this yr

this year nothing's the same, traded pinecones for cactus on a southern rail
drove out east then i went the other way, there aint no way out of this passion play

late last summer was so hot and dry, had an ex lover nearly take my life
hit my head on the pavement, everything went black now i dont remember aint no going back

come along december got a call from new york, my brother's sick and falling, needs me to bring him back
doctor's rounds at midnight in the iseeyou, took until the new year to know he would pull through

home a coupla weeks it's my daughter in berlin: "mama, fly over and help me for the trouble i'm in"
lonely surgeon's theatre in a language she dont even speak, me i cant fly, wont have my passport this week

now it's coming on for spring, voice of the turtle is heard, im a changed person since my daughter's been hurt
call from the wilderness, gulf of mexico: my sister's husband took his life, seems he had nowhere left to go

she took him everywhere for treatment but they said he couldn't pay, tried to get him some relief, take his pain away
on a wednesday afternoon just him and a thirty-eight, put a bullet in the place where his promise lay in wait

now it's late summer again, months have gone since then, seen a lotta loved ones with the look of change about them
seems we're all in this together and some hell to pay, bound by bonds of loving come what may

so, sorrow's been my mother, and been my father too, taken me from girl to woman just like i asked em to,
still im keeping for me the love-notes, and flowers i've pressed in books about forgiving here in the wilderness

merry christmas!

every purpose-turn, turn, turn

happy birthday, mama ;)

things

News

last march, my brother-in-law killed himself. he was a lifelong musician and singer-songwriter with no parallel. his impact on the people who knew him lasted. but he was sick for a year and although he went to get treatment and diagnosis, he was constantly turned away by doctors, nurses, ER rooms who didn't say but meant: he had no insurance. let me paint that for you in color by numbers: "i'm sick, i'm in pain, i think i'm dying." "well, i can help you but you have to pay first."

i've been complaining about this problem for years now, here in this blog and elsewhere. i say complaining, i really mean, i'm pissed as hell. i haven't talked about my own experiences here, but i have talked about the treatment of others i knew, including my brother-in-law.

turned out, after an autopsy, that my brother-in-law had advanced pancreatic cancer and must have been in pain beyond describing. my sister says he never rested for the last five or six months; he couldn't sleep from the pain.

that's not just policy talking. that's people that made those decisions. like, you know, you and me. some man, some woman, just turned around and walked away. i don't care if that was policy. or any other incredibly insufficient reason to murder people. not interested. makes you wonder, hunh.

Wind Chases the Sun film

welcome to the revolution

got iodine?

oh, and btw, this is not a happy, nuclear family. this is not a mama, that is not her child, the man is certainly not her husband. just fyi. this girl is an artist, a young person on the verge of life, in a stupid, stupid world. being given stupid, stupid advice. and i think the world of her.

did you know that the "service" is one of the only ways young folks are offered a way into the world, access to an income and education? meantime you gotta learn how to shoot and shout but yeah, sure, you get paid, got a dry place to sleep, food to eat, your mama don't have to worry 'bout cha. oh and the education, if you don't kill yourself first or get yourself killed, sure, that'll be waiting for you when you get done with all the other shit.

this blog is not supporting troops, sending happy holiday messages overseas to the men and women overseas. nope. not. this is no happy thanksgiving. check your facts.

bk to the max

just in case you're interested...
but also:

"Amnesty International is appealing for the release from prison of Leonard Peltier, an Anishinabe-Lakota Indian, who is serving two consecutive life-sentences for the murders of two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. The FBI agents, Ronald Williams and Jack Coler, were shot at point-blank range after being wounded in a gunfight with Indian activists on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on 26 June 1975. Peltier fled to Canada. He was extradited to the USA and convicted of the murders in 1977."

"Amnesty International has investigated this case for many years. Although Amnesty International has not adopted Leonard Peltier as a prisoner of conscience, the organization remains concerned about the fairness of the proceedings leading to his conviction and believes that political factors may have influenced the way in which the case was prosecuted. Peltier is now in his twenty-second year of imprisonment [Editorial: this is an old article; Peltier has now been imprisoned closer to thirty-five years.] and has exhausted all legal appeals against his conviction. He was denied parole (early release under supervision of the criminal justice system) in 1994 following a parole hearing in 1993 and his case will not be heard again via a full hearing by the Parole Commission until December 2008. Amnesty International has for some years been calling on the federal government to institute an executive review of the case but there is no evidence of any such action having been taken. In view of Amnesty International's continuing concerns about this case, and the fact that available remedies have been exhausted, Amnesty International is now calling for Leonard Peltier to be released from prison through an act of presidential pardon."

What's your opinion? Is it a miscarriage of Justice or is Justice being served?

Is Peltier a political prisoner now or a simple convict?

amnesty int'l