End U.S. Hegemony

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Wed, 26 Sep 2001 12:00:00 GMT
Why the Peace Flag? explains why I put the US Peace Flag in the left-hand column of my blog template.

Out of God's Hat

The stars poured into the sky
Out of a Magician's hat last night,
And all of them have fallen into my hair.
Some have even tangled my eyelashes
Into luminous, playful knots.

Wayfarer,
You are welcome to cut a radiant tress
That lays upon my shoulders.
Wrap it around your trembling heart and body
That craves divine comfort and warmth.
I am like a pitcher of milk
In the hands of a mother who loves you.

All of my contents now
Have been churned into dancing suns and moons.

Lean your sweet neck and mouth
Out of that dark nest where you hide,
I will pour effulgence into your mind.

Come spring
You can find me rolling in the fields
They are exploding in
Holy battles

Of scents, of sounds - everything is
A brilliant colored nova on a stem.

Forest animals hear me laughing
And surrender their deepest instincts and fears,

They come charging into meadows
To lick my hands and face,

This makes me so happy,
I become so happy

That my rising wink turns into a magic baton.
When my soft-eyed creatures see that wonderful signal
We all burst into singing

And make strange and primal beautiful sounds!

My only regret in this world then becomes:

That your shyness keeps you from placing
Your starving body against God

And seeing the Beloved become so pleased
With your courage

That his belly begins to rock and rock,
Then more planets get to leap
Onto the welcome mat of existence
All because
Of your previous love.

The friend has turned my verse into sacred pollen.
When a breeze comes by

Falcons and butterflies
And playful gangs of young angels
Mounted on emerald spears

Take flight from me like a great sandstorm
That can blind you to all but the Truth!

Dear one
Even if you have no net to catch Venus
My music will circle this earth for hundreds of years
And fall like resplendent debris,
Holy seed, onto a fertile woman.

For Hafiz
Wants to help you laugh at your every
Desire.

Hafiz
Wants you to know

Your life within God's arms,
Your dance within God's
Arms

Is already

Perfect!

(The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, translations by Daniel Ladinsky)

Murat Nemet-Nejat at Readme, a magazine of poetics - Daniel Ladinsky (Translator) The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master - Mr. Nemet-Nejat claims that Daniel Ladinsky's "translations" of Hafiz are actually originals. Mr. Ladinsky claims to have received them in a dream. Doesn't matter a bit to me. Mr. Ladinsky's "renderings of Hafiz" strike my heart like no other poetry I have ever read. God Him/Herself packaged up in verse. [brianf]

From Quotes of the Day:

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -- Plato

Brian Fitzgerald - defeating terrorism isn't enough - Brian is consistent in his pacifism. I don't agree with him, but I respect his position:

Terrorism will never be defeated until militarism is abandoned. Make peace.

J.J. Johnson at Sierra Times - Rules of Engagement: Eating Humble Pie, As Served by the Airline Pilots - Mr. Johnson was convinced by John Mazor, media representative for the Air Line Pilots Association, that air rage trumps passenger carry. My take: that does not compute. He is still sticking to arming pilots, as are the pilots. Beautiful quote from the Pilot of UAL flight 564 leaving Denver:

"I want to thank you brave folks for coming out today. We don't have any new instructions from the federal government, so from now on we're on our own."

"Sometimes a potential hijacker will announce that he has a bomb. There are no bombs on this aircraft and if someone were to get up and make that claim, don't believe him.

"If someone were to stand up, brandish something such as a plastic knife and say 'This is a hijacking' or words to that effect here is what you should do: Every one of you should stand up and immediately throw things at that person - pillows, books, magazines, eyeglasses, shoes -anything that will throw him off balance and distract his attention. If he has a confederate or two, do the same with them. Most important: get a blanket over him, then wrestle him to floor and keep him there. We'll land the plane at the nearest airport and the authorities will take it from there."

"Remember, there will be one of him and maybe a few confederates, but there are 200 of you. You can overwhelm them.

"The Declaration of Independence says 'We, the people' and that's just what it is when we're up in the air: we, the people, vs. would-be terrorists. I don't think we are going to have any such problem today or tomorrow or for a while, but some time down the road, it is going to happen again and I want you to know what to do.

"Now, since we're a family for the next few hours, I'll ask you to turn to the person next to you, introduce yourself, tell them a little about yourself and ask them to do the same."

Peter Hannaford - Washington Times 09.19.01

Tina Terry at Sierra Times - The Ultimate National ID for Real Americans - Ms. Terry recommends using your US Passport as your ID. And you can get one without giving your social security number. Just leave that space on the form blank. I don't like this idea. No matter which papieren (papers) they're asking for, "Papieren Bitte" is not a sound I want to hear. Ever. Sieg Heil. [sierra]

Henrietta Bowman at Sierra Times - National ID? NOT! - Should the tyrants require it, Ms. Bowman will not be registering for a National ID card. You can vote on this issue at vote.com. [sierra]

Things totalitarian regimes have in common: national IDs, gun registration, gun confiscation and body bags. I always HATED the chain of command! Ergo, I see National ID = Body Bags--but they ain't gonna be mine!

Kevin Poulsen at SecurityFocus - Hackers face life imprisonment under 'Anti-Terrorism' Act - hack a computer, go to jail, for life. Talk about your cruel and unusual punishment. [wes]

Riad Z. Abdelkarim at LA Daily News - When the FBI guys come knocking, it's the worst of times - Mr. Abdelkarim, an American born American citizen, was visited by two dickheads on a fishing expedition. He did not appreciate it. [unknown]

Add comment Edit post Add post