Always a good sight to see a Snipe ~ Spring fling and courtship abound

just glancing around calling and looking for a mate so we can do this silly dance where i dive through the air and my tail feathers make a 'winnowing' sound

i just love the coloration of Shore Birds here's a back side gander

Searching for dinner

probably a male the bill/beak doesn’t appear to have an upturn of it at the end…

doin the Avocet sweep of the shallows floor for good things to eat

four in a row ~ a very pretty sight and there were actually a dozen were in the vicinity. The females with upturned beak/bill are between the two males, who sport a straighter bill. otherwise it's hard to sex these breeding Avocets.i wonder how they see their reflection ? be sure and notice their leg color ~ a pretty lite steel blue

mesmerizing beauty ~ a jewel in a setting of nature

differences between male and female are slight ~ these appear to be two males

Very graceful ~ coming in for a landing ~~~Nice landing eh! as the Stilt hits the Water walking

 

Nice Landing Eh!

The stunningly beautiful White-faced Ibis in its splinded Deep Cinnamon breeding colors

White-faced Ibis in its stately Cinnamon breeding colors

first sighted in this niche of last seasons Cat-tails

Mutual Preeeeening with Ring-billed Gull

This is a stop in your tracks beauty

  Rev Zylman is a retired Methodist Minister; a close personal friend of Martin Luther King Jr.  walking shoulder to shoulder in many a protest; Jack is also an icon in the Progressive movement in the South and a well known figure on Capitalist Hill. 

From: J Zylman [mailto:jzylman@bellsouth.net]

I spoke this morning, to the civil rights breakfast meeting that meets every Sunday in Birmingham at one of the churches, where I am one of two Chaplains.  I placed ‘Occupy Wall Street” in Biblical perspective, since it mirrors a remarkable event at the end of the life of Jesus.  A summary follows:

In first century Israel, the nation’s leader was not King Herod, who was appointed by the Roman Emperor, but the priesthood of the Temple of Jerusalem, led by the Chief priest, Caiaphus.  With his disciples and other followers in a remarkably democratic movement, including many women,  gathered at Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, he led a great march South upon Jerusalem and the Temple, to tackle what was to them the basis of the economy, for the Temple was Israel’s Wall Street!

The most powerful instrument in the Israel economy was the sacrifice industry, and industry it was.  The peasant farmers of Israel contracted with the Temple to raise animals for sacrifice, for they had to be specially raised, being blessed, for pay, at every step of the process.  To do this, the poor peasant mortgaged his tiny tract of land, his small farm, to the Temple, which would be repaid when and if he got his money at the end of the process.  If he couldn’t pay, it would be foreclosed on and repossessed!  Yep, Wall Street Israel and the Temple were one had the same.  The economic dominators have never changed! 

We know from the story that his aging mother, at the end of her days at 50 or older (life expectancy was about 50) was with him on this long and arduous march.  I suspect that she wasn’t home because it had been repossessed!  And were had Jesus been when he disappeared from the story from the age of  12 until he was 30?  Very possible sold into slavery to help her maintain possession of Joseph’s bit of land.

It’s easy to see why Jesus was marching on the Temple; it was the same reason that Wall Street is today occupied by young people and their supporters.  Indeed, when this band of revolutionaries arrived at the Temple, they occupied the outer court, where commerce, including banking (money exchange) and the sale of the sacrifice animals took place. 

Jesus and his band were not violent, and they did not attack anyone.  Instead, they released the animals from the cages, in what may have been the first animal liberation movement in history, and used whips to drive the animals out, destroying the basis of the economy!  Not only were the animals free,  but they were not made impure and couldn’t be used for sacrifice!!!

No wonder the Chief Priests wanted this revolutionary dead!  This was a non-violent revolution, which Occupy Wall Street can become!   

Caiaphus held a trial and convicted him, of course, but execution wasn’t enough for Jesus – he wanted it a huge public execution, so he called in Pontius Pilate, because only the Emperor could crucify and make the execution public.  Of course he agreed, without caring, and the revolutionary was beaten and marched of to carry his own cross and die upon it – a Roman execution ordered by an Israeli high priest! 

The situation on Wall Street is remarkably similar, with mass arrests and violent attacks by the police – was there a centurion named Tony Boloney?

While the main stream media carefully ignores the occupation, The last week of Jesus life is being enacted before us!  And we must stand with the movement as well as we can, wherever we are. 

This mass resistance can be the beginning of the public struggle that can bring Wall Street down, bring down corporate capitalism – the system we have that rules the world and that was copied by a collaborationist Jew, Milton Friedman, from an Italian dictator – this is the Roman Empire of our era!  

Do not fear a collapse of the economy, it is necessary to free the people and  bring us in equality to rule by all.  The depression the banks may well impose on us, as they did in 1929, will not be brought by the Occupation or by the people, but the very banks that dominate the world now! 

We must, like the people of Jesus time, free ourselves and the human race from the dictatorship of the banks and corporations, and carry us all to freedom and human unity!

Occupy Wall Street: Look deeper, a new democracy is waiting to be born

The pundits, critics and others in opposition to change, all determined to dismiss Occupy Wall Street as inconsequential, continue to express their frustration that the protest is taking so damn long.  

Occupy Wall Street has maintained its core principles of non-violence and freedom.

The authorities, currently embodied by the NYPD leadership, continue to rely on physical actions of threats, brutality and incarceration.

Occupy Wall Street has spoken complex truths that have easily resonated with those who are slowing getting the message through an underground circuit of today’s word-of-mouth called social media.

The corporate owned media that reaches the majority of Americans continues to obscure the voice of Occupy Wall Street with “understated” coverage.    Politicians like Mayor Bloomberg spin lies, like the movement opposes all those making more than $40,000 a year, that seek to divide and dissipate the potent force of vox populi.

Occupy Wall Street’s principles and actions, like joining the American Postal Workers Union on their picket line with no assurance of reciprocation, appear illogical.

All politics and government in America today runs on the fuel of money and dances to the tune of the payoff and the quid pro quo.

Occupy Wall Street dances to the tune of the people and will eventually issue the overall community of America, and indirectly the international community of people, dividends in economic security, stability and liberty.

The current paradigm that the Occupy Wall Street movement will “elect” a new leader and the questions of “what will he or she look like?” “who will it be?” “how will they rule?” and, “how much power will they wield?” will soon be on the lips of the current political establishment.

Those steeped in the concept of true democracy as anticipated by Paulo Freire in his “Pedagogy for the Oppressed,” already understand that there will be no political leader replacing the current leadership.    

Most politicians, currently and historically, have imagined themselves to be power brokers, electorate manipulators, compromisers, know-it-alls, cults of personality, part of a system of money and power, and on one side or the other eliminating the possibility of all other options.

The citizens of a true democracy, as envisioned by the concept of the General Assembly, have no desire for a Fidel Castro, a Valdimir Putin, a Cesar Chavez, an Angela Merkel, an Abby Hoffman or even a Barack Obama.

Politicians, as such, will be expected to perform their duties including truly listening to their constituents, working as facilitators toward creating solutions, and performing the role of representing the people.

Though this paradigm shift has been lost in the stories of the first days of the occupation for empowerment and change in America, it will soon be recognized by more and more citizens as come to understand the long-term process that is this movement.

Rev. Jack Zylman

1321 16th Avenue South

Birmingham, AL  35205-6020

cell:  205-821-0650

When I feed the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why so many people are poor they call me a communist.

- Dom Helder Câmara

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          What a glorious opportunity this turned out to be after a day up on Meeteesie Trail on the North Face of the Beartooth Mtns awaiting a Hawk migration that never materialized ~ tho we Auduboners had a grand time relaxing in the mtns… i chanced to stop at this new recreation area on the way back along Theil Rd and River Road~  called Sundance Lodge on the Clark’s Fork at the confluence of the Yellowstone River when walking under the canopied trees i spotted a Woodpecker ~ probably a Downey but maybe a Hairy – it started to dance around a tree as i focused on it and WHoooa  it startled this almost 3′ tall Great Horned Owl!

 It flew about 20 yards and lit… where from it was mildly amused by my taking it’s picture … oh the Woodpecker took off !!!

Got some grasses for the Toad Pools  down by the Clark’s Fork and had a sweet time taking this Owl’s pic

       Halfbreed National Wildlife Reserve managed by the Charles M. Russel Wildlife National Reserve as a satillite as well others reserves in the area such as Hailstone NWR.  This area hasn’t had this much water in many years…and now its a water fowl bonanza.  It is tragic that the sign is riddled with automatic weapons holes.  

                    This is the view looking Southward to the Beartooth Mtns almost invisible in this pic. As are all of these pix looking southward on a beautiful day.

      Even though this pic is slightly obscured by the vegitation its my best close up  of the American White Pelican so i had to include it in the definition of Halfbreed NWR this Summer 2011

   Let’s not forget the overhead shot … such a thrill to have these and about 35 other White Pelicans filling the air directly above me.

Vesper Sparrows inhabit a rather tallish bush ~ wish i knew the name of the vegitation and the grasses, slowly but surely …anyway this give another panorama of the Halfbreed area.

Off to my left/East a dozen or more  doing their American White Pelican thing.

I was amazed at the variation in grasses, and here in particular a Sage brush i’d never seen before. I had no idea there were so many types of Sage.

This is probably a Melissa Blue or possibly an Arctic Blue.

 A Blue Dragon Fly – there were many dragon and damsel flies – i need a better camera to do them any justice… but for sure they keep the mosquito population in check.

 What would life on the Prairie be without Prairie Dogs. There were a lot of them which is to say Prairie Dog towns are doing well this year;  Which is great for a lot of animals and birds. I saw a Borrowing Owl on a fence post just before entering the reserve which in habit vacant Prairie Dog homes but unfortunately i wasn’t fast enough on the camera trigger.

I really enjoyed getting to take these photos. Taking myself out to the Halfbreed National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Northwest of Billings about 35 miles even less from the tiny High Plains town of Molt. 

 All of these pixs were taken on Aug 13th; The prior Saturday was the Yellowstone Valley Audubon shore bird outing to this location lead by Mike Weber 08.06.11. which is how i was to discover these birds. i’m so glad to be apart of this rich and generous Yellowstone Valley Audubon club.  I’ll slip in a pelican pic here from that previous Saturday (below).

We were treated to a whole lot of gorgeous American White Pelicans however some distance off from them. We just stopped and stared at them for the longest time all the while i’m snaping pix and staring as we get a rare glimpse of White Pelican life. Perhaps you can see the Great Blue Heron ensconsced in front of the White Pelican background ~ all of them preening and being pelicans.  Some you can see have a dark or grayish head which would indicate a juvenile

I wanted to get closer, so i came back and stealthly made it as close as i dared not wanting to scatter them beyond camera view.

i like this pic as it shows how they feed. American White Pelicans don’t dive for food like their cousins the Brown Pelican…they scoop, more or less trolling for appetizing water critters to fill their enormous beaks/pouches.

i was able to get within a 200 yards of this trio from the banks of Halfbreed NWR. i shall do more on ‘Halfbreed’ the area in a separate post but suffice it to say the area has not seen human activity in probably 10 years. Due to above normal amounts of Rain fall these dry refuges have filled up and the birds are loving it.  With the exception of some Canadian Geese on the far shore only White Pelicans were seen.

Sometimes it was only this pair nearest my camera ~ it seemed the young one was exploring on its own, while M ‘n D roamed together most of the time.

And sometimes one of them would come swimmingly close, certainly less than 200 yards, for which my little Canon SX 200 does a decent job of  handling.

one more for the road…

Before i got to the shoreline, or near enough to get decent pix and not disturb them i was treated to a ‘fly-over’.  And i do mean directly overhead … no where else. i took a bunch of photos shooting straight up at 10, 20, 30, birds at a time, ‘kettling’   so to speak ~ round and round from lower as seen here to almost out of sight…then, they all landed in an arm of the Halfbreed lake/refuge all in companion with each other save the 2 that are seen flying in this pic.  This is my current Screen Saver.

There are 7 species of Pelicans world wide and we have two of them. i wish i’d have taken pix of the Brown Pelican to put in here when they were so plentiful in my old home grounds along the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CHALLENGE

Whereas, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party, recognizes the challenge presented by President Obama’s negotiating away Democratic Party principles to extremist Republicans by:
• His unilateral closed-door budget offer to slash Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, thus endangering The New Deal and War on Poverty safety nets.
• His determination to escalate U.S. militarism through illegal secret CIA drone attacks and unauthorized wars.
• His willingness to extend the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and bail out big banks without ending the foreclosure crisis that displaces American working families.
• His insistence on pushing a health insurance bill which enriches private insurance companies while ignoring growing support for single-payer health care or robust public options.
• His continuance of President Bush’s assault on civil liberties with an extension of the repressive Patriot Act.
• His failure to restore due process and habeas corpus, while
continuing the practice of nationwide FBI raids of anti-war progressive protestors.
• His decision to increase the arrests and deportations of undocumented workers.
• His facilitation of the privatization of the public sphere, which includes education and housing, among others.
• His disregard of his promises to the Labor movement.

Whereas the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party recognizes the historical significance of the great late Robert F. Kennedy’s anti-war challenge to former President Lyndon Johnson, following President Johnson’s decision to escalate U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, betraying his campaign promise to end a war that polarized America, we similarly recognize the danger and betrayal the “Grand Bargain” represents to the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s signature gift to all Americans: Social Security and the New Deal, a point of pride for all Democrats.

Whereas the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party is committed to the understanding that an interest in a 2012 Democratic Presidential Primary challenge will not interfere with President Obama’s ability to govern, nor limit his ability to do so in ways that include invoking Constitutional options, we recognize that a Primary challenge will, in fact raise debate on important issues without risking the ability to mobilize and energize the base of the Democratic Party to elect a triumphant leader to counter the far-right agenda.

Therefore, be it resolved, to make our views heard, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party will begin the process of contacting other Democratic organizations, Democratic Party members and public organizations that share our views and which seek to change the course of history by exploring other steps necessary to effect a necessary change, including a possible primary challenge against President Obama.
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i really appreciate the California Progressive Democratic Caucus an official Caucus that i had a hand in bringing to fruition -It is time to purge the right and left wings of the Capitalist party – to crush exploitative Capitalism, and all Capitalism is Predatory.

  I feel by getting behind this movement we can also elect a President who will Stop the Zion menace !  send this to all your friends,

           Thank you,  

                Will Crain