Trevor Southey. Self Portrait, Oil on Canvas
Now living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area, Southey emigrated from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as a young man. He studied art in England and South Africa. A Mormon, he then came to the United States and obtained two degrees from Brigham Young University, where he taught for a number of years. The volume Trevor Southey: Reconciliation
This video, narrated by Southey, gives a glimpse of his work and his humanity.
Friday we celebrated the sixth anniversary of our Canadian wedding. (In 2004, Toronto was the closest place to get married legally. Only two provinces in Canada allowed it and Massachusetts required residency.) At that time we had been together nearly seven years and were glad for the opportunity to finally tie the knot.
Traditional gifts for a sixth anniversary are “iron or wood.” We chose to visit the “woods” as an alternative. The final destination of the day trip was Cannon Beach. After a nice lunch of fresh seafood, we hiked down the beach a mile or so. We offered to take a photo of a young couple in front of Haystack Rock, the largest of several rock islands near the shore, and they snapped one of us. It was a beautiful day, mostly sunny with a cool ocean breeze, surrounded by happy couples, families, and castle building. It reminded me of all the good things of being a couple.
If you haven’t read it yet, we have a comment policy on this blog. I’ve reposted it below. Bottom line: Abusive comments, bullying, or comments said in a manner perceived by us to provoke anger or ill feelings will almost certainly cause a person to be barred from posting further comments on this blog. If your words aren’t civil, or your comments are rude, accusatory or mean-spirited, you can still say what you want, you just can’t say it here.
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One of the many benefits of having grandkids visit for several days is that we had extra help decorating a wall inside the garage. It was a great group project for Wednesday evening. We now have something special to remember them by every time we park the car.
The Garage Wall at 4156 SE Taggart
I have listened to many, many arguments about whether an Islamic group should be allowed to build on a site they already own and have used as a school for over two years. The fact that the site is in Lower Manhattan, as was the World Trade Center, is the focus of all the screeching. The most eloquent speech was Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement of the center on August 3. Reacting to building criticism from those trying to make political points by bashing Muslims and calling it a sacrilege to have an Islamic center and mosque in Lower Manhattan (Sarah Palin among them, predictably), Bloomburg said:
“Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure – and there is no neighborhood in this City that is off limits to God’s love and mercy, as the religious leaders here with us today can attest.”
I remember when I was in my early 20s, when a Mormon chapel was proposed a few short blocks from our home in Southern California. A local minister, who sat on the city building commission, blocked the building for years. Eventually the building was built, but not before lots of hurt feelings and animosity, all resulting from the religious bigotry of one individual. About the time we left Washington, DC, two years ago, the only truly ugly lot in the neighborhood was razed to make room for a Mormon chapel, but city religious leaders complained. As the newspapers said at the time, the rhetoric is all about height restrictions and traffic, but underneath it all was religious intolerance aimed at Mormons. A similar argument is in full swing in New York right now: the new Islamic center will be built within sight of Ground Zero. It’s a bogus argument. Wall Street is in Lower Manhattan. Half the city and New Jersey across the river is within sight of Ground Zero. It’s really about tolerance.
Such bigotry is not new. Jews have experienced it for centuries. Catholics experienced it in the early years of this country’s founding. But ultimately, freedom of religious belief and thought has won the day.
Let’s not succumb to the same prejudices of our fathers. Muslims have just as much right as anyone else to build in Manhattan. It’s time to show the world that we are what we preach, unlike the cowards who hid behind religion when they crashed planes into the World Trade Center. We are better than they were. Tradition holds that when Catholics in Salt Lake City needed a cathedral more than a century ago, the president of the Mormon Church assigned specific Mormon skilled laborers to help with the construction of the Cathedral of the Madeleine as a demonstration of religious tolerance. If we aspire to be true Americans, we Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and atheists will line up to help with the construction. That is what America is all about.
Unless you have been in a coma recently, you probably know that retail company Target just gave over $150,000 to buy ads supporting ultra-conservative Republican candidate Tom Emmer in his run for governor in Minnesota.
Emmer has some weird views; for example, he has tried to amend the Minnesota state constitution to say that Minnesota doesn’t have to follow federal law unless they want to. (I guess he forgot about the Civil War.) He is famously anti-worker and pro-big business.
But he is most famous for his poisonous remarks about gay people and his near-rabid opposition to gay rights. He has donated to—and promoted—a hard rock ministry, and especially a band called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide (YCR). YCR frontman Bradlee Dean commends Islamists for their execution of gays and recentlly said, “On average, they molest 117 people before they’re found out.” (More here.)
Such a large gift was made possible by January’s Supreme Court decision that said capping corporate spending for candidates was an unconstitutional restriction on their freedom of speech, putting us one more step closer to corporate purchasing of candidates.
After an immediate barrage of criticism, Target agreed to donate a matching $150,000 to LGBT rights organizations. But the company backed out at the last minute and now refuses to change its decision. In essence, they say it’s a business decision. Well, duh. It’s bound to be good business to pour tons of money into a candidate who promises you the world when he’s elected.
Whether boycotts work or not is always a question. Our decades-long boycott of Cuba has ultimately resulted in Cubans with a 1.1% unemployment rate (ours is 9.5%) and free healthcare for all Cubans. But the César Chávez-led boycott of table grapes in California in the 1960s was victorious and led to humane housing and basic wages for migrant farm workers. I remember in 1973 when Southern California housewives boycotted beef because of its high prices, resulting in a dramatic drop in prices.
My grandma used to say, “You are the company you keep” and she was right. I don’t think I’ll be hanging out with Target until they back away from this lunatic. Will me not shopping at Target bankrupt the company? I don’t think so. Will 5,000 people not shopping there hurt the company? I doubt it. Will 500,000 people boycotting and marching in front of their local stores hurt the company? Hmm. Now it gets interesting.
Anyway, if you are interested, contact Target customer relations at 612-696-3400 or target.communications@target.com and let them know how you feel. I did, and I won’t be shopping at Target until something changes.
I like this group, who organized a flash mob performance at their local Target store. It makes one wonder: “When was the last time you felt this passionate about anything?”
There are currently up for debate two opposing plans to cut federal income taxes.
A Washington Post piece by economic analyst Ezra Klein showed this simple chart to give an idea of how much tax cuts would come to each person, based on their income. It’s pretty clear that if the Bush tax plan is extended. the richer people get the greater your tax cut. By far.
I have heard the argument that rich folks drive the economy because they own the small businesses, and so logically they should have larger tax cuts than the rest of us. But these are personal income tax cuts and not corporate tax cuts. I favor the European model, where wealthier people pay higher personal taxes. I realize that idea is unpopular, but those countries seem to be able to weather financial crises without devastating the middle class.
Unemployment in Norway is currently 3.5%, Austria is 3.9%, Switzerland is 4%, Denmark is 6.6%, Germany 7%, the UK is $7.8, Italy 8.5%, Belgium is 8.6%. The U.S. unemployment rate is 9.5%, about the same as that of Poland, Bulgaria, and Croatia. Here in Oregon it’s 10.6%, higher than that of Hungary.
Let’s make it simple: I’d like a full-time job. Britney Spears doesn’t need a tax cut.
Click the chart for a larger view, but be sure to see the original article for more details and the sources for the raw numbers.
In the yard of a house a few blocks from us there is a wonderful old gnarly tree. It’s beautiful enough on its own, but when you get close you see nestled inside the crook of the tree another fine little example of guerrilla art. (Click the picture for an enlarged view.)
“Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:20)
The entire Torah (Five Books of Moses) is read from beginning to end each year in synagogues around the world. In order to do so, the Torah is divided up into portions. On virtually every Jewish calendar, you will see a notation on each sabbath day indicating what Torah portion is to be read. Considering there is no organized head of Judaism, this is pretty amazing to me, that you can walk into any synagogue anywhere on Shabbat and you will know beforehand what portion will be read from the Torah. Occasionally, because of the Jewish leap year, a holiday, or a difference in local practice, a few verses may be shifted to a different portion or two portions may be combined into one, but whether the synagogue is orthodox, conservative, reformed, or whatever, you can pretty much count on consistency in the reading of Torah portions.
The reading of the Torah is usually followed by a drash. This is somewhat analogous to a sermon, and is read by the rabbi or a congregant. The drash is usually derived from some lesson in that week’s Torah portion, though not always.
I subscribe to a couple of online drashes. The day before the sabbath, these drashes arrive in my inbox, expounding or expanding on that week’s Torah portion. I really liked one in particular this week. It was written by Justin Spiro, who lives in New York. It was especially relevant given various events in the past week. Justin’s drash points out that there are quandaries in life, things that don’t make sense, yet they still exist. How do we deal with such quandaries? Thank you, Justin, for giving me permission to reprint your drash.
This week’s Torah Portion, Shoftim [Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9], contains a puzzling verse. Speaking about our obligation to obey the word of the judges, the Torah tells us “you shall not deviate from the word that they will tell you, right or left.” Rashi explains that this means we must obey their word even if they tell us that right is left, i.e. even if they make a ruling that blatantly contradicts the facts, we must obey the ruling.
This seemingly creates a very troublesome theological dilemma, whereby we could theoretically be forced to obey a ruling that is antithetical to the Torah! However, the Kli Yakar makes a fascinating point about this verse. He cites a passage in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 17a) that states that someone can only be appointed as a judge if “he knows how to purify a crawling insect” (which is the epitome of ritual impurity). In other words, judges must possess the wisdom to fully understand all sides of the issue, as there are few absolutely black-and-white issues in Jewish law. Furthermore, judges must possess the discernment to know when to adjudicate the issue in a lenient matter and when to adjudicate stringently. For instance, expounding upon a verse in Zecharia, the Kli Yakar says that judges must know when “to change the truth for the sake of peace.”
The verse in our Torah Portion can easily be applied to Rabbis as well. Orthodox Rabbis are very innovative and constantly find solutions to problems across the halachic [Jewish legal] spectrum. However, for a long time, gay Jews were left out of this innovative process. Thankfully, over 100 Orthodox Rabbis have recently added homosexuality to the list of issues that they are grappling with by publishing this statement of principles: http://statementofprinciplesnya.blogspot.com/
It is just a start, but in my opinion, a good one.
Shabbat Shalom!
Last summer, while traveling by train from Portland to Seattle to do some business, I saw lots of amazing wildflowers alongside the tracks. So when spring planting time came, I decided to put wildflowers in a space that was covered by an invasive groundcover planted years ago by a previous owner.
A couple people asked if it was hard to do, so I decided to share my secret with our loyal blog audience. Actually, there is no secret. It’s very easy.
I selected Ed Hume Wildflowers for the Pacific Northwest and mixed the seeds with some sand, a bit of starter fertilizer, and a bunch of soil. (That makes the tiny seeds easier to handle and spread evenly.) Mike trimmed and dug out most of the non-native ground cover. I dug and raked the rest. I spread the seed-soil mixture and raked it in a little bit to cover the seeds. Then I covered the top with shredded newspaper to keep the moisture in and protect the sprouting seeds. I watered every day for a week, then every few days. Since these are hardy native plants, there is no need to water ever again.
The result is beautiful. I think next year I’d be happy to cover as much of the yard as possible in native wildflowers. In fact there are some empty lots nearby that could benefit from some guerilla planting next spring. We’ll see.