Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Read This Book!

Just finished reading a Christmas present from Raina. It is rock-solid documentation of how our puppet president George W. Bush, with his strings pulled by oil, coal, nuclear, meat, media--industries ad nauseum--turned America into a facist state.

First published before the 2004 elections, this is the paperback released in ’05 with an afterward. Anybody who cares about America and our future (unlike most of the scum characters in the book) would do well to read this.

Maybe a real journalist in the mainstream, if there are any left, will pick it up and follow an investigative lead or two. Don't hold your breath.

Happy New Year.

I hope bear hunting season is over

Well, Lawrence Ferlinghetti wins a special, first-time-ever prize.

Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the National Book Foundation, which sponsors the annual awards, calls Ferlinghetti "a natural choice" for the literarian award.

"A literarian is someone who loves literature so much that he or she wants to share it with as many people as possible, so this award is for those who dedicate their lives to love of literature," Augenbraum said via phone.

Congratulations to The Man of Columbus Avenue.
I know two people I’d nominate for their generosity in poetry and stories: Denise Duhamel and John Dufresne.




Anthony’s into his fifth consecutive week onstage in his Tuesday group at Whole World Theatre. Break a leg, my friend.

Joy and Pat had us out for a sneak preview of Syriana last night. Interesting movie. Might want to see it a second time. I’d recommend it. Had a pizza at Fellini’s after that. Joy and Pat are getting married in June. I’ve been cast as father of the bride.

In the news today, Lies, Lies, More Lies . . .

Da Bears!

Bear attacks killer moments after being shot. Go Bears!
What in the hell business do grown men have going around shooting bears in their natural habitat? If the guy needs meat, how about Kroger? if he has enough money for a high-powered rifle and ammo. He's lucky he's only a bit sore. The bear is dead!

Hippie Thanksgiving

This can be a wonderful country.


After we painted Lisa’s fence this Spring, north of San Francisco.













Patches and Hubba on the bus back from The Haight on our way to see "Lennon" the musical in preview.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read, But Read Everything

Here’s the big one, folks. Ready for some static cling in the hair on the back of your necks? We live under an oppressive rule more pervasive than I ever thought. And if you are ever too lazy to get involved in actually thinking about who you are voting for, please read this. (Thanks to Elly’s favorite friend.)

“Bush Hails Mongolia (?) for backing Iraq War (?)
(My italics, my parentheses.)

Our fearless leader triumphs in Mongolia! Like my old Italian friend used to say, “everybody’s got to be somewhere.”

Yawn, Genghis Kahn. “Have you ever heard of jet lag?” Mr. Armageddon can chat it up anywhere.

Pseudo War; what is it good for?

Absolutely nothing, and, as they say in Lite beer commercials, less. Five more American soldiers die yesterday; three “insurgents” commit suicide rather than face capture and torture.

What is wrong here? The evidence in American socio-political-governmental culture is overwhelming that the Bush Administration invaded Iraq under false pretenses with ulterior motives. Even the ulterior motives are turning out to be folly, whatever they are, (own the oil, globalization for corporate greed in the name of democracy? End terrorism like putting out a fire with gasoline?) Under the auspices of what? a crusade (Bush’s own word), an “onward Christian soldier” charade?

It is amazing the opponent commits suicide rather than be captured. Guess they’ve seen the torture slide show on the Internet.

As the poor suffer, as American taxpayers are milked dry, as generations of our offspring face a bleak future in paying for the lies, the crimes, the tragedy of a falling Bush empire, the rich benefit: The Cheney kind, the oil companies, the Halliburton gangs, and all the other thugs Bush surrounds himself with (“Oh, sure, Bush ain’t the best but I’ll vote for him because of the good people around him.”)

What in the hell is this all for? Enough is enough. Impeach the criminal gang.

Why do we write?

"People make the mistake of regarding commitment as something solely political. A writer is committed to trying to make sense of life. It's a search. So there is that commitment first of all: the commitment to the honesty and determination to go as deeply into things as possible, and to dredge up what little bit of truth you with your talent can then express." --South African novelist Nadine Gordimer

How much is enough, already?

What! Bush’s American occupation authority in Iraq puts $85 million in cash in the hands of a convict! Robert J. Stein, who served in the Army, was convicted for fraud in 1996.

He was also previously fired by a construction company for “. . . falsifying payroll records and making out false invoices for nonexistent purchases of materials for a construction job at an Air Force base.”

This guy was hired by the government as a controller and financial officer! A soldier of payola handing out the dough to clean up our mess in Iraq. So he gives the money away to cronies (that word again) who turn around and reward him and his wife with money, and cars, and real estate, so the allegations go.

The work sometimes never exists and when it does it is “shoddy.”

The man was charged yesterday with skimming “at least $200,000 a month” in bribes from the money earmarked to rebuild what we blew up in Iraq. And, as they say in advertising, more.

The sorry-ass news broke yesterday. The Times picks it up today.

How much more crime and corruption has to bubble to the slimy surface of this country and its government before some serious changes are made? This is just disgusting.

Torturous

If Bush can say, “We do not Torture,” I can say I don’t write to criticize him or Dick Cheney. If you think we should not condone torture, click here. Why do I feel like I’m living in Nazi Germany?

Careful how you vote; God might get you!

If your town or school board slouches away from "intelligent design," forget your prayers. God will not answer, says Pat Robertson, God's Twenty-first Century earth spokesman. What is that man going to have God do next? Strike down us wayward bloggerszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh help me!

Happy Veterans Day?

I have heard it in conversations on airplanes: recruits going off to basic, saying they enlisted "for the chance to get my education paid for by the government." Hell, I've heard it from friends of my son. Now 175,000 wait over a year with their tuition in limbo. Bring me your poor, your tired . . .

Power to the people of mid-eastern Hollywood

Looks like things are shaping up after Wilma. Jane's power was restored tonight. Hot showers are in order.

This is a picture of trucks from Raleigh, NC. in front of Jane's house. She snapped it shortly before the real lights came on. Time to shut off that noisy generator.

Two weeks without electricty in this day and age is a burden. I hope all the older folks in those high-rise buildings have their elevators working now.

What price, what freedom, who’s freedom?

LONE WOLF, America--The Associated Press reports a Cobra helicopter shot down near Ramadi.

Now 2,037 dead American military men and women, some fifteen to sixteen thousand wounded, maimed, life-changed. Hundreds of thousands “free” Iraqis killed. Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) was founded on the lies of fear, based on pornographic dreams of rich people and insecure wanna-be intellectuals. Come on! Bring it home. Call it a day. If we want real democracy we’ll clean up the military mess and go back and fix what we broke the best we can.

We click off lives lost as we click off the days in Iraq with no end in sight. And how many terrorists have we killed today. And how many innocents have we killed today. And how many more will make it just?

How many have we tortured today? How many have we freed today? Weigh it, balance it like the books, like the profit margins of the top oil producers, in billions of dollars stolen in one quarter of this year. Lies and fakery.

How slowly can Libby, Rove, Cheney and Bush spin in the wind? And how long until we cut them off? Impeach them now. End the war now. Save us all now.

When Colin Powell said, break it we own it, the neocons salivated over owning all that oil. They got it wrong. We own something other than that coveted black gold. We own a wicked liquid, the blood on our hands. Bye, guys. Time for new leaders in government, in business, in education. Bye, bye.

Borrowed this from The Writer’s Almanac:

“Yeats said that a writer must work a way inwards, into self-knowledge. I am always surprised at what I find in myself and this to me is the most rewarding part of being a writer." --Doris Lessing

Is the Bush administration influencing domestic policy?
Mayor wants to cut thumbs off graffiti artists. What’s next? plucking the eyes from strip club patrons?

And the quote of the day (yesterday, from Thinkexist.com):

"Reality can destroy the dream; why shouldn't the dream destroy reality?"
- George Moore.

Power to our people!

Power is back in her neighborhood, Carol reports from Miami. I asked her what she was going to be for Halloween. Here's a pictorial hint. You can get this and more on ebay.

Skunks and raccoons

In the tree, on the second to lowest branch, is a raccoon. She survived Wilma. She is cute. (Photo courtesy of JR in Hollywood.)

But I smell skunks on the horizon. Tomorrow?
And this guy charged today:

"A coin dealer and major GOP donor at the center of a scandal in Ohio State government was charged with illegally funneling $45,400 in contributions to President Bush's reelection bid," according to the Associated Press.

Other scents in the foul political air? Delay, Frist, Rove, "Scooter." And one question of the day: Did Harriet Miers withdraw her nomination to the highest court in the land? Or was this scent of arrogance extinguished by another?

New, Post-Wilma, From Hollywood

Justin & Michelle's tree (top), Jane and Wade's to-be-updated shutters (right), Hollywood, FL.
(All photos, Jane R.)




Sunset Golf Course, Hollywood, FL, where I wasted a lot of my youth.

Just in from Carol. Tracy has power!

Jane’s doing well, sent an email.

I predict good steady progress on South Florida infrastructure.

This just in from Jane:

“ . . . Hillary . . . has power, the (Manta Ray Motel, Hollywood Beach) has power so Justin and Michelle are staying there. Actually Justin just brought us six gallons of gas because they went upstate to get it yesterday and got power today!”

Good news for my family and friends down there.

(I must learn how to operate layout tools.)

Power may be out four weeks

My sister reports family is doing OK. Miami Herald says this morning FPL might take up to four weeks to restore power in South Florida.

Here's a photo of a black walnut tree limb on her back deck.

J.R. says, "We have very low water pressure and are under boil-water orders . . . right, with no power."

She has a working a phone line and DSL and plenty of bottled water.

My reports say family in South Florida is OK

This photo may or may not be funny

Spent much of the day watching Hurricane Wilma move through Florida, where I grew up, worrying about family and friends. I made a couple of phone calls and it seems all is as well as it can be. There may be many days without power but thank God for generators. Temperatures are dropping into the thirties every night this week in Atlanta. Tested the furnace and ended up with a nice tidy repair bill. Plenty of firewood stacked, though, and that's good with natural gas prices going up.

Just had another report from Carol and Stella chasing a Florida Power & Light truck down their street. Must be a good sign they'll have power soon. Go Stella!



I wonder what happened to the black hen and her chicks in the hurricane. The morning sound of chickens crowing is ubiquitous in Key West. Photo by Mary Todaro, taken last Wednesday.

She gets an incomplete before committee takes her to school

Inadequate, insulting, insufficient. That’s how leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee characterized Harriet Miers’s written answers to a routine pre-hearing questionnaire. You’ll recall Miers is George W. Bush’s idea of the best possible Supreme Court replacement for Sandra Day O’Connor. The woman was never a judge yet has “mountains of information” to sift. Sounds like resume building time to me. From yesterday’s Times.


Thursday evening, Key West, looking toward Wilma. She's still out there. Glad we stayed
another night.

We played chicken with Wilma and she won

Arrived in Key West Tuesday night. Mary and I had delicious grouper sandwiches at Caroline’s, walked around a bit, went to bed at La Concha. The FIU Writers’ conference began the next morning at 8:30 and ended at 10:30. Visitors were ordered to evacuate, hotels and conference centers were closing. Mary attended one workshop with Dan Wakefield, and I with Jim Daniels. Jim’s was interesting and I looked forward to exploring some of his ideas for writing in poetic forms I had yet to explore.

I look forward to being able to work with Denise and Nick another time, it's been several years, but it was great seeing them again and chatting if only for several minutes.

Suddenly we were looking for flights and buses to Miami; van rides; and conference directors and faculty were trying to hook us up with a plan; a concierge suggesting of all things a ferry to Fort Meyers then saying, cool it, you’ll be fine for a day or two here.

We went back to the conference site, Pier House, had a drink at the beach bar, swam in the Gulf of Mexico, went out to dinner, and I had a poem critiqued by a guy next to me at The Green Parrot Bar.

The next morning I watched Channel 6 from Miami taping mundane scenes of Conchers carrying plywood. Flew into Miami, where we were interviewed by Channel 10 (Ooooo, were you scared?) gave my 120 second editorial of how they should be covering more important stories such as Bush budget cuts affecting needed levee reconstruction in New Orleans for the past five years and hiring idiots to run agencies such as FEMA. (My nephew in Ft. Lauderdale reports it was aired, along with Mary’s interview).

Many thanks to the FIU writing faculty for doing the best they could with what they were dealt. Especially Cindy Chinelly, so responsive, so on top of minute-to-minute changes. And Les Standiford, who tried the best he could to fit two into one seat in his car (take my wife, please, take my wife!).

We tried. And I got a lead on a good long poem I’m working on now. No, so far, it doesn’t have a thing to do with Key West, the conference, or hurricanes.

And we were able to visit with my dear sister, Carol, on a four-hour layover in Miami.

Back on the farm now,

Tom Todaro.

Just thought we'd fly down for a late hurricane

We're headed for Key West today to attend the fabulous FIU Writers' Conference. After watching a pretty mean hurricane season, you'd think we'd be clear for mid-October.

Wilma! The tropical storm is well south of the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Could be a hurricane when the conference ends this weekend. Will probably head west of us.

Some topics for poetry workshops at the conference:

Fear is just a word.
What's that whistling sound?
Ode to plywood.
Lift that mattress and let me in.
Isn't that Anderson Cooper out there on the corner?
The wind cries, Mary?
So do I, Mary!
We flew in and somehow we'll fly out!
Yabba, dabba do! Wilma.
Looking into the eye of the muse.

Topics if the conference is cancelled:

You don't need a poetry workshop to know which way the wind blows.
A flood of letters in Wilma's wake.
What Denise and Nick would have said, what I would have written, what they would have said.
And finally, John Dufresne must be really pissed off now (he hates hurricanes).

And so on. If the airline flies, so do Mary and I. (We fly out late.) If not, that would be a great disappointment (its been several years) but glad we bought the travel company refund insurance.