Random thoughts…

First off, this:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5165435

Yay. I’m getting psyched now — my friends’ wedding is in less than two weeks!

Better finish that poem, eh?

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Went out to the Asylum last night — packed house. I had to go outside for big blocks of time because of heat, lightheadedness, and general unease in the crowd.

A good open. Heard some good stuff. Read “News Conferences” and “Political Art” — drew some disapproval from the crowd when I said I’ve become convinced that political poems don’t change the world. Oh well…

If only we’d stop preaching to the converted I might believe otherwise. But I see poetry readings as being so lefty-crunchy these days, it’s hard for me to see the utility of getting the approval from the already approving.

Oh well. I got to punch George Bush in the face, anyway.

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Alixa and Naima were pretty good, in retrospect. I’ve always loved Alixa’s stuff and there were moments I thought were excellent — the poem about the shootings that included the Liberty Bell imagery was especially good, I thought.

I hadn’t heard Naima before. She was a good performer, but I felt less than enthused by her work — not sure why; I’ve heard a lot of it before, I think. Mayhap I’m just jaded.

One catty note I’ll probably regret: can someone please write a poem about a Nubian mechanic? Please? Someone’s got to keep all those princes and princesses moving.

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peragrin_fogin‘s post is up regarding John Kerry’s position on the Patriot Act. (Thanks for posting it, R.)

You know what? It is a perfect example of why so many people are pissed off about Kerry’s candidacy.

He promises to have a plan to adjust the Patriot Act within 100 days of assuming office.

How about offering the ideas NOW? How about showing us something more than a promise to think about it once he’s in? This isn’t rocket science. Civil Libertarians have all sorts of ideas for getting information on terrorism without compromising civil liberties. How about supporting some of them NOW?

This is the characteristic that will likely cost Kerry the Presidency: the unwillingess to commit. The perpetual belief that saying he’ll be better than Bush is enough to get folks to vote for him. You’ve got to give em a sense of how, John. Got to.

Otherwise, there’s no good reason for undecided voters to upset the applecart in a time of fear and indecision.

I hate George Bush, personally and deeply; I won’t be voting for him. But I have yet to find a compelling reason to vote for John Kerry.

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What this country needs is a few left wing gun nuts, just to break up the political logjam.

If there was a more visible radical left, it would go a long way toward mobilizing reasonable lefties to action…much as radical rightists have managed to swing agendas toward their end of the spectrum.

Where’s my copy of “Rules for Radicals?”

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I need coffee. Good coffee.

This cafeteria at work just swung over to Starbucks.

To paraphrase the Martian Ambassador: “Ack. ACK ACK.”