This afternoon in Albany, Senator Lea Webb will lead the effort to add carbon dioxide to New York State’s existing high-volume hydraulic fracturing ban, all of which I will explain in a post at some point…
This (somewhat informative) post is part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/03/20/one-liner-wednesday-technology/
Gearing up for a Saturday, March 16, 2024 event from noon to 4 PM at our local Vestal, NY Barnes & Noble Bookstore, featuring five Grapevine Poets, including me. The Grapevine Poets take their name from The Grapevine Cafe in Johnson City where we meet regularly to workshop poems, talk, and eat, of course!
Merrill Douglas, Jessica Dubey, Carol Mikoda, Burt Myers, and I, Joanne Corey, will be at individual tables scattered about the store for book signing and conversation from noon to three. We will each have a stamp to mark your entry to a drawing for a Barnes and Noble gift card if you visit all five of us.
At 3:00 or so, we will have a reading in the music department. We are hoping that some of our Grapevine colleagues will appear, as well.
Please join us at whatever point you are able. You can say that you “heard it through the grapevine!”
Many thanks to Burt Myers for the flyer. Burt is a talented graphic artist besides being a talented poet.
Russia. Russia. Russia.
While Donald Trump often complains about the investigations and press coverage, there is ample evidence of Russian interference in the United States presidential elections of 2016, 2020, and 2024.
To find more information about 2016, read the Mueller Report (Volume I and II) and the speaking indictments against Russian operatives. There is also this extensive report from the Senate Intelligence Select Committee.
This unclassified report from the US National Intelligence Council gives a synopsis of Russia’s effort to boost Trump and undermine Biden before the 2020 election. Of course, one can also look at testimony from Trump’s first impeachment inquiry, when Russian operatives were contributing to efforts to accuse Joe Biden of improper actions in Ukraine.
As for this year’s election, Alexander Smirnov, who was a primary source for the Republican House impeachment attempt against Joe Biden, has now been charged with making false statements and records; he has been in recent contact with Russian intelligence. Russia has been continuing to sow distrust of the election system and tries to undermine all democratic principles, both in public statements and covertly, including via social media.
Russia’s behavior has been especially egregious recently with the murder of Alexei Navalny in prison and the arrests of people paying their respects to him. Putin’s autocratic power is the antithesis of democracy. The upcoming Russian election doesn’t even serve as a credible fig leaf.
The shocking and appalling thing is that, here in the US, Trump and many Republicans extol Putin’s “strength” and refuse to condemn his butchery and unconscionable invasion of Ukraine. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and some Republican members of Congress are refusing to authorize much needed continued aid to Ukraine, thereby aiding Russia.
Some Republicans have even been saying that “democracy is over” and want Trump to be elected and establish an autocracy like that of Viktor Orban in Hungary, who is coming to US this week and meeting with Trump but not with anyone in the Biden administration.
I will not support Trump or any other candidate who promotes Russia’s lies or condones their lawless behavior. I also will not support any candidate who does not believe in democracy or who seeks to weaken it.
The United States needs to stand strongly for democratic principles against Russia and all autocrats and oligarchs.
Photo credit: Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash
Just a reassurance that I will get back to substantive posting soon (I hope), after a period of travel, catching up after travel, family health issues, not nearly enough sleep, manuscript work, jet lag/time change, trying to solve problems that never should have happened in the first place, rallying and lobbying against CO2 fracking/carbon sequestration and working on tax returns…
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/03/06/one-liner-wednesday-detriment/
Courage, after all, is not being unafraid, but doing what needs to be done in spite of fear.
James L. Farmer
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/02/28/one-liner-wednesday-be-a-friend/
Last week, I received my first ever royalties payment on the copies of my poetry chapbook Hearts, which was published by Kelsay Books in May, 2023.
The payment covered the copies sold through the Kelsay Books website and on Amazon in 2023. (If you are lucky enough to still have an independent bookstore near you, they can also order Hearts for you through Ingram.)
It turns out that I had sold more copies myself, in person and through mail order, than I had online.
Yay, me?
At any rate, I’m now working on 2024 sales, so feel free to order at either of the links above, through your favorite local independent bookstore, or directly from me. I can arrange to meet up or deliver locally or send by mail in the US. You may email me at jcorey.poet@gmail.com to make arrangements or for more information.
I’m also available to give readings at bookstores, book club meetings, libraries, or anywhere else that might want to invite me. I could discuss Hearts, which revolves around my mother in her final years, or, more likely, read a more wide-ranging selection of my work and take questions. I could even throw in some blogging discussion, if that is of interest. I’m open to travelling to your venue or appearing virtually, so feel free to make a proposal that would suit you and your group!
I’m still near the beginning of the learning curve on the whole promotion aspect of authorship, so, please, also feel free to send along any advice or tips you may have.
Thanks to everyone who has purchased or read Hearts, written a review, and/or communicated with me about their own reflections and reactions. It has been a special experience for me knowing that my poems reach people and remind them of aspects of their own lives.
I also appreciate the support of the readers at Top of JC’s Mind. I’ll continue to keep you posted about my poet-life, plus a whole lot more, here.
In gratitude,
Joanne Corey
Western music is like the sun. All over the world, the sunset is different, but the beauty is the same.
Seiji Ozawa (1935-2024), former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/02/14/one-liner-wednesday-and-chocolate/
After diligently posting daily for Just Jot It January, I’ve been taking a break but hope to be back with some new posts in a few days, although some planned travel may get in the way…
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/02/07/one-liner-wednesday-so-that-happened/
To be compassionate is to have a heart that suffers from the misfortune of others because we think of it as our own.
Thomas Aquinas
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays and/or the last day of Just Jot It January ’24! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/31/one-liner-wednesday-jusjojan24-the-31st-goals/
Whew! Launching into the last written post of Linda’s Just Jot It January ’24! There is one more day in January, but I’ll be posting a quote tomorrow for One-Liner Wednesday, which means no running on about things.
Thanks once again to author Linda G. Hill of Life in Progress for offering this opportunity to get the blogging year off to a good start by posting every day in January.
I’m grateful to have met this challenge again this year, although I can’t carry this posting pace into the rest of the months. I’m planning to spend a lot of time through mid-April revising my full-length poetry collection in preparation for work with a professional editor, which will probably be followed by another round of revisions before a decision point on next steps toward publication. I should probably also devote some time to doing single poem submissions. I tend to be diligent about that for a bit and then fall off the wagon and go for a few months without putting work out to journals and presses. The places that are still actively considering my work have dwindled so I guess it’s time to get back on that.
Thanks also to the other Just Jot It January bloggers and readers. I appreciate having a blogging community for support and inspiration.
Write on – in whatever way works best for you – and let’s all meet up at Linda’s for Just Jot It January ’25! Don’t forget, though, that Linda coordinates One-Liner Wednesdays and Stream of Consciousness Saturdays year-round. While I don’t manage those every week, I do them often so I hope to meet you there sometimes, too.
*****
You can find out more about Just Jot It January and join in here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/30/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-30th-2024/
Joanne Corey 