So, all this becomes a block for the connection between people. The community we crave and from which arose the myths we mummify, stands beyond our reach through the agents of hypocrisy and dogmatism.

And yet the truth struggles for breath through the musty wraps of fear that bind the dead to keep them from disrupting the privileges of the living. Gasping and reaching for the hope, love and joy that comes from a life lived with reverence for the past, love of the present, open hope for the future and an honest care for the community.

When it comes to community, I am wary. I fear being open to a community that disappoints me. I have borne so many disappointments. How can one be open to a community and yet maintain boundaries?

The boundaries are the tricky bits. How can I drive or be the change I want to see in the world? The difficulty sits in the nexus of an expectation or impatience for change and the limitations set by time and available resources. Given the limits of time, how can one set expectations of a community?

And what are those expectations? What are the limits of selfless acts versus the realities of quid pro quo? If limits and expectations are not clear, confusion and disappointment result. Why am I so inexperienced at clearly articulating these boundaries and expectations?

Fear. Fear of losing an opportunity for achieving some good due to encountering hard limits. There is also the fear of not living up to high standards. In the first, we find an aversion to setting boundaries because soft boundaries can be manipulated for profit. In the second, softly articulated standards can leave room for interpretation and this can leave an opportunity for excellence by changing the standard after the fact.

So, I reflect on the question of boundaries with a nod to Terminus. We need these boundaries. In ancient Rome, we needed Terminus to maintain the good fences that make good neighbors. In our lives today, we also need boundaries of expectation and commitment to maintain communities and develop ourselves and our society.

Because Patrick and I are the caregivers for his 89 year-old grandfather, we are acutely aware of the strength of character it takes simply to grow that old and infirm. When you compound that with the discrimination of the health care institution or what one is forced to accept as one’s peers, the results can be devastating.

Elderly gay people like Ms. Donadello, living in nursing homes or assisted-living centers or receiving home care, increasingly report that they have been disrespected, shunned or mistreated in ways that range from hurtful to deadly, even leading some to commit suicide.

Some have seen their partners and friends insulted or isolated. Others live in fear of the day when they are dependent on strangers for the most personal care. That dread alone can be damaging, physically and emotionally, say geriatric doctors, psychiatrists and social workers.

New York Times … Jane Gray … 09 October 2007 …
                            Aging and Gay, and Facing Prejudice in Twilight

The multimedia feature is really worth a look.

I didn’t expect I’d like it. I didn’t expect I could use it. I didn’t expect it to be cool.

The new Windows Live Writer is a program for anyone with a blog. Really. I’m sure there are some blogs out there that cannot interface with Windows Live Writer, but I’ve been impressed to have it work with all three of mine. You are reading this post at either Existential Ramble, Literarytech, or http://literarytech.spaces.live.com/. I can publish to any or all of these. Very cool, and it is only in Beta 3.

Environmental campaigners say China must overhaul its transport system, not just with a few ad hoc No Car Days but by putting in cycle lanes, reducing the price of public transport and making it much more difficult for people to buy private cars.

The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already warned that if the pollution is bad next summer, some endurance events - such as cycling or the marathon - may have to be postponed.

BBC News –> Asia-Pacific News –> Beijing drivers ignore No Car Day

One of the expatriates with whom we visited in the hotel indicated that it was expected that the PRC would order all government cars off the road during the Olympics and that this was expected to reduce the cars on the road by about 50-60%. One wonders about this expectation in light of the failure of “No Car Day.”

New York Times –> Andrews and Sanger –> Former Fed Chief Attacks Bush on Fiscal Role

Of course, it is no surprise to this writer that the Bush Administration is guilty of abandoning the principles that were supposed to adhere to the Republican party. I have lost track of the number of individuals that I have encountered who claim to have lost any sense of belonging to the Republican party because their main reason for staunchly defending it in the past was fiscal conservatism and responsible strong defense. We now have neither. The military is stretched beyond our ability to quickly or economically rebuild it and that stretching extends to the National Gaurd as well. The consequence is that these friends and acquaintances fail to see themselves and their values in the Republican party.

It will be interesting to see how the situation develops and if the Republican party can recover or if the Libertarian party can become more recognizable as a stronger and more viable alternative.  

It seems that more people than this humble blogger have felt that Mr. Bush and his administration lack the ability to listen. BlueDreamer has often remarked that his study of terrorism and Middle Eastern extremists has left him with the distinct awareness that we struggle with much that was known to those who study these things. Once again, the anti-intellectualism and blind ideology of this administration is clear to see.

This was the week in which Americans hoped they would get straight talk and clear thinking on Iraq. What they got was two exhausting days of Congressional testimony by the American military commander, hours of news conferences and interviews, clouds of cut-to-order statistics and a speech from the Oval Office — and none of it either straight or clear.

New York Time ? No Exit, No Strategy

The presentation was carefully constructed. In fact it was so carefully constructed that one can almost see the speech writer’s outline in the paragraph breaks. It is carefully constructed to tell us that we are fighting the evil empire of the twenty-first century. The word “al Qaeda” appears 12 times by my count and “terrorists” occurs 9. The President had a better platform for driving public opinion when Saddam Hussein was reigning. At least then he had someone who was arguably a “bad man” (although why we want to topple this one “bad man” when there are so many around the world, but that for another day). Using the platform that we need to be nation-building in Iraq and that our young men and women need to die for it is a weak position. Likewise, arguing that a reduction of 7,900, or 4.68%, constitutes a move of substance is insulting. It will be the middle of next year, if then, before there is as much as a 25% reduction.

All this seems to be a move to numb the public to the eventual adoption of a permanent US presence in Iraq. It is akin to the strategy used with gas prices: spike prices — public groans — drop prices a bit — rinse and repeat. The net result is that it will become a fact of life that there are troops stationed in Iraq. The death of US soldiers is already an event of no significance in the general day-to-day life of most Americans. The President’s speech simply moved us further down this road.

Since their op-ed criticizing the administration’s strategy in Iraq began with the words, “Viewed from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment,” one has to assume that nearly a month later the seven soldiers who authored the piece were achingly close to returning home.

Two of them won’t be coming back alive. Yance Gray and Omar Mora, both of the 82nd Airborne Division, were killed on Monday. Gray leaves behind a wife and infant daughter. Mora is survived by a wife and five year old daughter. They demonstrated personal bravery in their service and integrity by speaking publicly about their views. They will, as will all those killed in this misbegotten war, be missed.

Ameriblog => Two Soldiers Who Wrote NYT Op-ed Killed

My initial impression from the first hundred pages is that this is a lot of folderol. Oscar seems to be a rather silly person caught up in a silly time. Significant noise is made about him in terms of GLBT History, but initially I am a touch underwhelmed by the story. If any of you have read the story and can comment on how it is going to increase in interest, please let me know.

It was interesting, however, to observe my own reactions. I was struck by how in the press of events in my own life, I was rather turned off by my impression of the silliness of Oscar Wilde’s life up through college. Again, I may need to just keep ploughing through as a matter of discipline, but at this point I’m thinking I’ll watch the movie and see the two hour time block will inspire more interest in the hours of reading.

Let me be as clear as possible in this quick dash of a blog entry when I point out that this isn’t a really to say that Oscar should have been more interesting as a person. I know I was probably equally pointless in my life through college. Further, I recognize that there can be beauty in the everyday. Maybe I’m just not in mood for this story at this time in my life. I will say this before I leave it to Oscar Wilde fans to excoriate me: the book is well written. I did enjoy that.

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: “Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.” “That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”

“He had delusions of adequacy.” - Walter Kerr

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill

“A modest little person, with much to be modest about.” - Winston Churchill

“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.” - Clarence Darrow

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?” - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

“He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.” - Abraham Lincoln

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” - Oscar Wilde

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