Home Again, Home Again, Jig-a-Jig-Jig

I am home from vacation and ready to resume my "Dishpan" post watching national and world events through my kitchen window. We arrived in furnace-hot Southern California on Thursday, the 25th, and have been gradually adjusting from eastern time to west coast time.

Our trip began with three wonderful days in Boston and ended after seven peaceful, happy days on Harsen's Island in the Blue Water Area of Eastern Michigan. Experiences and adventures included family, new friends, good food, good company, Mr. Peanut, historical museums, art museums, tractors, antiquing, a vineyard, freighters on Lake St. Clair, sheep, swans, ducks, seagulls, boating, terrific hamburgers at "the Raft", a blue heron, and two unique coincidences.

The first occurred in Boston where upon returning to our lovely hotel, the Bulfinch, we were suprised to discover "Hollywood" had taken over the parking lot in front of the building across the street. Our granddaughter was delighted when we met two of the productiuon crew in the elevator who informed us that they were working on a film directed by Martin Scorsese which starred Leonardo DiCaprio! The three of us had "front row seats" as we watched Scorsese direct DiCaprio in "The Departed" from our seventh floor window. It will be released in 2006. Our granddaughter was excited that when she flew home to Germany, she would be able to tell her friends about watching Leonardo DiCaprio being filmed in a movie.

The second coincidence occurred on Saturday evening, August the 20th, at my aunt's house on Harsen's Island. She had called before we left California (to begin our trip) and asked me to throw my copy of the film, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" in my suitcase as she had not been able to find a copy to rent. So I did. We watched it together on that Saturday night without knowing that simultaneously in Woody Creek, Colorado, the ashes of Gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson, were launched by rocket from a 153 foot tower into the sky! A firework spectacular accompanied him on his final journey followed by what had to have been one hell of a wake. What a way to go!

We had inadvertently, in a cosmic sort of way, paid tribute to the dedicated American Patriot while watching "Fear and Loathing" on a big screen TV and munching homemade cookies. Catfish and I had intended to do just what I described but hadn't heard when the the explosive last hurrah would take place. Oddly, it all ended up just flowing into place anyway, and how wonderful to share the experience with my aunt who had been the catalyst.

During my time away many things have gone down on the national and international politcal fronts. I have spent some time catching up. Cindy Sheehan, despite difficult personal situations has continued her courageous vigil, John Bolten, like an infantile "bull in the china shop", has implemented the "divide and conquer" strategy to further his and PNAC's plan to destroy the United Nations, Pat Robertson, while feeling his Christian fundalmentalist Cheerios, called for the assassination of a democratically elected head of a foreign country and then lied about it, the White House ignored Robertson's crime, the poll numbers of the worst excuse of a president ever have plunged to sewer-like depths, and Donald totally-out-of-his-mind Rumsfeld has influenced the base closing commission to shut down the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The last time Rumsfeld was allowed to "streamline" our kids lacked kevlar vests and armor for the sitting duck humvees, and died.

All across the country childen have or are about to return to school systems "dumbed down" by Bush's NCLB program. Vacation is over so I will rejoin my fellow bloggers in the trenches. The radical right-wing extremists who make up this administration are a far more dangerous threat to American Democracy than Bin Lauden could ever hope to be.

I hope that everyone is well and can't wait to catch up on what you have all been writing.
........Kitchen Window Woman.............

I Am Not Out To Lunch, I'm On Vacation

The last week has been extremely busy. I have not been near a computer. My husband (Catfish) and I are on vacation. I was going to post a vacation notice before we left home but our computer was not functioning (it was not the dreaded worm). It has been repaired and so I will be able to resume the "Chronicles" when I return home.

We spent three wonderful days in Boston visiting with our fourteen-year-old granddaughter who is visiting there from Germany. We enjoyed spending time with our granddaughter as we toured some of Boston's historic sites. We all fell in love with the city and its people. Most impressive for me was standing in the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was written. The Boston Massacre took place in front of the Old State House. We also visited the cemetery where Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams are buried. My husband's wish was to visit the USS Constitution and so we did. It was equally impressive.

Right now we are in Michigan visiting with my family and will return to California from here on August 25th. I have not been able to visit my native Michigan for over 20 years so I am thrilled to be sitting here on Harsen's Island on the shores of Lake St. Clair.

I may or may not post again during the course of our vacation as I am, or shall I say, we are "going with the flow". I hope that everyone is well. I will be back watching from my kitchen window and "womaning my "Dishpan" post following the 25th.

..........Take Care.......

....Kitchen Window Woman.....

The Haves, The Have-Nots, and The Bomb

When I was a little girl growing up in Detroit I saw Khruschev on the television banging his shoe. I don't know whether he scared me or all of the media hype surrounding him did the job. There was a great fear of "Commies". Russia had the bomb and was going to drop it on my neighbohood. We had bomb drills at school during which we practiced squatting under our desks with our arms covering our heads. I never understood how crouching in a "duck and cover" position would protect us from the blast of an atomic bomb. The only thing that could "save" any of us was a bomb shelter and my family couldn't afford one.

Most working families couldn't afford one nor could they escape the bomb shelter adverting blitz in the papers and on the television. I was not the only kid who worried every night about being bombed and my family and me being hurt or dying. The kids in Iraq were probably scared too; when they saw Bush on TV before the Americans bombed Baghdad.

There was one family in our neighborhood that had a bomb shelter. Their twin girls were in my class. Their father did not work in a factory. They were so rich that he probably had an office job like Beaver's father, Ward Cleaver.

The twins had a birthday party and invited the whole class. Did I mention that they had a swimming pool? Even though Lake St. Clair was a mere three blocks away a swimming pool was a big deal! It was a pool party but that was not all. The girls' birthday would be eclisped by another event.

The "rich dad" called us all out of the pool and asked for silence; he was going to make an announcement. They had just finished installing his brand new super-deluxe bomb shelter and as an extra treat, we were all to have an open house bomb shelter tour. He separated us into small groups and led one group at a time down the steps into temporary safety. It was only equipped to shelter and support six people not an entire fifth grade class.

Once inside, like a gadget hawker at a county fair, he demonstrated all of its wondrous lifesaving features. The bunks folded up and down so there would be living space during the day. The table was also hinged and would hang from the side wall when not needed. Cushioned benches served as storage units for canned food and bottles of water. Cardboard boxes of additional food and water were stacked floor to ceiling in the second chamber of the entry (the first chamber would be closed off by a door with an anti-contaminant seal). A small cookstove, counter, and rack filled with pans and utensils served as the shelter's kitchen. There were six cubbyholes for personal posessions, hooks for hanging clothes, a sort of a port-a-potty thing in a small closet, a generator, a sewing box, and shelves filled with board games, books, pencils, and paper.

He showed us a vent pipe that journyed up through the ground to provide air. I found myself wondering if the air wouldn't be contaminated but when I asked he said that the filter would decontaminate it.

You wouldn't think that a tool box would inspire nightmares, but when our "rich" neighbor opened the large container and and began explaining the importance of the tools it contained, the visions that would plague my dreams for months began to form in my eleven year-old mind.

The tools were for rebuilding. Everything, he told us, as far as we could see.... everything, everywhere, would be totally destroyed. The devastation would be worse than that which remained after the Enola Gay dropped its load on Hiroshima. A moonscape littered with charred and twisted broken bits would be all that remained of the familiar that we all took for granted in our daily lives. "Rich dad" had prepared for this eventuality. He would salvage what pieces he could, take out his tools, and build a new life for his family. Not only did he have an office job; he must have, at one time, been a Boy Scout.

My heart was about to explode; I could hardly breathe. What about our house, my friend Kathy's house about four doors down, and Rosemary's house around the block? What about my Grandma's house, our school, and Al's Drugstore on the cornor? What would happen to all of us? We kids looked around at each other only to find in each set of eyes a reflection of our own terrible fears. We were all going to die but the twins with their rich dad and mom would not. We all felt shame, too, for what we did not have. I wanted to get out of there. I needed fresh air. I went up the steps, crossed the yard, and dove into the pool.

I decided if I didn't eat as much, get sick, just wore my old clothes to school, and didn't ask for anything for Christmas maybe my family could save up for a bomb shelter. Every night, I fell into a fitful sleep after trying to figure out if we could save ourselves by running down to the basement, or if we could dig down under its floor to survive and how we could make a "vent" that would filter radiation.

The Russians never dropped "The BOMB" on my neighborhood and I am sure that Dwight D. Eisenhower had something to do with preventing it. "Ike", unlike the childish, petulant George W. Bush, was a strong, intelligent man who had seen the worst of war and abhorred it. War was not an option as far as Eisenhower was concerned.

Most people at that time, hid the fact that they were building or had a bomb shelter for fear of being over run by shelter seeking friends and neighbors. Why did the "rich dad" show off his super-deluxe bunker and scare a bunch of kids? I think it was because he suffered from the manic materialism that affects so many Americans even today. The manic materialist needs possessions to define his or her self; say like paying extra for clothing with a brand name prominently displayed on the pocket or across the behind and wearing it in an attempt to gain status. Free advertising, anyone?

More than anything, the "rich dad's" acquisition and actions highlighted a painful truth for all of us children; that in America the "haves" get to live while the "have-nots" are expendable. There was no attempt during this period of time to provide affordable bomb shelters for all American families and let's face it there would not have been enough time for most people to get to public shelters during an attack. The average American family was left to fend for themselves or die.

Recently, the average American family was advised to have duct tape and plastic on hand to ward off a possible chemical attack. If duct tape will do the trick, why do the taxpayers pay millions to protect the president, cabinet members, and the members of Congress in special shelters? Duct tape is cheaper.

Many of my generation are skeptical, outspoken, and definetly rebellious because we grew up with the "duck and cover" Cold War hype and then had our middle class and working class peers drafted to fight that other war that was based on lies. We were expendable once again as those who started the Vietnam War and the offspring of the wealthy and the elite did not have to bear arms in combat in Asia. The current Administration's fear mongering terrorist hype is old hat to many of us. We've been there and done that and it doesn't wash.....now let's get on with life. We can start by recognizing and learning from America's mistakes.

My experience with the "rich dad" and his family blasted a hole in my innocent Disney, Cleaver, Father Knows Best illusions of fairness in American life. I had been exposed to the harsh, cold truth. Even though I liked and trusted "Ike" (a Republican) who did a good job as president, ever since the birthday in the bomb shelter, I have traveled the path of a liberal progressive working for change in our society. It is time for the "Haves" to become responsible citizens. They should give up their mostly ill-gotten, protected-by-legislation gains, and fight in the wars that they start. It is time for the "Have Nots" to be paid more, taxed less, and valued equally. No one is expendable.

***NOTE - Pacific Islanders have become the "new expendables". They are being recruited to serve in "Uncle Sam's War of Lies" in Iraq. Many of their jobs have gone to China and they have been left with no way to make a living. Since families in the states are actively discouraging the enlistment of their children, Pacific Islanders are filling in the gap.

I have been writing this over a period of time while packing for a trip and taking care of many other things so must apologize for not being around. I hope that everyone is well and that the heat will leave us all soon.

...............Kitchen Window Woman...........................

John Bolton is a Member of PNAC - The Chickenhawk Gentleman's Club

PNAC has just penetrated more deeply into the American government bringing it another step closer to its goal of total domination of the United States and the WORLD. The UN is about to be assualted, raped, and slowly murdered. "This post is too important to leave vacant any longer", quoth President Bush as he thrust John Bolton, a real dick, upon the world as US ambassador to the United Nations. I guess George W. Bush owed Bolton a big one after John volunteered to personally count chads when Florida's 2000 election was contested.

Bolton, an exemplary organ of PNAC, claims "the US to be the globe's only real power". We should hope that he will be hindered in his mission to destroy the United Nations by his belief that "there's no such thing as the UN". It's kind of hard to hit what you can't see.

An adherant to the tenet "peace through strength" that has been vigorously avanced by both Israel and PNAC, John Bolton is destined to make many more enemies for the American people if he puts this tyrannical tenet into practice. The "peace" referred to is conditional as it exists only when the demands of empire are met. The "through strength" part is what happens when people do not agree or want to meet the demands imposed upon them. Homes are bulldozed down, people who speak out are imprisoned, cities are bombed, torture is acceptable, people are shot, bigger and better weapons are built to keep people in line, and war is perpetual. What a world !

Bolton's disdain for international law, lack of respect for the peoples of the world, and hostility toward the UN, are almost as well known as his legendary belligerence, uneven temperament, and uncompromising character.

A chickenhawk wonder who wore his National Guard uniform for a photo op at Yale, PNAC member John Bolton said of the Vietnam War, "I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asia rice paddy. I considered the war in Vietnam already lost". Gee, Johnny, since the war in Iraq is already lost, let's apply your logic (or excuse) and bring those kids in National Guard uniforms home from Iraq. I would venture to guess that they "have no desire to die in the sands of a middle eastern desert".

Jesse Helms endorsed Bolton when he said, "John Bolton is the kind of man with whom I would want to stand at Armageddon". Yep, I'll bet Ole' Jesse is will be there to get Ambassador Bolton's back while he whips up an Armageddon for America.

"I don't do carrots", Bolton bragged. Well, you do not deserve the job until you learn to eat carrots, Mr. B! They will greatly improve your sight. You could also do with a slice of humble pie. It will loosen your bowels and thus improve your temperament.

**Note: PNAC's adgenda includes the end of multilateralism (The United Nations), the dismantling of international law, and the gutting of international treaties. Please refer to my two prior posts about PNAC for more information.

Arrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh!
....Kitchen Window Woman....