The stuff we don't know

My mom died last Wednesday. That morning I had a dream and she and I were sitting in the kitchen in the home I grew up in. In my memories the times I felt closest to this woman who had brought me into the world came at the kitchen table. These were the few times when I got a chance to know Lorna rather than be with mom and at least a couple of these moments happened at the kitchen table. To be clear, in the dream mom showed up, not Lorna. But the compelling memory from the dream will always be that she was mom again, and not the woman who had a stroke nearly five years ago and ceased to be much of what she was. Why I had this dream, on this morning, just before she died is a mystery. Yet it was perfectly logical that it happened, and a beautiful gift. Thanks for saying goodbye mom. I love you.

Obama why not . . .

I often tell people I argue with "to do their homework" when I know that their facts are specious. Well, after reading Barak Obama's comments to the AIPAC policy forum in Chicago March 2nd, I'd say that he's clueless about the larger Israel/Palestine issue. That would be charitable. Clueless suggests that he is daft about the amount of hell dealt by Israel to its neighbors. Clueless suggests that he could be clued in. But I fear that he is just more the same given that the speech was written for him by a fellow who worked for Clinton and Feinstein. So unless you want to believe this is just posturing because he thinks he needs to make these obeisant gestures to the Israel-can-do-no-wrong-crowd if he want to get elected you have to say that he's already bought and paid for by a group that is holding America hostage to our own ignorance about the Middle East. Call this reason # 1 why not.