Minbari Mondays, Spider in the Web, and, crazy solutions for peace

This week, Ranger Mayann has no report, but I am taking the liberty of summing up this 6th episode of season 2, from what I hope would be the Minbari point of view:

 

“I’ve read your proposal, Mr. Isogi. Frankly, you’re either insane or a very brave man. “

 

Here, after this reaction from a representative of a provisional colonial government, Taro Isogi reminds her, as the Minbari often remind us, that history matters.  And so does long term innovative thinking.   His idea of Future Corp was a way of solving the violence on the Mars colony peacefully.

Einstein said that only by thinking at a different level from which our problems began, can we solve those problems.  This episode represents that idea in a more concrete form.  

The core of the actual problem is that there exists a black ops agency buried deeply within the Earth government, working against the interests of peace.  Captain Sheridan confides his intention to find that agency, the metaphorical Spider in the Web, and to destroy it.  This is why this episode represents so much of what I love about Babylon 5: the willingness to confront unpleasant realities, and then create tools to deal with them.

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa.

I come in peace, I am your friend.

 

There are earlier episodes, as part of a letter on the history of the Babylon Project.  

-Shira Destinie

Action Items:

1.)  Share your thoughts on the importance of history and building on earlier knowledge to make space and tools to solve new problems, please.

2.) Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how this episode of Babylon 5 could help that process.

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

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for COVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write, Vote, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans offline) 

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa. and my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction, and a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…    

Shira Destinie A. Jones, BsC, MAT, MPhil

our year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

(GED lesson plans: Day 1)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

-one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via this GoodReads button: ,  Please leave a review, if you can make a bit of time, on the GoodReads page.

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

Peer pressure, proving oneself, and new tools for that

       While most of our societies no longer need adults capable of hunting to ensure our protein supply, we clearly still have a burning need to find ways to prove ourselves, especially when we are young.  NPR reported on a nationwide problem, recently: teenagers are vandalizing school property for the attention on social media.  Somehow, the very human need to prove oneself is being channeled into a means of seeking approval that actually does damage to the infrastructure that was built to help those same kids move forward in life.  Clearly, something is missing.  Is it that we don’t seek buy-in from our young people about the ways we try to prepare them for life, or is it that we lack ways of allowing all of them to gain healthy attention, apart from empty participation trophies?

   The new rite of passage I imagined some years ago may be a tool that can help us use that peer pressure and need to prove ourselves, turning into a benefit for all of society, and maybe for the benefit of us all?

 

Action Questions:

1.) What, if you wish to share, was a defining moment of self-proof that made a difference in your life?

2.) How would having a new way of showing what each person can do affect the role of teenagers and coming of age in our society, do you imagine?

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write -one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via  GoodReads,

Vote, Teach and Learn (PDF Lesson Plans offline)

and

my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction,

and

a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…

   

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

the year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

 

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

Stories, TV, and mental health

   Can a story make a difference to our outlook, or even to our lives?   

Certainly for me, sometimes even a mere television show can make a difference, as in moment 2:20 of this 7th episode of the first season of Spanish Public Television’s “El Ministerio del Tiempo.”

In the very first scene of this episode, a major character is shown, years before the present date, about to take an action that would prevent her from ever contributing again.  She is standing on a ledge, about to leap to her death.  But the person who will become her mentor, leading her into an alternative that few people know even exists, recruits her to the new job by telling her that if she jumps, those who wanted her to fail will be over joyed.  Then he says:

“No los des ese gusto.”

“Don’t give them that pleasure.”

 

And so begins the meteoric rise to heights at that point never attained by a woman, let alone a lesbian.  If such a story can move even one person to keep going, is it not valuable for the mental health of us all?

 

Action Items:

1.) What, if you wish to share, was a TV show or film that made a difference in your life?

2.) How would seeing a character on a TV show decide not to commit suicide influence someone else’s decision?

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write -one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via  GoodReads,

Vote, Teach and Learn (PDF Lesson Plans offline)

and

my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction,

and

a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…

   

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

the year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

 

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

Day 4/67: GED in 5 months, and context

As healthy adults, do we always make sure to look at the full context of a given situation, comment, or quotation, when we make judgements about things we hear, or even see? 

Learning to take the context of a situation into account, much like figuring out the meaning of a word based on the context of the words around it, is part of education, and part of continuous Adulting Education also, as we all remember this important practice.

Here is the lesson plan for Day 4, of 67:   (Week 2 of 18 weeks…), in which we looked at a bit of the context surrounding Cesar’s crossing of the Rubicon…

Day 4 Lesson Plan, of 67 days

Khan Academy Subj Obj practice

PRONOUNsPgs1to4

Khan Academy Prime Fact.

FactorsPrimePg1n2

optional Fun ExtraSolving Mult Story Problems

Day4ExitSlips

(Day 3 … Day 5…)

Action Items:

1.) What, if you recall, was the context in which Caesar took his troops into Rome?

2.) How would the bringing of his troops from Gaul into Rome have seemed to you, in the overall context of the Roman Republic’s expanding territories and conflicts, and in light of  the fact that that action was illegal?

Dear Readers, any additional ideas toward learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning as part of on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write -one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via  GoodReads,

Vote, Teach and Learn (PDF Lesson Plans offline)

and

my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction,

and

a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…

   

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

the year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

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

Stories, teasers, and Adulting ed

   The common good, and our imaginations, seem to benefit from stories.  I’ve noticed how story can inspire, encourage, and provide examples.  Our entire world may become more fully inclusive for all of us, if we tell the uplifting stories, perhaps, as tools for building a more just and empathetic society.

   I remember really finding the first season of the show Heroes to be inspiring, especially the character Hiro.  One of his lines in particular got my attention:

Hiro: ‘a hero too scared to use his powers does not deserve them’

  I first saw this back in 2007, and I was struck by the idea.  A character who was innocent, at least at first, kind, stubborn in his convictions, and acting on the good in himself, and others.

  Right about this same time period, there was a disturbance in which I felt obliged to intervene, and will tell that story when it is done.  Until then, I hope that we can all find courage in our shared stories, and help make this world a kinder place for all of us.

-The Brolly Lady, as they called me back in 2007, with the story to come soon, as I continue to work on my own Adulting, and educating myself on how story can help in that process.

 

 

Action Items:

1.) Consider your ideas on the role of story, and of characters in story, in Adulting.

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

3.) Share your thoughts on how our stories might help, or hinder, inclusive thinking,

4.) Write a book, blog post or tweet that uses an alternate calendar, tells a good story, and makes a difference. I’m working on that through my historical fantasy #WiP, #WhoByFireIWill. If you write a book, once published, please consider donating to your local public library.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport

Read, Write,

Vote, Teach and Learn (PDF Lesson Plans Offline),

and

my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction,

and

a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…

   

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

our year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

(Day 1  Lesson plan…)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please leave a review, if you can, on the GoodReads page, and please do let us know here that you’ve reviewed it there!

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

Minbari Mondays, The Geometry of Shadows, and Technomages love Mollari!

Ok, so maybe they don’t, and the feeling is surely mutual! Here is the latest installment of our ongoing letter from Ranger Mayann.

This is her 3rd report of the third year of operation of the station:

–

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa, Greetings from Tuzanor:

In this report, in the beginning of your Earth year 2259, it was the start of the third year of operation of the station. Ambassador Delenn had just finished making her transition, during this incident.  While no Minbari were involved in the events of this report, the relationship between Michael Garibaldi, Captain Sheridan, and Commander Ivanova are shown to deepen in important ways, by this report.

This set of events, most importantly, show the adaptability and determination that would later lead to the rise of Ivanova from EarthForce to the leadership of my order, the Anla’Shok.

From the city of  Tuzanor, on Minbar Earth year 2279,

Anla’Shok Mayann

–

Shira’s Addendum to Ranger Mayann’s report:

This episode is hilarious .   Even the serious parts, like the start of Garibaldi’s character arc, are funny.  First, the funny stuff!

For the first time in many years, the Technomages are seen.  In numbers.  This is not a good thing, but, Londo Mollari is never deterred by good sense.  Suffice it to say that he is taught better manners by the head of that order.

Garibaldi, on the more serious side, is in a less than humorous place, toying with his service weapon, and with reasons to live, or not.  Captain Sheridan gives him a chance to find a reason to keep living and serving, and Garibaldi takes it, when he realizes that his unique set of paranoid skills are just what the Captain and the station need.

Ivanova, meanwhile, just promoted to full Commander, learns to bring unity, through purple dye.

 

And of course, Mollari, does not learn anything, yet. 

But he will…

 

That was part of Ranger Mayann’s letter on the history of the Babylon Project.  

-Shira Destinie

Action Items:

1.)  Share your thoughts on the importance of finding the right reasons to live, and what tools  we use to do that in our different ways, please.

2.) Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how this episode of Babylon 5 could help that process.

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

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for COVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write, Vote, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans offline) 

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa. and my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction, and a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…    

Shira Destinie A. Jones, BsC, MAT, MPhil

our year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

(GED lesson plans: Day 1 … Day 5)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

-one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via this GoodReads button: ,  Please leave a review, if you can make a bit of time, on the GoodReads page.

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

Minbari Mondays, Revelations, and Remembering Names

There is an interruption in the sending of our fictional letter (reviewing each film and episode of Babylon 5) that I receive each week from Ranger Mayann.

Here is my replacement of what would have been her 2nd report of the third year of operation of the station:

–

This episode is incredible.   For the first time, old enemies must become allies, as G’Kar tries to tell the others what danger awaits them all, and begins to become the Cassandra of the galaxy:

“Weep for the future, Na’Toth. Weep for us all.”

And not only for the quote of a famous Yeats poem:

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

Many thanks to Neatnik for this quote, and his much better review of this episode.

That was a missing part of Ranger Mayann’s letter on the history of the Babylon Project.  

-Shira Destinie

Action Items:

1.)  Share your thoughts on the importance of history.

2.) Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how this episode of Babylon 5 could help that process.

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

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for COVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write, Vote, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans offline) 

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa. and my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction, and a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…    

Shira Destinie A. Jones, BsC, MAT, MPhil

our year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

(GED lesson plans: Day 1 … Day 5)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

-one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via this GoodReads button: ,  Please leave a review, if you can make a bit of time, on the GoodReads page.

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

Happy Birthday, Anna J. Cooper, & Can learning languages help when you are under stress? Yes! Write your Dreams in your favorite Languages!

Dr. Anna J. Cooper was a strong advocate for education, especially in Washington, DC, and one of the first Black women to earn a PhD.   August 10th is her birthday, and as she fought to make the dreams of Black students possible, we must fight to make all of our collective dreams possible for a safer, kinder world.

Write your dreams in a language all your own, if you have to, and then expand your world by learning two more languages.

My personal dream has always been to save and enrich all lives, and my dream for the world is to see a Tiny House or at least a small well-insulated room with kitchenette and bathroom, with potable water, green vegetables, brown rice and dried beans and solar/windpower with backup pedal power for every man, woman and child over maybe, the age of 10, world wide, free for that person’s use from birth to his/her death with no charge, no questions, and no way to lose that right.

So, I journal in Spanish and Biblical Hebrew, which inspire me to look to examples like Amelia, of El Ministerio del Tiempo, and Ruth, of Biblical fame, as inspirations to persevere.

Spanish has always been my favorite language, especially in the bilingual South West. As an adult education instructor at the Continuing Education division of the San Diego Community College District, that proved helpful for me as an instructor, and also, of course, the ESL classes help our students from many nations contribute in the USA.

Every local educational institution has room for improvement, particularly when seen from both faculty and student perspectives. I posed some questions, recently, about ideas for implementing (on a shoestring budget ) projects that would have been helpful to our students when I taught in North campus involving

1.) a small library or study area,
2.) workshops by CA Promise Program graduates,
3.) an on-site nurse paid for by mediCal, and
4.) access to public transportation:

1.) Many of my students told me they didn’t have a quiet place to study.  While I know that space is in very short supply on the North campus, I wonder if a small area, possibly in the multipurpose room when it’s not being used, could be set aside with cubicles or movable small desks and a small movable lending library like the tiny libraries?

2.)   I wonder, on the assumption of course that having graduated and started a new career as a professional with a bachelor’s degree anyone can be found who will have time, if any students having graduated with a bachelor’s degree after getting their first two years of community college paid for through the California promise program or with the San Diego promise program, could be persuaded to come back either as tutors, mentors, or even just to give workshops in the areas in which they got their educations?  Particularly accounting majors or paralegal/pre-law majors who could give small workshops on dealing with debt in California including California statutes of limitations, or financial planning workshops or how to do your own taxes if you only need to do the 1040EZ, etc?  One-on-one tutoring, and also mentoring,  that supportive help, especially for our high school equivalency students, could be both useful and inspiring.  Seeing successfully graduated professionals with a bachelor’s degree who came through the community college system and are willing to spend individual time with them, even if only a couple of hours a week, could make a difference.  Could interns or SCORE volunteers put a program like this together?  Do we track or stay in touch with students who finish the California or San Diego promise program once they finish their bachelor’s degrees?

3.) Many of my students worked two jobs or for other reasons never had time to see a doctor even when they were ill. I wonder if it is possible to pay, through the Medi-Cal system, for a nurse to be on-site, perhaps based out of the office  of each campus, a couple of days/evenings a week?

4.)  One of the biggest problem areas that I saw for my car-free students was that neither the continuing ed, nor the  faculty Union was able to get the transit authority to enforce acceptance of continuing ed student IDs for the monthly bus and rail pass discount.  In planning for post-Covid-19 classes, will we have any resources to address public transportation discount and access issues?

I imagine that some of these ideas may be a little overwhelming, because I understand that time and resources are extremely limited, but once in a while, as Dr. Rivera-Lacey noted: we do have to dream.

Some possible action items that you can take right now include:
1.) Call your local City Council members, and ask them to increase library funding,
2.) Donate to ProPublica for probono legal and financial education for all,

or, please share your ideas for improving local libraries and education!

Action Items:

1.) Consider some ideas you may have on how our society can solve homelessness and child abuse, starting right now,

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

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

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at LEAST for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write -add Stayed on Freedom’s Call on GoodReads via this GR button: ,

Vote, Teach and Learn (PDF Lesson Plans Offline),

and

my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction,

and

a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…

   

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

our year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

(Day 1 … Day 5)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please leave a review, if you can, on the GoodReads page, and please do let us know here that you’ve reviewed it there! 

 

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

Minbari Mondays,Points of Departure, and Honor

This is the continuation of our fictional letter (reviewing each film and episode of Babylon 5) that I receive each week from Ranger Mayann.

Here is her 1st report of the third year of operation of the station:

—

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa, Greetings from Tuzanor:

In this report, in the beginning of your Earth year 2259, it was the start of the third year of operation of the station. Ambassador DeLenn was making her transition, during this sad incident with our people, and Lenier had at last allowed to answer the question that has been haunting you Humans for the previous ten years. He explained to Captain Sheridan the Starkiller, newly sent to command Babylon 5, that the reason for our surrender at what you call The Battle of The Line is that you Humans, like us, now share our souls. While the captain was not yet able to believe this truth, he nevertheless made use of it, in holding back his fighters, to win the safety of the station.

From the city of  Tuzanor, on Minbar Earth year 2279,

Anla’Shok Mayann

–

  Addendum to Ranger Mayann’s report, by Shira: This episode is not one of my favorite, for some reason, as we get a lot of preconceived ideas about groups of people here, but we do see, later, how those prejudices change over time. That is one of the things I really love about this series, in that it models learning.

That was part of Ranger Mayann’s letter on the history of the Babylon Project.  

-Shira Destinie

Action Items:

1.)  Share your thoughts on the many kinds of Honor.

2.) Share your thoughts on how we Human Beings might start to build a more fully inclusive society for all of us, and how this episode of Babylon 5 could help that process.

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

4.) Go see Neatnik’s review of this episode.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking for COVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write, Vote, Teach and Learn (Lesson Plans offline) 

Nih sakh sh’lekk, sleem wa. and my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction, and a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…    

Shira Destinie A. Jones, BsC, MAT, MPhil

our year 2021 CE =  12021 HE

(GED lesson plans: Day 1 … Day 5)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

-one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via this GoodReads button: ,  Please leave a review, if you can make a bit of time, on the GoodReads page.

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

Rosh Chodesh Elul, and reflecting upon the past year

 Today is the first day of the last month of the Hebrew year, and I’ve been reflecting on this past year for some time, now.  Last year was a shock, starting with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom I’d honestly expected (wishful thinking, I know) to live until president Biden could pick her replacement.  After everything else she’d lived through, it seemed unbelievable that she could die at such a crucial moment for all of us.  And then, while most of my fellow Americans helped prevent some worse occurrence, the general election in November was still a bitter disappointment, for me, in my fellow Californians.  Coming to a state where I’d always heard of the progressive and community oriented ways of thinking, of the clean air laws and the Intentional Communities nurtured in this state, I was shocked to find that this was not so.  And this past November, the denial of benefits as employees to ‘gig’ worker drivers was an even more stunning blow.  That, and the other ballot initiative which I’ve forgotten all but the impact, as rather similar to that first denial: these were not the caring people I’d been looking for.  But then, where could they be, in a world like the one we’ve built for ourselves? 

  So, I look back to the words of Toni Morrison, that we need dreamers to dream of new possibilities for shaping our world, new ways of being, ways that move us toward caring for each other, toward making it possible for each and every one of us to have safe and secure shelter, enough nutritious food, clean water, and dignity of work that allows all human beings to contribute, to rest, and to move us all forward as one human race.

And I look ahead to the coming 12 months, first with a contentious recall election coming up in California, and then back to the question, ever present, of where is that community of willing workers, united in service to the good of all humanity, where I can both contribute, and be truly included, myself, as well?

To Human Kindness, 

 

Action Items:  

1.) What thoughts do you have about the past year, and how we can make the next 12 months better for all human beings?

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  &  for heavens sake: please #StopSmoking for CCOVID-19 (or even for good!)!:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write -one can add Stayed on Freedom’s Call via this GoodReads button:  ,

 

Vote, Teach and Learn (PDF Lesson Plans offline)

and

my Babylon 5 review posts, if you like Science Fiction,

and

a proposed Vision on Wondering Wednesdays: for a kinder world…

   

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

the year 2021 CE = the year  12021 HE

(Day 1 … Day 5)

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free copies at: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please leave a review, if you can, on the GoodReads page.

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

Shira

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