Monday Montage of Musings

Tags

Barack Obama, bible, drugs, Election 2008, environment, fundamentalism, gay rights, GOP, Health care, Individual Rights, Inhofe, Iowa, Iraq, John McCain, Women's issues

Louis Faurer captured this image called “Bowing for the Collection, French Vogue” in 1973. These vaguely art deco images never fail to capture my attention. The elegance so reminiscent of the era is simply lovely, to me at least.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. It was somewhat chilly here, and overcast. We got some rain, but not enough to be bothered about. I made an apple pie which is being devoured by the Contrarian and myself. The chicken salad was wonderful Saturday and oh, that chipotle-cheese spread was utterly delicious on the burgers Friday. I put about two good tablespoons in the meatloaf mixture today. I slurried it down with a bit of worcheshire sauce and some of the meat juices so it would blend thoroughly. It’s in the fridge firming up for baking later today.

My walks have been lovely. I have a chair at the top of the hill so I can sit and admire the fields for a couple of minutes. I’m now up to 1/2 mile, and may be at the road for the full mile by the end of the week. It amazes me how quickly the body responds. I hardly breathe hard in less than a week climbing the hill. The first day, I had to stop half way to catch my breath. The Contrarian cut a nice sapling today and debarked it and trimmed it nicely. It’s now drying in the sun. It will make a fine walking stick for me. At my age, broken or sprained ankles are not desired. And the ground is quite uneven in places, and certainly any walk through the grasses is torturous, given the mole dens and whatnot.

The Contrarian is making the final weeding of the garden. Soon it will be my responsibility as he turns to wood. He desperately doesn’t want to get caught like we did last winter with snows too deep to get to the wood pile. What started out as a little tree trimming of a branch or two, finally ended in cutting down an entire tree a few yards from the house. The good news was that he quickly discovered that it was dying, so there was no real loss. Given we have hundreds of trees it was not a big deal, although the size of it still made me feel a pang of regret at its loss. It opens an amazing vista to the west that we never had before I will say.

Well, off to the news of the day

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I worked in the drug business for years. I represented drug dealers, users, and all the other alleged criminals whose crimes are connected in one way or another to the drug business. I can honestly say, that the “war” on drugs has been a failure. We merely make a dent in the business at best. It creates and fosters its own criminal enterprises. It is the root cause of many other crimes, especially property crimes, but also a lot of personal assault crimes. Drug rehabs work to the same degree that alcohol rehabs work, not at all until the person is totally motivated to change. Is it time to decriminalize the usage of drugs? Read this story from Alternet and see what you think.

John McCain thinks the surge is a roaring successand justifies everything he continues to claim about his take on war. What has all this 5 years meant to Iraqi citizens? Read Tom Engelhardt’s report today. He calls it an obscenity, and frankly I agree. I doubt many Iraqis feel the price has been worth it.

We saw Bill Moyers Journallast friday night, and this report was very informative. Barbara Boxer leads the fight for the cap and trade billin the senate. This is the Lieberman-Warner Bill that has garnered a great deal of support but of course is objected to by the oil interests. I think with some work, you can get to the full transcript of the show and see the ridiculous behavior of  the self-styled evangelical senator from Oklahoma, Inhofe, who treated Al Gore like some kid, in the senate hearings and had to be publically reminded that he was no longer the chairman. It’s a vitally important issue if our kids and their kids are expected to breathe in upcoming years.

Wes Clark has weighed in on John McCain and his “qualifications” to be president. Clark suggests that McBush never had any command responsibilities and thus his actual service is not really any kind of recommendation at all. This issue would not be one, were it not for the fact that McShame can’t stop telling us in funny or serious asides that he was a POW, every single chance he gets. Yes he was, yes he was brave. Enough already. Blue Girl Red Statebrings a fairly lengthy review of the McLiar’s claims alongside the real truth on this issue.

We reported that the technique of choice for Repubiboobs this years is going to be fear. Scare the beejesus out of everyone, and maybe they will vote for McBu$h. Got it? Well, seems that turncoat Lieberman is the ideal puppy to promote their new agenda. He claims that we are going to face a terrorist attack in 2009. Prescient? Wishful thinking? Joe is crude, rude and way out of line. This is all about Israel first, middle and last for him at least and he’s become the willing stooge for McMac for this reason. 

Of course Obama is using the perfect stategy against McBush. He is tying the aged behemoth to the idiot boy Prez, Bushie. Easy enough to do, since that is exactly what Mac is, another Bush, and more of a war monger than Georgie ever thought of being. The real puzzler is that the Senile Sensation has chosen to fight back by trying to relate Obama to Jimmy Carter. Read the Britannica Blog‘s analysis of this strange policy and why it gets the old guy nowheresville.

A very interesting book on the GOP is out. Called Grand Old Partyand written by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, it suggests that polling of self-identified Republicans say that most are for most domestic programs favored by Democrats. The real problem is that the power Republicans don’t care about this agenda, being totally tied to big money, big business interests. Of course many of us have been scratching our heads at this for some time. How the elitists are able to confuse so many middle and working class people into doing their bidding when they have zero interests in their needs is phenomenally bizarre to say the least. Ezra Klein reports.

Reality hits us dead in the face once again, as we spend a day with Hussein in Baghdad on “vacation” for a week from his duties as a reporter. This is what life has become for Iraqis due to our lust for oil. After you have finished, check the link at the top to “sovereignty” and read how Iraqis feel about our behavior. We are so completely and totally out of tune with the culture of Iraq that we inevitably make more enemies than friends. Inside Iraq is aptly named as the writers there give us a truthful look at Iraq with each post.

Rep Steven King (R. IA) is a wingnut. Although it appears to be a serious article, Iowa Independentlays out the legislative genius we have here in the man. Did I say he’s a Repubicoot wingnut? Read of his brilliant legislative history in Congress and his patently pandering behavior regarding Sioux City and think seriously about whether you want to pay this do-nothing for another two years. Throw the bum out, I say. If you think I’m going a bit overboard read this little gem, wherein the doofus claims that a Democrat has incited a terrorist attack on our very own Dick (the oily man) Cheney’s chief aide. Too funny, and the man is a joke. Did I say wingnut? I must have.

I am quite proud to report that Senator Obama has come out against the gay marriage ban proposal on the California ballotcome this November. I was unsure how he would decide on this issue. I’m just simply one of those people that things everyone should be treated fairly and gay relationships deserve the same protections in the courts as other more “traditional” ones. Further. I leave it to God to decide the rest. I’m not going to presume I know His wishes on this. Governor Schwarzenegger also opposes the ban. The “Straight”talking McCain is of course on the wrong side of the issue, same as he was in his own home state of Arizona. He lost there too. MyDD has the story for you.

Spaceship taking off for the outer regions of your mind. Fair warning, we are entering the spooky world of the National Review, and your brains may be fried if unprotected! It seems, there is good reason why women make less then men.It’s the jobs we choose, and therefore we should not, as Mr. Obama does, support the important fair pay legislation now in Congress. It’s totally unfair to those employers who have discriminated against women employees and paid them less, because dang, if you can hide it longer than 180 days from your employee, you oughta win, and not have to pay them the same as the good old boys. Is it required to write for the NRO that you forget important facts, like the fact that the woman in question had to sue late because the employer purposefully hid it from her that similarly situated men got paid more? Is it required that you have no brain to write for NRO? These important questions will be on a test, so I’d suggest you study.

As Repubelitists tell us that we don’t need it, and it’s half way to communism if we do, 59 MILLION people in America last year avoided medical care because they could not afford it. Yes, 59 MILLION. That is up from 36 million just five years ago. This utterly tragic and senseless situation is unconscionable on its face. No amount of arguing that we need anything other than a total and complete overhaul of our health care system will do. No amount of nasty conservative, “most are too lazy to work and buy their own” diatribe can be tolerated. This is a national disgrace, one the rest of the world looks at in utter amazement and disgust. The NYTimes  has the story. And by the way, folks, this includes people with insurance, who are under insured.

Kevin Drum for the Washington Monthly, reports that “sob,sob” the neo-con machine of slash and burn the opponent seems quiet these days. They just can’t seem to work up the slathering enthusiasm for going after Obama. They can’t find a “swift boat” issue, and don’t want to waste all that money they sleep in every night for nothing. I’m sad too, so sad I may bake a cake. But I don’t count out the masters of sleaze. McPhool, proves again and again, that he likes to hire the very dirtiest of the tricksters as his new bosom buddies.

Wee doggies, some folks can get positively apoplectic on the subject of Johnny McCain and the mislabel of maverick. I mean, goodness, a whole post citing all his reprehensible flipping and flopping. I especially liked the one about the only congressman in history to actively campaign against two of his own pieces of legislation. Now that is down home flopping! It’s called Full Metal McCain, and to all of you out there who detest him as I do, a grand read, and plenty of ammo for your next political discussion with family and friends. Give ’em hell.  As Drum says, whoa, sure glad I am not likely to get in the cross hairs of Matt Taibbi. And in the final analysis, it’s a damned fine read.

These stories just defy common sense. I know that oil and gas interests are against any concept of global warming. That would be self-evident. They care about profits, and the future, well hell, we all have to die. But how any human being can buy into that is beyond me. We are no longer in an if global warming is true, IT IS DAMN IT.  Now my life is going to be aggravated no doubt, but I’m  not going to outlive the real problems. Our kids are going to have to, and their kids may not survive at all. Seriously there was a time in my life when I wondered whether it was ethical to bring children into the world. And that was about Vietnam. That was nothing compared to this. This is planet killing. The stooge Inhofe from Oklahoma, is simply a shameful excuse for a human being hawking for the oil companies. If hell exists, God has a wonderful corner for him no doubt. The Salon has this very important story of how Congressional fronts for Oil and Gas are giving your children’s lives away.

I know I keep harping on Iraq and not being the security delight that Bush/McBush urge us to believe. And I think I am right. More evidence is produced at the Washington Independent. It seems that private security contractors (NOT Blackwater) don’t see any real change at all. Indicators are that violence measured in trajectory rather than in mere numbers suggest it is steadily on the rise. Read the report, look and the charts and decide for yourself. One can but hope that Obama who will be traveling there soon, will get the correct picture. McStupid by pushing Obama to Iraq may wish he hadn’t after all. The big lie is being exposed.

I just threw this one in for the joke factor. It has no chance of moving through Congress at all, and is the kind of thing that politicians do to look good on the homefront. But pulleeeeezzzzzz. There is a bill lately introduced that would (you know the drill) make marriage illegal but for a man and a woman. Okay. Big deal you say. Well, you gotta look at whose names are on the dang thing to get the joke. None other than (drum roll please) Larry (I have a wide stance) Craig, and David (oooh how much do you charge for an around the world?) Vitters! Two of our stalwart Republinuts who are hardly poster boys for Christian virtue. Read on when you stop laughing.

Okay, so you see there is this Baptist scholar. And well, he says, well, that women, get what they deserve. Yeah, violence against women is because dumb women don’t get it that men are the boss, and men get mad when women don’t get that men are the boss, and they sometimes hit things, and those things could be women, and that’s how women get hurt. They ask for it. Scholar of what may I ask? Much thanks for Think Progressfor this one. Oh by the by, this all started with Eve and her sin, which is now all women’s sin, that we can’t give in to our husband’s control. Wingnut biblical analysis like this is beyond absurd, it’s perverted. Follow the links within the article to get the full views of Bruce Ware brain dead though he is.

And on that squirrelly note, let’s call it a day!

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“The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action.” Frank Herbert

“The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from Science, along with behaviour control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers.” Lewis Thomas

“Efficiency is intelligent laziness.” Anonymous

“Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.” Ronald Reagan

“About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends.”  Herbert Hoover

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A Chinese investment fund manager paid $2.1 million to have lunch with billionaire Warren Buffett in the most expensive charity auction ever held on eBay. If he’s hoping for an investment tip, Buffett will probably tell him not to waste money bidding on stuff on eBay. Paul Seaburn

The Texas supreme court has ruled church exorcisms are constitutional. Such a religious ritural is a very complicated procedure. The devil is in the details. – Alan Ray, Stockton, Calif.

So President Bush has removed North Korea from the list of countries that support terrorism and has moved it to the list of countries we are gonna invade just for the fun of it.

When Bill Gates left Microsoft the other day, his staff gave him a gold watch from Switzerland in appreciation. And Gates was apparently so moved by the gesture he reciprocated by giving them Switzerland.
– Marc Ragovin, New York

According to a recent European study, rising temperatures due to climate change are forcing many plants to move to higher elevations to survive. Unfortunately for men, this doesn’t mean your chest and back hair will seek higher ground on your head. Paul Seaburn

Tripping the Books Fantastic

Tags

Books, Literature, Sunday Editorial

The other day, On Faith, the section of the Washington Post  website that deals with matters of spirituality, asked the panel and its readers to comment on the book(s) that had had a significant impact on their lives. It got me to thinking.

I had often played the mind game of “if you could only have ten books for the rest of your life to read, what would they be?” Now I often fudged on this question, by including multi-volume works. Could one use Charles Dickens entire collection for instance, or the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica? But I often thought about it, and although I don’t think I ever decided all ten, it provided an interesting way to assess what books I thought were important in my life.

The On Faith  forum, by posing the question in a different way, raised an somewhat different way of examining my admitted love affair with books. And yes, I do love books. I don’t love them just for what they contain, but for what they represent. What do I mean by that you ask? You are asking aren’t you?

Books contain of course information that I wish to know. It may be frivolous information sometimes, if for instance it is a joke book. It may be the most important information I can possible conceive of if for instance it contains information about God. But a book is a whole lot more than just an information dispenser.

A book also represents something beyond what it actually contains. It represents our apparent inborn desire to express ourselves publically and for posterity. It suggests we often feel that what we think, is important for others to know of. We think, apparently that it is quite likely that others haven’t thought as we have and need to. We think, no doubt, that we have discovered some truth unknown. Like a mathematician who has discovered a new solution, we are sure that our take on whatever will change other’s lives in some way, significant or otherwise.

A book also represents our species attempt to codify the entire breathe of our acquired knowledge. Of course, a book, does so only as to a tiny piece of that entire wealth of knowledge. This was a troubling thought to me when I realized that some many years ago. There was a time when a man or woman could actually have in their own home, a fairly complete library of human thought expressed on paper (or papyrus). A person, with sufficient funds could acquire most everything committed to writing in his/her world as they knew it. They could afford to hire copyists if need be.

Even many generations later, it was still quite possible to learn most of the big ideas, the framework if you will of human learning. And it was quite possible to keep up on all that was added each year. There was a window, I am sure, when that was possible. It was perhaps a very small window, or perhaps it lasted fairly steady until the printing press. Then things started to get out of hand.  Suddenly there was a mechanical means to transport my ideas to you at an increasingly cheap price. You could respond with agreement or not by writing of your own.

Of course, as more and more people got the hang of this, it kind of exploded. And it’s been exploding ever since. Today every major university has it’s own publishing house I believe. Books that can’t acquire sufficient interest in the main publishing world find niche publishing nearly everywhere. And of course, self-publishing is now simple and fairly inexpensive. And of course, websites and blogging make it free and well what can be simpler?

It came as a sad conclusion on my part that I could not begin to read everything I wanted to even if I read nearly all day and night. I could not even make a dent in it any more. There are fifty times more books produced each year, or a hundred, or three thousand more than I can possible read. I find that incredibly sad. I want to at least read everything that I want. But I cannot. 

Books themselves still hold a place in my heart of deep awe. I can find no happier store on the planet than a bookstore. I could without effort spend hours just poking around. I used to recall in my college days that after a trip to the campus or off-campus bookstores, acquiring the list of books needed for the next semester’s classes, that I would sit on my bed and one by one, look at each in turn. Feeling the covers, admiring the paper, hearing that first crackle of the binding giving way a bit. I admit that sometimes I did this more than once before that first class.

I never did what some do, refuse to write in or underline. Books in the end are things to be used, not worshiped for themselves. I write freely, I love yellow highlighting, but I do feel a twinge at disturbing the specialness of some. It is always with some trepidation that I make my first mark in a new bible.  I feel nearly the same as to Shakespeare. The more expensive, the more beautifully bound and papered, the more I quiver at that first mark, and the more likely I am to be careful to do it unobtrusively with pencil.

I have bought and sold a lot of books over the years. That saddens me no end, and there is a part of me that wishes I could retain every single one I have ever had as some testimonial of who I am. For, truthfully, a saunter through anyone’s “library” should tell you a good deal about the person should it not? It would through mine for sure. It is testimony no doubt to my eclectic spirit. I wish I could learn all the things I’m interested in. I want to be a renaissance woman. I’m not sure that is possible any more, though I still hear a person called that from time to time.

I try hard to give books away, but to tell the truth, I’m pretty stingy about it. I just never know when I might want to look something up and it will be one I gave away. I remember a science fiction book I sold or gave away in a box of others. I would give a lot to find that book again. I can’t remember its name. It was an anthology, common in the genre. This one had a twist. The editor posed the question: “What would happen if Jesus returned in a way that was undeniably a fact?” A number of 5-10 authors wrote stories based on that premise. Oh how I would like to reread those stories.

I have mentioned that I’m an eclectic crafter. I can do a lot of things whether they be knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing, beading, etc, decently, but I’m no expert. I cannot find only one perfect, something that I want to devote myself to for a lifetime to the exclusion of all else. I’ll never be a master quilter, though I certainly appreciate master quilters and envy their work.

I am also, I find an eclectic reader. A bookseller of a small town where I once lived,  once called me that. I had a collection that day of four books I was buying, a book on horses, a book on bonsai, a book on quilting, and book on Roman history, as I recall. “My, that is certainly an eclectic group of books to be purchasing,” she said. I mumbled, “yes, I have varied interests I guess.”

So I move in and out of areas of interest but never fail to remain a loyal fan of most, and thus, still try to keep up with the major outlines of a number of subjects. I read about Roman history, mostly during the time of the Caesars. I read about astronomy and paleontology as a means of I guess understanding my human origins. I buy and adore cookbooks, and examine every single recipe, marking those I intend to try. I love all kinds of crafting books, mostly for the inspiring photographs. I have made a couple of quilts, following the directions of a particular pattern I was taken with. I love gardening books, especially those with brilliant pictures of lovely vignettes that I too can create.

There was a time i read a huge amount of science fiction. I learned a lot about the power of fantasy and day dreaming, and still love movies and TV shows that focus on a world of tomorrow. For several years I read almost exclusively theology and biblical exegetical material. I still read a lot in this area, but not as much. I read perhaps a bit more “spiritual” work now. Recently I’ve read a lot of old French/English/Russian classical fiction. I’ve been surprised how much I learned of history in those endeavors. Read Don Quixote if you want to see just how dangerous was the atmosphere in the days of the Inquisition.

Getting back to the question of what books have influenced me the most? Oh I wish there was one that forever changed my life. None did, but they did shape my vision of who I am and who we are as human beings on this tiny dot of blue. Here is my list:

1. A book I have no title to. It was a child’s book and featured a picture I will never forget. The earth was molten grey with a bulging blob that continued to pull farther from itself like taffy. As the pictures progressed, the second blob popped off, and became our moon. It is not true of course as we know today, but I got me for the first time wondering about the universe.  Astronomy and astrophysics has been a life-long interest ever since. I watched nightly on PBS in my thirties as Voyager  went past Jupiter and Saturn as the guys and gals at JPL went nutty with happiness, describing all the new “finds.”
2. Broca’s Brain, by Carl Sagan. A spectacular tour de force, by someone entitled to be called a renaissance man. He ignited not only a resurgence in my love of astronomy though his Cosmos series on PBS, but also with this book which started me on a quest to understand evolution. I went from there to learn of the Leakeys and their work in Africa and Don Johnson and his find “Lucy” in I believe Turkey.
3. Mila 18, by Leon Uris. Reading tomes about war is hardly a good way to understand war. Julius Caesar did that in his Commentaries. Uris shows us the human condition of what it was like to be a Jew in Warsaw. How it was like to live and die. How it was like to be hunted. How normal people can do abnormal things when faced with death. The tenacity of the human will to live is examined in excruciating detail. I understand how they manage in Darfur, Baghdad, and other regions of unspeakable horror much better than I would have otherwise.
4. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer. There is a good reason this book won the Pulitzer Prize. It takes any notion that war is romantic for the soldier and shreds it. It is hot, buggy, bloody, sweaty, frightening, and just evil. There is no glory, no honor. There is pain, suffering, and death. War is truly hell.
5. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. What greed and wealth can do to people. How good people are beaten by nature and their fellow men and women. How we can ignore and devalue the worth of the poor. How we can define them as “other.” But also how  we can find utterly beautiful humanity among and between us when we have utterly nothing but ourselves left to give. We see the best and worst of what we are capable of.
6. The Bible. To be fair, reading this the first time, I was simply appalled by the incongruities and horror of a wrathful God who “ordered” the destruction of entire towns, including what can only be conceived of as innocents. Studying the bible was an entirely different thing, and taught me true love, compassion, brotherhood, forgiveness, and a host of other values. It’s an ongoing love affair. I will never stop studying it.
7. The Science of Mind, by Ernest Holmes. This gentle man studied the world’s great religions and came up with his own version of God that was a huge breakthrough for me. Page after page, I read his analysis of the bible and other great books and said, yes, yes, yes. That is exactly what I was wondering, that is what I couldn’t reconcile. I found more love and peace in God and Jesus from Mr. Holmes than in a host of other Christian spiritual books. His New Thought philosophy endures to this day. I expanded to a entire new group of similar writers such as Deepak Chopra’s How to Know God, Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, Rumi, Gustavo Gutierrez, On Job, Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ. This list could go on to include Augustine’s “Confessions,” and St. Theresa of Avila’s Interior Castles. This is in no way an exhaustive list. It is but a start to the journey Mr. Holmes started me on.
8. The Complete Works of Shakespeare.  I learned the beauty of language, quite plain and simple. Never did anyone write with such utter controlled perfection. He has no doubt been the singular influence on writing in all of history.

I could go on with this list for days I suspect. Another great book is just around the corner. A mere walk through my bookcases turns up another and another. Who can not put Dickens on the list for instance? Who can ignore Thoreau? Emerson?  The Federalist Papers? All and so many more have impacted and shaped my life in various ways. All help define who I am today. That is the key here. Who I am today. For, I shall not be tomorrow what I am today. For I shall have read something new, and it will imperceptibly have changed me, or magnificently changed me as the case may be. How exciting is that?

I know I am asking a lot, comments have declined to a trickle once again. But I would very much like to know you, something of what makes you who you are. Please share with me your list of important books. Take a trip through you mind and reclaim what changed you, shaped you and made you who you are today. We’d all be pleased to know you better! It’s just what I’ve been thinking about today.

Birds in My Kitchen

Tags

bible, Bush, Congress, death penalty, energy, environment, FISA, fundamentalism, impeachment, Iraq, Literature, McCain, Media, medicine, Non-fiction, PTSD, Sean Hannity, Second Amendment, war funding, wiretapping, world history

Christopher Walken at his residence, 1989 by Michael Tighe. I just find Mr. Walken one of the most interesting faces. His career has been nothing short of eclectic, he is amusing in an interview, but somehow is changeless over the decades. I just always find him fascinating. Some of the movies he does are way too scary for me, others are a pure delight. He never seems to seek the limelight, just turns in a journeyman’s performance always.  A true actor.

Wow, another week is ending. I am always surprised at how fast they go by. One of the true painful ironies of aging. It should be just the opposite don’t you think? We got about 3/4 of an inch of rain in a fairly lively storm this morning. It sure woke me up with its mighty thunder crashes. A river is running again, which just goes to show that the ground is still fairly saturated not far beneath the surface.

Hamburgers, home fries, and coleslaw on the menu for today. I made that chipotle-cheese spread. It is pretty strong, and it’s refrigerating and hopefully tightening up. I think I won’t put it on the burgers in the pan, but just put it on the table as a condiment. It has a heat that needs to be individually regulated by amount I think. I also pureed it rather than leaving it chunky. The idea of biting into pieces of roasted chipotle peppers didn’t seem quite appetizing to me. I think its pretty hot, and I definitely don’t like things too hot. I love jalepenos and of course chipotles are simply fire roasted jalepenos. Why they change the name I don’t know but it’s common with other hot peppers as well. I think Aneheims become Anchos when dried. In any case, I’ll tell you how it went if I remember next week.

Let’s see how the week is ending. I sure have been ranting to the Contrarian a lot the last day or so. Anger at the SCOTUS gun decision, and a number of other things. Such government waste I see everywhere, and so much of it caused by tying unrelated items to legislation that people want. So we fund crap because a no vote kills a wonderful bill. I think it’s much worse than it used to be. Virtually no bill gets through now without tons of unrelated amendments which line somebody’s pockets at the expense of the taxpayer. The entire government seems to need a overhaul and I haven’t a clue how it will be done unless we as the electorate simply won’t take no for an answer and start voting them out until they do our bidding. But then again, there are so many doltish voters I’m not sure I trust them either. LOL. Where is Plato/Aristotle and the Philosopher King????? That’s what we need, and I’m nominating myself!

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I thought you might like to know about a few books that are just out and recommended good reading.  They are: The Real McCain,by Cliff Schecter, The Big Sort, by Bill Bishop, and Bad Samaritans,by Ha-Joon Chang. Read the analysis of each by David Sirota, at Alternet today. I’ll see if I can pick up a copy or two for review for you.

If some one you love suffers fromPTSD, then there seems to be a lot being done lately to alleviate this viscous affliction. Ecstasy, unbelievably seems to work for those severely afflicted. Many long time sufferers, like from Vietnam, have long learned coping mechanisms to deal with it. The Contrarian has, and he does quite well, however, we have the option to live in the most favorable situation for him too. Take a look at this report that originates from the Times of London.

I am definitely not pleased with Senator Abama’s stance on child rapists and the death penalty. He is for it, I am unalterably against the death penalty period. I find it beneath an civilization that proports to call itself civilized. It says to everyone, we give up on solving this problem, we will just do away with such people. I believe that life is God-given, and while I in the case of individuals defer to everyone’s right to act otherwise over their own bodies, I draw a line when I, as a citizen, am forced to be a player in the action of murdering another human being. That said, at least it is clear that Mr. Obama’s position is NOT one that he has adopted as politically expedient, but one he has held for some time. Ezra Kleinbrings us the story about the origination of Obama’s stance.

Inside Iraq reveals to us Americans the names that Baghdad has had over the millennia. I would have to say, that the last two are ones we are responsible for. Still, a little history is good eh? We sometimes forget the incredibly rich history that is the junction of the Tigris-Euphrates, otherwise known as the Fertile Crescent.

Chris at Inside-Out the Beltway, tells a tale I suspect many in the blogging world would agree with. Many of us feel terribly uheard. We don’t seem to matter. (As always folks, I am the smallest of the small “we’s here.). Chris notes that although the blogosphere, the liberal vein at least, has been unalterably apposed to the “compromise” FISA bill, our candidate, Mr. Obama has virtually ignored us. (Good news is, that last I heard,  Obama has changed his mind!!) Still the analysis is worth your reading, since it is not directed singly at Mr. Obama.

McCain must be sad to note that only 38% of his own state at this point claims it will vote for him. Obama is only ten points behind. Wouldn’t that be a hoot if Obama beat the old man in his own state? Worse yet for the old battleship, polling in Alaska, long a red state, shows that Obama is only 4 points behindand he is claiming that he intends to campaign hard there. McBu$h it seems has no plans to even open a campaign office there. I bet those plans will change. Deplete his resources! Stories from MyDD.

Somewhere in a cave, deep deep under Arkansas, prevented from seeing or reading any news for low unto 200 years, Patrick Michaels scratches an essay on rock with a stone. His continuous mantra is “There is no such thing as global warming. It’s all a big lie perpetrated by liberals.”The reason why numbnuts like Michael’s apparently dispute global warming is that it makes his friends the oil and gas folks queasy, thinking about cutting emissions, turning away from fossil fuels and the like. But dude, even if this horrible changing that WE ALL CAN SEE is merely cyclical, the consequences are still undeniably bad right? And if natural does that mean we are morally prevented from trying to ameliorate the consequences? Wake up MORON.You have now left the twilight zone (National Review). We return you to regular programming. By the way, Hansen is a highly respected climatologist.

I hate guns, just so you know. I spent nearly twenty years defending those accused of crime, most with guns. I can’t tell you the times some kid, 18, 19 years old, sobbed in a jail cell, “It just went off.” Whether it did or not, is not the point, the gun gives you that immediacy of reaction to any perceived slight that cannot be retracted though you have already changed your mind a split second later. All this in the hands of a kid, who brain has not yet grown to a degree where he can rightly assess the consequences of his actions nor temper his impulses. It isn’t even so much that I object to the right of a person to defend their home, although handguns are by far the worse choice. A 410 shotgun for the uninitiated user is more likely to stop the intruder than a handgun which more often than not won’t hit the target. It ‘s the idea that that the gun lobby continues to fight every dang restriction on checking backgrounds and such, using the stupid slippery slope argument. Now that that is put to rest by the decision by SCOTUS yesterday, well you might think they would back off. They have not. So the slippery slope was just a ruse. It’s all about acquiring more money by selling more guns, no matter whose hands they get into. Always has been always will be.

Did we err miss something? Didn’t we make it clear enough? Do we have to spell it out again? We voted you suckers into office (Dem majority in Congress) to help put a stop to this filthy war of choice. When are you going to do it? Reuter’s reports that Congress has passed new funding for the Iraqi/Afghanistan wars, with no attempt to tie the funds to any timetable. Did you think we wouldn’t hear? Oh yeah I forgot, it was tied to other issues like the GI bill and other good stuff. Okay, so if you have the majority, why do you keep allowing bad crap to be attached to good stuff? We have now poured some 800 BILLION dollars down that cesspool of a war.

The McDummy is campaigning real hard in Iowa claiming he has “broke with the President” on climate change. Has he really? Naw, that much was quite evident when he nearly tripped himself backtracking on his “no drilling in off shore to, let’s drill off shore.” It all sounds strangely suspicious to the type of stuff that (shudder) Cheney and his band of elfin energy exciters have always wanted. Soooooo, it seems the MacEnergyman is just more of the same old, “GIVE THEM OILMEN WHAT THEY WANT,” group. Nuf said?  

Oh let the lying begin. Those proponents of torture, you know, they guys who formulated the policy for the Bush brigades at the White House are busily trying to obfuscate, duck and dive as they  play with words in attempts to tell the Congress nothing. Addington and Yoo can get Oscars for their performances in non-speak. The Washington Independent has the story.

Proving once again that it is dangerous to pretend to have a brain, Sean Hannity the finger-waving ditz at Foxy,had normal people rolling in the aisles once again. First he touts the new Bush rapprochement with North Korea as a “clear foreign policy victory.” OOOPPPPSSSSSS. John Bolton, equally without brain matter quickly said the victory was North Korea’s. In less than 30 seconds, dear Sean (If I only had a brain) was exclaiming that he was perplexed by Bush’s naivete’. “What happened to trust but verify?” he ponders. What happened to checking to see a person doesn’t have marbles rattling around in his head before you hire him to be a political commentator FOX? Too too funny folks. Oh thanks Think Progress for the belly laugh. I needed that!

Are we flipping or flopping Mr. McBu$h? It seems that Mac don’t even wanna discuss the possibility of impeaching Bushie, saying it just is not a good thing in general. But, but Johnny my boy, you sure did vote to impeach Bill Clinton? Remember or having an Alzheimer’s moment again?

A couple of good posts by Urantian Sojourn today. One is deeply thoughtful and says it better than I could. James Dobson has said some very unkind things about Obama, all from his own personal interpretation of the Bible. It would be helpful if Mr. Dobson remembered that. Saitia reminds us all. And in a humorous aside, Propagandee reports that Bush is about to have a new building in San Francisco named after him. Flushed with successheh? Good one.

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“When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.” Gracie Allen

“Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.” H.L. Mencken

“If the human mind was simple enough to understand, we’d be too simple to understand it.”  Emerson Pugh

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Galileo Galilei

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Big ruling coming out of the Supreme Court now: they have ruled individuals have the right to carry guns. Oh my God, yeah, but now listen, seriously, don’t think you can just go into a gun store and buy a gun. No, no, no, no, no, there is still a strict 15-minute waiting period. David Letterman

The Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns and ruled that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting. When he heard the news, George Carlin was given a warning for using the seven words you can’t say in heaven. Paul Seaburn

In San Francisco, they may rename one of the city’s largest sewage works the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. What an insult. Sewage plants are in the business of cleaning up messes. – Janice Hough, Palo Alto, Calif.

How about John McCain? Who would vote for John McCain? I don’t know if you know this, but John McCain now, he’s got a bandage on his head. Did you see that, John McCain? The poor guy, got a bandage on his head. Here’s what happened: apparently, he tried to answer the iron. David Letterman

Hey, there was an interesting study released today which says that people who live here in the state of California are less convinced that there is a God than the people of any other state in the country. On an unrelated note, more than 800 wildfires here in California are currently burning out of control. Jimmy Kimmel

Breathing Life Deeply

Tags

Archaeology, Breads, cake, coffeecake, corn, Crafts, dessert, dieting, evolution, fruit, geology, Italian, Literature, pasta, Pizza, potatoes, psychology, quilting, recycling, salad, science, volcanoes, world history

These haunting eyes are of  a Nova-Walpi, North American Indian. I sadly don’t know if Nova-Walpi is a tribe or Nova is his name. Such things didn’t seem important enough to record I guess. The picture was taken by Edward Sheriff Curtis in 1904.

One  can but guess at his thoughts, a whole different life and wayy of seeing the world are hidden from us, but we are called  inward and can somehow feel him through his penetrating eyes.

Oh a busy day, in fact, they are all busy at this point, trying to catch up for long days spent inactive while the rains continued. Now we are a buzz with busyness. The garden seems okay, but as i said, much may be so stressed that it will simply put on a quick flourish to set some seeds and then die. Nothing to do but wait and hope for the best.

I did my cleaning today and then went for my walk, something I started yesterday. Trudging up the hill is hard, so I don’t go far yet. It’s a half mile to the road, and i went at best 2/5 of a mile. Not far. At one time I walked sometimes six miles, though four was more normal. I’ll extend the distance next week. Bear went along with me, going into the corn fields to take a pee. Not very nice of him. I am as always enchanted by what I see, the lovely green fields, the sounds of so many birds, the tracks of so many animals.

A buck must have walked down the lane, since I saw a very large track today. No doubt following what was obviously a doe and her fawn. The cute little tracks of the baby, no doubt fascinated by all he or she saw. A coon also passed by, and a pheasant for sure. The coyotes have stayed away of late. We also think that a big cat is about though we only saw him once. He was running across the field to the north, and had that tale so like a cat, long and kind of swaying. It was definitely not a coyote. Such tales are always around, but nobody has every killed or found one dead, so it always remains mystery.

I made meatballs and sauce for spaghetti today. I had made foccacia a couple of weeks ago, and I got the leftovers into the freezer for just such a meal as this. I don’t think I’ll bother with a salad. Plenty to eat without it, and we had one a couple of days ago. I did the Cilantro Chicken from last weeks blog recipes. It really was good. Plenty of leftover chicken breast and that will make a nice chicken salad for Saturday. Tomorrow is hamburgers with some of that chipotle-cheese sauce that I also featured last week or the week before.

We watched something on the news that caught us up. Dogs and cats who have been given up due to floods or losing homes in the mortgage foreclosure disaster. We’ve decided to take in a new dog, and later I’m going to try to locate where to go here in Iowa. It just broke my heart, so many of the little guys in shelters not understanding what has happened to their world. Our two dogs are 9 and 11 respectively, so it’s a good time to transition we thought. We love them so much, and nothing can replace them, but we have room for more, and can’t stand to see so many lost when we can offer them a good home and safety.

Boy, I’m yacky. Better get on to see if anything new is out there in internet land.

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101 Cookbooks has some tips on making pizza on the grill. Although her ingredients are a bit foofoo for my more pedestrian tastes as far as pizza goes, the tips are still valid of course. If you are thinking of trying this, and it does sound fun, then give it a look.

If scones are something you would like to try, then skip over to A Mingling of Tastes and find her recipe for Oat Scones with Dried Cherries and Walnuts. They are easy to make and serve as a nice alternative to the usual muffins or toast. A bonus, there are two other muffin recipes that lead into the scone one, so you get three great recipes! 

Since the 4th is on the way, I thought I might give you my potato salad recipe. I have only found one other that matched it. But I realize that potato salad  is one of those things that people tend to like the way mom made it. Here goes, and these are estimates on ingredients, I don’t measure a thing.

Sherry’s Awesome Potato Salad

Potatoes, 5-6 medium large or equivalent of waxy potatoes like Yukon
An equal number of eggs hard boiled. 6 if using Idaho potatoes
scallions, about 6, tops and green parts sliced thin
radishes, about 8, chunked so they will hold up for a few days
sour dill pickles, about 2 medium finely diced
about 1/3 cup of green olives, diced
dressing:
mayo, a good cup
dijohn mustard, and yellow mustard, about 3 TBSP's in all
salt, pepper,
celery seeds
a bit of juice from the dill pickles or olives 1/4 c. or so
mix it all together, decorate if you desire with fresh chives,
parsley, and some like sweet pepper slices. That's it.
Adjust anything to the tanginess you like. It's the dill pickles
that make the difference here.

ALemon Glazed Bundt Cake might be just the thing for that 4th of July celebration. If so, Chocolate and has a nice recipe for you. I think I’m going for gooey Molten Lava cakes myself, but I love lemon desserts a lot and this will be on my radar for later this summer.

Garrison Keillor graces us again with his wit. Today he counsels that Barack Obama could learn a thing or two from Jesse Ventura. Do say? Always fun and a nice change of pace from our favorite pundit on life!

One of the things that keeps history interesting, is that there are so many different ways to approach it. It is surely true that history is written by and large by the victors, but today, with so many more tools of examination, historians can look at it from a number of different ways and pull out the threads of unknown facts drawing a clearer and very different interpretation. One way is to examine history from the point of view of colonialism. Read more at History News Network.

Another of those great science things. Archaeologists who look for bones, have uncovered the earliest known 4 legged animal scull. They expect that this will help them understand that important transition between fish and those creatures that first walked on the earth. I don’t know about you, but this stuff always fascinates me. I feel like I’m taking a walk along my family tree. It lived 365 million years ago, and lived in water. They think it looked a bit like an alligator but with fins. Cool eh? Thanks to Live Science for the story.

If you are a baby boomer as I am, this next one also from Live Science may be of interest. Are you blue, and prone to being in the dumps a lot? Seems there is a good reason for that. Boomers, says the Pew Report, are just not very enthusiastic about the future. Looking around the economy, and the world, I can see why. Sigh, boy this bums me out!

On Faith has a compelling question: What book has made a difference in your life? I mean, where do I start? It seems every ten years or so, I would revise the list. Most everyone would agree that the bible or your choice of religious book qualifies. But oh the other possibilities are endless. Mailer’s the Naked and the Dead made an impact on me on the subject of war that I have never forgotten. I think I see a separate post for this. How bout we look at the subject Sunday?

The Scythians were horsemen in Central Asia. A very well preserved body of a Cavalier was found in 2006. Much has been learned about the gentleman since then. He died some 2,300 years ago. An amazing amount is known about him and his life through the use of modern forensic tools. Read this interesting account at Rogueclassicism.

Scientists did not believe it possible. They were wrong. It seems volcanoes are busily blowing their cool, errr, hot in very deep waters in the Arctic Ocean. The great pressures and weight of the water were thought to prevent this occurrence. Not so, not so. Read more at Science Daily.

New news for dieters! If you want to lose weight, stop thinking about dying for crying out loud. And the thoughts don’t have to be directly about yourself. Watching death related material such as crime shows, and the awful news, also contribute. We get the munchies it seems. Wow, somebody will be writing a book about this. “Diet with Laurel and Hardy,” coming to a bookstore near you!

Truly, nothing says summer better than corn salad. You can make this in any number of ways, as long as you start with grilled or seared corn kernels. Then add whatever fresh veggies, (also grilled) and do the dressing and boy you have got a great accompaniment to just about any summer dinner. I’m adding it to my July 4th day menu I do believe. So far that makes the  Texas Brisket barbecue, potato salad, pea salad, and corn salad, and the molten chocolate lava cakes. Simply Recipes has the wonderful recipe.

I just love these copycat recipes. The Secret Recipe Blog today gives us the wonderful  Macaroni Grill’s “Penne Rustica.” This recipe should probably be cut in half for the normal family. I can’t even begin to think about a sauce that requires 8 cups of cream!

Oh I found a recipe that is well, time consuming and a tad expensive to make, but I think it worthy of your attention. Tuscan CoffeeCake Bread. I mean is this made for Sunday on a lazy hot day or what? The wonders of dried fruits and warm fresh bread, with butter melting. Oh, I may get the vapors just thinking of it. I have to get some of the dried fruit, but I am definitely making this recipe. The Sour Dough is to be thanked for this gem of a bread.

The Village Shop Blog shows off some of her work that is going in a new shop as “samples” of what a person can do. I’ve never been asked to do this, and with good reason! I think they are simply lovely and so very encouraging to me as a sometime quilter.

Tip Junkie has a host of tips. They go from fun and funky craft ideas to recycling ideas. The recycling craze is really catching on as more folks realize that with prices increasing everywhere on everything, a premium is now placed on getting the full usage possible out of everything. You can find some good stuff here.

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How about some Murphy’s Laws:

Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view.

Two wrongs are only the beginning.

If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then..

If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Trust everybody … then cut the cards.

All the good ones are taken.
If the person isn’t taken, there’s a reason

Money can’t buy love, but it sure gets you a great bargaining position.

Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than you are.

Friendly fire ain’t.

Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he’ll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he’ll have to touch to be sure.

Tracks up the Hill

Tags

abstinence, Barack Obama, death penalty, economy, Election 2008, energy, environment, Family values, FISA, fundamentalism, Hillary Clinton, Iowa, Iraq, John McCain, Justice Department, lobbyists, Media, Military contracts, Oil, SCOTUS, Zimbabwe

“Self Portrait, Interlocking Fingers #19, by John Coplan, 2000.

Ah, a busy morning and so we should just get to it, time is running!

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Let’s start with a good story about the media’s failure to alert us on the cause of this war of choice in Iraq. Remember, they said, whatever it was about it was certainly not about oil. As we are now learning, and what some of us have always said, it was and is all about oil. Sorry to keep saying it, but it’s a truth that needs to be shouted around the land until everyone understands. Read Alternet‘s fine piece by Tom Engelhardt.

I find it amusing and frankly a little sad that a story I brought to you maybe two months ago is finally making it to the mainstream media. Congressional hearings regarding the ridiculous contracts issued to a 21-year old shyster for weaponry in Afghanistanhave finally turned on the lights of the media. Congress people are overtly shocked, and of course the military just blinks in confusion. “Why no, Mr. Waxman, no one has been fired.” It seem like an idea that has never crossed their useless minds.

Just a couple of days ago, we mentioned a new look at affirmative action directed at the poor in general instead of just a racial group. I don’t think this is what was in mind. It seems the Bushites, (oh this is nothing new of course) have been busily trying to stack the justice department with new recruits who are appropriately conservative both politically and ideologically. Of course, this grows out of the scandal of last year involving the firing of a number of Attorneys General of various places for not instituting prosecutions of Democrats as demanded by Bush and his minor-minded minions. Remember that many of the do-wrongers were from that bastion of Christian honesty, Liberty University run by the late Jerry Falwell. Thanks Blue Girl Red State.

Family values is kinda quiet as a topic this year. Probably because Old McBush has some issues  that he probably would rather not have delved into too deeply. But I am constantly assaulted by the wingnut right with claims that there has been this deep and awful downturn in morality. And of course, back when “we were kids” things were ever so much different. Were they really? According to Britannica Blog, the answer would be NO. Promiscuity and out-of-wedlock children have been with us since time began pretty much, and mostly no body was all that concerned about it. Follow the link and read more.

I’ve been fairly ambivalent about a Obama/Clinton ticketfrankly, and thought there was little likelihood that it would happen. Arguments are being made however, that are more and more convincing that this is the safest way to go. It is I assume the ticket McMac and his hardy harbingers of hateful harangues wish least to see. I am concerned that McStupid will find a willing ear among just too many by playing the fear card. Ezra Klein has a good post, read it and see what you think.

It is undeniable that the “surge” in Iraq has had success in reducing violence. But exactly what kind of reduction is it? Mostly, at best, American troop level increases and new policies there are responsible for 1/4 of the new peacefulness. The rest is due to other factors which may change quickly and at a moment’s notice. Read another post from Ezra Klein for the explanation.

If I Ran the Zoohas a letter to “Cathy” explaining rather succinctly why a vote for McCain is simply wrong headed. I thought it said it all rather well, and figured you might like the talking points set down for you to use as you need with neighbors, co-workers, family and well anyone else you get a chance to convince.

I always hit the feed update on Inside Iraq with mixed feelings. I know I’m not likely to find a story that has any joy in it. And today, well, it’s no better. I hate these stories yet I insist you need to read them. You need to see what exactly it is like living in this war-torn region. Mostly you need to accept that this is your responsibility. It is our responsibility. We did this. We allowed this. We gave a jerk four more years to do four more years of this. Are we going to give another jerk another four years to do this?

Remember the other day I gave you the votes of Iowa congressmen who voted in the house in favor of that “compromised” FISA bill? Well wouldn’t you just know. It seems that Boswell and others who voted for it, shockingly are the highest receivers of telecom campaign contributions. Shame on him and all others who again put the public interest after their own greedy re-election interests. Thanks to Iowa Independent, we got this story.

Some question the Obama decision to campaign on a 50-state strategy. They see little reason to waste resources in states that he cannot possibly carry. However, first and foremost, the electoral map is changing, and assumptions cannot be drawn quite so simply as one might suspect. Moreover this requires McCain to respond and deplete his resources in places he would not ordinarily have to spend in. Most important, there are tons of very important local races that can be helped by Obama and may change in the long term the dynamics of that state’s political stance. Read about the strategy at MyDD.

I find it odd, but welcome that lately Maureen Dowd and I have been on the same page. She makes a fun and very pointed argument againstthe Karl Rove mentality to try to demonize Barack Obama with the elitist label.Such will patently not work it seems to me and Ms. Dowd. See what you think.

It’s not unusual, we do this all the time. We did it in Dafur, we did it in Myanmar, we will undoubted do it again in Zimbabwe. What is it we will do? NOTHING. Other than a “dear me, you are terrible. This  has got to stop. Mercy me, I may faint. ” It’s disgusting, it’s absurd, but we (internationally or otherwise) will do nothing. We have a long history of propping up dictatorships, as long as they are stable and don’t interfere with our plans you see.

Well SCOTUS is doing some good stuff lately. They have struck down a state law allowing for the state murder of a man convicted of child rape. Heinous as such a crime is, the Court refused to extend the death penalty to anything other than murder. The case came out of Louisiana. You can read further details at this Reuter’s link.

Of course Bush and his joined at the hip granddad, old Johnny Mac are both calling fordrilling for oil off everybody’s shore line these days. Of course it will have zero impact on the price of gas and they know that. But it does sound good no? The Salon tells us the real story and why it is environmentally dangerous and politically unwise.

It’s Wednesday and that means Susan Posner has another of her insightful posts on Fundamentalist issues. Don’t miss her. Some very interesting topics today, including the weird state of Texas, Latino evangelicals, and more.

Oh, and just so you have no question. Johnny McBush is shouting for that off-shore drilling now, and well, could it be? Oh yes it could be, and it is. The Macster is beholden to big oil interests to the tune of 1MILLION dollars so far in campaign contributions. Worse yet of course is the fact that his lobbyist bloated campaign is also chock full  of what? lobbyists who have lobbied for big oil. Read it at The Nation. And could it get worse? McMyster claims he actually knows off-shore drilling won’t garner any real help in the short term, but he claims it will be psychologically helpful! He said the same about the tax break at the gas pump thing too. No real help. Sorry dope, but I would like some real help, let me worry about my psychological state, thank you.

Everyone is talking about the skyrocketing prices of everything, especially food. The media, in it’s best, “we care about you” tradition is giving us all kinds of helpful hints on how to save (working five jobs is the only solution I see). Yet little time is spent on the real issue. how did this happen. If we are ever to get out of a hole of repeating the same mistakes, it might be very important to learn how we got here. Hint: look at where we buy our food! Read the story about Argentina in The New Republic.

See, this is what I don’t get. You have independent evidence that a program has zero effect on its target, and you continue funding it. That is what has happened in our knuckle headed Congress once again. Although it is proven by studies that abstinence only “sex” education doesn’t have ANY impact on kids sexual behavior, Congress has passed more funding for it in a Medicare spending bill. This when nearly 1/2 of all the states have already opted out of the program BECAUSE IT DOESN’T WORK, and another two are planning to. And there have been congressional hearings on this already. Don’t these fools even read anymore? Sad report from the Washington Independent.

We are starting to be a big fan of Michael Hart at Urantian SoJourn. He is witty, and dead on much of the time. Read his amusing and pointed remarks today in the post entitled “Dicking around at Dickapedia.” It’s about the third or fourth one down from the top on the main page. Still can’t activate any single posts.

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“An intellectual is a person who has discovered something more interesting than sex.” Aldous Huxley

“You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.” Ray Bradbury

“All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.” Aristotle

“If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.” Tallulah Bankhead

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It’s been very difficult for the firefighters to get things under control because the vegetation up in Northern California where the fires are is about 40% marijuana plants. So the poor crews, they’re supposed to be bringing in supplies, but they keep bringing in Doritos and chocolate milk shakes. And it’s not helping. Jimmy Kimmel

Don Imus claims his so-called racial remark about suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones was just a sarcastic comment about the unfair treatment of blacks in the criminal justice system. This guy is so desperate, he was spotted after the show wearing an Afro wig and begging a black person to call him a “nappy-headed host.” Paul Seaburn

Regarding all the recent floods and overflowing levees: FEMA announced they are going to do much better this time, and by the end of this week plenty of food and rescue supplies will definitely arrive in New Orleans. – Janice Hough, Palo Alto, Calif.

John McCain says that if elected president, he will give a $300 million prize to anyone who can design a new car battery. McCain can get a new type of battery invented because he’s the guy that came up with the idea of not cranking the car up at the start. Craig Ferguson

Atoms and Other Particles

Tags

American History, Applique, astronomy, beading, chicken, Civil War, crochet, Desserts, embroidery, founding faithers, fruit, Gardening, George Washington, herbs, Italian, Pennsylvania, pesto, quilting, religion, Rome, seeds, Women's history, world history

George Krause did this beauty, entitled “Fountainhead” in 1970. I suspect that in some parts of the west, such a delightful experience would be most welcome.

Well, the garden is officially planted for the second time. I couldn’t get any more tomato plants or any sweet peppers but I did manage to get four Anaheim peppers which are mildly hot and good for a lot of dishes. The garden doesn’t look too bad, and the corn seems to be going a bit. Some of the tomato plants look rather spindly, but who knows, they may take off. I’m wondering if I should get some fertilizer out on it. Perhaps the heavy rains have washed away nutrients. The little pepper plants, no more than about 7 inches tall are trying to set fruit. That concerns me, since I’m thinking they are not going to produce much. Nothing can be done.

It seems the story is the same everywhere. The Contrariansstep brother has sprayed his fields for weeds so apparently he thinks the corn will come along. Since we planted at nearly the same time, that gives us some hope. Surely he wouldn’t spend the money for nothing. He must feel that the chances are still worth it.

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A huge congrats to Deborah over at (Mis)Adventures of a Crafty Wifey. Seems they are pregnant. Stop by and give her and hubby a nice high five.

William Penn is of course the reason Pennsylvania is called, well PENNsylvania. Yesterday marked the anniversary of his penning ( no pun intended of course) a treaty between his white folks and the native tribe there, the Lenni Lenape. King Charles II had given Penn the land, but of course it was never his to give. Read more at Martin’s American History Blog.

Hannibal won a significant battle against the Romans on this date in 217 B.C.E. Of course in the end he lost. N.S. Gill’s Ancient/Classic History Bloghas the details. The Contrarian and I seldom hear of Hannibal when we don’t recall a funny incident. We were watching “Millionaire” back in its beginnings when Regis Philbinwas still hosting at night. The first question to a contestant was “What animal did Hannibal use to cross the Alps in his war against Rome?” Without batting an eye, the young man confidently exclaimed with obvious superiority, “Llamas!” ROFL. Now there is so much wrong with that that well it never fails to get us laughing like crazy.

Sandi’s Crochet Blog offers a pattern for an afghan, and she offers you three different sizes. The pattern is called shell triangles and it’s very lovely I thought. I have a couple of afghans in progress already, but of course I seldom work on them during the summer months. Just to hot and the yarn drags horribly and your hands sweat. (We don’t use air-conditioning) I have tried to leave comments on her site but they never open up. If any of you have any luck, let me know.

You can find a very interesting discourse on George Washington at American Revolution Blogtoday. He discusses at length Washington’s faith, and how he interpreted that in light of his responsibilitiesboth as Revolutionary General and later as President. A very impressive overview.

I’ve been on a cilantro kick for a while. The fajitas we had yesterday were so much enhanced by fresh cilantro in the salsa. So it should come as no surprise that I found this recipe from  Baking Delights enticing. It’s called Cilantro Chickenand is a quickie. I’m rather certain I shall make it before the end of the week, though I will be significantly cutting it down for two.

Today Civil War Women features Judith Carter Henry. The story is about the first battle of Bull Run and an unlikely victim of that battle. Mrs. Henry, 85 years old, was one of casualties and, and as Maggie points out, the romanticism of war soon faded.

My intestines have caught up with me so I’ve had to put on the breaks with my love affair with fruit for a bit. But that doesn’t mean that I want to deprive you of a great recipe. Mango Blueberry Fool is sure to please your family any day, but especially on the hot summer days when fruit tastes just so darn good. Thanks to Epicurious for another fine one.

I thought I would include this fromFeeling Stitchy today, in honor of our friend Vicki at Knitting Dragonflies. A plethora of dragonflies for your inspiration! Patterns, tutorials and links to other great dragonfly-inspired projects for embroidery and quilting. One is also beaded, so lots of different craft ideas are available.

Okay, have you tried planting an avocado seed? I have, and have actually grown one to a real plant, but then it just died. I think I may try again with the expert advice I found at Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas. Take a peek and don’t send that poor old avocado seed off to the compost heap again. Grow your own! Of course it takes years to produce fruit, so either grow as a houseplant or transplant to a movable container and eventually you will get fruit. We can’t plant outside here in Iowa, it’s too cold in the winter.

Alice Parker is another of those unfortunate women who was tried as a witch. While many try to play down this time in our history, especially the religious right who never want to admit that Christianity can get out of hand, History of American Womenmakes it very clear by her essays that it was indeed prevalent for a time. It is important that these poor women not be forgotten. Her conviction was later reversed and her family received 8 pounds in recompense. How very nice. 😦

Inspired by Antique Quilts has another one she is getting ready to finish. A lovely applique that is colorful and looks quite quick. The pattern is large as you can see if you follow the link and take a look yourself.

Science purely shocks me sometimes. It tells me things that frankly I never thought about before.  Most know of Homer’s Odyssey, if they haven’t read it, or seen some representation of it in film. Of course we know it is part fiction but also part fact, since Troy has long been known to exist, featured so prominently in the Iliad. In the Odyssey, an eclipse is mentioned in the 20th book. Astronomers have pinpointed the date of that eclipse as April 16, 1178 B.C.E. some months after Odysseus return, near in time to when he slayed the many suitors vying for his wife’s hand. Read all the fascinating details of how this was done at Live Science.

The new Pew Report is really fascinating as it looks at American views on religion. Some of the results are simply astounding in my view. Some of this I saw last night on the news. Apparently most of us, even most evangelicals don’t believe that their faith (Christianity) is necessarily the only way to salvation. A huge majority of Catholics (79%) feel this way, topped only by Buddhists at around 83%. That suggests I think, major room for interfaith dialogue and cooperation. The Politico has the story. Here is a link to the forum itself where you can spend a long time reading through this very detailed work.

Pesto! I love the stuff, and have about 8 basil plants doing just fine in a container by the front door. I plan on making pestowhen they are as big as i can get them. It’s very easy to make, just basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. Whiz it in a food processor, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze, pop out and put in a freezer bag. You can add it to pasta, soups, well just about anything you wish. Once Upon A Feast has some great new and different ways to make it. Cilantro is a favorite substitute. Just looking at the photos are enough to make a person swoon.

Well I found this next one a bit weird to say the least. It seems glass is not a proper solid at all. It’s moving. Yeah, did I say weird? Atoms are prohibited from moving where they want to by being blocked by neighbors. All of this means (heck if I know why) that glass could be the new component in airplane construction. I’m not thinking I want to sit in a transparent plane anytime soon!

Canada can boast a new find archaeologically speaking, and we always like to speak archaeologically whenever possible. An ancient fort constructed by people before Europeans arrived in the area, has been located in Western Canada, near Cluny and east of Calgary. It is defined as a Siksika First Nation reservation and is around 250 years old. The site was long known to native peoples.

Wow, I sure missed a number of posts by Melisende at Women of History. There are several so I’ll just give you the main site and you can scroll down and read what you like. The first is onMaria Comnena, Queen of Jerusalem, grandniece to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnena of Constantinople. Second is Theodora Comnena, niece of the same Emperor. Next is Margaret Anjou, Queen to the King Henry VI of England, Artemesia of Hallicarnassus, Queen, and lastlyGalla Placidia, Empress and daughter of Theodosius the Great of Rome. They are all from June 22, so she’s been quite prolific. A lovely run of important women

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More Sign Humor:

At a Music Store: Out to lunch. Bach at 12:30. Offenbach sooner.

At a tire shop in Milwaukee: Invite us to your next blowout. 

At the electric company: We would be delighted if you send in your bill. However, if you don’t, you will be.

Church sign: To remove worry wrinkles, get your faith lifted

In a department store: Bargain Basement Upstairs.

In a Maine restaurant: Open seven days a week and weekends.

In a Pennsylvania cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

Inside a bowling alley: Please be quiet. We need to hear a pin drop.

On a maternity room door: Push. Push. Push.

On a New York convalescent home: For the sick and tired of the Episcopal Church

Whoooo are You?

Tags

affirmative action, Barack Obama, Bush, Campaign financing, environment, evangelicals, FISA, GOP, immigration, Iowa, Iran, Iraq, John McCain, Lebanon, Palestine, poverty, senate, War, Women's issues

“The Barn Owl” by Kate Breakey, 2005. Usually when you think of owls, you think of their huge eyes, so incredibly round and deep. I thought this captured a very different aspect of such a beautiful creature.

A great weekend, and I hope yours was too. We did a lot of yard work and gardening Saturday and it was very satisfying to see things finally cleaned up from the Spring of Rain. Things are doing okay in the garden, but truthfully, we don’t know what to expect. Most everything survived but it did not grow at all. So the next weeks will tell. The Contrarian planted another couple of rows of corn, and I’m off in a bit to pick up a few more pepper plants and some winter squash hopefully to hedge our bets a bit.

I made an apricot tart that was okay, but not great. The recipe I think could have been better. The custard was boring, needing at least some vanilla to spark it up. The crust and apricots were fine however. Today’s menu is fajitas and I’ve made some fresh salsa this morning. We had waffles and fresh strawberries Saturday. The Contrarian, not surprising doesn’t like strawberries with his homemade waffles (crazy huh) and had corn syrup! But I was finding it all glorious! I seem to be on a fruit kick, and hope that it doesn’t upset my system too much.

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Well, hey, it’s Monday, so let’s start out scaring ourselves to death. We have remarked here lately of growing concern that Bush and those that rule him intend on leaving a legacy of a bombed Iran before he sneaks off into the dark come next January. Fears are growing that the only way to stop the crazed brainless one is to impeach him. Now I have thought such a process simply worthless at this late date, but after this article, well, perhaps it needs rethinking. We cannot ignore what is going on in the tiny but determined mind of one George W. Bush. We do so at our peril.

As we clean up in Iowa after the mother of all floods, many ask, why? Is this normal and something that sooner or later had to happen? It would not seem so to those who faced nearly as bad a situation in 1993 and some again in 1999. So what’s up? Environmentalists say that we should look to climate change as the culprit. And it may be what we can expect in the Midwest from now on. Read Amy Goodman’s story in Alternet.

Bill Moyers Journalhas a most interesting piece on affirmative action. Is there a reason to change the focus? Should it be revisioned as affirmative action for the poor, regardless of race?I don’t know as I’ve seen this idea before. Read a thoughtful and provocative take on an issue that touches us all, as potential recipients or as taxpayers.

One of the reasons that Bushbaby is encouraged in his dreams of blowing the hell out of Iran is people (oh such a slam on people)  like John Bolton. You remember him, the wingnut that could not get confirmed by Congress, not that it really mattered since the Prez had other ways of letting him do the job, and paying him even without confirmation. It is this outdated, repudiated, didn’t work before ideas that neo-cons like Bolton cannot let go of, but that Bush keeps eating up. Telling our echo-headed Texan that Arab states would secretly welcome a bombing of Iran, is just plain nonsense. As usual, Blue Girl Red State, pulls no punches and says exactly what she thinks.

Now as i recall, John McCain was for a humane immigration policy. But as I also recall, that was in support of Bush’s plan, and that definitely didn’t go over well with the base, who are rabid in their desire to build fences and send ’em all back no matter what the cost. (Read we have a new racist target)What exactly is McCain up to these days?Well, he had a meeting with Hispanic leaders, and a Hispanic, but conservative went  in and actually heard what he said: Seems he is reassuring Hispanics that he is still for a more liberal policy. But unfortunately that is not what he is saying more publicly. John, John, when will you learn that you really can’t have it both ways? Read Ezra Klein’s link to a Jake Tapper story.

A beautiful guest blog at Essential Estrogen, by the Rev. Catherine Quehl-Engel, from Cornell College on workers in flood torn Iowa. The sentiments are sweet and humbling. Read it and think deeply please.

Inside Iraq tells us exactly what some of us have been saying. It’s all about oil you know. It always was. I cannot imagine the frustration and anger and misery of this people. I shake my head in disgust, I feel the moisture of tears and I feel the humiliation of worrying about my sorry garden in the face of the magnitude of hellacious misery these folks go through every day.

This is the kind of thing that must make Johnny McBush simply cry at night. He is losing women faster than a water slops over the leveesdown the old Mississip. And they are vocal and public and major Republican women who are making these statements. There is no question that Obama is getting the women’s vote, and he is getting a whole lot more than just Democratic women. If I Ran the Zoo brings the story to you.

Word is it that Barack Obama is going to vote for the new compromised FISA bill. I’m sickened and so are quite a few others so I am told. Rhetoric doesn’t match action once again. This is change? This is just more of the same crap we’ve grown oh so accustomed to, and I can tell you, I don’t like it! Iowa Independent has the rundown on the state’s congressmen and how they voted. Braley and Loebsack voted against it, while Boswell voted for it. And if you want the real lowdown on the whole sordid affair, don’t miss Glenn Greenwald‘s great article bashing Time’s reporting of the Pelosi “compromise” explanation.

Fareed Zakaria offers his advice to Obama on what to say and do about Iraq at this point. Although he says that the war is fading as an issue in this campaign, it is something that will needs be addressed upon taking office next January. See if you agree with the analysis of Mr. Zakaria.

Of course, Iraqi problems spill over into other countries in the Middle East. One of those is the refugee problem. At last “count” there are some 50,000 Iraqi refugees in Lebanon. This in a country with plenty of its on problems at the moment. Add to that another 400,000 Palestinians and you can see the problem. The Palestinian Pundit reports.

If you would like to take a look at the economy from both a Obama and a McMac prospective, then the Political Animal ( Kevin Drum) has a link to a Fortune Magazine interview of the two, with parallel Q & A’s. I’ve linked you to the full interviews at Fortune.

There is a lot of news lately that evangelicals in America are not so tied to Republicans trousers and skirts any more.They are, in larger and larger numbers up for grabs. And part of this is due to younger evangelicals, who are noticeably more liberal on social issues than their parents. This bodes well for Obama, and not so good for the Macster. This is also supported by the latest Pew findings, more of which will be reported tomorrow here.

OOPS big time. McCainiacs, specifically his VERY OWN CHIEF STRATEGIST, stepped on his tongue twice. First, with all due sincerity, he said that the death of Benazir Bhutto earlier this year, was “helpful” to McShister. Now he says, another attack on American soil would also be helpful. I mean good grief, I believe even a high school freshman might know that this was NOT a politically good thing to say. McCain has a total bunch of idiots running his show, but they say it takes one to know one. Know what I mean? Much thanks from Think Progress for this gem.

Things are looking a bit bleak for Senate Republicans. Seems they are realizing that things are not going to go well for them come November. And that is great news for Democrats certainly. At this point they are hoping to lose only three seats, but a fair analysis suggests that more like 12 are up for serious contention. Oh woe is me! I mean Oh happy is me! HAHA. The Nationreports that this wonderful situation exists from coast to coast, with long-time Republicons now trying to hang on by fingernails in some cases.

The New Republichas a nice piece on the expected efforts of the McShame campaign to turn this election away from issues and toward visceral fears, sorta like Georgie boy did in 2004. The straight talker it seems actually talks with forked tongue.  What is worse, this isn’t just about war and security, but it’s more debasing: it’s about deep seeded and best left buried fears of the black man. Read about “McCain’s Low Road to Victory” by Drew Weston. Read this one folks, it is important.

McBush is trying to make a big deal out of the fact the Obama has opted out of public financing. But watchdog groups who positively thought that McMac was their man, have been forced to rethink things. It turns out that many are now claiming that Obama is more likely to pursue effective anti-lobbying laws than their old boy Johnny.Johnny has more lobbyists and now ex-lobbyists in his campaign than any other candidate did. Guiliani was second, but McCain had almost double. The Washington Independent has a nice long article with all the particulars.

Urantian Sojourn has a nice piece by Michael Hart. I sure wish that Michael wouldn’t be so reticent about telling us what he really thinks about things. I mean, he is so shy about calling anyone out no matter how hypocritical they might be.  A little backbone Mr. Hart! ROFL. It’s called, “Trippin’ round the Horn of Hypocrisy.” You know you must read it.

You think you got problems? Visit Kiwi at Sea. I don’t know why I include this blog, but it just strikes me that this guys life is so very alien to mine that it was kinda fun seeing the world through his eyes. Parking a multi-cat is hard work, so he says. Life at sea, sounds sort of romantic, but I suspect its just mostly hard work.

And to finish off, Angry African on the Loose seems to think about as highly as I do of the unholy trinity of McBushy, Hannity and O’Reilly. I mean they are famous there in South Africa too, just not in the way they would hope! Too funny stuff. He calls them the axis of drivel. Nice nice.

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“Life is a long lesson in humility.” James M. Berrie

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.”  Umberto Eco

“It is the wretchedness of being rich that you have to live with rich people.” Logan Pearsall Smith

“I find it rather easy to portray a businessman. Being bland, rather cruel and incompetent comes naturally to me.” John Cleese

“He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death.” Saki

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Winnebago has reported a 73 percent drop in quarterly sales. Despite the downturn, analysts paint some positive news. This decreases the chance relatives will park in front of your house.

“Get Smart” is out in theaters. The evil organization KOAS is largely based on a real world group bent on creating turmoil. FEMA. – Alan Ray, Stockton, Calif.

Chrysler announced it will hybridize its biggest rear wheel-drive sedans, SUVs and pick-up trucks, instead of starting with its smallest cars like other automakers. This is apparently part of Chrysler’s plan to become the first American car company to be outsold by Amish Horse Trailers Inc.

With more than 9 million adults classified as obese or overweight, Australia has passed the U.S. as the fattest nation in the world. Australians are so fat, the city of Perth is now known as Girth.— Paul Seaburn, Spring, Texas

President Bush went to Iowa today. He wanted to show Iowans that disaster is difficult, but it can be overcome. Of course, people in Iowa were a little confused. They weren’t sure which disaster President Bush was talking about, the floods or his presidency. Which one? Jay Leno