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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in The International Unofficial Unitarian Jihad's LiveJournal:

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    Saturday, October 4th, 2008
    2:54 pm
    [scarcrest]
    New Unitarian Universalist Podcasts blog
    I've created a new syndicated feed for the Unitarian Universalist Podcast Directory, which I'm in the process of converting from a standard Web page to a blog.

    [info]uupodcasts is the feed for the blog, which is not yet complete but is more up-to-date than the old directory. Each state will have its own entry, as well as an entry for the District of Columbia and foreign UU podcasts, plus entries for similar religions such as Ethical Culture and radio programming that isn't UU-specific but may be of interest.
    Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
    3:45 pm
    [castleclear]
    Contact CBS
    For those interested in electronic activism:  http://healthcareforamericanow.org/page/speakout/debate

    Here's what I wrote:
    Dear Steve Chaggaris:
    Please ask the candidates about their respective healthcare plans. Public access to affordable, quality health care is diminishing. Is health care a fundamental right of all Americans? Are all sectors of society stengthened when eveyone has health care? Is it more in-line with our values as a society to provide health care to all children, elderly, disabled, or any citizen rather than providing profits for 5%-0.5% of our population? Even as education is vital to our nation's future, isn't health care equally fundamental?
    Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
    12:13 pm
    [uu_mom]
    "THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILEGE"
    By Tim Wise

    For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

    White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

    White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug....

    White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”
 More here
    Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
    7:23 pm
    [scarcrest]
    Follow-up on the use of the word "church" for our congregations
    Just in case anyone's interested ... here's my follow-up to the post from a few days ago about the use of the term "church" to describe our congregations and the way it rankles some conservative Christians.

    It basically states that other people's reactions to our use of the term isn't the first thing on our minds; it's not like the religious right takes the feelings of the left to heart.

    Also, here's an update on the Knoxville shootings: the suspect was in court today, hit with a 10-count indictment that includes two counts of first-degree (premeditated) murder and six counts of attempted first-degree murder.
    Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
    7:44 pm
    [uu_mom]
    On a lighter note...
    This video has had over 800 viewers in one week. If you click here, you can go to their site and see it annotated in case you don't understand the lyrics - the "UUs" part is at the end:


    Please pass it on!
    Saturday, August 2nd, 2008
    7:24 am
    [scarcrest]
    My newspaper column on the Knoxville tragedy
    On the UU church shootings from last weekend -- giving people unfamiliar with Unitarian Universalism a quick primer on who we are, about the climate that led us to this point (and why in my opinion this was sad, but not surprising), why it's a mistake to think our gentle nature means we're weak, and where the hope is in such a situation.

    I was particularly proud of the last paragraph, which came to me after I thought I was finished and was getting ready to e-mail the piece to the op-ed guys:

    And when he gets a fair trial instead of a lynch mob, possibly with a public defender provided for him at no cost, then serves his time under humane conditions, he can get back to us on all the ways liberals have made his life more difficult.


    That could have been a column of its own, in fact. And it might be, down the road.
    Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
    8:53 pm
    [uu_mom]
    Funny video!
    Maybe you already saw it - 140,000+ did, but I saw it for the first time today & had a good laugh. The best laugh is toward the end.

    Friday, July 4th, 2008
    2:09 pm
    [uu_mom]
    Walk for Change for Obama in Washington, DC - Sept. 13
    Sponsored by Diversity4Obama

    Please help spread the word - see below.

    Walk for Change Washington DC September 13 2008

    More information here including links to PDF flier & poster and a t-shirt transfer.

    Sign up here.

    PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!
    Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
    6:29 pm
    [castleclear]
    Impeaching Bush & Cheney petitions
    I signed two of these today.  This is (if memory serves) from PBS.org:

    Thank you for signing our "Impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney" petition at:
    http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/65

    You can help make this petition a success by sharing this petition with your friends and family. Petitions will succeed only by word of mouth, and every signature makes a difference! Forward our sample email below, or simply send your friends this link:

    Thank you again for making a difference!
    Saturday, June 14th, 2008
    9:17 pm
    [jedimomma]
    Oh, but this is good!
    A friend pointed me to this piece on Deviant Art after a particularly grueling day of Liberally-Religious Managerial Support and Consciousness Raising.  Blech.  But this made it worth it!

    http://ursulav.deviantart.com/art/St-Dodus-the-Intolerant-88641620
    Thursday, June 12th, 2008
    11:24 pm
    [uu_mom]
    Support needed for Walk for Change in DC Sept. 13
    As a religious organization, we can't support a presidential candidate, but as individuals we can support a Walk for Change, organized by Diversity4Change.

    I'm willing to provide home hospitality if needed. I've suggested singing during the walk and of course, I've picked songs from our hymnals. There are also songs written for Obama that we can sing. We'll also have speakers after the walk and people are starting to sign up to speak.

    Sign up to join us: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/wrbz

    And please help spread the word.


    x-post to [info]chalice_circle
    Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
    2:35 pm
    [uu_mom]
    Are irony & sarcasm similar?
    The Science of Sarcasm (Not That You Care) was sent to me because I've been diagnosed with frontal brain atrophe. When I was being forced to go to the hospital recently, I yelled out "I'm going to write a book!" in my poor attempt to keep from going. I thought I'd write about all the irony there. A hospital is no place for sick people. I wonder if Jon Carroll will stop being funny to me.

    - Sister Broadsword of Reasoned Discussion
    co-moderator [info]unitarian_jihad
    2:35 pm
    [uu_mom]
    Are irony & sarcasm similar?
    The Science of Sarcasm (Not That You Care) was sent to me because I've been diagnosed with frontal brain atrophe. When I being forced to go to the hospital recently, I yelled out "I'm going to write a book!" in my poor attempt to keep from going. I thought I'd write about all the irony there. A hospital is no place for sick people. I wonder if Jon Carroll will stop being funny to me.
    Monday, May 26th, 2008
    6:42 pm
    [patrickmurfin]
    UTAH PHILIPS--Farewell Fellow Worker

     



    I know most folks will be suprized that I have not posted one of Utah Philips labor songs as here.  But I trust you will find them. There are links in the text below.Instead, I picked a hauntinly beautiful song from his first album back in 1973.  Going Away strikes me as the perfect song for for an old hobo.  Good bye, Fellow Worker.

    I was just leaving church yesterday after the Memorial Sunday service when my cell phone went off.  It was my old Fellow Worker Penny Pixler from Chicago.  No offense to Penny, but it usually isn’t good news to get a phone call from her.  It almost always means that one of Wobblies has died.  This time it was Bruce Philips, better known to the world as U. Utah Philips, Golden Voice of the Great Southwest.

     

    Utah belongs to that small, select club of those who have been affiliated over their lives with both Unitarian Universalism and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW.)  I’m another.  Although legendary for his association with the IWW and his seemingly bottomless bag of labor folklore collected from the lips of hobos, agitators, organizers, and home guard heroes and heroines alike, most UU’s were not aware of his long connections.  That despite the fact that he must, like any touring folk musician, have performed at scores of UU churches and events over the years and even recorded a live album at a Unitarian Universalists for a Just Ecconomic Community (UUJEC)—Making Speech Free event.

     

     

    He told me once that some of the first songs he ever wrote were intended for a Unitarian hymnal at the Salt Lake congregation in the 1950’s.  He was always good for a hilarious string of Unitarian jokes poking fun at our sometimes wishy-washy liberalism.  For the last 14 years he was an active member of the UU Community of the Mountains near his beloved Nevada City, California.

     

    I first met Fellow Worker Philips just about the time he first album came out, the absolutely wonderful Good Though.  He came through Chicago on tour and we set up a IWW benefit performance at the old Quite Knight when it was still on Wells Street.  I was a wet-behind-the-ears 23 year old General Secretary Treasurer of the One Big Union.  I had him over for a stroganoff dinner and we spent hour trading stories—his were more interesting and numerous and songs.  I heard him perform many times since then.  The last time was at the 100th anniversary concert for the IWW held, fittingly, at People’s Church in 2005.

     

    Penny pointed out that Utah, like the late Carlos Cortez and a handful of others he was one of the few of the generation in between the Old Timer veterans of the union’s tumultuous early days and punks like me emerging from the New Left and the Vietnam protest movement.  He was the transmitter of the wisdom from the Old Timers like Herb Edwards, Art Nurse, Frank Cederval and many others first two us and then subsequent generations.  I was privileged to have known some of the surviving old timers myself and know what a treasure they were.

     

    A few years ago punk folk artist Ani DiFranco introduced Utah to my daughter Maureen’s generation on the albums The Past Didn't Go Anywhere and Fellow Workers.  Utah’s songs and stories have been responcible for influencing generations of rebels, rabble rousers and radicals.  He was in the direct tradition of Joe Hill, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seger.  Seger was one of many folk musicians organizing benefits for Utah’s medical expences when Bruce died..

     

    Utah’s family posted his official obituary

     

    To sample Utah’s songs and stories check out his clips on You Tube.  



    --Brother Broadsword of Enlightenment

    Saturday, May 10th, 2008
    9:29 am
    [aquaeri]
    The colour Orange - for Tibet
    I just learnt about this project, which I think would be of great interest to the Unitarian Jihad:

    http://www.thecolororange.net/uk/
    http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/05/09/colors-of-a-cause-the-color-orange-project/

    What a great excuse to wear such a festive colour.
    Friday, May 9th, 2008
    10:42 pm
    [aquaeri]
    My turn
    I'm linking to this fascinating article about the forgotten Jewish sex slaves in Auschwitz:

    http://liz-marcs.livejournal.com/328621.html

    And to counterbalance that story just a little, this is most heart-warming story I saw this week: injured softballer carried around by the opposing team for her home run

    http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24392612/

    Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
    11:15 am
    [castleclear]
    "In the Last Gilded Age..."
     Here's a link to an article some in the IUUJ may find of interest: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/83668/?page=entire  Best wishes to us all in making a positive difference.
    Friday, May 2nd, 2008
    10:09 am
    [patrickmurfin]
    Emporer Norton I
     

    I am a regular participant in the UUHistory Chat list serve.  Today we received the following post, I thought might be of interest here.

     

    In doing research for my sermon this Sunday I have discovered that  
    Joshua Abraham Norton, otherwise known as Norton I, the Emperor of  
    The United States, frequently attended the First Unitarian Society in  
    San Francisco. Apparently he was very fond of Dr. Horatio Stebbins.  
    Two of the Emperor's decrees deal with religious subjects and both  
    call for religious unity and/or the establishment of a Universal  
    Religion. Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever written about  
    Norton's Unitarian connection? I realize that he is not much of  
    subject for serious scholarship but he is one of the better loved  
    eccentrics in U.S. history and a patron saint of the Discordians.
     
    love,
     
    Colin
     

    The Emperor Norton is one of those eccentric figures who cannot help but bring a smile to the lips.  An absurd figure, he became beloved by his adopted San Francisco which honored his eccentricities, and even honored is self-produced script.  After his death in 1880 one observer noted that his story would only be possible in San Francisco, "the most sentimental city in the world."  In the '60's he was resurrected as a popular counter cultural hero.  He was incorporated as saint in the faux religion, The Discordian Society propounded by Robert Anton Wilson and in their cult classic Illuminatus Trilogy.  I believe Robert ShayWilson (an old acquaintance from my days as a Chicago Wobbly and anarchist), who died last year, had some UU connections.

     
    Sounds like a Unitarian Jihad kind of guy
     
    --Brother Broadsword of Enlightenment
    Thursday, May 1st, 2008
    9:17 pm
    [pepperjackcandy]
    Site Pimping
    Two websites that we've been using a lot lately:

    1. Goodsearch.com

    I found this on one of my lj comms (I'm pretty sure it wasn't here) back in March. One penny of the ad revenue from the site will be sent to the charity of your choice (out of a list of more than 58,000) for every search.

    2. Freerice.com

    A relatively new site from John Breen (started October 2007), creator of thehungersite.com, freerice.com is a vocabulary game that gives 20 grains of rice to the UN's World Food Programme for every correct answer. We use the site as a sporadic part of my son's required reading for school. The site passed the 30 billion grain mark yesterday.
    5:55 am
    [pepperjackcandy]
    An Idea to Keep the Comm Going
    How about if those of us who want to keep the comm going each pick a day of the month to make a post? My thought is it'd be more of a memory prompt than an actual schedule. So if you miss your day, post whenever you think of it; if two or more people sign up for the same day, it's no big deal either.

    Posts can be on pretty much anything within the scope of the comm -- pimping of social-justice-type websites/lj comms; "things I've done this month that are UU-Jihaddy (sp?);" "Socially-unjust/ecologically incorrect/etc., things that've really burned my butt this month;" whatever.

    I'll take the first of the month, but this isn't my post, since I actually planned to post this yesterday. My modem was out, though, and I couldn't.
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