A Kaleidoscopes, Kids, Bush Barges In, And Rummy Art - "TinyBubbles"

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"TINY BUBBLES" are Dishpan shorts - news blips, or thought bubbles so named with a Dishpan nod to my ukulele playing husband, Catfish.

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~ HERE ARE MY EXCUSES FOR NOT POSTING FOR TEN DAYS...

FIRST, I was terribly busy with the kids' art show at the school where my daughter and I are volunteer art docents. Then we prepped for and did one last art session (school's out for the summer) with both of our classes on Monday and Tuesday of this week. The focus of the end of the year art sessions is FUN. I have, over the last several years, collected flip books, a variety of kaleidoscopes, and 3-D pictures and books which my daughter and I take in to share with our first and second grade students. We volunteer at a Title I school so it is the first opportunity for many of the kids to play with such wonderful, old-fashioned visual toys. They had a ball! I think the words that I wrote thirty five years ago best describe our classroom experience:

"It's a gift of wonder and sheer delight, to see the world by childlight."

AND, I have been suffering from a terrible summer cold and sinus infection which on some days rendered me incapable of all forms of communication save monosyllabic moans accompanied with a feeble wave of a crumpled Kleenex.

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~ I DON'T WANT TO BURST HIS BUBBLE BUT...

Bush left his manners at home. He launched a surprise visit upon the new Iraqi government- without calling first! Prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, who was only given a five minute warning of the Occupation President's impending arrival, was unable to escape.

The televised photo op in Baghdad opened with President George W. Bush seated next to a very worried looking al Maliki. Bush told the new Iraqi government that he was "impressed" and then droned on about "Iraq being at the center of the War on Terror". The new Prime Minister looked as if he wanted to take cover in the nearest foxhole. Didn't GWB consider that his presence might trigger retaliation against Iraq's fledgling government by any one of the many militias involved in the esculating civil war?

As pleased as some officials of Iraq's "turning point" government were to have their heads patted by America's leading corporate aristocrat, many were deeply disappointed that he did not see fit to gift them with a plastic turkey.

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~ THE SINS OF DONALD RUMSFELD ARE ETCHED INTO HIS FACE...

Visually Donald Rumsfeld's face resembles the skull of death. Given his political and military philosophies such a likeness is not suprising, especially if you have read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, or have seen the 1945 flick.

Rumsfeld's face has been recording ugly by shrinking into a malevolent mask as the illegal war and occupation of Iraq drags on beyond quagmire.

Evidently, I am not the only one to find Donald Rumsfeld's visage a portrait of menace. Eighteen months ago, Iraqi painter Muayad Muhsin, was inspired and angered by a photo of "Rummy" relaxing aboard a plane with with his army booted feet up. His painting of the demented chickenhawk entitled, "Picnic", was unveiled as the main attraction at an art exhibition in Baghdad on Monday, June 12th. I wonder if Rummy's boss, George, visited the art gallery during his short stay in Baghdad?

The smug Secretary of Defense with lips pursed is depicted sitting next to a statue of a damaged lion standing over a human body (the symbol of strength in ancient Babylonia). Rumsfelds feet rest on an antidiluvian stone. "Rumsfeld's boots deliver a message from America: We rule the world," artist Muhsin explained. "It speaks of America's total indifference to what the rest of the world thinks." Muhsin did not sign his painting in the traditional bottom corner because he did not want his name to be under Rumsfeld's boots. He signed his painting in the middle.

Mauyad Muhsin has certainly succeeded in capturing the essense of Rumsfeld's and America's "soulless might and arrogance" on canvas but it is Donald's face in the flesh that becomes more macabre with every mean-spirited deed and authoritarian miscalculation. Rumsfeld is doing a Dorian before our very eyes!

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I have my box of tissues in one hand and a book in the other.
I am off to bed. See you in the morning!
.........Kitchen Window Woman..........