The Furious Spinner

We are living in interesting times.

Is the screw turning? Here's a good article on the failure of the press during the Bush tenure. Orville Schell reminds the media of what I. F. Stone said, "If you want to know about governments, all you have to know is two words: Governments lie."

The Democrats are firming up their platform. Unfortunately, they are driving right in the middle of the road, maybe even a little to the right. Dennis Kucinich, it seems, even gave up the ghost and could not get the platform committee to say anything about withdrawing from Vietnam...I mean Iraq. (Dennis makes a similar slip of the tongue in his interview with Amy Goodman.) I say he fought harder at it than anyone else. Thanks, Mr. Kucinich.

And speaking of Amy Goodman (I start too many paragraphs with that phrase, I know), you can now get Democracy Now! on Link TV on DirecTV Channel 375 and Dish Network Channel 9410 weekdays at 11am EST. If you don't know Democracy Now!, try to check them out. Amy Goodman asks the tough questions. She's a good journalist. (Thanks for the heads up on this, Linda.)

Not only are we living in interesting times, but I fear Hell may have frozen over. The Department of Homeland Security decided to kill CAPPS II, the airline passenger profiling system. Even the DHS decided "this program would have had immense implications for Americans' privacy." Oh really. Well, good for them for stopping it before it really got started.

You've probably all heard about the demise of the Federal Marriage Amendment. Yes! Ain't it grand?

Remember I mentioned Michael Moore said he'd come up with a link for facts and figures to back up the facts and figures in his movie. Here they be!

In another example where the people in government don't always think things through, China is now offering money to couples to have baby girls. You'll recall, of course, that China mandated only one child per couple some decades ago, in an attempt to curb population growth. Anyone with any sense could have told them that soon they would have too many boys and not enough girls. In a patriarchal society where females are not valued and couples can only have one child, they're going to want a girl. Infant girls were often left in orphanages (or left for dead). Now for every 100 girls born, 117 boys survive. The government now sees this isn't good, so they've offered "rewards" for having baby girls. What do you think the consequence of this is going to be?

New Mexico can we looked at as a kind of microcosm of our country—maybe of the world. So many of its problems are extreme, immediate, and difficult to solve. This article is a good overview of the difficulties the state is facing.

I miss the Southwest. I feel strangely at home and totally alien when I'm there—the feeling is disconcerting and lovely.

As you know, Mario and I had to leave home Wednesday because the school decided to spray pesticides again. I didn't sleep the night before—didn't fall to sleep until 4:00 a.m.—and then awoke in a fog about 6:00 a.m. I didn't feel well, but I could not imagine staying in the house for the next three hours while they poisoned my neighborhood, so I stumbled into the car with Mario, who had taken part of the day off, and we headed to Eagle Creek. At 6:00 a.m., no eagles were at the creek. No fish. No birds—except for a kingfisher, signaling the halcyon days. Even the morning mist seemed lethargic, dreamily rising from the tall evergreens.

But we survived the day, thank you. I even slept ten hours last night. So this morning I walked to the county courthouse, about a block and a half from our house, to observe court (research for a novel). Court was on recess, so I went downstairs and out the door—and fell flat on my face. I fell hard. Fortunately my hands got the brunt of the force, instead of my nose and face, along with my knee. At first, I was so stunned and hurt I couldn't get up. I had blood on my hands and knees. I didn't think I could move, but no one came to help me! I was stunned—literally. I finally was able to get up off the pavement and stumbled, weaving like a drunkard, toward home. I was so dizzy I wasn't sure I could do it. But I did. As soon as I got home, I took a drop of Bach Rescue Remedy; then I cleaned out the wounds (with Mario's help).

What was strange about this is that last week in the middle of the night, in the dark of the night, I ran into a small table in my study and got the worst bruise I've ever had. At first it was this beautiful purple and blue bruise, the size of my fist in the shape of a heart, on my left thigh. Plus it was hard beneath the bruise. Later in the week the color and shape changed. It looked like a nebula at one point. Now it's a kind of green and red yin/yang shape.

So now both of my legs are battered, bloody, and bruised. My right hand is scraped, bloody and bruised in some places, and my right side aches. It'll be interesting to see what I feel like in the morning.

I am Grace, personified.

There it is. I'm behind in all my work, since I had to go on the run. I owe lots of letters. Thank you all for your words. Genevieve, your letter made my day—thanks for the encouragement. And now, I'm off to catch up on my sleep.

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