happiness

thank
you
donna.

barbiturates and bull

I know it was a long time ago, but when I was in high school I wrote a paper about capital punishment and I chose to argue against its use, and especially the use of lethal injection. My argument throughout the five pages (oh, the good old days) was that the paralytic element of the cocktail makes it impossible to gauge the amount of pain the injected feels, and therefore it is impossible to decide whether lethal injection falls under the category of cruel and unusual punishment.

I'll admit that since high school I have not been keeping incredibly up-to-date with the latest developments in the field. And of course, some of my opinions about capital punishment have changed, but I stick behind what I said, until someone provides me with really tight evidence that contradicts the previous argument.

So when I was reading the news today I stumbled upon this article and it brought me right back to that high school paper. And what I am left with upon reading this article is the feeling that I really have to get my act together. First, I need to conduct some current research about the controversy (since mine is from '04) and once I've done that I need to do some research on the Supreme Court. I was always sort of indifferent to the Supreme Court; for some reason, maybe because I've been trained that they are supremely genious prophets, I remained indifferent to them and their rulings.

But their decision to allow continuation of lethal injection, even after the argument that I summed up before was presented, shocked me. And what surprises me even more is this(from the New York Times article today):

"Lawyers for the prisoners contended that the barbiturate-only method is widely used by veterinarians, who are barred in many states from using the same paralyzing agent employed in executing people. But the court rejected that argument, stating that 'veterinary practice for animals is not an appropriate guide for humane practices for humans.'"

Since when are animal behaviors not indicators for human behavior? What of Pavlov? What of Watson? If the Supreme Court can deny these obvious counterpoints, my faith in them is definitely shaken.

Sundown Towns

So right now I am reading Lies my Teacher Told Me, an account of all the things that history books typically omit or misrepresent, by James Loewen. I'm only on chapter two, "1493," and I feel like I'm already sprouting constant information that I had been mistaught like so many others, like how Betsy Ross never created the American Flag, Woodrow Wilson did a whole lotta shady shit, and Helen Keller was one of the leading women in the socialist revolution.

I was so excited to get into the discussion of Columbus that I did some research on the internet about James Loewen, and what I found, though it had nothing to do with Columbus, intrigued me nonetheless. Most of what I explored on his weblog is dedicated to discussing his new book, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. After 21 years I had never heard of these towns until now! They are areas where blacks were historically kept out with signs like, "Nigger, Don't Let The Sun Go Down On You In ___." And some of these towns still exist today! How is this still going on??

Of course one of the first things I did was check the possible sundown towns of New Jersey, and yup - my hometown is one of them. Although it is defined as "surely not" still a sundown town, it is highly possible that it was at one time. In fact, according to Loewen's preliminary research, a former mayor can remember a time when no African Americans were allowed in the city after sunset, except for the barber.

I no longer live in my hometown, but I think it would be incredibly interesting to conduct more research about this.

I frickin love Yahoo!

because they always put the best news stories on my homepage. I mean, yesterday they kept me up to date with what's going on in France, and today when I go to check my mail, I am affronted by a picture of my favorite animal in the world. If you don't feel like reading the whole article, let me just sum it up: Abu Dhabi has a camel beauty contest. Winner is female hottie camel. Prince of Dubai buys her (along with a couple other non-winner but sexy nonetheless camels) for 4.49 million dollars! he paid 2.72 mill for the female camel alone! imagine. also, i learned from this story that Abu Dhabi is the first emirate of the UAE federation to begin using robot riders instead of child jockeys. robots! well, i guess it helps out the children, huh?

waiting to hear from France

and my nerves are getting more strained with every day that passes. I thought I was going to find out about my acceptance (or non-acceptance) with the teaching program in France in March, but it turns out I have to wait until May. Professeur says that my chances are stellar, but I'm still super-nervous.

Anyway, my top choice was Nice, which is in South France on the border of Italy. The more I research the area the more I hope they station me there. I mean, anywhere in France will be great, but I'm hoping that this is my view for the six months I'm there.

OK, OK I'm probably being naive. It's not like I would be able to afford beachfront property and look at that picturesque view daily, but maybe I'll have something close :)

Enough about me and my dreams. I read in the news today that the Olympic relay in Paris was disrupted by protestors against the Chinese government. What would it be like to witness something like that? And if all this happened because of the torch relay, imagine the possibilities that could go down at the games themselves. It's gonna be quite an August.

A corpse revisited

Here is what my revision looks like. Hoo-rah day 4 NaPoMo.

The poet who kills the poem

stalks it first – hunches down into the drafts
on his desk like a feral cat in grass – waits
with pen in hand to pounce on the assembly
of lines that keep failing to be what he wants.
Then all at once he assails, immerses those frightened
stanzas into the nearby sink, and before they have
the chance to fully drown, he tears them
apart line by line and releases them from his
window. They flutter slowly down the side
of his building and land among other discarded
dreams in a gutter.

An exquisite corpse

is what the Wednesday night workshoppers quickly realized we'd be doing when the only person who had something to workshop was me. (BOOYAH!)

And my corpse turned out like this:

The poet who killed the poem

stalked it first – waited in the bushes
like a feral cat – hungry, cold, waited
until it crossed the line of sight, on instinct
falling amongst dreams into the gutter
like the fat from a George Foreman grill, it congeals into a dirty white pool
and like some distorted phoenix it rises from the puddle
before it had the chance to fully drown.

Thanks Andy Chris Sharon Tim Emari and Mike - I'm sure this one is gonna get me the book deal!

April is National Poetry Month

and I'm trucking away at the poem-a-day challenge. I figure it's go big or go home, so I'm going big with all 30! Which means I need to not blog and get to writing #3.

Poetry: thanks to Michelle Baldwin.