Presidents and Their Credentials

John McCain looking oh so patriotic

McCain blasts Obama as someone who has "no military service" experience at all.  Gasp!  Is this really a prerequisite for becoming President?  I'd love someone from the frickin' media to ask McCain if he had issues with the absolute lack of combat experience of one of his heroes, Ronald Regan?  (Do war movies count?)  Is this what McCain is referring to?  Combat?  Or any kind of service?  Is he questioning, once again, Obama's love of country? Patriotism?  Need he be reminded of all the Presidents who did not serve the military? Such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Franklin Roosevelt, Bill Clinton? How about Dubbya?  Was his 'service' worthy of being defined as 'military service?'

McCain needs to get off this track, but quick.  It's a red herring.  This argument screams desperation.  Not that I mind McCain looking desperate.  I think he is.  And he knows it.  I just want him to stop wasting our time on this smoke and mirrors  rhetoric and get to something real.  We all deserve more than what he's offering here.  We deserve to hear our candidates talking about the issues.  

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

Monday: Part I

Monday: Part II

Perhaps Mr. Gramm and the McCain campaign could embrace this for all of our whiners out there in the USA:

The Singapore health ministry would review possible changes to current legislation to allow payments for donations from third parties such as those from the charity and religious sectors. Under the proposal, which would need to be approved by Parliament to become law, patients would also get help in finding donors.

"There are desperate patients out there wishing to live and desperately poor people willing to exchange a kidney for a hopefully improved life," he said.

I guess this beats kidney robbing, but not by much. When you get down to it, it's poverty that needs attention, not creating a market for kidneys. Using the 'poor' for body parts for the 'rich' is not a new concept. The rich have used the bodies of the poor throughout the ages.

I think if our economy keeps going the way it is, we'll have people selling kidneys for gas money.

Doesn't Get Any More Real Than This

For more photos of the Tassajara Zen Center's brush with fire, click here.

Basin Complex Fire Burns through the Zen Center

Zen art, by cameradawktor

Go to the link and read the stunning account of how the fire came through the center. Most buildings were saved due to diligent planning and hard labor. Some of the structures are gone and pool area is a mess. I can't image the heat that the five people who stayed had to endure. Even if you have never been to this oasis, the account of the fire will make your heart pound.

"Gratitude courses through this valley and our veins, for we and our community are well and safe, supported in a thousand ways known and unknown by the generosity and efforts of so many beings, so many bodhisattvas, so many Buddhas. And finally, deep bows to the fire, whose undeniable dharma teaching of impermanence has earned our awed respect and attention."

--David Zimmerman, Tassajara Director

The Girl Who Silenced the World

Waaaaayyyy back in 1992 this child spoke so eloquently. I would love to hear her now. I can't say that the truth she speaks has made much change.....or perhaps today I am just cynical.

Wake Up!

Everything Changes

Fire near Tassajara, Los Padres National Forest, California.

"Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer."  (italics mine)

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi

Go To Sleep You Little Baby

Random thoughts...I rented the DVD of pre-release concert of this movie recently. Took place at the Ryman theater in Nashville, where I have had the pleasure of being. And holding Vince Gill's guitar while mugging on stage.

How's this for a random thought? Driving in to work this a.m. Listening to the radio, Ten Thousand Maniacs "Let the Mystery Be" on the radio. I think about death. What happens after? I think, "It's like when you were a kid and all the grown ups were having a party and they sent the kids to bed. Oh man, what a sorrowful thing. Think of all you're going to miss out on. In actuality, you're missing out on a group of old farts sitting around drinking cocktails and playing cards. Big whoop." So then, I think, "That's what death is like...you're bummed because you are dying; you're gonna miss out on something big. But in reality, you're just missing out on another evening of playing cards and getting wasted."