Religion Run Amok

First we have the spectacle of Texas authorities “rescuing” the children of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from their ranch in West Texas and keeping them in custody until their disposition can be determined by law.

From the description of the sect which we are beginning to learn from news reports, this sect is certainly about as strange as they come. However, speaking as a nonbeliever, in this country wallowing in religious freedom and liberty (both words mean the same thing, but it makes them more pithy if used together,) I have yet to hear those words in this particular case from any of the better known Christian groups in this country. Curious!

Next we have derision piled upon derision against Barack Obama for his insightful remarks concerning the people at the bottom of the American good luck heap. There must be many of them who are “bitter.” That word, as well as the values which give them some meaning in their lives, undoubtedly are felt as Obama described them. The reactions of Clinton and McCain are becoming less and less improptu and more and more manufactured tactics. Of the three of them, Obama has had the most direct experience with the needs and the sorrows of those who feel that life is passing them by in favor of the rich and socially elite, whose wealth grows on the backs of the underpaid poor.

And today the Pope is making his first visit to this country as Pope, to be welcomed to the White House. He plans to apologize for the sexual transgressions of the Catholic clergy, few of whom have been properly punished, while the innocent children of the Mormon sect, at this very same time, do not understand what is happening to them.
Quite a week!

I Haven't Finished Yet-The Olympics

While I was composing my previous blog, I was watching the progress of the Olympic Flame through San Francisco. It reminded me of the immigrant march on Washington on 4/11/06. I wrote an article about it, probably even before I started my blog, which I am reprinting below:

I watched or listened to C-Span almost all day yesterday, and I was very moved by the immigrant march in Washington, very much as I felt about the march led by Martin Luther King. It was thrilling to see underdogs in life asserting themselves as human beings.

On the other hand, out of the many calls that came in to C-Span from the public only a paltry few were positive. Most were absolutely vitriolic. Remember “I’m a uniter, not a divider”? He has united party against party, nation against nation, religion against religion, and now nationality against nationality. Through his administration’s use of propaganda since 9/11, we are suspicious of anyone who even looks Near Eastern. And we have now added suspecting anyone who looks Mexican to the list of the “terrorists.” If they are not terrorists, they at least have to be criminals and/or gang members.

It is not hard to see where this is going. (It is now Wednesday April l2.) Immigrants, both legal and illegal, are planning to stage a work walkout on May lst. There will undoubtedly be instances of individual and mob violence. It could have a serious effect on the economy, many people will lose their jobs, and worst of all, there will be a very long period of ill feeling between whites and Mexicans, no matter that many of them are loyal American citizens.

4/9/08

(By coincidence, I see that the immigrant march and the run of the Olympic Flame through San Francisco both fell on the same month and almost the same day two years apart.)

Since this country, especially under Bush, has not done well in the area of international, racial, and political, unity, it is not suprising that the result of the current uproar may be similar to that of Mexico. The last I heard was that Bush had decided to to show the world what a courageous leader he is by attending both the opening ceremonies and the Olympic Games (armed with nothing more than a huge number of armed personal guards, both uniformed and not.) On the other hand, he may be forced by his advisors or by second thoughts to abandon his original plans. Haven’t heard a definitive answer on TV yet. What a great Photo Op his appearance in China would be! I wonder if he thought of that.



In any event, there are many Chinese, at least in San Francisco, who are thrilled at the thought of the Games in China, as well as many US citizens of all races, including Chinese who do not approve of the human rights abuses of China. The result was a near-riot along the route of the Flame, which was only averted by very careful planning on the part of San Francisco police and authorities.

I wonder what will be the future relationship between Chinese citizens and those of other races here, especially on the West Coast. So many Americans have been whipped up, especially by men like Lou Dobbs, into hating the Others, it seems very possible that such racial poison can also easily spread from the West Coast across the nation through the efforts of those who are quick to react to the call of racism.

ARW
4/9/08

New and Old Odds and Ends, Part Three

Just before going to bed last night, I took time to catch up with my issues of the San Francisco Chronicle, and there IT was again, a picture of Bush practicing the carefully honed gambit of Bush as the guest guiding another world leader on hs own turf. (I had to take sleeping pills to get even a fitful night’s sleep.) In this case it was Putin, and the photo shows Bush with his arm across Putin’s back midway between the shoulders and the waist as they leave a press conference. This technique is known as the “World Leader Assist,” and if need be, it will be followed by a similar gesture known as the “And Don’t Forget It.”

A similar photo op found Bush in Australia, where he and Prime Minister Howard left a press conference, with guest Bush walking a step ahead of his host. In this case, I couldn’t see the Prime Minister’s back, but Bush’s left arm was graciously extended forward to indicate to the Prime Minister the path which they should take.

Have you ever had someone (other than a lover) put his or her arm around your back without feeling a shudder of revulsion and the desire to say, “get your goddam hands off of me?” Why didn’t each man, especially Putin, push Bush’s arm away and tell him they knew where they were going? If Putin had done that, I would have voted for him for president.

On to Iraq. There are increasing calls for Iraq to pay for its own reconstruction, and the American public, guided by Bush propaganda , apparently is showing support for the call to Iraq to rebuild its own damn country. Am I missing something here? Aren’t we the ones who invaded and bombed the hell out of Iraq so that Bush could make up for his father’s failure there? And didn’t we let loose the Dogs of Hell in the entire area? I’ll bet we’ve buried a whole lot more Iraqis than Saddam Hussein did – if they are even buried. It seems to me that we should be held responsible for the costs, but that we should get the hell out of there, send them the check, and let them run their own country.

New and Old Odds and Ends-Part Two

A favorite platitude of all politicians, whether American or any other nationality, is to say that the American (or Iraqi, or Israeli, or Afghani, or Pakistani, etc., etc. people) are intelligent people in aggregate who know what is going on and how things should be. They say these words especially when they are running for elective office. I doubt very much that this is true. Intelligence depends for humans as a whole on education, and beyond that, on what your education was and the time and place in which you received it.

Some of my family, for example, are well educated, while other close members were or are not. My father, who did not finish high school, was a thinker. My mother, who had a college education, was not. My two children were hippies who went off into lala land for a year or two when we lived in the Bay Area, then individually and on their own earned degrees – one as a successful landscape contractor, and the other as an accomplished printer. It took me until I was 42 to earn a master’s degree.

My family moved to Wyoming during the Depression of the 30’s, where my parents bought a cattle ranch. But it was his foreman, Elmer, who ran it. I don’t know what his formal education was, but his true education was in running a ranch.

What I’m getting at is that the time (Depression) and place (a sparsely populated community) as well as an era (before communication came of age), are of tremendous importance. There was a 5 or 6 page local newspaper, there was no world news except for the Newsreels in the theaters, and radio news did not appear until WWII. So you can see education depends on who you are, where you are, what’s available, and what you do with it.

And so, if you were an Iraqui or Afghani farmer either farming or tending your herd in a land of vast spaces, what must have been your reaction to our invasions of those countries? Did you know what led up to those invasions? What did you think when our forces destroyed your crops, your animals, and your families? And didn’t we see film on TV of many of those men being rounded up and sent to Guantanamo as terrorists, though, to date, very few have been charged? If any of them fought back, would you have done the same in their place?

Unfortunately, education continues and will continue to shape human beings. If you watch the quality, or lack thereof, of entertainment and information available to the average person today, and if you have contact with them which reveals how and what they think, you find a vast area of difference in the educational background of the individual and the use he or she has made of it.

ARW
3/30/08

New and Old Odds and Ends

Bloggers tend to be thinkers, and thinkers tend to think about the larger subjects going on involving mankind and the world. We do not all agree, which should be appreciated as a most important teaching aid to each of us individually and to human progress throughout our past and into our future on this earth.

If you’re a thinker, life as you conceive it, probably tends to go on pretty much the same, but the way you think old thoughts often changes as well, so that you feel even more strongly about a subject, or you find yourself looking at it through a newly opened door or without the hindrance of a fence or wall that used to be there. So that’s what I will be writing about, and I may find myself hopping around from one subject to another, and then back again.

The thing that continues to bother me above all others is Bush’s motivation for his war on Iraq. As far as I can tell, the events of 9/11 were the start of it all. I distinctly remember that after Bush finished reading the upside down book to the children’s class, he rushed to New York City, as he should have. However, that famous photo of him bounding to the top of a pile of debris and putting his arm around a fireman for a photo-op was a picture of a changed man. He wore his famous smirk, and the letters EGO appeared to hang in the air above him. From that day to this, he has reminded us that his main job is to protect the American people.

In order to protect someone, you have to have enemies, and up until then, he didn’t even know for sure who the enemies were. So he made some up—Iraq. And now we are their enemies too. And the way to make sure that we have enemies is to continue to make enemies of them. After all, you can’t be victorious and a hero if you don’t continue to vanquish them and then show how magnanimous you are by deciding what kind of government they will have in the future. (That might be difficult, but be sure you at least carry it out till the end of your time in office. In that way, you can ride off into the sunset as the victorious hero who has protected his people. Although, if it goes badly enough, you might decide to sacrifice your deserved retirement in the service of your people and declare that you will spend another four years in office, in much the same way in which you have negated the wishes of Congress through signing statements appended to their legislation.)

So now, we have lots of enemies, many of them Americans who were born here and still live here. And, because many of us who are native-born have grown to at least no longer feel proud of our country as we know it now, we have become known as unpatriotic enemies too. Add to those the people who came here illegally, even if they love the world of Bush and his crew, and we have a whole slew of people who hate, not only our enemies abroad, but also a slew of enemies here at home, already at each other’s throats.

The Transportation and Mortgage Messes

After reading an article in the Washington Post about public transportation and toll roads, I have decided to give the subject a stab.

Starting with toll roads, their main purpose apparently is to make money from owning and operating them. The very essence of free trade.

The aspect that I didn’t see addressed is that they encourage the good old American caste system. If you’re rich, or at least fairly well-off, who cares about spending a little more to make a faster trip on a less crowded toll road, especially if it is to get to work from a suburb to the city? On the other hand, if you can’t afford the extra change, it takes you longer to get the same distance on a slower and less comfortable means of travel. So the poorer people have to get up earlier and take longer to get to and from work for less.

It was Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko who uttered the famous American motto, Greed is good!, There was a time when it should have been considered as the national motto for the 21st century, but Bush hasn’t finished yet. His spirit-lifting encouragement following the tragedy of 9/11 and the start of WWIII was to urge us to go out and spend money. His leadership has made wealth appear within the grasp of all.

And so, people who cannot possibly afford expensive homes have patriotically rushed to his call and, with the help of a whole lot of crooked realtors and money lenders, have “bought” expensive homes from which they are now being evicted.
In fact, as I write, Bush is reassuring all of us that our economy is “vibrant and moving forward,” due to the fact that he and his advisers have been on top of the current downturn from the very first signs of trouble.

But there actually is a bright side to these tragedies, and it will not come from God. All we have to do, and I do mean ALL of us, is begin to use our heads and think about what our role on this Earth has been and should be. What has happened has been done to us by ourselves. We must come to the realization that greed is not good and the Earth and all its creatures, and all of its resources can only survive if we care for each other. (Isn’t it odd that when there start to be too many animals, the solution seems to be acceptable that we have to go out and thin them by hunting? We are doing the same thing with war, though few people seem to recognize that fact.)

It is incumbent upon EACH of us to start thinking of those things we have that we don’t need (or do) and stop acquiring any more, as well as sharing with others what could make their lives more bearable.

Interesting Replies to Spitzer Tragedy

When I compose a post to my blog, I also send it as an email to friends and family. I have received replies from each end of the spectrum, one pornographic, and one wondering why I don’t spend more time thinking about the lovely things in life. The porno answer is easy to dismiss, after mentioning it as an illustration of what my blog was about.

The email answer was more interesting because it goes to how I think and why I wrote about this still-ongoing story in the news. I don’t have to look for the story, it comes looking for me on all of the news media.

The email responder may not have understood where I was coming from when I said I longed to get back to my rage and fear. If I didn’t care so much for the beauty of the earth and the fragility of its innocent creatures – be they animal or human - I wouldn’t be so full of my muses, rage and fear.

Back in my birdwatching days, there were numerous days when we came upon dogs or cats that had been abandoned in the country. It was not in my character to say to myself that they were someone else’s problem and it wasn’t up to me to stop bridwatching in order to try to save them. To the contrary, that is how I got at least 2 of my cats and 7 of my dogs. On the other hand, I made the mistake of going to Monterey to go whale watching in a friend’s car. We passed a dog trotting down the freeway far out in the country, and my friend refused to stop. I have never gotten over that, and I have never let another person drive me anywhere since then. She, on the other hand, was thinking only of a lovely day on the ocean.

I hope this will explain why seeing the Spitzer family abandoned on the freeway of smut so that the rest of us could go on with our trips to the shore is just not in my character.

Things Have Changed

The world I see today is not the same as the world I saw three days ago. Before, I was just terribly depressed at life and death and terror for so many millions of people. And I was frightened more than I have ever been for the future of this Earth. Nine more months of this man and his cohorts seems like an ever expanding eternity which we cannot hope to interrupt.

But the past three days have obscured these feelings, feelings that I admired in myself, of outrage that I could vent through my blog and into the ether. Feelings that would bring me either friends or enemies.

The mood that overwhelms me now is one of being unable to participate, of having no level ground on which to meet either friend or foe. For the past three days I have been walking up to my neck in a pool of slime, my feet unsupported by the deep mud underneath. I want to wipe it off my arms and back into the pool.

This sex story is everywhere, on all TV news, on the front pages of most, if not all, newspapers, and on talk and comedy shows. It has engulfed me by its very presence everywhere, and I cannot find my way out of the swamp. There is nothing about it that threatens me, so I cannot defend myself. As I said on my previous blog, my heart aches for the families involved, but I have no weapons with which to protect them or salves to soothe their souls.

The obsession of those who feed their basest instincts through tales of the troubles of others is too overwhelming to overcome in this age of information, and by their numbers they rule.

Oh, God, I wish I could go back to my days of rage and fear! I want to put myself out there on my blog and say, “Here I am! Come and get me!”

True Tragedy

I wasn’t going to say anything about Governor Eliot Spitzer, and I’m still not going to say anything about him, except as he has affected others.

If you have watched TV for the past two days, you have watched his wife Silda change from a very attractive, vivacious middle aged woman to an old, old woman for whom the future can only be too long.

You have not seen his three TEEN-AGED girls since you saw them smiling with joy and pride at their father’s inauguration. Do you think you would recognize them now?

And, if you noticed his parents in the background at the inauguration, you saw that they were very old and extremely proud of what their son had accomplished (and might accomplish) during the rest of his life. His mother was tiny from age and illness, but made strong enough to be there for the occasion by its very meaning.

When the governor announced his resignation today, it was short, but left enough time to remind the public of the great things HE and the people he had worked with had accomplished over his time in office, and he said that the work would continue on after he left. Somehow, it seems to me that this particular occasion called for recognizing the great work THEY had done without including himself in a self-serving reference.

But he is not the only person who has transgressed. CNN announced today that the comedy shows would be in heaven tonight and into the future with all of the material which the governor has provided for them. (To those of you who will tune in and be amused, this tragedy has descended to your level at last.)

Old Timey Info Just for the Helluvit

The title I gave to one of my two posts regarding the turning point soliloquy of Hamlet was, oddly, “Close, But a Hand-rolled Cigarette.” I am late getting to bed and at that point in time when I feel compelled to share my vast wealth of knowledge with the rest of you.

Back in the olden days, as we say, when I was young, carnivals were a great source of entertainment. One of the most popular booths was the shooting gallery, especially for men wanting to show off for their girlfriends. (I haven’t been to a carnival in a long time, but it may still be true today.) There was a constant line of little animal figures running across the background, and their attempt was to shoot down as many as possible, with the prize being a cigar. If they missed, the barker would call out “Close, but no cigar!”

With that explanation, back to Hamlet and my title. You can probably deduce that I felt my incomplete rendition of my memory of that great work was not too bad after all these years.

I am perfectly happy to share these morsels of intellectual expertise with the rest of you, at no charge, you will be happy to note.

And so to bed.

Atheistic Apologies to Those in Need

On my most recent addition to my blog, I ended it with a question I have increasingly grown to find appropriate for the times, “Do they teach you this stuff in church?” My niece emailed me back that I should go lite on questions like that, lest I, an atheist, become as bigoted as those to whom that sentence is addressed. So I decided this was a good time to go back over the religion controversy and explain to one and all why I say things like that.

First of all, I have great respect for the various religions and people who practice them as they should, without impinging on the beliefs of others. One of my dearest friends is a devout Catholic, and she has told me that she prays for me. I consider that the loveliest gift she could give me because she doesn’t ask me to change and her prayer means so much to her. I reviewed an earlier article by me on that subject and mentioned John Kennedy, but failed to quote him. When he was asked if his Catholicism would affect his administration as president if he were elected, he replied (my words) “My religion is between me and my God alone.”

The people to whom my sentence is addressed are those whose self-assurance is so great that they feel, not only entitled, but called upon to force their beliefs on others. The current election process is rife with warnings to all of us, even other religions, that we face religious warfare the likes of which we have not seen. Preceded by the Bush administration, the Christian right is determined to take away the right of gay people to marry and the right of women to determine what shall happen to unborn children. Both rights should be basic rights and should concern no one else other than those close to them. It amazes me to hear them say that “every single human life (born or unborn) has a God-given right to life,” while at the same time this country, under this president, is slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world, born and unborn, innocent as well as guilty.

My sentence is directed only to the people mentioned above, not to those who respect my agnosticism as I respect their religion. Feel free, friend and foe alike, to let me know how what I say is understood by you.

In the meantime, depending on your responses, I shall ask at least once again, “Do they tell you about this stuff in church?”

Humiliation, the Cost of Courage

By coincidence, at the same time I posted my quotation from Hamlet on my blog, a tabloid outed Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne. They are connected.

The quotation from Hamlet was about an army, “led by a delicate and tender prince” on their way to give their lives in a battle motivated by honor.

Prince Harry had insisted, over the objections of his family, on going to Afghanistan with his men. He had already been there for several weeks, facing the same dangers as his men, including going on patrol with them, when the tabloid printed the story, complete with photos which could have revealed clues as to his whereabouts.

That article was taken up by most, if not all, of the media worldwide. It is s-o-o-o tabloid and s-o-o-o American values that we maintain the right to know everything, even if it’s just for our entertainment.

Prince Harry has been called back home so that neither he nor his men will be targeted.

So that’s how a man with everything in life was stripped of the thing that mattered most to him, recognition as a noble human being, and reduced to returning to a life of luxury, protected by others, for all the world to see.

Do they teach you about this stuff in church?

Close, But a Hand Rolled Cigarette

I’m a little more mentally challenged than I thought, but at least I got my quotation from Hamlet, Act IV, Scene IV in fairly good shape. But my dear son, Ranney, did me the favor of looking up the entire quotation and emailing it to me.

For those of you who have not read Hamlet, this soliloquy is the turning point in the play, when he berates himself for not having avenged the murder of his father and the seduction of his mother and decides, at last, to act.

The story he tells is of his chance meeting with a courageous army, led by their inspirational ruler, who are on their way to give their lives for a tiny piece of land, motivated by a point of honor.

Keep in mind that many of the words are Old English. Just try to understand them in context. Sorry I don’t have the notes to explain them.

It is a truly noble soliloquy, beautifully written, and with eternal meaning.



How all occasions do inform against me
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason To fust in us unus'd.
Now, whether it be Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,-
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward,-I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do't. Examples, gross as earth, exhort me:
Witness this army, of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince;
Whose spirit, with divine ambition puff'd,
Makes mouths at the invisible event;
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I, then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds; fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain?-O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

Shakespeare for Our Time

There are similarities, but not with our leader, who isn't heading the surge and wouldn't understand the quotation.

Each blogger, so far as I know, has a theme or driving force written at the top of his or her blog. Mine, which appears at the top of my blog, is from the turning point of Hamlet. I learned it in high school and, with a lapse or two, have never forgotten it. In honor of my 85th!!! Birthday next week, I have decided to quote the entire passage from my memory, such as it is. It is from Act IV, Scene iv.

What is a man if the chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed?
A beast, no more!
Sure, He that made us, looking before and after,
Gave us not that capability and godlike reason
To fust in us unus'd.

Witness this army of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that death and danger dare,
Fight for a plot whereon the numbers
Cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain.

How stand I, then, that have a father killed,
A mother stained,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
Whilst to my shame I see the imminent
Death of twenty thousand men
That for a fantasy and trick of fame
Go to their graves like beds?

Oh, from this time forth
My thoughts be bloody
Or be nothing worth!

LittleBill's Economics, continued

The major problem, especially with Republicans, is propagandizing the American public to feel that taxes are an imposition that they should resent, particularly if the taxes go to help someone else. (At the same time, the rest of the world is told what a truly generous nation we are. Are you really sure that all of the charitable funds which this administration boasts about distributing all over the world really get there and are not dissipated through fraud, as has happened in Iraq?)

The economic levels between the rich and the poor have been so extreme that one would think we, as individuals, would recognize that something is morally wrong? Many people, including many of those not so rich, consider it a duty and a privilege to contribute to the welfare of all. It should be a lifelong habit, for example, for those who don’t use the freeways, those who don’t have any children in school, and those who can afford at least a token of care for the country as a whole to contribute. (Don’t they teach you any of this stuff in church?)

Under my plan, instead of giving tax breaks to everyone, including the rich, the degree of richness should be adjusted downward to the very bottom, where even those citizens are paid a wage that can sustain them and their families, with enough to spare, so that we end up with everyone being able to pay some amount of taxes to contribute to the welfare of the nation, with even the poorest feeling both the duty and the pride of being part of the system.

New Questions and/or Comments

Do other nations send their citizens over here to oversee our elections and any hanky panky that might be going on? Were any foreign observers here during the “elections” of 2000 and 2004? Have our citizens who are observing foreign elections been invited?

Americans are hysterical about their right to bear arms. Funny thing is, I have seldom, if ever, heard or read of a gun having been used legally by a person using it for protection of his/her home, family, or self. By far, the incidents appearing in the news are about criminals using guns.

The Second Amendment, written long ago when this was a very young country, which had only recently conquered and wrested it from the Indians who were the original inhabitants, appears to have had in mind the self-protection of the conquerors from those whom they had wronged, as well as being a step up in the formation of a “well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State.”

Wouldn’t you think that human beings would finally realize that hunting is just a MAN thing that is somehow connected with sexual prowess. We are rapidly reducing or destroying numerous species of animals, and people who live “civilized” lives no longer need to kill to eat. It’s just a “fun” thing to do, sort of like drinking or drugs, and also without moral conscience. And it is so easy to do if you are well-armed, because in almost every instance the prey is totally unaware that it is about to die, and defenseless as well. God, there is nothing quite as sexy as a man returning home with several birds in hand! You can’t blame a group of men like that bragging to each other and anyone else who will listen about their bags for the day. Or even a dead deer, though she may leave a fawn behind. Ooh, it just thrills me!

Sorry, every time I think of Bush or Cheney, this is what happens to me. I just sort of seem to lose my self-control. Better get to bed.

Delayed Reaction

Many, many years ago, when I was just a little girl and religion was not so militant, I attended a service at the local Presbyterian church with a friend of mine. As we sat in our pew, a silver tray was suddenly passed down the aisle with small cookies on it. I thought to myself, “How nice! Refreshments,” and I helped myself to several. That tray was soon followed by another, this time with little glasses of something to drink. They were small, so I took two and added them to the cookies beside me. Then I sat back, made myself comfortable, and ate lunch.

Some ten years later, when I was a student at an Episcopal boarding school, I was watching communion, when suddenly that childhood memory came rushing back to me, this time, finally, with realization.

After all of these years, I am quite sure God has forgiven me, for I knew not what I did.

The Bush Legacy Will Become A Late Modern Epic

In The Iliad and The Odyssey, war is the product of powerful, ambitious, often insecure men who have difficulty separating their personal motivations from those of the state.

The blood lust that overtakes the minds of men on a periodic basis continues unabated in our modern age. In The Bushiad, and The Idyossey the Greek gods of old are supplanted by contemporary corporate gods, also immortal and with insatiable needs for increased wealth and power.

Interested readers can go here and order their copy of this future modern American classic.

An Agricultural Experiment

An Agricultural Experiment

Especially for the well-to-do, and for anyone else who’s curious and has access to at least a small plot of land.

First, find a convenient plot to be your garden. This is to be strictly for fruits and vegetables of your choice, and YOU, not one of your employees, are to be the gardener. Anyone in your family is welcome to join you to work on this experiment. Plants that may already be there do not count.

Use stakes and cord to define the plot. A book on vegetable gardens should be very useful to you as you plan. Then choose the vegetable and/or fruits you wish to plant. If you are a beginner, it might be well to pick only one or two for a start.

Next, look over the tools in your garage or storage shed to see what you have on hand. Then go to an agricultural supply store for help with choosing other tools and soil amendment supplies you will need. (Be sure that you tell the dealer that you are only interested in environmentally friendly supplies.) He should be able to supply you with further literature on gardening, what insects are friendly, which are not, and how to get rid of them without destroying the earth, and what birds and animals may start coming to visit. You will find that there both insects and animals that will be gardening friends to your garden.

Watering is of paramount importance. You can water too much as well as too little, and drought and frost can be killers. Learn to know your seasons and what to expect where you live.

Unfortunately, there will be an exam, though there will be no monitors other than yourselves to see if you cheat and what your score should be. Here are some of the questions: Did your plants make it all the way to harvest time? Did they taste good? Will you try it again next year, and possibly increase the variety? Did your crops save you any money at the grocery store? Did any new insects, animals, birds, and people visit your garden? Any converts? Does your back ache from bending and stooping? Was it worth it? Did you learn anything new, like what it must be like to earn less than a living wage and work long hours at this kind of labor in a capitalist country? Did you give up on the whole thing halfway through and say the hell with it? Did you finish the job and have pretty good luck for a beginner? And finally, did you learn anything?

ARW
2/7/08

Something Lovely for a Change

Sweet pictures of a pair of cranes with their newborn offspring, accompanied by enchanting music.

The Sand Hill Cranes

These pictures were taken in the Suntree area of Florida ~Viera~ in the Melbourne area.

A Sand Hill Crane couple recently had an exciting addition to their family. When they built their nest near the water's edge, it immediately drew attention of passersby. Soon there were two eggs sitting on top of the nest and the mother on top of them.

The really curious passed by the site every morning and would stop their cars to get out and see if there were any new cranes yet. Many brought cameras of all shapes and sizes and would stand near the water for long periods of time hoping to catch a photo of the hatching.

Robert Grover, a dentist, didn't actually catch the birth, but he sure did capture some fabulous shots of the Momma, Papa and baby (the second egg never hatched). Then he put together a slide show with music that is just too good to not share it.