The Peaceful Gnome

If you'd like to view this email in a Web browser, please click here . Join or Renew Membership | Donate | Chapter Contacts | Online Store       Tuesday, September 28 , 2010 VETERANS FOR PEACE IS APPALLED AT THE RECENT ACTIONS BY THE FBI Dear Phillip, CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Click "Take Action" to send an email to the Department of Justice!  Let them know as military veterans, we will continue to struggle to protect democracy. Like other peace advocates, Veterans For Peace is appalled by the heavy-handed actions of the FBI in raiding the homes of anti-war activists.  We would also be astonished by those actions were it not for the FBI's long history of harassing peaceful dissent.  From the disgraced leadership of J. Edgar Hoover down to these 2010 raids in Minneapolis and Chicago, the Bureau has allowed itself to become the dark agent of stifling democratic opposition to America's e...

A friend, who I usually disagree with politically, sent this link to me. It's a video called "The American Form of Government" and is well worth the ten minutes to watch. http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/ Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

U.S. troops fight on despite "end to combat" in Iraq Reuters – A U.S. soldier performs a radio check during a patrol in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad September … By Jim Loney Jim Loney – Fri Sep 24, 1:55 pm ET BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Since President Barack Obama declared an end to combat operations in Iraq, U.S. troops have waged a gun battle with a suicide squad in Baghdad, dropped bombs on armed militants in Baquba and assisted Iraqi soldiers in a raid in Falluja. Obama's announcement on August 31 has not meant the end of fighting for some of the 50,000 U.S. military personnel remaining in Iraq 7-1/2 years after the invasion that removed Saddam Hussein. "Our rules of engagement have not changed. Iraq does remain from time to time a dangerous place, so when our soldiers are attacked they will return fire," said Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan, a U.S. military spokesman. Posted vi...

Here is a nice site where those who are "evangelical" or "pentecostal" or "Roman Catholic" or nothing at all, can go to find out what Lutherans are all about, it's easy for me to say "We are BOTH Catholic and Evangelical" but this site helps to explain just how that is possible :-) Lutheranism 101 Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

So, I printed this out and tacked it to my wall where I can see it.   Before you speak:        Is it T rue?      Is it H urtful? Does it I mprove on the silence?      Is it N ecessary?      Is it K ind? Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

On Saturday we went to the Ren Faire at Casa De Fruita... it was a blast! Attending were Lora, Larry, Serenity, Mike, Maryann, Sophia, Topanga, friends Tom and Lucy and friend Nicky with her two kids Kaylee and Ryan. Posted via email from Our Family Blog

Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Don't know if I've linked to this before but I want to do it again if I didn't.  Serenity and Isabel walked to a park about 8/10ths of a mile from home by themselves yesterday. They then spent a couple of hours playing, then on the way home they stopped off at McDonald's, by themselves as well.  They survived both experiences :-)  Kids still do this sort of thing all the time, but sadly in today's culture of ultra-safety and of "what is the worst that could happen? Lets plan for that!" it is becoming more and more rare.  So, here are two great links to resources that explain why we need to allow our kids take some risks in life: Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do)   Here are links to Gever Tulley's blogs, books, and photos, fun stuff! Free Range Kids is a daily blog of stories of Free Range Kids, and of the insane (literally) efforts of our society to eliminate all risk from life (that's impossible in case you do...

A great analysis of where we seem to be these days, From Free Range Kids: As I was reading Joel Salatin’s book, Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal: War Stories from the Local Food Front, I was repeatedly struck by the similarities between his struggles on a “family owned, multi-generational, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm” and many of the stories I’ve read here at Free-Range Kids. You have to wonder why our society is so opposed to such an elegant, inexpensive, healthy and environmentally responsible food source — an old-fashioned one — just as you have to wonder why we have become afraid to allow children to ride their bikes around the block without adult supervision, an old-fashioned childhood. The logic is startlingly similar behind a system that deems a steak wholesome if it’s sold at the supermarket, but far too dangerous to eat if you buy it from your neighbor, and a system that tells parents their children are safer inside watching TV all day than p...

As everyone who knows me is well aware, I tend to blurt out whatever comes to mind with very little in the way of filtering. This can be embarrassing and hurtful and is pretty lame in general. Granted, I can be pretty entertaining as well, often I keep people laughing and nodding at my wit and wisdom. OK, actually it's my biting sarcasm and flaming insults and deep cynicism and skepticism of, pretty much everything. So I'm trying, again, to improve on this speech thing. There is a quote I've heard by Sri Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian guru type, “Before you speak, think -Is it necessary? Is it true? Is it kind? Will it hurt anyone? Will it improve on the silence?” I was playing around with this trying to make it stick in my head and I decided to change the order because I didn't think he had things prioritized correctly for me. Before you speak, Think: 1. Is it True? 2. Is it Kind? 3. Will it hurt anyone? 4. Is it necessary? 5. Will it improve on the silence? Then I thou...

I remember this song being about ticky tacky identical subdivisions but never noticed that the verses about school putting us into "little boxes just the same" was in there too, enjoy this little "unschooling anthem" 8-) Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Sam is someone we've seen at many SFBUN activities, here is nice short bit he had on KQED, our local PBS station: Thu, Sep 9, 2010 -- 7:35 AM Back to Unschooled Youth Radio's Sam Fuller isn't in school or home schooled. He's unschooled -- and he likes it. Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Ah, living in a totalitarian and Orwellian Police State just gives me such a nice warm fuzzy feeling: Breaking News Alert The New York Times Wed, September 08, 2010 -- 5:51 PM ET ----- Court Sides With C.I.A. on Seizure of Terror Suspects A sharply divided federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit involving the Central Intelligence Agency's practice of seizing terrorism suspects and transferring them to other countries for imprisonment and interrogation. The ruling handed a major victory to the Obama administration in its effort to advance a sweeping view of executive secrecy power. By a six-to-five vote, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reversing an earlier decision, dismissed a lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan Inc., a Boeing subsidiary accused of arranging flights for the C.I.A.'s "extraordinary rendition" program, as it is known. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the case on behalf of five former prisoners who say ...

Here is a Ted Talk with Sugata Mitra on Child Driven Education... very unschooling-like I think.  :-)  I've seen videos of him before, this is an update on his research on letting groups of kids learn on the internet, mostly without any supervision at all.  Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Posted via email from Our Family Blog

Today, after church, Mike, Lora and I took Pastor Ledic with us as we toured several wineries in the Livermore Valley for the 29th Annual Harvest Wine Celebration. We had a blast :-) We took a shuttle bus to a couple of wineries and then used a horse drawn wagon to get between a couple of others, Bent Creek transported us on a golf cart. :-) See and download the full gallery on posterous Posted via email from Our Family Blog

First, a clear and concise explanation of why Mormonism is anti-christian, and Glenn Beck is an anti-christ . Then from Issues Etc. an interview on the subject with Dr. Russell Moore of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: Posted via email from The Angry Gnome