Abou Ben Adhem
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold:
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?” The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men.”
The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest!
James Leigh Hunt
Posted by: beq | Jan 20 2005 19:04 utc | 1
From comment by sic transit gloria:
The author, while bonded to and supportive of the US Marines with whom he was embedded, makes numerous references to the casual slaughter of Iraqi civilians, the almost universal indifference of the soldiers to such killings, their exhilaration when killing people and destroying towns, villages and hamlets as well as the fact that masturbating after killing men, women and children seemed to be a common and accepted form of winding down among the Marines.
Posted by: beq | Jan 20 2005 19:11 utc | 2
also (stgusa):
To read talk of ‘collateral damage’ and ‘regrettable loss of civilian lives’ having read of Rules of Engagement being modified on a whim to permit the killing of every living soul in some of the areas the Marines pass through is only slightly less nauseating than the knowledge that US Marines celebrate the slaughter of Iraqis by masturbating in celebration.
Posted by: beq | Jan 20 2005 19:22 utc | 3
Each act, each occasion is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow.
[but it never happens, it just gets worse and worse…]
extra points if someone can answer where the above quote comes from…
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jan 20 2005 19:44 utc | 4
@uncle: I’ve read that quote recently. German intellectual, interviewed, reminiscing about the gradual escalation of Nazism…
OK I cheated. google to the rescue: Mayer’s “They Thought They Were Free.”
I’ve really got to start posting bits of Paxton soon.
btw, I think we would be fools to deny that the US porno industry has prepped the public — particularly the male sector of it — for the bland acceptance of images and acts of great cruelty, and for the unrestrained fetishisation of domination and racism. while the Marines masturbate in celebration after their mass murders, ordinary guys back home can masturbate to special “war porn” in which female models are dressed up in “Iraqi-like” costumes and male models in US-like uniforms, in staged scenarios of gang rape in the desert. Streicher and the gang were also good at this stuff.
Tsunami stories and the war on Iraq have got me thinking that it would be in everyone’s interest for the people in the EU and elsewhere to start adopting American children. It would keep them out of harm’s way and provide for a healthier upbringing.
Posted by: biklett | Jan 20 2005 19:59 utc | 6
I saw the pictures from that shooting in Iraq on the BBC yesterday, and about 20 minutes later I just sat on the couch and broke down sobbing. Between those pictures and Condi Rice’s confirmation hearing I just couldn’t take it anymore.
Posted by: stoy | Jan 20 2005 20:18 utc | 8
I knew we were on a sadistic slide downwards as a culture when I caught my first glimpse of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” At least fifty percent of those “hilarious” clips have someone undergoing some tremendously painful accident — or humiliation.
Posted by: SusanG | Jan 20 2005 20:25 utc | 9
yesterday i was googling that ryan guy and saw he was posted on all these red websites. i clicked one and was astounded to find this child abuse
i immediately contacted the crisis center in tampa bay and child protective services. i don’t know if it’s real or not but for anyone to find it funny scares the hell out of me.
Posted by: annie | Jan 20 2005 21:26 utc | 10
beq,
It looks more to me like serial killers, not outright porn. Do we have a bunch of Jeffrey Dalmers in the Marines? When will they start skinning poeple and making coats?
I have posted here before that I am sick of the militeristic bullshit in our society. The be all you can be, the military games, protect freedom, blah, blah, blah. It is teaching Americans to be barbarians to the nth degree.
The wingnut wackos gave us the dark ages, and history does repeat itself. We are in another dark time. We are in a time of anti-intellectualism, anti-expansion of individual expression, anti-individual freedom, pro kingship (Bushie) and pro-oppression by religous fanatics that are backing the corporate war mongers.
Progressives rise up and answer the call to right the wrongs being created by the vast right wing conspiracy.
Posted by: jdp | Jan 20 2005 21:50 utc | 11
annie, looking at the picture, a joke. The car is on or very close to the shoulder and the kid’s hair isn’t blowing at all. The posted 99 was someone else approaching or photo shopped.;-)
Posted by: beq | Jan 20 2005 22:09 utc | 12
extra points if someone can answer where the above quote comes from…
I have that book on order- should be getting it any day now! I’ve been wanting to read it for a long time now, couldn’t find it in any local bookstores (surprise) and finally got around to ordering online a couple weeks ago. Also ordered with it a new book, “What We Knew” by Eric Johnson, on someone’s recommendation. I should be good and depressed after reading this double-header.
Posted by: semper fubar | Jan 20 2005 22:25 utc | 13
NewsHour with Tim Lehrer: NEWSMAKER: PAUL WOLFOWITZ
MARGARET WARNER: So what do you think, if you had to give an assessment of when there will be sufficient, competent Iraqi forces that the U.S. can leave in large numbers?
PAUL WOLFOWITZ: That’s a bit too high a bar to clear in terms of — you’re asking a prediction that, you know, it’s a very wide range.
…
Frankly from my point of view, what I care most about is that they can do the bulk of the fighting. I’m more concerned about bringing down our casualties than bringing down our numbers.And it is worth saying that since June 1, there have been more Iraqi police and military killed in action than Americans.
Wolfie’s a real strategical little piece of work, ain’t he B?
Posted by: FlashHarry | Jan 20 2005 22:38 utc | 15
And it is worth saying that since June 1, there have been more Iraqi police and military killed in action than Americans.
Dear God, the man is a complete cretin, isn’t he? Well hey Paul, that IS worth saying, isn’t it? That’s just friggin GREAT. So, I guess what you’re saying is, there are LOTS and LOTS of people dying in Iraq, not just Americans, right? Well, I feel so much better now. Clearly, you’ve got this whole thing under control.
How many days until 2008?
Posted by: semper fubar | Jan 20 2005 22:43 utc | 16
Why do you hate America so much? Didn’t you hear what Dear Führer said? “We’ll bring freedom to every human being on the planet and we will completely root out terrorism; we will destroy all the tyrants. Gott mit uns!”
You know, things like “There are no Americans in Baghdad. My opinion is that we’ll kill them all. And I have to tell you you are now too far from reality.”
And if they have a hit-list of 6 countries for the next 4 years, I don’t think even the draft will be enough.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Jan 21 2005 0:47 utc | 17
Love it or … ?
Coulter has now started threatening the Canadians: The vociferous, increasingly intolerant right-wing commentator Ann Coulter said recently on Fox News: “It’s always the worst Americans who end up going [to Canada] – the Tories after the Revolutionary War, the Vietnam draft-dodgers after Vietnam. And now, after this election, you have the blue-state people moving up there. They better hope the United States doesn’t roll over one night and crush them. They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent.”
“They are lucky we allow them to exist…” [ASCII keyboard inadequate to express feelings]… these people need professional help. or piano wire. I’m not sure which.
oh, and why on this thread did I post that there, at 8:53p? because imho the loss of our intelligentsia as it migrates in an attempt to flee stupidity and brutality, is a genuine form of “collateral damage” for repressive regimes.
Posted by: DeAnander | Jan 21 2005 1:55 utc | 19
At what point will the American public cry for the heads of people like Wolfowitz and Coulter? Can you imagine if a Russian had said all of the worst Russians go to Israel, and Israel had better watch it or one day Russia would just turn it into more parking space for Cairo? Of if someone in the Misistry of Defense had said that what is most important about Kosovo is that the US Army do most of the fighting and British that casulties go down. Right now more Americans are dying in Kosovo than British troops.
Coulter will be sorry when the Devil comes to collect.
Posted by: stoy | Jan 21 2005 4:40 utc | 20
Blame it on the rein…of Saddam Hussein.
Dick says his mistake was to underestimate how long it would take the Iraqi people to take control of their lives after the invasion. He speculates that it has to do with how Saddam whipped the “gumption” outta them.
Talk about brilliant, they figured out how to blame the Iraq mess on Saddam Hussein while he is in jail!
Oh, and Cheney said in reference to Iran: “We don’t want a war in the Middle East, if we can avoid it.”
Hey Dick! There is already a war in the Middle East you dumb evil fuck!
Posted by: stoy | Jan 21 2005 4:54 utc | 21
Shit, that should have read “Blame it on the rein that keeps falling, falling”
Posted by: stoy | Jan 21 2005 4:55 utc | 22
re: Canada
Coulter is serious. When the recent resource war(s) escalate, the US will in some way “annex” Canada to have immediate access to their oil, wood and metals.
As a Chinese I would not invest in Canada, because that investment is undefenseable.
GOP unity is strained by attacks
Asked whether he favored any policy changes in Iraq, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) responded: … He said there was a need for more trained military police, adding that his comments were not a criticism. “Honestly, it’s a little tougher than I thought it was going to be,” Lott said. In a sign of frustration, he offered an unorthodox military solution: “If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens. You’re dealing with insane suicide bombers who are killing our people, and we need to be very aggressive in taking them out.”
If I was in charge of Canada, I would both pump the country dry and sell the oil as fast as possible, all the while using all of the profits to fund alternative energy research and infrastructure.
Ah, b, that article is well over a year old.
Posted by: stoy | Jan 21 2005 6:48 utc | 25
DeAnander said–
“….I think we would be fools to deny that the US porno industry has prepped the public…
And what about that VidGame Industry? I was on the road south of 49th recently and was appalled by the TVAds…the SS had nothing on the protags in those ads.
___
Re: Canada…..we do have an Anti-Coulter to call our own. Her name is (warning:whor-O-rama alert) Heather Mallick.
DeA: There were some fools who wanted to go against Canada or Mexico, or maybe both, right after the Civil War ended, because they thought it would be stupid to discard this big army without using it for further conquest. Not to mention the 1812 war of aggression. So it’s not as if it was anything new that some nutcases in the US dream of Anschluss.
Maybe Canada should indeed pump and sell as much oil as possible, then buy a fine lot of Russian nukes.
Posted by: CluelessJoe | Jan 21 2005 9:07 utc | 27
As to the little Iraqi girl in Billmon’s second photograph: Why do they let her live? I mean, there surely is a fair chance that she will turn into a terrorist (violence is simply ingrained in these barbaric people’s genes, dontcha know). The German Einsatzgruppen would not have been so negligent. How can you hope to instil democracy in the barbarians’ minds if you let too many little girls live?
Posted by: teuton | Jan 21 2005 11:17 utc | 28
TEUTON! How do we know that little girl and the rest of her family is still alive?
Posted by: R.L. | Jan 21 2005 23:16 utc | 29
The little girl lived. Her brother was more seriously hurt.
Tal Afar
Posted by: Anonymous | Jan 22 2005 0:50 utc | 31
anon, thanks for the link. Just to be clear from this comfortable distance: I am not blaming the soldiers in the first place; they are under an enormous stress over there, and they will have to live with this for the rest of their lives. However, innocent people are dead, one boy wounded, and six children have lost their parents thanks to the US’s mission of bringing freedom to people who have never asked for their ‘help’. The blame lies clearly with those who needlessly created this situation, and who are preparing for more of this. Bushco create the evil they pretend they are fighting.
Posted by: teuton | Jan 22 2005 1:34 utc | 32
is there any clear diff between the vidgame and porno industries at this point, other than that the vidgame industry at least doesn’t (ab)use live models in sweatshop conditions? check out some of the gaming rules of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ for example… when the first-person player starts to lose health points he can pick up a prostitute and have sex with her, which raises his health points but decreases cash points. however, once the hooker exits the player’s car, the game rules allow him to beat her to death in order to get his money back. no penalty. Zork II this ain’t.
every culture uses games to teach children the skills and values of the culture. little middle class and elite Victorian boys played with model armies of red-coated soldiers. the carter’s child played with a model cart and learned to harness up the pony. the daughters of the middle class house made doll clothes in preparation for making their own and family clothing in adulthood. little indigenous kids play with toy fishing, hunting, farming tools, play hunting and tracking games, learn rhymes and riddling games that help them memorise important resources of their bioregion. for what culture and adult tasks are we prepping our children?
btw suggested reading, Robt Jensen’s essay “Blow Bangs and Cluster Bombs”…
DeA:
on the other hand the star wars games (Knights of the old republic 2, I think it is called) feature a set of moral options once in a while and by choosing you determine how good/evil your character will be. In the more social online games were your character lives an ordinary life in a fantasy world there are usually punishments for killing other characters, like a bad reputation which gives disadvantages.
So vidgames are diverse and therefore contains many voices.
Posted by: A swedish kind of death | Jan 22 2005 3:23 utc | 34