(April 9, 2007)
[If you want your letters to be published, you must include your first and last names and your city and state of residence. Also, please, enter in the subject line of your e-mail "letter to the editor," and specify the article or the subject on which you are commenting.] Why are the Bush Girls Not Deployed in Iraq? Gilles d'Aymery's There Are No Right Wars Dear Gilles, I've been meaning to give you another contribution for your remarkable newsletter for some time now, so here it is. Thank you for your excellent writing. You didn't mention Matthew Dowd, Bush's former aide in your latest article but the truth is -- when your loved ones are at risk, you look at a situation differently. Why aren't those Bush girls suited up and standing guard in the Western province of Anbar, a wellspring and refuge of the Sunni Arab insurgency like Lance Corporal Chris Baughman of the US Marine Corps or Dowd's son? Keep up the good work and thanks! Very Sincerely, Donna J. Warren Los Angeles, California, USA - April 3, 2007 [ed. Ms. Warren was the 2006 Green candidate for Lieutenant Governor (with Peter Camejo) in California. She is currently active in the campaign to amend California's Three Srikes Law. California is the only state in the nation where one can get a life sentence for petty theft!] Gilles d'Aymery responds: ********** Castigat Ridendo Mores: Charles Marowitz's Schizoid Comedy & Stephen Colbert To the Editor: I must draw your attention to the following error: Stephen Colbert appears on Comedy Central not MSNBC. To equate the audience members with attendees of Nuremberg rallies is somewhat disingenuous considering your later comments. We are not all jackasses. Only the really loud ones are. One of the things I have noticed about Colbert's "Victory Lap" after he introduces his guest, is that he immunizes the guest from catcalling, if unpopular, such as Dinesh D'Souza. If you are thinking I am wrong, the only guest on his show to be booed was Bill O'Reilly. As for the White House Correspondents Dinner. Embarrassing? To whom, other than the president? Since when has ridiculing a sitting president become off limits? When Bush 43 was elected? Please. Dr. Colbert, DFA is a satirist much in the vein of Mark Russell, The Capitol Steps and the Great Irish Bards, who understood the way to pull the teeth of an unwise King was to ridicule. Castigat Ridendo Mores [ed. "It (or he or she) corrects customs (or manners) by laughing at them"] Kelly Lincoln New York, New York, USA - March 26, 2007 ********** War is a Malady & the Folly of Fools: Gilles d'Aymery's Heck Of A Job, Uncle Sam To the Editor: Indeed, Gilles d'Aymery has carefully put together a bitter pill of #43-styled "democracy" in Iraq; many thanks from Australia. To contemplate basically the almost complete destruction of Iraq, the cradle of our civilisation that has been ravished by present day vandals in spite of historic lessons over centuries. Apparently, the 1991 invasion was a trial run. America is governed by a play on words espoused by a court of knaves and ruled by a clown. War is a malady & the folly of fools. Respectfully, John Cameron Sydney, NSW, Australia - March 28, 2007 ********** The Consequences of Depleted Uranium: Gilles d'Aymery's Heck Of A Job, Uncle Sam To the Editor: I am an American veteran of the Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom. I served in Iraq from 8th January 2004 to 18th February 2005. While in Iraq, I served as an 88mike, truck driver. My company drove over 1 million miles during our deployment. I experienced several attacks from IEDs, mortar attacks, and even being shot at. While deployed in Iraq, I began to experience several severe health problems. I would eat one bite of food from the DFAC, and then be running to the bathroom. At one point, my arms began to constantly go numb. Whether I was sleeping or driving, my arms would constantly go numb for about two weeks. I now continue to have extreme stomach and back pain. I am constantly in and out of the VA hospital. The hospital has tested me for several different things; yet, they tell me it is "unexplained" and "undiagnosed" or that I may have "IBS" and "PTSD." Although, I strongly believe I may have Depleted Uranium in my system. I have strongly urged the hospital to test me for DU. Although, I have yet to have this test. I am waiting for them to test me for this. I want to expose this and I want to find a cure for my illnesses. Please help and/or advise. Alishia Mason Tampa, Florida USA - March 29, 2007
********** Weapons of Mass Destruction not Found Because of the US "Open Society" Dear Editor: If the U.S. would not tell publicly to a foreign nation what our plans were for attack, then there would have been found weapons of mass destruction. The US Senate voted to attack Iraq. So the Senate is the problem, not President Bush. Americans wake up and learn law. Sincerely, Ed Wright Clover, South Carolina, USA - March 29, 2007 ********** "There is a lot of bullshit in Lawrence and Miller -- but their enemies are my enemies." --Kenneth Rexroth To the Editor: Two of Rexroth's greatest essays are about two of his greatest contemporaries: "Poetry, Regeneration, and D.H. Lawrence" "The Reality of Henry Miller" A few years later Rexroth nuanced his appreciation of both writers with some more critical second thoughts: "D.H. Lawrence: The Other Face of the Coin" "Henry Miller: The Iconoclast as Everyman's Friend" Ken Knabb "Making petrified conditions dance by singing them their own tune." Berkeley, California, USA - April 2, 2007 ********** "The Rockefeller Boys" Dear Editor: Rockefeller's global reach -- from the University of Chicago to the Holy Land. John D. Rockefeller knew a thing or two about power. His Standard Oil of New Jersey became a blueprint for corporate centralization. He pioneered new methods of stock rigging and financial mischief. He destroyed competition wherever he could and set new standards for industrial sabotage and union busting. He manipulated the tastes of "rational consumers" and made "policymakers" dance to his tune. He used violence to expropriate from indigenous Americans their resource-rich lands, and religion to pacify their resistance. He harnessed the US military to impose American "free trade" on the rest of the world. Raw power made Rockefeller and his family enormously rich. And yet, to the end of his life, John D. insisted that his best investment ever was the $45 million he donated to rebuild the Baptist University of Chicago. Rockefeller saw Chicago as a religious asset. The philanthropy helped silence his critics in this world and pave his way to heaven in the next. It bought him the loyalty of spiritual shepherds and academic retainers, all eager to sing the praise of Standard Oil and glorify its devout owner. But in the long run the biggest yield came from the university's department of economics. (From Bichler, Shimshon, and Nitzan, Jonathan, "The Rockefeller Boys." Science & Society 71 (April 2, 2007): 243-250.) Full text: http://bnarchives.yorku.ca/228/ Sincerely, Jonathan Nitzan Toronto, Ontario, Canada - April 4, 2007 **********
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