What's the measure of a life?

Alysia Danielle Delgado-Parmley Beaty

June 13, 1989 - April 29, 2010

Rest in Peace

10,979,337 minutes

20 years, 10 months, 15 days

a little sister, a big brother

2 parents

a beloved partner

friends

a puppy and a cat

a guitar or 2

rockband genius

a smile from ear to ear

tattoos

more friends

memories left behind

touches on the heart of all who knew her

Read This and Weep

distributorcap NY: Because It Wasted Bullets

MSNBC, WW2 and Buchanan

Over at MSNBC, Pat Buchanan has decided that Hitler was simply misunderstood: he didn't REALLY want to start a war, he was FORCED to by England and France, who wouldn't give him lebensraum (expansion room) otherwise. Umm, fail.

Never mind that Austria wasn't actually a place for Germany to expand its population into, but a very good strategic base for attacking Russia (which Germany did immediately following its invasion of Poland). Never mind that Germany had brought its economic crisis on itself by aggressively building up its military capacity, in violation of the treaties it signed at the end of WW1. The way Germany went about its "expansion" was, in effect, as if the US had decided to fix its economic problems by nuking South America.

What part of "Exterminating 6 million Jews" is excusable for any reason? Forget Stalin (who Buchanan offers as a "he did it too, so what's the fuss?"), or any other psychotic dictator. Under what circumstances is it acceptable to commit genocide?

None. Any other answer labels you as sub-human and unworthy of civilized discourse.

Please go to MSNBC and tell them how you feel.

Prayer for agnostics

Thinking about the folks around here: so many are hurting and full of sorrow and loss. I'm not much of a praying Yogi, but I came across this in the files and felt a resonance, so I want to share it with you all. Be well.


Verbal prayers make sense, I think, if you know in advance that talking to God is like talking to your dog. You say human words to your dog, but he pretty much ignores that in favor of how you smell. Similarly, whatever divinity there is hears your words of prayer but very likely ignores all you say in favor of the aroma of your heart: your kindness, your compassion - for both your own poor soul and for your have-not brothers and sisters in the world. But the words of your prayer do matter to you: they give shape to your thoughts; they warm and give color to your soul and spur you to a focused listening.


William Cleary, Prayers to an Evolutionary God

We're OK In Altadena

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of stuff, but we've been busy, what with the pool and all, and now Mother Nature is busy making sure we respect her. For the most up-to-date info, try the LA Times web site. There's a map showing where the fire is and which way it's heading.

Here's a picture from Mt. Wilson Observatory, from about noon today.

If you click on this, you should get a Google map. Click on the lower yellow area (Altadena) a few times to zoom in, until you can see Lake Ave. We are down Lake, near Woodbury Rd., so we're not in immediate danger. We spent the day collecting files and such, in case it gets more urgent. Tomorrow we'll test out how the animal carriers fit in the van, to make sure we're ready.

Otherwise, we are fine. I'll post pix of the finished pool as soon as I get them off the camera.

Stay well, now.