A new poem:

A Call to Scorch this Land

Torquemada
written in the blood of the impure
remembered by those savants and survivors
echoes in the history of western so-called civilization
like the weeds that surreptitiously grow in the well tended garden

the wheels of war are but the means
“kill the leaders and convert the rest”
as he knows that the brutal iron fist
is remembered longer than the delicate kiss

His feral manner was revealed
as the clanking chains tightened
screams reverberated up the spiral stairs but never beyond the iron bound doors
blood begins to seep out of the pores
until the appendages are separated from the torso

the cudgels that propel the perpetrators
down the chutes into the razor wired cells
are beginning instruments to rewire their brains
as he has watched all the recordings in total silence
while his hands are playing pocket pool over and over

Torquemada held secrets
he could hide from his god anointed superiors of king and queen
even from the messenger from his god- the holy see
the pooling of blood and excrement upon innumerable hidden chamber floors
couldn't cleanse his stain of being birthed by the descendants of Christ killers

sitting on concrete and to smell the freedom of the sea breeze
no privacy as the cameras watch without stopping
to survive in an 8' by 10' cell
interrogations go on and on
no matter the time of day
sickness or in health
to be married to the interrogators on this level of purgatory

His beliefs were powered by god
as the white hot coals were driven into their flesh
both bowels and bladder were released
the stench imbued the mute stone walls
while the words of renunciation were disbelieved

he turns to go
closing the door
he must go to the gym
to work out again
to feel good again
to wash away the reality
of what his commandments have wrought

Torquemada has heard no confession from the deceased
with a wave of his manicured fingers
the body will be fried until only ashes remain
the soul
was not worth saving will now walk upon an earthly limbo

Why does King Bush and Queen Cheney want another 245,000,000,000 dollars? To go to war with Iran?

There are 140,000+ American troops in Iraq but what is not being told to the American people is the 100,000+ Soldiers-of-Fortune in Iraq.

As other bloggers have noted, like Steve Gilliard, the military is in an untenable position for withdrawal from Iraq. There is no easy access to sea ports for mass evacuation. What the military would have to do is to fight it's way out of the country.

All ready we have witnessed that the Iraqis can seriously hamper our supply lines through IED's, RPG's, and heavy machine gun fire.

This is Dien Ben Phu on a country wide scale.

It is time for Congress to halt this war and bring our troops home.

King Bush and Queen Cheney shall be held accountable to our justice system.

Why does King Bush and Queen Cheney want another 245,000,000,000 dollars? To go to war with Iran?

There are 140,000+ American troops in Iraq but what is not being told to the American people is the 100,000+ Soldiers-of-Fortune in Iraq.

As other bloggers have noted, like Steve Gilliard, the military is in an untenable position for withdrawal from Iraq. There is no easy access to sea ports for mass evacuation. What the military would have to do is to fight it's way out of the country.

All ready we have witnessed that the Iraqis can seriously hamper our supply lines through IED's, RPG's, and heavy machine gun fire.

This is Dien Ben Phu on a country wide scale.

It is time for Congress to halt this war and bring our troops home.

King Bush and Queen Cheney shall be held accountable to our justice system.

Chalmers Johnson writes in TPMmuckraker today:

 History is instructive on this dilemma. If we choose to keep our empire, as the Roman republic did, we will certainly lose our democracy and grimly await the eventual blowback that imperialism generates. There is an alternative, however. We could, like the British Empire after World War II, keep our democracy by giving up our empire. The British did not do a particularly brilliant job of liquidating their empire and there were several clear cases where British imperialists defied their nation's commitment to democracy in order to hang on to foreign privileges. The war against the Kikuyu in Kenya in the 1950s and the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956 are particularly savage examples of that. But the overall thrust of postwar British history is clear: the people of the British Isles chose democracy over imperialism.

Read the rest here.

Batman vs alien vs predator

I used to collect comic books when I was younger. I still have an interest in comic books.

This short film is an excellent adaption of the comic book to film genre. Of course Frank Miller's "Sin City" is the pinnacle of this kind of film noir styled cinema.

The short film form fits the comic book adaption because of the nature of the characters of the revenge/avenger seem not to be amenable to serious character development or exploration.

Richard Feynman Intro

Richard Feynman is one of the greatest scientists and cultural heroes of the 20th Century.

(and he is a great bongo player!)

Page 27 Live 8/10/2006

One of the first groups that my art gallery/performance space had in concert in 1996.

Happy New Year.  May the new year bring peace and justice to the American people from the tyranny of Bush and his cohorts. 

Irene Orleansky - Chapman Stick

This is an amazing music made by a very innovative music instrument.

I first learned about this instrument about ten years ago. At that time I owned a used bookstore and art gallery. In the art gallery part I had a number of concerts by both local and touring musicians and bands.

The music I enjoyed and was challenged by was noise music by such local bands as Page 27.

Other music that I liked was electronica of such groups as Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream or musicians like Vollenweider, Tomita, and Carlos.

Wonderful and evocative music to listen to.

 Hope everyone has a good holiday season.

My grad school class is almost over with.

I just have one paper left to write, which is on San Antonio v Rodriguez SCOTUS decision that denied the "right to education" as being a fundamental right implied within the 14th Amendment.  The decision is a repudiation of Brown v School Board of Topeka.

Next semester I'll be taking "Research Methods" and another class that I'm not sure what on as of now.

A good history book on the creation and ratification of the Bill of Rights called, "James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights" by Richard Labunski I just started.  The book is something that is not just for scholars but for the general history reader.  I'm only 50 pages in and the writing is similiar to other works like Collier & Collier's book, "Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787".  Well researched and highlights a pivotal point in American history.