pitchers tuck by buddy don: sacred lotus blossom

songs of buddy don: give me the faith ...

evertime a few weeks slides by without me a'ritin a chaptur, i git nervus bout whuther i kin rite a nuther or whuther twood be inny good or whuther i gut inny idee how to start n yew name it, i wurry over it in my mind in sted of ritin. but thays this song i writ a minny a year ago name of St. Thomas' Blues, witch tiz one of the songs on that Bohemian Hillbillies album name of Once Removed i mentchuned tuther day. i kindly try to cunsidder that line whenever i thank i caint git a'goin agin: give me the faith to have faith. heres the rest of them lyricks:

St. Thomas's Blues

Give me the faith to have faith
Show me the road that leads to the promised land
Give me a map to help me find my way
Won't you help me to understand?
'Cause all I want to do is touch His hand.

A farmer told me that God was like a circus
Told me that you had to have a ticket if you want to get in
Told me that the price was measured out in faith
And you pay for it within
But all I want to do is touch His skin.

So won't you
Give me the faith to have faith
Show me the road that leads to the promised land
Give me a map to help me find my way
Won't you help me to understand?
'Cause all I want to do is touch His hand.

The preacher told me that faith is given blindly
You don't need to see the miracles to believe
And you won't find the Lord by seeking after knowledge
It's your faith that makes you see
But all I need to do is touch His sleeve.

So won't you
Give me the faith to have faith
Show me the road that leads to the promised land
Give me a map to help me find my way
Won't you help me to understand?
I just want to stick my fingers into the holes in His hands.

pinions of buddy don: whut we stand fer

mayhap yall dun seen thisn but tiz wurth repeatin jes in case ye missed it. tiz the statement made by the judge in the case of the millenium bomber, witch ifn ye dun fergut, thats the plot that wuz foiled durin the clinton administrayshun back when folks bleeved twuz importunt to drop everthang n focus on the threat bein suggested by the 'chatter' we git frum our intelligents. twuz coverd in a articull name of Judge gives millennium bomber 22 years. heres whut U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour -- a truly grate amurkin that bleeves in the eye deals to witch we aspire -- heres whut he had to say at the sentencing:

"The message I would hope to convey in today's sentencing is twofold:

“First, that we have the resolve in this country to deal with the subject of terrorism and people who engage in it should be prepared to sacrifice a major portion of their life in confinement.

"Secondly, though, I would like to convey the message that our system works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution.

"I would suggest that the message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart. We can deal with the threats to our national security without denying the accused fundamental constitutional protections.

"Despite the fact that Mr. Ressam is not an American citizen and despite the fact that he entered this country intent upon killing American citizens, he received an effective, vigorous defense, and the opportunity to have his guilt or innocence determined by a jury of 12 ordinary citizens.

"Most importantly, all of this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial. There were no secret proceedings, no indefinite detention, no denial of counsel.
“The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism.

"Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. This is a Constitution for which men and women have died and continue to die and which has made us a model among nations. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won.

"It is my sworn duty, and as long as there is breath in my body I'll perform it, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We will be in recess."

taint lack we dont have lodes of folks that bleeves in the eye deals of amurka, minny of em in the armed servuses, witch as ye kin see by this articull name of Military's Opposition to Harsh Interrogation Is Outlined, they dint wonta roll over whenever they wuz ast to violate amurkin eye deals:

Senior military lawyers lodged vigorous and detailed dissents in early 2003 as an administration legal task force concluded that President Bush had authority as commander in chief to order harsh interrogations of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, newly disclosed documents show.

Despite the military lawyers' warnings, the task force concluded that military interrogators and their commanders would be immune from prosecution for torture under federal and international law because of the special character of the fight against terrorism.

In memorandums written by several senior uniformed lawyers in each of the military services as the legal review was under way, they had urged a sharply different view and also warned that the position eventually adopted by the task force could endanger American service members.

...

The documents include one written by the deputy judge advocate general of the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Jack L. Rives, advising the task force that several of the "more extreme interrogation techniques, on their face, amount to violations of domestic criminal law" as well as military law.

General Rives added that many other countries were likely to disagree with the reasoning used by Justice Department lawyers about immunity from prosecution. Instead, he said, the use of many of the interrogation techniques "puts the interrogators and the chain of command at risk of criminal accusations abroad."

Any such crimes, he said, could be prosecuted in other nations' courts, international courts or the International Criminal Court, a body the United States does not formally participate in or recognize.

Other senior military lawyers warned in tones of sharp concern that aggressive interrogation techniques would endanger American soldiers taken prisoner and also diminish the country's standing as a leader in "the moral high road" approach to the laws of war.

...

Rear Adm. Michael F. Lohr, the Navy's chief lawyer, wrote on Feb. 6, 2003, that while detainees at Guantánamo Bay might not qualify for international protections, "Will the American people find we have missed the forest for the trees by condoning practices that, while technically legal, are inconsistent with our most fundamental values?"

Brig. Gen. Kevin M. Sandkuhler, a senior Marine lawyer, said in a Feb. 27, 2003, memorandum that all the military lawyers believed the harsh interrogation regime could have adverse consequences for American service members. General Sandkuhler said that the Justice Department "does not represent the services; thus, understandably, concern for service members is not reflected in their opinion."

Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Romig, the Army's top-ranking uniformed lawyer, said in a March 3, 2003, memorandum that the approach recommended by the Justice Department "will open us up to criticism that the U.S. is a law unto itself."

are we a nayshun that shines its lite befor the worl, that inspires by its refusal to compromize its eye deals, no matter whut? or do we let the terrsts win by givin up our eye deals?

reminds me of a ole firesign theatre piece, caint member witchn, but a feller sez sumthin lack (pair-a-frazin), 'tiz a power that kin only be used fer good or evil ... n i git to deecide witch.'

tiz whut we all gut, a power that kin only be used fer good or evil ... n we gits to deecide witch. sumbidy else sed sumthin lack, 'by thar fruits ye shall know them.'

do they know us to have the strangth n courage to stick to our eye deals?

revellayshuns of buddy don: brakin the fourth wall

thays been a significunt bit of acktivity bout sum thangs i either writ or reecorded to whar tiz time i let it be knowd that the fourth wall of this here innerprize eggzists n could be broke.

whut do i mean by the fourth wall? ye kin git ye a idee by goin here. ifn ye couldnt git in thar on a counta thar bein a price to pay fer subscripshun (tiz wurth it), then how bout this eggsplainayshun:

fourth wall
n.

The space separating the audience from the action of a theatrical performance, traditionally conceived of as an imaginary wall completing the enclosure of the stage.

this here blogs a theatrickull performunts even ifn the audience is on tuther side of the glass wall of thar montor. the few folks that drops by everday knows that whut they find here bof is n aint real. tiz real in the sense that ye see them wurds i tap out on the keybird everday or them pitchers i uplode, but taint real in the sense that 'buddy don' is a care acketer invented by the author, witch i (buddy don) dont generly let him (the author) git his grubby paws onto the keybird.

but thay is a author behind it all n fack is, the author is deelited to say that miz bd n him is a'gone meet one of his bes bloggin buddies, red molly, witch shes the one that hosts the Blue Page Special. red molly is one of the three of four folks on the planet that has dun red everthang they is so far of life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly (furst part or 101 chapturs here, secunt part or chapturs 102 - 140 here).

as ye mite magine, we made friends over that n i half to add mitt, twuz her innerst in gittin more chapturs that gut me a'goin agin (i need to keep on a'goin, i know).

turns out red molly n her husbin is fixin to take a trip up to man hattan sos mr red molly kin take a oracle class. so we plan to meet up at st andrews n ye kin jes bet i will be bloggin all bout it.

but wait, thays more: same day i gut the email with the good news bout red's visit, i gut a email frum a feller over in sweden name of martin g. i could barely bleeve my eyes whenever i red this in a email name of Hi from Sweden:

I ´ve jes red "life ´n pinions".
I liked it a lot, n look forward to the rest of the story.
When´s the following chapturs coming ?
Being about the same age as you, I recognise a whole lot.
Living in sweden is of course diffrent from the US, but some things seem to be universal.
Here it´s now friday time-to-get-home-from work and grey skies, thunder n raining.
I thought that I had something to say about your writings, but right now it´s gone.
Maybe nex week it´ll be back.

ye kin jes bet twuz good news fer me to read that a feller that dont even have english as a furst langwage could read life n pinions atall, much less all the way thru n ast fer more. so i tride to add the 39 chapturs that wuznt on the novel site only blogger woodnt let me, so i made a new lil site with the secunt part.

meanwhile, i had dun cut out a books wurth of the hole thang (dun writ the endin, so i know i gut a long slog ere i finish ritin it), a book name of 'this one gurl name of darlene,' witch red molly n martin g n deb n miz bd n mayhap a nuther two or three folks gits thatn. thays a publisher innerested n now that its dun been showd to keep a bidys innerested to keep on a readin, mayhap tiz wurth it to git that manuscrip reddy to give to the publisher. (i notice how folks mentchuns tiz easier to read ifn tiz printed out n i bet twood be easier still ifn twuz revised -- tiz still a furst draft, after all -- n published as a lil book ye could hold easy lack in yer hands). so i plan to putt sum time in on that projeck even ifn i caint blog as much, tho i am too much of a ham not to git on my lil bloggin stage everday or so.

but thays even moren that. i gut a email frum a feller who had found wandering hillbilly by searchin fer jaroslav haceks book The Good Soldier Svejk, witch i writ a lil revue of that grate wurk here. turns out this feller has a hole site dedicated to that book and he has writ his own translayshun! i jes orderd me a copy or book one, witch ye kin do the same ifn ye wonta by goin here. i caint hardly wait to read it on a counta tiz one of the worls grate wurks of litterchur n funny a nuff to make yer sides hurt by laffin.

bein as he or his fambly cums frum the land of svejk, witch thar a'callin it the czech republic these days, he knew that the email address buddy don uses could have sumthin to do with bohemia. tiz oh so true. i writ im back n let im know how twuz that i cum to use that address. i tole im my real name (dun the same to a few other folk, witch i grately preciate how they keep my secrets) n add mitted how me n miz bd had dun reecorded n reeleasd a cd name of once removed by our band name of bohemian hillbillies. ifn ye foller that lank, ye kin buy that cd.

mr sadlon (author of the svejk translayshun i mentchuned above) bought hisself a copy of our cd (thankee, sir!) n writ a lil revu of his own bout it:

Well, the CD came today, and I just finished listening to it. I enjoyed it very much, just like one enjoys a gathering of friends having a conversation about life, the good, the bad and the ugly. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit apprehensive. I'm getting too old and tired to be brooding. But your treatment of the subject of death is quite authentic, non-jarring, thoughtful, smile-inducing, and much more. I'm not an artist, musical or otherwise, just a consumer of art. I like what I like and I know why. I like people communicating. The Bohemian ones are some mighty smart hillbillies! I love the subtleties. At one point I chuckled at the emerging thought: Billy Joel meets the Fugs!

Most objects that I have at home have a meaning, a personal story. "Once removed" is already one of the more complex and meaningul objects among them.

tiz also a big brake in the fourth wall on a counta ye kin also figger out who the author is ifn ye go to that thar site. please keep my secret a secret on a counta i dont wont folks to be able to search my real name n find this here site. thays too much draft material on it.

but tiz true bout the author: taint buddy don!

wasted time of buddy don: randum stroll thru the blogosfear

i jes finished up a'postin the rest of the chapturs to life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly, secunt part, witch that means tiz as good as its title n has all chapturs frum 102 to 140. tuck a sprizin bit of time to git that dun on a counta furst i had to find em n then i had to trick it out to whar twood post em in order. i dun that by changin the time of each post to make it a mint or two earlier than the one before it.

innywho, once it gut dun i saw that lil strip on the top of the new blog, the one whar ye kin do a google search or make ye a new blog or go to nex blog. seems lack thay aint no way to git it offn the blog n i noticed how they dun putt it on life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly, furst part.

innywho, that gut me to thankin bout the blogosfear n wundern jes how thangs are out thar. fer the mos part, i spend my time on a few favert blogs, witch ifn ye read me reglar, ye know whut they are. mayhap i kin do a lil tour of them a nuther day. but i figgerd fer fun, twood be innerestin to see whuts a'gone on out thar ifn ye tuck whutever cum to ye. so heres my stroll:

1. Turkish Diary; Every day some news about Turkey, if possible not treated by big media. [writ in english by three cuntributers name of alexis nevil, selene n liriel, the subtitle splains whut tiz about]
2. This is a life like no other ... this is The Great Adventure! [thisns the diary of a young lady name of jaimsie, witch this is how she deescribes herself:'I'm a teenager in the final months of my teen years; I love music, I'm a Manchester United supporter (go Reds!); I'm an avid reader; "Jamesie" is a nickname my friend gave me base on charater role-plays we do; I love RP-ing and icon-making; and ultimately I love God. I'm proud of my Methodist Heritage and I'm striving day by day by God's grace to live out the life He has given to me.']
3. Think About This: Wonderful Days [looks lack a nuther diary of a young lady, thisn anonymus. seems lackly shes in hi skool or mayhap even jr hi.]
4. Cell Phones and Ringtones [at furst glants, thisn looks lack one of them faux blogs thats really jes auto-generated spam ceptn ifn this is one, tiz well-dun on a counta lines lack this:"If you where searching for research motorola cordless phone in the real world, what would you do? I guess in reality you could look through books and magazines , but browsing the net is much easier."]
5. EnnangaL EzhuthukkaL; Welcome! This blog is about the ripples on my mind pool by the impact of life. Your comments would be greatly appreciated. [caint tell much bout thisn on a counta how tiz writ in a lango i caint penetrate. i reckun tiz sumthin frum india on a counta how tiz located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India]
6. The Wicked Truth; LIBERTY IS ALWAYS UNFINISHED BUSINESS [thisn a blog writ by two folks. one of ems a feller name of Mister Hand, witch he deescribes hisself thisaway: "I am a political junkie and a super-duper sci-fi/horror buff (or geek, some might say) and no matter how hard I try I just cannot develop a taste for kael." tutherns a feller name of meatbag. bofem fellers is 34 accordin to thar profile.] heres a lil snippet to let ye know whut thar all bout:

   I don't believe in left or right. I believe in trying to find out the truth. Okay, so no world-shaking revelations there. But we've come to a point in our country's history where the pardigm seems to favor the right. This is mostly because of Fox News' rise to power, and due to the long slow burn of Rush Limbaugh's oft-repeated lies. When Rush was a voice in the wilderness a decade ago, his lies were lies. Now, however, they have been repeated often enough to prove that Goebbels was right: A lie, if repeated often enough, becomes the truth.

7. [truth][thisn writ by a yung 20-year-ole english feller with spiky hair, witch he calls hisself cardboardsword. mayhap hes a poet or jes lacks poeticull thangs. innerestin quote at the top of his sidebar:'[freedom] Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."'
8. HAYL [nuther english poet, thisn a 17-year ole yung lady. her real name is Hayley Terese Pereira n peers to me shes a purty good poet.]
9. Last night an mp3 saved my wife [thisn a blog with sevrul cuntributers, all of em radio djs of sum kind. as ye mite magine, tiz a blog bout musick n these folks know much more bout it than i am ever lackly to. todays post is bout Long John Baldry passin away - Let The Heartaches Begin.]
10. Japon G&M [thisns so new it dont have no moren a sangle post yet. writ in french, looks lack its dedicated to japan.]
11. Jedi Andi [riter of thisn is a 23-year old feller who lacks musick frum lincoln park to sarah maclachlan. looks lack hes a nice guy who has dun been hurt by luv fer bein a nice guy, witch thats one of the oldest stories in the worl]
12. Phillet; Mine Life Through Mine Eyes... [feller that rites thisn goes by the name of Phillet Rohani, witch hes a 22-year old web deeveloper. heres how he deescribes hisself: 'I was born and raised in Lancashire, ended up at university (where I met some great, lifelong buddies, and where my life just began), and now I'm working as a web developer.']
13. Jobal and Maricar's Wedding [odd thang bout this blog is how it dont have a sangle post, but thays dun been 20 comments made. looks lack a blog dedicated to the weddin of a very attractiv yung cuple.]

thars my quick stroll thru sum blogs that i lackly never wooda seen ifn i hadnt tuck a ride on that 'next blog' train blogger has. tiz bettern i eggspeckted on a counta how the furst time i tride it i dint git nuthin but spamblogs n blogs in langos i couldnt figger out.

speakin bout folks that blogs, me n miz bd has a treat cummin up, witch we are a'gone git to meet one of our favert bloggers. but i dont wonta say much more bout it today on a counta tiz wurth a hole entry, witch i plan to post thatn in the mornin.

wurk of buddy don: how i spent my mornin

sorry that i aint gut much to rite this mornin. i been wurkin a lil on gittin the novel name of life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly a lil easier fer folks to find. ifn ye look over on the left side of this here blog, ye mite notice how thays two entries fer the novel now, bof furst part n secunt part. i tride to putt the chapturs thats been writ but aint on that furst part to go on the furst part blog, but all blogger wood give me wuz errs ever time i tride. so i made a new blog name of life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly, secunt part.

ye mite could wunder why wood i do this? well, i gut a email frum a feller up in sweden tuther day, witch he writ to say he had dun red life n pinions. twuz a bit of a sir prize to find out sumbidy besides the few i know has red most of it (red molly, jed, deb, miz bd?) wood git a start n stick with it fer 101 chapturs. i writ im back n ast im did he read the hole thang or jes the furst 101 chapturs, witch he dint know thay wuz more. so i started puttin em up, only i aint gut em all in thar yet.

but ye kin jes magine how grate it felt to find out sumbidy had dun red that much of it. i could jes barly bleeve it.

i wunder ifn ye wood let me know in a comment:

have ye red inny of life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly?

n ifn ye have, how much?

pinions of buddy don: is our gummint larnin?

i been beatin the drum bout how the war name of gwot (rimes with snot) is really one bout cunvintsin folks not to use the tacktick of blowin up innocent folks to try to git yer point across, whutever it mite be.

that last clawz -- whutever it mite be -- is the one that matters. ifn we caint figger out the real reason a bidy wood sacrifice his or her own life in order to kill a bunch of innocent folk, then how kin we cunvints folks not to doot? ye mite say that tiz obveeus how ye orta not kill innocent folk, witch tiz purty clear ye orta not do that.

but folks keeps on a'doin it. seems to me lack we dont even try to understand whut kinda recrootment n motivayshun thar side is a'usin to cunvints folks to use that tacktick.

i red a cuple grate bits of ritin on that topick in the las few days. furstns a letter to the editor of the boston globe name of Heed Osama's specific goals writ by a feller frum knoxvull name of allan morgan (dont fergit that the author of a letter dont git to pick the hedline). mr morgan makes this mane point:

... although Osama bin Laden is undoubtedly offended by the gross materialism and decadence of Western secular capitalism, and although he skillfully uses the moral zealotry of Islam to forward his agenda, his agenda is quite straightforward and is not based on some categorical imperative to stamp out Western civilization and its freedoms.
...
The United States may not like his agenda, but if we are to deal successfully with bin Laden's aggression, we would do well to understand his agenda rather than, in our own self-righteousness, simply brand him as a terrorist wishing to do us all in.

he noted that osamas published agenda includes thangs lack:

• gittin u.s. military forces out of the arabian peninsula
• gittin all westurn armies outta arab cuntries includin iraq n afghanistan
• gittin the u.s. to quit supporting arab regimes that mistreats its own folks, lack we used to do with saddam is ownself whenever raygun wuz presdint or lack we dun with the shah of iran or even with them saudis>
• corse, they wonta destroy israel (thatn should be knowd by all)

mayhap we kin win this thang be pertendin they attack us on a counta how we are free n have demockrussy, but as ye could see on 7/7, folks born n bred to that verr same freedum n demockrussy, citizens of our number one ally, the u.k., even such folks kin be cunvintsed to use the tacktick of terrism.

seems to me lack the centrul frunt in the gwot is a lot biggern iraq!

but i caint say it no better this feller Charley Reese dun in a articull name of Nobody's Fault. heres a bit of whut he writ, witch ye orta read the hole thang:

... to avoid any share of responsibility whatsoever, both Bush and Blair propagate the line that terrorists are complete nut cases acting purely irrationally because of crazy hatred of our wealth and freedom. This is particularly clever political propaganda since it asserts that we are hated, not for our faults, but for our very virtues.

It's pure hogwash, of course. Anyone who knows anything about the Middle East and terrorism knows that nearly all of the terrorist leaders are university-educated and come from middle-class to upper-class families. Why would bin Laden, himself a multimillionaire, hate wealth? Why would a man who freely chose a life of hardship when he could have been a decadent playboy despise freedom? Bin Laden fought for the freedom of Afghanistan. For whose freedom have Bush and Blair ever fought?

Bin Laden is certainly one of terrorism's wordiest leaders, but in all his speeches and messages of which I'm aware, he's never criticized wealth or freedom. He has been quite specific. He wants the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf ended. He criticizes our support for Arab dictators and for Israeli abuses of Palestinians. He wants us out of the Persian Gulf, and he wants an end to Israel.

Now, acknowledging what he believes is not agreeing with him. You can agree or disagree, but it is both stupid and dishonest to deny that bin Laden believes what bin Laden says.

corse, we could jes ignore the reasons thar attackin n putt our soljers into impossibull situwayshuns, witch ye kin read all about that in todays l.a. times articull name of Shots to the Heart of Iraq; Innocent civilians, including people who are considered vital to building democracy, are increasingly being killed by U.S. troops writ by richard c. paddock:

U.S. officials have repeatedly declined requests to disclose the number of civilians killed in such incidents. Police in Baghdad say they have received reports that U.S. forces killed 33 unarmed civilians and injured 45 in the capital between May 1 and July 12 — an average of nearly one fatality every two days. This does not include incidents that occurred elsewhere in the country or were not reported to the police.

The continued shooting of civilians is fueling a growing dislike of the United States and undermining efforts to convince the public that American soldiers are here to help. The victims have included doctors, journalists, a professor — the kind of people the U.S. is counting on to help build an open and democratic society.

"Of course the shootings will increase support for the opposition," said Farraji, 49, who was named a police general with U.S. approval. "The hatred of the Americans has increased. I myself hate them."

Among the biggest threats U.S. forces face are suicide attacks. Soldiers are exposed as they stand watch at checkpoints or ride on patrol in the turrets of their Humvees. The willingness of the assailants to die makes the attacks difficult to guard against. By their nature, the bombings erode the troops' trust of the public; every civilian becomes suspect.

U.S. military officials say the troops must protect themselves by shooting the driver of any suspicious vehicle before it reaches them.

Heavily armed private security contractors, who number in the tens of thousands, also are authorized by the U.S. government to use deadly force to protect themselves.

One contractor who works for the U.S. government and saw a colleague killed in a suicide bombing said it was better to shoot an innocent person than to risk being killed.

"I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by six," said the contractor, who insisted that he not be identified by name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

read the hole articull. tiz a scary place fer our troops to be. looks lack nuthin they kin do is a'gone be cunsidderd rite. taint fair to em.

speakin of unfair to em, heres a cuple more articulls bout the gwot, a war that dont need no sacrifice frum innybidy that dont volunteer fer it:

The Best Army We Can Buy.

Uniform Sacrifice

daytrips of buddy don: brooklyn botanickull gardens

ackshly, thar name is Brooklyn Botanic Garden, but that aint whut near everbidy seems to call em. more lack theyll say, brooklyn botanickull gardens. i dun herd it a minny a time.

innywho, yesterday me n miz bd tuck a lil daytrip over to brooklyn to spend the afternoon with my irish friend name of micky. he lives right on prospect park over thar n has im a grate apartment. ifn ye knew im lack i do, ye wood know hes dun 'kicked around a lot' n dun a lotta differnt thangs. hes a sorta flossofer, so tiz only natcherull that i wood git to hear lil of his bleefs. heres one:

magine ye had jes fell offn a cliff n jes by luck ye had grabbed the branch of sum roses. ye hold on deespite them thorns on a counta down below thays a cuple lions a'pacin back n furth, a'waitin fer ye to fall. ye look up n see thays a nuther cuple lions up thar, trine to suss out how to git to ye. so whut ye a'gone do?

smell the roses.

micky herd thisn sumwhars, mayhap a buddhist munk or sum such, n i member how we laffed whenever he tole it to me the furst time. i tole it to minny a nuther person. corse thye could see the wisdum innit, but dint hardly nobidy do much bout it, me included.

but mickeys differnt. william james -- or wuz it henry? -- writ sumthin bout ifn yer a'wontin to have a good life, ye gut to have a good liver. i wood say mickys one of the bes i know. one of the thangs he n his wife duz is cuntribute to the park n botanickull gardens n museam n i dont know whut all.

but he lacks to git out in all em places n since he lives jes across the street frum the park, he asts us did we wonta cum out, taste a litle sangle malt, n visit them gardens. we did.

im here to tell ye, we dun a lil smellin of them roses yesterdy. on the way home mis bd sed twuz jes lack havin a vacayhsun.

the place wuz jes loded with amazin plants. heres sum pitchers i tuck.

pinions of buddy don: too hot?

it has been verr hot up in here lately, temps in the 90s day after day. tuther day, miz bd sed, 'hal lay loo ya! twill drop to 85 on saturdy!' that wood be grate on a counta how we are visitin micky, our irish frien, over in brooklyn. we plan to take a walk thru the brooklyn botanik garden.

ifn ye aint hot a nuff, heres a few articulls to hep ye warm up:

Senators Struggle to Act on Global Warming:

"Climate change is perhaps the most worrisome global environmental problem confronting human society today," said Molina, a professor at the University of California at San Diego. Molina added that while experts are still uncertain about exactly how global warming will play out in future decades, "not knowing with certainty how the climate system will respond should not be an excuse for inaction."

Several committee Republicans, including some who had questioned climate change predictions in the past, said they agree the world has reached a scientific consensus on global warming.

"I have come to believe, along with many of my colleagues, that there is a substantial human effect on the environment," said Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), who has opposed mandatory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and voted against last month's "sense of the Senate" resolution on climate change.

Some GOP senators, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), went further. In an interview, Murkowski said that "there's an emerging consensus we've got to deal" with climate change, adding it would be "tough" to cut greenhouse gases sufficiently through voluntary programs alone.

A Bid to Chill Thinking; Behind Joe Barton's Assault on Climate Scientists:

Barton, an 11-term Republican from Texas, is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and one of the oil lobby's best friends on Capitol Hill. Late last month he fired off letters to professor Michael Mann of the University of Virginia and two other scientists demanding information about what he claimed were "methodological flaws and data errors" in their studies of global warming.

Barton's letters to the scientists had a peremptory, when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife tone. Mann was told that within less than three weeks, he must list "all financial support you have received related to your research," provide "the location of all data archives relating to each published study for which you were an author," "provide all agreements relating to . . . underlying grants or funding," and deliver similarly detailed information in five other categories.

The scientists' offense was that they had authored a controversial study that reported a sharp rise in global temperatures during the 20th century, based on an analysis of tree rings, glacial ice and coral layers. The study was an important source for a 2001 report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that argued the 1990s had been the hottest decade in 1,000 years. A graph summarizing the sharp upturn last century after hundreds of years of flat temperatures became known as the "hockey stick," and it has been derided ever since by skeptics.

Warming Up to a New Task:

For Alaskans, warming is a fact on the ground and in the sea. They see it in things such as the sagging ground above the permafrost — the frozen subsoil on which their homes and water pipes stand — and the breakaway sea ice from which seal and bowhead whale hunters have sometimes had to radio for a rescue.

Average temperatures in Barrow are up 4 degrees over the last 50 years, and as much as 7 degrees in other parts of the Arctic, according to the multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. The average rise across the globe is 1.5 degrees.
"There's no question something is going on," says Warren Matumeak, 77, an Inupiat elder.

"Spring is coming earlier. We see birds up here we've never seen before. The Earth is changing around us, and we have to figure out how to adapt," said Matumeak, a former land and wildlife manager for the North Slope Borough, the rough local equivalent of a county, albeit one slightly larger than Minnesota.

As the northern polar region warms, some climate models predict what is dryly called a "positive feedback loop," which could start to warm the Earth much more quickly.

For Barrow, such a loop spells likely doom, a self-reinforcing cycle in which melting ice raises surface temperatures, which in turns melts more ice. That could cause severe coastal erosion and alter the delicate balance that sustains life on the tundra.

In a worst-case scenario, people would be forced to leave Barrow altogether, as residents of Shishmaref and Newtok, two smaller coastal villages in Alaska, have decided to do because of continuing erosion.

Bush: Global warming is just hot air:

When the New York Times quizzed Bush about why his scientists had shifted their positions on what caused global warming, he appeared entirely ignorant that they had. "I don't think we did," he said. When tipped off to the paper's coverage of the report, he added: "Oh, OK, well, that's got to be true." Maybe he really doesn't read the newspapers. His aides then assured reporters that, no, this report wouldn't signal any change in his policies around climate change.

In other words, Bush will continue to delay regulatory action related to global warming, while pledging to invest in more study of the issue in the name of "sound science," before doing anything about it.
"The Bush administration has been playing whack-a-mole trying to beat back its own scientists on global warming; every once in a while they miss one," says Jeremy Symons, who worked at the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001, when the president reneged on his campaign promise to regulate global-warming pollution -- a move, Symons says, done for "no reason other than to appease polluters."

"The strength of the science is overwhelming and it's reflected in this new report," adds Symons, now climate change program manager for the National Wildlife Federation. "It doesn't leave the administration anywhere to hide about the fact that it's not doing anything. The science hasn't changed, but when it comes to policy the Bush administration still has its head in the sand."

It's a repeat of a situation early in Bush's presidency, when he asked the National Academy of Sciences to look into global warming and they found that it is happening and is likely caused by such human activities as burning fossil fuels. The response? The administration just continued to call for further study and even infamously censored mentions of the harmful impact of global warming from a federal environmental report.

whut? me wurry? no way. turn up the a.c., baby, tiz a'gittin too hot in here.

pinions of buddy don: ok then?

i understand how south knox bubba must feel. ever mornin i git up a'wundern whut topick to cuver in this here lil blog. it makes me scan the noosepapers n n read them pundits n check the blogosfear n thank bout why i bleev whut i do n why our cuntry dus whut it duz. sumtimes i dream bout whut the mornins subjeck will be.

tiz wurk. taint pure fun. no doubt about it. but it has made me more informed, made me thank bout thangs more, made me participate more in the grate nashunul dialog, even ifn my lil hillbilly voice dont hardly git into the ears of moren four or five reglar readers.

in my case, tis also a way of gittin a novel writ -- or at lease, part writ. i started out jes wontin to wurk on my hillbilly langwage skills. then, almos by acksident, without meanin to doot, my novel broke out. taint the furst i have writ, but tiz the furst i have writ in publick.

not only that, the blog form has had a shapin effeck on the novel. since everthang in a blog cums in reverse kronologickull order, ye half to make each chaptur a lil episode, ideally cumplete in itself. i aint never writ thataway. i generly try to end a chaptur with a hook that makes the reader wonta read the nex chaptur rite away. i woodnt never have cunsidderd doon it thisaway before.

so i bleeve it has made me a better riter (corse, whenever yer ritin reglar, yer makin yeself better at ritin).

so fer me, tiz wurth it. tiz also a good way to meet folks (howdy jed n red n eric n deb n mountain gurl n otherns i dont hardly know well a nuff to member to menchun).

so tiz almos lack hearin bout sumbidy dyin whenever ye read bout a favert blog a'goin dark. skbs site wuz one of my reglar reads. he innerduced me to lots of grate sorces of infermayshun. he hepped me git near ever lank i gut to this lil blog here.

his wuz a voice that riz above the din, well wurth hearin. he wuz the founder n leader of the lil rocky top brigade cummunty. he wuz inspirayshun fer a passel of other bloggers. sum of ems even a lil mad that he deeserted em.

i reckun im more sad than mad purely on selfish grounds since i caint read im no more n dont ritely know whuts to becum of the rtb.

but tiz his life n i respeck im fer his deecishun. that writ, tiz still my fervent hope he will cum back, mayhap in sum other form. but ifn tiz rest he needs, then so be it.

ok then?

sorry, but not fer me.

tain nowhar near ok.

pinions of buddy don: we aint fitin no army ...

... tiz more lack we gut ourself in a fite with a virus with this here global war on terr or gwot (rimes with snot) fer short. i writ on this a while back in a pinion name of fitin a tacktick.

whuther the tacktick gits used depends on our battle fer harts n minds, witch i writ on thatn a time or two, furst time with a pinion name of ye cant win harts n minds with bullets nuther time on how we keep on a'trine the same thang that dont wurk, witch i writ bout that in a post name of city of rubble to win harts n minds?

my point wuz that levelin a town the size of knoxvull (faluja is bout the same size), even after we tole everbidy to git out, aint no good way to git people to re-cunsidder thar plans to use the tacktick of terr. it almos seems lack playin into thar hands, witch them tackticks wuz discussed in china minny a year ago in a book name of the art of war writ by sun tzu. i writ bout thatn in a pinion name of the art of war.

so twuz nice to see mr blair cum round to my way of thankin (dont ye lack how i take my ownself a lil too seious?) whenever he sed we wuz battlin a 'evil ideology'.

sum lacks to thank bullets kin win agin terrst. i dont bleeve thatns a'gone wurk on a counta we aint fitin a army, aint fitin a forn gummint, aint fitin a organized group of rebels. whut we are fitin is a group of idees n pashuns that kin cunvints sum folks they orta give thar own life to fite in behalf of them idees.

our approach is lack fitin a killer flu by trine to track down everbidy that catches it n eethur lockin em up or killin em. ifn we aint cum up with no innoculayshun or antivenom or antibiotick to kill the germs, then dont matter how minny we catch or kill or chase into the caves twixt afghanistan n paksitan. ifn them germs is loose n ifn folks aint gut the strangth of reason to resist em, then lack as not, otherns is a'gone git infeckted.

corse, it dont hep when ye dont git yer 'typhoid marys' of the disease, yer osama bin ladens n mulla omars n such. ifn ye dont stop them, they git stronger, speshly in the harts n minds of folks that dont much lack us, speshly fer folks that lacks to root fer thar own n gits proud seein one of thar own stick it to us n then git away with it.

even more importunt, ye caint hep the disease spread by creatin the cundishuns that makes it stronger, witch thats whut we dun in the prisons of afghanistan n guantanimo n abu grave. folks seein proof of whut wuz dun thar gits thar fevers up n then the disease has a better chants of takin em.

fack is, them bombers in englund wuz home growd. they wuz born thar. they wuznt the evil enemy frum outside smuggled in to bomb. they wuz born n razed in the freedum of englund. but thar minds n harts wuz infeckted by the bleef that thar folks -- thar forebears -- had been dun rong, had been dun such a terrbull rong that inny ackshun wuz justifide.

i aint sayin thar rite atall. but i am sayin that trine to fix the problem by trine to git rid of em aint the anser. why? on a counta how taint as ifn thay wuz a set number of evil terrsts in the worl sos ye jes had to git em all n be dun.

in sted, thays germs that infecks sum folks. them germs git stronger evertime we do innythang that kin be turnt to the add vantage of them that wonts to attack us. we aint battlin fer earthly territory atall. were battlin fer whut folks bleeves.

ye mite could thank we wood be good at this kinda thang on a counta ifn ye add it all up, tiz a battle to win souls. corse ye caint doot with slogans n simple but false eggsplainayshuns lack 'they hate us cawz were free' or 'cawz we gut democrussy' or even 'cawz were rich'.

ye gut to doot by larnin why folks mite git infecketed with such violent evil idees. witch jes lack when yer larnin to fite a germ, ye caint doot by makin up stories bout them germs. ye gut to study them germs n see how they spread n whut kills em.

taint bullets that kin wipe out them germs.

tiz the antibidies of better, truer idees.

laziness of buddy don: spent the mornin readin ...

... n now i aint gut time to rite much of nuthin. more on whut i wonted to rite tomorrow.

heres a feller that stole the scene. we went out to the pier to watch the qm2 deepart. taint possibull to show ye how huge that thar boat is. heres whut we went out to see:

qm2_head_on.jpg

but this feller stole the show, witch heres a cuple pitchers of im rite after he landed (twuz verr hard to ketch im on a counta he dint sit still fer 10 secunts before he tuck off agin):

gull_jes_landed.jpg

gull_posin_1.jpg

gull_posin_2.jpg

i manely wonted to post sumthin so fambly members checkin in wood know i aint suffern no migraines.

blessings abound!

deals of buddy don: tuck the plunge

well we dun it. me n miz bd went n putt a hole lotta money down sos we kin buy our apartment. they putt us thru the wranger n made us read a bunch of borin documents n rite our names on a slew of papers. one of them papers they made us putt our initials on sed we had been warned bout how tiz dangerus to jump into the hudson. we bout felt lack that n once we finely gut home after 2 n a half hours of that stuff, we tuck a walk.

whut do we see but a feller jumpin into the hudson. furst time ever we seen that. twuz lack he wuz showin us whut we had jes dun: tuck the plunge.



they had us doin backflips to whar we almos wonted to walk out, speshly whenever they tole us we had to pay em 10% of the market valu ruther than 10% of the price they wuz a'sellin it to us fer. so whut do ye know, the feller takin dives spots me takin his pitcher n asts me ifn i wood git sum of him a'doin flips. i knew bout how he felt.





time it wuz all over, we needed to cum up fer air on a counta how we wuz feelin bout as dizzy as the feller wuz a'lookin!

pinions of buddy don: i druther drank sangle malt scotch

fack is, i am sick of the news. taint a'sayin i kin turn away frum thangs lack this or this or this. as ye know, i could go on n on n on. or even on and on. tiz a nuff to drive a man to drankin, witch i kin git thar without even gittin in the car!

n that turns my thoughts to ... sangle malt scotch.

ifn we kin git thru the wurkday ahead, twill be the weekend. me n miz bd caint hardle wait fer the weekend on a counta how we luv drankin sangle malt scotch, witch ifn ye know much bout that most deelishus of all spirits, then ye know ye kin find bottles sellin fer innythang frum $13 to upwards of $5,000. durin the week, we lack to have a wee dram once i git home, but we dont drank the good stuff durin the week: eethur we mite sip a bit of a blend or mayhap a lil bourbon or more lackly sum jack daniels tennessee whiskey.

but whenever we make it to the weekend, we treat ourself to sumthin a lil better. ye gut to real eyes how we dint even know bout sangle malt scotches till early last year, but we been a'studyin up on the subjeck lack crazy ever since. we been goin to tastins n whisky fest n places lack keens chophouse or st andrews, places whar the sangle malt menu is biggern the food menu. n one of the blessins of livin in the nyc metropalltun area is how we git lots of variety at good prices.

one thang that means is how we dun cum up with a passel of faverts. we also dun lots of comparrin of fairly yung whiskys (10 year laphroaig or 15 year ledaig, fer instunts) n older ones (15 year laphroaig or 20 year ledaig). in near ever case, the yungn is bettern the older one. heres a list of sum we thank we always a'gone wonta be able to drank, malts we thank of as 'staples':

• laphroaig 10 year:

  tiz bettern laphroaig 15 -- richer, peatier, more of everthang ye drank a islay malt fer. tiz also much cheaper. over in man hattan, ye kin find it fer $32. purty reglar.

• glenmorangie 10 year:

  in this case, the older glenmorangie is a lil better, a bit more cumplex n innerestin, but not by much, speshly whenever ye cunsidder ye kin git yer 10 year fer bout $24 n ye caint find yer 18 fer lessn $75. tiz a highland malt, taint peaty atall, but tiz sweet n fruity n sumthin ye kin roll round in yer mouth a'tastin everthang that cums out

• talisker 10 year:

  thisn is one of our five faverts. cost ye a lil more, tho lately we been findin it fer as lil as $42. tiz frum the isle of skye, thonly one frum thar. twuz the furst we tride (thankee agin, eric!) n we try to have us a bottle on hand. we did try the 18 year old whenever it cum out n tiz a nuther case whar the older malt is better, only ye kin git yer 18 fer $60 ifn ye shop round.

• ledaig 15 year:

  a nuther fine malt, much bettern the 20 year fer our tungs. ye kin git it fer $45 ifn ye shop round. i dont member how much they ast fer the 20 year but tiz too much.

• lagavulin 16 year:

  tiz our favert of all standurd distiller bottlins. heavy body, massive peat, long warm finish -- tiz a malt with everthang. ye caint git it fer lessn $60 n ye mite see it goin fer a lot more. thays also a 12 year vershun that they dont make no more, witch it costs too much to mentchun, but i wuz lucky a nuff to have a dram on my irish friend micky's nickle over a keens n lord have mercy, twuz bout as good as it kin git.

• other staples we lack a lot n the bes prices we seen up in here:
  • bruichladdich 10 year -- $34
  • maccallen 12 year -- $36
  • glenfiddich 10 year -- $35

    verr poplar n importunt in the histry of sangle malts fer sellin sangles when everbidy wuz wontin to buy blends. bes thang bout this is ifn ye go out, ye kin almos always git eether thisn or ...

  • ... the glenlivet 12 year -- $28
  • ardbeg 10 year -- $32
  • bowmore 12 year -- $20 (!!)
  • dalmore 12 year -- $28
  • springbank 10 year -- $40
  • caol ila 12 year -- $45

this evenin, mayhap me n miz bd will crack the seal on sumthin speshul -- lagavulin? -- on a counta we dun been pre-approovd fer a morgidge on our apartment.

as mountain gurl is fond of sayin, 'blessins abound.'

as mis bd mite anser, 'they duz.'

slainte!

ramblins of buddy don: thursdys this n that

lemme see ifn i gut this strate. ifn ye gut a problem with yer cathlick priests molestin kids, tiz on a counta havin such a librul local cultchur. lack in boston, noted hotbed of libruls frum the boston tea party to paul reveres ride, bofem ackshuns agin the cunservativ innersts of the gummint of the time. senator rick santorum wuz trine to hep us beware of this whenever he rote this:

"Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture," Santorum wrote in a July 12, 2002 article for the Web site Catholic Online. "When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."

since he sed that way back in july of 2002, mayhap he's dun been readin sum of the ackshul facks about the abuse n changed his mind, right? rong:

Since Santorum wrote those words, the scandal has spread from Boston to almost every diocese in the country, has forced three bishops to declare bankruptcy and has cost the church close to $1 billion. In a study for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice reported last year that 4,392 priests had been accused since 1950 of abusing more than 10,600 children.

Asked by the Boston Globe this week whether he stood by his remark, Santorum said he did. "I was just saying that there's an attitude that is very open to sexual freedom that is more predominant" in Boston, the Globe quoted him as saying Tuesday.

mayhap he mite wonta read sum of them facks now:

Based on statistics publicly reported by many of the country's 195 dioceses, the Boston-based lay activist group BishopAccountability.org has calculated that the highest percentage of abusive priests from 1950 to 2003 was in the diocese of Covington, Ky. Boston was among the 10 worst dioceses, but several other cities commonly regarded as liberal culturally and politically had relatively low rates of abuse. Just 1.6 percent of San Francisco's priests have been accused of abuse, for example, compared to more than 4 percent nationwide.

hmm. who knew? covington kentucky is a bastchun of librul cultchur? n whutever happend to the libruls in san fransisco n new york? have they dun lost thar influents?

then thars the bizness bout how sum folks count moren otherns, lease whenever it cums to whuther it matters ifn they die. heres a fine articull on it, witch i wish i had red it yesterdy befor postin:

50 people killed by bombs in London last Thursday. 54 killed by bombs in Baghdad, Mosul, and Kirkuk over the weekend. Why do we react so differently? Because the attack in London was the worst attack in since WWII, whereas in Iraq 1500 people have been killed in various kinds of terrorist attacks – meaning random attacks on civilians designed to sow terror and signal opposition to something – since April? But that response makes the question sharper still. Why do we react so differently? Why don’t we react even more strongly to the deaths in Baghdad?

corse, thangs is gittin better, rite? rong agin:

Data Shows Faster-Rising Death Toll Among Iraqi Civilians
By SABRINA TAVERNISE

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi civilians and police officers died at a rate of more than 800 a month between August and May, according to figures released in June by the Interior Ministry.

In response to questions from The New York Times, the ministry said that 8,175 Iraqis were killed by insurgents in the 10 months that ended May 31. The ministry did not give detailed figures for the months before August 2004, nor did it provide a breakdown of the figures, which do not include either Iraqi soldiers or civilians killed during American military operations.

While the figures were not broken down month by month, it has been clear since the government of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari took over after the Jan. 30 election that the insurgency is taking an increasing toll, killing Iraqi civilians and security workers at a faster rate.

In June the interior minister, Bayan Jabr, told reporters that insurgents had killed about 12,000 Iraqis since the start of the American occupation - a figure officials have emphasized is approximate - an average monthly toll of about 500.

but how minny has been killt since the war begun? as ye know, our gummint deecided twuznt importunt to count iraqi dead, so fack is they dont know. (could it be ye dont count folks that ye cunsidder no account?). but thays sum iraqis that duz figger they orta count thar own dead:

An Iraqi humanitarian organization is reporting that 128,000 Iraqis have been killed since the U.S. invasion began in March 2003.

Mafkarat al-Islam reported that chairman of the 'Iraqiyun humanitarian organization in Baghdad, Dr. Hatim al-'Alwani, said that the toll includes everyone who has been killed since that time, adding that 55 percent of those killed have been women and children aged 12 and under.

tiz grate how taint a'happenin here, tho, aint it? so why wood we wonta make shore we defend them places mos lackly to be attacked? aint pork more importunt? ye kin thank senators lieberman n collins fer this:

This was a sad week for the war on terror. The Senate voted, disgracefully, to shift homeland security money from high-risk areas to low-risk ones - a step that is likely to mean less money to defend New York and California against terrorism and more for states like Wyoming. Before the vote, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made a powerful appeal to the senators to distribute the money based on risk. But the Senate, led by Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, and other small-state representatives, put political pork ahead of national security. It now falls to the House to fight for a financing formula that will keep the nation safe.

The 9/11 commission, after an extensive study of the best ways to defend America, urged that antiterrorism funds be divided "strictly on an assessment of risks and vulnerabilities." Mr. Chertoff, in a strongly written letter, urged the senators to enact a formula that would distribute money "based on risk and need," not one that is "static" and "inflexible."

But Congress likes inflexible formulas because they allow members to grab homeland security dollars for their own districts and constituents, whether they need them or not. Rather than dole out homeland security money according to a system based entirely on risk, Congress builds in guaranteed state minimums - money that goes to a state regardless of the risks and threats it faces. This way, money that the Homeland Security Department may want to use to protect New York's subways or Texas' chemical plants ends up in Nebraska.

the lucky thang is how them that has ackcess to classifide gummint secrets woodnt never let em slip, speshly not to put party above cuntry, rite? or maybe not. ye dont need lanks to rove. that news is everwhar.

but thays hope that thangs is a'gone git better, lease fer them that bleeves in the ideals of amurka. the sun is still a'risin on that dream! (miz bd tuck this fine pitcher of it tuther day:

pinions of buddy don: why they attack

thays a innerestin book out by a feller name of robert pape, witch he did im a study of ever suicide bombin that happend tween 1995 n 2004. name of the books Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. mr pape dun writ a few articulls in places lack the new york times n truthout.com, but as ye kin see ifn ye foller that furst lank, hes been innerviewd by The American Conservative.

hes gut im a few points that folks orta cunsidder whenever thar trine to figger out why folks wood kill tharself to attack sumbidy else. ye mite could thank tiz the promiss of 72 virgins in heaven, witch thats a famus spin point. ye mite could thank tiz sumthin to do with islamick eggstreamism. but ye wood be rong, lease based on the ackshul evidents (taint treason to look at evidents, even ifn it dont fit neatly into yer daily spin points). heres sum of mr papes cunclushuns:

• The data show that there is far less of a connection between suicide terrorism and religious fundamentalism than most people think
• What nearly all suicide terrorist attacks actually have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland
• Three general patterns in the data support these conclusions
  1. First, nearly all suicide terrorist attacks - 301 of the 315 in the period I studied - took place as part of organized political or military campaigns
  2. Second, democracies are uniquely vulnerable to suicide terrorists; America, France, India, Israel, Russia, Sri Lanka and Turkey have been the targets of almost every suicide attack of the past two decades
  3. Third, suicide terrorist campaigns are directed toward a strategic objective: from Lebanon to Israel to Sri Lanka to Kashmir to Chechnya, the sponsors of every campaign - 18 organizations in all - are seeking to establish or maintain political self-determination
• Before Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, there was no Hezbollah suicide terrorist campaign against Israel; indeed, Hezbollah came into existence only after this event.
• Before the Sri Lankan military began moving into the Tamil homelands of the island in 1987, the Tamil Tigers did not use suicide attacks
• Before the huge increase in Jewish settlers on the West Bank in the 1980's, Palestinian groups did not use suicide terrorism
• There had never been a documented suicide attack in Iraq until after the American invasion in 2003

nuther sprizing thang bout this study is how jes bout all them suicide bombers cums frum our allies (saudi arabia, morocco, turkey, yemen, afghanistn) not the folks we claim as enemies (syria, iran, north korea). ye kin read much more bout it here.

corse, we gut us a plan on how sumday we wont be in iraq no more. in sted, we been trainin them iraqis to take keer of thar ownself. fer that, ye gut to have folks with sum talent. seems lack thar findin em. ye kin read bout it in the new york times articull name of 10 Sunnis Suffocate in Iraqi Police Custody:

Iraq's widely feared police commandos were struggling on Tuesday to explain how at least 10 Sunni Arab men and youths, one only 17, suffocated after a commando unit seized them from a hospital emergency ward and locked them in a police van in summer temperatures exceeding 110 degrees.

as ye kin see, taint no bunch of libruls trine to give suspecks understandin n therapy n such! whar did we git such grate commandos? same articull splains:

For the commandos, many of them veterans of Saddam Hussein's army, police and intelligence units, the incident was the latest in a long series of incidents in which they have been accused of using brutal techniques learned during Mr. Hussein's years of terror. Doctors who witnessed the victims being dragged from the hospital ward identified the government men as members of the notorious First Brigade of the commandos, but General Flaieh said that the unit involved was a separate police paramilitary force known as the Special Security Force. [emfasis mine]

so ifn i am gittin this rite, we gut rid of saddam on a counta how he had all them weppons of mass deestruckshun that he could use on us in jes 45 mints uh, that is, to stop im frum collaboratin with al qaeda or rather, he wuz responsibull fer them attacks of 9/11 -- oops, whut i meant to say wuz, we tuck out saddam to liberate them iraqis frum the evil regime he had putt in place.

now we wonta leave, so who are we puttin in charge?

pinions of buddy don: dead is dead, bof here n thar

one thang i ment to mentchun yesterdy whenever i wuz ritin bout how we are the ones stuck in the flypaper of iraq, not the terrists, wuz this thang bout fitin em over thar so we dont have to fite em here. heres a bit of a articull name of The War's Realist writ by ej dionne jr:

"We're fighting the enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan and across the world so we do not have to face them here at home."

That's what President Bush said in his speech yesterday at the FBI Academy in Quantico. After the attacks on Britain, our closest ally in the war on terrorism, it is an astonishing thing to say. "It's a very insensitive statement with regard to the British," said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). "Tony Blair must absolutely have blanched when he heard that."

What does Bush's statement mean? Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Fran Townsend, the president's homeland security adviser, said that the war in Iraq attracts terrorists "where we have a fighting military and a coalition that can take them on and not have the sort of civilian casualties that you saw in London."

Huh? If British troops fighting in Iraq did not stop the terrorists from striking London, then what is the logic for believing that American troops fighting in Iraq will stop terrorists from striking our country again? Intelligence reports -- and Townsend's own words -- suggest that Iraq has become a terrorist breeding ground since the American invasion. How, exactly, has that made us safer?

as ye must know by now, upwards of 50 folks in london lost thar lives in that blast.

jes yesterdy, we read this headline: 34 killed in suicide attacks. twuz in baghad, over thar, whar we have our military mite n all ... whar mr bush lacks to say we are fitin em on thar centrull frunt. nevermind how the cia sez were jes manufackturin more terrists ... ignore that articull in salon (from Der Spiegel) name of Radical Islam's rising war on Europe; EU investigators say that terrorists operate in small, flexible groups, making it almost impossible to catch them -- and that the Iraq war has made their task infinitely harder.

ignore the fack that bali n madrid n turkey n london aint innywhar near that centrull frunt of the global war on terr that mr bush lacks to talk bout.

fergit all that.

heres my questchuns: why is it more ackceptabull fer them innocent folks in iraq that we are liberatin n givin democrussy n all -- why is it more ackceptabull fer them to die in attacks everday than tiz fer innybidy else?

dont thar lives matter?

dont the feelins of thar parents n children n bruthers n sisters n friends matter?

dont they greeve?

long fer vengeance?

or is it jes a problem ifn it happens to folks that aint stuck in iraq, in whut mr bush has deecided to call the centrull frunt in the global war on terror?

are they sumhow lessern us? more wurthy of death?

if so, why? aint all gods children equal? whut ever happend to luvin yer naybor as yerself?

pinions of buddy don: flypaper? then who is the fly?

ye dun herd it sed minny a time that we are fitin them terrists over thar sos we dont have to fite em over here. we are keepin on the offents, takin the fite to them. mr bush sed the same thang this weekend in his radio address:

"We will fight until the enemy is defeated. We will stay on the offence, fighting the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them at home."

thays sum that has called iraq 'flypaper,' witch that means them terrists is lack flies. fer the analgy to wurk, them terrists cums to iraq n gits stuck thar n caint leave to attack folks in other places.

as jake says at the end of the sun also rises, hemingways novel bout the lost generayshun frum worl war one, 'isn't it pretty to think so?'

point is, ye kin say whut ye lack, but this heres one analgy that aint wurkin. heres why:

1. kin them terrists leave whenever they wonta?

   KUWAIT CITY: A military clampdown on terrorists in Iraq would push them to instead attack neighbouring countries, the spokesman of the Iraqi government warned in remarks published on Sunday.
   
   Laith Kubba told Al Qabas newspaper that Iraq was now a “big school” for terrorism, and militant battles with the US military would only make them export their activities. “And certainly, neighbouring countries would be the closest for those terrorists to spread in,” he was quoted as saying. Kubba told the newspaper in a telephone interview that terrorists were still crossing into Iraq from Syria and Saudi Arabia, despite claims from both countries that they were doing their best to control their borders.

2. kin we? mr bush is purty clear on that:

   With polls showing that 6 in 10 Americans want to start pulling out American troops and with several dozen members of Congress now calling for withdrawal of the 140,000 U.S. forces, Bush was emphatic.
   
   "There are not going to be any timetables," the president said. "I mean, I told this to the prime minister: We are there to complete a mission, and it's an important mission. A democratic Iraq is in the interests of the United States of America, and it's in the interests of laying the foundation for peace.
   
   "And if that's the mission, then why would you say to the enemy, you know, 'Here's a timetable; well, just go ahead and wait us out.' It doesn't make any sense to have a timetable."

3. so who is trapped in the fly paper? looks lack tiz us on a counta of ifn we leave, thays horrbull problems that wood result:
   
   
   • civil war:

     In Iraq, it is reported, the likelihood of civil war is almost certain if the United States pulled out U.S. troops, and the idea of democracy in the Mideast would be certainly dead.

   • them insurgents wood win:

     So why not just leave?
     
     Well, first, because it guarantees failure. The insurgency -- a coalition of Baathist diehards and foreign terrorists -- has proved surprisingly resilient. Setting a date would basically announce: Hey guys, hold out until October 2006, and you're home free.

   • sum say gas prices wood rise to as high as $5 a gallon (witch, thats about whut them folks in europe pay now):

     Oil hits $120 a barrel.
     
     That's the headline from a recent oil shock wave simulation done by energy experts. Their work raises troubling questions about what could happen if instability in Iraq significantly upsets the already tenuous global oil market.

thays a passel of other reasons: twood hurt troop morale, twood make us look lack a paper tiger in the worl, twood mean all that money wuz wasted, twood mean all them amurkins died fer nuthin, yew name it.

so it seems lack thonly choice we gut is to keep on payin $5 billion of our tax dollars a munth to keep in the fite.

so who is caught in the flypaper?

also, these folks we are fitin are not honorabull men n women who make deals n stick to em. so who could bleeve we git a deal whar ifn we fite em over thar, they wont fite us over here?

nuther thang -- tiz a foolish coach who ignores defents:

FEW OUTSIDE the usual band of lobbyists and inside players noticed, but just three weeks ago, a Senate committee cut the budget for rail and mass transit security in this country by one-third.

This action by the Senate's appropriators, reducing next year's budget to $100 million from $150 million this year, might have made some sense if there were evidence that it would have no impact on security.

However, the opposite is the case and has been for more than three years of inexcusable neglect and conniving between the Bush administration and its corporate buddies.

In the wake of last week's horror in London, it's a reasonable assumption that politicians here will scramble to restore the money, but even if that happens this summer, it is only a drop in the bucket.

Two years ago, the American Public Transport Association surveyed its transit agency members and uncovered about $6 billion in unmet needs. They do not lust for high-tech toys, but they need surveillance cameras for trains and stations, radio communications equipment, technology to control access to sensitive locations and to locate moving trains instantly -- the infrastructure of rapid response and protection.

Instead, the evidence shows an airport-fixated domestic security system that has little relation to real threat. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, some $250 million has been spent on rail and transit security, compared to more than $18 billion on air.

so we spend $5 billion a month on the war whar our own cia tells us terrists are gettin trainin, recruitin material n the chants to attack our military. we dont have moren $100 million to perteck the 60 million folks that rides publick transportayshun everday.

nuff sed fer one day. i gut a bus to catch -- publick transport doin its job, perteckted or not!

pitchers tuck by buddy don: urban flowrs

disgust of buddy don: a time fer silents

i feel disgusted. whut duz it mean to be human?



i aint a'gone let myself say nuthin bout them london bombins today, witch i caint git myself to thank bout much of nuthin else. but everthang that cums into my mind to say is angry, inartickulutt or sarcastick. i am reminded of mark twains essay frum 1897 name of the lowest animal, witch heres a quote (caint find the hole thang on the web):

Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven… The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.

heres a pitcher of one of them higher animulls at wurk:

readers of buddy don: whut a dream tennessee jed had

ifn ye read the comments to this site, mayhap ye follerd the lank tennessee jed putt in, witch hes the feller who cum up with the new wandering hillbilly banner i been a'usin on this site. this fellers one of the mos creativ i ever met. we should be seein his idees everwhar, but taint happend (yet!). ye kin see his wurk here.

whenever i posted yesterdys bit about havin big thangs on my mind, whut i ment wuz how the seller of our apartment sent us a note demandin all our finanshul informayshun and 10% of the price by a week frum fridy or lose the deal, givin us 10 calendar days to git it dun. twuz moren we figgerd wuz wurth doin, as it happens, but at the time, i wuz hurt by how they wuz a'treatin us. (i know severul folks that has bought property in new jersey, but nun of them had to disclose thar infermayshun to the seller, jes the lender. they putt down ernest money, not the hole down payment, to hold thar deal. so i wuz a lil riled up.

but them problems i jes menchuned aint nuthin but small taters when ye thank bout it. we dont half to buy n fack is, we dont wonta buy frum folks that treats us thataway.

but sumtimes ye wunder whar ye are n whar yer a'goin. fer that reason, i highly recommend ye read tennessee jeds piece on a dream he had. seems to me its a metafor fer our times. in the case of the big thangs i had on my mind, part of whut had me upset wuz thankin sumbidy else wuz forcin me n miz bd to do thangs we dint wonta. but after givin it lots of thought n cunsultin with my irish friend micky n readin whut tennessee had writ, well, it dawned on me that i am captain of my own ship, so to speak.

or to mix yer metafors, the sun is still a'gone cum up n ye gut the rite to git out n enjoy it. tiz a bit of gods glory that caint nobidy take frum us, that caint be bought n sold. ye kin even take a pitcher of it, witch thats jes whut miz bd did tuther day.

thays a worl of hope in a simple sunrise. (n even ifn ye dint notice it, yer the captain of yer ship. thankee tj, sir!)

wurries of buddy don: big thangs on my mind

me n miz bd is hopin to buy the apartment we been rentin the past five years, but taint a'gone be easy. we gut a notice in the mail tuther day statin how we had to have give em a check fer 10% of the purchase price by nex fridy jes to keep the insider price. we dint speck that n figgerd we wood half to wurk with the mortgage lender to deetermine down payment n such. tiz a lot more money than we generly have sittin round, so when i woke up at 3 am, thay wuznt no chants of fallin back asleep on a counta the big thangs on my mind.

speakin of big thangs, that queen mary 2 is too big to do justus in a pitcher, even with the coast guard boat chuggin along side it. seems lack my wurries is jes as big as that thar ship! (ifn ye click on it, ye kin see that tiz a verr big ship!)

image fer meditayshun of buddy don: on playin ded

by n by ima gone splain them skulls thats in the tank. i dun splaind bout bidshika playin ded, witch this heres a pitcher of him a'doin it.

legendairy fish of buddy don: sum fotos

tiz awfull hard to git pitchers of fish on a counta how they wont sit still atall ceptn when thar gittin a look at ye. we had sum luck with one of our catfish name of fritz on a counta they generly hide till tiz dark. felis has been with us about five years. we gut a biggern older catfish name of felix, witch we dun had im nigh on to nine years, but he woodnt cum out:

then we gut them cuttlets, witch thar all the fry frum a fish we had name of cutty shark who dun died n left at least 13 fry behind, tho one has dun been killt. these three lilns cum out to watch me takin pitchers.

finely thars bidshika, the big fish of the tank, so he dominates everthang. he murderd esther, witch she lef behin three lil fry but i aint gut no good pitchers of them yet.

frustrayshun of buddy don: blogger caint git nuthin rite

ye mite notice the post below turnt out the be a mess. whenever i wuz a'makin it, i kep checkin the preview in the blogger compose window. thar it looked like a straight column of pitchers with notes bout em on the rite hand side. then whenever i putlished, it made the mess ye see. it dont recognize the brakes i put in thar with that [grater than symbol]br{less than symbol] that i putt in. ye caint size the winder to whar it wurks rite.

i gut a friend at wurk, witch his last day wuz yesterdy. hes a'gone to californy to wurk fer google. i tole im i used blogger n hoped he wood fix summa tham thangs thats rong. he tuck my url n promissed to watch, but even tho hes a grate programmer, i aint a'holdin my breath till they git innythang rite. i wood turn blue n die ifn i dun that!

quandry of buddy don: pinions or pitchers

thays plenty to rite about, but whut differnts wood it make? nun that i kin see. folks that bleeves whut i bleeve mite read whut i rite, but they woodnt change thar pinions since they wood dun alreddy have my pinions. ifn they dont bleeve whut i bleeve, taint lackly they wood read it n aint no way theyd bleev it.

fer instunts, who wood be purse-waded bout the war bein based on lies by articulls lack these:

• A record of deception
• Deja vu in Iraq
• Why Bush Won't Send More Troops
• America Held Hostage
• The Nontaxpaying Affluent Grew by 15% in One Year -- oops! rong war!
• The United States Sobers Up
• Washington's Do-Nothing Patriots
  They save the flag; everything else is on a back burner
• Our Worsening Terrorism Problem
• War? What war?

so in sted of goin thru all that, i figgerd i wood take a lil look at whut folks really luvs to do, witch musick is a big part of it. heres sum fotos i tuck durin a walk in the park on saturdy of folks playin musick or lisnin toot:

i couldnt tell ye whuther this gittar player wuz inny good on a counta i wuz usin this long zoom lens n couldnt here nuthin




wish ye coulda herd this band a'playin on a counta how they wudnt nuthin but amazin




this here feller wuz playin one of my favert songs, that u2 song name of one




this here band wuz dun with thar set, but when tuther gittar player started to playin 'one' across the way, they played along with im




here ye gut ye a audients of sunglasses, witch they wuz a'checkin out them fellers playin along with the gittar player




this here sax player warnt nuthin short of incredibull, witch whenever they nex band gut cummenced a'playin, he played circulls round em




but the jass band warnt half bad, kindly lack them bands i played in whenever i wuz in hi skool out in californy




these folks musta had sumbidy a'playin in that jazz band since they wuz thonly ones payin em inny attenchun.








have i dun mentchuned how we luv our new camera n caint hardly do nuthin but take pitchers?