The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to reconsider campaign finance controversy. That means us average voters without deep pockets could get screwed this election year – again.
Category Archives: News
Picture of the Day
Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera and his fiancée Claudia Fernandez (fourth and fifth from left) marked the winter solstice with the Aymara people in Tiahuanaco, Bolivia, on June 21, 2012. Photo courtesy Aizar Raldes, Agence France-Presse.
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A Dog Sits Waiting
By Kathy Flood
A dog sits waiting in the cold autumn sun,
Too faithful to leave, too frightened to run. He’s been here for days now with nothing to do
But sit by the road, waiting for you.
He can’t understand why you left him that day
He thought you and he were stopping to play.
He’s sure you’ll come back, and that’s why he stays
How long will he suffer: How many more days?
His legs have grown weak, his throat’s parched and dry
He’s sick now from hunger and falls with a sigh.
He lays down his head and closes his eyes
I wish you could see how a waiting dog dies.
I can’t verify the authenticity of this poem’s author, but it’s heartbreaking nonetheless. I have a soft spot for animals, especially dogs, as anyone familiar with this blog knows very well. If you can help, please donate to your local ASPCA to keep more animals from suffering.
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In Memoriam – LeRoy Neiman, 1921 – 2012
Painter and sketch artist Painter and sketch artist LeRoy Neiman died Wednesday, the 20th, in Manhattan. Neiman was one the sports world’s best known artists, capturing the energy of athletes and athletic events in bright quick strokes. Neiman’s paintings, many executed in household enamel paints that allowed him his fast-moving strokes, are an explosion in reds, blues, pinks, greens and yellows of pure kinetic energy.
He has been described as an American impressionist, but the St. Paul, MN, native preferred to think of himself simply as an American artist.
“I don’t know if I’m an impressionist or an expressionist,” he told the AP. “You can call me an American first. … (but) I’ve been labeled doing ‘neimanism,’ so that’s what it is, I guess.”
He worked in many media, producing thousands of etchings, lithographs and silkscreen prints known as serigraphy.
But Neiman’s critics said his forays into the commercial world minimized him as a serious artist. At Playboy, for example, he created Femlin, the well-endowed nude that has graced the magazine’s “Party Jokes” page since 1957.
Neiman shrugged off such criticism.
“I can easily ignore my detractors and feel the people who respond favorably,” he said.
Neiman was a World War II veteran who participated in the invasion of Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a self-described workaholic who seldom took vacations and had no hobbies. He worked daily in his home studio at the Hotel des Artistes near Central Park, which he shared with his wife.
“I just love what I do,” Neiman told the AP. “I love the passion you go through while you’re creating” and the public’s “very thoughtful and careful studied and emotional reaction of what you’re doing.”
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Bus Monitor’s Fund Explodes with Generosity
After a cell phone video of Rochester, NY, school bus monitor Karen Klein being cruelly harassed by students went viral, one viewer thought it would be nice to create a retirement / vacation fund for the beleaguered woman. Klein says she doesn’t want the involved students arrested, just “grounded all summer, or maybe all year.” She adds that she’s been overwhelmed by the public’s response. Klein’s fund is now approaching the $600,000 mark.
As a victim of school bullying, I’m so glad this case came to light. While Klein has some measure of sympathy for the brats who harassed her, I feel they should get smacked around by an adult, preferably a man like me who knows how Klein feels.
Picture of the Day
Japanese maple tree in the Portland Japanese Gardens – Portland, OR. Photo courtesy Fred An.
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I knew this battle would be hard fought and not easily won. But, we just can’t give up the fight and hope everything just sort of works out. It won’t! Water rights are too critical to the survival and welfare of anyone.
The following Memorandum was written by Hopi Tribe water rights attorneys Richard Monette and Joe Mentor. The Memo was submitted to the Hopi Tribal Council on June 15, 2012, the same day that the Council voted 11-4 to reject SB 2109 by adopting Hopi Tribal Council Resolution No. H-065-2012. The Memo outlines what they consider to be the legal implications for the Hopi Tribe if the Tribe endorses or rejects SB 2109. Click here to download the Memo as a PDF document. Used with permission.
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