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Kayaking Down the River of Lies

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"Kayaking down the River of Lies" was inspired by the dreadful failure of Israeli intelligence on Oct 7, 2023. Higher ups had been warned by people on the ground, of what Hamas was planning, but they dismissed it because they thought they understood Hamas motives. Likewise, the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the U.S. into WW-II might have been prevented if the FBI had listened to the warnings of Dusko Popov, a Serbian double agent who J Edgar Hoover despised as an inveterate womanizer. He was that, but he also was a patriot. There's a Youtube Video (of the poem set to a tune by Suno.AI) and the verses below that. Here's both:

I eased our kayak into the river of lies.
There was me, Dave and Jim, experienced guys.
The current grew stronger, Jim said he would quit,
He said it felt wrong, the scene didn't fit.

Dave urged I go upstream and fight the pull.
I called him a deceiver; he called me red bull.
A rock of hard truth lay right on our path.
I swerved around it; he grabbed on in his wrath.

[chorus]
So many tributaries to the river of lies.
So many ways that untruth can disguise
Be ready to debate, take heed every clue.
And paddle along with a dependable crew.

The waters funneled narrow; cliffs did arise.
I pursued a half-truth on this river of lies.
I shot through Shriek-wind Cleft, and Down-fall Gap.
The kayak shuddered, but I did not turn back.

Went down the rapids, with a groan and a gasp.
Flew out of the boat, into realities grasp.
Crawled up the bank under the merciless sun.
All water was gone, nowhere to run.

I should have credited the feeling of doubt.
High walls all around, how could I get out?
Then found devil's advocate canyon.
Realized I should have trusted each companion.

[chorus]
So many tributaries to the river of lies.
So many ways that untruth can disguise.
They say hindsight's 20/20, that excuse may be true
But when anomalies arise, they're talking to you.

The causes you believed don't believe in you.
False friends fall away, despised friends now ring true.
You overrode the warnings whenever you could.
The paradigm shift was too late to do good.

At lost chance ravine, there's blood on the water.
Down its walls faint echoes of torture and slaughter
Know this - under the din, warnings can be true.
To live you may have to change your entire world view.

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