I require a vacation just thinking about your travel schedule, Steve.

That is a great photograph. Whomever that frequent TNR commenter is, they are sure great with a camera. Perhaps they should be designated as the "official art photographer" of the Washington Note.

WigWag -- that would be fun. I sent a note to the sender of the photo to see if he/she would like to be recognized. But I need to wait for that person to indicate whether that will be OK. You'll be surprised I think when/if you learn who took the great pic.

best, steve clemons

I see a bad weld in that second strut from the right -- I wouldn't stand under that thing much longer.

Steve,

It is a great photo, and I hope the photographer will agree to have his/her work officially recognized.

However, Don Bacon's comment gave me pause. Are you kidding, Don, or do you have technical expertise?

Given the shape of this country's infrastructure, I'd also be concerned if passengers are riding on it.

But to end on a more positive political note: the voters in CA did pass Prop 1A to fund high speed rail between So Cal and No Cal--something that many have been advocating for two decades including Ruth Galanter, former City Councilwoman in LA.

I'm probably old enough that I won't see the high speed rail completed. But once again, California steps out front with an agenda that will affect the environment in a positive manner.

That is, of course, if the feds don't step in and screw it up, as they've done by opposing California's CAFE standards.

I live in Southern Central California, and can tell you that derailments are extremely common, as are auto/train collisions. A number of months ago, on the way to a jobsite, I saw a farmworker in a pickup with a trailer full of outhouses that did not notice the blinking redlights at a crossing that didn't have barrier arms, and he pulled in front of a freight train traveling at about 65 miles an hour. I was approaching the tracks, about 60 yards from the crossing. I will forever remember seeing his truck vaporize into small pieces of debris in a heartbeat. Needless to say, he was vaporized too.

Linda is 100% correct, the rail infrastructure is failing, and if the high speed rail is to become a reality, one hopes the maintenance will match the speed.

Hopefully on a post with a picture of a bridge, it's not too off topic to talk about CAFE standards.

There is good news on the California waiver front. This is the reason that many of us who don't particularly like Obama voted for him anyway. CAFE standards, stem cell research, appointments to commissions and boards like the FDA, the FTC, the NLRB, the Federal Mine Safety Commission; Obama was dramatically better than McCain on all of this.

These issues, while they don't get alot of press attention, can really have a major impact on people's lives. After he grants California its waiver, I hope that Obama will lift the ban on NIH funded embryonic stem cell research. I also hope he will appoint FCC commissioners who change the terrible media ownership rules Bush put in place and who believe in net neutrality.

Here's the CAFE waiver information from yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle:

Obama expected to back auto-emission waiver
Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Tuesday, November 11, 2008

"California officials, who have battled the Bush administration for years over the state's attempt to set the nation's toughest regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, are counting on a much warmer reception for their climate policies under an Obama administration.

While the president-elect has not spelled out which Bush-era decisions he might reverse, Obama pledged during the campaign to support efforts by California and 16 other states to implement the new emissions rules. Environmentalists speculate that it could be one of his first major environmental decisions as president.

'I think it will be one of the very first things he will do on the climate issue to start making progress," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. "Obama will want to send a very clear signal that a new chapter of environmental history is going to be written under his administration...'

In a sign of how the political winds have shifted, California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols, who is leading efforts to write the state's climate rules, is rumored to be on Obama's short list to run the Environmental Protection Agency, the agency charged with reviewing the state's regulations..."

That photograph perfectly articulates the positive/negative, lightness/darkness metaphysical paradox of humanity vs. Nature. I'd like to send it to blogger Nobody's Haiku club and ask him to let his readers do a 5|7|5.
Don't we just want to run our fingers over the blue weaving through the negative grid, blending into eggshell? As if that isn't enough, we can ask which came first, darkness or light?
Either way, its a powerful piece. I am attracted to it because of its mysteries and its movement. It chugs like a roller coaster.

Thanks for taking us on this awesome detour, Steve. Hope you enjoy your journey.

drum roll. . .the photographer of this intriguing photo is "POA".

Great,photograph, POA!

And Nina, did you say hailku? I'll give it a try.

The rivers of steel
Ebulliently flowing
Heedless of the sky

I guessed correctly that the artistic photographer was POA--thought I saw a bit of that wonderful CA light in it.

Great haiku, Wigwag!

We've all probably read about Obama's task force on regulations and executive orders--so I think in his first few days in office we'll get most of the wish lists above.

Lots going on down here in GA with the Senate runoff. Right now lots of Chambliss ads and buzz with McCain, Huckabee, and probably Palin too. They're going to peak too soon for a runoff that is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving weekend!!

But already organizational meetings have been held by Democrats in all the precincts, and lots more help is on the way. Keep Georgia on your minds. It ain't over yet!

Mewling Steel
Horseshit Sky
POA in your Eye

Very uplifting picture...love the stark contrast and love the haiku's...so much talent... Don Bacon...call Joe the Welder.

Remember people
If you are doing Haiku
Strive five seven five

A reader has just notified me my blog address has a typo.
I go through this from time to time with a dysfunctional "f" on my keyboard and don't always catch it. Please, please accept my apologies. Its fixed now.
Great haikus from Wig Wag and POA. Isn't is a fun little artform? Ingrate, you need one more line of five syllables.

nina

I strongly urge the readers to click on Nina's corrected link. As you will see, she is the artist. Once in a while I get lucky, and open a shutter successfully. But to see Nina's miraculous use of watercolors is awe inspiring. Its not an easy medium, and she has truly mastered it.

And to those that complimented me on the photograph, thank you.

Congrats, POA,

and WigWag, your haiku...
& Nina: happy to learn that your blog is fine again! -
I`ll have a look.

Paul

WigWag,

Dean Baker reviews Clinton's economic performance. Take a look--this is what I've been driving at. The whole thing is worth reading.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/11/the_high_priests_of_the_bubble/

>
"It is important to separate Clinton-era mythology from the real economic record. In the mythology, Clinton's decision to raise taxes and cut spending led to an investment boom. This boom led to a surge in productivity growth. Soaring productivity growth led to the low unemployment of the late 1990s and wage gains for workers at all points along the wage distribution.

"At the end of the administration, there was a huge surplus, and we set target dates for paying off the national debt. The moral of the myth is that all good things came from deficit reduction."

The reality was quite different. There was nothing resembling an investment boom until the dot-com bubble at the end of the decade funnelled vast sums of capital into crazy internet schemes. There was a surge in productivity growth beginning in 1995, but this preceded any substantial upturn in investment. Clinton had the good fortune to be sitting in the White House at the point where the economy finally enjoyed the long-predicted dividend from the information technology revolution."

Paul,,,there you are...was wondering where you were...Carroll, just as I was going to respond to one of your comments, the thread disappeared...Soooo glad you decided not to skip voting and chose instead to write in Nader.

You mention that BO's expression has changed since the election....while I've wondered about some of his expressions and gestures throughout the primaries and campaign, like the one in the photo Steve ran of him with Hillary and Ed Rendell, I can't say that I perceive any particular change since the election...his grandmother's death could be the reason...grief does have a way of doing that ....what kind of change do you mean...from what to what? Also, I'm not sure I follow your logic about this change making him like a "Don"...Waht kind of Don? At Sarah Lawrence College a student's faculty advisor is called a Don...maybe you could elaborate on this?

Cool shot, POA - it led me here:

From my high window
I see the night sky
bled blue into a
single drop of white.

POA...read your comment on the missing Hillary post and get the gist...Keith O is reproting that Hillary is under consideration for Sec. of State...hope it's not another head fake...I'm asking my source if she would even want it.

Really good, POA. Fits the dictum, walk through a museum and see which pieces arrest your attention. And a cool poetic thought, arthurdecco (being a Floridian, I invariably think of the wonderful art deco to be seen in Miami when I see your posts).

Rich, I agree Dean Baker's piece is worth reading, but there is something too easy, almost glib, about his conclusions and his line of reasoning. I think those are important points that very much need to be part of the discussion, but way too much is missing from this analysis.

Intersting composition POA. I toyed with sending a pic out the window of my little cottage in Nova Scotia when I was there last Summer, but I'm just barely functional when it comes to the ins and outs of editing/emailing photos. And we just got broadband access there. Maybe I'll go through some of the old pics.

And Nina, I'd say! I love the Southwest evocation; another region on this continent I absolutely adore.

Love this blog, & am heartened to see art/artists beneath the surface commentary. Click my name if you're still hungry for pctures.

Also, very nice how the posted photograph captures, or re-captures the inspiration of a Franz Kline so well.

Anna...(?).....

Your work is exceptional. I will most assuredly be a regular visitor to your blog.

Dear POA -- great photo of the bridge overpass. Did you take this
picture? Would it be all right if Levees Not War (a friend of
infrastructure everywhere, but especially in New Orleans) used it in
a short upcoming piece on Infrastructure in the Obama Age --
with a credit line, of course? Merci, -- Mark LaFlaur @
LeveesNotWar.org

Mark....

Of course you can use the picture, as long as it is not used for profit.

Thanks very much, POA! (Assuredly, there wouldn't be any profit
made off of any use of the photo on our site -- we're nothing but
nonprofit!) --Mark