« Our Life in Michigan – Miscellaneous Beagle Pics »

In which Beagle gets some Salon Treatment and takes a snowy walk in Winchell Park:

« Our Life in Michigan – Miscellaneous Beagle Pics »

Then:

‘They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary
security, deserve neither liberty or security.’

— Benjamin Franklin

Now:

‘Protecting national security must take precedence over civil liberties because Britain faces the prospect of “terrorism without limit” that could result in “thousands” being killed.’

— Tony Blair

Here’s how AirBeagle works:

There are six domains in the AirBeagle family, AB.US, AB.org, AB.com, AB.biz, AB.net and AntiFascist.US, but only two are really used — .US and .biz. AntiFascist.US automatically forwards to AB.US, as does AB.net and AB.org. AB.com automatically forwards to AB.biz.

« AirBeagle.US » contains the following ‘blogs:

« Ask »: Here’s where you find out all you want to know about AirBeagle.
« Bike »: A chronicle of my efforts to ride a bike and get some regular exercise.
« Contact »: How to reach out and touch us.
« Drive »: I just leased a new Jeep, my fourth. This is where we do a Car and Driver bit, keeping a record of expenses and other things that happen over the course of the lease.
« Fly »: In which I indulge a major passion: airliners. I love ‘em. I write about the industry and post some pictures.
« The AntiFascist ». While similar in tone to AB.US, except it only contains links to news articles which highlight current affairs in five areas, News, Politics, Culture, Fundamentalism and Corporatism, both Imperially and Internationally. Read ‘em and weep.
« Live »: This is the joint blog which I and my partner Frank write … it’s all about our grad school experiences while attending UM in Ann Arbor. This is where all the good stuff is, with lots of variety.
« Print »: Life with literature, also a passion. Not as frequently updated, but mainly where I keep a list of books I’ve read or am reading.
« Read »: Totally random, personal stuff which doesn’t fit anywhere else. It’s the most personally revealing section.
« Remember »: Another major passion: history. Primarily, you’ll find me writing about the history of Europe between 1815 and 1945, but there are other bits and pieces here too.
« Screen »: All about film. Movies I’m watching or have just seen, stuff I’ve rented from the library and an up-to-date listing of my 500-disc DVD library.
« Slaughter » contains a list honoring all the men and women who have lost their lives since the Boy Emperor George II seized the throne of the ‘Murrican Empire in 2001. I update as often as I can, but the deaths are getting too numerous and it’s getting hard to keep up.
« Snork »: The Dayley Bayley is where you’ll find a recent picture of my dog, Bayley, the Beagle in AirBeagle, updated every day. Or as often as I get a chance.
« Think »: All about my adventures in teaching and in grad school at UM’s School of Education, where I’ll be getting my master’s degree. I keep it fairly generic; don’t need to get dooced.
« View »: All photos, all the time. Here’s the repository of all our photos that we take over time. They cover some five years, but I hope to add more soon.
« Watch »: Here’s where you can watch the beagle live. It’s the place to get voyeuristic and spy on us via our webcam. If you see a graphic that says we’re offline, it means the camera is off and we’re looking for some privacy.
« Write »: The final AB.US section is where I keep longer writings and essays that don’t fit on the main blogs.

The main page of « AirBeagle.US » is the oldest section of AirBeagle and where I blow off the most steam. Here’s where I fight the good fight, mostly against the self-righteous, hypocritical and evil Fascists and Fascist FunDumbMentalists that would turn the American Republic into the Fascist Theocracy of ‘Murrica. I don’t pull punches here. If you don’t like in-your-face progressive politics and activism, and/or you think George W. is akin to God, then you won’t like what you see here.

Then there is « AirBeagle.biz » which is used to deliver information about my education communications consulting and my personal resume.

A better site map will be coming when I get a chance.

Welcome.

There’’s been a very curious transaction this week; « a Canadian company bought three Boeing plants in Kansas and Oklahoma »

‘Toronto-based conglomerate Onex Corp. is heading for the potentially turbulent skies of the aviation industry with a $1.2 billion (U.S.) purchase of three Boeing Co. commercial aircraft plants in Kansas and Oklahoma. “We have come together around a vision, to build a stand-alone competitive business with customers from around the world,” Nigel Wright, an Onex managing director, said in a conference call to announce the deal for the three plants yesterday. The deal includes $900 million in cash and assumption of about $300 million in existing debt, according to Onex managing director Seth Mersky. It’’s worth about $1.47 billion (Canadian). “Onex is awfully happy to begin this process. We share a common goal to build a strong, stable, world-class aerospace supplier,” Mersky said. The plants provide Boeing with fuselage and other components for 737, 747, 767 and 777 planes and is a supplier for the 787 Dreamliner.’‘

— Toronto Star

What’’s curious is that Onex has no aerospace experience at all. Boeing says the transaction is intended to increase competition. Says Onex’’s chief: ‘’This could have been very advantageous for an aerospace buyer because they could have eliminated cost from administration or engineering functions, but Boeing decided to take a different tack … They decided that the opportunity to build a stand-alone business, and having more suppliers in the market would be better in the long run.

Sounds to me more like an identity crisis in the face of slipping market share thanks to Airbus, but that’’s just my opinion. Boeing Commercial appears to be shrinking and becoming strictly just a designer of airplanes. You have to wonder if it’’s a viable strategy over the long run, but then I’‘m far from being an expert on big bidness.

Naturally, the employees, as usual, may get the shaft. Onex claims that they will be hiring, but two passages in the article stand out. Onex, however, avoided commenting on whether the new company, to be formed to run the plants, will have jobs for all the plants’’ employees.

’”The 9,000 employees of the old plants will have to apply to the new company for jobs. Onex says it intends to hold meetings with employees over the next several days.’

Which is to say here’s an opportunity to weed out ‘undesirables’ and take advantage of Oklahoma and Kansas laws which are hostile to unions.

Regardless of the true intent, forcing an employee to ‘re-apply’ for the job he or she currently holds is insulting and demeaning. Way to get off on the right foot, Onex.

E-Mail
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Snail Mail
Steve Pollock
1443 Wisteria Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4643

Phone
734 / 846-6498

AirBeagle is best viewed in Mozilla’s Firefox or Apple’s Safari or even Omniweb. It works in Opera and Netscape, just not as well. You’re on your own there.

And for you Internet Explorer users: Break the shackles of Microsoft and get a REAL browser! AirBeagle works in I.E., but not that well … because I.E. is a bloated piece of crap, the engineers of which should be flogged repeatedly with copies of Jeffrey Zeldman’s Designing With Web Standards.

1. I was born in Roswell, NM, almost 20 years to the day after John Denver. Yes, THAT Roswell. No alien jokes necessary – I’ve heard ‘em all.

2. I am a Sagitarrius, but think it’s all mostly a buncha harmless hooey.

3. I was baptized in the Church of the Nazarene.

4. I spent several years in a church loosely affiliated with the Assemblies of God.

5. Which explains why I am now very much against organized religion.

6. My number one pet peeve is hypocrisy.

7. The cities I have lived in are Roswell; Clovis, NM; Duncan, OK; Plano, TX; Dallas, TX; Pleasant Hill, CA; Highlands Ranch, CO; San Francisco, CA; and Ann Arbor, MI

8. I moved 14 times between 1994-98, mostly to different apartments around the north Dallas area.

9. My favorite cities in the world are Berlin, Germany, and Venice, Italy.

10. My least favorite city in the world is London, England.

11. I have much trouble understanding my native language as it is spoken in its native land.

12. I love the countryside between Cracow and Oswiecim, Poland.

13. I love to travel, especially by plane or on long road trips.

14. I have visited 31 of the 50 United States.

15. I have flown over 8 of the remaining 19.

16. I can’t wait to visit Vermont and hope to live there someday.

17. I have been to six foreign countries: England, France, Germany, Poland, Austria and Italy.

18. I was once yelled at by a London cabbie.

19. I threw an angry ugly American fit at Charles deGaulle airport outside Paris when I didn’t get the seat assignment I was promised.

20. I am deeply ashamed of number 19.

21. I was also deeply ashamed of patronizing Planet Hollywoods, Hard Rock Cafes and Virgin Records stores in Paris, London and Berlin.

22. I wish I could live in Salzburg, Austria.

23. My ancestors on my mother’s side came from Siegen, near Cologne, Germany. Other relatives came from County Coleraine, Ireland, and from England.

24. I am related to both Belle Starr and Black Jack Ketchum. Although my great-great-grandfather was named John W. Booth, I am not apparently actually related to John Wilkes Booth.

25. I used to cry every single day when I was forced to go to school.

26. I became very near-sighted in second grade; my eyes got steadily worse until the deterioration suddenly stopped in 12th grade; I have had the same contact prescription for over 20 years.

27. I rode a helicopter when I was eight and screamed from the time we left the ground ‘til the time we landed.

28. I am afraid of heights, but only in buildings or roller coasters. I love being on top of very high mountains or cliffs.

29. I locked myself out of the house one night wearing nothing at all when I was nine years old.

30. I pretended to be Evel Knievel when I was in elementary school in the early ‘70s and built lots of ramps to jump my bike over.

31. I played the cornet in junior high and high school band. I played it badly.

32. I graduated high school with honors, but college with only a 2.79 gpa. College bored me.

33. My favorite subjects are history and English.

34. My least favorite subjects are math and science.

35. I have a major book fetish, especially European history.

36. My kindergarten class had the privilege to tour the first Boeing 747s ever built before they entered airline service with Pan Am; Boeing engineers gave me a Lifesavers during the tour.

37. I was never in a fight in school and have never hit anyone in anger.

38. I collect commercial airline memorabilia from the golden age, 1930s-1960s.

39. I miss the days of Braniff International’s Easter egg colored airplanes and ‘air-stripping hostesses.’

40. I collect Playmates interactive Simpsons toys.

41. I love ‘South Park,’ but suspect it is full of fascist Republican propaganda.

42. My favorite TV show of all time is ‘Northern Exposure.’

43. I detest reality TV, but am currently completely hooked on BBC’s ‘Changing Rooms.’

44. My favorite guilty pleasure, movie-wise, is ‘Steel Magnolias.’

45. My favorite movie of all time is ‘The Best Years Of Their Lives.’ A close second is ‘An American In Paris.’

46. I am a major Hitchcock fan.

47. I love pretty much any movie made before about 1965.

48. My favorite actresses are Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell.

49. My favorite actors are Cary Grant, James Stewart, Gene Kelly and Farley Granger.

50. No other actor or actress (especially those working today) are fit to lick the shoes of Joan, Katherine, Rosalind, Cary, Gene, James or Farley.

51. I once saw Redd Foxx at the Oklahoma City airport. He got angry when we pretended not to know who he was.

52. I once saw Doug McClure at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. My aunt got his autograph.

53. I saw the cast and crew of ‘Party of Five’ film an episode at my office building in San Francisco.

54. I stood in line at different times to get the autographs of Patricia Nell Warren, author of ‘The Front Runner,’ Armistead Maupin, author of ‘Tales of the City,’ and Jan Karon, author of the ‘Mitford’ series.

55. I am a major fan of Doris Day’s movies and albums; ‘Mr. Tap Toes’ is one of my earliest musical memories.

56. I don’t think Rock Hudson or Montgomery Clift were particularly good looking.

57. But I would have jumped into bed in a heartbeat with Farley Granger or Guy Madison (or both!)

58. I’m attracted to Ben Affleck, but think he’s a bad actor.

59. I would be attracted to Matt Damon, but he reminds me too much of a 12-year-old and that makes me nervous.

60. I enjoy being totally alone much of the time.

61. I have over 425 movies on DVD.

62. I can be a movie Nazi.

63. I know very little about music – just what I like.

64. Britney Spears is my worst nightmare – on so many levels.

65. I cry when reading sentimental books like R.F. Delderfield’s ‘A Horseman Riding By,’ ‘The Green Gauntlet,’ and ‘To Serve Them All My Days.’ This causes great conflict inside me, because I’m an English major and these books aren’t particularly good literature.

66. One of my favorite books is Elleston Trevor’s ‘Bury Him Among Kings.’

67. The worst job I ever had was mopping the floor of the diner in a Woolworth store.

68. The best job I ever had was small town newspaper reporter.

69. I scream at TV news reporters and anchors when the evening news is on.

70. I believe we live in a corporate Fascist police state.

71. I believe the official explanations about 9/11 are … incomplete.

72. I have a potty mouth sometimes, which is ironic because, when I was a kid, cussing made me very angry.

73. I cut my own hair. Sometimes the results leave a little to be desired.

74. My beagle has me wrapped around his paw and is lord and master of the manse.

75. Happiness is a warm beagle.

76. I hate seafood.

77. I barely tolerate oriental food.

78. I love Tex-Mex and Italian.

79. I eat toast every morning for breakfast.

80. Chocolate-coated breakfast cereals are gross, yet I drink chocolate milk every morning.

81. Minor earthquakes are fun.

82. Chasing tornadoes is even more fun.

83. I miss thunderstorms. There aren’t any in San Francisco.

84. The best thing about living in San Francisco is the fog.

85. The worst thing about living in San Francisco is … it’s crowded. We’re wedged in here like rabbits in cages, for god’s sake!

86. I take home the soaps/shampoos from every hotel I visit.

87. Sunshine and deep blue skies depress me.

88. Rainy days make me very, very happy.

89. I hate it when my teeth aren’t brushed.

90. The toilet seat must be down.

91. The toilet paper goes over the roll, not under.

92. I take a shower every morning and a bath every night.

93. 250-threadcount sheets, changed at least three times a week, are the only way to go.

94. I am a night owl and prefer to stay up until at least 3 a.m.

95. However, I also love being up and seeing the dawn.

96. My oldest and dearest friends have been around for over 26 years and are as close as family.

97. Upon my death, I want to be cremated.

98. I doubt the existence of a hereafter.

99. I have never stolen anything from anyone in my life.

100. I can be an accomplished liar, when need arises.

News from California: « An experiment with RFID badges for attendance purposes fails for a community school »:

‘It started with a girl who went home from junior high saying she felt like an orange. Lauren Tatro, 13, told her parents the plain facts. Every student at Brittan Elementary School had to wear a badge the size of an index card with their name, grade, photo — and a tiny radio identification tag. The purpose was to test a new high-tech attendance system. To the eighth-grader, it seemed students had been turned into grocery items on the shelf, slabs of sirloin at the meat counter, fruit in the produce section. So began a difficult stretch for this town of 2,885. Outraged parents claimed the school was trampling their children’s privacy and civil liberties, maybe even threatening their health. School board meetings overflowed. Folks talked of George Orwell, Big Brother and the Bible. The American Civil Liberties Union joined the fray. Parents picketed. TV news crews from as far away as Germany descended on the 600-student school.’

— LA Times

After much ado and hoo-haw and won’t somebody please think of the children, the company that started the whole thing cancelled the whole experiment, took their toys and went home.

But don’t cry too hard for them; as always, controversy is the best publicity you can get. You can’t buy the publicity that occurs when adults start yelling at each other over kids (or other things for that matter).

Savvy people know this. Madonna, for instance, wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for controversy; that Sex book was a complete joke, more stupid than sexy and her singing has never been particularly noteworthy. She owes her career and her millions to her ability to market herself through controversy. The more she was denounced from pulpits and had parental warning stickers stuck on her albums, the more money she made, ensuring that she made more albums and more controversy. That’s been her cycle for over twenty years, and it’s worked like a charm.

Just like it’s worked charmingly for InCom:

‘Ever since InCom’s name began appearing on TV and in newspaper stories around the country, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Many are callers from school districts wanting to adopt the technology. Ahlers said he won’t be surprised if some states eventually require the technology in schools. “This has been a very, very good experience,” he said. “They spelled our name right and spread it across the country.”’

Bingo. The bottom line. They lost the battle in Sutter, but may have just won the entire war for the rest of the country. Growth and profits will ensue and, just like the man said, some state legislators (southern and Republican, I predict) will embrace the whole thing and start requiring school children to be branded like cattle. The rest of society won’t be far behind; teachers will be tagged like students; Wal-Mart, the leviathan who may have done more than any other entity to bring RFID to maturity and popularity, will start tagging employees, and so on. And it will all be done in the name of efficiency, technology and, above all, safety.

Which always makes me remember the much-used-lately Benjamin Franklin quote:

‘They who would give up liberty to gain a little security deserve neither.’

We’ve pissed away our liberty because we’re such wimps. And put on the throne the Chief of All Wimps, a scared, swaggering bully of an Emperor.

Ain’t the Twenty-First Century gonna be grand?

Of course, it’s all Bill Clinton’s fault. If he hadn’t built that damn Bridge to the Twenty-First Century in the first place, we might not be in this mess.

John Wooden of Chickenhead Productions scores big parody/satire points with two new websites, Sex is For Fags and Iron Hymen — abstinence-only sites for, respectively, boys and girls.

Well, that’s quite a pic of « a guy I’ve had a crush on since It’s Your Move », eh?

I don’t know much about rugby, but I know « these boys are wearing nothing but socks » and said socks are not on their feet!

« V-Day » came and went this year; next year, I hope we all pay more attention to it.

‘Because of your efforts V-Day, and the spirit, energy and movement to end violence against women and girls, has spread wildly around the world. Last year there were 2300 events, celebrations, in over 1100 cities, villages and towns. From Delhi to Detroit women took back their bodies and their lives. I was lucky to be in Mumbai where I witnessed the extraordinary humor of a brilliant Indian cast performing The Vagina Monologues for hundreds and raising money for a local shelter. I was there in Tulsa, Oklahoma performing for 2500 Native Americans so that women there would be safe and free. I was there when 7000 people from all over the world marched on Juarez, Mexico and insisted that there be justice for the hundreds of disappeared women and safety for the living.’

Excellent.

An excellent new blog, « Secret Simon », joins the fray; this one is about a ‘happily’ married man who decides he can’t suppress the truth about himself anymore and shares that truth with his wife. And then blogs about it:

‘We will be separating. No two ways around it. Reality has set in. Her two conflicting minds have started to reconcile. This was the reaction I was bracing for in my initial confrontation. The flash of shock has worn off and logic has started it’s course. She told me she felt like Dorothy and the Wicked Witch in the same body. One side wants to just go home and have us all live happily ever after and the other wants to hate me for what I’ve done. I had to take off work yesterday to settle things down. She talked to her parents in the evening. On her way to talk to them, I could tell by her goodbye that a resolution was drawing near but wasn’t sure exactly to what degree. After a lingering hour of paralysis later, she came home. And to her senses as well. While I can’t agree with the fundamental belief she was raised with, the one that nailed down the lid for so long on my identity, I am glad that she has something to stand by. Now that the curtains have been drawn, guess that makes me the Wizard.’

A Wizard of Oz reference. And he’s been questioning that he’s gay? Anyway, welcome to the technicolor side of life, Simon. Glad you finally decided to join us.

So which of you recruited him? Who gets the toaster?

Boy, Ohio (or, to be more accurate, its loony legislature) just « doesn’t know when to stop », does it?

I’m taking a blogging/web break. It was forced on me, but I’m actually not quicking much about it. A bad software update on my Mac from Apple (Motto: ‘Love the Computer, Hate the Company’) has royally fouled things up on my beloved Ti-Book. It’s been dead for two days and my backup software restore disk is apparently bad, so unless I pay some money for new system software, I’m screwed for awhile. I’m forced to check e-mail and make blog posts on Frank’s Windoze machine. Torture.

But I’ve been thinking it would be nice to have a web break for awhile. There’s a bunch of books I want to read and some exercise I need to get.

I’m also waiting for the release of Textpattern 1.0, which was promised over a month ago. I think when that happens, I’ll be simplifying things a great deal. All of the sections in the menu on the right will become merely categories here at the main page; all the subdomains will disappear. AB.com will forward to AB.biz, which will still be for consulting purposes and my teaching/education blog. AB.org, AB.US and the AntiFascist will probably be merged into this main page also. Hence, one TXP CMS for .net and one for .biz and we’re good to go.

We’ll see what happens. It’s always good to get a break from things you’re too tightly wrapped up in, right? I’ll be back shortly. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by!

Sad news today: Another passing from the 20th Century American intellectual landscape. « Playwright Arthur Miller, 89, is dead »:

‘Arthur Miller, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose most famous fictional creation, Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman,” came to symbolize the American Dream gone awry, has died. He was 89. Miller, who had been hailed as America’s greatest living playwright, died Thursday night at his home in Roxbury of heart failure, his assistant, Julia Bolus, said Friday. His family was at his bedside, she said. His plays, with their strong emphasis on family, morality and personal responsibility, spoke to the growing fragmentation of American society. “A lot of my work goes to the center of where we belong — if there is any root to life — because nowadays the family is broken up, and people don’t live in the same place for very long,” Miller said in a 1988 interview. “Dislocation, maybe, is part of our uneasiness. It implants the feeling that nothing is really permanent.”

A very apropos quote.

Since I’m a total A-type (a for anal, that is), I created a spreadsheet with statistics on what the Jeep has cost us in gas.

Just over the two-month mark and we’ve gone 1,061 miles, used 99.418 gallons of gas at a cost of $143.50 and paid an average of $1.81 per gallon. That’s an average 212.3 miles per tank and a whoppingly disappointing average of 13.359 miles per gallon. Ouch.

We’ve also spent $117 for car tags, $206 for insurance and some change for car washes. We won’t talk about the car payments.

Other than the gas mileage, we’re mighty happy with Jeepy so far.

Caution: If you don’t like vitriolic, angry political rants, skip this entry. Consider yourself forewarned. Thank you.

The Ann Arbor News (Motto: ‘We Have the World’s Worst Website’) is reporting today that the « Thomas More ‘Law’ Center (For the Promotion of the Fascist FunDumbMentalist Authoritarian Vision for the Empire) launched a direct, personal and vicious attack on Michigan’s gay and lesbian families »:

‘As opponents of Proposal 2 predicted, the constitutional amendment approved by Michigan voters last November to define marriage is being used to challenge same-sex benefits provided to partners of gay public employees. An existing lawsuit against Ann Arbor Public Schools is apparently going to be the test case. The Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center and 17 taxpayers are asking the Michigan Court of Appeals to stop the local school district from providing medical benefits to gay couples. In court papers, they cite the November constitutional amendment known as Proposal 2, which says the union between a man and a woman “shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.”’

As a gay employee of the Ann Arbor Public Schools (who admittedly does not receive ANY benefits because AAPS considers ‘subs’ the lowest of the low and therefore unworthy of decency and respect, let alone benefits—but that’s another rant), I take this one very personally and it’s one more nail in the coffin of any nascent desire I might have to wish to remain in this state and educate its future leaders. And I’m sure that the 12 or so gay/lesbian couples who actually receive these benefits take it even more personally than I do. God bless them and keep them.

Face it, Michiganders, Prop 2 was a vicious, ignorant, barbaric and discriminatory assault on a Michigan minority group. It deserves a spot in the infamous pantheon of western civilization’s Hate Laws Perpetrated by the Majority, such as Jim Crow and the 1935 Nuremberg Laws.

But now, just to make sure we got the message, this Fascist front group ups the gay bashing for good measure.

Well, as Dan Akroyd said to Jane Curtin back when Saturday Night Live was still funny, ‘Jane, you ignorant slut.’

Yup, Michigan, you ignorant slut, here’s what we’re gonna do, so listen up, you ignorant 2.6 million Michiganders who voted for this claptrap … because you want to deny health benefits for domestic partners, I will continue to access free, taxpayer-funded, public health care via the UMHS system, including the ultra-expensive emergency room … and you, the ignorant 2.6 million Prop 2-loving Michiganders are going to be soaked for the bills. Yup, I will access every taxpayer-funded service I can in order to make up for the absence of my Prop 2-denied equal protection benefits and every single one of you Fascists can pay the bills.

And we’re not talking about a few hundred bucks, either. You will pay for my emergency room bill last Thanksgiving. For all of my doctor visits over the three years we’ll be in this Bible-thumping state. My MRI last October. Every blood test. Every prescription. Every specialist. Every x-ray. At full, undiscounted, totally ugly, top-dollar rates.

And I’m going to go ahead and make an appointment with the dental service which provides free, taxpayer-funded dental care to those without insurance, and you can damn well pay for that too. Fair warning: I need quite a bit of dental work. Fillings replaced, three crowns, deep cleanings, might throw in some teeth-whitening.

And that’s not all. Oh no.

I’m going to go ahead and get my master’s degree in education from Michigan’s premier public, taxpayer-funded institution of higher learning, and I’m going to do it with low interest loans funded by you 2.6-million ignorant Michiganders. [With a wicked gleam in his eye, he wonders if said loans can ever be repaid on a public school teacher’s salary?]

And then I’m taking that Master’s degree which you paid for out of state … perhaps even out of country, and you don’t get the benefits of that educational investment in the public schools of the state of Michigan. How about we just let Michigan’s children be educated by ignorant Prop 2-loving teachers? After all, as you so smarmily have been reminding us for three months, the majority has spoken.

And in Michigan, that majority spoke in favor of hate, torture, fear, ignorance, intolerance, superstition and barbarism by voting for Prop 2 and its spiritual father in the White House.

Fine. Majority rules. But that decision will prove might costly, dollar-wise. Since the almighty dollar is they only thing that gets a Fascist’s attention, then that’s where we’ll hit him.

I’m going to personally make sure of it. Hmmmmm. What other free taxpayer services can I access and soak it to the so-called ‘Moral Michigan Majority?’ After all, on the pittance that AAPS pays me, I can qualify for just about anything.

Now, dear friends who voted NO on Prop 2, none of this applies to you. You know I love you more than my luggage. Thanks for putting up with my rant and thanks for your support.

We now return to sweetness and light.

25 Short Stories
  Stephen Vincent Benet
    The Sun Dial Press, Garden City, NY, ©1943
    University of Michigan Libraries
    Dewey 828 B465
    572pp.

I’m reading 25 Short Stories, a collection of seminal American works by « Stephen Vincent Benet », one of my favorite authors.

Two of the works are Doc Mellhorn and the Pearly Gates and By the Waters of Babylon. Both are works of fantasy. In the former, a country doctor passes away and receives his due, entry into Heaven. But he finds it boring there, so he takes the back roads and sets up shop in Hell, treating all kinds of the damned for all their afflictions and generally relieving torment. This, of course, won’t do at all, so he’s kicked back up to Paradise. It’s one of my all-time favorite short stories.

The post-apocalyptic vision of By the Waters of Babylon is eerie in many ways in that it shows a post-nuclear-war, irradiated America … but it was written in the 1930s, some years before the first atomic bomb exploded over Trinity Site, New Mexico. It’s the granddaddy of the post-apocalyptic science fiction/fantasy stories that were extremely popular throughout the Cold War, none of which can top it.

Also in the volume is The Sobbin’ Women, a short story which inspired the musical and motion picture « Seven Brides for Seven Brothers » (and is superior to both). The story is based on « the rape of the Sabine women », a founding legend of the Roman Republic. The title is a sly commentary on American frontier ignorance; the lead character tells the seven backwoodsy brothers about the Romans and the ‘Sobbin’ women’ and puts the central events of the story in motion.

And then there’s _The Devil and Daniel Webster, which contains this opening passage:

‘It’s a story they tell in the border country, where Massachusetts joins Vermont and New Hampshire.

‘Yes, Dan’l Webster is dead—or, at least, they buried him. But every time there’s a thunderstorm around Marshfield, they say you can hear his rolling voice in the hollows of the sky. And they say that if you go to his grave and speak loud and clear, “Dan’l Webster—Dan’l Webster!” the ground’ll begin to shiver and the trees begin to shake. And after a while you’ll hear a deep voice saying, “Neighbor, how stands the Union?” Then you better answer the Union stands as she stood, rock-bottomed and copper-sheathed, one and indivisible, or he’s liable to rear right out of the ground. At least, that’s what I was told when I was a youngster.’

I’d certainly be afraid to go to his grave and have him ask me that question now. We’re more divided than ever, albeit from within, not along regional lines, and the Republic is dead, the Empire transcendent.

But maybe he’d drag me into the grave with him … or else come out fighting, whooping the dickens out of the current crop of Christo-Fascists plaguing the country. That would be something!

Stephen Vincent Benet. Great stuff.

Adbusters.org has the true American Imperial Corporate flag. The government might as well go ahead and adopt it; it’s more true than anything else flying.

Let’s let Adbusters say it:

‘Corporate America is revelling in a Golden Age. A shrinking number of the planet’s biggest businesses—AOL Time Warner, Shell, Nike, Microsoft, McDonald’s—are the money behind presidents, the power that drives global trade rules, the voice of authority on how we live and the way we think. Corporations have all the rights of we, the people, but thousands of times more money to make the system work for them. We call this system “democracy.” But today it looks a lot like corporate rule. … The flags snapping in the wind are raising sparks. You just don’t mess with America’s Old Glory. But many would say it’s been a corporate doormat for years. And today, the question is global. What counts as “independence”? And when will we win it back?’

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Updated 8-Feb-05_:

‘We are waking up to political reality. Even diehard Republicans now admit that corporations govern their lives. A small group of neocons has hijacked the good name of America and swapped it for dreams of empire. Opinion round the world is ranged against us. Americans of all political stripes are asking, “Is this my America anymore?”’

Good question.

Tired of living in loser countries that want to round you up in concentration camps and stone you to death based on fictional 5,000-year-old Jewish scrolls?

Well then! « The Gay Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands » just might be for you!

‘Alone, unaided, neither seeking nor requiring help the Gay & Lesbian Kingdom rose in self defence, so long as gay & lesbian people cherish freedom & equality, so long as small states strive for the dignity of existence, the exploits of the gay & lesbian activists who first settled these islands in 2004 will be told from one gay generation to another with the deepest pride. The Australian Parliament introduced anti gay marriage & adoption legislation and we have sort to have it condemned and the gay government resent it, and the religious right who are behind these moves with all our might. By declaring our nation independent, never have freedom, equality, justice, gay national interest and international morality been so rightly protected. It may seem the Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands stands alone against numerous homophobic nations and religious organisations, but we have faith in our declaration of independence, and in the underlying forces in gay history which have so often given the finally victory to spirit over matter, to inner truth over mere quantity. We believe in the vigilance of history, which has guarded our steps, the guardian of the gay & lesbian kingdom neither slumbers nor sleeps.’

Sounds like a gay James Bond film.

But hurry! « You too can become a citizen with a passport and everything »

‘The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands offers a policy of automatic citizenship to gays and lesbians, similar to Israel’s right of return, subject to application and verification. The Chief Justice of the High Court of the Gay Kingdom is authorized by the Goverment of the Gay Kingdom to immediately establish legal methods for members of the gay tribe, wherever dispersed in the world, to secure such documents, passports and other things by which the crown may identify it’s subjects with security and confidence.’

How very … something or other.

Fascinating stories about ‘33-’45 still crop up even today. This time, it’s from a « former Nuremberg trial guard who says he helped Goering escape hangman »

‘A former guard at the Nuremberg trials has come forward to say he believes he provided the poison that Nazi Hermann Goering used to commit suicide hours before his scheduled execution for war crimes, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. Herbert Lee Stivers, now 78, was a 19-year-old Army private when he took notes and a capsule hidden inside a fountain pen to Goering at the request of two men who said the notorious Nazi general was “a very sick man” who needed medicine, the newspaper said. Stivers said he is now convinced the “medicine” was the cyanide that killed Goering on Oct. 15, 1946, the night before he was to be executed. The commander of the German air force had been convicted at the Nuremberg trials the previous month. “I felt very bad after his suicide. I had a funny feeling; I didn’t think there was any way he could have hidden it on his body,” Stivers said.’

Interesting story.

‘Stivers had agreed to pass on the items after being introduced to the men, who called themselves Erich and Mathias. ”(Erich) said it was medication, and that if it worked and Goering felt better, they’d send him some more,” Stivers said. “I wasn’t thinking of suicide when I took it to Goering. He was never in a bad frame of mind.”’
It’s certainly true that Hermann was never in a bad frame of mind. He dominated the trial with his insolence and his personality and his sheer bulk. That he cheated the Allies’ hangman was his last laugh.

The book, Hitler’s Lieutenants, has a thoroughly fascinating portrait of Goering, as well as the others of the inner circle. It’s an absorbing read and valuable addition to the library.

Cafe Ambrosia was Cafe Hungry Like the Wolf this afternoon. The guys behind the counter were apparently (from what I could gather) striking back at the pretense of a « rockist » critic from earlier in the day by playing what sounded like « Decade » (nothing after 1988 was on the disc, which was just as well) from beginning to end — much to the grim, seething, teeth-gritting silence of many of the customers in the joint (although a couple of customers did come up and chucklingly congratulate them on their unusual selection). The fellas behind the counter laughed and grooved along with “Rio” and “Save a Prayer” and “Union of the Snake” and “Wild Boys,” but it seems they hit their limit after “Notorious.” They cut the CD in the middle of the next song and quickly threw on a Morphine CD, much more in keeping with the usual Ambrosia (and usual hipster cafe) ethic. You could feel the rockist tension ease into a saxophone-induced reverie.

The audacity, ignorance and outrageousness of « men like this » never cease to amaze me:

‘Marcavage never uses slurs to describe homosexuals; rather, he turns the word homosexual itself into a slur, using it as a sort of branding. He is a deliberate speaker, careful as any politician. But if he is diplomatic with his words, he uses them to advance a militant agenda. “According to the Scriptures, it’s the government’s job to enforce God’s law and to uphold his law, and the Bible talks about how, I don’t want to really get into this — it’ll make me sound like I’m crazy — but it does talk about how [homosexuals] are to be put to death. The wages of sin is death. But I want to make [it] clear that I’m not advocating the [independent] killing of homosexuals. … I’m saying that the government’s duty is to uphold God’s law. … I know that’s harsh, but we have all broken the law, God’s law, and we need to be held accountable.”

By ‘held accountable,’ he means ‘kill ‘em! Kill ‘em all!!!’

Grand.

On the AP wire this afternoon we see a charming story about a « Four-year-old Michigan boy who drove to the video store » (and back) in the middle of the night:

‘A boy drove his mother’s car to a video store in the middle of the night, police said — and he’s all of 4 years old. Even though he was unable to reach the accelerator, the boy managed to put the car in gear and the idling engine provided enough power to take him slowly to the store, a quarter-mile from his home, about 1:30 a.m. Friday, Police Chief Doug Heugel said. Finding the store closed, the youngster began a slow trip home. Weaving and with its headlights off, the car got the attention of police Sgt. Jay Osga, who initially thought he was following a driverless car that had taken off after being left running at a gas pump. The car turned into the boy’s apartment complex and struck two parked cars, then backed up and struck Osga’s police car.’

And, yes, you know I’m going to say it … the kid did better on his trip than most Michigan drivers I see on the streets every single day. Ppppptttttttt.

Early detection of testicular cancer is vital and being ‘body aware’ is an important part of that. Thanks to early detection, testicular cancer has a 95% cure rate, if caught early enough.

So some UK athletic lads got together and took a lovely little picture in order to boost the « Tackle Testicular Cancer Campaign* ». Very hot for a very worthy cause.

I’ve seen a few of those colored bracelets promoting causes around; I’ve even confiscated one from a fourth grader who was using it to highly annoy the girl in front of him. But there’s so many of them that it can get confusing as to who is promoting what cause.

Thank god I stumbled across « Buggery.org’s Guide to Colored Bracelets vs. Traditional Hankies » this morning; now things are much more clear!

Now if someone will just explain why twits in minivans want to put those ugly magnetic ribbons on their rear ends …

The Grand Iraqi Election Which Proves the Emperor is Always Right has passed in a putrid fog of press adulation and fawning-ness, plus some ‘Ohmigod, what if he was right?!’ spineless sniveling among some liberals we won’t link to here.

But, as is usual with anything the Boy Emperor does, reality is about to rudely intrude on his carefully constructed pyramid scheme, because « the initial voter turnout numbers appear to be way off », and « the election results aren’t going the Empire’s way »:

‘Partial results from Sunday’s election suggest that U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s coalition is being roundly defeated by a list with the backing of Iraq’s senior Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, diminishing Allawi’s chances of retaining his post in the next government. Sharif Ali bin Hussein, head of the Constitutional Monarchy Party, likened the vote outcome to a “Sistani tsunami” that would shake the nation. “Americans are in for a shock,” he said, adding that one day they would realize, “We’ve got 150,000 troops here protecting a country that’s extremely friendly to Iran, and training their troops.”’

— SF Chronicle

RUH–ROH! How’d that happen?! I thought the spreading of democracy in the Middle East was the goal, not the spreading of Iranian Islamic Fundamentalism!

Sad, so very sad, that « the Emperor’s cheerleaders in the Imperial press can’t handle the truth »:

‘Like many of his U.S. press colleagues, New York Times foreign policy columnist Thomas L. Friedman has pronounced himself “unreservedly happy” about the Iraqi election of Jan. 30, adding: “you should be, too.” But there is a dark potential to those pleasing images of Iraqis voting in the face of violence. Rather than pointing toward an exit for the United States from Iraq, the election may be just another mirage leading U.S. troops deeper into Iraq’s long and bloody history of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites. Indeed, if the Sunni-based insurgency doesn’t give up in the months ahead, American soldiers could find themselves enmeshed in a long and brutal civil war helping the Shiite majority crush the resistance of the Sunni minority.

The Sunnis, who have long dominated Iraq, find themselves in a tight corner and may see little choice but to fight on. … As Iraqis raised fingers stained with voting ink, American journalists scrambled over each other to climb on board George W. Bush’s bandwagon. Just as the U.S. press corps feared challenging Bush during the WMD hysteria in fall 2002 or after the toppled Saddam Hussein statue in spring 2003, the press corps treated the Iraqi election as an unquestioned success story, much as Friedman did in his New York Times column, which was entitled “A Day to Remember.” [NYT, Feb. 3, 2005]

‘But, like those earlier examples of press acquiescence, the lack of skepticism about the real meaning of the Jan. 30 election carries more potential dangers for Americans, especially if the triumphal Bush administration now starts dusting off its most ambitious plans for the Middle East. If that happens, the military disaster in Iraq — already with the deaths of more than 1,400 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis — could be just a prelude to more catastrophes to come.’

— Consortium News

But he’s just a Saddam-loving malcontent, right?

Well, one should cut him some slack, perhaps; after all, « the track record of the press isn’t great »:

‘U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote: Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror

by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3—United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam’s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting. According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong. The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.’

[As seen at « Daily Kos »]

Our world. Such higgledy-piggledy-ness. Now where’d I put that blasted quote? Something about those who forget history are condemned to repeat it or something … should be around here somewhere …

Fancy that. An article on Page 3 of yesterday’s New York Times arts section on, of all things, little old Ann Arbor.

Nothing laudatory or complimentary, of course; just the usual snide satisfaction the Times gets from giving the upturned-nose treatment to anything west of the Delaware River. The hed: “Sure, You Can Watch the Oscars, but Can You See All the Nominated Movies?” Oh, those poor benighted souls in Michigan: they can’t even watch all of the Oscar-nominated movies without waiting for six months for them to come out on DVD! One woman standing in line at the Michigan Theater waiting for tickets to “Hotel Rwanda” is described as though she were waiting for an organ donor. But that’s just the beginning. When the Times reporter finds out that two movies are just now coming to AA, she writes, incredulously:

“Vera Drake,” first released more than three months ago, will not play Ann Arbor until Friday, said a spokeswoman for Fine Line Features, which is distributing the film. And “The Sea Inside,” also from Fine Line, is not currently scheduled to play here, though it has been in a small number of theaters elsewhere across the country since December.

Snort! Those deprived fools won’t even see the latest Amenábar film! What pathetic creatures!

After a detour to explain why major film distributors think that cow towns are inappropriate places to grace with the cream of the cinematic crop, the Times reporter smirkingly notes that “Sideways” is the singular exception to the rule because it’s a film that became a cult hit (like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” in 2002 or “Amélie” in 2001). “Sideways” is playing at three theaters in Ann Arbor right now, which apparently means, according to the reporter’s take on things, that it’s stale and obsolete. You might as well have “LOTR III” or “Chicago” still playing.

At that point, the reporter interviews a Michigan Theater ticket-taker from New Jersey who can barely lower her nose long enough to whine, “It’s kind of silly to even read any of the reviews that come out because it doesn’t pertain to your life in this small part of the world.” Ending on a positive note, the reporter quotes a UM prof who says he doesn’t mind waiting for the Important Movies to come to Ann Arbor, adding, “There are probably a lot of Midwestern cities that don’t get these movies at all. What if I lived in the Upper Peninsula or something?”

I have to say that the phrase that takes the cake for me is the reporter’s own description of the UP, which she colorfully calls “the state’s northernmost wilds,” as though it were just a few miles from the Arctic Circle.

Some woman from the committee for Super Bowl XL (here in Detroit in February 2006) was just on the news saying she knew Detroit “has some image problems.” I guess she meant the cold weather, because she went on to insist that everyone from out of town will be fine in Michigan February weather “if you wear a hat and scarf.”

So, yes, it was 16 degrees when I left at 11 a.m., but I rode my bike to work today anyway. It’s only a mile-and-a-half, one-way, and I’m a big fat cow who needs to get in shape. I made it just fine, there and back, thank-you-very-much.

But just had to note: Despite Ann Arbor’s $1,000 fine for not clearing your sidewalks after a snowfall, not everyone complies.

The one section of sidewalk between our townhouse here at Stadium/Woodbury and the middle school, at Stadium/Brockman that hasn’t been cleared in the last two weeks: the one in front of a house which displayed a truly huge Bush/Cheney ‘04 sign during the late, lamented election last year.

Just sayin’.

Okay, so this layout is the last one I’ll do. I’m really happier with it. Like it?

[By the way, just a pissy note from a crotchety ol’ toot: I’m fed up with Internet Explorer and it’s ignorant inability to properly handle web standards, particularly the way it fails to add up the numbers properly to display boxes. I mean, how hard is it to add up the four sides of a box? Apparently, if you’re a Microsquash engineer, it’s impossible. So, if you’re trying to read this using IE for Windoze and you see weird pinstripes between the header image/nav and the body, you’re a victim of Microsquash’s ignorance of proper interpretation of the Box Model (Google it, if you don’t know what I’m talking about). And some free advice: Get a Mac, first of all. Second, at the very least, download Firefox and see what you’re missing, web standards-wise. Down with monopoly! End of crotchety ol’ toot’s rant.]