"Family" discussion last night started with the tuition crazyness out in Cali, and in its meandering way touched on my last post -- as well as the comment from Tilos. I was decrying the huge raise in tuition. Their revenue, as far as I know, is not down. Expenses do go up its true, but inflation is quite low. How can they need so much new money? Is there no where else they could cut, without effecting their core mission of education? Some building left half done, some research project that sadly doesn't have full funding?

Focus on the education. At U of MN they haven't raised rates. They have had to let some people go, which is always terrible. But universities are for education, not job creation. However, I was reminded that a lot of the job cuts are amongst educators, including teaching assistants and others who actually can teach (as opposed to researchers who are sham teachers).

I was also reminded -- and this gets back to the comment from Tilos -- that one doesn't (or shouldn't) go to a big research university because of the classroom education or because one wants/needs individual attention. You go for the access to resources -- the very resources that Cali is trying not to cut, I suppose. And for the two of us at least, that has worked out. Yeah, we had to scrape and claw our way through the system, but that made us the people we are today. We had to be self-sufficient, self-motivated.

It would have been good to learn to work and rely on the team a bit more, but in the end we've both well where we've been, with limited support, and that is definitely thanks in part to the quality and type of educational experience we received at UT. Good for me to remember that. So I should add that to my grad school story, although it is more a story about being an undergrad at Texas. Plus, I just can't leave with that last post being the last word, because I just love UT too much.

E-mail from UT Graduate School: "Share Your Graduate School Stories". Let's see, which one... perhaps the "story" of negotiating expectations down to 40 hours/week on a 20 hour appointment that expressly stated that the student isn't supposed to work more than 20 hours? I sometimes wonder what life would have been like had I been able to spend more time studying for my classes [don't think it would have made much difference though -- I was in over my head as a physics grad student].

Maybe a story about the time when our Redhat network (for which I was god) was cracked by an as-yet-undisclosed vulnerability in a daemon, and I spent the week rebuilding everything and got chewed out for erasing my boss's hard drive and not knowing that he kept all of his thousands of e-mails in his inbox, rather than saving it to the backed-up home folder like everyone else? (Though I had god-permission, I didn't know about /var/spool/mail on local machine at the time, or whatever the path is. I had made my best guess as to what directories to send to Amanda).

Or perhaps the day that I showed up to a student organization meeting with a face so red and angry that it seemed to stun my friends, after spending 3-4 hours exporting a hundred huge images from a PowerPoint, manually shrinking them, and re-inserting? (Oh, and it took a while to clear the print queue too, from the Man's ill-fated initial attempt at printing the 300 MB doc on the HP LJ 4). That was about as angry as I've ever been.

I'm not really bitter about these things today; I've long been over them. My grad school time did include a lot of good on-the-job learning about programming and sys admin that basically gave me a career. It is actually kind of useful to remember some of these painful moments; keeps things in perspective. Keeps me from being too nostalgic for UT (well, only a little bit!). Makes me push back thoughts of trying to get back to school, at least a little further back (besides, don't know what I would do there, too many good but unproven options).

E.O. Wilson, one of America's foremost scientists and secular humanists, has penned a moving appeal for religionist and scientist alike to set aside their differences and focus together on preserving Earth's biological diversity for the benefit of today's and future generations (which, in the case of many bacteria and insects, will also begin and end today). In a beautiful prose reminiscent – no doubt intentionally – of Aldo Leopold, Wilson moves directly to share his sense of awe in the face of nature, and the plain facts about what science has discovered about the state of our planet's biodiversity. He also writes of what we do not yet know: of the countless species yet identified, the relationships amongst them yet unrecognized, and the increasing need for citizen and scientist alike to pursue this knowledge.

As one long convinced of the scientific facts of humanity's destructiveness, and of the terrible tragedy this represents, I did not need Wilson's persuading. But I am convinced that he has taken the right approach, the right tone. He proceeds with respect. He does not water down, but does write in a language far simpler than many intellectual popular science books (such as his own difficult-to-read Consilience). He mixes fact with anecdote to keep the reader engaged.

If this formula does not succeed in engaging the drive to dialogue for both parties, then the biophillic may have lost one of their last hopes for a grand compromise. Of course they can always take the inside route – go religious, work that angle as apparently Bishop Spong does.

One of the unstated currents of The Creation is the sense of nearly-mystical ecstasy that can be found in the presence of nature. This is also a hallmark of Leopold's writing, and of the aforementioned Bishop Spong's. Set aside the "rational" arguments for cooperation between science and religion, and think on this description of the "charismatic experience" of religion, from Moojan Momen's The Phenomenon of Religion (p94):

"This experience makes those involved feel that a gift has been bestowed upon them. This gift may include a feeling of being in a 'wider life than that of this world's selfish interests,' a sense of being in continuity with the powers of the universe, and a sense of elation and joy as the sense of self and attachment to this world is abandoned. There is an inner equilibrium and calm. It has been described as the experience of saintliness."

This is the ecstasy, or going out of self, that so many religious writers emphasize. Working in a garden, hiking through the less-tamed natural areas, or gazing into a microscope at the diverse fauna of our own saliva, we can step out of our human shell, detached from our human games and "worldly" desires for a moment, feeling a sense of reverence, awe, and oneness in the presence of such diverse forms of life. Anecdote shows this; research proves it: people experiencing greater biodiversity are happier, are better able to overcome life's vicissitudes.

Wilson's common ground is thus not built solely on the unifying element of respect for and stewardship of the natural environment. There is also the commonality, at least in their morally highest representations, of religion and science both working to improve the livelihoods and the satisfaction of living beings, both working to ease our suffering and uplift our joy. Yes, much of "religion" is about the ease of suffering via a satisfying after-life, but every world religion also contains the strong call to compassion and charity in the here-and-know.

Science, as reviewed by Wilson, increasingly is showing a link between achievement of these aims and human exposure to diverse elements and forms of life. Thus if we wish to improve the common weal, we must preserve the biodiversity remaining on Earth, and even work to reverse the destruction we have already caused. And the time is now – we cannot afford to wait while we solve one or many of the Earth's and humanity's  many challenges. This too Wilson makes abundantly clear. We are on the edge of a precipice, and it will take our combined efforts to push us back into stability.

This is one of the most profound secular works I have ever read, and I cannot recommend it more highly. Some critics have labeled it condescending; I saw it as frank and straight-forward. If you have the means, please read The Creation, and then find ways to strengthen your commitment to the well-being of your fellow creatures on this God-given Earth.

Jimmy Carter says opposition to Obama is based in racial attitudes. New York Times columnists debate: David Brooks says no, it is based in populism. Bob Herbert says yes it is racism. Charles Blow responds that, if nothing else, it should be obvious to us all that race is still a problem in America. While Brooks's assessment about populism is probably accurate, he is clearly overlooking the consistent racial character of populist movements, and a number of obviously racist attacks on Obama (see Herbert; also pointed out by E.J. Dione on NPR Friday afternoon). Moving beyond the politics of it, what does all of this signify about American culture, and about the continuing struggle for people of color to be afforded an equal opportunity?

Brooks talks about coming across a respectful interleaving of the Black Family Reunion Celebration and a Tea Bag protest and concludes that the tea baggers aren't racist. Blow's article (and many before it) gives the statistics proving the amount of racism still in this country. For instance, only around 35% of people acknowledge that they have some racial prejudice (see Blow above), but as Blow pointed back in February, studies show that there is still a substantial "pro-white" bias in America, but it is implicit and largely unrecognized by those who show that bias (frankly, I suspect the 35% is a combination of the most and least racist -- those who are mostly strongly aware of their racial prejudices).

Except with the most virulently racist, who would actually expect these two group to be confrontational on the Mall? That the interaction was peaceful shows we might have made progress in face-to-face dignity and respect, but that's all it says.

Brooks calls this a populist movement in the vein of Jefferson, Jackson, Coughlin and Long. That's the same Jefferson whose populism led him to completely reject the prospect of racial integration:

"It will probably be asked, Why not retain and incorporate the blacks into the State and thus save the expense of supplying by importation of white settlers the vacancies they will leave? Deep-rooted prejudices  entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made; and many other circumstances, will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions, which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race. To these objections, which are political, may be added others, which are physical and moral. The first difference which strikes us is that of color. ... And is this difference of no importance? Is it not the foundation of a grater or less [sic] share of beauty in the two races?" [quoted in Koch and Peden, Life and Selected Writings, p256]

In Racial Unity: An Imperative for Social Progress, Dr. Richard Thomas makes a compelling case for Jefferson being the intellectual racist-in-chief, paving the way for all of the justifications of racism we've seen through the long years. And then there's the populism of Andrew Jackson:

"Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this country, and philanthropy has been long busily employed in devising means to avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the earth. To follow to the tomb the last of his race and tread on the graves of extinct nations excite melancholy reflections. But true philanthropy reconciles the mind to these vicissitudes as it does to the extinction of one generation to make room for another." [Second Annual Message to Congress, 1830]

Father Coughlin and Huey Long were strongly associated with anti-semitism and pro-fascist views (google search). Its a bad sign when one of the first articles on "Father Coughlin anti semitism" is a defense from Klansman David Duke!

The Republican populism used by Richard Nixon is well-known to have stirred up and exploited racial feelings. Blow even quotes Carter as appealing to prejudice in his own populist call (though later repudiating his own comments). It seems these paragons of populism were also paragons of racism, shown in the words and deeds. So I'm sorry Mr. Brooks, but I don't think you can dismiss the claims of racism in light of this being a "populist" movement. If we're honest and open with ourselves, we'll see that populism is often intertwined with racism and a desire to reinforce white racial superiority. Now, what are we going to do about it?

`Abdu'l-Bahá counseled that "[t]he shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions." I have always felt, based on the rest of His writings, that "clash" should not be seen in the negative light in which the word is usually used, but rather it is clear that it is meant to be a constructive encounter of differing forces, building up rather than breaking down. In the rest of the paragraph (below), he gives the "prime requisites for them that take counsel together," presenting a beautifully spiritual approach to group consultation.

Even with this, sometimes we need a bit of help to remain constructive, especially when trying to bring these spiritual principles to bear on meetings outside the Bahá'í community. At my best, I try to stick to the facts, offer alternatives dispassionately, elicit opinions, and remain quiet unless and until it is my turn to speak. At my least positive, I simply state an opinion authoritatively and in too loud a voice, perhaps insistently so.

Microsoftie JD Meier summarizes excellent advice for being more systematic and constructive in such any gathering in his 3 Thinking Techniques to Improve Your Intellectual Horsepower. I especially appreciate the turning of the six thinking hats into concrete questions that can be used time and time again.

The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bahá shall be vouchsafed to them.... The members thereof must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresseth with absolute freedom his own opinion and setteth forth his argument. Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed. The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions. If after discussion, a decision be carried unanimously, well and good; but if the Lord forbid, differences of opinion should arise, a majority of voices must prevail. (Bahá'í Administration: Selected Messages 1922-1932, p. 21-22)

You know you've been up too late writing unit tests (NUnit, for those who care) and reading an old favorite when you wake up from dreams of writing automated tests to compare memories of the book's characters with the actual book. FYI, the book is The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, a favorite from high school.

I've been thinking about how horribly wrong this is, that a man can rant and rave angrily, hatefully about women, walk into a gym and kill and injure several, and the news treats it as "just another" mass killing. This is not "just another". Violence is always wrong. When it is perpetrated by singling out a particular group, and that pattern is repeated over and over again, it is also indicative of a deep social ill. In this case, its name is misogyny.

Bob Herbert in the New York Times had a piece yesterday, Women at Risk, that carefully summarizes the scope of the injustice and hate of misogyny. I've also been hearing, through my wife, much analysis and reporting from feminist blogs. For instance, it seems that this killer is part of a whole movement of pick-up artists, who don't have a clue why they can't get laid, and decide to take extreme manipulative tactics to thousands of women, in the hopes that one of them can be coerced into sex.

I doubt anyone considering "pick-up artist" tricks will ever read this blog. But if so, please consider this: none of us are perfect. All face challenges throughout their lives, some externally induced, some stemming from internal issues (which in turn are often influenced by the external events and vice versa). Break the in-virtuous cycle. Instead of manipulating others and fixating on your outer appearance, look to your own inner growth. Look at your own personality, your own self-awareness, your own sense of harmony with the world. And encourage others to do so.

These manifestations of internal well-being are attractive. Look to spirituality rather than sex gurus. Look to religion, even if you don't believe in God. Cast your net wide – perhaps the Bahá'í Faith is the right community for you. Or perhaps a nearby church, or a Buddhist group, etc. Make a real effort at developing a virtuous cycle. Who knows, it might help turn the sex-obsessed energy to something more positive and constructive. It might even help – if your words and your actions are both sincere over a long period of time – in developing meaningful relationships.

Most women are not interested in men who lack personality, in men who are not both self and other aware. People who are not emotionally "well adjusted" are unlikely to provide the support that others look for in times of trouble, the support needed to raise a child, the support needed for both to live full and balanced lives (rather than one being virtually chained to the bed). Regardless of how clean and manicured you are personally, regardless of how you might have the right car or furniture or job, if you are not emotionally and spiritually ready for a compassionate and supportive relationship, then you will always be a creep in the eyes of others.

Gormenghast – a word that fills the mouth, that undulates with waves of hard and soft, that tricks the tongue into thinking it can escape with a fading sibilance, only to be brought to heel hard fast with that final 't'. It is a magnificent word for the sprawling thing Mervyn Peake calls a "castle" in the book of the same name.

In the foreword, Tad Williams describes the castle as a character in-and-of itself. He is right to do so. As a place, as a series of traditions, as the complex sum of countless people wheeling in and out of the timeless, deathless halls, it occupies the place of precedence for the first portion of the book. Peake is an incredible wordsmith – a thousand words are worth a portrait – and at times the elaborate castle and character descriptions nearly bore me. But then along would come a moment of whimsy too charming to abandon.

Eventually the human characters become the focus, and the castle fades  into mere setting rather than overlord. Although the tale meanders, at times, it is all to the author's credit. In so doing, he sets the stage for the actual protagonist's ultimate struggle for freedom: a struggle inversely personified by a human bit in actuality with Gormenghast itself.

Nothing in the book indicates a definite time, place, or religion. Although it clearly comes from a Western European mileu, it is not at all difficult to imagine changing a few names and titles, thereby turning this into a novel of Confucian rebellion in deepest China. Nevertheless, there were several points at which the author strayed painfully into stereotypes that perhaps reveal his era (published 1950).

This is a brilliant and highly imaginative work. It has the power to open your eyes and turn your thinking inside-out as few books do. I look forward to reading the two wings of this trilogy.

Meme carried on from tilos.

Three names I go by (besides given name)
1. Steve (don't like it though)
2. Steebie (sisters)
3.

Three Jobs I have had in my life
1. Software developer
2. Unix gimp
3. Business counselor

Three Places I have lived
1. St. Paul
2. Austin
3. Houston

Three Favorite drinks
1. Orange juice
2. Diet Coke
3. Cafe mocha

Three Shows I Watch
1. The Dollhouse
2. Rome
3. The Tudors

Three places I have been
1. On a verandah overlooking the Grote Markt in Brussels
2. The oddly-named Prude Ranch in west Texas
3. Pittsburgh, PA

People that call me regularly
1. mi esposa
2. sister
3. my middle-aged Eskimo friend

Three of my favorite foods
1. chili
2. chocolate cake (just finished a slice, with fresh raspberries between two layers of chocolate cake and covered in fudge icing mmmm)
3. fajitas

Three friends I think will respond: the only ones who might already did

Three Things I am looking forward to
1. Texas
2. Football
3. Beautiful flaming red, hot banana pepper from the yard, in chili tomorrow night

Three Things that are always by your side
1. wedding band never leaves
2. wallet?
3. cheap phone?

I've just stumbled across an incredible, moving, soul-stirring animated short about the persecution of the Baha'is of Iran and Egypt: http://www.bahairightsday.org/. This is hosted by an independent group called Iran Press Watch. Please visit this site and tell others about it, particularly sending to friends and colleagues in the Middle East — for they are the only ones who can stand up in direct, non-violent solidarity.

Seven Baha'i prisoners face a death-penalty trial Saturday in Iran amid calls for their release from a U.S. panel on religious freedom.

Having promulgated a new religion, having laid claim to be the Promised One of God, Siyyid ‘Alí Muhammad of Shiraz, known as the Báb, and his followers, were oppressed and persecuted from the beginning of His Mission in 1844. After 6 tumultuous years, the clergy and government of Persia agreed to a sentence of death. Imprisoned in the remote capital of Tabriz, the Báb and a young follower named Anís were executed in a spectacular, seemingly-miraculous fashion.

On July 9th, 1850, with thousands of residents looking on, the Báb and Anís were fired upon by a regiment of 250 soldiers. It was reported that, when the smoke cleared, Anís was found unharmed and the Báb was nowhere to be seen. A search ensued, and the Báb was found dictating to his secretary. Again the Báb and Anís were placed in the line of fire, and shortly before noon second regiment was brought out to finish that which the first could not complete. The second volley of shots ended the life of the Báb and His follower.

For me, the greatest wonder is not the story of His execution, but rather the story of His legacy, namely, the Bahá'í Faith. Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, wrote of this legacy:

"… the seed, endowed by the Hand of Omnipotence with such vast potentialities, though rudely trampled under foot and seemingly perished from the face of the earth, had, through this very process, been vouchsafed the opportunity to germinate and remanifest itself, in the shape of a still more compelling Revelation – a Revelation destined to blossom forth, in a later period into the flourishing institutions of a world-wide administrative System, and to ripen, in the Golden Age as yet unborn, into mighty agencies functioning in consonance with the principles of a world-unifying, world-redeeming Order." Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p59-60

A prayer from the Báb (Selections From the Writings of the Báb, p192-3):

"GLORY be unto Thee, O Lord, Thou Who hast brought into being all created things, through the power of Thy behest.

O Lord! Assist those who have renounced all else but Thee, and grant them a mighty victory. Send down upon them, O Lord, the concourse of the angels in heaven and earth and all that is between, to aid Thy servants, to succour and strengthen them, to enable them to achieve success, to sustain them, to invest them with glory, to confer upon them honour and exaltation, to enrich them and to make them triumphant with a wondrous triumph.

Thou art their Lord, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the Lord of all the worlds. Strengthen this Faith, O Lord, through the power of these servants and cause them to prevail over all the peoples of the world; for they, of a truth, are Thy servants who have detached themselves from 193 aught else but Thee, and Thou verily art the protector of true believers.

Grant Thou, O Lord, that their hearts may, through allegiance to this, Thine inviolable Faith, grow stronger than anything else in the heavens and on earth and in whatsoever is between them; and strengthen, O Lord, their hands with the tokens of Thy wondrous power that they may manifest Thy power before the gaze of all mankind."

The primary source for the story of the Báb's execution is The Dawnbreakers, by Nabil-i-Zarandi, p500-527. If I understand it correctly, Goubineau gives a different, contemporaneous account in Les religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie centrale, p271-2. British historian E.G. Browne's account seems to have elements of both versions, including the Báb surviving the firing squad (although like Gobineau, he has the prophet killed by a soldier using a sword), in Religious Systems of the World: A Contribution to the Study of Comparative Religion , p346.

Not having been on either Facebook or MySpace, I had a hard time believing it at first — but the talk The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online makes a convincing argument that racial and class politics have made emerged in social networking in some surprising ways. Do you buy it?

To celebrate the glimmer of hope that is the Waxman-Markey bill to address global climate change (and the loss of biodiversity, economic stability, shorelines, etc. that will come with it), I bought more plants today.

Ok, that is not actually true. It was just a coincidence that today I was finally able to get to the 50% off sale at the Linder's popup a few miles north of my house. The garden is already pretty full, and I wasn't sure where I put be able to put these things, but I picked up: a coneflower, a gallardia, and packs of snapdragons, petunias, and poblano peppers. I still don't know what I'll do with the white petunias.

The coneflower and gallardia have been planted. There is a thin stretch of grass between the driveway and the neighbor's yard (with a chain-link fence). These were planted a few feet in front of two tree stubs. The roots of one (an American Elm that got the disease and thus got the ax a few years ago) got in my way a bit, but thankfully I had a troweling tool that was able to hack through and get me a big enough hole. I'll have to remember to put up pictures once they get bigger. In the meantime, how about the bleeding heart that keeps getting bigger every year (from mid-May)...

The op-ed, Is My Marriage Gay? in the New York Times (5/11/09), describes the unusual state of affairs surrounding marriages where one partner has legally changed gender after the marriage was recognized by the state. The country is patchworked with statutes and laws that make such a marriage anywhere from fully recognized to partially tolerated to anathema. And this makes no sense to me, except in recognizing that people are afraid of what they do not know. Well, go hug a transgendered person today (in person or virtually if that's what it takes). Get to know her or him.

Elements in the U.S. have been eager to make sure that only the right kinds of people can marry each other. This determination is based on "tradition" and religious belief. These should have limited or no role in governance. If "tradition" were allowed to define governance, we would still have blue laws that kept everything closed on Sundays; women would not be allowed into the voting booth; and African Americans would still be kicked to the curb in the North and enslaved in the South. Tradition is important: stare decisis when there is no reason otherwise. But when it comes to expanding freedoms and looking out for the well-being of all its citizens, governments should be willing to stand up against the oppression of a few and put tradition aside. To quote the Prof. Boylan's op-ed:

"Whether a marriage like mine is a same-sex marriage or some other kind is hardly the point. What matters is that my spouse and I love each other, and that our legal union has been a good thing — for us, for our children and for our community."

[this post is my hug :-)]

In February I began reading Rushdie's Midnight's Children — a strange sort of historical fiction —but a trip in early March inserted Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red before I could finish. Two things I've loved about Rushdie, at least in the two novels I've read: his use of the English language, and his ability to credibly, smoothly bend reality into an absurd yet moving other world. In these he is master. These are so clear that I won't dwell on them (ok, that's actually because my wife has the book up at work so I can't refer to it for examples).

Midnight's Children is the story of India — that is, of the modern state of India — seen through the rise and fall of four generations, and narrated by the third. It is a large and ancient land; naturally he cannot encompass it in even a long novel. Yet he does seem to touch on all the major developments. But then again, what do I know? I'm a Westerner. And so is he.

I wonder how that influences him? I wonder what this book would have become had it been written by someone directly living India's birth into modernity? Perhaps such a person could not exist. Perhaps no one from inside could have created such a story. Perhaps if someone did, it would have been too foreign for Western readers to appreciate. Maybe such a work exists, but the Western selection bias has precluded the possibility for it to be recognized as a masterwork.

Midnight's Children was an incredibly journey, well worth the time, but would have been better served had I not interrupted 80% through. It is large; it is challenging; it is beautiful. Ground Beneath Her Feet was the better novel of the two. Midnight's Children was more grand and magical, but less philosophical and less likely to send me to the dictionary. But Midnight's Children does not elicit from me the praise I gave to that other tale.

Friday morning I woke up after T. had already left for bird-watching. My left hand reached up under my pillow and felt another hand there. The other hand was unresponsive. I quickly remembered that T. had already left, and quickly started freaking out wondering whose arm it was. Tried to reach back with my right hand to feel what was there, but couldn't move the right arm. And then I got it -- that lifeless hand might have been my own. So sat up and flopped my dead-arm over let it wake up. Man was I spooked for a few seconds!

• Love and Rockets - So Alive
• Sisters of Mercy - My Lucretia
• The Cure - Charlotte Sometimes
• Joy Division - Dead Souls
• Echo & the Bunnymen - Killing Moon
• Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

If a new law passed by Afghanistan's Parliament, and supported by its President (Hamid Karzai), is anything like the critics claim, then it is a sad day for women in Afghanistan. The document has not been published, but those who have read it –such as critical members of Parliament, and the United Nations Development Fund for Women –say that it will roll back women's rights to a state worse than under the Taliban. This should not be tolerated by the world agencies and governments that are supporting post-Taliban Afghanistan. Our governments and agencies must speak out against this deplorable law.

Cultural relativism is not without merit and meaning –but there should be nothing relative about the necessity of establishing equal rights for women and men. Indeed, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes it quite plain that the rights of women transcend borders and cultures:

"Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom..."

Furthermore, Afghanistan's own constitution proclaims that "[t]he citizens of Afghanistan – whether man or woman – have equal rights and duties before the law."

At a time when the United States government in particular is revamping its Afghanistan strategy, including increases in the number of troops stationed in harm's way, it is increasingly important that the besieged women of that country (and increasingly Pakistan as well) not be "thrown under the bus" for expediency's sake.

Many in the U.S. have tenuously supported the Afghan war because of the terrible oppression of women in the prior regime. War is a terrible thing, not to be undertaken lightly, and not to be undertaken simply out of fear for one's own future safety. The war in Afghanistan has been seen as just because it gave back to women and girls opportunities for schooling, for lowering the veil, for entering public life –it gave them some measure of freedom and hope for more to come.

Until women are allowed their rightful place at the table, until they enjoy the rights and freedoms enjoyed by men, I fear that warfare in Afghanistan (with or without the U.S.) will be without end.

Got out to the car on Thursday morning, looked up into our postage stamp yard, and there was the retaining wall, in pieces in the yard. Extremely minor personal tragedy, or opportunity for growth and development? Both.

The retaining wall in summer of 2008

The retaining wall yesterday

We've been expecting this ever since we bought the house. The wall as seen in 2008 is as it was in 2005. Of course we were hoping it would fall to the next homeowner to fix it (pun not originally intended), as do all homeowners who are not expecting to spend more than a handful of years in a place. I suppose the freeze and thaw cycle finally did it in. What made it so bad? Terrible construction. Concrete blocks with no drainage equals high water pressure. Some of the worst damage was also caused by a tree that previous owners let grow up, which took me several years to kill.

The wall stretches about 40 feet, and was 3 feet at its highest point. There are a few tiers as the slope behind us evens out with the neighbors to the east, who have alley access. Only 17 feet fell over; the portion behind the garage is thankfully safe.

The shoddiness of the construction job was reinforced (pun intended) at every step of the clean up process. We got all the blocks moved away and started cleaning up the dirt. T. remarked that this felt like an archeological dig; as she pulled up the crushed solar light, I observed that this society must have worshipped light, and that we should look for evidence of an animal sacrifice (2 years ago there was a mouse skeleton near that light). Literally within minutes we realized that there was indeed a bone sticking out of the embankment. On further inspection, we found an entire skeleton, starting with a femur and a pelvis. Someone's pet.

Skeleton

The concrete blocks were ineptly reinforced, some with concrete, some with stones and mud, and a few with newspapers. Yes, newspapers. Keeping in the archeological mindset, I realized that I now had a tool for dating. Expecting something from the 50's, imagine my surprise when I saw a movie add for Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in A Star is Born: the wall is only 31 years old. Much of Hadrian's Wall is still standing more than 1,800 years later. Countless English peasant walls continue to keep sheep in the right pasture hundreds of years after they were built from stone pillaged from collapsed churches. Wall-building is not a new artform; how could this one be so terrible?

Well, the new bricks have just arrived, so time to wrap up this post with the coup de grâce: a partial burger wrapper with the words and visage of Mayor McCheese (camera was not outside at that point).

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