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What did we have to offer?

December 8, 2009

What he should’ve known
What he could’ve known
It’s too late now

I really don’t think he knew
But his handlers did
That foolish and arrogant man
His understanding was meager
Wisdom completely absent
Heels dug in with inexplicable certitude
Instincts abundant
Poorly formed in pampered privilege

Trying to outdo a parent
Ready fodder for manipulators
Playing upon uninformed passion
Vengeful unleashing of unwarranted invasion
Naïve occupation and reckless governance
Torture

Damage done far exceeds
Oppression replaced
Security gone
Hundreds of thousands killed
Millions displaced or injured

Unemployment and frustration
Humiliation and broken families
An ancient civilization
Modern indifference
Now, seething rage looking for an outlet
Self-destruction; self-hatred.

What did we have to offer?

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We’ve gained a fully functional room

December 7, 2009

A 60s vintage quad-level house is a lot of fun to live in. Good noise separation. Constant exercise since where you wish to go is seldom on the same floor you may find yourself.

Heat control is interesting with the thermostat on the bedroom (upper) level. A setting of 71 degrees assures that the family room … where the TV is … will run about 61 degrees. There is a fireplace, but I grew tired of the wood mess and lack of freedom to come and go several years ago.

Enter gas logs. We enjoyed them for 15 years. Taking the chill off was nice, but if the temperature rose more than two or three degrees, it was a miracle.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a sealed gas insert installed. What a difference! On the high setting, the room must be evacuated after a half hour or so. But the low setting is a sheer delight. Technology gives good efficiency. No cold outside air is dragged through the house while losing all the heat up the chimney as with conventional fireplaces. The remote has a timer which I use regularly. With my memory there is no sense coming down the following morning to a blazing fire enjoyed by no one. As I write this, my toes are toasty, and we’ve gained a fully functional room … after 24 years.

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Odds and ends as I resume for the winter

November 17, 2009

The Palin book tour is fascinating. Can’t help but wonder if her supporters and apologists will continue to gleefully run all the red lights should she decide to run in 2012. Oh well, it’s not as though a Trojan horse candidate hasn’t worked before for the highest office in the land.

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Trying to find some of my favorite foods without high fructose corn syrup. For the moment, my carbon footprint isn’t shrinking as I scurry about seeing who has what. Whole Foods came through today on yogurt that doesn’t taste dreadful.

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Yesterday’s prison visit was beyond anything I expected. I’m trying to adjust my frequency so I don’t lose touch with the guys. Turnover in “solitary” can be brisk enough such that it is very easy to get out of phase. If I can see each wing once per month, there may be a chance to establish some credibility and trust. Visiting men ranging from 18 to 55, all races, all religions and denominations, sure keeps me on my toes.

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Winding up a five-year stint as board chair for a sheltered workshop. The current economy doesn’t help an industry which depends other companies’ outsourcing of the kind of work our employees are capable of performing. Citizens with developmental disabilities don’t have too many options for meaningful employment within a stable workforce filled with good friends and steady, long-term employment. Companies will pull the work back inside to keep their own folks busy.

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The company we keep

May 9, 2009

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a thoughtful editorial on the pending Missouri execution.

There are times when our country, along with the 36 states with the death penalty, is just plain embarrassing. We keep company with China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan as the world leaders in executing our own citizens. Simply wonderful! And we are the only developed nation in the western world having the death penalty. Is there a clue somewhere?

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It’s most bizarre

April 27, 2009

Torture!

Should there be a commission? A special prosecutor? A nonpartisan investigation? Congressional hearings?

Torture? Our country is really talking about torture and the involvement and authorization of those uppermost in our nation’s leadership?

How quickly we become diverted into the “how” rather than the “what” or the “why.” The whole thing is absurd.

Why did we feel we had to scrap our values and trample on the Constitution when attacked on our soil? Was there no time for a sober breath, quiet reflection? Or did someone have a bone in his or her craw all along, and this was the chance to flex some young people’s (some other people’s)  muscle and show the world. Show them what? That we can’t take a punch?

I’m not an historian, but I do wonder if any other country has become so easily and quickly unhinged when attacked. I do wonder if any country in history has ever had such a disproportionate and misdirected response, the virtual destruction of an uninvolved sovereign nation, the displacement of millions, the deaths of hundreds of thousands.  And for what?

I thought I was done ranting on this. It’s most bizarre.

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A diverse afternoon

April 26, 2009

I’m thinking of my diverse afternoon: set the sprinklers in the flower beds,  split a bottle of  Trappist Ale, watched the Cardinals lose … to the Cubs, some LeBron James … what an athlete, Talladega for a final lap wreck. Time for supper.

At Mass this morning, I couldn’t stop thinking about tomorrow’s talk at the prison.

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