costume dramas and stage whimpers

Some of our readers may have noticed ARBORETUM's antipathy to W. Bush. Even when we try to be nice, the disdain seems to ooze through. A fellow blogger, and one infinitely more talented than Old Chip, has this to say, scornfully, about one of Bush's latest brainstorms.

from: August J. Pollak (http://www.xoverboard.com/)
"Seriously. He actually complained about this.

"Look, regardless of political stripes, can it at least be accepted that almost since September 11, 2001, George W. Bush has been a living, breathing photo-op? For Bush to complain that his opponents are engaging in "political theater" is like... wow. I'm having trouble thinking of an analogy here.

"Okay, imagine Mr. T. He's standing atop a pile- no, a hill- consisting of every single fool he has pitied in his entire life. They're all just there. A big pyramid of fools, all of whom were pitied by Mr. T. And standing atop the fool pyramid is Mr. T himself, looking down on you. And he says but one thing, and that is how upset he is with you for pitying fools.

"And that's what it's like with President Bush to say that he dislikes political theater. And you're just standing there, thinking just what you would think with Mr. T on the fool pile: Man, that guy's career has really hit the shitter, hasn't it?"



CLICK FOR POLLAK

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I wonder what Mr. Pollack had in mind: The codpiece demonstration aboard the aircraft carrier? The bullhorn atop the pile of rubble in NY City? The plastic turkey passed around on Halloween at the military base in Baghdad?



Bush is not simply a bonehead, Bush is a theatrical bonehead. Right on Mr. Pollak.

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker?

ARBORETUM has raised this subject before and, we hope, we will again. America's greatest woodpecker deserves the attention of bird-lovers, and is getting it!

This winter there have been searches in four or five states for the ivory-billed woodpecker. In recent years, there have been reports that this bird, once said to be extinct, is still around in some of the deepest recesses of the southern wilderness which still remain.

In Texas this winter, there has been an extensive search of areas in Big Thicket National Reserve. Hurricane Rita had knocked down many trees and cluttered the wilderness areas, making these searches more difficult. On the other hand, downed trees will provide more food for the IBW, which feeds (what tense should I use?) on insect larvae.




So far, no new news has been reported to substantiate claims of the bird's existence. The controversy among birders and scientists -- it seems to me -- has two dimensions. One of the dimensions concerns "claims." Here, folks argue over the evidence collected so far. There is a piece of tape showing a bird which might be an ivory-billed woodpecker, made in 2004 in Arkansas. There is also an audio tape which might be the sounds of an IBW in Florida. Experts disagree about the validity of both.

One of Ornithology's most prestigious authorities, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology ( CLICK HERE ) defends evidence tending to show that the IBW is still extant.

Then there is "faith." It does seem that there are those who want to believe the bird has survived mankind, and those who have little faith that it could be so. Despite attacks from skeptics, the Houston Audubon Society, for one, proclaims its certainty. ( CLICK FOR H.A.S. STATEMENT)

The National Fish and Wildlife Service continues to sponsor searches for the bird and has provided a question-answer fact sheet for inquiring minds such as yours. ( PDF Format Q-A )

ARBORETUM continues to watch the debate.

Here is the most recent Associated Press report on the search and the debate: A.P. CLICK

Arboretum goes to Blogger 2.0

A housekeeping note: We've upgraded this blog to Blogger 2.0. This shouldn't affect you as readers much, but it does let us offer a few new features -- most of which, I'm sure we haven't figured out yet. But one neato feature is the ability to create categories by tagging our posts with "labels" (you'll see one at the bottom of this post).

That lets us create pages for ultra-popular Arboretum features like "Wacko of the Week" and "SYCMU" and "Nude Pictures of Hot Chicks". Over the next days, weeks or months, we'll probably go back through the old posts and add labels where relevant to enhance the treasury of our wisdom -- such as it is.

Thank you for reading this boring housekeeping note.

ABORETUM SING-ALONG

THE BALLAD OF MIKEY JONES
(try the tune of Casey Jones)

Gather round you people If you wanna know
A story about a brave Denver joe.
Mikey Jones was the fella's name
'Twas on the cable networks that he won his fame.

Mikey Jones,
- called his favorite meth lab
Mikey Jones
- crack pipe in his hand
Mikey Jones
- promised he would not blab
Then flew his buddy to the Promised Land.

They pulled into Denver nearly high as a kite,
Soon they were speeding through a sinful night.
All the people knew by the Pastor's moans.
That the man at the throttle was ol' Mikey Jones.

Mikey Jones!
- made himself a livin'
Mikey Jones!
- lyin' in his bed
Mikey Jones!
- no excuse he's givin',
He blew the cover off'n Pastor Ted