Patting Myself on the Back

Tags

atheists, Barack Obama, Fox News Channel, Franklin Graham, fundamentalists, Muslims, nature, paleontology, Politics, racism, Republican, science

The truth is, I believe in dressing well, even for a day at the computer. As you can see, even a hat is de rigueur in my world.

I went on yesterday about veiled conspiracies to subvert the economic recovery by corporations (banks and otherwise), giving up short-term gains to insure a Republican victory this November. I think I’m mostly right.

Veiled or unveiled, I suspect they don’t much care at this point. Fox certainly doesn’t after it’s gift of a cool mill to the GOP. They don’t bother any more with even a pretence at “fair and balanced.”

Why? Oh quite simple really.  They know that their simple-minded audience can’t add two and two and come up remotely close to a correct answer. They can and do lie at will. The right doesn’t listen to the left, preferring to roll in the swill of their moral rightness on everything. Their base doesn’t care one whit that they are playing politics, in fact they agree with it. Just as they agreed with Fox’s promotion of all things tea partyish.

Why I disagree with parts of the next article, especially as to who is owed all the blame, I think there is something to be said for RCP’s article The Lost Promise of Barack Obama. Democrats bear a good deal of blame for their own downfall, which seems more and more likely this November.

 Nobody can get a snark on better than our friends at Urantia Sojourn. This one particularly struck me as both cogent and well researched. The branding of all non-whites as “other” is reaching epidemic proportions in America. Will we stop it before it is too late?

It seems to me that part of being responsible as a human beings is to be willing to criticize yourself, as American, Democrat, religious believer, etc. Being an apologist is simply dangerous, and once discovered takes all the power from your voice. The must read of today is this one: [note that this link is weird–the text is half way down, it looks like a Pakistan military site, but the full text is in a comment–3quarksdaily had no better linkage]

Harvard University offers an award known as the Robert F. Kennedy Public Service award. It’s first Muslim recipient and only second South Asia one, went to Mir Ibrahim Rahman. His remarks are food for deep thought for all of us in the US. They were made at Harvard Commencement. As I said, the text is embedded in a comment I believe, but still it is worth the effort to get to it.

Goodness knows I’ve had my problems with atheists. The NEW ones at least. I find them about as irrational and pompous as fundamentalists. More and more I keep finding that many equate, and frankly always have, the rabid atheist with the fundamentalist. Both talk of certainty about things that are anything but certain.

A great post by Reza Aslan at the Washington Post lays this out extraordinarily well. Much thanks to Mystical Seeker at Find and Ye Shall Seek. Much whine from the atheists in the comments.

The profession of butcher is older than we thought! At least 800,000 years to be exact. Ha! And to think that butcher shops are going out of style and have been for decades now. You would think that they would be revered places, beginnings of our illustrious history as tool makers and users. Read it all at Butchering Dinner 3.4 Million Years Ago.

And then there are times when it’s very embarrassing to be a Christian–when you have to be in the same religion as Franklin Graham. This Muslim hater is beyond the pale. Even his father had enough sense to at least apologize when caught being anti-Semitic. The son now drivels on about how Obama came from “Muslim seed” and “says he has accepted Jesus Christ”.  What a piece of work.

Amy Sullivan has a most interesting take on why polls claim that 1/4 of Americans “think” Obama is a Muslim. Worth your time to read this one.

Meanwhile, James Taranto, writing for the Wall Street Journal (Murdock’s baby remember) writes a convoluted piece that suggests that liberals do these polls all for the purpose of calling the right names for their beliefs, and in the process fail to do it, but make themselves look mean and small for calling out the right wing nuts. Understand that? Neither did I. If you got to comments you will find that ALL believe Obama is a Muslim there. Too funny.

And that’s a wrap.

Job Satisfaction is Job 0

Tags

David Attenborough, evolution, nature, work, work ethic

A few days ago, I wrote a blog on Memorial Day, and the bizarre way we celebrate it.  I surely won’t belabor the point for you now, but I think from the comments, that my point got across. It is hard to think of Britain or France, or the Israelis celebrating their war dead in this way.

I do think it is highly understandable however, and therefore, I don’t find reason to beat upon the collective head of America for it’s insensitive treatment of a most solemn day.

The reason, is that we, as Americans almost overwhelmingly look forward to any day off from work the way a dog salivates, observing a steak mere centimeters from it’s jaws. We get giddy, we dance, we flat out want to celebrate. We call days various things based on how close or far they are from Saturday and Sunday. Mondays are black, ugly, miserable, the start of a long haul. Wednesdays are “hump” day. Thursday, the anticipation builds, and then it’s “TGIF!”

Not, “Oh wonderful it’s Friday,” or “Yippie, it’s Friday,” but THANK GOD!!!!, as if we might not survive if the work week went on one more day. And indeed perhaps we really come close to believing it. And the reason?

The reason is simply, we feel fortunate to work, to be able to make a living, to be able to pay the bills. Part of the worth ethic in this country has never been that we do a job we love, only that we do the job. We hunker down, we drag ourselves there, we honorably do the job we are assigned, and at the stroke of the hour, we pour out, sometimes even running to the car, the bus, the train, and get the hell away.

This is sad, but I would say, with no real actual stats, that probably 85% of us are at work because we need the paycheck. We may enjoy some aspects of our work, may not totally hate it, make like the folks we work with. But given our druthers, we would be some place else, and doing something else.

We may perceive that the wealthy or more well to do, can afford to take their time and determine what is their life’s love. They can travel the continent for a year, waste a couple of years in college, taking anything much that sounds interesting before buckling down to actually learn something.

The rest of us have no such luxury. If we were lucky enough to afford college, we were there for four years, and we were expected to come out with a saleable craft. Those of us who were a bit luckier could afford to extend that to law school or medical school, but still, we did it in the requisite minimum time frame. No dallying.

A million (well a few actually) other things intrigued me. Anthropology, and philosophy for starts. I didn’t really even know the word paleontology at the time I doubt. These would have been pretty darn neat disciplines I would have loved to pursue. But in all such cases, this required a masters, and then doctorate since there isn’t much call for an BA in anthropology these days, or any days. Teach it and write, and take sabbaticals for treasure hunting. That requires PH.D’s. 

So I ended up being a lawyer. While it had it’s moments, I never was “fascinated” or in love with it. It was a job, it brought a paycheck.

Which is why people like David Attenborough totally are my heroes. I’ve been watching him on various channels for maybe 30 or more years. He travels everywhere, from deep under the ocean to the tallest mountain peaks, and he shows me wonders in nature. He’s been doing it for 50 years.

He seems as much in love with what he does now as when he did the first time I saw him. His sense of wonder and excitement are as fresh today as ever. He seems not to be the product of great wealth. His love for nature apparently was evident since his youth. He was a collector as a child.

I use him only as an example. You can think of your own no doubt with ease. People that you can just tell, jump out of bed in anticipation each morning,eager to go off to their chosen field. You’ve seen the orchid expert gasping with delight at finding a new species, or the geologist waiting expectantly, wringing his hands, waiting for the spectroscopic analysis to be complete. Some of the funniest are the JPL guys and gals as they watch with held breath as the robots traverse the planet Mars, oohing and aahing, over pieces of gravel we simply shrug at.

I truly envy these people who by luck, or sheer force of will attained the right job for themselves. The ones who wouldn’t do anything differently if given the chance. Who can’t imagine retiring. These are blessed lives.

I’m rather convinced that this is what we are meant to do, love the thing we do and do the thing we love. Someday I think we will all do that. Until then, it’s TGIF! for the rest of us.

Lil Bits of Rancor or Not 8/08/08

Tags

Barack Obama, butterflies, corruption, economy, Election 2008, energy, Gardening, Iowa, John McCain, lobbyists, nature, Photography, psychology, Steve King, Washington, Zoology

The question is asked: Do we actually want a government that is free from scandal and cheating? One has to wonder and we learn that so much corruption exists in Washington. The lobbyists and the politicians make deals that feather their own nests and billions is wasted of taxpayer money. Bill Moyers and Michael Winship tell the tale of Abramoff and Delay and a host of others, and how the tales continue as we find how Justice was sold, and how Alaska paid for home improvements. Are we ever going to wake up and do something?

New York Magazine and John Heileman has a must see article on John McCain this week. The Mudslinger is the only way he can go and thus no one should be surprised at the tactic. McCain understands he cannot win on issues, so destroying Obama is his only option, and one that McCain backers know their man has NO problem going with. It appears that the only thing wrong with what happened to McCain in 2000 at the hand of Rove and Bush, was that McCain couldn’t do it first to them. It all ends up being a big question mark how it will turn out. It sickens me no end, but conventional wisdom says that Obama needs to hit McCain hard and fast and not stop. It’s the only way to derail the old man mired in the mud. Others suggest McCain will make short-term gains but fall in the end to an electorate disgusted with someone who has no issues to stand on.  You figure it out, I can’t.

I admit to finding online quizzes of various sorts, mildly diverting of work and amusing in some cases. Episcopalifem  has a link to one that is funny. It’s a personality test, testing your introvert/extrovert quotient among other things. She actually has links to a more serious one as well, if you like that kind of thing. I turned out badly,  a crackpot, no less, lol, but it is just amusing, and there is as I said, a link to a more honest and nice assessment. Have fun!

For you Iowans, I bestowed on Essential Estrogen, an award last week. She did her bit and listed 7 more recipients and of course I checked them out, and found one you might enjoy. It’s going on my blog list for sure. This guy takes the most amazing Iowa photographs. I mean really professional stuff. His sidebar has a wonderful list of shots of Iowa birds. Go and enjoy this one! It’s called Iowa Voice.

A nice article at Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas about butterflies. What they like to eat, with a homemade recipe you can do, as well as the best plants to attract them.

Rep. Steve King is a slime in case you weren’t aware. He really really needs to lose his job. He is still claiming that an Obama win would be a great thing for terrorists world wide. He has posted this vile bilge on his congressional website, paid for by taxpayers. He’s been called the worst by Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. I’d take that with a grain of salt, however the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has threatened to sue and Chet Culver says he should remove this incendiary remarks. Did I say he was a slime and needs to be defeated in November?

Maureen Dowd has outdone herself this week. She writes an excellent psychological explanation of what is going on in the McCain campaign. She suggests that the disease also applies to Bill Clinton. And you know something, it does explain a lot of things. It points to an answer for while Bill cannot find it within himself to give a good old fashioned smiling thumbs up endorsement of Barack. It explains a lot of the rather petulant pouting mean spirited cloaked haha junk that keeps emanating from the McCain camp. It’s a good thoughtful read. It’s got nothing to do with anything Maureen insists than plain old envy–Barack is young and the new kid on the block who has mesmerized everyone they way they used to.

I think I mentioned this on my weekly post on “Correcting the Record.” John McDope made a major misstep when he made fun of Obama’s tire inflation plan to help reduce the usage of gasoline. Johnny is beating a hasty retreat and apologizing for it now, as the proof is undeniable that it works and works maybe as good as Johnny’s off-shore drilling turn about. Paul Abrams has a very good post out of the Huffington Post on how this issue may be a a defining one in the campaign. For Johnny has basically mocked us, not just Obama in listening to his oil interests instead of competent experts. Read it and you will be glad you did.

Of Beauty and Neglect

Tags

Art, essay, nature, Photography

This breathtaking photograph was done by Alfred Eisenstaedt in 1947 and is named “Trees in Snow, St. Moritz.”

I know it’s out of season, but I couldn’t resist it. It is the type of photo and the type of landscape that simply mesmerizes me. The starkness of the black on white, the wonderful whorled angles of the branches, and the sharp contrast between shadow and light all play together in a beauty that only a God could create.

Why is it that trees are more dramatic when leafless? They seem that way to me anyway, I guess because only in the winter can you see the incredible play of nature on the shape and twining of the branches. Each was shaped along it’s length by wind and weather. A brush against a limb here, and a branch recoils and goes around, up or away from the other. I can’t tell from this photo whether this was an unexpected snow or not. The tree seems to have some foliage, albeit it is covered.

Not apropos of this certainly, but as I was sitting at the top of my hill this morning, nearing the end of my walk, I pondered the insects traveling around me. I can get quite immersed in them some days. They seem entirely purposeful, yet if you watch, they often retrace, double back and otherwise move in ways that suggest random movement. I wonder as I watch the many centipedal ones, are they the ones I saw yesterday?

This always brings me to the remembrance of times I have laid flat on the ground, (even as a an adult, I might say) and looked at the world of the small. It is a busy place indeed. Lots of ants and other small insects too small to be seen from a standing or sitting position, suddenly appear and you realize that another world is going on here, one that we barely know of. A similar experience occurs in later summer, now approaching, when the night is a cacophony of sound. Another whole living is going on at night while we sleep.

What always seems incongruous to me is that for their size, most of these little animals seem to move great distances in a short time. I wish I could. And of course, I realize that I must every day, kill so many just walking around. Of this I am largely unaware. I am aware of course of killing mosquitoes with a vengeance and I have a war on flies too. I kill them quite gleefully and with great satisfaction. “There you go, you torturer!” I exclaim, as I deal the coup de grace with swatter or hand. And I don’t feel the least bit merciful either. But the little ones, who don’t bother me and I kill inadvertently, those I feel bad about.

The same is true to one degree or another about other reptilian things. I mourn not the frog or toad, the snake or other “other” animal that dies at the hands of my dogs or cats. I mourn the rabbit and squirrel, the coon and woodchuck that does however. Furriness makes a difference, and I don’t know why that is so, but I know that it is. I carry this over to nature shows. I don’t mind seeing the fish being eaten by a larger predator, but I bemoan the poor seal killed by the orca. I turn away as the lioness takes down the gazelle.

It has something to do with big eyes I think, which remind us of human babies? Is that a good enough reason to make this distinction in my empathy? I think not, but I do it anyhow. I have only so much energy to expend in improving myself as a human. Better to keep working on not wanting to physically throttle fundamentalists or other “wrong” thinking people, no time to reform my attitude about reptiles today.

If you are wondering what this has to do with the tree pictured above, the answer is nothing. It’s my blog and I’ll digress if I want to. So there. I can neglect logic if I choose, and you can just reform your attitude if you don’t like it!! Well, I’m having a lovely day, and I hope you are too. See ya!

Blue Spray

Tags

Art, essay, geology, nature, photographs

Done by LeRoy Grannis 1968-2007 period, it is entitled “Waimea.”

This photo intrigued me. I recall as a teenager I was most enthralled by California and the beach scene as portrayed in the Gidget and Beach movies and the songs of the Beach Boys. I guess I longed to go there and live like that. I certainly recall wanting to learn to surf. Such is not possible of course in Michigan.

Being from Michigan, which has a lot of water, and spending so many summers at the lake, I had a fond and deep love for water. I swam all day every day for weeks on end each summer. It was often mentioned that the only part of me likely to become sun burned were the bottoms of my feet. I was a underwater swimmer, coming up just long enough to grab a breath for another dive. We were blessed with clear water and sandy bottoms which made the experience pleasant.

I visited the sea in Connecticut and can at least lay claim to seeing the Atlantic, albeit not the vast expanse so much, since the Sound land is visible from most places still. I have never witnessed the Pacific. As water go, I’m sure it is similar. I am always mesmerized by vast anything, whether it be sand, water, sky or mountain. I marvel at nature and the forces of geology that shape and reshape our planet.  Up on my sand hill, I can gaze out at the vastness of fields of corn and soybeans. While to some, it may not seem as dramatic, I can lay claim to knowing that it is.

When I sit there looking over the land, I imagine some Native People who might have camped there, close to stream, and forest alike. A secret wish of mine is to have one of those metal detectors and traverse my land, seeking, well, something that indicates who else has walked these hills.

I get of course, a much different feeling with water. So changeless yet ever changing. I’m reminded most especially of the wonderful metaphor of water and God. I am the drop of water in the ocean of God. I am of God, but just a speck of God. God in me, me in God. Sliding with the waves, gliding along in the silk of the medium of hydrogen and oxygen, magically melded into this liquid caress, stress melts, spirit soars, oneness is granted for the briefest of moments in time. 

I love water, but of course that is natural, since I am mostly water. The affinity is what I would expect. I know she can be dangerous and is to be respected, yet if I am careful, she will do her best to dance and fly, spray and crash, shimmer and shine in wondrous colors that cross the spectrum, all for my delight. Us inlanders miss something that you coasters know. But then the mountain folks have their own glory as do the desert roamers. But us midlanders have our precious waving fields to hold up in competitive bid as well.

If there is a place on earth that combines it all, then that is where I should like to live.