Someone Please Send Bush a copy of "Schoolhouse Rock"

Once again, President Bush has demonstrated that the Constitution he vowed to uphold and protect means less than toilet paper to him, and that he feels no law applies to him. Last month, he signed into law a bill which was never passed by the House. The Senate bill he signed varied by 2 BILLION dollars from the House bill that was passed, partially due to a "clerical error." So our Decider in Chief decided that sending the bill back to the House for approval was too dangerous, as it only passed by one tie breaking vote from the Vice President in the first place, and it might not pass again considering the political climate has worsened since then. So he just signed it. Who cares about the law? Or that "piece of paper" Constitution. After all, that was signed in 1787! This is 2006!

The Journal Gazette article confirms that a public watchdog group called Public Citizen has filed a lawsuit to block the law. It also states that most constitutional scholars seem to think it's an open and shut case; Bush's actions were illegal. It's just one more indication of the contempt Bush has for the American People. And still, the scariest part to me is the lack of outrage. The lack of action. How can the American People continue to allow this adminstration to violate our rights and our laws? What toxic ennui has infected us that we can allow this? Okay, we'll get a little upset when we have to pay more for gas, but where is the outrage over the erosion of the fabric of our country? The death of thousands in an illegal war? The pollution of our air and waters and ecosystems? The debt that he is going to pass on to our children? We have got to stop this. It's too important.

And the Procession into Hell continues...

As usual, when the country has a problem, our fearless leader comes up with the exactly wrong response. To answer the high gas prices, President Bush has come up with a plan! And that plan is.... to reduce tax breaks for the oil industry? No. To institute a cap on prices? No. To encourage conservation and alternative fuel research? HA! No, the answer is He Relaxes Environmental Rules, Suspends Oil Reserve Deposits. Once again, the President trashes the planet to save his oil buddies a few bucks. Ok, a whole big shitload of bucks. Thanks, Mr. Pres.

Harry Reid has a Gas Price Petition which of course, has no bite, in that the Republican congress will never allow it to mean anything. But I signed my name, just to have my opinion voiced. I added the following comment:

"While I am willing to pay a fair price for goods and services I use, I feel that the record profits of the oil companies indicate we are being charged far more than is fair. Tax breaks and giveaways to the oil industry in the face of these profits are simply obscene given the impact to the economy of these prices. It must end. Now."

I think about how a gallon of gas is about the same cost as a gallon of milk. Milk is a renewable resource, gas is not. Gas is valuable, no doubt. I understand that a large portion of the price we pay per gallon (especially in California) consists of taxes levied by the state and federal government. I don't even have a problem with that, though I'd like to keep better tabs on how that tax is used. But when the executives of major oil companies continue quarter after quarter to rake in record profits, something is wrong. The price at the pump is passed on to the poor and middle class over and over again, through wholesale increases in price retailers must pay in freight. Everyone spreads the costs around and the buck stops at the average citizen's wallet. It's not right.

And of course, gas prices are such a trivial issue, really, when taken against the horror of Iraq and God forbid, Iran, and the nightmare lives of Katrina victims who have no comfort nine months after the disaster. Our President's failed policies on every level, on every subject, have devastated this country. It will be years before anyone, Democrat or Republican, will be able to get this country back on it's feet, and regain our place in the world.

The Horror Continues

I haven't posted here in quite some time because the reality of the American situation right now is too overwhelming. Anyone interesting my crafting journal can find it at Homespun Dreamings. I decided to split the contents for the fiber arts people who may not be looking for political rants.

I just can NOT understand why or how Americans have allowed this to happen. It astounds me that the President's approval rating is as high as it is. What this man, this Administration has done is so much worse than anything anyone could ever have dreamed. The pundits keep saying Bush is "approaching Nixon's numbers" - Nixon was a poser! Nixon could not have conceived of the crimes Bush has actually committed. He didn't lie, straight faced, over and over and over again on every issue of import to the American people. He didn't violate the oath of office; "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." He didn't destroy the economy, or alienate the entire world against the US, or trash the ecosystem or negate our civil rights. He didn't silence scientific and military experts. He didn't take a record surplus and turn it into a record deficit. Nixon might have manipulated the Vietnam War for his political benefit, but he sure didn't intentionally send thousands of Americans to their death for no better reason than money and power.

It's hard to know the cause of this debacle. Is it simple incompetence? Is it just lust for money and power? Is it some kind of messianic nightmare, trying to bring on the Second Coming? Is he in competition with his father? Is he really and truly insane, or maybe just drug addled and stupid? I don't have a clue. All I can do is look around me and see the devastation. And speak out, when I can. I know I'm not smart enough to solve all the problems before the American people right now. But I can try to let people know when I think they're making a mistake; and Bush is about to make a big one.

On June 2, the Christ loving military machine that is the Bush Administration will drop a bomb in the Nevada desert. A detonation large enough to generate a mushroom cloud. The Orwellian/messianistic name of this test? Divine Strake. There's a whole list of them; Divine Buffalo, Divine Invader, Divine Helcat, Divine Kingfisher, Divine Umpire, Divine Zorro, Divine Warhawk, Divine Albatross, and my favorite Divine Hates. Divine Strake is a 700 TON (1.4 MILLION pound) bomb. The stated purpose of the test is to see how computer equipment and tunnels would fare in a reinforced bunker deep underground. The problem with this stated purpose is that there is no possible means of conveyance for this payload. No single unit transport that can even come close to delivering this amount of tonnage. There's an excellent article at GlobalSecurity.org that helps clear through the spin and the misdirection and the outright lies in the nearly non existent media coverage of this event.

The rumored real purpose of this detonation is to calculate a nuclear equivalent, ie, how much nuclear payload would be required to bomb the Iranians and their proported centrifuges underground. Here is a letter from thirteen prominent scientists to President Bush, with their views on using nukes.

We cannot allow this President to get us into a third mismanaged war. Please, stop the bleeding. Stop the flow of broken, burned, and murdered bodies of our soldiers. Stop the abuse of power. Stop the madness of King George the Decider.

Dark Days

"The end of freedom is imminent when the fee for a modest handful of rights is our great halo of liberties. " The Dark Wraith

That quote is a response to the attempts of some in the Republican Party to repeal the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. This is the amendment which imposes a two term limit on the Presidency. This was proposed in the House on 02/17/05 and is, I believe, still alive in committee.

I think we should be able to vote for whoever we want to, regardless of how long they've been in. If they're doing a good job, they should be allowed to continue their service. It takes away lame duck years and should inspire optimal work from the person seeking office.

The problem with repealing this amendment now is the fundamental lack of faith in the current electoral process. We cannot allow the lying, manipulative and evil people currently in power to even have the chance of electing themselves to a dynasty by stealing the election.

I've always had a healthy skepticsm of my government, republican or democrat. The founding fathers seemed to think it was important to challenge our leadership. While being the best devised system in this world, it's still has one major flaw; it is run by people. The best government is no better than the corruption level of the people running it. That level appears to be downright toxic at the moment. Is there one thing this administration has said or done that is the truth? I'm hard pressed to think of a thing. Every thing they've done, every thing they've said, has been lies and manipulations. We're losing, and rapidly, the mechanisms by which the people's voice is heard. We're losing our civil rights and liberties. We're leaving behind a large segment of the population, the one most unable to fight for itself.

And now, our fearless (chickenhawk) leader will surrender control of our ports to one of the very countries reputed to have terrorist leanings toward our country. He just announced that he will veto any legislation that attempts to block the control of six Eastern ports, some of the most vulnerable entrances to our country, ports that handle the loading and unloading of our MILITARY equipment, passing to the UAE. How can this make sense to anyone?

I'm literally sick to my stomach thinking about what this administration has done to this country. George wanted a legacy, did he? He's got one. It will take decades for the financial and political harm that he has done to this country to be truly known, and far longer to reverse it. I hope he's proud.

Still more...

This is a prayer shawl I crocheted for my asbestos friend, Barbara, for her birthday. It's a lovely turquoise color which is just so BARBARA, and so soft it's like buttah. Oh... I do wish I took better pictures. Sigh.

Then there's this: Santa brought a deck of cards that were approximately one inch tall. Very cute; but what happens when you take them out of the plastic wrap? So I crocheted a tiny little bag to store them in. Again, the picture only looks like a blob of blue. Sad.

Tomorrow, I hope to get pictures of the hooded sweater I knit for Son #2. Unfortunately, he's rather severely ill at the moment and not up to modeling. Here's hoping he improves over night and avoids the dreaded doctor visit.

A couple more, if Blogger lets me...

This is a capelet I made for a Yahoo Crochet Along group. I love the pattern; it's so pretty and feminine. The model is Paulette, my boss's wife. The color, though it looks blue, is really a seafoam green. I really REALLY need to learn how to take photographs.

This is actually the second one I made, and was commissioned by a friend for a Valentine's Day gift. I like the pattern so much I'm on my third edition. Other WIPs are a summer top in "Sassy" yarn, the World Traveller bag for me which will be felted, a knit Magic Scarf in eyelash yarn, and a couple of secret projects for future gifts. Hardly leaves me any time to learn my drop spindle...

My handmade things

This is what's kept me busy over the last couple of months:
This is a pair of Christmas stockings I made for my wonderful mother in law, Dorothy, and her new husband, Bill. It was rather an achievement for me as I didn't have a pattern and had never made anything like it before. I think they turned out rather elegant.

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Even though we're in Southern California, it does get cold here at night, and my soft hearted husband worries about our two little Yorkies, Sugarplum and Rocky. So I made them some sweaters. Rocky manages to keep his on for a while, but Sugar somehow gets hers of and must bury it in the back yard, cause we can't find them ANYWHERE. I've made her at least four.

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This is a baby blanket I made for my boss's wife's daughter, who was having her fourth boy. It's made from a boucle yarn, which was a revelation to me. I had stopped crocheting and knitting because I was bored with the yarn; it's amazing how much has changed! New colors, and new textures and blends! It made me excited again, and fueled this new obsession with fibercraft.

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I wanted to add more pictures, but blogger isn't cooperating, so I'll try again later. I am having a blast with this fiber stuff!

I'm Back!

Ok, so it's been two months since I've posted. With birthday week, Christmas, New Years and a couple of personal issues, time has flown. Not to mention my obsession with politics just got overloaded. Can you believe how much you've been lied to?

Anyway, I've gotten back into an old obsession; crocheting, and some knitting. I've been a wild woman whipping out sweaters and capelets and wrist warmers and snoods and all kinds of stuff. I'll get pictures up soon. I'd like to turn this into a business at some point. I'm also learning to spin my own yarn, and will try my hand at dyeing too, sometime. So I've been pretty occupied. Luckily, my darling husband is incredibly supportive, even of the amount I've spent one Ebay on new yarns!

I'll try to keep up with the blog now and again; but right now, it's back to crocheting!

Happy Birthday to US!

My family is currently in the middle of what we affectionately call "The Birthday Week from Hell." It just so happens that my eldest son turned eighteen on Sunday, I turned 45 yesterday, and today my Beloved achieves the milestone of sixty. Having three birthdays in one week, and only several weeks from Christmas wreaks havoc with heretofore beloved birthday traditions. It simply isn't practical to go out to dinner at the natal one's choice three times in one week. Or have three different birthday cakes. So, we're slowly evolving new traditions. My ever so patient husband gets the worst of it; by the time his sacred day arrives, we're birthday-ed out, and he barely gets any celebration at all.

I myself had a lovely day. I got emails and phone calls from family and friends back east. My boss sang "Happy Birthday" to me on the phone from his vacation in Vegas. I left work early to do a few errands, then picked up the family and went to our favorite restaurant in Ventura - "The Panda." It's an amazing Chinese buffet with six tables of everything from sushi to pizza to crab. The hostess always remembers #2 son and makes a big deal over him. My family also gave me lovely gifts. One of my favorites is from my husband; a silver necklace with the major symbol from each of the major religions. The woman who designed it was at her booth at "Ojai Day" and I fell in love with it right away. She added another charm with kissing dolphins over the words "ALL ONE." It's very much my philosophy. The names we give God are semantics. If one calls it Nature, or Aum, or Buddah, or God, or Abba or Goddess - does it really matter? We are somehow all created by Something, born with nothing but our hearts and hands and brains. Somehow, the world was created. Does it matter the name we give the Creator? It IS.

Uh oh, my inner existentialist is coming out.

Anyway, back to the festivities - tonight Beloved's present is to not have to cook dinner; so I'm trying to find something appropriate to bring home. He might get one or two other presents as well, if he's lucky.

I sure am.

Justice, Sex, and Weight

Shakespeare's Sister has a post about the 17 year old girl who has been convicted of filing a false report of rape in Oregon.

I'm horrified at the case, and just as horrified, though unfortunately not surprised, by the number of female bloggers that I respect and admire who have shared their stories of sexual assault. Almost every single woman I know has experienced sexual assault in her life. Yes, that includes me, at the tender age of 12, and no, I didn't report it. Who would have listened to me? It was my fault, after all... So I gained a hundred pounds and wore oversized men's flannel shirts and hid behind my hair so that no man would ever want to do that to me again. It worked, for a very long time.

It's interesting that last year, after I had lost 120 pounds and everyone started to tell me how good I looked, I suddenly gained the weight back. Fast. And it wasn't until this summer, actually, that I started to think about why I gained it back that I had a revelation. Even after thirty years, I was afraid. Afraid of myself, and the power sex has over me. I mean, I got over so much; I came to terms with knowing it wasn't really my fault, that sex does not have to be a power struggle, I even learned to trust men again before I was twenty. I thought I was doing well. But since it was my first boyfriend that raped me, a very popular wrestler, two years older than me, for heaven's sake - well, I was thrilled with his attention. He gave me my first kiss, and I was so overcome by fear and joy and wonder and the feelings that flooded me that I literally ran from him, blushing, at the age of eleven. Later, he dated me all of twice, the second resulting in the rape. I enjoyed the attention at first, I wanted him, in that idealistic blind crush that teenage girls have. I loved the feelings inside my own body that he inspired, right up until I wanted him to stop. So now, I discover that losing weight brings back the feeling of headiness, and the fear of my own sexuality and lack of control. It's so complicated. So I went back to hiding mode. Gaining weight to avoid the issue.

Thank God that my husband is understanding, even when he doesn't understand, not really. And that he loves me fat, thin, screwed up or happy.

I'm not even sure, re-reading this post, that it makes sense. It barely makes sense to me. There is so much to consider in any discussion of rape; feminism and power, self-esteem, personal responsibility, differing perceptions of same events. Violence. Inequality and double standards. And that's even before you get to how intensely personal it is to the individual for whatever reason. The one good thing to come out of events such as this is the open public debate. As long as sex is a four letter word and considered as being intrinsically dirty or sinful, these abuses will continue. The more we talk about it the less demonized sex will become, and hopefully those who are abused will be less afraid to seek justice.

I might try to post more on this later, if I can make more sense of the confusion in my head. Feel free to leave your comments.

HR 550 - The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005

http://www.rushholt.com/petition.html
No time to post; have so much to catch up on and am not feeling well, but this is IMPORTANT. If our votes do not count, our entire system falls. We must have a voice. I urge you strongly to go read the resolution, sign the petition and write your representative.

EVERYONE should be in favor of fair elections. This is not a partisan issue. DO IT. NOW.

"But I Misunderstood"

But I misunderstood, but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood
I thought she was saying good luck, but she was saying good bye.

Richard Thompson, from You, Me, Us.

There are so many men and women who have gone before us, who have left their words and thoughts, their struggles, the lessons of their lives for us to read. Sometimes instructive, sometimes cautionary tales, the legacy of lives lived can reach through time and help us understand the history that so often repeats itself. Here are a few of my favorites for the current political climate.

"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose - and you allow him to make war at pleasure... The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons: Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to frame the Constitution so that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us. But your view destroys the whole matter, and places our President where kings have always stood."
- Abraham Lincoln, US Representative

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else."
- Theodore Roosevelt, Republican President

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs."
- Albert Einstein, professor

"You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it."
- Malcom X, minister

"...it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship... voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"
- Mohandas K. Gandhi, lawyer

"What good fortune for those in power that people do not think."
- Adolf Hitler, politician

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
- Jesus of Nazareth, carpenter

All of these words have been "misunderstood" by the current administration, with the notable exception of the quotes of Goering and Hitler. Bush & Co. seem to have gotten those correct. Please understand that I am not calling Bush and Cheney Nazis. I am comparing their tactics to those of fascists. They think "If we keep them afraid enough they won't question us, so raise the alert level. If we shame them into patriotism maybe they won't notice that their freedoms are eroding, so call dissenters unamerican and strengthen that Patriot Act. If we keep them scrabbling just to keep their bellies full and a roof over their heads, we can do whatever we want, so cut those service programs and get with the tax cuts." And they conspire in back rooms and hide behind National Security.

It's our job, yours and mine, to make sure that they are wrong. We DO think. We need to make sure they don't misunderstand the lessons of much greater men then they. We need to challenge them at every turn. This is not limited to the Bush Administration. It is our DUTY as citizens of these United States to call our leaders to account for themselves at all times, and on all levels of government. Democrat or Republican makes no difference, this is our call to citizenship.

Rant over. I'm going home to read "Civil Disobedience" again.

Big Surprise... To No One Who Knows Me

You scored as Hedonism. Your life is guided by the principles of Hedonism: You believe that pleasure is a great, or the greatest, good; and you try to enjoy life's pleasures as much as you can. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die! More info at Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page... Hedonism 95% Existentialism 85% Utilitarianism 60% Justice (Fairness) 40% Divine Command 40% Strong Egoism 25% Kantianism 15% Nihilism 15% Apathy 10% What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03) created with QuizFarm.com

Cute kid stuff

Number two child has been exploring the nature of humor lately. Being five years old, it tends towards the scatological, and the phrase "butt sauce" has somehow entered our daily vernacular, as have numerous repetions of the two jokes he knows. "Knock Knock." "Who's there?" "Boo." "Boo who?" "What are you crying for? It's just a joke!" and "Pete and Repete went on a boat. Pete fell out. Who was left?" "Repete!" "Okay, Pete and Repete went on a boat..."

However, while brushing our teeth the other night, he came out with this:

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
He had a popsicle.
He had a great fall.
And everyone had eggs and sausage."

Now, the reason for the popsicle, I have not been able to discern. But the eggs and sausage line had me rolling on the floor.

More later, if I'm able.

My mind has wandered...

I haven't posted in a while. I've been lost in cyberspace with information overload. Perhaps I'm having a mid life crisis. I have suddenly become obsessed with my hippy-dippy roots. I'm shopping green, spending blue and have started thinking tie-dye again. I'm questioning my values, my beliefs, and my faith. These are not necessarily bad things to do, of course.

I guess I have the criminal element in the White House to thank for my epiphany. Without their lies and obscene behavior, I might have just kept plodding through my life without a care. They have forced me to care. They've forced me to wake up, become an activist again.

I no longer trust the media to tell me the truth. I suppose I never should have. That's the problem with a Capitalist system; the one with the most money gets to determine what truth is. Not that any other system would be better; whatever the currency is - power, sex, money, religion - the ones that control the major portion write the histories.

What that means for me is that I can no longer support those companies that have agendas I disagree with. And that's hard. I can't just breeze into Wal-Mart or Target anymore and get everything I need cheaply and run. I have to find places that carry the goods I want and pay more money for them. I have to research companies and see how they spend my money and treat their employees. I have to research products to determine which are less harmful to our planet. It's time consuming, and inconvenient, and expensive.

It is, however, the only voice I have, other than the letters I write to my representatives in government. I'm not even sure my vote has a voice anymore, because of the evidence of election tampering.

So I guess I should thank The Bush and The Dick in the White House. They're quite possibly helping me to improve my karma. It's something they might want to consider in their own lives, because I don't think theirs is very good.

Proud of my Activist Son

Number one son wrote a letter to his school, protesting the banning of red shoelaces. Apparently there's a white supremacist group in the town, and red shoelaces have become their symbol.

He pointed out that banning the symbol will not ban the racist thinking, and that freedom of expression is an important right in our country. He did not, of course, effect a change in their policy; but I am so proud of him for feeling strongly enough to stand up for what he believes. He researched the subject and laid out his argument concisely and coherently. He understood that red shoelaces in and of themselves are not important, but that curtailing our constitutional liberties should not be allowed to happen unchallenged.

I am so proud of him. I am very lucky to have him in my life.

Poor Exxon

From AOL's Business News:

To put Exxon 's performance into perspective, its third quarter revenue was greater than the annual gross domestic product of some of the largest oil producing nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The world's largest publicly traded oil company also set a profit record for U.S. companies by posting net income of almost $10 billion, according to Standard & Poor's equity market analyst Howard Silverblatt.

For the QUARTER?

I don't even know how to comment on that. It's so patently obscene. I'm thinking about the poor sick and elderly who won't get any help with their heating bills this winter. I'm thinking about the people trying to stay off welfare who might not be able to afford gas to get back and forth to work. I'm thinking about our Vice President (stress on the VICE) who has his pockets lined by this obscenity. I'm thinking about Jimmy Carter, who warned and pleaded and was called weak and denegrated for caring about the environment. And I'm mad as hell.

Tidbits

I found these statistics tables, which break things down by red state and blue state. Why is it that there's less divorce and less teen pregnancy in those blue states? Food for thought.

Shakespeare's Sister has a rant on Walmart which echos something I've been working out in my own life lately. I'm trying to spend my conscience. It's hard, sometimes. But BuyBlue.Org is a good resource for finding companies that share your values. Yay... Costco is a "blue" company!

Busy today, so not much here, sorry. Will try later.

Truth In Advertising

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else"

- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States

I am so tired of being lied to. It was bad enough when it was mostly the advertising industry that lied to us, but once armed with the knowledge that it did, one could take appropriate measures. Do your own research, use your dollar carefully. In the arena of politics, however, that isn't possible. As Dr. House says, "Everyone Lies." The media, who should be our first line defense, are now first in line to screw us. Even the actual FACTS are spun beyond recognition. No wonder I have a headach. Blech.

Stuff

Pissed Off Patricia over at BlondeSense has a great post today on the war "No Crime, Criminal or Crony Left Behind. Why did we go to war with Iraq, again? Oh, yeah.

I've recently taken up a new hobby, much to the Beloved's dismay; henna tattoos. I discovered they're easier than I thought, and bring me back to high school, when we would write in ink all over our skin and jeans. Now I just have to find someone to help me with the areas I can't reach myself. A good resource is found at Earth Henna.

I also unpacked another box from our move, which contained much beloved and much missed audio CD's. Heaven! All my folk music, hurrah! Clannad, and Stan Rogers, Bill Morrissey, Vance Gilbert, Maura McConnell and Christine Lavin, on and on. Christine is the focus today; I'm currently listening to Buy Me, Bring Me, Take Me: Don't Mess My Hair (Life according to Four Bitchin' Babes and Christine Lavin Presents: Laugh Tracks Vol. 1. Aside from being a great performer, as even the extremely critical Beloved will attest, she's done a great service to folk music by doing so many wonderful compilation albums to get artist's music out there. Her sense of humor is fantastic.

On the political side, I'm starting to feel like asking "Is it still considered paranoia if they ARE out to get you?" The government is now tracking laser color printers by embedding yellow dots into the print. It's designed to track counterfeiters, but with the lies and abuses of this administration one can imagine the potential for it to be used in all kinds malicious ways. So far, it's only color laser printers, which aren't really so much of a household item; but who knows if it's really limited to that, or will STAY limited to that. Thank you, Patriot Act.

Best wishes to those in New England currently under deluge; and best of luck to Florida with Wilma approaching. Our thoughts are with you.