The Owl
THE OWL
A swift and silent shape by night,
the mice do not find her wise,
But precious and terrible in flight.
And her eyes not unblinking,
swift searching, knowing, unthinking.
If men were small and grey and white,
in terror would we her praises sing.
And build a church upon some height,
adorned with little tiny claws
and images of mice and moths.
Old one-eye on eight-legg’d steed,
neér rode so well on wings as these
choosing slain adrunk with mead.
In gladan fields now heroes roam.
They never prayed midst forest loam.
Nor sang their joy in mortal terror
of goddess born of wind and pain.
Nor feared to squeak a mortal error.
A tiny song of praise and fear:
We hope to live another year.
Do rodents make a tiny pope,
clothed in robes of moss and gold.
And does he speak of faith and hope
and safety later than today,
if only now their tithe they pay?
Copyright © 1997, 2013, 2018 Henry Edward Hardy
Who is Robert Mueller?
Who is Robert Mueller?
Unlike Cadet Bone Spurs, Mueller served in Viet Nam in the 3rd Marine Division. He received A Bronze Star with a V for rescuing a wounded Marine under fire in 1968. Later he was wounded in action and then returned to combat duty. He was decorated twice with the Navy and Marine Corp Commendation Medal with a V.
He was US Attorney for Northern California, and then Asst. US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Mueller served as the senior litigator in the homicide section of the DC US Attorney’s Office.
He was appointed as Deputy Attorney General of the United States by President George W Bush in 2001, and later that year, was appointed by Bush as Director of the FBI. Mueller served as FBI Director for 12 years.
In 2016, Mueller was awarded the Thayer Award, which is given to one person per year by the US Military Academy at West Point.
In 2017, Mueller was awarded the Baker Award for excellence in the intelligence and national security activities of the United States government by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance.
People don’t generally plead guilty to federal felonies if they are innocent of all charges. And they certainly do not plead and then cooperate with investigators if they in fact, have no knowledge or participation in any alleged illegal activities. They generally plead to one charge and cooperate with investigators in order to avoid more and greater and even more serious charges.
Rick Gates: Conspiracy and making false statements
Michael Flynn: Making false statements
George Papadopoulos: Making false statements
Richard Pinedo: Identity theft
Alex van der Zwaan: Making false statements
Manafort is facing 23 charges that we know of, 5 from the Washington DC Grand Jury and 18 from the Alexandria, Virginia Grand Jury
18 Russian Nationals and three Russian companies have been charged with federal crimes by the DC Grand Jury so far.
In all his career there’s never been any allegation of either favoritism, nor insanity, nor stupidity, nor political bias against Mueller.
Copyright © 2018 Henry Edward Hardy
Ode to Conjunctive Normal Form
Oh Conjunctive Normal Form, how do I love thee?
EVALUATE {
(
((Do I love you because you’re beautiful,)
[OR] (are you beautiful because I love you?))
[AND]
(([NOT] (Am I making believe I see in you a girl too lovely to be really true?)))
[AND]
((Do I want you because you’re wonderful,)
[OR] (are you wonderful because I want you?))
[AND]
(([NOT] (Are you the sweet invention of a lover’s dream))
[OR] (are you really as beautiful as you seem?))
)
}
Copyright © 2018 Henry Edward Hardy
Thoughts on #DeleteFacebook
I realize that by deleting Facebook I am risking something real and valuable to me–my extraordinary Facebook friends. Facebook has been the main way I keep in touch with my extended family. I have rediscovered many friends from college, from high school, and gradeschool.
As an INTP type introvert, it has always been a challenge for me to meet new people and let them into my private sphere. Facebook has provided me with a mechanism to connect with wonderful artists, intellectuals, craftspeople, musicians, writers, journalists, political figures, and it has been a privilege to know you all there.
When Facebook did an analysis a couple of years ago of the average degrees of separation between people on their network, Sheryl Sandberg’s was 3.2, Zuck’s was 2.7, and mine was 2.2. I could reach out to a friend of a friend of a friend and reach potentially something like a billion people.
But by exposing this network to unprincipled and frankly just evil people like the Mercers, Steve Bannon, the aptly self-named Doctor Spectre, Alexander Nix, Cambridge Analytica and their parent company, “Strategic Communication Laboratories Group,” and ultimately Zuckerberg and Facebook itself, I feel that I have betrayed the very people I so cherish.
No more. After April 2 I am shutting down my Facebook account.
Don’t continue to be an enabler for evil greedy people as I did for so long. It is time, now.
#DeleteFacebook
Copyright © 2018 Henry Edward Hardy
To a neoliberal friend
Friend, you are precisely correct in identifying classical liberalism and neoliberalism as being economic philosophies and nothing but that in the strict sense of the terms.
I am using the term liberal in the American political context where liberalism is identified with FDR liberalism which is classic liberalism plus social programs borrowed from democratic socialism and new left liberalism which adds civil rights and anti-war planks to that platform.
In the US political context, neoliberalism is closely identified with the Clintons and has the following characteristics:
* Economic neoliberalsim including deregulation of the banks and industry.
* Rejecting social welfare programs “end welfare as we know it.”
* Support for the military-industrial complex and agressive use of a combination of propaganda and support for pro-American puppets through organizations such as the national endowment for Democracy plus a program of covert assassinations and multiple limited wars abroad, carried out through a combination of pinpoint air attacks and assassinations plus military, training, intel and economic aid for “moderate” terrorist militias.
* Triangulation, the political strategy of running to the left in the primary as a “progressive who gets things done” and then adopting in the general and as a governing strategy a position just slightly right of the Republicans, on the assumption that will create a solid governing majority from the center plus the left, the latter of which will be forced to take whatever crumbs they can get rather than nothing, or the worse republican alternative.
Neoliberalism failed with the Great Recession, and triangulation failed with the DNC and HC’s corrupt manipulation of the primary process.
We supported blue dog, right wing democrats for 50 years and it ended with a kick in Bernie’s teeth at the Convention. A friend of mine told me a lot of specifics about how they were spied on by infiltrators, decredentialled, had their pages taken away, were physically prevented from sitting together in blocks, were shouted down at every time they tried to speak or chant, and were physically manhandled and assaulted by HC and DNC operatives bullying them.
My delegate friend from Brooklyn said it was the saddest and most upset he has been since his father died. I heard similar stories from a number of other people who were there as Bernie delegates and whom I know and trust.
The machine right wing and neoliberal delegates aren’t getting a Mulligan for that, sorry. Not going to happen that we just say no worries well that’s just politics.
If that’s just politics then back at ya. How you liking it so far?
We will never support another Clinton or Clintonian triangulator unless we get equal support for our positions and our candidates. Yes to cooperation and alliance, but no to this entitled assumption that left wing democrats must support right wing democrats, but not the reverse.
Copyright © 2018 Henry Edward Hardy
About Scanlyze
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Scanlyze is an online magazine of essays, commentary, satire, and analysis. Were we half as clever, for inspiration we would take Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Swift, Montaigne, or Seneca.
“The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.”
John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963
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