Welcome to "In Our Own Words," the Ezine from BBBooks. We publish and distribute books, list "Calls for Submissions," Contests, and Writing Classes here on our web site.

We are a grass roots organization, not a corporate entity, so we don't dance to the dollar sign. You can expect to find thought- provoking, creative, alternative writing, information and politics right here. We offer the "People Before Profits Poetry Prize" each year and offer all kinds of other stuff for writers, poets, students, educators, spiritual types, feminists, humanists, and activists. We're people who follow their conscience, but like to have fun too!

The writers in this edition of "In Our Own Words" range in age from their teens to their 80s.

Our editorial philosophy is simple: Writers respond to life; they chronicle our times and remind us what it is like to be human.
Extraordinary writing strikes a truth and reflects how events in our nutty world affect us. While vulgarity is often a part of our daily lives, vulgarity for the sake of shock value doesn't benefit anyone. We accept all styles and forms of poetry and prose. While the writing we've chosen reminds us that life isn't always pretty, we will always dream of it being extraordinary!

Your Generation
Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan

Son, daughter this is
your Pearl Harbor,
your Vietnam.

What you see and hear
will be the tales you tell
the generations to come.

Photos, songs and poems
will be what is left
to help convey today.

What memories are now
seared into your souls like
like evil brandings?

How I wish I could find
Linu's Blanket to wrap you in,
and walk you back to Sesame Street.

Yellow
Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan

Within the Universe of you I am nothing more
than a lemon ice melting in your mouth.
I am dripping down your arms and legs
like raindrops
sliding off the roof after a summer thunderstorm.
Forgiveness,
like those pearls of moisture,
is slippery to secure from you.
As the day tuck in and night wakes up
I am exposed by the full moon's glow
as I stand outside your breathing,
waiting, waiting, waiting.
Wrapped in nothing more than memories
and my favorite silk scarf.

Blood Money - Death is Good For Business

Thursday June 27, 7:00 am Eastern Time
Morningstar.com
Our Favorite Defense Stocks
By Jonathan Schrader

The war on terrorism and plans for higher defense spending have placed
defense stocks squarely in the sights of many investors. As a result,
many of these stocks have soared since the September terrorist attacks.
Despite the runup, we think that there are a few names in the sector
that deserve attention.

Our favorite defense company and top Stock Analyst Pick is General
Dynamics (NYSE: GD - News ). The company is well managed and has
excellent positions in both land- and sea-based weapons, as well as
information systems for the government. The stock has performed very
well over the past decade when defense spending was on the decline, and
we believe that such impressive gains will continue now that spending is
on the rise.

We also like Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC - News ), a company that has
grown like a weed over the past few years, mainly thanks to
acquisitions. Northrop is now situated in the sweet spot of defense
contracting: defense electronics. It has also moved to the front of the
pack as a designer and manufacturer of naval vessels. Because Northrop's
acquisition strategy adds risk to the equation, we would like to see a
larger discount to fair value before buying; the stock becomes quite
attractive below $120, in our opinion.

At the right price we would also buy Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT - News)
and Raytheon (NYSE: RTN - News ), two firms that have struggled mightily
in assimilating earlier acquisitions but are now getting back on track.
Lockheed's shares are overvalued, so we would wait for a big decline
before buying. Raytheon's shares are trading at a slight discount to our
fair value estimate, but given that it is emerging from some troubles,
we would be more comfortable buying it below $40.

We expect that the defense industry will have the wind at its back for
most of this decade. If investors focus on buying the best names--those
listed here--at an attractive price, they should do well over the long run.

Vieques Struggle Continues
Robert Rabin-Siegal

The struggle for peace on the Puerto Rican Island municipality of Vieques, is
a struggle against the horrible social-economic and environmental--health
effects of US militarism. The struggle to end the US Navy presence and
activities on Vieques has important relationships to and repercussions for
communities throughout the world that struggle in defense of their dignity
and rights to live in peace.

Since the 1940s -World War II-the US Navy has used Vieques for ammunition
storage and military maneuvers, including live bombing from jets, ships,
bazookas, tanks, mortars and experimentation with new weapons systems.
Pressure from the community forced the Navy to admit its use of Napalm and
Depleted Uranium weapons on this 4 X 21 mile island with approximately 10
thousand residents lying southeast of the main island of Puerto Rico.

The death of a civilian-Viequense- security guard on April 19, 1999, when two
errant 500 lb. live bombs were dropped on the Navy's own observation post,
galvanized widespread support for this decades old struggle. Recent
declarations by Navy officials about alternatives to Vieques and statements
by President Bush confirming his administration's position to maintain the
May 2003 date for cessation of military practices here, point to the success
of this historic and heroic struggle of the Vieques-Puerto Rican people.

These past three years of peaceful civil disobedience have effectively
hampered maneuvers and forced expenditures of an additional 11 million
dollars for security to carry out operations at Camp Garcia (Vieques). Other
important elements in this stage of the struggle are an effective
international campaign of dissemination and solidarity, the active
participation of political religious, student and labor leaders and the
massive support from wide segments of the Puerto Rican populace.

The creation of an international network of solidarity and mutual support,
has connected us to communities struggling against US militarism in Scotland,
England, Ireland, Spain, Italy, the Philippines, Okinawa, Japan, Korea,
Hawaii, Guam, Panama, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador among other countries. When
civil disobedients at Cape Wrath, Scotland, interrupted US Navy bombing there
two years ago placing Scottish and Puerto Rican (in support of Vierques)
flags in the bombing range our people became closely tied in our common
efforts to end militarism and create a world of peace.

We have also worked closely with community organizations in the US where
military activities impact horribly on Indigenous, Afro American, Hispanic
and other poor neighborhoods from coast to coast.

Vieques has become a model of grass roots, non violent civil disobedience
actions that have successfully stopped the most powerful military force in
history. We also hope to become a model of community based sustainable
development as we continue to struggle for demilitarization, decontamination,
return of our lands and finally the creation of a healthy, democratic and
just Vieques freed from the US Navy.

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Robert Rabin Siegal is currently serving a six month sentence in the US
Federal Prison in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, for his participation in peaceful
civil disobedience actions that stopped Navy bombing on Vieques in April of
2002. He is a member of the board of directors of the Committee for the
Rescue and Development of Vieques and Director of the Vieques Historical
Archives. For more information please see www.viequeslibre.org or www.red betances.com

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation wants crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters... Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will..."
Frederick Douglass 1857

full quotation in context: http://www.publiceye.org/buildingequality/quotes/frederickdouglass.htm

 How You Can Be Published:

There are several ways. You can also send in poetry or short prose of your own to be considered for IN OUR OWN WORDS, THE EZINE FROM BBBOOKS. We also recommend looking at the Classifieds in Poets and Writers Magazine, visiting our Calls for Submission Page, or entering one of the contests like our "People Before Profits Poetry Prize". Only entires that include a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) will be returned, so be sure to include this with your work. See our editorial philosphy above.