f/k/a archives . . . real opinions & real haiku

holding hands . . .

until we reach

the blackberries

 

 

 

 

her leg

swinging, swinging:

the test still incomplete

 

 

 

 

grandpa’s cedar cane

      my son poking holes

      in a snow drift

 

 

 

“schoolBrooks” Randy Brooks, from School’s Out

(Press Here, 1999) 

 

 

 

by dagosan:  

can’t take my eyes off

the bird in flight —

wanting to know its name

 

                                  [Feb.4, 2005]

 

 

“tinyredcheck”  I apologize to anyone who has been trying to read the

now-completed jim kacian haiku how-to primer.  I believe I have

worked out the bugs and it should be readily accessible with just a

click.

 

“tinyredcheck”Harvard Law School professor William J. Stuntz has written a follow-up to his piece from Nov. 29, 2004,

called “Faculty Clubs and Church Pews“.  In The Academic Left and the Christian Right, Part II

(TechCentral, Jan. 4, 2005), Stuntz continues his theme that evangelicals and leftist intellectuals

ave much to learn from each other and many goals in come.  Well worth reading.  I wish Prof. Stuntz

would respond to my inquiry at C&F: “are religious perspectives broached in law schools?”

 

  I’m still trying to figure out why it so often seems that folks on the Left treat     “questionDudeS”

political opponents as moral inferiors, while those on the Right treat the opposition as intellectual

inferiors (see prior post and updates).  This is my best guess as of today:

Why the difference?  Perhaps because many of the leading Liberals 

fought their first politcal wars over civil rights, the Vietnam War and

Watergate — issues that could realistically be painted in terms of good

and evil.  On the other hand, many on the Right, started off fighting high

taxes and big government — issues that have more to do with intellect than

morality.  That set the stage for how each side views its adversaries.

 

Of course, the New Right — the religious Right — also tends to see disputes

as battles between good and evil.  That sort of self-rigtheousness is ugly

and unlikely to lead to positive discourse, no matter its source.

  On a related topic, I’m about to purchase items from the “Jesus Was a Liberal”

collection at CafePress.com — shirts, calendars, postcards, etc. are available.

 

The recent lecture by Justice Steven Breyer on “originalists” and constitutional

interpretation is now online (“Breyer rebuts ‘originalists’ in Tanner Lecture,” Harvard Law

Today, Jan. 20, 2005).  (find my summary at C&F).

midwinter
the bird’s injured
left wing

a waitress
refills the sugar
the long day

 

first tree buds
the list of baby names
not chosen

 

 

W.F. Owen from tinywords – fresh haiku, delivered daily

“midwinter”  (Feb. 3, 2004) “a waitress” (July 22, 2004) “first treee buds” (March 10, 2004) 

 

 

from dagosan: 

four Advil

at a time —

caressing the cordless mouse

                                                          [Feb. 3, 2005]

 

    It has long been clear to any objective or thoughtful observer that using a

cellphone while driving is an irresponsibly dangerous activity — whether the

phone is handheld or not.  Here’s the intro to a report from LiveScience on yet

another study telling us what many Americans just don’t want to know (because

giving up their cellphones would be soooo inconvenient, and deprive them of a

basic liberty, too) (via beSpacific):

“Finally, empirical proof you can blame chatty 20-somethings for

stop-and-go traffic on the way to work.

 

“A new study confirms that the reaction time of cell phone users slows

dramatically, increasing the risk of accidents and tying up traffic in general,

and when young adults use cell phones while driving, they’re as bad as

sleepy septuagenarians.”

 

 

noon whistle . . .

icicles dripping

splintered light

 

 

winter night

a spark between the tweeds

of strangers

 

attic sun

from Grandmother’s gown

a grain of rice

 

 

 

Peggy Lyles, from To Hear the Rain (Brooks Books, 2002)

 

 

 

from dagosan: 

bare branch and

icicle in the window —

bare branch

                    [Feb. 2, 2005]

 

I don’t care about the weather forecast from Punxsutawny Phil or Buckeye Chuck, but  

Bill Murray’s movie Groundhog’s Day is one of my all-time favorite comedies.   I smile just

thinking about it.    I sure could use his dating technique.

 

The downpour ends . . .
much discussion inside
the balsam fir

 

 

After the burial
my eyes on the shadows
of everything

 

 

 

Flooded plain —
fence tops show which water
belongs to whom

 

 

 George Swede from The Heron’s Nest                   

“Flooded plain“; “After the burial“; “The downpour ends . . .“ (2004)

 

 

 

from dagosan: 

in the freezer, 

three starter snowmen —

not a cloud in the sky

                                   [Feb. 1, 2005]

 

Responding to a post by Musclehead, Evan Schaeffer asks

“Why are lawyers so despised?”  We have written on this

topic far too frequently to offer a one-breath summary.  Check

out the posts on ethicalEsq‘s Professionalism/Competence/Zeal

page.   If you must read only one post, make it this one.   The

problem is surely much more than Musclehead’s concern that

we do whatever the client wants, and much more than over-the-

top advertising, as Evan has suggested.

 

  He’s a who?  Professor Bainbridge is a little bit surprised to be lumped

in with a purported lists of Lefties.  He also is giving the Democrats way

too much credit for longterm strategizing. 

 

  George M. Wallace asks which world you’d prefer to live in.  Good

question.  Put me in Roberterson Davies’ corner, please.  You’re only

as miserable as you choose to be.