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April 09, 2003
What about our politics, philosophy, our history?
He said, "If there is something admirable in these it is a mystery."
I'd forgotten where that track was from, and the previous link just says "unknown." Luckily, Sting On the Night (I ain't come up with that site name, kids. . .) notes that it's a b-side from the "We'll Be Together" single.
Which, they note, was released in 1987.
I'm having a difficult time wrapping my brain around the concept that a) that much time has passed, and b) that I still have the lyrics to the thing floating around my brainmeats after all this time, as I've no idea when was the last time I could possibly have heard it.
Anyway, enough about pop music of a decade and a half ago. Only looked up all that because I wanted to use a snappy title for an entry on Anti-War Thinking, from Desmond Tutu and Ian Urbina:
It is difficult not to feel despair and powerlessness at this awful juncture. Millions in the world fought with all their hearts and minds to avoid violence in Iraq. Inevitably, when bombs fall, there is a deep and emotional void that is opened.Many will pray. Others will simply reflect. Countless numbers will continue to take to the streets. But all will worry over the extent of destruction to come and the scope of its repercussions.
The piece does turn optimistic after those opening paragraphs. Not sure about Mr. Urbina, I'm not that familiar with him or the Middle East Research and Information Project, but Desmond Tutu has earned the right to holding out hope where there seems to be none, I think.
Nor is he the only one:
The Dalai Lama Monday indicated he was willing to walk the extra mile to find a solution to the Tibet issue with China, saying he was even amenable to winding up the post of Tibet's highest spiritual leader."If the Tibetan people so desire, I will be the last Dalai Lama," he said, noting that Beijing had often accused him of encouraging "feudalism" through the institution of the Dalai Lama.
The movement supported by Tibetans across the world was aimed at "genuine autonomy, and not independence" for Tibet, the Dalai Lama asserted[.]
Right, guess I should provide a bit of background on that. Um. Guardian Unlimited -- Dalai Lama: Envoy Will Visit Beijing:
A representative of the Dalai Lama will visit Beijing by the end of May to discuss Tibetans' desire for ``genuine autonomy'' within China, the Dalai Lama said Monday.
More details here and there if you're interested. Google News, I stress yet again, is your friend.
Speaking of which, found something else while looking for a story on the upcoming dialogue with China: Dalai Lama calls for dialogue, not war:
When asked about the US-led military action in Iraq, the Dalai Lama said he did not want to comment directly, but said he believed in non-violence."When there is war there is destruction and nothing good can come from that," he told a press conference in the Indian capital New Delhi.
"Proper conflict resolution should be through dialogue. It needs more determination and more patience. It may take more time but it is better."
The Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Prize in 1989, added: "I do not think violence is an appropriate method. Non-violence is the right method.
"The only appropriate method of resolving a problem is dialogue not by force."
You know, I'm almost tempted to check if any Nobel Prize winners are in support of our invasion war liberation of Iraq. . .
Oh, sorry about the lack of updates and email silence of late.
They will, of course, return immediately after I post this.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Posted by Aaron at April 9, 2003 08:10 PM
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Comments
Oh, aaron, man...i really miss your voice.
Posted by: drublood at April 9, 2003 08:25 PM
Uh. Yeah. Allow me to second that one.
Posted by: VASpider at April 9, 2003 09:23 PM
Motion thirded. Please come back!
Posted by: Ginger at April 9, 2003 09:32 PM
Thanks, kids, but in the words of the immortal Dorothy Parker:
Too fucking busy, and vice versa.
Looking for work (other than the temp assignment at T*rg*t last week) in beautiful Minneapolis, doing the odd photo shoot, taking an (exceptionally poor, speaking as someone who's written them) e-learning course in Access, dealing with a smashed driver's side mirror and a flat on the Focus, and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped.
Posted by: Aaron at April 9, 2003 10:02 PM
Get some rest -- if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything.
Posted by: Michelle at April 10, 2003 08:11 AM
I think a lot of us are cocooning right now. It's so hard to find words.
So, so stupid. The Neocons are already calling for a regime change in Syria, now . . . what, will we just marcha round south-central Asia util no one is left alive? Argh.
Posted by: garrity at April 10, 2003 10:09 AM
Bushy should listen to Dalai. He knows.
Sounds like a lot going on, Aaron. Which, I'm told, is a good thing.
Posted by: j. brotherlove at April 10, 2003 12:21 PM
welcome back aaron... you were missed. i thought maybe you had gone off in search of salaam pax.
re: any Nobel Peace Laureates supporting war?
Yes. 1986 winner Elie Wiesel has come out very stridently in support of the war, though with a somewhat muddled logic:
"Wiesel said he supports the current military intervention in Iraq because he believes the "reliable sources" in Washington and Israel who contend weapons of mass destruction are concealed in the ravaged country.
'If not for that, I wouldn't support the coalition for intervention. I support the coalition. I am not for war.'"
from:
http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=%7B444FE182-4B5B-43DE-95CA-EC02FEF6F3F0%7D
yes, wonderful. mister bush thanks you, now please leave until we call on your moral clarity again. how are you for may? i think syria might have WMD by then.
Posted by: s. melmoth at April 10, 2003 10:25 PM
a sadly disappointing offering from mr. wiesel, who has been one of the past century's great literary consciences.
norman mailer seems to have published some loose talk about the war, but it's an awfully thin volume to ask us to shell out the shekels for. i'd rather just go back and re-read my old decaying copy of the air-conditioned nightmare.
aaron, hard as times may be for you right now, your company is enviable, at least according to the photographic record. enjoy.
Posted by: r@d@r at April 11, 2003 02:58 PM
I just saw a CNN piece on the desparation many Iraquis feel, now that S.H. seems to have left the building, to find their missing relatives imprisoned during the last 35 years. It reminds me of what the Sri Lankans have experienced during their country's bloody regime. Read recent works by Michael Ondaatje, (native Sri Lankaan) inc. "Anil's Ghost" to get what these people feel. BTW, if you like his work, I'd recommend his "Running In The Family" for a lighter pre-Sri Lanka, Ceylon...that book is beauty and magic. We need beauty and magic now. O.K., I've finished my plug. Dokken Rules!
Posted by: dokken87 at April 12, 2003 07:49 PM
Nope, sorry. Dokken definitely does NOT rule. Michael Ondaatje, however, does. AND SO DOES RATT! I heart 80's metal.
Here's a quote to send y'all off:
"The Americans were able to put a man on the moon because they knew English. The Sinhalese and Tamils, whose knowledge of English was poor, thought that the earth was flat."
--Douglas Amarasekera.
Posted by: IchBinEinSlayer at April 12, 2003 07:58 PM
see you again sometime..
Posted by: Sina Meline at September 10, 2004 04:20 AM