Recurring Digression [Today's News Poem, January 16, 2011]

Recurring Digression [Today's News Poem, January 16, 2011]

My obsessions with history, war, economics
Are sizable, reckless, romantic, unhealthy.
I know this, though death's hand's tremendous,
The deadliest knowledge demands comprehension.
At first they were rubber men, wars in a sandbox.
Then voluminous Britannica featured the portraits distinguished
With color, or text, or as ultimate reference.
I gamed through the pages and chose my adventure
Returning to mushrooms and bomb-laying birds.
So the plane overhead is the sound of my doubt,
And we all agree the mustache is humorless, grim and oppressive;
He belches his jokes which evaporate, hissing a bit,
Digressing the reader and finally halting all progress
In favor of sorting it out in a state of expanding confusion.

"Germany faces mounting pressure from the European Commission and its euro zone partners to strengthen a rescue fund for troubled member states, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)... Der Spiegel reported, however, that the European Commission expected the euro zone crisis to worsen in the first few months of this year. "
—Andreas Rinke, Reuters, MAINZ, Germany | Sat Jan 15, 2011 10:24am EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70E1AQ20110115

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The Germans [Guest Twitter Found Poem, June 20, 2010 by Ryan Ridge]

The Germans [Guest Twitter Found Poem, June 20, 2010 by Ryan Ridge]
By Ryan Ridge
Tweets+Edits=#twitterfoundpoem

Oh, and Germans.
Don't forget the Germans.
What's with the Germans?
What happened to the Germans?
What will these Germans think of next?
Are we still better than the Germans?
Are we trying to avoid the Germans?
Are we Germans in disguise?
I’m laughing at the Germans.
Hard luck for the Germans.
Upset for the Germans.
The Germans still lost!
Bury the Germans!
I feel a little silly after mocking the Germans.
I changed my mind,
I’m going out with the Germans.

Bio: Ryan Ridge writes and teaches in Southern California. Recent work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Abjective, Corium, DIAGRAM, elimae, Fact-Simile, JMWW, The Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. He maintains an archive of past work here. http://pastwork-ridge.blogspot.com/
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Fright or Flight [News Poem, April 11, 2010]

Fright or Flight [News Poem, April 11, 2010]
“Lech Kaczynski... was a firm backer of U.S.-led attempts to expand the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which he saw as a bulwark against Russia's attempts to reassert influence in the region. He sought to strengthen Poland's position against Russia and Germany, its powerful historical foes to east and west”
–Marc Champion and James Marson, Wall Street Journal, APRIL 11, 2010, 12:18 P.M. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304168004575177943816071322.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines
“Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has scrapped a state body set up to oversee the country's eventual accession to NATO"
--Reuters,April 6, 2010 6:09 a.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/04/06/world/international-uk-ukraine-nato.html
“Back in 2005, the last time angry crowds toppled the government of Kyrgyzstan, the United States found itself in an awkward position: among the rallying cries was an allegation that the ruling family had benefited handsomely from Pentagon contracts. Now, substantially the same thing appears to be happening again.”
-Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times, Published: April 11, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/world/asia/12manas.html
“About 1,300 U.S. troops have been stuck at the Manas airfield in Kyrgyzstan because of the civil unrest there. ”
--Barbara Starr, CNN, April 10, 2010 5:04 p.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/04/10/kyrgyzstan.us.troops/
“Construction has commenced on the 1,224 km Nord Stream Natural Gas pipeline, which will link Russian natural gas reserves to Europe. “Our pipeline will provide a direct link from here to Germany’s Baltic coast and from there on to gas consumers right across Europe,” said Nord Stream Managing Director Matthias Warnig.”
--Pipelines International, Mon, 12 April 2010
http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/nord_stream_construction_commences/040074/

Conviction's sight will often fix
Ahead, behind, but rarely fore.
The animal inside us tricks
And thwarts our guile. We thus ignore
The panicked pump inside our brain
That throttles intellect asleep.
Before we step onto a train
Or through a crowd, it's smothered deep
Within a narrative of calm—
That we may carry-on with life.
Routines and plans are both the balms
For fight or flight. The world is rife
With airplane trips that sometimes crash
And brazen bones that burned to ash.



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War By Wires and Liars [Today's News Poem, Feb 11, 2010]

War By Wires and Liars [Today's News Poem, Feb 11, 2010]

“Germany's ruling coalition is considering using state-owned development bank KfW to buy Greek government bonds to ease Greece's financing problems...”

--Matthias Sobolewski and Patricia Uhlig, Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:21am EST

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBAT00511520100211

“The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency, was quick to dismiss Iran's claim Thursday that it has produced higher-enriched uranium, calling it nothing more than "speechifying." But the record shows a series of intelligence reports spanning almost 20 years that have warned of a nuclear Iran. ”

--Greg Palkot and the Associated Press

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/11/iran-nuclear-weapons-history-predictions/

“President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. ”

http://projects.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/

"we recommend that the Secretary [of Defense] task both the Under Secretaries of Defense for Policy and Intelligence, and the Joint Staff, working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to create a tiger team to lay out courses of action and a way ahead for establishing a standing strategic surprise/deception entity. Once the initial work has been completed, all parts of the interagency should be brought into this effort."

http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2010-10-Capability_Suprise_Vol_2.pdf

No, atoms aren't the only building block
Requiring nuclear-force to bind what seeks
To free itself. Take enterprise and stock:
Those rogues—like particles— need wise techniques
To bind what otherwise would break—subvert—
Conjoined alliance. Murder's still a crime
So bind them tight with lies and let covert
And able agents sway the greedy slime:
So war becomes a suicide. And wealth?
That war by other means. With trade, the way
To kill is starve the foreigner by stealth,
And take his land, her kids: they're simply prey—
A profit center needs the casualties.
Without the gore—no war PTSDs.



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