{"id":144576,"date":"2019-10-07T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T11:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=144576"},"modified":"2019-10-04T10:17:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T09:17:32","slug":"public-notices-private-questions-musical-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/10\/public-notices-private-questions-musical-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Notices\/Private Questions\/Musical Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>3 Oct 2019 &#8211; <em>Throughout our days we all notice many things that elicit questions that quickly pass through us as in a dream. Here are some questions that I caught on the fly before they melted from my mind, and when I asked myself what the answers were, only songs came to me, songs that didn&#8217;t exactly answer the questions but set me to dreaming. This is an invitation to dream along. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Two women out walking do not stop talking. An elderly man and woman out dining do not start talking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Who says the most?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OVhA01J0Zsg\" >\u201cHello in There,\u201d John Prine<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Every morning at sunrise, a simple, mild, and gentle man, seemingly somehow disabled, a camera hanging around his neck, stands stock still and half-hidden by reeds and bushes at the edge of a lake. For hours he waits to take photos of wildlife \u2013 deer, coyotes, bear, herons \u2013 emerging from the woods and lake\u2019s edges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What is it about wildness that he seeks to capture with his camera?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=K8fT7rnRotY\" >\u201cLike A Bird on a Wire,\u201d Leonard Cohen<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In a small New England town known as a haven for tourists and wealthy second-house owners from the city, the local Saturday morning farmers\u2019 market features a parade of dogs being shown off by their visiting owners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Who is on the leash?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lzQ8GDBA8Is\" >\u201cHound Dog,\u201d Elvis<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A new 6<sup>th<\/sup> grade teacher reports to her department head that she is disturbed by the large number of her students who want to be addressed as \u201cthey.\u201d She recounts how she just returned from taking her daughter to college at a prominent state university where all the professors who gave talks to parents and new students introduced themselves by saying how they wished to be addressed: he, she, they, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Is this what it\u2019s all about in today\u2019s schools of show and tell?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qwXg-UFy7vg\" >\u201cWhat Did You Learn in School Today,\u201d Tom Paxton<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A liberal New England regional newspaper refuses to publish an op ed article by a well-known local writer about how the chief U.S. propagandist has recently been named the new CEO of National Public Radio. When the writer asked the paper\u2019s editor if he would consider it newsworthy if the newspaper named the chief propagandist it\u2019s CEO, he received no reply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Why might that be?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8qDkC4yJxdc\" >\u201cI Ain\u2019t Marching Anymore,\u201d Phil Ochs<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ui-cL6YOKHI\" >\u00a0<\/a> *****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On an old town road in the hills of western Massachusetts, passers-by comment on a certain small stretch where the smell of wild thyme overwhelms the senses when they go by. No thyme can be found.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Are these people imagining that the time has passed away, or they?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=HJeLguRecYc\" >\u201cWho Knows Where the Time Goes,\u201d Judy Collins<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A violent thunderstorm with massive lightning bolts brings down scores of trees and power lines in the early fall evening. Roads are flooded and rivers and streams overflow their banks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Where, asks an eight-year-old boy to vacant faces, was the lightning before it flashed?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LVIWA9VTiN8\" >\u201cChimes of Freedom,\u201d Bob Dylan<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In Afghanistan, the U.S. military kills 32 sleeping pine nut farmers and 40 other civilians at a wedding, including children, between September 19-23, 2019 as part of the American \u201cwar on terror.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Whom does this keep awake at night and who sleeps soundly thinking they are safe?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/edwardcurtin.com\/a-love-song-to-americans-the-song\/\" >\u201cA Love Song to Americans,\u201d Edward Curtin and David Neal<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An old woman named Martha is overheard saying to her son, who is sitting beside her , \u201cMartha is dying.\u201d The son asks, \u201cWhy are you referring to yourself in the third person?\u201d The mother answers, \u201cIt\u2019s more comforting that way.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Is this truth or denial?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=N8uk8kEz3UM\" >\u201cChanges,\u201d Phil Ochs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Another old woman is heard to say to her daughter, \u201cSometimes you don\u2019t know where you are until you\u2019ve left.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And when we\u2019ve left, where do we want to be?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aHzMGM9qyZw\" >\u201cWhere\u2019ve You Been,\u201d Kathy Mattea<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Graffiti spray painted on a wall near the railroad tracks: \u201cYou come early of late, but you used to be behind before, but now you\u2019re first at last.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And you?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VkKxmnrRVHo\" >\u201cIt\u2019s Too Late,\u201d Carole King<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The orange and black sign by the winding lake road up the hill from the twisting river announces \u201cRough Road.\u201d It sits there in the fall air like a glowing jack-o-lantern announcing some enigmatic truth. The town authorities wish to repave the road and remove the sign. A poor man protests to the Select Board, a group of successful residents. They are flabbergasted by his reasoning. He says they are trying to smooth over the truth of life.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Which side of the road are you on, or do you usually walk the line?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Lq0fUa0vW_E\" >\u201cWalk the Line,\u201d Johnny Cash<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Julian Assange\u2019s father, after visiting his son in prison, where he is ill and held in solitary confinement 22 hours a day, is asked by an interviewer what are his concerns if his son is extradited to the U.S. under the Espionage Act. \u201cThey will murder Julian one way or another,\u201d says John Shipton.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Why do so few Americans and Aussies care that their countries are run by mass murderers?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PFCekeoSTwg\" >\u201cAnd the Band Played Waltzing Matilda,\u201d Liam Clancy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Radio announcer: \u201cI\u2019ll talk about the weather with you in a few minutes.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Is this the intimacy we crave?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nntOYUODSV0\" >\u00a0\u201cThe Dangling Conversation,\u201d Simon and Garfunkel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A big sign on the wall inside a General Dynamics military defense plant announces: \u201cNothing important ever shows up in the newspaper. Reality is top secret.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What is this reality that we are not supposed to know?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IEazNNJEcm0\" >\u201cFollow,\u201d Richie Havens<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The local community college announced in the fall of 2018 a new certificate program: Training to become an Addiction Recovery Assistant to work in the substance abuse field. In the fall of 2019, as the college\u2019s enrollment continued to fall and pot stores were springing up all around the area, the same college offered a new certificate program: A Cannabis Certificate Program that offers students training in cannabis cultivation, processing, preparation, retail, and outreach.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Guess what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vbqGWTxwZEA\" >\u00a0\u201cSunday Morning Coming Down,\u201d Kris Kristofferson<\/a><\/p>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On March 28, 2019, the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, David Trachtenberg, testifies in front of a Congressional committee that the American policy of first use of nuclear weapons is necessary for American security. In August 2019 the world is given notice that the U.S. has officially withdrawn from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. In September 2019, the Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Kahn, warns the world that the conflict with India over Kashmir is making the chance of nuclear war far likelier. As the U.S. continues to surround Russia with military forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to warn of the growing threat of nuclear war.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It looks like the world is heating up, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hXn9ZKPx6CY\" >\u201cA Hard Rain\u2019s A-Gonna Fall,\u201d Bob Dylan<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>__________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/edward-curtin-e1522422941369.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-108249\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/edward-curtin-e1522422941369.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><\/em><em>Edward Curtin is a writer whose work has appeared widely. He is a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/\" >TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>. Website: <\/em><em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/edwardcurtin.com\/\" >Behind the Curtain<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>3 Oct 2019 &#8211; Throughout our days we all notice many things that elicit questions that quickly pass through us as in a dream. Here are some questions that I caught on the fly before they melted from my mind, and when I asked myself what the answers were, only songs came to me, songs that didn&#8217;t exactly answer the questions but set me to dreaming. This is an invitation to dream along. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":108249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1177],"class_list":["post-144576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-inspirational"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}