Chez Robert Giron

Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn, which he wrote and directed, is the film we Americans need at this time of political warfare and lack of trust in our government.

Here in this sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat film, Herzog has successfully told us the true story of the leading character Dieter Dengler, an American soldier lost in the Laotian jungle during the Vietnam war.

Christian Bale who truly gives a stunning performance--you might recall he also played the lead in American Psycho--rallied the audience in his favor. During his escape in the jungle, we were all rooting for him and we truly rejoiced when he was finally rescued. This film based on a true story makes Lost look foolish.

The fact that the military had to come to Dengler's rescue from the CIA who were debriefing him before admitting him to the public scene rings very true today. I'm not sure this scene in the film actually happened in real life, but regardless if it did or didn't, the fact that Herzog includes it in the film spoke to the four of us who saw the film together and then decided to have a drink and decompress a bit before we could "rejoin" the real world.

This is the kind of film we should promote Hollywood to make these days instead of the fluff that is being screened these days. If more films were of this quality, certainly more post 19 year olds would be in the theatres.

So, if you are feeling a bit fed up with the nonsense that is spewing out of government buildings in Washington and you are in want of a person who has integrity and one you can hold up as hero, then get out and see this film.

The President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors co-chaired by Robert Dole and Donna Shalala have rightly recommended that the military in this country get proper care, for everyone has heard that many wounded have not gotten the medical care they deserve, regardless of the fact that many Americans may not want the USA military to be in Iraq or other such locations. The point is a soldier has no choice; he/she must do as commanded by the powers that be.

To not properly take care of these Americans is not only wrong but criminal in my opinion. Never mind that some of these Americans are my relatives and friends. I may not like what our government is doing but unfortunately there is little one can do. Yes, I was out there protesting the Iraq war before we actually attacked Iraq, but now I find that informing my Congress representatives via writing letters and calling their offices about my opinion is more effective. Lord knows I can't go out protesting any longer due to health reasons.

The six recommendations made cover:
a. creating a comprehensive recovery plan for the seriously injured

b. restructuring the disability and compensation systems

c. preventing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury

d. straightening support for families [Learning about soldiers' families having to use food stamps in order to feed family members is enough to make any one angry at the USA government.]

e. transferring patient information between the Department of Defense and the Veterans Office more rapidly

f. supporting Walter Reed Hospital by recruiting and retaining first-rate health care professional until is slated to close in 2011

Now we wait and see if our president and his staff have the integrity to enforce these recommendations.

On July 23, 2008, the City of Takoma Park, Maryland passed a resolution (5 to 0, two members were absent) to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

The official petition will be delivered to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

What follows is the draft of the petition as posted on the City of Takoma Park, Maryland website.


Introduced by: Councilmember Snipper
CITY OF TAKOMA PARK, MARYLAND
RESOLUTION 2007-

Resolution to Impeach President George W. Bush
And Vice President Richard B. Cheney

WHEREAS, President George W. Bush, in his oath of office, swore to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States;" and

WHEREAS, Vice President Richard B. Cheney, in his oath of office, swore to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic;" and

WHEREAS, it is a fundamental principle of U.S. jurisprudence that no one is above the law and no one may operate outside of our constitutional system of checks and balances; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired with others to defraud the United States of America by intentionally misleading Congress and the public regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 371; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush has admitted to ordering the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, duly constituted by Congress in 1978, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney conspired to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the "Federal Torture Act" Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Conventions, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of the "supreme Law of the Land"; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney acted to strip American citizens of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention without access to legal counsel, without charge and without the opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the President of a U.S. citizen as an "enemy combatant", all in subversion of law; and

WHEREAS, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have arrogated excessive power to the executive branch in violation of basic constitutional principles of the separation of powers while acting to undermine the authority of the legislative branch and the judiciary by issuing "signing statements" that claim that the executive branch may disregard laws enacted by Congress when the President or his subordinates deem it appropriate, and by the above referenced conduct; and,

WHEREAS, in all of this George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney have acted in a manner contrary to their trust as President and Vice President, subversive of constitutional government to the great prejudice of the cause of law and justice, and to the manifest injury of the people of Takoma Park, MD and of the United States of America; and

WHEREAS, petitions from the country at large may be presented by the Speaker of the House according to Clause 3 of House Rule XII.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Takoma Park, Maryland, that George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrant impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT our senators and representatives in the United States Congress be, and they are hereby, requested to cause to be instituted in the Congress of the United States proper proceedings for the investigation of the activities of George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, to the end that they may be impeached and removed from such office; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the City Clerk shall certify to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, under the seal of the City of Takoma Park, a copy of this resolution and its adoption by the Council of the City of Takoma Park, as a petition, and request that this petition be delivered to the Office of the Clerk and entered in the United States Congressional Journal.

The copies shall be marked with the word "Petition" at the top of the document and contain the original authorizing signature of the City Clerk.

Adopted this Xth day of XXX, 2007.
Attest: ____________________________

Gival Press is pleased to announce that Pablo Miguel Martínez of San Antonio has won the 6th Annual Oscar Wilde Award for his poem entitled At the Pentecostal Baths.

Pablo Miguel Martínez received a cash prize of $100.00 and his poem is posted below.

In addition, in 2008 his poem will appear in the anthology Poetic Voices Without Borders 2, which will include the top poems entered in the contest.

---

Winner of the 2007 Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award

At the Pentecostal Baths
by Pablo Miguel Martínez of San Antonio, Texas.

Honorable Mentions:
The Master of the Sauna
by Brian Cronwall of Kapa'a, Hawaii.

When My Brothers Fell
by Raymond Berry of Muskegon, Michigan.

Eve's Garden
by Martha Marinara of Orlando, Florida.

Two River Girls
by Ching-In Chen of Lynnfield, Massachusetts.

My Sister, the Drag Queen
by Michael Montlack of New York, New York.


Winner of the 2007 Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award
by Pablo Miguel Martínez of San Antonio, Texas.

At the Pentecostal Baths

Tactile, yes. In total darkness, yes.
As if eclipsed. As on his lips.
As if in secret retreat,
finding his way, eagerly. Yes.

A room filled with men, yes.
Lightness years away.
He waits for the coming
of the Paraclete,

a proper businessman, yes,
on his knees, imploring,
waits for ecstasy, yes.
Glory revealed in silver-

dollar holes. Halos, yes.
Come with thy grace
and heavenly aid,
he begs.

There are no tongues
of flame. Is this
how it ends? This is
how it ends, yes.

Copyright © 2007 by Pablo Miguel Martínez.


Biography:
Pablo Miguel Martínez's work has appeared in numerous publications, including Americas Review, BorderSenses, Comstock Review, and the San Antonio Express-News. In 2005 he was a recipient of the prestigious Chicano/Latino Literary Prize, and in 2003 he received an award from the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation. Martínez teaches English at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas.

Kim Roberts who is the editor of Beltway Poetry Quarterly has a new chapbook out entitled The Kimnama, published by VRZHU Press of Washington, DC.

With The Kimnama Kim Roberts has documented her visit to India in a way that is both unique and informative. As the title suggests, Roberts provides the reader with clues of India's rich multifaceted culture:

Ganesh is a chubby smiling
elephant-headed god,
the first son of Shiva and Parvati.

...


The smell of the streets
grows sharper at night.
Spices, wood smoke,

dust, cattle, and sweat. Chandan,
a sandalwood paste,
used in Hindu temple rites.

The burned smell of chapatti,
round wheat bread made
over an open flame.

The faint smell of drying flowers
strung together
in orange garlands.

Incense, more spice. And more dust.
Dust wrapping
everything in a thin coat

that gets inside your nostrils,
that enters your food,
that cannot be washed away.

...

Here is a quick-read chapbook in which one can find a hint of India's vast history and culture as well as its mystery and draw. From its temples to its smell of flowers, food and fires rising up in pujas (religious prayers). What this accomplishes is that it bids one to visit India, and perhaps the visitor will one day create his/her own personal history capturing those prescient moments in the East's enchanted land we call India.


Visit VRZHU Press: Kim Roberts at VRZHU Press

Tameme, Inc., edited by C.M. Mayo of Washington, DC, has begun a chapbook / cuardernos series, the first of which is Carne verde, piel negra by Mexican author Agustín Cadena. The translation, An Avocado from Michoacán, is by C.M. Mayo.

The story encased in a handsome chapbook with a painting by Mexican artist Edgar Soberon with the bookcover designed by Ines Hilde is quite Mexican in its style, tradition and message.





A boy's mother is dying and her last wish is a delicious Michoacán avocado in the middle of winter, a wish which torments the narrtor, the son. The son is worried about his mother's health and finds himself repeating Catholic customs such as making the sign of the cross which is no engrained that it has become a ritual, so Spanish in character that visions of semana santa, as done in Sevilla during the Easter Holy Week, come to mind upon reading the passage. Yet we are in the USA in this story, the dream having transported the mother back to her homeland though she awakes and is told that it is snowing. She refuses to see the snow and instead is focused on an avocado her son now attempts to get for her.

The story is the first of the bilingual (English/Spanish) series to be continued by Tameme, Inc., which has as its goal to bring forth good Spanish work to English speakers/readers and English work to Spanish speakers/readers via translations of current writers from Canada, the USA, and Mexico.

Truly Tameme and C.M. Mayo are doing fine work and I hope others will visit the website to read and support the press: Tameme.Org