27/02: Friday Night Music
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
Tired of Freebird after the 10,000th time? Wonder if Southern Rock is more than replays of Lynard Skynard, Allman Brothers, or J. Geils?
Give a listen to Drive By Truckers. Hard rocking. And hard-edged. Music from the Southern underside. Lots of sin, little grace, despair faced down by grit, prickly pride.
Lookout Mountain
Never Gonna Change
Decoration Day
Lyrics by album.
Give a listen to Drive By Truckers. Hard rocking. And hard-edged. Music from the Southern underside. Lots of sin, little grace, despair faced down by grit, prickly pride.
Lookout Mountain
Never Gonna Change
Decoration Day
Lyrics by album.
27/02: We Are Destroying Mexico
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
Recently the U.S. State Department issued a Travel Warning for U.S. citizens regarding Mexico. An excerpt:
The greatest increase in violence has occurred near the U.S. border. However, U.S. citizens traveling throughout Mexico should exercise caution in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times. Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed in violent attacks in cities across the country, demonstrating the heightened risk of violence in public places. In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped across Mexico. Many of these cases remain unresolved. U.S. citizens who believe they are being targeted for kidnapping or other crimes should notify Mexican officials and the nearest American consulate or the Embassy as soon as possible, and should consider returning to the United States.
. . .
Mexican drug cartels are engaged in an increasingly violent conflict - both among themselves and with Mexican security services - for control of narcotics trafficking routes along the U.S.-Mexico border. In order to combat violence, the government of Mexico has deployed troops in various parts of the country. U.S. citizens should cooperate fully with official checkpoints when traveling on Mexican highways.
Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and grenades. Large firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico but most recently in northern Mexico, including Tijuana, Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez. During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area. The U.S. Mission in Mexico currently restricts non-essential travel to the state of Durango and all parts of the state of Coahuila south of Mexican Highways 25 and 22 and the Alamos River for U.S. government employees assigned to Mexico. This restriction was implemented in light of the recent increase in assaults, murders, and kidnappings in those two states. The situation in northern Mexico remains fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements cannot be predicted.
Many U.S. colleges and universities have issued warnings to students to avoid travel to Mexico, and even the southern U.S. near the border.
This violence results from the money to be made smuggling illegal drugs into the U.S. for sale. The demand for illegal drugs by U.S. citizens drives the killing in Mexico.
So, what should we do?
I wish I knew a great and simple answer to that question.
For starters, I have advocated before the legalization of marijuana use--not because I think it harmless, but because too many Americans want to use it to make stopping it possible, while preserving a free society.
Do the arguments I use to argue for legalization of marijuana mean also that all drugs should become legal? Legalizing all drugs probably would end much of the violence in Mexico, and in our own cities. The large underground drug economy would be taken up into the tax-paying legal economy.
But, part of my rationale for marijuana legalization is that the social harm done by marijuana is less than the social harm done by making it illegal. I don't think that case can be made for lots of other drugs, such as meth. Though with the damage being done to Mexico, perhaps I need to rethink my position.
So, what can/should we do, before our neighbor to the south slips further into violent anarchy?
Would gaining actual control of our border with Mexco help? If, and that is a big if for logistical and political reasons, we gain control of our border, then the fighing for control of smuggling routes should decline. I think, therefore that securing the border must become a higher priority not only for ourselves, but for the Mexican government.
Would it help to try to decrease the demand? Seems obvious to me. Perhaps we should have taken a few tens-of-millions away from some of the pork items in the "Stimulus" bill and put them into drug rehabilitation, advertizing, and community faith-based organizations.
And if we take a strong position on prosecuting for possession and use, how about CCC-style work camps with literacy training and skill development.
I wish I knew a quick and easy answer that will save Mexico from the consequences of our bad habits.
The greatest increase in violence has occurred near the U.S. border. However, U.S. citizens traveling throughout Mexico should exercise caution in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times. Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed in violent attacks in cities across the country, demonstrating the heightened risk of violence in public places. In recent years, dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped across Mexico. Many of these cases remain unresolved. U.S. citizens who believe they are being targeted for kidnapping or other crimes should notify Mexican officials and the nearest American consulate or the Embassy as soon as possible, and should consider returning to the United States.
. . .
Mexican drug cartels are engaged in an increasingly violent conflict - both among themselves and with Mexican security services - for control of narcotics trafficking routes along the U.S.-Mexico border. In order to combat violence, the government of Mexico has deployed troops in various parts of the country. U.S. citizens should cooperate fully with official checkpoints when traveling on Mexican highways.
Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat, with cartels employing automatic weapons and grenades. Large firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico but most recently in northern Mexico, including Tijuana, Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez. During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area. The U.S. Mission in Mexico currently restricts non-essential travel to the state of Durango and all parts of the state of Coahuila south of Mexican Highways 25 and 22 and the Alamos River for U.S. government employees assigned to Mexico. This restriction was implemented in light of the recent increase in assaults, murders, and kidnappings in those two states. The situation in northern Mexico remains fluid; the location and timing of future armed engagements cannot be predicted.
Many U.S. colleges and universities have issued warnings to students to avoid travel to Mexico, and even the southern U.S. near the border.
This violence results from the money to be made smuggling illegal drugs into the U.S. for sale. The demand for illegal drugs by U.S. citizens drives the killing in Mexico.
So, what should we do?
I wish I knew a great and simple answer to that question.
For starters, I have advocated before the legalization of marijuana use--not because I think it harmless, but because too many Americans want to use it to make stopping it possible, while preserving a free society.
Do the arguments I use to argue for legalization of marijuana mean also that all drugs should become legal? Legalizing all drugs probably would end much of the violence in Mexico, and in our own cities. The large underground drug economy would be taken up into the tax-paying legal economy.
But, part of my rationale for marijuana legalization is that the social harm done by marijuana is less than the social harm done by making it illegal. I don't think that case can be made for lots of other drugs, such as meth. Though with the damage being done to Mexico, perhaps I need to rethink my position.
So, what can/should we do, before our neighbor to the south slips further into violent anarchy?
Would gaining actual control of our border with Mexco help? If, and that is a big if for logistical and political reasons, we gain control of our border, then the fighing for control of smuggling routes should decline. I think, therefore that securing the border must become a higher priority not only for ourselves, but for the Mexican government.
Would it help to try to decrease the demand? Seems obvious to me. Perhaps we should have taken a few tens-of-millions away from some of the pork items in the "Stimulus" bill and put them into drug rehabilitation, advertizing, and community faith-based organizations.
And if we take a strong position on prosecuting for possession and use, how about CCC-style work camps with literacy training and skill development.
I wish I knew a quick and easy answer that will save Mexico from the consequences of our bad habits.
26/02: England Is (Was) not Europe
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
Very interesting post from Brits at their Best on the contrast between Britain and Europe in the past, quoting from a book by Alan Macfarlane, who uses among other sources Montesquieu's observations when he visited Britain in 1729. Montesquieu was a French thinker who was read and admired by the Founders of our nation.
In The Origins of English Individualism, Alan Macfarlane explains that Montesquieu visited England in 1729 and plunged into a study of its political and social institutions which he clearly found alien -
"'I am here in a country which hardly resembles the rest of Europe.'
In his work on The Spirit of the Laws, he noted that the social, economic and religious situation, connected to law and politics, was different in England. The English were wealthy, enjoying a 'solid luxury'; England was a trading nation as a result of its freedom from restrictive laws and 'pernicious prejudices'."
Between the 16th and 18th centuries English travellers noticed with shock and horror that France's rural populations had a miserable diet and pathetic clothing. The French were oppressed by heavy taxes and by royal troops that regularly pillaged and beggared villages.
"The husbandman in France, 'scraped to the bones, and . . .dressed in hemp', 'never goeth to the market, to sell anything: but he payeth a toll, almost the half of that he selleth'."
In contrast, travellers in England, among them the Venetian Embassy, noted with amazement -
". . .the absence of heavy taxation, of billeted soldiers, and of internal taxes. This meant that 'every inhabiter of that realm useth and enjoyeth at his pleasure all the fruits that his land or cattle. . .or travail gaineth'.
Yeomen ate plentifully of fish and flesh, drank beer or wine, wore fine wool, had a great store of tools, and often sent their children to university.
'. . .the riches of England are greater than those of any other country in Europe. . .there is no small innkeeper, however poor and humble he may be, who does not serve his table with silver dishes and drinking cups. . .'"
Notice among the differences which gave advantage to Britain were low or no taxes enabling persons to keep the wealth they generated which in tern enabled them to start their families on a path of upward mobility.
Macfarlane also noted that de Tocqueville on his visit to England made similar observations and credited English prosperity to
'The spirit which animates the complete body of English legislation' and because 'The nobles and the middle classes in England followed together the same courses of business, entered the same professions, and what is much more significant, intermarried. . . .'
'classes which overlap, nobility of birth set on one side, aristocracy thrown open, wealth as the source of power, equality before the law, office open to all, liberty of the press, publicity of debate' (L' Ancien Regime).
Why do the Democratic party leadership want to make us look more like France, ancient and modern?
Speaking of the European Union, Brits offers this explanation and contrast:
Today, Socialists and redistributors share a weird mental delusion. They take a snapshot of the poor, the middle class and the upper class and they freeze it in time. In their vision, those who are poor will always be poor - unless the government intervenes. Those who are rich will always be rich - unless, again, the government intervenes.
This is like taking a picture of your children and thinking they are always going to be seven years old.
It is certainly true that there will probably always be individuals who are poorer than others, but over a period of years they will not be the same individuals. Socialists and redistributors do not see this because they do not see individuals. They see classes.
I would modify this assessment and exchange "familes" for "individuals" as more realistic. In our country we have seen over and over again one generation toiling on a lower rung of the ladder in order to enable the next generation to climb to a higher rung. The American immigrant experience often has been of Mom and Dad barely speak English, work hard at entry-level jobs, push their children to succeed in school, and their children move into the Middle Class.
In my first year of seminary (1980-81) I was a Youth Pastor in Kearny, New Jersey, an urban working-class Scots-Irish neighborhood. Over 80% of our congregation had been born overseas. The pastor and I joked that our youth ministry motto should be "Training Tomorrow's Leaders for Suburban Churches". Most of the "kids" of our church would go on to live further out from New York in more affluent suburbs.
In The Origins of English Individualism, Alan Macfarlane explains that Montesquieu visited England in 1729 and plunged into a study of its political and social institutions which he clearly found alien -
"'I am here in a country which hardly resembles the rest of Europe.'
In his work on The Spirit of the Laws, he noted that the social, economic and religious situation, connected to law and politics, was different in England. The English were wealthy, enjoying a 'solid luxury'; England was a trading nation as a result of its freedom from restrictive laws and 'pernicious prejudices'."
Between the 16th and 18th centuries English travellers noticed with shock and horror that France's rural populations had a miserable diet and pathetic clothing. The French were oppressed by heavy taxes and by royal troops that regularly pillaged and beggared villages.
"The husbandman in France, 'scraped to the bones, and . . .dressed in hemp', 'never goeth to the market, to sell anything: but he payeth a toll, almost the half of that he selleth'."
In contrast, travellers in England, among them the Venetian Embassy, noted with amazement -
". . .the absence of heavy taxation, of billeted soldiers, and of internal taxes. This meant that 'every inhabiter of that realm useth and enjoyeth at his pleasure all the fruits that his land or cattle. . .or travail gaineth'.
Yeomen ate plentifully of fish and flesh, drank beer or wine, wore fine wool, had a great store of tools, and often sent their children to university.
'. . .the riches of England are greater than those of any other country in Europe. . .there is no small innkeeper, however poor and humble he may be, who does not serve his table with silver dishes and drinking cups. . .'"
Notice among the differences which gave advantage to Britain were low or no taxes enabling persons to keep the wealth they generated which in tern enabled them to start their families on a path of upward mobility.
Macfarlane also noted that de Tocqueville on his visit to England made similar observations and credited English prosperity to
'The spirit which animates the complete body of English legislation' and because 'The nobles and the middle classes in England followed together the same courses of business, entered the same professions, and what is much more significant, intermarried. . . .'
'classes which overlap, nobility of birth set on one side, aristocracy thrown open, wealth as the source of power, equality before the law, office open to all, liberty of the press, publicity of debate' (L' Ancien Regime).
Why do the Democratic party leadership want to make us look more like France, ancient and modern?
Speaking of the European Union, Brits offers this explanation and contrast:
Today, Socialists and redistributors share a weird mental delusion. They take a snapshot of the poor, the middle class and the upper class and they freeze it in time. In their vision, those who are poor will always be poor - unless the government intervenes. Those who are rich will always be rich - unless, again, the government intervenes.
This is like taking a picture of your children and thinking they are always going to be seven years old.
It is certainly true that there will probably always be individuals who are poorer than others, but over a period of years they will not be the same individuals. Socialists and redistributors do not see this because they do not see individuals. They see classes.
I would modify this assessment and exchange "familes" for "individuals" as more realistic. In our country we have seen over and over again one generation toiling on a lower rung of the ladder in order to enable the next generation to climb to a higher rung. The American immigrant experience often has been of Mom and Dad barely speak English, work hard at entry-level jobs, push their children to succeed in school, and their children move into the Middle Class.
In my first year of seminary (1980-81) I was a Youth Pastor in Kearny, New Jersey, an urban working-class Scots-Irish neighborhood. Over 80% of our congregation had been born overseas. The pastor and I joked that our youth ministry motto should be "Training Tomorrow's Leaders for Suburban Churches". Most of the "kids" of our church would go on to live further out from New York in more affluent suburbs.
20/02: Bet You Can't Hold Still
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
Listen to this embed video and just try not to move. Make even clumsy white guys like me boogie in the office chair. Juke-joint pedal steel supreme. From the Infidel Bloggers' Alliance.
Here are a couple of tracks from my favorite juke-joint band: The North Mississippi All-Stars.
From the 2006 Blues Festival in Clarksdale.
From Bonnaroo 2007.
Here are a couple of tracks from my favorite juke-joint band: The North Mississippi All-Stars.
From the 2006 Blues Festival in Clarksdale.
From Bonnaroo 2007.
16/02: Movies of 2008
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
Readers of Christianity Today have chosen their favorite movies of 2008.
#1 The Dark Knight
#10 (tie) Mama Mia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
#1 The Dark Knight
#10 (tie) Mama Mia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I wrote this last May--but in honor of Lil Wayne and his big haul at the Grammys last night, I am reissuing this lament on the decline of pop culture:
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free!
Praise the Lord and swing into position!
Can't afford to sit around and wishin'
Praise the Lord we're all between perdition
and the deep blue sea!
Yes the sky pilot said it
You've got to give him credit
for a son - of - gun - of - a - gunner was he,
Shouting:
Praise the Lord we're on a mighty mission!
All aboard, we're not a - goin' fishin;
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free!
"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" relates the partly true story of a chaplain ("sky pilot") and his reaction to Pearl Harbor. The song was a huge pop hit for Kay Keyser and his orchestra in late 1942. For a revealing window into our current sensibilities, view this You Tube video (with the actual music as sarcastic background to some classic conservative baiting) and then read the accompanying discussion (from the beginning).
-----------
One other hit song from the era (#1 in 1943):
When The Lights Go On Again All Over The World
Note: In truth, unlike 1943, only a small slice of America is actually at war today (the rest of us are drafting off the heroic sacrifice of a select few stalwart souls). For all those Americans on their third and fourth tours of duty, and all the families waiting at home, our sincere thanks. This song is dedicated to you.
When the lights go on again all over the world
And the boys are home again all over the world
And rain or snow is all that may fall from the skies above
A kiss won't mean "goodbye" but "Hello to love"
When the lights go on again all over the world
And the ships will sail again all over the world
Then we'll have time for things like wedding rings
and free hearts will sing
When the lights go on again all over the world
One last thought, FYI: The number one song again this week (three weeks running) is “Lollipop” by Lil’ Wayne: “She she lick me Like a lollipop; She she lick me Like a lollipop; She she lick Like a lollipop; She lick Me Like a lollipop….”
Unfortunately there is much much more to “Lollipop.”
Remember the bad old days when we sang silly songs that assumed God was on our side in a just war against evil doers? Thank goodness we have elevated our culture above that brand of provincialism.
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free!
Praise the Lord and swing into position!
Can't afford to sit around and wishin'
Praise the Lord we're all between perdition
and the deep blue sea!
Yes the sky pilot said it
You've got to give him credit
for a son - of - gun - of - a - gunner was he,
Shouting:
Praise the Lord we're on a mighty mission!
All aboard, we're not a - goin' fishin;
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition and we'll all stay free!
"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" relates the partly true story of a chaplain ("sky pilot") and his reaction to Pearl Harbor. The song was a huge pop hit for Kay Keyser and his orchestra in late 1942. For a revealing window into our current sensibilities, view this You Tube video (with the actual music as sarcastic background to some classic conservative baiting) and then read the accompanying discussion (from the beginning).
-----------
One other hit song from the era (#1 in 1943):
When The Lights Go On Again All Over The World
Note: In truth, unlike 1943, only a small slice of America is actually at war today (the rest of us are drafting off the heroic sacrifice of a select few stalwart souls). For all those Americans on their third and fourth tours of duty, and all the families waiting at home, our sincere thanks. This song is dedicated to you.
When the lights go on again all over the world
And the boys are home again all over the world
And rain or snow is all that may fall from the skies above
A kiss won't mean "goodbye" but "Hello to love"
When the lights go on again all over the world
And the ships will sail again all over the world
Then we'll have time for things like wedding rings
and free hearts will sing
When the lights go on again all over the world
One last thought, FYI: The number one song again this week (three weeks running) is “Lollipop” by Lil’ Wayne: “She she lick me Like a lollipop; She she lick me Like a lollipop; She she lick Like a lollipop; She lick Me Like a lollipop….”
Unfortunately there is much much more to “Lollipop.”
Remember the bad old days when we sang silly songs that assumed God was on our side in a just war against evil doers? Thank goodness we have elevated our culture above that brand of provincialism.
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
Saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman died last month of pancreatic cancer. He was 75. Story here.
Jazz, R&B, Blues. He could play them all and bring them together into one package. Here are a few representative cuts.
Lonely Avenue
Another Kentucky Sunset
Cristo Redento[r]
Jazz, R&B, Blues. He could play them all and bring them together into one package. Here are a few representative cuts.
Lonely Avenue
Another Kentucky Sunset
Cristo Redento[r]
08/02: Jazz in the Night
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
It's late, in the midnight hour, and I'm listening to jazz. Here's my recent playlist.
Dave Holland.
Idris Muhammad and group.
John Coltrane and group.
Stan Getz & group.
Chet Baker & Paul Desmond
Chick Corea & RTF
Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, and the late Freddy Hubbard.
Dave Holland.
Idris Muhammad and group.
John Coltrane and group.
Stan Getz & group.
Chet Baker & Paul Desmond
Chick Corea & RTF
Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, and the late Freddy Hubbard.
07/02: Small Town Friday Night
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
A week ago on Friday night my wife and I drove to a nearby town even smaller than our own. The Apache girls' and boys' basketball teams were to play Fletcher. We left early to have time for the chili supper beforehand.
Held in the Fletcher High School cafeteria, 8 local volunteer fire departments made and served chili. At the beginning of the line was a boot on a desk to receive donations for the departments. On the serving line were pots of chili, one from each fire department, with a basket in front of each. The idea was to get a sample from one pot, eat it, then return to the line to sample another pot, for as long as the stomach could hold out. You were then to put money into the basket in front of the pot you judged best.
I love chili. Simple in its basic form--meat, tomatoes, chili powder, perhaps beans--it lends itself to many variations. That night I sampled a batch that I think had cilantro in it, another I think used chorizo, two fairly sweet, and one with near-nuclear quantities of jalepano.
The supper was organized by Joe Dorman (D), our Oklahoma State Representative. His goal is to raise enough money for each Volunteer Fire Department Station in his District to have an electric generator so that one site in each community will have electricity during outages. Such as ice storms.
Later, during one of the games, he announced that each department would receive about $175 at a minimum (I assume from the division of the boot money) and the winning chili brought in around $430.
Communities working together in common purpose. Volunteers supported by voluntary donations. This is genuine conservatism. This is a large part of what makes America great.
Cardinal George Pell in this address speaks of social capital: the networks of men and women, families, and organizations, acting honestly and responsibly in service to the common good.
Amen, Brother Cardinal.
p.s., The Apache girls won and the boys lost.
Held in the Fletcher High School cafeteria, 8 local volunteer fire departments made and served chili. At the beginning of the line was a boot on a desk to receive donations for the departments. On the serving line were pots of chili, one from each fire department, with a basket in front of each. The idea was to get a sample from one pot, eat it, then return to the line to sample another pot, for as long as the stomach could hold out. You were then to put money into the basket in front of the pot you judged best.
I love chili. Simple in its basic form--meat, tomatoes, chili powder, perhaps beans--it lends itself to many variations. That night I sampled a batch that I think had cilantro in it, another I think used chorizo, two fairly sweet, and one with near-nuclear quantities of jalepano.
The supper was organized by Joe Dorman (D), our Oklahoma State Representative. His goal is to raise enough money for each Volunteer Fire Department Station in his District to have an electric generator so that one site in each community will have electricity during outages. Such as ice storms.
Later, during one of the games, he announced that each department would receive about $175 at a minimum (I assume from the division of the boot money) and the winning chili brought in around $430.
Communities working together in common purpose. Volunteers supported by voluntary donations. This is genuine conservatism. This is a large part of what makes America great.
Cardinal George Pell in this address speaks of social capital: the networks of men and women, families, and organizations, acting honestly and responsibly in service to the common good.
Amen, Brother Cardinal.
p.s., The Apache girls won and the boys lost.
Category: American Culture
Posted by: an okie gardener
Millard Fuller, the man who founded Habitat for Humanity and whose name was synonymous with volunteer faith-based efforts to build houses for the poor, died suddenly Tuesday after a brief illness.
Fuller, 74, had suffered from a chest cold in recent weeks, said Holly Chapman, vice president of communications and development of the Fuller Center for Housing in Americus, Ga.
"He just took a turn for the worse last night," she said.
Story here from Christianity Today.
Fuller became a millionaire before he turned 30, then gave up his wealth to joing Koinonia Farm, a Christian communal farm in Georgia. He then created Habitat for Humanity in an effort to house the poor.
One of the things I have admired about Habitat, is that the recipient of the house must also labor, putting in a specified number of hours of "sweat equity." Helping people to help themselves is theologically, biblically, and psychologically, superior to giving people things.
People helping people help themselves; Community created by community, not by government.
Fuller, 74, had suffered from a chest cold in recent weeks, said Holly Chapman, vice president of communications and development of the Fuller Center for Housing in Americus, Ga.
"He just took a turn for the worse last night," she said.
Story here from Christianity Today.
Fuller became a millionaire before he turned 30, then gave up his wealth to joing Koinonia Farm, a Christian communal farm in Georgia. He then created Habitat for Humanity in an effort to house the poor.
One of the things I have admired about Habitat, is that the recipient of the house must also labor, putting in a specified number of hours of "sweat equity." Helping people to help themselves is theologically, biblically, and psychologically, superior to giving people things.
People helping people help themselves; Community created by community, not by government.
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