Obama's speech to the UN

Disclaimer: I am not a Democrat or a Republican. I vote, but I am not a political analyst. Just Joe Average Citizen here, making some observations...

There is often a tendency on any given side of a political or religious or social equation to pick and choose "sound bites" to support their point of view. I believe this is just a normal human tendency, but we need to be a little more astute and investigate the context in which "offensive" things are said. More often than not, we will find that a phrase taken in context is a lot less offensive than first meets the eye.

Case in point: Some have voiced exception to a recent speech made by US President Obama before the United Nations, citing his phrase: "The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam"[...], implying that those who make mockery of Islam should be censored (or worse). (Or at least I assume this is the conclusion drawn. That would seem to me a reasonable assumption, based on those words alone... and taken out of context.)

What follows is still an excerpt, but more in context... in which the speaker makes a list of "not this / but this" statements: (Bolded text is my emphasis on what I see as the "bottom line" point he is trying to make.)

In less than two years, we have seen largely peaceful protests bring more change to Muslim-majority countries than a decade of violence. And extremists understand this, because they have nothing to offer to improve the lives of people, violence is their only way to stay relevant. They don't build. They only destroy.

It is time to leave the call of violence and the politics of division behind. On so many issues, we face a choice between the promise of the future or the prisons of the past, and we cannot afford to get it wrong. We must seize this moment, and America stands ready to work with all who are willing to embrace a better future.

[NOT THIS:] The future must not belong to those who target Coptic Christians in Egypt. [BUT THIS:] It must be claimed by those in Tahrir Square who chanted, "Muslims, Christians, we are one." [NOT THIS:] The future must not belong to those who bully women. [BUT THIS:] It must be shaped by girls who go to school and those who stand for a world where our daughters can live their dreams just like our sons.

[NOT THIS:] The future must not belong to those corrupt few who steal a country's resources. [BUT THIS:] It must be won by the students and entrepreneurs, the workers and business owners who seek a broader prosperity for all people. Those are the women and men that America stands with. There's is the vision we will support.

[NOT THIS:] The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. [BUT THIS:] But to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated or churches that are destroyed, or the Holocaust that is denied.

Let us condemn incitement against Sufi Muslims and Shia pilgrims. It's time to heed the words of Gandhi, "Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit." 

Together, we must work towards a work (sic. “world?”) where we are strengthened by our differences, and not defined by them. That is what America embodies. That's the vision we will support. Among Israelis and Palestinians, the future must not belong to those who turn their backs on the prospect of peace. Let us leave behind those who thrive on conflict, those who reject the right of Israel to exist. 

The road is hard, but the destination is clear: a secure Jewish state of Israel and an independent, prosperous Palestine. 

Understanding that such a peace must come through a just agreement between the parties, America will walk alongside all who are prepared to make that journey.

In Syria, the future must not belong to a dictator who massacres his people. If there's a cause that cries out for protests in the world today, peaceful protest, it is a regime that tortures children and shoots rockets in apartment buildings. And we must remain engaged to assure that what began with citizens demanding their rights does not end in a cycle of sectarian violence.

[…]But when you strip all away, people everywhere long for the freedom to determine their destiny; the dignity that comes with work; the comfort that comes with faith; and the justice that exists when governments serve their people and not the other way around. 

The United States of America will always stand up for these aspirations for our own people and for people all across the world. That was our founding purpose. That is what our history shows.[…]

(Here is the full text of his speech made on 9/25/2012)

So, I put it to you: in all fairness, investigate a statement in its original context. 

It is disingenuous to make a statement to illustrate your point by using a phrase from your opponent to say something he/she did not actually say.

Summer Means...

Sometimes I have to laugh.
When we are in the depths of winter (and for us, that can be a few days of rain or fog and temps that dip into the 40s...) people invariably begin to moan and whine for summer. Well, with the exception of my friend Jodie, of course. I would never accuse her of whining or moaning about anything. She is one of the most positive people I know. But even she, in her own elegant - yet unsatisfied - way, will wish for flip-flip / beach weather.


And now that summer is upon us, what do we hear? "It's going to be another scorcher today..." I just want to shout, "People, this is Chico! It gets hot here in the summer." I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley in the days of horse and buggies and swamp coolers, so I was well-prepared for summers in the Sacramento Valley. Lucky me, because my first summer here lingered for weeks in the triple digits, unlike our normal stretch of about 3 days in a row, followed by a week in the 90s. And, lest that sounds sweltering to you, we not only traditionally enjoy low humidity, but we also know how to dress in the summertime.
You can always tell the transplants. The women wear pantyhose, the men wear ties. Chico is not about image or trying to impress. We just enjoy life, and we enjoy living here. No one can enjoy life in pantyhose or a tie, I don't care what climate you live in.


When we came back from Gabon in 2001, I made a vow that I would never again complain about our summer heat. I almost slipped once, but seriously... who can compare 90°F with 90% humidity to anything our weatherman can dish out? Chico is a piece of cake.... fresh out of the oven some days, but just the same.


There is a lot of enjoyment to be had in the summertime here. Floating down the creek has long been a favorite, sitting on the deck at the river, watching the ospreys and eagles (and fending off the mosquitoes), a watermelon so juicy it drips off your chin, riding bikes in the park... and of course there is our fabulous produce. We are, after all, in the heart of the Sacramento Valley. On less than 1 percent of the total farmland in the United States, the Central Valley of California produces 8 percent of the nation’s agricultural output by value. Or, as we like to say, "Welcome to the land of fruit and nuts."

Loving life, loving summer.

Summertime... Comfort Food

This recipe has moved to:
http://cootscooks.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/berry-cobbler/

7: An Experimental Challenge to Get off My Duff

I just finished reading Jen Hatmaker's recent book, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess.
Now, I am going to read it again. But first, I am going to form my own Council of Seven, and get my own fanny off the couch and see what changes there are to be wrought in my own world. (Well, probably after I consult My Dear.)

Jen's mutiny is another word for "Fast", and I don't mean speedy. She experimented with "fasting from" certain excesses she identified in her life (ok, our lives, truth be told) and blogged real-time about her experience. I won't be blogging, and I certainly won't be limiting myself to only 7 foods for a month, or 7 articles of clothing; but the gist of her experiment was to identify excess - and take a long, hard look at how it was affecting her family and her world.

And, while I'm at it... thankyouverymuch Sher, for siccing this notion on me. First, you almost got me kicked out of church because I was laughing (out loud) while reading 7, after downloading it onto my tablet in the middle of the service. OK, it wasn't really your fault that I was so impatient. And second, now I can't get this voice out of my head which is convincing me that Less is More and I need do something beyond buying the bumper sticker. I need to step away from the computer desk and start weeding my way through the overload that is my life. If for nothing else than my sanity, but I also do not wish this on my kids when I die. No one needs this much stuff.


From paying to store the overflow to climbing through the blackhole that is my garage/store room, how much money, time, and energy is wasted wading through the unused, unwanted, unneeded things that are cluttering up my life and sanity? I have tried Freecycle. I have tried Craiglist. I have tried setting things by the recycling can, hoping they walk away on their own. And it's not like I haven't already gone through this cycle countless times before. My Dear claims that we need to move every Two Years in order to force us to "go through our things..." To which I turn on my heel and smile. Best to keep my mouth shut.

Where was I?

So, I am starting this weekend: I am cleaning out 7 drawers / cabinets. I am hoping to make 7 bags to take to ARC Thrift store... It's a start. Sher, can you hear me?

Hot Enough to Fry...

We have all heard the complaint on a hot summer's day about it being "hot enough to fry an egg." Well, I am here to tell you I brushed right past the egg and went for the whole chicken today. Well... OK, I did not "fry" it, but I did bake it! And, oh boy, does it smell good!

Temps this weekend have been prohibitive for cooking inside the house. Seriously! It is 5 pm and still 102°F outside. Granted, it is a little cooler inside, but why turn on the oven when I am already paying a pretty penny to run the AirCon? Normally, my rule of thumb is 100° and I don't cook. 

I can't use that excuse any more.

I have been having a lot of fun lately... my husband shakes his head probably thinks "too much fun..."

I have been solar cooking. 

Cooking with no energy source other than the sun has intrigued me for years. I went so far as to purchase a reflective sun shade... you know, the kind that fits across your car windshield. And there it sat in my storage unit, gathering dust for a couple of years until the bug bit me again, and I have been doing more research. About a week ago, I landed on a website chockful of information - and PLANS! Templates! More details than I can digest in a week. 

So, thus far I have transformed my dusty sunshade into a solar cooker with nothing more than a few strips of duct tape and used it to cook 4 dishes (which were quite tasty, I might add!) I have used another box + aluminum foil + white glue to build a small cooker which I used to pasteurize water to 165°F in three dark brown glass beer bottles, tucked inside a large oven roasting bag. 165°F is hot enough to kill any disease-causing creepy crawlies that might be present in untreated water. (Think of the implications for backpacking or camping!)

I have also "almost" finished a "CooKit" (just have to glue on the aluminum foil) - the brainchild of Solar Cookers International, an organization which has been spreading solar cooking skills and awareness since 1987, especially in places affected by deforestation and other rural, poor areas where the cost or labor required for cooking fuels can be easily (and inexpensively) ameliorated by introducing solar cooking. 

I am especially looking forward to using my homemade CooKit, mostly because it promises to let me fit not one - but TWO! - of my cast iron pots side by side! (I am so easy to please.)

Another design that particularly intrigues me was designed by a Malaysian-born engineer named Teong Tan, who now resides in Singapore and has been designing solar cookers since 1998. He focuses on designs that translate well to developing countries, and this is precisely why I am interested in this topic in the first place.

It is no secret to any who know me that my personal desire is to return to Africa. Since visiting in 1998, then living there for 1+ year in 2000, I have frequently been drawn to finding projects that would be beneficial to improving the quality of life for the women I met there. Currently, our son and daughter-in-law and family are pioneering a medical work in northern Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville). There are spells of time where cooking fuel is simply not available in their neck of the woods. We in the U.S. don't think about that much, but I can tell you from first-hand experience, things like that make life complicated, and the simplest task quickly becomes overwhelming to the point of making every day life quite daunting.

So, my project this month is to finish my CooKit, make an entire meal cooked by the sun, and invite the family over for dinner so I can spread the excitement. Seriously, any dish that can be cooked in a Dutch oven can be cooked on a homemade cardboard-and-aluminum foil solar cooker. And don't even get me started about how rice and quinoa come out... (fluffy and not sticky, that's how they come out.)

Last weekend was the experiment. Now I am getting serious. I put on a batch of brown rice this morning, and when I got home from the Walkathon in the Park, I put on two packages of chicken thighs, a little Greek Mediterranean seasoning (thank you, World Market!) and some lemon salt... and voilà! Dinner is served! (I wonder if I have enough sun left to throw on a few zucchini...?)

Compliments... and why I can't take them

Have you noticed? When people want to say something nice to you, they will often compliment you on something you have no control over... such as "My! don't you have the prettiest blue eyes!" or something that has nothing to do with who you really are inside... like "Oh! I just love your dress!"
Am I the only one who wonders about these things?

I realized some time ago that "words of affirmation" is NOT one of my love languages.... I am a person to whom compliments mean very little. Some people I know make a habit of dishing out compliments, and I struggle to understand their reasoning. At best, I find them awkward and confusing. I have been told (and try to practice), "Just smile, and say 'thank you'", but that does not stop me from wondering why, and trying to figure it out. Why do we put value in things that have no value or have little to nothing to do with the reality of being a better person?

My mother says, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." While that is good to remember, I think we would do well to go further and find something nice... and meaningful to say.

I have decided to begin a little experiment. I have decided to focus on looking for nice things to say to people that encourage them to aim high and be better than they are.
Things like:

• What a compassionate thing to say to that person!
• Way to persevere... many people would have given up by now!
• That was a really difficult decision, you showed a lot of discernment there
• I really appreciate your fresh perspective! You are so creative!
• Thank you for making yourself available for this
• Wow! You took care of that before I even realized it was a problem
• I love how helpful you are...

I'm just thinking how our perspective could change to valuing internal qualities instead of those external traits which add very little to our personal development and integrity.

Ice Breaker Tag

While it may be a little late in the game for an ice-breaker, I enjoyed reading Gothummi's blog so much, I thought it might be kind of fun to tag off of it and answer the same questions as well.

If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why?

Crossing off the places where I have already been, even though I would love to visit Scotland again... that leaves Greece, and specifically her islands. (Now, don't get me wrong, if you want to walk up and hand me a ticket for a bus tour of mainland Greece, who am I to turn it down?) But ever since I was in high school, I have been attracted to the idea of visiting Greece. Maybe it's the sun, maybe it's the sea... (ok, who am I kidding... it's the food!) Neither does it hurt that my sis spent one entire R&R visiting Greece during her Iraqi deployment and I had to endure her tales, only enticing me more.
My second choice would be to spend some time (as in, longer than a week) in the French countryside. Not so much Paris, although again, I would not turn it down, but I am just not a big city girl. But the thought of riding a bike along a country lane, hiking hills, exploring vineyards, sipping un café dans un café, whilst oiling my abominably rusty French, and generally taking in some historical vibes is quite appealing to me.

Are you a morning or night person?

I suppose would have to say a night person, although if I have had a good night's sleep, I am not opposed to getting up at 5:30. (Just don't expect me to talk to anyone for awhile.) Honestly, the only reason I say "night person" is that is when things are quiet with no interruptions. I can hear myself think and put together a complete thought.

If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be…

Dependable, loyal, honest. Or so I would like to hope.

Who is your favourite Author?

Oddly enough, I already blogged a few years back about the whole idea of having just one "favorite" anything.
But I will be a good sport and list a few authors whose fictional works I have enjoyed over the years...
Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkein, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen, Alexander McCall Smith, "Miss Read" (Dora Jesse Saint); and then there are also Kathy Reichs, Kathy Lynn Emerson, Karen Kingsbury (not that they're the same caliber as Jane Austen, but that I really enjoy the subject matter). And, ok, I'm going to catch it for this one, but sue me. I really enjoyed Stephanie Meyers' Twilight Series, as well. So there.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
Well, this is a toughie, because basically, I really do like my job. I love the people I work with, and I find the job interesting. But, let's just pretend I didn't have to concern myself with a paycheck and could do whatever I liked... then, I would be back in either Gabon, Guinea or Congo in a heartbeat, working at one of the mission hospitals. (No, I am not "medical", but would be what is called "support staff", in that I am a bookkeeper, etc.)
I do love my current job, but now that my children are adults with homes of their own, I would so much more rather be doing something of lasting significance with my life than just punching a time clock and collecting a paycheck at the end of the week. (Sorry, boss!)

What do you most dislike to see in people?
Thoughtlessness and self-centeredness. Both signs of immaturity, and also a lack of care and concern for the feelings of others.

What do you most love to see in a person?
Conversely, I guess I would have to say I find it delightfully refreshing when someone performs a Random Act of Kindness, showing thoughtfulness toward another. Especially when there's "nothing in it" for them.

Gaylord Enns wrote a whole book about it called The Love Revolution; it boils down to John 13:35... "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." This is such an easy concept to grasp, but in all honesty, it involves laying down a bit of yourself on behalf of another... and I'm not sure I have it all figured out, just what that looks like in any given situation. What I see as "love" can sometimes translate as condescension and patronization, or enabling, so I guess more importantly - I love to see someone so in tune with the Father's heart that they can discern what love really looks like. Even if it involves saying "no" to a request that would result in more harm than good.


And, thus ends my ice breaker. Not that a reader will necessarily know me any better after reading it, but sometimes it just does a person good to reflect on things.