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Three Recent Poems
I’m pleased to note that three new poems of mine have been picked up for a forthcoming FutureCycle Poetry anthology entitled American Society: What Poets See. You can read them now online, and in traditional print when the anthology is published late this yeara or early next.Read More
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Something of a Ramble…
Seed Magazine has this illuminating conversation between linguist/anti-war activist Noam Chomsky and evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers. Their overarching topic is “deceit,” but the subtopics they touch on (“groupthink,” “maintaining credibility,” and “denial”) are powerful contributing factors to the human ability—exacerbated by bureaucracies and media—to deceive ourselves and others. In the discussion of “groupthink,” Trivers makes an observation that may explain why political poetry is so difficult to write well.Read More
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The Further Adventures of Pee Wee and Jug Head
According to the Wall Street Journal, as of December 31, 2009: The top 10% of Americans controlled 75% of national wealth. (The top 1% alone controlled 34.6%.) That means the bottom 90% of Americans control just 25% of national wealth. This is the largest wealth gap since the 1920s—and it was that wealth gap that set the stage for the Great Depression. But GOP Sen. Orrin (Pee Wee) Hatch thinks the poor need to contribute more to reducing the debt.Read More
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Patriot Games
“next to of course god america ilove you land of the pilgrims’ and so forth ohsay can you see by the dawn’s early mycountry ’tis of centuries come and goand are no more what of it we should worryin every language even deafanddumbthy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorryby jingo by gee by gosh by gumwhy talk of beauty what could be more beaut-iful than these heroic happy deadwho rushed like lions to the roaring slaughterthey did not stop to think they died insteadthen shall the voice of liberty be mute?” He spoke.Read More
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Celebrate Independence Day by Taking Action!
End Corporate Rule. Legalize Democracy. The challenge is huge but the goal is simple: Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights. Guarantee the right to vote and to participate, and to have our vote and participation count. Protect local communities, their economies, and democracies against illegitimate “preemption” actions by global, national, and state governments.Read More
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Against a Long Habit
I don’t post a lot of political material here, but this I couldn’t let pass without a recommendation. It’s by Phil Rockstroh, whom I don’t know, but whose passion and perspective I recognize and admire. I discovered this on John Bloomberg-Rissman’s blog Zeitgeist Spam. John is one of the editors of Leafe Press, which published Ed Baker’s extraordinary Stone Girl E-Pic, which I aim to “review” soon.Read More
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The Path of Poetic Memes
The coolest political graphic ever. It’s interactive, so go the Guardian site to see it work. I’m posting it here in the hope of inspiring some poetry/computer genius to craft such a thing to track the spread of some poetic meme.Read More
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Passing Amusements
The Duchess and Duke of Windsor Sucking Up to the Führer I missed Christopher Hitchens’ review of The King’s Speech back in January, but it deserves to be widely read in the wake of the movie’s success at the Oscars last night.Read More
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File Under: The Truth Hurts (**Note—Cheerfully Obscene!**)