Hattie's Web

Happy Monday!

It's actually Sunday night as I post this, but I want to get a jump on the week, since I have so much going on right now.

We had a pretty nice weekend. It's been almost too hot and humid in the middle of the day, and things are growing like mad. Terry returned on Saturday from his trip to Phoenix, very excited about the product the start up company he consults for is developing. Today he spent hours on yard work, which pleased me a lot. Not that we will ever conquer the weeds. Our neighbors all use poison, but we  refuse to do that.They don't turn down our organic bananas and avocados, I notice.

Last night there was a Nation Magazine discussion group. This is  the second time I've attended, and there were only four of us, and it was rather desultory. We hadn't settled on a topic. But next month, when we meet, we are going to discuss income inequality and how that affects the well being of citizens in various countries. Why are we OK with the kind of inequality we have in the U.S? Why is it even worse in a country like Mexico? Why does Sweden have relative equality?  We did talk about these matters some and decided we needed to read and study more to have a good exchange about them.

I'm interested in how much of a role social attitudes play. As one woman pointed out, as long as we have an "us" and "them" mentality we are not going to be willing to help others or share with them. She also said we now have a "stand your ground" law in Hawaii.  Our lawgivers, even in this liberal state,  seem to be doing everything possible to inject anger and suspicion into our body politic.

Another women said in an I-hope-I'm-not-offending-you tone of voice that she did not like it that our new Senator, Brian Schatz,  who took the late Dan Inouye's place, is  a Jew, especially since there are already so many Jews in the Senate but few women, especially minority women like Colleen Hanabusa. Hanabusa was Inouye's choice for his successor, but our governor, Abercrombie, appointed Schatz instead, which made many party insiders angry.  But I feel Schatz was the right choice.

This woman  said Schatz was too slick and smooth.  I retorted that  he was smart and professional. She thought she was stating her objections to Schatz delicately but was actually being quite blatant in her prejudice.  She also felt that a big problem is Black single moms on welfare, and everything she said sounded years out of date to me. I picked up a vibe that she felt that Blacks running amok were the reason that our society is falling apart. Honestly.

Well, I'm an educator. My work is cut out for me with this bunch.

Now here is something strange: this was on Saturday, a strange spike in our solar output. We have never seen anything like this before. I wonder what caused it.

 

My sister posted this on her Facebook page, and I can't stop laughing.

Happy Father's Day! — at Farallon National Wildlife Refuge.

Dear old dad!

Peruvian studies

I'm doing some serious studies of things Peruvian, having a few minutes online before I go pick Terry up from the airport.

From Wikpedia re: the capybara or ronsoco:

When in estrus, the female's scent changes subtly and nearby males begin pursuit. In addition, a female will alert males she is in estrus by whistling though her nose.

Oh you seductress with your come-hither nose!

I'm sure the capybara must be quite a source of humor to Peruvians, as they are to me. I did not see one of those creatures, however.  Maybe our zoo could get some. They would be happy here, I'm sure.

There is even a cartoon, The Blue Capybara, or El Ronsoco Azul, which addresses a common problem in that country:

And that I did see.

I'm picking up a cultural idea that male behavior needs to be policed, but there is no expectation that men will improve.

Mary Catherine Bateson/a Ted Talk

From Folkways Notebook.

Link is here.

She is a Mandarin, of course, and does not directly mention money once. But as she points out, younger adults--people in their 30's, 40's and 50's--are completely occupied taking care of the day to day stuff. Older people with entitlements are free to contribute other things to society or simply to pursue interests that they had no time for when they were younger.  This is an entirely new phase of life that we are "making up" as we go along.  In many societies, those who make it into old age are often honored. In this country old people are numerous and objects of prejudice, often internalizing a lot of negativity about themselves and retreating from society.  She says ageism is culturally rare, at its absolute worst in the U.S., and I think this is true. 

More, on the water line

The workmen were amazing. They came immediately when called and diagnosed the problem, which was a broken water line. They were here early the next day digging it out. It took them several hours to locate the break, repair it and fill up the hole again. One man expressed astonishment that the water wasn't shooting out of the ground, because that is usually what happens with such a large break. But our soil is so deep and porous that it kept absorbing the water. It was seeping to the surface and we thought it was just rainfall water in puddles. That's why we did not understand what was happening sooner.

 

 

A few good tweets

Perth Radio shock-jock Howard Sattler sacked for asking Australian prime minister Julia Gillard if her husband is gay http://ind.pn/120hE3W 

 

Talking Points Memo ‏@TPM 53m

Jeb Bush: U.S. economy needs "more fertile" immigrants: http://bit.ly/178roC8

 

Jessica Valenti ‏@JessicaValenti 1h

.@andreagrimes on #SB5: Texas Consolidates Most Horrifying Anti-Choice Bills Into One Nightmare Piece of Legislation http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/06/13/texas-consolidates-its-most-horrifying-anti-choice-bills-into-one-nightmare-piece-of-legislation/ …

 

What's this about?

Woman-sexually-assaulted-in-Nevada-courtroom

From Nelson, via Facebook.

I would really like to know what happened and why this girl was murdered, and where her boyfriend is now.

From Big Island Chronicle.

Via friend Hank. Scahill on Leno! Amazing.

 

I had a fun morning with another leak: the one in my water line. It should be fixed by this evening.

 

 

Why are all these politicians dumping on women?

Is it because it is still OK to say nasty things about women but no longer permitted to take potshots at the traditional targets of bigot and bullies, (Blacks, etc.) but it's a-ok to talk about intruding on women's vaginas against their will. And being just fine with rape, too. I wonder if these men have done awful things to women and are trying to justify their behavior on the basis that, after all, women have something wrong with them.  You know, crazy because of all those hormones. Trying to cover up their tracks, maybe?

It is deeply perverted to target young women, women of reproductive age, mothers and women in general at such a vulnerable period of their lives.  The reproductive years take a toll on women and are not something men experience but that these men seem to want control over. Why is that? Why don't they respect women's decisions on these matters? What are they trying to hide?

What, in short, is wrong with them?  I am sincerely baffled. So is Frank Bruni. Decent men have got to come forward as he has. Women should not have to be fighting these issues out all over again. I'm glad that Plan B is available for young women, though.*

*I keep thinking about the neighbor girl where I used to live in California who had a baby at age 14. I don't know for sure, but I believe the father was her own 60 year old father.  She could have been spared the disaster of giving birth so young, at the very least.

More: And look at  these disgusting attacks on Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Reminds me of the nastiness about Hillary Clinton.

I was talking to a neighbor last night. He said it's mostly about money and power and not wanting women to get their share. That is what decent men say.  But why are the attacks so virulent? What's at stake?

This Wisconsin legislator going off on everyone during a vote count (see below)was something a lot of us have experienced: ranting dad. My father would lose it periodically in just this way. To see this kind of behavior in public is quite something.

My father had a tortured relationship to his mother, and to us. My husband's father, too, was very fond of shouting and bullying and laying down the law. They both had strict ideas of what women were and how women were supposed to be that were  irrelevant to women's needs but were massive projections of their own needs. We were supposed to give up our own lives in order to serve others, especially men.

I worked in a prison where most of the inmates were sex offenders, and I was never able to fathom what was going on in their minds. Nor did I ever figure out what was wrong with my father and father in law. It's a puzzle. The good men I know may understand them, but they can't explain them in any way that I can understand.

After all, men still run almost everything, and a lot of them are highly aggressive bullies.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

Nice day

A day for vulture feet!

Hawaii is rich in intelligence resources

Huge business for this state.  Article and vids from local outlet, Hawaii News Now.
This is what all our representatives have obtained for us. It serves their purposes quite well.  It's the military/industrial complex at its finest, working with the spooks. $350,000,000 for a facility on Navy property. 350 employees making good money. 

As a commenter on Chris Hayes's show put it, it's one thing for companies to tap into smart phones and Facebook accounts to try to sell us stuff and quite another for a government to do so, since the government can arrest us, jail us, or worse. And with no safeguards like the ones provided by the Bill of Rights we are all endangered.

This is really scary. How can we stand up against that kind of power?  We are fools to think this apparatus exists to keep us safe.  It exists to keep our rulers safe. And rich.

This is what I think as I sit in my home, presumably leading the life of a free and private person. I am sure that a lot of people are frightened out of their wits by all this and too cowed to say or do anything about it. And of course there are many who believe in the security state and/or profit from the government money. But there are plenty of us, too, who are solid and strong enough in our minds to oppose this huge apparatus with one important tool: the enlightenment ideals that were the foundation of this country. This is MY country!

So there!!!

More: And as I read this I became less fearful.

John Stewart Mill described the British Empire as an immense system of make-work for the younger sons of the English squirearchy who could not wangle a seat in Parliament or a sinecure with the Church of England. The empire gave them an avenue to lucrative and prestigious careers. It is not much different in contemporary America: What would the foreign policy experts in their sinecures at Washington think tanks and foundations do without an empire to justify? In the absence of pax americana, military generals would be less numerous and less likely to obtain second careers earning seven-figure incomes with contractors. At a less exalted level, how would the GS-15s at the Department of Homeland Security, the lieutenant colonels who trip over each other in the Pentagon's corridors, or the innumerable contract employees in our vast and privatized intelligence establishment obtain a living were there not an empire to administer and a homeland to protect against natives unenthusiastic about being liberated? What would these people do otherwise - flip burgers? The position of these "middle managers" is analogous to that of the minor administrators and chiefs of police for the European colonial empires – careers well below those of high finance, but certainly better than they were likely to get tending shop in their home countries.

No matter how big it all seems, this seemingly unbeatable system will not last, because it is based on falsehood.  Its purpose is not what it claims to be. It is actually a vast entitlement program for certain people.  It is not profitable, even.  Nor does it "keep us safe."Like the British Empire, the American Empire is doomed. This doesn't mean it will vanish overnight. And I hope that the things that make the U.S. unique will survive. Every country and culture has its strengths. 

I believe Snowden was tired of being a tool and wanted to be a man of conscience instead.. Who lauds the sons of the British Empire these days? The ones who played by the rules and had nice lives as civil servants? Nobody. Gandhi is the hero. I wonder what will happen now with Snowden. And I wonder what the outcome will be of Bradley Manning's trial. I wish I had 100 more years to learn how all of this is going to come out.

More: From Rolling Stone via Facebook friend.  Jeremy Hammond and Stratfor. Another young man of conscience. This huge apparatus is being revealed, piece by piece. To me the size and expense of spying operations, and the puny results, are what we should be angry about. It is a boondoggle. Schools are defunded, roads fall apart, legislators attack women's rights, and on and on, and people are too scared and distracted to stand to protest. In the meantime the government shovels money at these spy outfits.

Orchids at the Zoo

I've never experienced so many major stories breaking all at once. This is overwhelming. So, let's discuss orchids instead.

Most orchids in their native habitats live on tree trunks and stumps. Some live on rocks. There are a few terrestrial species. At the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo, which has many palm trees and ohia trees, volunteers from the Orchid Society place orchids in as natural a growing environment as possible.

I took some pix of different orchids, showing how they are fastened to trees, how the roots cling and bond the plant to the trunks, and how they eventually bloom.

Mainland hobby orchidists might want to know that the orchids like to be drenched periodially and then to dry out. They need very little fertilizer but a steady supply of it, preferably folar feeding. If you grow them in pots, a good medium is fir bark. It breaks down too fast here, so I use lava cinder and coconut bark instead.

I don't plant orchids in trees, because I have a shade house and no trees that are situated well enough to attach orchids to them. So I went down to friend Mary's place and we put some plants I had in her trees.

These shots are all from the zoo:

Here are orchids that we placed last week:

Here is an extensive root system:

Here are some lovely blooms:

Steve Bell

Colbert weighs in

Stephen Colbert ‏@StephenAtHome 35m

If you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide from the giant surveillance apparatus the government's been hiding.

Funny how I cling to a weekday/weekend routine, even though I have been retired for several years. Part of it is that Terry still is working, and he has to be here during the week for conference calls and such.

Just think. Every bit of information that his company has put out on the Internet is available for spies to examine, and many of these spies are working for private contractors.  Guess private companies will now have to resort to couriers to take communications back and forth, the way our government already does for the super-duper top secret stuff. But what if  one of those government couriers opens a diplomatic  envelope some day and all the beans spill out!!!

So I'm thinking: Just because we all know, and really have always known,  that the government has been spying on citizens does not mean that we are somehow being childish and annoying if we complain. I object to the huge amount of money going into these spy programs. I object to the way Facebook would make  available to these entities pictures of my grandchildren, should they want to look at them.  I don't put those out for public consumption. In fact, in spite of my calm demeanor, I am quite furious.

This is a hateful thing, and I don't see how it has anything to do with national security. As Gore Vidal said, the security state was created in 1950 by the Truman Administration to keep the Cold War rolling along. Now it's all about terrorists.  And none of this spying stuff makes me feel safe. Quite the opposite. It makes me feel edgy, the thought that who knows who can get his dirty paws all over my personal information. A lot of people overshare, and that's their decision. I don't, and I value my privacy in certain matters. Remember all the hoo ha about spies in East Germany and how sickened people were to realize that their government had been assembling dossiers on them? Well, this is how we Americans  should feel too. Our government has given itself permission to do that to all of us. For our safety? Well, why believe that?

I'm reading Vidal's essays from The Nation now, that were just published. He is a unique figure in that he was an uncloseted gay man at time when most gay men did not dare to come out. I don't consider him heroic, really. He could afford to say and do as he pleased and was a true American Mandarin. He wasn't going to starve. He had no sympathies for middle class niceties,  and most of the things a person like me thinks are important (family, children) were of no interest to him.  Nonetheless...he knew a lot of important players and understood the American upper class as an insider. He also originated the idea of the 99% and talked freely about the owner-operators of this country and how they have created an oligarchy and called it a democracy. He is very astute about the way clever people from the lesser classes can get by if they cater to the needs and desires of their social superiors. This obvious truth about the situation of most Americans is guaranteed to make people angry at  parties if you bring it up. So don't mention it.

Want to live in a nice house in maybe a foreign country and send your kids to fancy private schools in exchange for a little light spying? Nice work, and you can probably get it if you have the proper qualifications.

I have had such a nice time this weekend that I can't even be bothered to bitch any more about what is really a huge story and a mountain of trouble for the Obama Administration.  I am incredulous that they so enthusiastically took up the task of eavesdropping on the American public. I mean, really, how could they?

More: Foiling pre-crime.  This is like reds under the beds. But there is so much money in this spy stuff.

 

The war on the poor: an everyday incident. Really shocking.

I think we could all use a good laugh. Here it is. From The Laughing Housewife.

Obama's spy program, laid out

From The Guardian. 

This should shake everyone up.  Perhaps now we can begin to talk about a coalition of citizens who oppose these policies and projects.

More: Gail Collins, Intelligence for Dummies

Dirty Wars opens today

It's going to be a while before I get to see Dirty Wars, the film, but I am still fighting my way through the book of the same name, which covers the same material. It's hard to read because of the subject matter and I need a lot of breaks and levity in between bouts of learning about these horrors. Here is the NYT review of  the film:

The thesis of Richard Rowley’s pessimistic, grimly outraged and utterly riveting documentary “Dirty Wars” is that America’s largely clandestine war on terror is now globally entrenched. Far from ending, the film argues, the fight has spread and begun breeding an increasing hatred of the United States that would have delighted Osama bin Laden. Because it is a hidden war, there are few Congressional restraints on how it is conducted.

I just watched today's Democracy Now, which has interviews with the writer and protagonist of Dirty Wars, Jeremy Scahill, as well as exclusive interviews with members of the Alwaki family. Worth watching for detailed information. Scahill states that the point is that you can't simply say something like targeted killing of U.S. citizens is legal and that's the end of it. It's still against the Constitution. Obama has made the argument that Alwaki was inciting hatred of the U.S. and encouraging attacks on the U.S., something that Scahill does not dispute, but still he could have been arrested and put on trial. It is not true that he was unreachable by any other means than targeted killing, as authorities have asserted. And there could be no excuse at all for killing Alwaki's 16 year old son in  a strike two weeks after Alwaki was killed.

In another interview, Scahill said that his experiences as a journalist, writing the book, making the film, "gutted me." I can well imagine that. It's hard enough just to read the book. It pushes me beyond anger into sorrow.

Greenwald is also on this program, promising further revelations about U.S. gov't spying.

I'm not linking directly to vids for the time being, because there is something wrong with my service.

Happy Friday

Doesn't this look yummy and nutritious! Gosh. I wish we had a Krispy Kreme in Hilo!  It's all-American food! I just want to bite into one of those things right now!

I remember the first and last time someone served me a sloppy joe. I thought it was the most disgusting thing I had ever had to eat.

So it turns out that our gov't has the capacity to spy on everything we have out on the Internet.

More: Glenn Greenwald, hero of journalism, says he is not done yet with revelations of gov't spying.

The way things are supposed to work is that we're supposed to know virtually everything about what they do: that's why they're called public servants. They're supposed to know virtually nothing about what we do: that's why we're called private individuals.

This dynamic - the hallmark of a healthy and free society - has been radically reversed .