Tannishblog

I begin to understand that after a grueling work week, the last thing we want to do is think in service to our blogging habit. Some counter this by quick posts or catblogging on Fridays, some have open threads wherein their readhership can entertain itself. I usually fail to post on Friday nights.

With the (hopeful) rejuvination of this blog, I propose a tradition I haven't yet encountered in the blogocube: Friday Night Zen. While my family celebrates Shabbot, I can also try to cleanse my spirit by reaquainting myself with the truly important - as I see it. (A week of reading the news can make one forget…) So without further delay, I offer a Zen quote for your enlightenement (pun intended.)

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

– Shunryu Suzuki  

 Namaste

As I read this article in the Washington Post, the shadow of a voice echoes in my head. The rumblings about the NY Times' disclosure of yet another secret program of Cheney-esque subterfuge of sifting through banking records, and the reaction to the story by the Conservatives, reminds me of a snippet of wisdom gleaned through a favorite form of entertainment. The voice says:

A unanimous consensus between myself and my (I guess it's) two readers, Travis and the ominously named Sister Atom Bomb (etc.); We all agree the current template is a keeper. So be it: Tannishblog is now brown.

If anyone out there cares, feel free to pipe in… your comments are always welcome.

The New York Times, often sited as mouthpiece of the Left, features two articles illuminating the ineptitude of our current leadership. One states, the Military Fails Some Widows Over Benefits ; pointing to poor record keeping in the military leading to denied or partial benefits received by young grieving military wives. At least, that’s the excuse the military is offering. Perhaps the fact that our country is near-bankrupt may have something to do with this?

Another article enumerated the ‘Breathtaking’ Waste and Fraud in Hurricane Aid from "scams, schemes and stupefying bureaucratic bungles." Pretty much sums things up, no? Stupefying… I like that… Add to this the alleged $9 billion lost in Iraq due to "Severe inefficiencies and poor management", and an unmistakable pattern develops.

While the Lefty newspapers are selling papers on stories of our administration’s inability to administer, What does the right have to say? The Washington Post doesn’t cover these stories today. they’re still bolstering Cheney’s comments on surveillance policies with Mr. Bush piping in on the subject. The Post also has an article dubiously entitled: Changes in the Womb Tied to Homosexuality In Boys With Brothers. So much for the public interest. When will the Righties ‘fess up to the mess we’re in?

Okay: that last one was rhetorical…

Here’s another look at a likely template for Tannishblog. The first one was hard to read, the second - too bland for my tastes. this one is both bold and readable. this one,mm3 1.0 by Michael Martine shows promise.

The original image of an orange maple leaf has been replaced by one of a city in a fishbowl. This image has been on the old hard drive for a while, I don’t know whom to give credit. The style of the original has been reproduced to keep the theme’s design intact. The “Illustration Gallery” page is not functional, but I could place some of my Bryce digital artwork there…

“The third time pays them all,” as my father used to say.

Again: let me know what you think. Thanks.

All the hoopla over the Terror Plot That Couldn’t acts as a great smokescreen to hide attention from the most recent invasion of privacy compliments our vice-President. Yet another “Secret Program” emerges wherein thousands of bank records have been searched for “Terrorists.” The programmed response, from several sources is that this is all above board. Then why has it been secret for three years? Mr. “straight-shooter” Cheney says it’s “absolutely essential” to combat phantom terror cells within our borders.

Perhaps that’s even true…

He also said:

“What I find most disturbing about these stories is the fact that some of the news media take it upon themselves to disclose vital national security programs, thereby making it more difficult for us to prevent future attacks against the American people,” Mr. Cheney said.

The language has softened, but the allegations of traitorous actions taken by “some of the news media” is unmistakable. The Swift-boating continues…

What bothers me is the assumption that this information will not be used for any other purpose - politically-driven, perhaps - alone or in combination to the eavesdropped phone conversations gathered simultaneously. I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you: I don’t trust these guys not to leverage any political gain possible. We already know politicians have no morals when votes are involved. (Among other excuses…) As the elections draw near I’ll be waiting to hear what other information our government is gathering in the name of terrorism to be used for political gain, instead.

This weekends hype is the "Terror Plot Targeting Sears Tower." Yesterday regurgitations of this so-called story was splashed over front pages nation wide. Here in Chicagoland, one cant turn one’s head in the newsstand without images of the city’s tallest structure in view. Subliminal message: the word "terror" in combination with high-rise buildings.

Never mind the family’s statements of the seven men - "They’re not terrorists;" forget the details of the "case" - that the group, headed by Narseal Batiste, a Chicago native, had no weapons, money, explosives, nor that they were four states removed from the scene of the not-yet-a-crime. Pay no attention to official comments from the family of Stanley Grant Phanor pointing out that he is a practicing Roman Catholic - not a Muslim. Ignore the FBI’s own assessment that the operation was more "aspirational than operational". We’re not supposed to notice these pesky details.

Besides the press and the established party know full well that most Americans don’t like to read, don’t have the patience to peruse small print. Instead, Americans rely on the sound bites and flashed images from TV to get their "information." The heavy editing as delivered through that medium tends to leave the facts on the proverbial cutting room floor.

The message is clear: Terror + High-rises = FEAR. It’s an election year, so we are to fear as much as we can. We should fear terrorists, gays, Muslims, Liberals, or anyone bold enough to question the verbal vomit of the likes of  "conservative commentators" (Rush Limbaugh comes to mind…) If we fulfill our role sufficiently, the Republicans retain their majority. If we cast aside our fears and look the at issues closely, we will see how we are manipulated, how baseless is our fear, how manufactured. Then perhaps, the crumbling foundation of Neo-con power can be challenged.

That is - if the Democrats can provide a unified front. But that’s a rant for another day.

This is mildly amusing: Via Democracy for Illinois, from AMERICAblog comes a tiny morsel destined to go nowhere, asking the delicate question, AMERICAblog: Did George Bush Deface the American Flag?

Bushwhackers everywhere are becoming desensitized toward Republican hypocrasy, doublespeak, and outright lies: So - our media-hound of a president thought it would be a good idea to autograph little flags just like his Texas Rangers heros do to baseballs. So - the Republican stranglehold on due process which we are forced to call a government is trying to push through a flag-desecration bill to accommodate the Patriot Patrol within the GOP and throughout the exurbs. So what?

This is not what America needs. There’s no substance here, and if the Democrats continue to pick fights they can’t win…. well, you know the rest. This non-issue isn’t even good for a mild rebuke. It is, as I said, mildly entertaining. Let’s hope nothing more is made of it. It doesn’t take much to turn a donkey into a jackass these days.

On the previous post for the Terracotta theme, Travis mentioned he was having trouble reading the text on the dark background. So I scrounged about for another suitably Tannish theme, this one called Jakarta. I changed the top image with a wolf modifieded to match the theme’s color palette. The colors are less dramatic, more readable. The menu links point nowhere, so there’s a bit of work to do… I might tweak a bit more besides, but I’ll wait for some feedback.
Please: let me know…

I’m beginning to view the coming battle between Democrat and Republican in poetic terms. While the two co-dependent siblings – or perhaps they’re Siamese Twins – gear for another expansive, counterproductive hate-fest at the expense of taxpayers, political progression, and of human spiritual maturation, we helpless plebeians must endure the worst Democracy has to offer: hateful rhetoric; unrepentant media spin and obfuscation; widening of a irreconcilable political divide.

What we will soon experience is another example of human depravity, the ultimate expression of naked hunger for power and wealth. American political strife is not about how we help those in need, as the Democrats would have us believe. It’s not about national security of economic growth, as the Republicans would have it. It’s about who gets to destroy all that is good in humans, through the advancement of corruption, aggression, and hoarding dwindling global resources.

Unfortunately, what America does to itself, the rest of the so-called civilized world must live with. So entwined are global economies, the boundaries between what is theirs, and what is ours have blurred indistinct. Such is the legacy of greed that has been successfully leveraged by the US since the last Great War. Our great nation has worked hard to force our economic strength to shape other markets; we’ve fought hard to display military might as a not-so-subtle reminder of who’s in charge; we’ve not been shy to undermine human potential if it occurs overseas.

America is the bully in the barnyard, looking for kowtowers. For decades other nations complied – in lesser degrees as time removed us from the heydays of post WWII – to their detriment. Now, the world watches as we spin ourselves apart with partisan politics as dysfunctional as all family feuds are. The world bands together in their distrust of our crude foreign policies and secretly prays for our downfall. They’ll be there to buy up the fragments of what I hope is the last Empirical power in the world. While the American twins gird themselves for battle, like Romulus and Remus, the surviving nations and people will write the history books decrying the excesses of unabated capitalism, the absence of humanity, spirituality, compassion in formulation of political power and its expression.

In light of this, we are doing humanity a service, while disserving ourselves. If the meek inherit the Earth, there will be no Americans among them.