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oh shitski, redux...      6.29
largely intermittent & occasional attention paid hereabouts over the next week or so, as los estimados padres del chango tonto arrive today, Hijo! have we got sum cleanin' up to do, Lucy!
we did want to take this opportunity to make mention noticing the goings on at Ethel the Blog re list of excellent recordings of live perfomances: Live from Ethel's; Held Over for a Second Night; and the Hits Just Keep On Coming;
yours truly dropped a note to S.B. earlier this Am w/some of our own suggestions,
largely items on DVD and viewable as opposed to simply listenable, including items like the Down From the Mountain show we ranted about late last year and Grateful Dawg, mention of which can be located in the Mania that was Feb '02, but dumbmonkey that we are, we did forget to mention other favorite, which we happened to watch on Bravo last night, perhaps they'll be rebroadcasting it, but you really ought to go out and get it, that way you can live without the commercial interruptions (Well Dammit ya big dumb ape,
get on with it will you) and we're talking about The Buena Vista Social Club,
and sure, the live stuff is intercut with other footage, but goshdarnitall,
if you've never had the pleasure of seeing this,
we'd would like to know Why, Binky, WHY?
no, sorry, that reason is simply NOT good enough...
okay, last thing & then got to get myself into the swing of things 'round here;
from Many Moons Ago (ohhhhh, and i could tell you such stories...)
off a pretty damn good live album,
maybe bring back some memories of your own,
the Overture & Sweet Jane, Lou Reed & Fine Band

oh shitski...       6.27

late breaking news item:
au revoir, Philip Whalen;
ourowndamnself made some reference to poet Whalen,
back on the dumbmonkey post of 4.16.01,
you can seek out & peruse that post here
just realized some links there have gone south,
we'll fix what we are able to later,
so in the interim, some additional PW links for you below,
but be sure to also visit wood s lot for a few others,
(nicely done MW...)
P. Whalen archived at UCB;
P. Whalen, from Beat News, Jack
Philip Whalen, Dharma Beats, Cosmic Baseball Assn.
awwwwwshit, go find your own Whalen linkage

two eggs...
three yolks...
there has been nothing in my experience that quite matches the surprise of the moment when one cracks open an egg and discovers two yolks instead of the single that one has become accustomed to seeing after years of cracking open eggs. Am certain a witness would have fallen on the floor laughing after seeing the double take & look of dumbfounded amazement upon the d'monkey visage as he's thinkin' "wha'?"

morning coffee with jp...       6.26

yesssss, peet's, as usual, a small double latte & the barista knows this already, being a regular visitor. Two of Kensington's Finest, male & female, in line ahead of us, waitng for java as yourstruly peruses the news headlines & bringing to mind niece Jessica,
who at one time a police officer in EPT, recently wrote her Gramz & Gramps:
I was in Seattle few weeks ago and have passed the first two entrance exams to the Port of Seattle Police Department. I was hoping to move out there in August if I am able to find a job till I started at the police department. Unfortunately the hiring process takes a long time. The good thing is that
I already have a place to live, hard part is finding employment.)
Male officer appears to be, oh, Pacific Islander perhaps, and the woman is fair skinned, fair haired, petite, all business, both officers fit and looking sharp. Notice she is having the same thing as yourstruly, short double latte--- hmmmmmmmmm, never dated a police officer, tho' truthfully, likely frighten her off with our shaggy visaged self...
another coffee customer whom i've run into before at local video emporium is engaging officers in conversation re the Kensington Circus (traffic circle), woman officer is responding to the civilian, agreeing that "Americans don't know how to drive it, they don't give right of way to driver already in the circle...". This particular civilian's a transplanted Irish fellow, an opinionated sort, well, more obvious about it anyway,
that bit of knowledge gleaned from our previous encounters w/him.
Then, there's three fellows in line, all latin americans but likely two mexican men and, oh, maybe a salvadorean, or nicaraguan, then again maybe he's from brooklyn, quien sabe, they're talking about the world cup, and even the barista turns and smiles and acknowledges the mention of Alemania, and one can see the Irish fellow's aware their conversation (in Spanish) is about el copia del mundo, and it sures looks like he'd love to get a word in, but there's some kind of barrier there at the moment, sort of a clannishness has manifested itself amongst the three latinos, and it isn't likely that they wouldn't welcome somebody joining the conversation, something to do with language, culture, shyness in a crowd of strangers in line at the coffee shop, whatever it was,
sure was entertaining to witness...
okay, so now our divine self's out the door, walking up the street and thinking, hey, let's take some pictures, and we're carrying that little toy camera and shoot the pano you see above and are standing there thinking to ourowndamnself, damn, there is no more perfect place for me to be than right here, right now, under this grey sky that also shrouds the hills, newspaper and coffee in hand with the rest of the day ahead of me.

good reading on the trip into...       6.25
the city, that July/Aug issue of Atlantic we mentioned
on our post of 6.19, article by Michael Benson,
& thanks to the enlightened folks at The Atlantic On-line,
hie theyselves to A Space in Time;
even better yet, go buy the magazine, s'worth it...

conjecture & hypotheses...      
some assorted nuggets of linky goodness gleaned recently:
from The Frumious Bandersnatch, & rather tongue in cheekily,
When Falls on Man The Anger of the Gods;
many of you no doubt familiar w/A. Bierce & his Devil's Dictionary,
perhaps the spirit of Bierce (well, mebbe/mebbe not) is still with us,
Ambrose Bierce on the American Taliban from The Ambrose Bierce Site;
a bit dated, yes, perhaps, but a sensible reaction from a fellow citizen;
y una cosa mas, an NYT link,
Op-Ed by M. Dowd, Hans, Franz & W.
egads! you mean to tell me it is only Tuesday?

s o m e t i m e s . . .     6.24  
a weekend can come along and provide one with much happiness, just a plain & simple very general sort of happiness, not because of any one thing or special event, simply, somehow, in toto the bit of space allowed one whereby the usual weekday concerns are altogether forgotten, and the days ahead are entirely yours, given to you to determine how to spend them; abed, wandering the aisles of bookstores, listening to music, hiking thru fog shrouded hills, spending breakfast on a beautiful sunday morning with family, laughing and talking story, while the youngest color a fourth of july inspired page the restaurant is providing for children to occupy themselves with...
friday was a bitch, the advertising killing floor understaffed, many folks on holiday, a couple called in illin', the rest of us faced with that horrid little red light on our phones all day (red light translates to more than 12 people in queue waiting to place their ads), and some of you know that yourstruly had returned to the j-o-b a few days earlier, and it's not like we have ever been in the vacation taking habit, only somewhat recently that we've had the kind of j-o-b that provides one with that lovely benefit, and as with so many other things, there is likely an art to vacationing, making it less stressful (damn, how does one do that when one has to deal with air travel?), more pleasant, both the going and the coming home, the "decompressing" and preparation for return to the normality of j-o-b, the commute back & forth, and the regular weekday bullshit...
experienced wonderful surprise on Saturday, after visit to the post office box (where all the good mail usually goes, the stuff in the mailbox at chez d'monquis usually just the junquemail) when yourstruly discovered package from esteemed blogster on the other coast, and nice surprise inside of the wee camera you see in the picture up at top of this post. Certainly not a great tool, but can handle a few things, and probably once we familiarize ourself with its limitations, we make better use of it, maybe put together a little fotonovela for your entertainment, once we cast all the parts. But, that wasn't the real surprise, as pleasant a discovery as it was once we opened the box, as said esteemed person also included a disc with some mp3z, and with hand written title on it Les Temps des Gitans which rang some kind of bell, but we were too busy examing the goodies to pay much attention, thinking it had something to do with guitars, as we both (said blogster-pal & ourowndamnself) have large interest in la guitarra, so please take a moment and try to imagine the complete astonishment and immense pleasure when we began to play back the disc, and heard this very familiar melody, and while standing transfixed with surprise and pleasure, realized that this collection of tunes was from the soundtrack of one of our favorite all time films Time of the Gypsies (Les Temps des Gitans!). Now, part of our surprise is because yourstruly does not recall ever having mentioned this film in the 3 years or so that we have been doing this dumbmonkey thing, and in the correspondence that said other coast blogster and ourself have shared, we've never discussed favorite films or soundtracks
so...       thanks to pal Stumpy, we hied ourselves over to local video emporium and checked out that film, spent wonderful evening watching it again, and surprised ourself with realizing how long it had been since we last watched it, how much of it was fresh and new to us again. Now Here I Make Personal Plea to El Stumperino, if you find the original and can get more of the tunes from the soundtrack, oh, let me know pal, 'cause my favorite song in the movie (you hear it twice and if you really want to know what it is, write me and i'll tell you) doesn't happen to be in the collection you burned and sent, but THANKS, regardless, that disc alone made an otherwise uneventful yet pleasant weekend into something quite wonderful.
While thanking pals of the blogster persuasion, also want to send a big Thank You to the fine mind behind plep, a certain S. J. Green, who presented us w/a Stanislaw Lem novel we had been previously unfamiliar with (well, frankly, we've still a LOT of Lem to digest...) and found great enjoyment in, titled Peace on Earth. Mr. Green became aware of our interest in things Lem-ish when he noted our January mention of watching Solaris, those astute link-visitors amongst you will note mention of said remake on the Lem page linked earlier, and while we were visiting various & sundry locations on the cybersuperhighway we were pleased to run across link to site re Soderburgh's Solaris.

holy boy! might be a leeeetle late getting in to the j-o-b, we having way too much fun here at the moment, so before we leave, Two Things- SEE Time of the Gypsies, great film, you won't regret it, and surprise a friend by sending 'em something you think they'll like, 'cause you never really know, you might make sumbuddy REALLY happy...

the sort of morning...       6.22
that yourstruly dreamt of whilst baking in the west texass desert last week,
the marine layer upon us emphatically, not a hint of hills existing on the eastern horizon,
the landscape hidden in the thick mist, cloud ceiling of a mere 100 some odd feet,
temperature somewhere in the low 50's, blessedly cool, and quiet, early in the Am...
these next links via a site we happened across yesterday, Conversations with History;
3.22.02 Interview w/N. Chomsky;
11.8.01 Interview w/S. Telhami;
4.29.02 Interview w/S. Power;
4.25.02 Interview w/C. Hitchens.
these next two links provided via the generousity of a certain Green Flash,
The Afghanistan Reconstruction Site;
Plausible Futures Newsletter

ahhhhh....     berkeley...     6.21
the land of the free & home to much weirdness,
but in a GOOD way...
Taking a stand for Fair Trade Coffee.
we ask you, would this happen in your town?
and considering how much profit there is the brew,
perhaps it isn't a particularly strange or radical idea...

certainly a matter that should concern us...      
(altho, speaking just for ourowndamnself,
we 'bout ready to head for the hills & hideout for the duration)
INET 2002, Corporate and government policy may hurt development;
some inspiration provided here for local road trip;
even better idea for out of town road trip;
well, guess since 'round here we #2, we be tryin' harder,
L.A. #1 in traffic congestion, S.F. Bay Area's #2;
all the data on this you'd ever want to digest available here.
ahhh, more fuel on our inner debate re whether it is
actually time to get the helloutta dodge before it be too late...
s'Friday, Isn't it?
jessferdahalibut, today's Daily Bleed,
along w/something lovely & special from that page/site
& btw, Happy Solstice to one and all...

if you don't read many magazines...       6.19
this may be of no importance to you whatsoever, on the other hand,
this might be one worth seeking out for your later perusal. The Atlantic Magazine's
July issue has an article entitled American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center
by William Langewiesche. An interview w/the author's also available online.
Our interest in this developed when watching the Newshour yesterday afternoon,
specifically this segment w/author Langewiesche.

exactly what we ourselves may be engagin' in...      
a clue? ya wanna clue, do you? well, listen to 'dis;
came across interesting piece in the New Yorker recently re fellow named Jeff Tweedy,
and found ourowndamnself at a loss for a bit there, 'cause the N.Y.'er won't let one
search for old articles (and why the hell is that, can ennybuddy tell me?),
so we put on our hardhat and went mining for cold, crystalline nuggets of linky goodness, discovering this link, thankful to the various search engine deities we often
sacrificing virgins to (and man, are they ever getting hard to find these days);
likely we'll be doing something more with all of this later, but for now,
two other links to offer up in re our perusal of that article & buying binge it inspired,
from C. Taggart's fine Gumbo Pages, Uncle Tupelo;
and this link re one of the purchases made, Uncle Tupelo; 89/93 An Anthology

and another thing or two, sorta last minute, sorry...
Stephanie Salter, S.F. Chronicle,
Rebuilding Afghanistan: Promises, promises, promises
Maureen Dowd, N.Y. Times,
From 'Cats' to Cicero;
and thanks to K.M. of GITM for the heads up on that last item...

might be a dumbmonkey, but certainly no creationist...       6.18
from Scientific American On-line,
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense

have found ourowndamself moved to tears recently...    
for example, the day before my departing EPT, the Momz came into the den to present yourstruly with small gift and express her personal happiness re l'marquis' visit to his boyhood haunt, and in our embrace, well...   goshdarnitall, we started sobbin' like a child, but it felt good, you know? Then, after Brother K & family retrieved our sorry carcass from Oak-town airport, on the drive back to chez d'monquis, we were attempting to explain our reasons for choosing to visit EPT at the time we did, and began to voice our concern for a particular family member and, well...   the damned thing happened again, but it was okay, you know, even with little kids around it is perfectly okay for adults to give vent to tears, even a great huge galumphing galloot like yourstruly.
Even happened while watching a re-run of the film Smoke while in EPT, at the same place in the film where it has always occured, when the character Augie (portrayed by Harvey Keitel) is showing the writer (played by William Hurt) his photographs, lovely piece of music quietly in the background, and Paul (the writer) discovers the picture of his wife,
well...   oh my goodness...   yah, it happened again...
Ennnnyway, so here we are, back in the Bay Area, back on the j-o-b,
and in today's fishwrap we come across a bunch of letters to the Datebook section,
Moved to Tears -- The Short List of What Makes us Misty ...
link to the S. Winn article mentioned is here
nonono, we did not immediately well up, but once we home today,
we gonna have a whiskey and a good cry...

h o l y s h i t e !    
what an incredibly stupid idea!
Off-course USS Pork
and we've been out of it for awhile,
so what else is new? we hear you askin'
so apologies to those who've already visited
The Ethical Spectacle recently,
and also point you in the direction of these 3 poems,
from the marvel that is the Early Summer Ralph

a little order's been restored...      
to an occasionally unruly universe,
S.J. Green has returned, so has plep;
there's also a snappy new look at Post-atomic
hey, The Monkey can Type!

there's nothing quite so difficult to...       6.17
accomodate oneself to as returning to the j-o-b after a very pleasant holiday;
that re-familiarization w/the routine of morning shower, morning cuppa, all the other
prep & what-not in terms of getting outta the house & on the road...
There's quite a number of folks owed reply to their cards & letters, yourstruly will make a
concerted effort to address this situation today, but if you happen by here to see
if we've survived the travails of modern airport related travel,
be reassured, as it appears we did.
Want to mention a marvelous thing that occured on our last evening amongst the tribe known as Pivarnick; there had been plans laid for yourstruly, in the company of the Mater & Pater-familias, to meet up with Brother Daniel & lovely consort Janet at the Sunland Park casino on the west side of town. All thru-out the day, the weather a bit muggier than usual, some occasional clouds, the hint of a possiblity of showers, still high temperatures, made the more uncomfortable by the higher than usual humidity, which negates the efficiency of the "swamp cooler" sort of air conditioning used in many desert communities. Ennnyway, the Momz & Popz and ourselves arrived a little earlier and set about the task of losing quarters to the gods of gambling, with the exception of beloved Momz, who in her first half hour of gaming came away $125 richer, whereupon we paused and walked about thru the casino observing the hordes of jackpot seekers, and when Dan & Janet showed up, joined the Popz in the bar for a cocktail, then the Momz, along with D & J, re-entered the casino & again courted Lady Luck, returning in another 40 minutes or so with the news that Momz's luck continued to hold out, this time sixty dollars or so on the positive end of the scale. Sadly, we must report, none of the rest of us could match the Momz fabulous good fortune. That, though, is not the marvelous thing we referred to earlier. After our gambling adventures we hied ourselves off to local restaurant to meet up with our other brother, Dave, who in the company of his two strapping sons Michael & Matthew drove into the parking lot just as we ourselves did, and all of us enjoyed a great sort of going away dinner. Then, upon exiting the restaurant, the Momz brought to our attention that some raindrops had begun to fall, and the wonder that is a summer desert thunderstorm moved into the area, filling the air with the scent of rain upon the dry desert floor, and great impressive lightning strikes lighting up the sky from horizon to horizon, accompanied by monstrous thunderclaps. This impressive and memorable display lasted throughout our drive back to the northeast side of town, where, funnily enough, we could still witness much lightning & thunder all around us, but it was obvious the rain had chosen to fall elsewhere, only the merest smattering of rain droplets upon the ground there at la casa de mi Mama y Papa. It was a wonderful end to my final day of holiday, and a reassuring one it was, of which we'll speak more about later this week. The next day, a 10 Am flight into Las Vegas, and immediate transfer to flight bringing us home via the Oakland airport, where our Brother Ken, along w/lovely Liz-beth & kinder in tow rescued us from the throngs of exhausted & frustrated air travelers, then brought us home, safely & soundly, a bit more tanned, a bit more relaxed, and exceedingly happy (you can't imagine the breadth of the smile on my face as I stepped off the plane into the Oakland environment and felt the comfort of a 72 degree temperature day) to be back in the familiar confines of chez d'monquis. So, to Peony2, to J.L., S.W., R.R., Green Flash, the Satellite Jockey, (am sure am overlooking someone) allow me a bit more time,
& we'll get around to contemplating replies, perhaps even the writing & sending of same.

nothing against the guy personally...       6.14
and we must admit to disagreeing with him on any number
of subjects, but we wonder if he has actually ever done
anything other than drive by City Lights in his limo...
wha'choo talkin' bout Willis?!
George Will offers up another stupid opinion
admittedly, there are only a few things yourstruly tends
towards conservatism on (the number of republicans in office
for one thing, should be severe limitations on that...)
keeping abreast of what those jolly folk are thinking is important.

okayokayokay...       6.12
we have been quiet long enough, just stoppin' in here long enough to update
the dedicated dozen readers, whom we hope haven't given up on us entirely.
yourstruly's currently en famille, our pretentious way of saying we decided it was about time we checked in on our family, frying away in the heat of the west texass desert.
Did anybody say HOT? how about TOO FUCKING INCREDIBLY HOT?
That "but it's a dry heat" crap just don't cut it! All we can tell you is that at 10:30 pm on our first night amongst the other members of the d'monkey family it was still NINETY FUCKIN' DEGREES, and yah, apologies for the cursing, but it is just too darn hot, screw that "but it's a dry heat" bullshit. What has allowed us to survive so far is the marvelous fact that Momz & Popz have a pool at chez d'monkey texass, and, well, it is supremely pleasurable to dive into that sucker for IMMEDIATE relief, matter of fact yourstruly was splashing about happily nekkidly in the late PM hours last night and will likely be doing so again, admittedly safer in terms of the general public for ourowndamnself to be floating about nekkidly when kinder & older folk are safe abed & asleep, altho it beats me how ANYBODY can sleep when it be this damn hot. Another thing we were reminded of when we decided to sit down here and bring the faithful few up to date on our personal shenanigans, was an interesting mention of El Paso, Texass as one of the Top Ten Places to Live in terms of weather. And, oh yah, we cannot describe how lovely the local populace is, with their tanned hides so resembling the other desert dwellers, the lizards & horned toads. Did I say it was Hot?
okay, that's enough of that, more details sometime soon, got to stop now, the keys on this thing are beginning to get rubbery and soft and we have this overwhelming urge to strip ourselves nekkid once again and take a flying leap into that cool pool in the backyard, but before we go, how about something to put a smile on that ol'kisser of yours,
some alternate state mottos for your enjoyment...

it was a great & happy accident that brought...      6.8
yourstruly to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1973, & even more good fortune was allowed ourowndamnself when we met our late friend Robert F., which led to the opportunity to become a resident of Berkeley, and it is the absolute truth when we say that we'd not be the same silverback if we'd not taken on these changes & challenges, instead staying comfortably safe in the west Texass town of El Paso.
I cannot express adequate gratitude to those who befriended me when this shy, somewhat backward and certainly naive young dolt spent his first few years hereabouts, but each of them were responsible in some way for assisting in opening my eyes and mind to the greater possibilities available to me, not just because I was in Berkeley, but because I'd decided to step outside and away from those familiar comforts of home. Despite the occasional frustrations & displeasure that yourstruly experiences hereabouts every now and again, it still is a place that nourishes me mightily, allows me to be "All I Want To Be", and that I am very happy to call home. While perusing the morning newspaper with lovely cuppa alongside, I came across this Peace Bridge story, and while Berkeley may be famous for a lot of things, certainly one of the things I have always appreciated the value of is the prevalent attitude of "Paying Attention", and the feeling one gets here that if you are interested and excited about something and want to make your voice heard about it, you'll likely find others just as interested & excited, ready to ally themselves with you.
& here, jessferdahalibut, a few of the reasons we love living in Berkeley, California:
the Art Car Fest; How Berkeley Can You Be?; The Berkeley Kite Festival;
The Center for Independet Living; U.C. Botanical Garden; KALX radio (!!!!!);
UC Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive; The Ecology Center;
Women's Cancer Research Center; KPFA radio; Amoeba Records; La Peņa;
Nolo Press; Tilden Park; SETI; Free Radio Berkeley and there's that proximity
to that place across the bay where there's way too much "there" there sometimes,
& goshdarnitall, if any of you ever around, you might consider dropping me a line and if time & compatability allows ( i have a hard time w/republicans and right wing, militaristic assholes in general) be happy to give you our own personal tour of the best that the "Athens of the West" has to offer. There is a sort of love/Not-love relationship with the University of California (particularly during periods of republican adminstrations- can you say Ronald Ray-Gun?), but it must be said that without the University and everthing allied with it, this would be a much different place to live. Better? my personal opinion is that'd be doubtful. Oh, of course there are detractors and those who just don't like us, but as we mentioned in yesterday's post, they have had their heads ensconced firmly up the exit of their digestive tracts for so damn long. A cruel and intemperate opinion, no doubt,
but so full of the Light of Truth I can barely stand it.
one last berkeley-ish goodie for you here...

you all would be making BIG mistake if you didn't...
hie thyselves to the neighborhood of Craig's Booknotes 'cause he gotz it goin' on...
also, the esteemed S.J. Green is on the left coast visiting some of us commoners,
it was our pleasure to make his aquaintence yesterday, and likely we'll see a bit more of
one another whilst he remains in the neighborhood, he is being blessed with nice weather during his visit, and did express his delight at Argentina's loss in the World Cup...
a World Cup? wotdaheckIZdat?
some kind of athletic protector for our preciousnesses?

these are tryin' times we are in...       6.7
not made any easier by the knowledge that the leadership of the nation is suspect,
their competence at issue and highly questionable, and it still seems evident that the majority of folk in this country are content to allow these nitwits & ne'er do wells a free hand in manipulating the political and economic landscape to their sole advantage.
it should be no wonder that yourstruly treads a narrow path alongside the abyss of depression and dismay, as we are certain many others amongst the thinking public are.
we owe some people replies to the email that they've sent us recently, one correspondent in particular seeks some counsel re a riposte to commentary by one who could likely be included in the list of folks described as warbloggers. My own experience with one of their ilk was extremely depressing to me, and bothered me enough personally that our adventures here online became somewhat abberant in Jan & Feb of this year. That asshole (excuse me folks) is still out there and spouting his nonsense & yourstruly has made an effort to ingore & disregard his vacuous opinions, nevertheless, the knowledge that he and others like him are legion, and witnessing them nourish one another's hatreds & biases, waving that banner of alleged patriotism as they demand more military action, more despotic behavior, more erosion of civil liberties, well, it breaks my heart, and without the knowledge of those like myself, who know there is another way, a more difficult choice perhaps, but one that acknowledges our shared humanity & necessity to put forth great effort in the pursuit of peace, well, without them we might have just run off to a cave somewhere and let those idiot flag wavers blow each other up.
To the good doctor M., I say, hell with Lileks and his ilk, comfortable in his American paleness, he imagines no other way but militaristic conquest, and is likely sheltered from entering into the conflict and fray himself. Would that these fools "join the cause" and put their pale asses on the line, join up and go shoot a few rag-heads theirowndarnselves, fucking idiots. That particular idiot in Florida who got under my skin continues with his own mindless, incoherent saber rattling; here, an example of something from his page:
The FOX News talking heads were saying earlier that Attorney General John Ashcroft is about to unveil a program for fingerprinting and tracking visitors from Arab and other Muslim countries. Naturally, the Arab-American and Muslim groups and civil rights groups are about to raise a ruckus. Personally, I'm all in favor of it. In fact, it should have started on September 12th! Most of the people involved will probably be innocent, but it's better that they should be inconvenienced than that their compatriots be allowed so much leeway to commit more atrocities like those that took place on September 11th. These people are guests in our country, not citizens with constitutional rights! If they don't like the rules, they can go back home.
As for any whining about "profiling," all 19 of the murderous hijackers were Arabs and other Muslims. At this point, ALL Arabs and ALL Muslims are suspect. And if they don't like that, tough shit! It wasn't blue-eyed Swedes that slammed those aircraft into our buildings. The door swings out, don't let it hit you in the ass on your way out.
Update 6/6/2002 10:11:00 AM: Let me amend that to "At this point, ALL residents of Arab countries and countries on the list of nations that sponsor terrorism are suspect." At least, they certainly are to me. If that is politically incorrect, so be it.
oh, and we thought for a moment of including a few more enlightening examples of the cogent & painstakingly thoughtful analysis that this particular postal employee is expert at, but will not sully any more my own meagre effort here. To the good Doctor, let them prove themselves to be the fools that they are, as painful as it is, now matter how low they stoop to fling excrement & odious garbage. Let's keep a watchful eye on them, beginnning with Warblogger Watch alongside some of the sterling efforts of some of the folks you'll find on this list, as we continue to watch and take careful note as the shenanigans of the present administration unfold. Yes, this country is in trouble, but it isn't simply because there are a lot of pissed off people in the world who dislike us tremendously,
a lot of it has to do with the fact that so many Americans have had their heads ensconced firmly up the exit of their digestive tracts for so damn long.

allow us to watch our step as we descend from the soapbox, and we'll point you in the direction of some other things that have been brought to our attention lately.
Out of the official record of visitors to d'monkey enterprises,
we came across Self-Organization and Identification of Web Communities,
initially located via the item actually appearing in our referral log.
As the world around us continues to toboggan toward hell in the proverbial handbasket, our simian cousins suffer as well.
Some wonderful work being done by webloggers we've recently become aquainted with:
dratfink; Sassafrass Log; J.R. Boynton's Licentious Radio; interesting monstah;
just to name a few, and yah, we well aware how badly our autreblog needs attention...
going to wrap this up this Am with just a couple from the various & sundry file:
YearZero;
an esthetics of inadequacy;
we'd mentioned K. Phillips in a post over at American Samizdat,
evidently this link on The Company Presidency was an overlooked leftover.

NOTE TO SEVERAL:
am & have been extremely remiss in responding to cards, letters & e-mail
bear w/me please, trying to maintain some sanity whilst attending to a lot of things,
a situation that i am sure many of you know yourselves, likely all too well.

now where the heck has that monkeyguy been?       6.6
don't ask, you really don't want to know...
two words:
el niņo;
three words (well, kinda...):
R.I.P. Dee Dee Ramone
and in light of the major announcement from the administration,
four words:
I need a drink...
ennybuddy wanna join us?

perhaps I was simply bored. . .       6.4
but interesting nevertheless. Googled: "civil liberties"
then...        
this, The Planet Neptune, Audubon and Skyscrapers,
more from the very early summer ralph linked below...

whilst perusing the various & sundry ...      
marvels available at the Village Voice On-line,
we happened across these links for lovers of Jazz

William Safire & yourstruly...      
are not always on the same page, so to speak,
but we have to stand in agreement re the Att'y Generalissimo
oh, and by the way, Very Early Summer Ralph is now available.

u g h h h . . .    
tuesday's just as bad
tuesday's just as bad
yah, okay, so it wasn't a stormy monday,
just a sucky one...

guess the common theme...       6.3
that appears in each of the following posts:
it's that day of the week again #1;
it's that day of the week again #2;
it's that day of the week again #3;
it's that day of the week again #4;
it's that day of the week again #5;
it's that day of the week again #6;
seems that codemonkeyfella gettin' more awful mondays than anyone should...
and besides, we all know that "suck" is sometimes a good thing, no?, meaning,
without having to spell it out for some of the thicker & denser of you out there,
we're certain there are times you've wished to be on the receiving end,
others of you overwhelmed by similiar desire to be on the, ahhhhhh,
beneficent end, of that particular verb...

a very pleasant weekend transpired hereabouts at chez d'monquis,
it is our fervent hope that your weekend was as pleasant & enjoyable,
one thing we want to express is our immense relief that the Laker-fellas managed to
retain their composure and take care of business in game 7 of the W.C.F.
and now on to the Nets, and the challenge of J. Kidd & Co.
more details and miscellaneous subversive thoughts for you later, if not today,
certainly this week, but for now, two fine places to visit & peruse,
today's daily bleed &, of course,
A M E R I C A N     S A M I Z D A T