Tom Clancy "Patriot Games": contemptible on every level: exploitative, simplistic, macho, manipulative. Clancy's a fascist; H. Ford a whore.

Boomers! Prayin' for rain!

Only down-side to Germany v. England? That they couldn't BOTH LOSE.

Diggin' the sublime ferocity of Mason Brown & Doug Goodhart, this mawnin': http://ping.fm/ntwxb

How to control an Ulster Scotsman's taste for single-malts: keep 'em sealed--Presbyterian tightfistedness takes care of the rest!

Remembering Ali Akbar Khan, whose last act, on the day he died, was to *teach a lesson*. May I depart with such grace & courage.

Re/ Barton's "apology" to BP: 82% of Texans think Barton was wrong & President right; these are OUR beaches: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/23/barton-18-percent-apologize/

On-the-ground wisdom re/ Mullah McChrystal from a remarkable and courageous Afghan blogger: http://ping.fm/yQf1z

Little pub in a storefront or mill building somewhere in the Berkshire hills, patch of ground w/ trees, time to write... Someday, I promise.

Animals are our brothers. We should protect them--not kill them: http://ping.fm/P35kY

Re/ McChrystal:

From the Uniform Code of Military Justice:

"Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct."

90,000 singing "Nkosi sikelele Afrika" at the Big Calabash and I am weeping.

After melodrama of past few days, it's not JUST chauvinism that makes me hope S Africa kicks the merde out of France today. WOZA! Woza woza!

Oh, and BP, who've trotted out a professorial black guy in ads for all you're doing to "make things right"? Just go die, OK?

Diggin' World Cup no end, learning a lot, but (no revelation here) the absurd histrionic flops are wussy in the extreme.

Moved inexpressibly at receiving Father's Day greetings from non-biological young'uns & thinking of Greg Brown: http://ping.fm/IeO3d

Aphorism: the "job" of a teacher, ultimately, is facilitate others in becoming more fully themselves. Hence not a job; more like a privilege.

Reality TV: further evidence that "core American values" are sloth, voyeurism, and stupidity.

I am content.

In the High Hills w/ Dharmonia & good friendS