Wednesday, April 09, 2003

ISN'T IT IRONIC? With apology to Lorenz Hart - lyricist I've never met you, yet never doubt, dear; I can't forget you, I've thought you out, dear. I know your profile and I know the way you kiss, just the things I miss on a night like this. If dreams are made of imagination I'm not afraid of my own creation. With all my heart, my heart is here for you to take. Why should I quake? I'm not awake.   Isn't it ironic? Music in the night, a dream that can be heard. Isn't it ironic?   Moving shadows write the oldest magic word. I hear the breezes playing in the trees above while all the world is saying you were meant for love. Isn't it ironic merely to be young on such a night as this? Isn't it ironic? Every note that's sung is like a lover's kiss. Sweet symbols in the moonlight, do you mean that I will fall in love per chance? Isn't it satire?   My face is glowing, I'm energetic. The art of sewing I found poetic. My needle punctuates the rhythm of irony. I don't give a stitch if I don't get rich. A custom tailor who has no custom is like a sailor, no one will trust 'em. But there is magic in the music of my shears. I shed no tears, lend me your ears.   Isn't it ironic? Soon I will have found some girl that I adore. Isn't it ironic? While I sit around my love can scrub the floor. She'll kiss me every hour or she'll get the sack and when I take a shower she can scrub my back. Isn't it ironic? On a moonlight night she'll cook me onion soup. Kiddies are ironic and if we don't fight we soon will have a troupe. We'll help the population, it's a duty that we owe to dear old France. Isn't it satire? 3:27:34 PM    Talk back! []

Another phrase… sadly not mine however. For some reason the phrase "Hoisted on his own Petard" has come unbidden into my consciousness.  I need to pursue why that is. Petard. This word, borrowed from the French, was derived from the French verb peter (pronounced "paytay") meaning "to break wind", and the noun pet has the secondary meaning, "the report of a gun". The first meaning can be readily divined. It obviously involves noise-making of dubious social desirability. In Medieval times, an excellent noise-maker was the petard. It was an explosive device used in siege warfare. It was shaped like a bucket, filled with gunpowder and closed with a stout wooden lid. During the night, soldiers who were called "petardiers" , would sneak the device against the gate of the besieged fortress, light the fuse and run. If the soldier was not fast enough in his getaway, he could be blown up by his own petard. In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", one may recall the well-known lines: "hoisted on his own petard". I also am anxious to check up on what the US Congress has been up to while we have been distracted by the events in Iraq. 2:52:50 PM    Talk back! []

I think that I may have come up with a nice one-liner. "The problem with politicians is that you have to be one to compete"  Can one copy write a turn of phrase?    2:39:39 PM    Talk back! []

I need to s l o w down   Part of my worry about Iraq has been the messages that are being transmitted to the world. I have a need to feel that our nation is regarded fairly for some reason. I don't mind another country having a difference of opinion and sharing it in order to persuade. I don't want us to appear arrogant. What I find hopeful in this article is that it appears that our administration knows that if you expect your critics to lower their defenses, you need to make a gesture. That is why I support a STRONG inclusion of the UN in Iraq. What I find slightly unsettling is that for the first time I think (I may have missed it) is the admission that a strong reason for an attack on Iraq was an Israeli type of message to the world. I have always admired the Israelis in lots of ways. They have lived surrounded by enemies who are out to 'push them into the sea'. I guess I have understood their position concerning pro-active involvement (It does not hurt to be one step ahead of your enemy). I supported that aspect of the 6 day war for example. And in a way, I have accepted the argument that they needed a bigger 'buffer' zone to protect their people. What it seems to me hurts them with people who really watch what is going on, is that when you displace the people who had no real choice in what the Arab leaders did you appear to be making a naked land grab. This I think, is what the settlements have represented to the Palestinians who, I believe, rightfully feel agrieved by this land confiscation. Anyway, if he is saying that we 'did the Iraq thing' to show those people, or countries, or terrorist groups out there that we can play by their rules vis a vis 'shock and awe' tactics, then did he let GW know that? You know, sometimes I get the distinct impression that Cheney, Wolfowitz, et al do not really have confidence in GW in being more than a Reagan type of 'talking head'. If that is the case could they get him some acting lessons? Most of those 'vocal critics' have directly charged that getting GW to run was a way to get Cheney in charge when they knew that he did not have a chance in hell in beating Gore himself.  Baby Bush is getting better when he talks to us. But he still looks too much like a deer caught in the headlights to instill any confidence in me.  Maybe they should just drop the pretense and let Dick sit in the big chair.  The strain of all this Iraq business seems to be having an affect on GW's health as he is looking kind of unthrifty to me. Cheney talks about plans for Iraq post war 2:00:10 PM    Talk back! []

What is bar none the best about radio to me is the ability to track back to the post or link that brings people to this little site. I learn much by studying that. 11:01:21 AM    Talk back! []

I keep forgetting to put in attribution to posts I take from my news aggregator.  Radio puts that at the bottom for some darned reason.  I got this from a site called Hate Central which is a tongue in cheek name... not the real place for Rush to find the person who is really behind all us pinko-commie types. Finally -- a Democratic candidate with the balls to stand up to ShrubCo... Yes, I know Howard Dean has been doing it all along, but he can't win next year. When John Kerry finally spoke up this week, it was a very big deal for a number of reasons. First off, Kerry is about the only Democrat with the money and clout to launch a serious run toward the White House -- unless you count Bradley, who I still long for, or Gephardt, who puts me to sleep at the mere mention of his name. Second, Republicans who call Kerry "unpatriotic" or "un-American" or "French" will look utterly stupid. None of the GOP slugs who fired back at the Bay State's finest have ever served a day in the military -- so when they try giving the run-around to a guy who's got a fucking Purple Heart, it's going to blow up in their grill. Kerry can shout at Bush all he wants, and there's very few people on the Republican side who can sling mud back. When someone who's been IN a stupid war speaks out against THIS stupid war, people have to respect it. The big thing that came out of Kerry's "regime change" remarks (my favorite soundbite of the year so far, BTW) is this -- Americans have forgotten the true definition of patriotism. Webster's defines patriotism as "love for one's country." That love can include flag-waving and all that -- but it should also include dissent when our leaders fuck up. This country was built on dissent and on the challenging of authority. We'd all have British accents and really bad teeth now if Americans never rose up against tyranny. Some 230 years later, we're facing it again. Actually, we're imposing our will on the rest of the world. A nation founded by the opposition to oppression has become the great oppressor. We are way too down with OPP. (Sorry...bad alliteration joke.) Unless the world gangs up on us (which would likely mean the end of our planet's existence), the only way to stop the snowballing empire, the Axis of Oil, is from within. Our public school system has been euthanized by Dumbya's No White Christian Child Left Behind Act. Our civil liberties have been castrated by the Benedict Arnold Patriot Act. We're going to be in debt up to Manute Bol's ears for decades to come, which will serve the GOP's primary aim -- if there's no money, the Dems can't afford much-needed social reform for those of us who make less than $200G a year. And we're in the second of four (at LEAST) pre-planned wars, which will only serve to cripple us economically and completely piss off the rest of the non-Tony Blair world. If Bush's squad of Petroleum Gangstas gets its way, the dictionary will soon tell us that patriotism means "blind agreement with those whytgize in power." We're watching the Bill of Rights go up in flames, and we're too blinded by this faux flag-waving frenzy to see it happen. No one even seems to care -- they're too afraid of "evil" to question anything. Pretend for a second that this administration DIDN'T help carry nyneleven out (it's a stretch, yes, but play along). Has ANYTHING we've done since then made us less of a target? Quite the contrary. It's amazing how propaganda can completely blind the blind. Which is why we NEED people like John Kerry to speak up. When you or I say something, we're an un-American hippie evildoer conspiracy theorist who probably funds terrorists. When a prominent senator and decorated veteran says it, no one can dismiss that. Here's hoping the rest of the so-called "left" (which really no longer exists in Washington) grows some testicles and leads the fight from within. Because if they don't, no one will -- and 2004 might be the last presidential election we ever have. Right now, Kerry has my vote. Actually, anyone who can knock this fucker out gets my vote. I'd like a good president -- but for now, I'll settle for regime change of any kind. You should all be doing the same. If you're not white with at LEAST a six-figure income, this president is doing nothing to help you...and he's driving America as we knew it off a cliff. An airbag won't save you -- hit the brakes NOW. -- O [Hate Central] 7:04:24 AM    Talk back! []

In the room the women come and go, Talking of Michelangelo. This piece from Britain’s Guardian illustrates some of the ambiguities of war.  Seems like an application of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle to me. 12:59:01 AM    Talk back! []

I love Pesky the Rat.  I got the following from here President Bush says America to release first IPO on Tuesday The President today took time away from the war to announce yet another neoconservative-inspired economic policy. Bush, speaking from the Rose Garden, says that Tuesday, April 6, the United States of America will switch from a constitutional democracy to a corporate model by offering shares for sale.  Initial offering price is expected to be $17.76 a share.  "This is gonna be really nifty," said Bush, "I'm so excited I almost wet my pants." Aids close to President Bush later admitted "almost" might have been an exaggeration. The new plan basically works this way: Americans, now known simply as "potential investors", will be able to buy shares in USA Inc. Voting rights, as in most corporations, will depend on the number of shares purchased. However, there are two classes of shares: FOG shares (Friends of George), and Commoner shares. Commoner Shares can be purchased by anybody, but FOG shares can only be purchased by Friends of George W. Bush.  FOG shares carry two billion percent more voting power than Commoner Shares. President Bush plans to use the extensive skills he acquired in two years of partying at MBA school to reform many other aspects of American.  Bush's spokeman, Ari Fleischer, listed several priorities: Replace all media outlets with large water coolers. Monitor all Investor communications. Any Investors who surf porn sites are to be immediately promoted to Governor. Once all Governorships are filled up, said Investors are to be placed in charge of the U.S. Treasury (now the Finance Department). All those who choose not to invest will be optimized.  This includes individuals too young to invest, too poor to invest, or to ugly to get an Investment Representative to look at them long enough to accept their investment. No severance packages are available. However, Investors assigned to the War & Peace Department will be equipped with golden armani parachutes. All those interested in a prospectus can write to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, DC. Potential Investors are warned that past performance is no guarantee of future success. [Pesky the Rat]   12:30:17 AM    Talk back! []

© Copyright 2003 Marie Foster.