there was a happy time in the land of the Great Helmsman when everyone smiled as they paved the way for famine by killing of probably millions of sparrows in a throe of fanatical exhuberance. Are we in the same, pre-starvation phase, with happy faces painted all over the warning signs?

The Death Quota --

Notice: Anyone Caught Praying For Sparrows Will Be Re-educated.

Father watched

as the sparrows fluttered

from branch to branch

from noon till night

until they fell, exhausted,

into the trap of happy children,

were scooped up with glee

and dumped into victory piles.

The parents wore desperate smiles,

stretched with the obligatory joy,

and they clapped long, like flapping wings,

their hearts heavy, like feathers,

cheering the famine along.

In Heaven, St. Francis was given permission

to weep.

On Earth, the kingdom was advancing

without the "gods," and yet surpassing

all the monks in realms of faith.

And all the while, down below,

the insects gathered strength.

-- hurry (killthem@Samsclub.duh), June 29, 1999

Answers

just thought some poetry might be called for in the midst of all the hate male mail, speculations, reports of the death of hope, slanders of malicious idiots, swaggles of officialdom's continual sewage leakage, and technodrugs being offered by some on the forum...sorry bout that to the purists.

is there a site for y2k literature? besides all the fantasies posted here i mean?

-- sorry (hurry@penance.now), June 29, 1999.

And is "Citizen Locust" gathering strength in the arid areas of the U.S. ?

-- A. Hambley (a.hambley@usa.net), June 29, 1999.

As the sparrows flew, I gathered up

Poptarts and beer...

For my bunker

Strung with cheer

My Christmas Claymores

Wired tight were ever near...

Shells for the 12 guage...

KI for the kids....

MRE's by the thousands

Toothpicks for my lids....

WAKE UP! Poetry won't save your butt.

-- Jim Smith (cyberax@ix.netcom.com), June 29, 1999.

I believe the original poem references a period in chinese history when, believing they lost too much grain to birds, the chinese government ordered everyone to kill birds. They did, and of course, the insects lacked natural predators. And can they eat.

Watch six and keep your...

-- eyes_open (best@wishes.net), June 29, 1999.

An American man who had lived in China for about eight months told me about the time the Chinese decided to kill all of the flies.

A massive campaign to kill flies was decreed. The Chinese killed countless flies, and there were fly-free areas for a while, but not all of the flies were killed, and the flies returned en masse after normal breeding.

This reminds me of the forgotten, overlooked, hidden Y2K glitches on the horizon.

-- Randolph (dinosaur@williams-net.com), June 29, 1999.

OK What does what six mean?

-- Daryll (twinck@wfeca.net), June 30, 1999.

Should have been watch six :>)

-- Daryll (twinck@wfeca.net), June 30, 1999.

I believe the original was/is a tag line used by Wild Weasel.

His is - Check Six

(Means look behind you. Never bad advise.)

-Greybear

-- Got Mirrors?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), June 30, 1999.

Recommend a book about the great hunger in China, titled "Hungry Ghosts," forget the author's name.

REAL interesting read about the details of criminal mis-management by commie officials, & also in its depiction of what actually goes on when a lot of people are slowly starving to death.

You don't die all at once. All kinds of things happen in the meantime. It'll give you nightmares.

-- not looking (forward@to.it), June 30, 1999.

FWIW

I used "Check Six" to imply "take a good look all around" because in the jet, when you look back over each of your shoulders you make sure to get a look to the sides as you turn your head, too. You've got to have the mental picture of what's going on around you to be able to survive in a high threat situation.

Of course now is the final run-in and I'm concentrating on the target too hard to look elswhere. These last few months are the time say "Damned their guns, we make our run-in at the speed of heat!"

If you're the "do-er", leave the looking for the threat to your partner, who has time to look up from what they're doing. If your partner is the "do-er", watch their backs and give them cover.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), June 30, 1999.

Has anyone read "Tracks In The Sand" by Won Hung Lo?

Excellent Y2K preparation guide!

-- Jim Smith (cyberax@ix.netcom.com), June 30, 1999.