In politics it is said, that when not fueled by hope there is a vacuum for fear to fill. Since artists turn to the muses, Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope we are exploring what they can offer us for inspiration to have the hope fueling politics. 
“Hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers.”
-Robert Green Ingersoll
“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
-Joseph Addison
“Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another.”
-Elie Wiesel
Let us first turn to Calliope who might view this as her justice:
In 2001, one company started hiring mostly ex-cons. 14 years later, here's how it's going.
http://www.upworthy.com/in-2001-one-company-started-hiring-mostly-ex-cons-14-years-later-heres-how-its-going?c=upw1
Gives me hope, how about you?
Erato would claim this as love:
A dad created an app to help his son with autism. It saved another child's life.
Was this a good example of how to spread hope?
Clio (guitar) would sure support this one:
See John Legend and Juanes perform a powerful song for detainees. (video and text)
http://www.upworthy.com/see-john-legend-and-juanes-perform-a-powerful-song-for-detainees?c=upw1
Not your average celebrity doing good story is it?
And then to Thalia (comedy):
Hilarious video exposes North Carolina’s rigged electoral system (NC Common Cause comedy video 1 minute)
I find myself wanting humor more and more, how about you?
And Polymnia (mimicry) brings this delight for our finish:
Tyson Eberly Mime Performance(video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ULR-yfNnk
Thank you dear reader for joining me on this journey of discovery and quest for hope
9 Responses to “Monday Morning Musings February 1, 2016”
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cross posted to Care2 at:
http://www.care2.com/news/member/663679641/3950710
I love Upworthy because they have stories like these tonight, about the company that employs ex convicts and the parent who invented a tool to help parents with autistic children. Both are positive solutions to big problems. Liked the Cartoon, too. I have total respect for John Legend's work. Thanks for posting.
Wonderful quotes, wonderful article. Thanks. Judo.
Calliope: What struck me in the article was that while Maryland currently ranks as one of America's richest states, Baltimore remains one of the country's poorest cities where the burden of economic hardship lies mostly with the black community. Baltimore is a city with all too familiar statistics. Yet a successful effort to break the cycle of poverty, crime and prison comes from within Baltimore and not rich Maryland, which seems to chip in only with some tax deductions. Employing ex-cons in a salvaging/deconstruction business works on many levels, including raising confidence levels, giving new work experience, financially… "Second Chance" offers exactly that for individuals and a community and above all: hope.
Erato: AngelSense is a wonderful app made by parents who have autistic children themselves for other parents and alerts these parents to their special-need child wandering. As so often hope comes from within, from people who have gone/go through the same experience and and come up with a solution they want to share with people in the same situation.
Clio: The criminal justice system in America knows so many issues like mass incarceration, juvenile offenders being tried as adults, for-profit facilities, lack of help and preparation when returning to society and lack of job opportunities, that a large group of people who are incarcerated under special circumstances are forgotten: the mass detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants, most of whom have no criminal record. By performing at an immigration detention center Legend and Juanes gave hope to the people there by drawing attention to the plight of those who are incarcerated, and to that of immigrants in particular. Kudos to them.
Thalia: I'm certainly with you on that one, Judi, I want more humor too. In fact I( think it is the only way to break through this wall of political insanity and get a sane message across. No accusations, no pointing fingers at any party or candidate, no wailing about unfairness, NO LIES, just a dose of humor wrapped around a serious problem, appealing to their intelligence enough to make people put some effort into thinking what it's about. Great video!
Polymnia: Never heard of him before, but Tyson Eberly is an exceptionally talented mine. I watched part 1 too as a treat.
Judo? Where did that come from? Thank, Judi!
Calliope: Everyone deserves a 'Second Chance', we all make mistakes in our lives, and this organization gets them up on their feet for these folks and their families. Awesome!
Erato: This is great, as it helps those parents and children with ASD a safety net, in protecting them when they are out and about. Novel, excellent app for them.
Clio: Loved the song, and John Legend for doing this. Was that a DRONE that passed over his performance on the flatbed??
Thalia: LOL, so true though.
Polymnia: Really good mime performance!
Thank you, JL for this great post!
Wonder if that app would be useful (or adaptable) for caregivers of folks w/ Alzheimer's Disease, dementia or other mental disabilities. Particularly like the feature that it can't be removed except by the caregiver.
I know here in the KCMO Metro it's rare that a month goes by without a "Silver Alert" notice on TV.
I suspect it should be Nameless and might enable more to stay at home with family caregivers for a longer time.
Calliope – We structure society so that there are people who can only survive by committing crimes (and maybe that should be "crimes"), send them to prisons to make money, adn then wonder why they can't get a "legitimate" job. Peeps, the era of Les Miserables is not over. Kudos to Second Chance.
Clio – A large number of immigration prisons are privately owned too. Since one would be one too many, I really don't know how to characterize the number. I hope this concert gets a lot of attention,
Thalia – The best kind of humor, the kind that makes you think.
Dave's Killer Bread is sdimilar.
Too cool!!
Powerful indeed!
Republicans want all elections to be that way.
Good one!