sweetheart-mine

many buddhists don't think of it as a religion, though it gets put in that category all over the place, i guess because if you're a buddhist you tend not to be a practicing catholic, hindu, jew, presbyterian, or anything else religious. in countries where there are large buddhist populations, though, some buddhist practices are very much considered sacred and for many it's a large part of daily life. it's one of the few organized religions (maybe the only one) that a person can practice yet call it whatever you think it is. my husband and i tend to think of it as a philosophy, though its

it's probably a mixed bag, as usual. some individuals in possibly every religious group exhibit tolerance toward atheists (or agnostics, which is what i consider myself), and some definitely don't. when they don't, we certainly do hear about it, and when they do, we usually don't hear about it, which is why it's hard to quantify these things and why those who are tolerant don't get their due in public or the media. what has amazed me in my personal experience is how cruel some people who hold their religion very dear can be to their own (as in family and friends). my husband grew up in

if it's true, most of this would be very heartening. i actually felt happier for a couple of minutes. better than none!

whether specifics come out or not, it is beyond me why so many would pile on more huge, long-term damage to the country especially now (and, far less important, to their reputations) for a little cash. i mean, i've been around for a long time, and i just don't get this. i'd ask if anyone else understands why, but think i already did that, with no answers. this feels like after the '06 election. only worse.

well i for one am shocked that you feel this way, uw. no, but i like your reliability, really and truly. you're starting to seem almost, well, avuncular!

absolutely, i agree with you on this. (i thought i said that.) clearly obama is trying to stand up to those who would swift-boat him, and a certain amount of answering back has to be done, given the vitriol and falsehoods behind many of the accusations -- but i do think it would be wise to ignore and bypass those darts based on religion. no politician will make a lot of headway in unifying the country by trying to please all religions and any accompanying religious fanatics. when it comes to government, religion is or ought to be completely beside the point.

right on! and i would include evangelists who use their whatever to sway politicians and voters both. so tiresome, so fear-mongering, and often so hypocritical. they ought to knock it off, and politicians ought to stop addressing religious issues that have no place in our public life and government.

i don't think that case can be made. the guy has been functional since those years. he hitched himself to the wrong wagon after 2000, but that was simply a combination of ambition and poor judgment. and if there were such a case, you can be sure someone in the media would be making it based on some little piece of "evidence," even if only circumstantial, in his medical records.

some people mistake mccain's endurance as a vietnam p.o.w. ca. 35 years ago for experience that qualifies him to protect the country against anything related to war, including the so-called war on terror. yes, it's a gigantic stretch, especially when, like you point out, his sticking to the not-only-failed-but-extremely-destructive policies of the bush administration demonstrates a pretty warped view of reality. it's not 100% warped, though, because there are, in reality, people who will automatically feel more secure due to mccain's heroic and military image. i think it's more image tha

yes. and gwb believes it himself, or so he has said in the past. another of the top scariest aspects.

my hat is off to the Bjorn Book. the charges of flip-flopping flying back and forth lately are silly and a waste of time and energy. i hope they both knock it off. other than the changes in the reasons for our invasion and occupation of iraq (changes that were only for convenience anyway), i'd say we have a good example right now in the white house of someone unable to change his mind based on new information and improved reasoning. it's one of the top three scariest aspects of the current administration.

whew, that's a relief. was definitely not a fan of that seal.

well, like you say, there are degrees. in everything. i've never known of a politician -- or any other person -- to be unmarred. the question was about whether every political compromise is for a corrupt reason. many seem to think so. i don't recall anyone referring to obama as a "saint." it's just the folks who can't stand him (or, more likely, the idea of him) who label him, with oh so familiar sarcasm, a saint.

what are your own thoughts on why he's backing this bill? (i'm asking mr rain, but am interested too in the thoughts of anyone who isn't just drowning in scatological cynicism and sarcasm because apparently it must be fun, i guess.) i'm disappointed also, if i completely understand what it means! sometimes i wonder: not every single compromised principle by someone in government can be about money and ambition, and that's it, can it? every single one? or have they all been hauled aside since ww2 and had their lives seriously threatened by people more powerful than themselves every t

they've got to be kidding about those top 3. more important, where is Adaptation??? and where is The Hours? also, At Play in the Fields of the Lord.

oh yah, i've read him talking about that too, and do like that about it. it still sounds like its own self to me in other ways, but the late '60s and early '70s were my big time with rock music and there may be a kind of familiarity about sbs that i'm not aware of and just sneaks in. i wasn't thinking about the recording approach when i first read you.

you may be right that sbs didn't break any new musical styles, but i'm confused about that because sbs strikes me as unique. i mean, it reminds me of nothing and no one else; to my ears it has its very own sound. of course, that may be because i'm not up on a lot of other music from the last ten years or so! you sure can say "immerse ourselves" again -- it's been a long time since i've been as immersed as i've been in tweedy and wilco for the past year. have listened almost every day, starting way back and then to sbs. and like you say, i do try to make sense of why their music has t

there is some music that i like a lot or can't stand, and that's all it calls out in me. but jeff tweedy's music affects me so much and so deeply that i simply can't not think about it. the thoughts and the reflections make the music that much more enriching and irresistible. it's a boiling pot of music, emotion, and thought, to me, and wow, i really love all of it. by the way, i'm a definite sbs fan.

now i'm really going to have to hear this guy -- have never heard a thing he has done. i love his first sentence: "I listened to my record recently and I'm concerned about how much I like it."

my brother read "desert solitaire" and loved it so much that he moved from boston out to utah and changed his whole life.

the bums dress better than i do, so hey, now we'll all look alike. this actually happened two days ago but was discovered today (i seem to make it a point never to complete a small project in one day when i can stretch it out to three or four). but yes, d, i'll take the real bag over there, and thank you for that hot tip!

i filled a trash bag with winter clothes to store in the attic, and another trash bag with no-longer-wanted clothes to take to goodwill. guess which bag got taken to goodwill.

louieb, this is F A N T A S T I C ! i feel like hopping on the train this minute and losing myself in chicago. it's great reading anyhow because you just have a way, and your outlook sparks out all over the place. thanks a lot.

amen. most eloquently said, and with more substance and perceptiveness than i've seen in any other post in this thread, certainly including my own. thank you.

wasn't mccain on snl? he was on something fairly recently, and he really was funny, i mean it. he was witty. granted, his appearance was very short, but it was witty. he surprised me. i've also seen him be very charming with jon stewart.