That was pretty cool. Not sure if you're implying Rummy is lying here 'cause if that's your point I'm totally missing it. I remember the Glass Box. We had one at the local Jo Jo's which became a Denny's about ten years ago. It was fun to watch the kids try for the stuffed monkey banging the cymbals together. The image is a good analogy for the global warmist's efforts to keep alive their failing 'science.' Keep chasing that monkey or dragon or whatever if you want to I say. It is wise to remember hope is a fragile thing.
I think i just went Gabbyly enigmatic there. -Don On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 4:53 PM, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld > Recent works by the secretary of defense. > > By Hart SeelyPosted Wednesday, April 2, 2003, at 1:03 PM ET > > Rumsfeld's free-speaking verseSecretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is > an accomplished man. Not only is he guiding the war in Iraq, he has > been a pilot, a congressman, an ambassador, a businessman, and a civil > servant. But few Americans know that he is also a poet. > > Until now, the secretary's poetry has found only a small and skeptical > audience: the Pentagon press corps. Every day, Rumsfeld regales > reporters with his jazzy, impromptu riffs. Few of them seem to > appreciate it. > > But we should all be listening. Rumsfeld's poetry is paradoxical: It > uses playful language to address the most somber subjects: war, > terrorism, mortality. Much of it is about indirection and evasion: He > never faces his subjects head on but weaves away, letting inversions > and repetitions confuse and beguile. His work, with its dedication to > the fractured rhythms of the plainspoken vernacular, is reminiscent of > William Carlos Williams'. Some readers may find that Rumsfeld's gift > for offhand, quotidian pronouncements is as entrancing as Frank > O'Hara's. > > And so Slate has compiled a collection of Rumsfeld's poems, bringing > them to a wider public for the first time. The poems that follow are > the exact words of the defense secretary, as taken from the official > transcripts on the Defense Department Web site. > > The Unknown > > As we know, > There are known knowns. > There are things we know we know. > We also know > There are known unknowns. > That is to say > We know there are some things > We do not know. > But there are also unknown unknowns, > The ones we don't know > We don't know. > —Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing > > Glass Box > > You know, it's the old glass box at the— > At the gas station, > Where you're using those little things > Trying to pick up the prize, > And you can't find it. > It's— > And it's all these arms are going down in there, > And so you keep dropping it > And picking it up again and moving it, > But— > Some of you are probably too young to remember those— > Those glass boxes, > But— > But they used to have them > At all the gas stations > When I was a kid. > —Dec. 6, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing > > A Confession > > Once in a while, > I'm standing here, doing something. > And I think, > "What in the world am I doing here?" > It's a big surprise. > —May 16, 2001, interview with the New York Times > > Happenings > > You're going to be told lots of things. > You get told things every day that don't happen. > It doesn't seem to bother people, they don't— > It's printed in the press. > The world thinks all these things happen. > They never happened. > Everyone's so eager to get the story > Before in fact the story's there > That the world is constantly being fed > Things that haven't happened. > All I can tell you is, > It hasn't happened. > It's going to happen. > —Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing > > The Digital Revolution > > Oh my goodness gracious, > What you can buy off the Internet > In terms of overhead photography! > A trained ape can know an awful lot > Of what is going on in this world, > Just by punching on his mouse > For a relatively modest cost! > —June 9, 2001, following European trip > > The Situation > > Things will not be necessarily continuous. > The fact that they are something other than perfectly continuous > Ought not to be characterized as a pause. > There will be some things that people will see. > There will be some things that people won't see. > And life goes on. > —Oct. 12, 2001, Department of Defense news briefing > > Clarity > > I think what you'll find, > I think what you'll find is, > Whatever it is we do substantively, > There will be near-perfect clarity > As to what it is. > And it will be known, > And it will be known to the Congress, > And it will be known to you, > Probably before we decide it, > But it will be known. > —Feb. 28, 2003, Department of Defense briefing > > http://www.slate.com/id/2081042/ > > > On Nov 30, 2:28 pm, Don Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: >> regarding claims about global warming: are they really liars? Or >> >> > mere bullshitters? >> >> A bit of both probably. Even the most egregious departures from truth >> can, and often are, rationalized. Here's my personal favorite. >> >> "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the--if he--if >> 'is' means is and never has been, that is not--that is one thing. If >> it means there is none, that was a completely true statement....Now, >> if someone had asked me on that day, are you having any kind of sexual >> relations with Ms. Lewinsky, that is, asked me a question in the >> present tense, I would have said no. And it would have been completely >> true." >> >> Chutzpah, ladies and gentlemen, has no limits. >> >> -Don >> >> >> >> On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 9:58 AM, Alan Wostenberg <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> > On Nov 29, 7:58 am, archytas <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> We can bleat forever about the nature of truth. I generally prefer a >> >> limited notion of truth and honesty against lies and deception. >> >> > "Truth" says Aristotle, "is saying of what is that it is, and of what >> > is not that it is not". A liar, according to Mortimer Adler, is one >> > who willfully displaces his ontological predicates: he says of what is >> > that it is not, or of what is not that it is. You say people lie and >> > deceive about "global warming". The first thing to know about lying is >> > that it is not the same as speaking falsehood. The liar knows he's >> > lying. This means a) he knows the truth b) he speaks otherwise >> >> > The the liar, like the honest man, respects the truth. The liar knows >> > he is lying. This is in stark contrast to the bullshitter >> > (http://tr.im/GcDf). >> > Now, regarding claims about global warming: are they really liars? Or >> > mere bullshitters? >> >> > -- >> >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> > ""Minds Eye"" group. >> > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> > [email protected]. >> > For more options, visit this group >> > athttp://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.- Hide quoted text - >> >> - Show quoted text - > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > ""Minds Eye"" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. 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