So here I am stuck half way thru the Easter observations.
My muse has ascended in a cloud of incense.
I thinks sometimes all we can ever do is regurgitate what others have said previously anyway.
The Easter triduum blows me away every year, the three day cycle of services that look at servanthood, death and resurrection affect me deep within.
The Pope says it all in his Meditation on the Easter Triduum I cannot really add anything to what the Man says.
I am now waiting eagerly for Saturday night - 24 hours away to celebrate the great vigil. Over 16 years ago I assisted at a NeoCatechumenal vigil that went from 11.00pm to 6.30am! Fortunately the one I attend at the local Church takes 2 hours
Wishing all a happy and safe Easter season G_72
Friday, April 09, 2004
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
more floss:
Friends are Angels who lift our feet
when our own wings have trouble in
remembering how to fly!
--- Marianne Griffith
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but
it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
-- Herm Albright
The big secret in life is that there is no big secret.
Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to
work.
-- Anonymous
[serious thoughts]lateral thinking led to the combination of hijacking and suicide bombing that resulted in 911. The terrorist groups around the world are still seeking another 'next big thing' that will give them global world wide publicity and give them 'cred' with their ilk.
Ongoing terrorist action in Spain has been disrupted, but the Afghanistan problem is getting worse.
Friends are Angels who lift our feet
when our own wings have trouble in
remembering how to fly!
--- Marianne Griffith
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but
it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
-- Herm Albright
The big secret in life is that there is no big secret.
Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to
work.
-- Anonymous
[serious thoughts]lateral thinking led to the combination of hijacking and suicide bombing that resulted in 911. The terrorist groups around the world are still seeking another 'next big thing' that will give them global world wide publicity and give them 'cred' with their ilk.
Ongoing terrorist action in Spain has been disrupted, but the Afghanistan problem is getting worse.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
from the bbc
Rwanda is marking the 10th anniversary of the genocide in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militias.
The slaughter was triggered by the shooting down of a plane with Rwanda's Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana onboard on 6 April 1994.
It ranks alongside the Holocaust of the Jews as one of the worst atrocities of the 20th Century.
another pause to reflect on inhumanity!
An 'ex'-worker from my building called in today with her 5 month old baby.
Cuddling the child gave me hope amidst all the gloom. The clouds, both those above and of world events were eclipsed by the joy of life. Sadly, rain still has not arrived in Canberra, the dark clouds blew away this evening. "Possible" thunderstorms are forecast locally but I think the only real thunder is the ongoing barrage of war.
Rwanda is marking the 10th anniversary of the genocide in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militias.
The slaughter was triggered by the shooting down of a plane with Rwanda's Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana onboard on 6 April 1994.
It ranks alongside the Holocaust of the Jews as one of the worst atrocities of the 20th Century.
another pause to reflect on inhumanity!
An 'ex'-worker from my building called in today with her 5 month old baby.
Cuddling the child gave me hope amidst all the gloom. The clouds, both those above and of world events were eclipsed by the joy of life. Sadly, rain still has not arrived in Canberra, the dark clouds blew away this evening. "Possible" thunderstorms are forecast locally but I think the only real thunder is the ongoing barrage of war.
from Raed:
The souls of thousands of Iraqis, and hundreds of Americans are even more costly than all the money that was spent.
I was the country director of the first (and maybe only) door-to-door civilian casualties survey, Marla Ruzika was my American partner, the fund raiser and the general director of CIVIC.
But unfortunately, she didn’t have the chance to publish the final results until now.
I decided to publish my copy of the final results of the Iraqi civilian casualties in Baghdad and the south of Iraq on the 9th of this month, in respect to the big effort of the 150 volunteers used to work with me and spent weeks o hard work under the hot sun of the summer, in respect for Majid my brother that spent weeks arranging the data entry process, and in respect to the innocent souls of those who died because of irresponsible political decisions.
Two thousand killed, Four thousand injured.
Each one of these thousands has a life, memories, hopes… each one had his moments of sadness, moments of joy and moments of love.
In respect to their sacred memory, I would appreciate it if you could spend some minutes reading the database file when I publish them, read their names, and their personal details, and think about them as human beings, friends and relatives, not mere figures and numbers.
I will read and respect the lives those names represent.
The souls of thousands of Iraqis, and hundreds of Americans are even more costly than all the money that was spent.
I was the country director of the first (and maybe only) door-to-door civilian casualties survey, Marla Ruzika was my American partner, the fund raiser and the general director of CIVIC.
But unfortunately, she didn’t have the chance to publish the final results until now.
I decided to publish my copy of the final results of the Iraqi civilian casualties in Baghdad and the south of Iraq on the 9th of this month, in respect to the big effort of the 150 volunteers used to work with me and spent weeks o hard work under the hot sun of the summer, in respect for Majid my brother that spent weeks arranging the data entry process, and in respect to the innocent souls of those who died because of irresponsible political decisions.
Two thousand killed, Four thousand injured.
Each one of these thousands has a life, memories, hopes… each one had his moments of sadness, moments of joy and moments of love.
In respect to their sacred memory, I would appreciate it if you could spend some minutes reading the database file when I publish them, read their names, and their personal details, and think about them as human beings, friends and relatives, not mere figures and numbers.
I will read and respect the lives those names represent.
Monday, April 05, 2004
Well I have been back in Australia one week!
It has not rained here for over 33 days, but it has been overcast all day today. The sky is blackening so perhaps tonight we will see rain in Canberra.
btw for those who do not know time in Australia, is 11 hours ahead of the UK and even further ahead of the USA! Monday afternoon is almost over.
The thing that struck me most flying from Sydney back to Canberra last Tuesday was the brown dirt, the grass has totally dried out, and the inland is becoming almost a dustbowl. Wherever there is a little water in a dam or a creek it is polluted by blue green algae. Australia has a harsh climate. Yet the sunshine lifts the mood unlike the dingy drab skies of the UK!
*******#######*******
Q: Who do you rely on the most?
A: Seafarers! - 95% of the worlds trade is carried by ship
*******#######*******
It has not rained here for over 33 days, but it has been overcast all day today. The sky is blackening so perhaps tonight we will see rain in Canberra.
btw for those who do not know time in Australia, is 11 hours ahead of the UK and even further ahead of the USA! Monday afternoon is almost over.
The thing that struck me most flying from Sydney back to Canberra last Tuesday was the brown dirt, the grass has totally dried out, and the inland is becoming almost a dustbowl. Wherever there is a little water in a dam or a creek it is polluted by blue green algae. Australia has a harsh climate. Yet the sunshine lifts the mood unlike the dingy drab skies of the UK!
*******#######*******
Q: Who do you rely on the most?
A: Seafarers! - 95% of the worlds trade is carried by ship
*******#######*******
even the Washington Post has its moments of rewriting its own publishing:
Down the Memory Hole
John Gorenfeld notes that something has been pulled from a Washington Post article. I don't know if it was in any of the print editions or not, but here's the missing paragraph, pulled up from Nexis:
"The five great saints and many other leaders in the spirit world, including even communist leaders such as Marx and Lenin, who committed all manner of barbarity and murders on Earth, and dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, have found strength in my teachings, mended their ways and been reborn as new persons. Emperors, kings and presidents who enjoyed opulence and power on Earth, and even journalists who had worldwide fame, have now placed themselves at the forefront of the column of the true love revolution. ... They have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."
-- Moon, founder of the Unification Church, in his address to a recent "Ambassadors for Peace Awards" ceremony at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
from Atrios Eschaton
Down the Memory Hole
John Gorenfeld notes that something has been pulled from a Washington Post article. I don't know if it was in any of the print editions or not, but here's the missing paragraph, pulled up from Nexis:
"The five great saints and many other leaders in the spirit world, including even communist leaders such as Marx and Lenin, who committed all manner of barbarity and murders on Earth, and dictators such as Hitler and Stalin, have found strength in my teachings, mended their ways and been reborn as new persons. Emperors, kings and presidents who enjoyed opulence and power on Earth, and even journalists who had worldwide fame, have now placed themselves at the forefront of the column of the true love revolution. ... They have declared to all Heaven and Earth that Reverend Sun Myung Moon is none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."
-- Moon, founder of the Unification Church, in his address to a recent "Ambassadors for Peace Awards" ceremony at the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
from Atrios Eschaton
Holy horror JESSICA ZAFRA
The Passion of the Christ is Father Peyton’s Holy Rosary Crusade for the generation of moviegoers inured to cinematic violence. For years we have been warned that frequent exposure to killing and mutilation onscreen desensitizes us to violence in real life, i.e., we no longer react with shock or horror when we see a TV news report about the grisly murder of four Americans in Fallujah, Iraq, or a teenage suicide bomber blowing himself and others to bits in Gaza in the Israeli-occupied territories. Director Mel Gibson has made sure that we will be shocked and horrified when we see The Passion. He does this by filming the most graphic, gruesome and sadistic torture scenes in recent memory without allowing viewers the comfort of knowing that “It’s just a movie.” Gibson promotes the illusion that this is not an illusion, that this is exactly what happened in the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ.
The violence in The Passion is entirely different from the violence in, say, Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino. In Tarantino’s movie the killing and maiming is presented in an over-the-top, cartoonish style which serves as a reminder that it is not real. When a character’s arm is lopped off and the blood sprays around like a garden sprinkler, it’s so ridiculous that you have to laugh. You cannot snicker at The Passion, and not just because the well-coiffed matron sniffling into her lace hankie might smack you with her handbag. Gibson aims for brutal verisimilitude, and he succeeds. continues:
cbnnews
2004 the year of violence , just like every other year - nothing ever changes.
The Passion of the Christ is Father Peyton’s Holy Rosary Crusade for the generation of moviegoers inured to cinematic violence. For years we have been warned that frequent exposure to killing and mutilation onscreen desensitizes us to violence in real life, i.e., we no longer react with shock or horror when we see a TV news report about the grisly murder of four Americans in Fallujah, Iraq, or a teenage suicide bomber blowing himself and others to bits in Gaza in the Israeli-occupied territories. Director Mel Gibson has made sure that we will be shocked and horrified when we see The Passion. He does this by filming the most graphic, gruesome and sadistic torture scenes in recent memory without allowing viewers the comfort of knowing that “It’s just a movie.” Gibson promotes the illusion that this is not an illusion, that this is exactly what happened in the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ.
The violence in The Passion is entirely different from the violence in, say, Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino. In Tarantino’s movie the killing and maiming is presented in an over-the-top, cartoonish style which serves as a reminder that it is not real. When a character’s arm is lopped off and the blood sprays around like a garden sprinkler, it’s so ridiculous that you have to laugh. You cannot snicker at The Passion, and not just because the well-coiffed matron sniffling into her lace hankie might smack you with her handbag. Gibson aims for brutal verisimilitude, and he succeeds. continues:
cbnnews
2004 the year of violence , just like every other year - nothing ever changes.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Flat earth, furrowed brows and a little knowledge.
Dorset UK:
In the 1880's farm workers were confronted by their children parrotting book learning following the introduction of village schools. Effective replies had to draw upon common sense and actual experience. The following recorded exchange probably was repeated from cottage to cottage with some glee! I am indebted to Alan Chedzoy for the translations of some of the words.
Oone day wold Jim's bwoy come out into ploughgroun' wi wold Jim's bit o' nunch. As wold Jim were a-zot there a-hetten it, young Jim sed to en all of a hop: "Feyther, 'st know as the worldle's hroun! A is, 'st know, cause teacher zed zoo'.
'Huh!' zed wold Jim. 'Mwore fool thee to teake it in. 'St zee thik vurrer?'
'Ees, gooner!'
'Is ur straight?'
'Straight as a gun-barrel!'
"Wull then, young 'en', zed wold Jim. hreachen auver ver the cider jar, 'ef the worldes hroun how can I turn a straight vurrer on en, heh?'
'I don't know' zed young Jim.
'Mwore don't noobeddy'
nunch = lunch, 'st dost = do you, wordle = world, hroun = round, vurrer= furrow, gooner = certainly, mwore don't noobeddy = neither does anybody else.
Dorset UK:
In the 1880's farm workers were confronted by their children parrotting book learning following the introduction of village schools. Effective replies had to draw upon common sense and actual experience. The following recorded exchange probably was repeated from cottage to cottage with some glee! I am indebted to Alan Chedzoy for the translations of some of the words.
Oone day wold Jim's bwoy come out into ploughgroun' wi wold Jim's bit o' nunch. As wold Jim were a-zot there a-hetten it, young Jim sed to en all of a hop: "Feyther, 'st know as the worldle's hroun! A is, 'st know, cause teacher zed zoo'.
'Huh!' zed wold Jim. 'Mwore fool thee to teake it in. 'St zee thik vurrer?'
'Ees, gooner!'
'Is ur straight?'
'Straight as a gun-barrel!'
"Wull then, young 'en', zed wold Jim. hreachen auver ver the cider jar, 'ef the worldes hroun how can I turn a straight vurrer on en, heh?'
'I don't know' zed young Jim.
'Mwore don't noobeddy'
nunch = lunch, 'st dost = do you, wordle = world, hroun = round, vurrer= furrow, gooner = certainly, mwore don't noobeddy = neither does anybody else.
Sean Paul 'Editor-At-Large' of the Agonist has done a book review on Chalmers Johnson’s new book “The Sorrows Of Empire”.
As a non American, I find Sean Pauls' honesty in his gut reactions to the truths pointed out in this book, and his willingness to promote it impressive!
I know once again why I find the Agonist such an awesome resource for understanding the complexity of the world we live in. Not what we were or what we want to be, but where we are right now. 2004!
The world aint necessarily all bad!
As a non American, I find Sean Pauls' honesty in his gut reactions to the truths pointed out in this book, and his willingness to promote it impressive!
I know once again why I find the Agonist such an awesome resource for understanding the complexity of the world we live in. Not what we were or what we want to be, but where we are right now. 2004!
The world aint necessarily all bad!
I interrupt my holiday postings for a serious interlude:
I am becomingly increasingly concerned how so much of what the media and informed web commentators now push out at their readers is along the lines of
" increasingly growing accustomed to violence "
I have read ad nauseum commentary on Fallujah, and I am saddened that so many think that the medias portrayal of violence is somehow nuanced and different.
It is not....
Man begats violence, from the dawn of time cruelty to both the living and the dead has been the norm.
Sure a thin veneer of "civilization" has moved us past the rows of the Roman crucified, or the village pillory, or the Roman Pontiff exhumed and desecrated, or the gallows of Cromwellian England, or the guillotine of viva la revolution. But in the depths of the human being a violent terror lives....
The Romans ended up 'ruling' the empire with mercenaries and enjoyed bread and circuses. The western world pretends that its media is objective and truthful when all it is, is a method of dispensing 'entertainment". 'Our' need for terror and violence "out there" is now complete, a sense of safety is a bizarre result of seeing the horror elsewhere.
But if the horror is happening to non caucasians even on a genocidal level, few Westerners get emotionally involved...
The media continues to try to portray atrocities as something new and more gruesome than in the past.
NOT TRUE! I shout to the sky!
Humanity is a complex poly-behavioural beast. Tamed at times but the mob mentality, the desire to break free of both taboos and social mores is never far away.
It comes back to the individual - How nice can I be to someone else today? chaos theory notwithstanding - a better, peaceful world begins with me, NOW!
I am becomingly increasingly concerned how so much of what the media and informed web commentators now push out at their readers is along the lines of
" increasingly growing accustomed to violence "
I have read ad nauseum commentary on Fallujah, and I am saddened that so many think that the medias portrayal of violence is somehow nuanced and different.
It is not....
Man begats violence, from the dawn of time cruelty to both the living and the dead has been the norm.
Sure a thin veneer of "civilization" has moved us past the rows of the Roman crucified, or the village pillory, or the Roman Pontiff exhumed and desecrated, or the gallows of Cromwellian England, or the guillotine of viva la revolution. But in the depths of the human being a violent terror lives....
The Romans ended up 'ruling' the empire with mercenaries and enjoyed bread and circuses. The western world pretends that its media is objective and truthful when all it is, is a method of dispensing 'entertainment". 'Our' need for terror and violence "out there" is now complete, a sense of safety is a bizarre result of seeing the horror elsewhere.
But if the horror is happening to non caucasians even on a genocidal level, few Westerners get emotionally involved...
The media continues to try to portray atrocities as something new and more gruesome than in the past.
NOT TRUE! I shout to the sky!
Humanity is a complex poly-behavioural beast. Tamed at times but the mob mentality, the desire to break free of both taboos and social mores is never far away.
It comes back to the individual - How nice can I be to someone else today? chaos theory notwithstanding - a better, peaceful world begins with me, NOW!
welcome Team Member #1!!!!
more March UK holiday:
Tintagel was all I expected and more. The sheer ruggedness of the cliffs, the pounding of the sea, the ancient walls the sense of something mystical and powerful. here be dragons I think! I enjoyed the wilder environs of Cornwall, hedgerows are not neat and tidy rectangular shapes, In Cornwall they meander following the lie of the land, or where trees have grown up, or where ancient boundaries were decided. The hedgerows are bushy, thick and yes wild! The use of slate in bridges and other buildings is everywhere. There seems to be huge reserves of slate going by the quarries we passed. Arthurian legends re-iginite my mystical side.
*******#####********
random googles of the day:
In King Arthur Country in Cornwally co-author and Bossiney Books editor Brenda Duxbury, recalled the magic of the atmosphere of Scilly. those Island outposts, a Cornish contender for Avalon when she reflected:
'When you have left behind the pressures and demands of everyday life-that grosser living that takes so much of our time - and in your search arrive at these final outposts, there you have to stay, for there is no place beyond.
And as you fall under the spell of these islands, you realise more and more that now there is no other place to search for the Holy Grail - all our problems have to be resolved within ourselves.'
"The quest for Arthur then is a search for our better self and selves." - Michael Williams
*******#####********
Tuesday March 23rd was a visit to Southampton in the morning where I walked the ancient city walls and soaked up all the history of the departures to the new world. The remaining late medieval buildings are stupendous, the over hanging rooms and windows really create a mental buzz.
In the afternoon off to Sarum, and Salisbury Cathedral - this again is breathtaking, the history the architecture, the sheer size 'well pleased' me!!!! Modern altar frontals and sculptures in wood and stone can be disconcerting but on reflection create a continuum in the holy place.
The bishops chapter room had an excellent display of church ware and ancient volumes as well as a magna carta page. The gargoyles and grotesques were well carved. The sense of history in England really came home to me with the display of so many historical artefacts relating to just one place.
Just outside Sherborne is the three elms pub where I went one evening for a fantastic pub meal. The master of the house is an avid collector of 'toy' motor cars and also numberplates from the USA and Australia. The food was brilliant, cooked to perfection with lashings of great beers! And this is meant to be Lent - bring it on I say!
The population density really amazes me! The continual masses of people walking from bus terminals and train stations, wave after wave is incredible. People are very patient on the narrow roads. The paucity of wildlife is noticeable compared to the creeping crawling hopping flying Australian landscape.
The blustery weather with regular gusts of hailstones will not be missed by moi!
more March UK holiday:
Tintagel was all I expected and more. The sheer ruggedness of the cliffs, the pounding of the sea, the ancient walls the sense of something mystical and powerful. here be dragons I think! I enjoyed the wilder environs of Cornwall, hedgerows are not neat and tidy rectangular shapes, In Cornwall they meander following the lie of the land, or where trees have grown up, or where ancient boundaries were decided. The hedgerows are bushy, thick and yes wild! The use of slate in bridges and other buildings is everywhere. There seems to be huge reserves of slate going by the quarries we passed. Arthurian legends re-iginite my mystical side.
*******#####********
random googles of the day:
In King Arthur Country in Cornwally co-author and Bossiney Books editor Brenda Duxbury, recalled the magic of the atmosphere of Scilly. those Island outposts, a Cornish contender for Avalon when she reflected:
'When you have left behind the pressures and demands of everyday life-that grosser living that takes so much of our time - and in your search arrive at these final outposts, there you have to stay, for there is no place beyond.
And as you fall under the spell of these islands, you realise more and more that now there is no other place to search for the Holy Grail - all our problems have to be resolved within ourselves.'
"The quest for Arthur then is a search for our better self and selves." - Michael Williams
*******#####********
Tuesday March 23rd was a visit to Southampton in the morning where I walked the ancient city walls and soaked up all the history of the departures to the new world. The remaining late medieval buildings are stupendous, the over hanging rooms and windows really create a mental buzz.
In the afternoon off to Sarum, and Salisbury Cathedral - this again is breathtaking, the history the architecture, the sheer size 'well pleased' me!!!! Modern altar frontals and sculptures in wood and stone can be disconcerting but on reflection create a continuum in the holy place.
The bishops chapter room had an excellent display of church ware and ancient volumes as well as a magna carta page. The gargoyles and grotesques were well carved. The sense of history in England really came home to me with the display of so many historical artefacts relating to just one place.
Just outside Sherborne is the three elms pub where I went one evening for a fantastic pub meal. The master of the house is an avid collector of 'toy' motor cars
The population density really amazes me! The continual masses of people walking from bus terminals and train stations, wave after wave is incredible. People are very patient on the narrow roads. The paucity of wildlife is noticeable compared to the creeping crawling hopping flying Australian landscape.
The blustery weather with regular gusts of hailstones will not be missed by moi!
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