Rod Amis - Unbound

SCOTTSDALE, AZ, USA - 21 September, 2004: You will most likely have noted, if you are a regular to this little corner of the World Wide Web (WWW or "Web") that the Kerry-Edwards advertisements which were so prominent on this site, and this page, for a number of months, disappeared last Friday.

I shall explain why.

I volunteered for the Kerry campaign long ago. I endorsed the Senator in this very column last autumn, when most of the Mouthpiece Media (MM) had already written him out of the Democratic primary races. Joined the Core. Put his ads on my Web site. Encouraged friends to vote for him. etc. Recently moved to Arizona, a supposed battleground state. The national Kerry-Edwards campaign sent out an e-mail to Kerry supporters in this state saying it was crucial we volunteer our efforts. I did. On Friday, confused and sad, I sent the following e-mail to activist friends around the country and a friend who works for the Austin (TX) Chronicle who had sent me an e-mail at the beginning of the month predicting a Bush win.

Here's the e-mail message:

Well, Ol' Son,

I have to reluctantly admit that I'm getting the growing sense that your prediction about this election is (again) on target: Bush Wins.

I try to hold onto rays of hope I see out there and, partially, agree that pollsters don't have a handle on the new electorate -- as Michael Moore asserts. But I also see too many holes in the Kerry-Edwards effort, some empirical and some anecdotal. I'll try to briefly share both here.

1. - They (K-E) are missing the basics strategically. There is no clear-cut message only weeks out from the finish line. It shifts and changes and morphs faster than Madonna's wardrobe or lack thereof.

   Meanwhile, though it is entirely based on fictions, the Bush message has been consistent. That campaign even goes so far as *ignore* realities it is confronted with -- like the run-up to open civil war in Iraq -- in order to keep pounding away at its message. It's masterful.
   

2. - John Edwards seems more concerned with maintaining his "Mr. Positive" image for his next presidential run than defeating George Bush. It's glaring. He has become almost invisible and given Dick Cheney free run to set the tone of the contest and savage the opponent -- a strategy for any formidable VP candidate.
   
   
3. - Tactically, the K-E team is wanting as well. In this case, I'll get anecdotal.

   As you know, I signed on as Kerry volunteer months ago.

   I now live in what is generally categorized as a battleground, must-win state where Kerry has a decent shot.

   On Monday the national campaign sent out an e-mail for people to volunteer to phonebank or knock on doors or run precincts up until the election. I responded that I'd do any and all they wanted.

   No response.

   On Wednesday, I receive an e-mail asking me to take a quick survey telling them how the grassroots volunteer effort was going. I answered the poll questions indicating that I had received neither a telephone call nor an e-mail from the local campaign -- though I have been at home and available all week.

   Today is Friday. I haven't heard a peep from any of these people so concerned to mobilize the troops here in Arizona. Tactical failure.

So yeah, Rico, it would seem lots of evidence supports your prediction. I'm saddened, appalled, hurt.

Everything seems to be riding on the debate(s) now and I haven't heard of a single debate that Dubya's ever lost.

Rod

Not inflammatory, just my feelings on Friday.

Later on, in the Kerry Blog, I posted a copy of this message. I got a few encouraging comments from others there along the don't lose hope line. When I went to respond, I received an error message telling me I was no longer allowed to used the Blog and I needed to contact the Admin. if I had questions.

I logged out. When I went back later, the comments directly to my post were there but the original post had been excised.

As you can imagine, I'm a bit miffed. My feeling right now is that they've succeeded in creating another Nader voter because Ralph's probably right -- th ere isn't a dime's worth of difference.

It would seem that the Kerry-Edwards camp only wants cheerleaders on their blog or their team. Hard anaylysis is out. "Either you are with us or against us." I'm against the last person who used that phrase, too. It's not the kind of worldview I could ever support.

So I withdraw my public and private support, I've had them take me off their mailing list and eliminate the fundraising page in my name on their site.

Now I'm not only sad, I'm also angry.

That's my story. Thanks for listening.

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If, as it is said and I have so often agreed, all politics is personal, then my politics right now should be that of a Sicilian committed to the blood vendetta. So much of what has occurred over the last few days cries out for redress.

The short of it is that I find that I have been grievously deceived. I must now find a means of creating a safe harbor for myself in a place where I know almost no one. Nothing I am told can be completely trusted. Everything I was previously told, and which prompted me to move here, has proven to be a tissue of lies.

But I shan't seek redress. As Teddy Roosevelt famously said (and, need I remind you, Love? famously did not practice,) "Speak softly but ... "

When I am presented with a situation in which I am given no options, I make it a practice to follow the Eric Weisz route. Being an escape artist as always been my secret life, after all. Eric Weisz? Oh, he also used the name "Houdini," We share a birth date.

All I've ever desired is the set of circumstances that would allow me to work on this cathedral of words, write a book or two in my spare time and have the leisure to truly appreciate what beauty there is left in the natural world. Those things, an adequate Memory Machine and a stimulating companion who understood my need for quiet, stretches of solitude in which to complete the writing, and order and I could easily never leave my home again.

I would sit on a clifftop or at the edge of the sea, and wait for the world to come to me. I have certainly gone to see enough of it in my time. It's your turn.

This idyllic fantasy is just that. It is the prod I use to keep myself focused on the work.

I have lied to myself for thirty years that one day I shall achieve my reward, the turbulence which has characterized my life will fade into the past and I shall gracefully enjoy my "golden years." Ha-ha.

I have shared, with my closest personal friends and supporters, the details of the most recent travail. That is enough. Even in this Glass House there are hidden rooms, cellars and attics in which the most painful of ordeals must be locked away like mad relatives.

Perhaps I shall tell you about it in one of the books, my love. But not today.

Every time you see this magazine updated over the next month, consider it nothing short of miraculous.

The laughing "I told so" chorus rings loud in my ears.

My only rejoinder is that -- if you have noticed anything about me -- you will have noticed that I live like a refugee in my own country.

INFLUENCES ON ROD'S THINKING THIS WEEK

24 September, 2004: A reader in Germany suggested, as I've noted myself, that this column falls somewhere between what Herb Caen used to do at the San Francisco Chronicle (known affectionately to its habitues as the "Comical" in those days) and what is now called a blog. "You could rightly call yourself the Father of the Blog," he comments. I demur, saying that I don't want to fall into the Al Gore trap. That this brand of subjective journalism has become more popular is something I'm gratified about but I don't over-rate the importance of blogging now that it has become all the rage.

This, too, will pass. I'm looking over the horizon at a development in the evolution of Web journalism which is as obscure and "unimportant" as blogging used to be when I encouraged others (Douglas McDaniel mentions that I encouraged him to start his blog almost five years ago) to try their hand.

The Next Big Thing, my friends, will have more to do with the explosion in distribution channels than in the form or content of what is being distributed. Expect a cacophony which will dwarf what you consider "information overload" right now. This will prove the true giant-killer.

ITEM ONE - From 24 September, 2004, Washington Post " British Diplomat Ducks His Gaffe" by Al Kamen:

British Ambassador to Italy Ivor Roberts kicked up a huge fuss this week on several levels when he lobbed this little grenade into a closed conference of British and Italian diplomats: " George W. Bush is the best recruiting sergeant for al Qaeda," Roberts said. "If there is anyone ready to celebrate his eventual reelection, it is al Qaeda."

Whoa! Aren't the Brits our junior partners in the mighty Coalition of the Willing?

Not to worry. The British Foreign Office quickly fired off a response saying that the comment s "do not represent British government policy."

Roberts, a career diplomat, was attending what was clearly announced as an off-the-record meeting last weekend in Tuscany. But off the record, translated into Italian as ufficioso or perhaps loosely as , may mean something different there ...

ITEM TWO: - From 16 September, 2004, Guardian (UK), "Far Graver Than Vietnam" by Sidney Blumenthal:

... W. Andrew Terrill, professor at the Army War College's strategic studies institute - and the top expert on Iraq there - said: "I don't think that you can kill the insurgency". According to Terrill, the anti-US insurgency, centred in the Sunni triangle, and holding several cities and towns - including Fallujah - is expanding and becoming more capable as a consequence of US policy.

"We have a growing, maturing insurgency group," he told me. "We see larger and more coordinated military attacks. They are getting better and they can self-regenerate. The idea there are x number of insurgents, and that when they're all dead we can get out is wrong. The insurgency has shown an ability to regenerate itself because there are people willing to fill the ranks of those who are killed. The political culture is more hostile to the US presence. The longer we stay, the more they are confirmed in that view."

After the killing of four US contractors in Fallujah, the marines besieged the city for three weeks in April - the watershed event for the insurgency. "I think the president ordered the attack on Fallujah," said General Hoare. "I asked a three-star marine general who gave the order to go to Fallujah and he wouldn't tell me. I came to the conclusion that the order came directly from the White House." Then, just as suddenly, the order was rescinded, and Islamist radicals gained control, using the city as a base.

"If you are a Muslim and the community is under occupation by a non-Islamic power it becomes a religious requirement to resist that occupation," Terrill explained. "Most Iraqis consider us occupiers, not liberators." ...

ITEM THREE: - From the "Tomorrow" mailing list, moderated by Dawn Henthorn, who lives in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, received on 24 September, 2004:

Saturday, September 25 - Amazing Numbers

If the following numbers seem staggering, they are. They represent the amount of food, water and ice that has been distributed to date by the State, The American Red Cross and The Salvation Army to Florida's hurricane victims over the last six weeks. These numbers will undoubtedly soar after this weekend as Hurricane Jeanne leaves behind more destruction and more victims.

Hurricane Charley

• - 486 trucks of water (approx. 2,308,500 gallons)
• - 468 refrigerated trucks of ice (approx. 18,720,000 lbs)
• - 18 trucks of food and 9 trucks of baby food & formula

Hurricane Frances (and the effort is still ongoing)

• - More than 3.1 million gallons of water
• - More than 19.2 million pounds of ice
• - More than 7.8 million meals

Hurricane Ivan (and the effort is still ongoing)

• - More than 3.1 million gallons
• - More than 17.9 million pounds of ice
• - More than 6.8 million meals

That's not all...

• Disaster Food Stamp Benefits paid for Hurricanes Charley and Frances as of yesterday totaled $4,120,086.00.
  
  
• Total fatalities confirmed from hurricanes Charley (33), Frances (31) and Ivan (23) total 87.
  
  
• There have been 3879 oxygen canisters distributed statewide.
  
  
• The Florida National Guard has deployed 4,150 troops in support of Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan.
  
  
• The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) has committed 236 personnel from 29 states in Hurricane Charley, Frances and Ivan relief efforts.

Although the supply of fuel statewide exceeds pre-Hurricane Frances volumes, there are 93.9 million gallons available within 72 hours and 166.1 million additional gallons available within nine days.

ITEM FOUR: - From the "Break out the Violins for the Editor" Department: I recently received a request from someone who wrote a rather lengthy article published here -- and has produced nothing since, I add cattily -- requesting that I make a series of corrections to their submission. Admittedly, some of the errors were mine, being unfamiliar with the person's native language or misreading the intent of certain sentences. But a goodly number of the corrections are based on the individual's own original copy and choices they have since reconsidered.

It's not normally my practice to go back, months after publication, and perform this kind of clerical work. This magazine is ongoing, I have other writers to attend to and -- frankly -- I have a very difficult personal life to attempt to repair.

I nonetheless and grudgingly agreed to make those corrections. As I type this, they are still on my agenda to post along with the current issue.

I received this e-mail from the writer in question:

Hi Rod,

I've attached the corrections for you - I tried to make it as easy/simple 4 u as a I could. Please don't let out a long agonising groan when you see them - just try your best.

Bless you.

Herewith, my response:

Whenever I receive an e-mail phrased this way I emit a long agonized groan because I know I have been saddled with an onerous task from which I shall derive neither satisfaction nor recompense while the author will be clapping their hands with glee.

CHEERS, ROD!

26 September, 2004: The photograph to your right is of my dear friend and the Editor of the Belgrade magazine Third Eye, Dragan Vicanovic. He is sending me a toast across the miles. Dragan is sitting beside the still where he is making this season's batch of Serbian brandy. I was a victim of/blessed by said brandy while visiting he and his wife Dragana in Belgrade. It can knock your socks off. I have suggested that he save a bottle or two for me.

I start this entry with Dragan because I am in the mood to be upbeat and happy. Both he and my dear little sister Dragana constantly encourage my happiness. I attempt to comply but have made a habit of pessimism so that, as with my current situation here in Scottsdale, when people demonstrate to me that I should expect the worst of them, I am not surprised by bad things.

As I say, for this little moment, I shall try to be upbeat and happy. I don't live on the eastern coast of Florida, after all. So I thank God for small favors.

(I can't mention or think of Florida without it entering my mind that, if I did live in Florida, Jeb Bush would have found some way to deny me my right to vote. It seems he has no compunction about taking enfranchisement away from Black people.

Among my friends we have had the running joke that this spate of hurricanes is God's way of letting Florida know they are screwing up. Think the plagues of Egypt.)

Hurricane Jeanne barrels toward Florida even as I type, I understand. Let us all pray that she passes quickly and without too much harm.

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A BIT OF ROD'S CYNICISM: When asked to characterize an acquaintance: "For someone with nothing to say, he certainly says it often enough."

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When I first arrived in this valley, the temperature in the Phoenix area was over a hundred degrees (Fahrenheit) every day. 105 was about normal. Autumn is arriving on cat feet. As I type this, awaiting the dawn, it is cool outdoors but very still. No wind at all.

It has been windy here over the last week. A weekend ago, we actually had two days of rain. It was marvelous and the temperatures have been dropping ever since.

I sat in the orange glow of the sunset last evening, relaxing after putting in a nearly twelve hour stretch on this edition. ( I have to squeeze myself into little marathons now that the Day Job and my hunt for a place to live demand the other bits of my time.) I watched the wind in the treetops and listened to the birds sing their farewell chorus to Phoebus.

For that quiet moment I tried to relax my shoulders, breathe deeply and pretend that uncertainty and disorder were not being thrust towards me. I floated in the exhaustion of a day's focused production. I tried to visualize a time when I could relax again and for long, when I would be in my own domain.

Keep that thought for me, my love. Burnish it and visualize it with me.

Keep me in your prayers, as I keep you in my own ...

Thanks for coming back this week.

THINGS I NEED THIS WEEK

1. A place to live and a means of accessing the Internet.

2. A renewed focus on the books.

3. A reliable social network. (That may take a few weeks.)

"Work like you don't need the money,
"Love like you've never been hurt,
"Dance like no one is watching ... "

Love,
Rod

ROD AMIS has published this magazine since 1990. It first appeared as a hardcopy 'Zine. In March, 1996, he launched it here on the Web. Rod was a Contributing Editor at Suite101.com, where he wrote the " 'Net Publishing" feature. His work has been featured in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Online, NRV8, and at WebLab's Reality Check site. Rod was also a contributing writer on technology for Faulkner Information Services. He wrote on Web issues for MethodFive.com's Hyper newsletter.

Rod was a columnist for the Andover News Network, where he wrote over two hundred articles on web design and development issues. He was also principal writer and Editor for IT Manager's Journal, where he reviewed technology issues weekly, producing 383 editorials. He became the Managing Editor for Electronic Mail/Newsletter Publications at Andover.net at the end of February, 2000, and left in September of the same year. He was a contributing writer for ACCESS magazine, which appeared both on- and offline for 10 million readers in 100 newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Post, Boston Herald, Austin American-Statesman, Denver Post and Orlando Sentinel, among others. Rod was the US reporter for Silicon.com, a division of Network Multimedia Television in London, UK, reaching 3.5 million European readers, until May, 2001.

In 2002, he worked as Assistant to the General Manager of a Big Easy company that does restaurants and nightclubs. He did stints as the Resident Philosopher at three separate gin mills in that city in the French Quarter and the Marigny, earning his stripes during two successive Mardi Gras seasons. Oh yeah, Rod's had Day Jobs working construction. Mostly renovations of old New Orleans structures, houses and a bar. Sometimes he designs Web sites for other people so that he can get his creative juices flowing the way he can't at a staid publication like this one. And he's been the instructor in Editing for Internet Publications at the Novi Sad School of Journalism in Yugoslavia. Our Resident Philosopher is now looking for creative ways of re-inventing himself in the Valley of the Sun. In his spare time, he chases women in the manner that a fly pursues a spider.

Rod plans publication of the first Glass House book before the end of the year and is already working on the second, sequel, manuscript.

He continues to be committed to integrity, chastity and a dose of humility.

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