You will go to hell for me, but I am a good thing. What am I?

Respect != submission.

"The enemy aggressor is always pursuing a course of larceny, murder, rapine and barbarism. We are always moving forward with high mission, a destiny imposed by the Deity to regenerate our victims while incidentally capturing their markets, to civilise savage and senile and paranoid peoples while blundering accidentally into their oil wells."

John Flynn, 1944

I have little of general interest to post, so I'll just write a bit about something of personal interest.

Since last December I've been living in Venice, California, just south of Santa Monica, an area in greater Los Angeles established by Abbot Kinney. Kinney had traveled through Europe in the late 1800s and wanted to recreate a part of what he saw there: Venice of America. Around the turn of the century he built canals through Venice, a pier, Venetian-style buildings, and an amusement park. Much of his vision has survived to the present; in some of the restaurants in the area you can see black-and-white panoramic photographs of people sunbathing, riding amusement park rides, walking the boardwalk, and generally enjoying themselves. Same deal today, though now people are generally dressed less formally and have more tatoos and body jewelry.

Earlier this week I returned to Raleigh, North Carolina. Our house had been shut up for a year but was in fine shape, aside from lots of dust and several wisteria vines that had attempted to take over the back of the house while we were gone (they were valiantly fought off by our next-door neighbor.) In our Raleigh neighborhood it's about ten to twenty degrees colder than in Venice, and it's unmistakably winter (in that I can't walk around in shirtsleeves, as I was doing December 23rd in California), but it's home.

There's the squeaky bathroom door that I keep meaning to fix, the nearly opaque double-paned window I need to get someone else to fix, a closet full of clothing I'd forgotten I had, the too-small but much-larger-than-apartment-sized kitchen, all the pots and pans and German knives I'd missed, a television and stereo, a non-inflatable bed, a fireplace, and a hundred and one familiar knick knacks that I will try to cut down to fewer than fifty in the interest of living a simpler life, after having spent a year living in much-reduced circumstances. It's been an interesting experience leaving behind my life for a year; at my advanced age of over forty (grimace) it's resulted in a change of perspective--small but worthwhile.

To All, a Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Joyful Saturnalia, Peaceful Solstice, and a bright Yule. I hope that covers it.

May you share this day with your families and loved ones in the spirit of peaceful communion, and may you be at rest from those perplexing questions - like, "who would leave blog spam on Christmas?!"

Peace.

Anarchism is not a romantic fable but the hardheaded realization, based on five thousand years of experience, that we cannot entrust the management of our lives to kings, priests, politicians, generals, and county commissioners.

Edward Abbey

Brahmanism: This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.: Mahabharata 5:1517

Christianity: All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them.: Matthew 7:12

Islam: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother what
which he desires for himself. Sunnah

Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.:
Udana Varga 5:18

Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowmen. That is the
entire Law; all the rest is commentary.: Talmud, Shabbat 31:a

Confucianism: Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto
others that you would not have them do unto you.: Analects 15:23

Taoism: Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your
neighbor’s loss as your own loss.: T’ai Shag Kan Ying P’ien

Zoroastrianism: That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto
another whatsoever is not good: for itself. : Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5

Politics:

A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

Ambrose Bierce

"I'm often amazed at the way politicians, who spend hours poring over opinion poll results in a desperate attempt to discover what the public thinks, are certain they know precisely what God's views are on everything."

Simon Hoggart

"Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it."

Henry David Thoreau - (1817-1862)

Delay, Frist, Abramoff, Safavian... Wasn't this the crowd that was going to "restore honor and integrity" to Washington? If this is what integrity looks like, let's bring back Oval Office blow jobs.

Arianna Huffington

I don’t believe that Mr. Bush is a Christian. Christians believe in the prophets, peace be upon them. Bush believes in profits and how to get a piece of them.

George Galloway

I am a huge fan of Galloway. His speech is well worth the listen if you have the time and inclination.

I read somewhere that foreign aid is the process by which rich people living in a poor country get money from poor people that live in a rich country”.

I guess there is some truth to that.

Only 97 shopping days until Christmas!

"If a country develops an economic system that is based on how to pay for the war, and if the amounts of fixed capital investment that are apparent are tied up in armaments, and if that country is a major exporter of arms, and its industrial fabric is dependent on them, then it would be in that country's interests to ensure that it always had a market. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is clearly in the interests of the world's leading arms exporters to make sure that there is always a war going on somewhere."

Marilyn Waring - Source:
Documentary 'Who's Counting', based on her book 'Counting for Nothing'.

Three guesses as to who leads the world in the exportation of arms...

"Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people to have control over your own life." —George W. Bush, Annandale, VA, Aug. 9, 2004

"The flowers for Chase Comley will be presented not by grateful Iraqis but by loved ones honoring him as he's lowered to his grave and buried in our hearts"

An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.

H.L. Mencken

Because I do it with one small ship, I am called a terrorist. You do it with a whole fleet and are called an emperor.

~A pirate, from St. Augustine's "City of God"

I am leaving tomorrow to spend a week in Orlando. If I can find an internet connection while I am there I will check in with you guys to see what is happening in the world.

I leave with a heavy heart because of what has happened in London. Our war on terrorisim has not done a damn thing but spread terrorism. Over the coming days the world will lament the dead civilians in London while shrugging its shoulders and chalking up the dead civilians in the Middle East to collateral damage.

The bombings in London are considered barbaric while our bombings in the Middle East are considered heroic. The world is in a mess and we have played a part in making that mess.

The people in London have found out just how effective their government is when it comes to "keeping them safe". We found that out on September 11th.

Saturday, July 9th marks the 50 anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto. It deals primarily with nuclear weapons but the truths in that manifesto go far beyond that.

We have to learn to think in a new way. We have to learn to ask ourselves, not what steps can be taken to give military victory to whatever group we prefer, for there no longer are such steps; the question we have to ask ourselves is: what steps can be taken to prevent a military contest of which the issue must be disastrous to all parties?

My hope is that somehow, someday and someway our great nation will be blessed with leadership that understands and can help other leaders understand that a military solution is no solution at all.

There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.

Peace to all of you

And so to every sailor, soldier, airman, and marine who is involved in this mission, let me say you're doing God's work

"And to those watching tonight who are considering a military career, there is no higher calling than service in our Armed Forces.

President George Bush (the son) June 2005

Well, at least they are consistent in their beliefs. It does make you wonder when they will start piping "Just As I Am" through speakers outside of the recruitment stations.

People have to talk about something just to keep their voice boxes in working order so they'll have good voice boxes in case there's ever anything really meaningful to say.

-Kurt Vonnegut