Navigating the World

They sail with no charts or instruments. No timepiece. No compass. They navigate as their ancestors did, guided by a world of natural signs—the arcing stars, sun, and moon; the signs of direction in swell and wind and current. Two voyaging canoes, the Hokule’a and Hikianalia departed Hawai’i on such a journey at the end of May. About 28 days later they had reached Tahiti. The journey will continue as these two double-hulled canoes sail to Australia, the Indian Ocean, round the Horn of Africa, make numerous port in the Mediterranean, cross the Atlantic Ocean and bring their message to the continents of North and South America before returning home to Hawai’i. The Hawaiian name for this voyage, Mālama Honua, means ‘to care for our Earth’.

I had the fortunate opportunity to be present for a Hawaiian blessing ceremony in Hilo, Hawai’i as the Hokule’a and  Hikianalia

Mehdi Saedi is an Iranian graphic designer and calligrapher, quite an amazing one. He has received many awards and took part in many exhibitions. To see the long list of his accomplishments, see his bio.

Here are some of his great works.

 For more – go to Saedi’s official website.

Photo Courtesy of Alex Garland Photography, used with permission.

Dear Bill and Melinda,

In the summer of 2011 the seeds of this protest were planted when I read Bruce Levine’s book “Get Up, Stand Up:  Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling the Corporate Elite”.  Bruce Levine and I talked on the phone and exchanged emails that summer.  He spoke and wrote about the need to take our grassroots’ protest to the corporate elite vs the politicians — because that is where the real power seat is held.

Yet that July, I found myself taking the message to the politicians instead at the Save Our Schools March in DC, where I was fortunate to meet educator/activist/author Anthony Cody, Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ravitch, and so many of my activist friends.  During that meeting the plans for this protest were hatched.  We convened again in DC the following year.  It…

Relationships don’t last because of the good times, they last because the hard times were handled with love and care.

Anmol Andore

From http://communionwithjesus.wordpress.com

THE END

With a few stops along the way, I have lived in three places in my life. All tourist towns. I grew up in and my home is Pensacola Florida. I lived for a few years during high school in Saratoga Springs, NY and for the past 16 years I’ve lived in Nashville TN. So I have always hoped to never be a tourist and still don’t. I’ve always been drawn to being a traveler but never a tourist.

Recently my wife and I went out to eat and decided to ride downtown just to see first hand the explosion of Nashville. We see the growth in other ways and my job reminds me often how many folks are moving to Nashville, but to see downtown was amazing. A friend is a pedi cab driver and he toured us around to places we’d heard of but hadn’t seen. The new Hatch…

Kwakwaka’wakw carver Beau Dick with a copper and talking stick.

By Carlito Pablo, The Georgia Straight,June 25, 2014

An ancient First Nations ritual steeped in symbolism is going to take place in the nation’s capital this summer.

A copper shield will be smashed on Parliament Hill, an act believed never to have been done before in Ottawa. Called copper cutting, the ceremonial shaming practice will evoke what many consider to be a broken relationship between the federal government and Canada’s aboriginal people.

“Our coppers are a symbol of justice, a symbol of truth, a symbol of balance,” according to Beau Dick, a renowned carver from Vancouver Island’s Namgis First Nation.