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 10 Jun 2005 @ 09:25, by jazzolog. Violence, War
In the presence of eternity the mountains are as transient as the clouds.
---Robert Green Ingersoll
One bird sits still
Watching the work of God:
One turning leaf,
Two falling blossoms,
Ten circles upon the pond.
---Thomas Merton
Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know nothing else but miracles---
To me every hour of night and day is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle.
---Walt Whitman
Bush in Ohio again yesterday.
Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
My right wing friends may be surprised to learn that since "they dropped (the Downing Street Minutes) out in the middle of (Tony Blair's) race," as Bush angrily put it the other day, I have been replying to emails and message boards about them by urging great caution. I say "surprise" because we on the left always are characterized in panic and hysteria by the right. What I've been writing in reply is that the incriminating evidence in the memo seems to be fixed upon the single word "fix." I just have used the word in that very sentence in a way that gives rather a different meaning than "let's fix the horserace"---or let's do something that will assure we will win and the others lose. Or let's fix the election. Essentially in the UK I think writers of minutes and memos are more likely to use the word "fix" in the sense of "affix" than we are over here in the States. Therefore, I've felt the sense of the memo can be construed to urge its readers to concentrate on finding evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, rather than just make stuff up.
However, now that I've seen both Bush and Blair respond to the issue---and a couple more days have passed---I've decided to get a bit suspicious. Blair and his team did not go into what "fix" might mean in the UK, and Bush just got customarily pissed that anyone would question his tactics. It seems to me this president does not possess the character to entertain either criticism or objection. I think it is the main trait the left finds so dangerous about this guy. He sits there dumb and confused until he gets a message in his ear, and then starts talking, usually derogatorily about a person rather than an issue, eventually gets angry, and then lashes out. There are diagnoses for people like this...and I find it an unnerving kind of personality to be revealed in the most powerful person on earth.
Most of you reading this now subscribe online to Truthout. I hope you send them some money from time to time. (It's easy and you feel so much better.) Truthout sends so much stuff each day that I want to underline the article written yesterday by William Rivers Pitt about the Memo. You might have missed it or, like us, been very busy with daughter graduations and such. His essay is the best summary of the Downing Street Memo that I've seen...and even if you too are cautious about calling the memo the smoking gun or some kind of evidence of chicanery, I think it will do you good to read it...and save it to read again. Have a great weekend! More >
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24 May 2005 @ 18:25, by bkodish. Violence, War
A Belgian correspondent of mine shocked and educated me several years ago, when he said that the Israeli army stood in the same position toward the Arabs of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza as the Nazis stood in relation to the Jews in 1939.
He was not a radical leftist by any means but--as I have since gathered-- a rather typical mainstream European one. Educated, 'progressive' and grossly ignorant of the antisemitism he was spouting.
Despite my admonitions, he appeared impervious to the obvious differences between Israel's seige by the Arab world and the Nazi Juggernaut. He was unwilling to admit that he didn't sufficiently know the history either of 20th Century Europe or of the Middle East. He felt insulted with the implication that he had uncritically absorbed the assumptions of anti-Israeli propagandists.
He resisted my suggestion that his "Israel is an apartheidt state" rhetoric echoed the dehumanizing rhetoric of Nazi Jew-hatred. More >
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8 May 2005 @ 21:58, by swanny. Violence, War
As I hang around the shack today
I hear tales from the media on the spector
of the end of World War II and the 60th year commemoration
of the event.
It makes me wonder if perhaps a kind of insanity takes
hold or took hold in those days.
The media endless overanalysis makes me somewhat disgusted
as they seem to want to squeeze out whatever of whatever.
I look then not at the whys and wherefore but to the reality
and lessons. The fallacy of war that I speak then is the assumption that by the killing of others that something some goal or objective can be
achieved. True we must defend ourselves no problem there but this whole idea that killing actually solves problems is absurd. The problems just takes on another form or dimension then or one then has to deal with the damage and fallout and victums and relatives of that solution.
Hilters "final solution" perhaps is a eptitomy of that kind of erroneous thinking and false profit. Ethnic cleansing and the like point to the error and insanity of thinking killing others actually solves problems or anything.
If anything killing others only esasterbates the situation. It produces no growth no insight no truth no victory even. Indeed it in actuality robs one of the opportunity to really reach some mutual understanding and common ground with others, be they foe or freind. It denys us this even if we are the one left standing denys the ability and opportunity to grow in maturity and wisdom turth and truly understand if though perhaps not fully agree with anothers point of view. Victory in war and such then is a misnomer of sorts. War and such is then perhaps a symptom then of some flaw of person charactor or thinking or ideology
and a means to nothing but the status quo or worse. If we are truly to grow as a worthy inhabitants of this planet we will have to see beyond these so called final solutions into perhaps really sitting down and trying to find more constructive and positive ways of mutual coexistence. Ways like dialogue and deliberation. Ways that do not dimish our virtue and honor and truth and love but enhance it. Yes democracy is a bad system but the best one we have at the moment. Yet even still to impose a good thing, is that a good thing? or does the simple act of imposing bespeak and diminish
the whole principle and means of it.
At any rate as Don Juan said the only clear
fact for us all is that life is altogether to short in this unfathomable universe. More >
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23 Mar 2005 @ 16:09, by vaxen. Violence, War
I thought I'd rip this article from the wonderful folks at [link] because so many of my compatriot Americans are so dumbed down by 'media,' so saturated with 'PR' spin, that they have not taken, even a moment aside, to consider much of anything let alone the meaning of life.
Cindy Sheehan is a 'mother' who writes well, is passionate, loves life ,and deserves to be heard. I'd like to take sheaves of her writings and shove them down every 'Congress' members throat. I'd like to do the same for the glorious Commander In Chief! I never had much respect for 'Commanders' and I have a whole lot less now. May they all rot in hell is the way I feel.
Terry Schiavos' name has been blinged about in the asylum yet it's OK to send young men and women overseas to be murdered in the name of American tyranny. Don't make the mistake and think that we are in Iraq, or any where else for that matter, because of 'Democratic' altruism or to push 'Democracy' down peoples throats who know its' lies and do not want it.
So excuse me L.R. for this RIP. I hope everyone here will take a taste of Cindies' brew and remember...
It could be you! More >
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5 Mar 2005 @ 11:13, by swanny. Violence, War
"Thou Shalt Not War!"
03-05-05, 04:10 am (PDT)
Hmmmm
This ....
Is this not one of the 10 commandments?
No it does not say
Thou shalt not war...
But is that not what is implied or
meant by "Thou shalt not Kill"....
Sure we can debate over the sematics
and technicalities....
yet I suspect that the intent of
this commandment was meant to "cover"
or include war.
Sematics yes yes....
If we can not war though how else can
we settle our differences and grievences.
War seems rather decisive and neat, winners
and losers and such. Who wants to get in to
all the grey or gray areas. But it is pretty
black and white though saying thou shalt not kill
or thou shalt not war is pretty black and white too.
What is the penalty of "warring" besides the
"hell" that it is?
hmmmmm It almost seems war and warring and the punishment
of war and warring is war and warring itself.
War and Warring is an act, crime and punishment all and of
and in itself. Maybe that is the reason that we shouldn't war
because War is hell.
There you have it then
Thou shalt not war.... because war is hell. More >
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 1 Mar 2005 @ 17:20, by jazzolog. Violence, War
Old River Mountain a slab of rock
that blue heaven's swept to paint on
and written there an ancient poem
green letters worked in moss.
---Li-Po
And 'tis my faith that
every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
---William Wordsworth
It is good to know the truth, but it is better to speak of palm trees.
---Arabic Proverb
The photo shows Glenn Miller setting up the Army Air Force Band at the Yale Bowl in July 1943.
This really is an open letter to an old friend of mine. If he replies and permits me, I'll post it...and perhaps we may have a little forum. My friend is about my age, went to college with me, and even shared a dorm room for a time. We also shared an abiding love of jazz music---a devotion that has carried our friendship through thick and thin for 45 years. Over the past decade we have parted company politically, a much more extreme move on his part than mine. He has voted for Bush and supports the war effort, I guess, wherever it takes us. He has kept me abreast of conservative thought---and I am not going to make a wisecrack there, because he and I both know how daunting profound conservative philosophy can be. He suggested that if I would agree not to send him anything by Arianna Huffington, he would respond by not bothering me with Ann Coulter. He thought it might be better for the serenity of both of us if we stayed away from those women. We've kept that bargain...although since California deemed the brilliant Arnold Schwarzenegger what they needed for that state's salvation, Arianna has fallen rather more silent than she used to be---whereas Coulter is calling Helen Thomas an "old Arab." I'm not sure the deal is even anymore. More >
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23 Jan 2005 @ 21:08, by bkodish. Violence, War
David Horowitz writes:
"A little noted fact about virtually all liberal criticisms of the Bush policy in Iraq is that they have a common theme. That theme is appeasement. Appeasement in the first instance of the outlaw regime of Saddam Hussein, and in the second of the jihad that terrorist armies in the Middle East are waging against us." More >
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4 Jan 2005 @ 22:17, by nemue. Violence, War
This problem isn’t new to Asia (and many other countries and regions as well to be fair to Asian countries) but one of my fears was that this ugliness would raise its head and it appears it has if the following report is anything to go by. Unfortunately now the children have even less protection.
[link]
For any people who read this and who are based in Australia please support Youth Off The Streets and Father Chris Riley who is flying to Samatra today to establish a temporary refuge for homeless children. Millions of dollars have been pledged to the bigger charities but YOTS doesn’t have the clout of some and their focus is on children only. This will not be a short-term initiative by Father Chris. You can make a donation on-line by visiting the following link.
[link] More >
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2 Jan 2005 @ 22:48, by swanny. Violence, War
It is a little to late for about 150,000 people or more to be
finally throwing money, though welcome, at the problem and
problems of the disparity of the human condition.
We can now poignantly see ourselves for our global
deficiencies and hypocrisy towards our fellow humans
and the well touted but unpracticed religious golden rule.
If this is what it takes to move us to care for those less
fortunate than us then it does not bode well for our future
and yet now it seems the sad truth is the best we can do,
is throw money after the fact, as if money can make up for the laxity of
the mutual responsibility we should and must have towards
the health and well being of one and other.
The damage is done though folks, so let us eat our humble pie
and admit and accept our shallowness, vanity and unconscious
hypocrisy and learn and pray that we can evolve, change and do better
the next time when G O D or nature takes us to task.
Alfred Jonas
Red Deer
Canada More >
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 31 Dec 2004 @ 17:01, by ming. Violence, War
I can't really add much to the Tsunami coverage, as it is already all over all the media. It is tragical and devasting of course. I don't know how to deal appropriately with over 100,000 dead and many more personal tragedies. Strange that I can't personally even relate to it before I read that there are still around 500 Danish people missing. That's about a 10 times bigger chunk of Denmark than 9/11 was to the U.S. And 1500 Swedish people. But the much bigger disasters were for many faraway villages that can't even be properly accounted for, and many of which no longer exist.
Otherwise the only thing I can say is that it shouldn't have happened. Well, you can't stop the biggest earthquake in memory from happening. But it took several hours for the tsunami to hit the beaches it hit. It is an example of terrible communication systems that most people had no clue. The U.S. military and the State Department knew, and secured the Diego Garcia military base. But it succeeded in alerting only two foreign governments. The top meteorologists in Thailand knew, but they decided to not tell anybody, to not disturb the tourist industry. As if an unexpected tsunami isn't a lot more disturbing. And, anyway, there wasn't much of a system in place to warn anybody in most places. The people who knew didn't quite know who to contact.
Interestingly, the animals knew, even if nobody told them in advance. There were largely no dead animals, because they can sense stuff like that coming, and instinctly get themselves to safety. More >
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