The Soul selects her own society
and shuts the door
on her divine majority
obtrude no more.

Unmoved, she notes the chariot's pausing
at her low gate
unmoved, an emperor is kneeling
upon her mat.

I have known her from an ample nation
choose one
and close the valves of her attention
like stone.

~~Emily Dickinson

According to reports, Mr. President

ordered the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame to support his rationale for war in Iraq. I have written about this case at my other blogs (which are being revamped at this time) at Public Interest~Civic Connections~ and Journal Log. He is unscrupulous and Americans have got to get their gloves on. We can not afford this sort of bull!

Ms Plame's husband, former diplomat Joseph Wilson, wrote a high-profile article in the New York Times in July 2003 casting doubt on a key White House claim about Saddam Hussein's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Mr Libby says in court papers filed on Wednesday that Mr Cheney then told him to pass information from the classified National Intelligence Estimate to Judith Miller, a New York Times reporter.

First Bush link

Mr Bush approved Mr Cheney's instruction, the vice-president told Mr Libby, according to the court papers.

The lawyer prosecuting Mr Libby does not claim Mr Bush broke the law.

But Mr Libby's testimony marks the first time he has put the president into the frame of events surrounding leaks from the White House to the press over the Iraq war.

No-one has been charged with a crime over the leaking of Mrs Plame's name to reporters.

Mr Libby is charged with lying to investigators and obstructing the investigation.

He resigned as chief-of-staff to Mr Cheney after he was charged and is due to go on trial in January 2007. More…

Cynthia Antoinette~Public Interest~Civic Connections~Journal Log

Women are Neither This nor That but All

Cynthia Antoinette~Public Interest~Civic Connections~Journal Log

Evolution and Human Behaviour has published a survey that says a shift is happening in women’s expectations in love. No longer are they as concerned with what men earn but care more about physical attractiveness, according to an April 5, 2006 story at Reuters.

So, why the change? According to this report it’s because women have gained more control over their own finances. But, I still wish everyone would stop analyzing us because it’s not really as simple as all this.

What do I look for in a mate? I look for someone who can understand me and respect me and respect what I do and the looks or finances are just add-ons, sort of like hair extensions or make-up, all very nice but certainly not necessary in the pursuit of self-actualization.

And why do I wish people would stop analyzing us, because then everyone goes around thinking that all women are such and such. Sorry, but it’s just not that simple.

Cynthia Antoinette~Public Interest~Civic Connections~Journal Log

What Will Blogging Look Like in 30 Years?

Blogging can be difficult as writing. It can be more difficult because we put stuff out there knowing that people may read it before it’s really taken the form that it’s going to be someday. I’ve had some difficulty with blogging lately that I don’t want to detail but I can’t stop searching for the reason I need to write—regardless.

I don’t have comment links to help me work this out but it can also feel somewhat lonely. Still, I’m working on working it out. The blogosphere is a new phase for writers. It, in it’s own way is a baby, not grown up yet. I wonder what it will look like in 20 or 30 years?

Blank Noise by Cyborg

Cynthia Antoinette~Public Interest~Civic Connections~Journal Log

I closed in my body to obliterate this shame of mine. And thus I walked home from school, fearful that my transition to womanhood would attract more of the sort of groping and pinching that had sporadically occured even when I was a child.

Yes, even at age 7. By a man who had kindly offered to seat me, the little kid, in his lap in a crowded bus. And then proceeded to grope me under my dress. I was puzzled, terrified, and never mentioned one word to my beloved uncle who had seated me on the monster's lap to save me from being choked by the crowded bus. In later years, I had the relative security of a school bus full of fellow students for most of my commutes, but the rare bus ride would be full of dread and anxiety, and as I grew up, I created a mental force field around myself, and became preternaturally aware of any clammy hand that tried to violate my physical space.


(Link: Cyborg's Contemplative Corner )

'I Fear That I May Be a Fraud' by Ivy

Cynthia Antoinette~Public Interest~Civic Connections~Journal Log

Every year when I see her, I find myself in a place where I have not traveled before. I went from denial, to anger, to avoidance, to nonchalant, to the most recent, sympathy. Previous years, I have dreaded to face her because of my fear that the dam of locked up anger and self pity and whatever else may come crashing down. I fear that I may be an ungrateful human trash that I do not deserve to live. I fear that I may be a fraud.

I never thought healing would take this long and I never thought I would ever reach where I am today. But I did it.

Cynthia Antoinette~Public Interest~Civic Connections~Journal Log

Good Enough

Cynthia Antoinette~Public Interest~Civic Connections~Journal Log

I am going to just do what I do, blog and slog between good-enough school work and exams the way I raised four children working one, two or three jobs with no child suport, figure out where the files go later, let everything be a mess, and figure out what it is that I do. Compared to the life I had before, this is easy street and there's no reason to let professor's threatening sounding admonishment to children, make me feel so tense.