While the actual holiday is observed next Monday, January 21st, today is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday. He would have been 84 years old. My son K2 is very taken with his story and his impact on our world. Follow me below the dingledoodle squigglie dKosagnocchi dividerthingie fold after a word from our sponsor...
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K2 came home from 2nd grade last week and said "We are studying the Presidents and we each got one to write a report about. Here's mine"... and handed me a paper with RONALD REAGAN written on it. I rolled my eyes at the Universe's... how to say... quirky sense of humor (to stave off further attacks of said "humor", I'm not calling it either perverse, or any word other than "humor").
K2 had to research and report his full name, birth- and death-dates, what political party they were, a "fun fact", and lastly... something good they accomplished. Yeah, that part where you snorted and said that thing under your breath, that's what I thought too. So I decided this was the PERFECT research project for K2 and Mr. Brillig to do together, and I went to do something else.
Several hours later, K2 proudly told me he'd gathered AND written down (neatly and correctly spelled!) the required information, including the "fun fact" that he was an actor. I asked what the "good thing" was and he replied "He signed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law!" I decided not to darken the smile on his face by mentioning Reagan was no friend of civil rights or of anything Dr. King would have supported, didn't WANT the holiday for more reasons than his alleged concern that the country couldn't afford another Federal holiday, and signed it into law only because it passed in Congress by an unassailable veto-proof majority.
But no matter. At K2's school Monday Monthly Meeting yesterday, each 2nd grader had a participatory role, and K2 was one of the kids who read their President reports. ObProudParent: he did a fantastic job :). Another group of kids read their pieces from an earlier assignment: they'd talked about the I Have A Dream speech and wrote about their own dreams. The assignment must have been to pick one personal and one more global dream, because nearly all of the kids started out with their dream to be X, or do Y. Then they had a varied set of global dreams. One wanted to end poverty by inventing a machine that took spare change and turned it into food, "clothes that fit" and houses. Another wanted everyone to have enough clean water, and said he'd help make that come true by taking shorter showers. A third wanted to cure cancer, either himself or help other people do it. Another dreamed of no more robberies by making sure everyone had what they needed.
Powerful stuff from a bunch of seven year-olds. Each of them, at the end of their pieces, asked "What are your dreams, and what are you doing to make them happen?"
I think back to when I've asked kids, or adults, what their dreams are... or when I've been asked that question. I don't remember the last time, if ever, someone asked me what I was doing to make them a reality. I think we should, how about you?
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From Dave in Northridge:
blue aardvark pulls back the curtain on the "brains" at Fox News in Jed Lewison's diary on the renaming of the debt ceiling crisis at Fox
From Noddy:
Richard Lyon describes a disorder for which there is no medical treatment in FrenchUltramarine's diary He Doesn't Believe there's a "Rape Culture"
From Yours Truly, brillig:
YoungArizonaLiberal has a great diary on a recent trip to Africa. Woody gets my nod for their fantastic comment re: lowering the birthrate, and how one statement of pride could hopefully be replaced by another.
rsmpdx with a tidbit that's part news, part prediction in light of the Sandy Aid vote, in Hunter's diary.
Top Mojo for yesterday, January 14th first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic!
1) Beautiful diary, beautiful man. by commonmass — 163
2) Terrific diary! Anonymous rocks! by lyvwyr101 — 105
3) Very interesting in that state! Thanks! by mumtaznepal — 101
4) Peggy Noonan by CC Music Factory — 97
5) I am ambiguous on Anonymous for a variety of by real world chick — 93
6) He downloaded articles freely available to him by beholderseye — 86
7) Thank you for this diary! by Quicklund — 80
8) This is a very wise observation: by Free Jazz at High Noon — 75
9) Though I'm not enamored of Jack Lew by mofembot — 73
10) I think you meant by susanthe — 73
11) Oh Hai T-Dub. LOL! The Problem With Moondai... by leonard145b — 73
12) Oddly enough I changed my party registration by Hanging Up My Tusks — 71
13) Thanks for posting about this by Puddytat — 71
14) Many of us are RIGHTFULLY freaking out, because by Einsteinia — 67
15) A press corps filled with mostly white men wants by LaurenMonica — 67
16) Medical marijuana dispensary operator... by m16eib — 65
17) This is absolutely appalling by Jilly W — 65
18) LOL! Remindz Us Of An Old English Proverb: by leonard145b — 64
19) This kind of thing has happened before. by hestal — 63
20) Welcome back, and thanks for sharing your by divineorder — 63
21) How does society react to these scenarios? by Sirenus — 63
22) Oh man. This is just beyond awful. I hope someone by cany — 63
23) Good moondai, tricia by gchaucer2 — 62
24) There is a good possibility that this is by Richard Lyon — 62
25) I am very concerned about by rolet — 61
26) Good morning by BlueJessamine — 61
27) social security has nothing to do with the deficit by Laurence Lewis — 60
28) Stiglitz chaired WH Council of Economic Advisors by RFK Lives — 58
29) Happee Moondai! by arizonablue — 58
30) As usual, the week is getting off to a slow start. by jwinIL14 — 56
Top Pictures for yesterday, January 14th. Click any image to be taken to the full comment. Thank you
jotter for the image magic!