Ministry Mondays: Take the Metro, or Take the Debt? Ir en Metro, o en Deuda?

Click here for English & Action Items (below Spanish)…

“ -Fuera lo espera un chófer con un coche oficial.

-Gracias.
Prefiero ir en metro. ”

Como el subsecretario Salvador Martí del Ministerio del Tiempo, ojala que habîan màs funcionarios que nos darîan el buen ejemplo de usar los transportes publicos. A menudo, la falta de transporte publico llega hasta faltar las citas medicas y legales, con consequencia de perder los procesos judiciales que no han de perder, si la persona endeudada hubiera podido llegar a la corte para defender sus derechos.

A corto plazo, otros estados de los EEUU podrîan seguir el ejemplo del estado de Maryland, que ha prohibido las acciónes civiles por parte de colectores de deudas ya pasado la fecha limite segûn el tipo de deuda. Mientras tanto, a largo plazo, reconstruimos nuestra estructura economica para crear la igualdad en vez de crear la pobreza. Los dos puntos de vista, corto y largo plazo, nos urge.

—

“ -An official car and choffeur are waiting for you outside
-Thank you.
I prefer to take the Metro.”

Would that more of our public officials, like subsecretary Salvador Marti of The Ministry of Time, set the example of using public transportation in our modern day real life.  Mass transit is a crucial part of society’s infrastructure, allowing equal access to transport, and also moving people more efficiently on the roads or rails, while keeping down pollution, two key ways of reducing the background stressors that make it harder for citizens to take active part in the governing process of our democracies.  Lack of transportation also often leads, directly or indirectly, to default judgement on an expired debt which could have been avoided, had the debtor been able to defend in court.  After all, we no longer have debtor’s prisons, as they did in the time of my Work In Progress (or do we?).

Over the short-term, states could follow the example of Maryland, and prohibit lawsuits on all expired debts, while also rebuilding our economic structures to create equity rather than poverty, over the long-term. Both short-term and long-term approaches are needed, urgently.

Action Items:

1.)    Just look up the public transportation options available in your area.

2.)     Try riding them, if you can.

3.)      Look up times and locations for your local Transit Board meetings.

4.)       Ask your local law-makers to put in Light Rail stops to your local airport(s).
–

Quotes for an earlier important debt-related post came from a recent ProPublica article co-published with The New Yorker.

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

Science Fiction/Fantasy Shows,  Lupin, or Money Heist(soon…)

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction

Thoughtful Readers,  please consider    #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Ir en Metro, o en Deuda? Take the Metro, or Take the Debt?

Click here for English…

“ -Fuera lo espera un chófer con un coche oficial.

-Gracias.
Prefiero ir en metro. ”

Como el subsecretario Salvador Martí del Ministerio del Tiempo, ojala que habîan màs funcionarios que nos darîan el buen ejemplo de usar los transportes publicos. A menudo, la falta de transporte publico llega hasta faltar las citas medicas y legales, con consequencia de perder los procesos judiciales que no han de perder, si la persona endeudada hubiera podido llegar a la corte para defender sus derechos.

A corto plazo, otros estados de los EEUU podrîan seguir el ejemplo del estado de Maryland, que ha prohibido las acciónes civiles por parte de colectores de deudas ya pasado la fecha limite segûn el tipo de deuda. Mientras tanto, a largo plazo, reconstruimos nuestra estructura economica para crear la igualdad en vez de crear la pobreza. Los dos puntos de vista, corto y largo plazo, nos urge.

“ -An official car and choffeur are waiting for you outside
-Thank you.
I prefer to take the Metro.”

Would that more of our public officials, like subsecretary Salvador Marti of The Ministry of Time, set the example of using public transportation. Lack of transportation often leads to default judgement on an expired debt which could have been avoided, had the debtor been able to defend in court.

Over the short-term, states could follow the example of Maryland, and prohibit lawsuits on all expired debts, while also rebuilding our economic structures to create equity rather than poverty, over the long-term. Both short-term and long-term approaches are needed, urgently.
–
Let’s start to #EndPoverty by improving these four parts of our Public Domain Social Infrastructure, the #PublicDomainInfrastructure 4: (1. #libraries, 2. #ProBono legal aid and Education, 3. #UniversalHealthCare , and 4. good #publictransport )
Read, Write, Dream, Walk !

Shira
originally posted on May 7th, 12018 HE

Action Items:

1.) Search for more sources relating lack of transportation to joblessness, court case defaults, and homelessness, perhaps with a bit of help from your local public library branch’s Reference Librarian,

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

3.) Share your thoughts on how a public transit system might help, or hinder, both unfair debt cases, and also inclusive thinking,

4.) Write a book, blog post or tweet that uses those thouhts.

 

    Nos vemos!

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

We can Do Better Wednesdays, Transportation for All

    A comment  from chapter 6: 

 Since more investment in mass
transit may entail less investment in car related infrastructure, it is to be reminded that true
freedom is not the ability to pollute and speed at will, but the ability to have real input in where
one’s tax dollars are spent, to travel peaceably and affordably across any span of continent in
order to walk in clean spaces with fresh air, and to do so while enjoying civil, or better still,
harmonious relations with one’s fellow human beings. T

How many shares of this prompt can you get?

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, or  Lupin Reviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction

Thoughtful Readers, if you are on Twitter, please consider following   #Project Do Better  on Twitter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesdays, Istanbul, late 2004, and Izmir, early 2005, Memory of Chanon’s bus Lymeric post

This post is pretty much a reminder that the only way to learn anything is by doing it badly, at first, and then: persisting!  🙂  It is also a tribute update of an old post: To Channon.

Some thoughts from back when I lived in Turkey, originally posted at the start of 2020’s global pandemic, but putting in a bit of order as I try to make sense of my longing to get back to languages before I forget them all (glad to see that I’ve improved quite a bit since then!), and to make time to learn all of the lessons from those places where I lived, searching for something that I am not sure how to find.

“2005-03-23 15:10:00
Group Limerick -on the bus!!
Here is a limerick Channon and I composed with the help of several fellow passengers (!)on the bus as we travelled to meet some SERVAS friends (the SERVAS  coordinator here in İzmir, as it turned out) here in İzmir:

Izmir’de çok kaybolduk
“Hangi tarafa döndük?!”
Mutfak çok pislik
Zor temizledik
Efes’i gördük, mutluyduk

the link to all of his travel limericks is also available from this link, I think… https://lists.ccs.neu.edu/pipermail/craignet/2005/000122.html

=========
Here is my original in a more readable form…
—-
Izmir’de cok kaybolduk
“Hangi tarafa donduk?!”
Mutfak cok pislik
Zor temizledik
Efes’i gorduk, mutluyduk
—-

…sorry, thought I’d posted the translation with it:
In Izmir we were lost all the time
“Which way did we turn?!”
The kitchen was really dirty
We had a hard time cleaning it
We say Ephesus, we were happy

The conversation before the lymeric (ok, or maybe after the Lymeric…) !!   I am very grateful that this friend visited me, as I’d never have taken the time to see anything around me, working as I did constantly, while I lived in Izmir.   May his memory be for a blessing:

“At Ersan Pansyon, just off of Kibris Shehitler caddesi, near my apartment, there is a nice young man who works there, who yesterday offered us breakfast and the opportunity to talk. My guest Chanan does not speak Turkish, so I served as both translator and breakfast guest with him. This has been wonderful. I have forgotten the young man’s name, but he asked many questions about the US, which I translated for Channon from a Boston/NY perspective, and occasionally threw in my own perspective on growing up in the South. One thing that particularly struck me, which I have hear from religious Turks before, is that they are anxious for Americans and Europeans to know that Turkey is different from the other muslim countries, and *is not Arab* -and also is not a bed for fanatical Islam. The current president, as our friend told us, comes from a religious background, as does the family that runs this pansyon, and none of them are fanatics. All do however believe strongly in hospitality and friendship. He told us that all of the people in the world are relatives, all descending from Adam and Eve. This was a wonderful conversation.
2005-03-24 12:52:00”

“cultural note: Kurds, Turks, and Jewish (Sephardic) families all kiss the hand and touch the forehead of the eldest person/host as a greeting. I was quite surprised to see this as a universal custom (ok, at least one Kurdish family and extended friend group, only one Jewish family that I got to spend alot of time with around their extended family, and I’ve only seen Turkish family greetings on TV here in the commercials and shows. The Turkish family I lived with did not do this, but they are quite wealthy, and Americanized).

My Kurdish friends love to sing! They do not however consider me Jewish, because my father and mother are not Jewish. That seems to be the same sentiment I got from the Turkish and Jewish people I spoke with here in Istanbul as well.

Most people use propane gas for cooking. Natural gas is only in rich areas, so far.

Here, the doorway is not the place to hide during an earthquake. Under a table is what my roommate tells me…
2004-11-09 17:34:00″
from:..

“karamsar, dark or negative thinking, really?

A person in Izmir accused me of being thus, for refusing to bring a new life into this world. I beg to differ…
May all people who wander be granted peace of mind, and complete, total Shalom. “

And lastly but most certainly not least of all, remembering old friends who visited (twice!!):

“2005-03-23 15:10:00
Group Limerick -on the bus!!
Here is a limerick Channon and I composed with the help of several fellow passengers (!)on the bus as we travelled to meet some SERVAS friends (the SERVAS coordinator here in İzmir, as it turned out) here in İzmir:

Izmir’de çok kaybolduk
“Hangi tarafa döndük?!”
Mutfak çok pislik
Zor temizledik
Efes’i gördük, mutluyduk

the link to all of his travel limericks is also available from this link,

=========
Here is my original in a more readable form…
—-
Izmir’de cok kaybolduk
“Hangi tarafa donduk?!”
Mutfak cok pislik
Zor temizledik
Efes’i gorduk, mutluyduk
—-

…sorry, thought I’d posted the translation with it:
In Izmir we were lost all the time
“Which way did we turn?!”
The kitchen was really dirty
We had a hard time cleaning it
We say Ephesus, we were happy
—

2005-03-25 14:15:00
Los EE y el emperio Romano; ABD ve Roma emperyum; US and the Roman Empire…
Estoy trabajando para amigos en leer sus documentos en ingles, escuchando a Nuevo Flamenco muy bonito (me sorpresa que Slash puede tocar la gitarra tan bueno asi!), y preocupando por me permiso de trabajar, y yo estaba pensando en los EE y Roma, que similar; En los ultimos años, la culta del emperor y los valores familiares fue mucho hablado (me temo que he olvidè a esta idioma, y nunca fue tan bueno, asi que me perdoneran, ustedes queridos leeredores…). Una buen amiga me decia que los EE y Roma tienen muchas cosas en comun…

*cringe* now for the Turkish attempt -I’m still trying to translate the last line :
*ahora en Turquesa, aunque estoy tratando de traducir a la ultima linea de la respuesta de Silmaril…
—
Çalışıyorum ve düşünüyorüm -çalışma vizem nerede? Düşündüm ki ABD ve Roma Emperyum çok beğenziyor.
***
As I shuttle back and forth between trying not to worry about where the bleepety bleep bleep bleep my bleeping work visa is (lost in Ankara …), work on reviewing the English documentation for some friends, and reading this paper on Global Civil Society …

Memories.  Neither misty nor water-colored.

Working on learning.  öğrenmeye çalışıyorum.

End of my old post, while living in Izmir.

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, La Casa De Papel/Money Heist, & Lupin & Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector Reviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or My Long Range Nonfiction, & Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about   #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Turkish Tuesdays, smiles, and feet as mass transit!

(Originally posted in2020, but still pertinent, if not more, today:)

Back when I lived in Izmir, I walked everywhere. Izmir does have a good bus system, btw, with a convenient Kent Cart system, like London’s Oyster card and DC’s SmarTrip card. Yet, some days, I just preferred to walk.

—

Yet, good Public Transit is crucial for those who cannot walk (and remember that increasingly large parts of even the American population are aging out of the ability to drive safely.  Note that I did not say the ability to drive, but the ability to do so safely…)

Short story: glad I smiled at someone I did not know -who thanked me, and made me grateful to be alive, back in 2005. And also today.

Less short version of the story:
Ok, so after a useless day yesterday of only 1100 words written, and desperate fears of 8 more days zero, (I have another 10k words to write), I was reflecting on the use, or lack thereof, of my life.
moving morose meditation on beauty to bottom…

When I lived in Izmir, that summer I took long walks on Saturday afternoons. I had the habit of smiling, or at least nodding, to every person I saw because frankly, I hoped someone would smile or nod back at me. At least acknowledge me as a fellow human being, as I tried to do, even passing the homeless people lining the streets as you go into the Metro (DC).

So, I nodded at a lady in passing, never met her, just kept going because I was too tired to say Gunaydin (Good Morning/afternoon in Turkish), and my Turkish was only rudimentary any way.
Then I heard a call behind me. I turned to see that woman walking back toward me, and her eyes were glistening.
She put her hand on my chest, nothing scary, nothing sexual, just an ordinary safe contact, and said, in very simple Turkish that was clear and slow, that in five years in Izmir, no one had every greeted her. She thanked me, and I nodded in return, too moved to get out even one word of Turkish. We both turned and went our own ways. And now, over ten years later, I am glad that I smiled at a random person whom I had never met, and never saw again.
I hope that I can share that joy with …
Everyone.

On the uselessness of being beautiful:
I have always hated being called pretty, beautiful, fine, foxy, etc, and being thanked for existing by some guy who apparently thought I was the equivalent of a painting on the wall for him to admire. well, not so useful. But when YOU (any of you, dear readers!!) smile, you too are beautiful, no matter what you look like. You are beautiful, and USEFUL, when you smile at another human being just to acknowledge that he (or she) too, exists, and is worthy of recognition as a human being.
Smiles, (2000 more words to go, it is 3:30pm -aghh!!)
Shira
24 November, 12015 HE

19.2.12016 edit via old LJ post from 2008-11-28 00:19:00

“kalbin temizmis”

“Feeling very grateful recalling a friend telling me ‘my heart must be pure’ to have found her just when I needed her, to help another friend with a CV.

Feeling grateful for the lady in Izmir who expressed such appreciation for a simple greeting in the street, and the other lady in Izmir who told me that our half hour conversation on life (in Turkish) was worth more than any English lesson.
Grateful for those whom I have helped, and for those who help me, for my dostumlar, my truest and closest friends, who really are family for me.
May I always remember your love, and love you all in return."

(STILL grateful!!  :-)  Peace, ...)

Read, Write, Dream, Teach !

ShiraDest
19 February, 12016 HE

  Görüşürüz  Sevgili Arkadaşlar!   

Action Items in support of literacy and hope that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different sources to translate the words “friend” and “close friend” into Turkish.

2.) Write a blog post or tweet that uses that word, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fiction, which is my personal way, hopefully to encourage empathy-building, cooperation, and inclusive thinking.

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Science Fiction/Fantasy Shows, or Lupin & $ episodes

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Plans, & Historical Fiction Serial Stories

 

Thoughtful Readers, if you are on Twitter, please consider following   #Project Do Better  on Twitter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Public transportation in North America -we could do better…

Here is why the trains come first, and then the quiet, safe, separately ventilated apartments and office buildings:

–

The fact that Vancouver transit has posted such strong gains in the absence of Uber and Lyft undercuts those companies’ claims about reducing car usage in major cities. But it also shows that the formula for rising ridership isn’t that complicated: Providing ample service while clustering development around good transit will yield results.

–

So, it turns out that even up in the cold north, folks use mass transit, when it is available with decent service.  The US could take some lessons from our northern neighbors…

Yassas,   γεια σας!    Salût !  Nos vemos!  Görüşürüz!     ! שָׁלוֹם

Action Items in support of transportation for All that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different reasons to use public transportation.

2.) Share them with us in the comments, here, please.

3.) Share your thoughts on how you could encourage your local transit board to improve mass transit in your region.

4.) Write a book, blog post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

 More Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how we can build empathy in our society today

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

Science Fiction/Fantasy Shows,  Lupin, or Money Heist

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction

Thoughtful Readers, if you are on Twitter, please consider following   #Project Do Better  on Twitter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Sundown Towns Epiphany: Job Preserves for The Quality?

       This just hit me: call me an idiot, but trying to explain to someone who grew up in a Sundown Town that this still affects us today was frustrating, partly because he refused to ack the fact that this not only deprived folks like me of another place to stay, but also, more pertinently to his ability to get a bank teller job while in high school, his ability to stay overnight in that town meant that he alone, and other white people alone, could work that evening shift in the bank to finish high school.  Forget the other factors involved, and there are many, the mere fact of living there and shutting out an entire and larger class of people from being there after dark meant that only whites would have those jobs.  Makes it a lot easier when you have so much less competition, huh?

  Not to mention that the lack of public transit means that only The Better Classes, as they used to say, and those with cars, to boot, would have access to these jobs.  Multiply that by a lot of towns, and you get a lot of places shutting out PoC, and keeping lots of jobs for themselves.  That kept, and still keeps, opportunity to themselves too, since changing a law does not magically change circumstances, and excuses abound not to give a job to someone who doesn’t look right to you, especially if you think you are above any sort of prejudice.  Clearly, ignorance is still bliss.

  Oh, I’m sorry, I’ve made a mistake:  these aren’t preserves for The Quality.  The most elite don’t need jobs.  But they do need people who are dependent upon them for their own jobs.  And they need people, whole groups of people, who feel that the way things are now is the way things ought to be, because this racism and segregation is gone, and now there is unlimited opportunity for all.  Except that a quick look at the people sleeping “in their comfort zones” on the streets will show that all may not be well in the Land of the Free.  But then again, maybe that’s what Prozac is for?

  Enjoy, Jill!

   We can really Do Better!

Action Prompts:

1.)  Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how knowing our history could help that process.

2.) Write a book, story, post or tweet that uses these thoughts.

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Science Fiction/Fantasy Shows,  Lupin, or Money Heist

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Day 54/67: Five Month GED, Equations of a Line, and Making a Bee line to Save The Bees

So, why do you think that equations of a straight line,

aka linear equations, may be related to bees, transportation, and bee lines?  And why do they call it a bee line, when bees never seem to move in a straight line, or do they? 

Today’s reading comes from a well-known source that is citing two major secondary sources: can you agree with the authority of the two sources cited?

“… the Christian Social Union, which had not been at the forefront of climate change conversations and tended to resist serious environmental protection measures, responded by voting into law what the petition called for. The law commits the government to preserve the environment, support organic farming, increase the number of natural meadows, prevent further losses of biodiversity, protect clean water and limit pesticide use. Along with saving the bees, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and wild herbs are to be protected.

…”

 End of week 14/18

Day 54, Week 14

Grammar: Compound Prepositions

Math: Solving linear equations

Science: see today’s reading above, and then look up bees!!

Please see the Lesson plan for Day 54’s Exit Tickets

(Day 53 … Day 55)

Action Items:  

1.) Search for two different sources to learn about your local transit board,

2.) Please tell us where your information comes from, and how you know that the sources you found are reliable.

 

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Narrative and Prose Nonfiction,     

Holistic High School Lessons,

        or Historical Fiction Serial Stories

 

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Day 43/67 of GED in Five Months, Area vs. Circumference, and, transportation

      Adulting often requires knowing how transportation ties in with a variety of types of knowledge, like the distance around an obstacle, given the area of the area you want to avoid.  Also, when does it make more sense to use   mass transit than to drive?

 Start of week 12/18

Day 43, Lesson Plan:

Grammar: Essay Writing -Continue working on your Pros paragraph

Common Core Math, Skill practice #s4-6: Area and Circumference of Circles

remember student discounts on monthly bus passes!

Day 43 Exit Ticket

(Day 42 … Day 44)

Action Prompts:

1.) Why might it be important to understand the public transit system in your city?  Why do you think it may (or may not) help citizens of a Republic, especially those who are unable, for eyesight reasons, for instance, to drive a car?

2.) Write a book, story, blog post or tweet that uses those thoughts, and then, please tell us about it! If you write a book, once it is published please consider donating a copy to your local public library.

3.)  Feel free to answer the exit ticket questions in the comments, or pose any other questions you may have about the lesson, if you wish.

 **********************

Click here to read, if you like: 

  Narrative or Historical Nonfiction,

      Holistic High School Lessons,

        or Historical Fiction Serial Stories

 

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about our  #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Day 22/67, Five Month GED, Repeated Ops, and Repeated Steps

     Transportation is the repeating of foot steps, and the knowledge of location, while tools like exponents, multiplication , and division, are repeated operations on the same numbers.  These repeated operations are what every democracy movement must teach:

Day 22/67,  Week 6 of 18 weeks

Grammar: Essay writing 3/4: on paper (Please finish your outline for your 500 word essay, and add your thesis sentence…)

Easiest: Power of a power practice using the Power Rule

Day22ExitSlips

(Day 21 … Day 23)

 

Action Prompts:

1.) Consider sharing some ideas you may have on how our society can solve homelessness and child abuse, partly with the help of mass transit, starting right now,

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those sources and your thoughts.

Toward Peace,

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector & Sihirli Annem,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.