text:
The radiance of that star that leans on me Was shining years ago. The light that now Glitters up there my eye may never see,
And so the time lag teases me with how
Love that loves now may not reach me until Its first desire is spent. The star's impulse Must wait for eyes to claim it beautiful And love arrived may find us somewhere else.
Elizabeth Jennings
In spite of a good education I came to appreciate music late in life, and to appreciate poetry even later. The turning point can be identified: I had done a talk on astronomy for a group of women, showing slides, explaining the size and scale of the universe, and how long it took light to travel the huge distances. Afterwards, Jennifer, a friend in the audience, gave me a copy of Elizabeth Jennings's poem 'Delay', and its power and its appropriateness immediately hit me.
I have given many talks on astronomy to lay audiences; I believe I make the subject accessible, explain things clearly, and hold the audience's interest. In such talks it is easy to play the wow, gee-whiz element of astronomy, it is easy to raise the hairs on the back of the neck talking about our place in the universe and the origin and future evolution of the universe. And there are photos of many wonderfully beautiful galaxies, nebulae, and groups of stars to give visual impact. As a woman I probably seem more approachable and less threatening than a male speaker, and I certainly get lots of very interesting questions on all manner of topics after each talk (provided the Chair does not get twitchy and close it down!). To draw others, especially women, into science, I would like to give fair space to the human side of science, but lack vehicles with which to do so in these talks. So I have always been left a little unsatisfied by the exclusively scientific content of my own talks.
Elizabeth Jennings's poem (which opens her 2002 Carcanet New Collected Poems) is not only powerful and appropriate, it is brief as well—just eight lines long. As such I could quote it in its entirety in one of my talks. And more and more I have done so, and included other non-scientific pieces of writing in my talks. I suspect the more 'nerdish' members of my audience do not know what to make of these pieces but, consistently, female audience members will come up to me afterwards and speak appreciatively of their inclusion. Such material should help the non-scientists in the audience relate to the topic, may woo those who are suspicious of science or scientists, and demonstrate that astronomy is part of our cultural heritage.
From those eight lines has grown a whole new interest, and a new dimension to life. I started 'collecting' poetry with an astronomical theme to use in my talks, and found it was speaking to something in me. The collecting acquired its own impetus. I compared my collection with those of others, and at tense times (such as waiting for the outcome of a job interview) when I could not concentrate on work, found that the poetry soothed and steadied me. I have always loved words and have always appreciated the richness and diversity of English vocabulary. Rhythm has also always appealed to me—expressed usually through dancing—so perhaps it is no surprise that poetry appeals.
The collecting has been quite challenging. Some poets (Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Diane Ackerman, for example) frequently write on astronomical themes, but the majority appear only to write one or two poems, and my impression is that those one or two are rarely included in general anthologies or selections. Word of mouth and casual references have led to research on the World Wide Web and the tracking down of many poems (blessings be to Google!). Tracking down the full reference has been as much work again!
Science is great—I would have difficulty living without it, and yet I could not live by science alone. There are other dimensions to life, other ways of thinking and behaving besides the scientific that ideally I need in my life in order to feel reasonably rounded. I like poetry because of its complementary nature, because it is so different from doing science. In saying this I do not want to give the impression that science is totally aseptic, mechanistic, and lacking in imagination. I have long argued that the scientific method as currently taught to our students underplays the role of imagination, synthesis, and creativity; we focus on how hypotheses and models, once created, are tested, and do not give enough attention to how they are created. Scientists do not always recognize the imagination needed to be a good scientist!
I also appreciate poetry for its healing properties, and clearly am not alone in this. It was striking how, in the days following September 11, people were turning to poetry, sharing quotations with each other, displaying snippets of verse and using them as memorials. But what is this healing? I believe it is more than giving comfort, in the sense of easing or making comfortable (although it does that too). It is closer to the original meaning of comfort—making strong. It strengthens because it recognizes and articulates hurt that many of us experience but may not be able to express. That recognition, that confirmation that others have similar experience, is reassuring. This is the start of the healing.
Behind the complementary nature of science and poetry there is of course a divide. My computer's 'spell checker' symbolizes that for me. Spell checker does not like abbreviations like 'o'er', it does not recognize classical illusions, it prefers a capital letter after a line break, and it desires verbs at regular intervals. It is methodical, consistent, and logical—and most of the time I am grateful for that. But we lose a lot if we can only express ourselves in spell-checker- approved language; we lose the less tangible, the phrasing and breathing, the rhythms and urge and patterns and shape, some of the allusions and illusions, indeed the very power of poetry. Poetry addresses the heart as well as the head, the emotional as well as the rational, and seems to me to do so better than prose. It reaches where no other words can reach; and the assiduous spell checker is blind to its nuances.
Modern astronomy started after World War II, when technologies such as radar and rocketry, developed during the war, were applied afterwards in the expanding field of astronomy. Our vision widened as the new astronomies, especially radio and X-ray, enabled us to see not just in visible light, but in other wavebands as well. Radar quickly became radio astronomy, often using actual radar dishes and reflectors as well as many of the same techniques. In Britain V2 rockets developed into the Skylark rocket programme, through which small pieces of equipment could be given brief flights above the Earth's atmosphere. The rockets then became the launch vehicles for artificial satellites. These launch vehicles opened up the far infrared, ultra-violet, X-ray, and gamma-ray astronomy bands, which are normally blocked for us by the earth's atmosphere. The intellectual stimulus was huge. It was fuelled in the late 1950s by the Soviet launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, the realization by the West that we had fallen behind, and the consequent emphasis on science.
I have taken 1950 as the start date for this essay. Since then astronomers have discovered quasars and pulsars, black holes and brown dwarfs, dark matter and dark energy. We have come to accept that there was a Big Bang, and have detected microwave radiation left over from that explosion. The size of the universe is appreciated (although we still have trouble envisaging such large scales) and we have an understanding of how stars are born, live and die. We can predict the future of our Sun, although are on less certain ground when we try to predict the future of the Universe.
Gathering and reflecting on one hundred and twenty or so post- 1950 astronomy poems it has become apparent to me that while radio telescopes feature in several, none of the other new wavebands do. X-ray astronomy which, arguably, has had as much impact on astrophysics does not get a mention, although objects like black holes discovered by that branch of astronomy do. Why the distinction? Perhaps it is because radio telescopes are on the ground while most of the telescopes that operate in the other new wavebands have to be launched into space. Furthermore, radio telescopes are frequently big structures, like Jodrell Bank, and highly visible, whereas telescopes to be launched by rocket have to be compact (or fold up compactly). We are familiar with tuning into the radio waves broadcast by a particular station, but understand less well that similarly we can tune into other wavebands. So perhaps the choice of subject for poetry reflects visibility and familiarity.
Though their work predates the period covered by this essay, it is worth remarking that Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) and Robert Frost were keen amateur astronomers, each possessing a telescope. Highly developed skills in poetry and in astronomy are rarely found in the same person, but there have been some noteworthy familial links between poets and astronomers. Robinson Jeffers had a brother, Hamilton, who was an astronomer at Lick Observatory, California, and Hilda Doolittle (1886-1961) was the daughter of an astronomer; her father was Director of the Flower Observatory, University of Pennsylvania. Percival Lowell, the astronomer who founded the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, was a distant cousin of Robert Lowell (1917-77), but died the year before the poet was born. The dedication of Gwyneth Lewis's (1959- ) book Zero Gravity reads, in part, 'to commemorate the voyage of my cousin Joe Tanner and the crew of Space Shuttle STS-82 to repair the Hubble Space Telescope'. Rebecca Elson (1960-99) was of that rare class—a professional astronomer who wrote poetry. Why, one wonders, are there not more Rebecca Elsons? I know scientists who paint, sculpt, dance, sing, play musical instruments, and one or two who write science fiction, but Rebecca apart, none who write poetry (or will admit to it). Why? Most of my collection of astronomical poetry is written by non-scientists.
When I first read it, I thought Frederick Seidel's poem 'The New Cosmology' was referring to a major new array of millimetre radio telescopes about to be built in Chile (called ALMA—the Atacama Large Millimetre Array). However, having checked the date of publication (1989) I suspect Seidel is referring to an earlier Swedish- European telescope. His poem will get even better with time, for ALMA will have many 'dishes' and will look more of an invasion, perched on a high plateau. One plan is to have the telescopes arranged in a spiral pattern on the ground, which will look intriguing to God or anyone else viewing from above.
Above the Third World, looking down on a fourth:
Life's aerial photograph of a new radio telescope Discolouring an inch of mountainside in Chile,
A Martian invasion of dish receivers.
The tribes of Israel in their tents Must have looked like this to God—
A naive stain of wildflowers on a hill,
A field of ear trumpets listening for Him,
Stuck listening to space like someone blind ..
The poem concerns the imaginable and the unimaginable, and how the latter is ousting the former; it is about how our growing knowledge is demolishing myth, and there is a touch of the classic science and religion debate here too. Seidel struggles to take all these in, but gives up and lapses into silence. Silence is an appropriate response in such circumstances. While it is always nice to have a positive, well- turned ending, an unresolved, open, searching end is nearer where we, the astronomers, are. Arguably it is where society should be too.
The theme of listening is one which might well appeal to poets tuned in to the precise calibrations of language, but radio astronomers also 'listen'. Diane Ackerman puts this elegantly in her poem 'We Are Listening':
As our metal eyes wake to absolute night where whispers fly from the beginning of time we cup our ears to the heavens.
We are listening
on the volcanic rim of Flagstaff and in the fields beyond Boston, in a great array that blooms like coral from the desert floor, on highwire webs patrolled by computer spiders in Puerto Rico.
We are listening for a sound beyond us, beyond sound,
searching for a lighthouse in the breakwaters of our uncertainty an electronic murmur, a bright, fragile I am.
Small as tree frogs
staking out one end
of an endless swamp,
we are listening
through the longest night
we imagine, which dawns
between the life and times of stars.2
What wonderful use of language, and what fun for the professional astronomer to be able to recognize and see afresh each of the telescopes she alludes to! The somewhat Churchillian 'We are listening I on the volcanic rim of Flagstaff I and in the fields beyond Boston', with its echoes of his proclamation 'We will fight them .. .', contrasts wonderfully with the faintness of the whisper of a signal that is being searched for. Diane Ackerman writes confidently and authoritatively on astronomical subjects. As a Ph.D. student at Cornell she wanted to work with the arts and the sciences, so on her doctoral committee had both a poet and the astronomer Carl Sagan. She later worked as a researcher for his 'Cosmos' TV series. The arts-science divide is not something she admits to, and her work combines superb imagery, excellent use of words, a sense of wonder and scientific accuracy. She is perhaps best known for an early book of astronomical poetry, The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral, which included accurate and up-to-date material on the planets, often presented in a novel way (see, for example, her 'Saturn').3 We don't have to listen that hard to hear the existential questions. Ackerman does not seem too bothered by them however, but is prepared to work with them rather than strive to have dominion over them and find 'solutions' that might be premature. As Rilke said in a letter of advice to a young poet, she is prepared to live the questions.
Miroslav Holub's 'Night at the Observatory' contains one of the earliest references to a radio astronomy observatory. It forms an atmospheric background for a courting couple. Gradually the 'camera' pulls back from the couple to note their surroundings, and then pulls back even further to consider the on-going-ness of the universe, independent of life. For me the most telling line in Holub's poem is 'Above the fields the wires hissed like iguanas.'4 A purely descriptive line, what is the attraction? It is the identification, the articulation of something I knew but had never managed to express—for me that is a large part of what poetry is about. As one who spent most of her graduate student years in a cold, windy field surrounded by the posts and wires that formed a radio telescope (and did some courting there), I can affirm that that is exactly how it sounded. Neither the sound, nor the phrase, is an obvious one, so he must have been writing out of experience; I wonder which observatory it was that he visited? But you and I are dated, Miroslav. They no longer make radio telescopes from strands of wire—they've gone sophisticated, up-market, with dish-like structures, and it doesn't sound the same!
'Jodrell Bank' by Patric Dickinson starts confrontationally, with echoes of the Old Testament God's challenge to Job 'Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?'5 The poem is somewhat anti-science, or at least directed against the arrogance of scientists. Dickinson feels that science has blown our comfortable world apart, destroyed our myths, and, in presenting 'spaces beyond the span I Of our myths', revealed our loneliness for what it is.6 In certain ways his poem continues a note heard sometimes in Victorian poetry where astronomy could be seen as what Tennyson called one of the 'Terrible Muses', but other more recent poets have sensed an excitement in the science and its revelations.7 The radio astronomy theme is continued by Adrienne Rich in her 'Planetarium'. This poem has the lengthy subtitle 'Thinking of Caroline Herschel (1750-1848), astronomer, sister of William; and others', and I have to declare an interest, since I suspect that as the female radio astronomer who discovered pulsars I might be one of the 'others'. This poem was apparently written in 1968, the year the discovery of pulsars was announced, so it was based on very topical material. It is said to have been written following a visit to a planetarium, hence the title.
Heartbeat of the pulsar Heart sweating through my body The radio impulse pouring in from Taurus
I am bombarded yet I stand I have been standing all my life in the direct path of a battery of signals the most accurately transmitted most untranslatable language in the universe ... I am an instrument in the shape of a woman trying to translate pulsations into images for the relief of the body and the reconstruction of the mind.8
There is a progression through the poem from the first two lines, 'A woman in the shape of a monster I a monster in the shape of a woman' to 'an instrument in the shape of a woman', and from 'a woman' and 'she' to 'I'. It moves from holding at a distance women doing unusual or peculiar things like science (monsters) to affirming them at the end; arguably it moves from a male perspective to a female one. Given the author's feminist track record, one half expects this; however, 1968 was early in the feminist movement, even in the USA.
Linking Caroline Herschel with a monster has other resonances for me. I was one of several female astronomers trying to ensure that at least one female was included in a series of lectures about famous astronomers; we proposed Caroline Herschel. We lost the argument, on that occasion, because it was judged the only surviving picture of her was not flattering—she looked ugly! I would agree; it is not a flattering picture. As a young girl she had been told by her father that since she was not pretty and the family was not rich, she should not expect to marry and should resign herself to being housekeeper to one of her brothers. A woman of lesser character would have curled up and died. She became housekeeper to her brother William. On nights when he was away on business and she was left on her own, she used a telescope he had given her to search the sky for comets, discovering eight in total! Living at a time when women were not always recognized, she was eclipsed by the male astronomers in her family, her brother William, and his son John.
Linking Caroline Herschel with a monster has other resonances for me. I was one of several female astronomers trying to ensure that at least one female was included in a series of lectures about famous astronomers; we proposed Caroline Herschel. We lost the argument, on that occasion, because it was judged the only surviving picture of her was not flattering—she looked ugly! I would agree; it is not a flattering picture. As a young girl she had been told by her father that since she was not pretty and the family was not rich, she should not expect to marry and should resign herself to being housekeeper to one of her brothers. A woman of lesser character would have curled up and died. She became housekeeper to her brother William. On nights when he was away on business and she was left on her own, she used a telescope he had given her to search the sky for comets, discovering eight in total! Living at a time when women were not always recognized, she was eclipsed by the male astronomers in her family, her brother William, and his son John.
She has been rehabilitated in recent years, and is being written back into history, as well as into verse. I am reassured that this process is an ongoing one, for not only is there Adrienne Rich's poem about Caroline Herschel, Jennifer Clement has a recent one too, 'William Herschel's Sister, Caroline, Discovers Eight Comets'. Adrienne Rich implies that the body senses the signals from space; Jennifer Clement is more direct: 'I feel the dust tails I hear them rustle I in my fringed sleeves.'9 More humorously, as we shall soon note, Michael Longley picks up similar vibrations in his poem 'Halley's comet'.
At least since Sappho and Hesiod poets have responded to the stars, but there are two astronomical phenomena which are so spectacular that they will grab even the modern, academic astrophysicists and get them out there, under the sky, looking upwards. These phenomena are comets (well, some of them!), and total eclipses of the Sun. Only if one can travel each time to that small patch of the earth where there will be totality does one see many total solar eclipses; for most of us they are rarely or never experienced. So, not surprisingly, there are few poems about eclipses; however, Simon Armitage has written a complete poetic drama, 'Eclipse', set in Cornwall at the time of the 1999 solar eclipse.10
Comets are more widely seen, and can be wonderfully spectacular; they have found their way into contemporary poetry. Halley's comet is a periodic comet, returning every seventy-six years, and is the subject of several poems. Its 1910 apparition was remarkable and remembered by many. Its 1986 apparition, especially for those of us in the northern hemisphere, was extremely disappointing. As Sheenagh Pugh puts it in 'The Comet-Watcher's Perspective', 'look as he might, it was just a blue smudge.'11
The poor show in 1986 to a degree wrong-footed people like the poet Kenneth Rexroth who, having seen 'that long-haired star', the glorious comet in 1910 (when Rexroth was aged five), pictures its next return. But whether it actually happened like that or not, his description of a great comet, 'its plume over water I Dribbling on the liquid night', is magnificent. At the same time he confronts his own mortality (the theme is similar to that in Hardy's 'The Comet at Yell'ham') and there is an interesting mix of the cosmic perpetual and the human temporal. Rexroth's poem is addressed to his children, and by having children he is saved the full agony of his own death and can ponder the continuation of the human race as 'vessels' of a 'billion- year-long I River'.12 Where Patric Dickinson sees astronomy as destroying myths, and so as threatening, Rexroth regards it as consonant with great rhythms of the universe which scientists, poets, and all humans may sense, and in which they participate.
Stanley Kunitz, born the same year as Kenneth Rexroth, lived long enough to see both apparitions of Halley's comet, and after the second wrote a charming poem recalling the first. In his 'Halley's Comet' he recalls his boyhood self attending both to his first-grade schoolteacher, Mrs Murphy, writing the words 'Halley's Comet' in chalk on a blackboard, and to her saying that if the comet strayed off course it might smash into the earth; this memory is juxtaposed with the words of a wild preacher who urged the schoolchildren to repent. Kunitz's poem concludes with the boy stealing in secret on to the roof of his parents' house, 'searching the starry sky, I waiting for the world to end'.13 Again a wonderful picture is drawn—one can just see it happening, and we are reminded of similar 'preachers' who flourished before recent cometary appearances. The poem's whimsical charm fades into sterner stuff in the last few lines when he addresses his dead father, hoping that the father can see the son on the rooftop. It is interesting that Stanley Kunitz, who must have been in his eighties when he wrote this poem, can recall or maybe even still feels the loss (through suicide) of his father at an early age. On the other hand, if one really did believe the world was about to end, a missing father would be more strongly missed. Mother apparently is no use in these circumstances.
Observing what she poignantly calls the 'only-coming-once' of comet Hale-Bopp and drawing lessons for us all from its coming and its going, the poet Gwyneth Lewis writes of how 'It's no accident that leave I fails but still tries to rhyme with love'.14 These words are from her 'Zero Gravity: A Space Requiem', written in 1997 while her sister- in-law was dying of cancer and an astronaut cousin was launching into space. This is the kind of juxtaposition that life sometimes sends us, and she rises to the challenge. The poem melds life and love, death and loss, comets and space flight, with a particularly good interplay between the human and the astronomical. In contrast to some other authors, Lewis is drawing upon the transitory nature of the comet. Entitled 'Zero Gravity', her poem nonetheless possesses a gravitas, as indicated by the word 'requiem' in its subtitle. Lighter, more beautifully featherlike, is Michael Longley's 'Halley's Comet'. This poem is subtitled 'Homage to Erik Satie', but perhaps 'Teasing Erik Satie' would be nearer the mark! In a poem whose speaker gets drunk, the lines about how 'inside my left nostril I A hair kept buzzing with signals from Halley's comet' give a surreal feel, and one is far from convinced that nothing similar will happen 'for another seventy-six years'!15
Longley's is a clever, tantalizing piece of writing, with some of the lovely imagery characteristic of this poet. Its light tone may make it relatively unusual among poems dealing with astronomy. Pascal was speaking for many when he said, 'The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me'.16 Part of this unhappiness comes from an appreciation of how small and insignificant we humans are. Some are depressed by this thought; others look at how large the universe is and are thrilled. William Empson's 'Letter I' not only quotes part of Pascal's statement—'The eternal silence of the infinite spaces'—but also captures some of Pascal's general discomfort. In part this is through the incompleteness of the truncated Pascal quotation, but it is also through the structure of the poem with its uncomfortable seven-line stanzas, the dangling incompleteness of the Pascal quotation emphasized by a clear rhyme pattern that rhymes 'spaces' with 'pointless places' and sees 'galaxies' as 'void'.17 A sense of anxiety and discomfort is again present in Leo Aylen's poem 'Orbiting Pluto', which addresses several of the issues around space travel. In 'Orbiting Pluto' we hear the voice of one of the first humans to leave our Solar System for another star and its planet. At the point of writing they have reached Pluto, which represents the edge of the known world. Pluto, in 'this last I Beyond of all beyonds', cannot be described as homely, but compared with the long, black, empty coldness ahead it is.18 The poet calls on classical imagery of Charon, ferryman of the river Lethe, and of the journey to the underworld to articulate how the space travellers in frozen sleep go over the rim of the known universe into the 'private consciousness' of the beyond. Our fears, our discomfort, our anxieties about the cosmos seem in recent years to have been focused in the poetry about space travel. Iain Crichton Smith's 'The Space-Ship', with its tenor of death and blackness, is another example.19 Perhaps the focus is thus because with space flight we are now entering into that cosmos (although our penetration is a mere hair's breadth). More scary and more significant, to me, is the future of our planet and the future of our universe. Are we seeing here poetry driven by the personal, the local, and the immediate, rather than engaging with what the scientific subject is telling us? Or is it just that the big picture is too big?
I was putting the finishing touches to this section when news of the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle accident broke. Have we become too confident, too familiar with space flight? Is the ominous note struck by several of the authors quoted here justified? Rebecca Elson seems to have the right words for this occasion in her poem 'When You Wish upon a Star' with its troubled yet lyrical imagery of stellar lights juxtaposed with space debris, 'a lost screw I Losing height, I Incandescent for an instant'.20 The setting of such a tiny detail against the hugeness of space is quickening, but also frightening.
One thing we now know better than ever is that the sheer size of the universe is both startling and incomprehensible. That it is expanding, and maybe even accelerating in its expansion, makes it no easier. That we cannot directly see at least 95 per cent of it (the dark matter) leaves us floundering. That we, human beings, are made from the stuff of star death, means we cannot ignore it—in an intimate and ultimate way we too are stars. That its future is hostile to life and will eventually wipe us out, makes us want to ignore it; largeness and largess do not seem to go together. How do poets handle these issues? My impression is that North American authors are more willing to engage than British. This could be for one of several reasons: there are more of them, giving the impression of greater engagement; NASA is conspicuously better at publicity than are the British, so North Americans are more aware of astronomical developments (although it has to be said that NASA publicity crosses the Atlantic); we are less sympathetic, more hostile towards science; and the pragmatic reason—US authors use the World Wide Web more, and hence perhaps more of their poems have come more to my attention!
Who are the main players? The American poet Antler, in 'On learning that on the clearest night only 6000 stars are visible to the naked eye' approaches the big questions in an amusing, almost flippant way, but keeps his feet on the ground and holds the reader well. His concern is entirely with the effect on the individual of the attempt at comprehension of an unpunctuated blur of 'stars galaxies universes I pastpresentfuture'. Though he uses playfully the language of percentage, suggesting that if scientists claim we use only ten percent of our brains' potential, then that ten percent is ignorant of ninety-nine per cent of the universe, his conclusion may be comfortingly, evasively human with its suggestion that perhaps a wine flask under the deep night sky can be 'more powerful I than the largest telescope'.21
The universe is so large that light takes an appreciable time to travel across it, and starlight seen tonight may have started its journey tens, hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years previously. Louis MacNeice and Elizabeth Jennings both have poems about this, but the two poems are very different in feel. The latter part of MacNeice's 'Star-gazer' speculates on the long years taken by light to travel to a human perceiver. Light may take longer to travel than even the lifetime of the human species, so that, by the time some light reaches earth there may be no one left alive 'To run from side to side in a late night train I Admiring it and adding noughts in vain.'22 Elizabeth Jennings's 'Delay' treats of a similar theme with its alignment of love that may be perceived only after 'Its first desire is spent' with the light of a star that shines years back and takes years to arrive, its 'impulse' waiting 'for eyes to claim it beautiful'.23 When I include Jennings's poem in a public lecture on astronomy, it draws from the audience a gentle, appreciative 'mmmh'—that involuntary note of recognition that is the sound of a poem striking home! It is a much more effective poem than MacNeice's because it is shorter, using fewer, well-chosen words. In MacNeice's poem the profusion of words befuddles the reader—they trip each other up. Elizabeth Jennings has good interplay between the cosmic and the personal, but nonetheless it is the personal element—not least in its last line, 'And love arrived may find us somewhere else'—that is ascendant. Once again the cosmic is used as the vehicle for the personal.
Poetry often articulates personal emotion, but rarely is it able to 'keep up' with modern astrophysics. Astronomy has moved a long way in the past fifty years. There has been the move in the profession away from stargazer to astrophysicist. This is well articulated by Robert Francis in his poem 'Astronomer'. Here the poet situates the figure of his title 'Far far I Beyond the stargazer' in a condition where he 'goes out of his mind' in pursuit of a 'Beyond' which has both scientific and spiritual overtones. Alluding perhaps to 'the peace that passes understanding', yet restating that in a scientific context, Francis's poem takes its astronomer to a zone where, strangely going beyond himself, he exists
Where no comfort is
And this
His comfort is
His irreducible peace.24
There are many poems which use astronomical topics as a novel way of illustrating or illuminating human dilemmas but there are few, I feel, that really engage with modern astrophysics. In this respect I am disappointed, for should not poetry engage with the wider world? And does that not include our understanding about the birth and life and death of the universe? The last few poems quoted here are ones that do seem to me to make this engagement; they are in a sense a connoisseur's choice, and may not have much appeal to those unfamiliar with the astrophysics. I appreciate them; it feels good to see one's professional area of work recognized, comprehended, and honoured by being set forth like this.
John Haines in his 'A Little Cosmic Dust Poem' captures beautifully, and with scientific accuracy, how star death and the chemical elements produced thereby become new stars and human life. Writing of the rain of particles produced by the debris of dying stars, he sets out how 'In the radiant field of Orion' new and huge hordes of stars are forming, and finds emerging from 'the cold and fleeing dust' of the cosmos a renewed sense of individual human identity in 'my voice, your face, this love'.25 Similarly, Pattiann Rogers demonstrates a good technical understanding of the nature of the expansion of the universe and couches it in some lovely images in her 'Life in an Expanding Universe' with its 'cosmic I pinwheels' expelling matter and light as if they were 'fields of dandelions' in a summer wind, 'creating new distances I simply by soaring into them.'26 John Sokol also contemplates the expanding universe in his 'Thoughts near the Close of Millennium', and handles well the conundrum that the explosion which produced the expansion was 'everywhere' and had 'no centre'. Moving jazzily from Dizzy Gillespie to 'the furthest quasar' the poem punningly mingles loved day-to-day routines with awe, and scientific with colloquial vocabulary as 'We're forever blown away by that first Big Bang'.27
Entropy and the heat death of the universe have been written about by several poets. John Updike's 'Ode to entropy' is probably the best known, but, contrasting with Updike's more external approach, Neil Rollinson ('Entropy') has a domestic one as he writes of how, as he watches an ice-cube melting into his glass of wine 'the heat of the Chardonnay passing into the ice I . . . means the universe is dying' and links this to a lover's 'dress that only this morning I was warm to my touch'.28
The amount of dark matter in the universe determines its future. It is not yet known what form the dark matter takes (there may be several components) but the quantity fixes the amount of gravity in the universe and hence the nature of the expansion. Rebecca Elson's research was into dark matter. I give her the last word, for she handles the biggest of issues in a wonderful way. How sad she died so young—I would have liked more of her work. Here she is with 'Let there Always be Light (Searching for Dark Matter)'.
For this we go out dark nights, searching For the dimmest stars,
For signs of unseen things:
To weigh us down.
To stop the universe From rushing on and on
Into its own beyond
Till it exhausts itself and lies down cold,
Its last star going out.
Whatever they turn out to be,
Let there be swarms of them,
Enough for immortality,
Always a star where we can warm ourselves.
Let there be enough to bring it back From its own edges,
1. Frederick Seidel, 'The New Cosmology', in K. Brown (ed.), Verse and Universe (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1998), 23.
2. Diane Ackerman, Jaguar of Sweet Laughter: New and Selected Poems (New York: Random House, 1991), 7.
3. Diane Ackerman, The Planets: A Cosmic Pastoral (New York: Morrow, 1976).
4. Miroslav Holub, Selected Poems, trans. Ian Milner and George Theiner (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967), 47.
5. Job 38.4 (Revised English Bible).
6. Patric Dickinson, 'Jodrell Bank', in N. Albery (ed.), Poem for the Day (London: Chatto and Windus, 2001), 377.
7. Alfred (Lord) Tennyson, Tennyson Poems and Plays, ed. T. Herbert Warren (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), 810.
8. Adrienne Rich, Collected Early Poems 1950-19/0 (New York: Norton, 1993), 361.
9. Jennifer Clement, 'William Herchel's Sister, Caroline, Discovers Eight Comets', in K. Brown (ed.), Verse and Universe (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1998), 301.
10. Simon Armitage, CloudCuckooLand (London: Faber and Faber, 1997), 113.
11. Sheenagh Pugh, Stonelight (Bridgend: Seren Books, 1999), 57.
12. Kenneth Rexroth, The Collected Shorter Poems of Kenneth Rexroth (New York: New Directions, 1966), 237.
13. Stanley Kunitz, The Collected Poems of Stanley Kunitz (New York: Norton, 1966), 256.
14. Gwyneth Lewis, Zero Gravity (Newcastle: Bloodaxe, 1998), 23.
15. Michael Longley, 'Halley's Comet', in A. Motion (ed.), Here to Eternity (London: Faber and Faber, 2002), 364.
16. Blaise Pascal, Pensees sur la Religion, trans. W. F. Trotter (New York: Collier, 1909-14), part 3, 206.
17. William Empson, Collected Poems (London: Chatto and Windus, 1962), 19.
18. Leo Aylen, Dancing the Impossible: New and Selected Poems (Salzburg: University of Salzburg Press, 1997), 142.
19. Iain Crichton Smith, Love Poems and Elegies (London: Gollancz, 1972), 17.
20. Rebecca Elson, A Responsibility to Awe (Manchester: Carcanet, 2001), 11.
21. Antler, 'A second before it bursts', in K. Brown (ed.), Verse and Universe (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1998), 42.
22. Louis MacNeice, Selected Poems (London: Faber and Faber, 1988), 158.
23. Elizabeth Jennings, New Collected Poems (Manchester: Carcanet, 2002), 1.
24. Robert Francis, 'Astronomer', in K. Brown (ed.), Verse and Universe (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1998), 26.
25. John Haines, in Timothy Ferris (ed.), The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics (Boston: Little, Brown, 1991), 770.
26. Pattiann Rogers, in K. Brown (ed.), Verse and Universe (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1998), 49.
27. John Sokol, in K. Brown (ed.), Verse and Universe (Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1998), 258.
28. Neil Rollinson, in M. Riordan and J. Turney (eds.), A Quark for Mister Mark (London: Faber and Faber, 2000), 41; see also John Updike, Facing Nature: Poems (London: Andre Deutsch, 1986), 86.29. Elson, A Responsibility to Awe, 14.
In: Contemporary poetry and contemporary science. Edited b Robert Crawford. Oxford, 2006, p.125-140.


text:
Hi, I am Isaac. I have been involved in Sales Training and Management for several years. Coupled with my experience in REAL ESTATE marketing, I believe I am in the best position to give you the RIGHT advice in selling your properties.
The next time you come back to this page, you can sure to find some interesting ideas on marketing your properties.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Recognizing Toxic Relationships
Everyone at some point has that friend or group of friends that didn't treat you the best but you stayed with them. You had some good and okay times that showed you that they could be decent human beings. Your thought process leads you to wonder if this is just a rough patch they are going through. You don't want to give them up and be "that person" who wasn't with them thick and thin. However, it comes to a point where enough is enough. Although, how can you tell enough is enough? There are red flags that are pretty obvious, and others that aren't so apparent. Below I listed some way to help identify a toxic friendship/relationship.
If you're sacrificing your happiness.
If you can find a good reason why you are sacrificing your happiness and forward momentum for a friend then stay. However, if that isn't the case, you need to leave them behind. No person is worth sacrificing your happiness for if they ask for help one-sidedly; not giving quality help and assistance when you need it most.
If you're putting all the effort in.
Like a group project; there should be balance. No one likes when they're putting in ALL the effort in a friendship and receive nothing back. It's okay for some days that one side puts in more than the other, that shouldn't be the status quo. It's tiresome and frustrating. Who you surround yourself with should want to talk to you, hang out with you, and overall help you become the person you want to be in life.
If you're being used
If your friend(s) are calling you to drive them somewhere and do something for them all the time, you're being used. Especially if that's the ONLY time they call you. You are a beautiful being with some kickass talents that doesn't deserve to feel like the only thing you're good at is for someone else's personal servant. There are plenty of folks who will wholeheartedly appreciate who you are without using you for selfish gain.
They're asking too much from you
A friendship shouldn't make you feel exhausted (unless you two are workout friends). No matter the kind, every relationship should have boundaries. You shouldn't be at their beck and call. And if you are because you feel bad, then that's not a healthy friendship. Your planner shouldn't be filled with things you have to do for them.
They're not appreciating you
No matter who you are, everyone likes feeling appreciated. It makes you feel warm and loved when someone says "I appreciate everything you do." However, it doesn't have to be that touchy-feely either if you're not that kind of person. A simple "thank-you" goes a long way and help makes your bond stronger. If your friend is taking you for granted, you need to make that boundary or leave.
Leaving someone behind is hard. It's even harder if you've been friends for a while or if you were close at some point. Although, people change all the time. Sometimes that change is for the best and others –not so much. The number one person in your life should be you. You can't build an empire if the foundation is weak. It took me a long time of hurt and confusion to understand this. I thought some people were my best friends and they turned out to really be harmful and brash.Tags: advice, relationships, saturday, toxic


text:
Nan as a dominatrix, 1973 © Nan Goldin / Matthew Marks Gallery
Exhibition on view:
March 29–June 4, 2012
Malba – Fundación Costantini
Avda. Figueroa Alcorta 3415
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Larry Clark, Nan Goldin, Jenny Holzner, Barbara Kruger, Paul McCarthy, and Cady Noland. Seven controversial American artists are featured in Bye Bye American Pie, an exhibition exploring the ever-evolving facets of American culture: economics, politics, and America as an ideal.
Curated by Philip Larratt-Smith, the work resonates and critiques the changing state of U.S. culture from the 1970s to the present. With these world-renowned artists together in a single exhibition, a provocative survey of American cultural history is offered, celebrated, and gives way to analyze the deconstruction of multiple subcultures reinforced by television and Hollywood.
Nan Goldin's Aperture published book, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is available here and was most recently featured in Aperture issue 197. Barbara Kruger was featured in issue 138.


text:
- Overview
- Individual Use
- Applications
- Details
- Licensing
CSPid is a virtual smartcard that maintains a central repository for X.509 certificates and private keys. It provides a secure environment for cryptographic operations that nearly all security-enabled applications can access via Java, PKCS#11, or Microsoft CAPI. It is available for, and compatible between, all 32- and 64-bit desktop versions of Windows, Linux, and Solaris/SPARC.
- provides a portable, operating system independent credential store that may be shared by all security-enabled applications
- simplifies enterprise-wide credential management; users need not replicate keys among applications, and may effortlessly migrate credentials between workstations
- provides administrative controls over user credentials; allows PKI enrollment, key rollover, credential backup, and other key management tasks to be automated in a user-transparent manner
- provides superior protection for private keys and overcomes password change/reset issues with Internet Explorer and Mozilla
- reduces help desk costs and PKI training requirements
NEW! CSPid release 4.0 includes the following enhancements:
- added support for centralized administration (with Bagala)
- added ability to cache DAS responses and support for the new DAS Proxy API
- improved FireFox integration
- Windows port now uses CSP/KSP and no longer relies on any Microsoft smart card components (i.e., the smart card minidriver shim in the diagram below has been eliminated)
- integrated certificate manager now sorts installed certificates into categories
Add-on DAS support allows CSPid to provide to all applications (including Outlook and Thunderbird S/MIME) high-assurance "role-based" signing and decryption operations that rely on remote private keys, possibly stored on an HSM (requires DAS 1.8 or above).
CSPid 2.x / 3.x Architecture Diagram
CSPid stores a user's credentials in a single encrypted file on any designated storage device (e.g., a local hard drive, a network share, a flash drive, or any other removable memory device). That credential store may be opened by CSPid on any platform once its owner has entered their password.
In this way CSPid allows users to effortlessly migrate their public and private keys to any workstation in an OS-independent manner, without the need to physically replicate those keys. (The fewer persistent copies of a user's private key that are created, the less likely it is to be compromised.)
CSPid's programmable interface simplifies certificate lifecycle management. By giving security officers control over employee credentials throughout their enterprise, it reduces help desk costs and PKI training requirements.
Security officers can configure CSPid to force password change at designated intervals, prohibit password reuse, and enforce password quality requirements on cryptographic keys. These security policy settings are then enforced for all connected applications, including Microsoft IE and Mozilla (which do not provide such controls by themselves).
- affords your users the functionality of a physical smartcard for a fraction of the cost
- exposes a common store of certificates and private keys to applications via PKCS#11, Microsoft CAPI, and Java
- obviates the need to replicate keys among applications, and simplifies the migration of keys between workstations
- protects private keys independently of the operating system and browsers for greater flexibility and security; administrators can control password cache settings, mandate password quality and change requirements, and monitor credential use with better auditing capabilities
- links users to a specified CA to facilitate enrollment, certificate renewal, key rollover, etc., directly from the CSPid system tray menu
Net-Centric Applications
CSPid release 2.0 and above can be deployed in conjunction with DAS and your company's existing security-enabled applications (e.g., Microsoft Outlook S/MIME) to support enhanced security protocols, such as role-based signing and decryption, that were previously impossible to implement with conventional PKI-based tools. In fact, the combination of CSPid and DAS allows you to leverage applications based on today's standards to provide functionality that some vendors would have you believe can only be obtained using more recent schemes such as identity-based encryption (IBE) for which standards have not yet been established.
The following scenarios illustrate five of the possible applications of CSPid/DAS in a 'net-centric' environment:
PROBLEM: A group of watch officers are to sign messages that recipients can validate as having been issued by some authorized group member. (In this scenario, recipients don't care which individual signed a given message, they only need assurance that an authorized member of the group did so.)
SOLUTION SETUP: An asymmetric key pair is generated for the watch officer role, a special role certificate is issued on the public component, and the role private key is put under the control of a DAS server that is configured to perform signing operations with that key only for individuals on the active duty roster for this role. The role certificate is loaded into the CSPid clients on all watch officer systems and CSPid is registered with all security-enabled client applications on those systems. (In fact, all watch officer logins may be hosted on a single system.)
OPERATION: When a watch officer attempts to sign an outgoing message using the role credentials with any security-enabled client application on his system, his CSPid client automatically establishes a TLS-secured connection (with client authentication) to the appropriate DAS server where the signature computation is performed using its protected role private key. As usual, recipients use the watch officer role certificate to validate all signed messages.
Watch Officers Sign Messages with Shared Role Key on DAS Server
RESULT: Recipients can be assured that an authorized watch officer issued each validly-signed message while the DAS server's audit trail keeps track of the identities of the individuals who actually performed each signing operation. Since the watch officer private key is securely protected by the DAS server (possibly on an independent HSM), at no time is it available for compromise even by authorized signers.
PROBLEM: Documents and e-mail messages encrypted for a particular commander (e.g., CMDR CENTCOM) must be available (without re-keying) to his successor in that role.
SOLUTION SETUP: An asymmetric key pair is generated for the commander, a special role certificate is issued on the public component, and the private component is put under the control of a DAS server that is configured to perform decrypt operations with that key only for the active commander. The certificate is loaded into the CSPid client on the commander's system and CSPid is registered with all security-enabled client applications. All documents and e-mail messages are encrypted for the commander using the role certificate.
OPERATION: When the commander attempts to decrypt a document or e-mail message encrypted with the role certificate, the CSPid client on his system automatically establishes a TLS-secured connection (with client authentication) to the appropriate DAS server where the required asymmetric key unwrapping operation is performed using its protected private key. When the commander is replaced, an administrator need only update the access control list (ACL) for the corresponding DAS account.
Commander Decrypts Documents Using Role Key on DAS Server
RESULT: All sensitive documents and e-mail messages remain encrypted under a single certificate and can only be decrypted by the current commander after strong authentication using his current individual credentials (e.g., CAC card). No re-keying is necessary as different individuals inherit the commander role and the critical private key is securely stored on a DAS server or, even more securely, on an attached HSM. The DAS server's audit trail provides a centralized record of all decrypt operations and, optionally, of the true identity of the individual who performed them.
PROBLEM: Sensitive documents must be securely shared among the members of a community of interest (CoI) with a dynamic membership roster.
SOLUTION SETUP: An asymmetric key pair is generated for the CoI, a special group certificate is issued on the public component, and the private component is put under the control of a DAS server that is configured to perform decrypt operations with that key only for active CoI members. The certificate is loaded into the CSPid client on the systems of all CoI members, and CSPid is registered with all security-enabled client applications on those systems. All sensitive documents and e-mail messages intended for the CoI are encrypted under the group certificate.
OPERATION: When a CoI member attempts to decrypt a document or e-mail mesesage encrypted with the group certificate, the CSPid client on his system automatically establishes a TLS-secured connection (with client authentication) to the appropriate DAS server where the required asymmetric key unwrapping operation is performed using its protected private key. When the CoI membership roster changes, an administrator need only update the access control list (ACL) for the corresponding DAS account.
CoI Member Decrypts Documents Using CoI Key on DAS Server
RESULT: All sensitive documents and e-mail messages remain encrypted under a single certificate and can only be decrypted by active CoI members after strong authentication using their current individual credentials. No re-keying is necessary as changes are made to the CoI membership roster. The critical private key is securely stored on a DAS server or, even more securely, on an attached HSM. The DAS server's audit trail provides a centralized record of all decrypt operations and, optionally, of the identities of the individual CoI members who performed them.
PROBLEM: Key rollover results in a new certificate and private key being loaded onto a high-ranking officer's smartcard where limited storage causes an older certificate and private key to be displaced. Suddenly the officer has lost the ability to decrypt documents and e-mail messages encrypted with the older credentials.
SOLUTION SETUP: Load the officer's entire key history into an account on a DAS server and install his certificate history into a CSPid client on his own system.
OPERATION: Once CSPid has been registered with all security-enabled applications on the officer's system, they will use his smartcard for cryptographic operations requiring his latest private key but transparently establish a TLS-secured CSPid/DAS connection when access to an older private key is required. Going forward, key rollover simply involves moving the officer's retiring certificate to CSPid and the corresponding keypair to his account on the DAS server.
Officer Retains Use of His Entire Key History
RESULT: By relying on the virtually unlimited storage of the DAS server (and the potentially greater security of its keystore which may be located on an HSM), an (on-line) user can maintain use of his entire key history. He thereby retains access to all encrypted documents and e-mail messages ever sent to him in a completely seamless manner.
PROBLEM: Access to a sensitive resource needs to be controlled with a set of finely-tuned access control rules that might vary over time.
SOLUTION SETUP: Generate a "resource key pair," obtain a "resource certificate" on the public key, and distribute it to all users who might require access to that resource; ensure that the certificate is loaded into the CSPid client on each user's system (this step may be automated in several ways). Create a DAS account for the resource and install its certificate and private key along with a custom "authenticator" that implements the access control rules. (An authenticator is a simple Java function that implements the access control predicate: it takes as input the user's credentials and returns a boolean response indicating whether the user should be allowed or denied access to the requested resource. Sample predicates based on LDAP group membership, certificate extension and/or attribute values, etc., can be provided.)
OPERATION: An application attempting to access the sensitive resource will ask CSPid to provide the required authentication (which normally takes the form of a "proof of possession" of the resource private key — typically in the form of a digital signature). CSPid will attempt to obtain this signature from the appropriate DAS server as illustrated in the following diagram:
A DAS Server Used to Impose Strong "Need-to-Know" Controls Over Sensitive Resources
Only if the user's credentials pass the custom authenticator's test will the DAS server provide the required signature for resource access.
RESULT: Together, CSPid and DAS provide assurance that the sensitive resource is securely protected. Maintenance of the entire system is simplified by reliance on a custom "authenticator" that may be easily modified whenever access control policies change. A single DAS server can be used to protect an unlimited number of sensitive resources in this way.
Features and Technical Details
- Intuitive graphical user interface for credential management; command line interface for batch operations and automated tasks under end-user or administrative control
- Exports a PKCS#11 version 2.20 compliant API
- Imports and exports PKCS#12, PKCS#7, and ASN.1 DER-encoded X.509 certificates
- Generates RSA keys of 1024 to 8192 bits; manages RSA keys of any size
- Employs password-protected PKCS#15 PDUs for key storage on local, removable, or network-attached drives, using AES-256 for confidentiality and HMAC-SHA-512 for integrity checking
- NEW! DAS integration now allows CSPid to provide to all security-enabled applications (including Outlook and Thunderbird S/MIME) high-assurance, "role-based" remote signing and decryption operations that optionally rely on HSM-based private keys; standards-based interoperable RSA decryption and signing, ECDSA signing, and ECDH key agreement operations are all available via connections secured by TLS w/ client authentication
Supported Applications
CSPid works with all PKCS#11- or CAPI-enabled applications, as well as with all Java applications based on J2SE 5.0 or above, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 and above
- Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, and Outlook Express
- Mozilla 1.1, 1.6, and above
- FireFox 1.0 and above
- Thunderbird 1.0 and above
- Netscape Communicator 4.75 and above
- Lotus Notes 6 and above
- SecretAgent 5.x/6.x and SpyProof! 1.x/6.x
- Cisco and Checkpoint VPNs
Standards Compliance and PKI Compatibility
CSPid is built upon ISC's FIPS 140-2 validated Cryptographic Development Kit (CDK) version 8.0. It works with X.509v3 credentials from most leading PKI vendors, including Entrust, Microsoft, RedHat, RSA Security, VeriSign, and ISC.
Section 508 VPAT for CSPid (PDF updated 5/15/09)
IPv6 Support in CSPid
In general, CSPid supports IPv6 addressing wherever IPv4 addressing is supported. If IPv6 support is not provided by the underlying operating system (either because the OS does not support IPv6 or because the IPv6 stack for the operating system or network adapter has not been properly configured), CSPid will recognize IPv6 addresses, but not use IPv6 transport mechanisms.
CSPid running on Windows 7/8.x/10.x fully supports IPv6 in both pure and mixed environments.
Brochure [PDF]
- CSPid FAQs
- Product Support
- Tabs on this page:
- Platforms:


text:
At first, Twitter explained that the 11-minute deactivation had been an error, but later revealed it was a third-party contract employee who worked for Twitter's Trust and Safety operations team in the San Francisco area. He had been on the job for about four months and on his last day of work, he deactivated Trump's account.
The identity of the contractor has now been revealed. Bahtiyar Duysak revealed himself to TechCrunch. He spoke to TechCrunch in a town in Germany and explained how things happened.
Duysak describes the event as a mistake. He said he had a wild time in America and was tired sometimes so he made a mistake. He went on to apologize and said he is not concerned about what happens next if there is further investigation of the incident. He hasn't broken any laws.
He said: "I didn't hack anyone. I didn't do anything that I was not authorized to do. I didn't go to any site I was not supposed to go to. I didn't break any rules."
Duysak, a twenty-something with Turkish roots who was born and raised in Germany, was working as a contractor for a fixed term for the last part of his stay in the U.S. under a work and study visa. In addition to his role at Twitter with Pro Unlimited, other assignments had included stints in monetization at Google and YouTube via another contractor, Vaco.
At Twitter, Duysak had been assigned to customer support as part of the Trust and Safety division. This team receives alerts when users report bad behavior, including offensive or illegal tweets, harassment, someone impersonating another person and so on. The team performs triage on complaints to determine what further steps, if any, should be taken.
His said his last day at Twitter was mostly uneventful. There were many goodbyes, and he worked up until the last hour before his computer access was to be shut off. Near the end of his shift, an alert came in. The alert was from someone reporting Trump's Twitter account. As a final, throwaway gesture, he put the wheels in motion to deactivate it. Then he closed his computer and left the building.
He said he never thought the account would actually get deactivated because Trump's account was essentially protected from being deactivated over Terms of Service violations. In June, Twitter had explained why Trump's account could not be deactivated. They said some tweets that seemingly violate its terms of service are nevertheless "newsworthy" and therefore in the public interest to keep up. So, though Duysak set the wheels in motion to deactivate Trump's account, he never thought it would actually happen.
However, several hours later, the panic began. Duysak tells us that it started when he was approached by a woman whom he didn't know very well. According to Duysak, the woman said that she had been contacted by someone asking about Duysak in connection with Trump's Twitter account. After a moment of disbelief, he said he then looked at the news and realized what had happened.
Although Duysak was hailed as a hero by many people, he says he hasn't felt like one at all. He's been pursued by the media, which have been aggressive in contacting family and friends. Duysak's legal representative confirmed that the FBI is not investigating him at the moment, although Twitter has apparently attempted to get more information from him. Duysak has chosen not to reply.
He has left the United States and is now back in his home country, Germany, where he returned at the end of his visa period. He said he's coming out now to speak to the media because he wants to get it over with and live a normal life.
He said: "I want to continue an ordinary life. I don't want to flee from the media. I want to speak to my neighbors and friends. I had to delete hundreds of friends, so many pictures, because reporters are stalking me. I just want to continue an ordinary life."
He said the pursuit has been relentless: journalists have contacted the university where he studied, his places of employment, his friends, and his family. His family has shut down various social accounts to avoid the contact.
"I didn't do any crime or anything evil, but I feel like Pablo Escobar," he said, "and slowly it's getting really annoying."
These days, Duysak said he isn't likely to take another tech job anytime soon. More likely, he'll be looking into finance or other related field. "But I love Twitter," he said, "and I love America."


text:
The First and Only FDA-Approved Lisinopril Oral Solution for Pediatric Patients Age 6 Years and Older
QBRELIS (lisinopril) is a prescription medicine for the:
- treatment of high blood pressure in pediatric patients age 6 years and older, as well as adults.
- treatment of heart failure.
- treatment of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack); usually taken with other standard treatments, such as thrombolytics, aspirin, and beta blockers.
Qbrelis Dosing InformationYour doctor will tell you how much Qbrelis that you or the patient should take. Do not change the dose of Qbrelis unless your doctor tells you to do so.
- Qbrelis should be taken at the same time every day.
- Always carefully measure the prescribed dose of Qbrelis before you or the patient takes it.
- Make sure that you or the patient swallows the entire dose of Qbrelis.
- If you have questions about Qbrelis, ask your doctor or your pharmacist.
- Consult your doctor before making any changes to the medication.
Missed a dose of Qbrelis?
If you or the patient misses a dose of Qbrelis, the next dose should be taken at the regular time. Use the normal amount. Do not use more medicine than your doctor has prescribed.
Qbrelis may cause side effects. See additional Important Safety Information below.
Patients May Pay No More Than $30 For Qbrelis*If you have commercial insurance, you may pay no more than $30 for your prescription with the Qbrelis co-pay programs. The automatic savings is instantly applied to your co-pay at the pharmacy. It's completely paperless, so there are no cards, coupons, or forms.
For eVoucherRx™ questions, please call: 800‐388‐2316 Relay Pharmacy Help Desk/Customer Support.* Or to see a list of participating pharmacies for eVoucherRx, visit http://evoucherrx.relayhealth.com/storelookup.
For Voucher On Demand™ questions, please call: 866-379-6389 eRxNetwork, LLC Help Desk/Customer Support.*
See Qbrelis co-pay programs eligibility restrictions, terms, and conditions.
It's easy. You don't need any cards or coupons. Take your Qbrelis prescription to one of many participating pharmacies nationwide. When you pick up your prescription, you'll get an automatic co-pay reduction that ensures you'll pay no more than $30 for Qbrelis if your co-pay is $230 or less.
How much money will I save?
Qualifying patients will pay no more than $30 for a Qbrelis prescription. Your savings depends on the amount of your co‐pay above $30.*
*Eligibility Restrictions, Terms, and ConditionsBy participating in this savings program, participants understand and agree that the information provided, as well as non-personally identifiable information obtained from the pharmacy, will be shared with the manufacturer and with any companies working with the manufacturer. Participants also affirm that they will not submit, and have not had submitted on their behalf, a claim for reimbursement or coverage for items purchased with this card under Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE, or any other federal or state government healthcare program, or where prohibited by state law.
- Offer applies to out‐of‐pocket expenses (co‐pay) greater than $30. Out‐of‐pocket expenses greater than $30 will be covered up to $230 per prescription. If your total out‐of‐pocket cost exceeds $230, you will be responsible for a $30 co‐pay plus any additional amount over $230. If your co‐pay is already $30 or less, this offer does not apply.
- Offer applies only to Qbrelis patients and associated refills.
- This offer is not valid for prescriptions paid in part or in full by any federally or state‐funded program, including but not limited to Medicaid, Medicare, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, or TRICARE, and where prohibited by law.
- For questions about eVoucherRx™, please call: 800‐388‐2316 Relay Pharmacy Help Desk/Customer Support.
- For questions about Voucher On Demand™, please call: 866‐379‐6389 eRxNetwork, LLC Help Desk/Customer Support.
- This savings program cannot be combined with any other coupon, certificate, voucher, or similar offer.
- Offer good only in the USA at participating retail pharmacies and cannot be redeemed at government‐subsidized clinics. Void where taxed, restricted, or prohibited by law.
- Offer not extended to clubs, groups, or organizations.
- Participation in this program must comply with all applicable laws and contractual or other obligations as a pharmacy provider.
- This is not an insurance program.
- Participating patients and pharmacists understand and agree to comply with the Terms and Conditions of this offer as set forth herein.
- Any step‐edits or prior authorizations required by the insurance plan still apply.
- Silvergate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reserves the right to modify or cancel this program at any time.
- eVoucherRx™ and Voucher On Demand™ are not extended on prescriptions for patients:
- who are cash‐paying customers.
- using institution-based pharmacies to fill their prescriptions, or who are recipients of federal or state government health care.
- who are filling their prescriptions at nonparticipating pharmacies.
Voucher On Demand™ is a trademark of eRxNetwork, LLC.


text:
Sunil is an Executive Architect with IBM. He is currently the Application Development & Innovation (AD&I) DevOps offering owner for Global Business Services. Sunil is a regular speaker in the industry around cloud, DevOps, digital transformation and related concepts.
Sunil is IBM Senior Certified and Open group certified Distinguished Architect. His specialization are in the areas of hybrid cloud solutions, platform as a service and DevOps strategy. He's created complex hybrid solutions on cloud and DevOps for large enterprises. Sunil has authored several IBM Redbooks, blogs and also a co-author of the IBM Cloud Computing Reference Architecture (CCRA).
Sunil is passionate about international music, multi-cultural cuisine, active sports and mentoring school & college students on career path and technology.


text:
Contact with Sweet Hotel Renasa***
Contact us using the contact form on the left. We will be happy to assist you and we will respond as soon as possible. Thank you for trusting Sweet Hotel Renasa.
Sweet Hotel Renasa
Customer Care 24 hours.
Avda Cataluña nº5 | 46010 Valencia
Phone 24h : +34 (96) 369 24 50


text: Last night, NBC News aired another episode of ″Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly″. The lead ′item′ was a so-called interview by Megyn Kelly with Alex Jones, founder of InfoWars.com. But the 17-minute long segment had very little of Jones. Mostly of Kelly badgering him about old stories Jones has long since apologized or corrected. The majority of the time was spent getting feedback from other so-called ′journalists′, and one Sandy Hook parent, to trash Jones and President Donald Trump. Kelly, who failed to ′take-down′ Trump during the first GOP primary debate, and was utterly humiliated by him after, tried to use Jones to attack President Trump. The last few minutes of the program featured Tom Brokaw bemoaning how the Internet has become full of right-wing hate speech, and is the cause for our politically charged nation.


text:
Alright, today I am giving a great big, non-homophobic thumbs up to Alexander the Great. As many know, Alexander was bisexual. I am trying to make more aware of the great man's bisexuality and let people know that it is, in fact, ok to be gay.
An awesome movie that I think does Alexander justice is Alexander Revisited. It takes the audience on a three and a half hour journey through Alexander's life and is done with wonderful respect of him. I found this movie at my local HMV. You shouldn't have a problem finding it. Happy watching!


text:
Standing Stubble Increases Yields
Standing stubble in zero-till crops has a dramatic effect on wind velocity and moisture evaporation at the soil surface. Up to 30% more water is available to the crop by having 12 inches (30 cm) of standing stubble. The drier and windier the area (e.g. Swift Current, Saskatchewan area), the greater the benefit is of standing stubble.


text:
Set in a hipster-laden neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Il Ballo del Mattone is a local hot spot where traditional Italian food is served up in an inspired, creative trattoria-like space. Run by the lovely and eccentric artist-owner, Adrian Francolini, this restaurant-cum-gallery offers up old school eats alongside dynamic, high-concept art.
At their Palermo location, the trendy trattoria is bookended with massive graffiti, brightly popping from the otherwise gritty walls along the street. Enter and you'll immediately be drawn to heaps of spring green plants draping lazily over inner courtyards as the sun floods in, filling the space with an expected sense of calm. Inside, cutting edge art lines the walls where waiters — all also artists — serve happy diners noteworthy Italian specialties from house made pastas that'll make your mouth sing to plates of artichokes, cheeses, olives, and cured meats.
A few bites of their tasty eats and it's clear that at Il Ballo del Mattone, the food is as fresh as the art — and both are worth the experience.


text:
Can a minimalist interior work for a family?Jen Wiss-Carline
In home design, minimalism is about reducing each room to its necessary elements, where 'less is more'. The minimalist interior look is about creating a mood of extreme simplicity where very element is functional, fuss-free and beautiful.
If you manage a busy family home, you can be forgiven for thinking that the minimalist interior is reserved for single young twenty-somethings and retired couples with grown up children. However, this style of design can be really beneficial for your family. Cluttered rooms that are too dark, small or bright can leave family members feeling anxious, depressed or stressed. By contrast, a clean layout that has simplicity and symmetry can help to calm and relax you. The minimalist interior is therefore perfect even for the busiest of homes and as a bonus, can make cleaning a doddle. Here's how to achieve it:
Crucial to a beautiful minimalist interior is that everything should be in proportion and this can be achieved, even if you have a lot of storage requirements. Choose furniture that is roughly in proportion, so nothing should be bigger or smaller than anything else. If you really want to go for something out of proportion, choose just one item that's vastly bigger or vastly smaller than everything else (such as an ornate mirror) so that's it's clearly an intentional design feature rather than a mistake.
Aim to balance the visual weight of the room, so one side doesn't feel heavier than the other. Symmetry is desirable where possible – our brains find this more aesthetically pleasing sub consciously than an arrangement that is off-kilter.
Balance isn't just about the quantity of items on each side of the room – although this is important. It's also about ensuring the items you choose complement each other.
Since you're going to be keeping the amount of furniture to a minimum, you'll want to pay for high quality, well made timeless pieces. Stay away from run-of-the-mill catalogue designs if you can and look for furniture with a bespoke edge, like Croft Oak Furniture's 'Santana Rustic' range (see, e.g., the coffee table below). While incredibly simple in design, each piece in this solid oak range is completed in a gorgeous rich patina with a soft sheen lacquer for an absolutely stunning finish.
Choosing eye catching 'individual' furniture makes every piece feel special and useful, rather than just being part of a collection of furniture that's wound up in a particular room. This is a key aspect of minimalist interior design.
Above: This oak coffee table from the Santana range has lovely clean lines and a rich hand finish – plus it offers lots of valuable storage space to keep bits and pieces tucked out of sight.
In a family home, well-designed storage is key – so look for items that have substantial hidden storage space and multiple functions. A coffee table with pull out storage, seats that double as both storage space and foot stools, a sofa that converts to a bed – all of these give you the best possible use out of your space.
To achieve the minimalist look, you'll need enough storage to tuck everything away out of sight. Make sure everything you use frequently is easily accessible – minimalism is about both function and form, so the space has to work for you. Sideboards work very well in the living room, dining room, kitchen or hallway – they often have clean, simple lines, they hold a lot, and everything is tucked out of sight.
Above: Storage is the key to achieving a minimalist look in a family home. These white high gloss units look clean, plain and simple when all the drawers and cupboards are closed, but they hold a huge range of items.
Minimalism is not the same as bare – and it is the small details in a room that give it interest. The best way to achieve a clean, simple minimalist look without adding any clutter is to vary the textures. A gold leaf frame, a soft furry throw, a sisal rug – each adds to the richness of the room. Adding visual interest through textures rather than ornaments makes your room instantly tidier and easier to clean too.
A simple colour scheme is required for a minimalist look, but this doesn't have to be boring. A deep navy blue combined with white for example could make a striking minimal colour scheme. Most people will choose neutral and earth tones for a relaxed, sophisticated feel but don't feel limited by this if you want to get creative. With a very simple colour scheme and minimal furniture, a single pop of colour can be visually stunning.
If the idea of using lovely crisp whites and lights on the walls makes you nervous, check out our post on using matt paint in a family home. Matt paint isn't what it used to be and can now stand up to both grubby little fingers and muddy paw prints.
Lighting is of huge importance in minimalist design. Good use of natural light reduces the need for artificial lighting elements so it's essential to use your curtains or blinds to direct the natural light where you want it to fall.
Recessed lighting can help to provide general discrete lighting across the room, while one simple stunning feature light (or a trio of hanging lights) can be the difference between perfection and bareness. Mirrors are also very useful for directing both natural and artificial light, reducing the need for too many light sources.
In a minimalist room, the space between the objects can be just as important as the objects themselves. We'd normally rush to fill large empty spaces with as much furniture as possible, but leaving them empty, with a few key, functional pieces, helps to achieve the calm, uncluttered, simple feel that this look is all about.


text:
Take care of your debts before applying for a mortgage loan. Thus you will take out a bigger mortgage loan.
Bad credit mortgage experience is possible if you deal with an unreliable mortgage lender. Mortgage loan interest rates are low now
Paying mortgage loans in time you won't default on your mortgage loan. Take a look at current mortgage rates.
Cost effective mortgage solutions are offered by many web based mortgage companies. Commercial mortgage banks give decent mortgage rates, too.
Reverse mortgage quotes - are you interested? Our resource offers a few mortgage quotes for free.
Mortgage application is an enduring process sometimes. Some mortgage loan officers are really slow.
Taking out a mortgage you should review the reputation of a particular mortgage company you intend to work with
Home mortgage quotes are so easy to find. All you have to do is to browse the websites of web based mortgage lenders.
Reducing your mortgage rate you can make your mortgage repayment a more affordable venture.


text:
The helicopter of the United Nations in Sudan was brought down
Preliminary investigation showed that the helicopter of mission of the United Nations with the Russian pilots onboard which was wrecked in the Southern Sudan, was brought down, tells to Gazeta.R referring to Associated Press.
Information on a course of investigation was extended by mission of the United Nations in the Southern Sudan. According to experts, technical expertize will allow to define precisely a source of fire which brought down the helicopter.
Earlier it became known that three Continue reading


text:
Symphonie Fantastique
- Created by: Charlotte
- Created on: 17-04-13 09:55
Symphonie Fantastique
- Early romantic period
- 5 movements instead of 4
- Daydreams - Passions
- A Ball
- Scene in the Country
- March to the Scaffold
- Dream of a Witches Sabbath
- Score
- 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 4 bassoons
- 4 horns, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 2 tubas/ophicleides
- 2 pairs of timpani, cymbals, sus cymbal, tenor drum, bass drum, bells (C and G)
- 2 harps
- strings
1 of 6
First Movement
- The first movement is radical in its harmonic outline, building a fast arch back to the home key, which, while similar to the sonata form of classical composition
- Compared to Beethoven's epigrams
- The author imagines that a young vibrant musician, afflicted by the sickness of sprit which a famous writer has called the wave of passion, sees for the first time a woman who unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of. This melodic image and model keep haunting him ceaselessly like a double idee fixe. This explains the constant recurrence in all the movements of the symphony.
2 of 6
Second Movement
- The second movement has a mysterious sounding introductin that creates an atmosphere of impending excitement
- It is filled with running ascending and descending figures
- Only movement to use both harps
- The artist finds himself in the most diverse situations in life, in the tumult of a festive party, in the peaceful contemplation of the beautiful sights of nature, yet everywhere, whether in the town or in the countryside, the beloved image keeps haunting him and throws his spirt into confusion.
3 of 6
Third Movement
- The two "shepherds" that Berlioz mentions in the notes are dipicted with the english horn and an offstage oboe tossing back and forth a characteristic melody.
- One evening in the countryside he hears two shepherds in the distance dialoguing with their 'ranz des vaches'; this pastorl duet, the setting, the gentle rustling of the trees in the wind, some causes of hope that he has recently conceived, all conspire to restore his heart an unaccustomed feeling of calm and to give to his thoughts a happier colouring. He broods on his loneliness, and hopes that soon he will no longer be on his own.... But what if she betrayed him!... This mingled hope and fear, these ideas of happiness, disturbed by the dark premonitions, form the subject of the adagio.
4 of 6
Fourth Movement
- The movement begins with timpani sextuplets in thirds, for which he directs: "The first quaver of each half-bar is to be played with two drum sticks, and the other five with the right hand drum stick"
- A march filled with blaring horns and rushing passages.
- Convinced that his love is unappreciated, the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution.
5 of 6
Fifth Movement
- He sees himself at a witches' sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it now no more than a vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque. the funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches.
6 of 6
No comments have yet been made


text:
COLOMBO, May 14 (Reuters) - The Sri Lankan rupee hit a record low of 158 per dollar on Monday in thin trade after the central bank chief said the currency will depreciate gradually while exporters stayed away from the market expecting further weakness.
The rupee ended at 157.95/158.10 per dollar, compared with Friday's close of 157.85/158.10.
The rupee will depreciate gradually as dollar outflows surpass inflows, Central Bank Chief Indrajit Coomarswamy said on Friday. "The market was dull. There was no unusual importer dollar demand, but exporters are staying away from the market," a currency dealer said.
"We did not see any intervention either from the central bank or state banks today. I think importers got panicked since April 23 and over-bought dollars. So exporters had been waiting for the currency to bit the bottom."
The currency has declined 0.22 percent so far this month after a 1.5 percent fall in April. It has slipped 2.9 percent for this year.
Coomarswamy on Friday also said central bank was "studying carefully" if there was extra pressure on the currency than was expected and also the behaviour of market participants.
The central bank said on April 26 it would intervene to support the rupee when necessary and that there was no reason for the rupee to be under pressure given the country's record $10 billion foreign currency reserves.
Dealers said they expect the rupee to gradually weaken and face higher volatility this year due to debt repayments by the government. But senior central bank Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe on Thursday said debt repayments by the government will not have an impact on the currency as they are managed with borrowed money externally.
Foreign investors sold government securities worth a net 4.05 billion rupees ($25.64 million) in the week ended May 9, bringing the outflow so far this year to 9.8 billion rupees, central bank data showed. ($1 = 157.9500 Sri Lankan rupees) (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Vyas Mohan)


text:
These delicious scones are remarkably light and fluffy.
Like all scones, they are best eaten the day they are made, but freeze well and liven up with a little warming when thawed.
Makes 8 large scones or more little ones
250g pumpkin
40g butter
75g/ 1/3 cup castor sugar
300g/2 cups self-raising flour
1/3 nutmeg finely grated or ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg, gently whisked
Milk for brushing
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds for sprinkling.
Heat oven to 180 C, line baking tray with greaseproof or baking paper.
Boil the pumpkin for 15 minutes, drain well and place on a double layer of absorbent kitchen paper to cool and remove excess fluid.
Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Add egg, beat well.
In a small bowl, mash pumpkin with a fork.
Combine pumpkin with mixture, fold in flour.
Turn dough onto floured surface and gently mould with rolling pin to give a layer 2cm thick.
Cut disks using pastry cutter or small wine glass, arrange on lined baking tray.
Re-mould and cut left over pieces.
Brush surface with a little milk and sprinkle with sunflower seeds.
Bake in centre of oven for 15 minutes
Cool on rack. Serve buttered with jam.


text:
Weighing today's issues & hot topics against the word of God
because God does have a view.
3 ways to watch
The Christian View is a fast-paced, high-energy TV talk show with a panel of sharp, quick-witted hosts discussing today's hot topics and trending news from a Biblical perspective.
watch online
Catch up on every episode by subscribing to The Christian View Youtube channel. New episodes are uploaded after the initial air date. You can subscribe here.
watch on TV
We are thankful to our network partners, WATC 57, SkyAngel Two, WLCN, UpLift, Victory Television Network, Kingdom TV online, CTN 45, and KGSC TV, who air The Christian View. Check your local listings here.
watch live
Join us at the studio and be a part of our live studio audience. Tickets are free but reservations are required. You can reserve your seat by going here.
our host & co-hosts
Christian View Magazine
"As I prayed for God to enlarge the borders of The Christian View Television Talk Show – He said, "why not launch a Magazine as another branch of sharing my view?" I said, "God – what an awesome idea!" The magazine takes the Viewers on a more in-depth journey into the lives of the CoHosts – enriching their lives with inspirational articles from our talented Contributors and a continuation of our powerful episode topics as we continue to share Gods View!"


text:
Risparmio energetico
Questa schermata consente al tuo monitor di risparmiare energia. Clicca ovunque per tornare alla navigazione
"SME Investments and Innovation. France, Germany, Italy and Spain" is a joint study by CDP and three other major National Promotional Banks: Germany's KfW, France's BPI and Spain's ICO
Despite the different structural characteristics and economic conditions of Italy, Germany, France and Spain, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have a key role in sustainable growth in Europe.
However, SMEs suffered greatly and continue to suffer from the economic and financial crisis, which caused a deterioration in the business outlook and objective difficulties in obtaining financing.
It is for this reason that in recent years, in all four countries analysed, SMEs have cut the amount they were investing in innovation, which is however the most important way to ensure the long-term competitiveness of Europe.
The Juncker Plan can play an important role in supporting SMEs, as it provides for an "SMEs Window" of €75 billion out of the total €315 billion. Support for the sector from National Promotional Banks will also play a crucial role, through dedicated financing and tools to overcome the specific challenges of each country.
© 2016-2019 Cassa depositi e prestiti spa - VAT Number 07756511007 | Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Transparency | Credits and accessibility


text: Letters Prohyphen By Stewart A. Brown See allHide authors and affiliations Science 25 Feb 1966:Vol. 151, Issue 3713, pp. 938DOI: 10.1126/science.151.3713.938-b Stewart A. BrownFind this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site Article Info & Metrics eLetters PDF This is a PDF-only article. The first page of the PDF of this article appears above.


text:
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
the day was December twenty-first,
and the year was two thousand and twelve.
and all of the folks down at the auction house
were going about their daily bid-ness
when there came a thundering boom
and a boomerous thunder
and the skies opened up
and a chorus of angels sang out
and all began to wonder
as the cry rang into the night:
why, them damn Mayans were right!
cuz it's closin' time
here at the world
last call for alcohol
at the weary old world
the preachers were atop their street corner
soap boxes
railing fire and brimstone
'cept for that crazy one
who kept predicting the end
on one date and then another
was doing an Irish jig on a table top
cackling: I told ya--suckhas!
Let the animals loose!
a man began to shout--
let 'em run for higher ground
and we'll be right on their tails.
(but people move like snails.)
and I saw Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes
wailin' the ol' Gut Bucket Blues
as she took another swig of booze
knowing she had nothing to lose
as she said, "C'mon boys--line up over here and take a number!"
and people were making love
in the street--
yeah, they were squirmin' like a toad
to the boombox strains of
Why Don't We Do It In The Road.
cuz it's closin' time
here at the world
almost closin' time
at the weary ol' world.
so strained under the weight
of inflated egos
and institutionalized hate.
and the churches opened their doors to all,
and didn't stop to check
if you were straight or gay--
to the sudden epiphany
that all of us can pray.
And mom and pop
said to the kids
go ahead and open
your presents--
it's now or never
forever and ever.
and Santa at the mall
bolted upright
with a "git this BRAT offa me"
as he headed for the bar
and ran into another car.
and Dick Cheney,
scrambling for a place to hunker,
remembered he still had the key
to that underground bunker.
and people were jumping
from the top of Jeff Bridges
as confusion rained
on The Supremes.
and old Betty Conklin
recalled how she used
all that aerosol spray
and she never recycled
not even for a day...
and old Jeb Mcgurk
spat the juice from his chaw
as he cried: hallelujah--here I
come ma and paw!
and Paris Hilton
from her mansion of riches
took out her ipad and tweeted:
so long, bitches!
and as the animals headed for the hills
('cept the ones in Kansas--
they just ran in circles)
the roaches were throwing
a giant block party
with hijacked scones and coffee
cuz it's closin' time
here at the world
closin' time at the weary old world
no more time to be clever...
time to roll up the sidewalks
and stash them away
14 comments:
Clever, humorous and with some good ole Timoteo grit to it - yikes! Not much time left for my To Do List. Mind you, I guess it wont matter anyway:)ReplyDelete
oh my...first the mayans and now you...glad paris got in that one last tweet you know...ha...i figure if it is time it will come regardless of anything i do...ReplyDelete
to the sudden epiphanyReplyDelete
that all of us can pray.
I liked that tucked away in the middle of all this chaos. :)
"there came a thundering boomReplyDelete
and a boomerous thunder"
Thats my favorite part, but this, this is BRILLIANT.
Oh, this is a doozie. Love it!ReplyDelete
Let the good times roll ... one last time ... love this, Tim ... meow :)ReplyDelete
Good morning! Guess what!? I've been tagged, so in turn, I have tagged you. You just answer some fun questions and continue the game (or not) but it's fun to know more about fellow bloggers. Stop by. : )ReplyDelete
The close.ReplyDelete
A purge of hate;
This mouse and cat embrace;
Poems and politics, find rhyme.
Three three.
12/21/12: 12+21=33; 21+12=33
SHERRY (We better work on that bucket list afore it's time to kick it!)ReplyDelete
BRIAN, MARGARET, EVELYN, THINGY, CAT (Let's roll, baby!)
MAGYAR (Nice. Did you know 33 is known as "chicken lips" in Bingo circles? I only know that because I was once a bingo caller--of all the perverted things!)
Wouldn't hurt MY feelings if it were. I hope Keith Richards and his expensive cockroach winos enjoy whatever's left over, but personally, I'll be happy to book on out of this crazy farm, and if the entire Tea Party goes with me, that's even better. ;_) Loved the Paris Hilton line--soooo her!ReplyDelete
haha..so good...ya know... i would join the roaches any time for their party coz hijacked scones and coffee sounds awesome...smiles...fine write sirReplyDelete
You were on a roll here, Timoteo! This should be put to music, Johnny Cash style.ReplyDelete
Thank you for paying a visit to my blog - you kind comments are always read with pleasure.
- AnonymousMarch 28, 2012 at 3:02 AM
Complex and layered, I agree with Kerry - this would make a great sonReplyDelete
This has some of the best rhythmic quality in it, with a none-too-subtle irony pounding through the verses, punctuated by a colloquial tour-de-force.ReplyDelete


text:
Every year there are new and some say improved trends to the Denver house remodeling scene. 2012 is no different. However, with the state our economy has been in these last few years, folks have been forced to make changes that both make fiscal and social responsibilities. With money tight it has forced people to stay in their existing homes and add items that make them not only feel more comfortable but also give off the impression that they are someplace new. Comfortable style, elegant design and more luxurious materials seems to be the new trend for 2012. People feel more comfortable choosing exotic materials, bright bold color combinations and a new revamped interior rather than purchasing a new home. This is making it possible for those who are comfortable with the home they having and making it more personal, rather than starting from scratch with a new home.
Bright earthy tones such as amethyst, sapphire, ruby and emerald are becoming ever popular. Along with golden tones and exotic shades of coral and cream, combined with ivory, browns, silver and warm whites are also taking center stage creating a modern, warm and inviting décor. Also for 2012, light and heavy fabrics are being combined to create interesting contrasts between rooms. Stainless steel and brick are also being utilized to turn cold and warm into something modern and inviting. Doing something many thought in the past to be somewhat of a faux pox, mixing contemporary and modern to be "trendy". Large mirrors and mirrored tiles are being used to bring more light to a room without the use of actual light, thus not only becoming more energy efficient saving you and your family money but also naturally brightening up a room. To go along with the green trend, wallpaper and paint made from recycled plants materials are creating a more natural and ecofriendly environment.
Materials that appear comfortable and warm are popular interior design trends for 2012. Materials such as marble and wood, glass and leather as well as high quality plastics create natural light and beauty and many times gender neutral, creating an inviting and luxurious home space. Items with intricate detail such as wood carvings, crown moldings and ornate lighting fixtures in rich colors create unique and customized looks for your interior as well. Combinations of contemporary, traditional and exotic materials, various styles and colors inspired by African, Asian and Middle Eastern decorating ideals will also offer a warm and instinctual design. Again many times these offer dark and warm colors, bright yellows and deep shades of precious and semi-precious stone colors.
Most of all, through all of the trends and style, it is important to make your home an expression of you. Take what makes you happy and joyful and express it through your imagination. Aspen Builders is fully committed to expressing your individuality through your home. Make them the go to people in Denver house remodeling.