SHINYRIBS - "BOLSHEVIK SUGARCANE"

If you're not awake, wake up. Spring is here!

From Music Fog.

STORY OF THE DAY - FALLING INTO PLACE

deciding everything is falling into place perfectly as 
long as you don't get too picky about what you mean 
by place. Or perfectly.

From StoryPeople.

RIVERBEND RETURNS

If  you remember the Baghdad blogger, Riverbend, a young Iraqi woman, who blogged from post-invasion Iraq at Baghdad Burning, you'll be interested to know that, she posted for the first time in five and a half years.  After suffering hardships during the occupation, Riverbend and her family, concerned for their safety, made a harrowing journey from Iraq to Syria.  Subsequently, she and her family left Syria before the worst of the fighting began there for another Arab country, stayed a year, and then left for a third Arab country. 

She asks of the people of the US:

Finally, after all is said and done, we shouldn't forget what this was about - making America safer... And are you safer Americans? If you are, why is it that we hear more and more about attacks on your embassies and diplomats? Why is it that you are constantly warned to not go to this country or that one? Is it better now, ten years down the line? Do you feel safer, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis out of the way (granted half of them were women and children, but children grow up, right?)?

No, Riverbend, we are not safer.  The invasion of your country was a mad scheme of the Cheney/Bush maladministration based on lies and misinformation.  Americans owe you and the people of Iraq our deepest apologies.  Some of us tried to stop the madness, but to no avail.   May you be safe and at peace in your present home.  Although you say your post may be your last, I hope you change your mind and let us hear from you again.

... I'll meet you 'round the bend my friend, where hearts can heal and souls can mend...

H/T to Athenae at First Draft.

SPRING IS HERE: CATKINS ARE BACK

The catkins pictured are male flowers from one of three oak trees in our yard. The picture above was taken three years ago when we had another bumper crop, as we are having this year.  The picture below is by Bill Fieg from the Baton Rouge Advocate, but the link to the photo no longer works .

As you see in the closer view, catkins resemble caterpillars.  Grandpère finds the flowers annoying, because he likes our driveway clear.  The flowers produce pollen which can cause discomfort for people with allergies.  Fortunately, we do not seem to be allergic to the pollen.

TOMORROW

 

True for me.

HELLO JOSEPHINE - FATS DOMINO

Friday night with Fats Domino.

ENERGY EVERYWHERE

Think Keystone Pipeline.

"SOCIAL SECURITY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DEFICIT" - RONALD REAGAN

Are you listening, President Obama and Democrats? Are you listening, Republicans?

THE FAITH OF BARONESS THATCHER

IT IS hard to imagine a prime minister doing such a thing now, and even then it seemed rather surprising. In May 1988 Margaret Thatcher went to the General Assembly of the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland and gave what would soon be called the Sermon on the Mound. It was an impassioned statement of a certain form of Christianity. The Conservative leader stressed individual salvation over social reform, the legitimacy of moneymaking when combined with altruism, and the “responsibility that comes with freedom and the supreme sacrifice of Christ”.

In religion, as in so much else, Mrs (later Lady) Thatcher was a bundle of paradoxes. She was the last British prime minister openly and emphatically to acknowledge the influence of Christianity on her thinking, in particular terms not fuzzy ones.
....

Precisely because she had such well-defined ideas, Mrs Thatcher was almost bound to have stormy relations with England’s established religion. In her time, the Archbishop of Canterbury was Robert Runcie (pictured above), an Oxford contemporary who irked her considerably. A decorated tank commander, he commemorated the Argentine dead at a service following the Falklands war; he produced “Faith in the City”, a left-wing tract on urban blight; and he chided the government for demonising its opponents. Mrs Thatcher preferred the chief rabbi, Immanuel Jakobovits, who shared her view that self-improvement, not subsidies, would relieve poverty.

She helped to ensure that Archbishop Runcie was succeeded by George Carey, an unpretentious evangelical who this week remembered her as a person of “uncomplicated but very strong faith”.

Thatcher's political philosophy, nurtured by her view of Christianity that little resembles the Gospel, put the baroness squarely on the side of pulling oneself up by one's bootstraps and not looking to the government for support.  Her speech makes for quite an interesting read, and it's easy to see why she and Runcie did not get on, and why she wished to insure that he was not followed by another archbishop who would write "left-wing tracts" against war and sympathizing with the plight of the poor and unemployed.   Thatcher speaks of the Kingdom of God in her speech:

The New Testament is a record of the Incarnation, the teachings of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Again we have the emphasis on loving our neighbour as ourselves and to "Do-as-you-would-be-done-by".

I believe that by taking together these key elements from the Old and New Testaments, we gain: a view of the universe, a proper attitude to work, and principles to shape economic and social life.

We are told we must work and use our talents to create wealth. "If a man will not work he shall not eat" wrote St. Paul to the Thessalonians. Indeed, abundance rather than poverty has a legitimacy which derives from the very nature of Creation.

Thatcher's view of the Kingdom of God sounds very like the prosperity gospel preached today.  All Christians are meant to be prosperous, and those who are poor - well it's their own doing.
  

MY LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear Mr President: 

After reading your budget plan, I'm wondering why I supported you. For one thing there is no link, nor should there be in the talking points about Social Security and Medicare. The fix for Social Security is simple: lift the cap. 

True, Medicare will eventually need to be addressed, but let's keep the two separate. They are two different programs and are funded differently. 

Do you really think Republicans will suddenly become serious because you offer them cuts in two of the most popular programs of the federal government? They will not, and they will find a way to use the offers against you. 

 Please stop worrying about possible future Republican presidents and concentrate on governing now. You are the president now, and you need to do the right thing by the people who supported you. 

Thank you for your attention.

Why, why, why does Obama continue to think if he cuts vital programs which are popular throughout the country that the Republicans will play nice?  Why does he make concessions before negotiations even begin?  I'm exhausted from having to goad a Democratic president and Democratic legislators to do what progressives elected them to do.

My next effort was to call Mary Landrieu's office to appeal to her to vote for background checks for those who purchase firearms.  When I asked what was her position, I was told she had not made up her mind on whether to vote for the bill or not.  I left the message with the staff member that I  couldn't understand her hesitation.  The background checks are not even comprehensive, as the law will not apply to private sales.  Why is her support of the measure even  in question?  Yes, I know the senator will be up for reelection in 2014, and she may have a tough fight ahead, but sometimes getting reelected should not be the top priority.  Sometimes you just do the right thing.

Come on, Democrats, throw me a bone.  Show me that I don't waste my efforts in supporting and voting for Democratic candidates.

UPDATE: Post edited to remove the inaccurate report from "The Raw Story" that Mary Landrieu voted against ending the filibuster.  The two Democratic senators who voted against are  Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).  I am pleased to make the correction.