Patriotism

Yes, I know that America is a great place, I love the Constitution like St. Teresa loved the lord, and I served this great nation in bad times in the U.S.Navy and in good times in the Peace Corps, so forgive me in the post below when I say that America is not perfect, because it's not.

Protecting the Temple

Not all Thai women are pretty, but they all know how to work hard.

Louis Farrakhan Was Malcolm X in Drag

I just got done reading way too many comments on Huffington Post responding to the Rev. Wright vs. Obama talk-off over the weekend. The above statement is the only one I didn’t find.

I did see every other kind of half-baked, naïve bullshit imaginable. Nothing was even remotely worth repeating or commenting on.

Every gapping asshole in the country has a stupid gig-name and people obviously have way too much time on their hands, which they’d be better off spending at the library reading actual books instead of concentrating for their education on the internet comments of other idiots.

I’m afraid that I may want to run for office someday so I’ll put the kibosh on that right now, because it would be a really bad idea. I read Muhammad Speaks for years, that’s right, you heard me, and I liked it. And not just while that nice man Wallace Muhammad was in charge; I read it regularly when his dad Elijah “Death to the White Devils” Muhammad was the head man too, and even Mr. Farrakhan, although there was less to agree with by then. I paid full price and I actually read it, and I agreed with a lot of what I read, and not just the recipes for bean pies.

A setting forth of all of the things that would prevent me from ever getting elected to anything would take up way too much space.

They, Rev. Wright, and Malcolm, bless his memory, and for that matter Mr. Farrakhan, have said many things that I wholeheartedly agree with. We share a view that the United States is not perfect, and it’s not, haven’t you been paying attention? Baby Huey in a Glass Menagerie is more like it.

You wait and see. We’re going to end up with President McCain because, after all, Hillary “cries at the drop of a hat and lies about being shot at,” and Obama “is insensitive to poor people(!) and cozies up to terrorists.” So we get McCain, unliked by every group he was ever forced upon, from grade school to the Senate, and especially in the Navy; a mediocre ground-attack pilot whose skylarking caused serious problems for his shipmates; and a POW collaborator who got scads of medals for his trouble because his dad was a big shot.

God help me, it’s enough to make you puke blood.

Where is Tony Hoagland's Bio?

I’ve been reading poetry on the net and looking for bio’s of some guys I like. I love Tony Hoagland’s stuff, so I looked for a bio. All I found was these Curriculum Vitae things like, what awards did he get, how many grants, what has he published, where does he teach poetry to idiots to make a living, etc.

But I want to know: was he a good student? when he was a boy, could he fight? could he hit the long ball? how many times has he been divorced? ever been arrested? what kind of car does he drive? has he visited Uzbekistan? Romania? has he gone around the world on a tramp steamer? was he a passenger or a member of the crew? is he afraid to fly? does he own guns? can he hold his liquor? what’s his favorite TV show of all time? any artificial limbs?

I’m not being nosy, he’s a public person, he’s all over the net, sells books, gives seminars. I just want to know.

I Wai the Help

This is Khun Amara, she's building cleaning staff for half of our floor. In Thailand it's not considered good form to show too much respect for the help, after all, they are low status people and especially in the university environment lots of us are very high status.

So I have learned, whenever there are people around I just say to Amara, "sawat'dee, c'ap" and smile; but if I'm alone when she comes in I give her a wai. I told her, I'm American and I respect you for the work that you do. We are both people with jobs and families, we both deserve respect.

Do people in America really feel like that or is it just me? Or was it just when I was younger? Now money seems to talk, and bullshit sure walks.

Thanks

Thanks to all my new readers, announced and unannounced; hello and a big thanks for reading to a few long standing friends who are reading now, I don't call anybody an "old friend" any more; and a shout out to the young lady in Nevada who is so generous in her comments; thank you all.

And Yet People Eat Them

I was sitting on my “veranda,” it sounds so grand when I say “veranda,” and in the neighborhood below I heard a loud speaker truck. I thought it was probably an election routine. I noticed that the repeating word sounded a lot like “durian,” the incredibly disagreeable fruit that is unaccountably so popular here. Then I saw the truck, a real nice covered bed pick up, new looking, and sure enough, it was full of durian.

This thing smells so bad and so strong that it is not allowed on public transportation here and most hotels have signs that forbid “dogs or durian.”

But people like them. It’s like eating butter, it’s so rich. It’s like a super-concentrated banana flavor. Too much can kill you. I didn’t believe it either, look it up.