Beirut Ad

When I went to a writing workshop in Portland this summer, I made a friend from Beirut named Tarek who is a writer and former economist. The fighting broke out between Israel and Lebanon while we were attending the workshop, and he was stuck at his brother's house in Maryland until recently. He took this photo shortly after arriving back in Beirut. I guess he is trying to keep his sense of humor (irony?) during difficult times. Here are his last two emails that went to me and a host of other people he knows:

Dear friends,
A lot of you have asked about my first impressions of Beirut. I think this huge outdoor advertising sums it up.... (The bridge, naturally, has been bombarded by the Israeli planes, but we "keep walking" - with a tad bit of alcohol).
TJC

Dear friends,
Just to inform you that tomorrow (August 26th) marks my flight back to Lebanon. I am scheduled to land August 27th 18:00 local time some 40 days after the initial schedule (40 days? Isn't that a little
biblical?)

For your info, Lebanon is 7 hours ahead of NY, 10 hours ahead of Portland, and 2 hours ahead of the UK. I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has provided me comfort (In any way, shape or form) during this extremely troubled time.
Sincerely,
TJC

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Psycho Killer Raccoons Terrorize Olympia

This is a straight story from the New York Times (below). I remember when I lived in Seattle we had some huge raccoons living in our backyard that I always wondered about.

August 22, 2006
Psycho Killer Raccoons Terrorize Olympia
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:04 p.m. ET

OLYMPIA, Washington (AP) -- A fierce group of raccoons has killed 10 cats, attacked a small dog and bitten at least one pet owner who had to get rabies shots, residents of Olympia say.

Some have taken to carrying pepper spray to ward off the masked marauders and the woman who was bitten now carries an iron pipe when she goes outside at night.

"It's a new breed," said Tamara Keeton, who with Kari Hall started a raccoon watch after an emotional neighborhood meeting drew 40 people. "They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid."

Tony Benjamins, whose family lost two cats, said he got a big dog -- a German Shepherd-Rottweiler mix -- to keep the raccoons away.

One goal of the patrol is to get residents to stop feeding raccoons and to keep pets and pet food indoors.

Lisann Rolle said she began carrying an iron pipe when she goes outside at night after being bitten by raccoons when she tried to pull three of them off her cat Lucy. She obtained rabies shots afterward as a precaution.

"I was watching her like a hawk, but she snuck out," Rolle said. "Then I heard this hideous sound -- a coyote-type high pitch ... It was vicious. They were focused on ripping her apart."

The attacks have been especially shocking because raccoons came within five feet (1 1/2 meters) of cats without any problem in previous years, Benjamins said.

"We used to love the raccoons. They'd have their babies this time of year, and they were so cute. Even though we lived in the city, it was neat to have wildlife around," he said, "but this year, things changed. They went nuts."

In one case five raccoons tried to carry off a small dog, which managed to survive.

The attacks, all within a three-block area near the Garfield Nature Trail in Olympia, are highly unusual, said Sean O. Carrell, a problem wildlife coordinator with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, adding that trappers may be summoned from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to remove problem animals.

"I've never heard a report of 10 cats being killed. It's something were going to have to monitor," Carrell said.

Meanwhile, residents have hired Tom Brown, a nuisance wildlife control operator from Rochester, Washington, to set traps, but in six weeks he has caught only one raccoon. He and Carrell said raccoons teach their young -- and each other -- to avoid traps.

Brown said he had seen packs of raccoons this big but none so into killing.

"They are in command up there," he said.

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Why We Fight (& More)

Lots of things are going on in my thoughts these days. Today they foiled another major terrorist plot aimed at the airlines. Yesterday the SF Chronicle had an article entitled "The Myth Of The Lone Gunman" (click title for whole article) wherein Cinnamon Stillwell (great name) argued that we have had many terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 9/11/2001--the news media has simply not called them terrorist attacks for various reasons. She mentions the 2002 "Beltway Snipers" as a prime example. As she says, Lee Boyd Malvo "repeatedly emphasized jihad against America." Today we had this major attempt with 21 arrested already. Unfortunately, this will play into the hands of the Bush Administration, who are always looking for excuses to add more funding to the Pentagon's huge budget that is ever expanding since Bush/Cheney/Rummy took office. I watched the excellent documentary "Why We Fight" directed by Eugene Jarecki (which won the Grand Jury Prize for a documentary at the 2005 Sundance Festival) earlier this week and found it to be very compelling. Eisenhower was right! Watch out for the "military-industrial-congressional complex." (In the film, they edited out the scene explaining that Ike originally included Congress in his equation of the "military-industrial complex," but I watched all of the extras on the DVD.) This film came out in 2005 and should be mandatory viewing for all thinking Americans, yet even in the liberal bastion of the Bay Area, most people I talk to have never heard of it. Even that seems eerily consistent with the way things are going these days in the U.S. I was happy to hear comedian Robin Williams mention the film on NPR last week--he obviously found it to be very powerful, too. Maybe that's why he started drinking again (fortunately, he's now back in rehab). It is depressing because the world seems so bleak right now. Nobody is really working for peace or listening with interest to the other side. We are more dependent on OIL than ever before, even when we know how finite and damaging to the environment it really is. And the cost keeps rising and we keep paying it. I have been noticing more and more hybrids on the highways, but for me they are too expensive. The oil companies are getting filthy, filthy rich, and the average American is struggling to stay afloat. God forbid anything serious happens in your area like Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi. I don't know what the solution is or what I should be doing to help make things better.

I'm glad to see that Joseph Lieberman's constituents in Connecticut are showing him they no longer want to see status quo behavior, especially out of their Democratic leaders! Something needs to change big in America and elsewhere. There is a stunning moment in "Why We Fight" which shows the senior Senator from West Virginia Robert C. Byrd standing on the Senate floor giving a speech right before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and he is asking his fellow senators, "Where is the democratic debate on this issue? Why are we not arguing the pros and cons of whether or not we should be doing this? Look at how quiet it is in here, you could hear a pin drop!" The camera pans out and we realize nobody is even in the Senate chambers to listen to him. That seems to speak volumes--Congress has been absent since Bush took office. Somebody needs to stand up to the Bush Administration, and fast.

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Bill Moyers & PBS Must Be Preserved !!!

"I decided long ago that this wasn’t healthy for democracy. I came to see that news is what people want to keep hidden, and everything else is publicity. In my documentaries, whether on the Watergate scandal thirty years ago, or the Iran-Contra conspiracy twenty years ago, or Bill Clinton’s fundraising scandals ten years ago, or five years ago the chemical industry’s long and despicable cover up of its cynical and unspeakable withholding of critical data about its toxic products, I realized that investigative journalism could not be a collaboration between the journalist and the subject. Objectivity was not satisfied by two opposing people offering competing opinions, leaving the viewer to split the difference. I came to believe that objective journalism means describing the object being reported on, including the little fibs and fantasies, as well as the big lie of people in power." -Bill Moyers, PBS journalist

I really thought Bill Moyers' interview with Pema Chodron on PBS last night was extremely worthwhile television in every conceivable sense of the phrase. It didn't matter whether you were a red or a blue person (or green or orange or yellow or purple or cream-colored), Pema said it herself, "Everyone has the ability to be liberated." I just hope we as a people, enough of us at least, WAKE UP to what the current government is trying to do in America, which is to stamp out opposing views and control our minds, basically, just as George Orwell describes in "1984." After the Bill Moyers show aired, PBS ran an interview with the Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, Dr. Schell (I think). He said the politicians are trying to turn our news into pure public relations instead of true Democratic journalism and free press. That was a very important point. When Bill Moyers was attacked from within by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, he gave a tremendous rebuttal in the form of a speech at the National Conference on Media Reform in St. Louis, Missouri on May 15, 2005. The long quote above is an excerpt from that speech, and I've linked to the whole speech if you click on the title of this blog entry. Bill Moyers has the kind of integrity we need to preserve and elevate in this country, and certainly it must not be squelched by the fear-based conservatives trying to take over our country right now. My hat is off to Bill Moyers and any journalist with the guts to tell the real truth about whatever issue he or she decides to report on, regardless of anyone in power's position on the events in question. (OK, now I'll hop down off my tiny e-soapbox!)

This whole blog entry was inspired by an email from my brother Dave. Here is the text of his email, and the reply I just sent him because I think it might be helpful to others (perhaps):

"Hey Walt! Thanks for the heads up on the Bill Moyers program (we used to see him around the Upper W Side). We caught most of the show. I liked Pema Chodron's comments about 'faith' and 'God,' and am still trying to wrap my head around the 'groundlessness' stuff she was talking about."

Here's part of my response explaining the 'groundlessness' stuff:

Basically, groundlessness means that even though we all live under the general illusion that things are as they appear, the truth is much different than that and can easily be shattered (for example, when her husband requested a divorce out of the blue or when the planes hit the twin towers). In those moments, suddenly we realize that we aren't really standing on terra firma, that everything is subject to unexpected change at any given moment. Do you honestly have any idea what will happen to you tomorrow? Do any of us? We have some good guesses, but you never know for sure. The more aware of this constantly changing nature of reality we are, the more prepared we are when something does in fact come along and rock our world. I hope that helps--it's basically the same exact thing Pema said.

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White House Email Reply

Thanks to the encouragement of the League of Conservation Voters, I just sent an email to President Bush asking him to go see the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." In my email, I also added that he should see "Who Killed the Electric Car?" in which the Prez plays a bit cameo role as himself. Of course, I am under no illusions that the Prez will actually go see either important film, although he absolutely should (and so should everyone else). Anyway, here's the automatic (yet so heartfelt and sincere) reply you get from the White House if you send them an email (in case anybody wants the White House email address):

"On behalf of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your suggestions.
The President is committed to continuing our economic progress,
defending our freedom, and upholding our Nation's deepest values.

Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House
cannot respond to every message. Please visit the White House
website for the most up-to-date information on Presidential
initiatives, current events, and topics of interest to you.
In order to better receive comments from the public, a new system
has been implemented. In the future please send your comments to
comments@whitehouse.gov.

Thank you again for taking the time to write."

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