This article about James Frey, author of “A Million Little Pieces” is something worth reading.

He also dismisses the accepted wisdom that addiction/alcoholism is an illness like any other, and that the addict/alcoholic may be genetically preconditioned to dependency. Frey takes issue with it all. In one of the most riveting and controversial sections of the book, he sits listening to a counsellor address a family therapy session and simmers as those around him are fed the received wisdoms that he cannot, will not, swallow.

‘I would like to stand up and scream this is bullshit, this is all fucking bullshit, but I don’t. I don’t believe that addiction is a disease. Cancer is a disease… Alzheimer’s is a disease… Addiction is not a disease. Not even close… A disease cannot be dealt with using a Group or a set of Steps. It cannot be dealt with by Talking about it… by reading books with blue covers or saying prayers about serenity… Addiction is a decision. An individual wants something… and makes a decision to get it. Once they have it, they make a decision to take it. If they take it too often, the process of decision- making gets out of control and if it gets too far out of control, it becomes an Addiction. At that point, the decision is a difficult one to make, but it is still a decision. Do I or don’t I… Am I going to be a pathetic dumbshit addict and continue to waste my life or am I going to say no and try to stay sober and be a decent person. It is a decision. Each and every time… Addict or human? Genetics do not make that call. They are just an excuse. They allow people to say it wasn’t my fault…’ As if on a personal mission to disprove every thing that Al Anon holds sacred, Frey then proceeds to dry out the hard way, refusing any form of solace, spiritual or therapeutic, that he cannot accept intellectually.

Instead, he opts for a personal belief system based on the Buddhist philosophy of ‘patience, simplicity and compassion’ as set out in The Tao, a book he finds in rehab and clings to like a life-support machine. Amid all the personal conflicts that rage throughout the narrative, this ideological conflict is central to an understanding of how Frey’s mind works – stubbornly, defiantly, unyieldingly. Put simply, the same anger, defiance and dogged single-mindedness that once almost killed him also pulls him through.

Actually, I wonder if someone re-did the 12 step program with an eastern philosophy point of view if it would show different recovery rates. In any case, it looks like the book may be worth a read.

I should note that I’m pretty sure the principles laid out in The Tao tend to be more Taoist than Buddhist.

I suppose I should finish off my responses to the proposed “10 steps for peace“.

9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an island some place. We don’t need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, it would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

Well, I do have quite a bit to say about restructuring the UN, but I’m going to have to save that for another day. Ideally, I do believe it would not be located in any soveriegn nation (sort of a Vatican style arrangement would be better).

As to the spies and fair weather friends bit…

Frankly, we look like the whiney brats. For years, we have unilaterally used our veto powers to block actions and keep the UN from being anything approaching effective. We don’t get our way this time, and we start howling like brats about fair weather friends and basically quit.

As to spies, consulates are just as good for spies as the UN, and if the US is complaining about covert ops : pot, meet kettle.

9b) Use the [UN] buildings as replacement for the twin towers.

Whatever. Frankly, I doubt the symbolism would satisfy most folks, but if the media really worked it, maybe.

10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us “Ugly Americans” any longer.

Getting our kids off of McDonalds, Burger King, and Coca Cola would be a good first step. Anyway, this wouldn’t help everyone, for while beauty may only be skin deep, sometimes ugly goes straight to the bone (no comments from the peanut gallery please).

So, if they made a drug that you could was non-addictive and had little effect other than simply allowing you to stay awake and alert longer but also allowed you to go to sleep when you wanted to, would you take it from time to time?

Available in Europe as Modafinil, it is prescribed for narcolepsy here in America as Provigil.

They do give some advice:

“Prudence, however, should be exercised in drastically curtailing one’s sleep. Prolonged sleeplessness weakens immune function. Animals tortured in sleep-deprivation experiments eventually die from massive bacterial infections of the blood…”"

The FDA seems to think it is ok. Allegedly, military folks may have had access to it for quite a while longer (although, if that is the case, why would they still be using amphetamines?). Oh yeah, also has mild anti-depressant and memory enhancing properties.

Hmm. 8 extra hours from time to time. If it is as it seems …. Hm.

Eclipse Tonight!

         Total Eclipse of the Moon
           MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
                    o  '    o  '
                W093 16, N44 58
            Central Daylight Time
					  
                                     h  m
Moonrise               2003 May 15  20:22
Moon enters umbra      2003 May 15  21:02.7
Moon enters totality   2003 May 15  22:13.7
Middle of eclipse      2003 May 15  22:40.1
Moon leaves totality   2003 May 15  23:06.4
Moon leaves umbra      2003 May 16  00:17.4
Moon leaves penumbra   2003 May 16  01:14.8
Moonset                2003 May 16  06:01

Holy…

What does THIS portend?

A while back, CASH909 told me about a process to turn old tires to oil, but while I thought it was a cool recycling concept, I didn’t think it would have a huge impact. However,

according to this article, it is not just tires, it is any carbon based trash. Any. Carbon. Based. Trash. Just processing America’s agricultural waste only produce the equivelent of 4 billion barrels of oil. In 2001, we imported 4.2 billion barrels.

http://www.discover.com/may_03/gthere.html?article=featoil.html

Highlights : Thermal depolymerization process converts waste-to-oil. A commercial-scale facility has already been constructed in Missouri for about $20 million. Compare that to the military costs required to secure our current supplies (even if you don’t believe that is something we pay for, the cost-benefits of this one really seem to pay off).

Whoops, I was mistaken, here’s a second post.

Anyone who feels that Pagans deserve the same religious respect as people of other faiths may wish to look at this petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mmh2003/petition.html

Up late working and not planning on having time to post today (tomorrow, whatever), so some cut and paste.

Some quotes I like:

“And shepherds we shall be,
For Thee, my Lord, for Thee.
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand,
That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command.
We shall flow a river forth to Thee,
And teeming with souls shall it ever be.
In nomine patrie, et fili, et spiritu sancti.”
(from Boondock Saints)

“Why of course the people don’t want war … But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship …Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.”
–Hermann Goering, Nazi leader, at the
Nuremberg Trials after World War II

“we have met the enemy, and he is us” – pogo

“if you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
- unknown

“Black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love.” – Turkish proverb (about coffee).

Impermanence:
“To what shall
I liken the world?
Moonlight, reflected
In dewdrops,
Shaken from a crane’s bill.”
-Dogen-Zenji

Upon suffering beyond suffering, the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world; a world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separation. A world longing for the light again. I see a time long after the skies have grown dark and dirty and the water has become bad smelling. I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred tree of life and one whole Earth will become one circle again. And in that day there will be those among the Lakota who will carry the knowledge and understanding and unity among all living things and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the life within your eyes where the whole Universe dwells. For when you are at the center within you, and I at that place within me, we shall be as one.
Crazy Horse

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
–Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, 1918

Bush speech, Pierre’s short version:
We’re at war all over the world, but the country has never been more eager to shop. I plan to expand more wars if and when my poll rating dips below 82%. Y’know, folks, a brave little girl named Sally-Lou looked up at me with her big eyes and asked, “Where’s my daddy?” So I will raise military spending and lower taxes on the rich. We won’t have a balanced budget, but Reagan didn’t, so I’m using voodoo economics too. And to those who are ask why, I tell them: Because I am not ashamed when a retired fireman goes every day to Ground Zero to pay tribute to his firefighter son. That’s why I support bipartisanship, as long as those Democrats support Republican programs. I’m here to tell you, retirement programs should be safe, so there, I said so. We need to be less greedy, so while I serve corporate interests, I’m expanding the Boy Scouts so that unemployed people of all ages can volunteer for their community like I never, ever did. Volunteer work will fill the social service gap as we close down our government social programs. That’s my wife sitting over there. God bless!
- Peter Gelman

And a post I made to a politics list a while back that I recently came across. It struck me because something about it felt a notch above my usual:
http://mapnp.mnforum.org/pipermail/mpls/2002-October/017875.html

G’night.

And on the seventh day, he rested – biblical instructions for sociological and psychological health. Whether one calls it “sabbath”, “lazy sunday”, or anything else, the need for taking some time away from work, some time to rest, interact with friends, family, and loved ones, some time to give yourself needed mental space has become more clear to me.

It will take some planning and dedication to stick with it, but for now, it remains a goal. Who knows, if it keeps working, maybe I’ll even be able to find time for coffee with friends. *grin*

Speaking of friends, I seem to have a tendancy to let a lot of people slip off the radar if they aren’t somehow involved in some regularly scheduled activity. It isn’t such a good thing, but the question is, can I find the time to fix it?

Social/political ills have me feeling somewhat overwhelmed again. It is a common thing for me. I don’t make enough time for being involved and I get overwhelmed by the magnitude of the troubles out there and my feelings of responsibility for it. If I don’t do anything, how can I complain? How can I expect anyone else to step up to the plate? But yet, I have so much going on that I can’t seem to find enough time. Heck, I didn’t even get my lawn mowed this weekend and the garden is still sitting fallow.

Someone accused me of wanting to be a hero, but not having the courage to do what it takes. They may have a point.

I’m going to try not to stress about it too much this week, though. There’s not much I can do right now without shirking the commitments I have made. First I have to clear some space.

Three more things I’d like to find more time for: Meditation, Kung Fu, Working out.

Ah well.

For now, lazy sundays are a step in the right direction. I think they may include staying away from the computer for anything other than utility (mapquest/sidewalk.com/etc.)

Oh, I suppose I should look at a couple more of the “10 steps for peace”:

6) The US will make a strong effort to become self sufficient energy wise. This will include developing non polluting sources of energy, but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.

Well, obviously I support the basic premise of this one. The Alaskan wilderness aspect of it concerns me, but in an attempt to avoid sacred cows, I see it as a viable compromise IF the commitment to developing other sources of energy is real and IF it means reducing the damaging foreign policies that are in place to ensure our oil supply.

7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don’t like it, we go someplace else.

Interesting idea. Personally, the way I’d prefer to see it is withdraw all government support for the oil companies and pressures on OPEC. That, combined with a serious investment in renewable domestic resources should create a market dynamic that becomes more naturally balanced. I could see any “state” purchases of oil having a price cap – above which, they need to get special approval or find another power source.

8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not “interfere.” They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them gets”lost” or is taken by their army. The people who need it most get very little anyway.

Hmm.. My first reaction is “aren’t we better than that”, but again, trying not to be knee jerk about things, I’m taking a more open minded approach. First of all, the “gets lost” issue is a real one, often giving more power to the abusers creating the problem (eg: Somalia). I guess ultimately, I’d like to see official international aid under the purview of a restructured UN (which would be required to ensure the aid gets to who it needs to). The US, as a member of the UN, would likely supply food, equipment and personnel to the UN to support these missions. Additional aid could be continued through charity and mercy groups such as missions, peace corp, etc., but should perhaps be privately funded.

Speaking of the UN, I’ll get to 9 and 10 from the list later.

Almost finally, I had an interesting sideline discussion relating to a previous post on gun control/ballistics/weapon tracking. The short of it is that there are a lot of holes in ballistics tracking that may make the cost-benefit analysis not work out so great.

I do encourage all readers (who have not so already) to sign up for a free xanga account so they can use comments and such discussions can take place in the web log forum so others can read/comment/critique. Remember, just because you have a xanga account doesn’t mean you have to use the web log feature…

Finally, a question – are my posts too long?

Yesterday, I posted a link to an email from Flo, an acquaintence currently in Palestine. As of May 5th, she was working in Beit Sahour – a town in Palestine near the Bethleham area – in an ISM (International Solidarity Movement) media office.

On May 9th, at 12:30 (local time), the Israeli military raided the ISM media office, confiscating and destroying equipment and material and taking the three women there, including Flo.

Press Release

###

Friday, May 9, 2003
For Immediate Release

[Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine] Israeli forces raided the ISM office this morning, confiscating equipment and material and snatching three women. At 12:30pm on Friday, May 9, approximately 20 military vehicles, army jeeps and a large armored personnel carrier (intended for many arrests) surrounded the ISM media office in Beit Sahour. Dozens of soldiers, border police and civilian police officers raided the ISM office, confiscating all computers, not only in the ISM office but in the nearby office of the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement. Files, CD, and photos were all pillaged, while soldiers broke equipment and damaged office space. Israeli forces kidnapped Palestinian volunteer, Fida, American volunteer, Flo, and a worker with Human Rights Watch visiting the office. At the time of this writing, Fida has been released, and the internationals seem to have been moved to the office of the Israeli Ministry of Interior, most probably for deportation.

The Israeli government has declared an open war on international peace and human rights workers. Israeli forces are doing everything in their power to specifically prevent the nonviolent resistance to their military rule. The stepped-up harassment of internationals and journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is nothing short of a further attempt to shield from the international community the brutality of daily Israeli military actions against the Palestinian people.

The ISM, however, has no plans to leave the Palestinian areas nor to reduce our actions or our efforts. We need your help. Please protest:

In the US: Contact your congressperson, the State Department and the White House using this link.
http://www.cflweb.org/congress_merge_.htm or http://www.congress.gov
Also call the State Department and demand action. STATE DEPARTMENT 1- 202-647-5150

For UK, Please call THE FOREIGN OFFICE 020 7008 1500, Also Contact your MP and Prime Minister

For Israel Contact Israeli Minister of Interior, Tel: +972-2-629- 4701; Fax: +972-2-629-4750

Israeli Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom Fax: +972-2-5303704 e-mail: sar@mofa.gov.ilIsraeli

Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz Fax: +972-3-6916940, 6976990 e-mail: sar@mod.gov.il

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fax: (+972-2) 566-4838 or 651-3955 or 651-2631

For Canada: Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham, House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A6; Fax 613-996-3443

Everyone, Contact the Israeli embassy in your country

See our website: www.palsolidarity.org for more ways to help or get involved.

For more information, please call: +972-2-277-4602

An acquaintance is in Palestine right now. Here’s what she’s got to say so far…

…

I haven’t quite figured out the etiquette to answering questions posed in comments of posts yet. Does one comment back in the original poster’s weblog, do a follow up comment under the original post, or make a new post?

…

In any case, gentlegiant asked question whether I think gun control is good or bad.

I don’t have a really strong opinion about it, but I generally lean towards allowing people to carry what they want and demanding responsibility and accountability. The cops have guns, the military has guns, the criminals have guns. They are only a problem if they are used against someone.

I think some anti-gun people are the sort of over-sensitive over-reactive paranoid types depicted in the NPR Reporter/Marine joke from the original post. A gun (especially a rifle) is a tool and it is how it is used that is a problem or not. I also believe in the general principle of “innocent until proven guilty” – don’t bar me from doing something because you think it may lead to me doing something bad. Until I have done something wrong, I have not done something wrong.

The main type of control I’d like to see is tracking. I’d like to see manufacturers required to take ballistic tests and a computer database with searching capabilities so that any bullet found can be tracked back to the original gun and then that gun tracked to the current owner. I could go further into how exactly I’d like to see it run, but that’s basically it.

Doesn’t stop those who are skilled enough to change their weapon’s ballistics or make their own weapons, but no law would.

So, if someone wants to carry a gun, fine by me. If they are asked not to bring it into someone’s house or business, they need to respect that, period.

If they threaten someone with that gun (at all) or hurt someone with that gun, they need to be held responsible. Them feeling threatened is not enough – if they kill a person, the dead person should still be innocent until proven guilty. If the deceased is not shown to be guilty of doing something that required them being shot (basically, they need to be an immediate violent threat), the shooter should be in a lot of trouble.

…

And to continue looking at the ten proposed steps to world peace:

3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We’ll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them.

The key word here is illegal, so I’m generally OK with it. I allow for the option of them becoming legal aliens (with the standard applications and reviews). The France crack, of course, is unnecessary, although it is possible that some other countries may offer asylum to those who need it but we won’t accept.

4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 day visits unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don’t like it there, change it yourself, don’t hide here. Asylum would not ever be available to anyone. We don’t need any more cab drivers.

This one gets under my skin for a couple reasons. First of all “Terrorist Nation” is a completely politicized term that has no real meaning. If we tried to apply meaning to it based on international/legal definitions of terrorism, two countries we’d have to ban are Israel and the United States. Secondly, under this concept, we might be saluting a Nazi flag right now as all those scientists who wanted to get out of Germany could easily have ended up making the atomic bomb for Hitler if they didn’t have another option.

5) No “students” over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don’t attend classes, they get a “D” and it’s back home, baby.

Hm. I can kind of see this one, although I’d back off on the age thing. If someone’s here on a student visa and they’re not attending to their studies, however, it seems reasonable to ask them to shape up or leave.

…

That’s it for today.