Knocking holes in the darkness

I can't think of anything better to say on Martin Luther King Jr. Day than to recommend that the Gentle Reader check out this interview with civil rights leader Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles about the life, work and death of Dr. King.

Kyles draws on a figure of speech attributed to the young Robert Louis Stevenson. The story goes that one night the boy looked out his window at a lamp lighter who went from pole to pole lighting old fashioned gas street lamps and called out "There's a man coming down the street punching holes in the darkness!"

Kyles suggests that this is a good image for the work of Dr. King and a challenge for the rest of us.

(Given the general state of the world, it should be steady work anyhow...)

ON THAT NOTE, this item argues that if Dr. King was around today he'd be talking about poverty and economic justice.

HAITI. Here's more about the American Friends Service Committee's response to the earthquake in Haiti.

A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE was honored by El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia for her contributions to the causes of civil rights and social justice.

OTHER TOOL USING ANIMALS. Add crows to the list.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Howling ghosts

It is the official position of Goat Rope that the coolest album of the 1990s was Counting Crows' "August and Everything After." And one of the coolest songs was "Mr. Jones."

One line from that song expresses a wish of mine: "I wanna be Bob Dylan..." Or at least I'd like to be able to use words as well or as wildly as he can. As I heard Arlo Guthrie say in a concert once, Dylan seems to fish for songs upstream from everybody else, which is why he catches so many of them.

Here's a random sample of a Dylan line, from "Visions of Johanna:"

The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face.

I have no idea what that means but I wish that just once in my life I could come up with a sentence that cool.

ANOTHER CASUALTY of the recession for many Americans may be access to higher education.

STATE OF THE STATES: not good.

MORE PARTING SHOTS FROM THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION: easing rules on mountaintop removal mining.

GOING GREEN. The stimulus package being developed for next year includes a green component.

URGENT TOOTHLESS FLYING DINOSAUR UPDATE here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED