Fighting the American Taliban

The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords has both galvanized the nation and sent us all scurrying back to our respective camps. 

I am disgusted and saddened with both the whole event and the lack of intellectual integrity I believe being shown by certain folks regarding this matter and would like to make a few observations.


Don't tell me that the shooter is a liberal lunatic because he read the Communist Manifesto in high school. I was weaned in the civil rights movement and the sixties and in fifty plus years have known maybe one liberal who pronounced himself a communist. He happened to live in Israel. Now you republicans might identify liberals as marxists or communists but I have got news for you, we liberals don't and except in very rare cases, never have.


It is a fact that since the sixties, when you had a few depraved acts by the SLA and the Weathermen, political violence has been almost exclusively the province of the right wing. Scott Roeder, the killer of George Tiller, the bomber Eric Rudolph, Tim McVeigh. The Alan Berg killing. A host of other shooters and bombers of abortion doctors and clinics.


I was on my conservative friend's website and was told that the right would take responsibility for Loughner when the left took responsibility for Major Hassan and the 9/11 terrorists. And it is really the most nonsensical sequitur since both of these perpetrators were fundamentalist ideologues. Who most resemble what group in this country? Bingo! Conservative evangelicals. I would like to think that the supposed relationship between the left and islamist terrorists was made as just a big fuck you but I think that these people are unfortunately very serious. The left hasn't made a violent stand in this country since the Wobblies way back when. Unless you think that the innocent victims at Kent State were violent in some way. They died violently, for certain.


Now we get into the ridiculous argument trying to decide if Sarah Palin's gunsights were really gunsights and you know I will lean with Gabrielle Giffords on this one because she made a point of complaining about them and trying to ratchet down the climate of fear in Arizona prior to being shot. I think that she has amply paid to get the last word. It scared her. Let's give her this one.


And I know that it is counterintuitive but can you explain to me why an angry liberal would want to go kill another liberal again? Or does that just strike at the root of our perfidy? Now the story is over the shooter's alleged pot use, oh and the high school classmate who said that he was once left wing. Guess he shouldn't have gone to the other side, never killed anyone when he was on the left side now, did he?


I have written a bit lately on linguistics and the meaning of words and the manipulation of language. George Lakoff's seminal work on framing. And I firmly believe that the hateful words uttered by the teapartyistas these last few years are akin to pouring gasoline on the floor and waiting for somebody to drop a cigarette butt. Like manchurian candidates waiting for a signal to go off. And that the promulgators of hate are totally responsible when these weaker, sicker minds hear the pavlovian signal and all hell breaks loose. Because these people knew exactly what they were doing.


Arizona has been the epicenter of hate in this country for the past several years. The militia movement. The completely excessive reaction to illegal immigration, contrast it to California's. We may not like it here but we don't hate them. We understand them and their desire to find work. We aren't going to stop and i.d. you if you've got brown skin or outlaw spanish or restrict the teaching of hispanic studies or paint over murals of black people or do a Barney Fife impression and have our deputies shoot themselves in a fitful expression of our ire against the visitors from the south. We don't make our inmates sing for their supper or eat spoiled meat. Arizona, one of three states in the Union where you can carry a firearm without a permit. Where the hell were all the tough heroes with guns to shoot this guy down anyway? I thought that you were all armed?


Of course as Rand Paul said today, guns don't kill people - criminals kill people. Right. But also angry family members kill people, insane psychopaths kill people and a host of other people that don't even approach criminal until the evil deed is done.


I read a very interesting article by Mark Potok of SPLC today which I will link to and reprint:

Is Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged mass murderer who shot U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, a right-wing extremist?

It’s hard to say. When you look at the Internet material he purportedly produced, the first impression you get is that the 22-year-old now in custody for the shooting of 20 people in Tucson was completely out of his mind, or at least mildly deranged. His writings will be virtually impossible for most people to understand, what with his runs of unexplained numbers, his fondness for weird syllogisms, his mysterious references and his apparent semi-literacy.

That said, there are some clues.

At one point, Loughner refers disparagingly to “currency that’s not backed by gold or silver.” The idea that silver and gold are the only “constitutional” money is widespread in the antigovernment “Patriot” movement that produced so much violence in the 1990s. It’s linked to the core Patriot theory that the Federal Reserve is actually a private corporation run for the benefit of unnamed international bankers. So-called Patriots say paper money — what they refer to with a sneer as “Federal Reserve notes” — is not lawful.

At another, Loughner makes extraordinarily obscure comments about language and grammar, suggesting that the government engages in “mind control on the people by controlling grammar.” That’s not the kind of idea that’s very common out there, even on the Internet. In fact, I think it’s pretty clear that Loughner is taking ideas from Patriot conspiracy theorist David Wynn Miller of Milwaukee. Miller claims that the government uses grammar to “enslave” Americans and offers up his truly weird “Truth-language” as an antidote. For example, he says that if you add colons and hyphens to your name in a certain way, you are no longer taxable. Miller may be mad as a hatter, but he has a real following on the right.

Loughner talks about how you “can’t trust the government” and someone burns a U.S. flag in one of the videos attributed to him. Although certain right-wing websites are already using that (and his listing of The Communist Manifesto as one of his favorite books) to claim that Loughner was a “left-winger,” that does not strike me as true. The main enemy of the Patriot movement is certainly the federal government. And so-called Patriots have certainly engaged in acts like burning the flag.

Finally, I think Loughner’s reading list, although it included children’s books and a few classics, had an underlying theme — the individual versus the totalitarian state. Certainly, that’s the explicit central theme of Ayn Rand’s We the Living and Orwell’s1984 and Animal Farm, among others.  I would argue that that’s the way Loughlin seems to be reading The Communist Manifestoand Hitler’s Mein Kampf — as variants of a kind of generalized “smash the state” attitude.

Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, which does similar work to that of Hatewatch, points out in a post earlier today that Loughner also makes a reference to a “second American constitution.” As Chip notes, that is commonly understood to refer to the Reconstruction amendments that freed the slaves and gave them citizenship, among other things. Chip says that “raises the question of a possible racist and anti-immigrant tie” in the Arizona shooting.

On top of that, Fox News is reporting on an internal Department of Homeland Security message suggesting some tie between Loughner and American Renaissance, a kind of white-collar racist group.

I can’t speak to those allegations, although a federal official in a position to know gave me some details that made it clear the alleged link to American Renaissance appears very weak. Outside of what Chip pointed out, I didn’t see anything that suggested racial, anti-Semitic or anti-immigrant animus in Loughner’s writings. Certainly, there’s nothing I saw at all reminiscent of American Renaissance, which focuses heavily on the alleged intellectual and psychological inferiority of black people.

At this early stage, I think Loughner is probably best described as a mentally ill or unstable person who was influenced by the rhetoric and demonizing propaganda around him. Ideology may not explain why he allegedly killed, but it could help explain how he selected his target.

One thing that seems clear is that Giffords, who was terribly wounded but survived, was the nearest and most obvious representative of “the government” that Loughner could find. Another is that he likely absorbed some of his anger from the vitriolic political atmosphere in the United States in general and Arizona in particular. Perhaps no one made that point better than Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, speaking to a press conference yesterday. “When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government… The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”

Potok makes some pretty strong points for Loughner being a disciple of David Miller. The shooter's infatuation with grammar, the second American constitution, the need to go back to silver and gold. The nexus to the American Renaissance group is more tenuous, being primarily an anti immigration, white identity movement. But Loughner did kill a judge at the forefront of the immigration battle and he did purportedly call out his victims' names during the shooting, so perhaps there is a link.

The other thing I am hearing from the right is that nasty liberal people were calling for George Bush's assassination, making movies about it and you never heard a squawk from them. And you know I can never remember anyone calling for Bush's death. Cheney, maybe. That the Daily Kos showed targets. And you know we are required to read that every day, right. To hear the clarion call of our communist masters. Never had any use for the Daily Koz myself. Never was required to take any oath. So stop telling me that there is a case of moral equivalence. We haven't threatened to take the country down.

We are the love and peace crowd remember? We wear the Birkenstock's, you wear the Florsheim Imperials. I can recite a lot of seditious, bloodthirsty language from the tea party members and politicians over the last several years. Stuff on the order of the Sharron Angle comment. Second Amendment remedies. Watering the liberty tree with a little blood. Taking back the country, by force if necessary. Hopefully it will be your own blood and you will spare the rest of us. 

He may be a seemingly non aligned, deranged psychotic but you gave him the matches. The angry, violent vitriol from the right is well documented over the last several years. It is a matter of record. You need to own the bad apples. You fed them.

"if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies. ...

Sharron Angle

Guns are neat little things, aren't they? They can kill extraordinary people with very little effort. 
John W. Hinckley, Jr.

"The thing is, the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. When people do that, they've got to realize there's consequences to that action."

Gabrielle Giffords

"Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"

Sarah Palin Twitter Message

Practicing the art of eating very well

Last night Leslie and I were treated to a wonderful meal at the home of my trainer Jeaneane and her husband John Columbero.

John is a really talented chef who is considering opening his own gourmet restaurant. I hope that he does because his food is always incredibly tasty and sophisticated.

We brought over a 2007 Gary Farrell Pinot Noir from the Russian River that we had been waiting for just the right opportunity to open. John served his appetizer. Prosciutto wrapped pear with Maytag blue cheese, stuck on a skewer and scorched with a torch. Unreal. The Farrell had a gorgeous raspberry color and a sweet taste to match. A bit front of the mouth, sort of jammy, but consistent, no strange overtones and a pleasure to drink.

The meal was really something. We were treated to roasted beef tenderloin with John's special coffee rub. He sells his rubs to a few select people and has really developed the art. I had never had a coffee rub before and it was an intense shock to my palate, especially when activated with a little au jus. Rich and flavorful, it gave the beef a gorgeous dark crust. We used to buy a special marinated steak in the Stanford area called Fred's Steaks and this sort of reminded me of that. Could not have been more perfectly cooked.

The beef was accompanied by the best dish of scalloped potatoes I have ever eaten, with black truffle and cooked in a bit of duck fat. The vegetable course was superb, snow peas with benobi mushrooms, pistachios and prosciutto.

We had several more bottles from their collection, a Mark & David Cabernet Franc that was outrageous and possessed a deep beautiful color. Also a Orin Smith Meritage that Leslie loved and that I can't frankly quite remember.

We talked well into the evening, and had a delightful time sharing each other's company. We drank our water out of italian crystal from John's grandmother that was 100 years old. A lovely table.

For dessert John broke out a special bottle of aged Chandon Brandy and cupcakes by the Truly Madly Sweetly Cupcake Company - red velvet, boston cream pie, margarita and dark chocolate. We finally collected ourselves and went home, very content after a great meal.

We were supposed to get up at 3:30 in the morning and go to the Rose Bowl but we just said no way when the alarm went off after an evening like we had. Many thanks to our hosts and great friends.

BLIND BLAKE

Arizona again

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot and gravely wounded today. She was shot point blank in the head by a man named Jared Laughner. The shooter was young, mid-to-late 20s, white, clean-shaven with short hair and wearing dark clothing and said nothing during the shooting or while being held down.

Laughner apparently shot Giffords and 17 others at a public event at a Safeway grocery store in Tucscon. He reportedly shot the congresswoman "point blank" in the head and may have come from inside the store. After shooting Giffords, he allegedly fired 20-30 rounds and hit "a number of people," including a child. He attempted to flee after running out of ammunition and was tackled by one of Giffords' staffers. Early reports are that an aide and a Federal Judge John Roll were also killed in the shooting as well as four more people including a 9 year old child.

Giffords had been on Sarah Palin's "target list." Once again we see that words have meaning. I talked to a conservative friend about the incident this morning and he cautioned me that the shooter was a nut and should not be called a tea-partier. We don't really no his make up yet. But one of his favorite books was Mein Kampf according to his myspace page. Go figure. You go to bed with dogs, you unfortunately wake up with fleas.  Stoke the fires of racism and violence and we all face the consequences. The conservative fringe needs to do a little soul searching. Of course they will all loudly decry the shootings. But will they partake of any serious self inspection as to the role their actions and rhetoric may have contributed to the angry climate?

Such a terrible tragedy. One target down, Sarah.

***

I read today that Arizona has now passed a law outlying Hispanic Studies in its schools.

From the NYT:

“It’s propagandizing and brainwashing that’s going on there,” Tom Horne, Arizona’s newly elected attorney general, said this week as he officially declared the program in violation of a state law that went into effect on Jan. 1. 

Black and Asian studies have not been touched. Horne wrote the law aimed at challenging Tucson’s ethnic-studies program. The measure was passed last spring, and Gov. Jan Brewer signed it into law in May amid fierce protests.

"The Arizona law warns school districts that they stand to lose 10 percent of their state education funds if their ethnic-studies programs are found not to comply with new state standards. Programs that promote the overthrow of the United States government are explicitly banned, and that includes the suggestion that portions of the Southwest that were once part of Mexico should be returned to that country. Also prohibited is any promotion of resentment toward a race. Programs that are primarily for one race or that advocate ethnic solidarity instead of individuality are also outlawed. "


Horne said the district’s other ethnic-studies programs, unlike the Mexican-American program, had not received complaints and could continue.

***
After I read this story this morning and now with the shooting episode I think back to last week when the Pakistani lawmaker, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was shot down by his own bodyguard. He had brooked the religious establishment in fighting their ridiculous anti blasphemy laws. His assassin's supporters threw rose petals as his armoured vehicle passed by with him in custody. I wonder if Laughner will get similar treatment in Arizona?

Machine Gun Kelly

Wake of the Flood

With falling blackbirds and starlings leaving a lasting impression on my psyche this week, I decided to do a bit of research on the raven or crow in relation to various cultures, folk tales and mythologies. My first stop was the old testament.

"Our Rabbis taught: Three copulated in the ark, and they were all punished—the dog, the raven, and Ham. The dog was doomed to be tied, the raven expectorates [his seed into his mate's mouth], and Ham was smitten in his skin." {Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 108b}

So if I am reading this right, the raven was the first animal nailed for having illicit sex and oral sex to boot. Interesting.

"And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. He sent out the raven, and it kept going and returning until the drying of the waters from upon the earth. And he sent out the dove from him to see whether the water had subsided from the face of the ground." (Genesis 8:6-8). 

From the Torah from Dixie website: Rashi, the preeminent Torah commentator, explains that initially, Noah was intent on sending the raven to search for dry land. However, the raven was hovering around the ark instead. Why did it refuse to go on the expedition? According to the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 108b), the raven refused to go because it was concerned for the preservation of its species. It challenged Noah along these lines: "I am hated because seven of the clean species were taken in the ark, while only two of the unclean (of which the raven is considered; see Leviticus 11:15.) were granted refuge. Yet you choose to send me out!" It reasoned that were harm to come to it during a reconnaissance flight, there would only be the female left of its kind. (According to the Maharal of Prague, one of the seminal figures of Jewish thought of the last five centuries, Noah did not actually speak with the raven, rather he intuited from the raven’s refusal to leave that it was instinctively concerned for the preservation of its kind.)

The Talmud states that the raven gave a second reason for refusing to go: "Or perhaps you need my wife!" To which Noah replied, "Wicked one! Relations with my wife are forbidden in the ark, all the moreso with a female of a prohibited species!"

Which might be the first biblical suggestion of a little inter special hokey pokey.

Dixie goes on: The Ohr Hachaim, the classic 18th century Kabbalist and Talmudic scholar, explains that those who accuse someone of a blemish, possess that blemish themselves. Thus, Noah inferred from the raven’s accusation that it had had relations with its mate while on the ark, something that all creatures were forbidden to engage in during the flood (see Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 108b). Because of this indiscretion, Noah wasn’t sending the raven on any mission, rather he was kicking it off the boat! This explanation comports with the Torah’s reference to the dove’s actually searching for dry land, while no such reason is proffered for the raven’s departure. The Torah further relates that Noah took the dove back in, but no similar action is stated concerning the raven. Apparently, it was evicted from the ark for bad behavior!

According to a fascinating midrash, Noah answers the raven’s concern for self-preservation by castigating it, saying that it serves no purpose, and is therefore expendable. However, G-d interjects and remonstrates Noah that indeed, the raven does have a purpose--it was prepared for another mission, during the days of Elijah the prophet. To reproach the people and their wicked King Ahab, Elijah decreed a drought upon the land, whereupon no rain fell. G-d instructs Elijah to journey to the desert: "It shall be that you will drink from the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to supply you with food there." Thereafter, ravens brought Elijah nourishment. (I Kings 17:4-6).

This, then, is the meaning of the Torah’s statement that Noah’s raven "kept going and returning until the drying of the waters." The raven’s calling was ultimately fulfilled when the rains "dried up" during Elijah’s era.

But why was it crucial that ravens were sent to assist Elijah? Our tradition informs us that the raven is an intrinsically unkind creature. According to the Be’er HaTorah, a classic commentary, it would not have been in consonance with its nature for the raven to announce good tidings to the ark’s inhabitants that the flood waters had receded. However, it would be entirely appropriate for the raven to facilitate Elijah’s bringing a famine to the people by sustaining him. Thus, cruel creatures assisted in Elijah’s "cruelty".

The Yalkut Lekach Tov, a contemporary digest of insights on the weekly Torah portion, offers a different explanation as to why ravens were Elijah’s sustainers. There are two possible reactions toward one who sins: (1) destroy him (this was Noah’s approach in kicking out the raven) or (2) win him over. The Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 37a) describes how Rabbi Zeira went out of his way to champion the cause of a group of ruffians, befriending them in order to get them to change their ways. These lowlifes were basically dismissed by the community, but the rabbi was their advocate, praying for mercy on their behalf. When he died, they mourned him exceedingly and repented.

Elijah didn’t utilize this approach. Instead, he exhibited a more stringent posture toward the people. Hashem arranged it so that the "cruel" ravens would come to Elijah’s rescue. Elijah would be able to take note that even "wicked" creatures can do good, reasoning that if ravens could provide help to another, surely there is good within the sinners of the Jewish people. If the raven could be compassionate, all the moreso should he be compassionate. Only the raven could powerfully demonstrate to Elijah the importance of being merciful towards the wicked. Hence, the raven is Hashem’s tool for rebuking the prophet and hinting to him to "lighten up" on the people. 

The raven felt that because it was in the "unclean" group it had been wrongly singled out for its insignificance. For its moral shortcomings Noah was willing to expel it from the ark. Whether in dealings with family, friends, teachers, students, and even strangers, we need to recognize that everybody has a purpose. We are not to summarily dismiss those who don’t meet our expectations. We don’t kick them out of the boat. The raven teaches us to be merciful, patient, and forgiving toward others. Even if they do wrong, we must love them, reach out to them, and be compassionate to them. Everybody is important. The raven reminds us of the famous saying of our sages (Ethics of Our Fathers 4:3): "Do not be scornful of any person, and do not be disdainful of any thing, for you have no person without his hour and you have no thing without its place."

***

From the Bible Encyclopedia:

In Job 38:41, we have this mention of the raven,

"Who provideth for the raven his prey,

When his young ones cry unto God,

And wander for lack of food?"

The answer to this question is in Ps 147:9:

"He giveth to the beast his food,

And to the young ravens which cry."

Both these quotations point out the fact that the young are peculiarly noisy. In Prov 30:17 it is indicated that the ravens, as well as eagles, vultures and hawks, found the eye of prey the vulnerable point, and so attacked it first. The Hebrew `orebh means "black," and for this reason was applied to the raven, so the reference to the locks of the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon becomes clear (Song 5:11). The raven is one of the birds indicated to prey upon the ruins of Edom (Isa 34:11). The last reference is found in Lk 12:24: "Consider the ravens, that they sow not, neither reap; which have no store-chamber nor barn; and God feedeth them." 

***

The Raven in the Quran:

Surah 5:27-31

[27] Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold! they each presented a sacrifice (to Allah): it was accepted from one, but not from the other. Said the latter: "Be sure I will slay thee." "Surely," said the former, "Allah doth accept of the sacrifice of those who are righteous.

[28] "If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds.

[29] "For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the Companions of the Fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong."

[30] The (selfish) soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became (himself) one of the lost ones.

[31] Then Allah sent a raven, who scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. "Woe is me!" said he; "Was I not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother?" Then he became full of regrets.

***

A raven's tale from British Columbia:

    Long ago, near the beginning of the world, Gray Eagle was the guardian of the Sun, Moon and Stars, of fresh water, and of fire. Gray Eagle hated people so much that he kept these things hidden. People lived in darkness, without fire and without fresh water.

    Gray Eagle had a beautiful daughter, and Raven fell in love with her. In the beginning, Raven was a snow-white bird, and as a such, he pleased Gray Eagle's daughter. She invited him to her father's longhouse.

    When Raven saw the Sun, Moon and stars, and fresh water hanging on the sides of Eagle's lodge, he knew what he should do. He watched for his chance to seize them when no one was looking. He stole all of them, and a brand of fire also, and flew out of the longhouse through the smoke hole. As soon as Raven got outside he hung the Sun up in the sky. It made so much light that he was able to fly far out to an island in the middle of the ocean. When the Sun set, he fastened the Moon up in the sky and hung the stars around in different places. By this new light he kept on flying, carrying with him the fresh water and the brand of fire he had stolen.

    He flew back over the land. When he had reached the right place, he dropped all the water he had stolen. It fell to the ground and there became the source of all the fresh-water streams and lakes in the world. Then Raven flew on, holding the brand of fire in his bill. The smoke from the fire blew back over his white feathers and made them black. When his bill began to burn, he had to drop the firebrand. It struck rocks and hid itself within them. That is why, if you strike two stones together, sparks of fire will drop out.

    Raven's feathers never became white again after they were blackened by the smoke from the firebrand. That is why Raven is now a black bird. 

***

In Norse mythology Odin had the two ravens Huginn and Muninn sitting on either shoulder, serving as his eyes and ears - Huginn being referred to as thought and Muninn as memory. Every day the ravens fly out from Hliðskjálf and bring Odin news from Midgard.

***

In the flood story of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian myth which predates the bible, Utnapishtim releases a dove and a raven to find land, however, the dove merely circles and returns. Only then does Utnapishtim send forth the raven, who does not return. Utnapishtim extrapolates from this that the raven has found land, which is why it hasn't returned.

***

From Wicki: According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, in classical Greek mythology, when the crow told the god Apollo that his lover Coronis was cheating on him with a mortal, he became very angry, and part of that anger was directed at the crow, whose feathers he turned from white to black.

In Hinduism, it is believed that people who died will take food and offerings through a variety of crows called "Bali kākka". Every year people whose parents or relatives died will offer food to crows as well as cows on the Śrāddha day. A battle between crows and owls is said to have inspired the final bloody night of the Mahabarata war.

In the Story of Bhusunda, a chapter of the Yoga Vasistha, a very old sage in the form of a crow, Bhusunda, recalls a succession of epochs in the earth's history, as described in Hindu cosmology. He survived several destructions, living on a wish-fulfilling tree on Mount Meru.

In Buddhism, the Dharmapala (protector of the Dharma) Mahakala is represented by a crow in one of his physical/earthly forms. Avalokiteśvara/Chenrezig, who is reincarnated on Earth as the Dalai Lama, is often closely associated with the crow because it is said that when the first Dalai Lama was born, robbers attacked the family home. The parents fled and were unable to get to the infant Lama in time. When they returned the next morning expecting the worst, they found their home untouched, and a pair of crows were caring for the Dalai Lama. It is believed that crows heralded the birth of the First, Seventh, Eighth, Twelfth and Fourteenth Lamas, the latter being the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. Crows are mentioned often in Buddhism, especially Tibetan disciplines.

In Chinese mythology, the world originally had ten suns embodied as ten crows, which rose in the sky one at a time. When all ten decided to rise at once, the effect was devastating to crops, so the gods sent their greatest archer Houyi, who shot down nine crows and spared only one. Having a "crow beak" is a symbolic expression that one is being a jinx.

In Korean mythology, it is known as Samjokgo (hangul: 삼족오; hanja: 三足烏). During the period of the Goguryeo Kingdom, the Samjokgo was a highly regarded symbol of power, thought superior to both the dragon and the Korean phoenix.

The three-legged bird was one of several emblems under consideration to replace the phoenix in the Korean seal of state when its revision was considered in 2008. The Samjogo is considered a symbol of Goguryeo(or Koguryo).

***

Raven was a trickster in Pacific Northwest Native American lore. He was a lover of chaos, a shape changer and a glutton and was constantly being thwarted by Mouse Woman. She always sought to restore order and maintain balance.

***

Carlos Castaneda turned himself into a crow after smoking the sacred datura in the Don Juan books.

***

I read something interesting about the Raven and Crow being referred to as twilight animals. Claude Lévi-Strauss, the French anthropologist, proposed a structuralist theory that suggests that Coyote and Crow obtained mythic status because they are mediator animals between life and death.

flying fish

Birds drop out of the sky. Fish jumping out of the sea. Cats chasing dogs. If this ain't a sign of end times ladies and gentlemen, you just got another thing coming. Better get your affairs in order right now cause the good lord gonna be taking names. Real soon.

I've looked into these bizarre global goings on and queried a few friends and associates in hopes of divining a clue.

BigDave thinks it's all an elaborate production for a new NBC series. My wife thinks the government is up to its tricks and not telling us about something. Like EMP or a death ray maybe.

I personally like to think that the birds and the bees and the fishes and the fleas maybe got together and decided to stage mass suicides as a protest of man's wayward stewardship of his appointed dominion.

The blog commenters, even on liberal websites like HuffPo, are atwitter with apocalyptic warnings of imminent armageddon and biblical last judgements.

But the U.S. Geologic Survey, which has tracked such events since the 1970's said that the die-offs are running about true to form. In fact we average almost one every other day, in fact 163 per year. They say that there have been at least 95 in the last eight months and that that in itself is probably a major undercount. Turkey vultures, salamanders, ducks, bats, a whole host of creatures have undergone instantaneous seppuku in the last year.

The difference they say is that people are starting to pay attention. All this internet and what have you. Not to say that we aren't totally screwing things up.

***

I am starting to hate politics. From the left or the right. This president has more marijuana arrests on his watch than his predecessor, over 850,000 per year. He expanded Bush Administration warrant less wiretapping.  He keeps sending our young men to support a corrupt government in Afghanistan and die in a useless war. While we financially support the real criminals next door, in Pakistan. As my friend Dave said, it's a closed system. The politicians get in power and get totally institutionalized and forget everything they promised you.

The only people I can't stand more than the extreme right are maybe the extreme left. Wade over to AlterNet in your tall rubber boots. I was checking it out today and these liberals were trying to justify and legitimize the bombing of the World Trade Center because of poor treatment of muslims around the world. And Chomsky, the holocaust denying, self loathing, never met a jew I couldn't blame, mumzer was blaming all the world's ills on the Zionist aggressor and their American accomplice. The guy who thinks Iran is such a swell country. And another beauty, Amy Goodman, complaining that we are torturing poor Bradley Manning, a guy who is lucky to still be alive and who in my opinion has genuinely imperiled the lives of many people.

I certainly do not fit the bill as a lockstep liberal. I am pro capital punishment. I do not believe that people who enter this country knowingly and illegally should ever be allowed to legally immigrate and obtain citizenship. I don't think that it is fair that they tax our schools, hospitals and social services, no matter what offsets they may contribute.

I feel that unions have contributed greatly to the financial problems in my state, from Gray Davis kowtowing to the prison guards to the financial mess of cities like Vallejo and San Diego with their bloated pensions to public employees. In my little town, the fireman's union has been against hiring for two new recommended positions, because the firemen don't want to lose any overtime pay.

I am all for outlawing anchor babies. But make it retroactive to the time the europeans first set foot on our shores.

I am pro gun. Own several. Anti assault weapon.

I think that the President screwed Main St. and gave his buddies on Wall St. like Goldman Sachs a get out of jail free card and a taxpayer funded free ride.

I think that the middle class and small business is over regulated. A hawaiian restaurant in my town, now deceased, was told it would have to pay for a $450,000 traffic study in order to have two outside tables.

I think that affirmative action has run its course. I saw vietnamese boat people speaking no english become class valedictorians after five years at UCSD. You couldn't get them out of the library. With no affirmative action, no special privileges.

With Blue Shield announcing yesterday that it was raising its premiums 59 percent, I think one can reasonably ask if health care reform was not in fact an ill conceived boondoggle.

I can't stand leftist anarchists who think that all information should be free and that America is so intrinsically corrupt that the entire body of our diplomatic corps private communications should be exposed to the world no matter what sources are potentially jeopardized by the information.

I think that we need to means test social security and stop double and triple dipping by retired public employees. Because soon there will be nothing left for anyone.

There are probably a bunch of other reasons I don't see eye to eye with the far left. The Hugo Chavez loving Oliver Stones and Sean Penn's of the world. The Naomi Klein jew hating faction. People I loathe and despise. And yet maybe they don't hold a candle to the assholes on the right?

Today Michelle Bachmann listed her proposed spending cuts.

Abolish the Department of Education.
Abolish the FAA.
Defund Planned Parenthood and aid for abortions.
Privatize TSA and Amtrak.
Eliminate Homeland Security payments to states, make them fund their own programs.
Reduce National Science Foundation funding.

Privatize or get rid of the FAA? Are you serious? Can you imagine the shit we would be in? Let the stated handle Homeland Security responsibilities? I really don't think so. Other conservatives of late have called for killing the EPA, FDA, Dep. of Energy, the weakening of food safety legislation, more drilling, coal mining, less environmental regulation, dirty air, kill consumer protection, fund unnecessary defense programs, the list goes on and on. Kill anything that gets in the way of the big corporations raking in more dough.

I had a fellow in the shop yesterday who told me he hated the blog and hated my politics. Rich guy. I told him I didn't think much of his either. But the reality is both sides suck, the center is no man's land and there is little room for nuance in our discussion. A pox on both of their houses. Dirty stinking politicians.

I am a man without a party or possibly a country. With a little luck maybe I get wacked by one of those big dead fish falling out of the sky.

Good Pub

It was a good day for the blog and the bob. Got picked up by Crooks and Liars and didn't have to even ask. Hits from all over all day. Thanks Mike. Great two page article on yours truly in Collector Magazine this month called Art Sleuth. Thanks, Frank.

***

One of my favorite stories, one that first appeared on the Blast  titled "A cup of Joe" was published today in Kit Bacon Gressitt's "Coyotes Howl in Fallbrook" online anthology amongst some pretty serious writer folk. Gulp. Thank you Kit Bacon.

Chain Gang Blues

Same old.

"We will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone." GOP - Pledge to America

The new congress has been installed and it appears to be serving up the same old crap. The 100 billion dollar budget savings has already shrunk to about 30 billion. New rules that new bills must be balanced with reciprocal reductions in spending have been emasculated by several exceptions the repubs have granted themselves, including those concerning tax cuts and repeal of the Health Care Bill, which the CBO forecasts will add about 230 billion more dollars of debt.

"We will let any lawmaker – Democrat or Republican – offer amendments to reduce spending," the pledge said. "House Democrats have relied heavily on what are known as `martial law' procedures during the current Congress, particularly provisions that allow them to bring any bill to the floor with little or no notice and deny Republican members of Congress or even factions of their own party their right to debate and offer amendments or substitutes for consideration or vote."

The new pledges for "transparency" also ring hollow, since new majority leader John Boehner says that the transparency will be applied at his discretion. Because of this the Health Care Repeal will not be allowed any amendments on the House floor.  Republicans say it deserves an up or down vote.

"I promised a more open process," Boehner said. "I didn't promise that every single bill was going to be an open bill."


Today the House Republicans are doing a bit of grandstanding and reading the Constitution, a process estimated to cost about 1.1 million dollars in U.S. taxpayer money. Well reading most of it anyway, except the part about a black slave being worth 3/5ths of a real person. Or the 18th amendment, which banned the manufacture or sale of alcohol.


***
In other news House Republicans blocked a proposal by Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) that would have required all members to disclose whether they are taking advantage of their federal health insurance plan within 15 days of taking the oath of office.


***
I think that it might be a short honeymoon.

Fu

morning fog, santa margarita river

24 - Return - Fu - The Turning Point

the trigram above – K’UN – the Receptive, Earth

the trigram below – CHEN – the Arousing, Thunder

Thunder within the earth:
The image of THE TURNING POINT.
Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes
At the time of solstice.
Merchants and strangers did not go about,
And the ruler
Did not travel through the provinces.
The winter solstice has always been celebrated in China as the resting time of the year – a custom that survives in the time of rest observed at the new year. In winter the life energy, symbolized by thunder, the Arousing, is still underground. Movement is just at its beginning; therefore it must be strengthened by rest, so that it will not be dissipated by being used prematurely. This principle, i.e., of allowing energy that is renewing itself to be reinforced by rest, applies to all similar situations. The return of health after illness, the return of understanding after an estrangement: everything must be treated tenderly and with care at the beginning, so that the return may lead to a flowering.

Wilhelm edition - I Ching, Translated by Cary Baynes
***

I have to admit that my brain feels a bit fried. My last literary push of 2010 has sort of drained my batteries. Frankly I am a bit sick of my own voice. I think that I will tip toe into the new year and sort of see what happens... Any of you that want to contribute, please feel free, expect my own output to be a bit spotty. I know, I have said that before...

Soul Sisters

Domingo, Mission San Luis Rey

All of this holiday eating and feasting is not exactly helping my waist line. It seems like the last two months have been one long running sybaritic orgy of gluttony. We decided to get some exercise and walk on the beach today.

After joining Reneé for a lovely mexican brunch (butterflied shrimp in garlic, tortillas, rice and beans), we started driving to the ocean. By the way Reneé let me know that she was no longer sore at me for putting soap in her prized cast iron pot. Nor for getting duck fat all over her range. She followed me around her kitchen like a hawk, holding a pan under me at every opportunity, so that I would not destroy her kitchen with my carelessness. She also told me how delicious the duck fat cracklings were that we cooked down in the pan. I think that I will do a goose next time and refine my craft. Glad that Reneé is so good natured.

Leslie decided to call our friend Corrie en route to the coast. Corrie runs the San Luis Rey Mission gift shop and is one of my favorite people in the world. Corrie lost a dear friend recently, Franciscan brother Kelly Cullen. Kelly died of an aneurysm while in Rome in November. He was a tireless worker for the downtrodden, both in Oceanside and in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco where he worked on housing the poor for many years. He touched the lives of a lot of people in a most positive way in his short 57 years.

I met Kelly several times and he came to my fiftieth birthday party. A very charming man. He will be really missed.

Corrie introduced me to Father David, the new head of the Mission. I really liked him. David came to the mission recently after a long period doing his work in Kazakhstan, near the Chinese border. Corrie told David that I liked to take photographs and he gave me permission to take shots in the chapel and gave us a cook's tour of the whole place.

He pointed out a lot of the great prized paintings in the church's possession and showed me figures of various saints, some that are not of the same period or quality as the others and might be replaced someday if the Mission has the money. I told him that I would keep my eyes open as I occasionally run into such things in Santa Fe. I love the mission and jokingly told him that he would be doubly blessed for having two jews there in one morning. Even called him Dave and gave him a playful pat on the shoulder. I hope to see him again.

After we left the church I walked into the graveyard and took pictures of some of the old gravestones, some dating to the early 19th century. There is even a large mass indian grave. A certain area of the mission grounds is roped off for a future archaeology project.

We said our goodbyes and drove to the coast when it started to rain. Leslie and I shifted into plan b, going to the store and getting a bottle of domestic Mumms, M Cuvee. We stopped by Ron and Lena's. Ron and Lena have been my friends for over thirty years. She said something that made me feel funny, talking about all the food on my blog lately, half jokingly making a statement that I was turning into a bit of a snob.

My degenerate ways of late came flooding past me like a tidal wave - truffles, caviar, duck, Veuve Cliquot, my god, she is right, I have turned into a frigging foodie snob. How can I cry about my destitute lot in life when I am dining like a crazed gourmand at a food orgy who is channeling James Beard? And to top it all off, we have reservations at the French Laundry at the beginning of next month. Egads, am I really that bad?

Don't they realize I would be just as happy with a double chili cheese at Tommy's? The perfect buck fifty carnitas taco at Bull taco? Guess I might as well enjoy the ride while it lasts.

We met the neighborhood cat, Stewie who fell asleep on my chest and was just a great kitty. Watched a little football. Never cleared up, never stopped raining, never got my walk at the beach in. Our old friend Ralph stopped by and joined us for dinner. We hadn't seen him for ages and it was nice to reconnect.

Anyway something funny happened. Lena made us dinner. Not just any dinner. A serious gourmet "blog" dinner. Tiger prawns sautéed in garlic and shallots, covered with basil, served on top of a risotto with asparagus, parmesan and saffron. Beautiful pine green spanish olives. Sauvignon Blanc. Totally top shelf. She accompanied the gorgeous dinner with a special Okinawan Soju, a rice spirit with added mold, something on the order of botrytis. Leslie stuck cucumbers in the drink and says it was amazing. Almost melon flavored.They also showed us a thirty year bottle of Sauza. I was driving in the rain and did very little drinking all night but intend to go back for a rain check with the tequila. I go to people's houses now and I am getting their a game. Even lifelong friends. Wow.

I took pictures but said that I was getting a bad reputation for all this fancy eating on the blog and that I couldn't possibly write about food again, especially so soon after the New Years gorge but she told me I had to post it so I will.  Against my better judgement. But it was a fantastic feast so what the hell. Anyone that wants to invite me to dinner at any time the rest of the month please email me with a prospective menu and I will look at the calendar. Will give your meal a lot of serious cyberlove. 

Bill LeMaster's Picks

New Years Blast

For over a decade, Leslie and I spent every New Years in Santa Fe, exhibiting at John Morris Winter Antiquities Show.

With that show meeting its unfortunate end, our habit of late has been spending the evening and night together with our friends in Cardiff and Rancho Santa Fe.

This year nothing came together, emails and phone calls went unanswered and we finally decided to just spend a quiet evening together at home.

As luck and fate would have it, there was a last minute flurry and a bunch of my local buddies decided to cobble together a delicious meal at Reneé's. I am really glad that we did! What a way to bring in 2011.

And for the first time in ages, I would don the chef's hat and cook something. I am really not a cook and am frequently banished from my own kitchen, due to some early unfortunate culinary mishaps, but with the new year I decided to whip something up. I prepared an apricot, honey glazed duck with Grand Marnier. Quite good really, a serviceable duck.

The meal came together like this. Brigitte and Morgan started our dinner off with smoked salmon appetizers on pumpernickel topped with creme fraiche and lumpfish caviar. Squeeze of lemon and caper optional.

Leslie brought her signature artichoke tapenade and a delicious salad. She prepared a nice hearty grain mix with quinoa, orzo, lentils and garbanzo to accompany the sweet canard.

This course was followed by Reneé's rotisserie cooked prime rib. She liberated a Farberware rotisserie that she had received as a wedding gift 38 years ago from her garage and the thing is really trick. It gave the prime rib the most incredible crust and crunch. The machine itself is so 60's mod and just does awesome work. Accompanied her entreé with asparagus and yorkshire pudding.

Retha, a daughter of the south, then followed with the best gumbo I have ever tasted. Spicy and sophisticated. Wish I had had the nerve to ask her for some to take home.

Reneé then followed with an ollalaberry clofutti. The breaded topping was lighter than air and I don't think they ever served anything so fine at 21. The berry had the perfect tartness. Extremely classy, but what would you expect?

We drank rich coffee throughout the night that Jim and Janice had brought us from Kona that was both fantastic and also kept us old folks motoring on until midnight.

We washed the whole evening down with liberal quantities of champagne. Doug brought two great reds from his collection, a Papapietro Perry from Lira's Garden and a Nason. We all agreed that it was better to share a wonderful meal like this amongst friends than to eat at the finest restaurant. Many thanks to Renee´for once again opening up her home to us.

Leslie brought out the last of her fireworks stash from New Mexico and we lit off the explosives and squawked in the New Year with our noisemakers. A great meal with great friends, a perfect way to usher in the new year!