End of life care, removed from the Health Care bill to pass it, is now making a reappearance in Medicare legislation starting January 1st when doctors can advise patients on how to end their life should they refuse treatment for heart attacks, cancer, and more. So a mastectomy to save your life could be refused for whatever reason,or restarting your heart after a heart attack using your grief over loss as an excuse to save money and do a patient's will, however upset by the decision making process, if so be the case.Delays in death cause tax payers money, and after all, due to its inevitability, why not give in at the first bout?

Bristol Palin bought a foreclosed house in Maricopa, Arizona, adding to the damage done in the area by the new immigration and knife carrying laws. She's up in arms ready to go on threatened or endangered shooting expeditions of bald eagle, ocelot and jaguar, like her mother. The five bedroom house will host parties for possees of anti-immigration personnel from the border at various times, with her mother, when visiting, poised as bartender throwing out everyone who doubts her as a possible winner of a White House run. Bristol will also encourage everyone to overeat to do her mother a favor and make the distinction between the latter and Michelle Obama as clear as possible.

Laura Castro is a writer and teacher in New York City. This poem was read at the Italian American Writers Association evening at Cornelia Street Café on December 11.

Dream, Leaning on its Elbow

What thoughts are these?
Haven't I been here before?
How can this be that I'm
reborn and reborn and reborn?

What, now a daffodil? And next
A bird? A small bright stone?
And all this in one lifetime?
I was a blade of grass once.

No, I have not seen this room before-
It's different; though I recognize the song.
How many rooms have I inhabited,
fresh painted in the colors of the dream?

I walked in the stillness of the desert,
no birds, no blades of grass,
and came to be content-had
quite forgotten what might come to pass.

Then out of stillness, the dream,
leaning on its elbow,
contemplating the leap into-
What? I only start to know!

Dare I jump feet first as if brand new
-Will I ever be the same?-
Into those spaces between the notes
On a scale I never heard, yet know like my own name?

GIL FAGIANI

is a poet and a social worker who hosts the Italian American Writers Association's monthly meetings at Cornelia Street café in New York City. His work is collected in many anthologies and he is the author of seven books, including his most recent, A blanquito in el barrio. Here are two from that collection.

LA CAPITANA

Seventy-three year old
Iris Espinosa,
La Capitana for a local
antipovery agency,
receives official notice.
Her petitions appealing
the cutoff of funds for children's
summer street program
have been denied.

Forget summer sprinklers
and closed-off streets.
Forget sixty-dollar stipends
for teenage counselors.
Forget spiced ham sandwiches
for children's lunches.
Forget trips to Central Park
and Randall's Island.

The day after a crowd of junkies
stomp to death a drug dealer
on East 104th Street,
steamed up moms
and laid-off fathers
scream at kids:
"Keep away from yerba smoke
in hallways and courtyards!
Watch out for tecatos
in basements and rooftops!"

Along with ex-counselors,
La Capitana waits till
temperature hits 95 degrees.
Demands transportation money
from Gordo's Candy Store,
Bebo's Barber Shop,
packs Victor, Macho,
Little Johnny, Nyrma, Alicia,
Chucho and any other kid
she can get her hands on
into the Six train.

Getting off at City Hall
La Capitana buys
todos los muchachos
frankfurters with mustard,
onion, sauerkraut
and buys todas las muchachas
triple scoops of vanilla ice cream
capped with chocolate syrup,
nuts and sprinkles.
" Vámonos!Adelante!"
La Capitana hollers.
"Hasta la victoria!"
her troops reply.

On Chambers Street
the East Harlemites
charge into the elevators
of a gray granite building,
race past security guards,
scurrying secretaries,
mob executive office
maple and chrome shiny.
La Capitana bangs a desk
like she's playing the bongos
while white suited men
pull on their ties
and stare at boys' franks dripping
on polished tables
girls' cones dripping on plush rugs.
"104th Street presente!
Los ninos want their money!"


LITANY OF SAN VITO
To Congressman Vito Marcantonio (1901-1954)

San Vito of East Harlem Pray for us
San Vito bread of the poor Pray for us
San Vito crucified by Wall Street Pray for us
San Vito martyr of McCarthyism Pray for us

From the jail cell walls San Vito deliver us
From the backyard crap game San Vito deliver us
From the loan shark's vig San Vito deliver us
From the drunken stupor San Vito deliver us
From TB and asthma San Vito protect us
From the social worker's visit San Vito protect us
From immigration raids San Vito protect us
From the landlord's greed San Vito protect us

North Korea and Iran are bickering over who has the most extravagant nuclear capabilities. Both are irritated with the United States but are still importing goods to set the example. Their arsenal buildup includes a pair of jeans, a copy of National Enquirer, and a box of Cheerios for North Korea; Cover Girl lip stain, a pack of Charmin, and a box of Kleenex for Iran. The treasure trove for North Korea was said to have been provided by illegal sources in South Korea,regardless of bombings, along with the occasional barbeque, while Israel was said to import the latter.Due to his bouts with holocaust denial Ahmadinejad is said to consider the name of the country a metaphor.Recently two nuclear scientists from both North Korea and Iran met to boast about nuclear capability and ended up bitch-slapping each other over who owned the better uranium enrichment facility.

Not happy with extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy via Bill Clinton's intervention at a White House conference, in which he admits that even he did use the cuts for a purpose, social security funds were cut a 2% and a Virginia court is debating if the United States should consider Assange a spy according to a law from 1917, instead of understanding wikileaks' release of information as a new Watergate.
Even the New York Times failed in intent by not releasing a piece on nuclear weapons and inimical gesturings between the US and Iran, published by The Guardian, and aquiescing not to publish any more wikileaks news in the future.

Again, no need for satire here, it's just the news.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES:

Brought my computer in for diagnostics: battery seems dead. Posting will be occasional at best...

In an effort to minimize wikileaks' revelations, both the Obama administration and the Department of Defense are suggesting one should not read the news since it's still classified information.

There is also no need for satire in this bit of news, published by the New York Times on December 5, 2010 in Don't look, don't read:Government tells workers to avert eyes fromm leaks. By Eric Lipton.

Arizona tops the charts again ( no need for satire)

It's legal to carry knifes in the state and its Medicaid coverage now excludes some transplants "heart, liver, lung, pancreas and bone marrow" (New York Times December 5, 2010)