Tragic commentary on humanity

Oh, my. This is disturbingly moving:

I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.

- Stephen Jay Gould (American evolutionary biologist, 1941-2002)
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Time for some comic relief!

Ha! It's really an extension of Friday cat blogging:

Sent to me by good-friend-of-the-Center, Paul Rogers.
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Friday cat blogging!

Simon

Photo by Cynthia Burgess

It's been a while since I've featured Cynthia's wonderful kitty as part of the Friday Cat Blogging tradition. High time, I say! I particularly like like the sweet boy's position in this photo. And, as far as I'm concerned. Simon has the most magnificent whiskers in the universe!
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Wish we could:

Those stolen emails

Have you been following the story about the climate scientists whose emails were hacked? The climate change deniers among us are now claiming that this proves global warming is a hoax. Well, I like what Eugene Robinson has to say about it:

The fact is that climate science is fiendishly hard because of the enormous number of variables that interact in ways no one fully understands. Scientists should welcome contrarian views from respected colleagues, not try to squelch them. They should admit what they don't know.

It would be great if this were all a big misunderstanding. But we know carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and we know the planet is hotter than it was a century ago. The skeptics might have convinced one another, but so far they haven't gotten through to the vanishing polar ice.

You can read the rest of his opinion piece right here.
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Two quotations for Thanksgiving Day

Oddly enough, I had not come across this one before today:

Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for - annually, not oftener - if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians. Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in the course of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man's side, consequently on the Lord's side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual annual compliments.

~Mark Twain

And this one makes a very, very good point as far as I'm concerned:

I have strong doubts that the first Thanksgiving even remotely resembled the "history" I was told in second grade. But considering that (when it comes to holidays) mainstream America's traditions tend to be over-eating, shopping, or getting drunk, I suppose it's a miracle that the concept of giving thanks even surfaces at all.

~Ellen Orleans

Well, however you have observed the day, I hope it was truly happy.
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Palin's religion is VERY disturbing

I just came across an article entitled "Olbermann Wants To Know About Palin's Religious Beliefs. Well, Keith..." and it doesn't surprise me but it does disturb me a lot. I think people are forgetting about the Dominionists out there and their strategy for imposing a Christian version of sharia law on the rest of us.

Here's a summary of the article:

All evidence indicates Sarah Palin's Christianity isn't about the "Rapture" : it's about Christians achieving dominion over the Earth.

I really don't think I could begin to explain what this is all about with an excerpt. I do urge you to click through and read about it yourself.
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In honor of the day:

This is actually a very good idea

Let's just all stay home on Black Friday!

(It will be better for your mental health, anyway.)
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Now here's a quote for you

Take a look:

There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less.

I found it in an article entitled "Boycott Black Friday and Celebrate Buy Nothing Day Nov 27th, 2009".

When you think about it, it's so, so obvious.
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In anticipation of Thanksgiving

Here's a quote that was emailed out by Sojourners today:

This nation is affluent and has more than it needs. The realization that what we have is a free gift can deepen our desire to share this gift with others who cry out for help. When we bless the fruits of the harvest, let us at least realize that blessed fruits need to be shared.

- Henri J.M. Nouwen

And another: "From whom much is given, much is required." This is definitely worth remembering.
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Just because it's intriguing

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Our own Cynthia Burgess shot this photograph some time ago and I happened to come across it again this morning. She wonders if perhaps beavers are responsible for the condition of the tree on the right. What do you think?

Do visit Cynthia's blog entitled IMAGEPLAY PHOTOGRAPHY. She truly does wonderful stuff.
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The politics of whining

This morning I found an article newly published on Alternet entitled "Why Do Conservatives Love Sarah Palin? Because She Never Stops Whining" and I'm experiencing it as very illuminating indeed.

I want to share with you how it gets started:

The really beautiful thing about the culture war, from an entertainment standpoint, is that it is fundamentally irresolvable. There isn’t a concrete set of issues involved, where in theory both sides could give in a little and find middle ground, reach some sort of compromise.

That’s because there are no issues at all. At the end of this decade what we call “politics” has devolved into a kind of ongoing, brainless soap opera about dueling cultural resentments and the really cool thing about it, if you’re a TV news producer or a talk radio host, is that you can build the next day’s news cycle meme around pretty much anything at all, no matter how irrelevant — like who’s wearing a flag lapel pin and who isn’t, who spent $150K worth of campaign funds on clothes and who didn’t, who wore a t-shirt calling someone a cunt and who didn’t, and who put a picture of a former Vice Presidential candidate in jogging shorts on his magazine cover (and who didn’t).

It doesn’t matter what the argument is about. What’s important is that once the argument starts, the two sides will automatically coalesce around the various instant-cocoa talking points and scream at each other until they’re blue in the face, or until the next argument starts.

And while some of us are old enough to remember that once upon a time, these arguments always had at least some sort of ideological flavor to them, i.e. the throwdowns were at least rooted in some sort of real political issue (war, taxes, immigration, etc.) we’ve now got a whole generation that is accustomed to screaming at cultural enemies as an end in itself, for the sheer dismal fun of it. Start fighting first, figure out the reasons later.

Please go over there and read the rest of it. You won't regret it. Honestly, this really helps clarify a lot for me.

You know, I frequently tell my meditation classes that the two most dangerous mind states a person can cultivate or indulge in are self-pity and resentment. This article helps tease out just why that is.
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Oh, this date

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Younger people may well not have this experience but I cannot ever be conscious of today's date without remembering with enormous sadness the day President Kennedy was assassinated.

I was fourteen years old and in the ninth grade. I got the news during geography class. There had been rumors among the students in the hallway between classes; someone had a transistor radio. And then the principal came on the P.A. system and told us that it was true. Not only had the president been shot but that he was dead. I remember sitting there in shock, tears welling up while praying the Kyrie over and over, looking out the window and noticing with amazement that the sun was shining.

Here are two powerful things this great man said that, as you can see, are connected and that we have often forgotten since his death:

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.
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If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all — except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.

I can't help but wonder if Kennedy's objection to censorship is part of what got him killed.

I have read recently that certain members of the religious right are actually urging people to pray for President Obama's death by referencing Psalm 109. I wonder if those people were alive when Kennedy was shot. I wonder if they remember how traumatized this nation was. I wonder if they care. How these people can consider themselves Christian is utterly beyond me.
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Oh, how lovely

I'm offering this in memory of JFK. It's a variation on Taps:

Il Silenzio from Brandon Noonan on Vimeo.

The trumpet soloist, Melissa Venema, is only thirteen.
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