President Bush and Sheikh Osama bin Laden in happier times
A new al-Qaeda videotape posted Sunday on a militant Web site featured a short, undated clip of Osama bin Laden praising martyrdom. An A.P. report said bin Laden looked weary.
Bin Laden glorified those who die in the name of jihad, or holy war, saying even the Prophet Muhammad "had been wishing to be a martyr." "The happy (man) is the one that God has chosen him to be a martyr," added bin Laden, who was filmed outdoors wearing army fatigues.
You may remember Donald Rumsfeld's spontaneous poem on finding Osama:
Where is Osama bin Laden?
We do know of certain knowledge That he is either in Afghanistan Or in some other country Or dead. ---o0o---
I can't find the video yet, but did locate Osama bin Laden's appearance on The Family Guy.
Recent posts on All This Is That about Osama bin Laden:
I recently bought a new copy of Bob Dylan's remastered Bringing It All Back Home. This replaced a cassette copy that had long ago had enough oxide scrubbed off to alllow you to just barely identify the song.
I forgot what a stone masterpiece this album was. And it wasn't the first Dylan masterpiece that year. My favorite song on the record is It's All Right Ma (I'm only bleeding). Here is a video of Dylan performing the tune the year the record came out. If you get the chance, you need to hear the pristine re-mastered version. Dylan nailed it on the record, and I've never heard him do a better version than what he originally recorded. I was brought back to this song because David Chase used it in the last episode of The Sopranos. . .as A.J.'s $30,000 erupted in flames and exploded. . . The kids said something like "Can you believe this was recorded 40 years ago?!"
The lyrics are magnificent. This must be one of his ten best songs (but the competition is formidable). Dylan was at the height of his powers with the long form song and dense, imagistic--not yet surrealistic--lyrics. His guitar, on the record at least, is fluid and tasty. Maybe the only flaw in the song is, as my friend Kyle Lingol, pointed out, "He never writes bridges!"
Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child's balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying.
Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool's gold mouthpiece The hollow horn plays wasted words Proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying.
Temptation's page flies out the door You follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar You feel to moan but unlike before You discover That you'd just be One more person crying.
So don't fear if you hear A foreign sound to your ear It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.
As some warn victory, some downfall Private reasons great or small Can be seen in the eyes of those that call To make all that should be killed to crawl While others say don't hate nothing at all Except hatred.
Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Made everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It's easy to see without looking too far That not much Is really sacred.
While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits Can lead to hundred-dollar plates Goodness hides behind its gates But even the president of the United States Sometimes must have To stand naked.
An' though the rules of the road have been lodged It's only people's games that you got to dodge And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.
Advertising signs that con you Into thinking you're the one That can do what's never been done That can win what's never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you.
You lose yourself, you reappear You suddenly find you got nothing to fear Alone you stand with nobody near When a trembling distant voice, unclear Startles your sleeping ears to hear That somebody thinks They really found you.
A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy Insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not fergit That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to.
Although the masters make the rules For the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.
For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something They invest in.
While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties Social clubs in drag disguise Outsiders they can freely criticize Tell nothing except who to idolize And then say God bless him.
While one who sings with his tongue on fire Gargles in the rat race choir Bent out of shape from society's pliers Cares not to come up any higher But rather get you down in the hole That he's in.
But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.
Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn't talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony.
While them that defend what they cannot see With a killer's pride, security It blows the minds most bitterly For them that think death's honesty Won't fall upon them naturally Life sometimes Must get lonely.
My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards False gods, I scuff At pettiness which plays so rough Walk upside-down inside handcuffs Kick my legs to crash it off Say okay, I have had enough What else can you show me?
And if my thought-dreams could be seen They'd probably put my head in a guillotine But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only. ---o0o---
I always love these "hot mike" incidents on the campaign trail! In this case, however, it was probably not a hot mike, but a shotgun mike trained on them from some distance away. . .by our good friends at Fox "News." An A.P. story gives a few more details.
Democrats John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton were caught yesterday by Fox News microphones discussing a plan to limit future joint appearances and cut out some of whom they consider to be lesser rivals and also-rans.
Edwards:"We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group." Clinton: "We've got to cut the number" and "they're not serious."
This post, two other related articles, and forty comments were deleted by the All This Is That editors on July 12, 2007.
If you are an All This Is That regular, you know this isn't the way we generally operate this popsicle stand. On the other hand, as much as it sticks in my craw, it seemed karmically right. Aside from the White House, I never wanted this blog to cause pain for anyone. Let me note, however, that the removal of these posts and their emotional and heated comments in no way reflects on the veracity of the articles, or the valid and palpable passion and emotion engendered in the many comments.
I could have stuck to my guns. I told the T.S.A. to take a hike when they asked for further information about another article regarding the Vice President. On the other hand, I've dealt with this one too long, and now, at last, it has begun to interfere with the actual business at hand: poetry, politics, paranormal (aka aliens), pop, parody, painting, and pranks. Sometimes you can fight the good fight; and sometimes it's just not worth the expenditure of oxygen. I don't mean to be cryptic about all of this. . .I just want to play Pilate and wash my hands of it. And then, remember that this is the internet. All the material deleted from All This Is That is available elsewhere. You just have to look for it, nudge nudge. Selah. /jack ---o0o---
The British arebeing blamed for releasing a horde of man-eating badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra. Badger is the common name for three subfamilies of the family Mustelidae. The Mustelidae family of mammals includes ferrets, weasels, and the beloved and adorable otter, and several carnivores.
British military spokesmen deny they released a plague of ferocious badgers (duh!). Word spread among the populace that limey troops introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic among "the peasants." Several of the creatures killed by local farmers were identified by experts as honey badgers. . .an indigenous species. As it turns out, the rumours began because the animals appeared near the British base at Basra airport.
"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area."
The director of Basra's veterinary hospital—Mushtaq Abdul-Mahdi—inspected several of the animals' corpses and told a news agency: "These appeared before the fall of the regime in 1986. They are known locally as Al-Girta. Talk that this animal was brought by the British forces is incorrect and unscientific." A Brit military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area."
Dr Ghazi Yaqub Azzam, deputy dean of Basra's veterinary college, speculated that the badgers were being driven towards the city because of flooding in the marshlands north of Basra. ---o0o---
I'd stick my head in the oven and crank open the jets if I was in POTUS's boots today. There have been a few other similar periods, but the torrent of bad news in the last two weeks has to have the President openly weeping in the West Wing. I mean, if you studied statistics in college you probably know that no matter how bad things are, statisically, some things will break your way. . .once in a while. Au contraire, mon frere. The President has faced a relentless monsoon of bad news over the last few weeks. And not one thing has broken his way of late. Here is a quick sample of just what has gone wrong in the last few days:
I've Been Everywhere is one of my many favorite Johnny Cash Tunes. Here is a video with postcards a woman, Jen, put together. I put it up because I want you to hear the tune. Of the places he names, I've actually been to 29 of them. . . how about you? /jack
"I've Been Everywhere"
I was toting my pack along the long dusty Winnemucca road When along came a semi with a high canvas covered load If your goin' to Winnemucca, Mack with me you can ride And so I climbed into the cab and then I settled down inside He asked me if I'd seen a road with so much dust and sand And I said, "Listen! I've traveled every road in this here land!"
I've been everywhere, man I've been everywhere, man Crossed the deserts bare, man I've breathed the mountain air, man Of travel I've had my share, man I've been everywhere
I've been to: Reno Chicago Fargo Minnesota Buffalo Toronto Winslow Sarasota Wichita Tulsa Ottawa Oklahoma Tampa Panama Mattawa LaPaloma Bangor Baltimore Salvador Amarillo Tocapillo Barranquilla And Padilla
I'm a Killer I've been everywhere, man I've been everywhere, man Crossed the deserts bare, man I've breathed the mountain air, man Of travel I've had my share, man I've been everywhere
I've been to: Boston Charleston Dayton Louisiana Washington Houston Kingston Texarkana Monterey Fairaday Santa Fe Tallapoosa Glen Rock Black Rock Little Rock Oskaloosa Tennessee Chicopee Spirit Lake Grand Lake Devil's Lake Crater Lake
For Pete's Sake I've been everywhere, man I've been everywhere, man Crossed the deserts bare, man I've breathed the mountain air, man Of travel I've had my share, man I've been everywhere
I've been to: Louisville Nashville Knoxville Ombabika Schefferville Jacksonville Waterville Costa Rock Pittsfield Springfield Bakersfield Shreveport Hackensack Cadillac Fond du Lac Davenport Idaho Jellico Argentina Diamantina Pasadena Catalina
See What I Mean I've been everywhere, man I've been everywhere, man Crossed the deserts bare, man I've breathed the mountain air, man Of travel I've had my share, man I've been everywhere
I've been to: Pittsburgh Parkersburg Gravelbourg Colorado Ellensburg Rexburg Vicksburg Eldorado Larimore Adimore Haverstraw Chatanika Shasta Nebraska Alaska Opalacka Baraboo Waterloo Kalamazoo Kansas City Sioux City Cedar City Dodge City
What A Pity I've been everywhere, man I've been everywhere, man Crossed the deserts bare, man I've breathed the mountain air, man Of travel I've had my share, man I've been everywhere
This backlink of the day points to an article where I describe a wide varity of mostly hand signals and signs. It is one of the top ten visited articles here. . .
Sen. John McCain's campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver resigned today (or were more likely sacked for their pathetic performance in the polls and fundraising), which the Arizona senator accepted with "regret and deep gratitude for their dedication, hard work and friendship." Translation: "I hope they all die!"
"out of nowhere, he transmogrified from a charmingly off-kilter maverick to a bellicose Administration cheerleader and apologist for the war in Iraq"
This has to be bittersweet for the Senator, who emerged early on as an unbeatable candidate, only to fluff it in the early turns of the race. There was a time when I thought he would sweep every primary and caucus. And then, out of nowhere, he transmogrified from a charmingly off-kilter maverick (not unlike fellow Arizonan Barry Goldwater in his later years) to a bellicose Administration cheerleader and apologist for the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the coming war in Iran. Maybe he believed in the cause or maybe he misread the electorate, but in any case, the change cost him the White House.
It's puzzling why he hasn't checked out of the race already, although at this point, he doesn't have much to lose. Even so, it can't be pleasant to be bitch-slapped daily by the anti-war candidates, not to mention his fellow Senators and the Governors in the race. It has to be particularly galling being stomped in the polls by Fred Thompson, who jumped in at the last minute, not to mention being bested by Rudy Giuliani, an even more deranged and unstable candidate (if that is even possible). If you're being mocked and hectored by one-issue lightweights like Cindy Sheehan, Dennis Kucinich, and Ralph Nader (a/k/a "The Dingbat"), you know you have taken a mortal blow. . .
As the President's ratings continue their freefall, and talk of impeachment begins, GWB still has some friends out there in the hustings.
This fan letter was found by Kevin Habberstad in Portland, Oregon, who wrote to Found Magazine (I am a subscriber) "I found this while cleaning an office building. It chills me to the bone." It sure does. ---o0o---
