AMERICAN DREAMS: I advocated an all-female judiciary, and I frequently defend the rule of law (fundamental fairness, regardless of age, sex, race, religion, or ability). Writing in G21, I argued that women should by right and constitutional principle have a separate branch of government --- i.e., the entire House of Representatives --- cutting male legislative power in half. These are political goals of which I am not the least bit ashamed, because they are manifestly just. To get the job done, some of us no longer value peace at any price... WOLF DE VOON "Shot Heard 'Round the Web"


DAY ONE: Those very same people who had luxuriated in their moral superiority over the fascist tendencies of Joerg Haider and, considering how far we were justified in imposing sanctions on Austria, immediately began to make some most unpleasant noises about the Afghans. Mr. Haider, in a now familiar combination of truculence and clowning, had been honest enough to admit to his resentment of immigration into Austria from the Balkans but no sooner were all the crew and passengers safe in London than the Home Secretary, in response to a wave of tabloid press paranoia, wished them all home as soon as possible. ....KEVIN CAREY "Immigration"


G21 EUROPE: Europe is potentially on the verge of extending its socio-economic importance to a level unimaginable when the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957. On the one hand, twelve of its nations are just two years away from abolishing their national currencies and adopting a single one that should, almost overnight, become the second most powerful currency in the world. On the Eastern Front however, transformations, just as passionately sought and with different but equally important implications, have been less well documented. .... AL DUNSMUIR "Europe Lurches Forward sans Britain"


POWERSSOUND: You don't have to be a serious devotee of the Ellington catalog to find delights galore in "Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington" (Pablo Records). The selections encompass a wide part of Peterson's career, even though a majority of the tracks were recorded in the 1970s.

The Canadian-born pianist, lauded for decades because of his two-handed approach to jazz piano, can send shivers down a listener's spine with his bold attack at jump tunes. And he can elicit tears with his incomparable arrangements of classic ballads. ....BOB POWERS "Oscar Peterson: Superb Artistry"

MY GLASS HOUSE: The argument can easily be made that I have spent most of my life and writing talking to and about women. Yes, my life is filled with women. I love them! As Hemingway has said, "It's easy to be hard bitten during the day.... but at night"....ROD AMIS, "Speaking in Tongues"

MEMOIRS OF THE INFORMATION AGE: Here's more of my electronic mail about living with the technology. This time from a Tech Support person who read what I had to say about users sometimes being clueless. (Thanks and a tip of the hat to Robyn E. for these great incidents.)....ROBYN E (with RA), "License to Drive"


RECOMMENDED DAILY REQUIREMENT (RDR): Routine decisions are not simply binary notions of "do'' or "not do.'' No, no. That would be too easy. Even if one were to make the decision to wash one's hands, then one must decide which sink, how warm the water, how much soap, which hand first, how vigorously, fingernail brush or no fingernail brush, which towel to dry with, which hand to dry first -- and all these -- and many, many more -- decisions must be made before taking the first step of turning on the water. Hence, the poor thing stands before the sink, tears streaming from his eyes, unable to explain that the burden is much more than can be borne: washing hands is too, too much!...RON DIENER, Excerpted from "The Blue Goat, A Novel from Life" - Installment 2

RDR 02.25.00: "Motherless Child 2" ROD inadvertently listens to his mother.

RDR 02.29.00: "Jihad" THOMAS HART on the off-state primaries leading to Super Tuesday. It might as well be TABLOID HART...

RDR 03.02.00: AL DUNSMUIR thinks Genetically Modified food (GM) can be a bigger winner in "Cool Britannia".

RDR RDR 03.03.00: ROD decides its time for a new man in the Captain's chair. "Omega"

PLANETARY MADNESS: We continue wading, gliding and floating belly-up through Pisces. Life is slippery when wet. Mercury's continuing retrograde motion bonanza warps forward movement but offers weird perks in the unresolved past.... JENNIFER BLUE, "Current Forecast"

VOX POPULI: From WILLIAM P, (No City Provided,) USA: thank you. i'm a libertarian and will probably vote that way. however as a scots-irish american i would never vote for the demos and will certainly be watching if mr. mccain so call mellows as in your termonology. maybe will vote for bush instead! .... MORE OF YOUR LETTERS.