Need a laugh? Some Excellent Political Satire on the US Oil Spill

Brilliant



- by Clarke & Dawe (more videos at this link)

John Clarke & Bryan Dawe are two of the funnier, sharpest, wittiest guys around.

The Games, my favorite mockumentary, which was written by John Clarke and stars both men, is now on DVD.

Enjoy,

Sia

Hat tip to US Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill News website for the link to this video

You Say "Witch" Like It's A Bad Thing?

Stephen King tried to warn us....

I find it ironic that many folks on both sides of the aisle now think that Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell is crazy because "she's a witch". I think O'Donnell is foolish for many reasons including the fact that she doesn't know what a witch really is, let alone what one is for. (1)

From what I've seen of her, she does not have enough intelligence, courage, compassion, honesty, learning, critical thinking skills or personal wisdom to be one.

Sia

Further Reading:

How It's Done by Hecate

(I agree with H. The young woman was lying)

Training as a Green Witch

The Christians and the Pagans

Endnotes:

(1) Pratchett and the Pagans

"Certainly witchcraft for Tiffany has very little to do with magic as people generally understand it. It has an awful lot to do with taking responsibility for yourself and taking responsibility also for the less able people and, up to a certain point, guarding your society. This is based on how witchcraft really was, I suspect. The witch was the village herbalist, the midwife, the person who knew things. She would sit up with the dying, lay out the corpses, deliver the newborn. Witches tended to be needed when human beings were meeting the dangerous edges of their lives, the places where there is no map. They don't mess around with tinkly spells; they get their hands dirty."

Terry Pratchett's next book, I Shall Wear Midnight, features his young witch-in-training, Tiffany Aching, and hits US bookstores on Sept. 28th.

Hat Tip: To the reason.com blog for the poster art. Their notes on Ms. O'Donnell are worth reading.

Update 9/22

Starhawk has responded in the Washington Post and she speaks not just for Wiccans but for many Pagans when she says this:

...had O'Donnell really 'dabbled' in Witchcraft, she might have learned that ....Witches do not worship Satan--we consider the Devil to be a purely Christian construct. We see nature as sacred, and human beings as part of nature. Our spirituality does not require belief in things we can't see--but rather an attitude of respect, awe and wonder at the everyday miracles we can see, the great and common mysteries of birth, growth, death and regeneration in the fall of a leaf or the phases of the moon, in the cycles of our lives and the turning of the seasons.

O'Donnell might have learned that Witches see all of life as interconnected, that we are taught to respect other people, to treat one another with compassion, generosity and honor, to protect the earth and to live in balance with nature. We can only imagine how her life, her crusades and her politics might have been shaped by an early encounter with the Goddess, for whom the body is a temple, sexuality is a path of deep and sacred communion...

Updates: Wildlife Rescue at the Gulf Oil Spill

Folks, I've been working behind the scenes for the last two weeks, doing my small bit to get volunteers, tech and supplies out to various bird and wildlife rescue groups out in the gulf and getting networking and other info out there. As tragic as this is, it is also a teachable moment and could well change how we think about offshore drilling, clean energy and climate change. Fingers crossed.

Blogging takes a backseat for now, but you can go to my newsfeed at BirdGarden for updates on the efforts to help the wild birds, marine life and people caught up in this disaster. I'll keep updating info on who needs what. Meanwhile: Here is a list of 10 Things You Can Do To Help



Many of you know that I'm involved with wildlife and companion animal rescue. I'm on standby via Audubon as are 11,000 other volunteers. I will fly out to the gulf if called and if our elder's health allows for my absence. The volunteers at International Bird Rescue Research Center are on the scene, rescuing birds as we speak, along with other great groups. I'm following all of these and posting updates, photos and videos as they come in.

600 species are affected by this, including 445 species of fish, 134 birds, 45 mammals, and 32 reptiles and amphibians. Many, like the brown pelican and the loggerhead turtle, are endangered already.

I think that Rachael Maddow said it for a lot of us the other night when she described how the BP oil spill is "an environmental, economic and human catastrophy".

Go well, stay well,

Sia

P.S. For you Pet Lovers: The Nashville Humane Society desperately needs funds and supplies to help dogs, cats and other animals caught in the Tennessee floods.

It's kitten season and every shelter in the U.S. needs foster homes, food, and basic supplies like paper towels and kitten food. Please help where and how you can.

Related Articles:

Scientific American: Extinction Countdown: Oil Spill Threatens Endangered Species at a Critical Time.

Oil Spill Update: Volunteers Needed & Animal Hotline

Right now, 42,000 gallons of oil is leaking into the gulf every day. Update: It has tripled in size and the protective booms are failing.

Help is needed.

ANIMAL HOTLINE: an emergency phone number (866-557-1401) has been established where people can report animals affected by the oil spill. The public is encouraged to have ready the number and type of animals, the date and time they were seen, their location and any observations about the animals' behavior.

CNN reports that these groups need volunteers.

Efforts to minimize the damage from the huge oil spill from last week's rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico are under way, but wildlife conservation groups say the oil could pose a disaster for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coastal areas.

How can you help? A number of organizations are recruiting volunteers.

The Audubon Society, which is affiliated with the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, is making its Center for Birds of Prey in Florida available for bird cleansing and rehabilitation. Elsewhere, Audubon said it was gearing up to mobilize volunteers and provide assistance as the oil reaches land in Louisiana and elsewhere.

The Deep Water Horizon response team is looking for help in identifying shoreline and animals affected. Oiled wildlife should not be captured but instead reported at 1-866-557-1401. To report areas with oil ashore or to leave contact information to volunteer in the affected areas, call 1-866-448-5816.

These local organizations also are gathering volunteers' information as they prepare for the environmental damage this oil can cause:

The Alabama Coastal Foundation is collecting contact information from volunteers for cleanup efforts along the Alabama coast should the oil spill reach the state's shores. Call 251-990-6002

The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program is looking for volunteers to help reduce the potential impact of the oil spill in Mobile Bay. Call 251-431-6409.

The Mobile Baykeeper is asking for contact details of volunteers is collecting contact information for volunteers to respond anywhere along the Gulf Coast, if needed. Call 251-433-4229.

Save Our Seabirds is a Florida bird rescue group that is looking for volunteers and support as its response team prepares to help oiled wildlife. Call 941-388-3010.

To that I would also suggest that donations be sent to:

International Bird Rescue & Research Center. These wildlife rescue experts are on the ground as we speak. You can also donate to those organizations listed above.

Discovery notes that

...wildlife experts from across the country are traveling to Louisiana and other states to handle cleanup of Gulf oil spill animal victims, frustration and fear remain over the organization and predicted cost of the rescue efforts, as well as the projected long-term scope of the damage.

..."the actual cost of collecting and caring for oiled sea otters is about $4,000-$5,000 and marine birds $600-$750 each

Again, members of the public cannot and should not go out and try and rescue animals on their own. Wildlife rescue volunteers undergo hazardous waste operations training before they can work with oil-affected animals. This is for their own safety as well as that of the wildlife effected.

There are lots of other ways you can help - check out the links listed above.

Oil & Gas magazine says this about the environmental impact:

The Gulf region contains about five million acres of wetlands, which are an essential habitat for three quarters of all of the migrating waterfowl that cross the US.

There are more than 3300 marine species in the Gulf, including six endangered species of whale. Its shores include the only known nesting beach of Kemp’s Ridley, the world’s most endangered sea turtle. There are also populations of protected Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Leatherback turtles, which are about to begin their nesting season and would be particularly vulnerable to oil washed up on beaches.

There are several shark species declared to be "of concern" because of declining populations. The Gulf is also home to one of the world’s largest populations of bottlenose dolphins, with an estimated 45,000 in its waters.

I recommend going to these groups directly as BP is slow in training and using volunteers, nevertheless:

BP and the federal government have established a hotline for volunteers. Please call 1-866-448-5816. We anticipate that there will an ongoing need for volunteers in the environmental cleanup effort. If you want to register your desire to help and receive updates click here.

For up to date information go here: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

Animal Groups will be using the lessons learned from The Exon Valdeze Oil Spill in Alaska.

Discovery News reminds us that rescuing, handling and cleaning animals covered in oil is a difficult and dangerous process and should only be done by those trained in this work.

There are lots of ways you can help: Get the word out, donate funds (no matter how small), and supplies (check websites to see what these groups need), sign petitions for clean energy and let your voice be heard at the local and federal level.

I will continue to post updates several times a day on Twitter at Birdgarden. (You don't need to be signed in on Twitter to read these, just click on the link or read them from the Twitter feed in the right column at the Full Circle blog)

Sia

Related Articles:

from BIRDERS MAGAZINE: Gulf Coast Oil Spill: What You Can Do To Help

Updated 5/3/2010

He Can Be My Green Man Any Time

Best commercial *ever* (1)

I laughed so hard you could hear me three blocks away. When I showed this to our 83 year old elder she laughed so hard she 'bout fell out of her chair. (2)

It almost makes up for all those Victoria Secret ads....but not quite. For an antidote to those, I recommend a pointed, witty blog called The Illusionists. Here is one of her latest posts: Australia bans images of small breasted women. You are going to gasp at their reasoning. Will someone please send the Australian government a clue for Valentine's Day?

May all your loves come with laughter,

Sia

Endnotes:

(1) I love whoever wrote that. If I was single again, and, oh, 20 years younger, I'd be very tempted to introduce that young man to the Goddess. (Unless, of course, he'd prefer Her consort, in which case, I wish him joy).

Which reminds me: Have fun at PantheaCon, folks!

(2) This Old Spice "Manmercials" campaign was created by folks here in Oregon. I am just so proud. The gentleman on the screen is African American actor, Isaiah Mustafa.

Somebody give him some Shakespeare to do - I want to hear that velvety voice do the Bard. Or better yet, cast him as Captain Jack Harkness in the American version of Torchwood.

Related Articles:

In Praise of Pagan Men

Commercial:

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Thomas Paine 3.0

Now that the 4th of July fireworks and the parties are over and most of us are back to work, I'd like to take a look at Thomas Pain, one of the forgotten Founding Fathers, a man who still has a great deal to say to working people, including those in the earthwise community and among the digerati. In 1995 Jon Katz, writing for Wired Magazine called Pain "the moral father of the Internet" and went on to say:

...we owe Paine. He is our dead and silenced ancestor. He made us possible. We need to resurrect and hear him again, not for his sake but for ours. We need to know who he was, to understand his life and work, in order to comprehend our own revolutionary culture. Paine's odyssey made him the greatest media figure of his time, one of the unseen but profound influencers of ours. He made more noise in the information world than any messenger or pilgrim before or since. His mark is now nearly invisible in the old culture, but his spirit is woven through and through this new one, his fingerprints on every Web site, his voice in every online thread.

Recently Bill Moyers held a conversation with an historian and a journalist, one a Conservative and the other a Liberal, both of whom find much to admire in Thomas Paine. You can find both the video and the transcript of this fascinating program here. Below you'll find some excerpts from that conversation. But first, Bill Moyer's website has this to say about Thomas Paine:

More than two centuries ago, Paine's most famous book, COMMON SENSE, sold 500,000 copies. Farmers in the fields stopped to read it.

Other influential works followed including THE AMERICAN CRISIS which proclaimed, "These are times that try men's souls." George Washington took those words to heart when he ordered his troops to read Paine's passionate call for liberty as they went into battle.

Paine's extraordinary life was both glorious and tragic. He was not revered as some of our other founding fathers — and during his lifetime he was often feared and lampooned — and under threat of prison and even death. Harvey J. Kaye, who recently told his story in THOMAS PAINE AND THE PROMISE OF AMERICA, notes that Paine has again become currency in political debate because of a revolutionary idea that spread from the colonies to France and around the globe:

That the common people...that Americans could be citizens and not merely subjects. That people had it within themselves not only to listen to their superiors, but literally to speak to each other and deliberate and govern themselves.

Historian Harvey Kaye notes that

...in terms of the democratic impulse, which never ceased in America, in every generation, progressive movements, radical to liberal, reached back to the American Revolution. And who did they rediscover? Oh, yes, they honored Washington, they honored Jefferson, but the words that they reprint...the words they reclaimed were Thomas Paine's.

Kaye goes on to state that

He was a visionary of democracy. He wanted to end slavery. He wanted to grant women equality. He wanted to abolish all property requirements for citizenship. He wanted a complete separation of church and state. He wanted to establish public schools and old age pensions...he (saw) the promise of America unfolding through the years.

...it's fascinating to consider that when Abigail Adams reads "Common Sense," she sends the letter to John Adams and says, don't forget. Remember the ladies. We can't trust you men.

And Adams writes back, knowing full-- and with a touch of affection, there's no doubt about it. He says, "Not you too." You know, the black slaves are rising in North Carolina, the students are rising in these Ivy colleges, Indians on the frontier, artisans in New York, something to that effect. Now, the biggest tribe of all is demanding this kind of democratic revolution.

...later, when (Pain) did come out of prison, he wrote "Agrarian Justice." And there he lays out a social democratic vision. That's where he says, "Let us create real opportunity for young people. And not give them a life of poverty. Let us tax the landed wealth, and use that money in some kind of community chest, a national treasury, to provide stakes...grants to young people, so when they reach twenty-one, and he said that of men and women, which was a very progressive thing to do at the time. And that way, they'll have a chance to, you know, buy land, gain an education, set up a small business. And we can also then afford pensions to the elderly. So, he did very much sort of look ahead to the idea, absolutely, of economic opportunity, but in a social democratic way, I think.

I found this exchange between the three men regarding Thomas Paine's views on organized religion (Paine himself was a Deist) very interesting in light of today's concerns (1):

RICHARD BROOKHISER: But I think the big sort of turn in his reputation and in his career had to do with the "Age of Reason," his great work after the "Rights of Man." And this is his full frontal assault on organized religion and particularly on Christianity. He's not an atheist. Teddy Roosevelt called him a "filthy atheist." He wasn't an atheist. But he was a deist, and he thought organized religions were frauds and impositions and lies and all the rest of this. And he lays this out at devastating length.

BILL MOYERS: Well, just as he loathed the power of medieval kings, he loathed the influence of priests, right?

(snip)

HARVEY KAYE: If I could just say, in Paine's defense, as a believer, that Paine believed that the creation was God's presence. I mean, he was absolute about that and repeatedly pushed the idea. If we want to worship God, then we should study the creation.

(snip)

BILL MOYERS: So, is this where he fell from grace? No pun intended. I mean, is this where he really fell out of favor with the burgeoning population of this country? Because he seemed to be anti-religion?

RICHARD BROOKHISER: I would say so. And I think one reason Jefferson was such a successful politician is that even though Jefferson shared a lot of these views, he didn't run around proclaiming them. Because he knew what Americans were, he knew what the electorate was. And he wasn't going to stick his chin out there in that fashion.

Want to be inspired? Then read/watch the entire discussion, and then go and read you some Paine.

Sia

Photo of Wired Cover found here.

Related Articles:

The Age of Paine - Wired Magazine
excerpt:

Tom Paine's ideas, the example he set of free expression, the sacrifices he made to preserve the integrity of his work, are being resuscitated by means that hadn't existed or been imagined in his day - via the blinking cursors, clacking keyboards, hissing modems, bits and bytes of another revolution, the digital one. If Paine's vision was aborted by the new technologies of the last century, newer technology has brought his vision full circle. If his values no longer have much relevance for conventional journalism, they fit the Net like a glove.

Bring the Paine
excerpt:

Common Sense-a demolition job on the very concept of monarchy-swept America like an ideological firestorm. The impact was phenomenal. It sold 600,000 copies among a population of 3 million. And like Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" 87 years later (Lincoln was a massive Paine fan), it turned a civil war into a righteous struggle for human freedom.

Without Tom Paine there would've been no revolution-and no America.

Wired, Weird and Wonderful
Thomas Paine and the Digital Revolution.

Excerpt:

The radical Scottish lawyer Thomas Muir was sentenced to 14 years transportation to Botany Bay for the principal offences of recommending Paine's writings and for allowing a fraternal speaker from the the United Irishmen to address the Friends of the People Society convention in Edinburgh in December 1792. The trial judge, Lord Braxfield, told the jury that "Mr Muir might have known that no attention could be paid to such a rabble [of ignorant weavers]. What right had they to representation?" That was what Paine railed against.

Give 1 million dollars each to workers over 50 (HUMOR)

Well. Here's an idea:

Give $1 million to workers over 50

Patriotic retirement: There are about 40 million people over 50 in the workforce. Pay them $1 million apiece severance pay with these stipulations:

1) They leave their jobs. Forty million job openings — unemployment fixed.

2) They buy new American cars. Forty million cars ordered — auto industry fixed.

3) They either buy a house or pay off their mortgage — housing crisis fixed.

- George H. Martin, Pacifica, CA (Opinion Section, San Jose Mercury News)

That's tax free, right? Thank you, Mr. Martin. Let's hope the President calls. (1)

Sia
Who stopped looking at her 401K a long time ago.

P.S. Can we make it $2 million? Because you've just made me spend a good deal of it, and my generation is going to live up into our 90's.

My thanks to gardengal for sending this to me.

(1) Humor Update 3/29 - Some folks didn't get the irony here, so I'm making it clear: See Cost of War.com and this story on the cost of the Financial Bailout to see what arrogance, stupidity and greed have cost us thus far.

Yet people still want the government to magically fix things, and they want our President to do that all at once, but they don't want to have to sacrifice themselves to make that happen.

As the rude (anonymous) person says in the comments below, do the math.

40 million people x 1 million = ?

Saging the White House: Thoughts On Cleansing and Dreaming

Why sage the White House? Because we need to. That ...man and his evil friends are leaving behind some very bad mojo.

Picture the prince, such as most of them are today: a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people's advantage, while intent on his personal convenience, a dedicated voluptuary, a hater of learning, freedom and truth, without a thought for the interests of his country, and measuring everything in terms of his own profit and desires.
- Desiderius Erasmus

The clean-up starts today.

Like many others, I'll be doing my own little blessing and cleansing ceremony from here. I wish I could be with them in D.C. Thank you Kate Clinton, this is such a lovely idea. (1)

Other folks will be using their brooms to sweep the place clean, as t'were - also a good idea.

It is fitting that this work should begin on this particular day. For further inspiration, I recommend reading President Elect Obama's essay on Dr. Martin Luther King.

Do good work.

Hope and Faith on Inauguration Day: Let the Dream Continue.....

A number of people have weighed in on the issue of Rick Warren (AKA Obama's favorite fundamentalist) speaking at the Inauguration. The Wild Hunt has a collection of these essays that are worth reading. Speaking for myself, Mr. Warren's presence will not spoil an event which I plan to celebrate with joy and gusto. (2)


I look forward to hearing the remarks of Josephy Lowery, a noted civil rights leader and gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson. A woman, the Rev. Sharon Watkins, will lead the National Prayer Service, which is a first worthy of our attention. So, the Christian community is represented by a white Evangelical who is on the forefront of the aids issue and global warming but sadly far behind the times on gay rights, choice and respect for other traditions and faiths. But, we will also hear a noted black civil rights champion, a gay Bishop and a female leader of that faith, all speaking on the same day. It's not the diversity I dream of as a Pagan but it is more diversity than we have seen thus far. I will be interested to see who speaks to the heart of the nation in their remarks.

Update 11:00 am: Shame on HBO (and how sad for us listening to NPR which was relying on the HBO feed) for not airing Bishop Robinson's opening prayer for the President to the entire nation. Here is the link to his invocation. Here is an excerpt:

Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.

Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.

Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.

Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.

Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.

Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.

Meanwhile, the earthwise and those who celebrate interfaith efforts will do what we have always done, which is to celebrate our own traditions and join with others of like mind without official sanction or support.

We must be the change we wish to see

This is a good time to remember as Gandhi said, that the "We must be the change we wish to see". Expectations are high for Mr. Obama, it's true, and I also ask, "What are we going to do to support him and our country?" As one student writer recently wrote for The Nation

If we as a nation are to have any hope of successfully confronting the challenges we face, it is essential that our definition of what it means to be an American be expanded and enriched.

Today is about service. Let us not forget those who serve overseas, and let us offer some form of community service, ourselves.

Tomorrow we party.

Sia
Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, Create the Future

Links:

Smudging and Saging

A special pair of days for America's war veterans

Endnotes:

(1) You can read more about this at the link above which takes you to Ms. Clinton's website. Also, the Bay Area Reporter states that a lesbian couple joined the Obama train ride and notes that:

Lesbian comedian Kate Clinton has organized a "saging" at a popular gay spot in Washington, D.C., to "lift out the bad spirits out of Washington, D.C. and, symbolically, out of the country," prior to Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. While Clinton and a shaman will be carrying out the ceremony in D.C., Clinton is urging others to do their own "saging" wherever they are – at 6:15 p.m. on Monday. Clinton will serve as one of two emcees for the "Inaugural Peace Ball:" at the National Postal Museum on Tuesday night, along with author Alice Walker, singers Holly Near, Toshi Reagon, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte and others.

(2) WhiteKnot.org: Those who wish to protest his presence - including actress Anne Hathaway - are wearing ribbons in the shape of a white knot. For more on this protest, I recommend a visit to the White Knot campaign at WhiteKnot.org.


Art: George Bush as the Joker by Drew Friedman - found here

Thanks to Fyrehawk for sending me the quote.

Saving What We Can: Ecojustice & Spiritual Practice

Today, I would like to highlight A Rocha, an international Christian nature conservation organization. Yes, you read that right, and before you get to typing out those passionate comments, let me ask you this: Do you care who saves the planet? And if so, why? And, while, we're on the subject, what are you, and the people who share your tradition or practice, doing, actually doing, about these issues?

Here's what I think: At this point, Gaia needs all the help she can get. Frankly speaking, it's about time certain people got on on board and helped the rest of us row this particular boat. For more on this issue, I recommend reading Ecology and the Church: Theology and Action by Diane Sherwood. Ms. Sherwood writes about pasters like Matthew Fox, who, as director for the Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality,

..has contributed much to creation-centered theology...In his popular creation spirituality workshops he teachers that the environment is a divine womb, holy and worthy of reverence and respect. He honors the natural world as a most profound expression of the divine.

That's someone I can work with.

Evangelicals and the Obama Administration

This begs a question, and Terry Gross, as is her wont, has asked it. Listen to her interview with Richard Cizik titled God and Global Warming. It focuses on the direction that Evangelicals are now taking when it comes to eco-politics, supporting President-elect Obama, and disagreeing with radicals like Sarah Palin and organizing young Christians to combat global warming. Mr. Cizik is the vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, a powerful lobbying organization that represents 45,000 churches. I am intrigued by his changing position on civil unions (and hope it can evolve even further) and I welcome efforts to lower the need for abortions by using contraception more effectively. It's not the only step we humans should take, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

Population Control, Contraception and Abortion: What's Next?

I think that the Rev. Debra Haffner put it best when she wrote an article for the Huffingington Post titled Unearthing Common Ground:

The call to reduce unintended pregnancies is the right one. What we must focus on now are the means to do so - specifically, comprehensive sexuality education (not abstinence-only) and universal access to contraceptive services, including emergency contraception.

The advocates for a new common ground correctly note the correlation between poverty and abortion rates. But they fail to mention how poverty first contributes to unintended pregnancies. Adoption alternatives and economic support for poor pregnant women are important - but these strategies do not address the fact that poor women are at least five times more likely than other women to become pregnant unintentionally.

... So here is my suggestion for common ground. Let's stop talking about reducing the number of abortions as a goal in itself. Such talk obscures what should be the principal objective - reducing unintended pregnancies - and leads to counterproductive strategies that would place restrictions on abortion access. It also misrepresents the platform that President-elect Obama ran on, which affirmed a woman's right to choose and opposed "any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right." The Democratic platform called for "access to comprehensive affordable family planning services and age-appropriate sex education which empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives," as well as economic support for pregnant women.

Let's start talking about reducing unintended pregnancies. This is not only the better public health position, it is a faithful and moral one as well. Five years ago, the Religious Institute published an Open Letter to Religious Leaders on Abortion as a Moral Decision, which includes this eloquent and irrefutable statement: "The sanctity of human life is best upheld when we assure that it is not created carelessly."

We may not agree with our Christian friends on many points, either sacred and social, but we've have all found these last eight years that it is important to pay attention to what they - and the evengelical Christians in particular - are funding, preaching and doing. I, for one, am willing to do useful work with people who share my earthwise goals and will leave my civil rights alone - It's time.

Sia

Related Articles:

Matthew Fox

Green, Meet God

Pastor Says Eco-friendliness is Next to Godliness

Clergy Stand Up for Marriage -- Same Sex and Otherwise


Photo: Great Blue Heron from the A Rocha site.

Endnotes:

(1) One well known graduate of this Oakland center is the Rev. Anne Hill, an old buddy of mine, who writes a popular Pagan blog called Blog O' Gnosis

Justice Done and Justice Denied: A Dance To Mother Kali

This video shows a lady named Pali Chandra, an exponent in the field of Kathak, one of the seven major classical dance forms from India. She is dancing a piece in praise of Goddess Kali. Kali is well-known throughout the Hindu community as the Mother of the universe and the destroyer of evil. I've been thinking about her a lot as I read both the national news and the news coming out of California.

This video shows a lady named Sister Charity telling us why Proposition 8 - the ban against gay marriage in California - cannot and will not stand:

The Arc of the moral universe is long,
but it bends towards justice.
Martin Luther King

My sorrow goes out to my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters who saw their rights take a step backwards even while our country, joyfully and gratefully, took a giant step forwards.

What part of "separate is not equal" do we as a nation not understand?

The chickens in California just got more consideration then gay couples. Sad. (1)

Keith Olbermann summed it up for a lot of straights-who-don't-hate last night. Watch that special comment - it's worth your time.




For the record, my husband and I both feel that our own marriage (performed and approved in California) is now less valid because our gay and lesbian friends can't marry. If you don't want certain people to marry in your temple, mission or church, then don't perform the ceremony. But don't expect a democratic nation to follow your example.

How dare we treat love - anyone's love - as unimportant.

Sia

Related Articles

Mormons face flak for backing Prop 8

Prop 8: gay marriage divides LDS faithful

Karma, Love and Cage Free Eggs

Endnotes:

(1) I'm trying to explain this to my friends who wonder how my progressive, beloved and former home state could have voted in this way. It helps to remember that California, for all of it's tolerance, freedom and vision, is the state that gave us both Richard Nixon and Ronald Regan. Yet even Gov. Schwarzenegger is now standing up and reminding us that the fight isn't over. People can evolve; well done, Arnold.

The many spontaneous demonstrations, the split in the LDS church (which heavily financed Prop 8) and the support for gay marriage among people who care about justice - not to mention the actions of the ACLU - shows us that, as well.

VOTE: The Suffragettes Speak

A friend sent this photo to me today. I call it The Suffragettes Speak, and it does indeed speak the thousands of words I'd like to say right now, so I'll limit myself to saying "Vote". (1)

Are you seeing voter fraud in your area? You can use Twitter to report this immediately.

Not worried? Think it's in the bag? Then you might wish to read Block the Vote by Robert Kennedy.

Goddess Bless America

Sia

Photo: The Suffragettes Speak - Creatrix unknown.

Endnotes:

(1) Click on the photo to snake the larger version. You are very welcome to take this and share it as you see fit.

Rustic Field Houses & the WPA: Notes on History and Hope.

Times are hard, jobs are scarce, more people are becoming homeless, and folks are scared. This morning I read a moving article by a once well-to-do man who is now sleeping in his car and another about a brave sheriff who refused to evict innocent people from their homes. More women with children appear at shelters and more elders on fixed incomes worry about affording both heat and groceries, while grandmothers are going bankrupt. In loosing everything they have, these elders can leave little to their children, who as a group have not saved much for their own retirement. The grasshoppers have been counting on the ant generation only to find that a financial climate change puts everyone - savers and spenders alike - in danger.

As I read the news and count my own pennies I remember that we've been here before as a nation, and we found a way to create jobs and help those in need. I hope and believe that we can do this again.

During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt used the WPA (Works Progress Administration) to help create jobs, and shore up our infrastructure by repairing our roads, bridges and government buildings. (1) In so doing, he kept many people off the streets. The WPA also added to our country's collection of architectural and natural treasures. If you have ever stayed in a national park, you may have seen one of the buildings created during that time. You may have even stayed in the type of WPA era buildings known as a Rustic Field House.

The Seattle Times tells us that the Rustic Field Houses built by the WPA

....carried on a long-held tradition — the emphasis on harmonious design with a low impact on nature — that had its roots in the public park movement of the mid-19th century, the ideals of the Arts & Crafts Movement, and development of national parks at the turn of the 20th century. Old Faithful Inn, completed in 1902, is often credited with having influenced early parks buildings with a shared vocabulary of regional stone foundations and chimneys, and rafters, posts and beams made of exposed local logs and timbers.

It was a perfect fit. The Arts & Crafts Movement favored the beauty and honesty of traditional hand craftsmanship, the use of natural materials, and emphasis on simplicity.

One of the most beautiful examples of these is Timberline Lodge at Mt Hood in Oregon. A friend got married there several years ago. It was one of those weddings you are honestly happy to attend, and there was much rejoicing. While her reception went on upstairs, I walked outside and stood at the great stone balcony in front of the lodge where Franklin Roosevelt once stood. It was a clear spring night, rich with the scents of forest, field and water. I watched a full moon rise and spread it's gentle light over the valley. I could hear soft, romantic music coming from the open windows upstairs, and as I stood there I thought about the skillful, strong people who had built this place from the stone setters and iron workers to the weavers, quilters and carpenters. They must have been glad for the jobs that fed their families when so many others were hungry. I like to think they would be happy now to know that other generations would make their vows in this beautiful place.

The group of friends who were there that night have very different skills from the people who built it, but they are, I believe, equally creative, hardy and fine We are all going to need our many strengths and skills in the coming days. As winter approaches, I often think about the generation of the Great Depression (my own grandparents and parents) and how they got through it. The Times reminds us that

The WPA coordinated programs of various federal agencies that provided work to the unemployed during the Depression. WPA merged with the Public Works Administration in 1940 to become the Federal Works Agency. By 1941, the agency had employed more than 8 million people — a fifth of all workers in the country. In about nine years, it completed more than a quarter of a million projects encompassing nearly every field of economic and social activity. In King County, these programs left a valuable legacy of artistic, literary and historical accomplishments, as well as a wide range of public works — roads, bridges, docks, sidewalks, flood-control projects, parks, schools and public buildings included.

If you live here or plan to visit the Pacific Northwest, take some time to see one of these beautiful lodges. There is beauty here, and history and peace. Some of the courage these people brought to their work went into these stones. If they could look back, I think they would now be glad that in building this place, they have also helped to save a great part of this splendid mountain range from developers, who's greed and short sightedness rivals only that of their Wallstreet colleagues. Both of these powerful groups needed parental supervision and neither got it. I don't want that to be my generation's legacy; it's time to build something better.

Will green jobs, infrastructure repairs and advances in medicine and high tech be a part of a new WPA? Right now, it's hard to know but I believe there is hope on the horizon - what we need now, is will. In a time of such economic hardship (with worse, it seems to come) it is helpful to remember that the government was once creative, proactive, and actually useful to people in times of need. It can be so again.

Sia

Additional Articles & Links

WPA- When FDR Put America To Work

Arts & Crafts Movement

Great Lodges in the American & Canadian National Parks

Craft In America - Artwork in the Lodges

Photos:

Handmade Oak leaf tile and Stag tile (modern versions done in the Arts & Crafts style) by Carreaux Du Nord Studio in Wisconsin

Interior, Timberline Lodge, Mt Hood, Oregon

Endnotes:

(1) The WPA even employed artists, actors and writers, believing those folks to be a necessary part of our cultural fabric. What a concept.