CRY HAVOC!

            Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
            With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
            Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
            Cry 'Havoc', and let slip the dogs of war.
                    Julius Caesar III, 1
                    -- William Shakespeare

        How much longer will people believe the unbelievable and trust in the untrustable? As Paul Krugman wrote:

        War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Colin Powell and Dick Cheney are in perfect agreement. And the Bush administration won't privatize Social Security. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/06/opinion/06KRUG.html
        The Bushies have consistently lied, refused to release important information and flip-flopped on issues. As citizens of this great country we are treated more like vassals or slaves. All are expected to follow blindly and those who question the questionable are considered unpatriotic.

        Remember the "babies in the incubator" story that was used to raise our anger against Iraq 10 years ago? We were told Iraqi soldiers took babies out of incubators in Kuwait City and left them to die. IT NEVER HAPPENED. http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0906-01.htm

        The media has been filled with lavish praise for the fire and policemen and their sacrifices at the twin towers. But there were women among these heroes who risked and lost their lives too, women who rescued and struggled alongside the men.

        Their number small because of New York's continued discrimination against women as police and fire fighters, not because women are lacking courage and ability. You can read about them in a great book by Susan Hagen and Mary Carouba:
        Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Courage and Compassion.

        WOMEN AT GROUND ZERO"This book is a powerful collection of first-person stories told by female firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMTs, and others who responded to the events of September 11 and its aftermath. Women at Ground Zero provides a unique perspective on the events of that terrible day through the eyes of women rescuers who risked their lives to save others. Through their heartbreaking and inspiring stories, the voices of female rescue workers and their contributions at Ground Zero are finally heard." -- Amazon.com Editorial Review

        All week long under the guise of remembering and mourning the sacrifices of those who died at Ground Zero, Americans were inundated with exhortations calculated to raise their blood lust against Iraq.

        After all the prayers and entreaties to the God worshipped by born-again-Christian, Dubya Bush et al, the forgiveness and love of the New Testament were unceremoniously dumped for the "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" of the Old Testament.

        Standing against the mass media hype of this present day pissing contest was a coalition of women artists who joined together to perform a piece for the victims of the World Trade Center attacks nearly a year ago on September 22, 2001.

        These women gathered at a makeshift memorial at Union Square, New York. Their message was:

        OUR GRIEF IS NOT A CRY FOR WAR.

        twanda@gendergappers.org       

        2002-038

        Copyright 2002 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@twanda.org.

        G e n d e r G a p p e r s   T M