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Date Posted: 07:29:40 01/01/06 Sun
Author: Kent Fletcher
Subject: Happy New Year! (War Is Over)

Happy New Year - © Kent Fletcher
January 1, 2006

ARTIST: John Lennon
TITLE: Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

{Refrain}
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
{Background Vocals}
And so this is Christmas War is over
For weak and for strong If you want it
For rich and the poor ones War is over
The road is so long Now
And so happy Christmas War is over
For black and for white If you want it
For yellow and red ones War is over
Let's stop all the fight Now

{Refrain}

And so this is Christmas War is over
And what have we done If you want it
Another year over War is over
And a new one just begun Now
And so happy Christmas War is over
I hope you have fun If you want it
The near and the dear one War is over
The old and the young Now

{Refrain}

War is over if you want it
War is over now

- - -

I woke up yesterday morning with John Lennon's song playing in my mind. Oh, if it could only be true. And as much as I could wish it so, I know in my heart, and in my mind, it ain't gonna happen. There are too many cultures, societies, religions, people in the world to even fathom an outside iota of hope for it to be so.

Warring factions have been around since man began to walk on the Earth's surface. Anthropologists worldwide have made startling discoveries about the viciousness one group of men and women can have toward their neighbors, wanting it all to themselves with no regard toward the needs and desires of their neighbors. Even in the Bible warring factions have been noted with much blood-letting and death.

So what is different today? Not a whole lot, except that modern warfare can do so, so much more damage in much shorter time, and from farther away. And the modern warfare is but a conglomeration of ancient tactics and modern technology melded together to create anxiety for all the world. For instance, the day the US was struck on native soil on 9/11/01 had been planned for years, to the best of my knowledge, and while the terrorists who hijacked the four planes were living and moving about more-or-less freely within the US, there was never a notion among the populace of the impending events. At least that's what I gather from all the stories and history of the event.

In the last year I've seen more politics than ever before. The vociferous left is as bad as the vociferous right in many aspects. The favorite word from the left is fascist, yet the majority of us have never, ever lived under a fascist regime. Seems that everyone is making arguments based on past facts, way past facts which should have no bearing on the present. Seems that everyone, especially on the left thinks appeasement toward those who are striving to do ill toward the US and its people will take care of the problem. Appeasement does not work. Period. Chamberlain thought so with Hitler before the second world war. Look where that notion got him and England, and eventually the US. For a little history, take a look-see at this URL: http://www.omnibusol.com/wcessay6.html - AN APPEASEMENT HISTORY. It gives a brief synopsis of appeasement. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWappeasement.htm - will give some more information regarding appeasement.

- - -

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

appease v 1: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of; "She managed to mollify her angry boss" [syn: pacify, lenify, conciliate, assuage, mollify, placate, gentle, gruntle]
2: overcome or allay; "quell my hunger" [syn: quell, stay]
3: make peace with [syn: propitiate]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Appease \Ap*pease"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Appealed; p. pr. & vb. n. Appeasing.] [OE. apesen, apaisen, OF. apaisier, apaissier, F. apaiser, fr. a (L. ad) + OF. pais peace, F. paix, fr. L. pax, pacis. See Peace.]

To make quiet; to calm; to reduce to a state of peace; to still; to pacify; to dispel (anger or hatred); as, to appease the tumult of the ocean, or of the passions; to appease hunger or thirst.

Syn: To pacify; quiet; conciliate; propitiate; assuage; compose; calm; allay; hush; soothe; tranquilize.

- - -

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

capitulate v : surrender under agreed conditions

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Capitulate \Ca*pit"u*late\, v. t. To surrender or transfer, as an army or a fortress, on certain conditions. [R.]

Capitulate \Ca*pit"u*late\, v. I. [imp. & p. p. Capitulated; p. pr. & vb. n. Capitulating.] [LL. capitulatus, p. p. of capitulare to capitulate: cf. F. capituler. See Capitular, n.]

1. To settle or draw up the heads or terms of an agreement, as in chapters or articles; to agree. [Obs.]
There capitulates with the king . . . to take to wife his daughter Mary. --Heylin.

There is no reason why the reducing of any agreement to certain heads or capitula should not be called to capitulate. --Trench.

2. To surrender on terms agreed upon (usually, drawn up under several heads); as, an army or a garrison capitulates. The Irish, after holding out a week, capitulated. --Macaulay.

- - -

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

capitulation : the act of surrendering (under agreed conditions); "they were protected until the capitulation of the fort" [syn: fall, surrender]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Capitulation \Ca*pit`u*la"tion\, n. [Cf. F. capitulation, LL. capitulatio.]

1. A reducing to heads or articles; a formal agreement. Eith special capitulation that neither the Scots nor the French shall refortify. --Bp. Burnet.
2. The act of capitulating or surrendering to an enemy upon stipulated terms.
3. The instrument containing the terms of an agreement or surrender.

- - -

I took a little liberty in looking up words that fall within the notion of appeasement. Briefly, to me anyway, appeasement is nothing more than a delaying tactic used by those on the left, i.e., antiwar activists, pacificists, lackeys, and other sorts of people who would hand over their souls rather than fight an aggressor who wishes for total domination. Does the US fit this bill? In only one case I'm aware of and that was Vietnam.

To quote a brief statement from the Reader's Companion To Military History, "efforts to appease dictators by democracies operating from a position of weakness serves (sic) only to encourage further aggressive behavior and make a world war more likely." Such is the nature of the conflict the US is in now in Iraq. Appeasement toward Al Qaeda, toward the insurgents in Iraq, toward those people who wish nothing more than total domination of the US and other true democracies around the world will go nowhere for the positive, only to the negative in regard to the continuation of democratic societies.

People like John Lennon, John Kerry, Howard Dean, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, numerous other Hollywood celebrities and political wanabees who have had either no military service or who have lived nowhere but in their cocoons protecting their ideological thoughts of peace and love are the folks who will bring the US to its knees. This has happened only once before, during the Vietnam war, and it may well happen again, furthering the demise of the society and privileges we in the US have now. As I've quoted before, "If you want it bad (enough), you will get it bad."

Okay, I'm off my soapbox, I think. I didn't mean for this writing to become political, but as with everything else in my life, I'm constantly drawn toward it.

Happy New Year, Everybody! May we all be better off this year than the last, and may God Bless America!

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