Winter Surf

Winter Surf

Joe and I rode down Neil Young’s “empty ocean road” at Matunuck
The boiling, frothing, angry winter sea a gray to match the sky
Joe, fearless, paddled out to where the huge breakers began to roll to foam and spindrift
I stayed closer to shore to catch their second break
The pinhole breaks of my wetsuit instructing caution and practicality.

The Town Beach at Narragansett, Rhode Island

The Town Beach at Narragansett, Rhode Island December 4, 2008

The gray-green sea beckons
Unbridled dreams at sunset
In spindrift and point-break
In the unbounded vastness of sea and sky
In the universal and the singular.

Celestial Accident

Celestial Accident

The crescent moon waxing
suspended in a triangle between Venus and Jupiter
in a transparent-blue sky on the edge of a solstice sunset
appeared dream-like as through the lens of a child's 3-D toy
a celestial accident worth pondering.

Ecologically Unsound

The wood smoke is so inviting in late October
Blown by a north wind along with spent leaf
It stays close among the hills gone to brown
An affirmation in the direction of the solstice.

Sixties Dream

Sixties Dream

Those days were the ones of great change
That can be touched, now on briefly
On April afternoons that mark the line between seasons
Bordered by hyacinth, daffodil, crocus, forsythia, lilac and new leaf
A haze lightly touching the distant hills
As much a state of consciousness as reality
The night chill, watching Orion approach oblivion in the west
It is almost possible to feel young again on those days
And know that all is possible.

Bailout Demo

Olivia's Overlook

Autumn had blanketed the Berkshires at Olivia’s Overlook
With burnt orange, red, gold, brown and unvanquished green
That disappeared on mountain ridges in the smoky atmosphere of early fall
Stockbridge Bowl a mirror to this seemingly timeless parade of natural beauty.

Before The Frost

Honeybees dart between the black-eyed Susans and zinnias
A frenzy that seems so foreign to this serene crystalline day at summer’s end
The air is pure before the frost and harvest moon
The night transparent velvet.

The Night Is So Silent

The night is so silent
Time seems immutable
The stars appear still as the river exhales mist
Giving off its summer warmth
A plane passes beside Cassiopeia
The moon rises.

Bear Mountain

Hiking down from Bear Mountain
Under the shadow of black cumulonimbus
I stoop to pick blueberries beneath mountain laurel
Descending again, the peaks of the Catskills fill the horizon to the west

Thirty-seven years have passed
Since we loved among those hills
Beside country lanes bordered by purple loosestrife and Queen Anne's lace
Spent and squandered at summer's end.

Northampton, Rainy Day

Northampton, Rainy Day

Alone, gazing out onto the gray streets of Northampton

Beneath the green awning of the coffee shop.

Kangamangus Highway

Brian and I rode down from the Kangamangus Highway

Fearless, self-confident and finally soaked

The thunderstorm overtaking us as we rode in the wake of a tracker trailer

My gearshift broken and Brian with only half a tent

We seek dry shelter by the roadside.

Today, I skirt billowing cumulonimbus in Monterey

Sedate, the Berkshires roll gently on through Tyringham

I pass telephone poles festooned with U.S. flags

Among these verdant hills.

High Summer

High Summer

The high trilling of katydids at the forest's edge...
Fields carpeted thick with the violet of thyme...
Bees and hummingbirds dart about the spires of lavender...
Burnt orange of roadside wild lilies...
The certain warmth...
Venus rising beside the pale moon.

The Case Against Ethel Rosenberg

Today, The New York Times carried the obituary of Ruth Greenglass. Greenglass provided the corroboration for her husband, David Greenglass, stating that Ethel Rosenberg typed information about the development of the atomic bomb intended to be sent to the Soviet Union. On the basis of that information, Ethel Rosenberg, along with her husband Julius, were executed by the United States in June 1953 at the height of the hysteria of the Cold War.

Ethel Rosenberg's brother,David Greenglass, stated in his biography The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case (2003), that he had no recollection of Ethel typing the information used to convict her, and that it was in fact his wife Ruth who had typed it.

The government's case against the Rosenbergs involved manipulation of witnesses and facts. Much controversy surrounds the nature of these secrets, and how a then-machinist (Greenglass) in the Army working in the Manhattan Project could have possessed the sophistication to comprehend and steal secret information on the development of the atomic bomb.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/us/09greenglass.html?ref=obituaries

More Of The Same from Obama: More No Choice

Barack Obama seems ceaseless in his attempt to cement his image as a neoliberal. While he mouths the call for change, he positions himself to oppose late-term abortions even in the presence of severe emotional distress of the mother. He will not take war off the so-called "table" against Iran, putting himself in direct opposition to the U.N. Charter and the Geneva Conventions. His platform offers nothing to end the war between Israel and the people of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He will not commit to a complete and total withdrawal of troops from Iraq if elected president. Here is the corporate candidate speaking corporate-speak! And then, of course, there is John McCain...the warmonger.

The Lone Mourner

The lone mourner stood, singular against the gray of sky and hills.

A sea of graves, askew with time, now stained by rivulets of gentle rain.

There was no hope here, only the inaudible whispers of a single soul against the enormity of the certain void; the absolute emptiness.

How Many Wars?

For anyone who has any illusions about what the corporate parties, a.k.a. Democrats and Republicans can do following the November 2008 elections, a must read is today's assessment (7/2/08) of the economy in The New York Times. Ultimately, it will cost three trillion dollars worth of waste in two immoral wars, along with the human toll, and the folks who currently occupy the White House are planning for a third war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/business/02jobs.html?hp

Lightning

The velvet night sky was punctuated by the green glow of fireflies between the flashes of lightning in the oncoming storm. In those places of hesitation lie a space for dreams.

The Meaning Of Irony

Next to the physician's office, one who went to a "good" school and priced his services accordingly, stood a laundromat in which one of the large plate-glass windows hung a sign which read: "Free Soap On Thursdays." This business, along with the doctor's office, were in a poor section of a medium-size New England city.

Demonstrate!

I once discounted a friend's observation during the low-intensity warfare of the Reagan administration, that the peace movement didn't draw as many people as during the Vietnam anti-war movement because it wasn't perceived as "sexy" to demonstrate any more.

Standing on a road in Massachusetts demonstrating against the war in Iraq, I think my friend was absolutely right! I think that he was on to something! I've grown accustomed, over the past few months, to standing with one other activist named Mickey, who has been out to vigil on every single Saturday since the war's inception. That's five years!

At first, Mickey tells me that the crowds were quite large, perhaps a few hundred, which is a substantial number for a relatively small community.

But where are the people who could join us now? It's usually just Mickey and me. People walking and driving by shout their support or flash the peace sign or thumbs up, but only infrequently does anyone bother to actually come out and stand with us.

Over four thousand U.S. dead and around sixty thousand wounded. Possibly about a million Iraqi dead and untold numbers injured and displaced. One estimate projects a three-trillion dollar price tag for the war by it's unforeseeable end. War in Afghanistan and perhaps another in Iran if Bush continues to have his way. Where are the people to protest? Where is the anger?

View From Mary Flynn's Bench

View From Mary Flynn’s Bench

The view from Mary Flynn’s bench is sublime in early spring.

Legions of gray cumulus wash over the Berkshires

Leaving traces of dappled shadow much as the ripples of spent waves on ocean shores.

The meadow grass bends to the fresh west wind

Halting only momentarily at the edge of the forest upturning the new green of maple and beech; the rust of oak.

Great fortune in being on the right planet, beside the right star at the right time.

The Power of Words

There may well be over one million dead in Iraq, and George W. Bush said he could have used "better rhetoric" in the lead-up to the war.

Ralph Nader

Only one candidate would bring about any measure of change to the political environment in the U.S. Ralph Nader would confront the power of U.S. corporations if elected president. He would end the war in Iraq. He would reverse environmental destruction and restore civil liberties that have been gutted by Bush-Cheney.

Gross distortions about Nader as a presidential candidate have surfaced since the loss of the Gore presidential ticket in 2000. The Democratic Party, and their lack of resolve in failing to confront the illegitimacy of the Florida vote, and the deceit and betrayal by the Republican Party, are the only reasons for the disaster of the 2000 presidential campaign!

Enter the G.O.P.

"G.O.P. Now Sees Obama as Liability for Ticket," (New York Times, April 26). Now the Right-Wing Republican Party begins hate mongering!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/us/politics/26ticket.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Obama v. Clinton

Democratic primary election results in Pennsylvania ought not to surprise anyone. First, it must be stated clearly that both Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton represent a neoliberal political philosophy. That philosophy allows the military and the business elite to get away with about as much mayhem as they wish globally, while shrinking the middle class in the U.S. and severely diminishing the ability of the working class to keep their collective proverbial heads above water vis-à-vis the economy. The neoliberal strain of thinking allows U.S. imperialism to continue around the globe with no real limits on the projection of U.S, power. Also, few real or effective limits are placed on the environment’s ability to recoup the environmental degradation of the past half century.

That said, there is a very real difference in the kinds of votes each of these candidates received, and probably will receive in upcoming primaries, and that difference involves racism in the U.S. An analysis of the voting patterns and demographics in Pennsylvania on April 21 showed that Obama did poorly everywhere in the state except the area in and around Philadelphia. In Philadelphia he literally swept to victory, while the rest of the state, quite conservative, strongly supported Clinton. There were no surprises in Pennsylvania, a state that has supported many reactionaries in the past! What is quite illustrative, however, is that Obama could do better in a Southern state such as South Carolina, where large numbers of Black Americans came out to support him.

There is no question that racism, whether of the personal or institutional variety will continue to haunt Obama’s campaign, while the Clintons, with a family history of supporting the bill that sped up the process of getting the condemned to the death chamber, and supported another bill that severely limited the ability of poor Americans to take advantage of what’s left of the social “safety net,” will remain as spoilers in his attempt to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency.

Support Our Troops

Both the Army and the Marine Corps accepted more recruits with so-called “moral waivers” in 2007 than in 2006. Congress, and “curiously” not the Pentagon, released the new figures. The Army brought in 511 recruits in 2007 with the waivers, compared to 249 in 2006. The Marine Corps accepted 208 soldiers with moral waivers in 2006, while it took in 350 last year.

What kinds of crimes do these recruits with waivers commit? The felonies run the gambit from manslaughter, robbery, terrorist threats, and bomb threats to aggravated assault and weapons charges. The figures and crimes speak for themselves. The military, unable to attract recruits to fight the unpopular and immoral wars in Iraq and Afghanistan must turn to felons to fill their ranks.

With the human rights abuses at Abu Grahib, Guantanamo prison camp, and gross violations of the rules of war at places like Haditha in Iraq, one wonders why even more moral waivers aren’t issued.

The Death Penalty

This week (April 16) the U.S. Supreme Court approved the resumption of the death penalty through the use of lethal injections (Baze v. Rees). In its decision, the court approved the so-called three-drug protocol used in Kentucky, the state which provided the test case for this ruling. States that adhere to these guidelines are now “free” to resume executions that have been on hold since the court took this case and many states began an informal and voluntary freeze pending this decision.

The death penalty is heinous! It turns the state into the perpetrator of a crime, with generally far more time to develop a motive and premeditation than the criminal. A significant issue in the use of the death penalty has been the attempt to bring justice to the victims of horrific crimes and those who survive the victim. That argument states that the death penalty gives a sense of finality to victims, and is offered as justification of the use of the death penalty for those who experience lasting repercussions following the horrors of violent crime. The latter keeps the cycle of an eye for an eye going on and on, providing an illusory sense of finality.

But none of this analysis analyzes the actual reasons for the use of the death penalty in the U.S. First, there is a strong sense of vengeance in the U.S., both on an individual and state-by state level: it is states’ rights carried to an extreme. Those elements, by themselves, are reason enough for the explanation of such overwhelming support of the death penalty among a majority of the population. But secondly, and more importantly, the death penalty is a means by which society can apply the ultimate punishment to those who don’t fit its economic needs, the poor, and finally, those who fit into racial groups that have historically borne the brunt of intolerance. These are the people who traditionally are found on death row. These people have become spurious to the economic and political systems. Once defiling the legal line in the sand, they become disposable!

Why We're In Iraq

Why We're In Iraq

Dozens of people were killed today by car bombs in Iraq. Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Conoco, Phillips, Chevron and dozens of other “smaller” oil companies have qualified to drill for oil there. Do the math: Around one million Iraqis killed and over four thousand Americans have met the same fate, and all for the liberation of Iraq’s oil! Worldwide food shortages grow as crops are given over to the production of Ethanol, with no meaningful environmental program forthcoming from the U.S. government.

Abe Osheroff

“Because the bastards will never cease their evil, and the decent human beings will never stop their struggle.” Abe Osheroff

Gang of Five Plan And Oversee Torture from The White House Basement

The Gang of Five

Here is the new Rogues' Gallery of those in the Bush Administration who were instrumental in approving and overseeing torture carried out against suspected terror detainees. The link is to the ABC News article that broke the story. They are: Colin Powell, Condolezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and George Tennet.

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=51143&sectionid=3510203

What A Lulu! (Don't Use lulu.com)

What A Lulu!
(Don’t Use lulu.com)
I’d like to discuss the pitfalls of using lulu.com for self-publishing projects. I turned to Lulu on the recommendation of a fellow writer. What a catastrophic mistake!

Self-publishing is a valid activity for writers in the current world climate on near-unlimited print and media outlets. Traditional publishing is okay too, but attempting to get the attention of a publisher and dealing with editors is a major, major headache.

Lulu is not, I repeat, NOT the way to go in self-publishing. First, the writer cannot get in touch with these people directly. They do not answer the phone, but rely on e-mails that often do not directly answer your publishing questions, and they most often take days and days to respond. Next, their so-called online “operators” or agents are absolutely unfamiliar with the product that they’re dealing with. For example, if the writer has a question about the size of a prospective book, or resizing the work from a word processing program, that writer can expect to get at least three different answers to three questions from different operators. They generally don’t know what they’re doing! Often these so-called “specialists” will begin answering another writer’s question(s) while writing to you. Also, the writer will receive similar wrong answers that a different writer has submitted to lulu, making the experience seem like a three-ring circus. I have e-mail after e-mail that I’ve saved illustrating the latter!

If a writer expects to get some relief as a consumer with the Lulu folks, well then the writer can wait until hell freezes over. When the writer makes a mistake in the detailed process of self-publishing, then you’re stuck with the result. These folks make no refunds and have absolutely no sympathy, especially for a writer going through the process of writing a book for the first time.

There are many, many good self-publishing companies. Lulu is definitely not one of them!

A New Gun "Law"

When it appeared that the forces of Right-Wing reaction could go no further, the Florida legislature passed a bill making it legal for workers to take their guns to work. Malls and shopping centers are not off limits either for the wondrous and influential workings of the gun lobby, lead by the notorious National Rifle Association. Florida Governor Charlie Crist, heralding this amazing piece of reactionary work, stated, “People being protected is the most important thing to me.” Crist is a member of the NRA.

Protected? Like the innocent kids and teachers at Columbine, or the students and professors attending class at Virginia Tech? Oh, but the Florida bill prohibits guns carried to work at public schools. A great concession from the folks who want a gun or two in every house, in every parking lot, in every car, and at every workplace!

The Second Amendment…well, I think that was meant for when there was an imminent threat from a foreign power, not your fellow worker or next-door neighbor!

General Petraeus meets the Senate

Yesterday’s hearing, in the U.S. Senate, was a complete travesty! General Petraeus (read Betrayus), shifted gears in the ever-changing “justifications” for the Iraq War. Once again the media played along. Senators Clinton and Obama didn’t go too far and actually challenge Petraeus regarding the utter and complete failure of the U.S. in Iraq. Remember, the military can’t be criticized since the conversion of the Vietnam War to a “noble cause” during the presidency of the “Great Communicator" Ronald Reagan. McCain, the Right-Wing warmonger from Arizona, went along with this new shift for justification of the great immorality that is the Iraq War.
U.S, National Security Advisor Walt Rostow uttered the words “light at the end of the tunnel” in 1967 to justify the continued atrocities the U.S. was perpetrating in Vietnam. Today, Bush and Cheney have offered the same phony reasons for war, ranging from weapons of mass destruction to the fictional democracy that has never materialized in Iraq. Iraq is a quagmire of militias, just as Afghanistan is a quagmire of warlords. And where is Bin Laden? We know where the shipments of opium are coming from, fueling the world drug trade!

Petraeus is being touted as a possible political candidate for future elections. The beat goes on with the imperial politics of an imperial nation!