Secretary Rumsfeld photograph: "Just the tip"

"Just the tip"

---o0o---

President Bush condemns bilingual national anthem

A Spanish language version of the U.S. national anthem was released Friday by British music producer, Adam Kidron. I wonder if he does the French version of God Save The Queen next?

The President did not like this one bit. "The national anthem should be sung in English, not Spanish," President George W. Bush said Friday. "One of the things that's very important is, when we debate this issue, that we not lose our national soul," the president exclaimed. "One of the great things about America is that we've been able to take people from all walks of life bound as one nation under God."

I am thinking that maybe we leave it in English, but just change the first line to "Jose can you see?"

President Bush himself isn't in all that strong a position to be ordering people to speak English.

Just this morning I heard him use the word "nukular" three times in a speech. He recently coined the word "decider."

Other examples of George Bush English:

"Oftentimes, we live in a processed world, you know, people focus on the process and not results."

"The law I sign today directs new funds... to the task of collecting vital intelligence... on weapons of mass production."

"It will take time to restore chaos and order."

"They have miscalculated me as a leader."

"Natural gas is hemispheric... because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."

"I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well."

"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."

"We are making steadfast progress."
---o0o---

Our favorite Blogspot blog - Neil Young

Neil Young's Livingwithwar.blogspot.com . I've been streaming the new album--it sounds great.

A great interview (and foolish interviewer) with Neil about the new album.
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President Bush's new Press Secretary Tony Snow lambasts Bush "off the record"

WASHINGTON, DC—With an administration in shambles, hounded by criminal allegations, a plunge in approval ratings that shows no signs of ending, and bi-partisan calls for the resignations of various cabinet members and advisors, the President this week named Tony Snow of Fox TV and radio, as his Press Secretary/Spokesman. The choice is considered both odd and bold by many Beltway insiders.

An anonymous White House source disclosed to us that the night before Snow's appointment was announced, he lambasted Bush and his henchmen at a private party celebrating his ascension to the White House.

"Look around the White House, " Snow told his friends, "Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove and Cheney are crippled! They've been shunted off into the shadows. The President is showing signs of battle fatigue. And worse. And you guys ask why I'd want this job! With this gang of f***-ups, I'll practically BE President! How could I miss that? On the Q.T., and I mean don't even tell your wives, Bush is a basket case. They just shuffle him in and he reads the TelePrompTer as best he can. It doesn't matter if he agrees or understands it or not. That's no longer an issue. He is no longer a functioning member of the government. And let's face it, he wasn't all that swift to begin with. You still ask why I'd do this? OK. Yeah, I'm losing a million or so a year. It's not like I won't make that up the first month after I leave office. But most importantly, I can basically run this f***ing country. And the rest of these sycophants, ass-kissers, and thugs can't say jack s**t. They're so petrified they'll be the next on the chopping block that I can do whatever the f*** I want! Whatever I say becomes White House policy and none of these fools, cowering in their offices with their lawyers and shrinks will dare make a peep."

Snow also told his assembled friends "I can't tell you everything, but some of the stuff I've been hearing about Bush would shred your minds. He makes Captain Queeg look rational. As Huxley said 'In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.' Well, pals, I have two fine f***ing peepers. This is gonna be a sweet f***ing ride."
---o0o---

The Lyrics to Neil Young's New Song Impeach The President

Fox "news" (Roger Friedman) said today: "Neil Young’s new album, Living with War, is an incendiary, moving, totally American document of peaceful protest that is going to make a lot of people crazy one way or another." He went on to say later in the article "When Living with War starts streaming on www.neilyoung.com on Friday, my guess is the servers will overheat. The real test will come next week, when the album is available for downloading on several sites."

It's always reason to celebrate when Neil comes out with a new album. It's even sweeter when he comes out with one the week the President's approval ratings hit 32%. This album, recorded in a reported nine days will be a most welcome follow-up to his excellent and recent CDs Prarie Wind and Greendale (not to mentioned Jonathan Demme's recent film about Neil). Rock on!


Let's Impeach The President
by Neil Young

Let’s impeach the president for lying
And leading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door
He’s the man who hired all the criminals
The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors
And bend the facts to fit with their new stories
Of why we have to send our men to war
Let’s impeach the president for spying
On citizens inside their own homes
Breaking every law in the country
By tapping our computers and telephones
What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees
Would New Orleans have been safer that way
Sheltered by our government’s protection
Or was someone just not home that day?
Let’s impeach the president
For hijacking our religion and using it to get elected
Dividing our country into colors
And still leaving black people neglected
Thank god he’s cracking down on steroids
Since he sold his old baseball team
There’s lot of people looking at big trouble
But of course the president is clean
Thank God
---o0o---

Poem: The Candidate

It's you Up There
Trying to explain

To The Lamplighter
The Scoutmaster of all Scoutmasters

How you believed you were made
By a being of purity and love

But how do you choose?
Allah Jesus Krishna Buddha

Yaweh The White Goddess Frigg
Hailie Selassie Zeus Gyhldeptis

Turan Bikeh Hozho Lono
Waheguru Mithra Achiyalatopa

Jeebo Manannan mac Lir
Eight Immortals Baal Moloch?

How you do pick one
Without a sign

And then pick the right one
Where you at least have a shot

At getting it right
As opposed to choosing nothing?

They pull out the list
Of everyone you've ever

Lusted after fornicated with
Cheated on stole from lied to

Conspired against or harmed
Willingly or unwillingly

Written up it doesn't look so good
But you always knew there'd be time

To make amends recoup your losses
Or even repent

In a last minute bid
For a spot near the throne

You always bet you'd have enough warning
To carry on and save the clean living

For the very end
On the positive side of the ledger

In your chest beat
The heart of a Good Samaritan

Who never quite got off
The starting blocks

You're looking earnest now
At the Starthrower

And they tell you
To have a seat.
---o0o---

Airlines consider offering standing room and Crisco in lieu of seats

The New York Times reported yesterday that Airbus has been very discretely trying to drum up interest in a standing-room-only option to Asian airlines.

Passengers would stand against a padded backboard, held in place by a harness. In short, we'd have a plane full of papooses!

The airlines have already been squeezing passengers further (is that even possible?) by ordering new seats, with far thinner backs. Instead of adding an inch or two of legroom, they are, of course, adding additional rows of seats.

One airline was even considering a proposal by Boeing to essentially forgo seats and seatbealts in favor of a system where passengers stand so snugly together that they insulate each other from any turbulence or jostling. One proposal included the option of having passengers travel nude, using Crisco or another emmolient to reduce friction and chafing. "Essentially, we would be taking a leaf from the penguin's book," explained Sheila Houlihan, a vice-president with Boeing's Public Relations group, "I mean, you saw March Of The Penguins, didn't you? These guys know how to huddle!"
---o0o---

Jailhouse Rock lyrics...a walk on the wild side

click poster to enlarge


I've heard this song off and on much of my life, and never really listened to the lyrics, or picked up the gay allusions. It's probably not a co-ed hoosegow, after all.

How did this even get on the radio, when "Let's Spend the Night Together" by the Rolling Stones always had the "night" bleeped out on the radio when it came out? It's one of my favorite tunes by The King. I never saw the movie Jailhouse Rock, so I don't know how the film approaches the gay issue (what issue?).


(words & music by jerry leiber - mike stoller)

Jailhouse Rock

The warden threw a party in the county jail.
The prison band was there and they began to wail.
The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing.
You should’ve heard those knocked out jailbirds sing.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock.

Spider murphy played the tenor saxophone,
Little joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone.
The drummer boy from illinois went crash, boom, bang,
The whole rhythm section was the purple gang.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock.

Number forty-seven said to number three:
You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see.
I sure would be delighted with your company,
Come on and do the jailhouse rock with me.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock.

The sad sack was a sittin’ on a block of stone
Way over in the corner weepin’ all alone.
The warden said, hey, buddy, don’t you be no square.
If you can’t find a partner use a wooden chair.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock.


click poster to enlarge

Shifty henry said to bugs, for heaven’s sake,
No one’s lookin’, now’s our chance to make a break.
Bugsy turned to shifty and he said, nix nix,
I wanna stick around a while and get my kicks.
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock.
---o0o---

The President's approval ratings over time

Click the chart to enlarge

Pollkatz has an interesting chart on their website, detailing President George W. Bush's ratings as they plummet--incredibly--even further into the toilet.

This week, several of the polls pegged his approval rating at 33%. At this rate, Richard Nixon, circa 1974, will soon seem by comparison to be a beloved President.
---o0o---

President Bush's son?

click to enlarge

I don't know what the origin of this photograph is. Someone sent it to us. I don't know if this is George Bush's son with another woman, or if he and Laura have been keeping this one under wraps. There is a version of the picture on http://strangepolitics.com
---o0o---

Happy 442nd birthday Willie Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was probably born on April 23, 1564. He may be the greatest artist who ever lived. If not, he's right up there.

Some posts about Shakespeare on all this is that:

Shakespeare and the typing monkeys

Audio Blog: Jerry Melin & Jack Discuss Shakespeare & "Self-love" Late One Night In NYC

---o0o---

More LBJ photos, and LBJ links on all this is that

We have published numerous articles and interesting photos of LBJ over the years. My favorites are the photos of various people receiving what came to be known as "the Johnson Treatment." And then there's maybe my favorite political photograph of all time. . .the one where JFK seems to be trying to pipe LBJ down. Links to some of these follow. /jack

One of the heroes and villains paintings

LBJ In A Characteristic Pose

Running Mates: Senators Lyndon Johnson And JFK

The Johnson Treatment, Part 6: The Hump and Senator Russell get the treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 5: Senator Richard Russell (Dem., Georgia) Undergoes The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment, Part 4: President Johnson Gives The Treatment To Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas



The Johnson Treatment, Part 3: LBJ Gives Eartha Kitt The Treatment


The Johnson Treatment, Part 2: Richard M. Nixon, Republican Presidential Front-runner Gets The Treatment

The Johnson Treatment

---o0o---

Poem: Reds

click image to enlarge...


1
There is no tomorrow
Until we get through
The day after yesterday;

There is no future
Until we complete
The day before tomorrow.

2
Tomorrow's sweet
For those of us
On the manana track.

3
Not so long ago
The only threat against
Our little Xanadu were The Reds.

The Reds are gone
Leaving us
With the only people

We ever needed to fear:
Our government
And selves.
---o0o---

Dick asleep?

VPOTUS Dick Cheney says he was "looking at his notes," and not sleeping, at a meeting in the Oval Office with President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Hu's first Oval Office visit.
---o0o---

Photo: The baby

Click to enlarge...
---o0o---

Gay British man becomes switch-hitter with a goat

Goat Boy Stephen Hall's friends "are all joking with me about it.
I have never done anything like this before."

The Sun today reported that a man having sex with a goat was witnessed by riders on a passenger train in England. The unemployed Stephen Hall, roped the female goat and proceeded to have sex with her, as "dozens of passengers watched". . .and began calling the Constabulary with their cell phones.

He was soon arrested by the Humberside Police Dog Section (their dog sex crimes unit?!).

A Police Inspector, Dave Crinnion, said "I saw the goat the next day — it did not seem too upset but it is difficult to tell."

Hall, who is gay, said: "My friends have been giving me a lot of stick. They are all joking with me about it. "

Editors note: He says he's gay. But he's rodgering a female goat. Was he experimenting with gender, or was she just the slowest? Does this make him bisexual? Or did she just happen to be the slowest goat?

Since it was heterosex, more or less, and no one perished, it won't have the legs the stories about our local Enumclaw man did. Nearly a year later, at least a dozen people a day Google [tm] into here looking for Enumclaw+beastiality...
---o0o---

The German Chancellor's bum has the krauts in an uproar

A picture of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's tush in a British newspaper has triggered an uproar in the German government and press.

The notoriously bottom-feeding British Sun reproduced photos of Merkel on vacation, showing her from the back changing into a bathing suit.

A government spokesman accused the Sun of voyeurism. A newspaper promised that the Germans would thrash the Brits for this in the World Cup.


"I'm Big in the Bumdestag," was the Sun caption.
---o0o---

Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrested, reportedly taken to the laughing academy

In a bizarre incident at The White House Tueday afternoon, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was taken into custody and has reportedly been placed in a secure government mental health treatment facility in Maryland. The incident occurred at around 4:30 EDT.

According to sources in The Administration, Rumsfeld arrived at The West Wing and demanded to speak with President George W. Bush. The Secretary was refused entrance by the new Chief Of Staff, Joshua B. Bolten. A shouting match ensued in which Donald Rumsfeld accused the Chief Of Staff of cutting him off. "This is not what The President would want! I won't be shoved aside by some pissant bureaucrat!" Rumsfeld shouted as he charged past office workers and attempted to break down the doors to the Oval Office.

White House security, summoned by Bolten, were on the scene within seconds, and took the Secretary into custody. He was ushered into a government S.U.V., and taken to a, thus far, undisclosed location. The White House press office refused comment on the incident, saying the incident would be discussed in the morning's press briefing.
---o0o---

Alien Lore 72 - The 1966 Beaver County UFO

"The case was closed and never reopened," according to Brian Seese's, in his book "Unexplained Events in Beaver County."

In late 1966, a NICAP investigator assigned to the case, delivered his final report to his Washington, D.C., supervisor, Richard Hall, who in turn gave it to Dr. Edward Condon

"I personally hand-carried a copy of Weitzel's very thick and extremely well-documented report to Dr. Edward Condon," Hall said. Dr. Condon, you may remember from Alien Lore No. 32: The Condon Report - The Study That Killed Project Blue Book And All (Admitted) Government Research On UFOs And Alien Visitors. He was the guy who helped kill all government research into UFOs and The Greys.

"Years later, I learned to my astonishment that he never turned over the case to his staff, and it gathered dust in his personal files," Hall said. It never appeared in the report Condon made to Congress, even though it was one of the UFO incidents most ripe for further research. The government report instead focused on the cases like Roswell, that could never be proved or verified.

"Maj. Hector Quintanilla tried to pass it off as a sighting of the planet Venus and an earth satellite," said Hall.

Project Blue Book files would show the final status of the incident, Hall said. But the real truth behind Blue Book may never be known. As you may remember, the government shut down Project Blue Book in 1972. Or, at least, they quit talking about it.

Dozens of sites, most pointing to a government cover-up, recount the sightings of April 17, 1966.

Deputy Sheriff Dale F. Spaur and Posse Member W. L. Neff made the following statement about the interstate UFO chase in a report to the National Investigation Committee On Aerial Phenomena.

"On April 17, 1966, at about 5:00 AM, the undersigned, Dale F. Spaur and Barney (W. L) Neff, were patrolling the southeast portion of Portage County, Ohio. We had been hearing radio traffic about a UFO near Portage County. We found an abandoned car on the berm on Rt. 224 between Atwater and Randolph. We left our car to routinely investigate this vehicle. Spaur noticed a light over the trees on the hill next to the berm, and called Neff's attention to it. As we watched, the light came closer and a large, self-illuminated object was seen as its source. The object came directly overhead and hovered above us. Its light lit up the ground where we were standing, and our cruiser, P-13. It was too bright to look at without hurting the eyes.

"We got into our car and radioed that we had spotted the UFO. During that time, it began moving away from us. We followed it down 224 onto Rt. 14, to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, and into Pennsylvania on Rt. 51; then through Rochester, Pa., and on Rt. 65, up to Conway, where we stopped.

"As we passed East Palestine, Ohio, Patrolman Wayne Huston, of the East Palestine Police, joined in our pursuit. In Conway, Pa., Officer Frank Panzanella met us where we stopped, and we stood with him watching the object as it hovered and then rose, twice, in a rapid climb. The object seemed 30-45 feet across, and 18-24 feet high. The light it gave off lit up the ground over the road and over fields as we pursued it. At first it was about 150 feet up; then it rose to around 1000 feet. During the chase it changed altitude and direction, maneuvered smoothly, had a sort of dome-shaped top, and at times showed a projection on the top part, near the trailing edge. Not all of it was self-illuminated; part of the top trailing portion looked metallic; not shiny,
but satiny.

"At times we measured its speed over the ground at about 103 miles per hour. At one point, near Rochester, we lost it while getting through a bridge-underpass area, but when we emerged, it had come down lower and seemed to have waited for us; it went off fast ahead again then. We were, and are, sure we were not chasing an illusion, or seeing a reflection, star, planet, or similar still object. "

Signed:
Dale Spauer
William Neff
---o0o---

Who lives on earth?

According to the organization Business For Diplomatic Action, if you shrank the earth’s population to a village of only 100 people and maintained all the existing human ratios, there would be:

61 from Asia
21 from China
17 from India
13 from Africa
12 from Europe
5 from the U.S.
1 from Australia and New Zealand
Of those. . .


22 speak a Chinese dialect, 18
of whom speak Mandarin
9 speak English
8 speak Hindi


And there would be. . .


50 females
50 males


Their religious affiliation would be:


32 Christians
68 non-Christians, 15
of whom are nonreligious
19 Muslims
6 Buddhists
1 Jew


And there would be. . .


30 who have enough to eat
88 old enough to read, 17
of whom cannot read at all
1 teacher
---o0o---

Alien Lore 71 - FDR & The UFO over Los Angeles

Click to enlarge

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, America prepared for war in the Pacific. The West Coast was the most likely target. When I was young, I remember seeing the pictures of the Boeing plant with houses, trees, and city life painted on the roof.

We also used barrage balloons at strategic places along the coast. The balloon is attached to the ground with metal cables, that entangle airplanes, hopefully, the propellers. Some of the balloons carried explosive charges that were pulled up against the aircraft, exploding directly against the plance. The West Coast was considered the most likely spot for a Japanese invasion or attack; in the end in fact, there was only one attack against the West Coast


Click to enlarge

The government established an Air Warden program, and also established blackout procedures, like those being used in the war in Europe.

February 25, 1942, just after two in the morning, air raid sirens were activated and Los Angeles, California was blacked out. People scrambled from their beds in a panic. Thousands of Air Raid Wardens charged to their posts. Something was heading toward L.A., and it was presumed that it was a Japanese attack.


Click to enlarge

As the UFO began approaching the city, the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade began firing anti-aircraft guns at the target. They kept shelling the UFO for an hour. The next day it was learned that three people had been killed from anti-aircraft shrapnel; three others people died of heart failure due to panic. In addition, several homes and businesses were destroyed. The air raid alert was called off at 7:21 a.m that morning.

The Army Air Corps 4th Interceptor Command’s aircraft were ready to go throughout the whole ordeal, but orders to scramble were never given. The UFO over Los Angeles was neither Japanese nor a U.S. commercial aircraft.


Thousands of witnesses to the later described the UFO as a large object that remained motionless over the city the entire time it was being shelled. Eventually, the UFO moved slowly toward Santa Monica and then disappeared from view.

That morning's Los Angeles Times headline said “Army Says Alarm Real.”

President Roosevelt had some questions about that one. . .
---o0o---

The Easter Bunny

Click image to enlarge
---o0o---

Ninety-four years ago today the RMS Titanic sank

click painting to enlarge


Ninety-four years ago, on April 15, 1912, the British ocean liner the "unsinkable" Titanic sank into the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada after hitting an iceberg. Around 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers and crew went down with the ship or died in the Atlantic.
---o0o---

President Bush, reacting to yesterday's article on All This Is That, expresses support for Donald Rumsfeld

In an apparent response to yesterday's article in the blog All This Is That, "Rumsfeld, reacting to resignation pressure threatens to expose drug use, sex, and corruption in White House," President Bush on Friday said that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld "has my full support."

The commander-in-chief's rousing endorsement, in a statement released by the White House while The President was at Camp David, Md., for the weekend was clearly designed to dampen the clamor from retired generals for Rumsfeld's dismissal. Did the President react to prevent the embarrassing disclosures hinted at by the Secretary yesterday?

Curiously, All This Is That was the only web site, blog, or traditional media outlet to carry yesterday's dramatic threats by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld.
---o0o---

Poem: Making Room

First, God issued me a soul,
And yelled to the drummers
"Let it roll!"

And down down down I went
Within hours, my twig was bent.
Within years, I'd be paying rent.

For what it was worth,
I crowned on earth
And was showing signs

Of showing signs
So they checked to see
If my eyes aligned.

Before I was allowed to bloom,
They had to fill another tomb.
Out with the bad

And in with the good,
They had to make room.
I understood.
---o0o---

[Revised from a poem originally published in 1982. The poem first appeared in Scape Magazine, New York City, 1982]

Rumsfeld, reacting to resignation pressure threatens to expose drug use, sex, and corruption in White House

During an informal talk with the press Thursday afternoon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumseld made a veiled threat to the White House to back off on calls for his resignation. Two more retired U.S. generals called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign on Thursday, claiming the architect of the U.S. war strategy in Iraq should be held accountable for the chaos enveloping Iraq. A total of six retired generals have now called for Rumsfeld to step down.

"I don't know where this f***ing s**t is all coming from. How high up? You know you've got to watch your back around this town, " the Secretary told reporters. "For all I know, these Generals were put up to this by some overzealous, coked up mid-level staffers. "

"Maybe not," he said, responding to a question from Phil Ronson of the Mutual News Syndicate, "but someone up there had a hand in this. You can bet your ass it's not coming from the Pentagon. Try Foggy Bottom or The White House."

The Secretary continued, "Whoever is responsble for these generals holding forth, well, maybe they just don't know who they're f***ing with!"

Later in the conversation, the Secretary mused "Do you know how many skeletons I could rattle around here, with the parties and dope. . .the escort services, kiddie porn, wife swapping, the bondage crap? There was even a snuff movie making the rounds. Not to mention people with their hands in the till. If this s**t doesn't stop right now, it'll be a green light for me to tell everything I know. And it doesn't end with quote, high officials, unquote. It goes right to the top. But let's drop the subject. I've probably already said too much for now. "

When pressed, the Secretary declined to elaborate on his stunning allegations. "Believe me, you'll all know when the time comes. If it comes to that, you'll won't find me going 'gentle into the good night.' I don't know who put these generals up to this," he said, "but I will."

White House officials have previously leaked stories (wishful thinking?, a message?) claiming that Rumsfeld would leave the Admininstration in early 2006 (see December 8, 2005 All This Is That). The White House has recently and frequently been forced to defend a man who has been a lightning rod for criticism over the Iraq war--the same war that is largely responsible for President Bush's plummeting approval ratings.

Other recent articles about Sectary Rumsfeld appearing in All This Is That:

Five new Rumsfeld Poems
Poem: Clarity By Donald Rumsfeld
Poem: Those Glass Boxes By Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
The Poetry Of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part 3::::::That's Life
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VI:::::Predicting The Future
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VIII::::::Litany: What I Don't Do
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld IX::::::Accuracy
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld X:::::::::Where Is Osama bin Laden?
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XI:::::::::Existence, Evidence, Absence
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XIV::::::::The Unknown
New Rumsfeld Poems From The Dec. 6, 2005 Defense Dept. Briefing
---o0o---

Painting: Ungawa

click painting to enlarge

This is a painting/mixed media piece I did a couple years ago.

This piece is an acrylic on interlocking pine panels (an old chest lid), with a taixidermy glass eye, a vintage saw blade, a chrome drawer pull. a Russian military button, a 50's thunderbolt car ornament, a Red Cross medallion, a 'boneless' meat sticker, two black glass drawer pulls (the eyes), a Vietnamese instruction sheet, and an old steel "owner will maintain" sign.

The title comes from one of the only jokes I know by heart. It resides in my office at work. . . ---o0o---

The Sparrow Pecking At My Window

A couple of sparrows live in the spruce tree right outside my office window. Ten or twenty times a day, the male comes over, flies up and down the window and lights on the ledge, where he pecks at the window for a few seconds and flies away. If I move over close to the window, he flies away. I wonder if he wants in? Is he curious about the guy in the glass with the TV sets and computers blazing away? I can't get a very good picture, but I'll keep trying... /jack
---o0o---

Poem: Changes Eight/Holding Together

1
We could hold together,
Like the water
Covering this sweet green sphere,

And eventually become
A beige world of one purpose
On the road of love,

With no jihads or wars,
Klans or factions,
Bombs or bullets,

With no corporations or landlords,
Parties or armies,
Walls or fences.

2
There is one ocean
With seven names
And into this ocean,

Sooner or later, flows
Every river, creek, and tear,
Every lake, bay, and lagoon.

Every spring and aquifer,
Every pond and swamp,
Every snowflake and raindrop.

But to coalesce people
You need a nucleus,
A leader

With greatness of spirit, love,
Consistency, and strength.
Let he or she who wishes to gather others

Under their wing ask themselves
If they are equal to the undertaking
With no natural laws creating a union.

3
The door is locked.
You jiggle the knob.
The door eases open.

4
Water fills up
The empty places on the earth
And clings fast to it

In a way we can never
Cling to each other.
Water flows to unite with water

Because the laws of nature
Will not be broken.
Selah.
---o0o---

Cindy Sheen picks up the cudgel again

Peace activist Cindy Sheehan is returning to Crawford, Texas for another war protest near President Bush's ranch (The Prez, however, will spend the weekend at Camp David).

The anti-war demonstrators with Sheehan accuse The President, who has spent every Easter at his Crawford ranch since he was elected, of running from them and their message to bring the U.S. troops home from Iraq immediately.

"We chased him away from his ranch," said Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004.
---o0o---

President George Bush 'channels' Adolph Hitler during Iowa speech (includes audio clip)

In a bizarre incident in Des Moines, Iowa yesterday, President George Bush began channeling Adolph Hitler during an afternoon speech on Medicare. Five minutes into the speech, The President faltered, appearing momentarily confused while reading from the TelePrompTer[tm] and slipped into a German accent, haranguing the crowd with angry invective. After approximately thirty seconds, The President resumed his prepared remarks, and concluded his speech three minutes later.

Stunned aides rushed The President from the stage into waiting cars. Two speeches scheduled for later in the day were cancelled.
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Happy Belated Birthday, Buddha!

Photo of painting of Gautama Buddha's first
sermon at the Deer Park - Click the painting
to enlarge

Buddhists celebrate April 8 as the birthday of Gautama Buddha; he was born in 563 B.C. as Prince Siddhartha, the son of the king of the Sakya people.

The prince, it was predicted, would either become a great world monarch or a Buddha--an uber-enlightened teacher. The Brahmans told his father, King Suddhodana, that Siddhartha would become a ruler if he were kept isolated from the outside world.

Siddhartha was brought up in great luxury, and married and fathered a son. But, at age 29, he decided to see more of the world and began excursions off the palace grounds in his chariot.

On his clandestine trips, he saw an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. The prince had been so cloistered that his charioteer had to explain to him about age, illness, and death. Finally, on one of his trips Siddhartha saw a monk and was so impressed that he left the palace and became a wandering ascetic, and The Buddha.
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President Bush's approval ratings plunge deep into the toilet bowl

Political reversals, more bad news from Iraq, and the generally pathetic vibe emanating from the White House have dragged President Bush's standing even further into the toilet. The Republican congress fares no better in the popularity wars. The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that 38 percent of the public approve of the job Bush is doing, down three percentage points in the past month and his worst showing in Post-ABC polling since he assumed office. A third of registered voters approve of the way the Republican-led Congress is doing its job -- their lowest level of support in nine years. They're sucking even worse than POTUS!



The numbers over recent months seem to show that the plummeting GOP approval ratings are not just an anomaly, or as the Post put it "a patch of bad luck." It is a fundamental reaction against the GOP dominated Congress and Administration. And it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.
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"50,000 boots on the ground in Iran by June"

As you have probably read this weekend, the buzz is building around a story by Seymour Hersh in the April 17 New Yorker that the U.S. is planning a military strike on Iran because of its nuclear ambitions. According to reports by the Washington Post, members of the U.S. military now believe President Bush is leaning toward a "regime change" in Iran as the best way to end Iran's nuclear development. The Bush administration, Hersh writes, has "increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack," including the use of nuclear, bunker-busting bombs. A senior official quoted in the New Yorker, says The President views Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a "potential Adolph Hitler."

A caller to Seattle's KIRO 710 on Sunday afternoon--calling from a local Air Force Base--claimed to Frank Shiers that he had seen comprehensive plans for an invasion of Iran, and that within a month and a half "we will have 50,000 boots and full support on the ground in Iran, ready to go." The guy didn't sound like a nutjob. . .but if he isn't, The White House is more dangerously unstable than we'd thought in our wildest dreams. Yes, the story sounds completely insane, and even in this Administration, would hit the high water mark for delusion and perfidy.
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Updated index to Jack Brummet poems on All This Is That

Changes Seven/The Army
Changes Six/Conflict
Changes Five/The waiting
Changes Four/The Young Shoot
Changes Three/Trouble Ahead
Changes Two/The Receptive
Changes One/Action
The revolt in heaven
Found Poem: The Richmond Hill Oracle
Poem (and painting): The Robot Wars
I don't believe
I'm here
Ten ways of looking at lies
The Broken Chord
With our heads in the sand during the transit and eclipse
the sun plays its red song
Litany
Poem: The Developers
A raindrop's life
The mystery of the first amendment to the Ten Commandments
The Bay Of Delusion
Mad Song
Reasons To Keep On
Conspiracy Theory
The Moon Race
Mr. Flue's Grave In Hillcrest Cemetary, Kent, Wash.
The World Seems Especially Calming And Verisimilitudinous Today
Kent, Washington
Rollover
[It's the Lee Harvey Oswald smile]
Zombie Breakdown
Heaven
The Variations
You Rehearse Dying
Sonnet For Hari
Defensive Daydreaming
The Dream
Dogpaddling
The Prostethic Head & The Absence Of Blood
Tetuan - "No Paranoia, My Friend"
The Grey Visitors & Painting: The Grey Ambassador
The Bad Movie
The Bucket
The Man In The Mirror
Liftoff
Optimism Perspective
A Flight Of Swallows
Audioblog - The Prevaricator
Weather Report
Your Wooden Leg
The Revelations
Sermon At The First Church Of The Mojo Apocalypse
Dosvidaniya, Ivan Ivanovitch
The Late Excavation (Text And Audio)
Jack Kerouac, Meet John Barleycorn
The Gideon Bible In My Nightstand
At The Acropolis
When Aliens Land, Or, The Return Of The King
The sous-chef is a sociopath]
James Wright
Falling
[Life Is Not A Hardy Novel]
Seven
Coyote Comes Home Like A Salmon
Shorts For Jerry Melin ca. about 1988
Bird
Monism
The Golden Rule
The Countdown
When Aliens Land, Or, The Return Of The King
AT HILLCREST CEMETARY IN KENT, WASHINGTON, I WALK BY THE GRAVE OF SAM THE GRASSEATER
Notes On Flying
Daybreak
Explosions
Not Past Tense Yet
the glass is not half-full
It's Getting Crowded Here
Li Po In Disgrace
The Clock
A Love Song
Bad Timing
The Killer
The Absence of Footprints
Growing Up
Gone Fishing
The M.D.s A Poem -
Acrylic
The Marriage
Driving Home To Seattle, We Watch Deer Drinking from the Skookumchuck River

Poem: Changes Seven/The Army

War develops
Like a toothache,

The caries slowly and inexorably
Gaining ground,

Until the cavity
Dominates the tooth,

Until war itself
Becomes more important

Than the reasons
For which the war is fought.

The power of the people
Is hidden in the masses

Until every poor boy
Becomes a warrior

Under an iron man
With iron fists at the top.

When the war ends
There is no victory.

The win goes to those
Who lost least

And every shucked poor boy
Goes home to his plow or factory.

The king bestows medals and ribbons
On the officers

And divides the swag
Among those who need it the least,

Want it the most,
And stop at nothing

To replenish the coffers
With the spoils of victory.
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Alien Lore No. 70 - Report on the Ontario UFO crash...

UFOlogists say there is a conspiracy by Canadian and American agencies to hide the information about a UFO recovered from a swamp in 1989.

In the 1980's, UFO sightings in Canada escalated to a fever pitch. . .specifically, around nuclear power plants. On Nov. 4, 1989, Canadian Defense Dept. radar picked up an object travelling at phenomenal speed over Carp, Ontario.

The UFO stopped suddenly, and dropped like a stone.

The Canadian and American governments were informed about the landing and triangulated the UFO to an area off Almonte and Corkery Roads. The ship had landed in deep swamp. Two Apaches and a Blackhawk chopper headed for the area the following night. The helicopters carried full weapon loads. They were part of a black-ops American unit that specialized in UFO and alien recovery.

The Apache attack choppers spotted a glowing, blue UFO, 70 feet in diameter sphere. Both gunships unleashed their full weapon loads of 8 issiles each. All 16 were exploded downwind from the ship. The missiles carried VEXXON, a nerve gas that kills on contact. Exposed to air the gas breaks down quickly into inert components. Immediately after having completed their mission the gunships turned around, and headed back across the border.

The Blackhawk landed and a six man strike team charged out and entered the UFO through a portal. No resistance was encountered. Three dead crewmen were found.

Later, a team of technicians shut-down the UFO. On November. 6, 1989, trucks were brought into the swamp and the UFO parts were transported to a secret facility in Kanata, Ontario.

The locals were informed that a road was being built through the swamp. The humanoids were packed in ice and sent to an isolation chamber at the University of Ottawa. CIA physiologists performed the autopsies.



The reptilian, fetus-headed beings, were listed as Non Terrestrial Entities.

The ship was partially reassembled at the underground facility in Kanata. Unlike previous recoveries, this UFO was no explorer or voyager. It was heavily armed and armored. No rivets, bolts, or welds were used in fastening, yet the craft has no seams--likie it was formed from one solid piece of magnesium alloy. It was powered by a cold fusion reactor. It had independently targeting electronic beam weapons.

Hmmmmmm. . . in the cargo hold, were fifty Soviet nuclear warheads. Their purpose was
revealed by advanced tactical/combat computers located in the flight deck. The aliens had agreed to defend China from the free world's combined military and nuclear forces.

The Soviet warheads found in the UFO were destined for Syria. CIA operatives in the Middle East have noticed huge movements of Chinese "technicians" and "advisors". China is also supplying the Arabs with bacteriological agents, Migs, Hind gunships, tanks, and
missile launchers.

The Warheads were hijacked from Soviet subs in the Dragon's Triangle. A section of alien controlled Pacific once frequented by Russian subs. After losing some 900 high yield warheads and 13 vessels, commanders were ordered to steer clear of the area. You think?!

Also discovered on board were spheroid, brain implants. The CIA and Canadian government had allegedly performed mind experiments for years, a continuation of the CIA psychological warfare project known as MKULTRA. Using signals transmitted at the same wavelength the human brain uses, researchers could control the test subjects. The alien implants utilize the same principles except that the whole unit is subminiaturized and contained in the brain. Fortunately the implants can be detected by magnetic imaging. All implanted folks are officially classified as Zombies.

The Zombies are programmed to help overthrow Mankind in the future. When China finishes with Israel it will invade Europe. Chinese bacteriological weapons will be launched at the Arctic. The winds will carry the diseases into Russia and North America. In days hundreds of millions will be dead. Anyione who survives will have to reckon with Chinese, aliens, and
the Zombies.



The aliens want all out war so that human resistance would be minimal, when they invade. They tried this same tactic once before with Nazi Germany. Most of the scientific advances we have today came from German science which was based on alien technology. Had Hitler won the war, the earth would have become a concentration camp to depopulate the continents for aliens.

Data aboard the sphere explained why the aliens are so comfortable on earth. Some 675 million years ago, an interdimensional war destroyed most of their civilization, and forced them to leave the earth. They have returned to take back their planet.

The story says the aliens will launch their attack soon, because if they wait too much longer, it will be impossible even for the aliens to reverse the ecological damage inflicted on the Earth by us.
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