Monday, March 26, 2012

Ode to a Dog Named, "Beau," For Leah, Who Just Lost Her Beloved, "Tala."

Losing a pet can be as hard as losing a close friend, because for many of us, that is just what they are, close friends. This is for Leah and Tala...


"Beau" by Jimmy Stewart

He never came to me when I would call
Unless I had a tennis ball,
Or he felt like it,
But mostly he didn't come at all.

When he was young
He never learned to heel
Or sit or stay,
He did things his way.

Discipline was not his bag
But when you were with him things sure didn't drag.
He'd dig up a rosebush just to spite me,
And when I'd grab him, he'd turn and bite me.

He bit lots of folks from day to day,
The delivery boy was his favorite prey.
The gas man wouldn't read our meter,
He said we owned a real man-eater.

He set the house on fire
But the story's long to tell.
Suffice it to say that he survived
And the house survived as well.

On the evening walks, and Gloria took him,
He was always first out the door.
The Old One and I brought up the rear
Because our bones were sore.

We would charge up the street with Mom hanging on,
What a beautiful pair they were!
And it if was still light and the tourists were out,
They created a bit of a stir.

But every once in awhile, he would stop in his tracks
And with a frown on his face look around.
It was just to make sure that the Old One was there
And would follow him where he was bound.

We are early-to-bedders at our house --
I guess I'm the first to retire.
And as I'd leave the room he'd look at me
And get up from his place by the fire.

He knew where the tennis balls were upstairs
And I'd give him one for awhile.
He would push it under the bed with his nose
And I'd fish it out with a smile.

And before very long
He'd tire of the ball
And be asleep in his corner
In no time at all.

And there were nights when I'd feel him
Climb upon our bed
And lie between us,
And I'd pat his head.

And there were nights when I'd feel this stare
And I'd wake up and he'd be sitting there
And I'd reach out my hand and stroke his hair.
And sometimes I'd feel him sigh
and I think I know the reason why.

He would wake up at night
And he would have this fear
Of the dark, of life, of lots of things,
And he'd be glad to have me near.

And now he's dead.
And there are nights when I think I feel him
Climb upon our bed and lie between us,
And I pat his head.

And there are nights when I think
I feel that stare
And I reach out my hand to stroke his hair,
But he's not there.

Oh, how I wish that wasn't so,
I'll always love a dog named Beau.

Jimmy Stewart 1908-7/2/97




He never came to me when I would call
Unless I had a tennis ball,
Or he felt like it,
But mostly he didn't come at all.

When he was young

He never learned to heel
Or sit or stay,
He did things his way.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Social Security Advocates Launch Campaigns To Pressure AARP

Two separate campaigns have been launched to pressure AARP to stand firm against cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits. The campaigns follow a report by HuffPost that the influential senior citizens lobby will soon be holding a private, principals-only "salon-style conversation" with a host of advocates of entitlement cuts.

"Once again, AARP is working behind the scenes to build support for benefit cuts while masquerading about as an ardent defender of the safety net to its massive, dues-paying membership," reads a petition from the progressive blog FireDogLake.com. "This is outrageous, and AARP should immediately call off the event and disavow this shameful attempt to throw its weight behind benefit cuts."

Credo Action, an online progressive advocacy group, asked its members to reach out to AARP. "Ironically, while the CEO of AARP is set to hold a private meeting with people who want to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits, the organization has also just launched a national listening tour on the future of Social Security and Medicare. So if there's ever a time to speak out to AARP, it's now," reads a letter to the group's membership. "We are joining with other groups including our friends at Social Security Works in making sure AARP hears that everyday Americans don't want cuts to Social Security benefits. We need to make sure AARP gets this message loud and clear."

AARP's listening tour officially launches on Monday and is dubbed "You've Earned a Say and We're Listening."

One AARP volunteer who attended a two-day training last week wrote HuffPost to say that the listening tour appeared to be aimed at shifting AARP policy in favor of cuts to benefits. "We were explicitly told NOT to provide any education; furthermore, they want us to urge participants to fill out the surveys at the beginning of the gathering, then as time permits, allow people one by one to express their opinions," the volunteer wrote. "I am wondering if all of this fanfare with the surveys will just be a smokescreen for the AARP backing cuts in Social Security and Medicare and using the opinions gathered in the 'You've Earned a Say' sessions as the basis for their EVOLVING policy."

"AARP is not pursuing any closed door deals or grand bargains," said an AARP spokeswoman. "Our main focus is hearing from our members, and all Americans, what they think about ways to strengthen Social Security and Medicare. That's precisely why we're launching 'You've Earned a Say.' We are interested in hearing from all sides and having civil discourse on these issues."

The nearly 54 million people drawing Social Security benefits receive, on average, $1,073.80 per month, according to the Social Security Administration, as HuffPost previously reported. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates the program keeps some 20 million people out of poverty, including 13 million elderly Americans.

Gary Engelhardt and Jonathan Gruber, in a rigorous 2004 National Bureau of Economic Research report on the program, calculated that each 10 percent cut in benefits would lead to a 7.2 percent increase in poverty. Such cuts are beginning to seem likely, despite the robust state of the program's finances, which can cover full benefits through 2037 and boasts a surplus trust fund of $2.6 trillion as of this past fall. Reversing that trend and increasing Social Security payments would likely lead to a reduction in elderly poverty, if past history is any guide.

AARP has expressed an openness to benefit cuts in the past, only to backtrack under pressure from its membership. The organization, in recent years, has become increasingly entangled with its growing insurance operation.

Isaiah Poole at the progressive group Campaign for America's Future also criticized AARP for hosting the salon:

Here's a message from one AARP member: You've done enough listening. For years now, we've had a "debate" about how to make Social Security sustainable for the next 75 years. One side of that debate is using fear-mongering and deception to make the case for dismantling a public vehicle for economic security that many of the people on that side of the debate never believed should exist to begin with. Their dream remains replacing Social Security with a private insurance system that would be a playground for the same Wall Street gamblers and predators whose behavior trashed the value of our 401(k)s during the 2008 financial crash.

The other side has consistently spoken the plain truth: Social Security is not in crisis, and the long-term liquidity issues that do indeed need to be addressed are not because benefits are too generous. In fact, they are not generous enough. We should strengthen Social Security, and a simple step we could take today is to lift the payroll tax cap, so that people earning six- and seven-figure incomes can pay more of their fair share into the system.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

The Drug-Addled Smoking Coconut Breakfast Boob

A fine day for macaroons, 100 micrograms of levoxythyroxine, coffee, and smokin' a pipe.



Donne's The Flea: A Love Poem!

THE FLEA
by John Donne

 MARK but this flea, and mark in this, 
How little that which thou deniest me is ;
It suck'd me first, and now sucks thee, 
And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. 
Thou know'st that this cannot be said 
A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead ; 
      Yet this enjoys before it woo, 
      And pamper'd swells with one blood made of two; 
      And this, alas! is more than we would do. 

 O stay, three lives in one flea spare, 
Where we almost, yea, more than married are. 
This flea is you and I, and this 
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is. 
Though parents grudge, and you, we're met, 
And cloister'd in these living walls of jet. 
     Though use make you apt to kill me, 
     Let not to that self-murder added be, 
     And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. 

Cruel and sudden, hast thou since 
Purpled thy nail in blood of innocence? 
Wherein could this flea guilty be, 
Except in that drop which it suck'd from thee? 
Yet thou triumph'st, and say'st that thou 
Find'st not thyself nor me the weaker now. 
'Tis true ; then learn how false fears be ; 
Just so much honour, when thou yield'st to me, 
Will waste, as this flea's death took life from thee.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Steve Sweeney and St. Paddy's Day in South Boston

For added fun, put on the closed captioning and watch the transcriber program wrestle with the Boston accent. And parking spaces really do get passed down from generation to generation. In fact, everything in this video accurately depicts South Boston on St. Patrick's Day.