"Don't be intimidated by other people's opinions. Only mediocrity is sure of itself, so take risks and do what you really want to do. Seek out people who aren't afraid of making mistakes and, therefore, do make mistakes. Because of that, their work often isn't recognized, but they are precisely... the kind of people who change the world." - Paulo Coelho, "The Aleph"
"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." - Abraham Lincoln
"I have always been on the side of the revolution, on the side of the people struggling to break the chains that oppress them. I support wars of liberation... I am part of a generation that exploded six years ago and my creative energy is part of that explosion." - Ita Jones, "The Grub Bag" 1971
---
"Progressive - one believing in moderate political change and especially social improvement by governmental action" - Merriam Webster"Progressivism in the United States: ... Progressives such as William U'Ren and Robert La Follette argued that the average citizen should have more control over his government. The Oregon System of "Initiative, Referendum, and Recall" was exported to many states, including Idaho, Washington, and Wisconsin.[5]
Progressives also fought for women's suffrage[8]
Corruption represented a source of waste and inefficiency in government. William U'Ren in Oregon, and LaFolette in Wisconsin, and others worked to clean up state and local governments by passing laws to weaken the power of machine politicians and political bosses. The Oregon System, which included a "Corrupt Practices Act", a public referendum, and a state-funded voter's pamphlet among other reforms was exported to other states in the northwest and Midwest.
In 1924, Wisconsin Senator Robert La Follette ran for president on the "Progressive party" ticket. La Follette won the support of labor unions, Germans and Socialists by crusading against both oligarchy—rule by a tiny elite—and plutocracy (government of, by, and for the wealthy). He carried Wisconsin.[48] "
- Wikipedia entry
Wisconsin's biggest wind farm goes online - 2011
Montfort Windfarm - online since 2001
"Nothing focuses the mind like a noose."
--- once upon a time, as all good stories start,
Duncan was never at odds with whatever It was that lived in the surrounding countryside. It was a presence, like a store clerk watching for would-be shoplifters, like the shy student boring a hole in the back of her crush's skull, like the sneaky ocean waves waiting 'till the bather's back is turned to suck her under. The Thing, or Things, made themselves known subtly, by causing minor havoc on the road leading to the Resort where Duncan resided. Deer crossed at one specific place, just past Raccoon Rock Road, but before the turn that lead to the old cemetery, and they usually did so spontaneously, and in groups that numbered one more than a driver had counted on. It, whatever "It" was, also made spectacular, sun dappled, filtery columns of light stream through the tunnel of trees that led to the Resort, which were breath-stealingly beautiful and had cause more than one car to detour into the ditch.
Usually though, the harm done was not fatal. Duncan chalked that up to the sacrifices the Thing called for on a fairly regular basis. Ever since people left off putting milk out for the piskies, it was up to people like Duncan, who referred to the Thing as "fairies," to find out what those devious, devilish, ghostly other-worlders wanted. The fairies that guarded the path out to the Resort had a fondness for bananas, and peanuts: blood, incense, effort, and attention.... rapt, concentrated attention.
Duncan actually liked knowing about the fairies, feeling special in their peripheral vision (which truly is the only safe place for mortals to be). That was, until the day the fairies became uneasy. Frightened? Angry? Maybe even a hint of evil. Things like that made a person, a guardian, one of those sensitive types who is in tune with such things, as Duncan was, ever so slightly terrified. Like a rider on horseback who spies a brown snake before his mount has perceived it. Maybe it will pass. Maybe the horse will quake or rear, but be brought under control. Or maybe the horse will revert from the docile domestic beast of burden, so carefully trained, into a wild, untamed, eye rolling and uncontrollable maniac.
Duncan wasn't sure she'd know what to do with manic fairies. She was pretty sure peanuts wouldn't cut it though.
No comments:
Post a Comment