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I am loath to come to the rescue of a Quisling like Max Baucus but I'm watching him live chairing his Senate Finance Committee. All his aides appear to be arrayed behind him. That being said, I'll contribute to a movement that is dedicated to contributing inter-party challenges of Baucus, Conrad, & Lincoln. or max, kent, & blanche. Ravi says the Golden Age comes when we throw out corruption. Cleanliness begins at home too. Time to shovel out the barn.
Given Rahm Emanuel’s involvement with the Obama Administration . . . We are looking at a redux of the Andrew Johnson Administration rather than a re-do of the Clinton Administration. Anything progressive coming out of the Obama White House will be purely by accident OR because they could not utterly squelch it and it got away from them. I am just surprised that corporate ties have not bled into public scandals yet.
I just tried to call Sen. Max Baucus' office. I guess he's tired of hearing from the American people. His office phone is offline --- a recording comes up that says the office is closed.
I left a message to say that I will oppose (monetarily or in any other way I can) any political run he makes for re-election so his seat can have a REAL Democrat in it --- not a corporate whore who cares nothing about the American people.
FYI, Sen. Max Baucus:
(201) 224-2651
At the risk of sounding vain or self promoting, I would put forth for your consideration my last post which appears on Wednesday's blog roll concerning a crazy theory of mine. It has to do with how evolution may well select against conservatives. I'll call it the "Pop Goes the Weasel Paradigm". I would welcome any comment, derision, or feedback on it. Someone may remember more information than I ( about the scientific study mentioned), or be able to expand on it. It may well seem to frivolous "empty calories" for some serious types, as it is intended as a confection, but, it might amuse others and perhaps add an arrow to your quivers.
BTW, the caller who thought Thom was the rudest of the rude...would fall in the second or third group in the aforementioned scientific study. Either a dullard or a fraidy-cat. i.e. the proto-Republican
http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=98425
Here are a couple of paragraphs from the Tikkun Daily.
Perhaps the most interesting look at where the “peace process” will go, and what Obama will do next comes from Larry Derfner, in the Jerusalem Post:
THIS CANNOT go on. Obama, for the sake of his presidency, cannot allow this to go on.
Which is why I’m optimistic that he won’t. Obama didn’t come this far and didn’t set such lofty goals to be hamstrung, to become a lame duck, so soon after entering the White House. He may not be a gut fighter, but he’s too ambitious, too smart, and he’s surrounded himself with too many barracudas to let the likes of Likud, Israel Beiteinu, Shas and the settlers do him in….I also believe Obama has learned … that there is no meeting point between him and the Israeli government on the peace process, that one of them is going to have to give in, and God help him if he’s the one. Obama’s learning that if he allows the most right-wing government in Israeli history to dictate his Middle East policy, that policy will fail utterly and his presidency will suffer the most devastating blow.
He’s learning that at some point in the not-too-distant future, he’s going to have to either bend Israel to his will or admit defeat in the Middle East and get blamed for the next war….He’s not there yet. But he’s getting there. He’ll have no choice.
I have to agree with Derfner on one thing: Obama absolutely needs some degree of success in Israel/ Palestine negotiations. Without it, his speech in Cairo becomes just words, dissipating before the facts on the ground. That would fatlly weaken his hopes in building some coalitions amongst Muslim states around Afghanistan, and in the continuing problem of Iran. As Defner also points out, the Republicans and the Israeli Government are deeply allied here: when Obama falters, the Republicans are strengthened as much as Netanyahu is. So perhaps what Obama is coming out of this round with is a sense that Netanyahu and he cannot be allies in peace. That might well lead to Obama’s speaking directly to Israelis, over their government, arguing in effect that his approach better meets their security needs than their government’s does. The only thing that’s really certain is that while Netanyahu may be ahead on points, this battle is far from over.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/01/Its-in-the...
Where is David?
Do you remember the self described centrist Republican who tip-toed onto this turf a short while ago? What happened to him? I thought we gave him a fairly gracious welcome. Why hasn't he returned to share his thoughts with us? Perhaps we were too nice to him. Maybe he was hoping for a little more drama and bombast. OR Perhaps we scared him off with rational argument. Whatever the reasons, I was looking forward to hearing his viewpoints. As far as can be determined, the most likely reason for his silence may be that he has retreated to his party's main refrain, i.e. NO. Yes David, that was bait. Are you out there?
d zent & B Roll,
I want to be clear. My point about healing and the power of nature in my life has to do with the pouring out and surrendering to something bigger than ourselves. While the majesty of nature does it for me, for others it may be music, painting, physical exercise, meditation or any number of things. I share your belief that it has to do with a mind/body connection. Much of the scientific study about the phenomena of sleep seems to indicate that REM and dreams serve as a kind of "de-fragging" for our brains. It helps to clear up the clutter and reorganize systems and circuits. Dreams, rather than having specific meaning are thought to be a kind of mental chewing of gum. Perhaps the various stimuli that compel us to turn outwards and surrender our preoccupation with self have a similar therapeutic effect on our conscious brain. By eliminating the fight/flight response hard wired in us, which is almost always grinding away while awake, perhaps our conscious brain is freed up to preform self repair functions making healing possible. I am only hypothesizing about the mechanisms but am convinced of the palliative benefits.
One of the most interesting scientific studies I've seen looked and children around the age of 2 years. They isolated a child in a playpen and then introduced an unexpected stimulus. i believe it was a "jack in the box". They observed the children's reaction. One group reacted with obvious curiosity and wonder. Another group reacted relatively without much interest. A third group reacted negatively with fear and avoidance. They then went on to revisit these children after the reached adulthood and found that the children who reacted with fear and avoidance were far more likely to identify themselves as conservatives/Republicans. Hmmmmm.
I wonder if these same people are as apt to reach outside themselves or be receptive to the kind of meditative practices previously mentioned? keep in mind that for the modern conservative, it's all about me! This may even be a reason for compassion for right-wing nut-balls. I can imagine a scenario whereby these unfortunates might experience not only less fulfillment and overall happiness in their lives, but, a shorter life expectancy. Nature may even select for liberality! I realize this is more than half baked, but it's fun to extrapolate. If I were the equivalent of a liberal Ann Coulter, I would declare it as fact and get a bestseller out of it.
Peter,
Tuesday's show was really excellent. I'm most impressed by your courage in airing conversation about the attacks of 9/11/01. Mark Crispin Miller is one of the smartest men in the country when it comes to analyzing and communicating issues of enormous proportion and import which have been willfully ignored or covered up. His points during the interview were simply stated and painfully obvious and perfectly true.
The fact is, after all this time, we still have NO IDEA what happened on 9/11/01, or even more importantly, who was involved. The (Bush) administration excreted the '19 Arabs with box cutters' myth on us, and we, in our grief and shock (and anger) ate it all without question or complaint. This response does not speak well of a country who lost over 3,000 people in one day, who subsequently continues to lose so many others (especially NYPD and NYFD first responders) to respiratory disease caused by the false belief that the area was safe to work in, who subsequently lost so many of our civil liberties in a knee-jerk 'war on terror' campaign, who subsequently lost more than 4500 more citizens (with the concurrent maiming, wounding, and partial destruction of tens of thousands more) in a knee-jerk, inappropriate military response, who is now responsible for the death, maiming, and displacement of MILLIONS of Iraqi citizens, and who is willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to frame a president for having an extramarital affair and several TRILLIONS of dollars fighting a misbegotten war.
The 9/11 attacks are the true 800-pound gorilla in the room. But if we don't deal with it soon, this gorilla may rise up, grab us by the throat, and eventually kill more of us someday.
Keep up the good work.
Wayne
Thom's replacements for two days were able hosts but his return is important. We are planning on seeing Michael Moore's new movie.
The antiwar.com website has some revealing articles for October 1, 2009 on our military command and Obama's ineffectiveness as president. We are in for more surges and endless wars. History will not be kind as to our behavior for this first decade in the Twenty-first Century. I see before me a nation lacking in heart, conscience, and soul. I made a terrible mistake in voting for Obama. He is another W with better language skills.
DDay
Well thank YOU for the kind words.
If they were selecting a member of the day, I think you’d be a hands down winner by my standards. But with the spiritual bent of Thom and his show it’s possible that one of the other more spiritual comments could take it. Still, you’d be my choice. Your post about Lucien and Martine and the excerpt from The Little Prince are wonderful. The greatest wisdom on these pages over the last two days comes from The Little Prince.
I agree with your skepticism about d zent’s theory. I tend to think what he feels is more related to the mind/body connection and his/her expectations rather than inherent power of trees.
We all have things that make us feel good and things that make us feel bad. It could be a place, a person, an object or a song that has a special affect on us.
There’s a place along the coast that both I and my mother loved. Sometimes we’d just go to enjoy the beauty, but when my mom wasn’t feeling well toward the end of her life she’d often ask me to take her. She’d feel much better a short time after we’d get there.
I’m in a fairly young relationship which has grown more intense recently. Although I can’t predict where it will go, I’ve noticed that since we’ve decided to be a couple, my beard seems to be growing faster and an injury that had bothered me for over a year seems no longer is painful. Can I attribute this to some influence my woman has on me?
Well I suspect there is a connection based on an overall feeling of greater happiness and well-being that I know is related to the relationship.
We humans have a great capacity for selective perception and self-delusion. We create meaning out of unrelated facts because we are pattern seeking story telling creatures. Although the trajectory of industrialization has included an alienation from nature, we still respond strongly to the natural world we evolved and existed in over millions of years. I’ve long wondered if many of our physical and mental discomforts are related to our separation from nature.
I used to think that editorially USA Today veered left, but I was corrected in that assumption the other day when I discovered that it supported Max Baucus’ plan to tax insurance policies with high premiums to fund a private insurance “option” in place of a public option. The opposite view is that just because premiums are high does not mean they are “Cadillac” plans; anyone over 40 or has individual insurance knows that insurance companies tend to raise premiums indiscriminately, and companies that provide health coverage for their employees must either pay excessively for the same level of coverage every year, or offer plans with lesser benefits. USA Today’s editorial board also saw fit to deride complaints over such “trivialities” as increasing deductibles and co-pays. Perhaps its board members make so much money that deductibles and co-pays are trivialities, but for people just barely getting by, excessive up-front costs for primary and preventative care mean the difference the seeking needed care, or not.
Why must we keep discussing the need for a public option? Why is the Senate finance committee being the held up as the end all be all? Doesn’t the Senate Health committee have a say in this? It's already approved a much lower cost bill that includes a public option. Why does Obama continue to equivocate? Why didn’t he forcefully state that he will not sign a bill without a public option? Even if deep down he doesn’t really mean it, it would have at least put pressure on the Baucus and the other Democrats from populousless states from imposing their own will on the vast majority of the people. The House must stick to its guns and keep the public option in its version, and hold the line in conference committee. The public option is the only legitimate means to which universal care and cost control can be had. All this whining by insurance companies and the right is an evasion; given the choice between putting people before profits and executive paychecks, we need not speculate on what they would rather do.
Obama ought to take a tip from Brett Favre. Favre has a well-known habit of equivocating, and quite often admits to having a less than positive assessment of a game situation. To hear him talk, it always seems that he is hedging his bets. Many football commentators have said he has nothing left, that he is merely a hanger-on on good football teams, and more like a drag on them. The graybeard can’t step up and win a game with his arm anymore.
This past Sunday, the Favre-haters seemed to be having their way. Favre misfired for most of the day; fans were booing in the second half, and some left building when the Vikings gave up the ball on downs with 1:49 left in the game. The game was over, right? Not quite; the Vikings still had three time-outs. Their defense stopped the opponent on a three-and-out in only 20 seconds; on the punt, the return man faked-out the opponent by calling for a fair catch but allowing the ball to bounce into the end zone untouched for a touchback. With 1:29 left and no time outs, Favre calmly led the team downfield on his arm alone, finally firing a bullet into the end zone for the game winning score with :02 on the clock.
Obama has equivocated on the public option long enough. Even during his last speech, he seemed not entirely sure of himself. He seemed to leave the door open for backing away from a public option. The Senate finance committee will not pass a public option given its current predilections. But he can count on the House—if it includes a public option in its bill—to put up a stiff defense and stop the Senate from winning the game. It is then that Obama should pick-up the ball and drive for the winning score with no time left to stun the Obama-haters.
The Prophet’s Way is one of the most inspiring books written and I highly recommend it. It would be difficult to walk away from this book without being touched by Gottfried Mueller deep compassion for all living things. In this fast paced, ME first world we forget that connectiong with each other and have compassion even for those who disagree with us is the way to peace, in our own lives and in the world. In Gottfried Mueller’s world the simple act of taking the time to make sure earthworms were out of harms way was not a waste of time it was a way to say I respect and protect all of life.
While those who loved Gottfried Mueller will mourn his passing they also hold the understand he has found the greatest peace of all on the other side.
I hold the vision that someday the world will reflect back what Gottfried Mueller held as truth- with compassion, love and respect for all of life we once again find our way back to world were we take care of each other instead of finding way that we are different and lettting that tear us apart. We will find our way back to compassion the key that will unlock the heart of this planet.
Phyllis Schlafly is wrong in her assessment that women are very dangerous because they want more rights in society. Women are important in our world. Their voices and activism are essential for a better America, especially the women who possess the characteristics of nurturing and sensitivity.
At the time of Mohammed women were embraced into society. When Mohammed died, slowly they were shut off as important contributors to culture and society. We see in many Muslims countries the effect of their treatment as second class citizens.
Phyllis Schlafly is to the woman who is the force dangerous force in America.
Just heard the news clip with Susan Collins of Mains saying that none of the bills she's seen address the COST of HEALTH CARE.
INCORRECT, Ms. Collins ... I believe you (and the media - and therefore MOST of the nation) are confusing health CARE with health INSURANCE! Contrary to popular belief, they are NOT one and the same!
F.Y.I
Early this morning Ken Burns was on M.S.N.B.C. "Morning Joe" show promoting his "National Parks, America's Best Idea" documentary on P.B.S. It was interesting to watch all the regular right-wingers fawn over Burns, (political correctness sometimes even checks the impulses of the right). Burns confirmed for me his underlying political message. He proceeded to list all the wonderful things our government has done for us over the years. He lamented "the change that came around 1980", when Government began to be blamed for all our problems. The looks on the faces of Mika Breszhinski, Pat Buchannan, and Mike Barnacle were flushed and priceless to observe. Not surprisingly, they tried to veer the conversation away from Burn's focus.
Interestingly, Burns also talked about things that relate to some of these previous posts here. He talked about how the experience of witnessing the great beauty of our natural wonders changed the people who went on to champion their protection. That experience and the people they shared it with not only was fundamental to bringing about social change but was often central to the healing of their own personal malaise.
d zent speaks of the healing powers of plants. I have always found the wild and nature to be healing for me. I'm not sure any electric fields or unexplained communion between myself and flora is necessarily responsible for good effect. I think perhaps whenever we are able to step out of our own sphere, looking out rather than only in, we are rejuvenated. It is both spiritually and physically beneficial to become awed by something much bigger and greater than ourselves; that we realize we are none the less a part of. The mountains of Idaho does it for me, as does a northern shield lake with the call of the loon drifting over it. To each his or her own. There are many paths to the light. I believe that remaining open to discovery, wonder and change is the only prerequisite for growth, understanding, enlightenment and happiness. Then again, what do I know? I'm still a work in progress with far too many faults.
Here's why I appreciate Mr. Mueller.
I became very ill a couple of years ago, physically and then emotionally, as a result of unremitting stress in both my work and personal lives. There was a period of time when it seemed I could not find relief from pain, depression, and confusion; and I was at my wits end.
I had been listening to podcasts of Thom's show on my MP3 player, for political oxygen as well as something to keep my mind enjoyably distracted; and one day he mentioned his spiritual mentor, and talked very briefly about Mueller's belief that trees have the ability to help human beings in distress.
Well, I generally trust Thom's viewpoint on most things, and had read, years before, the esoteric Secret Life of Plants, and knew something of George Washington Carver's comments about talking with plants. I was also desperate, so I determined to begin a practice of communicating with trees, to see if this belief was relevant to my own condition.
I now think I proved, to myself at least, that it is. Here's what I believe now:
Trees seem to be really good at absorbing certain kinds of energies and vibrations; namely those that human beings perceive as pain, sorrow, tension, anxiety, confusion, things like that.
Our brains are basically electrical storms, and our nervous systems are extensions of the energies in our brains; and trees seem to be something like electrical regulators tied into the energy field of the earth.
I'm sure there's actually a lot more to it (a LOT more), but, the upshot is, when you place your body within the sphere of the tree's own energy field, it "equalizes", or perhaps regulates, the energies in your body at their most fundamental levels, and that helps normalize your systems.
The result for me is that pain and distress are lessened by a very distinct margin. I'm guessing it's because the tree draws away what I will call "negative energy", almost like the grounding of stray electrical current, so that it becomes harmless to the human organism.
Sounds airy-fairy, I know. I'm still formulating my thoughts in a coherent fashion about how it all works and what it all means. I don't claim anything other than what scientists would call anecdotal evidence.
Nevertheless, as far as I'm concerned, trees are the true Angels on this planet. They stand unnoticed today as sentient beings, but a person can actually have a cogent relationship with them, and many "first peoples" give the spirits of trees a place in their own everyday lives. They accord trees respect and deference, even asking the tree's permission to cut it down when necessary, something the western man would consider ludicrous by virtue of his cultural view that man must dominate nature, and hey, look, Jerry Springer's on tonight...
Western man is the poorer for that view.
It's something like the old tale of the lowliest employee in the company, who though generally ignored, has the answer to all the owner's business problems. The owner finally becomes aware of this, and says to the employee "Why didn't you tell me before?" And the employee answers "Well, you never asked".
I determined I would start asking. It's now a steady habit with me.
I sit with the tree for about half an hour, physically touching it with both hands, unembarrassed, and tell it in my own way what is hurting me, mostly mental pictures, and sort of pouring it out like a prayer. And then I just thank the tree, as a representative of my Creator, for being willing to help me.
Just a very basic communication, but one that seems to work for me and the trees. And usually when I'm done, I walk across the street, look up at the trees and compliment them on how beautiful and magnificent they look. They like that!
I must say, the results are pretty amazing. And reassuring, too, because this practice has never failed me. I will likely do this until I die of old age. And I don't consider this looney in the least. I think modern man just forgets some of his most basic ties to the web of life, and has suffered for it.
So thanks, Thom, for reminding me when I needed to hear it, and eternal blessings on Mr. Mueller for passing it on to you.
B Roll
Thank you for your kind words. Your suggestion about content gave me a chance to reread and remember things things that are important to remember. I'm grateful to know you found my story worthwhile. Your opinion matters to me. It must have been another DDay on the Mike Malloy show. It is disturbing to contemplate another one of me out there.
"I have never wished for human glory, contempt it was that had attraction for my heart; but having recognized that this again was too glorious for me, I ardently desire to be forgotten." Saint Thérèse
Oh gods of proofreading why did you abandon me now? The second paragraph should have read:
On the other hand, I’m not as impressed with folks like David Ray Griffin as you are. Anyone who devoted his professional years to making excuses for an imaginary god so he can continue to believe, isn’t someone I’m going to look at to unravel the questions about what happened leading up to and on 9/11. Still, the arguments have to be evaluated on their own.
SCREWED AGAIN!!!
Have you noticed that the spin has been on the TARP money and not the $13 trillion to bailout the corrupt banking and financial institutions?
Please believe me when I say that every day in fascist-Nazi America is a BOHICA day!
BEND OVER HERE IT COMES AGAIN!!!
My dream is a world of peace and social justice.
As I observe the current fascist-Nazi America, I find it difficult to imagine such a world.
Please read the lyrics to "Imagine!"
The above comment has several of John Lennon's lyrics.