Uncategorized – Page 19 – The Future is Open

July 20, 2009

What the American people want…

Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican party seems to think Americans don’t want health care. This video show Steele sidestepping questions. He says here he is not a politician. He’s the chairman of a political organization and we’re supposed to believe he is not a politician. Michael we’re not all looney. You are a politician and a slick talking one too. The American people do want health care reform and you represent a failed policy. For six of eight years Republicans stalled on health care. Now you want us to believe you have some new ideas. Balderdash! Hogwash! You have no idea what reform is. You are a champion of the status quo. You are in the hip pocket of powerful interests who have vested interests in maintaining the status quo. Forty million Americans have no coverage at all, 9 of those 40 million are children. This is an imperative equal to Emancipation Proclamation. Millions of Americans are enslaved by un-restricted insurance conglomerates who ration health care. We have rationed health care now, Michael. We want the freedom to choose. Your status quo and ignorance stand in the way. The real conservative approach is to control insurance companies. It is the insurance companies who favor socialism. They love corporate socialism. They don’t mind handouts for health care as long its their hands that are on the receiving end.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFH390hvKAI]

July 20, 2009

Window on the world

This afternoon and following a nap alongside the road near Cuba, New York I decided to drive north into the Genesee River Valley and towards Abbey of the Genesee. I spent quiet time in the sanctuary. I know God is everywhere but there is something special about this place. Maybe it’s the stillness, but there are other places just as still. Whatever it is I am drawn to this place. I love the smell of the fresh Monks Bread which is sold here and it’s just a lovely place to sit, read and reflect.

This picture taken with my Blackberry camera really captured the beauty outside the monastery reading room. You can see the distant clouds, the statue of Our Lady of the Genesee and the blue sky. After I left the abbey I drove to nearby Geneseo, New York for a Strawberry Coolata at the Dunkin’ Donut store there.

July 20, 2009

Eremo

Today I was back at Mt. Irenaeus after a week away. Today was the culmination of a Franciscan Sojourners retreat and though I was not a part of the retreat there were many familiar faces among those that were there for that event. Fr. Dan Riley, OFM is an eloquent homilist and today he was really tuned up. He took today’s Gospel and talked about coming away to a deserted or quiet place. He talked about eremo and its place in the Franciscan tradition of coming away to quiet places, not to hide from the world but to more fully engage it.

His homily came to me at a time when I’d been thinking about those subjects a great deal. I mentioned in our sharing time that I thought that the world is not broken, but that we are and and that being broken is a good thing. Brokenness is a strength and something to be sought after, because it is only when we are broken and poured out that we are open to the Gospel message. I thought to of the story of the cracked pot and how due to its defect it actually watered flowers along the path. Our brokenness is often our strength, but too often we try to deny it.

I need to celebrate and cherish my brokenness. In it lies my strength. When I am weak then I am strong. When I think I’ve got all the answers then I’m not likely to listen to what someone else has to say. I need those times of eremo to live more fully in the world. Thanks to Fr. Dan for opening up the word once again and helping us all to cherish our times of solitude.

July 19, 2009

Balloon Rally

The air was crisp as it has been here nearly all summer and at 6:30 pm when we arrived in Wellsville, New York there were only faint signs of blue skies. At 7 pm balloonists and their fans were beginning to see signs that the skies were clearing and soon thereafter we were treated to the sight of hot air balloons rising into the early evening sky here in Allegany County.

The Wellsville Balloon Rally is an annual event and folks come from all around our area to see it. A crowd of several thousand was on hand tonight as dozens of hot air balloons rose into the early evening sky over Wellsville, New York. The balloon rally is special for us because it was there in 1982 that I gave my wife a diamond ring. For us it was an anniversary of sorts tonight.

July 18, 2009

Rebel with Cause

This is a cross posting from my other blog.

James Dean made a name for himself in the 1950’s movie, “Rebel Without a Cause.” In the past almost four years I’ve been determined to show that Linux and in particular Ubuntu Linux is a viable desktop operating system. I’ve proven it to myself time and again but still it remains an outlier in consumer circles. In the last week I’ve rebuilt three Windows computers that had been virtually destroyed by malware. In two of the three cases the individuals let their virus protection lapse, in the third the lady was using a well known anti-virus and security solution and she still was victimized. When I returned the computers to their owners I suggested how they could work to keep their machines from becoming infected again.

Lately, I’ve taken a more active stance promoting both Ubuntu equipped personal computers and Macintosh computers because Windows seems more vulnerable than ever. I can’t think of anything I do other than iTunes and Quicken which couldn’t be accomplished on Ubuntu. I’m able to read blogs, write blogs, send and receive email, participate in social networks, write HTML, and create and update websites. Have I left anything out. That’s a pretty complete listing. In any event I’m able to do all of that from my Dell Inspiron 6400 with Ubuntu 9.04. I am definitely plugging Ubuntu, but for you could do the same with Fedora and OpenSuse, PC Linux OS and the other Linux distros. Ubuntu just happens to be my favorite.

Recently I bought my son a MacBook for his home. Why a MacBook and not Ubuntu? Simply so that he could keep up with the Joneses in his life. All his friends have Macs and I thought what the heck. But, really there is no real difference in operating efficiency on Linux or Macintosh OSX. Both are open source at their core and Unix and Linux are much more secure and stable. I have to admit that the Macintosh GUI is compelling, but I still like using two and three buttons on my mouse or touchpad and that’s not possible with a Mac. In fact that two button dilemma is driving my son a bit batty. He’s used Windows most of his life and those of us who use Windows and Linux know that a mouse has more than one button and nearly all of our keyboard shortcuts are the same.

I am going to keep pushing Linux and Ubuntu in particular because it’s the most stable, least costly and most fun operating system on the planet at this time.

July 18, 2009

I will remember

Today we lost another legend. Walter Cronkite was the man upon whom a generation of Americans depended for the news. In the days before cable news and now the blogosphere we depended on Walter Cronkite to give us the news. Every night at 6:30 pm I would sit in our family room with my Mom, Dad, brother and sister following our dinner and listen to Walter Cronkite give us an update.

My earlier recollections of Walter were from the late 1950’s when I’d watch “The Twentieth Century,” a weekly program featuring Walter Cronkite with my Dad. There were other newsmen and many were as famous but they all predeceased Walter. Names like Chet Huntley, David Brinkley and Harry Reasoner. I remember Walter telling us that President Kennedy had been murdered in Dallas, Martin Luther King murdered in Memphis, Apollo Eleven landing on the moon. He was part of all that was news for the first thirty years of my life. Thanks you Walter and may you rest in peace.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94ctcqgNbtQ]

July 18, 2009

His music will live forever.

[brightcove vid=1417354856&exp3=10172910001&surl=http://c.brightcove.com/services&pubid=59121&w=300&h=225]

I came across this on MIchael Jackson’s website tonight. It’s been a bit over three weeks now since we learned of Michael’s death. It’s hard to believe he’s gone. I was not a Jackson 5 fan, but I became a Michael Jackson fan in the 1980’s when he released Billie Jean. He just captivated me with his artistry. His music had a spirit that transcended nearly everything. He was electric. He was without peer.