TUESDAY POLITICS

Italy Pulling Out

You can’t just go wiping out Italian intelligence agents without pissing their countrymen off. Today Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi (who hopes to get reelected next year) gave in to pressure from his citizenry and announced he will start withdrawing his 3000 troops in Iraq in September. Since the war began, 38 countries have sent their soldiers to this fiasco of a war, but today’s coalition stands at 24 and wavering. Needless to say, U.S. troops are suffering the most casualties of any nation. But hey, have you noticed how the news of what’s going on over there has suddenly dried up? This week every channel I turn to is concentrating on the Much More Important soon-to-be-a-TV-movie in Atlanta and the Already-A-TV-Movie in California called Let’s All Gasp About Michael Jackson’s Pajamas. And just as I predicted, there was not a single moment about the conference in Madrid last week which supposedly was looking at non-violent ways to deal with terrorism. Where in the heck is Howard Dean keeping himself these days, by the way? Anybody have a clue? What planet IS this?

Deep Thought: “If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. You see, we build to that.”
Today I am grateful for: Affirmations
Guess the Movie: “I’m scared. I can’t sleep. I keep having that dream about the red car turning up in front of the house when you don’t come home.” Answer: Ladder 49, 2004. Winner: simplespirit.
Two Years Out
After Two Years, Americans Need to Demonstrate Against an Insane and Destructive War
by Geov Parrish
Two years ago this week, the United States launched an unprovoked invasion of Iraq.
It is pointless, at this juncture, to rehash the reasons why the invasion was launched: except to note that democracy didn’t figure into it. For public consumption, of course, there were the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and the nonexistent links between Saddam and Al-Qaeda and 9-11; privately, of course, there was oil, the chance to enrich friends through privatization, the geopolitics of the Middle East and the “we’re the boss” message intended for the world. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 9:23 pm
+ = Feeling better – focusing on the beauty of the now.
- = Family stresses.

SATURDAY POEM I ADMIRE
(This will be the last of this series – see all collected in sidebar)

Song

My heart, my dove, my snail, my sail, my
    milktooth, shadow, sparrow, fingernail,
        flower-cat and blossom-hedge, mandrake
root now put to bed, moonshell, sea-swell,
    manatee, emerald shining back at me,
        nutmeg, quince, tea leaf and bone, zither,
cymbal, xylophone; paper, scissors, then
    there’s stone—Who doesn’t come through the door
        to get home?

Cynthia Zarin – Born in New York City, educated Harvard and Columbia, artist-in-residence at Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.

Deep Thoughts: “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it.”
Today I am grateful for: Georgia manhunts to keep our minds off wars and politics (just kidding)
Guess the Movie: “When I sit, you sit. When I kneel, you kneel. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!” Answer: The King and I, 1956. Winner: skanickadee.
Annan Attacks Erosion of Rights in War on Terror
US and Britain in UN Secretary General’s Sights
by Jonathan Steele
The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, launched a fierce attack on Britain and the US yesterday for weakening human rights in the name of the war on terror.
“We cannot compromise on core values,” he said in Madrid on the first anniversary of the train bombings that killed 191 people in the Spanish capital. “Human rights and the rule of law must always be respected.” (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 9:02 pm
+ = Delicious weather.
- = Lots of small disappointments today, almost in tears at one point.

FRIDAY FIVE

Appetizer – Where do you go when you want to relax?
E.T. phone home. I go home. I am home. My home. Now that the spring is here, I take a bowl of green tea and sit on my back porch and blend into the sounds and smells. In the cold weather, I build a fire.
Soup – Tell about something that made you laugh this week.
H.A.L.T.S. (hungry, angry, lonely, tired, and way too damn serious). Good things to check those daily. I have a tendency to do the “S” one too much. First thing that comes to mind that never fails to crack me up when I remote upon it is That 70’s Show. Maybe it’s my generation that does it. My grandchildren are certainly not impressed. I love it (on the show, not my grandchildren) when they sit around stoned and make stupid goony remarks to each other. I love how they keep changing partners and having sex and putting up with their parents and vice versa. It brings it all back – it really wasn’t all that funny back then but it sure is now.
Salad – What is your favorite texture?
I have to confess I’m a fool for ice cream, one of the worst drugs god made. There’s just nothing like the combination of sweet (especially chocolate) and cool with maybe some nuts thrown in. Wish I could say it WAS salad, but who thinks of raw vegetables in the middle of the night.
Main Course – If you were to publish your autobiography, what would the first sentence be?
I’m working on Chapter 9 of it already (see sidebar) so I know the first sentence of the first chapter is, “In the year I was born war was declared, Sigmund Freud died, and with hope and trepidation the first edition of the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous was published.” More will be revealed.
Dessert – Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? If so, how?
Don’t drink due to clue in last question so it’s kind of a non-holiday for me. Scottish, not Irish too. I do wear green to work if I work that day sometimes. Or sometimes not – I like to go against type. But I wish everybody who does celebrate it to do so safely and with joy.

Deep Thought: “I’ll take that little one, way in the back,” I said. “That little collie mix?” said the animal shelter guy. “No,” I said, “the other one behind him.” “The gray terrier?” he said. “He’s gray,” I said, “but way in the back, in the corner.” “You mean the water faucet?” he said. I realized then it was a water faucet, but I didn’t want to look like a jerk, so I said, “Yeah, that’s the one I want.” It ended up costing me almost five hundred dollars to get that faucet removed. But you know, I’ve still got that faucet, and I wouldn’t trade it for any dog in the world.”
Today I am grateful for: Tax returns
Guess the Movie: “ I’ve seen things you’ve only seen in your nightmares. Things you can’t even imagine. Things you can’t even see. There are things that hunt you in the night. Then something screams. Then you hear them eating, and you hope to God that you’re not dessert. Afraid? You don’t even know what afraid is.” Answer: Jumanji, 1995. Winner: soonaquitter.
Remembering All Those Arguments Made 1,500 Deaths Ago
by Joseph G. Galloway
WASHINGTON — Something about anniversaries prods us to pause and reflect on what’s transpired in the intervening time. March 20 is the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and it’s a good time to consider what’s happened since then. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: Oops, forgot to sign off last night.
+ = Overall got tax return but way less than last year.
- = Yardwork I expected to be done never happened this week.

TUESDAY POLITICS

First Down for Us!

So I looked up at my TV screen and there in living color on MSNBC was the First Blogger to cover the daily press briefings in the White House. And he’s a Liberal!! Here’s a little bio of Garrett Graff:

Garrett Graff is vice president of communications at EchoDitto, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based technology consulting firm. A Vermont native, he served formerly as deputy national press secretary on Howard Dean’s presidential campaign and, beginning in 1997, was then-Governor Dean’s first webmaster. In college, he was a news writer and executive editor at the Harvard Crimson, Harvard University’s daily newspaper, where he wrote more news articles than any other writer in half-a-century and held internships at ABCNews’ Political Unit and at the Atlantic Monthly. He is also a frequent speaker on blogging and the intersection of politics and technology.

And here’s what he has to say on his blog: click here. Is that the cat’s meow or what?!! On TV he said, with his young fresh intelligent face, that he thinks he will be able to visit regularly (whatever that turns out to mean). He’s got the official credential (unlike the recent fiasco with the conservative activist, James Guckert – who called himself Jeff Gannon – and was suspected of being a Bush plant). Now that’s something we can all celebrate!
________
 Amazing 9/11 site sent by NickyJett. More will be revealed.

Deep Thought: “Isn’t it funny how one minute life can be such a struggle, and the next minute you’re just driving real fast, swerving back and forth across the road?”
Today I am grateful for: Fine print
Guess the Movie: “Jesus is never mad at us if we live with Him in our hearts!” “I hate to break it to you, but He is – He most definitely is.” Answer: I Heart Huckabees.
The Latest Iraq Horror
Editorial
It is rare for the Bush White House to offer a correct assessment of anything that has happened in Iraq. But White House communications director Dan Bartlett could not have been more right when he acknowledged that the wounding of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena – and the killing of an Italian secret service agent who shielded her from a spray of bullets fired by U.S. troops – was “horrific.” (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 8:38 pm
+ = Walking on grass in bare feet again.
- = Mountain blew today – see Volcano cam in sidebar.

MONDAY BOOK

9/11 Commission Report

Heard much about it lately? Neither have I. It just kind of came and went, didn’t it? Apparently, somebody was buying the report, however, because it landed in the top 10 lists of both “people” and the editors at Amazon.com last year. I see it everywhere on store bookshelves prominently displayed. The Commission (also known as The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks) might never have happened without the persistent urging of family members of the victims and when it was created and signed off on by Bush in 2002 it noticeably omitted representatives of those members. Instead, the 11 members were mostly entrenched establishment foreign policy wags, including:

Thomas H. Kean, former New Jersey, Republican Governor
Chair
Lee H. Hamilton, former Representative., D-Indiana
Vice Chair
Richard Ben-Veniste, attorney
Fred F. Fielding, former White House Counsel in the Nixon Administration
Jamie S. Gorelick, a deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration
Slade Gorton, former Washington State senator
Bob Kerrey, former Nebraska senator, currently president of the New School. He replaced Max Cleland, former senator from Georgia, who left for a job on the Import Export bank.
John F. Lehman, Navy Secretary under Ronald Reagan
Timothy J. Roemer, former Democratic Representative from Indiana
James R. Thompson, former Illinois Republican governor

Read more about them here. The panel recommended 41 policy changes, of which probably most of us have only heard of two: creation of a national director of intelligence post and of a federal intellgence clearinghouse. The public report was released in July 2004 and the Commission closed in August. We would all like the shock of 9/11 to go away, to recede in our daily consciousness. But many believe the 9/11 Commission Report was partly at least a cover-up for the failure of the administration to prevent the tragedy. Why were extensive advanced warnings from several countries ignored? This is only one of many unanswered questions.

This week in Madrid, Spain there will be a summit conference to tackle the causes of terrorism rather than resorting to military response – such as poverty, religious intolerance, and failure to integrate a rising number of immigrants. Some of the big names to attend will be Kofi Annan from the UN, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and other heads of state, plus 180 experts from 50 countries. The emphasis will be on a “soft” power approach based on prevention. What a concept! Stay tuned.

Deep Thought: “I wish somebody would invent a fruit that had no seeds, tasted delicious, and would scream when you ate it.”
Today I am grateful for: Art
Guess the Movie: “My desert island, all-time, top-five most memorable breakups, in chronological order, are as follows: Alison Ashmore; Penny Hardwick; Jackie Alden; Charlie Nicholson; and Sarah Kendrew. Those were the ones that really hurt. Can you see your name on that list, Laura? Maybe you’d sneak into the top ten. But there’s just no room for you in the top five, sorry. Those places are reserved for the kind of humiliation and heartbreak you’re just not capable of delivering.” Answer: High Fidelity, 2000. Winner: thenarrator.

See program here.
End of Day: 8:10 pm
+ = Some excellent meditation time today.
- = Yardwork is upon me.

FRIDAY FIVE

Appetizer – Who is the one person you email more often than anyone else?
That would be my daughter, the fabulous turtle_dove who has her own take on our life story (well since she was born that is). She lives in another town so emailing is easier (and less expensive) than phoning. She’s a bright, sensitive, recovering ball of creative string just like her mom.
Soup – So far, which year of your life has been the most enjoyable?
Omigod, there’s been so damn many. Years that is. It’s hard to think of a whole year as being enjoyable – each day has its moments, and many hard ones as well. I’m working on this one being the best though.
Salad – Name someone with whom you have lost touch but would like to reunite.
The people I’d most like to reunite with are unfortunately gone from this plane (those being my parents). I can feel them around in me in spirit though. Love yours while they’re still here. Chat them up.
Main Course – What was the tastiest meal you had this past week?
Oh probably this morning out for breakfast with my neighbor to celebrate that she just made 5 years of cancer survival. I had a tofu scramble with spinach and mushrooms and scallops in it and steamed vegetables on the side. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.
Dessert – Using the letters in your favorite color, write three words that describe your personality.
Purple is my favorite color, so let’s see. Spiritual. Unruly. Curious.

Deep Thought: “If aliens from outer space ever come and we show them our civilization and they make fun of it, we should say we were just kidding, that this isn’t really our civilization, but a gag we hoped they would like. Then we tell them to come back in twenty years to see our real civilization. After that, we start a crash program of coming up with an impressive new civilization. Either that, or just shoot down the aliens as they’re waving good-bye.”
Today I am grateful for: Bottled water
Guess the Movie: “ Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?” “Ah, if there’s a steady paycheck in it, I’ll believe anything you say.” Answer: Ghostbusters, 1984. Winner: Eliminate_the_Impossible.
Educators to Stop the War Conference; Saturday, March 5, 2005, 08:30am – 5:00pm
NEW YORK, NY — March 4 —
Hunter High School
71 E. 94 St., at Park Avenue
Manhattan
Over 500 educators, students, and labor leaders from all over the east coast will meet at Hunter High School in Manhattan for a day-long conference on Saturday, March 5, 2005 to plan ways to build anti-war activity in teacher unions, public schools and colleges in coming months. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 8:47 pm
+ = Sun predicted ALL WEEK LONG.
- = Still waiting on tax return.

THURSDAY WHATEVER

Steve Fossett

Just happened to catch the landing today at 1:50 p.m. CT (in Salina, Kansas of all places – because it has a VERY long runway) of the bizarrely beautiful plane bearing Fossett home from his first-ever 3-day solo non-stop journey around our planet. As he climbed out of the nasty-looking compartment where he had been crammed without standing the whole time, I wondered who is this wingnut anyway? Okay, I knew billionaire (some say millionaire but who’s counting) and friend of Richard Branson (looking fabulous as usual for the photo-op) and that he had done a balloon flight awhile back and most interesting to me, 60 years old. He’d only been able to doze for moments with the plane on autopilot and eat power milkshakes and basically unload the results in a collection bag in his pants the entire time, but he looked pretty damn perky. Branson’s company Virgin Atlantic made the Globalflyer plane and helped finance the mission and the two have been longtime friends. I have to tell you that I could care less about power adventures in general, but as the plane touched down I did get a lump in my throat. Apparently, a lot of other folks did too as the Globalflyer Web site had 76 million hits as of Wednesday as it sent out data. Back in 1933, Wiley Post made the first solo around-the-world flight, but it took 7+ days and lots of stops. In 1986, Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan made the first nonstop global flight without refueling in 9 days. Dick Rutan’s brother Burt designed the Globalflyer, the Voyager, and the SpaceShipOne (first private craft to make outer space last year). But back to Fossett. Found a page that tells pretty much everything about his accomplishments here but I wanted to know more about what made him the character he is. And while I was looking I also discovered he has articulate critics for spending all his $ mainly on his own pleasure. But darned if I could find what I was looking for – who were his parents, where did his drive come from, what was his childhood like? Couldn’t find much of anything about his personal roots except that he loved scouting when he was growing up in California. That’s about it. Don’t you kind of wish people with this much go-for-the-gusto would tackle issues like poverty, disease, peacemaking, the environment, etc.? Now that would really give me a lump in the throat.

Deep Thought: “Some folks say it was a miracle. Saint Francis suddenly appeared and knocked the next pitch clean over the fence. But I think it was just a lucky swing.”
Today I am grateful for: Spring
Guess the Movie: “I’ve passed the point of no return. Do you know what that is, Beth? That’s the point in a journey where it’s more difficult to go back to the beginning. It’s like when those astronauts got in trouble. I don’t know, somebody messed up, and they had to get them back to Earth. But they had passed the point of no return. They were on the other side of the moon and were out of contact for like hours. Everybody waited to see if a bunch of dead guys in a can would pop out the other side. Well, that’s me. I’m on the other side of the moon now and everybody is going to have to wait until I pop out.” Answer: Falling Down, 1993. Winner: thenarrator.
Vermont Votes No to War
by John Nichols
Congress may not be prepared to hold an honest debate on when and how the United States should exit the Iraq imbroglio, but the town meetings of rural Vermont are not so constrained. Declaring that “The War in Iraq is a Local Issue,” citizens in communities across the state voted of Tuesday for resolutions urging President Bush and Congress to take steps to withdraw American troops from Iraq and calling on their state legislature to investigate the use and abuse of the Vermont National Guard in the conflcit. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 8:40 pm
+ = Mowed back lawn and did yard work first time this Spring!
- = Hideous dentist visit this morning, jaw still sore.

WEDNESDAY MOVIE

Hotel Rwanda
(Click on link for great movie site)

Well, I said I would review Hotel Rwanda next, and I will, though a couple more films are now in the pipeline – Finding Neverland and The Motorcycle Diaries. It’s been a full 10+ years since the genocide in the tiny country of Rwanda and critics of the film say that it comes too late and a more apt story might have been Hotel Darfur. The Sudanese government today is imitating the Rwandan government of 1994 and the world is once again ignoring the tragedy unfolding. In fact, there is a line in Hotel Rwanda where a filmmaker present during the crisis says to the main character, Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), “If people see this footage, they’ll say ‘Oh my god, that’s terrible’ and go on eating their dinners.” Survivors of the Rwandan killings say the film does not show enough of the suffering of people outside the now famous hotel. Also not mentioned is that Clinton, President at the time, not only refused a request for UN troops that could have stopped the killings but reduced the force on hand from 2519 to 270 men, and Kofi Annan refused permission to seize stockpiles of government weapons that were used to kill the 800,000 victims. The Canadian commander in charge on the ground subsequently had a nervous breakdown and published a damning book called “Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity.” So today as we hear that the Sudanese Government, using Arab “Janjaweed” militias and its air force is deliberately starving and killing the black Sudanese of Darfur, driving over a million people from their homes, poisoning the water supplies, etc. we are once again sitting down to our dinners. It would not be fair to a beautiful film and magnificent acting by the cast, especially Cheadle who is an actor due premium parts like this for his competence, not to say that at least this much of the story is now on the screen and recognized at Academy Award level, bringing the attention of many more to the lessons of history than ever was accomplished by our miserable media.

Today I am grateful for: Hope
Guess the Movie: “Maybe an elf or a leprechaun.” “It was nothing like that, penis breath!” Answer: E.T. Winner: officeconfidential.

End of Day: 8:35 pm
+ = Worms are good.
- = Think I’ll go eat some.