Garden blogging

Something to think about

Historiann's post here

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Off With His Head

Let me see. We've longed for real journalistic reporting after 8 long years of Bush. Fox news has been the ruination of MSM and CNN and MSNBC are not far behind. On talk radio, Ed Schultz is Rush with a liberal slant rant, with innuendos, opinions and a willingness to sensationalize every farce that comes along.

Now, we have a General who gives an honest interview to Rolling Stone and it is actually published. And, the wheels come off the bus. How dare the General be honest! How dare Rolling Stone publish it! How dare anyone criticize Obama!

I find it odd that people are comfortable with silencing criticism. Believing it more important to protect the President from a critical General than to actually listen to what the General is saying. Open a dialog, per chance? Not in America.

We live in a country where one no longer has to earn respect, but is magically bestowed with intelligence, power and leadership by winning an election. Oh, yeah, and has the right to censor those who don't agree.

Remind you of anyone?

Sonnet 18 (liberties taken)

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is her gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in her shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as women can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

W. S. (with h/t to JWS)

Blessed Summer

As I'm carried down the Lake Road with the tall trees at my side,
My gaze is pulled upward by the vast and glorious sky.
I start to feel the power that is hidden in the earth,
and my ears are filled with music, and I understand rebirth.

What Hecate Said

Bitchin'

Within the last week I have dealt with 3 different companies all of which have made me want to tear my hair out, scream, reach through the telephone to strangle someone or, a much safer bet, boycott them.

Company No. 1: Time Warner Cable
My Dad passed away in January of this year. Shortly thereafter, I phoned Time Warner, advised them my father had passed away and discontinued the service, asking for a final bill which was forwarded to me. Near the end of March, I was officially appointed executrix of my father's estate, opened an estate account and began paying bills in the first week of April. Within a week of paying the Time Warner bill, I rec'd a second statement. I called the company and they assured me that the payment and bill had crossed in the mail and the account was paid in full.

Last week, I rec'd a bill from a collection agency for my father's Time Warner account. I phoned the collection agency and explained that my father was deceased and the bill had been paid. I was advised by the representative that she could not speak to me without my father's permission. I once again advised her that my father was deceased, I had been appointed executrix and therefor had legal capacity to discuss this account. She once again asked me to put my father on the phone so she could get his permission to speak to me. When I told her he had died, she expressed sympathy and asked if there was anything else she could help me with, as she could not discuss the account with me.

Company No. 2 - Snyder Propane located in Fort Plain, NY
Once again, this was my father's account. My sister had called the company and asked that they remove the propane tank and reimburse us for the propane in the tank (which was full). Although my father was charged rent on the tank, there was a $70.00 fee charged for its removal, a $25.00 travel fee (which they waived), and sales tax in the sum of $5.60 charged for the labor to remove the tank. Bottom line - $120.43 worth of propane was in the tank, the company is located less than 10 miles from the house and rec'd a $44.83 credit to his account. To add insult to injury, I now have to phone them to turn the credit into a check payable to the estate.

Company No. 3 - Frontier Communications
I recently turned on the telephone at our summer place. I do this each year, turning it on in May and off in October. I am always billed at my residence address. Approximately one month after turning on the phone this year, I rec'd a letter stating that I had not paid any of the bills for 2009 for the summer phone and unless I paid within 10 days, both of my phones would be disconnected. I checked my records and they were correct. I could find no payments for the summer phone last year.

I was provided with a return envelope for forwarding the payment, but it had a window where the address would show. However, I hadn't received a bill, but a letter, with no address for payment of the bill. I called Frontier to ascertain how it was that I had not received any bills and where payment should be sent. After approx. 15 minutes of canned music, I was told that the bills were sent to the physical location of my summer residence, which has no mail box nor an address on file at the local post office. Additionally, although I have another phone which is active year round, I was never notified that the bills were unpaid.

I ended up locating a local office to pay the bill, rather than to mail it and rely on the company to actually apply the funds to the correct account. Bottom line is although I immediately recognized the mistake and attempted to rectify it, Frontier took no responsibility for their error, nor lack of follow through. It appears that if I hadn't turned on the summer phone this year, they would never have rec'd payment for the year 2009.

What Hecate Says

This will scare you to death.

Via John W. Smart

Food, Inc.

"We call upon the earth, our planet home, for its beautiful depths, and soaring heights, its vitality and abundance of life, and together, we ask that it teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the mountains, the cascades and the olympics, the high green valleys and the meadows filled with wildflowers, the snows that never melt, the summits of intense silence, and we ask that they teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, horizon to horizon, that flow in our rivers, and streams, that fall upon our gardens and fields, and ask that they teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the land that grows our food, the nurturing soil, the fertile fields, the abundant gardens and orchards, and ask that they teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the forests, the green trees, reaching strongly to the sky, with earth in their roots, and the heavens in their branches, the fir, the pine and the cedar. We ask them to teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and the forest and the seas, our brothers and sisters, the wolves and the deer, the eagle and the dove, the great whales and the dolphin, the beautiful orca, and salmon who share our northwest home, and ask them to teach us, and show us the way.

We call upon those who have lived on this earth, our ancestors and our friends, who dream the best for future generations, and upon whose lives our lives are built, and with thanksgiving, we call upon them to teach us and show us the way.

And lastly we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the presence and power of great spirit of love and truth, which flows throughout all the universe, to be with us, and teach us, and show us the way."

Wilma Mankiller
1945-2010
Chief of the Cherokee nation via Cari Ferraro

Battle of the Cooks - Karl v. Cyn - Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

OK, so here's the scoop. My husband cooks 90% of the meals and before you start in, I KNOW I'm lucky. However, I like cooking! I don't mind it at all. Both of my Grandmothers' cooked, my Mom cooked and I cook. I love having someone to cook for me, but our styles of cooking are very different. I love cooking the whole chicken, bones and all. Karl - not so much. For him, it's boneless, skinless, tasteless (to me) white meat.

Enter last evening, I just couldn't face another lump of white chicken. And, to be fair, his chicken is excellent - well flavored and cooked to perfection. It's just not my perfection. I long for a drumstick to gnaw on or some turkey thighs braised in apple cider. So, I decided I would cook my own chicken and he could cook his own. At first, he was a little miffed - no likes to have their food disrespected. However, after thinking it over, he rose to the challenge and off we went in opposite directions. The only rules were we couldn't use a recipe and had to make use of ingredients we had on hand.

THE RECIPES:
Karl's first
Chicken breast was butterflied and marinated in Italian Dressing. When ready to fry, EVOO and a dab of butter in the frying pan. Breast was salt and peppered, dipped in Mayo and dunked in a Pecorino cheese, Italian bread crumbs, instant potato flake mixture. Skillet hot and chicken fried to a deep golden brown. I have to admit, it was very tasty and very moist, just not my cup of tea. He loved it.

Cyn's recipe
Chicken breast was also butterflied and sprinkled with salt and pepper. EVOO and small dab of butter in a pan with 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Cooked slowly until smelled the garlic. Pitted large Spanish olives, capers, diced tomato and diced prunes added to the pan, along with the chicken. Sauteed for approx. 5 minutes, turning the chicken once. Heat turned off and pan covered to allow flavors to meld. When ready to eat, chicken was removed from pan and thinly sliced. Pan was reheated to medium high, added freshly grated ginger, sauteed for approx. 5 minutes with a splash of dry Vermouth added right at the end. Chicken back into the pan and quickly heated through. I adored it.

Naturally, we each thought our creation was the best, mainly due to our individual idea of what food should be. So, although it was a standoff, hopefully it will get us out of the habit of eating the same things all the time and start our creative juices flowing in who knows what direction? Maybe the winner in this challenge was the fact that we had a lot of fun, realized we had such different styles of cooking and we both made something we wouldn't have normally cooked.

I think this is a win, win situation. However, I'm letting Karl do the cooking tonight.

I am so stealing Delphyne's stuff!

School Prayer

In the name of the daybreak
and the eyelids of morning
and the wayfaring moon
and the night when it departs,

I swear I will not dishonor
my soul with hatred,
but offer myself humbly
as a guardian of nature,
as a healer of misery,
as a messenger of wonder,
as an architect of peace.

In the name of the sun and its mirrors
and the day that embraces it
and the cloud veils drawn over it
and the uttermost night
and the male and the female
and the plants bursting with seed
and the crowning seasons
of the firefly and the apple,

I will honor all life
—wherever and in whatever form
it may dwell—on Earth my home,
and in the mansions of the stars.

~Diane Ackerman~

here

My New Obsession

Health Care Reform Victory Comes with Tragic Setback for Women's Rights

Health Care Reform Victory Comes with Tragic Setback for Women's Rights

Ostara

We have a saying in upstate New York

Bullshit.

Quotes from Kucinich:
"I think that with three years left in the Obama presidency, we have to continue to encourage him, but we’ve got to be careful that we don’t play into those who want to destroy his presidency and say—you know, the birthers and others who say that, you know, he should have never been president to begin with."

"One of the things that has bothered me is the attempt to try to delegitimize his presidency. That hurts the nation when that happens," the Cleveland congressman said, sounding genuinely anguished. "We have to be very careful" that "President Obama's presidency not be destroyed by this debate ... Even though I have many differences with him on policy, there's something much bigger at stake here for America."

I thought I was so over politics. I experienced the closure of no longer being a Democrat after a lifetime of being a proud member due to the decapitation of Hillary. I saw what went on up close. However, this "save Obama no matter what" meme is ridiculous. We should keep an experienced, lazy president from taking his lumps? From any hint of criticism? Why? Because we didn't have the foresight to elect someone more qualifed? We bet on the wrong horse?

This bill is awful. It should not be passed. However, Dennis, et al are willing to sacrifice American citizens to line the pockets of Big Pharma and Crappy Insurance Coverage so to legitimize Obama's presidency.

Bullshit.

What Changed?

Dennis Kuchinich – Health Care or Insurance Care? It’s Time to Respond!
Dennis Kuchinich’s Web Page

Dear Friends,

The health care decision-making process in Washington is horribly tainted by the campaign contributions of insurance and pharmaceutical interests. Under the pay-to-play system health care becomes insurance care, the public option shrinks to irrelevance, the choice we are left: What kind of private, for-profit insurance do you want? This is not acceptable. We must respond now, and not settle for a plan which subsidizes insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies and sets the stage for the privatization of Medicare. We want Health Care for all the people, Medicare for All, which is exactly what the bill John Conyers and I wrote, HR 676, accomplishes. And the only way we will achieve it is to organize and take action in our communities to effect real change at a state and national level. Let us initiate immediately an action plan to intervene and provide health care for all:

1. On-line petition. Please contact your lists, your family and friends. Please sign the petition for a single payer system. I will deliver the petitions directly to your Congressperson.
2. Petition to download, print and circulate among friends and neighbors – including an instruction sheet.
3. A National Health Care for All Conference Call from Washington, DC, at 10 pm EDT, Thursday, September 10th at 1-800-230-1096. Join us, so that we can discuss our new beginning and ways in which we can all help. Pre-registration is necessary in order to reserve sufficient phone lines. Please RSVP here. When you call in and the operator asks, “what conference call?” tell the operator, “Health Care for All.”
4. Health Care Meet-Ups. Coming Thursday September 10 2009.
5. Tell A Friend. Every email forwarded will make a difference? Please use the “Forward Email” link below to circulate up to 5 emails at a time to your friends.

I need your help to initiate this action. If you believe, as I do, that we can and must begin a new long-term state-by-state grassroots effort to create a single-payer, not-for-profit health care system, please contribute now at Kucinich.us
please contribute

Thank you.
Sincerely.
Dennis

Lost Things

I am thinking Spring

Ostara is nearing and I am thinking of all things I associate with spring - tiny seedling, Robins, cleansing rains, Easter eggs, the feel of sun on my skin, the smell of dirt, March hares and magic in the air. It feels good to know that very soon, life will be bursting forth in full glory.

All wonder and miracles,
All creatures upon the earth,
All things wise and beautiful;
Our Mother gave them birth.
By Lady Abigail

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month. In honor of all of those amazing women out there, let's take some time to honor some of them. To get you started, here is a great site with lots of ideas. Not that you need any ideas but Goddess knows, there are so many amazing women out there, it is hard to choose. Today's choice is inspired by all of the substandard journalism we have been subjected to in the past 10 years.

MARTHA GELLHORN

Novelist, essayist and journalist, Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998) was a war correspondent during some of the most momentous conflicts of the 20th century, from the Spanish Civil War and World War II to Vietnam, the Six-Day War in the Middle East and various conflicts in Central America. As a correspondent for Collier's Weekly, she reported on the Spanish Civil War, along with her future husband, Ernest Hemingway. From Spain she moved to Germany, chronicling Hitler's consolidation of power and the onset of World War II. She reported from virtually every theater of the Second World War, — Czechoslovakia, Finland, Britain, Burma, Singapore and Hong Kong — and even snuck aboard a hospital ship to witness the D-Day landings in Normandy. Her reports on the Middle Eastern and Central American conflicts appeared in The Atlantic Monthly. A collection of her war correspondences, The Face of War, was published in 1959. From PBS - Reporting America at War

I am a Girl

Via Delphyne

JK Rowling on the Fringe Benefits of Failure

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

An Imbolc gift from Sia. Watch it. It is an incredible speech.

"The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience."

Eleanor Roosevelt

IMBOLC

So the skies rumbled and the snows came,
And everywhere down through the centuries of this gray night,
Came women gathering to pray,
And to sink their hands into the dark earth.

They gathered seeds and prepared them for planting,
They meditated in the icy darkness,
And they celebrated the lambing of the first ewe,
To hasten spring.

And when through the earth they felt the stirring,
They sang songs encouraging the tiny seeds to grow.

In the dark, wet soil you can smell their work still;
They are digging along beside us. Listen!

The north wind carries their song across the snow,
This Imbolc night.

As the Earth prepares for Spring,
Wise women gather in circles to await the promise of new life,
And to sing praises for the green earth.

And so do we, here now,
This year, and every year.

Welcome Imbolc!

Poem found here

Via Liberal Rapture

I put the photo up last night. Today, I find out that Ted Kennedy's Senate seat went to a little known Republican who posed as a centerfold for Cosmo.

When I left the Democratic party in 2008, it was due to the DNC's slavish adoration for the black man who could raise money and had no qualms about throwing anyone who got in this way under the bus. Look what they got. Via Mort Zuckerman of the Daily Beast

“We are convinced,” he said, “that he is not strong enough to confront his enemy. We are concerned,” he said “that he is not strong to support his friends.”

Read it all. It will make you puke.

New Year

May the beauty of the New Year
Beautify my heart.
May the purity of the New Year
Purify my mind.
May the simplicity of the New Year
Simplify my vital.
May the intensity of the New Year
Intensify my body.
May the responsibility of the New Year
Glorify my life.
May only the divinity of the New Year
Fully satisfy me.
-Sri Chinmoy

Information about the 12/31/2009 Blue Moon Eclipse found here. Blessed be.

Happy Yule

A Blessing for the New Year
BEANNACHT

On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble
May the clay dance
To balance you

And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The gray window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colors,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
In the curragh of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.

From: To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, Doubleday, 2008 by John O'Donohue

And, shamelessly borrowed from Sia

Photo found Here

La Befana

The arrival of La Befana is on the eve of the Epiphany - January 5th to be exact. Legend has it that if a child was good throughout the year, the good witch will swoop down the chimney and leave a small gift. If the child was a real rascal during the preceding 12 months, the kid got a piece of coal.

...there was a time - and it wasn’t that long ago - that Italian children really did get all giddy with the thought of this kindly old witch coming into their homes bearing gifts. La Befana was someone who had more in common with Italy’s all-too-common poverty. Especially in the South.

The origin of La Befana varies. I heard different tales. My grandmother - Bless her – would tell me in her best broken English that “her mother” told her that Befana was an old lady sweeping the floors, and mopping and generally doing the things a cleaning lady does, when the three Wise Men stopped by en route to Bethlehem to ask for directions, and asked her to accompany them see the Baby Jesus. She replied she couldn’t because she was too busy. When she finished her chores, she decided to catch up to the tree Wise Men, but they were gone. So, to this day, La Befana goes out on January 5th in search of the baby Jesus, stopping at every house in hopes that in one of them is the One. In the process, she leaves a gift for the Chosen One in each household along the way. At some point this evolved into a lump of coal for naughty children.

Full article
Photo found here

Goddess, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference. And, give me the strength to get through it all.

New Boss same as the Old Boss

9-11. Scary, scary, scary. Boogie man will get you. Have to go to war. Oh, yeah, and 9-11.

The greatest cause of Terrorism is our endless wars, invasions, bombings, occupations and other means of interfering in the Muslim world, and our escalation will only fuel the anti-American hatred and resentment that -- as even our own Government has recognized -- is the primary fuel of the threat we're supposedly trying to arrest.

Glenn Greenwald

From The Wandering Hearth

Why do we assume that dawn is always a comforting thing? Sometimes when you open up your palm and force the things you've been clinging to so tightly for security into the full light of day, they sit there smoking and blinking madly back up at you, and suddenly...they don't seem so helpful after all. Sometimes the light is harsh, illuminating all the dark corners in truth and sometimes, that isn't such an attractive or comforting thing.

Bella Abzug

Comment from madamab:

Our struggle today is not to have a female Einstein get appointed as an assistant professor. It is for a woman schlemiel to get as quickly promoted as a male schlemiel.
- Bella Abzug

Go read Violet's blog.

Comment of the Year

In response to the shit I have been getting on Facebook for my posts on the Stupak amendment to the house's health care bill, I give you the following comment:

I know... lazy, promiscuous people are messing up this country. They should all be taken out and shot. Specially the illegal ones. In fact, it shouldn't even be illegal to shoot them. I hate supporting other people with my taxes. I think they should all be forced to live in an ever expanding ghetto, with no medical services whatsoever. Look... if God wants you to die, or be sick, who are we to intervene? I don't like any social services at all, roads, construction of bridges etc. I bet more lazy dirty people use them than clean All American Patriots like us. In fact... screw taxes altogether, it's every man for himself (and his wife and family of course – single mothers, you're on your own). That way we can cut government down to a manageable size and fund important things like killing people in other countries, and stopping gays from doing anything legally, and any money we have left over we can give to the CEOs of major corporations, because they, after all, are the backbone of this great nation and deserve all the money that they work so hard to deprive us of. (sorry to end that sentence with a preposition!)

Correction: The comment was from my incredible son-in-law!

UPDATED

Photo found here

The more I think about the Stupak amendment, the more enraged I become. Old, greedy white men controlling our bodies and healthcare choices in a Democratic environment due to so-called religious beliefs. If this happened on Bush's watch, liberals would be screaming from the rooftops. Instead (a seeming impossible thought during the pre-Obama presidency), it is occurring during a solid Democratic majority in the House and Senate. Un-fucking-believable.

If there was ever a time women should rise up and unite, it is now. How dare they? How dare they attempt to repeal Roe v Wade by denying us healthcare? I refuse to accept this. If I have to gather my sisters and march on Washington, I will. I will also work against the re-election of every single Democratic candidate who votes for a bill which includes this provision. Tirelessly and forever. I have a very long memory.

By the way, did you know that there is a healthcare provision in the bill that allows insurance payments for Christian Science prayer treatments? Yep, courtesy of Hatch, Kerry and Kennedy. Kerry and Kennedy!! Insurance payments for scientific, clinical healthcare? Not so much. For spiritually healthcare? Hell, yes. Read it here.

So, we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. Healthcare for women is directly linked to pre-conceived notions in what remains in the brain cells of men and women in positions of power, who no longer understand what it is like to live in the real world.

There is no way I am sitting this one out.

UPDATE NO. 1: When I posted the link to the Send a Coat Hanger Petition to the right, my signature was approx. 1,100. When I checked last night, the number of signers was over 4,000. When I checked moments ago, it is pushing 7,000. This speaks volumes. In less than 24 hours, Credo's petition has really taken on momentum and that is encouraging.

UPDATE NO. 2: I received yet another call from the Democrat Congressional Committee. Apparently, they didn't take me seriously last time, when I told them I wouldn't give them one cent and that I was no longer registered as a Democrat due to the hijacking of the election and treatment of Hillary. In that call, the women on the other end of the phone completely understood my position, was gracious and we hung up each, each understanding the others position.

The call I received last night was from a black man. I am mentioning that for factual reasons, not because I am a racist. Pre-Obama, I wouldn't have to put in that disclaimer.

When I gave him my reasons for not donating, mentioning the primary, the Stupak version of the House bill and the fact that Obama had done nothing but travel around the world since becoming President, I was told that Some Say Obama has accomplished the most progressive feats of any other president. When I pressed him, he acknowledged maybe he hadn't actually accomplished them, but he would in time. I was also reminded that Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Apparently, that was meant to appease women everywhere, seal O's commitment to women's issues and is one of the talking points of the Democratic Committee.

The most important aspect of this phone call was the women's health issues in the House version of the bill. I was advised by this jolly gentleman that it is is more important to get a bill through and signed into law. He chuckled with I mentioned the Stupak amendment and assured me that once the bill was signed, it would be tweaked and amended. We just needed to get it there. I guess women are supposed to take one for the team and we will be remembered at some later date. Sure...

The call ended with the admonishment that if I didn't give a donation to the Democrats, the Republicans would win and that would be the end of the world. Well, I advised him that I didn't see much of a difference between the Democrats in office now and the Republicans of the last administration. I went so far as to tell him at this point, Obama was nothing but a third term of Bush. Apparently, if the caller can't convince you that Obama is The One, they try to scare you with the Republican meme. You are either with us or against us. Ho hum.

Frankly, both parties sicken me. Politicians are beholden to corporate interest and lobbyists, fighting for the chance to stick in their thumb and pull out a plum - the plum being the special interests that keep them in their positions of power, far above the fray, unaware of the struggles of middle America. So, Democratic Congressional Committee, don't call me again. No means No.

Democrats. Listen up.

As you'll answer it, take heed
This Slave commit no Violence upon
Himself. I've been deceiv'd. The Publick Safety
Requires he should be more confin'd; and none,
No not the Princes self, permitted to
Confer with him. I'll quit you to the King.
Vile and ingrate! too late thou shalt repent
The base Injustice thou hast done my Love:
Yes, thou shalt know, spite of thy past Distress,
And all those Ills which thou so long hast mourn'd;
Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd,
Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd.
William Congreve, in The mourning bride, 1697

Autumn in the Adirondacks

Christmas, Swine Flu and Credit Card Rates

As credit cards companies are raising their rates to unspeakable percentages prior to Congress enacting the Credit Card Act of 2009 and thanks to our Federal Government, the executives at CitiBank and Goldman Sacks are availing themselves of H1N1 vaccine ahead of the elderly, the young and pregnant women, you may want to pare down your Christmas giving with these 68 Ideas for Gifts in a Jar.

At least we'll eat.

(photo found here)

Congratulations, Yankees!

Paganism, Just Another Religion

Certainly, there is nothing new about Paganism per se. From Halloween to May Day to Yuletide, said Prof. Diana L. Eck of the Harvard Divinity School, “there’s a way in which all of us, especially in the Christian tradition, follow a religious calendar that is pegged to ancient Pagan festivals.”

But in the grand scheme of the Western world, polytheism was seen as being superseded by monotheism and faith itself by science, leaving Paganism as some kind of atavistic orphan of history. The fact that its practitioners lacked any formal denominational structure added to the religion’s relative invisibility, except as the object of fears or the butt of jokes.

In several ways, though, Paganism was waiting for modernity to catch up with it. The emphasis on the worship of nature in virtually all variations of Pagan faith, and the embrace of a female divinity in many, situated the religion to mesh with the environmental and feminist movements that swept through the United States in the 1970s.

In the 1970s, Wiccan groups began seeking and obtaining tax-exempt status from federal and state authorities, said the Rev. Selena Fox, the founder and spiritual leader of an early, influential Wicca church, Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis. By the decade’s end, Wicca was included in the handbook for military chaplains and had been written about in such popular books as “Drawing Down the Moon,” (Penguin, 2006), by Margot Adler.

Full NY Times article here

Blessed Samhain

I've cleaned and rearranged my alter and am knitting a Samhain wrap for next year. It has all of the colors of the Autumn trees in the Adirondacks. I am bearing witness without judgment. I have found a wonderful, meaningful morning prayer. I am feeling the thinning of the veil. I am cooking my Mama's squash soup. I am surviving the hardest year of my life and celebrating the year that I have learned the most.

Blessed be. May your Samhain be as bountiful as mine.

Photo found here

Helen Thomas' Five Presidential Lessons

No. 1

Mr. President, you've probably already realized that your inauguration is likely to be the happiest day of your presidency. If only you could make that feeling last forever. The White House can be one of the loneliest places in the world. Just look at the physical deterioration some have suffered during their years in office.

If you do not want more gray hair, be prepared for a dye job.

Most presidents leave Washington with, at best, mixed feelings toward the place and many with whom they've worked -- especially the press. Perhaps that is why they choose never to live there again after leaving office and visit infrequently.

John F. Kennedy once called Washington a city of "Southern efficiency and Northern charm."

Harry Truman famously said that if you want a friend in Washington, "Get a dog."

Next 4 lessons found Here

Martha Coakley, Ted Kennedy's Replacement?

This Week Magazine has a interesting story on Martha Coakley, who is a frontrunner for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, Via The Wild Hunt.

Day-care sex abuse case haunts Massachusetts Senate race
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Democratic front-runner to fill Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, didn’t prosecute the notorious Fells Acres Day Care case. But when she had a chance to help end the 'travesty,' she took the easy way out.

By Francis Wilkinson

Roman Polanski may not be alone in facing new scrutiny for an old sex crime, though in Massachusetts it's the actions of a former prosecutor, not a perpetrator, that are in question. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is the front-runner in the campaign to fill the U.S. Senate seat held for 46 years by Ted Kennedy. Coakley rose in politics via the Middlesex District Attorney's office, which was the unrelenting engine behind the Fells Acres Day Care prosecution, perhaps the most notorious among the wave of child sex abuse cases that swept the nation in the 1980s.

Coakley did not prosecute the case, which was already under way when she joined the office as an assistant district attorney in 1986. But years later, after the day-care abuse hysteria had subsided and she had won the office's top job, she worked to keep the convicted "ringleader," Gerald Amirault, behind bars despite widespread doubts that a crime had been committed.

Unlike Polanski's guilt, which was convincing enough in the 1970s and seems at least as compelling now, the convictions won by the Middlesex DA in the Fells Acres case have not borne up well. By today's standards, the prosecution of the Amirault family, who owned and operated the day-care center in Malden, Mass., looks like a master class in battling witchcraft. After an initial allegation surfaced under dubious circumstances, parents were summoned by local police and encouraged to grill their young children, predominantly ages 3 to 5. In the scattershot search for evidence, which the children ultimately produced by the truckload, hysteria reigned. Parents shared their fears along with their children's sometimes fantastical revelations. A pediatric nurse and other "experts" then followed up, posing leading, even badgering, questions to the children to produce a portrait of almost supernatural predation.

Children claimed to have been raped by knives that left no wounds. They said they had been tied to a tree on the day-care grounds. They said they had been molested by a man—Gerald Amirault—in a clown costume and spoke of a magic room and a secret room. No teacher, parent or other adult witnessed any of it—despite their regular proximity to the Amiraults and the exceedingly baroque, time-consuming nature of the alleged abuse. Physical evidence was remarkably scant.

The allegations were similar to those produced in other day-care cases, from New Jersey to California, in which charges were ultimately dismissed. Research by Cornell professor Stephen Ceci and others has established that children can be highly susceptible to ideas introduced by adults, and can shape their recollections to suit a grown-up's narrative. (See this ABC News video). As former Massachusetts Attorney General James Shannon wrote in The Boston Globe, Gerald Amirault's "conviction rested largely on the constitutionally defective testimony of the young children."

The fact that the Fells Acres case took place in suburban Boston makes it all the more vexing. While Middlesex prosecutors were pursuing the Amiraults for spectacular assaults involving dozens of victims, Catholic priests in the area were quietly raping local children one by one, without the benefit of magic rooms or clown costumes. Just two years after the Fells Acres prosecution concluded, one of the prosecutors, Laurence Hardoon, opted not to prosecute a priest, Rev. Paul Tivnan, who had molested a young boy for years. Hardoon later explained that it seemed appropriate to provide the priest with treatment, not jail time. In response to a second molestation allegation against Tivnan, church records indicated that Tivnan said he "didn't realize it was so harmful," according to the MetroWest Daily News, a local paper. The Amiraults, by contrast, were each sentenced to grinding prison terms, with Gerald getting the most—30 to 40 years. All three Amiraults adamantly insisted that the charges were baseless and refused to bargain with prosecutors; they paid for their defiance with longer sentences.

Full story is Here

The Real Questions

I don't think Americans are asking the right questions. It isn't whether Obama is tough enough. The real questions are:

Is Obama experienced enough?
Is Obama too beholden to corporate interests?
Is Obama too worried about how his presidency will be seen in history?
Is Obama relying on Rahm and Axelrod too much?
Does Obama understand economics?
Does Obama listen?
Does Obama care?

And, these questions should have been asked and answered before he was in office, not after. Hillary's 3:00AM campaign commercial keeps running through my head.

Photo lifted from Liberal Rapture, who found it on the internet. Kudos to the maker!

Pagan Republican Running for NYC Council

"It would have been impossible to find a Neopagan like Halloran running for political office twenty years ago, when most Neopagans kept their identities carefully guarded for fear of losing jobs or child custody battles. In neighborhoods all over the country, Neopagan communities have been treated suspiciously and outright persecuted by some Christian neighbors, law enforcement, and government agencies. Since for many Americans, the Republican Party is inseparable from conservative Christianity, Neopagans were surprised that the party stood by Halloran, and took it as a sign that not only is the makeup of the religious left and the religious right shifting, but that the country as a whole is becoming more receptive toward their religion."

Full article available Here

Remember

There was a time
when you were not a slave,
remember that you walked alone,
full of laughter,
you bathed bare-bellied.
You may have lost all recollection of it,
remember...

You say there are not words to describe it,
you say it does not exist.
but remember,
make an effort to remember,
or, failing that,
invent.
By Monique Wittig

Poem found at Hecate's blog
Bathing Goddesses found here

The Obamas Do Vegas

On the day after Obama won a Nobel Peace award that he did absolutely nothing to deserve, I have been given permission to cross-post a satirical piece written by Tamerlane, via John's blog, Liberal Rapture. Tamerlane's brilliant piece gets much closer to the true character of our Hope and Change president. Too bad the Nobel Committee didn't have the same discerning judgment.


Obama "Disappointed" by Results of Junket to Las Vegas
* Returns on wager of national treasury "less than anticipated" * First couple takes in the sites *24-hour trip costs US taxpayers $15 million * Michelle looks stunning

From our Washington correspondent, Tamerlane, aboard Air Force One:

President Barack Obama returned yesterday from a whirlwind junket to Las Vegas, where he placed a $7 billion wager- all that remained in the nation's depleted treasury reserve- on a hand of blackjack, which he lost. Following the bet, the First Family took in the sites of Las Vegas. Michelle and the girls then continued on for a weekend in Taos, while the exhausted President flew directly to Camp David to recuperate. On Air Force One, a clearly dejected Obama tried to put the lost wager in the best light. Speaking to reporters, Obama admitted that the "return on the bet was less than anticipated," but noted that, as the First Lady had found a great deal on a Louis Vuitton clutch she'd been eyeing for some time, the trip was not entirely fruitless.

Huge Crowd Hears President Express Optimism, Hope

The junket began with high hopes. Thursday morning, President Obama, arriving on Air Force 1a, Michelle, on Air Force 1b, and Malia and Sasha, on Air Force 1c, were greeting at the airport by jubilant Las Vegans. The cavalcade next proceeded to a rally in front of the gleaming edifice of the Luxor. Speaking before a huge crowd-reported by MSNBC at just over 4 million-Obama promised not to be deterred by criticism. "You know, they questioned the other pharaohs, too, their vision. They said, you know, 'He has a funny hieroglyph, he's nubian.' But if those pharaohs had let it get to them, they'd have never invented the pyramids, and we wouldn't be standing where we are today."

President Encounters Ugly Racism

Obama next experienced an unpleasant moment or two. Stopping by New York, New York to grab a bagel mit schmier, Obama was blocked by an angry crowd of racists, shouting and carrying signs in favor of single payer healthcare. The president had riot police disperse the racists with water cannon, only to discover they were out of lax.

Lightheartedness returned to the presidential entourage in the lobby of the Bellagio. Michelle let out a gleeful squeal as she realized that the fountain display had been rigged to go off whenever she walked by. As the First Lady, attired in a stunning sleeveless dress with an ochre & brindle floral pattern, and her trademark pearl necklace and ruby slippers, amused herself, the president proceeded to the main gaming hall. Surrounded by a horde of media, he sidled up to a blackjack table to implement his bold initiative to cut the federal deficit in half. Asked if he was nervous, Obama replied, "dude, it's not like it's my own money."

Wager Goes Awry

Obama placed the entire $7 billion (in the form of one large chip specially crafted for the occasion) on his first deal. The president received two queens, split, then busted. Leaving the table with a shrug, Obama bummed a cigarette off a TV cameraman and wandered off. The press corps soon tracked down Obama in the sports book, nursing a mai tai, where he admitted he had just lost five bucks from his own wallet on the Indiana Fever in the WNBA finals. The president was later overheard asking a teller how many chips she thought he could get for GM.

Obamas Paint the Town "Cool"

America's most beautiful couple enjoyed a relaxing rest of the day with a private performance by Cirque du Soleil followed by dinner at Ruth's Chris, before returning to their luxury suite to take advantage of its 40' jacuzzi, 24' round bed and ceiling mirror. Malia and Sasha reportedly declared as "totally awesome" their adjoining suite, which had been fitted with a water slide, a carousel, and a petting zoo. Bo, the First Family's purebred Portuguese Water Dog, who had been separately flown into Vegas on Air Force 1d at a cost of $370,000, spent the night on the concrete floor of the hotel basement.

The Obamas slept in late, missing their check-out time, which cost the US government an additional $2.7 million. When asked by a racist reporter whether she thought this was right, Michelle snapped, "some first ladies know how to keep their presidents from straying!"

Racists Question Wisdom of Junket

Indeed, the huge cost of the president's junket, estimated at over $15 million has come under fire. It seems the city of Las Vegas was hurt financially, too. A spokesperson for one of the city's crime syndicates notes that even the bet and the room service can't offset the $19.3 billion in tourism revenue lost from the closing of the airport alone.

Even before the junket, Obama endured heavy flak from his own party for his plan to reduce the federal deficit through casino gambling. Sen. Chuck Schumer brazenly called it "not my first choice for deficit reduction," while Rep. Dennis Kucinich went even further, labeling the bet "potentially risky."

Others have questioned the president's strategy of splitting on a 20 instead of standing. Sen. Orrin Hatch called the move "boneheaded." In his weekly syndicated column, Pat Buchanan described the split as "a coward's strategy." Buchanan opined that "real men, like Thatcher in the Falklands, Franco at Guernica, and the Great Elector at Fehrbellin, knew how to gamble aggressively and wisely. Can one honestly imagine a world safe for Democracy today had not Churchill 'doubled-down' in 1940?"

In response to these criticisms, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs stresses that "considerable deliberation preceeded the President's wager." Obama himself first favored placing the whole $7 billion on one roulette spin, figuring he could "scream like that flat-chested girl did in Bourne Identity" [Franka Potente in Run Lola Run] to guarantee success. Rahm Emmanuel suggested a more cautious approach: a succession of smaller wagers on Keno. The president nixed the Keno proposal, saying, "that would take, like, hours." A very animated and gesticulating Joe Biden reportedly urged the president to play russian roulette "same as the VC forced McCain to do in 'Nam." After craps and slots were ruled out, the consensus ultimately was that single deck blackjack offered the best odds.

President Reveals Vulnerable Side

Obama freely admits that the split- "something I saw Al Pacino do once"- was his own idea. Taking a long puff on his Camel, Obama spoke in a revealing sotto voce just audible over the whine of the engines as Air Force 1a made its final approach to Dulles. "It's hard being president, gambling day-in and day-out with the hopes and dreams of the American people." Asked whether he considered himself a "player," Obama chuckled. "I used to clean up at Liar's Dice in college," he mused, "but I guess I suck at blackjack. Oh well." He took another drag and stared out the window. Detectable in his eyes was no brooding, no second-guessing over his failure in Las Vegas. This reporter found Obama's blitheness and utter lack of angst pleasingly reminiscent of Reagan, another great president who refused to take the job seriously.

(c) 2009 by 'tamerlane.' All rights reserved.

Another What the F@%K Moment

I find it ironic that a president who used every trick in his bag to claw his way up the ladder, who threw anyone who got in his way under the bus and is responsible for me changing my political affiliation from Democrat to No Preference has been given the Nobel Peace prize.

According to the commentator on the BBC news this morning, it was his message of hope. You remember, hope and change you can believe in. It doesn't seem to have worked out so well on the side of the ocean.

I must be racist.

Helen Thomas' Spine

On Thursday afternoon, Thomas gave a clinic in fortitude to President Obama's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, during the briefing. "Has the president given up on the public option?" she inquired from her front-row-middle seat.

The press secretary laughed at this repetition of a common Thomas inquiry, but this questioner, who has covered every president since Kennedy, wasn't about to be silenced. "I ask it day after day because it has great meaning in this country, and you never answer it," she said.

"Well, I -- I -- I apparently don't answer it to your satisfaction," Gibbs stammered.

"That's right," Thomas snarled.

"I -- I'll -- I'll give you the same answer that I gave you unsatisfactorily for many of those other days," Gibbs offered. "It's what the president believes in --"

"Is he going to fight for it or not?" Thomas snapped.

"We're going to work to get choice and competition into health-care reform" was Gibbs's vague response.

Thomas took that as a no. "You're not going to get it," she advised.

"Then why do you keep asking me?" Gibbs inquired.

"Because I want your conscience to bother you," Thomas replied. The room erupted; Gibbs reddened.

Actually, conscience isn't the problem for Gibbs and his boss; it's spine.

Read the rest at FDL here

Racism

A borrowed post from John's blog, Liberal Rapture. It sums out exactly how I feel about our president and exactly how people perceive me if I dare to critique The One.

The Sedition Act has been revived for critics of Obama

by 'raindrop'

Barack Obama is president of the whole United States, not just president of The People Who Agree With Him.

So, how can it be that anyone who questions Obama or disagrees with Obama must be, by definition, a "racist"?

Were we "racists" when we vehemently disagreed with President George W. Bush (for doing the very same things we object to Obama's doing now)?

I spent eight years disagreeing with GWBush.

Did that make me a racist?

But when Obama DOES THE SAME THINGS we criticized Bush for doing, all of a sudden that criticism makes us "racists"?

When GWBush engaged in WARRANTLESS wiretapping, we objected.

When Obama voted in favor of extending WARRANTLESS wiretapping, we objected.

When GWBush incarcerated prisoners at Guantanamo where they rotted away for years with no possibility of knowing what crime they were charged with and no ability to have a fair hearing before an impartial judge, we objected.

When Barack Obama NOW incarcerates prisoners at Bagram prison in Afghanistan where they will rot for years with no possibility of knowing what crime they are charged with and no ability to have a fair hearing before an impartial judge, we object.

When GWBush refused to make public the names of the people who came to the White House to help him write legislation favorable to them, we objected.

When Barack Obama now refuses to make public the names of the people who come to the White House to help him write legislation favorable to them, we object.

When GWBush transferred wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy and favored the corporations over the people, we objected.

When Barack Obama transfers wealth from the middle class to the very wealthy and favors the corporations over the people, we object.

When GWBush gave tax dollars to religious groups but changed the law so those religious groups can now hire or DENY people employment based on their religion, we objected.

When Barack Obama gives tax dollars to religious groups but allows those religious groups to hire or DENY people employment based on their religion, we object.

However, in the minds of insane people such as Maureen Dowd. Keith Olbermann, Joan Walsh. Eugene Robinson. President Jimmy Carter. Randi Rhodes and a host of others, our current objections are "proof" we are "racists."

If Obama is president of the entire United States but NO ONE can criticize him without being labeled as a "racist" by the Obama gang, then ALL CRITICISM OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS BEEN OUTLAWED as surely as if we still had the infamous SEDITION Act of the early days of this country.

The Sedition Act has been revived for critics of Obama.

The new Sedition Act is enforced -- and will be enforced -- by labeling ANY criticism of Obama as RACISM

If I hear one more newscaster babbling about Roman Polanski or MacKenzie Phillips, my head is going to explode.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
                  -Joyce Kilmer

Mabon

Equal hours of light and darkness
we celebrate the balance of Mabon,
and ask the gods to bless us.
For all that is bad, there is good.
For that which is despair, there is hope.
For the moments of pain, there are moments of love.
For all that falls, there is the chance to rise again.
May we find balance in our lives
as we find it in our hearts.
Author unknown

Mabon Lore
Photo found here

Ponderings

The perfect way to start the day is to ground and center.

The death of a family member brings out the worst in some people.

If Hillary was vilified for having voted for the war, how can progressives allow Obama to ramp up a war in Afghanistan?

I've finally decided to get rid of MSM. I am putting up an antenna so that I can get local news, but MSNBC and CNN will never grace my TV screen again. Oh, and it helps that I have XM radio so that I can listen to the Yankee games.

Why are people so self-centered?

What Joseph at Cannonfire has posted.

Everyone should spend time in the woods, listening to nature.

The smell of Pine clears the head and stimulates the mind. So, why do campers start those stinky campfires?

If you mix a drop each of Cypress, Spruce and Geranium essential oils with some Sweet Almond oil, you will have a heavenly scent.

Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Level of Care

My Mama died on August 11, 2009 - one week to the day after she fell and broke her hip. She had been to the doctor several time as she was having trouble breathing and felt she needed oxygen. However, her "level" was not low enough for insurance to pay for it. Her primary MD wanted her to see a pulmonary specialist, but she was unable to get an appointment for two months. She died before that. She received little rehab for the hip - just what they could do in the hospital. She was finally sent to a center for serious rehabilitation, arriving at 3:00 PM on the day she died. She complained of a pain in her leg and, in hindsight, it was probably a blood clot that killed her.

My Dad has been losing weight for the past 2 years. His "primary" MD told him he needed to lose weight. After several office visits, he was finally given a cat scan and diagnosed with primary liver cancer in April of this year - too late to treat the cancer by conventional standards.

This morning, I watched a segment of C-Span on health care in America featuring one of the many idiots who know better than we what is good for us. He stated that the majority of people in America were very happy with their health insurance and didn't want a change.

It has been my experience throughout this year (from the many appointments and hospitalizations of my parents), that there is no health care as we once knew it. The days when MD's were independent practitioners are gone. Hospitals in my area have an MD on staff who treats hospitalized patients. A primary MD is often affiliated with the hospital, but never sees patients there. One is only allowed to spend a finite amount of time in the hospital, dictated by the insurance company. It doesn't matter if you haven't been cured of the illness that put you there. My mother was hospitalized with pneumonia 3 time in 3 months. Each time she was sent home with antibiotics that didn't quite cure her.

While we are having the conversation on health care for all in America, let us not forget the quality of care the average American is receiving. We rate 37th in the world - behind Costa Rica.

I don't know how we got here. I suspect it is insurance companies and their strict payment policies. I do know that we must do something to change it. With the present spotlight on health insurance, it seems a good time to start the conversation about the level of care that insurance will provide.

Walking to Oak-Head Pond

by Mary Oliver

What is so utterly invisible
as tomorrow?
Not love,
not the wind,

not the inside of stone.
Not anything.
And yet, how often I'm fooled-
I'm wading along

in the sunlight-
and I'm sure I can see the fields and the ponds shining
days ahead-
I can see the light spilling

like a shower of meteors
into next week's trees,
and I plan to be there soon-
and, so far, I am

just that lucky,
my legs splashing
over the edge of darkness,
my heart on fire.

I don't know where
such certainty comes from-
the brave flesh
or the theater of the mind-

but if I had to guess
I would say that only
what the soul is supposed to be
could send us forth

with such cheer
as even the leaf must wear
as it unfurls
its fragrant body, and shines

against the hard possibility of stoppage-
which, day after day,
before such brisk, corpuscular belief,
shudders, and gives way.

Gee, Officer Crowley

Another shameless parental promotion of the many talents of my daughter and son-in-law. They are having way too much fun...

Pearls of Wisdom

As things are not exactly going smoothly in my life, I find that reading some of my favorite blogs gives me the hope, inspiration and general good feeling that life goes on and it is truly a beautiful experience. It is with a never ending sense of wonder that I am able to find such wise, sassy, compassionate and sage women right when I need them, saying exactly what I need to hear.

From Goddess in a Teapot:

Lately I have also been thinking of the many people, places, times, and stories that have, like the tree, spoken to a deeper part of me. Every once in awhile I will hear music or see a performance, or read a lifestory, or encounter a country or a historical era that grabs my spirit and will not let go until I have come to know it as thoroughly as I can. I don’t just experience it, but it sets off ideas, insights, determinations, creative flurries, and changes in attitudes to myself and my world view, sometimes for years at a time.

Many, many people and places are inspiring because of the beauty or artistry of their work or the courage of their deeds, but these muses are different. The connection to them or their work goes beyond a recognition of achievements or a desire to be like them, but rather they are in some way a gateway to the symbolic, otherworldly aspect of my life. There is something about them that shows that a piece of art isn’t simply a creative work, but the entrance to a cave brimming with treasured insights; a lifestory isn’t only a biography, but an allegory about all our life journeys; a country isn’t just a geographical boundary, but sometimes an entirely new universe and way of looking at the world. For a long time I wondered why muses show up in dreams so much more often than people I love and talk to everyday, and then I realized that it is because something about them speaks the language of the inner world.

From Aquila ka Hecate:

In Other News, I have surprisingly only just discovered that Breath can treat physical ailments.
Yes, I know, I'm slow.
The phlegm travelling down the back of my throat into my windpipe was causing me to bark furiously last night, and wake up the rest of the household, to boot. Slow and deep application of Breath, carrying the life essence into every cell of the physical body put not only the cough to sleep, but myself as well.

And, finally from Song!

The ancient song sings again and again, body, heart and soul. And cup and cross where for all the giving, love in those hours made the future, worth the loss. For what lies behind you, is always within you, and before you, so say the sages and lovers for all times.

To believe for a moment that there are no tomorrows of love, is to say the heart has its limits, the sky is a tent, and the sea is a pond with ragged humid shores.

Not your heart. Not your sky. Not your sea. No matter what you believe.

I would live a thousand lifetimes to say to you again and again. ”Life, you are”

Blessed be.

The words of God do not justify cruelty to women by President Jimmy Carter

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status ..." (Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

I have been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when th e convention's leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be "subservient" to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service. This was in conflict with my belief - confirmed in the holy scriptures - that we are all equal in the eyes of God.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. It is widespread. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths.

Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries. The male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses.

Read the rest here