Erudite Bibliophile

Letter to Gov. Kulongoski, Treasurer Edwards, our Utilities & Congress People

2008-02-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

To the Honorable Governor Kulongoski & others who it may concern (hard copies have been sent),

I am writing this letter in opposition to the proposed Liquid Natural Gas terminals in Oregon. I work on Weds., Feb. 6, so am unable to attend the rally against LNG & thought I’d send my protest via mail.

To build a pipeline, some of it must go through private lands. Conservatives bitch when the government uses Eminent Domain to cheaply buy land; yet this is exactly what the energy companies want to do for the LNG pipeline. And Bush’s energy bill from 2005 would allow it, while the State of Oregon & local governments would have little say in the matter. That is not okay! This is our state! The Feds & OUTSIDE corporations should not be able to override local, state decisions.

California decided they didn’t want to build these terminals in their own state. They don’t want to mar their beautiful state; not when they can get it from their nearest neighbor (just like they do so much of their water).

Why should Oregon have the UGLY terminals & the pipeline in our beautiful state? Why should we destroy our ocean front, estuaries and other natural areas (possibly even having to build more roads in formerly roadless areas of our mountains, which you have saved in the past)? If California wants & needs more LNG, let them find another way to get it.

Oregon citizens will not benefit financially or even get to use the bulk of the energy from the LNG terminals.

Another worry is that the energy companies aren’t going to add the rotten egg scent the gas, so if there’s a leak, we’re not going to know about it until it’s too late. And much of the pipeline will be going through earthquake country, which would increase the risk of leaks.

No precaution or risk assessment can guarantee safety in case of accident, earthquake, or terrorism. According to documents from the California Energy Commission in July 2003, "an ignited LNG vapor cloud or large LNG pool fire can cause extensive damage to life and property.”

And what happens if it spills into our waterways? According to Professor Jerry Havens, a chemical engineer and director of the Chemical Hazards Research Center at the University of Arkansas who helped write federal standards for estimating the size and intensity of fires involving LNG: “if about 3 million gallons of LNG spills onto the water from an LNG tanker ship, flammable vapors from the spill could travel up to 3 miles."

Even the National Marine Fisheries Service urges the U.S. Army corps of Engineers to deny the permit for the Bradwood Landing project near Astoria. In the letter, Tehan outlined seven reasons to deny the permit, including discrepancies between NorthernStar's project descriptions and the Corps' public notice, as well as possible threats to fish habitats posed by the dredging. The NMFS letter is available in the FERC eLibrary under Docket No. CP06-365.

You want to make Oregon a leader in following the Kyoto Protocols and reducing our greenhouse admissions. LNG will only increase our emissions of CO2. How do you propose to counter balance those emissions from the LNG terminals?

There are better alternatives, both economically and environmentally.

Wind generators are LESS EXPENSIVE and FASTER to build than LNG terminals, coal-fired, or nuclear power generators. Not to mention that windmills are clean and the wind is in no danger of being used up. Then there’s solar power. And who knows what other possibilities haven’t even been invented yet.

Oregon should be a leader in conserving our natural resources & looking for renewable utility options for our future (such as wind turbines). We must think of our children & our children’s Children.

There are no benefits to allowing LNG terminals & pipelines here in Oregon. I hope you change your mind about your support of LNG. Please don’t issue permits for projects that are not needed in Oregon & that won’t benefit our State. Let’s be true to our green & forward thinking, pioneering spirit.

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Friends who feel as I do, if you can, attend the Rally (information to follow). If not, write or call your representatives in the State & National level.

Rally Information:
Wednesday, February 6th-
Rally and Lobby Day - NO LNG (Liquidified Natural Gas ) IN OREGON
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Capitol Steps, Salem

SPEAKERS, MUSIC, and INFORMATION
Join people from around the state in protesting the imposition of a corporate agenda on the people and public lands in Oregon. Liquified Natural Gas proposals in Oregon (at Astoria, Columbia River, & Coos Bay) threaten the livelihoods and lives of citizens throughout the state and there never has been a good reason given for it. The gas is destined for the California market where the gas
industry has been rebuffed at every turn to put a facility on their coast.
The resulting pipeline to California (where most of the gas is destined) will use eminent domain to acquire the right of way from reluctant landowners. Using LNG will only delay the necessary changes away from fossil fuels that are absolutely necessary to respond to the global warming problem. Final siting decisions are made by the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency whose members are personally appointed by George Bush and Dick Cheney.

NO LOCAL DECISIONS ARE ALLOWED TO HALT THIS PROCESS AND EMINENT DOMAIN IS THEFT TO ENABLE CORPORATE PROFITS. JOIN US TO LOBBY YOUR LEGISLATORS AND GOVERNOR IN OREGON TO DEMAND THEY REFUSE TO UTILIZE PUBLIC RESOURCES TO AID THIS PROCESS. TELL THEM TO DEMAND SOVEREIGNTY OVER OREGON.

For more information: email nolngrally@verizon.net

The rally is sponsored by: Ratepayers for Affordable Clean Energy (RACE), Oregon chapter Sierra Club, Pacific Green Party of Oregon, F.L.O.W., Oregon Wild, Citizens Against LNG, Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community, Columbia River Keeper, and many others.

Political Diahrrea

2007-11-30T17:18:00.001-08:00

Have you heard about the "Violent Radicalization & Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act"? It was voted on in October but the mainstream media has been mum. I just heard about it on KBOO (a community-sponsored radio station).

From democracynow.org:

"A little-noticed anti-terrorism bill quietly making its through Congress is raising fears of a new affront on activism and constitutional rights. The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act was passed in an overwhelming 400 to six House vote last month. Critics say it could herald a new government crackdown on dissident activity and infiltration of universities under the guise of fighting terrorism. The bill would establish two government-appointed bodies to study, monitor and propose ways of curbing what it calls homegrown terrorism and extremism in the United States. The first body, a National Commission, would convene for eighteen months. A university-based "Center for Excellence" would follow, bringing together academic specialists to recommend laws and other measures.

Critics say the bill's definition of "extremism" and "terrorism" is too vague and its mandate even more broad. Under a false veil of expertise and independence, the government-appointed commissions could be used as ideological cover to push through harsher laws."

One of the potentially vague definitions they added is "force" as in violence & force. They could easily consider a SIT-IN or tree-sitting as force & thus you become a terrorist. Apparently some people are "terrorized" by someone with a different opinion & values. And here I thought that Thought Crimes only were plots in novels and movies.

Whoa, I just noticed what the # of the bill is. Ironically, it’s HR 1955. 1955-that's during the MCCarthy Era - an era the NEOCONS would no doubt love to take us back to almost as much as they want to bring on the "End Times". Just read up on McCarthyism (this term was coined on March 29 – that’s my birthday!) & found out 1955 is toward the end of the era. Could this be an omen?

Only 6 members of the House voted Nay on this bill. Three Republicans & three Democrats. Kudos to Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Jerry Costello (D-IL), John Duncan (R-TN), Jeff Flake (D-AZ), & Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Ron Paul was one of 22 members of the house didn’t vote on HR 1955.

Thank God for the 1% of elected Republicans with brains.
I could so go on about whatever happened to following their platform. They seem to have lost the “conserve” that makes them conservative & now give everything to corporations (Italy’s Mussolini called this FACISCM). Big government is bad but it’s fucking okay to have big CORPORATIONS? Of course, there’s no profit in government. What are you thinking Republicans? I’m so disappointed in you. You do not deserve to be called Republicans. You are not standing for the Republic. And Democrats, you are just as guilty.

Of course, all of Oregon’s Congresspeople voted for the bill. WTF? The Republicans I expected but not progressive Dems like DeFazio & Blumenauer. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? Did you actually read the entire bill? You are so going to hear from me about this as soon as I finish this blog.

Further information on HR 1955:
Text of HR 1955

Find out how your Congressperson voted

So are we gonna just sit there & let our REPUBLIC slide into fascism or are we gonna do something?

Speaking of Kucinich & Ron Paul, according to a Cleveland Plain Dealer blog during a New Hampshire speech, Kucinich said, "I'm thinking about Ron Paul" as a running mate. A Kucinich-Paul administration could bring people together "to balance the energies in this country.”

The two disagree on abortion, healthcare, & size of government but they have two big areas of agreement. Both campaign on getting our troops out of Iraq & staying out of the affairs of other countries. Another similarity, both Paul & Kucinich also frequently cite the Constitution as providing the authority for their agendas. Paul never votes for legislation unless the measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution, his campaign says. Kucinich keeps a pocket-size copy of the Constitution handy, brandishing it to invoke authority for such proposals as the impeachment of Vice President Cheney, one of Kucinich's signature issues.

Doesn’t sound like Ron Paul is as willing as Kucinich. "Dr. Paul and Rep. Kucinich are friends and there is a lot of mutual respect," Paul communications director Jesse Benton said in an e-mail when asked whether a running-mate spot on the Kucinich ticket would be attractive to Paul. "They have worked, and will continue to work, together on the ending the war and protecting civil liberties.

"However, Ron wants to substantially cut the size and scope of the federal government. There are too many differences on issues such as taxes and spending to think a joint ticket would be possible."

I’m open to a Kucinich – Paul ticket (they are the two most interesting candidates & definitely idealists), although I’m sure the thought makes my friend Paul cringe!

It’s an interesting thought. Have we ever had a Democrat & Republican on the same ticket in a presidential election? Originally the presidential candidates receiving the second-largest number of electoral votes became Vice President. According to wikipedia.com in 1797-1801 John Adams, a Federalist, was president & Thomas Jefferson, Democratic-Republican, was vice president.

The problematic election of 1800, where Jefferson & Burr tied, led to the passage of The Twelfth Amendment in 1804. This changed the system so that the electoral college voted separately for president and vice president. Over time the presidential candidate gained power over the nominating convention to choose his own running mate & thus we have the elections we have today.

On a side note, while reading up on this I found out that Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican. The last Democratic-Republican was John Quincy Adams in 1829. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) was the first Democratic President. No wonder I can’t tell the two parties apart anymore. I’ve always suspected that the two parties were the same. Hee, hee!

Back to my original thought, maybe it’s time we try something new. Obviously the current method is not working. We have been divided & conquered. Government will never solve anything otherwise all the politicians will be out of a job. Community action & involvement is the only thing that can solve our problems.

To that end, it’s time we set aside our differences & worked to make positive changes in this country. Think of all we could achieve if we worked together on what we have in common! We can’t have everything we want, that’s why there’s compromise. We need to go back to basics & then start from there. What’s important to us? Life? Liberty? The pursuit of happiness? Education? Healthy & safe citizens?

Since we’re on the subject of presidential nominees, here’s yet another reason (among the many) to not vote for Hillary. Hillary Clinton has received $52,600 in campaign donations from the MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. She was the largest recipient of donations of any of the candidates. With that kind of backing don’t expect her to change the way our government works & to get us out of Iraq (and other country’s affairs for that matter).

According to The Huffington Post, “An examination of contributions of $500 or more, using the Huffington Post's Fundrace website, shows that employees of the top five arms makers - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop-Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics -- gave Democratic presidential candidates $103,900, with only $86,800 going to Republicans.

Senator Clinton took in $52,600, more than half of the total going to all Democrats, and a figure equaling 60 percent of the sum going to the entire GOP field. Her closest competitor for defense industry money is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R.), who raised $32,000.”

This is a turn around from the past decade, where Republicans were the favored recipients of Defense donations. In the 2004 election Bush received over $819,000 in defense industry donations. This is more than double the amount Kerry received ($366,000).

Also according to the Huffington Post article, “Clinton's major industry benefactors - donors who gave the $4,600 maximum allowed by law -- include Roger A. Crone, Boeing's president of Network and Space Systems; Stanley Roth, Boeing's Vice President for Asia, International Relations, $4,600; Anne Sullivan, a Raytheon attorney; William Lynn, Raytheon's Senior Vice President for Government Relations; and Michele Kang, Northrop Grumman Vice President for health science solutions.”

While searching the information in Hillary Clinton’s Federal Election Commission disclosure reports which list what individuals & committees have donated to her campaign I ran across some surprising data. The Michigan Republican Party has donated $4,587 to her. Another group, titled “Republican Issues Committee” has donated almost $50,000 to her this year. Must be because she’s was a college republican back in the day. That’s just plain weird!

HILLARY’s campaign motto ought to be “SHE WILL NOT BE UNBOUGHT.” Ha! I seriously should make this a bumper sticker.

This is nifty. You can look at numerous break downs of each candidate’s donations at opensecrets.org’s race for the White House. This is a totally cool tool! Very interesting to look at each candidate’s fundraising data. If you look at nothing else, look here.

Robobugs

2007-10-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I heard a news story on our community radio station this morning that captured my attention. Seems several sightings of robotic dragonflies have been made recently at numerous political events in New York & DC. No one is admitting that they have such technology but they have admitted to trying. Besides the nefarious, potential spying uses of the robobugs; they have a useful function...they can be sent into collapsed buildings to look for survivors. That's pretty cool. But you gotta know that they are going to use it for gathering information.

Here's the text of the article from the Washington Post on Tuesday:
Link to article & video

"Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month.

"I heard someone say, 'Oh my god, look at those,' " the college senior from New York recalled. "I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects."

Robotic fliers have been used by the military since World War II, but in the past decade their numbers and level of sophistication have increased enormously.

Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too.

"I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the Washington lawyer said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?' "

That is just one of the questions hovering over a handful of similar sightings at political events in Washington and New York. Some suspect the insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools, perhaps deployed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Others think they are, well, dragonflies -- an ancient order of insects that even biologists concede look about as robotic as a living creature can look.

No agency admits to having deployed insect-size spy drones. But a number of U.S. government and private entities acknowledge they are trying. Some federally funded teams are even growing live insects with computer chips in them, with the goal of mounting spyware on their bodies and controlling their flight muscles remotely.

The robobugs could follow suspects, guide missiles to targets or navigate the crannies of collapsed buildings to find survivors.

The technical challenges of creating robotic insects are daunting, and most experts doubt that fully working models exist yet.

This may spoil your appetite: a review of “The End of food”

2007-09-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

The End of Food by Thomas F. Pawlick (Dewey call #: 338.19 Pawlick)

In the 1930s, Russian dictator Joseph Stalin decided that farms needed to be organized along a mass-production basis. The Kulaks, or rural proprietors, resisted and thus they became enemies of the Revolution. Stalin employed brute force: farmers were arrested & shot or exiled to Siberia; crops were confiscated with no compensation, or burned in the fields. These tactics led to a famine with a death toll in the millions. Worst of all, it created a brain drain of Russian farmers; those who had worked the land for generations and who understood the land & local & regional products were killed. “Before this one-man disaster ended, more than 10 million individual Russian farm people were killed (p. 161).” To this day, Russian agriculture has not recovered.

Over here, in our Republic of the United States, we don’t have a totalitarian regime. We do have multi-national corporations & the Chicago school of Economics model. Since World War II, individual, family-run farms have been on the decline while corporate factory farms have risen. Under the Nixon administration plans were made to restructure American agriculture under the economic theory of “comparative advantage”. As Pawlick says in the book, “The idea was, basically, to convert the countryside into a vast, mass-producing grain factory – and later, under succeeding presidents, into factories manufacturing tomatoes, oranges or whatever else.” That is the free-market equivalent of collectivism. Today, only 20 large corporations control US poultry production (p. 166).

Family farms aren’t the only ones suffering. The quality of the produce & the meats we eat is declining; as is the health of land that our food is grown on.

Did you know that veggies & fruits contain FEWER nutrients than they did 50 years ago? Veggies & fruits in North America (Canada included) have less Vitamin A, C, iron & calcium. Of course, sodium is on the rise, as is the amount of chemicals in them (more on that in a moment).

As an example, take the potato (p. 15-16), as published by the Toronto Globe & Mail in 2002. “…The average spud, has lost 100% of its Vitamin A, which is important for good eyesight; 57% of its vitamin C and iron, a key component of healthy blood; and 28% of its calcium, essential for building healthy bones & teeth. It also lost 50% of its riboflavin and 18% of its thiamine. Of the seven key nutrients measured, only niacin levels have increased…the story is similar for 25 fruits and vegetables that were analyzed…”

The numbers in the article were based on food tables from the Canadian government & echo numbers published by the USDA tables.

Further eroding the nutritional value, mass-market tomatoes are ripened in rooms with concentrated doses of ethylene, a.k.a etephon, (p. 102). “According to Mozafar’s survey, multiple studies have shown that ‘vine-ripened fruits are higher in ascorbic acid (vitamin C) than those that are artificially ripened …. The reason for the relatively higher ascorbic acid in the vine versus artificially ripened tomatoes may be due to differences in the rate of ascorbic acid synthesis (or accumulation) in the fruits ripened differently. (p. 103)”

Vitamin C is significantly decreasing in America’s tomatoes, broccoli, and other produce. Vitamin A is down 43.3 percent in tomatoes, by 30.5 percent in tomato juice. Deficiency of Vitamin A rich foods can lead to night blindness, disease-prone children, shortness of breath, malnutrition, and scaly lumps on skin. GAHHH!

Eating free-range and organic foods are better for humans. "Eggs from free-range hens contain up to 30 percent more vitamin E, 50 percent more folic acid, and 30 percent more vitamin B12 than factory eggs (p.119)."

While vitamins & nutrients are declining, toxic additives & chemicals are on the rise in our foods. For years, the media has reported on the amounts & effects of the mercury in our fish & rBGH (bovine growth hormones) in our dairy products.

But did you also know that meat packers & supermarkets have taken to adding a chemical cocktail of things into our meat & selling them (for higher prices, of course) as “enhanced meat”? This mix can include water, salt (not a good thing for those on a sodium free diet), phosphates, antioxidants, & other flavorings. More information on enhanced meat. For more about meat packers, read “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser. I had to stop reading when I got to the meat packing section because the total disregard for their workers health & safety made me ill. It’s sad how how soulless some people are.

Then there are the pesticides in our food. A study “…analyzed samples from U.S. Food & Drug administration records and found that nearly half of the registered contaminates found in non-organic food samples were actually legally BANNED pesticides. ‘The 10 most contaminated foods were strawberries, bell peppers, spinach, cherries, peaches, cantaloupe, celery, apples, blackberries, and green peas.’” People who eat conventionally grown, non-organic foods, are at a higher risk of cancer & other deadly diseases.

The pesticide DDT has been banned in most industrialized countries. However, they are still finding traces of it in our food because the corporations that make it are still allowed to sell it. Some of our food is imported from countries where it’s still legal to use. Hopefully the usage is declining since the Stockholm Convention, ratified in 2001 and effective as of 17 May 2004, outlawed several persistent organic pollutants, and restricted the use of DDT to vector control. As of 2006, DDT continues to be used in other (primarily tropical) countries where mosquito-borne malaria and typhus are serious health problems. Use of DDT in public health to control mosquitoes is primarily done inside buildings and through inclusion in household products and selective spraying; this greatly reduces environmental damage compared to the earlier widespread use of DDT in agriculture (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT).

Scientists haven’t really begun to study the effects on humans of the chemicals in our food; let alone, how those chemicals react to one another. Could the stuff in our food be reason we have rising rates of cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, & who knows what other diseases or illnesses? Who knows, maybe even some of Ben’s illness can be traced to chemicals in our food?

Interestingly some of the largest corporations that own factory farms are OIL and CHEMICAL Companies. Some of the big ones include: Cargill, Monsanto (a maker of a Agent Orange not to mention rBGH & several varieties of seeds), International Mineral & Chemical Corp, and Tenneco. They’ve got an economic imperative, “the bottom-line”, to use their own chemicals and seeds.

Many of the remaining smaller, non-corporate farms may have no say in how they farm their land. “Working land that may be heavily mortgaged, saddled with further debt from the purchase of machinery and inputs, they are often locked into ironbound contracts with food processors. The later provide them with the processors own proprietary seed varieties and may dictate everything from fertilizer, irrigation, and herbicide regimes to the time and method of harvest.”

This brings us to the term “proprietary seed varieties.” There are hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of different types of each veggie or fruit. Take the tomato. There are 5,500 kinds for home gardeners to choose from in the Seed Savers Exchange; but only 10 varieties are grown in California for mass marketing; the number is 11 in Florida; 15 for the whole of America. The corporate factory-farms will only grow the tomato(es) that meet these basic criteria (p. 10-11): yield (pounds/acre), uniformity of size/large size, uniformity of shape, firmness, resistance to disease, heat tolerance, uniformity in time of ripening (color).

Notice that the list does not include nutrition or, most important to my taste buds, taste. Trust me when I say that tomatoes & berries are better when you buy them from organic markets or farmers markets or you pick them yourself. We’ve been getting tomatoes from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm this summer & they have the most wonderful scent, while the tomatoes from Safeway are scentless, tasteless & in many cases rock-solid.

Modern agricultural practices are having an effect not only on our bodies but also on the land. Here’s the quick and dirty lowdown, if you want to know more the book has great information.
In modern farming the goal is to maximize production (mustn’t forget the bottom-line), so row after row of the same plants are planted. Crops aren’t rotated and the fields aren’t allowed to remain sallow for a year after growing. Under traditional farming methods, the depleted nitrogen would be replaced by planting a row of beans; but today chemical fertilizers are used to replace the nitrogen. These chemicals are expensive so the farms must continue to plant the high-yielding crop that will give them the greatest return on investment. With the same thing being grown constantly, noxious insects, which might have been deterred or killed when the crops were changed on an annual basis, become a problem and need to be kept through the use of herbicides and pesticides.

Irrigation is another big issue. Water is a huge issue in the Western US. There are sometimes fights over the use of rivers and other waterways for farming. California has used up much of its water (they drained one of the largest freshwater lakes in the US for irrigation) and has to buy additional water from various states (including Oregon) to irrigate large tracts of arid land during the hot summer months.

There is some evidence that shows that over-watering can adversely affect the nutrient quality of crops (p. 104); there’s a certain level of water needed beyond that nutrients start to drop. Commercial farms must over-water to maintain their high-yield crops and the size of the fruits and vegetables. “He {Mozafar} cites numerous studies showing that rainy climate is known to decrease vitamin C in turnip greens, rose hips, onions, feijoa fruits and black currants. He adds that ‘experiments conducted under controlled conditions have shown that increased water supply to plants may reduce the ascorbic acid concentration in cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, muskmelon, radish, snap beans, and tomatoes.’”

The level of water also affects the salinity of soil (p. 105). “Soils contain various kinds of mineral salts, a portion of which are dissolved in soil water. As they draw moisture from the ground, crops separate the water from the salts, leaving the latter concentrated in the soil. If a soil is already slightly saline to begin with, irrigating it and then sowing crops will tend to draw the salts up toward the surface, and concentrate them. If the climate in the area is hot, water evaporation will make the problem worse.” Data on the effect of salinity on vitamin content is limited (p. 106) but it has been shown to reduce ascorbic acid in cabbage, tomato and okra and reduces carotene concentration in radish, cabbage, lettuce and tomato.

Evidence, while not conclusive, points that mass-production agricultural methods are not the best for growing nutritional foods.

I feel very lucky to live in a state that is 88% small farms & only 1% corporate owned farms (this figure comes from an Oregonian article I read in August. I’m curious to know if this # counts the Tree & grass farms we have; those are two of Oregon’s big exports. Of course, not all of that percentage is organic. I’m also lucky to live in an area where many neighborhoods & most cities have weekly farmers markets. For the last two years, we’ve split a share of a Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) farm with another friend during the summer. We’ve also got a small garden in our backyard, which I’m hoping to enlarge. So hopefully we’re getting more nutrients than if we were purchasing from the big supermarkets.

Thank God we don’t have to stop eating. There are ways to get more nutrients in our food. Pawlick includes 4 chapters of solutions. For those who don’t want to read the book (although I highly recommend it), here’s what you can do:

Support your local farmers - shop at farmers markets or join a CSA
Know what you are eating – ask questions, see where is it grown if you can, are they truly certified organic (some places fudge this a bit, maybe Jeremy can comment on this, he knows quite a bit about permaculture)
Grow your Own – that way you know what’s in it & it’s actually rather fun
Eat at restaurants that use local, organic produce

Good websites for more information:
Eatwild.com

Whitehouse blasts Gonzales over Cheney Access to DOJ

2007-07-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

I love the irony in that sentence. But I didn't say The Whitehouse, it actually refers to Freshman Senator & Democrat from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse. He is member of the Senate Judiciary Committee looking into the Department of Justice, the Attorney General & the Bush admin. Go WHITEHOUSE! Now that's what our Congresspeople SHOULD BE doing. Protecting our REPUBLIC & upholding our Constitution!

According to the The Raw Story: "During Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, a freshman Democratic Senator stumped Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on how Vice President Dick Cheney, his chief of staff, and counsel, had been granted authority parallel with the President on intervening in pending matters at the Justice Department.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) questioned the Attorney General about the independence of the Justice Department and communications with the White House on pending cases or investigations.

He then pointed to a May 4, 2006 memorandum signed by Gonzales which showed that the Office of the Vice President had been granted parallel privileges with the Executive Office of the President on communicating directly with the Justice Department's staff on criminal and civil matters.

"What - on earth - business does the Office of the Vice President have in the internal workings of the Department of Justice with respect to criminal investigations, civil investigations, and ongoing matters?" the Senator asked.

Gonzales was stumped, "As a general matter, I would say that's a good question."

Whitehouse then pointed out that in the same memo, the Chief of Staff and Counsel of the Vice President were also explicitly granted the same authority.

"On its face - I must say - sitting here, I'm troubled by this," Gonzales added. ..."

I'm sure he's saying that because his back is against a wall.

Speaking of Darth Cheney, I was curious about what was happening on Dennis Kucinich's attempt to impeach Cheney (U.S. Resolution 333).

According to Wikipedia.com's Dennis Kucinich article: "As of July 16, 2007, thirteen other Congressional representatives have become co-sponsors. Three of these are members of the House Judiciary Committee." *Heather's note: Those three are Maxine Walters of CA, Keither Ellison of Minn., & Hank Johnson from Georgia. Other supporters are from: NY, Missouri, Ohio, Washington, Virginia, Illinois & Maryland. Sadly, Oregon has ZERO congresspeople who've become co-sponsors. I'll have to call my politicos yet again.

None of the Democrat's Presidential nominees have expressed support. Also according to Wikipedia, during the first Democratic Presidential debate at South Carolina State University, none of the other candidates' hands went up when the moderator, Brian Williams, asked if they would support Kucinich's plan to impeach Cheney. How typical of the Dem's to play pussy.

Where it is now:

The resolution has been referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, chaired by Congressman Jerrold Nadler.

Neither the subcommittee nor the full Judiciary Committee, chaired by Congressman John Conyers, has yet scheduled a hearing on the resolution. Absent a positive referral from the Judiciary Committee, the only way the resolution could reach the floor of the House is with the approval of the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Failure of the Judiciary Committee and Speaker Pelosi to act favorably would result in the resolution remaining in committee indefinitely, where it would never receive a vote.

Find out more on wikipedia

Couldn've said it better myself

2007-07-11T22:53:00.000-07:00

Keith Olbermann op-ed about the whole Scooter Libby thing. I definitely could not have said it better, so I'll just post it here. He even quotes JOhn Wayne, an ultra-conservative.

In other news, Dennis Kucinich is still pushing for the IMPEACHMENT OF DICK CHENEY. Contact your Congressperson if you support the impeachment process.

Also, Cindy Sheehan has challenged Nancy Pelosi for her job. On July 8, 2007 she announced that she will run against Speaker Pelosi if she fails to introduce articles of impeachment against President Bush. Go Sheehan! I admire your courage to speak out in a country where it's not popular to speak up against Big Brother.

Jesus save me from my fellow believers

2007-03-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

One of our weekly newspapers did a great article on Evangelical Christian's plans for "Taking Back America". Muslims don't have a monopoly on extremists. We've got quite a few in my own religion & they are quite powerful & persuasive (so was Hitler). Even as a Christian I have a problem with the extremists wanting to put God back in our Government. After all, our founding fathers separated Church & state for a reason. They'd seen the problems it caused in England (Catholics vs. protestants) & other European countries. Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat the past. The rest of us just have to survive it.

Here are some excerpts from a recent edition of the Portland Mercury:
...
It seemed like a great idea—crash the second annual Restore America conference in Tualatin and get a peek at evangelicals' plans for "taking back America." So on Friday, February 23, I drove down to the appropriately named Rolling Hills Community Church, nestled in the hills southwest of Portland just past an intersection called "Wanker's Corner."

....

Restore America was founded in 1999 by David Crowe, with the sole intention of getting evangelical Christians to become more involved in civic affairs—like voting. Much like the American evangelical movement as a whole, the organization has relied on two arguments: that America's Founding Fathers meant for the country to be officially Christian, and that modern Christianity is "under attack!"

This second point is repeated throughout the entire conference, with a host of assailants getting the credit for doing the devil's work—activist judges, secular humanists, Hollywood, homosexuals, and Muslims. This paranoia comes despite the fact that evangelicals were—until last November—in control of every branch of government, and reportedly make up the largest voting block in the country. But when you believe in a religion that places high value on martyrdom, you'll start seeing persecution lurking around every corner. I asked Crowe about this, and why evangelicals think that anyone who disagrees with them politically is attacking their religion.

"Isn't it possible that people can disagree with you without it being a persecution of Christians?" I asked.

"Oh, no. Christianity is definitely under attack," Crowe responded.

....

On the first day of Restore America, I was treated to a "press conference," which was essentially a series of mini-sermons by all of the event's speakers. ... After an hour of these sermons—through which I learned that tyrannical judges and gays want to outlaw Christianity, and that Iran must be bombed now...

My second day near Wanker's Corner, though, was more exciting. I learned that the two traits that bind all evangelicals together are the ability to communicate entirely in non sequiturs, and to believe in ideas that are completely contradictory. Contradiction: Evangelicals don't want "theocracy," but they want every aspect of government controlled by the Bible. Contradiction: They believe that Islam is pure evil and a threat to the country, but radical Islam's social policies (anti-gay, anti-woman) are pretty much identical to Christianity's.

But here's the most entertaining contradiction: Even though much of the conference's rhetoric is steeped in words like "freedom" and "liberty," their agenda is entirely composed of taking freedoms away from you and I. In a lengthy interview, Crowe told me about an "Evangelical Contract with America" he's working on. Here's what's on that list: criminalizing abortion, ending no-fault divorce, preemptively banning same-sex marriage and civil unions, forcing judges to abide by a narrow interpretation of the Constitution, doing away with "the plague of porn that is infesting the nation," and keeping illegal immigrants out of America's borders. There's not exactly a lot of "freedom" on the list.

...

I'd expected to go head to head with "Hutch" on his views and horrifyingly misplaced morality, but I quickly discovered that it's impossible to debate someone whose hatred for reason is second only to his hatred of monogamous homosexuality. When I asked him why he believes that civil unions—or any level of benefits between same-sex couples—would undermine straight marriage, he presented a non sequitur of the highest order: "Would you still do your job if you weren't getting paid?" I blinked, not following the analogy. After some follow-up questions, I still had no idea what he was talking about, and got the sense that even through his manufactured confidence, neither did Hutcherson. There is no intellectually honest way anyone—even an evangelical Christian—can argue that expanding marriage benefits to committed same-sex couples in any way damages marriage for others.

But none of that matters.

"If I get more votes than you, I win," Hutcherson offered—one of the few arguments he made that I could follow. "If I get more votes, you have to do what I say. But if you get more votes, I have to do what you say. It's that simple."

Throughout the conference, I kept looking around, hoping to spot someone—anyone—expressing the same level of intellectual insult I was feeling, but to no avail. Instead, I saw hundreds of heads nodding along to messages of delusional paranoia, homophobia, and anti-intellectualism. And that's the most frightening element of it all—evangelical leaders have a built-in army of followers who are accustomed to doing what they're told and not asking any questions.

Why is it that so many Christians blindly follow? Wasn't Jesus considered a "Radical" in his time? He asked questions! We as Christians have a duty to use the brains God gave us to question. Many Christian leaders have been tempted by the 7 Deadly Sins & failed.

Faith in God; Not Government!

"Bong Hits for Jesus"

2007-03-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

Free Speech news: High Court Takes "Bong Hits 4 Jesus"

My comments are in italic.

WASHINGTON -- When Joseph Frederick unveiled a banner in 2002 on a public sidewalk in a Juneau, Alaska, Olympic parade that read "bong hits 4 Jesus," he probably didn't think his self-proclaimed prank would land him in the Supreme Court.

But that's where his case was heard on Monday, in a lively argument over free speech rights.

Frederick has said the banner's language was meant to be meaningless and funny effort to get on television as the Winter Olympic torch relay passed by his high school in January 2002.

His principal, Deborah Morse, believed the banner advocated or promoted illegal drug use in violation of school policy. She grabbed the banner and crumpled it. Then she suspended Frederick for 10 days.

Frederick sued, with the help of lawyer Douglas Mertz, of Juneau, and the American Civil Liberties Union. In subsequent court cases, the school has argued that it has a right to squelch speech that promotes illegal behavior and runs afoul of school policy.

Now, following a line of reasoning familiar to first amendment advocates, lawyers for conservative Christian groups said they found the content of Frederick's speech objectionable, but they want to defend his right to free speech because they want to be sure their own speech is protected.
{WOW! This is impressive. This is exactly the problem with limiting speech and I'm happy that there are Christians who understand this. I think of the poem written by a German priest during WWII: They Came for the Jews & I didn't speak up...They came for me & there was no one left to speak.)

Frederick's banner was disrespectful to God and disrespectful to believers of Christianity , Kevin Theriot, an attorney for Alliance Defense Fund, told the Web site Beliefnet. Even so, ADF, the American Center for Law and Justice, the Liberty Legal Institute and the Christian Legal Society have all filed briefs defending the student.
{Why is this disrespectful to God? He is the creator of all things. I'm a Christian & this doesn't bother me. I think God has a sense of humor.}

The government's position would give schools the authority to regulate all unpopular, controversial speech, according to ACLJ's Jay Sekulow. His organization was founded founded by Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson.
{YIKES! This could get confusing. Who's to say what is unpopular or controversial speech? Typically unpopular or controversial speech is politically charged. And it changes over time. }

Justice Stephen Breyer, addressing Mertz, said he is struggling with the case because a ruling in Frederick's favor could encourage students to go to absurd lengths to test those limits.

A ruling for Morse, however, "may really limit free speech," Breyer said.

Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that schools should be allowed to teach "character formation and not to use drugs." But Justice David Souter said the banner's message sounded "like just a kid's provocative statement" to him.
{NO - It is a parent's job to teach character formation & to talk to their kids about not using drugs! I don't believe in doing drugs (except for alcohol, which is a LEGAL "DRUG", ahem) & it is not because of school. My parents were good role models and had high expectations and trust for me. My parents are also the reason that I love to read because they read to me and encouraged learning. Parents must be involved in the child's education & growth. That's not to say school shouldn't do some, for instance, health is a good place to talk about the dangers of drugs & sex; characther building might including punishment for cheating or violence at school, etc. And I agree with Justice Souter...sounds like the kid is a TEENAGER. Who hasn't said provocative or tested the limits?}

The Bush administration has backed the school board. And Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor who investigated ex-President Bill Clinton over the Whitewater land deal and the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, is arguing on behalf of the principal and the school board.
{Big surprise here. Kenneth Starr. Need I say more? Except I can't resist calling him a media whore. ; >}

“The Supreme Court famously said that students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate and that is the principle we are still fighting for 40 years later," ACLU National Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro said on Monday.

The most recent and famous court decision in the matter of free speech for students came in 1969, when teenage siblings John and Mary Beth Tinker won the right to protest the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands in school.

Mary Beth Tinker, 54, traveled to Washington to hear the arguments before the Court."For decades the law has been that students have the constitutional right to free speech even on school campuses,” Mertz said.

Stuck being political again

2007-03-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

I never paid that much attention to the Dixie Chicks; I just knew that my dad liked them. At least he did until a comment made during a 2003 concert.

During the run-up to this endless war, The Dixie Chicks said, "We are ashamed that George Bush is from Texas." The fact that bushy is not from Texas notwithstanding {he was born in New Haven, Connecticut, which makes him a YANKEE in my book}. Conservative country fans, boycotted the band's album & tour, country radio stations stopped playing their music, & Natalie Maines even had a death threat (now that's what I call good Christian values!).

Why did one person saying they are ashamed of the President make them so angry? Why is that unpatriotic? How is that unsupportive of our troops? After all, she didn't mention troops or soldiers or the military in that quote. It's an opinion. So is the belief that corporations deserve rights & handouts. So is the hypothesis that there are Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq; WMD's which have never been found. I feel that Bush is not truly Christian although he believes he is & that neocon's don't actually believe in Christianity, beyond as a tool of power, but hey, that's only my opinion. I personally am ashamed that Resident Bush & Cheney, two soulless, psychopaths are representing our Republic to the rest of the world.

Why I am thinking about the Dixie Chicks you ask? The above rant (gotta get out my anger at the decline of our US Civilization) is leading up to something. And that is the documentary entitled "Dixie Chicks Shut Up & Sing", which details the band's experiences after the infamous comment, which spawned their new album, "Taking the Long Way". After watching this documentary I have so much respect & love for them. I literally turned off the DVD & walked to my neighborhood record store & bought their new record.

It's an excellent documentary & if it interests you, you can probably find it at your local library or video store. Their new record is pretty good too. It's honest & raw.

Peace be with you & me.

"When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil."
- Thomas Jefferson

Recipe for a Happy Marriage

2007-02-18T08:29:00.000-08:00

I saw this in the book "Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Homekeeping" by Miriam Lukken. I thought it worth remembering.

Recipe for a Happy Marriage
A portion of understanding,
with faith and trust well stirred....
A strength of mind diluted
with meekness is preferred.
Now add a bit of patience,
and a cup of love sincere....
to be garnished with good humor,
and served throughout the year.

Impeach Bush

2007-01-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

Screw Nancy Pelousi's taking impeachment off the table! Are you tired of Bush's policies & lying? If the government is not doing it's duties, we have the right to change it!

Compel the new (more friendly) Congress to start IMPEACHMENT proceedings using a little known method called an "Impeachment Memorial". What is an Impeachment Memorial you ask? It's a letter or petition that uses a little known and rarely used part of the Rules of the House of Representatives ("Jefferson's Manual") which empowers individual citizens to initiate the impeachment process themselves. Normally, members of the House must pass a resolution to initiate the impeachment procedure. A Minnesota-based group called Impeach for Peace has researched this method and is asking fellow citizens to join them in sending Impeachment Memorials to Congress en masse on January 15th, 2007 when the new Congress convenes.

It's easy. Go to the Impeach for Peace website & download & print the petition. Then mail it.

The basis for this method is found in Jefferson's Manual which is a sort of interpretive guide to parliamentary procedure, and is included (along with the Constitution) in the bound volumes of the Rules of the House of Representatives. It is ratified by each congress (including the current one), and has been updated continuously through the history of our democracy. Within the Manual itself, the section covering impeachment is designated Section LIII. Section 603 refers to the section of the entire volume (including the Constitution and Rules) in which you'll find the listing of acceptable vehicles for bringing impeachment motions to the floor, the second vehicle being of most interest. It reads:

"In the House of Representatives there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate (II, 1303; III, 2342, 2400, 2469; VI, 525, 526, 528, 535, 536); by charges preferred by a memorial, which is usually referred to a committee for examination (III, 2364, 2491, 2494, 2496, 2499, 2515; VI, 552); or by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee (April 15, 1970, p. 11941-2); by a message from the President (III, 2294, 2319; VI, 498); by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State (III, 2469) or Territory (III, 2487) or from a grand jury (III, 2488); or from facts developed and reported by an investigating committee of the House (III, 2399, 2444)." --Source: U.S. Government Printing Office

CNN exit polls have indicated the top issues that voters are concerned about most is corruption and ethics in government (42 percent) and the handling of the Iraq war (40 percent). Although the election results show that a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction our country is going, I believe we must send an unmistakable message to Congress that corruption, lies, constitutional abuses and overreaching executive power can no longer be tolerated in a free and democratic society. Join me and over 300,000 others who have downloaded a copy of the memorial letter from Impeach for Peace's website in mailing our representatives this January to hold the administration accountable for it's actions.

Feel free to pass this information to other concerned citizens.

Have an opinion, go to jail

2007-01-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

Bloggers & all who believe in Freedom of Speech, beware!

THE US GOVERNMENT is planning to force bloggers who criticise Congress and organise grassroot causes to register themselves or face jail time. {Aren't grassroots causes & criticizing the government what this country was based on?!}

According to GrassrootsFreedom.com, under Section 220 of S. 1, the lobbying reform bill currently before the Senate, bloggers who have more than 500 readers will have to register and report quarterly to Congress just like lobbiests or go to jail. {How will they figure out who has 500+readers?}

GrassrootsFreedom.com chairman Richard Viguerie said the new law would create the most expansive intrusion on First Amendment rights ever.

The amendment was introduced by Senator David Vitter and is currently on hold as it seems to have got bogged down in the legislative process.

Find out more at PR Newswire or Grassroots Freedom.

Call or write your congressperson! We can't allow them to take our rights away.

State of the Union address

2007-01-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

It’s that time of year. Time for our grand poobah to give his state of the union address. The actual speech will be broadcast on Tuesday, January 23 at 9 p.m. EST. There’s even a drinking game for my friends who like myself believe that beer (or insert your drink of choice) makes everything better: http://www.drinkinggame.us/

Here’s my facetious take on Bush’s 2007 State of the Union address, or what I would write if I had been hired as his speechwriter. With apologies to Shakespeare (Julius Caesar) & writers of satire.

State of the Union 2007

Friends, Republicrats, Countrymen,
Lend me your ears.

First of all, I’d like to thank democrat Nancy Pelousi for taking impeachment off the table. I’d also like to make her an honorary Republican.

I don’t look forward & I don’t look back. But today I come to talk about the state of our union. Ours is a grand future!

Since 2001 we have proven that we will not roll over & play dead. To paraphrase Toby Keith, if you mess with us, you get a boot in your ass. One terrorist supporter, Saddam Hussein, has been brought to justice. We are safer now than ever! But make no mistake: new enemies are being manufactured as I speak. Ain't American ingenuity grand?

America has a duty to the world. We must carry on the fight of taking capitalocracy & the freedom to shop to the rest of the world.

I believe that God & the people have given me a mandate to stay the course. To that end I have committed 21,000 more of our young men & women into Iraq to stem the civil war that we started. My military advisors assure me this won’t create any new terrorists, so I think we can look forward to an end of this War on Terror in our lifetime. If not, I know the American people are willing to sacrifice an entire generation, just as Europe did in that noble battle we call World War I.

We continue to seek out Osama Bin Laden and others who would harm our nation. Including those inside our borders. Recently I added a “signing statement” to a bill that allows me to look into American citizens’ mail sent through the US Postal service without a warrant. Critics say that this is contrary to existing law & the law I was signing. I say to them, CONSTITUTION SMONSTITUTION! Sometimes you have to make sacrifices. Would you have us live in fear of terrorists or live the American dream of life, liberty & the pursuit? Liberals, radicals, peaceniks, dissenters, any people of color or with Islamic sounding names, the media & Hillary Clinton, we will be monitoring your mail! Oh, and we’ll keep monitoring your phone calls too. {Homey smile, wink & laugh here.} I just wish the liberal media would stop letting let the cat out of the bag: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003508676_mail04.html

My next goal is to figure out how we can monitor the Internet & those radical bloggers too! I’ve got a conservative think tank working on that.

Closer to home, as I’ve said in every State of the Union address since my selection, I promise to decrease America’s independence on foreign oil. We don’t need to face our addiction to oil. All we have to do is drill in ANWAR & add more off-shore sites to our coastlines. This will have the added benefit of speeding up the economic recovery of the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Speaking of the Gulf Coast, the gentrification of New Orleans is proceeding slower than anticipated but I have full confidence in my corporate masters to capitalize on this historic opportunity.

As April 15th approaches, I say now is not the time to tax our citizens, they deserve to keep what they’ve worked hard for. Halliburton, Microsoft, Monsanto, General Motors, all you multinational corporations - Read my lips: no new taxes.

In closing, blah, blah, blah, wubba, wubba, wubba - same old crap I've been saying for the last 7 years.

----

Okay… I’ve run out of steam. What would you add?

Keith Olbermann video

2007-01-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is a great piece on the two-headedness of our President. I don't really have anything else to say because he pretty much sums it all up. I hope that more people are waking up.

Kucinich for President 2008

2006-12-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

I got some good news when I arrived home tonight. My favorite candidate from 2004 is running in 2008. Now, if only Edwards would become his running mate! That'd be the perfect ticket. Integrity, passion, ideas (not just generalities) & a RESPECT our Constitution.

GOOOOOO KUCINICH!

Here's the article from the Associated Press:
Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich plans Tuesday to launch another presidential bid
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 - Updated: 09:12 AM EST

CLEVELAND - Fed up with what he says is his party’s failure to end the war in Iraq, Democratic U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is entering the race for president - again.
It’s the second bid for the nation’s top office for Kucinich, a six-term, liberal congressman from Cleveland whose long-shot presidential candidacy in 2004 made headlines more for Kucinich’s bachelorhood than his policies. This time around Kucinich has a wife.
Kucinich, 60, scheduled a press conference Tuesday at City Hall to formally announce his 2008 campaign.

He said he was inspired to run because he disagrees with the way some of his fellow Democrats are handling the war, including approval of a proposal to spend $160 billion more on the conflict.
"Democrats were swept into power on Nov. 7 because of widespread voter discontent with the war in Iraq," Kucinich said Monday. "Instead of heeding those concerns and responding with a strong and immediate change in policies and direction, the Democratic congressional leadership seems inclined to continue funding the perpetuation of the war."
His previous presidential proposals have included a national peace department, canceling free trade policies he says hurt American jobs and a single-payer, universal health care system.
Kucinich joins Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a fellow Democrat, in declaring his candidacy for the presidential nomination.
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is considered the party’s front-runner, closely followed by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Neither has announced runs.
In 2004, Kucinich posted single digits in most primary elections, including his home state, yet stayed in the race.
He celebrated his bachelorhood on the campaign trail, telling New Hampshire audiences that he was seeking a mate. Women vied for a date with him during an online contest, but nothing romantic evolved from Kucinich’s breakfast date with the winner. It did earn him appearances on late-night comedy talk shows.
Last year he married Elizabeth Harper. He won re-election to his House seat in 2006 with 66 percent of the vote, basing his campaign on job creation and criticizing rising gas prices. He also was an outspoken critic of his own party, saying Democrats have lost their soul by moving away from liberal ideals.
Kucinich was elected mayor of Cleveland at age 31, the youngest leader of a major American city. He also became the mayor of the first city since the Great Depression to go into default.

For more information on Kucinich see: kucinich.us

Learning to live with less

2006-12-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

I’ve been attempting to declutter & organize my house for years. I do a bit (this year I had 2 yard sales this year & quit selling Avon) but it’s never quite finished. I can never relax or move onto the next project. This constant state of disorganization reverberates in my life. I can’t enjoy my friends. I can’t sit & just read or listen to music or knit. I can’t take the time to do crafts that I’d like to do. I don’t take time to write down the stories I’ve had floating in my head for years.

According to Feng Shui, a cluttered home, particularly the basement or attic, is representative of the past cluttering your life. WOWZA! I must have 30 years of baggage to unpack. : >

This winter it’s time for spiritual & physical house cleaning. I do not want to become a bitter, neurotic, self-centered, energy vampire with no friends. Things have not made me happy; they have not solved my problems. I do not want to be surrounded by THINGS. I want to reconnect with God, Nature & my friends. I’m inspired to step off this merry-go-round of ego-centrism, entertainment & consumption. I want to laugh with my friends, feel the sunshine or rain on my shoulders, cook dinner with Ben & live. I want to be present in my life. I want peace.

Back in October I read “Give it Up: My year of Learning to live better with less” by Mary Carlomagno. In this book the author gave up a different habit every month for a year & this book is an amusing account of her travails. Each month she gave up one habit: drinking, shopping, coffee, cell phones, Television, chocolate, newspapers, etc.

Here’s my list of what I want to give up to live better with less: Television, Cursing, Sugar, newspapers (in my case print media), multi-tasking, computer, clutter, busyness.

TELEVISION: I am a TV baby! There is so much good stuff on TV that I could spend my life parked in front of the screen. Not to mention all my old-favorites that they are putting on to DVD. But I refuse to spend my life watching other people live or pretend to live. There’s lots out there to do: travel, play croquet, play games, learning to clog & ballroom dance, looking at art, creating art, laughing & loving. So I’m trying to cut down on television. Thank GOD, I don’t have cable. Besides, TV (& computer) makes it harder to sleep at night. It can keep your mind of important issues so that they stay unresolved. I know that’s what I use TV for much of the time. And don’t even get me started on how we are kept apathetic by entertainment. I want to try to take walks at night with Ben & then read in bed until my eyes are heavy. Maybe then I could be in bed by 10-11. It’s hard when you work until 815 & don’t get home until 9 p.m., especially when you have the high-energy levels of a Heather!

CURSING: It started with the 2000 Election. It’s gotten bad when, without thinking, you say the “F” word in front of your father! I think it’s going to be hard to stop between the slow decline of our civilization & bad drivers. I could carry a thesaurus to find more descriptive words to use though. : >

SUGAR: Call me Augustus Gloop. I love sweets! I can eat a whole package of cookies within 2-3 days. And there’s a constant stream of sugar at work. I know I use it to get my endorphins humming happily. Thankfully I’ve developed an addiction to dark chocolate. I also read somewhere to eat sweet substitutes, like Jell-O or fruits to curb those craving. I think I’ll try to bring snacks like that for work so I won’t be tempted by the chocolate.

PRINT MEDIA: I have at least 2 years of magazines that I have never read. I can’t throw them away & I have this compulsion to read them from cover to cover. For the last 2 weeks, I’ve taken one a day to read on my breaks at work. This week I’ve progressed to looking at the index & {gasp} reading ONLY the articles that interest me. The basket that I keep them in is now 1/3 empty!!!! I’ve also cancelled one magazine & I’m not renewing Real Simple when the subscription is up next year. When I want to read it, I’ll just get it from the library.

COMPUTER: I can get on my computer & suddenly hours go bye-bye. So the last few months, my goal has been to only check my email twice a day: once in the morning & once at night. This is made easier by the fact that I work full-time now. Although a couple of times this week I’ve checked my email more than twice.

CLUTTER: I’ve clearly never learned to not sweat the small stuff. I’m drowning in small stuff.

I’m finally ready to put down the clutter & organizing books & to let go of some items that are just collecting dust. I’ve amassed yet another pile of yard sale stuff in the basement. There’s still more that I want to go through. I look forward to spring, when I should can have a really good Spring Cleaning sale. My goal is to have one sale & then donate the rest & be done with yard sales for a while. Also in the spring I want to build a shed for the yard stuff that is stored downstairs. That will allow us to make the basement into a functional room & not just storage. We also have plans to add shelves to the built-in that is in our hallway. That will allow us to get the books of the living room floor.

BUSYNESS: I really need to give myself a few minutes on a daily basis to sit & read the Bible/books on spirituality/poetry/other inspirational/books & to meditate. I’d be less frazzled if I did this regularly. This will make me less manic & help me connect with God. Since last week I’ve been fairly persistent at giving myself 5-10 minutes of quiet time on most days. I will keep expanding that to longer. Baby-steps! Do one foot forward, so it doesn't get too overwhelming. : > Oh & I want to add yoga too.

ADA says no Fluoride for babies

2006-11-15T08:29:00.000-08:00

It's not good for adults either. But babysteps! Hopefully someday we won't have fluoride in our water supplies or other products (fluoride is a poison). Reposting this article from Yahoo news.

NEW YORK, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- To prevent tooth damage, the American Dental Association (ADA) warned its members that fluoridated water should not be mixed into concentrated formula or foods intended for babies one year and younger, in a November .

"But who will alert parents," asks lawyer Paul Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF).

Two-thirds of U.S. public water suppliers add fluoride chemicals, based on a disproved theory that fluoride ingestion prevents cavities. Bottled water with added fluoride is now sold with specific instructions to mix into formula.(2)

The ADA reports, " ... infants could receive a greater than optimal amount of fluoride through liquid concentrate or powdered baby formula that has been mixed with water containing fluoride during a time that their developing teeth may be susceptible to enamel fluorosis."(3) The ADA recommends using fluoride-free water.

Enamel or dental fluorosis is white spotting, yellow, brown and/or pitted permanent teeth. Pictures: http://www.fluoridation.com/teeth.htm

NYSCOF news releases in 2000 and 2004 (4,5) cited studies linking fluorosis to infant foods mixed with fluoridated water. Scientific evidence here: http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/infant/

It took until 2006 for the ADA's alert, following the Food and Drug Administration's October disapproval of fluoridated bottled water marketed to babies,(6) and after the recent National Research Council's (NRC) fluoride report indicated babies are fluoride overdosed from "optimally" fluoridated water supplies.(7)

"The ADA claims the NRC report didn't question the safety of fluoridation(8) but it did, as the ADA now admits," says Beeber.

"The NRC also revealed fluoridation's adverse effects to the thyroid gland, diabetics, kidney patients, high water drinkers and others," says Beeber.

Now, the Centers for Disease Control reports that modern science shows that fluoride absorbs into enamel topically.(9) However, adverse effects occur upon ingestion. Further, the CDC admits enamel fluoride concentration isn't inversely related to cavities.

The Environmental Protection Agency is required to consider the most vulnerable populations when setting allowable water fluoride levels. To protect babies, allowable fluoride levels should be near zero.

"This should end water fluoridation," says Beeber. "Fluoridation is a failed concept that must be abandoned before more Americans are harmed," says Beeber.

Before you throw that away....

2006-10-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Think about this....

Islands of PLASTIC TRASH in our oceans. Specifcially, North of Hawaii, in the Pacific Ocean, there's a mass of tangled plastic trash TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS {EWWWWWWWWW!!!!} that's accumulated in a slow, swirling vortex of water and air created by the high pressure zone ("gyre"). This thirty-foot deep mass of tires, lawn furniture, tampon wrappers, milk jugs, plastic bags, bath toys, traffic cones, etc. You don't have to be a brainiac to figure out this can trap & kill marine life & also poison them if they eat it. Rotting marine life adds even more toxins to this island of death!

For pictures see, pictures

See also the November issue of BestLife magazine and the October issue of National Geographic.

It makes me want to go out in a boat & gather it. But then where would we put it? It's not like we have room in our landfills. TWICE THE SIZE OF TEXAS!!!

Reduce, reuse, recyle. Live long & prosper!

Pimping the Culture War

2006-09-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

Bill O'Reilly's got a new book coming out, where he's proclaimed himself a "Culture Warrior".

From an online conservative bookseller: "Bill O’Reilly is the very embodiment of the idea of a Culture Warrior—and in this book he lives up to the title brilliantly, with all the brashness and forthrightness at his command. He sees that America is in the midst of a fierce culture war between those who embrace traditional values and those who want to change America into a “secular-progressive” country. This is a conflict that differs in many ways from the usual liberal/conservative divide, but it is no less heated, and the stakes are even higher.

In Culture Warrior, Bill O’Reilly defines this war and analyzes the competing philosophies of the traditionalist and secular-progressive camps. He examines why the nation’s motto “E Pluribus Unum” (“From Many, One”) might change to “What About Me?”; dissects the forces driving the secular-progressive agenda in the media and behind the scenes, including George Soros, George Lakoff, and the ACLU; and dives into matters of race, education, and the war on terror. He also shows how the culture war has played out in such high-profile instances as The Passion of the Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11, the abuse epidemic (child and otherwise), and the embattled place of religion in public life—with special emphasis on the war against Christmas. Whatever controversies are roiling the nation, he fearlessly confronts them—and no one will be in the dark about which side he’s on.’

Culture Warrior showcases Bill O’Reilly....an unrelenting fighter for the soul of America, and in this book he fights the good fight for the traditional values that have served this country so well for so long."

The culture war is a sham perpetuated by people who can profit from it and those who use it to keep us divided & disempowered.

I live side by side with Democrats, Republicans, Christians & non-Christians. We coexist peacefully even if we do occassionally disagree idealogically. For most of us, no matter our religious or political affiliation, the only war we are fighting is to get by. We are trying to raise kids (and in some cases our own selves), keep a roof over our heads & food in our fridges, stay healthy, and live peacefully & spiritually.

I'm sure most of you have the same experience.

Why is it that some are so afraid of allowing other people to have their opinions & beliefs & holidays? People different from me do not threaten my values. There is enough room in this country for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Ramadan and more. We are all children of God, he created us all, so why do we elevate ourselves above our brothers & sisters? Jesus himself said, "the Greatest Commandment is LOVE." He wasn't saying to love only those who are similar to ourselves or who we consider "good". In fact he said that it is the sick who need doctors, not the healthy. From love comes love. If you love yourself you will be kind to those around you. People with mental baggage or who hate themselves, tend to do harm. If we all loved, we could leave behind our emotional baggage & then the sins of fathers/mothers would not be visited upon our children. We need to start practicising love, not just toward others but first & formost to ourselves.

The U.S. does not have a homogenous culture. Christians themselves have splintered into many different sects & traditions. Even our founding fathers came from varying Christian backgrounds. Later immigration has further created our melting pot culture. We can be proud of our country's Christian heritage without having to shove it down everyone's throat & disclaim others beliefs. People who shove their values onto others are hate themselves and are insecure in the veracity of what they are preaching.

Our Founding Fathers wrote the main driving document behind our Republic, The U.S. Consitution, giving everyone the right to have & share varying opinions, as well as the right to practice any religion. These were intellectual, well-read men, they had to know of religions beyond Christianity, so I don't believe they were saying you can be any religion as long as you are Judeo-Christian. You can have your beliefs & religion. And I keep mine.

So many people are hypocrites. They talk about Christian values but don't follow them. I myself have known Chrisitans who say Catholics and Mormons are evil, even though those religions are Christian. Then there is our supposedly Christian President who has no problem TORTURING prisoners of war because they are non-americans & apparently sub-human.

It isn't about values, it is all about personal power and glory. Jesus must be weeping in heaven that his words have been so twisted.

The true threat to our culture is the seductive, mind-numbing din of consumerism, corporatism, and entertainment. We have nobody but ourselves to blame if we are losing our souls. It's we who vote for the "lesser of evils" rather than demanding moral politicians. We do not take people to task when they lie or cheat or abuse. We are serving two masters: the Dollar first and God second.

If our music, television & literature are immoral then we can take the advice of 1950s TV host funnyman Jack Paar, "I have never seen a bad television program, because I refuse to. God gave me a mind, and a wrist that turns things off." If we stop buying it, people/media/companies will stop selling it because it's not making money.

Do not believe it when THE MEDIA & POLITICIANS (the kings & queens of sound bites) tell you there's a culture war; however, I do plan to keep my eyes open & I'll fight (Care Bear Power!) against the forces that want such a war. We must get to know our neighbors: Republicans, Democrats, Progressives, Muslims, Mormons, Jews, people of color, or anyone who's different. We are more similar than we are different.

Attention bookworms: books by mail (it's like netflix)

2006-09-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

For my book loving friends (or books on tape/cd/mp3), here's a way to save $ by not buying all the books you want to read or if you're too busy or live too far from the library.

Check out Books Free.

Air Force Chief wants to test weapons on U.S. Civilians

2006-09-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

The Republic continues to further devolve into fascism before my very eyes. I saw this piece on CNN.com Wednesday evening.

See full article on CNN.com: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.

The object is basically public relations. Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said Secretary Michael Wynne.

"If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne. "(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."

The Air Force has paid for research into nonlethal weapons, but he said the service is unlikely to spend more money on development until injury problems are reviewed by medical experts and resolved.

Nonlethal weapons generally can weaken people if they are hit with the beam. Some of the weapons can emit short, intense energy pulses that also can be effective in disabling some electronic devices."

I have some questions... do they tell people they are testing new weapons? How do they define who in the crowd these "non-lethal weapons" are used on? What kind of reimbursement do the "victims" of this test get if it has unexpected or unforeseen side effects or is not-so-non-lethal? We've already seen how some Cops get trigger happy with tasers...I'd expect there'd be some of that too.

Don't get me wrong I'm all for human testing (especially in the medical field) where it's voluntary. But in all likelihood, they aren't going to tell the crowds upfront that they are testing new non-lethal weapons for the Air Force.

I have a better idea. Police officers are tasered in training, maybe the Air Force should test "non-lethal" (I mean come on, it is non-lethal) weapons on themselves.

Quotable

2006-09-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

"I'm just trying to be a good Christian. You know, there are different kinds of Christians. There's preaching Christians, Church-playing Christians, and there's practicing Christians - And I'm trying very hard to be a practicing Christian.

If you take the words of Jesus literally and apply them to you everyday life, you discover that the greatest fulfillment you'll ever find really doeslie in giving."

--Johnny Cash

When asked if he had any regrets, Johnny Cash replied "I used to but I forgave myself. When God forgave me, I figured I better do it, too. So everything is all right now."

I hope I can do that some day!

The war against our Constitution (S.2453)

2006-09-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

Have any of you heard about this? It's barely been on the news here. I only know about it because of this morning's KBOO news. This is ridiculous!!! We can't allow this to happen.

From the Washington Times on August 8 (written by Bruce Fein):

The Cheney-Specter National Security Surveillance Act of 2006 (S.2453) constitutes a virtual declaration of war on the Constitution. It would mutilate constitutionally protected privacy, cripple checks and balances, and inhibit political dissent. The bill's profoundly anti-constitutional philosophy is that "trust the president" should be the measure of our civil liberties.
The Fourth Amendment protects American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures, i.e., the right to be left alone unless the government can demonstrate a strong law enforcement or intelligence need to a neutral magistrate. Its centerpiece is particularized suspicion. The government is not permitted to search willy-nilly in the hope that something may turn up. If that were not the case, the police could ransack every household in America on the theory that at least a handful will reveal evidence of crime. The amendment was not motivated by sympathy for criminals or enemy terrorists, however, but from recognition that a police state exposes citizens to harassment or retaliation for voicing dissent or being personally obnoxious to government officials. Without the amendment, citizens would be soon cowed into docility.
The Cheney-Specter bill promotes that evil. It would authorize the NSA to intercept all e-mails or international communications of Americans without warrants. It would authorize data mining that informs the government of the parties to every phone call made in the United States without warrants. It would give congressional endorsement to the theory that the president enjoys inherent constitutional power to ignore any federal statute regulating the collection of foreign intelligence, including prohibitions on mail openings, torture or breaking and entering homes. And the bill would authorize unprecedented program warrants to conduct electronic surveillance against Americans without any suspicion that the individual targets are implicated in terrorism or other wrongdoing.
The Constitution, of course, is not a suicide pact. Congress and the president have collaborated to enact the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), amended on six occasions since September 11, 2001 to endow the commander in chief with muscular authority to gather foreign intelligence against al Qaeda or other enemies of the United States. The National Security Agency (NSA) may target suspected terrorists abroad for electronic surveillance or physical searches without judicial warrants. If a terrorist calls an American citizen in the United States, the NSA is not required to hang up. The United States Supreme Court has held that aliens abroad are unprotected by the Fourth Amendment. For 15 days after war commences, electronic surveillance of Americans in the United States does not require a warrant. Nor is one required for up to 72 hours in cases of emergency.
In sum, all but a tiny crumb of foreign intelligence is assembled without FISA or constitutional constraints. And not a scrap of evidence suggests September 11 might have been averted in the absence of FISA.
The statute regulates the president's authority to target American citizens on American soil for electronic surveillance or physical searches. The NSA must obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court based on probable cause to believe the American target is implicated in international terrorism or activity on behalf of a foreign nation or foreign terrorist organization. Moreover, so-called "minimization" procedures must be followed to ensure that the inadvertently intercepted, innocuous communications of non-suspect Americans are destroyed. Big Brother files on every American citizen would dampen dissent by engendering fear of government retaliation through leaks or otherwise. Think of the message sent by the Bush administration's covert efforts to discredit Ambassador Joseph Wilson over Iraq's suspected initiative to purchase uranium from Niger.
As recently as July 31, 2002, President Bush's Department of Justice testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee that FISA was nimble and effective in combating terrorism. The department opposed a proposal by Sen. Mike DeWine, Ohio Republican, to relax the standards needed to obtain a warrant.
Unknown to the committee, President Bush had been flouting FISA since the immediate aftermath of September 11 by targeting American citizens for electronic surveillance on his say-so alone. The president hoped to keep the NSA's illegal domestic spying secret forever by refusing to inform Congress or the American people. That ambition was foiled last December by the New York Times after apparent leaks from the executive branch. The attorney general has conceded other secret spying programs that have not yet leaked. But as father of the Constitution, James Madison admonished, popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is a farce. Further, no evidence has been forthcoming from the White House showing that violating FISA for five years has yielded much if any useful foreign intelligence.
The Cheney-Specter bill turns the wisdom that the Constitution is not a suicide pact into the folly that the Constitution is whatever the president says it is. And the folly is compounded by the convincing evidence that the bill will accomplish nothing non-trivial to defeat international terrorism.

Bruce Fein is a constitutional lawyer and international consultant with Bruce Fein & Associates and The Lichfield Group.

Working to Be an Appreciator

2006-08-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

"Many people see Jim as an extraordinary creator & I realize that I see Jim first as an appreciator. He appreciated so much. He loved London. He loved walking on the heath. He loved Parliament Hill, flying kites. He appreciated his family & his colleagues & his Muppet family & he appreciated the performance & the design of a puppet. He appreciated the detail on a Persian rug. He appreciated beauty. I really don't believe that Jim could have been such an estraordinary creator if he hadn't been such an extraordinary appreciator."
--Frank Oz on Jim Henson in "It's Not Easy Being Green And Other Things to Consider" by Jim Henson, the Muppets, & Friends

This quote struck a chord inside me. I am always so busy that I rarely take the time to be an Appreciator. I have my moments but they usually are BRIEF. I really feel this way at home. I always have so many projects (the shed, organization, a yard sale (two this year), cleaning out, cleaning, not to mention work & volunteering) that I can do not allow myself to appreciate my family & friends or a good book or quietude, spiritual or mediation time. When I don't have enough quiet or spiritual time, I make myself downright crazy or manic.

I always have the mind set of "when I finish X-project(s), particularly when it comes to cleaning out the house & organizing it, that I will focus on spirituality, spend more time with my friends, playing outside (I want to ride my bicycle!) & allow myself to read or knit rather than always feeling like I should clean & organize the house. If I don't do it now, when will I?

So in addition to my main goal for 2006, which is "My Year of Decluttering", I'm also going to strive to be an appreciator. I'm going to spend more time with friends; more time outdoors; going to give myself time to pray & meditate; & more time to appreciate!

Gingrich: "Insurgents in CT"

2006-08-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Newt Gingrich was on Fox news & said "Third, you have what I think is a legitimate insurgency in Connecticut, which needs to be met head on and debated head on, which is people who say this is so hard, it is so frightening, it’s so painful, can’t we come home and hide? And I think if Lamont wins next Tuesday, it will be the beginning of extraordinarily important period in American politics, and in American history. For all of us to have this debate. How dangerous are the terrorists? How dangerous are the dictatorships? And what does America have to do in that kind of a dangerous world?"

Insurgency in Connecticut?

Since when did protestors or people speaking out against government policies become insurgents. This is what our forefathers & most of our countrymen for over 200 years called "FREEDOM OF SPEECH".

Newt, maybe you've heard of this concept? See Amendment I of the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;..." Pay close attention to the next section here, it's important, "or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances."

See also, Amendment XVII of the Constitution: "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state, elected by the PEOPLE thereof,..." This also applies to the House of Representatives in Article I of the Constitution. Why is Newt even commenting on this race, he's not a citizen of Connecticut that I know of. Last time I checked he was from Georgia.

This is just a blatant attempt by Republicans to redefine anyone who disagrees with the government as insurgents. From here it's just a hop, skip & a jump from Republic to dictatorship with secret police; the torture & disappearance of those unsavory citizens who may disagree with the government; & the fixing of elections.

Vacation snapshots

2006-07-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

Dedication: "Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young."
from Baz Luhrman's song "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)"

I started this blog in June, right after my trip & I kept rewriting it. I think it's finally ready to post. : >

To ring in our 30th year of life, two of my high school friends, Cara & Kim, & I planned a special trip. I hadn't seen Cara in 12 years, since graduation! We all met up in Los Angeles, where we spent 3 days & then road tripped it back up to Portland. It was a week of fun, sun, drinking, reminiscing, & eating. It was a blast.

Here are some memory snapshots of my vacation with Kim, Cara & Dave.

Our first full day (Thurs., July 15) we took a "Hollywood Movie Star Experience Tour" from 9:30-3 p.m. This offered everything we wanted: movie star stalking, ahem, I mean houses, plus a studio tour & a Hollywood walking tour.

Before the tour I saw my first star on the Walk of Fame. It was one of my favorite singers...Nancy Wilson! (*Interesting factoid that I learned later on the Hollywood tour: anyone who pays 15 grand can get a star.)

The first part of our tour was stars homes. Some of the most memorable homes of Ozzy Osborne, Bob Barker, Ella Fitzgerald (!another favorite singer of mine!), & some house that looked like it'd been designed by Salvadore Dali. Johnny Weismuller (Tarzan & Olympic swimmer) had a swimming pool that wound around his yard. It was empty & looked pretty overgrown on his property now...what a shame...that was some pool. We also saw Tara (the plantation in "Gone With the Wind"! Can you tell I lived in Atlanta for awhile?) & the mansion of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

This was one of the few times that I actually think I saw a celebrity & it was someone I didn't even want to see. I think I saw Paris Hilton (or someone with that same brainless, bored expression as her at least) driving a Bently out of the area where the Hilton home is. Who knows maybe we saw some other people that we didn't recognize. But I didn't get to see Orlando (I did see where he stays when he's in town), Dom Monaghan or Tim Curry.

Next stop, Sony Pictures & Columbia Studios. As we walked through the gate a woman was talking to some security guards. She said she was a singer & then promptly started singing "Charles In Charge" themesong. Exclaiming "OH, MY GOD!", Cara's jaw dropped, her eyes widened & she ran back to the singing woman. She would have sang with the woman but the woman looked unwelcoming. For the rest of the trip she'd spontaneously sing the theme. She's probably still singing the song. : >

Columbia Studios offices were originally home to the Former MGM studios, so we were inside places of movie magic & history. The multi-level soundstage where the awesome MGM Musicals were made. We got to stand on the SAME soundstage where Wizard of Oz & Spaceballs were made!!!! I also got to see Columbia Pictures Oscars...including the ones for "Bridge Over the River Kwai" & "Lawrence of Arabia". We walked through a set for the new Nicholas Cage film "Next" & the area where they film some street scenes (NY, European, etc) for movies (these are actually false front buildings with studio offices behind them) & saw the Ghostbuster mobile. Apparently somewhere Kate Winslet & Jack Black were filming a movie but sadly we didn't get see them in person. We also stopped at a backdrop maker & saw them painting a new backdrop.

The Hollywood tour included an old Hollywood speakeasy (in the Stella Adler Acting School), three old movie palaces (Graumans Egyptian, the El Capitan, Grauman's Chinese theater), & the Kodak Theater where the Oscars are held & a view of the Hollywood sign. We actually got to go into the El Capitan, which Disney has renovated to its orginal rococo, over the top grandeur. I can't believe they hid that beautiful facade from the 50s through the 80s/90s! I'd love to see a movie there someday. At Grauman's we barely had time to look at all the sights...but I did see Sean Connery (he did it barefoot), Johnny Depp, & John Wayne (boots of course). I actually took a picture of my foot with John Wayne's boots...his feet look about the size of mine. In the Kodak Mall (or whatever it's called) we looked back at the Hollywood sign while our guide (a third generation Angelino) recited a poem he'd written about Hollywood.

After the tour, we went back to the hotel for a catnap. Cara & I had took a pilgrimage to Capital Records, which was just blocks from our hotel. We couldn't go in but we walked around it. That's where we saw the stars for Duran Duran & John Lennon (I kept looking for Bobby Darin's star but never saw one, not sure if he even has one). We also stopped in a vintage store, where we got in trouble for taking a picture of me with some of their funky sunglasses.

That night we had dinner at the Stinking Rose & met up with a Berkmar alum from the class behind ours. Dave had to put up with more reminiscing about Berkmar. At her suggestion we went to the Dresden to hear this ancient couple play. Both were apparently featured in the movie "Swingers", which I have never seen but will now. The woman looked like she'd been embalmed & was wearing an Elvira wig. The last song was saw was this crazy jam of "Staying Alive". Cara & Kim appropriately call it the fart keyboard. On a side note, Cara & Dave rewatched "Swingers" recently & said the have our hotel (the Best Western Hollywood Hills) & the coffee shop in the movie too.

Friday, 6/16, was a beach day. We headed out to Venice & wandered along the promenade. I found a kick-ass pirate beach towel, which I just had to buy for myself. Kim pointed out an old, leathery guy wearing a thong bathing suit or some such selling items at a table along the promenade. Later, somehow I totally missed this, a guy wearing a loin cloth walked by us. We chose the longest point from prom to ocean to walk on the beach & I thought I was going to get third degree burns on the bottom of my feet. I had only 1 pair of sandals with me for the trip, my dress sandals, & I was not going to wear those through the sand so I left Kim, Cara & Dave in my dust as I made a beeline to the ocean. I cooled my feet while I waited for them to catch up. The ocean was surprising cold...almost Oregon cold. I thought it would be warmer. We walked along the ocean & saw the surfer bay, many sailboats, some pipe running out to the ocean with a guy fishing on it, we saw lifeguards pull a tree (possibly from Oregon!) out of the water with their truck. We had to walk across that hellish sand again & I had to hurriedly put my sandals on because it was even hotter near the promenade. I don't see how people can lay on that or walk on it.

From Venice we went to Santa Monica. (*Suddenly I have the strongest desire to watch the "Lost Boys". That's on my hold list right now. : >) We ate lunch at the Kings Head Pub, which has my favorite Ginger Beer (Cock N Bull)!!!! Yummy ginger beer. Then we attempted to see "Nacho Libre" but the power went out in the entire theater 10 minutes before that was to start, so we had to get refunds. The young teens working wanted to give Kim & I vouchers even though we were from out of state....so we had to talk to the manager, who with barely a word of explanation from us told us to go back & ask for cash. Cara had no such trouble; she just said "I'm from Maryland; I want $20 cash." Go Cara!!!

Since we didn't get to do that we headed over to Santa Monica pier & rode some rides. Cara & I screamed our heads off on the Sea Dragon. We were louder than the little kids. One of the kids across from us, kept covering his ears & he was saying shut up. Then we rode the Ferris Wheel (awesome view!) & the roller coaster.

We went back to Third Street Promenade to meet one of Dave's friends. While walking to dinner, we ran into 2 Nacho Libres & got fan/masks. They took a picture with us & several others; Cara forgot to put her fan up & I was off to the side without mine too. We finally found a place to eat (Lago), with a pompous server who said hello & then just stood wordlessly waiting for our order. We all looked & felt bedraggled by the end of that day.

We headed North to San Francisco on Saturday at 7 a.m. Cara was weirded out driving in such hilly & mountainous; something that is so second nature to me that I barely noticed. We arrived around lunchtime in China Town. We ate at a rooftop restaurant with a great view & could see people's laundry drying on rooftops. We then explored China Town, North Beach & their street fair, on the way to Pier 39. From Pier 39 we took a Bay Cruise that took us out to the Golden Gate Bridge & past Alcatraz. It was beautiful...there were tons of sailboats & wind gliders or surfers. When were were practically under the Bridge, our boat was bobbing up & down...It was exhilarating.

This was my third trip to SF & I finally made it to Ghiradelli Square. Across from there we happened upon a gallery for M. Keane, who I learned (although I have several works on the walls in my house) is a woman & not a man (apparently her husband made her paint in 2 different styles & he put his name on it! She had to paint a picture in court to prove that she had done them). She's still painting. We had a quick bite at In N' Out Burger, where none of us had ever eaten. I wish I knew all the secret codes for ordering burgers there. While waiting to order a woman with fake eyelashes & a short blue dress came in. She got in line behind me & was murmuring something about "They Take Numbers". We think she was a prostitute. The place we so packed people were hovering over tables like sharks; we ended up not being able to sit together.

We spent the night in Vacaville. Our room was huge...there was a sleeping porch & a third room (with no windows or circulation). They'd left the AC off so it was so hot & when we turned the light off, pitch black. I made the mistake of watching a few minutes of "jeepers creepers" so that I had totally weird dreams that the creature was in our room. It was probably just Kim walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Sunday 6/18: We were at the Jelly Belly factory as it opened. Breakfast was pretty much jelly beans. We each bought about 4 pounds of the belly flops (the imperfect ones) to bring home & this was before the tour. The factory wasn't working, which made it hard sometimes to figure out what the guide was talking about. But I will always remember fondly the packing area near the end. They had Mr. Jelly Belly plush doll (complete with cowboy boots & hat) sitting on top of one of the robots, who greeted us. Then all four of the robots danced to the tune of "Sugar, Sugar". I think the four of us found that more amusing than the kids did; we laughed our heads off. It was awesome!

Then we tried out 3 wineries in the Napa Valley. We had lunch in St. Helena, a beautiful town, at the suggestion of one of the winery people. Yummy, yummy...mac n cheese with bacon. Then we went to an olive oil place right next to the restaurant & I bought some mustard & a jalapeno olive oil. Mmmm, mmmm...good. Afterwards we made our way North to Ashland, where we met up with Ben.

Somewhere on this road I picked up the name Boobsy McTits because I accidently touched Kim's boob thinking it was the chair.

We had dinner at an English Pub there. The only thing really memorable about this was my beer. I camped with Ben (note to self, do more camping this year!) While in the ladies room getting brushing my teeth, a fellow camper came in & told me how she'd woken up this morning with a tick on the top of her head. Yikes!! I went to bed a bit freaked out...but telling myself at the same time I hadn't walked through any grass & that's where they are likely to be.

On way our way out of Southern Oregon on Monday we tried 3 more wineries & bought more wine.

We arrived with just enough time to unload our luggage on my lawn & then Kim & I sped to the airport to drop off the rental car. We just in time at 7 p.m. I was planning on cooking dinner but we opted to go to Kennedy School instead. We had dinner on the patio & then after dinner drinks in the Detention Room, being the good Beta Club girls we are. We girls watched our HS graduation video (yes, I still have this even after 12 years) & looked through yearbooks until we were all tired.

Tues. Ben & I made a huge breakfast (eggs, homemade hasbrowns, bacon). Then we took them out for the quicky Portland tour. We visited the International Rose Test Gardens & showed them the view from Pittock Mansion. Then we went to Powells Books, where all of us but Ben proceeded to buy items.

There was a ton of stuff I didn't get to show them but by this point we were all so exhausted from the preceding six days we headed back home for some R&R before our dinner sail on the Willamette.

When we got to the sailboat I found out Cara was thinking of a typical dinner cruise on a larger boat & that she was nervous. I was a bit worried but she was a trooper & joked her way through the trip. She kept encouraging Kim to flirt with the captain & even had her take pictures of his bum until they got caught. Kim & Dave tried their hand at sailing. Actually that was the most wind that Ben & I've ever had of any of our sailings on Scovare. Once we'd gotten near downtown we took down the sails & just floated. Captain Shane served us bread, a green/waldorf salad (apples with green salad, quite tasty), herb-rubbed chicken, cajun & lemon pepper salmon, with an apple pie for dessert. It was quite lovely. I think (& hope) everyone enjoyed it as much as Ben & I did.

Weds. 6/21
Up at 3:30 to drive Kim to airport. I had breakfast near airport with Cara & Dave before I dropped them off around 10 a.m. It was bittersweet to come home to an empty home. But I look forward to us planning the next trip, a cruise for our 35th birthday. I especially look forward to Cara's spreadsheets.

I love you all! Thanks for the fabulous trip!!

Thoughts on "An Inconvenient Truth"

2006-07-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Some of you have already read this post on my myspace blog but I wanted to repost it here too.

Last night I saw "An Inconvenient Truth", the documentary about Al Gore & his powerpoint presentation on global warming. Maybe not becoming president was a good thing because now he's traveling the world & trying to get individuals to take some action about global warming. I really admire his passion on the subject. I wish he'd have showed some of this passion & humor while campaigning for president in 2000.

He admitted that he put too much faith in the democratic process to solve this issue. I knew that he had been interested in environmental issues but I had no idea that he'd been interested in it since the 1960s (before he was a politician). He wasn't pushy or whiney about it either. He just laid of the information & even joked about it at some points. How refreshing!

Even as a tree-hugging environmentalist, Gore's data enriched my knowledge & made me even more determined to do to further decrease my footprint on the planet (note to self: get my bike out of the basement & tune it up; plant more trees particularly in the southern hemisphere; & get solar panels for our house!). He did discuss the cyclical nature of global temperatures. Although it is a natural cycle to have hotter & cooler periods, based on historical data at this point higher our temperature & CO2 levels are higher than any other time. Based on current data, these numbers are expected to increase many times more than previous eras.

He also talked about the reasons people choose to discount the idea of climate change & global warming. One argument opponents often use is "the economy OR the environment". Even as a middle schooler I never could understand this whole idea. If we use up all the resources (fish, trees, etc), what are we going to use in the future? Well, if we total the planet, what are we going to need money for? We can have both economy & the environment. There's money to be made in the environment, either in saving money by using new, cleaner technologies or by new companies creating new or environmental technologies.

Interesting factoid that I just remembered from the film. There's a scene where Gore is talking about average Miles Per Gallon (MPG) for cars. The US has the lowest Miles Per Gallon for its cars in the world. Even China has higher standards! Meaning GM & Ford cannot sell our cars over there.

The issue is not too big for us to do something about. One by one we can do something about this! Gore also said that we can solve the climate crisis, just as we solved the hole in the ozone layer. And he gave examples of how we can do it; these were carried on into the closing credits.

Find out more for yourself. See "An Inconvenient Truth". Visit www.climatecrisis.net to see where it's playing & for ways to cut down your footprint. See the links I have on my website too; many are environmental or sustainability related.

4th of July quiz

2006-07-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

Taken from wwwfreedomtofacism.com

How much do you know about the U.S. government's involvement in your life? Answer the three questions below ... see how you do!

1) Congress first attempted to impose an income tax in 1894. The Supreme Court struck the tax down as unconstitutional. In 1913, Congress amended the Constitution in order to impose an income tax without being overridden by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court responded to the 16th Amendment by:

A. Respecting Congress' power to alter the Constitution as it sees fit and declaring the Income Tax Act legal.

B. Refusing to hear any cases brought before it challenging the Constitutionality of the income tax and therefore allowing the law to stand.

C. Ruling that the 16th Amendment conferred no new power of taxation in the cases Stratton Independence v. Hobart, Southern Pacific v. Lowe, Bowers v. Kirbo Empire and five others, meaning -- the income tax is unconstitutional.

2) Because the Federal Reserve is a private consortium of banks and not a government institution of the people, an amendment to the Constitution had to be ratified to surrender to them the power to create money. Which Amendment to the Constitution took the power away from Congress to control money and put it in the hands of wealthy private bankers?

A. 16th

B. 23rd

C. 33rd

D. The Constitution was never amended and therefore the Federal Reserve's activities are unconstitutional.

3) Recently in England a national ID card was issued to all citizens of the UK. One of Adolf Hitler's first acts as Chancellor was to establish national ID papers for the German people in order to assert domination over them. Now, some want a national ID card for the American people. When do you think Americans would allow this?

A. Never

B. After another major terrorist act, for the sake of security.

C. When the technology becomes available to implement it.

D. May, 2008. Legislation has already been passed.

Answers: 1) c, 2) d, 3) d.

Save $ (and the planet too!) while cleaning house

2006-05-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

I happened upon this book at the library called "Clean House, Clean Planet: Clean your House for Pennies a Day, the Safe, Non-Toxic Way" (author-Karen Logan). There's a ton of useful recipes for cleaning using non-toxic, inexpensive basics like baking soda, vinegar, lemons, etc.

Most of us probably know either from experience or reading, that most cleaning chemicals are not good for us. But how do we know which are okay & which are not? Safer ones include Bon Ami for kitchen cleaners and the laundry stain removal Spray n Wash stick (whew that's one of my favorites!). For a list of safe products see the the Washington Toxics Coalitions "Buy Smart, Buy Safe" guide. The website also includes information about safe products all around the house, including lawn and garden care.

This book had so many good recipes I'm going to buy it for my house. I haven't tried all of these yet but definitely will be getting rid of any toxic chemicals I have left & will start using these.

Here are some useful recipes for a variety of cleaning jobs.

Garbage-can deodorizer and cleaner
Ingredients: baking soda & an essential oil

Directions: Make a scented baking soda and sprinkle 1/4 cup into the bottom of your garbage pail. Then you can clean out the can (to avoid clogging drains, rinse it outdoors). Wipe clean with soapy cleaner & hot water. Once it's dry, sprinkle more baking soda in the bottom. It will help keep the can dry and mildew-free plus it deodorizes. The next time you clean, the baking soda makes a nice past when you rinse it out.

Garbage disposal deodorizer
Ingredients: Citrus peels (any kind will do) & ice cubes

Directions: Drop 3+ ice cubes and 2 fresh citrus peels down your disposal & grind them. The ice cubes help to cool any grease & grind it out. The citrus peels make it smell nice & have natural acid cleaning power.

Air Freshner
Ingredients: White Distilled Vinegar
Directions: In a small bowl or jar, put about 12 cup of vinegar uncovered. Then place it on an upper shelf to let it sop up odors. This trick is also good for offensive cooking odors, musty closet smells, smokey rooms, or kitchens with little or no ventilation.

For those of you with cats!
Litter box deodorizer
Ingredients: baking soda & a essential oil for fragrance (such as eucalyptis, peppermint or lavender)

Directions: Scent approximately 2 cups of baking soda (about half of a regular 2 1b. box) with any one of the following oils: 24 drops of eucalyptus oil, 24 drops of peppermint, or 20 drops of lavendar oil.

How to use: pull open the entire top of a 2-1b box of baking soda. Add the essential oil on top & mix it with a fork. Pour in about 1 cup of the scented baking soda into the bottom of the litter box. Add the sand last. Save the rest of the baking soda for the next time.

Dish sprinkle - auto dishwashing detergent

Clean your dishes in a more effortless way! I did try this one & spent much less time cleaning my pyrex casserole dish. That's always a good thing, especially if you don't have a dishwasher.

Directions: All you need is some baking soda & a shaker. When you pile the dirty dishes in the sink, scrape off any lumpy food & shake on some baking soda. This helps cut down on odors & helps dissolve grease & grime. The baking sodda works best if lightly wet. Let sit on dishes for at least 5 minutes. For those of you with dishwashers, you can spray them with water & load directly into the washer & you don't need to add extra detergent in the open dispenser (because the baking soda works like soap too).

Car maintenance
Substitutes for products such as Armor-All
Petroleum jelly can be used to condition & nourish the vinyl & other assorted plastic in cars. Put a small glob on your rag & buff it in. Do NOT use too much (or it will attract dirt & dust). This works on tires too. Do not get any on glass or windows though or you'll have to deal with smears & streaks.

Disinfecting Cutting boards
Rub a little salt and water into the board & rinse (not scientifically proven to disinfect) after cutting meats. Lemon juice & salt, or a little vinegar, help to clean and deodorize too.

Floor cleaner
Ingredients: White distilled vinegar, water & an essential oil for fragrance.

Directions: In a 16 oz. squirt-bottle, mix equal parts of the white distilled vinegar & water. Add 15-20 drops of pure peppermint oil. Shake to mix.

Once made squirt cleaner directly onto the floor & wipe clean with rag or mop. Can be used on lineoleum, tile, or polyurethane & finished wood floors. Vinegar's natural acid quality helps to remove the film that typically accumulates on a kitchen floor.

Alternative insecticides for crawling insects
Ingredients: liquid soap or hand-dishwashing detergent & water

Directions: Fill the spray bottle with water. Add 3 tbsp. liquid soap OR 1 tbsp. liquid detergent. A peppermint- or eucalyptus-scented soap works nicely. Your dish-washing detergant at your sink works but use only the 1 tbsp. if spraying in environmentally sensitive areas like outdoors. Shake to mix.

You can spray these directly on ants & they will dry up in a few seconds. Then using petroleum jelly, clog any holes they might come in (reapply every few days as the jelly dirties).

Ant Stay Away
Ingredients: peppermint oil & water

Directions: In a 16 oz. spray bottle, fill half full with water. Add 2 tsp. peppermint oil. Shake. Spray where the ants come in (corners, baseboards, window sills, & behind appliances). Reapply as needed to keep the odor strong.

Honey Pot for Ants
Directions: Mix 1/2 cup water with 1/4 cup honey & other sweet stuff, (i.e. sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, fruit juice concentrate or candy) in a small bowl or cup (can be paper). Set it outside to distract ants from coming inside your house.

Peppermint Ball
Ingredients: Cotton Balls & peppermint oil

Directions: Dip several cotton balls in peppermint oil & rub where you don't want the ants to come in. Wipe along their entrances & paths. They will be confused & you can easily clean them up.

Bug Spray for Plants
Ingredients: Dr. Bronner's Peppermint-scented liquid soap & water

Directions: Fill a 16 oz. spray bottle with water (purified when possible). Add 1-2 tsp. Dr. Bronner's peppermint-scented liquid soap. Shake. To prevent sudsing, add soap last.

Then spray directly onto bugs. Check for bugs underneath the leaves & inner stems. Spray & wash them whenever you see them. The peppermint scent is rumored to repel many insects.

Brass & Copper Cleaner
Ingredients: 1 lime (or lemon) & some ordinary table soap.

Directions: Cut lime (or lemon) in half. Sprinkle a little salt on whatever needs polishing & start rubbing immediately. Limes are easier to rub & have no seeds.

OR

Ingredients: flour, white distilled vinegar & salt.

In a glass or plastic bowl, Mix 2/3 cup white distilled vinegar with 2/3 cup flour. Stir the mixture until smooth. Add 1/2 cup salt & stir until mixed in. This doesn't keep well, so make a fresh batch each time you need it. Then spoon mixture onto items you want to polish. If it's too goopy, add 1 tbsp. more flour. It should be sticky, smooth layer to stay on the metal. You'll get better results if you leave it on for 1 or 2 hours or even overnight. Green goop means it's working but that is also toxic (so don't let any kids get near it). Rinse the copper off well & wipe clean. Polish with a soft cloth & a dab of olive oil. This helps to prevent further tarnishing.

Tub & Tile Cleaner (alternative to soft scrub)

Ingredients: baking soda, high-quality liquid soap (castile, vegetable-oil based or glycerin), white distilled vinegar, & water
**Need a 16 or 22 oz. squeeze container with squirt flip-top cap.

Directions: 16 oz. bottle
Mix 1 2/3 cups baking soda with 1/2 c. liquid soap in a bowl. Dilute with 1/2 cup water. Add 2 tbsp. vinegar last. Stir until the lumps are gone. If you can pour it into the container easily, then you have the right consistency. If it's too thick, add more water. Keep the cap on because this mixture will dry out. Shake well before using.

For 22 oz. bottle: mix 2 cups baking soda, 1/2 cup liquid soap, 2/3 c. water & 2 tbsp. vinegar.

Once it's made, squirt this cleaner everywhere (tub, sink, toilet bowl, floors, garbage cans, any greasy grimy job). Use it with nylon white-backed sponge to prevent scratching. Rinse well.

If you find that you are leaving residue, try using less scrub next time and/or rinse with a squirt of vinegar (can be scented) and water. The vinegar will help prevent mold & mildew too.

Always shake well & measure exactly, otherwise the squirt will be too thick or thin. Mix baking sodea & soap together with a fork & always add the vinegar last.

Quotes that make you say hmmm....

2006-05-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
{Hermann Goring at the Nuremberg Trials}

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.
{Aristotle}

Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
{Aristotle}

Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.
{Aristotle}

"Our suicidal poets (Plath, Berryman...et al.) spent too much of their lives inside rooms and classrooms when they should have been trudging up mountains, slogging through swamps, rowing down rivers. The indoor life is the next best thing to premature burial."
{Edward Abbey}

If the USA is the greatest country in the world....

2006-05-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Why aren't we at the top of the list in environmental health? According to the Sierra Club magazine (May/June 2006 issue), the USA is number 28 in a study of world environmental health. The data of 133 nations was compiled by researchers at Columbia & Yale Universities and "measured how well nations are doing in areas such as air, water, energy, biodiversity & habitat. The study's authors also compare each nation with its geographic and economic peers."

The top six environmental performers are: New Zealand (go NZ!!!), Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, The UK & Austria. Chile, Colombia, Japan, Malaysia, Slovakia & Taiwan, and most of Western Europe are all ahead of the US in the rankings.

The US did get good marks for water quality (thank God for that!) and pace of timber harvest. We failed in ozone emisions (score=.1 out of 100) and RENEWABLE-ENERGY PRODUCTION (okay that's not really a surprise. Score =4).

So tell me again, why we didn't join in the Kyoto Treaty? Was it because we are already so ahead of the rest of the world in protecting our environment?

Hmmm.....When smaller, so-called "less developed nations" are doing better than we are, maybe we'd better rethink what we're doing & how our actions affect the rest of the world because they do not only affect us (think wind & current).

I also have to question why our cars haven't evolved much in the last 50 years; other than creating a bigger, more gas-guzzling engine in the 50s or 60s. Think about it...most cars still get about the same Miles Per Gallon as they did decades ago. In some cases, like SUV's, they actually get less MPGs than cars from the 50s.

Of course, you can't think of that without questioning why we still rely on fossil fuels tho power our vehicles and cities. But I already have an answer on that one. It's because gas has been so underpriced for the last several decades.

Totally unrelated to the physical environment. If we are so great in our FREEDOM....why is is that our government has been SPYING on its own citizens for decades since the Cold War? And that some corporations (phone companies) have been aiding them?

Why aren't we pissed about this? Why aren't we protesting this? If our government has disregarded that freedom, what other rights are they disregarding?

Are we US citizens so afraid of Commies/terrorists/chaos/life that it's okay to lose rights in order to protect ourselves (thus leaving us more vunerable in other areas or to different tyrants)?

If we're such a Christian nation, why are we afraid anyway? Where's our faith in GOD to protect & keep us? We shouldn't have faith in man or government.

Or are we too busy consuming or in an entertainment-induced stupor to notice?

Socrates believed that living in a nation means residents give tacit consent to government activities. I'm sure wiser people than me have expressed this, but only when we do nothing, do we give tacit consent, while the government/nation, does immoral (even if they couch them in moral terms) things in our name.

Natural cures for sinus troubles

2006-05-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is mostly for Kimba, who I told I'd email her the recipe to help her sinuses badk when I wrote "Cough, Cough, Wheeze, Wheeze". I'm finally getting around to it.

Here are some things that are good for you if you have issues with your sinuses. Remember that fresh is always best. If you don't have a juicer, at least buy some fresh, organic juice for these recipes.

Gingerroot/ginger
Ginger acts as an expectorant, helping rid the sinus cavaties of mucus & lungs of phlegm. Also, good for fevers (because it dilates blood vessels) & can aid in healing vocal chords from laryngitis.

Ginger recipes: Mix with apple juice when you have laryngitis; drink ginger-carrot juice often and especially when you feel a cold coming on.

One of my favorite, easy recipes that doesn't call for a juicer is to mix mineral water, a bit of shredded ginger & lime &/or lemon in one glass of water. Very refreshing & tasty.

Radishes
Radish juice should only be consumed with other juices, like carrot or apple juice. A small measure of radish juice will restore & strentghen mucus membranes, clears sinus cavaties, & soothes sore throats.

Grapefruit
A friend of ours said she's been eating several grapefruit daily & hasn't had a problem with her sinuses since. So I've been trying to eat at least one a day; after all I don't want to get tired of them. Grapefruit is also yummy juiced.

A prost to your health!

April has come & gone

2006-05-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a busy month. It seems like the end of March was just here & now it's May. Time for May flowers! Hurrah!

I've been working a second part-time job (shore support for a cruise line) where I lugged luggage, took passengers to & from the airport or hotel, tied & untied the ship, got the gangway put out. It was fun but tiring. Let me tell you I have some buff arms from all that luggage! : > The last cruise was last Friday. I'll go back to my normal schedule until the end of September & then the cruise job will start again for 2 months. I made some money to put away for property taxes & will use the rest for tickets to see K & C in LA NEXT MONTH!

The City came & checked all our neighborhood sidewalks. I have to replace some small sections; even though sidewalks are considered city property we property owners have to pay. GRRRRR... That wasn't what I wanted to hear. But I did save over $300 by going with an outside contractor versus the city. I just called today & they are already sawcutting the sections out. Smash, boom, bam!

Ben & I went to the farmers market & bought tomatoes, a pepper plant, & soil for our garden. We also bought 2 organic basil plants for our herb garden from this adorable red-headed & freckled entrepreneur boy aged 10-12. : > He grows basil every year & sells them. I just planted those all today. Ben planted some flowers in our front yard yesterday. Suddenly I hate the yard a lot less!

Then tomorrow Ben & I go on a 2 day sailboat trip up the Columbia. That should be fun. I love being on the water & we'll be learning to sail too (continuing what we started last year).

Help rebuild New Orleans Public Library

2006-04-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

I happened upon this information in an e-newsletter I get from Powells.com.

The floodwaters that followed Hurricane Katrina damaged all the New Orleans Public Library's 13 buildings, and ruined eight — where collections, computers, and furniture are beyond repair. Total damage has been estimated at $26-$30 million.

Five libraries are now open. Funds are coming in to renovate the damaged branches and to provide temporary service via mobile libraries.

You can help the Katrina Project build the Levee for Life and help rebuild the New Orleans Public Library! Your contribution will help put books and educational materials back into the hands of the families of New Orleans.

Go to Project Katrina for more details or to contribute.

Cough, Cough, Wheeze, Wheeze

2006-03-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

It must be spring! I started getting a sinus attack on Friday (this happens nearly every time a major change of season occurs, it was exaserbated by dust & sugar). Being the overachiever that I am, I went to work & all the other things I had planned that day & made myself worse. Friday night I couldn't sleep, breathe or swallow & by Saturday morning I felt worse than death warmed over. As hard as it was I cancelled both my planned activities (no Bagby Hot Springs & no dinner with family) that day & rested.

I would probably still be incredibly sick right if not for my boyfriend, Mr. Naturopath! I had taken some apsirin on Saturday & when I woke up from my nap felt better. As the hours wore on & the aspirin wore off, I felt awful again. So Ben looked up my symptoms in his juicing book & went off to the store to get all the makings of medicine.

Goodbye Aspirin! Goodbye Thera-flu! Ben juiced me up some ginger & carrots & radishes before bedtime & I must say it worked. I could breath all night long & when I woke up my achy-ness was gone. I still have a lot of pleghm & my voice sounds awful.

I'm going to add daily doses of grapefruit & regular doses of ginger & radishes & other sinus fighters to try to stave off these attacks. I'm also going to decrease the sweets I eat.

Then there's my dairy addiction which doesn't help my sinus problems. Ben's sent me an article that his doctor had written about the health hazards of drinking homogenized & pasteurized milk.

I already shop at an organic grocery store so the milk doesn't have rBST (bovine growth hormone, yuck...evil stuff that!) but because of state laws the milk is still processed. So I need to find a good raw milk dairy farmer or CSA that I can get my milk from.

Here's why Homogenized & pasteurized milk is bad according to Doctor Kim.

"Most milk that is found in grocery stores is terrible for your health for the following reasons:

1. It comes from cows that are fed high-protein soybean meal and growth hormones to increase production. Both increase a cow's risk of developing mastitis, liver problems, and pituitary gland problems, leading to frequent doses of antibiotics. Clearly, regular exposure to synthetic growth hormone and antibiotic residues is not congruent with experiencing your best health.

2. Conventional milk is pasteurized, a process that exposes milk to high temperatures and results in the following:
* Denaturing of milk proteins, making them less usable and even harmful to your body
* Destruction of enzymes, one of which is phosphatase, an enzyme that helps your body properly absorb the calcium found in milk
* Destruction of vitamins B12, B6, and C
* Destruction of friendly bacteria

3. Some conventional milk is homogenized, a process that forces healthy fat in milk through a fine straining device, which allows homogenized milk to be consistent in texture and taste rather than have globules of fat float to the surface. The problem with homogenization is that it can alter healthy fat and cholesterol in milk in such a way that they are more susceptible to forming free radicals.

Milk can be a healthy food choice if it meets the following criteria:

1. It comes from old-fashioned cows like Jerseys and Guernseys, not modern Holsteins that have been bred to produce such large quantities of milk that they typically have pituitary gland problems that result in large amounts of hormones being present in their milk.

2. It comes from cows that have been allowed to eat foods that are natural to them: grass when it is available, and green feed, silage, hay and root vegetables during colder months.

3. It is not pasteurized. Pasteurization was first used in the 1920s to kill micro organisms that caused tuberculosis and other diseases that were related to unsanitary production methods. With modern day controls in place to ensure clean and safe production, transportation, and storage of milk, the disadvantages of pasteurization far outweigh the advantages.

4. It is not homogenized.

The Weston A. Price Foundation has an excellent website called realmilk.com that provides more information on what constitutes healthy milk and where to find it."

It's Official

2006-03-20T09:40:00.000-08:00

As of Saturday, 5 p.m., I'm a certified member of my Neighborhood Emergency Team.

At the Final Exercise, we had 4 stations (40 minutes at each) to use the basic skills we'd learned in the 7 weeks of basic training.

Station 4: Triage & patient transport - Yikes, this was my team's first station (we were team 4) & it was the hardest. It was nerve-racking. I had the clipboard so I was the team leader on this one. We had to go into a scene & find out if there were any patients & help them. One of our team members "died" because of a live wire & we had to restart. Another thing we had to deal with was a victim who wasn't injured but wanted to help & was being disruptive. It was definitely a learning experience: planning how do deal with this, team communication, team safety walk first, how do deal with victims.

Station 1: Search & rescue: We had to go into the tower & do a search under smokey conditions with no electricity. Our team really started melding on this one & we had good communication; although we left behind "Tommy" a boy found in the event. Our team couldn't see him on the way back out after the "earthquake aftershock".

Station 2: Fire Fighting - My favorite & again our team was really cohesive. We're not talking about major fire fighting here, only ones that can be fought with fire extinguishers. I really enjoyed this one.

Station 3: Patient Rescue - Our last exercise was to rescue a victim trapped under debris. We got a slow start (you have to get a plan, plus you have to understand the dynamics of using levers/fulcrums & cribbing) but we did eventually get the victim out. However, we missed the child that was also in there. A lesson in keeping your eyes open.

It's amazing...by the end of the exercise our team was really cohesive & I feel like I will really miss them. I can see it would be useful for each NET to have their own exercises so they can meld. I did meet another women who's from the neighborhood next to mine, so hopefully our two teams can network.

After the exercises, we got our certificate from the big honchos of the fire dept., even the Chief was there!

Something I've noticed about firefighters. Police officers in general seem to attract people who want power & control; I'd imagine a lot of psychopaths join the police. But every single firefighter I've met, through this process & in general, is there to help people & save lives. They also have great senses of humor...that must come from seeing death & destruction so often. Just the sight of a fire station or fire truck makes me feel safer. Firefighters rock!

Musings

2006-03-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Random thoughts from my head today.

1) Tonight is the David Gray concert! Hurrah!

2) Some promising information on the movie "V for Vendetta". When I heard the Wachowski Bros. were doing another movie I thought who cares - don't even get me started on the putrid drivel that is Matrix 2 (I didn't bother to go see the third). Then I saw the trailers & it actually looked good. Then yesterday, I read a review in the Mercury & now I'm even more excited. The movie is based on a graphic novel (I just put it on hold) from the 1980s by none other than Alan Moore!!!!! Moore is the creator of the graphic novels "Leage of Extraordinary Gentleman" & "From Hell". Hollywood massacred LXG but I have hope for "V for Vendetta.

For one thing, they Brothers W are not directing this movie, they didn't write it from scratch; they only adapted it. This is what the Mercury had to say, I laughed my head off at the first part"....who have otherwise been hiding, licking their wounds from the derision thrown at their Matrix Sequels--the screenplay stays largely true to its source material..."

I'm surprised that the graphic novel is 15 years old, yet it looks strikingly relevant ...a fascist (fascist as defined by Mussolini is business with government) government who invents conflict, police spying on citizens & you get the idea.

3) Speaking of government out of hand, could widespread distrust of Bush finally be stirring. There are more anti-Bush books out & the other night I could swear I heard a newscaster say the word "terrorist" with an almost mocking, doubtful tone.

Could people be actually waking up? I suppose that's too much to ask. The same events have happened throughout history; people never change - leaders are greedy for power & colonies/resources, while the rest of us are too busy trying to survive (or consume, which is the true national religion of the United States).

And again those twits are trying to sneak ANWR into the budget.

It's just too, too much. I'm so tired of all this crap. It's like they keep trying to see if they can eventually pull the wool over our eyes when we aren't looking. I no longer believe that government can solve any problems (they'd be out of a job if they did).

What to do in the event of an earthquake

2006-03-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

At last Sunday's neighborhood potluck, we had a conversation about natural disasters. Someone had a sister who was involved in the earthquake south of Seattle in 2001. She worked in an old stone 2-level school & wondered if she should leave the building or what. We had some disagreement on whether to stay inside or go out in this event.

The following information from my disaster manual for NET training is taken from Bay Area Regional Earthquake Preparedness Project & FEMA, as well as other sources. I've also had a friend who lived through numerous So Cal earthquakes tell me some of these as well.

"Remain calm. Remember that your brain is your most important tool.

There is no one safe place to be during an earthquake. The following are some recommended actions. The specific actions that you should take should be adapted to your situation & location at the time of the quake.

If you are inside a building when an earthquake hits, stay there. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER....DUCK, COVER & HOLD. Try to get under something that will protect you from falling debris like a table or a desk and hold on to it. (Someone in my class said if they are in the bedroom they'll shield themselves with their mattress...not a bad idea.) Stay there until the shaking stops. Try to get at least 15 feet away from any windows so that you are not cut by flying glass. Never run outside during a quake. Most people are injured by falling debris. Running outside just increases your chances of being injured. If you are in a hallway or open area of a building, sit down against a wall & cover your head & neck with your hands. Remain there until the shaking stops. If you are in an elevator, go to the closest floor and get out. Sit down & cover your head & neck with your hands and remain there until the shaking stops. NEVER TAKE ELEVATORS AFTER AN EARTHQUAKE.

If you are outside when an earthquake hits, stay there. Move away from buildings to an open area, if it is safe to do so. Watch out for downed power lines. If a large amount of debris is falling try to find some cover such as a building doorway. Stay there until the shaking stops.

If you are driving when an earthquake hits put your emergency flashers on and slow to a stop, off the roadway if possible. Watch for traffic approaching from the rear while doing this. Turn the ignition off & set the parking break. Remain inside the car until the shaking stops. Do not stop on overpasses, underpasses, ,or bridges, and be aware of overhead hazards such as power lines or falling building debris.

In the downtown area it is safer to remain inside the buildings after an earthquake. Unless the building has suffered structural damage or there is a fire, chemical spill, or a gas leak, it is much safter to remain inside. When windows in a highrise buidign break, the glass does not always fall straight down; it can catch a wind current and sail great distances. Outside is no place to be in the downtown area during or after an earthquake because of falling objects. Aftershocks can cause additional damage, and more glass and debris can fall."

I won't go into subduction quakes here. If you want more information you can find lots with a search engine.

Thoughts on NET Training

2006-03-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

I know biohabit is considering taking the NET training & interested in the kinds of things we're learning. So this post is for you & anyone else who's interested. I highly recommend getting involved with the Neighborhood emergency team or Community emergency response or whatever your city calls them. The more people that know this stuff the better we'll be in the event of a natural disaster. Imagine if people had known this stuff for Hurricane Katrina...while they were waiting for the FEDS to get their act together. I personally feel better knowing this stuff. I'll be able to take care of myself, my family & help my neighbors. Although I have a 2 page list of things to do to make my house earthquake safe, and that's the emergency we're most likely to have here.

I only have one more class before the final exercise. Next week we'll be talking about disaster pyschology.

This last class was fun & informative. We learned about using levers & fulcrums & cribbing to get a person out from underneath debris. Then we had hands on experience (with heavier items to come at the final exercise). We also learned how to carry victims, either with 1-person, 2-person or multiple-persons.

In our 25 hours of basic training, we've had 6 hours of light search & rescue from sizing up damaged buildings to search techniques & rescue techniques; 6 hours of disaster medicine including treating non-life threatening injuries, triaging, stopping bleeding, splints, learning how to take off bloody gloves, etc; 3 hours of utility control, fire suppression & haz mats; three hours of earthquake awareness & hazard mitigation (preparing home, workplace, & neighborhoods).

After our final exercise we will join our Neighborhood teams and be called up as needed. The NETs have been called up 5 times in their 10 year history, for flooding of 1996 & some other stuff.

I heard too that they will be offering ham radio classes sometime this year for NET members (each neighborhood will have a ham radio operator).

Hope this helps answer some questions. Let me know if there's anything else.

The End of Dollar Hegemony

2006-02-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

Nothing can last forever; especially anything manmade, i.e. an empire or a currency. History bears this out. The following is a speech made by The Honorable Ron Paul of Texas before the U.S. House of Representatives in February 15. It's enlightening.

I am including the full text from Mr. Paul's speech as found on his website.

"A hundred years ago it was called “dollar diplomacy.” After World War II, and especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, that policy evolved into “dollar hegemony.” But after all these many years of great success, our dollar dominance is coming to an end.

It has been said, rightly, that he who holds the gold makes the rules. In earlier times it was readily accepted that fair and honest trade required an exchange for something of real value.

First it was simply barter of goods. Then it was discovered that gold held a universal attraction, and was a convenient substitute for more cumbersome barter transactions. Not only did gold facilitate exchange of goods and services, it served as a store of value for those who wanted to save for a rainy day.

Though money developed naturally in the marketplace, as governments grew in power they assumed monopoly control over money. Sometimes governments succeeded in guaranteeing the quality and purity of gold, but in time governments learned to outspend their revenues. New or higher taxes always incurred the disapproval of the people, so it wasn’t long before Kings and Caesars learned how to inflate their currencies by reducing the amount of gold in each coin-- always hoping their subjects wouldn’t discover the fraud. But the people always did, and they strenuously objected.

This helped pressure leaders to seek more gold by conquering other nations. The people became accustomed to living beyond their means, and enjoyed the circuses and bread. Financing extravagances by conquering foreign lands seemed a logical alternative to working harder and producing more. Besides, conquering nations not only brought home gold, they brought home slaves as well. Taxing the people in conquered territories also provided an incentive to build empires. This system of government worked well for a while, but the moral decline of the people led to an unwillingness to produce for themselves. There was a limit to the number of countries that could be sacked for their wealth, and this always brought empires to an end. When gold no longer could be obtained, their military might crumbled. In those days those who held the gold truly wrote the rules and lived well.

That general rule has held fast throughout the ages. When gold was used, and the rules protected honest commerce, productive nations thrived. Whenever wealthy nations-- those with powerful armies and gold-- strived only for empire and easy fortunes to support welfare at home, those nations failed.

Today the principles are the same, but the process is quite different. Gold no longer is the currency of the realm; paper is. The truth now is: “He who prints the money makes the rules”-- at least for the time being. Although gold is not used, the goals are the same: compel foreign countries to produce and subsidize the country with military superiority and control over the monetary printing presses.

Since printing paper money is nothing short of counterfeiting, the issuer of the international currency must always be the country with the military might to guarantee control over the system. This magnificent scheme seems the perfect system for obtaining perpetual wealth for the country that issues the de facto world currency. The one problem, however, is that such a system destroys the character of the counterfeiting nation’s people-- just as was the case when gold was the currency and it was obtained by conquering other nations. And this destroys the incentive to save and produce, while encouraging debt and runaway welfare.

The pressure at home to inflate the currency comes from the corporate welfare recipients, as well as those who demand handouts as compensation for their needs and perceived injuries by others. In both cases personal responsibility for one’s actions is rejected.

When paper money is rejected, or when gold runs out, wealth and political stability are lost. The country then must go from living beyond its means to living beneath its means, until the economic and political systems adjust to the new rules-- rules no longer written by those who ran the now defunct printing press.

“Dollar Diplomacy,” a policy instituted by William Howard Taft and his Secretary of State Philander C. Knox, was designed to enhance U.S. commercial investments in Latin America and the Far East. McKinley concocted a war against Spain in 1898, and (Teddy) Roosevelt’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine preceded Taft’s aggressive approach to using the U.S. dollar and diplomatic influence to secure U.S. investments abroad. This earned the popular title of “Dollar Diplomacy.” The significance of Roosevelt’s change was that our intervention now could be justified by the mere “appearance” that a country of interest to us was politically or fiscally vulnerable to European control. Not only did we claim a right, but even an official U.S. government “obligation” to protect our commercial interests from Europeans.

This new policy came on the heels of the “gunboat” diplomacy of the late 19th century, and it meant we could buy influence before resorting to the threat of force. By the time the “dollar diplomacy” of William Howard Taft was clearly articulated, the seeds of American empire were planted. And they were destined to grow in the fertile political soil of a country that lost its love and respect for the republic bequeathed to us by the authors of the Constitution. And indeed they did. It wasn’t too long before dollar “diplomacy” became dollar “hegemony” in the second half of the 20th century.

This transition only could have occurred with a dramatic change in monetary policy and the nature of the dollar itself.

Congress created the Federal Reserve System in 1913. Between then and 1971 the principle of sound money was systematically undermined. Between 1913 and 1971, the Federal Reserve found it much easier to expand the money supply at will for financing war or manipulating the economy with little resistance from Congress-- while benefiting the special interests that influence government.

Dollar dominance got a huge boost after World War II. We were spared the destruction that so many other nations suffered, and our coffers were filled with the world’s gold. But the world chose not to return to the discipline of the gold standard, and the politicians applauded. Printing money to pay the bills was a lot more popular than taxing or restraining unnecessary spending. In spite of the short-term benefits, imbalances were institutionalized for decades to come.

The 1944 Bretton Woods agreement solidified the dollar as the preeminent world reserve currency, replacing the British pound. Due to our political and military muscle, and because we had a huge amount of physical gold, the world readily accepted our dollar (defined as 1/35th of an ounce of gold) as the world’s reserve currency. The dollar was said to be “as good as gold,” and convertible to all foreign central banks at that rate. For American citizens, however, it remained illegal to own. This was a gold-exchange standard that from inception was doomed to fail.

The U.S. did exactly what many predicted she would do. She printed more dollars for which there was no gold backing. But the world was content to accept those dollars for more than 25 years with little question-- until the French and others in the late 1960s demanded we fulfill our promise to pay one ounce of gold for each $35 they delivered to the U.S. Treasury. This resulted in a huge gold drain that brought an end to a very poorly devised pseudo-gold standard.

It all ended on August 15, 1971, when Nixon closed the gold window and refused to pay out any of our remaining 280 million ounces of gold. In essence, we declared our insolvency and everyone recognized some other monetary system had to be devised in order to bring stability to the markets.

Amazingly, a new system was devised which allowed the U.S. to operate the printing presses for the world reserve currency with no restraints placed on it-- not even a pretense of gold convertibility, none whatsoever! Though the new policy was even more deeply flawed, it nevertheless opened the door for dollar hegemony to spread.

Realizing the world was embarking on something new and mind boggling, elite money managers, with especially strong support from U.S. authorities, struck an agreement with OPEC to price oil in U.S. dollars exclusively for all worldwide transactions. This gave the dollar a special place among world currencies and in essence “backed” the dollar with oil. In return, the U.S. promised to protect the various oil-rich kingdoms in the Persian Gulf against threat of invasion or domestic coup. This arrangement helped ignite the radical Islamic movement among those who resented our influence in the region. The arrangement gave the dollar artificial strength, with tremendous financial benefits for the United States. It allowed us to export our monetary inflation by buying oil and other goods at a great discount as dollar influence flourished.

This post-Bretton Woods system was much more fragile than the system that existed between 1945 and 1971. Though the dollar/oil arrangement was helpful, it was not nearly as stable as the pseudo gold standard under Bretton Woods. It certainly was less stable than the gold standard of the late 19th century.

During the 1970s the dollar nearly collapsed, as oil prices surged and gold skyrocketed to $800 an ounce. By 1979 interest rates of 21% were required to rescue the system. The pressure on the dollar in the 1970s, in spite of the benefits accrued to it, reflected reckless budget deficits and monetary inflation during the 1960s. The markets were not fooled by LBJ’s claim that we could afford both “guns and butter.”

Once again the dollar was rescued, and this ushered in the age of true dollar hegemony lasting from the early 1980s to the present. With tremendous cooperation coming from the central banks and international commercial banks, the dollar was accepted as if it were gold.

Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, on several occasions before the House Banking Committee, answered my challenges to him about his previously held favorable views on gold by claiming that he and other central bankers had gotten paper money-- i.e. the dollar system-- to respond as if it were gold. Each time I strongly disagreed, and pointed out that if they had achieved such a feat they would have defied centuries of economic history regarding the need for money to be something of real value. He smugly and confidently concurred with this.

In recent years central banks and various financial institutions, all with vested interests in maintaining a workable fiat dollar standard, were not secretive about selling and loaning large amounts of gold to the market even while decreasing gold prices raised serious questions about the wisdom of such a policy. They never admitted to gold price fixing, but the evidence is abundant that they believed if the gold price fell it would convey a sense of confidence to the market, confidence that they indeed had achieved amazing success in turning paper into gold.

Increasing gold prices historically are viewed as an indicator of distrust in paper currency. This recent effort was not a whole lot different than the U.S. Treasury selling gold at $35 an ounce in the 1960s, in an attempt to convince the world the dollar was sound and as good as gold. Even during the Depression, one of Roosevelt’s first acts was to remove free market gold pricing as an indication of a flawed monetary system by making it illegal for American citizens to own gold. Economic law eventually limited that effort, as it did in the early 1970s when our Treasury and the IMF tried to fix the price of gold by dumping tons into the market to dampen the enthusiasm of those seeking a safe haven for a falling dollar after gold ownership was re-legalized.

Once again the effort between 1980 and 2000 to fool the market as to the true value of the dollar proved unsuccessful. In the past 5 years the dollar has been devalued in terms of gold by more than 50%. You just can’t fool all the people all the time, even with the power of the mighty printing press and money creating system of the Federal Reserve.

Even with all the shortcomings of the fiat monetary system, dollar influence thrived. The results seemed beneficial, but gross distortions built into the system remained. And true to form, Washington politicians are only too anxious to solve the problems cropping up with window dressing, while failing to understand and deal with the underlying flawed policy. Protectionism, fixing exchange rates, punitive tariffs, politically motivated sanctions, corporate subsidies, international trade management, price controls, interest rate and wage controls, super-nationalist sentiments, threats of force, and even war are resorted to—all to solve the problems artificially created by deeply flawed monetary and economic systems.

In the short run, the issuer of a fiat reserve currency can accrue great economic benefits. In the long run, it poses a threat to the country issuing the world currency. In this case that’s the United States. As long as foreign countries take our dollars in return for real goods, we come out ahead. This is a benefit many in Congress fail to recognize, as they bash China for maintaining a positive trade balance with us. But this leads to a loss of manufacturing jobs to overseas markets, as we become more dependent on others and less self-sufficient. Foreign countries accumulate our dollars due to their high savings rates, and graciously loan them back to us at low interest rates to finance our excessive consumption.

It sounds like a great deal for everyone, except the time will come when our dollars-- due to their depreciation-- will be received less enthusiastically or even be rejected by foreign countries. That could create a whole new ballgame and force us to pay a price for living beyond our means and our production. The shift in sentiment regarding the dollar has already started, but the worst is yet to come.

The agreement with OPEC in the 1970s to price oil in dollars has provided tremendous artificial strength to the dollar as the preeminent reserve currency. This has created a universal demand for the dollar, and soaks up the huge number of new dollars generated each year. Last year alone M3 increased over $700 billion.

The artificial demand for our dollar, along with our military might, places us in the unique position to “rule” the world without productive work or savings, and without limits on consumer spending or deficits. The problem is, it can’t last.

Price inflation is raising its ugly head, and the NASDAQ bubble-- generated by easy money-- has burst. The housing bubble likewise created is deflating. Gold prices have doubled, and federal spending is out of sight with zero political will to rein it in. The trade deficit last year was over $728 billion. A $2 trillion war is raging, and plans are being laid to expand the war into Iran and possibly Syria. The only restraining force will be the world’s rejection of the dollar. It’s bound to come and create conditions worse than 1979-1980, which required 21% interest rates to correct. But everything possible will be done to protect the dollar in the meantime. We have a shared interest with those who hold our dollars to keep the whole charade going.

Greenspan, in his first speech after leaving the Fed, said that gold prices were up because of concern about terrorism, and not because of monetary concerns or because he created too many dollars during his tenure. Gold has to be discredited and the dollar propped up. Even when the dollar comes under serious attack by market forces, the central banks and the IMF surely will do everything conceivable to soak up the dollars in hope of restoring stability. Eventually they will fail.

Most importantly, the dollar/oil relationship has to be maintained to keep the dollar as a preeminent currency. Any attack on this relationship will be forcefully challenged—as it already has been.

In November 2000 Saddam Hussein demanded Euros for his oil. His arrogance was a threat to the dollar; his lack of any military might was never a threat. At the first cabinet meeting with the new administration in 2001, as reported by Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, the major topic was how we would get rid of Saddam Hussein-- though there was no evidence whatsoever he posed a threat to us. This deep concern for Saddam Hussein surprised and shocked O’Neill.

It now is common knowledge that the immediate reaction of the administration after 9/11 revolved around how they could connect Saddam Hussein to the attacks, to justify an invasion and overthrow of his government. Even with no evidence of any connection to 9/11, or evidence of weapons of mass destruction, public and congressional support was generated through distortions and flat out misrepresentation of the facts to justify overthrowing Saddam Hussein.

There was no public talk of removing Saddam Hussein because of his attack on the integrity of the dollar as a reserve currency by selling oil in Euros. Many believe this was the real reason for our obsession with Iraq. I doubt it was the only reason, but it may well have played a significant role in our motivation to wage war. Within a very short period after the military victory, all Iraqi oil sales were carried out in dollars. The Euro was abandoned.

In 2001, Venezuela’s ambassador to Russia spoke of Venezuela switching to the Euro for all their oil sales. Within a year there was a coup attempt against Chavez, reportedly with assistance from our CIA.

After these attempts to nudge the Euro toward replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency were met with resistance, the sharp fall of the dollar against the Euro was reversed. These events may well have played a significant role in maintaining dollar dominance.

It’s become clear the U.S. administration was sympathetic to those who plotted the overthrow of Chavez, and was embarrassed by its failure. The fact that Chavez was democratically elected had little influence on which side we supported.

Now, a new attempt is being made against the petrodollar system. Iran, another member of the “axis of evil,” has announced her plans to initiate an oil bourse in March of this year. Guess what, the oil sales will be priced Euros, not dollars.

Most Americans forget how our policies have systematically and needlessly antagonized the Iranians over the years. In 1953 the CIA helped overthrow a democratically elected president, Mohammed Mossadeqh, and install the authoritarian Shah, who was friendly to the U.S. The Iranians were still fuming over this when the hostages were seized in 1979. Our alliance with Saddam Hussein in his invasion of Iran in the early 1980s did not help matters, and obviously did not do much for our relationship with Saddam Hussein. The administration announcement in 2001 that Iran was part of the axis of evil didn’t do much to improve the diplomatic relationship between our two countries. Recent threats over nuclear power, while ignoring the fact that they are surrounded by countries with nuclear weapons, doesn’t seem to register with those who continue to provoke Iran. With what most Muslims perceive as our war against Islam, and this recent history, there’s little wonder why Iran might choose to harm America by undermining the dollar. Iran, like Iraq, has zero capability to attack us. But that didn’t stop us from turning Saddam Hussein into a modern day Hitler ready to take over the world. Now Iran, especially since she’s made plans for pricing oil in Euros, has been on the receiving end of a propaganda war not unlike that waged against Iraq before our invasion.

It’s not likely that maintaining dollar supremacy was the only motivating factor for the war against Iraq, nor for agitating against Iran. Though the real reasons for going to war are complex, we now know the reasons given before the war started, like the presence of weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein’s connection to 9/11, were false. The dollar’s importance is obvious, but this does not diminish the influence of the distinct plans laid out years ago by the neo-conservatives to remake the Middle East. Israel’s influence, as well as that of the Christian Zionists, likewise played a role in prosecuting this war. Protecting “our” oil supplies has influenced our Middle East policy for decades.

But the truth is that paying the bills for this aggressive intervention is impossible the old fashioned way, with more taxes, more savings, and more production by the American people. Much of the expense of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 was shouldered by many of our willing allies. That’s not so today. Now, more than ever, the dollar hegemony-- it’s dominance as the world reserve currency-- is required to finance our huge war expenditures. This $2 trillion never-ending war must be paid for, one way or another. Dollar hegemony provides the vehicle to do just that.

For the most part the true victims aren’t aware of how they pay the bills. The license to create money out of thin air allows the bills to be paid through price inflation. American citizens, as well as average citizens of Japan, China, and other countries suffer from price inflation, which represents the “tax” that pays the bills for our military adventures. That is until the fraud is discovered, and the foreign producers decide not to take dollars nor hold them very long in payment for their goods. Everything possible is done to prevent the fraud of the monetary system from being exposed to the masses who suffer from it. If oil markets replace dollars with Euros, it would in time curtail our ability to continue to print, without restraint, the world’s reserve currency.

It is an unbelievable benefit to us to import valuable goods and export depreciating dollars. The exporting countries have become addicted to our purchases for their economic growth. This dependency makes them allies in continuing the fraud, and their participation keeps the dollar’s value artificially high. If this system were workable long term, American citizens would never have to work again. We too could enjoy “bread and circuses” just as the Romans did, but their gold finally ran out and the inability of Rome to continue to plunder conquered nations brought an end to her empire.

The same thing will happen to us if we don’t change our ways. Though we don’t occupy foreign countries to directly plunder, we nevertheless have spread our troops across 130 nations of the world. Our intense effort to spread our power in the oil-rich Middle East is not a coincidence. But unlike the old days, we don’t declare direct ownership of the natural resources-- we just insist that we can buy what we want and pay for it with our paper money. Any country that challenges our authority does so at great risk.

Once again Congress has bought into the war propaganda against Iran, just as it did against Iraq. Arguments are now made for attacking Iran economically, and militarily if necessary. These arguments are all based on the same false reasons given for the ill-fated and costly occupation of Iraq.

Our whole economic system depends on continuing the current monetary arrangement, which means recycling the dollar is crucial. Currently, we borrow over $700 billion every year from our gracious benefactors, who work hard and take our paper for their goods. Then we borrow all the money we need to secure the empire (DOD budget $450 billion) plus more. The military might we enjoy becomes the “backing” of our currency. There are no other countries that can challenge our military superiority, and therefore they have little choice but to accept the dollars we declare are today’s “gold.” This is why countries that challenge the system-- like Iraq, Iran and Venezuela-- become targets of our plans for regime change.

Ironically, dollar superiority depends on our strong military, and our strong military depends on the dollar. As long as foreign recipients take our dollars for real goods and are willing to finance our extravagant consumption and militarism, the status quo will continue regardless of how huge our foreign debt and current account deficit become.

But real threats come from our political adversaries who are incapable of confronting us militarily, yet are not bashful about confronting us economically. That’s why we see the new challenge from Iran being taken so seriously. The urgent arguments about Iran posing a military threat to the security of the United States are no more plausible than the false charges levied against Iraq. Yet there is no effort to resist this march to confrontation by those who grandstand for political reasons against the Iraq war.

It seems that the people and Congress are easily persuaded by the jingoism of the preemptive war promoters. It’s only after the cost in human life and dollars are tallied up that the people object to unwise militarism.

The strange thing is that the failure in Iraq is now apparent to a large majority of American people, yet they and Congress are acquiescing to the call for a needless and dangerous confrontation with Iran.

But then again, our failure to find Osama bin Laden and destroy his network did not dissuade us from taking on the Iraqis in a war totally unrelated to 9/11.

Concern for pricing oil only in dollars helps explain our willingness to drop everything and teach Saddam Hussein a lesson for his defiance in demanding Euros for oil.

And once again there’s this urgent call for sanctions and threats of force against Iran at the precise time Iran is opening a new oil exchange with all transactions in Euros.

Using force to compel people to accept money without real value can only work in the short run. It ultimately leads to economic dislocation, both domestic and international, and always ends with a price to be paid.

The economic law that honest exchange demands only things of real value as currency cannot be repealed. The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold, or its equivalent, for their oil rather than dollars or Euros. The sooner the better."

A Portland state of mind (or searching for etiquette in P-town)

2006-02-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

I love Portland. It has beautiful mountains, parks, trees, & greenery. We have a mellow attitude compared to the Northeastern Seaboard. We have lots of progressives & activists (not just Demopublicans). Overall, I'm proud of my hometown. However, there is one annoying thing about this town: Portlanders have no etiquette. I've heard my friends complaining about varying aspects of this but I never realize just how true this is until I travel. The issue of etiquette has been bugging me since I returned from my cruise in January & I need to vent.

Etiquette is defined in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, "the conventional rules of personal behavior in polite society..."

One recent Friday night, I went out dancing with a group of female friends. As we were leaving through the bar's exit, which is a single doorway, a guy was walking toward the door to come in & that we would meet there about the same time. He didn't stop or acknowledge that I was might have also been about to come through. He just barged right on through, while I, a female, had to wait for him to stroll through the door.

The more I thought about it, the more I examples of such an utter lack of etiquette I remembered. For example: on the road, on mass transit, in restaurants, in passing & so on. Either it's getting worse or I'm noticing it more.

I've listened to horror dating stories of my friends for years. One friend told me of a date she'd been on where the guy (he's not a man; men have manners!) didn't offer to pay, not even for what he ordered. Excuse me? There's nothing wrong with going dutch or a female paying for the total date; but this should be something people agree upon before ordering & certainly not on a first date.

And don't get me started on the dress code, which for most men here is jeans & a t-shirt daily...even to a night out at the Opera or Symphony. Ick! I love to dress up (my style icons are Sandra Dee & Doris Day...Thanks Grandma Cozzetto!); I'd do it everyday if I could. Of course, I'm thankful to live in a century where dressing doesn't include bustles or constricting undergarments or feet binding. Even better, I'm not expected to wear those means of torture called high heels.

But I digress. Back to more examples of Portlanders lack of etiquette....

I've also had men (usually younger, the older men are more gentlemanly!) cut in line while I'm in line waiting to get onto the bus. On a bad day I feel like telling them ..."curse you be; may you never get laid again, until you learn to treat a woman with respect!".

I'm an independent woman. I can open doors for myself. I don't expect special treatment or for men to open doors or whatnot for me all the time (I'm the type that holds open doors for anybody; I also offer help to those who look lost.). However, it is polite to do this when people's hands are full or they look like could use a cheer up or kindness. Here's a hint for all you single gents: men who open doors - cars & otherwise - are incredibly sexy to many single women.

Besides, I've also had some women Portland lack manners too.

The MAX (our lightrail for those of you outside P-town) is a good example of that. I've had women shove their way on while people are trying to get off. At least the doors are wide enough there for two but it's not as if the train's not going to leave you when you're standing right there. It also frustrates me when I ride at rush hour (thankfully I hardly do this anymore) and people get onto the train even though five of us are jammed into the aisle with our noses to the door because we are packed like sardines.

It doesn't stop on mass transit. The roads are packed with ill-mannered drivers, although I doubt that we are alone in this respect our car culture tends to make people impatient & stupid. Where do I start? Drivers who don't use signals. People who don't read signs...especially those important ones like "stop", speed limits, or "no lane changes". Now Portlanders are great for blaming Washingtonians or Californians for this but I happen to know several natives who do these same things.

It even extends to a night on the town. One of my friends, who happens to be from the Hospitality capital of the world, Las Vegas, has had some awful experiences eating out in Portland..."Great food, lousy service." The worst thing is apathetic wait staff who prefer talking with the other wait staff or their friends rather than customers. My boyfriend & I have waited nearly 30 minutes for a server to acknowledge our table, have had an the incredible disappearing server (I need more water or the bill, but I haven't seen our server in half an hour.). My worst experience in Portland was having a server get angry with a group of us, saying snottily "thanks for leaving", snatch our glasses & dishes. Bear in mind this is an hour earlier than than most pub's closing time. After leaving we saw this server & the other 3 staff members leave as soon as we were out without cleaning the restaurant (I know other workers in this company who regularly stayed & cleaned until 3 or 4 a.m. & that was at a smaller location), and then chat for several minutes. Two of us sent an email about the incident to corporate hq and received a call the very next day from the manager who was shocked and sincerely apologetic (he'd even called in the staff member). Because of this awesome manager, I have returned to their other locations but I will never set foot again in the McMenamin's Barley Mill on Hawthorne & this was happened 2 years ago!

What is it that makes Portlanders overall have such disregard for etiquette? It's not like this in other parts of the U.S. or the world. The South is famous for its Hospitality & on the East Coast people must stand to the right & allow people to pass if they are on moving stairways or walkways (DUH! That's perfectly logical.).

Are men here confused about gender roles in the wake of the women's liberation movement? Do they ask themselves, should I open the door/pay for the date/go dutch/etc. for a lady (I'm taking the words Lady & Miss back!!!!). That scenario is doubtful as progressive as our town is. Possibly it's because men here embrace women's equality & feel that women don't need or want such special treatment. Or is it a hold-over from the wild, wild west? Then again we are pretty mellow here, maybe it's just our mellow attitude.

I was talking to my Vegas-born friend and she said it best..."it's the locals. They have a 'do what you want' attitude." As a native (albeit one who lived in the South for 8 years) it was hard to hear this but I do admit she has a point.

That's not to say that all etiquette is good etiquette (especially if used to control people). Ideally etiquette is about RESPECT. I act a specific way because I want to be polite. My actions affect other people, whether I am socializing, riding, driving, buying, watching a movie (please, please take your ski hat off or scouch down in your seat; for the talkers - rent the movie if you'd like to talk through it or narrate it to your buddy) or whatever else I want to do.

Neighborhood Emergency Teams

2006-02-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

Watching Hurricane Katrina & the disorganized response to it made me want to help prepare myself & my community for a major emergency, which in our community is likely to be an earthquake. So when I heard about our local Fire Bureau's program of "Neighborhood Emergency Team" (or NET), I called to find out more. NETs assist the Portland Fire Dept. in neighborhoods (so for instance I would be working in my neighborhood along with other NET members, usually we aren't called out to other neighborhoods but that might change depending on the magnatude of the event) during major emergency. To become a member you must take the training & occassional refreshers (our NET has been mobilized 5 times in 10 years).

PFB has trainings each season. It's a 7-week course of 3-hour sessions with emphasis on hands-on training, followed by a 4-hour practical exercise. I'm taking the winter training right now & learning about things like earthquake awareness, hazard mitigation, utility control, fire suppression, hazardous materials, disaster medicine, light search & rescue, team response & management.

I'm really glad I'm taking this, it makes me feel less afraid. I know how to do things like turn off my utilities if I need to, understand how fires work, etc.

I highly recommend taking it. Various cities have different names for community involvement but they are generally run by the local fire bureau.

If you knew what was out there, you'd never stay home

2006-01-18T16:16:00.000-08:00

As far as I'm concerned there are only two ways to travel: by boat or by train (I guess it's in my blood; my dad & numerous family members on both sides have worked in the railroad industry). Cruising is very romantic & by that I don't mean romantic love, although I did have one offer from the Flamenco guitarist that I'll go into later! I love the allure of the sea & the new people (it's the people who are most memorable), the new places, new experiences, & the food.

Thanks to my parents, I was lucky enough to travel on the M/S Radisson Seven Seas Voyager, which at this moment is cruising the world....probably right now in French Polynesia & The South Seas, {a rueful sigh}. If you have the money, I highly suggest this cruise line. They have beautiful ships & the happiest, friendliest staff I've ever met on three cruises. And you only have 700 other passengers so it's very intimate & at times, it seems you have the ship all to yourself. Ooooooh, and the food. Two of the restaurants are run by Le Cordon Bleu. I still dream about the meal we had in Signatures. I'm not going to be able to travel any other cruise line after this!

The voyage began on Dec. 27 in Fort Lauderdale. From there we traveled to Key West, The Panama Canal, Puntarenas in Costa Rica, Mexico (Huatalco, Acapulco, & Cabo San Lucas), San Diego & Los Angeles (what a crappy airport LAX is! We are so spoiled by PDX!).

My only problem with the trip was coming back to reality afterward. I've had some trouble readjusting. Some days I'm fine. Others I feel restless, bored, depressed & overwhelming wanderlust. If I didn't have a job & a boyfriend I love, I'd find a cruise job & travel the seven seas. Or maybe it's just the lack of rich food & alcoholic beverage?! ; >

First & foremost I made some wonderful new friends: Adam, Felimo, Vicky, Matt, Chetaun, Rachel, Karen & Paul, Jean & Paul, Della & Sarah-Jane, & Ben. Not to mention the other wonderful people I played croquet, bocci ball, or trivia with!

Here are some thoughts & highlights from my trip.

Key West - I had to visit the Pirate Soul Museum. Yarrr maties!!! We also went to the ship wreck historeum, which was a big industry because of the storms & geography of the area (Kimba you probably know this being a native Floridian). Very fun! The views were great from the historeum's tower. We had some excitement while leaving port....a sailboat came a bit too close to us as we were backing out. We had to stop while a motor boat came out to pull him away from our ship. He must have been a new sailor, he looked a little shaken.

My dad surprised my mom with a ceremony to renew their vows on board. This was done by the Captain on the Bridge just for them. I loved getting to see the bridge...it was very uncluttered & in my favorite color too (blue). Everything is digital. TV screens showed the radar, etc. Alas, there was not an old fashioned steering wheel or telepgraph in sight.

The captain is Norweigan & very outgoing & charming; yes, he rocked. My dad teased my mom because she thought he is so handsome, so from here on out we call him Captain Hunk. Apparently, we are not the only ones who like him. He has many groupies who follow him from cruise to cruise; most of the people are repeat cruisers...several were going on the 4-month world cruise - one lady had been on something like 79 cruises!

2006 was my best New Year's Eve yet & it will be hard to surpass. We were in the Panama Canal! I wasn't overly excited about the Canal but at 4:30 a.m. I woke up & thought "are we there yet? I can't miss a moment!" It turned out to be a highlight of the trip. We started transiting the canal at 6 a.m. There are 3 different sections of locks. Trains hold each ship in place so it doesn't move while it's rising or falling in the lock. The first section has 3 locks. After this first lock we anchored in the canal & then tendered into the Gatun Yacht Club. We went on eco cruise & hike. I saw a monkey, a sloth, a variety birds & the Butterflies of all colors - were everywhere. For our excursion we drove through the canal, the roads move out when the ships transit - we had to wait awhile before we could go through.

I took a dip in the Gatun Lake of Panama Canal!!!!!!! I tried Panamanian beer! They also had various Panamanian groups singing & dancing for us & a huge BBQ that the ship's staff put on with great views of the Canal & ship.

Panama was Incredible!!! We didn't have enough time, so I'll definitely go back. Interesting fact about Panama: Their currency is the US Dollar.

In Puntarenas, Costa Rica we went for a a canopy hike in a rainforest about an hour away from the port. On the way there, at the side of the road, we saw a bunch of white faced/capuchine monkeys, up close & personal!!! When we stopped to gawk they hissed at us to get out of their space. We also saw a kinkajoue (spelling is not correct) sleeping inside a tree trunk. Again, the butterflies - it's just amazing all the different colors & varieties. I was a bit worried I'd be freaked out by the heights of the hanging bridges we had to cross but they had them rigged so they didn't swing badly & even looking down underneath the bridge didn't bother me. Afterward I ate local fruits & tried a CR beer (Imperial). I'll definitely have to come back to Costa Rica too. Next time I want to fly through the tree canopies on a zip line.

Interesting facts about Costa Rica (whose motto is Pura Vida). They did away with their army in the 1970s/1980s to avoid coups; the $ that would be spend on an army instead goes to education & health care. That's so cool!

Jan. 2 was even more memorable than New Years. We rendezvoused with Voyager's Big Sister Mariner at 11 p.m.ish. It was beautiful & exciting to watch the ship come out of the complete blackness. The ships stopped, we greeted each other & the champagne flowed. Crew members took a motor boat over to the other ship with a special delivery of a magnum of champagne & other goodies, all in a wooden crate signed by many of us. They returned with a map signed by the Mariner's people. Crew & passengers shouted happy new years to each other & waved. We played music; including two of my favorite songs - Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea" & the Titanic song, which I admit you may not want to hear in the middle of the ocean but it was still a beautiful thing! I thought the other ship was playing the same music but it was actually our music hitting the other ship & echoing back to us! Then each ship slowly circled the other before continuing on their charted course. I watched & pondered until the Mariner was just a lone blip of light on the black horizon.

We had three stops in Mexico. It was very touristy & our excursions were not as cultural or as active as the previous. We basically had a tour of the cities, which were nice, but I'd have enjoyed it more on my own, so I could get off & take pictures of the Zoccalos & shrines, & other interesting stuff.

Acapulco's famous Cliff Diver's were amazing. They have to climb down a cliff, swim over & then climb up another one. At the top they say a prayer at the alter to Mexico's patron saint La Virgen de Guadalupe before they jump. They have helpers who make sure there is no flotsam/jetsom that will hurt the divers. I saw someone on the opposite cliff tossing a line, as if he was gauging the water depth to tell them when to jump.

In Cabo San Lucas we wandered on our own. After some shopping, Dad & I went out on a glass bottom boat for a tour of the rocks at the end of Baja California Sur, where the Sea of Cortez & the Pacific meet. We saw seals, lots of Pelicans, and fish. Although people on other excursions saw whales, we didn't. I think it was too early, considering Jan. is a good month on the Oregon coast for watching whales as they go south. After seeing Los Arcos, the Window, & Mexican Rock & Roll, we jumped off the boat to spend 1 1/2 hours at Lover's Beach, which can only be reached by boat. That was an experience! We had to jump down into the water from the front of the boat. They had guys who came out to help you down or back up for tips. After sunbathing & swimming in the Sea of Cortez, we got back on the boat for the trip back.

Before I left I told myself "no sleeping in & missing anything like on other vacations...there's too much to do & see." And it worked, I couldn't sleep more than 4 hours per night for most of the trip. To get myself out of my shell a little bit & avoid feeling regret, I spent evenings in the lounge talking to interesting strangers (some of whom became friends) & I spent the several of the last few evenings in the night club dancing. People probably thought I was weird dancing by myself, but I don't mind. Nobody was asking me to dance & even Ben wouldn't have asked me to dance if he'd been there, so I might as well enjoy myself!

For my single lady friends, you could find boyfriends on a cruise & there's no lack of good looking guys to flirt with. I had one offer from the Flamenco guitarist, who was amazing. He reminded me of Schultze from the German movie "Schultze Gets the Blues" until I found out he was Hungarian. For those who haven't seen that movie, he's completely bald & looks like he might like to eat. When he'd see me coming he'd say "here comes Heather, Light as a Feather". He came over to our table one evening & said to me, "Dahlink, I love how you look at me." Yikes! It's called listening, I thought but was too polite to say it. He even asked me to go sailing in Cabo & wanted to take me on a flight simulator in San Diego. This from a man who is old enough to be my father & has a daughter probably around my age. Yikes! My parents are so dense. I told him I'd have to chat with them & see what we were doing but they said "we don't need you to chaparone us." No wonder I'm naive sometimes! The dorks!

I kept telling myself I was just being vain - he just wants a friend. {NOTE TO SELF: pay more attention to your female intuition!!}. On the last final night I go up to say goodbye to the crew in the lounge who I'd made friends with. He stops playing & asks me for a kiss. Again, I, naive at nearly 30, think "it must be a European thing", give him a kiss & realize later probably a nice look down my blouse (because I leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. {SHUDDER}.) Then he asks, "how do I keep in touch with you." Now, I'm thinking, "You don't" but not having cultivated my inner bitch & not wanting to be impolite I say instead "don't you have my parent's information?" He doesn't so I write down my email address only (I learned this lesson when I was 17 & riding a train across the USA...never to give a guy the information you don't want them to have!). Again, naive me, who could have given him a wrong email address, writes down my correct email address! When I give it to him he asks, "Are you old enough?" I freeze. He can't mean what I think he means! "What?" I don't remember his response but it basically was are you old enough to have a boyfriend. At this point I have to control myself from running back to the room & taking a shower. Ick. Ick. Ick. "Yes," I tell him, "but I already have one." I must have given him a sufficiently horrified look because I haven't heard from him.

Even if it's a from a letcherous old man, it's nice to be admired!

Now, if I can only get my pictures online, you'd have a great commentary to go with them. ; >

New Years Resolutions

2005-12-25T20:38:00.000-08:00

I’ve been listening to the Moody Blues’ rendition of “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” all this month. Every time Justin sings “So this is Christmas And what Have you Done? Another Year Over and a New One Just Begun….”, and it’s got me thinking about what I’ve done with myself this year.

I’ve actually met some of the goals I had for myself last year. I’ve done some yoga, I’ve been more active with things I feel strongly about (gotten active in Peak Oil group), I’ve vacationed. I really didn’t get too much organizing done this year but I did get some house projects off my list (painted it, new gutters to replace the old ones falling off, new screen door).

I’m going to be traveling on New Year’s, so I’m putting my new year’s resolutions on early.

Here’s what I plan to do in 2006.

1) Practice love, gentleness & kindness. Continue to learn how to let go of past hurts & angers.
2) Get to know my niece & nephew better. Spend more time with them.
3) Have fun! Dance, see plays & concerts, ride my bike, spend more time outdoors, get to know my neighbors & spend more time with family & friends.
4) Write for 2 hours every day. Finish some stories; self-publish.
5) Clean out & organize my house so that I can spend more time with God, Ben, family & friends. Get rid of anything extraneous & unused. The organization plan is done, now to sort, organize & have a garage sale. Getting a shed for the backyard will help too because all of the yard stuff can go in there & not in the basement. I want to make the basement a useable room, not a storage unit.
6) Start new holiday traditions. Add activities from the old world.
7) Create a family history scrapbook for my parents. Get pictures, histories & anecdotes from family members. Goal: Finish by Christmas 2006.
8) Take care of myself spiritually, mentally, & physically (exercise & continue to eat lots of veggies & fruits).
9) Volunteer to help feed the homeless.

Random Readings Fall 2005

2005-12-22T17:18:00.000-08:00

Happy post-solstice & merry Christmas!

Here's a sampling of some of the books I read this fall.

The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Just as awesome as the movie is but with more back stories! I liked getting to read about the other 4 Mercury astronauts: Carpenter, Shira, Slayton and Cooper. A must read, even if you aren’t into this stuff.

Confessions of a Teen Sleuth by Chelsea Cain
Did you ever wonder what happened when Nancy Drew grew up? Was she really in love with Ned Nickersby? What if her mom hadn’t really died when she was 3? What if her adventures were really penned by a former, jealous roommate? What happened in her mysterious adventures? Read this and find out. It’s a hoot!

Kick Me: Adventures in Adolescence by Paul Feig
This is written by the creator of “Freaks & Geeks”, one of the best TV shows of all time. If you haven’t watched that…watch it. And read this book. This is a humorous and harrowing look at growing up in the 70s. I was laughing starting from page 1.

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell
The first time I ever saw BC was in the Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr. , a too short-lived TV show (hmmm…I wonder if this is on DVD?!). I’ll watch just about anything this man is in. I love him even more after reading this book. In his own words, this is what his book’s about: “So another actor writes a book about his glamorous, whirlwind life. Personally, as an ex-Detroiter, that crap bores me to tears. I’ve always been more interested in the working stiffs of Hollywood, ninety-nine percent of whom are overlooked in those phoney, “tell all” books. …Therefore this is not a memoir about what I said to so- and-so at the Beverly Hills hotel. It’s not about an actor’s meteoric rise or tragic fall. Rather, this book is dedicated to the players on the second string, the B People, if you will, and I cheerfully include myself in that lot.” Ohhh… Bruce…you ROCK!!! ; >

Not a Teen Detective by Susan Kandel
An enjoyable, amusing & quick-read mystery surrounding Nancy Drew and her fanatical fans. The author really researched her book well with lots of Nancy Drew history. It even has Salvador Dali in it. What could be better? From the author who wrote “I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason”.

The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from A Magnificent & Clumsy Life by Laurie Notaro
A female, less cynical version of David Sedaris. I thought this would be funnier. But it did get funnier towards the end. I’m still looking forward to reading her other book about the dorkiest girl alive.

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
A close second favorite (#4 is still my favorite)! The character development is excellent (I love Ron!). I admit, I wept at the end.

Moon Shot by Alan Sheppard & Deke Slayton
Still on that NASA kick. This was another excellent book. Written by two original Mercury 7 astronauts it’s a totally gripping account to their NASA experiences.

Confessions of An Organized Homemaker The Secrets of Uncluttering your Home & Taking Control of your Life by Deniece Schofield
I’m always in the process of organizing my home. I go through purges every few months. This book actually gave me several inexpensive (mostly using things I already have) & inspired me to create an organization plan. The house is already running more smoothly. It’s a quick & fairly entertaining thing to read. But then I am an organization freak.

Making Candles & Soaps for Dummy’s
Not very exciting but I thought it could be handy. Now I know the basics of making candles. I still haven’t even made any candles. Maybe next year.

Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein
One of the highlights of this posthumously published book.

“Runny’s jib Bump”

Runny be quimble,
Runny be nick,
Runny cump over the jandlestick.
But now – what smells like furning bluff?
Guess he didn’t hump jigh enough.

A Quote to Remember

2005-12-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

"The Greatest strength is gentleness."
Iroquois

Is the President's Soul in Jeopardy?

2005-12-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

An interesting perspective from an evangelical Christian who looks at Bush's membership in Yale's Skull & Bones.

"On August 17, 2000 there was an interview with President George W. Bush that bestirred controversy regarding his initiation into Skull and Bones. Time Magazine asked if it troubled him that he had been initiated into the Society when he was a young man. President Bush responded, "No qualms at all. I was honored." Inevitably some people, knowing the Skull and Bones reputation of blasphemy, were surprised that the President said he was "honored." Others, particularly Christians defended him saying, in effect, "Let's put this aside. He was forgiven of that when he accepted Christ." The disturbing fact, however, is that President Bush's statement came many years after he announced he had accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.

In that light, the more one learns about Skull and Bones, the more distressing the President's statement becomes. It raises vexing questions for those of us who live our life in Christ and do so as evangelicals.

...After reading the President's statement, I felt compelled to investigate the actual content of the Skull and Bones ritual that he believed so honored him, hoping by this to understand the man who is President of the United States. And so I write this as a friend of the President's soul, but also disturbed by what he has called to himself."

The author researched the rites of the Skull & Bones & describes what is a very un-Christian & sacreligious ritual that includes shouting the name of Judas 3 times, & drinking blood from a human skull & someone dressed as a pope.

Read the full article.

December 3: International Day of Action to Stop Global Warming

2005-12-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, December 3 is shaping up to be a pivotal day of action against global warming. At the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Montreal this week, representatives from 189 nations are making headway on an agreement that could make the Kyoto Protocol fully operational -- thereby paving the way toward a society based on clean, renewable energy that's in balance with our global biosphere.

Unfortunately, the United States government refuses to join the international community in ratifying Kyoto, or in shifting away from polluting fossil fuels as the basis for our economy. That's where the rest of us come in.

Climate activists are on the move in every state of the union, demanding that their communities, state legislators, and the federal government take bold action to fend off a runaway climate catastrophe. At least 60 local actions are planned around the country for December 3.

Momentum is building across the United States. Check out local actions in your part of the world

This ties in really well with an article in the news about a study done by British Scientists who have found that ocean currents that transport heat around the glob and keep northern Europe's weather relatively mild appear to be weakening. According to data collected from a section of the Atlantic, gathered periodically since 1957, the overall movement has slowed 30 percent, especially the low of cold water back to the south.

The currents act like radiator pipes, carrying warm water from the tropics to northern latitudes (i.e. the Gulf Stream); while others carry the cold water south from the poles. The currents warm the climate of various places by several degrees because of prevailing winds.

Of course, scientists disagree on the effect of this weakening currents. Some say it will disrupt the way the planet regulates heat & cause Europe to become cooler & have harsher winters. Others say it will balance out the effect of global warming.

This article to me seems to give some credance to the Pentagon report from February 2004, in which the usually conservative Pentagon says, "A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.". Here's the original article from the Guardian article.

Geeks can dance!!!

2005-11-29T17:45:00.000-08:00

Yet another reason why I love Geeks. Every girl should have at least one.

Check out OK Go's video for "A Million Ways".

Whatever happened to?

2005-11-28T07:51:00.000-08:00

The investigation of Karl Rove over the Valerie Plame case? Is it just going to be forgotten because Libby was outed & ousted? Has the media moved on to the next topic of obsession & non-news (Thanksgiving, Michael Jackson in a Qatar bathroom, yada, yada). Or, since Bush reich has a policy of not speaking about ongoing investigations, has it just been quiet?

I hope they keep investigating Mr. Rove, especially since he was fired from Bush Senior's administration for leaking other important information to the media.

GRRRRRRRRRRR....

Download & watch "End of Suburbia"

2005-10-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Someone in my peak oil group sent this out to our listserve. I highly recommend watching this documentary!

In America, Cheap Oil = Car Culture = Suburban Sprawl

But if the era of Cheap Oil is over...
And if Car Culture becomes increasingly unaffordable...
What will happen to our supersized Suburbia?

Is suburbia an evolutionary dead end?
Can we adapt to a new age of oil scarcity?
And what's all the hype about 'Peak Oil'?

Are you ready? Find out --
Watch "The End of Suburbia," for free here.

"frightening" "shocking" "outstanding" "powerful"
"just enough humor to sugarcoat the bitter pill"

THE END OF SUBURBIA:
Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream

For more information or to purchase a DVD or VHS

Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound
wealth in suburbia. The suburbs have promised a sense of space,
affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of
suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the
suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness.

Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream.

But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to
emerge about the viability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and
a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life
and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, when global
demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and
the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists
and policy makers argue in this documentary.

The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are
enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices
skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia
react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to
become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually
and collectively, to avoid a catastrophic outcome?

Hosted by Barrie Zwicker. Featuring James Howard Kunstler, Peter
Calthorpe, Michael Klare, Richard Heinberg, Matthew Simmons, Michael C.
Ruppert, Julian Darley, Colin Campbell, Kenneth Deffeyes, Ali Samsam
Bakhtiari and Steve Andrews. Directed by Gregory Greene. Produced by
Barry Silverthorn. Duration: 78 minutes

The New Devil's Dictionary

2005-10-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

The original was written during the civil war by a journalist.

The New Devil's Dictionary one has definitions pertaining to our century.

Some of my favorites....

America: Noun. Former republic, reported founded 1776, but which foundered soon thereafter. An exemplary idea, a belief better realized in the abstract than actuality.

Christianity: Noun. 2,000 year-old religion originally based on gentle non-violence. Now a worldwide cult transformed by conquest, persecution, money-making, & cronyism.

Democratic Party: Archaic English. Defunct Influence group. Now less powerful than PETA but featuring neutared males and spayed females nonetheless. (*OUCH but I gotta say that made me laugh!)

I noticed the one definition they didn't have was the Republican Party. So here's my go at a definition.

Republican Party: Archaic English. Defunct influence group. Originally started with a platform of anti-slavery but by the 21st century had been hijacked by neo-faschists, corporate slaveowners (see Cheap Labor Conservative), and religious cultists.

Summer Reading Roundup

2005-09-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

Since school ended in June, I’ve been gluttonously catching up on my reading. Ah summer….the time to read trashy books and light novels. I threw in a few non-fiction books for good measure. Here are the books I read that I can remember.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Okay, I can’t believe I’d never read this until this year. Damn funny, even after all these years. I’m looking forward to reading the follow-ups.

CSI graphic novels and CSI novelizations by Max Allan Collins
CSI was on summer break, so I got my fix by reading all of these that I could find at my local library (and some I had to get from Inter-Library Loan). I still need to read a couple of the graphic novels (Dominoes; Secret Identities) because they aren’t in the system yet. But MAC has the characters down! I highly suggest these for fun reading.

Pretty in Pink The Golden Age of Teenage Movies by Jonathan Bernstein
Ah, the 1980s and their teen movies. Such good memories of a time that held such promise. The author lambasts some of my most treasured 1980s icons and is still funny. There are even movies I never saw that now I must find and watch. Did you know David Caruso was in some 80s teen movies? How weird!

The Race: The Uncensored story of How America beat Russia to the Moon by James Schefter
I recently rewatched “The Right Stuff” and am totally intrigued by the early people and days of NASA. I happened to come across this book at the library and brought it home to read. I can’t put it down. From the sex lives Mercury 7 astronauts to Enos the Penis (the last chimp in space!), this book is a fun read and an intriguing look at mid-century America. It’s also a very good global look at the early years of NASA. I can’t wait to read “The Right Stuff”.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Another book that I’d never read before (although I love “Danny Champion of the World”)! I hate watching the movies and having the characters in my head while I’m reading the book. So I read this first (and have yet to see the movie). Although I’d seen the original movie so I was surprised at some of the differences (like the songs the Ompah Loompah’s sing). Dahl has a wicked sense of humor. The copy I read had an interview with him at the end about how he writes and comes up with his characters, etc.

Sahara by Clive Cussler
Cussler is one of my favorite authors (Night Train and Raise the Titanic are still two of my faves). I’ve had this book for about 10 years now to read. Since the movie came out this year, I thought I’d better read it. I figure the movie is nothing like the book and so I wanted to read that before I saw the movie so I could bitch about it. Turns out, I don’t even want to see the movie (despite Matthew M. being in it), because it can’t even be 1/10 as good as the book. What can I say? Double-fisted action, complex plot with an environmental twist (of course, again, here comes America to save the day but considering our enviro record…), a hot leading man (who doesn’t look anything like Matthew M.), Cussler writing himself into his book, trekking through the desert and a Confederate boat in Africa. I’d almost forgotton how awesome Cussler is. FUN, FUN, FUN.

News of the Weird: Commando dolphins missing

2005-09-26T08:23:00.000-07:00

I heard about these military trained dolphins this morning on the radio news.

I found an article from The Guardian (UK)

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing. ....

The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly. ...."

Dolphins are incredibly intelligent and lovely creatures...but still, how would you teach them to "shoot"?!?! Of course, who's the crazy person who thought this up in the first place? They probably were glad to escape so they wouldn't have to hurt any huans! : > Go little dolphins, go!

"Usually dolphins were controlled via signals transmitted through a neck harness. 'The question is, were these dolphins made secure before Katrina struck?' said Sheridan."

Well that explains how they can shoot, maybe. Humans are so weird!

The end of cheap oil

2005-09-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

This blog is retooled from a commentary that I've written for "Street Roots", a newspaper that is operated by and for Homeless people. Thanks to Rowan for her collaboration on the original article.

The news for 2005 has been dominated by headlines about oil and rising gas prices around the U.S.: barrel prices nearing $70; truckers striking over high costs, low wages, and inadequate fuel surcharge compensation; and increasing transportation costs and airline bankruptcies; and most recently, Hurricane Katrina damaged oil platforms, refineries and pipelines, causing gas shortages in the Atlanta suburbs.

Oil is such big news that an email was floating around calling for September 1 to be “BUY NO Gasoline Day”. Another email I recently received from two different friends calls for the boycott of Exxon and Mobile to bring the gas prices back down to $1.30 price range.

Although the ideas are nice, I doubt the effectiveness. It’s a matter of supply and demand. Demand is outstripping the supply.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Supply is 84.12 million barrels per day; demand is 84.38 million barrels per day.

There are 600 million total vehicles worldwide that run on oil; 200 million of these are in the U.S. The world currently consumes nearly four times as much oil as is discovered. With car use around the world (including in the U.S.) growing, the demand will only continue to grow beyond the finite supplies of oil.

U.S. oil production peaked in the 1970s, and every year we have to import more oil to make up for the shortfall in production. There is proof that other countries are reaching their peak. According to Chevron, oil production is in decline in 33 of the 48 major oil producing countries.

The era of cheap oil is dead. We have reached the era of Peak Oil.

"Peak Oil" is the most common term for the end of cheap and easily available oil resources. The "peak" refers to a model created by M. King Hubbert, a geologist for Shell Oil. Briefly, the "peak" is the point at which any given oil well, field, or global oil supply, reaches the production peak. After that point, the remaining oil becomes increasingly costly to extract and refine. Peak oil as a term generally refers to the global availability of oil. See my previous blog, "The End of Suburbia..." or check out Wikipedia (Hubbert's Peak), the Energy Bulletin's Peak Oil Primer, or Portland Peak Oil for further information.

It's not just cars that use petroleum/oil. Modern societies and the global economy are driven by cheap oil. It has fueled the rapid developments seen through the 20th century. Everything from food production (industrial agriculture), to plastics, to transportation, is linked to this one resource. Any process, activity, or product that utilizes petroleum will become increasingly more expensive the further past the global peak we move. The cost and availability of petroleum will, and is, driving up the prices on all of these areas. Since the various industries this crosses also involves millions of jobs, each of those are impacted as well. This is why national and global economic collapse frequently comes up in peak oil discussions and scenarios.

Oil executives, including Mike Bowlin, Chairman of ARCO, petroleum geologists like Colin Campbell (formerly of Texaco and Amoco), and energy consultant Matthew Simmons, who was an adviser on Vice President Cheney’s 2001 energy task force, all acknowledge the existence of Peak Oil.

Peak oil is not a partisan issue. It will affect people in every economic strata; although people in poverty will be disproportionately hit by an oil crash.

We are already being effected to some degree in the Portland-metro area.

In Portland, mass transit riders are feeling the pinch. Tri-Met raised its fares twice this year. Tri-Met adjusts prices for inflation every September; this year’s fare increase was 10 cents, with five cents for inflation and five cents for rising diesel costs. The five-cent increase in April’s five-cent increase was directly related to diesel prices, said Mary Fetsch, communications director.

One neighbor, who uses oil to heat her home, said her bill rose by nearly $200 this year. The Energy Information Administration data shows that Oregon’s average prices in 2004 for heating oil were $1.59/gallon. In May 2005, prices had risen to $2.02/gallon.

Census Bureau numbers show the number of Americans living in poverty has increased for the fourth year in a row. This means more people using food banks and other social services to help make ends meet. The Oregon Food Bank’s preliminary reports show about a 4 percent increase of the number of emergency food boxes distributed this year by their network of hunger-relief agencies. The Oregon Food Bank sends food items around the state. This could have horrible consequences for people who need a little extra help feeding their family, especially if they pay extra to fill up their car to get to work.

When will this peak happen? Many argue we may already have passed the "peak." Some feel that peak will be reached in 2005-2006. Others believe that the peak will happen somewhere between 2008 and 2030. The variation in dates is based on several issues. The first is accurate information about existing reserves. In the last two years, it has come out that oil producing nations and oil companies have overestimated their reserves. They have done this because it is profitable to do so. More oil in the ground means more collateral and longer production capacity. Another factor is calculating increasing demand. One can only estimate demand and the usual "estimate" is 2% growth per year. However, Asian nations are in a rapid development cycle (particularly China and India) and U.S. consumption alone is increasing at above 2%. Since we are likely to "overshoot" (continue increased usage past the peak without knowing we have done so) it is likely that we will be at some point beyond the peak before we know it has happened.

I'm not normally one to say "the end is nigh" but after watching the aftermath of Katrina, I feel like I'm watching the end of cheap oil and a new era in our U.S. culture.

We have to prepare ourselves.

Only conservation will delay the oil crash. Although there are currently no alternative energy sources that can replace oil at the amount that we currently use, a delay may give us time to develop new, renewable sources of energy. Car pool, use mass-transit, bike, walk or get a more fuel effecient vehicle or one that runs on biodiesel or even hybrid or electricity. If you have a diesel car, fill it with biodiesel (made from recycled vegetable oil). The cost of diesel is quickly catching up to the cost of biodiesel and soon may be more expensive. Our car actually runs better on biodiesel than it does on diesel.

Learn all you can. There are numerous books, published articles and an excellent documentary entitled “The End of Suburbia”. For a listing of books, articles, and websites, see this webpage.

Tell your friends, family, neighbors (get to know them, we're going to need them) and local governments. Working together we can decrease the effects of an oil crash and ensure that we are prepared with enough food, shelter, and other basic needs. Also, plan how you and your neighbors can help each other in an emergency.

Localize. Support local farmers, restaurants and businesses who use local ingredients and products that don’t need to be shipped long distances using costly fuel. Besides, locally grown foods taste better and can be less expensive (i.e. you pick, farmer’s markets.)

Learn or re-learn how to farm and garden, can and store foods, knit, and other old, sustainable ways of living.

Prepare yourself. Check out the document-in-progress that lists tips and steps for preparing for the oil crash. After the Katrina debacle, we can't expect the federal government to come galloping in and rescue us. Make sure you have extra food, water, candles, batteries, and blankets, in case.

If you're in the Portland area, come meet others who are concerned about the issue. Portland Peak Oil meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the St. Francis Dining Hall (1182 SE Pine St.) Find out more about our group and the issue. We strive to build community, get the word out, live sustainably and prepare for Peak Oil.

If you live outside of Portland, go to the Post Carbon Institute and see if there is a group near you. You can also start your own group in your neighborhood, church, city, or region.

Will we decrease our dependence on oil or will we have to learn the hard way?

The Gulf Coast: Abandoned by America

2005-09-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard put it very succinctly on Sunday, Sept. 4's

Meet the Press

:

We have been abandoned by our own country. Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms ever to hit an American coast, but the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history. I am personally asking our bipartisan congressional delegation here in Louisiana to immediately begin congressional hearings to find out just what happened here. Why did it happen? Who needs to be fired? And believe me, they need to be fired right away, because we still have weeks to go in this tragedy. We have months to go. We have years to go. And whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off and we've got to start with some new leadership.

It's not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here. Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now. It's so obvious. FEMA needs more congressional funding. It needs more presidential support. It needs to be a Cabinet-level director. It needs to be an independent agency that will be able to fulfill its mission to work in partnership with state and local governments around America. FEMA needs to be empowered to do the things it was created to do It needs to come somewhere, like New Orleans, with all of its force immediately, without red tape, without bureaucracy, act immediately with common sense and leadership, and save lives. Forget about the property. We can rebuild the property. It's got to be able to come in and save lives.

On this same "Meet the Press", Director of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, being pressed on the response, and comments that they were surprised that the levee broke.

SEC'Y CHERTOFF: Tim, the way that emergency operations act under the law is the responsibility and the power, the authority, to order an evacuation rests with state and local officials. The federal government comes in and supports those officials. That's why Mike Brown got on TV on Saturday and he told people to start to get out of there.

Now, ultimately the resources that will get people who don't have cars and don't have the ability to remove themselves has to rest with the kinds of assets a city has--the city's buses, the city's transportation. You know, there will be plenty of time to go back over what the preparation has been with respect to infrastructure in New Orleans, with respect to transportation, with respect to evacuation. To confront a situation that, as you point out, people have been aware of for decades--this is not something that just came on the horizon recently.

My Note: Yeah, the state and local officials did start evacuating. They also alerted FEMA and Homeland Security on Saturday, a full 3 days before the hurricane hit.

Yet I saw Michael Brown, FEMA's head, say on the news, that "we aren't first responders, that's the police and fire of that city." So they are pointing the fingers back at the states? What about the fact that the Federal government for decades has been telling citizens that they will take care of us?

I heard an interview snippet with a spokesperson from FEMA's Northern Command that said they had military boats following the hurricane with aid. But they had to sit off the Gulf Coast until they got the go ahead from the Administration.

So basically, all of the responders suck. Mistakes were made on many levels and there was too much bureaucracy. We can't expect the federal government to save us. We have to depend on ourselves and our communities. The feds have trained us to not do community action.

Oh yeah, don't even get me started on FEMA turning people away. Both those trying to get out of New Orleans in the days after the hurricane. But also they've apparently turned away trucks of relief. Not to mention FEMA cutting communications inside New Orleans.

While the media is focusing on all of the devastation; we haven't heard much about the aid that other states and countries have offered.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that The City of Chicago

has offered emergency, medical and technical help to the federal government to assist people in the areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, but as of Friday (Sept. 2), the only things the feds said they wanted was a single tank truck.

That truck, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested to support an Illinois-based medical team, was en route Friday.

"We are ready to provide more help than they have requested. We are just waiting for their call," said Daley, adding that he was "shocked" that no one seemed to want the help.

The State Department press release

says offers of aid to the victims of Katrina have come from more than 20 countries and international organizations.

Sri Lanka, still recovering from a massive tsunami that struck in December 2004, has joined those wishing to help the United States and has urged Sri Lanka-born physicians now living in the United States to volunteer to treat hurricane victims.

Government officials in Indonesia and Thailand, also hard hit by the 2004 tsunami, say they are determining how they best can offer help.

Meanwhile, Germany and other European nations say they are ready to use their own emergency oil reserves to help alleviate the crisis.

Other offers of aid include disaster assistance teams from countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras and Jamaica. Venezuela has offered humanitarian aid and fuel, while the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica has offered 200 members of its special forces to work alongside the U.S. National Guard.

The Organization of American States (OAS) expressed its condolences and solidarity with the American people, made a $25,000 contribution from its emergency fund and encouraged donations to the American Red Cross. The OAS has created a special fund to receive donations from its member states to aid the victims of the U.S. natural disaster.

A Yahoo News article from Sept. 2

said that 40 countries have offered aid. The department listed donors so far as: Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador , the European Union , France, Germany, Guatemala, Britain, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, NATO , the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Organization of American States, Paraguay, South Korea , Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Venezuela and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Even two of our so-called "enemies" have offered aid.

Cuban President Fidel Castro , calling a "truce" in Havana's ideological enmity with Washington, offered to fly 1,100 doctors to Houston with 26 tons of medicine to treat people in the disaster area. (Source:

From the BBC:

Iran has offered to send 20m barrels of crude oil to the US to help with the consequences of Hurricane Katrina.

The two countries have had no diplomatic relations for decades, but America did send help to Iran when a severe earthquake hit Bam in 2003.

Speaking on state-run radio, Iran's envoy to OPEC said his country was ready to send up to five shiploads of crude oil to the US.

But he said this could only happen if US sanctions were lifted first.

Here's a humorous take on the media situation (beware there are several F* Bombs).
Click on

Foamy the Squirrel Live from Louisiana

. Kinda, puts it all in perspective!

Links for Peak Oil

2005-09-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

I realized last week that the links on my End of Suburbia Peak Oil blog weren't working. I fixed them and they work now.

Pat Robertson is Devil Spawn

2005-08-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently Pat Robertson's version of the 10 commandments don't include "Thou shalt not kill." On Monday's 700 Club he called for the assasination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

He also said that Chavez was turning his oil-rich South American country into "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent."

Chavez is ""a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us badly." Hmmm... there's the real reason....OIL. Plus, the fact that he won't play along with Bush or US policies.

Robertson accused Chavez, a left-wing populist with close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro, of trying to make Venezuela "a launching pad for Communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent."

Nevermind that Chavez was DEMOCRATICALLY elected in Venezuela a country that is 98% Christian.

See the full article from CNN

In Memory of Peter Jennings

2005-08-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

Why I love Peter Jennings and will miss him on the news:

1) He was the consummate professional
2) He was nafraid to call public figures on what they were saying
3) He would say if what he was reporting was a theory or unconfirmed (good example is his reporting on 9/11).
4) He worked long shifts for big news stories and he did it with his sleeves rolled up.
5) He traveled and did interesting stories around the World and the US.

Peter Jenning's Obituary from CNN

The end of Suburbia as we know it - the era of Peak Oil

2005-08-03T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last week I watched a documentary about Peak Oil, entitled "The End of Suburbia." I encourage everyone to watch it. Before, I didn't know much about Peak Oil. But it's something I feel that we should prepare for.

Peak oil is not a partisan issue. It will affect not just how we get to work (even those of us who take mass transit will be affected) but also how our food gets to us, how we grow our food (petroleum is a major ingredient in agriculture pesticides, ewwwww!), how we heat our houses and so on.

We are reaching an era where the demand for oil is outstripping the supply. There are currently 600 million total vehicles worldwide that run on oil; 200 million of these alone are in the US. With car use in China and other developing countries growing, there will be more demand for oil than supply soon. Already, the world consumes around 4 times as much oil as we discover (source: www.peakoil.com).

Peak oil theory, a.k.a. Hubbert's Peak, says that oil (or any other finite resource) will have a beginning, middle, and an end of production, and at some point it will reach a level of maximum output. Oil production typically follows a bell shaped curve when charted on a graph, with the peak of production occurring when approximately half of the oil has been extracted. For a good introduction to peak oil, visit

www.peakoil.com

US oil production peaked in the 1970 and has declined since. There is proof that other countries have or are now reaching their peak. According to

Chevron

, oil production is now in decline in 33 of 48 of the largest oil producing countries.

Oil companies and executives from around the world admit that oil is declining and that we will need new forms of energy, including

Chevron

and Energy consultant and neoconservative Matthew Simmons, a member of Cheney's 2001 energy council.

Once we reach peak oil, oil will become less available and more expensive. Oil production may reach a peak in the near future, or it may already have peaked. Use your imagination....this will be the end of suburbia and U.S. culture as we know it. This isn't some far away occurance either. It's expected to happen in our lifetime. Some say 20 years from now but it could be sooner.

The U.S. government has know about this for 30 years and done nothing. We may not be able to stop this, but through community we have the power to adapt.

What's the worst thing that can happen? It happens and we're not prepared. Or we can start preparing now and learn how to be self-sufficient so we can feed our families and communities. Community is the answer.

I've joined a local peak group that has weekly meetings with seminars on co-housing, farming, gardening, and other topics. Find a group in your area, region, state, whereever. If you can't find one, start your own.

Want more info? Here are some starting sources.

Documentary:

"The End of Suburbia"

Books:
The Party's Over by Richard Heinberg
Powerdown by Richard Heinberg
Overshoot by William Catton
Blood and Oil by Michael Klare
Resources Wars by Michael Klare
High Noon For Natural Gas by Julian Darley
Hubbert's Peakby Kenneth Deffeyes
Twilight in the Desert by Matthew Simmons
A Century of War by F. William Engdahl
The End of Oil by Paul Roberts
The Oil Age is Over by Matt Savinar
The Long Emergency by James Howard Kuntsler

Websites:

Post Carbon Institute

Die Off - A Population crash resource page

Museletter

Peak Oil News and Message boards

The Community Solution

Global Public Media

Life After the Oil Crash

Culture Change

Energy Bulletin

Association for Study of Peak Oil and Gas

Hubbert Peak of Oil Production

Book review: "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

2005-07-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

I started this blog in April but got busy with school. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and after 3 months finally had some time to finish it. I look forward to your comments.

A friend loaned me “Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit” by Daniel Quinn. As a fellow environmentalist and progressive he said it was a “must read”.

The book sat on my “to read” pile for several months. I kept avoiding it. To be honest, I wasn’t that excited about it because I thought it was going to be a serious, preachy, dull and depressing book about how we humans are raping and pillaging the planet.

In March I finally picked the book up and I couldn’t put it down. “Ishmael” is surprising, funny, endearing and inspiring. It wasn’t just an environmental novel, but one with a spiritual and a historical bent. Although published in 1992, “Ishmael” remains current, even more so than when it originally came out.

Throughout the book, I found myself in the role of the pupil, trying to answer the questions that were being put forward by Ishmael, the teacher.

The crux of the book for me was found near the end.

“....people need more than to be scolded, more than to be made to feel stupid and guilty. They need more than a vision of doom. They need a vision of the world and of themselves that inspires them.”

“Stopping pollution is not inspiring. Sorting your trash is not inspring. Cutting down on fluorocarbons is not inspiring.” (Ishmael, p. 244).

Stopping things or owning less won’t change the world. Vision and inspiration will. Without it, people -including myself- feel overwhelmed and can become apathetic. There are glimmers of inspiration around the world. Earth friendly apartments being built in crowded English cities (Sierra Club Magazine). A fashion designer who creates her clothes with organic cotton. The Green Press Initiative (www.greenpressinitiative.org). Tooth brushes made from recycled yogurt containers (recycline.com). The resurgence of old arts, including knitting, and a growing number of farmers markets!

“Ishmael” asks “how did we get here?”, discusses it and then shows us that WE CAN GET THERE. As with any journey, you must pass through some dark to get there.

“...Among the people of your culture, which want to destroy the world? (Ishmael, p. 25).”

“Which want to destroy it? As far as I know, no one specifically wants to destroy the world.”

“And yet you do destroy it, each of you. Each of you contributes daily to the destruction of the world.”

Ishmael doesn’t point the finger at the United States. Instead, this is a war between two global cultures. The Takers vs. the Leavers.

The Taker mentality is that the planet belongs to them. The takers exterminate their competition; for example, the bugs which hurt/damage the crops or the predators that kill their livestock and the people/countries that have what they want. Leavers live in a way that allows the rest of life to go on around them. They are hunter/gatherers who eat what they can find or what is available depending on the season and weather. Examples of leavers are: the Bushmen of Africa, the Alawa of Australia, the Kreen-Akrore of Brazil, and the Navajo of the United States. Takers tend to view Leavers as “uncivilized” and throughout history have conquered them or ministered to them, to bring them into the modern, civilized, or correct way of living.

“You {Takers} are captives of a civilizational system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order to live...You are captives and you have made a captive of the world itself.” (Ishmael, p. 25)

To most people, the idea of us being captive is hard to contemplate. They might say we are not captive - we have freewill; we are masters of our own destiny; we are God’s children; we choose; we demand what we consume and we can stop whenever we want.

Personally, I have at various times in my life felt captive, although I couldn’t have articulated it in that way. I was captive in a dysfunctional job that I was miserable in but couldn’t quit until I found another job. I am captive to bills I have run up and need to pay off. I have been captive to my emotions, both positive and negative. I am a captive to my consumeristic tendencies - what I want and when I want it. I may choose what I buy but I’ve been trained by Mother Culture to “buy, it’s good for the economy and the country”. I am captive to sugar cravings - I like chocolate and candy and I could eat an entire box of cookies in one sitting. I am captive to my TV and entertainment (When Ishmael compares TV to alcohol or drugs, it was a total ephiphany for me because it’s my drug of choice). I’ve said it before in my blog, but I’ll say it again, ENTERTAINMENT IS THE NEW OPIATE OF THE MASSES. I admit that I myself am an entertainment junkie.

In the US, how many people are “captive” to their cars? Most of us have to drive to work, to entertainment, to shopping and everywhere else. Our cities are designed that way. We can choose where we live and work to some degree. But we don’t necessarily choose how our cities and suburbs have been laid out in the past.

How many people - men or women, from any culture - are captive to the idea that to be happy, they must date or be married? How many others are captive to the idea that to be attractive they must be skinny or blond or whatever else is in vogue at the moment?
How many people are captive to addictions for alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, coffee or caffeine or sex?

Ishmael uses Nazi Germany as an example of human captivity. “...it was not only the Jews who were captives under Hitler. The entire nation was captive, including his enthusiastic supporters. Some detested what he was doing, some just shambled on as best as they could, and some postively thrived on it - but they were all his captives.” (Ishmael, p. 34-35)

How could Hitler, one man, captivate an entire nation? Ishmael’s answer is that Hitler told a story. “... A story in which the Aryan race and the people of Germany in particular had been deprived of their rightful place in the world, bound, spat upon, raped and ground into the dirt under the heals of the mongrel races, Communists and Jews. A story in which, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, the Aryan race would burst its bonds, wreak vengeance on its oppressors, purify mankind of its defilements, and assume its rightful place as the master of all races.”

If that one story had that much power over Germany, imagine what other sorts of stories have been or are being enacted in every other country. Each nation, religion and people has a story or stories that tell how and why; we call these stories culture. If the old saying “To the Victor Goes the spoils” is true then these cultural stories are written by the strong, the victorious, the powerful.

This “living mythology...which is recorded in the minds of the people of your culture, and being enacted all over the world even as we sit here and speak of it.”(Ishmael, p. 45).

Ishmael names this living mythology “Mother Culture”. So what story does “Mother Culture” tell Takers that has brought us to this point?

From both a religious and scientific standpoint, we are taught that the world was made for man, and man’s destiny is to conquer and rule the world. Under human rule it would become paradise. But man was born flawed and has screwed up paradise with war, brutality, poverty, injustice, corruption and tyranny.

“The people of your culture cling with fanatical tenacity to the specialness of man. They want desperately to perceive a vast gulf between man and the rest of creation. This mythology of human superiority justifies their doing whatever they please with the world, just the way Hitler’s mythology of Aryan superiority justified his doing whatever he pleased with Europe. But in the end this mythology is NOT DEEPLY SATISFYING. The takers are a profoundly lonely people. The world for them is enemy territory, and they live in it everywhere like an army of occupation, alienated and isolated by their extraordinary specialness.” (Ishmael, p. 146)

“Among the Leavers, crime, mental illness, suicide, and drug addiction are great rarities. How does Mother Culture account for this?”

“...Mother Culture says it’s because the Leavers are just too primitive to have these things.”

“In other words, crime, mental illness, suicide, and drug addiction are features of an advanced culture.”

Hmmm...Some believe that man is inherently evil or has a flaw. But if that’s true, why do we consider certain groups “Noble Savages” and why do some live in peace and tranquility? What is the first thing many people do when they are searching for meaning or looking to add meaning to their lives? Where do they go? Back to nature. Somehow nature is a balm to our mental health.

“...The story the Takers have been enacting here for the past ten thousand years is not only disastrous for mankind and for the world, it’s fundamentally unhealthy and unsatisfying. It’s a megalomaniac’s fantasy, and enacting it has given the Takers a culture riddled with greed, cruelty, mental illness, crime and drug addiction.” (Ishmael, p. 147)

On the other hand, “The story the Leavers have been enacting here for the past three million years isn’t a story of conquest and rule. Enacting it doesn’t give them power. Enacting it gives them lives that are satisfying and meaningful to them....They’re not seething with discontent and rebellion, not incessantly wrangling over what should be allowed and forbidden, not forever accusing each other of not living the right way, not living in terror of each other, not going crazy because their lives seem empty and pointless, not having to stupefy themselves with drugs to get through the days, not inventing a new religion every week to give them something to hold on to, not forever searching for something to do or something to believe in that will make their lives worth living. And - I repeat- this is not because they live close to nature or have no formal government or because they’re innately noble. This is simply because they’re enacting a story that works well for people - a story that worked well for three million years and that still works well where the Takers haven’t yet managed to stamp it out.” (Ishmael, p. 148)

The Takers mentality has led us to where we are now. A planet that is in serious need of repair. Resources that will run out any day now. Air that is making us sick. People looking for true meaning in their lives. As a fix to our problems, the Taker’s story says ”...Only one thing can save us. We have to increase our mastery of the world. All this damage has come about through our conquest of the world, but we have to go on conquering it until our rule is absolute. Then, when we’re in complete control, everything will be fine. We’ll have fusion power. No pollution. We’ll turn the rain on and off. We’ll grow a bushel of wheat in a square centimeter. We’ll turn the oceans into farms. We’ll control the weather - no more hurricanes, no more tornadoes, no more droughts, no more untimely frosts....” (Ishmael, p. 80-81)

“We have to carry the conquest forward. And carrying it forward is either going to destroy the world or turn it into a paradise - into the paradise it was meant to be under human rule.”

“And if we manage to do this, if we finally manage to make ourselves the absolute rulers of the world - then nothing can stop us. Then we move into the Star Trek era. Man moves out into space to conquer and rule the entire universse. And that may be the ultimate destiny of man: to conquer and rule the entire universe....”

Wait...Does this strike anyone else as an anti-God or human-centric way of thinking? According to this thinking, God made the world imperfect and chaotic but Man can fix it. Mankind wants to turn the rain off and on. Man wants to control the weather/natural disasters. Mankind gives life to some and death to others (bugs, animals and any other enemies who threaten us). That’s putting us on the same level as God; we are usurping the role and the power of God.

We save and stockpile food, as if “...to THWART the gods when they decide it’s your turn to go hungry. You save it so that when they send a drought, you can say, “not me, Goddamn it! I’m not going hungry, and there’s nothing you can do about it, because my life is in my own hands now!” (Ishmael, p. 227)

Jesus could have been warning us against such worries in Matthew 6:25. “”Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith?”

Back to the point I was making before...The point of man’s captivity to the conquest of the world. The author goes on to remind us, “...if you’d been telling this part of the story a hundred years ago - or even fifty years ago - you’d have spoken only of the paradise to come. The idea that man’s conquest could be anything but beneficial would have been unthinkable to you. Until the last three to four decades, the people of your culture had no doubt that things were just going to get better and better forever...” (Ishmael, p. 81)

The industrial revolution was supposed to lead to people working less, getting more time with their family, and earning higher wages. The same was said about the rise of global-mega-corporations and global economies in the 1940s-1960s. In reality, real wages have declined with U.S. workers laboring longer hours for lower real wages (Case Against the Global Economy, p. 223). U.S. standards of living have been declining since 1980 (Case against the Global Economy, p. 223). In high school in the 1990s, I remember teachers telling us that we would have to work more than our parents to live at the same standard and we’d have more career changes. Today in the U.S. have less leisure time than our counterparts in the 1790s! Not to mention the constant lay-offs and corporate restructuring since the 1980s. Worldwide unemployment is at its highest level since the 1930s and the Great Depression (Case Against the Global Economy, p. 108). Corporations are relocating to third world countries where they can pay workers for pennies per day and have fewer environmental regulations. Meanwhile, the gap between the rich and the poor grows, with the middle class shrinking and fewer workers being able to afford basic health insurance.

As a Christian, Ishmael brings up some interesting points using books or text from the Bible. Quinn spends several chapters in Ishmael on chapters 3 and 4 of Genesis.

“But the people of your culture have never been able to understand the explanation, because they’ve always assumed that it was formulated by people just like them - people who took it for granted that the world was made for man and man was made to conquer and rule it, people for whom the sweetest knowledge in the world is the knowledge of good and evil, people who consider that tilling the soil is the only noble and human way to live. ...(Ishmael, p. 183).

“But when it’s read another way, the explanation makes perfectly good sense: man can never have the wisdom the gods use to rule the world, and if he tries to preempt that wisdom, the result won’t be enlightenment, it will be death.”

We have a choice. Will we choose to keep our nose to the grindstone during the day and at night stupefy ourselves with TV or drugs, to avoid thinking about the world our pride (one of the seven deadly sins) and arrogance has created?

Or, will we break out of our prison, escape captivity and learn to coexist with the world around us? Will we uproot our Taker mentality and replace it with something more meaningful? We will find our inspiration and vision?

Hope to the end. <1>

Quote & thoughts on this nightmare of a century

2005-07-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Quote of the week:

"I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." James Baldwin - Notes of a Native Son

Comments on the news over the last week:

To all Londoners, my heart and prayers are with you. Don't let those who wish you to be frightened win. Of course, you all survived the Blitzkreig, which must have been a thousand times worse, so I think you'll be fine.

No big surprise, Bush is changing his tune about firing anyone who leaked information on Valerie Plame. From Truthout.org's article.

President Bush said yesterday that he will fire anyone in the administration found to have committed a crime in the leaking of a CIA operative's name, creating a higher threshold than he did one year ago for holding aides accountable in the unmasking of Valerie Plame.

After originally saying anyone involved in leaking the name of the covert CIA operative would be fired, Bush told reporters: "If somebody committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration."

Bush can't fire his brain. Interesting side note, Rove was fired from his Papa Bush's administration in 1992 for another alleged leak.

Novak and Rove deny that Rove was the leaker. Mosbacher maintains that "Rove is the only one with a motive to leak this. We let him go. I still believe he did it."

(Sources: "Karl and Bob: a leaky history," Houston Chronicle, Nov. 7, 2003, ; "Genius," Texas Monthly, March 2003, p. 82; "Why Are These Men Laughing," Esquire, January 2003)

Bush pledged to bring back dignity and honor to the office of president? How? By sweeping the truth under a rug and ignoring it?

Send Rove a pink slip

Inspiration

2005-07-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

Instead of all the bad news that has been hanging over our heads with the London bombings and Senior White House advisor Karl Rove's leaking information on CIA operative Valerie Palme, I have found some inspiration the last few days.

First, I just finished reading Anne Lamott's novel Blue Shoe , about a Christian woman struggling with the things that life throws at her. It's sad but joyful; I guess you could call that bittersweet. I particularly like it because as a Christian I struggle with some of the same emotions the main character does: anger, despair, hate, desire, love, joy, peace. I highly suggest you read it. Lamott has written several other books, many of them humour books about her own experiences. Just to name a few: Traveling Mercies; Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith; Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life; & Operating Instructions. I look forward to reading all her books in the future.

Second, I have read 2 articles recently on Kenya's Prof. Wangari Maathai, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in reforesting and saving the forests of Kenya. Maathai started the Green Belt Movement in 1977, dedicated to planting trees. Since then she has helped start thousands of tree nurseries across Kenya and has challenged government and business on the environmental policies. She and other GBM members have been beaten; she has been called un-African, confused and mentally unstable for her work. But Maathai has persevered. Today, they run 600 community networks that take care of 6,000 tree nurseries across the country and they have planted more than 30 million trees on private farms.

Maathai has said:
"It is evident that many wars are fought over natural resources, which are now becoming increasingly scarce. If we considered our resources better, fighting over them would not occur."

With one simple idea, Maathai has inspired Kenyans and showed that ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development is possible.

Inspiration is more an a motivator than desperation.

Vacation all I ever wanted

2005-06-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

I leave for vacation in the desert today. I am so excited! I get to get out of town and see a friend who I haven't seen in 4 (!) years. Fun in the Sun. Yehaw! I'll return in 10 days.

Pssst, pass it on: Stop Global Warming Virtual March to DC

2005-06-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Stopping global warming isn't just for "environmentalists" anymore.

THE STOP GLOBAL WARMING VIRTUAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON is a non-political effort to bring all Americans together in one place, proving there is a vast consensus that global warming is here now and it is time for our country to start addressing it. With the support of leading scientists, political and religious leaders, prominent Americans and concerned citizens, (the only time you'll see Dems & Republicans work together: Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McCain, General Wesley Clark Al Gore, Robert F. Kenney Jr.) the Virtual March on Washington will move across the United States via the Internet from one town to the next, showing the evidence of global warming's alarming affects, and highlighting real people's concerns and real solutions along the way.

Through our interactive map, you can track the progress of the March in real time as more people join, see the path on which we're traveling together, and read the stories from March stops across the country. We will march to Indianapolis and visit the Indy Racing League where all of the racecars will soon be converted to run on biofuels; in Colorado, where an elementary school is purchasing 100% of its electricity from wind power (saving 420,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year); and to New York City to visit the ground-breaking green rebuilding of the World Trade Towers; amongst many more destinations.

Find out more and add your name to the list of Marchers at
Stop Global Warming

Pssstt....pass it on! : >

Puh-lease, not that old excuse again

2005-06-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

I am sooooooooo tired of illiterate Lame-ohs who use the Constitution to defend their lack of vocabulary (i.e. "it's my right to curse) and inability to use the English language. I mean really, there's so many layers of words with varying degrees of meaning in our language. Take for instance "pissed". Instead of pissed, you could be angry, exasperated, irked, irritated, aggravated, displeased, livid, enraged, incensed, infuriated, irate, wrathful, and any other number of things that are more descriptive than "pissed", which in the UK also happens to mean "drunk".

Why am I piqued by this? Today on the bus, some kid strutted on all brash and cocky. Moving his mouth. He was scoping out all the girls and gave a verbal commentary on several. He sat down right behind me and was having a conversation with his friend. I don't remember what it was about but he used the F*** word and a man in his 30s turned around and asked him to have some consideration and watch his mouth.

Predictably, the kid said that the man couldn't tell him what to do or say and that the Constitution protected his right to use the F word (unfortunately, this is not the first time I've heard this excuse), yada, yada, yada. He then proceeded to "dis" the guy until the man got off at the next stop telling the bus driver "if you're gonna let that a**hole stay on then I want off."

Again, predictably, the kid started bragging to his friend and then a new friend. "If this was downtown, everybody would have been laughing."

I couldn't stand his attitude any longer so I turned around and said, "For us to laugh, it would have had to have been funny."

I don't remember what he said, something about "get off my back" and certainly something else.

Then I told him something to the effect of: "The Constitution defends language for those who know how to use the English language, not those who want to use the F*** word. ... Go study your dictionary. ..."

Then I asked him if that man's opinion and desire to not listen to his language was protected under the Constitution. I wish I could remember how he responded to that.

He called me a witch and that he'd pop me (accompanying hand motion....yada, yada, yada. I admit to using the word "a**h***".

Then I got off the bus to go catch my train.

I'm sure I didn't make a dent (although I heard him talk about it and he pointed me out to a friend on the train) but I sure felt better. One can only hope that someday that kid will grow up and actually have something to say.

Meanwhile, I must go study the Oxford English Dictionary to learn some witty stingers instead of a**, et al.

News of the weird and wonderful

2005-06-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

This is amazing! Three lions saved a kidnapped girl in Ethiopia. They attacked the kidnappers and stood guard over the girl for several hours until she was found by the police. According to a wildlife specialist the girls crying may have saved her from being eaten, because it may have sounded like the newing of a cub. I prefer to think of it this way...Gods wrath punishing the evil people who attempt to harm the innocent.

Here's the link to the article the Scotsman.com:
Three Lions save girl, 12, from kidnap gang

In Memory of Anne Bancroft

2005-06-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

Whoa! I can't believe Anne Bancroft is gone. I thought I just saw her on the Tony awards on Sunday and she looked great!

She died of cancer on Monday at age 73.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/07/bancroft.obit.ap/index.html

Darth Stressball - the emotion strikes back

2005-06-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

No, this post doesn't have anything to do with Star Wars. I've been feeling a lot of emotions lately, some of them on the dark side.

As Yoda said: "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

This week I feel as if I am walking in a dark valley. I feel old habits stirring inside: anxiety, depression, drama addiction. {My sense of humor seems to have taken a beating somewhere between 9/11 and the election of 2004. All I want to do is rail at injustice, politics and corporations. I wish I could be witty and rail at the same time. Ah, well.}

Cynicism, fear, despair, apathy, anger and hate are gnawing on my thoughts. It's as if the unclean spirit, (Matthew 12: 43-45), after being cast out returned to a clean, orderly house and brought with it seven other spirits more evil than itself. {Hmmmm...7 spirits, 7's a symbolic number...we have seven deadly sins and God rested on the seventh day. I wonder if that' supposed to mean something in this passage...of course, the original spirit +7 would total eight....}

Writing helps me let go of things, which I otherwise have a hard time doing. It's part meditation and part prayer for me. So I'm going to put some of the nagging thoughts down....

A huge SUV, symbol to me of capitalist excess, made my anger levels rise this past weekend. Don't people see what they are doing to their bodies by lack of exercise? {People'd be better drivers too if they were pedestrians more often. A guy in a pickup truck ran a red light as I was waiting to cross today....If I hadn't been aware that he wasn't slowing down for the yellow light...he would have run me over. But when you're not a pedestrian I think it makes it hard to realize that. It's a disconnection.} And what about food? We are putting chemicals and empty calories into our bodies...is it any wonder that we feel bad all the time? Plus, I've found that real food and drink tastes better.

I'm angry at extremist Leviticans (Christians) who are remaking our country based on one book of the Bible. I fear that someday these same Leviticans will put fellow Christians into prison (or maybe a coliseum with hungry lions) for disagreeing with them and speaking out or even just for not "doing" or being religious enough.

While we're on the subject of Christianity...I've been thinking a lot about what Jesus said about judging.

Matthew 7:3-5 ..."Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, "let me take the speck out of your eye", while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye."

We've all been guilty of that. I admit to wishing for smiting powers at times. I wonder, would the world be better if people just looked after their own morals and actions, instead worrying about others? It seems to me it would. Because then we'd see...oh, I'm being hateful...oh, I'm being x, y, z. And then we could help ourselves (as the old saying goes, God helps those who help themselves.). It's similar to the practice what you preach. If everyone took care of themselves then we wouldn't have to scream and shout about hellfire.

I'm angry at Bush and other politicians who use God to get people to vote for them; all the while lying out of both sides of their mouth and WORSHIPING Capitalism and Profits. Voters are getting the shaft, these politicians are only helping themselves and their corporate cronies. Recent examples: bankruptcy bill

I'm angry at the American's who do not use their brains but instead believe every little thing that is said in an ad, news bite, or website, instead of researching and seeing what the candidate/company really does, such as those politicians who talked about supporting our troops but cutting combat pay and veteran's benefits. I'm also angry that people have forgotten so much of history. If we do not study history, we are doomed to repeat it! Our government is now replacing governments it originally put in into Afghanistan and Iraq (Saddam Hussein was part of the US sponsored coup in Iraq in the 1960s; we trained the Afghani's to fight the Russians.)

But maybe I'm just trying to hold on to my past life too much. Matthew 10: 39: "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."

There's so much information out there ... we all have information overload and just want to turn our brains off. Plus, this makes it really easy to have disinformation or to have our news degenerate into entertainment news (what's going on with the Michael Jackson trial; are Nick and Jessica getting a divorce; Denise Richard's had her baby today, blah, blah, blah). PLEASE, unless your title is "Entertainment Tonight" or People magazine you shouldn't be wasting time on that. If I want it, and I do admit to enjoying the occasional bit of entertainment news as much as the next person (did someone say Orlando Bloom?!?! or Will Peter Jackson get to make The Hobbit?????), I know where to go get it.

Entertainment has surpassed religion as the people's opiate.

And don't get me started on people who don't want to think about the bad stuff or who think it can't/doesn't happen because 1) it hasn't happened to them or 2) they are truly good people who follow the Golden Rule. Unfortunately, not thinking about the bad stuff, doesn't keep it from happening.

On top of all this....there's a friendship I'm worried about, which I'm not sure if it's just me being uptight or if my friend really is pulling away because I got frustrated with her one day earlier this year and told her that I couldn't enable her anymore. We haven't talked in awhile and I don't really know what's going on with her. It could be that she's just busy but she hasn't returned most of my phone calls or emails this week. I'm frustrated with myself and with her. We both need to be emotionally honest. We both tend to ride an emotional roller coaster. I feel bad that I might have hurt her but you know is it healthy for her to be venting all the time and never moving forward? It's as if she enjoys being miserable (I have at times preferred it myself.)

There is a good side to walking through a dark valley; it reminds me that I need God. As a wretch, I find comfort in the words of "Amazing Grace": "...I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."

This passage, which I stumbled across today in my Bible, gives me hope too. Matthew 9: 12 ..."Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." Jesus did forgive prostitutes, tax collectors and other sinners. There's always hope!

Getting to the bottom of the Downing Street Memo

2005-06-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

As I was listening to my community radio station, their morning talk show was talking about a U.S. Representative John Conyers who is working to get to the bottom of the Downing Street Memo. That got me out of bed and to the Internet!

From www.johnconyers.com:

"As many of you are aware, a classified memo was recently disclosed in Great Britain that I believe has serious ramifications for the integrity of the United States Government. Dubbed the "Downing Street Memo," but actually comprising the minutes of a meeting of Prime Minister Tony Blair and other top British government officials, the memo casts serious doubt on many of the contentions of the Bush Administration in the lead up to the Iraq war.æ With over 1,600 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen killed in Iraq, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and over $200 billion in taxpayer funds going to this war effort, we cannot afford to stand by any longer."

Conyers and 88 of his colleagues have signed a letter asking President Bush to answer questions about the Memo.

You can also sign the petition to President Bush (as of today join 145,000 other citizens!) go to www.johncoyers.com and click the link "Letter to President Bush Concerning the Downing Street Minutes" or on the sidebar click "Downing Street Minutes XXII".

He's also got a blog. Check it out.

Returning from a fall off the face of the planet

2005-06-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

I'm ba-a-a-a-a-ck. I've been busy with my final two library media assistant classes in school to do any writing. Today was my last day!!! Breath. Breath. Hm...I can breath and clean my house and write.

My mind is teeming with thoughts to write down. More to come!

In Memory of Pope John Paul II

2005-04-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

I am not a Catholic but I love Pope John Paul II. He was always kind and loving and striving to emulate Christ. Thank God for his soul.

"For twas not into my ear you whipspered, but into my heart.
Twas not my lips you kissed, but my soul."
--Judy Garland

99% of Republicans Give the Rest a Bad Name

2005-03-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

The title I stole from a bumper sticker, which I just love.

My post today is about a Republican politican who fits into the 1% of Good Republicans.

John Danforth, who recently resigned his post as Bush's ambassador to the UN and who served many years as a Republican Senator from Missouri, and came close to being Bush's Vice Presidential pick in the 2000 race. He's also an ordained Episcopal minister.

Danforth is angry about the extremists who've taken over the Republican party and he isn't taking it sitting down. In today's edition of the New York Times, Danforth had a scathing op-ed about the Republican party. I think it's worth posting here.

Go Danforth!!!!! We need more politicians with guts like you. I would actually vote Republican if I could vote for him.

In the Name of Politics
By John C. Danforth
The New York Times

Wednesday 30 March 2005

St. Louis - By a series of recent initiatives, Republicans have transformed our party into the political arm of conservative Christians. The elements of this transformation have included advocacy of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, opposition to stem cell research involving both frozen embryos and human cells in petri dishes, and the extraordinary effort to keep Terri Schiavo hooked up to a feeding tube.

Standing alone, each of these initiatives has its advocates, within the Republican Party and beyond. But the distinct elements do not stand alone. Rather they are parts of a larger package, an agenda of positions common to conservative Christians and the dominant wing of the Republican Party.

Christian activists, eager to take credit for recent electoral successes, would not be likely to concede that Republican adoption of their political agenda is merely the natural convergence of conservative religious and political values. Correctly, they would see a causal relationship between the activism of the churches and the responsiveness of Republican politicians. In turn, pragmatic Republicans would agree that motivating Christian conservatives has contributed to their successes.

High-profile Republican efforts to prolong the life of Ms. Schiavo, including departures from Republican principles like approving Congressional involvement in private decisions and empowering a federal court to overrule a state court, can rightfully be interpreted as yielding to the pressure of religious power blocs.

In my state, Missouri, Republicans in the General Assembly have advanced legislation to criminalize even stem cell research in which the cells are artificially produced in petri dishes and will never be transplanted into the human uterus. They argue that such cells are human life that must be protected, by threat of criminal prosecution, from promising research on diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and juvenile diabetes.

It is not evident to many of us that cells in a petri dish are equivalent to identifiable people suffering from terrible diseases. I am and have always been pro-life. But the only explanation for legislators comparing cells in a petri dish to babies in the womb is the extension of religious doctrine into statutory law.

I do not fault religious people for political action. Since Moses confronted the pharaoh, faithful people have heard God's call to political involvement. Nor has political action been unique to conservative Christians. Religious liberals have been politically active in support of gay rights and against nuclear weapons and the death penalty. In America, everyone has the right to try to influence political issues, regardless of his religious motivations.

The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement.

When government becomes the means of carrying out a religious program, it raises obvious questions under the First Amendment. But even in the absence of constitutional issues, a political party should resist identification with a religious movement. While religions are free to advocate for their own sectarian causes, the work of government and those who engage in it is to hold together as one people a very diverse country. At its best, religion can be a uniting influence, but in practice, nothing is more divisive. For politicians to advance the cause of one religious group is often to oppose the cause of another.

Take stem cell research. Criminalizing the work of scientists doing such research would give strong support to one religious doctrine, and it would punish people who believe it is their religious duty to use science to heal the sick.

During the 18 years I served in the Senate, Republicans often disagreed with each other. But there was much that held us together. We believed in limited government, in keeping light the burden of taxation and regulation. We encouraged the private sector, so that a free economy might thrive. We believed that judges should interpret the law, not legislate. We were internationalists who supported an engaged foreign policy, a strong national defense and free trade. These were principles shared by virtually all Republicans.

But in recent times, we Republicans have allowed this shared agenda to become secondary to the agenda of Christian conservatives. As a senator, I worried every day about the size of the federal deficit. I did not spend a single minute worrying about the effect of gays on the institution of marriage. Today it seems to be the other way around.

The historic principles of the Republican Party offer America its best hope for a prosperous and secure future. Our current fixation on a religious agenda has turned us in the wrong direction. It is time for Republicans to rediscover our roots.

-------

John C. Danforth, a former United States senator from Missouri, resigned in January as United States ambassador to the United Nations. He is an Episcopal minister.

March Wrap-Up

2005-03-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

March Readings

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
Great Book - I’ll be posting a blog in response soon.

Catherine the Great by Henri Troyat, translated from French
Surprisingly good. I was afraid it would be a totally dull and slow history. To my delight, it was detailed but rich and luxurious and completely engrossing. I felt like I was there watching the history happen and I greedily devoured every word. I knew very little about Catherine the Great and I could only remember a picture of her on a horse from my world history course in high school.

2 Bobby Darin biographies
Fun, enlightening reading on a great singer and entertainer.

The Titanic Murders by Max Allen Collins
Fun, brainless reading by the author of “The Road to Perdition” and other popular fiction. Great description of the ship and famous characters on board. Well-researched.

Reading In Progress

“Dream Lovers - The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee” by their son Dodd Darin (1994)

“Who’s Looking Out for You?” by Bill O’Reilly - I believe in trying to understand people with different opinions than myself; not just shouting at them. So far O’Reilly’s book is way better than his TV show...he has some good points and spreads the blame to all politicians, including some Republicans.

March Listenings

Duran Duran “Astronaut”

Misc. Bobby Darin & Duran Duran

To Quote George Harrison, "Think for Yourself"

2005-03-25T00:16:00.000-08:00

Today I opened my email to get a message from my friend who’d sent me a forward with the subject: "Makes you Think..." I read this email and the facts in it did not sit right in my soul. I thought about all the Americans who have/will read this and blindly believe what it is saying. After simmering on this for a few hours, I did some research. I found that this email has incorrect data and is just political propaganda with no basis in reality.

“Things that make you think a little........

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during January....
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month
of January.”

Actually 107 of US military personnel died in Iraq in January 2005. Plus 20 from our coalition of the willing. That's a total of 127. I see that 47 US military and 5 coalition members died in Jan. 2004. Maybe this email has been being forwarded for over a year. However, I still can’t figure out where the writer got their numbers.

A total of 1525 US military personnel have died.

Since the war started two years ago, 11,220 service people have been wounded.

Source: icasualties.org/oif/

That's not counting the thousands of innocent Iraqi civlian's who have died in the war.

The email went on to say, "That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq. When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, think about the following ..

FDR led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us: Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average
of 112,500 per year.

Truman finished that war and started one in Korea, North Korea
never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.

John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam
never attacked us. Johnson turned Vietnam intoa quagmir. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.

Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

These are reasons to support or even go to war? These all sound like good reasons not to go to war to me. What about the 10 Commandments - "Though Shalt Not Kill"?

In the years since terrorists attacked us President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

Is it freedom to live in a country where insurgents are fighting the occupyingAmerican and coalition forces? Is it freedom for the thousands (many more than the US or coalition troops) of innocent Iraqi civilians who die in the firefights and violence?

Have we found any of the Weapons of Mass destruction that Bush, Powell and Rice said were there?

Have we captured Osama Bin Laden?

The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking, but... It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation.

We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chapaquiddick.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!

Oh please. This is entirely stupid. It's been 2-years since the war started. That's a longer time than Waco, Clinton's Rose Law, Kennedy's Chapaquiddick or the Florida recount put together. And it is still a war, despite the “mission accomplished” photo opp that president Bush had to end the war (which also ended combat pay to our troops and reinstated peace-time wages)...our troops are still in Iraq and fighting and dying.

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB! The Military morale is high! The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts.

This is more propaganda. Since this person did not share their name or their sources, couldn’t this email be considered biased media?

Military morale is not high. Why have we been talking constantly about the lack of enlistments since the war started? Why is the military having to enforce the “Stop Loss” rule and not allowing our service people to go home when their tours are done.

According to an Oklahoma TV news report about a deserter from Oklahoma National Guard Reservist, “The number of deserters has gone up from about 1,500 in 1995, to more than 5,500 since the war in Iraq began.”

According to a New Zealand Herald article, 100 service people have fled to Canada since the war started. Jeremy Hinzman, who just lost his bid for refuge in Canada, is one of them.

An article in the Canadian Press said...

“He said the U.S. military regarded all Arabs in the Middle East - Iraqis in particular - as potential terrorists to be eliminated and were referred to as ''savages.''

His case was bolstered by a former United States marine, who said trigger-happy American soldiers in Iraq routinely killed unarmed women and children, and murdered other Iraqis, in violation of international law.

Adjudicator Brian Goodman had previously ruled that the soldier's view of the legality of the war on Iraq could not be used to support his refugee claim.

As a deserter, Hinzman faces court martial if he returns to the United States and a potential five-year jail term.

A federal government lawyer said U.S. military deserters are normally sentenced to one year, but Hinzman said he would be treated more harshly because of his views on the Iraq war. ...”

What about the brave men and women who are serving and coming home extremely traumatized? Some are dealing with the things they have seen and done by creating home videos of explosions, fighting, violence and bloodshed.

One artist has made a photographic novella based on the graphic video and information from a soldier she met on a trip from Paris, France to Portland, Oregon. She has been corresponding with this soilder for a year now. He shares that he’s worried about coming home and hurting his daughter and family.

Read more on this.

The email's last part says: "JOHN GLENN ON THE SENATE FLOOR
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13

Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed services do what they do for a living. This IS a typical, though sad, example of what some who have never served think of the military.

Senator Metzenbaum to Senator Glenn:
"How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?"
Senator Glenn:
"I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line.

It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank. I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day... to a veteran's hospital and look those men - with their mangled bodies - in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold a job!

You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee... and you look those kids in the eye and tell them that their DADS didn't hold a job.

You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags. You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?

I'll tell you, Howard Metzenbaum; you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men - SOME MEN - who held REAL jobs. And they required a dedication to a purpose - and a love of country and a dedication to duty - that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice is what made this country possible. I HAVE held a job, Howard! What about you?"

This is the only part the author got right.

People who haven’t served in the military cannot understand what it’s like. Myself included.

Interestingly enough most of the Bush administration and many prominent Republicans have never served in the military.
The whole list

Dick Cheney got 5 deferments in the Vietnam War. .

Paul Wolfowitz, the architect of the Iraq war and the former Deputy Secretary of Defense, never served.

Neither did John Ashcroft, Karl Rove, or Jeb Bush.

The only two in the Bush administration who have served are Bush and Donald Rumsfeld. Bush was in the Texas Air National Guard but did not see action in the Vietnam war. Rumsfeld was in the Navy from 1954-1957 and served as an aviator and flight instructor.

Meanwhile, two other Republicans who had military careers have been attacked by the Radicals in their own party. President Bush said during the 2000 election that John McCain became mentally unstable while he was POW. And General Colin Powell is attacked by the radical right as being an appeaser and being too soft on Sadam and other enemies.

Source 1
Source 2

Early on some military big-wigs were expressing concern about the Iraq war. General Schwarzkopf expressed concerns and said he felt there wasn’t enough evidence. Having also fought with the military in the first Gulf War he also knew what the military would be facing.

In 1998 Papa Bush wrote an essay for “Time” entitled “Why We Didn’t Remove Saddam”, in which he said, "Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different-and perhaps barren-outcome.”
Source

Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman once said, "It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry for blood, more vengeance. More desolation."

The people who are crying loudest for this war are the ones who've never actually seen combat. We are only increasing the hatred toward our country in the Middle East and eventually people will join the ranks of terrorists because of this war and the 50 plus years of our government's meddling in the region.

America study your history and think for yourself.

Losing my Republicanism, Part the Second

2005-03-20T16:46:00.000-08:00

In "How I lost My Republicanism, Part the First", I questioned Cheney's immoral, hypocritical conduct as CEO of Halliburton and in politics.

In this blog, I want to work through the issue of it being unConstitutional for Cheney and Bush to run together in the 2000 Election, since they both lived in Texas at the time.

According to the Rolling Stone article, "Since Cheney lived in Texas at the time, choosing him led Bush into a situation that, if the words of our Founding Fathers still have any meaning, is unconstitutional. The Constitution forbids a state's electors from voting for candidates for president and vice president who are both "an inhabitant of the same state as themselves." Yet by voting for Bush and Cheney, electors in Texas did precisely that. Cheney lived in Texas, had a Texas driver's license and filed his federal income tax using a Texas address. He had also voted in Texas, not in Wyoming, a state where he had not lived full-time for decades."

Now I hadn't studied the Constitution since school - more than 10 years ago, and being naturally untrusting of the media after having worked in marketing for 5 years, I wanted to find out exactly what they were talking about. Luckily, I kept and was able to find the booklet "The Constitution of the United States" from the Commission on the Bicentennial of the US Constitution

So I read through it to see if this was true.

The 12th Amendment says: "The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves;..."

Hmmm...

A presidential and vice presidential candidate residing in the same state cannot both earn that state's electoral votes. That is UNCONSTITUTIONAL and illegal.

George W. Bush is, without a doubt, a resident of Texas. The Governor of Texas from 1994-1999. Owner of the Texas Rangers. His Ranch.

Dick Cheney had lived in Highland Park (Dallas), Texas since 1995. He had a Texas driver's license. He filed his federal tax returns using a Texas address. (Source: http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/cheney_texan.htm)

That all makes sense considering that since 1995 Cheney had worked for Halliburton, which is based in Dallas.

In July 2000, Cheney applied for voter registration in Wyoming. (Source 1: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/global_user_elements/printpage.cfm?storyid=700997; Source 2: http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/cheney_texan.htm)

However, according to the opinion piece http://www.dailytexanonline.com/global_user_elements/printpage.cfm?storyid=700997, "He also voted as a Texas resident in the last eight election cycles, up to this one."

According to an article from the November 22, 2000 Austin American-Statesman, Cheney claimed the homestead tax exemption on his Dallas home, which he later put up for sale, which is only allowed on property the owner considers their main home. (Source: http://austin.about.com/cs/georgewbush/a/cheney_texan.htm)

Another article, this one from 2001, on the Austin American-Statesman's website archives, described Bush and Cheney as "former Texas residents."

There is no doubt that Cheney and Bush were both residents of Texas when they ran for office in 2000.

I was totally unaware of this during the 2000 election. I don't remember any of the media outlets in my area saying or running anything about this. And it barely got more coverage in 2004.

Thankfully, not everyone was unaware of this. In 2000, a Florida lawyer filed a lawsuit saying that Texas' 32 electoral votes could not be counted for Bush/Cheney. When this suit was thrown out by a Miami federal judge because it wasn't filed where the defendant lived, three Dallas, Texas voters filed a lawsuit. According to the forementioned article in the Austin American-Statesman, that federal judge refused to schedule an immediate hearing on the case; this judge also declined to issue a restraining order to keep the Texas electors from voting for Cheney.

At the time, the Bush/Cheney campaign called this a frivolous lawsuit. But the actions of Cheney show that he knew that running with Bush was Unconstitutional and Illegal; and he knew that it would be challenged as such. Yet they still went ahead with their campaign. And took those 32 electoral votes.

Bush/Cheney talk copiously about "Strict Constitution", not to mention Christian values like "honesty", "integrity", and "character". How does running knowingly with someone who is a resident of the same state and allowing the electors to cast an illegal vote, fit in with Christ's teachings?

As a Christian and an American who believes in our Constitution, it goes against my values.

So why does this not anger my fellow Americans and Christians? Are you just unaware of this, as I was until I read the Rolling Stone article?

And Now For Something Completely Different!

2005-03-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

I grew up in the 80s. I love the 80s. I am unashamed to still listen to Def Leppard, Rick Astley, A-Ha. My favorite tv shows were Webster, Charles in Charge, the Fraggles, Mr. Belvedere. I still adore John Hughes and especially "16 Candles". I wore Jelly bracelets and plastic charm bracelets. The 80s rocked.

So when I heard that Duran Duran (whom I affectionally call Duran Squared or Duran^2, no disrespect to "Barbarella") was reunited and coming to my hometown, I was stoked. Now granted, when the band had their first hit, I was only 5-6 and I didn't know them from the Care Bears. I wasn't allowed to listen to rock n' roll until 5th grade and I didn't have the older brother or sister who listened to them. The album that really got me into them was their Wedding Alblum (or Duran Duran 2), which came out when I was in high school.

I knew this would be a fun concert. But this was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. It was WICKED AWESOME! As much as I hate to say it, it was better even than the Annie Lennox & Sting concert last year (Annie I love you!). There was so much energy - so much love between the band and the crowd. I have never heard a crowd so loud in this stadium. I've never seen so many people on their feet, dancing the entire time. There are some who will smirk, but I have to say Duran^2 has only gotten better with age. I mean a couple of the songs they played, I didn't like until I heard them live. (However, I still don't care if I ever hear Rio again, even if it did sound alright. Bleck!) The one mar on the evening is that they didn't sing my James Bond song! I guess every concert I go to the band must ignore one song I really love.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I shall start from the beginning..

Promptly at 8 p.m., some opening band came out to play. No-one in my row knew who they were. Some d-grade punk mixed with new wave mixed with English wannabes. Their beats were great, probably because they reminded me of classic beats from the Clash and other 80s bands. I sincerely hope they weren't from around here. I actually felt bad because the biggest cheer they got was when the spastic lead singer (my friend thinks he was high on something...it's totally possible in this city) said they were playing their last song. Enough of them....

While they roadies got the stage ready for the main attraction, my friend and I chit-chatted away. Amazingly soon, I heard the crowd near the stage start roaring, so I jammed my binoculars to my eyes and start scanning. I see nothing.... Something has to be happening. Are they coming?!?!?!?! The roar grows.

A faint heart-beat starts. Finally, the lights go down...the stage is lightly illuminated with blue along the edges of the walkways. For minutes we are yelling and clapping and I'm scanning the darkness for the band. Any sign of movement yet?! Wait, someone's walking on stage...dang...just a roadie. Where are they?! My friend, the crowd and I are screaming.

Then, from the black murk to the rear of the stage, I sense movement. Yes, there is movement! Several sets of lower legs walk to the front of the stage and pose there. For another minute, the legs stand there in the dark. All I can see is legs. All of us in the crowd are immediately on our feet, screaming, clapping, jumping, going bonkers. I giddily jump up and am screaming like a 13-year old banshee. I understand now how Beatles' fans must have felt. (yes, I know it's for DD, but this is a visceral experience not a spiritual one). Then the legs break away and go to their various parts of the still darkened stage.

Duran^2 started with a new song. Then went into one of their recognizable 80s tunes. Then into an hit (don't ask me which, I can't remember, too hyper and too much stimulation). Then another classic. Then into another new one...maybe the one about the alien sex. That song was okay. I bet it's humorous if I could actually understand the lyrics. But then it was back to a classic Duran^2 song. Another new song. That was pretty good, I will have to get the new album. Oh yeah! - My favorite! "Come Undone" - ahh, high school memories of unrequited love. And more...and more...new, old, new, old.

One song took me 5 minutes to realize what it was because Simon was trying to get the crowd to sing in response to him...but I couldn't understand or recognize the song so I just screamed. Again, I've forgotten the title...maybe it was "notorious" or "big thing". Not sure. Of course, I loved "Ordinary World" too! During another song they showed this awesomely funny, anime with the band kicking ninja's and Godzilla's butts (not to mention the Music Industry). That was totally cute.

The music was awesome, although sometimes too loud and typical of that arena the acoustics weren't always great. Sometimes we couldn't understand what they were saying or singing. And the crowd was so loud that made it harder to hear too.

For once in my life I actually remembered to bring my binoculars and I did not squander any opportunity to check out the band. I mean I just had to know how they looked. My friend and I took turns scoping them out.

By the late 80s, I had pictures of the keyboardist, drat this brain of mine, I can't remember his name...NICK? Yeah that's it. Nick!!! I even kissed the posters, leaving lip gloss imprints (bear in mind I was around 10! ; >) Okay, that's still a little embarrassing but oh well, I am not ashamed to be a dork. Around the same time, I also had pictures of the keyboardest from A-Ha (I do remember his name because of the unusual spelling - Pal!). I had a thing for slender, blond keyboardists at the time.

My first impression was that Nick looks totally freaky. His hair is different shades of blond and poofy. Maybe all those years of dye and hairspray have taken their toll. His angular face has filled out some and is more round. He still wears the most make-up of any of the guys. Although he was wearing this kick-ass sparkly tie with his all black suit. He didn't smile much; he would looked better if he smiled more. He looked rather humourless. I mean, it doesn't look like you're doing that much over there....your hands aren't flying like Ray Charles...can't you smile and play your keyboard?!

He was totally creeping me out (and yet mystified me). Probably because it means I also am getting older. But then at the end, when Simon introduced the band...when on the screen behind them they show the handheld video Simon is taking of him and he does this thing with his eye and his eyebrows. Oh. My. My old crush is back. And wait, is he smirking? Oh yeah! There's the hotty that I had plastered on my bedroom walls!

Simon's gained a little weight in the face too. But it suits him. He's still hot. But now he's a pretty man, not a pretty boy. And he's totally funny. He takes the stage and owns it. He too looks like he's put way too many chemicals in his hair. From where I was it looked almost spotted. Wait a minute, for this song, he's. Got. On. A. Black. Police/Chaffeur's. Hat. I get excited when a man wears a hat. (I think that's one fashion style that should come back!) Um Hmmmm... ... ...

And last but never least, is John Taylor. I also had a crush on him. No doubt about it, I still do. He's totally dreamy. Tall, dark and handsome. He has the slender, artistic, Englishman aesthetic. He definitely looks the best, IMHO, in the band. He was wearing leather pants (grrrrr : >) topped with a black jacket and a red/white shirt underneath. He Rocks. He rocks... he rocks... No, He really rocks...he and the other guitarist would sometimes battle (in hard rock terms, I think it's called, grind the axe?) and he'd sometimes groove with the drummer, the back-up singer with legs second only to Tina and the sexy go-go boots, and Simon. Oh, that smile! .

Whoa! John looked even hotter when he came out for the encore without the jacket and wearing a long black scarf!!! over his red/white shirt. And now, as Simon is introducing him, he's... Stalking (from stage left). Stalking. Stalking. Stalking. Over. To. The Camera (which Nick is holding). Pant, Pant, Pant!!!! : >

So, my friend will take Simon. I will take John. We share Nick. ; > Yes, we have a healthy appreciation for the men in Duran^2. We are going to run away and stalk the band during the world tour. Well, maybe I'll just put a picture of them on my computer background and dream. And I'm definitely getting their new album when I have some money.

Thank you Simon, Nick, John, Roger and Andy for coming to my town!!! You rock!!!

Factoid

2005-03-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

According to the US Energy department, underinflated tires waste an estimated 4 million gallons of gas daily! If every American kept their tires properly inflated the US would save as much oil as drilling in the arctic refuge would produce.

Check out pumpemup.org for more information.

Losing my Republicanism

2005-03-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

The genesis of this blog began last fall when I readthe Rolling Stone article about Dick Cheney. I was curious because I really didn't know too much about the man besides his work with Halliburton and his dossier as VP the last four years.

In this article, two things that struck me, with a vengeance. Firstly, during Cheney's tenure at Halliburton, the company did business with Saddam Hussein; Muammar el-Qaddafi and the ayatollah of Iran. Secondly, Cheney being on the same ticket as Bush was unConstitutional because they both LIVED in Texas when they ran.

Even though I haven't been registered as a Republican for about 6 years, I felt completely betrayed. I felt rage. I felt like crying.

It so happened that I had lunch that day with my father. He saw I was upset and I told him why. Now, my father and I disagree on politics. He's a diehard Republican who detests "that scum-bag Michael Moore". I was always a liberal Republican. Today, I am a moderate, liberal, progressive, independent. (Meaning I'm not happy with the Democrats either). My dad's reaction was unconcerned and he replied to my anguish, "Well, American companies did business with Japanese before WWII."

However, this wasn't before the war. This was after the 1990 "Gulf War", and, after the UN and United States laws against doing business with Iraq or Iraqi companies. Not only that but Cheney has never served in the armed forces (unlike my father, who's a 1960s-era army veteran). Between 1963 and 1966, Cheney received five deferments. The only time he's ever deigned to answer a question in the media about why he didn't serve he said, "I had other priorities."

After work, I did some research about Halliburton's business dealings under Cheney. (I'll do a separate blog on the UnConstitutional comment made in the Rolling Stone article).

What I found inspired me to write a letter to the editor of our newspaper. Of course, this was never published. So much for having a liberal media.

This is my letter.

"While campaigning this year [2004], Dick Cheney has been saying that Iraq and Saddam Hussein have ties to terrorists, both Al-Quaida and to 9/11 hijackers. However, before he became vice president, Cheney had no compunction about doing business with Saddam Hussein or other alleged terrorist regimes.

As CEO of Halliburton (1995-2000), Cheney had contracts with Iraq, Libya and Iran. Never mind the fact that President Reagan imposed an embargo against Libya in 1986 because of alleged ties to terrorists. Never mind the UN imposed sanctions on Iraq beginning in 1990. Never mind that in March 1995, President Clinton signed an executive order that prohibits "new investments (in Iran) by U.S. persons, including commitment of funds or other assets." That same executive order also restricts U.S. companies from performing services "that would benefit the Iranian oil industry. Violation of the order can result in fines of as much as $500,000 for companies and up to 10 years in jail for individuals."

Undeterred, Cheney urged Congress in 1996 to ease sanctions against Iran. During a trip to the Middle East in that same year, he also told some U.S. businessmen that Congress should ease sanctions in Iran and Libya to foster better relationships with those countries.

Halliburton directly violated US and UN sanctions by doing business with Iraq, Iran and Libya. Not only did Cheney profit from these deals, he may also have inadvertently funded terrorist activities and helped those countries develop weapons of mass destruction by selling Iraq and Libya oil equipment that can be used for developing nuclear weapons.

After Bush and Cheney were sworn into office in 2001, their administration decided it would not punish oil and gas companies that invest in Iran or other countries suspected of sponsoring terrorism, including Syria and Libya. How convenient.

We the people need to look beyond the rhetoric and look objectively at the actions of our president and vice president. Where do their loyalties lie? What master do they really serve? Do they really have the best interests of the American people in mind? "

Here are some links to information regarding Cheney and his dealing Iraq, Iran and Libya (these were my sources).

Misc. Dick Cheney and Halliburton links from Mass and indy media outlets

"The Nation" article "Cheney's Lamest Excuse Yet"

The above article makes more excellent points regarding Cheney's time at Halliburton. "Halliburton, the top oil services corporation in the U.S., filled its coffers with Iraqi money during the heyday of the Oil for Food program. When Cheney's was Halliburton's CEO, the company did not collect vouchers; rather, its subsidiaries took advantage of the opening created by the "Oil-for-Food" program to cut deals with Saddam Hussein's government that allowed it to take money directly from Iraq. During 1998 and 1999, Halliburton's Dresser Rand and Ingersoll Dresser Pump subsidiaries signed contracts to provide roughly $73 million in oil production equipment and spare parts to Iraq.

The services provided by Halliburton's subsidiaries during the period when Cheney was chairman and chief executive officer of the Dallas-based company helped rebuild Iraq's oil production and distribution infrastructure. That work, which got Iraqi oil flowing, was, of course, necessary for the implementation of the "Oil-for-Food" program -- and, presumably for the abuses about which Cheney is now so concerned.

Under Cheney's leadership, the contracts obtained by Halliburton subsidiaries were among the most substantial awarded any U.S. firm doing business with Saddam Hussein. But they were not as ambitious as the company would have liked. A scheme to have Halliburton subsidiaries repair an Iraqi oil terminal that had been destroyed during the 1991 Gulf War was blocked by the U.S. government because it was determined to violate the sanctions regime.

Might Cheney have been unaware of the Halliburton Iraq tie -- as he tried to claim in one 2000 interview? Not likely. James Perrella, former chairman of Ingersoll Rand told the Washington Post that based on his knowledge of how Halliburton and its subsidiaries worked, Cheney had to have known. "Oh, definitely," Perrella said of Cheney, "he was aware of the business." "

Those aren't the only reasons to distrust Dick Cheney.

While serving as a Republican from Wyoming on Capitol Hill, Cheney combined what the Rolling Stone article called "a moderate demeanor with a radical agenda." His congressional voting record includes:

In 1986, he was one of only twenty-one members of the House to oppose the Safe Drinking Water Act.

He fought efforts to clean up hazardous waste and backed tax breaks for energy corporations. (Hmmm, after the last four years and secret energy commissions this isn't too surprising.)

He repeatedly voted against funding for the Veterans Administration. (So who really supports the troops?)

He opposed extending the Civil Rights Act.

He opposed the release of Nelson Mandela from jail in South Africa.

He voted for cop-killer bullets.

When appointed to head the Defense Department under President Bush Senior, Cheney pushed to turn many military duties over to private companies and began moving "defense intellectuals" with no military experience into key posts at the Pentagon. People like Paul Wolfowitz, who later masterminded much of the strategy that George W. Bush has pursued in Iraq. As VP in the current administration he undercut the position of Colin Powell, one of the Republican's I respect.

Can anyone explain to me why any Veterans, that is - those with actual military experience, support these people?

Especially since we went to "war with the Army we have, not the Army you might want or wish to have" (Thanks Mr. Rumsfeld!) and don't give our troops the weaponry or armament that they might need. Then by cutting veteran's benefits and then later, by saying "mission accomplished" and cutting veteran's wages back down to peace-time wages.

Cheney isn't the only one who's profiting from the administration's current Iraq war. A recent article in the LA Times acknowledges that a member of the Bush family also has profited from work in Iraq.

"The Iraq ( news -web sites ) war helped bring record earnings to St. Louis-based defense contractor Engineered Support Systems Inc., and new financial data show that the firm's war-related profits have trickled down to a familiar family name — Bush.

William H.T. "Bucky" Bush, uncle of the president and youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush, cashed in ESSI stock options last month with a net value of nearly half a million dollars.

"Uncle Bucky," as he is known to the president, is on the board of the company, which supplies armor and other materials to U.S. troops. The company's stock prices have soared to record heights since before the invasion, benefiting in part from contracts to rapidly refit fleets of military vehicles with extra armor.

William Bush exercised options on 8,438 shares of company stock Jan. 18, according to reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( news -web sites ). He acknowledged in an interview that the transaction was worth about $450,000. "

Another part of the same article says, "William Bush was named to the board of ESSI in 2000, eight months before his nephew was elected president of the United States.

In an interview Tuesday, the uncle said he decided to cash in the options because they would soon expire.

"The deadline was coming up, and we put in a bid on a house in Florida," William Bush said. He said he declared in advance to the company president his intentions to exercise those options.

Asked whether he was troubled by the fact that the company had earned significant revenue from the military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan ( news -web sites ), the president's uncle said he would "prefer there was no business in Iraq. Unfortunately, we live in a troubled world." ..."

It's ironic that in my Bible reading today, I read this passage, Mark 7: 6-7: "Well, hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Tillamook Cheese maker defies Monsanto

2005-02-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

Being a Swiss miss and cheese fiend...I read some good news on Saturday.

"The Oregon-based No. 2 maker of chunk cheese in the nation has banned a genetically engineered growth hormone made by Monsanto Co. for dairy cows, despite what it says is escalating pressure from the chemical giant.

The Tillamook County Creamery Association said Friday that it asked all of its 147 member farmers to halt use of the recombinant bovine somatotropin hormone, or rBST, because of customer requests to do so.

In a news release, the association assailed Monsanto for seeking to block the move with efforts ranging from a letter-writing campaign to hiring a lawyer.

"Tillamook County Creamery Association is facing an aggressive intrusion by Monsanto in the association's decision making process," the association said."

Sound like the typical way Monsanto does business. They've done similar things to farmers who won't use their genetically modified seeds. They even used these tactics with a Fox news piece in Florida about the ill effects of their rBST on humans, eventually watering down the language and thus the effects of the piece. (For more on that watch "The Corporation"...a great documentary about the history and actions of corporations.)

Tillamook's got my business for life! Go Tillamook!!!!

Too late to sweat global warming

2005-02-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

Bush can deny global warming all he wants but the UN, Tony Blair and even the US Pentagon acknowledge that global warming is real and happening now.

As I was reading Truthout.org today, I happened upon this article by Mark Hertsgaard of the San Francisco Chronicle.

"...Since 1988, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprised of more than 2,000 scientific and technical experts from around the world, has conducted the most extensive peer-reviewed scientific inquiry in history.

    In its 2001 report, the panel said that human-caused global warming had already begun, and much sooner than expected. What's more, the problem is bound to get worse, perhaps a lot worse, before it gets better.

    Last month, the climate change panel's chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, upped the ante. Although Pachauri was installed after the Bush administration forced out his predecessor, Robert Watson, for pushing too hard for action, the accumulation of evidence led Pachauri to embrace apocalyptic language: "We are risking the ability of the human race to survive," he said.

    Until now, most public discussion about global warming has focused on how to prevent it - for example, by implementing the Kyoto Protocol, which comes into force internationally (but without U.S. participation) on Wednesday. But prevention is no longer a sufficient option. No matter how many "green" cars and solar panels Kyoto eventually calls into existence, the hard fact is that a certain amount of global warming is inevitable."

Prevention won't stop global warming because it's already happening. Maybe all the extraordinary hurricanes we had this year and other massive natural disasters are a clue.

This should freak me out. Unfortunately, I'd read a similar article, about the Pentagon's report on global warming. I spent the rest of that day freaked out because of that. You know the Pentagon's pretty conservative and yet they are saying that Global Warming will cause serious damage. The Guardian article says:

"Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..

A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'

Being a typical "I Must Fix This" do-something American...I did note that there a some ways we as inviduals can prepare for the coming warming. According to Hertsgaard's article...

"The world community therefore must make a strategic shift. It must expand its response to global warming to emphasize both long-term and short-term protection. Rising sea levels and more weather-related disasters will be a fact of life on this planet for decades to come, and we have to get ready for them.

    Among the steps needed to defend ourselves is quick action to fortify emergency response capabilities worldwide, to shield or relocate vulnerable coastal communities and to prepare for increased migration flows by environmental refugees.

    We must also play offense. We must retroactively shrink the amount of warming facing us by redoubling efforts to remove existing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and sequester them where they are no longer dangerous. One way is to plant trees, which absorb carbon dioxide via photosynthesis."

Beauty springs from tragedy

2005-02-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

I was reading the paper today and saw an article about the death a 10-year-old in Crothersville, Indiana, who was killed by a meth-addict. This is the thing that really strikes me....

"As dime and dollar donations poured in from around the corner and around the country for the little girl's burial, Neace (the girls father), whose $14.75-an-hour factory job barely covers the monthly rent on his trailer, had a thought: What if he could buy the hated buildings, bulldoze them and build a playground on their place.

Katie may be gone, but she's going to live forever in this town," Neace, 35 said of his daughter Katklyn Collman. "We're taking down one meth house - you probably can't take them all down, but it's sending a message. We're taking our town back."" (Feb. 10, 2005, Oregonian, p. A10)

This is a great example of how individuals working together can get something done more effectively than any government!

They've already got pledges of $100,000 of the $400,000 needed to buy the Penn Villa apartments and build the park.

If you're interested in donating. Here's the link with information: http://crothersville.net/Katie/

Sing a Simple Song of Freedom

2005-02-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

What a better way to start my first post than by posting the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, "Sing a Simple Song of Freedom", a subject that's been on my mind a lot recently. Written by the immortal Bobby Darin (Go see "Beyond the Sea"!!)

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
      Sing it like you've never sung before
      Let it fill the air
      Tell the people everywhere
      We, the people here, don't want a war.

      Hey, there, mister black man, can you hear me?
      I don't want your diamonds or your game
      I just want to be someone known to you as me
      And I will bet my life you want the same.

      Come and sing a simple song of freedom
      Sing it like you’ve never sung before
      Let it fill the air
      Tell the people everywhere
      We, the people here, don’t want a war.

      Seven hundred million are ya list'nin’?
      Most of what you read is made of lies
      But, speakin’ one to one ain't it everybody's sun
      To wake to in the mornin’ when we rise?

      Come and sing a simple song of freedom
      Sing it like you’ve never sung before
      Let it fill the air
      Tell the people everywhere
      We, the people here, don’t want a war.

      Brother Solzhenitsyn, are you busy?
      If not, won't you drop this friend a line
      Tell me if the man who is plowin' up your land
      Has got the war machine upon his mind?

      Come and sing a simple song of freedom
      Sing it like you’ve never sung before
      Let it fill the air
      Tell the people everywhere
      We, the people here, don’t want a war.

      Now, no doubt some folks enjoy doin' battle
      Like presidents, prime ministers and kings
      So, let's all build them shelves
      Where they can fight among themselves
      Leave the people be who love to sing.

      Come and sing a simple song of freedom
      Sing it like you’ve never sung before
      Let it fill the air
      Tell the people everywhere
      We, the people here, don’t want a war.

      I say … let it fill the air …
      Tellin’ people everywhere …
      We, the people, here don't want a war.

That's all for now. Keep checking back. I won't be posting every day but I will as I find things that I want to comment on. Also, feel free to comment on my posts at any time.