THEATER OF THE ABSURD REVISITED
CLICK HERE TO GO TO WEBSITE OF THEATER OF ABSURDITY
theater of the absurd n. A form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of human existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue, purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or logical development.
I had to post the definition of "theater of the absurd" once again, to remind myself and you that the era we are living in, (we, the homo sapiens, who are supposedly the most intelligent of all the animals that roam this planet) are of the most discombobulating moments of any modern time thus far.
After reading an article from the USA today Internet News Service titled Pentagon to families: Go ahead, laugh I feel more frightened, horrorstricken and afraid for the mental health of our country than ever before.
figments of your subconscious?
It's getting so, this reality, we believe we are conscious in, is becoming so lacking of order and coherence, no dream state or delusion could surpass it in violent derangement.
The Pentagon (the same office from which many of the lies about Iraq's 'nookular' threat originated) is asking families who have members fighting in a war perpetrated by exponents of an ideologue of madness, not to worryabout their loved ones but instead, walk like penguins, laugh like lions ( lions laugh?) and blurt "ha, ha, hee, hee and ho, ho
to relieve their 'stress' (that hellish gnawing panic of cognitive being) of knowing, one day, they may hear news, their loved one has perished,
leaving the biggest, gaping hole in their lives to live with until they
themselves leave this existence.
O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration, give us strength!
Have the people in charge there at the Pentagon, gone the way of Pat Robertson? This is the most asinine, ABSURD, SHIT OF THE BULL that has been thrown at us since we've been forced to acknowledge Bush junior as our president.
I can't tell you the sorrow I feel for the military families, the hell they are living is beyond anything mentally normal. Living each day as though it might be their last one of sanity. Fearing minute by minute the ultimate fate of finality to their well-being and peace of mind. To make light of this is
infuriating to put it mildly... How dare they tamper with the aguish and
apprehensions of these courageous souls, as though they were non-human or robotic aberrations.
I would like to believe the Pentagon means no harm and are really sincere about trying to alleviate the pain and suffering of these families but in my heart I cannot accept that belief. To me, it is but another attempt at maneuvering, one more manipulation, one more bit of propaganda to sell the masses on WAR. Using Orwellian language to concoct a way for all of us to believe THAT WAR IS GOOD, WAR IS AMUSING, WAR IS JOY. Well I am not buying it and neither are the military families.
Below is a copy of this, (sorry for the redundancy) "THEATER OF THE ABSURD" article, straight from the official mouths of the Pentagon; followed by the letters from the outraged, indignant families of the undaunted troops serving our country for the MORAL EXCELLENCE not for the RIDICULOUSNESS of our shores!
thinkingblue
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
With help from the Pentagon's chief laughter instructor, families of National Guard members are learning to walk like a penguin, laugh like a lion and blurt "ha, ha, hee, hee and ho, ho."
No joke.
"I laugh every chance I get," says the instructor, retired Army colonel James "Scotty" Scott. "That's why I'm blessed to be at the Pentagon, where we definitely need a lot of laughter in our lives."
Scott, 57, is certified as a laughter training specialist by the Ohio-based World Laughter Tour, a group that promotes mirth as medicine. It touts scientific research that suggests chuckling can boost the body's immune system and decrease stress hormones.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, says the Pentagon is committed to the program and values Scott's skills. "We sent him to the training," she says.
The laughter program was Scott's idea. It costs the military virtually nothing, because Scott already travels to states as a director of military family support policy.
He has taught National Guard family group leaders in Alaska, Kansas,
Oklahoma, Texas and Idaho, and will do so in Michigan, Pa. and Fla., he
says. Another laughter trainer is working with folks in North Carolina.
"We believe our program prevents hardening of the attitudes," says Scott, in one of his wordplay aphorisms that beg for a rimshot. The founder and chief executive of the World Laughter Tour is psychologist Steve Wilson, who calls himself "Cheerman of the Bored."
"The guiding principle is to laugh for no reason. And that's one of the reasons it works so well for military families," Scott says. "There's a lot they have to be stressed over, a lot of worries, a lot of concerns."
As foolish as students might feel, Scott says he's lost only one participant: a Marine sergeant major who, Scott says, fled the room with a bad case of the giggles.
Mary Frances Booth, the wife of a retired soldier, took the class last year and is an ardent devotee.
She and her two daughters — Meaghan, 10 and Sarah, 8 — were sobbing after Booth dropped her husband at the Boise airport Sunday; he was headed for Afghanistan for work as a civilian contractor, she says. Then Booth called for one of the laughing drills.
"They rolled their eyes at me and thought, 'Mom's on her laughing thing again,' " Booth says. "(But) it made it a little bit better."
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How apropos, I just found these lyrics at this site...CLICK HERE
Song: I Wanna Make the World Laugh (Reprise) Lyrics
Heartbreak and passion
May both be in fashion
But we wanna make the world laugh
Let others do drama of sin and disgrace
While we throw a pin in the heroine's face
To keep them in stitches
We burn the star's britches
And saw cousin Sally in half
So keep the schmaltz and the soap and the sobs
The only art we know is to tickle the slobs
This curse we've been blessed with
Completely possessed with
Is we wanna make the world laugh, laugh...
We wanna make the world laugh!
_____________________________________________
The juggernauts of the Pentagon who are trying their damnedest to
change the meaning of the word WAR into something more palatable, with
the use of selective truths, exaggerations and cutsie play on words such
as "Cheerman of the Bored" and "hardening of the attitudes" and
the "keeping them in stitches" higgledy-piggledy nonsense. But thank all
that is righteous and commonsensible, the sophisticated families of the
military are not buying it. Please read their poignant letters of
indignation below. thinkingblue
PS: All the letters are written with such passion and honesty they will all touch your heartstrings but there is one that is so profoundly moving, I had to print it in its entirety:
Dear Sir:
My name is Monica Benderman. I would like to think that you are familiar with the military case of my husband, Sgt. Kevin Benderman, but forgive me if I do not count on it.
My husband is currently serving 15 months confinement in the stockade at Ft. Lewis, WA, for filing for Conscientious Objector status against the wishes of his command. WE ARE NOT LAUGHING.
My husband is a decorated 10 year Army veteran with nothing but honorable service, including a combat tour in Iraq. What he saw in Iraq was nothing to laugh about.
Upon returning, he realized that his moral and ethical principles would not allow him to return to this war or any war. He angered his command when they learned that his aversion to war was not just as a result of the senseless killing, but also due to the faulty leadership of every command element with which he served. This faulty leadership remains evident even now as he is serving out his sentence at Ft. Lewis, having been wrongfully convicted of a offense he did not commit. The Army would have people believe that my husband is guilty of failing to get on a plane to return to Iraq, an offense referred to as Missing Movement. Amazingly enough, the Army fails to mention that the testimony of his command clearly shows that he was never given an order to get on a plane, but was released to work on his CO packet and was immediately placed in a Rear Detachment unit by the very commander that eventually brought charges against him.
WE DO NOT LAUGH.
My husband knew of the failures of his command to uphold, with integrity, their oath of commission, violating the very articles of the UCMJ they sought to find him guilty of. While they were trumping up charges to justify sending him to prison for acting with the leadership they lacked, one of their own, a Captain in Kevin's unit, was selling much needed Body Armor for twice it's value ($4,000) on E-Bay. Could it be that his fellow commanders were protecting him by trying to keep my husband in confinement thinking the truth would go with him? This Captain only received 45 days in jail.
TELL ME - WHY SHOULD WE LAUGH???
At the Ft. Lewis stockade at least one of the inmates received the most severe punishment for questioning acts of the command that went against regulation. This 19 yr. old veteran of the Iraq war was tied to a stress chair for 4 days, forced to sit in his own waste because he dared to act in a leadership capacity, and demanded that the command adhere to the rules the Army had in place.
WHAT ABOUT THIS WOULD BE THE REASON THAT THIS SOLDIER AND HIS FAMILY SHOULD LAUGH??
We have spent months telling the truth about the real sacrifice soldiers in today's Army must make. Perhaps we will laugh when the truth has reached enough people that meaningful changes are actually demanded by those who continue to turn a deaf ear now. Soldiers and their families sacrifice more for this country than most citizens will ever understand.
As you write about laughter in the Pentagon - perhaps you might consider writing about the Truth behind the illusory smiles of those of us who continue to hope media outlets such as yours will eventually realize that the laughter lesson is just one more aspect of the "smoke and mirror" tactics the Pentagon demands soldiers and families practice as they threaten to lock us in prison if we dare to speak reality against their illusion.
Trust me -- the Laughter is not real.
Sincerely,
Monica Benderman
Wife of Sgt. Kevin Benderman - wrongfully imprisoned as a Conscientious Objector to war
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Letters to USA Today January 13th, 2006
Read letters that Military Families Speak Out members wrote to USA
Today after they published the article:
Pentagon to families: Go ahead, laugh
The best way to improve the mental health of our soldiers and their
families is to bring our troops home now. This would be far more
therapeutic than laughing like goofballs.
January 14th, 2006
In response to the 1/13/06 article "Pentagon to families: Go ahead, laugh"
I am a wife of a New York Army National Guard soldier, my husband just
returned this past fall from a year long tour of duty in Iraq. Though,
"laughing" may be considered "support" by those in the Pentagon, let me
tell you what we really need, and do not get!
January 14th, 2006
January 13th, 2006
families: Go ahead, laugh,”) was unfunny and downright insulting.
January 13th, 2006
I am outraged at your article "Pentagon to Families : Go Ahead, Laugh "
To keep it short and sweet, my husband is gearing up for his second tour
in Iraq...
January 13th, 2006
disturbing about the artificial inducement of laughter to stick a
Band-Aid on the wounds of war.
January 13th, 2006
January 13th, 2006
with a sad and heavy heart.
January 13th, 2006
Why am I not surprised that the military thinks we should laugh at the
Iraq War?
January 13th, 2006
had few laughs.
January 13th, 2006
killed is this abomination of a war laughing.
January 13th, 2006
about my world since my only child, Lt Ken Ballard was sent to Iraq and
was killed on 5.30.04.
January 13th, 2006
don’t think there are any individuals out there laughing over a loved
one killed in Iraq!
January 13th, 2006
served in Iraq should learn how to laugh. You’ve got to be kidding me.
January 13th, 2006
January 13th, 2006
supposed to laugh their emotions away.
January 13th, 2006
tinge of pain.
January 13th, 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND MY LETTER...
Our reality, is becoming so lacking of coherence, no dream state or delusion could surpass it in violent derangement.
Shockingly, the Pentagon (the same office that determined 80% of troop deaths in Iraq could have been prevented with proper body armor) is asking families with loved ones fighting wars overseas, to walk like penguins, laugh like lions and blurt "ha, ha, hee, hee and ho, ho to relieve their stress.
O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration, give us strength!
I feel deep sorrow for military families, caught up in this war and empathize their hell of knowing a “knock on the door” could someday actualize.
To make light of their suffering is infuriating! How dare they tamper with the aguish and anxiety these courageous beings go through, treating them like remote controlled humanoid machines.
I would like to believe the Pentagon is sincere in their efforts to alleviate the pain and desperation of these families but in my heart I know this isn't so. To me, it's but another attempt at maneuvering, just more propaganda to sell the masses on WAR. Using Orwellian language and manipulations of presence, to concoct a way for all of us to believe THAT WAR IS GOOD, WAR IS AMUSING. Well, I am not buying it and neither are the military families. thinkingblue
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I just opened up an email from Tom of Tomgram website and he reaffirms that since the Bush take over of our country there is some kind of nutball DNA floating around in our atmosphere, in other words some pretty insane anomalies are happening all around us... Please read below... thinkingblue
tomdispatch.com
Tomgram: Ariel Dorfman on How Bush Makes Fiction of Us All
In April 2005, I posted a dispatch in which I claimed that "a senior official in one of our intelligence agencies" had slipped me an unpublished manuscript by "the President." I added that I believed it genuine and had done my best to vet it. My source, I mentioned, had told me that the book might have had illustrations by either Paul Wolfowitz or Donald Rumsfeld (though no illustrations arrived with it). The title of the manuscript, I swore, was George's Amazing Alphabet Book of the Contemporary World, or Al-Qaedas All Around and, though it was missing two letters of the alphabet, K and R, it had stirring contemporary entries for children like:
"W as in Waterboarding. Wally waterboarded Ahmed (see A). Kids, it's not surfboarding, but almost! There's the board and the water and the person on the board, and it's the main sport of the Central Intelligence Agency (see G), and the great thing is -- you can do it twenty-four hours a day. You never have to wait for the surf to be up."
With this satire, I hoped to catch something of George's grim world. I assumed that what I had written, including "George's" book, was far too ridiculous on every level for anyone to take seriously and so never put a humor warning on it. How wrong I was became clear as soon as the first e-letters from readers arrived at the Tomdispatch mailbox, filled with shock that the President had written such things, or insisting I had been gulled, that this was obviously a product not of the President but of the CIA. Certifiably sane but puzzled friends got in touch to ask whether the "manuscript" was real or my fantasy. In this way, I learned a painfully useful lesson, one Ariel Dorfman, author of Other Septembers, Many Americas, absorbed recently -- as he recounts in his piece below (a shorter version of which appears on the Los Angeles Times Sunday op-ed page). The lesson is simple enough: The! Bush administration's actions since 9/11 have outstripped anyone's ability to parody them; or, put another way, nothing in our world now is too absurd, too far-fetched to seem plausible. This, of course, is why one of the more popular news programs of recent years is Jon Stewart's Daily Show where the silliest parodies often come closer to our reality than anything you might see on the network prime-time news.
In fact, story after story from the Age of Bush reads like fiction of an especially improbable sort. Take the recent account by James Moore, author of Bush's Brain, a less than positive book about Karl Rove, that was put up at the Huffington Post website. He describes how, a year ago, he arrived at an airport, found himself on the government's no-fly list ("All I can tell you is that there is something in your background that in some way is similar to someone they are looking for..."), and has been unable to get off it ever since, though he continues to fly with some added inconvenience. ("I have been on the No Fly Watch List for a year. I will never be told the official reason. No one ever is. You cannot sue to get the information. Nothing I have done has moved me any closer to getting off the list.") No fiction, in other words, could be stranger than the truths of our moment. Tom
Homeland Security Ate My Speech by Ariel Dorfman
On December 27th, at 11:31 in the morning to be precise, agents of the Homeland Security Department detained me at Miami International Airport and proceeded to impound a speech I was supposed to deliver in Washington, D.C. to a plenary session of the Modern Language Association of America.
Well, not quite.
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
____________________________________________________
MORE THINKING BLUE LINKS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For whom the bell tolls a poem
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
CAROLYNCONNECTION.COMWarning very Graphic REAL PICTURES OF WAR
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posted by thinkingblue at 3:28 PM
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