f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

first date

    letting her

put snow down my neck

 

 

 

  full size photo & haiku 

 

 

my hand curves

       to fit your breast …

the windowsill, snowladen

 

 

 

Michael Dylan Welch,

“first date” – edge of light The Red Moon Anthology 2003

“my hand curves” – from Open Window, haiku and photographs  

 

by dagosan:  

warm enough 
to linger at the river 
year-end bonus
                          [dag, Dec. 30, 2003]

 

one-breath pundit

So, Italian judges have discretion to shorten statutes of limitation —

and used it on behalf of Prime Minister Berlusconi (who just happens to be

the richest man in the country).  Thank you, dear grandparents, for taking the

boat to the New World. (NYT article, “All Corruption Charges Against Berlusconi

Are Dismissed,” Dec. 11, 2004)

 

 The other David Giacalone is alleged to have “received a personal  

payment of more than $300,000–which Fininvest insists was a ‘consulting

fee’ but which magistrates consider a bribe” for his part in having the so-

called Mammi Law enacted favoring Berlusoni’s media empire. (The Nation,

 “Emperor of the Air,” Nov. 11, 1999) [even The Nation misspells our name!]

p.s. I just learned today that Giacalone’s website policamente scorretto means

“politically incorrect” in Italian. 

 

On the other hand, did you hear that 16-year-old Steve Geluso flunked his Language Arts class     

at Richland High?  Asked to “Write a three-part compare/contrast essay that explores the similarities

and/or differences between two items on any topic,” Steve choose to distinguish between piracy and

stealing.  His teacher deemed the essay (transcribed here) to be “Really splitting hairs on reasoning why

it’s OK to take music if it is offered to you.” Steve’s story was picked up by boingboing, Donna Wentworth,

and many more.  As in Election 2004, nuance is apparently a vice, not a virtue.

 

 

Need a gift idea for a particularly nervous and anxious friend?  Why not Fredd Culbertson’s Phobic List

poster?  The list is fun and entertaining.  For instance, here are the first handful of items under Letter B:

FEAR of:

 

Bacteria– Bacteriophobia.
Bald people– Peladophobia.
Bald, becoming– Phalacrophobia.
Bathing– Ablutophobia.
Beards– Pogonophobia.
Beaten by a rod or instrument of punishment, or of being severely criticized- Rhabdophobia.
Beautiful women– Caligynephobia.
Beds or going to bed- Clinophobia.

 

  Evan Schaeffer (and others, like the Washington Post, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

have exposed the Madison County Record newspaper to be partly owned by the tort-reformers at the 

Chamber of Commerce.  Perhaps, in addition to Evan’s call for a frontpage disclosure of the ownership,

the rag could change its name to the Madison County Chamber Pot.

 

wintry weather

the meaning of “parent”

sinks in

                  ISSA, translated by David G. Lanoue     

 

 

   J. Craig Williams at MIPTC has it right: the Washington State Supreme Court’s silly decision

criminalizing a parent’s eavesdropping on a minor child’s telephone conversation should not discourage

other parents from listening in when the child’s welfare needs to be protected.  The ACLU’s lawyer, Douglas

Klunder, says “I don’t think the state should be in the position of encouraging parents to act surreptitiously

and eavesdrop on their children.”  [That reminds me of the “children’s rights” extremists who argued a decade

ago that NYS lawyers appointed to represent children must solely advocate the position desired by any

child able to “express” a position (e.g., in a custody or abuse cases).]  There is a lot of room between the state

“encouraging” more parental eavesdropping and the state declaring it a criminal invasion of privacy.