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There seems to be some kind of a line between this case and that of Helen Demidenko that suggests the state (which, in the end, is us after all) ought to be engaged and interested in its edges. Demidenko/Darville, remember (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Darville), adopted the identity of a Ukrainian Australian as part of a fictional narrative extending from her novel *The Hand that Signed the Paper*, dealing with the polarities of terror experienced in wartime Ukraine at the hands of Hitler & Stalin. She was "controversially" "exposed" subsequent to the publication -- whether the exposure was traumatic or part of the theatre, and whether the resultant controversy was therefore a successful coup de theatre, is all part of the larger frame that makes the episode remain interesting. This Samina Malik could be doing something similar. If the poem quoted in the Times article is a badly-translated ghazal, for instance, then a case could be made for reading her in similar terms. If it is just as bad as it appears, however, l'etat, c'est nous really ought to be paying attention at the minimum. Maybe encouraging her to learn some poetic craft would be just the thing we ought to do as a result of such attention. P > -----Original Message----- > From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On > Behalf Of Roger Day > Sent: 09 November 2007 11:21 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: it doesn't mean a thing, it's just poetry > > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2836243.ece > > I think the Met Police might beg to differ on that one. I can't help > thinking the police are plucking the low-hanging fruit, the "useful > stupids" as Stalin put it. In Russia, they have a saying: shoot one > and the rest will fall into line. Or something like that. > > I think she's a poor, misguided fool but really not worth the > attention of our police state. > > Roger > -- > My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/ > "In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons." > Roman Proverb