(AFP/File/Francois Guillot)
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AL'S DOCUMENTARY:
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Al Gore has reinvented himself by recently releasing a documentary about global warming titled An Inconvenient Truth. He really is preaching to the choir as I doubt seriously that the electorate namely, the folks in the "red" states will be breaking down the door for a ticket.
I personally would like to see Al and Hillary on a Presidential ticket. The country is so divided anyway and this would make for an interesting race. I still wonder where we might be today if Al were the President.
AL, THE COLLEGE PROFESSOR
The documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, however, was similar to a college lecture with the professor presenting a very slick slide show or power point presentation.
In the film, Al did very little bashing of the present administration policies, but simply showed where we were in relation to other countries.
He used car emissions as an example; for instance, almost all other nations are ahead of us in reducing emissions; but then again, we know what they don't have: big oil company lobbyist, of course.
REAL SCIENTISTS AGREE
Real Scientists agree on the problem and this was probably a single telling point--in like a thousand peer related papers (reviewed by other scientists), all scientists agree on the effects of what the world is doing to the earth. Zero disagreement! When those same peer related articles get in the hands of the media, only a little over fifty percent agree with what is happening.
NOT A BIG FAN OF AL
I personally have never liked Al all that much. He is a professional politican and had all the trappings of being from a wealthy family- he simply did not have to root around as many might, etc But he is a Vietnam vet and inhaled.
My biggest problem with him came when he supported Bill so much when Bill was denying Monica; I thought all those people around the liar should resign in protest. Oh well...amazing in hindsight. Look how even Bill has rehabiliated himself today.
COMES OFF LIKABLE WITH A MESSAGE
(AFP/File/Francois Guillot)
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In the movie, Gore comes off as a wry, likeable college professor who conducts the sort of class that you always looked forward to in college. He had a self-deprecating type of humor and was kind of folksy with some flashbacks of his growing up on a tobacco farm.
Gore said his own perspective changed when his son , as a young boy, was run over by a car and almost died. Also, his older sister died from lung cancer and had started smoking as a teenager. He made the point that his father quit raising tobacco. I guess the point is that with the realization that global warming will bring our demise, our own perspective can change.
There were several scenes of Al trapsing through airports pulling his own luggage, seemingly like just another ordinary fellow. Come on, we don't believe this for a moment.
WHAT WE NEED IS POLITICAL WILL
The message is alarming, let's face it. Gore says we have to have the political will to change our direction. I don't think we have the will because there are too many self-interests and constant muddling of the waters on this very sobering issue despite the facts: the ice caps are melting, sea levels will be raised, communities will be under water.
He did use a reference to Revelations that I think could be it. Maybe eventually this is the apocalytic happening that will bring about the end of time.
Four Parachutes. I liked Al's documentary.
kt
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Soldiers Killed Since War Began in Iraq_____
(AFP/File/Stan Honda)
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The Pentagon announced that 2,500 soldiers were killed since the Iraq War Began. About 2,000 of those were killed in action. About 528 others were killed in non-hostile action.
Almost 18, 500 troops were wounded with over 45 percent of those never returning to duty.
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(AFP/POOL/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)
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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead. The President makes a surprise visit Tuesday to Iraq. Wednesday there are tens of thousands of Iraqi police and soldiers backed up by support of US troops on the streets of Baghdad.
I really hope the "tide is turning", but before all this I had moved from a position of thinking that we had to "get Saddam now or later" to seeing Iraq as a gigantic mistake.
Sometimes I think I am the only one in America who is in a perpetual state of turmoil over the war in Iraq. Denial of what is and somehow seeing a criticism of the Iraq war as partisan is more the rule.
COMPARING IRAQ AND VIETNAM
( REUTERS/Ali Haider/Pool)
| By comparison, if we had stayed in Vietnam as a viable fighting force Ho would, eventually, have come sincerely to the bargaining table. The Vietnam war would have ended at least with a semblance of having been some measure of "worth it." The North Vietnamese were practical opponents and were not, by any stretch of the imagination, fanatics.
But, it is different with Islamic fanatics; we cannot beat them. Anyone who thinks we can simply have their heads up their fourth point of contact. (airborne term for posterior) is crazy. People who fundamentally believe that their enemies must die and are willing to sacrifice themselves and their families and anybody who doesn't agree, simply cannot be beaten. What is the answer? There is no answer. We will have to stay in Iraq until we leave and it is hard to know when or how that will take place; in my opinion, it is not going to end well.
The U S populace at large has had to make no direct sacrifice on a personal basis: no rationing, no real emotional tie with our troops and no citizen participation or support. We still continue to drive our gas guzzlers and are not going to give them up.
HISTORY COULD TEACH US.
But, we are a country (or at least the leaders) that doesn't seem to give a hoot for history. We learned absolutely nothing from Vietnam. I often think of that scene out of Kevin Costner's Robin Hood when he and Morgan Freeman escape prison. Freeman a Muslim and Robin Hood a Christian. They learned to live peaceably, but then they were in a movie.
For fourteen centuries, according to historian, Bernard Lewis, the Muslims and Christians have been feuding across shifting sands. This sounds very poetic but I think what he means is to take a look at the present map showing the Middle East as mostly Muslim and Europe as Christian (a history way too much for me to recount). Regardless, there are enormous lessons to learn.
MODERN DAY PEACEFUL CHRISTIANITY
Modern Day Peaceful Christianity is a hard sell for many folks but it should not be.
( AFP/File/Paul Richards)
| Unlike Europe where blood was spilled on all kind of fronts, in America(other than us emasculating Native Americans in the name of civilization and maybe even some rare fanaticism like burning witches at the stake) the evolvement of our faith has been peaceful
even with the cultural wars of today, which are mainly fought with words. Occasionally, however, some "nut" pops up and blows up an abortion clinic; but, when we go to the source, Jesus, we discover quickly that He is the epitome of peace.
Read the sermon on the mount, follow his life and deeds; the narrative gospel tells of Jesus as being a man of peace- a simple man, without portfolio, pretensions, dedicated to peace. Is not Jesus called the Prince of Peace? "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you."
THE NEVER ENDING WAR
Bernard Lewis, in his early nineties and a sage, I think, said it like this: "The great difference between Islam and Christianity is that God did not let Moses go into the promise land and Jesus was crucified(God sacrificied himself); there was no such fate for Muhammad as he prevailed in vanquishing his enemies. There was no separation with Muhammad; i.e., the successful conqueror, of life and state. Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's"- again, no such thing in the practice of Islam. Fanatical Islamic practices still seek to follow their founder, Muhammed: kill, kill, kill, conquer the enemy, the infidel, Christian.
WHAT ARE THE ANSWERS? There is no answer. We will have to stay in Iraq until we leave and it is hard to know when or how that will take place.
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James Jones' great novel, From Here To Eternity was published 55 years ago and sold three million copies.
I can still remember sitting in the Stewart theater in my hometown with my mouth completely dry watching the movie, From Here To Eternity
In the movie, Burt Lancaster was the "hard as nails" 1st Sergeant Ward looking for a mission, not cognizant, of course, that Pearl Harbor was just around the corner.
Private Prewitt is played by the soulful Montgomery Cliff. It was the private playing taps at Schofield Barracks, 25 miles from Honolulu, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, that sets the tone for the movie. I never hear taps that I don't think of From Here To Eternity.
The private and later his buddy from Brooklyn, Angelo Maggio, played by Frank Sinatra, bonded in an Army that was about all they had. Prewitt was a lost Southern boy who found a home, along with his yankee bud, Angelo, from New York. These young men literally had nothing; and, in a sense, they were in a caste system; i.e., the 1930's Army of officers and lowly enlisted men. The latter were given training and discipline which left them with little else but attitude in the hard scrabble life of the post depression military.
How different it is today. We old soldiers are bad for pining for the old days; which weren't so great, but we'll never admit it. Still, there's no denying that the Army of the 30's became the heroes of the Great War and beyond and all of us are recipients of their sacrifices. Today, we salute the Private Prewitts of the From Here To Eternity days; they were real heroes.
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Now Available: Newly revised paperback General Lee:Father of the Airborne.