Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 8:36 PM

I urge Dale Petroskey to resign immediately as Hall of Fame president, for the good of the Hall, and for the good of baseball.

I believe that Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon should not have been discouraged from speaking on political matters at the event commemorating Bull Durham. Mr. Petroskey himself made a strong political statement by inviting White House spokesman Ari Fleischer to speak at the Hall and issuing the following statement concerning that event:

We are thrilled to welcome him to Cooperstown and hear his perspective on life in the White House and the current political scene which, of course, includes the war on terrorism.

The Hall should welcome ALL fans of the greatest sport on earth, regardless of their political beliefs. While it is a defensible position that the Hall should not be a venue for political speech, the idea that the Hall should be a venue only for one type of political speech is indefensible - and contrary to the values of baseball.

I urge Mr. Petroskey to resign immediately as president of the Hall of Fame.

Further, I urge the Hall to issue a statement in favor of the God-given right to speak freely. This right, which is guaranteed by the US Constitution, is even more American than baseball, and it is ostensibly a significant part of what our soldiers have always fought to defend.

Thank you for considering my opinion.

[references added] If you agree with me, send your own email to the Hall.

Posted by Me at 18:48 link

A Lesson
The Iraqi war teaches
A lesson
That in order to prevent
A war
And defend the security
Of a country

It is necessary to have
A powerful
Physical
Deterrent
Force.

—North Korean news agency, April 18, 2003

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things
We know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

The They
When I was coming up,
It was a dangerous world
And we knew exactly
Who the they were.

It was us versus them.
And it was clear
Who the them was.

Today, we're not so sure
Who the they are,
But we know they're there.

—George W. Bush, Jan 23, 2000, Boston Globe Interview

Different
Kinds of waves -
Everything
In the universe
Is essentially connected
Through the vibration of various
Different
Kinds of waves -

Light waves,
Sound waves,
Radio waves

Everything that exists,
Has existed
Or will exist
Is a manifestation
Of the Mystic
Law

—The Buddha in Daily Life, pp. 195-6

Sure, there's plenty to wonder about -

• How could my country do this? And when will I be able to trust them again?
• Who's going to save the poor animals in the Baghdad zoo?
• What about the people of Iraq? Who's responsible for their welfare?
• Where is Salam Pax?

I had two to choose from. One was Professional Research & Reporting, essentially a technical writing class, ENG 114; the other was Literature-Based Research, essentially writing about writing, ENG 113. I wanted technical writing, but when I signed up, I mixed up the numbers, and here I am. I would have switched classes, but crappy economy = record enrollment = full classes. It wasn't a total waste. I've realized I actually like poetry, especially the poetry of the last 50 years. Who knows? Maybe it'll come in handy. Just ask me if you ever need to know the difference between synechdoche and metonymy, or the difference between an Italian sonnet and an English one.

Today's test was a two-hour nightmare including Definitions of Maddeningly-Obscure Terms, Fun with Prosody and Essays on Poems Only an English Major Could Love. I finished with less than a minute to spare and left the building trembling slightly, but filled with the elation only freedom from drudgery can bring. I didn't even care that some creep in a GMC Yukon almost ran me over as I biked home. I smiled and flashed the peace sign at him; bewildered, he waved back. Hey, I had the right-of-way. I flew the last few blocks, my wheels spinning twenty feet above the pavement.

Now if I can just finish that Seamus Heaney essay...

Posted by Me at 23:17 link

Some pro-peace folks are protesting by not paying their taxes. Bravo, I say; you're much braver than I am. I'm getting all my withholding taxes back, anyway, so I guess that's a very mild form of protest - earning little enough to pay no taxes.

This is in character with my other, similarly subtle forms of protest against the insanity and inanity of the world I find myself in.

• Driving as little as possible. Sometimes my car doesn't move for days on end. This is a small town, geographically, and most of what I want is just blocks away. Usually I bike. If the weather's really nasty, I walk. To do the shopping by bike, I'd have to get some big honking baskets; sadly, I'm not yet willing to look like that much of a geek.
• Using as little electricity as possible. Every lightbulb in the house is fluorescent. No air conditioning. No central heating. Laundry only when I have enough for a full load.
• Ecologically-friendly yard care. I use a push-reel mower. No pesticides. No herbicides. No artificial fertilizers. I confess, I do use an electric blower to get the leaves out of the gutters and off the roof.
• Recycling everything I can. The recycling bin is always full; the trash tub only needs to be rolled out about once every six weeks. The city picks up newspapers, aluminium cans, clear glass, plastic beverage containers. The dump accepts mixed paper, steel, cardboard, colored glass, batteries and more. And I reuse a number of things I can't recycle.
• Candle burning in the window. A statement for peace. Electric, so I don't burn down the house.
• Not flying the flag. Sigh. I love America. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Equality. Liberty and Justice for all. Those are what I think of when I see the Stars and Stripes. Unfortunately, flying the flag right now sends a radically different message. It says "9/11 means we can do whatever we want". It says "screw the rule of law - let's roll!"™ It says that war is the answer. I love America, but those are not American values. Those are un-American values. I do have an flag inside, where I don't have to worry about its meaning being misunderstood. By the way, if you're going to fly the flag, learn some flag etiquette.
• Choosing life. No, really. Eating as little meat as possible (yes, I realize poultry and fish aren't vegetables, but nobody's perfect, except possibly you). Wearing as little leather as possible. Walking in nature for recreation, taking pictures of animals rather than killing them. Standing up for the environment. Opposing war. Opposing the death penalty. Supporting reproductive health education. Supporting human rights - and peace - around the world.

Washington decided "ixnay on the Yriasay arway" for now.

Ali Abbas is getting the care he needs in Kuwait.

Bob Hope turns 100 next month.

The Hudsucker Proxy is still a great movie.

The weather is beautiful. Wish you were here. The mountains continue to seem a million miles away...

Posted by Me at 23:02 link

I know Ian will be all over this, so I'll just put a link and let it go at that - Roy Williams has just been named the new head coach of the UNC Tar Heels men's basketball team.

Meanwhile, the war of words continues. Bush: "Watch it, Syria". EU/Russia: "No, you watch it, Bush". Syria: "Please don't bomb us".

Meanwhile, it's not hypocrisy when we say it's not hypocrisy. Why? Because our army's bigger than your army, that's why.

Meanwhile, Ali Ismail Abbas, the twelve-year-old Iraqi boy whose arms were blown off by a US bomb and whose family was killed by a US bomb, needs to be airlifted out so he can get better medical care - or he may die. And the security situation in Baghdad is so bad that they can't even handle that.

Meanwhile, because I can't do anything about any of the above

I've just read - skimmed, really - the best book of bad poetry I've ever read (skimmed), perhaps the best bad poetry ever published: The Drunken Driver Has the Right of Way by Ethan Coen. From the title poem:

The loudest have the final say,
The wanton win, the rash hold sway,
The realist's rules of order say
The drunken driver has the right of way.

...

It's only the naivest who'll
Deny this, that the reckless rule;
When facing an oncoming fool
The practiced and sagacious say
Watch out--one side--look sharp--gang way.

However much you plan and pray,
Alas, alack,tant pis, oy we,
Now--heretofore--'til Judgement Day,
The drunken driver has the right of way.

A tumultuous standing ovation
Met the life science don's declaration
That "How Young Are Begot"
Was to be covered not
By a lecture, but live demonstration

from "For What It's Worth"

If you can count your complement
Of digits up to twenty
You could give a toe or finger to
A friend, and still have plenty.

You could even lend an ear to an
Unfortunate with none,
But by no means hand out noses since
Of those you have but one.

Bush joined the anti-Syria chorus today, making it seem very likely that they're going to start the next war sooner rather than later. This one will be super easy to sell to the American public - if the administration even bothers with that formality. Let's see if I've got it straight: the reasons for the Iraq war were 1) Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and 2) its evil leaders. According to Bush et al., Syria has WMDs and Iraq's evil leaders. So I guess now Bush will demand that Syria prove it doesn't have either of those, and when they fall short, we'll pounce.

This is another interesting facet of the Bush universe: the accused are no longer "innocent until proven guilty"; they must now prove their own innocence. (I wonder if Mr. Bush can prove he never did cocaine or went AWOL from his Air National Guard Unit?)

I don't think the American public really care anyway; "because I said so" will probably be sufficient justification to win over the mob. After all, the big worry with Iraq was that lots of Americans would die. Having taken Iraq with only about 100 American fatalities, most of America will now probably support whatever the administration desires. After all, why waste time and money when our troops are already there?

As for the rest of the world, sure, they may object, but what are they going to do about it? In case they haven't been paying attention, we just proved that our military is so big and bad that we can get away with whatever, wherever, whenever - and to whomever. You got a problem with that?

I mean, really, right and wrong, International Law? C'mon. That stuff's so 20^th century...

Yes, I'm being sarcastic, for anyone who might think I'm in favor of taking over the Middle East, or the world. I'm frustrated and angry; my government is throwing the rule of law right out the window and it seems no one can do anything about it.

Maybe I'm in such a bad mood because I've spent most of today writing an essay about a very depressing poem, "Mid-term Break", by Irish poet Seamus Heaney:

I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying -
He had always taken funerals in his stride -
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand

And tell me they were "sorry for my trouble",
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

While "only" 112 or so American families are dealing with stuff like that, and only about 50 British families, thousands of Iraqi families are grieving their lost children. Thousands more are grieving their maimed children. But who cares about them, right? Besides, the whole thing was Saddam's fault. That's another reason we need to invade Syria - to make him pay for all the pain he's caused everybody.

Right, Mr Bush?

Posted by Me at 20:41 link