05/04: Holy Week
Category: From the Heart
Posted by: an okie gardener
From the French existentialist philospher, social activist, and mystic Simone Weil who died in London while working for the Free French during World War Two. These quotes are from her notebooks, a collection of thoughts (pensees) collected in the volume Gravity and Grace.
Christ healing the sick, raising the dead, etc., that is the humble, human, almost low part of his mission. The supernatural part is the sweat of blood, the unsatisfied longing for human consolation, the supplication that he might be spared, the sense of being abandoned by God.
The abandonment at the supreme moment of the crucifixion, what an abyss of love on both sides!
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" There we have the real proof that Christianity is something divine.
Adam and Eve sought for divinity in vital energy. A tree, fruit. But it is prepared for us on dead wood, geometrically squared, where a corpse is hanging. We must look for the secret of our kinship with God in our mortality.
God crosses through the thickness of the world to come to us.
The cross as a balance and as a lever. A going down, the condition of a rising up. Heaven coming down to earth raises earth to heaven.
Christ healing the sick, raising the dead, etc., that is the humble, human, almost low part of his mission. The supernatural part is the sweat of blood, the unsatisfied longing for human consolation, the supplication that he might be spared, the sense of being abandoned by God.
The abandonment at the supreme moment of the crucifixion, what an abyss of love on both sides!
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" There we have the real proof that Christianity is something divine.
Adam and Eve sought for divinity in vital energy. A tree, fruit. But it is prepared for us on dead wood, geometrically squared, where a corpse is hanging. We must look for the secret of our kinship with God in our mortality.
God crosses through the thickness of the world to come to us.
The cross as a balance and as a lever. A going down, the condition of a rising up. Heaven coming down to earth raises earth to heaven.
Category: Same-Sex Marriage
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
In response to my post, "The Essence of the Same-Sex Marriage Debate: Valid Exception?" (review my post here), Tocqueville invited me to read and respond to Anthony Esolen's "Ten Arguments for Sanity" as posted on Mere Comments last summer. I promised that I would, and I will. In the mean time, while I am thinking and reading, here is a more accessible version of Esolen's self-described "non religious arguments based on commonsense, history and logic":
Anthony Esolen: Ten Arguments for Sanity
1. The legalization of homosexual “marriages” would enshrine the sexual revolution in law.
2. It would, in particular, enshrine in law the principle that sexual intercourse is a matter of personal fulfillment, with which the society has nothing to do.
Extended explanations of 1-2 here.
3. It will drive a deeper wedge between man and woman.
4. It makes a mockery of chastity.
Extended explanations of 3-4 here.
5. It will curtail opportunities for deep and emotionally fulfilling friendships between members of the same sex, opportunities that are already few and strained. This is particularly true of men.
6. It leaves us with no logical grounds for opposing any form of consensual intercourse among adults.
Extended explanations of 5-6 here.
7. It seals us in a culture of divorce.
8. It normalizes an abnormal behavior.
Extended explanations of 7-8 here.
9. In one crucial respect the social acceptance of homosexuality makes matters worse, not better, for the homosexual himself.
10. It spells disaster for children.
Extended explanations of 9-10 here.
Anthony Esolen: Ten Arguments for Sanity
1. The legalization of homosexual “marriages” would enshrine the sexual revolution in law.
2. It would, in particular, enshrine in law the principle that sexual intercourse is a matter of personal fulfillment, with which the society has nothing to do.
Extended explanations of 1-2 here.
3. It will drive a deeper wedge between man and woman.
4. It makes a mockery of chastity.
Extended explanations of 3-4 here.
5. It will curtail opportunities for deep and emotionally fulfilling friendships between members of the same sex, opportunities that are already few and strained. This is particularly true of men.
6. It leaves us with no logical grounds for opposing any form of consensual intercourse among adults.
Extended explanations of 5-6 here.
7. It seals us in a culture of divorce.
8. It normalizes an abnormal behavior.
Extended explanations of 7-8 here.
9. In one crucial respect the social acceptance of homosexuality makes matters worse, not better, for the homosexual himself.
10. It spells disaster for children.
Extended explanations of 9-10 here.
05/04: Holy Week
Category: From the Heart
Posted by: an okie gardener
From the 16th-century Spanish mystic, poet, monk, and reformer, St. John of the Cross.
The Young Shepherd (El Pastorcico)
A young shepherd is alone and grave,
alien to joy and happiness,
and thinking of his shepherdess
his heart is sorely hurt by love.
He doesn't weep at being lost
in love or wakening to pain,
although his heart is sorely maimed;
he weeps thinking he is forgot.
Merely the thought that his sweet friend
forgot him is a painful sword;
letting himself be hurt abroad
his wounds of love can never end.
The shepherd cries: O misery of
her distance from my love, and she
no longer cares to be near me!
My heart is sorely hurt by love!
A long time passed: he climbed the branches of
a tree and spread his lovely arms,
and dead lay hanging from his arms;
his heart was sorely hurt by love.
The Young Shepherd (El Pastorcico)
A young shepherd is alone and grave,
alien to joy and happiness,
and thinking of his shepherdess
his heart is sorely hurt by love.
He doesn't weep at being lost
in love or wakening to pain,
although his heart is sorely maimed;
he weeps thinking he is forgot.
Merely the thought that his sweet friend
forgot him is a painful sword;
letting himself be hurt abroad
his wounds of love can never end.
The shepherd cries: O misery of
her distance from my love, and she
no longer cares to be near me!
My heart is sorely hurt by love!
A long time passed: he climbed the branches of
a tree and spread his lovely arms,
and dead lay hanging from his arms;
his heart was sorely hurt by love.
Category: Farmer's Favorites
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
The blog is lazily celebrating its first full year of existence as a full-time political blog. Our official first post was on March 9, 2006. As a belated commemorative note, I am reissuing some of my favorites.
Something from last July:
"Cynicism About Democracy"
It strikes me that many of my recent comments in re "democracy" and American foreign policy carried a certain scornful dismissiveness. While I stand by my substantive analysis, I probably offered them in a misleading tone. Perhaps a few caveats and some nuance would be helpful.
What of democracy?
One problem: we are generally imprecise in our language. What we enjoy today in the United States (and often call "democracy") is a hybrid of republicanism (self determination through representative government) and democracy (popular sovereignty, rule by the people). In our system, power is invested in all the citizens--but generally exercised by a professional and learned political class. More importantly, for us, "democracy" has also become shorthand for a national culture of market-oriented economics, individual rights and equality of opportunity.
An aside: James Madison et al viewed raw democracy as "mob rule" and a recipe for disorder. While the framers of our constitution adamantly believed in government of the people and for the people, they were quite cautious concerning government by the people. The founders would not be surprised by the current tumult in the Middle East. They would have seen clearly the potential calamitous problem with democracy in that region: radical elements might use elections to take control of government and install themselves as dangerous but "legitimate" states.
For Americans, the Age of Jackson brought the beginning of a change in attitude, and within a generation, all elements of the American political system embraced the rhetoric of "democratic" government. Republican virtue, which idealized an elite class of statesman divested of their own self interest (disinterested), gave way to the "Democracy," which seized on an increasingly broadly distributed franchise and advocated, in the words of Alexis de Tocqueville, "self interest rightly understood."
In the decades that followed the War of 1812, the American democracy became inextricably coupled with the Market Revolution and forever linked with self improvement and free labor as a means of social mobility. In essence, the American Dream became not just political freedom, as defined in the Declaration of Independence or Bill or Rights, but economic opportunity as well.
Our calls for "democracy" in the Middle East are not necessarily demanding one-person-one-vote government. We are actually endorsing a broader, loosely defined idea of self-determination, which includes individual empowerment and a personal investment in stability among the people of the region. In our shorthand, democracy means a modern, educated, connected society in which the citizenry rightly understand their self interest--and act accordingly.
I have indicated that the subtext of this plan for "democracy" in the Middle East includes introducing Muslims to the pleasures of consumerism. Economic self interest, "rightly understood," is a key component within peaceful societies based on government by the people in the modern world.
This is not a new idea. In the midst of WWII, the Allies (USA, Great Britain & USSR) all agreed on "pastoralization" for post-war Germany. That is, the German nation was to be dismantled and de-industrialized and remade into an agrarian state, deprived of its status as a world power and forever defanged as a war-making threat.
But by the end of the war, the United States backed out of the gentleman's agreement. The United States opted for rebuilding and re-industrializing the defeated German nation in order to create a powerful democratic partner and strategic ally in a crucial part of the world. A few years later, after the "loss of China," the United States pursued the same policy in re Japan. As we know, these gambits paid handsome dividends.
Were these initiatives altruistic (giving the gift of freedom to our vanquished foes)? Or opportunistic (creating a lucrative economic partnership)? Or strategic? The answer is most likely "Yes." None of those explanations are mutually exclusive.
When we speak of "spreading democracy," generally, we are not cynically covering our ugly American imperial bent. Most of us genuinely believe in the superiority of our system of government and our way of life. We sincerely believe in the "greatness" of our system, and we want to share it with the "less fortunate." Would we like to make a buck and achieve our own security in the process? Absolutely.
Nevertheless, the initiative to remake the Middle East, however wrong-headed it may prove to be, is based on good intentions, national pride and a specific set of successes in our not-too-distant past.
For the record, I am not completely cynical about the power of democracy.
Something from last July:
"Cynicism About Democracy"
It strikes me that many of my recent comments in re "democracy" and American foreign policy carried a certain scornful dismissiveness. While I stand by my substantive analysis, I probably offered them in a misleading tone. Perhaps a few caveats and some nuance would be helpful.
What of democracy?
One problem: we are generally imprecise in our language. What we enjoy today in the United States (and often call "democracy") is a hybrid of republicanism (self determination through representative government) and democracy (popular sovereignty, rule by the people). In our system, power is invested in all the citizens--but generally exercised by a professional and learned political class. More importantly, for us, "democracy" has also become shorthand for a national culture of market-oriented economics, individual rights and equality of opportunity.
An aside: James Madison et al viewed raw democracy as "mob rule" and a recipe for disorder. While the framers of our constitution adamantly believed in government of the people and for the people, they were quite cautious concerning government by the people. The founders would not be surprised by the current tumult in the Middle East. They would have seen clearly the potential calamitous problem with democracy in that region: radical elements might use elections to take control of government and install themselves as dangerous but "legitimate" states.
For Americans, the Age of Jackson brought the beginning of a change in attitude, and within a generation, all elements of the American political system embraced the rhetoric of "democratic" government. Republican virtue, which idealized an elite class of statesman divested of their own self interest (disinterested), gave way to the "Democracy," which seized on an increasingly broadly distributed franchise and advocated, in the words of Alexis de Tocqueville, "self interest rightly understood."
In the decades that followed the War of 1812, the American democracy became inextricably coupled with the Market Revolution and forever linked with self improvement and free labor as a means of social mobility. In essence, the American Dream became not just political freedom, as defined in the Declaration of Independence or Bill or Rights, but economic opportunity as well.
Our calls for "democracy" in the Middle East are not necessarily demanding one-person-one-vote government. We are actually endorsing a broader, loosely defined idea of self-determination, which includes individual empowerment and a personal investment in stability among the people of the region. In our shorthand, democracy means a modern, educated, connected society in which the citizenry rightly understand their self interest--and act accordingly.
I have indicated that the subtext of this plan for "democracy" in the Middle East includes introducing Muslims to the pleasures of consumerism. Economic self interest, "rightly understood," is a key component within peaceful societies based on government by the people in the modern world.
This is not a new idea. In the midst of WWII, the Allies (USA, Great Britain & USSR) all agreed on "pastoralization" for post-war Germany. That is, the German nation was to be dismantled and de-industrialized and remade into an agrarian state, deprived of its status as a world power and forever defanged as a war-making threat.
But by the end of the war, the United States backed out of the gentleman's agreement. The United States opted for rebuilding and re-industrializing the defeated German nation in order to create a powerful democratic partner and strategic ally in a crucial part of the world. A few years later, after the "loss of China," the United States pursued the same policy in re Japan. As we know, these gambits paid handsome dividends.
Were these initiatives altruistic (giving the gift of freedom to our vanquished foes)? Or opportunistic (creating a lucrative economic partnership)? Or strategic? The answer is most likely "Yes." None of those explanations are mutually exclusive.
When we speak of "spreading democracy," generally, we are not cynically covering our ugly American imperial bent. Most of us genuinely believe in the superiority of our system of government and our way of life. We sincerely believe in the "greatness" of our system, and we want to share it with the "less fortunate." Would we like to make a buck and achieve our own security in the process? Absolutely.
Nevertheless, the initiative to remake the Middle East, however wrong-headed it may prove to be, is based on good intentions, national pride and a specific set of successes in our not-too-distant past.
For the record, I am not completely cynical about the power of democracy.
05/04: Religion in the Workplace
Category: Religion & Public Policy
Posted by: an okie gardener
Congress is now considering new legislation to give employees more latitude in expressing religious beliefs in the workplace. Story here. Link from The Layman Online.
Here is a link to the text of the bill. HR 1431 IH
Summary: H.R.1431
Title: To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to establish provisions with respect to religious accommodation in employment, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] (introduced 3/9/2007) Cosponsors (14)
Latest Major Action: 3/9/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Cosponsors:
COSPONSORS(14), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6] - 3/9/2007 Rep Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] - 3/9/2007
Rep Cantor, Eric [VA-7] - 3/9/2007 Rep Davis, David [TN-1] - 3/20/2007
Rep Edwards, Chet [TX-17] - 3/9/2007 Rep Franks, Trent [AZ-2] - 3/9/2007
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 3/9/2007 Rep Jindal, Bobby [LA-1] - 3/9/2007
Rep Price, David E. [NC-4] - 3/9/2007 Rep Souder, Mark E. [IN-3] - 3/9/2007
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 3/9/2007 Rep Wamp, Zach [TN-3] - 3/9/2007
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 3/9/2007 Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 3/9/2007
Here is a link to the text of the bill. HR 1431 IH
Summary: H.R.1431
Title: To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to establish provisions with respect to religious accommodation in employment, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] (introduced 3/9/2007) Cosponsors (14)
Latest Major Action: 3/9/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Cosponsors:
COSPONSORS(14), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6] - 3/9/2007 Rep Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] - 3/9/2007
Rep Cantor, Eric [VA-7] - 3/9/2007 Rep Davis, David [TN-1] - 3/20/2007
Rep Edwards, Chet [TX-17] - 3/9/2007 Rep Franks, Trent [AZ-2] - 3/9/2007
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 3/9/2007 Rep Jindal, Bobby [LA-1] - 3/9/2007
Rep Price, David E. [NC-4] - 3/9/2007 Rep Souder, Mark E. [IN-3] - 3/9/2007
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 3/9/2007 Rep Wamp, Zach [TN-3] - 3/9/2007
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 3/9/2007 Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 3/9/2007
04/04: Comin' Home
Category: America and the World
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
A good friend of mine is in the Middle East this week on business (unconnected to matters of state). His remarks are worth sharing with our blogging community. Although I do not have his permission to pass them along (not quite possible at this moment), I am confident that he will extend some mercy for my presumptuousness. Enjoy.
Guest Blogger: Linguist
Doha, Qatar, less than two hours to boarding.
Yo, good people of Seventh!
It hasn't been easy, all this food and fancy hotel and so on, but I felt it had to be done to make the way smooth for '09 (our motto: "It'll be fine in '09!"), checking out the scene around London, etc. And tonight, a farewell dinner that included Scots, so I can claim I was researching that part of the proposed trip as well.
Explanation: along with another couple from church, we are planning a European trip in two years.
The whole thing has been nutty, and I must say I'm glad to hear that the Brit sailors have been wisely released by the poker-playing Iranians, since my host here printed out a couple of articles today predicting missile strikes against Iran on Good Friday, just when I was hoping for some quiet meditation, call me selfish!
Seriously, though, there's nothing to be gained by violence, and my encounters with Iranians in the souk (market) today reinforced that impression: they were effusing about renewed friendship between the US and Iran. Heck, all they want to do is sell souvenirs, after all, and I obliged them.
Likewise talking to a Lebanese Christian (Francophone) perfume-selling lady last night at one of the malls: all optimistic about her country's future despite last summer's devastation which we were indirectly responsible for - people still want to love us, warts and all. If they're willing to forgive us Abu Ghraib, that's all very well, but we shouldn't be quick to forgive ourselves. She waxed lyrical about God's providing for them, and I seconded the motion. I wished her and all the other good Christians I met here, Filipinos, Indians (Goans, Keralites), Lebanese Maronites, Egyptian Copts (I learned that the very word Egypt comes from the old word for those early Christians: Gpt=Cpt) a Happy Easter.
In the spirit of ecumenism, in fact, I just wished an Israeli fellow-passenger a happy belated Passover, pointing out that I live near Crawford and that no American candidate for the presidency can proceed without the AIPAC's blessing. He loved it. I wished him mazel tov as well: it's the closest I could get to 'bon voyage.
I just want you to know I've been sacrificing, and it'll take another glass of that Chassagne-Montrachet (or maybe I'll switch to white...) and some of the baklava on offer here (maybe the cute little ones with pistachio filling) at the fancy lounge to get me though to boarding time and my flat-reclining seat. Whew! The things I won't do to be able to report to the team on what current conditions in Europe are like for a preview of the Big Trip! Well, someone's gotta do it!
Well, Lord willing and Andy Jackson's treaties with the Indigenous Peoples working out, I'll be back among you this weekend. Till then, keep the faith!
Guest Blogger: Linguist
Doha, Qatar, less than two hours to boarding.
Yo, good people of Seventh!
It hasn't been easy, all this food and fancy hotel and so on, but I felt it had to be done to make the way smooth for '09 (our motto: "It'll be fine in '09!"), checking out the scene around London, etc. And tonight, a farewell dinner that included Scots, so I can claim I was researching that part of the proposed trip as well.
Explanation: along with another couple from church, we are planning a European trip in two years.
The whole thing has been nutty, and I must say I'm glad to hear that the Brit sailors have been wisely released by the poker-playing Iranians, since my host here printed out a couple of articles today predicting missile strikes against Iran on Good Friday, just when I was hoping for some quiet meditation, call me selfish!
Seriously, though, there's nothing to be gained by violence, and my encounters with Iranians in the souk (market) today reinforced that impression: they were effusing about renewed friendship between the US and Iran. Heck, all they want to do is sell souvenirs, after all, and I obliged them.
Likewise talking to a Lebanese Christian (Francophone) perfume-selling lady last night at one of the malls: all optimistic about her country's future despite last summer's devastation which we were indirectly responsible for - people still want to love us, warts and all. If they're willing to forgive us Abu Ghraib, that's all very well, but we shouldn't be quick to forgive ourselves. She waxed lyrical about God's providing for them, and I seconded the motion. I wished her and all the other good Christians I met here, Filipinos, Indians (Goans, Keralites), Lebanese Maronites, Egyptian Copts (I learned that the very word Egypt comes from the old word for those early Christians: Gpt=Cpt) a Happy Easter.
In the spirit of ecumenism, in fact, I just wished an Israeli fellow-passenger a happy belated Passover, pointing out that I live near Crawford and that no American candidate for the presidency can proceed without the AIPAC's blessing. He loved it. I wished him mazel tov as well: it's the closest I could get to 'bon voyage.
I just want you to know I've been sacrificing, and it'll take another glass of that Chassagne-Montrachet (or maybe I'll switch to white...) and some of the baklava on offer here (maybe the cute little ones with pistachio filling) at the fancy lounge to get me though to boarding time and my flat-reclining seat. Whew! The things I won't do to be able to report to the team on what current conditions in Europe are like for a preview of the Big Trip! Well, someone's gotta do it!
Well, Lord willing and Andy Jackson's treaties with the Indigenous Peoples working out, I'll be back among you this weekend. Till then, keep the faith!
~~L.
Category: Media and Politics
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
Important Admission: I am a big fan and supporter of NPR. I enjoy their artistry. I acknowledge their left-leaning bias, and that often colors their coverage of Republicans and conservatives in unflattering and unfriendly ways. Nevertheless, I appreciate the skill and erudition that permeates every aspect of their operation.
Today, however, Morning Edition's David Greene orchestrated a gratuitously misleading characterization of the President's press conference yesterday that deserves notice.
In the introduction to the story, NPR anchor Renee Montagne set-up Greene calling the session "a little unusual." It was a Rose Garden press conference, which is not commonplace, but that is not what she meant. Greene quickly asserted that yesterday there were "no chairs or mikes" at the press conference. Perhaps the "President wasn't in the mood for something so formal," Greene wondered. Reporters "stood and tried to make themselves heard," he reported and then implied that no one (not even the President) could hear the questions. Listening to Greene, I could not help but think of the old Reagan sound bites with the helicopter roaring and Reagan cupping his ear and looking befuddled and Nancy whispering: "just tell them we are working on it."
But that was all wrong. I happened to catch a replay of the conference early this morning on C-SPAN, and it was nothing like that. My one observation about the atmospherics was that the President must have been facing the sun, for he seemed to be squinting a lot. But the audio was fine. I did not miss any questions. Maybe C-SPAN has a better audio set-up than NPR--but David Greene said there were no "mikes," which, of course, was a ridiculous statement.
Later in his report, Greene featured a sound bite (which was exquisitely audible) of the question that queried the President about the "morality of homosexuality." Green added that the reporter "was lucky enough to be near a microphone" (which supposedly were nonexistent).
Listen to the full story here.
Am I being too fastidious? Maybe. Of course, people in the news business who make a living pointing out errors ought to get their facts right. Why emphasize this erroneous angle (no microphones) or comment on reporters standing in the Rose Garden, if not to create an impression that implicitly reinforces a storyline.
Anyhow, here is the C-SPAN archive (decide for yourself): Bush Administration Page here.
And the transcript from the White House here.
Also, I witnessed a remarkable edition of C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning, which featured Ronald Griffin, a private citizen and father of a fallen American soldier. Griffen recently returned from a personal trip to Iraq. Much more on this in the hours or days to come. I encourage you to view it now for yourself here.
Today, however, Morning Edition's David Greene orchestrated a gratuitously misleading characterization of the President's press conference yesterday that deserves notice.
In the introduction to the story, NPR anchor Renee Montagne set-up Greene calling the session "a little unusual." It was a Rose Garden press conference, which is not commonplace, but that is not what she meant. Greene quickly asserted that yesterday there were "no chairs or mikes" at the press conference. Perhaps the "President wasn't in the mood for something so formal," Greene wondered. Reporters "stood and tried to make themselves heard," he reported and then implied that no one (not even the President) could hear the questions. Listening to Greene, I could not help but think of the old Reagan sound bites with the helicopter roaring and Reagan cupping his ear and looking befuddled and Nancy whispering: "just tell them we are working on it."
But that was all wrong. I happened to catch a replay of the conference early this morning on C-SPAN, and it was nothing like that. My one observation about the atmospherics was that the President must have been facing the sun, for he seemed to be squinting a lot. But the audio was fine. I did not miss any questions. Maybe C-SPAN has a better audio set-up than NPR--but David Greene said there were no "mikes," which, of course, was a ridiculous statement.
Later in his report, Greene featured a sound bite (which was exquisitely audible) of the question that queried the President about the "morality of homosexuality." Green added that the reporter "was lucky enough to be near a microphone" (which supposedly were nonexistent).
Listen to the full story here.
Am I being too fastidious? Maybe. Of course, people in the news business who make a living pointing out errors ought to get their facts right. Why emphasize this erroneous angle (no microphones) or comment on reporters standing in the Rose Garden, if not to create an impression that implicitly reinforces a storyline.
Anyhow, here is the C-SPAN archive (decide for yourself): Bush Administration Page here.
And the transcript from the White House here.
Also, I witnessed a remarkable edition of C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning, which featured Ronald Griffin, a private citizen and father of a fallen American soldier. Griffen recently returned from a personal trip to Iraq. Much more on this in the hours or days to come. I encourage you to view it now for yourself here.
03/04: A Tale of Two Houses
Category: Frivolity
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
This is making the rounds on email and the blogs. After just a touch of superficial checking, it looks like it might even be true.
House 1:
The four-bedroom home was planned so that "every room has a relationship with something in the landscape that's different from the room next door. Each of the rooms feels like a slightly different place. The resulting single-story house is a paragon of environmental planning.
The passive-solar house is built of honey-colored native limestone and positioned to absorb winter sunlight, warming the interior walkways and walls of the 4,000-square-foot residence. Geothermal heat pumps circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground. These waters pass through a heat exchange system that keeps the home warm in winter and cool in summer.
A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof urns; Wastewater from sinks, toilets, and showers cascades into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is then used to irrigate the landscaping around the four-bedroom home, (which) uses indigenous grasses, shrubs, and flowers to complete the exterior treatment of the home. In addition to its minimal environmental impact, the look and layout of the house reflect one of the paramount priorities: relaxation.
A spacious 10-foot porch wraps completely around the residence and beckons the family outdoors. With few hallways to speak of, family and guests make their way from room to room either directly or by way of the porch. "The house doesn't hold you in. Where the porch ends there is grass. There is no step-up at all." This house consumes 25% of the energy of an average American home.
(Source: Cowboys and Indians Magazine, Oct. 2002 and Chicago Tribune April 2001. Here)
House 2:
This 20-room, 8-bathroom house consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, this house devours nearly 221,000 kWh, more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, the house burned through 22,619 kWh, guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of this energy consumption, the average monthly electric bill topped $1,359. Also, natural gas bills for this house and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year. In total, this house had nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for 2006.
(Source: just about anywhere in the news last month online and on talk radio, but barely on TV.)
How about the Tennessee Center for Policy Research? I have never heard of them--but it is a start--here.
The PayOff? You guessed it: House 1 belongs to George and Laura Bush, and is in Crawford, Texas. House 2 belongs to Al and Tipper Gore, and is in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thanks to MB from Westlake Village, CA.
House 1:
The four-bedroom home was planned so that "every room has a relationship with something in the landscape that's different from the room next door. Each of the rooms feels like a slightly different place. The resulting single-story house is a paragon of environmental planning.
The passive-solar house is built of honey-colored native limestone and positioned to absorb winter sunlight, warming the interior walkways and walls of the 4,000-square-foot residence. Geothermal heat pumps circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground. These waters pass through a heat exchange system that keeps the home warm in winter and cool in summer.
A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof urns; Wastewater from sinks, toilets, and showers cascades into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is then used to irrigate the landscaping around the four-bedroom home, (which) uses indigenous grasses, shrubs, and flowers to complete the exterior treatment of the home. In addition to its minimal environmental impact, the look and layout of the house reflect one of the paramount priorities: relaxation.
A spacious 10-foot porch wraps completely around the residence and beckons the family outdoors. With few hallways to speak of, family and guests make their way from room to room either directly or by way of the porch. "The house doesn't hold you in. Where the porch ends there is grass. There is no step-up at all." This house consumes 25% of the energy of an average American home.
(Source: Cowboys and Indians Magazine, Oct. 2002 and Chicago Tribune April 2001. Here)
House 2:
This 20-room, 8-bathroom house consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, this house devours nearly 221,000 kWh, more than 20 times the national average. Last August alone, the house burned through 22,619 kWh, guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of this energy consumption, the average monthly electric bill topped $1,359. Also, natural gas bills for this house and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year. In total, this house had nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for 2006.
(Source: just about anywhere in the news last month online and on talk radio, but barely on TV.)
How about the Tennessee Center for Policy Research? I have never heard of them--but it is a start--here.
The PayOff? You guessed it: House 1 belongs to George and Laura Bush, and is in Crawford, Texas. House 2 belongs to Al and Tipper Gore, and is in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thanks to MB from Westlake Village, CA.
This past weekend I was invited to attend the prayer meeting of one of the local chapters of the Native American Church.
The Native American Church arose as a movement among Apache, then spread to many tribes in the late nineteenth century. Traditions from various tribes come together in ritual form centered around the religious use of peyote, a hallucinogen. Prayer meetings typically begin on Saturday evening and conclude Sunday morning. The ritual is done by men.
This local chapter is mostly made up of "Jesus Men," that is, Native American Church practitioners who confess Jesus as Lord, and recognize God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So I said yes. The man who invited me told me that he knew I could not stay up all night and preach the next day, so asked me to come to the teepee at sunrise. (more below)
The Native American Church arose as a movement among Apache, then spread to many tribes in the late nineteenth century. Traditions from various tribes come together in ritual form centered around the religious use of peyote, a hallucinogen. Prayer meetings typically begin on Saturday evening and conclude Sunday morning. The ritual is done by men.
This local chapter is mostly made up of "Jesus Men," that is, Native American Church practitioners who confess Jesus as Lord, and recognize God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So I said yes. The man who invited me told me that he knew I could not stay up all night and preach the next day, so asked me to come to the teepee at sunrise. (more below)
Category: US in Iraq.archive.ii
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
Last week we were thick with mainstream media reportage detailing the dire warnings emanating from straight-shooting, Retired Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, who had just returned from a week in Iraq and Kuwait. On a mission to conduct a "strategic and operational assessment of security operations," by his own account, McCaffrey visited "combat units in the field as well as senior U.S., coalition and Iraqi officials."
Remember this Washington Post headline:
"McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture of Iraq: In Contrast to His Previous Views, Retired General Writes of Strategic Peril .
"An influential retired Army general released a dire assessment of the situation in Iraq, based on a recent round of meetings there with Gen. David H. Petraeus...."
(Read the entire Post article here)
Today, the retired general speaks for himself in an op-ed piece for the LA Times (full article here).
The highlights:
"[W]e have little choice as Americans except to give our new military commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and our new ambassador, Ryan C. Crocker, the political and military support they need during the next 12 months. Failure in Iraq at this point could generate a regional war among Iraq's neighbors that would imperil U.S. interests for a decade or more."
"I know that the problems we face are grim indeed, but Petraeus' strategy is sound, and the situation is not hopeless."
"The threat we face is huge."
By the way, there is still plenty of gloom in his assessment:
"100,000 armed militia," some "foreign fighters," "a couple of thousand Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq extremists [intent on provoking] sectarian violence through murderous attacks on the innocent civilian Shiite population and their mosques."
[Many of] "Iraq's neighbors...have intensified the civil war as an extension of their own larger [regional goals]."
"Iran has provided the Shiites with leadership from the elite Quds Force of its Revolutionary Guard and with highly lethal EFP (explosively formed projectile) bombs, which are a major cause of U.S. casualties.
"The Syrians have provided sanctuary to Saddam Hussein Baathists.
"The Syrians also have ignored or aided the passage of 40 to 70 jihadists a month into Iraq. (Most of them are suicide bombers who are dead within two weeks.)
"The Turks also have made threatening military and political moves to confront the prosperous Iraqi Kurdish regions at their border.
"This is a dangerous neighborhood.
In McCaffrey's words: "What is the basis for hope?
"U.S. troops continue to show determination, discipline and courage."
Iraqi police and army are coming on line in large numbers.
"The Maliki government has finally gotten its nerve and allowed joint operations by its police and U.S. special operations forces to arrest Sadr militia members in Baghdad.
"Petraeus has placed more than 50 Iraqi/U.S. police and army strong points throughout the city. The murder rate has plummeted in response. The Sunni tribes in Anbar province have turned on the foreign fighters.
"We will know by the end of the summer if Petraeus' strategy is going to prompt an adequate political response from the Iraqis."
On the other hand?
"We are running out of time.
"The American people have walked away from support of this war. The Army is beginning to show signs of great strain."
"By the beginning of the coming year, we will be forced to downsize our deployment to Iraq or the Army will begin to unravel."
"The United States is now at a crossroads. We are in a position of strategic peril. We need to support the U.S. leadership team in Iraq for this one last effort to succeed."
Thank you, General. Well said. Now, let's see how much press this statement gets in the mainstream media.
Remember this Washington Post headline:
"McCaffrey Paints Gloomy Picture of Iraq: In Contrast to His Previous Views, Retired General Writes of Strategic Peril .
"An influential retired Army general released a dire assessment of the situation in Iraq, based on a recent round of meetings there with Gen. David H. Petraeus...."
(Read the entire Post article here)
Today, the retired general speaks for himself in an op-ed piece for the LA Times (full article here).
The highlights:
"[W]e have little choice as Americans except to give our new military commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, and our new ambassador, Ryan C. Crocker, the political and military support they need during the next 12 months. Failure in Iraq at this point could generate a regional war among Iraq's neighbors that would imperil U.S. interests for a decade or more."
"I know that the problems we face are grim indeed, but Petraeus' strategy is sound, and the situation is not hopeless."
"The threat we face is huge."
By the way, there is still plenty of gloom in his assessment:
"100,000 armed militia," some "foreign fighters," "a couple of thousand Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq extremists [intent on provoking] sectarian violence through murderous attacks on the innocent civilian Shiite population and their mosques."
[Many of] "Iraq's neighbors...have intensified the civil war as an extension of their own larger [regional goals]."
"Iran has provided the Shiites with leadership from the elite Quds Force of its Revolutionary Guard and with highly lethal EFP (explosively formed projectile) bombs, which are a major cause of U.S. casualties.
"The Syrians have provided sanctuary to Saddam Hussein Baathists.
"The Syrians also have ignored or aided the passage of 40 to 70 jihadists a month into Iraq. (Most of them are suicide bombers who are dead within two weeks.)
"The Turks also have made threatening military and political moves to confront the prosperous Iraqi Kurdish regions at their border.
"This is a dangerous neighborhood.
In McCaffrey's words: "What is the basis for hope?
"U.S. troops continue to show determination, discipline and courage."
Iraqi police and army are coming on line in large numbers.
"The Maliki government has finally gotten its nerve and allowed joint operations by its police and U.S. special operations forces to arrest Sadr militia members in Baghdad.
"Petraeus has placed more than 50 Iraqi/U.S. police and army strong points throughout the city. The murder rate has plummeted in response. The Sunni tribes in Anbar province have turned on the foreign fighters.
"We will know by the end of the summer if Petraeus' strategy is going to prompt an adequate political response from the Iraqis."
On the other hand?
"We are running out of time.
"The American people have walked away from support of this war. The Army is beginning to show signs of great strain."
"By the beginning of the coming year, we will be forced to downsize our deployment to Iraq or the Army will begin to unravel."
"The United States is now at a crossroads. We are in a position of strategic peril. We need to support the U.S. leadership team in Iraq for this one last effort to succeed."
Thank you, General. Well said. Now, let's see how much press this statement gets in the mainstream media.
