Wednesday, January 04, 2006

To Kill an American, An Australian Dentist's Answer to a Radical Advertisment

Written by an Australian Dentist...

To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)

"An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan. "

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as Native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.

In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country! As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best of everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed.

These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself.

Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom.

Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

The Conversion of Robert Lake

This is my first attempt at "Bush Poetry" or verse outside song lyrics. I tried fitting it to a melody, but I think I will just leave it.
Enjoy
SSG OZ


The Conversion of Robert Lake

I was driving on the interstate about four hours after dark
Doing ‘bout eighty miles per hour in my eighteen wheeler truck.
Just then my lights went out and suddenly I couldn’t see,
So I prayed Dear God I need you now to make a believer out of me

Just then a bolt of lightning lit up that southern sky,
Shooting off fireworks like it was the fourth day of July.
I could see for miles around and a truck stop to my right
So I pulled on over and caught my breath and fixed those pesky lights

Now I thought that this was just a coincidence of the normal kind
And that he lightning was only just playing tricks with my sleepy mind
So I shrugged it off and drove like I didn’t have a care
And after another thousand miles, I forgot all about that prayer.

About midnight on that same interstate, I came upon a pass,
Three thousand feet straight down on the southern side, the road shiny as glass
I pumped my brakes but they gave out, heck we were rolling free
So I prayed Dear God you don’t have much time, to make a believer out of me

I’ve never been religious since I moved away
But I can still hear those words my Grandma used to say
Robert Lake, don’t you forget what Jesus did for you
And he will help you when you pray if you ask him to

Right then I was praying hard as my heart skipped a beat
Pounding hard on the brakes, useless beneath my feet
Suddenly to my left came a familiar sight
A bolt of lightning lit up the sky and the mountain piled in white

The crack of thunder split the air ringing like a shot
And with a roar that wall of snow, shook loose and took off
Right in front of my truck as I ploughed through wide and deep
It slowed my descent to a crawl and then I began to weep

I slid out from my truck shaken by my flight,
When I saw a man floating in the air his robes the purest white
A voice like honey gently spoke as I fell down to my knees
He said, Robert Lake how many miracles will it take, for you to believe in me?