Pawprints From Space

President Barack Obama entitled his second book "The Audacity of Hope" and yes perhaps it was audacious for a young African American man without benefit of an elite family background to aspire to greater things. But look what he accomplished! The way I see it today however, the real audacity of hope is coming to life in Iran. It is audacious to think that after 30 years of tight-fisted rule by a small number of clerics groups of outspoken people taking to the streets can honestly hope for and achieve change and freedom in their lives. And yet they are calling for it. Despite arrests, despite being killed, despite clerics now calling for the participators in these demonstrations to be executed... they have hope. They want change and now their government knows it. A government that is frightened and now weakened by this vast out pouring of anger at them. It must be quite a shock for them to realize that the control they have isn't as powerful as they had thought. Once upon ...

A young woman died yesterday. Neda Soltani. I didn't know her. And yet when I heard about her today on the news, saw the cell phone video of her bleeding to death from a gunshot wound I cried. 27 years old, a philosophy student. Gone. Sources told NBC that she was not involved in the protests yesterday, she was walking on a neighboring street when she was shot in the chest by alleged plain clothes Basij on a motorcycle. She has come to symbolize the struggle over there now. Being called by some the Angel of Iran, by others the Voice of Iran. Either way, the government forbade mosques from holding memorials for her and she was quickly buried. They don't want her to become a martyr. Too late for that, she became one the moment she was shot. Half a world away, knowing no one in her country there are tears tonight for Neda.

Good grief! I haven't posted since April????!!!! Okay, random rant and comment time then, buckle up this is gonna bounce all over the place: Other than to be an idiot, why would a volunteer at an event for a local art gallery sponsored by one political party wear a T-Shirt bashing that party? Sources confide that this person does this at every event - he finds the most obnoxious shirt possible in counterpoint to whatever the sponsor stands for and that's what he wears. Even when asked not to. When asked last evening to change his shirt, he refused, cited free speech and convinced the organization that they would lose this volunteer if they pushed it. The VP of the Board caved since he is one of their best volunteers and the shirt stayed. Personally I wasn't offended since it made him look like the small minded moron that he apparently is. Coordinating volunteers for a fun event that includes beer is a hell of a lot easier than coordinating them for an event that aims to cur...