Re: Spinning, reeling by ecargo	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/9:45 AM
Heh...it took me while to get this one to open but the effort was worth it. This has possibly the greatest closing stanza of any political poem ever!
Re: a comment on Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	ecargo 167.219.88.140	8-Mar-06/9:40 AM
Ah, Ranger, no worries. I think you might be reading more into the poem than what's actually there, though. I read it as more of a rant about the leadership who led us into this war, not so much about the soldiers over there doing a job (and not nearly as artful as my song-and-dance mock neocon punchliney "memo" from 2003 (shameless self-promotion and vote mongering: http://www.poemranker.com/poem-details.jsp?id=137076 ). ;-D
Re: a comment on Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	ecargo 167.219.88.140	8-Mar-06/9:39 AM
Well, in all fairness, Dave Chappelle is behind my comment.
Re: a comment on The King Of Loserville by mindsigns	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/9:38 AM
Star Wars was great up until Episode 2. What did you think to Episode 3?
Re: a comment on 10/8 by cronus	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/9:36 AM
The problem is, you call God uncaring. If he doesn't care, then it won't matter a jot what you sacrifice - nothing will be enough, because there isn't an 'enough' to achieve. I'd suggest changing 'uncaring' to pretty much anything else. Then it will become a little clearer.
Re: a comment on The King Of Loserville by mindsigns	SupremeDreamer 130.65.109.104	8-Mar-06/9:36 AM
Well, spice yourself up damn-it. Go to Vegas and do that thing.
Re: a comment on Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/9:25 AM
Haha! Two of the funniest comments I've read in ages!
Re: a comment on Brethren, oblivion is not the road to the city Ataraxis II by SupremeDreamer	SupremeDreamer 130.65.109.104	8-Mar-06/9:24 AM
Not bad, now stop plagiarizing me Mofo. ;P
Re: a comment on Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/9:23 AM
I'll be honest, I don't hold the view that I put forward, just bits of it, but I did it to show Dhanesh that just as that that extreme view is naive and hasty, so is his. I know Iraq didn't attack you, but the man who masterminded it was strongly linked with the Taliban regime (Afghanistan, I know, I meant it though). Why I'm defending the Americans I don't know, you should be good enough at doing that yourselves. But I get really angry about the way the British troops are treated, despite the shitty situation they've found themselves in. In my defence, I'm not hostile to the poem *because* it's about Iraq. I'm hostile to the view put forward in it though. Similarly, if I read a poem saying 'kill the Jews' I'd write a similarly derogatory comment, not because the poem's about antisemitism, but because I disagree entirely with its theme. Anyway, this wasn't really meant to lead to an argument. Peace?
Re: Relive the Fifth by Miggy	Niphredil 192.117.117.50	8-Mar-06/9:08 AM
Just curious, what do you mean by the First, Second and so on? I don't get it... but I'd like to.
Re: a comment on There by Dovina	zodiac 206.174.124.170	8-Mar-06/9:08 AM
Do you suppose thinking cartoonists who disrespect Islams are dogs and thinking -=Allah=- exists are somehow intrinsically connected? Here's an analogy: You have a belief that God exists. -=Dark_Angel=- mercilessly mocks that belief. I don't believe in God, but I think -=Dark_Angel=- is an uncouth bum. I'm sure he would agree. Thanks.
Re: a comment on Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	ecargo 167.219.88.140	8-Mar-06/8:59 AM
Gasp! Colin Powell's black? Didn't the black delegation trade Powell and Rice for Eminem?
Re: Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	ALChemy 24.74.100.11	8-Mar-06/8:49 AM
Show, don't tell. Don't preach. Nobody needs to be told America is evil. We already know we are. We admire the level of evil Iraq has reached. We can only dream of the days when we can cut clits off women and heads off peace corp workers. Do you really think all this bitching is going to sway Americans? More importantly, do you hate black people? I noticed you only mentioned the name of negros. Really the more I read this the more I realize you're terrifically racist.
Re: a comment on 10/8 by cronus	cronus 69.119.168.109	8-Mar-06/8:25 AM
You're the only person who understood this remotely. Other people think I'm blaming God. The meaning was that I've sacrificed all that I love, and some would say its going too far, but I know its not enough. God is not to blame, its that what I've given him isn't worthy enough.
Re: a comment on Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	ecargo 167.219.88.140	8-Mar-06/8:11 AM
Oh jeez. I know I'll regret this. Iraq did not attack us. As for body counts, it's almost impossible to get stats on civilian casualties, whether from "coalition" action or insurgent bombs--which says something in itself about how this war is being conducted ("truth never damages a cause that is just"). It's difficult enough to get stats on our own dead/wounded. Also, while oil was not the only factor, do you really think it was not a factor at all? You hit almost every neocon/apologist talking point in your post (linking Iraq and 9-11; opposition to the war = shitting on the troops; we're there to "make life better for the Iraqis"; "would Iraq be better off with Saddam Hussein still in power?" (currently, for the Iraqis, the answer is probably yes by all practical measures). I honestly don't want to reargue old circular arguments, particularly on this board, but I do find the hostility toward any poems that have to do with the war a little disconcerting. So he has an opinion. So do you. So do I. I agree with your comments on the execution of the poem, anyway.
Re: The Thief by Niphredil	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/4:11 AM
Yes, a reflection of the way the condemned notices small details. Nice.
Re: Relive the Fifth by Miggy	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/3:53 AM
This is great in places as a lyric, but other areas don't hold up as well in my view. Stanza 1 is nice, but stanza 2 is a little...erm...I don't really know how to describe it. 'You started a positive change'? I don't like that - not meaning to be rude, but I think you could find a more imaginative way of phrasing it. The schoolfight bit is pretty good, although a little Utopian I fear, and the ending isn't bad either. I just feel that with a but more imaginative wordplay this would get a whole lot better.
Re: Memoirs of a Monk - St. Screamer by SupremeDreamer	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/3:49 AM
This is so damn funky! Absolute demon opener, and 'decayed ghosts' is very nice too.
Re: Breakfast by Dhanesh M Kumar	Ranger 62.252.32.15	8-Mar-06/3:40 AM
Last two lines don't make grammatical sense; the number doesn't agree. Either you mean 'Many others' bones', or you mean 'An other's bone'. 'Seamless joy?' I don't know the statistics, but I'm prepared to bet that the number of people killed in conflict with the troops is fewer (or will very soon be fewer) than the number of people killed by the militants' bombs, which, I should add, are generally planted to cause maximum carnage whereas the intentions of the troops, especially the British troops, is to cause as little damage as possible and actually save lives. Yes! I know it's an astonishing concept to grasp, but our boys actually travelled thousands of miles from home, subjected themselves to all kinds of abuse from the people they were trying to protect, and selflessly risk their own lives on a daily basis because they genuinely want to make life better for the Iraqis. As for the oil - well of course it's a priority. It's the main source of income for the country. Iraq needs those oilfields to be protected more than the Americans do. But oil being the reason for war? Rubbish. I used to think that it was, then I realised how stupid a concept it was. What would be easier - ignoring the UN, amassing troops and sending them to probable death while capturing a dangerous war criminal, then spending huge amounts of time and effort trying to rebuild the country that the oil is in, all the while risking a second Vietnam...or would it be easier to ignore the UN and just go and drill the Arctic Circle, thus avoiding all that 'unjust war' bullshit? None of us like war, none of us want to see our own people get killed, and most of us despise the way our troops are treated. You take a very simplistic view of us, of the Americans in particular, and I'm afraid it's wrong. Most of the people on this site are testament to that. And so I ask you; would you rather Saddam Hussein and the Taliban been left controlling their respective countries? (PS as I remember, the Americans were attacked first, correct me if I'm wildly wrong)
Re: a comment on Brethren, oblivion is not the road to the city Ataraxis II by SupremeDreamer	mindsigns 63.100.108.20	7-Mar-06/11:03 PM
I guess I didn't ferment, fester or merge myself clearly enough, I revel in my embarrassment. For my derision's and ineptness are fostering and ultimately I dread & eschew myself. If only I could be more inconsolable, ominous and pensive then maybe I can bow down to your wisdom. My bedeviled self can only ask for your gracious forgiveness & accession and help me let go of my past discordance.