The Miracle of the Woods

We went out the day before to find sign and places to wait in ambush. We found plenty of rooting on the edge of a dry swamp, and I found a hollow tree big enough to hide me and best of all it had a crack that looked out over the swamp. Perfect in every way.
We got into place before dawn the next morning, me in my tree and the other guys where ever they found. We waited. Slowly the sun crept up and the sky lightened. Now I could see the edge of the swamp. Wait. Wait. Then, low but real, the sound of slow movement. Rustling in the dri-ish saw grass. Next came a hunters dream: a huge black pig slowly walked out of the brush towards me. Twenty five yards or so. NO!! TWO!!!! One behind the other. My old Fox double barrel was loaded with magnum 00 buck. Perfect. Two shells, two pigs. Wait. Wait. They came closer and got bigger and bigger. I stepped out of the tree, aimed and fired twice. Perfect hits squarely in the head of both, and both went down.
Then the Miracle of the Woods happened. As I walked up to them, shaking with adrenalin (these were after all my first and second pigs), they started to shrink. The closer I got the smaller they got. Damn. How big are they? Closer, still shrinking. By the time I got to the bodies, or what was left of them, they had shriveled to about 15 pounds each. Babies. Just trying to be big and tough. Walking like adults. Puffing themselves up to look like 200 pounders. I felt like a real dick (pardons all around).
On the way out of the woods later that day, I passed two people coming into the woods with a camera or something. The woman muttered “Jerk. Why kill babies? Stupid hunters!” I wanted to scream “I DID NOT KILL BABIES. THESE SUCKERS WERE 200 POUNDS EACH WHEN I SHOT THEM!!!” But of course I didn’t. And of course they weren’t. They were tasty, though, cooked slowly in a smoker. Sort of pre-pulled pork.
Image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/2716321404_f860af82da_z.jpg

Abraham, Martin and John

And don’t forget Bobby, and Edgar, and Malcolm and all the rest. (Some might even put all of our military dead in with these martyrs.)
I heard this again over the weekend and had to wonder what the hell we were thinking way back then? And then it struck me like a bolt from the blue: whatever it was, the times are getting there again. Division so deep you can’t see the bottom, lack of respect for the other side, lies flying in all directions, money controlling everything.
Watch out for the next wave of assassinations.

And speaking of songs, don’t forget that there is indeed a bad moon rising.

Image: http://www.b2bfineart.com/nss-folder/pictures/im14_a.jpg

Who Would Elect Morons Like This?

The Impact Trickles Out
Restrict access to abortion, reduce broadness of social safety net (reduce food stamps, rent subsidies and access to health care) reduce the size of state payrolls by cutting and privatizing state functions, cuts to education at all levels, roll back gay marriage/gay rights legislation, get rid of pesky regulations like development area restrictions and waste dumping. According to the news services this morning these are the priorities for most of the newly Republican state legislatures. There are a number of different reasons why each is in the list, but the effect remains the same: return to a period when the environment for both people and the natural world was less friendly, less caring, less careful and less concerned with individual rights. The Christian Right and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce along with BIG BANKS and BIG BUSINESSES are all singing “Happy Days are Here Again”.
And why not? They all will get what they wanted when they poured BILLIONS of dollars into Republican campaigns. And the rest of us poor schnooks get screwed, again.
America has the lowest tax rate of all the first world nations on earth. The LOWEST!!! The cheapest gas, the cheapest food, the cheapest housing, the cheapest, ooops, make that the most expensive , medical costs (but by far not the best care), and the list goes on. You would think that someone would take a look at the failing State budgets and figure out that cutting property taxes, already the cheapest of all first world nations, makes things worse. You would think that putting hundreds of thousands of state workers out of jobs (and there goes their purchasing power) would make things worse. You would think - - - . Ah HA! THINKING!!
These morons aren’t thinking past the next election. They don’t care about your future, they care about THEIRS. I wonder what moron would consider electing jerks that would do this kind of destruction to our comfy country.
Image: http://janeheller.mlblogs.com/moron_button_pic1-255x229.jpg

Science and Morality.

Science: fixed truth such as the Law of Gravity which states that if you jump off a cliff without restraint or some lift mechanism, you will fall downward. No interpretation.
Morality: pliable concepts such as the Old Testament stricture “Thou Shall Not Kill”. No interpretation right? Wrong. Mercy killing by Christians. Executions by Christians. Murder by Christians. Rules for how and when to kill. So this is a moral issue.
But, can Science inform morality? You bet it can. It was considered immoral to dissect human bodies, to desecrate the temple of God, and so was a punishable crime both morally by the Church and by civilian authorities who drew their laws from the moral opinions of the Church. Fast forward and find that it is no longer a mortal sin to work on a cadaver. Science trumped morality.
What about the issue of embryonic stem cell research? Opinion on the morality of this prevents the Science of it from being fully realized, in this country. The issue of insoulation (moment when the soul enters the body) and when conception occurs blur the moral arguments, but the fact that thousands of frozen embryos will die anyway and could be used to seriously help people is a fact. No ambiguity. Is a fertile embryo a person? Who knows? When does the soul enter the person? Is there really a soul? Who knows? These questions are argued by religious agents with no basis for ever getting a factual answer. Ambiguity.
Global climate changes? Science is quite clear on the facts. Deniers make up facts and ignore reality in favor of clichés like “I don’t trust Science” or “Not all Scientists agree.” or “You can’t believe what they say.” So deny penicillin or heart/lung transplants.
I vote for Science. Obviously many of you didn’t.

Image: http://www.greenberg-art.com/.Illustrations/.Serious/qq1sgMosesMorality.jpg

Courage Comes in Many Forms.

Here is a tale of a kind of courage. Courage comes in many forms, and I saw one the other morning. Sometime in the past this man had his entire nose, the middle of his upper lip and jaw, and part of his pallet removed, leaving a large hole in the center of his face. I don’t know why.
When I first met him he wore a prosthetic device attached to a pair of glasses that mostly hid the destruction. It had a little tab in the middle that sort of fit in the space where his moustache grew, and the sides more-or-less covered the hole. It looked like a rubber nose, the kind you see kids wear as a costume, and that is what it essentially was.
The next time I saw him was about a year later, when he arrived at my house to do some repair work. He got out of the truck with his glasses and nose in place, and walked up to the back door. We shook hands and talked about the job. As he went back to the truck I noticed him take off the glasses and throw them through the window onto the seat. He turned. Not pretty. But a major repair was underway. The jaw and lip surgery was healing nicely and the hole where his nose had been removed was now smaller and less ragged.
I guess he wears the nose at first to keep from shocking or frightening people. And I hope he took it off because he sensed I wouldn’t be shocked. I wasn’t.
This guy has the courage to face the world as he is. Unless challenged we can never know if we have that kind of courage. But we know it when we see it. And I saw it up close and personal. There are thousands of people meeting the world on their own terms. Courage to overcome fear and prejudice comes in many forms. Celebrate it when you see it. Or live it.
Image:http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/05/15/300_tank_080514014816328_wideweb__300x300.jpg

Change of Pace

I just watched a music video (Search? Music Video? Has he Cracked?) of “The Highwayman”. Take a moment out of your day and watch this. Doesn’t matter if you don’t like Cash, Nelson, Christopherson or Jennings. This transcends musical taste and cuts to the heart. The message is plain: have faith.
A lesson for us all, this day especially.
Enjoy;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VST2KKIYn50&feature=related
Image: http://smithyboy.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/thehighwayman.jpg

Just a Thought

Kumbaya? Not any time soon.

Mitch McConnell is quoted thus: "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." (1) With this as a starting point, it is difficult to see how the party of “NO” can possibly understand anything other than their own power. The incoming chair of the oversight committee (house) said something like “We will bury the White House in subpoenas”. The Republican leadership in the Senate has said something like “We will use every parliamentary maneuver to stop the Democrats in their tracks”. Can’t the Republican Party see ANY other issues of importance?
In 8 years of the Bush daze I never heard any Democrats say anything even close to these outrageous things. Why you ask? Simple. The Democrats are slow and stupid when it comes to fighting for their own survival, and the Republicans are quick and deadly when fighting for theirs. The President has already conceded that in order to move the country forward he and his will have to compromise with the Republicans. The Republicans have already said “NO”.
So don’t look for any “Kumbaya” moments any time soon. And for you liberals, women, gays, poor and others towards the bottom of the food chain out there, don’t look for any sympathy from the Republicans. But, you bankers, oil men, CEOs and other power brokers and super rich folks, start up the Victrola and put on “Happy Days are Here Again” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf53oFb4IKA).

1. http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-national/republican-leader-says-gop-s-number-one-goal-is-defeating-obama-2012
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/His_Master%27s_Voice.jpg

I don’t give up. I throw up.

Fifty one percent of registered voters in Florida did not bother to vote. According to the supervisor of elections for Leon County, Ion Sancho, most of these were Democrats. That’s right, Democrats. Who didn’t vote. Makes me want to puke in their dinner. This country is all about “the People”. We hear “the People” this and “the People” that. But when it comes time to actually hear from the people, half of them don’t bother to vote. And this time that disgusting apathy got a full slate of Republicans elected.
So now the ball is in their court to play, as the newly elected Governor said “- - - for all the people, not just the Republicans who elected them.” Well, Scott, it’s like this: the Republican minority did not elect you and your party. The apathetic, pathetic and worthless Democrats that didn’t vote elected you. Personally I recommend that you piss on them. They deserve nothing less.
Sorry, got to go. Got to throw up again.
Image: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40949000/jpg/_40949974_vomiting416300.jpg

Biuka: The Voice of Freedom

Listen to this link then come back and read: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKy_uZCC-Ko .

Thanks to NPR, I heard this incredible woman this evening. Wonderful in all qualities of singing, she said that freedom liberated her voice. Parents from an oppressive African country, raised as the only black in a gypsy enclave in Mallorca, a Spanish island, openly bisexual and a single mom. Talk about a few strikes. This woman didn't strike out. Her voice is amazing. I now have a new artist to listen to. And to learn and learn from. Don’t miss this one.

Bio information: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130920420