Women Speaking Up

Isn't it funny how people who bully people for a living get really annoyed when somebody takes issue with it? You're not only supposed to let them push you around; you're supposed to like it.

- from No, We're Not Going To Sit Down and Shut Up

Don Imus is at it again (1) and Michelle Martin at National Public Radio reminds us that women in public life still have to take on bullies and fools in ways that men do not.

Canary in a coal mine:

Meanwhile, Rachael Maddow is asking the hard questions about coal and the cost of human life. The owner of this mine is another well known bully and union buster. You won't believe how many citations that mine had before it blew...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

My people come from coal miners in Scotland and Pennsylvania. Today my thoughts are with the miners and their families in West Virginia. Here is a look at the lives of the lost miners.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is covering this story in great detail: Here is their website.

Sia


Endnotes:

(1) See Recovering From Our Culture: Why Words Matter

Related Articles

Ethics, Ecology and Gold

Tit for Tat or What Would Sekhmet Do?

History of Coal Mining - Wikipedia

Art: Woman with Canary Nik Helbig. Her online store is here.

I love this piece. I don't know what the artist meant when she painted it but I see Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, sharing the loss of the grieving families and receiving the spirts of the lost miners in the form of the birds who once protected them.

Hat Tip to Bryon Ballard for the NPR story

The Fixer: How one Monk came to fight cover ups & child abuse in the Catholic Church

On Easter Sunday an acclaimed radio show called This American Life ran a moving and true story about a Monk who went from helping to cover up abuse by thousands of priests to helping lawyers for those abused find the secret files kept by the church on such cases. He is someone you should know.

Patrick Wall was a special kind of monk. He was a fixer. The Catholic church sent him to problem parishes where priests had been removed because of scandal. His job was to come in, keep events from going public and smooth things over until a permanent replacement priest was found. But after four different churches in four years, after covering up for pedophiles and adulterers and liars and embezzlers he decided to make a change. Carl Marziali tells his story. (21 minutes)

You can listen to this story on NPR at this link: The Enemy Within

You can also read Wall's book titled, Sex, Priests and Secret Codes: The Catholic Church's 2,000 Year Old Paper Trail of Sex Abuse.

Meanwhile, on Easter Sunday, a senior Cardinal and friend of the Pope has rejected the abuse claims in Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Latin America and the U.S. (1) as "petty gossip".

The BBC reports in that same story that the Pope

... has been accused personally of failing to take action against a suspected abuser during his tenure as archbishop of Munich - a claim the Vatican strongly denies.

Critics also say that when he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases, he did not act against a priest in the US state of Wisconsin who is thought to have abused some 200 deaf boys.

Calls have gone up throughout the Catholic world for the Pope to resign.

My thoughts today are with all those who were hurt by those they trusted.

My thanks to Ira Glass and the staff at This American Life. It is one of the best produced and most interesting show's you'll find. I recommend listening to their podcast.

Sia

Endnote:

(1) See Abuse Claims by Country - Wikipedia

Related Articles

Review of Sex, Priests and Secret Codes at Nobeliefs..com

She Who Watches

The Poetry of Place

So many flowers to meet. So many more poems to enjoy.

Pembrokeshire Lane

Ramparts thrown together
against the invading wind;
Some Welsh bridesmaid fled the shearwater night
From Celtic hand stone-rough,
Tossing her bouquet -
Angelica, sea-pink, black knapweed,
Honeysuckle, scarlet pimpernel and thrift -
Into the high hedge
That shelters the birds from the sea.

The small pearl-bordered fritillary
Flirts the hedge top
Playing hide and seek with
Grayling and common blue;
A peregrine falcon eyes
The occasional car winding towards the cliff top,
Oblivious of the harvest mouse
Dancing in the cowslips and marram grass,
Celebrating his nuptial night
With a pyramidal orchid -
A simple gift for the bride.

If I were to die right here
This would be paradise -
Bury me here among the campion and vetch;
Make another Coetan Arthur,
Not in stone saluting the Bishops and Clerks
Sleeping out there,
Entombed in the Celtic waves.
No, make a shroud from squill,
Cover my head with a garland
Of red campion;
Arrange a perennial guard of choughs
To scare away the hikers;
Make me to look out
On a ring of porpoises saluting the rising sky,
Gannets to dive each hour in homage
To a man who walked
A winding lane
In Pembrokeshire - alone.

By Martin Eggleton

From: The Magic of Place: Poems of the Scottish Highlands

BBC radio interview with the editors at link.

Enjoy,

Sia

Further Reading:

The Poetry of Place series

Photo: White Squill found here.

Botanical info on White Squill found here.

She Who Watches

Sinead O'Connor has called for a Catholic boycot to protest years of sexual abuse of children and the cover-up that followed by priests in Ireland and those in charge at the Vatican. I recommend watching the video of the interview she gave to Anderson Cooper on this subject (via that link). The oath the young boys were made to take not to reveal their abuse is chilling.

O'Connor's remarks, part of which I quote below, are honest, heartfelt and, I think, balanced, given the fact that she herself is a survivor of both church and child abuse. (1)

I’m a Catholic, and I love God,” she told The L.A. Times. “That’s why I object to what these people are doing to the religion that I was born into.”

...Speaking to Anderson Cooper on CNN this week, Ms. O’Connor argued that church policies were the problem. She pointed out that the man who now leads the Catholic Church in Ireland personally swore to secrecy two children who were abused by a priest in the 1970s, and was, as he has said, following the rules at the time. She also denied that she was anti-Catholic but said she felt let down by the leaders of the church.

Personally I would say I am a Catholic woman. I am proud to be a Catholic woman. I separate, sometimes, the difference between God and religion. I’m passionately in love with what I would call the Holy Spirit. I don’t believe it matters if you call it God, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Fred or Daisy. It’s the Holy Spirit, it doesn’t matter. But what I would like to see as a Catholic is actually Christian, honest people running the shop.

Read her Op-Ed for the Washington Post, which is a rational and heartfelt call for justice. In this piece she notes that "The Vatican is acting as though it doesn't believe in a God who watches" and writes that Irish Catholics are "in a dysfunctional relationship with an abusive organization."

There are reasons for this. I think that the great Irish writer and journalist Nuala O'Faolain said it best when she wrote:

A lot of us suffered in the Ireland of my day,” she later said. “We came out of a culture where women were utterly powerless and children had no value. If you were hit at school you were hit at home for being hit at school. It goes without saying there was no sex education. The only education a lot of us got was in neglect and being unloved.

I also agree with O'Conner when she says that "Rome...must answer for (their part in this) with a full confession and in a criminal investigation."

She Who Watches

That comment reminded me of the famous Pacific Northwest Native American myth about what it takes to make a good leader titled She Who Watches. It has long been one of my favorite stories. One version of the myth comes from artist Lillian Pitt's website. Ms. Pitt is famous for her masks and other work based on the legends of her people. (2)

There was this village on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge. And this was long ago when people were not yet real people, and that is when we could talk to the animals.

And so Coyote — the Trickster — came down the river to the village and asked the people if they were living well. And they said "Yes, we are, but you need to talk to our chief, Tsagaglal. She lives up in the hill."

So Coyote pranced up the hill and asked Tsagaglal if she was a good chief or one of those evildoers. She said, "No, my people live well. We have lots of salmon, venison, berries, roots, good houses. Why do you ask?" And Coyote said, "Changes are going to happen. How will you watch over your people?" And so she didn't know.

And it was at that time that Coyote changed her into a rock to watch her people forever.

May we all be good watchers and leaders, and speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves,

Sia

Endnotes:

(1) Ms O'Connor has led a difficult and troubled life for many reasons, including the fact that she suffers from bi-polar disorder. Her critics have tried to use this to negate her criticism of the church's behavior. It isn't working.

If a group, any group, abuses women and children they can expect to pay a price somewhere down the line. Calling those who tell the truth either crazy or flaky doesn't change the facts. Ms. O'Connor is using her fame to speak out for the children of Ireland, knowing full well that that her personal troubles will be brought up, yet again, in an effort to disprove her arguments. I applaud her for her courage.

(2) She Who Watches, whose Native name is Tsagaglal, is an image created in stone. Unlike most of the rock images found in the region, which are either rock etchings (petroglyphs) or rock paintings (pictographs), She Who Watches is both.

She sits high up on a bluff, overlooking the village of Wishxam, the village where Lillian's great grandmother used to live.

She Who Watches was the first rock image that Lillian ever saw or knew anything about, and it was only because an elder took her to see it. The elder though it would be good for Lillian to learn something of her heritage and of her grandmother's village.

Art: Bronze Mask, She Who Watches, by Lillian Pitt at the NW by NW Gallery

Related Articles:

When Is A Sex-positive Practice, Not? by the Rev. Anne Hill

Do You Know What a "Wifey" Is? by Rev. Dr. Aleese Moore-Orbih

Recommended Reading:

Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain

Ideological Search Engine Released

This just in:

Scientists at Yahoo! today released Ideological Search, allowing users to control the ideology of their search results for the first time in search technology history. Until now, many Web search users were offended by the facts, pages, articles, and blogs in their search results that contradicted their own personal beliefs and values. Furthermore, search engines were often accused of being biased in one direction or another. Rather than try to comply with a hard-to-define “search fairness doctrine”, Yahoo! Ideological Search will allow its users to personally control the ideological perspective of their search.

...The team applied the latest research from the fields of sentiment analysis, intent detection, eye tracking, clustering, and empathetic reasoning to create Ideological Search. Current research directions stop at simple social search, faceted search, safe search, contextual search, while Ideological Search goes much further to give users only the information they want.

Now, if only they could do this for religious and gender-related news.

Have a lovely day, everyone.

Sia

Who doesn't love a good spiral?

A spiral tower has been chosen as the landmark piece for the London Olympics. Designed by artist Anish Kapoor, it will be stand somewhat higher than the Statue of Liberty and offer visitors panoramic views of London.

It has a M.C. Escher quality to it. I expect to see people inside it walking upside down.

While I love a good spiral as much as anyone I can't help thinking that the Olympic organizers might have chosen something a bit more useful for future generations (1) especially in the age of global climate change; something like a nature park, say, but clearly the millionaire who is funding this wants his steel used so this is what London gets. I hope they like it as this is going to be with them for a long time to come. (2)

Sia

Endnotes

(1) ...and less of a target for loonies.

(2) Did the people of this great city get to vote on this? I rather think not.

Related articles

The Spiral in Geometry

Spirals, Symbols and Snakes

The Fundamentalist and the Fossil

I was raised in an small, Scotch/German conservative evangelical church but my experience is different than most because the little sect my parents belong to differed from the dominant form of Christian fundamentalism in several, very significant ways. So before I share a story that explains the rise of a fool like Sarah Palin, the lure of fear-based Tea Party politics, and radical Christian militias, I would first like to describe a little church group that taught me some things worth knowing, even if it wasn't always quite the lesson they intended:

1. Science & Evolution:

They taught that "A day to God is as a thousand years" which is church-speak for "We don't know how long it took to make the world and we're not going to go there. Go study science, kids and get a good job!"

2. Hell, No:

They had no concept of hell as most people know it. Hell was "a separation from God". Church members were encouraged to pray for the souls of those who had died but were wandering "lost", quite literally, in the underworld. They were imagined as weighed down exactly like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, by the chains of unkindness, greed, resentments, etc. Services were held in our church twice a year in which congregants prayed for these souls. They believe that during these moments of prayer those who had died in a loving relationship with God were allowed to go down into the dark places and lead out any who could follow. No hell fire, no tortures, and no demons. Imagine, instead, that some hikers have gone missing in a steep and rocky gorge. Night has fallen and they're scared and unequipped to go any farther but the search teams are out there with the divine light of understanding, looking to bring them home. My friends who study Eastern religions recognize this story immediately. They might describe it as the consequences of our own attachments mitigated by compassion. Those who study myth and folklore recognize this version of death and the hero/heroines journey. It is a kinder, gentler way of imagining the Christian understanding of the afterlife, one that saved me from many a screaming nightmare. (1)

3. A Relevant and Useful Lay Ministry

When I was young, that church's ministry in my area numbered several hundred strong. These were all lay ministers which means they were not paid by the church for their work. Anyone who preached on Sunday had a day job the rest of the week. My uncle, a faithful deacon, was a carpenter. (Yes, I liked that, too. I've often thought Jesus would have liked this good, quiet man's company on the road). The priest of our congregation was a construction worker and his family owned some of the last little bit of farmland left in our valley. I remember how much fun we had as children looking for Easter eggs in his apple orchard. The evangelist, a stern but caring man, was in charge of several congregations. He was a famous tile man. An artist of the old school, he was sought after to work with Italian hand made tiles and created complex art mosaics on beautiful buildings all over the world. Some of these men (and yes, they were all men) had gone to college, many had not, but all of them had skills. Lucky for them, they also had wives who did as much, if not more, for their church as they did. From this I learned that ministry is

a) a calling,
b) hard work
c) done as well or better by lay people with good hearts and a mind to good works and
d) best when done from a spirit of love and compassion

These people taught me that dedication to any path is shown in real and concrete ways, in their case by visiting the troubled and the sick, and tending to the poorer ones among us. They showed up three times a week to speak and to serve, not to mention fixing whatever broke, cleaning the church every week, organizing pot lucks dinners for 300 or more, and doing all the gardening on the grounds. (2) "Can Do" was built into their genes. So was "Give unto others".

4. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" was more than words to them

They believed (and still do) in the End Times but they also believe they'll be taken up to heaven by then, and are content to leave the timing up to God, rather than try and force events by sending red heifers to the Holy Land or starting religious wars. Many of them owned guns for hunting and, when I was a kid, many of them still had the guns they had used in WWII, unloaded and locked up in the gun case, my father included among them, but it would never had occurred to these good men and women to turn these weapons on their neighbors.

Modern Pagan Culture

Their example is one reason why I have a poor opinion of so many of the Pagan "high" priests and priestesses I meet because I do not see these Pagans putting in the "sweat time" for their circle's members. Nor do I see the circle members supporting the group in their turn in the useful ways that the congregation I knew growing up would do as a matter of course. Pagan culture has lost something vital by not expecting Pagans to contribute to good causes, and support one another, including a sense of pride and community.

As for our Pagan "leaders", well, too often I see an obsession with pomp and circumstance to the exclusion of common sense and general kindness that rivals that of Rome. I am not impressed. Show me the Pagan carpenter who helps rebuild an older circle member's porch on his or her day off for free, and never says a word to anyone else about it, and I'll put them up there in my personal pantheon along with my aunt and uncle.

On the Barricades

Like many who were raised in such churches and left to find another way, I am fascinated by the history of the fundamentalist phenomena, especially here in the U.S. As a result of all that bible study and my later reading, I often have a better understanding of the history and teachings of Christianity than many of the fundamentalist Christians I meet. This made standing at protective barricades with other women volunteers (3) in the 1980's and defending Planned Parenthood clinics a good gig for me. You wanna throw a bible verse at me? Huh, huh? Do ya? I got yer Western Cannon right here!

I could wish more Pagans did such reading. I realize that for many of them this brings up painful memories so I can see why they might avoid it. As for me, I'm a teacher by trade, and I've seen that knowledge is power. As a Pagan woman I believe that naming a thing takes away it's power to hurt. So, in that spirit, I would offer you a excellent, short read on early fundamentalism in the U.S. It's worth your while, especially if, like me, you love to laugh.

Foraminifera and the Fundamentalism of Denial

If you want to understand fundamentalism in the modern age says KA Munstan of The Daily Kos, then you need to know the history of a fossil, the oil rush of the 1860's and the publication of a book that set the stage. Published in 1909 the book is called The Fundamentals; A Testimony to the Truth.

Lyman and Milton endowed $300,000 for the publication of 12 volumes (90 essays) in defense of what he believed were the five fundamental tenets of Christianity; the total absolute accuracy of the bible, the divinity of Jesus, his death for humanities’ sins, and his second coming, which was expected soon, perhaps in the lifetime of people then living.

However there were a few other points made in "The Fundamentals", in particular a listing of the enemies of Christianity, as detailed later by Robert Wuthnow, of Princeton University. These enemies included "...Romanism (Catholicism), socialism, modern philosophy, atheism...Mormonism, spiritualsim,...and Darwinism, which appeared to undermine the Bible's authority." Formed originally as a response to "modermism", the foundations of Fundamentalism are primarily negative, insisting upon what they are against, rather than what they seek to be. It is impossible to decipher early 21st century conservative politics without an understanding of "The Fundamentals; a Testimony to the Truth".

My favorite part of this story is the bit of historical irony that goes with it. The publishers of this book, two Texas oil men made their immense wealth because of a fossil.

The desperate search for oil drove capitalists to take a hard look at the pulverized rocks drawn up from both dry and successful holes. It was the only emperical evidence they had. They found these cores to be filled with Foraminifera. There are some 4,000 species of these single celled aquatic creatures in today’s oceans, from the surface to the bottom mud, from the artic to the tropics. But the fossils of 275,000 Foraminifera species were coming out of the drill holes...And they were now basing multimillion dollar drilling decisions at individual well sites on the fossilized shells of now extinct microscopic creatures found in drilling cores. And these decisions were making oil companies like Union Oil, richer and richer.

...millions in profits from this oil provided for the Los Angeles Mission, which has helped to feed and shelter tens of thousands of homeless and lost souls, and a Fundamentalist Christian collage, which explicitly teaches that those creatures used to find that wealth had all died in a great flood, which had occured, at most, a few thousand years ago.

I recommend reading the whole article, titled Fundamentalist Creed. It's worth your time.

And do take his poll, titled THE MOST LIKELY ACT OF TERRORISM UNLEASED NEXT AGAINST REPUBLICANS WILL BE...

Such fun....

Sia

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The Christians and the Pagans

Sarah Palin: A Barbie Doll for John McCain

Recommended Reading & Review

When Jesus Became a God by Richard Rubenstein

News:

Roadrunner dinosaur discovered in China

Endnotes:

(1) That is, until I read Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God in college. Thank goodness those sick minded b$#@!ds had no part in my childhood.

(2) If they wanted a church building, they built it. Most of the adults in my congregation were from that Greatest Generation, and many grew up on farms, so urban or not, all the men and women I knew as a kid were tool users. If they didn't build their church, they bought a old church building nobody wanted and fixed it up.

(3) A good many of them were Liberal Progressive Christian feminists, so I was in very good company.

Photo of Foraminifera found here.

For the Maidens Among Us

Happy Spring to all here. Today, I would like to share what the talented Cari said about her family Ostara celebration. Excerpt:

We invited balance into our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our spirits, our lives, our relationships and our world. This is not as easy as it sounds, to speak to each of these parts of ourselves and say aloud what we wish for. Yet seeds were planted in our souls as we invited balance to accompany us on our journey.

Do read the rest, see her photo and enjoy her art. You'll be glad you did.

Kore

Meanwhile, my soul-sister Hecate reminds us that We Have To Do More Than Pray, We Have to Follow Through. Enjoy that, then read her glorious essay on Kore

The older that I get (and I am getting deliciously old), in some odd manner, the more that I look forward to Ostara. When I was v young, I was quite desperate to be thought older, experienced, sophisticated, wise. And the holidays that moved me were High Summer, and Lughnasadah, and Samhein. But now that I've lived a long time and figured out, well, a few things, I find myself quite predisposed to love maidens and to look forward to Ostara, when we all celebrate the energy of the Maiden, the Kore, the v young woman who is just OUT There.

She goes further, not just celebrating but helping a young woman who needs her wisdom.

Thank you, ladies, for the inspiration.

Fire, ritual and Nowruz.

Lastly, I would like to share how these people celebrate the often-banned holiday of Nowruz, with fire, singing, dancing and hope. May they continue to live in peace with the various religions in their midst and may the women of this place know not just pride, but freedom.

Wishing the blessings and joy of spring to you and yours as we enter this new season.

Sia

This post is dedicated to S., a young woman I've had the pleasure of knowing through a volunteer group who is going on to bigger and better things. Bon chance! If I could buy stock in a person, I would always bet on you.

Art: Song of the Nile by L. Goddard

Re: Your Brains OR A Moral For Our Times

Have you ever been in a meeting where the speaker sounds sane and you see some people in the room nodding in agreement, but you know, you know, he's lost all touch with reality and that what he's is actually saying is so far on the high end of rabid weasel crazy that you and your merry band are starting to eye the exits? Well, then, this should make your day.

Let no one say that fantasy isn't relevant to the times we live in.

Youtube video: Re: Your Brains" by Jonathan Coulton performed in ZSL (Zombie Sign Language).

Enjoy,

Sia
Who has had a rough work week but who will be fine after some good sushi and a walk in the woods.

Welcome to the Owl Box

Welcome to the Owl Box (live updates every 15 minutes)

Happy Spring,

Sia

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Que pasa, amigos? OR Welcome, Spring!

Greetings, all

I hope this finds you well and happy.

Madam The Dog and I have just come back from a week in Southern Oregon. Our elder "had a turn" as the old folks used to say, and required my presence. The drive from Portland to Ashland, Oregon near the California boarder is beautiful any time of year, but especially in spring. The I5 takes you along the Willamette Valley, past heritage farmlands, and along rivers glittering with salmon, and through high forest passes, their peaks still topped with snow. Oregon has been careful to keep most of this famous trek free from developers and it's a joy to travel. It takes about 5 hours by car but dog and I take longer, as dog and I like rest stops. I talk to the folks and troll for stories, while she reads her p-mail and trades sniffs with other dogs. We each get a bite of something and then we're on our way. Dog rests in the back when she isn't looking out the window. I listen to classical music (which keeps my speed down and compliments the landscape) or I enjoy a book on tape. Dog prefers classic rock and NPR.

As we drove along the valley, and headed toward the pass, the total effect on the eye was green below, studded with hundreds of golden daffodils. A robin's egg sky formed a blue vault above us and it was dotted with white fluffy clouds that mimicked the sheep in the fields. The lambs were out in the warm, frisking along behind their mothers. Dog watched them, from the other side of the rest stop fences with a kindly and benevolent eye as if to say, "Well, you lot need herding, that's clear, and I could get you all in order if I wanted to but I'm busy guarding this one."

All along the way, Chanticleer pear trees bloomed (a better word might be "proclaimed") and their delicate white flowers contrasted with the Thundercloud Purple Leaf Plum trees (don't you love those names?) which were resplendent in a soft, oriental shade of pink. The sight of either one on this day, in this place and time, would cause a poet to drop her pen and blither helplessly. The bees were everywhere, spoiled for choice.

We had a fine spring snow up at our place just before I left. It skipped the valley, settling gently here in the mountains, giving our brick fronted home that gingerbread house look we love and giving dog one last cold, wet, glorious fling. She dug and jumped and ran in the stuff, always looking for more, till she was grinning and dripping and had to come inside. It's funny, really, because she came to us from a shelter in New Mexico. We think she once lived on a ranch. She speaks a bit of Spanish, is comfortable around cattle and horses, and had never stepped on tile or climbed stairs in her life before she came to us. She adores riding around in trucks or cars, and she knows and loves tamales. I know nothing about her background, really, except that she was clearly loved, but I doubt she'd ever seen snow before she arrived in Oregon. But she was made to be a mountain dog - it just took a while for her to get here.

Between our beloved elder's car accident and her struggle with COPD and some other stresses and strains that life has sent us, it's been a rough six months. But we're just fine, considering. We're looking forward to spring and the signs of it abound; the frogs are back and the swallows are due any day now. The does visit the lower meadow every morning, looking for new grass, bringing their yearlings with them. Meanwhile, I'm looking through the couch cushions for pennies to see if we can send my loved one out to his best friend's wedding in the Galapagos Islands. I'll be staying here to guard the home front. I can't tell you exactly how many Wife Points that gives me, but, eventually, I intend to cash these in.

I'm not working as much as I like, being needed elsewhere, but I feel rather less of a poser when so many others are also forced to stand idle. My family can handle a single salary for now, but it's not my cup of tea. I am not well suited to a life of decorative indolence, nor is any woman I know. So, I volunteer as much as I can, and make what living I can consulting in my field until my elder no longer needs me.

I'm in the same boat with many of you, caring for a loved one and wondering what this economy will bring. Unlike many, though, I have health care through my husband's work. I am grateful for that every day and look forward to the time when every single person in this country has the blessing and freedom of guaranteed health care as is their right.

The Discworld convention in Arizona last September was great fun. I loved seeing old friends and I always enjoy the American Southwest. I reveled in early morning visits to various desert botanical gardens, places which always remind me of my old backyard in California, with their rich smelling sages, flowering cacti and herbs, their ancient lizards and their jewel-like hummingbirds. I adored the dramatic thunder storms that came and went, and the hot, dry air that followed. We found that real family Mexican restaurant we were looking for, the one with the sweet-faced abuela cooking up her magic in the back, which made us very happy.

The life that abounds just now inspires me in various ways. For one thing, I'm itching to grab a spade and start digging in my own bit of earth but it's best to wait until the March frosts are over. Dog and I take a lot of walks with friends, and I'm learning more about the flowers and trees hereabouts. I write every day. Not well, mind you, but most earnestly. Perhaps the joy and the flow will come again someday. I live in hope.

I enjoy my volunteer work and may take up some more of a different type this summer. I hope to find a place to do some riding, soon, and I'd like to learn how to kayak, if the couch pennies allow.

Welcome, welcome Spring.

May you be well,

Sia

Banned Greenpeace Video Becomes a Global Hit

What Nestle doesn't want you to know: The story of the banned Kit Kat video.

Greenpeace UK notes that

Indonesian forests are being torn down to grow palm oil which is the vegetable fat of choice for companies worldwide, including Nestlé. But while many companies such as Unilever and Kraft are making efforts to disassociate themselves from the worst practices of the palm oil industry, Nestlé has done diddly squat...

The palm oil Nestlé uses in products like Kit Kat is sourced from what used to be rainforest in Indonesia, forest which is being destroyed faster than anywhere else on the planet. One of Nestlé's suppliers, the giant Sinar Mas group, is responsible for a large part of this arboreal carnage and has a track record of appalling environmental and social practices...Sinar Mas is not only clearing forests but destroying carbon-rich peatlands. Burning and draining these peatlands releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, helping to make Indonesia the third largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.

Meanwhile, the palm oil industry often comes into conflict with local communities over land rights and resources, and the already endangered orang-utans are being pushed closer to extinction.

Support the protest; write to the CEO, and vote with your dollar.

Sia

Jason's Positive Protest Against Hate Speech & the Westboro Baptist "Church"

Jason Connell, a student at University of Illinois at Chicago, finds a novel way to turn a visit by the Westboro Baptist Church and Fred Phelps into a positive event.

Well done, Jason, and congratulations to all organized, gave to and helped out at this event. Well done, indeed.

Sia

Youtube video: Jason's Protest

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T'was Ever Thus OR Hey, Baby!

Today I would like to share this enlightening note from Sex and the Dark-eyed Junco care of the National Wildlife Federation. (1)

A team of scientists ...have discovered that males with higher levels of testosterone—no matter what their age—are irresistible mates for older, more experienced females. They also produce more offspring.

But there’s a catch: The scientists also discovered that these these testosterone-pumped studs are not particularly good fathers, and their offspring are born smaller and die at higher rates. The hormonally charged birds are so eager to show off and chase after new partners that they don’t visit or bring food to their nests as often as their less popular rivals.

In an earlier study, Ketterson found that the über-juncos tend to die at a younger age. Not only does elevated testosterone make them less wary of predators, it also increases their stress levels...

There is only so much time and energy available in a given day, notes Ketterson, and evolution requires making some tough choices. “If you’re a male junco,” she asks, “do you maximize the time you spend chasing partners or do you maximize the time you spend parenting?”

To quote a gentleman of my acquaintance, "I could not possibly comment".

Tell Me You're Kidding

Humans seem cruel enough for anything but finch fighting? Really? Most of the men involved were from Brazil where finch fighting has been banned for decades. I believe in the rule of law but don't you just wish we could throw these folks in the Thunderdome and see how they like it?

Congratulations to the town firefighters who discovered this obscene set up.

Lest we take this too lightly, Annie Harnett at Change.org reminds us of the well known link between animal abuse and child abuse.

Ancient Egg Shells Yield DNA

In other bird news, scientists think they have found a way to extract DNA from ancient egg shells. This means that elephant bird Aepyornis, the heaviest bird in existence (no surprise that design didn't last), may be coming to a zoo near you in, say, 2040. Sadly, by then the kids will be asking, "Mommy, what's a tiger?"

Sia

Art: Found at a useful article for birders titled Do You Know Your Dark Eyed Juncos? from the Birding in Sonoma County blog.

Endnotes

(1) Adapted from "The High Price of Being a Hunk" by David Lukas, National Wildlife, February/March 2009.

Related Articles:

Finch Fighting

Anne Hill on Reproductive Rights and the Divine Feminine

Today I would like to give over the floor to author and mother, Rev. Anne Hill, who writes about reproductive rights and the divine feminine for the Huffington Post.

Excerpt

...Conservatives in Washington have once more made women's reproductive rights a pawn in their power game. Why don't they come right out and say it: being female is a pre-existing condition, one that won't be guaranteed coverage at all if they have their way.

To those of us for whom the Divine Feminine is an important part of our religious life, the conservative, evangelical "pro-lifers" are not just attacking our rights to safe, legal, accessible abortion and contraception, they are making a mockery of the very concept of "life" itself.

You can read the rest here.

Brava! Anne

Sia

Art: Ostara by Helen Nelson Reed. Image found here.

Happy the Woman

Happy the woman

and happy she alone,

She who can call today her own:

She who, secure within, can say,

Tomorrow do thy worst,

for I have lived today.

Be fair or foul or rain or shine

The joys I have possessed,

in spite or fate, are mine.

Not one of us upon the past has power,

But what has been, has been,

and I have had my hour.

- Horace, from Odes, Book III, xxix. (with slight modification)

If our life lacks a constant magic it is because we choose to observe our acts & lose ourselves in consideration of their imagined form instead of being impelled by their force.
- Antonin Artau

Cherry trees and daffodils are blooming all over the valley. It must be that.

Sia

Art: Prairie Spinx Woman by Helen Nelson Reed

Happy Tails - Cats on Twitter

This is why I read Twitter: Check out the CAT adoption page for some wonderful stories about cats who find their forever homes through this no kill shelter. (1)

Their twitter site also offer great articles on cat health and well being, photos & bios on cats you can adopt via Petfinder.com (which lists adoptable pets from all over the country) as well as news about the animal rescue work being done in Haiti & elsewhere. This is how you do social networking for the good of all. Grandmother Spider would be proud.

CAT Food Bank:

This is another reason why I love these folks. They give out cat food and litter every month to cat owners in need through the CAT Food Bank. Last month they gave out over 2,500 lbs of cat food. The work is done by volunteers and all the food and litter is donated by folks in the community.

The CAT Facebook Fan Page is here.

Earthwise organizers take note: Twitter is an excellent form of free advertising & networking for any group willing to do the work. In this case, it's all done by volunteers.

Enjoy,

Sia

P.S. Finding a group: Lots of animal groups are on Twitter these days. Find animal groups you support via google and then check their web page to see if they offer a Twitter link. Or just do a search on Twitter itself. A # (AKA a hashtag) indicates a subject such as #cats.

(1) Some adoption stories from CAT's Twitter page:

1. Sweet, scared little Bunny adopted by a gentle woman who is home most of the time. She'll have gentle love & a quiet life. (Tigard)
2. Nemo got a home without other cats, which is what he has always wanted. He will be his new mom's very best buddy.
3. Mort adopted by some empty nesters who missed their daughter & her cat. He came out of his shell for them & got a new condo, too.
4. Little January will now live in a Pearl District loft & spend her time playing w/ a 3 year old cat & her new humans. (Cascade St.)
5. Gemini did her little chirps & walked around waving her tail proudly for woman who came in to see her. Enjoy your new home, G.
6. Charming Stetson who likes to play very gently was adopted by a couple w/ previous cat experience. Have fun, boy.
7. Shy cats r getting their due this week. Quiet, retiring Jesse adopted by couple w/ quiet home who appreciate his needs. (Wilsonville)
8. Timid Oasis adopted by a couple who'd had a shy cat before. He will have a gentle, shy teacup chihuahua who loves cats as a buddy.
9. Yeah! A CAT volunteer adopted dear, shy Naomi. She was in another shelter, then ours & waited over a year for good home. (Wash Sq.)
10. Outgoing, brave Wahneeta went to a family w/ 2 kids & a 50lb dog. The dog misses his kitty who passed away at age 15.
11. Kittens Hot Lips (now Isis) & Milo were adopted by a young couple who moved here from Detroit. (Wash. Sq. outreach)

I have a crush on Neil deGrasse Tyson OR The Pluto Files

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I admit it, I have a crush on Neil deGrasse Tyson. What can I say? I like funny, brainy guys with a flare for fashion, which explains why I married one. Here is Dr. Tyson on The Rachael Maddow Show. Check out his new show, The Pluto Files, tonight on Nova.

My current geek fantasy is dinner with Dr. Tyson, Rachael Maddow and Jon Stewart. My husband can come, too.

Update: In fairness to my fella and to balance out the table, I've added the witty and dashing Ana Marie Cox to the guest list.

By the way, Dr. Tyson is now on Twitter as is Ms. Cox.

Enjoy,

Sia



Videos: Dr. Tyson on Rachael Maddow

Dr. Tyson is also a frequent guest on The Daily Show. Here is a list of his many video interviews with Jon Stewart. These two clearly like each other.

Pluto image found here.