This story is not going to get any coverage in the mainstream media. Remember, you read it here first. The president’s sense of humor waxes a bit pale. His jokes are dyin’. Get it? I’m funnier than he is!

A haiku by Hayato T, a junior high school student in Japan.

A thousand origami cranes

I put my wish for peace

Into them

Peace Haiku from Ohshima:

Looks like the emperor’s new cloak is beginning to come apart at the seems …

Guardian Unlimited: Uprising in Iraq could derail Bush:

“Other members of the president’s party, raised the alarm over the emergence of the Shia militia and general unraveling of security. Senator Chuck Hagel, told the Washington Post the US was ‘dangerously close’ to losing control in Iraq. “

All went well for my little Tasha in her visit to the vet this morning. He said it’s “looking great,” and all but gone. So it was just a lesion, not a raging homicidal malignancy. Thank God. And thank all of you who offered prayers and kind thoughts.

Tasha got her regular bath as well, and this weekend she gets to go with me and the rest of the family up to Northern California to visit my brother and his family. It’s my little nephew’s third birthday. I understand we’re dining at Chuck E. Cheese in celebration.

I’m worried. A month ago, I took my dog Tasha to the vet and he found a little nodule on her anus. (She’d been scooting.) He said it should be checked in a month, and if it’s grown she might need surgery. Her appointment for the followup is in the morning.

She’s seems like she feels fine – very little scooting or signs of discomfort lately. And I don’t see the problem, but I’m not a vet. I’m concerned. She’s 13, which is pretty old to be having surgery.

I realize that few people are actually reading this blog, but if you’re out there, say a prayer OK? Thanks.

Did you know that Paris has a subway station named after Roosevelt? I didn’t either. See though, we used to be friends with them. Maybe if we elect Kerry this fall, we can be again. We can all invite a French person over to stay a couple of days, see the sites of the good ol’ USA, maybe go out for some nice Italian food.

… is Wanda tartar. Boston woman has close squeeze with a Darwin Award.

“An American poetry professor struggles to reach a definition of poetry through a Socratic dialogue with one of his students, encountered in the local supermarket. “

Link

Good stuff, Maynard!

And here’s a fine bit of Strand’s poetry:

The story of the end, of the last word

that none would be bearable.

— Mark Strand

Trying to be a poet — a writer — is pretty farking lonely. It’s dull. It’s really hard work. That’s why I like blogging so much — ostensibly. You get to switch windows for a minute now and then and get a little feedback, some human interaction. You post something, and check for comments on the things you posted yesterday, or whatever. Like checking little cyber-crab traps.

My traps keep coming up mostly empty. So it goes. No more sailing around, wondering whether I’ve got crabs. I’ll be kicking back on the pier, having a tuna sandwich and tossing the crusts to the gulls.

I guess this incipient trademark violation case falls under the heading of some things just aren’t worth fighting over.

Link

Afraid of clowns? Might was well face it here.

Thanks to Pete’s photoblog.

You guys gotta read this. Seriously. Tom Daschle speaks out on the Richard Clarke and Paul O’Neill witch hunts, “the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity as a deep cover CIA agent,” and the Abuse of Government Power.

“This is no way to run a government.

The White House and its supporters should not be using the power of government to try to conceal facts from the American people or to reshape history in an effort to portray themselves in the best light.”