My second paella: even more delicious than the first! This time with salmon and shrimp, instead of shrimp, scallops, and clams. Sooooo good! And pretty too! Yum!  ¶ 10:45 PM (0) comments

 
A gallery owner in SF took major abuse, including physical abuse: a black eye, for daring to show this painting. The only thing that I can't figure out is, what about this painting is so offensive that it gets an art gallery owner punched, if the REAL photos of REAL abuse did not inspire any reaction so visceral? Anyway, punching is wrong, and I by no means mean to suggest that Lynndie E or any of the others ought to have been punched by anyone -- I only wonder what sort of strange mind is upset enough by THIS to punch a woman, but is somehow not upset MORE by the real photos???  ¶ 3:26 AM (0) comments

  Brian came to the brewery today and took the tour: he (of course) took plenty of pictures with his digital camera. Click this text to go to a page he set up with some of the pics he took.   ¶ 2:24 AM (0) comments

  Today, Brian and I went for hike up the Pacific coast, from a trailhead at the end of a dirt road just beyond the Coast Guard Station for about 4 miles, to a place called ALAMERE FALLS. It's a series-style waterfall that pours down into the Pacific from the cliffs. It was a beautiful hike and a beautiful destination: here are some pics!


This is the sign for the last .4 mile of the journey (it's about 4 miles one-way, 8 miles total round-trip): this part of the trail was like squeezing between two hedges for .4 of a mile, which is pretty hazardous when you can't see a sudden "hole" coming (I fell on my butt once thanks to a hidden hole) or when both sides are suddenly overrun with thorned berry bushes. But it was totally worth it. And the 3.6 miles on the way to this point were worth it too. See photos below of our whole trip!  ¶ 12:10 AM (0) comments

 
here's the first view we got of the Pacific from the coastal trail, high up on the cliffs: here's the direction we came from....  ¶ 10:43 PM (0) comments

 
here's the view along the cliffs in the direction we hiked  ¶ 10:42 PM (0) comments

 
these cold clear lakes hover over the ocean: here, you can see where the lake meets a low point in the ridgeline, and the ocean is just on the other side  ¶ 10:40 PM (0) comments

 
in order to get this shot, I held the camera out over a sheer drop took the picture: here you can see the stream getting ready to go over the falls  ¶ 10:39 PM (0) comments

 
we had to climb down with handholds and all to see it, but it was an incredible sight!  ¶ 10:38 PM (0) comments

 
here you can see three tiers of falls, all before the final plummet down into the Pacific  ¶ 10:37 PM (0) comments

 
here on the left you can see where the water falls off the cliff and down onto the beach below  ¶ 10:36 PM (0) comments

  Once again, BlackCommentator.com delivers the sharpest, most insightful survey of the way things are in America today:

Freedom Rider

Wrapped Up in the Rapture

by Margaret Kimberley

You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! -- Matthew 23:24

It is indeed true that Black Americans are very spiritually minded people. We are more likely to invite friends or acquaintances to church or offer to say a prayer in a time of crisis. The church was the institution we were able to control on our own terms and defend from hostile forces, even during the most difficult times in our history. Many of our political leaders are in the clergy and the one black person whose contributions are acknowledged is Martin Luther King, a Baptist minister.

The black clergy could always be counted on to speak righteousness when few others were willing to do so. Yet the church today is a shell of its former self. We still solemnize our most important moments in a house of God and never hold a meeting without a benediction from someone with the words reverend and doctor in their title. Now we find a fallen church, unable to speak with passion about anything other than the film The Passion, obsessed with sexual activity but turning a blind eye to acts of great unrighteousness committed by the powerful.

America has lost whatever spiritual soul it ever had and black Christians have gone down the drain along with the rest of the nation. Our land is awash in phony spirituality. It is probably true that 70% of Americans will tell a pollster that they support prayer in public schools. It is also true that many of those persons haven't really thought about the issue in any depth and probably don't bother praying with their own children, something they are free to do in their own homes without a change in law. The words prayer, school and kids are just too heady a mixture for the average person to deny. It is also difficult to pass up a chance to earn brownie points with the Almighty, who is no doubt unimpressed, but many of us try anyway.

The most outspoken Christian in the country today is our president, George W. Bush. When a self-important pundit asked this silly question during a primary debate in 2000, "Who is your favorite political philosopher?" Bush replied, "Christ, because he changed my heart." The response was all too revealing. Enough about Jesus, let's talk about George W. Bush.

What do we get out of our religious president? He prays a lot in public, something Jesus warned us against, but rarely worships, something Jesus wanted us to do. He sprinkles speeches with verses from hymns and is well loved by the Christian right, so much so that a web site, the Presidential Prayer Team is devoted to his spiritual well being. The Prayer Team not only requests prayers for the President, but for members of his cabinet and for troops in Iraq. There doesn't appear to be any mention of prayers for Democrats. Right wing religious groups have given their seal of approval to only one political ideology. It all seems rather fascistic, but I am an anti-war Democrat undeserving of prayer, so what do I know.

As the most outspoken Christian voices become increasingly dangerous and mean spirited the silence emanating from the black clergy is deafening. Many black religious leaders have spoken out strongly against the war in Iraq but too many spend their time fearful of Halloween and Harry Potter, the double H of evil, infecting young Christian minds. While black ministers worry about children in ninja costumes getting free candy, some of their white Christian counterparts are advocating vile and genocidal actions in the name of Jesus Christ.

How many are willing to point out our supposedly Christian President's hypocrisy on warfare and the death penalty and his ignorance of Christ's admonition to be kind to one's neighbor? The Presidential Prayer Team and its ilk would be relatively harmless if they only hosted web sites and requested prayers for Republicans. They are now hoping to hasten the return of Jesus Christ and bring about the Rapture by helping Ariel Sharon oppress the Palestinian people. What do the great leaders of black Christianity have to say about people who not only try to make God move at their speed, but use the name of Jesus to kill children?

Do the good reverend doctors in the black community have nothing to discuss other than gay marriage? We are headed for the possibility of another Florida electoral theft in November. Is that an issue of concern to the church pillars, or is the specter of Adam and Steve the only motivation for a fire and brimstone sermon?

The black church is now taking the easy way out. It is easy to quote scripture and say that homosexuality is a sin. It is more difficult to quote scripture and point out that warfare is a sin if the powerful warmongers call themselves Christians. Speaking out against them would mean calling their Christianity into question and might also jeopardize the possibility of a Faith Based Initiative handout to those who go along to get along.

If the church persists in ignoring the oppressed and helping the oppressors it should at least be honest. Let's call off our King Day celebrations next January. King's warning about the evils of racism, militarism and poverty have come to fruition. If we can't live up to his expectations we should stop pretending to honor him. Let's have Faith Based Initiative day instead. King can stop turning in his grave because we have ignored him and our words will be consistent with our actions.

Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BC. Ms. Kimberley is a freelance writer living in New York City. She can be reached via e-Mail at margaret.kimberley@blackcommentator.com. You can read more of Ms. Kimberley's writings at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com/


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