State Of Fire

California As Seen From Space 10/22/07

About a million people have been evacuated, probably the largest mass movement of Americans since the Civil War. Thousands of homes destroyed, nearly half a million acres of forests are burning, and it's still going strong. A couple of weeks ago, I predicted we would soon find out what our boiling point really is. I'm not fond of being right just now. I'm actually becoming rather depressed about how right I've been. I'm not bragging, I'm pleading. I'm afraid I'm going to be right about my other warning -- you know, the nuclear one -- although it may not matter if we've already burned up.

Perspective is a funny thing. You, whoever you are, may be reading this, and you may be concerned about the California fires, but you may also be somewhat amused by my tone here, because you're pretty sure we're going to come through all this somehow. Well, my tone is what it is because I'm not sure. I pray California soon receives the weather breaks it needs, and it can begin to try and recover, this time. But virtually every scientist not in the employ of ExxonMobil is telling us that the effects of climate change are increasing exponentially, each condition becoming a contributing factor in the worsening of other conditions, and so on. On Venus they called it a runaway greenhouse effect.

I tried to watch some of CNN's "Planet In Peril" thing, but I couldn't. Nice hi-def shots, and all that, but, really, what was that? I agree it's scandalous, criminal and horribly damaging the way endangered species are captured and sold, but, but ... there's a larger message, and CNN is still behaving like the good corporatist tool.

And so it goes, as Vonnegut used to say. And so it goes.

If you dig around, you can find a few more direct stories from the MSM. Here's a study published on MSNBC: Study: Warming is stronger, happening sooner. It says, among other things, that carbon dioxide emissions in 2006 were 35% higher than they were in 1990. 35%. We appear to be our very own runaway greenhouse environmental catastrophe. Just wait until the ice caps melt.

We're still living in the Twilight Zone. Every aspect of our world and our society is telling us we have to change now, radically, dramatically, immediately. But soon we'll have the chill winter winds to drive us back indoors by the fireplace, and soon we'll drift back to sleep.

My own condition isn't that good, actually. I've been taking an awful lot of medication, and I haven't really improved. I'm not able to get around well, and I'm still thinking that I will improve, you know, for a while anyway, but my condition may have something to do with my own reluctance to drift off with the rest of you. Time is relative. It may well be that none of us have nearly enough of it.

Everything you fear about change may be nothing compared to my fear of the status quo, as it now exists. I feel very strongly that you should fear the status quo as much as I do. I have not been indulging in much speculation regarding radical societal change before now, because I, too, was thinking we had more time. It's time to go with my instincts. I want you to search inside yourselves. It's time to re-think. It's time to cut off our emissions.

One little fire, and here I start shrieking that the sky is falling.

Beginner's Mind

In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

-- Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Suzuki Roshi's words are more relevant now than ever. In a time when legendary economists innocently reveal the most damning truth of the Bush Administration so far, yet fail to envision a world where such obscenities might have been avoided, we see the limitations of the box we've been so reluctant to "think outside of", as they say. The extension of such thinking has led the Senate to make a virtual declaration of war against yet another nation being drawn into the morass that is Iraq.

I just made a post on the MSNBC site on the message board discussing the Democratic debate. I was really disheartened, and more than usual, by the ignorance and tightly closed minds of too many posters. I tried to add a little historical context to the topic:

The United States of America was created, and defined in its historic Constitution, to be a nation governed by the people themselves. Out of the long human history of rule by kings whose powers were decreed by God, America flowered as a testament that we are all children of God, and no less capable of governing than kings.

More than two centuries later, there is still insufficient appreciation for the revolutionary nature of this country. For many, the temptation to imbue special qualities to the wielders of power is still too great. In America, at least for the moment, each one of us is powerful in ways the Medieval spirit could scarcely have imagined, but we've been painfully slow to assume the accompanying responsibilities.

We have all been declared as noble by the law of our land, yet too often we still cling to our savage nature. We are each of us tasked to meet the hopes and expectations of Washington and Jefferson in our daily lives, to live the dream of America and protect its birthright of liberty. As citizens of this extraordinary republic, we all have much to learn, and obviously much studying yet to do. Each of us must ask the hard questions once only the province of kings, and assume our portion of the nation's burden. That's a serious commitment, and we must not abdicate, because this world does have evil in it, and we should strive to be alert to threats from every
direction.

Far from a gloomy responsibility, the task assigned to each American is a joyous one, with a vision of freedom not defined by docile ignorance, but of empowerment, opportunity, maturity and understanding. It is the spark of the Divine in every living being, unfettered by tyranny and oppression. It is not just George Bush's responsibility, or Hillary Clinton's.

It's yours.

OK, that's a little heavy for the MSNBC message board. But I almost know how Jesus felt when he cried "Oh, Jerusalem!" Do you know what I mean? I see such potential, such unrealized potential.

It's hard for me to realize my own potential, needless to say. I didn't really need more physical difficulties, but I'm on extra meds again, and I'm not happy about it. I'm still having more troubles than I'm supposed to be having, so more 'roids, and a different antibiotic this time, called Ceftin, or something. I don't know much about it yet, but so far, none of the bad reactions I had to the sulfa-based SMZ/TMP, to which I'm obviously allergic. So, I'm not feeling that great, but I have so many thoughts I'd like to write down over the next few days. We'll see what happens.

There is so much going on in the world, and so much I'd like to see headed for the right path while I'm still around to enjoy it, but I always find strength in the words of men like Shunryu Suzuki. There are two primary books associated with the teachings of this Zen master who came to California and established the first Soto Zen monastery in the West before he died in 1971. I have been reading Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind periodically for more than thirty years, and more recently, a compilation called Not Always So. It's been fascinating to chart my progress in understanding the simple words of Suzuki. Great books such as these are not necessarily the literary achievements of Shakespeare and Goethe, but share their ability to measure our growth in understanding as we pass through life. Just as a passage of Shakespeare reveals new layers of meaning as I grow older, so I seem to fall slowly through my own layers of misunderstanding each time I read Suzuki, and sense just a little more of the kernel of meaning he tried to convey. Without question, that task will be incomplete when my time is up.

I still can feel intensely bored by meditation, but I am confident in my will to persevere. If something about that practice has undergone any subtle changes, I am only reminded what a beginner I truly am. I know that the deeper I reach within myself, the closer I feel to all of you, my living teachers. I am touched by the deep inability of words to express that sort of paradox, yet I know it's in the riddles that we find a touchstone of our journey to understanding, and that they resonate with the jangled tune of our crisis-ridden planet as it speeds through vast, vast emptiness.

Bill Clinton has made some remarks of great importance. If you haven't heard them, please play this short video.

I might update a given blog to correct a spelling error or add a tag, but I don't like adding content after the fact. I'm making a late addition here, but I'll try not to make this a habit.

Toward the end of the MSNBC debate, Tim Russert asked one of those hypothetical questions. The scenario here, if I recall, was a prisoner formerly 3rd in command of a terrorist group with information about a pending terrorist attack. The question posed to the candidates was whether an interrogator of this prisoner might be pardoned for using torture to thwart the attack.

The Democratic candidates all condemned the use of torture under any circumstances, and of course, that's the answer we must give in response to such questions, if we are to make any claim to legitimacy as a leader in the free world. But I want to look a bit deeper into the implications of this stance, and imagine myself, not as the President, but as the interrogator in the critical moment of decision. If I were this person, I think I should feel the full weight of all crimes against humanity that hung in the balance, through terrorism and torture alike. At such a moment, it should be clear to me that, should I choose my own criminal path, there will be no pardon, no subsequent redemption no matter the outcome. Let this be the sobering context of this drama.

As a trained, experienced interrogator, of course, I would know how to apply far more effective techniques than torture, and be much more prepared to respond to the crisis than any of the stars of 24. This was another fake question, based on one of the many steps backwards in understanding we've taken this century. Until they burn the books, we can recover forgotten knowledge, and move forward.

The Whistleblowers

Iraq Corruption Whistleblowers Face Penalties

I didn't think I could still be shocked.

The above link points to an Associated Press story featured on the MSNBC news web site this weekend. It's a collection of accounts regarding those who tried to blow the whistle on Iraq corruption. The entire story is more than upsetting, but the lead-in account is of a Navy veteran named Donald Vance, who called the FBI to report illegal arms sales, and was rewarded with a 97-day stay in a military security compound outside Baghdad, where he was subjected to harsh interrogation methods before finally being released. The arms sales were being made through an Iraqi-owned company called Shield Group Security Co., for which Vance worked. He described the outfit as a "Wal-Mart for guns", with lots of cash, no receipts, and loyal customers also known as the insurgents.

So, I'll blow the whistle now. In honor of football season, Fweet! Time out! Stop the occupation! Stop the election! Everybody huddle up!

What in the hell is going on here? We're talking about illegal gun sales to the same insurgents that kill our soldiers, and instead of moving quickly to protect American forces, torturing the whistleblower! Enough! Last straw! That's it!

The Daily Kos also has a follow-up on the story: Whistleblowers on Fraud are Jailed and Tortured. It's equally interesting to read the blog comments, and particularly on the MSNBC site, where more of a common American cross-section has been reacting with shock and horror.

None of these stories is actually new. Donald Vance was feted in Washington back in April, and presented an award by Jimmy Carter, I believe. But the details seem to have been largely under the radar. I had not heard about Donald Vance.

Some of the comments ask "Why does this shock you?" Those comments shock me as much as anything. The story of Donald Vance is sufficient in itself, but as a parable for our times, it is an icon with meaning that rivals the Twin Towers. It is nothing less than the betrayal of America.

We tortured an American citizen who was literally trying to do nothing more than keep weapons from the hands of insurgents who want to kill our soldiers. I mean, is there something more you need to hear? The whole American system twists sickeningly in this equation, and seems as precarious as the South tower on that terrible morning.

For me, there's nothing left to discover after this. We are mortally poisoned as a society, and full of deadly venom that must be extracted before it "quite o'ercrows our spirit". We have to change now!

It's Sunday, August 26th, as I write this. The sun will come up tomorrow. George W. Bush will be in my district, holding a $1000-a-plate dinner for one of his favorite Republican Congressmen, Dave Reichert from my own Washington State 8th District. I didn't have the G-spot, so I'm attending a live online town hall meeting with Democratic candidate Darcy Burner instead, and, while my immediate concern will be her local plans for the district, it may be appropriate to raise the whistleblower issue. Or not. Poor Ms. Burner had nothing to do with it.

I could go protest Dubya, but I'd be cordoned off in the Protester Pen, and the President would never even be allowed to see me, so I'll concede to age and ill health, and spend my time with the honest folk. And George, if you're listening, I've got some words for you about this, and this is an issue I promise will not go away.

I'm not having much fun with meditation right now. Zazen can be very boring.

At least I'm feeling better. Not so many meds now. I'm still on prednisone ('roids), but I quit taking the SMZ/TMP after only 7 days (it was supposed to be 10). I felt like I was flying, and probably had a fever. The 7th day, I broke out in a rash, and itched everywhere. Scratching only made it worse. If your doctor prescribes SMZ/TMP for you, you might want to talk with her about it a little first.

But the meditation thing is pretty boring. That's just how it is. After all the harmonic thoughts, and peaceful dreams, and everything else that can float through one's mind while meditating, eventually a persistent sitter begins to calm down, and there's just the mat, and the room, and the sitter. It's very quiet, and reall-l-l-y dull. But that's ok. While my ego tempts me to drift into fantasy, or get up and start doing all the wonderful things I can do, I sit, and my ego doesn't get any stroking. Little by little, it may be wearing down.

So when I get up and start doing again, I've broken the habit of stroking that old ego, just for a little. And maybe the things I do are just a little bit less self-centered, over time. It's going to be a long, hard struggle.

Sometimes I read or hear about phases of Zen experience, and in some, the experience of sitting zazen is very pleasurable. I suspect my difficult, dull, boring phase may last for quite a while. It's not easy to tell my ego to shut up and listen.

If you wanted to know what my Zen was, now you do.

All of man's troubles and anguish arises from his being unable to be alone
with himself in a room, with nothing to do.

-- Franz Kafka

Cleveland Browns 17
Denver Broncos 16

Woof! Three quarterbacks played, and they all looked pretty good. But I think the kid Quinn plays on another level from the others. My prediction: Quinn starts on Opening Day.

I just watched a recording of the game (listened on radio yesterday). Quinn doesn't just get the ball to the receiver -- he gets it to the best place on the field for the receiver to make the catch and keep going. He gives the receivers, and running backs, extra leverage by doing things at just the right time.

Play the rookie!