My View from the Window, Vol. 9, No. 14

It's blizzarding today here. All or most schools are cancelled. Jeremy and his baritone saxophone borrowed from Bellevue East High School are also here and I'll be listening to the sweet sounds of a bari sax sometime today. Right now all I hear in the background are his breaths as he sleeps up in his loft bed while I'm sitting here typing away. And I just heard him chuckle in his sleep -- oh, to be young again! I do enjoy being stranded in front of my keyboard with time on my hands!

I glanced at some of the news today so far: terrible bombing in Iraq kills 118, Afghanistan is about to see more US troops inserted into that huge empty strange country, the US Congress continues to turn health reform into a huge windfall for the insurance industry all the while calling each other Nazis and Communists and Slavers and poised to do what decades of anti-abortion activity has dreamed of -- taking abortion rights away from millions of American poor women. The rich have always been able to have access to abortions -- but not poor women.

President Obama continues to do his best at herding cats. He inherited two losing wars and an economy that nearly crashed into one of those Dante circles of hell. He's like Russel Crowe's Gladiator in the arena while the Glen Beck's, Sean Hannity's, and Sarah Palin's of the lunatic fringes are holding their thumbs down while Nero fiddles and Rome burns........Obama is the responsible one in the Animal House.

And Tiger Woods continues to be the spectacle of the month. The best Tiger Woods joke I've heard is that he's going to change his first name to "Cheetah." He's turning into a combination of John Daly and Michael Jackson before our very eyes. How many more Barbie dolls are there? What strange news will we hear next? Money can buy a lot of sex, but not happiness as he's finding........

So there you go. The Republican National Committee offerred abortion coverage through its health insurance plans until just a few weeks ago. And approximately 2/3 of private health insurance plans offer some abortion coverage according to a National Abortion Rights website. That will likely change in the coming months as this new "reform" takes shape. My own Senator, Ben Nelson, will be responsible for this, the biggest attack on poor women's reproductive rights in decades.

The nut balls of Fox News and the "going rogue" crowd are in the arena cheering the lions. And Tiger "Cheetah" Woods mother-in-law had to be taken to the hospital in the middle of the night. That pretty much sums it up.

I've attached a new painting I did over the weekend after a Saturday morning at Joslyn Museum with Elizabeth. I stood in front of Jackson Pollock's "Galaxy." I can understand why Pollock like flinging paint. Mine is titled "Across the Universe." Jackson Pollock and I have a lot in common: he was born in Cody, Wyo. in 1912 and had four brothers. He lived there for six months. From 1955 til 1961, I lived in Sheridan, Wyo. and have two brothers and two sisters. Pollock and I are, like, tight. I think we both drove Buicks, too.


Later, Bud


ps. Drop by next Sunday, Dec. 13, between 3pm and 6pm. Elizabeth and I are hosting my somewhat annual Open House! Get to 84th Street and head to Papillion. Turn west at the Applebee's Resaurant on Cary Street, curve around to the south and then turn west on Shillaelagh Blvd, go half a block and park in any space. I'm in the 204 bldg, the third breezeway, #13. I'll have some wine and cheese at least.