I See Nothing Wrong...

...in requiring illegal immigrants to pay fines, back taxes, perform community service and become proficient in English in order to earn citizenship. I may have my "liberal" card revoked, but here are my thoughts on the whole "immigration reform" thing. First off, in full disclosure, my great-grandparents came here via Ellis Island. At least I'm certain of my mom's side. Still working on finding out about my dad's side, since there aren't any oldsters alive. So. Arizona passes what I call a "Walking While Brown" bill - nothing much will convince me that it's going to lead to profiling. But I can sort of see their side. When CA enacted their crackdown, illegals just moved over a bit. And from what I understand, the crime rate in AZ is rather high, and the "mafia" and drug stuff going on in Mexico makes it pretty scary. There's much talk about "what to do" and "people's rights" - folks hollering about how the people come across the border "because there's no work" or because they're trying to provide for the families they left behind. Fine. But they're STILL illegal. No matter if they come from Mexico or Poland. Illegal is illegal. And amnesty is not a good tool. It's a whack in the chops for those who did go through the process. The law proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is just in its infancy. Part of it includes: biometric identification cards for worker verification - would stop illegal hiring at its source; stronger enforcement of the laws; and a pathway for the illegals already here. And that's where the first paragraph here comes in. According to an article in a recent Bloomberg Businessweek, "Some aspects seem overly discouraging to illegal immigrants, such as requiring them to pay fines and back taxes, perform community service, and become proficient in English in order to earn citizenship." Would you rather spend the time being deported or jailed??? Come on. Get a grip. You are here illegally. In English, that's called "a crime" and you can be fined, jailed or deported. Here's what I call my "Grandma Rant" --- when my great-grandparents came over, there was no bilingual anything. No "Press One for Polish." They learned English. They paid taxes. They worked. They were sponsored by relatives or friends. My great-grandparents were treated as "ignorant immigrants" but all of them knew at least 3 languages. Not too shabby for "uneducated" folks. One thing that doesn't seem to be making much of a wave is the whole sub-standard wage thing. The rallying cry is that illegals "will do jobs most Americans won't." Well, tell that to my unemployed kid who had to move back home. It's not that he won't do just about any job he can find. It's that he can't even afford gas at $6.50/hour - which is what a recent job in our town was paying. How about this? We make EVERYONE get paid a decent wage. That will be a double-win for everyone. Those who've been unemployed will have a shot at a job that actually pays a wage they can live with (i.e. pay for gas, rent, etc.) and those who are hiring people specifically to under-pay them (i.e. "exploit" them) will be forced to hire people at a regular wage; and will be fined for not doing so. Politics will likely intrude, as it always does. But if the Feds don't do something quickly, other border states will continue these types of ploys. Eventually, we'll either become a country known for its inhospitable treatment or we'll be known as a country that can't get anything done.

"America's Chernobyl"

...and no, I can't take credit for the title. It was from some caller on a talk show. And he's right. The BP "It's not OUR fault" spill is going to be a huge disaster. Built on a pile of lies. BP says they leased the rig out to one company. Halliburton (remember, Cheney's "retirement plan" company with all the no-bid Iraq contracts??) made the concrete thingies that failed, and BP says it "only owns the land upon which the rig was built." Not their rig, not their crew, not their baby. This makes the Valdez screw-up look like a sneeze. This is gonna ripple all the way up the East Coast and it's going to cost the Gulf states in terms of tourism and industry for decades. Let's see. The Supreme Court says that a corporation now has the same rights as a person. So they have the same responsibilities. At least there are littering laws. And at most, there are charges of murder that can be filed. Somewhere in between there, there's gotta be some "assault and battery" that can be said to have happened to the people who rely on the Gulf for their livelihoods. I know - it seems far-fetched. And BP is already up with the conciliatory statements of "we're willing to do everything we can to help." Well, you could've bought the shut-off valve they use in Norway and other European areas. Oh, hang on. That cost a few thousand bucks more. The object of a corporation is to increase shareholder wealth. Don't bother with that couple thou' - nobody'll notice if we use a cheaper shut-off valve. This rig was designed to withstand a hurricane. Well. Apparently BP never heard of the idea of a fire on an oil rig. There's no contingency plan, folks. This wasn't even on the radar for the corporation in a "worst case scenario" play book. Another caller said he wondered if "Someone was trying to tell us something." Let's see: Financial crisis; housing crisis; off-shore drilling approved. BOOM!! Off-shore rig catches fire. Corporation takes no overt responsibility, and people say the government (of which some want less) "didn't do enough" in the first days. What? The Coast Guard "isn't enough??" People can't have it both ways. This is a mega-watt spotlight on how we can't allow corporations to duck their responsibilities. The Administration needs to submit a bil to BP. And BP must - absolutely must - "man-up" and pay for this. If it's their oil, it's their problem. Period.

Wearing a Rain Stick...

Here's my Tippi. We figure this is a great name for her, since when you go to pet her, she "tips" so that she gets a belly scratch, too!

Anyway, as most of you know, we rescued her this January. She's 3 years old, and we don't know a lot about her history, but we know enough to realize that she really needed a stable home with a Pack she could love and be adored by, and where she'd always have good vet care, good food, and no fear.

Now comes the Rain Stick. For those of you who don't know, a Rain Stick is essentially a cactus branch that's about 3" across, and it's dried out; sometimes painted with "aboriginal" art, and it's got seeds in it. When you tip it one way or the other, the seeds cascade, and it does sound like a soft spring rain on your roof. We use it in church sometimes, when there are sprinkling rites, because it makes a nice addition to the music.

So Hubby and I are getting ready to go to Mass, and he brings the rain stick down the hall. Tippi and I were in the dining room, where she was getting her ears scratched. All of a sudden, she catches sight of Hubby and FREEZES. Her eyes get big, and she looks as if she wants to say, "Oh, noooooooooooooo!" She stood stock still, and Hubby commented that she must be skittish of the sound of the stick.

Nope. I saw the look on her face. Man + Stick + coming toward me = maybe I can disappear and he won't hit me. I took the stick from Hubby and set it on the floor. I called Tippi toward me and put my hand gently on her back, and asked her to sniff the stick. She did. She looked at me as if to say, "Only because you're standing here." And then she walked over to the dining room table and crawled beneath it till we left.

I know she's had trauma in her life. As a re-cap: her first owner bred her to a pit bull (and I have NO bias toward the breed; just against idiot breeders) and the puppies were apparently vicious. Her second owner kept her in a fenced yard with 3 or 4 Rottweilers and she had to fight for her food; this guy's idea of discipline was to throw the dogs. Her THIRD owner "accidentally" bred her with the male Norwegian Elkhound she had. Imagine that?? And again - remember, Tippi's three years old. She rejected that litter and then we became aware that she needed a new home.

See, this is the hard part about adopting and rescuing a dog. You don't know a lot of the history, and sometimes, you really don't WANT to know.

I want to go find her prior owners (except for the last one; she was just stupid and in over her head, not deliberately cruel that we can see). And I want to plant the rain stick. Somewhere where they'll be needing a doctor's care to remove it. Just far enough so that they can't walk or sit comfortably - or even bend. That would make me feel better.

Baby Gifts...

...can be such fun to do! Even quick ones like these are both decorative and practical. Babies burp, after all, and while the infant-sized bib isn't necessarily what you'd use for feeding, for an adorable photo-op (and tell me what new parent doesn't have his or her camera glued in-hand) - this little bib will suffice for that, and even some drool.

I whipped these together for my friend's first grandson. They're all walking on air, and Heaven knows we could all use some good news for once.

The cloth on each is 14-ct. aida. I used DMC floss, and I got the cute caterpillar out of a "motifs" book - there must be over 1,000 in this book, and of course you could combine them into samplers by groups (baby, holiday, toy, profession, etc.) and the alphabet was also in there. Of course, I used the same colors for both things; they're bright colors and I thought it made it more of a "set."

With the burp cloth, it's also 100% terry and just the right size to fling over your shoulder or lap. It's a decent weight, too - not a flimsy little piece of fabric. The saying? Well, it's pretty much what you do with babies - the only thing missing was "change me" and that can go on a diaper bag!

I hope they like the gifts and I hope they get a lot of use out of them.

I Beg to Differ...

So today, on my "Knit-A-Day" calendar, the Yarn Harlot says: "I think knitting is just about perfect. In fact, I would change only one thing: It'd be great if it counted as a cardio workout." Obviously, Stephanie hasn't seen me when I've screwed something up for the FIFTIETH time, or I can't get my project done by a deadline (like a birthday or wedding - pretty much set in stone)... Or I'm trying to find the yarn or needles or pattern or bag or buttons or stitch holders or markers or....whatever it is that I absolutely urgently need to start or finish or work on a project. So I go buy the thing. Just to find it afterwards. Right where I put it. And I put it there so I'd remember where I put it when I needed it. Feel free to join in here, if you've sung this song before! If' you've read her books, you know she has a super sense of herself as a knitter, and is ready to recognize all the quirky we Yarn-a-holics have (How and Where to Stash, or The Attack of the WIPs, anyone???). And I've read stories where she's worked herself into a frenzy. To me, that IS a cardio workout!

Finally Done!!

Well, let me qualify that. Remember the February snowman that I posted a while back? Well, finally, he's done. See the picture? With extreme respect to my quilting friends: Wowza. I can't imagine doing some of the more intricate quilts I've seen. This makes exactly twice that I have "quilted" and I think this is the least "quilty" of anything you gals can do!

Anyway, I also couldn't find his buttons. Yeah, the heart-themed buttons that I spent a good 45 minutes selecting. Aggggggggggghhhhhh!! No doubt in the wormhole that is my craft closet. I'll find them. Just about the time June's snowman is done.

And also, for my knitting friends, a little story. It's sad, too. My friend's son is in the midst of a bad struggle with a traumatic brain injury. Due to a miscommunication of doctors, it was at first thought that he had digestive issues. Turns out, not so much. It was a brain tumor. They thought it was one of the "over 90%" that were benign, but not so. He's 40. Anyone who wishes to send good thoughts to this man and his family, please do so!

I thought my friend might like a prayer shawl. I spent a little while discussing it with my LYS (local yarn shop) owner, a friend of mine and an absolute knitting maven. We finally picked out the yarn shown here: a beautiful Cascade brand - their ultra pima line, a fantastic, rich garnet color; 100% pima cotton. You can see the sheen in hank and in the wound ball. I thought that with cotton, and with the pattern I chose, it would be warm enough but not too warm. If she's sitting in the hospital or even just at home, it's got enough body to keep her warm without feeling stifling hot. And I wasn't sure how she felt about wool. There are folks out there who don't like it, and also - when you have a sick person at home, the last thing you need is to worry about caring for a garment. Cotton is king in that regard because she can just toss it in the wash and either hang it to dry or put it on "cool" in the dryer. Either way, much more user-friendly for someone who's likely to be distracted.

Take a look here, at the shawl I've started. It's about 1,000 yards of yarn, so we're talking 5 hanks, which is actually 1,100 yards total. This is stitched using size 6 needles, and is color number 3701. I did a variation on a "little arrowhead" pattern, and as it goes, I'll post a new photo. It's a little hard to see, but the arrowheads are going to all be going ^^^^ as the rows build, and at the beginning, I did a 6-row stockinette - which is annoying me so I may end up doing a single-crochet "picot" type edge on both ends, just to tack it down. In a way, I'm kind of proud of myself. Essentially, I'm knitting lace! No, it's not a spider web shawl or any of the absolutely phenomenal qiviut patterns. But in its own way, it's lace. And pretty simple, too.

Look at the stitch definition with this yarn! I'm really pleased with it, and I think it's on my list for a shell or tank top in the future. The colors that I saw ran from gorgeous whites and creams to pastels and the more jewel tones. I was sort of thinking of a spring-ish green, but when I saw this garnet color, I was hooked. You can find out more information at http://www.cascadeyarns.com/ - and I also encourage you to shop your LYS. Particularly, get to know the folks at your local store - not the big-box Hobby Lobby or Michael's - but your small local yarn shop where you can get great lessons, find knitting circles and make friends. Your LYS owner is there to help you and only by your support and that of other local knitters will he or she still be there!

Let me know what you think of February - I've got 3 months down, and March is on the scroll frame. I don't know if I'll quilt him or if I can find a good frame. Green is always a difficult color to match. I've only framed December, in a lovely folksy red frame. After that - of course - Michael's discontinued the style!! If nothing else, I can get dear hubby to break out the router and do a frame for me. I can pickle one and make it match better than I might be able to match with shamrock fabrics. I'd also love some new ideas for framing these little guys. I had an itch once to do a bunch of them in a row - but quickly discarded that because I don't have wall space to put a "bell-pull" type of picture anywhere.

Rule # 1...

...Federal Air Marshals have no sense of humor. Rule #2: Jokes about shoe bombs? Not a good idea, particularly if you're on a flight from Washington DC and you're a "diplomat." Rule #3: Diplomatic immunity apparently does NOT cover "stupid." Apparently, a minor "diplomat" from the country of Qatar has a raging case of nicotine addiction and couldn't manage the relatively short flight from DC to Denver, since he tried to smoke in one of the bathrooms. And then decided that joking about "setting his shoe onfire" was a cute idea. Really? A half hour before the jet landed, a flight attendant smelled smoke, this boob comes out of the loo and thinks that making jokes, which caused a huge uproar, including fighter jets scrambling outside of Denver, was a good idea. Maybe he needs to go back to Diplomat School. Maybe, since he's all of 27 or 28, he needs to grow up and not hide behind the "immunity" thing. Be a man and say you did something stupid. And apologize. The crew and authorities handled this quite properly. According to the story posted on MSN's website, the US will have to decide whether to ask Qatar to waive this idiot's immunity. Qatar could decline, and then the man would likely be expelled from the US. It's certainly good that this was handled swiftly and safely, but it sure is stupid. Qatar owes us the costs for dealing with someone who apparently likes sophomoric stunts.

I'm Not Sure What to Do With This...

So the scandals continue to mount for the Catholic Church - at least the Catholic Church outside the US. And I fired off an e-mail to one of the guys at work who's "in the biz"- i.e. a religious. He said he'd call me and he did. We talked for about 45 minutes. When he gets questions about why he's "still a Catholic after all this stuff," he says his response is this: My faith is in God, not in the man-made rules of the Church. What I believe comes from God, and not from some hierarchy. I thought that was pretty radical, and I know I need to chew on it a bit. My problem is that it's the CHURCH that has disappointed me. The specific set of Catholic rules is one thing I've always had problems with. (Birth control, anyone???) And I find some statistics to say that I'm not alone. Why are Italy's and Poland's birthrates so low? They're REALLY Catholic countries, but someone, somewhere, isn't buying the Papal Encyclical on birth control. Which is fine. I don't buy it either. I need to chew on his theory of why he still believes. I know it's a good one; I just have to get past my anger at what I see is the Church's unwillingness to (a) change; and (b) acknowledge that there IS a significant problem. Benedict's letter to Ireland seemed to indicate that he was demanding answers. But it also seems to me he should have demanded the answers years ago and he now needs to streamline the process and make it transparent to those of us warming the pews. My friend also said that he reads a wide variety of media and gave me some info on things I might want to look at. And he reminded me that there ARE good religious out there. And I do get the whole "if it bleeds, it leads" thing. It certainly sells more papers!! The US Conference of Catholic Bishops met in 2002 or so and had at that time instituted a "zero-tolerance" rule. And it has helped in the US. There have been only 6 cases of abuse recently. And yes, six is STILL TOO MANY, but it's proof that the zero tolerance rule is working. I was under the mistaken belief that what the USCCB said was meant for ALL the bishops everywhere, and my friend told me that wasn't so. And he told me that the US bishops have been giving the other bishops a lot of grief, and telling them, "You HAVE to follow our protocol - because it's working." And I hope other countries take that protocol and go further with it. The only way we're going to come together as a Church and a Body is to make sure that everyone plays by the same rules. I mentioned that I had a hard time with some of the clerical chess games. My friend said that he knew of two cases. In one case, the guy has died, so he didn't know what happened to him. In the other, the priest was sent to a high-intensity treatment facility, and upon his completion of the treatment, an extensive report was issued to his superiors. The report stated categorically that the man should never be put into contact with children ever again. The man is now answering phones in an office in the Order, totally out of the sphere in which he can ever be around kids. And I applaud that. I really do. Because I think some bishops "pish-toshed" the advice of doctors and figured, "Ok, I'll put Fr. A in a GIRL'S school since he's got problems with BOYS." No, Bishop.... NO CONTACT WITH KIDS means NO CONTACT WITH KIDS. With that thinking, we had more instances of Fr. A doing what he did but now only with girls. Also, the priest and bishop who spoke out on the altar at Easter services at the Vatican??? Bad, bad, BAD.... During Holy Week, we mourn and we celebrate. We mourn the death of Jesus and we celebrate His resurrection. The altar during that week is not the place for diatribes against the press and hollering about how "mean" everyone is - and Benedict tacitly endorsed this because he could have - and should have - shushed those men. But now? Now is Benedict's time to speak. Quickly, and truthfully. Too bad if he feels it's past history. Only by discussing the history and openly acknowledging what went wrong will we ever hope to fix it. And I also think that there should be stories about the treatment programs: warts and all. Show the priests who have successfully come through, and show that the superiors followed instructions. Show what happens if they don't succeed, and show what's done next. The Church MUST do this - the story is in the news anyway, so it's not like we're invading privacy. The matter has been sensationalized (which is the new normal for journalism), and if it hasn't been, then at least it's public record. Also show the good guys - the guys who do the hard work of having a vocation and do it with their hearts in the right place and who have done nothing deviant - they don't deserve to be lumped in with those who haven't been able to keep their vows. They certainly deserve our prayers and our praise. But not our sweeping generalizations. My other radical thought: It is so far past time to ordain women. Now is the time. This is the season. I'm whistling in the wind because Benedict is a throw-back. But he'll find himself heading a church that is incredibly smaller if he keeps on this path. He may like that. I don't think that's what Jesus wanted, though.

One Intelligent Comment...

In full disclosure, I like Bob Schieffer. I find him to be honest, and straightforward in his delivery, with professionalism and no hint of sensationalization. Therefore, I offer you this video... due to copyright issues, I can't post a link here, but go to www.huffingtonpost.com and search for Bob Schieffer and watch his commentary entitled, "Catholic Church Has More Than PR Issue" which just aired on Easter Sunday. Finally - someone who's got some sense and is MAKING sense of the issue. It's not the abuse (well, it IS, but take a moment and let me make a point) - it's the COVER-UP that has Catholics steamed. And yes, it IS the abuse, too. We see our Church playing the ultimate game, lying to us, all the while preaching the Gospel and the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have it done unto you." So you want me to donate to your Annual Appeal? You want me to help you with many charitable endeavors. I'd love to. Unfortunately, I don't believe for one minute that my money isn't going to a big bucket and being parceled out as legal fees for various areas wherein the priests have finally come to trial. All the while, Pope Benedict washes feet on Holy Thursday with a gold bowl. Somehow, I think Jesus didn't have a gold bowl. The lavish externals of the Vatican are covering up something as vile as the hidden picture in Dorian Gray - the vestments, crosses and gold are hiding something worse than leprosy. Worse than the most vile thing you can imagine. The gold bowls are hiding abuse. The vestments are covering the sins of the Fathers. And the Pope is maintaining a stony silence that does him no good. I realize church processes are not quick. And sometimes there's a reason - for example, when you're discerning a vocation, you want to take time to make sure you're being "called" for the right reasons. And the congregation that accepts you wants to make sure you fit. But there are times that call for swift action. And whenever children are involved, "swift" beats "slow" any time. I can't recall any abuse victim who's finally seen justice ever saying, "I'm glad they took their time and it was 12 (or 15 or 20) years till they finally got around to my case." This will cause an exodus from the pews. And Rome has only itself to blame. You take time when you're praying. You take time in meditation. You don't take time when there are issues of child safety. Ever. No matter who you are.

Beyond Vile...

I'm nearly beyond words. Seriously, you know how bad it is when even I can't figure out what to say. I saw this in Yahoo News: "Westboro Baptist Church, which is based in Kansas, plans to protest in Florida on Wednesday, outside a funeral for a Marine killed in Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan on March 22. "Military funerals have become pagan orgies of idolatrous blasphemy, where they pray to the dunghill gods of Sodom and play taps to a fallen fool," states a press release posted on the church's website, announcing the rally at a memorial service for Lance Cpl. Justin Wilson. At the bottom of the press release are printed the words "Thank God for IEDs," referring to the roadside bombs that have killed thousands of troops in both wars." http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100331/ts_csm/291560 We don't have "hate speech" laws on the Federal books yet. We have the First Amendment. But along with that Amendment, we have a duty to keep the peace and behave like civilized people, particularly in light of a mourning family - and more particularly in light of those who died serving our country. So.........these fools at Freaky Freddie's Church of the Whackos are completely within their rights to protest. They're completely within their rights to hold up signs that say "God Hates Fags and Kills Soldiers." And they're completely within their rights to occupy space at a public place - say a cemetery. Which brings me to be thankful that my dad, a USMC member from the Korean War, is no longer alive. Because we'd have to bail him out, though I'm sure we could and would raise the money to do so. In Freaky Freddie's world, there is apparently no respect for the dead. There's no respect for the God I know... and I'm thinking She's pretty furious with him for taking Her name in vain and using Her as a shield for his reprehensible and utterly amoral, dishonorable, unscrupulous, revolting, repulsive, sordid, nauseating and repellant protests at funerals. Don't get me wrong. I'm thinking that we are not in these wars for the right purpose. But - the fact that we have military members dying over there is alongside the fact of the unjust wars. The military dead have done their duty. They have given their lives. Their families mourn their unfulfilled potential; the fact that they will no longer make their mark in the world; the fact that they leave a hole in the hearts of their loved ones. And nobody -- I mean NOBODY -- has the right to disrupt a funeral. Legally, Freaky Freddie and his sideshow grotesques masquerading as Christians may well have the right to protest; cemeteries are public places. But morally? There I draw a huge line; no, I draw a moat. A moat filled with the most voracious eaters of rotten flesh and corrupted souls, for those are the beasts most likely to enjoy chewing on those horrors who are portraying some version of "human" in its most malformed, distorted and perverted form. What worries me is that someone, someday, will be hurt. I mean shot, or beaten, or otherwise physically harmed. Freaky Freddie will then claim that this is God's justice and claim the victory for his own and that of his bunch of aberrant congregants. And some poor soul who was just aiming to mourn his or her dead in peace will suffer the slings and arrows of a justice system that allows Freddie and his ilk to do this as a sport. My wish is simple. I want Freaky Freddie and his brigade of deviants to dwell for all eternity in Dante's Eight Circle. That's the circle for the fraudulent. It includes Bolge VI, for hypocrites - which fits this bunch perfectly. They thump their Bibles, chant their phrases, hold up their signs and beat their breasts as "perfect Christians," thus making a mockery of the whole concept of Christianity - not to mention totally skewing the Golden Rule. In Bolge VI, the hypocrites' "...outward appearance shines brightly and passes for holiness, but under that show lies the terrible weight of [his] deceit which the soul must bear through all eternity." If the sinner stops walking on the narrow track he is condemned to travel, his "cloak becomes hotter and hotter." According to the notes I referenced, the sinners include televangelists - which is what they've become, the more they get news coverage. Works for me. As far as I'm concerned, they can all turn on the eternal rotisserie. And I'll be happy to cheer them on as they roast.

The First Post-Op Knitting Project is Here!

Well, I've actually completed my first post-op knitting project. It's a simple one, brought to you courtesy of Lily Cotton Yarn:

A sweeper cover. I can't mention the patented name of the product, but for those of you who cringe at filling up landfills with disposable covers, this might be what you're looking for. It's reversible and you can knit it in any color you want.

It would be neat in a basket for a shower with some knitted or crocheted cotton wash cloths, some organic or more "green" cleaners and some knitted, knotted or crocheted scrubbies. If you knew your intended person's kitchen colors, you could coordinate the perfect little package for giving.

I know - silly to be so excited? But I'm happy I've completed it. My fingers are coming back and I think I can get back to work on the Learning Sweater in the next few weeks.

Hopefully, This is True...

In my last entry, I blasted Pope Benedict XVI on his "shelter everyone and protect the collar" stance regarding the pedophile crisis in the Catholic Church. As a follow-up, I need to say that if the article I have just read in Slate (www.slate.com) is correct, then I also stand corrected. Writer Michael Sean Winters posted that Pope B has made some quantum leaps forward in making sure that the priests who did these evil things to children are truly punished under both Canon Law and civil law. In the article, Winters states that the Church in Ireland has been mired in scandal since November 2009. Between 1975 and 2004, there were 46 priests who abused children in the archdiocese of Dublin. Benedict called Ireland's bishops onto the Vatican carpet, so to speak, and last month basically told them that he was going to send a special letter to the Church in Ireland. That letter was released Saturday, March 20, 2010. In it, Benedict began to make amends. I won't quote the whole thing here; look the article up. Suffice to say that he did acknowledge that bad stuff has been going on, he called for an "apostolic visitation" (church-speak for "investigation") and told the bishops that they had to cooperate wtih civil authorities in prosecuting wrongdoing. Finally. He's already accepted resignations from several bishops. The word is now out that if you really want to be in the Church and be a bishop, you'd better not be ignorning claims of abuse. That's a heck of a career-ending move under this Pope. And in - for me at least - a stunning move, in his letter, he directed the following to the victims: "You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry." I may faint. Sorry if I sound snarky, but you have to understand that I live in one diocese with a now-retired bishop who was implicated massively in this scandal and all he said to his parishioners was, "I'm sorry if I didn't take this seriously enough." "IF"??? Really?? Bishop Imesch played chess with priests like a master, moving them to remote parishes nation-wide. I figure he's just about as implicated as Cardinal Law. And while Imesch may not answer to civil authorities for shielding these creeps, he'll eventually answer to God, and I hope She shows him no mercy. God's mercy should be directed toward the victims, and in a small way to those in the pews who've been deceived by our spiritual leaders. I'm willing to own that I may have misjudged on the basis of one article. I sincerely hope Benedict has his act together. If he does, there's hope for the Church. And I'll be happy about being a Catholic once again.

Sad to be Catholic...

It's Lent. It's the season of anticipating Christ's resurrection. But something else - something ugly, evil and perverted - has resurrected itself in the Catholic Church and I'm very sad about it. And I'm also angry. Seems that Pope Benedict has his hands dirty in the pedophile scandal. But his reps are saying he knew "nothing" about reassigning predatory priests. I normally don't paint with a broad brush, but I'm going to do a little bit of that, since I've just learned something in my MBA classes about Hofstede's matrix. Seems that a scientist created a matrix in which he categorized cultural leanings and tendencies, and applied them in a business sense. You have several categories, and one of the most prominent was the amount of control a business has, and how it's organized in regard to a loose or tightly wound hierarchy. Germans, understandably, score VERY high on control. In order to do business in Germany, one needs to be prompt, respect deadlines and know the details of your project or proposal. Down to how many words are IN the proposal. The society is very technically-oriented and business is -- well, business. No wriggle room and no excuses for not doing something well. Sooooooooooo. Pope Benedict was praised by the prior Pontiff as a man who knew his stuff. The question now comes: What did he know about whom and what on earth (or in Heaven) prompted his belief that this would remain hidden? And most importantly: How could he sleep? How could he look himself in the mirror? How could he pray - and expect to be heard by a God we are taught to love, and Whose Son said, "Suffer the little children to come to me." I am disappointed beyond belief. Once again, the boys' club is in full swing. Only the lone voice of an Irish cleric calling for "transparency" in this mess - that's all we've got. Once again, normal pew-jockies like my family will be asked by countless friends, "How do you deal with that in the Church?" And the obvious answer is: "Apparently, we don't." We went through this with our own bishop, and I gave no quarter. I called for his sincere apology in an editorial in the local paper. He issued a "well, if I've offended anyone, I ask forgiveness, but I was working with what I have" kind of apology. To which I respond: Did God not give you a brain? Did God not give you common sense, eyes, ears, and oh - I don't know, some COMPASSION for children? Did you not have brains enough to see that reassignment of predatory priests was wrong on at least 5 levels? Didn't your gut scream at you, "This just isn't right" at least a dozen times? Or were you too worried about your own position? And if you were worried, tossing the blame on the victims was certainly not the Catholic thing to do, buster. Don't be saving your own butt. Get out there, Benedict, and be what you are supposed to be: God's representative on Earth. Because if you ARE doing that, and "The Pope didn't know" is the best your handlers can come up with, then God - and the rest of the faithful - will have been terribly disappointed. The Pope has effectively destroyed a generation of young people. And he's affecting those of us who were coming of age in the 70s because not only did our generation have some victims, but those of us lucky enough to escape the abuse are now in a position where we have to confront our faith and see it for what it is: a faith based on man's rules, and man's proclivities to protect his own. And that doesn't include us. It's a sad picture, and enough to drive many of us from our places in the pews. And the Church has nobody to blame but itself and its hierarchy.

So, go already!

Why is it that the people with a megaphone and billion-dollar contracts are always squealing about supposed "infringements" of their "rights" and threatening to go elsewhere? And why don't they just go, already?? In his latest screech-fest, Rush Limbaugh (go ahead, insert snarky nickname of choice) declared that if the proposed health care reforms passed, he was "going to go live in Costa Rica." So go already. I'll help you pack. Say, Rushie, did you know that Costa Rica has a form of socialized medicine? Yep, they make sure that their citizens have health care available no matter what their economic status. But hey, who's stopping you? Go already. He also says that the Congressional Budget Office, that non-partisan group of bean-counters in Washington, "lie" when they say that the health care reform now proposed is going to decrease our bloated federal deficit. Let's look at that one, too. According to www.cbo.gov, the offical website, the CBO was formed in 1974. And (insert drumroll here) guess who was president then? Gerald Ford. A Republican allowed this blight upon our beloved government. Who in the world would want a non-partisan group of number-crunchers to try to score bills to see how they would affect the Congressional budgetary process? I scoff at such a thing. According to the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov), in a National Health Interview Study published in 2006, here's how it breaks down: 43.6 MILLION Americans are without health care. 36.5 MILLION of them are adults. 6.8 MILLION of them are children. Are we the "Greatest Nation" still? I'm wondering. Because if we, the "Greatest Nation," see no problem in the figures above, what does that say about us? One of the keystones of the plan proposed is that there will be a pool into which people can tap, which basically provides them with the same health care the Congress receives. Yes, there's a poverty waiver. But for people like my brother, who owns his own company, and my friend Sue, who owns her own company, this will provide them a way to tap into insurance for themselves and their employees at a far more economical rate than they can get as "small business owners" now. How is that "socialist" or "communist" or any "-ist" you can think of, other than humanist? We owe it to our grandchidren and our great-grandchildren to reduce the obscenely high deficit. And by doing this one thing, we'll have a two-fer: we'll be insuring that a great percentage of those in the figures cited above will have health care, and will be able to be productive, wage-earning members of society. And we'll reduce the deficit. I'm thinking that's a good thing. Along with Rush leaving. Oh, and take Beck with you, will you?

Three Cups of Tea...

...can change the way you see things with regard to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Greg Mortenson wrote this book with David Oliver Relin - mainly because Mortenson is publicity-shy and doesn't like to talk about himself. Visit www.ikat.org - the Central Asia Institute's website. You need to read this book. He failed to climb K2, but he succeeded beyond anyone's imagination in his ability to educate children in the poorest regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan - yep, right in Taliban-Land. We don't realize how much we take an education for granted. And we don't know how much one person can do (either globally or locally) until we see someone doing it. Mortenson started his school-building initiative on his part-time wages as an ER nurse, and lived on a literal shoestring till he was funded by another climber who was impressed by what he saw Mortenson doing. Educating children. Think about that. Babies are not born KNOWING how to hate or fear. They are TAUGHT that. If you educate the girls, which was forbidden by the Taliban, though the Koran said that women need to be educated - if you educate the girls, the villages will prosper and the next generation will know that peace can only be achieved by educating yourself and your children. Peace can't be achieved at gunpoint. It takes $1 to educate a girl and ONE PENNY to buy a pencil. One penny. That copper coin we're thinking of getting rid of because it's 'bothersome' and 'useless.' Get your schools involved. Get your church involved. Buy the book. Read it. Pass it on. Or donate it to your library, since there are waiting lists to read this. And get yourself involved. Donate to the Central Asia Institute or start a community drive to raise funds. Nobody wants war forever, except the corporations who benefit from the dollars pouring into their coffers. We can teach peace. One school at a time. This book - this man - has proved that.

Regrets...

...like the Frank Sinatra hit, "regrets, I've had a few..." - I'm here to share a major regret. We've all had 'em. Things un-done, un-said, left to either fix themselves or remain broken. I don't think anyone over 40 has had any occasion to say that he or she has lived "exactly" the life that was dreamed of. I know I haven't, and I'm a decade+ over 40. My father-in-law died on Saturday. He had fought a long battle with Parkinson's disease and when we were there to see him in the summer, Hubby was very concerned about him. At that point, we could see deterioration, and frankly - during one lunch, I thought he died. After being rushed to the hospital, we found that he hadn't been able to ingest enough food or liquid, and the difficult decision to put him into a facility where he could receive 24-hour care was made. His wishes weren't in that direction, but I can't see him wanting his lovely wife to have to struggle to take care of him. The kids are far-flung and not always able to be home for long periods of time. We staggered our trips during the summer and all of us did what we could. I'm no good with sick people, so I cooked and cleaned. Not that I'm any great shakes with cleaning, either, but I can weed the garden, cook meals, clean up a kitchen and vacuum. My in-laws are lovely people. They're patient, kind, they accepted me into the family without a single qualm. I've heard so many horror stories about in-laws that I was hesitant. They were far away and didn't meet me till just about the week of the wedding! What would they think? My father-in-law opened his arms to the boys and said, "Come here and hug your Grandpa." Still brings tears to my eyes. He was a mechanic. Worked hard all his life. Provided for a large family on a small income and every one of the kids got a great education and has made something of himself or herself. My regret is simply this. We never spent a lot of time with them. Being 3,000 miles away is one excuse. Money is always another - it costs a lot of money to fly 4 people out west and we only had the kind of jobs where you got 2 weeks vacation if you were lucky. I never spent much time on the phone with them. Heck - I never felt comfortable calling them any particular names! But they accepted me and didn't bat an eye. Regrets are hard. Now, I am going to a funeral for a man who, by all accounts, was a simple guy - the kind of guy my grandpa would have loved. A guy who did what he needed to do to provide for his family and who showed the family that hard work is what you do. He taught more by example than anything else. And I missed it. Because of my own ambivalence, because of distance, because of I-don't-know-what. There will be stories told at the wake and funeral. There's an extensive family history, and there are pictures galore. But I will be sad to know that I barely remember the sound of his voice, and have only a faint knowledge of a guy with a wicked sense of humor and a peace and serenity about him that you don't see all the time. I wish now that I had been less of an idiot. And more of a daughter-in-law. Rest in peace, dear father-in-law.

Kudos for ThinkPads...

You can watch the YouTube video of the "official" drop test for the IBM ThinkPad (now owned by China and called Lenovo) - or you can take my word that the thing DOES work after being dropped. By Quinn. We're sitting in the living room the other night, and all of a sudden, during the Olympics, I hear a holler. I figured it was something I missed on TV. Nope. It was a reaction to Quinn, who'd gotten spooked by something and had dashed out from under the dining room table - across the power cord I had on the floor - and in her dash, she snagged her foot on the power cord and WHAM!! Down came my laptop off the dining room table and right onto the laminate floor. Apparently, the grace of the dash was interrupted by the fact that she couldn't get any traction on the floor. Quinn took off and hid under my chair. I grabbed the computer and Hubby looked at it to see what was going to happen next. Of COURSE, it was booting up at the time she decided to take off. I have a ding in the floor. The battery on the laptop has a little dent in it. And last night, Hubby snapped the keyboard back into place. But it runs. Whew!! Now we know - it's puppy-proof.

Meet Quinn...

...the daughter of the little one we rescued in January. Suffice to say that she's adjusting nicely. She still needs a LOT of socialization. She loves to either sit under my chair or under my desk in the office.

She barks at the hubby and boys. But she's been out for walks and is good on a leash and knows where her crate is. The test will be tonight: will we get any sleep!!

The bottom picture is her under my desk. The other one is her under my chair. It'll be interesting to see if this continues as she grows - because she won't fit under my chair in a month!! Her other favorite spot is alongside and under my legs as I sit in my office chair. I almost feel as if I have to stay in the office more - she's so comfortable I hate to disturb her!

It Really IS a pretty scar...

WARNING: Scar picture at the bottom... But since it's several weeks (6 to be exact) post-op and since I have ELEVEN days till splint removal, I figured I'd show off what my youngest kid calls, "a scar that makes you look like you were in a really awesome knife fight." Yep. It's a boy... Nice to know you have "street cred" with your kids. The oldest boy kind of turns greenish and doesn't want to talk about it or see it. And the only reason I even emphasize it so much is that both boys are guitarists and practice a LOT. Not that they'll have a woman's susceptibility to basilar joint arthritis or the "zig-zag defect" that my doctor says I have on both thumbs, but still. It's too easy as a guitarist, particularly an avid one, to overwork your hand and then have more problems. My surgeon, out of University of Chicago Hospital, is a really top-notch doctor. He did the repair on my right hand (different injury) and he is known for his plastic-surgeon-like incisions. I don't expect a lot of obvious scarring, but I know it won't be easily hidden. I'm using a product called Bio-Oil on it, since I tried Mederma and it kept sticking to the cotton sleeve I wear under the splint. I guess it's time to call and cancel that hand-modeling contract. Drat. I knew I could've made it big... I think the biggest thing will be the scar therapy - at least that's what I'm being told. Right now, the thumb is still numb and for the most part, my left hand is still swollen. I'd love to wear my wedding ring, but the hand swells during the night and after a day spent at the computer (yep, gotta love my job), I get to a point where I can very uncomfortably "feel" the rings, and then I get panicked about being able to get them off! Anyway, both dogs have sniffed and approved; Hubby is willing to help nudge (read: NAG) me during therapy and both boys are marveling at what I can do while using my left index finger as a thumb! And my guitar teacher has already given me grief about the nail polish. I am reminded now of why I don't WEAR nail polish. The upkeep of the dratted fingernails has kept me occupied - seeing as I can't knit, I may as well be a "Foo-foo" girly-girl. Yes, that is my actual fingernail. I can grow them quite nicely, but choose for the most part not to do so. Too much trouble for a person who doesn't wear make-up and has instructed her stylist to give her "Ten Minute Hair."

Dogs on the Run...

So hum the song Band On the Run... and you'll catch the vibe of this picture. Hubby took the girls to the dog park. Seems like Tippi likes to run with River and River's not about to let the "youngster" upstage her! Here, Tippi's on River's blind side. She did that yesterday, too - kind of like she "knew" that being there was a good place. She keeps River from being whacked by stray branches or surprised by other dogs coming up where she can't see them. Hubby has one picture where Tippi's running and you can see the "40 mph" speed limit sign - but all you see of Tippi is a grey blur. I think she exceeded the limit! Of course, both dogs are sprawled in the living room now, having exhausted themselves. I can't wait to get out there with them this weekend to see them do what they do best: run like the wind and totally enjoy being a dog.

Lap of Luxury...

I think it's safe to say that Tippi is settling in.

We have been told it could be somewhere between 6 months and a year before she finally "gets" that this is her forever home. And we're prepared for that. This is truly a situation where, if we could have, we'd have taken the female puppy, too. Wish we didn't have "dog rationing" in our town. You can have 2 dogs or 2 cats, but not "four" of any one species.

Of COURSE there are people that flout that. However - it all kind of depends upon your neighbors and their tolerance level. Elkhounds bark. A lot. Long. Monotone. Frequently at "thin air." And if your neighbors aren't able to deal with that, it does become a problem. In spite of the ordinances against nuisances, it's REALLY aggravating to listen to a dog barking its head off. And I'm one who'd object, so I can't really blame another person for doing so.

And then what? The city comes in and says 'get rid of one.' So do you get rid of the half-blind dog that you've had for years? Or one of the ones you've just rescued, who may FINALLY be feeling that humans aren't so bad after all? Maybe I ought to lobby for "4 of species" so that we could legally take in another dog. Though the vet bills would be something to consider! After all, I can imagine someone having more than 4 cats - particularly if they keep them inside.

Anyway, for now, she's adjusting. If her expression in this picture is anything to go by, then I think she's going to be ok!

February is DONE!

Nope, that's not a typo. Since my hand surgery, I am unable to knit. Soooooooo.... I go back to my needlework "roots" and come back to counted cross stitch. I have this series of snowmen. I've done 3 of them now - and I've managed to start 2 more, but I can't find them. Wow - sounds like 2 or 3 knitting projects I have. But we won't go there.

Here's February. He's on a larger-count fabric - 28 count lugana which works out to be 14 sq/inch. Normally, they're on 32-count linen, which I prefer. But since I didn't have it, this guy will be a different size. He's on a soft peachy-colored fabric, which may or may not show up in this picture. I used antique glass beads for the heart on his chest and 3 of the tiny ones. And no, it's not your eyes. He's crooked, but that's because taking a picture one-handed is a little tricky. Particularly since Tippi and River were interested in what was on the couch (where I set this to photograph it).

I have fabric and batting, so he'll be treated like January's guy (who I can't find!!) - a little strip of pieced work around the outside edges and then a backer fabric. I have a dark-ish red patterend fabric that'll be good for that, as well as a lighter, "candy hearts" type design.

December's snowman is framed in plain red half-round. I may end up asking Hubby to do the same for Mr. March, since my local framers don't seem to carry that anymore, and I want to keep them rustic.

I've already tea-dyed the fabric for March - Mr. Shamrock!

I don't know if any of them will end up at the National Counted Cross Stitch Show, but Hubby says I ought to enter at least one in the "One-handed Stitcher" category!!

A Little Cheese with My "Whine"...

(insert heavy sigh here) OK, so here's what happened in the last 2 months of 2009. I was scheduled for surgery on my left hand for 12/22/09. About a month prior to that, I came down with a doozy of a sinus infection. Which some twinkie at a "minute clinic" (and that's about all she spent talking about MY symptoms - however, I learned in great detail about HER health...) tried to tell me was an "allergy." Well, not unless everyone in my house wears a Persian cat on their heads. And allergy attacks don't produce, in me at least, wracking coughs and post-nasal drip like Niagara Falls... I ended up at my regular clinic 2 days later (I missed Thanksgiving because I wasn't sure WHAT this was, but I did't want to infect my family) and yep - sinus infection. That cleared up. The surgery proceeded. Recovering nicely, thanks. And then my kid gives me a cold. A dripping, hacking, stuffy, blow-my-nose-constantly cold that has me sending my dear hubby out STAT for Puffs with lotion because my nose is a cross between W.C. Fields and Rudolph. No reindeer jokes, please. So I'm on Mucinex, which is a great OTC remedy except for that part where you kind of get wired and can't sleep. Which brings me to my question. WHY do all the antihistamines dry out everything BUT my nose?? I can't blink fast enough to keep my eyes from feeling sandpapery. My throat is a parched patch of land. My EARS even feel dry. My skin is even kind of "lizard-y" (not a good look, let me tell you!). But my nose is as plugged as it can get. (insert another sigh here, followed by a cough) Even "real" Sudafed isn't cutting this. I know - it's a cold. Give it a week or 10 days, stay hydrated (I'm sloshing, already), and rest. Except that the cold meds keep me awake. At least I'm not eating, since I've lost my sense of smell. My neti pot is my best friend lately. So are Halls Naturals, a specific candy called a G-shaft that keeps my tongue from sticking to the roof of my mouth, hot tea, and my 24-oz water bottle. I tried horehound drops. Ick. Spit. Wanted to lick sandpaper to get the taste out of my mouth. Here's another one. The kid that gave me the cold is 26 years old. Can I ground him for that?

Miscellaneous Pictures...

Hopefully, this will work. Top down(this program keeps shuffling the picture order!):

The cross-stitch snowman project I'm working on. Hey, I can't knit for a few more weeks, so I may as well do SOMETHING to keep me out of the Christmas cookies!! I've almost got his body done, and I will work on that tomorrow.

Tippi and River stretched out in the living room. We've since gotten Tippi her own bed, and she's learning some new tricks. River, however, remains ABOVE tricks, thank you. It's enough for her to "be" and enter a room with her personality and dignity intact.

And finally: "Speed Scarf" that I crocheted for my oldest son. He lost his - Heaven knows where - and asked me to do one for him - BEFORE my hand surgery. So here's a weekend scarf, in half-double crochet on a size P hook using chenille yarn. Beggars can't be choosers so he got the colors I had handy. I did it side-to-side, and it takes about 7 rows when you chain about 105 stitches and just go back and forth for a while.

This is what you do with...

...crappy yarn that isn't worth knitting. And when you don't want the knitting gods to smack you for wishing this garbage on an unsuspecting knitter...

I created this little "diorama" if you will in a corner of my office. I bought the yarn thinking it'd be good for chemo caps. It's from Hobby Lobby. It's nasty.

I'm having a knitting withdrawal attack. On December 22, I had an arthroplasty on the basilar joint of my left hand and a fusion on the joint just up from that. I'm in a splint for SIX WEEKS and I'm not allowed to do anything remotely resembling knitting. Or crocheting. But I can cross-stitch, so I set up a little project - monthly-themed snowmen, and I'm working on February. I am almost done with his body; just have to backstitch and then do the beading. The pattern doesn't call for it, but I don't care. It's done in Flower Thread, which is a pain in the butt to work with, but it's lovely when it's done.

As I talk to my knitting friends who are moving along on new projects, all I can do is sigh. Once therapy is done, I'll be all fixed - no pain and hopefully able to do all the things I was having trouble with before. In the meantime, I wound up the crappy yarn and made it LOOK like I was doing something!

Tippi is Home...

Yep. One look at where she was at, and I pretty much told my husband, "If the dog's not nuts, we're taking her out of here!" She and our husky did the "doggie data exchange" (i.e. sniffing personal parts) all night. There was a little bit of "I'm the top dog here" by our husky, and Tippi seems cool with that. I think she's happy. She ate a good dinner tonight and is sprawled out with the husky in the middle of the living room. Twin Tripping Hazards!! Here's a picture of her "guarding the door." Once she's able to consistently respond to "come" she will go with hubby to the dog park. She's getting better at being more responsive to commands, so we have hope that she'll come along just fine. She's a BEEFY little thing: 53 lbs!! She's solid, but still - the vet would like her to lose about 12 lbs or so, and she also thinks that some of it is related to the pups Tippi had about 9 weeks ago. She'll be spayed next month, after some of the swelling has gone down, but the vet said that she's basically healthy. She did well in the office and got herself a pedicure while she was there! It turned out that 01/02/2010 was a special day after all. We're calling it Tippi's New Birthday.

Meet Tippi...

Well. You always think that things happen for a reason. And maybe they do. After we lost our Elkhound, to cancer in early December, we knew we'd have to get another dog. Our husky has been in the doldrums, and we always thought dogs should be in pairs, even when they "own" their own humans!

I contacted a gal from the Norwegian Elkhound Rescue Association. Luckily, Elkhounds are kind of an unusual breed - not very popular, thanks, and rescues are sparse compared to, for example, huskies and mixed breeds.

I expected several weeks at least. We're going to Wisconsin tomorrow to meet Tippi... They say all things happen for a reason. Today is 01/02/2010 - a palindrome date. One maybe endowed with mystical powers, since it's the same forward as it is backwards. And maybe I was meant to contact the rescue coordinator. And maybe Tippi was supposed to be where she was.

And maybe we'll give a lovely dog a forever home.

Obama's Nobel Speech

Whether you agree that he deserves the prize or not, this speech is a great mix of ideals and pragmatic reality. We as a world are getting there, but we have oh-so-far to go. And in our own country, particularly, it seems like we are often pushing cooked spaghetti up a hill with our noses. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34360743/ns/politics-white_house/

An Open Letter to President Obama - from Michael Moore and Me!

Monday, November 30th, 2009 Dear President Obama, Do you really want to be the new “war president”? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do — destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they’ve always heard is true — that all politicians are alike. I simply can’t believe you’re about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn’t so. It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That’s the way General Washington insisted it must be. That’s what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. “You’re fired!,” said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we ****in’ hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption). So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea — “Let’s invade Afghanistan!” Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin. There’s a reason they don’t call Afghanistan the “Garden State” (though they probably should, seeing how the corrupt President Karzai, whom we back, has his brother in the heroin trade raising poppies). Afghanistan’s nickname is the “Graveyard of Empires.” If you don’t believe it, give the British a call. I’d have you call Genghis Khan but I lost his number. I do have Gorbachev’s number though. It’s + 41 22 789 1662. I’m sure he could give you an earful about the historic blunder you’re about to commit. With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilization we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the “war president.” Empires never think the end is near, until the end is here. Empires think that more evil will force the heathens to toe the line — and yet it never works. The heathens usually tear them to shreds. Choose carefully, President Obama. You of all people know that it doesn’t have to be this way. You still have a few hours to listen to your heart, and your own clear thinking. You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world to a place neither you nor they understand, to achieve an objective that neither you nor they understand, in a country that does not want us there. You can feel it in your bones. I know you know that there are LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan! A hundred thousand troops trying to crush a hundred guys living in caves? Are you serious? Have you drunk Bush’s Kool-Aid? I refuse to believe it. Your potential decision to expand the war (while saying that you’re doing it so you can “end the war”) will do more to set your legacy in stone than any of the great things you’ve said and done in your first year. One more throwing a bone from you to the Republicans and the coalition of the hopeful and the hopeless may be gone — and this nation will be back in the hands of the haters quicker than you can shout “tea bag!” Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning. We the people still love you. We the people still have a sliver of hope. But we the people can’t take it anymore. We can’t take your caving in, over and over, when we elected you by a big, wide margin of millions to get in there and get the job done. What part of “landslide victory” don’t you understand? Don’t be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor. You could send a million troops over there and the crazy Right still wouldn’t be happy. You would still be the victim of their incessant venom on hate radio and television because no matter what you do, you can’t change the one thing about yourself that sends them over the edge. The haters were not the ones who elected you, and they can’t be won over by abandoning the rest of us. President Obama, it’s time to come home. Ask your neighbors in Chicago and the parents of the young men and women doing the fighting and dying if they want more billions and more troops sent to Afghanistan. Do you think they will say, “No, we don’t need health care, we don’t need jobs, we don’t need homes. You go on ahead, Mr. President, and send our wealth and our sons and daughters overseas, ’cause we don’t need them, either.” What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do? What would your grandmother do? Not send more poor people to kill other poor people who pose no threat to them, that’s what they’d do. Not spend billions and trillions to wage war while American children are sleeping on the streets and standing in bread lines. All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam “might” be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish — the full terror of which we scarcely know. When we elected you we didn’t expect miracles. We didn’t even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn’t even function as a nation and never, ever has. Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God’s sake, stop. Tonight we still have hope. Tomorrow, we shall see. The ball is in your court. You DON’T have to do this. You can be a profile in courage. You can be your mother’s son. We’re counting on you. Yours, Michael Moore MMFlint@aol.com MichaelMoore.com and River in IL P.S. There’s still time to have your voice heard. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or email the President.

Knitting Indulgence

So the Learning Sweater is progressing nicely IN SPITE of having to RIP OUT 6 1/2" last Friday. Counting is important in knitting. When it says "repeat 8 times" it doesn't mean FOUR KNITS AND FOUR PURLS. It means EIGHT OF EACH. Oy. Rookie mistake, but easily fixed! Sooooooooooo. While at the LYS, there's a sale. Yep, Danger Will Robinson territory. Pictured is the Jordana Paige bag I couldn't resist. I have to change it over to use for the holidays, and I can't wait to see how it all fits together. It's for smaller projects. Honestly, I looked at the larger ones, but all I'd do is stuff it with "other stuff" and I don't usually bring larger projects along when I'm waiting or the like. I love the bright green, not because I like the color, but because you can see the contents of your bag! A thinking knitter's bag to be sure. Check out http://www.jordanapaige.com/ for more of her designs. I've eyeballed them in magazines, but this is the first time I've been able to actually fiddle with one to see if I'd like it. Heck, it's going to be a great PURSE period. You can pull up the handles to make it more of a shoulder bag or keep it as a "hand" bag. And our Knitsters group is having a "notions" exchange in February. What a great idea - first of all, to wait till after the holidays and do something in February, which is usually the slow month for us all, and kind of grim weather-wise. And notions? Who doesn't need another tape measure, stitch markers, etc.? The bag is probably my biggest indulgence (well, except for that silk yarn in my stash...). Once in a while, you get to a point where knitting out of a recyclable grocery bag just doesn't cut it.

It's Old Enough to be Vintage...

OK, so I take a while to finish a project. This pillow was done in crewel work - by me - in the late 70s. I was never sure what I was going to do with it, so I stuck it in a box.

Needless to say, I used a metal hoop, and it's been through at least 4 moves. It's amazing I still have it!!

And I finally finished it into a pillow. It's not pretty, but I figure at this advanced age, I can claim "vintage."

It's sitting on my favorite chair, the one where I normally do my knitting, etc. I may end up putting it on the bed because even though that's "my" chair, Kid @2 and I share it! But he can't have my vintage pillow!