blogging this way is weird, I am typing this Australian time Saturday 17th April
It gets posted on Friday 16th April
time travel for dummies or what!
After work today I am going out into the garden to pull weeds, and tidy up a little.
Hopefully this will restore my sanity and my spirit.
The world of men is a horrible horrible place, the ongoing violence has depressed me big time.
Faith in God restoreth my soul, but sanity and spirit need a little more....
btw email me my gmail w00t if ya wanna say summat to me!
Friday, April 16, 2004
Sometimes book reviews are the best source for a summary of a involved situation:
my thanks to arta for posting in the agonist bulletin board an excellent resource to the history of Islams internal and external dealings with its 'demons', originally from NYBooks.com
also in search of hezbollah is worth the read as well.. if you want to bypass nybooks read it here: agonist bulletin board link
my thanks to arta for posting in the agonist bulletin board an excellent resource to the history of Islams internal and external dealings with its 'demons', originally from NYBooks.com
also in search of hezbollah is worth the read as well.. if you want to bypass nybooks read it here: agonist bulletin board link
Thursday, April 15, 2004
It is not often 'down under' in Australia that I get to read a book ahead of reading the reviews in US or UK journals.
However I managed to complete JO INDS 'MEMORIES OF BLISS' before reading this:
the tablet
Jo has tried to discover sex but all she is doing is muddling around with post-modern conceptions of sex !!!!!! For anyone not across modern sexual practices it is probably an eyeopener of a book but for the rest ho hum.... This is not withstanding Jo's dealing with the effect of MS on her life and her courageous attempts to rise above illness. It is an interesting book nevertheless as it documents and references a wide range of philosophical, sociological and religious viewpoints. It has a very useful bibliography.
For those wanting something more Roman Catholic I recommend "GOOD NEWS ABOUT SEX AND MARRIAGE" by Christopher West. Whilst more Q&A than "Memories of Bliss it is wider in its information, but more moralistic from a 'correct' roman pov!.
I reckon that:
The trouble with sex is that it is trouble, when we are young, and when we are not so young
I agree with the Tablets' reviewer :
"I see what these books are trying to do: they are trying to correct the Jansenistic and overly ascetic approach to sexuality that has characterised aspects of the Catholic Church since the eighteenth century. They are trying to say that the flesh is also God-given, as indeed it is: that is the very meaning of the word “incarnation”. This task should be done: but it should be done better. "
Mary Kenny
However I managed to complete JO INDS 'MEMORIES OF BLISS' before reading this:
the tablet
Jo has tried to discover sex but all she is doing is muddling around with post-modern conceptions of sex !!!!!! For anyone not across modern sexual practices it is probably an eyeopener of a book but for the rest ho hum.... This is not withstanding Jo's dealing with the effect of MS on her life and her courageous attempts to rise above illness. It is an interesting book nevertheless as it documents and references a wide range of philosophical, sociological and religious viewpoints. It has a very useful bibliography.
For those wanting something more Roman Catholic I recommend "GOOD NEWS ABOUT SEX AND MARRIAGE" by Christopher West. Whilst more Q&A than "Memories of Bliss it is wider in its information, but more moralistic from a 'correct' roman pov!.
I reckon that:
The trouble with sex is that it is trouble, when we are young, and when we are not so young
I agree with the Tablets' reviewer :
"I see what these books are trying to do: they are trying to correct the Jansenistic and overly ascetic approach to sexuality that has characterised aspects of the Catholic Church since the eighteenth century. They are trying to say that the flesh is also God-given, as indeed it is: that is the very meaning of the word “incarnation”. This task should be done: but it should be done better. "
Mary Kenny
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
looking forward to the speech by the Reserve Bank of Australia Chief Ian Mcfarlane
on the state of the housing market, the economy generally and the global possibilities
of the financial markets ongoing reactions to terrorism
this google link should work in 8 or 9 hours time following the speech!
on the state of the housing market, the economy generally and the global possibilities
of the financial markets ongoing reactions to terrorism
this google link should work in 8 or 9 hours time following the speech!
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
I enjoyed this....
Last words are especially fascinating. Human beings are speaking animals. For us to be alive is to be in communication. Death is not just the cessation of bodily life. It is silence. So what we say in the face of imminent silence is revealing. It may be resigned; Ned Kelly, the Australian bank robber, managed, “Such is life” just before he was executed. Lord Palmerston, “The last thing that I shall do is to die,” is more defiant or just pragmatic. One may be gloriously mistaken, like the American Civil War general who said of the enemy sharpshooters, “They could not hit an elephant at this distance.” Few of us manage the grandeur of the Emperor Vespasian’s “Woe is me; I think that I am becoming a god.” Pitt the younger is supposed to have said, “Oh my country, how I leave my country,” but the more reliable tradition gives us, “I think that I could eat one of Bellamy’s meat pies.” In fact many dying people ask for food and drink. St Thomas Aquinas asked for fresh herrings, which were miraculously provided, and Anton Chekhov announced that it was never too late for a glass of champagne.
We live in an age of profound anxiety. We are fearful about disease and illness, about our futures, about our children, about our jobs, about failure, about death. We suffer from a deep insecurity, a collapse of trust. This is strange because we are far more protected and safe than any previous generation of human history, at least in the West. We have better medicine, safer transport; we are more protected from the climate, have better social security. And yet we are more afraid.
I spent nine years as Master of the Dominican Order travelling around the world in many dangerous places. I saw civil war and genocide in Africa, thousands of people with leprosy, the signs of endless violence. But when I came back to the West, I found people who appeared to be more afraid than anywhere else. The attacks of 11 September deepened that sense of anxiety. I was in Berkeley, California, when those few anthrax envelopes were sent and the panic was tangible. But we have no need for fear. Jesus has entrusted us into the hands of the Father.
I suspect that this pervasive anxiety derives from the fact that we have a culture of control. We can control so many things: fertility and birth, so much disease can be cured; we can control the forces of nature; we mine the earth and dam the rivers. And we Westerners control most of humanity. But control is never complete. We are increasingly aware that our planet may be careering towards disaster. We live in what Anthony Giddens has called “a runaway world”. We are afraid, above all, of death, which unmasks our ultimate lack of control.
A friend of mine had a sign in his room which said, “Don’t worry. It might not happen.” I composed another for him which said, “Don’t worry. It probably will happen. But it won’t be the end of the world.” It will not be the end of the world because the world has already ended. When Jesus dies the sun and the moon are darkened; the tombs are opened, and the dead walk. This is the end of which the prophets spoke. The worst that one can ever imagine has already happened. The world collapsed. And then there was Easter Sunday.
the Tablet
- they will want your email address to register but if you like the cut and parry of good Christian writings it is worth handing it over.
Last words are especially fascinating. Human beings are speaking animals. For us to be alive is to be in communication. Death is not just the cessation of bodily life. It is silence. So what we say in the face of imminent silence is revealing. It may be resigned; Ned Kelly, the Australian bank robber, managed, “Such is life” just before he was executed. Lord Palmerston, “The last thing that I shall do is to die,” is more defiant or just pragmatic. One may be gloriously mistaken, like the American Civil War general who said of the enemy sharpshooters, “They could not hit an elephant at this distance.” Few of us manage the grandeur of the Emperor Vespasian’s “Woe is me; I think that I am becoming a god.” Pitt the younger is supposed to have said, “Oh my country, how I leave my country,” but the more reliable tradition gives us, “I think that I could eat one of Bellamy’s meat pies.” In fact many dying people ask for food and drink. St Thomas Aquinas asked for fresh herrings, which were miraculously provided, and Anton Chekhov announced that it was never too late for a glass of champagne.
We live in an age of profound anxiety. We are fearful about disease and illness, about our futures, about our children, about our jobs, about failure, about death. We suffer from a deep insecurity, a collapse of trust. This is strange because we are far more protected and safe than any previous generation of human history, at least in the West. We have better medicine, safer transport; we are more protected from the climate, have better social security. And yet we are more afraid.
I spent nine years as Master of the Dominican Order travelling around the world in many dangerous places. I saw civil war and genocide in Africa, thousands of people with leprosy, the signs of endless violence. But when I came back to the West, I found people who appeared to be more afraid than anywhere else. The attacks of 11 September deepened that sense of anxiety. I was in Berkeley, California, when those few anthrax envelopes were sent and the panic was tangible. But we have no need for fear. Jesus has entrusted us into the hands of the Father.
I suspect that this pervasive anxiety derives from the fact that we have a culture of control. We can control so many things: fertility and birth, so much disease can be cured; we can control the forces of nature; we mine the earth and dam the rivers. And we Westerners control most of humanity. But control is never complete. We are increasingly aware that our planet may be careering towards disaster. We live in what Anthony Giddens has called “a runaway world”. We are afraid, above all, of death, which unmasks our ultimate lack of control.
A friend of mine had a sign in his room which said, “Don’t worry. It might not happen.” I composed another for him which said, “Don’t worry. It probably will happen. But it won’t be the end of the world.” It will not be the end of the world because the world has already ended. When Jesus dies the sun and the moon are darkened; the tombs are opened, and the dead walk. This is the end of which the prophets spoke. The worst that one can ever imagine has already happened. The world collapsed. And then there was Easter Sunday.
the Tablet
- they will want your email address to register but if you like the cut and parry of good Christian writings it is worth handing it over.
Well back at work after the Easter Vacation. The city is still half empty as most Canberrans head for the coast or their hometowns for the Easter holiday. I am overloaded with work, but when in doubt blog!
Still no rain.....
This is the Australian news : Big jump in numbers at Easter services
and in Jerusalem: Holy Land's secret Passion
more floss
The bud of a rose is just as beautiful as the
full bloom. Appreciate what you have at the
moment.
--- Anonymous
The Greeks gave us the most beautiful word
in our language: the word " enthusiasm "
from the Greek - En Theo - which means
" inner God "
--- Louis Pasteur
Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive
experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to
success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false
leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every
fresh experience points out some form of error which we
shall afterwards carefully avoid.
-- John Keats
***
Coz this is my blog and I can type what I want:
Michelle - I have nothing to say to you!
***
petulant annoyance dealt with!
Meanwhile I am glad that Mike is enjoying these:
murals1 and murals2
Still no rain.....
This is the Australian news : Big jump in numbers at Easter services
and in Jerusalem: Holy Land's secret Passion
more floss
The bud of a rose is just as beautiful as the
full bloom. Appreciate what you have at the
moment.
--- Anonymous
The Greeks gave us the most beautiful word
in our language: the word " enthusiasm "
from the Greek - En Theo - which means
" inner God "
--- Louis Pasteur
Don't be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive
experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to
success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false
leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every
fresh experience points out some form of error which we
shall afterwards carefully avoid.
-- John Keats
***
Coz this is my blog and I can type what I want:
Michelle - I have nothing to say to you!
***
petulant annoyance dealt with!
Meanwhile I am glad that Mike is enjoying these:
murals1 and murals2
Friday, April 09, 2004
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
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
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!
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