antidote for the state of the union speech

i happened to catch this while at work today. enjoy.

Gore Vidal, one of America’s most respected writers and thinkers. He’s authored more than twenty novels and five plays. His recent national bestsellers are "Dreaming War" and "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace." His latest book is called "Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia."

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JUAN GONZALEZ: Here is Gore Vidal in an address he recorded for us on the State of the Union.

GORE VIDAL: Today, the 31st of January, in the hallowed year, election year, of ’06, could be a memorable day if we all do our part, which is simply to concentrate, among other things, and do perhaps what a couple of groups have decided would be useful for the President, I guess his State of the Union. We might give him some idea of our state, which is one of great dissatisfaction with him and his regime. And there's talk of perhaps demonstrating in front of the Capitol or here or there around the country to show that the union is occupied by people who happen to be patriots. And patriots do not like this government.

This is an unpatriotic government. This is a government that deals openly in illegalities, whether it is attacking a country which has done us no harm, two countries -- Iraq and Afghanistan -- because we now believe, not in declaring war through Congress as the Constitution requires, but through the President. ‘Well, I think there are some terrorists over there, and I think we got to bomb them, huh? We'll bomb them.’ Now, we’ve had idiots as presidents before. He's not unique. But he's certainly the most active idiot that we have ever had.

And now here we are planning new wars, ongoing wars in the Middle East. And so as he comes with his State of the Union, which he is going to justify eavesdropping without judicial warrants on anybody in the United States that he wants to listen in on. This is what we call dictatorship. Dictatorship. Dictatorship. And it is time that we objected. Don't say wait ‘til the next election and do it through that. We can't trust the elections, thanks to Diebold and S&S and all the electronic devices which are being flogged across the country to make sure that elections can be so rigged that the villains will stay in power.

I think demonstrations across the country could be very useful on this famous Tuesday. Just say no. We've had enough of you. Go home to Crawford. We'll help you raise the money for a library, and you won't even ever have to read a book. We're not cruel. We just want to get rid of you and let you be an ex-president with his own library, which you can fill up with friends of yours who can neither read nor write, but they'll be well served and well paid, we hope, by corporate America, which will love you forever.

So I think it is really up to us to give some resonance to the State of the Union, which will be largely babble. He's not going really try to do anything about Social Security, we read in the papers. He has no major moves, other than going on and on about the legality of his illegal warrantless eavesdroppings and other breakings of the law.

I had a piece on the internet some of you may have seen a few days ago, and there's a story about Tiberius, who’s one of my favorite Roman emperors. He's had a very bad press, because the wrong people perhaps have written history. But when he became emperor, the Senate of Rome sent him congratulations with the comment, “Any law that you want us to pass, we shall do so automatically.” And he sent a message back. He said, “This is outrageous! Suppose I go mad. Suppose I don't know what I'm doing. Suppose I'm dead and somebody is pretending to be me. Never do that! Never accept something like preemptive war,” which luckily the Senate did not propose preemptive wars against places they didn't like. But Mr. Bush has done that.

So this is a sort of Tiberius time without, basically, a good emperor, and he was a good emperor in the sense that he sent back this legislation, which was to confirm anything he wanted to have done automatically. And they sent it back to him again. And then he said, “How eager you are to be slaves,” and washed his hands of the Senate and went to live in Capri, a much wiser choice, just as we can send this kid back to Crawford, Texas, where he'll be very, very happy cutting bushes of the leafy variety.

You know, it’s at a time when people say, ‘Well, it makes no difference what we do, you know, if we march and we make speeches, and this and that.’ It makes a lot of difference if millions of Americans just say, “We are fed up! We don't like you. We don't like what you're doing to the country and what you have done to the country. We don't like to live in a lawless land, where the rule of law has just been bypassed and hacks are appointed to the federal bench, who will carry on and carry on and carry on all of the illegalities which are so desperately needed by our military-industrial corporate masters.”

I think a day dedicated to that and to just showing up here and there around the country will be a good thing to do. And so, let the powers that be know that back of them, there's something called "We the people of the United States,” and all sovereignty rests in us, not in the board rooms of the Republicans.




JUAN GONZALEZ: Author Gore Vidal delivering his traditional State of the Union address in advance of President Bush's State of the Union later tonight.

jokerman

the lyrics to *another* favorite dylan tune came into my mind today. then i listened. i have always loved the song "jokerman."

later, i found this photo in my saved stuff. and jokerman was back in my head again.
you know? the lyrics to the song follow.

no, we will not be watching the state of the union address in our home tonight. state of WHAT union? have you seen the poll numbers? nixon numbers.
and still the sheep insist that "there is no difference-the democrats are every bit as awful." bullshit, folks. 2,241 dead. and from our leader? no remorse, no compassion. how dare he? and how dare we accept it?

i could go on and on, but will spare you. my heart hurts.
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JOKERMAN
Bob Dylan, Infidels, 1983

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1. Standing on the waters casting your bread -
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing.
Distant ships sailing into the mist,
You were born with a snake in both of your fists
while a hurricane was blowing.
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman


2. So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one,
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show one,
Shedding off one more layer of skin,
Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.


3. You're a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds,
Manipulator of crowds, you're a dream twister.
You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah. But what do you care?
Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister.
Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame,
You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

4. Well the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers.
In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed,
Michelangelo indeed could've carved out your features.
Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space,
Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

5. Well, the riflemans's stalking the sick and the lame,
Preacherman seeks the same, who'll get there first is uncertain.
Nightsticks and water cannons, tear gas, padlocks,
Molotov cocktails and rocks behind every curtain.
@ @ @
False-hearted judges dying in the webs that they spin,
Only a matter of time 'til night comes steppin' in.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman,

6. It's a shadowy world, skies are slippery gray,
A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet.
He'll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat,
Take the motherless children off the street
and place them at the feet of a harlot.
Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants,
Oh, Jokerman, you don't show any response,

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.


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one fine day

this was taken on december 3rd of 2005, when my dear friend and i had our semi-annual visit in san francisco. she lives near seattle. we always have the greatest time-for going on thirty years now.i hope to find a photo of us in the early days, so i can scan and post it. i had been on my diet for about a month. although it may not be very evident to most, there was already a difference in my face. and it continues, and i love that i don't have the impulse to weep when i see photos of me anymore. now, if only i could do something about the whole "old" thing. oh well...
grandma marie always told me that we should grow old gracefully. i am trying to do that, really.


this is my pal and me and my college kid. we drove to visit her for a few hours, and took a walking tour of the campus. my pal has always been connected to my children, since their arrival. she is a fifth-grade teacher. i adore her and miss her, always.

i guess it would be safe to say that daughter and i have the same eyes, eh?


happy photo sunday, folks.

gung hat fat choy

inside the tiny kwan tai temple





a view of the temple from the street. it's a striking sight, as most of the houses in town are painted in much more subtle tones. i love it.





a dragon in the 2005 chinese new year parade, the year of the rooster. this year is the year of the dog. i myself am a rooster. you?




happy chinese new year. as a kid in san francisco, this was a huge holiday. i loved it, and still do. however, i will not be in the city for the festivities this year. up here in my neck of the woods, a co-worker puts on a banquet to commemerate the asian new year, and to benefit the ongoing upkeep of her family's temple, the temple of kwan tai. founded in 1871, by her ancestors. i always help out at the banquet. it's great fun and quite yummy.

hopelessness? what hopelessness?

Study Finds Rich-Poor Income Gap Growing
- By MARK JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, January 26, 2006

(01-26) 17:24 PST Albany, N.Y. (AP) --
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The disparity between rich and poor is growing in America as the federal minimum wage has remained flat for years, union membership has declined and industries have faced global competition, according to a study released Thursday.


The report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute, both liberal-leaning think tanks, found the incomes of the poorest 20 percent of families nationally grew by an average of $2,660, or 19 percent, over the past 20 years. Meanwhile, the incomes of the richest fifth of families grew by $45,100, or nearly 59 percent, the study by the Washington-based groups said.


Families in the middle fifth saw their incomes rise 28 percent, or $10,218.


The figures, based on U.S. Census data, compare the average growth from 1980-82 to 2001-03, after adjusting for inflation.


The poorest one-fifth of families, the report said, had an average income of $16,780 from 2000-03, while the top fifth of families had an average income of $122,150 — more than seven times as much. Middle-income families' average income was $46,875.


Trudi Renwick, an economist with the union-backed Fiscal Policy Institute in New York, said globalization, the decline of manufacturing jobs, the expansion of low-wage service jobs, immigration and the weakening of unions have hurt those on the lower end of the economic scale.


In 38 states, the incomes of high-income families grew by a higher percentage than those of the lowest-income families; Alaska was the only state in which the reverse was true. The 11 states where the high and low incomes increased at about the same rate were mostly in the West and Midwest.


The greatest disparity between rich and poor was in New York, where the top 20 percent of wage earners had average incomes 8.1 times larger than the poorest 20 percent in the early 2000s. Texas had only a slightly smaller gap; Wyoming had the smallest disparity at a 5.2 to 1 ratio.


Matthew Maguire, a spokesman for the Business Council of New York state, said the money earned by the state's wealthiest residents is "something that everybody who cares about New York should be pleased about."


"New York's wealthy pay huge sums in taxes and those wealthy people and their taxes make it possible for New York to provide the nation's most generous social service programs to less fortunate New Yorkers," he said. "It also reflects the fact the state is a magnet for immigrants who come from the four corners of the globe to a state they see as symbol of economic activity."


Renwick said the government "needs to continue its commitment to correcting the natural outcomes of the marketplace" by raising the minimum wage with inflation and by tax policies like the earned income tax credit.


Renwick also suggested that governments, when giving tax breaks to companies, insist those companies provide jobs that pay higher wages.


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king sunny stares me down

a walk back from town

remember: click photos if you wish to enlarge them.


another view of the cemetery... on my way out of town.


i am not sure what this plant is called. it has a velvety texture. this was along our path through the woods. almost home.



home again. i love this cypress tree on the property.




it was a lovely walk. thank you for tagging along.

a walk to town/part two

this is my friend albert. i stopped in to say hello and buy a card. he owns a great store in town. small world story~albert and his wife arrived in this town about a year ago. i knew him 20 years ago in santa cruz, when we both worked for the city. me at the civic, he as a meter-man. another old-time deadhead, and we used to trade tapes. and now here we are. it was a great surprise to see him living up here.



here is a new piece of art in albert's store. it is beyond belief... those are all really tiny beads. it is part of a great collection of native american art he has for sale there.



the obligatory "deadhead items" shot. sideways. (doh!) long monday today. i still have more pictures to post of my walk. tomorrow.

a walk to town/part one

~click to enlarge them~


on the way down our hill, there is a long row of very old, twisted cypress trees.


what a clear, bright day it was, and i walked through the cemetery. note the sparkling pacific ocean in the background.



one of several quaint old places. nobody lives here now, but a horse lives in back of the house. people drop off hay for it regularly. you can see part of the old water tower and the barn as well.




a moss-covered (lichen?) monument in the cemetery. i like the orange hue.



another very old place that intrigues us. also vacant.


they aren't in the proper order... i will put up the rest of them tomorrow.
the walk to town is about a mile and a half, and this day was made for walking about. i really liked bringing the camera along.

san francisco 1961

my parents had a friend that was a professional photographer.
she followed little brother and i around for a few years, and gave my parents some excellent photos.

my father displayed some of the portraits in his home for quite a while. now i have them.

i took a picture of one of those portraits for this photo sunday. i was approximately four years old. cute, but what the hell is up with my bangs?

(yes, i've been teased that i resemble one of those evil children in the movie "village of the damned ")

information

alan tagged me last week. enjoy the sheer triviality of my life so far:



four jobs i've had:
1.) ski lift operator

2.) event security(concerts)

3.) postpartum care provider

4.) homeless shelter coordinator



four places i've lived:
1.) san francisco, california

2.) appleton, wisconsin

3.) lake tahoe, california side

4.) edmonton, alberta, canada

5.) santa cruz, california (i know, that's 5 places.)


four movies i'd watch again:
1.) the birds (i love anything by hitch.)

2.) the last picture show

3.) magnolia

4.) napolean dynamite ( yes, i am silly.)


four t.v. shows i like to watch:
1.) anything with bill maher

2.) the daily show

3.) deadwood and the sopranos, when they are on

4.) david letterman



four favorite foods:
1.) dim sum/all asian food

2.) indian food

3.) italian food (being raised in north beach has a lot to do with it.)

4.) mexican food

^now i am hungry!



four places i'd rather be right now:
1.) tahiti, visiting my dear friend that lives there. she works on bora bora now.

2.) the big island of hawaii, on g's dad's acreage there. hilo side.

3.) mexico, soaking up some sunshine with my darling.

4.) british columbia



four albums i can't live without:
1.) astral weeks- van morrison

2.) hissing of summer lawns- joni michell (all joni, always)

3.) comes a time- neil young

4.) the delivery man- elvis costello

* i can't really list the grateful dead as albums, because i have listened to and collected mostly live stuff of theirs. i do own the albums, though. if i had to pick one it would probably be blues for allah.



four unique? things about me:
1.) i have always preferred to live in rural settings. sometimes VERY rural!

2.) i had all of my kids at home. the first birth took 17 hours. the next two were about two hours each.

3.) my oldest and youngest child share the same birthday-ten years apart. (april 10)

4.) i have a very good memory for dates-that-things-happened. is that called a chronophile? when you remember days and occurrences and who was there? i remember the birthdays of people i haven't seen in thirty years. not purposely-it just happens.



tag, you're it.

forty years ago this weekend

click images to enlarge them.

i wasn't at the trips festival. (i was nine years old.) however, my dad was. although i have asked him for details of his experience, he has revealed little to me through the decades. i believe that this was the series of shows when wavy gravy got his name. longshoreman's hall is still there, in the middle of san francisco's fisherman's wharf. walking distance from where i grew up.

nostalgia-r-us.

happy birthday

janis joplin would have been 62 today, had she survived the ride. wouldn't it have been something if she had? my young life was impacted greatly by this amazing woman.
what a voice, and what an original. remember originality?

yesterday was my dear pal carla's birthday. another amazing capricorn woman. (hi, carla!!!) she and i have known each other since the days of grateful dead shows~for about 25 years. she recently joined the blogging world. do make her feel welcome, if you see her around the shack.(aka/raincatgirl)

i was tagged by alan the other day, and maybe there will be time for such frivolity over the weekend. working five days a week really does suck the soul right out of a person, sometimes.

my sentiments EXACTLY

earlier today, i saw this magnet on the truck in front of me. what a refreshing sight it was!
i thought the message was spot-on, and couldn't resist ordering a couple. you may click the title for ordering info, if you are interested.

it's not just a dream

where are the dr. martin luther king's of today? we could use their words and ways about now.

enjoy the holiday, thanks to the reverend...

stormy seas on saturday

*click to enlarge them, if you so desire*

daughter and i stopped to take these on our way over-the-hill yesterday. the cloud formations, shadows, and rough seas were so interesting. college-kid offered to hop out and snap these, and then away we went.

summer 1981

*click for a larger version*

this is a picture of my mom and me, in front of her home in modesto, california. she moved to modesto from the san francisco bay area in 1980, after she was diagnosed with cancer-again. she and my stepfather bought a great big sprawling place in his town-of-origin, built in the bulldozed walnut orchards. now it's complete urban sprawl there. major cement, in an area that was once an agricultural power spot in this state. not that modesto was ever a particularly special place, to me.
i was pretty surprised that my mother ended up there, actually.

the story of this photo is sweet. my friend/future husband drove down to pick me up. we went to the stanislaus river and camped for a few days, when we left my mom's. i had been with her, helping out. she had chemotherapy appointments often, and i happily assisted with much of the domestic stuff around the house. at this point, she LOOKS like she has cancer, to me. note the cigarette in her hand. she smoked until the very end of her life, which occured in november of this same year. anyway, my man-friend set up his camera on the door of his car, and used a shutter cable, to take it without her knowing. why? because she didn't want any photos taken of her, as she slipped into physical decline.

i wanted a picture of us. so, as mom walked me out to the car to say goodbye, john-the-photographer snapped this. i like the smile i am wearing---like i am in on the big secret. i also love her roses. she was proud of them. and she wasn't mad that we took her picture, either. i am pleased to share it on photo sunday.

"maybe a little rain...

would soothe the pain and drown our sorrows."
yes, i actually enjoyed donna jean's songs sometimes. i am an old-timer. so what?!


soggy saturday. college-kid and i are taking a cruise to the nearest mall today-which is 2.5 hours away. we have a few errands to take care of, and the time together will be splendid.

my head and heart are brimming with ideas, fears, and near-insanity. so deep and dark and despicable, these days. from the outer limits to my inner core. like an acid trip that just won't stop? if only there were a rock medicine for everyday life! i could really appreciate laying on a soft pad and being talked-down right about now.


Rain
Donna Jean Godchaux/Jerry Garcia

Here I am, on the lam ready to go
Brighter days have hurried me along, nobody's wrong
Love stays the same a heart's not to blame nothing is over
Now it don't worry me at all there's just got to be
Some kind of overflow nobody falls

People, we cry, when wells go dry it threatens tomorrow
Try and find some ways to ease the fright burn into the night
But maybe a little rain would soothe the pain and drown our sorrows
And looking straight at all that lives again
Until we get our fill of overflows, nobody knows

In search of love, the seasons above have taken to wander
Unlike the ones we used to know, where did they go?
Well, here I am, on the lam, low overflow
Brighter days have hurried me along
To see the rain come shinning through, nobody's blue

Oh seagull, tis an hour of plight
Energy from your wing helps bring the rain
Call on your brotherhood of flight and let it rain all nights
Oh sky lookin clear and bright, Moon, with your own true light
Turn the tides and rain all night, Turn the tides and rain all night.

after the rain has fallen...

found this bit of pottery in one of the old garden beds, when we moved in a few years ago. i gave her a new spot, near the front door.

truth and beauty

*click for larger views*

my college-kid's new sweatshirt. i like her taste. (go figure.)

the pink flowers are a non-fruit-producing plum tree at my workplace.
i took it today, while the rain was falling oncemore.

listened to a lot of the alito confirmation proceedings today, at work. it feels rather ominous, this would-be appointment.