An “Alternative Set of Procedures”

On his blog, Da5id posted on President Bush’s acknowledgement of “secret prisons” to Katie Couric yesterday.  I quote his entry below:

“Alternative set of procedures” is what Bushed called torture. He was describing how the CIA has secret prisons for terrorists (not suspected, because Bush already knows they’re guilty – it’s good to be king) abroad and when “normal” interrogation techniques don’t yield enough information, these alternative set of procedures are used.

I have two things to say about this:

1. When you use the word “alternative” it means something other than what is normally done. I strongly suspect that what is normally done is within the law and when that doesn’t work, they need to go outside the law. You wouldn’t need to call them “alternative” if they all fit within the law, now would you? They would all exist in the same subset. “Alternative set of procedures” reeks of political spin. Kind of like one of the times when Bush updated the reasons why he invaded Iraq by saying that “weapons of mass destruction related program activities” had been found.

2. Then he goes 1984 on us and says he can’t describe these alternative techniques because then the bad guys would be able to learn to resist them. Right. As if anyone can resist the effects of weeks without sleep chained to a cement floor. With the recent story of a Judge declaring that Bush’s wiretapping is illegal, I don’t think our nation can afford to let him continue doing things in secret. He essentially wants us to blindly trust him that he’s not doing anything illegal and not allowing anyone to check. Today he said, “I’ve said to the people that we don’t torture, and we don’t.” Tough to swallow from an administration with a track record of lying. Unchecked power is not a hallmark of democracy.

On a side note, every now and then the truth will slip out:

“I mean that a defeat in Iraq will embolden the enemy, and will provide the enemy more opportunity, to train, plan to attack us, that’s what I mean. One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror,” Mr. Bush said.

What I find interesting about President Bush (and the larger administration) is that after months of denial about this kind of stuff, they finally come out and admit that “well actually, yeah, you were right, this stuff has been happening all along.”  But will it make a difference?  I tend to think it won’t.  I think the majority of America, even if they don’t believe that what he’s doing is “right,” like the fact that President Bush strongly believes that what he’s doing is right.  Maybe the upcoming midterm elections will show me something else (because America rising up against a sitting President and calling for new elections doesn’t seem likely).  Even if the Democratic Party does oust the Republicans from control of the Congress, I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference.  We’ll still be in Iraq and Afghanistan, middle and lower-class American’s will still be dying for a war that essentially about oil and we still won’t be providing even basic health care for a good percentage of our population.

I personally think that as the world’s most comsumptive and financially powerful society, we have a responsibility to both our own citizens and the global citizens to strive for peace and a healthy sustainable world.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/an-alternative-set-of-procedures/

avocado pie?

One of my friends is “stuck” in Sicily as her husband is stationed by the Navy there.  Since she seems to have all the time in the world…she has started a blog of her culinary exploits.  Her blog is called Pinch My Salt.  Anyway, about a month ago she posted a recipe for Jagger Pie.  Now you may be wondering what exactly Jagger Pie is…or you may have guess by the title of this post…that it is a pie made with avocado.

Not many of my friends have fully appreciated the logic of “Well, I like avocado, and I like pie,” statement I was prone to say when I spoke of this experiment.  But I set out to test this recipe anyway.  The ingredients are pretty simple.  It is just one avocado, a can of sweetened condensed milk and some lemon juice, all in a graham cracker crust.

When I finally cracked out a piece, I was pleasently surprised in how good the pie was.  Both of my friends that were brave enough to try the pie also enjoyed it.  I ended up not having any whipped cream on top (as Nicole’s recipe called for), however I’m sure it would be good that way as well.  The pie is actually quite sweet and goes well with a tall glass of milk. 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/avocado-pie/

another deep breath: solitude

goodbye (a haiku)

in waves they crash, one
by one. into spring, summer
and me.  without you

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/another-deep-breath-solitude/

More Murakami

I just wrapped up “South of the Border, West of the Sun” by Haruki Murakami.  As it has been with all the previous novels, I loved it.  This novel is perhaps the most linear of the novels I’ve read so far.  An interesting tid-bit about this novel:  Murakami wrote this book while he lived in America for a few years during the 90s.

When I read, I normally have my moleskine somewhere nearby, and I often write down passages that move me while I read.  Here are a few from this novel that moved me:

She gazed at me steadily as I talked.  Something about her expression pulled people in.  It was as if–this is something I thought of only later, of course–she were gently peeling back one layer after another that covered a person’s heart, a very sensual feeling.  Her lips changed ever so slightly with each change in her expression, and I could catch a glimpse deep within her eyes of a faint light, like a tiny candly flickering in the dark, narrow room.

*****

I stood there a long time, gazing at the rainswept streets.  Once again I was a twelve-year-old boy staring for hours at the rain.  Look at the rain long enough, with no thoughts in your head, and you feel your body falling loose, shaking free of the world of reality.  Rain has the power to hypnotize.

*****

Her eyes were like a deep spring in the shade of cliffs, which no breeze could ever reach.  Nothing moved there, everything was still.  Look closely, and you could just begin to make out the scene reflected in the water’s surface.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/more-murakami/

one deep breath: solitude

 

 

 

 

 
solitude (a haiku)

for now he must sleep
alone.  to be with and be
without winter’s warmth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

another deep breath: solitude

Check out the one deep breath weekly particpants: Solitude

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/one-deep-breath-solitude/

Murakami Madness

As of late, I have been obsessed with the novels of Haruki Murakami.  So far I’ve read five of his novels, plus a collection of short stories.  The latest was Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.  As with every one of his novels so far, I wasn’t disappointed at all.  This one has a bit of a sci-fi bent to it, however I wouldn’t classify this as a sci-fi novel.  I hesitate to go to much into the details of the book, as I think its best to discover Murakami on one’s own.  One of the things that amazes me about Murakami’s work, is that each novel is wonderful and amazing in its own special way.  While there are definately themes that are constant throughout, they at least feel like they are being used in a different way.

A few of the things I like about Murakami are: music plays a big part in the lives of his characters.  his novels are full of love, spirituality and encourages us to seek out the connections with others.  There is room for the reader inside his stories.  It is both simple and complex at the same time.  Often it feels like a dream, that you could just get lost in for all eternity.  And sometimes, you do.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/murakami-madness/

thirty

ten years ago, i wrote a poem about turning twenty.  here is my response to that poem as i’ve turned thirty:

thirty.png

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/thirty/

one deep breath: faces of humanity

I discovered the one deep breath community a few weeks ago.  Every week they post a new “prompt” for haiku’s.  This week’s prompt is the “faces of humanity.”  I hope you enjoy my contributions (and check out those of other participants on the one deep breath page.)

the hangover (a haiku)

you touch me subtle
reminding me with brushes
of night, touch, smell…you

the way you dream (a haiku)

picture your body
held together embracing
awakened slumber

love lost (a haiku)

pierced by the sight of
you in conversation with
some other summer

heat wave (a haiku)

sun burnt sweat blooms on
freckeled sheets desiring
lovers calming touch

 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/one-deep-breath-faces-of-humanity/

the 20’s

Today is the last day of my 20’s.  I’m looking forward to my 30’s.  I’m full of anticipation for the next decade of my life.  As I think back on my 20’s, there are a lot of things I thought I’d have figured out by now.  But in the end, I’m ok with not knowing those things.  Life has a funny way of sorting things out on its own.  Things come in due time.  Since I seem to be more willing to share some of my poetry these days, here is a poem I wrote at the beginning of the decade.  In that spirit, I plan to try to write a poem in the next day or so to celebrate the beginning of this new decade of my life.

twenty.png

 

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/the-20s/

Love and Sin

“In a sense, this terrible situation is the pattern and prototype of all sin: the deliberate and formal will to reject disinterested love for us for the purely arbitrary reason that we simply do not want it.  We will to seperate ourselves from that love.  We reject it entirely and absolutely, and will not acknowledge it, simply because it does not please us to be loved.  Perhaps the inner motive is that the fact of being loved disinterestly reminds us that we all need love from others, and depend upon the charity of others to carry on our own lives.  And we refuse love, and reject society, in so far as it seems, in our own perverse imagination, to imply some obscure kind of humiliation.”

–Thomas Merton “The Seven Story Mountain

It is an interesting idea that sin is really just a rejection of love.  To be honest, I had to go to the dictionary to make sense of the term “disinterested love.”  My first thought when reading this paragraph was “how can you love something disinterestly?”  What the dictionary reminded me was disinterest is not the lack of interest, but the lack of self-interest.

I think that this is one of the most powerful aspects of the character of Jesus.  His complete disinterested love for the whole world.  It is an ideal that is simply amazing in scope.  Just a fraction of this type of love would make such a difference in this world.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2006/love-and-sin/