Sunday Times - UK - reviews dylan's book

This book brings to mind Wendell Berry, the great writer of land use and agriculture. Often, Berry would be obtuse and hard to follow, and his writing would not always overcome the flaw.... huh?

detailed review of dylan at santa clara u...

is it just me... or the late hour... or is malcolm's stuff at zotz... working over best american poetry 2004... really kinda funny... inventive... sharp... and... did i say funny... and bent... and

KYBERNEKYIA: Ezra Pound's Canto LXXXI (via marcus slease)

file under: how the mighty continue to tumble... what next for LIFE Magazine? it comes in the friday trib rolling around with the weekend ads... bears a thin resemblance to the old war-horse... Parade without so many commercials... but... it does have some big pictures... and a pretty cool letter by tim o'brien to his year-old son...

and today oscar wilde shares a birthday with the great bob mould... it's a beautiful world...

taking a bit of a break from an evening of counting discussion board posts... yesterday was the big start of the infamous ten-post rule... so we've had quite a crowd of posters over the past few days... 566 posts... gotta say that so far i'm fairly impressed with the quality of the aplit thinking on the board... keep it up, my little magnificos...

so... hey... amy king just dropped me a note... asks me to remind my vast unwashed hordes of readers (my characterization, not hers) that her new (and first full-length) book of poems is out...and available for purchase... it's called Antidotes for An Alibi... check it out... especially if yr the kind of person who is prone to checking out things of this ilk... personally: i've liked amy's stuff wherever i've found it... you might too... so... there

The Three-Legged Pig (Original Style Shaggy Dog)

Moratorium on Confined Animal Feeding Operations - 1998

CNN.com - 'Dead zone' spreads across Gulf of Mexico - Aug 4, 2004

NOAA's National Ocean Service: Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

just a little hectic here at the end of the school day... we've had short periods... the bell rings JUST as i finish explaining the homework... and i've forgotten to collect student folders... i yell as they leave.. "Folders! Put your folders on the desk there!"... and I ask one kid to stay behind for a chat... and a group of others are waiting to learn their curent post count from the discussion board... and a senior has forms for a college recommendation letter... and another senior needs some attention to a college ap essay...

and somehow it all gets done... folders... chat... count... college letter and essay... but we had a few wild moments there... bit of a juggling act... everybody's just a little wired here near the end of the quarter...

Pens, Pen Refills, Writing Instruments and Quality Gifts from Colorado Pen Direct

ah... nick's been trolling in my archives... first reaction is almost always: "did i write that?"... second thought: "yeah, kid, yr a poetry stud"... third thought: "get real... it's just one line"... fourth thought: "yeah... still... better to be a one-line stud than no stud at all, right?" ... thanks nick.

Orion Magazine > November | December 2004 > Wendell Berry...
It is commonly understood that governments are instituted to provide certain protections that citizens individually cannot provide for themselves. But governments have tended to assume that this responsibility can be fulfilled mainly by the police and the military. They have used their regulatory powers reluctantly and often poorly. Our governments have only occasionally recognized the need of land and people to be protected against economic violence. It is true that economic violence is not always as swift, and is rarely as bloody, as the violence of war, but it can be devastating nonetheless. Acts of economic aggression can destroy a landscape or a community or the center of a town or city, and they routinely do so.

Bob Dylan writes his own back pages

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: Voting Our Conscience, Not Our Religion (free registration required)...
None of this is to argue that abortion should be acceptable. History will judge our society's support of abortion in much the same way we view earlier generations' support of torture and slavery - it will be universally condemned. The moral condemnation of abortion, however, need not lead to the conclusion that criminal prosecution is the best way to limit the number of abortions. Those who view abortion as the most significant issue in this campaign may well want to supplement their abstract desire for moral rectitude with a more realistic focus on how best to ensure that fewer abortions take place. ... writes Mark Roche of the University of Notre Dame.

WB coming to Seattle

so long, jacques...
Le philosophe Jacques Derrida est mort...

i've just recently come across this position statement from Sojourners... and find that it expresses pretty exactly my own thinking...

God is Not a Republican. Or a Democrat.


"It is the responsibility of every political conservative, every evangelical Christian, every pro-life Catholic, every traditional Jew...to get serious about re-electing President Bush."
- Jerry Falwell, The New York Times, July 16, 2004

"I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. The Lord has just blessed him.... It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad."
- Pat Robertson, AP/Fox News, January 2, 2004

These leaders of the Religious Right mistakenly claim that God has taken a side in this election, and that Christians should only vote for George W. Bush.

We believe that claims of divine appointment for the President, uncritical affirmation of his policies, and assertions that all Christians must vote for his re-election constitute bad theology and dangerous religion.

We believe that sincere Christians and other people of faith can choose to vote for President Bush or Senator Kerry - for reasons deeply rooted in their faith.

We believe all candidates should be examined by measuring their policies against the complete range of Christian ethics and values.

We will measure the candidates by whether they enhance human life, human dignity, and human rights; whether they strengthen family life and protect children; whether they promote racial reconciliation and support gender equality; whether they serve peace and social justice; and whether they advance the common good rather than only individual, national, and special interests.

We are not single-issue voters.

We believe that poverty - caring for the poor and vulnerable - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' budget and tax policies reward the rich or show compassion for poor families? Do their foreign policies include fair trade and debt cancellation for the poorest countries? (Matthew 25:35-40, Isaiah 10:1-2)

We believe that the environment - caring for God's earth - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' policies protect the creation or serve corporate interests that damage it? (Genesis 2:15, Psalm 24:1)

We believe that war - and our call to be peacemakers - is a religious issue. Do the candidates' policies pursue "wars of choice" or respect international law and cooperation in responding to real global threats? (Matthew 5:9)

We believe that truth-telling is a religious issue. Do the candidates tell the truth in justifying war and in other foreign and domestic policies? (John 8:32)

We believe that human rights - respecting the image of God in every person - is a religious issue. How do the candidates propose to change the attitudes and policies that led to the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners? (Genesis 1:27)

We believe that our response to terrorism is a religious issue. Do the candidates adopt the dangerous language of righteous empire in the war on terrorism and confuse the roles of God, church, and nation? Do the candidates see evil only in our enemies but never in our own policies? (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 8:12-13 )

We believe that a consistent ethic of human life is a religious issue. Do the candidates' positions on abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, weapons of mass destruction, HIV/AIDS-and other pandemics-and genocide around the world obey the biblical injunction to choose life? (Deuteronomy 30:19)

We also admonish both parties and candidates to avoid the exploitation of religion or our congregations for partisan political purposes.

By signing this statement, we call Christians and other people of faith to a more thoughtful involvement in this election, rather than claiming God's endorsement of any candidate.

This is the meaning of responsible Christian citizenship.

Signed by:

me... yr friend... good old brtom... lefty... wannabe christian...

Founded in 1971, Sojourners is a Christian ministry whose mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice.