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*A Small Step Toward A Sane PolicyNo, the invisible wall is not going to come tumbling down although that is the impression one gets from the scream coming out of anti-Cuba groups after President Obama lifted travel and spending restrictions. It was time.Politically, expressing support for normal relations with Cuba is still risky. The anti-Cuba forces in Florida no longer have the clout they once enjoyed but they have friends, mostly Republicans, in high places who rant about the "Communist regime" in our backyard. Perhaps they yearn for the good old days of the Dictator Fulgencio Batista! Get over it.Fidel Castro is still alive but no longer at the helm. His brother, Raul Castro became president of Cuba in 2008. There are many allegations about human rights abuses during Castro's rule. No doubt some of them are true. But the American government has had cozy relationship with dictators who were much worse. The history of our support of juntas in Latin American countries is shameful. And let's not forget that at one time we were in bed with the late Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran when torture and murder of dissidents were routinely carried out in Iraq and Iran.President Obama did the right thing. Let's hope that the rabble-rousers would accept the fact that their irrational, unjustified campaign against Cuba has no support in the rest of the free world.

* Friday Morning Charivari"Morally bankrupt"....that is what Nevada politicians, who voted against a tax on prostitution service, feel about the world's oldest profession. Another example of pot calling the kettle black. Most of the politicians in Nevada bend over backward to do the bidding of casino owners. No doubt the two-faced lawmakers believe that gambling is a pure and blessed activity! Call them expedient.Excerpts from Reuters, Apr 9, 2009CARSON CITY, Nevada (Reuters) - Nevada lawmakers on Thursday defeated a proposed prostitution tax that had won support from brothel owners and working ladies willing to do their part to ease the state's $3 billion budget crisis. * State Senator Bob Coffin, a Democrat, proposed levying a $5-per-customer service tax on patrons of some 20 legal brothels operating in rural Nevada, all of them outside Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County, where prostitution remains outlawed. * But a sharply divided Nevada state Senate committee voted 4-3 on Thursday to kill the tax, which Coffin said would have raised an estimated $2 million a year. * Coffin said similar proposals never went very far in the past due to opposition from legislators who felt that taxing prostitution would further legitimize an industry they regard as distasteful and morally bankrupt.A bouquet for the working women engaged in prostitution who supported the tax.Gay RightsInteresting to see gay rights making progress in different states of the country. Iowa Supreme Court's recent ruling that gay marriage ban is unconstitutional was quite unexpected. A sign of the times. People are no longer unquestioningly accepting arguments about homosexuality being sinful and giving gays full legal rights, including the right to marry, would lead to moral decay that various religious groups have had success with in the past.

*The Boss and Neil Young * Karzai Backs DownThe logo is a copyright of www.glastonbury.co.ukThe largest open air music and performing arts festival in the world is scheduled from June 24th to 28th....and is sold out. The location is Worthy Farm, Pilton, near Glastonbury in Somerset, England. This year, both Bruce Springsteen (The Boss) and Neil Young who were passionate about their opposition to Bush's war in Iraq, have been booked to appear at Glastonbury. Springsteen actively campaigned for Obama. Bush and his cohorts are gone but the war is still going on. In 2006, Neil Young produced an album that contained a song titled "Impeach the President". Not going to happen but they are great and courageous artists. See The Boss and Protest Singer.Hamid Karzai Backs DownNot happily, but faced with intense condemnation of the rape law that he readily signed only a month ago, Hamid Karzai backed down -- agreed to "scrap the law". He might not find it that easy. In Afghanistan, it is not only among the Taleban that Islamic fundamentalists exist. Karzai, Bush administration's handpicked candidate to rule Afghanistan has been a failure. Not an easy job for anyone, certainly not for a corrupt man like Hamid Karzai.Guardian UKIt is said to forbid women to refuse to have sex with their husbands and force them to get their spouses' permission before leaving the house, looking for a job, going to the doctor or receiving education.Gordon Brown has led the international condemnation of the law, saying today it would be unacceptable for British soldiers to die defending a regime that enacted oppressive legislation of this kind. The prime minister told Sky News that Nato leaders had attacked the law in the communique issued at the end of the summit in Strasbourg, and that Karzai had told him it would not come into force in the way that it had been reported.

* The Skeleton in the Closet - Catholics and Birth ControlThere is a saying that "there is no fool like an old fool". True? Not necessarily; there are plenty of wise old men and women around to disprove that. But reading about Pope Benedict and other officials of the Catholic Church one gets the impression that the the church is full of old fools. In fact, they are worse than fools because they refuse to face reality and repeat their selective interpretation of scriptures.BBC News, March 27, 2009Pope 'distorting condom science'One of the world's most prestigious medical journals, the Lancet, has accused Pope Benedict XVI of distorting science in his remarks on condom use.It said the Pope's recent comments that condoms exacerbated the problem of HIV/Aids were wildly inaccurate and could have devastating consequences.The Pope had said the "cruel epidemic" should be tackled through abstinence and fidelity rather than condom use. What about Catholics in America and abroad? Do they follow the pope's dictum? Talk to your Catholic friends under 50. Chances are you'll learn that most of them practice some form of birth control, including condoms, and don't even consider that as a sin. How does the Vatican explain the phenomenon in Italy. "The birth rate of Italy, at a rate of 1.23 children per woman is the second lowest in the Western world. Women rarely have more than one child. The government and the Catholic Church in this staunchly Catholic nation are perplexed and concerned by this phenomenon." Are the Italians practitioners of the rhythm method, aka Russian roulette ? That,too, is not encouraged by the church. It considers that sexual intercourse is meant only for procreation. Talk about heads buried in the sand! Unfortunately, there is no doubt that the church's position results in millions of unwanted pregnancies and STDs.That brings up another question......do Catholic priests masturabate? A medically proven healthy practice, masturbation is also a sin according to the church. Think about the numerous publicized cases about Catholic priests who engaged in pedophilia and you'll have the answer.The hypocrisy is not confined to the Catholic Church. Politicians play the same game. Republicans, with their moral values facade, are outwardly more prudish than Democrats. But even President Clinton, of all people, let his one time surgeon general, Dr. Jocelyn Elders, go because of her frank comments about masturbation. What did she say? ".............is something that is part of human sexuality and it is part of something that perhaps should be taught." And then Clinton went on to diddle Monica Lewinsky in the White House!Source: www.benettontalk.comEnjoy safe sex. Let the pope and prudes rant."One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other." ----Jane Austen (1775-1817)

*"Who Will Watch the Watchers"There are numerous reports about abuse of the Patriot Act during the presidency of G.W. Bush. The act was passed by cowed members of Congress who dared not question the Bush administration's demand for prompt action and wide powers. Bush and his cohorts got what they wanted and lost no time in taking advantage of it to pursue their neo-conservative agenda.Now the director of the FBI is asking for renewal of the act which is due to expire in December this year.Washington Post, March 26, 2009FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III urged lawmakers yesterday to renew intelligence-gathering measures in the USA Patriot Act that are set to expire in December, calling them "exceptional" tools to help protect national security.The law, passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, created divisions between proponents, who said it was necessary to deter terrorism, and privacy advocates warning that it tramples on Americans' civil liberties. Portions of the law are up for reauthorization this year. We have a new president, and the Congress is no longer subservient to the executive branch. Before acceding to Director Mueller, the various questionable features of the act must be scrutinized and all avenues for abuses stopped. The last eight years have proven that the executive branch cannot be trusted. Enough damage has been done by Bush and Cheney under the guise of national security."Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who will watch the watchers?)"-- Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis, Roman rhetorician and satirical poet (1st to 2nd cent. A.D.)

*San Francisco Bay Area - Peninsula CitiesWild flowers have began to appear but it would take a few more weeks for them to come out in force at some of the preserves. Russian Ridge, on Skyline, is one of them. Spring flowers in the gardens of homes in the Bay area are in bloom......and they are gorgeous.Magnolia tree, Palo Alto, California© MusafirFlowering Cherry Tree, Parrott Dr, San Mateo© MusafirFlowering Cherry, Parrott Dr, San Mateo© MusafirScotch Broom, Parrott Dr, San Mateo© MusafirDaffodils, Tournament Dr, San Mateo© MusafirClose up of Cherry Blossoms, Parrott Dr, San Mateo© MusafirIceland Poppy, Tournament Dr, San Mateo© MusafirTulips, Sunnyvale, California© MusafirAnd a glimpse of shimmering Crystal Spring through Hwy 280 overpass© Musafir"The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life."--- Jean Giradoux

*"W", the movieWatching Oliver Stone's film, "W" , about our 43rd president, G.W. Bush, brought back all the bad things he did for eight long years. The movie was limited in scope as to what could be depicted in a few hours and, therefore, concentrated on the Iraq war....the war for which we paid a heavy price in lives lost and money. We are still paying. President Obama appears to be in no hurry to get us out of there. To be fair, Obama inherited many problems and his main thrust is to revitalize the economy. Rightly so.With their free-market policy and muzzling of regulations, Bush and the Republicans played a major role in encouraging the debacle in the financial sector and the current state of the economy. We must remember though that it was during the Clinton administration that banking laws were re-written to make things easy for questionable practices by lenders.....a primary reason for the crash of the housing market. Venal politicians exist among Democrats. Currently, they are busy blustering about AIG. Makes you wonder where were they when laws were passed to allow corporate entities to run amok. Think of campaign contributions and you get the feeling that our system is corrupt.But watching "W" reinforced the impression that we elected a hollow man as president.....twice. So we deserved what he and his team of war hawks gave us.August 8, 1974Those of us who thought that Nixon was a bad president didn't have a clue about what was coming. I remembered listening to Nixon's resignation speech during a UAL flight from Chicago to San Francisco. An old lady in the sit next to me said "this calls for a drink". We ordered wine and lifted our glasses. But compared to G.W. Bush, Nixon was a giant.Years of Lightning, Day of DrumsIt was more than 45 years ago. Still the memory of where I was when I learned about JFK's assassination remains vivid. That was long before the advent of the world wide web and instant news flashes. Calcutta (Kolkata), India, on the morning of November 23, 1963, when I went to the front door to pick up the newspaper that I saw banner headline about the thirty-fifth president of the United States. A few years later I watched Bruce Herschensohn's documentary "Years of Lightning, Day of Drums" with background commentary by Gregory Peck about the 1000 days of the Kennedy Administration.

*Time for Wild Flowers * End of the Chanterelle SeasonJust seven days away from spring. We have gone through the clock change. The days have become longer; the dark mornings, too, will soon be behind us.Spring too, very soon!They are setting the scene for it--plum tree and moon.---Basho (1643-1694)The late rains did not do much for the chanterelles but could produce a good display of wild flowers. During a recent walk on Grizzly Flat,north, trail (off Hwy 35) JHL and I saw some milkmaids in bloom. We forded the creek and hiked to the beginning of the Canyon Trail toward Montebello Preserve. Stopped for a picnic lunch and then returned to the pullout at Hwy 35. Just across from the pullout is the trail heading south to Long Ridge.A view of Upper Stevens Creek at Grizzly Flat© MusafirCalifornia Tortoiseshell(Nymphalis californica) at Grizzly Flat© MusafirMilkmaids at Grizzly Flat© MusafirRock Cress at Foothills Park© MusafirAC and I drove up Hwy 9 once more to look for chanterelles. We found some....enough to reward us for the trip, and there was the pleasure of walking through the woods.© Musafir

* Obama does the Right Thing * Earmarks * Bay Area RainfallA misnomer to begin with, Bush's last minute ruling (one of the so called "Midnight" rulings) was a gesture to please the hardcore social conservatives.Reuters - March 6, 2009WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration moved formally on Friday to rescind a Bush administration rule to protect health workers who refuse to provide services and information on moral grounds, which had inflamed abortion-rights advocates.The rule took effect hours before President Barack Obama took office in January, and opponents say the previous administration rushed it through in a last-minute push in a bid to deny patients not only abortion rights, but also contraception and other care.In a statement on its website, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department said it was "proposing to rescind" the rule "in its entirety."While the Obama Administration continues to leave intact some major policies of the previous administration -- the war in Iraq, for one, on this particular issue, followed by reports that ban on Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is to be lifted, Obama decided to risk the wrath of the conservatives. Good for him. Earmarks Alive and WellEarmarking (funding for pet projects) has become an entrenched tradition. Roundly condemned by many Democrats who are now doing their share of continuing the practice. Obama's budget director Peter Orszag said on CNN: "[Such bills] will not happen when the president has the full legislative and appropriations process in place," Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told CNN's "State of the Union with John King."Don't bet on it.The Rains CameBut not enough. The latest table shows that the Bay area precipitation is still below the norm, and so is Sierra snow pack level. While not full, reservoirs have benefited from the rains that began late February. Most of next week is expected to be sunny and dry.The rains were too late for chanterelles. They decided to stay underground. Very meager pickings this season. Perhaps we'll be rewarded by a bumper crop in November."Sound of rain,Memories of years pastPleasure and pain."

* Praise the Lord and Turn on the X-Rated Video Interesting numbers. In the March 3rd edition of NY Times, Charles M. Blow wrote about online adult entertainment and where the buyers came from. A study by Benjamin Edelman, an assistant professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, titled “Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?” and published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives found that subscriptions to online pornography sites are “more prevalent in states where surveys indicate conservative positions on religion, gender roles, and sexuality.” The tables clearly illustrate that when it comes to pornography, members of the holier than thou moral values brigade have a hidden side to their persona. Some of the findings quoted by Mr. Blow: 1. In regions where more people report regularly attending religious services, overall subscription rates are not statistically significantly different from subscriptions elsewhere. 2. Subscriptions are slightly more prevalent in states that have enacted conservative legislation on sexuality (regression results on file with the author). In the 27 states where “defense of marriage” amendments have been adopted (making same-sex marriage, and/or civil unions unconstitutional), subscriptions to this adult entertainment service are weakly more prevalent than in other states ( p 0.096). In such states, there were 0.2 more subscribers to this adult web site per thousand broadband households, 11 percent more than in other states. 3. In states where more people agree that “Even today miracles are performed by the power of God” and “I never doubt the existence of God,” there are more subscriptions to this service. 4. Subscriptions are also more prevalent in states where more people agree that “I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage” and “AIDS might be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behavior.” 5. Tancer (2008), finds that adult escort sites are more popular in “blue” states that voted for Gore in 2004, while visitors from the “red” states that voted for Bush in 2004 are more likely to visit wife-swapping sites, adult webcams, and sites about voyeurism. Pitiful wanking hypocrites.