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February 23, 2003 - Sunday She danced
 It was June, maybe July, 1999, at the Lama Foundation in northern New Mexico, near Taos. Late at night in the big dome, barely lit. Most people were asleep in tents in the woods. She danced slowly, Tai Chi, in big, quiet circles. I don't remember her name. [ a ] February 21, 2003 - Friday February 18, 2003 - Tuesday February 13, 2003 - Thursday Little fat kid, armed
"In Roman mythology Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess of beauty. Venus had become jealous of Psyche, the mortal daughter of a king, whose beauty was all anyone would talk about. So, she arranged for Psyche to be sacrificed to a dragon. She then sent Cupid to shoot her with his love-arrow so that Psyche would fall in love with the dragon, making a fool of her by having her welcome her death." —Valentines Day: How this all got started... Cupid's Dagger:
 [ a ] February 12, 2003 - Wednesday February 11, 2003 - Tuesday February 8, 2003 - Saturday A mercifully brief incomplete rumination on our collective role as the writers of the future
A couple weeks ago I saw a book at the Salvation Army for a quarter called Living With Energy (by Ronald Alves, photos by Charles Milligan, preface by Ralph Nader), published in 1978. I can't not pick this stuff up when I come across it; these mid- and late-70s eco-pop books can be a lot of fun. Sure, there's almost always some degree of timeless wisdom in 'em mixed up with the naivete and misapplied theory and red herrings and tip-of-the-iceberg breakthrough ideas at work in that era's ecological efforts... and sure, the inspiration for a more sensitive and conserving lifestyle doesn't have to be perfection itself. (Heck, if it was perfection itself, it probably wouldn't be inspiring.) The book says, at one point, "One HUD study admits that 40 percent of all housing in the United States will be solar-powered by 1990." I read that to the Dearest One, and she replied, "It's probably true—we just don't drive around enough in our hover-car to notice them." In 25 years, there are going to be people like me and you laughing at some of the things people like me and you are thinking and doing now: the naivete and misapplied theory and red herrings. At the same time, some of the things we're thinking and doing now are those tip-of-the-iceberg breakthrough ideas that are going to be accepted parts of the wisdom that they'll take for granted. We're laying the groundwork for changes that we can't foresee or imagine. [ a ] February 7, 2003 - Friday February 6, 2003 - Thursday U.S. Economy in Worst Hiring Slump in 20 Years, it says
As seen in the New York Times: "One of our biggest challenges was getting people," said James W. Keyes, 7-Eleven's chief executive. Now, he said, "it's much, much easier to both recruit and retain employees." "In December, the number of help-wanted advertisements in newspapers across the country fell to the lowest level in almost 40 years." [ a ] February 5, 2003 - Wednesday Do you know enough to justify going to war with Iraq?
From the San Jose Peace Center's website. We are currently researching some of the answers to the Iraq IQ Test questions to verify their accuracy. Although most of the answers have been verified, we're not at 100% yet. Until this effort is complete, consider this test as an invitation to you to do your own investigations and consider the implications of these questions and their answers.
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General during the Johnson Administration, has drafted articles of impeachment setting forth high crimes and misdemeanors by President Bush and other civil officers of his administration. Click here to read the Articles of Impeachment at votetoimpeach.orgThese questions were forwarded to us in an email, with no author to thank! Q: What percentage of the world's population does the U.S. have? A: 6% Q: What percentage of the world's wealth does the U.S. have? A: 50% Q: Which country has the largest oil reserves? A: Saudi Arabia Q: Which country has the second largest oil reserves? A: Iraq Q: How much is spent on military budgets per year worldwide? A: Over $900 billion Q: How much of this is spent by the U.S.? A: 50% Q: What percent of U.S. military spending would ensure the essentials of life to everyone in the world, according the the UN? A: 10% (that's about $40 billion, the amount initially requested to fund our retaliatory attack on Afghanistan) Q: How many people have died in wars since World War II? A: 86 million Q: How long has Iraq had chemical and biological weapons? A: Since the early 1980s Q: Did Iraq develop these chemical & biological weapons on their own? A: No, the materials and technology were supplied by the U.S. government, along with Britain and private corporations Q: Did the U.S. government condemn the Iraqi use of gas warfare against Iran? A: No Q: How many people did Saddam Hussein kill using gas in the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988? A: 5,000 Q: How many western countries condemned this action at the time? A: 0 Q: How many gallons of Agent Orange did America use in Vietnam? A: 17 million Q: Are there any proven links between Iraq and the September 11th terrorist attacks? A: No Q: What is the estimated number of civilian casualties in the Gulf War? A: 35,000 Q: How many casualties did the Iraqi military inflict on the western forces during the Gulf War? A: 0 Q: How many retreating Iraqi soldiers were buried alive by U.S. tanks with plows mounted on the front? A: 6,000 Q: How many tons of depleted uranium were left in Iraq and Kuwait after the Gulf War? A: 40 tons Q: What, according to the UN, was the increase in cancer rates in Iraq between 1991 and 1994? A: 700% Q: How much of Iraq's military capacity did America claim it had destroyed in 1991? A: 80% Q: Is there any proof that Iraq plans to use its weapons for anything other than deterrence and self defense? A: No Q: Does Iraq present more of a threat to world peace now than 10 years ago? A: No Q: How many civilian deaths has the Pentagon predicted in the event of an attack on Iraq in 2002/3? A: 10,000 Q: What percentage of these will be children? A: Over 50% Q: How many years has the U.S. engaged in air strikes on Iraq? A: 11 years Q: Were the U.S and the UK at war with Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999? A: No Q: How many pounds of explosives were dropped on Iraq between December 1998 and September 1999? A: 20 million Q: How many years ago was UN Resolution 661 introduced, imposing strict sanctions on Iraq's imports and exports? A: 12 years Q: What was the child death rate in Iraq in 1989 (per 1,000 births)? A: 38 Q: What was the estimated child death rate in Iraq in 1999 (per 1,000 births)? A: 131 (that's an increase of 345%) Q: How many Iraqis are estimated to have died by October 1999 as a result of UN sanctions? A: 1.5 million Q: How many Iraqi children are estimated to have died due to sanctions since 1997? A: 750,000 Q: Did Saddam order the inspectors out of Iraq? A: No Q: How many inspections were there in November and December 1998? A: 300 Q: How many of these inspections had problems? A: 5 Q: Were the weapons inspectors allowed entry to the Ba'ath Party HQ? A: Yes Q: Who said that by December 1998, "Iraq had, in fact, been disarmed to a level unprecedented in modern history"? A: Scott Ritter, UNSCOM chief Q: In 1998, how much of Iraq's post-1991 capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction did the UN weapons inspectors claim to have discovered and dismantled? A: 90% Q: Is Iraq willing to allow the weapons inspectors back in? A: Yes Q: How many UN resolutions did Israel violate by 1992? A: Over 65 Q: How many UN resolutions on Israel did America veto between 1972 and 1990? A: 30+ Q: How much does the U.S. fund Israel a year? A: $5 billion Q: How many countries are known to have nuclear weapons? A: 8 Q:How many nuclear warheads does Iraq have? A: 0 Q: How many nuclear warheads does the U.S. have? A: Over 10,000 Q: Which is the only country to use nuclear weapons? A: The U.S. Q: How many nuclear warheads does Israel have? A: Over 400 Q: Has Israel ever allowed UN weapons inspections? A: No Q: What percentage of the Palestinian territories are controlled by Israeli settlements? A: 42% Q: Is Israel illegally occupying Palestinian land? A: Yes Q: Which country do you think poses the greatest threat to global peace: Iraq or the U.S.? A: Q: Who said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"? A: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr [ a ] February 2, 2003 - Sunday Above freezing for the second day in a row
A quick look back over our shoulders (as we hasten away without nostalgia) at the winter wonderland that kept us frozen solid for the last month, which first announced itself as an ice storm that knocked out the power for three days.  Click to pop: 
 
 
 
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