July 30, 2008 archive

1. Barack Obama has made this promise before, but I think it’s good that he’s repeating it. The Associated Press reports Obama pledges review of White House powers instigated by Bush. Obama promised his administration would review George W. Bush’s executive orders and excise any that “trample on liberty”.

   Obama “talked about how his attorney general is to review every executive order and immediately eliminate those that trample on liberty,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.

   “He indicated there would be a review in his administration,” said Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the House majority whip…

   Obama did not indicate who his attorney general would be, or any other member of his Cabinet. To lawmakers who asked about his Cabinet plans, Obama said: “Get me elected, and then I’ll worry about the Cabinet,” according to Nadler.

   Of course this begs the question, what if Obama finds Bush’s executive orders do not “trample on liberty” and, actually, he rather likes them? Will Congress do its job this time around?

2. McClatchy Newspapers ask Does John McCain have a Cuba embargo problem? “The pending merger of American beer giant Anheuser-Busch and a Belgian company that brews and sells beer in Cuba is thrusting John McCain into the middle of thorny Cuba-U.S. relations. McCain’s wife, Cindy, owns the third largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the country – which means she would stand to profit by partnering with a company that is in business with the Cuban government.”

   Of course McCain insist there isn’t a problem, not because the ridiculous U.S. embargo of Cuba should end, but because there is a “rigid firewall” between McCain and Cindy Lou’s business. He’s a kept politican. And besides, it’s just business™.

   The real story is not Cindy Lou’s business connection to a multinational beverage company with holdings in Cuba, but Cindy Lou’s wealth and how her father made that money and the family’s ties to organized crime.

Four at Four continues with two stories about the environment from the Pacific Northwest.

Is this what it’s all about? Really?

~ Happy Hump Day! Don’t rec the pony.~

Original article by John Ross via counterpunch.com.  Sub-headed: Fourth Fleet Steams South

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water….

Meher Baba (1894-1969).

Meher Baba lived and traveled in company with a circle of close disciples whom he termed his “mandali” (Sanskrit for ‘circle’), both men and women from whom he demanded absolute obedience. He and his mandali voluntarily assumed a life of extreme simplicity. From 1925 to the end of his life, Meher Baba remained silent, communicating by means of an alphabet board or by gesture. Meher Baba spent long periods in seclusion, often fasting, but he would intersperse these periods with wide-ranging travels, public gatherings, and works of charity, including working with lepers, the poor, and the mad. He gave many discourses, which have been collected by his followers.

Why did Meher Baba maintain silence?  He wrote:

Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity, and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed, and violence. Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form, I observe silence.

Hmmm.

Which brings me to the book and movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly:

On December 8, 1995, Elle magazine editor-in-chief Bauby suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. He awoke 20 days later, mentally aware of his surroundings but physically paralyzed with the exception of some movement in his head and left eye. The entire book [The Diving Bell And The Butterfly] was written by Bauby blinking his left eyelid, in July and August of 1996. A transcriber repeatedly recited a French language frequency-ordered alphabet (E S A R I N T U L etc.), until Bauby blinked to choose the next letter. The book took about 200,000 blinks to write and each word took approximately two minutes. The book also chronicles everyday events and what they are like for a person with locked-in syndrome. These events include playing at the beach with his family, getting a bath, and meeting visitors. The French edition of the book was published in March, 1997. It received excellent reviews and sold 150,000 copies in the first week and went on to become a number one bestseller across Europe. Ten days after the book was published, Bauby died of pneumonia