fear

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John Adams, in his 1776 Thoughts on Government,

Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.

Truly, the American Founding was predicated on exactly the opposite mindset. The Constitution is grounded in the premise that there are other values and priorities more important than mere Safety.

Even though the "Founding Fathers" knew that doing so would help murderers and other dangerous and vile criminals evade capture, the Framers,

1. banned the Government from searching homes without probable cause,
2. prohibited compelled self-incrimination, double jeopardy and convictions based on hearsay, and
3. outlawed cruel and unusual punishment.

That's because certain values -- privacy, due process, limiting the potential for abuse of government power -- were more important than mere survival and safety.

A central tenet of the Constitution is that we insist upon privacy, liberty and restraints on government power even when doing so means we live with less safety and a heightened risk of danger and death.

And if the Constitution is not a good enough basis for you, go to the Bible. “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:6,7).

There you have it--from both the bedrock of this country and the principles of Christian faith.
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Is Slow Food an Answer?

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"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

The Edible Schoolyard at P.S. 216, NYC. (Artist's rendering)

And there is another edible schoolyard on the west coast where the children work while chickens wander about.

There is even one in New Orleans.

Why are these important? Since the very concept of the United States of America, we have associated the bounty of the land, the goodness of life, with the idea of Democracy. We started as an agrarian society. The famed "Founding Fathers" were mostly farmers. All food was slow food.

Today, this country is covered from coast-to-coast and border-to-border, in every big city and small hamlet, with fast food available very fast. I don't want to get on my soap box here, but fast food is just not good for the human body.

One of the worst things about fast food is that while it is cheap and easily available, it is largely non-nourishing if not down right malnourishing. Those who have little choice except fast food, those less affluent, are considered "food insecure" (hungry, less than nourished). "If you’re going to patch up the worst signs of hunger, you probably want what little food poor people get to be more nutritious than what industrial agriculture is normally ready to provide. But injecting flour with vitamins doesn’t get you very far in tackling the root causes of this hunger — poverty."

What about the "good food?" Do the wealthy have access to the good food while the less affluent do not? If this is so, it does not feel like democracy. Our lives are bound intrinsically to the food we eat and how and when and where we eat it.

Can farmers markets go into the inner cities and thrive? In order for prices of "good food" to be reasonable for all people, can organic farms be subsidized as the giant agribusinesses are? Well, that certainly sounds more democratic. It would even seem to harken back to the founding sentiment to "promote the common welfare."

Maybe, this country can experience a shift away from fast-fast and back (but really forward) to a better way of growing and eating. And, ultimately, being more kindly human.
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Note to the Second Amendment Right Freaks

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Don't take your guns to town hall meetings or into other political gatherings . Yes, you have the right. And, yes, it is guaranteed in the 2d Amendment to the United States Constitution as a right.

However, the Bill of Rights has an order 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. The Founding Fathers, of whom you shout such support, put it in order. And since you say they knew all that is right and proper, honor that order.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom to speak. Therefore, the right to speak takes precedent over the 2d Amendment right to bear arms. If, in fact, the Founding Fathers had intended the right to bear arms to be equal to the right to speak freely, they could easily have included it in the list of things--freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition--guaranteed in the First Amendment.

Remember that.

And, by the way, quit mis-using the quote from Thomas Jefferson, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

In the same letter to William S. Smith, a diplomatic official in London, on November 13, 1787, Jefferson stated, "founded in ignorance....The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive."

One more thing, Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution states that the purpose of the Militia is to "suppress Insurrections"--not to foment them.

Honor that.
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A mixed bag today

Just so you know that Wall Street is not the only recipient of bail-out $ that seemingly fails to understand just why US taxpayer dollars are being given to them. GM is going to use $1 billion in Brazil with the money coming from the financial aid package from us. That's right you and I are going to send $1 billion dollars to Brazil. It is not, apparently, going to be used in the US of A.


Well, my gentle snowflakes, here is where the next financial bust is going to come from...the same people who gave you the current mess are re-grouping/re-forming/changing their coats and coming after the fast, easy money again--at the expense of the poor, of course.


Oh, my, inspiring words from Jim Hightower to make us all feel better. He makes the point about this nation being born from progressive liberalism. An idea usually missed or completely ignored by the base conservatives when they wrap themselves in the mantle of the founding fathers. These men (the founding fathers) were prepared to lose their lives and property just for the idea of freedom. REMEMBER, the conservatives during the American Revolution were all Tories on the side of England. We would not be this country were it not for daring, progressive minded folk.


And, now, for a RANT. You have been warned and need read no further.

Matthew, 25:31-46, New Testament

Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, `Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, `You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Contained in this one passage is a straight forward condemnation of both the political policy and practice of those who claim the mantle of conservative 'Christian.'

You can look long and hard, high and low, at political conservatives and you won’t find much that fulfills these requirements for avoiding eternal damnation. There is virtually not a single point of these requirements which are adequately fulfilled by the conservatives' programs. The hungry, the sick, the ill clothed, the alien, the prisoner, all are abandoned, ignored. There is no way to square conservative political actions on nutrition programs, universal health care, immigration and certainly not on prison policy, with these life guidelines laid out by Jesus.

Conservative ‘Christians’ never tire of condemning other people to eternal damnation citing “Jesus Christ” as their authority. But in this one passage, we’ve got Jesus--no one else--stating absolutely what he expects of those who purport to follow him. And notice, not a single mention of abortion, gay sex, contraception or wealth redistribution as mortal sin.