Mottley’s poems are poignant and provocative. In her opening poem, “a case for / against repetitions,” she writes:

play dead / play docile / play along
stare a beast in its mouth and dare it to bite this is the only way to know if
the country is still hungry

Mottley writes about blackness and about her great grandmother:

My great grandmother was the original Rosa Parks.
Except it was Virginia and she was so much meaner
than Rosa ever dared to be
My great granny was what you would call
A motherfucker. A bitch. A python
when it came to protecting her young

She calls out “all the best celebrities are perverted” and she spares no Miles Davis:

miles davis plays a mean trumpet and i must admit
i still listen to flamenco sketches when the going gets tough as his knuckles
scabbed over from his woman’s cheekbone
but a man that mean must got something
he needs to puff into that brass
so my daddy puts it on the stereo and
we all name our babies after him
hoping they might be born metallic

I don’t understand everything she writes, but I enjoy her works. The poems are set in Chaparral, designed by Carol Twombly, and they are a pleasure to read.

Let’s keep it real. Trump and his Department of Justice are fucking with the judicial branch. They are trying to defy the court orders to see how far Trump can push his power. They are bullying our federal judges. Fortunately, Judge James Boasberg is not backing down. We need more judges to stand up to Trump and his patrimonialism to save our democracy.

Tesla Takedown is calling for peaceful protests at all 277 Tesla showrooms on March 29. Tesla’s stock has tanked nearly 40 percent since the beginning of the year. Sales are poor. Owners are dumping their Tesla worldwide. Let’s show Musk that the people can take down Tesla. If you can, participate peacefully.

Patrimonialism is a style of governing based on absolute loyalty and personal connection similar to organized crimes and street gangs. Patrimonialism doesn’t abide by the rules or laws.

Patrimonialism treats a nation like personal property. Patrimonialism doesn’t care about competence, experience, or expertise. With the installment of incompetent loyalists, family members, and friends, patrimonialism will transition into full-blown authoritarianism.

Patrimonialism is deeply corrupted. Patrimonialism doesn’t recognize conflicts of interest or code of ethics. There’s no distinction between moral and immoral, legal and illegal, formal and informal, national and personal.

Trump is the most corrupt president of the United States. Trump is patrimonialism.

Trump’s MAGA and loyalists are finding ways for Trump to run a third term despite the constitutional limits. Trump has gone from unconstitutional to anti-constitutional. He needs to be stopped. We can’t let this happen to America. If you care about our democracy, run for something to fight against this dictator.

The cutting of foreign aid funding from the Trump administration caused the shutdown of the cleanup of Agent Orange in Biên Hòa, Việt Nam. As rainy season approaching, the dangerous dioxin could seep into the soil and poison the food and water of the people living nearby the Biên Hòa air base.

During the Việt Nam war, the U.S. military sprayed more than 10 million gallons of Agent Orange across vast swaths of the country. The chemical, mixture of two herbicides and contained dioxin, has caused cancers, illnesses, and birth defects.

Donald Trump and Marco Rubio don’t care about the world and they definitely don’t give a fuck about the victims of Orange Agent.

Kicking off with “The Returning Angel” to introduce his new band—Consentrik Quartet (nice wordplay)—guitarist, composer, and leader Nels Cline strums his electric guitar naked before saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock joins in with a soft soprano tone. Bassist Chris Lightcap supplies the pulsating mood and drummer Tom Rainey provides the rhythm with his brushwork. The gentle introduction is about to change with “The 23,” in which the quartet kicks the groove up a notch. The band comes in full swing on “Surplus.” The group shows both individual talent and group chemistry throughout the double LP and noticeable on “The Bag,” a hypnotizing interplay of improvisation.

Tesla’s stock dropped half of its value and continued to dip. Let’s keep Tesla’s price going down. Let’s keep up the protests peacefully. Let’s keep hitting Musk back where he hurts the most. Sorry, Tesla. Don’t blame the people. Blame your fucking lame-ass CEO.

I didn’t understand everything I read, but some lines stood out to me. For instance,in “Troubadours,” Phillips writes:

Life itself being a ramble of mystery, pattern, accident, and surprise, we took heart in knowing whatever road we were on must be the right one-or anyway, we believed it was, and belief still counts. We pressed forward. We weren’t afraid. Nor unafraid.

And in “Like So,” he writes:

From attention to adoration
is a smallish distance–

and yet no arrow, no boat
with sail

can cross it

like the mind’s insistence.

I should read the whole book again, slower. Will see!

Trump gutted defending-democracy media including Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Removing pro-democracy media is an authoritarian move. Eventually he will silence any American citizen criticizing him.

Our democracy is in grave danger. The Democrat party is no longer capable of defending our democracy. In fact, the Democrat leaders, starting with Chuck Schumer, have already caved into Trump.

The Republican party is dead. The Democrat party is too damn weak. The Supreme Court is under his control. The people must speak out and stand up to defend our democracy.