Emperors of the Island

OK Susan, what am I supposed to glean from this?

Hi Bill,
I am still perusing over it myself, trying to understand it. But I like it so much I just had to include it on this thread. I think it has some deeper meaning I can't yet grasp.

Good! I was thinking that this was one of those times where some perfectly tranparent prose went right over my head. Please let me know what you come up with, because I am drawing a total blank. And you're right, it is certainly lyrical and has a ring to it.

OK, I think this is a parable about what happens to tyrants in the pursuit of power. If an autocrat kills a large number of 'enemies'in order to either conquer or stay in power, he may unwittingly create other unknown 'enemies behind the scenes who may quite unexpectedly destroy him. I think the four 'ghosts' alludes to this. The unknown enemies outside, wishing to overthrow the autocrat. This poem is about the illusion of absolute power I think. Examples can been seen in the War on Terror. As a result of invading Iraq, other enemies of the West, previously unforseen and now joining the ranks, have risen and could overwhelm us or destroy us in the long run. We may not know who they are, so they are 'ghosts.'
I think, without having gone into the poet's background, that he may also be alluding to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The mention of an 'island' such as Japan maybe, the reference to 'Emperors' and a 'deserted island' may all be covert references to Japan and Hiroshima bombings. I can also glean that he might be Japanese from his rather unusual name. But I shall look into it further to see if I am right.

Sue

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'No one can make you inferior without your consent.'
Eleanor Roosevelt.

ABSE, DANNIE (1923- ) 'Emperors of the Island'


New and Collected Poems
Copyright 2006 - YesterYear Books
(Dunstable, BE, United Kingdom)

. . . Robert Nye - 'The Times' UK

"He is a story-teller in verse, a poet who keeps his ears and eyes open an doffers item after item
which ring remarkably true"

He has for decades been associated with, and living in, the north-west area of London, mainly in and around Hampstead
with which he has considerable ties. For many years he wrote a column for the Ham & High (Hampstead and Highgate Express)
local newspaper, the articles subsequently being published in book form Abse was reared in Cardiff. He trained as a
physician and qualified as a doctor in 1950. From 1949 to 1954 he edited a literary magazine, Poetry and Poverty, and from
1951 to 1955 he served in the Royal Air Force. Thereafter he worked part-time as a physician

Dannie Abse(reallyDaniel Abse)

[url=http://users.ev1.net/~homeville/anth/t61.htm#A639]Ghosts and Shadows - ed. Dorothy Edwards - Lutterworth 1980

Bin Laden dead? Hmm... Dead or not, it must be election time again... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Officials Skeptical on Bin Laden Report

Report of bin Laden death unconfirmed: France, Pakistan, US

France, US, unable to confirm report bin Laden dead

Clinton faults Bush for inaction on bin Laden

Bill Clinton Freaks Out (video)

I've just moved this post from Beethoven's VIII to here, thanks to Misfit's good suggestion.


Is Osama Bin Laden Dead, or not?

An interesting article has appeared in the French newspaper L'Est Republicain. It's based on material the paper got from French security services, and if it's true, it's a bit of a bombshell for President Bush.

Basically, the French security services DGSE sent a report to Prime Minister Chirac that Saudi intelligence believes that Bin Laden would not have survived the hunt for him in Pakistan because of his poor health. The implication is that many United States military have died in vain in the various battles that erupted on account of the needless search for him.

The latest development is that the Saudis now repudiate their own security service's report that the French DGSE relied on to send their report to Chirac. The reason? The report "cannot be confirmed". hmmmn

Here's a very rough I've made based on Babelfish's translation of the original, followed by the original article itself.

I'm putting the whole French article up in case it disappears. For political reasons, this story is unwelcome by the GOP just two months before congressional elections and attempts have already started to discredit the story.

It seems to me though, that the reasoning of the DGSE report is sound, though of course, I'm no expert in spying.

Oddly enough, this debate is starting to sound like the Weapons of Mass Destruction argument. If Osama Bin Laden is never found, was he ever killed? But who knows what arcane plots are going on in the intelligence community? Maybe this is a clever ruse to create pressure on Osama Bin Laden to come out of his silence and do another tape? The trail is getting cold, so all of this publicity about a leaked DGSE report may itself be part of a tactical trick.


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Usama Bin Laden would have died


The Saudi secret service would have acquired the conviction that the Al-Qaïda founder died. If it were confirmed soon, the information would fall to a sharp point for American president George Bush, strongly abused by the surveys less than two months from the elections. Information that we reveal today results from a note of confidential information classified "defense" emanating from the Directorate-General of the external services (DGSE).

The French secret service transmitted it Thursday September 21 to the President of the republic, to the Prime Minister, to the Minister of Interior Department and Defense. We deliver the contents of it to you in-extenso.:

"According to a usually reliable source, the Saudi services from now on would have acquired the conviction that Usama Bin Laden died. The elements collected by the Saudis indicate that the chief of Al-Qaïda would have been victim, whereas it was in Pakistan on August 23, 2006, of a very strong crisis of typhoid having involved a paralysis partial of his lower limbs. Its geographical insulation, caused by a permanent escape, would have made impossible any medical care. September 4, 2006, the Saoudi services of safety collected the first information making state of its death. They would wait, to obtain more details, and in particular the exact place of its burial, to announce the news officially ". The information collected by the DGSE on the death of Ben Laden was considered to be sufficiently reliable so that it is decided to inform the highest French authorities of them. A first note had been written and diffused on the 19th of September. It was entitled: "the Saoudi services seek to confirm the death of Usama Bin Laden". Before the disclosure of this news, that made more than three years that the American persons in charge for the counter-terrorism had not received credible information.

It is necessary to go up with the arrest of one of the Al-Qaïda leaders, Walid Mohamed Ben Attash in April 2003, to find a trace of Ben Laden. It had been established then that this last had met the spiritual chief of Jihad, three months before, in the province of Khost in Afghanistan. These last months, the American commandos, who were in load of the tracking, concentrated their research at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the north of the tribal areas. I.e. in the area not controlled by the authorities of Islamabad and where the army never ventures.

It should be said that the soldiers Pakistani recorded enormous losses as men when they had tried to occupy the ground in 2004 and 2005.

644 dead

In spite of the enormous means deployed by the Americans for the capture of Ben Laden, the search has remained in vain. And this, in spite of the use of satellites, drones and means of listenings sophisticated. Thanks to the arrest of several members of nebula Al-Qaïda, the services American know that Ben Laden leaves few tracks. He would leave only during the night and when the cloud cover is thick. And thanks to his local troops, the Saudi billionaire has a very good knowledge of the area which offers an infinite number of cushy jobs. In spite of this impossible search, the American administration never wanted to give up "It is our principal priority", vice-president Cheney declared last September 13.

While the Senate approved 200 million dollars to recreate a cell of the information especially intended to track [the terrorists] which on September 11, 2001 dared to defy America. And whose organization asserts the commission of 16 attacks made, 644 having died and 2700 wounded, perpetrated in the world in the name of Al-Qaïda since September 2001.

The [Al Quida] organization has become a mark, a label, an ideological reference to the name of which thousands of fanatics throughout the world are ready to adopt in terrorist actions in an autonomous way, like the authors of the attacks from July 7, 2005 in London.


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Oussama Ben Laden serait mort
L'Est Republicain
September 23, 2006.


http://www.estrepublicain.fr/zoom/2006092300222348.html

Les services secrets saoudiens auraient acquis la conviction que le fondateur d'Al-Qaïda est mort.


Si elle était prochainement confirmée, l'information tomberait à pic pour le président américain Georges Bush fortement malmené par les sondages à moins de deux mois des élections.


L'information que nous révélons aujourd'hui résulte d'une note de renseignement classifiée « confidentiel défense » émanant de la Direction générale des services extérieurs (DGSE). Les services secrets français l'ont transmise jeudi 21 septembre au Président de la république, au Premier ministre, au ministre de l'Intérieur et de la Défense. Nous vous en livrons le contenu in-extenso. :


« Selon une source habituellement fiable, les services saoudiens auraient désormais acquis la conviction qu'Oussama Ben Laden est mort. Les éléments recueillis par les saoudiens indiquent que le chef d'Al-Qaïda aurait été victime, alors qu'il se trouvait au Pakistan le 23 août 2006, d'une très forte crise de typhoïde ayant entraîné une paralysie partielle de ses membres inférieurs. Son isolement géographique, provoqué par une fuite permanente, aurait rendu impossible toute assistance médicale. Le 4 septembre 2006, les services saoudiens de sécurité ont recueilli les premiers renseignements faisant état de son décès. Ils attendraient, d'obtenir davantage de détails, et notamment le lieu exact de son inhumation, pour annoncer officiellement la nouvelle ».


Les informations recueillies par la DGSE sur la mort de Ben Laden ont été jugées suffisamment fiables pour qu'il soit décidé d'en informer les plus hautes autorités françaises. Une première note avait été rédigée et diffusée le 19 septembre dernier. Elle était intitulée : « Les services saoudiens cherchent à confirmer la mort d'Oussama Ben Laden ».


Avant la divulgation de cette nouvelle, cela faisait plus de trois ans que les responsables américains du contre-terrorisme n'avaient pas reçu d'informations crédibles. Il faut remonter à l'arrestation d'un des dirigeants d'Al-Qaïda, Walid Mohamed Ben Attash en avril 2003, pour trouver une trace de Ben Laden. Il avait alors été établi que ce dernier avait rencontré le chef spirituel du Jihad, trois mois auparavant, dans la province de Khost en Afghanistan. Ces derniers mois, les commandos américains, qui étaient en charge de la traque, concentraient leurs recherches à la frontière entre l'Afghanistan et le Pakistan, au nord des régions tribales. C'est à dire dans la région non contrôlée par les autorités d'Islamabad et où l'armée ne s'aventure jamais. Il faut dire que les militaires pakistanais ont enregistré d'énormes pertes en hommes lorsqu'ils avaient tenté d'occuper le terrain en 2004 et 2005.


644 morts



Malgré les énormes moyens déployés par les Américains pour la capture de Ben Laden, les recherches sont demeurées vaines. Et ce, malgré l'utilisation de satellites, de drones et de moyens d'écoutes sophistiqués. Grâce à l'arrestation de plusieurs membres de la nébuleuse Al-Qaïda, les services américains savent que Ben Laden sort peu de ses caches. Il ne sortirait que la nuit et lorsque la couverture nuageuse est épaisse. Et grâce à ses troupes locales, le milliardaire saoudien a une très bonne connaissance de la région qui offre un nombre infini de planques.


Malgré cette impossible recherche, l'administration américaine n'a jamais voulu renoncer. « C'est notre principale priorité », déclarait le 13 septembre dernier le vice-président Cheney. Tandis que le Sénat débloquait 200 millions de dollars pour recréer une cellule du renseignement spécialement destinée à traquer celui qui le 11 septembre 2001 à oser défier l'Amérique. Et dont l'organisation revendique la commission de 16 attentats, ayant fait 644 morts et 2700 blessés, perpétrés dans le monde au nom d'Al-Qaïda depuis septembre 2001. Une organisation devenue une marque, un label, une référence idéologique au nom desquels des milliers de fanatiques à travers le monde sont prêts à passer à l'action terroriste de façon autonome. Comme les auteurs des attentats du 7 juillet 2005 à Londres.

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Red Bull Air Racing

Gas price by zip at Seti

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Red Bull Air Racing

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Cut and run?

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Very good Captain! ;-|









B-IV

Good guess Captain!

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Red Bull Air Racing

Gas price by zip at Seti

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Red Bull Air Racing

Gas price by zip at Seti

@nobody

Are you the nobody that could be the "nobody" in the link here, Foley Scandal?

Taken from the article above:
And they've wondered about the motives of the anonymous individuals who gave the e-mails to reporters and the mysterious self-described "nobody" who first published them on the Internet at a Web site called StopSexPredators.

Just wondering! :-)

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Red Bull Air Racing

Gas price by zip at Seti

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Red Bull Air Racing

Gas price by zip at Seti

Gosh, I remember when all we had to worry about were Congressmen running brothels in their DC houses. How time does fly...

No more Cuban-American monolith

MARCELA SANCHEZ
THE WASHINGTON POST

October 7, 2006

July 31 in Miami looked a lot like the Fourth of July elsewhere in the United States. Fireworks, flag-waving and parades marked the day as news spread that a seriously ill Fidel Castro had temporally ceded power to his brother Raul in Havana. Thousands danced and chanted celebrating the beginning of the end – the dawn of a Cuba libre.

The festivities turned out to be premature, but the Cuban exile community in this country has lived for moments such as these. For nearly a half-century – while their numbers have grown, evolved and become more diverse – the exiles have remained largely united in their opposition to Castro and their desire to see a free Cuba.

That unity has been a source of incredible strength and political influence in the United States. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have seen their foreign policy shaped by Cuban-American leaders who have favored a hard-line approach toward the island.

Despite signs that the Clinton administration might soften its Cuba policy, President Bill Clinton in 1996 signed the Helms-Burton Act to strengthen the U.S. embargo after Cuba shot down two planes belonging to a Cuban exile group. President Bush, who owes in no small measure his election in 2000 to Cuban-American support in Florida, ordered new restrictions on travel and money remittances to the island in 2004.

At the heart of these less-than-conciliatory policies is the belief that an intractable and unforgiving Cuban exile community will stop at nothing to end Castro's regime. U.S. Cuba policy has largely calcified around this stereotype.

But this stereotype has never been completely valid. Over the years, it has become even less so. Recent opinion polls reveal a generational gap between the older hard-liners and the younger Cuban-Americans who favor a loosening of the embargo and gradual change on the island.

This week the Miami polling firm of Bendixen and Associates reported a continuation of that trend. Bendixen asked 600 adults of Cuban origin in Miami what kind of changes they foresee on the island once Castro is definitely out of power. While more than half see a transition to democracy as very probable, more prefer that it be gradual and nonviolent (77 percent) over a fast one that involves violence (20 percent).

In a marked generational difference, a majority of those who came to the United States before 1980 favor continuation of the travel and remittance restrictions that Bush imposed in 2004, while a majority of those who arrived after 1980 oppose them. Compared to a Miami Herald poll taken last year, the Bendixen poll may suggest that support for the 44-year-old embargo on Cuba has dropped nearly 10 points, from 62 percent to 53 percent.

These numbers are important because the image of a vengeful exile community in this country has empowered the very regime the exiles would like to weaken. Castro has had nearly five decades to master the manipulation of U.S. intentions in his favor, promoting fear and insecurity among his people.

Castro and his officials repeat, for instance, that Washington has a “plan for Cuba's annexation” and that Cuban exiles will attempt to recover property owned before the revolution at all cost. Never mind that only 13 percent of Cuban exiles are even thinking of returning to the island to live if Cuba becomes a democracy, according to the Bendixen poll.

Ed Canler, a member of the Washington-based nonprofit Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, asserts that Cuban apprehensions about U.S. intentions, even in a post-Castro era, would bolster the Cuban Communist Party. The United States would be seen as an agent of destabilization and the Communists as the “only known guarantor of state security, warding against possibly foreign-inspired chaos and mayhem.”

On July 10, just weeks before Castro's illness was disclosed, a Bush presidential commission issued the Compact with the People of Cuba, a document that seems to address directly the fears of what might happen once Castro and his regime are no more. In addition to humanitarian assistance in a time of transition, the U.S. government pledges to “respect the right of the Cuban people to be secure in their homes” and to “discourage third parties from intervening to obstruct the will of the Cuban people.” The United States will not interfere, the compact adds, unless “we are asked.”

While U.S. policy continues to reflect the regime-change objective, there are signs of a more constructive and forward-looking approach in the works. Caleb McCarry, Cuba transition coordinator for the Bush administration, says the message is “that we will remain firm, but there is a way forward here.”

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me@rescam.org

Mass Venezuela opposition rally

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me@rescam.org

Mass Venezuela opposition rally

Mr Rosales condemned what he called the cheque book diplomacy of Mr Chavez, accusing him of giving away Venezuela's oil wealth to foreign powers.

They protest against their president for giving 'charity' to the working class...

But for now, Mr Chavez still enjoys a clear lead in opinion polls because of a sense of loyalty that poor and working-class voters feel towards him.

The working class support him for his 'charity'...


Hmm... Methinks the protesters are the rich people... ;)

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It may not be 1984 but George Orwell sure did see the future . . .

Hmm... Methinks the protesters are the rich people... ;)

What level of income makes a person one of the rich people? Is the income level different if you inherit the money rather that earn it by personal hard work?