Oligarchy

phawker.com/tag/koch-brothers/ 

Oligarchy: Government by a small group of people, 
usually wealthy. 

Now that is a broadly descriptive term!

By itself it is neither positive nor negative. It is simply a statement of fact - or is it? Start defining the words. Then compare them to our US Constitution and Bill of Rights, and you may start to wonder: Who has the real power? Is that good and lawful? Does it improve our lives?

Does the word just restate an old adage "Money talks."? It appears to buy public office, as in "Whoever can afford the most TV ads usually wins the election." That makes it a handy epithet in a political dog-fight. Or maybe it's more than that. Perhaps it describes a situation that needs to be changed.

Cartoonists have loved the word in the past, and the current political situation in the US seems to offer an opportunity to revive it.

   zerohedge.com                          

Think about the word and the coming mid-term elections. Is there any relationship? And don't forget, the presidential race is just two years away with the incumbent ineligible for re-election. 

Northville, My Home Town

This village of 2,500 people in sourthwest Michigan is located in huge Wayne County which also contains Detroit. Northville's first "land patent" is dated in 1823, placing it 30 miles from Detroit - a journey of three days. Now it takes a half hour for my son to drive from his Northville bakery to suppliers in Detroit.

Great Harvest Bakery Northville, my son's busines.

I moved here 3 years ago after 10 years of visiting from my home in Ohio. I could not resist the double lure of the town's old-fashioned charm and my growing family, so I found an 1893 house just ten minutes' walk from my son's bakery in the tiny "down-town".

Northville is in the northwest corner of Wayne County, the largest in Michigan. It covers 614 square miles, 2/3 the size of Luxembourg at 998 square miles. (It is larger than six other European countries including Vatican City.) It holds several townships, each containing other suburbs, as well as Detroit Metro Airport which covers 11 square miles according to the 2010 census - likely more today. 

For some wonderful tours of Detroit and the area click here: Video Tours  And for more personal views of Wayne County and some current issues you can visit another of my blogs: Mary in Michigan

To whet your appetite, here are some great stills:        

                                             

                      Part of Detroit's Reality Today: Ambassador Bridge to Canada       

            

          

International Freedom Festival, June 2008

I did not realize when I came to live here that my two feet would would be firmly planted in different eras, with 200 years between! Our news contains a jumble of information about Detroit's looming bankruptcy and related lack of public services, the auto industry's resurgence, third-world conditions in the "inner city", and exciting programs of the arts and culture. Not to mention weekly community events from concerts to marches to races, all usually with fireworks over the river.

It's a fascinating place to live, in the middle of "the action" yet as far from it as one can get. For details and pictures of some of it I invite you to visit my personal journal at MARY in Michigan. 

Meditation

Life does not last forever. It's a gift I took for granted when I was young, then struggled through during busy adult years. Now in retirement I am learning to appreciate it. I have tried many approaches and I found the right one just a few years ago. It is based on the style of meditation taught in Shambhala Buddhism, but it does not require that one embrace Buddhism itself.

When I stumbled onto this "practice" as it is called it seemed at once to be sensible and well suited to life in today's difficult and complex world. Instead of "study" I absorb guides for living called Slogans, focusing on one or more each day. It's a lifetime journey with no urgency and no expectation of reaching some goal. There is no punishment for failure nor limit to the times one can start over. It's a simple yet profound way to "get along with other people" as a prominent contemporary teacher puts it.

Another way I remind myself how to deal with life is to listen to this chant. It never fails to focus me when things get messy and I don't like myself, maybe because music is so important in my life.

If you have time to listen to even a part of this, do read the words - at least on the first few frames. It takes some effort because the print is fuzzy, but they are clear in later frames and bring the chant to life. They illustrate beautifully the "loving kindness" that is the meditation's goal.

Leaves

Coming soon,
Spring, deer.
Green, hot, breeze.
Crimson, brown.
Bags.

...

The reader will see that the pictures below are the same as those in the slide show above. That's because I'd like to know which sort of viewing you prefer. If you plan to leave a comment, please tell me your preference.  Thanks, Mary

    

The Kremlin

My tour of Moscow's Kremlin was the highlight of my visit to Russia. That might not have been the case had it received broader publicity in the US media, but with only dark and dreary images in my mind I was unprepared for its brilliant beauty. The month was May and we were the first tourists of the season, so flowers were freshly in bloom and everything sparkled with sunshine and color. It was glorious!

The Kremlin is a heavily walled fortress whose origins date to 1147. Construction and expansion continued until the end of the fifteenth century when today's complex was completed.  

Because of its situation walled in on the hill it is hard get a picture of the Kremlin except from the air, but this one is pretty good. Look hard and you will see a section of wall running behind a small gold "onion dome" about 2/3 of the way down in the center. 

The picture below it is taken from outside that part of the wall looking up at it. A tall green steeple with a red star on top is in both pictures and will help you orient orient yourself. 

The view bellow is from outside the wall as we approached it in line, awaiting our tour. (Notice again the green steeple with the red star atop.) Of course we were there during the day, but it's a better angle to get a feeling for the wall.

From the Moskova River one gets a sense of the size of the complex, and again how colorful it is. And all around it is that wall. On the other side, out of sight, is Red Square. Also very colorful, and much smaller than it seems in pictures. I thought of those black and white news films years ago of apparently endless rows of Russian soldiers marching with row upon row of tanks. Surely there was not enough space for all that!


"The Moscow Kremlin, sometimes referred to as simply the Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River (to the South), Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square (to the East) and the Alexander Garden (to the West). It is the best known of kremlins (Russian citadels) and includes five palaces, four cathedrals and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. The complex serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation."

 Getty Images. 

And finally, a look inside: "Standing in the center of the Kremlin in Moscow viewing the Cathedral of the Assumption and The Ivan the Great Bell Tower on a beautiful afternoon." Getty Images

Putin's flag was flying on the official residence as we strolled among the buildings and into these cool dim cathedrals. I fantasized him looking out the window at us, perhaps wondering what these Americans thought of his beautiful Kremlin.

J is for Jade, not Just for Jewelry

Most Beautiful and Perhaps most Versatile of All Minerals.

I love jade. I have just three pieces, a bangle (bracelet carved entirely from one piece of jade), an intricately carved pendant (very special gift) and one earring. They are my treasures and I hope to add to them one day. 

This plentiful, carvable substance is simply a rock, not just one ornamental rock but two silicate minerals: nephrite and jadeite. From there it gets complicated, but it's enough to know that jade in one form or another has been treasured and carved since prehistoric times. Its uses vary from ornaments to knives, bowls to animal figures, and there are even a few complete buildings made of jade. 

Although ancient jade relics are found on virtually every continent much of what we know about its early use comes from China. And despite this widespread appearance in earliest times Wikipedia has only sparse information about it. Other sources tell us that the history of jade in China goes back to the Neolithic period, about 5000 BC, where it became an integral part of the culture itself. It was valued not only for its beautiy but was likened to every possible virtue. That was detailed explicitly in teachings of Confcius and thus became a permanent part of the culture.

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Yes, all those stones are jade. It's not just green. It is found in virtually every color possible.

                              

Jade can be carved into the most intricate and delicate designs and figures imaginable.
Those below are from China.

                      

           

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Now that I understand the legality of using pictures from the internet I was disappointed to find that I could not share the best with you. 

So I recommend an internet tour of sites about jade in different countries. In addtion to fascinating information, I think you will enjoy seeing such finds as the primitive Pre-Columbian carvings from South America, delightfully sophisticated ones by Maoris in New Zealand, and surprisingly beautiful creations from Russia - including lots of skulls from Siberia. 

Ice

There's a lot going on with that little 3-letter word! This will be fun.

Let's start with frosting a cake or cookies, also known as "icing" them. (Can you tell I'm hungry?) I haven't had breakfast but picked up a coffe at the bakery. There I stoically bypassed those fresh, beautifully ICED cookies and cupcakes! sigh (That's the truth.) Gotta move along fast so I don't talk myself into heading back to the bakery. It's a lovely spring morning and a short walk - now wouldn't that be nice? NO!!

Colloquially, people often refer to putting something "on ICE" when they want to postpone it. It's easy to see where that probably comes from. Many things spoil if they aren't kept cool so I guess it's a metaphor. (If you're a a serious grammarian please correct me.)

And TV hitmen now refer to "ICING" a victim. That seems to be replacing "offing" which I preferred. Icing sounds so cold-blooded vs offing which seemed gentler and more polite. Maybe it's a matter of political correctness.

* * * * * * * 

Now let's consider the case of "DRY ICE".  For starters, it's not ice at all. It's the solid form of the gas carbon dioxide. It shares the main feature of "wet ice", the solid form of water, but that's about their only similarity: both preserve frozen foods and other products that must be kept cool or frozen. 

Dry ice can do many things that wet ice cannot, and it has a huge advantage: it leaves no residue when returning to its original state as a gas, while wet ice leaves water behind when it thaws. That's because carbon dioxide has no liquid state. It goes directly from solid (frozen) to gas. (Think of the ruinous floods that sometimes follow a spring thaw.) 

But wet ice has only a couple of minor advantages over dry ice: There's no risk of quick frostbite when handling wet ice as there is with dry ice. And the average person can easily produce and store ice cubes at home whereas dry ice must usually be purchased elsewhere from a producer or distributor. 

A few of the many uses for dry ice: 

• Blast cleaning - major industrial use! 
• Arrest and/or prevent insect activity in containers of grains and their products. 
• Create fog via machines in theaters and other venues for dramatic effect. 
• Capture mosquitoes, bedbugs and other pests. 
• Loosen asphalt floor tiles for construction purposes. 
• Various scientific lab procedures. 

Notes: 

Good news:  Space exploration has revealed that the polar caps on Mars are made entirely of dry ice!  

Serious Risk:  Great care should be taken when using dry ice to avoid frostbite on any exposed body surface as well as the risk of hypercapnia, a lung condition that can lead to death. 

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Now for my favorite part of this post - sharing with you a breathtaking video of ice caves in Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier. Taken by drone just a few weeks ago, it portrays a journey that no human will ever take. Enjoy.