Torture and Terror, Un-American Activities

I was sitting at the kitchen table going through my morning emails, reading the blogs I keep up with and generally doing what I do during the quiet of a Saturday morn when after checking out Fragments I started running Fred's link list. Basically, I was looking for some new voices on what was happening in the world.

The voice that resonated this morning is from Chris Clarke of Creek Running North. His essay from yesterday about the latest fiasco our "elected" representatives have gotten into was entitled "I am an enemy combatant". Chris is just one of the multitude of voices beginning to rise up out here in the real world, and he has a very eloquent way of putting the common outrage being felt by at least half of this country's citizens.

For all its manifold faults, for all its history steeped in racism and genocide, for all its wars of empire and Know-Nothing heritage, this country was manifestly founded on the notion that a just government bases its authority in the consent of the governed. Now the Bush administration has declared that the interests of this country are coincident with, and limited to, the short-term interests of the administration and its corporate backers, and the most basic, most essential Constitutional rights of the citizenry be damned, not by the odious exceptionalism of privilege that marred this countryÂ’s history, but across the board. All of us are three-fifths of a person now, granted the privilege of full protection only if we do nothing that requires protection, unless we are unlucky enough to be falsely accused. And I withdraw my consent.

It is a slippery slope that this administration and this congress have started us down. At some point the slide is going to get out of control. Who will have their hand on the button when this slide careens into the chasm at the bottom? We all know what the button controls, the biggest stockpile of wmd's this old world has ever seen. And a petulant, spoiled child seems to have the button...Does that thought make you feel safe and comforted?

One of the commenters on Chris's site, Alice, had this to say about his post...

The past few days, I’ve been pondering the quotation “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just”, even as I worry whether a God that I don’t believe in will care if I don’t observe Yom Kippur. Your post impelled me to google the quotation, which tells me (a) that it’s from Thomas Jefferson’s denunciation of slavery in 1785; and (b) that a lot of other folks are also pondering this, in the context of this latest assault on the principles underlying the founding of our country.

Of all of the fool things George W has done since he moved into the real world of international bull-in-the-china-shop, "I am the Decider" self indulgence, setting himself up to lead this country into a dictatorship has got to be the ultimate. And all because he needed that gold-plated "Get out of Jail Free" card. Can't depend on the Republican congress coming back to keep all of the investigations shut down. Can't take a chance the Democrats may take over the House and actually, you know, start doing the oversite that the Constitution mandates Congress do. Hell, if the democracy should actually spring up in America, you never know what might happen, George W and Dick may find themselves extradited to the Netherlands to face a jury of their peers...right?

I've said it before, I'll say it again...Torture is Torture, America does not make it a policy to torture. As Chris said, we do not have a perfect record, but as a rule we try. Now the rule will be that you can, and we have all seen were that can get you. Does anyone in Washington remember Abu Ghraib? When you make it a policy to allow torture, torture happens. When you give the President the right to imprison people, does anyone want to bet it won't happen?

As this debate played out in the halls of Congress, I had faith that somehow this Congress would find it's (pardon the loss of a better word) balls to stand up to the Dick and George Show and remember what it was they swore an oath to protect. Sure, I've heard all of the arguments about this only applies to non-citizens, but so what. I am already being lumped in with the terrorists because I don't feel that George W and crew have kept me safe without destroying the very things that make us American.

How long will it be before my rights of citizenship depend upon my kowtowing to the ruling party?

Crossposted at Blues From the Red Side of Life

Friday Morning Muse

As I sit at my computer reading the mornings emails here are a few of the things that stand out:

From the Washington Post:
E.J Dionne had this to say about the Clinton interview on Fox -

"Sober, moderate opinion will say what sober, moderate opinion always says about an episode of this sort: Tut tut, Clinton looked unpresidential, we should worry about the future, not the past, blah, blah, blah.

But sober, moderate opinion was largely silent as the right wing slashed and distorted Clinton's record on terrorism. It largely stood by as the Bush administration tried to intimidate its own critics into silence. As a result, the day-to-day political conversation was tilted toward a distorted view of the past. All the sins of omission and commission were piled onto Clinton while Bush was cast as the nation's angelic avenger. And as conservatives understand, our view of the past greatly influences what we do in the present.

A genuinely sober and moderate view would recognize that it's time the scales of history were righted. Propagandistic accounts need to be challenged, systematically and consistently. The debate needed a very hard shove. Clinton delivered it."

Then Michael Kinsley has this closing -

A commander in chief who must face life-or-death questions such as these deserves a bit of sympathy. I would sympathize more with Bush if his answers weren't so preening and struggle-free. It is wonderful to be so morally pure that you won't allow a single embryo to be destroyed in the quest for medical cures that could save lives by the thousands. You are way beyond Gandhi, sweeping the path ahead to avoid stepping on an insect: Insects have more human characteristics than a six-cell embryo.

And regarding Iraq you are quite the man, aren't you, "making the tough decisions." A regular Harry Truman, consigning thousands to death in order to bring democracy and freedom and peace to millions. But Truman actually produced democracy and freedom and peace, whereas you want credit for your hopes. That's not how it works. If you want to be the hard-ass, you get judged by results. And you can't be Gandhi and Truman at the same time.

from this mornings "A Writer's Almanac":

Miguel de Cervantes said, "Too much sanity may be madness, and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be."

From the folks at Photo Friday: "This week's Challenge: 'Anger'." I guess I'll be pondering how to capture that emotion for a while today...

Martha Stewart (don't ask) brings us Halloween Crafts.

And last in this mornings in-basket is: Eknath Easwaran's Thought for the Day

September 28

God is not external to anyone, but is present with all things, though they are ignorant that he is so.
– Plotinus

I have heard people claim that mysticism denies the physical world. A good mystic would answer, “We are not belittling Sir Isaac Newton. We don’t deny the Pythagorean theorem. All we are saying is that we have discovered another dimension to life, another realm – changeless, eternal, beyond cause and effect – on which the entire physical universe rests.”

Because our lives are oriented outward, we may doubt the existence of the Self within. I have been telling people about this Self almost daily for more than thirty years, but occasionally I still am asked, “Are you talking about something outside us?” Compared with this Self – whom we call Krishna or Christ, Allah or Adonai or the Divine Mother – my own body is “outside.” Compared with the Self, my own life is not more dear.

Yesterday I spent some time with photoshop to "enhance" a photo from last week, let me know what you think...

 

This is the un-shoped version...

 

My wife is of the thought that using photoshop to "enhance" an image is untruthfull. I tried to tell her that the enhanced version is really closer to what stopped me for the image than the straight shot...oh well, about the only thing we ever agree about is dis-agreeing. And to think we've been together for 2 1/2 decades already...

Used Cars

 
Used car lots in this neck of the woods leave a lot to be desired! 


Nothing a little paint and elbow grease wouldn't help...don't ya think?
Ya'll have a great day...

Finding a Clear Path

A few weeks back Colleen over at Loose Leaf Notes quoted some of Jim Minick's "Finding a Clear Path" published by the West Virginia University Press. Her recommendation sent me online and a week later my copy of the book arrived. I have to say I am thoroughly impressed. Jim Minick has a way of writing that makes you think he is talking to you alone. With every chapter you want to continue the conversation and add your own experiences. This is another of those books that you don't sit down and read in a couple of settings, you have to enjoy this one a chapter at a time. So far I have only made it a little over a third of the way through, but each and every page is enjoyable by itself.

As a bit of serendipity, the chapter I came to tonight spoke of Great Horned Owls. Ya gotta wonder about these kinds of coincidences...

In this same vein, I came across a quote from "the rural life" by Verlyn Klinkenborg on someone's blog (pardon my lack of brain cells). It caused me to chase down the excerpt on Amazon which really wetted my appetite, which caused me to buy the book when I found it on Daedus Books for a pittance and since I was already placing an order I added it in. This author is a wordsmith. He can put together a sentence, then tie it to others in a paragraph, add additional paragraphs to complete an essay that leaves me breathless with envy. Just speaking about binders twine in the way he does, you can almost feel the coarseness as it cuts into your palm as you throw that bale of hay from the loft. Again, this is another of those books you take your time reading. I am up to May and looking forward to the summer.

When you add in Fred First's "Slow Road Home", it begins to look like my reading habits have really changed. Blame it on the blogs, I guess.

The view from my front porch...

As I walked out the door this morning, this is the sight that greeted me...Ya'll have a great day!

 

An evening visit

Last evening before bed I decided to walk out and enjoy some of this nice fall weather before it grinds to a halt. I wondered out to the center of the field behind the house and heard an uncommon sound for this neighborhood, the hoot of an owl. Just for the fun of it I decided to answer. And thus started a conversation that lasted for over an hour and was joined by at least one other owl. With the occasional flash of a lightning bug (firefly to those of you in the mountains) to place accent on the comment of one of us or the other, we talked of kings and things of world wide importance. I must admit, I found I could agree with just about everything my guest had to say. But then, how do you argue with "hoo, hoohoo, hoo, hoo" or "hoohoo-hoohoo---hoohoo-hoohoo"?

As the night was very dark with just a sliver of a moon low on the western horizon, I cannot identify my visitors. From the size as they ghosted overhead, I expect they were either Great Horned or Barred Owls. They would sit at the top of a tree and talk back at me for a while then fly across me to a tree on the other side and continue the conversation. Most likely they were a mated pair, and like most married couples just being sociable by not leaving me out of the conversation.

When I came back to the house and informed my wife of my conversation, well, let's just say she wasn't thrilled to hear I had a visit with an owl or two. I guess you could say their are some old wives out there whose tails still have credence even after all these years of civilizing influences. Go figure...Any-hoo, I hope my new friends come and visit again I would love to drab a photo as they float overhead.

Late note: After listening to the call recordings on the sites above it would appear that my visitors were Great Horned Owls.

NC Mountain Fix

I am having a really busy week at work so I'm not doing as much reading and posting as I would like. The mail today also brought a time consuming bit of always appreciated reading pleasure, the October issue of "Our State, North Carolina". Between "Our State" and "Blue Ridge Magazine" I manage to get a semi regular fix of mountain scenery.

Reading the Editors Page brought back the passing of Hugh Morton this June 1st. I think it was my very first solitary trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway and the crossing of the Linn Cove Viaduct for the first time that set my love of Grandfather Mountain. To this day I get that same thrill every time I round that bend and see the mountain.

Anyway, I want to get on with my reading, so I am going to stick another shot from Sunday here and leave you all for the evening...

Photo of The Day



Windmill in Brazoria Wildlife Refuge
Brazoria County, Texas

A Drive In The (Almost) Wilderness

One of the places I visit on a semi-regular basis is the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge. It's located about 40 minutes from the house along Bastrop Bayou. Today I ran down to see if the rain from last night had done any good at filling the dried up lakes. With the left over cold front providing cover, the views were stupindous.



For some reason this trip I did not see a single 'gator. Two or three weeks ago when I ran down gators were everwhere. About the only thing stirring besides the wind were some birds.







I'll try to make another run after the fall migration rolls in and get some more shots...

Lunch time musing

I was setting here going thru my blogroll and trying to figure out how I ended up getting involved with all of these folks. I remember originally doing a Google search on "Blue Ridge Mountains" and ending up at Marie's Blue Ridge Blog. Her photos kept me coming back for a good while before I expanded my blog list (a bit of history is in order I guess, I have had a website for about 10 years now and I've been reading blogs since the early years of Scripting News and Radio. I was reading Ev and Megnut before Google got involved in blogs, so I am not totally in the dark about these things called blogs).
Anyway, on with the thread, once I had been reading (mostly enjoying the photos) Marie for a while I started perusing her links. That led to Fred First and Goose Creek in Fragments From Floyd and the whole Floyd County Blog Gang (Loose Leaf Notes, Blue Ridge Muse, and Ripples) which became a community I enjoyed visiting. Thanks to Fred , Colleen, Doug and David for letting me stop by to visit.
It was thru this core that my Blogroll has expanded. When I am online with time to kill, I will start running through some sites link list to see if they have anyone I haven't read who says something that resonates with me. My blog's links (now a real Blogroll because they really do make it easy to keep your links up without a lot of programming) do not follow any type of pattern. I tend to read widely and be attracted to sites that are very diverse, so you never know what you might run into on my Blogroll.
What started this thought perking today was that while I was reading Cedar Press Hill, there was Fred. When reading comments on Fred's site, there was Judith Polakoff. It seems like I run into Pablo from Roundrock Journal all over the place.
And round and round it goes.

Morning Drive III

This just goes to show you how you never know what you might miss. I passed this scene, caught sight of it out of the corner of my eye as I passed over a small bridge, drove on and decided to turn around and go back. Thanks Fred, I think the advice took...And this is the shot I am proudest of.

Morning Drive II

Same place different composition...

Morning Drive I

Fred First over at Fragments From Floyd blogged about always taking your camera and (this is the important part) stopping when you see what looks like a good shot and taking it. Well on the trip to work this morning I took him up on it and this is what resulted...

Evening Walk Out Back

After work I grabbed the camera and the tripod and wandered out back to enjoy what's left of this weather before it heats back up and the humidity rises.



The sun sidelighting the grasses looked pretty nice...



I know for most of you this is still way too much green to be calling it fall. Welcome to SE Texas. At the time of this photo the temperature was still in the upper 80's but the humidity was below 50%...

Came across this guy while walking.



While back at the house the flowers have all pretty much gone to seed...



Ya'll enjoy the week and we'll catch you on the flip side...

Autumn Redux

YES!!!!
I woke up to clear skies and a temperature of 62 degrees this morning. Finally, a brief respite from the unseasonable heat we have been living with. The drive to work was almost pleasurable with the bright sun and haze of autumn in the air.

I'll try to post some pictures this evening...Enjoy the day

Al Gore has it right...

Gore Unveils Global-Warming Plan - washingtonpost.com: "'This is not a political issue. This is a moral issue -- it affects the survival of human civilization,' Gore said in an hour-long speech at the New York University School of Law. 'Put simply, it is wrong to destroy the habitability of our planet and ruin the prospects of every generation that follows ours.'"

He went on to say...

"The debate over solutions has been slow to begin in earnest . . . because some of our leaders still find it more convenient to deny the reality of the crisis."

Autumn - Sunset

For the first time this year I could stand out and watch the sun set without wiping my brow or my lens...I love it. Too bad it wont last. The rain blew through this morning but the clouds are still hanging on. It is clearing to the west or the photo above wouldn't have happened. The weather folks are predicting a low in the 60's (I know it'll be 69 but let a guy dream will ya...). I think it may be time to follow John Scalzi's lead and cut back on the political blogs...They are eating up way to much time and they just piss me off.

It's good to see Marie Freeman posting again. I need a semi regular visual fix from Valle Crucis, NC, the semi annual vacations are never long enough.

I am really enjoying my new Nikon D80. So far I haven't found anything to complain about...Catch ya down the road.

Ann Richards

A great lady who preceded the mess we had with Gov. G W Bush died last week. Molly Ivins remembers a thing or two in her latest column. Go have a read...

Creators.com - Creators Syndicate: "At a long-ago political do at Scholz Garten in Austin, everybody who was anybody was there meetin' and greetin' at a furious pace. A group of us got the tired feet and went to lean our butts against a table at the back wall of the bar. Perched like birds in a row were Bob Bullock, then state comptroller, moi, Charles Miles, the head of Bullock's personnel department, and Ms. Ann Richards. Bullock, 20 years in Texas politics, knew every sorry, no good sumbitch in the entire state. Some old racist judge from East Texas came up to him, 'Bob, my boy, how are you?'

Bullock said, 'Judge, I'd like you to meet my friends: This is Molly Ivins with the Texas Observer.'

The judge peered up at me and said, 'How yew, little lady?'

Bullock, 'And this is Charles Miles, the head of my personnel department.' Miles, who is black, stuck out his hand, and the judge got an expression on his face as though he had just stepped into a fresh cowpie. He reached out and touched Charlie's palm with one finger, while turning eagerly to the pretty, blonde, blue-eyed Ann Richards. 'And who is this lovely lady?'

Ann beamed and replied, 'I am Mrs. Miles.' "

Ann Richards was the best Governor the state of Texas has had in my limited memory. Sadly, we will never know how well she governed because the Bush Team has spent the past decade undoing her work. Rest In Peace Madam Governor...

CO2, Methane and Climate

I've posted a few times on the global warming controversy (not that I see a controversy, but to be politically correct we'll call it a controversy). I wanted to pass on this link from Daily Kos from Friday because it puts most of what I've been saying into a single well written piece.

Science Friday: Pale Blue Flame

by DarkSyde

Fri Sep 15, 2006 at 02:52:46 AM PDT

Despite the common notion that the earth is in the sweet spot with respect to our distance from the sun, the truth is we're a little too far out. By the rights of simple thermal science, our planet should be locked in ice right now. And since our sun was even cooler in the past, the primeval earth should have quickly settled into a permanent, stable, snowball condition billions of years ago.

Go on over and check out the full post.

Buy local...Sustainable agriculture

I guess this is a prime reason for local sustainable agriculture if there ever was one...

Calif. Farm Firm Linked To Tainted Spinach - washingtonpost.com: "Federal health officials last night linked a deadly E. coli outbreak in bagged spinach products to a California farm company that sells organic produce in 74 percent of the country's grocery stores.

Natural Selection Foods, widely known for its Earthbound Farm brand, yesterday recalled all its fresh spinach products, along with packaged salads."

The really telling part of this story is that 74% of the organic produce in America comes from this one firm. I am really torn by this. On the one hand I am all for the organic movement in this country. I bought into the healthy soil - healthy food philosophy so long ago that I can't remember not believing organics were better for you.

I personally eat Earthbound Farm's Salads on a regular basis and have their Romain Lettuce in my refrigerator now. Will this change that? Probably not. Though I was surprised to learn the size of their operation...From their website

Serving as a catalyst for positive change

Earthbound Farm wants nothing less than to change the way America farms and the way America eats. Over the past 22 years, our land base has grown to 26,000 acres of organic farmland—much of that transitioned by Earthbound Farm.

Annually, Earthbound FarmÂ’s organic farming:

• Avoids the use of 267,000 pounds of toxic and persistent pesticides
• Avoids the use of more than 8,400,000 pounds of synthetic fertilizers
• Conserves nearly 1,381,000 gallons of petroleum by avoiding the use of petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers
• Combats global warming because carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is absorbed by organic fields at the rate of 3,670 pounds per acre—and with our acreage, thatÂ’s the equivalent of taking more than 6,000 cars off the road each year!

Organic farming is a sustainable method of producing safe and nutritious food for many generations to come. At Earthbound Farm, we believe organic is the healthiest choice for people and the planet . . . that it's truly "Food to live by."

So, yea, I'll probably keep buying their bagged salads until a local supply comes available. But like I said...even the organic farming movement has gone bigtime.

Today's Walk

I went walking with my camera around sundown today. For the first time in days the sky is clear. We have had a "cold" front blow through and the weather folks are saying we should expect a couple of days of "autumn" weather. They are predicting a low tonight of...Maybe 68 degrees and the height tomorrow will be a moderate 89. I really can't wait for the cool days of fall to hang around for a week or better before they run back north...Maybe next month.



At least the hazy look of fall showed up for a day or too.

Have a great day...

New Camera and rainy weather

Don't you know how it is...You get a new camera, the weather which has been dry for weeks turns stormy immediately...Here are some shots from my backyard this weekend.



Along the path by Mustang Bayou...



Mustang Bayou...



Sights along the trail...



End of the day...



Have a great week...

Siberian thaw to speed up global warming

From the Observer | World we learn the Global Warming trend could be accelerating...

"The frozen bogs of Siberia are melting, and the thaw could have devastating consequences for the planet, scientists have discovered.

They have found that Arctic permafrost, which is starting to melt due to global warming, is releasing five times more methane gas than their calculations had predicted."

Methane gas is becoming the unexpected final straw. Also a "greenhouse" gas, methane is coming to the fore as a harbinger of global climate change. Methane is a natural byproduct of decomposition, it is being produced all around us everyday and generally released into the air.

"...in the permafrost regions of Siberia and the Arctic the gas gets locked into the frozen soil, and over the millennia this has built up to create a vast reservoir of the gas."

Add this to the fact that there are probably large amounts of methane held in the sediments on the floor of lakes and seas around the world. That methane is produced in the raising of rice by the decomposition of organic matter in the flooded fields.

Here is a graph of the growth in global methane between 1993 and 2002-

Something to think about on a Sunday morning...

Photo of the Day

Sunset in the backyard

Playing with the new camera last evening. When I went out and set up to wait on the sunset there were many more clouds here. Unfortunately, they dissipated fairly quickly. I'm still learning the controls and settings...Thank god I can just delete the mistakes...

New Toy

The Drive to Work

I picked up the new Nikon yesterday evening, so now I'm digital.

On the way to work I was caught at a light around the corner from the office and this is what greeted me out the passenger window. I couldn't move so I had to play...look for more as I get used to the new camera.. 

Leon Hale: Fill 'er Up?

Take a trip down memory lane (at least if you are anywhere near my age)...

Leon Hale: Fill 'er Up?: "Fill 'er Up?

Service stations? No, I've gone back to calling them filling stations because you go in and pump the gas yourself and if you want any help you pay extra.

But I remember service stations. In the '50s I traded at a Humble Oil station near where I lived. Drive into that place and at least two guys would come out and they'd be in grinning good humor."

A Climate Repair Manual -- Global warming is a reality.

Fred at Fragments posted this link this morning. You should jump on over and check the article. I know I will be looking for the magazine at the B&N this week to read the rest.

Scientific American.com: A Climate Repair Manual:

"Translation of scientific consensus on climate change into a consensus on what should be done about it carries the debate into the type of political minefield that has often undercut attempts at international governance since the League of Nations. The U.S. holds less than 5 percent of the world's population but produces nearly 25 percent of carbon emissions and has played the role of saboteur by failing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels.

Yet one of the main sticking points for the U.S.--the absence from that accord of a requirement that developing countries agree to firm emission limits--looms as even more of an obstacle as a successor agreement is contemplated to take effect when Kyoto expires in 2012. The torrid economic growth of China and India will elicit calls from industrial nations for restraints on emissions, which will again be met by even more adamant retorts that citizens of Shenzhen and Hyderabad should have the same opportunities to build their economies that those of Detroit and Frankfurt once did."

In a earlier paragraph they telling point was:

The debate on global warming is over. Present levels of carbon dioxide--nearing 400 parts per million (ppm) in the earth's atmosphere--are higher than they have been at any time in the past 650,000 years and could easily surpass 500 ppm by the year 2050 without radical intervention.

Too bad so much of our leadership has so much invested in the fossil fuel economy and doesn't have the integrity to even ask the hard questions. American leadership is rapidly becoming an oximoron at the federal level. The stories in the news should give pause to those leaders in Washington though as the States begin to make the needed changes themselves and not wait for the corporate owned Federal Legislature to begin to move.

The problems the States face will be compounded by the fact that every time a State Legislature pushes for tighter controls the corporate owned Congress will protect the interests of their controllers.

Maybe it's the "back-to-the-lander" in me that managed to hang thru the past 30 years of corporate life, but I still am convinced that we must change the way we live here in America. I guess the American Ideal I was raised with still lingers in the back of my soul. You know the one. It says we should be the shining example for the world to see. Somehow it got twisted by the greedy so that now we just appear as the abusers and users of the world.

Cross posted at Blues from the Red Side of Life

First Friday Musing

Have you ever had the experience of someone else's words bringing forth a mind picture so vivid you could not disregard it? Even when the image the writer was invoking had nothing to do with your mind picture? Well it just happened to me reading Colleen's opening quote over at Loose Leaf Notes . She had this passage quoted:

Two watersheds have created my life. I have mapped out the valleys and mountains of these singing waters in the folds of my grandmother's quilt and the creases of the palm of my hand. These wrinkles in the landscape, and the waters that created them, carry me home again and again. ~ Jim Minnick

I don't know why, but the image that flooded my mind was of my father's hands from many, many years ago. It comes from early childhood and Sunday mornings in the Baptist Church where I was raised. I was holding his hand and tracing the veins that stood out like little ridges on the back. For some reason those ridges fascinated me all through my early years. So much so that when I look at my own hands forty years later I am still comparing them to those images from my childhood, and wondering why mine never have had those same ridges.

After writing the above, I continued to read the rest of Colleen's post for today. She managed to convince me I really wanted to see/hear the word pictures Jim Minnick paints so the book is already ordered. Lord, isn't the internet aterriblee/great place to hang out? Thanks, Colleen.

The Photo of the Day


Horace Andrew Boyd
Sept. 8, 1921 - July 19, 1996
This was my Dad from the late 70's.