Moonrise over Celebration

For the past couple of nights the moonrise over my little corner of Florida has been most spectacular, so I decided to get out and photograph it to post on this here blogsite. I do hope that the lunar light show has been just as nice in your neck of the woods too.

Morose in Michigan

It looks like another nail is about to be driven into the coffins of two once high and mighty entities known as General Motors and the United Auto Workers union. Today the UAW called a strike against GM because the ailing car maker could not give the weaseling union representatives enough assurances concerning long-term "job security". Who is ever given a guarantee of that besides government workers?

What ever eventually happens in the end will not be good for the health of the company or the long term prosperity of these mainly unskilled workers and their Rust Belt communities. This strike will not end the misery but will only exacerbate it.

Meanwhile the corpse that is currently the city of Detroit just became a little more rotten smelling as a long procession of Toyotas and Hondas rolled on down Woodward Avenue to watch the funeral pyre blaze up a fresh fountain of sparks by the river front.

http://snipurl.com/1r6ks

Back in GM's postwar salad days.

The Iranians Are NOT Devils!

I accidentally caught tonight's 60 Minutes interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I found him to be an honest, intelligent and thoughtful person who does not, contrary to the invective of the Bush-Cheney-Fox News cabal, have horns and a trident. Most tend to forget that he is the democratically elected leader of an ancient, very large and diverse country.

It is because I have great fear that the U.S. government is imminently planning to wage an unprovoked war against this peaceful nation that I wanted to share some of the exchanges that President Ahmadiejad had with CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley. His sincere and unrehearsed answers showed me that Iran has no intention of waging any kind of a war against the U.S. or building a nuclear bomb.

Am I just a dumb and deluded rube? If so it is far preferable to being swept up in a frenzied wave of hate and paranoia that will blindly support the senseless bombing of innocent people that have done nothing to harm anyone.

I found President Ahmadiejad in possession of the unique ability, for a politician, to accurately separate out the contrary interests and intentions of the American people from that of the lawless warlords that supposedly rule them. In fact he said some of the most intelligent things I've heard so far about the current mess in Babylon that is costing the American taxpayer $720 million a day. It was refreshing to hear a politician speak so freely and with such assured conviction.

I found his words and reflections encouraging and hope and pray that they will convince more of my fellow citizens to see him and the Iranian people as human beings just like us, who deserve respect and the dignity due to a sovereign people.

Pray for peace!

PELLEY: But the American people, sir, believe that your country is a terrorist nation, exporting terrorism in the world. You must have known that visiting the World Trade Center site would infuriate many Americans, as if to be mocking the American people.

AHMADINEJAD: Well, I'm amazed. How can you speak for the whole of the American nation?

PELLEY: Well, the American nation . . .

AHMADINEJAD: . . . you are representing a media and you're a reporter. The American nation is made up of 300 million people. There are different points of view over there. I would like to think that the points of view of the American people is very close to the points of view of the Iranian people. The American people are very much against and opposed what certain American officials are saying and their points of view. And they're also, the way that the people have voted in the American elections is very telling. And we are criticizing such behavior on the part of the American government. We believe that if anyone just allows himself to accuse others, there will be no possibility for peace and friendship.

PELLEY: What do you mean the American election is telling? What did you take from it?

AHMADINEJAD: What I'm saying is that the American people very clearly have shown that they do not endorse what certain American officials are saying and doing. I remind you of the rallies in Washington a couple of days ago. What were they saying and shouting? Perhaps 70, 80 percent of the American people are against their troops, their sons and daughters being in Iraq and war. And as I said, they're very much against war. And for that matter, the American people are peace-loving people. You shouldn't think that what the American officials are doing and their behavior reflects completely the mood of the American people. And American officials must not make the American people a victim of their wants and wishes. And we make a distinction between the American people and American officials. And the American people are opposed to occupation, the use of force, and also terrorism, the killing of the people of other nations. And this is what we are saying. This is what we believe in. With that in mind, we feel very close to the American people. And I'm sure that this is reciprocal. A couple of days ago, an American scientist, a scholar, wrote to me saying that he has a great love for Iran. And once he passes, he wants to be buried in this country. The two nations are very close to one another.

PELLEY: Mr. President, you say that the two nations are very close to one another, but it is an established fact now that Iranian bombs and Iranian know-how are killing Americans in Iraq. You have American blood on your hands. Why?

AHMADINEJAD: Well, this is what the American officials are saying. Again, American officials wherever around the world that they encounter a problem which they fail to resolve, instead of accepting that, they prefer to accuse others. We basically are very much opposed to any kind of insecurity inside Iraq. Because once we have insecurity in Iraq, the first party, if I can use the word, that will be affected would be Iran. Having said that, we fully oppose occupation and also military attacks. In Iraq we don't need to do that. For that matter, in any part of the world we don't need to do that. When it comes to war, we don't think that war, belligerence, is a good solution for differences of opinion. We have said this in the past to American officials that the Iraqi people very much oppose occupation. And they will not accept this. And experience tells you this. This is a nation with many thousands of years of history. They have stood up to occupiers in the past, and they will stand up again. I'm very sorry that, because of the wrong decisions taken by American officials, Iraqi people are being killed and also American soldiers. It's very regrettable. And, again, I'm saying that why should they be killed? Why should these boys and girls be killed? Why should we have war in Iraq and insecurity? I believe that the people behind the insecurity are those who, from thousands of kilometers away, have brought in troops. First, they said that they want to topple the dictator and find WMDs [weapons of mass destruction]. They didn't find WMDs and there's no dictator there anymore. So the question is: What are American troops doing right now in Iraq? They have to answer, respond to these questions. We are not interfering in Iraq. The Iraqi people are our friends. And the president, the prime minister, the speaker of the parliament are our friends. We don't need to interfere in Iraq. We are two nations which have been connected through history. Each year millions of Iranians go to Iraq for pilgrimage. And in a number of these bombings inside Iraq, Iranian citizens have been killed. We want peace; we want security in Iraq; and it only serves our own interests. And those American officials who see the interest in a continued occupation of Iraq, I ask them to reconsider. They should leave alone the Iraqi nation and also their own soldiers. And they shouldn't accuse others needlessly. We basically oppose the killing of any person, innocent persons, from any race or community. As I said, the Iraqi people have been victimized. We feel very sad for them. Equally, we feel sad for American soldiers and troops because they don't know why they're there. They are the victims of the, if you will, the wants and wishes of certain American officials.

PELLEY: Mr. President, American men and women are being killed by your weapons in Iraq. You know this.

AHMADINEJAD: No, no, no.

PELLEY: Why are those weapons there?

AHMADINEJAD: Who's saying that?

PELLEY: The American Army has captured Iranian missiles in Iraq. The critical elements of the explosively formed penetrator bombs that are killing so many people are coming from Iran. There's no doubt about that anymore. The denials are no longer credible, sir.

AHMADINEJAD: Very good. If I may.

AHMADINEJAD: Are you an American politician? Am I to look at you as an American politician or a reporter? This is what the American officials are claiming. Well, we don't need to arrest many people to prove that Americans are occupying Iraq or produce fabricated documents. If you go to the streets of Baghdad, you will see American helicopters and tanks and Humvees, so on and so forth. So the Iraqi people are just defending themselves. I think the way out for the American official from this problem that it has created for itself shouldn't be in accusing Iraq, Iran, rather. You need to understand the realities of the region and also respect the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people, like other people, want to have security, want to have peace, want to be free. When they see that soldiers come into their houses, they react. So if the American government does accept this reality, this truth, everything will changes. If they accuse us 1,000 times, the truth will not change. They need to accept the truth and also the wishes of the Iraqi people. That is a way out of this deadlock.

PELLEY: For the sake of clarity, because there is so much concern in the world about this next question, please give me the most direct answer you can. Is it your goal to build a nuclear bomb?

AHMADINEJAD: What are you driving at?

PELLEY: Simply that, sir. Is it the goal of your government, the goal of this nation to build a nuclear weapon?

AHMADINEJAD: Do you think that the nuclear technology is only limited in a bomb? You can only build a bomb with that?

PELLEY: No, I appreciate the differences, sir, but the question is limited to the bomb.

AHMADINEJAD: It has different uses. Well, you have to appreciate we don't need a nuclear bomb. We don't need that. What needs do we have for a bomb?

PELLEY: May I take that as a "no," sir?

AHMADINEJAD: Please, let me finish my thought. It is a firm "no." I'm going to be much firmer now. I want to address all politicians around the world, statesmen. Any party who uses national revenues to make a bomb, a nuclear bomb, will make a mistake. Because in political relations right now, the nuclear bomb is of no use. If it was useful, it would have prevented the downfall of the Soviet Union. If it was useful, it would have resolved the problems the Americans have in Iraq. The U.S. has tested new generations of bombs, many thousands of warheads you have in your arsenals. It's of no use. And also the Zionist entity, they have hundreds of warheads. It's not going to help them. The time of the bomb is past. The parties who think that by using the bomb you can control others, they are wrong. Today we are living in the era of intellectual pursuits. You should spend your money on your people. We don't need the bomb. For 28 years we have defended ourselves in the face of enemy onslaught. Every day we are becoming more powerful. And, again, we don't need such weapons. In fact, we think that this is inhuman. So can you please tell me why the U.S. government is fabricating these bombs? Do you want to provide a more welfare, happiness to the people through the bomb? Are you going to deal with global poverty? Or do you want to kill people? So our belief, sir, tell us and also our culture, because of these, we are very much opposed to the killing of people. This is very clear.

PELLEY: Mr. President, I just have a few questions. We have appreciated your answers very much, and I know we're pressing on time here. We would be very grateful if you wouldn't mind taking just a few more. Will you, in this interview tonight, rule out the possibility of a nuclear test of an Iranian weapon during your presidency?

AHMADEINEJAD: Well, we don't have any plans.

PELLEY: But rule it out. Say that "we will not test a nuclear device as long as I am president." Can you say that?

AHMADINEJAD: Please, please, let me finish my thought. Actually, I very much oppose this behavior. Picture it. If an Iranian reporter kept repeatedly asking the same questions from a U.S. official, how would you feel? Would you feel good about that?

PELLEY: I would.

AHMADINEJAD: I think that instead of going astray here and misleading the public, we should try to help with the uncovering of the truth. You are a member of the media. You are not a government official. You should be concerned with the truth. We should all be concerned with the truth. We don't need such weapons. Those who don't have anything to say to other nations and deal with them, they resort to atomic weapons. We are a cultured people and we have good relations with all nations. And the status of a country has nothing to do with atomic weapons, rather its culture and its civilization. And whenever we make a decision, we are courageous enough to come out and say that we have made such a decision. Whatever we want to do, we have nothing to hide. We clearly will announce that. Well, I said sometime ago that if you sanction us, we are going to take the production to an industrial scale, and we did that. And we said that we will continue to push ahead undaunted. We did that. We have no problems. When it comes to that, we are very transparent and we have a frank tone of voice. Let me be frank and very straightforward here. I oppose the unilateral policies and bullying policies of the American administration. I believe that these lead to war, leads to greater poverty and killing. I believe that you can manage the war better through friendship, mutual respect, and by respecting laws and also fair play. Again, I'm being very frank here. I oppose the very idea of the bomb. I have nothing to hide. Also, I oppose the policies of the American administration.

PELLEY: Would an attack on your nuclear sites, in your opinion, give you leave to attack U.S. forces in the region or the U.S. mainland?

AHMADEINEJAD: Who is going to attack this country?

PELLEY: President Bush has pledged that you will not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon and will use military force if necessary.

AHMADEINEJAD: I think Mr. Bush, if he wants his party to win the next election, there are cheaper ways and ways to go about this. I can very well give him a few ideas so that the people vote for him. He should respect the American people. They should not bug the telephone conversations of their citizens. They should not kill the sons and daughters of the American nation. They should not squander the taxpayers' money and give them to weapons companies. And also help the people, the victims of Katrina. People will vote for them if they do these things. But if they insist on what they are saying right now, this will not help them. Again, nobody can hurt the Iranian people. And history tells us that the people who have been less than kind to the Iranian people, they have lost out. What I'm saying, I am being very sincere here. I'm a Muslim. I cannot tell a lie. I am supposed to tell the truth. What I'm saying is that President Bush's conduct in Iraq is wrong. And his wrong conduct is behind his party losing the previous elections. This is very clear. The American people are very much dismayed with the behavior and the conduct of the present administration. They are not dismayed with Iran. In fact, the two nations are very close to one another. An example of that would be the letter sent to me by an American scholar a few days ago.

PELLEY: You mentioned telling the truth as a Muslim, and as you know so much better than I do, Verse 42 of the second sura: "The truth shall not be obscured by falsehood, and those who know the truth must tell it." But when I ask you a question as direct as "Will you pledge not to test a nuclear weapon?" you you dance all around the question. You never say "yes." You never say "no."

AHMADEINEJAD: Well, thank you for that. You are like a CIA investigator. And you are . . .

PELLEY: I am just a reporter. I am a simple, average American reporter.

AHMADEINEJAD: This is not a Baghdad prison. Please, this is not a secret prison in Europe. This is not Abu Ghraib. This is Iran. I'm the president of this country. Well, I think that I've gone beyond what you've asked me, above and beyond. And I think that if you speak to your job as a reporter, what I have said so far, again, goes above and beyond what you ask me.

The full interview: http://snipurl.com/1r53x

Beyond the backyard

I have been taking pictures over the last few days that I think capture the essence of my new home down here in Osceola County. The cooler weather and the welcome efforts of a conservation district work crew that have been cutting back some of the vegetation on the access trail leading into the nature preserve behind my house has enticed me to explore more territory than I would have a month ago in the buggy, muggy misery of summer.

The main difference from the Panhandle is that there is very little dry land around here (our house is built on fill) and the forests have more hardwoods and palms than the long leaf pine woods that characterize the sandy hills of northern Florida. There are a lot more lakes and swamps and it rains a bit more, about every afternoon, just like in the Amazon jungle.

The Reedy Creek Swamp directly behind my house.


Angry storm clouds roiling in from the south.


An osprey soaring over the lake searching out a meal.


Sunset over the swamp.

It is a totally new terrain that I'm still adjusting to and very cautiously exploring. It's beautiful and a little bit frightening. As the weather continues to get cooler and the bugs and snakes become less of an issue I plan to explore more extensively into this mysterious and fascinating realm that seems to yield its secrets very reluctantly. Stay tuned and wish me luck.

Happy Fall!!!!

Georgia vs. Alabama

Bryant-Denny Stadium

This coming Saturday the #21 ranked Georgia Bulldogs will pull into Tuscaloosa to engage in battle with the #20 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. It should be a barn burner of a game because these teams are very evenly matched and the intense euphoria left over from the Tide's thrilling defeat of Arkansas last week is still hovering in the air over Bryant-Denny Stadium.

UGA chills on the sideline.

Las Vegas odds makers have Alabama favored by 3.5 points but I wouldn't touch this game with a ten-foot pole. My prediction: the Dawgs will find a way to prevail over the Tide 21-20.

The SEC rules!

Will Nick Saban bring back the glory of the Bear?

Shampoodle

I saw this vehicle making the rounds in my neighborhood today, which got me to start waxing rhapsodically about what a wonderful thing capitalism is. A niche for every need.

Yet more proof positive of what a wonderful civilization we have produced here in the New World.

Silicon basting brushes

My dear friend Kelly Hartsell of Johnson City, Tennessee gave me, as a wedding gift, a set of silicon basting brushes to use when cooking meat on the backyard grill. After using them for the past few months I want to take this opportunity to testify to their superior quality and durability. There is really no comparison!

Not only do they perform more efficiently but they clean up so well that I wonder how I got by before they were invented.

Thanks be to you Kelly for giving me a barbecuing tool that takes me into the 21st century.

Brush at rest


Brush in action


Perfection!

Alabama History Tour

Alabama State Capitol

On our way back from a recent trip to Tennessee we made several minor detours in Alabama so I could visit some historical sites that I have always wanted to see. The first stop was the Alabama State Capitol, in Montgomery, where I took a self-guided walking tour of the grounds and building.

According to the WPA Guide to Alabama: "The State Capitol on Goat Hill, at the east end of Dexter Ave., is constructed of brick covered with stucco and patterned after the National Capitol. It ranks among the most beautiful of the Greek Revival capitols built during antebellum days."

The building was dedicated in 1847 but was burned two years later and rebuilt in 1851. It was here in January 1861 that the Secession Convention convened and one month later representatives of six seceding states chose Montgomery as the provisional capital of the Confederate States of America (it moved to Richmond, VA four months later).

On February 18, 1861 Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as President of the Confederacy in this building and in 1886 helped lay the cornerstone of the Confederate Monument located on the north lawn of the capitol grounds.

Capitol Rotunda

Unlike so many other public buildings these days there were no security checks or a police presence of any kind upon entering this magnificent building. I found the Alabama State Capitol to be a friendly place with a courteous and welcoming staff who were eager to help visitors enjoy this hallowed space.

Jefferson Davis

Just across the street from the State Capitol grounds is the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King was the pastor during the turbulent civil rights era in Montgomery. In many ways this simple 19th century building was the spiritual and moral epicenter of a revolutionary movement in American history. Many of the most famous and important events of that period occurred in this city, including the bus boycott instigated by Rosa Parks in 1955 and the famous voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.

I had always thought that the Dexter Ave. Baptist Church was located in a segregated section of Montgomery and was quite surprised to find it located directly across the street from the state capitol building. This congregation was way more strategically located to stir up change than I had ever imagined. That's why historical pilgrimages are so important to students of history. You can only learn so much from reading books, you've got to get out there and smell the ghosts.

Front of Dexter Ave. Baptist Church

The Montgomery bus Rosa Parks made history in.

We made another stop in the small and decaying town of Georgiana in southern Alabama. This is where we exit the interstate to make our way over country roads into the panhandle of Florida. Connie said she saw a sign that pointed to the Hank Williams boyhood home. At first I thought she had misread the sign because I had never heard anything about him living in THIS town.

We got gas and I turned around and headed back in the direction of the sign. After a couple of left turns we came upon the house all right, located on a very forlorn block in a run down neighborhood. Across the street was a disheveled and derelict old house that was at one time a museum dedicated to Hank but had since fallen on hard times. We peered in through the dirty windows at piles of mementos and junk and then realized that it was time for us to split, mostly for our personal safety. It was just not a very nice neighborhood.

The Hank Williams boyhood home

I think you can confidently skip this historic home the next time you find yourself in this neck of the woods and enjoy these pictures from the safety of your computer screen. The whole thing looked and felt like a feeble attempt by the state tourism authorities to breathe a little economic life into the terminally ill patient that is Georgiana, Alabama.

I will say that we did see some of the lowest slung, boxer underwear revealing, pants on the young males in town that we had observed on the entire trip. Now that's a real point of civic pride.

Downtown Georgiana, Alabama

See ya later alligator

While taking a stroll at dusk we stopped at the dock that juts into the neighborhood pond to do a little bird watching. Tonight we observed wild turkey, white ibis, wood storks, anhingas, great blue herons and common egrets. Florida is certainly a good place to look for wildlife.

Fork it over dude!

Someone had left a bunch of stale bread on the railing of the dock which we threw into the water. Within seconds a plethora of small fish swarmed like piranhas upon the helplessly vulnerable rafts of Wonder Bread. Less than two minutes later a large hump of reptilian flesh was creating a large wake in the middle of the pond that was aimed straight in our direction. It seems that Florida alligators have developed a taste for Wonder Bread too.

Awww come on now! I'm hungry!

This fearless gator swam right up underneath of where we were standing and was as bold as any wild critter I've ever seen in making its case perfectly clear that it wanted some of those enriched wheat flour wafers too. Unfortunately for this large hungry saurian it is illegal to feed alligators in the state of Florida and after several minutes of useless entreaties it finally sulked off in a huff, angry that we were such law-abiding squares. See ya later alligator!

Later dude. Thanks for nuthin'.