For the longest time I have been carrying this thin volume of poems with me, as a solace and comfort item over the course a very interesting career in the Marines and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Below is a second volume I am adding to my briefcase, in French and English side by side.
Philip Levine is a warrior's poet. Here are nine lines from the poem PEACE:
One words go slowly out
and the sun burns
them before they
even speak. It is
as though the earth
were tired of our talk
and wanted peace, an end
to promises, perhaps an
end to us.
Blends French and English, Love and Nature, Perfectly
September 3, 2007
Helene Cardona
This lovely book of poems came into my life just as I am committing myself to spending the next twenty years as intelligence officer to the poor. We are going to create a global free public grid for early warning and decision support and free multilingual education “one cell call at a time,” with a prioritization of needs able to influence three trillion dollars a year: the trillion that foundations give out willy-nilly; the trillion in corporate services that can profit from going green; and the trillion now spent on war that we can over time, through public education, redirect toward waging peace.
This volume is especially valuable to me not just for its open and peaceful thoughts, but because it was written in English, translated into French, and the facing pages offer the poem in French to the left and English to the right. I can think of no finer way to begin my long road back to mastery of the language of diplomacy, than by ensuring I read one poem a night, in both languages, for a very long time to come.
El Recuerdo (the Memory) is already a favorite within this volume.
See also the volume by Philip Levine that I have carried with me all these years that will now be joined by The Astonished Universe: 7 years from somewhere: Poems
It is on the basis of having read and reviewewd those books first, that I find a deep appreciation for what this author has done. I've struggled with the book for a couple of months, because this is not light reading. This is deep history, a form of historical dynamics of “science” that is called Cleodynamics. This is such a tough nut to crack that I am going to write my review in reverse order.
1) The author ends with E pluribus unum. Cooperation is essential to the long-term prosperity of man. To this I would add my own motto, E Veritate Potens–We the People are made powerful through truth.
3) The author attributes the current clashes of civilization with the4 energizing of the Islamic endges where they confront the West (Israel is included in that bloc), Orthodox, Hindu, and Sinic civilizations. I know from other readings that these edges also suffer from water scarcity, and the greatest crime that Israel is committing against the Arab nations is the covert theft of their water through very long underground pipes that violate political borders.
4) Growing inequality, growing debt, brings down empires. The author paraphrases Toynbee in saying “Great empories dies not by murder but by suicide.” Quite right. We've killed 3,000 of our own and created 75,000 amputtees while murdering hundreds of thousands because our The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead was all too willing to “go along” with massive blatant lies, and all too complacent to exercise our civic responsibilities to participate in the dialog.
The failure of our generals and admirals to confront illegal orders from Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz–the failure particularly to challenge their many lies to Congress and the public–got us into perfect position for total collapse. The 27 secessionist movement are most likely to gain their objectives cause the “empire” is deeply enmeshed in a far-away war it cannot win, a war that continues to hollow out our Armed Forces at the same time that it accelerates our loss of legitimacy in the eyes of the rest of the world.
The decline of collective capabilities for action, “asabaya” that this author discusses match up very well with the observations of the author of the book first cited above, to wit, when the empire can no longer make coherent affordable sustainable decisions, the empire implodes, defaulting one or two levels down.
Throughout the book there is a tension between “the landscape of fear” and the possibilities of hope. One thing history cannot tell us, although the author explores this as best he can, is how the wealth of networks could unleash the entrepreneurial energy of the five billion poor, to the point that we achieve the title of Medard Gabel's superb forthcoming book, “Seven Billion Billionaires.” Self-governance, tr5ansparent budgets that destroy corruption, self-correcting localized resilience and networks that eliminate waste and over-production, these all appear to be on the horizon.
Having been in Viet-Nam from 1963-1967, and being an avid reader of books on the intelligence failures and leadership lies of that era, I find a remarkable coincidence between the asibaya of Islam and the asibaya of Viet-Nam, and the manner in which mendacious leaders and incompetent or timid intelligence professionals conspire to waste blood, treasure, and spirit in a self-deating manner (less the elites that enrich themselves through war profiteering).
I have a note, this may be the first 21st Century social science reference (published in 2006)
Early on in the work the author focuses on the religous controversies that plagued the Roman Empire, and we reeview the critical role of religion as a symbolic market, a divider for many, a uniter for some. It was a glue for Russia, it is neutral for Malaysia and Indonesia, and fraught with peril for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and even Turkey.
Early on the author focuses on how fragmentation blockes collective action and leads to defeat in detail. He emphasizes the importance of social cohesion while noting that climate and ecological boundaries matter. So doesthe truth. I was much impressed by The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink and The Republican War on Science as well as Tempting Faith and I am quite certain that history will find this current Administration to have been the most villanous, traitorous, spendthrift, and corrupt in our entire history of just over two centuriues. What stuns me is how our culture has become so insensitive, our civic nature so watered down, that the people are like pigs waiting for slaughter.
The book opens with a central observation, that political boundaries work only when they coincide with cultural rights. Absolutely vital point, one reason why I concur with Philip Alott's observations, and one reason I believe we need to overturn the Treaty of WEestphalia and start over with a combination of culturally valid boundaries and regional networks for managing water, eneergy, food, shelter, and security.
The author begin with a discussion of three central concepts:
1) Meta-ethnic frontier theory and asabaya cycles
2) Demographic-structural secular cycles; and
3) Fathers and sons cycles.
The author uses and discusses mathematical models in support of the work, but does not burden the reader with the formulas.
From this and the many other books I have been privileged to review these past six years of infamy, I share the author's hopeful conclusion. It is now possible to demonstrate to people that
1) There are not enough guns to kill us all
2) We can liberate the poor by connecting them to free knowledge one cell phone call at a time (with millions of volunteers using telelanguage.com to offer micro-tutorials on anything in any language);
3) We can demand trasparent budgets published a week prior to voting, and thus eliminate all the secret earmarks and corruption;
4) We can apply millions of eyeballs to all trade records and stop corporate looting of poor countries via corruption
5) We can throw out corporate personality, implement localized home rule, and demand localized resilience in water and energy and food.
On balance, as appalled as I am about the treachery and venality of the Cheney White House, I can but Praise God for sending this dark cloud to shock America back into reading non-fiction and thinking for itself.
I have three sons, and helping the poor is going to be my way of protecting the future of my children and their children. Earth is an aquariaqm. We have 5-10 years to balance it, or we are toast. Corruption, not global warming, is the gravest threat to humanity.
Validates my choice to oppose Cheney & attack on Iran
September 3, 2007
Howard Zinn
Earlier today I reviewed The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America by Peter Dale Scott, and coined a new term of praise, “erudite patriot.” That was one of many reviews from my long recent trip to the Middle East that I could finally post.
I would never have anticipated that in reading this book today, I would not only encounter a second “erudite patriot,” but that my somewhat anxious decision to directly and repeatedly focus public attention on the high crimes and misdemeanors of Dick Cheney, would be so elegantly validated with a firm grounding in public resistance to tyranny and amorality.
The author, an eminent historian, is the people's historian. He alone has documented the many times in which public resistance brought odious government programs to a stop.
Although a collection of past essays, this book actually reads fast and well as a survey of the fundamentals empowered by historical example and accuracy. I was strongly reaffirmed in my beliefs by this book, reinforced in my relatively recent commitment to bringing Cheney to justice.
The author, unique qualified to do so, informs us that people have resisted before, that the osmosis of truth ultimate swings the public, and as the book title suggests, no government can resist an aroused public.
The author suggests, and I agree, that impeachment of Cheney first, is essential. Our government has lost all legitimacy in my eyes, and I would resist arrest by this goveernment to the death of them or I, after first attempting to persuade the good-hearted people sent to arrest me that they should disobey the illegal order to arrest me, and live to see their families that night.
Every single essay in this book is moving, intelligent, cogent, and relevant to the greatest crisis our Republic has ever faced. The author's review of our greatest betrayal, of the wounded from Gulf I and Gulf II (he does not mention that unlike Gulf I, Gulf II produced 16 instead of 6 wounded for every death, and we have 75,000 amputees across the land, lives shatted by Dick Cheney's lies, by Paul Wolfowitz's lies, by Donald Rumsfeld's idiocy and arrogance).
The author is compelling in stating that war is the enemy, and one is reminded of the outcome of War Games: the only winning strategy is not to play at war for profit or any other reason.
The author is compelling in cataloging the litany of lies by our Presidents, and the manner in which our Founding Fathers designed the government to protect the rich and enslave the poor.
The author is compelling in pointing out that we must all question authority, and that the one thing we should all recognize now is that we can unite and be invincible, non-violently invincible, in demanding dignity, justice, and liberty for all–not just all Americans, but every person on the planet and especially those repressed by the 44 dictators, 42 of whom are Bush-Cheney “allies.”
The author is compelling in damning the hypocrisy of this Administration, and I will tell everyone for a fact that below the White House level, most political appointees are shocked, scared, scared, angry, and hopeful that America will impeach the idiot-in-chief and the thief-in-chief. I am an estranged moderate Republican, and I never, ever, imagined that the Republican Party would become the runner up to global crimes so grotesque and extensive that only Hitler and his genocide against the Jews rate above it.
The author is compelling in calling for new new ways, for waging peace instead of war, for undertaking a general strike (I even thought the time has come to make all our tax payments to an escrow account instead of to the existing hijacked government).
I stand with the author in commiting to non-violent opposition to this totalitarian and amoral White House. Non-violence works. All that We the People need to do is withdraw our obedience. I really like the idea of a general strike, and I respectfully suggest to one and all that if America attacks Iran with Israel, that is the day when we should all go on indefinite general strike, and not return to work, nor pay taxes, until all US forces are withdrawn from the Middle East.
Under existing law & regulations, the above statement could be interpreted by Bush-Cheney as giving comfort to the enemey, and I could be arrested and all my property confiscated. That is how low this Republic has gone.
I must say, Howard Zinn's brilliance and integrity have bathed me with a warm glow of confidence in We the People. I feel protected, reinforced, encouraged, renewed, heartened by his wisdom. With such great minds as his speaking out, I am confident We the People will prevail.
You must, absolutely, buy this this book, read it, and recommend it to others. Other books that I have reviewed and recommend:
Not a Chick Flick, But Rather a Heart & Soul Movie
September 2, 2007
Robert Carlyle
There are some really excellent substantive reviews for this film, and the only thing I take issue with is the use of “chick flick.” There are movies about dancing, there are movies about soul, and there are movies about soul with dancing.
I found this moview to be completely engrossing, admirable in all respects, and uplifting without being a tear-jerker. A righteous way to pass a quite portion of the evening.
Brilliant Execution Easy to Absorb, a Major Contribution
September 2, 2007
Nick Shelton
I loved this book! The author has done an utterly superb job of laying out “the facts” in a series of concise pages, and then woven a fictiional tale that integrates the facts and illuminates the reality that all Americans have been betrayed by their “elected” leaders (one must be reminded, over and over, that Bush-Cheney stole the two elections, and the limp timid Democrats are so entwined with our corrupt two-party system they dared not object).
I have read a lot of the 9-11 books and seen a lot of the 9-11 DVDs, and I would rank this book right up there in the top five across the board. Certainly Webster Tarpley's book, the DVD's Loose Change, and others (see my lists and below) are quality pieces, but I salute this author for gifting America with is work. Every American should buy and read this book, it cuts to the chase and makes clear that both our Executive and our Congress are guilty of treason, high crimes and misdemeanors, and must be held to account.
I used to think that waiting for the next election would be better, but now I realize that if we do not impeach, indict, and convict these criminals, that the world will conclude that their sins are our sins, their crimes are our crimes. George Bush the Stupid and Dick Cheney the Criminal are the Benedict Arnolds of our time.
Kudos to the author for a first-rate presentation of facts and a fictional context that is extremely well presented. The conclusion is awesome, and demonstrates conclusively that We the People can take back the power because we are Digital Natives, and these criminals are Digital Immigrants. We can run circles around them. The truth WILL come out. Justice WILL be done. God Bless America, and may each traiotr to the Republic burn in hell forevermore.
I read and started to use this book well before I started doing Amazon reviews, and was reminded of this today when I started updating my brainstorming briefing.
I know John personally and consider one of the most balanced observers of the future, and especially gifted at casting a wide net to find weak signals, and then using analysis to make sense of disparate noises.
Desperately Needs to Be Reprinted and Reissued
