What can I say about "The Cremation of Sam McGee" except...

..."Sam McGee" is the answer to a question in Trivial Pursuit ("Who was cremated on the marge of Lake LeBarge?"). This is a fun little read that starts out sounding like a ghost story--almost like "The Tell-Tale Heart" only without the guilt-ridden confession at the end.


The Cremation of Sam McGee

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Actic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake LeBarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.
Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;
Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell."

On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.

And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead were dancing heel and toe,
He turned to me, and "Cap," says he, "I'll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no; then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursed cold, and it's got right hold til I'm chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet 'tain't being dead - it's my awful dread of the icy grave that pains;
So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you'll cremate my last remains."

A pal's last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail;
And we started on at the streak of dawn, but God! he looked ghastly pale.
He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee;
And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee.

There wasn't a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven,
With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid, because of a promise given;
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: "You may tax your brawn and brains,
But you promised true, and it's up to you to cremate these last remains."

Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.
In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load.
In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring,
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows - O God! how I loathed the thing.

And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow;
And on I went, though the dogs were spent, and the grub was getting low;
The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in;
And I'd often sing to the hateful thing, and it hearkened with a grin.

Til I came to the marge of Lac LeBarge, and a derelict there lay;
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the 'Alice May.'
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;
Then, "Here," said I, with a sudden cry, "is my cre-ma-tor-eum."

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;
Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher;
The flames just soared, and the furnace roared - such a blaze you seldom see;
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee.

Then I made a hike, for I didn't like to hear him sizzle so;
And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow;
It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I don't know why;
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky.

I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;
But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: "I'll just take a peep inside.
I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked;"... then the door I opened wide.

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: "Please close that door!
It's warm in here, but I greatly fear you'll let in the cold and storm--
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it's the first time I've been warm."

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake LeBarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

Posted by: Victor at 05:00 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The silver lining is that maybe I can make some money off of this.

Introducing . . . the first post-defeat t-shirt and bumper sticker!

Posted by: annika at 11:26 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Clever

Posted by: Jake at November 08, 2006 06:29 AM (V6rxT)

2 Ordering one for the family Thanksgiving dinner. Doesn't take much to fluster democrats. Kind of like eating your cake and havin it too

Posted by: Cindi at November 08, 2006 07:12 PM (YadGF)

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I'll be liveblogging the results with the boys at Six Meat Buffet tonight. Mix it in between your frantic checks of Drudge, The Corner and Hugh Hewitt, if you please.

Posted by: annika at 08:01 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I'm leaving this link at the top until polls close on Tuesday.

Click here if you want to refer to my California ballot proposition recommendations.

Posted by: annika at 08:00 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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At TMZ.com:

Britney Spears has filed a petition for divorce from Kevin Federline.

TMZ obtained the legal papers, filed today in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing "irreconcilable differences." In her petition, Spears asks for both legal and physical custody of the couple's two children, one-year old Sean Preston and two-month old Jayden James, with Federline getting reasonable visitation rights.

As for money, sources tell TMZ the couple, who married in Oct. 2004, has an iron-clad prenup. Not surprisingly, Spears is waiving her right to spousal support.

She's also asking the judge to make each party pay their own attorney's fees.

Spears gives the date of separation as yesterday, the same day she flaunted her incredible revamped physique during a surprise appearance on David Letterman's show. Sources tell TMZ there was no single reason for Britney pulling the plug, rather, it was "a string of events."

Spears has hired powerhouse celebrity divorce lawyer Laura Wasser, who has repped a number of celebs, including Angelina Jolie, Nick Lachey and Kiefer Sutherland.

h/t Michelle Malkin

Posted by: annika at 03:20 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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It's open comments. Just leave your election day story here. How did it go? What do you think?

I'm voting later today, after class. I might join in the liveblogging fun at Six Meat Buffet later tonight, so check in there too.

Posted by: annika at 12:41 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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1 wtf? when LGF does open comments, there's like 700 c0mments. I can't even get one?!

Posted by: annika at November 07, 2006 03:05 PM (zAOEU)

2 Sorry Annie, As an absentee voter, I feel a little out of touch with the process...and I didn't get a sticker, either.

Posted by: Mark W at November 07, 2006 03:10 PM (BJVEF)

3 I may vote, who knows, no close races here

Posted by: Scof at November 07, 2006 03:48 PM (a3fqn)

4 I early voted on Halloween. It was at the library. I thought about checking out a book, but then I didn't. Afterwards, I went trick-or-treating at a church fair. The candy was lackluster; the hot dogs were excellent.

Posted by: Leif at November 07, 2006 03:55 PM (tYFtb)

5 We absentee voted in MO. The funny thing was they sent me a military ballot and my husband a regular one, which meant he had to get it notarized. No big deal, but it seems they should've known which one to send to him.

Posted by: Sarah at November 07, 2006 04:18 PM (7Wklx)

6 I voted before work in my pajamas at 6:30AM. My senate vote went to Tom Kean. The Democrat incumbant is one more in the culture of corruption the state democrats seem to embrace, but NJ voters are stupid and will probably re-elect him despite this. I didn't vote down-the line Republican, my congressman (who has no detectable threat) had been very responsive to a couple of issues I've written to him about, and despite being a democrat, I'm happy with Rush Holt (NJ) so he earned my vote. Township committee had no republican challengers so I wrote myself in. I was the 2nd person to vote from my district, my wife was the first, that place was empty aside from the election volunteers at 6:30AM. I can't wait to see the results from across the country, though I fear the outcome.

Posted by: Rob at November 07, 2006 05:40 PM (Q2xwR)

7 What a bunch of homos. I went to the polls, and voted with the unwashed. In deference to them, I too was unwashed and just off a bike ride, plus the Santa Annas are blowing so it was about 80, nice and stinky. At the polling place where I had voted the last two times, I found that I no longer vote there. Big fucking surprise, I've been moved a half dozen times in the eight years I've lived here. Went home and fucked with the San Diego County BOE website until it shit out my current polling place. That took about a half hour. Went to the newly remodled library two blocks away, and wandered around until I found the polls. Not a single fucking sign in front of the bibliotheka, but inside I was efficiently directed to the correct precinct by freshly scrubbed eager types. After making me sign by my name, I was handed a smartcard, which I plugged into the first free Diebold touchscreen machine where I voted the straight Annikan ticket with one deviation. Did I mention that I was between a woman in her ninties who was reading the ballot aloud, very annoying, and some foreign fuck who was having trouble reading at all, while he was sneezing and hacking all over me? Well I was. After finishing my selections, and leaving my neighbors struggling with the tech side of things, I handed my smartcard back to the fetching gal at the table, and requested a handful of hand sanitizer. They had none. I went home and washed. In the interest of full disclosure. Diebolds is headquartered in my hometown, Canton, Ohio. That is unless they've gotten smart like me and moved on. What a moneymaker this wheez must be for them. It wasn't much easier than filling in the little circle on the scan sheet.

Posted by: Casca at November 07, 2006 05:52 PM (2gORp)

8 You shoulda voted absentee in Canton; maybe your vote might have meant something.

Posted by: shelly at November 07, 2006 06:43 PM (SLFj+)

9 But then, who can really concentrate on this meaningless stuff when really important news is breaking - like Brittany Spears kissing off her asshole dependent?

Posted by: shelly at November 07, 2006 06:47 PM (SLFj+)

10 I would have voted for you Rob. I just voted. Brisk business at my polling place, but no lines. And no problems. Fox just announced DeWine lost, Menendez won, and Santorum lost. As I predicted so far.

Posted by: annika at November 07, 2006 06:48 PM (qQD4Q)

11 Hello, I noticed the huge number of replys in the LGF blog. I voted absentee a while ago. I'm from Maryland and voted for Steele and am hoping that my one vote will turn the tide for him!

Posted by: Drake Steele at November 07, 2006 06:50 PM (+vXQY)

12 ELECTION PREDICTION: IF THE DEMS WIN, THEN THE ENEMY WILL HAND OUT CANDY IN GAZA JUST LIKE THEY DID ON 9/11.

Posted by: reliapundit at November 07, 2006 07:18 PM (wQPyA)

13 I was one of the unwashed voting the straight annika ticket after a few hours of sheetrocking my kitchen. I especially voted a BIG NO for a special new $150 million library in downtown Oakland billing property owners an additional $500 fucking each per year for 30 years knowing they would not be able to finish the motherfucker without going way over budget in a million fucking years. FUCK THEM ALL TO FUCKING HELL!

Posted by: d-rod at November 07, 2006 07:30 PM (A7mUo)

14 Shelly, as you know, minor league ballot box stuffing is not beneath me, however in this case it would have been pissing in the wind. Effort is admirable, accomplishment is valuable.

Posted by: Casca at November 07, 2006 07:41 PM (2gORp)

15 I spent the a.m. w/ my ballot guides and the computer, researching candidates and issues and marking the guides w/ my votes in bright red Sharpie. I liked the Diebold machine. It was quick and easy. I waited for my illiterate neighbor to come banging on my door at dinner time, like she did in '04, cursing her 41-year-old son who wasn't home from work in time to take her to the polls. It would've taken forever to talk her through the ballot so I'm glad she was covered this time.

Posted by: Joules at November 09, 2006 11:18 PM (u4CYb)

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Along the same lines as my "Memo To The Disgruntled Independent Voter" below, I have a message for those voters whose main issue is opposition to abortion.

What are you doing thinking about staying home tomorrow? I understand your frustration at Bush, and the Republicans, and their betrayal of conservative values. But I also know that a Democratic Congress will lead directly to fewer restrictions on abortion, and more pro-abortion federal judges. Maybe you're okay with that, but I won't have that vote on my conscience.

If you say you're pro-life, your only choice is to vote — and to vote Republican. Staying home is not an option.

Posted by: annika at 08:09 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Tonight's game pits sucky Seattle against sucky Oakland. The big question at Qwest Field is who will be suckier. NFC champ Seattle at least has a good excuse: they're missing two great players, Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck. Bad as Seattle has been playing, they're still number one in the NFC West. Oakland used to be a sure thing on Monday Night, but if they lose this week it will be their fifth consecutive MNF loss. Oakland is currently on a two game winning streak, but it's been four years since they've won three in a row. Plus Art Shell is completely hapless as a coach.

Let's look at Oakland's last two games. They beat the Cardinals, a semi-pro team from somewhere around Phoenix. And last week they managed to beat a sloppy Steelers team, despite moving the ball only 98 yards the whole game! The Raiders' third-string QB, Andrew Walter has thrown nine interceptions and been sacked 28 times since he took over for Aaron Brooks. Last week he threw for 51 yards. This is not only one of the worst Raider teams ever, it's probably one of the worst NFL teams ever.

So, the Seahawks are going to win, but will they cover? They're favored by 7½. I think the smart money is going with Seattle to cover the spread, and that's what I recommend too.

Result: No surprise, the Raiders not only suck, they don't care that they suck. I however, am now 6 and 3!

Posted by: annika at 05:42 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Dean Barnett, at Hugh Hewitt's:

[I]f the lefty blogosphere is some sort of La Cosa Nostra, that canÂ’t be good news for Oliver Willis because heÂ’s obviously Fredo.

Posted by: annika at 04:49 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I agree that the number one issue in tomorrow's election is the war in Iraq. I also agree that things are not going well over there, and it's time for a change. I understand that a lot of independent voters want to give the Democrats a try, with the hope that maybe they can do better than Bush in what seems like a no win situation. Believe me, I share your frustration.

But remember, not all change is good. Sometimes things can change for the worse. Please read Frederick Kagan's column in the Weekly Standard. Here's a key excerpt.

The pullback of U.S. forces to their bases will not reduce the sectarian conflict . . . . It will increase it. Death squads on both sides will become more active. Large-scale ethnic and sectarian cleansing will begin as each side attempts to establish homogeneous enclaves where there are now mixed communities. Atrocities will mount, as they always do in ethnic cleansing operations. Iraqis who have cooperated with the Americans will be targeted by radicals on both sides. Some of them will try to flee with the American units. American troops will watch helplessly as death squads execute women and children. Pictures of this will play constantly on Al Jazeera. Prominent "collaborators," with whom our soldiers and leaders worked, will be publicly executed. Crowds of refugees could overwhelm not merely Iraq's neighbors but also the FOBs themselves. Soldiers will have to hold off fearful, tearful, and dangerous mobs. Again, endless photographs and video footage of all this will play constantly. Before long, it will probably prove necessary to remove the embedded U.S. troops from the Iraqi military units. The situation will become too dangerous; the Iraqis will increasingly resent the restraint the embeds place on their actions; and the U.S. military will become fearful of being implicated in death-squad activity. It is a matter of chance whether the embedded troops are pulled before any are kidnapped or taken prisoner by Iraqi military units turning bad or being infiltrated by radicals.

. . . There will be no "decent interval" here during which we withdraw in reasonably good order--the withdrawal itself is likely to occur in the midst of rising violence. Instead of pictures of Americans on the embassy roof in Saigon, we will see images of Iraqi death squads at work with U.S. troops staying on their bases nearby. And let us not forget that in the world of Al Jazeera, we will be accused of encouraging those death squads. The overall result will be searing and scarring. The damage to the morale of the military could be far greater than what will result from burdening soldiers with longer or more frequent tours of duty in a stepped-up effort to achieve victory. Those who are concerned about the well-being of the Army should fear defeat of this type more than anything.

Do you want your vote to be responsible for the reign of terror that will inevitably follow our retreat from Iraq? I know no matter how pissed I am at the mistakes and the lack of progress, I don't want that blood on my conscience.

There is no third way; there is only defeat or victory. And thus the choice tomorrow is clear, because you know what the Democrats want to do. Even if you don't believe the Democrats want us to lose, you should give serious thought to whether you want us to lose, and to what would happen if we were to begin withdrawing forces from Iraq now, when they're needed there most.

Posted by: annika at 02:39 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Just keep repeating to yourself:

Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco
Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco
Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco

Posted by: annika at 03:26 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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On Tuesday I went on the record, saying that the Democrats will pick up five Senate seats to split the upper house 50/50. I just spent the last hour re-analyzing the latest polls, and I stand by that prediction.

Democrats will gain seats in Missouri, Montana, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Rhode Island. Republicans will fail to take over Democratic seats in Maryland, New Jersey and Minnesota. Republicans will hold on to their seats in Virginia and Tennessee.

The races where I might be wrong are, of course, the hotly contested Montana and Missouri elections.

Montana perplexes me. I don't know enough about the issues to say why, but Democrat Tester has consistently polled ahead of Republican Burns since April. It might be Tester's haircut. Tester's ads portray him as a regular guy, someone you could have a beer with. By contrast, Burns seems more like, well, Mr. Burns. The race is still close. The latest Zogby poll has Burns down by a percentage point. But I'm still calling it for Tester. I think Montanans are turned off by Burns' alleged Abramoff connections, and Tester is a native who looks the part. I also think you can probably trust Montana poll numbers more than you would some other state's.

In Missouri, Republican incumbent Jim Talent is polling about three points behind Democrat Claire McCaskill. The polls have switched back and forth all year between the two candidates. If I'm wrong about any of my predictions, Missouri is likely to be the one. But I think Missouri is a weird state; it seems so evenly split between red and blue. One thing I think McCaskill has going for her is that there are large urban areas where the Democrats can use fraud to add a few unearned points to her total. Talent seems like a good guy though, and I hope he wins.

I could also be wrong about Virginia. I predict Republican incumbent George Allen will hold on to win, despite recent polls showing Democrat Jim Webb with a one to five point advantage. I'm sticking with Allen because I trust Virginia is at heart a conservative state, and I don't trust the pollsters there. When was the last time a Democrat won a national election in Virginia? Okay, Chuck Robb, but he was a centrist. Webb may have a certain appeal to conservatives, but if voting for him means handing the Senate over to the Democrats, I think Virginians will do the right thing.

Finally, I'm still sticking with my prediction that Maryland's open Senate seat will remain in Democrat hands. When was the last time a Republican won a national election in Maryland? And my fraud theory holds here too. I really hope Steele wins, though. After what they've done and said about him, Steele's Democrat critics ought to wear sheets and hoods. It's disgusting.

My best case scenario for Republicans has them maintaining a Senate majority by three seats. Santorum, DeWine and Chafee are toast. But if Steele, Talent and Burns win, there's our three seats. Of course I'm still assuming that Allen and Corker win Virginia and Tennessee, but I think they will.

The House is way too complicated for me to analyze, so like I said before: trust Gerrymandering.

Update: See how far out on a limb I am? Only one guy at the Weekly Standard agrees with me.

Posted by: annika at 12:32 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Drudge has been running this story about Where's Nancy? He claims that Nancy Pelosi has been hidden from public appearances since October 21, two weeks ago. I don't doubt it. She's as bad for the the Democratic Party's PR as John Kerry, only twice as dumb.

Drudge says:

The woman who would be speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has oddly stayed out of the national spotlight in the week leading up to the big vote.

The high profile, potentially history-making democrat has turned low-key.

The last photo of vanishing Pelosi on the wires was from an October 21 fundraiser.

And since Pelosi appeared on the controversial October 22 broadcast of 60 MINUTES, national TV hits have all but been nonexistent.

[Pelosi did appear on CNBC's On the Money on 10/24 and on ABC on 10/26, as THINK PROGRESS points out. But the sightings have dramatically dwindled.]

Former Speaker of the House, Republican Newt Gingrich believes he knows one reason why the congresswoman has largely dropped out of public sight ever since 60 MINUTES.

"It seems clear that some Americans have glimpsed a future with her third in line for the presidency, and they don't like what they see," says Gingrich. "She has become largely invisible as a result."

A source close to the congresswoman explains she has been busy behind the scenes.

Pelosi made a brief public appearance with Bill Clinton this week in San Francisco.

After providing a long schedule of her weekend events, a Pelosi aide added that her favorite stop was the taping of a World Wrestling Entertainment podcast on the importance of young people voting, the WHITE HOUSE BULLETIN reports.

Posted by: annika at 06:10 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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Read and understand:

If you vote for Democrats in this election, you might think youre voting for a perfectly nice centrist Democrat, but the "Anti-war" wing of leftist thought will take that perfectly nice candidate that you voted for and use it as evidence that their side in the argument is actually perferred by Americans. Not the "centrist American" side, but the loathesome "We hate America" side. Your vote will be used to prove it.

They will take that protest vote of yours to argue "America is in descent", that our sins have finally caught up with us and we need to be sorry for all the evil we have done in the world, and look at all the people who agree with us! They will argue that fundamental changes in our country are necessary to make up for our crimes of the past, that our its our military is actually what causes wars, that people in the military should be prosecuted and they are what causes other people in the world to hate us and not our lovely and socially relevent "pop-culture".

. . . If Democrats are tossed yet another defeat this time, they will learn. They will get the message. They will remove the leech of "Anti-war" from their crotch and we might start to see Democrats like Harry Truman again. Democrats who don't apologize for America or being an American.

And that will be good for all of us.

Posted by: annika at 03:19 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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1 I'm playing "God Bless America" on the CD player. Off to read a couple of articles in National Review and I'll have my Church of Conservatism needs met for the week.

Posted by: Joules at November 02, 2006 04:10 PM (u4CYb)

2 When the Democrats go down in flames in this election, I hope there is an another group that learns its lesson. For the past three elections, MSM has manipulated the news, sabotaged our anti-terrorism efforts and attempted to destroy our economy. They have done all this to force left-wing rule down the throats of all Americans. MSM has ignored falling revenues, cancelled subscriptions, decreasing viewers, and massive media layoffs. Maybe after losing three straight elections, MSM will join America again and just report the news.

Posted by: Jake at November 02, 2006 04:39 PM (V6rxT)

3 absolutely, Jake!

Posted by: annika at November 03, 2006 07:12 AM (qQD4Q)

4 The Hate-America crowd will not be purged from the Demoncrat party until the Vietnam generation and their children are dead. It is an article of faith among them, that all who carried the burden of that war were ignorant murderers, rapists, and baby killers... you know, what Kerry said. Don't worry, we might start whacking these NGCS's any day now.

Posted by: Casca at November 03, 2006 07:55 AM (2gORp)

5 "They will remove the leech of "Anti-war" from their crotch" leech and crotch...hmmm...yes, yes he must be talking about Democrats ...and looks like it will be Michigan-Louisville in Glendale for the BCS, whodathunk?

Posted by: Scof at November 03, 2006 11:59 AM (a3fqn)

6 Wow! Did Michagoose already beat OSU? I musta lost track of the date - or the year. Nah, I'm afraid BIG RED will be in Glendale, along with some once beaten team. I'm also afraid that the best Michigan could possibly hope for is Pasadena, where once again, USC will hand you your ass and eat your lunch.

Posted by: shelly at November 03, 2006 02:16 PM (SLFj+)

7 "It is an article of faith that all who carried the burden of that war were ignorant murderers, rapists, and baby killers... " You said it Casca. Now the Iraq invaders are the newest rendition of this noble American tradition.

Posted by: Strawman at November 03, 2006 02:47 PM (9ySL4)

8 "Murderers, rapists, and baby killers" are criminals and are treated such in our military. Hopefully, Straw, you are not suggesting that our military in Iraq engages in this sort of behavior as a general rule. If you are, then you are both reprehensible and stunningly ignorant. There is no military in the world that does anymore to root out corruption and criminality in its ranks than does the US military. The lie that this was common and accepted in Vietnam is just another Left-wing myth perpetuated by the likes of John Kerry and other America haters.

Posted by: blu at November 03, 2006 04:31 PM (IDpQp)

9 The Dems will learn? I doubt it...

Posted by: Mike@CopTheTruth at November 03, 2006 05:17 PM (YadGF)

10 Loiusville for the nat'l championship, lol, that's a good one!

Posted by: annika at November 03, 2006 05:29 PM (qQD4Q)

11 Blu, We've had this discussion before. I am sure you know exactly what I mean. The cruelty in VN and the criminality of many. not most, many GI's is well known. Remember I am VN vet age, lost friends and relatives in this confilict, repatriated ABC News' vienamese employees to my home town, (my sister was in charge of ABC's camp Pendleton repatriation station where 4000 South Vietnamese employees were put up on the way to being place in jobs and given citizenship) I have some direct knowledge.

Posted by: Strawman at November 03, 2006 06:07 PM (9ySL4)

12 As an archivist of Straw's BS, I'm getting a sense of deja vu again. I'm about as touched by his "compassion" towards South Vietnamese refugees as much as Macaulay Culkin was during a visit to the Neverland Ranch. [Your blowing smoke out your ass. My sister worked for ABC news and was in charge of resettling the 3000 "dependents" as they were called, of the network. CBS and NBC had similar numbers. The network employees and their families were given some kind of automatic citizenship after Saigon fell since they would have been killed or imprisioned by the ARVN as traitors and collaborators. The networks gave them money and resources including job placement. I met many of them who were resettled in the NY area. These are the people you heard interviewed. You think they are an unbiased bunch? They lived well, benefitted from the occupation and sold out their country.] BTW, from the same thread, Straw displays his sincere adulation for our veterans: [Killerjoe, I guess the basic disagreement is that the N. Vietnamese were not our enemy until we invaded their country. Sort of like the Iraqi people who are fighting back now just like you would if your country were invaded. We are the most aggressive fucks the world has seen since the fall of the British Empire. I felt sorry for the people of Vietnam, all of them. We ruined their country and killed millions doing it. You no doubt helped and are still proud of it. You should try and get that off your chest. That is what Kerry did upon coming home. He had the courage to say the killing was a travesty bordering on the criminal; our government lied about the justification for war, and the plan, like BushÂ’s was a joke. You had the courage to kill in the course of invading a country that did you and America no harm and you have stayed ignorant of the history to this day. WhoÂ’s the dumb scumbag?] -From Strawman's (formerly known as Mike) Greatest Hits, Volume 1

Posted by: reagan80 at November 03, 2006 08:02 PM (dFOlH)

13 How the hell did I not know about this guy's blog before? I'm pretty damn impressed. He needs to get more pimpage!

Posted by: TBinSTL at November 04, 2006 12:40 AM (bYmT0)

14 Varifrank's article sounds like the warning's of the strategist who thought up "Contract with America", a real life surprise pulled on the American people. With Bush's and the GOP's abysmal poll numbers, even a "war president" and his cohorts won't have enough influence to stem the tide of change. We'll see if the Republicans take to whining, as they had complained the Democrats had done. Being an independent before an election is like being at ringside seat at a title match. Pass the popcorn!

Posted by: will at November 04, 2006 09:20 AM (h7Ciu)

15 Hey Raygun, He called you a pimp, for me no less! Terrific. I thank you for reposting my relitively well written but better reasoned posts. (get the invoice in for the archivist fee before the end of the year, OK?) They were to the point when I wrote them and have aged well as we have seen the wonderful progress of the Bush plan in the ME. (I think you mistook my sentiment about the South VN coming to the US. I, like the ARVN, felt them to be traitors and thought they should have stayed and been rehabilatated just as you my friend would have shot, I mean rehabilitated, a colonist in Boston who gave material and personal support to the British) Bravo for Bush. I certainly feeling good and way safer, how about you Ray? Feeling good? Feeling lees scared out of you runny underware? THe advances in limb and face reconstruction are great, the C-147's outfitted as ICU's are really something to see, and the boost to the wheelchair rugby and basketball leagues is pushing them closer to a contract with ESPN. I applaud it all. You too, right? ANd Blu tells me the wonderful economic tide that's flowing in here in the states will be rising Iraq's boats soon as well. New housing is just around the corner, Parsons is knocking out thoses hospitals and police stations like my mom's toll house cookies! Hezzbolla and Hammas are theowing in the towel and making lots of con cessions, the Saudi's are playing a big part too. They are exerting lot's of clout and sending peacemakers to twist a few arms. Condi's racking up frequent flyer miles and soon will take a few free weeks in Bali, and how about Rummy, boy he just keeps hitting them out of the park. Every new strategy he tries wow's em. PAcified Bagdad's ass didn't he? I hear they added ten square meters to the green zone and put up a new gaurd tower. Gotta sign off before I run outa breath, Iraq is amazing! My kid is thinking of appling to the University for graduate work (poly sci major) and hthen might establish residencey since ther new democracy has such opportunity to do some good in the region. Amaazing! Gotta go, my palms are getting raw from the clapping. Oh, the generals and Richard Perle? Fuckem what do they know!

Posted by: Strawman at November 04, 2006 11:53 AM (9ySL4)

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I'll miss your blog. But only until the next Catscratch episode!

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Just because I haven't posted about Dancing With The Stars this season doesn't mean that I haven't been as obsessed as ever with the show.

I have a question about last night's competition. Did you see it? During Emmitt and Cheryl's rumba, didn't Cheryl's hand land squarely on Emmitt's little umpire at one point? And didn't Cheryl suddenly realize where it was and then move it quickly to the side? And wasn't Emmitt's little umpire signaling touchdown at that very moment?

I think so.

I also think Mrs. Smith is probably not going to let Emmitt and Cheryl spend another 13 days together "rehearsing."

Okay I'm off to watch the rest of the results show.

Update: When they announced that Il Divo would be performing tonight, I honestly expected them to sing "Whip It."

Update 2: I'm sorry to see Monique and Louie go. Monique really was fun to watch and the judges weren't always fair to her. Next week's elimination will be impossible, because the final three teams are all so good.

Update 3: YouTube just posted the Rumba, check it out for yourself.

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It's a bonus Poetry Day this week, as my lunchtime reading alerted me to the fact a previously unpublished sonnet by Sylvia Plath was released online today.

The Blackbird is Virginia Commonwealth University's online literature/arts journal. A contributing editor of the Blackbird, Anna Journey, discovered this sonnet was previously unpublished and argued it should be published. The editorial staff agreed and a transcript, along with images of an early draft and the final version, were released online today with the permission of the estate of Sylvia Plath.

And, as you might imagine, there are copyright notices all over the place on this. As a result, I provide the first line of Ennui, linked to the article in today's issue of the Blackbird:

Ennui
Tea leaves thwart those who court catastrophe,

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