I thought I was being clever. Poodledoc, Jr. and I carved our pumpkins yesterday setting them out on the front steps. They looked nice with the apple-cented votive candles glowing inside. Tonight being Halloween, I dutifully lit the pumpkin candles and put out a bowl of candy next to the them. I attached a sign to the bowl which said: "Two pieces per person please OR I release my flying monkeys". Hardly original, but I thought it was funny. This was done to minimize doorbell ringing since my Standard Poodle barks furiously when it rings, disturbing the neighbors downstairs.
Being good Americans, the Poodle and I actually left for an hour to do some shopping. When we returned, a scene of mass destruction greeted us. Pumpkin pieces were scattered over the sidewalk as far as the eye could see. At first I thought it was a horrible case of "wrong place, wrong time". But I soon noticed that some of the pumpkins, to my horror, showed signs of torture (pumpkin pie recipes littered the scene). The bowl of candy was empty, tossed to one side. I wondered, where were the flying monkeys all this time?
The question was soon answered when we entered my apartment. All 20 of the Flying Monkeys were curled up asleep in their beds. They must be that new breed of Flying Monkey---the Democratic Congressional breed. True, they had the majority in the house, but they were asleep while high crimes and misdemeanors were occurring on my very own front steps.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
31 October, 1987. Managua, Nicaragua
"My Witness for Peace delegation have all gone home except Bill and Carol who are letting me sleep on the floor of their room here at the Hotel Mercedes. I'm sitting by the pool drinking a beer. The Cuban National Baseball team is staying here. The team comes in to look at the pool. They are in Managua for a huge baseball tournament. Their uniforms look so nice. So new in a country of old stuff. Three days ago, I was 150 miles east of here, in the war zone. Lots of gunfire. Lots of automatic weapons. Lots of kids like the boy of 15 who'd been in the army four years. Never seen a 15 year old with eyes like that.
Sitting by the pool. Cognitive dissonance. this place costs $73 per night. The average Nicaraguan makes $300 per year.
rode up to Leon, Nicaragua the other day. Cost 10 cents for a 3 hour ride. On a flatcar with real people. Don't know their politics. Looks like life is hard for them. But lots of happiness. One older man engages me in conversation. He speaks no English. I speak just a touch of Spanish. We talk baseball. A common denominator. He tells me of the Nicaraguan baseball players who've gone on to play in the U.S. Major Leagues. He tells me he has four wives.
In Leon, I visited the remains of the dictator Somoza's prison. It's 9am and the tiny roofless cells are ovens. I sit in one and meditate on the scratches various prisoners have left on the wall. There is a chapel here, in the prison, in this Christian country. Someone has torn the cross out of the wall.
Across the street is a park which was a mass grave for Somoza's National Guardsmen. A man sprays weed killer here. Across the street, the "last stand" building, where the National Guardsmen refused to come out and surrender to the Sandinista's. The walls are pocked with bullet holes. Uncountable. The Sandinista militia finally gave up waiting, pumped gasoline into the building and torched it. Can you be a self-proclaimed "Christian Revolutionary" and burn people alive?
Back at the Hotel Mercedes the next morning, Bill and Carol have caught their plane. I sit on the bed, its so cold I can almost see my breath. The Mickey Mouse Club is on the cable TV. I'm afraid to go outside. It's been a couple weeks of fear and a couple weeks of love and a couple weeks of God. Something's happened to me and I'm not sure what that something is. I finally leave and walk over to Norm's house (friend from Madison, who's letting me stay there for a week while I wander around). I walked around Managua for a week. I saw God in a lot of places. God didn't answer when I asked how people could appropriate him/her to justify horrible acts of violence and why didn't God put a stop to this?"
On this Halloween, age 51, I still don't have a clear answer to that question of whether God is benevolent and loves us or a punishing God who really doesn't like us all that much. I have moments of clarity. Experiences of God as love. God as Creator. Times, many times, that I feel God's presence. Then I watch the horrors perpetrated in the world and I feel the confusion again. Like I felt as I shivered in the Hotel Mercedes 20 years ago. Afraid to leave the room. But I do leave the room. Faith in God? I think so. Or is it faith in humanity. I feel God's presence in every living thing. So faith in God draws me out. Today, I feel that I will always have questions about God like I've written here. And that's ok. Faith and hope keep me going. Especially since I'm a Cub fan.
Sitting by the pool. Cognitive dissonance. this place costs $73 per night. The average Nicaraguan makes $300 per year.
rode up to Leon, Nicaragua the other day. Cost 10 cents for a 3 hour ride. On a flatcar with real people. Don't know their politics. Looks like life is hard for them. But lots of happiness. One older man engages me in conversation. He speaks no English. I speak just a touch of Spanish. We talk baseball. A common denominator. He tells me of the Nicaraguan baseball players who've gone on to play in the U.S. Major Leagues. He tells me he has four wives.
In Leon, I visited the remains of the dictator Somoza's prison. It's 9am and the tiny roofless cells are ovens. I sit in one and meditate on the scratches various prisoners have left on the wall. There is a chapel here, in the prison, in this Christian country. Someone has torn the cross out of the wall.
Across the street is a park which was a mass grave for Somoza's National Guardsmen. A man sprays weed killer here. Across the street, the "last stand" building, where the National Guardsmen refused to come out and surrender to the Sandinista's. The walls are pocked with bullet holes. Uncountable. The Sandinista militia finally gave up waiting, pumped gasoline into the building and torched it. Can you be a self-proclaimed "Christian Revolutionary" and burn people alive?
Back at the Hotel Mercedes the next morning, Bill and Carol have caught their plane. I sit on the bed, its so cold I can almost see my breath. The Mickey Mouse Club is on the cable TV. I'm afraid to go outside. It's been a couple weeks of fear and a couple weeks of love and a couple weeks of God. Something's happened to me and I'm not sure what that something is. I finally leave and walk over to Norm's house (friend from Madison, who's letting me stay there for a week while I wander around). I walked around Managua for a week. I saw God in a lot of places. God didn't answer when I asked how people could appropriate him/her to justify horrible acts of violence and why didn't God put a stop to this?"
On this Halloween, age 51, I still don't have a clear answer to that question of whether God is benevolent and loves us or a punishing God who really doesn't like us all that much. I have moments of clarity. Experiences of God as love. God as Creator. Times, many times, that I feel God's presence. Then I watch the horrors perpetrated in the world and I feel the confusion again. Like I felt as I shivered in the Hotel Mercedes 20 years ago. Afraid to leave the room. But I do leave the room. Faith in God? I think so. Or is it faith in humanity. I feel God's presence in every living thing. So faith in God draws me out. Today, I feel that I will always have questions about God like I've written here. And that's ok. Faith and hope keep me going. Especially since I'm a Cub fan.
Kucinich Questions Bush’s Mental Health Over Iran
Well, on this Dennis is not alone.......of course the odds him seeking mental health care are less than the odds he'll be impeached, but I'm glad he's questioning this. Bush, a not recovered drug and alcohol addict, is acting out a monster case of "dry drunk" rage, perhaps? Maybe at least AA or NA? Imagining him at an AA meeting is an interesting thought. "Hi, I'm George and I'm an alcoholic". hmmmmmmm
Published on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 by Reuters
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich on Tuesday mockingly questioned President George W. Bush’s mental health for saying Iran’s nuclear ambitions might trigger World War III.
“I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health,” Kucinich, a quirky, long-shot candidate in the race for his party’s presidential nomination in the November, 2008 election. “There’s something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact.”
Kucinich spoke to the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer ahead of a Democratic debate in Philadelphia.
Bush told a news conference two weeks ago: “I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”
Kucinich, a member of the U.S. Congress from Ohio, has tried in the past to convince his colleagues to impeach both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, to no avail.
He told The Inquirer he did not believe his remarks about Bush’s mental stability were irresponsible.
“You cannot be a president of the United States who’s wanton in his expression of violence,” Kucinich said. “There’s a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn’t something wrong with him, then there’s something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question.”
© Reuters 2007
Published on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 by Reuters
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich on Tuesday mockingly questioned President George W. Bush’s mental health for saying Iran’s nuclear ambitions might trigger World War III.
“I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health,” Kucinich, a quirky, long-shot candidate in the race for his party’s presidential nomination in the November, 2008 election. “There’s something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact.”
Kucinich spoke to the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer ahead of a Democratic debate in Philadelphia.
Bush told a news conference two weeks ago: “I’ve told people that if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”
Kucinich, a member of the U.S. Congress from Ohio, has tried in the past to convince his colleagues to impeach both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, to no avail.
He told The Inquirer he did not believe his remarks about Bush’s mental stability were irresponsible.
“You cannot be a president of the United States who’s wanton in his expression of violence,” Kucinich said. “There’s a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn’t something wrong with him, then there’s something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question.”
© Reuters 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Bush: “We must act now to stop Bob from acquiring nukear weapons!”
In a solemn Rose Garden press conference today, President Bush verified speculation that strong action was needed to stop Bob, a long-time resident of Madison’s near east side, from acquiring nuclear weapons. “Our intelligence sources have confirmed that Bob leaves his outside lights on all night and that the intensity of these lights could only be produced by a nukear reactor.” In a rambling 35 minute speech, Bush reminded people of the consequences of doing nothing: “A nuclear weapon in the hands of Bob would allow him to control the entire East Side of Madison”. Strong sanctions were being requested through the UN which would block Bob from shopping at the Willy St Coop or the Jenifer St Market.
Mr Bush backed up his plan with strong accusations: “Bob has repeatedly and aggressively walked his dog in the park off leash, refused to use hand signals on his bike, kept his nuclear powered lights on all night and put in some very tacky flower beds. He is a danger and must be stopped”.
Sources in the administration, who asked not to be identified, have disclosed that Bush authorized a secret raid by Navy Seals deep into Bob’s basement. They found some kind of white powder in a box and a big white machine that swishes around for a while after the white powder goes in right next to a machine which dries the uranium powder, obviously a centrifuge for producing weapons-grade uranium. “A nightmare”, said the source.
Another source revealed a Bush administration plan to bomb selected targets on Bob’s property including his garage, the outdoor lights, the tacky flower beds and a bunker buster bomb for the uranium enriching facility in the basement. Another target on the list was the kitchen. “No more omelet’s for Bob”, the source remarked with a chuckle. The bathrooms were removed from the target list because “that would make a mess”, according to another source.
Reached for comment in Latvia, where she was doing something, Condi Rice added that Bob “is known for his anti-Israel stance”. He’s been overheard referring to the Israeli government as “poo poo heads”. “The Bomb in his hands could mean the destruction of Israel”, Dr Rice stated.
Bob has been given 48 hours to respond, but so far hasn’t answered the phone, which worries intelligence officials for some reason.
“Remember, said Mr Bush, “It’s not nukear weapons that kill people, it’s people with nukear weapons that kill people. That’s why Bob must be stopped. Now”.
Mr Bush backed up his plan with strong accusations: “Bob has repeatedly and aggressively walked his dog in the park off leash, refused to use hand signals on his bike, kept his nuclear powered lights on all night and put in some very tacky flower beds. He is a danger and must be stopped”.
Sources in the administration, who asked not to be identified, have disclosed that Bush authorized a secret raid by Navy Seals deep into Bob’s basement. They found some kind of white powder in a box and a big white machine that swishes around for a while after the white powder goes in right next to a machine which dries the uranium powder, obviously a centrifuge for producing weapons-grade uranium. “A nightmare”, said the source.
Another source revealed a Bush administration plan to bomb selected targets on Bob’s property including his garage, the outdoor lights, the tacky flower beds and a bunker buster bomb for the uranium enriching facility in the basement. Another target on the list was the kitchen. “No more omelet’s for Bob”, the source remarked with a chuckle. The bathrooms were removed from the target list because “that would make a mess”, according to another source.
Reached for comment in Latvia, where she was doing something, Condi Rice added that Bob “is known for his anti-Israel stance”. He’s been overheard referring to the Israeli government as “poo poo heads”. “The Bomb in his hands could mean the destruction of Israel”, Dr Rice stated.
Bob has been given 48 hours to respond, but so far hasn’t answered the phone, which worries intelligence officials for some reason.
“Remember, said Mr Bush, “It’s not nukear weapons that kill people, it’s people with nukear weapons that kill people. That’s why Bob must be stopped. Now”.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Desire and the Green Cure
by Richard Glover
Published on Sunday, October 21, 2007 by The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
I used to feel bad about mindless consumerism but not any more. The green movement has come to my rescue. With every purchase, I can now enjoy the warm glow of helping develop environmentally sound practices.
There’s my new briefcase, for example. It is shiny and luxurious and its purchase has allowed me to throw my old one into the bin. But there’s no eco-guilt for me.
According to the manufacturer, the leather in my briefcase was stained using “extracts of bark and seeds collected from renewable sources in the forests of Africa and India”. The work was all done by “traditional artisans”, all of them using “sustainable practices” in the “old saddler tradition”. There’s not a lot of detail on the leather but, based on the tone of the pamphlet, I’m pretty sure the cows would have been volunteers.
I feel I now deserve some sort of medal just for handing over my credit card.
I’m not alone in falling for this sort of sales pitch. People are always looking for an excuse to consume more and the latest excuse - bizarrely - is environmentalism.
Let’s call it “greensumerism”. Forget the simple mantra of “less is more”; with the help of the green movement you can now indulge in a frenzy of consumerism, with each luxury purchase excused by the idea that you are helping the development of the “green” sector.
People will ditch a perfectly good car in order to import the latest hybrid eco-model and expect to be praised for their sensitivity. Magazines like Vogue Living are now full of these luxurious holiday houses - temples to excess and over-consumption - which the owners claim as their personal contribution to sustainability. Rest of article here
Published on Sunday, October 21, 2007 by The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
I used to feel bad about mindless consumerism but not any more. The green movement has come to my rescue. With every purchase, I can now enjoy the warm glow of helping develop environmentally sound practices.
There’s my new briefcase, for example. It is shiny and luxurious and its purchase has allowed me to throw my old one into the bin. But there’s no eco-guilt for me.
According to the manufacturer, the leather in my briefcase was stained using “extracts of bark and seeds collected from renewable sources in the forests of Africa and India”. The work was all done by “traditional artisans”, all of them using “sustainable practices” in the “old saddler tradition”. There’s not a lot of detail on the leather but, based on the tone of the pamphlet, I’m pretty sure the cows would have been volunteers.
I feel I now deserve some sort of medal just for handing over my credit card.
I’m not alone in falling for this sort of sales pitch. People are always looking for an excuse to consume more and the latest excuse - bizarrely - is environmentalism.
Let’s call it “greensumerism”. Forget the simple mantra of “less is more”; with the help of the green movement you can now indulge in a frenzy of consumerism, with each luxury purchase excused by the idea that you are helping the development of the “green” sector.
People will ditch a perfectly good car in order to import the latest hybrid eco-model and expect to be praised for their sensitivity. Magazines like Vogue Living are now full of these luxurious holiday houses - temples to excess and over-consumption - which the owners claim as their personal contribution to sustainability. Rest of article here
Cider Making Sunday!!
What a lovely day for making cider. We went out to the farm of some Friends from our Quaker Meeting. Lots of sunshine, kids, finger-food, tractor rides, apples and gallons and gallons of cider! Here's Poodledoc, Jr turning the crank on the ancient but efficient cider press. Yum! I didn't even mind that I got lost on the way home!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
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