SOMETIMES THE SKY'S TOO BRIGHT

Dylan Thomas

Sometimes the sky's too bright,
Or has too many clouds or birds,
And far away's too sharp a sun
To nourish thinking of him.
Why is my hand too blunt
To cut in front of me
My horrid images for me,
Of over-fruitful smiles,
The weightless touching of the lip
I wish to know
I cannot lift, but can,
The creature with the angel's face
Who tells me hurt,
And sees my body go
Down into misery?
No stopping. Put the smile
Where tears have come to dry.
The angel's hurt is left;
His telling burns.

Sometimes a woman's heart has salt,
Or too much blood;
I tear her breast,
And see the blood is mine,
Flowing from her, but mine,
And then I think
Perhaps the sky's too bright;
And watch my hand,
But do not follow it,
And feel the pain it gives,
But do not ache.

*****

God Loves Bush

An outspoken general in the American War Machine has some groups hopping mad (or in the case of Desultory Turgescence, doubled over, gasping in laughter) because of comments he's made regarding radical Muslims.

Gen. William Boykin is a Christian and one of the men overseeing the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

At a recent religious meeting he spoke about why radical Muslims hate America.

He said, "One of the most fundamental reasons they hate us is, a: We're a nation of believers; and, b: We support Israel."

Some groups are saying Boykin should resign, but Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says he has a right to express his opinions, apparently, no matter how stupid they are. Rummy should know. He's the professor of the Stupid Sayings Faculty.

The Los Angeles Times reports Gen. Boykin told an Oregon Christian group in June that radical Islamists hate the United States, "because we're a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian and the enemy is a guy named Satan."

(I like that: "the enemy is a guy named Satan." -- the war on terrorism is now a war on Satan. Deftly, he's cut out the possibility of opposition. Whereas some have gotten confused as the lines blur between a "terrorist" and an oligarchic putsch that slaughters innocents because they are unfortunate to be in the way of the big war machine, everyone knows Satan is bad. Even the Muslims know Satan is bad. Isn't that what they've referred to America in the past, "The Great Satan"?)

Referring to a battle against a Muslim warlord in Somalia, Boykin told another audience, "I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."

Ah, yes, the ole, 'My God is Bigger Than Yours' argument. Brilliant.

And the Los Angeles Times reports that Boykin said that President Bush is, "in the White House because God put him there."

Finally! An explanation. God Wanted Him There. In which case, your vote as a citizen is pretty useless since God has the final say anyhow...

*****

The new rage in Denmark is issparkning which, I suppose, could roughly be translated as ice cream kicking. Roughly indeed:

Officielle regler

1 liter vanille is stilles på højkant og sparkes fra flad jord med bar fod uden sko og strømpe så langt som muligt. Kun vanille is er tilladt og kun i rektangulær firkantet indpakning (Frisko, Premier, Polar). Længste spark vinder.

Udstyr

Det er med til at højne totaloplevelsen såfremt du har en hat eller dragt på.

Teknik

Den optimale vinkel er 45 grader - såfremt du sparker i vakuum. Da de fleste har svært ved at efterkomme dette sidste punkt er der ikke andet at gøre end at eksperimentere. Sparker du i en vinkel på ca. 50 grader er du ikke helt galt på den. Isen tages ud af indpakningen og placeres på højkant. Man afprøver lige sit tilløb til et par gange, og så sparker man ellers. Isen skal som udgangspunkt være kold og hård som muligt. Tjek fryseboksen i den forretning hvori du køber isen. -20 grader er anbefalet. Er isen blevet for hård kan du lade den stå et par minutter. Husk også toiletpapir eller håndklæde så du kan rense din fod efter sparket.

Isen

Vanille Flødeis (8% mælkefedt) med vanillesmag

Ingredienser: Skummetmælkskoncentrat, glukosesirup, sukker, mælkefedt, vallepulver, emulgator (mono- og diglycerider af vegetabilske spisefedtsyrer), stabilisator (guargummi, johannesbrødkernemel, carrageenan), aroma
Nettovolumen: 1000ml
Næringsindhold: pr 100ml pr 100g
Energi ca 393kJ (94 kcal) 771kJ (184 kcal)
Protein ca 1,5g 3g
Kulhydrat ca 12,1g 23,7g
Fedt ca 4,3g 8,5g

*****
Meanwhile, in Bolivia, instead of kicking one liter containers of vanilla icecream, El Presidente de Bolivia, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, firmó su renuncia a la Presidencia de Bolivia y partió en vuelo a la ciudad de Santa Cruz de la Sierra (900 kilómetros al este de La Paz), informó un empresario cercano al mandatario.