liner notes for a 2012 calendar.

“The beach shimmers in many ways, especially when Anna is there. The sky and waters and sand are more brilliant in their colors and their calliope. The sea foam applauds, the waves crash like cymbals in an orchestra.

“It is impossible not to feel happy on Gilgo Beach when Anna is there. She may be far from view, but the energy and shimmering exudes.  It cannot be bottled. It is living poetry of the beach.

“And then are her photos – again, impossible not to succumb. Anticipation can be dangerous, it can raise expectations. Yet there it is: her already cyren smile becomes more incandescent, her elegance and demeanor meld with mirth, as there is no distinction between her and nature.

“Alas, our only enemy is the sand….

“Brush it off for us please…”

to read further please go to

http://redsnowltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Ode-to-Anna-on-the-Beach.pdf

My pup Batman, now healthy and happy, was a scared, skinny and sick puppy when he was featured in a Washington Nationals promotion video for the Washington Humane Society.

For the video, please go to:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=120193794665973

(CBS)  BOB SCHIEFFER: Today on Face the Nation, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and the latest on the missing intern from D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey.

Secretary of State Colin Powell just finished the Bush administration’s highest-level talks to date with Chinese officials. Did he make any headway on a missile defense system or on human rights? Can the United States do anything about the latest violence in the Middle East? All of these are questions for the national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice.

Then we’ll turn to the case of the missing intern and talk with D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey and with two reporters who’ve been covering the story, Tom Squitieri of USA Today and Michael Doyle of the Modesto Bee.

Gloria Borger’ll be here, and I’ll have a final word on role models. But, first, Condoleezza Rice on Face the Nation.

ANNOUNCER: Face the Nation, with Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer. And now from CBS News in Washington, Bob Schieffer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHIEFFER: And we turn now to that story that just won’t go away, the story of the missing intern Chandra Levy. Joining us this morning, the District of Columbia Chief of Police Charles Ramsey.

*****

SCHIEFFER: And we’re joined now by two reporters who have been covering the case, Tom Squitieri of USA Today and Michael Doyle of the Modesto Bee.

Michael, criminal elements, investigation, all of that beside the point, it is appearing now that the career of Gary Condit as far as a politician, in my view, is pretty much over.

MICHAEL DOYLE, Modesto Bee: Well, I’m not sure that’s the case, and we certainly don’t know that that’s the case in the congressman’s own mind. I think we have to look at what’s happening in Washington and what’s happening in Sacramento. In Washington there are at least five members who called for his resignation and a chief ally, Charlie Stenholm, who has denounced his actions.

In Sacramento, the Democrats are now redistricting. And what happens in those two places and in Mr. Condit’s district will be shaping over the next month or so, I would say, his future.

So, I don’t think we could say that his future is over.

SCHIEFFER: But, isn’t all of this scrutiny on his office and the operations in his office, aren’t there a lot of things now coming to light that might otherwise have not come to light?

DOYLE: I think that is one byproduct, that when one thread is pulled, other threads start coming out. And there is a certain unraveling. And we reported yesterday about charges related to campaign spending not done by any Condit employee, but it was a byproduct of the search into Chandra Levy. And certainly there have been other stories about the congressman’s raising questions about the behavior. And so, that is one threat to his political career if those stories will be continuing.

BORGER: Tom, you’ve been looking into the FBI profiling of Chandra Levy. This is something they do when they try to get into her mind, what mindset she was in when she disappeared. What has the FBI learned about Chandra Levy?

TOM SQUITIERI, USA Today: Well, clearly, what they have learned is that the woman who came here last fall is not the woman who disappeared in April or May. That a security-conscious person, obsessed with security, somehow that lowered her threshold in what she had to do every day, whether she was really caring about security.

For example, Gloria, you know, missing interns may not tell tales, but former mistresses and angry relatives do. And from these people, the relatives of Chandra Lvy and the other women who have alleged similar relationships with Congressman Gary Condit, the law enforcement authorities are able to paint a pattern of this sort of cult-like mentality that Chandra Levy may have been caught up in.

BORGER: What do you mean by that?

SQUITIERI: Well, we have reported and others have about the rules that Congressman Condit imposed on her behavior, both entering the apartment, who not to talk to. And one of the key ones is you withdraw from your relatives, for the most part, and your friends. If you look at comments by Chandra Levy’s friends, they were concerned about her not opening up to them like she used to when she came to Washington. That’s a sign of withdrawal, and that means you’re not always on your game. Continue Reading

COUNTDOWN opening tonight with the fallout from the September 11 report.  Up next, the No. 4 story:  Special delivery to Iraq.  More money, more ammo, and more music?  That‘s not a joke.

OLBERMANN:  Next here on COUNTDOWN, supporting America‘s bravest, by bringing back into service all if its retired band members.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OLBERMANN:  The U.S. Army has called for back-up from the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines, not personnel, cash.  Our fourth story on the COUNTDOWN tonight:  The military has burned through most of the $65 billion Congress appropriated for Afghanistan and Iraq, the Army spending the most of it, and they‘re evidently also way low on musicians.  The Army is in red by more than 10 billion, Air Force one billion, and Navy nearly that, the Marines looking like good managers at only half a billion, but Congress racing to find another 25 billion to get the military through the start of the recess.  But, much of it will be immediately spent, and this all may recur before year‘s end.  The budget problem has led to cuts in everything from night vision equipment to armor plating of vehicles, to say nothing of the manpower shortage.  The Army has called Dr.  John Wicks out of retirement, he is a psychiatrist.  He‘s headed to Iraq, he is 68 years old.  Fifty-six hundred other ex, or thought they were ex-military personnel will soon be notified they‘re being recalled as part of the individual ready reserve, including a lot of people with specific skills, like Dr.  Wicks or the 627 supply specialists, the 361 mechanics, the one euphonium player.  According to the IRR list, Uncle Sam also needs two trumpeters, a pair of French hornists, three saxophonists, four clarinet players, a percussionist, an electric bass player, and a guy with a trombone.  We are blowing neither smoke nor trumpets at you, your country needs a new band.  This is serious stuff and Tom Squitieri of “USA Today” broke the story this week, and joins us now having left his trombone at home.

Tom, good evening.

TOM SQUITIERI, “USA TODAY”:  Good evening, Keith.

OLBERMANN:  It sounds like there‘s a lounge act playing in some motel bar tonight that may find itself in Iraq by the fall.  What the hell is this all about?

SQUITIERI:  Well, the truth is, that they need a lot of bands people to play for funerals, as well as morale-boosting activities.  And when these guys are not performing, they‘re doing guard duty. Continue Reading