23 February 2007

Ephemeral Pulchritude





TO MY COY MISTRESS

by Andrew Marvell


Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk, and pass our long love's day;
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood;
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow.
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am'rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapp'd power.
Let us roll all our strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one ball;
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.

The Most Attractive Woman

Megan McCormick of GlobeTrekker

In terms of pulchritude, she is not the most beautiful woman in the world. But pulchritude is only one variable in the attractiveness equation. Megan is charming, genuinely friendly, smart, personable and yes, physically stunning. These qualities make Miss McCormick the most attractive woman on the tube.

20 February 2007

Hillarycare: The Future is Here, and It is Deadly Frightening!


The British NHS is notorious for inefficiency and sloppiness. Yet, the Italian public health system takes the Lemon Prize of the Year. And this is what Her Thighness wishes upon these United States.

The Italian examples in the link above--AIDS-infected organs being transplanted and respirator not plugging into wall sockets--are classic examples of unionized (therefore lazy) employees (note I did not use the word "workers") responding to very low levels of expectations.

10 February 2007

The Los Angeles Times' (Belated) Coverage of Warrior-Hero Ming Sun


(The MSM is so outdated. We covered this moving story--and many others like this one--a fortnight before the Times even got wind of it.)


By Tracy Weber, Times Staff Writer LA Times
January 28, 2007

If he could have, Ming Sun would have joined the Army soon after he graduated from Cathedral City High School in 2004.

"He wanted to do something for his country," said his father, David. "He loved the military. He wanted to be a man, you know, like a soldier."

But Sun, who came to the United States from China in 1995, wasn't a citizen and lacked a green card — the proof of legal residency required by the military, his father said.

So Sun went to a local community college until his green card was granted. Then, without telling his parents, he enlisted in March, requesting the infantry, his father said.

"We, both parents, didn't want him to go," his father said, speaking for himself and his wife, Zhi Feng Liu. "We wanted him to be a scientist."

But Ming Sun launched eagerly into a military whirlwind, his friends recalled. He did his basic training at Ft. Carson, Colo., where in mid-August he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. Two months later, he was sent to Iraq, his father said.

On Jan. 9, less than 10 months after he enlisted, the 20-year-old private first class was killed when his unit was attacked with small-arms fire while on patrol in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

He is believed to be the first Chinese national to be killed in the Iraq war, his father said.

As they grieve, David Sun and his son's friends wonder if it all didn't happen too fast.

"I don't think it's right," said David Sun, who owns a Chinese buffet-style restaurant in nearby Palm Springs. "They are not trained that much…. I think there is something wrong with the system."

Tristan Reparejo, a friend since junior high school, said he could hear a change in Ming Sun during calls from Iraq.

"Maybe the fact that he, or anyone who was sent over there to that specific area, realized how dangerous it was there with that limited amount of training," Reparejo said.

"There are people that serve in the Army for such a long time and nothing happens to them. For someone to be just sent there and in just nine months have it taken away — it's just unbelievable."

Sun's friends said they will miss his fun-loving spirit.

"He was full of life," said Brenda Flores, who went to high school with Sun. "He was always smiling."

Flores and others recalled Sun's passion for fast cars and his devotion to his Mitsubishi Evo. He and his friends formed a car club called J-Spec, for Japanese specifications, and traveled to car races and shows.

"We all wanted to get white cars so we could stand out in high school," said friend Eddie Torno.

As teenagers, Sun and his friends played a computer war game and talked about what it would be like to be in a combat situation.

"I guess he was more serious about the whole idea of actually going out there and putting himself in that situation," Reparejo said.

David Sun said he last spoke to his son four days before he died. Ming Sun asked if his father had received some photos he had e-mailed and spoke happily of coming home for two weeks' vacation in February. "I said, 'Be careful,' and he said, 'OK,' " David Sun recalled.

At Ming Sun's funeral Jan. 22, an Army representative presented his parents with the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and documents granting him U.S. citizenship. Sun is buried at Riverside National Cemetery. A tree will be planted in Cathedral City in his honor.

In addition to his parents, Sun is survived by a 9-year-old sister, Allison.

MAGNIFIQUE!


kristin kreuk

05 February 2007

GET OUT OF IRAQ NOW!!!

EVERY DAY, OUR BOYS IN THE FIELD ARE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH THEIR LIVES IN IRAQ. WHEN TROOPS GO OUT IN THE MORNING TO DO PATROL, IT IS GUARANTEED THAT SOME WILL NOT RETURN FOR EVENING PRAYERS. IT'S A MATTER OF WHOM AND HOW MANY WILL DIE ON A GIVEN DAY.

IT'S TIME FOR THE UNITED STATES TO WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ AND BRING THE TROOPS HOME TO SAFEGUARD OUR BORDERS. USE THE MONETARY RESOURCES CURRENTLY BEING SPENT ON THE WAR EFFORTS TO FIGHT TERRORISM COVERTLY.

02 February 2007