An Irish Benediction this day:

May those who love us, love us,

and those who don't love us, may You turn their hearts.

And if You cannot turn their hearts,

turn their ankles, so they may be known by their limping!

And perhaps a counterpoint...

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Last night was primary night in my home state of sasnaK - and the results have assured that no matter what happens in the general election in November, the "moderate" pro-science members will outnumber the remnants of the "conservative" majority that has made such a mess of science standards and the state BOE the last few years.

The lone moderate facing a primary fight, Janet Waugh defeated an anti-evolution stealth candidate in the District 1 Democratic primary - there is no GOP challenger in the General, so she will hold her seat on the board.

One of the most vocal "conservative"  leaders - Connie Morris - was defeated in her District 5 GOP primary by a pro-science Republican challenger, Sally Cauble.  There is a Democrat entered in the General - but both are in agreement regarding the science standards - so this will be a gain for the "moderates" and assure that the current majority will cease to have control of the board.

more after the jump

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I've found this helpful recently - thought some of you might as well.  The bulk of the content is taken from Krista Tippett's radio program / web site Speaking Of Faith - specifically an episode titled "The Tragedy of the Believer"




An excerpt...

Wiesel's faith, as he wrote in Night , had been consumed forever by the flames of the ovens at Auschwitz.

...snip

There is a terrible moment in Night when Wiesel watches a young boy die slowly by hanging and repeats the question posed by someone in the crowd: "Where is God now?" Wiesel writes, "I heard a voice within me answer him. Where is He? He is hanging here on this gallows..."

But I [Krista] could never quite imagine that as the last word on God in Wiesel's life, especially after he began to publish volumes of Hasidic tales in more recent years. Two decades after our first meeting in Berlin, I sat across from him in a hotel room that my producers had turned into a makeshift studio. I asked him the questions I'd come to care about in the intervening years. I asked him to tell me what happened after he lost his faith forever at Auschwitz. He answered: "What happened afterwards is in the book. I went on praying."

Krista notes - " If you catch nothing else of this week's program, listen to the marvelous prayer Elie Wiesel recited near the end of our conversation."  - transcript of that prayer is below the fold.

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Please use this space to give yourself some space - a moment to breath, perhaps to accept that it doesn't make sense, and to restore your energy to keep working anyway.

I'm crossposting to some of my other haunts this week as I think the Tree of Life project this entry centers on might be helpful to those who aren't regular MLW or SP visitors.  Welcome to Sabbath Time.

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Been a terrible week of news. 

I sometimes think humanity is imploding. 

It's so easy to look at the boiling hatreds of the mideast....

or under an urban bridge that's tonight's shelter to a homeless family

or any of a hundred other tragedies

and despair.

and yet....

This week is my first repeat - but the entry from week 5 really sums up how I'm feeling right now - and is centered around Guernica - the anniversary of an atrocity that makes it timely again.

I hope my many BooTribber friends find something they might need here.

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Yeah yeah, I hear you say - this Sabbath Time idea is nice enough. Let's all remember to rest, think happy thoughts. Yadda yadda.... Kumbuya  What the fuck ever simplexity.

But God Damnit I'm Angry!  I'm frustrated. I'm afraid, I'm filled with sorrow.  Fascists are taking over. My nation - America! - abandoned the poor to drown.  The world is fucking ending. and  I've got to DO Something.  

Indeed.

Which is precisely why we must remember the idea of Sabbath.  I believe - however you want to describe it - that we are all connected.  How we spend our individual energy affects - positively or negatively - our collective energy.

We have ample grounds for anger. We frankly have ample grounds for hatred. &nbsp But we are not alone in the world, nor are we unique in history.   Anger and hatred  are insidious things - they do the most harm not to those they are directed at - but to those who hold them. They burrow into our hearts and eat away at our own humanity.

 I submit that those who give into and are controlled by their anger and hatreds are precisely what we are fighting. If we give in to anger, fear and hatred - if we let them control us - we become that which we are fighting - then that which we are fighting has won.

The artwork for this week's Sabbath Time is Guernica by Pablo Picasso.  Painted for the Spanish Pavilion 1937 World's Fair, it has been called modern art's most powerful antiwar statement.

Please follow me after the break. We can talk about this painting, about anger, fear, sorrow, and about Sabbath.  

This is a place of rest, a cool place. - I'm glad you're here today - come take a load off :-)

I'm not much of a country music fan - I like a few things, most Martina McBride (hey, my mom used to work for her Father In Law :-), some Garth Brooks (who doesn't like Thunder Rolls or Friends in Low Places... c'mon)

but generally I'll leave it rather than take it.... 


but this.... 

this is one HELL of a song.  Politics ain't bad either.

Not Ready to Make Nice.  Dixie Chicks.  Track Plays Here , Video that will undoubtedly piss some folks off  available via flash link on that site too - lyrics posted after the fold.

Heh... my kids just came in and said "Is that COUNTRY?"  Dad's playing COUNTRY?.... 

Atrios has been tracking things....   Clear Channel may not play them - my wife switched stations locally because of it - but they're still selling albums and selling out concerts.  Here's to strong, independent women who refuse to let the bastards get them down :-)

Update [2005-11-18 19:20:49 by its simple IF you ignore the complexity]: Changed Title to try and avoid confusion - full text of the resolutions in a comment below. What a day...

After Rep. Murtha's courgeous stand yesterday, the Republican Leadership is going to hold an 'up or down' vote on Congressman Murtha's Iraq resolution (H J Res 73) today.

PDA has learned that members of the 'Out of Iraq' Caucus are asked to vote 'yes' and stand with Congressman Murtha.

This sudden vote is an attempt by the Republicans to silence the call for an end to the war.

Take one minute and call your Rep. urging them to vote yes on Murtha's bill for immediate withdrawal from Iraq (H.J.Res.73.)

CONGRESSIONAL SWITCHBOARD: 1-800-426-8073 or 1-202-224-3121 if the 800 number is busy.

Thank you for taking action!

Update [2005-11-18 17:7:14 by susanhu]: Murtha will be on Hardball, MSNBC, in a minute.

Anyway - I'm excited to be able to share their announcement of
The Soulforce Spirit of Justice Online Auction.

Help bid discrimination goodbye in the first annual Spirit of Justice online auction! Nearly 150 items, including autographed books, music, crafts, art, pieces of civil-rights history, retreat weekends, and more are currently up for grabs to the highest bidder on eBay.  100% of the proceeds will go to support Soulforce's justice work for GLBT people.

The online auction is happening now and bidding will continue until November 20th. To browse the auction items or to place a bid, go to www.soulforce.org/auction .

A large graphic with some examples of items for bid is below the fold. I hope you'll join me in supporting the work of Soulforce through this auction.

Over on MLW, the focus of the day has been a diary about "changing the equation". ;A commenter asks "how"

Here's one way. Work the Refs!  

Don't let them get away with Making. Shit. Up.

Media Matters catches David Brooks doing just that - by claiming that Clinton (and Reagan) were "in the twenties" in approval rating.

That is patently false!   That is demonstrably false! And we should let Brooks , the Newshour , and PBS know we know.  Constant pressure on media is one of the ways the right wing extremist gained the disproportionate power they have - we have to stop letting them get away with this crap.  My letter and some links below.

"This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?

U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?"



That was a mighty big applause line for Zell. As were all of Bush and Cheney's references to honor and dignity in 2000.

I think I'm going to be sick. Again.

Here is a Cleveland Plain Dealer Headline from today:

The US Army is short of its workhorse-calibre ammunition, the .50-cal.

Holden, at First Draft - had an entry based on this and I think he nailed it - his excerpts and comments below.

Spitballs, huh Zell?  Support Our Troops!!!!!  Fucking Yellow Ribbon ain't doin' much good.... Hypocritical Bastards....  Holden's excerpts below the fold.

I'm tired,
tired of playing the game,
ain't it a crying shame?
I'm so tired,
God dammit I'm tired!

- Lili Von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn, in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles)

It's been another hell of a week.  DeLay indicted, Frist investigated, Robert's confirmed, Miller cuts a deal, Obama posts on dKos and reactions abound.  One thing is clear to me -  around the leftie blogosphere - we're tired.

Armando posted about it.  Raybin said GBCW on dKos and MLW .  Numerous other examples of people who are holding onto the last bit of their rope.  I think we're working so hard, fighting so hard for what we believe, and have seen so many setbacks that even the victories ring hollow - we're sure it will turn out bad - somehow they'll weasel out of it yet again...

We need to find ways to rest.

To avoid burnout, to recharge. I think one way is to once again embrace the concept of Sabbath time.  As I wrote in the first installment of this series on MyLeftWing ...

Sabbath, obviously, has a religious meaning. But is is much more than that.  In his book "Sabbath" author Wayne Muller says:

All life requires a rhythm of rest. There is a rhythm in our waking activity and our bodies need for sleep.  There is a rhythm in the way day dissolves into night and night into morning. There is a rhythm as the active growth of spring and summer is quieted by the necessary dormancy of fall and winter. There is a tidal rhythm, a deep, eternal conversation between the land and the great sea. In our bodies, the heart perceptibly rests after each life giving beat; the lungs rest between exhale and inhale.

We have lost this essential rhythm. Our culture invariably supposes that action and accomplishment are better than rest...  

If that speaks to you, follow me after the jump for a place of rest, relaxation.  This is a cool place.

Take a deep breath, hear music that is restful to you, put on some tea or cocoa, pull up a comfortable chair and enjoy the company of friends. This is a place to feed the wolf of peace, to  sharpen your blade - and refill your cup.

It is good that we are together this Sabbath time , I'm glad you're here - what do you have to share today?

The American Library Association's Banned Books Week celebrates the Freedom to Read. Observed during the last week of September each year since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

At the ALA Banned Books Week web page where you can order buttons, posters, bookmarks, and T-shirts to let everyone know where you stand on censorship.

Below the fold is their list of the 25 most challenged books.  It's been a great day of bad news for the corrupt GOP leadership.  Why not read a banned book to celebrate :-)

crossposted at My Left Wing