B.B. King & Stanislaw Jerzy Lec: Quotes of the day

B.B. King:

"Nobody loves me but my mother—and she could be jivin' too."




Stanislaw Jerzy Lec:

"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible."
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Poem: My Final Snowflake - The Final (I really mean it this time) Donald Rumsfeld Poem

click montage to enlarge...

This will really be my final Donald Rumsfeld poem. I thought A Broken Bone was the last, but Rummy came out with one more nugget before heading out. Yesterday, The Secretary rode off into the sunset, leaving behind a memo to his staff at the D.O.D.

For my part, I'll miss having him to kick around. And most of all I will miss his twisted locutions, loopy metaphors, and his facility with abstruse obfucation.

Good luck, Mr. Secretary! You may have sucked at your job, but you provided a rich and sustaining blast of entertainment for those of us who follow that sort of thing.

Selections of Rumsfeld poems on All This Is That:

Five new poems by Rumsfeld
Poem: Clarity By Donald Rumsfeld
Rumsfeld Poem No. 5
Donald Rumsfeld Poem: Not A One
Poem: Those Glass Boxes By Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
The Poetry Of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part 3::::::That's Life
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VI:::::Predicting The Future
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VIII::::::Litany: What I Don't Do
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld IX::::::Accuracy
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld X:::::::::Where Is Osama bin Laden?
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XI:::::::::Existence, Evidence, Absence
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XIV::::::::The Unknown
The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld XIII: It hasn't happened
The Digital Revolution (Rumseld poem IV)
Rumsfeld Poems from the Dec., 2005 Briefing

To read one of the dozens of articles here on Rumsfeld--a few of which were even based on facts--search for Rumsfeld in the Blogger box in the upper left hand corner of this window.


My Final Snowflake

by the former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld


This is
My final
Snowflake.

Thousands
Have fallen,
Sometimes

In blizzards and flurries,
Sometimes in cold
And lonely isolation.

Surprising to those
Buried in the deluge,
Many people have never

Received a snowflake.
A few folks
Hoped to run

Out the clock
On outstanding
Snowflakes.

I grant
Amnesty for outstanding
Snowflakes.

The blizzard is over!
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Painting: The First Flank Of The Invasion From Planet 32-Q7

click the painting to enlarge
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A Salute To Finland

Many more visitors from Finland and Denmark arrived at All This Is That today. . .

Did you know that Transparency International has ranked Finland the world's least corrupt country for the fifth time in a decade?
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The F*** Iraq! Video

Click onto this embedded video to see American soldiers helping Iraqi children with English lessons. Just another step on the road to victory, winning their hearts and minds?

"In fighting this war, we're taking every precaution to protect innocent life. We're showing respect for the Iraqi people, respect for their culture..."

Defend America News, the U.S. Department of Defense

[ed. note: you may need to click the play button twice to see the video.]


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The Most Interesting Link Here Today. . .

. . .comes from Finland, from the Jalka käytävällä blog. Most of the visitors are from Helsinki, but many others have arrived from Hkansker, Karjaa, Uusikaupunki, Keuruu, Espoo, and other towns, as well as dozens from Denmark.
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Jalka käytävällä
pni • 15.12 2006, 10.47


Tästä kuvasta muistui mieleeni se miten valokuvauksen ollessa vielä ihan lapsenkengissään, ulkona otetuissa kuvissa kadut näyttivät tyhjiltä. Ei ihmisiä, hevosia tai muutakaan liikkuvaa. Ei elämää, vain rakennuksia ja puita. Syynähän oli tietenkin pitkä valotusaika. Hitaastikin liikkuvat kohteet (tummat hahmot vaalealla taustalla) katoavat näkyvistä kun kuvaa valottaa useampien, jopa kymmenien, minuuttien ajan.

Ensimmäisenä ihmisenä katuvalokuvaan on tarttunut heppu joka oli pysähtynyt kengänkiillotukseen kadunkulmassa eräänä päivänä Pariisissa vuonna 1838 (plus miinus vuosi, riippuen lähteestä), juuri kun Daguerre valotti kuvaansa, joka tunnetaan nimellä Boulevard du Temple (katso suurennos täältä).

— en synpunkt —
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Photo: The Knitting Club Gets A Little Out Of Hand

click photograph to enlarge
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Poem: Changes 24/The Turning Point (for S.A.D.)

1.
The time of darkness peaks.
Winter solstice brings a victory of light,
Going out and coming in. On time every time.

We all need somewhere to go.
After a time of decay comes the turning point
When the banished light returns

At its appointed time,
Like the San Juan Capistrano swallows.
Turn turn turn turn.

Thunder within the earth
Is the turning point:
The unwobbling pivot.

The old kings
Closed the passes
At the time of solstice.

Merchants and strangers
Did not go out
And the King did not travel.

2.
Day by day, then, the sun returns
Like the return of understanding
After an estrangement.

In the midst of others,
You walk alone.
In the middle of the road

In the middle of the night
You tread the earth with no regrets
Because this is as good as it gets

And it gets this good
At your command.
Selah.
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The Worst President Ever, Or A Close Second

click to enlarge
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Iraq News: 1) Dems Intel Head Flubs The Quiz; 2) Iraqis Line Up For Saddam Hangman Job; 3) President Bush's Numbers Sink Ever Deeper Into The 'Loo

You have three weeks to get up to speed Silvestre - Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi's choice to head the House Intelligence Committee pooched a quiz that most of you could have passed. In an interview with Congressional Quarterly, Reyes flunked a test on some extremely basic questions about al Qaeda and Hezbollah (the two terrorist organizations we have focused on since 9/11).

When asked by National Security Editor Jeff Stein whether al Qaeda is one or the other of the two major branches of Islam -- Sunni or Shiite -- Reyes answered "they are probably both," then ventured "Predominantly -- probably Shiite." al Qaeda was actually founded by Osama bin Laden. They consider the Shia infidels. Reyes could also not cogently answer Stein's question on Hezbollah, the Shiite splinter group in Lebanon. He didn't quite know who they were. Read the story on CNN. In a followup on CNN: "Rep. Silvestre Reyes, the Texas Democrat tapped to head the House Intelligence Committee, said Monday that despite failing to answer basic questions about al Qaeda's makeup, he is aware of the threat the terrorist group poses."

The Necktie Transfer - Saddam's death sentence may be under appeal, but hundreds of Iraqis are volunteering to be the person who springs the trap door at his upcoming execution. Click here to read The New York Times story.

The President's Polling Numbers Continue their Descent Into The 'Loo - President Bush's job ratings continue their plunge into the basement. According to Pollingreport.com, the President's latest numbers are grim:

Source-date-% approval-%disapproval:

CBS 12/8-10/06 31 63
USA Today/Gallup 12/8-10/06 38 59
Newsweek 12/6-7/06 32 60
CNN 12/5-7/06 37 57
FOX/Opinion Dynamics 12/5-6/06 38 54
AP-Ipsos 12/4-6/06 33 64
WNBC/Marist RV 11/27 - 12/3/06 37 56
CNN 11/17-19/06 38 59
Quinnipiac RV 11/13-19/06 35 58
AP-Ipsos 11/13-15/06 36 62
CBS 11/12-13/06 34 61
Pew 11/9-12/06 32 58
USA Today/Gallup 11/9-12/06 33 62
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Revelation: President Now Suffers Enuresis--More Trouble Every Day

President Bush is suffering a relapse of enuresis after having been cured approximately forty years ago.

The bed wetting began intermittently around the time of the Scooter Libby troubles. By early November, and the firing of Secretary Rumsfeld, the devasting mid-term elections, and reports the situation in Iraq has become untenable, the enuresis became chronic and acute.

A mistress of Governor Jeb Bush, Heather Hunt, revealed the news in a phone call to Phil Ronson at the All This Is That National Affairs Desk in Washington, D.C. The closely held secret has been kept tightly under wraps since the President's relapse. According to Ms. Hunt, Laura Bush has assumed the task of laundering the first family's linens. Ms. Hunt could not state whether or not the President was undergoing medical treatment for the disorder.


Photograph of The President Around The
Time Of His First Enuresis Cure

Ms. Hunt further stated that the President was a late-adolescent bed wetter until approximately age 19, when his parents flew him to Switzerland for extensive psychiatric and medical treatment, prior to his matriculation into Yale.
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Painting: The Twin Greys From Out There

click painting to enlarge
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