IT CAN BE HARD KEEPING A STRAIGHT FACE AS A COURT REPORTER

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place. ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning? WITNESS:      He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?' ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you? WITNESS:      My name is Susan! _______________________________ ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact? WITNESS:      Gucci sweats and Reeboks. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active? WITNESS:      No, I just lie there. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth? WITNESS:      July 18th. ATTORNEY: What year? WITNESS:      Every year. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you? WITNESS:      Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which. ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you? WITNESS:      Forty-five years. _________________________________ ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? WITNESS:      Yes. ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory? WITNESS:      I forget.. ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot? ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning? WITNESS:      Did you actually pass the bar exam? ____________________________________             ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he? WITNESS:      He's 20, much like your IQ. ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken? WITNESS:      Are you sh*tting me? _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th? WITNESS:      Yes. ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time? WITNESS:      Getting laid ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: She had three children , right? WITNESS:      Yes. ATTORNEY: How many were boys? WITNESS:      None. ATTORNEY: Were there any girls? WITNESS:      Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney? ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated? WITNESS:      By death.. ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated? WITNESS:      Take a guess. ___________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual? WITNESS:      He was about medium height and had a beard ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female? WITNESS:      Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male. _____________________________________ ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? WITNESS:      No, this is how I dress when I go to work. ______________________________________ ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people? WITNESS:      All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight. _________________________________________ ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to? WITNESS:      Oral... _________________________________________ ATTORNEY:  Do you recall the time that you examined the body? WITNESS:      The autopsy started around 8:30 PM ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time? WITNESS:      If not, he was by the time I finished. ____________________________________________ ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample? WITNESS:      Are you qualified to ask that question? ______________________________________ And last: ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? WITNESS:      No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure? WITNESS:      No. ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing? WITNESS:      No.. ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? WITNESS:      No. ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor? WITNESS:      Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless? WITNESS:      Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law .

 

Quote of the Day:

The censors have not gone away: they have just relocated. Censorship rarely brings artists national fame. More often it confronts them with the mundane reality of petty politics and public officials' fear of controversy.
When an incident gains national exposure everybody becomes a free speech warrior, but few have the patience to deal with everyday censorship. Yet those are the real battles that define our culture.

 - The National Coalition Against Censorship Newsletter


http://ncac.org/visual_art

N.B.A.
Maybe there are two more basketball games left to play. Is it possible that Dallas might just be Joe Frazier bringing out the best (yet) in Lebron? Is it still possible for James to play 2 monster games and everyone will forget what's going on right now?  Maybe yes/maybe no. I'm feeling the heat- DC heat, which has nothing to do with Miami. Wade ran into a Cardinal. Next might come the Boo Birds.

NOTHING BUT A MAN:
'To Have a Revolver' - NYTimes.com

June 10, 2011
Tricycle Daily Dharma
 

Fragile Happiness, Perfect Happiness

Our fragile happiness depends on things happening a certain way. But there is something else: a happiness not dependent on conditions. The Buddha taught the way to find this perfect happiness.

If you are willing to do whatever it takes to find your way out of suffering—and it means confronting the roots of resistance and craving right here, right now—you can reach complete success. Even if you are a casual reader, you can benefit from these teachings, so long as you are willing to use those that make sense to you. If you know something to be true, don’t ignore it. Act on it!

-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, "Getting Started"

LAW BUT WHAT ABOUT THE ORDER OF THINGS?

MICHELLE ALEXANDER SPEAKS


http://www.allthingsharlem.com/the-new-jim-crow/2011/5/24/michelle-alexander-speaks-at-riverside-church-in-harlem.html

IN MEMORY OF NONTSIKELELO 'MAMA' ALBERTINA SISULU

The death of Albertina Sisulu has been met with national mourning in
South Africa. At age 92, Sisulu, an anti-apartheid struggle icon, had
survived the darkest days of apartheid rule. She was banned for a
continuous 18-year stretch by the apartheid regime and was separated
from her husband, Walter Sisulu, for 25 years while he was in jail. In
this article, Shaka Sisulu pays tribute to his 'Gogo'.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/73930

FAITH AND THE POLITICS OF TERRORISM
Ayi Kwei Armah

Africa’s intellectual history puts into clear perspective the burning
issues of our day, including imperialism, globalisation and the
culture of terrorism, argues Ayi Kwei Armah in this article from
Global Breaking News (
http://www.globalbreakingnews.com/news/3908/82/Faith-and-the-Politics-of-Terrorism
) . Retrieving that history would 'change our perception of Africa,
and our self-perception as Africans, enabling us to leave the
suffocating hold in which European domination has locked us.'
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73905

NOTHING BUT MARKETING:

Look for Ann Coulter to say something controversial in the next week or so. AC has a new book out - DEMONIC: HOW THE LIBERAL MOB IS ENDANGERING AMERICA.  
I wonder if this "reads" like more entertainment?

Note: WHO WILL BE NEXT?

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback just turned over arts funding to the private sector, making Kansas the only state without a publicly funded arts agency.

Breaking News Alert: Gingrich's senior campaign staff reportedly resigns en masse
June 9, 2011 3:14:23 PM
----------------------------------------

Virtually the entire staff to Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich resigned en masse Thursday afternoon following a staff meeting, individuals close to the campaign said Thursday. Those resigning included campaign manager Rob Johnson, and campaign advisers Dave Carney and Katon Dawson.

NEW IDEAS FOR THE POSTAL SERVICE:

What can Google do for snail mail? |

GOLDEN TRIANGLE SUMMER CONCERTS

June 1-29 Wednesdays - 5:30 to 7:30 PM

www.goldentriangledc.com

Concert Location:

Farragut Square Park
Connecticut Avenue & K Street, NW

PELICAN BRIEF:

BP  is going to focus on oil exploration in Angola and Trinidad.

	Writing & Editing How the tiny hyphen causes big confusion Word Czar weighs in on when—and when not—to use this small but helpful punctuation mark

ZAINAB SALBI

"War Is Just a Microcosm of Peace" - an Interview With Zainab Salbi
Eva Fernandez Ortiz, Women News Network: "A recent Women News Network - WNN interview with Zainab Salbi, Founder and President of Women for Women International, which held its annual fundraiser luncheon in New York City on May 18, reveals how a very simple act, a smile of recognition and respect, can help women survive in war-torn regions. Long-term trauma for women who have survived armed conflict is a haunting reminder that health issues and depression can follow decades after the end of war, but women who hope for healing can and do move forward. Many of those who work today with global advocacy still want to know the answer to a basic, yet important, question: How far can women recover after conflict survival? These and other topics are part of this interview."
Read the Article

KEVIN SIMONDS

A NOTE FROM KEVIN:

My goodness, Mad for Meat, my first poetry collection, can be pre-ordered for 9.60 Euro ($13.99) with FREE SHIPPING all the way from Ireland: http://www.salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=231&a=203.

In 2003, my first year at Cave Canem, I wrote "Seeing Eye Dog" for a workshop with Yusef Komunyakaa. Many years later, Salmon Poetry issued a call for dog poems for an upcoming anthology. Salmon's publisher accepted the poem and asked if I had a manuscript. The rest, as they say, is history. The collection includes poems about my time in Japan, growing up in New Orleans, sex and Jesus. There will be more Jesus in my edited anthology Collective Brightness: LGBTIQ Poets on Faith, Religion & Spirituality which follows Mad for Meat in October. I'll be touring with them both.

If you have any ideas for reading and performance possibilities, please let me know. I'll be bringing my singing voice and piano hands with me too. And I'm very interested in duet or trio readings with other poets.

If you pre-order the book, please let me know. I'm going to acknowledge that in a special way.

One love,
k~
WWW.KEVINSIMONDS.COM

ICHIRO WATCH
The slump continues.
Average down to .257

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 -- 9:03 PM EDT
-----

U.S. Is Intensifying a Secret Campaign of Yemen Airstrikes

The Obama administration has intensified the American covert war in Yemen, 
exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects 
with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials.

The acceleration of the American campaign in recent weeks comes amid a violent 
conflict in Yemen that has left the government in Sana, a United States ally, 
struggling to cling to power. Yemeni troops that had been battling militants 
linked to Al Qaeda in the south have been pulled back to the capital, and 
American officials see the strikes as one of the few options to keep the 
militants from consolidating power.

Some of the most popular features were also some of the simplest. From the earliest days of the Libya revolt in mid-February, we began compiling the best images from New York Times photographers and those from news agencies, and presenting them sequentially on the site. That effort has continued to grow day-by-day to the point where we now have over 600 stunning photographs in one simple-to-use package. One could spend hours with this: http://nyti.ms/l775dk

LOVE IN A TIME OF TORTURE:
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/06/20116611297528598.html

The Writer's Center - Interning at TWC
That intern assists in the production of our poetry journal, under the guidance of the Managing Editor and editors Jody Bolz and E. Ethelbert Miller. ...
www.writer.org/page.aspx?pid=970

Bill Moyers on His Legendary Journalism Career: "Democracy Should Be a Brake on Unbridled Greed and Power"

Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzales and Bill Moyers, Democracy Now!: "In a Democracy Now! special broadcast, we are joined by legendary journalist Bill Moyers, a founding organizer of the Peace Corps, press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson, a publisher of Newsday, and senior correspondent for CBS News. Public television is where he has made his home, producing many groundbreaking shows and winning more than 30 Emmy Awards. Moyers has just published a new book, 'Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation Continues,' a collection of interviews from his popular PBS show that aired from 2007 to 2010. 'The greatest thing in politics in my time is the transformation of democracy from a citizens society-all that moral agency of all those people in the civil rights movement who stood up against the weight or authority and acted as agents of change-to a consumer society, where most of us are caught up on that treadmill, trying to get more,' Moyers says."
Read the Article

JOSEPH ROSS

ON THE ROAD TODAY WITH JOSEPH ROSS:
WWW.JOSEPHROSS.NET

THE GOTCHA QUESTIONS? 

Yes, Sarah Palin- being president means you have to be ready for the pop quiz. Sometimes it might be an American history question. Oh, no writing on the hands - that's not fair. Too often we want to be Americans without American history. So just yesterday someone asked what my first name was. It was a Gotcha Question. I said Ethelbert. Of course that's incorrect and it's why I'm not running for president in 2012.

WHERE IS THIS GUY'S HEATER?
James had only 8 points last night against Dallas. Does this guy know what time it is?  If the Mavs win the championship it will mean no new commercials next season for the King without a crown. Right now it looks as if Larry Bird is walking away with someone's lunch again. To put the critics to bed James will have to play big the next two games.

What if all this passion is out of proportion to its subject?
An average beauty, magnified to deific, demonic
stature by the fury of intellect,
a flat-faced girl with slanted eyes and a narrow
waist, and a country lilt to her voice,
that she should infect your day to the very marrow,
to hate the common light and its simple joys?
Where does this sickness come from, because it is
sickness, this conversion of the simplest action
to an ordeal, this hatred of simple delight
in others, of benches in the empty park?

    - Derek Walcott

AN E-THOUGHT:
The content of media is content. We are still at level 1 when it comes to incorporating such things as cell phones or the Internet into our lives. In an era of drones does a person really have privacy?  In 2011 many criminals continue to commit crimes without looking up.But let's talk about some of the recent sex scandals with politicians. Not the old-fashion ones in hotels but rather the text sex. How much of this is really mischief and people behaving online or with their phones as if they were in front of circus mirrors. To what extent is an email simply an extension of one's imagination? We should all live during a time of erasure. How much sex do I no longer remember? I can't even recite from memory my old love poems. We are a society that will soon have to hit the collective delete button. There is no one living today who is not without sin. Remember when former President Carter gave a Playboy interview and talked about lusting in his heart? If that was today we would want to know what pictures he was looking at and a list of his most frequently visited websites. How silly have we become? After its last orgasm the media will soon become hungry for something else - until then it will behave like guppies and eat their young. Men will continue to cry at press conferences.Our society will continue its totalitarian demand for the dismantling of all erections. Girls Rule!

THE WORLD HAS NOT ENDED, SO YOU STILL NEED PROVISIONS:

http://provisionslibrary.com/

Local Business News Alert: Tiger Woods to miss U.S. Open
June 7, 2011 2:48:26 PM
----------------------------------------

The world's most prominent golfer says injuries will prevent him from playing in next week's U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda.

POET ON 8TH STREET (Photo by Farrah Hassen)

Nancy Morejón:An Example of Commitment to Literature

	Internal 7 video mistakes that communicators should avoid Video pros explain ways to steer clear of these common gaffes when shooting, editing and posting video content.

ICHIRO WATCH
It's June and Ichiro is stuck with a .264 batting average. However he is only 18 hits behind the AL leader.

To get back on track he needs several multiple hit games.

MARK JACKSON

SPORTS
Good to see Mark Jackson finally getting a coaching opportunity. The former 17-year NBA guard and a sports announcer on ABC/ESPN telecasts will become the new coach of the Golden State Warriors.

New Book:  One of my poems is included in this reader edited by Christopher Sten. It feels good to be a part of literary history. So many outstanding American writers included in this book. Read about Washington from 1800 until 2000. The publisher is University of Georgia Press. Price: $29.95.

FOOD AND ART:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43169056/from/ET/?beginSlide=1

EGYPT: THE SECOND REVOLUTION DAWNS

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/pers-m31.shtml

Two-and-a-half years into the financial crisis that began in the fall
of 2008, workers have begun to fight back on a mass scale, says this
World Socialist Web Site article. 'The ruling class and its political
representatives are engaged in a worldwide drive to turn back the
conditions of workers gained through struggle over generations. The
war in Libya and the efforts of the US to bolster the military regime
in Egypt are part of a global process that includes historic cuts in
social programs in Europe and the United States. The February events
in Egypt and the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa were
the beginning of a working-class counteroffensive.'

Blood in the Amazon: Brazilian Activists Murdered as Deforestation Increases

Benjamin Dangl, Truthout: "Early in the morning on May 24, in the northern Brazilian Amazon, Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife Maria do Espirito Santo da Silva got onto a motorcycle near the nature reserve they had worked on for over two decades. As the couple rode past the jungle they dedicated their lives to protecting, gunmen hiding near a bridge opened fire, killing them both. Brazilian law enforcement officials said that the killing appeared to be the work of hired gunmen, due to the fact that an ear was cut off each of the victims. This is often done to prove to whoever paid for the killings that the job was carried out. The murder took place the same day the Brazilian Congress passed a change to the forestry code that would allow agribusinesses and ranchers to clear even more land in the Amazon jungle. Deforestation rose 27 percent from August 2010 to April 2011, largely due to soybean plantations. That number will likely rise again if the changes to the forestry code are passed by the Senate."
Read the Article

                        Some friends, the few I have left,
are dying, but the egrets stalk through the rain
as if nothing mortal can affect them, or they lift
like abrupt angels, sail, then settle again.
Sometimes the hills themselves disappear
like friends, slowly, but I am happier
that they have come back now, like memory, like prayer.

 - Derek Walcott

THE 6TH ANNUAL MILLER CLASSIC

The 6th Annual Miller Classic will be held on the campus of Bennington College on June 19th at 4PM.

This is the popular soft ball game that has become a tradition at the Bennington Writing Seminars.
Poets against Fiction writers. Yes, Literary All-Stars competing for the prize of poetry books in the Bennington Bookstore. The event is sponsored by E. Ethelbert Miller who was a core faculty member at Bennington for several years.
 
 

A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-loeb/glued-to-the-weather-chan_b_871832.html

VOCABULARY BUILDING

Keep an eye (and ear) on how often Republicans begin to describe the Obama presidency as a disaster.
This is a key word now. Disaster seems to be everywhere. It's a slick way of connecting negative images to the president. Think bad things - think Obama.

OLLANTA HUMALA

EYE ON PERU:

What will the election of Ollanta Humala mean for the nation of Peru?
Will he expand anti-poverty programs? 

FROM THE POETRY FOUNDATION:
 www.americanlifeinpoetry.org.

TROY CARTER

Working With Lady Gaga to Bridge Music and Technology - NYTimes.com

 Jun 5, 2011 ... A Force Behind Lady Gaga Inc. By EVELYN M. RUSLI.

AND ALL THIS TIME I THOUGHT I WAS LIVING IN A SANTORUM.

----------------------------------------
Breaking News Alert: Rick Santorum announces 2012 presidential bid
June 6, 2011 7:32:05 AM
----------------------------------------

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) announced his candidacy for president Monday during an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."

POLITICS: REAGAN'S ANGELS

It's just a matter of time before the media decides to push a Sarah Palin/Michele Bachmann Republican ticket. Reagan's Angels?

Baseball Fever: Catch It!

Yesterday I went to The Nationals Ballpark to watch the high school championship games. I saw Cardozo lose to Wilson by a score of 12-0. It was fun walking into the stadium and being able to sit wherever you wanted to. I felt like I was back in Cuba (1976). I sat near home plate with my daughter and her boyfriend. A Sunday kind of love. Later I would check the majors and notice that Ichiro got 2 hits. Is the slump over?

Tricycle Daily Dharma
 

Practice Everyday Mindfulness

We modern practitioners stop what we’re doing when we sit and restart our everyday lives when the bell signals that time’s up. What’s lost in this either/or distinction is the idea that meditation can be anything I choose to make it. Sure, I can define meditation rather narrowly as the time spent on my cushion. But if I do so, I’m elevating sitting over everyday awareness and thus diluting the possibilities for all those other quotidian opportunities for mindfulness.


-Barry Evans, "I Like it...but is it Meditation?"

WHAT'S THE BCG?
I've been thinking about Black Cultural Growth or what I call BCG. What's the state of our culture in terms of its composition, saturation, spirituality and capacity for incorporating new designs and levels of technology?  What is taking place at the "base" of black culture?  How do we accelerate new ways of seeing ourselves and opening the door to "unknown" possibilities? Is it possible for our blackness to expand and contract? What is our current "soul" index?

GRACE A. ALI

A NOTE FROM MY BELOVED FRIEND GRACE A. ALI:

of note magazine spotlights artists with a commitment to global citizenship  and social change.  www.ofnotemagazine.org              of note's Next Issue: Focus on Guyana Support of note's IndieGoGo Campaign Focused on Artists Bringing Awareness to Guyana OfNoteFinalEdit.dv of note magazine will curate a special online issue (scheduled for September 2011) focused on Guyana, featuring artists using their work to tell the incredible stories of Guyana, celebrate its rich culture, and shed light on its pressing social issues.  It's important to spotlight the people who continue to bring recognition and awareness to Guyana-a nation still largely obscured on the global radar but rich with a storied past and promising future.  Watch the video and Join our IndieGoGo Campaign as an of note Partner!

I walked into Busboys and Poets last night and walked out with WHITE EGRETS. Thank you Derek Walcott.

Neruda

A Chilean judge has opened an investigation into the death of Pablo Neruda. This is in response to allegations that Neruda may have been poisoned just days after the 1973 coup in Chile. Was Neruda killed by agents of the dictator, Gen. Augusto Pinochet?  Lawyers are expected to request the exhumation of Neruda's body.  


What about the Neruda's poems?  What do they know?   What did they witness?  What will they confess to?

ROBERT GATES

THAT LEADERSHIP THING.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recently gave the commencement speech at the U.S. Navel Academy.

I thought his comments on leadership were very good. 


"For starters, great leaders must have vision- the ability to get your eyes off your shoelaces at every level of rank and responsibility and see beyond the day-to-day tasks and problems. To be able to look beyond tomorrow and discern a world of possibilities and potential. How do you take any outfit to a higher level of excellence? You must see what others do not or cannot and then be prepared to act on your vision."

"An additional quality necessary for leadership is deep conviction. True leadership is a fire in the mind that transforms all who feel its warmth, that transfixes all who see its shining light in the eyes of a man or woman. It is a strength of purpose and belief in a cause that reaches out to others, touches their hearts and makes them eager to follow."

"But for everyone who would become a leader, the time will inevitably come when you must stand alone. When alone you must say, "This is wrong" or "I disagree with all of you and, because I have the responsibility, this is what we will do."

"Above all, remember that the true measure of leadership is not how you react in times of peace or times without peril. The true measure of leadership is how you react when the wind leaves your sails, when the tide turns against you."

DORIS DAVENPORT SENT ME THIS INFORMATION:

"CONVERSATIONS WITH TIME" on Kickstarter! (Donate via amazon.cm account!)

http://www.kickstarter.com/e/k7tnx/projects/470453459/conversations-with-time

“CONVERSATIONS WITH TIME” (the CWT Collective) is an inter-generational group of performing, visual, and literary artists committed to social change and working with the West Baltimore community to create transformative art.

With participants from the Bon Secours GED program, the Silver Senior Community and Harlem Park Middle School we have led a series of collaborative workshops to generate a performance for ROOTS Fest 2011. This original work incorporates movement, writing, acting, music, and the visual arts. It showcases our talents and gives voice to our stories. It is a journey toward invigorating, supporting and promoting the vitality of the community of West Baltimore.

We have fifteen days left to raise about  $1,600 or more.
Please let your friends, fans, and followers know about this awesome undertaking, and how they can be a part of it. Facebook and Twitter are also, obviously, great tools to get the word out.

http://www.kickstarter.com/e/k7tnx/projects/470453459/conversations-with-time

Thank you so much for your help.

Read more about ROOTS Fest  <https://alternateroots.org/node/2133>

Gwylene Gallimard, Jean-Marie Mauclet     843-723-1018 / 607-5811
See our work "Conversations With Time" at www.Kickstarter.com
and please help!

Join us for ROOTS Fest 2011 as we celebrate Alternate ROOTS 35th Anniversary in Baltimore, Maryland from June 22-26, 2011.

MORE ON GIL SCOTT-HERON:
Print | Black America Web
He was multi-talented,” said E. Ethelbert Miller, a poet and writer and board chair for the Institute for Policy Studies. “That's why I say on my blog I ...
www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=print/news/baw...news/...

Tricycle Daily Dharma
 

Notice Space

Noticing the space around people and things provides a different way of looking at them, and developing this spacious view is a way of opening oneself. When one has a spacious mind, there is room for everything. When one has a narrow mind, there is room for only a few things.

-Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”

I came back from the library today with some goodies.
Three movies to watch:

Glory Road
Nowhere Boy
Proud

Two short books to read:  UNLESS IT MOVES THE HUMAN HEART by Roger Rosenblatt and THE SUBVERSIVE COPY EDITOR by Carol Fisher Saller.

ICHIRO WATCH:

Ichiro is in a terrible slump.
His average has dropped to .266
It looks impossible to have another 200 hit season.
I plan to see him when Seattle plays the Nationals.

Listening to Jr.Walker &The All Stars 

Do You See My Love (For You Growing)

Naomi Wolf | Sex and Surveillance
Naomi Wolf, Project Syndicate: "It is impossible to hear about sexual or sex-crime scandals nowadays - whether that involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn or those of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, or the half-dozen United States congressmen whose careers have ended in the past couple of years - without considering how they were exposed. What does it mean to live in a society in which surveillance is omnipresent? Like the heat beneath the proverbial boiling frogs, the level of surveillance in Western democracies has been ratcheted up slowly - but far faster than citizens can respond."
Read the Article

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Friday, June 3, 2011 -- 10:29 AM EDT
-----

John Edwards Is Indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Campaign Funds Case

A federal grand jury in North Carolina indicted John Edwards, the former 
Democratic senator and presidential candidate, over allegations that he used 
campaign funds to conceal an extramarital affair during his 2008 campaign for 
the White House.
    
The six-count indictment follows a two-year federal investigation of Mr. 
Edwards’s political career.

A PLACE FOR WRITERS AND BELIEVERS: 

I've been corresponding with my friend Maritza the last few weeks. 

I guess her magic will begin again.  

MARITZA RIVERA COHEN

For years after the Mariposa poetry series in College Park, people have been 
asking me what I was going to do next.  After saying "I'm working on it" one too 
many times in the past 9 years, I finally decided.  I have always wanted to 
attend a writers retreat but either the cost, distance or the amount of time 
needed got in the way.   I figured maybe there were other people in my shoes and 
started thinking about a workable solution.

I don't believe in coincidences but when I started looking for somewhere nearby, 
I discovered the Capital Retreat Center and talked with their Director of Sales 
about doing a weekend retreat.  He was very enthusiastic about a literary 
retreat, arranged for me to tour the facility and the idea started taking shape.  
(Someone who will remain nameless suggested it should be a magical place and I 
found one.)

Once I contacted the prospective faculty members and received their support and 
encouragement, there was no turning back.  Of course having someone like you 
with whom to bounce these ideas around was invaluable.  I don't think I could 
have worked out some of the issues that came up without your voice of reason.

I now realize  that it all came together pretty instinctively, that because I 
was responding to a need, the poetry community was supportive and encouraging.  
A really neat thing that happened is that the workshops are all of a sensory 
nature: tactile, auditory, visual and introspective.  I couldn't have planned 
this to happen but it did.  Maybe I'm on to something.

I'm ecstatic that I've already started receiving registrations and everyone so 
far is excited to be involved.  If all goes well and I can at least break even 
this year, I hope to be able to host a retreat on an annual basis.

Bio Note:

Maritza Rivera Cohen is a Puerto Rican poet who has been writing for over 30 
years.  Her work has appeared in literary magazines, anthologies and online 
publications.  She is the author of “About You”, 1999 and A Mother’s War, 2009 
which was inspired by her son’s two tours in Iraq to help make the intensity of 
war a reality for everyone.  She is a regular  contributor to Poets Responding 
to SB 1070.  She was the founder of the weekly Mariposa Poetry Series, 1999- 
2002, and will host the first annual Mariposa Poetry Retreat in October 2011.

THE FINGER?

Did Dirk and the Mavs give the Heat the finger last night?  I couldn't believe the game. My son and I sending texts back and forth in those final minutes. Was this a big Heat meltdown?  More to come? The third game should be a monster. I love me some Wade but those other two guys have to show me something more. Don't celebrate until the game is over. Now what about the Series?

E. Ethelbert Miller and Mier Wolf on NBC

 BEYOND THE BARS: POETRY

Next week I'll be visiting the Clarksburg Jail in Maryland again. Joining me will be the poet Joseph Ross. Below is a television clip about my 2009 visit:

 Tuesday, March 10, 2009

E. Ethelbert Miller and Mier Wolf on NBC

Those of you who saw the announcement about WC board member E.Ethelbert Miller last week--regarding teaching a workshop at Clarksburg jail and the subsequent NBC News feature on it--here's the link so that you can watch it. Also included in the video is another board member, Mier Wolf, the former mayor of Chevy Chase and the man behind the program:
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Poetry_in_Prison_Washington_DC.html

Love is what you never stop doing.

I got a note back from radio host Marc Steiner today. People responding to our program about Gil Scott-Heron (see earlier post on E-Notes). One person wanted to know why we only talked about Gil's politics and not more about his compositions that were shaped around the themes of love. I sent Marc back the following note:


Well...do you see how people interpret conversations about politics as not being conversations about love.
Geez - what are we trying to change and why?  Don't we do our work out of love? Are not our politics a reminder of what we hold dear and embrace? Must Che remind us again and again? What do all revolutionaries do? Are they not the sons and daughters of lovers? Too often people look for love simply in the wetness of a kiss.

In Their Own Words? Maybe

By JULIE BOSMAN

There is an understanding among publishers, editors and agents that ghostwriters are behind many novels by celebrities.

Quote of the Day:

"Like a branded fragrance or clothing line, the novel - once quaintly considered an artistic endeavor sprung from a single creative voice- has become another piece of merchandise stamped with the name of celebrities, who often pass off the book as their work alone despite the nearly universal involvement of ghostwriters. And the publishing industry has been happy to oblige."

   - Julie Bosman, The New York Times, June 2, 2011

Before terrorism, Islam came to us in the horns of jazz musicians. The music was peaceful and without lyrics. It was heart music. It changed our dress. It taught men to respect their women. The music was for many of us our first journey towards the east.

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Within the framework of the Buddhist Path, reflecting on suffering has tremendous importance because by realizing the nature of suffering, you will develop greater resolve to put an end to the causes of suffering and the unwholesome deeds which lead to suffering. And it will increase your enthusiasm for engaging in the wholesome actions and deeds which lead to happiness and joy. - His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Check out my commentary on the passing of Gil Scott-Heron: The Power of Words, Faith and Paradox

As-Salaamu Alaikum, 

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik

N.B.A. Finals: Is it the Heat or is Dallas just Cold?

If Miami wins this evening the series is over. Take the broom from the closet. Oh, and then we have to listen to how many championships the Heat might win. Let's be real. It's difficult to repeat. Injuries, egos, keeping a good bench in place, are all part of the equation. Hey- let's not overlook a jealous Lady Luck. She always wants a new wardrobe. 

A NOTE FROM JO REED:

 

Dear Friends,

 

As many of you know, I host and produce a weekly podcast for the National Endowment for the Arts, called Art Works.  It's an interview show with artists from across the country talking about how art works.  It would mean a lot for the agency and for me personally if you were to stop by the website and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. It's easy and free,  (you clink on the "subscribe on itunes" on the podcast page.  Here's the link http://www.arts.gov/podweb/podCMS/podlist.php).  The podcasts engage with artists of all stripes from Anna Deveare Smith to Alan Gilbert to Gary Giddins to Sean Wilentz on Bob Dylan. It would also be incredibly great if  you could send this request around to your lists and urge folks to subscribe as well.   if you have feedback or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

many thanks...

 

jo

--

Josephine Reed

Producer/Host

On The Margin, WPFW 89.3 fm, Washington, DC

Writers on Writing, Sirius/XM Radio, XM 163; Sirius 117

 

SO YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER IN HOLLYWOOD?

Hollywood Makes a Cake | Xtranormal

 

NEW BOOK:

ONWARD JOURNEY  Seeking the Divine by John Bartram Rehm
Here is an excerpt from John's Prologue:

"In my continuing spiritual journey I have become increasingly convinced of two truths: first, that each individual has the capacity to be touched by the Divine and thereby to be made whole; second, that the combination of reason and materialism are literally destroying the world and its creatures, human and otherwise."

I wrote a blurb for John's book. This is what I said:


"The John called to Christ this time is John Bartram Rehm. Onward Journey: Seeking the Divine
is one man's faith made visible. Here are reflections about biblical characters, as well as daily moments in life. If there is reason to celebrate after reading this book, then it means Rehm has touched the spirit in you. This is a book full of light."

John Bartram Rehm is married to NPR talk-show host Diane Rehm with whom he co-authored 
Toward Commitment: A Dialogue about Marriage.

 







 

WE THE PEOPLE:  The Lives, Art, and Cultures of Muslim and Arab Women

Saturday, June 11 - 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Takoma Park Community Center
7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park MD

The City of Takoma Park and Empowered Women International (EWI) present
the third annual “We the People Project” centered on the lives, art
and cultures of Muslim and Arab women. The one-day arts and cultural
event combines a juried mixed-media exhibition by eight Muslim and Arab
women living in the Washington DC Metro area, films presented by 20,000
Dialogues, book presentations and panel discussions with activist Muslim
women, artists demonstrations on Islamic Ornamentation, Arabic
Calligraphy, textile art decoration, bookmaking and painting, and a
one-woman show performance “Unveiled” by Pakistani-born artist,
Rohina Malik. The performance starts at 6:00 p.m. Ticket is $15/person.
All other events are free of charge and open to the public.
http://ewintwethepeople.wordpress.com/cultural-festival-june-11th/

NEW POSTS FROM CHARLES JOHNSON

ON THE E-CHANNEL: http://ethelbert-miller.blogspot.com/

THY BROTHER CAIN?

What would Americans do if the next presidential election was between Herman Cain and Barack Obama? 

GREG TATE

Taters. I think that's what George Scott (Boston Red Sox) called his homers.

Those balls hit out of the park. Taters is what I often call essays by Greg Tate.

Words that fill gaps where people once thought they saw something. Below is

a Tater by Greg on the life of Gil Scott-Heron.   

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2011/05/gil_scott_heron_obituary_greg_tate.php?page=2

Mornings Are For Poets:

I met with my friend Yael Flusberg this morning. Our usual spot on 18th Street, NW.  We hadn't done this in over a year. Yael gave me a copy of her first chapbook (published last year). THE LAST OF MY VILLAGEis a nice collection of 19 poems. It's the 2010 Poetica Magazine annual chapbook winner. Congrats Yael! Former Poet Laureate of Maryland Michael S. Glaser describes the collection this way:

Probing deeply into the particulars of family and culture, these astonishingly powerful poems speak of redemption and reclamation. They remind us of why and how we embrace our heritage and experiences, and come out ready to face each New Year and begin anew.

Visit Yael Flusberg's website at:www.yelements.com  or read her blog at www.yaelflusberg.wordpress.com

YAEL FLUSBERG (Photo by Ethelbert)