This morning we went out to Keystone State Park to look over the walking trail and make updates to the instructions. Keystone is one of seven year-round events (YREs) that the Tulsa Walking Club operates. The other YREs are located in Bartlesville, Galena, KS, Jenks, plus three in Tulsa (LaFortune Park, Promenade Mall, and Utica Square). The next scheduled walk will be the Mohawk Park walk in August. Year-round walks can be walked twice a year for credit: once in the first half and once in the second half of the year.
This evening I went to Joe Price’s home for drumming. We each play a doumbek – a short hand drum with a drumhead about 10 inches in diameter. The drum stands about 16 to 18 inches high. There were four of us present: Joe, his wife Lou, Eric, and myself. We have another member, Marva, who could not attend due to having a headache. We often talk more than we play the drum. Someone, usually Marva, has funny stories to tell. In recent weeks we have heard about Marva’s troubles with roofers.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Springfield trip
We took a trip to Springfield last week. We left Sand Springs Wednesday morning and spent the night in The Arbor (motel), which is located just one block from my parents’ apartment. While in Springfield we did one volkswalk and found one geocache. The walk started at Sequiota Park and followed a paved walking trail south to the Springfield Nature Center. At the entrance to the nature center the walk reverses and you go back to the start point.
While in Springfield we ate at the Golden Corral twice, and had breakfast at Shoney’s twice. We went to Springfield Music and looked at duet sheet music. I bought about $20 of sheet music. We left Springfield Saturday morning and drove to Carthage (about 20 miles east of Joplin). We were going to do a 5K walk there but noticed that both walks were 10K. So we chose one of the 10K walks and did it. We spent the night at the Super 8 motel.
The next morning we drove to Broken Arrow and did the 5K walk on the campus of Northeastern State University. This was a scheduled walk -- not a year-round event. After the Broken Arrow walk, we returned home. In three days we managed to get in three volkswalks.
While in Springfield we ate at the Golden Corral twice, and had breakfast at Shoney’s twice. We went to Springfield Music and looked at duet sheet music. I bought about $20 of sheet music. We left Springfield Saturday morning and drove to Carthage (about 20 miles east of Joplin). We were going to do a 5K walk there but noticed that both walks were 10K. So we chose one of the 10K walks and did it. We spent the night at the Super 8 motel.
The next morning we drove to Broken Arrow and did the 5K walk on the campus of Northeastern State University. This was a scheduled walk -- not a year-round event. After the Broken Arrow walk, we returned home. In three days we managed to get in three volkswalks.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Busy day
Today was a busy day for me. It began with a gathering of the Music Care-ring at Church of the Restoration. There are four of us in this Care-ring: Ken Ackley, Gwen Ransom, Mary Rounds, and myself. I play the piano, Ken plays the guitar and sings, Gwen and Mary sing. We start making music at 9:30am and continue until the service starts at 11:00am. During this time we work up one or two songs to perform during the service. Today we did "Pennies from Heaven" during the offering. Our "special music" was "The Best is Yet to Come." The message today was "The Difference Between Religion and Spirituality." It was delivered byDeborah Hunter.
Barbara Frey called me at the church to see if I could give her a ride to the humanist meeting. After church I went by her apartment and gave her a ride to the humanist meeting at Hardesty Library. You can read about that meeting at the HAT blog found at www.tulsaha.blogspot.com.
Barbara Frey called me at the church to see if I could give her a ride to the humanist meeting. After church I went by her apartment and gave her a ride to the humanist meeting at Hardesty Library. You can read about that meeting at the HAT blog found at www.tulsaha.blogspot.com.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Where have I been?
It is has been a few months since I have posted something new to my own blog. I have made a few posts to the HAT and TAR blogs.
I had a back problem, specifically, a herniated disk in my lumbar. I say "had," hoping the problem is now gone. The disk was pushing against nerves in my spinal column, which gave me the sensation of pain in my left leg and left foot. At times it felt as though someone were standing on my left foot. I have had two epidural steroid injections in my back which relieved ninety percent or more of the pain. During this period I had to curtail many of my regular activities.
Also, beginning in July, we have had our two grandchildren staying with us much of the time. Their mother had brain surgery in July and is still recovering from that.
Give me another month and my life might be back to normal. You never know.
I had a back problem, specifically, a herniated disk in my lumbar. I say "had," hoping the problem is now gone. The disk was pushing against nerves in my spinal column, which gave me the sensation of pain in my left leg and left foot. At times it felt as though someone were standing on my left foot. I have had two epidural steroid injections in my back which relieved ninety percent or more of the pain. During this period I had to curtail many of my regular activities.
Also, beginning in July, we have had our two grandchildren staying with us much of the time. Their mother had brain surgery in July and is still recovering from that.
Give me another month and my life might be back to normal. You never know.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Not Ready to Make Nice
The Dixie Chicks have a new album. The title song is "Not Ready to Make Nice." You may recall that the group took a lot of flak for their criticism of George Bush. The group seems to be standing their ground, if the title of their new album is any indication. You can listen to the song at http://www.dixiechicks.com/.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Comment found while surfing
Comment I found while surfing the blogs.
Watch and wait… China is playing us like a fiddle. They are not the worlds oldest civilization for nothing. In the game of chess, patience, forethought and cunning is everything… Only a few more moves until the US is in check (seen this coming for about 10 years
Watch and wait… China is playing us like a fiddle. They are not the worlds oldest civilization for nothing. In the game of chess, patience, forethought and cunning is everything… Only a few more moves until the US is in check (seen this coming for about 10 years
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Charles Templeton
Charles Templeton was at one time the Billy Graham of Canada. In fact, he was and still is a friend of Graham's. But the evangelist Templeton began to question some of the essential teachings of Christianity. He undertook a critical study of his faith, and discovered "I could stay in the ministry and live a lie or I could make the break." Templeton made the break. In the 45 chapters of Farewell to God, Templeton catalogues numerous problems with the Christian story that brought about his break with Christianity. The following is one chapter from the book.
The Prayer in Gethsemane
(A chapter from Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith by Charles Templeton)
As his final hour approached and the forces opposed to Jesus moved to silence him, it is reported that he gathered the disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem and, after what has been called the Last Supper, spoke to them at length about what lay in store for them and for himself. It is a deeply moving scene and leaves little doubt in the reader’s mind that this, in its essence, is an accurate reflection of the authentic Jesus – compassionate, wise, dedicated, and profoundly troubled as he realizes that the end is near. He was, remember, a young man in his thirties.
It is a painful read – especially the prayer in the seventeenth chapter of John’s Gospel – because Jesus seems to be aware that, within hours, he will be dead and his followers scattered and persecuted, even driven, as Peter and Judas were, to betray him.
It is evident, however, that Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is an imagined reconstruction of the event by the authors. Although the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke present what purport to be eyewitness accounts of what Jesus said and did in the garden, the text makes it obvious that their accounts differ and cannot be factual.
All three state that, having gone with the disciples to the garden, Jesus went off by himself. “sit here,” he told them, “while I go and pray yonder.” He then “parted from them a stone’s throw,” and, therefore, beyond earshot. Yet, despite the apparent impossibility of his having been overheard – much less his words inscribed – Matthew’s Gospel quotes verbatim the words of his prayer: “My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. . . . Nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wilt.”
Moreover, although it was dark and they were in a treed area and Jesus was a stone’s throw distance away, the apostles report seeing “his sweat, like great drops of blood, falling on the ground.”
That they could not have overheard his prayer is made further evident by the statement that “when [Jesus] rose up from his prayer, he came unto the disciples and found them asleep.” Three times, the records state, he withdrew to pray, and three times he returned to find the disciples asleep. The third time he said to them, “Sleep on. Take your rest.”
It would seem that Jesus did not want his prayer overheard. If he had, would he have distanced himself from the apostles after specifically instructing them to stand watch where they were?
There are further problems with this story. Christian teaching asserts that Jesus is the Son of god, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Very God of Very God, and that the reason for his coming to the world was to purchase the redemption if humankind by the sacrifice of his life.
But the reported prayer in Gethsemane is at odds with this.
In his prayer Jesus pleads with the Father to abort the divine plan, saying again and again, “If it be possible, remove this cup from me.” This would be a reasonable reaction in a human being, but Jesus is presented as much more than that.; he is the manifestation in human flesh of the Godhead. Moreover, the stated reason for his coming earth as a human being was that he might die for the sins of humankind. Why then would he now want to abandon his reason for being?
But there is a larger, theological reason for questioning the story. Why would an all-wise, loving, and compassionate Father require the agonizing death of his Son as the means to achieve the forgiveness of the sins of mortal men? It was done, theologicans tell us, to satisty divine law. But is not God the Father the originator of the law? The concept reduces Jesus’ death to no more than the extension of the primitive “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life” principle. In early history justice was seen to be done only if a penalty equal to the infraction was wxacted. Having murdered, the murderer is himself slain.
A life for a life, a death for a death. Scales balanced.
The Christian plan of salvation is predicated on this primitive notion of justice. “The wages of sin is death,” says the apostle Paul, therefore the sinner must die. But, the argument goes, Jesus the man – who was himself without sin – died in our stead, and if we “accept him as Savior and Lord” we pass from condemnation to eternal life for he has paid our debt.
A life for a life, a death for a death. Scales balanced.
But the equation won’t bear examination. If Jesus was truly a man (and the incarnation was no more than a charade if he wasn’t) then his substitutionary sacrifice, his individual death, would be efficacious for only one individual – certainly not for all humankind!
Moreover, if one accepts the fact that Jesus actually did take to himself our sins, he died a sinner and would, as a consequent, himself be damned: “The wages of sin is death.”
But the intrinsic problems in the story go beyond this: If “the wages of sin is death,” and if “there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved,” then the preponderance of the men and women who have lived and died since the dawn of time are in hell. Throughout history only a small portion of the world’s population has been Christian or has so much as heard the Christian message. Of the approximately 5.6 billion people now alive only a small portion call themselves Christian, which means that billions now living are on their way to hell – not to mention the billions throughout history who have lived and died without having so much as heard of Jesus!
The Christian concept of the universal need for divine forgiveness (and, failing that, the eternal punishment of the sinner) is not only illogical, it is nonsensical. And if Jesus’ mission on earth was to reconcile humankind to God, any objective judgement would have to conclude that is was a failure.
Indeed, God’s plan of salvation, as it is called, has been a series of disasters from Day One. In the beginning the deity entrusted his truth solely to a small Middle Eastern nomadic people, the Jews. But, instead of sharing the words of life, they jealously husbanded them. It was only after the passage of thousands of years that gentiles began to be accepted. Under the New Testament part of the plan, Jesus commanded his followers to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” but centuries passed before the influence of Christianity on the world was at all significant. Even today, Christianity is only one of the major religions of the world.
The Prayer in Gethsemane
(A chapter from Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith by Charles Templeton)
As his final hour approached and the forces opposed to Jesus moved to silence him, it is reported that he gathered the disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem and, after what has been called the Last Supper, spoke to them at length about what lay in store for them and for himself. It is a deeply moving scene and leaves little doubt in the reader’s mind that this, in its essence, is an accurate reflection of the authentic Jesus – compassionate, wise, dedicated, and profoundly troubled as he realizes that the end is near. He was, remember, a young man in his thirties.
It is a painful read – especially the prayer in the seventeenth chapter of John’s Gospel – because Jesus seems to be aware that, within hours, he will be dead and his followers scattered and persecuted, even driven, as Peter and Judas were, to betray him.
It is evident, however, that Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is an imagined reconstruction of the event by the authors. Although the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke present what purport to be eyewitness accounts of what Jesus said and did in the garden, the text makes it obvious that their accounts differ and cannot be factual.
All three state that, having gone with the disciples to the garden, Jesus went off by himself. “sit here,” he told them, “while I go and pray yonder.” He then “parted from them a stone’s throw,” and, therefore, beyond earshot. Yet, despite the apparent impossibility of his having been overheard – much less his words inscribed – Matthew’s Gospel quotes verbatim the words of his prayer: “My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. . . . Nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wilt.”
Moreover, although it was dark and they were in a treed area and Jesus was a stone’s throw distance away, the apostles report seeing “his sweat, like great drops of blood, falling on the ground.”
That they could not have overheard his prayer is made further evident by the statement that “when [Jesus] rose up from his prayer, he came unto the disciples and found them asleep.” Three times, the records state, he withdrew to pray, and three times he returned to find the disciples asleep. The third time he said to them, “Sleep on. Take your rest.”
It would seem that Jesus did not want his prayer overheard. If he had, would he have distanced himself from the apostles after specifically instructing them to stand watch where they were?
There are further problems with this story. Christian teaching asserts that Jesus is the Son of god, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Very God of Very God, and that the reason for his coming to the world was to purchase the redemption if humankind by the sacrifice of his life.
But the reported prayer in Gethsemane is at odds with this.
In his prayer Jesus pleads with the Father to abort the divine plan, saying again and again, “If it be possible, remove this cup from me.” This would be a reasonable reaction in a human being, but Jesus is presented as much more than that.; he is the manifestation in human flesh of the Godhead. Moreover, the stated reason for his coming earth as a human being was that he might die for the sins of humankind. Why then would he now want to abandon his reason for being?
But there is a larger, theological reason for questioning the story. Why would an all-wise, loving, and compassionate Father require the agonizing death of his Son as the means to achieve the forgiveness of the sins of mortal men? It was done, theologicans tell us, to satisty divine law. But is not God the Father the originator of the law? The concept reduces Jesus’ death to no more than the extension of the primitive “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life” principle. In early history justice was seen to be done only if a penalty equal to the infraction was wxacted. Having murdered, the murderer is himself slain.
A life for a life, a death for a death. Scales balanced.
The Christian plan of salvation is predicated on this primitive notion of justice. “The wages of sin is death,” says the apostle Paul, therefore the sinner must die. But, the argument goes, Jesus the man – who was himself without sin – died in our stead, and if we “accept him as Savior and Lord” we pass from condemnation to eternal life for he has paid our debt.
A life for a life, a death for a death. Scales balanced.
But the equation won’t bear examination. If Jesus was truly a man (and the incarnation was no more than a charade if he wasn’t) then his substitutionary sacrifice, his individual death, would be efficacious for only one individual – certainly not for all humankind!
Moreover, if one accepts the fact that Jesus actually did take to himself our sins, he died a sinner and would, as a consequent, himself be damned: “The wages of sin is death.”
But the intrinsic problems in the story go beyond this: If “the wages of sin is death,” and if “there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved,” then the preponderance of the men and women who have lived and died since the dawn of time are in hell. Throughout history only a small portion of the world’s population has been Christian or has so much as heard the Christian message. Of the approximately 5.6 billion people now alive only a small portion call themselves Christian, which means that billions now living are on their way to hell – not to mention the billions throughout history who have lived and died without having so much as heard of Jesus!
The Christian concept of the universal need for divine forgiveness (and, failing that, the eternal punishment of the sinner) is not only illogical, it is nonsensical. And if Jesus’ mission on earth was to reconcile humankind to God, any objective judgement would have to conclude that is was a failure.
Indeed, God’s plan of salvation, as it is called, has been a series of disasters from Day One. In the beginning the deity entrusted his truth solely to a small Middle Eastern nomadic people, the Jews. But, instead of sharing the words of life, they jealously husbanded them. It was only after the passage of thousands of years that gentiles began to be accepted. Under the New Testament part of the plan, Jesus commanded his followers to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” but centuries passed before the influence of Christianity on the world was at all significant. Even today, Christianity is only one of the major religions of the world.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
The first of seven activities for freethinkers this month happens this Sunday starting around 1pm. We will gather at Randy’s house, 6705 E. 54 St. and talk about geocaching and what we are about to do. Then we will see if we can find six caches hidden within a two-mile radius of Randy’s house.
I will have a sheet on each hidden cache, but if you would like to have an advance look at what we will be searching for, go to www.geocaching.com. In the box for the ZIP code type in Randy’s ZIP code of 74145. There are 54 caches within a three-mile radius of the 74145 post office. (There are now hundreds of caches in the Tulsa area, with new caches being placed each week.) By clicking on any of the listed caches, the page for that cache is displayed. (If you have an account with geocaching.com (it’s free) then a small map pinpointing to location of the cache is displayed on the cache page.)
The six caches I have selected for us to find are:
Lunchtime Cache #8
Micro Mania #9
Hidden Park
Twisted Sisters
Asphalt Jungle – SP4
Nest Egg
You will notice that the terrain difficulty for all these is low. We should be able to walk right up to them. Finding them is another matter. Some caches are very cleverly hidden. Once I was caching with Dan Cagle in Norman, and we searched for twenty minutes (at least), and then Dan spotted the cache. We were within 20 feet of it all the time we were searching. With a group of us searching, we should be able to locate each cache within 10 minutes. (I hope.)
I have a travel bug I need to drop off in one of the caches, but I won’t go into that now.
Two caches we will be looking for are at LaFortune Park, and another one or two are in parks, also. If you see a cache on the geocaching web site that interests you, print the cache sheet and bring it with you.
Perhaps we could go to the Mazzio’s near Randy’s afterwards for some pizza?
I will have a sheet on each hidden cache, but if you would like to have an advance look at what we will be searching for, go to www.geocaching.com. In the box for the ZIP code type in Randy’s ZIP code of 74145. There are 54 caches within a three-mile radius of the 74145 post office. (There are now hundreds of caches in the Tulsa area, with new caches being placed each week.) By clicking on any of the listed caches, the page for that cache is displayed. (If you have an account with geocaching.com (it’s free) then a small map pinpointing to location of the cache is displayed on the cache page.)
The six caches I have selected for us to find are:
Lunchtime Cache #8
Micro Mania #9
Hidden Park
Twisted Sisters
Asphalt Jungle – SP4
Nest Egg
You will notice that the terrain difficulty for all these is low. We should be able to walk right up to them. Finding them is another matter. Some caches are very cleverly hidden. Once I was caching with Dan Cagle in Norman, and we searched for twenty minutes (at least), and then Dan spotted the cache. We were within 20 feet of it all the time we were searching. With a group of us searching, we should be able to locate each cache within 10 minutes. (I hope.)
I have a travel bug I need to drop off in one of the caches, but I won’t go into that now.
Two caches we will be looking for are at LaFortune Park, and another one or two are in parks, also. If you see a cache on the geocaching web site that interests you, print the cache sheet and bring it with you.
Perhaps we could go to the Mazzio’s near Randy’s afterwards for some pizza?
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Disappointing film
Yesterday I saw the film Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. What a disappointment. I knew it was supposed to be a comedy, but I was hoping it might have something insightful to say about the Muslim world and its relations with the West. Instead it was just insipid boredom. A few, very few, funny gags here and there, but mostly is was just droll inanity. Don't waste your time and money on this one.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Geocaching adventure
Yesterday Jan and I went geocaching. The first one we found right away. After that we went looking for "White Water Welcome." Jan decided to stay in the car and let me look for this one on my own. I got to within about 160 feet of the cache, but the rest of the way was all uphill. I walked around some seeking an approach with a grade not as steep as where I parked the car.
I must have taken the wrong approach. I was soon bogged down in briars and getting nowhere fast. Meanwhile, Jan was in the car parked at the edge of the eagle sanctuary. A park ranger came up and asked her what she was doing there. Jan told her that I was out searching for a geocache and gave her a brief explanation of geocaching. The ranger said she had never heard of geocaching. Had I talked to the ranger I might have said I was on an eagle hunt, and as soon as I bagged one I was going to barbecue it over an open flame fire -- burn ban or no burn ban. That's my sense of humor. It's gonna get me shot some day.
After struggling against the briars for twenty minutes or so, I decided to try again another day. When I come back I will have a pair of clippers or snippers to free myself when I get entangled in briars. I would wear a pair of chaps if I had any. But mostly I will look for a better route to the summit.
I must have taken the wrong approach. I was soon bogged down in briars and getting nowhere fast. Meanwhile, Jan was in the car parked at the edge of the eagle sanctuary. A park ranger came up and asked her what she was doing there. Jan told her that I was out searching for a geocache and gave her a brief explanation of geocaching. The ranger said she had never heard of geocaching. Had I talked to the ranger I might have said I was on an eagle hunt, and as soon as I bagged one I was going to barbecue it over an open flame fire -- burn ban or no burn ban. That's my sense of humor. It's gonna get me shot some day.
After struggling against the briars for twenty minutes or so, I decided to try again another day. When I come back I will have a pair of clippers or snippers to free myself when I get entangled in briars. I would wear a pair of chaps if I had any. But mostly I will look for a better route to the summit.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Goals for 2006
While walking today at the Salvation Army Community Center in Sand Springs, I passed the 365 mile mark for this year. My walking goal was to walk 365 miles (or a mile a day average). I made this goal with only ten days to spare.
I will try to repeat this in 2006. I would try for more miles, but I don't think I will have enough time to walk more.
In addition I will strive to attain the following:
Reach event number 200 in volkswalking
Reach find number 200 in geocaching.
I will try to repeat this in 2006. I would try for more miles, but I don't think I will have enough time to walk more.
In addition I will strive to attain the following:
Reach event number 200 in volkswalking
Reach find number 200 in geocaching.
Friday, November 25, 2005
How secure are our rights?
Here is a quote that is timely. It is from a book about the Mexican "repatriation" (coerced emigration or unconstitutional deportation would be more accurate language) that took place in the 1930s. The book is the second edition of Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s and will be available sometime in 2006.
"In 1942, another minority group, the Japanese, also learned the bitter lesson that constitutional guarantees are meaningless when mob hysteria is accorded institutional or legal status." -Francisco E. Balderrama
I've long said that our constitutional rights are not worth the paper they are written on if the people who interpret our rights (the courts) and the people whose responsibility it is to protect our rights (the executive) are venal.
"In 1942, another minority group, the Japanese, also learned the bitter lesson that constitutional guarantees are meaningless when mob hysteria is accorded institutional or legal status." -Francisco E. Balderrama
I've long said that our constitutional rights are not worth the paper they are written on if the people who interpret our rights (the courts) and the people whose responsibility it is to protect our rights (the executive) are venal.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Volkswalking Goal Reached
A volkswalk was held last Saturday at a Civil War battlefield at Rentiesville, Oklahoma (south of Muskogee). I did the 6K walk there giving me a total of 185 volkswalks. My volkswalking goal for this year was to reach 185 walks, and I am there with a month to spare. My other walking goal was to walk 365 miles. I am now at 338 miles. That goal is within sight.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Week in Review
I worked overtime on Monday and then made a blood donation after I got off work. I was a given an 5-gallon pin for having donated that much to date. I skipped drumming that evening since I did not want to aggravate the arm from which the blood was taken.
I walked four miles on both Wednesday and Thursday, giving me eight miles for the week. I had been listening to lectures on CDs while walking. I have just finished a series by Rufus Fears titled "Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life." The course consists of 36 half-hour lectures. They are available for loan should anyone wish to borrow them.
I received page proofs this week for my next indexing job. The book is on Mexican repatriation in the 1930s.
Saturday morning the Secular Singers met at Zarrow Library to sing some Christmas music in preparation for our HumanLight celebration on December 18. A reporter for the Tulsa World came by and interviewed us (as members of the Humanist Association) for an upcoming article in the paper.
I walked four miles on both Wednesday and Thursday, giving me eight miles for the week. I had been listening to lectures on CDs while walking. I have just finished a series by Rufus Fears titled "Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life." The course consists of 36 half-hour lectures. They are available for loan should anyone wish to borrow them.
I received page proofs this week for my next indexing job. The book is on Mexican repatriation in the 1930s.
Saturday morning the Secular Singers met at Zarrow Library to sing some Christmas music in preparation for our HumanLight celebration on December 18. A reporter for the Tulsa World came by and interviewed us (as members of the Humanist Association) for an upcoming article in the paper.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Notes to Myself
A Albeniz * Tango in D
B
C Chopin * Prelude No. 20
D
E
F
G
H
I
J Joplin * Sunflower Slow Drag
K Kabalevsky * Sonatina 1
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S Satie * Second Gnossienne
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
B
C Chopin * Prelude No. 20
D
E
F
G
H
I
J Joplin * Sunflower Slow Drag
K Kabalevsky * Sonatina 1
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S Satie * Second Gnossienne
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Foxes now own the chicken coups
Here are two excerpts from a recent speech by Bill Moyers:
But this crowd never gives up. President Bush has turned the agencies charged with environmental protection over to people who don't believe in it. To run the Interior Department he chose a long-time defender of polluters who has opposed laws to safeguard wildlife, habitat, and public lands. To run the Forest Service he chose a timber industry lobbyist. To oversee our public lands he named a mining industry lobbyist who believes public lands are unconstitutional. To run the Superfund he chose a woman who made a living advising corporate polluters how to evade the Superfund. And in the White House office of environmental policy the President placed a lobbyist from the American Petroleum Institute whose mission was to make sure the government's scientific reports on global warming didn't contradict the party line and the interest of oil companies. Everywhere you look, the foxes own the chicken coop.
............................
Earlier this year the White House even conducted an extraordinary secret campaign to scupper the British government's attempt to tackle global warming - and then to undermine the UN's effort to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. George W. Bush is the Herbert Hoover of the environment. His failure to lead on global warming means that even if we were dramatically to decrease greenhouse gases overnight we have already condemned ourselves and generations to come to a warming planet.
You no doubt saw those reports a few days ago that the Artic has suffered another record loss of sea ice. This summer, satellites monitoring the region found that ice reached its lowest monthly point on record - the fourth year in a row it has fallen below the monthly downward trend. The anticipated effects are well known: as the Artic region absorbs more heat from the sun, causing the ice to melt still further, the relentless cycle of melting and heating will shrink the massive land glaciers of Greenland and dramatically raise sea levels. Scientists were quoted saying that with this new acceleration of melt the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate cannot recover.
But this crowd never gives up. President Bush has turned the agencies charged with environmental protection over to people who don't believe in it. To run the Interior Department he chose a long-time defender of polluters who has opposed laws to safeguard wildlife, habitat, and public lands. To run the Forest Service he chose a timber industry lobbyist. To oversee our public lands he named a mining industry lobbyist who believes public lands are unconstitutional. To run the Superfund he chose a woman who made a living advising corporate polluters how to evade the Superfund. And in the White House office of environmental policy the President placed a lobbyist from the American Petroleum Institute whose mission was to make sure the government's scientific reports on global warming didn't contradict the party line and the interest of oil companies. Everywhere you look, the foxes own the chicken coop.
............................
Earlier this year the White House even conducted an extraordinary secret campaign to scupper the British government's attempt to tackle global warming - and then to undermine the UN's effort to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. George W. Bush is the Herbert Hoover of the environment. His failure to lead on global warming means that even if we were dramatically to decrease greenhouse gases overnight we have already condemned ourselves and generations to come to a warming planet.
You no doubt saw those reports a few days ago that the Artic has suffered another record loss of sea ice. This summer, satellites monitoring the region found that ice reached its lowest monthly point on record - the fourth year in a row it has fallen below the monthly downward trend. The anticipated effects are well known: as the Artic region absorbs more heat from the sun, causing the ice to melt still further, the relentless cycle of melting and heating will shrink the massive land glaciers of Greenland and dramatically raise sea levels. Scientists were quoted saying that with this new acceleration of melt the northern hemisphere may have crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate cannot recover.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
So much for honesty and integrity
From an editorial by David Batstone in SoJoMail, 10.13.05:
To be frank, I do not expect Focus on the Family, The 700 Club, or any other influential media network of religious conservatives to raise a red flag about political corruption in the Republican Party any time soon. The specter of political power seems too enticing, too close within reach, to be held back by traditional values such as honesty and integrity. Oh, woe to us, that we shall we gain the whole world, yet lose our own soul.
To be frank, I do not expect Focus on the Family, The 700 Club, or any other influential media network of religious conservatives to raise a red flag about political corruption in the Republican Party any time soon. The specter of political power seems too enticing, too close within reach, to be held back by traditional values such as honesty and integrity. Oh, woe to us, that we shall we gain the whole world, yet lose our own soul.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Concert this Sunday
The Secular Singers (a five-person vocal ensemble) will perform this Sunday, October 16, starting around 1:00 PM at the Hardesty Library. This is a free concert, and all are invited. Members of the ensemble are Bea McCartney, Randy Bradley, Gail Storey, Julia Topi, and Dan Nerren.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Cute joke from Polly
At yesterday's meeting of the Humanist Study Group, Polly Mark read us this joke:
Pedro was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up toward heaven, he said "Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up tequila."
Miraculously, a parking place appeared. Pedro looked up again and said
"Never mind. I found one."
Pedro was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up toward heaven, he said "Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up tequila."
Miraculously, a parking place appeared. Pedro looked up again and said
"Never mind. I found one."
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Progress toward my goals
Here we are now three-quarters of the way through the year. I set some goals back in January. How am I doing? One goal was to walk an average of a mile a day. This is day 278 and I have walked 284 miles so far this year. Barring any unforseen events, I should reach this goal.
As second goal was to reach 185 volkswalks. I am at 180 right now. Only five more to go before the end of the year. I should be able to make that.
Another goal is to revive Secular Singers and stages two performances. The vocal ensemble is up and running again. We have five members in the group -- the most we have ever had. We have a concert set about a week and a half away. I don't know yet if we will try to have a second performance this year. If we do, it will be a Christmas concert.
I reached my goal of finding 100 geocaches a few weeks ago. I'm at 107 caches at this time.
As second goal was to reach 185 volkswalks. I am at 180 right now. Only five more to go before the end of the year. I should be able to make that.
Another goal is to revive Secular Singers and stages two performances. The vocal ensemble is up and running again. We have five members in the group -- the most we have ever had. We have a concert set about a week and a half away. I don't know yet if we will try to have a second performance this year. If we do, it will be a Christmas concert.
I reached my goal of finding 100 geocaches a few weeks ago. I'm at 107 caches at this time.
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