I'm feeling Kind of, Well, Buff!

I recently rejoined Lifetime Fitness after quitting three years ago. I've been doing light aerobic and non-aerobic exercises every day since and I am experiencing something interesting.

Having not exercised for a while, my muscles are not toned, right? Since I have been actually using them, I am feeling them, actually feeling them. Net, net, I realize that I am in no way near being back in shape, but the sensation of feeling my muscles gives me the feeling of being Buff!

Once Upon A Time...

I've had a Palm Pilot for a while and I use it to keep organized. No easy task for an Aries who actually wants to complete some projects from time to time. I also use the PP as an occasional distraction.

Recently I downloaded some Palm freeware entitled, Yoda. The program gives you, upon request, Jedi Wisdom. Cute? Yes! But also for me, profound. As an example, one of the pearls is: Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. Another is: Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter! And another: You must feel the force around you.

There are others equally interesting and good stuff for meditation. Maybe I'm being profoundly simple about all this. But most of you know that I've been struggling with my own personal theology for some time now. I wanted to share with you my joy at finding something that I found spiritually uplifting and meaningful.

May the Force be with you.

I Am Seriously Pissed (This is a Long Rant)

I am disgusted with the Republican's vicious attacks on John Kerry's Vietnam war record. Yes, I understand that W's official campaign machine is not directly responsible for the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth (SBVFT) ads. But, does anyone truly believe that they are not coordinated, or at least condoned?

It is wildly ironic that John Kerry, a genuine war hero, is being portrayed as a liar and a cheater, as well as being accused of embellishing his service record for his own interests by a guy who didn't even show up for stateside duty in the National Guard.

Anyone who was in-country during the war was in danger. As an example, any of the thousands of locals hired to work on basecamps could have, and sometimes did, carry explosives to detonate someplace where soldiers congregated.

Those of us who carried weapons, obviously, were in greater danger. We all did things we would rather forget, saw things we never should have seen. I am sure that Kerry is no exception. At least he had the balls to perform the duty that he agreed to do when he took the military oath. Strikingly in contrast to the incumbents.

The current VP is also an asshat. He talks real tough about kicking Iraqi asses! I am reminded of a scene in the movie "Patton," circa 1968, where General Patton, in a jeep, rides past two walking soldiers. One soldier says to the other, "There goes old blood and guts." The other soldier says, "Yeah, our blood, his guts." The current VP remarked when asked about his five deferments during the Vietnam war, "I had other priorities."

I wonder of the 58,000 men and women who died in that awful fucking place had other priorities. Those who came back a bit less whole probably had other priorities as well. I don't have the callousness to look a war amputee in the eyes and say, "I had other priorities."

I am angry! I am angry about being lied to regarding WMD, the obvious profiteering by Haliburton and other companies and those people who run them. I am also angry by their assumption that you, me, and everybody else will simply accept the bullshit that they are handing us disguised as our (don't look now, non-existent) tax cuts.

I am so incensed by his "other priorities" comment. Every day, repeat, every day I am reminded that I spent a year in that place, doing things that nobody has any business doing. I guess I am also intensely jealous that by virtue of birth into the "right" family, he could pursue his "other priorities" while I and others had to pursue other human beings.

Any sane person who has actually been in a war will never want to go back into one, willingly. Yeah, I know that there are exceptions to the "sane" issue, a few sane people do want to go back. (I did for a very short time, for revenge.) However, I would rather be sent to a war by someone who has tried everything else first. That didn't happen for me, and it didn't happen in current history.

Thank you.