Winter doldrums

Here's a couple of photos I took along the side of the road a while ago. Secret worlds. Lovely in their own right, even blasted with highway grime.

Dinner for two

I spent most of the day updating my website, mostly tweaking layouts and background information like keywords and page descriptions but I did finally complete the Seagull French Fry Party page which was a project long overdue. This evening we went to dinner at a Chinese buffet that recently opened nearby. Where we live, things like that are a big event. There was a complete traffic jam around the steam tables as the Saturday night crowd jockeyed to get their fair share. We elbowed up to the trough, grabbed a helping and returned to our seat. Two fat clowns were sitting in the booth next to us gobbling up greasy mounds of noodles and flesh. I assume they had just come from work. I doubt their clown shoes, his baggy pants and huge, brightly colored, horizontal striped shirt and her bright red polka dot dress flouncing above dimpled knees on top of layers of starched, white netting and her plastic ruby red wig, and the white oval outline framing the pig-like features of her colorfully decorated face were every day attire. It was fascinating watching her shovel food in through her bright red, heart shaped lips. When they left, her little bow-shaped lips were still as sweetheart red as her red dress and her red, red plastic hair.

But the show didn't end with their exit. A worn down, 50s something, redneck couple immediately took their spot. They were wearing snazzy, matching yellow and black nylon wind breakers and wobbled off for the food like a couple of obese, excited honey bees. When they returned, I noticed that under his plastic baseball cap, what was left of his hair was bound in several places with rubber bands and hung down his back like a rat tail. The woman had long, yellow hair highlighted with bold, clown red streaks. Her industrial eye and lip lines, two-inch lavender nails, and pasty pancake make-up rivaled any B grade Kabuki actor ever to strut across the creaking stage.

Impeach Bush, Cheney, Rummy & Rove

2296

Throw them all in jail!

What to do when the Emperor has no clothes

Garrison Keillor
Chicago Tribune / Salon.com
Published March 1, 2006

What to do when the emperor has no clothes? These are troubling times for all of us who love this country, as surely we all do, even the satirists. You may poke fun at your mother, but if she is belittled by others it burns your bacon. A blowhard French journalist writes a book about America that is full of arrogant stupidity, and you want to let the air out of him and mail him home flat. And then you read the paper and realize the country is led by a man who isn't paying attention, and you hope that somebody will poke him. Or put a sign on his desk that says, "Try much harder."

Do we need to impeach him to bring some focus to this man's life? The Feb. 27 issue of The New Yorker carries an article by Jane Mayer about a loyal conservative Republican and U.S. Navy lawyer, Albert Mora, and his resistance to the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. From within the Pentagon bureaucracy, he did battle against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and John Yoo, who then was at the Justice Department, and shadowy figures taking orders from Vice President Dick "Gunner" Cheney, arguing America had ratified the Geneva Convention that forbids cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners, and so it has the force of law. They seemed to be arguing that President Bush has the right to order prisoners to be tortured.

One such prisoner, Mohamed al-Qahtani, was held naked in isolation under bright lights for months, threatened by dogs, subjected to unbearable noise volumes and otherwise abused, so that he begged to be allowed to kill himself. When the Senate approved the Torture Convention in 1994, it defined torture as an act "specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering."

Is the law a law or is it a piece of toast?

Wiretap surveillance of Americans without a warrant? Great. Go for it. How about turning over American ports to a country more closely tied to Sept. 11, 2001, than Saddam Hussein was? Fine by me. No problem. And what about the war in Iraq? Hey, you're doing a heck of a job. No need to tweak a thing. And your blue button-down shirt--it's you.

But torture is something else. Most people agree with this, and in a democracy that puts the torturers in a delicate position. They must make sure to destroy their e-mails and have subordinates who will take the fall. Because it is impossible to keep torture secret. It goes against the American grain and it eats at the conscience of even the most disciplined, and in the end the truth will come out. It is coming out now.

Our adventure in Iraq, at a cost of billions, has brought that country to the verge of civil war while earning us more enemies than ever before. And tax money earmarked for security is being dumped into pork-barrel projects anywhere somebody wants their own SWAT team. Detonation of a nuclear bomb within our borders--pick any big city--is a real possibility, as much so now as five years ago. Meanwhile, many Democrats have conceded the very subject of security and positioned themselves as Guardians of Our Forests and Benefactors of Waifs and Owls, neglecting the most basic job of government, which is to defend this country. The peaceful lagoon that is the White House is designed for the comfort of a vulnerable man. Perfectly understandable, but not what is needed now. The U.S. Constitution provides a simple, ultimate way to hold him to account for war crimes and the failure to attend to the country's defense. Impeach him and let the Senate hear the evidence.

----------

Garrison Keillor is an author and the radio host of "A Prairie Home Companion."

Thanks to Liberal Agit-Prop for the photo Naked Bush.

No fee writing contests - Spring 2006

Academy of American Poets
James Laughlin Award
A prize of $5,000 is given annually to honor a second book of poetry by a U.S. poet. Copies of the winning book will be purchased and distributed to the 5,000 members of the Academy of American Poets. Poets who have published one book of poems in a standard edition are eligible. Publishers may submit manuscripts that have come under contract between May 1, 2005, and April 30, 2006, by May 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the Web site for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Academy of American Poets
James Laughlin Award
588 Broadway, Suite 604
New York, NY 10012-3210

(212) 274-0343, ext. 17.
Ryan Murphy, Awards Coordinator.
www.poets.org/awards

Cave Canem Foundation
Cave Canem Poetry Prize
A prize of $500 and publication by a participating press is given annually for a collection of poems by an African-American poet who has not published a book. The winner also receives 50 copies of the book and an invitation to give a reading with the judge in New York City. This year's winning manuscript will be published by University of Georgia Press. Carl Phillips will judge. Submit a poetry manuscript of 50 to 75 pages by May 15. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, e-mail, or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Cave Canem Foundation
Cave Canem Poetry Prize
584 Broadway, Suite 508
New York, NY 10012.
ccpoets@verizon.net
www.cavecanempoets.org

Italian Americana
John Ciardi Lifetime Achievement Award
A prize of $1,000 is given annually to an Italian-American poet for lifetime achievement in poetry. Poets who have published at least two books of poetry, excluding chapbooks, have published poetry criticism or edited poetry-related works, and promoted poetry through various activities are eligible. Poets may not nominate themselves. Editors may submit a list of the nominee's published books and poetry-related activities by May 1. There is no entry fee.

Italian Americana
John Ciardi Lifetime Achievement Award
University of Rhode Island
Providence Center
80 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903

(617) 864-6427. Carol Bonomo Albright, Editor.
bonomoal@etal.uri.edu

Lotus Press
Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award
A prize of $500 and publication by Lotus Press is given annually to an African-American poet for a book-length manuscript. Submit 60 to 90 pages of poetry by March 31. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, e-mail, or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Lotus Press
Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award
P.O. Box 21607
Detroit, MI 48221

(313) 861-1280. Constance Withers, Assistant to the Editor.
lotuspress@aol.com
www.lotuspress.org

Paterson Fiction Prize
A prize of $1,000 is given annually to honor a novel or collection of short fiction published in the preceding year. Publishers may submit books published in 2005 by April 1. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, call, or visit the Web site for the required application and complete guidelines.

Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College
1 College Boulevard
Paterson, NJ 07505-1179

(973) 684-6555. Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Executive Director.
www.pccc.edu/poetry

Poetry Foundation
Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships
Two fellowships of $15,000 each are given annually to aspiring poets to allow them to continue their study and practice of poetry. U.S. citizens under 30 years of age who are currently undergraduate or graduate students in creative writing or English and who have not had a collection of poetry published or accepted for publication are eligible. Program directors or department chairs may nominate one student poet from their programs by submitting three copies of a letter of nomination, an application, and no more than 10 pages of poems. The Poetry Foundation will also consider applications from any writer not enrolled in a creative writing program who meets the criteria above. In these instances, applicants should still provide nominating letters from teachers or colleagues familiar with the applicant's work. Those who have completed a graduate program in creative writing are ineligible. The deadline is April 15.
There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, call, or visit the Web site for an application and complete guidelines.

Poetry Foundation
Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowships
444 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1850
Chicago, IL 60611-4034

(312) 787-7070
www.poetrymagazine.org/about/prizes.html

Washington Center for the Book
Washington State Book Awards
Prizes of $1,000 each are given annually to honor books of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction by writers who were born in Washington or have lived in the state for at least three years. Publishers or authors may submit six copies of books published in 2005 by April 1. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE, call, e-mail, or visit the Web site for the required entry form and complete guidelines. (See Recent Winners.)

Washington Center for the Book
Washington State Book Awards
Seattle Public Library
1000 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104-1109

(206) 386-4650. Christine Higashi, Associate Director.
chris.higashi@spl.org
www.spl.org

Wild horse blues

Willie Nelson
I don't know if you've been following it, but a couple of years ago Congress approved the sale of wild horses to slaughter houses. There was a huge outcry so they passed an appropriations bill designed to stop the practice but as soon as people looked away the USDA approved a petition submitted by the three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in the United States to resume slaughter. Now the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, Humane Society of the United States, the Fund for Animals, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals the American Humane Association plus other groups and individuals have banned together to sue the USDA. I hope you will consider participating in this effort. It has the best chance to succeed if we act together.

"Think occasionally of the suffering
of which you spare yourself the sight."
Dr. Albert Schweitzer

A horse can smell the blood and hear other horses crying from the "kill chute" and by the time it is lead into the "knockbox", it is generally shaking violently from fear, and scrambling and falling on the blood and urine soaked floor in an effort to escape because it sees other horses hanging upside down, bleeding to death. Once the horse is tied down the butcher bludgeons it with what they call a "captive bolt", a horrible name for a despicable act. The "captive bolt" is a four inch retractable nail, that is suppose to knock the horse unconscious, horrible enough on its own, but all too often the poor animal is still awake, terrified and struggling as one of its hind legs is shackled and it is yanked upside down into the air where its throat is cut and it is left hanging to "bleed out".

American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act: a permanent ban is still needed, and that's still only a start if we are to become a compassionate and ethical society.

Salad Fingers #7

David Firth has posted a new episode of Salad Fingers titled Shore Leave. As always, I find it strangely soothing.

Follow the money

It's depressing watching billionaire Bush and his billionaire cronies plunder the world. We are like villagers under a spell. We cannot grasp the evil that is upon us. Even when we hear the truth we crave the lie, prefering it's twisted comfort.

How does that joke go? It reminds me of all this. Oh yeah... If you teach a man to start a fire he will be warm for the night. If you set a man on fire he will be warm for the rest of his life.

Anyway, here's an article about the Corporatacracy and the Dubai port deal. It appeared in the Palestine Chronicle. You might find interesting. At least I did.

Dirty Little Secret Behind Port Scandal by David Sirota

Politicians and the media are loudly decrying the Bush administration's proposal to turn over port security to a firm owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - a country with ties to terrorists. They are talking tough about national security - but almost no one is talking about what may have fueled the administration's decision to push forward with this deal: the desire to move forward Big Money's "free" trade agenda.

How much does "free" trade have to do with this? How about a lot. The Bush administration is in the middle of a two-year push to ink a corporate-backed "free" trade accord with the UAE. At the end of 2004, in fact, it was Bush Trade Representative Robert Zoellick who proudly boasted of his trip to the UAE to begin negotiating the trade accord. Rejecting this port security deal might have set back that trade pact. Accepting the port security deal - regardless of the security consequences - likely greases the wheels for the pact. That's probably why instead of backing off the deal, President Bush - supposedly Mr. Tough on National Security - took the extraordinary step of threatening to use the first veto of his entire presidency to protect the UAE's interests. Because he knows protecting those interests - regardless of the security implications for America - is integral to the "free" trade agenda all of his corporate supporters are demanding.

The Inter Press Service highlights exactly what's at stake, quoting a conservative activists who admits that this is all about trade:

"The United States' trade relationship with the UAE is the third largest in the Middle East, after Israel and Saudi Arabia. The two nations are engaged in bilateral free talks that would liberalize trade between the two countries and would, in theory at least, allow companies to own and operate businesses in both nations. 'There are legitimate security questions to be asked but it would be a mistake and really an insult to one of our leading trading partners in that region to reject this commercial transaction out of hand,' said Daniel T. Griswold, who directs the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank."

Look, we've seen this before. Just last year, Congress approved a U.S. taxpayer-funded loan by the Bush administration to a British company to help build nuclear technology in Communist China. Despite major security concerns raised - and a legislative effort to block the loan - Congress's "free traders" (many of whom talk so tough on security) made sure the loan went through so as to preserve the U.S.-China free trade relationship that is allowing lawmakers' corporate campaign contributors export so many U.S. jobs.

There is no better proof that our government takes its orders from corporate interests than these kinds of moves. That's what this UAE deal is all about - the mixture of the right-wing's goal of privatizing all government services (even post 9/11 port security!) with the political Establishment's desire to make sure Tom-Friedman-style "free" trade orthodoxy supersedes everything. This is where the culture of corruption meets national security policy - and, more specifically, where the unbridled corruption of on-the-take politicians are weakening America's security.

The fact that no politicians and almost no media wants to even explore this simple fact is telling. Here we have a major U.S. security scandal with the same country we are simultaneously negotiating a free trade pact with, and no one in Washington is saying a thing. The silence tells you all you need to know about a political/media establishment that is so totally owned by Big Money interests they won't even talk about what's potentially at the heart of a burgeoning national security scandal.

Corporatacracy, port of entry - point of diminishing returns

2287










The March issue of Harper's has an excellent article by Lewis Lapham titled: "The Case For Impeachment". It details House Resolution 635, Rep. John Conyer's motion to impeach President Bush. In the interview, Conyer explained, "What would you have me do? Grumble and complain? Make cynical jokes? Throw up my hands and say that under the circumstances nothing can be done? At least I can muster the facts, establish a record, tell the story that ought to be front-page news". He's right and I'm grateful to him for taking action.

Lapham writes, "on reading through the report's corroborating testimony I sometimes could counter its inducements to mute rage with the thought that if the would-be lords of the flies weren't in the business of killing people, they would be seen as a troupe of off-Broadway comedians in a third-rate theater of the absurd." Too bad for us, these thugs have made it to the main stage. They are engaged in a very real, very deadly deceit such as Bush's insane plan to turn over six major American ports (including New York City) to the United Arab Emirates. It's another mind boggling triumph of the creeping Corporatacracy. The Arabs. the boys at the Bilderberg Group and the Carlyle Group must be delighted over this one, what to speak of the terrorists scheming in their secret cells.

Birthday strawberries

Today is my daughter's birthday. Her alarm rang this morning just as I called to wish her a happy day, year and many happy years to come. She was born just before dawn that February morning. The night before we had shared a half gallon of strawberry ice cream right out of the box so, once again, I reminded her to be sure to eat her ice cream and promised I would do the same.

Also to celebrate today, I whipped up a batch of Marvel Meal (vegetarian suet) for the bird park. It was a huge hit. Everyone was going for it then a big crow showed up and pried open the cage. Now it's completely gobbled and gone.






My daughter was big, over 10 lbs, and born at home before the midwife arrived. Her (very nervous, well-meaning) dad tried to help but I finally had to ask him to please, just let me be. I'd been practicing a relaxation technique for a while and when the contractions started all I wanted to do was relax and let them happen. I didn't use drugs of any kind but the experience was completely painless, in fact it was ecstatic. It was as though I became a primordial force like a great wave upon which she tilted, riding quickly, easily into the world. Her birth is one of my touch stones. It proved to me that life really does take care of life and that sometimes the best, the only thing we need do, is get out of the way.

I have a strawberry for you, Mother.

It's also my mother's birthday today although she died many years ago. We were never close. We clashed terribly but then I was not easy by anyone's standard. It's hard making amends to a person long dead but I'm picking my way. I like to think it's not, that it's never . . . too late.

Fur Free

The old bottle and the sea

For some reason this bottle has been on my mind for the last couple of days. I photographed it while we were camping on the Caribbean last November.

It was a lovely glass home for the several creatures clinging to its neck. The clouds drifting over the sea are from the edge of a hurricane that was passing by not too far south.

The NYT doth protest too little

The New York Times posted a rehash of Bush's crimes today and pulled their punches, as usual. Bush commits treason and they note that he has a "central flaw". They should be calling for Bush's resignation and impeachment. But this is the paper that withheld information regarding Bush's police state spy program for a year. That makes them part of the "Trust Gap", not valued members of the free press protecting truth and freedom which are supposed to be "the American way".

The Trust Gap / Editorial
Published February 12, 2006 by the New York Times

We can't think of a president who has gone to the American people more often than George W. Bush has to ask them to forget about things like democracy, judicial process and the balance of powers and just trust him. We also can't think of a president who has deserved that trust less.

This has been a central flaw of Mr. Bush's presidency for a long time. But last week produced a flood of evidence that vividly drove home the point. archived at CommonDreams.org

The article briefly covers DOMESTIC SPYING - PRISON CAMPS and THE WAR IN IRAQ but fails to mention that during the KATRINA DISASTER Bush preferred to go golfing rather than tend to the business at hand. And another thing that belongs on the short list is the fact that his administration committed an act of TREASON by leaking the identity of a CIA undercover operative to the press. That's pretty fucking noteworthy. The United States government takes betrayal very seriously, especially in a time of war. We execute traitors. Bush, on the other hand, just keeps going.

But we all know why the Times didn't bring up the "T" word. They CO-OPERATED with Bush Co.. They were the leakies. They published the fact that Valerie Plame was a deep cover CIA operative. I always marvel at the irony. She was risking her life working undercover in the Middle East gathering critical information for the United States about who has weapons of mass destruction and what they are planning to do with them and Bush outs her, destroying the entire network she was associated with and puts many operatives lives in danger. If other agents were killed because of it, we'll never know because, after all, it's secret. Why would the President of the United States do such a thing?

I'm not impressed with the Time's show of "getting tough" on Bush at this late date. They are part of the whole, stinking mess.

Global warming, polar bears and Republicans

Here's a quiz:
What do polar bears, hurricane victims, and global warming have in common?

Answer:
They are all being ignored by the Republicans.

Polar Bears are starving to death because global warming is destroying their habitat. They are another species that may become extinct because of it.

The Republicans prefer to either deny the situation or bullshit about it. Other than giving lip service to change, they are completely unwilling to submit to the regulations of the Kyoto Protocol designed to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. One of the first things Bush did he when became president was withdraw the United States from the Kyoto Protocol. As always, he is motivated by greed, guided by ignorance and full of hubris. But the Republicans can't bully, bribe, blackmail, baffle or buy off the weather. Instead they are trying to muzzle scientists that speak up about global warming. Bush should be muzzled. Whenever his lips are moving, he's lying.

"It seems more like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union than the United States," said NASA's chief climate scientist James Hansen of the Bush administration's effort to silence him after the speech he gave last month. "One threat was relayed to me that there would be 'dire consequences — not specified,'" if he spoke up, he told ABC News. Hansen stressed that if we don't act now, "earth will become a different planet."

Bird AS pixel

bird n.
Ancient resident of earth. Descendant of the beast-footed dinosaur.

AS n. Abbr. AS or a/s, air speed
The speed, especially of an aircraft, relative to the air.

pixel n.
Basic unit of composition for an image on a television screen, computer monitor, or similar display.

Peanut weed

A magpie is out in the very cold bird park this morning stashing peanuts under the weeds. That's one more reason why not clear away the fall die off. I don't know if it's the same bird every day but every morning there's one magpie who comes first and comes alone. He usually doesn't hide the peanuts. Usually he struggles to carry off two or three in his beak or he grabs one, drops it, grabs another, drops it, grabs another, drops it. Pretty soon he has a little pile of peanuts at his feet and he goes around and around picking up and dropping each one. Hiding them is an advanced strategy. Sorry I couldn't get a photo. He's gone at the moment and the pigeons have arrived. They always case the joint from Dick's roof for a while before descending into yard.

Well, gotta go. We're going skiing for a few hours this morning. It's another blue bird day here in Nevada.

Veggie doggie delights

Vegetarian dog food is showing up in more doggie bowls these days but, for people who prefer home cooking, I just came across a wonderful collection of canine vegetarian recipes posted by Veronica Nochel. Some of these dishes sound so tasty you might want to make a little extra for the cook. Martha Stewart has given up wearing fur but she's way behind Veronica when it comes to this.

Do you have a crock pot? Here's an easy one, Veggie "Beef " Stew. And for that lazy summer afternoon yard party, consider adding a canine vegetarian barbecue with canine corn bread to the menu. On a chilly day, the same corn bread goes really well with a nice warm bowl of Chihuahua Chili. A great improvement over chili of chihuahua.

Yummy for Dogs offers Pupcakes for birthdays and Fido (carob) Fudge for those decadent evenings and Peanut Butter Power Bites for ski days and for any old day, Pizza for the Pupperonis or Hummus for Hounds with Pomeranian Potato Chips. And certainly no menu would be complete without Doggie Dreamsicles, which sounds like a real bowl licker.

This site has a lot of recipes you can print out for free but you can also buy the Yummy for Dogs: A Cook Book for Canines. Veronica donates all the royalty profits from the sale of her book to animal rescue and advocacy organizations. I'd say that's a pretty good deal, especially when you consider the plight of the poor dogs locked up and suffering in the laboratories of unscrupulous pet food companies like Iams. If all this is just too much, I understand, but at least boycott Iams. When it comes to animal welfare, they are scoundrels.

Help stop Canada's massive seal slaughter

Use your buying power to tell the Canadian government
end the seal hunt!

In March Canadian fishermen will descend on the homes of the Canadian seals and bludgeon their newborns to death. Even though most Canadians oppose the commercial seal hunt, their government and seafood industry continue to support the slaughter. More than 317,000 seals were slaughtered in the 2005 seal hunt. A staggering 98.5% of the seals killed were three months old or younger, some of them skinned while still conscious and able to feel pain. This barbarism needs to be stopped. Not convinced? Watch the slideshow.

Speak up for them because they can't speak for themselves.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts so get busy:
*Sign the petition.
*Download the Humane Society's pocket guide to boycotting Canadian seafood.
*Boycott Canadian seafood. See the restaurants, chefs and companies that have already joined the boycott.
*Buy seal stamps, tshirt or sweatshirt.
*Help spread the word. Download images of the slaughter for your website, postcard, stationary etc.
*Tell a friend.

Bush's addiction to oil

Body Count: 2248



Bush lied the other night when he said he wanted to reduce America's addiction to oil. The real news of the day is that he just hit up Congress for 120 billion more dollars to support his illegal, immoral oil grab in Iraq. And that's money is just for the next few months. Then he'll need more.

Comments about his so-called "concern" were just meant to take some of the heat off of himself. It worked. At least momentarily he deflected attention away from the shit he's up to his neck in... like wire tapping, the outing of Valerie Plame, his lies about WMDs. These things are not "old news". They are crimes he committed for which he should be impeached, convicted and sent to jail.

One February

No one is coming, Mother.
It is a long way up the hill to visit her. I don't know how many times I have made the trip in my mind.

She is lying on her bed. She is yellow. The TV is so very loud on the other side of the curtain. Too loud for such an important time. She leaves the room when we aren't looking.

Lies and spies

Bush runs a rogue government. We all know they leaked the identity of a legitimate US undercover agent (Valerie Plame) in order to clear the way for their illegitimate war. As their only defense, they admit that they are spying on Americans but we can be certain that they are lying about the scope of their spy operations. So where does the power of this cloak and dagger power grab end? Bush is just the current face on a hydra-headed cabal that runs this country from the backroom so how far does this thing go? Who are they? What else are they planning? We know they already have secret, torture camps. They can "disappear" people at will. They recognize no moral or ethical limit. There's a new and disturbing peak at what they have in store for us in the article below. Gralla condenses a longer article on the subject that appeared in this Washington Post article. Check it out. We cannot afford to be ignorant or naive any longer. This madness has to stop.

Feds Want A Wiretap Backdoor In All Net Hardware and Software
by Preston Gralla

Think the federal government is too intrusive? You ain't seen nothing yet.
An FCC mandate will require that all hardware and software have a wiretap
backdoor that allows the government to tap into all your communications.
The mandate expands the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), and requires that every piece of hardware and software sold include the backdoor. The rule isn't yet final, but once it is, all vendors will have 18 months to comply. And in fact, says Brad Templeton, chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), some router makers already include such a backdoor. So your hardware may be vulnerable. There are several problems with this rule. First is the obvious massive intrusion into all of our privacy. Second, says Templeton, is the way that the rule will stifle innovation. According to the Washington Post, he claims that the rule will "require that people get permission to innovate" would create "regulatory barriers to entry." He adds "The FBI gets veto on new companies." The final problem is that if all hardware and software has a backdoor, it's an open invitation to hackers. So we may be faced with a double-whammy: The feds and hackers working their way into our systems. The EFF, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the COMPTEL association of communications service providers, and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief last week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to try and stop the FCC. Here's hoping they win.

Happy New Year

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dog. Why not go give your dog a hug and a treat?

Starting over

A couple of people called after what I posted the other day. They are good friends and I appreciate that they took the time to check in and see what's up. Not to back pedal but I want to make clear that all is well. I was just pealing away another layer of scar tissue.

I wrestle with things. Who doesn't? I just happen to write about it and, for reasons I have not ever quite understood, need a witness, a reader, a stranger or a friend. In some sense it hardly matters. It's a way of bringing to light what the world is better suited to hold.

Today was terrific. LP and I went cross country skiing. It didn't start out so great though. We got to the parking lot then realized we had to drive back home to pick up some forgotten equipment. That was a spoiler, briefly, then we applied the little mental trick of starting the day over. Funny how a simple reframing like that works. The day turned out much better the second time around. For one thing, the weather had greatly improved by the time we got back to the trail head and we ended up doing a 13 mile loop under a sunny, blue sky. I didn't get many photos though. I have a new camera and am not comfortable with it yet. I'll get to it, if not before, then certainly when the pain of pixel withdrawal becomes greater than my reluctance to tackle this new piece of equipment...ie...soon.

Amends

To whom it may concern.

I betrayed you. It was never my intention but that does not change the past. Lives overlap. You entered mine at its darkest point. I had pathetically little to give. I was already dead. What good could I be to you? I have embarrassed you; deprived and misunderstood you but the dead do love, even in their blind fierce way, and I always have . . . and always will . . . love you. But an apology is nothing without an amend. The past is what it is but I will do whatever I can to rectify my mistakes. I am eternally sorry. Soco said I was cursed. Sometimes, even now, I think her explanation was best.

No change in sight

As with every other opportunity to challenge and force change upon the utterly corrupt Republican majority, the Democrats will certainly flub the latest easy lob, the lobbyist Jack-Abram-Off scandal. And why, you might ask yourself. Are not the Democrats all that stand between us and the cannibal mob infesting our Government? Aren't they the last voice of reason, clarity, and hope for We, the People? Surely, they will rescue the Constitution, even now as it disappears into Presidential shredder. If you are still clinging to any shred of that old fantasy, you are as deluded as the Republican who still believes that her party stands for a smaller Federal government, a balanced budget, or state's rights.

The only reason the Dems even appear to be less corrupt than the Republicans is for lack of opportunity. They have been on the B list for corporate favors but they too are ever on their knees, mouths open, ready for a little deep throat. Now that the Republicans have to "look good" for awhile, I'm sure the "loyal Democrat" dance cards are beginning to fill up because nothing has changed and, with a Senate and House full of neutered lap dancers, nothing will.

Life at the end of a chain

I'm not the world's number one country music fan but
Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn
bring a tear to my eye with this video.
All too often helpless animals die at the end of a chain.

Something to tide you over

I'll be in Reno most of the day tomorrow and when I do have any time, I'll be working on my podcast so here's a rain check and a few photos to amuse you until I have a little time to do more.

The good news is that the lovely Delicata seems to be doing better. She came out and gobbled up a bunch of the honey smeared orange. That must have been quite a treat.

Okay, on with the show, up close and personal I give you, compliments of the Eye of Science ....

Lavender

Marigold

and...TA-DA...


Velcro

Anniversary

Tonight is the 27th anniversary of my mother's death.
That day I memorized the high, broken white clouds
glaring from the ice blue sky above her window.

Recipes for a winter's day

Lots of action at the Bird Park today. It's been snowing and the birds are hitting the feeders hard. Even the pigeons are mining the snow for bits of fallen sunflower seeds. I put peanuts out a while ago and a group of magpies instantly appeared and carried them off. There was a one I'd never seen before, a fellow who's left leg is a stump ending just where the foot would be. He's plump though and did alright at the suet cage. I've seen magpies raid other magpie stashes as soon as they fly off but, until this morning, never saw one come back and dig a peanut out of an old hiding place. That caused a stir. He got chased like Little Jack Horner with a plum on his nose. The sun is out now and everyone is gone for the moment. But they'll be back. Oh yes. They'll be back.

I buy suet for the birds and always feel bad about it. I'm vegetarian and hate supporting the meat industry, but it's hard entirely avoiding its byproducts. I've stopped using leather bags but I still wear leather shoes. And I buy dog and cat treats although I stick to the fish flavors. I eat fish myself so what can I say? But buying those little packages of slaughterhouse suet really bothers me; each one chuck full of murrrrrder. I wince whenever I plop one into the basket.

However, I just found a recipe for vegetarian suet credited to ornithologist John Terres. I read that birds love it and it's cheaper than commercial blocks. Wonderful. I'm always looking for ways to be cruelty free.

PLEASE NOTE: Birds have tiny, little throats and have been know to choke to death on peanut butter. While Marvel Meal is a safe recipe, especially designed for them, it's always a good idea when feeding it to make water available as well. ALSO NEVER GIVE BIRDS SALTED FOOD. IT'S VERY BAD FOR THEM.



Marvel Meal

Mix together:
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or plain  but USE ONLY UNSALTED PEANUT BUTTER.)
1 cup vegetable shortening (cruelty free)
4 cups cornmeal (yellow is higher in vitamin A)
1 cup white flour
It makes a soft dough that you can put in a suet log or basket.
Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

~ by ornithologist John Terres

Marvel Meal has the full blessing of Louie, Guardian of the Bird Park.

Big names, bad poets

Billy Collins was US Poet Laureate from 2001–2003. He was replaced by Ted Kooser, a retired insurance executive. Both men are oozing academic credentials, adoring fans and accolades from all the right institutions. They are also bad poets. Their poems are safe like the dead organisms that inoculate and make people immune to the living ones. Naturally, its easy to take pot shots at famous people. It's a lazy man's sport, like fishing a stocked lake. And it's sad in a blowsy way to criticize the successful. After all, do they not set the bar? Have they not risen above us all precisely because they are more worthy? But the husk also floats to the surface and all too often famous poets poison the art. A few years ago Drunken Boat published a wonderful critique of Billy Collins. Paul Stephens wrote it. I just read it today; a forward from BeatBaby, aka Mr. Lee. I'm posting an excerpt from it here. Perhaps it will help to inspire some someone to risk entering the cold fire.

An Apology for Poetry, or, Why Bother With Billy Collins?

Billy Collins is to good poetry what Kenny G is to Charlie Parker; what sunset paintings at the mall are to Jackson Pollock; what Rod McKuen is to Walt Whitman; what Tori Spelling is to Lana Turner; what the burka is to lingerie; what the Backstreet Boys are to the Beatles; what George W. Bush is to the art of extemporaneous speech; what Osama bin Laden is to women’s liberation; what Dan Quayle is to spelling; Billy Collins is to poetry what the New Age/Mysticism section in the bookstore is to the Philosophy section, assuming that those two sections haven’t been conflated yet down at your local Barnes and Noble.

I could go on with list. But I don’t mean to suggest that Collins is kitsch, for though Collins may sometimes make gestures toward kitsch, he is very much working in a quasi-high culture mode, even if he occasionally tries to hide the fact. Many of his poems are supposedly witty responses to earlier famous poems (e.g. a poem titled "Dancing Towards Bethlehem").

Collins may not be a very learned poet, but he is not kitsch; Collins is much less interesting than kitsch–he is strictly banal, he wants us to know how uncomfortably banal poetry is, and he does a very good job of making us not want to read poetry any more. The banality of the title of his new Selected Poems, Sailing Alone Around the Room, pretty much says it all. The problem is that with his newfound prestige Collins is no longer sailing by himself."

The New York Times recently published a review of Collins's latest book, 'The Trouble With Poetry'. Their articles get archived quickly so I'm including it here in its entirety. It's also worth a read.

Charming Billy
a review by DAVID ORR / published in the NYT January 8, 2006


I wonder how you are going to feel
when you find out
that I wrote this instead of you

is how the first poem begins
in the new book by Billy Collins
called "The Trouble with Poetry."

It is a typical Collins beginning -
a good-natured wave
across the echoing gulf that stretches

between writer and reader,
as if to suggest
the poem itself exists

in that uncertain, cloud-strewn gap,
and we, as readers,
are very nearly poets ourselves,

even if we are unlikely
to receive recognition as such
in the form of a generous grant

from the Guggenheim Foundation,
which is not to say
we would turn one down, mind you.

Anyway, it is a tribute
to the former Poet Laureate
that he is able to make us believe,

despite our anxious response to poetry,
that we are participating
in each Billy Collins poem,

and that the humorous touches -
like calling a book of poetry
"The Trouble With Poetry" -

are a kind of knowing salute,
one writer to another.
It is a technical achievement

all too easy to underestimate,
and it involves a special sensitivity
to the nature of reading, of hearing,

which is perhaps the reason
so many Billy Collins poems
are about the process of poetry,

as when, in his poem "Workshop,"
he makes the poem itself
a history of its own unfolding,

a strategy that appears again here
in slightly altered form
as the opening to "The Introduction":

I don't think this next poem
needs any introduction -
it's best to let the work speak for itself,

a suave parody
of the nervous preambles
one hears at so many poetry readings,

and exactly the kind of beginning
that allows us to chuckle gently
as a convention is tweaked,

almost as we chuckle gently
in anticipation when we realize
that the book review we've been reading

is about to turn the corner,
and begin placing a writer's shortcomings
alongside his virtues,

by observing, for instance,
that Billy Collins too often relies
on the same blandly ironic tone

and the same conversational free verse,
loosely organized in tercets
or the occasional quatrain
when an extra line jogs onto the page,

or that his poems often begin well
and then spiral down
into unsurprising images

like exhausted birds
unable to stand for anything
beyond the simple fact of exhaustion,

or that, most important,
he is often humorous
without actually being funny,

a difference that depends largely
on a writer's willingness
to let his violent, comic sensibility

turn its knives on the reader,
on the poem,
and on poetry itself,

which may seem like an odd complaint,
given Collins's reputation
for teasing our stuffy poetic traditions.

But the teasing this writer does
is harmless, really, and contrary
to what some critics have suggested,

the problem with his work
is not that it is disrespectful,
but that it is not disrespectful enough;

it never cracks wise
to the teacher's face,
but meekly returns to its desk,

lending itself with disappointing ease
to the stale imagery
of teachers, desks and wisecracking.

In the end, what we need
from a poet with Collins's talent
is not a good-natured wave

from writer to reader,
or a literary joke, or a mild chuckle;
what we need is to be drawn

high into the poem's cloud-filled air
and allowed to fall
on rocks real enough to hurt.

Year end report

"Pride cometh before a fall"
I'm not into the Christian bible but this particular quote often whispers in the vast inner darkness of my mind. Good thing. I tend to take myself, too seriously. However, the beginning of the new year is supposed to be a time of review, house cleaning and renewal so here is my abbreviated Ashabot year end financial report. This is the sum total I made writing poetry in 2005.

$10 from ByLine Magazine for one poem, Writing Instructions. Can't get too puffed up about ten bucks so I'm probably safe posting about it here.

As for 2006, a guy from alt.zines recently emailed me and asked if I was interested in doing a monthly podcast on his site. Could be interesting. We'll see how it goes, if it even happens.

Black holes, winter sun and dogs

My son and his wife left early this morning after an all too brief visit. I always get depressed after from one of my darlings leaves. This afternoon I sat outside and consoled myself by writing some dark words. After my guts were exposed, I let the sun work me over for a while. It was so hot and so bright I was nearly delirious but it did the trick. I'm out of the gloom (almost) and back in the moment (pretty much).

So, on with the celebrations. January 29th is the Chinese New Year and 2006 is the Year of the Dog. If you were born in 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, or 2006 - you are a Dog. That's suppose to mean that you are honest and faithful to those you love. Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were born in the Year of the Dog. Now, I respect Bill Clinton and no offense to the dogs of the world, but if these guys are Dogs it's with a small "d".

New year's greeting

Happy New Year and Good Luck
~ from the staff at the Language Barrier~
Swami, Molly, Joe, Hank the Duck,
Louie-Guardian of the Bird Park,
Panda Dog and Uncle Monkey