Memorial Day was chosen to occur on May 31 every year for over 100 years until in the 1970's it was decided to create a three day weekend. Senator Inouye from Alaska, who served in Vietnam, tried unsuccessfully to sponsor a bill to change the day back to May 31 several times without the bill getting out of committee. Twice each year the bill was read and then forgotten.

Originally the purpose of the day was for women, whose children had died in the civil war, to put flowers on the graves of all of the dead. The thought was to commemorate the deaths of all of those who died in the Civil War.

After world war one the day was designated as a national day of mourning for all wars. Women and children who had lost loved ones sold red poppy flowers made of silk and with a dot to remember their loved ones.

The meaning of the original day of mourning was lost when the day became a holiday and people celebrated the opening of swimming pools, hosting the Boulder Boulder, the Indianapolis 500, and barbecues. Attempts were made to show those who had died in the transports that arrived at Dover, Delaware. The government banned photographing the dead and those injured in wars were brought back to the hospitals in the middle of the night to avoid detection.

The officials of government were convinced that if people focused on the true cost of war that they would not be as willing to allow their children to be victims of violence.

As we come to terms with the national reasons for recognizing the death of our family members perhaps we can share the sense of loss and importance of this tragic holiday. At least we can remember why we commemorate May 31.

On May 25, 1925, John T. Scopes Was Indicted in Tennessee for Teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

Recently there was a furor over spending money to change the face of bills so that people who cannot see can read the different denominations. Some responses to the decision handed down by district court suggested that, "since blind people had been doing this, such as Ray Charles, forever, why did they have to change the law now?" Others minced no words in saying that, "this change would cost an excessive amount of money."

America has long been a place of great suffering of people with disabilities. People were kept incarcerated in asylums indefinitely, untreated and suffering in isolation. We see that America has never felt that it has a responsibility to its vulnerable citizens.

Intolerance and bigotry are far too familiar attitudes of the reactionary and limited minds of the religuious conservative members of our society. Americans across the countryside view with alarm the growing support for fundemental change in the way America conducts business.

The Creationism, called a science, is a cover for the racist and bigoted concepts that were espoused in the Scopes case, more than eighty years ago.

We cannot afford a lock of moral courage, and fail, in embracing our distinctions, while progressing as a nation to define the vulnerable citizens as equal partners in the "promise." We cannot afford to condemn the people who serve their terms in our prisons and then abandon them when they have a chance to reclaim their lives. We cannot turn away from serving the poor and those who have no place to live. We have to realize the American promise, that we are all linked together. Immigrants made this nation what it is. Turning people away at the border is as heinous a crime as charging a person with teaching the theory of evolution.

Don Zimmerman was born on May 24 sixty-seven years ago. I first heard Mr. Dylan when I was eleven years old at my sister's home in a small town near Princeton, New Jersey. At the time she lived in a blacksmith's home built in the nineteenth century.

Life in the early 1960's was peaceful for most middle class people living in the suburbs, who were White, who lived a life of privilege and comfort that few people before or ever again will experience. The truth is that Dylan reopresented a world of class and special interests contrary to the military intentions abroad, the same ones that undermine the quality of life for all people today.

Every year in Boulder there is an event celebrating the life of Dylan. They sing his ballads. At the same time there is a Memorial Day parade in Denver honoring the victims, who were soldiers of the aggressive policies of the United States throughout the world.

Protecting the privilges of a small minority of people is not in the vested interests of liberty and freedom of all, nor does it uphold the quality of life of Americans. Only a select few are blessed with the continued good fortune which I felt as a boy. In the words of one veteran on this day, "we die for the sake of the lives of people many of whom do not comprehend the sacrifice that we have made." More and more the reasons for these sacrifices become increasingly clear and they confound the principles and values of a society that exists for the rights of all of us.

It is true that Dr. King was assassinated because he stood for the principles and values of justice and equality for all citizens. His efforts are becoming less and less valued by the military power of the United States. Dylan aptly connected with us, identifying and demystifying the terrorism and fear-mongering of our so called leaders.

165 billion dollars was appropriated this week to the war machine, largely for mercenary armed forces, and both candidates for the democratic nomination endorced this decision with open arms. This all makes sense because "we have God on our side."

We see before us more and more evidence of the type of commitment that must be made to care for others if we are to survive. Years after the disaster in the Gulf States people are struggling to regain their footing all along the path of the hurricane. Here the tornadoes have created a swath of destruction that threatens our way of life, at a time when people live on the edge throughout the world. No where is this more evident than among the destitute. If the course of the indigent in America is to change it will take the bipartisan, faith communities and citizens at large to make sure that no one is without a stable and safe place to live. It also must require that the people who are dysfunctional face the responsibility of returning to a place of responsibility as citizens.

When you look at the tapes of the affairs of people returning to their homes and restoring order there is a resolve among the countless volunteers, the community residents and the agencies to roll up their sleeves and make a difference. Homeless people have to be offered the same opportunities for real change and an extended hand from businss and neighbors to take the risks to make it possible for them to do their best. There is not one bit of difference between those who are poor in the Gulf States and in the town of Windsor, and those who are on the streets in all of the sectors of our country. All of us have to pull together. If a person is incapable of caring for themseves then we are responsible for making sure that those who live in our community are clean, safe, warm, fed, and stable. If the matter is a function of neglect it is our responsibility to make the opportunity available for people of all economic and social positions to be all right. If we fail to care for the least of the members of our community then we care little for our own welfare and worth as human beings.

Our mission is to make sure that each person has a place to thrive and the resources needed to sustain themselves. How can we begin? Be courteous and compassionate, listen, look carefully and regard each person as you would wish to be embraced.

In Puerto Rico there are two parties, El Partido Popular, which was founded by Munoz Marin and for which the Assoicated Liberated State was created as a model of democractic principles. The second party, El Partido Republicano, supports the idea of the island as the firty-first state. The parties have nothing to do with the elections on June 1. There are other parties in the island, the Independistas and Las Socialistias. They are much smaller in their numbers and basically, the Independistas and Socialistas want soverign indepenmdence in the same way as Cuba.

What is remarkable about the island is that two million people vote, more than any other per capita group in the United States. When the elections are held no business operates. people flock to the centers to participate. There are 800,000 people expected to vote in the election on Sunday. They have no vote in the national election in Novemeber but they choose a huge number of delegates to go to the Democratic National Convention.

The island has two unions: the SEIU, or laborers union and the teacher's union AFSME. The teacher's union supports Clinton. The labor union supports Obama. They are having a rally on Sunday, the first of June at which Obama is leading a parade. The turnout for the election is based on the unions and not on the political parties, but the Governor of Puerto Rico supports Obama, too.

Americans by and large do not take elections or participatory democracy seriously. We could learn from the people of Puerto Rico to honor our heritage and participate in a representative and democractic government. We could challenge the status quo of leadership and unfounded policies that poison our electoral process.

People in Puerto Rico are passionate to the point that they paint their homes in the colors of their parties. One of their great leaders, Eugenio Maria De Hostos celebrates his birth on January 11 and it is a national holiday. He was determined that Puerto Rico would rule itself at the time that the Spanish relinquished conrol to the Rough Riders under the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt. In effect the Spanish conquered and subjugated the Taino indigent people, who had lived there for 1,000's of years in peace. It is sad as Maria De Hostos, lamented, "we passed from one ruler to another without ever having ruled ourselves." Puertoriquenos maintain dual citizenship and like all Latino people are proud and feel privileged to have their customs, their language and their freedom.

Tell me, who is backward and limited, the conquered or the people living in peace and sharing their gifts as one people? Where else are their examples of the Hubris and folly of this nation pretenders to control the immigrants and the minorities? The day is at hand when these peoples will run this government, and hopefully women and men will share the opportunity as equals with grace and dignity for all.

Why We Are Afraid of Death?

Death is the unknown. It is time that we connected living and dying as part of life. When we lose anything throughout our life time we are realizing that what we are facing is ulitmate loss. We are learning how to die. It is not a happy or for that matter, a sad thought. Dying is to living what is usual and customary. It is the final act of a story bringing to full circle the expectation of what is inevitable.

How we face these challeneges defines who we are. If there is a way to share the experience and reflect on the meaning it offers to those who follow, perahps it can be enjoyed and not made into a dirge.

Even in catastrophes and sudden death there is fulfillment and recommitment to life. When my father died it was the most difficult time of my life. I was left to question the reason for almost everything: my family, my responsibilities as a father, my marriage, the work which I had done for years and years, even my will to live. Fredrick was the most important person in my life past or present. He died with grace and courage.

In the lesson left for the family, when a loved one dies this is the key to being an adult and facing one's finitude. It is a mark of spiritual growth and learning that we cannot avoid or forget.

There is a need, for this reason to always embrace the trying and difficult memories of life and to let them wash over us. Let go of the fear and morbid hope that we can at last, be immortal.

Absolutely, unequivocally NO! That is not a DREAM TICKET.
An Obama/Edwards, Obama/Richardson, Obama/Dodd, Obama/Kucinich ticket would be better.
If Clinton were the President, she would be arrogant and condescending to a VP Obama, not to mention the contemptuous attitude that Bill would take.
If Obama were the President and Clinton were the VP, she and Bill would do everything they could to derail, to undermine, to sabotage President Obama in order to demonstrate why he should not serve a second term. She would promote herself every chance she got to upstage him.
WE NOW KNOW HOW LITTLE HILLARY VALUES THE TRUTH. It would not be beneath her to have an assignment, mess it up, blame it on President Obama, or say that she ‘MISSPOKE.” HILLARY HAS PROVEN TO US THAT SHE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED; AND BILL WOULD DO EVERYTHING HE COULD TO BE ANTAGONISTIC TOWARD PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.
SCRAP THE IDEA IMMEDIATELY, IT WOULD NOT WORK! The world would not look favorably upon such a union because, they, too, have seen what a dirty IN-FIGHTER HILLARY IS. This would be a REPLAY of Rumsfield and Powell. Often I saw Rumsfield openly show disdain, disrespect and contempt for Secretary of State Colin Powell.
POWER HUNGRY PEOPLE, LIKE THE CLINTONS, DO NOT MAKE GOOD SECONDS. As a matter of fact that should be kept as far away from power as possible.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg talked about four principles for the students to emulate:
1. Immigrants, those who are skilled, being welcomed here for their ingenuity and new ideas:
2. Independence, which means being fair, free and speaking to everyone with integrity:
3. Accountable, which means that one is responsible for one's actions and principles of engagement:
4. Engaged, involved in social responsibility, being connected to the world. People involved in the world are healthier and more focused.

I find it interesting that Mayor Bloomberg was not speaking about faith, education, and discipline, although everything he had to say involved believing in the effort of taking on new endeavors, and learning from the mistakes. He did say that he had been fired once and that he would fail again. he did mention taking risks to achieve one's goals. What he stated makes perfect sense.
We live in a world of greater uncertainty. Knowing full well that this has been said many times before, it is clear that the factors impinging on the quality of life of the affluent and privileged, to whom he was speaking, even those from abroad are not fleeing their countries from economic and personal danger or persecution, does not equate to the lessons learned from poverty and neglect.
We lead a life that shadows the challenges of a great disaster waiting to engulf the entire world, much as Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. We face an ineffable power that holds us in a grasp more surely than at any other moment of history.

It will take all of that inhabits this world to make sacrifices and stop squandering the gifts that are bestowed unto us by creation. It will take more than economic and physical will to resolve the issue whether we survive. The jury is out.

The president added that the great challenges ahead rest in the young being challenged to participate in social and economic justice, for which the university was founded.

What has happened to make it possible for us to stray so far from the principles of justice of the Magna Carta and again from the same principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence? I am not convinced that William Penn would understand the current course of our affairs. We need a greater understanding of humility and compassion for all things whether we choose to accept this role in which we have bee thrust, the decision looms in our consciousness.