I swore that when I had kids, I would NEVER give as an explanation because. My mother was famous for it. Me: Why??? Mom: Because. If she really wanted to make the point (and a power play), she'd say because I said so. arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Well, I never had kids. But I did end up with a few step kids. At first, any interventions on my part were always accompanied by explanation. I was a quick study though. I realized they didn't care WHY. They'd ask and ask and whine and complain and ask WHY again a thousand times. But they never really wanted to know why. They were only interested in what they wanted and finding a way to actualize it. They used my explanations as an opportunity to stage never-ending debates, refuting all of my very sensible and very adult-correct thinking.

Mothers. They do know what they're doing. It just takes years to figure it out. There's not much after the old because I say so.

What I'm talkin' about is a game.  
A game that can't be won, only played.
^{from the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance}

Ta dah......... another stunning assessment of George W. Bush, his policies, and what a real president would do from Thomas Friedman in today's New York Time's column. Yeah, the inescapable Tom Friedman: a cheerleader of the war in Iraq. A public intellectual and New York Times Columnist... part of that liberal media about which we hear so much.

why?

we are here. why? dunno know. yes. i do. it's about the building and the tearing down and the rebuilding.

then forgetting it all...  to feel it all new again. like we're here, first, to experience it...

silken threads woven through times of fire and ice floes... slender shiny strong threads

hold onto them

shut your eyes... tell me what you see...  shut your eyes and open your soul

A man writes a book. About a culture of deception. And those enshrined in that culture wonder how that man, Scott McClellan, could go from . . .

“. . . a loyal and trusted staff member to an embittered person who makes biting accusations.”

Early Tuesday morning, I wrote to the New York Time's Mr. Hoyt, the paper's public editor... ostensibly the "readers" representative this e-mail:

show details
Jun 10 (2 days ago)
Dear Mr. Hoyt...

You are the people's representative at the NY Times. Please, can you tell me why, no where, can I find a news article about Dennis Kucinich introducing an impeachment resolution in Congress??????????????????????????????

Look at the polls, sir. Americans are moderates. Americans believe in justice and accountability. And most of us want to know what the hell happened to our country and where was the media the whole time?

Maybe the same place as now. Ignoring that a U.S. Congressman just stood for  what, four hours, to introduce impeachment articles in the well of the congress.

Shameful.

Please, can you tell me why there is no coverage of this? How is this NOT news worthy?????

Regards... pfiore8

Liberals need another George McGovern—and perhaps conservatives do too
In the home stretch of the ’72 campaign, [George] McGovern said, “Government has become so vast and impersonal that its interests diverge more and more from the interests of ordinary citizens."

The thing I'm continually learning is so simple: I define my life. I stand up or down. I say yes or no. I fight, go along, or give up. It comes down to just me.

The way I see it, this blip in time is mine.  But not for much longer, as I can imagine a time when humans, as we are now, probably won't exist. The upside is that I'm sure some other type of earthling will evolve. Will they love van Gogh and Bach though? I don't know.

I like to think these new earthlings will be as awestruck by star dust and sunlight as I...  that they will try to figure out a way to describe the thud and splat of raindrops and the whisper of wind through tall grass... that they'll fall in love and have their own dance. I've stopped being sad that it won't be mine in a million years from now.

However. That's then. This is now and I've got my dance card. I can't help it if George Bush is on it.  But fuck him.  

i met a stranger today. a shop clerk in the netherlands. a black girl.  when i spoke in english to her, she stopped. and looked at me.
then she asked me if i was an american.
yes, i said.
she shook her head.
will you vote? she asked.
yes. i couldn't help it. so i added...
and i'll be voting for Obama
we both looked at each. in one of those moments.
and we high-fived each other, laughing out loud.
bam!

she leaned over the counter
he's, ah... um, half, um, black. and the other part, um, ah, is white.
and, um, ah maybe he can bring peace.

Afterall, it might not even exist. The truth might just be another seducer, another liar, another sad end to your day.

The truth brings conflict. war. It demands fidelity and adherence. The truth trumps freedom and tortures free will. Could be the only true truth is the only thing we all share.... death. But after that, some of us turn to dust. Others go to heaven. Or Nirvana. And then there's the matter of those virgins... would they be vestal then???

I've been thinking about this for days now. Ever since my nephew told me he thought that winning was the reason one plays baseball.

And I thought::: has our obsession with winning turned us into losers? Our family routines, our learning curves, and just plain old having fun all seem to take a beating from the prevailing ends justify the means American mindset.

Is winning market share or baseball games or presidential races more important than how one plays the game, the quality/efficacy of products one puts on the market, or the policies/integrity of candidates?

Winning is only an outcome, isn't it? What happens to all the stuff that needs to happen to get to the winning? Isn't all the in-between stuff, those small moments, where we get our life lessons?

Rep. John F. Tierney (D-MA): So it is a little astonishing to me, and I think to others, the planning for what is going to happen to our troops, their meals, their water, their housing, the essentials of life, their protection, all of that doesn't even begin to happen until May 2003, after Baghdad falls, but in the meantime the administration had your company planning for Iraq's oil infrastructure months before it had a plan how to support our troops.

I've been struggling a bit. With role assignments. Because I'm confused. Are the Iraqis themselves the terrorists? Or do Iraqis harbor terrorists? No. Wait. Terrorists infiltrate Iraq. And we are there to get rid of terrorists, right? Wait, or was it to get rid of the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WsMD)? Or was it the threat of terrorism? Who are the insurgents btw? Are they related to the terrorists? Wait. Iran is involved in this, right? It's terrorists [being paid by Iran to infiltrate Iraq] who are killing Iraqis, right? Or are the Iranian people themselves terrorists? Or do they just harbor terrorists? I know... maybe they outsource their terrorism. Anybody? Do they also have WsMD? Wait.

Tell me again, who are the terrorists?

This is a short one... but perhaps none the easier to digest.

When the whole George Bush/BushCo thing happened, I was pretty much banned, among friends and family, from discussion of events in the years 2000-2004.

After 2004, the Iraq war cracked the perception of even busy busy people that things weren't, um, going right. Not to mention the freaky weather and crazy gas prices. It must be that Bush is stupid. That's it, they thought. It's simple.. No. That's not it. Bush is not stupid or compassionate or interested in the United States of America. And this is far from simple.

It's one thing to get people seeing and even agreeing with you that the president for whom they voted is making a boatload of bad decisions. It's totally another thing to suggest to these busy people that fascism has emerged in America. Because, and by the way, about that you are definitely NOT right. You, my friend, are a radical. And all your blah blah blah::: oncoming depression, water wars, peak oil, pandemics, broken government, broken bill of rights... becomes more threatening than any eventual occurrence of these things.

No. You are not only NOT right, but you are simply a downer. The bearer of bad news nobody wants to hear. And you know why? Because you don't offer a credible way out.
   

Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love
^{Butch Hancock}

I have no understanding of what it is to live like this:::

The belt made a thump when Rasheed dropped it to the ground and came for her. Some jobs, that thump said, were meant to be done with bare hands.