblower is, the ‘we now informed’ are talking about who we are as a nation and what happened to the rights we are guaranteed (and what price is high enough to give them away).

What was to them was a lone state legislator’s opposition to a state bill not really worth covering, was to us a national story. While the old guard ignored the news, 100,000 people watched the live stream and millions monitored realtime coverage on social media. When they tried to change the rules or bend the truth, tens of thousands caught them in the act, called them on it, and forced them to change their tune.

There are no longer international stories, national stories, and local stories. There are only stories. Their power determines their reach and we decide their importance. The revolutions will not have to be televised because they no longer decide what they are. We do.

I’m a writer. Writing is how I make this world better, friendlier, stronger place. If these words improved your day, please let me know by contributing here.

Things I Need To Write

In no specific order…

  • Something to write with. What that is matters little. As long as I can put words onto/into… Something with… Whatever. I have my preferences, sure. Recently, that has been a pen and a perfectly blank page. But, I’ve been known to use other tools as well. Any tool will do.

  • Time. I need the time to think, clear my head, consider my thoughts and how best to express them, and do the writing. Not all in that order or all at once. Sometime these actions may take weeks. Other times, seconds.

  • Love. I need to love the act of writing and love what I’m writing about. I find it stiflingly difficult otherwise. I think many may be surprised just how many days I find little love in either. That said, when I do, it is magic.

  • Nutrition. I’m hypoglycemic so I get very hazy and disoriented when I don’t have proper fuel. It makes it difficult to do most things and, writing, especially so.

  • Life. I have to live one. With things to observe and people to have conversations with and lessons to learn through experience. Without these I have nothing worth writing about.

I lay this out because I’ve been battling illness for the past few weeks now. First a cold-like virus and, recently, a stomach flu. I wanted to remind myself that I need all of the items above to do my best work. That the absence of any of the above means it either will not happen or will not happen well. And, that, most days that’s just fine.

On Cool Tools – The Teenage Liberation Handbook

The purpose of this book is to encourage the teen to make their education their own responsibility. They can remain at school, or as a homeschool take only some classes, or find apprenticeships, volunteer, or even skip directly to college. In short they are designing their own self-education, where ever it may happen. Along the way they develop a better idea of themselves and many more life skills then they would in formal school.

via Cool Tools – The Teenage Liberation Handbook.

I have not read this book but, based on the review alone it is the book I wished someone had given me at the start of high school. Perhaps it will save a few others who are there or have children there.

I was a terrible student by the time I got to high school. It was not because I found the subject matter difficult. Quite the opposite. I was bored to tears.

You see, as a child I was a voracious reader. From the earliest time I could read, you almost never saw me not reading something. If I was ever idle the first thing I would was to grab the nearest thing I could read. I was reading at a college level by age eight. And, most of what I read was non-fiction reference material. For instance, my Grandmother got me a set of encyclopedias yearly — World Book, Britannica, Childrens, etc. — and I read as many of these from cover-to-cover as I could. My Mom would get me a Time Life Book Series collection on Christmas for several years. Each one had a theme like Space or The West (with real saddle leather covers). I would read these over and over again too. Of course, it was not all serious. There were plenty of comics, Mad Magazines, fantasy classics, and the occasional novel.

Therefore, by the time I reached high school, school seemed very forced. Not only did I know a lot of the material but I would have rather been given a book and told to come back and prove that I knew it by writing an essay on the subject matter (standardized testing being too uncreative for me). And, in some particular areas of my interest, I often knew more than my teachers could have taught me (English and History to be specific). In order to combat and rebel, I started skipping classes or making up wild and elaborate stories about myself. I would pay no attention in class or mark multiple choice tests into a one time pad cypher that, if decrypted, would have revealed my feeling on the very act of taking it (“This is Stooopid”).

I likely would have flunked out if not for the intervention of three teachers who, separately, reached out to me and got to the root of the issue. All were perplexed that this “seemingly bright” kid was doing so poorly. They cut through my bullshit and discovered that I knew the material, was bored out of my skull, and could prove it to them as long as it did not involve a standardized test (you should have heard the three hour debate my History teacher and I had about the The War Between The States). I passed all the classes that allowed me such flexibility in my own education with high marks.

All of this is to say that I believe our education system is broken. The one size fits all model it is based on is for producing a different kind of human than is required in this modern age. It needs to be redesigned from the ground up to give our kids the flexibility to truly learn (and, more importantly, to develop a love of learning). Since that is not in the best interest of anyone currently in control of such things, the time is ripe for kids to take education into their own hands as I ultimately did.

And, I would be remiss if I did not say how much I fear for my daughter as she enters Kindergarden next year. We are not quite sure yet what type of learner she is. My wife had great success in the traditional, college-prep private school, she attended. She succeeded in the traditional system as many do. Beatrix has attended a very “by Maria’s book” Montessori pre-school for the past two years with a strong belief in fostering the self-motivated child. Therefore, between all of these factors, Beatrix could go either way or somewhere down the middle when it comes time to enter a more traditional system.

We chose the school we are sending her to largely based on it’s reputation. It is not only the top-rated public elementary school in Saint Paul but there is a strong emphasis on reading. I’m hoping this mix of traditional and self-directed translates to a good learning experience for her. But, you can be rest assured, that the moment it stops working I will advocate for change and do whatever is on my power to ensure that she has the framework to design her own education. And, if the institutions of learning are not there to support it, if I have anything to do with it she can and will opt-out.

In the end, I hope all of this information helps start similar conversations and reflection about education in your home. Because we owe it to our kids and the future of our societies to ensure that we are raising strong, smart, active learners.

I’m a writer. Writing is how I make this world better, friendlier, stronger place. If these words improved your day, please let me know by contributing here.

Items Of Interest — #2

I’ve been increasingly interested in the research that shows how valuable taking a break from out overly busy days can be. For instance, according to The Willpower Instinct, Kelly McGonigal Ph.D. urges meditation and taking a walk outside as key strategies for increased focus and drive. For this reason, next up on my to-read list is Autopilot: The Art & Science Of Doing Nothing by Andrew Smart. From what I’ve heard, it dives even deeper into the science behind making the time to do nothing.

While we are on the subject of books, the one I’m currently reading is Manage Your Day-to-Day by Jocelyn K. Glei and Scott Belsky. I love simple, practical, actionable advice for creatives like myself and this has hit the mark so far. I love the idea that it leads with — putting your priorities first. Far too often, we start our day in reaction mode — responding to emails, checking voice mails, reacting to task lists. The book argues that this puts other peoples priorities first and give your creativity and back seat. I know I need to be much better at this.

I was recently surprised and delighted to find myself mentioned amongst others I enjoy in this Fast Company post on the benefits of hand writing on pen and paper. I do a fair (and increasing) bit of first drafting on paper. This post started out that way as have many others.

If you are in the market for a good (but not too good) notebook to capture your thoughts, Field Notes are always a good choice. I always have one in my back pocket to capture meeting notes and ideas for the current books I’m working on. The most recent special edition, The Night Sky, is a real stunner.

I know that privacy and security are of increasing concern given recent events here in the cradle of democracy. Therefore, I find this neat little Onion Pi project of interest. Get yourself a Raspberry Pi, a USB wifi adapter, power, and ethernet. And now you have a little secure hotspot that routes all traffic through the anonymizing Tor Network. Of course, one will need more than this to be truly anonymous and secure but, hey, it’s a good place to start (and nerdy fun too).

I generally do not like most of the conferences I have attended. Mainly because I’m an introvert and find they take more energy than the value they often provide. Therefore, I have pondered starting a conference myself before, and still might actually do so in the future. One that provides all of, and only, the parts of the things I like about conferences. That said, if I were to make a list and spell out what those things were, it would look very much like this guide to running a good conference or event. In fact, it pretty much covers it.

Speaking of events, I’ll be hosting a meet-up event for members of App.net on June 20th (This Thursday) at 6:30p at the Chatterbox Cafe in Saint Paul, MN. I would love it if you are around and joined us. Not an App.net member? Have no idea what it is? Well…

App.net is the social networking service that has largely replaced Twitter for me. It is everything Twitter used to be and should have become. App.net is normally a paid service (Which is one of the things I love about it — you are the customer!) but, the kind and generous folks there have given me some free invites to give away. Just click that link and you’ll be in like flint. I have not idea how many there are so first come first serve and they are gone when they are gone.

I’m a full-time independent writer who works hard to bring you quality reading and ideas here daily. If you enjoy what you read here, please consider a free will donation of any amount.

Books I’ve Read So Far This Year

I keep a list of books I read each year. After I finish each one, I put it on the list with a short review. Though I’m way behind where I was last year at this time, I’m still hopeful I will meet last year’s total number. Here is what I’ve read so far.

Bitter Sweet

This date is always one of mixed emotions for me.

It was on this date that my friend Rodney Lain took his own life. Besides being a dear friend and confidant, Rodney was also one of the most ambitious writers I knew. His take on the Apple scene, at a time when it needed champions, was daring and original. He had no problem writing the hard truths others feared to write. He would even go so far to work weekends at a computer retailer to "convert the sinners" by enticing those looking at PCs to buy Macs. He enjoyed being a truth teller and freedom fighter. But he also had personal battles that were too much for him to shoulder. So he took the only option he felt he had to fight for his own freedom. I miss him.

Today is also my wedding anniversary. I met Bethany through a mutual friend. Her Mac’s hard drive died, she was having a rough time, and he asked me to help her with it for free. I agreed and we met at his place. I had a horrible flu and was a bit too fuzzy from cold meds to notice how lovely she was. Thankfully, she insisted on thanking me by inviting me out for a play. We went out for coffee a few times after that, became friends, and soon enough realized there was something much more. She is funny and wickedly smart and clever and passionate. But most of all she is my best friend.

I’m thankful that I have had either of these remarkable people in my life at all. In too many ways to measure, they’ve made me a better me. What more can one ask for in a friend?