War with Iran? You gotta be freaking kidding!

Just looking at a few sites as I usually do here at Shamanaqua. Gots lots of time.

Tonight I suffered a bit of a setback brought on by Momma Nature.

The Northwest was inundated with snow and ice last night, I barely got home. Everything was melting all day but it started to get cold. I was heading to work this afternoon when an unexpected slide down an icy road left this old hippy in a ditch. Luckily, one of my neighbors in a very large truck managed to pull me out and get me home. At first I thought my car was damaged, too poor to do much repair (deductible is kinda high) but was relieved to find out otherwise.

So, I sit at home waiting for the dawn and some warmer weather here in the NW to melt the icy roads so I can resume padding the paycheck.

Then, I come across this horror:

“We're In Trouble”

Apparently, we are about to engage in a double secret, super hush-hush, clandestine war on Syria and Iran. Why, just today, our forces attacked and captured the Iranian Embassy in Iraq.

Holy crap on a stick, this is bad. Not only is Bush going against the American people(see link, 70% are against sending more troops into Iraq.) but he's running us over the cliff.
What planet is he on?
Where does he think new troops come from? The magic freaking troop fairy?

Syria and Iran have REAL armies. They won't disolve into the woodwork like Iraq's feeble armed forces. We stand on the brink of a monumental catastrophy. We will be losing far more than a hundred of our bravest troops in a single month. We stand to lose a hundred or more in a single week or, Goddess forbid, a single day!

If you’re interested and could use a refresher course on why this is bad and why it is bad militarily, I suggest you head out to Steve Gilliard’s home, The News Blog. He is an extremely well read man of intelligence and has some great insights from the perspective of a person who has studied war and war campaigns well enough to know just how foolish this escalation is. He sees the claw marks on the wall and they spell doom for our men and women stationed in Iraq.

But it's all a cartoon to the Commander-in-Chief. He stands at his oversized, special made RISK board and dreams of being another Julius Caesar. Bush cares not for these brave soldiers. He will always hold them in contempt. When he was younger and brash and strut around Texas and Alabama in his fresh, clean Texas Air Guard uniform; he would always lose the ladies to the hard-nosed returning vets from Vietnam.

He hated them then, he hates them now. He considered himself to be better then any grunt or jarhead by reason of his pedigree and his wealth.

It’s who he is not what he’s done that should impress people in George’s world. He puts on a bang up show wherever he goes. Dozens of his minions scour each venue he appears at to cleanse it of reality. Only the plastic cartoon façade of victory will do for George Bush I. Even when it’s blatantly obvious and trite, Bush will still stand at his port-a-podium and tell us how wonderful he is and how great his policies are.

Corporate goons and billionaire defense contractors revel in his aura for they know the riches he can bestow. Public money and social responsibility are only for speeches and promises, not for actual funding. To George Bush, talking about something is the same as doing it. If he mentions a program in one of his speeches, why, that’s good enough. No reason to waste any money on it.

This country is heading for the last swirl before it heads out of the bowl. George Bush put us here and it will be up to the rest of us to pull this land out of the drain before the last gulp of the commode send us down the river.

This man deserves nothing less then summary indictment, swift impeachment, and a very long imprisonment. But put Darth Cheney in prison first. Otherwise we will have gone from the toilet bowl to the septic tank.

that's it for now - be good, be fair, but be something!

So mote it be...

David A.

Wingnut Christmas

Here it is, the holiday season. The time of year when 'Peace on Earth' and Good Will toward men' rule the day. Or so it should.

At least that's what the Men in Robes taught me long ago in Catholic school.

The voices of change and accountability won the day. The long nightmare is coming to an end but not before the Agents of Darkness take a few, desperate long shots our way in fleeting hopes that we will falter before we begin our ethical cleansing. To quote a famous Vice President - they are in their 'death throes'.

Souless pundits on Faux News and hate-talk radio go ballistic on cue; mysterious, double top secret, timely terror alerts spring forth with new abandon; chest-thumping blathering from the village idiot we elected president - yes, it must be a Wingnut Christmas.

"Santa Miller (Claus is too foreign-sounding) comes down the chimney with guns blazing. You never know if the homeowner is armed and lying in wait. He fills his sack full of toys and goodies he finds around the house. After relieving himself in the fishtank, he breaks a great wind that carries him back up the chimney then off to the next house. Good boys and girls are in their rooms dreaming of skeet shooting migrant workers, or watching the last boat leave shore taking the last group of black people back to Africa. Visions of sugar futures and oil company stocks dance in their heads."

Evenings are spent decorating the tree with gilded nooses and white-hooded angels with flashing light crosses. After decking the tree, our wingnut brood sit before the television to watch lively Christmas specials by Dennis Prager, the Promise Twins: James Dobson and Chuck Colson, and of course the Christian Coalition. No liberal voices here, no sir. Only real god-fearing, stuck-in-the-Dark-Ages, fire and brimstone brand of fear and bigotry for these people.

One Wingnut

Two Wingnuts

A Whole Bag of Wingnuts get punk'd on the radio

"But Jesus Christ wasn't a Christian"


It's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. In the narrow, finite world of the Wingnut there are no rules, no loyalty, no honor

- only the hollow victory of consumption and greed.

take a break this holiday to kiss your dog, pet the cat and tell a good joke to your fish. At least they'll appreciate it.


So Mote it Be...

David A.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!

Upon reading a piece by Carol Hoenig in the Huffington Report, I found myself considering the task of venturing into the belly of the beast once more.

As the Bard said in Henry V
"Once more unto the Breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood."

I tread lightly into that debate of utter futility, yes, the fight between Atheists and Believers. Might as well argue windmills with Don Quiote. However, today I cast my lot with the religious versus those who choose to not believe in God. Heaven help us all. - well, not all I guess.

The article was quite nice. Not as complete as I would have written but a damn sight better. It was in the comments that I found my voice. Ms. Hoenig's prose was good and it made some valid points, but the non-believers in her audience took her to task for claiming that the Atheists had faith.

Her statement was "Like it or not, fundamentalists must acknowledge the basic truth that we are all walking in faith, even if some do not adhere to any religious doctrine. The atheists' faith is that there is no Supreme Being awaiting them on the other side."

There were sounds of great catterwallering from the non-believers. How dare she say that Atheists had faith? They are of the No Faith. They can see beyond the cloud of mystery and through the haze that is religion to see us all for the fools we are. The comments were indignant that such a statement could be made. Such is the condescension of the Atheist.

I find her premise correct. Atheists do have faith. They do believe in something. They have faith in their precious logic, faith in their friends and family, faith in their convictions, and according to one individual, faith in the scientific method. Which I find interesting considering the scientific method is only as accurate as the science that defines it.

Personally, I sense a bit of overplay here. How better to conceal a secret desire that the Believers maybe correct than to bristle at the very mention of faith or belief?

Being an Atheist is not a bad thing. I cannot find anything wrong with rejecting the current hit parade of religions and beliefs that seem to be tossed about like hand grenades lately. I won't debate the validity of my faith with them, they have as much right to their 'beliefs' as I have. Each of us accept the 'truths' that conform to our standards, our inner ethos. Our history, our education and our considerations build upon these 'truths' until we find ways to cement them to our being. This 'cement' is our proof, our validation. It works whether you are finding God in church or finding a new axiom in logic. It all comes out the same.

The real crime is claiming to have the ultimate 'truth', that your way is the only way and the rest of humanity be damned if they do not follow this path. That isn't religion as I see it, that's politics. Religious faith isn't the great boogieman the Atheists make it out to be. Faith did not start the wars or shed the blood of innocents. It was the politics of religion that drew the sword; fanaticism fed by demogogues more interested in power than salvation.

The man called Jesus Christ didn't start the Inquisition, but the men who came after him did - and in his name. People weren't put to the torch because they were witches, they were burned because they were in the way. The passage of time hasn't dulled or diluted this evil, for it holds true today. The same forces that gave birth to the Inquistion, the Holocaust, and every other great dogmatic cleansing are thriving today in places like Jerusalem, Baghdad, Tehran, and Lynchburg, Va. Atheists see this and pigeon-hole all people of faith because of it.

There are times when I can see their point. But if we are ever going to do something about it we first must face it without fear. Those forces have great numbers behind them; frightened, cowed and easily lead. To counter this we must douse the flames of fear and allow some of these sheep to come around. Throwing rocks at each other while this is being attempted isn't helping the situation much.

Faith is something hard-wired into us. We cannot deny it, only modify it so that no one will know how important it really is. Faith propels us into the unknown, gives us the ability to see outside of our boundaries. We may not find the reality that we thought was there but at least we had the courage to push on the door.


That's all for me tonight. Bright Blessings or Happy Logic or something like that...

So Mote it Be
David A.

Once a upon a temptation

Last Tuesday, I voted to bring some change to this country. Well, I didn't fair as well as some of my collegues 'round the nation. My top two choices lost their bid to join in the Big Blue Wave. Darcy Burner and Peter Goldmark lost their races.

So much for my brand of GOTV. Yet, my bitter taste has been sweetened by the new Democratic majority in both houses. (as long as Jolly Joe doesn't bolt the party and join up with the Kool Aid Kids)

There is a lot to do now. We haven't the luxury of a friendly administration or a firm grip on this new majority. Many plans are in the works. Lots of them are quite profound and realistic. It's like every Democrat is just bursting with new ideas to repair the damage done by Bush and the GOP. I hear words spoken out loud that once were only heard in whispers. We seem tempted to just go for broke and launch the WMD's of liberaldom. To this I say...whoa!

We still have a President who is just itching to use his veto pen again. Nothing we produce will get by his desk unless we have enough votes for an override. The new leadership of the GOP is just as hostile and just as swarmy as the last one but this time, they have vengence on the mind. We made them look like last year's cheese and true to their symbol, they won't soon forget. We can't get any bills passed unless we get a few of the moderates on our side. They may feel more powerful now, but they're just one coward away from being tossed back into the basement at Blair House.

Besides, we have our own 'special kids' to deal with. One of them drips self-righteousness. If Lieberman bails, we'll lose the Senate and have to make do with just the House. Personally, I could care less about Lieberman. The Democrats should operate as if we don't have the Senate (except in hearings) and prepare for the inevitable. Lieberman is a freaking back-stabbing immoral, dishonest soulless beast. But worst of all, he has no honor. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Honor is the most important and least required quality of our elected leaders. Men with honor don't cheat on their wives. They don't steal nor take money not deserved. Honorable men keep their word, making no promise they can't hold. And in case I am accused of being sexist, I am male and cannot speak to what is considered honorable to women.

Honor needs to make a comeback. If we hope to accomplish any of the lofty goals that have sprung eternal in the last week, we better make this happen soon.

Back in a few...

So mote it be

David A.

A little Foley in your pants

I hesitate to jump into the fray of this scandal. It's been along time since I've posted here and this isn't the way I wanted to bust out of my lethargy. But, it is news and I have something to say about it.

The GOP is a 30 ton anchor tied to a rowboat called America. They have shown themselves to be, not just the worst governing party since - well, never, but they are also the worst human beings to walk upright. (jury's still out on whether they are upright)

Nothing is beyond the pale for them. They can rationalize away some of the most grievous, inhuman, and despicable acts but rally together to try and bring a poor, brain-dead lady back from the Other Side.

Everything is quantifiable to Republicans. Everything is measured in terms of worth and cost. If it doesn't generate profit, it must generate evil. Everything must be taken advantage for the good of the party and the President. Rights are only for the wealthy, others need be satisfied with the stale crumbs left behind. Greed is a sense of pride to them. They don't just want more, they want it all - yours, mine, the old guy down the street. It's no mystery - the GOP is blatantly evil.

Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Hastert, and Boehner are just the tip of the dung heap. There is a whole network of insidious cretins working in the wings, doing the grunt work and setting the table for the next big play.

Take a chance to view some of the news around the country
Arianna's Huffington Post
Stranger's Blah 3(one of my favorites!)

of course the biggies:
The Daily Kos
Atrios' Eschaton
Firedoglake

I know I keep threatening to maintain this blog. Well, here it is again.
I hope to keep it simple this time and no visions of grandeur. I'll let the other guys do the big stuff, I'll just stay in my little corner and vent.

Until next time - so mote it be.

David A.

History isn't what it used to be

I’ve been cruising the Net looking at lots and lots of blogs, diaries, and news reports. Most of what I see strikes a similar chord. We are living in historic times. Generations from now, our lives will be investigated and scrutinized by those who wish to appreciate what we going through now.

Let’s start out with a bit of a lesson in history.

I remember history being ‘Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492’ or “Custer’s army was cut down to the last man at Little Big Horn’. That’s not history, that’s trivia. Those are answers on a board game or to a pop quiz in Mr. Hawkins class.

History isn’t what it used to be. History doesn’t just arrive in your rearview mirror. It comes at us as we glance backward. Sometimes it knocks us on our ass as we look back. History in the making I heard said once.

It’s more than just the recording of events and endeavors. It is our soul. History is the modeling clay we use to sculpt who we are. It isn’t written, it is performed; it’s not approached, it’s pursued. It’s never allowed to be static; it’s constantly being renewed. Those who participate in history are not the authors; they are merely extras in an epic production. History is not forever, it vanishes as the last cast member turns to dust. Once the players are gone, history ceases to exist. It becomes mythology.

History is the great theatre of life.

We, the bloggers and commenters, lurkers and posters, are the players in this current production. How will we compare to those who last walked this stage?

Imagine being in Birkenau when the first cattle cars started arriving. Imagine waking up in Honolulu on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. Imagine turning on the television in 1954 and seeing Ed Murrow.

These are times and events where people were changed, not necessarily for the better but changed nonetheless. Each time, we were given an opportunity to give our world a push forward, or sadly, a kick back. Would you have sipped your coffee and merely watched the planes fly overhead on that December morning in 1941? Or looked away as the rail cars full of people pulled into the station? Would you have turned the channel on Murrow and watched ABC or NBC instead?

We can look back at our predecessors’ choices and answer with reasonable certainty what we would have done differently, but we have the luxury of hindsight and the safety of time.

What actually was going through the minds of those people who were there? Despite the volumes of documentation and years of investigation, we won’t ever know the answer to that question. It has, for the most part, ceased to be history and has become mythology. We can assume that some of the people were gratified, that some were indifferent, and others may have been afraid. But in the end, it didn’t matter. Those who lived through those times have too much invested in their experiences to relate them exactly. We can know the facts, the numbers of the dead and affected, and the evidence of the pain suffered or the injustice done. But we can never really comprehend it.

The same is true for every other historical event. Unless we lived it, it’s just a tale to be told.

Which brings us back to the present. Never in my life have I seen so much history coming at us. Events are piling up just waiting to happen.

We are being given a chance to ‘make history’. How will we respond? Will our descendants look back on our choices and answer with reasonable certainty what they would do differently?

The choices we make now will be the stories our descendants tell to their children. Whether they will be tales of heroism or tales of woe depend on the parts we play today.

Who is an Environmentalist?

What comes to mind when you hear the term ‘environmentalist’? Do you see a young person in business attire, grandparents taking their charges to the park, or do you see an old, dusty, longhaired refugee from a Grateful Dead concert?

This image, this stereotype is crippling the real environmental movement, a movement that attempts to reverse the landslide this administration has us heading down. This falsehood is also why liberals and progressives in the Democratic Party must endeavor to restructure the image of the environmentalist.

On the blog ‘Daily Kos’ Marcos Moulitas quotes an article by David Sirota on just who can be called an environmentalist.

Markos Moulitas of the Daily Kos says:

“I've been saying "environmentalism" is a damaged brand, associated with too many people as "tree hugging" and "spotted owls", than in protecting our natural legacy.

But a new brand of Western Democrats have redefined the issue in terms that are actually advantageous to our party, and can help peel away a huge and solid GOP voting bloc.

Sirota explains:

‘In their overreaching, however, the Republicans are helping to redefine the political issue of the environment on vastly different terms - terms that are very advantageous to Democrats in Congress, if they follow Democrats in the states who are pressing the issue.

Out here in the Montana, for instance, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) has made the preservation of his state's hunting/fishing access laws a top priority. In Wyoming, Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) signed legislation giving citizens more leverage over oil and gas companies when those companies use their land. And in Colorado, Democratic legislators pushed legislation forcing oil and gas companies to pay up when they harm private property.

These are lessons for congressional Democrats looking to play offense in red-states in 2006, and at least some are already moving forward. For instance, Colorado Rep. Mark Udall (D) and Nevada Sen. Harry Reid (D) have strong, pro-hunter legislation on the table. The more focus on these issues from Democrats, the better.’

Hunters and traditional environmentalists diverge in one key area -- the killing of furry creatures. But by forging such an alliance, environmentalists can sell 95 percent of their agenda to an important, influential bloc of voters otherwise turned off by both the Green movement and the Democratic Party in general.

As Mehlman and Co chip away at traditional Democratic blocs, we can't sit still without raiding enemy turf. If we get the outdoorsmen, we make the Republicans' job a hell of a lot more difficult.”

So, who is an environmentalist? Who indeed.

1. If you fill your diesel truck once a week for $60 and still don’t go very far from home; you could be an environmentalist.

2. If any of your children ever stuck a foreign object, like paint chips, into their mouths; you could be an environmentalist.

3. If you’ve ever went to the beach clamming one day but was sent home the next because of red tide; you could be an environmentalist.

4. If you’ve ever hiked into the woods with a hunting rifle and a map to the best place for a deer blind; you could be an environmentalist.

5. If you live near any of hundreds, if not thousands of this country’s chemical plants, drink the city water and breathe that air; you could be an environmentalist.

6. If you have ever gone whale watching; you could be an environmentalist.

7. If you have looked out over your city on a sunny July afternoon and decided against going out in the smog; you could be an environmentalist.

8. If you love watching those nature films about lemurs, meerkats, and the jungles of the Amazon; you could be an environmentalist.

9. If you have ever sat in awe of panoramic views of the mountains of Alaska, the deserts of New Mexico, or the rainforests in Washington State; you could be an environmentalist.

10. If you let your children play in your own backyard; you could be an environmentalist.

And finally, if you live by the ideals of our founding fathers, the words of Jesus Christ, or the lessons of your upbringing; you could be an environmentalist.

You see, any one of you could be an environmentalist. Anyone. You don’t have to be a vegan, a member of Greenpeace, or even a Liberal. All you have to be is a resident of the Planet Earth.

When we pour ourselves a glass of iced tea, we don’t piss in the water first. When we put our kids to bed we don’t stuff toxic chemicals under their mattresses. When we get up early on a crisp, spring morning, do we walk to the window for a deep breath of air but only after releasing billows of smoke from our fireplace?

There are few who would answer yes to these questions. People don’t want to live in a garbage dump, a toxic wasteland, or a festering pool of pollution. However, there are those who want others to live there.

NIMBY: Not In My Back Yard: an acronym for a tendency to keep hazardous conditions away from one’s living area, preferring to send them to someone else's.

No one wants to live next to a chemical plant or a nuclear power plant. If one of these industries were to buy out the land around your community, promise a few jobs and a few coins for the public good, would you still want them in your neighborhood? I doubt it.

Why? Simply put, it’s all about peace of mind. No one wants these plants near them because these industries cannot guarantee that the toxic materials they produce will never get into your home.

Examples abound proving this point. Names like Love Canal, Bhopal, and Three Mile Island only begin to illustrate how much damage has been done by these corporate barons and the minions of the chemical industry. They have shown time and again that they have little real concern for our welfare. Protecting people from the products and by-products of their companies is expensive, very expensive. They have determined, in corporate boardrooms and legislative chambers, that the cost of protecting the people’s environment inhibits the level of profit these men expect. This fact alone allows them the regulatory grace to do as they please, regardless of the consequences.

There was a time, late in the 19^th and early 20th centuries when we had little regulation of pollution or ecological damage. Corporate profits were first on every priority list. But soon, their greed began to feed on itself and citizens saw fit to make the changes necessary to bring these robber barons back to Earth.

Before the laws were changed to protect us from their toxins, the chemical industry was one of the most profitable in America. They produced every kind of substance from phosphate detergents to make shirts whiter than white to the latest bug spray to get rid of the chiggers in your lawn. We accepted these products with glee because the slick ad campaigns knew exactly which buttons to push. We were convinced that these products were safe and wonderful and indispensable. No home should be without a can of DDT or a garage without a can of dioxin-laced paint thinner.

Reality presented its case in 1962 when a lonely biologist with a literary flair shattered their poisonous plans. Rachel Carson’s book ‘Silent Spring’ took these corporate goons to task. And she had allies. It is said that President Kennedy had every member of his cabinet read Ms. Carson’s book because it had such an impact on him. The industries that produced the toxins went to court to keep such information private but the people had already turned. They lost the battle but not the war. They have worked tirelessly for over 40 years to reverse the effect the environmental movement has had on their bottom line. They will continue to work incessantly to return to the good ol’ days of high profits and low regulation.

Will today’s public respond in the same way their parents or grandparents did in the 60’s and 70’s? Will we allow the government to capitulate to these corporations and weaken or curtail these regulations? From Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’ to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s book ‘Crimes Against Nature’, the American people have been told time and again about the damage such greed brings.

But they haven’t gotten the whole message yet. The Right Wing and their cronies in the mainstream media have been clouding the issue like an oil slick for 40 years. There is a movement by the chemical industry to return to the pesticide DDT because, they claim, it would prevent disease throughout the developing world by killing malaria or West Nile virus bearing mosquitoes. They crank up the ad machines to snow the public into thinking that they are so concerned for the health and welfare of the poor and sick in the third world. Reality is that the chemical companies won’t be giving it away. What better way to ensure a fat payday than to provide these dangerous chemicals in the name of disease prevention and charge to whole bill to international relief agencies. This administration has gone on record defending this policy, probably because so many of the government’s ‘experts’ in the field are former lobbyists for these same industries. If the door is opened once again to the machinations of these corporate goons, the people of this country, and the world, will be worse for it.

Another environmental hazard that has been tossed around like an old shoe is global warming. Science has been forced to revisit, revise and re-evaluate every scientific argument that supports the theory of climate change. Yet, even in this extremely hostile setting, the data has withstood the onslaught. Thousands of climatologists, biologists, meteorologists, and environmental scientists have gathered on numerous occasions to emphasize the evidence supporting catastrophic climate change or global warming. Despite this, our intrepid government refuses to acknowledge it. Pres. Bush has yet to accept any evidence supporting global warming. In his little world, there is nothing to fear from allowing his friends in the corporate boardrooms run roughshod over our natural world. It is in our ‘national interest’ for the oil, gas and coal industries to make obscene profits with little or no regulation over the damage they cause our environment, at least in GOPland. Keeping our natural places (and ultimately, our citizens) healthy is secondary to the profit margins of companies like ExxonMobil and Dow Chemical.

The citizenry is confused by all of the rhetoric. They have been told time and again by the White House, the Pentagon and Fox News that there is nothing to the stories we keep hearing about global warming. Even when we see the national academies of science in 10 countries sign a report urging the world to acknowledge the depth of scholarship behind these theories, there are still those who would prefer to stick their heads firmly in the sand.

The Bush Administration is not doing this because they’re stupid. Far from it, they know exactly what they are doing and why. They see the potential for greater corporate profits and, through relaxed campaign financing, more money to get reelected. The power centers remain on Wall Street, K Street, and Pennsylvania Ave., instead of Main Street.

Where does that leave us? Who is left to turn back the toxic tide?

Look at the question at the beginning of this article. Who is an environmentalist?

When Rachel Carson published excerpts of ‘Silent Spring’ in the New Yorker magazine in 1962, the firestorm from the chemical industry was apocalyptic. But she had done good and sound research and had the temerity of a mongoose in her battles with these corporate goons, despite suffering from what would be terminal breast cancer. After her example, others filled the void. David McTaggart of Greenpeace, Denis Hayes and John McConnell of the first Earth Day, Vice President Al Gore’s ‘Earth in the Balance’ and many, many others have taken up the baton passed by Ms. Carson.

These are big names, famous and infamous right out of the headlines. But they are just the ones at the top of the list, a long list that includes legislators from every country, educators from every university or college, religious leaders, housewives, loggers, miners, cashiers, and school children the world over.

Everyone is an environmentalist. A logger wants the forest to survive, to thrive because it’s his livelihood, his recreation, his life. A miner wants the mines to be safe and sound. He cares deeply that the product of his labors doesn’t pollute the place he calls home. He wants to work for a responsible company that cares about his community as much as he does. Hunters and sportsmen know intimately the cost of pollution. They see it every time they enter the wild. Damage to the environment affects the game they seek, the length of the season of the hunt and the places they are allowed to go.

When the facts are presented honestly, there are few who would want a dirty world with their wealth. Frankly, wealth may keep the toxic wolf at bay for a while but not permanently. Because, despite the rantings of Bush and his ministers, everywhere is a backyard - our backyard.

Now, how do you answer the question?

Sleepwalkers

Ours is a grey world, devoid of color. Even in our most pleasant moments we can only see a brighter shade of grey.

Clarity has lost its meaning. We are comatose in life, numb to the world. We are Sleepwalkers.

There was a time when a fair amount of effort was needed to get by in the world. Work was hard and raising a family too important to leave to strangers. We read the paper, watched the news, and took an interest in our neighborhoods. We knew our neighbors, could tell whose kid was who’s at the ballgame. We cheered the local high school team even if we didn’t have kids in school. Community was important; school boards and city council meetings had more than a couple people show up.

It took time and effort to be an American. It wasn’t easy but it was life.

Now we have raised the ramparts and retreated into our homes. Fear has us hermetically sealed in visqueen and duct tape. We haven’t talked to our neighbors in years, couldn’t tell you who they are or what they do.

The bright, mindless orb at the center of the living room commands our time and our soul. We stare deeply into its core; it takes over all mental function, deadens our nerves and our sensibilities. We are numb to any stimulus, any human tragedy. We have become lost in a dream. It tells us when to cry, when to laugh and worse, what’s fantasy and what’s ‘reality’.

Our leaders have taken advantage of this. They use the orb to weave a dreamscape that is accepted as reality. The thread of this weave is so tight, so interwoven that it has convinced us all that only these men can tell us what is real.

Our muscles atrophy from lack of use, reticent silence hardens vocal cords. In the throes of this slumber, we move like cattle across history, more livestock than alive. The Dream is comfortable; it warms us and gives us a sense of security. The Dream lies.

The lie of the Dream – the warmth we feel comes from fire stoked with our dried up souls. The ‘security’ is the refuge of the grave; a cold, hard box six feet down.

We sleepwalk the same road as our neighbor. Raise the same sleeping children; make love to the same sleeping spouses. His life is as grey as ours; the Dream makes them inseparable.

There is no distinction, no difference, nothing unique. Humanity has abandoned the gifts of clarity and purpose. We lost the will to break free of the chains of conformity.

Some succeeded – Gibson, Kerouac, and Thompson. They kindled the fires of disorder – but when they left us, the fires dwindled quickly. They lived and died their muse but that passion left with them. Their lives may have sparked movements, perhaps even a philosophy, but that too eventually faded into the dust that covers their graves. Their images have become cartoons, billboards and brightly colored product packaging that sells toothpaste and tampons.

Libraries are full of the promises broken by the Dream. Sleepwalkers pack theaters, ballparks and auditoriums in vain attempts at touching reality, sampling life without the Dream.

Hollywood shows us baneful possibilities 120 minutes at a time. Television, the mindless orb - that visual landfill, regurgitates ‘soylent green’-like pabulum packaged fresh for Sweeps. The garbage left behind by aging hippies and pissed off British punks with bad teeth is recycled and repackaged to support our ‘haute couture’. Our feces becomes high fashion.

Humanity is a retread.

There is hope, but it is a flickering candle on a leaky boat in the eye of a hurricane. Gibson, Kerouac, and Thompson had moments when that candle shown brightly. They offered to bring that light to the people. But the Dream Merchants hunted them down and, extinguisher in hand, snuffed them out. The Sleepwalkers must remain asleep.

The Dream Merchants have grown larger than life. They compete with one another for control of the sleepers. Sleepwalkers are guided from faction to faction, oblivious to the game. We tune our televisions to CNN until we are told to turn the channel to Fox.

Dream Merchants control the herd; guide us from cradle to grave by slick marketing and focus groups. Those that break free are preyed upon by wolves hired to keep the herd intact.

But these wolves aren’t real. They’re just as asleep as the rest of humanity. They are only cattle chosen to maintain the engines of the Dream.

Dream Merchants were Sleepwalkers once. When they saw the Dream for what it is, instead of trying to break free, embraced it.

They have no loyalty to the herd, no sentimental connection to history or tradition. They are like cannibals, gorging on the minds of Sleepwalkers, drawing sustenance from lost human spirit.

Humanity has always had the freedom to choose. This is no different. Sleepwalkers choose their lot in life. The Dream is not a prison. These chains have no locks. To leave the Dream, one must only open his eyes.

With eyes open, we can see the sun brand new. Time becomes a companion, not an enemy. Life returns to our colors, they brighten and shine. Small things, once ignored, are given names and cherished. Our purpose in the community becomes important to us again. Our lives have value. We see the other Sleepwalkers as we would lost children at the zoo. They see us as a threat. We approach them help, they recoil in fear, screaming for security.

That’s where many of our heroes fell short. They wanted to wake the Sleepwalkers, shake them loose from the Dream. But the choice to release the chains must come from within the Dream, not without. As Sleepwalkers, we hold tight to those chains, refusing to release them for fear of reprisal from others. We dare not stand out from the herd.

It is the nature of the Dream to make all choices for the Sleepwalkers. When a sleeper rebels and makes a life choice on his own, the Dream weakens and reality may peek through.

To break free of the Dream, Sleepwalkers must be provided with real choices that matter. Those outside the Dream must make ourselves known in their world as an opportunity, not as an obstacle. Instead of the same grey-green existence they are used to, we show them a bright colorful new one. Many will pass us by, fearing the change, disgusted at the disturbance, the unmitigated gall of offering a challenge.

Those that make the choice to seek us out, loosen their grip on the chains a bit. They see in our faces, our joy. They can tell that we are experiencing things that they haven’t and it frightens them. Most will stop, not going any further at this time. They will have to be content with this brief glimpse of freedom, enough to carry them to work or home less grey than before.

But there will be those who are tired of the Dream. Those who have been suffering in silence because they did not have the courage or the opportunity to break free, will find us. It is our shoulder that will support them when reality overwhelms them. It will be our strength that will revitalize their will when the Dream Merchants reproach them for straying from the herd.

As the times demand more attention and the real possibility of civilization’s collapse slowly enters our conscious mind, the Sleepwalkers must be shown how to be awakened. Our numbers must grow.

Are Gods Real?

(previously published in The Witches' Voice on May 20th, 2001)

This question raises all sorts of lofty, pretentious platitudes about the concept of reality and all its variations. We find ourselves falling into the same, tired old issues: What is reality? Can humans truly understand what is real, what is fantasy? Well, to start on a 'firm' footing, let me just say that I find all that I experience to be real. To Hades with any other opinion, this is my thought and it has no need to be justified. I know what is real and what is not. That's all reality needs, personal substantiation.

Now add to this the question of the existence of the Divine. My Goddess, what a mental circus three little words can be! I guess the best way to begin is to leap with both feet into the pool of ambiguousness.

The Divine represents the human concept of what exists outside our physical/emotional universe. This universe had a beginning and it will have an ending. The specifics of these events are not for us to know with any certainty but to ponder and investigate. What exists outside this universe is the realm of the Creative (Divine) Spirit that, we believe, allowed our universe to begin. The history of humanity plays well with the concept of the Divine. The 'Creator' is a common theme throughout human history, recorded or not. When humans fell from the trees and learned to walk upright, we became better animals. When we began to consider the possibility of a higher power, we became better humans.

Of course, the type of Divine Spirit changes with culture and geography. Since it is only through 'Creation' are we able to envision the 'Creator', then it stands to reason that our personal vision of the Divine is tied to the environment we are exposed to. The culture we are born into, the experiences we have had, and the things we are taught add flesh to the frame of our inner vision of the Divine. All of these factors are combined to 'create' our 'creator'. It is only after we construct this image can we decide the rules that govern it. Each of us determines what standards apply to us, which path to follow. The greatness of the human condition is in its ability of self-determination. It is our individuality that helps us come to terms with how we perceive the Divine Spirit. If allowed to progress unmolested, our perceptions can enable us to achieve great things and envision far-reaching possibilities. However, reality rarely follows this pattern. Human history is flush with examples of one culture or faith imposing their beliefs onto others, many times at the threat of violence. I believe this goes against our natural human traits. We were meant to exercise our individuality, while still enjoying our human community. A great society is not a herd of sheep, but a collection of many creatures. A 'zoo' of humanity, without the bars of course. That is why contemporary efforts to allow the freedom of religious expression throughout the world are so important to our continued existence.

In my little universe, the Divine Spirit is the Earth Mother. I find proof of the Earth Mother's existence in such places as a flower garden in full bloom, a waking puppy's yawn and the sudden shiver caused by a cool, spring breeze. When I walk into the forests of the Cascade Mts., I feel Her presence, Her love, and Her concern. I know that to honor Her and Her children, I must travel carefully and respectfully. I am a guest in Her special places and that my welcome is contingent on my behavior.

There are those of other faiths who would look upon my path and reject it with words of condemnation. I try not to hear them, to not be concerned about their angry voices because I know that I am not just on the right path, but the only path ... for me. I cannot envision myself seeing this world as anything but alive. I see 'proof' of the Earth Goddess' existence all about me, in every nook and corner, every cloud and sea. To ask me if my Goddess is real is like asking if I am real. In fact, my reality is a small ray of light in a shining chorus of sunbeams compared to Her. But even if my life is near invisible next to Her's, I am the most important person to Her on my path.

I think all of us have a similar relationship with the Divine Spirit, that each of us is the most important ones on our paths. I decide which path is more right than another one, yet I can only speak for myself. Each of us has a responsibility to our soul/spirit to decide which path is correct. I consider this one of the most important decisions humans can make. It isn't easy, there are many choices out there and lots of people who are quite content to make this decision for you.

Deciding on which religion to follow is like choosing shoes. We may want what is in style but in the long run, comfort has to win out. It will do you no good if you choose a faith based on popularity or status. The Divine will not connect to you if you can't learn how to hear Its voice.

There are those who require proof before they will believe in the Divine Spirit. They want to see how your version stands up to their already preconceived notion of what the Divine entails. They wage a war of wills, a spiritual cage match pitting your puny deity against their all-powerful, lightening bolt-throwing god. We have all met folks who ask for proof of our deities, only to offer little proof of their own. Proof of existence is one of the most tenuous threads in the business of divinity. One man's truth is another man's myth.

We only accept the 'facts' that stand up to our personal set of rules. Proof from sources outside our belief can be easily dismissed, countered by our own faith. But why does anyone need proof to believe? Faith is accepting the notion that there exist things and conditions outside our capacity to understand. Requiring proof in Spirit is like asking a blind man to describe the color blue.

I rather enjoy the notion that all paths are true, particularly to those who follow them. If I follow a certain path, who can say I am wrong. My path may be wrong to others, but they don't have to walk in my shoes. My path is mine, all mine, no one else can walk it for me. There may be companions along the way, folks who share a certain part of my faith. We will walk together until their way branches off from mine. Hopefully, I am able to glean some words of wisdom or warning from these fellow travelers as they walk with me. It is in this manner that we enrich our paths. If we shelter our lives from the ways of others, we cannot expand our faith and we risk walking in circles. We may walk our paths by ourselves, but we never walk it alone.

This Spirit, or Creative Entity, has a unique relationship to each of us. We may see it in different ways, different forms, singular or plural, but it is still the same Entity or Entities that allowed our life to begin. I wrote a fable about this. An abridged version follows:

"Years ago, in the shadow of a great mountain dwelt a small village. The villagers considered the mountain to be the home of the Great Spirit and thus sacred. Because the mountain was so tall, it was always shrouded in mist. The village elders felt that the people needed something to look upon when worshiping the Great Spirit. So they commissioned a group of wise artisans to search out the holy mountain and paint a picture of it for display. This way the villagers would have something to look to when they prayed to the Spirit. Each of the wise men had their own beliefs about the Holy Mountain and, of course, their own way of getting there. With much fanfare, they embarked on the journey. Days past, then weeks, soon the men started arriving from the forest, each carrying a painting. When they gathered together for the unveiling of the paintings, the first artisan looked upon the painting of another and scoffed.

"Sir, I know not where you were, but your painting is nothing like mine. I alone was at the base of the Holy Mountain. So, only my picture is authentic."

"Not so, " said the other wise man. "I was all alone as I prayed beneath the mountain. I did not see you or any other of these pretended prophets. Only my painting is real."

"Ha! You both have painted the wrong mountain. Neither of you were there when I cast stones to the Spirit for inspiration. Only my painting is of the Holy Mountain." Said one other.

As the villagers looked on, each of the wise men began arguing about the legitimacy of their artwork. Villagers began to support or reject paintings, allying themselves with a particular wise man. Arguing beget yelling which in turn beget fighting, soon the entire village was in an uproar.

Out of this melee, walked a little girl. She looked at the paintings that had become strewn about the village square. She picked one up and looked at it intently. Then she looked at another, then another. She placed the paintings on the ground about the square. Other children saw what she was doing and helped her. The some of the villagers noticed her actions too, for they stopped fighting and watched. After all the paintings had been placed, she walked up to the Chief Elder and spoke.

"Good Sir! See here. The paintings are not of many mountains but of only one. The wise men painted the same mountain but from many directions. If you see how we have placed the paintings, you can see that now we are able to see the whole mountain, instead of just one view."

The Elder looked at the paintings. They had been arranged in a circle, each providing the special scene that had inspired the wise man to paint.

The wise men were ashamed that they had become so angry, as were the villagers. For it took the innocence of youth to see beyond the stubbornness of intolerance. The village honored the children and erected a circular shrine in the village square to display all of the paintings, just as the children had placed them."

This fable illustrates that sometimes we become so wrapped up in what we perceive to be real, that we forget that others can have a different, equally valid, perception of reality.

We each have a special and unique connection to the Divine Spirit; we never really need anyone else to interpret what this Spirit wants from us. No one need speak for this Spirit when It can do just fine by Itself. If the Creator needs us to know something, we will be taught. All we have to do is keep our minds open and listen.

That's the reality in my view. Because we are unique and can comprehend that there exists a power greater than us, then yes, our gods are real.

May the Goddess watch over us and keep our path before us.

David Aquarius

Back to the Daily Grind

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything here.

Blogging was very new to me. With my limited html experience, I'm afraid I bit off more of a chunk than I could handle. But that, as they say, is history. Lesson learned and diploma received.

What this site will evolve into remains to be seen. I will not try to shape it into anything, allowing it to find its own course.

I do not strive for numbers, the blog counter will attest to that. Yet, should any curious netizen be trolling for thoughts, I hope to provide an interesting stop along the way.


Since our last episode, I have been on quite a few adventures. Some not to my liking, others I would love to try again. I may recount them in these pages but first, the news:

Take Back The Media.com

I have been asked by Stranger and Bozak from 'Take Back the Media.com' to provide news stories and commentary for their site. I am humbled by this. For longer than I can recall, my voice has been little more than a solitary shout in the wilderness. Not that I mind the solitude, but having an audience of only squirrels and chipmonks can be less than satisfying.

So, I will be providing 'Take Back The Media' with the bulk of my attention. Political commentary will be posted there first with a link provided here.

Now that was a Hatefest

It's finally over. The Republicans are through tearing a hole in the universe of decency and honest discourse. My eyes are still burning from all the fire and brimstone. Now, the Dems had the dog and pony show last month, but their's was merely entertainment, not a crucifiction.

I have never, in my many years and lives, encountered so much vile and hatred outside a Mississippi lynching. Those delegates were steaming with hatred - and enjoying every soul-burning moment of it.

Now, to be fair, the Dems did their share of mudslinging but the leadership made a concerned effort to stem the tide of vitroil aimed at Bush. Some speakers went astray and lashed out but even their remarks were nothing but party poppers compared to the 'daisycutters' of the Republicans. And nothing could make these GOP freaks more proud.

It's as if being hateful and crass is a new American family value to them. They reveled in the own mud. I know of only one animal that does that.

One example of that was the wearing of of purple heart bandages by some of the delegates. This. of course, is a reference to that insipid smear campaign that Karl Rove orchestrated against John Kerry's honored service in Vietnam.

Well folks, the same Navy that awarded those Purple Hearts (and Bronze and Silver Star) is the same Navy that has been awarding medals to other Vets, including thousands of injured Marines coming home from Iraq over the last two years. Those jackasses who profoundly displayed those little purple insults, spit in the face of every soldier, sailor and marine that left a piece of themselves on the battlefield in service to America.

Am I angry? Damn Right!

I served a hitch in the Navy in the '80's. I didn't get a Purple Heart or fought on a swift boat but I served my country with honor and pride. A great deal of my time in service was in or around the Persian Gulf, keeping the world (and some Kuwaiti tanker ships) safe from extremism. Little to my knowledge at the time, most of the extremism was brewing home in the good ol' USA.

Now, I have a real desire to be fair. Hell, I'm a Liberal - it's in my DNA. So I have listened to the other side. My congressperson is Rep. Jennifer Dunn, retiring GOP from the 8th Dist of WA state. She is surely one of the most conservative people in Congress, although not quite up to the standard of Tom 'Bugman' Delay or Rick 'Buttman' Santorum. I have written her many leters on policy and concerns, like any good patriotic citizen would do. They all go unanswered. As a Liberal in the 8th Dist. of WA state, I do not exist to these people. My words go unheard, unheeded, unresponded to. This is not unexpected. All I can say is I tried.

John Kerry is not the perfect candidate, we don't make those in this country. But he is a candidate that we can work with. He listens to the folks who will put him in office. He's intelligent! Boy, will that be a change.

To Grow Without, First We Must Grow From Within

I'm not going to claim that quote. I have no idea where it came from but I find it apropos here.


There is history happening here. Not just something to put in the textbooks of our grandchildren, but one of those monumental events that dictate whether or not there will be any reason to print those textbooks.

America was born from the tyranny of others. When people became concerned about their freedom, they tried to change their governments. However in Europe at that time, those governments had hundreds of years of oppressive experience and most of the resources to keep these people in their 'place'. So, these intrepid souls gathered their meager belongings and left, or more likely, escaped to the shores of our country.

Once here, they used those talents that made they had learned in their original homeland. The promise of freedom in America brought them here, their hard work and sacrifices brought new brilliance to our society.

Our relatives back in the old country saw and heard what we were doing, how we lived and decided to work with their new American cousins and start chipping away at the old regimes that once had such a hold on the old continent.

In the middle of the last century, when the world went mad, they were given a great oppotunity to make that change.

The America of today was built by sweat, blood, laughter, and pain. From those who came from Siberia 20,000 years ago to those who arrived last week from Bangladesh, America IS her people.

When history tested our nation, we always fought hard and won the day. We did the right thing and joined with other nations to meet these challenges because in order to defeat tyranny you must first expose it to the light of truth and open it up for all to see. America oversaw the death throes of fascism and the starvation of communism with the help of those cousins who chose to stay behind.

America became a global icon for freedom, a trademark for a working democracy. We realized that our founding fathers: the settlers, the natives, the slaves and the servants, had given us a gift that was a living thing. It grew, took nourishment, laughed and cried.

This Gift was not all-powerful, in fact, it was rather fragile. From the beginning, we tended it, cared for it and gave it sustenance. We allowed it to grow into its dream, its promise.

We have learned how to grow our country from without. We have expanded its borders, its people, its ideals. We have created a fine democracy. It has grown quickly, with surety and countenance, with the best of intentions and the strength of will.

Evolution needs to catch up to us. The Gift is showing signs of neglect. Its strength is in its ability to grow and evolve. We have expanded our outer borders, yet neglected to strengthen our inner structure. Our skeleton of standards and ethics have been pushed aside for the worst of reasons; the scope of our image is being used to fulfill the desires of greed and power. The American people have allowed a small group of demagogues change the direction of our evolution. They want to lead America into a new regime, a regime that saw its beginnings in the oppressive places of the old countries.

America has turned full circle from a home safe for democracy to a place where fear is a commodity and hope is a luxury.

To combat the forces of stagnation that have taken hold of our culture, we must become more aware. Education is a tonic against those stagnant entities. American society must open all avenues to greater education, higher learning and the search for answers. Roadblocks that have been put in place the last few years must be torn down. The 'marketplace' should be about ideas and possibilities not profit and loss. The American Experiment must be taken off of Wall Street and put back on its original foundation - on Main Street.

We have strayed. We allowed ourselves to be fooled into giving in to fear and ignorance. That is not why America has succeeded for this long. We succeeded because our courage was greater than our reasons to be afraid.

The remedy, the tonic for our social malaise is to sweep the forces of stagnation from the roles of leadership. We must enter a brave, new world that returns us to those ideals that were spawned when Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Madison were alive.

We talk of freedom to people in other lands. It is time for us to follow our own advise and free ourselves from the yoke of ignorance.

Shamanaqua out...

Sometimes you just have to get pissed off in order to find your purpose

Goddess, I just want to scream sometimes. I have been a loyal American patriot all of my life. I have worked tirelessly for the just cause of freedom and democracy. I am not a right winger by any means but I am just as American and just as much a patriot as any of them. I would never relinquish my citizenship for anything. It will be a cold day in Hades when I give notice that I no longer desire to be an American. I will be Red, White, and True Blue until the day the Earth Mother calls me home.


I was born shortly after Castro's take over of Cuba, lived through the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy's assassination, Johnson's war, the Civil Rights movement, Woodstock, Charles Manson, Watergate, the capture of the embassy in Tehran, Ronald Reagan's presidency, a four year stint in the Navy, Iran-Contra, Clinton's rescue of America, Gingrich's Contract On America, the rebirth of the Christian Right and the selection of Bush as Emperor.

You would think that I would have seen it all and could not be surprised by anything coming out of the craphole called Iraq.

Good Goddess, I was a fool to think so.

As an American, as a patriot, I can only say that after seeing the crap from Iraq, I am ashamed to be from this country. Saying this does not in any way take away from my patriotism, in fact, it defines it. I refuse to allow the Right Wing to tell me how to be an American. The great blessing that is American citizenship is our diversity and self-defining purpose. We are a great nation of differing views, cultures, ideas and values. We know what is right and what is wrong, even when the boundary between the two dim and fade. We make mistakes, sometimes big ones. Mostly, we do great things. We are people who strive to be free, even if we stumble.
The great American quality that has lasted over 227 years is our ability to grow past our mistakes.

I have watched the videos and seen the photos of the prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib. Images that sully the memory of Jefferson and Madison. Those who participated in these actions are spitting in the face of every American who ever put on the uniform in defense of their country.

To the Right Wing mouthpieces I say this: Call me any name you want, accuse me of every treasonous crime you can create, the one thing you can never do is call me a liar because the truth knows no party, it knows no political view, it knows no campaign. It only speaks clear and clean. The Truth is Free.

Quagmire? It's a Damned Vortex!

Great Goddess of the Earth and Sky! To think that the country of my birth, the holder of the Flame of Liberty, the Icon of Freedom and Democracy would be involved in the type of abuses that have occured in Abu Ghraib prison...is beyond belief. I am almost speechless. These pictures are an abomination, an affront to every freedom-loving American.

Yet I do not blame the men and women in the pictures. They will be punished, albeit severely, for their actions. However, they were not the instigators of this mad act. They were merely the tools used to perpetrate this crap. If you get hit by another man's car, do you attack the car? NO, you go after the one in control. The car was just the means to an end.

I enlisted in the Navy in 1984. There was no war, I was pretty safe in assuming I would see no danger. I have no frame of reference to judge battlefield decisions or to explain the stress of facing violent death 24/7 in Baghdad. But I am familiar with the military command structure and how it deals with unpleasant tasks. These soldiers would not have indulged in these actions if the command had forbidden it. Basically, the fault lies solely with the command structure, not the soldiers charged. Although they should pay for their actions, I would prefer to see them relieved of duty and given a general discharge or a Section 14, pay a fine and be given an oppotunity to redeem themselves.
Instead, these men and women are going to spend some considerable time behnd bars and end up becoming the poster kids for Bush's failures. They rot in jail and Bush/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz walk away with their hands clean.

This is not how the military is supposed to work and all the soldiers know this. They will see their comrades go up the river to protect Bush & Co. and they will get pissed off. As if they didn't have good enough reasons before, they will have their bellies full now. George W. Bush should take this piece of insight very seriously. Changing the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people isn't his biggest problem in this election cycle. It's the hearts and minds of those GI's who work and bleed in Iraq. They will not sit long on their anger and neither will their families.

Anger and disgust is just now starting to swell here in the States. The Right-Wing Wonks are trying to play this off as nothing more than a 'frat hazing'
Hannity has been no better, but then consider the source. I don't give Ann Coulter much attention, she deserves only contempt. The rest of the Screamers on the Right have been towing the Bush line all through this travesty. To expect any common decency from them is both foolish and naive.

America will remain asleep to these events for only so long. The outrage we have always suspected will come is but a few turns of the clock away. Bush has few options right now. He can face the music and take the responsibilityfor these events or blame the grunts in the pictures, blame the Iraqis, and/or blame the Clinton administration. (Doesn't it always come to that?)

Bush is a coward. Nothing is his fault. The men and women in his administration are the perfect example of diligent government employees and never do anything underhanded and dishonest. His lieutenants are above reproach, they are the hallmark of honor and respect. They....I'm sorry.... even with sarcasm dripping from my keyboard, the words still make me gag...

Half-hearted apologies and empty promises are not going to bring ua out of this vortex. The Ship of State is swirling around like a turd in the flush. It didn't have to be this way. It could have been a lot different. But then, 776 men and women didn't have to die either. Bush feels no guilt for what sacrifices the young people of the military have made. He is as separate from that emotion as two galaxies in space. In order to feel guilt, one must have a heart, a soul and George W. Bush has neither. He has only ice in his veins, only dollar signs in his eyes instead of tears. I fear the worst of humanity is in one of the greatest positions in the world.

The next few weeks will determine the direction our country will take in the next four, the next forty years. The good will that we have fought long and hard for in the past one hundred years is being spent like a welfare check in a liquor store. Good will isn't a gift, it's a paycheck given us when we do the job the world community demands of us. We are the symbol of truth, justice and the American Way. When we falter, the fabric of democracy in the free world unravels and all of the little dictators and despots on this planet dig their roots in a little deeper.

Blogger is going off line soon, so gotta make this quick...

Keep the faith, truth will win out, if only a little bruised.

this is Shamanaqua, out

-30-

The Feces has Hit the Fan

It's been a while since I've entered anything here. I'm trying to get a reasonably decent looking page together along with a lot of links to places you probably already know about and love with all you hearts.


Been listening to a lot of talk radio. Not something I do much, but the opportunity presented itself when Air America went live.
Now, I am a Liberal and it is really no point in listening to such talk. I don't need preaching to. I am a loyal, tie-dyed in the wool, grey pony-tailed, hippie living in the woods, drinking chai, member of the ACLU, Greenpeace kinda guy.

I need to get connected again. It is lonely out here in the bush....oops....I mean sticks. I have grown tired of screaming at my radio. If I hear one more right-wing wonk tell me how evil and deceitful I am, or how ignorant and clueless my politics are - I will go freaking postal.

Air America
I was a little surprized by their premiere. It wasn't as flashy as I wish it could have been.

Hey, liberals are the artists, the creative ones. Shouldn't we have at least come up with some great kick-ass music, audio effects that would blow our woofers into mush? I was a little let down, but it was short-lived. The content was what I expected and more. Al Franken is a god-send. I have always loved his humor. He never lets me down, I've been a fan for years. His partner Katherine Lampher was unknown to me but shows that she will hold her own and is no second banana.

I have become a follower of the Goddess of the Earth, Randi Rhodes. Now, as a devoted shamanic Pagan, that's saying a lot. She speaks to my lonely, liberal soul and, yes, it's sexist but I love to listen to smart ladies. But, and this is difficult to say, her voice kills me. I'm sorry Randi, but the templor of your voice gives chills. This isn't about her voice but about my reaction to it. Man, it hurts! Maybe this can be traced back to that ZZ Top concert in 1974. Many brain cells were sacrificed in the maw of the Great Zuu'l that day, I'll tell you.

Regardless, of how much pain I'm in, I will listen to her. Her message is clear, clean and in your face. She pulls no punches and will give no ground. She's right on target and never misses the plate. By the way, did I ever tell you that I am the King of Cliche'?

Talk Radio has far too much influence in our country. Especially the drastic imbalance of it. This is one of those showcase moments in recent history that should have given clues to the Democratic Party about its demise. A point of light that we turned a blind eye to. We should have been there from the beginning. We are the creative ones, dammit, and should have come out swinging when Rush Limbaugh started getting popular. Whenever these right-wing wonks start a new blast of poisonous spittle, we have to meet it head-on.

It's time to take it back...not just the stuff we gave up, but the whole enchilada. I know I sound trite, it's a small price. The actions still have to be made, any delay requires more energy later.

I have little patience for stupidity. There are folks who may be intelligent on the outside, but they is as dumb as a box of rocks in reality. When did humanity get so clueless? Oops, I'm letting my superiority complex show. The best way to find your faults is to point them out on other people. Yeah, yeah, I know. "He who is without sin cast the first stone". But you have to admit there are a lot of 4 watt bulbs out there. They live everywhere.

Gotta go and get the day started...until next time...Shamanqua out...

April 17, 2004
-30-

It really is about Credibility

I just finished reading Milt Shook's essay on Bush's credibility. You can read it at his Lying Socialist Weasels web site:The Daily Weasel

It's entitled "It's Not About Military Service"

I wholeheartedly agree. It has very little to do with Bush's military service. This spot on Bush's resume only serves to illustrate what kind of person George W. Bush is. Consider that this man, who talks like Rambo, dresses like G.I. Joe (with Kung Fu Grip), and is as bright as a 4 watt bulb; hasn't spoken a word of truth to the American people since he took office.

Now, I'm not just spewing some angry left-wing pinko rhetoric based on mere disagreement on the issues, but am bringing to your attention a pattern of behavior that, coming from the President of the United States, is a blatant spit in the face to every man, woman, and child that salutes the Red, White, and Blue each day.

Our president emphatically says one thing and does another. He is a classic bait and switch salesman. George Bush is looking out for only one person, himself. He was raised to be a self-centered, pampered, vapid, uninquisitive, greedy bastard. His ancestors were the worst of the worst at the dawn of capitalism. They were the kind of men who sent widows and orphans into the cold because they were 5 cents short on the rent.
These men were cut from the same cloth as those who owned the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in March 24, 1911; where 146 women and men died in a tragic fire where the escape doors and the accesses were blocked. Some women jumped to their deaths from the top floors of the building rather than be burned alive. The owners were found not guilty of any infraction and settled the inevitable lawsuits at $75 per death.

When I say that the current Bush spawn is corrupt, I mean it from the roots up.

There is little one person can do to rid ourselves of this menace. The only way to deal with this travesty is to disinfect the entire Capital. Beating Bush this year isn't the only priority, flushing out the other Bush Crime family loyalists that inhabit the Senate and Congress. Men like Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Denny Hastert, and a host of other right-wing wonks need to be sent back to the swamps and under the rocks from whence they came.

What we have to do is keep the faith. We have to gather together our loved ones, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors and keep the issues fresh in front of them. Debate, argue, joke, complain, whatever it takes to keep the issues in the mix. If we allow them to forget about the lies, they will start to believe them all over again. Some of the heartiest flag wavers won't be swayed. Leave them be, ignore them for they are as blind as a bat and as ignorant as a bigot.

Go to meetings, hold gatherings at your house to discuss the issues, play boardgames and talk politics. We have to do anything we legally can to beat back the Bush dynasty. Let their reign end here.

Super Bowl Hypocrisy

Woe is me!

I have seen the travesty that is Janet Jackson's breast. My life as a moral, upstanding citizen of this great nation is at risk. I must cast myself prone before the temple of All That Is Righteous and Profound and ask for penance from the High Ministers....


What a crock...

I cannot believe the hypocrisy of the American Media (like I have EVER thought otherwise). Janet Jackson, in case you've been in a refridgerator box for the last few days, was performing at Super Bowl halftime with that paragon of entertainment Justin Timberlake. On cue, at the finale', Justin reached over across her chest and pulled the covering from her bustier, exposing one full, nipple shield-covered tit. CBS cut away rather quickly.
The aftermath was similar to a car wreck. Every network wanker came out in veiled outrage at the event. They accused MTV, the promoter of the halftime show, of collusion. CBS's executives, always looking out for the moral welfare of America's children, blasted MTV and the dynamic duo, vowing to never let MTV stage another Super Bowl halftime again.
This from the same network that refused to air the MoveOn.org commercial 'Child's Pay' because it was an advocacy ad.
Bet they wish they'd shown the ad.

To top this travesty off, Michael Powell, the FCC chairman and the son of our Secretary of Dishonor, Colin Powell, has ordered an investigation of this affair. What better example of the Fox watching the Henhouse. We are expected to look the other way once again. They promise us that everything will be taken into consideration. The Government knows how to check these things out. Nevermind that the Bush Administration is currently stalling the Valerie Plame and 9-11 investigations. Nevermind that the Resident has been forced by public opinion to investigate the lack of WMD evidence (and his role in it) that authorized entry into the Iraq War. Nevermind that Chairman Powell advocates reducing the public's role in the administration of the airwaves and an increase in corporate ownership of local media. Nevermind that all of this points to a concerted effort on the Right to reduce the power of public review and increase the power of corporate control of areas previously held by the people.

When we bring ths up to our elected officials, what do they say?
"Nevermind!"

Oh, the Horror!

Personally, I would rather see a hundred bare breasts on televsion than a single gunshot wound. Within a few hours of this flash, more than a hundred acts of violence were shown on various stations across the cable spectrum.
Where is the outrage?
When is a bare boob more damaging to a child's sensibilities than seeing a man get his face blown off?
In Europe, where nudity is more prevalent on telelvision, there are far fewer cases of violence, far fewer rapes and murders, far fewer reasons to strip the airwaves of maked bodies. Since when has a body part, especially a gender specific one, been deemed obscene?

IQ's are running at an all time low. Fear the Stupid!