It may not be, exactly, the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it has echoes of that moment. It may more closely resemble the Berlin Airlift, of 60 years ago. America's late, but chillingly decisive, entry into the Russian-Georgia war (simmering now, but not entirely over, according to new reports of intransigence, as of time of this post) raises the stakes. If the US navy, air force, and military is actually going to enter Georgia, bringing supplies, the Russians will have to open blocked routes. With US armed forces on the ground in the country, the tripwire for wider war is in place. Obviously, diplomacy should win out, and this matter be temporarily calmed. However, make no mistake, Bush's statement, today, is more determined, and directly confrontational, than many in the EU, and beyond, might have hoped. It shores up Georgia's ruins, reinstates some Western credentials, and offers horse-out-of-the-barn support. Hope it doesn't lead to blowback.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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And our National Disgrace, our Italian Prime Minister is his friend...or so he says when he invites him to Sardinia after despising for ages the "Communists" here in Italy.
Putin, like Mugabe, like Karazich should be simply in La Hague but the world is slow when real action requires...first the Dead, busloads of them, then words, the so called diplomacy which often means "hiding the crimes to prevent other crimes"....