Sunday Concert: Today

Imagine my surprise as an old folk music fan to hear, recently, our organist at church launch into a beautiful rendition of this song as a postlude to the worship service. It is one of the prettiest tunes ever written, but the words are hardly a sermon likely to be preached 'round here. I suppose someone has put new words to it, though I've never heard them. Here are the New Christie Minstrels singing, Today ---

Psst! Have you Heard?

Pssst. Have you heard? I have. I heard that Barack Obama once said there has to be “an end” to the Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank “that began in 1967.” Yikes!
(Read more.)

...FBI personnel started notifying headquarters as early as 2002 that other government employees were using abusive tactics -- including sexual humiliation, prolonged hand-to-foot shackling and exposure to extreme temperatures -- on detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. Justice officials conveyed some of these concerns in at least one White House meeting in 2003, but the White House apparently ignored them. A year later, the revelation of similar abuses at Abu Ghraib became a source of everlasting shame for American citizens, a serious blow to the United States's moral authority, and a potent rallying cry for the nation's enemies....
(Read more.)

Fanning Flames

I believe Barack Obama will be an inspiring President. I will support him enthusiastically despite the fact that I first supported John Edwards, and after Edwards dropped from the race I supported Hillary Clinton. I have several times spoken about the wealth of candidates we have had in the Democratic Party this year.

The enthusiasm for the Democratic candidates, the huge turnouts in Democratic caucuses and primaries, the special election victories for our party, all point to a Democratic victory in November.

The primary hope for the Republicans is that we will form a circular firing squad in our close race for the nomination. Democrats who have jumped on Hillary Clinton today, as CNN and others have tried to fan a fire from the tiniest spark in history, do a disservice to the cause. Hillary Clinton, plainly, obviously, undeniably, simply, mentioned the 1968 race as an example of races that lasted into June. Wolf Blitzer and others have tried to make her mere mention of Robert Kennedy's assassination into some message that was NOT a part of the conversation! Barack Obama needs to reprimand those in his campaign who try to make something else of this! That is outragious, wrong, insulting to Sen. Clinton, insulting to me, insulting to any reasonable person. Just because an lightweight like Wolf Blitzer tries to make a ratings-boosting controversy out of nothing, the Obama campaign doesn't have to join in. That is the same old politics, not the changed politics we all want - and have come to expect - from his campaign.

Sunday Concert: Both Shall Row

When Sheila and I merged our record collections in 1971 we found a number of duplications. We both had some PP&M I remember. We also both had James Taylor albums. Here is James singing an ancient folk song that we often sing at our occasional "hoots". "The Water is Wide"


This beautiful tune is now used for a wonderful hymn based on the 13th chapter of First Corinthians. Here is a children's choir singing "The Gift of Love".

Poison E-mails

I haven't checked in on The Questing Parson as often as I ought lately. He usually hits the nail on the head, and has again with this post:

Dear Jack,

I received your email this morning. As the pastor who baptized you, I am a bit disturbed...

(Read more)

Learning in the Great Outdoors #12

Charlie at 10,000 Birds has done a magnificent job of hosting the May edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors. Check it out. His photography alone is worth the visit!

I am neck deep in the usual end-of-school-year fuss and have been too busy to get to the blog much. Please check back here every now and then.

Call for Submissions!

Charlie at 10,000 Birds has issued a call for submissions for the May edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors.

If you haven't visited 10,000 Birds lately, you should check it out. Charlie and company have redesigned the site to make it even more entertaining and helpful.

If you have written or read an interesting post about the great outdoors, submit it to Charlie today. If you have a suggestion of a deserving website that should be noticed by those interested sharing nature with children, pass it along. Do you have a favorite nature-related children’s website that would be a candidate for the Virtual Outdoors award? Send it to Charlie. Would you like to see this carnival grow? Copy this Call for Submissions to your own blog! And after Charlie posts #12 (around May 12), post an announcement and link on your blog. Help us make Learning in the Great Outdoors a great tool for anyone interested in watching children learn in the context of the environment around us.

Email charlie10000birds - AT - gmail - DOT - com.

Birds of Yucatan

In looking through the many pics from our five days on the Yucatan peninsula, I noticed a number of birds. So for a first collection of shots let's pick a few of those. Maybe Charlie, of 10,000 Birds, will help me know which species I have captured in pixels. [Thanks, Charlie, for IDing the birds for me in the comments. I have added Charlie's identifications in red.]

****
Carnival Invitation!

Speaking of Charlie: he will edit the May edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors (LIGO). If you have an outdoor post on your blog, submit it to Charlie for inclusion in the carnival. Unfortunately the webpage I set up as a home for LIGO has become somehow corrupted. I have been unable to update it for several weeks.

****

This [Brown Pelican] pelican posed for me on rocks near the Punta Cancun lighthouse.


These [Magnificent Frigatebirds] seem to have different destinations as they glide above the Fiestamericana Hotel. I think the lower one is male (red throat pouch) and the other female.


This [Social Flycatcher] flew among the trees around one of the huge water holes near Chichen Itza.


I am unsure which bird makes this interesting silhouette.


This [Osprey] perched atop the lifegaurd stand on the beach at Punta Cancun to eat the proceeds of a fishing expedition.

This beautiful [Tourquoise-browed Motmot] clings to vegetation hanging into a deep ancient sinkhole where Mayans obtained their water and where modern locals and tourists swim.


Another fellow I don't know. [Tropical Mockingbird] He reminds me of our mockingbirds.


This may be the same bird as the one just above. [Tropical Mockingbird]


These noisy brown and black [Great-tailed Grackles] were everywhere about our hotel with their oversized tail feathers. This guy was streching sleepily early Sunday morning. A local man, a worker at the hotel, told me the Mayan word for this bird is (phonetically spelled here) "peech".



Finally an anhinga or snake bird [Aninga or a Cormorant (can't quite tell)] swimming in the lagoon as Sheila flashes by in a speedboat. These strange birds swim about with only their necks and heads above water.

The Lap of Luxury

Thanks to Sheila's company and her hard work the past year (and before) we have just had a few days in paradise. No e-mail. No web browsing. No cell phone. White sand. Crystal-clear, turquoise waters. Savory food. Elegant accomodations. Luxuriant nature. Fascinating history.


We're back.

More later.