Musical Wanderer

During the holiday season, outdoor markets sprout up, with stands selling assorted gifts.  Many markets feature a stand of Tibetan goods, featuring miniature buddhas and bohdisatvas, prayer wheels, ringing bowls, and prayer flags.  You can see prayer flags in front yards in some educated neighborhoods, providing lively splashes of color as well as evidence of a multicultural spirit, at least in terms of shopping. My first experience of prayer flags was during a two month trip to India a number of years ago.   My friend Julia and I spent a weekend in Dharamsala, an overnight bus trip from New Delhi (Note:  An overnight bus trip in India is something you must experience).  The town has a very large expatriate Tibetan community as the home of the Tibetan government-in-exile and the Dalai Lama.  All over the town are long strands of prayer flags stretching from buildings, trees, and telephone poles, a pleasant contrast to the dinginess of many small Indian towns. The strands have fl

When my wife and I bought our house from our landlord, part of the agreement was everything he left in the house "conveyed."  Usually when you buy a house that just means appliances, but he still had some bookshelves plus a lot of assorted items in the basement--old housewares, some hardware, tools, mirrors, lamps, even a tiny guitar speaker and a fedora.  We didn't want most of it, plus we had some stuff each of us brought into the house when we moved in that we didn't need anymore.  Robin said we should call someone to come pick up the junk.  I thought we could just put it out on the curb and people would take stuff.  She didn't believe me, but went along with me.  We put out the stuff on Friday afternoon.  I sat out on the stoop with a beer to watch. Within 10 minutes the first people took some stuff.  By dinner time Sunday, everything was gone. My neighborhood is a model for recycling.  Some of it is silly, like people putting lamps out that don't work w

I read today that Washington National Cathedral will start charging 10 dollars for admission.  Officials state that the cathedral is desperate for income after running a deficit last year.  The cathedral has been having serious money troubles ever since the recession in 2009.  Over half the folk who worked there when I was an employee have been laid off.  The news of an increased admission charge is another page in the cathedral's story of financial woe. Many folk say it is horrible to charge admission to a church.  But others point out one pays admission for churches elsewhere.  I myself have dodged admission fees at major churches in Europe by attending a service to hear the music (and I have given money anyway).  Others note that the development department is not very successful if the church has to resort to admission charges, an observation that probably has some truth to it.  But I think the problem with the cathedral is not really income. The cathedral's problem

First off, a proud admission.   I was BORN in Washington DC.  I have lived half my life in DC, though that includes all of the last 17 years.  It has of course changed a lot since a) I was born and b) since I moved back in 1996.  There are many places that, as I look back, made my life in DC.  Some are still around.  Many are no more.  After reviewing the places below, I realized most are bookstores, movie theaters, and pizza places, plus some other bars and restaurants.  If those ain't your thing, perhaps find some other idle reading.  Here I will give homage to places that were precious to me that are no more.  Those that died recently include pictures I found on the web. My biggies - Some places when they disappeared left big holes in my life, only to be filled with liquor and second rate pizza. Childe Harold   My first legal drink in DC was at Childe Harold.  I spent evenings after working at Olsson's sitting at the bar with a burger and some beer.  I saw World Cu

A year ago, I buried my parents.  It was a sunny crisp day, not quite autumn anymore but not quite winter.  It had been rainy and ugly for several days and we commented on how nice it was to the priest from my parent's last parish, Father Sari, who we met in the parking lot at Arlington National Cemetery.  My dad was a disabled vet from World War II, so he and my mom were eligible to be buried there. They died only a few weeks apart, so their burials were scheduled for the same day. We entered the Administration building and were sent by the respectful folk at the entrance to one of the waiting rooms downstairs.  Arlington does a couple dozen funerals every day, so they have the process down to an efficient yet dignified science.  Some friends of mine and my brother and his wife joined us in the room.  An official brought in some paperwork to sign and then brought us outside.  The grave was close to the building, strange considering the size of the place, with over 400,000 graves

The Atlantic Monthly website ran an interesting article about a poll of Americans' views on women in Congress.  The left-leaning Atlantic enjoyed playing up the finding that only 23% of Republicans would want more women elected to Congress.  On first reading, it appears that a case of slight political misogyny is a requirement for Republican Party membership.  I can see some holes in the data, as many folk that used to consider themselves Republican now consider themselves independent, and those that continue to proclaim a Republican identity may have more fringe beliefs. But then I looked up some data on women in Congress.  The Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics, part of the Eagleton Institute of Politics, has a simple two page summary of the history of women in Congress.  It's all facts, no spin, so it's worth a look .  As is my habit, I downloaded some of the data and played with it.  I just input the numbers of women in office now and compared it with th

As you read this at your computer, millions of people are at their computers, posting on facebook pictures of their cat sleeping on a couch, dog staring at the camera, child playing with a toy, drunk friend wearing a Halloween costume. Millions of people are watching a video on youtube or a porn site on their computer. Millions more at their computers are buying a book, sweater, ipod, or plane ticket online.  At the same time, a few young guys are sitting down, with their coffee in air-conditioned buildings on bland military bases , at their computers with video screens above, about to kill people on the other side of the world. They will find people on the screens and, with the approval of guys a little older drinking their coffee, push a button to launch a missile that will blow up everything they see on the screen. Last year, two young men who happened to be muslim set off bombs in Boston that killed three people who happened to be Ame ricans. The same day, a guy who happened to

The Defense budget of the United States is 664 billion dollars.  The Chief of Staff for the US Army, General Raymond Odierno, of hair-cutting fame , has stated that the Army has two brigades ready for battle, because of sequestration.  A brigade is a army force of about 3,000 to 4,000 men.  With 10 divisions, each consisting of 4 brigades, plus a few independent brigades, the Army has over 44 brigades.  Of the entire defense budget, the Army's portion is 245 billion dollars.  That's a lot of money to have two brigades, about 6,000 men, out of 44 brigades ready for battle. When pressed, he acknowledged that did not include one brigade in South Korea, and one Airborne brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg that is always ready for service.  Nor was he including forces in Afghanistan, about 8 brigades serving in both combat and advisory roles.  So he's saying actually a dozen are in harm's way or ready for service, or about 40 to 50 thousand troops.  But

People wonder about how someone like Ted Cruz grew so significant in such a short time.  It isn't really his positions on issues or his work as a lawyer, though he was on the legal team that put George W. Bush in the White House in 2000.  His only run for political office was for the US Senate from Texas.  Not bad for a first try. Politicians in general need some talent for the theater.  To get in front of people to ask for their votes or for money to support their election campaign requires some flair for performance.  Once they are elected, theatrical skills are less important to politicians than those mastering new information quickly and negotiating with colleagues.  Cruz still displays a fondness for the stage Politicians that have served in office for a long time generally develop knowledge about the issues before them in committees and congress in general and on how to work with colleagues, principally with members of their own party, though more the masterful can work a

The United States will start withholding military aid to Egypt , three months after the military replaced the democratically elected government.  On one hand, I understand the importance of keeping Egypt stable and the place our aid plays in it. And I also acknowledge the US has provided aid to governments of greater tyranny over the past 65 years than what is evident in Egypt.  But it is about time the aid was turned off if aid is now contingent upon maintaining some form of democracy. Also, Egypt is not likely be invaded in near future.  The billion dollars of aid it would have received this year will not make much a difference to a military which has received, since 1978, almost 60 billion dollars in military aid. The army has over 3000 American made tanks and 1000 Russian made tanks (The United States has a little over 8,000 tanks).  The only nation that has more current M1 Abrams tanks than Egypt (over 1000, of which 700 were produced in the US) is the United States.  The only n