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Almost every day I read about seventeen separate blogs, hoping to learn more about events in our world. Along with these, most times I follow the links to get a better understanding of where the blogger is coming from. Among the most intellectually simulating and very angry bloggers, and one I always enjoy reading is Dr. C. Today's post from the good Doctor is all of that, and more. It led me to a post by Glenn Greenwald. I know of Greenwald, but he is not among the seventeen I mention above. He will have to be added.
I was not aware that the U.S. privacy ranking has been downgraded.
... Privacy International and EPIC has been released for 2007, and the U.S. has been downgraded from "Extensive Surveillance Society" to "Endemic Surveillance Society," the worst possible category there is for privacy protections, the category also occupied by countries such as China, Russia, Singapore and Malaysia.
I've not yet followed the links to see the "variety of objective factors " Greenwald says that are used in grading. The downgrading is the source of the subject title of this post.
Dr. C writes that we have abandoned the rule of law, but there hasn't been an uprising protesting the loss by us "proles". He compares the U.S. to the last Tsar and I have, regrettably, to say that I agree.
The downgrading my be the source of the post title, but it isn't the complete reason. Greenwald links to another of his posts about the kind of country we are becoming. This is the infamous "slippery slope", and we have slid so far down the slope that it's debatable whether we can recover. At the least, it will require that each of us take a much more active role in demanding that our legislators and their unelected staff begin to do their job. We are the reason the slope was greased. We didn't do enough. That's the reason to be ashamed, and it's the reason we need to change.
I used Marrianna's entry about her resolutions in the previous post. I'm very proud of her. She has accomplished a lot, and should be extremely pleased. She has set goals this year that will she will meet, and give even more satisfaction.
As for me, I try not to make resolutions. My theory is that one should strive throughout life to be all that is possible all of the time, and therefore resolutions aren't necessary. That's my theory. Reality is that I don't live up to even theoretical standards. And so, to follow the excellent example set by my wife, I will make a few resolutions for 2008.
I played golf today, walking through nine holes. It was not a good outing. My score was the highest it has been in two years. But even more discouraging was the level of physical exhaustion I reached after six holes. It's possible that the exhaustion had as much to do with my mental shape because of playing so badly. So my first resolution is going to be to raise my physical condition to a level in which I can do more of what i want. A part of meeting that resolution is going to be easy. All I need to do is go to the Duke Center For Living (gym) with Marrianna and work harder.
I have two quilt projects to complete this year. I've allowed the Double Wedding Ring quilt to slip behind schedule, and that creates a level of guilt that I'm not familiar with. I believe the best way to alleviate it is to give it more attention. Second resolution - be more diligent about working daily, or nearly daily, on it.
I've several books around the house that have bookmarks at varying levels of completion. I don't find the time to simply sit and read. Third resolution: be more diligent in reading daily, or nearly so, on completing these books. Along with reading them comes the responsibility, as I see it, to be thoughtful about their message.
It's easy to pick out the thread through all these resolutions. As I see it all, the pressing need is for a more organized way of using time to be able to do everything I have going on in life. So, my last resolution is to better use the time I have to accomplish the other resolutions. This is going to be the most difficult resolution to keep.
Marrianna wrote a nice response to a News and Observer today. They requested entries on Resolutions,
If you’ve ever cast a grand (or modest) resolution on New Year’s Eve — and actually kept it — please help others help themselves. Tell us how you did it and give us your tips for keeping resolutions. And for those who need motivation as well as inspiration, post your resolution for all to see and keep.
Marrianna sent hers, and they put it on their web site. I'm including it here also so all my readers can see it.
From Marrianna H. Osolin-Putnam of Pittsboro:
It is that time of year again - making those resolutions for the new year that come back to haunt us in April, or maybe even sooner! I find myself often making the same resolutions year after year - and usually not keeping them very well.
Last year I made four resolutions:
1) To stop talking about losing weight, and actually do something about it, not for vanity reasons but for better health both now and later in life.
2) To learn to do Soduko puzzles - I always do the Jumble, Cryptoquote, and Crossword puzzles daily, but couldn't get the hang of Soduko for some reason.
3) To start a regular exercise program and stick with it - I had a knee replacement done several years ago and was religious about the physical therapy / rehab for a year, leading to an excellent outcome. Then my husband retired, and we moved to Fearrington Village in Chatham County from Chapel Hill, too far from the UNC Wellness Center for daily trips.
4) To continue my painting (in acrylics) even thought my teacher retired from teaching, and to apply to several galleries in hopes that someone would like my style.
The outcomes of the above resolutions have been as follows:
1) With support from my wonderful physician at UNC Family Practice, Dr. Warren Newton, and my equally wonderful husband Jim, I have lost 45 pounds this year, only 5 lbs short of my 50 pound goal!
I plan to continue to lose more weight in 2008 at the slow pace of one pound per week. I now have blood sugar and cholesterol readings well within the normal range, as well as better blood pressure readings. I also have lots of very baggy clothes to weed out of my wardrobe, and some beautiful new ones to wear! ( The size 10's in the back of my closet are still about 25 pounds away, and will most likely be out of fashion when I can get into them, but I plan to wear each of them at least once. My ultimate goal is to wear the beautiful two piece fuchsia dress that I wore when Jim and I were married in 1986 - I want to wear it to dinner at "Elaine's on Franklin" for our 22nd anniversary in September 2008.2) I have triumphed over Soduko with persistence and with some clever pointers from my friend Joyce, who is a mathematician! The secret is that is not about math at all - it's about logic! Instead of the nine numbers, you could just as well do the puzzles substituting the first nine letters of the alphabet! Now that I work them every day, they have become my favorite of the puzzles, closely followed by the cryptoquotes.
3) My husband and I joined the Duke Center for Living at Galloway Ridge last summer, and we have both been working out three to four times a week. I have been doing weight machines for both upper and lower body conditioning, hand weights, a weekly pilates class, and treadmill workouts three to four times a week. My goal on the treadmill is to walk a mile in 20 minutes, which I was doing regularly after the knee replacement rehab work. I have slowly built up speed and endurance, and am now doing a mile at just under 24 minutes. I plan to continue to strive toward that goal in 2008. Ironically, the exercise seems to have slowed the weight loss, but I know that muscle actually weighs more than fat, so I keep going!
4) I applied to the Chatham Arts Gallery in Pittsboro last summer, and was accepted! I have been showing my paintings and prints there, as well as cards that I make from the images. Sales have been slow, but the encouragement of the other artists and my friends has kept me going. The most important thing is how much pleasure and joy I receive from painting. My goal for this year
is to apply to be on the Chatham Arts Tour in late fall, and to continue to enjoy my painting as a creative outlet.The secret to having kept all four of my 2007 resolutions is two fold - telling friends and family what I had resolved to do, and using their encouragement to bolster my own determination to succeed!
I congratulate her on keeping her resolutions, something I've not been very successful at. She deserves every accolade. In fact, the new wardrobe is giving her equal pleasure.
Several times through the day I have browsed through the 'net to get an idea about what is being said about Benazir Bhutto's assassination. I was also in the car for a while and listened to NPR. This evening I watched NBC Nightly News. Very little of it helped me understand. Pakistan is, for me, an very large blank slate. The most important thing I think I know is that it is a nuclear armed nation, which actually gives me a chill.
With such little information, obviously it isn't a good idea for me to say anything about the entire situation. I believe that the next few days will provide those who do have knowledge with more information. I was very impressed with Juan Cole's post today. There is a lot of good information there, and I hope that there are more solid reports from other sources to come.
An interesting side point, brought to my mind by Atrios at the blog Eschaton. It's a one line post titled "Where's Condi?"
MIA so far. Probably for the best, but still puzzling.
After reading it, I briefly looked through several news sources to find anything that our Secretary of State had something to say about the assassination. Nothing. Anywhere that I looked. As Atrios says, very puzzling.
As I said above, I hope that more solid reporting will come out over the next few days. I wish I knew more, but I don't. My gut tells me that this assassination is going to be very important to the near future of the entire region, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, etc. It seems to me possible that this will ripple, causing problems for a long while.
As the title says, though, I'm someone who doesn't know anything. Perhaps, if I pay attention, over the next few days I'll learn.
From John Shelby Spong's "Jesus for the Non-Religious" [2007, Harper Collins, San Francisco]:
The cross thus ... stands for a love that embraces the human diversity of race, tribe, nation, gender, sexual orientation, left-handedness, right-handedness and any other human variety found in life. The call of the God experience in Christ is simply a call to be all that each of us is - a call to offer, through the being of our humanity, the gift of God to all people by building a world in which everyone can live more fully, love more wastefully and have the courage to be all that they can be. That is how we live out the presence of God. God is about living, about loving and about being. The call of Jesus is thus not a call to be religious. It is not a call to escape life's traumas, to find security, to possess peace of mind. ... [It] is a call to be fully human, to embrace insecurity without building protective fences, to accept the absence of peace of mind as a requirement of humanity. It is to see that God is the experience of life, love and being who is met at the edges of an expanded humanity. (page 290)
For me, it is impossible to read this book without rethinking my concept of God. I'm not sure Spong would agree, but the message for me is that there is no separate God as depicted in religions, churches, and traditions. It is a call to understand the words of the New Testament from a new, very different perspective.
I just completed reading the book this afternoon, though I began weeks ago. I've barely begun to grasp its significance, both to me and to the religious traditions of Christianity. I'll be back with further thoughts.
For many of us, especially children, Christmas has been all about anticipation. Now that it is here, there is an emotional relaxation, and for many of us a very real let down. When there aren't children around the house, Christmas Day is a time to settle into a comfortable chair and nap.
In terms of giving, and the accompanying getting, Christmas has been good for Marrianna and me. We gave and received some very nice gifts, all showing sincere of love and caring. One gift was a certificate bought at an "Alternative" gift exchange. For me, it was a gift in my name of chickens for a third world family. We gave some of these certificates to friends and relatives also. It's a nice alternative to the massive commercial Christmas.
This evening, sitting alone in a study writing is not what I want to be doing. I've several new books, and tonight is a good time to sit and read with Marrianna. Until tomorrow, when I hope life has returned to some form of normalcy, I will go and do exactly that. Have a good night, and I hope your Christmas was all that you anticipated.
If you're like me and extremely tired of Christmas music, I commend this three and a half minute YouTube. I enjoyed it, and The Twelve Days of Christmas is my very least favorite carol.
We went to Christmas Eve services at church. The music was very good, and Bob's meditation was even better. The sanctuary was full. Many of the folk were families together, some college kids home for the holidays, and visitors. I always enjoy getting to a service, whether Christmas or an ordinary Sunday, about a half hour early. Marrianna seats immediately, but I stand in the foyer and watch the people arrive, joining her just a few minutes before the service begins. Christmas Eve is especially interesting. The folk are dressed in various levels of formality.
Without getting into a slew of confusing thoughts about Christmas, I'm going to change the subject. I learned a new word today. James J. Kilpatrick has a regular column in our newspaper, the Raleigh News and Observer. The column in today's N & O is titled "For Whom Do We Write?" It was actually written Saturday, but I had to search to find it. The N & O doesn't have permission to carry Kilpatrick on its web site. Since I've often asked myself that very question as I write, I read it, then got up and went to the dictionary on the stand in our living room and looked up the word "lucubrate". Kilpatrick used it in his first paragraph:
It's the eternal question: For whom does a writer write? The lofty answer, of course, is "I write for me." A better answer must always be, it depends. Let us lucubrate together.
My dictionary defined lucubrate as to laboriously study, especially at night. An on-line dictionary ( easier to link) says:
lu·cu·brate [loo-kyoo-breyt] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –verb (used without object), -brat·ed, -brat·ing.
1. to work, write, or study laboriously, esp. at night.
2. to write learnedly.
Lucubrate. I like the sound of that word. It's not a word I would use very often, and the second definition definitely does not apply to me, but knowing the word is useful. For that matter, knowing any word is useful.
I didn't stop to use the dictionary the first time Kilpatrack used it. I sort of figured I could gather a definition from context. I couldn't. He then wrote a very good column about his subject, ending with:
I began today's homily with a suggestion that readers and writers should lucubrate together. You could look it up. It's what we do to a rusty wheel.
That last sentence didn't ring true to me, so I did look it up. Kilpatrick was pulling our leg a mite, though in the sense that lucubrating does lubricate the rusty wheel of minds, he was correct.
So I've been thinking about that word quite a bit today. It's actually a useful word. How many words would be required to say that the night's lesson cramming was difficult? One, if your audience is likely to know lucubrate, a half dozen if they do not.
I'm aware that most of my readers would not get up and look up a word simply because I used it and told them to look it up. First, I don't know that many esoteric words, and second because even if I did, I probably wouldn't use them in a blog. I don't lucubrate.
Our friends left early, 6:20 AM, this morning to return home. We went back to bed, intending to arise at about 9 and go to church. We didn't make it, but that's alright. There will be sufficient occasions over the next few days to go and enjoy Christmas ceremonies.
Their reason for leaving so early is different,and at least to me, interesting. They usually rent a car for their trip here. She knows a rental dealer that gives them a good price, and it is better to put the mileage on a rental than their own. The rental agency closes at 3:00 PM on Sunday. Normally, they would leave here too late to return the car before closing. Returning the car on Monday wasn't a problem. This time, however, the agency was going to be closed Monday and Tuesday, so if they didn't return it before closing today it would be Wednesday before they could do so. They think one extra day of rental is acceptable, but three excessive, Thus the very early return.
All day I've been pacing around, looking for something either to do or to occur. The house seems somewhat empty without our friends. it's interesting how quickly the four of us adjust to being together, and whenever we first part I feel that uneasiness. My wife has a term for the feeling; loose ends, as in "I feel at loose ends." Hence, the title for this post.
Some of my time has been used to read the Sunday newspaper, followed by catching up on a few blogs. Once again, I've had a synchronous moment. There is an article in the Travel section of the paper that really interested me. I recommend it to you. It's an account of a the author's trip to see the Wave, a 190 million year old geologic formation in Utah. There are photos at the link that can be enlarged.
Later, browsing through blogs, I found an article in Crooked Timber about Newgrange, a megalithic tomb in County Meath’s Boyne Valley, in Ireland. I followed the link Healy provided, and read more that he had. Believe me folk, both Keiran Healy's article and the link to Newgrange are worth reading. There is a photo of the winter solstice sun illuminating the mound that is simply beautiful, and the information of the site is very interesting.
Now to the synchrony I saw in the two articles. It revolves around time. Newgrange is dated as before 3200 BCE, therefore around 5000 years old.. The Wave is dated at approximately 190 million years old. Both represent long, but comparatively incomparable, periods of time. Keiran Healy really touches upon the significance of Newgrange. The peoples, whoever they were, were aware of the winter solstice, and possibly among the reasons for the mound is to measure time. Another of the interesting mounds is the Knowth Mound.
In the article about the Wave, we learn that the authorities only allow 20 people per day to hike through the area. Think of that. The place has been there 190,000,000 years, and they believe that excessive human travel could irreparably scar it. I'm sure they're right, and applaud them for it, but the idea certainly points out how destructive humanity can be. Without trying, we can, destroy anything.
Newgrange, Knowth, and other mounds were built by Neolithic agrarian people. Their knowledge of the earth's cycles was detailed. From Knowth, we can see that they also had very well developed construction skills. I find that almost as interesting as the reason they would build these structures. These structures give me a sense of solid, sophisticated folk. Their mounds have endured 5000 years. The incongruity of the Wave being 190 Million years and protected from modern humans speaks volumes to me about us.
We have our friends from Silver Spring, MD visiting. They will be with us through early Sunday morning. During that time, my posting will be very low. There's going to be a lot of visiting, bridge, and other inconsequential events.
In the meantime, just to keep you sharp, I recommend that you read:
The Growlery - always an interesting blog.
Blue Girl - this lady writes the kind of red hot political posts that make me envious.
Kevin Drum - especially the linked articles about the candidates. I particularly enjoyed reading John Edwards, and will get to others as time allows.
That's it for now.
kyʊˌbreɪt