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*Light rain is falling. The forecast is for showers the next four days. In recent weeks the forecasts for San Francisco Peninsula have been mostly accurate. I went out for a run last evening and saw clouds gathering over the foothills. For some odd reason, I thought of Victoria, BC. I was visiting British Columbia one summer many years ago. Strolling through downtown Victoria I found an empty bench across from a large department store and decided to spend some time people watching. Soon I had company. A man sat down next to me and said "Good afternoon". Looked like a street person but didn't hit me for a quarter. He didn't have a shopping cart full of personal belongings. You don't see them in Canada.....not yet. That might change as Stephen Harper begins Bushification of Canada. There was a coffee shop a few steps away. I bought two cups and offered my neighbor one. He smiled and lifted the paper cup. A few minutes later he stood up and said "See the clouds over the Malahat ? It is going to rain." He disappeared among the crowd of shoppers. That evening the rains came.©Ian Britton http://www.freefoto.com/preview.jsp?id=15-45-10

*From the BBC: " Agreeing to block access to websites making reference to material which the Chinese government regards as sensitive - such as democratic reform and Taiwanese independence - will speed up the site - currently slowed down by Chinese-imposed filters - and offer Google a greater foothold in the burgeoning Chinese market. "No to e-mail "Google has acknowledged that its decision to launch in China will be seen as inconsistent with its mission to make information universally accessible but believes it has little choice. ...

* The decision by a British physician, Anne Turner, to end her life with the help of the Swiss organization Dignitas again highlighted the need for full legalization and availability of assistance in dying for all who voluntarily seek it. Dr. Turner traveled to Zurich and sought Dignitas' help just before her 67th birthday. Yesterday the UK organisation Dignity in Dying, which used to be known as the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, said Dr Turner's story showed British law was shortening lives and called for assisted suicide to be legalised. "This case is truly heartbreaking," said its chief executive, Deborah Annetts. "The government must make time in parliament for the assisted dying for the terminally ill bill. Only this bill could have prevented Anne Turner from taking her life early. If this bill had been law, Anne would not have been forced to go to Zurich while she was still able to travel, for help to die. She would be alive today." Dr Turner, who would have been 67 today, said in an interview shortly before her death that she did not want to reach the point where she could not travel to a country where assisted suicide is legal. "I think it's dreadful that somebody like myself has to go to Switzerland to do this, which is an awful hassle," she said. Why do religious organizations and some physically handicapped people oppose euthanasia ? We, who support the right to have that option, do not want them to elect it. Oregon's law is a good example. In the seven years it has been in existence there has not been a single case of abuse. In fact, the safeguards built into the Death With Dignity Act make it well-nigh impossible to abuse it. Yet the zealots want to bar terminally ill people (some in intense pain and unable to move) from seeking a peaceful, dignified end. If you are not a resident of Oregon and wish to avoid being hooked up to a life support system in case of terminal illness, be sure to execute an Advance Directive. The form can be downloaded, free, from Caring Connections. AAFP (American Academy of Family Physicians) is another source. Recommended reading: How We Die : Reflections on Life's Final Chapter by Sherwin B. Nuland,MD, Vintage Paperback On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, The MacMillan Co. Final Exit by Derek Humphrey, Dell Publishing Euthanasia and the Right to Die edited by A.B. Dowling, Peter Owen, London

White House blocking release of photographs*Worried about something ? Guilt by association ! The president who never said no to a photo opportunity session to earn some points has become skittish about photographs that show him with Jack Abramoff in the good old days when Abramoff was a welcome visitor. "Several White House officials have been briefed about pictures of President Bush and Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff taken since 2001 but will not release them on grounds that they are not relevant to the ongoing money-for-favors investigation, aides said yesterday."*Back to Outsourcing of TortureEuropean Nations were aware and cooperated. The Guardian (UK) reported details of Swiss Senator Dick Marty's presentation of findings to the Council of Europe. The news did not come as a surprise. For some days, bits and pieces have been emerging to indicate that major European countries were aware of CIA's "rendition" program and complicit. Shameful. One can understand Poland, Romania, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgizstan among other countries being paid and pressured by the United States to set up detention centers. There was no excuse for leading European nations to participate in human rights abuse."The entire continent is involved. It is highly unlikely that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware." His report said that "there is a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of 'relocation' or 'outsourcing' of torture".

Time for a break from unpleasant subjects * .Wright * Milward * Brautigan * Simpson * MecklenburgerTO FLOOD STAGE AGAIN In Fargo, North Dakota, a man Warned me that the river might rise To flood stage again, On the bridge, a girl hurries past me alone, Unhappy face. Will she pause in the wet grass somewhere ? Behind my eyes she stands tiptoe, yearning for confused sparrows To fetch a bit of string and dried wheatbeard To line her outstretched hand. I open my eyes and gaze down At the dark water. ---James Wright I WAS DOWN THE FIELD I was down the field finding foxgloves When I returned the front door was banging and this was on the table written in the dust I BROUGHT THE BIG BOSS TO MEET YOU YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT HE THOUGHT I chose the white jar for the flowers ---Pamela Milward OUR BEAUTIFUL WEST COAST THING "We are a coast people There is nothing but ocean beyond us." ---Jack Spicer I sit here dreaming long thoughts of California at the end of a November day below a cloudy twilight near the Pacific listening to Mamas and The Papas THEY'RE GREAT singing a song about breaking somebody's heart and digging it ! I think I'll get up and dance around the room. Here I go ! ---Richard Brautigan BIRCH Birch tree, you remind me Of a room filled with breathing, The sway and whisper of love. She slips off her shoes; Unzips her skirt; arms raised, Unclasps an earring, and the other. Just so the sallow trunk Divides, and the branches Are pale and smooth. ---Louis Simpson STILL-LIFE Bric-a-brac shelf on the pale kitchen wall, Six spaces filled with delicate, lonely things: vases of miniature flowers-- lavender, pale orange and yellow; a bronzed baby-shoe; two jars--cranberry glass and Dutch blue china. Together, carefully dusted they almost breathe. ---Ralph Mecklenburger * The first three are from "A First Reader of Contemporary American Poetry" edited by Patrick Gleeson ©1969 by Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co. The last two from "Since feeling is first", an anthology compiled by James Mecklenburger and Gary Simmons, Indiana University, 1971. I picked up the volumes years ago at an used book store in Menlo Park, California. Cold, sunny morning. Temp. about 60°F (15° C).

The U.S., France and Britain Participated*It happened under Democratic administration and under Republican. In December 1975 the Indonesians invaded the Island of East Timor, a former Portugese colony. The occupation lasted until 1999. We aided a dictator whose forces tortured and killed East Timorese who resisted. The world did not pay much attention to reports about atrocities being committed against the East Timorese by military and para-military Indonesian forces. U.S. and other major powers were fully aware of what was going on and continued to supply the Indonesians with military hardware and equipment. Now Timorese President Xanana Gusmao has submitted a report to the UN. "The 2,005-page report, which Gusmao delivered to Secretary General Kofi Annan, provided the most detailed account to date of Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation of the island nation, a former Portuguese colony.Washington Post:The report, key portions of which were made available to The Washington Post, also charged Indonesia with using napalm against Timorese civilians and using "starvation as a weapon of war," condemning thousands of adults and children to death in camps for displaced Timorese."The commission finds that the government of Indonesia and the Indonesian security forces are primarily responsible and accountable for the death of 100,000 to 180,000 East Timorese civilians who died as a result of the Indonesian military invasion and occupation," said the report by the East Timor Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, set up by the United Nations and East Timor in 2001.The panel recommended that countries and companies that provided military support to Indonesia during the 24-year occupation, including the United States, Britain and France, pay reparations to those whose rights were violated. It also urged U.N. members to deny travel visas and freeze the assets of senior Indonesian officials, including former Gen. Wiranto, the armed forces commander in chief in 1999. ...

McCarthyism Redux * "Good Night and Good Luck"*Follow up to my post dated January 19th. The Guardian reported a number of resignations from the advisory board of the university alumni group responsible for ".......offering students money to police 'liberal' professors at the University of California, Los Angeles.Can this be an isolated case of a few zealous party faithful getting carried away ? Unlikely. An ill wind fanned by right-wing conservatives is blowing across our country. "Good Night and Good Luck", the movie about the late Senator Joseph McCarthy and the HUAC, directed by George Clooney, depicts the corrosive effects of such actions. David Strathairn turned in a great performance as television reporter Edward Murrow of CBS. Great article on Murrow and the CBS by Nicholas Lemann in The New Yorker, January 23/30, issue.

Filibuster ? * And, to add a light touch, a Classic Bushism*At this point it is a foregone conclusion that Judge Alito will soon replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor at the Supreme Court. The Democrats will not be able to block the confirmation. The filibuster option should be considered as a matter of principle. But whether or not they decide on filibuster they should be unified in their opposition.The confirmation hearings amply illustrated that when one party dominates Congress (it does not matter which party) the process becomes a mockery. The nominee dodged and weaved through the hearings. Senator Biden (D-Del),who did his own share of blathering during the hearings, was right in saying that: " Supreme Court nominees are so mum about the major legal issues at their Senate confirmation hearings that the hearings serve little purpose and should probably be abandoned, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden said Thursday."The system's kind of broken," said Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee considering the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito."Nominees now, Democrat and Republican nominees, come before the United States Congress and resolve not to let the people know what they think about the important issues," such as a president's authority to go to war, said Biden.From The President's Mouth, A Gem"Because the — all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those — changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be — or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled." --explaining his plan to save Social Security, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005"....kind of muddled" ! That was an understatement. No wonder he gave up on his grand plan to privatize Social Security. He wanted Americans to buy a pig in a poke; they saw through him. `I think I should understand that better,' Alice said very politely, `if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.'--Alice In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll Comments Anonymous — 2006-01-20 Musafir, You may agree that public pressure does sometimes work. I hope that enough people will contact their Senators and ask that they filibuster the Alito confirmation. It's true that the filibuster may fail but those that actually take a stand may be recognized as finally leading.

The Bush Administration goes after Google*"In Germany they first came for the Communists,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.Then they came for the Jews,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.Then they came for the trade unionists,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.Then they came for the Catholics,and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.Then they came for me —and by that time no one was left to speak up."---Pastor Martin Niemoller (there are slightly different variations of what he said)Now the moral values gang is after Google. An Associated Press report in the Post reads: SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine.Orwell's 1984 alive and well. The Guardian, UK, reports that a rightwing students' group in UCLA is offering payment for information about professors. "It is the sort of invitation any poverty-stricken student would find hard to resist. "Do you have a professor who just can't stop talking about President Bush, about the war in Iraq, about the Republican party, or any other ideological issue that has nothing to do with the class subject matter? If you help ... expose the professor, we'll pay you for your work." Comments Lily — 2006-01-20 Hey Musafir- Just checking in. I heard about this deal with the professors at "Tiger Tale Journal" and find the idea to be about as appealling as selling skin grafts. First students can pay for the privilege of taking the class, then be evaluators? wouldn't you think the institution would be responsible for hiring, and retention? What next, paying patients to evaluate doctors on the sly?

Cosmetic Changes Will Not Curb Abuses*House Republican leaders scrambling to introduce measures to impose restrictions on the relationships between members and lobbyists. Initial reports indicate that the proposed steps will fall far short of meaningful impact. Their actions are largely part of a PR campaign to make themselves look good before the mid-term elections. "According to lobbyists and ethics experts, even if Hastert's proposal is enacted, members of Congress and their staffs could still travel the world on an interest group's expense and eat steak on a lobbyist's account at the priciest restaurants in Washington." Would the American voters be taken in by the farce ? No doubt some will. The Abramoff scandal has mostly tainted Republican members of Congress but it is a well-known fact that not all Democrats remain above the grasp of lobbyists. Real reform will require taking a deep look at campaign finance laws. There isn't much support for that among the elected representative, certainly not among Republicans.Excerpts from Jeffrey Birnbaum's article in the Post:The plans offered by Republican leaders yesterday would change two of the three areas of law or regulation that govern lobbyists' behavior: the congressional rules that limit gifts to lawmakers and the laws that dictate the amount of disclosure that lobbyists must give the public.A third major area -- campaign finance laws -- would go untouched, an omission that amounts to a gaping loophole in efforts to distance lobbyists from the people they are paid to influence.“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase.”---Charles Caleb Colton (English sportsman and writer, 1780-1832)