Middle East Expert, Juan Cole to Speak at Davidson Tonight

The Iraq Crisis as America's Crisis
When: October 08, 2007 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Where: C. Shaw Smith 900 Room, Alvarez College Union
Speaker: Juan Cole
Ticket Required: No

Dr. Juan Cole, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at University of Michigan and author of the Informed Comment blog will give a lecture on the situation in Iraq and its spill over effects in the U.S.

Juan R. I. Cole is Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History at the University of Michigan. He has written extensively about Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and South Asia. He has given numerous media and press interviews on the War on Terrorism since September 11, 2001, as well as concerning the Iraq War and the building conflict with Iran from 2003. He has a regular column at Salon.com. He continues to study and write about contemporary Islamic movements, whether mainstream or radical, whether Sunni and Salafi or Shi`ite.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Hillary, Lieberman & Bush: Their Push for War with Iran is Tipping Point

Strange bedfellows

John Edwards said it best. He and Hillary learned entirely different lessons from the Iraq War. And now that Hillary has joined Lieberman, Bush and the PNAC neo-cons to take those first steps toward war with Iran...her departure from real Americans is complete. And Obama's failure to even vote may well serve as a tipping point for him too.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-durang/beware-kyllieberman-pro_b_65797.html

FROM THE DEBATE:

RUSSERT: Senator, are you suggesting that these candidates
suspend their campaigns, go back to Washington, and for 40 consecutive
days vote on the war?

GRAVEL: If it stops the killing, my God, yes, do it.

And, Tim, you're really missing something. This is fantasy land.
We are talking about ending the war. My God, we're just starting a
war right today. There was a vote in the Senate today. Joe
Lieberman, who authored the Iraq resolution, has offered another
resolution and it is essentially a fig leaf to let George Bush go to
war with Iran.

I want to congratulate Biden for voting against it, Dodd for
voting against it.

And I am ashamed of you, Hillary, for voting for it. You're not
going to get another shot at this because what happens if this war
ensues, we invade, and they're looking for an excuse to do it. And
Obama was not even there to vote.

RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, I want to give you a chance to
respond.

(NERVOUS LAUGHTER)

CLINTON: I don't know where to start.

RUSSERT: Please take 30 seconds.

(NERVOUS LAUGHTER)

CLINTON: Yes. Let me respond.

My understanding of the Revolutionary Guard in Iran is that it is
promoting terrorism. It is manufacturing weapons that are used
against our troops in Iraq. It is certainly the main agent of support
for Hezbollah, Hamas and others.

And in what we voted for today, we will have an opportunity to
designate it as a terrorist organization which gives us the options to
be able to impose sanctions on the primary leaders to try to begin to
put some teeth into all this talk about dealing with Iran.

We wouldn't be where we are today if the Bush administration
hadn't outsourced our diplomacy with respect to Iran and ignored Iran
and called it part of the axis of evil. Now we've got to make up for
lost time and lost ground...

EDWARDS: But I want to come back to a discussion that took place a few
minutes ago to make everyone understands what Senator Gravel is
talking and Senator Clinton was talking about. Because there was a
very important vote cast in the United States Senate today. And it
was, basically, in a resolution calling the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard a terrorist organization.

I voted for this war in Iraq, and I was wrong to vote for this
war. And I accept responsibility for that. Senator Clinton also
voted for this war.

We learned a very different lesson from that. I have
no intention of giving George Bush the authority to take the first
step on a road to war with Iran.

And I think that vote today, which Senator Biden and Senator Dodd
voted against, and they were correct to vote against it, is a clear
indication of the approach that all of us would take with the
situation in Iran because what I learned in my vote on Iraq was you
cannot give this president the authority and you can't even give him
the first step in that authority because he cannot be trusted. And
that resolution that was voted on today was a very clear indication...

Democratic Response to the one-trick-pony president by John Edwards

Mister Bush once again proved that there is no evolution, or, if there is, he is not privy to it, by, once again, uttering that most stupid of non-words, "nucular". these people just will not learn, and the sad thing is that their cheerleaders don't even care.

Anyway, he yabbed his typical puppetry tonight about Iraq. Bla bla bla. Hand the problem over to the Democrats (eight years to freaking late!) and let them fix it. Heck, we're stupid!

Anyway, John Edwards responded...

Luciano More: The Death of Pavarotti

I'm sad to hear that a great man has died today. Luciano Pavarotti, the most famous tenor in the world, and one of the greatest of humanitarians. Before there was Andrea Bocelli, there was Luciano the Light.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:
Pavarotti annually hosted the "Pavarotti and Friends" charity concerts in his home town of Modena in Italy, joining with singers from all parts of the music industry to raise money for several worthy UN causes. Concerts were held for War Child, and victims of war and civil unrest in Bosnia, Guatemala, Kosovo and Iraq. After the war in Bosnia, he financed and established the Pavarotti Music Center in the southern city of Mostar to offer Bosnia's artists the opportunity to develop their skills. For these contributions, the city of Sarajevo named him an honorary citizen in 2006.[14]
He performed at benefit concerts to raise money for victims of tragedies such as an earthquake in December 1988 that killed 25,000 people in northern Armenia.[15]
He was a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales. They raised money for the elimination of land mines worldwide. He was invited to sing at her funeral service, but declined, as he felt he could not sing well "with his grief in his throat".
In 1998, he was appointed the United Nation's Messenger of Peace, using his fame to raise awareness of UN issues, including the Millennium Development Goals, HIV/AIDS, child rights, urban slums and poverty.[16]
In 2001, Pavarotti received the Nansen Medal from the UN High Commission for Refugees for his efforts raising money on behalf of refugees worldwide. Through benefit concerts and volunteer work, he has raised more than US$1.5 million, more than any other individual.[17]

His 1982 Movie, "Yes, Georgio" happened to be the first movie I got to be in (I wind up as an extra in this, Black Rainbow, Toy Soldiers, and I think one more -- lotsa fun, you oughtta try it!) Anyway, in "Yes, Georgio", my role was to be an audience member at one of Georgio's concerts, which happened to occur at Boston's Hatch Shell -- named after Orrin and Richard Hatch, the Nudist Survivor. I suspect that if you get an electron microscope, you might be able to spot me in the crowd. I was near Fiedler's Head, although I'm not sure it was even there at the time. If it WAS there, it too was enjoying the music and festive jocularity. That is, if Arthur's spirit had any say in the matter, which, according to Science, it does.

May Luciano's spirit soar higher than the music he has brought to our thirsty earth, and may he rest among kindred spirits.

Iraq 3000 or Nonny Does YouTube

Neocons cut and run...from the President and his legacy of incompetence.

Ask Perle, Adelman or Frum what they think of the competence of the Bush White House, and you will no longer get happy talk. They failed, and thus the Neocons also failed. Now they have cut and run from both Iraq, and the man who put us there.

Chicken George : "Cut and Run in 12 to 18 Months"

Chicken George is too much of a coward to stay the course in Iraq, allowing our killing machines to stay in Iraq forever, and now he admits he will cut and run in 12 to 18 months.

Why is George hiding? II

Well I guess my intuition was not on high alert for nought. Mr Fear hath raised his ugly head again, but remember...there is nothing to fear but Mr. Fear himself. And he can't be everywhere at once. As you will recall, fear causes people to do irrational and stupid, even evil, things. Screw fear.

UPDATE
After 9/11, a lot of people said there was a "failure of imagination". Okay then...let's use our imagination...

Yesterday, Tony Snow says: "A Vote For Lamont Is A Vote For Another 9/11"...and then what happens today? Oh shit! Big terror plot foiled. Red Alert! Red Alert! "We are at war"...
In other words...don't go anti-war on us!

But the timing? Right after the right-winger gets the boot? Of course. This is BushWorld. It is how terrorist governments operate. Oops! Did I apply too much imagination? Well, the administration told us, in so many words, that we need to use it more.

I know that Tony Snow realizes that he is lying. You can hear it in his voice. Maybe he wishes he could have worked for Clinton, who didn't try to scare Americans, but rather tried to lift us up...and did. Peace. Great economy. Internet. As opposed to what? War. Stagflation. Self-terrorism.

But back to the timing...
England knew about these operations (they say) for months. Why act now? Was it in order for Tony Snow to recall 9/11? It has happened before.

Juan Cole says that Bush has to do his war on Syria and Iran before this November, since the Democrats are not likely to fund such nonsense when the power changes hands.

I guess the point is...don't get fooled again.

UPDATE 2

U.K. Terror Plot Foiled Just a Day after Lieberman's
Defeat. Coincidence?
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

The pattern continues. A terrorist plot is uncovered just as the masses start to question national security strategy. The day after Senate Democrats brought a vote to pull out of Iraq, we catch a few idiots in Miami who were supposedly trying to blow up the Sears Tower, despite the fact that they lacked the means and ability to do so. Then there were the guys busted for supposedly plotting to blow up a New York subway exactly a year after the London bus bombings. And don't forget the release of new Osama bin Laden tapes just before the 2004 election as well as the very day after the Supreme Court decision striking down the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals. And now today, a few men in England were arrested for a plan to blow up planes flying to America, just a day after Connecticut voters flatly rejected Joe Lieberman and the war in Iraq.

We certainly can't deny that there may have indeed been plans
to commit these acts. But the timings of the arrest announcements are awfully
suspicious. All three were still in the works and had been monitored for several
months by very capable intelligence agencies. While the exact nature of today's
arrests is still unclear, none of the plans seemed to have been immediate or
imminent threats. The decision of when to intervene has been arbitrary, making
the coincidental timings pretty convenient. (And the question of whether some of
them are "real threats," such as the Liberty City "Insane Clown Posse" remain to
be seen.)

Imagine a conversation late Tuesday night between Bush and his
British Prime Minister lapdog, just as Ned Lamont declares victory. "Yo, Blair,"
Bush says while scarfing down a dinner role. "I gotta to do something about this
sh*t. Can you finally arrest those suspected terrorists you told me about? This
election business is ruining my vacation! I know you're chillin' in the
Caribbean yourself right now, but it sure would be great if you could make a few
calls for me ASAP."

Don't buy it? Consider this quote from a Reuters article on the story: "President George W. Bush had known about the investigation for several days, was briefed about it regularly and knew the arrests were coming, a senior administration official said." Both countries are surely monitoring several terrorist leads that could lead to arrests at any time. The British group would have been stopped
eventually, but there has been absolutely no indication why it had to be
today.

READ MORE, AND COMMENT

MADE IN THE WAR ZONE - the weirdest CD ever!

NOW AVAILABLE ON EBAY FOR $9.00
(larger view)

Soundtrack for the soon-to-be-released film:
POWWOWIRAQSI:
Music in the Age of George the Unready

"MADE IN THE WAR ZONE"

This new CD from composer anonyMoses Dave Beckwith may well be, as some have said, "the weirdest CD ever!" Not sure. Haven't checked them all. But it is sufficiently weird, and spans a vast range of styles...from classical to industrial to rock to progressive to opera and more.

This is a one-of-a-kind CD that pays tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives for the war and current occupation of Iraq.

The CD opens with a piquant prayer (Prayer 1), then is followed by an astonishing piano rendition of the tragedy of 9/11...which happened to be witnessed by the composer. The piece, called "Prelude to September 11" starts out depicting the evening and wee hours of 9/10. As the night wears on, there are glimmerings of Gershwin and the decadence that was all to change in a few horrible hours. Then, as morning arrives, the piano takes on a determined relentlessness that ends in a fiery, explosive conclusion.

After a few moments of silence, comes the banging of the drums of war. "Banging the Drums", a powerful song with the first hints of war, signals the reorientation of America toward revenge, retaliation and war.

"Ululations and Warnings" represents the cries, ululations and warnings that also rally the warring parties.

This is followed by "Iraqalypse", a musical rendition of the march on Baghdad. Bombs and gunshots are heard in the distance...and foreground. And this is followed by "Drums of War" also known as "Mission Accomplished". It is a bombastic piece with orchestra, tympani and other percussives.

"First battle" is the first battle after the mission was accomplished, and the war became an occupation. The composer makes use of the "rock" format to convey the drive and almost rote mechanicality of this first taste of battle. But things get out of hand, and before long things are "Out of Control". Better buckle your seatbelts for this one!

As the storm passes, we hear the chanting of "Jihad". As a student of Indo-European languages, the composer was able to contruct an original language to convey some of the emotional aspects of the Iraqalypse. It is songs like this which have given rise to the notion that the composer and singer is "the male Lisa Gerrard". (I guess someone had to be!) Very strange! Play it sped up and you will laugh your arse off!

"O God!" represents the inner life of the soldiers. Thoughts of home, loved ones, girls...intermingle with the sound of guns and bombs and fear.

"Weenie" is a bit of comic relief featuring a guest singer who wishes to remain anonymous.

"Take THIS out" is the first rap/hiphop song and has some great rhythms and syncopations. A great dance tune!

"Nightmare 9" is the "Revolution #9" of the CD, and represents the dreamlife of the soldiers. Very very strange indeed!

This is followed by "Heaven", "a symphonic soothing". Music is indeed the great healer.

"Desert Nights" or "Desert Knights" is a representation of a battle that shatters the dreams and the peace, fought under the blanket of night.

"Angels in the Machinery". After a brief respite, the battles continue on...

"Admonition": The drowned-out voices of admonition.

"Tolling of the Bells" is a funereal lamentation and tolling of the bells for all those who have fallen. Beginning with piano, it tranforms into harp, strings, choir then the tolling bells.

The CD ends with a reprise of the prayer.

BUY IT NOW!

Dick Cheney: The Dark Side : FRONTLINE tonight!

On September 11, 2001, deep inside a White House bunker, Vice President Dick Cheney was ordering U.S. fighter planes to shoot down any commercial airliner still in the air above America. At that moment, CIA Director George Tenet was meeting with his counter-terrorism team in Langley, Virginia. Both leaders acted fast, to prepare their country for a new kind of war. But soon a debate would grow over the goals of the war on terror, and the decision to go to war in Iraq. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others saw Iraq as an important part of a broader plan to remake the Middle East and project American power worldwide. Meanwhile Tenet, facing division in his own organization, saw non-state actors such as Al Qaeda as the highest priority. FRONTLINE's investigation of the ensuing conflict includes more than forty interviews, thousands of pages of documentary evidence, and a substantial photographic archive. It is the third documentary about the war on terror from the team that produced Rumsfeld's War and The Torture Question.

Don't bring our killing machines home

Maybe the Republicans are on to something...
Maybe we SHOULD leave our killing machines...over there!
The homeland is violent enough, and growing more violent.
Do we need more killing machines?

Make them stay in Iraq. Forever!
Hell, they volunteered!
Send ALL warmongers there too.
Maybe then America will witness peace.

Don't bring our killing machines home.
We have enough already.

Now you claim I am using reverse psychology?
Does it make you uncomfortable
to hit you from the Right?
When you are the one who really wants them gone...

Bring our children home.
We have broken them enough already.
And they grow tired of being pawns.

New Law requires that ALL war supporters go to Iraq

WASHINGTON -- In order to better understand America's real attitudes toward the war, Congress passed a law which requires all supporters of war in Iraq or Iran to have at least one tour of duty in Iraq. Sensing that there may have been an erosion of what has been termed "respect for life", the ever-enlightened Congress is hoping that people will think long and hard before casting their yea vote on outcomes that require a diminution of said "respect for life".

"We think that we will get a truer idea of how people are thinking in the heartland, and feeling in the headland. ", Senator Hyperlincoln informs us.

In related news, 95% of Newsmax polltakers think we should bomb Iran.

Line up! March!

CIA Official Reveals Bush, Cheney, Rice Were Personally Told Iraq Had No WMD in Fall 2002

Think Progress ? 60 Minutes

BRADLEY: So, in the fall of 2002, before going to war, we had it on good authority from a source within Saddam’s inner circle that he didn’t have an active program for weapons of mass destruction?

DRUMHELLER: Yes.

BRADLEY: There’s no doubt in your mind about that?

DRUMHELLER: No doubt in my mind at all.

BRADLEY: It directly contradicts, though, what the President and his staff were telling us.

DRUMHELLER: The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming, and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy, to justify the policy.

Anonymoses TV : Week of March 20, 2006

Juggle with the Beatles

CLICK ON LINKS BELOW FOR MORE AMAZING TV.

BLOGGING
What is a blog? - Robert Scoble
What is a blog? - David Sifry
What is a blog? - Chris Pirillo - Money with blogs
What is a blog? - Howard Rheingold
Dutch Bloggies 2006

POLITICS
Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the American People
PNAC and the NEOCONs: wanted a new Pearl Harbor
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The Iraq War
George Lakoff on Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think
"Stick It" from Boston Legal (James Spader)
The Boat and the Bomb : 20th Anniversary of the Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
Iraq War - Chomsky
Election 2004: Republican Terror Manipulations, How They Work and Why
Al Franken, The Truth (with Jokes)
Being Opinionated in America: Maureen Dowd & Thomas Friedman
George Soros - The Bubble of American Supremacy
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: 20th Annual Evening for Peace - Jonathan Schell and Harry Belafonte
Journalists Under Fire: Vietnam & Iraq
Iraq War - Staff Sergeant Jimmy Massey - Killing Civillians in Iraq
The Illuminati Families who Rule the World
Charlie Rose - Gore Vidal / Pierre Salinger
Frank Zappa on CNN's Crossfire (1986)
Clip from Manufacturing Consent
John and Yoko's Year of Peace
Cornel West - Democracy Matters
The Secret Government - Bill Moyers
John Edwards campaign speech
Speech by Al Gore on January 16th on Domestic Spying
A Conversation with William J. Clinton

HUMOR
Problems of Right-wing activists
Ed Thompson's Trumpet Duet
Long John Johnson, all the livelong day - Cat talking
Choco Party - Japanese Commercial
The Fartlighter
Chris Bliss - live comedy performance
Chris Bliss - television appearances
Monty Pythons the Knights and the Holy Grail
Farting Preacher
Titanic reenacted in 50 seconds

SPIRITUALITY
God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It
His Holiness - The XIV Dalai Lama
Krishnamurti with Trungpa Rimpoche
Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark - Laurence Gardner
RUMI: POET OF THE HEART

FILM
Ritual In Transfigured Time - Maya Deren
Le voyage dans la lune - Melies
les francais au travail - Lumiere
Metropolis [1927] - Fritz Lang
un chien andalou - Luis Bunuel & Salvadore Dali
Man Ray Avant Garde Collection - Surrealist masterpieces
L'AGE D'OR [1930] - Luis Bunuel
Zero De Conduite 1933 - Jean Vigo
Battleship Potemkin - Eisenstein
Rhythm 21 - Hans Richter
Ballet mecanique - Fernand Leger
Nosferatu [1922]
His Girl Friday
My Man Godfrey $$

MUSIC
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Josh Groban
I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles
The Beatles - I'm Down - Live at Shea Stadium 1965
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds Music Video by The Beatles
John Coltrane - Naima Live 1965
John Coltrane - Live 1963
SummerFest 2004: Chick Corea: Rehearsal
The Kinks "Well Respected Man" on Beat Beat Beat!
Ten Years After - I'm going home (live woodstock)
Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead Tribute
Dave Clark Five - "Catch Us If You Can"
dead can dance - milan 2005
Jon Anderson - tour of the universe tour
Enya Tribute to WTC 9/11
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds "Nature Boy" Music Video

CULTURE
Tim Leary before leaving us
Robert Anton Wilson, Part One
Robert Anton Wilson, Part Two
County Sligo, Ireland
Gurdjieff inParis (1949)
Gurdjieff & Friends tour France (1949)
Concert of Sacred Music by Gurdjieff
NASA - Hubble view of the universe
Life Beyond Earth and the Mind of Man 1975 - Ashley Montagu
African American Lives - Henry Louis Gates III
Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are"
ArtsPass: John Singer Sargent 1856-1925
UNC vs Duke - Matt jumping over Bonfires
Andy Griffith Show: Andy Discovers America
The Biltmore Estate - Asheville, North Carolina

Rummy Reminisces about Nazi Germany

Secretaries will talk!

Unlike George Clooney's Huffington blog, these are the secretary's actual words:

Some have described the situation in Iraq as a tightening noose, noting that "time is not on our side" and that "morale is down." Others have described a "very dangerous" turn of events and are "extremely concerned."

Who are they that have expressed these concerns? In fact, these are the exact words of terrorists discussing Iraq -- Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his associates -- who are describing their own situation and must be watching with fear the progress that Iraq has made over the past three years.

In other words, regarding the American POV:
1. Time IS on our side.
2. Morale is UP
3. There has been a VERY SAFE turn of events.
4. No need for concern.

In other words...there is still a buck to be made on this farce.
His other streams of income, i.e., the Bird Flu Scare, lobbyist for private water, and hair wax showman are rolling right along.

Good thing we sold Government to Business. Easier to drown it in the bathtub of outrageous debt.

Bush Simply Can't Keep Pace!

Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show", one of the two or three places, including the Colbert Report and Boston Legal, where the truth actually leaks out, runs headlong into George W. Bush, and his attempts to hoodwink Americans about Iran in the same way that he hoodwinked us about Iraq.

Check out this segment capturing vintage Bush at his lying best:

Bush: Some of the most powerful IED's that we are seeing in Iraq today-includes components that came from Iran.
Reporter: Do you have proof that they are indeed behind this, the Gov't of Iran?
Pace: I do not sir.

Video-WMP Video-QT

Notice Bush's famous Right Wing Right Wink. When he winks that right eye, you know he is signalling to the wingers that more good ol' Texas-style killin' is about to ensue. Just another reason Jesus hates George W. Bush.

(Hat tip: CrooksandLiars, Atrios)

Cleaning my plate

I've simply GOT to reduce the number of items gathering at the bottom of my browser...

LARGEST IRAQ AIR ASSAULT SINCE '03
Doctrine of Preemptive War Reaffirmed...
... Cites Iran Peril
Bush to reaffirm preemption as security strategy
The Six Degrees of Newspaper Blogging and Why the Guardian is Ahead
President Bush Must be Censured for Breaking the Law
A Peculiar Politician
Stuck in the no-idea zone
John Burns, Back from Baghdad: U.S. Effort In Iraq Will Likely Fail
Katrina with a Wrecking Ball?
The Coming Resource Wars

'If Bush attacks Iraq, America will burn'. Well, America IS burning.

Has terror once again hit our soil...in the form of fire?

In March, 2003, USA Today ran this article:
'If Bush attacks Iraq, America . . . will burn'

In March 2006, we are seeing articles such as:
Wildfires Leave Texas Panhandle a Wasteland
Wildfires Push Deeper Into Texas Panhandle
Texas Wildfires Veer Toward Oklahoma
Wildfires burning out of control in US state of Texas
Rash of wildfires hits state (Virginia)
Wildfires might claim 10,000 head of cattle
Multiple Wildfires Burning (OK)

Music in the Age of "George the Unready"

On December 10, 2004 I posted the following:

---

"Nightmare 9" from anonyMoses' POWWOWIRAQSI now available for free download

"Nightmare 9" is the soundtrack of a nightmare in Iraq. I hosted it at a different server, located HERE. The other songs are located here. "Nightmare 9" pays tribute to "Revolution 9" by the Beatles and "Plan 9 from Outer Space". Hope you enjoy it. Great for headphones and freakouts!

---

Little did I know that in 2006, Paul Krugman would write a column and call it "George the Unready". But he did. Here is Brad deLong's explanation of the title:

The reference is to the late tenth century English king who lost his kingdom to
the invading Danes, Ethelred the Unready--in Old English Aethelraed Unraed.
"Aethelraed" was his name, meaning "noble judgment." "Unraed" was attached to it
as a pun--"unraed" meaning not "unready" but "bad judgment." It's a pun.

I ran across Ethelred the Unready while studying genealogy. We are apparently related...although I identify more with his father, Edgar the Peaceable.

Iddybud alerted me to the Krugman column because she was getting a lot of hits, due to the fact that she had posted about my music, and mentioned the "George the Unready" part (which I had neglected to do).

Glad to see Paul Krugman and I are on the same wavelength...and that I was able to drive some traffic to Iddybud the Beyond Ready.

Iddy said:
The music inspired Patty Ann Smith to write this moving poem:

Can You Taste The Tears?

This is not the heartbeat of the Earth.
Can you hear the fear, can you taste the tears?
Can you smell the blood, can you touch the wounds?
This is the adrenalin rush of mankind at war with itself...
The death throws of a failed experiment.
Hope and despair living in the same body at the same time...
an impossible task that must be altered.
Otherwise, there will be merciful silence for the Earth in the end
and...no more children to build a future for.

~ Patty Ann Smith / Hope4America

The CD is still here, and available for $9.95, and there is a DVD in the works which will sell for 14.95. You can purchase either or both through the Paypal button located on your right.

IN THE BLOGOSPHERE

Samara and Samara and Samara

The lucky west gets their civil war.

Here's a post I did on Feb, 2004...

Sparks fly between Sunnites and Shiites

Insurgents Attempting to Ferment 'Civil War' in Iraq Sought Al Qaeda Help (washingtonpost.com)Terrorists spark fear of civil war in Iraq as 50 die in car bomb

See Gurdjieff quote on psychic hatred and organic hatred...

"These two schools of the Mohammedan religion are called there the "Sunnite" and the "Shiite".It is very interesting to note that the psychic hatred of each other formed in the psyche of the beings who belong to these two independent schools of one and the same religion has, on account of their frequent clashes, now been transformed completely into an organic hate.

Beings of certain European communities have during recent centuries greatly contributed to their incitement to the rise of this particular transformation on that strange being-function.

And they have employed and continue to employ this incitement in order that the animosity between the beings who follow these two independent schools of one and the same religion, should increase and that they should never unite, since if that were to happen, there might soon be an end there for those European communities.

...And hence it is that accidentally arisen "newly baked" communities always rub their hands and rejoice when sparks fly between these Sunnites and Shiites, because they then count on a long and secure existence for themselves."
-G. Gurdjieff, "Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson" circa 1950