One of Rush Limbaugh’s favorite cracks is to deride Nancy Pelosi because she uses a lot of jet fuel. This, apparently, makes her a hypocrite, even though she lives in San Francisco and, being one of the most influential people in our government, has to travel to Washington DC and other places.
Limbaugh’s point is especially absurd because it is offered without good evidence or good faith. His supporters still stoke false rumors that Pelosi demanded a big jet:
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/queen-nancy-pelosi-private-jet-tax-payers-paying-for-her-fuel/blog-48177/
http://raymondpronk.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/pelosis-plane-costing-the-american-taxpayers-millions-per-year-ground-the-stupid-socialists/
But in fact she did no such thing. For security purposes, the House Sergeant at Arms, Bill Livingood, requested for the Speaker access to a plane that could go from San Francisco to DC without stopping to refuel. Livingood, by the way, was appointed by Newt Gingrich to his position over a decade ago.
Pelosi was absolutely fine with using the smallest possible jet given restrictions imposed by the House Sergeant:
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_nancy_pelosi_order_up_a_200-seat.html
http://www.snopes.com/politics/pelosi/jet.asp
Basically, Limbaugh spews mistruths to rile up his hate-filled followers. It’s not about reason, but rather rhetoric and mind control. His followers are ready to accept the conclusion of his ‘arguments’ even before the faulty evidence is provided. It feeds their bias and their precious anger.
Real arguments based on solid research and sound logic are anathema to zombie overlords like Limbaugh.
However, there is a powerful Republican organization which reeks of waste and unethical expenditure. I challenge Limbaugh to speak about its squandering of millions of dollars and, get this, paying party members for a night out at a topless dance club with bondage themes.
Don’t believe it? Here’s the front page article on Republican misuse of funds from the Washington Post:
“Steele Under Fire For Expenses”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/29/AR2010032903822.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
The first paragraph says it all:
“The Republican National Committee and its chairman, Michael S. Steele, were engulfed in controversy again Monday after new financial reports showed that the party used tens of thousands of donor dollars for luxe hotels, private jets and other questionable expenditures.”
The juicy details are astounding. Ugly and prime grist for tabloid mills. The RNC paid just under $2000 dollars for “meals” at Voyeur, a nightclub in West Hollywood which “features topless dancers wearing horse bridles and other bondage gear while mimicking sex acts.”
Here’s one patron, Jennifer M., describing her recent experience at Voyeur on Yelp.com:
“Oh. Wow.
Rolled up here with 6 girls around midnight on a Saturday night after we realized that the crowd at Crown Bar had gone drastically downhill.
The girl at the door sent us in right away and told us to go to a table by the bar and get some free Champagne. Seriously. This club is amazing. There are topless "dancers" acting out S&M scenes throughout the night on one of the side stages, there's a half-naked girl hanging from a net across the ceiling and at one point I walked to the bathroom and pretty much just stopped dead in my tracks to watch two girls simulating oral sex in a glass case.” (3/22/10)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/voyeur-los-angeles
How did this happen? Apparent someone named Erik Brown, who has contributed thousands of dollars to the GOP (and whose business, Dynamic Marketing, Inc, has done about $19,000 of business with them) was able to bill the party on behalf of the attendees at Voyeur. These attendees are referred to as Republican “Young Eagles,” but maybe a better name would be Slavering Sex Hounds:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/03/29/gop-fires-staffer-topless-club-visit/
The malfeasance doesn’t stop there. Under Steele’s leadership the GOP coffers have shrunk from %22 million to below $10 million in the last year, despite raising $96 million. No one seems to know exactly how or why.
There’s also tens of thousands of dollars for private jets, upscale hotels and a resort trip to Hawaii. (“Steele Under Fire ...”)
How does the Democratic National Committee fare in comparison? Their Chairman “usually travels on commercial flights and does not generally use limousine or town-car services,” said spokesman Brad Woodhouse.
If Rush Limbaugh wants to talk about egregious misuse of funds, here it is. The RNC is sending Young Eagles, that is, would-be major donors, to sex bars and paying for them to watch topless bondage games.
It’s not just the money. It’s the reviling and sleazy way RNC representatives carried out their duties as political leaders. What kind of message does this send? I have nothing against sexual fantasy, but to carelessly and brazenly mix kinky nude sadomasochism with the business of running and managing a country is degenerate.
Okay, Rush, I am waiting for your next radio show. I want to see if you shift your attention away from the false problem of Pelosi’s jet fuel to the real problem of the GOP wasting millions and living it up in anti-Christian sin.
OWL
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Poem: Cereal Box Parade
Here's one of my better early poems, from 2003. It was originally published in The Barbaric Yawp. I also read it when I was invited to present at the University of Maine at Machias.
-----------------------------
Cereal Box Parade
hawaiian shirts
rammed through a blender
and stacked on the shelves,
prettier than birthdays,
prettier than christmas,
wrapped around various modes of sugar
and sanitized proteins.
some of them
have been playing with a syringe,
getting high on those injected vitamins,
minerals culled from a marketer’s
mine. some of them are laughing
at how zany they can be
in an aisle of quiet people
whose hands peck the shelves
like drugged birds.
here live flamboyant toons,
lazy corporate shills,
who never had their own show,
never worked more than a
thirty-second day, never did anything
but prance and babble and make
goo goo eyes at glazed wheat—
and yet still children beg for them
with fond whines.
little Johnny hates his parents
but adores colonel crispy flake.
little Elsie learns the ropes
from outrageous cardboard.
-----------------------------
Cereal Box Parade
hawaiian shirts
rammed through a blender
and stacked on the shelves,
prettier than birthdays,
prettier than christmas,
wrapped around various modes of sugar
and sanitized proteins.
some of them
have been playing with a syringe,
getting high on those injected vitamins,
minerals culled from a marketer’s
mine. some of them are laughing
at how zany they can be
in an aisle of quiet people
whose hands peck the shelves
like drugged birds.
here live flamboyant toons,
lazy corporate shills,
who never had their own show,
never worked more than a
thirty-second day, never did anything
but prance and babble and make
goo goo eyes at glazed wheat—
and yet still children beg for them
with fond whines.
little Johnny hates his parents
but adores colonel crispy flake.
little Elsie learns the ropes
from outrageous cardboard.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Maine's Snowe and Collins Fail Dismally On Health Reform
It is a real shame to see our Maine state senators Olympia Snowe (R.)and Susan Collins (R.) make the greatest mistake of their political careers by attacking the recent healthcare law, which I refer to as the Health Freedom Law.
This is legislation that saves lives, prevents unfair bankruptcies, and promotes decency and caring. The pursuit of happiness entails that everyone should have access to affordable medical treatment. No one should be chained to fear because they can’t get the cure for their illness, especially if it's available right up the street.
And how many of us stay at a job we hate, instead of pursuing our dreams, because it is the only way to get to a doctor?
To be trapped in a soul-killing rat race is one of the most horrid restrictions on freedom I can think of. Following in the great tradition of Social Security, Medicare, and Civil Rights, the new Health Freedom Law is a major victory for ethics over brute selfishness.
Snowe and Collins will never again get a chance to be part of something this monumental. Something this fundamentally good. If either of them had jumped their party, it would have been heroic enough to get them into heaven (if there is such a place). But they are timid moderates in a red-state gang of pols that has become deplorably stained by shameless tactics.
Snowe and Collins do not fit the extremist profile of the GOP, the party of bullying, fear, and gun-talk. The GOP wears the thinnest veil of manners, while spewing messages of brimstone.
As Paul Krugman writes in his latest op-ed (“Going To Extreme”) Republican leaders are now using metaphors that appeal to the mindset of snipers, assassins and end-of-time fanatics:
“John Boehner, the House minority leader, declared that the passage of health reform was “Armageddon.” The Republican National Committee put out a fund-raising appeal that included a picture of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, surrounded by flames, while the committee’s chairman declared that it was time to put Ms. Pelosi on “the firing line.” And Sarah Palin put out a map literally putting Democratic lawmakers in the cross hairs of a rifle sight.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/opinion/26krugman.html?src=me&ref=homepage
These bullies are the LEADERS of Snowe and Collins’ party, not the fringe. Based on the tact I have seen from these two strong women (Snowe, of course, actually voted FOR pressing ahead on healthcare not long ago, the only Republican to do so), perhaps they are torn up inside about having to lock stride with windbags and petty despots. I
Yes, I am guessing that they are sickened by their colleagues’ monstrous rants.
Snowe, especially, I think, could have found it in herself to switch parties and leave behind a fascist GOP. For her, I think, this is a particularly sad failure. She could have been remembered throughout history as someone who eschewed dark conformity. But she has faltered. She has crept back into lame submission to the great demagogues of the far right.
Her objections are meager, as if she is having trouble trotting them out against the protests of her conscience:
“Snowe criticized the reconciliation bill, which would hit employers with more than 50 workers with a $2,000 per employee penalty if they do not offer health insurance.”
(http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/139739.html )
Frightening as it may seem, to Snowe, that business must offer health coverage, there are important mitigating factors: (a) business will get serious tax breaks, (b) there will be caps on insurance costs, (c) healthier, happier employees increase productivity, AND let us not forget:
(d) People are currently dying or going bankrupt because they can’t afford to go to the hospital,
(e) People are living in utter fear that they will lose their policy
(f) Or that they will get sick and lose everything because they don’t have one,
(f) People with insurance are being hit with higher premiums and less effective coverage,
(g) The whole system is sinking fast--very fast--and
(h) Something has to be done NOW, not five or ten years from now.
Every day of delay destroys lives and stokes mountains of pain and stress. How could Snowe and Collins put off what we need immediately to save lives?
Indeed, Snowe’s point is only that the new Health Freedom might adversely affect business owners.
Collins makes the same case. Just as weak and narrow:
“Most Americans will be shocked to learn that Washington wants to slap fines on small businesses that hire more workers,” [Collins] said. “But the new health care law does exactly that. Incredibly, this reconciliation package makes matters worse.”
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/139739.html
Again, people are dying, people are sick, people are terrified, people are losing everything they worked for. And all our Senators can come up with is ... a possible fine?
So, I am very saddened for our State Senators. They are puppets of a political apparatus of vile fire eaters, and they are not that ugly themselves; but they have made some very bad decisions.
After the Civil Rights Act passed, violence raged. Red-faced southern pols vowed militant opposition. But today, those people are considered the epitome of ignorance.
Twenty years from now, unfortunately, Snowe and Collins will be considered rather forgettable members of the ignorance club.
Why couldn’t they have made the courageous choice. Ugh! Senator Snowe, I feel particularly sorry for you. Wake up!
OWL
This is legislation that saves lives, prevents unfair bankruptcies, and promotes decency and caring. The pursuit of happiness entails that everyone should have access to affordable medical treatment. No one should be chained to fear because they can’t get the cure for their illness, especially if it's available right up the street.
And how many of us stay at a job we hate, instead of pursuing our dreams, because it is the only way to get to a doctor?
To be trapped in a soul-killing rat race is one of the most horrid restrictions on freedom I can think of. Following in the great tradition of Social Security, Medicare, and Civil Rights, the new Health Freedom Law is a major victory for ethics over brute selfishness.
Snowe and Collins will never again get a chance to be part of something this monumental. Something this fundamentally good. If either of them had jumped their party, it would have been heroic enough to get them into heaven (if there is such a place). But they are timid moderates in a red-state gang of pols that has become deplorably stained by shameless tactics.
Snowe and Collins do not fit the extremist profile of the GOP, the party of bullying, fear, and gun-talk. The GOP wears the thinnest veil of manners, while spewing messages of brimstone.
As Paul Krugman writes in his latest op-ed (“Going To Extreme”) Republican leaders are now using metaphors that appeal to the mindset of snipers, assassins and end-of-time fanatics:
“John Boehner, the House minority leader, declared that the passage of health reform was “Armageddon.” The Republican National Committee put out a fund-raising appeal that included a picture of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, surrounded by flames, while the committee’s chairman declared that it was time to put Ms. Pelosi on “the firing line.” And Sarah Palin put out a map literally putting Democratic lawmakers in the cross hairs of a rifle sight.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/opinion/26krugman.html?src=me&ref=homepage
These bullies are the LEADERS of Snowe and Collins’ party, not the fringe. Based on the tact I have seen from these two strong women (Snowe, of course, actually voted FOR pressing ahead on healthcare not long ago, the only Republican to do so), perhaps they are torn up inside about having to lock stride with windbags and petty despots. I
Yes, I am guessing that they are sickened by their colleagues’ monstrous rants.
Snowe, especially, I think, could have found it in herself to switch parties and leave behind a fascist GOP. For her, I think, this is a particularly sad failure. She could have been remembered throughout history as someone who eschewed dark conformity. But she has faltered. She has crept back into lame submission to the great demagogues of the far right.
Her objections are meager, as if she is having trouble trotting them out against the protests of her conscience:
“Snowe criticized the reconciliation bill, which would hit employers with more than 50 workers with a $2,000 per employee penalty if they do not offer health insurance.”
(http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/139739.html )
Frightening as it may seem, to Snowe, that business must offer health coverage, there are important mitigating factors: (a) business will get serious tax breaks, (b) there will be caps on insurance costs, (c) healthier, happier employees increase productivity, AND let us not forget:
(d) People are currently dying or going bankrupt because they can’t afford to go to the hospital,
(e) People are living in utter fear that they will lose their policy
(f) Or that they will get sick and lose everything because they don’t have one,
(f) People with insurance are being hit with higher premiums and less effective coverage,
(g) The whole system is sinking fast--very fast--and
(h) Something has to be done NOW, not five or ten years from now.
Every day of delay destroys lives and stokes mountains of pain and stress. How could Snowe and Collins put off what we need immediately to save lives?
Indeed, Snowe’s point is only that the new Health Freedom might adversely affect business owners.
Collins makes the same case. Just as weak and narrow:
“Most Americans will be shocked to learn that Washington wants to slap fines on small businesses that hire more workers,” [Collins] said. “But the new health care law does exactly that. Incredibly, this reconciliation package makes matters worse.”
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/139739.html
Again, people are dying, people are sick, people are terrified, people are losing everything they worked for. And all our Senators can come up with is ... a possible fine?
So, I am very saddened for our State Senators. They are puppets of a political apparatus of vile fire eaters, and they are not that ugly themselves; but they have made some very bad decisions.
After the Civil Rights Act passed, violence raged. Red-faced southern pols vowed militant opposition. But today, those people are considered the epitome of ignorance.
Twenty years from now, unfortunately, Snowe and Collins will be considered rather forgettable members of the ignorance club.
Why couldn’t they have made the courageous choice. Ugh! Senator Snowe, I feel particularly sorry for you. Wake up!
OWL
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Acceptance: Barnwood Poetry Magazine
Every year I have a very special ritual. I take my three best unpublished poems and send them to Barnwood Poetry Magazine, hoping that they are at least worthy of brief attention.
What I really crave, though, is for at least one poem to be my highest achievement, the result of a perfect storm of passion, creativity, skill, and luck. A poem whose genesis alone is worth the nine years I have been toiling away at my craft, producing a draft almost every day. This is what Barnwood deserves, and even then it would be a small jewel in this magazine's treasure trove of excellence.
The legendary status of this journal is due to Editor Tom Koontz. He is a living embodiment of the archetypal literary sage. He has been immersed in word spells at least since 1978, probably longer. His journal (and the press of the same name) has morphed and branched for so long that it is like the journey of a seed into a tree, now large and indomitable, but also the progenitor of rhizomic offshoots stout in themselves.
Accordingly, there are various websites associated with Barnwood. This is partially due to a computer crash in 2007, and yet also the fitful metamorphosis of technology, which at some point crossed the rubicon of paper into the ethereal realm of the internet.
Perhaps the best place to start is the fruit of recent years:
http://web.mac.com/tomkoontz/Site_3/Mag.html
But don’t stop here. Koontz’s philosophy and wisdom have spread over multiple sites (accessible from the above).
For example, if you go back to the 1982 entry, you get a letter from Angela Peckinpaugh describing her study of charms and spells in the forms of poems; and also some early work by that great novelist and poet Marge Piercy.
( http://www.bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/mag/paper/sum82.html )
Admittedly, some if the information is hard to find; but the search itself is wonderful, as if winding through labyrinthian shelves in a timeless bookstore. A place of shadowy mystique, yet hale with the luster of brilliant writing.
If you go to Barnwood Press, you find out that:
“The ‘Barnwood’ Press is sponsored by The Barnwood Press Cooperative, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, founded in 1978 for the purpose of supporting the contemporary art of poetry through publishing and educational activities.”
And that the founding editors are : Sheila Coghill, Tom Koontz, Thom Tammaro, and Michael Tate.
( http://www.bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/index.html )
If you go to the 2002-2007 site, you find out that Koontz is Professor Emeritus of Ball State University in Washington, where he taught Creative Writing.
( http://web.mac.com/tomkoontz/Site_3/Contents.html )
What you really don’t want to miss out on are Koontz’s invigorating thoughts. Below are some links. These essay-like excursions deserve front-page honor in the very first official encyclopedia of online poetry (which has yet to be created--but when it is, Koontz should be up front):
http://www.bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/mag/edit.html
http://bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/mag/art/art.html
There are other caches of knowledge stashed around various Barnwood sites; and it is well worth the time to ferret them out. With a history in the arts going back to at least 1978, the lore of Koontz is almost preternatural. Not because he has been around the block, but because he has amassed one of the greatest collections of modern poetry, period.
The poems he includes in Barnwood are eclectic and testify to the versatility of his poetic third eye, his ability to sense power in timbres of all kinds. He publishes mostly free verse that displays furious language-skill and verbal dexterity; but also word-art of the visual kind; and experiments in-between that dare traipse beyond a standard deviation--or two or three--from readability.
I’m going to end this entry with an excerpt from the cover letter I sent him. This cover, spontaneously babbled, heaps further praise and relevance my tired brain can’t surpass right now.
Thank you for reading. Now go to Barnwood and THANK Tom Koontz for decades and decades of caring, toil, and quest.
-------------------------------------
Dear Editor Koontz,
>
>Please find a bio and also a trio of hopefuls below. They really don't like
>me anymore, because I've badgered them for months to get them in shape. I
>told them they'd be lucky to be worthy your of consideration, but they're as
>willful as teenage divas. I apologize if they get snobby. You know how to
>put them in their place.
>
>You've done startling and impressive things this year. The poems of
>Pagnotto ...Yowza and Wow!! The best "figure" wordplay I've ever seen. And
>yet right next door lives the lyrical simplicity of Holly Day's
>"Unencumbered." Schiffman immerses us in a tempestuous flow of phrases that
>somehow reminded me of a Beethoven's piano sonata. And then there's
>Popielaski's "End Times," a swift dash of spice.
>
>So, I admire you for being daring and personal; and for the broad
>circumference of your prerogative, and its many levels of discernment.
>
>Honestly, you're one of the great editors of our time. There's no way you
>will ever be thanked enough. I've decided that we all live in purgatory.
>Miracles everywhere, waiting to be enjoyed, as well as a handful of great
>editors to fully appreciate--and yet most of us bog down in the banal and
>perfunctory.
>
>Thank you for your time. I truly mean that. And thank you for all you have
>done for the poetry world.
>
>Most Sincerely and Humbly,
[OWL]
What I really crave, though, is for at least one poem to be my highest achievement, the result of a perfect storm of passion, creativity, skill, and luck. A poem whose genesis alone is worth the nine years I have been toiling away at my craft, producing a draft almost every day. This is what Barnwood deserves, and even then it would be a small jewel in this magazine's treasure trove of excellence.
The legendary status of this journal is due to Editor Tom Koontz. He is a living embodiment of the archetypal literary sage. He has been immersed in word spells at least since 1978, probably longer. His journal (and the press of the same name) has morphed and branched for so long that it is like the journey of a seed into a tree, now large and indomitable, but also the progenitor of rhizomic offshoots stout in themselves.
Accordingly, there are various websites associated with Barnwood. This is partially due to a computer crash in 2007, and yet also the fitful metamorphosis of technology, which at some point crossed the rubicon of paper into the ethereal realm of the internet.
Perhaps the best place to start is the fruit of recent years:
http://web.mac.com/tomkoontz/Site_3/Mag.html
But don’t stop here. Koontz’s philosophy and wisdom have spread over multiple sites (accessible from the above).
For example, if you go back to the 1982 entry, you get a letter from Angela Peckinpaugh describing her study of charms and spells in the forms of poems; and also some early work by that great novelist and poet Marge Piercy.
( http://www.bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/mag/paper/sum82.html )
Admittedly, some if the information is hard to find; but the search itself is wonderful, as if winding through labyrinthian shelves in a timeless bookstore. A place of shadowy mystique, yet hale with the luster of brilliant writing.
If you go to Barnwood Press, you find out that:
“The ‘Barnwood’ Press is sponsored by The Barnwood Press Cooperative, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation, founded in 1978 for the purpose of supporting the contemporary art of poetry through publishing and educational activities.”
And that the founding editors are : Sheila Coghill, Tom Koontz, Thom Tammaro, and Michael Tate.
( http://www.bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/index.html )
If you go to the 2002-2007 site, you find out that Koontz is Professor Emeritus of Ball State University in Washington, where he taught Creative Writing.
( http://web.mac.com/tomkoontz/Site_3/Contents.html )
What you really don’t want to miss out on are Koontz’s invigorating thoughts. Below are some links. These essay-like excursions deserve front-page honor in the very first official encyclopedia of online poetry (which has yet to be created--but when it is, Koontz should be up front):
http://www.bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/mag/edit.html
http://bsu.edu/classes/koontz/barnwood/mag/art/art.html
There are other caches of knowledge stashed around various Barnwood sites; and it is well worth the time to ferret them out. With a history in the arts going back to at least 1978, the lore of Koontz is almost preternatural. Not because he has been around the block, but because he has amassed one of the greatest collections of modern poetry, period.
The poems he includes in Barnwood are eclectic and testify to the versatility of his poetic third eye, his ability to sense power in timbres of all kinds. He publishes mostly free verse that displays furious language-skill and verbal dexterity; but also word-art of the visual kind; and experiments in-between that dare traipse beyond a standard deviation--or two or three--from readability.
I’m going to end this entry with an excerpt from the cover letter I sent him. This cover, spontaneously babbled, heaps further praise and relevance my tired brain can’t surpass right now.
Thank you for reading. Now go to Barnwood and THANK Tom Koontz for decades and decades of caring, toil, and quest.
-------------------------------------
Dear Editor Koontz,
>
>Please find a bio and also a trio of hopefuls below. They really don't like
>me anymore, because I've badgered them for months to get them in shape. I
>told them they'd be lucky to be worthy your of consideration, but they're as
>willful as teenage divas. I apologize if they get snobby. You know how to
>put them in their place.
>
>You've done startling and impressive things this year. The poems of
>Pagnotto ...Yowza and Wow!! The best "figure" wordplay I've ever seen. And
>yet right next door lives the lyrical simplicity of Holly Day's
>"Unencumbered." Schiffman immerses us in a tempestuous flow of phrases that
>somehow reminded me of a Beethoven's piano sonata. And then there's
>Popielaski's "End Times," a swift dash of spice.
>
>So, I admire you for being daring and personal; and for the broad
>circumference of your prerogative, and its many levels of discernment.
>
>Honestly, you're one of the great editors of our time. There's no way you
>will ever be thanked enough. I've decided that we all live in purgatory.
>Miracles everywhere, waiting to be enjoyed, as well as a handful of great
>editors to fully appreciate--and yet most of us bog down in the banal and
>perfunctory.
>
>Thank you for your time. I truly mean that. And thank you for all you have
>done for the poetry world.
>
>Most Sincerely and Humbly,
[OWL]
Monday, March 22, 2010
House Passes Health Reform Over Republican Evil
It is a truly great day for the advance of human dignity. The House of Representatives passed healthcare reform that will prevent 19,000 deaths a year and eliminate 45,000 bankruptcies a year.
Where did I get these numbers? From listening to C-Span coverage of the debate on the House floor. Over and over, Democrats took to the rostrum and spoke of people senselessly dying because they simply couldn’t afford medical treatment. The treatment exists, sometimes right up the street; but for 19,000 people a year, it is a cruel taunt. Like starving to death while watching a chocolate cake placed out of reach behind iron bars.
Similarly, whole families are going bankrupt because one member gets sick. Savings, houses, the trappings of a lifetime--all gone just because fate strikes. Imagine getting a hospital bill for $200,000 and having to sell your family’s house and go into debt the rest of your life. You can no longer afford college for your kids, or even a decent birthday gift. Your dreams crash and burn. Why do you deserve this? What did you do?
The above scenarios are hideous and absolutely intolerable in a country that claims to be a great bastion of freedom. It nauseated me to see angry flushed Republicans get up and rail about how the reform was taking away “freedom” from the “American people.” They must mean the freedom to die while treatment is across the street; or the freedom to be forced into bankruptcy through no fault of your own.
I want to see these disgusting Republicans go to the bedside of a mother wasting away from lack of affordable treatment and explain how they are defending her freedom.
I want to see these disgusting Republicans go to the foreclosure sale of a father who lost everything to medical bills and explain how they are defending his freedom.
I want to see these disgusting Republicans go up to a woman who can’t get coverage for her child with diabetes and explain how they are defending her freedom and her child’s freedom.
Apparently for Republicans, the “American people” do not include those Americans who are dying and penniless at the doorstep of callous insurance companies.
Nancy Pelosi said it best in the final speech of the night, wielding The Declaration of Independence with passion and skill. We have a right to life, liberty and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. You can’t pursue happiness if hospitals refuse to cure your illness unless you become a slave to debt. You can't pursue happiness if you live in terror of losing your job, even if you hate it, because it provides insurance.
The insurance companies have our freedom by the testicles and ovaries and are crushing tight.
Pelosi emphasized that this bill would free up the entrepreneurial spirit of the people. With health insurance guaranteed, we can unlock potentials of our souls to flourish.
This is the true essence of the pursuit of happiness.
The repulsive Republicans have a malignant conception of freedom. Freedom to be cruel, callous and corrupt. To support evil. For it is indeed evil to let human beings waste away for corporate profit. You are effectively looking in the eyes of a dying person--someone who could be saved by your actions as a leader of a wealthy nation--and saying, “Your freedom doesn't count."
Let me end with a telling article in today’s Washington Post, “Republican Leaders Stir Up The Tea Party Crowd” by Dana Milbank.
During the debate in the House, dozens of Republican lawmakers walked out onto the balcony and “proceeded to incite an unruly crowd.” This is a crowd that earlier had hurled racist and anti-gay epithets at Democrats. They screamed insults at Pelosi and others, “You communists! You socialists! You hate America!”
This angry ignorant vicious crowd is the antithesis of decency; and yet Republican leaders fanned their hatred:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The tea-party demonstrators chanted "Nancy! Nancy!" and held signs saying such things as "Red Queen Nancy -- Joseph Stalin Was Not a Saint."
That would have been the end of it, had Republican lawmakers not stirred things up. First Reps. Buck McKeon (Calif.), Rob Bishop (Utah) and Mike Turner (Ohio) came out waving signs saying "KILL THE BILL." The crowd went wild. Reps. Mary Fallin (Okla.), Geoff Davis (Ky.) and Bill Posey (Fla.) held the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, and Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.), head of the House Republicans' 2010 campaign committee, came out with half a dozen colleagues and more kill-the-bill signs. Rep. Jeff Miller (Fla.) dangled an American flag from the balcony.
"That's kind of fun," Fallin said cheerfully after a turn at riling the crowd with signs saying "No" in red letters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/21/AR2010032103484.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is this the GOP mentality that controls a large portion of our government? If so, it is a far greater menace than anything the Republicans target.
This is even worse than Rep. Ed Markey's (D-Mass.) accusation that the GOP now stands for "Grandstand, Oppose, and Postone." It means that GOP stands for Grand Old Pogrom.
In the spirit of true healing, we must say to these hate-mongering despicable leaders of surly mobs:
Physician, heal thyself.
Where did I get these numbers? From listening to C-Span coverage of the debate on the House floor. Over and over, Democrats took to the rostrum and spoke of people senselessly dying because they simply couldn’t afford medical treatment. The treatment exists, sometimes right up the street; but for 19,000 people a year, it is a cruel taunt. Like starving to death while watching a chocolate cake placed out of reach behind iron bars.
Similarly, whole families are going bankrupt because one member gets sick. Savings, houses, the trappings of a lifetime--all gone just because fate strikes. Imagine getting a hospital bill for $200,000 and having to sell your family’s house and go into debt the rest of your life. You can no longer afford college for your kids, or even a decent birthday gift. Your dreams crash and burn. Why do you deserve this? What did you do?
The above scenarios are hideous and absolutely intolerable in a country that claims to be a great bastion of freedom. It nauseated me to see angry flushed Republicans get up and rail about how the reform was taking away “freedom” from the “American people.” They must mean the freedom to die while treatment is across the street; or the freedom to be forced into bankruptcy through no fault of your own.
I want to see these disgusting Republicans go to the bedside of a mother wasting away from lack of affordable treatment and explain how they are defending her freedom.
I want to see these disgusting Republicans go to the foreclosure sale of a father who lost everything to medical bills and explain how they are defending his freedom.
I want to see these disgusting Republicans go up to a woman who can’t get coverage for her child with diabetes and explain how they are defending her freedom and her child’s freedom.
Apparently for Republicans, the “American people” do not include those Americans who are dying and penniless at the doorstep of callous insurance companies.
Nancy Pelosi said it best in the final speech of the night, wielding The Declaration of Independence with passion and skill. We have a right to life, liberty and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. You can’t pursue happiness if hospitals refuse to cure your illness unless you become a slave to debt. You can't pursue happiness if you live in terror of losing your job, even if you hate it, because it provides insurance.
The insurance companies have our freedom by the testicles and ovaries and are crushing tight.
Pelosi emphasized that this bill would free up the entrepreneurial spirit of the people. With health insurance guaranteed, we can unlock potentials of our souls to flourish.
This is the true essence of the pursuit of happiness.
The repulsive Republicans have a malignant conception of freedom. Freedom to be cruel, callous and corrupt. To support evil. For it is indeed evil to let human beings waste away for corporate profit. You are effectively looking in the eyes of a dying person--someone who could be saved by your actions as a leader of a wealthy nation--and saying, “Your freedom doesn't count."
Let me end with a telling article in today’s Washington Post, “Republican Leaders Stir Up The Tea Party Crowd” by Dana Milbank.
During the debate in the House, dozens of Republican lawmakers walked out onto the balcony and “proceeded to incite an unruly crowd.” This is a crowd that earlier had hurled racist and anti-gay epithets at Democrats. They screamed insults at Pelosi and others, “You communists! You socialists! You hate America!”
This angry ignorant vicious crowd is the antithesis of decency; and yet Republican leaders fanned their hatred:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The tea-party demonstrators chanted "Nancy! Nancy!" and held signs saying such things as "Red Queen Nancy -- Joseph Stalin Was Not a Saint."
That would have been the end of it, had Republican lawmakers not stirred things up. First Reps. Buck McKeon (Calif.), Rob Bishop (Utah) and Mike Turner (Ohio) came out waving signs saying "KILL THE BILL." The crowd went wild. Reps. Mary Fallin (Okla.), Geoff Davis (Ky.) and Bill Posey (Fla.) held the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, and Rep. Pete Sessions (Tex.), head of the House Republicans' 2010 campaign committee, came out with half a dozen colleagues and more kill-the-bill signs. Rep. Jeff Miller (Fla.) dangled an American flag from the balcony.
"That's kind of fun," Fallin said cheerfully after a turn at riling the crowd with signs saying "No" in red letters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/21/AR2010032103484.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is this the GOP mentality that controls a large portion of our government? If so, it is a far greater menace than anything the Republicans target.
This is even worse than Rep. Ed Markey's (D-Mass.) accusation that the GOP now stands for "Grandstand, Oppose, and Postone." It means that GOP stands for Grand Old Pogrom.
In the spirit of true healing, we must say to these hate-mongering despicable leaders of surly mobs:
Physician, heal thyself.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
"Nigger" Used By Angry Vicious Mob
Today marks one of those rarest moments in national government when historic legislation, saved heroically from the jaws of ignorance, could be achieved. For a hundred years, a political battle has been fought in the United States to gain universal healthcare, and now we are on the precipice of a monumental breakthrough. It comes down to a clutch of conservative democrats who are still on the fence because they are fixated on a conjecture: that the new system could somehow advance their bête noire, abortion rights.
Rendering this moment all the more intense, hundreds of reactionaries, many affiliated with the Tea Party movement, have gathered outside the Capitol, jeering and hurling racist and anti-gay epithets at Democratic Representatives. One black lawmaker, Emanuel Cleaver, was spit on. James E. Clyburn, Majority Whip, had this to say:
“I have heard things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to get off the back of the bus."
Rep. Barney Frank was “heckled with anti-gay chants.” (Washington Post, ref. below)
This is not just a few oddballs in an otherwise decent gathering. This is a tinderbox of fury eager to erupt:
“At one point, when Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) wanted to walk across the street to an office building, he was ushered into a car by his security detail and driven a couple hundred feet through the screaming crowd.” (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/20/AR2010032002556.html?nav=hcmodule
This ugly vitriol reveals the sick face of the impediment to reform. A puerile mob scary to anyone who believes in intelligent discourse and deplores fuehrer-quality furor. Crowds like this are the reason we need more and better education on the perils of agglomerate rage. The prevalence of Tea Party hatemongers, the dregs of citizenry, is a symptom of the illness of dumbed-down dogma that has blighted this land far too long.
But the most garish symptom of all is the Republican Party itself. With goosestep GOP conformity, down to the last member of Congress, they have refused support. Not a single yea vote. So much for individualism and self-expression.
Not only that, they have ceaseless worked to torpedo the bill, maligning it and its supporters with the most vehement rhetoric. "This is not over. They do not have the votes yet. We've got to keep working to make sure that they never, ever, ever, ever get the votes to pass this bill," says Minority Leader John A Beohner (R-Ohio).
Republicans even stoked the vile herd of Tea Party protesters:
“Saturday evening, more than a handful of House Republicans held an impromptu rally on the Capitol steps. Using a megaphone, the lawmakers urged on the crowd. Shortly after 6 p.m., Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.) dared Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to come out onto the House steps and address the more than 1,000 people who were gathered at the foot of the Capitol, prompting a loud and angry chant of "Nancy, Nancy, Nancy." (Washington Post)
Long ago, the philosopher Plato said in The Republic that a city-state was like a human soul, with different factions reflecting different traits. Carrying this metaphor to the present, the blind GOP represents that part of the mind which turns childish as catastrophe looms, blaming everyone else and fuming with red cheeks--all the while serving the shadowy interests of the rich and greedy, and denying that eight years of George W Bush tunneled us into a terrible mess.
The Democrats, led by Obama, represent the rational part of the mind, accompanied by its most noble passions. The goal is fairness and equality. To end the suffering of millions who currently have no access to healthcare. If the bill passes, the result will be flawed, but it is our only chance to break out of the stagnant muck of partisanship crippling the USA.
Rendering this moment all the more intense, hundreds of reactionaries, many affiliated with the Tea Party movement, have gathered outside the Capitol, jeering and hurling racist and anti-gay epithets at Democratic Representatives. One black lawmaker, Emanuel Cleaver, was spit on. James E. Clyburn, Majority Whip, had this to say:
“I have heard things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to get off the back of the bus."
Rep. Barney Frank was “heckled with anti-gay chants.” (Washington Post, ref. below)
This is not just a few oddballs in an otherwise decent gathering. This is a tinderbox of fury eager to erupt:
“At one point, when Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) wanted to walk across the street to an office building, he was ushered into a car by his security detail and driven a couple hundred feet through the screaming crowd.” (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/20/AR2010032002556.html?nav=hcmodule
This ugly vitriol reveals the sick face of the impediment to reform. A puerile mob scary to anyone who believes in intelligent discourse and deplores fuehrer-quality furor. Crowds like this are the reason we need more and better education on the perils of agglomerate rage. The prevalence of Tea Party hatemongers, the dregs of citizenry, is a symptom of the illness of dumbed-down dogma that has blighted this land far too long.
But the most garish symptom of all is the Republican Party itself. With goosestep GOP conformity, down to the last member of Congress, they have refused support. Not a single yea vote. So much for individualism and self-expression.
Not only that, they have ceaseless worked to torpedo the bill, maligning it and its supporters with the most vehement rhetoric. "This is not over. They do not have the votes yet. We've got to keep working to make sure that they never, ever, ever, ever get the votes to pass this bill," says Minority Leader John A Beohner (R-Ohio).
Republicans even stoked the vile herd of Tea Party protesters:
“Saturday evening, more than a handful of House Republicans held an impromptu rally on the Capitol steps. Using a megaphone, the lawmakers urged on the crowd. Shortly after 6 p.m., Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.) dared Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to come out onto the House steps and address the more than 1,000 people who were gathered at the foot of the Capitol, prompting a loud and angry chant of "Nancy, Nancy, Nancy." (Washington Post)
Long ago, the philosopher Plato said in The Republic that a city-state was like a human soul, with different factions reflecting different traits. Carrying this metaphor to the present, the blind GOP represents that part of the mind which turns childish as catastrophe looms, blaming everyone else and fuming with red cheeks--all the while serving the shadowy interests of the rich and greedy, and denying that eight years of George W Bush tunneled us into a terrible mess.
The Democrats, led by Obama, represent the rational part of the mind, accompanied by its most noble passions. The goal is fairness and equality. To end the suffering of millions who currently have no access to healthcare. If the bill passes, the result will be flawed, but it is our only chance to break out of the stagnant muck of partisanship crippling the USA.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Millions Sick or Dying In the US Without Treatment
Paul Krugman’s latest op-ed, “Why We Reform” sums up my feelings on the stupidity of humanity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/opinion/19krugman.html
This article on healthcare reform in the United States starts out by saying that the fate of reform currently lies in hands of a few conservative Democrats. This handful of folks will decide if we get a flawed yet significant improvement or whether we have to wait perhaps a decade for another chance.
That little bit alone is AMAZING. What the F$*#@ kind of screwed-up sclerotic bureaucracy is so constipated that it can’t make the obvious decision to provide medical treatment for tens of millions of people who currently have no access?
And it’s almost equally ridiculous that if the current plan doesn’t pass, we’ll have to wait ten more years for another chance. What does this say about the moral fabric of the so-called wealthiest nation on Earth?
We pour more money into medicine, per capita, than any other nation, and our system is ridiculous and pathetic. Not only are many people uninsured, those that are insured are paying massive “deductibles” and being horribly gouged.
Here is one commentator’s remarks on the Krugman piece:
“I have an Assurant Health Insurance Policy with a $5,100 deductible. I have had the policy for almost three years, and I have never come close to the deductible limit. Effectively, I am paying for all of my health care, plus the premiums. Despite never having a claim which required payment... my premiums were increased by 50% in one year. If I do become seriously ill, I do not want to have my insurance ‘rescinded’”.
The reason so much money does so little is simple: greed. Greedy insurance companies that terminate people’s policies when they get sick. Greedy insurance companies that can deny policies based on absurd pre-existing conditions like acne and being beat up by your spouse.
Krugman’s case of the insurer Fortis (now part of Assurant Health) dropping people with HIV “for any excuse, no matter how flimsy” does indeed, as he says, illustrate “the vileness of our current system.”
And get this: Although Assurant’s systemic cancellation of HIV policyholders was found to be illegal, the fine imposed was not enough to negate the profit of the wrongdoing:
“The truth, widely documented, is that behavior like Assurant Health’s is widespread for a simple reason: it pays. A House committee estimated that Assurant made $150 million in profits between 2003 and 2007 by canceling coverage of people who thought they had insurance, a sum that dwarfs the fine the court imposed in this particular case.”
(Krugman, “Why We Reform”)
The US Empire got rich after WWII and yet within several decades that wealth was securely in the hands of 10% of the population, most of it in the bloated piggybanks of the top 1%. So much money and so little kindness. So much acrimony and selfishness.
A mean horde--a large vocal faction of the citizenry--is thoroughly and disgustingly against what they call “handouts” for those without insurance, which is to say, those who cannot get serious medical treatment without going into massive debt that will dog them all their lives.
Cases of people losing their entire life savings when they get cancer or have a heart attack are not uncommon. Poof. All gone to pay for bloated bills ramped up by a dysfunctional system where hospitals bleed insurance companies and insurance companies bleed the public.
I want to end this rant with one of Krugman’s best lines ever:
“This is a story that could happen only in America. In every other advanced nation, insurance coverage is available to everyone regardless of medical history. Our system is unique in its cruelty.”
I SCREAM out to the gods: Why do you let so many people suffer under the ignorance of so many other people?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/opinion/19krugman.html
This article on healthcare reform in the United States starts out by saying that the fate of reform currently lies in hands of a few conservative Democrats. This handful of folks will decide if we get a flawed yet significant improvement or whether we have to wait perhaps a decade for another chance.
That little bit alone is AMAZING. What the F$*#@ kind of screwed-up sclerotic bureaucracy is so constipated that it can’t make the obvious decision to provide medical treatment for tens of millions of people who currently have no access?
And it’s almost equally ridiculous that if the current plan doesn’t pass, we’ll have to wait ten more years for another chance. What does this say about the moral fabric of the so-called wealthiest nation on Earth?
We pour more money into medicine, per capita, than any other nation, and our system is ridiculous and pathetic. Not only are many people uninsured, those that are insured are paying massive “deductibles” and being horribly gouged.
Here is one commentator’s remarks on the Krugman piece:
“I have an Assurant Health Insurance Policy with a $5,100 deductible. I have had the policy for almost three years, and I have never come close to the deductible limit. Effectively, I am paying for all of my health care, plus the premiums. Despite never having a claim which required payment... my premiums were increased by 50% in one year. If I do become seriously ill, I do not want to have my insurance ‘rescinded’”.
The reason so much money does so little is simple: greed. Greedy insurance companies that terminate people’s policies when they get sick. Greedy insurance companies that can deny policies based on absurd pre-existing conditions like acne and being beat up by your spouse.
Krugman’s case of the insurer Fortis (now part of Assurant Health) dropping people with HIV “for any excuse, no matter how flimsy” does indeed, as he says, illustrate “the vileness of our current system.”
And get this: Although Assurant’s systemic cancellation of HIV policyholders was found to be illegal, the fine imposed was not enough to negate the profit of the wrongdoing:
“The truth, widely documented, is that behavior like Assurant Health’s is widespread for a simple reason: it pays. A House committee estimated that Assurant made $150 million in profits between 2003 and 2007 by canceling coverage of people who thought they had insurance, a sum that dwarfs the fine the court imposed in this particular case.”
(Krugman, “Why We Reform”)
The US Empire got rich after WWII and yet within several decades that wealth was securely in the hands of 10% of the population, most of it in the bloated piggybanks of the top 1%. So much money and so little kindness. So much acrimony and selfishness.
A mean horde--a large vocal faction of the citizenry--is thoroughly and disgustingly against what they call “handouts” for those without insurance, which is to say, those who cannot get serious medical treatment without going into massive debt that will dog them all their lives.
Cases of people losing their entire life savings when they get cancer or have a heart attack are not uncommon. Poof. All gone to pay for bloated bills ramped up by a dysfunctional system where hospitals bleed insurance companies and insurance companies bleed the public.
I want to end this rant with one of Krugman’s best lines ever:
“This is a story that could happen only in America. In every other advanced nation, insurance coverage is available to everyone regardless of medical history. Our system is unique in its cruelty.”
I SCREAM out to the gods: Why do you let so many people suffer under the ignorance of so many other people?
Poem: Late Night Block
Here’s a poem of mine that was very recently published in Yes, Poetry! It captures my sad and dour mood quite well; for at the moment I feel absolutely powerless in the face of human ignorance. I am so sick of greed and selfishness ruling the world.
If you like this poem, there are two more of mine at: yespoetry.com (scroll down to March 10)
Thanks for stopping by.
OWL
---------------------------------------------------
Late Night Block
my hands folded, boney.
corpse-still on my lap.
the fingers not
clog dancing over keys.
only a still ridge
announcing
the dark side of the moon.
at two a.m., the dim lamp
is hitting them that way.
shading the bulk of the skin
to pale the knuckles.
each round bump
a bloodless face
of a solider lying near the Marne,
late september.
if they moved now,
it would be sweet magic.
make their fiancées
in distant homelands cry.
but the lamp is heavy.
cold as a gibbous sky
soon to cast sleet.
it’s hard to think under its siege
of anything the dead
want to say.
----------------------------------------------------
If you like this poem, there are two more of mine at: yespoetry.com (scroll down to March 10)
Thanks for stopping by.
OWL
---------------------------------------------------
Late Night Block
my hands folded, boney.
corpse-still on my lap.
the fingers not
clog dancing over keys.
only a still ridge
announcing
the dark side of the moon.
at two a.m., the dim lamp
is hitting them that way.
shading the bulk of the skin
to pale the knuckles.
each round bump
a bloodless face
of a solider lying near the Marne,
late september.
if they moved now,
it would be sweet magic.
make their fiancées
in distant homelands cry.
but the lamp is heavy.
cold as a gibbous sky
soon to cast sleet.
it’s hard to think under its siege
of anything the dead
want to say.
----------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Acceptance: Ex Cathedra Literary Magazine
I may be violating a high level ecclesiastic code just by mentioning my acceptance. After all, the email arriving with the good news contained this ominous footer:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email, including any attachments, contains information from Ex Cathedra Literary Magazine, which may be confidential or privileged. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by "reply to sender only" message and destroy all electronic and hard copies of the communication, including attachments.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
But I am so ebullient that I am willing to risk excommunication by the Pope, which is to say the editors. Ah, I’m not making any sense! Well, the situation is this: Ex Cathedra dares to be satirical right down to the attitudes and proclamations of the staff. They’ve obviously endured a good dose of catechism, for they wield their croziers and triregnums with superb sanctimony and grace.
All this would be too much and too ridiculous if it were not carried off with just the right amount of sarcasm and derring-do, balanced with careful writing and a fig leaf of tact. So far, the powers behind the scenes at Ex Cathedra have done it. Judging by the quality of poetry they publish and the very low acceptance rate (2% for the latest issue), they are handling an increasing flood of submissions. This wouldn’t surprise me at all, given the originality and charisma of their very unique and comical approach. Indeed, there is a touch of genius in the genesis of this project. The serious sort that draws attention on a wide scale.
I’m going to risk further papal sanctions by quoting from my privileged acceptance letter once more, despite the above CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE, which specifically applies to entities such as Owl Who Laughs (usually I can ignore contracts because they only apply to individuals and not entities--but these editors are smart!):
--------------------------------------------
The Editors of Ex Cathedra Literary Magazine have thoroughly read your poetry submission. They are pleased to welcome [your poems] into the crisp, new pages of the third issue of Ex Cathedra Literary Magazine: The Third Doctrine, which will appear in its digital form on 27 March 2010. Congratulations!
The Editors are very excited to have found a home for your work and cannot wait to display it to an international audience, alongside some of the greatest writers of the Twenty-First Century. The acceptance rate for this particular issue is projected to be below 2%, with thousands of submissions from outstanding authors around the world.
---------------------------------------------
At this rate of accelerative popularity the editors of Ex Cathedra might someday surpass the real Pope in influence; and then we will have true lovers of great poetry where they should be--holding the keys to paradise.
Thank you Ex Cathedra and especially Arton Gjonbalaj, Editor-in-Chief (I hope I haven’t committed yet another heresy by mentioning this hallowed name).
OWL
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email, including any attachments, contains information from Ex Cathedra Literary Magazine, which may be confidential or privileged. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by "reply to sender only" message and destroy all electronic and hard copies of the communication, including attachments.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
But I am so ebullient that I am willing to risk excommunication by the Pope, which is to say the editors. Ah, I’m not making any sense! Well, the situation is this: Ex Cathedra dares to be satirical right down to the attitudes and proclamations of the staff. They’ve obviously endured a good dose of catechism, for they wield their croziers and triregnums with superb sanctimony and grace.
All this would be too much and too ridiculous if it were not carried off with just the right amount of sarcasm and derring-do, balanced with careful writing and a fig leaf of tact. So far, the powers behind the scenes at Ex Cathedra have done it. Judging by the quality of poetry they publish and the very low acceptance rate (2% for the latest issue), they are handling an increasing flood of submissions. This wouldn’t surprise me at all, given the originality and charisma of their very unique and comical approach. Indeed, there is a touch of genius in the genesis of this project. The serious sort that draws attention on a wide scale.
I’m going to risk further papal sanctions by quoting from my privileged acceptance letter once more, despite the above CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE, which specifically applies to entities such as Owl Who Laughs (usually I can ignore contracts because they only apply to individuals and not entities--but these editors are smart!):
--------------------------------------------
The Editors of Ex Cathedra Literary Magazine have thoroughly read your poetry submission. They are pleased to welcome [your poems] into the crisp, new pages of the third issue of Ex Cathedra Literary Magazine: The Third Doctrine, which will appear in its digital form on 27 March 2010. Congratulations!
The Editors are very excited to have found a home for your work and cannot wait to display it to an international audience, alongside some of the greatest writers of the Twenty-First Century. The acceptance rate for this particular issue is projected to be below 2%, with thousands of submissions from outstanding authors around the world.
---------------------------------------------
At this rate of accelerative popularity the editors of Ex Cathedra might someday surpass the real Pope in influence; and then we will have true lovers of great poetry where they should be--holding the keys to paradise.
Thank you Ex Cathedra and especially Arton Gjonbalaj, Editor-in-Chief (I hope I haven’t committed yet another heresy by mentioning this hallowed name).
OWL
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
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