Rayne Today

As so many have already pointed out, the march to war on Syria feels like deja vu, as if we are in the midst of a replay circa November 2002 when the drums began to beat, demanding war on Iraq. All we are missing is a passionate demand by a high-ranking White House or Pentagon official in front of the United Nations asking for international blessing to proceed. This is probably only days away from happening; I'll be Colin Powell can give us a solid estimate on exactly when this will happen, given his previous experience with pawning similar hyperbole on the UN in November 2002. The hypocritical nature of the demand for war cannot be ignored. We supported the Iraq regime under Saddam Hussein when he used chemical weapons. Decades later Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons is used as the justification for U.S. military intervention. There are deaths. We cannot deny this. The situation is tragic.  But we cannot justify our military intervention at this time. ...

Just moments from now, the House Armed Services Committee will begin a press conference to discuss proposed legislation addressing "America’s Terrorist Detention and Prosecution Policies." The announcement issued by the HASC's chair Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) says, The comprehensive legislation, among other things, would affirm the use of military force against al-Qaeda, the Taliban and affiliated terrorist networks; create certain restrictions which would make it tougher for detainees to return to the battlefield or share information with other terrorists or malign actors; and would permanently block funding for the creation or renovation of any facility in the continental United States to house detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay. That's three rather ugly things all bundled into one piece of legislation -- nasty little rabbits all stuffed together in a magician's hat. With a wave of his wand and a tap on the brim, Rep. McKeon will call them something else...

One of my circle of acquaintances in the blogging world has been wrestling with the issue of age and ageism. Jon Lebkowsky said in an email to others, "I've learned that over 60 in the U.S., you're pretty much out to pasture. And the pasture is bare, up to you to turn the soil and plant the seeds." While I find myself agreeing with Jon, I do so with reservations. The age thing is based in cultural stickiness. Decade after decade of improvements to our health and safety, we are still basing our measurements of human productivity on the mortality of our antecedents. Women frequently died in childbirth, men died more frequently of heart disease and fatal work injuries acquired from physically demanding labor, yet these have now become much more infrequent factors and our life spans are increasing rapidly. But our cultural notions of age and productivity are still stuck in the past and haven't kept up with us. (One example: how many employers still have concerns about...

As I came down the stairs I heard somebody moaning in the general vicinity of the kitchen. Unnhh. Mmmfff. Unh-huh. Mmm-mmm-mmm-unh. What the hell is going on, I wondered? Standing over the kitchen island, eyes closed, murmuring to himself is my spouse. With a half-eaten jar of pickles in his hand. "Oh my God, these are so good." "Good," he said, as if I didn't hear him the first time through the mouthful of pickles. "My mom would have loved these, these are soooo good. What are they?" Just bread and butter pickles. Pickles and peppers from our garden, and some big sweet onions from the farmers' market, with some extra garlic. That was a week ago. He's eaten another jar since then. I don't think I've made enough to make it through the winter, at this rate of consumption. Try them yourself, they're easy to make. But you'd better do it soon if you live in northern climes as hard frosts will take out the rest of the pickle crop over...

After a rather aggravating discussion this past week with rank-and-file members of the local Democratic Party as well as representatives for elected officials, it became clear that hold-outs in Congress who refuse to commit that they will do everything possible to obtain the public option are not on the same page as us. They believe they need to make no commitments to anyone, including constituents, in order to have maximum negotiating power when bargaining with the health care industry. We, on the other hand, believe they simply need to do their utmost to get the public option, which is not the same as bargaining away and settling for less. I was pretty steamed about this situation. Perhaps if I knew less about the health care industry's performance over the last couple of decades I might be more amenable and understanding. But I do know about these choice examples -– and they are only a very small number, a smattering of cases presented here in no particular order which exemplify...