BERLIN: Can there be a more vivid panorama of the arc of the Communist movement than the view from the foundations where once stood the Nazi SS headquarters at Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse 8? Before one's eyes are photographs of men like German Communist leader Ernst Thalmann. He was arrested on March 3, 1933, a few weeks after Hitler came to power, taken to Albrecht-Strasse 8 and tortured. Never released, never formally tried, he was murdered in Buchenwald on August 18, 1944.

Looking at the big photo of Thalmann -- one of scores posted along that block of German Communists and Socialists -- one can honor courage but also remember epic failures: the blunders of the Third Period, the defeat of the Popular Front in Spain where the German volunteers in the 11th Brigade of the International Brigades named their unit for Thalmann when it was formed in 1936.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Last week, Bush visited Yuma, Ariz., to tour a portion of the U.S.-Mexico Border by Border Patrol buggy. Maybe Jorge was doing a little measuring for the $3.2-million-a-mile fence the Senate recently approved, which I guarantee will be really helpful.

Are they insane? As Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano observes, "Show me a 50-foot wall, and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder."

Meanwhile, Republicans in the Senate have constructively declared English the national language. That'll fix everything. Every foreigner at our borders will stop and say: "Gosh, ma foi! English is the national language here. Good thing to know. I'll begin speaking it immediately."

Yes sir, you want a solution, call a Republican.

Of course, I am enchanted to discover that the entire project will be turned over to Raytheon, General Dynamics and other military contractors -- think Halliburton with noncompetitive bids, anyone? Because this outsourcing stuff is just working like a charm. Another Republican solution.

"What if 'the greatest story ever told' is a lie?"

Given the immense reactionary power of today's Church, and the violent intolerance of its fundamentalist minions, what more radical question could be asked?

No film has ever been in position to give a more penetrating answer than THE DAVINCI CODE. And…praise the Goddess!…it largely delivers.

It will be easy to fault this flick, and many will, for all sorts of reasons, including its often ponderous tone and mournful pace.

But whatever their pitfalls, this movie is a strong companion to a book that embodies a healing challenge to the virulent virus of reactionary "Christian" fundamentalism.

With a staggering 45 million copies in print, Dan Brown's DAVINCI is a force of nature. It's a solid murder thriller, full of twists and gadgetry, hidden riddles and secret codas.

But that alone cannot begin to explain the story's huge appeal. As they say in New Age circles, "there must be a reason."

Just the two of us
she on the swing
me pushing
somehow
content
just to do that
timelessly
time and again
for how long?

Forever.

The park is dark
gorgeously quiet
chill and damp
a late green afternoon
in the early spring
on a Sunday
Mothers Day
only us
and the bambis.

I push
the swing goes forward
it comes back
I push again
we are silent
except occasionally
I ask
"Do you know
how much I love you?"

"Yes Daddy."

Her four front teeth
two on top
two below
are now out.

She'll be seven
in two weeks.

That toothless gap
makes her talk
with a new lisp
excruciatingly cute
that devlish grin
fully vented
she pushes her tongue through.

I have to hug her.

When we're together
at moments like these
nothing lacks
there is no need
no further desire
no hole in space
or in time
that is not filled
with our love.

AUSTIN, Texas -- I hate to raise such an ugly possibility, but have you considered lunacy as an explanation? Craziness would make a certain amount of sense. I mean, you announce you are going to militarize the Mexican border, but you assure the president of Mexico you are not militarizing the border. You announce you are sending the National Guard, but then you assure everyone it's not very many soldiers and just for a little while.

Militarizing the border is a totally terrible idea. Do we have a State Department? Are they sentient? How much do you want to infuriate Mexico when it's sitting on quite a bit of oil? Bush knows what the most likely outcome of this move will be. He was governor during the political firestorm that ensued when a Marine taking part in anti-drug patrols on the border shot and killed Esequiel Hernandez, an innocent goat-herder from Redford, Texas. That's the definition of crazy -- repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a different result.