Jeff Johnson, Big Wave Surfer, 1943-2009

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 31st, 2009 @ 10:01:34 am , using 388 words
Category: Commentary

                                      JEFF JOHNSON, 1943-2009                                                            For Patti, Trent, Pete and Jack  Jeff Johnson and I were best friends from early childhood and spent great and expansive time t… more »
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Harry Reid Pulls The Democrats Together for Health Reform

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 28th, 2009 @ 11:04:48 am , using 421 words
Category: Commentary, Repetitions

Amid the frenzies of the holiday, another would-be terrorist attack, there occurred in Washington something many of the populace thought would never happen: Harry Reid (D-Nevada) managed to pull together the entire Democratic caucus to pass the Senate ve… more »
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Dodd on Michael Jackson, a poem

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 28th, 2009 @ 06:21:09 am , using 197 words
Category: Commentary

This is one of Bill Dodd's last posts and a Doddian homage to Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson: A Remembrance Posted by: Bill DoddPublished on June 26th, 2009 @ 12:40:10 pm , using 190 words, 241 views Category: Poetry Time charges its toll—&… more »
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In Memoriam: Bill Dodd, RRR editor, commentator and poet, 1941-2009

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 24th, 2009 @ 10:09:49 am , using 329 words
Category: Commentary

Bill Dodd, frequent contributor and editor for our Rough Road Review died this morning Dec. 23, 2009, in Albuquerque. He was a widely published poet as well as a political commentator. I met Bill in Albuquerque in the late 60s; we were both much influenc… more »
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AFTER A GAUGUIN AT THE MET

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 20th, 2009 @ 04:47:51 pm , using 130 words
Category: Poetry

AFTER A GAUGUIN AT THE MET                                                  For Marilyn and Lenny   He took these women seriously And they gaze back at him, Eyes fixed on the painter from another world.   He has them where he wants them: Deep… more »
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Whose Reality Show Were You On?

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 20th, 2009 @ 08:15:22 am , using 827 words
Category: Commentary

With a continuance of a national hucksterism and con artist bullshit still before us, Frank Rich takes to ironic task the bewildering array of classic shenanigans pulled off on the great stage of American snake-oil salesmanship.  Sad to say, but we have… more »
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Pass the Health Bill

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 18th, 2009 @ 07:09:27 am , using 822 words
Category: Commentary, Repetitions

Watched replay in Senate of Franken snubbing Lieberman and then McCain says it was wrong. No good debate in the Senate. Krugman in today's NY Times says to Dems to go ahead and pass the flawed health bill. Says it is better than nothing and probably the… more »
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Dailykos: Rant from Portland, Me.

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 16th, 2009 @ 03:17:39 pm , using 206 words
Category: Repetitions

Yesterday I poked my head into some of the healthcare diaries. Wow---they're a bit intense. In the first one, I lost a buttock. In the second, someone stole my shoes. In the third, I was hogtied and roasted over a spit. In the fourth, my lumbago acted up… more »
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The Dreadful Decade and its Distractions

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 16th, 2009 @ 09:10:35 am , using 346 words
Category: Commentary

The decade almost gone, and what a dismal show. At least we survived it. Some people got rich, no doubt and many just went down the old drain. Some of us took flight and hoped for better days. Meyerson in WaPo puts some of it in perspective.   It was… more »
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Bill Pearlman's Profile of Thomas Pynchon

Posted by: Stace Johnson
Published on December 12th, 2009 @ 09:34:41 am , using 85 words
Category: Commentary, Repetitions, Links

Our own Bill Pearlman wrote a profile of Thomas Pynchon that appeared in the London Review of Books.  Here's an excerpt. Looking back on it, I think Pynchon saw his life as mainly being concerned with writing, and experimenting with ideas in writing… more »
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Pakistan, India and the Afghan War

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 12th, 2009 @ 09:24:16 am , using 1115 words
Category: Commentary

Former British officer Bob Churcher in HuffPost goes after the complexities of the situation in Pakistan/Afghanistan and comes up with some serious problems that Obama's new strategy will not be able to solve. Surprise. It sounds like American money is h… more »
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Snowy Saturday in Manhattan

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 7th, 2009 @ 10:43:56 am , using 262 words
Category: Commentary

A wonderful day Saturday in New York City amid snow falling and good companionship. Old friend Lenny Silverberg showed us around. We met first at the Rubin Museum on 17th where a showing of Jung's famous Red Book (his personal workbook for innner discove… more »
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Controlling Health Care Costs and Reform

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 4th, 2009 @ 08:21:33 am , using 565 words
Category: Commentary, Repetitions

The sheer quantity fear tacticson health reform from the Republicans in the Senate debate continues. Paul Krugman takes this question of cost to task in article today. It is time to act, says PK, and I think he is right on. Listen:   Are we talking a… more »
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Peace, Obama's War Speech, and the American Psyche in Disarray

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 2nd, 2009 @ 08:48:29 am , using 436 words
Category: Commentary

Obama's war speech was ok as far as it went. But it did seem like he was trying to play to all constituencies. Maybe that was all he could do. Still, the outcry against escalating was strong from the left, as was the perceived delay from the ever-ready-t… more »
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Here We Go Again

Posted by: Bill Pearlman
Published on December 1st, 2009 @ 02:04:55 pm , using 192 words
Category: Repetitions

The tougher choice for the president would have been to tell the public that the U.S. is a nation faced with terrible troubles here at home and that it is time to begin winding down a war that veered wildly off track years ago. But that would have taken… more »
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