All four in one pic!

Parents Jeremy and Katie with Clara and Olivia

The outpouring of love from family and friends is overwhelming. We are so grateful. The girls are growing and changing each day. There are still challenges they need to master. The biggest challenge right now is feeding. It is an exhausting task and they have to breathe and suck at the same time. For babies, who were three months early, that is a big job. Every day is a blessing, every day they get a little bit closer to their original due date. God is good and loving.

Quote of the Day:
Breathe in, Breathe out, Smile.
Thich Nhat Hanh

--from the blog

--the BB

J'étais dans le jardin ce matin

I so wanted to share a couple of new roses with you last night but had to charge the camera battery. So here are photos from this morning:

Sun spray

Singing in the rain



Iceberg



Blaze



Piñata - a new one like the large established one



Penstemon, one of three just planted



Golden showers

The top two just put out their first bloom in the past few days so I am especially excited about those. I have to standards of Iceberg. Lost of cool white and green against the back wall between them and the potato vine. The little baby piñata rose offers a good idea of the variety of shades they display from newer blossoms in intense yellow, then into oranges, reds, and finally a faded wine shade.

Enjoy! I certainly do.

-the BB

The non-progress report

... new forms of darkness rose up.

It is ever thus.

I keep hoping that I can have a nice chunk of writing time on the weekends but it never happens. This weekend had a half-day church meeting, a sermon to prepare, laundry to do, tomatoes and penstemon to plant, tender new plantings to water, sundry yard work, plus other stuff. And now it is, once again, past my bedtime. Ah well.

I did manage to go back and insert a scene, make a few minor corrections, add some chronological references, and rectify a major error I made in the genealogy database. (Only one person but the name was totally garbled.) In a moment of reciprocity, the genealogy program enabled me to correct a relational reference in the narrative. There is a reason they have people work on consistency and continuity in making movies and editing books.

It gets even crazier when my characters resemble Russians in having a first name, a patronymic, and a nickname.

Bit by bit.

I doubt I shall write much this coming week but there you have it.

--the BB

Heart thread - 05/17/2009

Mimi has the requests here. I am cutting and pasting just to pass then along.

From Roseann:

Just want to let you all know I am feeling better. The stuff that goes in my feeding tube is working like a charm. My main issue now is I am having trouble with dialysis. I am suddenly unable to breathe and they have to put oxygen on me. It is a horrible feeling, like a panic attack. Right now they don't know what is causing it. Could be an insulin surge or who knows.

I know I ask for prayers a lot but please pray that this is cleared up quickly. Right now it feels like one of the last hurdles.

Love, Roseann

From Elizabeth:

Bad news just in: My brother John was just diagnosed with temporal lobe deterioration and early Alzheimer's Disease. He's 55 years old. Yes, that's 55. His wife, Mary, is the primary caretaker for their granddaughter and her aged parents who live with them. Needless to say, she is quite overwhelmed. I am too stunned at the moment to know how I feel, exactly, except terribly, terribly sad and deeply concerned for my brother. Of my three siblings, he and I have been the closest.

Prayers, please.

Margaret and Joel need your prayers. Margaret asks for the prayers here and gives an update here.

Please pray for my beloved --he's in the hospital. They think he's had a series of small strokes.

The episodes started last night --we thought they were a food allergy or something, because he couldn't control his speech and his tongue was like a rubber band. Nothing else but that. We were with our neighbor Ben, who is a big time brain doctor... last night he showed some concern. But the episode passed quickly.Today, Joel lost his speech again while talking to Ben, and Ben called me and said that I was going to spend the next six hours in the emergency room and either hate him because it was allergies or love him for saving Joel's life.

I love Ben... he saved my husband's life.

and later

Thank you all so very much for your prayers.

Joel is doing well--still in the hospital and might be for a couple more days. He is not bright red like a lobster any more, and even though his talking is thick, he is still punning fluently away.... and is able to tell us what year it is--which he was not able to do yesterday!

I am so deeply grateful for Ben who gave us only one option--ER. I think he saved Joel's life, and/or prevented Joel from living with great impairment--at least that is what it looks like right now.

And I'm exhausted and going to bed early!

Thank you again for your prayers. Please, keep 'em coming.

O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers: mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servant Joel the help of your power, that his sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lots of hurt feelings are going on right now too, exacerbated by aching raw hearts. I won't link but I think Jonathan needs some prayer as well.

We all need prayer. Our hearts hurt, our minds are in turmoil, the world is rather a mess. And yet there is grace. May we all be bathed in that grace, washed fresh by the Spirit, anointed with sweet-smelling oil of healing, and be reclothed and in our right minds.

Rejoicing in the joy of Cecilia's sermon. May grace sustain her and Beloved and her congregation.

Remembering those affected by the tornado in Kirkepiscatoid's town.

I am grateful for the prayer by Concord Pastor that FranIAm shared with us.

While I explained Rogation Sunday in my sermon this morning we had not planned ahead to do anything about it. Caminante and the folks at Trinity Episcopal Church did, however. Check it out here.

Kirstin finished the academic year. Hooray!


Grandfather, Grandmother, Sacred One,
Creator of heaven and earth, Giver of life,
We are here before you,
Hear us!
Thunder Beings, Medicine Bear,
Waters where the Sun goes down,
We are here before you,
Teach us!
Buffalo upon whom the People depend,
Land of Snows and Winter Gales,
We are here before you,
Strengthen us!
Rising Sun and fresh Breezes,
Elk Nation, Seeds of all Beginnings,
We are here before you,
Fill us with life!
Ripening Time, Plant Nations,
Winged Cousins, Sheltering Trees,
We are here before you,
Nurture us!
Round circle of the Sky,
Father Sun, Sister Moon, Star Nations,
We are here before you,
Shine upon us!
Mother and Grandmother Earth,
Crawling and Burrowing Clans, all Grasses,
We are here before you,
Sustain us!
Great Circle of all Beings
And all Powers who serve the Sacred One,
We are here before you,
Behold us!
Gathered with All Our Relations,
Holy Creator of All Things,
We are here before you
To praise you!

[Invocation from the Turtle Island Mass]

--the BB
The graphic at the top of the post includes artwork by Paul Madonna whose work appears in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lying in loco parentis

Innit just the cutest thang, sending out yo' baby girl to dissemble for you? That just has to make a poppa proud.

Soulless *$)&^_@$)&^_(#&$@!

h/t to TPM

--the BB

Anaheim will soon be upon us

Or we shall soon be upon Anaheim, Godde preserve it.

I have only attended one General Convention and that was in Anaheim. I was there the day Ed Browning was elected PB and brought into the hall to be introduced to the House of Deputies. That was rather exciting. It was quite a fascinating tribal experience.

I suspect most Episcopalians experience bishops the way I had up until then - in small numbers. Usually just one, occasionally two or three. To pass through the convention center and see whole multitudes of purple shirts descending on the escalators was just... weird.

OK, a little creepy. Remember, I may be ordained but I remain incredibly anti-clerical. I just don't cut us much slack. Hordes of bishops just ratchets up the adrenalin that is the body's way of saying, "Look out, there is danger near you."

Perhaps that explains a bit of my very harsh negativity toward primates.

Mind you, I have met primates I admire and respect. There are bishops I admire and respect (and am even fond of). Priests and deacons too! But not one of them gets automatic respect because of the funny collar or the fancy ordination certificate on their walls.

Anyway, this stroll down memory lane (and disquisition on clergy) was triggered by something I said in an earlier post today and recent traded comments thereon with Grandmère Mimi.

My ex used to opine that there are only 300 Episcopalians and they just move around a lot.

The more we run into people who know people we know, the more this seems to be the case. I allowed that a thousand or more folks in one cathedral service belies this, but in our ordinary lives it seems to be true. A visitor today was the son of a colleague of mine with whom I was in a clergy support group. He was with us at the mission today because he knows two other people in our congregation. Afterward we were talking about all this and links in the Diocese of Utah, whereupon a congregant pointed out that she and I have a friend in common there, who is known to the others, of course, and the suffragan for the part of New York where my former colleague now serves is my chum +Kathy Roskam, who shepherded the newly ordained in the Diocese of California when I was ordained.

Scary.

300. Moving around a lot.

Mimi adds that we are "special." We certainly are.

God bless the Episcopal Church. (I don't care about the Communion since it became a golden calf, but I value this chunk of it.)

--the BB

Sumbitch ipse loquitur

Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, ratified by the United States and more than 130 other countries since 1984, forbids governments from deliberately inflicting severe physical or mental pain or suffering on those within their custody or control. Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit. Beating, burning, rape, and electric shock are some of the grisly tools such regimes use to terrorize their own citizens. These despicable crimes cannot be tolerated by a world committed to justice.
--George Walker Bush, 26 June 2003

h/t to Hunter

What can one say in the face of such brazen hypocrisy?

--the BB

Mad dogs, Englishmen, and crazed bears

When I got home from church I headed out into the yard under the midday sun. This may be doubly foolish since I got a haircut yesterday and what is not already bald is now buzzed down to #1.

I planted the last remaining penstemon, did a bit more well repair and mulching, and watered the newly planted items again. I hope to have photos later today or tomorrow but some more of my bare root roses have had their first bloom, one more has shoots, and one from last year has new shoots too. I am still waiting for some sign of life an about five others. Nonetheless, the yard is a great joy to my heart.

Oh, and I stretched out more string along the wall for vines to grow on, pruned a bit, and put up poles for the beans.

We had a lovely time at church, as usual. Afterward I met a visitor who knew some of our members. As we were chatting it finally dawned on me: he is the son of a colleague with whom I had been in a support group in California! The world is small. The world of Episcopalians is really, really small.

--the BB

Just go read it

I refer to the entire McClatchy article by Jonathan S. Landay. It narrates how there was huge pressure from the offices of Cheney and Rumsfeld to get information from detainees "proving" the non-existent link between Iraq and al Qaeda.

Set aside the unsubstantiated adolescent male fantasy of ticking time bombs and focus on this: the timing and nature of the use of torture indicate that it was done to justify the Iraq War. Not to get actionable intelligence that might save lives but to justify what they wanted to do prior to 9/11.

Torture for the sake of false evidence. (Phony confessions are really just about the only thing torture is good for, not counting the pleasuring of sadists.)

Here is Cheney lying (I know, why even point it out):

"The (al Qaida-Iraq) links go back," he said. "We know for example from interrogating detainees in Guantanamo that al Qaida sent individuals to Baghdad to be trained in C.W. and B.W. technology, chemical and biological weapons technology. These are all matters that are there for anybody who wants to look at it."

No evidence of such training or of any operational links between Iraq and al Qaida has ever been found, according to several official inquiries.

Read it all here.

--the BB

So that you may love one another

John 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."

I would like to consider Jesus' admonition that we are to keep his commandments combined with his comment that he has kept his Father's commandments.

We can all agree that he fulfilled the Father's will, but given how much he trashed the purity laws - touching corpses and stuff lie that, while defending his disciples on matters of food and hygiene, not to mention working, that is, healing on the Sabbath - you have to concede that in a literal and legalistic sense he did not keep the commandments very well at all. Which gets us back to the beginning of this paragraph: he fulfilled the Father's will by keeping the spirit of the Torah and the prophets and the writings.

I say this in order to take seriously Jesus' call for us to obey him without turning such a sublime passage about love into a legal code, ammunition for moralistic finger wagging.




An Episcopalian canon lawyer pointed out to a group one evening that the Roman Catholic Codex Iuris Canonicis concludes with an amazing sentence declaring that the salvation of souls is the supreme law of the Church.

Can. 1752 - In causis translationis applicentur praescripta canonis 1747, servata aequitate canonica et prae oculis habita salute animarum, quae in Ecclesia suprema semper lex esse debet.

Can. 1752 In cases of transfer the prescripts of can. 1747 are to be applied, canonical equity is to be observed, and the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be kept before one’s eyes.

In today's Gospel Jesus says that his purpose in giving us commands is so that we may love one another.

One cannot hear me preach many times without hearing me say something that may be new to someone reading here, namely that Grace precedes Law, in the Hebrew Scriptures as in the New Testament. If you were raised on "first the law, then grace," unlearn it right now. It is a lie that has been foisted on you.

Witness: Exodus comes before Sinai. The people are delivered, saved, first and then the Torah is given to show them and assist them in living like a delivered people. It is not to gain God's favor but to live like a people who have experienced God's favor and saving power. The Law is a gracious gift to an already saved people. Let that sink in.

The purpose of Jesus' command is not gain God's favor but so those who are already beloved and redeemed may live like a beloved and redeemed people.


Let us then revel in the astounding graciousness of today's passages and may love abound in, around, among, and through us.

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

--the BB

This is why I remember the fallen

And this is why I pray for our troops.



This is why I consistently vote for veteran's benefits and anything that supports these men and women.

This is why I get rather soppy around Decoration Day and Armistice Day (that's Memorial Day and Veteran's Day to you youngsters). I cry when I watch videos like this or read war poems or recite the pledge of allegiance, sometimes when reading the Preamble to the Constitution, and always when reading The New Colossus. I am very sentimental about my country.


I may criticize my government, its actions and decisions, but I do so because it is MY government, my nation, the land of my birth, the land of my citizenship and I want to hold us to high standards and call myself and all of us to live into the dream that is the United States of America.

I may call into question our military actions as a nation - their practicality, their legality, or their morality.

But I never call into question the bravery, dedication, and sacrifices of our fighting men and women. I try to say "thank you" face to face when I see our women and men in uniform.

I grieve for those injured or killed, though they are strangers to me. We may have never met, yet they are my brothers and sisters, my fellow Americans, placing their lives on the line for the nation we love.

Visitors come to this blog having searched for the names of the fallen. I hope they find their loved ones honored and respected, though if they glance at other items on this blog they must wonder how that squares with my political opinions. For me there is no conflict.

Whatever may have happened back in the days of the Vietnam War, I have yet to hear any of my liberal acquaintances speak ill of our troops, or fail to uphold them politically (we are not the ones trying to cut benefits for the troops). In fact, back during the Vietnam War, the war of my generation, I vehemently opposed it, but did not bear ill will toward those who were fighting it. My quarrel was with national policy, not with our soldiers, sailors, pilots, and marines.


Here is more from today's IGTNT post:

To date, 4296 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Iraq. The death toll thus far in 2009 is already 76. More than 31,000 members of the military have been wounded, many grievously. The Department of Defense Press Releases, from which the information at the start of each entry in this diary was drawn, can be seen here. The death toll among Iraqis is unknown, but is at least 200,000 and quite probably many times that number.

To date, 683 members of the United States military have lost their lives in Afghanistan. The death toll thus far for 2009 is 53. 467 members of the military from other countries have also lost their lives.

Slide Show ~ The Final Salute

Other sites have stories, video, pictures and remembrances, including: Honor the Fallen.

Assisting our military: Supporting our troops is the RIGHT THING to do.

You can send a care package. Please consider brightening the day of a soldier with a care package.

You can write letters.

You can send a cup of organic coffee.

You can find other ways to give at anysoldier.com or Fisher House. If you have frequent flyer miles you would like to donate to hospitalized veterans or their families, please see Fisher House’s Hero Miles program.

You can help the left-behind animal companions of our troops. See how here.

And don’t forget them when they get home! Read welcomebackveterans.org to learn what you can do. Visit VoteVets and IAVA. IAVA’s newest project, Support Your Vet, was launched earlier this month.

To all who serve I say, "Thank you!"

--the BB

Resources and references

WWII poster

Batocchio has a post up summarizing so much of what needs to be said and known on the topic of torture with lots of references and links. If you want a resource on this topic, check it out.

This is not a game. These torture "debates" should not be thought experiments divorced from objective reality, history, the known timeline and the very real and deadly consequences of these policies. It's one thing for members of the general public to be confused or not be up to date on the general timeline and key details, or be swayed by fantastical ticking time bomb scenarios. It's one thing for the bloodthirsty chickenhawks who assume every Muslim or Arab prisoner is a guilty terrorist to indulge in their ignorant, self-flattering Jack Bauer fantasies of living in the "real world" of tough decisions. It's inexcusable that so many members of the media still - still - know and/or report these matters so poorly. We deserve and need better. It's not hyperbole to say that people are dead because of these policies. Given what we already know, how can we turn away? This is not a game to those who were tortured, nor to the families and friends of those tortured, abused, maimed and killed. It is not a game to human rights activists trying to end abuses around the world. It's not a game to the JAGs and other lawyers trying to ensure fair trials and treatment for their clients, guilty and innocent alike. Contrary to the grotesque bullying tactics, shameless lies or colossal self-deception of the Cheney family and their kind, it's not a game to the American and coalition troops attacked, injured, maimed or killed as a result of arrogant, feckless leadership and reckless, unconscionable and evil policies.

Read it all here.

h/t to Digby for pointing me to it.

Watch them squirm to avoid facing the truth

Mad props to David Waldman. The other three should be ashamed to appear in public.

Y'all may have read posts by Waldman under the name Kagro X at Daily Kos and elsewhere.
--the BB

A mother's point of view

What might the mother of a Marine who went through SERE training have to say about waterboarding?

You can find out here. An excerpt:

This is why I'm writing to you: Yesterday on TV I saw some Republican mouthpiece, some ex-Cheney aide, who has never worn a uniform and has NO idea what the hell he is talking about, say that we never tortured anyone because we did it to our own troops and they volunteered to serve; therefore it isn't torture. His statement was allowed to stand unchallenged.

My son did NOT volunteer to be tortured. He was NOT told what would be done to him at SERE. He was told he would be taught to survive. Instead he was tortured, humiliated, degraded, shamed, and told to keep quiet about it. How in God's name would that prepare any of our troops to survive capture? It won't. It will only make them break quicker in the hopes of not having to go through more torture.

Who will speak up for my son and the others like him who joined the military to serve and who were subjected to sadistic torture, not by the enemy, but by the war criminals ostensibly on our side? These people, Cheney and his talking heads, everyone of them chicken hawks who avoided serving, should NOT be allowed to use torturing our troops as rationalization for their crimes.

As for Dick (may be burn in hell) Cheney, McClatchy has a new article up recording his past lies and pointing to the increasingly obvious reality that torture was NOT about saving American lives but about justifying the invasion and occupation of Iraq. In other words, an immoral illegality in service of another immoral illegality.

There. Is. No. Justification. For. What. They. Ordered. Done.

WASHINGTON — Then-Vice President Dick Cheney, defending the invasion of Iraq, asserted in 2004 that detainees interrogated at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp had revealed that Iraq had trained al Qaida operatives in chemical and biological warfare, an assertion that wasn't true.

Did I mention that the lying, sadistic bastard known as Dick Cheney should burn in hell? And that I violate my own theology to even postulate this, so deep is my loathing and indignation when that vile hellspawn is the topic?

h/t to mcjoan (again, bless her)

Let's round this out with a haiku in "honor" of Liz Cheney:

Daddy's Little Girl
Wuvs when the bad, bad mans are
Slammed against the wail . . .

La pomme ne tombe pas loin du pommier.

h/t t Joe Sudbay at Americablog and KarenMrsLloydRichards

--the BB

L'enfant prodigue

OK, it's more like the prodigal father who allowed his son to be stuffed into a box for almost three years. CPS should be pounding on my door any minute.

But he's back in the bosom of his family and I am so glad.

Above you will see Molesy communing with with Otter, their younger siblings Shou-Yi, Pample, and Fr. Anskar in the background.

--the BB

Los jitomates

Here are the heirloom tomatoes I planted last evening. One is looking rather iffy today, so we shall see. If even half my tomatoes produce this summer I shall have a bounty.

--the BB

One or two applications should suffice

--the BB

I'm shocked, shocked!

If Jane Harman was asking--more than six months after CIA started torturing--whether or not the torture had been "authorized and approved by the President," it's a pretty big clue that the Administration had not given Congress a Presidential Finding. Or, to put it another way, it's a pretty big piece of evidence that the Administration and CIA had failed to comply with the law!
--Emptywheel

Indeed.

--the BB

The photos are out there already

This was not the work of "a few bad apples." This was White House policy!

This blood is on the hands of Dick Cheney and George W. Bush and their accomplices AND ON OURS UNLESS WE HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!

Photo via The Sydney Morning Herald
h/t to Juan Cole

--the BB
[Note: I make no apology for posting photos of the atrocities committed by our government in our name. The truth must be exposed.]

Heart thread - 05/15/2009

From WORMWOOD'S DOXY:

My boss, and wonderful friend, Miguel is having surgery today. We have worked together for many years, and he is one of my heroes.

Dear Friend’s mother—who celebrated her 87th birthday last Friday—has developed pneumonia. Doris is a strong, vibrant person, and she is taking appropriate medications, but this is worrisome.

I would appreciate it if the OCICBW crowd could remember Miguel and Doris in their prayers. Also, Jim—Dear Friend’s brother-in-law—who continues to undergo treatment for inoperable brain cancer.

Thanks,
Doxy

h/t to MP and GM

Let us also remember Doxy who has been toiling on a major work project and Dear Friend, who risks all by marrying Doxy next weekend. Poor chap, he gets us lot in the bargain.

This from our mission prayer team:

Mike and Eydie have asked prayers for their next door neighbor, Roy. Roy is ‘in extremis’ (near death) and is being cared for by Hospice. Let us hold Roy before God in prayer asking for a peaceful and painless death.

[Last names omitted]

I ask for guidance and peace of mind for my friend Cuervito.

For the Episcopal Mission of San Gabriel, meeting tomorrow to develop our vision for future ministry.

Though this was posted yesterday, I pass it on today. From Pseudopiskie:

More prayers requested
Today Julie-Anne is having surgery on her shoulder. She has lupus and is worrying more than normal because this is the first surgery she has had since the lupus diagnosis. Please pray for guidance of the hands of all involved that her pain will be eliminated and recovery will be swift and full.

Richard is also having surgery today to remove a tumor from his liver. He is, quite frankly, a physical mess. Please pray for him, his medical team and his family who have suffered much lately.

And while we are at it, let's also keep in mind the folks affected by the tornadoes. We are grateful that our friend Maria was able to outrun the tornado in her pickup but not all the residents were so lucky.

Continued prayers for my friend Kathy recuperating from surgery, for Roseann and Gary, for Kirstin (one year ago today was surgery!), for Diane with a broken arm, and for all the folks in recent heart threads.

For the unemployed and those about to be laid off, including my co-workers Dorothy and Rodney who "rolled off" our project today.

For peace in Sri Lanka and Canaan, for Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar, for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Congo, and Somalia.

For the restoration of the rule of law in the United States.

For those who fight disease in any manner: research, prevention, treatment, cure, rehabilitation, education, etc.

For our fellow creatures, our environment, and this fragile planet.

For those who pray for us and those with none to pray for them.

Almighty and most merciful God, kindle within us the fire of love, that by its cleansing flame we may be purged of all our sins and made worthy to worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer

--the BB