Proving We Are Not A Christian Nation

Conservative Christians, who believe the United States was chosen by the one, true God to be his nation founded on God's principles, ignore Christ's summation of the law and the prophets in order to become Republicans.  These Republicans daily demonstrate to the world we are not a Christian nation as they focus on money not people.  If they win the debt ceiling crisis by destroying Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, they will have definitively proved that our government is free of any divine direction.

Christ said that there were two commands that summed up all of God's teachings.  Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.  When asked who is your neighbor, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan.  In it, a Samaritan (Jews despised Samaritans at the time) helps a man that has been mugged and robbed.  The man is a total stranger.  The Samaritan cares for the man, then pays for his future care.  He tells those caring for the injured man that he will check to see they have carried out his wishes.

What can be clearer?  Christians are to take care of the strangers in our midst who have been attacked by forces outside their control. Christians are not to just take care of them personally if they can, but to see that strangers are cared for.  Christians are to check on the stranger's continued welfare.  In a modern society of millions, how can Christians do this?  Christians can enable a surrogate to act for them.  The government becomes our Good Samaritan.

Republicans do not believe in the Good Samaritan.  I have been repeatedly told that they have no obligation to help anyone outside their immediate family.  That they have no obligation to help those who cannot help themselves.  To the contrary, the Republicans consider those that cannot help themselves defective and a drag on society: they should be abandoned.

Those Republicans who call themselves Christians hold those same views.  One such person in my own church told me that a member of our church who had taken in his grandchildren should not have done so.  That church member should have saved the money he spent taking care of grandchildren so when his health failed he could take care of himself and not ask the church for help. ( He had asked for help. The church did not help. I no longer attend that church.)

Time and again, so-called Christians have written that they will not help people who do not work.  These Christians assume that those not working don't because they are lazy.  Interestingly, when Jesus talks about judgment, he does not say we should check on why a person was hungry, why they are sick, or why they are in prison. Jesus says feed them, take care of them and visit them if you want God to claim you as his own. Republicans have become the goats described in Matthew 25:31-47, turned away by God on judgment day.

With the Republicans dominating the political debate and Democrats cravenly acquiescing to their outrageous demands, this nation is in retreat from any notion of caring for the least among us.  Republicans that call themselves Christian have made being poor a sin.  They believe Christians have no obligation to help sinners.  Republicans of all types have abandoned Christ's command to love your neighbor.  How can our government abandon Christ's command and our country remain a Christian nation?

We are not a Christian nation.  We should not be.  Our founders saw this nation as encompassing all who were citizens regardless of faith.  That is why we have the Bill of Rights: to keep the majority from abusing the minority: to keep Christians from abusing non-Christians.

Those that scream the loudest that we are a Christian nation refuse to follow Christ's command to love your neighbor.  Today, they would shred the social safety net by cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Those that profess to be today's only true Christians only love themselves.

Republicans tell us we are to concentrate on money not the well-being of our citizens. Most Republicans have looked around and said, "I have no neighbors except the wealthy."  Even Democrats are falling for that line.  Soon, our government will be of money, by money and for money.  Christ said that "You cannot serve both God and Money."  If Christians who are Republicans choose money over people, then they do not serve God.  By conservative Christians own choosing, we will not be a Christian nation.

Watering the Garden

I was up before seven this morning to turn the sprinkler on in my vegetable garden.  The temperature hit 100 yesterday, a record for that date.  That kind of heat sucks the moisture out of the plants faster than they can replace it.  We had a good rain a week ago, but you wouldn't know it by the looks of the vegetation.

The city allows you to water twice a week, in the morning until ten, then at night starting at 7pm.  Of course, the system is really designed for people with sprinkler systems, not people like me who have to drag hoses around.  I go out every 45 minutes to move my sprinkler so that I can have the back yard watered by ten.  This evening I will do the same in front.  I do not have a big yard

With the advent of high temperatures, I will be watering not only my vegetable garden and flower beds, but areas of lawn ( bare of grass) so that the trees will get plenty of water.  I lost a big elm in front this spring and a native pecan.  The pecan was a surprise because 20 years ago, I tried to get rid of that tree and it just came  back.  Now, I did nothing and it's dead.  I wonder what is going on under the ground because the elm and pecan were in the same area.  Is something toxic buried there? Since my house is 97 years old, probably not.

I watered a section of the backyard where I will sow my okra seed.  This will be the last vegetable I will put in.  I adore okra.  I especially like it raw, right off the stalk.  I may trying putting in some beans with the okra.  The soil where I will put the okra needs to be turned and compost and fertilizer worked in , but the pain in my back has become a living, pulsing torment, so I will delay until the weekend.

Photo by  bucklava

The tomatoes are coming in.  The Bonito Oro has wonderful, golf ball size fruit.  The cherry tomatoes continue to perform well.  I bought bacon and lettuce yesterday, so today we can have BLT's from the enormous tomatoes produced by Solar Set.  I am not sure I save any money with the garden, but the taste of fresh produce can brighten your whole day.

Demographics, They are a changing.

America's Tomorrow from PolicyLink on Vimeo.

The Southern Strategy

I have become more and more bemused by the posts by Republicans and/or conservatives on Facebook.  Not one acknowledges the fact that Ronald Reagan came to power on the basis of the Southern Strategy.  Not one will acknowledge that the Republican party is still the party of bigotry and voter suppression.

Reagan capitalized on the fact that a Democratic President championed civil rights and voting rights giving African-Americans the right to vote in the South.  Reagan began his 1980 campaign in Neshoba County,  Mississippi in a place only famous for the killing of three civil rights activists.  Reagan spoke of "states rights", code words for oppression of blacks.  I know, I was raised in a state that had once been part of the Confederacy.  My high school was considered integrated because we had one black student. You had to pay to vote: the poll tax.  The sole purpose of the poll tax was to keep African-Americans from voting. Republicans want to bring the poll tax back in the guise of voter identification laws. The GOP's aim is broader now, not just minorities, but the elderly and the disabled.

Bob Herbert wrote: "To see Reagan’s appearance at the Neshoba County Fair in its proper context, it has to be placed between the murders of the civil rights workers that preceded it and the acknowledgment by the Republican strategist Lee Atwater that the use of code words like “states’ rights” in place of blatantly bigoted rhetoric was crucial to the success of the G.O.P.’s Southern strategy. That acknowledgment came in the very first year of the Reagan presidency."

Reagan set the Republican party on its path of bigotry that it maintains to this day.

Draw a Line in the Sand

For if we hit the debt ceiling, the government will be forced to stop paying roughly a third of its bills, because that’s the share of spending currently financed by borrowing. So will it stop sending out Social Security checks? Will it stop paying doctors and hospitals that treat Medicare patients? Will it stop paying the contractors supplying fuel and munitions to our military? Or will it stop paying interest on the debt?     Paul Krugman

I have supported President Obama despite my belief that he values compromise above principal.  I voted for him in 2008.  Whether I vote for him again depends on whether he takes a stand against the
Republican goats( goats as in Matthew 25:31-46).

If President Obama does not stand up to Republicans over the debt ceiling and allows massive spending cuts, I will not vote for him because we might as well have a Republican in the White House.  Obama on the campaign trail talked a good show.  (I admit I preferred Hillary because I thought she was tougher and Obama had a habit of being condescending to women..)  I have been disappointed in his capitulation while in the White House to Republican grandstanding.

President Obama is wealthy and will not suffer from whatever he does.  I, on the other hand, am on a limited, fixed income, and because of a childhood illness (pre-existing condition) cannot get insurance.  The federal and state health risk pools are a farce:one would take more than 1/2 my income and one would take all of it to cover my monthly insurance premium.  The reality is that the health care reform has done absolutely nothing to help me.  My hope was to survive to 65, but the Republicans plan to destroy Medicare and, at  this point, I fear President Obama will aid and abet them.

 Draw a line in the sand, Mr.President.

Tomatoes Begin to Ripen

Cherry tomatoes by bucklava

I had planned to write at least two blogs on the garden between the last garden post and now.  Some minor crises, one hard fall, and an interesting interlude on Facebook when my blog giving my view that Christianity is not the only way to God and heaven was posted by a Facebook friend.  Falls are always dangerous for me for three reasons: (1) my bones die (cause unknown, but injury can't help)  (2) I have an artificial hip (doctor's instructions: don't fall) and (3) I have no health insurance (pre-existing condition).  In this case, I fell outdoors on nice, hard dirt. still, not concrete, while carrying plants to the backyard.  I avoided landing on the artificial hip side and I did not have any permanent injury.  I ripped a nice hole in my thumb on something and my good knee (the other has the knee cap out of place, but it works, much to my orthopedist's dismay) was skinned and badly bruise but functions with only minor complaints mostly when I bend it.  Oh, one of my elderly cats is sick and I am administering nebulizer treatments two to three times a day..   Good excuses, but the reality is I just didn't feel like blogging about the garden.

The garden is progressing but not as I had planned.  I planted sweet pepper and eggplant seed in two beds and not one seed sprouted.  I have never had this happen.  By the time I realized that the only thing going to sprout were weeds, it was too late to reseed.  I bought susbstitute plants at my local nursery( the plants I was carrying went I fell).  They had no eggplant.  I have planted two sweet peppers, two squash plants,  two kinds of basil and two kinds of parsley.    I have purple sage, lavender and mint in my side garden, in the ground among pots of cereus, pencil plant, and sanseveria.  My lavender always dies: I think from too much water.  The side garden drains well and is dry.  I put the mint near the bird bath on the ground so it will get more water.

My garden May 1

My tomatoes are growing well and all have now set fruit.  This is the last year I grow Celebrity. because it does not perform well for me. Celebrity was the last to set fruit.  We are already sampling the Sungold tomatoes and the Sweet 100's.  Ojo Bonito is loaded with green tomatoes.  The plants have been attacked by small, black worms that eat the leaves.  I have instituted a daily search and destroy ( actually, look and squish).  So far, I am winning.  The Brandywine was the first tomato attacked by these nefarious critters.


My main concern now is the ferocity of our spring storms.  I lost my car windshield to hail in 2008.  We had our first storm last week; this was also our first rain since I put in my tomatoes in early March.  Hail warnings were abundant, but the storm that came through my area had no hail and lots of rain., over two inches.  That really was a miracle.  This part of Texas is in a severe drought which continues.  One line of storms is not enough., but at least I will not need to water for a while.

Sungold tomatoes by tvol

I purchased my okra seed yesterday.   I need to prepare a bed for it this week.  Okra loves the heat.  I want to track down a nursery that has some eggplant plants.  I will sow some radish seed on the edges of the four beds I have now.   If all goes well, I will plant some red sunflowers at the bottom edge of the garden.

The garden is my escape from reality.  Whether I harvest much or not, I will reap peace and renewal.

Only Christians Go To Heaven?

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."    John 14:5-6.

By -=Bruce Berrien=-

Whether we are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, etc.  I believe that the aspect of God that we encounter when we die is the Word, God in action, no matter what we called the supreme being(s) in life. That is what John 14:6 tells us.  It is a statement of mechanism, not exclusivity.

I believe that Jesus is God,  therefore the highest revelation of God in human history.  I also believe that all faiths have truth sufficient for salvation.   I do not believe God condemns anyone because of their place of birth nor do I  believe that Christians have an exclusive claim on God.

Conservative Christians are repelled by the possibility that their God and the God of Islam could be the same.  Muslims trace their ancestry through Ishmael, the son of Abraham by the slave girl, Hagar. Theirs is the God of Abraham whether conservative Christians like it or not. 

Atheists are close to God because to reject him they must first think about God.  Such thought puts them closer to God than all those who are indifferent and never contemplate God.  

My personal belief is that everyone at some point will be confronted by God and know that God is real.  At that point, they may choose to accept or reject God.  If they reject God, then they will cease to exist.  The soul is not immortal.  I  believe there is no eternal life separate from our Supreme Being.

Planting Again

New planted Roma

I  have been short of funds, so I put off planting more tomatoes. Luck was with me though.  Central Market had tomatoes on sale for $1.50 a plant.  Other places a single tomato plant cost $4.00.  I bought three because I have a total of seven cages that I made over 30 years ago.

Home I went but did not have time to plant the tomatoes that day..  Two days later I had the plot turned with added compost, fertilizer and dry leaves.  I planted the three plants which were very long-stemmed and leggy..  I removed the lower stems and leaves, the dug a small trench in my plot.  I laid the plant in on its side with the end curving up.  I then buried the roots and stem leaving the leafy end of about ground.  The stems will root and give you a good strong root system.

I planted Roma, Snow White Cherry, and Bonito Ojo in a triangular pattern..I only knew Roma as a variety.  The other two were unknown..  I would look then up on the internet another day.

The next morning I went out to check all my plants and begin a new plot in which to plant some sweet pepper seeds.  The first four plants were flourishing,almost double their original sizes.  Two of the plants I had planted the day before looked fine, but the third, the Snow White Cherry was lying on the ground.  I picked it up gingerly hoping that the stem had just been bent and could be straightened.  No way.  The stem had been chewed almost completely through: it snapped in my fingers.  I looked at the plant nothing was on it.  I checked the ground around it.  There was a small black caterpillar looking particularly well fed.  I heaved him into the patch of cane on the other side of the drive.  Now I needed another tomato.

I returned to Central Market hoping they had some more inexpensive plants.  My heart skipped a beat (not unusual, I take medicine to make my heartbeat more regular) when I saw many new tomato plants.  They were bound to be more expensive than the others I had purchased.  I was wrong.  The  new plants were still a dollar fifty.  I found a tomato that I had never planted, Sungold, and bought it.

Once home, I went back to my garden.  I exhumed the remains of the Snow White Cherry tomato,  I dug a new hole and added more compost.  The Sungold was a nice compact plant, so I did not plant it on its side.  The Sungold went into the ground where the Snow White Cherry had emerged.  I watered the new tomato in and went inside.

I watched the tomatoes carefully for the next few days.  Nothing happened.

A new plot was needed for my peppers so I prepared a new four feet by four feet bed.  My back offered only mild complaints. I watered it well and waited to turn it one more time.  Two days later I finished the preparation.  I planted some sweet banana peppers from seed left over from last year and some Sweet Cherry Red peppers from a new packet, all on April 3, 2011.  I like sweet peppers better than any others including bell peppers..

Established Foursome

Most of my tomato plants are now blooming.  The plants will soon be setting fruit.  The local mockingbirds have already scouted my plants.  The birds and I will wait for ripe tomatoes together.  Usually there is enough for both of us.  I just wish the mockingbird would not sing at three in the morning.

My Back My Garden

I have begun preparing my garden for planting which means turning the soil and working in compost.  I use a spading fork.  The first few times I do this in any year my back complains mightily, not just the muscles, but the spine itself.  I have a kind of arthritis that attacks the spinal column, the rib joints and my feet. Most of the time, I can ignore the pain.  This was not the case this time.  I had trouble walking the day after working in the garden and only managed a hunched over shuffle. Needless to say there was a delay in returning to my garden.

On Saturday, March 19, I purchased four tomato plants.  Usually, we have no freeze after March 14 although we will have what my grandmother called an "Easter spell" of cold weather in the weeks before a late Easter.  A native Texan, whose garden fed her family, she was uncanny in predicting the weather.  She's gone now so I am on my own.  I have decided to put my faith in meteorology and plant as soon as possible.

I added leaves and fertilizer to the bed I had turned compost into and turned it again.  I use no pesticides, but I am not a pure organic gardener.  I use a time release fertilizer that comes ready to apply and will not burn the plants.  In addition, it will not harm the earthworms and other beneficial insects.  Besides, I have a Ph. D. in Chemistry and believe that there are natural and man made substances that can be used together. I don't use pesticides because what will kill pests may not be good for us either.  Texas homes were treated with chlordane for termites for years before it was banned.  Now it is difficult to find soil uncontaminated with chlordane breakdown chemicals.  Know your chemicals!

After working the garden plot again, I planted my tomatoes, four different varieties: Solar Set, Celebrity, Sweet 100, and Brandywine (an old Amish variety).  I have my doubts about Brandywine in the Texas heat; we are far from Amish country.  I try different varieties every year.  I will purchase three more tomato plants this week to complete the tomato plots..I still have to turn that plot.

The good news: my back complained briefly about the digging and turning I did, then quieted down to its normal background growl of discomfort.

Could Jesus Vote in Texas?

Photo by pncsmith

The Texas Senate enacted a law to require a photo ID before you can vote. The majority says it is to prevent voter fraud. This, of course, is not the purpose. The purpose is to disenfranchise the old, the poor and the disabled; all of whom would not vote as the majority in the Senate desires. The House is now considering the bill.

Why do I believe this?

Because I was raised in Texas and remember the poll tax. My Yankee grandmother moved to Texas with my native Texan mother after WWII. My grandmother was shocked to discover she had to pay to vote. I can remember my mother explaining the pernicious nature of the poll tax. The poll tax was designed to keep the poor and especially African Americans from voting. The poll tax was successful.

The 24th amendment to the constitution of the United States was passed to end the poll tax. President Lyndon Johnson, a Texan, said, "There can be no one too poor to vote." The Texas Senate is determined to put lie to that. Voter identification is a Republican scam to reduce the number of voters more likely to vote Democratic.

Now, to vote you will need a driver's license or state photo ID to vote. This means you must be able to pay for those documents. In addition, you must be able to go to your local driver's license office and wait a considerable length of time to have your photo taken. If you are old, infirm or poor, especially if you don't have a car, this becomes a daunting task. Just as in the past, when the poll tax could only be purchased in the courthouse downtown, now the modern poll tax will be just as hard to access for the portion of the population that the majority of our Senate want to disenfranchise.

Texans should be ashamed, but like their senators, too many would rather not see these people vote. "Afterall, if these people were fit to vote, they could get an ID, " is now the mantra.

Jesus said what we do to the least of these, we do to Him. Could Jesus vote in Texas?

The Garden is Winning

I am still pruning away the dead branches and bushes that were a result of this year's unusual low temperatures. Yesterday I removed the obviously dead branches on the primrose jasmine.  I cut down more hackberry saplings.  I am sure if left alone, hackberry would take over this part of Central Texas. Hackberrys are the trashy neighbors of the tree world.

When I moved to this house as a child, there were three large hackberry trees in the front.  Within 5 years, they had all had to be removed, but their offspring continue, even 50 years later. I have a friend with a chainsaw who I hope to enlist in my hackberry war.

While hackberrys reseed and grow at an amazing pace, my elm in front is dying.  The largest tree in the front of the house, I will be sad to lose it.  Two summers ago, we had a real scorcher with weeks in the 100's.  I watered as often as allowed, but the tree simply could not stand the heat.  I had hoped last year's mild summer might rejuvenate the elm, but it did not. This year a few feeble sprouts have appeared near the trunk, but none of the branches have buds.  I will wait a few weeks, but I don't have much hope.

My last project yesterday was to begin preparing my vegetable garden.  I turned over and worked in compost in a four foot by four foot area yessterday.  I was reminded that I did all the work myself with a garden fork when I woke this morning.  Every joint had a complaint.  I have a variant of rheumatoid arthritis, so some joint is always on the warpath, but this was more universal.  I moved from bed to chair to medicine cabinet.  Now, all but my spine has hushed.  I know that my spine will continue its wails for misuse through all planting season.  So far, I have succeeded in ignoring its fuss.

I will put four tomato plants in that square, trying out a denser planting than in past years.  I also plan to plant more peppers this year.  If I have time today, I will prepare a plot for my radishes and carrots.

Cleaning the Garden

The first warm days have come after a particularly bitter winter( temperature as low as 16 degrees Fahrenheit in the city).  I covered many plants and brought all I could in, even my pencil plant, but suffered heavy damage to plants who seldom experience temperatures below freezing.

All my plants are outdoors once again.  The hanging baskets have suffered from feline predation while inside; the spider plants no longer have spiders.   The tricolor dracaena has a flat-top courtesy of whichever cat climbed into my office.  The office is off limits, but even with the doors closed some of my cats can squeeze between frame and door.  The house is  97.  Its entitled to have some sagging doors. The only casualty was the avocado plant that was hidden behind the sanseveria and did not get watered.  Even the ficus did well this year.

Photo by briweldon

Outside was a disaster.  My yellow jasmine (texas nomenclature) or primrose jasmine (jasminum mesnyi ) is now two-toned with a top layer of tan, dead branches over the budding green ones below.  I will trim the jasmine in a week or so when I can see which branches will flower or not.  The nandina which is at least 60 years old did just fine.  The cane is putting up shoots from the ground.  The sanseveria on the south side of the house have frozen to the ground. Those I covered on the east side have some damage, but will recover.  The cacti are just fine, but the cereus is dead. The parent cereus is alive and well in a pot.  My salvia and my "I don't know what you are" plant( purchased two years ago at a thrift shop sale and unlabeled) are fine. My herb garden is fine, but I need to plant some basil and cilantro soon.  Basil doesn't make it through winter and cilantro gives out in the heat. All together I am happy with the survival rate.

I have removed obviously dead cane and trimmed the lantana to about two inches tall..  Lantana must be cut back or it gets too leggy to be attractive.  The lantana already has green leaves showing next to the ground.  I will save the cane to use as stakes in the garden and put the lantana trimmings out for the brush and clippings pickup.

I need to start preparing the vegetable garden.  I did not plant last year because I assumed I would lose the house.  Since I am still here, I will tempt fate and put in some vegetables.  Tomatoes need to go in first to ripen before the heat comes.  A few radishes and maybe carrots might be fun.  I have some decisions to make.

True Texans

Photo by Paul Lowry

My ancestors came to Texas when it was still part of Mexico.  They settled on the frontier in what is now Caldwell County, Texas.  The area had sandy soil and tall pine trees.  Making a living from that country was no easy task, but they did it.   They did it as a community. Helping each other when needed. They were not conservatives, they were individualists who knew when to depend on their neighbors.  Some went to war when Texas declared its independence from Mexico.  One ancestor rode with Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto where Texas won its independence.  Another fought in the Mexican-American War and died in Mexico.

These men and women looked forward to Texas becoming part of the United States and were proud when that happened.  Later, when the southern states began to secede, votes were taken on whether Texas should secede.  Sam Houston was against secession.   So was one of my ancestors living in Gonzales County.  He voted against secession even though he was the only voter in his precinct and everyone would know his vote.  Indeed, he was the only vote against secession in the whole county.

Another ancestor joined the Confederate Army and fought for Texas.  He refused to surrender when his unit was surrounded and escaped to rejoin other of his comrades.  At the end of the war, he walked home from Louisiana to Central Texas.  He believed that the war was a mistake or as he said to his children and grandchildren (one grandchild was my grandmother): "A rich man's war, but a poor man's fight."  He helped build the courthouse pictured above.

World War I saw more family members fight for the United States.  They saw the United States as their country.  World War II came, uncles joined the army and so did my mother.  She met my father at Fort Hood before he headed for the Pacific and an island hopping war. Korea found my youngest uncle in uniform.  Viet Nam saw my oldest cousin off to fight.  He came back permanently damaged, never the same person again.  He and I are only six months apart.  Now in these wars, another cousin flies huge transport planes in support of the troops.  Sometimes landing in then midst of enemy rockets.

Do we all believe the same?  By no means.  We are a mixed bag of conservatives, liberals, independents, and contrarians.  The contrarians just vote any way the majority doesn't.  We are city slickers and cowboys, truck drivers and writers, but we still get together in memory of the men and women who settled Texas and were our ancestors.

Texas is not conservative and it is not liberal.  True Texans are individuals who chart their own paths and make up their own minds.  Sadly. many that carry on about being from Texas are pale images of real Texans.  Many act tough and brag about their deeds, real or mostly imaginary.

The one image passed from generation to generation in my family is that of the individual that never bragged nor acted tough ("shut-mouthed" my grandmother would say).  Quiet men that impressed many with their even temper.  Beneath that facade though lay the person unafraid to take a stand no matter what his/her neighbors thought.  A person that was slow to anger, but who was willing to risk all to right a wrong.  No one told them what opinions to have, and they saw no need to impose their views on others.

Today, too many people living in Texas do not think on their own.  They are simply sheep being led by the goats.  They do not stop to think of the consequences of reducing an already lean budget.  Texas ranks 48th to 50th in the help it provides to the least among us.  My ancestors would be ashamed as I am.  It is time for those living in Texas to stop following the herd, to stand up for the elderly, the mentally ill and handicapped, and the physically handicapped.  People living in Texas need to stop being selfish and remember those that settled this state, men and women who stood together and helped one another, fought for one another and died for one another. 

People who claim to be Texans need to break from the herd and be independent.  Honor Texas by caring for "the least of these brothers of mine".

Netflix, Roku, and YouTube

 I had fallen into the routine of watching a few commentary shows on cable TV and not much else.  The demise of Countdown led to a complete halt in viewing.  I found a little solace on BBC America until I realized how they butchered Doctor Who episodes.  Checking, I discovered the same butchery applied to Primeval and other shows.  I had previously purchased episodes from iTunes when I did not have cable. Now my housemate insists I have cable in my room since she has it in hers.  When I watched episodes I had previously purchased from iTunes on BBC America, I discovered how badly edited they were.  I still watch BBC America occasionally, but I always wonder what is missing.  I am not a regular because I would rather pay iTunes for an episode than expend any effort to watch a truncated show.

My housemate has been disappointed by what was available on our cable service.  She loves to watch movies, especially British ones and comedies.  To give her more to choose from , I joined Netflix.  My housemate has a regular TV, so the theory was she would watch movies on DVD and we would alternate choices.  However, I discovered I could stream Netflix to my computer with no problem.  So my housemate got the DVDs and I streamed what I wanted.

Old Doctor Who episodes area particular favorite, but not many are available to stream.  If I wanted watch them, they had to be on DVD, too.  I upped our subscription to two DVDs at one time.  My friend began to realize that streaming was a easy way to see a variety of movies and TV very quickly.  She asked me if their were a way for her to have access to streamed videos.After a little research, I found Roku.

Roku provides a small adapter that allows Netflix and other such services to be streamed to a regular television.  I purchased one online.  When the unit arrived, it was very easy to setup.  Soon, my friend was enjoying her movies.  I, however, had hit a wall after watching one complete Briitish mystery series. Netflix simply did not stream most of what I wanted to view: Doctor Who, other British mysteries, and some movies.  Clearly, Netflix was not designed for anyone with my tastes.  I added to my DVD list in frustration.  My friend had a similar problem: movies she wanted to stream were not available even on DVD. Frustration.

I tried to find a contact point on the internet to inform Netflix that their service was really a disservice.  I could never find a place for comments.  On the internet, I found names of British mystery series that I found intriguing.  I returned to Netflix and found a few.  I added them to my Instant Queue, then went looking for a source for the others.  I would gladly pay a fee for access, but did not want to pay a per episode or movie charge like the Amazon service demands.  I cannot afford that on my present budget.

I found what I was looking for on YouTube.  Supplied with the name of the series and an episode list, I began watching my British mysteries.  The quality is sometimes not as good as on Netflix, but it is very acceptable.  I have not watched anything on Netflix for days.  If I had it to do over, since we have cable I would not have subscribed to Netflix.  I maintain my membership for my friend.

If you have mainstream tastes, then Netflix is ideal.  If you like British television, the subscription is barely worth it. My conclusion:  Roku is a great buy, Netflix is not.  Netflix is a great buy compared to cable. BBC America is taking advantage of gullible Americans with commercial laden broadcasts at the expense of quality..  The best place for Doctor Who is your PBS station.  Better still, buy or rent episodes on iTunes. If I were not sharing my home, I would subscribe to Netflix streaming, no DVDs, and I would not subscribe to cable.

(Check for Rachel Maddow on podcasts.)

Texas Running Out of Smart People

Photo by Seansie

Today, I read an article about ten states that are running out of smart people.  Guess what?  Texas is number nine.


That Texas is losing smart people is no surprise.  The Texas legislature has reduced funding for higher education for years.  The result has been an increase in tuition and fees.  I can attest to the change in students attending the University of Texas at Austin by simply observing the student inhabitants of a good friend's street.  Once the rental houses on his street were filled with students who drove small used cars and beat-up pick-ups.  Now those same houses have students with new, fancy pickups and BMWs.  Once students on her street picked up their garbage, now they expect their neighbors to. The University is changing from a place for smart kids to a place for rich kids.


Another reason that Texas is losing intelligent people, especially academics, is the unfriendly attitudes of many legislators.  Regenerative medicine is looked on with suspicion.  Every session finds new attacks on any research that offends fundamentalists.  The result is that researchers are leaving the state, even if their research is not controversial.  Many fear that the next legislative whim will be to attack their area of research.  Young researchers seeking positions simply mark Texas off.  There is lack of funding, but more important is the fear that they could waste years on a project that could be prohibited.  Texas colleges and universities are slowly sinking into mediocrity.


Now with a huge budget shortfall, the legislature plans to decimate K-12 education and reduce funds to institutions of higher learning.  This will exacerbate the already bad situation.


Ignorance begets ignorance.  Texas needs to improve its education system.  The legislature needs to stay out of the research.  Of course, the legislature can demand stringent ethics provisions for review of research projects.  But these reviews need to be performed by those that understand the field and by independent ethicists..  Texas does not need to scare anymore scientists away.


All scientists pay attention to the research climate in a state in all areas of research, not just their own.  Texas has gained the reputation as a backward and ignorant state. 


What will the statistics be ten years from now?  Will Texas rank number one in ignorance?  Will Texas' budget parsimony this year destroy our future?

Keith Olbermann and MSNBC

Photo by srqpix

I missed Olbermann's Friday show.  I wish I had not, but I seldom watch MSNBC on Fridays because the news and commentary programming ends before I have finished my evening chores.  MSNBC is not really a news network because its weekend broadcasts are simply docufillers, ways to keep something banal on the screen rather than a test pattern.

I am not a total Keith Olbermann fan.  He was too quick to poke fun and commentary at religious straw men without ever acknowledging the overlooked mainstream.  The extremes were much more fun to comment on. I could forgive even that when he read Thurber on the air (I did catch some Friday newscasts and podcasts.)

Keith Olbermann will be fine.  MSNBC is doomed to be a thrid-rate news source.  I refuse to watch Chuck Todd.

I was utterly appalled to hear that Lawrence O'Donnell will replace Olbermann. Someone billed him as a liberal Democrat.  Maybe he was at one time, but now he is just a sissy.  I have watched his show and observed his strained attempts to equate Republican and Democratic behavior.  He never admits that either side could be wrong, no he must draw false equivalencies or even insist on them in face of the facts.  MSNBC needs to teach its staff the meaning of right and wrong.  Oh, they can't because they don't know it either.

The final straw was to hear that Chris Matthews would profit from Olbernann's departure.  I don't know if I can even watch Rachel Maddow if Chris Matthews is a prominent figure on MSNBC.  I stopped watching MSNBC before because he is such a misogynist.  I remember too many of his interviews with women of intelligence and position where he did his best to denigrate them.  He especially hated it when a woman responded intelligently to his inane question.  He simply rolled over their answer with his.  His crowning achievement was the despicable way he spoke of and treated Hillary Clinton.  I believe he should have been fired.  MSNBC seems to prefer misogynists to liberals.  And Mathews is not a liberal.  Anyone who would allow Tom Delay to cast aspersions on the whole court system of a community, then agree with the Congressman known as "the Hammer" as if his statements were fact is not interested in truth.   No liberal would hold such a viewpoint.  He is a lapdog for Senators and Representatives who pet him by feeding him what he believes is "inside" information.  I will never watch him on television.

MSNBC along with NBC( don't get me going on David Gregory) are just corporate lackeys.  The firing of Keith Olbermann is just another symptom of big business' takeover.  Most Americans don't even realize that we have government of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation.  MSNBC wants to make sure it stays that way.

Palin and My Family

Sarah Palin reminds me of too many members of my family who never take responsibility.  One recently quit his job because he was told to take a training course in something he thought he already knew.  When he had difficulty finding another job,  his excuse for quitting became "The company wanted to get rid of me, but I beat them to the punch."   Sarah Palin in her comments on the Tucson shootings did the same thing, to paraphrase: "Me, little me, I did nothing wrong,  It's just the mean old Democrats and media picking on little me."

I think that Sarah Palin scares me because I do see her actions reflected in those of certain members of my family including my long-dead  paternal grandfather who blighted the lives of his children.  Those members of my family like her carry a constant chip on their shoulder.  They are always being picked on in their minds, even though everyone else is simply reacting to their reprehensible behavior, in my grandfather's case drunkenness and debauchery.  These are the bullies of the family, bossing everyone around, berating their mothers for imagined wrongs, yelling at the autistic cousin.  They are always angry.  Suggestions as to appropriate behavior no matter how gently offered result in adult temper tantrums. Most no longer participate in family get-togethers because "no one likes them."  The truth is the family has tried numerous times to include them, but too often their bullying behavior leads to tears and anger.  I do not want a Presidential candidate like that.

I want a President that can admit mistakes and own up to their bad behavior.  Most of all, I do not want a President that always blames someone else.  I do not want a President who thinks "The Devil made me do it."

Passion and Civility

Photo by Charles & Clint

The events of January 8, 2011,were appalling.  The death and destruction caused by one man were terrible.  Those injuries were inflicted on us all whether no matter our faith or lack of it.  Those injuries were to the body politic.

Some commentators have linked the shooting and the young man's rage to the statements by other commentators and politicians designed to inflame their followers so that they are united by emotion not reason.   I agree.  The goal is to acquire a bigger audience or more voters.  What is forgotten are those on the fringes for whom sanity and reason are already illusive.  An appeal to their emotions unleashes the violence within.  

Our current political discourse has become laced with too much violent imagery.  There is too much demonization of the other whether of another party or another faith.  We have sown the wind and will reap the whirlwind.

We do not have to agree.  By our very natures we find that difficult.  We all see ourselves as correct and our opponents as hopelessly unknowing.  We can disagree civilly.  Point out the errors in our opponents argument,  State clearly our own basis for out position.  We do not need to use blood-soaked rhetoric.

Christ said "Do to others as you would have then do to you."  Why can't we remember that when we argue politics?


I do not believe in  personified evil.  There is no fallen angel set to battle God for our souls.  I do believe in evil.  For whatever reason this creation is permeated by malice, hatred, greed and violence.   We are too often the chalice for the badness in this world.  


The young man who shot all these innocents is not evil.  He is ill.  In his illness he can be manipulated by those around him  deliberately or not.  The evil is two fold.  First are those who use the rhetoric of violence knowing that there are vulnerable souls like him who may be goaded to action by those words.  Second are those who see no need to care for citizens as the gunman.  The mentally ill are consigned to live among us without care by both the left and the right.  The left says they have rights and should not be placed in a safe environment against their will even if their will is deranged.  The right says care for the mentally ill is just too expensive.  We cannot spend the money to care for them or protect them from others or protect us from them.  Both positions reflect the evils of our time: freedom at any cost vs. monetary selfishness.  Christ told us we will be judged by how we treat the least of those among us.  We need to pay heed.


As a nation we need to look within.  We must point out evil wherever it occurs.  The left is not innocent, but when it comes to words of violence and hate, the right produces a torrent while the left produces a rivulet.  Too many make their living by branding their fellow Americans as "the other," somehow unworthy to be American.  This must stop.  Now is the time for those who believe that violent rhetoric begets violence to take a stand.  


Civility must be our goal.  Our own speech must reflect this.  I must change before I can expect others to.  The apostle Paul wrote: "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."


I can only speak as a Christian, but I believe that those of all faiths share my desire for a civil society.

My prayer this day:

God, who reigns in eternity,

Praise your everlasting patience.

When we in person bow before you,

Accept us, please.

Daily,

Give us the temperament to receive your bounty

And acknowledge that it comes from you.

Let us treat others with civility,

So that you will treat us well.

Teach us the etiquette of belief,

So that we are examples to others.

Rudeness is the gift of evil,

Stay our souls from accepting that gift,

For you care how we treat our fellows.

Politeness is the child of lovingkindness.

You are love in all its glory.

Your grace is there for all.

Forever.

                                  Amen.

Sunday Morning Talk Shows

Photo by Omar Omar

I tried to watch some of the network talk shows this morning.  "Tried" is the operative word.  I just could not do it.  When Rep. Issa said he was going to investigate ACORN, the new Black Panthers and something else, I was stunned.  The commentator just let him rattle on, not even pointing out that ACORN no longer exists, the new Black Panthers consists of 2 men or that  maybe there were better ways to spend the taxpayer dollar.  I turned the television off.

I came back to my TV after giving my ailing cat fluids under the skin.  I got to listen to Republicans and pundits say that corporate taxes are too high.  Another misleading statement, not qualified by the commentator. Tax rates may be high, but they have little to do with what a corporation pays in taxes.  Most pay far less than the not corporate citizens, i. e. human beings.  The solution offered by the pundits was to raise personal tax rates and lower corporate tax rates.  That way the taxes of the poor and middle class can support the corporate welfare state that Republicans and conservative pundits wish to continue..  I turned off the television again.

Is it so hard to have a commentator who could at least know enough to be able to point obvious fallacies?  Or have commentators been co-opted into believing that they must simply provide a platform for politicians and pundits to utter whatever misinformation they desire?. Are they simply constrained by their corporate owners or so terrified of losing their jobs that all we get is inanities from them?

The Failure of Education

The  pundits have been holding forth on the problems with our education system.  All can see the problems and all have solutions.  Yet, none mention what has really over taken our system and why K-12 education is failing so many.  The problem: the least educated and prepared go into teaching in large numbers.  Schools of Education now turn out abysmally educated teachers.  Many of these teachers are well-meaning and sincerely interested in teaching, but they have neither the skills nor the intellect to cope with the current system.  This is not their fault nor the fault of college teaching courses. Yes, there are still many brilliant and dedicated teachers but their numbers are dwarfed by those not as talented or as dedicated.

The education system we have was designed and came into being when teaching was one of the few professions women could enter.  The very brightest found that the only use they could make of their college degrees was to teach.  Most of my female high school teachers had advanced degrees in the subject they taught.  I planned to become a teacher myself until I reached high school and began to read science fiction, then I decided I would become a nuclear physicist like my heroes/heroines in science fiction. I had school counselors tell me this was a foolish idea, that I needed to be sensible. I was undeterred and did go on to receive and advanced degree. I did not become a physicist although I took advance physics courses and did well. No, my Ph.D. is in analytical chemistry.  Often I was the only woman in the advanced mathematics classes.  I had one chemistry professor tell me I was his best thermodynamics student ever, but he did not want a woman in his lab.  That was okay with me, I didn't like his research field. I went on to have a career in environmental science.  The only teaching I have done is in college.  While few women chose science, many women of my age chose fields of study that gave them careers outside of teaching.  The change had begun.

In the years that followed women flooded the professional schools and non-education oriented careers.  Women who once would have become teachers now found other vocations. No longer did the best and brightest of women become teachers, now those who avoided specific academic degrees and studied only education became teachers.  In too many schools, these were women who did not intend to make teaching a career, but only saw college as a chance to meet their future husband.  They could not foresee that they would work most of their lives.  I saw this happen in my time in college.

A good friend of mine roomed briefly in a commercial dorm because her parents had to move suddenly and that was all they could find. (She had been living at home.)  She was also a science major, and those years as young women pursuing a science degree made us close friends.  (One physics class consisted of 150 men and the two of us.)  Anyway, her roommates and suite mates were all female education members.  They never studied.  I reached this conclusion from personal observation and from their own statements.  These young women did not understand why my friend and I spent hours in the library studying.  Their attitude proved such a problem that my friend was move to a suite where she was the sole occupant because no other female student wanted to be bound by her requests to not party when she needed to study for an exam.  The next year she found a room to rent in a retired woman professor's house.  Her commercial dorm had a nickname: the rabbit hutch because so many young women became pregnant and had to marry. These were the women of my generation that went on to teach.  I know that not all teachers of that time had this history because I have known some, particularly women with advanced chemistry degrees that went on to teach chemistry in high school.   Nevertheless, most of the women who were education majors were not interested in academics or really developing their skills as teachers.

After my time, the flood of women into the business world and the professions increased.  The best and brightest chose fields where their brains and drive would be rewarded financially something teaching never did.  Slowly, the female teachers that had entered the profession when it was one of the few places for educated women retired.  As they did, the quality of teaching overall declined.  Now we are reaping what we sowed.  We underpaid teachers for years because there was an educated group (women with college degrees) with limited opportunities who desperately needed the jobs.  The few men in teaching became administrators whether they were capable or not based solely on their maleness.  Their salaries have greatly increased over the years, disproportionately to teachers' salaries.  So incompetent men ran a system that failed to reward competent women.  Now the system is collapsing.

Teachers are being blamed, but little is said about the competence of administrators.  Coaches still become administrators while excellent teachers are not rewarded.  Teachers salaries are low, administrators are not.  Class sizes are too large and technology is often absent from the classroom.  None of this would matter if women were still forced into teaching.  Teaching has too often been a consolation prize for those with education degrees.  That must change.

Teaching needs to be seen as a profession equal to that of doctors and lawyers.  The only way to achieve this is too require every teacher have an academic degree before they enter the school or college of education.   Teaching degrees must be graduate degrees and rewarded financially as such.  Education cannot remain the scorned college degree.  Women are no longer trapped.  Schools need to be freed also from a system that never recognized the importance and talent of women.  Money will ultimately be the issue.  School system need to become independent of local funding and be funded at the state or even federal level.  School systems must be run just as college systems are.  Private school systems must be free to compete with public institutions.  Money must come not only from government but also from endowments.  Parents must be required to pay or work for the school systems.  Extensive scholarships for the poor must be available.  Change must come.

Photo by kevindooley