A Lady's Quest... Living As A Modern Crone

New Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:01:00 +0000

I glom onto quotations from time to time. There are a lot of smart people out there whose comments are cause for reflection, thought provoking or both.

My newest find is from Dr. Cornell West: Spirtual malnutrition is connected to moral constipation." I'm very inclined to agree.

Net Neutrality - Stop Corporate Censorship

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:55:00 +0000

Don't the big corporations set limits on net content so they end up as defacto censors.

Cool Deal On A Bluetooth Headset

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:56:00 +0000

Motorola Bluetooth Headset $9 (save 1$40)

I like Motorola bluetooth headsets and I've loved using eCost to buy them. And since I like doing crafty things & painting the heck out of them, which pretty well voids the warranty, I LOVE the eCost's low pricing!!! Give 'em a try! The H350 is plain, but it's a workhorse of a bluetooth headset and worth the $9 bucks!

The polarization card - The Boston Globe

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:31:00 +0000

The polarization card - The Boston Globe

Right now, the important thing is to keep a civil and quiet voice and this article is a good reason why. We have to step up and take responsibility for civil discourse.

RIP Patrick Swayze

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 03:36:00 +0000

Oh, I know, it's so sad! Patrick Swayze died! He was so much fun to watch in his movies. I adored him in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, of course. But he was amazing in Point Break. Such a talent! And he turned out to be one of the 'good guys' on earth which is really just a bonus. I feel bad for his wife, but they had a great love-story together so I also think she'll find great comfort in that and great happiness again as well. They had a generous spirit together so I don't reckon he'd want anything less for her. RIP, Patrick & thanks. From me, another old movie fan-girl.

The President's Back To School Speech

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:50:00 +0000

This is the speech that reactionaries on the Republican right were so afraid of??? Ya gotta be kidding me! The horror! Asking kids to take a little responsibility for themselves! ROTFLMAO!

" Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone - how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning. I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.
Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down - don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America"

There's some choice words for the nay-saying pundits who fanned the flames of discord about this speech without having read the text first: cowardly, untruthful, venal, corrupt fools.

Full Moon Tomatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:17:00 +0000

Our little circle met and had a belated full moon circle. We met late because one of the guys works at a used bookstore and the owner changed his schedule to something incompatible with a personal life all the way around. But WE can work around that inconvenience most of the time. We celebrated the harvest and during the ritual, made a dish of freshly picked tomatoes, onions and basil from the garden chopped all together and seasoned with just a pinch of salt to spread on homemade focaccia for the 'cakes and ale' part of the ceremony. O goddess, that was one of the best sacramental foods ever shared in a circle!

Wendell Potter

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:37:00 +0000

The insurance companies cannot tell us they're not manipulating facts and putting out misleading and confusing information. Mr. Potter was part of it with Cigna until he had a change of heart following his viewing of Michael Moore's Sicko premier. He writes about it here and elsewhere and has testified before Congress as to his role in denial of insurance coverage to consumers.

Make Up Your Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:43:00 +0000

This picture got sent to me today. It rocks!

Weddings

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:19:00 +0000

My sister Margo and I went down to Las Cruces for our nephew Dustin's wedding. It was a sweet formal, small-town family wedding at Trinity Lutheran Church with the reception held in the church's activities hall. I got teary-eyed at the wedding, proud for my nephew who's worked so hard to get his young life in order & on track. Parts of the reception tugged sentimentally, but the best part of the reception, one that made me grin was when the 3 & 4 year old kids got out on the dance floor!

So I Mailed Family, Friends & Acquaintances This Letter....

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:57:00 +0000

So I sent a letter yesterday out to the people in my mailing list... Bcc'ed the thing to make sure people didn't get their addresses spread around and harvested by bots.

The content was:

"Ok, I'm at it again in support of Health Care Reform. I thought this article from Guernica was worth reading and passing along. In it, a former Cigna executive discusses his change of heart toward the current health insurance industry and why. I copy and pasted before sending this off to keep your address off external mailing lists.

Health care reform is necessary for all of us. Ensuring that it takes place is, in my opinion, a moral matter -- that we take care of each other and the least of us. When hospitals dump sick, poor people on the streets because they don't have insurance as has happened in cities around the country, it is an obscenity. Our history lessons used to teach that a country is judged by how well it takes care of it's poor and infirm. We're not doing so good in that department.

I was born in an era when America's infant mortality rate was among the lowest in the world. In my lifetime, our infant mortality rate has become as bad as many third world countries. According to the CDC ( http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db09.htm

) we rank 29th. We used to rank 12th. That kind of drop is an obscenity!

After 30 years of watching the quality of life decline as people have become increasingly unable to afford decent health care, I have become willing to do whatever it takes to help health care reform -- including paying higher taxes and taking my anger to the streets.

Just more of my .02

Hugs to you all!"

Anyhow. I got two positive responses, one "don't spam my inbox with this stuff" and one "Obama needs to grow a pair" note. I do wish I had gotten more responses. The lack of response (even an F* Off!) makes me wonder -- have we become indifferent?

Michael Moore's "Sicko"

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:18:00 +0000

After seeing Michael Moore's "Sicko" last night, I felt sick and betrayed by our government and insurance industry all over again and any moral person would feel the same. I found myself wishing I had enough money to send a copy of "Sicko" to every American household for people to watch. So, in lieu of that and after a little googling:

If you get TMC (The Movie Channel) I just found out "Sicko" is airing soon with repeat airings

"On The Movie Channel: 09/02/09 at 3:05 AM
On The Movie Channel: 09/10/09 at 7:15 AM
On The Movie Channel: 09/10/09 at 4:00 PM"

Invite your friends and neighbors to join you! Oh.. and when you're done, follow up by reading this interview.

More On Healthcare Reform

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:45:00 +0000

Oh gosh! The sky is NOT falling, but Joe Scarborough saw reason and owned up to it! See article at Truthout. It's not the bad thing the reactionaries are claiming it is. We need this reform.

Obviously I Support Health Care Reform

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:19:00 +0000

Ran across this video today regarding health care reform.

Just a few points: Medicare IS government run & funded. So enough with the bullsh** whining about government run medicine. It's already a reality. D'uh!!!

If you have heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and other diseases, your insurance provider can kick you out for any reason they want. That's called "rationing" too. Gee.

Is The US On The Brink Of Fascism?

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:02:00 +0000

I ran across this article at Truthout and felt it was worthwhile to share:

www.truthout.org/080909A

We must be careful to not let our country fall into fascism.

On second thought, sharing this is mandatory according to the dictates of my conscience.

Evil Lies, Evil Behavior

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Lets stop the lies and evil behavior around health care reform.

I've read the bill that is pending regarding health care reform and there is not one word in there to substantiate claims that the Republican right and health care industry is putting out against health care reform like 'death panels' or restricting access. It is evil of pundits like Rush Limbaugh and politicos like Sarah Palin to be acting on behalf of the health care industry against the common good of the average American citizen by fomenting violent protests at town hall meetings across the country.

It is evil to incite people to go into any town meeting with the goal of disrupting the proceedings and to cause such a ruckus that the meeting is silenced. Silence speech and you silence democracy. Sean Hannity says "Become part of a mob!" But should a mob form and become violent with people being injured, lemme tell ya, Sean Hannity will NOT be paying for the medical care of the injured. Sean Hannity will be able to claim "My hands are clean, I didn't do anything wrong." He just encouraged people to join a mob without any thought to what happens when the mood of the mob changes for the worse.

It is evil to incite people to the point that they are calling in death threats to congressmen because sure as the sun rises in the East, this will be some fool who will take it in their hands to try to carry out those threats.

Shame on you for encouraging evil for the sake of patronage and money from the health insurance industries. You're like war profiteers and you oughta be ashamed of yourselves.

Cogitations

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Good morning. How're you all doing today?

It's too bloody hot right now. Our NM weather has been near record breaking and our night time temps are not doing their usual 20+ degree drop from daytime temperatures. It seems like I've sweat more this summer than in previous ones.

I love camping. Some of the camping chores I'm not so fond of... like the post camping clean up. We discovered last weekend that a bottle of cooking oil had leaked into the camp kitchen box we use. There was a film of oil on most everything on the bottom of the box so, after getting home, I got to pull everything out and scrub the box out with hot soapy water. Then I got to scrub everything I pulled out of the box too! The bonus for doing this chore was getting to reclaim some wooden spoons that rightfully belong in my kitchen, not the camp kitchen! Ha!

Over the weekend camping I knit up a new washcloth. Just your basic square, knit stitch cotton wash cloth. Can't decide if I'll use it for a face cloth or for the kitchen. I'm also currently knitting up a couple cotton pads for my Swiffer. It is so hard to justify the expense of throwaway pads.

There was a story in Truthout about Bush & Rove and the firings of the six US Attorneys a couple years ago. Now, I worked as a temp in the city law office where David Iglesias once worked so I'm damned sure that Iglesias was doing a fine, ethically balanced job as U.S. Attorney. His character as a human being and as an attorney is exceptional and it saddened me to see politicos try to carry out the kind of hatched job on him that they did.

One of my favorite people on the planet, John Corbin, is suffering from cancer and dying. Some of you may know him from Sulpher Springs, NM, various SCA events, pagan events and Burning Man and even the military and NM Tech. If you know him, give him a shout before he passes to the Summerlands. His sons or daughters will read your messages of love and affection to him!

I got ditched by one of the people who watched this blog because I don't comment on his that often. Sigh. Do we really need to comment to each and every post someone makes in their blogs when we visit? Does that make us more real or valid?

Prof. Gates' Neighborhood

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:09:00 +0000

After many days of watching the news about Professor Henry Louis Gates arrest at home by the Cambridge police, I found myself wondering about the neighbor who called in the alleged burglary and wondering why the heck they didn't recognize Professor Gates as their neighbor. Why didn't they go up to him and his driver and ask him what was up? Why didn't the neighbor bother to have cultivated enough of a neighborly relationship to know he was their neighbor and that he had a legitimate right to be trying to get into his own home? So I'm just wondering what's up with that and why that particular element hasn't been part of the public discussion.

Put Up My First eBay Item For Sale Today

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:44:00 +0000

It's still the economy and weathering it has been challenging. Working part time is not paying the bills so in addition to job hunting for permanent full time work as an older (read over 50) female, I've decided that it was time to pare my library down. It took weeks and weeks of praying to "become willing to become willing to let go". I've been collecting a lot of books over the years, so am experimenting with selling one of my prized Robert Silverberg books, on eBay. So we shall see what that turns up for me. If I get what I think the book is worth, then I may 'empty the attic' there.

Good Work Walter 1916-2009

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:44:00 +0000

Walter Cronkite. The best news anchor of my lifetime. Affectionately called "Uncle Walter" by so many of us even though we had no relation to him. Superlatives abound for him and his exemplary work. Rest In Peace, you did good. Thank you.

Some People Shouldn't Belong...

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:45:00 +0000

I was reading an article from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC) Thursday about how the military has a deeply entrenched subculture of members who openly support or identify themselves as part of white separatist and/or neo-Nazi groups. If you click on the pics of the guys in the article, you will see some of their profiles stating their racist or national socialist leanings.

As a veteran, I got a real problem with that! I don't think those people should be part of the American armed forces. Their loyalties are not to the U.S. Constitution or the American people. I think they ought to be put out of the military with bad conduct and even dishonorable discharges for violating their enlistment oaths. Racist and neo-Nazi organizations *are* domestic enemies.

I sure don't want those people able to use the military to develop warcraft skills that they will then be able to pass along to others and that they are willing to turn against their fellow Americans.

What to do about them in the military? Call your congress critters and senators and demand an investigation and demand legislation banning these people from enlisting in our armed forces. Demand that existing military members who are parts of such organizations be discharged immediately.

To write your congress people: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
To write your senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Proportion: Iran and The Death of Michael Jackson.

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:34:00 +0000

The world is really topsy turvy to me right now. Michael Jackson's death is bigger news than what is happening in Iran.

There is plenty being written on Jackson's life (which I've believed was sad and lonely even when he was a child performer) and death -- by all kinds of folks who want to dig at the nut of 'what does it all mean now?' and that's not for me to figure out. I enjoyed his music and his huge talent and that will be missed. In some ways I think perhaps his death was actually a mercy to him, however premature.

But Iran is something for me to try to figure out since I like to think of myself as both an American and a citizen of the world. I was 25, fresh out of the Air Force and in my first semester of college when the 1979 revolution and Hostage Crisis in which American embassy personnel were taken on November 24th and held for 444 days. The hardliner Khomeni took power and we westerners started learning how little we really understood about American and British foreign policy in the Middle East not to mention the meddling we did to preserve our access to Iran's oil resources.

Some of my acquaintances at college were students from Iran and I remember them being scared of American backlash. They weren't at fault and didn't support the revolution or Khomeni's regime, but there was always some jerk willing to stop by their table at the Frontier restaurant were more than happy to demonstrate their own ignorance, bias and racism on a near daily basis with some vile spew.

It was embarrassing that my own country men and women were capable of such foolishness but it certainly was not surprising given the levels of racism against minorities that had existed here for so long. I suspected at the time that for Iran repression was going to become the norm and I sure didn't wish that on anyone. But for all of that, I was pretty ignorant myself. Really. All I knew about Iran was that it was a bit about the regional antiquarian art from back when it was the Persian empire, that it gave birth to Omar Khayam and his beautiful poetry, notably The Rubyiat, and that Islam was the dominant religion. The rest of what I knew was the usual stuff a kid learns when they study geography - languages spoken in the country, where the major cities were, general info on agriculture and other resources. I'm not a world traveller... I've always been a bit too poor for that kind of life, yet the rest of the world still matters to me.

So 'lo many years pass and Iran stays in the news, especially when there are new elections. In the mean time, there were semi-regular news stories about how repressive the government had become so when news of an election with the more moderate Mousavi was on the slate, I joined the many who hoped that -- if the election was fair -- it might lead to more freedoms for the Iranian people. Now we know different. The election was stolen on a scale that beggared either of Bush's stolen elections. Once the protests started in the streets, pro-Ahmadinejad supporters turned into thugs wielding truncheons, pipes and more against their countrymen and women. I think if the number of votes exeeded the number of elegible voters on the scale it did in Iran, I'd be out protesting in our streets too! Talk about insulting people's intelligence!

Some of the higher clerics are even saying that people who participated in the protests should be executed. And that should concern us -- it should concern people of goodwill everywhere. The bread and circuses of a celebrity's death does little to shape the world yet does much to divert our attention from larger things. What happens in places like Iran are much more important in the long run. I support a free Iran.

Tidbits

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Did any of you see that pic of the Iranian soccer players with the green wristbands showing their support for Mousavi? I thought to myself, "When they get home, they're gonna be in soooo much trouble." I was right. Saw in the news today that four of them have been "retired" for life. That's just wrong. I know its wrong, you know its wrong, the world knows its wrong. Just as wrong as the life bleeding out of a young woman after a single shot to the heart. It sure makes me wonder why we Americans didn't have the guts to take to the streets nine years ago when Bush stole the election.

Earlier in May, I was just sick and depressed about everything. Even the disarray in our home. The household disarray has been cleared up significantly and it is a more relaxing environment to be in. I'm trying to keep on top of it so it doesn't revert back.

Camping is going to be the activity of the summer. Jim and I have already gone out once with our coven to a sweet spot up past Pena Blanca and I found a wonderful old volcanic hoodoo there that I got a nice picture of and this last weekend we went to the Paliza group campgrounds in the Jemez (pron.: HAY-mez) mountains for the summer solstice. Jim did a workshop on solar ovens Saturday morning, but we were unable to do a demonstration of solar cooking because it was raining! We got nearly an inch of rain. Luckily the pavilion we were under kept us plenty dry.

No Tunes

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:07:00 +0000

I am sadly removing my Project Playlist widget from my blog. It came to my attention that apparently there are copyright issues that are not resolved with Project Playlist. As I believe artists deserve fair payment and control of their intellectual properties, rather than even accidentally violating their rights, I've removed my playlist widget and will be looking for one that lets me post the kind of playlist of music I'd love to share-- legally, of course.

It's The Economy & It's Personal

noreply@blogger.com (Morgan) — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:46:00 +0000

I'm not blogging much lately. It's the economy. Really. I'm having a hard time keeping my head above water and it's hard not to feel like throwing a pity party.

Fact is, I feel damned ashamed of being in debt and unable to pay them off right now-- and it's relatively small debt compared to other folks. Our home's roof also needs replacing... it is so bad that the fascia board is rotting away around the edges and shingles blow off everytime there is a wind storm. And I have a diabetic dog to care for and even though we can sqeak on affording her insulin, we can't afford the other care like glucose monitors and test strips and regular vet checks where her A1C levels are checked regularly. I'm stuck working part time for $8.00/hour and am still dealing with my less than stellar mental health issues like panic disorder and agorophobia and depression (untreated *again* for lack of insurance) which led me to being under-employed in the first place and losing my job with T-Mobile after they couldn't find an off line position so my doctor would sign off for me to go back to work. Bankruptcy. It is NOT an option. Paying debts is where it's at. Somehow.

Keeping my spirits up is an exercise in faith. Faith that things will somehow improve and that we get past this.

I keep wishing for miracles. You know: Little miracles: 10 sheets of roofiing grade plywood. 3 rolls of roofing felt. 251x10x8 lengths of board lumber. Enough roofing shingle or Pro Panel to do a 1000 sq ft roof. We can do the labor ourselves.

Like millions of others, I fantasize about winning big in one of the lotteries -- enough to pay off my debts and stay debt free forever and ever. Enough to cover health care -- which I do not have a scrap of right now. Enough to make a few small improvements to our home -- like building on an en suite bathroom. Ok, I've got a 3/4 bath with shower and that's better than what people in a lot of other countries have, so a real en suite is a bit of a luxury, but I'd sure love to soak in a tub again. Some time. I'd like to have enough to have money in trust so we help our family and friends. I wish.

So, I'm slogging through the muck and nearing my 55th birthday, it all sucks! But I'm trying to keep the faith that things will work out. You know? And I know that at least, I didn't cheat. I didn't lie and stab people in the back to get ahead. I never inflated my resume nor did I claim to have credential I never earned. I played by rules I was raised by about how you earned the American dream until the rules were turned topsy turvy by the greed mongers and I couldn't learn to cheat to survive.