Christy Marx

To my amazement, we had a light sprinkling of rain this evening. Barely enough to wet the ground, but enough to make the world smell fresh and sprinkle the roses with diamonds. To the west we had a molten gold sunset with a sideshow of pink, blue and purple. To top it off, to the east we had an intense double rainbow.

Nature knows how to put on a good show.

Received from Brave New Foundation

Below is a note from Sonali Kolhatkar, Co-Director of the Afghan Women's Mission. She agreed to be interviewed for the Rethink Afghanistan: Women of Afghanistan documentary and her experience and insight has become an integral part of the campaign. Her non-profit works in solidarity with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan to educate, serve, and empower Afghan women.

Best,

Robert Greenwald

Eight years have passed since Laura Bush declared that "because of our recent military gains, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes" in Afghanistan. For eight years, that claim has been a lie.

The fact is that life for women in Afghanistan has gotten worse since the Taliban were removed from power. Once they chafed under the slavish conditions the Taliban imposed on their daily lives. Today they suffer under the exact same conditions, this time under the rule of the regime of warlords put in place by the U.S.-led coalition. And in addition to this oppression, women in Afghanistan are forced to cope with war.

Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7jAT0FAGBc



Share this video with others by Digging it and Re-Tweeting on Twitter: RT @afghanistandocu Bombs wont liberate #Afghan women http://bit.ly/NxmBW Give RAWA $15 for 1 family's food, blankets http://bit.ly/4BrUBm

Some well-meaning Westerners believe that the U.S. military occupation of Afghanistan benefits Afghan women. But the truth is that American military escalation will not liberate the women of Afghanistan. Instead, it will bring only more war - the hardships of which are always suffered disproportionately by women. With the risk of death outside their doorsteps, Afghan women are confined to their homes to an even greater extent than under the Taliban. More and more women are being forced by war into prostitution, often for a clientele of foreign troops. Self-immolation among Afghan women today is at an all-time high. This war is doing more to destroy women's lives than the Taliban ever was able to.

For years, the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan has raised funds to help relieve Afghan families from the violence and displacement of war. There are 1,000 displaced families in a refugee camp in Kabul. It costs US $15 per family for each to receive the minimum relief necessary for their survival. In total, that adds up to $15,000 to help all of these families.

A few weeks ago, Brave New Foundation supporters gave generously to RAWA's effort to provide that relief; collectively, you gave $6,000 to families suffering from lack of food and blankets. RAWA needs $9,000 more to take care of ALL of these 1,000 families.

This is what your help will buy for suffering Afghan families:

5 kg (11 lb) ghee = $5.00
4 kg (8.8 lb) rice = $3.00
50 kg (110 lb) flour = $22.00
A middle quality blanket = $10.00
A middle quality tent carpet = $40.00
You have done a great service to Afghan families by joining with Rethink Afghanistan to call on the U.S. government to bring this destructive war to an end. Now please help the families victimized by the war - give what you can.

Yours,

Sonali Kolhatkar,
Co-Director of the Afghan Women's Mission
writing on behalf of the Brave New Foundation team

Received from Planned Parenthood.


URGENT: Senator Orrin Hatch is lying in order to cut women -- and Planned Parenthood -- out of health care reform:
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We've been deeply concerned that women would be the first targets in health care reform and now it's happened. Yesterday, anti-choice Senator Orrin Hatch launched an attack on Planned Parenthood and the U.S. senators who were trying to help women.

Earlier this week, Senator Mikulski of Maryland, joined by four other senators, offered an amendment to make sure that preventive care for women -- like birth control and cancer screenings -- is included in health care legislation. The amendment also made sure women and their families can still see the doctors and nurses they trust.

The amendment passed, and it was a strong victory for women's health. And now the other side is trying their best to take it away.

Within hours, Senator Hatch and his allies started spreading lies. Their aim: to cut millions of women -- and Planned Parenthood -- out of health care reform. Their method: to mislead the media and Americans about what the amendment actually does. Instead of telling the truth, he claimed that it mandates abortion coverage in an attempt to drum up opposition. This is an outright lie -- and we need your help to fight back.

http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/hcr09er_ppol?rk=wpqr4DsqoPsNE

Senator Hatch and his allies have made themselves clear. They believe that providing trusted and essential health care to millions of Americans is less important than pushing their anti-choice ideology.

They are wrong. Women's health matters -- it matters to me and I know it matters to you. Let's show him just how wrong he is -- take a moment right now to sign a petition to Senator Hatch:

http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/hcr09er_ppol?rk=wpqr4DsqoPsNE

It is truly outrageous. Senator Hatch and his anti-women's health allies are willing to sacrifice the health care of so many women, men, and families for one reason -- to undermine women's ability to get preventive and primary reproductive health care.

The fact is that without genuine access to care, women's health is in jeopardy. You and I know that, and that's why we won't accept health care reform that cuts out reproductive health care
and women's health providers like Planned Parenthood. Please, sign your name and make sure Senator Hatch gets the message:

http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/hcr09er_ppol?rk=wpqr4DsqoPsNE

This isn't the first attack on women's health and Planned Parenthood since the health care reform debate began -- and you can bet it won't be the last. Thank you for standing strong with us today, and please bear with us as we communicate with you frequently on this critical struggle.

Sincerely,

Cecile Richards, President
Planned Parenthood Federation of America

****************************************
(C)2009 Planned Parenthood(R) Federation of America, Inc.
http://www.ppaction.org/ct/opqr4Ds1Bre1/PP_home

The website has samples of last year's winners.

http://www.robertswartwood.com/?page_id=8

Hint Fiction

hint fiction (n) : a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story

_________________________________

Anthology Guidelines

Tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2010, W.W. Norton will publish an anthology of Hint Fiction. What is Hint Fiction? It’s a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story. The thesis of the anthology is to prove that a story 25 words or less can have as much impact as a story 2,500 words or longer. The anthology will include between 100 and 150 stories. We want your best work.

It’s possible to write a complete story in 25 words or less — a beginning, middle, end — but that’s not Hint Fiction.

The very best Hint Fiction stories can be read many different ways.

We want stories we can read again and again and never tire of. Stories that don’t pull any punches. Stories that make us think, that evoke some kind of emotional response.

Take a look at the winners and honorable mentions of the Hint Fiction Contest for examples.

Payment is $25 per story for World and Audio rights.

It took them until 1 am or so to clear up that accident. Unfortunately, we had an unhappy side effect at our end. Randy was hurrying to get to the fire station, but when he went up on the balls of his feet to run, he ripped loose the bottom of his calf muscle on his right leg with what he described as a loud snap. He could barely hobble home and was in a lot of pain. We elevated his leg and packed ice on it, but it's a pretty bad tear. He worked from home today to keep off the leg. The doctor can't do anything about it because as bad as it is, it doesn't call for surgery. It will take a loooong time to heal, followed by careful physical therapy.

Ah, the excitement. I was quietly reading LJ when I heard a stupendous car crash that sounded like it was right outside. Randy and I rushed out and up the street a ways we saw an SUV on its side. How the hell they managed to get their car flipped is beyond me. Luckily for those idiots, they tipped over directly across the street from the fire station. By the time Randy had walked over to the station, they responders were already gearing up and on their way.

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. A fine and grand birthday it was. I told Randy exactly what I wanted and he delivered -- tickets to the King Tut exhibit at the DeYoung Museum.

I have a faience bead Eye of Horus, which I had to wear, of course. We took the day off work, arrived at our appointed time slot of 2 pm and didn't finish until around 5:30. It was extremely well done, with a few pointers taken from theme parks, imo. The number of actual items from Tut's tomb is relatively small, so most of the exhibit rooms were filled with equally fascinating and worthwhile items from his ancestors. It was set up in a roughly chronological flow from room to room. They did an excellent job of explaining key issues leading up to Tut taking the throne.

It was a wonderful day, even if we were both aching in feet and limbs by the end of it. They cunningly exit you right into the gift shop, so Randy purchased for me a pair of silver Eye of Horus earrings and a turquoise-blue scarab magnet for the fridge.

Couldn't have asked for a lovelier day.

Crow youngsters are the worst. We had a young crow sit on the back fence where he cawed and cawed and cawed endlessly until mom or dad finally came and put something in his beak. What a ruckus.

Lots of young birds around, which -- except for the crows -- are delightful. The young chickadees make lovely chirps. I saw a father red finch feeding one of his youngsters, yet another father bird doing that job. I hadn't realized that male birds would feed their young, especially after they've left the nest.

Meanwhile, we have the title of a new romance novel budding: The Dove and the Rat. For some reason, the rat likes to come out and eat while the Mourning Dove is hanging around. Or maybe it's just that the doves hang around so much it's inevitable.

The Death Sauce seemed to work at keeping the rats away, but we learned that there is danger in letting the Death Sauce sit around for too long. It ferments. Randy found that the sprayer had expanded to its limit, probably on the verge of exploding. He had to quickly use the rest of the sauce to save our lives. He hasn't gotten around to making a new batch, hence the reappearance of the rat. Next time, I think we'll have to refrigerate it.

I stumbled across an exceedingly interesting blog. A writer by the name of Gary Corby is writing a series of murder mysteries set in Classical Greece. He's being impeccably true to his historical time period and his blog is filled with posts about aspects of that time and culture. Lots of fun.

http://blog.garycorby.com/

Organic? Maybe...maybe not. Stay away from any Horizon dairy product, for one.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31719136/ns/health-more_health_news/

The USDA created the National Organic Program in 2002 to implement the law. By then, major food companies had bought up most small, independent organic companies. Kraft Foods, for example, owns Boca Foods. Kellogg owns Morningstar Farms, and Coca-Cola owns 40 percent of Honest Tea, maker of the organic beverage favored by President Obama.

That corporate firepower has added to pressure on the government to expand the definition of what is organic, in part because processed foods offered by big industry often require ingredients, additives or processing agents that either do not exist in organic form or are not available in large enough quantities for mass production.

Under the original organics law, 5 percent of a USDA-certified organic product can consist of non-organic substances, provided they are approved by the National Organic Standards Board. That list has grown from 77 to 245 substances since it was created in 2002. Companies must appeal to the board every five years to keep a substance on the list, explaining why an organic alternative has not been found. The goal was to shrink the list over time, but only one item has been removed so far.

The original law's mandate for annual pesticide testing was also never implemented — the agency left that optional.

-------------------------------------

The agency has not acted, for example, on a 2002 board recommendation that would answer a critical question for organic dairy farmers: how to interpret the law requiring that their cows have "access to pasture," rather than be crowded onto feedlots. The result has been that some dairy farms have been selling milk as organic from cows that spend little if any time grazing in open spaces.

"This is really a case of 'justice delayed is justice denied,' " said Alexis Baden-Mayer, national political director for the Organic Consumers Association. "The truly organic dairy farmers, who have their cows out in the pasture all year round, are at a huge competitive disadvantage compared to the big confinement dairies."

"I have seen how the industry's practices – especially those of the for-profit insurers that are under constant pressure from Wall Street to meet their profit expectations – have contributed to the tragedy of nearly 50 million people being uninsured as well as to the growing number of Americans who, because insurers now require them to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pockets before their coverage kicks in – are underinsured. An estimated 25 million of us now fall into that category."
– Wendell Potter, former executive for the health insurance industry, 6/24/09

Wendell Potter is a health insurance insider who led a highly successful career for 20 years in health care, serving eventually as a top public relations executive. After some deep soul searching, last year he made the critical decision to resign without pension and talk openly about the corruption he has personally seen and experienced in the increasingly profit-driven health care industry. His essay below reveals in detail how the industry's former priority of quality health care has now given way to the bottom line.

http://www.wanttoknow.info/health/health_insurance_industry_corruption

An informative article on corporate lobby spending.

Here's an abbreviated list:

1) $42 Million: Health Care, Health Insurance, & Pharma
2) $31 Million: Oil
3) $20 Million: War
4) $17 Million: Telecoms
5) $15 Million: Financial
6) $10 Million: Automotive
7) $7 Million: Life Insurance
8) $6 Million: Biotech

I must be completely nuts, but I've undertaken an outside job editing a book. We're still in the proposal stage, even though they came to me with the idea for the book. I've spent the afternoon going through their feedback and guidance on the first proposal and writing a new proposal.

In less lofty news, Randy and I both hit 77 on our main WoW characters. ;)

Oldest known "art" pushed back to 70,000 years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1753326.stm

It was a stinking, hot day and I didn't feel like doing a thing, but did anyway.

Over and out.

I haven't posted about it before, but I've been watching the events in Iran with utter fascination. I greatly admire the courage of the Iranian people in carrying on with their protests in the face of an oppressive theocracy.

I was initially struck by the unsettling similarities to our hideous years under the Bush regime. As far as I'm concerned, he took office due to fraudulent elections and I see the parallels between those elections and this Iranian one. We had years of arrogant, confrontational policy led by hawks with no genuine concern for what the world thought. Bush was the flip side of Ahmadinejad -- nationalistic, living in his own reality, seeing things in black and white. I wish people would have taken peacefully to the street here in 2004 when we had a rigged election.

One of the best news shows on TV today, imho, is Fareed Zakaria's GPS on CNN Sunday mornings. He asks intelligent, concise, probing questions and has excellent, intelligent, informed guests. One of his guests today was Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security advisor to Jimmy Carter during the 1979 Iranian revolution. Brzezinski compared elements within Iran to the neocons here -- a comparison that made total sense as he explained it. He spoke of hard-line black and white thinking, the "with us or against us" mentality that characterizes both. I call it binary thinking and it was one of the aspects of the Bush administration that I most loathed.

I'm relieved to have a President now who understands that the world has shades of gray and knows how to deal with nuance. Now if we could just get the greater American public, let alone fuckhead McCain, to understand it. The thing about binary thinking is that it's simple. It doesn't take effort. It doesn't take getting the real information, assessing it and arriving at nuanced conclusions. Most people are mentally lazy. Binary thinking is the easy shortcut. This is not a time where we can afford to have binary thinking.

I've wandered off the point, which is that I hope the Iranians can pull through this and arrive at a better situation than they had before. The women have been especially brave given what they're up against. Peace and power to them.

We have baby Juncos. Well, not babies anymore, they're fledglings. I heard a prodigious amount of twittering and kept seeing these little birds darting around me as I went in and out of the house doing errands. I could tell by the tweets and by the flash of distinctive tail feathers that they were Juncos. Then one of them landed close to me and I could clearly see that it had the streaked breast of a juvenile. Basically, they were free of the nest, but still crying "FEED ME! FEED ME!"

I saw a juvenile Towhee do that to mama bird. They were both in the back yard. He was easily the same size as her. Kid Towhee was only a couple hops away from mama and there was seed on the ground all around them. He was yelling "FEED ME!" Mama was dutifully picking up seed and putting it in his beak.

We had two rats scrounging in the back yard a couple of nights ago, so Randy got around to making the supposed vole/rodent repellent using the onion, jalapena and cayenne. You chop it up, boil it in 2 quarts of water for 20 minutes, strain through cheesecloth and spray the liquid where the rodents are. We labeled the sprayer "DEATH SAUCE" because we were coughing on the fumes alone. He sprayed it yesterday. Tonight, he spotted a rat briefly. At this point, the effectiveness is dubious. We'll give it more time and see.

John Hodgman ("PC" on the PC VS. Mac commercials) speaking at the Radio & TV Correspondents dinner with Pres. Obama. Geeks rule!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7OPByRGDY&feature=player_embedded

Grand Dame Katie-cat, seen in the icon, passed away this afternoon at the age of 18. Details are in the Moggyblog.

This was my weekend to be close to wild critters. First, I found Randy in the back yard standing right next to a rat who was voraciously chomping on the sunflower seeds. When Randy came in, I said, "Let me try it." I sidled over slowly and the rat didn't run. When I got very close, it ran away briefly then came back and munched away while I stood only a couple of feet away from it. I think perhaps it was a young rat. It wasn't very large.

On my walk yesterday, I heard a hummingbird carrying on from a bottlebrush bush right next to me. It was sitting on a branch and didn't budge even though I was within a couple feet of it. We watched one another for a few minutes before I moved on.

Today, as I passed the same bush, I saw a young Chickadee happily eating something in the bottlebrush flowers. I stood easily within a couple feet and it went right on with what it was doing, affording me an amazingly close look.

( For them what don't know what a bottlebrush bush looks like. )

We've had to rethink the identity of the new rodent in the back yard. It's greased lighting fast, so it's hard to get a good look, but we're ruled out gopher (head's not big enough), mole, shrew (doesn't have the pointed snout) and our best guess is that it's a vole.

Sadly, voles and rats both are pretty destructive in the garden. We found a homemade vole repellent that calls for an onion, jalapeno pepper and cayenne pepper. Randy's job is to make that up and we'll see what happens.