Brown Thrasher Nesting, Singing

Here is what is nesting outside our second-floor window this spring, on a trellis covered with yellow Jasmine. It is the Georgia state bird.

Robins usually nest there but since Brown Thrasher babies hatch in under two weeks, then fledge after another two, maybe the redbreasts are waiting their turn. They nest when it gets a bit warmer up here.

With the largest song repertoire of any other bird in America, the Thrasher is part of the mockingbird family though more secretive. I used to wonder what all the commotion was in our backyard—they’re always around—until I played this.

The Brown Thrasher is about ten inches long, ours look bigger. The male will defend his nest fiercely, is known to attack people and dogs, and can draw blood with that long beak. The trellis is on our garden and it’s way past time to plant flower seeds. To be continued, with my own photos if I can get them from the window.

Happy Patsy's Day, Mr. President

"I know he's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he has good people around him."
--Bush voter

Incompetent, Liar, Idiot

Three words most used by Americans in describing Bush. Pew poll has his “approval” (my quote marks) rating at 33 percent. Too bad not enough people woke up to this before November 2, 2004, 2000 even better. Oh well. Clinton had his pants down but this emperor has no clothes.

Preemptive understanding

A foreign policy out front with war as its mantra is lunacy. The Bush administration’s “new” national security strategy may as well be headlined, “Bring it on.” The President dusted off a 2002 document Thursday and it is the same old fake mistake in a world begging for innovative understanding, harmony and sharing.

Has anybody considered a strategy of getting out of cushy, bureaucratic chairs in Washington and actually traveling to our allies and adversaries front porches? Maybe sitting down with an iced tea, or even cutting brush alongside other cultures in the spirit of true understanding? It’s hard, hard work, but nothing else is working. The White House is only working hard to support failure, despair and the lazy rich feeding off the teat of a military industrial complex.

Woodrow Wilson unintentionally taught a lesson. War never ends war. War creates war. Every war since WWI has reinforced that knowledge.

Let’s try something new.

Why Bother?

Once upon a time, criticizing the Bush administration took hard work; references to support my thinking, linking to alternative media. Now it's easy. Read anything current. Hell, watch CNN. Why was this guy ever elected?

Nice days in north Georgia, thirties at night, highs in the sixties. For Spring and Fall there couldn't be a better place to live. Winters are great too, and Summers lately have been milder than normal. Looking forward to my one-time-only role this June--father of the bride. Should be easy since the groom and family, the bride and mother of the bride have a good handle on everything.

Not even the troops support our troops.

What are we going to do with strong evidence within and without our government that the neocons drove us into their oily fantasy crusade of Christian dominion under utterly false pretenses? Now “W The President” faces some of the lowest support ever recorded, even among the very troops in Iraq! How will the White House lie its way out of this one? What now, W?

"The Final Hour" and Harry Belefonte . . .

We, the people . . . I guess we must rise to the occasion and take on the mantle of governing. We do, after all, have a role other than going to the polls. Look for findings presented at the National Press Club. Witnesses “former commander of Abu Ghraib prison Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray, and former UN arms inspector Scott Ritter, testified in the areas of war, torture, global environment, global health, and Katrina.” Watch Truthdig for results since you can’t, of course, depend on the neocon-hijacked fifth estate.

Bush lied, lies, is lying. Impeach him now

My Sunday sermon:

He lied. He lies every day in his public pronouncements and in his deeds. His lies have depleted America’s bank account, killed thousands in an unjust war. He has destroyed an America of law and replaced it with a country of incompetent men and women with motives contrary to true democracy.

In the name of freedom, he has attempted to place the shackles of theocracy on our wrists and ankles, and the shroud of false fear over our souls, breaking the First Commandment in the name of Christ.

He has broken the law set by the U.S. Constitution (unlawful search and seizure, for starters), and has cavorted with the moneychangers.

Save this man’s soul from further self-destruction. Save America. Impeach him now. At the very least, fight the unjust motives of this administration at every turn.

Lost Baseball Cards, Wealth

John Dufresne's blog got me going again, as it is wont to do. He writes today about his mother burning his baseball cards in the backyard trash barrel.

My mom didn’t burn my baseball cards but I know she threw them away, God rest her wonderful soul. Before we moved to Hollywood, Fla., (I was nine) from Monessen, PA, I gathered my collection in bulk. My brother had a weekend job buffing the local drug store floor. (Tommy Janoscik, the pharmacist, was our neighbor.) I “helped”; my brother got money and I got boxes! whole boxes of cards! with the gum. Being a Pirate fan, of course, I’d get several Bob Friend cards, many Bill Mazoroski’s, Roberto Clemente, Stan “The Man” Musial (the Cardinal’s family lived across the valley). I’d pick up several Micky Mantle’s at a clip; many biggies. I even had some gold legend cards, Honus Wagner (pictured), like that.

I was the trader man on the block. I could trade for anything so you can imagine the collection I had amassed.

When we moved to Hollywood (no baseball team) I got into other things like swimming and snorkeling. So I guess my mother thought I didn’t need the shoe boxes stuffed with baseball cards anymore. She swore she had no idea what happened to them. Now she’s gone and so are the baseball cards. Could have been my early retirement right there.

Ah, yes, shit does flow downhill!

Bush and his corpulent corporate cronies are trying to slip another slick fast one on us. They want to do short-form infrequent reports on releasing toxins. May as well tie us down and inject the crap directly into our veins. Says here attorneys general from twelve states oppose it so far. Says too, low income hoods, where polluters like to set up their tents, would be harmed the most.

God punishes Alaska Senator with Volcano Eruption!

This just in! Ted Stevens gets his due for pushing a futile effort to destroy his state by drilling for enough oil and gas to last the country for, oh, maybe a year! And his efforts in wasting taxpayer money trying to build a bridge to nowhere also punished!

God responds by setting off a volcano! Pat Robertson scratches head in wonder.

I've been busy and not posting much, obviously. God bless you if you're reading this.

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.