Georgian poetry was contemptuously dismissed by the realist poets of the Movement, but it still has the power to move us. Rupert Brooke, a young English poet, blessed with dramatic good-looks, left a small corpus of work having died young on his way to Gallipoli. His most famous war poem, memorized by a legion of school children, and often quoted in context to all things English (be it a famous football win or a Rugby loss in a foreign field) is The Soldier:
If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam, A body of England's, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Alas he died at 27 not gloriously in battle but as a result of a mosquito bite that turned septic (this was in the days before antibiotics).
We haven't always been kind to Mandela (a living saint if ever there was one) Ronald Reagan often referred to him as "that terrorist". It was our churches, pension plans, academics, city treasurers and other citizens of good conscience who forced a disinvestment in American corporations that did business in apartheid South Africa. That, in good measure, drove our government to reconsider its position on South Africa.
What's with this French bashing? May I recommend you read your fifth grade history book. It's the French who gave us the lady that graces the approach to New York. And it's also thanks to the French the British were not able to crush our attempts at liberation.
History will show that the French were right to say no to the war in Iraq.
We have a tradition of academic freedom in this country that's why most college professors are tenured. This is to protect them from harassment by narrow-minded, poorly informed fools who would just have their own view of the world and life forced down every body's throat.
It's good to hear what people, even those that we perceive inimical to us, have to say. The foundation of this country will not shake nor will we be perceived to be weak if we allow the Iranian President to speak at Columbia. Imagine how difficult it must have been for him to agree to address a crowd that will be extremely hostile? Let's hear him out and argue/discuss the issues that we differ on.
The problem is we took out the wrong dictator. We left in power one that's far worst for his people than Saddam ever was. Alas there's no Israel nearby and of course no oil.
The only country that can tell Mugabe no is South Africa and they have been very quiet.
First let me say that I feel badly that your friend had to go through an ordeal. Having said that I am not sure if you can blame the whole country for the act of a few.
The problem is that our low-level officials who oversee such things as immigration and customs are poorly educated and under-trained. They haven't been taught to welcome each visitor as a potential source of revenue and goodwill.
You didn't say where your friend was flying from. Was it from the UK to ORD or from a third country? It's possible that the immigration officials had wrong information about her, or that her namesake was on some list. I have a friend with an unlikely name of Paul Johnson, who had trouble flying because there was another Paul Johnson whom the TSA didn't like.
When I fly to London I can simply enter the country by a retina scan but there are other countries that give Americans a tough time based on the theory of reciprocity. Brazil, for instance, would photograph and fingerprint every American entering the country because we do the same to Brazilians. I have also had nightmarish experience entering into Belarus because my Russian wasn't good enough to understand that he wanted to see my return ticket to Warsaw before allowing me entry into the country. Once while crossing the Slovak border into Poland by a train (this was when the Poles were upset by American visa requirements) the immigration person actually asked me why I was going to Warsaw, was it to work? And I had to point out that I was actually catching a flight from Warsaw to Chicago. How many cases of illegal Americans living in Poland?
Whenever TallB's brother-in-law visits this country (he's a bearded long-haired musician type from Germany) he's always given a hard time before being let in.
The frightening thing about this ignorance is that Bush probably hasn't a clue about world history, culture and geography. He's led, like a monkey, from event to event. How can this man make such vital decisions when he doesn't even read the news?
In the last election Kerry was criticised for flip-flopping (silly term) because he changed his position. What's wrong with that? Kerry is an intelligent, thinking man who can see the nuances of any position or idea. That's called action->feedback->correction->action. Every business in this country, save mom & pop, are run on this fundamental loop. Must we hold (stay the course -- ring any bells) steady to our neanderthal-like positions because that's what we have always done?
Kerry volunteered to fight in Vietnam (action), what he saw there (feedback) caused him to rethink his position (correction) and become an anti-war protester (action). That's called thinking not flip-flopping.
I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves.
-- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.; September 21, 2003
Well I was being a bit liverish. Running in beautiful weather (warm sunshine on my shoulders, cool breeze on my face) seems to have raised my endorphins to a satisfactory level.
Of course we must make the best of our lives whatever our age. And God, in her wisdom, gives experience and a fat wallet just as She decides to reduce muscle mass and hair density. But what can mere mortals do?
I have been to Basra before all this current nonsense started. There was a beer garden right by the river. If I didn't know better I would have thought I was in Bavaria. The beer flowed freely and the women wearing western dresses were quite attractive.
When you hit a certain milestone in your chronological existence it's perhaps a good time to look around the old estate. All of sudden you aren't really that young and upcoming person (if you're fortunate you have already arrived but that's another story); all that youthful promise is now ancient disappointment. What's left of life? A good deal statistics will have us believe but what about the quality of that life?
Perhaps you can still convince yourself that not much has changed , or that it's even better but the epiphany: "You have had your turn", can't be too far off. Well I am not going to let it get to me. I am off for a 8 mile run to try and convince myself that my physical fitness is that of a twenty year old.
George Bush symbolizes the dichotomy in this country. He represents the inarticulate, un(der)educated, misinformed (but loud and shrill) half. The half that voted for him. Most of his supporters would be hard-pressed to differentiate between Austria and Australia, what to say of OPEC & APEC?
Not all Americans, however, are so ignorant. Some of us can spell and speak well-crafted sentences in front of a crowd. English is OUR language and its glories could perhaps be lost on Mr Sarkozy but should never be a mystery to an American president.
PS: In defence of Bush the US could easily be a member of OPEC if we so desired.
And why should the government keep this a secret? In this day and age do you think such things can be kept in wraps?
Such thinking is what leads us to religion. There are things that aren't readily understandable by our feeble intellect and we attribute it to a higher power, aliens even. I suppose it makes for an interesting existence if you believe you know the truth that the government is trying to suppress. Enjoy.
I think you'll find that it was the Dutch East India company that created a settlement in South Africa and not the Dutch government. The DEI declared bankruptcy and the area fell to the English.
"It’s no wonder that most Americans think they live in an extremely generous nation: Media reports often quote government officials pointing out that their country is the largest overall aid donor, and the biggest donor of humanitarian aid. But what reporters too often fail to explain is how big the U.S. economy is—more than twice the size of Japan’s, the second largest, and about as big as economies number 3–10 combined. Considered as a portion of the nation’s economy, or of its federal expenditures, the U.S. is actually among the smallest donors of international aid among the world’s developed countries."
Little Norway gives away more of its wealth than does the US; even Iceland, not known as the hub of capital, is far more generous than us.
Sorry didn't mean to disappear. Work related issues that temporarily effected my happiness (and the pursuit thereof).
The point of this discussion is not one of ideology. The farmer in North Korea, given his circumstances, is just as happy as anyone else. If his rice crop doesn't fail, when he sits down to drink beer at night his happiness is as complete as yours or mine.
When I was there we always had "minders" but I was able to talk to people and they seemed no different than anybody else. I have also been to Cuba and I find the people there incredibly happy. Don't confuse the exodus to Miami as sign of basic unhappiness. It's a desire, fueled by what they see in the US, for a economically happier life.
plarkin Forum Posts (514)
RE: What do you do to relax??
Play the piano and sing badly.