Showing posts with label research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Orphans found, poor sent to farms

(Erased Century) First movie EVER made was about babies from cabbage plants in 1896: CP Kids

(Erased Century) Every county in America had a place where people were disappeared | They called them "poor farms" or almshouses.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

UCLA research on Easter Island finds meaning


We have degrees in looking good in bikinis!
Scientists believe they’ve uncovered the meaning of some of the Moai stone monoliths found on Rapa Nui, better known to Westerners as "Easter Island." Here’s the truth [so far].

Here’s what readers will learn when reading this story: Scientists believe they’ve uncovered the meaning of some of the Moai (giant stone statues) stone monoliths found on Rapa Nui (Easter Island).

  • The scientists analyzed soil in the vicinity of two of the Moai statues and found traces of banana, taro, and sweet potato, according to research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
  • These traces indicate the statues could have been used to celebrate the crop fertility of soils in the region.
  • The famed stone monoliths that tower over the island of Rapa Nui—colloquially known as Easter Island—have puzzled scientists for centuries.
  • But archeologists and soil scientists studying the ancient Moai now believe they’ve uncovered the meaning of the famous statues.
  • Clues in nearby soils suggest the statues may have been placed there to celebrate the fertility of crops in the area.
Remote island research is the best kind of work
For more than three decades, Jo Ann Van Tilburg of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) has studied the origins of the Moai along with Rapanui artist Cristián Arévalo Pakarati and other members of the local community.

They recruited soil scientist Sarah Sherwood, of the University of the South in Tennessee, to analyze the soil the base of two statues found peculiarly perched upright in the Rano Raraku quarry on the eastern part of the island, where most of the more than 1,000 Moai statues originated.


(The scientists suspect that work in the quarry began around A.D. 1455). The team analyzed soils at the foot of two of the structures, which archeologists believe were erected by or before A.D. 1510 to A.D. 1645, and found chemical evidence of common food crops.

The soils revealed traces of foods like taro, banana, and sweet potato, according to research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. More

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Zoom: Poet Mandy Kahn's Peace Class


WHAT HAPPENED?
The meditative music was soothing and immediately set a calming and peaceful tone. Mandy held a mudra of welcome, honoring Zoom participants. She not only spoke of peace but embodied it with a guided meditation/visualization. The format is ever-evolving. It's free. It's weekly. And space is open to come and investigate next Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at 6:00 pm.

Peace Class
What's peace? Passaddhi (serene inner peace)
Friends in Peace, during this time of war, we are inspired by Aloka and the Buddhist Monks' Peace Walk. How can we bring that inner peace into our hearts, minds, and expression?

Peace activist Mandy Kahn's Peace Class (from the Philosophical Research Society in Hollywood, LA) resumes tonight for 2026.

Mandy and Seven found peace in Los Angeles.
Feel free to share link with friends. All are welcome at Peace Class (prs.org).

To join us, simply click on this Zoom link at the start time: Wednesday, 6:00 pm (PT). 
What is "peace" and who cares?
What goddess could make peace?
Peace (passaddhi) is one of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (one component of the larger Seven Requisites of Enlightenment) the historical Buddha pointed out as the Path-of-Practice (that brings one to calm and insight) to Awaken.

So it holds a very honored place in the Dharma and in American life, at least in the Sixties (because of the Peace Movement and the Hippies) and earlier due to the influence of the timeless Quakers, Transcendentalists, Christian Gnostics, and Catholic monastics, particularly the Franciscans and Carmelites.

I like chanting the Buddha's actual words
In a language spoken by the Buddha (Pali), "peace" (passaddhi) is a noun (Sanskrit prasrabhi, Tibetan ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱང་བ་, shin tu sbyang ba) variously translated as "serenity," "calmness," "tranquility," "repose" [1]. The verb is passambhati ([rest], calm, quiet) [2].

In Buddhism, peace refers to tranquility of body, speech, and mind (thoughts and consciousness) on the path to enlightenment. As part of the seven mental factors to be cultivated, peace is preceded by rapture (pīti, bliss, joy, supersensual pleasure) and precedes stillness (samādhi, focus, concentration). More
Inner Peace, World Peace
Publisher, Inner Peace, World Peace: Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence
Mandy Kahn hosts monthly poetry readings in Manly P. Hall's Library of World Religions (PRS)
.
Inner Peace, World Peace
What can one person do to foster world peace? How does one person's state of mind [heart] affect the state of the world? How can the ideal of nonviolence be manifested in daily life?

Buddhists have been exploring questions like these for 25 centuries, and they are still timely today. Inner Peace, World Peace is the first work in any Western language to examine the Buddhist approach to nonviolence.

Warriors for Peace? Buddhist Peace Walk
Well-known Buddhist scholars, a noted authority on nonviolent struggle, a prominent Thai Theravada Buddhist activist, and other leaders in their fields collaborate to show the contemporary relevance of the Buddhist tradition.

The authors also discuss a new international movement known as "Socially Engaged Buddhism."
Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn
I love the way Mandy Kahn makes poetry that elevates the ordinary to the sublime (DBM).
 
Holy Doors (Hat & Beard Press)
Mandy Kahn’s third collection of poems is a lyrical, luminous, and highly spiritual journey that explores:
It is also a record of what life is like as our spiritual nature begins to live more fully within the body. Each of Kahn’s poems begins with earnest inquiry and ends with an ecstatic moment of communion with the part of the self that is connected to all things. Holy Doors: Poems by Mandy Kahn

Saturday, December 27, 2025

Ancient Asia's forgotten blonde DNA


Ancient Asia’s forgotten blonde DNA

Could I have ancient Far Western Chinese DNA?
(Ancestry CodeBlond and redheaded Asians with green and blue eyes? The historical Buddha (from Gandhara/Central Asia had blue eyes, too?) Something buried beneath the sands of Western China has shaken the story of our past to its core. In a land once feared as “the place of no return,” the sands of the Taklamakan Desert kept a secret no one was meant to find — archeologists uncovered something no one was prepared for.
EurasiaThe Caucasus are in Western Asia?
Men with auburn beards. Women with golden-red hair. Children whose strawberry braids still glimmered after 4,000 years. The desert had kept them perfectly intact — skin, clothes, even strands of colorful hair untouched by time.

Their faces were tall and sharp, their clothing woven with patterns never seen in ancient China. Nothing about them made sense. For centuries, old chronicles spoke of “yellow-haired tribes” roaming China’s far west — tales dismissed as wild exaggerations or legend. But these bodies proved the stories were real.


Made it this far? Might as well like and subscribe to the channel. Let us know in the comments what to see next, or if super angry with how topic was covered, suggest a specific topic. Either works.
#genetics #sciencefacts #blondehair #genetics #sciencefacts #blondehair #ancienthistory

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Record shark found: Track it from home


New heart-stopping footage of massive great white shark attack
(CNN) Jeff Kurr, the producer and director of Discovery's "Shark Week," discusses footage his team captured of a great white shark destroying a diver's enclosure. (Discovery and CNN share a corporate parent, Warner Bros. Discovery.)

Florida's waters hide a beast: Record-breaking great white shark discovered offshore
Contender the Shark is the largest great white shark in the world (© Ocearch)
.
Is Jaws real in Marthas Vineyard?
Scientists have found the largest great white shark ever recorded swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.

[Do they grow bigger in the Pacific Ocean near California, the Mariana Trench, or Hawaii? Years ago, I saw one I'd estimate was one ton and 15 feet from a trawler in Santa Monica Bay as swimmers and surfers frolicked on LA and OC County beaches without a care in the world. This fish was so big, had I fallen from  the rail, it could have swallowed me without chewing like a biblical whale. It was so big and alarming as it surfaced, chasing a halibut, I carefully climbed off the rail as my hair stood on end. This predator was no joke and bigger than Jaws.]


The Great Contender
Shark attacks surged around US beaches in the last year, especially off the coasts of Florida, the Carolinas, and California.

The largest white shark in the Northwest Atlantic, named "Contender," was found off the coast of Georgia on Jan. 17th, 2025. Ocearch, a nonprofit conducting research on sharks, reported that ocean researchers have been tracking Contender's movements around the Atlantic.

Shark enthusiasts can track Contender from home by visiting Ocearch's sharking tracking portal.

Animal plane: Sharks eat dolphins, and dolphins (killer whales) eat sharks

Mom, I hate Disney World! Take me home!
As of Sunday, Contender was swimming off the coast of Florida, near the tourist beaches of Orlando, near Disneyland (Walt Disney World), where kids love to go and cool off.

The shark is measured at 13.8 feet long, weighing an estimated 1,653 pounds. He has swum nearly 200 miles since he was first tagged.

By tracking Contender the researchers will be able to learn more about his migration patterns. The tag will record real time data for the next five years on Contender's movements. More

Are orcas (killer whales/dolphins) apex predators? - How big could a giant squid even be?
Surfers have no idea what danger is lurking.
  • CNN (graphic video), July 24, 2022; Eleanor Tolbert, MSN.com, 2/9/25; Shauna Schwartz, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Peace is a choice for evolution (1/29)


PEACE CLASS with Mandy Kahn
Friends, Peace Class meets tonight (Wednesday). To join us, simply click on this Zoom link at 6:00 pm (Pacific Time) on Jan. 29th:
Feel free to share this link with friends and fellow humans. ALL are welcome. At last week's class, we talked about THE LAW OF PEACE-BY-CHOICE.

THE LAW OF PEACE-BY-CHOICE
Mindfulness Yoga at PRS: Meditating w/ Chaos & Uncertainty, multiple dates (Eventbrite)
.
Peace, Love, and Happiness versus? Your choice.
Sooner or later, all beings choose to live in a way that is peaceful, one that honors all beings. Peace-by-choice is the direction of all spiritual evolution. Choosing is not enforced; there is no need to enforce it.

A peaceful way of being is always ultimately chosen. There is no expected timeline for choosing to live in a peaceful and loving way. There is simply a natural law that all will choose to live this way eventually. Notice that it was not said that all must choose to live this way. No one ever has to choose it.

What's so great about sustainable practices?
But time is unending. In all that time-without-end, eventually everyone does choose it. We'll call this the Law of Peace-by-Choice. Think of it as a natural law, a bit like gravity. Gravity is not enforced; it simply exists. Peace-by-choice is not enforced — it is simply a path that all will eventually walk. [Could there be war without end? That would me unmanageable, untenable, and ultimately unsustainable, whereas peace is sustainable].

There is no external expectation regarding how quickly peace is chosen, and there is no time limit. Some may spend many lifetimes exploring other choices before choosing a peaceful way of being. And others may choose a peaceful expression right away. It is up to every being to choose how quickly that being wants to evolve.

Peace-by-choice is always the forward direction of evolution. Here's an analogy that helps explain how this law functions: Imagine a person lives in a hotel and that, at every meal, she may choose to eat whatever she likes from a large and varied buffet. Among the many options available is a cookie that we'll call the Peace Cookie. This person has complete free will to eat or not eat that cookie. There are many other desserts to choose from — war cakes and cruelty pies, massacre meringues and mass bombing mousses, and of course smart-Alec tarts.

The great clock in the sky says time's passing.
Perhaps this person might go an entire lifetime without trying this one delicious cookie, given there are so many other options to explore. But to understand how the law of peace-by-choice works, one must come to understand the endlessness of time (going on for aeons as explained by the Buddha).

If that person does not choose the cookie of peace during her first lifetime, she will be reborn again and will again have absolute free will to choose whatever she'd like from the buffet. And if she doesn't choose peace during her second lifetime, there will be a third and so on ad nauseum.

This process can go on as long as the chooser likes [that is, until she does something about it to bring all suffering to an end and gain nirvana]. Eventually, that cookie will be chosen. It might take thousands of lifetimes to choose it, or it might be chosen quickly.

It's not that it must be chosen but rather that, eventually, it always is chosen. Why? Eventually, everything else is unsustainable. Eventually, that person becomes curious about that cookie. At some point, all other options will have been tried. At some point, that cookie will become the most appealing option. Then it will be chosen.

And only when the cookie of peace has been eaten will the person realize that it is unlike every other food available at the buffet. It's not just a food — but a doorway to a new kind of experience. It's a doorway out of this dingy hotel for good. There is never any external pressure to try that cookie. It is simply always made available. There may even be obstacles to it. It is the free will of every person to choose it or not to choose it at any given moment. Free will is always honored by the universe.
And the law of peace-by-choice functions everywhere in the universe. All beings, wherever they reappear and whenever they are reborn, are subject to this law.

This law is how we evolve. There is a gravity-like pull that draws us towards choosing peace, but there is also a spirit around us that respects our timing and honors our free will. This law applies to us, and it applies to our neighbors. No matter how our neighbors might act, they are evolving towards their own peacefulness.

They might be evolving by not choosing peace yet. They might be evolving by eating a massacre meringue, or by shoveling slices of war cake right down others' throats. They might be evolving by appearing to do whatever seems to be the furthest thing from expressing peacefulness that they can find to do. Our neighbors might choose to furiously sample everything at that buffet, life after life, until they tire themselves out, until they discover for themselves how it feels to choose what isn't peace.

We might look at our neighbors and think, "No people could be further from peacefulness." However, there isn't anyone who isn't evolving towards choosing peacefulness at their own pace at all times. We do not need to regulate our neighbor's peace-choosing process because it is already regulated by natural law.

All-that-is has already determined that our neighbors will choose peace eventually. Knowing that, we can feel free to focus on our own evolution. Our neighbor's pace is our neighbors' choice to make. The opportunity we were reborn to have is the opportunity of the self. The question we came here to consider is this one: How quickly do I choose to evolve?

Friday, July 19, 2024

MAPS: FDA votes on psychedelic therapy

(Science Friday) Last month, the first psychedelic therapy treatment came before the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for a vote. It entailed using MDMA, also known as ecstasy, E, or molly, to treat PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

MDMA therapy has looked promising as a treatment for PTSD and other mental health conditions in some studies.
  • [It was thought by many in MAPS or the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) to be a slam dunk for the first approval before moving on to passing magic mushrooms, DMT, and other scientifically-validated entheogens.]
But the FDA scientific advisory panel that evaluated this treatment voted overwhelmingly against approving it.
  • [For one thing, how would Big Pharma make so much money on endless "treatments" if someone comes up with an actual "cure" for a serious ailment?]
Many of the arguments against approval had less to do with MDMA itself than with the methodology of the clinical trials done by Lykos Therapeutics, formerly the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

The FDA panel was presented with allegations of misconduct and incongruous data, including a letter by trial participant Sarah McNamee.

McNamee, who joined the trial for treatment of PTSD, is also a licensed psychotherapist and researcher of trauma and psychotherapy at McGill University in Montreal.

She joins Science Friday guest host Rachel Feltman alongside Dr. Eiko Fried, a methodologist and psychologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, to discuss the decision.

If anyone is struggling with PTSD or other mental health conditions, call 988 for the suicide and crisis lifeline.
Further research

Thursday, July 4, 2024

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the USA


AUDIOBOOK: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
(The Learners Library) ROXANNE DUNBAR-ORTIZ: What if Native Americans wrote a history of the USA? Howard Zinn wrote a book that Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz noticed left out the Indigenous contributions. He then deputized her with the responsibility of covering that portion of our collective history. And she lived up to it with a tremendous contribution to American history.

INTRODUCTION
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Chapter 1, 2/11: Welcome to the Learners Library, a bastion of knowledge that embarks on an enlightening auditory journey. This edition presents An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by the esteemed Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.

This audiobook installment includes the introduction and the initial chapters, offering a profound exploration of the historical narrative often obscured.

The introduction sets the stage for an in-depth examination of the Indigenous experience in the United States.

Author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a distinguished author and historian, meticulously guides us through the intricate layers of American history, providing valuable insights into the foundational chapters of American civilization.

Chapter 1: "Follow the Corn"
International Day of World's Indigenous People
In the initial chapter, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz takes readers on a journey into the heart of Indigenous (Native American) societies. This chapter serves as a foundational exploration of the intricate agricultural systems of Native American communities, with a particular focus on the significance of [the Frankenfood] corn (modified from ancient maize).

The title encapsulates the essence of the chapter, inviting readers to understand the profound connection between Indigenous peoples and their environment. By delving into the cultivation and importance of corn, Dunbar-Ortiz challenges prevailing Eurocentric perspectives, offering a more nuanced understanding of Native American cultures.

Chapter 2: "Culture of Conquest"
Following the agricultural exploration in Chapter 1, Dunbar-Ortiz transitions to a more somber theme. This chapter delves into the darker aspects of American history, examining the pervasive culture of conquest that shaped the interactions between Indigenous peoples and European colonial settlers. The title encapsulates the central theme, emphasizing the ideological underpinnings that justified the conquest, dispossession, and violence inflicted upon Indigenous communities.

"Culture of Conquest" serves as a critical examination of the forces that drove the colonization of Indigenous lands, challenging readers to confront the harsh realities of this historical period. As we embark on this intellectual journey, we encourage you to engage with the content, reflect on the narratives presented, and join the discourse on the multifaceted history of the United States.

Find value in this content? Consider subscribing to the Learners Library for more thought-provoking audiobooks and historical explorations. Also, stay connected by following on Twitter (@thelearnerslib) for updates, discussions, and a community of like-minded learners. Thanks for choosing the Learners Library. Subscribe, engage, and let the pursuit of knowledge continue to illuminate our collective understanding of the world.

Saturday, June 29, 2024

Visions of America: poetry, music (PRS)


What happened?
Flyer with all the pertinent details (prs.org)
MC Jane McCarthy kicked off the evening with a reading of her poem, composed for the special purpose of addressing the night's question, "What is your vision of America?" She said she would present her reading and explanation of Emma Lazarus' great "The New Colossus" about the Statue of Liberty after the music then brought up Wisdom Quarterly's own Seven.

He pointed out that Native Americans do not view the Fourth of July in the same way as other American. Rather than a celebration of liberty, it is commemorated with indigenous practices revived after long, slow and ongoing genocide, occupation, apartheid, and erasure.

A view of the venue from the second floor, Manly P. Hall's Library of World Religions, PRS.
.
The evening called on six artists to articulate visions of America by reading famous works and presenting their own recent work. Seven combined the prompt with a deft homage (parody) to British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and perhaps his greatest poem, "Kubla Khan."

The Hacking of the American Mind
The background is that Coleridge was addicted to opium in the form of the prescription pain medicine Laudanum (poppy and alcohol), an early form of heroin or morphine. And Seven pointed out that in America, no one has a right to be happy. All we have is a right to chase it. Our constitutional guarantee is to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

Few seem to realize there are two kinds, as pointed out by Dr. Robert Lustig, MD, in his breakthrough publication The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains. We either compulsively seek more dopamine hits (from our cell phones, risks, social media, hookups, hits, and drugs of abuse) or we breathe into a long-term happiness mediated by serotonin. It's short-term thrill vs. serene contentment, paper fire vs. wood fire.

To teach or not to teach?
Here we are as Americans, Natives and later arrivals, subjects and colonizers, with all this "freedom of choice" to squander, and what do we do? Do we pursue actual happiness or settle for cheap thrills? We don't know any better. It was the same way in the Buddha's time.

Once in Ajapala, in the weeks following his "Great Awakening" (the maha-bodhi under the bodhi tree), reflecting on life, the universe, and everything, the Buddha came to the decision that he should remain silent, rapt in bliss, and not vex himself trying to teach anyone what he had discovered was possible in terms of human freedom and happiness.

Ah! Just this bliss, this rest, this nirvana is enough
He reasoned that in his day and age (the Kali Yuga as the Vedas and rishis call it), people were just all about pleasure-seeking, obsessed, bound, addicted to hedonistic pursuits like sex, drugs (alcohol, sura, and betel or whatever else was available -- ganja, blue lotus, fermented mare's milk, soma, amrita...), and drums (music). The beat, the beat, the beat, it's always the beat -- tabla, taiko, snare, bongos.

What do you want?
Sahampati Brahma is said to have intervened and convinced the Buddha that the human and deva worlds need him. Just think how many living beings there are who for lack of hearing the liberating Dharma will have no chance of making an end of suffering. The Buddha agrees and determines to teach.

Consolidating these disparate ideas, Seven said: We have life, or some version of it, and civil liberties but only when we fight for them. And the carrot dangled in front of us, cradle to grave, is just this: Life, Liberty and the PURSUIT of Happiness. I am a merry Can or, as some would say, an AmeriCan't.

I'm free to try to find it any way I can
It should surprise no one that Native Americans do not celebrate so much as commemorate the 4th of July, when Paradise was Lost. In just the same way, rather than settling on happiness, we endlessly pursue it like good consumers deluded about what could possibly ever bring it about. He only read his version, but here are both, line by line, the legendary ("Kubla Khan") followed by the parody ("A Merry Con").

Wishing to both break the ice and introduce the subtext of the poem, and given that we were at the Philosophical Research Society, Seven led with a brief philosophical riddle: A merry Can or A merry CON? "If you're American when you arrive, and American when you leave, what are you when you're in the bathroom?" (European).

Kubla Khan/A Merry Can

Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragrance.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
In watery loo did a merry Can
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
A state of her own pleasure decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Where white the moistened waters ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Through a cavern immeasurable to man
     Down to a sunless sea.
     Down to a sunless deep.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
Thus twice divide child's fertile mound
With walls and towers were girdled round;
With walls and tubes all girdled round;
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
And here were toys bright with bells 'n whistles,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
Where unraveled many an ecstasy;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
And there were garters damp as the dills
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
Below folds, a narrow strip of slippery.

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
But O! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
Down into potent still under wood that hovered!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
A savage gash! a hole enchanted
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted
As air breathed by waxing moon that taunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
Cries of a woman wailing for her deadened-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
And round this chasm, with unceasing circles seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
As if this post into moist thick pants were seeping,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Amid a slit that half-intermitted burst;
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Huge sounds bounced, red, rebounding wail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:
All chaffed in pain beneath her threshing flail:
And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
She mid-trance rocked at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
And flung up suddenly her sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Wide smiles trembling, her head in mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Through wooden dill the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
Then reached the cavern immeasurable to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;
And sank in sweet foam into a lifeless ocean;
And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
And ’mid this tumult bubbles oozed hard
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
A merry Can’s voice, a banshee’s AAH!
     The shadow of the dome of pleasure
     The shallow pant of her own pleasure
     Floated midway on the waves;
     As she floated midway away
     Where was heard the mingled measure
     Was the curse of her own tinkled treasure
     From the fountain and the caves.
     After the fountain from her cave.
It was a miracle of rare device,
It was a miracle of randy device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
A sultry pleasure owned to melt a cave of ice!

     A damsel with a dulcimer
     A damsel with a dull peter
     In a vision once I saw:
     In a vision once I saw:
     It was an Abyssinian maid
     It was her and a marital aid
     And on her dulcimer she played,
     And on her dull peter she played,
     Singing of Mount Abora.
     Singing as she’d mount amore.

     Could I revive within me
     Could I revive within me
     Her symphony and song,
     Her liberty and song,
     To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
     To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
That with video loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
I would build to my own for e’er,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And sultry own that cave of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all who heard should then be scared,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
His flashing eye, its fulsome hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
Weaving round my own device,
And close your eyes with holy dread
And close my eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
For I on honey dew have fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
And spilled the milk of Paradise.
  • Have we established the roots to be happy? There's a famous Buddhist saying, according to KFI's Gary Hoffman, that runs: "The best time to plant a tree is 30 years ago; the second-best time is right now."
LA's Joan of Arc Toypurina
Seven went on to read an amazing poem about ancient Native American tribal life in pre-Los Angeles (which the native Tongva/Kizh people called Tovaangar), "A Boy Named Sioux," published in The Stone Bird Anthology of the Eagle Rock Library, Los Angeles. No one spoke Spanish; that is the language of conquest and European imperialism. They spoke the Native Uto-Aztecan languages. Mexico spoke no Spanish. It spoke Nahuatl and at least 67 other indigenous languages.

A Boy Named Sioux
Modern Native American kids of the San Fernando Valley, Tataviam of Haramokngna
.
While we Tongva gathered bear fangs,
arrowheads and beads,
the Chumash would play at
collecting trinkets from the sea --
iridescent shells, bones, serrated shark teeth....

We envied their seafaring horde
gathered from far off lands --
as far out to sea as one could see,
as far out to sea as canoes could reach.

"Did you gather these on those distant isles?"
"Our hunting grounds are secret," they replied.
"'Secret'? We can see them from here!" we insisted....

The Chumash envied us our magical motherlode,
as smooth as a well-worn maize millstone,
and we their sea-fangs as sharp as chipped basalt,
warrior talismans invested with the skill of the hunt.

They found theirs, they said, bleached on the beach,
cast off by the sea, in rows,
with sinewy flesh shriveling away in the surf.

Again and again, they ask: "Who are your name?"
What is your people?"

Again and again, I explain:
"They call me Sioux, Red Xochitl,
and my people come from beyond the Plain."
They boys laugh, "Sue! Sue!"
and the Chumash girls bow their heads, grinning....

The Tongva (Gabrielino Indians) lived next to their friends the Chumash, meeting in Malibu.
.
Map of Tovaangar (pre-Los Angeles)
The native tribes in and around Los Angeles County included the Tongva (LA), the Tataviam (the Valley), the Chumash (Malibu, the Channel Islands, and Ventura), the Acjachemen (Orange County), Payómkowishum (San Diego).

There were other Indian bands because, when the British arrived on the East Coast, there were 100,000,000 (one hundred million) Natives living throughout this "empty" land ripe for the taking, just as when European Ashkenazi Jews went to Palestine and found it completely empty with not "a people" in sight. Thus did yet another genocide begin. 

When one decides to steal land, it seems a prerequisite to tell oneself one is not taking it from anyone, and anyone who says any different you call an "antisemite" and dismiss their criticism immediately. Only, in the USA we would instead say, "Sure, there were a few Injuns, but 'Manifest Destiny'."

Seven wrapped up with a reading of "Redskin Xochitl," published in Yay! LA Arts & Culture Magazine.

Music
Then the band, the duet Lael Neale and Guy Blakeslee, got to play its first song. She's from Virginia, so their tunes and covers had a hit of Americana reminiscent of The Flying Tourbillion Orchestra.

Co-Host Mandy Kahn (mandykahn.com)
After the music subsided, Jane McCarthy brought out Mandy Kahn and Senon Williams, each reading a curated classic poem and then their own pieces. Mandy got very personal and autobiographical. Senon chose a work by Nikki Giovanni and, knowing that "brevity is the heart of poetry," presented many short pieces that seemed to get shorter until they were only a few lines each.

[A mud flood star fort?] The hidden shackles and chains on the Statue of Liberty (Indybay)

Few know her ankles are in shackles.
Jane returned to read and explain "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, a Jewish activist from New York around the turn of the century, before Staten Island had a Statue of Liberty. Funds were being raised to build the platform at an astronomical cost of about a quarter million dollar, quite a sum as the young United States went from the 1800s into the 1900s. To raise money an art festival was proposed and the fundraising of commissioning a poem to be auctioned off. Lazarus was too proud and snobbish a poet to accept the challenge, not thinking herself one to "write on command." But she was persuaded by a friend to accept and leave something for posterity. The base of the statue now bears her immortal words of give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

The New Colossus
BY EMMA LAZARUS near Ellis Island, New York
Please, Donald, this was supposed to be my moment. - Did you see the debate? I nailed him.
.
Shackles on our titular Goddess Columbia?
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
  • Source: Emma Lazarus: Selected Poems and Other Writings (2002).
Details
Peace Class Wednesdays on Zoom (PRS)
Jane McCarthy and peace activist Mandy Kahn cohost the Deep Dive Poetry Series at PRS (suggested donation). This month as the 4th of July approaches is all about live music and dramatic readings.

Performers share illuminating visions of the USA at its best, in pursuit of happiness (equal, full of life, civil liberties, and individual pursuits).

What can our country be if it chooses? Empire or Example, military force or diplomatic mission, center of power or one among equals?

Poets and musicians will entertain on this warm summer's eve. PRS Library of World Religions on Los Feliz Bl. near Griffith Park. Donations to PRS encouraged. Features:

  • POETS:
  • Senon Williams
  • Seven Dhar
  • Many Kahn
  • Jane McCarthy
  • MUSICIANS:
  • Lael Neale
  • Guy Blakeslee
Sacramento is the capital of California, where Natives experience the 4th
of July in an entirely different way: genocide, oppression, and erasure.