Mark Twain's War Prayer

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved fire sides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.



Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! -- The messenger of the Most High waits!"



--Mark Twain

Divine Canine

their wings touching the water, a flock of ducks skimmed low over the rivers surface in a tight formation and at such an angle that from a distance their dark forms blended together to first create the impression of a pack of dogs racing across the surface of the water.



but as the formation relaxed, their wings opened to climb and take flight.



that they were fowl and not divine canine running on water became quite apparent.

Bring It On

The End Days can't come fast enough. Let Christ come down with his empty chariot, to fill with those he's chosen to take with him to heaven, that the rest of us can be rid of the faithfully blind, so that we can go on to build a new world from the ashes they leave behind.



Who really are the chosen one's? Those who must must seek the comfort of a greater being, or those with the strength to carry on and build a better world?

The Ball's In Your Court

To those who voted for Bush,



I sure hope you're right. You chose him, now be responsible for him.

I'll just do my part and deal with it, time to move on right? Country is in you and your hands, simply cause I didn't vote for him. I won't and can't support most of the conservative agenda as well as Bush's agenda. So I won't be responsible for whatever occurs on his watch. Don't expect me to stand by your side and support you on issues I personally don't support. A true strong American has an opinion and stands on their own to support that opinion until questioned and proven otherwise. One who stands by others opinion without question, while setting their personal beliefs aside or not having one of their own, is not an American. One who demands others follow their opinion without question, even when that opinion becomes wrong and harmful is not an American. A true American is one who votes for a President they are not afraid to question.

What Am I?

If liberalism is expressing one's opinion freely without harm to others, without repression, then I am a Liberal. If liberalism is the freedom to express my opinion so as to make my opinion known to others without forcing others or insisting others take an equal view, then I am a Liberal. If Liberalism is to resist unwarranted Government interference to repress my opinion, then I am a Liberal.

conversations with BK

BK: Kerry was never going to win, ever. Bushmerica has too much invested in the Christian King and his reign will not end until they can no longer profit from it, or something larger takes their interest.

RP: very well said

BK:Why thank you. The hopelessness I've felt since 9/11 has never abated, and I don't know if it will, in all honesty, in my lifetime. Whoever put Bush into office has thoroughly taken everything pure and right about this country, carefully bent it over a ledge, and has fucked it bloody. The sad thing is--there's no going back.

BK: So, y'know, if you ever wanted to live in the 1950's, now's your chance.

RP: hey did u notice in that map of the US showing the Red States and Blue States, did you notice that the color Red is now a good color in a majority of the peoples eyes, when only 50 years ago, Red was a menace, and also did you notice, the progressive Blue states are all along water, open ocean, while the Red states are near no open water, except for Illinois, which is on a lake. Hmmmmmmmmm

BK: The progressive states being along the water, I attribute to those states being historically shipping-based, which led to those states having a more cosmopolitan populace, and diverse--we needed slaves and cheap labor. Now, it's where all the international airports are, and where commerce centers tend to be. Hence, a smarter, more sophisticated, and diverse, populace.

RP: very good answer

BK: Didn't notice the red thing. But that's okay--we're being run single-minded communist-esque fuckos anyway.

BK: Tips for the future: keep your head down, keep your mouth shut, and make popular entertainment with a message-the only thing they can't (and don't want to) stop

BK: Anything blatant doesn't work anymore.

RP: this all might be great for art in general. it is during times of repression that great art shines because its the only way to express the truth without being blatant.

BK: Right. It'll be interesting at the very least. I thought Team America was goddamned brilliant AND goddamned blatant

RP: it might also be great for the horror genre, where so much metaphor lives

BK: Horror is HUGE right now

BK: Everytime they put out a horror movie it does well

BK: The biggest things going right now are horror and family films. Coincidence?

RP: LOL, wow

Worth Repeating Again, Out On A Really Long Limb

Kerry by A Landslide!!!!!!

I dare say, I do. Republicans voting for Kerry. No way. But in a way, yes. By not voting. So many Republicans support the party, but not the man. An embarrassing President. A man who should be equally as smart as the rest of us, if not more so, but is not. Between the large numbers of new Democratic registrations and those Republicans who in incredible excess will not vote at all, we will have a Kerry landslide. Be that as it may, The Boston Red Sox have won The World Series, The New England Patriots are on record roll and all good things happen in threes, and you can't count on the Celtics this year, no Kennedy in the running... but there's Kerry.

Like the hands of a clock, reality reels around the face of history, inevitably coming 'round to the same hour, bound to repeat.

Herman Goering -

"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."



Gustave Gilbert -

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."



Herman Goering -

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Bullshit

I am sure of this.

No one is ever as confident as they seem, or as they perceive themselves to be.

We all have flaws known & unknown.

We all have hopes & goals left unfullfilled.

We all have fears & doubts that have as much if not more to do with how we govern our lives than we believe.

Order of Things In Chaos

So many of us are afraid to questîon those in charge especially when their authority is questionable & without right, when it is we who put them there. Imagine how much more placid & persuaded we would be if the danger of unquestioned authority were not so evident. It can be so easy. One in authority need not round up the populace to prevent dissent. We lock ourselves in our homes with obese inducing foods & inane television entertainment that works just as well to keep us in our place. Our jail keepers are television channels & networks of moribund entertainment, these modern subversive, subconscience icons of misinformation & passive entertainment give us what we want most, to be comforted like children, to be coddled & quelled, a stacis that so conveniently, whether deliberate or not, keeps us from thinking for ourselves, & questioning those in control.