Happy 2010 !

Lessons not Learned

Kabul 1969



Same spot 2009

guns vs snowballs - seems fair

Mark Twain Speaks(from "The People Speak"

Comments on the Moro Massacre

by

Mark Twain

(March 12, 1906)

This incident burst upon the world last Friday in an official cablegram from the commander of our forces in the Philippines to our Government at Washington. The substance of it was as follows: A tribe of Moros, dark-skinned savages, had fortified themselves in the bowl of an extinct crater not many miles from Jolo; and as they were hostiles, and bitter against us because we have been trying for eight years to take their liberties away from them, their presence in that position was a menace. Our commander, Gen. Leonard Wood, ordered a reconnaissance. It was found that the Moros numbered six hundred, counting women and children; that their crater bowl was in the summit of a peak or mountain twenty-two hundred feet above sea level, and very difficult of access for Christian troops and artillery. Then General Wood ordered a surprise, and went along himself to see the order carried out. Our troops climbed the heights by devious and difficult trails, and even took some artillery with them. The kind of artillery is not specified, but in one place it was hoisted up a sharp acclivity by tackle a distance of some three hundred feet. Arrived at the rim of the crater, the battle began. Our soldiers numbered five hundred and forty. They were assisted by auxiliaries consisting of a detachment of native constabulary in our pay -- their numbers not given -- and by a naval detachment, whose numbers are not stated. But apparently the contending parties were about equal as to number -- six hundred men on our side, on the edge of the bowl; six hundred men, women and children in the bottom of the bowl. Depth of the bowl, 50 feet.

Gen. Wood's order was, "Kill or capture the six hundred."

The battle began-it is officially called by that name-our forces firing down into the crater with their artillery and their deadly small arms of precision; the savages furiously returning the fire, probably with brickbats-though this is merely a surmise of mine, as the weapons used by the savages are not nominated in the cablegram. Heretofore the Moros have used knives and clubs mainly; also ineffectual trade-muskets when they had any.

The official report stated that the battle was fought with prodigious energy on both sides during a day and a half, and that it ended with a complete victory for the American arms. The completeness of the victory for the American arms. The completeness of the victory is established by this fact: that of the six hundred Moros not one was left alive. The brilliancy of the victory is established by this other fact, to wit: that of our six hundred heroes only fifteen lost their lives.

General Wood was present and looking on. His order had been. "Kill or capture those savages." Apparently our little army considered that the "or" left them authorized to kill or capture according to taste, and that their taste had remained what it has been for eight years, in our army out there - the taste of Christian butchers.

The official report quite properly extolled and magnified the "heroism" and "gallantry" of our troops; lamented the loss of the fifteen who perished, and elaborated the wounds of thirty-two of our men who suffered injury, and even minutely and faithfully described the nature of the wounds, in the interest of future historians of the United States. It mentioned that a private had one of his elbows scraped by a missile, and the private's name was mentioned. Another private had the end of his nose scraped by a missile. His name was also mentioned - by cable, at one dollar and fifty cents a word.

Next day's news confirmed the previous day's report and named our fifteen killed and thirty-two wounded again, and once more described the wounds and gilded them with the right adjectives.

Let us now consider two or three details of our military history. In one of the great battles of the Civil War ten per cent. Of the forces engaged on the two sides were killed and wounded. At Waterloo, where four hundred thousand men were present on the two sides, fifty thousand fell, killed and wounded, in five hours, leaving three hundred and fifty thousand sound and all right for further adventures. Eight years ago, when the pathetic comedy called the Cuban War was played, we summoned two hundred and fifty thousand men. We fought a number of showy battles, and when the war was over we had lost two hundred and sixty-eight men out of our two hundred and fifty thousand, in killed and wounded in the field, and just fourteen times as many by the gallantry of the army doctors in the hospitals and camps. We did not exterminate the Spaniards -- far from it. In each engagement we left an average of two per cent. of the enemy killed or crippled on the field.

Contrast these things with the great statistics which have arrived from
[page 172]
that Moro crater! There, with six hundred engaged on each side, we lost fifteen men killed outright, and we had thirty-two wounded-counting that nose and that elbow. The enemy numbered six hundred -- including women and children -- and we abolished them utterly, leaving not even a baby alive to cry for its dead mother. This is incomparably the greatest victory that was ever achieved by the Christian soldiers of the United States.

Now then, how has it been received? The splendid news appeared with splendid display-heads in every newspaper in this city of four million and thirteen thousand inhabitants, on Friday morning. But there was not a single reference to it in the editorial columns of any one of those newspapers. The news appeared again in all the evening papers of Friday, and again those papers were editorially silent upon our vast achievement. Next day's additional statistics and particulars appeared in all the morning papers, and still without a line of editorial rejoicing or a mention of the matter in any way. These additions appeared in the evening papers of that same day (Saturday) and again without a word of comment. In the columns devoted to correspondence, in the morning and evening papers of Friday and Saturday, nobody said a word about the "battle." Ordinarily those columns are teeming with the passions of the citizen; he lets no incident go by, whether it be large or small, without pouring out his praise or blame, his joy or his indignation about the matter in the correspondence column. But, as I have said, during those two days he was as silent as the editors themselves. So far as I can find out, there was only one person among our eighty millions who allowed himself the privilege of a public remark on this great occasion -- that was the President of the United States. All day Friday he was as studiously silent as the rest. But on Saturday he recognized that his duty required him to say something, and he took his pen and performed that duty. If I know President Roosevelt -- and I am sure I do -- this utterance cost him more pain and shame than any other that ever issued from his pen or his mouth. I am far from blaming him. If I had been in his place my official duty would have compelled me to say what he said. It was a convention, an old tradition, and he had to be loyal to it. There was no help for it. This is what he said:

Washington, March 10. Wood, Manila:- I congratulate you and the officers and men of your command upon the
[page 173]
brilliant feat of arms wherein you and they so well upheld the honor of the American flag. (Signed) Theodore Roosevelt.

His whole utterance is merely a convention. Not a word of what he said came out of his heart. He knew perfectly well that to pen six hundred helpless and weaponless savages in a hole like rats in a trap and massacre them in detail during a stretch of a day and a half, from a safe position on the heights above, was no brilliant feat of arms - and would not have been a brilliant feat of arms even if Christian America, represented by its salaried soldiers, had shot them down with Bibles and the Golden Rule instead of bullets. He knew perfectly well that our uniformed assassins had not upheld the honor of the American flag, but had done as they have been doing continuously for eight years in the Philippines - that is to say, they had dishonored it.

The next day, Sunday, -- which was yesterday -- the cable brought us additional news - still more splendid news -- still more honor for the flag. The first display-head shouts this information at us in the stentorian capitals: "WOMEN SLAIN MORO SLAUGHTER."

"Slaughter" is a good word. Certainly there is not a better one in the Unabridged Dictionary for this occasion

The next display line says:

"With Children They Mixed in Mob in Crater, and All Died Together."

They were mere naked savages, and yet there is a sort of pathos about it when that word children falls under your eye, for it always brings before us our perfectest symbol of innocence and helplessness; and by help of its deathless eloquence color, creed and nationality vanish away and we see only that they are children -- merely children. And if they are frightened and crying and in trouble, our pity goes out to them by natural impulse. We see a picture. We see the small forms. We see the terrified faces. We see the tears. We see the small hands clinging in supplication to the mother; but we do not see those children that we are speaking about. We see in their places the little creatures whom we know and love.

The next heading blazes with American and Christian glory like to the sun in the zenith:

"Death List is Now 900."

I was never so enthusiastically proud of the flag till now!

He would know...

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession













I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first"


"Facts are stubborn things"


He would ALSO know about a boatload of sketchy(at best) information:


"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant

can be stored under a desk"

"Approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation,
so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources"


"I'm not worried about the deficit.

It's big enough to take care of itself"


"How can a president not be an actor?"
well...maybe not that one.

Twenty-nine Decembers ago...

Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives







and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that.




That's what's insane about it.




John Winston Ono Lennon 10. 9.1940 - 12. 8. 1980

"Ditto" is perfect

since everything needs to be and look the same here in America...

and look how much electricity they are saving!

Nine Decembers ago...

time flies

















even when you're sad



Martin Mills 9.16.1959-12.06.2000

Rupert the Shtupert bites the big hand

"God bless trailer park trash and idiots everywhere.






Without them Fox News would be nothing
and I would not be a billionaire."

SUckas!

Another SAD day...

for human rights

The Journal News, printed an editorial today entitled “Justice Denied.”

They point out that a recent poll showed 51 percent of New Yorkers favors gay marriage to just 42 percent opposed.

While Westchester County used to be quite conservative, more recently, that county decided to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere even before Gov. Patterson issued his executive order recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages statewide. Guess Westchester isn’t so conservative anymore.

The Hamptons on Long Island are a wealthy community. The East Hampton Star printed an editorial called, “Albany Wrong on Gay Marriage.” They point out that same-sex marriage could pump $50 million in business and travel money into the state’s economy. Oh, so it’s about money! The right wing has been using the issue as a fundraising tool for years. It really has nothing to do with love or family or marriage.

The Albany Times Union called the senate vote “New York’s Shame.” The editorial said the senate voted to make same-sex couples second class citizens. OK, so not such a hard sell in a city where the Republican candidate for mayor came in fourth in the last election and where McGovern trounced Nixon in the 1972 election. My school – SUNY Albany – reluctantly allows military recruiters on campus after the so-called Patriot Act forced schools to do so. However, the president of the university once told me that they always have the LGBT group seated at a table next to them.

The New York Times wrote in its editorial “Voting for Discrimination,” that Gov. Patterson was simply to weak to get the measure passed.

Long Island Newsday had rainbow flags on their cover.

Maybe these papers should have been more vocal in their support

BEFORE the vote.

— David Taffet

"We have nothing to fear from love and comittment"

inspiring comments from an unlikely place:

Senator Diane Sevino D-Staten Island

AK-47s for The Holiday Season? No Problem.

With legislation to close the gun-show loophole stalled in Congress, Virginia Tech shooting survivor Collin Goddard teamed up with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to show just how easy it is for anyone to legally buy firearms—even individuals who would otherwise be barred from gun ownership, such as convicited felons or domestic abusers.

While most gun purchases require prospective buyers to submit to a National Instant Check System background check by the FBI, in 33 states proof of residency is all that's needed to buy firearms from unlicensed private dealers at gun shows. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives estimated that each year some 2,000 to 5,000 gun-shows take place nationwide.

in memory...

Roberta Josephine Smith Mills 11.24.1929-12.26.2008

Edward Feingold 11.24.1911- 10.29.1982

Exxon flash back

Humble Oil (which later merged with Standard to become, yes, Exxon)
may win the All Time Millenial Award for Maximal Irony















It’s from a 1962 edition of Life Magazine
available on Google Books

Please...

"Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow"
Psalms 109:8-9













#CafePress reverses stance and permits
Psalm 109:8 DeathThreats against President Obama.

What to do... boycott Cafe Press
or Get your bloody shirts while they are hot ?

got yer Back-Up?

so you can wake directly from a nightmare

and kill somebody.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Perfectly heinous

The Franken-pumpkin
we like our pumpkins just like our people;
no warts, no opinions...





Monsanto breeds the perfect Jack-o'-Lantern pumpkin.
Future experiments include turkeys with seasoned cornbread entrails, a herd of flying reindeer and a rabbit that lays eggs (cbc.ca)

Al Watch

Psychedelic Shack

In honor of the New York Historical Society's upcoming Grateful Dead exhibition, the Empire State Building is going to be tie dye tomorrow. At press time, we were unable to confirm how in the world this was going to happen, short of dosing the entire city with acid and hoping everyone sees beautiful melting colors shining off the building.

No word on if members of the Dead will be on hand for the lighting tomorrow, but the press release stated that Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will be guests of honor at the fundraising reception, which takes place on Wednesday (tickets). The exhibit will open in March 2010, and promises to be epic; drawn almost exclusively from the Grateful Dead Archive, it will chronicle the history of the band, their music, "and phenomenal longevity through an array of original art and documents related to the band, its members, performances, and productions. Exhibition highlights from the archive will include concert and recording posters, album art, large-scale marionettes and other stage props, banners, and vast stores of decorated fan mail."

#9

watch over our moon, please...

'cause we love you






John Winston Ono Lennon 10. 9.1940 - 12. 8. 1980

dear NASA

sure hope you know what you're doing...

this time

Limping With The Stars

"Hot tub" Tom had to withdraw from the competition














after suffering stress fractures

in both left feet

guess not

Al Watch

3 years today

Stella By Starlight 12.29.1993-9.30.2006
R.I.P. sweet girl

Tunnel to Towers

cajones vs ??? you be the judge.

we can't help but dig Judge So-So



















she's 100 times more fierce than this guy






















no contest!!



Justice Sonia, from the block and a longtime New York Yankees fan, threw out the first pitch Saturday before their game against the Boston Red Sox.

One Brave Voice

BP: Greenwash of the week

"Stupid...

is a pre-existing condition"

---Bill Maher

Duh-h-h-h, really?

Van Goes

White House green jobs adviser Van Jones resigns.

Al Watch

Happy Birthday, Molly Ivins

we miss you very much.

















Photo: Carolyn Mary Bauman

"Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States,

please pay attention"

Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins 8. 30. 1944 – 1. 31. 2007

Bon Voyage, EMK

a fitting farewell to an Irish rover...

100 year lag time for wireless tech

UNfunnies

IntimiNation

what "town hollers"
really wish they could carry unconcealed















but THESE are too dangerous,

I suppose.

"I’d take a gun to Washington if
enough of you would go with me.”
-- Tom Eisenhower (R-Racist), Link

Is he calling for an armed revolution?
Is that legal now - with a Black president?

surefire signs of "tyranny" by Obama administration

Is she back?

I'm not quite sure where Anita Bryant might be lurking these days...





but she bears an uncanny resemblance

to Sarah Palin if you think about it.

Sing louder!

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.









Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed


-- I, too, am America.






James Langston Hughes 2.1.1902 5.22. 1967

Wait a minute, what?

Michele Bachman

“People need to continue to go to the town halls, continue to melt the phone lines of their liberal members of Congress, and let them know, under no certain circumstances will I give the government control over my body and my health care decisions.“






we're so confused!

Tom Yesterday

a glance backward

Happy Birthday, O

just do your best, sweetie








Barack Hussein Obama
was born on August 4, 1961
in Honolulu, Hawaii, our 50th state
(for the mentally challenged)

"Spot" on again.

Remembering James Baldwin

"It is certain, in any case, that ignorance,

allied with power,

is the most ferocious enemy justice can have."

"Education is indoctrination if you're white

subjugation if you're black"

"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows

how extremely expensive it is to be poor"

James Arthur Baldwin 8.2. 1924 – 11. 30.1987
photo by Jacob Holdt and Alex Bath

My How the Grand Old Party has changed!

"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the party,
and they’re sure trying to do so,
it’s going to be a terrible damn problem.










Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.”

"My faith in the future rests squarely on the belief that man,
if he doesn't first destroy himself,
will find new answers in the universe, new technologies, new disciplines,
which will contribute to a vastly different
and better world in the twenty-first century."


I wonder if he can lie still at all...


Barry Morris Goldwater 1.1.1909-5.29.1998