Public Option

I urge you to read this phenomenal article regarding the public option. You'll be educated, enlightened AND entertained. Kudos and thanks to Adam Carl for being so brilliant.

http://adamcarl.blogspot.com/2009/09/public-option-my-pedantic-primer.html

Finished Reading Lately...

From http://sufiness.blogspot.com
All of these were Sound Recordings (Audio Books), except for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

I enjoyed most of them immensely! A good Spring/Summer full of reading.

Nonfiction
Undaunted Courage - Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose
Cat Stories by James Herriot
God is Not Great - How religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
Thomas Paine's Rights of Man by Christopher Hitchens
The Course of Human Events by David G. McCullough (Short, more like a speech or essay)

Fiction - Classics
Middlemarch by George Eliot

Fiction - Modern
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.
The Twilight Series (all 4 books) by Stephenie Meyer
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
The March by E. L. Doctorow
Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver (Follow up to The Bean Trees that Greg and I listened to last year).
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Detective
The Art of Detection by Laurie King
1st to Die James Patterson
The Last Dickens by Matthew Pearl

I trust you're having a great summer. Right now I'm re-reading Pride and Prejudice. LOVE IT.

P.S. I made a very dumb video yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1MIsimva4I

May 2009

Find me on Facebook for more regular updates.

We had a fun trip to North Carolina for Mother's Day.

Greg is working very diligently on our veggie gardens - both at the house and at the community garden.

March 2009

I spent last week in San Fran. It took everything out of me and I cannot get enough sleep this weekend. We're working on a few projects around the house and I'm "behind" at work. I am headed to see Mom & Dad at the end of the month. Greg and I celebrated our birthdays today. The cats are good, so sweet.

Almost one year in the new house!

I'm having a hard time believing that we moved in almost one year ago...mid-March 2008 we moved into our home in Northfield. Granted, since then, we moved Angela in and out - so that took time and attention. She is doing well, she is re-installed in Fairfield. Lately, Greg is getting so excited for the 2009 summer garden! He ordered his seeds, he is getting lights to start them. He reads his seed catalog. He even put an order in for the community organic plot (for watermelon). We'll see if we get one of them. He is going to build new boxes too (in our yard). Maybe we'll get the lot next door!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25695104@N00/2374822237/in/photostream/

MAYBE. I'd still rather move to North Carolina! More growing time....

Thirsty Pocket - Sell Your Stuff on your iPhone!

My friend, Sai, developed this cool iPhone application called Thirsty Pocket. It was just approved by Apple and placed on the iTunes Application Store as a free application yesterday. Think of it as ebay/craigslist for the iPhone, but better. It leverages mobility, location awareness and integrated camera of the iPhone for sellers and buyers. It has been available less than a day, but we're seeing strong usage already!

http://www.thirstypocket.com/

http://appshopper.com/lifestyle/thirsty-pocket

For those of you who have iPhones,

1) Go to http://www.thirstypocket.com/ and click on the link on the home page to download the application and sync it with your phone

2) Go around the house and find some things you'd like to sell and post them in the market place

3) Leave a rating on the appstore rating mechanism (hopefully you find that he's built a 5 star app! :-) )

FORWARD WILDLY!!!!

Angela returning for a visit this weekend!

Angela just let me know she is returning this weekend for a visit! 3 additional visitors will be here, too. They are going to be looking at St. Olaf and Carlton.

Two Completely Different Types of Marriage!

Two different types of marriage (Brilliance by Adam Carl)
Adam Carl (Los Angeles, CA) wrote on November 7, 2008 at 11:48am

Contrary to popular misconception, there is not one societal institution called “marriage”. There are actually two: one is religious and the other is civil. A religious marriage is between you and your higher power; a civil marriage is between you and your government.

Let’s assume for the moment that you are a Catholic. You can go down to City Hall and get hitched, but the Church would not recognize it or consider you to be married as far as God is concerned. Barring that religious ceremony, you would still be living in sin, despite being legally married and enjoying all the privileges the state provides to those who have entered in such a union. Similarly, your parish priest could marry you in an endless ceremony involving kneelers and incense and votive candles, and you would then be married in the eyes of God. But unless you secured a marriage license first and returned it fully filled out to the county clerk’s office, you would ONLY be married in the eyes of God. And while that may keep you from burning in hellfire, you would not be entitled to any of the legal benefits of marriage in your state.

So there you have it: two completely different types of marriage. The only way in which they coincide is that the government has been kind enough to legally recognize marriages performed by clergy (as long as the appropriate paperwork and filing fees accompany it), allowing couples to kill two proverbial birds with one proverbial stone. That, however, is the only way in which the two types of marriage overlap.

A religious marriage, among other things, allows you to have sexual relations with your spouse without incurring the wrath of God. It is, in theory, supposed to last until death you do part, but as we all know, that is one part of the “sanctity of marriage” that many of its most ardent defenders choose to ignore. A civil marriage, on the other hand, guarantees nothing in the afterlife. It does, however, grant the married couple tax breaks, joint ownership of property and assets, inheritance rights, next-of-kin and medical decision rights, and Social Security, Medicare, and disability benefits, among others. This is just the tip of the iceberg: there are actually 1,400 legal rights conferred upon married couples living in the United States. Most of these benefits cannot be secured by entering into a mutual contract. The upshot: denying a couple the right to a civil marriage means denying them these benefits. Many opponents of same sex marriage like to claim that gays and lesbians already enjoy the right to enter into a civil union. Unlike a legal marriage, however, employers and insurers, for example, are not required to recognize a civil union – conferring rights becomes an option and not a requirement.

The United States of America may have a predominantly religious populace, but it is officially a secular nation. There is a constitutional separation between Church and State; in fact, this separation is one of the main precepts upon which this country was founded. Our fore-parents were fleeing from the tyranny of the Church of England and wanted to form a nation of civil laws completely separate from God’s law. Every citizen has the right to Freedom of Religion – but also to freedom FROM religion. In America, nobody has the right to impose his or her religion on anyone else.

So despite what Prop 8’s proponents would have you believe, the issue of same sex marriage has nothing to do with religion. Just as the Catholic Church (or Mormon Church or Lutheran Church or your local mosque or synagogue) is free to not recognize my marriage, they are free to not recognize ANY marriage, gay or straight. The claim that churches will lose their tax exempt status for refusing to perform gay marriages is a patently false one. Gay marriage was legal in California prior to Proposition 8’s passage and no church lost anything. It makes for a great scare tactic, but there is not one iota of truth in it. Ask yourself: is the church required to marry you? If not, then it follows they are not required to marry anyone.

So now that we’ve established that state conferred marriage rights have nothing to do with religion, we are left with civil marriage. Civil marriage is the only issue on the table in the same-sex marriage conversation - and is where the Constitution becomes involved.

The federal Constitution has an Equal Protection Clause, part of the 14th Amendment. The EPC states that “no state shall… deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” and it empowers the judiciary to enforce that principle against the states. So every time that a politician or activist screams that “judges are imposing their will on the people” when they overturn a law or ballot measure on constitutional grounds, they are being intentionally dishonest: all the judges are doing is interpreting and enforcing the Constitution. Attacking the judiciary may make for good politics, but the judges are merely doing their job. We have three branches of government, we have checks and balances, it’s how the nation was designed.

Because of the Equal Protection Clause, no state may grant protection and benefits to any citizen that they do not grant to all citizens. Segregation was once considered legal under the concept that blacks and whites were kept separate, but treated equally. This despicable “separate but equal” doctrine was overturned by the U.S. States Supreme Court in the landmark case Brown v. The Board of Education. Today, opponents of same sex marriage want to bring back the unconstitutional concept of “separate but equal” by advocating that heterosexuals be granted civil “marriages”, while same sex partners be granted civil “unions” – separate but theoretically equal. Putting aside the fact that any such arrangement would not pass constitutional muster, civil unions are hardly equal anyway, in that they do not provide all of the rights, benefits and protections of marriage. The good news for opponents of same sex marriage is that the Equal Protection Clause limits only the powers of the government and not those of private parties. Again, this means that churches, synagogues and mosques can choose on their own whether or not to perform or recognize any marriage, while the state may not.

Now I’m no lawyer, but it really does seem to me to be that simple. Legally and constitutionally speaking, as I see it, the government has two options: grant no couple marital rights and protections or grant any couple who wants it those same rights and protections. There really is no wiggle room. Either get out of the marriage game altogether, and let religious marriage be the only game in town… or abide by the Equal Protection Clause.

In America’s not so distant past, whites and blacks could not intermarry in some states, and these anti-miscegenation laws were not overturned until 1967. You heard me – 1967. In the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, wherein such laws were declared unconstitutional, the Court cited – you guessed it – the Equal Protection Clause. Well, just as the states no longer have the right to refuse marriage rights to interracial couples, they similarly have no right to deny them to same sex couples, on the exact same legal grounds.

Proposition 8 passed by a simple majority of voters and it would amend California’s Constitution to eliminate the rights of same sex couples to marry. This is a clear violation of the federal Constitution, which, as I've written, prevents any state from denying to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Proposition 8 is, by definition, federally unconstitutional and will likely end up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, challenged on Equal Protection grounds. If past is prologue (and the Court is big on precedent), the Supremes will have a hard time upholding a ballot measure so clearly in violation of the 14th amendment. But we shouldn’t be too sanguine about our chances, because as evidenced by the loathsome decision handed down by the Court in Bush v. Gore, the court has shown itself willing to make decisions that go against every legal precedent it has previous held when it feels like putting politics first. Were they to reject so clear a 14th Amendment violation in this case, it would be a true stain on the nation.

Regardless, the next time someone tries to tell you that a ban on same sex marriage is about religion, or free speech, or the protection of children, don’t believe it for one second. That’s politics, not policy. Religious marriage, although sadly much discussed in this case, is not relevant to the discussion. Unfortunately, opponents of gay marriage will continue to cloud the issue with a myriad of attacks that are wholly irrelevant and appeal solely to emotions or religious preferences; arguments by which they attempt to give their own deeply held personal beliefs or biases the power of law. And while I understand they may personally be repulsed by the idea of same sex marriage - and fear a nation that tolerates it - there were plenty of Americans who were equally repulsed by the idea of interracial marriage; of women’s suffrage; of giving African-American slaves full citizenship. This is precisely why we have a constitution – and a judiciary to enforce it - and don’t interpret our laws based on the whims or prejudices of the populace.

Once again, for the cheap seats: religious marriage will continue to be what it is and always has been; this is only a matter of civil marriage, only a matter of whether or not any state government may deny any citizen rights and protections granted to other citizens. The short answer is, no state may. And since the government has no immediate plans to take away the 1,400 marriage rights that get conferred upon those preferred couples, then they must confer them on any adult couple who wants it as long as they pay for the license, have the ceremony performed by a judge, justice of the peace or willing clergy, and return the license fully filled out.

Rev. Adam Carl
November 7, 2008
reverendadam *T gmail D*T c*m

The author of this loveliness, Adam Carl.

Angela and I are going raw...Cool

Well, Angela and I are doing it. We're going raw. A lot raw. Not 100% - because it is just too rude and life's too short to be that big of a pain to my hosts and hostesses....but around our house (when we're not having a house full of guests for Thanksgiving next week), day by day, we are going raw.

We've been ramping up.

Raw smoothies.

Angela made a kick-ass batch of raw salt & vinegar potato chips with onion dip - OMG - so delicious.

Today - just a large Lock & Lock full of raw veggies for my meal at work today. Plus one of these Wild Blueberry bars(www.organicfoodbar.com). And one of these Sesame Bars (www.oskri.com). I've refrained from eating Limei's candy, too.

EXCEPTIONS
Coffee. <-- I don't know when or if...but I'm not giving it up. I add about 1/4 cup Chocolate Almond Milk to each serving. That isn't raw either.

World Peace

During the election I was distressed by (well, what wasn't I distressed by?! ;) McCain's "Country First" slogan...What is this all about? Does it make me a bad American to want us all to share in the abundance, health, prosperity, and peace that is our birthright? And I mean ALL. Even those who would destroy us. I cannot help but believe that if we had walked into Iraq and built schools and hospitals instead of killing everyone...we could have negotiated whatever oil we needed to get us through to our energy independence. I know its not that simple, but this war and killing...in this day in age - WHAT A WASTE. And it got me to thinking about Guns, Germs and Steel again - and the concept of World Peace isn't actually very old - I bet it hasn't been on the scene too long. Maharishi has a GLOBAL flag. Here it is.

Working on my ballot...I think I'm done.

PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT
BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN
Democratic-Farmer-Labor

U.S. SENATOR
AL FRANKEN
Democratic-Farmer-Labor

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2
STEVE SARVI
Democratic-Farmer-Labor

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 25B
DAVID BLY
Democratic-Farmer-Labor

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
CLEAN WATER, WILDLIFE, CULTURAL HERITAGE AND NATURAL AREAS
Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate funding to protect our drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore our wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve our arts and cultural heritage; to support our parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore our lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater by increasing the sales and use tax rate beginning July 1, 2009, by three-eighths of one percent on taxable sales until the year 2034?
I'm voting YES

COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 1
http://lwvnorthfieldmn.org/weblog/post/1505/
JACOB G GILLEN <-- Michelle Sonnega writes in the Northfield News Letter to Editor that Gillen should recuse himself, but in the above video he says he doesn't have to... http://www.northfieldnews.com/news.php?viewStory=46398
MATT DREVLOW <-- LEANING - Liked his closing and reason for running.

MAYOR - CITY OF NORTHFIELD
MARY ROSSING

COUNCIL MEMBER AT LARGE - CITY OF NORTHFIELD
http://lwvnorthfieldmn.org/weblog/post/1530/ 21:48
KRIS L. VOHS <-- Leaning toward Kris, seems more eco-friendly, has more time.
DANA S. GRAHAM <-- too cavalier/seems republican? That is a guess! I didn't like him in the primaries either. Seems mean.

SPECIAL ELECTION FOR COUNCIL MEMBER AT LARGE CITY OF NORTHFIELD
THIS IS REALLY HARD!
To fill vacancy in term expiring December 31, 2010
http://lwvnorthfieldmn.org/weblog/post/1530/ 54:35
C. LYNN VINCENT <-- reduce liabilities of volunteers. northfield.org, read everything, interviewed staff and citizens, business people, "community initiatives" ??? WINGS (prisoners, womens in prison). <--I think I'm going to go with Lynn.
VICTOR SUMMA <--re: Budget - expect less, give more. Advise for free the councils. Has been involved, has attended meetings..., Committed, Green, fun(?).
RHONDA POWNELL <-- Increase volunteer, adopt a parks, donate flower to decorate downtown. Took interest, has been learning. <-- I don't understand her concerns. What happened that had her start taking an interest? http://rhondapownell.blogspot.com/
JOE GASIOR <-- Asks citizens to take care of city parks (to help the strained budget/shortfull).

COUNCIL MEMBER - CITY OF NORTHFIELD - WARD 2
http://lwvnorthfieldmn.org/weblog/post/1530/ (38:30)
JEROLD D. FRIEDMAN <-- www.betternorthfield.com I'm going with Jerold! Liked his flyer he dropped off too.
BETSEY BUCKHEIT <-- was on planning commission

SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICES - SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER - INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 659 (Northfield)
VOTE FOR UP TO FOUR
http://locallygrownnorthfield.org/post/5329/?comment=true
DIANE CIRKSENA <-endorsed http://dianecirksena.wordpress.com/
ROB HARDY <-endorsed http://misterhardy.wordpress.com/ (? poem) - supports dems
ELLEN R IVERSON <-endorsed
PETER MILLIN <--

Peter Millin says, "I don’t believe that 3.5 % of salary increase is necessarily excessive. The only part that bothers me that it is automatic. Most people have go through a yearly review and get increases paid on their performance, this shouldn’t be any different for teachers." But I don't think paying teachers is this easy - I think something is just wrong with how little they make to begin with...I know this issue is complicated. http://locallygrownnorthfield.org/?p=5329&cp=3#comment-71608

KATY HARGIS
JEFF QUINNELL <-- Republican
ANNE MAPLE <-endorsed (donated to Al)
KEVIN BUDIG <-- Republican

JUDICIAL OFFICES SUPREME COURT
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE 3
PAUL H. ANDERSON (Incumbent) <-- YES!!!
TIM TINGELSTAD <-- NO!!! This right-wing WHACK-O is one of the scariest people I've ever seen (http://www.highesthill.com/index.php) How he can say he's non-partisan is astounding.

ASSOCIATE JUSTICE 4
DEBORAH HEDLUND
I did a LOT of research on this. There is an email going around that she is anti-Muslim.
LORIE SKJERVEN GILDEA (so-called "Incumbent") - Appointed by Pawlenty. Endorsed by MCCL. She didn't dispute this endorsement, though she had signed a statement that she wouldn't discuss her views. <-- I was going to vote AGAINST Gildea (who shouldn't even have been listed as the incumbent) – but she was Pawlenty’s choice (and he has appointed 4 out of 7 justices - and those 4 are YOUNG and conservative!). Hedlund is being accused of racism, but I'm not sure I believe it...but she does look REALLY conservative. http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/mn-politics/messages/topic/1YRJeoR7XDGvEnglfzak1d

While trying to sort all this out, I actually called Jill Clark (http://jillclarkforjustice.org/Home_Page.html)!
I wanted to confirm that she really did write this post: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/mn-politics/messages/post/1YRJeoR7XDGvEnglfzak1d
She confirmed she wrote it.

I wish I had asked her better questions.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR THIS ONE!

http://mnblue.com/node/2381?PHPSESSID=a22a711fa6cf3add23994d70ee70ef7f

Answer: I'm voting for NEITHER of them - I'm leaving this blank!

DEBORAH HEDLUND vs.LORIE SKJERVEN GILDEA (the so-called "Incumbent")
I just don't know what to say for this one!
Associate Justice - Supreme Court 4 (State)NO ENDORSEMENT (HELL NO on both)
According to the league for youth...
Lorie Skjerven Gildea, is a conservative Pawlenty appointee who is especially bad on prisoner and ex-felon issues. Hedlund is a rabid right wing-Christian homophobe who’s campaigning hard in Greater MN. Why the hell are these our only choices for Supreme Court!?

http://theleague.com/tc/important-retraction-of-deborah-hedlund-endorsement/

COURT OF APPEALS - JUDGE 16
TERRI J. STONEBURNER (Incumbent) <-- YES
DAN GRIFFITH <--NO

3RD DISTRICT COURT - JUDGE 1
ANTHONY J. MOOSBRUGGER
LAWRENCE E. AGERTER (Incumbent) <-- YES, I didn't like what Moosbrugger said about Ageter's age.

Facebook

I've disappeared - if you want to know what has happened to me, find me on Facebook

http://profile.to/sufiness/

Create an account.
Request to be my friend.

Love,
Stephanie

American fascism called out!

In response to this obscene drivel!
http://www.dccc.org/page/content/bachmannvideo1/

Also here - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27243547#27243547

Katrina Vandenheuvel, my new hero - who is she?! - kicks some butt!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27243729#27243729

I couldn't risk this material being removed from it's source website...

This is LOOONG....but I had to copy it here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/24/usa.comment

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all
Naomi Wolf
The Guardian, Tuesday April 24 2007

Last autumn, there was a military coup in Thailand. The leaders of the coup took a number of steps, rather systematically, as if they had a shopping list. In a sense, they did. Within a matter of days, democracy had been closed down: the coup leaders declared martial law, sent armed soldiers into residential areas, took over radio and TV stations, issued restrictions on the press, tightened some limits on travel, and took certain activists into custody.

They were not figuring these things out as they went along. If you look at history, you can see that there is essentially a blueprint for turning an open society into a dictatorship. That blueprint has been used again and again in more and less bloody, more and less terrifying ways. But it is always effective. It is very difficult and arduous to create and sustain a democracy - but history shows that closing one down is much simpler. You simply have to be willing to take the 10 steps.

As difficult as this is to contemplate, it is clear, if you are willing to look, that each of these 10 steps has already been initiated today in the United States by the Bush administration.

Because Americans like me were born in freedom, we have a hard time even considering that it is possible for us to become as unfree - domestically - as many other nations. Because we no longer learn much about our rights or our system of government - the task of being aware of the constitution has been outsourced from citizens' ownership to being the domain of professionals such as lawyers and professors - we scarcely recognise the checks and balances that the founders put in place, even as they are being systematically dismantled. Because we don't learn much about European history, the setting up of a department of "homeland" security - remember who else was keen on the word "homeland" - didn't raise the alarm bells it might have.

It is my argument that, beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. It is time for us to be willing to think the unthinkable - as the author and political journalist Joe Conason, has put it, that it can happen here. And that we are further along than we realise.

Conason eloquently warned of the danger of American authoritarianism. I am arguing that we need also to look at the lessons of European and other kinds of fascism to understand the potential seriousness of the events we see unfolding in the US.

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
After we were hit on September 11 2001, we were in a state of national shock. Less than six weeks later, on October 26 2001, the USA Patriot Act was passed by a Congress that had little chance to debate it; many said that they scarcely had time to read it. We were told we were now on a "war footing"; we were in a "global war" against a "global caliphate" intending to "wipe out civilisation". There have been other times of crisis in which the US accepted limits on civil liberties, such as during the civil war, when Lincoln declared martial law, and the second world war, when thousands of Japanese-American citizens were interned. But this situation, as Bruce Fein of the American Freedom Agenda notes, is unprecedented: all our other wars had an endpoint, so the pendulum was able to swing back toward freedom; this war is defined as open-ended in time and without national boundaries in space - the globe itself is the battlefield. "This time," Fein says, "there will be no defined end."

Creating a terrifying threat - hydra-like, secretive, evil - is an old trick. It can, like Hitler's invocation of a communist threat to the nation's security, be based on actual events (one Wisconsin academic has faced calls for his dismissal because he noted, among other things, that the alleged communist arson, the Reichstag fire of February 1933, was swiftly followed in Nazi Germany by passage of the Enabling Act, which replaced constitutional law with an open-ended state of emergency). Or the terrifying threat can be based, like the National Socialist evocation of the "global conspiracy of world Jewry", on myth.

It is not that global Islamist terrorism is not a severe danger; of course it is. I am arguing rather that the language used to convey the nature of the threat is different in a country such as Spain - which has also suffered violent terrorist attacks - than it is in America. Spanish citizens know that they face a grave security threat; what we as American citizens believe is that we are potentially threatened with the end of civilisation as we know it. Of course, this makes us more willing to accept restrictions on our freedoms.

2. Create a gulag
Once you have got everyone scared, the next step is to create a prison system outside the rule of law (as Bush put it, he wanted the American detention centre at Guantánamo Bay to be situated in legal "outer space") - where torture takes place.

At first, the people who are sent there are seen by citizens as outsiders: troublemakers, spies, "enemies of the people" or "criminals". Initially, citizens tend to support the secret prison system; it makes them feel safer and they do not identify with the prisoners. But soon enough, civil society leaders - opposition members, labour activists, clergy and journalists - are arrested and sent there as well.

This process took place in fascist shifts or anti-democracy crackdowns ranging from Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s to the Latin American coups of the 1970s and beyond. It is standard practice for closing down an open society or crushing a pro-democracy uprising.

With its jails in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, of course, Guantánamo in Cuba, where detainees are abused, and kept indefinitely without trial and without access to the due process of the law, America certainly has its gulag now. Bush and his allies in Congress recently announced they would issue no information about the secret CIA "black site" prisons throughout the world, which are used to incarcerate people who have been seized off the street.

Gulags in history tend to metastasise, becoming ever larger and more secretive, ever more deadly and formalised. We know from first-hand accounts, photographs, videos and government documents that people, innocent and guilty, have been tortured in the US-run prisons we are aware of and those we can't investigate adequately.

But Americans still assume this system and detainee abuses involve only scary brown people with whom they don't generally identify. It was brave of the conservative pundit William Safire to quote the anti-Nazi pastor Martin Niemöller, who had been seized as a political prisoner: "First they came for the Jews." Most Americans don't understand yet that the destruction of the rule of law at Guantánamo set a dangerous precedent for them, too.

By the way, the establishment of military tribunals that deny prisoners due process tends to come early on in a fascist shift. Mussolini and Stalin set up such tribunals. On April 24 1934, the Nazis, too, set up the People's Court, which also bypassed the judicial system: prisoners were held indefinitely, often in isolation, and tortured, without being charged with offences, and were subjected to show trials. Eventually, the Special Courts became a parallel system that put pressure on the regular courts to abandon the rule of law in favour of Nazi ideology when making decisions.

3. Develop a thug caste
When leaders who seek what I call a "fascist shift" want to close down an open society, they send paramilitary groups of scary young men out to terrorise citizens. The Blackshirts roamed the Italian countryside beating up communists; the Brownshirts staged violent rallies throughout Germany. This paramilitary force is especially important in a democracy: you need citizens to fear thug violence and so you need thugs who are free from prosecution.

The years following 9/11 have proved a bonanza for America's security contractors, with the Bush administration outsourcing areas of work that traditionally fell to the US military. In the process, contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars have been issued for security work by mercenaries at home and abroad. In Iraq, some of these contract operatives have been accused of involvement in torturing prisoners, harassing journalists and firing on Iraqi civilians. Under Order 17, issued to regulate contractors in Iraq by the one-time US administrator in Baghdad, Paul Bremer, these contractors are immune from prosecution

Yes, but that is in Iraq, you could argue; however, after Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Homeland Security hired and deployed hundreds of armed private security guards in New Orleans. The investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill interviewed one unnamed guard who reported having fired on unarmed civilians in the city. It was a natural disaster that underlay that episode - but the administration's endless war on terror means ongoing scope for what are in effect privately contracted armies to take on crisis and emergency management at home in US cities.

Thugs in America? Groups of angry young Republican men, dressed in identical shirts and trousers, menaced poll workers counting the votes in Florida in 2000. If you are reading history, you can imagine that there can be a need for "public order" on the next election day. Say there are protests, or a threat, on the day of an election; history would not rule out the presence of a private security firm at a polling station "to restore public order".

4. Set up an internal surveillance system
In Mussolini's Italy, in Nazi Germany, in communist East Germany, in communist China - in every closed society - secret police spy on ordinary people and encourage neighbours to spy on neighbours. The Stasi needed to keep only a minority of East Germans under surveillance to convince a majority that they themselves were being watched.

In 2005 and 2006, when James Risen and Eric Lichtblau wrote in the New York Times about a secret state programme to wiretap citizens' phones, read their emails and follow international financial transactions, it became clear to ordinary Americans that they, too, could be under state scrutiny.

In closed societies, this surveillance is cast as being about "national security"; the true function is to keep citizens docile and inhibit their activism and dissent.

5. Harass citizens' groups
The fifth thing you do is related to step four - you infiltrate and harass citizens' groups. It can be trivial: a church in Pasadena, whose minister preached that Jesus was in favour of peace, found itself being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, while churches that got Republicans out to vote, which is equally illegal under US tax law, have been left alone.

Other harassment is more serious: the American Civil Liberties Union reports that thousands of ordinary American anti-war, environmental and other groups have been infiltrated by agents: a secret Pentagon database includes more than four dozen peaceful anti-war meetings, rallies or marches by American citizens in its category of 1,500 "suspicious incidents". The equally secret Counterintelligence Field Activity (Cifa) agency of the Department of Defense has been gathering information about domestic organisations engaged in peaceful political activities: Cifa is supposed to track "potential terrorist threats" as it watches ordinary US citizen activists. A little-noticed new law has redefined activism such as animal rights protests as "terrorism". So the definition of "terrorist" slowly expands to include the opposition.

6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
This scares people. It is a kind of cat-and-mouse game. Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the investigative reporters who wrote China Wakes: the Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power, describe pro-democracy activists in China, such as Wei Jingsheng, being arrested and released many times. In a closing or closed society there is a "list" of dissidents and opposition leaders: you are targeted in this way once you are on the list, and it is hard to get off the list.

In 2004, America's Transportation Security Administration confirmed that it had a list of passengers who were targeted for security searches or worse if they tried to fly. People who have found themselves on the list? Two middle-aged women peace activists in San Francisco; liberal Senator Edward Kennedy; a member of Venezuela's government - after Venezuela's president had criticised Bush; and thousands of ordinary US citizens.

Professor Walter F Murphy is emeritus of Princeton University; he is one of the foremost constitutional scholars in the nation and author of the classic Constitutional Democracy. Murphy is also a decorated former marine, and he is not even especially politically liberal. But on March 1 this year, he was denied a boarding pass at Newark, "because I was on the Terrorist Watch list".

"Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that," asked the airline employee.

"I explained," said Murphy, "that I had not so marched but had, in September 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the constitution."

"That'll do it," the man said.

Anti-war marcher? Potential terrorist. Support the constitution? Potential terrorist. History shows that the categories of "enemy of the people" tend to expand ever deeper into civil life.

James Yee, a US citizen, was the Muslim chaplain at Guantánamo who was accused of mishandling classified documents. He was harassed by the US military before the charges against him were dropped. Yee has been detained and released several times. He is still of interest.

Brandon Mayfield, a US citizen and lawyer in Oregon, was mistakenly identified as a possible terrorist. His house was secretly broken into and his computer seized. Though he is innocent of the accusation against him, he is still on the list.

It is a standard practice of fascist societies that once you are on the list, you can't get off.

7. Target key individuals
Threaten civil servants, artists and academics with job loss if they don't toe the line. Mussolini went after the rectors of state universities who did not conform to the fascist line; so did Joseph Goebbels, who purged academics who were not pro-Nazi; so did Chile's Augusto Pinochet; so does the Chinese communist Politburo in punishing pro-democracy students and professors.

Academe is a tinderbox of activism, so those seeking a fascist shift punish academics and students with professional loss if they do not "coordinate", in Goebbels' term, ideologically. Since civil servants are the sector of society most vulnerable to being fired by a given regime, they are also a group that fascists typically "coordinate" early on: the Reich Law for the Re-establishment of a Professional Civil Service was passed on April 7 1933.

Bush supporters in state legislatures in several states put pressure on regents at state universities to penalise or fire academics who have been critical of the administration. As for civil servants, the Bush administration has derailed the career of one military lawyer who spoke up for fair trials for detainees, while an administration official publicly intimidated the law firms that represent detainees pro bono by threatening to call for their major corporate clients to boycott them.

Elsewhere, a CIA contract worker who said in a closed blog that "waterboarding is torture" was stripped of the security clearance she needed in order to do her job.

Most recently, the administration purged eight US attorneys for what looks like insufficient political loyalty. When Goebbels purged the civil service in April 1933, attorneys were "coordinated" too, a step that eased the way of the increasingly brutal laws to follow.

8. Control the press
Italy in the 1920s, Germany in the 30s, East Germany in the 50s, Czechoslovakia in the 60s, the Latin American dictatorships in the 70s, China in the 80s and 90s - all dictatorships and would-be dictators target newspapers and journalists. They threaten and harass them in more open societies that they are seeking to close, and they arrest them and worse in societies that have been closed already.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says arrests of US journalists are at an all-time high: Josh Wolf (no relation), a blogger in San Francisco, has been put in jail for a year for refusing to turn over video of an anti-war demonstration; Homeland Security brought a criminal complaint against reporter Greg Palast, claiming he threatened "critical infrastructure" when he and a TV producer were filming victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Palast had written a bestseller critical of the Bush administration.

Other reporters and writers have been punished in other ways. Joseph C Wilson accused Bush, in a New York Times op-ed, of leading the country to war on the basis of a false charge that Saddam Hussein had acquired yellowcake uranium in Niger. His wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA spy - a form of retaliation that ended her career.

Prosecution and job loss are nothing, though, compared with how the US is treating journalists seeking to cover the conflict in Iraq in an unbiased way. The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented multiple accounts of the US military in Iraq firing upon or threatening to fire upon unembedded (meaning independent) reporters and camera operators from organisations ranging from al-Jazeera to the BBC. While westerners may question the accounts by al-Jazeera, they should pay attention to the accounts of reporters such as the BBC's Kate Adie. In some cases reporters have been wounded or killed, including ITN's Terry Lloyd in 2003. Both CBS and the Associated Press in Iraq had staff members seized by the US military and taken to violent prisons; the news organisations were unable to see the evidence against their staffers.

Over time in closing societies, real news is supplanted by fake news and false documents. Pinochet showed Chilean citizens falsified documents to back up his claim that terrorists had been about to attack the nation. The yellowcake charge, too, was based on forged papers.

You won't have a shutdown of news in modern America - it is not possible. But you can have, as Frank Rich and Sidney Blumenthal have pointed out, a steady stream of lies polluting the news well. What you already have is a White House directing a stream of false information that is so relentless that it is increasingly hard to sort out truth from untruth. In a fascist system, it's not the lies that count but the muddying. When citizens can't tell real news from fake, they give up their demands for accountability bit by bit.

9. Dissent equals treason
Cast dissent as "treason" and criticism as "espionage'. Every closing society does this, just as it elaborates laws that increasingly criminalise certain kinds of speech and expand the definition of "spy" and "traitor". When Bill Keller, the publisher of the New York Times, ran the Lichtblau/Risen stories, Bush called the Times' leaking of classified information "disgraceful", while Republicans in Congress called for Keller to be charged with treason, and rightwing commentators and news outlets kept up the "treason" drumbeat. Some commentators, as Conason noted, reminded readers smugly that one penalty for violating the Espionage Act is execution.

Conason is right to note how serious a threat that attack represented. It is also important to recall that the 1938 Moscow show trial accused the editor of Izvestia, Nikolai Bukharin, of treason; Bukharin was, in fact, executed. And it is important to remind Americans that when the 1917 Espionage Act was last widely invoked, during the infamous 1919 Palmer Raids, leftist activists were arrested without warrants in sweeping roundups, kept in jail for up to five months, and "beaten, starved, suffocated, tortured and threatened with death", according to the historian Myra MacPherson. After that, dissent was muted in America for a decade.

In Stalin's Soviet Union, dissidents were "enemies of the people". National Socialists called those who supported Weimar democracy "November traitors".

And here is where the circle closes: most Americans do not realise that since September of last year - when Congress wrongly, foolishly, passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 - the president has the power to call any US citizen an "enemy combatant". He has the power to define what "enemy combatant" means. The president can also delegate to anyone he chooses in the executive branch the right to define "enemy combatant" any way he or she wants and then seize Americans accordingly.

Even if you or I are American citizens, even if we turn out to be completely innocent of what he has accused us of doing, he has the power to have us seized as we are changing planes at Newark tomorrow, or have us taken with a knock on the door; ship you or me to a navy brig; and keep you or me in isolation, possibly for months, while awaiting trial. (Prolonged isolation, as psychiatrists know, triggers psychosis in otherwise mentally healthy prisoners. That is why Stalin's gulag had an isolation cell, like Guantánamo's, in every satellite prison. Camp 6, the newest, most brutal facility at Guantánamo, is all isolation cells.)

We US citizens will get a trial eventually - for now. But legal rights activists at the Center for Constitutional Rights say that the Bush administration is trying increasingly aggressively to find ways to get around giving even US citizens fair trials. "Enemy combatant" is a status offence - it is not even something you have to have done. "We have absolutely moved over into a preventive detention model - you look like you could do something bad, you might do something bad, so we're going to hold you," says a spokeswoman of the CCR.

Most Americans surely do not get this yet. No wonder: it is hard to believe, even though it is true. In every closing society, at a certain point there are some high-profile arrests - usually of opposition leaders, clergy and journalists. Then everything goes quiet. After those arrests, there are still newspapers, courts, TV and radio, and the facades of a civil society. There just isn't real dissent. There just isn't freedom. If you look at history, just before those arrests is where we are now.

10. Suspend the rule of law
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 gave the president new powers over the national guard. This means that in a national emergency - which the president now has enhanced powers to declare - he can send Michigan's militia to enforce a state of emergency that he has declared in Oregon, over the objections of the state's governor and its citizens.

Even as Americans were focused on Britney Spears's meltdown and the question of who fathered Anna Nicole's baby, the New York Times editorialised about this shift: "A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night ... Beyond actual insurrection, the president may now use military troops as a domestic police force in response to a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, terrorist attack or any 'other condition'."

Critics see this as a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act - which was meant to restrain the federal government from using the military for domestic law enforcement. The Democratic senator Patrick Leahy says the bill encourages a president to declare federal martial law. It also violates the very reason the founders set up our system of government as they did: having seen citizens bullied by a monarch's soldiers, the founders were terrified of exactly this kind of concentration of militias' power over American people in the hands of an oppressive executive or faction.

Of course, the United States is not vulnerable to the violent, total closing-down of the system that followed Mussolini's march on Rome or Hitler's roundup of political prisoners. Our democratic habits are too resilient, and our military and judiciary too independent, for any kind of scenario like that.

Rather, as other critics are noting, our experiment in democracy could be closed down by a process of erosion.

It is a mistake to think that early in a fascist shift you see the profile of barbed wire against the sky. In the early days, things look normal on the surface; peasants were celebrating harvest festivals in Calabria in 1922; people were shopping and going to the movies in Berlin in 1931. Early on, as WH Auden put it, the horror is always elsewhere - while someone is being tortured, children are skating, ships are sailing: "dogs go on with their doggy life ... How everything turns away/ Quite leisurely from the disaster."

As Americans turn away quite leisurely, keeping tuned to internet shopping and American Idol, the foundations of democracy are being fatally corroded. Something has changed profoundly that weakens us unprecedentedly: our democratic traditions, independent judiciary and free press do their work today in a context in which we are "at war" in a "long war" - a war without end, on a battlefield described as the globe, in a context that gives the president - without US citizens realising it yet - the power over US citizens of freedom or long solitary incarceration, on his say-so alone.

That means a hollowness has been expanding under the foundation of all these still- free-looking institutions - and this foundation can give way under certain kinds of pressure. To prevent such an outcome, we have to think about the "what ifs".

What if, in a year and a half, there is another attack - say, God forbid, a dirty bomb? The executive can declare a state of emergency. History shows that any leader, of any party, will be tempted to maintain emergency powers after the crisis has passed. With the gutting of traditional checks and balances, we are no less endangered by a President Hillary than by a President Giuliani - because any executive will be tempted to enforce his or her will through edict rather than the arduous, uncertain process of democratic negotiation and compromise.

What if the publisher of a major US newspaper were charged with treason or espionage, as a rightwing effort seemed to threaten Keller with last year? What if he or she got 10 years in jail? What would the newspapers look like the next day? Judging from history, they would not cease publishing; but they would suddenly be very polite.

Right now, only a handful of patriots are trying to hold back the tide of tyranny for the rest of us - staff at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who faced death threats for representing the detainees yet persisted all the way to the Supreme Court; activists at the American Civil Liberties Union; and prominent conservatives trying to roll back the corrosive new laws, under the banner of a new group called the American Freedom Agenda. This small, disparate collection of people needs everybody's help, including that of Europeans and others internationally who are willing to put pressure on the administration because they can see what a US unrestrained by real democracy at home can mean for the rest of the world.

We need to look at history and face the "what ifs". For if we keep going down this road, the "end of America" could come for each of us in a different way, at a different moment; each of us might have a different moment when we feel forced to look back and think: that is how it was before - and this is the way it is now.

"The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands ... is the definition of tyranny," wrote James Madison. We still have the choice to stop going down this road; we can stand our ground and fight for our nation, and take up the banner the founders asked us to carry.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Swiftboating!

Media Transparency/ published this article about a new PAC that will fire up it's commercials from Oct 15 to Oct 29. ARGH!

http://www.mediatransparency.com/story.php?storyID=247

"Our Country Deserves Better PAC aims to 'define' Obama's 'weaknesses' and make him 'an unacceptable choice to serve as our nation's next president and Commander in Chief'"

To counteract and keep yourself educated - Send this link when necessary or POST on blog comments, etc. THANK YOU! http://fightthesmears.com/

Another fleecing is being rammed through Congress again in a matter of days!

The Senate approved the fleecing. And the House will probably follow. I am furious at Obama and Biden. They had a chance to really stand up and say NO to this RUSH-RUSH-the sky if falling BS.

Here are my favorite links so far...and a good letter to the editor that we should all send to our Congressperson TODAY! I'm faxing it to all of them!

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=237

We are not in the Second Great Depression. The sky is not falling. Pundits and politicians are lying to us so fast and furious it's hard not to be affected by all the fear mongering. Even I, yesterday, wrote to you and repeated what I heard on the news, that the Dow had the biggest one day drop in its history. Well, that's true in terms of points, but its 7% drop came nowhere close to Black Monday in 1987 when the stock market in one day lost 23% of its value. In the '80s, 3,000 banks closed, but America didn't go out of business.

http://bailoutmainstreet.com/

http://instantrunoff.com/

Here is the sample letter
Dear "insert congressperson's name here", All of my friends and I were extremely disappointed to learn of your “yay” vote with regard to the Bailout of the Wall Street investment banks at the expense of our children. My family will not be voting for you in the future if this remains your position.

Congress has no right to give the White House and its Secretary of the Treasury the power to transfer the people’s money to the richest bankers in the country. Vote No to the Bailout legislation. The Bailout legislation is being rammed through Congress again in a matter of days. This is an illegal power grab by the White House and their richest friends on Wall Street. The Legislation allows the Treasury Department to appoint the same bankers who created the crisis to administer and dictate the use of trillions of our tax dollars. It is also one of the biggest transfers of wealth from working families to the ultra-rich in the history of the United States.

Please reconsider your position in the upcoming vote. Do not give into the same “panic mode” hijinks that got us into the Iraq war. Although governmental action is clearly needed, please take the appropriate amount of time, and give careful consideration to your course of action, and vote your conscience.

thank you.

Here comes $500 oil

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/news/economy/500dollaroil_okeefe.fortune/index.htm

buffoon of a president

Today (well techincally yesterday), I voted in our primaries. What a privilege!

To celebrate, I'm including a letter to show you all my great parents! They received a forwarded chain email from a relative we'll call Ben (not his real name). Snopes.com currently has the status of this email listed as "Undetermined." Click this link http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/molen.asp to see the whole letter.

The gist is that "really bad things" will happen if the Democrats win the election.

Here was my parents' response to the chain mail:

Ben, Linda and I are incredulous about the forwarded email. It appears that you are siding with a retired United States Air Force Brig. Gen and an Academy Award winning Hollywood Producer and their ridiculous predictions about the future of our country and the upcoming November election. Gen. Cash has the audacity to state that the election of Sen. Obama will "mark the...beginning downslide of this Republic." Where has he had HIS head the past 8 years? The Bush/Cheney presidency has brought total disgrace to our nation. Our economy is suffering. The debt is outrageous. Our reputation around the world is at an all time low. I could go on and on, but will let these few remarks suffice. And you are forwarding messages from a retired General who wants "the conservative movement" to "rally behind the only alternative left to us." What are you thinking? If you liked what you saw the past 8 years, you'll get more of the same and just what you deserve: More bonuses and tax advantages for the greedy CEO's of this country while more and more families are dropping below the poverty line, a disintegration of the middle class which is the entity that has always made this country great, a frightening disregard for the separation of church and state principle, continuing misuse of our military, and a foreign policy that alienates us from countries that used to be our allies and that puts us more--not less--at risk. We have been sickened by this buffoon of a president. Perhaps McCain would be somewhat better, but there is no reason to believe and trust a man who has been a "soldier" for this administration. Linda and I are supporters of Hillary Clinton, and we are disappointed that she is not the nominee. But this nation has to get back on track. The hard right wing of this country needs to be defeated. And if that means electing Obama/Biden so be it. What is "scary" are the words of General Cash and Jerry Molen. We were not in the least offended by this email--only embarrassed and somewhat amused that these people actually believe such drivel. Regards, Allen PS Linda and I would be pleased if Hillary Clinton were named to the Supreme Court!

See how great they are? AWESOME LETTER, Dad! Now everyone, go Ba"ROCK" the VOTE!

Seriously?!! OMG!

Mostly I disagree with the way they're belittling our community organizers - these people are the fabric of our strongest communities! To ease the stress...here's some funny Jon Stewart for you!

Hey! CALL ME!!! I'm in my cube!

Back to work after a nice vacation! LOTS TO DO!

inexperienced, frightening, and ignorant

From: Ilyse Hogue, MoveOn.org Political Action
Subject: McCain's dangerous choice
To: "Stephanie Delzell"
Date: Saturday, August 30, 2008, 1:10 PM

Dear MoveOn member,

Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska 's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6

How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

"She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today." —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

"She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska." —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

"As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be." —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

"Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position." —Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

"She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary." —Marina L., Juneau, AK

"I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position." —Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilyse, Noah, Justin, Karin and the rest of the team

Sources:
1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin
2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=1
3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=2
4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=3
5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=4
6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=5
"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=6
"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=7
7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=21119&id=13661-1094120-uUhMYwx&t=8
Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 3.2 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Stephanie Delzell on August 30, 2008.

Funny from Stacy

My mom sent a recipe to my sister, Stacy:
One tube of Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits, one stick of butter, one tub of crumbled blue cheese (at least 5 or 6 oz). Cut biscuits into fourths. Melt butter on a cooking sheet that has an edge. Place biscuits on top of butter and cover with the blue cheese. I saved some of the butter to drizzle over the cheese. Bake until golden brown and crisp at 350 for 15 or more minutes. Next time I try it, I might use more cheese. Sounds crazy, but it is as easy as can be and is very tasty.

My sister's response:
thanks mom--I'm always looking for low cal, low fat recipes like this. LOL. xo

HAPPY LABOR DAY WEEK-END!

habeas corpus and Posse Comitatus Act

ha·be·as corpus
1. One of a variety of writs that may be issued to bring a party before a court or judge, having as its function the release of the party from unlawful restraint.
2. The right of a citizen to obtain such a writ.
See the section titled Suspension in the United States in 1990s and 2000s.
"The November 13, 2001, Presidential Military Order gave the President of the United States the power to detain a non-citizen suspected of connection to terrorists or terrorism as an unlawful combatant. As such, it was asserted that a person could be held indefinitely without charges being filed against him or her, without a court hearing, and without entitlement to a legal consultant. Many legal and constitutional scholars contended that these provisions were in direct opposition to habeas corpus and the United States Bill of Rights."

Posse Comitatus Act
"A law enacted in 1878 to prohibit the use of the U.S. army in civilian law enforcement, unless otherwise instructed by the president, thereby excluding the military from the civilian sphere. After President Ulysses S. Grant sent a posse comitatus to the polls in the election of 1876, it was presented by Southern Democratic members of the House who resented the use of federal troops during Reconstruction."
See the section titled Homeland Security.
"In early 2006, the 109th Congress passed a controversial bill which grants the President the right to commandeer federal or state National Guard Troops and use them inside the United States. This bill, entitled the John Warner Defense Appropriation Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5122.ENR), contains a provision, (Section 1076) which allows the President to:
“...employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to... restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States..., where the President determines that,...domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order; suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy...”
Senator Patrick Leahy and others have condemned Section 1076 because it effectively nullifies the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C. 331-335) and gives the President the legal ability to define under what conditions martial law may be declared."
Do you still care who is singing on American Idol?

How Soccer Explains the World

Finished reading (not listening to) How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, by Franklin Foer.

I bought this book about 3 years ago. I liked the title. My copy's cover shows the backs of several Zen-Looking monks, wrapped in their sheet-like outfits, sitting on a hill, looking out onto a dusty pitch. I liked that picture. Two of the men whom I love most in the whole world (my only brother, David, and a dear friend) love soccer so much, that I bought the book thinking that I would read it and gain deep insight into their world; their soccer inner life. I thought the book would show how soccer - all that running around after a little ball - explains life, love, heart, humanity, peace (war?), and/or mysteries yet unconcealed (maybe the picture of the monks led me to believe this would be a Zen and the Art of Soccer (and Soccer Enthusiasm)).

Although entertaining and informative, the book didn't go where I hoped. I'm still hungry to explore (and maybe even solve) some of the mysteries of soccer...

Reading...Hate it when it sucks!

Just finished listening to The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, and I didn't like it at all. By the middle of the second disc, I thought it was so bad that I was compelled to finish listening to all 4 discs only to see if the story could possibly redeem itself....it did not. I wish I could just say what I disliked, but I cannot sum it up. So off I go to Amazon to see if anyone else captured my displeasure...Well, the 1 star reviews are all over the map with no shortage of things to hate about the book...I don't feel so bad disliking it...haughty, superficial, drivel, suffers in logic, and "not as good as many people are saying."

Watermelon is here!

The basil is out of control. Loving this!!!! I've made (and frozen) so much pesto and tomato sauce, we might need to get another freezer. I spent tooooo long getting the Condo Association docs scanned in (only 79 pages, but hey), and sent to our Realtor. Couple nibbles on the place, but nothing yet. Cannot believe how cheap we've listed it for. :( Click here for the listing.

In one hour, enough sunlight strikes the Earth to provide the entire planet's energy needs for one year.

Read this exciting news from MIT, "In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.

Daniel Nocera describes new process for storing solar energy. View video post on MIT TechTV http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html

Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. With today's announcement, MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy.

Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon.""

Also - More good news for those power methods that still need oil...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAISZOeaBVQ
http://www.mcgyan.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-GpX3oJFTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyoKTbxerpQ

My sister, Stacy!

Stacy's oldest daugther Lindy (my niece) sang her own songs at a concert this week, then Stacy and her husband, Art (my brother-in-law), played guitar and piano (respectively) on some of Lindy's songs. Then Lindy sang haromony on Stacy's songs! HOW COOL IS ALL THAT? WAY TO BE, LINDY!!! AWESOME, STACY!!! I bet your heart "soared like a hawk!" Here is another link to Stacy's website. I'll probably be posting Lindy's soon. http://www.motherlodetrio.com/

P.S. Here is Art's too http://www.artlabriola.com/

My mom gave us a beautiful bed coverlet for our guest room

Hi Mom, The new bed skirt, coverlet and shams look beautiful in the guest room. They have a swirly pattern, complimenting the bed-frame perfectly. THANK YOU. The new flat sheets and two pillow cases are all washed and on the bed, too. What luxury! You're the BEST to send lovely linens.

Click to enlarge the pictures to see the details.





One more pic of Bombadil at the new fish tank! Click to enlarge!

Peak Cyrus!

Entertainment Scientists Warn Miley Cyrus Will Be Depleted by 2013

For more funny videos, see http://www.theonion.com/content/video/!

Summer Lovin'

My boy, Bombadil, lappin' up the sun on his new porch. He is soakin' it up!

Miss B. in the flowers that Marilyn (Greg's Mom) brought for
us.

The New Couch and some more of the basement...

The new couch is HERE! My first real piece of "adult" furniture! We are working on getting Greymir's (Angela's cat) nails filed and we'll use Soft Paws on her.
Carolina Chair (http://www.carolinachair.com/) did such a wonderful job on the couch. It is TOP OF THE LINE, so beautiful and comfortable. I kept diving into it all week-end.


From the back where we have a little gym area. Our TV is small and old right now. Eventually we'll have a bigger one that connects to the internet! Then, I can watch YouTube and check my email from the comfort of my PIT!

Here is some of the rest of the basement - you can see our desks.
I have a lot of paperwork I'm going through, so you can see my mess.

Angela's Presence

I walk around my house and there are beautiful arrangements like this one, thanks to Angela.



Here she is making another arrangement. She knows so many names of flowers and plants! You can see the plants in the background - she brought all those - including a REAL tree, a donkey tale, and a huge aloe. There are many more around the porch and in her rooms.



Angela brought 2 fish tanks that are now the hot spot for the cats! They love to drink out of the tank. I haven't gotten a picture of Buddhi drinking yet - she stays seated and keeps her chin level with the tank and laps up the water.

Updates

Greg and I both listened to all 3 books in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass). We enjoyed them a lot! The production quality of the audio books was excellent. It was one where different actors played each part, plus a narrator. I enjoy those once in a while. I imagine they're like the old-time radio shows.

We've been eating out of our garden: Spinach, Lettuce, Basil, Radishes, and Green Beans.

Jody Bacigalupo is coming to visit tomorrow! YAY! (Her visit is making me tidy up around here. Love that!) Made some basil pesto.

And the new couch is awesome, it was delivered on Friday! We broke in the new couch by watching Charlotte Gray together with Angela. Drama drama - no end to the stories around WWII - amazing how it impacted so many lives. Reminded me that WWI was so brutally portrayed in the book Birdsong. I devoured that book, I think everyone should read that book.

Then Greg and I watched Superbad. FUNNY!

Today, I took a nap on the new couch. The doorbell rang twice, prompting the creation of my sign (see previous post). I watched Tombstone today because I wanted to see Val Kilmer portray Doc Holiday. He should have won an award for that role!

No Soliciting

Today, I posted this sign next to our doorbell after receiving two solicitations before noon. CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE IT MORE CLEARLY.

I think that I, like many people, after working hard all week, look forward to enjoying my private time. I sleep at odd hours on my time off; I want to veg out or have quiet time; and I want to live in my home without the doorbell ringing for any of the reasons cited in the poster.

If I want something, I will go to the internet site or to the place of business, church, or headquarters, and I'll get it. I donate at my discretion; not in my doorway.

Sculptures in Minneapolis - Little rock people (rockman)

I love these sculptures (statues) in downtown Minneapolis at the Federal Courthouse. They're created by Tom Otterness. http://www.tomotterness.net/exhibitions_rockman.html

Elephants and Pullman

I listened to Beryl Markham's (1902-1986) West with the Night. It was so well-written I had to listen to certain parts two or three times to re-appreciate the metaphors and similes. One of my favorite passages,

"You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself. You learn to watch other people, but you never watch yourself because you strive against loneliness. If you read a book, or shuffle a deck of cards, or care for a dog, you are avoiding yourself. The abhorrence of loneliness is as natural as wanting to live at all. If it were otherwise, men would never have bothered to make an alphabet, nor to have fashioned words out of what were only animal sounds, nor to have crossed continents - each man to see what the other looked like. Being alone in an aeroplane for even so short a time as a night and a day, irrevocably alone, with nothing to observe but your instruments and your own hands in semi-darkness, nothing to contemplate but the size of your small courage, nothing to wonder about but the beliefs, the faces, and the hopes rooted in your mind – such an experience can be as startling as the first awareness of a stranger walking by your side at night. You are the stranger."

Unfortunately, there was so much remorseless elephant hunting that it was almost hard to listen at times. I wonder if she ever regretted her role in that magnificent species' decline?

Onto Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass. Greg's listening too, and he seems to be enjoying it.

I have to post pics of Angela's collages if she'll let me, they're amazing.

THE PIT! Here it is! Dark Blue and True Red! Not powder blue and orange...

The PIT is coming!!!

We ordered (ahem, I ordered) a fabulous new couch from http://www.carolinachair.com/.



We also got the slipcovers made in red - but the picture is more orange (I hope its just the resolution on the camera/photo)...I think the picture is wrong because the blue we ordered is darker and here it looks light blue. So the dark red is looking lighter orange.

Plus I added 16 additional throw pillows (4 Big Blue, 4 Big Red, 4 little Blue, 4 little Red).

We should be VERY VERY Comfortable!!!!

Finished listening to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women - hadn't read it before. A motherly, ambitious, loving, expressive, tour-de-force for all things proper and domestic! Next audio book is Beryl Markham's West with the Night. Also finishing up listening to It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh.

Friday Night! What Week is This?

It is the end of Week 14 in the new house. That doesn't seem like too long. A lot can happen in 14 weeks! We're going Geo-Caching tomorrow with Elgin and Michelle. Angela is finishing her art projects for her next Art Show (in Fairfield).

I'm stunned how impacted I am by the book I recently listened to titled Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond. It profoundly shaped my perspective (and I feel much happier about many troubling ideas). I have an inner freedom I cannot describe. I keep filtering everything I used to think (and worry about) through the new knowledge/information. Basically, we (humans) came on the scene, we killed everything (pretty much), we destroyed what 22 ice ages couldn't accomplish in terms of extinctions, we committed what has been argued to be our worst mistake as a species. We formed into larger groups and learned to live in complex societies. We made up stories (including lots of ecclesiastical ones). We formed governments. Now we're nations. I LAUGH with a whole new depth of absurdity when I hear comments like "The American Way of Life" or "Someone should "do something" about these Gas Prices"! Its SO absurd! I've known for a LONG time that "it's all made up!", but set against the context of this book, I now see that IT'S REALLY ALL MADE UP.

This makes it all the funnier that I am currently COMPLETELY ABSORBED IN Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (very enjoyably narrated (in its entirety, of course) by Kate Reading) while I'm commuting, cleaning and organizing. My mom is so cool, I told her I was listening to Little Women and she said (without missing a beat), "So how are Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy doing these days?" I just re-read the beginning of this paragraph, and it's even funny (in the filter/context of Guns, Germs, and Steel) how I spend lots of time commuting, cleaning and organizing! I'm not doing a good job of describing the awakening, perhaps I'll go look at other people's thoughts on Amazon or Google Books to see if anyone else has had similar epiphanic shifts after reading Diamond.

Great Visit! Who is next?

My parents left this morning. I wept like a baby. While they were here we visited (talking a lot about their recent travels, their new home, our new home, politics, etc) and we played a lot of cards. I tried to find the rules for the game we played (peekaboo), but I cannot. Greg and Dad jogged twice. I made some nice meals (guacamole, ravioli, curry, spring roll bowls, "just like cheesecake," and salads). Dad worked on the jigsaw puzzle. We harvested a lot of our lettuce and spinach.

Many thanks to my parents for the following:

1. The return address labels (with our new address)
2. The items from Target to appoint our guest bath (matching drinking cup, plunger, bar soap, and paper cups)
3. Cleaning and re-assembling our beautiful chandelier (that you had gotten for my condo in Minneapolis).
4. All the lovely compliments and fun comments about our new home.
5. The organic coffee.

I'm sure there is much more, but it is late and I cannot remember. I am already longing to see you again soon. I am going to learn how to play Bridge so that we can come and bother you for extended periods of time (or you will come back here and stay longer next time).

Mid-week before Parent's Arrival

My folks come on this Friday night. I'm so psyched to see them, feed them, play with them, talk to them, LOVE THEM! They have been helping my (only) brother, David Delzell, and his family (Tricia (my sister-in-law), Claire, Amelia, Bobby and Tommy (my nieces and nephews)) move from Illinois to Ohio. They have a beautiful 5 acre (I'm so jealous they have acreage!) home-site near Cleveland. I'm looking forward to Mom & Dad's descriptions of the new place! Greg and I will have to visit David and his family very soon. I would also like to go to New York City and see my (only) sister, Stacy Labriola, and her family (hubby Art, daughters Lindy and Sara).

So, this last week, we hemorrhaged $ome more capital, with the purchase of not one, but TWO Tempurpedic beds. We got our own Queen size with a motor thingy that moves the head/foot up/down, and then a (plain, flat, non-hospital-vibe-inducing) double for the guest room. Then, just as I was going to wash all the mattress covers, mattress pads, and the new sheets, our washing machine broke! We tried to have it fixed, but the part won't come until next week. So, since I never liked that one anyway (it had a mold problem), we agreed to get a new one. We selected this Whirlpool Duet. I hope I love the new washer as much as I LOVE OUR NEW BED. Greg thinks maybe he's been grumpy all these years because he hasn't gotten a good night's sleep. The new bed is AWESOME.

Now its time to slow down the spending!!! AHHHHH!!!! I face it. I'm a consumer. I've been bred by this society to spend, SPEND, SPEND!

Speaking of breeding, I finished listening to Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies By Jared M. Diamond. My new neighbor, Pat, recommended it. It was very good. He discusses the many environmental factors that contributed to Western civilization's domination. Description from Google Books, "he dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors he feels are responsible for history's broadest patterns." Since I don't have the book in print, I have to trust the accuracy of this quote from the book (I got if off the internet). "The objection to such racist explanations is not just that they are loathsome but also that they are wrong."

I love that! I wish I could speak that way!

Other current projects: Continuing to clean and organize everywhere. Angela is paper-mache-ing the top of her desk. Maybe we'll get that project completed before mom/dad get here (she will cover it with fabric and polyurethane it too). Getting the menu/food ready for the weekend. LOTS OF WORK for Wells Fargo, including a big walk-through of Self Administration Redesign.

I'll probably check in only after my folks leave. I have next Monday off to be with them.

Lots on my mind!

I am so excited that my parents are coming, I can barely stand it.

Work is a roller coaster! Lots going on.

On the home front, the previous owners came late Sunday afternoon (June 8th), and they ripped their plants out of our yard. We had an agreement in writing they would come in **May** to get their plants. Should we take them to small claims court?

We're considering a renovation project, installing a door into Angela's wing. Mostly because Greymir, her cat, needs to go out through the window down a ladder we're going to build (and we don't want our cats to do the same),...but also for privacy and noise reduction.

I'm listening to Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? by Peter Walsh.

I finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. WOW. I loved it. I will listen to it again. Harrowing. Moving. Much like Night by Elie Wiesel, only fiction. I'm a better person for having recently read both these books.

More reading, http://www.alternet.org/ - including The End of America http://www.alternet.org/rights/68399/.

Need to install our mirco wind turbines!

Beginning of week 12

Wrapping up Week 11: This is the 3rd weekend that Angela is here. My folks are coming after the next weekend. We continue organizing our own things as well as helping Angela get situated too. Greg is doing a ton of home improvement, renovating our old condo, and he is fixing a toilet! We watched the movie "Dick" last night - had a couple good laughs, great music, but I don't recommend watching it. I made lentil yam stew with walnuts. We served it over zucchini noodles.

I'm almost done listening to Sidney Poitier The Measure of a Man. I'll finish today while organizing our clothes and closets. Here is the discussion on Oprah's website. http://www2.oprah.com/obc_classic/featbook/moam/obc_featbook_moam_main.jhtml

End of Week 10

Looking forward to a productive weekend working on the house and getting the condo ready to sell. I will also work on some documentation for Wells Fargo. Oh yeah - this week at work we hired another Systems Analyst (contractor) who will work on my team - we're so lucky - we got a good one. I'm looking forward to working with her!

Latest surfing...
http://www.projectcensored.org/
http://submedia.tv/
http://www.youtube.com/user/earthship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9jdIm7grCY

http://www.earthship.net/

Welcome, Angela!

We did it! We all did it! Less than 10 weeks after our own big transition, we successfully completed an amazing 3-day-marathon of moving Angela to our home! Three solid days of packing, cleaning, moving and unpacking (and more cleaning). Angela actually started packing up her things in Fairfield, Iowa, 2 months ago with the help of her cool friend, Kathleen. And other supporters chipped in too (Micky, Larry, Gary, Smokey, and probably more)...she has lots of lovely things, especially plants and artwork. She has an amazing collection of fabric, too!

Greg and I arrived in Fairfield at noon on Saturday. By 5:00 o'clock that evening the 17-foot truck was packed and her car was on the trailer, and Greg drove back to Minnesota (no faster than 55 mph), arriving back in Northfield at about 12 Midnight. Angela and I stayed in Fairfield to clean her apartment and get a little rest. On Sunday morning we got up very early, packed up the last things (like her bed), and we drove home. We got home Sunday at 1 PM. By the time we got home, the AMAZING Greg had already unloaded the whole truck! Our next-door neighbor, Thad, helped with two heavy items (the dresser and "tree" - I'll have to post a picture of our new beautiful "tree" that Angela brought into our home).

Sunday was spent getting many things unpacked and set up in Angela's rooms. We made lots of progress on Monday, too (Memorial Day vacation). Greg continued to amaze us both - he blew us away with his ability to lift heavy things and get 1000 other things done (including yard work and gardening). Angela and I unpacked approximately 90% of her items. She is in gross-tuning mode...fine tuning will come soon. A little yard sale or some craigslist.org is in our future.

During several hours this weekend, I was entertained by the book that I'm listening to. It is Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth , and it is pretty fun. In my imagination I'm building castles in the middle ages; running around with monks, Earls, Kings and craftsmen. Oh yes, I'm also "reading" (i.e. listening to them on audiobooks unabridged when available) all of the past Oprah Winfrey book club selections. So on Friday (before the trip), I listened to Elie Weisel's Night. It was only 4 discs long - short and brutal. Boy, did that put the weekend's work into perspective. I spent the whole move just happy to be alive, in peace, grateful that I'm able to contribute to my friend, etc. The weekend's activity was starkly contrasted against this boy's ordeal, and nothing seemed worth complaining about.

I also hit an AA meeting on Friday at Noon - not a regular one - but since I knew I would miss my normal meeting on Sunday morning, I grabbed one on Friday. I had never been to a meeting at that location, nor at that time (come on, at noon on a Friday - I'm usually working)...so imagine my delight when I ran into an old friend, just a few weeks sober, making his foray into sobriety. It felt like a little nod from the universe reminding me that sobriety works, it works for me, and it works for others who want it too!

Yay for small world stories! I love them.
Love,
Sufi

Middle of Week 9

I'm off from work this week....using the time to get house projects done. Our new computer desks look pretty nifty. They both have lots of surface area and shelving. We get Angela this weekend!

Books I've listened to on mp3 (while doing house projects, commuting, etc) the last couple weeks:

The Poisonwood Bible - by Barbara Kingsolver ("Tata Jesus is bangala," can either mean "Leader Jesus is precious" or, if said too quickly "Leader Jesus is a poisonwood tree." The overzealous Baptist minister, Nathan Price, goes around the village yelling the latter!)

The Four-Hour Work Week (The 4 Hour Work Week) by Tim Ferris - http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/

Almost done listening to The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (I listen to everything unabridged whenever possible, unless I really want to hear it and it isn't available in audio in unabridged format). This book is lovely.

Begin Week 8....

Only one more weekend left to get organized & ready!! Then we go get Angela. YAY! We worked like crazy this past weekend. Starting Friday night we went until about 7 PM on Sunday when Greg went to see his mom, and I crashed dead on the couch.

We got the garage cleaned up some more (it still isn't done). We're using the garage space to paint the desk-tops and shelves.

Greg got the first coat of West Highland white (Sherwin Williams) paint on Angela's walls.

I painted the 3 cabinets in the back hallway. Now they need glass tops. I also made a template for the piece of glass we need to cover an oval table. The glass for that table got broken in the move. Oops! I gross-tuned the back hallway....fine tuning still to come.

Greg is so excited about his garden. He said the spinach and lettuce is coming up.

We also saw Shannon on Saturday morning to talk about a price for the sale of my condo...Our goal is to list it in two weeks. Including more painting there! AHHH! Shannon brought her new baby girl, Frances, to the appointment and I got to hold her cute 6-week old self. A precious bundle.

During all this, I almost finished listening to The Poisonwood Bible (on mp3) by Barbara Kingsolver. Throughout the novel, the 5 main female characters (mother and 4 daughters) tell the story, and I enjoy how the personality of each character is so clear when it is her turn to narrate. Each one will tell an event slightly differently, maybe more selfishly or more naively or more compassionately. I laughed out loud at the descriptions of each other, the Congolese "dress-code," and the different takes on their husband/father. I think my favorite character so far is Anatole. But I don't know how the book ends, so I'm not sure. I love the way he reminded me of Byron Katie.

Time to work.

Love,
Sufi

End of Week 6...only 3 weekends left (including this one) until we go get Angela!

So, we're on "Angela-time" - meaning we're trying to get things organized and ready for her arrival. It is so good she's coming, because I don't think we would be getting these things done.

Last weekend we planted the vegetable, herb, and melon seeds. Lots of basil - tons of basil. I am so inspired by the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle story (by Barbara Kingsolver), that I want to make tons of pesto this summer and freeze it all (for enjoying during the winter). YUM.

The little plants came up this week! SPROUTS! Greg looked at them every night before bed this week, it was pretty cute how he had "to check in" on them.

He's busy with the cabinet tops and I'm going to clean the garage. I'm listening to The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue by Barbara Samuel. (Update: Too happily ever after (not gritty enough), but vivid and well-written). Greg is listening to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I begged him to listen to it!

Also, I'm looking for guest-room furniture on http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/! Fun!

End of Week 5!

A super abundant week!

We're still plugging away on the house projects! So far we're half-way through several, including making the "cabinet covers," priming one of Angela's rooms, and priming part of the basement (to test drive possible colors). General cleaning and fine tuning continue...

Elgin and Michelle Switzer came down last Saturday, and it was fun to show them the house. We went to the Tavern Restaurant and Lounge for dinner. This home-style restaurant had given us a $25 "Welcome to Northfield" gift card in our welcome packet. We really enjoyed the quesadillas.

Paul and Edna gave us their porch furniture - Thanks, Barbers!!

Greg got a job! YAY! He worked up in the city all week at Medtronic. He is super squeamish about the commute ("I work for gas" or "I'm killing the planet" - take your pick). I was off on Monday (I spent the whole day in Minneapolis with Marcelline Harrisonfields, Nevin Onder, Jay Theige, Jennifer Blethen, and Max Tong. Then, I spent the evening with Michelle for Oprah's webcast - it was such a GREAT DAY OFF!). I worked from home Tues, Wed, and Friday. And we car-pooled to the cities on Thursday, where I got to see Pam Lewis that night (for about 30 minutes - thanks for the ride to the library, Pam!). That night, Greg and I bought seeds at the Wedge for basil, cucumbers, and tomatoes...so that is the house project this weekend (getting those started). We're also going to pull buckthorn tomorrow.

Jennifer Blethen visited us on Tuesday! She came down on her way to Lake City and stayed the night.

She and I went to Sweet Lou's Waffle Bar and enjoyed half-price coffee drinks. The place is too cute, including their poster about how Sweet Lou's came into existence! I bought some lemongrass soap from a local shop (must shop locally, must shop locally!). During Jen's visit, we enjoyed lovely homemade tomato soup that Jen brought, made from free, organic, fresh produce that Marcelline knows how to get a hold of (that would otherwise have ended up in the dumpster).

We also worked on the 2nd Puzzle - a pretty picture of Collonges-La-Rouge, Correze, Limousin, France.


Here is a recent picture of Buddhi in our messy basement, she is worshipping the fireplace.

I also wanted to show you this sticker that has made its way into our bathroom at work... The little sticker on the roll on the left says something like, "Please help save natural resources and use the other roll first before using this one." Small steps, small steps...

Tonight we went to the Just Food co-op and watched "Garbage" http://www.garbagerevolution.com/, met Joey (sp?) the woman who hosted the show, and Dan, the compost expert. There were a few other nice people there (Kira (sp?), Clay, Suzie?).

Talking to Dan and Joey reminded me of the information from the book Balance Point, a free online book I read last year.
http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/
http://josephjenkins.com/books_balance.html
http://josephjenkins.com/downloads/balance_point/Balance_Point_all_chapters.pdf <-- a 5.7 MB PDF http://jenkinspublishing.com/humanure_contents.html
Love this plug!!

Also, here is the same info about the micro turbines...I don't know why I'm so excited about them! http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:MotorWind:Pastic_Micro_Wind_Turbines
http://www.motorwavegroup.com/new/motorwind/index.html
I imagine our subdivision covered in microturbines! I can hear the wind tonight rushing past my window. Untapped FREE energy! Just spent a ton of time reading this! http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

A goooooood week!