'Deep Throat' Mark Felt Dies

Mark Felt's Last Birthday August, 2008

Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish

Palestinian Poet Mahmoud Darwish

I saw Mahmoud Darwish over more than two decades in Beirut, in Damascus, in Washington, in New York, in London, in Paris, in Geneva — and last month in Ramallah. He was part of my life, and part of the lives of every Palestinian in Jerusalem and Ramallah and everywhere. And now, he is gone, and the world is not the same.

She shares her favourite poem with us - a biblical story of Yousef:

Oh my father, I am Yusuf
Oh father, my brothers neither love me nor want me in their midst
They assault me and cast stones and words at me
They want me to die so they can eulogize me
They closed the door of your house and left me outside
They expelled me from the field
Oh my father, they poisoned my grapes
They destroyed my toys
When the gentle wind played with my hair, they were jealous
They flamed up with rage against me and you
What did I deprive them of, Oh my father?
The butterflies stopped on my shoulder
The bird hovered over my hand
What have I done, Oh my father?
Why me?
You named me Yusuf and they threw me into the well
They accused the wolf
The wolf is more merciful than my brothers
Oh, my father
Did I wrong anyone when I said that
I saw eleven stars and the sun and the moon
Saw them kneeling before me?

Jordanian Samer Marzouq, writing at Jazarah, says Darwish's death is a big loss for the Arab world.

Bad news, the greatest Arab poet, the Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish has died today in a hospital in Huston in the USA, this is a big loss for the Arab cultural scene, rest in peace Mahmoud Darwish, rest in peace.

Tunisian blog Khil We Lil [Ar] marks Darwish's death saying:

عملاق آخر يمضي
Another giant passes away.

Radwa Osama, from Egypt, is shocked at the news and awaits a message from Darwish - via another poet:

In a sad tone, Amr told me that Mahmoud Darwish passed away. I have repeatedly asked him not to break such stories to me in one go. A little while later, we listened to Mahmood Darwish's voice on the computer. I can hear his clear sadness. I don't find a lot of words to add but I am extremely sad. I was thinking that next time his visited Cairo, it would be at the American University. I was preparing myself for that event. It has really been a long time since I last heard Darwish. I used to listen to him every time I felt annoyed. He was able to calm me down. Amr asks me: "What do you think Mahmoud Darwish is doing now?" I think logically and say: "Mahmoud Darwish is now contemplating on the experience (of death), in order to write a poem, and send it to us, the people who are eager for the truth. Very soon, I will stop enjoying poetry. Mahmoud Darwish, do you still think that death mistakes us?! I am looking forward for a poem from you, with the first person who contacts you
. Poets never die.

You may view the latest post at

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/08/09/arabeyes-mourning-for-mahmoud-darwish/

Is McCain Dying? Death as a Controlled Media Event

McCain Restricts Medical Report

HuffPost

John McCain is scheduled to release 400 pages of medical records this Friday, after having promised to release the records for more than a year. Doing so on the Friday before Memorial Day makes this look like a classic document dump. To make matters even more controlled, McCain will only allow a limited number of media outlets to view the records.

Ode to a Dead Iraqi Boy

Ode to a Dead Iraqi Boy

Allen L Roland, Salon.com

Yesterday you were laughing

and playing with your sister

You knew nothing about war

You knew only that you loved

your sister and your parents

and your grandparents and of

course, your dog .

You were free, you were alive

You were gleefully chasing your

sister in the open field

when you heard the planes.

You looked up squinting into the sun

When you heard the first bomb

you began to run towards your home

aware of your mother screaming your name .

You never made it .

You were torn and shredded by an illegal

cluster bomb dropped by an illegal invading

force fighting an illegal war .

Conveniently swept, along with

countless others,

under a rug of

debris called

Collateral Damage .

Sleep peacefully little boy

I will take your outstretched hand

I will give you life with my words

For only poetry can strike deep enough

to give you breath again

For only poetry can join your innocent

heart with ours .

Perhaps these following words from Alice Walker

will touch the hearts of your American

perpetrators and the American public

who continue to condone this

illegal genocide ~ all under the false

banner of patriotism.

Thousands of feet below you

There is a a small boy

running from your bombs.

If he were to show up

at your mothers house

on a green Sea island

off the coast of Georgia

He'd be invited in for dinner.

Now, driven , you have

shattered his bones .

He lies steaming in

the desert

In fifty or sixty

or maybe one hundred

oily, slimy bits.

If you survive and return

to your island home

and your mother's gracious

table

where the cup of loving

kindness overflows

the brim

( and from which no one

in memory was ever

turned )

Gather yourself.

Set a place

for him.

ONLY LOVE UNITES AND HEALS

Allen L Roland

http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2008/04/03.html

Evil Jewish Acts?

Evil Jewish Acts

In 1938 Gandhi advised ALL Jews to accede to the Nazi desire to exterminate them. This advice came from his experience in India where it met with remarkable success. In this Ghandhi seriously underestimated the ability and will of the Nazi death apparatus.There were 153000 Nazis at work in the death camps. The estimate that 'only' 371000 Jews died in the camps suggests great inefficiency by the Germans.After the war 600000 Jewish Holocaust Survivors immigrated to Israel. Using the low death figure, one might conclude that two-thirds of Jews evaded the Gestapo for six years.The New England Medical Journal now claims that 'only' 151000 Iraqis died due to the US invasion. They claim that 4/5ths of all deaths were from natural causes.The British medical journal Lancet updated the violent deaths every week during the war to arrive at the estimate of 1.2 millions killed.Statistics lie according to the predilections of the statisticians, or the people who were paying them.Any minority group will exaggerate the damage done to it by those in power. The Gazans equate their present plight to genocide. If the Israelis desired this, they could easily have accomplished this in a bloody morning.The Arabs have not controlled Palestine since the year 1250 AD.Jewish terrorist groups such as the Stern Gang fought the then ruling power the British. The Jews executed the standard terror tactics well known in many circles.The Jews were neither the first nor the last people to stake out a territory.Why are they singled out for inspection?