The Ojai Post

I just wanted people in Ojai to see this campaign to have a White House Farmer. I think that it is a wonderful idea and could have a huge positive impact on this country and the way its citizens relate to food and its source. Please take a moment and check out the site and vote!

http://whitehousefarmer.com

In response to Comment #1

Food and Peace are connected. What a wonderful idea to have a Farmer for the White House. Since I didn't see the names of any Ojai farmers I voted California, Thaddeus Barsotti.

"Born and raised on an organic farm in Northern California, Thaddeus took over managing the family farm in 2004 at the age of 24. He has increased the number of acres his small organic farm tills and helped open a storefront selling produce specifically from his farm in downtown San Francisco, increasing brand recongnition and reach. Under Thaddeus’ tenure the farm has increased the number of direct-to-customer deliveries through the farm’s C.S.A. veggie/fruit box delivery service such that it’s now ~50% of their revenues each year, allowing them a steady income that is *not* dependent on a monoculture’s success, and it allows them to keep employees year-round as opposed to solely seasonal employees. The White House Farmer will be growing healthy, sustainable crops for the White House and neighborhood food banks, and Thaddeus’ produce, in variety and quality, will handily meet the need. In addition, his farm is beautifully and thoughtfully planted; he would surely bring these skills to the White House Farm."

Thank you, Evan, for your reflections on peace, and for reminding us that hunger and poverty are among the root causes of violence and war.

February 01, 2009
Today, I will practice nonviolence and respect for Mother Earth by making good use of her resources.

i'm tired of using and throwing away so much on those occasions when i eat out. i'm keeping a cloth napkin and washable utensils in my car, and i'm going to find a reusable straw too.

Feb 02, 2009
Today, I will take time to admire and appreciate nature.

The trees outside my apartment are blooming again! They're beautiful, and can have a strong odor at their peak. i think Noa and i will take a walk.

Be an integral part of FOOD Share's groundbreaking pilot study, the first of ongoing studies throughout the County, to assess levels of food insecurity and hunger. Your efforts will be used to try to gain funding for the purchase of food for the hungry!

FOOD Share needs volunteer interviewers to help assess approximately 500 people from the Oxnard, Port Hueneme, and Santa Paula areas.

Who: Adult, (18 years +) Interviewers; Special Need for bilingual interviewers as well as those who only speak English
Where: Locations throughout the Oxnard, Port Hueneme, and Santa Paula areas
When: During the first two weeks in March
Training: Interview/sensitivity training provided by the County of Ventura, Human Services Agency staff in February.

SIGN UP!

Questions? Contact Christina Forino at 805.983.7100 ext. 133 or cforino@foodshare.com

Feb 04: Today, I will hold a vision of plenty for all the world’s hungry and be open to guidance as to how I can help alleviate some of that hunger.

i was in Ventura today to meet my wife for lunch. Mindful of today's Season For Nonviolence mantra, i noticed - not for the first time - the many homeless people in the park where we were eating. Our lunch had cost us about $20, and we wondered if we could bring some food to the folks crouched in a crude group in the shade of the restroom building.

i walked over and asked how they were feeling about their food situation today. "Well, not good!" responded one man, who was sitting on the ground in front of a vacant wheelchair which i presumed was his. i told them i was thinking of going over to the market for some food and asked if it'd be okay for me to bring some back for them. enthusiastically, several responded positively. one man noted "We could all use a little something."

i drove to the market and in a matter of minutes was able to round up fixings for ham-and-cheese sandwiches, chips and salsa, and a bag of oranges and apples...enough for "a little something" for each of the 8 or so people i was going back to. the cashier totaled me out at just over $27.

i arrived back at the park just as a truck was pulling away, from which several businessmen had just finished delivering a stack of pizzas to the very people i was bringing food to! i found out minutes later that a woman had come by just before them with two grocery bags! "See what happens when that good energy starts getting out there?" i said with a smile as i approached with my bags. They all looked up from their pizza with grateful smiles. "Most of this'll keep," i said, "so you're good for a little while."

"Someone stole our stuff," one man spoke up. "We need sleeping bags." i told him i'd keep my eye out for some.

Evan, that's what Chris and I did for New Year's Day. Made up plates of food, ham, slow-cooked, black-eyed peas, stuffing, pear slices and a cookie, and brought plates around to folks. It's something I would happily do once a month and we've considered getting a group together where, kind of like a potluck, everyone would make a dish. That was a cold, damp night and their food came to them warm, with biodegradable forks. Most all dove into the plates immediately trying to be warm and full. I would like to do more 'directly' like this and of course with my interest in food and comfort/nurturance for people it's good to at least feel there's something small we CAN do.
Also one note is that each person asked what we were serving before taking the plate of food. I could tell there was discernment about what folks wanted to eat and we'd hit the spot at least that day.

p.s. also noticed how many we could give a good meal to for the amount we spend for a night out on the town.

Oh, Evan, what a beautiful way to get trumped!

Wow.

I'm enjoying your explorings.

Best,
Leigh

Feb 05: Today, I will acknowledge every human being’s fundamental right to justice, equity, and equality.

...even the gay ones.
Equality California
Marriage Equality USA
Freedom To Marry

Feb 09: Today, I will look beyond stereotypes and prejudices.

i'm actually going to retroactively apply this one to Saturday, when i was near Skating Plus watching so many adults - white, black, hispanic - smoking around so many children, and was filled with judgments of all sorts.

evan and DK: Your gestures have reminded me of a major theme in The Year of Living Dangerously, a movie that I just happened to rewatch a few nights ago.

Idealist Billy Kwan (played to magnifence by Linda Hunt) is haunted by all the misery, government-sponsored cruelty and hunger in 1965 Indonesia, when he meets newly christened journalist Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson at the very beginning of his career):

BILLY: And the people asked him, saying, what shall we do then?

GUY: What's that?

BILLY: It's from Luke, chapter three, verse ten. What then must we do? Tolstoy asked the same question. He wrote a book with that title. He got so upset about the poverty in Moscow that he went one night into the poorest section and just gave away all his money. You could do that now. Five American dollars would be a fortune to one of these people.

GUY: Wouldn't do any good, just be a drop in the ocean.

BILLY: Ahh, that's the same conclusion Tolstoy came to. I disagree.

GUY: Oh, what's your solution?

BILLY: Well, I support the view that you just don't think about the major issues. You do whatever you can about the misery that's in front of you. Add your light to the sum of light. You think that's naive, don't you?

GUY: Yep.

BILLY: It's alright, most journalists do.

I had forgotten most of the movie in the twenty years or so since I first saw it, but Billy Kwan's lines in that one scene have stuck with me (even haunted me) ever since...

Of course, I advocate getting involved in "major issues", but I all too often see people throw themselves into their pet causes in various ways - marching, boycotting, signing petitions, debating and pontificating...and these same people, when faced with daily opportunities (that we all have) to shine "their light" into a more vulnerable person's life, they just "walk on by"... (and ahh, it pains me to think how many times I myself have been guilty of that!)

Anyway, long winded way to say - Right On!

Beautiful, LTOR! Thanks!

Best,
Leigh

so much richer than a simple "right on", LTOR...i expect nothing less! sounds like a great film...i'll have to check it out.

Year of Living Dangerously?
A fantastic film, and Sigourney Weaver was still a fine piece of arse...

Thanks LTOR, I should look for the film too. I find if I think about large issues for too long I start to feel helpless, even paralyzed. When I can do something directly to help those in front of me, that certainly makes me and my immediate world feel better.

There is something called Time Bank in China http://www.elderweb.com/home/node/2393 that has intrigued me for some time. You help your elderly neighbor then someone near your aged parent helps them. Ultimately you put time in where you can and when you need help you receive it. I LOVE this concept though it's frightening to think that people might not be as caring as you or help in the best ways. If all goes correctly it seems almost like creating a karmic network.

As it enriches my life and another's I think I'll try to make more of a point of helping situations and people around me more consciously. Thanks for that thought!

Major and minor issues are cut from the same whole truth-cloth.

The issue is Love, tough love that makes hard choices, vs. Power.

1. Do not kill animals or eat their meat and products.

2. Do not kill the animal nation by pet exploitation.

3. Do not participate in the criminal money system of interest, investment, debt and stock speculation.

4. Do not support a war economy per #3.

5. Get an education about the primal love culture herstory which has been all but destroyed by patriarchal history.

Real issues give substance to the pleasant words of Ojai Libers.

Love OjaiToughTruth and peace will follow; otherwise we're enabling the neocons we protest.

DK, I looked up the ElderWeb.com site - what an amazing concept. I began to think how perfect that paradigm might be for other aspects of life besides just care for the elderly. And I came across TimeBanking.org. Very intriguing indeed! Thanks for sharing!

And MK...funny - I thought the exact same naughty thoughts about good ole Mel! :)

"I will tell the truth...heart."

Peace will never be until Truth is.

Peace will never come into a tissue of lies.

Words of peace without substance prevent peace.

Do practices that clear the mind and unsmother the heart so peace has a chance like:

1. Do not support torture and killing of animals by eating meat or animal products.

2. Do not enslave animals (and humans) by pethood.

3. Get free of usury in all its war guises.

4. Free yourself from patriarchal God values of twisted sex, power and money by contacting the primal love culture.

5. Get an education that is not taught in any institution of our Lie Culture.

Give Peace a chance by advancing in Truth to Beauty and Love.

You want to say who can and who can't fly
you want to say who has and has no rights
you want to make some people disappear
give no explanation, year after year
you want to say what I can and cannot know
and always where I can and cannot go
what's the reason for it all, haven't you heard
terror is a very magic word

you tell me I should just do what I'm told
it's been going on this way since days of old
you tell me I have to live in fear
and it's going to keep goin' on like this for years
you want to keep me in a constant state
and always give me somebody to hate
you've reasons for it all, I've been assured
terror is a very magic word

if there's a danger that some passing stranger
means violence instead of love
using fear for advantage you're doing more damage
than even your enemy does

you want the power to way who lives and dies
the power to say what's true and what is lies
the power to keep yourself in power when
the people want to have your power end
you want to play the god and wield the fire
and always without questioning your own desires
how long until this disease is cured
terror is a very magic word

as you sure there's no reason
for the rise this season
in threats from distant lands
what is it in your actions
that breeds dissatisfaction
with the work of your hired hands

you want to give the orders and be obeyed
you want to be supported in a luxurious way
you want it to be someone else's health
jeopardized for the sake of your own wealth
you want to be the one who's in control
and always tell me what's good for my soul
when you're so far from knowing, it's absurd
terror is a very magic word

Feb 20: Today, I will turn off anything that portrays or supports violence whether on television, in the movies, or on the Internet.

this is one of my favorite mantras...can you break the habit for one day?

Evan - Can you turn off your thoughts too?

whatajoke,

since most rational, caring humans seem to desire peace in at LEAST a vague or philosophical way, i'm trying to read into what you're saying and make a few guesses as to what's going on for you:

* This isn't about me personally, which frees me from being hurt or defensive.
* Your comment might be an exasperated admission of your addiction to violence. It's a powerful and common one.
* You might also be expressing frustration at the seemingly insurmountable task of practicing and creating nonviolence.
* You might not be convinced of your own power to affect positive change, which makes the Season for Nonviolence seem like a pointless exercise for you.

evan, it would so nourishing if you would do this EVERyday for many years....

Evan-
Before you psychobabble me, try to meditate on this koan for awhile:

"Are you trying to force peace?"

Peace
mk

#25 mk - Thanks, I couldn't even answer all that Evan/peace psychological Bull#$@# ad nauseam...

it seems to me that, respectfully, the responsibility to define "psychobabble" rests with the accuser.

Feb 24: Today, I will take time to appreciate the people who provide me with challenges in my life, especially those who make me angry or frustrated.

are you as grateful for me as i am for you, whatajoke, mk, BC, Thanks!, etc?

I think it's important to put the word out (peace), evan, even when it has dispeaceful reactions.

Yesterday's thought about appreciating people who make us angry or frustrated is a peace action. I must be making peace since I make people angry here or at least give them the chance to practice peace. For my part I really do appreciate everything people say about me even when it is not peaceful.

As you might be aware I'm skating on thin ice by commenting so much in my manner. I'm trying to negotiate with Tyler and the community here about how to meet our mutual peace needs. At present the negotiations are at a sensitive stage. Tempers are on edge so I look to today's theme when it appears as a possible help; and your thread as an adjunct to that peace process.

If we can make peace here and feel satisfied maybe we can extend the learning.

In the meantime, evan, let me say I appreciate your "pushing" the ideal of peace. It is something that needs a push, an idea whose time has come to balance our state of war mentality.

I'm pushing other ideas in other areas and getting a more severe but not dissimilar reaction than is happening here; but I hardly think you will face the danger of being "pushed" to the back of the bus since you're perceived to be peaceful and I'm not.

I don't know if you recall, evan, but I remember talking to you a while back and suggesting you play the good guy and I'll play the bad guy in our Ojai drama, sort of good cop / bad cop. You may want not to be associated with me at this point so don't answer but it's true that I remember what I remember; and if you or Raymond or Tyler or any other author deletes me I'll understand with no hard feelings although per yesterday's theme I may feel some peaceful anger over a violation of the principle of freedom (principle = "don't take it personal"). Peace, Joy.

Evan- in a word, No.

In a few more words, you seem young, naive and way too "correct" in several ways.

Also you have a terrible habit of being "passively aggressive", with a seeming inability to really take in constructive feedback. You constantly try to put others on the defensive.

Other than that you seem like a great guy and I do appreciate and respect you for that.

But "grateful"? No.

mk, thanks for the free analysis, and a dozen extra points for using my favorites: young and naive! when did YOU outgrow those? (i'm trying to be patient, but i fear that compared to SOMEONE, i'll always be those things)

seriously, i'm thinking right now about whether i really DO want to essentially force people to take up a defense of the attitudes, mentalities, and actions that i believe support the war culture...perhaps to expose them as indefensible. but i do hear what you're saying about "forcing peace" and being passive aggressive...neither of which are peaceful attitudes. and since i believe that the means are the ends in the making, i'm going to be more mindful of how i'm trying to arrive there.

if you have the energy, i'd love to know an example of a "constructive criticism" that you think i am not absorbing, so i can look at it more closely.

It's very difficult for peace to thrive in a war culture such as ours. That is obvious. What is not so clear is how to build a structure which supports peace.

The general problem is collective culture itself which is premised on power arrangements such as our patriarchal present endless war economy. The solution as far as I can tell is for free individuals to offset the collective tyranny. Any collective power fears freedom like this because it perceives it as a threat to its existence. Hence the tension between individualism and socialism.

You can see that being played out here in Ojai at the Ojai Post. An individual who steps out of line according to collective expectations is hammered back into place and failing that is marginalized if not banned or killed off in some way that will not reflect badly enough on the collective mind to threaten it or dilute its power.

A love government cuts through collective traps by individual freedom. This spirit cannot be killed without the consent of the free individual.

I am continually testing my ideas within a collective such as Ojai and so far they hold water. The system is too corrupt to reform itself and so it must be bypassed and reentered from a more powerful position. I do not reject the system because it is also me but I can restore it to its original function as the servant of earth, womem, children and men in that order.

Peace is the orderly arrangement of parts which is not preset but is continually recreated by free individuals either for good or ill. Each one of us is a universe of creativity for which idea the collective would punish with shame, guilt and a thousand other "put you in your place" lies.

To create peace takes intelligence and wit supported by love which arises spontaneously when the collective fetters are loosened. "My soul is beginning to expand; look into my heart and you will sort of understand." (Dylan).

Ironically, free individual action can only take place in a supportive and safe collective which is why I fight for my place here in Ojai and on the Post. I call it love government which necessarily starts with a love government within myself. When I put my own house in order I can begin to see what needs to be done in the outer house to foster peace.

I could speak of specifics such as money and sex but it is useless unless the general framework is present consciously.

I feel peace at this early hour. Got up at 4 and took a look at those peaceful stars. Then I remember I couldn't really appreciate the starry heavens unless I do my earthly work which in this day and age seems to require a computer. Peace; I'm done.

evan, i wish there were 365 daats in February! please start posting on your car!! more music vids too!!

evan-

i appreciate your response.
i may have overstepped my boundaries in the bit about "constructive feedback".
The mere fact that you would ask the question reveals that it is not really an issue.

Peace On!
mk

Looks like MK had his fiber this morning! :) Lucky us!!!

Luv ya, evan! Rock on!

LTOR-
and what did you have for breakfast? :) :)
(lol) (haha) (rofl)

Tyler- please start "Recipes" section

i was going to post this FOR Dennis on his own blog, but besides the very long and often multiple-topic posts (making it difficult to see where a particular comment might be most relevant), one must create an account on blogstream in order to leave a comment. just what i need: another account.

so here it is:
Zoe Weston's Five Steps To World Peace: Women's Wisdom That Can Change The World.
from her site:
Have you ever wished for world peace, but feel it is something only possible in fairy tales? What if there was a scientifically proven plan for achieving world peace, would you be interested?

Anthropologist Zoe Weston has finally compiled 17 years of research into a simple easy to read guide book - 5 Steps to World Peace: Women’s Wisdom that can Change the World. Anyone serious about wanting a more peaceful world will want to read this!

Simple science that makes sense: You’ve heard about the famous debate called Nurture vs. Nature. This debates argues whether our genetics or our conditioning will determine who we become. Experts now know that both matter.

Keeping this in mind, Zoe’s plan highlights peaceful conditioning methods, starting in the womb of a peaceful mother. Children birthed, raised and educated in a peaceful way have a higher chance of becoming peaceful adults.

Here is your chance to play a part in the World Peace movement. Get your copy today!

($10 from Amazon.com)

I LOVE YOU - you are Fab!

and Leary - you're still a long-winded buffoon, couldn't you just give it a rest? - and a long one....

Mar 05: Today, I will practice praise rather than criticism.

i'm actually rather curious about this one. i'm currently reading Alfie Kohn's Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes, and although i'm not yet to the part about what TO do instead, the case is being made that extrinsic rewards are just as damaging as punishment; that they're two sides of the same coin in terms of manipulating people to do what WE want, and all based on data collected from laboratory animals. That extends, says Mr. Kohn, even to verbal praise...which is something almost nobody will dare be critical of. Here again (as in so many other arenas and situations), it seems as though we're limiting ourselves to Option A or Option B (reward or punishment) with no latitude for options C, D, Etc... It's also an "ends justify the means" system, which i think our collective consciousness and experience is starting to realize doesn't ultimately pan out. Instead, i submit for your consideration that "the means are the ends in the making"; that HOW something is done is just as important - perhaps moreso - than WHAT is accomplished.