Everybody look what's goin' down*

This is a book that I have not read yet - "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein. I've decided to get it from the library next time it's available. Dr. Davidson Loehr is going to be finishing up a 5-part sermon (more like a lecture, really) on this book tomorrow at UU, with the final part to be focused on Iraq and 9/11. (I love it when he gets political!! These controversial topics do get him into hot water, but he does them anyway.) He has titled the sermons "The Most Dangerous Fundamentalism on Earth"

Some other books I've read because he discussed them were "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins, and "Defying Hitler" by Sebastian Haffner.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a first-hand account of how the international banking community and corporatocracy manages to take over the world, one country at a time. He was part of it, then published this memoir about his experiences -- the kind of personal history that someone usually takes to the grave. Very interesting stuff, no matter how you look at it.

Defying Hitler is a memoir written by a German man who was classified as "Aryan" but not a Nazi in mind or heart. The memoir was kept in secret, and found by the man's son after his death. It describes his personal resistance and survival from a unique perspective. It could be a rather important book to read as it relates to these modern times in America, unless we can manage to get some of these war-mongering neo-conservative and religious fundamentalist elements "checked and balanced." There is so much at stake, so much that can be lost, and all before you know what hit you.

*lyrics from "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield

There's somethin' happenin' here.
What it is ain't exactly clear.
There's a man with a gun over there
A-tellin' me I've got to beware.

I think it's time we stop.
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin' down.

There's battle lines bein' drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speakin' their minds
A-gettin' so much resistance from behind.

I think it's time we stop.
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin' down.

What a field day for the heat.
A thousand people in the street
Singin' songs and a-carryin' signs
Mostly sayin' hooray for our side.

It's time we stop.
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's goin' down.

Paranoia strikes deep.
Into your life it will creep.
It starts when you're always afraid.
Step out of line, the MAN come and take you away.

I, Pod

Needs captions.

Purrsday Night - Black Cats are Coool

There’s some background music for this week’s cat post. It’s “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat”

OK, the song is about jazz-playing “cats” and not actual feline cats, but it’s fun and catchy. Jazz cats can be swingin’, but of course, real feline cats should never EVER be swingin’, not literally anyway. Jax (above) is all about being a cool cat, and he’s pretty sure that everybody wants to be like him. yes, he DOES have the biggest teeth on the block, possibly even the neighborhood. He's not mean, though... he's just cooool.

I found this really cute pic of a baby panther (born in in the Miskolc Zoo, Hungary) over on Seattle P.I. (AP Photo/MTI, Janos Vajda), and I wouldn’t doubt that Jax looked like that as a kitten. We don’t know, because he adopted us when he was already 7 years old.

I also want to remember our black cat, Duncan, who died one year ago (April 12) from heart disease at age 11. We think about him and miss him every day. He was extremely loving when it came to both people and other cats, and very silly and funny too. His eyes were big and round, and his purr would fill the room. We loved that little sweetie pie of a kitty.


Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at M-Cats Club - Cats - Catblogging - Music - Austin -

Thank you, Keith Olbermann

Thank you for bringing this to the attention of so many people. I'm talking about the "Worst Person" on Tuesday, April 8. It's Illinois Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago), berating a man (to put it mildly) for his lack of religious beliefs.


There is audio and a transcription of the exchange over at Friendly Atheist, so go on over and check it out. We, as a group, are the most hated people in society. This is a result of prejudice, ignorance, lack of understanding, and lies that people have been told for generations. Many people equate a person who lacks belief in a God to a terrorist, murderer, or child molester. There needs to be a lot of discussion in public forums so that the public can be made aware of the truth.

I am a peaceful, forgiving, rational, tolerant person who respects the rights of others to seek life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I think it is fine to believe in something if you have given it plenty of thought, and know WHY you believe it. Think freely, and be open to the possibility that you DON"T have all the answers, or that someone else is on a different path, and it's OK. You think that atheists hate Christians? What we hate is Christians trying to turn convert us, or else eliminate us. I used to be a Christian myself. I now choose something else... something that years of deep thinking has brought me to, and as an American, that is my right. My philosophy can change, and it will if it needs to. Again... this is America.

Tags: Keith Olbermann - atheist - atheism - bigotry

Leader of the pack, the BigDog

This is a very weird-looking critter. Is critter a proper term for a robot? I think it might be, especially for this one. It almost looks like a 2-person horse costume where the 2 ends are facing each other and the one in the "front" runs backwards. This creature is the creation of Boston Dynamics. What do you think of it? Cool? Scary? When they make a BigDog that "bites", then I'd have to say scary for sure.

Found via Plausible Futures.

His name is Higgs, not God

[LINK] When the particle collider at CERN begins operating next year, Peter Higgs is hoping that it will find a particle (the "Higgs boson") that originates from a force (the "Higgs field") that gives mass to the universe and makes life possible. Many scientists believe that it exists, and that it came into being milliseconds after the Big Bang.

Higgs is an atheist, and it bugs him that they like calling it "the God particle". He is 78 years old and has been hoping to be able to prove the existence of this particle for over 40 years, so I hope that if it does exist that he will live to see the evidence, and know that they did name it after him, not Him (not to mention being able to collect his Nobel Prize).

The Circus never ends

We went to see the new Scorsese Stones film, Shine a Light, which we saw in IMAX format. That's the best way to see it, I think. My $0.25 review is that the Stones put on one hell of a show. Scorsese tries to keep you up on the stage as though the viewer is part of the band, and there are pros and cons to that -- you don't get the audience view that much, and since it was IMAX you see HUUUGE people in extreme closeups. That part bothered MrB more than it did me. My nitpick is that Scorsese chose a Bill Clinton fundraiser event for the filming, so the audience seemed almost "planted" -- maybe not the diehards that would normally be in the house -- front rows full of pretty young women, the Clintons plus all the VIPs and high-rollers, I thought they were less enthusiastic than regular fans would have been -- just my impression. Do it with a real audience. Anyway, that part bothered me more than it did MrB. Scorsese himself is in this, and he is an absolute hoot!

The guest appearances were great! Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera!! Wow!! Jack White too. I liked all of them with this band much better than a few of the other guest stars I've seen with the Stones, people who will not be named here (I hate being torched for naming names).

We hadn't had enough, so we went over to Waterloo Records for their sale, and picked up the Rock and Roll Circus DVD. Now, if you are a fan of music circa 1968, don't miss this one. You can see a lot of it on YouTube if you look for it. It was not released until 1996, and part of it was reportedly rescued from a trash can. Arguably, it shows many of the bands during their prime, but for some reason the Stones blocked the release. Either Mick didn't like his performance or thought the Who was better than they were... who knows... (no pun intended). It was a TV show with an invited audience and incredible lineup -- it was a party. There was Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal and a stunning Marianne Faithfull. The Who were just pre-Tommy and put on an amazing performance. Just classic. The DVD extras include a modern interview with Townshend.

There was a super-group (called "Dirty Mac" made up of John Lennon, Eric Clapton (wearing a nice sweater that looks that his grandma knitted it for him), Keith Richards (on bass) and Mitch Mitchell (of Jimi Hendrix Experience) playing Yer Blues (from the brand-new White Album)! [Bootleg linkage: The Dirty Mac Sessions]

The Stones were promoting their new release, Beggar's Banquet (jeez, I am feeling old), and I loved their performances. Mick seemed a little more stoned than usual, but absolutely electrifying -- and he does writhe on the floor of the catwalk and pulls off his shirt during "Sympathy". mmmm. It was also the last appearance of Brian Jones before his death. In fact, there are so many folks in this that are no longer with us, it makes me sad.


Tags: Rolling Stones - Lennon

Cult cull

EDIT: Eldorado news | San Angelo news


You've probably been reading about this cult bust up over at Eldorado... the polygamist Fundamental Church of latter Day Saints (FLDS) and followers of Warren Jeffs. It's not, by Texas standards, that far from here so I was curious about the exact location. Found this page from Google 3D Warehouse which pinpoints it if you are curious too. The local newspub called the Eldorado Success has quite a few archived stories on the complex, but it seems to be simply because there's not much other news coming from tiny Eldorado.

The count of the number of people who have been brought out of this complex has gone from 50 yesterday to over 500 today, and although it is so far without bloodshed, there is plenty of damage that's already been done to these people by this cult of fear.

It will not be easy for the people taken out of there to adjust to a new life. worth it, of course, but not easy. There is great fear to overcome -- fear of going to Hell for even being tempted to believe anything but the given doctrine, fear of punishment (even torture), fear of God and Prophet, fear of betraying , disappointing or leaving family, love and fear being to intermingled as to be the same emotion. It's the ultimate abusive situation: children forced into marriages with close relatives -- 14 year old girls unwillingly paired with 50 year old men, plus the polygamy.

I have nothing against polygamy as a concept. If all parties are adults and all are of sound mind and wanting to marry more than one person, and all those persons want to be married to all parties concerned, then let it be arranged. To me, polygamy is not really the issue.

There should be freedom of religion. The problem comes in when your religion takes away the freedom of others, and in this case involves imprisonment and torture -- both physical and psychological.

Here are some more links for this story (maybe off the mainstream news):

Aerial photos (medium-high resolution, including the one above), various links, non-affiliated with the church.

Help the Child Brides (lots of stories there)

Eldorado-based Texas Polygamy blog (just FYI, not endorsing it)

Tags: FLDS - polygamy - Jeffs - Texas

Charlton Heston

Nooo. I didn't care for his views on the subject of guns, and he wasn't "my president" (neither is that clown who has the job now), but he will always be unforgettable for his performances in Ben-Hur, The Omega Man, Soylent Green, The Ten Commandments, and, of course, Planet of the Apes and many others. So here's to "Soylent Green is peeeeeeople!!!", "damned, dirty ape" and (::: Anne Baxter voice :::) "Oh Moses... Moses..."

aaaaaaaah!

Well, we need something pleasant now. Politics is such a poison these days. Click on the image or here for a delightful video found on Cute Overload. It's Island in the Sun by Weezer, (dir. Spike Jonze) and it's got kittens, puppies, a chimp, bears, big cats, baby big cats, and the music is good too.

Gone Gone Gone, Done Me Wrong

I have met Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was in 1996 during her book tour for "It Takes a Village". I must admit that I didn't read the book. Actually, that makes it more valuable now because it's a pristine copy, only cracked open by the First Lady to sign it and a couple of times since then by me, to look at it, and recently to photograph the signature for eBay. Yes, it will be sold on eBay.You know how Bill Clinton is known for pointing with his thumb, and now Hillary is known for pointing with her index finger? I was wearing my "Clinton/Gore" button, and she pointed at it in that manner, and said, "thank you for wearing that," and I responded with something typical of a fangirl, I'm sure. That was the extent of our 10 second meeting.

When I think back to that, it makes me sad. I loved the Clintons. I am sad because they have now ruined my positive perception of them during this nasty campaign. They could both have gone on to other pursuits involving public service or continued in politics, retaining their dignity and class. The legacy would have been a positive body of work (but not without some rough patches and controversy, but many of those only increased my respect for the way they dealt with the difficulties). Now, in my mind, they are both power-mad, desperate, willing to openly lie, cheat, wallowing in the slime with the worst of the worst, schmoozing and sleazing up to Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, not denouncing Ann Coulter's support, and The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy of Richard Mellon Scaife -- effectively becoming no better in my mind and on no higher ground than any of those. It's Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly kneecapping the only chance this country has of escaping from the muck of permanent right wing rule -- whether by helping the Republicans win, or purposefully hurting their own party. They hit the ceiling at being compared to her? This situation is even worse. I think it's a shame.

Randi Rhodes was suspended from Air America for referring to Hillary and Ferraro as "whores" during a public appearance. OK, I think Ferraro is better described as a racist and out of touch with reality than a whore, but the non-sexual definition of "whore" in Merriam-Webster is "a venal or unscrupulous person". I looked up "venal" too:

1. capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration : purchasable; especially : open to corrupt influence and especially bribery : mercenary venal legislator
2. originating in, characterized by, or associated with corrupt bribery

If you are steaming with rage at Randi's tirade, think about the meaning of the word. Tacky to say it? Probably. Would she have been suspended for saying the same thing about a right-winger? Unsure. Is the word a fair one to use in this case? Given some of the meanings of it, possibly so. Shameful and sad.

Tags: Clinton - Ferraro

Purrsday Night - Cattle and Doggles

Henry went to the eye doctor this week, a veterinary ophthalmologist. His regular doc thought he needed to be checked out for cataracts, and I was sweating that one. Henry is 16.5 years old, and we really really didn't want to subject him to eye surgery.

The doctor pronounced him to be totally cute, and fluffy as a bunny. Well, we knew that much... and I added that he was also as snuggly as a teddy bear. She said that he is having some age-related issues with his eyes, but nothing out of the ordinary for his age, nothing that gets surgery, and best of all, it isn't painful for him. He doesn't see that well in the dark anymore, so we need to leave some lights on for him. We suspected that -- he gets a little stressed if he's alone in the dark. Eventually, he will get to where he can't see that well in the light either. Poor Henry -- but he is a little old man and we must all go through these things if we live long enough.

While Henry and I were waiting in the exam room, I was looking at their bulletin board full of cards, photos, and kudos for the doctors. I got a little freaked out when I saw that several of the animals were missing an eye {gaaaaa!!}. I know... it does happen and this is an ophthalmologist after all... I am just squeamish. One thing I noticed was a dog wearing glasses. Turns out they are called Doggles, and have many protective qualities in addition to being stylish. They even have some in a matching human version so you two can dress alike.

I don't think they make cat glasses (would they be called "Cattles"? Maybe Felenses?), and can you imagine a cat willingly wearing something on its face? Our boys would not do it, anyway.

Tags and links: Friday Ark - Carnival of the Cats - This week's carnival is at CatSynth on Sunday - Cats - Catblogging

Flower season

We are in peak wildfower season here now. There are flowers year-round, one of the benefits of living in the sub-tropics, but in April they take over the landscape. Blue, yellow and especially pink are dominant, but here at the house there's a lot of red. It's looking wild!! Click photos to enlarge.

Poppies in the backyard and alleyway, with and without bees:

Purple ice plant ground cover

Bulbine

The birds planted this rogue sunflower.