ODE TO THE NINJA BIKER

To the Ninja Biker
who ran the red light after dark
speeding across SE Grand
coming off the Hawthorne Bridge.

To the Ninja Biker
wearing all black
on a black bike
with no lights
reflectors
helmet.

Where does your
death wish
come from?

Where does your
disdain for the
rules of
the road
come from?

I know you
Ninja Biker.

You're the one
who almost runs me
off the road
with no warning
as you pass me.

You're the one
who responds to
this biker's
gentle suggestion
"please make some
noise before
you pass"
with a raised
middle finger
a "fuck you,
you're too slow
get out of the way -
old man!"

I don't hate you
Ninja Biker.

I might even
mourn you
if you get
splattered
by
a
truck

Ninja
Biker

THE NEW GENERAL MOTORS IS BACK WITH A NEW OLD CAR

General Motors has emerged from bankruptcy as a new company with 60 percent ownership by you and me, the taxpayers of the USA. And the new GM has a big hit in its showrooms, a car that in June sold more than either the Buick or Cadillac divisions sold. Is it an electric car? Is it a hybrid sedan that gets 50+ mpg? Nope. It's the Camaro - a retro muscle car that gets 22 mpg city/highway combined. So what's new?

In my opinion it's very telling about Americans when the largest auto maker comes out of bankruptcy as a new and improved company, and what consumers want is a gas-guzzler muscle car made in Canada. The Camaro "is winning over consumers looking for a little excitement in a bland landscape of look-alike sedans and watered-down sport utilities" ((NYT News Service). And so the beat goes on - we'll continue to drive ourselves off an environmental cliff as long as it's an exciting ride.

Someone please tell me how to explain this one to my grandkids.

DON'T FORGET THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN IRAN

An article inside the newspaper today reminded me that the people of Iran are still struggling for democracy, even in the face of brutal repression by their government. While western governments ponder the political implications of what they say and do, we the people can lend our support to the brave men, women and children who once again have taken to the streets to protest the recent election - and their incresingly dictatorial government.

What can we do as individuals? We can use the internet as a tool. We can also participate in public demonstrations of support.

Google around on the internet and you'll find many blogs by Iranians (inside and outside Iran).

Here are a couple of links:

United 4 Iran is planning an international day of support on July 25. Look on their website to see if something is planned in your city.

Here's a link to a directory of Iranian's blogs.

One of the new realities of the 21st century is that globalization makes it very difficult for brutal regimes to hide their violations of human rights - bloggers, texting, FaceBook, YouTube and other products of technology allow anyone to be a reporter of current events.

Support the people of Iran.

DORY BOATS AT CAPE KIWANDA

This just looks like a lot of fun! These folks launch from and return to the beach in their dories. The fishing that day was mostly for silver salmon, with a few rockfish and lingcod also being caught. A perfect day to be on the Pacific Ocean. And a fun ride to get back home.

Enjoy.

GOVERNOR'S DISEASE: IS IT PANDEMIC?

The columnist Gail Collins wondered about this recently, and she got me thinking. Is there some strange new disease that only affects governors that is spreading thoughout the United States? Recent events suggest this might be the case: Elliot Spitzer, Rod Blagojevich, Mark Sanford, and now the darling of the GOP, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The symptoms of this illness appear to include either sexual infidelity, manic weirdness, or both. With Spitzer it was sex. With Blago it was total weirdness. Sanford's symptoms appear to be a combination of these - lots of extra-marital sex, and non-stop public blathering about intimate details better left unspoken in public.

And now comes Governor Palin. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, google "palin resignation" and watch the video of her speech. It is stream-of-consciousness babbling taken to the n-th degree. I watched and listened to it, but I had no idea what the hell she was talking about! It's almost as if she is actually a programmed android whose operating system is fried.

Oh-oh...maybe I'm on to something here. Maybe these governors are androids that have been substituted for the real people. By Martians? By terrorists? Have the FBI, NSA, CIA, HSA investigated this? Or are they all in on it? Now I'm scared.

DISRUPTED BLOGARHYTHM

I haven't posted here since mid-April of this year, almost three months. I think about it all the time; I even outline posts in my mind, sometimes writing notes on a scrap of paper. But here I am, on July 4, finally opening the blogger site and writing. What's with this?

I have somehow lost my blogarhythm.

Perhaps I'm suffering from input overload, at least that's one theory. I don't read the NY Times as much as I used to; I don't get to every issue of the Progressive that arrives in the mail; I don't jump around the web looking for the latest happenings. I want to, but I'm tired. Maybe Lily Tomlin had it right: "no matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up!"

So I'm going to try to get my blogarhythm back - maybe I just need a jump start. And I'm going to try to mix it up a bit: politics, philosophizing, art, interesting tidbits. Let's see if I can get this going again.