A ditty about nukes and tsunamis and such

Central Coast Dilemma

(This doggerel was published in the SB Independent on Thursday, April 14, 2011)

Fukushima makes one wonder

Was Diablo Canyon a mere blunder,

Built on fissures three miles under,

Likely soon to tear asunder?

South along the tidal reach,

Avila, Grover, Pismo Beach,

Folks sip wine and nosh on quiche,

Warier now of seismic breach.

Ditto they in San Clemente,

Just upwind of San Onofre,

Another plant by PGE

Fueled by lethal energy.

Fatal as the plague bubonic,

This plant too spans plates tectonic.

Was its builder just moronic,

Or is the company demonic?

Come the quake, the wind, the tide,

We between can nowhere hide.

We’ll be left but to decide:

Diaboiled or Onofried.

A worthy quote

from on old murder mystery I heard on BBC radio: "Facts are like cows: If you look at them them straight away long enough, they'll go away."

In case you ever doubted it

Geithner has got to go.

The arrogance of power

Here's a letter to the editor of the SB News-Press that I sent today. I'll update this post when/if it's published.

Update: The letter was published on April 6, 2011.

American missiles flying, fighters firing rockets, causing explosions and destruction on the ground and in the air. In every sense—under international law, domestic law, the UN Charter—the use of such destructive force within the boundaries of a sovereign nation is an act of war, and under the US Constitution the power to declare war rests not with the president but explicitly with the Congress. How dare Barack Obama arrogate to himself the power to launch such devastation on Libya.

I supported Obama, worked tirelessly for his election in 2008, but this is the last straw. I’ve watched the man’s actions—blotting out his fine words—for three years, witnessing his repeated sellout of his office to the rich, the powerful and the corporate, and now—as he did in Afghanistan and Pakistan—the militarists. If George Bush had done what Obama is doing the calls from the Left for his impeachment would be deafening.

Where are you, “liberals” and “progressives”—you who demanded that the executive power be restrained when Nixon, Reagan and Bushes held that power? It’s time to judge Obama on his deeds, not his rhetoric. It’s time to remove him from the office he has so flagrantly and arrogantly abused.

A trick question

Which of these stories troubles me more?: This or this.

Answer: Both

Good news!

At least this one American business isn't outsourceable--yet--and it's thriving!

Faux news redux

They simply should not be allowed on our public airwaves. Not when they pull stunts like this.

Letter to the editor

On February 21, 2011, I wrote another of my letters to the editor of the SB NewsPress. It was published today (Sunday, 2/27). It reads

When was the last time we heard that anything positive was happening in America (except, of course, the ever-increasing salaries and bonuses of Wall Streeters).

Jobs? In the tank. Bankruptcies and foreclosures? On the rise. Working-class wages and the dollar? Falling. Food and fuel prices? Escalating. State and federal deficits? Soaring. Military expenditures? Inflating. Occupation of Iraq? In chaos. War in Afghanistan? Hopeless. The Arab states? Aflame. Israel/Palestine? Don’t ask. And on and on.

As much as I’m inclined to blame Bush/Obama and Congress (of whatever composition) for this wretched state of affairs, the fact is we Americans elected these folks to govern. If we are to be consistent about our claim that America is "special" because of its enduring democracy—our government, as Abraham Lincoln declared, “of the people, by the people and for the people”—then we have only ourselves to blame for our current plight.

And so, fellow citizens, what shall we do about it?

The dark side of cyber-citizenry

is astroturfing by groups, but even more so by corporations and the US military. Outrageous--but inevitable in our evil world.

Faux News

Literally. (Video)

Interesting interview

especially on topics that concern me most: How to write meaningfully about meaningful subjects, and how to make story tell more than story.

Do you want fries with that?

Here's a shocking---shocking--story about the wage level of those jobs that America is creating in the wake of the recent huge bubble-burst. Imagine my surprise.

Sometimes you wonder

who in their right mind would do this (video)

and then you realize, he's not in his right mind.

Rethinking America's foreign policy

It seems to me that we (I include myself in this) Americans need to pause and reflect upon the individuality of our fellow humans. (A vague, ugly sentence, I know.) What I mean is this: We are a world of individuals, not, as is so often assumed, a bunch of nations filled with folks who have adopted that nation's persona, as depicted in the media and by our governers. Of course we Americans know that about ourselves. We know we're not all loud, assertive credit-hungry wastrels who worship movie stars and devour McDonalds twice a day. But we do tend to generalize about residents of other nations, don't we?

This facet of our culture (and it's likely not just an American trait) is called to mind by this brief article, quoting the Chinese woman who just won a tennis match to become that country's first finalist at the Australian Open. She doesn't sound very "Chinese" does she?

If you want to know where I stand on Obama and "liberals"

check out these two articles that appeared today: One is by a mainstay of mine, Chris Hedges, on Truthdig, and the other by a fabulous thinker/writer Michael Brenner who, in his HuffPost article, describes present-day "progressive Democrats" as "the kind of people that your mother wanted you to hang out with in high school -- short of Canadian exchange students being available."

For those of you who are familiar with my novel, Gaviota

here's a website that argues--as did my protagonist in that novel--in favor of "jury nullification" as a means of ensuring truly populist justice in criminal trials. The Wikileaks founder would surely need such a doctrine to obtain a fair adjudication if he were to stand trial in the US on some technical violation of our manifold secrecy laws.

A new political movement, or even a party?

What about a movement of those of us who supported Obama in 2008 but are no longer enamored of him, even to the point of rebellion? We could call ourselves Disaffected Obama Voters. Get it?: the DOV movement.

In case you're wondering....

I'm still here, but without anything to say. Anything worth blogging about, that is. Maybe that will change and if so, I'll let you know.

On language

Here's an interesting piece on the difference between English words that are French/Latin based and those that are German based. I've always wondered why my lawyer-talk never got me laid.

Galbraith rocks

And he's from a university in Texas, of all places.