Mother Earth - It's Time!

During the years I taught a course in Science Fiction, one allegorical story was probably my favorite. It was called "The Wound" and was written by Howard Fast. I hate spoilers, but as the story is hard to find and you probably won't read it, I'll tell you something about it. It had to do with drilling for oil deeper than ever before and setting off an underground atomic bomb to aid the process. When the deed is finally done after some protests, "they" get a gusher all right, but it turns out it's not oil but blood - great symbolism!

One point of the story is we can't irresponsibly just keep taking and taking from the Earth - there really is only so much she can give us and will until she can't anymore. I am not a full-fledged tree hugger, but I do like to hold hands (limbs). I understand responsibility. Big Business is driven with the cry, "More! MORE! NOW!" as are many consumers. There is apparently little or no thought about outcomes or the future.

Good Science Fiction extrapolates - examines and presents possible outcomes if nothing changes along the way. Not everyone is smart enough or concerned enough to see that we need to think more about what's happening and the possible consequences of our actions.

I thought about this in light of the BP disaster. Maybe you can think about it too.

Tim'rous Beastie

As of this writing, there are still four kittens and two mother cats living on the porch. The day after the first kitten was placed in a good home and picked up, I went out in the morning, and there was the body of what I surmise to be a vole waiting for me. I went back inside to get gloves and paper towels to remove the creature, did a couple of other things, and went back out. The carcass was gone.

What got me thinking was why it was there in the first place. While I know our barn is an attractive birthing suite to cats, I doubt the step was an attractive place to end one's life; the vole didn't climb the step and expire; no, it had help. Knowing cats as I do, I know it was a cat that left it there for us. I think there are a couple of possibilities why. First, it could have been an offering, a thanks for finding a good home for the first kitten and an investment to assure we will do the same for the other three. Of course, I could be wrong and there is another possibility. It could be a warning that says, "Touch one of us again, and you could be next. This could happen to you!"

I like to think I know something about cats, but not that much.

Two Wrongs...

"The relationship between President Obama and Afghan President Karzai has had its difficulties -- most recently exacerbated by Karzai saying continued pressure from the west to reform might lead him to join the Taliban. As evidenced by the red-carpet roll-out to Karzai this week, administration officials have clearly decided to change their attitude towards Karzai and are focusing more on carrot than stick." (ABC News 5/13/10) In other words, kiss his what?

You know what? Let him join the Taliban - every nation has the government it deserves (even the US. We elect those we do so the rich can keep getting richer and the rest of us be damned - do you think it matters one iota who gets in?). Let us pull out, return our troops to where they belong (here), and get on with things. We are dealing with civilizations that were around long before democracy (and will be around long after, the way we are going), and never the twain shall meet. If and when they are ready to change, let it come from them - we can't occupy and expect positive change.

We are again supporting a government rife with corruption (birds of a feather?). I am reaching the point where I may do something I have never done - not vote! I am sick and tired of feeling I have to pick the "better" of two lessers. In the last couple of elections, I found myself voting against someone rather than for someone. Maybe it's the nature of the beast, but as we keep electing "politicians," we are getting worse and worse off. Remember the old saying, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" Maybe by not voting someone may sit up and take notice - but not if I am the only one. What would happen if people stayed away from the polls en masse? Remember the other saying, "If you don't vote, don't complain." Well, maybe that's been wrong all along! It seems to me that no matter who is elected, those who are owed (by those they own?) will get their due (many [most?] corporations donate to both candidates to hedge their bets). The rest of us? "So on we worked and waited for the light, And went without the meat and cursed the bread...."

Feh!

Go to snopes to verify

I received the following e-mail, the content of which isn't at all important. What is important is the last line. I received this from a right-wing type who forwards anything that is anti-Obama and/or anti-liberal. It doesn't matter if there is not a shred of truth in it or how ridiculous it is - if it's anti-Obama/liberals, it gets forwarded.

There are actually about five or six people who do the same thing. Either these are people who do not think or question anything or they know the big lie technique in propaganda and are living it (tell a lie big enough and often enough, and people start to believe it). Whenever one of their e-mails says check it at snopes, I do! I'd say ninety percent are false, but these people don't care. I still glance at every e-mail I receive, but if it is from this group of people, as soon as I see it's political, I delete it. Trust me, I am no Obama cheerleader, but fair is fair.

No wonder the country is so messed!
------------------------------------------------------

"Please take a moment to read this and share with others

It could save a life.....

> THE RECENT TRAGEDY OF A YOUNG WOMAN BEING KIDNAPPED AND
> EVENTUALLY KILLED; AFTER SHE HAD REPEATEDLY GIVEN THE
> KIDNAPPER A WRONG PIN TO HER ATM CARD . IF SHE KNEW THE
> METHOD BELOW, SHE COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED. SO I THINK IT IS
> IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO LET YOU KNOW. HERE YOU GO.
>
> IF YOU SHOULD EVER BE FORCED BY A ROBBER TO WITHDRAW MONEY
> FROM AN ATM MACHINE , YOU CAN NOTIFY THE POLICE BY ENTERING
> YOUR PIN # IN REVERSE. FOR EXAMPLE IF YOUR PIN NUMBER IS
> 1234 THEN YOU WOULD PUT IN 4321. THE ATM RECOGNIZES THAT
> YOUR PIN NUMBER IS BACKWARDS FROM THE ATM CARD YOU PLACED IN
> THE MACHINE. THE MACHINE WILL STILL GIVE YOU THE MONEY YOU
> REQUESTED, BUT UNKNOWN TO
> THE ROBBER, THE POLICE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY DISPATCHED TO
> HELP YOU.
>
> THIS INFORMATION WAS RECENTLY BROADCASTED ON FOX TV AND IT
> STATES THAT IT IS SELDOM USED BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T KNOW IT
> EXISTS.
>
> PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG!!!
> You can go on Snopes.com to verify."

Mission Accomplished

I was never a cat person growing up; we always had dogs, even if the first was a Pomeranian-Spitz cross named Pudgy. Along the way, there were German Shepherds, Chinese Shar-Pei, Golden Retrievers, and a Doberman or two.

I had always been blissfully neutral toward cats until one fateful Halloween when I went across the street to our neighbors' house to show off my spiffy new sateen costume, the kind thatyou step into and ties in the back. The short of it is that when I sat on this lady's couch, at the same time, I also sat in a fresh pile of kitten, uh, leavings. There might have been an issue with a claw or two as well, but that afternoon pretty well cemented my opinion of cats!

Fast forward to somewhere about seventeen years ago (my wife knows time things like that) two kittens showed up in our barn. One got placed and the other stayed with us. Her name was Ayla, named, of course, after the character from The Clan of the Cave Bear. My wife had previously arrived with two cats, and I pretty much endured them, but this one was new - a kitten.

Although she said she doesn't remember, my wife told me that according to her reading in the cat Warrior series there are cats whose mission in life is to convince non-believers that cats are really okay. I suspect that was Ayla's job. For years, as soon as I sat down, she was on my lap, and as soon as she was on my lap, she ended up on the floor. That was our relationship. She never came into the bedroom because she couldn't just lie down - no, she'd have to walk and stick her face onto ours, which made it difficult to sleep.

A couple of years ago, more cats started showing up in and around our horse barn. Apparently our barn is an attractive birthing suite for felines. We somehow ended up with two new kittens about a year apart. Ayla must have decided I needed to be her friend, because she never gave up and redoubled her attempts to climb on me. Since she had no patience for the other new cats (but for some reason did have patience with me), I started letting her stay. It wasn't so bad. As a matter of fact, I have reached the point where I have fallen asleep in the recliner with three (count 'em) cats plopped down on me.

Without going into details, today was the day I had to say "Goodbye" to Ayla. A couple of weeks ago, she suddenly began losing weight and becoming lethargic. Perhaps I should have acted earlier, but it all seemed to happen so fast. We spent the morning today with her in my lap watching some TV and then we went for a ride. After a stop at the vet's, I came home alone. Already, there are the empty spaces around my desk and the house where I expect to see her. There's no jingle of the bell she wore.

With people I know recently having lost fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters, I know she was "just a cat," but she was nonetheless an important part of my life. I think I cried more for her than I did for Scarlett the Doberman who served as a major anchor in my life for fourteen years.

Anyhow, goodbye Ayla, and enjoy your rest - you earned it.

And, by the way, Mission Accomplished!

CENSORED!

Sent to me by my friend Mardean:

Phillip Pullman commenting of the "offensiveness" of his book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (and what he says goes way further)....

"It was a shocking thing to say and I knew it was a shocking thing to say. But no one has the right to live without being shocked. No one has the right to spend their life without being offended. Nobody has to read this book. Nobody has to pick it up. Nobody has to open it. And if you open it and read it, you don't have to like it. And if you read it and you dislike it, you don't have to remain silent about it. You can write to me, you can complain about it, you can write to the publisher, you can write to the papers, you can write your own book. You can do all those things, but there your rights stop. No one has the right to stop me writing this book. No one has the right to stop it being published, or bought, or sold or read. That's all I have to say on that subject."

And that's all I have to say....

A New Appreciation

Last night, for the first time, I watched "Undercover Boss," a show in which a company's big boss goes undercover to work in the trenches and learn what life is like at the bottom (figure of speech especially considering the episode featured the Chief Operating Officer of Roto-Rooter).

As the show unfolded, Rick (posing as Hank) did various jobs and got to know some of the front-line workers. At the end, he called the workers in, introduced himself, thanked them, and helped them with personal things he learned about that were happening (someone with medical issues; someone else behind on her mortgage; etc.). It's one of those feel-good, get all misty at the end shows. Even Rick lost if a few times.

Today I happened to stop by a fast-food store, and I looked at the employees in a new light. They may not realize it, but they are on the front line and fully represent that company to the public. If the company hires some SFB (don't ask if you don't know), one bad experience may set the customer against that company for life. I don't know how someone found out, but it has been said that if you like or love a company, you will tell six people. If you hate it or have a bad experience, you tell 75.

Anyhow, to the workers, keep your heads up and be proud of what you do. You are far more important than you know. Be the best (whatever) you can.

To the customers, respect these folks putting in all that time to sometimes just get by (and today, sometimes not even that). We all have bad days, but sometimes we have to pretend not.