I Still Don't Sleep At Night

Today's favorite new blog is going to change my blogging forever. I predict it. I am not giving you the link till the end because you'll never come back--it's too good. Okay, okay, I'll tell you it's, no, wait, let me at least introduce it, in case you don't know it. I'm not even sure of it's name to tell you the truth. But the writing... I can't begin to describe the writing. It is simple. Elegant. Pristine. Honest. Totally without pretention. It is moving and it is beautiful. I told you I couldn't describe it. A friend asked me today where I want to go with blogging. I was glib with him and said he sounded like my father or something. I told him it was an end in itself. Then tonight after I read this blog I mailed him a sample and told him this is where I want to be. MsRefusnik is not going to like it. She may be moving soon. Okay here it is: Chasing Tornados You'll be thanking me.

BIG CELESTIAL NEWS AFFECTING YOU

MsRefusnik refuses to read daily horoscopes. You should see the look of polite patience mixed with derision when she rips that page out of her newspaper for some annoying co-worker. How can people believe that everyone born within the same 30-day period will all fall in love that day, or meet someone great or get a romantic letter? Bunch of hogwash. But wait. Don't throw out the planets with the posies. Tomorrow, May 31, 2003 is a big annular solar eclipse. The 16th of this month, as you may know, there was a lunar eclipse. Feel anything? You wouldn't, not yet, but you will. I'll give you a hint of what to expect. But first, did you know that the great megalithic sites found throughout Western Europe are thought to be early man's attempt to understand the movement of the sun, moon, planets and stars? Stonehenge, the most famous of these, built sometime before 2500 BC predating the Mycenaean civilization had no means of recording its knowledge, and yet it could pinpoint the solstices and predict eclipses. I know, I know, everybody knows this, but Think about it. Why? We are still not sure of the practical applications of this knowledge. Did it help in predicting the tides on dangerous coastlines? Tell when to plant crops? When to make sacrifices? Or was it more sophisticated astrological forecasting? (source: The Compleat Astrologer, by Derek and Julia Parker). Okay, what it means to you. According to astrology Susan Miller who has my favorite fun online astrology site, "Generally, eclipses act as triggers of enormous change, propelling us forward in ways we can't anticipate. These solar and lunar eclipses help us over bridges in life, and once we get to the other side, we would never want to go back to where we started. By the time we have gone through the lessons that each eclipse presents, we are wiser, stronger and much more seasoned. This process often takes months or even sometimes a year or more to complete."

"Life seems so different on the other side of the ravine, suddenly we realize how much has changed since we first set off in our new direction. Yet when we first embark on such a journey, we usually feel we aren't ready to undergo such a life-changing transition. There is always some trepidation about the undertaking until the universe proves to us that we are ready after all. The purpose of an eclipse is to speed up our maturity and enlightenment. An eclipse often feels like a hand on your back, pushing you assertively forward, like it or not. That's how eclipses get the results they're after." P.S. from me--today and tomorrow are a new moon period when what you sow you will reap at full moon, so be good and plant only things you want to see grow in every sense.

So don't blame me if you peek. I'm just giving you the 411. Here's a possibly fun site, depending on how you use it. I think I'll use The Movie Spoiler to try to figure out Memento, if I should ever take on the headache of seeing it. Yeah, yeah, Matrix Reloaded is there, and they say they had a hard time writing that one. They summarize the film and really get into it like a college English paper or something. I know a 13-year-old boy who could have summarized that one for them. He told me last week, "It sucked." It sucked because it had one of those (here comes the spoiler. Stop reading now) endings where they just sort of run out of film and say "to be continued." Don't you hate that? Well, it might be better than one of those movies where you stand up to leave and then sit down and tell yourself if you see it one more time you'll get it. I hate those. I wanted to look one of those babies up on The Movie Spoiler, you know the one with the two would-be lesbians in LA waitressing and changing personas? but I am too senile to remember the title. If you know it, e-mail it please. Anyhow, like I say, not my fault if you ruin it for yourself. Just use it discerningly why dontcha.

Well now, MsRefusnik, who doesn't really mean to flame, and who wants you to know that she does get bored with small-minded, memorized lines of confrontation even if it is from the "good book," will now take advantage of the silence of this blog to talk about an issue of great importance.) (Who knows? Perhaps it's of special interest to Jenna or Barbara Jr. after that wild naked pot party they had that got hushed up in a hurry, not that I have anything against wild naked pot parties, but poor Chelsea couldn't wear a white blouse for crying out loud It's not for MsRefusnik to cast aspersions, except to say that it's doubtful that they would "have to get married.") Anyhow, for years when I heard the phrase "partial-birth abortion (as you do relentlessly in this country what with the right-wing media whores and all) I always pictured that one poster you see at the right-to-lifers protest marches outside the clinic. You know, the viable fetus stretching out an arm as if waving goodbye, and begging, "Please don't suck me down the tube, Mom." That awful one. Put together by someone's sick science teacher uncle. So not questioning my disinformation, I told myself that I was still pro-choice but if they wanted to outlaw abortion of viable fetus' (think babies) maybe it was a good thing. Well, guess what? Partial-birth abortion is a term that is thrown around by the pro-life legislators and the media who are owned by the right wing fundamentalists to extract exactly the response I had. ( I need a neo-con virus scan. The beliefs can come so stealithy if you don't stop and question each single thing you put in your brain. ) Partial-birth abortion bans prohibit safe and common abortion procedures performed throughout pregnancy. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Carhart v. Steinberg Sept. 24, 1999 had this to say, "The law refers to partial-birth abortion, but this term, though widely used by lawmakers and in the popular press, has no fixed medical or legal content. In other words, it's a National Enquirer headdline and they get away with using it all the time. Read the myths and the facts yourself courtesy of the ACLU. Then after you've gotten debugged, (or maybe you're ahead of me on this) here's the next link to action. People have got to keep working on this. Now more than ever. Clinton twice vetoed the ban on so-called partial-birth abortions. It is up for vote soon in the the House and with this administration that doesn't look good. If it should get to the Supreme Court and Bush gets half his nominees... We can't go back. And another thing, since it's my blog and I'll blog if I want to: there is such a sleazy, low-down, despicable prejudice at work in this whole line of thinking that it boggles. Ask yourself how many women you've ever met who would consider a late-stage abortion of a viable fetus? I have known pregnant rape victims, pregnant widows, pregnant terminally ill, pregnant and getting a divorce, pregnant and in jail--you name it, but I have never met, nor can I even imagine, what kind of woman would willingly go through with a late stage abortion unless it was to save her own life. Again, fundamentalists, if you'd get you'd get your heads out of your bibles and learn to love people, you'd find you don't need to legislate morality the way you think you do. MsRefusnik has spoken.

I have changed templates because my links over-ran my archives, and I was more attached to my posts than I knew. I couldn't stand the idea of losing all those early painstaking links and love letters forever. So now I guess a few things don't make sense, like when I say, link at the bottom. I'll have new, fresh links on the side. There's a lot more room for links and I find that exciting. It's good to get all this housekeeping done now before all the company comes, right? Someday soon I'll no longer be just the sound of one hand clapping, that's why I am going to switch to Blogger Pro so I can have extra features especially photos, pictures and graphics. Thank you for your patience while we've been under construction and mind the ink dust.

Well thanks again to The Skeptical Blog my midnight confession is that the music video they brought to my attention has moved me to tears and I'm not kidding. When I hear the leader of our country again state, "Rarely is the question asked is our children learning," I just want to cry. Don't miss it. It's got a beat and you can dance to it if you have the heart. This is a "best of" repeat because I just love it too much to let it go away quietlly.

I saw this in a blog named Danklife:


"The prevailing quality of life in America--by any accepted methods of measuring--was inarguably freer and more politically open under Nixon than it is today in this evil year of Our Lord 2002."

--Hunter S. Thompson

What can I say anymore except Impeach Bush Now. Some excellent links here, the information you need, the lies, the lies, the lies, bumper stickers, legal reasons and procedures, the constitution for those whose memories fail them in light of what goes on in Patriot Act America, searches on impeach Bush sites, and more. People unite.

This article foretelling neo-con radicalism leading to the banana republic of the U.S.A. is reprinted by Smirking Chimp but it was originally published in that radical rag, The New York Times. And Paul Krugman quotes in that article from the staid British Financial Times which is tolling the bell for America as we know it. The safety nets of the last 70 years will not hold as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are depleted. Klugman writes, " But the people now running America aren't conservatives: they're radicals who want to do away with the social and economic system we have, and the fiscal crisis they are concocting may give them the excuse they need. The Financial Times, it seems, now understands what's going on, but when will the public wake up?" It's time to call a spade a spade. It's time to say, "Look, the Emperor has no clothes on."

I found a great site for bibliophiles. It's BookCrossing.com, a global book club and reading group that improves your karma by allowing you to free books and not just let them gather dust on your shelves. You get to share well-loved books with strangers, friends and new acquaintances. You register the book before you leave it to the wild, and then when the person who finds it contacts BookCrossings, they will e-mail you and tell you. You can watch the progress of your book from person to person across the country or across the globe. BookCrossing members release books to one another. They post reviews of books, and list books they plan to give away. It is an international organization that meets for face to face meetings in larger cities, for those who are more social. For those who are more private, you may register and use your screen name for everything with only BookCrossings having your real name and address for mailings. I can't wait to start browsing through the list of free books. And to thin my ranks of books. It sounds so worthwhile. I wish I'd known that a percentage of your purchase at Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble can be applied towards contributing to them.

Today's word from India is that if I want to keep my two-month-old computer from turning documents into pictures of safety pins, I need to debug and reinstall the whole shebang. This means I lose all files, pictures of safety pins included. How those got there--in a supposedly brand new computer in which I have never saved a picture of a pin, I guess I'll never know. It isn't sick; virus scan comes out clean. Why must it have major surgery? I am tired of these constant online consultations and daily frantic, worried phone calls to Dell Tech Support; not to mention that I've done so many system restores I've run out of dates to return to when everything worked. Thanks for listening. Tonight I will brush my teeth and set the computer for defragment while I sleep. Tomorrow is another day. and I can begin to think about number three computer coming up in month three.

Check out Altercation's Correspondents' Corner re Scorsese making a bio film of Dylan. Now I'll tell you the truth. I've never seen The Last Waltz while not under extreme influence. If a movie had rock 'n roll I felt it was my duty to get as into the mood of the thing as pharmaceutically possible and still be able to walk. I do remember The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, I think. But I must have lost some of it, because one of the two guys who wrote in saying Scorsese is NOT the man for the job mentioned that "Neil F**king Diamond" had a five minute number. Alterman says he was "incredible." Give me a break. Drunk in Vegas I don't want to watch him for five minutes. But do read the two letters about what these people think Scorsese did to The Band and what they think he'll do to Dylan, and why John Sayles is a better choice. Alterman thinks Scorsese will do a hagiography of Dylan, in which case I might as well forget him asking my Victoria Secret question. And the second writer was right, we probably won't get into "what was with the Christian stuff?"

Why isn't this man running for President? God, I love to read his words. In the MoveOn Bulletin interviewwith Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) he is poetic and soulful in his responses to various people's questions. Listen to his first answer regarding how we can impact choices: "Many of those who want to speak out are cowed by the intimidation and ridicule that often accompanies going against the perceived grain. That is as true in Congress as it is outside the Capitol Beltway. At times of national distress, it is natural to want to come together and to look for leadership from a single, clear voice. But America's song has never been expressed by a single note It was never intended to be. America's music is not a solo, but rather a symphony made richer by the harmony of different views. Remember, our founders rejected a Monarchy,(sorry George) and sought, instead, a Republic. They chose a representative form of government that allowed the many voices of America to be heard." I just want to salute him, and nothing makes me even think of that gesture. He covers a lot of territory in a short interview. Everyone needs to read this interview because he makes such important points about what we can do to protect ourselves and our nation against the current regime: "read, study; write; talk with your neighbors; contact your lawmakers; ask real questions and do not settle for half-answers." He goes on. Move-On e-mailed it to me. I hope they get it out to lots of people.

While I'm creating links for friends, here's one for Maureen and all dog-lovers, a slide show of Havanese dogs and puppies. So cute.

For Ellen, an interview with Richard Russo from Identity Theory in which he talks about screenwriting, moviemaking, Empire Falls, writer's writers, and being the parent of high school aged girls.

Speaking of Mark Twain earlier, I just came across something of his I have wanted to pass along since my friend Ellen brought it to my notice when it was published in the local newspaper. It is his War Prayer and I'm not sure of its larger source. But God continues to be on our side, doesn't She? I wonder if they're praying this today in their Memorial Day services?

This is the weekend to levitatethe CNN building in Atlanta to liberate the citizens of the world from hawkish propaganda oppression and to unite them together with those who are " interested in a return of balanced, fair and impartial journalism to the media coverage of war (any war, but mainly the next leg of the grievous, perpetual Pax Americana)." I'm sure they will be levitating to protest the monopoly of fundamentalist neoconservatism running this country more than it already does which is happening very soon, despite the bones they are promising to toss to the liberal radio market once they get what they want. Om.

"Be good and you will be lonesome." Mark Twain

Mr. Kurt Vonnegut weighing in on the neoconservatives and the damage done and Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln and a country run by television in Alternet.