FLAT WATER AND HUSKS
(Richard Bruce Cheney (born January 30, 1941) is the 46th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President George W. Bush. Previously, he served as White House Chief of Staff, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming, and Secretary of Defense. In the private sector, he was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton Energy Services; he is still a major stockholder. SCARIEST MOMENT IN HISTORY> On June 29, 2002, he briefly assumed the powers and duties of the presidency as Acting President when Mr. Bush underwent a medical exam involving anesthetics.
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Richard Herbert Cheney and Marjorie Dickey. As a child, he attended Calvert Elementary School before his family moved to Casper, Wyoming where he attended Natrona County High School. His father worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a soil conservation agent. He has a brother, Robert, and a sister, Susan. He briefly studied at Yale University, but left after performing poorly academically. He earned both a B.A. and M.A. in political science from the University of Wyoming. He would later start doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin
In 1964, he married Lynne Vincent, his high-school sweetheart, whom he had met at age fourteen. Mrs. Cheney served as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1996. She is now a public speaker, author, and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. (More...)
It was from the flat water
And husks of Nebraska
With her sadistic winters
That loosed the skulking evil.
Writhing near the seats of appointed kings
It plays upon inhabitants
As if channeling Stradivari-claws,
And we, the quivering bow
Wrenched within its hold,
Sense the heartbeat of wickedness
Driving us awkwardly over horror.
Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Richard Herbert Cheney and Marjorie Dickey. As a child, he attended Calvert Elementary School before his family moved to Casper, Wyoming where he attended Natrona County High School. His father worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a soil conservation agent. He has a brother, Robert, and a sister, Susan. He briefly studied at Yale University, but left after performing poorly academically. He earned both a B.A. and M.A. in political science from the University of Wyoming. He would later start doctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin
In 1964, he married Lynne Vincent, his high-school sweetheart, whom he had met at age fourteen. Mrs. Cheney served as Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1986 to 1996. She is now a public speaker, author, and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. (More...)
It was from the flat water
And husks of Nebraska
With her sadistic winters
That loosed the skulking evil.
Writhing near the seats of appointed kings
It plays upon inhabitants
As if channeling Stradivari-claws,
And we, the quivering bow
Wrenched within its hold,
Sense the heartbeat of wickedness
Driving us awkwardly over horror.
It is this creature’s blackheart
That breathes within our wound,
A miserable thump away from Caesar’s fantasy,
The emperor of tyranny.
The tramping evil must not reign
For it shall quite likely be our end.
As with Caesar’s many campaigns,
Triumph choked in massive death,
So too has this beast wrenched its gutless,
Livid fingers over kingdom's child.
Far removed from the plains of home
It now breathes upon the abrasion
Slickly coursing over Mesopotamia,
Tossing, heaping its human devices
Upon the harsh climate of her capture.
Hovering too near the seats of kings
It gnaws at flesh toward its dawn.
THE LOVER'S COT
(A Poetic Justice Collage)U.S. Gives Iraqi Hospitals Broken Promises in Place of Medicine
by Dahr Jamail
While US authorities sit on billions in funds supposedly earmarked for rebuilding Iraq, civilian hospitals are overcrowded and understaffed, basic supplies are scarce and preventable diseases are spreading.
Baghdad; July 5, 2004 – Despite promises of over $1 billion in US funding, hospital patients in Iraq continue to suffer ongoing hardship. Problems plaguing Iraqi hospitals fifteen months into what has been a brutal, bloody occupation range from ongoing medicine and equipment shortages to an overall lack of proper medical infrastructure.
As time has turned the union’s fate to powder,
In lasting grasp the lovers tongue’s promptly faded
And the stroke of burning desire’s a thrashing ache.
Their damp lips an ogre’s tapering,
Like the impulse to kill.
Outside our kingdom where the bough’s toss in the gale,
The shadows shift sudden radiance over stunned lovers,
The interruption comes loud and banging greedily
Through awkward fingers dancing on youthful breath
Seized with living.
There’s just one small cot for their sessions,
No room to operate,
No medicine or drugs
And no physician’s god-hand.
Our groping of liberation felled; belated, squandered.
Their lover’s face haggard, hollow eyes open, no remedy,
Limbs broken up and away... unable to reach one another.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
A HOWLING WAGE
Music-Pink Floyd's "Money"
O!
The pigheaded door has been slung wide
on America and her poor beneath the sun.
People have begun to listen, awaken to these oafish brutes!
There is hope in this. There is hope in this.
Years have seen another and another and another
of rigid, bias-stained cloak slung over the hideous gash!
The hordes of misery howl on the shores of freedom,
on these, our milky plains, as the brutes stand idly by.
But today there is risen hope! A plea’s been uttered,
angels again peruse our golden crop in the valley of our fortune!
May the sloping howl of mercy drown the screech of plenty
And restrain these beasts so that hope might live…
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
HOLD THE EUOLOGIES
With new dawn and her penned in sheep
Held behind razor-lines of days gone by
In this troubled land of waggle and flash
Charges the lion to set us upright.
To light the path of strength alone
And offer guidance within the gloom.
Loose hands and fall back, we seem to say.
Turn out and let go-
Head down into the shadows of collapse-
Into the whole… fall together, we seem to say.
Then rises his blast of the hellhole down of roaring,
“I’m not gone”
“Still alive”
“Breathing and strong”
“Now into the bright sun we journey to fight”
He howls!
© 2008 mrp/thepoetryman
THE TWO HORSEMEN
>.JPG)
Previous Post - STATE OF THE UNION (IRAQ)
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Jim Webb of Virginia was selected to give the Democratic response to Bush's SoTU, and boy, did they make the right choice. Webb hit all the right notes, his points impressive and unassailable. Rather than even dignify the fearmongering and drawing of parallels of 9/11 to aggression in the Middle East, Webb just pointed out that the Democrats are representing the will of the people in their desire to see an end to the quagmire and that if Bush didn't want to listen to the people that put him in office, the Democrats would lead him to the will of the people.
"If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way."
Hagel Gives `em Hell (Video)
"I don't think we've ever had a coherent strategy. In fact, I would even challenge the administration today to show us the plan that the president talked about the other night. There is no plan. I happen to know that Pentagon planners were on their way to Central Com over the weekend -- they haven't even Team B'ed this plan.... There is no strategy. This is a ping-pong game with American lives.... We'd better be damned sure what we're doing, all of us, before we put 22,000 more lives into that grinder.... and I want every one of you, every one of us, 100 senators to look in that camera, and you tell your people back home what you think. Don't hide any more, none of us."
THE TWO HORSEMEN
POET
The trumpet sounds above their dark village
And the slope of wet desire moves them nearer,
Breathing hotly upon the newly expectant spirits
The nighttime sounds of yearning fill the air.
MAN
Is it them?
O! I hope they’re here!
Do they approach?
O! I pray they’ll come?
POET
Tonight the two horsemen are said to be imminent,
Riding fast, their steeds strapped with blazing purpose
Ready to liberate the lands seaward sons and daughters,
Mend the torn away air and smooth the towering loss…
WOMAN
Sentry? Tell us what you hear!
Speak of what you see?
Is it the horsemen?
Are they beautiful saviors?
SENTRY
The horsemen are mortal men born out of our desire,
Our wish for someone willing to speak with certainty
And not cower of the prowling beast’s oppression,
To dispute the salvo of war-jawed tales of terror.
MAN
We don’t need you thinking!
We need you seeing and hearing
You blubbering idiot!
Now do you see them or-
SENTRY
Yes! Yes! They come!
I see two riders!
POET
The streets erupt in joyous hoorahs and release.
Yes. It has been said that the two horsemen
Shall transport the people's bleeding liberty home
And right the tumbling and despotic vessel.
So it is said…
SENTRY
No! No!
Oh! My God!
There are more than two!
WOMAN
More than two?
MAN
How many?
SENTRY
Oh, Jesus…
MAN
How many!
SENTRY
Thousands…
WOMAN
A thousand beautiful horsemen?
SENTRY
No. Many thousands.
MAN
Horsemen born out of our desire...
The trumpet sounds above their dark village
And the slope of wet desire moves them nearer,
Breathing hotly upon the newly expectant spirits
The nighttime sounds of yearning fill the air.
MAN
Is it them?
O! I hope they’re here!
Do they approach?
O! I pray they’ll come?
POET
Tonight the two horsemen are said to be imminent,
Riding fast, their steeds strapped with blazing purpose
Ready to liberate the lands seaward sons and daughters,
Mend the torn away air and smooth the towering loss…
WOMAN
Sentry? Tell us what you hear!
Speak of what you see?
Is it the horsemen?
Are they beautiful saviors?
SENTRY
The horsemen are mortal men born out of our desire,
Our wish for someone willing to speak with certainty
And not cower of the prowling beast’s oppression,
To dispute the salvo of war-jawed tales of terror.
MAN
We don’t need you thinking!
We need you seeing and hearing
You blubbering idiot!
Now do you see them or-
SENTRY
Yes! Yes! They come!
I see two riders!
POET
The streets erupt in joyous hoorahs and release.
Yes. It has been said that the two horsemen
Shall transport the people's bleeding liberty home
And right the tumbling and despotic vessel.
So it is said…
SENTRY
No! No!
Oh! My God!
There are more than two!
WOMAN
More than two?
MAN
How many?
SENTRY
Oh, Jesus…
MAN
How many!
SENTRY
Thousands…
WOMAN
A thousand beautiful horsemen?
SENTRY
No. Many thousands.
MAN
Horsemen born out of our desire...
Previous Post - STATE OF THE UNION (IRAQ)
STATE OF THE UNION (IRAQ)
Yes, the state of the union, as always with him,
Drained of daylight, nature, warmth, truth.
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists wearing expensive suits
Donning tooth-filled grins of empire's fidgeting certainty.
Bombs detonate, the crackle of guns,
The swooping sound of civil blade.
O God! Moan, cry, wail, scream!
O Allah! Where have they taken us?
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists revolving bleached smiles' awkward ovation.
Gloom comes into the freshly whirled holes
As raging verve and drizzle splatter down
Their bitter death. O Jesus! Muhammad!
It settles into them, crazed and swirling!
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists donning silk ties' determination.
O Death is quiet and life is loud and ferocious;
A union of opposites dividing the path.
War is ferocious!
O Christ! O Allah! It's too great!
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists breathing out odious one-liners of duplicity.
O God! Allah! It is peace, not murder
Cradling mankind to your face!
Anger sloping into minds, coursing the oily well,
Yes, and then, forever comes a soundless rage,
Searing, thunderous …crowded.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
Webb's Response
Previous Post - MADRASAH
Drained of daylight, nature, warmth, truth.
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists wearing expensive suits
Donning tooth-filled grins of empire's fidgeting certainty.
Bombs detonate, the crackle of guns,
The swooping sound of civil blade.
O God! Moan, cry, wail, scream!
O Allah! Where have they taken us?
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists revolving bleached smiles' awkward ovation.
Gloom comes into the freshly whirled holes
As raging verve and drizzle splatter down
Their bitter death. O Jesus! Muhammad!
It settles into them, crazed and swirling!
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists donning silk ties' determination.
O Death is quiet and life is loud and ferocious;
A union of opposites dividing the path.
War is ferocious!
O Christ! O Allah! It's too great!
Faces in the crowd, many old, many new,
Terrorists breathing out odious one-liners of duplicity.
O God! Allah! It is peace, not murder
Cradling mankind to your face!
Anger sloping into minds, coursing the oily well,
Yes, and then, forever comes a soundless rage,
Searing, thunderous …crowded.
Webb's Response
MADRASAH (School)
The word "madrasah" also exists in many Arabic-influenced languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish, Indonesian, Malaysian and Bosnian. In the Arabic language, the word مدرسة implies no sense other than that which the word school represents in the English language, such as private, public or parochial school, as well as for any primary or secondary school whether Muslim, non-Muslim or secular. Unlike the understanding of the word school in British English, the word madrasah refers in American English to a university-level or post-graduate Islamic school. The correct Arabic word for a university, however, is Jami'ah. The Hebrew cognate "midrasha" also connotes the meaning of a place of learning. There are some madrasah-like institutions also in North America and in Europe.
A typical madrasah usually offers two courses of study: a "hifz" course; that is memorisation of the Qur'an (the person who commits the entire Qur'an to memory is called a hafiz); and an target="_blank"'alim course leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic, Tafsir (Qur'anic interpretation), shari'ah (Islamic law), Hadith (recorded sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad), Mantiq (logic), and Muslim History. Depending on the educational demands, some madrasahs also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic literature, English, and other foreign languages as well as science and world history.
People of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming imams. The certificate of an 'alim' for example, requires approximately twelve years of study. A good number of the huffaz (plural of hafiz) are the product of the madrasahs. The madrasahs also resemble colleges, where people take evening classes and reside in dormitories. An important function of the madrasahs is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide them with education and training. Madrassahs may enroll female students; however, they generally study separately from the men. There are examples of all-female madrassahs.
In South Africa, madrasahs play an important role in giving after-school religious instruction to Muslim children who attend government, or private non-religious schools. However, increasing numbers of more affluent Muslim children attend full-fledged private Islamic Schools which combine secular and religious education. Among Muslims of Indian origin, madrasahs also used to provide instruction in Urdu, although this is far less common today than it used to be.
~
Musharraf's clampdown on foreigners linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda shows that international pressure can work. It is what will determine if and when the government will enact tangible madrasa reform. International acceptance of the military's domestic manoeuvres in exchange for support in the war on terrorism risks more extremism in the not distant future that will be hard to contain. Wavering by important international actors, especially the U.S., will not only increase extremist threats to Pakistan but eventually also undermine global security and stability. (More at International Crisis Group on Pakistan Madrasah...)
A typical madrasah usually offers two courses of study: a "hifz" course; that is memorisation of the Qur'an (the person who commits the entire Qur'an to memory is called a hafiz); and an target="_blank"'alim course leading the candidate to become an accepted scholar in the community. A regular curriculum includes courses in Arabic, Tafsir (Qur'anic interpretation), shari'ah (Islamic law), Hadith (recorded sayings and deeds of Prophet Muhammad), Mantiq (logic), and Muslim History. Depending on the educational demands, some madrasahs also offer additional advanced courses in Arabic literature, English, and other foreign languages as well as science and world history.
People of all ages attend, and many often move on to becoming imams. The certificate of an 'alim' for example, requires approximately twelve years of study. A good number of the huffaz (plural of hafiz) are the product of the madrasahs. The madrasahs also resemble colleges, where people take evening classes and reside in dormitories. An important function of the madrasahs is to admit orphans and poor children in order to provide them with education and training. Madrassahs may enroll female students; however, they generally study separately from the men. There are examples of all-female madrassahs.
In South Africa, madrasahs play an important role in giving after-school religious instruction to Muslim children who attend government, or private non-religious schools. However, increasing numbers of more affluent Muslim children attend full-fledged private Islamic Schools which combine secular and religious education. Among Muslims of Indian origin, madrasahs also used to provide instruction in Urdu, although this is far less common today than it used to be.
~
Musharraf's clampdown on foreigners linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda shows that international pressure can work. It is what will determine if and when the government will enact tangible madrasa reform. International acceptance of the military's domestic manoeuvres in exchange for support in the war on terrorism risks more extremism in the not distant future that will be hard to contain. Wavering by important international actors, especially the U.S., will not only increase extremist threats to Pakistan but eventually also undermine global security and stability. (More at International Crisis Group on Pakistan Madrasah...)
THE IMAM:
This sword is one of the three swords which the prophet Muhammad acquired as booty from the Banu Qaynaqa. It is also reported that the grandfather of the prophet Muhammad discovered "swords of Qal'i" when he uncovered the Well of Zamzam in Mecca. Inscribed on the sword in Arabic is "This is the noble sword of the house of Muhammad the prophet, the apostle of God."
THE FOOL:
“Oh! Yes!
Do tell me more about this magnificent and ancient item and of the madrasah!
Tell me, I want to learn of it.
What it is?
Who attends?
The languages spoken?
Come!
Tell me!
Do the boys and girls in this madrasah carry the sword of Qal'i,
Striding in, ready to slaughter us westerners?
Are they skilled savages?
Are they intolerant?
Fanatical?
Do they smell?
Tell me why do they hate the west?
Are they jealous of our freedoms?”
THE IMAM:
Stop!
Hold thy insolent tongue!
You’ve not come to learn!
You’ve come to fear!
There will be no evil bared here.
Go home and search beneath your feet.
Gaze upon thy willful ignorance,
Ogling its many twisted and foolish faces.
Here you will not find your banshee.
Here is not the place you need begin.
Return upon these peaceful roads
Along which joyous wanderers
Come seeking her corridors of tradition,
Her sun rising as majestic as yours
Yet setting altogether differently…
You will not find your war within her walls.
You will not find your impertinent ghost.
There is more here than your rigid and flag draped illusions.
More than your warring determination and ashen visage.
You might had found her had you come seeking,
But you’re simply full of pale ideas.
You should have left them at the door!
Instead you come striding in untutored,
Untaught and with wanton disregard for joy
Leaving you to tell tales of what you have learned.
Go enlighten the west with your dishonesty,
To where no peace is living, only the stench
Of perished flesh scaling back of truth…
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
Previous Post - KRISTOL METH(od)
KRISTOL METH(OD)
.JPG)
O! Behind your mask,
Like the last beat of Taps,
Convulses such somber notes of demise;
The tinted base of your deceit
Heaving death like a burning lamp…
O! Your manifest shiv enters my chest,
The plunge, nastily skewed, lances bone
Like the last beat of Taps,
Convulses such somber notes of demise;
The tinted base of your deceit
Heaving death like a burning lamp…
O! Your manifest shiv enters my chest,
The plunge, nastily skewed, lances bone
And falcons of liquid screech forth my soul
Addressing what I cannot glimpse;
A sweltering certainty
Clearer than the throat of God…
This ache lies beneath all things
With a precision greater than self,
More blinding than the flash of white phosphorus
Comes your face and your hatred of living…
O! In this swift and decisive instant
The phantoms rise to greet me!
Unsightly they climb up out the collapsing urn
And I see the spiral of your hideous guise
Laying prostrate, groping with enraged beasts!
Thrashing as one in unbridled foulness,
Pawing at one another while the hand of God
Trembles at seeing such hopelessness…
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
Addressing what I cannot glimpse;
A sweltering certainty
Clearer than the throat of God…
This ache lies beneath all things
With a precision greater than self,
More blinding than the flash of white phosphorus
Comes your face and your hatred of living…
O! In this swift and decisive instant
The phantoms rise to greet me!
Unsightly they climb up out the collapsing urn
And I see the spiral of your hideous guise
Laying prostrate, groping with enraged beasts!
Thrashing as one in unbridled foulness,
Pawing at one another while the hand of God
Trembles at seeing such hopelessness…
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
PNAC’s William Kristol
Bill Kristol Background Check
Glenn Greenwald - Bill Kristol - Superstar
Previous Post - TWISTING THE WRIT
TWISTING THE WRIT
A writ of habeas corpus is a court order addressed to a prison official (or other custodian) ordering that a prisoner be brought before the court for determination of whether that person is serving a lawful sentence and/or whether he or she should be released from custody. The writ of habeas corpus in common law countries is an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action.
And it is that Habeas corpus can also mean
That an imprisoning authority of an alleged murderer
‘Should have the body'! Yes! Should have the body
To prove there’s been any such murder at all!
You should have the bodies stacked up high,
Above your neck the fallen amassed and towering
Toward the gray-thrown sky where their faces
Look alive once more with the sobbing of battle.
You should have the tortured hands and backs
Bear them to the cavern of your limbless,
Eyeless scourge as the conqueror’s honor;
The due reverence to your lifeless carnival.
You should have the trembling youth’s red echo
Of anguish knocking against your ear in sleep;
A mud-spattered lullaby, and have the beautiful,
Trodden and gashed bodies of the children dancing.
And, as you writhe, you twist the writ to sunders
And pledge no support for our grown-dim reality
While shadowy plans are pinched for a fresh war
Lying eastward of quagmires steeped in freedom!
Downward, downward, missiles bury the blameless
And stoke the soil with a lover’s enthusiasm
Like murderers and thieves leaving their mark
Upon every body gasping beneath the enemy.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 9
Impeach Gonzales
Thank you: Earth to Alberto: C&L
And it is that Habeas corpus can also mean
That an imprisoning authority of an alleged murderer
‘Should have the body'! Yes! Should have the body
To prove there’s been any such murder at all!
You should have the bodies stacked up high,
Above your neck the fallen amassed and towering
Toward the gray-thrown sky where their faces
Look alive once more with the sobbing of battle.
You should have the tortured hands and backs
Bear them to the cavern of your limbless,
Eyeless scourge as the conqueror’s honor;
The due reverence to your lifeless carnival.
You should have the trembling youth’s red echo
Of anguish knocking against your ear in sleep;
A mud-spattered lullaby, and have the beautiful,
Trodden and gashed bodies of the children dancing.
And, as you writhe, you twist the writ to sunders
And pledge no support for our grown-dim reality
While shadowy plans are pinched for a fresh war
Lying eastward of quagmires steeped in freedom!
Downward, downward, missiles bury the blameless
And stoke the soil with a lover’s enthusiasm
Like murderers and thieves leaving their mark
Upon every body gasping beneath the enemy.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 9
Impeach Gonzales
Thank you: Earth to Alberto: C&L
WHAT DE HELL YOU SAY?
"OH Nine Ze teufelhundenZ killEd mine feldwebel Vat are WE going to DO??"
LORE OF THE CORPS
Starting in boot camp, all Marines study the actions of those who have served before them. The history of the Marine Corps is a rich tapestry weaving together the contributions of all Marines. Over the past two centuries, certain aspects of the Corps’ history have taken on an almost legendary status. Below are examples of some of the stories, terms, and traditions that have come to be known as the “Lore of the Core.”
THE BLOOD STRIPE
Marine Corps tradition maintains that the red stripe worn on the trousers of officers and noncommissioned officers, and commonly known as the “blood stripe,” commemorates those Marines killed storming the castle of Chapultepec in 1847. Although this belief is firmly embedded in the traditions of the Corps, it has no basis in fact. The use of stripes clearly predates the Mexican War.
LEATHERNECK
In 1776, the Naval Committee of the Second Continental Congress prescribed new uniform regulations. Marine uniforms were to consist of green coats with buff white facings, buff breeches and black gaiters. Also mandated was a leather stock to be worn by officers and enlisted men alike. This leather collar served to protect the neck against cutlass slashes and to hold the head erect in proper military bearing. Sailors serving aboard ship with Marines came to call them “leathernecks.”
“DEVIL DOGS”
According to Marine Corps tradition, German soldiers facing the Marines at Belleau Wood called them teufelhunden. These were the devil dogs of Bavarian folklore - vicious, ferocious, and tenacious. Shortly thereafter, a Marine recruiting poster depicted a dachshund, wearing an Iron Cross and a spiked helmet, fleeing an English bulldog wearing the eagle, globe and anchor.
“SEMPER FIDELIS”
The Marine Corps adopted the motto “Semper Fidelis” ... in 1883. Prior to that date three mottoes, all traditional rather than official, were used. The first of these, antedating the War of 1812, was “Fortitudine.” The Latin phrase for “with courage,” it was emblazoned on the brass shako plates worn by Marines during the Federal period. The second motto was “By Sea and by Land,” taken from the British Royal Marines “Per Mare, Per Terram.” Until 1848, the third motto was “To the shores of Tripoli.” Inscribed on the Marine Corps colors, this commemorated Presley O’Bannon’s capture of the city of Derna in 1805. In 1848, this was revised to “From the halls of the Montezuma’s to the shores of Tripoli.”
“Semper Fidelis” signifies the dedication that individual Marines have to “Corps and country,” and to their fellow Marines. It is a way of life. Said one former Marine, “It is not negotiable. It is not relative, but absolute…Marines pride themselves on their mission and steadfast dedication to accomplish it.”
LORE OF THE CORPS
Starting in boot camp, all Marines study the actions of those who have served before them. The history of the Marine Corps is a rich tapestry weaving together the contributions of all Marines. Over the past two centuries, certain aspects of the Corps’ history have taken on an almost legendary status. Below are examples of some of the stories, terms, and traditions that have come to be known as the “Lore of the Core.”
THE BLOOD STRIPE
Marine Corps tradition maintains that the red stripe worn on the trousers of officers and noncommissioned officers, and commonly known as the “blood stripe,” commemorates those Marines killed storming the castle of Chapultepec in 1847. Although this belief is firmly embedded in the traditions of the Corps, it has no basis in fact. The use of stripes clearly predates the Mexican War.
LEATHERNECK
In 1776, the Naval Committee of the Second Continental Congress prescribed new uniform regulations. Marine uniforms were to consist of green coats with buff white facings, buff breeches and black gaiters. Also mandated was a leather stock to be worn by officers and enlisted men alike. This leather collar served to protect the neck against cutlass slashes and to hold the head erect in proper military bearing. Sailors serving aboard ship with Marines came to call them “leathernecks.”
“DEVIL DOGS”
According to Marine Corps tradition, German soldiers facing the Marines at Belleau Wood called them teufelhunden. These were the devil dogs of Bavarian folklore - vicious, ferocious, and tenacious. Shortly thereafter, a Marine recruiting poster depicted a dachshund, wearing an Iron Cross and a spiked helmet, fleeing an English bulldog wearing the eagle, globe and anchor.
“SEMPER FIDELIS”
The Marine Corps adopted the motto “Semper Fidelis” ... in 1883. Prior to that date three mottoes, all traditional rather than official, were used. The first of these, antedating the War of 1812, was “Fortitudine.” The Latin phrase for “with courage,” it was emblazoned on the brass shako plates worn by Marines during the Federal period. The second motto was “By Sea and by Land,” taken from the British Royal Marines “Per Mare, Per Terram.” Until 1848, the third motto was “To the shores of Tripoli.” Inscribed on the Marine Corps colors, this commemorated Presley O’Bannon’s capture of the city of Derna in 1805. In 1848, this was revised to “From the halls of the Montezuma’s to the shores of Tripoli.”
“Semper Fidelis” signifies the dedication that individual Marines have to “Corps and country,” and to their fellow Marines. It is a way of life. Said one former Marine, “It is not negotiable. It is not relative, but absolute…Marines pride themselves on their mission and steadfast dedication to accomplish it.”
THUMP'S song:
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Der’s blood on de flag!
(What de hell was dat?)
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Der’s blood on de flag!
(What de hell he say?)
Dems boys `n girls
a comin’ home-
in dem body bags!
(Whhhhooooooo done it?)
Aggggghhhhh,
but, George, it’s you!
Ten hut!
Semper Fi,
chesty puller,
let’s get it on!
I gots ta go,
duty call me
`neath de whirlin’ ground!
No time for love `r plans.
No time at all for thinkin’,
Marine Corp `n country
done got my full attention!
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Der’s blood on the flag!
(What de hell he say?)
I say, dem’s boys `n girls
comin’ home in dem body bags!
(Whhhhooooooo done it?)
Aggggghhhhh,
but, George, it’s you!
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Der’s blood on de flag!
(What de hell you say!)
I say, dem's boys `n girls
comin’ home
in dem ghastly body bags!
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Der's blood on de flag!
Yer with us
`r agin us
so join up `r carry on!
Hey! Ho!
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Semper Fi!
Chesty puller!
Bring `em on!
Af-gan-ee-stan then to I-rack,
`n now we gots E-ron!
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Semper Fi, chesty puller
bring em on!
You wit’ us `r agin us,
lock `n load `n carry on!
Semper Fi,
chesty puller
`n now ya bring `em on!
Af-gan-ee-stan on to I-rack,
`n next into E-ron!
Hooooo Agggghhhh!
Old Glory's bleedin' through
in red `n white `n blue!
Body bags wait on no one
when der’s killin’ to be done…
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
THE MARINE’S MUSEUM
CRACKED EGG
“I don’t quite view it as the broken egg.
I view it as the cracked egg.”
The shells are scattered from mosque to mosque
And the burden of death spatters the cast down hands.
You, sir, in war, may find your hokey rephrasing apt,
But it’s severely distressing and utterly unbecoming!
Those that have been unduly dashed down into the loam,
Those whose limbs have been severed and faces blown,
Those felled that can never be put back together again
(Not by all the kings’ horses or all the kings’ men)
Are not standing with you, they’re too scattered to rise.
Their bodies have been placed cruelly into the gaping soil,
Slung to the winds coursing the world from your lies.
You smirk your goddamned grin from your goddamned throne
As if to say “I’m invincible!" ..."I stand alone!”
You smile upon your church and your God and your prosperity,
But you don’t stand an agony’s chance with truth’s brazen clarity!
So you can call it what you may;
cleaved or broken or wrecked
Or quagmire or swamp or gray
Or slough or slaughter or death…
Or civil or sectarian unrest
Or senseless or cracked or tragic or fate
Or winnable or even too little too late
Or pointless or criminal or sovereign
Or even the sign of Armageddon,
But for those whose lives have been snuffed out,
Whose severed limbs beckon while they sleep,
Deserve the best words you can assemble and spout,
So, when you talk to the people, oh honorable king,
You need to make it a most beautiful thing!
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
*PUT THIS WAR AWAY*
An explosion outside a Baghdad university as students were heading home for the day killed at least 65 people on Tuesday, in the deadliest of several attacks on predominantly Shiite areas. The attack came on a day the UN aid more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians died last year in sectarian violence.
He who controls the present controls the past,
and he who controls the past controls the future.
George Orwell, 1984
Orwellian Overture
By any rational reckoning, we have lost the war in Iraq, unless there is some plan to escalate it to World War Three, mobilizing the US economy and returning to the draft. How could we be at such a low point without there having been a vigorous national debate about our deeply flawed war goals, war plans and war results?
In April of 2003, we saw Saddam Hussein's statue fall in Baghdad. On Mayday, 2003 we read "Mission Accomplished" as Bush praised his Shock-and-Awe war from the USS Abraham Lincoln. By the summer of 2003, though, we heard the word insurgency for the first time, and within a year we were hearing words like Sunni Triangle, militias and civil war -- and we've been hearing them ever since.
In 1984 Orwell pointed out that Big Brother, through its Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), never admitted failure in reporting war, and neither have those who were supposed to be reporting our Iraq fiasco. We haven't had any Congressional oversight, media scrutiny or military correction for the worst war results in American history. In Orwellian terms, the Bush League is a Big Brother imitation, and our current corporate-run US media is a rental Minitrue.
If journalistic ethics -- or regard for truth -- could influence them, the media wouldn't continue to tell us, through pages, cameras and microphones, that there is any kind of success -- or prospect of success -- in the disastrous Quicksand War. They swore to be an embedded asset for the Bush League, though, and they've kept their devil's pact by finding new ways to shade, hedge and omit the facts. They have told us every lie necessary to bring us to the Middle East in the first place, and now telling us every lie necessary to keep us there.
Previous Post - SILENCE ME
He who controls the present controls the past,
and he who controls the past controls the future.
George Orwell, 1984
Orwellian Overture
By any rational reckoning, we have lost the war in Iraq, unless there is some plan to escalate it to World War Three, mobilizing the US economy and returning to the draft. How could we be at such a low point without there having been a vigorous national debate about our deeply flawed war goals, war plans and war results?
In April of 2003, we saw Saddam Hussein's statue fall in Baghdad. On Mayday, 2003 we read "Mission Accomplished" as Bush praised his Shock-and-Awe war from the USS Abraham Lincoln. By the summer of 2003, though, we heard the word insurgency for the first time, and within a year we were hearing words like Sunni Triangle, militias and civil war -- and we've been hearing them ever since.
In 1984 Orwell pointed out that Big Brother, through its Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), never admitted failure in reporting war, and neither have those who were supposed to be reporting our Iraq fiasco. We haven't had any Congressional oversight, media scrutiny or military correction for the worst war results in American history. In Orwellian terms, the Bush League is a Big Brother imitation, and our current corporate-run US media is a rental Minitrue.
If journalistic ethics -- or regard for truth -- could influence them, the media wouldn't continue to tell us, through pages, cameras and microphones, that there is any kind of success -- or prospect of success -- in the disastrous Quicksand War. They swore to be an embedded asset for the Bush League, though, and they've kept their devil's pact by finding new ways to shade, hedge and omit the facts. They have told us every lie necessary to bring us to the Middle East in the first place, and now telling us every lie necessary to keep us there.
PUT THIS WAR AWAY
O! Put this war away! Put it away!
Stash it in the annals of Vietnam,
Put the hideous, blood-spattered mongrel down!
Plant it beneath the loudly muted ground!
Lay our best and worst under, wrapped in flags,
Let the encircling earth hold it there, unspoken.
How many lives must we waste in shock and awe;
Scores of murder and rape to slither past?
Put this war away! O! God, end it if we will not!
Our hearts have wings for more than this!
Our souls more light than darkness here!
Lift light our spirit in freedom! Crush our tyranny!
Innocents shall not be raped for sport in awkward rage!
Bullets to head in terror’s Goddamned surrender!
Children slaughtered for oil! Families shattered of days!
A country devoured in empire’s repulsive teeth!
O! Put this war away! Put it away!
Snuff its proud lion beneath the plummeting shells
And send it prowling downward…
Let it lie, sprawled with the phosphorous bones.
Put this war away! Put it away!
We’ve had enough of blood; its use drained...
Bring our murder home. Ravage its molten metal frame
`til it cries out in its own reluctant wretched death!
If it is to be, let it come crashing!
Copyright © *2006* mrp / thepoetryman
Stash it in the annals of Vietnam,
Put the hideous, blood-spattered mongrel down!
Plant it beneath the loudly muted ground!
Lay our best and worst under, wrapped in flags,
Let the encircling earth hold it there, unspoken.
How many lives must we waste in shock and awe;
Scores of murder and rape to slither past?
Put this war away! O! God, end it if we will not!
Our hearts have wings for more than this!
Our souls more light than darkness here!
Lift light our spirit in freedom! Crush our tyranny!
Innocents shall not be raped for sport in awkward rage!
Bullets to head in terror’s Goddamned surrender!
Children slaughtered for oil! Families shattered of days!
A country devoured in empire’s repulsive teeth!
O! Put this war away! Put it away!
Snuff its proud lion beneath the plummeting shells
And send it prowling downward…
Let it lie, sprawled with the phosphorous bones.
Put this war away! Put it away!
We’ve had enough of blood; its use drained...
Bring our murder home. Ravage its molten metal frame
`til it cries out in its own reluctant wretched death!
If it is to be, let it come crashing!
Copyright © *2006* mrp / thepoetryman
SILENCE ME
(A Poetic Justice Collage)Liberals' attempts to silence me by Melanie Morgan
Posted: January 12, 20071:00 a.m. Eastern
The week that was provided interesting examples of how desperate and pathetic liberals have become.
Their lust for political power, after having suffered one election defeat after another, has become so great that they don't seem to be trying too hard to hide the ugly aspects of liberalism. Now that they've won control of Congress, liberals feel emboldened to reveal their true selves.
Posted: January 12, 20071:00 a.m. Eastern
The week that was provided interesting examples of how desperate and pathetic liberals have become.
Their lust for political power, after having suffered one election defeat after another, has become so great that they don't seem to be trying too hard to hide the ugly aspects of liberalism. Now that they've won control of Congress, liberals feel emboldened to reveal their true selves.
There is no silence in this; your bitter flesh of hatred,
So you needn’t be troubled, Melanie.
There is no silence in the tooth of horror,
Only bottomless gnashing and writhing
As your noisy maw yammers its own execution.
Those that came before you had a cunning beyond.
They hunted the succulent jade of world peace
While you, in a shadowy globe, conceive defeat
At its charitable hand and see war as stillness;
Peace within your sinister and ailing abhorrence.
There is no silence in this; your bitter flesh of hatred.
You’ve fed upon the flavor of this warring infection
Until your tongue tastes sweet honey, not death.
You cannot be silenced with such dreary senses.
You cannot be hushed or shut up. Your infection
Is too great for those who’ve devoured your birth.
Yours is the vigor of the beast that roots upward
Collapsing the soil which would bring you truth.
Peace is the force of the boulder upon your tusk
As you root `round within yourself for nourishment
Digging past the rancid ooze of hypocrisy and murder.
There is no silence in this; your bitter flesh of hatred
Writhing deep in the festering corpse of your silence.
So you needn’t be troubled, Melanie.
There is no silence in the tooth of horror,
Only bottomless gnashing and writhing
As your noisy maw yammers its own execution.
Those that came before you had a cunning beyond.
They hunted the succulent jade of world peace
While you, in a shadowy globe, conceive defeat
At its charitable hand and see war as stillness;
Peace within your sinister and ailing abhorrence.
There is no silence in this; your bitter flesh of hatred.
You’ve fed upon the flavor of this warring infection
Until your tongue tastes sweet honey, not death.
You cannot be silenced with such dreary senses.
You cannot be hushed or shut up. Your infection
Is too great for those who’ve devoured your birth.
Yours is the vigor of the beast that roots upward
Collapsing the soil which would bring you truth.
Peace is the force of the boulder upon your tusk
As you root `round within yourself for nourishment
Digging past the rancid ooze of hypocrisy and murder.
There is no silence in this; your bitter flesh of hatred
Writhing deep in the festering corpse of your silence.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
THUMP'S RUMBLIN' DRUMS
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Rice Defends Raids on Iranian Targets
By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) -- U.S. raids that President Bush approved against Iranian targets in Iraq are part of broad efforts to confront Tehran's aggression, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.
"The United States is simply responding to Iranian activities that have been going on for a while now that threaten not just to destabilize the chance for Iraq to proceed to stability but also that endanger our forces," Rice said before meeting with Israel's foreign minister.
Bush approved the strategy several months ago, U.S. officials said, in response to what Washington claims is Iran's support for terrorists inside Iraq and the alleged funneling of bombs to anti-U.S. insurgents.
By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) -- U.S. raids that President Bush approved against Iranian targets in Iraq are part of broad efforts to confront Tehran's aggression, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.
"The United States is simply responding to Iranian activities that have been going on for a while now that threaten not just to destabilize the chance for Iraq to proceed to stability but also that endanger our forces," Rice said before meeting with Israel's foreign minister.
Bush approved the strategy several months ago, U.S. officials said, in response to what Washington claims is Iran's support for terrorists inside Iraq and the alleged funneling of bombs to anti-U.S. insurgents.
CONDI:
We think they are providing help to the militias as well, and maybe even the more violent element of these militias.
THUMP:
Oh! Lordy be `n Jesus, George!
You girl bout to give de green-light,
she be rumblin' de drums o’ hell,
signal to commence, ain’ dat right?
I know it been a time since I jawed at ya,
but fo' God’s sake you’s havin’ a damn stroke!
Thay’s times t’ rattle ‘n roar, but dis ain’ it.
Ain’ you learn nuttin’ since las’ we spoke?
Der ain’ no way de world gonna sit `roun
while you play Cowboys `n Iranians!
Ya best reel in de Rice-a-Roni train
an' lower dem big ol’ kingdom guns.
Las’ time I checked you's “stayin’ de course”,
but mid-terms plunked a hurt down on ya noggin!
What I’s sayin’ is dat ya best modify ya startegizin’
‘cuz de big ol’ worl’ gonna come o’ knock-knockin’!
I wouldn’ mind so much if it was jus’ you be burnt,
but deys a hell of a lotta folk gonna get broken!
Dey’s me... an' de sleepy folk o’ de land o’ de free,
an' de smilin’ chil'ren o’ de world’s gazin’ grim.
Ya know, you could be de new all American hero.
You could nip it in de bud! Be de new Gandhi!
De innovator... or, de world’s unloved archenemy
stayin’ on de folly-trolley till de wheels come free!
You could be Superman! De one all de kids wanna hug
`n have ya read `em dey little-worded books,
or… you can be de ol’ trepidational kingdom comer
an' puncture dey slim, frail shell wit' sinful hubris…
Remember, George...
De cube-skied dreamer's waitin' on ya.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
THUMP:
Oh! Lordy be `n Jesus, George!
You girl bout to give de green-light,
she be rumblin' de drums o’ hell,
signal to commence, ain’ dat right?
I know it been a time since I jawed at ya,
but fo' God’s sake you’s havin’ a damn stroke!
Thay’s times t’ rattle ‘n roar, but dis ain’ it.
Ain’ you learn nuttin’ since las’ we spoke?
Der ain’ no way de world gonna sit `roun
while you play Cowboys `n Iranians!
Ya best reel in de Rice-a-Roni train
an' lower dem big ol’ kingdom guns.
Las’ time I checked you's “stayin’ de course”,
but mid-terms plunked a hurt down on ya noggin!
What I’s sayin’ is dat ya best modify ya startegizin’
‘cuz de big ol’ worl’ gonna come o’ knock-knockin’!
I wouldn’ mind so much if it was jus’ you be burnt,
but deys a hell of a lotta folk gonna get broken!
Dey’s me... an' de sleepy folk o’ de land o’ de free,
an' de smilin’ chil'ren o’ de world’s gazin’ grim.
Ya know, you could be de new all American hero.
You could nip it in de bud! Be de new Gandhi!
De innovator... or, de world’s unloved archenemy
stayin’ on de folly-trolley till de wheels come free!
You could be Superman! De one all de kids wanna hug
`n have ya read `em dey little-worded books,
or… you can be de ol’ trepidational kingdom comer
an' puncture dey slim, frail shell wit' sinful hubris…
Remember, George...
De cube-skied dreamer's waitin' on ya.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
From “catastrophic success” to “successful catastrophe”: Bush and Iran
See all of Thump Thump's Monologues
Previous Post - MARK MY WORDS
MARK MY WORDS
We, the masses, to your speech of deceit and surging,
Do add this depressing defeat, your defeat, our shame.
We, to your god awful folly, pack up our freedoms end
And after this clang, the unfurling of our disenchantment
Of warring with terror and our terror with warring,
Find in your wanton flesh the venue for our resurrection.
"Twenty-thousand" rolls off your tongue as if it were nectar;
The sweet liquid of Greek god's and goddesses' everlasting,
Thus, above your rotting skull we’ve fired one over the bow
Landing two simple words of warning, “No more”,
And if you do not end your swaggering murderer's charade
Your hope shall rest only upon the swiftness of your escape.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
Slate in motion. Grading Bush's speech- video focus group rates the surge.
By Andy Bowers
Thursday, Jan. 11, 2007, at 7:48 PM ET
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart analyzes the speech.
OPEN LETTER DAY!
Dear George,
Your Baghdad surge is a stroke of military genius. It will surely be the ejaculant of victory. The English poet John Donne foretold you when he wrote, “...therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Believe me, George, the bells will reverberate your name through out the eons, such is your infamy.
Greatness never errs, and you confirm your greatness every time you peer into the yawning jaws of defeat and see only victory. You inspire us with your grit, the grit that irritates and blurs your vision, allowing you to see what no other man can see.
Lead on; lead on! We who are the coalition of the stoned are sprawled in our gutters, cheering you on with our whiskey voices as tears pool in our red-rimmed eyes.
Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones
Your Baghdad surge is a stroke of military genius. It will surely be the ejaculant of victory. The English poet John Donne foretold you when he wrote, “...therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Believe me, George, the bells will reverberate your name through out the eons, such is your infamy.
Greatness never errs, and you confirm your greatness every time you peer into the yawning jaws of defeat and see only victory. You inspire us with your grit, the grit that irritates and blurs your vision, allowing you to see what no other man can see.
Lead on; lead on! We who are the coalition of the stoned are sprawled in our gutters, cheering you on with our whiskey voices as tears pool in our red-rimmed eyes.
Your admirer,
Belacqua Jones
COMMIT THEM
Rice and Gates Make Case for More Troops in Iraq
by Guy Raz
All Things Considered, January 11, 2007 • President Bush's secretaries of State and Defense spent their days defending his new plan in Iraq, first at a White House news conference and then on Capitol Hill. Secretaries Rice and Gates found only minimal support for a greater troop commitment in Congress. (More...)
The mouth of the desert stretches for miles
With mountains for teeth; men have their days taken
Under the searing sky’s furnace while others
Come seeking their death’s scent at night
Scouring the archfiend waste and carrying greetings
That blindly quake end to end with pale-hatred.
Commit them anon, rush them forward
And we’ll only suffer the graveness of more death,
More tumbledown hope under the searing sky.
Do not provoke this flesh-charred failure
Into our dear children’s breath, our ache-filled bones,
Like the noiseless chatter of death without end.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
by Guy Raz
All Things Considered, January 11, 2007 • President Bush's secretaries of State and Defense spent their days defending his new plan in Iraq, first at a White House news conference and then on Capitol Hill. Secretaries Rice and Gates found only minimal support for a greater troop commitment in Congress. (More...)
The mouth of the desert stretches for miles
With mountains for teeth; men have their days taken
Under the searing sky’s furnace while others
Come seeking their death’s scent at night
Scouring the archfiend waste and carrying greetings
That blindly quake end to end with pale-hatred.
Commit them anon, rush them forward
And we’ll only suffer the graveness of more death,
More tumbledown hope under the searing sky.
Do not provoke this flesh-charred failure
Into our dear children’s breath, our ache-filled bones,
Like the noiseless chatter of death without end.
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
THUNDEROUS FORTUNES
O spindling reason, close thy soiled and gruesome jaw’s
Surging rationale like a thimble of water to thirst;
We’ve no blood left to drip our cheerless dreams!
Surging rationale like a thimble of water to thirst;
We’ve no blood left to drip our cheerless dreams!
Dreadful is our cresting obsession with greed,
Horrible is our pale service to the lords of death
And monstrous our empire’s approaching fury!
Horrible is our pale service to the lords of death
And monstrous our empire’s approaching fury!
The waters flow with the slake of our wickedness
And these vile works speed the thunderous fortunes
Of the sacred beasts come to change what we would not...
And these vile works speed the thunderous fortunes
Of the sacred beasts come to change what we would not...
O why can’t we see that our indifference to rigid awe
Has the world’s doorways strangled with skeletons
And unearthed the creatures quivering wings?
Has the world’s doorways strangled with skeletons
And unearthed the creatures quivering wings?
Like a mother in the shadow of night we can, if we choose,
Erect a grand temple from out of our bosomed courage
And quell this; our trembling loam of mounting death!
Erect a grand temple from out of our bosomed courage
And quell this; our trembling loam of mounting death!
Bring forth your kinship with the frayed cloth of man
And rise up in great hordes to defeat the thugs of mayhem
And spring eternal the gates to the shrine of hope…
And rise up in great hordes to defeat the thugs of mayhem
And spring eternal the gates to the shrine of hope…
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
Al-Maliki plans Baghdad crackdown
The Iraqi government plans to bring in reinforcements to take part in a major security plan for Baghdad but a US general has said the key to success would be a balanced approach rather than sheer force.
Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, announced the plan on Saturday, vowing to crush armed groups "regardless of sect or politics".
His plans suggested that he may be ready to tackle forces loyal to his fellow Shia, as demanded by Washington and the Sunni population.
Al-Maliki's proposed plan was not welcomed by the head of the largest Sunni group in Iraq, saying, the proposal will lead to civil war if implemented.
Nine killed in Iraq violence
Continued violence in Iraq has claimed at least nine more lives, including that of two US soldiers. Among those killed were three Sunni Muslim shopkeepers in a mixed neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital, the police said. The shopkeepers died on being fired from two cars in Baghdad's southwestern Baya district.
Iraqi TV: 30 dead in Baghdad battle
Bleak Darfur Assessment
Kidnapped Iraqis found murdered
Salvadorian Prison Riot Claims 21
5 More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq
The Iraqi government plans to bring in reinforcements to take part in a major security plan for Baghdad but a US general has said the key to success would be a balanced approach rather than sheer force.
Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, announced the plan on Saturday, vowing to crush armed groups "regardless of sect or politics".
His plans suggested that he may be ready to tackle forces loyal to his fellow Shia, as demanded by Washington and the Sunni population.
Al-Maliki's proposed plan was not welcomed by the head of the largest Sunni group in Iraq, saying, the proposal will lead to civil war if implemented.
Nine killed in Iraq violence
Continued violence in Iraq has claimed at least nine more lives, including that of two US soldiers. Among those killed were three Sunni Muslim shopkeepers in a mixed neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital, the police said. The shopkeepers died on being fired from two cars in Baghdad's southwestern Baya district.
Iraqi TV: 30 dead in Baghdad battle
Bleak Darfur Assessment
Kidnapped Iraqis found murdered
Salvadorian Prison Riot Claims 21
5 More U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap (4:13) (CAUTION strong images.)
All this quiet far-reaching through the galaxy
above us on the edge of heaven,
over the noise of counting
over the noise of counting
the night’s soft curves,
legs, arms and hands.
You come to me and hold my hand
You come to me and hold my hand
and we walk along the river’s edge.
You speak to me of the world’s formation
You speak to me of the world’s formation
and explosion and radiance
over the noise of counting
over the noise of counting
the night’s soft curves,
legs, arms and hands.
You look to me for answers to a riddle;
“What the hell is going on here;
You look to me for answers to a riddle;
“What the hell is going on here;
all this quiet far-reaching through the galaxy
above you on the edge of heaven
over the noise of counting
the night’s soft curves,
legs, arms and hands?”
I look at her uncomfortably,
“I do not know... I do not know who you are.”
She stops walking and lets go my hand.
I look at her uncomfortably,
“I do not know... I do not know who you are.”
She stops walking and lets go my hand.
I can hear her quietly weeping.
“Is this a dream?” I ask.
“Is this a dream?” I ask.
"All this quiet far-reaching through the galaxy
above us on the edge of heaven?”
“No.”, she whispers.
“No.”, she whispers.
"I am the daughter of God
and you are mortal man.”
She faces me now,
She faces me now,
naked and crying.
Her hand tenderly touches my cheek.
“We haven’t much time.
“We haven’t much time.
I have something I must reveal to you tonight
over the noise of counting
the night’s soft curves,
legs, arms and hands.”
Lifting her divine head she gazes at the stars.
Lifting her divine head she gazes at the stars.
It is then, in her eyes reflection,
That she reveals unto me a distant,
That she reveals unto me a distant,
immeasurable and magnificent world.
“What world have you shown me?
“What world have you shown me?
Is it beyond our reach?
Is it heaven?”
“No.” She says.
“Then where is this marvelous and peaceful world?”
She has vanished.
“No!
“No.” She says.
“Then where is this marvelous and peaceful world?”
She has vanished.
“No!
Where is this world you’ve revealed to me?
Please! I must know!
What the hell's going on?
Where's all this quiet far-reaching
through the galaxy above us on the edge of heaven
over the noise of counting
the night’s soft curves,
legs, arms and hands?”
Silence.
"You are there" echoes a voice from the dark.
I begin to weep.
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Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins dies at 62
Best-selling author, sharp-witted Texas liberal succumbs to breast cancer
AUSTIN, Texas - Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as “Shrub,” died Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 62.
David Pasztor, managing editor of the Texas Observer, confirmed her death.
The writer, who made a living poking fun at Texas politicians, whether they were in her home base of Austin or the White House, revealed in early 2006 that she was being treated for breast cancer for the third time.
Bubba, we -- yes, we --have to stop the war now
By Molly Ivins
Creators Syndicate
The president of the United States does not have the sense that God gave a duck -- so it's up to us. You and me, Bubba.
I don't know why George W. Bush is just standing there like a frozen rabbit, but it's time we found out. The fact is that WE have to do something about it. This country is being torn apart by an evil and unnecessary war, and it has to be stopped. NOW.
This war is being prosecuted in our names, with our money, with our blood, against our will. Polls consistently show that less than 30 percent of the people want to maintain current troop levels. It is obscene and wrong for the president to go against the people in this fashion. And it's doubly wrong for him to increase U.S. troop levels in this hellhole by up to 20,000, as he reportedly will soon announce.
What happened to the nation that never tortured? The nation that wasn't supposed to start wars of choice? The nation that respected human rights and life? A nation that from the beginning was against tyranny?
Where have we gone? How did we let these people take us there? How did we let them fool us?
It's monstrous to put people in prison and keep them there. Since 1215, civil authorities have been obligated to tell people the charges against them if they're arrested. This administration has done away with rights enshrined in the Magna Carta, and we've let them do it.
This will be a regular feature of mine, like an old-fashioned newspaper campaign. Every column, I'll write about this war until we find some way to end it. Every column, we will review some factor we should have gotten right.
So let's take a step back and note that before the war, one of its architects, Paul Wolfowitz, testified to Congress that Iraq had no history of ethnic strife.
Sectarian and ethnic strife is a part of the region. And the region is full of examples of Western colonial powers trying to occupy countries, take their resources and take over the administration of their people -- and failing. The sectarian bloodbath we see daily completely refutes Wolfowitz.
And let's keep in mind that when the Army arrived in Baghdad, we, the television viewers, watched footage of a bunch of enraged and joyous Iraqis pulling down the statue of Saddam Hussein, their repulsive dictator, in Firdos Square. Only one thing was wrong: The event was staged, instigated by a Marine colonel and a psychological operations unit that made it appear spontaneous.
When we later saw the whole square where the statue was located, only 30 to 40 people were there (U.S. soldiers, press and some Iraqis -- and one of several U.S. tanks present pulled the statue down with a cable). We, the television viewers, saw the square being presented as though the people of Iraq had gone into a frenzy, mobbed the square and spontaneously pulled down the statue.
We need to cut through all this smoke and mirrors and come up with an exit strategy, forthwith.
The Democrats have yet to offer a cohesive plan to get us out of this mess. Of course, it's not their fault -- but the fact is that we need leaders who are grown-ups and who are willing to try to fix it. Bush has ignored the actual grown-ups from the Iraq Study Group and the generals and all other experts who are nearly unanimous in the opinion that more troops will not help.
It's up to you and me, Bubba.
We need to make sure that the new Congress curbs executive power, which has been so misused, and asserts its own power to make this situation change.
Now.
More of Molly's Words
TEXAS TUMBLEWORDS
She emerges now a vision, wrapped in a silky gown.
Like a spirit unearthed she has come to watch over us,
Over our grief as she has so many times before
Penning her wit on the road to the gates of freedom.
(Death, that wayward certainty she had flouted twice
Was befuddled of her resilient and spectacular life.)
Her light is shining now through her Texas tumblewords
And her championed struggle taming powers exactness
Casing bronze and marble statues in rosepink mist
(With a touch of thorn to keep the frauds in line.)
She’s waiting now as her spirit brushes by our senses
Written upon our present graveness.
She again shall speak. Of our hearts she will rally
The breath of her life in merely this;
“Raise some hell and give shrub an exit strategy!”
R.I.P. Molly Ivins
August 30, 1944 – January 31, 2007
Copyright © 2007 mrp / thepoetryman
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