Contributor vendors write in this issue about God, all-terrain wheelchairs and the adventures of Preacher Man.
Any vendor of The Contributor can accept VENMO as payment. Technology is a barrier to those experiencing homelessness. Many of our vendors don’t have phones or bank accounts, or use online commerce. Thus we simplified the VENMO process by using one account for all vendors. This means YOU MUST IDENTIFY YOUR VENDOR when using VENMO. Here is the skinny on how to do it right.
#1 You must have a VENMO account. Sign up at www.venmo.com if you haven’t already.
#2 SCAN THE SQUARE QR CODE in the top left corner of the cover of this paper using your phone or tablet camera. Then press the button that appears once it has been recognized.
#3 CLICK the blue “Pay or Request” button on the screen with The Contributor yellow and black logo.
#4 TYPE in the amount you wish to pay. The paper costs $2. Tips are welcomed. Vendors get all the money you send and can pick it up the next business day at our office.
#5 Most importantly, TYPE YOUR VENDOR’S NAME AND BADGE # in the “What’s this for?” box. Then hit the PAY button. Their name and 4 digit badge # should be written on the front cover of the paper below the QR code. You must
identify them to insure they will get the money. First name, last initial and 4 digit badge # will ensure that a vendor with a similar name doesn’t get confused for your vendor. You can also leave feedback in this field. But always identify the vendor. If they didn’t write their name or badge # on the cover of this paper, please describe where they were and what they looked like. This usually can identify them.
#6 HIT THE PAY BUTTON.
#7 The FIRST TIME you pay anyone using VENMO you will be asked to enter the last 4 digits of their phone number. Type 6829 in this field. Our phone number is (615) 829-6829. Or, you can scroll down and skip this step. (VENMO wants to protect you from sending money to the wrong person with a similar name. The next time you pay a vendor using our account, you won’t be asked to verify again.)
#8 ALWAYS TAKE THE PAPER HOME WITH YOU. When vendors sell out, the satisfaction of having a business that sells out its products begins to sink in! Vendors who sell out, come back to our office to buy more. This helps our vendors meet their sales goals. And, it is there that we can meet with them, give them their VENMO payments or mail and work on solving their barriers to housing and life’s goals.
#9 Friend us on VENMO and leave feedback. Open the app and click on “Me” at the bottom. Then select “Transactions” to see your payments. Click on the payment to The Contributor in your transaction list and then click on our icon at the top of the screen to see all of those transactions between us. On this page you can “Friend” us and click on the speech bubble icons of all your payments to leave feedback on your experience. Constructive feedback and praise help encourage our vendors to do their best.
Too little, too late: The long, vexing road to government assistance as a homeless Nashvillian
For Nashville’s unhoused, finding traditional work can range from difficult to impossible. Job options are narrow without a lengthy resume, and working a long shift leaves little time to address survival needs when one is coming home to a tent or car.
In theory, government benefits exist to close the gap and foster upward mobility. But between staggering application wait times, frequent denials, unreliable systems, and program setups that discourage and punish continuous participation, homeless Nashvillians have found that these benefit programs demand a lot in return for meager payouts — if you can get them at all.
Michael Wallace, a vendor for The Contributor, began working on an SSI application nine months ago. In that time he endured an extended bout of homelessness through a winter storm, moved into a new apartment after a monthslong search and attended many, many doctors’ appointments.
Wallace’s health conditions make finding and holding traditional work difficult. The Contributor’s SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery specialists, Ree Cheers and Andrew Terry IV, have helped him build a history of medical records, which are necessary to demonstrate that he needs the income.
And because he hadn’t been to the doctor
BY JUSTIN WAGNERfor as long as he could remember, they were starting from square one.
“It’s been awhile since I went to the doctor, it’s been years,” said Wallace. “Sometimes it is [frustrating], you don’t know what the doctors are gonna do … it can be a hassle if you want to do something that day, say you have to be at the doctor at 1, but you want to do something, you gotta forget that. When I moved into [my apartment], I missed an appointment … telling me [the results of] a CT scan.”
The work Wallace can do, selling The Contributor, demands a lot of time investment and still takes a toll on him physically, he said. The frequent doctor visits cut into his selling time. Co-pays and bus fares cut into the money he’s able to make.
And despite all the work, disability income simply isn’t enough.
Wallace expects that if he is approved for SSI within the coming weeks, his routine will stay largely the same. His income-based rent will balloon in response, and his food stamps will be reduced; while his finances will be more stable and flexible, the money won’t necessarily transform his day-to-day life.
“I’m still gonna be the same. I’m still gonna do my normal functions.”
Cynthia Pritchard, also a vendor for The Contributor, emphasized this point. She’s also
waiting for a decision to be made on her SSI case — and while she’s hopeful for an approval, one step forward in a particular program can feel like two steps back in other areas.
“What are they gonna do after I get my disability? They’re gonna cut me way off low on the food stamps, and I’m still gonna have bills, and I’m still gonna have to pay rent and my light bill. Then how am I supposed to buy groceries for myself,” she said. “It’s hard. Anyone going through it without [an agency] helping, it’s stressful … I try not to deal with it, because I do have anxiety issues.”
Pritchard said it feels as though government assistance programs are so complex, meager, and sluggish in an attempt to deter people from bothering to apply. The onus of showing assistance is necessary is placed on those asking for it, rather than on the agencies providing it.
“It was even harder trying to get food stamps as a young woman trying to take care of my kids,” she said. “It was a song and a dance. It’s like, when you go up there to apply for it, their attitude is, they don’t think you need it and they don’t want to give it to you. It’s like any other government business.”
Under current laws, SNAP recipients who are considered able-bodied are only eligible for more than three months of assistance if they work 80 hours a month. If one is mistakenly
marked as able-bodied, they’ll have to provide documentation arguing their case; potentially meaning more time spent on doctors’ appointments and multi-hour waits that, if one is homeless, could be spent on finding a safe place to sleep or finding a way to get dinner for the night.
Bobby Duke, another Contributor vendor, said the heaps of paperwork and processes make tackling these things alone seem impossible.
“My experience is just stressful. I signed up for [assistance applying for disability income], probably goin’ on two years now, I ain’t heard nothing. You can imagine how I feel,” he said. “I just got all my COPD and stuff confirmed. That’s supposed to be enough to get it … so far, I haven’t heard nothin’ on it. And food stamps, I was out of food stamps almost five months, I just got them back this month. Today’s a real bad day, I feel horrible. An hour, two hours max I can work out there. And you’re steady running to the doctor back and forth.”
Duke said he wouldn’t be able to fill out an application on his own, and that the whole process was confusing from the outset.
“I don’t know where to start. I see it online, some people could .. but I had to have help,” he said.
Agency assistance is a necessity for a lot of homeless individuals trying to work within the system; as Pritchard put it, many of those who become homeless do so because they tried to be compatible with society and it didn’t suit their needs.
This sentiment was echoed by Sandra Mooney, consumer engagement coordinator for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. Mooney said numerous barriers prevent services like SNAP, SSI/SSDI and TennCare from being accessible, whether that’s money needed to secure identity-verifying documents, computer access needed to apply and quickly follow up on communications, or a lack of education or motivation which renders the task of applying simply too daunting.
“To even have internet capability — and this is strictly opinionated here — I don’t know if that’s always factored in with the electronic systems, or how to connect to these portals, because it requires internet or WiFi capabilities. That is a huge barrier for a lot of our homeless or unhoused individuals throughout Tennessee. Some of those systems, they time out. If you’re not logged in, or answer within a certain amount of time, you have to start over,” Mooney said.
These barriers take up more than just time, Mooney said. They can drain a person’s motivation and pull focus from their survival needs.
“When you have individuals who are homeless due to transitioning for domestic violence purposes or safety, spending that time in front of a computer and the system’s shutting down, it really requires the support of an individual helping. You’re really trying to keep that individual calm, you’re trying to help that individual focus on that day. It’s a major barrier … it’s not always person-centered or client-friendly. The language is not user-friendly to a lot of the population as well.”
The maximum monthly payout on SSI, currently $943 for an individual, is not a livable amount of money — especially not in this city. While gentrification and gluttonous development have made Nashville a hostile environment to renters in general, finding stable living with just an SSI check can take even more waiting and assistance than getting that check in the first place.
Nashville’s median rent in 2024 is $2,285, according to Zillow.com. Since SSI’s maximum individual payout doesn’t even scratch the lower end of that spectrum, anyone living alone on a disability check or less needs income-based housing or a housing choice voucher to make their rent affordable. Waiting on a voucher can take months to years — if the waitlist is open — and income-based housing can only be applied for in narrow windows where there are openings. Once you do finally come up on an apartment’s waitlist, you will need extensive documenta-
"My experience is just stressful. I signed up for [assistance applying for disability income], probably goin’ on two years now, I ain’t heard nothing. You can imagine how I feel,”
tion verifying your identity, citizenship, and income to apply for a room; and sometimes, only a week or less to secure it.
If you need wheelchair accessibility, your options are fewer. If you are on the sex offender registry, your options are fewer. If you have a felony on your record, your options are fewer. And with a limited number of income-based apartments in the city, more people dependent on SSI means fewer beds to go around.
Homelessness leaves Nashvillians dependent on services to get back on their feet, and the limitations and deficiencies of these systems don’t foster the independence that might prevent them from needing help. They stake a person’s right to food, safety and shelter on their ability and willingness to work. Rather than assist first and assess whether it’s necessary later, these systems put the burden on those suffering to prove they deserve their rights.
The common thread between applying for any sort of government assistance is a deluge of paperwork and a long wait. A lot can happen in the months and years it takes to secure assistance, whether housing, disability income, or food stamps.
One hundred and eighty one people died living on this city’s streets in 2023. How many of them were waiting to have their survival needs met? How many in-progress applications have crawled to a decision after their deaths? For those who have a little luck and the time to wait, these programs can be enough to stabilize their situations. For those who don’t, they offer too little, too late.
The Tuskegee Airmen was a group of American military pilots (fighter and bomber pilots) who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477 Bombardment Group in the U. S. Army Air Force. Trained at Tuskegee Army airfield near Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and they were the first Black American military aviators in the armed forces.
During World War II, African-Americans in the Southern states were still subject to Jim Crow laws. Many white Southerners, maybe even a majority, thought that Black Americans should not become pilots. They were wrong.
On March 29, 1942, Eleanor Roosevelt, often reviled by white conservatives, visited Tuskegee Air Base. There, Alfred “Chief” Anderson took Mrs. Roosevelt for a 30-minute ride in a Piper J.P. Cub, which he piloted. After they landed, Mrs. Roosevelt cheerfully said, “Well, he certainly can fly alright.” Anderson, who had been flying since 1919, trained many of the Tuskegee Airmen to fly.
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, the only Black flying unit in the country, shipped out of Tuskegee in April 1943 bound for North Africa, where it joined the 332nd Fighter Group. The 99th flew its first combat mission to attack the small volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean to clear the sea lanes for the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. The 99th then moved
to Sicily where it received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its stellar performance in combat.
The 99th next moved to Italy on the Adriatic coast where, as part of the 332nd Fighter Group in the 15th Air Force, flew strategic bombing raids over Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Germany. Flying escort for heavy bombers, the 332nd earned an impressive combat record. Allies called these airmen “Red Tails” or “Red Tailed Angels” because of the distinctive crimson unit identifications on the tail section of their planes. Once, fighters of the 99th unit set a record for destroying four enemy aircraft in under four minutes.
Three members of the “Red Tailed Angels” lived in Williamson County. Robert Murdic grew up on 11th Avenue in Franklin between Main and Natchez streets. Thomas Patton was the son of John T. Patton, who founded Patton Brothers Funeral Home, the oldest African-American Funeral Home in Middle Tennessee. He attended Fisk University before becoming a Tuskegee airman. A third Tuskegee airman, Dr. Geoge White, lived in Williamson County after the war.
In Franklin, Merrell Osborne hopes to raise the money to erect a Tennessee Historical Commission marker to honor these pioneer Black airmen. If you would like to help him, his email address is mojo13@ comcast.net.
United Way of Tennessee recently released its 2024 ALICE Report.
ALICE stands for Asset Limited Income Constrained, Employed, and is the acronym used by United Way organizations nationwide to describe households that are living above the Federal Poverty Level, but still cannot afford the basic cost of living in their county.
United for Alice is the grassroots movement that spread from the United Way of New Jersey across half of the states, including Tennessee.
A recent 14-page report that examined data from 2022 and shared some of its findings: The most glaring summary is presented in a chart, showing that of the 2.8 million households in Tennessee, a little over half live above the ALICE threshold, and 44 percent live below the ALICE threshold, while only 13 percent of those meet the Federal Poverty Level.
However, not all is bad news.
Between 2021 and 2022, the number of households in poverty in Tennessee decreased by nearly 5,000. Yet, the number of ALICE households increased by more than 34,000 households.
In essence, what this all means in real number is the following:
• The ALICE Household Survival Budget for a single adult in Tennessee was $26,856 in 2022.
• The Federal Poverty Level was $13,590 for a single adult in Tennessee in 2022.
• The ALICE Household Survival Budget for a family of four with an infant and a preschool child was $75,612 in 2022.
• The Federal Poverty Level was $27,750 for the same four-member family in 2022.
The COVID pandemic had a significant influence on poverty rates, especially for families, nationwide and in Tennessee, but COVID assistance was temporary and started running out in 2021.
The 2024 ALICE Report for Tennessee shows that for the family of four — with an infant and preschooler — the tax credits during the pandemic decreased their budget needs to survive and meet their basics from $75,612 to $70,416 annually.
The federal expansions of the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit had the most impact on ALICE families through 2021, but this assistance largely expired that year.
Consequently, according to a report the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released on June 10, 2024, “Overall poverty and child poverty rose in 2022 by the largest amounts on record in data back to 1967.” This pretty much nils the progress made during the COVID-19 pandemic as essentially 14.5 million Americans moved out of poverty in 2021 and just as many — 14.5 million — fell into poverty in 2022. I think you may agree when I assume it was mostly the same households that were affected by this shift.
The CBPP release looks at national, not Tennessee specific data. But it still helps us understand the impact the loss of these tax credits had on local families. Furthermore, the CBPP looks at the Federal Poverty Level, not
the ALICE threshold. It explains the impact on poverty from the COVID assistance the following way:
The poverty rate declined to a record level of 8 percent in 2021 due to the federal pandemic relief and economic security programs. But in 2022, the expiration of that assistance got the poverty rate back to 12.4 percent.
Furthermore, “the American Rescue Plan’s Child Tax Credit expansion and stimulus payments, in conjunction with other relief measures, spurred the largest one-year drop in child poverty on record in 2021,” according to CBPP report the authors. Once again, as soon as this assistance expired, our nation saw the largest increase in child poverty in a one-year period.
The reason I think it is so important for us to understand and truly think about these numbers is that we clearly know what impacts the Federal Poverty Level. In other words, politicians and policy makers know how to reduce poverty.
In a book called Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong About Poverty, authors Mark Robert Rank, Lawrence M. Eppard, and Heather E. Bullock discuss that childhood poverty costs the U.S. an estimated $1 trillion per year. This is calculated based on loss of economic productivity, increased health care costs and increase in expenses related to criminal justice. Furthermore, the authors point to the benefits of reducing poverty. For every dollar we spend on reducing poverty, the country would save up to $12 in expenses.
All these numbers are hard to follow, and when we look at the Federal Poverty Level of $27,750 for a family of four in 2022 (which is meanwhile $31,200 for 2024), we may wonder how anyone can realistically survive on that
little. That brings me back to the recent ALICE report, which tries to focus on what an actual survival budget ought to look like.
When we talk about affordability, we need to consider income levels. The 2024 ALICE report found that while low-income wages increased during the pandemic, which was partially due to a tight labor market, 70 percent of the 20 most common low-income jobs in Tennessee still paid less than $20 per hour. Tennessee has not adopted a state income tax and has remained at the federal minimum income of $7.25 per hour since 2009.
A living wage for a two-parent household with two children in Tennessee is $23.53 per hour, according to the Wage Calculator of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In comparison, Tennessee’s poverty wage is $7.50 per hour, meaning you need to make this much to meet the Federal Poverty Level. Yep, that’s more than the minimum wage we have here.
Usually when I read these types of reports and analyses, I am mostly interested in trends over time. The ALICE report looks at the timeframe of 2010-2022 and concludes that the Tennessee population that lives below the ALICE threshold has increased over this time period. Specifically, between 2010 and 2022:
• The total number of Tennessee households increased by 15 percent;
• Households in poverty decreased by 6 percent; and
• The number of ALICE households increased by 15 percent.
The report also provides demographic breakdowns (presented in the chart entitled Household Financial Status and Key Demographics). The racial make-up of the overall Tennessee households was 75 percent White, 16 percent Black or African American, and
about 4 percent Hispanic or Latinx. In comparison, the population under the ALICE threshold consists of 70 percent White, 21 percent Black or African American, and 4.6 percent Hispanic.
Further information in the report is not surprising. As housing costs across the state increase, it hits families below the ALICE threshold harder — 42 percent of them reported that their rent increased in the past 12 months compared to 26 percent of households with incomes above the ALICE threshold. In 2022, 62 percent of households below the ALICE threshold were rent burdened, meaning they paid more than 30 percent of their income for rent. And 35 percent were extremely rent burdened, which means more than half of their household income was spent on housing costs. Not surprisingly, seniors are extremely vulnerable and often cannot afford to retire.
The reason I keep mulling over these types of analyses is that we need to find ways to convince policy makers and politicians to invest in people rather than corporate profits that we know will not trickle down to the poor. As public servants, they owe us as much. A financially healthy population remains the engine for productivity and a truly healthy economy. Living wages reduce not only poverty but increase productivity.
Furthermore, I hope that more of us start paying attention to ALICE versus only the Federal Poverty Level because we simply cannot meet the basic needs in Tennessee — or in this country — by getting above the Federal Poverty Level while still not meeting the ALICE threshold.
If we want all our households to succeed from childhood into old age, then we must start talking about a living wage.
After moving to Nashville 18 months ago, Dr. Chase Palisch has already made an impact through his involvement in the development of a new homeless healthcare program at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Palisch’s interest has always been at the intersection of health policy and innovation. After earning his bachelor's degree, he was a Rhodes Scholar and studied Health Policy at Oxford University, then worked for the Boston Consulting Group before he went on to medical school at Stanford University.
One of Dr. Palisch’s focus is to integrate what are called social determinants of health into his practice of medicine. Social determinants of health are non-medical factors that can positively or negatively affect health outcomes. These factors include conditions in which people live, work, learn, play, worship and age. Housing is one of the social determinants of health.
In your bio I saw that your title is Assistant Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine. What do you do?
I work as an emergency medicine physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center sites in the community and in downtown as well as at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Nashville.
I work in the emergency room clinically, but in addition I am working medically and clinically on the street with street medicine to provide care directly to patients who are experiencing homelessness where they are and where they live. That could be in transitional housing, on the streets, or in encampments. In general, we first meet these patients in the emergency department and then try to follow up on the street to help make sure that their care is continued. Sometimes we also meet people on the street and provide care for them there for the first time. That’s in a nutshell what I do.
How often are you out on the streets?
I go out and provide street medicine every Thursday. I go with community outreach partners from The Contributor as well as with the Veterans Affairs Health Care for Homeless Veterans program who consists of case managers, social workers, nurses, and a psychiatrist that also see patients on the street.
Based on your background, you’re interested in innovative approaches to make healthcare more equitable and affordable to all. How do you do that in your daily work?
One of the big challenges to a problem as large as homelessness is that solutions require [the commitment of] many actors. And so, one of the things I do outside of my clinical work is to try to facilitate partnerships between the various organizations that are helping people experiencing homelessness in Nashville. That has led to a number of partnerships between Vanderbilt University Medical Center as well as
other community organizations including The Contributor, Park Center and the Veterans Affairs Hospital.
One of the innovative ways that we're approaching health care on the street is by following persons who come to us first through the emergency department. One of the great strengths and the relevance of the emergency department is that we're always open, 24/7, and we encounter many patients experiencing homelessness. In fact, five percent of our emergency department encounters involve people who are experiencing homelessness.
I think we can do a better job connecting them with community resources and providing them with care after that immediate emergency care visit.
So, we're trying to reach those patients both in the emergency department providing excellent care, making sure we provide follow up care where they live and connect them to many of the community resources to address some of the social determinants that are driving their health problems.
You are involved in the development and running of Vanderbilt’s new Homeless Health Service program including a new street medicine approach. Could you tell us what the goal is and where the project currently stands?
The Vanderbilt Homeless Health Service is a new program that is trying to provide medical care on the street to patients who are experiencing homelessness. The project began with Dr. Jennifer Hess. It really began in earnest two years ago with planning. That planning initially started with
identifying what patients who are coming into the emergency department who are experiencing homelessness might need in terms of help and addressing [their condition] as a social determinant of health.
I joined a year ago, and then in the last year, we've been working to formalize community partnerships as well as our position in the Medical Center in order to provide care on the street. So, in the last year, we've been able to organize that process and starting in 2024, we’ve been actively seeing patients on the street weekly.
Previously, Vanderbilt University Medical Center had a different program that was also called the Homeless Health Service, which provided psychiatric care to patients on the street. This new Home Health Service is seeking to provide both medical and psychiatric care to patients on the street with a new iteration by a new team. We’re trying to leverage the learning and a lot of the experience that still exists with both our team members who were part of the previous iteration of the Homeless Health Service as well as some of the institutional knowledge that helped support that last effort.
Metro government has recently awarded over $760,000 for a two-year pilot project to The Contributor for a collaboration with Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Park Center to more efficiently serve people experiencing homelessness who enter Vanderbilt’s Homeless Health Service program. What are the outcomes you hope for? Park Center and The Contributor were instrumental in helping us develop and design the Homeless Health Service at Van-
derbilt. Working with them we realized that housing as a social determinant of health is the driving factor to provide healthcare to people experiencing homelessness. In the emergency room we provide medical care, but we are not specialized in addressing patients’ housing needs. We realized it would behoove us to enter formal partnerships.
So, we make sure once immediate medical needs are met, we offer to connect them to Park Center if they have an ongoing mental health illness or to The Contributor if they have ongoing medical illness that would qualify them for the SOAR program. (SOAR stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery and links patients to social security income and Medicare/Medicaid, if eligible). The SOAR program could potentially provide them with a pathway to both housing as well as a pathway to insurance and social security insurance and disability supports.
The Contributor was awarded the recent grant from Metro government [to hire staff members to support the SOAR teams and serve as liaisons between the partners].
We had over 2,700 patients who were experiencing homelessness who encountered our healthcare system last year, and we think we can do a better job helping them access that next step. And so, creating this formal collaboration and getting this grant will allow us to connect those patients with the resources that exist in the community.
To sum it up, The Homeless Health Service’s goal is to meet the patients’ medical needs and provide continuity for patients who are entering the emergency department; provide care to them on the street; help with their continuity of care; and connect them on to specialized community partners — whether that's Federally Qualified Health Centers through the ongoing healthcare needs or alternative supports that are provided by organizations like Park Center and The Contributor to help them address some of the underlying determinants of health factors such as their housing status, as well as social supports that they're entitled to.
Can you speak to the importance of including people with lived experience in the process of developing this program?
A big part of developing this program was to recognize that all too often people experiencing homelessness are not included in how to address their own care. It can be paternalistic and come from the top down, and also often it doesn't address the actual needs that patients and people with lived experience are facing.
So, our goal was to incorporate early on patients and people who were experiencing homelessness to help with the design and development of the Homeless Health Service at Vanderbilt in order to make sure that we're actually targeting the needs. Furthermore, we are developing an Advisory Board of people with lived experience to help us continue to adapt and adjust based on their experiences.
“The Contributor” está trabajando con uno de los principales periódicos en español La Noticia para llevar contenido a más lectores en Middle Tennessee. Nuestros vendedores de periódicos han pedido durante mucho tiempo que nuestra publicación incluya contenido que apele al interés de residentes de habla hispana en nuestra comunidad.
“The Contributor” is working with one of the leading Spanish-language newspapers La Noticia to bring content to more readers in Middle Tennessee. Our newspaper vendors have long requested that our publication include content that appeals to the interest of Spanish-speaking residents in our community.
Por Yuri Cunza
Editor-In-Chief @yuricunzaEn años recientes, los ‘Fenómenos Anómalos No Identificados’ (FANI), antes llamados OVNIs, han captado cada vez más la atención y preocupación del público. El debate en torno a estos fenómenos tradicionalmente se centra en dos hipótesis principales: un origen terrestre convencional, como tecnología avanzada creada por humanos, o un origen extraterrestre que involucra civilizaciones avanzadas de otras partes del cosmos. Sin embargo, hay una tercera hipótesis, menos convencional, que merece consideración: la hipótesis criptoterrestre (HCT).
La HCT sugiere que los FANI pueden ser atribuidos a seres inteligentes ocultos en la Tierra, viviendo bajo tierra, en la luna, o incluso caminando entre nosotros disfrazados. Esta noción, aunque recibida con escepticismo por muchos científicos, merece ser explorada debido a la naturaleza enigmática de algunos avistamientos.
La Hipótesis Criptoterrestre (HCT)
La HCT es una subcategoría de la hipótesis ultraterrestre, que abarca varias explicaciones no convencionales para los FANI. Un grupo de científicos de Harvard ha explicado por qué creen que los alienígenas están 'caminando entre nosotros'. En un estudio publicado el mes pasado, los autores Tim Lomas, Brendan Case y Michael Paul Masters presentan cuatro escenarios
Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis: A New Approach to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)
para la creciente preocupación por los FANI:
1. Remanentes de una civilización humana avanzada: Una civilización humana prehistórica, con un nivel tecnológico superior al actual, podría haber sobrevivido hasta nuestros días en secreto.
2. Especie inteligente no humana: Una especie inteligente, posiblemente descendiente de dinosaurios, ha evolucionado de forma independiente y oculta su existencia.
3. Viajeros interplanetarios o intertemporales: Seres de otro planeta o época han establecido una base en la Tierra.
4. Ángeles terrestres: Una civilización "menos tecnológica y más mágica",
¿Que hacer en caso de una redada?
1. Mantenerse callado
2. Sólo dar nombre y apellido
3. No mentir
4. Nunca acepte/lleve documentos falsos
5. No revelar su situación migratoria
6. No llevar documentación de otro país
7. En caso de ser arrestado, mostrarla Tarjeta Miranda (llámenos si necesita una)
Basados en la Quinta Enmienda de la Constitución, los derechos de guardar silencio y contar con un abogado fueron denominados Derechos Miranda luego de la decisión de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de Estados Unidos en el caso Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, de 1966.
similar a los ángeles de las religiones, que reside en la Tierra.
Evaluación de las Hipótesis
Comparada con la hipótesis extraterrestre (HET), la HCT tiene ventajas como no requerir el viaje interestelar. Sin embargo, plantea preguntas sobre la falta de evidencia arqueológica y las capacidades extraordinarias atribuidas a los FANI.
La HCT3, que incluye extraterrestres antiguos o viajeros del tiempo, plantea preguntas sobre sus motivaciones para permanecer ocultos. La HET puede argumentar que la humanidad está experimentando su primer contacto con estos visitantes extraterrestres, quienes podrían estar observándonos discretamente. Sin embargo, la idea de viajeros del tiempo o residentes aliení-
genas a largo plazo evadiendo la detección durante milenios parece aún más improbable.
La HCT4 destaca por su singular extrañeza. Aunque se alinea con numerosos relatos históricos de interacciones con seres místicos, desafía la comprensión científica contemporánea. Esta hipótesis sugiere que los encuentros de nuestros antepasados con hadas, elfos y otros seres míticos podrían haber sido eventos reales pero mal interpretados, representando una interacción continua con criptoterrestres. Reconocer la posible existencia de tales entidades implica un cambio de paradigma, donde se reconocen las limitaciones de nuestros modelos científicos actuales.
La Necesidad de Apertura Científica
La hipótesis criptoterrestre, aunque no convencional, subraya la importancia de la apertura científica y la humildad epistémica. Un reciente artículo de Scientific American destaca la necesidad de un enfoque multidisciplinario para estudiar los FANI y evitar sesgos antropocéntricos.
En conclusión, aunque la hipótesis criptote-rrestre pueda parecer improbable, proporciona un marco valioso para pensar sobre los ‘Fenómenos Anómalos No Identificados’. Al considerar estas hipótesis no convencionales, ampliamos nuestro ámbito de investigación y fomentamos un discurso científico más inclusivo. Solo a través de tal apertura podemos esperar descubrir la verdadera naturaleza de estos fenómenos desconcertantes.
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Dear Rev. Lawson,
Thank you, for teaching me how to march, how to fight and how to have faith. How to find the spark and fan it. The difference that is made in choosing the relentless force of the soul as a way of life rather than a tactic. Thank you.
May I and all your students as we slowly but surely find one another through our grief and love and put all the stories together, honor you. By being teachers. I know words will neve be enough, but I have to try. You always saw me in my “have to try.” That’s where I was when I met you.
I watched you, for years, introduce yourself as “a Methodist minister from Massillon, Ohio” and I watched what I think was a twinkle of amusement in your eye when people kept waiting for you to continue. But that was who you were, and to know you was to observe that twinkle often.
“To know you” is a greater gift than I think I ever even realized. I will thank your family, personally, the next opportunity I have, for sharing you with us. What a sharing it must have been. With as much time as you spent with us, with me, it cannot have been easy.
Thank you, also, for sharing your family with us, with me, by welcoming us, me, into it. “D. J.! You are in my heart and in my family!” is how you began your note to me in the copy of the Children you handed me one day after one of those many, many Saturday morning group meetings.
It was not the same book I asked you to sign the first time I met you, Walking With the Wind, John Lewis memoir, which I clutched to my chest as I hurtled through the courtyard to meet my destiny for the first time back in 2007. I was 19, and Walking had become my Bible overnight, as I had also become, without realizing it, baptized into a movement that I’d find myself leading soon enough, ending up even more like you than I could have tried. And try I did, to the amusement of many, as I was often the youngest in the room, for many years when Nashville’s currently thriving Black youth-led movement was still a memory of the ‘90s and a dream of the new millennium. It turned out to be my dream. Following you helped me realize it, or at least what I could of it. I resolved to never be the youngest or alone ever again. There were too many around me who didn’t need a reason to be radicalized, to take up their own freedom
in their hearts and hands and fight for it. They just needed an invitation. I learned that from you. No one needs to be educated on their own oppression. We are all just an invitation away from doing something about it.
And do something we did. Even though I graduated from Fisk university in May of 2010, I felt my real graduation was April 19, 2010, or ‘Aprilteenth’ as Rev. Ed Sanders coined it. It was a nonviolent, silent march through the streets of Nashville, led by two of my heroes — you and Diane Nash — commemorating and taking the same route as the march protesting the bombing of Z. Alexander Looby’s house. It was also the first time anyone — you — gave me the assignment of marshal. My people’s trust in that musty little orange day-glo vest was worth a thousand diplomas to me that day. Your trust in me, the trust of the rest of the group changed me forever. Your trust in a lot of people has changed the world forever. And the best part is, you showed us how to keep that powerful transference going. So that it will indeed, continue forever, beyond each of us, beyond our memory and those who will remember us. My name never needs to enter a history book because I know that my work will. You modeled that, continuing
your work, your ministry, your organizing well beyond the vaguely ‘70s drop off point of most memorials of civil rights legends. Your legacy will absolutely continue on beyond even that. I and countless other classmates of mine who share this sacred cohort that has pooled around your feet — across the globe — will make sure of it. We already have.
In 2011, you counseled me through the Occupy movement and what I thought was a contradictory tension between my commitment to the encampment and larger movement, and my commitments as a student at Vanderbilt Divinity school (my first and only choice for graduate school … because that’s where you went. Being in the same town as the footsteps of one’s hero makes walking in them whenever possible convenient. and it’s worked out wonderfully.) You pointed out to me, in our own shared theological language that you knew even the fire of my youth couldn’t argue with. You got through to me and showed me that there is no separation. If God’s love followed me wherever I go, then there can be no separation. The walls between movement, academy, street and community began to fall down in my mind. And I began to organize accordingly.
That’s partly why in 2014, my first full time organizing job was at the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). To my knowledge, the most recent immigrant ancestry I have was about three to five centuries ago and I have a hunch it wasn’t consensual. I’m Black Southern trans minister — I really wasn’t the best fit as TIRRC’s Youth organizer. But I had learned about Dreamers from you, Jim, and not very long after, met a few in my early organizing trainings and saw, like you did, in their fight, a spark that regardless of my skin color, I had in me lessons and trainings to add to it like kindling, if they’d have me. And I was just in time for the massive shifts that rolled through the lives and work of the young Dreamers whose work I supported. Recently, someone mentioned that there are folks out there who actually credit you with inspiring some portion of the Dream Act. I didn’t know this, but I’m not surprised. At the time, all I knew was I could flank and support these young folks and their community with my solidarity — and what you taught me.
I also thought of you and what you taught me a little later that same year when I noticed students from Meharry and Students from TSU going to Ferguson, but separately. Following what you taught me, I just talked to all of them, and realized they simply didn’t know each other. Yet. So I invited them to a meeting. The Saturday morning group didn’t meet as regularly then, but through Keith Caldwell I was able to get some space for an hour in the JUMP offices right next door, and I invited as many of the old Sat Am crew as I could. That was the beginning of the Black Lives Matter uprisings in Nashville, but for me, it was also confirmation of one of your cornerstone lessons on how to Save the Soul of a Nation. You don’t set out to do it because you see it should be done. There is a spark that must catch and light first, and you can’t provide that spark, you can’t start it manually and you can’t fabricate it or touch things off with the illusion of urgency and friction and activity. The spark will come, you just have to recognize it when it does.
I didn’t have long to wait, but it wasn’t the exit I expected. August came and with it the news of Mike Brown's body, left in the street and sun. Now, my own community needed me. No, I needed my community. So on a cold November night, I leaned on a pole outside of the MNPD courthouse, at a vigil for Mike Brown on the night that the verdict came down. It had already done so, and along with it came so much of what I believed; I felt like that shared theology, that faith in God’s love and the certainty of an arch towards justice was just crashing down inside me. I was deep into my grief and rage when I heard the vigil ending. Keith, another member of the Saturday morning group, had been leading the vigil. I heard his voice singing out over the grieving, chilly crowd — “…and now, we’re gonna MARCH. We’re gonna march, we’re about to MARCH and D. J. IS GONNA LEAD US.”
I was already headed to my car to go home and weep alone some more when I stopped short, confused. “Keith, no, I—” “and D. J. is gonna LEAD US.” Keith made eye contact with me and I understood. For such a time as this. You didn’t train us for nothing, Jim. That was, at the time, one of the largest protests Nashville had ever seen. I led more people than I had time or brain cells available to count that night, with no plan. No coordination. Just my grief, my courage, the trust of my friends and people, and every last thing you taught me. To my knowledge, we
managed to make it home safely that night — no thanks to the petty-ass cops handing out hot chocolate. You warned us of such antics too, which is why I snatched the first cup I saw and bellowed into the megaphone that as long as Nashville stayed one bullet away from a hashtag that the hot chocolate they were handing out was boiled in blood as far as I was concerned.
You gave me some of the most chilling, and valuable, advice of my life around this time.
During the Saturday morning group meetings, you would look or gesture towards me sometimes, in that deep sonorous voice of yours, emanating out from that frosty white-maned head that so often reminded me of an elder, mystic lion. “D. J., your generation of activists will have an even tougher fight against racism and plantation capitalism than we did in our day.
During the sit-ins, we could point to the White’s Only sign on the door to prove racism still exists. In your time, the signs have come down, yet the problem still persists.” But deep in the winter in 2014, as the backlash and violence began to rear its ugly head nationwide, I realized that the
lives of me and all my friends were in danger. Recalling the story of Diane Nash informing Robert Kennedy that the Freedom Rides would continue even after the bus bombing “we’ve already written our wills, sir.” You gave me that copy of the Children for a reason.
I called you, late at night grateful for the time difference now that you were back home in California. I tried really hard not to cry. But I was afraid. The state legislature of Tennessee was working to make it legal for people to hit me and my friends with their cars if we blocked the streets just like some of your students did, as if they forgot that.
What could we do, how would I protect people? This fight was only beginning and already I felt like I was possibly leading all of these young brave and brilliant black folks into the jaw of a violent and fearful nation. “All we said was ‘stop killing us’ Jim, and now it’s like it’s open season on us.”
“Well, D. J.,” that slow, deep, rich voice rolled to me out of the dark, “I believe that the level of fear and anger and vitriol that you face from
white people now is unlike anything I ever saw in the 1960s. I cannot, honestly, tell you what to do, think or expect.” Damn. The floor fell out from under me then. I don’t tell people this part that often. That Rev. Dr. James Lawson, who survived the Civil Rights movement, still hadn’t seen this level of hate — floored me. But, here I was. That was 10 years ago.
That hatred that shocked us both has only seemed to grow since. But so has the movement. In 2020, one of the few protests I did attend was to flank and support a group of extremely brave and brilliant teenagers when they led what is now the largest protest that Nashville had ever seen, and the past four years have shown there is still plenty to fight against and for. But as I was taught, we are all just an invitation away from doing something about it.
D. J. Hudson is a local activist who began organizing in Nashville while a student at Fisk University and Vanderbilt University. They’ve since returned home to Georgia and currently serve on the board of Southerners On New Ground (SONG).
If I was a bad person on my last leg
I would maybe get on my knees and beg I would ask the Lord to walk with me every day
But I’m not on my last leg, so I serve him anyway
Many have problem with the word love
They treat it like a noun and not a verb
Love is a action word, don’t you know
Many won’t find out till the last show
I love sharing the word each and every day
First thing I do is get on my knees and pray
I could share his word til the day I die I love it so much sometimes it makes me cry
Poems are not something I really like to write I rather write an article so I can be blunt and right
I’ll see you when you get there with open arms
SO get it right before Jesus comes.
As there are various jobs across the globe from the president's seat all the way down to a person collecting and recycling plastic and aluminum, all jobs get paid. They get paid in various ways, some get checks, some get paid by direct deposit and some even get paid cash. The only way they get paid is by their work and or by the sales of their product. Regardless, a hustle is a hustle. A person is providing for themselves. The Contributor vendors are those
BY MAURICE B., CONTRIBUTOR VENDORthat are individuals that have a legal product just like waiters or waitresses and we are paid by customers and mostly regular customers that walk up and or drive up. We get paid $2 per paper, $2 dollars per bumper sticker upon request, $20 per copy of Ridley Wills’s A Collection of “Nashville History Corner” per request as commission plus all tips that's truly appreciated. We, as we would with any other job, deal with major matters of mixed
up emotional mentalities and difficulties as they arise, but we take the good with the bad and continue to press on. We deal with various obstacles placed in our ways even to get to our destinations as the "norm" do. Matter of fact, when we get there we deal with more issues such as individuals yelling and screaming out the window as they drive by to, “get a real job.” Well, with our Contributor badge it makes us micro-business owners. Contributor vendors
are as real and legal employment as the next job in Davidson Co. We vendors are a mini business of ourselves. And we’ve modernized. We Contributor vendors accept Cash and Venmo. The payment of Venmo goes to the vendors the next business day only by a customer scanning the QR code on the paper and correctly typing in their name and badge number down in the comment area. By all means feel free to add @The-Contributor as a friend on Venmo.
In an effort to check out another state park that offers the use of the all terrain wheelchairs, I attended a spring bird watching event at Radnor Lake early one Wednesday morning. They typically last from 7:30-11:30 and folks can come and go at their leisure.
What types of birds might you see while you’re there? Here are just a few of the possibilities:
• Acadian Fly Catchers
• Eastern Wood Pee Wee Birds
• Eastern King Birds
• Red Summer Tanagers
• Blue Herons
Another interesting thing I learned on this outing is if you hear a bird sing but you don’t know what kind of bird it is there’s an App for that called Merlin!
I also learned that I can take a picture of a plant or a tree with my phone, then hit the little leaf symbol and my phone will identify the plant! Now that’s what I call a “smart phone!”
Sadly, even with binoculars I didn’t see much of anything. Thankfully there were others who did, and they were more than happy to share their photos with me — people like Lorraine Brown.
Harold Abromowitz shared a picture of a Blue Heron (it looked like something out
of National Geographic) with the stipulation that I not take credit for it. I assured him that no one who knows me and my abilities with a camera would EVER believe I took that picture!
Another young man (I didn’t get his name), shared a picture he’d gotten in the past of an eaglet at the waters edge. Sadly the most recent eaglet eggs failed to hatch.
As usual, I met interesting people along the way including Fred from Florida, Jerry from the Massachusetts/Connecticut area who upon seeing the all-terrain wheelchair was on the phone with his local government officials saying, “We’ve got to find a way to get these in our parks!”
Lane, a local guy, was also impressed by the wheelchair asking if he could take a picture. I thought, hey, isn’t that my line?
He went on to say his dad, a true outdoorsman, had suffered a stoke and was depressed because he couldn’t enjoy the outdoors like he had before — problem solved!
Other locals include Steve and his lovely wife who was filming for Nashville Public Television (NPT). They told me about their friend Will Ferrell (not the comedian) who also used these special wheelchairs. In fact, he was coming the very next day!
John Noel is on the Board of Directors of TruGreen, the company that sponsored a hike-a-thon I wrote an article about in this publication, and ultimately what's led to my exploring the parks that offer the use of the all-terrain wheelchairs.
I even met a young man from Israel! He is here for work to install some type of sensors for Labcorp.
All that being said, my initial visit DID NOT initially go as planned.
Early on in the excursion, the wheelchair I’d come to check out kept malfunctioning eventually requiring that it be pushed back to where I’d started the day with me on it. How embarrassing!
Thankfully they had another all terrain wheelchair available for me to use. This one had tires like a tank!
After a much needed break, and a mini meltdown in the ladies room, I once again attempted to explore the park.
My next stop was the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center, where they care for injured birds with the ultimate goal of returning them to the wild. However, some have sustained injuries that prevent that, therefore the aviary is now their permanent home.
So what will you see there? Currently it is home to a Great Horned Owl, a Red Tail Hawk, a Black Vulture, a Bald Eagle and a Golden Eagle. (Occupants subject to change.)
It is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. The walk up is quite a trek, even able-bodied individuals were eyeballing the all-terrain wheelchair, making comments like, “Man, I need that!” or “I’m going to need that before I leave from here!”
Knowing I wasn’t having the best day up to this point, the park rangers started getting the birds out of their enclosures so I could get an up close and personal look at these magnificent creatures, and a few pictures too. Now that was super cool!
If you get a chance, you should come and see this place for yourself, then spread the word. Tennessee State Parks have a lot of fun things to see and do, so if you can’t get to this one, then find one near you!
*It should be noted that ALL of this was made possible by the hard working employees who went above and beyond to make sure I had The Best time on each of my adventures while at their facilities! Thank you SO much for ALL your hard work!
68. Deposit the ashes
69. Giant Hall-of-Famer Mel ____
70. Canine skin infection
71. Humble and docile
72. Name badges, acr.
73. Streamlined DOWN
1. Bonkers
2. Sir Mix-____-____
Rob Manfred's org.
3. Kind of boots in the '60s
4. One M in MMR vaccine
5. Slowly and gracefully, in music
6. Mass number
7. Snake-like reef dweller
8. Teacher of Torah
9. *"Oppenheimer" subject
10. Popular smoothie berry
11. Pinnacle
12. Hula dancer's necklace
15. B in FBI
20. Open up
22. Half of NFL
24. a.k.a. Hansen's disease
25. *1990 Swayze/Moore blockbuster
26. Trattoria staple
27. Petroleum tanker
29. *It premiered in the U.K. on 6/6/76, with The
31. Chemical cure
32. Revered Hindu
33. Drawing support
34. *2001 blockbuster ogre
36. Type of rich soil
38. "Keep this information" button
42. Name-chooser
45. Wyatt Earp and such
49. Cuban dance syllable
51. Letter-resembling supports
54. End of a poem
56. Primary
57. Like certain china
58. Malaria symptom
59. Ankara native
60. Gangster's pistols
61. Cosine's buddy
62. U2 member
63. Vigor's partner
65. It would
67. Comic book cry of horror
Happy Birthday Ruth - June 7, 1992 & Beth - June 23, 1995 (And let’s not forget Mumz Birthday also - June 24, 1938)
BY
WRITTENRuth and Beth
God’s given me two daughters. They mean the world to me. One’s like Fire, The other’s Water. Sweet with a touch of Spicy. I know someday, I’ll have to give them away, Into the hand of another man. But he better thank The Lord, For what’s in store, With either one of them.
Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle. One’s like her mommy, And one’s like myself.
A little bit of Heaven, And a little Hell... ell... ell...
Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle.
Now, Ruthie she’s a lot like me. Black sheep of the family. Almost as wild as I used to be, But always the life of the party. Trouble with a Capital T.
Beth Danielle, My little southern belle. Putting other people, Before herself. Quick to listen. And eager to help, Like water from a wishing well.
Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle.
Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle. One’s like her mommy, And one’s like myself.
A little bit of Heaven, And a little Hell... ell... ell... Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle.
A little brass-knuckles, And a butterfly. It’s easy to see, Why they’re the Light of my Life. A little piece of me, And my ex-wife. Oh, well...
Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle.
Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle. One’s like her mommy, And one’s like myself.
A little bit of Heaven, And a little Hell... ell... ell...
Ruth Ann-Marie and Beth Danielle.
Prisoner Princess
CHRIS SCOTT FIESELMANThis world got to listen to a brand-new song, The day my precious, little girl was born. Kept her protected. Kept her safe from harm. Taught her do the right, And stay away from the wrong. I always thought, I taught my daughter pretty well, How to be prepared and take care of herself. Never thought she’d ever be, So easily deceived, Trapped by a mad-man, That she can’t leave.
Prisoner from a Princess, From a Castle to a Cage. My little girl is all grown up, And finally come of age. I always wanted more for her, Then ending up this way.
Prisoner from a Princess, From a Castle to a Cage.
It’s a fool who takes a precious jewel, And considers it colored glass. He doesn’t see the reality, Or the treasure that he has. Putting up with not enough Love, Just to have somebody there. Missing out on so much, On a road that goes nowhere.
Prisoner from a Princess, From a Castle to a Cage. My little girl is all grown up, And finally come of age. I always wanted more for her, Then ending up this way.
Prisoner from a Princess, From a Castle to a Cage.
A father’s heart was breaking... A family torn apart... But now, my daughter’s finally happy, And she’s making a brand-new start. Ask me how it happened, And you’ll see a father smile. It’s best I just say that, “He hasn’t been seen in quite a while.”
Prisoner from a Princess, From a Castle to a Cage. My little girl is all grown up, And finally come of age. I always wanted more for her, Then ending up this way.
Prisoner from a Princess, From a Castle to a Cage.
You’ve heard it said, Gemini, that you shouldn’t “sweat the small stuff.” Sometimes a confident advisor will finish this off with a “and it’s all small stuff.” But I’ll tell you what, Gemini, small stuff or not, I am sweating. That’s just what happens when it’s this humid outside and the sun is out and the “small stuff” keeps rolling in. I say don’t sweat sweating the small stuff. I think you’re in touch with the reality of this moment and this moment calls for a little sweat. Sweat cools you off, shame over sweat just makes small stuff seem bigger.
Remember that summer we went to the water park every week, Cancer? We’d wait in line for the big twisty slide, winding up that splintery wooden staircase and when we’d get to the top the attendant would say “How tall are you?” And we’d shrug and then he’d make us stand next to the merman cut-out behind him and then he’d shake his head and say, “You gotta be at least as tall as the trident to slide. Try again next summer.” But we’d just keep trying every week. Well, Cancer, this is next summer. I think you’re ready for the big slide. I’ll meet you at the top of the stairs.
That guy from my highschool who used to fake a swing at my face and then slug me twice in the gut while shouting “two for flinching!” just put out his second book about nonviolent conflict resolution. And you know, Leo, people do change. I’ve changed. For instance, I don’t flinch as easily as I used to. I take things more as they come. You’ve changed too, Leo. There was a time when you would have flinched at that assertion, but now I think you know it. Stop today and count the ways you’re different. Some good, some less good, some neutral. Which changes do you want to keep?
For the rest of the week, Virgo, it will be completely free to look up at the sky. Go ahead and try it. You may notice clouds, birds, stars, sunsets, airplanes — all of these available to view at absolutely no cost to you. It’s unclear how long this deal may last, Aquarius, but right now is a great time to step away from whatever you’re doing, gently elevate your chin, open your eyes and see what comes in.
It’s amazing how quickly you can change the focus of your suffering. For instance, I’ve been sitting at this library desk for the past 20 minutes trying to use my fingernail to knock-loose a little piece of popcorn that’s stuck between my two back teeth. When it finally got free, I was so relieved! My suffering had ended. But then I noticed the security camera pointed right at me. What if somebody was watching me dig around in my molars for 20 minutes? What if they post it somewhere and I become a shamed viral video sensation? These racing anxieties can stick with me for hours until the next focus pops up. The best you can do today, Libra, is notice this shifting focus as it happens. Watch what your mind grasps and watch when it lets go.
I’ve been writing these horoscopes for a while, Scorpio, and sometimes I’m surprised that I’m not more popular. It’s OK if you’ve never heard of me. I’m kind of an acquired taste. I’m like your favorite amateur astrologer’s favorite amateur astrologer. What I’m saying, Scorpio, is just because you haven’t been acknowledged for something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep going.
I started doing Sudokus again, Sagittarius. I think it’s because I got tired of the crosswords. And I only started doing those because all the mini-puzzle games solved too fast and they weren’t taking up enough of my time. And it’s not that there’s anything wrong with any of these activities, Sagittarius, I mean, how wholesome can you get? But I do notice that I pick them up when I’m stressed with the problems in front of me and I just want something I can solve. Where are you spending your brain-time lately, Sagittarius? Is it rewarding and fun or is it keeping you away from a realization? Don’t ask me. I’m just trying to put an “8” somewhere on this line.
A recent study from the Kenyan savannah showed that elephants call one another by name. This is one of those shocking but not surprising revelations that resets some assumptions we make about the world. At least it was for me, Capricorn. The sounds elephants make to communicate range from the familiar trumpeting to low rumbles indetectable to human ears and they use them to call out to each specific other. Why does that make me feel lonely, Capricorn? Maybe all we want is to be called by our real names and to call back out and draw near. If you aren’t hearing yours, Capricorn, let the herd know.
My friend moved away and gave me his big screen TV. (It's not as good as having a friend, but still pretty cool.) It’s got crystal-clear, multi-definition picture and fully-immersive 5-D sound that overwhelms the senses. It takes up most of my dining table. (It’s not as good as having a dining table, but still pretty cool.) So today as I sit on my futon alone with a dinner plate in my lap and a remote in my hand I think about the things that still might be missing in my life. Before you press “continue watching,” Aquarius, think for one breath about how this might deepen your connection to the world and how it might be lifting you out of it.
I thought that was a picture of you, Pisces, but then I realized it’s just the famous actor from that show you like. I guess that makes more sense. Especially since they were photographed between those other celebrities you’ve never met in that glamorous location you’ve always wanted to go to. But for a second, Pisces, I really did think it was you. You see your life as so distant from the one you dream of, but it’s very, very close. Satisfaction just doesn’t look how you’ve imagined. Because it’s not being someone else somewhere else. It’s being you, now.
I fell asleep in the chair by the window unit again, Aries. Woke up shivering under my rain jacket at three in the morning and stumbled into the bedroom where it was still too hot. Maybe I’ll just sleep here in the doorway where the temperature is at least close to livable. Sometimes, Aries, it’s too much of one thing or too much of the other. But it’s not really practical to stay in the middle. You might need some more substantial rearranging before you get to what’s next. Have you ever considered a bed in the kitchen?
I believe it was the Canadian poet Avril Lavigne who once said, “Life’s like this: You fall and you crawl and you break and you take what you get.” and I can’t remember the rest, Taurus, but you get the sentiment. I think what Avril was explaining is that the way things feel right now is exactly how they feel right now, but that’s not always how things are going to feel. So don’t make things so complicated, Taurus. Allow this moment to be just how it is. Remember, we like you the way you are (When you’re driving in your car.)
Charles Walter Stansby Williams (1886–1945), the editor of the following selections, is today probably the third most famous of the famous Inklings literary group of Oxford, England, which existed in the middle of the 20th century, and which included among its ranks the better-known and longer-lived Oxford Dons J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis—but he was arguably the most precocious and well-read of this eminent and intellectually fertile group. He was also known to have influenced Dorothy Sayers, T. S. Eliot and W. H. Auden. Lacking a proper degree unlike his fellow Inklings, this genius Cockney-speaking author, editor, critic, and playwright was eminently well-versed in both philosophical and theological writings of the remote past as of the present day (the mid-20th century) and used this familiarity to good effect in his poetry, supernatural fiction and his lesser-known devotional selections designed for the spiritual benefit of the faithful in the Church of England. This series of profound quotations, encompassing all walks of life, follows the sequence of the themes and Bible readings anciently appointed for contemplation throughout the church's year, beginning with Advent (i.e., December) and ending in November, and reaches far beyond the pale of the philosophical and theological discussions of his day. It was under his hand, for instance, that some of the first translations of Kierkegaard were made available to the wider public. It is hoped that the readings reproduced here will prove beneficial for any who read them, whatever their place in life's journey. — Matthew Carver
4th Wednesday after Trinity
NOR do all these, youth out of infancy, or age out of youth, arise so, as a phoenix out of the ashes of another phoenix formerly dead, but as a wasp, or a serpent out of carrion, or as a snake out of dung; our youth is worse than our infancy, and our age worse than our youths; our youth is hungry and thirsty after those sins which our infancy knew not, and our age is sorry and angry that it cannot pursue those sins which our youth did.
Donne: Sermons.
4th Thursday after Trinity
LORD, before I commit a sin, it seems to me so shallow that I may wade through it dry-shod from any guiltiness; but when I have committed it, it often seems so deep that I cannot escape without drowning.
Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times
IF thou knewest thy sins, thou wouldst lose heart.
Pascal: Pensées
4th Friday after Trinity
ABBA John used to say, "We relinquish a light burden when we condemn ourselves, but we take upon ourselves a heavy burden when we justify ourselves."
The Paradise of the Fathers
I LOVE thee more ardently than thou hast loved thine abominations.
Pascal: Pensées
4th Saturday after Trinity
THE ten Commandments, when written by God on the tables of stone and given to man, did not then first begin to belong to man; they had their existence in man, were born with him, they lay as a seed and power of goodness, hidden in the form and make of his soul and altogether inseparable from it, before they were shown to man on tables of stone. And when they were shown to man on tables of stone, they were only outward imitations of that which was inwardly in man, though not legible because of that impurity of flesh and blood in which they were drowned and swallowed up.
William Law: The Spirit of Love.
Fourth Sunday after Trinity
WHAT is Christ's joy in us, but that He deigns to rejoice on our account? And what is our joy, which He says shall be full, but to have fellowship with Him? He had perfect joy on our account, when He rejoiced in the foreknowing, and predestinating us; but that joy was not in us, because then we did not exist: it began to be in us, when He called us. And this joy we rightly call our own, this joy wherewith we shall be blessed; which is begun in the faith of them who are born again, and shall be fulfilled in the reward of them who rise again.
St Augustine, quoted in Aquinas, Catena Aurea
THE precursor (John the Baptist) confirms Christ as being he who is expected. But . . . that is not a respectful relationship, for in order to con- firm something one must oneself be the stronger. It is therefore John the Baptist who sends disciples to Christ in order to ask him whether he is the one who was to come—so that it is Christ who after having answered the disciples ends by confirming John the Baptist, saying he is quite truly the precursor; it is not Christ who confirms himself by the authority of the precursor . . . no, it
is he who draws the precursor within the sphere of his authority and by virtue of his authority confirms him as being the genuine precursor. The word of the precursor, that Christ is the expected, is only to be believed after Christ has confirmed the fact that the precursor really is the precursor.
Kierkegaard: Journals
5th Monday after Trinity
THOUGH he were innocence itself, and knew no sin, yet there was no sin that he knew not, for, all our sins were his. He was not only made man, and by taking (by admitting, though not by committing) our sins, as well as our nature, sinful man; but he was made sin for our sakes.
Donne: Sermons.
THY conversion is My affair; fear not, and pray with confidence as for Me.
Pascal: Pensées
5th Tuesday after Trinity
CONSIDER that Jesus suffered in His heart with all the knowledge of a God, and that in His heart there was every human heart and every form of suffering from Adam until the consummation of the world.
Ah yes, to suffer for others can be a great joy if one has a generous soul, but to suffer in others is to really suffer!
Léon Bloy: Letters to his Fiancée
THE Jews, in testing if he were God, have shown that he was man.
Pascal: Pensées
5th Wednesday after Trinity
THERE is a moving absurdity about all human categories when they are applied to Christ; for if one could talk absolutely humanly about Christ one would have to say that the words: "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" are impatient and untrue. They can only be true if God says them, and consequently also when the God-Man days them. And indeed—since it is true, it is the very limit of suffering.
Kierkegaard: Journals
NO single teardrop lieth hid from thee, my God, my Maker, my Deliverer, no, nor any part thereof.
The Orthodox Liturgy: Prayers of St Simeon
5th Thursday after Trinity
THE greatest exercise at once of the Divine goodness, and wisdom, and power, is to bring good out of evil.
St Clement: Stromata
MAN must be lenient with his soul in her weaknesses and imperfections and suffer her failings as he suffers those of others, but he must not become idle, and must encourage himself to better things.
St Seraphim of Sarov.
5th Friday after Trinity
THE only remedy for having given up a habit of recollection is to recommence it, otherwise the soul will continue to lose it more and more every day, and God grant it may realize its danger.
St Teresa: The Interior Castle.
WE make an idol of truth itself; for truth apart from charity is not God, but his image and idol which we must neither love nor adore, and still less must we love and adore its opposite—namely, falsehood.
Pascal: Pensées
Sponsored by Matthew Carver, publisher
Feast of St. Peter
[OF the Cross] Its breadth lies in the transverse beam on which the hands of the Crucified are extended; and signifies good works in all the breadth of love: its length extends from the transverse beam to the ground, and is that whereto the back and feet are affixed; and signifies perseverance through the whole length of time to the end: its height is in the summit, which rises upwards above the transverse beam; and signifies the supernal goal, to which all works have reference, since all things that are done well and perseveringly, in respect of their breadth and length, are to be done also with due regard to the exalted character of the divine rewards: its depth is found in the part that is fixed into the ground; for there it is both concealed and invisible, and yet from thence spring up all those parts that are outstanding and evident to the senses; just as all that is good in us proceeds from the depths of the grace of God, which is beyond the reach of human comprehension and judgement.
St Augustine: On I John
THREE kinds of men see God. The first see him in faith; they know no more of him than what they can make out through a partition. The second behold God in the light of grace but only as the answer to their longings, as giving them sweetness, devotion, inwardness and other such-like things which are issuing from his gift. The third kind see him in the divine light.
Eckhart: Sermons and Collations
Fifth Sunday after Trinity
YOU must not reckon with sin, from the nativity, but the conception; when you conceived that sin in your purpose, then you sinned that sin, and in every letter, in every discourse, in every present, in every wish, in every dream, that conduces to that sin, or rises from that sin, you sin it over and over again, before you come to the committing of it, and so your sin is an old, an inveterate sin, before it is born, and that which you call the first, is not the hundredth time, that you have sinned that sin.
Donne: Sermons.
LORD, often have I thought with myself, I will sin but this one sin more, and then I will repent of it, and of all the rest of my sins together. So foolish was I and ignorant. As if I should be more able to pay my debts when I owe more: or as if I should say, I will wound my friend once again, and then I will lovingly shake hands with him: but what if my friend will not shake hands with me?
Thomas Fuller: Good Thoughts in Bad Times
6th Tuesday after Trinity
SCARCELY is there any man that hath delight in worship, but that he is either in great peril of falling, or else fully fallen down into the pit of deadly sin, as we may see by many reasons: first, for also much as he that hath great delight is busy all times in his mind how he may keep his worship and made it more . . . Also he that loveth worship is busy to procure and get him friends that may keep him in his worship, and also further him to greater worship . . . Also commonly he hath indignation of others that be in worship and backbiteth them to make himself more worshipful and more worthy. And so he falleth into hate and envy of his brother.
The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, trs. by Nicholas Love.
In 2011, I was brought back to jail under false pretenses. Earlier in that same year, I was told by a young “Ordained Prophet” that I was going to have to travel back to the land from which I had came and reconcile! I’m not going to lie, when I first got to jail because of the charges brought up against me, I couldn’t see straight! But God kept on telling me not to pay attention to the charges to find my purpose and to be a servant of it! At that time, I was immediately placed in the worst pod in the jail. It was amazing and yet absolutely insane! Two or three fights a day at least … nobody cared about nothing, no respect for themselves or others, nobody was even trying but a few to help themselves or didn’t know how to, because either they couldn’t read or write or their attention span was very, very short! At other times it seemed like the only thing that could tame this beast was T.V., cards, dominoes, chess and gym call. The only time I felt the presence of God was when I called out to him in prayer in my cell. So, I decided to do just that to devote as much of myself and time to God as possible through prayer and Bible study, but I noticed that there wasn't a prayer circle presence in this pod. However, I continued my studies day in and day out calling
BY DENNIS T., CONTRIBUTOR VENDOR BY TERRY H., CONTRIBUTOR VENDORon the all mighty God to use me to be an impact to others as well as them being one to me! In 2012 our pod went through classification and we (the pod) was moved to another pod and that’s when all hell broke loose. Satan showed his ugly face on numerous occasions, personally placing his stamp on this pod! Everybody wanted to leave and nobody wanted to come in including the guards. This pod became the devil’s playground! For the first time in my life, I had actually seen what many had talked about in the flesh and now with no time to waste, I had to put on the whole suit of armor and go to war! We started a prayer circle in 2012-13 and I haven’t looked back. Over that course of time, I’ve had the pleasure of being able to bear witness to God’s work through them and me! Many battles have been lost, but also many have been won. “God’s Army” is constantly growing and it’s up to us to do our part to make sure that it does ‘cause his victory is our victory! I hope that you enjoy this book and maybe even want to become a part of his army too. If so, suit up cause the battle to winning souls never, ever stops. But first you have to start with yourself! So, welcome to my world and if you’re truly ready… then mount up your horse and let’s ride!
I heard early rumblings about Richard Linklater’s Hit Man film when it debuted at the Venice Film Festival in September. The movie was well received on its festival run and its fresh Rotten Tomatoes score is gushing with rave reviews. After opening in theaters at the end of May, Hit Man debuted on Netflix on June 7. There’s only a small smattering of bad reviews on RT. They’re pretty harsh and they’re mostly right.
Linklater is emblematic of the independent film renaissance of the 1990s. His movie Slacker helped to define that era, and he’s gone on to become a ranging filmmaker with an Oscar and a reputation for innovation. I like Linklater, and Slacker, Waking Life , Dazed and Confused and School of Rock are great movies. I’m dying to see his Nouvelle Vague film about Jean Seberg and the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s movie, Breathless . Linklater’s made great films. Hit Man isn’t one of them.
The biggest culprit here is the writing by Linklater and his star, Glen Powell. Powell plays a University of New Orleans philosophy professor. He also moonlights as a part time undercover techie, wiring microphones for New Orleans Police Department stings of murder-for-hire deals. What? This is all explained in an introductory scene that’s just a few cuts short of a montage. Linklater mostly tells us everything we need to know about Gary Johnson except his actual name. The visual storytelling is pretty strong, but then Linklater and Powell insist on spelling the whole thing out with Gary’s pedantic narration. It mostly gets worse from there.
Glen Powell is genuinely charming and there’s a fun running gag about the various costumes Gary creates once the police decide to cast him as the hit man in their stings. The best parts of the film take place in the police surveillance van where the part time undercover fake hit man and the police officers deploy their almost slapstick investigations. There are some genuinely funny moments in the movie mostly thanks to strong support work from Retta, Sanjay Rao and Austin Amelio. But when Gary is pontificating a philosophical soliloquy like he’s reading from a bad script or we’re subjected to the interminable rom in this com, Hit Man goes way off target.
The biggest problem with professor Gary’s lectures is that Linklater and Powell use Gary’s class to point directly at the movie’s themes. It’s almost as bad as the narration and it seems odd for a movie maker like Linklater to do so much dumbing down. But Hit Man is a flimsy pastiche of pseudo intellectualism, unbelievable romance fueled by insufferable banter and cop comedy that doesn’t think the average Netflix viewer is smart enough to get it. I’d argue that the average Netflix
viewer is smart enough to understand Hit Man even if they’re too dumb to hate it. And I don’t hate Hit Man . It’s just a disappointment after all the hype. If you grew up in Generation X you’ll remember Public Enemy’s “Don’t Believe the Hype.” Linklater’s 1990s films like Slacker exuded authenticity, reflecting the era’s skeptical idealism. He also showed he could helm a mainstream hit like School of Rock . He re-booted Bad News Bears and adapted Philip K. Dick. Movies like Tape , Waking Life and Boy are technically and formally innovative. It’s rare to like every
movie that a particular director makes. Tarantino made The Hateful 8 . Ang Lee made The Hulk . I can sum up this review by paraphrasing one of the most annoying bad lines in this movie: not all Linklater films are good Linklater films.
Hit Man is streaming on Netflix
Joe Nolan is a critic, columnist and performing singer/ songwriter based in East Nashville. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.
