Things to Make You Mad, If You're Not Already

I can't help but keep getting on here to gripe. And it seems to be, inevitably, about people's greed, myopia and self-centeredness.

A few weeks ago Queen Jan and I watched "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," a fine historical film about Ireland's War for Independence from Britain and subsequent Civil War in the early 20th century. Afterward, I wondered what would cause me to pick up a gun and shoot someone else.

Yesterday I finally found a reason to pick up a gun and at least wave it threateningly: the Burmese junta. Make no mistake; these people are greedy, not clueless, and keeping aid from their countrypeople in time of need is an act of genocide, in my book. Future cabinet member Adam seems a little more trigger-happy, saying, "The Burmese junta needs to be nuked and buried under 100 feet of concrete." (Don't let this scare you from voting for me. It simply means you can be assured of having a President in office who is passionate about the people and who is surrounded by others who are... compassionate?)

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23695383-5013871,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7398623.stm

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/finally-us-aid-touches-down-in-burma/2008/05/12/1210444335495.html

Here are some other reasons to get mad, if not to want to wield a gun, exactly:

--- People not paying attention when they are walking along the sidewalk and choose to walk 18 abreast, regardless of oncoming foot and bicycle traffic. What happened to sticking to the right and allowing others access, too? I will tell you what happened to that concept: People now grow up attached to computers and i-pods and live in virtual worlds and don't know how - or care- to pay attention to the immediate surrounding environment. (That's my theory.)

--- Chinese spammers (or any other spammers and hackers) who hack into e-mail accounts to try to get your money and your personal information and whatever else they can acquire in their greed. I am picking on Chinese spammers today because it appears that I (and all the people in my address book who got a poorly worded message from "me") was victimized by someone from China or who speaks Chinese in the wee hours of the morning while I was trying to sleep. On my old Yahoo account, which I kept for the purposes of accessing the local Freecycle group, and for no other reason. So, now I have deleted that account and have lost that access and will have to be very aware of all correspondence regarding my life, for who knows how long because thievery abounds in the world. And there is a limit to karma. I think I paid my dues a long time ago when I let someone get away with my first mountain bike and my first snowboard. I am ready to take up arms. (And if people are going to be so rude, they could at least take the time to use proper English grammar and spelling in their insults.)

That's enough, I suspect, at least for now.

"If Everybody in the World Sent a E-Mail, the Internet Would Probably Break"

In between wondering how you've managed to survive and how those poor other fools haven't, through the obviously biblically-promised apocalyptic events taking place in the world right now (cyclones and earthquakes in Asia, tornadoes and volcanoes in the Americas, war in the Middle East, college educations that weren't what they were sold to be...) have a laugh on Strong Bad:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail194.html

When you eat your cerial in the morning, or tomorrow for dinner, leave the chain saw car at the bottom of the box for me, please.

Burma Cyclone

The following is from a thread posted on Facebook by my dear friend Nickie of the US Campaign for Burma, who is losing sleep and working pay volunteering for a cause close to her heart:

"We are taking in donations to purchase water purification tablets. For all of you that know Curt and Cathy this is their program and they are headed back asap. Thirst Aid staff have multiple entry visas to get back into Burma whereas this is a hold up for alot of the aid distribution. This is their website and they will be back in by the weekend. http://www.thirst-aid.org/Tax deductible donations can be made to World Aid. Please write checks with "cyclonerelief" at the bottom and send to 2422 S. Ferdinand Street, Seattle, WA98108. You can email local Burmese activist, Pwint Htun at pwint.htun@gmail.com and let her know how much you sent for sake of time. There is no overhead (ie ALL of your money will be used for water purification). Currently we are organizing to have people be able to donate online through US Campaign for Burma website too (earmark your donation for First Aid). Clean water is essential fast. It is reported that a bottle of water is 1 1/2 days normal salary. In solidarity, Amy, Seattle Burma Action Group"

If you want to do something to help the people who have been affected by the cyclone recently, you can donate to thirst-aid, or, as Nickie suggests, "You can write your congress folk in Wyoming (or wherever you live) asking to be generous with aid effort, and to support organizations that do not channel funds through the Burmese military government."

That's all for tonight. Still trying to catch up. (Bizzy baksun)

Dirty World

Finally sitting at the breakfast nook in my minute kitchen enjoying a Red Truck IPA from Palisade (CO) Brewery, thanks to Boss T's tip, and some sweet chocolates from The Chocolate Cellar, thanks to the staff at ELS Laramie who said good-bye in style, I don't have a lot to say yet about the trip, except that it did not cure my penchant for run-on sentence construction.

OK, despite my enthrallment with drill rigs, cranes and other Amazing Machines, I don't like the way we are destroying this planet, our home. I don't mean to sound like some hippie-dippie (or as my ex-sister-in-law so appropriately termed the like, Plastic Baby Deadheads) tree hugging Julia Butterfly (sorry, hermano, but I really just never could get into her and her shtick) or whatever else is inspired in the mind of the reader of those words, but I have always felt a reverance for That Which Is Not Concrete, even though my second Matchbox car as a kid was a cement truck.

In Joshua Tree, we were treated to a blossoming desert, with more different kinds of flowers than I can count, including on the Joshua trees themselves. And then the first night we were there, the Future First Man (It's a good thing there is a car on Aubergine House lawn because we may need to use it, but that story comes later), went out to make pictures and came back with a little slideshow he could play in the tent, which was a first for me, and frowned about the green- looked yellow or brown to me, but I think we can shoot right over this frequently occurring hurdle of color disagreement with little effort- light that showed on the horizon. That was pollution, smog from LA and surrounding area flowing through the San Bernadino pass, and creating havoc with the photo- and with the lives of living creatures, including ourselves. I hope the FFM will share a photo with me so I can post it. I figure the photos can serve a purpose, even if he doesn't like them.

Anyway, that's my first thought about the trip: pollution. The sky was hazy in many places we went, but last Monday evening as we made our way to Page, AZ, by Lake Powell, there was an easily observable belt of blackish brown air suspended in with the rest, in an arc around the entire area, likely, I would figure, from the power plant right there.

Other thoughts are coming on, now, as the bottle empties, but it's after midnight and I think I may finally be able to get to sleep. Preface: A lot happened in the world while we were on the road, not the least of which was a storm surge related to a cyclone that has resulted in, thus far, 15,000 dead and twice as many missing in Myanmar- as if the people there haven't had enough challenge as it has been.