"A Step in the Right Direction"

[senryu]

Has it really been six years?

six years—
avoiding the money shot
on TV

VJ Day, 1945

photo by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt

The Numbers

For those readers who've been visiting a while, no doubt you've seen the parade of numbers tallying the amount of money spent on this war in Iraq. It's steadily gone up... but the numbers that speak more to me are the number of American lives lost in this debacle. For the astute visitor, you may have noticed that I update that number too, from time to time... but I leave a sickening + at the end of the figure.

So today... it jumps to 3400+.

[data taken from numbers of deaths confirmed by the DOD]

Five Minutes to Midnight...

A couple of days ago I mentioned that the "Doomsday Clock" stood at Seven Minutes to Midnight... since then, the minute hand has ticked forward.

While perusing the newly designed Bulletin website, I read an interesting, thought-provoking article by Sam Keen called A Secular Apocolypse. It should be viewable as a pdf, by clicking on the title.

While I firmly believe that mankind has, and continues to maintain the ability to destroy himself, I also believe that God is in control, and ultimately decides the when, where, and how. As Keen states here:

Any theory, religious or secular, that views doomsday as a
fate we cannot avoid is a counsel of despair that serves to justify
a resignation of responsibility. Neither the supposed intervention
of the deus ex machina to bring history to an end,
nor the supposed iron laws of economics and power politics
that suggest nuclear war and ecological destruction are
inevitable, should be used as an excuse to do nothing. The
end of the story of human history has not yet been written.

I couldn't agree more.

I Feel Fine

I'm on a bit of an REM kick over here at TTL and whilst listening to the neo-classic REM hit "It's the End of the World as We Know It" I recalled an email that came across this week from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. For those of you who may not know, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project and were deeply concerned about the use of nuclear weapons and nuclear war. In 1947 the Bulletin introduced its clock to convey the perils posed by nuclear weapons through a simple design. It currently stands at 7 minutes to midnight.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) will move the minute hand of the "Doomsday Clock" on January 17, 2007, the first such change to the Clock since February 2002. The major new step reflects growing concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea, unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing "launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S. and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks.

But me.... I feel fine.

+ REM — It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

from Ares.

"eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."

Armistice Day, 1918


Veterans' Day was once known as Armistice Day, or the anniversary of the end of World War I on 11 NOV 1918. It was once celebrated with pomp and circumstance, with parades in almost every town. Then came World War II. The "War to End all Wars" didn't ring so true anymore, and so the holiday was re-named Veterans' Day.

Thank a Veteran today for the service and sacrifices given on your behalf.
I know I will.

__________________________________________________

Rumsfeld to Step Down

"Things are gonna change, I can feel it." —Beck

Same as it Ever Was

Who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history? Pretty much everyone. Egyptians, Turks, Jews, Romans, Arabs, Greeks, Persians, Europeans...the list goes on. Who will control the Middle East today? That is a much bigger question.

from Maps of War

D-Day

Today, I'm thankful for these brave men.

Follow this link to listen to Ronald Reagan giving an eloquent speech on the 40th anniversary of D-Day.

The above link is fixed.

"War on War"

(J. Tweedy)

_______________________________________________

It's a war on war
It's a war on war
It's a war on war
It's a war on war
It's a war on war
It's a war on war
It's a war on war
There's a war on

You're gonna lose
You have to lose
You have to learn how to die

Let's watch the miles flying by
Let's watch the miles flying by
You are not my typewriter
But you could be my demon
Moving forward through flaming doors

You have to lose
You have to learn how to die
If you want to want to be alive

Okay?

You have to lose
You have to lose
You have to learn how to die
If you want to want to be alive

You have to die
You have to die
You have to learn how to die
If you want to want to be alive

Okay?
_______________________________________________

+ Jeff Tweedy - War on War - Acoustic.mp3

recorded 20Feb2006, @ Otto's, Dekalb, IL

I was listening to this song on the way home from my Bible study tonight and I had an 'Aha' moment. Mr. Tweedy knowingly (or unknowningly) buried a nugged of Bibliical truth in these lyrics "You have to lose, You have to lose, You have to learn how to die, if you want to be alive." These words took on new meaning for me.

I believe that in order to truly live, as God desires for me to live, I have to put away the former things, and allow those things to "die". There's scriptural basis for this found in Romans 6:11 and Romans 8:10. It's only by 'learning to die' will I ever truly be made alive in Christ. Pretty cool revelation coming from an unlikely place, but hey! I'll take it!

Civil War

civil war—
right brain and left
duking it out

* * *

civil war—
cuckold on the couch
lying in wait

* * *

civil war—
It's closer
than you think.

War on Terra

from Found Magazine online

Banksy

Banksy

have you hugged your bomb today?

Sad Numbers

We've reached 2,000 dead in Iraq today. This dreaded milestone comes nearly two and a half years (May 2003) after President Bush called an "end to major combat operations." 91.2% of those service men and women killed since the invasion have occured since Bush made that claim.

It saddens me that we are continuing to lose American lives in a country that is so torn apart, it will take Jesus Christ Himself to peace [sic] it back together again. There seems to be no real end in sight, and that saddens me even more. How long will it be before we reach 3,000? How many Iraqi civilian deaths are attributed to military action? The US doesn't officially count those dead, but it hovers between 26,690 and 30,051.

Sad numbers indeed.