Just a couple of wee pictures of a lactating female. I hope to glimpse one or more of her litter in the next couple of weeks as she leads them out of the dray for weaning - Sunday April 19th, 2009
You can see her teat just under her right elbow. That makes you an expert spotter of a lactating Sciurus Sciurus!
Blackthorn (Prunus Spinosa) in bloom at Taliesin,
Saturday April 25th, 2009
Saturday April 25th, 2009
Prunus Avium (wild cherry, Gean)
North Glen, Saturday April 25th, 2009
North Glen, Saturday April 25th, 2009
9 comments:
Palestine dilemma:
As to a "solution", I am near to despair. Many key pre-requisites are absent and seem likely to remain so. They include (but are not limited to):
1. A genuine desire for a just peace on both sides
2. Acceptance that past wrongs and mistakes cannot be undone, but
3. Acknowledgement of such wrongs and mistakes, and
4. A genuine willingness to make recompense
Personally, I am far from convinced by the "two state" solution, particularly as envisaged in the "road map" and the Israeli "reservations". The idea of a single-state is far more appealing, but highly unlikely for the reasons 1-4 above and many others. Some perspective on solutions can be found here:
http://qunfuz.blogspot.com/2009/02/four-solutions.html
Enough for now. Responses welcome, of course
Peace in all tongues
ed
Howdy Ed,
It is going to take time. The conditions that allowed things to degenerate as they did post-Oslo are just starting to come apart.
Getting the neo-con religious/right crew out of the White House was the first pre-condition for some positive developments. Diminishing the influence of AIPAC and related civic groups is the next. Once the US stops bankrolling Israeli aggressiveness, moderates will start to gain some purchase. I hope.
Not that I can in any direct way influence such changes. All I (we?) can do is try and open the minds of those around us -- not necessarily about this issue itself, but about more general, or foundational, if you will, issues.
The neo-cons and religious right gained popular support because they offered something that liberals didn't. Liberalism has in many ways become a sterile, materialist dogma with no, uh, let's say, "soul."
It is sometimes be-devilled by a fanatical individualism; people seem to believe they make their worlds up, all by themselves, as they "will." "We are the hollow men" is the phrase which comes to mind: no history, no sense of community or fellowship, etc., etc. (you know the symptoms well, I think).
Neo-conservatism and modern religious ideologies fill this void with jingoistic and aggressive nationalism, all topped with a dollop of divine approval.
Liberalism has to confront its failure to address the "hollowness" at the core of our civilization. Now, how we might accomplish that is a matter for some discussion.
Anyway, I do digress. I suppose the ultimate point of addressing the problems with liberalism is to keep the neo-cons and the religious right out of power. As long as they are kept at bay, peace at least becomes possible.
A link here to a good org that deals with the Israel/Palestinian issue in a positive and practical way:
http://www.ipcri.org
But it well may be, Ed, that I got this link from you!
Yours,
Lawrence, aka Pinko
Pinko,
Thanks for the response. It is indeed possible the ipcri link came through me, but at least it's in circulation...
Just one mini-quibble: The 'conditions' pre-date the Neo-cons by decades, and begin with Truman's immediate recognition of Israel as she "defensively" expanded into the "Arab" partition.....
After a while, we in "Greater Europe" forgot all about the Palestinians until they finally forced us to pay attention by hijacking planes....
I could go on...
peace, man.
I can see I'm jumping into the middle of a discussion here that I have very limited knowledge about. It is definitely a dilemma that includes those 4 keys.
I thought I was linking to the new squirrel photos. I don't know if you would remember what was touched on several months ago.
ed-I found my maiden name would've been MacBeathan close to Loch Ness.
Suzi,
Don't worry about "jumping in" I just made this space available for discussion off-blog from a bbc blog troubled by trolls.
Glad to hear you're a MscBeathan. Does it have anything to do with Birch trees? Beath is the Gaelic name for the birch.
Squirrels doing fine, btw. you keep well and happy.
Salaam/Shalom/Shanthi
ed
Suzi,
Nuh wah doe he yaw duh
("Peace" in Cherokee)
;-)
ed-Wa'-do(Thank you)
I hadn't seen that in almost 20 years.
I learned that a root of our name is supposed to mean lively. That would be me after I've had chocolate. :)
Slainte Mhath
Hey Ed,
You must be busy on the land. Hope all is well.
Lawrence
Ed, we agree on the Palestinian dilemma.
Everyone over at Mr. Webb's place is wondering why you left. Possibly because it's been rather unpleasant lately. Perhaps you will consider coming back when Mr. Mardell takes over the business later this summer.
Very good photographs, I might add.
Gary
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