Bethlehem's Walls 2007

Banksy mural

The murals are part of an exhibition in Bethlehem opening on Monday. Several other international and Palestinian artists are taking part.

O.W.

An Icelandic woman's experience visiting the US

Erla Ósk Arnardóttir Lilliendahl

Erla Ósk Arnardóttir
©Erla Ósk Arnardóttir

During the last twenty-four hours I have probably experienced the greatest humiliation to which I have ever been subjected. During these last twenty-four hours I have been handcuffed and chained, denied the chance to sleep, been without food and drink and been confined to a place without anyone knowing my whereabouts, imprisoned. Now I am beginning to try to understand all this, rest and review the events which began as innocently as possible.

Last Sunday I and a few other girls began our trip to New York. We were going to shop and enjoy the Christmas spirit. We made ourselves comfortable on first class, drank white wine and looked forward to go shopping, eat good food and enjoy life. When we landed at JFK airport the traditional clearance process began. We were screened and went on to passport control. As I waited for them to finish examining my passport I heard an official say that there was something which needed to be looked at more closely and I was directed to the work station of Homeland Security. There I was told that according to their records I had overstayed my visa by 3 weeks in 1995 and. For this reason I would not be admitted to the country and would be sent home on the next flight. I looked at the official in disbelief and told him that I had in fact visited New York after the trip in 1995 without encountering any difficulties. A detailed interrogation session ensued. I was photographed and fingerprinted. I was asked questions which I felt had nothing to do with the issue at hand. I was forbidden to contact anyone to advise of my predicament and although I was invited at the outset to contact the Icelandic consul or embassy, that invitation was later withdrawn. I don't know why. I was then made to wait while they sought further information, and sat on a chair before the authority for 5 hours. I saw the officials in this section handle other cases and it was clear that these were men anxious to demonstrate their power. Small kings with megalomania. I was careful to remain completely cooperative, for I did not yet believe that they planned to deport me because of my "crime". When 5 hours had passed and I had been awake for 24 hours, I was told that they were waiting for officials who would take me to a kind of waiting room. There I would be given a bed to rest in, some food and I would be searched. What they thought they might find I cannot possibly imagine. Finally guards appeared who transported me to the new place. I saw the bed as if in a mirage, for I was absolutely exhausted. What turned out was something else. I was taken to another office exactly like the one where I had been before and once again a long wait ensued. In all, it turned out to be 5 hours. At this office all my things were taken from me. I succeeded in sending a single sms to worried relatives and friends when I was granted a bathroom break. After that the cell phone was taken from me. After I had been sitting for 5 hours I was told that they were now waiting for guards who would take me to a place where I could rest and eat. Then I was placed in a cubicle which looked like an operating room. Attached to the walls were 4 steel plates, probably intended to serve as bed and a toilet. I was exhausted, tired and hungry. I didn't understand the officials’ conduct, for they were treating me like a very dangerous criminal. Soon thereafter I was removed from the cubicle and two armed guards placed me up against a wall. A chain was fastened around my waist and I was handcuffed to the chain. Then my legs were placed in chains. I asked for permission to make a telephone call but they refused. So secured, I was taken from the airport terminal in full sight of everybody. I have seldom felt so bad, so humiliated and all because I had taken a longer vacation than allowed under the law.

They would not tell me where they were taking me. The trip took close to one hour and although I couldn’t see clearly outside the vehicle I knew that we had crossed over into New Jersey. We ended up in front of a jail. I could hardly believe that this was happening. Was I really about to be jailed? I was led inside in the chains and there yet another interrogation session ensued. I was fingerprinted once again and photographed. I was made to undergo a medical examnination, I was searched and then I was placed in a jail cell. I was asked absurd questions such as: When did you have your last period? What do you believe in? Have you ever tried to commit suicide?

I was completely exhausted, tired and cold. Fourteen hours after I had landed I had something to eat and drink for the first time. I was given porridge and bread. But it did not help much. I was afraid and the attitude of all who handled me was abysmal to say the least. They did not speak to me as much as snap at me. Once again I asked to make a telephone call and this time the answer was positive. I was relieved but the relief was short-lived. For the telephone was set up for collect calls only and it was not possible to make overseas calls. The jail guard held my cell phone in his hand. I explained to him that I could not make a call from the jail telephone and asked to be allowed to make one call from my own phone. That was out of the question. I spent the next 9 hours in a small, dirty cell. The only thing in there was a narrow steel board which extended out from the wall, a sink and toilet. I wish I never experience again in my life the feeling of confinement and helplessness which I experienced there.

I was hugely relieved when, at last, I was told that I was to be taken to the airport, that is to say until I was again handcuffed and chained. Then I could take no more and broke down and cried. I begged them at least to leave out the leg chains but my request was ignored. When we arrived at the airport, another jail guard took pity on me and removed the leg chains. Even so I was led through a full airport terminal handcuffed and escorted by armed men. I felt terrible. On seeing this, people must think that there goes a very dangerous criminal. In this condition I was led up into the Flugleiðir waiting room, and was kept handcuffed until I entered the embarkation corridor. I was completely run down by all this in both body and spirit. Fortunately I could count on good people and both Einar (the captain) and the crew did all which they could to try to assist me. My friend Auður was in close contact with my sister and the consul and embassy had been contacted. However, all had received misleading information and all had been told that I had been detained at the airport terminal, not that I had been put in jail. Now the Foreign Ministry is looking into the matter and I hope to receive some explanation why I was treated this way.

Warum Menschen glauben

↓Volltext

Der Allmächtige steckt im Hirn

↓Volltext

Irmtraud Morgner († 1990) über Pornografie und Macht

clipped from www.emma.de
Irmtraud Morgner

Irmtraud Morgner (1933-1990)

Eine Gewaltform gegen die Hälfte der Bevölkerung, die das tradierte Gefälle zwischen den beiden Hälften zementiert. Denn wenn so ein Junge mit Pornografie heranwächst – die sexuell anmacht, eine Frau von oben herab zu nehmen – dann prägt ihn das, und er kann nicht wieder weg davon.
Pornografie zerstört vitale Strukturen der Frauen. Sie schafft weibliche Vorbilder, die sich dem männlichen Partner gegenüber inferior verhalten. Gegen solche prägenden Vorbilder anzureden – selbst mit den besten Argumenten – richtet nur wenig aus. Weil die Prägung auf der vitalsten Ebene festgemacht ist.
Es ist ja klar, dass Männer Probleme haben, mit ihrer Geschlechterrolle klarzukommen, die sie verpflichtet, überlegen zu sein. So eine Pflicht überfordert jeden Menschen.
Pornografie hat also überhaupt nichts mit Erotik zu sein, sie hat etwas mit Macht zu tun.
Irmtraud Morgner, die visionärste deutsche Schriftstellerin, ist 1990 mit nur 56 Jahren jäh aus ihrem Denken und Schreiben gerissen worden. [...] Die DDR-Autorin galt als die "erotischste Schriftstellerin" im deutsch-sprachigen Raum. Ihre in jeder Hinsicht subversiven Texte durften [...] in der Sowjetunion nicht veröffentlicht werden, Argument: Morgner schreibe "Pornografie". Was die Ostberliner Schriftstellerin und Philosophin 1990 über Pornografie zu sagen hatte, ist [...] hellsichtig und aktuell [...]. Es lohnt sich mal wieder, Morgner zu lesen.

The humour of doggies

♫ Rednex: The Spirit Of The Hawk

Intro
Wa-hey, wa-hey, wa-hey,
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.

The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.
The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.

Me and my eagle, me and my love,
high on a hill side, heaven above.
Take me to higher love, you fly away.
Me and my eagle, me and my love.

The spirit of the hawk.

Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.
The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.

Instrumental

Me and my warrior, me and my babe,
he gotta fly for more, we are the same.
He gotta fly for love, fly away.
Me and my warrior, me and my babe.

The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.
The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.
The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia wa-hay-ah mama.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia, hey-ah mama /wa-hey/
The spirit of the hawk.

Bridge
My people, some of them have run away to the hills
and have no shelter. (wa-hey)
No food, no one knows where they are,
Hear me my chiefs, I am tired.(wa-hey)
My heart is sick and sad, I will fight no more.

Instrumental

Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.
The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia oh wa-hey.
The spirit of the hawk.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia hey-ah mama.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia hey-ah mama.
Hey-um ah hey-ah mama hey-ah mama
ya-hay ah mia hey-ah mama.

(fade)

How Christmas Trees Started

clipped from www.arcamax.com
Die Grafik

Wacht darüber, dass eure Herzen nicht leer sind

Nein, schlaft nicht, während die Ordner der Welt geschäftig sind!
Seid misstrauisch gegen die Macht, die sie vorgeben für euch erwerben zu müssen!
Wacht darüber, dass eure Herzen nicht leer sind, wenn mit der Leere eurer Herzen gerechnet wird!
Tut das Unnütze, singt die Lieder, die man aus eurem Mund nicht erwartet!
Seid unbequem, seid Sand, nicht das Öl im Getriebe der Welt!

Günter Eich: Träume (1950). In: Günter Eich, Fünfzehn Hörspiele. Frankfurt 1981.

Robert Gernhardt: Couplet von der Erblast

clipped from www.ksj.de

"Die Kirche muss endlich jene frauenfeindlichen Erblasten aufarbeiten, die durch spätantike Männerkreise in die ursprünglich frauenfreundliche Botschaft Jesu hineingetragen worden ist."
Aus einer Sendung des Kirchenfunks

Spätantike Männerkreise
Haben Jesu Wort verbogen
Haben seine frohe Botschaft
Korrumpiert und umgelogen
Korrigierten Evangelien
Kujonierten die Gemeinden
Überließen Führungsposten
Unverstellten Frauenfeinden
Herr, wer ritt uns in die Scheiße?
Spätantike Männerkreise!

Spätantike Männerkreise
Eure Stunde hat geschlagen
In der Kirche haben Chauvis
Gottseidank nichts mehr zu sagen
Mußte in der Spätantike
Alles um die Männer kreisen
Wirft man eure Erblast heute
Hohnlachend zum alten Eisen
Und wer spuckt euch in die Suppen?
Postmoderne Frauengruppen!

Council of Europe states must 'firmly oppose' the teaching of creationism as a scientific discipline, say parliamentarians

Parliamentarians from the 47-nation Council of Europe have urged its member governments to “firmly oppose” the teaching of creationism – which denies the evolution of species through natural selection – as a scientific discipline on an equal footing with the theory of evolution.
In a resolution passed by 48 votes to 25 during its plenary session in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) declared: “If we are not careful, creationism could become a threat to human rights.”
Presenting the report, Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE), a former Education Minister, said: “It is not a matter of opposing belief and science, but it is necessary to prevent belief from opposing science.”
“The prime target of present-day creationists, most of whom are Christian or Muslim, is education,” the parliamentarians said in the resolution. “Creationists are bent on ensuring that their ideas are included in the school science syllabus. Creationism cannot, however, lay claim to being a scientific discipline.”
The parliamentarians said there was “a real risk of a serious confusion” being introduced into children’s minds between conviction or belief and science. “The theory of evolution has nothing to do with divine revelation but is built on facts.”
“Intelligent design, presented in a more subtle way, seeks to portray its approach as scientific, and therein lies the danger,” they added.
“Creationism ... was for a long time an almost exclusively American phenomenon,” the parliamentarians pointed out. “Today creationist ideas are tending to find their way into Europe and their spread is affecting quite a few Council of Europe member states.”
The report cites examples from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Council of Europe, Press Release - 656(2007), 04 October 2007
Deutsche Fassung

I'm glad to be a citizen of the European Union.

God Said

Nearly everyone I know claims to have heard your voice
And every time they do, I know I should rejoice
Because one day I'm sure you’ll break your silence
And speak just to me
But I feel like time's running out
And my heart, my heart is filling with doubt

And god said
I don't dwell upon you, I dwell on something else
And I am not really here so get over your self

I've tried to follow every rule they said you handed down
And spread the sacred testimony all around
And still the others seem to have your ear but never will I
Have I displeased you somehow?
I can't, I can't help feeling left out

And god said
There's no anger in me, you must mean someone else
Cause it's not me that you see, you're looking at yourself
And I won't give you a prize instead of someone else
Cause I don't play favorites, so get over yourself

Is it my fear, is it my pride, is it my vanity?
Should your name just be denied to save my sanity?
What is the price I need to pay to have
What others seem to grasp so easily?
Pity your servant your slave
Who'll kiss, kiss your feet to be saved
Save me, save me...

And god said
You are not serving me, you're serving something else
Cause I don't need to be pleased, just get over yourself
You can't suck up to me, I know you all too well
But I don't dwell upon you, so get over yourself
Cause you're not praying to me, you're praying to yourself
And you're not worshipping me you're worshipping yourself
And you will kill in my name and heaven knows what else
When you can't prove I exist so get over yourself

- Todd Rundgren

House of Horrors

GoVeg.com
Butterball's House of Horrors
A PETA Undercover Investigation

"Butterball turkeys are killed using a process that involves hanging live birds by their legs, shocking them in an electrified bath of water so that they become paralyzed (though they still feel pain), slitting their throats, and then running them through a tank of scalding-hot water for defeathering.

Because Butterball's current slaughter method gives workers access to live birds, the animals often suffer when workers become frustrated or bored and desensitized, as was the case at this Butterball plant and the other poultry plants that PETA has investigated.

Even though they constitute more than 98 percent of the land animals eaten in the United States, birds are excluded from coverage under the only federal law designed to protect animals during slaughter, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA)."

GoVeg.com

Kurt Marti: Wenn die Bücher aufgetan werden

Wenn
die Bücher aufgetan werden,
wenn sich herausstellen würde,
dass sie niemals geführt worden sind:
weder Gedankenprotokolle noch Sündenregister,
weder Mikrofilme noch Computerkarteien.

Wenn
die Bücher aufgetan werden,
und siehe, auf Seite eins:
"Habt ihr mich für einen Eckenspäher
und Schnüffler gehalten?"

Und siehe, auf Seite zwei:
"Der große Aufpasser oder Unbruder:
eure Erfindung!"

Und siehe, auf Seite drei:
"Nicht eure Sünden waren zu groß -
eure Lebendigkeit war zu klein!"

Wenn
die Bücher aufgetan werden.

In this poem God is believed as the friend of his, not as their intimidating warden.
The confident faith expressed here is diametrically opposed to the fear-stricken belief expressed by the medieval Latin hymn Dies irae (Day of wrath):
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando iudex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!
[...]
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus iudicetur.
[...]

Welch ein Graus wird sein und Zagen,
Wenn der Richter kommt, mit Fragen
Streng zu prüfen alle Klagen!
[...]
Und ein Buch wird aufgeschlagen,
Treu darin ist eingetragen
Jede Schuld aus Erdentagen.
[...]

Oh what fear man's bosom rendeth,
when from heaven the Judge descendeth,
on whose sentence all dependeth.
[...]
Lo! the book, exactly worded,
wherein all hath been recorded:
thence shall judgment be awarded.


Global warming

Chelsea tractor by psheil (Peter Sheil)

Got a car, big and safe, four-by-four;
Drive your kids to their school, door-to-door.
Global warming's no factor
For your Chelsea tractor
You take and consume, more and more.

The term Chelsea tractor is used, often disapprovingly, to describe large, four-by-four cars with off-road capabilities being used in an urban environment for such "adventurous" activities as taking the children to school and visiting the local supermarket. The cars are named after the affluent district of London where a large number of such vehicles may be observed.


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


atmosphere by Robert Holland (Robert Holland)

"Global warming, what's that? Just say no!
It is something I don't need to know."
Bushies say, "Have no fear,
A cure will appear.
Let the atmosphere go with the flow."

"Mounting scientific evidence that human activity is causing global temperatures to rise coupled with a growing public alarm — fueled by former Vice President Gore's climate change documentary, 'Inconvenient Truth,' this summer — has forced lawmakers to take up the issue." ("Global warming fear lights fire under Congress", San Francisco Chronicle, September 23, 2006.) "Even on Capitol Hill, we have reached the tipping point," said Philip Clap, the president of the National Environmental Trust. "George Bush's 'just say no' policy on global warming is political history."

See bailout and Bush


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


cataclysmically by Chris Doyle (Chris Doyle)

Global warming may lower the boom,
Leaving humans enshrouded in gloom.
Will our hubris and sin
Send the earth in a spin—
Cataclysmically plunging toward doom?


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


bail out, bail by Robert Holland (Robert Holland)

Global warming is coming, no doubt.
But fixes are wasteful. Why pout?
The oceans may rise,
But in time, I surmise,
A savior will bail us all out.

In June 2006, Germany's Chancellor presided over the opening of "the world's first carbon-free [power] plant fueled by coal", but it's only a demonstration model. "In the United States, you defer all investments, because in the future maybe you have the perfect solution," said a government official under the previous German Chancellor. "I would prefer a solution that improves the situation now." ("Europe's Green Image Clashes With Reliance on Coal", New York Times, June 20, 2006.)


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


antediluvian by Roger Dunn (Roger Dunn)

I have antediluvian dreams
Where a hull built with gopherwood beams
Is laid down for a flood:
Global warming? I should
Buy a ticket from Noah, it seems.


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


break up by Mad Kane (Madeleine Begun Kane)

An ice shelf breaks up in the ocean.
Global warming's far more than a notion
Dreamed up by Al Gore,
Though some wish to ignore
All the changes that greed's set in motion.

According to polar researchers, ice shelves get weaker as the temperature rises. This accounts for the recent collapse (reported in late 2006) of a Canadian ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields.


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


Big Oil by Robert Holland (Robert Holland)

To Barton, it's just a green trick:
Global warming, the "Truth" in Gore's flick.
Big Oil gets a laugh
Watching Gore climb a graph,
Now famous as Al's hockey stick.

A cover story in Business Week magazine, ("Why You Should Worry About Big Oil?", May 15, 2006) says "Big Oil, that clutch of oil and gas giants in the U.S. and Europe, has big problems ... These companies, moreover, enjoy huge political clout in their home countries, have spotty environmental records, and staunchly defend outrageous prices at the gasoline pump. Why worry about them?" Why worry about them, indeed.

An independent review of the startling graph shown in Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" has validated the science behind the graph. Texas Republican Joe Barton, at that time the chair of the House Energy Committee, ignited a firestorm amongst scientists in June 2005 when he asked the creators of the graph (part of a 1998 global warming study) "for a detailed accounting of their government and private funding, data, and methods" spanning their entire careers. A Democrat member of Mr. Barton's Committee asked Mr. Barton to withdraw his requests, saying "Some might interpret them as an attempt to bully and harass climate experts who have reached conclusions with which you disagree", the BBC reported on July 18, 2005. An independent review of the study was ordered.

Barton's tactics were also condemned in an editorial in the Washington Post ("Hunting Witches", July 23, 2005), which concluded: "The only conceivable purpose of these letters is harassment. This bizarre episode deserves much wider condemnation from congressional leaders."

The now famous graph is known as "the global temperature hockey stick" because its tail end, showing temperature increases over the past 100 years, rises sharply like the blade of a hockey stick. ("National panel supports '98 global warming evidence", Boston Globe, June 23, 2006) "The hockey stick is alive and well," said Raymond Bradley, one of the original study authors.


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


carbonaceous by speedysnail (Rory Ewins)

Global warming, you say? Goodness gracious!
That really is rather vexatious.
From smoke when we burn
Off the trees? Live and learn...
Who knew forests were so carbonaceous?


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


carbon dioxide by Dottie (Anne Clements)

We know carbon dioxide's produced
When the power of oil is unloosed.
Now it's time we must learn
That for each ton we burn,
Global warming is given a boost.


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


calve by Chris Doyle (Chris Doyle)

When an iceberg is calved, it breaks free
From a glacier and falls in the sea.
Global warming is here,
And with each passing year,
Polar ice caps produce more debris.


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


Alaska by Meg Beagle

It's not cold in Alaska, not storming.
It's to world climate patterns conforming.
The permafrost's melting,
And temps are sunbelting,
As we all watch our doom—global warming.

Well, a lot of us watch it. Some of us don't.


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


arctically by Ulfras (Ulfras)

Global warming could generate heat
That would cause polar ice to retreat.
If the permafrost goes,
Words like icebergs and floes
Would, like arctically, be obsolete.

(AR-tik-lee)


☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉ ☉


autotrophy by Chris Doyle (Chris Doyle)

With autotrophy, everything's cool.
All that carbon dioxide is fuel!
As your Prez, I must say
Global warming's okay,
And that Democrat Kyoto's a fool.

(aw-TAH-truh-fee)


Also sprach Zarathustra - Vom Freunde (The Friend)

Friedrich Nietzsche
Thus Spake Zarathustra. A Book for All and None.
Also sprach Zarathustra. Ein Buch für alle und keinen.

XIV. THE FRIEND.
VOM FREUNDE

"One, is always too many about me"--thinketh the anchorite. "Always once one--that maketh two in the long run!"
``Einer ist immer zu viel um mich'' - also denkt der Einsiedler. ``Immer Einmal Eins - das giebt auf die Dauer Zwei!''
I and me are always too earnestly in conversation: how could it be endured, if there were not a friend?
Ich und Mich sind immer zu eifrig im Gespräche: wie wäre es auszuhalten, wenn es nicht einen Freund gäbe?
The friend of the anchorite is always the third one: the third one is the cork which preventeth the conversation of the two sinking into the depth.
Immer ist für den Einsiedler der Freund der Dritte: der Dritte ist der Kork, der verhindert, dass das Gespräch der Zweie in die Tiefe sinkt.
Ah! there are too many depths for all anchorites.
Therefore, do they long so much for a friend, and for his elevation.
Ach, es giebt zu viele Tiefen für alle Einsiedler.
Darum sehnen sie sich so nach einem Freunde und nach seiner Höhe.
Our faith in others betrayeth wherein we would fain have faith in ourselves. Our longing for a friend is our betrayer.
Unser Glaube an Andre verräth, worin wir gerne an uns selber glauben möchten. Unsre Sehnsucht nach einem Freunde ist unser Verräther.
And often with our love we want merely to overleap envy. And often we attack and make ourselves enemies, to conceal that we are vulnerable.
Und oft will man mit der Liebe nur den Neid überspringen. Und oft greift man an und macht sich einen Feind, um zu verbergen, dass man angreifbar ist.
"Be at least mine enemy!"--thus speaketh the true reverence, which doth not venture to solicit friendship.
``Sei wenigstens mein Feind!'' - so spricht die wahre Ehrfurcht, die nicht um Freundschaft zu bitten wagt.
If one would have a friend, then must one also be willing to wage war for him: and in order to wage war, one must be CAPABLE of being an enemy.
Will man einen Freund haben, so muss man auch für ihn Krieg führen wollen: und um Krieg zu führen, muss man Feind sein können.
One ought still to honour the enemy in one's friend. Canst thou go nigh unto thy friend, and not go over to him?
Man soll in seinem Freunde noch den Feind ehren. Kannst du an deinen Freund dicht herantreten, ohne zu ihm überzutreten?
In one's friend one shall have one's best enemy.
Thou shalt be closest unto him with thy heart when thou withstandest him.
In seinem Freunde soll man seinen besten Feind haben. Du sollst ihm am nächsten mit dem Herzen sein, wenn du ihm widerstrebst.
Thou wouldst wear no raiment before thy friend? It is in honour of thy friend that thou showest thyself to him as thou art? But he wisheth thee to the devil on that account!
Du willst vor deinem Freunde kein Kleid tragen? Es soll deines Freundes Ehre sein, dass du dich ihm giebst, wie du bist? Aber wünscht dich darum zum Teufel!
He who maketh no secret of himself shocketh: so much reason have ye to fear nakedness! Aye, if ye were Gods, ye could then be ashamed of clothing!
Wer aus sich kein Hehl macht, empört: so sehr habt ihr Grund, die Nacktheit zu fürchten! Ja, wenn ihr Götter wäret, da dürftet ihr euch eurer Kleider schämen!
Thou canst not adorn thyself fine enough for thy friend; for thou shalt be unto him an arrow and a longing for the Superman.
Du kannst dich für deinen Freund nicht schön genug putzen: denn du sollst ihm ein Pfeil und eine Sehnsucht nach dem Übermenschen sein.
Sawest thou ever thy friend asleep--to know how he looketh? What is usually the countenance of thy friend? It is thine own countenance, in a coarse and imperfect mirror.
Sahst du deinen Freund schon schlafen, - damit du erfahrest, wie er aussieht? Was ist doch sonst das Gesicht deines Freundes? Es ist dein eignes Gesicht, auf einem rauhen und unvollkommnen Spiegel.
Sawest thou ever thy friend asleep? Wert thou not dismayed at thy friend looking so? O my friend, man is something that hath to be surpassed.
Sahst du deinen Freund schon schlafen?
Erschrakst du nicht, dass dein Freund so aussieht? Oh, mein Freund, der Mensch ist Etwas, das überwunden werden muss.
In divining and keeping silence shall the friend be a master: not everything must thou wish to see. Thy dream shall disclose unto thee what thy friend doeth when awake.
Im Errathen und Stillschweigen soll der Freund Meister sein: nicht Alles musst du sehn wollen.
Dein Traum soll dir verrathen, was dein Freund im Wachen thut.
Let thy pity be a divining: to know first if thy friend wanteth pity. Perhaps he loveth in thee the unmoved eye, and the look of eternity.
Ein Errathen sei dein Mitleiden: dass du erst wissest, ob dein Freund Mitleiden wolle.
Vielleicht liebt er an dir das ungebrochne Auge und den Blick der Ewigkeit.
Let thy pity for thy friend be hid under a hard shell; thou shalt bite out a tooth upon it. Thus will it have delicacy and sweetness.
Das Mitleiden mit dem Freunde berge sich unter einer harten Schale, an ihm sollst du dir einen Zahn ausbeissen. So wird es seine Feinheit und Süße haben.
Art thou pure air and solitude and bread and medicine to thy friend? Many a one cannot loosen his own fetters, but is nevertheless his friend's emancipator.
Bist du reine Luft und Einsamkeit und Brod und Arznei deinem Freunde? Mancher kann seine eignen Ketten nicht lösen und doch ist er dem Freunde ein Erlöser.
Art thou a slave? Then thou canst not be a friend. Art thou a tyrant? Then thou canst not have friends.
Bist du ein Sclave? So kannst du nicht Freund sein. Bist du ein Tyrann? So kannst du nicht Freunde haben.
Far too long hath there been a slave and a tyrant concealed in woman. On that account woman is not yet capable of friendship: she knoweth only love.
Allzulange war im Weibe ein Sclave und ein Tyrann versteckt. Desshalb ist das Weib noch nicht der Freundschaft fähig: es kennt nur die Liebe.
In woman's love there is injustice and blindness to all she doth not love. And even in woman's conscious love, there is still always surprise and lightning and night, along with the light.
In der Liebe des Weibes ist Ungerechtigkeit und Blindheit gegen Alles, was es nicht liebt. Und auch in der wissenden Liebe des Weibes ist immer noch Überfall und Blitz und Nacht neben dem Lichte.
As yet woman is not capable of friendship: women are still cats, and birds. Or at the best, cows.
Noch ist das Weib nicht der Freundschaft fähig: Katzen sind immer noch die Weiber, und Vögel. Oder, besten Falles, Kühe.
As yet woman is not capable of friendship. But tell me, ye men, who of you are capable of friendship?
Noch ist das Weib nicht der Freundschaft fähig.
Aber sagt mir, ihr Männer, wer von euch ist denn fähig der Freundschaft?
Oh! your poverty, ye men, and your sordidness of soul! As much as ye give to your friend, will I give even to my foe, and will not have become poorer thereby.
Oh über eure Armuth, ihr Männer, und euren Geiz der Seele! Wie viel ihr dem Freunde gebt, das will ich noch meinem Feinde geben, und will auch nicht ärmer damit geworden sein.
There is comradeship: may there be friendship!
Es giebt Kameradschaft: möge es Freundschaft geben!
Thus spake Zarathustra.
AIso sprach Zarathustra.

Religimericks

anthropomorphic by Seth Brown

Most religions depict their own god
As one anthropomorphic, not odd.
Fewer people will pray
To a dull shade of gray
Than a being with man's face and bod.

atheize by man from tashkent

I command your beliefs to come out;
Give in to suspicion and doubt!
This religion won't do,
I shall atheize you.
Deny God, or He'll bring on a drought!

barratry by David Vestal

A sinner, a thief, a hard case
By barratry bettered his place.
He paid some religions
(And played them like pigeons).
Now he's Reverend Saint Rabbi, His Grace.

anthropopathy by Chuck Folkers

I'm a man, not some park-dwelling pigeon;
Correspondingly, in my religion
My god's like a man—
He's a Patriots fan!
Anthropopathy? Maybe a smidgen.

(an-thruh-PAH-puh-thee): the attribution of human qualities to the divine

blasphemous by oneslowtyper (John Scunziano)

In this blasphemous world, Left and Right
Twist religion to prove what they cite.
From Vishnu to Jesus,
The gods want to please us,
But not until man sees the light.

(BLAS-fuh-muss) Considered offensive to God or religion.

antireligion by Chris J. Strolin

I'm not antireligion, per se;
I'm just not a "church person," OK?
If that works for you, fine,
But that's your way, not mine.
Let me worship my God my own way.

Buddhist by Chuck Folkers

To the Buddhist, enlightenment's path
Shows a certain immutable math:
Whether eightfold or four,
This religion's got more
Numbered points than the other ones hath.

Adherents of Buddhism might be instructed in the Three Characteristics of Existence, the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Three Refuges, and many more enumerations that could lend themselves to bullet-point presentation.

catechization by Chris Doyle (Chris Doyle)

By catechization, religion
Is taught, leaving only a smidgen
Of freedom to think
For yourself. They say blink,
And you blink—a Pavlovian pigeon.

Calvinism by Chris Doyle (Chris Doyle)

In Calvinism, God reigns supreme,
And depravity (man's) is extreme.
It's predestined that hell
Is where sinners will dwell.
This religion ain't peaches and cream!

The theological system of Calvin and his followers is marked by a strong emphasis on the sovereignty of God, the depravity of mankind, and the doctrine of predestination.

cafeteria Catholic by Chris J. Strolin

Cafeteria Catholics may say
That premarital sex is OK.
The devout they disdain,
But Church leaders maintain
One's religion is not a buffet.

The term cafeteria Catholic, often used pejoratively, refers to an individual who claims to be Catholic but who will pick and choose which Church teachings he or she will follow. For example, the Catholic Church is officially against gay marriage, the ordination of women as priests, divorce and remarriage, premarital sex, and most methods of birth control, while a cafeteria Catholic may be personally in favor of one or all of these. Many such individuals hope that their views will someday help change those of the Church, something that is not likely to occur in the foreseeable future.

Bible-thumper by Roger Dunn (Roger Dunn)

Bible-thumpers are short in supply.
"Trust the old-time religion!" they cry.
"Renounce sex, lust and sin!"
(But before I begin,
To be fair, I should give them a try!)

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by psheil (Peter Sheil)

There are some for whom this is a joke,
While some others may splutter and choke.
This monster, spaghetti,
(It flies!) is no yeti —
Is religion all mirrors and smoke?

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was founded in 2005 to protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. At the time of writing this limerick the church's website may be found at http://www.venganza.org/

Christian religion by bob killian (Bob Killian)

The Christian religion got traction
From Emperor Constantine's action.
His reasons were practical,
Thoroughly tactical.
He made it much more than a faction.

The Emperor Constantine made Christianity an official state religion in the early 4th century, and imposed it on the Empire. Christianity vaulted above many other competing religions and factions from that point forward.

benighted by Seth Brown

"My beliefs do not make you excited,
So it's clear that you must be benighted.
For if we don't agree,
You're less cultured than me."
Thus religion leaves millions slighted.

citied by Celia Warren (Celia Warren)

Any planet that's peopled and citied,
With steeple and dome, must be pitied,
For religion with floors
And windows and doors
Means war's the next thing to be fitted.

cosmolatry, cosmos, Cosmos by SheilaB (Sheila B. Blume)

His religion, he claims, is cosmolatry
Not a popular faith, rather solitary,
But his neighbors assume
That he worships a bloom
Called the cosmos, and damn his idolatry.

(SOL-uh-tree)

Cosmolatry (koz-MAHL-uh-tree) refers to worship of the universe, not of flowers of the genus Cosmos, found on the popular and colorful fall-blooming cosmos plants.

Cees Noteboom: Träume

Träume sind wahr, weil sie geschehen,
unwahr, weil niemand sie sieht,
außer dem einsamen Träumer.

Auch im Schlaf schlägt dem Träumer das Herz,
seine Augen schreiben den Traum, er ist jetzt
und nicht in der Welt. Er schläft diesseits und jenseits der Zeit.

Die Seele hat zwei Augen, das träumt er.
Das eine schaut auf die Stunden, das andere schaut hindurch,
bis dort, wo die Dauer nie aufhört,
das Sehen im Schauen vergeht.

(Gedichte, Frankfurt am Main [Suhrkamp] 1992)

♫ Kathleen Ferrier: Schubert, An die Musik

Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden,
Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt,
Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden,
Hast mich |: in eine beßre Welt entrückt! :|

Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf' entflossen,
Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir
Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen,
|: Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür! :|

O gracious Art, in how many grey hours
When life's fierce orbit encompassed me,
Hast thou kindled my heart to warm love,
Hast charmed me into a better world!

Oft has a sigh, issuing from thy harp,
A sweet, blest chord of thine,
Thrown open the heaven of better times;
O gracious Art, for that I thank thee!


from ie.youtube.com

Vatikan: Züchtung von Mischembryonen „monströs“

Der Bioethik-Experte des Vatikans, Bischof Elio Sgreccia, hat die Züchtung von Mischembryonen aus menschlichem und tierischem Erbgut scharf kritisiert. Die zuständige britische Aufsichtsbehörde für Fortpflanzungsmedizin und Embryologie (HFEA) hatte gestern in London dem Antrag zweier Forschungsgruppen stattgegeben, die menschliches Erbgut in tierische Eizellhüllen übertragen wollen.
Sgreccia sieht darin einen „monströsen Akt“ gegen die menschliche Würde. „Bisher war das die einzige Form, die in allen internationalen Kodizes ausgeschlossen war - als Angriff auf die Menschenwürde, aufgrund des Risikos, Monster heranzubilden, also aus moralisch höchst bedeutsamen Motiven.“
Der Ethiker rief zu einem Richtungswechsel auf. Die wissenschaftliche Welt und die Regierungen dürften sich nicht von Forschungen mit unkalkulierbaren Konsequenzen überrollen lassen.
__________________________________________ Darf der Wissenschaftler alles tun, wozu er in der Lage ist? Diese Frage ist fast so alt, wie die Forschung selbst - und sie hat in den vergangenen Monaten auch die britische Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) beschäftigt, die über künstliche Befruchtung und Embryonenforschung auf der Insel wacht.
[...]
embryonale Stammzellen.

Diese sind nicht nur in Großbritannien knapp, weil ihre Nutzung in fast allen Ländern der Welt äußerst restriktiv geregelt ist - vor allem aus ethischen Gründen. Denn zur Gewinnung embryonaler Stammzellen müssen, sofern dies auf klassischem Weg geschieht, zwei Wochen alte menschliche Embryonen zerstört werden.

Die sogenannten zytoplasmischen hybriden Embryos, über deren Erlaubnis nun in Großbritannien entschieden wird, gelten als Alternative zu den umstrittenen "Wegwerf-Embryonen". Sie könnten den Forschern zu jenen embryonalen Stammzellen verhelfen, mit denen man eines Tages Krankheiten wie Parkinson, Alzheimer oder Diabetes heilen könnte.

Der Spiegel, 2007-09-04 __________________________________________ Siehe auch den Artikel von Florian Rötzer, heise.de, 2006-11-07.

Ellen R. Sheeley on "Honor" Killings

«In Jordan, there aren’t very many gender differences in how these crimes are viewed. Easy as it is to blame it on the boys/men, sadly, girls/women are part of the problem [...]. While women are >90% of the victims in Jordan, they are often complicit in the crimes. It can be mother against daughter, sister against sister. [...]
The only hate mail I got while I worked on this sensitive issue in Jordan was from women - the very women in Jordan who are either directly tasked with solving the problem or best placed to work on it (i.e., the women’s activists and nonprofits and the so-called upper class women of Amman, the capital city). I suppose it is a rather Western quality to assume that all people are basically just like us but, on this issue, it is far more complicated than that. Some people have a stake in maintaining the status quo, and not all of them are men.
In my empirical research, the primary demographic differences in people who believe in these crimes versus people who don’t were: (1) educational level [...]; (2) age (older people are more likely to believe in “honor” killings); and (3) employment status [...]. There were some differences among various cities, towns, and villages in Jordan, but not in such a way as to allow me to conclude, for example, the cities are more progressive than the villages. Gender, while I searched and searched and searched for it, was not a factor on this variable. Nor was income. No statistically significant differences [...].
Another point that needs to be made is that, in many countries, these crimes are actually state sanctioned. In Jordan, there are three penal code articles that offer leniency to the perpetrators. The average sentence is six months, but can vary from three to 24 months. These crimes are misdemeanors. Pakistan and Turkey have criminalized “honor” killings, but left in some loopholes that benefit the perpetrators. In addition, some of their judges are still looking the other way and being very soft on these crimes. [...] In these countries, “honor” suicides are beginning to take place where, to get around the newly-stiffer penalties, the perpetrators are forcing their victims to kill themselves.
While “honor” killings pre-date Islam and, thus, are un-Islamic, it is factually correct to claim that most “honor” killings occur in Arab/Muslim countries and among Arab/Muslim immigrant communities outside the Arab/Muslim world. The Jordanians in my survey recognized this. Hated it, but admitted it is so. In addition, approximately 20% of the people in my sample erroneously believe Islam condones these crimes, so there is an opportunity in the mosques to correct this misinterpretation of the Qur’an.
In 2000, the UN estimated that there are 5,000 such crimes per annum worldwide, but most people who work in this area believe this figure is vastly understated (I am among them) due to the very nature of the crime. Often they are unreported, disguised as accidents, disguised as suicides, lied about (e.g., the family will just say their murdered daughter has moved to, say, Saudi Arabia or somewhere), minimized in the official statistics (for obvious reasons - most of the states where these crimes occur are headed by dictators who don’t allow transparency, free speech, free press, anything that might reflect poorly on them) - this is just the way it is. I believe the true figures are unknowable, though the estimates are useful to the extent that they give one an idea of the relative frequency/rate in countries where these crimes occur. So Pakistan has the highest absolute numbers (but also a large population), Jordan has one of the highest per capita rates.
One opportunity/need I see in all this is to urge our lawmakers and executive branch to tie our generous aid packages to countries where these crimes exist to legislative reform (viz., remove the legal distinction in the penal code between “honor” killings and plain ol’ murder) and to objective, measurable improvements in human rights in general. The U.S. government and the West keep a country like Jordan afloat. America is their largest donor, with the EU and certain EU member states closely behind, and without our aid, the country would be even more impoverished than it already is. So we have that economic clout [...]. With all the millions they disburse in Jordan (very little of it is to be seen in actual improvements in the lives of the people there - most of it seems to be going to intelligence and security), why hasn’t some of it gone to help build a women’s shelter?! [...] Where is the transparency in how these hundreds of millions of dollars per year of our money are actually used?! Why aren’t more people here pretty ticked off about this?!
[...]
The king in Jordan is an absolute monarch. He says to us that he is against “honor” killings, and he has the power to issue a royal decree to overturn the penal code articles there that offer leniency. Lacking the political will to do that, he could also use his Hashemite legacy to influence the tribal leaders and use more traditional methods to effect reform. And yet he doesn’t. So why isn’t anyone who represents us asking him to use his power to reform these laws?! [...] To the extent that we are settling for this lack of accountability from our own leaders and funding regimes that don’t appear to truly care about “honor” killings and other human rights abuses, we are complicit in the problem.
[...]
Maybe little Dua’s horrible death will not have been in vain if it prompts the world to sit up and take notice. Now, if only we can find a way to harness this passion and package it in a way that actually gets results on the ground. Unlike so many problems in the region, this one is manageable.»

Ellen R. Sheeley, July 30th, 2007 on Nothing But Red, nothingbutred.wordpress.com
[Emphases added by me, Johanna.]

The shame of honour killings

Du'a Khalil Aswad was a member of the minority Kurdish Yezidi group. Her death by stoning was recorded and posted on the internet.

According to the United Nations, 5,000 women and girls are victims of so-called honour killings annually.

Whether it is because they have been seen talking to a man, refusing an arranged marriage, or even suffering rape, they are murdered for one reason only; they are perceived to have brought shame on their family.

It is often the family that carries out the sentence.