Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. Available in weekly or daily dosage. |
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Burp! by SirJ Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Gawker has a thoughtful analysis on why Russia chose this week to invade Georgia. Putin met Bush at the Olympics, sized him up, and knew there would be no response to the invasion other than "burp!" SirJ Amusing :) and I'm still not convinced I believe what I've read about what's happened and what's happening... Helen & Harry
The illness of ignorance by Herb Ruhs, MD Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re When did I get old? by MonkeyMan Monkey Man says, "I look forward to living somewhere more progressive, permissive, um more evolved. I'm going to go eat my Wheaties and think about ways to get more involved." I can wholeheartedly sympathize with this. Even now, at a somewhat advanced age, I am continually considering my options about where to live. Northern Maine, where I lived for a couple of years, is beckoning. However, I have lived in places that are "more progressive, permissive, um more evolved" (Northern California for instance) and have sadly come to the conclusion that the grass may be greener in some places but is still soaked in dog pee wherever you go. By all means seek the place where you feel comfortable. My one year's experience in the rural south has convinced me that it is essentially uninhabitable by those of sincere good will. Good luck. There is a paradox involving age. When we are young and inexperienced we suffer none of the limitations of advancing age but have little or no wisdom to help us learn how to be mentally youthful. Only with the passage of time, and probably some suffering to boot, can we hope to cultivate the mental attitudes that allow for the suppleness of understanding that actually allows us to experience a youthfulness of thought. With effort and luck we can find ourselves better able to keep an open and youthful perspective than most of those younger than ourselves. If on no other basis, learning to express a subtle sense of humor about ourselves and the cosmic joke of human existence certifies a youthfulness of mind that generally seems to elude the chronologically young. An appreciation of irony is a gift of age. I am 63 now and much bent on the torture wheel of Agent Orange (just had a third cancer removed surgically and fully expect more cancers and I also struggle with diabetes). However, I refuse to be a willing victim of the ignorance of those around me. If I am dismissed as over the hill and out to lunch I just take it as a sign of the illness of ignorance that afflicts those who dismiss me so. The years I spent living in a Vietnamese village imbued me with the absolute assurance that age is a treasure, both as a potential source of wisdom and a symbol of the rightness of a society that can bring to flower the full cycle of human life. I also retain a sense of youthfulness in that I also venerate those older than myself and feel compassion for those I meet, and grieve, who have had more and worse health misadventures than I. When, and if, I reach the point of physical decay that I can no longer feel younger or more fit than anyone else I will have reached a sacred goal founded on a veneration of life that finds its highest ceremony in the respect for those who struggle on interminably to not go quietly into the night. If at that point some fail to venerate my age it is merely a sign of their lack of understanding of life. While I am confronted continually by the apparent ignorance and bad behavior of some who are older, I care not that they are in error. Compassion dictates that we see beyond the mental illness that restrains wisdom and value those who have taken the baton of life a step further regardless of what ignorant behavior and immature self-centeredness they may display. Compassion also dictates that we see those who are younger and too mired in ignorance to understand the inherent stupidity of failing to honor age as tragically self-defeating, for when they are old, who will honor them? Herb Ruhs, MD Stuffing by Siskiyousis Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Prez in a bottle by Juan P. ...and meanwhile, stuffing agencies like the EPA and BLM with friends of the Repugs. It will take a long time to get rid of all the nasties put in place since early Reagan days. Siskiyousis  Massive incompetence (or worse) by JR Mooneyham Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Global trail of an online crime ring
Another example of massive incompetence (or worse) in US investigative agencies under Bush. JR Mooneyham (www.jrmooneyham.com/) A load and it boggles by Chris M. Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Smelly elephant by Chris M. Ya...every "newspaper and newscast" that also conveniently ignores the misdeeds and illegalities of Bush & Co. as well as the Kucinich articles of impeachment. "It ain't news unless we say it's news" --The MSM What a load of crap! A John... What was that you said ?? I missed it.. say that again.... Oh that's what I thought you said..... (Laughing out loud...so hard my side hurts.) How can the Republicans possibly come up with a candidate that is even more arrogant, incompetent and just downright stupid than Bush ?? And what's more how can anybody who is not mentally incapacitated even think of voting for him ?? It boggles the mind. Chris M. Modified peace plan by Marie K. Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK I'll refrain from saying anything about Cheney. It sounds like he and the EU are approaching all of this quite differently. The news here is this topic "Georgia agrees to modified Russia peace plan" which is the title of this Reuters article. Marie K. God and country by Cindy B. Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Lieberman says Obama has not always "put the country first" Senator Joe Lieberman sure seems to put Israel first, time after time after time. Cindy B. Hard-drinkin' non-thinkin' by Angry Annie Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Bush looking drunk at the Olympics I'm not quite convinced. To me, Bush looks drunk virtually every time he's photographed. Angry Annie Media motivation by Rebecca Thursday, August 14, 2008 PERMANENT LINK If some dimwitted reporter would ask Barack Obama about John Edwards' affair, Obama can say plainly and honestly (I assume) "I've never had an affair". John McCain, of course, the bigamist who dumped his first wife because she was injured in an accident and took up with a millionaire instead, can't address that question nearly so succinctly. For this reason, I don't think we'll see any corporate-paid reporter ask Barack Obama about John Edwards' affair. Rebecca |
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