Bonus War Days

Leonard Cohen - lyrics "There is a war"
There is a war between the rich and poor, a war between the man and the woman.
There is a war between the ones who say there is a war and the ones who say there isn't.
Why don't you come on back to the war, that's right, get in it, why don't you come on back to the war, it's just beginning.

Dalai Lama on war "The Iraq issue is becoming very critical now. War, or the kind of organized fighting, is something that came with the development of human civilization. It seems to have become part and parcel of human history or human temperament. At the same time, the world is changing dramatically. We have seen that we cannot solve human problems by fighting. Problems resulting from differences in opinion must be resolved through the gradual process of dialogue. Undoubtedly, wars produce victors and losers; but only temporarily. Victory or defeat resulting from wars cannot be long-lasting. Secondly, our world has become so interdependent that the defeat of one country must impact the rest of the word, or cause all of us to suffer losses either directly or indirectly."

Two articles for you:

The first article is from the NY Times. What strikes me as truly absurd here is this. Israel is planning to cease fire on Monday or so the article would have us believe. OK let's say they do stop on Monday. In the absurd world perspective I'm thinking that Israel is getting a few "bonus war days." They agree to stop on Monday but meanwhile on Friday , Saturday, and Sunday, they rev the whole operation up to inflict more infrastructure damage and ostensibly eradicate Hezbollah rockets and such. Take this kind of logic and apply it to any situation that involves conflict where human life is at stake morally or immorally and what do you get? The atomic bombings will be stopped on Monday but till then..... The company will stop polluting your water supply on Monday but till then...... The guards agree to stop beating and torturing prisoners on Monday but till then...... Get the idea?

The second article is a personal perspective on war. This is about an American soldier who fought in Iraq and is now suffering from the effects of the depleted uranium weapons which his side used in the war, his side, the USA. This fellow is in debilitating agony all day long. If George Bush and Dick Cheney are such great supporters of the troops, then why are our soldiers getting crippled by our own weapons in the Iraq War?

Music is condition x from my new CD "Particle"
Particle is available at CD Baby and iTunes.

Painting by Betty Lane 1907 - 1996