Be There for Bees.

We should continue complaining about the role of chemical giants like Monsanto and Bayer (and the impotent EPA) and their role in the Colony Collapse Disorder that is killing bees, but there are things we can do that could help immediately.

And salvia, purple coneflowers, asters, bee balm, zinnias, and sunflowers have other benefits as well, not only psychological.

The Eyes of Grace Slick

...and the song I can't get out of my head today on Rachel Carson's birthday:

'Eskimo Blue Day' from the Jefferson Airplane (featuring Grace and Jorma) live at the Family Dog in 1970.

Water my roots the natural thing
Natural spring to the sea
Sulphur springs make my body float
Like a ship made of logs from a tree
Redwoods talk to me
Say it plain
The human name
Doesn't mean shit to a tree

Putting the Day into Perspective

Here's the live video stream from the International Space Station:

Live streaming video by Ustream

The Fine White Whine of the Day is Emanating from My Alma Mater

A little bit of background first: Rutgers University invited one of the Iraq War principals, Condoleezza Rice, to be the 2014 commencement speaker. She may not ooze the same stench of pure evil that follows Donald Rumsfeld and Dick "Dick" Cheney in a thick visible cloud, but there should have been no surprise that offering her an honorary degree and $35,000 to speak would engender some protest from students and faculty and alumni. The invitation to Dr. Rice was not withdrawn by the University after growing protests, but she withdrew magnanimously over the weekend, "Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families. Rutgers' invitation to me to speak has become a distraction for the university community at this very special time."

Her supporters are shocked and stunned. In the following video we have a right-wing hack Steve Malzberg interviewing the head of the Rutgers College Republicans, Donald P. Coughlan, who states that "an overwhelming majority of students seemed to be really excited to see her" and that there was only a small vocal minority of 50-100 students protesting her appearance in the past week:
 

Even better is the young Republican's open letter to the University President Robert Barchi itself in which this statement appears: "As the protests escalated to your office, university property was damaged further frightening students who do not share the opinion of the protestors and preventing them from voicing a counter opinion." The "overwhelming majority" of more than 30,000 Rutgers students were "frightened" to speak in defense of Dr. Rice because of the actions a handful of people who broke a pane of glass and wrote on a wall? That's some fine white whine. (Maybe not a fine as the vintage white whine coming from Rutgers' New Jersey neighbor Princeton this week, but still some good stuff.)

Oh, unsurprisingly, Fox is all over the young Republicans' outrage and Newt Gingrich has piped in to say that Dr. Rice's decision not to appear at Rutgers is a result of "liberal fascism." Those liberals at Rutgers should just forget, or at least remain silent about, the hundreds of thousands killed and wounded and tortured under the Bush administration's wars (in the same way conservatives are forgetting the four Americans personally killed by Hillary Clinton in Benghazi).

The Smashwords Independent Author Manifesto

Smashwords founder Mark Coker just published a ten-point "Indie Author Manifesto" on his blog yesterday:

"Where once self publishing was viewed as the option of last resort - the option for failed writers and an option marked by stigma and shame - self publishing is increasingly viewed as the option of first choice for many writers.  Over the next couple years I think we'll reach a point where more first-time writers aspire to indie-publish than traditionally publish.  Indie authors are the cool kids club."

As one of those newly independent novelists, please forgive me for plugging (I mean "marketing") my brand-new addition to the glut (I mean "phenomenon"):

Fire Answers Fire at Amazon  
at Apple iTunes
at Barnes & Noble
at Flipkart (India)
at Scribd.
at Smashwords
The Fire Answers Fire page on Goodreads

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, May 6, 1937 -- April 20, 2014

The first trial was a pig circus and so was the re-trial in 1976 that took place after Bob Dylan's hit song. I attended a couple of sessions of the second trial in Paterson and it's the young railroaded John Artis I remember most clearly. The fact that John Artis was still his "longtime friend and caregiver" when Rubin Carter passed away in Toronto today is a piece of information that I find simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking. R.I.P. Hurricane.

Lies from a War Criminal. Eleven Years Ago Tonight.

President Bush Addresses the Nation  

The Oval Office 

March 19, 2003 10:16 P.M. EST

My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. 

On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense. 

To all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces now in the Middle East, the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you. That trust is well placed.

The enemies you confront will come to know your skill and bravery. The people you liberate will witness the honorable and decent spirit of the American military. In this conflict, America faces an enemy who has no regard for conventions of war or rules of morality. Saddam Hussein has placed Iraqi troops and equipment in civilian areas, attempting to use innocent men, women and children as shields for his own military -- a final atrocity against his people. 

I want Americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. A campaign on the harsh terrain of a nation as large as California could be longer and more difficult than some predict. And helping Iraqis achieve a united, stable and free country will require our sustained commitment. 

We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people. 

I know that the families of our military are praying that all those who serve will return safely and soon. Millions of Americans are praying with you for the safety of your loved ones and for the protection of the innocent. For your sacrifice, you have the gratitude and respect of the American people. And you can know that our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done.

Our nation enters this conflict reluctantly -- yet, our purpose is sure. The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder. We will meet that threat now, with our Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines, so that we do not have to meet it later with armies of fire fighters and police and doctors on the streets of our cities. 

Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome but victory. 

My fellow citizens, the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. We will pass through this time of peril and carry on the work of peace. We will defend our freedom. We will bring freedom to others and we will prevail. 

May God bless our country and all who defend her. 

END 10:20 P.M. EST

Still shocking. 

Still awful.

Reasserting the True Meaning of Santorum

I just noticed that the true meaning of Santorum is no longer at the top of the Google results, so we need to help it once more.

Santorum
Santorum
Santorum
Santorum

Santorum is getting the correct top result on Bing however.

Michele Bachmann proves she can still make the finest White Whine

"I think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they've so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so that they think they get to dictate the agenda everywhere." 

-- Michele Bachmann, March 2014

The Last Nation on Earth to Be Lecturing About 21st-Century Invasion Ethics

"You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext." --US Secretary of State John Kerry on Face the Nation, 2 March 2014

To show that this was the official unironic talking point of the US State Department, here was his statement when he moved from CBS's Sunday talking heads show to NBC's.

"You just don’t invade another country on phony pretext in order to assert your interests.” --US Secretary of State John Kerry on Meet the Press, 2 March 2014

"You" don't.

Only we do.