Bookmarked: The Mathnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi translated by E.H. Whinfield (1898).

The Adventures of Deadeye Dick, Continued . . .

So . . . will it come to be known as Cheney's Chappaquiddick--"Cheney's Chappaquiddick II: The Real Story Emerges" by R. J. Eskow at Huffington Post--or as Bill Clinton's Revenge--"Was Cheney Hiding His Lewinsky?" by Bob Cesca, also at Huffington Post--?

(With all due respect to Captain Billy and his Whiz-Bang, I think the phrase "hiding your Lewinsky" has a good ring to it and should be brought into everyday usage in informal politician's lingo, to denote any inept attempt to hide a potentially embarrassing assignation with a woman who is not your wife--or for that matter a man who is not your husband . . . Hillary take note.)

Random Site of the Moment Dept.:

BuddhaNet.

Bookmarked: Escher for Real. (This includes some fascinating "physical realizations" of artist M. C. Escher's impossible--in three dimensions at least-- geometric designs and even some of his impossible buildings.)

Why They "Hate" Us Dept.:

"The photos America doesn't want seen" at The Sydney Morning Herald's website. (Warning: The posted images are not in any way nice.)

Curiouser and Curiouser Dept.:

I knew it. The 2000 U.S. Presidential election was strong indication. But now here's conclusive evidence. Proof. It's true. The world is turning into a Salvador Dali painting.

Bookmarked: The Cortland Review, Jacket and jubilat.

Egad! I've actually completed a new book review, though I'm still two and a half books behind in my logging . . . .

Bookmarked: Godchecker.com.

"With the country loaded and on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, Cheney and his neo-con gang swung the army around and fired at Saddam Hussein and Iraq, leaving that country staggering and massively wounded. Like the quail he took his eye off of, Osama and his gang are free as ... well, birds, plotting more mayhem."

From "Deadeye Dick: Is Abramoff Next?" by Dave Lindorff at CounterPunch.

It's become routine for Leftish critics to see George W. Bush as the Bafoon-in-Chief of his own administration--which is of course true as far as it goes--and to view Dick Cheney in contrast as coolly calculating and, well, somehow smart. But this time Bush has been toppled from his position as Number One Clown on the List of American Idiots; perhaps, to regain his Top-Dunce standing, he could brain a passing spectator with a golf-ball? Trample one of those pesky Knight-Ridder reporters while riding horseback on the ranch? Crash an F-16 into an aircraft-carrier in the midst of a heroic photo-op? Invade and occupy a sovereign nation, killing thousands of innocent civilians using smart-bombs and the standard canon-fodder of working-class American youth, reducing much of the country to rubble and barbarism . . . no, damnit; did that already . . . and lots of people in the U.S. still believe it wasn't the strategically stupid (not to mention morally bankrupt) move that it really is . . . .

Gosh but this is gonna be a tough one to top.

Bookmarked: Switch. Off.

Irfan Khawaja's exhortative "The Danish Cartoon Controversy: Don't Buy It," at HNN, should really be just about the last word on the subject.

"It Should Break Your Heart to Kill" is an article about infantry team leader Brian Turner--who spent a year in Iraq--and his just-published book of poems Here, Bullet, by Jennifer Liss, at AlterNet.

"Think the Internet will always be the freewheeling, democratic information superhighway you've grown to rely on? Well, think again. Corporate media giants are working hard behind the scenes to convince a clueless and compliant Congress to privatize the Internet. The telecom and cable giants want to fence off the Internet with one area for the haves--who will pay a premium to enjoy life in the fast lane--and the other for the have-nots."

From "Support Net Neutrality" by Peter Rothberg at The Nation's Act Now! blog.