Police Officer Fired in Shreveport Due to Violence Caught on Video

Is this police abuse? You tell me.

From KTBS.com comes news that the officer was fired: http://www.ktbs.com/news/Polic…

A Shreveport police officer has been fired after an incident in which a female prisoner taken into custody on suspicion of DWI wound up lying on a floor at the police station in a pool of blood.

If you watch the video, you’ll notice that there’s a gap:

Much of what happened was recorded on a videotape – but there is a gap of undetermined length. During that time, the woman wound up injured. She said she was beaten up; the officer said she fell.

It’s rather convenient that the injury happened while the video was off.

Seconds later, the tape is turned off as the officer apparently prepares to take her and book her. It is not known what happened while the tape was off, but when it was turned back on Garbarino was lying on the floor on her side in a pool of blood.

Even though the woman wasn’t cooperative (and it’s probably a good idea to be cooperative under similar circumstances should you face them), the officer was fired later:

Willis was fired earlier this month for what officials said was his handling of the incident. No criminal charges were filed accusing him of injuring the woman.

And how should the officer have handled the situation:

“The whole situation could have been avoided if the officer had followed procedure,” Miciotto said, referring to when an uncooperative person should be taken to jail.

The officer should have been fired anyway for turning off the video. There’s no way he can defend himself, while there’s no way to tell if he beat the woman up. We can guess all we want, but the video’s not there.

Originally posted here: http://rjones2818.blogspot.com…

The Road We Must Travel

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

Many of us spend hours each and every day on progressive blogs.   I know I do.   It’s important, we keep each other informed about the latest events in the world and developments in politics.  We debate the issues, we take action together by contacting our senators and congressmen, we contribute money to deserving progressive candidates through ActBlue and help other Americans in need by donating what we can as often as we can.

Our blogs have been vital sources of mutual support and friendship.  For years, on progressive websites large and small, we’ve helped each other make it through another day, and then another week, and then another month, and then another year as we’ve endured the abuses of this obscene travesty of a government.      

We’ve supported each other all the way through this, and we’re gaining political influence at the state and national levels.  But we have to build upon what we’re accomplishing on our blogs by defending democracy where it needs defending the most, in the corrupt corporate media.  We have to be the truth tellers in the pages of America’s newspapers.  We have to publicly condemn the bought and paid for politicians in both parties who claim to be defenders of America, but defend nothing but their sordid careers as they betray us time and time again.      

I managed to quit blogging long enough to write an LTE, and successfully e-mailed it to the Fargo Forum, so readers of my state’s largest newspaper have just seen the public condemnation of a treacherous politician who isn’t even fit to be an American citizen, much less fit to be representing 400,000 of them:  

Conrad’s Telecom Vote is a Betrayal

Published Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., betrayed us all on Feb. 12.  He betrayed you, he betrayed me, he betrayed every American soldier who ever fought and died to defend our freedom and liberty.  Conrad no longer believes in the Constitution and the rule of law.  He told us so.  He told us that when he tossed the Constitution and the rule of law into the nearest Dumpster, put on his politician suit and tie, combed his politician hair, and walked into what used to be the Senate of the United States to help criminal telecom companies and a criminal president destroy American democracy.

For years, big telecom companies conspired with George W. Bush and the National Security Agency to engage in massive, pervasive, illegal spying on Americans in violation of the Constitution.  That’s just fine with Conrad.  He told us so on Feb. 12. These powerful telecom companies believe they are above the law.  Conrad agrees.  He told us so on Feb. 12.  They don’t want spied on, lied to, abused, betrayed and victimized American citizens to be able to defend their Fourth Amendment rights in court.  That’s just fine with Conrad.  He couldn’t care less about the Constitution, the rule of law or our civil liberties.  He told us so on Feb. 12.

Terrorists can never destroy America, but they don’t have to.  They can just sit back and watch Conrad, Bush and the most corrupt pack of Beltway politicians ever to cash congressional paychecks destroy America for them.

If you still believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, call Conrad and ask him why he doesn’t.  His number is (202) 224-2043.

 

Have you written a letter-to-the-editor lately?

Most Americans don’t read blogs, but millions of them regularly read what other Americans are saying in the Op-Ed pages of their newspapers.  Thousands of people in North Dakota and Minnesota read that letter, Conrad the Treason Enabler and his treason enabling staff read it, and I advise them to brace themselves for another one, and then another one, because I have plenty more to say about hypocrites who betray America for a living and call it public service.

Why aren’t we all doing this?  Several million of us regularly read, comment, or post content on progressive blogs. We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of hours informing each other that America is being destroyed by a pack of criminals.  Meanwhile, as we keep ourselves fully informed about the latest destruction, that pack of criminals keeps right on destroying America.  

So . . . perhaps it’s time for Mr. Zuniga and Ms. Huffington and other leading proprietors of Progressive Blogdom to quit admiring their traffic stats, take some initiative, and organize a nationwide LTE Campaign so the 250 million Americans who don’t read blogs can open their newspapers and finally see what the truth looks like.  If the Illustrious Ones among us organize this, if every progressive who spends hours on blogs every day sets aside just an hour or two once a month for writing an Op-Ed letter, and speaks out in defense of American democracy in their newspapers, millions of us would be heard by tens of millions of Americans from now until Election Day.

Restoring American democracy is up to us, America’s future is in our hands:

So what are we waiting for?  

We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for isn’t just a slogan, it’s a fundamental truth we need to recognize and act upon.  Every one of us.  Every day.  So every American will realize that We the People isn’t just a slogan, it’s the ultimate truth of democracy and a moral imperative we all need to recognize and act upon.            

2008 can be the year we finally understand what the Hopi Elders understood, even though they had no laptops, no blogs, and no DHinMI to learn from and admire.  This year, if we heed their wisdom, we will understand what needs to be done, we will know who needs to do it, we will become the leaders we’ve been waiting for, and together, we will provide the leadership America so desperately needs:  

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.  Create your community.  Be good to each other.  And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

There is a river flowing now very fast.  It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore.  They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.  See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.  Least of all, ourselves.  For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.  Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Our government has been hijacked, our country has been stolen from us, our rights have been taken away, so we must gather ourselves.  We must reclaim what is ours.  America doesn’t belong to the deceivers and criminals who have shamed us all with their treachery, it belongs to us, it belongs to you and me, it belongs to our children.

The Hour has come to take back our rights, our government, and our country:    

 

Docudharma Times Friday February 22

This is an Open Thread:

Dawn changes everything

Everything

And the delta sun

Burns bright and violet

Friday’s Headlines:Crack Offenders Set for Release Mostly Nonviolent, Study Says: Soaring prices threaten economy: Africa: Zimbabwe inflation passes 100,000%, officials say: Kenyan beer stirs Obamamania: Europe:Serb rioters invade US embassy:Germany’s ‘Red Oskar’ set for more electoral success: Middle East: TV executive faces jail in Dubai for barely visible cannabis speck: Starbucks mother flouted the law, say religious police in Saudi Arabia: Latin America: Cubans hope for more self-employment


FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending



The nation’s top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall.

The prospect of being financially hamstrung by the very fundraising system he helped create is the latest in a series of bitter challenges for the presumed GOP nominee, who still faces a fractured conservative coalition as he assumes the mantle of party leadership.

USA

Crack Offenders Set for Release

Mostly Nonviolent, Study Says

Most of the more than 1,500 crack cocaine offenders who are immediately eligible to petition courts to be released from federal prisons under new guidelines issued by the U.S. Sentencing Commission are small-time dealers or addicts who are not career criminals and whose charges did not involve violence or firearms, according to a new analysis by the commission staff.

About 6 percent of the inmates were supervisors or leaders of drug rings, and about 5 percent were convicted of obstructing justice, generally by trying to get rid of their drugs as they were being arrested or contacting witnesses or co-defendants before trial, according to the analysis being circulated on Capitol Hill by the commission to counter Bush administration assertions that the guidelines would prompt the release of thousands of dangerous criminals.

Soaring prices threaten economy

Inflation can undo antirecession effort

Consumer prices rose sharply last month and oil prices hit a record above $100 a barrel yesterday, fueling inflationary pressures that could complicate efforts to steer the US economy away from recession.

Despite a weakening economy that many analysts, including Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Benanke, say should put a damper on inflation, prices have kept rising at a worrisome pace. Over the past three months, inflation has surged at an annual rate of nearly 7 percent, more than double the pace in the previous three months, the Labor Department said yesterday.

Fueling the surge are energy costs, which have soared at a 44 percent annual rate since November, according to the Labor Department.

Africa

Zimbabwe inflation passes 100,000%, officials say

The official rate of annual inflation in Zimbabwe has rocketed past the 100,000% barrier, by far the highest in the world, the state central statistical office said yesterday. Second-placed Iraq has inflation of 60%, according to international estimates.

In a brief statement, the statistics office said inflation rose to 100,580% in January, up from 66,212% in December.

The new official figure was still well below the rate calculated by independent analysts. They estimate the real inflation is closer to 150,000%, citing supermarket receipts showing that the price of chicken rose more than 236,000% to 15m Zimbabwe dollars a kilogram between January 2007 and January 2008. Slower increases in prices of sugar, tea and other basics bring down the average to around 150,000%.

Kenyan beer stirs Obamamania

The close battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to secure the Democratic nomination for the US presidency is captivating many across the world.

The charismatic Illinois senator is drawing big crowds at campaign rallies in a phenomenon known as Obamamania.

Kenya, where Senator Obama’s father came from, is not immune from this either, but here, another Obama is riding on the crest of a wave.

This one, though, comes in the form of a brown bottle and is called Senator beer.

Europe

Serb rioters invade US embassy

· Body of alleged protester found in burned office

· Violence sweeps Belgrade after state rally on Kosovo


Furious Serbs protesting at western support for Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence set fire to the American embassy in Belgrade last night, as hundreds of thousands of demonstrators converged on the Serbian capital. The attack on the embassy came after hundreds of protesters, watched passively by police, peeled away from the main rally to invade the building in the centre of the capital, using sticks and metal bars.

Witnesses described how the doors to the unprotected embassy – closed after being attacked earlier this week – were knocked in and used to start a fire in an office while demonstrators cheered. Firefighters swiftly put out the flames.

A charred body was later found in the embassy. “It was found at the part of the building set on fire by the protesters,” an embassy spokeswoman, Rian Harris, said. She said all embassy employees were accounted for. Belgrade’s Pink TV said the body appeared to be that of a rioter.

Germany’s ‘Red Oskar’ set for more electoral success

By Tony Paterson in Hamburg

Friday, 22 February 2008

The Factory, an “alternative” venue in Hamburg’s hip Altona district, was so full that police had to stop more people entering. Inside, crimson-faced and in front of a banner of the same hue, “Red Oskar” Lafontaine, the undisputed king of Germany’s radical new “The Left” party was deep into a tirade against warmongers and capitalist neo-liberals.

The event was The Left’s final rally in the party’s campaign for Hamburg city state elections on Sunday in which Germany’s mainstream political parties are set to lose votes to the new movement for the third time in just over a month. In similar elections in Hesse and Lower Saxony in January, The Left won seats in west Germany’s main provinces for the first time in its brief history.

Middle East

TV executive faces jail in Dubai for barely visible cannabis speck

A London-based television executive is facing four years in jail after an amount of cannabis weighing less than a grain of sugar was found in his bag at Dubai airport.

Cat Le-Huy, 31, a German national and head of technology at the television production company Endemol, has been held for three weeks without charge after flying to the United Arab Emirates on 26 January.

Friends and family have been told he can expect to face the minimum jail sentence for drug possession in the tiny Arab emirate. Mr Le-Huy had been on a two-day visit to look into investing in the region. On Tuesday, the Radio 1 DJ Grooverider, whose real name is Raymond Bingham, was jailed in Dubai for four years for possession of 2.16g of cannabis with a street value of about £10.

Starbucks mother flouted the law

Say religious police in Saudi Arabia

A US businesswoman living in Saudi Arabia fears for her life after the religious police issued a rare statement defending her arrest this month for having coffee with a male colleague at a Starbucks coffee shop in Riyadh.

Yara, a 37-year-old married mother of three, said that she was strip-searched, forced to sign false confessions and told by a judge that she would “burn in hell”, before she was released on February 4.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice denounced her publicly with a statement posted on the internet on Monday night saying that her actions violated the Sharia of the country.

“It’s not allowed for any woman to travel alone and sit with a strange man and talk and laugh and drink coffee together like they are married,” it said.

Asia

Mickey Mouse turns grey as Japan runs out of children for its theme parks

After 25 years of successfully luring children through the gates of the Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland is finally yielding to the realities of modern Japan: Mickey Mouse has decided to chase the “silver yen”.

The move comes because Disney, along with the rest of Japan, is running out of children. According to a report released yesterday by the Health Ministry, the customer base that has kept the Disney turnstiles spinning since the theme park opened outside Tokyo in 1983 took another sharp dive last year.

With Japan’s birthrate in decline, Disney has accepted the stark economics of the new market: the largest group of customers with the money and the time to spend a day on Splash Mountain or Pooh’s Hunny Hunt is mostly retired.

Pakistani lawyers demonstrate for reinstatement of Chaudhry

Clad in their trademark black suits and ties, Pakistan’s lawyers took to the streets today to press the winners of a parliamentary election to re-instate the deposed Chief Justice and remove President Pervez Musharraf.

The lawyers clashed with police in four of Pakistan’s main cities just hours before the Pakistan People’s Party, which won the most seats, and the Pakistan Muslim League (N), which came second, announced a breakthrough in talks to form a coalition.

Asif Ali Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s widower and successor as PPP leader, and Nawaz Sharif, the PML (N) leader, have vowed to put aside decades of hostility and form a government of national consensus.

But the lawyers’ protests spotlighted the two most fundamental issues dividing the parties — how to handle Mr Musharraf and Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the chief justice he sacked in November.

Latin America

Plane Carrying 46 Missing in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Rescue crews were sent Friday to find a commercial airliner carrying 46 people that disappeared in southwestern Venezuela. Officials feared the worst after residents reported hearing a crash in the mountains.

The flight was reported missing 30 minutes after takeoff on Thursday from the city of Merida. The rescue crews were headed to the mountainous area of Collado del Condor, at an altitude of about 13,000 feet.

Residents in the area reported by phone ”that they heard a great crash,” said Noel Marquez, the emergency management director in Merida state.

The twin-engine plane, owned by Venezuelan airline Santa Barbara, failed to contact control towers in two cities as expected after it took off en route to Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas, said Gen. Antonio Rivero, Venezuela’s emergency management director.

Cubans hope for more self-employment

HAVANA – Juan Bautista Gonzalez’s living room was already crowded with customers when still more shuffled in, clutching gold necklaces with broken clasps and bent rhinestone earrings. He knew he would be skipping lunch again.

“If someone comes with a job, I’ll do it. No matter what time it is,” said Gonzalez, who gave up a government mechanic’s job four years ago and now earns more fixing his neighbors’ jewelry for $1.25 per repair. “Work more, earn more.”

Gonzalez is among the 150,000 or so Cubans – a meager 3 percent of the work force – who are allowed to be self-employed.

What are you reading?

The regular list

If you like to trade books, try BookMooch.

cfk has bookflurries on Weds. nights

pico has literature for kossacks on Tues. nights, but it’s on hiatus

What are you reading? is crossposted to docudharma

If you have ideas for future weeks, let me know

I haven’t been doing that much reading, I’ve been busy with my series on Congress

Statistical models: Theory and practice by David Freedman.  Delves into the details of models, without getting overly mathematical.  

Alexander Hamilton  by Ron Chernow.  Impressive (as is the subject)

The Art of Mathematics by Bela Belobas.  Interesting, easily stated math problems. For slow solving.

Marque and Reprisal by  Elizabeth Moon.  This is apparently the second in a series.  I missed the first, but this one is good old-fashioned SF

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

The muses are ancient.  The inspirations for our stories were said to be born from them.  Muses of song and dance, or poetry and prose, of comedy and tragedy, of the inward and the outward.  In one version they are Calliope, Euterpe and Terpsichore, Erato and Clio, Thalia and Melpomene, Polyhymnia and Urania.

It has also been traditional to name a tenth muse.  Plato declared Sappho to be the tenth muse, the muse of women poets.  Others have been suggested throughout the centuries.  I don’t have a name for one, but I do think there should be a muse for the graphical arts.  And maybe there should be many more.

Please join us inside to celebrate our various muses…

Inspired by a Pony Party about rain:


Tears

Toxic Raindrops

Spitter, spatter – dribble, drip

eroding the soul

The sizzle of acidic water

dissolving resolution

Hard hail pellets

hammering the identity

Cold shards of sleet

penetrating the heart

Invisible tears

damaging the interior

where the scars

are mostly not visible

except in the

resulting behavior

which can be

so terribly bizarre

Confidence

roughly scoured

forcibly removed

from internal corridors

while outside

there was a smile

and a helping hand

for those less fortunate

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 21, 2008

I know you have talent.  What sometimes is forgotten is that being practical is a talent.  I have a paucity for that sort of talent in many situations, though it turns out that I’m a pretty darn good cook.  🙂  

Let your talent bloom.  You can share it here.  Encourage others to let it bloom inside them as well.

Won’t you share your words or art, your sounds or visions, your thoughts scientific or philosophic, the comedy or tragedy of your days, the stories of doing and making?  And be excellent to one another!

Pony Party, Phone it in Friday

I was (and am) inspired by On The Bus’s wonderful essay celebrating 50 years of peace symbols….so we’re having an all-peace pony today!!

Cat Stevens, Peace Train…..live!!…swoon…

Song for Peace (Kenya)

Elvis Costello & the Attractions, What’s so Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?

John Lennon, Give Peace A Chance

Anti-Flag, 911 For Peace

(you might want to turn your volume down ;)…this is a fan-made video with the song in the background…its pretty cool..)

Have a peaceful and happy weekend!!

~73v  

The Stars Hollow Gazette

So it’s going to be an ugly day here in Stars Hollow tomorrow.  Snow, snow, snow, and then some more snow for good measure.

Good thing too, because it will cover up the mud.

Today is kind of a Dave & Craig retro day for me where I get to contemplate the wreck my life has become since the holidays and how really hopelessly behind on all my important projects I am.

On the other hand not every good idea went undone so there are accomplishments to point to too.  I’m going to decide to be grateful for the break- a snow day if you will.  I shall sleep late and play and get wet and chilled and then dry off and drink hot beverages and play bored games with my friends and family.

If I get ambitious I might try to clean up some of the clutter, but that seems a foolish goal.

The Weapon of Young Gods #13: Fending Off Implosion

I could hear waves crashing against the cliff as I walked slowly along the paved lagoon path. Peter and Alex were pulling away ahead of me, trying to keep warm against the moist, chilly breeze coming off the ocean. My clothes were already collecting the air’s wet weight, and I tried weakly to catch up.

We’d been over to Peter’s car in a big dirt lot next to I.V. and above the beach, but were now almost back to the dorms. The round trip was taking longer than we’d expected, but after hotboxing my roommate’s beat-up, salt-encrusted Prelude, we were stoned enough to not care. That was fine with me; I’d been at rock bottom for four days now, ever since Nadia dumped me on the wrong side of Valentine’s Day.

Previous Episode

Soundtrack (mp3): ‘Fending Off Implosion’ by Low Tide

I’d been absolutely inert for the first two days, then melodramatically bitchy all of yesterday, but I’d forced myself to stay sober and not jump on the perfect excuse to ferment in self-pity. I steadily deflated nevertheless, blowing off class and at least one meal a day in favor of long showers, dazed stretches in the computer lab, and lots of thankfully dreamless sleep.

Peter mostly left me alone, but tonight he’d finally had enough of my infectiously bad vibes, and had shamed me into ingesting readily accessible controlled substances after I’d carelessly admitted I hadn’t been high for six months.

“Just don’t drink anything,” he’d said, moving in for the kill. “Alex and I won’t either.” He’d also anticipated my limited range of lame excuses. “Look, Roy,” he’d said, “doing uselessly stupid shit will definitely help you, because it’ll keep me from going around the bend and retaliate for your contagious wussiness.” The logic wasn’t extensive, but it persuaded me, and we took off around nine.

Half an hour later, we trudged back to the dorm, veering off the path home and continuing on toward the beach. I’d had two nice big hits back in the Prelude, and the sleepy light-headedness was beginning to supersede everything else, including the increasing saturation of my clothes. Peter offered me his own sloppily-rolled final joint as we made it to the few concrete stairs that led down to the sand. I took another healthy toke and followed he and Alex across the wide, moonlit beach.

“So, are you okay, man?” Alex asked through a thick tangle of sandy-brown afro-curls. “What happened? Pete didn’t tell me much.”

“Roy didn’t tell me much,” shrugged Peter, before I could get a word out. “Couldn’t quite piece everything together from all the incoherent mumbling from his half of the room.”

I was too tired now to answer back, but did it anyway. “Last weekend, after Valentine’s Day, Daddy’s little girl took the roses and all I got was the dirt.”

Alex chuckled sympathetically. “Yow,” he said. “Did she say why?”

“Nope,” I answered, “and I haven’t really come up with any real reason for it, either.” It was pretty dark here, away from the streetlights, but I could feel their chemically attentive stares.

“Yeah, I know,” I continued, “no idea, not even after four days’ worth of wallowing in it. We hadn’t really been talking that much for, like, a month and a half, though. I wasn’t sleeping well, it was fucking up the rest of my life, and I was just never in the mood to talk to her anymore, and she wasn’t into dealing with my shit either.”

“Really?” asked Peter. “I think I remember her calling once.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but we didn’t talk long. She wondered if I still wanted to come down to see Radiohead in L.A. next month; we’d bought tickets back in, like, November, but when she’d called, I’d actually been awake for about thirty straight hours, and was trying to fall asleep.”

“Oh yeah,” said Peter. “I remember that now.”

“Yep,” I said, “and forget about taking the train down. Five hours stuck in that thing and then two more at a show wasn’t worth it, so I told her to take R.J.; he’s into that band too. She didn’t sound too bummed about me bailing on the show.”

“Real vote of confidence, huh?” said Peter. He was teetering a little now as we made our way across the sand. I looked out over the water where the bay curved south toward Santa Barbara.

“Anyway,” I continued, “I’d sent her the damn flowers before going home last weekend, but then the first thing I hear from her is the whole ominous ‘we need to talk’ thing and so she comes over and, like, I don’t really remember how we got there, but within about twenty minutes our whole ten-month relationship unraveled completely and she left and I just sat there on the driveway for hours.”

They stayed quiet as we walked. Up the beach a little, a wooden staircase rose from the sand and zigzagged back up the cliffs.

“So… that’s it?” asked Alex. “You guys just stopped, just like that?”

“Sort of,” I said groggily. I staggered toward the stairs, and they followed.

“The next day I biked the three miles up to her house,” I continued, “and went up to the door and knocked and everything, but no one was home. I stuck around, too- dunno why- maybe I was too tired to ride back. After, like, ten minutes or so her mom drove up.”

“Huh,” grunted Peter, as we began to climb the stairs.

“Yeah,” I said, “and she came out to talk, too- Nadia’s little Russian mom. Asked me if I was okay and all; asked if I needed anything, really nice considering. Maybe she thought I was too sad to be weird or dangerous. She called me a sweet boy and told me to hang in there and then she went back inside. I didn’t want to go anywhere yet but took the hint and went home. My brother forced me back out of the house right away, though. R.J. took me to see Richard III, and watching Ian McKellen blow everything up was distractingly cathartic.”

I left out the truly cathartic part, about how R.J. and I stomped the shit out of Chris Addison’s brother Kyle, when he made the stupid mistake of picking a fight with us in the theater lobby. Pete and Alex didn’t know him, but I was pretty sure they’d agree with me about whiny brahmins always making the sweetest targets.

We reached the top quicker than I’d expected. I was floating a little as we crossed the parking lot and the road, cutting across the lawn to the dorms.

“Ah hell, Roy,” sighed Peter. “Sucks, for sure, but good to get off your chest, right?”

“Guess so,” I said. “Hey, where are you going?” Peter and Alex had kept walking, past the main entrance.

“Around the back,” said Alex. “Chicks’ wing, dude.” I took a second to realize that this was a marginally good idea before following, but when I caught up they were still waiting outside.

“You’re the only one with keys, man,” Peter reminded me. They’d both conveniently forgotten theirs. It was pretty funny earlier when Peter had to squeeze his arm through a cracked window to open his own car, but I wasn’t laughing now.

“Fine, whatever. Stand back, ladies.” Peter chuckled and gave me a fey bird as I unlocked the door and held it while they staggered in, bumping the wall and snickering like urchins. I stepped inside as they turned the corner and quickly weaved down the hall, hooting lewdly at closed doors along the way. I followed around the corner and saw Peter trip over a gash in the carpet and fall spectacularly sideways into a door on his right.

“Oh shit!” he squealed, scampering off immediately with Alex at his heels. They glanced back furtively before disappearing around another corner. A shrill “See ya, Roy!” flew back down the hall, and I was about to start after them when the door Peter had hit opened suddenly and caught my heel, jamming it into my other leg and knocking me over.

“What the hell’s going on out here?” said an authoritative, amused female voice, from somwhere high above me. I rolled out of my pathetic sprawl, feeling a headache beginning to poke through my skull’s lightly dusted haze.

“Sorry,”  I slurred. I blinked and tried to focus, and once I did, was slightly startled to gaze up at a tall, exquisitely striking girl clad in red plaid pajamas. She ran her hands through her close-cropped blonde hair and watched me with concrete-gray eyes. “Are you okay? Do you, like, even live here?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, dangling my keychain. I was really tired of fighting for coherence by now, but figured I should at least small-talk my way out of this.

“Well, you look terrible,” she said, “but I’m guessing you won’t feel that way until tomorrow. Was that you hollering like a maniac just now?”

“Huh?” I said. “Um, no- that was my roommate and another friend of ours,” I explained. “They, um… I guess they were too ashamed of themselves to stick around, or whatever.”

“They better be,” she said, “blundering through the wrong wing and waking up poor innocent girls and all. I oughtta get the R.A. out here.”

“Good luck,” I sneered, “cause I know for a fact this wing’s R.A. spends all her free time at her boyfriend’s place on Trigo.” It was true, sort of, and my interrogator was apparently satisfied.

“Fine,” she said, crossing her arms, “why don’t you introduce yourself then, so when I report you three jokers I can use your big boy names.”

I stuck out my hand. “Billy Corgan,” I said. “Pleased to meet you.”

She exploded with laughter. “Shut the fuck up!” Another door opened across the way and an Asian girl poked her head out and gave us a sleepy evil eye before slamming her door shut.

“I’ll be honest first, then,” she said, calming down and shaking my hand. “Francesca Rossettini. Call me Frankie.”

“Okay, whatever,” I said. “Roy Reed.”

“Hello Roy Reed,” she said brightly, then, “…and goodnight, Roy Reed. Some of us need to sleep, so you finish your little retarded walk of shame and have some sweet dreams, okay?” She turned around much quicker than I expected, shutting her door in my face.

I lay there stewing in my own idiocy for a bit, watching the crack of light from underneath her door. After it flicked off I waited a little longer before standing, then tip-toed toward the small whiteboard on her door. I took the marker out of its clip and quietly scrawled “hope it was good for you too, Frankie” all over the board. It was dumb and immature, but so was I, shaking my head at my own ridiculous impulses. I decided against making any noise to erase it, and then left for my room to try and get some sleep.

Blankets to warm hearts and souls: PBWH

Pretty Bird Woman House has a home…



Many thanks to all who spread the word and helped raise funds: Pretty Bird Woman House closed on a property for the new shelter. It is great news for the women and children who will soon have a place to take refuge when domestic violence threatens. See pictures here. The money raised during October, November, and December paid for the house and is paying for the fence and security system that will be installed!

Pretty Bird Woman House needs your help again. We are asking that you help turn this House in to a warm and cozy place.

To prepare, PBWH is still assembling materials. The generosity of donations, including clothes, sheets, and towels is great. I spoke to Georgia Little Shield this week and they are still sorting and separating the shipments that have been sent.

Some updates on items:

~ They have received bedroom furniture donations from a hotel at a Native American casino in Minnesota (more details in a future diary)!

~ They have received arm chairs, ottomans, and dining room furniture from the same hotel.

~ Clothes: well they need to finish sorting! You’ve all been soooo generous. So send warm winter clothes if you can and are busy cleaning out those gently used items!

~ Office supplies needed:

Some office supplies are also needed, like tape, staples, staplers, paper, new or gently used computers and printers.

Staples is offering free shipping until the 23rd, and always ships gift cards for free.

~ Bedding: this is the biggie!

Currently, the shelter has 3 blankets. Yesterday, the temperature was -17 in South Dakota!

They’ve received sheets and towels, and only 3 blankets so far!

This is your challenge everyone ~ let’s send blankets and new pillows for the beds at Pretty Bird Woman House.

Needed:

Twin Size Blankets

Full Size Blankets

Standard Size Pillows

Think about this tonight as you snuggle into your bed with blankets tucked under your chin. -17 degrees outside and one blanket for the bed for PBWH. Now that I’ve made you shiver…look at those gently used blankets or think of new ones. You may even personally know some families who are using Pretty Bird Woman House, so you could even personalize a blanket for them. Deciding to Create a Custom Blanket is a good idea when you want to give someone a gift but you’re not entirely sure what to get, and when they’re in need of a blanket to help keep them warm, what could be better than giving one that is personal to them? I think it’s a good idea myself, and something I will be thinking about going forward, especially when there are people in need.

Now I want you to think of the warmth of a smile, the tears that fall from knowing that they are safe and warm. I want that warmth in your heart knowing that you helped with that smile and those happy tears. And the SF Kossacks will tell you that I give super duper hugs to people that donate as well! So you are all entitled to real life hugs from me…any time I see you!

The shelter has a Target wish list.  

Domestications has Cotton Brilliance Thermal Blankets – buy 1 get 2nd @50% off and regular 19.99 so that makes it 2 for $30!. They also have Fleece blankets – buy 1 get 2nd @50% off and regular 19.99 – same 2 for $30!!! Okay so, I just had their sale catalog at my house…what can I say!

Thank you for all your help.

Shipping Address: this is the Tribal Council for security purposes

Pretty Bird Woman House

302 Sale Barn Rd.

McLaughlin SD 57642

Bronze

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Abused by a system that sent this young man into battle, he has devised his own manner in how to deal with fear. He hides it. Deep inside, he knows that if his fear shows, it may spread to other people, who, he is positive would all & forever point at him as the origin.?He must not show what tears at him so he now shows his petaled face, sure that everybody loves flowers. His mother told him so. Here behind the bushes on the edge of the park where he lives, he marvels at the people cheering loud explosions & worries for their safety, having seen the devastation these bombs, bursting in air, cause. He does not comprehend the celebration of independance that shines, reflected on his metal face, positive it could never warm his soul.?Young men like this will be seen more & more as the systematic abuse they have & are enduring starts to bloom . We, who would never use our brothers & sisters like this, are inevitably charged with taking their hand & reassuring them that some one cares. No amount of pills or programs or tests will ever help unless there`s a caring soul to help them along.?The thing that will be difficult will be to make sure these people are not pointed out as the originators of their troubles. There will be many. Please smile at them & be nice. Have a nice day, & count your blessings.?This image I shot at night when while fooling around with the resident skunk, I noticed the light on some statues. I had moved these statues a few days previously & had not yet seen them in the light from the porch. This light was a little behind the statues & a little higher. There were two lights on each side of the porch entry, one red & one green. [Don`t ask].?I went & got a tripod & camera& set up with the camera set at F2.8 & started with a 6 second exposure. I started fooling around with the set-up & went to get a few masks from my collection, & brought along a flashlight. I changed to a 2 second exposure & I would spray the shot with a quick bath of light with the flashlight. This is one of the images from that series. Another image from that series can be seen at this link. It`s called “DICHOTOMY”.

http://frenchpirate.blogspot.c…

writing in the raw: strange taboos

In a Country with Strange Taboos

by dharmasyd

For rusty1776 in gratitude for his

“Writing in the Raw: Valentine Confessions”

I remember when you brought me hyacinths

We walked the path under pepper trees

Laughed our way to the beach

To play in the surf like yearling seals

And when you kissed me, your salt wet curls

Dripped ocean on my face

I was a virgin then, and you a married man

In a country with strange taboos

Photobucket

Camille Claudel

 

I remember when you came again

We were older then, and you had tasted

The bite of war on your golden flesh

You brought me only your body then

And took me, coldly unwilling

On the stone cold floor

Eyes wild, body strawberry ripe

Your virgin rape bride

In a country with strange taboos

When you took me over my protests

I heard the voice inside me say

Yes to the Universe

Yes to God

Yes to you

Yes in concentric circles swirling out

Thought forms in an expanding universe

Orgasm of matter in an ocean of space

Meeting each other face to face

 forgetting your wife

Waves from a meteor plunged in the sea

 at her desk a mile away

Rippling into the universe like a psalm

I remember when you brought me your wound

Placing it in the palm of my hand

The night you, dreaming of the war

Took the remington you kept by the bed

And shot your reflection in the mirror

Thinking it a jap

Killing on instinct

In a country with strange taboos

I remember when you said you could not love me

Although you loved me

We played like Hindu deities

Entwined like spiral galaxies

You brought me so many images then

Mother and Priestess

Virgin and Whore

I had ruined your life you said

Because I wasn’t a virgin when we met, you said

In this country with strange taboos

And I remember when you brought me spider mums

Naming me Circe

She of the beautiful hair

Naming me an illusion and your fear

Saying we had to live celibately

That only in god was there ecstacy

You the torero, killer of bulls

You the marine, killer of men

You the man, killer of me

The killer in Circe’s lair

In this country with stange taboos

You brought your wound and your war and your fear

Home to me here in our bed

Taught me the thorn in the flesh wound of sex

Gradually I learned to live

According to these strange taboos

I learned to go on living and

Sometimes only fucked and judged and fucked and judged

But wanted always only to love

Even with galactic distances between our souls

In recreational sex till the messiah comes

I sought love on the beach and love in the bar

I sought love in the eyes of a stranger

Who looked for all the world like a friend

To help the wound to mend

The gap in the heart of the soul

Till the wound heals and we are whole

Meanwhile

I write confessional poetry

  shadows of

  what should I blame

  a catholic girlhood

  a father’s vice

Some strain across a fault zone in the planet’s heart

Some original sin in my soul

Meanwhile

I write recreational poetry

Kill the messiah every time he comes

  from what

  from fear, from habit

  ego, lack of trust

Some geo-centric allergy to dust

While in my heart I know we must

Love one another body heart and mind and soul

Till the wounds heal and we are whole

And kill these strange tabboos.

_________________________________________

this poem is complete. raw. beautiful.

poetry… as force of nature.

what is extraordinary is knowing

that which we’ve found

here

amongst ourselves

in this small moment of time

 

Nagin Wants to Cold Cock the NOLA Bloggers (and everyone else with a brain)

Crossposted from GentillyGirl

“No-See-Um” Nagin, our transparent, or is that the invisible, Mayor took umbrage over the flap concerning his little play-time fun with “Do Nothing” Riley, our Chief of Police. He’s also bitchin’ because the media is against him and his sparkling record here in NOLA, causing Racists to come out of the woodwork and make him live in fear for himself and his family. He also talks about the “evil” Blogs, and how if he is approached wrongly he will cold cock the person(s) responsible.

Try to cold cock me you worthless piece of political trash, and I’ll sink my knee so deep in your genitals that you will sound like Minny Mouse for the rest of your life. That or I’ll stick a 7 inch pump somewhere (but you might like that, Bitch.). You always find a way to make yourself look so freakin’ silly, and by extension you soil the images of the folks here who are ACTUALLY doing the rebuilding. You are NOT an asset to New Orleans.

I was going to take this rant farther, but there are too many good NOLA Bloggers who have already weighed in on this poop:

Try Dr. Morris, or the Zombie, or DangerBlond, or Adrastos, Maitri, Think NOLA, We Could Be Famous… (and yes I know I missed some, but I’m busy hiring protection.)

And there are my pieces from last week.

I wonder if we Bloggers can get Restraining Orders against this congenital Repug lunatic?

Sinn Fein!

Update: I missed these few comments from Nagin’s interview this morning:

“Nagin: I don’t know. I’ll probably settle down and get to the business of the recovery. I’ll probably go talk to an attorney and the FBI about hate crimes and all that good stuff, but I’ll be back to business.

Roberts: Have you received any direct threats?

Nagin: I’m not going to get into that. I’m a fairly high profile person and I’ve made some pretty hard decisions and it’s made some people angry. So it is what it is.”

So I guess that “No-See-Um” Ray doesn’t believe in Free Speech, the telling of the Truth or Civil Disobedience. It’s just sad… he should return to the world of cable TV and spare the rest of us anymore of his insanity.

Curtsey to the Swampwoman for filling me in.

OMG! Colbert has us on his On Notice board.  Thanks Leigh! (I think…. Need to get the Rad Faeries to protect me.)  

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