I might be a “liberal”, a “conservative” or merely willing and able to speak up. How would you know?

From Gibran:

Once there ruled in the distant city of Wirani a king who was both mighty and wise. And he was feared for his might and loved for his wisdom.

Now, in the heart of that city was a well, whose water was cool and crystalline, from which all the inhabitants drank, even the king and his courtiers; for there was no other well.

One night when all were asleep, a witch entered the city, and poured seven drops of strange liquid into the well, and said,

“From this hour he who drinks this water shall become mad.”

Next morning all the inhabitants, save the king and his lord chamberlain, drank from the well and became mad, even as the witch had foretold.

And during that day the people in the narrow streets and in the market places did naught but whisper to one another,

“The king is mad. Our king and his lord chamberlain have lost their reason. Surely we cannot be ruled by a mad king. We must dethrone him.”

That evening the king ordered a golden goblet to be filled from the well. And when it was brought to him he drank deeply, and gave it to his lord chamberlain to drink.

And there was great rejoicing in that distant city of Wirani, because its king and its lord chamberlain had regained their reason.

We live now more than ever before in societies that emphasize conformity in many more aspects of life. Somewhat driven by our fast-developing yet rapidly changing technology which itself is grounded in consumerism and materialism, it seems implied that the more we conform to what everyone else has and does, the more we are supposed to be able to function and interact with each other appropriately.

Although it is perfectly acceptable to be in agreement with someone else’s definitions, is it acceptable to not apply our own critical thinking as to whether value judgments based on someone else’s magic are adequate for us?

When we consider our own personal state of being, do we automatically compare our own “success” with the “success” of someone else?

Do we compare our own job, wealth or possessions with that of someone else – and find ourselves wanting?

Do we measure our own spirituality and sense of religion with some “attitudinal norm” commonly supported within our society?

Are such comparisons the most efficient way to stop for a moment, look around to see how we are doing and whether or not we are satisfied?

and finally from Mark Twain:

“A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.

This is the only definition necessary because it covers all forms of use of patriotism as motivation.

How is American Patriotism different and noble compared to anyone else’s national patriotic sense?  I would be genuinely interested in any successful, cogent, well-argued rebuttal to the following quote. The rebuttal must also demonstrate that drinkable bathwater comes from American flag wavers who use patriotism as a political tactic.

Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our time, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that requires better equipment in the exercise of man-killing than the making of such necessities as shoes, clothing, and houses; a trade that guarantees better returns and greater glory than that of the honest workingman.

Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot consider themselves nobler, better, grander, more intelligent than those living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others. – Emma Goldman

Oh, and it won’t be sufficient to merely attack Emma Goldman for her politics. Political leaning does not make one’s point of view more or less legitimate except when there is a choir involved.

Merry Christmas in times of scarcity

Ode to not taking a vacation right now:

My case load, after a week off,
would be too far behind.
The end of the first day
back at work
would leave me
ready for another
week's vacation.

I am asked: Will there be some time when that logic does not apply?

I don't know anymore.

Our governor just chopped our budget - which had been reduced by almost 50% - by another 20%.

In my small office there are three and one part-time case workers and a lead worker.

The governor has to cut the budget in order to conform to legislated budget rules and flat out declared that because she does not agree with the budget decisions she was forced to make, she will push to raise taxes and try for a new budget if the legislature goes along with it.,

Meanwhile, the population in this rural county is not shrinking nor is the need - which of course has not been reduced by 50% and then another 20%. In fact, more are coming in because circumstances in the cities are worse than coming back to the rural home to depend on parents and other relatives.

Possibly, in 18 months when I reach 65, I will retire from a circumstance worse than what awaits me Monday morning.

Rumi: Say I am You

I am dust particles in sunlight.
I am the round sun.

To the bits of dust I say, Stay.
To the sun, Keep moving.

I am morning mist,
and the breathing of evening.
I am wind in the top of a grove,
and surf on the cliff.

Mast, rudder, helmsman, and keel,
I am also the coral reef they founder on.

I am a tree with a trained parrot in its branches.
Silence, thought, and voice.

The musical air coming through a flute,
a spark of stone, a flickering in metal.
Both candle and the moth crazy around it.
Rose, and the nightingale lost in the fragrance.

I am all orders of being, the circling galaxy,
the evolutionary intelligence, the lift, and the falling away.

What is, and what isn't.

You who know, Jelaluddin,
You the one in all, say who I am.
Say I am you.

The “un-American” Amish. Fox News needs to look into this.

In a meeting with an Amish Elder the conversation went something like this:

"The English (i.e. non Amish) think it very strange that your community does not permit telephones, credit, pneumatic tires on vehicles, paint on your houses, electricity or even curtains on your windows.

Why are these not permitted?"

The Amish elder responded with a smile,

"Well, if we had telephones, we would call one another on the wire and we wouldn't take time to visit in our homes.

We don't have credit because we think usury is wrong and if we buy something on credit, it really doesn't belong to us.

If we had pneumatic tires, we would drive by a neighbor's house at 50 mph and wave at them when passing as they sit on the front porch. In a horse and buggy, we stop and visit as we pass their house.

Without electricity, we are off the grid and not dependent on people we do not know and we like the more relaxed pace and ambience of lighting the oil lamps in the evening.

If we began to paint our houses, we would begin to compete on whose house looks better, creating conflict in our community. As it is, keeping our houses and barns clean and in good condition and good work is sufficient for contentment in our lives.

We don't have curtains on our windows because we have nothing to hide from our neighbors.

This way of living gives us a sense of freedom from things."

Genuine mimicry of an American genre

Remember when Godzilla first showed up using – despite zoom-in and zoom-out camera tricks - what looked like a doll knocking over the old Kener toy buildings with that classic howl? Then all those sequals, Destroy All Monsters, Mothra, King Kong versus Godzilla and Rodan?

I don’t remember reading or hearing anything involving a read-between-the lines commentary on Japan’s relationship with America nor Godzilla as a subtle message to American global theology.

If you are a reader and willing to consider the length and depth of a long essay, I recommend the essay linked below regarding a recognized and awarded Korean Film that came out in 2006 entitled The Host.

The dangers of biosecurity: The Host and the geopolitics of outbreak 

“The Host blurs the distinction between the monster and the society it ravages. From its inception the movie asks: Isn’t South Korea playing host, arguably against the interests of its citizenry, to the U.S. military and to foreign investors who have no interest in the nation’s social fabric?"

Fond memories of Doofus.

This current surviving generation of Reflublicans ... proof of what happens when you take yourself too seriously and then open your mouth.

Makes me fondly recall some of the stuff that came out of that Texan's mouth over the previous eight years. My interpretation of Dubya's thinkin:

They have a saying in Texas ... and I'm sure it's out here somewhere in the Payloose or someplace else ... "fool around me once and ... er,"

"fool me around once or twice ... er, "

"fool around with me or my wife ..."

Oh what the heck ...

Concepts are fungamental ... you don't need to go read no phillysophicles books or dial-a-prayers to figure out the basic stuff.

If this Socrater guy and Aristophupperlips came into the bar where I'm drinking and start spoutin all that foreign-illegal-Greekable-immigrant talk, I'd know how to put em in their place ... me and my brush-cuttin chain saw.

you dang intellechal's are presickley the reason why statecraft and good governance should come out of the end of a beer bottle and not some dang misoverestimated thespiaknickers class at UW or them other Kudzu-League schools.

You know which ones I'm talkin about - those schools where lots of thinking gets done but ain't none of them won a Rose Bowl in my lifetime.

Your's Truly from me 'n George,

My wife’s living will

Shades of Terry Schiavo, death panels and last wishes.
This has been making the rounds but I just saw it yesterday. It’s worth posting again.

Last night my husband and I were sitting in the living room. I said to him,
“I NEVER want to live in a vegetative state.
I NEVER want to be dependent on some machine.
I NEVER want to be dependent on fluids from a bottle.”
If that every happens, just pull the plug.
So he got up, unplugged my computer and threw out my wine.
He’s such an ass …..

This is where they who puppet for lobbyists come from

This is the basis of Republican civic and economic understanding of what America is. It's why business lobbyists throw money around in amounts much greater than what we as citizens can offer.

When Corporations are Persons under the Law

Timidity masquerading as wisdom

We watched Defiance this past week ... on Jewish resistance in Poland and Belorus during WWII.

There's a scene toward the end when a Nazi falls into the hands of the Bielski (Jewish) Otriad.
One prominent member of the Otriad leadership who previously self-labeled as an "intellectual" could not bring himself to execute the Nazi to protect the camp who could ill afford to keep or feed him.

While the rest are cursing the Nazi and crying out for revenge the intellectual tries briefly to extract a promise from the Nazi that he will not reveal the location of the partisan camp.
His timidity is overruled by the members, not the leadership of the camp.


Under no circumstances would the Nazi have not betrayed the Jews had they let him go.


Demo leadership cannot keep any process moving forward by cheap talk and false platitudes to some sort of bi-partisanship.

Either we have leaders of genuine courage and spunk ... or we are stuck with civic intellectuals who will keep arranging deck chairs.

On speaking up and speaking out: The value of original thoughts.

Someone else’s magic is not what cooks well on your stove.

You are moved to get involved but are not fully informed on the  specifics behind why you are aroused or motivated to join in the debate.

In the absence of doing your homework, you let someone else give you talking points and acting points … things you can say or do that at first glance seem to work for you. 

You don’t question, search, ponder or pray … you just start talking and acting according to someone else’s coaching.

Like so many who appear in the sensational stories of broadcast media … you don’t fully know or understand what you are talking about.

By merely mouthing someone else’s opinion (which honesty requires you acknowledge rather than pretend that you thought of it yourself) you remove all doubt as to whether or not you know what you are talking about.

Take it from someone who has by experience learned that fact the hard way.

Do your homework before you open your mouth or write your piece.  Study things out in your mind, take time to learn and understand what you want to speak to … and admit when you have mis-spoken or written something that is not true.

Then compose your own expressions of how you feel. No matter how well or poorly you speak and write, the more you write and speak, the better you’ll get at it.

Let real honesty govern what you say.

Your honesty.

Not the grandstand honesty coached by someone telling you how.

Ponder this quote from a sitting American President in 1958.

“It is difficult indeed to maintain a reasoned and accurately informed understanding of our defense situation on the part of our citizenry when many prominent officials, possessing no standing or expertness as they themselves claim it, attempt to further their own ideas or interests by resorting to statements more distinguished by stridency than by accuracy.”  *

– Dwight Eisenhower

Writers will tell you that if you want to learn to write, start writing and keep writing.

For example, there is no better way than to find opportunity to stay engaged in writing about an issue than to start a blog,  write frequent letters to the editor, or contribute in other venues of writing that will be seen by the public.

Want to speak out effectively? Stay calm, poised and try not to shout and sputter saliva at the object of your attempted persuasion. It takes a bit of practice but in reality, what is needed is a sufficient number of activities in which you say what you have thought out. You can be angry, express yourself in strong terms, throw in sarcasm, satire, criticism … whatever. Just work on staying cool when you do.

Speak and write, write and speak … enough small successes to generate confidence.

Mostly however, research your subject.

You’d be surprised to realize how many in a crowd will sense how ignorant you are about the issue  and see through you to realize that you are verbalizing someone else’s words.

The best example of that are the older persons supposedly objecting to government involvement in health care but who add to their objections a demand, “… and don’t touch my Medicare!”

One line of verbal or written silliness – revealing more ignorance than wisdom – causes more loss of impact among those who listen to you and sincerely want to know than any mere extra-marital scandal involving a politician with whom you agree.

People are more persuaded by well-thought-out and well-expressed original thoughts than any stump speech or slogan offered over and over again.

A lie is an un-original thought masquerading as truth.

A lie is a slogan without conscience.

At the end of the road, a lie is Commodus stabbing Maximus in the back but then failing in the arena while attempting to fool the crowd.

 

* Ike's Other Warning - max Blumenthal