December 2008 archive

I looked up the etymology of torture, it’s from the French, and among other descriptions I noticed the word “twisting.”

Try to put aside for just a brief moment any outrage, fear, anger, any high emotion that automatically occurs when the subject of torture, and more specifically, institutionalized torture a’la Yoo/Cheney, etc. comes to mind.

Just for a brief moment.

Twisting.  For some reason that makes me think of someone taking a beautiful sacred mesa and brutally mining it so that it is utterly destroyed.

I recently read a wild book by Whitley Streiber, 2012, a Philip K. Dickian paranoia trip with some interesting notions, one being that there are monster people (somewhat lizard like but who can mimic human beings if necessary) who want to enslave our souls and the sacred spots on the planet were put there to keep the monsters’ giant “lenses” from working and stealing every human’s soul with a weird sparkly light that when poured over a person basically turns them into a zombie.

Well, that’s a terrible review, but I found the notion interesting in the sense that we have sacred places on our planet for a real reason, not just some mumbo jumbo hooie or sentimental “tree hugging’ motive.  Winter Rabbit, among others, has enlightened me to the reality of why human beings need sacred spaces.  And Streiber just gave a jazzed up high tech paranoid illustration of that in his book.  But for me, the conclusion is the same.  Sacred places, the word “sacred” itself, is a part of our human condition, and can be a very instructive teacher if we open ourselves to learn.  I’m sure all of us here have experienced the sacred, but the word itself is either laughed at or “twisted” by fundamentalists of every stripe into something awful.

When we raze mountaintops and destroy sacred spaces, we are twisting something valuable into something not only useless but dangerous and toxic.

Oh give me a home…

^{by mimabanta (flickr creative commons)}

Buffalo Soldier – Bob Marley

Buffalo Gals – Bruce Springsteen

Buffalo Stance – Neneh Cherry

This commentary original to All Over the Board:

Are the victories achieved by Republic Windows and Doors and the New School worthy of monumental status in the coming years, or are they blips on the radar screen of the republic, soon to be forgotten much as yesterday’s mosquito bite?  In the long term, the positioning of these direct actions will depend upon us.  Can, no…will we take what is able to be learned by the actions and build upon them?

One World – Human Rights

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (OneWorld.net) – As the world celebrates the 60th birthday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this month, a new music video is circulating on the Internet, bringing together 16 of the world’s top musicians — some of whom have fled oppressive regimes — in a rousing musical plea to world leaders to guarantee human rights for all.

There’s abit more, with backlinks at the top link.  

1. The Washington Post reports Advocates for action on global warming chosen as Obama’s top science advisers. “The appointments of Harvard University physicist John Holdren as presidential science adviser and Oregon State University marine biologist Jane Lubchenco as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will be announced tomorrow, dismayed conservatives but heartened environmentalists and researchers.”

   “Holdren and Lubchenco have argued repeatedly for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions to avert catastrophic climate change.”

2. The Guardian reports Bush shoe protester has been beaten, Iraqi judge says. “The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush was beaten afterwards and had bruises on his face, the investigating judge in the case said today… The reporter, Muntazer al-Zaidi, had bruises on his face and around his eyes, said the judge, Dhia al-Kinani said.”

   “Kinani said a complaint about Zaidi’s treatment had been filed on his behalf and court officials ‘will watch the footage to identify those who have beaten him … He was beaten and we filed a case for that. Zaidi did not raise a complaint and he can drop this case if he wants to.'”

3. The NY Times reports NATO takes further step to renew relations with Russia. “The secretary general of NATO had lunch on Friday with the Russian ambassador to the organization, beginning the ‘conditional and graduated re-engagement’ with Moscow that NATO foreign ministers approved earlier this month.” This is a “step toward more normal relations after the brief Georgian-Russian war in August.”

4. The Oregonian reports the Downturn brings an upturn for Portland-area libraries.

   While the book-selling business might be struggling, book lending is thriving from Portland to Vancouver.

   Multnomah County Library, the busiest library system in the nation, saw a 7.3 percent jump in circulation from January — when some experts say the recession started — through November. During that same time last year, circulation rose just a half-percent. The library’s card registrations also have soared 12.8 percent this year after dipping 5.6 percent in 2007.

   Libraries across the metro area are reporting similar circulation and membership gains. It’s the same nationwide.

   This is one reason why we pay taxes to create institutions for the public good. Sharing the burden is more cost-effective than private ownership. Public libraries are one of the best things about the United States. Libraries are paid for by taxes — no taxes, no libraries.