Saturday, September 29, 2012

Poem by Gunter Grass "what must be said"


What must be said
Why I am silent, silent for too much time,
how much is clear and we made it
in war games, where, as survivors,
we are just the footnotes.
That is the claimed right to the formal preventive aggression
which could erase the Iranian people
dominated by a bouncer and moved to an organized jubilation,
because in the area of his competence there is
the construction of the atomic bomb.
And then why do I avoid myself
to call the other country with its name,
where since years - even if secretly covered -
there is an increasing nuclear power,
without control, because unreachable
by every inspection?
I feel the everybody silence on this state of affairs,
which my silence is slave to,
as an oppressive lie and an inhibition that presents punishment
we don’t pay attention to;
the verdict “anti-Semitism” is common.
Now, since my country,
from time to time touched by unique and exclusive crimes,
obliged to justify itself,
again for pure business aims - even if
with fast tongue we call it “reparation” -
should deliver another submarine to Israel,
with the specialty of addressing
annihilating warheads where the
existence of one atomic bomb is not proved
but it wants evidence as a scarecrow,
I say what must be said.
Why did I stay silent until now?
Because the thought about my origin,
burdened by an unclearing stain,
had avoiding to wait this fact
like a truth declared by the State of Israel
that I want to be connected to.
Why did I say it only now,
old and with the last ink:
the nuclear power of Israel
threat the world peace?
Because it must be said
what tomorrow will be too late;
Because - as Germans and with
enough faults on the back -
we might also become deliverers of a predictable
crime, and no excuse would erase our complicity.
And I admit: I won’t be silent
because I had enough of the Western hypocrisy;
Because I wish that many will want
to get rid of the silence,
exhorting the cause of a recognizable
risk to the abdication, asking that a free and permanent control
of the Israel atomic power
and the Iran nuclear bases
will be made by both the governments
with an international supervision.
Only in this way, Israelis, Palestinians, and everybody,
all people living hostile face to face in that
country occupied by the craziness,
will have a way out,
so us too.
Translation by Alessandro Ghebreigziabiher

Women as Priests - NYTimes.com

Women as Priests - NYTimes.com

Novelist Murakami Weighs In On Japan Territorial Rows - Japan Real Time - WSJ

Novelist Murakami Weighs In On Japan Territorial Rows - Japan Real Time - WSJ

Monday, September 24, 2012

Heart of the Matter: Sharing Important Stuff with our Grandchildren

Heart of the Matter: Sharing Important Stuff with our Grandchildren: Campaigning candidates desperate for another way to get our vote used the 'grandkids' as a motivator.  "We don't want to pass on these probl...

Thursday, September 6, 2012

How to commit blasphemy in Pakistan | World news | The Guardian

How to commit blasphemy in Pakistan | World news | The Guardian

Now, think about the narrow, hateful language of the far right in the church and other spiritual paths. I am thinking about those jerks who claim to be Christian in the USA and would do the same as the Muslim did in this story to a Christian.  The Priest shooting himself in protest, is the level of sacrifice as the Tibetan monks and lay people who set themselves afire because of the murderous actions of the Chinese government and their minions.   How do we speak back to this kind of foolish, hateful action? The racist and hateful language of the Republican Party is the same. Ryan is a first class jerk and racist and claims to be Christian. How do we act and speak to stop this dehumanization of leaders and people  of all kinds? 


Sunday, August 26, 2012


"This incredible photo marks the end of Matador Torero Alvaro Munera’s career. He collapsed in remorse mid-fight when he realized he was having to prompt this otherwise gentle beast to fight. He went on to become an avid opponent of bullfights. Even grievously wounded by picadors, he did not attack this man.

Torrero Munera is quoted as saying of this moment: 'And suddenly, I looked at the bull. He had this innocence that all animals have in their eyes, and he looked at me with this pleading. It was like a cry for justice, deep down inside of me. I describe it as being like a prayer - because if one confesses, it is hoped, that one is forgiven. I felt like the worst shit on earth.' "

Bishop accused of urging disobedience - UMC.org for being right!

Bishop accused of urging disobedience - UMC.org

Friday, August 24, 2012

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=456928060996003&set=a.111187555570057.11714.109200595768753&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=456928060996003&set=a.111187555570057.11714.109200595768753&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

Maura Fitzgerald: Better Aim - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Maura Fitzgerald: Better Aim - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics



a poem by ko shin
Learning another spiritual path by three shots in the
night, and death….
He heard three shots. It was late and given where he lived, not unusual.
The shots were close; at least they felt that way. Jimmy ran to the window
and carefully pushed the curtain back and saw a body lying on the
sidewalk, just down the block from his two-up. He ran to call 911, but
the sirens were already loud, maybe coming just around the corner
from the precinct.
He ran back and took one more look, Oh god he thought, that looks like
Ali, his high school friend and classmate.
He grabbed his coat and ran down the stairs and out into the street. Ali
was gone, dead at a very young age.
Jimmy knew that Ali and his family were often the brunt of cultural &
religious hatred. It seems, people, if they meet someone different,
think their dangerous, or something. Since 9/11 it had gotten worse.
“Why? Why my friend, was a Muslim?” The Hood was so culturally
mixed. “It doesn’t make sense” He thought.
It was a sad night, Jimmy hardly slept as I am sure as his neighbors experienced
the same sense of fear, loneliness and anger. Everyone knew
that someone in the hood was not happy with an Arab family living
nearby. Could that be the reason, or was it theft or a promise broken.
Ali was a friend to everyone.
Everyone showed up for the funeral at a Mosque on the other side of
the city. It was nice, the burial was really an experience, lowering Ali
into the ground and the prayers so for Jimmy, different as funerals go.
What a way to learn and experience another spiritual practice. Three
shots, a young life, what now? Jimmy took the bus home, a strange
sense of quietness over took him. He had learned something about life
today, death has a lesson for all of us. Three shots, silence broken, life
taken, & life continues…Ali
(Read at the Student Reading Week Three, SWP, Naropa, 2011 and edited by
Classmates and Dr. Williams)

Aaron Leaf: Pussy Riot’s Closing Statements - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics by Aaron Leaf - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Aaron Leaf: Pussy Riot’s Closing Statements - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics by Aaron Leaf - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Rachel Riederer: Rape and Rhetoric - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Rachel Riederer: Rape and Rhetoric - Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

Lance Armstrong's personal Statement. | elephant journal

Lance Armstrong's personal Statement. | elephant journal