Culture Gap

In terms of how many people are on each side of the current culture gap, that I could not say, but its existence cannot be denied. People see the exact same event, like Dick Cheney defending torture, and define it totally differently. The extension goes beyond how you fight a conflict to how you live at home, and it involves beauty queens, politicians, any spokesperson for either side, and all news media. Both sides of this gap want to interfere in personal liberties, the only difference will be which ones.

My question is can it be broached? Will this lead someday to a civil war? How would you fight such a war if you have decided the ballot box is not going to let you win? It's not like it's one state against another as within each state there are differing views-- the only issue is which is in the majority.

The irony is one side used to talk about patriotism and would say someone like me was trying to destroy our country. Now they are the ones talking about secession from the Union. What's that all about?

So, stepping in where angels fear to tread, I will mention we saw Religulous last night which is Bill Maher's documentary on religion. Naturally if you detest him for his satire, you won't see it, but it was interesting, if really really hard edged, about the three religions that came out of the Middle East. It looks like it is online, but we saw it through Netflix. Here is a taste of it: [Clip from Religulous]. If you are defensive of either Judaism, Chrisianity or Islam, you would likely dislike it.

Maher's attempt to get people, who are in religions, to see what they are doing (as he sees it) was met with total failure if his hope was to convince someone, anyone, to look at their religion through a different filter. He asked one woman what would it be like if say Jack in the Beanstalk had been in the Bible instead of Jonah and the Whale; and she saw immediately the trap and refused to answer. Pretty much all the religious people saw that he was trying to get them to think about their religious beliefs and were well prepared to not let that happen. That's why they call it faith, baby. Culture gap.

Then we have the California beauty queen story. She said she opposed 'other' marriage and quickly became the spokesperson for the Sarah Palin contingent. Maybe she'll run as her veep, you think? The California pageant contributed to her new found fame (who knew before this that beauty pageants paid for boob jobs), added some press time for Donald Trump, and voila a new martyred heroine was born.

Miss California cried as she discussed how awful she has been treated. The irony is she feels she has been discriminated against while she is discriminating; but her discrimination is okay because it was ordained by god and it's in the majority (same arguments were once used for racial discrimination and in that bunch probably still are). That irony was clearly lost on the new Joan of Arc. Culture gap.

There is a group so fearful of the word socialism that they have decided all government programs (except regarding war) are bad. They equate socialism with communism or dictatorship. They quickly forget that dictatorship is something they liked right up until they had a different party controlling the leadership.

Within the social-phobic group, you get people like Joe the Plumber who wants to cut out all government spending except... and by the time you get through his exceptions, what exactly did he think was left? You have those who want no taxes and don't care about public education and those who want to see government services expanded and improved. Culture gap.

Then we have torture. According to the right wing, this is a partisan left wing issue. I guess it's the only way they hope to win because if they look at it ethically or legally, they lose. The fact, that in the past people have been arrested, tried and even executed for using waterboarding (and not just in foreign lands), is discarded as meaningless. This is all about how one group (don't like torture) wants to see our country taken over by Muslims before it can be divided up by the other group (do like torture). Culture gap.

The question I have, and this list could have gone on, is what can be done about this gap? Anything? Education used to be a leveling force but is it today? Or does it reveal more of the division which is so wide that it cannot be breached? If that is true, what comes next? Camile Paglia had a good essay on this, expressing her own concerns, in her monthly column: [7 Days in May].

Cattle herds don't have these complications. They have a leader and some second in commands who maintain order. The herd has (most of the year) a common life purpose-- find food. Humans (most of us) have gone way beyond simple life purposes and maybe that's our problem. The calf in the top photo is the one we nearly lost, and you can see the nurturing love he is receiving from his mama.

Love is a good solution to a lot of problems-- real love; but the culture gap shows up even there as President Obama dared to say he would like a new Supreme Court justice who had empathy for other people. Boy, was that a bad word to the right. Their ears pricked right up while the left nodded and said that makes sense. Culture gap.

[Incidentally, Obama just declared he didn't want more of the torture and abuse photos to be released (number of which I heard might be as few as 44 to as many as 2000) showing what military personnel had done to prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan: [Bloomberg].

Supposedly the generals argued, as does the right wing, that it would make our soldiers less safe. I am not sure of the logic of this because supposedly we were all made safer by knowing we did torture with Cheney's saying the country is less safe when we don't torture.

President Obama says he won't authorize torture, but eventually will the Cheneyites convince him that he must-- but just this one time? And then that one more time and so it goes? Do we truly have a new direction or will we find things we disliked, like rendition and dictatorial presidential powers, will be continued? I wouldn't like that any more in Obama's hands than I did in Bush's. This isn't about a party but a policy.

Don't think I like asking these questions, but I voted for Obama not just for the heck of it. I voted for him because I believed we were following a fundamentally flawed path which McCain had committed to continuing. Revealing the extent of the wrong might be the only way the right ever faces up to it because they still want to think it was just a few bad apples instead of a government policy. I don't believe these photos are the concern of the right because of the possible reaction from the Muslim world but rather the reaction here at home if citizens see the extent of what was going on.

My concern is not helped by learning Obama appointed a general in charge of Afghanistan who likely was part of torture politics. Obama's changed position on the photos came after the appointment of that general. Does Obama's change of mind (something that doesn't bother me as stubborn adherence to a policy, no matter what, is no virtue) relate to that general's appointment? What do you think?]

Tortured to justify a war

[Tortured to Justify a War?]

I know a lot of people don't want to think about this. It's done, isn't it? Well if you click on the link and read the above article, and I hope you will read the above article, it is NOT done.

It is important to me to not think negatively, to try and be positive, but every time I read the paper, I feel the anger boiling up at what the Bush administration did regarding torture. Mostly what Dick Cheney did and Bush let happen.

For anyone who saw the most recent Cheney interview where he was asked whether Bush knew about the torture, the emphasis from some was that Cheney was saying Bush authorized torture. Listen to it again, read the words.

What Cheney said was-- well I think he had to have known. Say what?!! Cheney stumbled all over himself as he basically revealed that he ran that operation maybe under Bush's agreement. Doubtless he told Bush, what he is trying to tell any American who still listens to him, what he's trying to tell Obama-- torture or you are responsible for the deaths of Americans. This is a sick man. Why is anyone listening to him?

Taking deep breaths and trying not to be furious!

Expressing Pain Through Words

When John Edwards was running for president, I wrote a blog saying why I didn't like him. I didn't like him any less after his clay feet were revealed. It didn't surprise me, nor did I personally care that he had an affair. I have never felt that a politician's private sexual choices were the business of the voter-- unless they break the law. The aspect of hiding something that likely would have doomed Edwards' candidacy, if he had gotten the nomination, was a character flaw; but since I hadn't trusted his character, it also was no surprise.

His wife was another story. I didn't know what to think about Elizabeth Edwards. There was this public persona of the almost saintly woman and yet what was this about knowing he had the affair but still pretending they had a perfect marriage? Wasn't that attempting to foist a fraud onto voters for the sake of her husband's ambitions? Or was it her ambitions? Was she an enabler? At the time, I didn't think too much about it and more or less justified her actions by thinking she loves him, she has terminal cancer, she has suffered great losses, she believed in his abilities.

[Kathleen Parker wrote a piece that pretty well says what I am now thinking: Elizabeth the Hypocrite.]

Does writing about something, as Edwards has with her newest book help her, help others? If she was going to write it, might it have been better to wait until she was no longer angry-- which is clearly not yet? Maybe she doesn't have that time.

Striking out at the other woman also strikes out at the child who most likely is John Edwards' offspring. That child is a her, not an it. Does it help Elizabeth's pain to publicly publish her feelings about it all? It didn't take genius to imagine her anger and disappointment without this book.

Do people who buy such books tacitly encourage such revelations to vicariously gloat or suffer-- or is it about the juicy details they hope to find in the pages. Soap opera made political.

I won't be reading her book but the details are out there through her promotional tour starting with Oprah-- which I also didn't see but who could miss the details as they were in all the papers.

Evidently Elizabeth, as so many scorned women have, blames the other woman for something her husband did. Sorry, but there are always other people. This is about her husband's promise, not with whichever woman he had the affair.

To me what she has done with writing this book and then promoting it through all these high end interviews is worse than if she had flared out at the time the infidelity came out. Her thinking still is not clear of the anger and to use this huge venue to pillory him (or is this to pillory that 'other' woman and redeem his political career as some have suggested?) doesn't seem like wise judgment. The book may not be primarily about his infidelity and her reaction to it but it sounds like the interviews have been.

Elizabeth wouldn't answer in one interview whether she still loves him (I would take that as a no to at least to being in love) but in another she said she does love him still. Has she been reading the unflattering comments about her reasons for staying? I didn't have a problem that she stayed. That was her business and decision.

The thing is she and her husband are adults and he deserves whatever he gets in the way of bad publicity but what about the children? This book and those interviews (which often end up on YouTube) leave something not only for three children but all their friends someday. What did it gain? Obviously she is not concerned right now about the fact that her kids might have a half-sister, but didn't her own have enough to bear with a narcissistic father and a mother with terminal cancer? Guess not.

I hope Americans don't buy the book and it disappears quickly from the lists. Haven't we rewarded this kind of thing enough in the past? Elizabeth is obviously a still angry woman who is lashing out supposedly in a book intended to help others (guessing) while trying to get past her own pain. She wants to make herself look good in what was at best a questionably ethical time. We might understand her. What would be our excuse for buying the book?

Happy Mother's Day

Beautiful by Claudia Carawan

Astrology mailing from Patricia Atwater

My second email forward on astrology that I received from Stephanie St. Claire.

To be honest, I do not know how much astrology impacts our daily lives. I know things like horoscopes have limited applications, probably are right about as often as chance would make it, because they are for a whole sign and not specific people; but something like this, about overall planetary influences that impact everyone, how much weight should we give it?

In this case, for the last month long before I saw this article, I had been feeling a lot of what this astrologer writes goes with this planetary combination. Some things impact one birth sign more than another and maybe that's why it has been so strong for me. I thought I'd share it here in case someone else has been feeling the same things and, like me, had no logical reason for the feelings. The comforting aspect to astrology is that these kind of combinations are there for a day, a season but won't last. If you are one who is sensitive to such things, knowing its changing nature can help.

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Subject:
FW: Astrology from Phyllis Atwater
Date: Tue, 05 May 2009 15:15:11

So many people have contacted me about the strange energy that is present virtually everywhere now, that it feels right to me that I share a few things with the hope of being helpful. Most of you know that, among many other interests, I am also an astrologer. Not your usual kind. I practiced the type of astrology most of you are familiar with from 1971 until I died in 1977. After I died everything changed for me, especially my understanding of astrology. Now, those former skills have woven their way into the energy world around me that I can easily see and interact with. In that sense, I tend to approach the subject in a much simpler, practical way that is very participatory for me - something I feel as well as see. With that said, let me begin.

Since last fall, but becoming much more intense since the election, we have been dealing with Uranus in Pisces opposite Saturn in Virgo. That's just astrological talk that hardly covers all that is happening now and what is coming, but at least it establishes some general terms. Using symbols and myth, Uranus (an air sign) is considered the heavenly flashlight that highlights what needs to be seen. It is also considered a lightning bolt in the way it zips right to the subject at hand - like a rebel, a no-nonsense change agent and transformer that says in essence "we've been doing this long enough - time to change."

When Uranus is in a sign important to you, its passage through your life feels as if someone is pulling the rug out from under your feet - fast and unlooked for, and, without any particular direction or consequence. Think of "change for the sake of change." Pisces, in this case, represents the traditional way of doing things, what we are used to, the world of cultural norms that is passing from view. Pisces means emotions, feelings, intuition, imagination, creativity, security, privacy, religious and spiritual needs. Uranus does not function well in Pisces, a water sign, so it tends to splash around a bit, upsetting people and tossing over "applecarts."

Saturn is often called the disciplinarian, the task master, that teacher who insists that you learn what you need to know through hard work and practical application. Saturn settles into routines quickly and forms systems and structures that carry the burdens and opportunities of life in ways that are dependable and eventually profitable. It is an energy form that sticks and stays and is true to its calling, for as long as it takes.

Virgo, in many ways like Saturn, is also practical and down-to-earth, an energy that can be counted on to get the job done no matter the sacrifice. Virgo is the sign of harvest, of preparing for the uplooked for, of ensuring survival and good health. Virgo serves, but usually in a more mental way, quick with words and plans and lists and categories for everything. If you want a job done, you call on a Virgo.

Right now these two giants, Uranus and Saturn, are opposite each other in a push-pull twisting "grab" that tends to foment struggles, arguments, disappointments, depression - between people, between political parties, between schools of thought, between countries, between businesses and banks, and on and on. It is a challenge to be positive when you feel as if you are being torn apart. And that's the rub: Uranus' job is to tear apart and separate anything Saturn holds on to. Yup, Uranus says we must change. We cannot live as we have before. And Saturn says, there is no way I am going to give up what I have and what I have gained in life.

What is happening now is a tug-of-war of astronomical proportions that is affecting every household, every business, every individual. No one and nothing is exempt. The response has been all-out-war between differing sides, be it Republicans and Democracts, home buyers and banks, car makers and unions, husbands and wives, food and the money to buy it, medicine and health, regulation and common sense. The war is not "overseas," it is everywhere there are people and cultures who refuse to change the "tried and true."

We must change. And we do that by listening to each other and coming up with
compromises.

Did you hear that world?

No one is going to win this war. There are no winners. Not Islam versus Christianity, not America versus Russia, not teenagers in full rebellion versus the law, not drug dealers versus governments. There are no winners in the traditional sense.

This type of energy is relentless, and it will become much more intense throughout March, April, May, the rest of this year, into next year - and - please - lookout for the time of July and August of 2010. Lay low those months. Don't push it. Take it easy. Avoid trips and moves and investments - anything of importance. There is no appreciable relief until late 2010. Then the pattern changes into a different frequency of energy shifts.

If you have been feeling pushed, almost to the point of panic; if you are feeling up against a wall with no where to turn; if you feel like closing in on yourself; if you feel overly emotional as if all you wanted to do was cry; if your back is going out and you cough or fall or hit yourself in some fashion; if you feel betrayed by the people you trusted. . . please know all these feelings and others like them are normal now. . . they are typical responses to a relentless pressure that offers no definable way out. The known way just dissolved.

Just when it looks like "the end" is at hand, know that we have lots of help available. Really. Pluto is in Capricorn. I'm not going to explain this one, suffice it to say that the message here is: re_______ (fill in the blank). In other words: redo, remodel, reassess, resew, recycle, re_____________________. What worked during the Great Depression? Just that.

Small businesses that sprang up everything, filled with people with ideas of how they could help - a little here, a little there - all kinds of ideas of how they could provide whatever service or product or skill was needed. People filling in, doing what people do best - inventing. What hurt us before were buyouts, big businesses buying up little businesses, forming huge corporations that separated the source of need from
the individual who could provide it.

Profits became a dirty word because of how grossly large and unfair and uncaring the businesses became. Wealth is wonderful, as long as it services and uplifts and educates and builds what can be used in ways that make sense. There is nothing wrong with the banking business and corporations, as long as they remember whom they serve and what their purpose is in the greater scheme of things. Lose that and you have greed. Greed only becomes a problem when it takes over common sense.

Capricorn insists on common sense. It insists on the practical. It insists on saving and investing and growing in proportion to its mission. "Bring it down" says the opposition of the giants. "Let's start over again," says Pluto. Look at the good already coming from this: families who actually eat together and talk to each other, meals being cooked at home, people sharing tasks and hardships - helping each other, neighborhoods and communities watching over children and seniors and anyone else who needs a helping hand, food banks that are aligning with farmers for a more direct alliance that works, neighborhood gardens, people learning how to compost
and also learning about simple medicines and health care that is inexpensive
and dependable.

Do you know what the single most helpful thing was that was done during the Great Depression that enabled people not only to survive but thrive? Storytelling. People telling other people their stories, what happened to them and what they learned. Funny stories. Family stories that hold people together. Spiritual stories, dreamy stories, how-to stories. STORYTELLING!!!!!!!!!! People talking to each other and sharing their lives with each other. STORYTELLING!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the little things that will save us and enhance our lives and make the days to come not only livable but wonderful. And compromise and sharing and giving and looking out for each other. If you are depressed, volunteer to help someone else. Can't get the energy to clean up your place? Clean up someone else's place and watch your energy, your drive, increase by leaps and bounds. Feel like crying, grab some crayons or paint and create something or write a book or stories or draw or dance. Each and every person has within them the heart to survive and thrive. If we help each other, that will increases many-fold.

Want to help out the people in Illinois who were laid off by Caterpillar? Send their foodbank $1. That's all you need to do, or any charity that is addressing the needs of those who have been laid off or lost their jobs. Foodbanks. Free clinics. Send them $1 a month. If enough people send these wonderful service centers $1 a month, there will be enough money not only to supply all the needs of the people in that area, but in surrounding areas as well.

Don't forget prayer and meditation. Prayer works if given freely and without limitations. It is not our job to be God. It is our job to offer the God Within and Without, that Presence, that Truth, that Sacred Holiness, our voice in humble thanks, knowing that our request for healing and guidance and comfort will be answered as surely as day follows night, in accordance with whatever is best for our/their highest good and the highest good of all concerned. And meditation, the greatest stress relief there is, a timeless way to tune in to that which is true and worthy. . . to center in the Silence of our Soul.

Invent a new business, create a new service, hug your friends and family, and get busy. We have a society and an economy and our very lives to rebuild, recreate, and reshape. This is an exciting time, really a blessed time for all. Want to give up? Well, when you give up, you get yourself out of the way, you make room for God/Allah/Source/The One Mind. Sometimes, giving up frees us from the limitations of our own set beliefs, so we can surrender to that Power Greater Than Ourselves.

AS A SPECIAL TREAT, I want to recommend a musical CD called "Fearless." It
is the creation of Claudia Carawan - exceptional, professional, all heart, original, wonderful, incredibly uplifting. Claudia writes most of her own songs. Unlike many spiritually-motivated songsters who calm and soothe, this woman's music is upfront, real and powerful, and authentically moving. Her creation is exactly what we need to get us up on our feet and doing all that we can and more. "Fearless" is the perfect music for what is happening today. My husband and I have a copy and we play it often. Highly recommended!!! (No connection here; she doesn't even know I am doing this.) Access her website at http://www.claudiacarawan.com/ and find out how to obtain your copy. Play it. Be fearless!

Many blessings to all of you, PMH

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For those of you interested in more information about this time astrologically, go to my extra blog. Atwater expands her thinking with some practical suggestions of what she believes will help: Rainy Day Extras with Part II

Scorpio Full Moon

This and the blog for tomorrow will be from email forwards that I receive now and again from Tucson psychic, Stephanie St. Claire.

From different astrologers, both relate in different ways to current astrological conditions. Readings like this are suggestions for using the energy of a full moon and certain planetary combination to one's advantage.

There are four moon photos from the farm last night if you won't get to see it where you live because of cloud cover.

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Full Moon in Scorpio - Sun in Taurus
Fri., May 8, 2009

Ahhhhh - the Moon of deep feminine emotional power.

All four elements - Earth, Water, Fire, Air have a power sign:
Earth - Taurus
Water - Scorpio
Fire - Leo
Air - Aquarius
Earth and Water are feminine, and Fire and Air are masculine.

The uprising and bursting of the Spring is embellished with the jewel of feminine power. The Winter landscape has been powerfully transformed and restored by the Earth going deeply within and replenishing herself by containing her power and energy. This Spring Full Moon is deeply sexual as the plants come into fertile bloom and the animals mate and reproduce their kind. Scorpio affects the two-leggeds with large brains in much the same way, arousing our intensity, passion, strength and magnetic desire to connect with others deeply or not at all.

Ruled by Pluto, Scorpio forces us into our hidden, psychological depths to free up any blocked resistant parts of ourselves in order to gain personal power. Risky business. And that is just what Scorpio excels at - destroying and eliminating and transmuting what no longer serves. Think Kali - Goddess of Destruction with blood-dripping skulls around her neck serving you with her fearlessness to release your power to be reborn and create anew. Which of Scorpio's three symbols is most akin to your current state? The Scorpion stinging for the love of stinging, the Eagle imperially soaring high above the mundane world, or the Phoenix rising from its own ashes to be transformed and reborn?

If your experience is revealing a tendency (perhaps subtly) towards the darker, scorpionic expressions of sarcasm, resentment, secretiveness, judgment, guilt, suspicion and power struggles, then you can maximize this Full Moon opportunity to clear the way for your true essence to shine through. Use your forgiveness and compassion practices. (Reread the May Forecast!) Pluto went retrograde on April 4th and won't be moving forward until September, so this theme is on-going and vital to our discarding of outmoded patterning relevant to previous centuries.

Another major configuration is active in the sky and squaring the Full Moon-Sun axis. Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune are all joined at 24º, 25º, 26º Aquarius. This formation will be very active this month and until the end of the year and into Feb. 2010. This triple conjunction occurred previously in 1882 in Taurus when Edison won out over Tesla and our system of Electrical Energy was birthed. Then again in 1945, the triple conjunction of Neptune, Jupiter, and Chiron occurred in Libra and the Atomic Energy era commenced. Now in 2009-10 in Aquarius what new energy system will be conceived? Will it be awakening to Quantum Energy that allows us to create our own realities through the mastering of the mechanics of the quantum field? Or harnessing the Sun's infinite power so the entire planet has all the freely available energy it needs and prosperity and balance comes to all peoples?

Individually, Neptune seeks deeper meaning by transcending the mundane and merging with a greater whole. Chiron is a doorway or turning point where healing and understanding of our wounded (unloved) self takes place. And Jupiter provides an expanded and blessed passage for this to take place. Self-healing and collective healing take place under this influence.
It's an amazing and powerfully creative transition time you have chosen to participate in. Show up in the best way you possibly can. Ask Spirit for support in ridding you of your resistances, because the astrological forces unfolding over the next 10-15 years are extremely powerful, and you want to be as flexible and open to the new influences as possible, not resistant and hanging on to the old. The gifts can be immense.

Astrological Notes by Patricia Liles. Contact her at patliles@aol.com

THE POWER PATH
P.O. Box 272
Santa Fe, NM 87504-0272
http://www.thepowerpath.com/

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All moon shots were taken in the Coast Range of Oregon May 7, 2009.
The moon cooperated beautifully with the clouds to tease, tempt and make us wait for it to fully reveal itself. It was like a woman, one in the night, with veils and transparent wraps which only slowly would she drop to reveal herself.
Click on images to enlarge and fully appreciate the beauty of the clouds, trees and moon last night.

Brida

What is now proved was once only imagin'd.
William Blake

Through the years I have read many books with spiritual themes. Many have been non-fiction but some of my favorites are fiction where the story is a vehicle to illustrate and teach spiritual messages. Celestine Prophecy is a prime example but there are many others. One of my favorites is The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo which I had written about [here].

Although I knew he had written many other books, the one I had wanted to find was Brida, his third book, which addressed a subject of interest to me-- soul mates as a part of finding life purpose. When the paperback version showed up at Costco, I bought it and then let it wait for the right time for reading. That came this spring.

Coelho's writing, influenced by mystical experiences in his own life, is a mix of Christian teaching and magic. He uses many traditions to express ideas he clearly believes are important. His stories are simple ones which convey what is needed to leave the reader an enjoyable reading experience as well as ideas to consider.

Brida's basic story is that of a young woman who is seeking to learn magic and looks for teachers to help her find the way. First she finds The Magus, a man living as a spiritual hermit, who for reasons he does not tell her, agrees to help her learn the Traditions of the Sun. This experience proves too challenging to Brida, and she turns to another teacher, one she has found through books, Wicca, who teaches the Tradition of the Moon.

Each of these traditions has a reason for being and draws to it those who are ready for the truths they will learn and hopefully incorporate into their lives. Brida's experiences wend through both traditions, the rituals, and her own life experiences. When she comes to terms with her past lives, she will find her current purpose.

As an example of Coelho's writing, the insights he teaches, here is a passage I particularly liked:

"Right now while we're here eating, ninety-nine percent of the people on this planet are, in their own way, struggling with that very question. Why are we here? Many think they've found the answer in religion or in materialism. Others despair and spend their lives and their money trying to grasp the meaning of it all. A few let the question go unanswered and live for the moment, regardless of the results of the consequences.

"Only the brave and those who understand the Traditions of the Sun and the Moon are aware that the only possible answer to the question is I DON'T KNOW.

"This might at first seem frightening, leaving us terribly vulnerable in our dealings with the world, with the things of the world, and with our own sense of our existence. Once we've got over that initial fear, however, we gradually become accustomed to the only possible solution: to follow our dreams. Having the courage to take the steps we always wanted to take is the only way of showing we trust in God."

I will definitely reread Brida and think again on the paths which Coehlo describes. For me, at this point in my life, there is much to consider. For instance, there is his concept of what a soul mate is, why it matters, how it will impact our lives to find that person. It might not be what you expect. Despite all my reading on the topic, there were some new thoughts for me.

When I read Brida again, I will do so with a highlighter but that will not be for awhile. It will be when it comes back to my mind and the time is right. The likelihood then is that I will see things in it that didn't register with me this time. It is that kind of book.

Sacred Places

When someone is looking to find spiritual answers, meaning to their life, many seek out physical places that have been defined, sometimes by many generations, as sacred, places believed to have spiritual or even healing power. Such places can be, but are not always, churches, synagogues, or temples. What they have in common is something is there-- a spiritual energy that many find rejuvenating-- and to be honest, some find threatening.

Some such places are along ley lines which stretch around the earth. It is interesting how often churches like San Xavier del Bac were built on what the native peoples considered to be powerful, sacred ground, where they already did their sacred rituals. This could make such sites not so much god defined as rather a product of this earth's natural energy.

Some sites, particularly shrines have been established somewhere because something earlier happened there or someone felt the energy and desired to honor it.

A witch would create such a place wherever she was intending to do sacred work by casting the circle and within that circle would be done her rituals. When the work was finished, the circle would be undone with nothing left to show it had been there.

What might seem inspiring and sacred to one person could be occult and frightening to another. Sometimes sacred places are defined as vortexes, such as Sedona, but many are not well known, not labeled; but those who go there will recognize them, sometimes creating a piece of art (prehistoric ones called petroglyphs), building a structure, a medicine wheel, or just sitting or lying for awhile, leaving no defiling marks behind. Often such places are recognized by many religions but with different conclusions for what they mean.

Because I like to visit places, defined as sacred by others, I have several books telling me where to find them. Some of these places I have spent time when I was seeking spiritual energy. I always go with a feeling of reverence. Some have left me very blessed.

I think if someone is looking to do spirit work on their own, finding or creating such places, places that have meaning to them, is beneficial. Why is it effective? That I cannot answer. At some of the shrines, there will be small pieces of paper or other ways to leave behind requests.

These photos are all from Tucson, Arizona, a place with strong spiritual energy of its own, where many cultures have come together and sometimes not with peace. I am not labeling them because their names are not what is important. You might go to them and feel none of what I do. They are examples of the kind of places that speak to my spirit. Each of us must find our own.

Religion's Appeal

Having grown up outside of religion, gone heavily into it during my middle years and coming out the backside of it as I reached my elder years, I find it a bit of a mystery today.

I cannot speak for others, but I wanted to believe a religion had the answer to living life wisely, to connecting with god. I went looking for which one made the most sense to me. I liked the security of thinking god was up there with a plan which we could find through, although a man-made system, channeling directly from god. If I could still believe that, I'd still be in a religion; but it was never a social thing for me but rather a search for truth.

Today, there are times I feel so negative toward religion that it's hard for me to write about it fairly. When I read a poll such as came out recently that showed more Christians are likely to condone torture than non-Christians, I am not surprised, but think what most would think-- how can a religion founded on a belief that their master was tortured to death like the idea of torturing people-- what the @@##$$%%#$# is that all about?

It's not like a fondness for torture is new to Christianity if you think about the witch burnings, the years of the Inquisition, the people who put themselves on crosses even today as a sacrifice, beat themselves, or give up something, everything supposedly to satisfy god or their religious understanding of what he/she/it might be.

Despite today's you can get anything you want if you rub god the right way version of Christianity, it was founded on a blood sacrifice-- first the Passover and then the Crucifixion. The Crucifixion was supposedly okay because of the Resurrection but without the torture and death, the Resurrection would not have had meaning.

Christians flocked to Mel Gibson's film about Christ's last days. Was part of that appeal somehow glorying in watching someone being tortured-- for them? I think in Christianity today there is still this strange mix of it will fix everything for you combined with sadism/masochism. Read the Old Testament and then tell me that today's Christians are totally blowing their interpretation of their faith.

I think back to the days when I would read the story of Abraham and think what a testimony to the man's faith instead of what a nutcase and how dare people still celebrate a man who sets the stage for sacrificing one's children if they claim god said to do it! How was that ever okay with me?

It's not just one religion where this is how it is. Humans want something. We want to identify with something. We want to be part of something. We want to feel safe. We want to think something bigger than us cares. But our wanting that does not make it so and somehow religion has often been so subverted that it ends up doing the opposite of what it might have originally been intended to do.

I think this article said it well for why people choose to join religions:

Defecting to Faith

When I hear someone saying praise the Lord-- no matter what just happened-- say they are turning their lives, all their decisions, over to an invisible god who they cannot hear or see but somehow think will make them do the right thing, I cannot help but remember when I felt that way and in some ways envy them their faith. Those ideas were part of my life for a number of years; but today I cannot claim what I do not believe.

I haven't given up on spirituality. Now I am looking for new spiritual meaning that is not in any religion. I do believe it's possible to find-- just not as easy and without as many comforting promises.

From here to there

Last week, to show extra appreciation for how they had looked after our cats and the farm animals (their efforts making our trip to Tucson possible), I wanted to give some friends one of my sculptures. I let them choose from several. It was only after they had gone with the one they chose that I looked more closely at these two.

They were not done at the same time nor with the intent of showing the same woman at two different places in her life, but it seems that's what they do show. I like the smoothness of texture on the young woman sculpture while the old woman has roughened texture as well as her aged face and posture. One looks out at the world, while the other is reminiscing or meditating on what was. The young woman looks ahead while the old woman's work is internal. The young woman's hand is strong, larger even than it might naturally have been to illustrate her physical strength while the old woman has a hand withered with age.

I suppose their connection struck me because I am thinking about aging and what the next 20 years might bring to me if I should be fortunate enough to live to the age of my mother. When I did these, aging myself was not so much on my mind. Now as part of reworking a dream for my last years, the aging body must be taken into consideration. The aging process is fascinating and not to be denied.

End of a month

and although I generally post something every two days, I really don't have anything to say. Lots of ideas floating around but none that have congealed into something I could write about. Good press conference. I wrote about the torture. That was bad.

I have been enjoying some books and DVDs but writing about them with any depth requires more brainpower than I have at the moment. So I'll put up a picture of spring and hope soon that something more interesting comes to mind. I do still have what I am now pretty sure is hay fever. It's likely been worse because this year it is worse for everyone and has been a perfect storm for pollen coming together. Maybe the trip ending just as it began added to it. Whatever the case-- this too shall pass... eventually... when the pollen quits... whenever that is.

Good News Bad News Days

Most likely you have noticed how life goes like that with ups and downs. If we are doing well, we roll with the punches, if not, we get knocked down. Good days and bad ones sometimes come within the same day! So it has been this last week for me and the farm.

Great time at the beach with the family followed by either a very bad cold or hay fever. It's hard to tell which given the pollen is blowing everywhere and a lot of people are miserable with allergies. One thing about a colder spring is that when it warms up, everything blooms at once.

One grandson began coming down with something while at the beach; the other came down with it a few days after getting home. Poor little guys were miserable and their symptoms were similar to mine except I don't have a fever. The youngest grandson was coming down with it the last I heard.

Obviously that means there is no way to know for sure what I have except of course for the sore throat, sneezing and lower than usual energy. That I know for sure.

Then the calf. Well it is better. We looked up symptoms in our Merck (veterinary handbook) and Google, got some ideas as to what had led to its problems, had been giving it an antibiotic, but Saturday called our son-in-law for further consultation. Why him? Because he's a very gifted veterinarian. It turns out we weren't giving a big enough dosage.

The calf is now following mama, enjoying learning what life is like in a herd; and although it's not a done deal yet for surviving, he's looking good enough that I took some photos. I could have awakened him for a more interesting one but decided he needed his rest more than I needed a picture. It does show Mama's protectiveness. The young one in the herd photo is not him. He and his mom were off to one side.

One afternoon I heard a cow bellowing and thought uh oh, went out; but it wasn't her. It was another mama cow; so I went looking for her baby. Turns out her baby was what I would call a pre-teen, as in the age to not care if mama is wanting him. It was hanging out with two others in the barn and in no mood to go running home to a mad mama.

So where's the bad news in all that? Well walking back from the fields on the week-end, I saw a small lamb not looking good at all. As in looking like it was on its way out. Farm Boss carried it back to the house, gave it some shots, but clearly it was too late and it died almost immediately.

Holding a baby animal in your arms as it is dying is depressing to say the least. We feel even worse because if we had noticed it sooner perhaps we could have saved it. The bad part with sheep is all too often, they don't show how sick they are until they are ready to die.

The weather has had the same ups and downs. Very nice, very pretty and then the clouds come in and it drizzles. I don't complain about rain, but the warmer temperatures lead to more grass growing and we could do with that.

Farm Boss wormed all the sheep this week-end (overload of worms is very possibly what killed the lamb) and trimmed the necessary hooves-- plus buried the lamb. Poor little thing but we don't let the creek critters eat any of the ones we lose. That's a good way to train the wild ones to come back for live ones.

None of that is much fun, but it's part of farm life. I most often photograph and write here about the pretty part, the enjoyable part, but I am sure most people understand it's not all that way.

On the good side of the week's ledger, I applied for and received my Pioneer Fishing License. Not sure if that is supposed to be capitalized but it seemed pretty cool to me when I found out it was possible to do. If someone, over the age of 65, has lived in Oregon 50 years, not necessarily all in a row, they can apply for a license to fish for free. It will require getting a new one each year but only have to go in the first time in person.

Farm Boss got his before we went to Tucson, and now I have mine which means I can work on learning to fly fish again this summer. I have barbless hooks on my flies, a nice pole, and reel-- even a fishing vest-- all of which I have only used with brief permits in Yellowstone Park.

For me, it's about being out on the rivers, learning how the fish think and fooling them into thinking I am a bug they want to eat. Fly fishing is an art, and I have always loved watching it done by someone skilled. I will mostly do catch and release if I catch anything.

What made it even sweeter was when the woman took one look at me and said, sorry for saying this but you don't look old enough for this. Do you have a driver's license I can see? Definitely a nice thing to hear especially at a time where I wasn't feeling all that swift.

Anyway as I decide whether to sneeze again, glance out the window at the rain, and more or less feel like it's been one of those weeks (and that doesn't even take into consideration the news) I figure the next one will be better! I sure hope anyway.

Torture questions

Our lives are full of good things and those that are not so good. I can well understand why many people would rather not think about the question of torture. Avoid knowing and escape responsibility. Others are horrified at what was done but feel it is over, won't happen again; so why talk about it. Some believe it was the right thing-- nuff said. From the political right has come a constant drone that whether we tortured isn't the question but that it should never have been revealed!

Would the same argument, that we must never reveal official wrong doing, work for when the Catholic Church finally admitted it had priests who abused children and that the church hierarchy tried to pay off the victims and hide the actions? Was their mistake that they ever admitted their part in it?

Peggy Noonan, (past speech writer for President Reagan) who seems more and more weird to me and not sure if it's Botox or pills but she just doesn't sound or look like a real person whenever I see her on any interview program, has said the torture memos should not have been released. Her reasoning, with an inane smile, is some mystery is necessary in life, and sometimes we just have to walk on. How many times in history have people tried to hide things and smiled sweetly while trying to walk on?

Jon Stewart aptly mimicked her by saying walking on from genocide, walking on from slavery. He didn't ask it but should walking on have been what was done after WWII when it was oh so unpleasant to realize what some human beings had thought of and done during the Holocaust? When do you decide that you will reveal evil deeds? Don't reveal it when it ruins your reputation? Does such revelation only come after a war has been lost and then it's the victors who do it? Saddam Hussein found ordering the torturing and killing of people had a high price; but then he lost a war, didn't he?

Some would say the Bush/Cheney administration's torture was not evil. It was done to bad people, and therefore was okay. Further they argue, that it kept the United States safe from further attacks. The latter fact has yet to be proven; but even if it was, would that justify doing what we have prosecuted, executed and condemned other soldiers and nations for doing?

Well the question of releasing the memos has been decided. Whether you agree or not, and I happen to agree with their release, it's not a question left to decide. I think it was right to reveal what had been done because to get past something in our lives, we need to take responsibility for what it was. Head in the sand doesn't cut it for personal living or national choices. Besides which, the information of the torture was already out there. What Americans needed to know was to what extent it went up the chain of command. We know that now-- to the top.

As Americans, we are left with a big question: do we prosecute those who ordered such acts? The right says no, we have to walk on. The left says the law must be obeyed. To the right, whatever the United States does, must be correct because the motives were pure-- even if the acts were not. To the left that is hogwash and sometimes even good people go down wrong paths. Revealing the extent to which we did might be our best insurance of not repeating it. On the other hand, David Broder makes the opposite case as he says Stop Scapegoating.

Rove said that if we punish the previous administration (in short possibly him) for crimes it may have committed, it would be like what Third World/Latin American countries do when one regime is overthrown by another. Despite how Rove would like to paint it, the question here is not one of policies but the law.

It's obvious after the last month that the right wing has already decided we didn't have a free election. They also have amnesia where it comes to looking for crimes in previous administrations (the Bush people went after Clinton for the pardons). Logic is irrelevant where passion reigns.

Rove's catch phrase became quite popular with pundits and even ended up with a few senators echoing it. To follow this train of thought, you have to ignore that what the Bush/Cheney administration did for eight years was more like Third World/Latin American juntas. It never matters what is true. It matters how it sounds-- and that sounded good to the right.

I understand why the Obama administration would hate to get into this. This is the kind of thing that could swallow an administration's energy if they became involved. Some say if it is prosecuted, it's about vengeance. Is it or is instead about justice? If there were no criminal acts, than there is nothing to prosecute; but what if there were?

Can we trust the Justice Department to figure out if crimes were committed under American law. The right does not trust that because it is used to a totally partisan Justice Department. Some say, Nixon made this case, that if the president did it, it's legal. Do we really want to say that? Would the right like that idea now that a new president is in power?

Obama has another consideration and not from the reasonable right but rather the fringe. We saw it from the tea baggers; and if you listen to right wing talk or get those emails, you already are hearing or reading it. There are those who think Obama is trying to turn our whole country over to terrorists, clandestinely give it to the Muslim extremists. Can you imagine the screaming from them if he doesn't stop an investigation into torture involving the Bush/Cheney administration? They are already being whipped up to think it would be part of his plot to destroy the country.

Despite pressure from the right (the supposed law-and-order bunch), if laws were broken, how does our country ignore that-- and even if it leads to people on the left? How do we talk to the rest of the world about our ethics if we set them aside when it's inconvenient? Wouldn't it leave the message in our country that laws are only for the lowly?

My thought on how to resolve this is to investigate what happened. This should be done by the legal system, not the Democrats. Some have suggested it should be done by retired judges.

We now know what was done. The United States authorized and used torture and sexual humiliation to gain secrets-- they hoped. The right wants to make the point of this to be: Did it work.?. Perhaps the better question is why was it done?

From what I have read, the interrogation tapes were ordered destroyed, but the people there, some who didn't want to be there, perhaps through them, the truth might come out regarding the questions asked of the prisoners if this nation's people demand to know.

From the sounds of it, torture was done to many (some who have since disappeared and may have been killed during these harsh interrogation techniques). Some likely was done for revenge. Wanting revenge now is no reason to find out what was done. The question should be instead one of motive and the answers might lie with the harsh torture done to two Al Qaeda operatives who likely had something to do with planning and ordering 9/11. I use the word likely because information gathered during torture does not stand in a court of law; but let's assume these two did what the government is saying they did.

After the investigation, if the primary reason for the torture was not about future attacks, which these guys in prison likely didn't know about anyway, but rather what we are hearing now-- to prove that Iraq was connected to 9/11 and to justify the Bush/Cheney administration's decision to attack Iraq, then doesn't this change the situation from an administration who was trying to protect America to one who was trying to protect its own power? It would mean that month of endless torture was not to get new information but rather false information.

Some might make a case that in a situation, where a country had faced such a horrible terrorist attack, drastic means must be used to prevent further attacks. I would still say it is not the right choice. Not just because of the bad guys we might be torturing, but what it does to us as a nation to toss our ethics aside as soon as it's personally inconvenient.

Does anyone who justifies torture think about what this must be like for those who were ordered to do it? If they were sadists already, it would encourage that quality in them-- but my bet is these soldiers were rarely if ever sadists. They did not enjoy it. They hated it. They were ordered to do it. Some requested to be released from that duty. Others felt it was necessary. The military branches all said it not only didn't work but that they wanted it stopped. The administration, and who knows what that means, decided it would not be stopped.

For people forced to torture others, such acts could lead to nightmares for the rest of their lives. Suicide possibly from taking part in abusive interrogations?

Also it's cavalierly mentioned that doctors oversaw the torture to be sure it didn't kill these prisoners. This sounds like what was done under the Nazis. Doctors are supposed to heal, ease the suffering of others, what did that do to them to be ordered to go against their every instinct and training?

Leaving aside those who did this, what will it say about us as a nation if we throw aside our ethics when it's to keep ourselves safe? Once we do it for one reason, how about others that keep us more comfortable? Where do we draw the line if we decide the law isn't there for us whenever it gets in our way?

For those who would say yeah it's okay if I am in danger, can they also make a case that it's okay to torture someone to admit to something that prisoner says over and over is not true? If the torture is only to justify a policy position, would even the right wing think that was justified?

Well actually wing-nuts like Limbaugh, Beck, etc. would probably go along with even that (Limbaugh to defend Cheney and Beck because he's a nut) but how about some of the more reasonable on the right? If the torture was actually only to make the Bush people and in particular Dick Cheney, look correct, would anyone say that was justified?

Today, out there on the talk show circuit, who do we have most trying to defend the previous administration's use of torture? It's not Bush but rather Dick Cheney. Did we think we would be rid of him when his time in power ended? If we did, we have been badly mistaken.

The writer, Maureen Dowd, was telling George Lucas that she had compared Cheney to Darth Vader from his Star Wars series. She wondered if that was fair. Lucas answered that George W. Bush was Darth Vader, a young man who became corrupted but started out good and ended up in the end choosing good.

Lucas said Cheney was The Emperor. When you think about that possibility, and yes, I know it's movies, but movies that use real political and human motivations, then the responsibility for the torture, the cover-ups, the whole thing likely goes to Dick Cheney who is out there right now trying to sabotage yet another administration. Think about it!

Krugman had an excellent column on the topic: Reclaiming America's Soul. Most especially if you are one who wants to just walk on, read the article and think about what the price might be of just walking on.

New Birth and Rebirth along the Creek

Spring is finally here although I think it was delayed. The trees along the creek are only now beginning to leaf out. I am not sure what a normal timeline would be but this seems late. Temperatures went straight from colder than usual to the 80s this week. I guess a lot of parts of the country have experienced the same abrupt shifts. I am not complaining but have been wondering if this early warmth means I should look for a room a/c unit for the bedroom. I sleep best in a cool room. Generally the creek cools off the house by night, but the last couple of years it has sometimes not been enough. The prediction had been that this would be a cooler than usual summer. How often are predictions right?

The photos are all from the creek that forms a border (one cows don't respect) on one long side of our property and half the back before it heads for the hills.
The farm is doing well. We are still keeping an eye on one newborn calf that we thought we lost several times. He is actually a large bull calf, born right after we got home from Tucson (I mean literally right after). Perhaps the birth came too early or something went wrong in the birth canal as the baby simply wasn't acting right and didn't seem to nurse. We actually thought it had died just before we had to leave for the family beach trip. We left the body for his mother to grieve her loss before we buried it.

When we got home Sunday, the calf was still in the world, and the man looking after the farm said the calf had moved some from place to place in the barn. It now had its head up. This all was a pleasant surprise, but we still weren't sure we could keep it alive. Farm Boss put the mother in a small pen with her baby, got her in a head gate for him to nurse, but his sucking reflexes seemed weak. Still he kept living, and she kept bellowing as she demanded he respond to her. Instinct is a wonderful thing.

When she and her calf were finally released from the pen, she got him to follow her to the back. I looked out that afternoon and saw him in the middle of one of the pastures, the temperatures too warm for that much sun with flies and crows on and around him. I guess if I had had to, I could have gotten him onto a tarp and dragged him back to the barn; but before I screwed up my back for the next week, I called Farm Boss to see if he could get home right away. He did and got the baby back into the shade of the barn.

By this time we were beginning to think he might make it. That mama sure wasn't giving up. We gave him penicillin and Vitamin B injections. Farm Boss put a lot of effort into it including 1AM visits to the barn, but I think the real difference was a mother's love. She demanded (and when a cow demands, the whole valley hears about it) that he get up and come to her.

I haven't photographed him yet because it makes me sad later to look at the pictures of those who didn't make it; and when you raise livestock, some don't make it. When I am more sure he is going to survive, I will take some pictures for the blog. Whether he lives or not, that mama is one to be proud of for her spirit.

These two photos are the kind of abstract images that I often see when looking at a creek. I got some like these when in Tucson also of my favorite desert stream. The small vignettes are often the ones that seem to the most speak of place.

I never walk along this creek without feeling gratitude at being allowed to live beside it and be part of its ecosystem. It is truly a gift that never gets old as a creek constantly changes with new pleasures to be seen with every walk by or up it, and yes, I have already waded in it.

Digital painting is of spring and winter. The creek is in the newness of spring while the woman is beginning the winter of her life.

Pacific Ocean

One of the things I love about living in the West is how easy it is to go from one type of terrain to another and within a short drive-- relatively. There are forested mountains, rivers, lakes, deserts and the ocean. Last week I was wading a desert stream. (I am rarely near water without wading, swimming or at least getting my hand dipped in it.) This week I was wading in the Pacific Ocean.
The stream did not surprise me by several higher than expected waves-- although desert streams are fully capable of doing that and more. (When in the desert, near streams or rivers, one must keep an eye out for the possibility of flash floods. They can come from storms miles away and out of sight.) The ocean wave that surprised me was really two-- a bit higher than expected and not remotely dangerous although I hadn't planned to wade more than knee deep. When I am at the ocean, I always keep my eyes on the surf-- except when I am having my photo taken.
These photos are all from this week-end. The people you see in the one above are our family-- four adult kids (two by birth and two by marriage) and four grandchildren. This beach was more or less private for those who had houses on it, not readily accessible for others.

It was a wonderful week-end with perfect beach weather. It was a lovely house to rent with a view of the beach from the windows, dunes right outside the deck providing safe places for the children to play. We had lots of laughter, interesting conversations, good food, hugging time with grandkids, and the Pacific Ocean. It was good. Oh, I said that.
The last photo is of Seal Rock on our way home Sunday morning.

Using Logic in politics

(Warning: Politics ahead)

Political Logic: If A is true and B is true, then so is C.
Logic: If A is true and B is true, C is also only if they both relate to C.

Trying to look at logic where it comes to extremists, the right wing in particular, is not possible. Listening to the righties who were out April 15th protesting taxes, suggesting they might like to secede, saying it's taxation without representation, was enough to cause anyone who did use logic to go nuts. The phrases were flung around and nothing had to relate to anything.

(Incidentally, if you are a right winger, who reads here or happens to come across this blog by chance, give me one example of logic, not hate, not fear, not platitudes, not I don't want to pay taxes (who does?), but actual logic for something that will help our country's economics right now. Ideally, then discuss it as in real programs, real ideas and what their success has been in the past not a series of catch phrases that Rush Limbaugh taught his followers. I might not agree with your ideas but real ideas are welcome.)

Coming home from Tucson to Oregon, once again while clicking through the radio stations, most of the time all I could find were right wing talk shows. By this time I partly understood why. Many of those small stations receive programs like Rush's for free. It's how he got his start in radio by having someone behind him big enough to give away the program which means the local station could get all the advertising revenue. Obviously he doesn't do that with the big stations today, but he still does for small venues. It gives him the reputation of having so many stations and leads to higher fees for the bigger venues.

Irritating as listening to that kind of host and caller was, I felt some reassurance when I got home and read an article that said the average age of listeners to talk radio was 67. Apparently younger people are using other media to get their ideas. Does this mean the era of right wing radio having a major influence will soon be past?

I have one strong opinion regarding talk radio, after listening to the hosts and their callers mutually stoking each other's ego, anger, fear and not bothering with facts on anything: Listening to this kind of thing cannot be good for the part of the brain that uses logic.

Did you know that 50% of Americans don't pay taxes? True according to right wing talk radio and Bill O'Reilly... or is it? Here is another look at the same question: the half of Americans don't pay taxes fraud.

The problem with sound bites is they don't have to involve facts. They could have a few facts, but then draw a conclusion not based on logic-- as in A + B might not equal C even if they both happen to be true.

It seems to me, an admitted leftie, that the intention of talk radio is to irritate-- everyone. Maybe they think it's like the grain of sand that irritates the oyster to create a pearl. I am not sure of their reasoning, but I think they irritate right and left-- but just with different results.

Talk radio as well as those emails that are sent around, usually from the right, require that responsible listeners or readers do some research to check facts. First are A and B true and then do they add together? How many people do any research? They see the numbers, the conclusion appeals to them, then they pass it on.

$3000 extra per family for carbon credit tax is how they reach the conclusion that Obama is raising taxes on the middle class despite his tax cuts for the same group: Gingrich rips Obama's 'energy tax. Keep in mind that this is a suggested program and has some offsets. Actual cost is an unknown factor. A + B and who knows what it equals for now. What if reducing our dependence on foreign oil has a net gain? I don't know it does, but the naysayers don't know that it doesn't.

When someone is exploring ideas rather than the scare talk, how about asking questions that might get us somewhere. Like: What are better solutions to cut our energy usage? Do we have an unhealthy dependence on foreign oil? Is there enough local oil to supply our needs/wants? Is part of our nation's roller coaster ride on costs (i.e. inflation and deflation) due to no control over energy costs?

But, if you are a right wing talk radio listener, it appears to me that you aren't wanting discussions like that-- especially not if it involves a lot of facts, dry details, or worst guests to discuss alternative ideas. You want to hear ranting, excitement, fear and anger while stirring in some paranoia. Glenn Beck fits the bill nicely.

The problem with a knee-jerk reaction from the right is they leave the question of what to do wide open with no options to consider other than from the left. Real discussions of viable ideas is what we need from the conservative and the liberal side. We aren't getting that from any right wing talk radio at least not that I heard on this trip.

Extreme right wingers probably number a few million and only a few of those are avid enough to come out to rallies such as we just had (which had around 300,000 across the nation); but those who do are clearly listening to leaders who stoke them up by shifting the facts to suit the situation and their cause.

An example: When it was Democrats who had lost the election in 2001, Sean Hannity was espousing how good citizens would not revolt, not demonstrate in the streets, but would instead work to make things better. Patriotism, baby! Sounds responsible, doesn't it? Now Hannity says revolution is just dandy. He grins at the talk of Texas seceding from the United States. Hey, what better way to express irritation than to revolt or secede? (75% of Texans didn't see it the way of their current governor. Might it be, because of his loose mouth, his being stoked to some of that right wing hysteria, that Texas will next elect Kay Bailey Hutchinson?)

One thing that really got me was the huge difference when I finally found (in the Sacramento area) an NPR station (not something I listen to much at home but then at home I don't listen to talk radio period). It was Fresh Air and Terry Gross was interviewing a financial expert who had headed the International Monetary Fund and now teaches economics at MIT. The questions, the articulate responses, the exploration of ideas was fresh air. There was no anger, no spiel but rather a look at what could help, what isn't helping, and where might we be heading.

Coming into Oregon, for the very first time, we found an actual liberal radio station, which was based in Portland but evidently had repeaters down state. By this time I could not stand to even listen to the first sentence by that hate-monger, Michael Savage. Anyway we heard Tom Hartman who had on guests to discuss various problems, one included Roger Hedgecock (right wing radio host, sometime substitute for Rush), and the two of them actually managed intelligent discussion of right wing extremists being targeted by Homeland Security and what that means.

Can you imagine if Homeland Security (like Hartman, I dislike the word homeland as it is a reminder of Nazi Germany and how fascism works) ignored groups which sometimes spawn militias which can turn violent-- think Timothy McVeigh! The United States has and will continue to also be looking at left wing extremists who are also capable of turning violent. For someone to think that extremists groups cannot turn violent, especially when being fed as they are today, they have to be suffering a failure of logic-- not to mention ignoring history.

Here are some links regarding the tea bagging groups (did these sweet old ladies parading against taxes understand what that term means in slang? Somebody has a sense of humor).

Sharing tea bags with right wing extremists

For satire in the grand old tradition, check out Daily Show regularly. This clip was of the laugh and shake my head kind: John Oliver Talks Tyranny with Tea Partiers. It reminded me of when we listened to the Sarah Palin supporters, who I would bet these people all were. There is a humorous irony in all of this-- except our nation is at stake.

If you don't know much about Rush Limbaugh, this expose from Vanity Fair is an excellent one-- as are many of their journalism pieces: Rush Limbaugh: The Man who Ate the G.O.P by Michael Wolff.