Hemp, good for Economy

From Raw Story

Hemp bill some see as potential windfall for California farmers
waits for Gov. Schwarzenegger's signature or veto

An industrial hemp bill that some see as "potential windfall for California farmers" waits for Governor Schwarzenegger's signature or veto, reports The New York Times on Monday.

"The bill, known as AB 1147 or the California Industrial Hemp Farming Act, is headed for the governor's desk, where it will be vetoed or signed by late September, the governor's press office said Thursday," The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported a few days ago.

"Demand for hemp products such as clothing, food, body care, paper and even auto parts has been growing rapidly in recent years, with the U.S. hemp market now exceeding an estimated $270 million in annual retail sales," the press release continues. "The new law would give farmers the ability to legally supply U.S. manufacturers with hemp seed, oil and fiber and would not weaken anti-drug laws."

Charles Meyer’s politics are as steady and unswerving as the rows of pima cotton on his Central Valley farm. With his work-shirt blue eyes and flinty Clint Eastwood demeanor, he is staunchly in favor of the war in Iraq, against gun control and believes people unwilling to recite the Pledge of Allegiance should be kicked out of America, and fast.

But what gets him excited is the crop he sees as a potential windfall for California farmers: industrial hemp, or Cannabis sativa. The rapidly growing plant with a seemingly infinite variety of uses is against federal law to grow because of its association with its evil twin, marijuana.

“Industrial hemp is a wholesome product,” said Mr. Meyer, 65, who says he has never worn tie-dye and professes a deep disdain for “dope.”

“The fact we’re not growing it is asinine,” Mr. Meyer said.

Links: Hemp Car

Hemp Nation

Hemp.com


me in the hEEmp

Star-like mingles with the stars

The painting above is American artist Frederick Judd Waugh's "Knight of the Holy Grail" (1912)

Sometime on lonely mountain-meres
I find a magic bark;
I leap on board: no helmsman steers:
I float till all is dark.
A gentle sound, an awful light!
Three angels bear the holy Grail:
With folded feet, in stoles of white,
On sleeping wings they sail.
Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!
My spirit beats her mortal bars,
As down dark tides the glory slides,
And star-like mingles with the stars.

This is a verse in Tennyson's "Sir Galahad"

Star-like mingles with the stars by Michael Emmanuel

Reefer Madness? NOT

Found this at RawStory:


America's drug warriors" need to take a trip to Amsterdam to see that there is no "reefer madness," argues New York Times columnist John Tierney in his Saturday column, RAW STORY has found.

"Arjan Roskam, the creator of the award-winning marijuana blend named 'Arjan's Haze,' has dozens of pictures of celebrity visitors on the wall of his coffee shop in Amsterdam," writes Tierney. "He's got Eminem, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Mike Tyson -- but so far, unfortunately, not a single White House drug czar."

"But if America's drug warriors came here, they would learn something even if they didn't sample any of the dozens of varieties of marijuana sold legally in specially licensed coffee shops," Tierney writes. "They could see that the patrons puffing on joints generally don't look any more zombielike than the crowd at an American bar -- or, for that matter, a congressional subcommittee listening to a lecture on evils of marijuana."

"Even though marijuana has been widely available since the 1970s, enough to corrupt a couple of generations, the Netherlands has not succumbed to reefer madness," Tierney writes.


Excerpts from the Tierney's column:

The Dutch generally use drugs less than Americans do, according to national surveys in both countries (and these surveys might understate Americans' drug usage, since respondents are less likely to admit illegal behavior). More Americans than Dutch reported having tried marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Among teenagers who'd tried marijuana, Americans were more likely to be regular users.

On the Route

This morning had a few highlights on the route. First in the music department. I had never heard this aria before and it was so wonderful, as good as they get, sung by Renée Fleming. Seems like she's the only singer npr plays, while there are so may good ones, but it is rare to hear any singers on what is otherwise filled with a variety of classical works. Well, the last time I mentioned Renée Fleming was just amazed at her beautiful singing. This was also so very beautiful and moved me deeply, turned out to be an aria from Antonin Dvorak's "Rusalka".

The other note worthy music was the FOUR SHORT PIECES FOR CLASSICAL GUITAR by David Hahn. He has a great website with audio samples that work! Check him out.

Finally, in the "Night Sky" department.

We are now seeing Orion rising in the East, 5:15am. His belt points to Taurus above him. And to the north is Perseus and Auriga and Cassiopeia. Here's a chart list to see how they are placed in the sky. When I first started looking at the Constellations in November last year these guys were in the western sky. All the Constellations circle counterclock-wise around Polaris, the North Star and each night get a little further until we lose them to the horizon. Remember I only take a few minutes on a clear night when the moon is not too bright or not there at all. Last night was perfect, at least for those few minutes.

The other part of "On the Route" series is "At the Beaver Pond", or "Beaver Pond Tales". It's been too dark lately in the early morning. Sometimes on my afternoon route I'll stop by and see the turtles. The last post was about the Great Egret I saw in the afternoon. I have a video of that in a previous post. I've been seeing him lately at one of my stops.

Hope you're enjoying the natural world around you, if only briefly, it can renew a sense of awe. It does for me anyway.

me in the EE

My Home Town

Two Rivers, Wisconsin, my home town

Tonight I was delighted to see my home town on CBS news, Assignment America. There's a fight on as to where the real birthplace of the ice cream sundae is. Two Rivers, Wisconsin, claims it and so does Ithaca, New York, among others. It was fun to see a few people I know on the show. It was amusing to watch the two towns go at it. I think it's being done for fun and they sure have gotten alot of publicity.

It's nice to go back to Two Rivers in the summer and enjoy Lake Michigan at Neshotah Park, where I have many, many happy memories. All the fun stuff growing up in the 60's and 70's. The picture is of the Community "House" as we called it then. It had a basketball court and a bowling ally and locker rooms in the basement. Last thing I remember doing there was playing city league basketball with my old buddies from TR.

Yes, there are two rivers, the East Twin and the West Twin, but I like the Native American names, Neshotah and Mishicot.


At the link above you can read the 2006 City of Two Rivers Council Resolution:
RESOLUTION FORMALLY CHALLENGING THE CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK’S CLAIM TO BE “BIRTHPLACE OF THE ICE CREAM SUNDAE”

Here's the Ithica proclamation and an editorial titled: Sundae Wars: Tell Two Rivers We All Surrender

Bush's Arrogance

Where Bush's Arrogance Has Taken Us
By Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown. Posted August 23, 2006.

An illegal war, a long list of eroded rights, and a country run by and for the benefit of corporate campaign donors -- all courtesy of the imperial presidency.


During his gubernatorial days in Texas, George W let slip a one-sentence thought that unintentionally gave us a peek into his political soul. In hindsight, it should've been loudly broadcast all across our land so people could've absorbed it, contemplated its portent?and roundly rejected the guy's bid for the presidency. On May 21, 1999, reacting to some satirical criticism of him, Bush snapped: "There ought to be limits to freedom."

Gosh, so many freedoms to limit, so little time! But in five short years, the BushCheneyRummy regime has made remarkable strides toward dismembering the genius of the Founders, going at our Constitution and Bill of Rights like famished alligators chasing a couple of poodles.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
-George W., August 2004


Read all at link above.

How to Deal with Al-Qaida? Declare Victory

James Fallows offers a modest proposal in the war against terrorism in the September issue of The Atlantic Monthly. His article, "Declaring Victory," calls for the U.S. to resist being provoked by terrorist acts.

Heard this on npr this morning.

"The same people that told me that Al-Qaida was battered and on the run said that the only thing that has gone well for Al-Qaida in the last 5 years had been America's decision to invade Iraq."

"[The london terrorists plot] had nothing to do with declaring war on terror, you're either with us or against us, but on old fashioned surveillance, police work, cultivating allies, ...informers inside the cell."

"The real harm terrorists cause a society is not so much the direct damage..... but the [self-destructive] reaction that it provokes." (Meaning an over-reaction)(Iraq)

Can you imagine George Bush declaring victory in his "war on terror"?
I thought Mr. Fallows made some good, if not obvious points. Maybe not so obvious to the fear-mongering, war-loving folks. Which reminds me of what John McCain said on "Meet the Press" this morning. He admitted that mistakes were made in Iraq, but that mistakes are made in all wars and that is why we try to AVOID them. (Avoid them, hmmm... right)

And speaking of Iraq: Baghdad out of gas

Saw this first at BlondSense

me in the EE (even while commenting and dwelling on the human condition)

Gently rowing down the stream...

A Lawless Administration

"One judge in Michigan has done what 535 members of Congress have so abysmally failed to do. She has reasserted the rule of law over a lawless administration and shown why issues of this kind belong within the constitutional process created more than two centuries ago to handle them."

Ruling for the Law
The New York Times | Editorial

Friday 18 August 2006

Ever since President Bush was forced to admit that he was spying on Americans' telephone calls and email without warrants, his lawyers have fought to keep challenges to the program out of the courts. Yesterday, that plan failed. A federal judge in Detroit declared the eavesdropping program to be illegal and unconstitutional. She also offered a scathing condemnation of what lies behind the wiretapping - Mr. Bush's attempt to expand his powers to the point that he can place himself beyond the reach of Congress, judges or the Constitution.

"There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution," wrote Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of the United States District Court in Detroit. Her decision was based on a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

She said Mr. Bush violated the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when he ordered the National Security Agency to spy without a warrant on international phone calls and e-mail by Americans and foreign residents of the United States. She noted that the surveillance law was passed to prohibit just this sort of presidential abuse of power and provided ample flexibility for gathering vital intelligence. She also said that the program violated the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the rights of free speech and association granted by the First Amendment.

President Bush has violated his oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land. He did so in secret all the while having a Congress that would allow him to do just about anything including go to war based on faulty intelligence, now known as lies. He and his administration have commited serious offenses against our country either through lack of understanding or deliberation for political purposes. Sooner or later he, as we, will pay a price for these foibles as we can either keep going down this path or return to principles established by the founder fathers, who in their wisdom foresaw these devestating possibilities to the very core of what the United States stands for. The use of state secrets is an abomination and should not be allowed to go any further. President Bush and Richard Cheney, step down. Senator Lindsey Graham, step down. You have been and continue to be a greater threat to the United States than any terrorist has been or could be. With you terrorism wins everyday. The evil you perceive as being out there wins everyday.


In this case, the administration told Judge Taylor that merely arguing its case would expose top secret information. Judge Taylor said she had reviewed the secret material and concluded it was not relevant. The secrecy claim, she said, was "disingenuous and without merit."

Peace to all. There is a better way.

me in the EE

South Carolina NOT lovin' the Bush

Just when I thought everyone in South Carolina loves George Bush, because of the few people I talked to here's someone to show me how wrong I am. As of August 14, 2006 59% disapprove of Bush's job performance. I found this information after reading an article called Lieberman's party of one by Tim Kelly, a Columbia public consultant and blogger, (Crack the Bell) in the State Newspaper, which I deliver to 400 plus customers.

Kelly has the article on his blog as Lieberman for Kingmaker.

From it:

"But tearing off his party label doesn’t so much make Lieberman a principled crusader determined to reinvent truth, justice and the American way, as it proves him to be that most familiar of Beltway creatures: a politician desperate to hang onto personal power."

"The self-important Lieberman followed suit a day later, declaring ''I'm worried that too many people, both in politics and out, don't appreciate the seriousness of the threat to American security and the evil of the enemy that faces us -- more evil or as evil as Nazism and probably more dangerous than the Soviet communists we fought during the long Cold War.''

"While the prospect of Osama hunkering down in his cave in Pakistan, poring over American election returns and exit polls, clearly sends shivers down the spines of Cheney and Lieberman, I can’t help but think there may be a bit of political calculation in their otherwise noble decisions to air such concerns."

Good to see this in the State Newspaper. Thank you, Tim Kelly.

Judge rules NSA wiretaps illegal

DOJ appeals after Judge rules NSA wiretaps illegal

RAW STORY
Published: Thursday August 17, 2006

The US Department of Justice is appealing a ruling today by a A US district court today that the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretap program is unconstitutional, RAW STORY has learned.

In an injunction ordered an immediate halt to the program, US District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor tore into warrantless surveillance, which she found "violates the Separation of Powers doctrine, the Administrative Procedures Act, the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the FISA and Title III."

Read all at link above.

Also:
Federal court finds warrantless eavesdropping unconstitutional, enjoins the program

None of this need be happening if our leaders followed the laws, the Constitution, or had never been elected to uphold and protect our Constitution and then decided they did not have to do so.


Bless us all. me in the EE

In the Spin Zone

One of my favorite political writers Robert Scheer has a good article called:

Spinning Old Threats Into New Fears

Investigators have known for a decade about terrorist plots to bring down passenger jets with liquid explosives. So why, all of a sudden, did Bush ban most liquids on flights?

Government-induced hysteria thrives on public ignorance, which is why President Bush is so confident of turning the British bomb plot to his partisan purposes. Otherwise, how could he dare claim that his policies have made the nation safer?


...With Saddam Hussein three years gone, yet Iraq still a disaster, Bush is now emphasizing the boogeyman of “Islamo-fascism.” This concept completely ignores the fact that U.S. enemies such as Syria’s Baathist regime and many Sunni insurgents in Iraq are secular, while religious fanatics on both sides of the Sunni-Shiite split are slaughtering each other in Baghdad every day in an insane sectarian conflict for control of what’s left of Iraq.

Nor are these divides anything new. Arab (and Persian) nationalism and Islamic fanaticism have for decades competed for adherents in a post-colonial region still bullied by the West and suffering from an inferiority complex. According to the 9/11 Commission, Sept. 11 lead hijacker Mohamed Atta hated the neo-fascist Iraqi dictator Hussein as “an American stooge set up to give Washington an excuse to intervene in the Middle East.”

Read all at link above.

Fear and Smear

An article at The Nation by William Greider.

An evil symbiosis does exist between Muslim terrorists and American politicians, but it is not the one Republicans describe. The jihadists need George W. Bush to sustain their cause. His bloody crusade in the Middle East bolsters their accusation that America is out to destroy Islam. The president has unwittingly made himself the lead recruiter of willing young martyrs.

More to the point, it is equally true that Bush desperately needs the terrorists. They are his last frail hope for political survival. They divert public attention, at least momentarily, from his disastrous war in Iraq and his shameful abuses of the Constitution. The "news" of terror--whether real or fantasized--reduces American politics to its most primitive impulses, the realm of fear-and-smear where George Bush is at his best.

So, once again in the run-up to a national election, we are visited with alarming news. A monstrous plot, red alert, high drama playing on all channels and extreme measures taken to tighten security. (all at link above)

Interesting how the latest terror plot affords our VP a chance to come out from hiding,to make outrages statements about the so-called "war on terror" and things political. Senator Edward Kennedy wrote an interesting article about this called, "Demeaning Democracy."

"The comments he, [Cheney], made on the result of the Connecticut Democratic primary - that it might encourage "the al-Qaida types" who want to "break the will of the American people in terms of our ability to stay in the fight and complete the task" - are an attack not just on Democrats, but on democracy itself."

Will there be enough people in the US who see through this kind of fear and smear and vote accordingly? When will there be a movement to change this destructive political practice? Here's hoping, soon.

me in the EE

Letter from Congressman Ron Paul

The latest letter from Congressman Ron Paul

Your Taxes Subsidize China

Each year the people of the United States write a check to subsidize China, one of the most brutal, anti-American regimes in the world. Lately it has been in vogue for everyone in Washington to eagerly denounce the egregious abuses of the Chinese people at the hands of their communist dictators. Yet no one in our federal government has been willing to take China on in any meaningful way.

Very few people realize that China is one of the biggest beneficiaries of American taxpayer subsidies. Thanks to the largesse of Congress and the President, China enjoys subsidized trade and the flow of US tax dollars into Beijing's coffers.

I offered an amendment before the House of Representatives last month that would have ended the $4 billion subsidy our nation quietly gives China through the US government's Export-Import Bank. The bank underwrites the purchases of goods and services by the Chinese government and others around the world. Unfortunately, only a minority of Democrats or Republicans supported my measure. Apparently, many members of Congress are happy to bash China, but don’t mind lending her U.S. taxpayer money at sweetheart interest rates.

Read all here.

On the Route

This morning on the route I heard three great pieces of music on npr. Renee Fleming singing an aria from Bellini's Norma. How beautiful the phrasing, dynamics, coluratura. It was Ms Fleming at her very best. Then the Saint-Saens 5th Piano Concerto. There had been a long silent pause after the Bellini, or I might have turned the radio off to savor that wonderful aria. I'm glad I didn't. The concerto is marvelous. What a workout for the pianist. Then after the news, the Brahms First Symphony, Leonard Berstein and the New York Philharmonic. What ecstasy gushing forth, one melody after another. It may be nicknamed Beethoven's Tenth, as Beethoven wrote 9, but Brahms is so fantastic even with his nod to Beethoven's 9th so obvious in the last movement, but not before he ends with such ecstasy and power of his own! If Beethoven crashed the gates of heaven, Brahms answered.

In the sky: Orion is back! He's rising in the early morning hours in the southeast sky. Between him and Cassiopeia, in the northeast but higher now, is Perseus the Medusa killer, and now Auriga, the Chariot Driver. Here's a chart to see what I mean.

Enchanting Learning has some great info about the Consellations here.



The daylight hours waning, it's dark when I get top the beaver pond now. I did, however, see a fox this morning.

Stealthy messenger of the gods,
Cunning and wise, reliable friend,
Guide my steps through this maze of deception
And see this problem to its end.

me in the EE

Dark Wraith Graphics

Alive...It's Alive! It's Alive!

me in the EE

Bush's, America's War Crimes

Could Bush Be Prosecuted for War Crimes? By Jan Frel, AlterNet. Posted July 10, 2006.

A Nuremberg chief prosecutor says there is a case for trying Bush for the 'supreme crime against humanity, an illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation.'

While the United States is a country like any other, its citizens no more special than any others on the planet, Americans still react with surprise at the suggestion that their country could be held responsible for something as heinous as a war crime.

Perhaps no person on the planet is better equipped to identify and describe our crimes in Iraq than Benjamin Ferenccz, a former chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials who successfully convicted 22 Nazi officers for their work in orchestrating death squads that killed more than one million people in the famous Einsatzgruppen Case. Ferencz, now 87, has gone on to become a founding father of the basis behind international law regarding war crimes, and his essays and legal work drawing from the Nuremberg trials and later the commission that established the International Criminal Court remain a lasting influence in that realm.

Ferencz called the invasion a "clear breach of law," and dismissed the Bush administration's legal defense that previous U.N. Security Council resolutions dating back to the first Gulf War justified an invasion in 2003. Ferencz notes that the first Bush president believed that the United States didn't have a U.N. mandate to go into Iraq and take out Saddam Hussein; that authorization was simply to eject Hussein from Kuwait. Ferencz asked, "So how do we get authorization more than a decade later to finish the job? The arguments made to defend this are not persuasive."

Read all at links above.

I see Israel's attacks on Lebanon in the same light. What justification do they possibly have to be THAT aggressive in attacking Lebanon? NONE. Defend itself, yes, AGRESSION, NO.

Benjamin Ferencz's wesite header reads: Law. Not War.

Constitution in Crises

The minority staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Congressman John Conyers (D., Mich.) has produced over the past many months a staggering report, just released, which documents the hard evidence of crimes and abuses committed by President Bush and his administration (breaking 26 specific laws). This report, "The Constitution in Crisis," should provide the raw material for numerous news reports and point reporters toward fertile ground for additional investigations.

See it all here.

And you wanted lasting peace?

So our current Administration, seeking peace through war and freedom and democracy on a global scale by destruction and killing, so we can all be ever so free and democratic and all, yet sparks another deepening disaster in what could have been and should be a friendly relationship with Venezuela.

The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has said his country is likely to sever ties with Israel in protest at its military offensive in Lebanon.

"Israel has gone mad. It's attacking, doing the same thing to the Palestinian and Lebanese people that they have criticised - and with reason - the Holocaust. But this is a new Holocaust."

The Venezuelan president has also angered Israel by showing support for Iran, which backs Hezbollah and has said the answer to the crisis in Lebanon is the elimination of Israel.

Remember, Chavez sees Bush in a very bad light and for good reason. He does not see the American people or the United States that way.

Great strategy by Bush and company, ever creating more perceived evil, more potential disaster, where none need exist. The glorification of little minds and little ideas blown out of proportion by righteous indignation, which here is more indignant than righteous. Sad days for the United States until we can begin to awaken from the hypnotic state and illusions that so seem to dominate our minds and hearts.


Here's hoping in the EE.

Quote for Peace

"It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear." —General Douglas MacArthur, Speech, May 15, 1951

History repeating itself?


Stole this from BlondeSense this morning. Check out some more here.



Thanks, Liz.

Overshadowed news story

The news about the justice department's drafting laws to undermine the Geneva Convention to protect retroactively those in our government who violated those laws and also seek to changed them allowing degrading and humiliating abuse of prisoners was overshadowed by the thwarted terrorist plot in England to blow up comercial airlines in flight. We heard in the early morning hours one story give way to another until there was no more mention of the first.

Yes, the terrorist thing is important, another story months in the making. Let's see if npr will return to the other story in the days to come. I think it is of major importance. The Bush policies recently been handed a major blow by the Supreme Court in the recent verdict concerning a Guantanamo Bay Prisoner, (Enemy Combatant).
Hamdan vs Rumsfeld

Here's a link to Congressman Edward Makey's recent letter to the President that begins:

We are writing to you to express our deep concern over press reports that your administration may be considering introducing legislation that could result in an increased threat of inhumane treatment of our troops abroad should they become prisoners of war.

Markey, a senior member of the House, has introduced H.R. 952, a bill to end the abhorrent practice of extraordinary rendition, in which prisoners captured or held by the U.S. are transferred to countries known to practice torture and other forms of cruel treatment. That was over a year ago. See it here.

Another article by Pete Yost at Truthout here.

Praying Mantis in my home

Spotted this little bugger today. Here's a little info on Praying Mantids.


Camouflage is very important for the praying mantis' survival. Because they have so many enemies such as birds, they must blend in with their habitat to avoid being eaten. They have a triangular-shaped head with a large compound eye on each side. Praying mantids are the only insect that turn from side to side in a full 180-degree angle. Their eyes are sensitive to the slightest movement up to 60 feet away. They have straight, leathery forewings and very powerful jaws used for devouring its prey. They have ultrasound ears on their Metathoraxes. The Metathorax is located on the thorax. Also, the males' genitalia are asymmetrical. They have a long prothorax and strong, spiny front legs held together in a praying manner. In the bodies of some species of mantis, there is a hollow chamber. Recently it has been discovered that these hollow chambers provide the mantis with a means of detecting bats, one of their most feared predators. Apparently, the mantis in flight will drastically change its flight pattern (often hurling to the ground in a spiral) when the mantis hears certain frequencies of sound.

Version 02 of "not an untouched photo"

With the addition of John Bolton, embarrassment, Ambassadork, sorry, Ambassador to the UN, I think the picture is complete. Diplomacy, it's a hard job, even when you're trying to agree with your allies. We don't diplomatize with bad guys! How lame would that be!

Hey boys and girl, you missed the boat! But how you love carnage. Yummy. The wiping out of evil, at all costs, the perpetuity of evil at all costs. Groovy. The insanity runs wild. How many more will die terrible deaths at your hands because of sheer unadulterated ignorance. Good thing, it's all an illusion in the light of what IS.

Peace to all, me in the EE

Update story: Lebanese Direct Growing Anger at US

Beirut, Lebanon - With his arm raised and fist clenched, Sheikh Hussein furiously expressed a sentiment rapidly taking hold here.

"We know who our first enemy is: America," he shouted before tearful mourners at a funeral Wednesday for 30 civilians killed by an Israeli airstrike on Monday. The white-turbaned sheikh led the crowd in a militant chant: "Death to America! Death to America!"

Even as Israel continues to pound Beirut's southern suburbs, and agreed Wednesday on plans to expand its four-week-old offensive as far as 18 miles into southern Lebanon, many here increasingly blame the US for its extensive military and political support for the Jewish state.

me in the EE

This is not an untouched photo (butthead)

Are George Bush and company sending mixed signals, smoke signals, or is someone blowing smoke up someone's ass? As usual politics comes before lives. We see it over and over again. It is sad that so many people are blinded by party loyalty, an inherent weakness of a democracy, wherein priciple is laid waste to opportunity. I apologise to the Lebanese and to the Israeli's who cannot see what harm they do in perpetuating violence. We should have said from day one,

"STOP the VIOLENCE!"

George Bush does not represent me, nor do my Senator or Congressman who choose not to speak out against this madness.

I was reminded of the story about the altered photos at BlondeSense. The pictures were on Yahoo news, but only one day. The differences are insignificant.(That's my opinion as a former artist.)

Penis Tree in the News

On npr today: A medieval mural in the town of Massa Marittima in Tucany, Italy, is causing controversy and amusement: the 12th century fresco, first uncovered only a few years ago, depicts a tree whose "fruits" are very unusual: its branches are filled with phalluses; below, a group of women are stretching their arms up to pick them.


The nonist has an interesting article about it here.


"...there is a theory, proposed by dr. george ferzoco, director of the center for tuscan studies, that the image in fact represents “by far the earliest depiction of in art of women acting as witches.” more than that though he believes it was intended as a warning from the guelphs, supporters of the papacy, of the anarchy and licentiousness that would befall the town if it fell into the hands of it’s political rivals the ghibellines."

Very interesting stuff!

Deepak Chopra

From the latest article by Deepak Chopra titled, "Where is peace in a time of war."

Change doesn't start on the surface. It's generated from consciousness. This has been true throughout history. If Buddhism can begin with one person and Christianity with twelve, let us not think in terms of numbers and odds. It may sound grandiose to compare ourselves to great spiritual guides, but we act collectively, as an alliance. Our strength comes from critical mass.

We aren't here to make the world evolve. We are here to evolve as individuals and then to spread that influence. In the wisdom tradition of Vedanta, the stream of evolution is known in Sanskrit as Dharma, from a root verb that means 'to uphold.' This gives us a clue how to live: the easiest way for us to grow is to align ourselves with Dharma. We don't have to struggle to grow--that would be unproductive, in fact. The Dharma has always favored non-violence. If we can bring ourselves to a state of non-violence, and connect with others who are doing the same thing, we have done a huge thing to reinforce Dharma.

Read it here.