For The Sake Of The Souls

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The true wretchedness, indeed — the ultimate wo — is particular, not diffuse. That the ghastly extremes of agony are endured by man the unit, and never by man the mass — for this let us thank a merciful God!

To be buried while alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality. That it has frequently, very frequently, so fallen will scarcely be denied by those who think. The boundaries which divide Life from Death, are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? We know that there are diseases in which occur total cessations of all the apparent functions of vitality, and yet in which these cessations are merely suspensions, properly so called. They are only temporary pauses in the incomprehensible mechanism. A certain period elapses, and some unseen mysterious principle again sets in motion the magic pinions and the wizard wheels. The silver cord was not for ever loosed, nor the golden bowl irreparably broken. But where, mean time, was the soul?
Edgar Allan Poe.



In deep consternation, in bed rock ridges, in the curly places where he couldn't be found, not just in snaking, splintering skies but in magic alcoves and mystical corners, these were the places. He hid for one simple reason: he did not want to be hurt. He sacrificed everything; and they made him aware. They captured the dark guns. They threw the weak to the ground. They rode over anyone who dared to disagree with them. They sought privilege, special treatment, for the sake of the souls they carried. He was not daunted. There would be greater times, grander days. He was privileged to be here.

There was no answer in the simple form. His crushed face on the pavement was not the answer. He hadn't even tried to get to this terrible state for exploratory purposes. He had simply done what came naturally, and deserted his soul, abandoned his origins. They were criminals, he wasn't going to deny that. But shadows and rivers and remote valleys, laughing families and the smell of milk, they were far off back through the generations, not in the recent dismantlement of intent, his dissembling ways. They were fragile now, he could barely lift his head.

You're coming round the mountain, you're screaming old songs, you're scattered to the four winds with an undertow of depression that was really you. We're brave now, we've been answered. We've come in from the cold. We've been devastated, once too often, and we're leaving the streets now. There are other places to abandon yourself, your soul, other places to let everything fall apart, to abandon integrity, to say farewell to everything he had believed, to commit the ultimate compromise. To be here is such a surprise. What happened to the ancestors? What happened to the family line? How did I end up with you?

And why, most urgently, are we lying crushed into the pavement, the smell of vomit everywhere, the laughing derision of others still echoing, the muffled sound of strange, thumping music coming from inside walls? The brittle cackle of forced laughter hit the cold night air. He could see the splintering words forming into ice. Nothing could be fathomed, not here, not now. There was no centre. There was no heart. There was no centre to his being, no soul to cherish, no core to protect. These utterly fragmented days were part of a different story. He was barely alive.

He tried to stand up, his legs wobbling, passing cars veering away. He had become a great monster, lumbering into the dark. Everything about him was malformed. The world passed in and out of his skin by osmosis, threatening to cut him to pieces; ribbons of flesh. Surrounded by hypocrisy, injustice. He was angry but he didn't know at what. Grinding injustices needled him; what was said, what was done, who ripped who off. And he couldn't be there, on that street, and still retain some essence, some singularity, a core.

All the successfuls, the norms, stepped over him or around him, glancing only briefly at the human wreck at their feet. He could see strings of party goers falling in and out of bars; partying hard. They still held physical form, they still had money. The norms he wanted to be just like, instead of this wretched, disheveled wreck. He was coming closer. He was gonig to find the heart of everything, the God that lay in the fabric of things, the reason he had been sent here. But even now his heart told him different. There wasn't any purpose. He had ripped himself assunder, and all that was left were malignant shapes; superficial planes of light; his fractured thoughts cast against the black river of the road; the headlights of the passing cars both malignant and indifferent. It was a terrible place to be.



THE BIGGER STORY:

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/10277138.asp?gid=244

Democrat Barack Obama appeared close to victory in his historic bid to become the first black U.S. president Tuesday, while an undaunted Republican John McCain battled to win an upset as voting began in the epic struggle for the White House. (UPDATED)

Obama and McCain ready to make history as voting continues in U.S.

U.S. presidential candidate Obama cast his vote at a polling station in Chicago in Tuesday's historic U.S. elections.

In a historic vote that could make him the first black U.S. president, the Hawaii-born Illinois Senator, joined by his wife Michelle Obama and his young daughters Sasha and Malia, was greeted at a Chicago polling station in a school gymnasium by dozens of reporters and photographers.

Obama, who is leading McCain in national polls, showed his daughter his ballot and smiled as he cast his vote.

Americans go to the polls in what is already one of the most historic elections in U.S. history, as the world holds its breath.

More than a third of the electorate will have voted before polls open Tuesday, U.S. media reported.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, could be the nation's first African-American president. Or Republican nominee Sen. John McCain could be the oldest president elected to a first term.

McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, could be the first woman elected vice president.

Americans also are expected to head to the polls in record numbers on Tuesday, election officials have predicted -- after a record-shattering number of people cast ballots in early voting.

As of Monday, more than 24 million Americans had voted. Election experts predicted more than a third of the electorate will have voted before polls opened on Election Day.

http://www.climatechangefraud.com/content/view/2648/223/

A bipartisan coalition of business leaders is calling on Governors, state legislators and Members of Congress publicly express their opposition before tomorrow's election to proposals to "bankrupt" the U.S. coal industry and threaten to put out of work several hundred thousand Americans who work in coal-related industries.

The call was issued by the Western Business Roundtable following news reports that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama intends to make it so costly to build advanced clean coal power plants with carbon capture and sequestration that it will "bankrupt" any company that tries to do so.

"We are calling upon Democrats, Republicans and Independents from coast to coast to publicly express their support for advanced clean coal power generation and to distance themselves from those who say that we should bankrupt the coal industry," said Britt Weygandt, Executive Director of the Western Business Roundtable. "A lot of Americans are going to be listening in the next 24 hours to see which elected leaders stand up for clean coal and which don't."

Obama's comments regarding coal were made during an interview with the San Francisco Examiner earlier this year, and is available in streaming audio form here.

In the interview, Obama says the following:

"Let me sort of describe my overall policy. What I've said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else's out there. I was the first to call for a 100 percent auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted. That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches. The only thing I've said with respect to coal, I haven't been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a (sic) ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them."

Weygandt said: "Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's election, elected officials at all levels need to stand up for a robust clean coal coal option for America," Weygandt said. "They should stand up for affordable and reliable electricity, for a stable and reliable grid, and for the hundreds of thousands of American workers in this industry."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/04/2410316.htm?section=justin

A former diplomat has described the Rudd Government's reaction to a leaked conversation between US President George W Bush and the Prime Minister as 'immature' and 'amateurish'.

The conversation, which was reported in The Australian newspaper, revolved around the upcoming G20 summit with Kevin Rudd reportedly having to explain what the G20 was to Mr Bush.

While the Prime Minister's Office denied the leak, Mr Rudd has been criticised for not doing more to quash the rumours.

Bruce Haigh, an Australian diplomat for more than two decades, told ABC Radio's PM while the leaking of the conversation was a diplomatic gaffe the Government's handling of the incident is more damaging.

"Well it surprised me. No matter where it came from it didn't show a very high level of maturity," he said.

"So it was a silly thing to have happened, but I think what's been worse is the slowness with which the Government has moved to distance itself from the statement and also to show some anger about the fact that this has occurred."

Mr Haigh has also questioned Mr Rudd's use of a speakerphone to conduct the conversation with Mr Bush, and the allegations other guests of the Prime Minister may have heard the exchange.

"Normally these conversations between leaders like this would be conducted so that no-one else could hear, so that any gaffe's that did occur, such as the one that's alleged to have occurred, can be kept quiet and smoothed over and you issue some sort of common joint statement at the end of it," he said.