Birds

I'm looking forward to Eating more Turkey.
I'm thinking Curry, Soups and Sandwiches.
Such an excellent bird.
I've never eaten an eagle for comparison.
Lately I notice that Bald Eagles nest in the lighting rigs of High School Sports intallations.
Football, Baseball, Soccer. as long as they have those tall poles with a platform, the birds love them.
Let's talk about cultivating a national mascot.
Eagles could make a huge comeback, regaining teritory that they were driven off.
Anyway, I'm still shopping for bargain bird at the local supermarket.

Reflections

The most difficult thing about going to the farm was that I had no idea what to expect. I never had any plans to join any intentional community in a rural setting. I did spend a lot of time thinking about meditation and yoga. My sister was the one who listened to the Grateful Dead and trucked around on a school bus. Diedre spent a lot of time in California and she liked the idea of being vegetarian, macrobiotic or vegan. The whole trip was her idea really. Unfortunately I may have inspired it. When she became pregnant, Diedre quit her job as a baker and moved in with me. We had been separated for about three months. I tried to think of what to do and in order to be helpful I purchased a copy of spiritual mid-wifery, the famous book by Ina May Gaskin. We signed up at Elizabeth Blackwell Center which practiced progressive methods of childbirth. Diedre decided that the city was the worst place to have a baby. And she wanted out. I became unemployed and went out looking for people who do something about the farm. Mostly these were folks selling tie dyed T-shirts at Grateful Dead concerts. After interviewing quite a few of them the possibility of going there looked pretty dismal. The farm had officially closed its gates. They were no longer accepting new members. That however did not dissuade us. We made a few phone calls to the farm and found out that their mid-wife program was still operating. We would be able to have the baby there.

We decided to travel to the Farm to check out first. Of course that meant abandoning our apartment and moving our belongings to my parents home. So we rented a truck and filled with stuff, drove from Philly to my parents new home in Tennessee, borrowed their car, and visited the farm. The people there were nice except for a few teenagers who told us the farm was not a hippie commune anymore. We bought food at the store, talked with Pamela Hunt, who was the head nurse in the mid-wife program. They seemed pretty confident that everything would be all right but they did not know that we intended to stay there and become members of the community. Before the farm closed its gates people had lived there for free. Coming from the city, we were completely prepared to pay for our lodging's and utilities. The only problem was finding work. I guess I have the feeling that everyone there was in denial about the demise of many of the Farm's institutions. The bakery was closed. The publishing house was closed. Lots of buildings were empty. Multi-family homes were gutted and vandalized by visitors and frustrated teenagers. But we didn't notice all of that first.

Once we settled in I found work with the Farms construction Co. Michael Gavin was the contractor who managed the company. There were a few issues that had to be worked out before I could work on the crew. First of all no one received a paycheck. All of the carpenters were shareholders in the company and they received dividends. Because I was not a member of the community I could not become a shareholder. So I became an independent contractor. Not that I knew anything about carpentry. I had to learn at a laborers wage. Not much more than I made folding burritos at Cantina del Dios in Philly. D. threw a fit when she found out that Michael couldn't hire me out right. She expected me to support her throughout this. Somehow she believed that she could bully me into making more money. She and I had the idea that she could start up the old bakery. I was eager to help since I had a background in restaurant work. Most of the facility was intact although it would never need to health codes standards the equipment was there. After some weeks she got together with a woman named Rita and another named Ramona. They had done some large-scale baking before. Little by little, they started baking again. I don't think they use the original bakery, but they moved some of the equipment. They started with tofu Danish, pizza rolls and cookies. Later D. tried to duplicate her former boss' secret formula for bagels. With some success. They were Chewy. The farm store offered some of their products and they started showing up where the construction crew met in the morning to discuss the different jobs we were working on. The Danish were pretty good. Plus they were low-calorie and protein filled because of the tofu. They also started making tofu cheesecake which is really a lot better than it sounds. Nothing like cheesecake though. Meanwhile banged a lot of nails and hauled a lot of boards around. D. got bigger in bigger as she came to term.


In the midst of this Alice wrote to say the she was pregnant too. I think she miscarried. Alice was 19 or 20 at the time. She went through a few boyfriend's that summer but I'm pretty sure that he was not someone I met. I don't remember if she was still seeing Raven at the time. Bought she did move out of the city and settled in Oregon. She spent sometime in Santa Cruz, some in Haight-Ashbery and some in Oakland. Or so I recall. She asked us not to tell Mom and Dad about the pregnancy. We're too busy anyway.


The day that Owen was born was right after Thanksgiving. I went out to work on a home that morning. I was reluctant to go because D. was sick and very close to giving birth. Right after lunch our gray Honda showed up at the job site driven by a man whose name I can't remember. He said "your old lady is having baby" he was pretty shocked to find out that I couldn't drive. The labor lasted seven hours. D. had a small epistiotomy. All the midwives left except for Deborah and somebody left us a huge pot of spaghetti. D. was trying to nurse the infant and I was trying to eat the spaghetti when Deborah asked a shaky voice, " Can I hold your baby?" Her arms trembled as she took the child. But I could see he was already blue. " Call Pamela," she said.

Farewell

I think my microwave oven has seen its last days.
I tried to heat some cracked wheat. and i must have set the button for ten minutes on high. When I smelled smoke, I rushed into the kitchen and found the room full of blue vapor. Now the whole house has that bad kitchen smell and the oven is all smudged inside.
I've had the thing since the early nineties.I think it still works, but it really looks bad.
Small losses like this bother me more that the great loss of life overseas or the loss of green forests or the loss of great icy glaciers.
I am small and I feel selfish.
My son would turn twenty this month if he had not died in nineteeneightyfour.

Reinventing the Enemy's Language.

Perhaps the World Ends Here

by Joy Harjo

The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what,
we must eat to live.

The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the
table so it has been since creation, and it will go on.

We chase chickens or dogs away from it. Babies teethe
at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.

It is here that children are given instructions on what
it means to be human. We make men at it,
we make women.

At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts
of lovers.

Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms
around our children. They laugh with us at our poor
falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back
together once again at the table.

This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella
in the sun.

Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place
to hide in the shadow of terror. A place to celebrate
the terrible victory.

We have given birth on this table, and have prepared
our parents for burial here.

At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow.
We pray of suffering and remorse.
We give thanks.

Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table,
while we are laughing and crying,
eating of the last sweet bite.

from: Reinventing the Enemy's Language.
Edited by Joy Harjo and Gloria Bird.
New York: Norton, 1997.

Dulce et decorum est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!— An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

—Wilfred Owen

Gifts

I ve been trying to keep in touch with my sister. Not an easy thing as I've not seen her since 1984. She lives out in Oregon. I admit to being a little hostile. She never informed me when my father died. I suspect she didn't want interference when she cleared his estate. Last year after promising to send Photos and stuff for about six months, she sent a folder of my grade school records. A recording of Nichol Williamson reading the Hobbit, and a biography of E. E. Cummings. My father gave me the autographed copy shortly after it was given to him. I used to carry it on the train with me in Philadelphia. There were even PSTA ticket stubs marking pages. Sadly she though that my knowledge of Cummings came from some other source. I thought the book was such a fine thing that I used it's title in my high school yearbook. "In the mirror i see a frail man dreaming...dreams in the mirror."
Alice had wrapped the book up as a Christmas present. Sadly I don't think I've ever given her anything nearly as nice.

Two planeloads of U.S. soldiers brought to hospital in Germany

Two planeloads of U.S. soldiers brought to hospital in Germany: "Military officials could not provide an exact number of wounded"
412

Brian Jenkins

OSS.Net, Inc. Home Page" If America is to survive and regain its moral and cultural respect in the eyes of all mankind, then the only network that can defeat Al Qaeda is the network of American public democracy organized and mobilized at a level of consciousness and structured action such as were never possible before Howard Dean, MeetUp, Friendster, and MoveOn."

People Should Know

Read Article
Half of New Yorkers Believe U.S. Leaders Had Foreknowledge
of Impending 9/11 Attacks and “Consciously Failed” To Act;
66% Call For New Probe of Unanswered Questions
by Congress or New York's Attorney General,
New Zogby International Poll Reveals

OSS.Net, Inc. Home Page

OSS.Net, Inc. Home Page: "US Losing Global War on Terrorism--Some Reasons Why"

Metal Work

Central Casting pulled off another good session last night. Masha cast a gold ring for a client who lost a lot of weight since he put in a request. he dropped from a size sixteen to a size fourteen. Doctors orders. His heart. We still have the first ring and were able to cast the second out of the gold he gave us for the job. this one is a bit yellower. we added a casting alloy of gold that cleans up the product, and threw the metal at a low temperature so that it was very clean when it cooled off. very little oxidation.
William was not able to make it. but he has put out quite a few commpleted pieces these past few weeks. Built cases too, for exhibition at a Tierra Verde location. The Arts Center has mounted their holiday show. we all subbmitted pieces. I cant wait to see how William's work is recieved.
Some how the show seems empty to me. I need to make something new. Last year I was pleased with my work., although I recieved but a pitance in payment for the two things that sold.. I have so many unfinished things around maybe thats what is wearing on me.

There were two rings involved in this. And a bit of gold purchased. the client is expected to pay one hundred dollars for the work.
I might get 50.
This project kept me from finishing other work for two weeks.
The exact gold carat weight of the ring is uncertain.

Flechette

Flechette
uploaded by _william.

Raed in the Middle

Raed in the MiddleThe U.S. forces are using "Nail-Bombs" and "Cluster-bombs" in the city, I saw the attacks of last night on T.V, and you can see the A-10 air fighter, which is the first air Force aircraft specially designed for close air support of ground forces, attacking Falluja streets by bombs that explode in the air and fall down like rain.

I saw and even kept some nails from a nail bomb attack on the city of Nasryya in southern Iraq during the occupation war, and I worked for months in the south to inform the people about the dangers of UXOs and unexploded cluster bombs. I saw dozens of children injured because of cluster bombs because they think they are toys.
This is the Iraqi version of: Toys r US-(bombs)

The use of cluster bombs and nail bombs is illegal, and they were used in Falluja in the attack of April too. But who said there is anything legal about this war anyway.

Is the Electoral College a Good Idea?

A proposed bill to Abolish the Electoral College
108th CONGRESS
2d Session H. J. RES. 103

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the electoral college and to provide for the direct popular election of the President and Vice President of the United States.

---

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 14, 2004

Mr. Green of Texas (for himself, Mr. Baird, and Mr. Delahunt) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

---

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to abolish the electoral college and to provide for the direct popular election of the President and Vice President of the United States.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein),

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the “Every Vote Counts Amendment”.

SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

The following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

“article —

“section 1. The President and Vice President shall be elected by the people of the several States and the district constituting the seat of government of the United States.

“section 2. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of Senators and Representatives in Congress from that State, except that the legislature of any State may prescribe less restrictive qualifications with respect to residence and Congress may establish uniform residence and age qualifications.

“section 3. The persons having the greatest number of votes for President and Vice President shall be elected.

“section 4. Each elector shall cast a single vote jointly applicable to President and Vice President. Names of candidates may not be joined unless they shall have consented thereto and no candidate may consent to the candidate’s name being joined with that of more than one other person.

“section 5. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any candidate for President or Vice President before the day on which the President-elect or Vice President-elect has been chosen, and for the case of a tie in any election.

“section 6. This article shall apply with respect to any election for President and Vice President held after the expiration of the 1-year period which begins on the date of the ratification of this article.”.

Bin Laden::

Bin Laden Speaks to American People (washingtonpost.com) As I watched the destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust the same way [and] to destroy towers in America so it could taste some of what we are tasting and stop killing our children and women.

We had no difficulty in dealing with Bush and his administration because they resemble the regimes in our countries, half of which are ruled by the military and the other half by the sons of kings. . . . They have a lot of pride, arrogance, greed and thievery.

Bush Win Fair and Square?

Bush learned repression, election fraud from Arab leaders: bin Laden
DOHA, Oct 30 (AFP) - Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden accused US President George W. Bush of learning repression and election fraud from Arab leaders after inheriting the presidency from his father, in a video aired by Al-Jazeera TV Friday night.

Microsoft TerraServer Imagery

You can see my house from space.

Machine Error Gives Bush Thousands of Extra Ohio Votes

Not that it would change anything,

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An error with an electronic voting system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said. Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct. Bush's total should have been recorded as 365.

"What surprises people is that the central tabulator is just a PC, like what you and I use. It's just a regular computer."

From Common Dreams and Isenberg

Also: Too many voting ’irregularities’ to be coincidence

Update: Howard Troxler Debunks Fraud Theories.

TomPaine.com - Kerry Won. . .

TomPaine.com - Kerry Won. . .: "Kerry won. Here are the facts"
It sucks to be an "American."

Geneva Accord Easy Print Version

Geneva Accord Easy Print Version A Peace Proposal

USA for UNHCR

USA for UNHCR: "Hundreds of Thousands of Sudanese Refugees Need Immediate Assistance."

Diebold Voting Machine Owner Committed To Give Votes To Bush in 2004

COLUMBUS - The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."

Poem from the Enemy

Injustice chases its people
And how unhealthy the bed of tyranny
As has been said
An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure
And know that
It is better to return to the truth than persist in error
And that the wise man doesn't squander his security, wealth, and children for the sake of the liar in the White House.

Occupation Watch

Occupation Watch: "A new estimate is that 100,000 Iraqis have been killed since March 2003"

Cheney and Bush: using NLP to hoodwink America :: The London News Review

Cheney and Bush: using NLP to hoodwink America :: The London News Review: "Cheney and Bush: using NLP to hoodwink America"

Vote Bush or Live!

Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004

Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004

This is a big ouch for anyone hoping for a peaceful outcome.
Let's get more democrats to vote everywhere.
Florida come on!


A very good reference by the way.
via: http://sandhill.typepad.com/

BlogShares - My Little Problem

I should Pay attention to this stuff.
Ranking and all that. So Important.
My ranking spiked over the Draft issiue and Zell Millers old endorsment of KERRY (please vote for him.)
Now my hit count is next to nothing.
Maybe i should write a novel.
Or Advertise iPods.

Reap What You Sow

From: Empty is form: The Dalai Lama has said that if you want to know the ethical quality of your past actions, look at your present situation and to foresee your future situation, look at the ethical nature of your present actions. Practically every problem the United States faces in the Arab world today is a result of our past decisions to use and condone violence and abuse in the past.

Interesting way of looking at it.