Orwell Was Here

I'm convinced that Al Qaeda's long term strategy is to simply keep the U.S. engaged in perpetual war. It doesn't matter where or with whom - Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran , Eurasia, Eastasia - all that matters is that our resources are wasted and our attention is diverted away from the issues we really need to address in order for our country and society to prosper and grow.

The strategy is proving incredibly successful. In constant fear, we continue to fund our perpetual wars with little debate, and then fight tooth and nail over the supposedly devastating costs of funding health care, education or infrastructure, the very things that will help us flourish.

Maybe we are just too easily distracted. Or perhaps we just let ourselves get distracted because we're unable or unwilling to face and develop solutions to the really hard challenges we face. I don't know the answer but I have a sneaking suspicion there are some folks holed up in the caves of Afghanistan snickering at how easily we are led astray.

Black Country Rock

I saw The Kids Are Alright over the weekend and was blown away as Bowie's Black Country Rock practically leaped off the soundtrack. It has to be 20 years since I heard it. How is it that I could let something so wonderful and loved slip out of site for so long? Logged onto iTunes and downloaded The Man Who Sold The World and have been basking in it since. Cmon and dig some Black Country Rock...

Wild Kingdom

On a recent walk I came across a disturbance in the pond. A snapping turtle had come up from below and latched onto a female mallard. Its jaws clamped on the Mallard's breast the turtle struggled to pull the bird under. As the turtle thrashed and pulled, the bird bounced up and down in the water like an angler's bobber. Craning its neck toward the sky and beating its wings, the bird willed itself to fly.

Some say animals are incapable of experiencing emotion, that people simply project their own emotions onto them. I'm not so sure about that.