The Congress, especially with regard to matters related to national security policy, has thrust power and authority to the executive branch. We have created an imperial presidency. The Congress no longer is able to articulate a vision of what is the common good. The Congress exists primarily to ensure the reelection of members of Congress.
Andrew Bacevic

This quote from Andrew Bacevic is meant as a follow up to what I posted yesterday. There is a definite urgency amongst an ever growing and vocal group of US citizens to begin the cumbersome and disciplined climb back to restoring US national integrity.

We are a nation of consumers now, no more the producers US was known to be previously. We have a yearly trade deficit of 800 million US dollars with China, we do not balance our books at the end of a fiscal year, and we have come to believe that we have an inexhaustible line of credit. Hence, it does not matter to us if we consume even more from year to year, be it oil, electronics or frying pans made in Asia. We do not have to pay for it, let the next generation deal with our debt.

As senator Bird stated in relation to the US unprovoced invasion of Iraq:
Eventually, like it always does, the truth will emerge. And when it does, this house of cards, built of deceit, will fall.

We are living in a time of deceit, and with it comes chaos, confusion and eventually national upheaval. Time to grow up, time to look over the fence and to mend relations, time to become the nation that so elegantly is described in the US constitution. That is the dream we have agreed upon, that is our common goal and hopes. Not this.

After watching the praised US idiom of freedom and its constitution take some serious hits particularly in the last few years, I felt this picture would be appropriate.

I suspect few people knows about how fragile our freedom is and how endangered it has become as of late.

I encourage you to read Andrew J. Bacevich's book "The limits of Power" to inform yourself of a few inconvenient truths about US of A and where we are heading due to our belief in more is our right, more is better, and that we are the apostles of democracy in the world.
Here you can watch what Andrew has to say about the material in his book
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/watch.html

Remember when it rained......

When I was down and oh my soul so weary
when trouble came, my heart so heavy
then I was still, waited here in silence until you came and sat a while with me.....

A Clan's men

Me and poet, musician, wit, polemicist—Bill Holm, definitely belong to the same tribe, no doubt. I met and listened to him this Sunday morning reading from his new book "Windows of Brimnes", and thought to myself how lucky I am to have a man like him in my literary back yard just a few miles south of Lost Lake where I now live. We chatted, looked each other over like long lost tribes men, and my spirit stood next to a man I have long wanted to meet.

Bill Holm, Robert Bly, Ingemar Bergman and Lars Olaf Ingmar Persson, Torsten Liden, Olof Palme and Thor Heyerdahl are and where men, that I hold enormous, everlasting respect and admiration for.
I needed them to show me both the good way, and the undesired dangerous trail. The trail I still needed to explore on occasions as a young naive man, the trail that lead me down into the ashes of a broken future, put upon me by well meaning and loving parents. I admit, I crawled around in those ashes for quiet a while looking for any speck of hope in a seemingly impenetrable darkness of anger, pain, self-absorption and hopeless despair.
At what point that distant flickering light broke the dungeoning darkness I cannot say. Little by little, and day by day I started to breathe fresh open air, the grey skies above me started to take on a blue hue again, the love of life was once again instilled in my heart, and as I looked around I found myself back to where I started, at the time when I got lost.

My window, does not face the open endless Northern Atlantic ocean as in Bill Holm's book "Windows of Brimnes". My window looks out over East Lost Lake. A smaller lake in the mid west corner of Minnesota. A state I found myself glad to leave behind in 1993 , when I passed through here on my bicycle, lightly packed with tent and sleeping bag, daring rain and hail for 9 days straight. And those Minnesot'n county roads, cracked and manhandled by the previous winters permafrost....never again will I come back here, I told myself with assured conviction.....and so, here I am back in Minnesota, living on Lost Lake. A suitable home for me, it seems, looking out over a frozen and silent lake, feeling the stillness stirring. Now, knowing hopefully better than ever the danger of professing my absolute convictions, knowing nothing is forever, nothing stays the same and that love for all creatures in nature, blended with forgiveness, humility and gratitude is hard earned, requiring daily practice and undivided mindful attention.

Bill talked about god this morning, and related a story from 1929, where Einstein was asked in a telegram by Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein whether he believed in God. Einstein responded by telegram: "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings".
That sounded like something I could relate to remembering how many times I have cried out in despair for my childhood God, maybe a new God, any "dang" God to deliver me out of a never ending darkness....only to find that I myself had to start crawling toward some light - imagined or real, eventually finding many helping hands dragging me the last part of the way out of lostness , out into homeness. Loving, friendly and compassionate hands that had been there all along, waiting patiently, with no misgivings......orderly harmony, yes indeed.

My name is Jon-Anders Persson, son of Lars Olaf Ingmar Persson. I live on Lost Lake, West Lost Lake, and I am often lost and mystified, but free in spirit.
Who is Baruch de Spinoza that Einstein referred to??.., that is for tomorrow or maybe later this week..maybe?!! Did I say Baruch de Spinoza or Barak de Spinoza ? Barak..Baruch...could Baruch and Barak be the same name I wonder ??

Me the Viking

Florance , my mother-in-law, aka the Evil-One, aka Mother-Superior, took this picture of me while we visited Kringen, Sons of Norway Lodge in Fargo, North Dakota.
I feel that this is the image I most like about myself. The quintessential Viking rouge - ruthless, compassionate, self-mutilating, wife-loving, dedicated, stubborn, mystified and an incurable horn-d...(..romantic), holding my helmet in a steady and self-assured grip, sitting at the end of the table in my Norden Lodge.
It is a dream of course, but a good dream, quiet a vivid dream at times, and I am convinced had I lived (maybe I did..) during that time, I would without a doubt have sailed to distant shores, to plunder, have sex with women I did not know, drinking mjöd until I puked and past out, eventually returning to my seahorse and be gone the next morning....ahh, what a life it must have been and what a dream it is :-)

Homesick

Seems to me most of us Scandinavians that have made the Atlantic crossing to this large and beautiful land, still have moments of severe home sickness. In Sweden we call it "Lapp-Sjuka". Not a very nice word per se, but we all know what it means.
I found this picture this morning doing some uploading from the digital camera and it got me....the picture to the right is just one of those typical summer pictures from my home in Sweden. And it stirs my spirit, and the melancholy that enters my soul feels in an odd way calming and satisfying...
As I venture into that space I also start thinking about my friends back home , like BUX (aka Anders Bohm) and his g-friend Lisa. Here they are cruising around and making faces (well BUX is, in typical BUX style)...love those guys and I miss them tooooo, or Bjorn and Lena and their kids, and Niklas of course, Ulla and Christer...I remember me and Niklas getting stuck out on the river a wonderful Swedish summer long ago, Vera and Eskil (his parents) all worried and distraught as we finally got ourselves back to the summer cabin ...hmmm, those memories. Last picture of the combined Svanholm - Roting family members taking a communal bath....those Swede's..jeezzzz, hey Stigge don't think I forgot you, you're a real bud, buddy !!!

The Prairie Wind...

...blew with fury today, and helped get rid of the the last stubborn snow, a snow that probably still thought I would make yet another "last" ski run before finally garaging my ski's.
I remember Christmas of last year when me and my best buddy Valerie went for a walk on the frozen lake. The wind was furious, it was 20 below (F). Valerie happens to have some Sami blood running in her veins, so she was doing just fine, I on the other hand, having grown up just south of the Arctic Circle had a harder time.

This picture of Valerie, standing on the frozen ice in a western county in Minnesota, Christmas 2007, will be my farewell to winter. Goodbye, rest well until we meet again, and welcome spring, I can feel you all the way from top to bottom, I have missed you and for a few moments I was wondering if I would ever see you again...would I return to you and you to me? Today you blew back into our lands again with resolution indeed - dependable, reliable and ever refreshing.

A light exists in spring
Not present on the year
At any other period.
When March is scarcely here

A color stands abroad
On solitary hills
That science cannot overtake,
But human naturefeels.

Emily Dickinson

The shed fire at Lindentree

A few days back I heard the fire engine rush by our house here on Phelps Mill Road. Little did I know that my neighbors up the road, Katy, Ron and Hazen's shed was on fire.
Luckily enough no one got hurt, the animals all survived, no other buildings on the property got damaged or burned and what was lost can mostly be replaced. But it is a chock for them I am sure, and above all, a hassle and extra work replacing all that was consumed by the fire.
So, Ron called me the other day and asked me if I could come over and poke around in the ashes with him, sorting out the valuables from the burned unrecognizable whatever's.
I think I'll make an apple crisp and take it over to these good people...yeah that would be good !

Talented neighbors...

Here are a couple of my very good neighbors , that not only are really good hearted folks, but are dang good musicians at that. What more can one ask for when me and the fiddle get lonely out here on the prairie...my fiddle partner Mr. Daniel and me

had the groove going for sure, having played with each other for 3 years we were gelli'n, and I miss him sorely, but I do not think I can get him to move out here to the mid-west. Too bad for me..so I had to look around for some other musicians in the vicinity here and look what I found

Jerry Larson (Swedish clarinett man - what a player) and Susan Groff (Norwegian piano virtuoso...what a gal I tell ya !!)...so that has become a small Prairie Trio. We actually just had our weekly get together today, and it sounded good, felt good and we grooved !
On the repetoar we find some recognizable names such as Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, and a few others.
Thanks to both of these top notch people and musicians for taking me into their musical landscape.

The Otterail Power Company Meeting

What a privilege to be able to live so close to nature, and with a mere few steps be out there on my morning jogging stretch. I am including a few picture for you to look at and get an idea how fortunate I am living where I live.
Not only do I have some really good neighbors, but I also get to be part of a community that cares about each other and makes sure no one is left without support and help in times of need. I can attest to that myself, where I have not been left to isolate, out here on the prairie, but found my neighbors to be very inclusive indeed !!

Last night we had Ottertail Power Company gives us the pitch on why they think it is necessary to build yet another coal burning facility to support their customer grid. The facility named Big Stone II, has been heavily opposed by the native tribes in the area. When the question was posed to the 3 member OTP panel last night, in regards to the native community and the current relations, the answer was that they (OTP) had not heard -, nor did not know anything about ANY opposition from the native tribes against building the plant, rather, they claimed, the native tribes wanted to participate in the project.....I am sitting there thinking, what is going on here.. I am either loosing my mind, or they are either completely ignorant, or just feeding us some well formulated bs.

Then it dawned on me, that in the background, behind all of the sweet talk about how environmentally safe the coal burning facilities are theses days (120 pounds of Mercury bleeds out in the water shed each year, and a tonnage of Carbon Dioxide is emitted in the air, that is just part of the emissions connected to burning coal, even today), there are the OTP stock holders that wants to see some profits being generated. They don't care from who's back or from who's declining health that profit is generated, bottom-line (love that word) is profit, to almost any cost. That has been the corporate story over and over. I do not oppose corporations that act responsibly in regards to our environment, treat their employees with dignity, participate in the building of a better, inclusive and safer community for all...I do oppose the profit mungers that stop at nothing to gain access to even more profits, amassing vulgar richness on the back of the working men and women.
OK, enough ......
But I AM hopeful and believe in us the people, no matter if I get disillusioned from time to time. We can turn it all around for us and our children ! That is my strong conviction, and as Dala Lama states: My religion...is kindness. I side with that !

The Obama factor (us the people)

I think he finally broke through, Barack , got the message straight, and seemed to have reached millions of people, hungry for some hope and a resurrection a renewed commitment to the fair and just American democratic model that was signed and implemented some 200 years ago.
However, as we face the end of the current neo-con rule, US of A has slumped into dubious and corrupted affairs and behavior, we have almost forgotten the initial commitment by our founding fathers AND mothers (John and Abigail Adams are turning in their graves I am sure) It sounded to me like Obama revived and reminded us of that commitment with his speech. We, the people have the power ! We the people know what it is like to be deceived, loose our sons and daughters in a seemingly endless and pointless war, see our land and environment being stripped and abused, seeing corporate interest still raping the natives of their land and rights, still lashing out towards anyone that does not fit the mold, let it be homosexuals, lesbians, illegal immigrants, single mothers barely scraping by, layoffs, the export of jobs and industry to slave laboring countries...and in the end we are hurting not only ourselves but our children that one day will inherit our legacy and this country....is this the America I so fondly embraced before making the trip over the ocean ? Barack got me back thinking of the good things we are, all of us, even the misguided and lost neo-cons...we the people, ALL of us !

And that is all I have to say about that (as Forest Gump would have said).
I am not a believer in that the Government will initiate change here in this country, I believe it has to come from us, the people !
OK, enough from the soap box now...the video is worth watching however.

Maple Syrup and the Olsen/Roller dinner

Easter Sunday..
This was my first chance to see how Maple Syrup is being produced. I attended a small family outing with the Andrews family from Erhard here in Ottertail County, and it was most educational and interesting.
The sap did not run very well yesterday, so the volume was not very impressive, but I did get chance to do some tasting, and that convinced me. I will use Maple Syrup now in my coffee, my breads I bake, my cakes, on my oatmeal in the mornings, and on my Swedish pancakes as well of course.
It was a well spent afternoon for sure. Thank you Marguerite and Bud !
The day was completed with a brilliant dinner at the Olson/Roller home. We had salmon, deer steaks and lots of good greens. Thank you Katy, Ron and Hazen (and Liza..yeah goood doggy)

Today I have been just busy getting my job searching machinery oiled up and moving forward. I am currently in talks with Great Plains Software and John Deer, both in Fargo. A few other smaller firms as well. The future will tell what will happen on that front !

The farm hand

My neighbors took a trip to Rochester, MN, and I was asked to tend to the farm while they were gone. Not a very difficult taks actually. Two goats, 15 hens, a big black Rooster and 2 cats. Think I can handle it. Plus I get the eggs during this week, which is a treat, let me tell you. Farm eggs, nothing better, makes the best quiche, the best omelette's and scrambled eggs. Have not tried the Rocky version of eating eggs though...not yet.
In addition I picked up some home made pickles, some venison Stroganoff as well which they left behind. I am doing well this week....still working on that questionnaire for Microsoft in Fargo, ND. I am the neighborhood slave this week, and I like it :-)

My first blog entry

Ångermanälven, Sweden

Well, I am a blogger as well now, like a lot of you people out there. I will dedicate this blog to the questions concerning our environment, our way of living and consuming, my community here in Underwood Minnesota and how I ended up here from my home country Sweden, via California. In this blog you will also see a few examples of the shoes I tend to wear....the picture just up above is from Phelps Mill/Underwood, Minnesota.
Hope you'll visit me and make some comments

I have included two picture (top and bottom) from where I grew up in Sweden, and were I
have spent most of my life to this date.

Ångermanland, Sweden