MAMBO ITALIANO: Italy's PM announced today that it will begin withdrawing troops from Iraq in September, which means, following Spain's pull out, that Dubya's "coalition of the willing" is quickly turning into the coalition of the fed up with the continuing lack of direction in the war. America totally fucked up its relationship with the Italian government, one of its strongest supporters (although Italians were totally against the war), by shooting Nicola Caliperi, the agent escorting a freed hostage out of Iraq. Of course, America has no answers, but making lots of promises. The insurgency continues in Iraq and shows no signs of diminishing, despite the much ballyhooed election, which hasn't been mentioned since it happened. Mainly because it has no real purpose with a full-scale war still in action. The quagmire deepens and still Dubya and the idiots have no exit strategy. Pretty soon, it's going to be just America over there and then what?
In other disturbing news, especially if you're a blogger, the feds are trying to put the kabosh on bloggers being able to even link to a candidate's website. There's also talk about regulating email so you can't send out an "email blast" about a candidate running for office. Sounds a bit 1984-ish to me. I'll be keeping an eye on the fascist machinations of our government for sure.
And in the incestuous world of poetry, comes this from the brilliant Foetry website:
Star poet, Jorie Graham, is on the list of judges recently exposed through an Open Records Act request at the University of Georgia Press. It's bad enough that she's awarded prizes to everyone including babysitters, lovers, and friends. The disclosure that Georgia was trying to hide showed that Jorie Graham judged a contest in which she selected her own Harvard colleague, Peter Sacks, as winner of the "open" series. Sure, that looks pretty bad, but even worse is the fact that Sacks is the latest Mr. Graham.
For those who don't know, Foetry is committed to exposing poetry contests and uppity poets acting as judges who only give prizes to their friends (or husbands, apparently). I could have told Foetry that University of Georgia Press has been a black hole for trying to get a book of poetry published for years. The lit mag and press are a closed door except for friends of the editors. I actually have a poem called I Have Never Fucked Jorie Graham that I really should post here, but it's not ready (aren't you glad to read that T.Ro?) and it would probably get me sued. If you're bored and want to read about the fabulous incestuous, starfucking world of poetry, Foetry is a great way to kill an hour.
In other disturbing news, especially if you're a blogger, the feds are trying to put the kabosh on bloggers being able to even link to a candidate's website. There's also talk about regulating email so you can't send out an "email blast" about a candidate running for office. Sounds a bit 1984-ish to me. I'll be keeping an eye on the fascist machinations of our government for sure.
And in the incestuous world of poetry, comes this from the brilliant Foetry website:
Star poet, Jorie Graham, is on the list of judges recently exposed through an Open Records Act request at the University of Georgia Press. It's bad enough that she's awarded prizes to everyone including babysitters, lovers, and friends. The disclosure that Georgia was trying to hide showed that Jorie Graham judged a contest in which she selected her own Harvard colleague, Peter Sacks, as winner of the "open" series. Sure, that looks pretty bad, but even worse is the fact that Sacks is the latest Mr. Graham.
For those who don't know, Foetry is committed to exposing poetry contests and uppity poets acting as judges who only give prizes to their friends (or husbands, apparently). I could have told Foetry that University of Georgia Press has been a black hole for trying to get a book of poetry published for years. The lit mag and press are a closed door except for friends of the editors. I actually have a poem called I Have Never Fucked Jorie Graham that I really should post here, but it's not ready (aren't you glad to read that T.Ro?) and it would probably get me sued. If you're bored and want to read about the fabulous incestuous, starfucking world of poetry, Foetry is a great way to kill an hour.
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