If nothing else . . .

say that you are doing it to help fight terrorism. If they ask you to explain why oil dependence and Global Warming are so important. Then tell them thinking about these things helps us in the war on terror. When you propose the idea of changing the focus of the war in Iraq from killing the terrorists to protecting the Iraquis from the terrorists, tell them how this will help us win the war on terror. Turn their words back on them.

Bloggers . . .

are cool. I've been discovering this as I use the random "next blog" button. Whether someone is commenting back or not, bloggers are still writing, journaling, putting their thoughts in a bottle and sending them out for someone to find and maybe respond to. I love the links you find and the art work. The ability of some of these correspondents to manipulate images is wonderful to behold. The internet is infinite, is space, is the final frontier. Thanks fellow voyagers.

It seems so very clear.

Each of us wants to talk. And many of us have a lot to say. But in this era of terror . . .

This world is . . .

This world is what? Crap, crappy, ugly in its My-ness. Although, maybe I shouldn't say that since Google bought ad space on "MySpace". But still, it's crap because it seems to me that everything that is going on these days is about the "MY" generation. Especially if you define the word generation as meaning all of us who were alive starting at a particular time. I know that this generation started before 9/11 with the selfishness that grew so abundantly in the 90's but that event is what triggered this tremendous sense of vulnerability that is at the core of this "My Generation". I am reminded of the quivering reply to criticism "but this is how I feel." If I can get clinical here, this "My-ness" is at the heart of the denial mechanism that represents current American thought. We're not in Iraq for the Iraquis. We're not in favor of Homeland Security measures to protect others. We want "MySpace"protected. So we can go on and on and on saturating ourselves in the media, the reality of tv, and the protection that we have convinced ourselves and have been told that we need.

It turns out . . .

Well, it turns out that the crisis in the California schools isn't as large as first stated. After a group of parents sued the school districts and the state, it was reported that the real number of those facing the no diploma deal is actually 6000. Quite a difference, eh? Could it be that here again the media went for the headline instead of the facts. There are more than 6000 high schools in this state, so seen in that light you could say that one per school is quite an improvement over the past. Though why I am taking the time to write about this I really don't know since I really believe that the way we educate in this country is severely messed up.

They say we're going to have a revolution

Once in a long while, I try to remember what it was like back then in the 70's. I say this because I want to believe that the things I did, the things my friends and I accomplished, really meant something. This in the face of all the contempory evidence to the contrary. And because I just finished reading Cormac Mcarthy's No Country for Old Men. http://www.cormacmccarthybooks.com

I remember riding my bike to school the day a future school board member came to lecture the student body about the value of "our commitment to the war in Vietnam" and the furor I aroused when I pointed out to my students that this local preacher had arrived in a Cadillac and dressed to the nines, that his company manufactured bomber sights, that his pledge to support the football team was just another way to encourage warfare, and that his values were the ones that were relative.