^ Will a poem do?

The standard model of particles, founded 50 years ago,
By abdus salam, steve weinberg and sheldon glashow.

They theorised three new forces, through which we used to find.
That gravity isn't the only all pervading influence of its kind.

The strong force exchanges gluons, of nuclear design.
Forgive the sense of humour, science needs a focused mind.

Before that comes the weak force, which must be overcome,
To fuse elements together and create a heavier one.

E-M forces follow; with yet a greater range,
"Quantum electrodynamics" uses photons to exchange.

Gravity we discovered first, Newton lead the way.
Applying it to the planets to map the celestial ballet.

From the smallest to the largest, we arrive at the present day.
The "Theory of Almost Everything"; so close yet so far away.

(Needs a bit of work!)

Well Mid Class heh, in our country as RICH CLASS!!!
Hah, that's makes me sick!!! By the way want to swallow 8.000.000 barrels oil at once!!!
Then makes me full of SICK!!!
SALAM.

ok ok it's understandable that gunrock would feel affronted.

my own experience of the military is as a cadet in the RAF, and I was always surprised how ... erm... professional they were. The british stiff upper lip was well preserved. Sure, they joked around, but if they were driving past some random cars in Iraq, I would expect them to quit goofing off.

So from gunrock, all i wanted was some kind of reason why they might be expected to be relaxed at that point, are they in a "safe" area? is it that they drive past so many cars that don't explode they dropped their guard? I just was struck by how casual they were. Are they always this casual? Is it the only way to deal with the pressure?

and yes, i know joking around is a good way to relieve the enormous physical and emotional strain of being in someone else's country risking your life... it's just, well, this seemed so casual. "hi guys! salam a fuckin laikum, woohoo" BANG.

This very well done. I remember reading Salam Pax as the Iraq War was about to start and for a couple of months afterwards. He's very articulate, and very likable.

I was concerned for his safety then, and still am. It's good to see that he seems to be doing well though.

In the meantime you can watch it at CNN (with ads)
http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/untoldstories/blog/2007/04/this-week-baghdad-blogger-salam-pax.html

Great post - ya salam!

The first song is called "Dunya Salam" by "Baaba Maal".
It can be found on an album called "One giant leep", 30 second sample can be found here: http://calabashmusic.com/world/publisher/flashPlayer/action/view?playerAction=loadSample&sampleID=12698

The second track is Sofa Surfers - Tranquility (Kruder & Dorfmeister Remix) and is also known as "Sofa Rockers".