tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post116188697030322716..comments2023-10-28T06:59:04.980-07:00Comments on Ed Coletti's P3: Hope For Iraq/God?/Coletti at Copperfield'sEd Colettihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05337856316631860342noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1163787592977091642006-11-17T10:19:00.000-08:002006-11-17T10:19:00.000-08:00Suggested Title for Poem: Blue Sky MomentVery lov...Suggested Title for Poem: Blue Sky Moment<BR/><BR/>Very lovely calm poems, Ed. <BR/><BR/>very Zen.<BR/> Thanks againAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162663303811730532006-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:002006-11-04T10:01:00.000-08:00Perceptive, Dave. Actually I wrote this some time...Perceptive, Dave. Actually I wrote this some time before I knew I'd be reading at Copperfield's. But not a bad idea, though I'm leaning toward. "Backyard Appeal" as a title. It's already been "Common Ground" and then "Mixing Tints." I like "Backyard Appeal" for it's several pertinent connotations. Thanks for responding. I also read your comment on the earlier Bly poem.Ed Colettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05337856316631860342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162662298092425652006-11-04T09:44:00.000-08:002006-11-04T09:44:00.000-08:00I love the poem, Ed. Is "Copper fields" intentiona...I love the poem, Ed. Is "Copper fields" intentional as a play on the venue where you're reding? If so, why not use it as a title?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162600041294836422006-11-03T16:27:00.000-08:002006-11-03T16:27:00.000-08:00Hi Eddie Dude, Ideas for your poem: probably not!....Hi Eddie Dude,<BR/> <BR/>Ideas for your poem: probably not!.<BR/> <BR/>Fundamental Wonder<BR/> <BR/>Waxing Ecstatic (I stole that one)<BR/> <BR/>Out of the Void<BR/> <BR/>Why we Be<BR/> <BR/>Before Our Very Eyes<BR/> <BR/>Also, I really like the comments of Rory Smith re: Iraq.. What if we got out of the war in Iraq and the violence ended? I think it is a little simplistic but maybe right on.. I'm concerned about the Kurds. But the Iraqs--Sunnis, Shites, Kurds--may see it as a war of independence. It is funny how simple ideas can be so completely ignored in our media where the manipulation of ideas is so blatant and yet so hard to see. Nice blog, s; MikeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162597856171261162006-11-03T15:50:00.000-08:002006-11-03T15:50:00.000-08:00Eddie, Thank you for your contribution to my life....Eddie, Thank you for your contribution to my life. A little suggestion. How about reading your stuff. You could put it in a short an audio at the end of the poem so that folks like me that don't get out much can experience your reading(s). Limit them to sixty seconds.<BR/>What does everyone else think of this idea?<BR/> Your fan and friend, just another ed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162583318315926792006-11-03T11:48:00.000-08:002006-11-03T11:48:00.000-08:00Nice poem, Eddie. It reminded me of the view from ...Nice poem, Eddie. It reminded me of the view from my bedroom window. With the lone exception of Lady not being there. My title:<BR/>"From My Bedroom Window" (not clever but sez it all.)<BR/><BR/>Sorry I won't be able to attend the reading but it looks like you will be in very good company with your fellow readers. Their bios are heady stuff. Break a leg!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162581035815911932006-11-03T11:10:00.000-08:002006-11-03T11:10:00.000-08:00Okay, NOW I've done some research. The following i...Okay, NOW I've done some research. The following is from Wikepedia and corrects my faulty history.<BR/><BR/>"Ottoman rule over Iraq lasted until the Great War (World War I) when the Ottomans sided with Germany and the Central Powers. British forces invaded the country and suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Turkish army during the Siege of Kut (1915–16). British forces regrouped and captured Baghdad in 1917. An armistice was signed in 1918.<BR/><BR/>Iraq was carved out of the Ottoman Empire by the French and British as agreed in the Sykes-Picot Agreement. On 11 November 1920 it became a League of Nations mandate under British control with the name "State of Iraq".<BR/><BR/>The British government laid out the political and constitutional framework for Iraq's government. Britain imposed a Hāshimite monarchy on Iraq and defined the territorial limits of Iraq without taking into account the aspirations of the different ethnic and religious groups in the country, in particular those of the Kurds to the north. Britain had to put down a major revolt against its policies between 1920 and 1922. During the revolt, Britain used phosphorus bombs against Kurdish villagers. Legal experts consider phosphorus bombs chemical weapons. (See Gas in mesopotamia)<BR/><BR/>In the Mandate period and beyond, the British supported the traditional, Sunni leadership (such as the tribal shaykhs) over the growing, urban-based nationalist movement. The Land Settlement Act gave the tribal shaykhs the right to register the communal tribal lands in their own name. The Tribal Disputes Regulations gave them judiciary rights, whereas the Peasants' Rights and Duties Act of 1933 severely reduced the tenants', forbidding them to leave the land unless all their debts to the landlord had been settled. The British resorted to military force when their interests were threatened, as in the 1941 Rashīd `Alī al-Gaylānī coup. This coup led to a British invasion of Iraq using forces from the British Indian Army and the Arab Legion from Jordan." Wikipedia<BR/><BR/>So, there you have it. The British occupied Iraq for more than 20 years and maintained control by military force. <BR/><BR/>Let's see now, the French went into Vietnam after WWII and eventually got their butts kicked by Ho Chin Minh. The US went in right after that and got their butts kicked by Ho Chin Minh.<BR/><BR/>Now, the US wants to stay in Iraq to bring about peace and prosperity to all in Iraq when no one else has been able to do it for over 1000 years!<BR/><BR/>Ahhhhgggghhh!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162580712921017612006-11-03T11:05:00.000-08:002006-11-03T11:05:00.000-08:00Right now it appears that the Imus solution was th...Right now it appears that the Imus solution was the better solution 3 or 4 years ago. Ironically, had Saddam remained in power, how many hundreds of thousand Iraqi, American, and other lives would have been saved. But I hardly would have considered awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize for having prevented all these deaths! As Vonnegut says, "and so it goes."Ed Colettihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05337856316631860342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162578853118952332006-11-03T10:34:00.000-08:002006-11-03T10:34:00.000-08:00Nice poem, Eddie. Sorry,not much help with titles....Nice poem, Eddie. Sorry,not much help with titles. Good luck at the reading.<BR/><BR/>I like this Dawkins guy. He can say what I believe with eloquence and big words. And I believe you can find God in a lump of coal.<BR/><BR/>As to Iraq, I wish I had a better grasp of Middle East history, so anyone correct me if I'm wrong, which is most likely.<BR/><BR/>I seem to remember that the English went into what is now Iraq during WWI to organize the tribes living there to help fight the Turks. I'm not sure about the sequence of events after that, but somehow Iraq was formed out of the many tribes and at least three ethnic groups. <BR/><BR/>Fast foward to Saddam and we find a man who took control of the country by means that we all know well. During his term (reign?)disagreements between ethnic groups were settled violently by Saddam's government. The Sunni led government just stomped on Kurds and Shia's and that was that. <BR/><BR/>Mr. Smith believes that when the US leaves Iraq "the canny Iraqi potiticians and clergy would settle their differences in the manner they have for centuries." And we have seen that that manner is violence and bloodshed.<BR/><BR/>The Iraqi chess player says: "the problems have nothing to do with the troubles between Sunnis and Shiites which have existed for well over a millenium. Rather, pleaded this Baghdad professional, "Please try to convince your government to leave, and we Iraqis will solve our own problems quickly. It is your army which is causing the tragedy."<BR/><BR/>So, both establish that the ethnic troubles in Iraq have been going for centuries. And, both believe that if the US withdraws from Iraq the Iraqi's will settle their differences. They haven't been able to for thousands of years, but if the US leaves they can do it quickly. If anyone really believes this can happen, I have some beach front property here in Nevada you be interested in.<BR/><BR/>Now, do I think the US being in Iraq will solve the problem? Of course not. As John Kerry said, if the idiots in Washington (my words not his)had done some homework we may have never gone into Iraq in the first place.<BR/><BR/>After WWI (I think) the English drew a line on a map, said this is the new Iraq, withdrew and let the tribes go back to fighting each other.<BR/><BR/>Don Imus had a solution a couple of years ago. Return Saddam to power. Say, here you are, sorry about your boys, but we have to go now. The situation would hardly be worse than it is now, or what it will be when we do eventually leave. <BR/><BR/>As I see it, we're not doing much good in Iraq now, so it's best to cut our losses. As the song says, you gotta know when to fold 'em. Now is when.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14750035.post-1162517952536720372006-11-02T17:39:00.000-08:002006-11-02T17:39:00.000-08:00It's a lovely poem, Ed. It gave me a great jolt a...It's a lovely poem, Ed. It gave me a great jolt at the end because I instantly thought of one of the most disturbing novels ever written: Ian McEwan's Black Dogs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com