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AirBeagle is the ‘net pseudonym of Steve Pollock, who lives in Ann Arbor, MI. He is 40 years old (gasp) and was born in Roswell, NM, (yes, THAT Roswell, NM – and no, he’s not an alien). He’s also lived in Clovis, NM; Duncan, OK; Plano and Dallas, TX; Pleasant Hill, CA; Highlands Ranch, CO;…

This week saw (along with the unionized graduate student instructors going on a one-day walkout) undergrads tossing Frisbees out on the grass, warblers chirping in the trees, Canadian geese making their whooping noises … it must be spring again, or what’ll pass for spring in southeast Michigan until the thaw really hits. Whatever it is,…

Somebody is getting nostalgic for Ann Arbor’s ‘way cool skate and music scene’ in the ‘80s as embodied in a ‘zine called « Local Chaos » [via « MetaFilter ».] Has anyone alerted « AAIO » yet?

Now, let’s see. The murderer of 100,000+ Iraqis and 1,600+ American troops and 140+ Texas inmates wants to save this brain-damaged vegetable lady … no, that can’t be right. Ummmm, how ‘bout: the man who signed a Texas law giving hospitals the okay to kill terminally ill patients who can’t afford their services wants to…

« Brilliant », as always.

Funny how deafening the silence is from Fascist Party politicians about « the majority ruling and politicians being out of touch with mainstream ‘Murricans » where Terry Schiavo is concerned: ’• 70% of Americans say it is inappropriate for Congress to involve itself in the Schiavo case. • 67% of Americans “think the elected officials trying to…

My calendar says that today is the Vernal Equinox. Or, put another way, frickin’ Spring is finally here. Of course, there’s still dirty white stuff on the ground and it’s so gray outside that I must invoke the infamous quote about Ann Arbor: ‘A sunless horror, devoid of joy and hope.’ And there’s a chance…

I’m two days late in noting it, but Happy Birthday, AirBeagle! AirBeagle the website was born on 17-Mar-99 in San Francisco. Six years later, I still don’t know what I’m doing or why. But we’re havin’ fun!

A big, hearty « Screw You, Michigan! », and especially Mike Cox … Love, Steve, future ex-Michigan resident: ‘Michigan’s attorney general issued an opinion Wednesday saying cities and other government entities won’t be able to provide benefits for same-sex partners of employees in future contracts because that would violate Proposal 2 – the constitutional amendment banning gay…

There’s been a change in URL around here, so prepare to update your bookmarks and RSS feed. Asquared will now (for reasons I won’t totally bore you with) be located at just http://airbeagle.net/ If you continue to try asquared.airbeagle.net, you’ll get automatically forwarded to airbeagle.net, so no worries there. As always, thanks for stopping by…

My dream early this morning was about a device called an Orgasmotron. It was a real dream; I am not making this up. I was still in San Francisco and, inexplicably, went to someone’s house to get a demonstration of the Orgasmotron. It was a wand-like vibrator (like you see in Brookstone or Sharper Image)…

We just took the long processional around the complex. It’s sunny and beautiful, but still quite chilly. NOAA says it’s 42. The high was supposed to be ‘near 39,’ so I guess I’ll take it. Beagles needed lots of pooping, pottying and sniffing stops. He seems very perky and happy on the walk. As I’ve…

From yesterday’s Ann Arbor News: Ann Arbor has received 70.3 inches of snow so far this winter, compared with 36.8 by this time last year and 40 inches in an average season. The record is 75 inches in the 1981-82 winter season. The exclamation above is what some undergrad was screeching into her cellphone when…

2005-03-07 14:39:00 « Boy George doesn’t have kind words for Kabbalah faddist Madonna Louise Ciccone »: ‘Gay pop star Boy George has slammed Madonna for embracing the Kabbalah, the mystical offshoot of Judaism which preaches homosexuality is a disease. … “I have a problem with Madonna’s devotion to Kabbalah, because I watched a documentary that said that…

Scandalous times at Boeing continue; this time, the company « fired its CEO over a sex affair with an executive »: ‘Boeing Co. on Monday said its board forced out president and chief executive officer Harry Stonecipher because of a relationship the married, 68-year-old Stonecipher had with a female executive at the company. The unexpected ouster makes…

Apparently, sending your sixth-grade, 11-year-old daughter to school wearing low, hip-hugging jeans with the Playboy logo on the ass is acceptable practice in Ann Arbor. Or was that too Puritan of me?

There was a vote last week in my home state’s legislature that « gives a glimmer of hope for civility, sanity and intelligence »: ‘The state House on Monday voted to abolish the death penalty in New Mexico and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without parole. The repeal bill passed on a vote…

Phillip Carter and Paul Glastris, writing in the Washingotn Monthly, « make a compelling case for an Imperial draft of sorts » summed up by the following passage: ‘In short, America’s all-volunteer military simply cannot deploy and sustain enough troops to succeed in places like Iraq while still deterring threats elsewhere in the world. Simply adding more…

Ruh-roh … « a Fascist nerd-twit on the Federal Elections Commission just made a shot across bloggers’ collective bows » in what is probably a typically nasty campaign by the Fascists to destroy McCain-Feingold: ‘Bradley Smith says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over. In just a few months, he warns, bloggers…

Folks are a bit up in arms because « British Airways flew a 747 on two long trips with just three operating engines » [gasp]: ‘A British Airways jet that continued on an 11-hour flight from Los Angeles to London after one of its four engines lost power also flew on three engines on a later flight…

Now, here’s yet another reason to consider Canadian citizenship: « somebody above the 49th has a spine and knows how to stand up to the Fascists »: ‘Dear Condi, ‘I’m glad you’ve decided to get over your fit of pique and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It’s a chance to learn a thing or two….

« Further proof that Lincoln was gay », by Paul Rudnick: ‘The first draft of the Gettysburg Address began, “Four score and seven years ago-ish …” … ‘Lincoln urged Congress to bind the nation’s wounds “with malice toward none, with charity for all,” although under his breath he murmured, “except for a certain red-headed lieutenant, and he…

Shhhhhh. Don’t let the Fascists know it, but one of the Empire’s favorite uber-patriotic songs is actually all about [gasp] faggotry! Ahhhhhh! « The horror »: ‘A macaroni, was a fop or dandy with an extravagant hairstyle and affected mannerisms. More literally, a macaroni was a small tricorn hat placed on top of a high wig. Hence,…

Yes, I suppose we have been blogging less lately. I confess to a lot of blogging fatigue, brought on mostly by a heavy final term at SI. Still a hell of a lot to work to do before it’s all over, seven weeks and change until my final final, graduation a week later, then ……..

We do, perhaps, have a bit of blogging fatigue around these parts. For myself, spring is just a mere, what, 17 days away. Oh yeah. Can’t wait. Get this ugly, dirty snow outta here. Frank will be going into mourning then, pining away for the melted snow. I shouldn’t speak for him, but I think…

An acerbic columnist at The Guardian has a brilliant op-ed up which asserts that « death is no big deal »: ‘I lost a friend last week. These things happen — I’m bad at people, after all — but I can’t say I’m not pissed off. Last week I also talked to a nice lady who was…

The news report provides murky details, but apparently a « vicious homophobic beating in Santa Fe has sent a gay man to intensive care and his attackers to jail »; ‘A man remained hospitalized in intensive care Tuesday morning after he and another man were beaten in what Santa Fe police said was a hate crime sparked…

Thanks to quite a few problems, some internal and some external, the folks over at « TextDrive », which is where all the AirBeagle sites reside, have had some problems the last couple of weeks. So if you’ve been getting a series of errors while trying to access any part of AirBeagle, you can blame, mostly, the…

The « AARP » has its own « Typepad » blog out; it’s dedicated to fighting the « disgusting and reprehensible Fascist campaign to discredit AARP and elderly supporters of Social Security ». What a sad statement about American today that it’s even necessary. Why is the blog necessary? Consider: ’… with GOP support and the plan’s arithmetic looking equally shaky,…

         « 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…

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…

E-Mail « Send us a note via e-mail  » 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….

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…

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…

    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….

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…