Support the Manifesto against Totalitarianism Signatories

We support the signatories of the Manifesto "Together facing the new totalitarianism. 1078 support on Tuesday the 21 of march
On Saturday, March 11, a thread on the British Islamist site, ummah.net, issued a death threat against the 12 signatories of the Manifesto "Together facing the new totalitarianism" : 'Excellent-makes killing the kuffar all the bit easier (...) Jezak'illah Ukthi, now we have drawn out a hit list of a 'Who's Who' guide to slam into. Take you time but make sure their gone soon- oh and don't hold out for a fatwah it isn't really required here.'
We, the undersigned, wish to express our unequivocal support for and solidarity with the twelve signatories of this proclamation and our outrage at the Islamist movement's attack on them. We stand firm with the 12 against this reactionary movement and join in their call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.
If you wish to show your support, please email us your name as well as the way in which you want to be introduced in brackets to manifesto@prochoix.org. We will publish the text and the list of signatories in the next few days.
http://www.prochoix.org/cgi/blog/2006/03/01/413
A. Figoussian——A. Glickman——A. Hirota Japan ——A. Kheir——A.J. Robb——Aaron Azlant——Aaron Nagler——Aatif Iqbal——Abdallah Al Rashid——Abraham Birenbaum Toronto Canada——Abraham Greenwald——Adam M. Cole——Adam Mahler Buffalo, NY——Adam Swift——Adrian Gaty, Harvard College Class of 2007——Adrien Saumier, Seine-et-Marne, assistant parlementaire——Ahcene Talbi (EtudiantTunisie)——Ahmad Bishara——Aida Davis Vancouver, Canada——Aidan Martin——Aimée Toulgoat——Akbar Ladak Muslim residing in Bangalore, India.——Åke Lagergren Malmö Sweden——Al King Canada——Alain Calles (Ancien président du Mrap)——Alan baker——Alan Cuthbertson——Alan Gold——Alan Watson ——Alastair Gordon——Albert Moawad——Alene Berkowitz——Alex Friesen——Alex Poore Melbourne ——Alex Schulman——Alex Roberts——Ali Mesra——Alice Coffin Journaliste——Alice Moskowitz-USA——Alicia Priest Victoria, Canada——Alisa B Canada——Alixx Ortiz——Allan Golombek——Allan Stansall Mississauga, Canada——Allison Martin——Alok Daga Toronto, Canada and Calcutta, India——Amal shahid——Amel Bejaoui Citoyenne laïque militante -Tunisie-——Amman, Jordan——Amos Galvin——Amy Whitman, California, USA——Anat Turel Dckman——André Gomar——Andre R Boulanger Rev——Andrea Thurm——Andrew Holladay——Andrew Knox Austin, Tx——Andrew L. Jaffee, Publisher——Andrew L. Levy——Andrew Levy United States of America——Andrew MacDougall——Andy Gilmour,——Ann Lemieux Canada——Anna DeMarinis——Anna Morgan ——Annaka Harris ——Anne Collins——Anne Hubble——Anne Savage——Anne Winter——Annette Heller ——Annick Piat (France)——Annie Gottlieb——Anthea Lipsett 
UK——Anthony Reynolds ——Antoine Finck ——Arizona——Armand Laferrère——Armando Paredes Doctorant à l'Université de Paris Professeur de langue espagnole——Arnold frischman——Arthur Arfa——Arthur Thomson——Arvo Marits Canada/Estonia——Aubrey Goldstein——Audrey Walzer——Augie Ruckdeschel——August Berkshire——Austin Cline——B. Goldman Canada——Bachir Choukri——Bachir Guezal (Journaliste)——Barb Lefcourt Canada——Barbara Andersen USA——Barbara McCarthy——Barbara Roberts——Barney F. McClelland——Barry Lubotta——Béatrice Szwec——Ben Cronin——Ben Litchman——Ben Shobert——Benjamin Bilski——Benjamin M. Lawless——Benjamin Sharma——Benjamin Wolf ——Bernadette Capdevielle France——Bernard Delmotte (ingénieur, agrégé, athée)——Betsy Brookshier——Bev LeFrancois Canada——Bill Budinger——Bill Buzbee——Bill Garland, Professor, Dept. of Engineering Physics——Bill Kerr Australia——Bill Moore——Bill Nigh——Bill Prestwich——Bjorn Larsen——Blanche Le Petit Institutrice——Bob Kaufman——Bonny Leszcz Canada——Boris Goldberg, New York.——Boulder, CO USA——Brandi Dickman——Brandon W. Zuk, East Lansing, Michigan.——Brendan Babish Development Associate WE ACT for Environmental Justice New York——Brendan Murphy——Brendan Wolfe——Brent Forrester, USA——Brian Blake——Brian D. Cale——Brian Dalton Brooklyn, NY——Brian Greene——Brian Hagan——Brian Hinkle——Brian Johnson——Brian Lass Toronto, Canada——Brian McCarthy——Brian McClinton——Brian n. Dickenson Rev——Brian Thomas——Brigitte Lhomond (sociologue, CNRS)——Brigitte Stora, journaliste——Brona Rosen——Bruce Long Texas, USA——Bruce Pitt——Bruce S. Springsteen——Bruce G. Conrad-Reingold ——Bruno——Bruno Richez (républicains, athées et laïques)——Bryan Summers——C. E. Alexander——C. Van Youngman——Calgary, Alberta——Calvin Martin, Q.C., Toronto, Ontario, Canada——Cameron Angus Richmond, British Columbia——Cameron Strandberg——Carl Miffleton Jr. USA——Carol Rosenthall Canada——Carolyn Haas——Caspar Melville——Catherine Hsu——Catherine Perry Dr——Catherine Ravelli (enseignante, syndicaliste SNUEP-FSU, Paris)——Cécile Arnold, Marseille——Chahla Mohsen——Chaliand Minces Juliette ——Charles Falut (France)——Charles Homme Fargo——Charles S. Hendricksen, PhD——Charly Bouchara, traducteur, Montréal, Québec——Checked by AVG Free Edition.——Chicago, Illinois 60603——Chicago,I llinoisCity or country - optional——chloé legeay, 24 ans, étudiante——Chris Darrouzet——Chris Hallquist——Chris Hughes——Chris Schroeter Germany ——Christian A. Hankel——Christian Gaudray (militant laïque) ——Christian Skalka——Christo Doherty Professor——Christophe Dumas consultant France——Christopher Farley Portland, Oregon——Christopher Orlet USA——Christopher Williams 
Culpeper, Virginia——Chuck Currie——Claire Huynen écrivain——Claude Boiziau membre de la commission femmes d'Amnesty International.——Claude Wachtelaer Inspecteur - Coordinateur Pédagogique——Claude Wynne——Clint Brooks——Colette Bati Psychanalyste à Gentilly et à Corbeil——Colette Guillaumin ( sociologue )——Colette Micoud-Terreau (régisseur lumière)——Conrad Roeske——Constance Wiggins——Corner Brook, NL, Canada——Craig Merritt——Craig Read Canada——Curtis Scott Dunkel——D. Bonder Dr——D. Glazer——D.Miglos——Dagmar Gontard-Zelinkova Your name here——Dagmar Yaari——Dale Wilson——Damian Penny——Damien F. Veatch——Dan Britt Montreal, Canada——Daniel Dale——Daniel Sharp——Daniel Strohl——Daniel Turnbull London——Daniela Dixon——Danièle Migols (France)——Daniella Gold Toronto, Canada——Danny Kampf——Dara Korra'ti——Darrell Larson New York, USAl William Baggett——Darrell Vaughn——Dave Deveau——Dave McKenna——Dave Olim——David A. Bell——David A. Martin Jr.——David Blinick Toronto, Canada——David Bornstein——David D. Kympton——David Dehoney——David E. Kenninger——David Eaves——David Galway——David Galway——David H. Solomon, M.D. Los Angeles California, USA——David Hernand——David Hitchcock——David Hobbet——David Jackmanson" ——David Jaffe ——David Lenny——David Lewis Studio City, California——David M. O'Leary, S.T.L., D.Phil Reverend——David McKeegan——David Montelle Forbes——David Mulvale——David P. Kyzer——David Pendleton——David Polansky——David Pollock——David Randall——David Sinyor, Montreal, Canada——David T. Drummond Ottawa, Canada——David Weil United States——David Wrenn——Davis B. Richardson——Davor Bakovic——Dawn Wolfe Gutterman——Dean Boyer——Del Arseneault——Denis Loggins ——Dennis Abry United States of America——Dennis Branch California,——Dennis Maust——Dennis Maust——Dennis R. Norton——Dennis Trentadue——Dennis Ward——Dennis Strander——Denver, CO——Devin James Carpenter——Diana Brown (supporter of human rights)——Diane Bischak——Diane Fulford Gee——Diane Lavi——Diane Ravitch——Dianna Deeley——DJ Van Hoogstraten——Dominic Cardy

Naxal, Kathmandu, Nepal
——Dominique Durand - (Educateur spécialisé, chargé d'insertion RMI en Ile-de France)——Dominique Jacquin Adjoint au maire Ville d’Arcueil Val de Marne ——Don Reid London Ontario——Don Walker——Donald Braun——Donna Deitch——Donnel Jones——Donnel Jones——Dora Usher——Doris Epstein——Dottie Buch ——Doug Taylor USA——Douglas Adams——Douglas C. Ward——Douglas J. Drake——Douglas McBride, USA——Douglas Murray.——Douglas R. Stewart——Douglas Rogers——Draisa Frischman——Duncan McGregor——E. Borenstein——E. Marshall Pollock, Q.C.,——Eduard Konrad——Eduardo Hernandez——Edward Bein——Edward Bornstein Toronto, CANADA——Edward Cantor——Edward G. Tripp, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.——Edward Lasseigne——EGALE——Eileen Wahl ——Elena Diamantos——Elisabeth Badinter, philosophe.——Elisabeth Schemla (Fondatrice de Proche-Orient.info)——Elizabeth Bromstein, Canada——Elizabeth Caskie——Ellana Livermore——Ellen S. Goldstein- Buffalo, NY——Ellen Williams——Elliott F. Grasett——Emanuele Ottolenghi——Eric Duffey Norwalk,Oh, USA——Eric Martinez Fonctionnaire de santé——Eric Pitt of Chicago,——Eric Rohrs——Eric Sutton Canada——Erik Tanner——Esther Behar——Eugene M. Pommier——Euromed ——Eva Gold——Eve bigou simple citoyenne qui défend la laïcité et la liberté de pensée et d'expression——Fariba Hachtroudi Ecrivain et journaliste Iranienne Présidente de l'Association humanitaire Mohsen Hachtroudi (MoHa).——Farouk Mansouri (consultant) Paris.——Fatima Amar——Fénotte CALMO——Fern Oppenheim——Fewzi benhabib enseignant-chercheur Université de Cergy-Pontoise——Fiammetta Venner (politologue)——Filippa von Platen Sweden——Finn Boserup (human being, Denmark)——Fisher Lena——Florence Brown——Floris van den Berg van Saparoea——Floris van den Berg van Saparoea——France——Francine Godard——Francine Van den Moortel ——Francis Joseph DiTraglia——Francis Lazerges, ingénieur retraité, ex catholique devenu athée,——François Massias Chômeur, CNT (KB 9.4)——François Vilbert——Frank Brickle——Frank Logan——Frank M. Howland——Frank O'Hara Toronto, Canada——Frank Sokolowski——Frank Spence——Fred Britton Canada——Freddy Clayton——Frederik Stjernfelt (professor, Danish University of Education)——Free yourse ——Frimet Roth——G. D. Moore——G.S. Cox——Gail McCabe Toronto ON Canada ——Gaithersburg, MD ——Gardena, CA USA.——Garland, TX, USA——Gary Hagland ——Gary Leach——Gary Sehnert——Geoff Fridd Toronto, Canada.——Geoffrey LaForte——George Atherton——George Masologites——Georges Ostiguy——Georges Rivière (ARCAM)——Georges Slodzian (physicien)——Germany——géry brasseur-delcourt——géry brasseur-delcourt,militant radical de gauche,élu membre du comité directeur du prg,——Gibraltar——Gilbert Glasman——Gilbert GLASMAN——Gilbert Glasman - Conferences & Débats——Gilles Domenget (coopération culturelle en Algérie)——Giorgio Bertuccelli——Glenn Bullard Canada——Glenn Caron ——Gloria Lepofsky Canada——GM Roper ——Go Home Lake——Go Home Lake——Gordon Gamm——Gordon M. Bell——Gordon Walker France——Graduate Student——Graham Milne ——Granville Martin ——Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada——Greg Mills——Greg Mills Berkeley, California ——H Nicholson——H. David Burstein——Habib Al Latif——Hakim Arabdiou, Paris.——Hamilton, Canada ——Harriet Dickman——Harriet Wrye, Ph.D., ABPP——Harry Heller USA——Harry R Welty——Harry Wajchendler——Harry Walsh Ottawa, Ont. Canada——Hasan Suroor London,United Kingdom——Hasdai Westbrook——Hassan Abdelnour (Damascus Syria)——Hassan Abdlemalik——Hassan Dubois (Bordeaux)——Hassan Ouardi (Suisse)——Hassan Walid Al Joumouriah——Hassina Hamaïli——Hazel Barkham Rev——Heime Geffen——Helen Poizner——Hélène Richez (républicains, athées et laïques)——Hellal Khelaf , Ingénieur , Alger ——Henning Petersen——Henriette Gleizes de Cambiaire——Henry Wolkowicz Cambridge, Ontario——Herb Green——Herbert Rosenbaum, physicist, writer, Denmark)——Holger Lutz Kern Ithaca, NY——Howard Weinberg——Hugh McMillan Canada——Hugh Millar ——Hugues Leenhardt (instituteur)——Huguette Chomski Magnis ——I. van Riet——Iain Ross——Ian A. Gillespie——Ian Dew-Becker——Ian Dodd——Ian E. Macfarlane Canada——Ian Lowe Scottish Atheist Council——Ian McAllister——Ian McKechnieCanada——Ibrahim Latif——Igor Ellyn——Imad Shawa——Imre Herzog——Ingrid Becuwe (France)——Ingrid Verver The Netherlands——Initiateur du nouvel islam——Irène Ekani——Irini Papandreou ——Irving Weisdorf ——Isabelle Ravary isabelle professeur des écoles depuis 25 ans en ZEP Seine Saint Denis——Ishrat Manji——Ismahan Levi——Issa Moawad——J. Boüüaert, Docteur en philosophie et lettres.——J. Russell Kliegel Denver, Colorado, USA——J.L. Eisler——J.LivingstonToronto,Canada——Jack A Witkin——Jack Basuk Victoria, Canada——Jack Cosgrove——Jack L. Parsons——Jack Mallah——Jack Micay Toronto, Canada——Jacob Howland——Jacqueline Clark——James Blandford——James Blythe——James Boyd Baker——James C. Garahan ——James Feldman NY, NY——james harper——James R. Brown——James Silverglad, New York, NY——James Tapley Sarasota ——James Thurman Kahn 
United States of America——Jan Krejcik——Jan Loeb Eisler, located in Madeira Beach FL USA——Jan Narveson——Jan van Horebeek——Jan van Horebeek Directeur d'école honoraire de l'enseignement de la communauté flamande en Belgique. Franc-maçon G.O.B——Jane Kilgannon London, UK——Jane Luksich——Janet Jones——Janet Somerville English Department——Janis Kelly——Jared Shore——Jarvis Cochrane Perth, Australia——Jason Christensen——Jason Sheppard——Jason Wood Oakville, Ontario, Canada——Javier S. Hidalgo——Jay Allen——Jay Huber——Je soutiens et signe le manifeste "Ensemble contre le nouveau totalitarisme"——Jean L. Burbidge. Canada——Jeanette Dennis——Jean-Loup Azema (citoyen)——Jean-Paul Joseph Chercheur CNRS——Jean-Pierre Chemla (Primo-Europe)——Jean-Pierre E. HERREMANS, Avocat, juge de Paix suppléant, Lieutenant-Colonel (Hre- Rés) Belgique——Jean-Pierre Matte Canada——Jeff Burke ——Jeff Guinn 
Business Objects Developer 
iTEK Center East, E1F001K ——Jeff Simpson——Jefferson City, Mo. USA——Jeffrey Hansen——Jeffrey St.Claire——Jeffrey Ullman——Jennifer Brooks Rev——Jennifer Howland——Jeremiah D. McAuliffe, Jr.——Jeremy Reff——Jerome Gassa ——Jerry Brennan——Jesse Kirchner——Jessica Rasku——Jibril Kheir——Jim Cranwell Ontario Canada——Jim MacGregor——Jim Moskowitz Swarthmore, USA——Jim Watson——Jimmy Dobbs——Jocelyn Bézecourt——Jodie Evans Cofounder, CODEPINK: Women for Peace——Joe Grindstaff——Joe Grossman——Joe Kaplan——Joe Nadler——Joel Cooper——Joel Drazner——Joel Scott——Jogen Shukla.——John Berube——John C. Lindsley Leicester, NC USA——John C. Schmerein——John Cooper, 46487 Yale Road, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada——John Erich Portland, OR——John F. Swenson, J.D.——John G. Simpson——John Hunt, London, UK.——John J. Furedy, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Toronto——John Loeffler——John Mason——John Medhurst Trade Unionist Brighton——John Mertes California, USA——John Miller——John Morrison 
Toronto, Canada——John P. March——John P. Scott ——John Robert Martin Chicago, USA——John Tabin——John Thompson ——John Tillinghast Statistician——John Topalanchik——John Williams Atlanta,Ga,USA——Johnny Jacobs From, Oxford, Mississippi——Jon K. Bornholdt——Jon Self——Jonathan Abbey——Jonathan Gold——Jonathan Usher——Jordan Ravka——Joseph Attias Universitaire (France)——Joseph Erbal Konrad——Joseph J. Gill——Joseph M. Steiner——Joseph Shipman——Joseph W. Davis, Jr.——Josh Cohen——Josh Glasstetter ——Joyce Green ——Judah Passow, London UK——Judith Wyatt——Judy Anderson, Toronto, Canada——Judy Schwartz——Julia Cohen——Julian Saunderson——Julien Nitzberg——Julien RENAULT——Juliet Gavison-Chauveau——Justin Payne——Justin Sheets——Kallan Greybe——Keith Chang——Keith Hambly——Keith Kopitz——Ken Braithwaite——Ken Macdonald, Kelowna——Ken Reibel——Kenneth F. Hodges——Kenneth Richter——Kenneth Sheridan——Kenneth Weisz——Kent Haines——Kenzari Touhami (Journaliste)——Kevin Bradley——Kevin McGilly——Kevin Rooney, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada——Kevin Saldanha Mississauga, Canada——Kirsten Grimstad——Kitty Heller ——Konrad Ejbich——Kristian Dunn United States——Kyle I Swanson——Kyle Lindskog——Kyle Orland——L. Zimmerman Canada——L.D.Thompson——Lakshmi Reddy Bloom——Lauren Smith——Lauren V. Merritt USA——Laurie Blendis MD Professor——Lawrence W. MalitoYour name here——Leah Ishmael.——Lee Chitiz Toronto, Canada——Lee Doubell——Leo Grunberger Toronto, Canada——Leo Wisniewski——Leon Komkov ——Leslie Sacks——Liliane Kandel——Linda Dennis——Linda Frum——Linda Garfield——Lindsey Bethke——Lindsey O. Worth——Lionel Robins——Lisa Heezen——Lisa L. Dean——Lisa Regan Seattle WA——Lorri Kushnirur ——Louis E. Balleweg——Louis Gregorich——Luc Berard de Malavas (conseiller municipal PS)——Lucas Klein——Lucille van Ommering——Luke Lea——Luke Murphy——Luke R. McCormac——Lyle P. Smith——Lynn Slaughter——M Faraz——M. Mehdi S. Al-Rifai——Macey Cadesky——Magnus Norell Dr Stockholm, Sweden——Malcolm Kronby——Malika Boussouf journaliste et auteur——Marc Abinader——Marc Duyungan——Marc Furman Johannesburg South Africa——Marc Horwitz. Membre-fondateur et responsable de la communication d'Egale——Marc Koplowitz Toronto, Canada——Marc Surgers——Marcel Cools, Avocat, citoyen du monde——Marcel Gillet un Homme normal athée ,laique ,anticlérical,qui ne fait confiance qu'à la science et a la raison face à tous les obscurantismes de ttoutes les religions et sectes de tous ordres——Marcelle Villarreal (Mexico City, MEXICO)——Margaret Wente——Maria Rosa Menocal——Marianne Marchand Westerlo Belgique——Marie Bickof, Canada——Marie- Laure Segal——Marie-Christine Guillerm (enseignante)——Marie-Claude San Juan——Marie-Dominique Housset——Marie-Françoise Rougerat Cadre Infirmier——Marilynne Friedman, Toronto——Marin Frith——Mark Amerman——Mark E. Pietrzyk——Mark Fournier Ottawa, Canada——Mark Gordon, www.suicideofthewest.com——Mark Keavney——Mark Landa..canada——Mark Scott new zealand——Martin Dooley——Martin Frankland——Martin Henderson——Martin Herring——Martin Thall——Martine CERF——Martínez Gorriarán (profesor de filosofía, Universidad del País Vasco; portavoz de Iniciativa Ciudadana Basta Ya)——Marvin D. Klotz Dr——Marvin Goodman ——Marvin Levant——Mary Lou Abrogio (Canada)——Mary McLemore United States of America——Mary Rue——Mary Waller Wisconsin Dr——Mathilde Falcou, 30 ans, éducatrice de rue, espérant élever mes enfants dans la paix——Mats Johansson Stockholm, Sweden——Matthew Dallman, Chicago USA——Matthew Kelly——Matthew T Manos, CPA——Megan Fauls——Mehdi Abinader——Melinda Barton——Mere, Wiltshire, UK——Meryle Kates, Canada——Micah Seymour——Michael A. Humphreys——Michael Barnaby——Michael Blank Framingham MA USA——Michael Butler, Los Angeles, CA——Michael C Ludders——Michael Cooper, Oregon——Michael Diamond, Toronto, Canada——Michael Goldfarb——Michael Hawley Operations Support Manager,——Michael John Landauer——Michael Kriskey——Michael LaTorra——Michael Ledeen——Michael Lonie Albany, Oregon, United States of America——Michael Loomis——Michael Mell——Michael Minch——Michael Mirus——Michael Mussman——Michael Paris BRUSSELS——Michael Robertson Moore——Michael Schell, Seattle, WA, USA——Michael Scott Brown——Michael Snider——Michael Stephen Fuchs——Michael Suedfeld——Michael Tran——Michael W Bailey——Michael Weingrad U.S.A.——Michael Zarett——Michael E Brant Rockdale,Il.——Michal Hasek——Michèle Vianès——Michelle Douglas——Michelle Samuel——Mike Cullen Brooklyn, NY, USA——Mike Dorsey——Mike Ferrell - NY USA——Mike McGoldrick——Mike Richard——Mike Wasiura——Mikkel Wallentin, Danish author and cognitive brain researcher——Miles A. McQueen——Miriam Cantor——Miriam Kronby——Mohamed Pascal Hilout (Fondateur du Nouvel Islam)——Mohammad Kheir——Mohammed Amin Manchester——Mohd Fuad Rawi——Molyn Leszcz——Moncef Redha (Journaliste)——Monica Hadley, Fairfield IA USA——Monique Cerisier ben Guiga Sénatrice des Français établis hors de France——Montcenis Danielle——Muriel Darmon (médecin, France)——Myron Pentz——Nader Abou Abbas——Nadia Kerrouan——Nadia Liassine, mededecin——Nadia Majiss——Nadja Ringart (sociologue) ——Nancy J. Proctor——Nancy Robertson——Naomi Hassan——Nasr Nagi Abdelmalek——Nate Rothstein——Nathan Grinspan——Nathan Wallingford, George Mason University——Nathaniel Howland——Nav Purewal——Neal Bever——Nedjma Scialom (Réalisatrice & Monteuse).Newton D. Scherl——Nick Papandreou ——Nick Ragaz Toronto, Canada——Nicolas Dessaux, président de Solidarité Irak——Nicole Leibowitz (Rédactrice en chef de Proche-Orient.info)——Nigel Waddington——Nikki Basuk Victoria, B.C., Canada——Nils Bredsdorff (librarian)——Nina Clemson Australia——Norbert Van der Meulen YerresFrance——Norman Share——Olga Zrihen (Sénatrice, Belgique)——Oliver Bennett ——Omran Salman Bahraini Writer & Journalist Based in USA——Ophelia Benson——Owen Dickman——Paolo Barredo——Partha Lal——Parthiban——Patrick Casey Warwick, Rhode Island, USA——Patrick D. Moran——Patrick Delbac ( Conseil d’entreprises )——Patrick Guerin Iowa - USA——Patrick Johnston——Patrick Lowery——Patrick Nachtigall——Paul Bowden, USA——Paul Douglas Green.——Paul Douglas Scott——Paul Fauvet——Paul Fisher——Paul Garnier.——Paul Hoffert——Paul Jenns——Paul Kingston——Paul Schultz——Pearl Adams——Peer Bundgaard Associate Professor, Ph.D. University of Aarhus, Denmark——Pete Blackwell——Peter Daivs Toronto, Canada——Peter Davis——Peter Ingemi——Peter Tudvad (cand.mag., Copenhagen, Denmark)——Phil Craig——Philip A. Sullivan——Philip and Gayle Tauber——Philip Black ——Philip Carl Salzman——Pierre Legrand ——Pierre Yardin——Pierre-Michel Rogozyk Adjoint Ingénieur Grandes Ecoles France——Preston Lancs——R.D. Wauchope Carlsbad, CA USA——Rabbi Richard Agler——Rachel Bordoli——Rachel J. Wilson——Rachel Jordan ——Rajiv Singh——Ralph Estey——Ramsey Campbell——Raphaël LELLOUCHE——Ray Arseneault——Raymond Heard——Renate Britton——Renaud Jean——Reza Aslan——Rezzoug Youcef (ancien rédacteur en chef du journal Le Matin d'Algérie)
——Rhyad Hamid Toronto, Canada - ——Richard Bartholomew (Osaka, Japan)——Richard Bouaziz France——Richard Brems——Richard Gardner (Translator, Writer, Thinker : American PhD in French living and working in Berlin, Germany)——Richard J. Rosendall Washington, D.C.——Richard Kirker——Richard Klumker- Denver,Colorado——Richard Koeppel——Richard M. Evans——Richard Martin——Richard Moore——Richard R. Myers——Richard Samuel——Richard Waghorne, Dublin, Ireland——Richmond Hill, Ontario——Rick Herrick——Rob Brooks——Rob Shields——Robert Abdelmajid——Robert Adams——Robert Castle ——Robert Danberg——Robert Dawson USA——Robert Dickman——Robert Frazier Chicago, USA——Robert Fulford——Robert Gaus——Robert Hodgman-Burns——Robert I. Wexelbaum——Robert J. Throckmorton, Dr Las Vegas, NV——Robert J. Willis——Robert James Bidinotto——Robert Jennings——Robert K. Selander——Robert Kennedy——Robert Lichtenauer——Robert M. Leaf——Robert Pavlacka——Robert Zeldin Toronto——Roberto Maglica——Robin Vigfusson——Rochelle Wilner——Rolf Majander Sweden——Rolly Bettse——Ron Ander Canada——Ron Reanorth——Ron Waksman News Director Global NEWS Global Television——Ronnie Rose Lausanne, Switzerland——Ross Burgess——Ross Johnson——Ross Spencer Cohen——Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D.——Ruth Abrams——Ryan Hardy——Ryan Pelkey——S. G. Adams——Salika Wenger. Présidente de l’Association des suisses contre les intégrismes et fondamentalismes religieux.——Sally Ferguson Dr——Sally Rogow——Salma Abdallah——Salomon Benzimra, P.Eng. Toronto, Canada——Sam Harris——Sam Wilson——Samuel Nisenboim——Sandra Freeman ——Sandrine Malem, Paris——Sara Nuzhat ——Sarah Gavion-Chauveau——Sarnia, ON, Canada——Scott Dillard——Scott J. Yambor——Scott M. Streff——Scotty Allen Moody——Seif el Din Abou Choukhra——Selim Naguib Avocat——Shadi Amin Iranian Exile Journalist, Editor in Chief : Iranian women's Network Association (SHABAKEH)- www.shabakeh.org——Shan Anwar
sanwar——Shane Duffield 
Calgary, Alberta——Sharon D'Avena usa——Shelley Ide——Shirley Anne Haber——Shirley Svihra California, USA——Shoukry Rizk——Sidharta Singh——Simon ARCHIPENKO Consultant entreprises——Simon Blumental (militant anti-colonialiste et anti-raciste)——Simon Chin——Simon Shapiro Toronto, Canada——Sinyo Tolotolo——Sissy Willis USA——Smadar Annette BAKOVIC——Solomon Zeifman——Sophie Chauveau——Sophie-Anne Hossaert. ——Stephen Altbaum Toronto, Canada——Stephen Browne——Stephen C. Wetlesen——Stephen Hendricks ——Stephen J. Bielfeldt——Stephen Malls——Stephen Phillips (Journalist)——Stephen Posen——Stephen Shepherd——Stephen Stripe——Steve Farrar——Steve Samuel——Steve T. Eichler Canada——Steve Tappan——Steven A. Knowlton——Steven Canvin Canada——Steven Drexler San Diego, CA——Steven Glass——Steven Maat——Stu Bykofsky, Philadelphia Daily News——Stuart Buchalter——Susan Brassfield Cogan——Susan De Rosa Toronto, Canada——Susan Griffiths (USA)——Susan Harris——Susan M. Brewer——Susan Mcleod Toronto ——Susanna McNeil——Suzanne Moawad——Svetlana Broz cardiologist, lecturer, author, human right advocate Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina——Sylvie Finkielstein (traductrice, Paris)——Sylvie Nunes de Castro——T. Balaban Canada——Tad Brennan Professor——Talal Al Rashid——Tamar Hermann Professor——Tamara A. Turner——Tania Blumenthal Toronto, Canada——Tasha Axelrod——Tassadit DEBEC (Citoyenne)——Taube Zeifman——Ted Cosens——ted matthews——Ted Vokes Dr——Temperance Blalock——Terrence Flanagan——Terry Hinz Canada——Thomas A. Brennan——Thomas Coleman——Thomas Gilbert——Thomas Suhadolnik ——Thomas V. Roland Lawyer, USA——Thomas Vincent Smith——Tibor R. Machan——Tim Conaghan——Tim Jackson——Tim Peichel——Timothy Hack——Timothy Maguire——Tom Brennan, Lafayette, La. ——Tom Chen——Tom Grant——Tom Tomasov——Tor Arne Dahl——Tore Meberg——Toronto, Canada.——Trevor Garner——Tristan Mendès France (Secrétaire général de l'Institut Pierre Mendès France)——Trixy Sarino——Troels B. Hansen——Tyler Curtain ——Udo STAF Metteur en scène——Usman Ahmed——Vardit Zafri——Veronica Wessells Maryland, USA——Victor Abdelshahid——Vikram Reddy——Virginia Soronow, Vancouver, Canada——Vivian C. Hiestand ——Wafa Abdelnour (Palestine, USA)——Walid Elkarreh——Walid Hannah (Lebanon)——Walid Melki——Walid Moawad——Walter R. Ehrhardt——Walton, KY 41094——Wash., D.C. - USA——Washington, DC——Washington, DC
——Waterloo, Ontario, Canada——Wendell Bell——Wendy Fromme San Antonio, Texas——Wilf Reimer Vancouver, Canada——William C. Buttrey——William F Pekoc IV——William H. Driver——William Jacob Winship——William L Frydman Dr——William M. Farmer——William P. Stenwick, USA.——william roberts——William Salyers United States——William Snedden, Jr. Greensboro, NC, U.S.A.——William Thomas——William Wires——William Thomas——Yada Singh——Yael Pardess——Yann Policar (Comédien)——Yannick Comenge (Jeune chercheur)——Yernie Lustigour ——Yossi Gurvitz (Journalist)——Yossi Klein Halevi Jerusalem, Israel——Youssef Abdlekrim——Yves Scheller——Zachariah A. Baird——Zachary D. Liebhaber Goleta, California——Zachary Winograd, United States.——Zavie Miller Canada——Zelda Gamzu USA ——Zev Birger——Ziad Goudjil (histoiresdememoire.org)——Zuzana Ikels San Francisco, California——
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To support the Manifesto "Together facing the new totalitarianism" - ProChoix le site

To support the Manifesto "Together facing the new totalitarianism" - ProChoix le site
PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK to add your support to the signatories of the Manifesto against totalitarian fundamentalism. The original twelve signers have now received death threats for calling for freedom of expression and opposition to intolerance!
They have called for the assertion of YOUR liberties: do not remain silent while fundamentalists attempt to silence them, or even murder them.
All we may have is our minds and voices...
... but that is enough to keep light in the world!
Do your part!!!

Every day to dance - Every truth to laugh !!

A quotation of great JOY from Nietzsche, wrongly considered by so many to be so bleak. Read it for yourself --- here from Also sprach Zarathustra, available online for free from Gutenberg, in the original, French, and English. This piece from "Von alten und neuen Tafeln":

"Und verloren sei uns der Tag, wo nicht Ein Mal getanzt wurde! Und falsch heisse uns jede Wahrheit, bei der es nicht Ein Gelächter gab!"

"And lost be the day to us in which a measure hath not been danced. And false be every truth which hath not had laughter along with it!"

"Et que chaque jour où l'on n'a pas dansé une fois au moins soit perdu pour nous! Et que toute vérité qui n'amène pas au moins une hilarité nous semble fausse!"

Reprocessed Combatant Status Review Tribunal: GUANTÁNAMO PRISONERS

Reprocessed Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT): "Reprocessed Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) and Administrative Review Board (ARB) Documents
Released March 3, 2006"
Important link to be able to read and make available everything the Playpen has released about the Guantánamo prisoners only under court order! Click onto the site and pick any of the pdf files at random to read through a protocol or two. You will be shocked at how representatives of the US government speak and at the sort of "dangerous" people it imprisons without due process for years and years and years and....

Against the New Totalitarianism

Praise for the appeal of twelve courageous intellectuals for writing and signing this appeal for enlightenment against the powers of religious tyranny! You can read it here in French (original), English, and/or German. Just follow the links!

MANIFESTE DES DOUZE : "ENSEMBLE CONTRE LE NOUVEAU TOTALITARISME"
Le débat engagé par « douze dessins » sur Mahomet doit se poursuivre sur le terrain des idées et non plus des anathèmes. Refusant de se laisser intimider au nom du respect des cultures et surtout des religions, douze intellectuels — dont plusieurs dissidents de l’islam menacés... lire la suite

MANIFESTO : "TOGETHER FACING THE NEW TOTALITARIANISM"
After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism. We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all. The... click to read the rest

Nachdem die Welt den Faschismus, den Nazismus und den Stalinismus besiegt hat, sieht sie sich einer neuen weltweiten totalitären Bedrohung gegenüber: dem Islamismus.
Wir Schriftsteller, Journalisten, Intellektuellen rufen zum Widerstand gegen den religiösen Totalitarismus und zur Förderung der Freiheit, Chancengleichheit und des Laizismus für alle auf. Link zum ganzen Text

A review ... (a rave ...)

WZ-BÜHNE

Ein Traum von einem Dandy: Sebastian Koch als Lord Goring. (Foto: Joseph Gallus Rittenberg)

Oscar Wildes "Ein idealer Gatte" in Bochum: Mit Zerbrechlichkeit wider die Verlogenheit

Superlativen: Armin Holz und Richard Gardner inszenieren Oscar Wildes "Ein idealer Gatte" mit Star-Besetzung.

Bochum. Oscar Wildes Komödie "Bunbury" hat sich zum Dauerbrenner auf deutschen Bühnen entwickelt. Dabei ist ein anderes seiner Stücke in den Schatten geraten, das er fast zeitgleich, ein Jahr vor seiner Verurteilung 1895, geschrieben hat: "Ein idealer Gatte". Eine brillante Verfilmung mit Cate Blanchett und Rupert Everett haben es in Erinnerung gerufen. Dass die Bühne daraus einen Abend der Superlative machen kann, beweist die Bochumer Inszenierung von Armin Holz.
Die Geschichte kreist um Lord und Lady Chiltern, die sich wechselseitig für makellose, ideale Ehegatten halten. Sie lassen nicht den leisesten Zweifel daran aufkommen, dass ihre Partner über jede moralische Anfechtung erhaben sind. So hat der Lord in achtzehn Jahren ein großes Vermögen erworben, ist zu politischen Ehren gelangt und gehört inzwischen zur obersten Schicht der Londoner Gesellschaft.
Das Kartenhaus droht einzustürzen, als Mrs. Cheveley bei ihm vorstellig wird und ihn mit einem Brief erpressen will, mit dem er am Anfang seiner Karriere Insiderwissen über den Bau des Suezkanals für eine hohe Summe verkauft hat. Ein turbulentes Verwirrspiel beginnt.
Das Spannende der Fabel besteht darin, dass Wilde gesellschaftliche Arroganz mit politischen Hintergründen konfrontiert. Korruption, Machtversessenheit, die Rolle des Geldes und des Reichtums wirken so aktuell, als wäre die Komödie heute geschrieben. Aber Wilde beobachtet das Aufeinanderprallen von Selbstillusion und Wirklichkeit noch in der kleinsten seiner Figuren, dass die Dialoge wie ein nie erlöschendes Feuerwerk der Formulierungskunst wirken.
Regisseur Armin Holz hat mit Richard Gardner eine neue Übersetzung angefertigt, die der Vorlage in jeder Nuance gerecht wird. Zumal hat er alle Rollen mit Topkräften besetzt. Markus Boysen lässt die lordschaftlichen Krusten seiner Verdrängung nur langsam aufbrechen. Wie er sich windet, seine politische Integrität wegen einer "Jugendsünde" in Frage zu stellen und wie die Gesellschaft alles tut, um ihren "besten Mann" nicht fallen zu lassen, sondern ihn das Treppchen nach oben ins Ministeramt befördert, ist ein Kabinettstück.
Imogen Kogge steht treu an seiner Seite. Ihre Wandlungsfähigkeit ist beeindruckend. In dem neuen Film "Requiem" noch die strenge, fast fanatische Mutter, glänzt sie hier als eher verhuschte, wunderbar idealversunkene Mustergattin. Ihr Gegenpart der raffinierten Entlarvungsschlange wird von Jeanette Hain vom ersten bis zum letzten Auftritt mit nicht endenden Variationen der Bosheit garniert.
Den Gipfel der Oberhausborniertheit erklimmt Margit Carstensen als Lady Markby jeder Satz eine Schrulligkeit. Mithalten kann da problemlos Hans Diehl als Lord Caversham. Er will seinen missratenen Sohn endlich unter die Haube bringen und zu einem einigermaßen nützlichen Dasein bewegen. Hier kommt Lord Goring als sein Sohn ins Spiel. Sebastian Koch macht aus ihm die Paraderolle eines Dandys, der allen guten Ratschlägen und Weisheiten zu trotzen versteht.
Holz entwickelt eine Wilde-Figur, in der Koch zum Vollblutkomödianten wird. Jenseits der üblichen Schwulenparodie wird Zartheit und Zerbrechlichkeit zum einzigen Mittel, sich der Verlogenheit zu entziehen. Wie er mit den Knien einsackt, den Füßen tänzelt, den Händen fuchtelt und den Augen rollt, ist allein schon die Reise nach Bochum wert. Claude de Demo hält als seine Zukünftige tapfer mit ihm mit und besticht ihrerseits durch völlig abgedrehte Skurrilität.
Armin Holz erarbeitet mit Heike van Bentum und Esther Walz (Kostüme) einen abstrakten und damit zeitlosen Bühnenraum. Durch groteske Übersteigerung, Zeitlupentempo oder jähe Erstarrungen bevölkern auch Nebenfiguren wie Cornelius Schwalm, Josefin Platt und Veronika Nickl eine artifizielle Welt, der man sich nicht entziehen kann.
3 Stunden, 1 Pause, Aufführungen: Montag, 4., 7., 11., 23., 24., 30., 31. März, Karten: 0234 / 33 33 - 55 55
27.02.06Von Torsten Enge
WZ-Bühne

"Ein idealer Gatte" im Schauspielhaus Bochum

Ein idealer Gatte
Premiere am 25. Februar um 19.30 Uhr im Schauspielhaus Bochum


Bild: Joseph Gallus Rittenberg - Sebastian Koch als Lord Goring

Pressemitteilung
Wildes Sittenkomödie "Ein idealer Gatte" hatte am Samstag Premiere im Schauspielhaus Bochum
Oscar Wilde
Ein idealer Gatte
Deutsch von Armin Holz und Richard Gardner
Regie: Armin Holz
Bühne: Heike van Bentum und Armin Holz
Kostüme: Esther Walz
Musik: Philipp Weiss
Premiere am 25. Februar 2006, 19.30 Uhr, Schauspielhaus
Weitere Vorstellung im Februar: 27.02. (19.30 Uhr)
Vorstellungen im März: 04.03. (19.30 Uhr), 07.03. (19.30 Uhr), 11.03. (19.30 Uhr),
23.03. (19.30 Uhr), 24.03. (19.30 Uhr), 30.03. (19.30 Uhr), 31.03. (19.30 Uhr)
Lord Caversham Hans Diehl
Lord Goring Sebastian Koch
Sir Robert Chiltern Markus Boysen
Vicomte de Nanjac Michael Lippold
Mr. Montford Jaschar Sarabtchian
Mason/Phipps/James Cornelius Schwalm
Lady Chiltern Imogen Kogge
Lady Markby Margit Carstensen
Lady Basildon Josefin Platt
Mrs. Marchmont Veronika Nickl
Miss Mabel Chiltern Claude De Demo
Mrs. Cheveley Jeanette Hain
"Es ist eine geistreiche und ironische Sittenkomödie", sagt Armin Holz über das Stück "Ein idealer Gatte", mit dessen Inszenierung sich der Regisseur am Samstag, den 25.02.06 in Bochum vorstellen wird. Seit August 2005 ist Holz Hausregisseur und Mitglied der Künstlerischen Leitung des Schauspielhaus Bochum. Nach seiner ersten Inszenierung "Bunbury" – seiner Abschlussarbeit an der Münchner Otto-Falckenberg-Schule 1988 – und "Salome" – einer Eigenproduktion, die er 2003 in der Probebühne Cuvrystraße in Berlin realisierte – setzt er in Bochum seinen dritten Oscar Wilde in Szene. "Das Stück habe ich schon lange mit mir herumgetragen", meinte Holz zu Probenbeginn. Was ihn besonders an Wilde reizt, ist seine Eleganz, sind seine Pointen, die mitten ins Leben hineintreffen, ist seine unglaubliche Kenntnis des Lebens, seine große Liebe zum Leben gepaart mit Bitterkeit und Sarkasmus. Für seine Bochumer Inszenierung hat Holz zusammen mit Richard Gardner "An Ideal Husband" neu übersetzt.
Oscar Wilde zeigt in "Ein idealer Gatte" die Divergenz zwischen Schein und Sein in den Denk- und Verhaltensmustern der Viktorianischen Ära und enthüllt die Fadenscheinigkeit eines Gesellschaftskodex mit all seinen Normen, Rollenspielen und Illusionen. Er beweist mit diesem Stück einen trefflich scharfen und stechenden Blick auf gesellschaftliche Zwänge und bigotte Moralvorstellungen nicht nur seiner Zeit. Uraufgeführt wurde "An Ideal Husband" am 3. Januar 1895 im Theatre Royal Haymarket in London.
Dreh- und Angelpunkt der Handlung sind verhängnisvolle Affären: Die intrigante Mrs. Cheveley erpresst den aufstrebenden Unterstaatssekretär Sir Robert Chiltern mit einem Brief aus dessen Vergangenheit. Sie weiß, dass seine Karriere einst mit einem Insidergeschäft begann und droht nun, ihr Wissen zu veröffentlichen. Als Cheveley das Geheimnis seiner Ehefrau verrät, bricht für die prinzipientreue Lady eine Welt zusammen. Chilterns Freund, der heiratsresistente Lord Goring, versucht, Robert zu helfen. Er droht Mrs. Cheveley, mit der auch er eine Vergangenheit hat, als Diebin zu entlarven. Und plötzlich steht Intrige gegen Intrige…
Oscar Wildes Thema, im Spannungsfeld von persönlichen Interessen und gesellschaftlichen Ansprüchen mit Verantwortung korrekt umzugehen, ist in jeder Zeit aktuell. "Doch direkte Bezüge zu Tagesaktuellem lassen sich in meiner Inszenierung nicht wieder finden", sagt Holz. Ihm geht es darum, große menschliche Schicksale zu zeigen.
"In Bochum arbeite ich mit großartigen, kostbaren Schauspielern", sagt Armin Holz über die Besetzung des "Idealen Gatten". Jeanette Hain übernimmt die Rolle der Mrs. Cheveley. In Holz’ Inszenierung "Salome" in Berlin spielte sie die Hauptrolle. Im Fernsehen (Sat1) war die Schauspielerin zuletzt in der Serie "Bis in die Spitzen" zu sehen. Nach zwölf Jahren Theaterabstinenz steht Sebastian Koch wieder auf der Bühne. In Film und Fernsehen machte er sich vor allem mit seiner Darstellung von historischen Persönlichkeiten (u.a. Andreas Baader in "Das Todesspiel"; Klaus Mann in "Die Manns"; Albert Speer in "Speer und Er") einen Namen. In "Ein idealer Gatte" spielt Koch den Dandy Lord Goring. Holz und Koch kennen sich seit Studentenzeiten an der Otto-Falckenberg-Schule. Die Rolle des Sir Robert Chiltern übernimmt Markus Boysen, der an großen Theatern wie dem Bayerischen Staatsschauspiel, dem Deutschen Theater Berlin, dem Deutschen Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, am Burgtheater, an den Münchner Kammerspielen und am Thalia Theater in Hamburg engagiert war und aus zahlreichen Fernsehproduktionen (u.a. "Speer und Er", "Im Schatten der Macht") bekannt ist. Imogen Kogge, seit Sommer Ensemblemitglied des Schauspielhaus Bochum, ist die korrekte Lady Chiltern. Lord Gorings Vater, Lord Caversham, wird von Hans Diehl gespielt. Claude De Demo gibt die kokette Miss Mabel Chiltern. Des Weiteren stehen Margit Carstensen, Veronika Nickl, Josefin Platt, Michael Lippold, Jaschar Sarabtchian und Cornelius Schwalm auf der Bühne.
Die Filmausstatterin Heike van Bentum hat zusammen mit Armin Holz das Bühnenbild entworfen. Die Kostüme stammen von Esther Walz, die in den letzten Jahren Kostüme für Filme u.a. von Wim Wenders, Oskar Roehler ("Elementarteilchen") und Jean-Jacques Annaud ("Der Name der Rose") kreiert hat. Der Jazz-Sänger Philipp Weiss, der jüngste Star der Jazzszene, hat die Bühnenmusik komponiert.
Armin Holz, 1962 in Krefeld geboren, studierte Theaterwissenschaft und Kunstgeschichte an der Universität Wien (1983-1985) und Regie an der Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in München (1985-1989). Während seiner Studienzeit assistierte er bei Peter Zadek am Deutschen Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. "Bunbury" von Oscar Wilde setzte er in einem Gewächshaus in München-Moosach in Szene. Er inszenierte am Deutschen Theater Berlin ("Wunderworte" von Ramón del Valle-Inclán, 1992) und am Staatstheater Hannover ("Die falsche Zofe" von Marivaux, 1996). Als Eigenproduktionen realisierte er 1991 Alfred de Mussets "Man spielt nicht mit der Liebe" in einem Zelt vor dem Schloss Lüntenbeck bei Wuppertal, 2001 Jane Bowles "Im Gartenhaus" in der Probebühne Cuvrystraße, Berlin und 2003 ebendort Wildes "Salome". 1997 wurde er mit dem Preis der Deutschen Akademie der Darstellenden Künste ausgezeichnet (Laudatio: Kurt Hübner).
Für die Premiere des "Idealen Gatten" am Samstag 25.02. und für die zweite Vorstellung am 27.02. ist mit Restkarten an der Abendkasse zu rechnen. Für die Vorstellungen im März (4., 7., 11., 23., 24., 30., 31.) können Karten an der Theaterkasse telefonisch unter 0234/3333-5555 oder über den Monatsspielplan unter Schausspielhaus Bochum bestellt werden.

Ecce Homo

Recommended reading: Friedrich Nietzsche's Ecce Homo, available for free download at Gutenberg, is more up-to-date than the latest issue of nearly any American and most European newspapers. You can even find it in English, French translations. And when you've finished, then go on to Zarathustra! For difficulties in comprehension, refer to Heidegger's essays on Nietzsche.
Just a finger pointing in a direction of smiling joyous light, in that direction, a chance to say YES to THIS LIFE...
But don't just listen to (read) what I say; go on and discover your own flame!

The New Yorker speaks up for speaking freely

"Democracies preclude contending absolutisms and the dicta of fixed identities. They have to do with identity in flux, with culture, and cultures, constantly transforming, molting into something new - something surprising and different and open-ended and free." That is how Jane Kramer tries to explain that freedom against absolutism is at issue in the so-called caricature strike: see the full article under this link> The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town:

Totalitarianism vs Liberalism

Another good comment on what's going on between those who treasure freedom of thought and expression and those who seek to shackle our minds to the iron balls of their dogma.
Click here to read it (German).

Des écrivains face à la caricature

Point de vue
Des écrivains face à la caricature
LE MONDE 13.02.06 14h49 • Mis à jour le 13.02.06 14h53

A l'époque des Versets sataniques, lorsque la fatwa fut lancée sur la tête d'un écrivain reconnu, il se trouvait ici ou là, sur les ondes, dans les dîners en ville, entre les lignes des éditoriaux, des esprits fins qui discutaient de savoir si c'était un bon livre. D'autres, plus carrés, parlaient déjà de provocation. Et dans provocation, il faut toujours savoir entendre "inutile".

Aujourd'hui, on nous demande de considérer que les caricatures d'un prophète parues dans un journal danois voilà cinq mois ne seraient peut-être pas de bonnes caricatures. On a envie de dire qu'on s'en fiche un peu, et des caricatures, et de savoir si elles étaient bonnes ou non. On nous dit que c'est attiser la haine. Et, là encore, on aimerait répondre que la haine n'est pas dans nos moeurs ni dans nos coeurs. Et en quoi serions-nous responsables d'attiser la haine d'autrui, la haine étant par essence une braise qui s'alimente toute seule ?

Nos aînés auront sans doute l'impression d'un déjà-vu, déjà-entendu. Il semble bien qu'à l'époque de Munich, pour les esprits fins d'alors, il ne fallait surtout pas humilier le peuple allemand, ne pas blesser sa fierté de grande nation défaite depuis 1918, etc. C'était une drôle de façon de montrer à nos frères allemands la délicate attention qu'on leur portait que de les laisser entre les mains d'un pouvoir qui allait les opprimer, les jeter dans des guerres sans fin, les réduire à des actes immondes, et, faisant d'eux des monstres puis des victimes, les diaboliser, les couper en deux, littéralement, puisque le Diable est Celui qui divise.

On nous demande de porter un jugement esthétique, moral et sentimental, là où il n'est question que de principes fondamentaux pour nos démocraties : le droit des femmes et des hommes à vivre libres n'est certainement pas le credo des religions, et il ne le sera jamais.

Il ne s'agit pas seulement d'être libre de se tromper. La vérité, c'est que nous sommes libres de blasphémer. Il y a quelque chose d'assez déconcertant, en France, en 2006, dans le fait de devoir rappeler qu'on a droit au blasphème. Que bouffer du curé fut longtemps un sport national, comme vendre L'Huma avec Pif Gadget le dimanche dans les cités. Que bien sûr les croyants, retour de messe, s'en offusquaient. Ce qui ne les empêchait pas de s'encanailler avec l'intégrale de Brassens dans leurs salons.

"Les as-tu vues ?" est désormais la phrase à prononcer entre gens bien. Comme naguère "L'as-tu lu ?" à propos du livre de Rushdie.

Mais peu importe qu'on les ait vues ou pas. Rien ne justifie les réactions outrancières auxquelles se livrent pêle-mêle des croyants sincèrement blessés, des politiciens trop contents de l'aubaine et de nouveaux prophètes menaçants qui nous promettent la guerre. Quand le président du MRAP décide de porter plainte contre des journaux coupables de complicité avec les blasphémateurs, sous prétexte qu'il s'agit là de "racisme antimusulman", nous nous interrogeons : de quelle race s'agit-il ? L'islam serait-il génétiquement transmissible ? Qu'en pensent les centaines de milliers d'hommes et de femmes issus de l'immigration qui se voient ainsi, encore une fois, identifiés à une religion que bien souvent ils ne pratiquent pas ?

Nous ne sommes pas trop stupides : d'une part, des dessins passés totalement inaperçus voilà presque six mois ; d'autre part, le parti ultrareligieux qui gagne les élections en Palestine et l'Iran qui menace (la provocation iranienne, comment la juger ? utile ? inutile ?)...

Nous sommes des écrivains. Nos horizons sont divers, ainsi que nos origines géographiques, nos appartenances sociales, nos héritages religieux, nos destinées singulières, nos convictions intimes, et — pardon — nos préférences sexuelles.

Difficile de ne pas voir que, dans la guerre que se livrent désormais les fanatiques chrétiens américains et les fanatiques musulmans des Proche et Moyen-Orient, c'est sur les pays laïques et modérés que retombent fatalement colère et frustrations.

Bientôt, c'est notre liberté de publier qui, au Danemark comme en France, nous sera déniée au nom du respect de tel ou tel dieu. Laissons faire et on incendiera les bibliothèques qui abritent Voltaire, Sade, Ovide, Omar Khayyam, Proust et tous les autres. Et il est bien certain que pour le grand autodafé, seront réunis et danseront les papes, les grands rabbins et les grands muftis.

Salim Bachi, Jean-Yves Cendrey, Didier Daeninckx, Paula Jacques, Pierre Jourde, Jean-Marie Laclavetine, Gilles Leroy, Marie NDiaye, Daniel Pennac, Patrick Raynal, Boualem Sansal sont écrivains.

Article paru dans l'édition du 14.02.06

Le collectif policier

Reading a novel by Philippe Sollers (currently Une vie divine), I continuously discover not only terse summaries of what has been, but also amazingly precise comments on current situations, i.e. on the future as measured from the written time. So here this quote:

"Après une phase de violent masochisme sacrificiel totalitaire, les petites gens prêchent sans arrêt l'ambition, l'argent, l'arrogance, l'insolence, le bordel, l'ignorance satisfaite, la vulgarité, l'à-vau-l'eau des vices imités, et, s'il le faut, la violence. Les terroristes suicidaires encouragent ce plan : ils travaillent à une surveillance et à un contrôle renforcés. Le collectif avait tendance à disparaître, le revoici policier." [Une vie divine, Gallimard 2006, p. 429]

The Right to Offend

Please follow the link to read the excellent speech Ayaan Hirsi Ali delivered in Berlin on Thursday, February 9, to remind us how important it is not to sacrifice or diminish or negate the rights that define us.

Here only a tiny poignant excerpt:

I am here to defend the right to offend.
It is my conviction that the vulnerable enterprise called democracy cannot exist without free expression, particularly in the media. Journalists must not forgo the obligation of free speech, which people in other hemispheres are denied.

[...]

Berlin is a city of optimism. Communism failed. The wall was broken down. Things may seem difficult and confusing today. But I am optimistic that the virtual wall, between lovers of liberty and those who succumb to the seduction and safety of totalitarian ideas will also, one day, come down.
Berlin, 9.02.06
Ayaan Hirsi Ali

link to the entire speech here

Tolerance Toward Intolerance - Washington Post / Die Zeit

This article, in English so even Americans can understand it, explains very well how essential freedom of expression is and why the United States should stand up for that (as well actually as for all other civil and human rights and liberties) in the face of, and despite, the threats posed to it by fanatic intolerant fundamentalists.
Here the last paragraph:

"On Friday the State Department found it appropriate to intervene. It blasted the publication of the cartoons as unacceptable incitement to religious hatred. It is a peculiar moment when the government of the United States, which likes to see itself as the home of free speech, suggests to European journalists what not to print."

And follow the link to read the entire article in the Washington Post, written by the German weekly Die Zeit's Washington bureau chief. Excellent! Thanks for helping spread some enlightenment in the U.S.A.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/06/AR2006020601258.html

Le Vatican prend parti contre les caricatures

Le Vatican prend parti contre les caricatures, and by so doing demonstrates that it sees a problem here only in the means (violence), rather than in the end (freedom of expression and opinion)! No, freedom of expression does NOT cease where respect for religious sentiments begins, as the Vatican and the Bushbaby Playpen would have us believe. We have the right (it might be argued the urgent need) to speak against religious sentiments in the hopes of reducing them in favor of thinking in this world.
That matters of TASTE (good, bad, objectionable) should be considered is something that the theocrats prefer not to mention. A discussion of good taste (and those original twelve caricatures were certainly not in good taste, though the follow-up reproduced here from Le Monde was in excellent taste) necessitates free expression, the ability to think, and no recourse to supposed matters of "belief".
(And any "religion" worth its salt doesn't care what I or anyone else says against it anyway: Disagreement being for any creed by definition false, any criticism or mockery of religious tenets or symbols should simply be shrugged off by the religious. Or do they actually doubt their smokey signals themselves?)
The link at the beginning is to the report about the church position in Le Figaro; what follows is the original "statement" it refers to from the Vatican:

Dichiarazione della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede
Libertà di offendere?
Per rispondere a varie richieste di precisazioni sulla posizione della Santa Sede di fronte a recenti rappresentazioni offensive dei sentimenti religiosi di singole persone o di intere comunità, la Sala Stampa della Santa Sede è in grado di dichiarare:
1) Il diritto alla libertà di pensiero e di espressione, sancito dalla Dichiarazione Universale dei Diritti ell'Uomo, non può implicare il diritto di offendere il sentimento religioso dei credenti. Tale principio vale ovviamente in riferimento a qualsiasi religione.
2) La convivenza umana esige poi un clima di mutuo rispetto, per favorire la pace fra gli uomini e le Nazioni. Inoltre, talune forme di critica esasperata o di derisione degli altri denotano una mancanza di sensibilità umana e possono costituire in alcuni casi un'inammissibile provocazione. La lettura della storia insegna che non è con tale via che si sanano le ferite esistenti nella vita dei popoli.
3) Va però subito detto che le offese arrecate da una singola persona o da un organo di stampa non possono
essere imputate alle istituzioni pubbliche del relativo Paese, le cui Autorità potranno e dovranno, eventualmente, intervenire secondo i principi consentiti dalla legislazione nazionale. Azioni violente di protesta sono, pertanto, parimenti deplorabili. Per reagire ad un'offesa, non si può, infatti, venir meno al vero spirito di ogni religione. L'intolleranza reale o verbale, da qualsiasi parte venga, come azione o come reazione, costituisce poi sempre una seria minaccia alla pace.
Dal Vaticano, 4 febbraio 2006

The Pestilent Presidency

This article The Pestilent Presidency, which I found on the Guerilla News Network, sums up all the poison contained in the Bushbaby playpen. It is a must read for anyone who prefers knowing to believing!

Clash Over Cartoons Is a Caricature Of Civilization

The Washington Post's author Philip Kennicott, in Clash Over Cartoons Is a Caricature Of Civilization , has well expressed the need for more blasphemy, criticism, irony - yes, even bitter satire to help us all better to think and reflect, perhaps come closer to understanding some little piece of something.

Wake Up! Read! Think!

Might I suggest reading Nietsche's Der Antichrist, or viewing some of the most wonderful works of Francis Bacon, or this caricature created out of WRITTEN WORDS?
Non, c'est exclu que je ne dois pas : JE DOIS, je dois me moquer de ceux qui veulent être trop sérieux. Je dois dire quelles tragédies la religion a provoquées sur la terre. Je dois demander que l'on s'approche, de tous petits pas, de la vérité. Je dois essayer de créer de la vérité en pensant, en m'exprimant, en ironisant. Je dois blasphémer.
The picture on the right is courtesy of Le Monde, whose editorial is also to be recommended:
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-737156@51-735567,0.html
And don't forget Francis Bacon! (His painting on the left of a Cardinal! or was it a Pope? Screaming at any rate.)

We the People of the U.S.

Gore Vidal Delivers State of the Union: "Let the Powers That Be Know There is Something Called We the People of the U.S. and all Sovereignty Rests in Us."
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006
From the Democracy Now! website, where "in advance of President Bush’s state of the union address, author Gore Vidal delivers his own traditional state of the union address. We hear Vidal speak about patriotism, the NSA domestic surveillance programs, corporate America, Presidential powers and more."
Use this link to read and/or listen to Vidal:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/31/1532246

Gore Vidal on "President Jonah"

And be sure to follow this link to read &/or hear Vidal's excellent essay on the Imperial Presidency of the Bushbaby:
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/20060124_president_jonah

Senators in Need of a Spine (Auntie Times is right on target!)

FROM

The New York Times
January 26, 2006
Editorial
Senators in Need of a Spine
Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon. His elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government — and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead.
It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination. At the Judiciary Committee hearings, the judge followed the well-worn path to confirmation, which has the nominee offer up only the most boring statements and unarguable truisms: the president is not above the law; diversity in college student bodies is a good thing. But in what he has said in the past, and what he refused to say in the hearings, Judge Alito raised warning flags that, in the current political context, cannot simply be shrugged away with a promise to fight again another day.
The Alito nomination has been discussed largely in the context of his opposition to abortion rights, and if the hearings provided any serious insight at all into the nominee's intentions, it was that he has never changed his early convictions on that point. The judge — who long maintained that Roe v. Wade should be overturned — ignored all the efforts by the Judiciary Committee's chairman, Arlen Specter, to get him to provide some cover for pro-choice senators who wanted to support the nomination. As it stands, it is indefensible for Mr. Specter or any other senator who has promised constituents to protect a woman's right to an abortion to turn around and hand Judge Alito a potent vote to undermine or even end it.
But portraying the Alito nomination as just another volley in the culture wars vastly underestimates its significance. The judge's record strongly suggests that he is an eager lieutenant in the ranks of the conservative theorists who ignore our system of checks and balances, elevating the presidency over everything else. He has expressed little enthusiasm for restrictions on presidential power and has espoused the peculiar argument that a president's intent in signing a bill is just as important as the intent of Congress in writing it. This would be worrisome at any time, but it takes on far more significance now, when the Bush administration seems determined to use the cover of the "war on terror" and presidential privilege to ignore every restraint, from the Constitution to Congressional demands for information.
There was nothing that Judge Alito said in his hearings that gave any comfort to those of us who wonder whether the new Roberts court will follow precedent and continue to affirm, for instance, that a man the president labels an "unlawful enemy combatant" has the basic right to challenge the government's ability to hold him in detention forever without explanation. His much-quoted statement that the president is not above the law is meaningless unless he also believes that the law requires the chief executive to defer to Congress and the courts.
Judge Alito's refusal to even pretend to sound like a moderate was telling because it would have cost him so little. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who was far more skillful at appearing mainstream at the hearings, has already given indications that whatever he said about the limits of executive power when he was questioned by the Senate has little practical impact on how he will rule now that he has a lifetime appointment.
Senate Democrats, who presented a united front against the nomination of Judge Alito in the Judiciary Committee, seem unwilling to risk the public criticism that might come with a filibuster — particularly since there is very little chance it would work. Judge Alito's supporters would almost certainly be able to muster the 60 senators necessary to put the nomination to a final vote.
A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
Copyright 2006The New York Times Company

Worthy of Attention

Yes, a few things you should take a look at:

• The new novel by Philippe Sollers, Une vie divine, nrf-Gallimard, 2006, on the subversive power of joyfulness. Here's a link to learn more:
  http://www.gallimard.fr/Gallimard-cgi/Appli_catal/vers_detail.pl?numero_titre=10048041
• Mozart: not only an anniversary year, but a chance to HEAR, to LISTEN, to ENJOY. At this site you can also listen in to some pieces, even download samples. Recommended: his Requiem and of course and always Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.
  http://www.mozart.ard.de/
• And the site of Human Rights Watch including information on the 2006 report, independent assessment of how rights are faring around the world, and no special treatment for the playpen. You can download the full report as pdf file for free:
  http://www.hrw.org/

And here again with snow, I recall what I said yesterday about certainly enjoying the weightless light, the illuminated lightness within and about me!

Smile - Love - Learn

The NATION's Case FOR Impeaching a President who Ignores and Suberts the Law and the Constitution of the United States

THE NATION: article posted January 11, 2006 (January 30, 2006 issue)
The Impeachment of George W. Bush
Elizabeth Holtzman
Finally, it has started. People have begun to speak of impeaching President George W. Bush--not in hushed whispers but openly, in newspapers, on the Internet, in ordinary conversations and even in Congress. As a former member of Congress who sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon, I believe they are right to do so.

--- use this link to read the entire article and END THE PLAYPEN: http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20060130&s=holtzman

Welcome to Europe

Here, too, a brief but warm and heart-felt welcome to MY NIECE, now arrived in EUROPE from the USA's South to study for a semester in Edinburgh.
She, too, concerned about human rights and justice, will certainly find many opportunities and facilities to broaden her knowledge, experience, and life during her stay here --- and then she'll be on her way to Berlin in the summer after some general Europe-hopping after semester end.
At that point she'll be taken under the wings of her two doting uncles here in Weißensee -- and sent out for fun in Berlin's night-life scene. (Maybe she'll even have to deal with a bike tour out into the wonderful landscape of Brandenburg!
Anyway, she's linked here under "good ol' southern gal" and will surely be adding some intersting posts to her blog during her stay. The photos of Edinburgh from the first week are worth a look.
So for today, I've been absolutely personal --- that is also a form of hiding yourself and spreading light ! The Stars of Europe are ablaze! Liberté - Égalité - Fraternité ! The Constitution deserves passage!

Take the Leap

Did you know the truth of Being must wait for you to take the leap to create it in order to exert its sway? It needs you as you need it. You might call it interdependence: you belong to Being and its truth and it calls out to you to finally provide its basis. Write, think, create, dream...

Snow in town - Neige dans la vile - Schnee in der Stadt

Wishes for humanity

Wishing each of you and all of humanity:
PEACE– that no human may suffer from any form of violence or inflict any form of violence on any other human (thus: no war, no terror, no fundamentalism, no murder, no capital punishment, no rape, no molestation, no torture, no intimidation...);
FREEDOM– for all, liberty insured by each person's respect of and tolerance for each other person, made possible by and enabling PEACE;
JUSTICE– blind and fair and equal for all to protect the innocent from those who obstruct or violate PEACE and FREEDOM, to protect them from punishment for crimes they did not commit, to protect us all from any infringement on or curtailment of our rights, to protect us from any and all abuse of power, to provide us with principled impartial decisions in disputes between individuals, factions, peoples, nations;
RIGHTS– human rights, civil rights, inalienable rights – which we guarantee one another: the right to be different and free of all persecution (which is always the violation of someone else's right not to conform to our own exclusive notion of what others may say or do or read or show);
TOLERANCE– accepting not only what is similar, but also what is different, alien, foreign, not only accepting, but indeed welcoming diversity;
KNOWLEDGE– to know more, even if only a little bit more, every day, which means opening up to the new, opening up to
LIFE itself and
JOY– at having the privilege to live, to learn, to grow, to be alive, to have the chance to
LOVE– in all its depth and breadth, welcoming, sharing
JOY IN LIFE
with the utmost tolerance and respect.
LIGHT
Then for me, all this is what it means to be
HUMAN.
So my wish for mankind at this winter solstice, turn of the year, festival of light and hope of so many peoples, persuasions, religions, philosophies, cultures is to find the way to the fathomless depths beyond their particularities, to become ever more human, to fulfill what it means to bear the torch of humanity, to bring
LIGHT
unto the world.
TRUTH IS LUMINOUS
- December 24, 2005

Hopefulness for the New Year and Joyfulness

1. The so-called PATRIOT ACT was not given the indefinite extension the bushbaby playpenalers had petulantly shaken their rattles at Congress to demand !
THAT'S GOOD NEWS
2. Great Britain has joined the ranks of more civilized countries by passing legislation to enable gay and lesbian couples to "wed" in civil unions !
THAT'S ENLIGHTENMENT AND PROGRESS
3. More courts - even "conservative" judges and justices - in the US are saying NO to the bushbaby-cheneygang efforts to circumvent the constitution by denying due process for captives. Maybe soon they will no longer be able to imprison you without a trial - something some Americans believed was accomplished with the founding of the country: there was a war with England about just that, a constitution written, and a bill of rights immediately appended.
THAT'S A REASON TO HOPE!
4. The new "Chancellorette" of Germany, Angie M., whom everyone thought would probably snuggle up in W's behind, made life uncomfortable for him and his Ricey Concubine by reminding them that Germany will not abide any obstruction of justice or infringement of human rights in a supposed fight against terror.
THAT'S ALMOST A MIRACLE
5. The new pope, as stiff as a tobacco pole, appeared in an outfit as ridiculous as he himself is with his antiquated reactionary views on everything from homosexuality to the pill. A Santa Claus hat, a cape in a not-well-matching second shade of red, and all of that with a white suit ... a mixture of Lawrence Welk and Heino....
THAT'S REFRESHINGLY CLEAR

So there's hope for the Enlightenment, that people may continue to press for truth, justice, freedom and not tolerate intolerance, not stand for idiocy ---
and they even took away Arnold's name from the stadium they had "christened" after him in Austria to remind him Europe is OPPOSED TO CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Not only did he allow the state of California to commit murder, he renounced his honorary citizenship with his hometown for their reaction and even sent them back their signet ring...
VALUES ARE RETURNING TO EUROPE

READ - THINK - SPEAK OUT - LEARN - LIVE - ASSERT JOY IN LIFE !

>> Wahrheit des Seins <<

»Aber wie selten rückt der Mensch vor in diese Wahrheit; wie leicht und schnell kommt er aus mit dem Seienden und bleibt so des Seins enteignet. Wie zwingend scheint die Entbehrlichkeit des Seins.« [M.Heidegger: Beiträge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis), IV. Der Sprung, 118. Der Sprung; S. 231]
How seldom man advances into this truth; how easily and quickly he settles for what is and thus remains expropriated from Being. How compelling the superfluousness of Being appears to be.

And many more people - especially in the bushbaby-playpen - should consider whether they even have any interest in truth at all anymore !

Human Rights, Rendered Meaningless

Human Rights, Rendered Meaningless

Harold Pinter tells what Bush & Blair really are! ...Literature remains essential! Thank you, Mr. Pinter! Respect.

Harold Pinter – Nobel Lecture
Art, Truth & Politics

© THE NOBEL FOUNDATION 2005
General permission is granted for the publication in newspapers in any language after December 7, 2005, 5:30 p.m. (Swedish time). Publication in periodicals or books otherwise than in summary requires the consent of the Foundation. On all publications in full or in major parts the above underlined copyright notice must be applied.

In 1958 I wrote the following:
'There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.'
I believe that these assertions still make sense and do still apply to the exploration of reality through art. So as a writer I stand by them but as a citizen I cannot. As a citizen I must ask: What is true? What is false?
Truth in drama is forever elusive. You never quite find it but the search for it is compulsive. The search is clearly what drives the endeavour. The search is your task. More often than not you stumble upon the truth in the dark, colliding with it or just glimpsing an image or a shape which seems to correspond to the truth, often without realising that you have done so. But the real truth is that there never is any such thing as one truth to be found in dramatic art. There are many. These truths challenge each other, recoil from each other, reflect each other, ignore each other, tease each other, are blind to each other. Sometimes you feel you have the truth of a moment in your hand, then it slips through your fingers and is lost.
I have often been asked how my plays come about. I cannot say. Nor can I ever sum up my plays, except to say that this is what happened. That is what they said. That is what they did.
Most of the plays are engendered by a line, a word or an image. The given word is often shortly followed by the image. I shall give two examples of two lines which came right out of the blue into my head, followed by an image, followed by me.
The plays are The Homecoming and Old Times. The first line of The Homecoming is 'What have you done with the scissors?' The first line of Old Times is 'Dark.'
In each case I had no further information.
In the first case someone was obviously looking for a pair of scissors and was demanding their whereabouts of someone else he suspected had probably stolen them. But I somehow knew that the person addressed didn't give a damn about the scissors or about the questioner either, for that matter.
'Dark' I took to be a description of someone's hair, the hair of a woman, and was the answer to a question. In each case I found myself compelled to pursue the matter. This happened visually, a very slow fade, through shadow into light.
I always start a play by calling the characters A, B and C.
In the play that became The Homecoming I saw a man enter a stark room and ask his question of a younger man sitting on an ugly sofa reading a racing paper. I somehow suspected that A was a father and that B was his son, but I had no proof. This was however confirmed a short time later when B (later to become Lenny) says to A (later to become Max), 'Dad, do you mind if I change the subject? I want to ask you something. The dinner we had before, what was the name of it? What do you call it? Why don't you buy a dog? You're a dog cook. Honest. You think you're cooking for a lot of dogs.' So since B calls A 'Dad' it seemed to me reasonable to assume that they were father and son. A was also clearly the cook and his cooking did not seem to be held in high regard. Did this mean that there was no mother? I didn't know. But, as I told myself at the time, our beginnings never know our ends.
'Dark.' A large window. Evening sky. A man, A (later to become Deeley), and a woman, B (later to become Kate), sitting with drinks. 'Fat or thin?' the man asks. Who are they talking about? But I then see, standing at the window, a woman, C (later to become Anna), in another condition of light, her back to them, her hair dark.
It's a strange moment, the moment of creating characters who up to that moment have had no existence. What follows is fitful, uncertain, even hallucinatory, although sometimes it can be an unstoppable avalanche. The author's position is an odd one. In a sense he is not welcomed by the characters. The characters resist him, they are not easy to live with, they are impossible to define. You certainly can't dictate to them. To a certain extent you play a never-ending game with them, cat and mouse, blind man's buff, hide and seek. But finally you find that you have people of flesh and blood on your hands, people with will and an individual sensibility of their own, made out of component parts you are unable to change, manipulate or distort.
So language in art remains a highly ambiguous transaction, a quicksand, a trampoline, a frozen pool which might give way under you, the author, at any time.
But as I have said, the search for the truth can never stop. It cannot be adjourned, it cannot be postponed. It has to be faced, right there, on the spot.
Political theatre presents an entirely different set of problems. Sermonising has to be avoided at all cost. Objectivity is essential. The characters must be allowed to breathe their own air. The author cannot confine and constrict them to satisfy his own taste or disposition or prejudice. He must be prepared to approach them from a variety of angles, from a full and uninhibited range of perspectives, take them by surprise, perhaps, occasionally, but nevertheless give them the freedom to go which way they will. This does not always work. And political satire, of course, adheres to none of these precepts, in fact does precisely the opposite, which is its proper function.
In my play The Birthday Party I think I allow a whole range of options to operate in a dense forest of possibility before finally focussing on an act of subjugation.
Mountain Language pretends to no such range of operation. It remains brutal, short and ugly. But the soldiers in the play do get some fun out of it. One sometimes forgets that torturers become easily bored. They need a bit of a laugh to keep their spirits up. This has been confirmed of course by the events at Abu Ghraib in Baghdad. Mountain Language lasts only 20 minutes, but it could go on for hour after hour, on and on and on, the same pattern repeated over and over again, on and on, hour after hour.
Ashes to Ashes, on the other hand, seems to me to be taking place under water. A drowning woman, her hand reaching up through the waves, dropping down out of sight, reaching for others, but finding nobody there, either above or under the water, finding only shadows, reflections, floating; the woman a lost figure in a drowning landscape, a woman unable to escape the doom that seemed to belong only to others.
But as they died, she must die too.
Political language, as used by politicians, does not venture into any of this territory since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed.
As every single person here knows, the justification for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45 minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq had a relationship with Al Quaeda and shared responsibility for the atrocity in New York of September 11th 2001. We were assured that this was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq threatened the security of the world. We were assured it was true. It was not true.
The truth is something entirely different. The truth is to do with how the United States understands its role in the world and how it chooses to embody it.
But before I come back to the present I would like to look at the recent past, by which I mean United States foreign policy since the end of the Second World War. I believe it is obligatory upon us to subject this period to at least some kind of even limited scrutiny, which is all that time will allow here.
Everyone knows what happened in the Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe during the post-war period: the systematic brutality, the widespread atrocities, the ruthless suppression of independent thought. All this has been fully documented and verified.
But my contention here is that the US crimes in the same period have only been superficially recorded, let alone documented, let alone acknowledged, let alone recognised as crimes at all. I believe this must be addressed and that the truth has considerable bearing on where the world stands now. Although constrained, to a certain extent, by the existence of the Soviet Union, the United States' actions throughout the world made it clear that it had concluded it had carte blanche to do what it liked.
Direct invasion of a sovereign state has never in fact been America's favoured method. In the main, it has preferred what it has described as 'low intensity conflict'. Low intensity conflict means that thousands of people die but slower than if you dropped a bomb on them in one fell swoop. It means that you infect the heart of the country, that you establish a malignant growth and watch the gangrene bloom. When the populace has been subdued – or beaten to death – the same thing – and your own friends, the military and the great corporations, sit comfortably in power, you go before the camera and say that democracy has prevailed. This was a commonplace in US foreign policy in the years to which I refer.
The tragedy of Nicaragua was a highly significant case. I choose to offer it here as a potent example of America's view of its role in the world, both then and now.
I was present at a meeting at the US embassy in London in the late 1980s.
The United States Congress was about to decide whether to give more money to the Contras in their campaign against the state of Nicaragua. I was a member of a delegation speaking on behalf of Nicaragua but the most important member of this delegation was a Father John Metcalf. The leader of the US body was Raymond Seitz (then number two to the ambassador, later ambassador himself). Father Metcalf said: 'Sir, I am in charge of a parish in the north of Nicaragua. My parishioners built a school, a health centre, a cultural centre. We have lived in peace. A few months ago a Contra force attacked the parish. They destroyed everything: the school, the health centre, the cultural centre. They raped nurses and teachers, slaughtered doctors, in the most brutal manner. They behaved like savages. Please demand that the US government withdraw its support from this shocking terrorist activity.'
Raymond Seitz had a very good reputation as a rational, responsible and highly sophisticated man. He was greatly respected in diplomatic circles. He listened, paused and then spoke with some gravity. 'Father,' he said, 'let me tell you something. In war, innocent people always suffer.' There was a frozen silence. We stared at him. He did not flinch.
Innocent people, indeed, always suffer.
Finally somebody said: 'But in this case “innocent people” were the victims of a gruesome atrocity subsidised by your government, one among many. If Congress allows the Contras more money further atrocities of this kind will take place. Is this not the case? Is your government not therefore guilty of supporting acts of murder and destruction upon the citizens of a sovereign state?'
Seitz was imperturbable. 'I don't agree that the facts as presented support your assertions,' he said.
As we were leaving the Embassy a US aide told me that he enjoyed my plays. I did not reply.
I should remind you that at the time President Reagan made the following statement: 'The Contras are the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers.'
The United States supported the brutal Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua for over 40 years. The Nicaraguan people, led by the Sandinistas, overthrew this regime in 1979, a breathtaking popular revolution.
The Sandinistas weren't perfect. They possessed their fair share of arrogance and their political philosophy contained a number of contradictory elements. But they were intelligent, rational and civilised. They set out to establish a stable, decent, pluralistic society. The death penalty was abolished. Hundreds of thousands of poverty-stricken peasants were brought back from the dead. Over 100,000 families were given title to land. Two thousand schools were built. A quite remarkable literacy campaign reduced illiteracy in the country to less than one seventh. Free education was established and a free health service. Infant mortality was reduced by a third. Polio was eradicated.
The United States denounced these achievements as Marxist/Leninist subversion. In the view of the US government, a dangerous example was being set. If Nicaragua was allowed to establish basic norms of social and economic justice, if it was allowed to raise the standards of health care and education and achieve social unity and national self respect, neighbouring countries would ask the same questions and do the same things. There was of course at the time fierce resistance to the status quo in El Salvador.
I spoke earlier about 'a tapestry of lies' which surrounds us. President Reagan commonly described Nicaragua as a 'totalitarian dungeon'. This was taken generally by the media, and certainly by the British government, as accurate and fair comment. But there was in fact no record of death squads under the Sandinista government. There was no record of torture. There was no record of systematic or official military brutality. No priests were ever murdered in Nicaragua. There were in fact three priests in the government, two Jesuits and a Maryknoll missionary. The totalitarian dungeons were actually next door, in El Salvador and Guatemala. The United States had brought down the democratically elected government of Guatemala in 1954 and it is estimated that over 200,000 people had been victims of successive military dictatorships.
Six of the most distinguished Jesuits in the world were viciously murdered at the Central American University in San Salvador in 1989 by a battalion of the Alcatl regiment trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA. That extremely brave man Archbishop Romero was assassinated while saying mass. It is estimated that 75,000 people died. Why were they killed? They were killed because they believed a better life was possible and should be achieved. That belief immediately qualified them as communists. They died because they dared to question the status quo, the endless plateau of poverty, disease, degradation and oppression, which had been their birthright.
The United States finally brought down the Sandinista government. It took some years and considerable resistance but relentless economic persecution and 30,000 dead finally undermined the spirit of the Nicaraguan people. They were exhausted and poverty stricken once again. The casinos moved back into the country. Free health and free education were over. Big business returned with a vengeance. 'Democracy' had prevailed.
But this 'policy' was by no means restricted to Central America. It was conducted throughout the world. It was never-ending. And it is as if it never happened.
The United States supported and in many cases engendered every right wing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second World War. I refer to Indonesia, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Haiti, Turkey, the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, and, of course, Chile. The horror the United States inflicted upon Chile in 1973 can never be purged and can never be forgiven.
Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn't know it.
It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.
I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self love. It's a winner. Listen to all American presidents on television say the words, 'the American people', as in the sentence, 'I say to the American people it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American people and I ask the American people to trust their president in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American people.'
It's a scintillating stratagem. Language is actually employed to keep thought at bay. The words 'the American people' provide a truly voluptuous cushion of reassurance. You don't need to think. Just lie back on the cushion. The cushion may be suffocating your intelligence and your critical faculties but it's very comfortable. This does not apply of course to the 40 million people living below the poverty line and the 2 million men and women imprisoned in the vast gulag of prisons, which extends across the US.
The United States no longer bothers about low intensity conflict. It no longer sees any point in being reticent or even devious. It puts its cards on the table without fear or favour. It quite simply doesn't give a damn about the United Nations, international law or critical dissent, which it regards as impotent and irrelevant. It also has its own bleating little lamb tagging behind it on a lead, the pathetic and supine Great Britain.
What has happened to our moral sensibility? Did we ever have any? What do these words mean? Do they refer to a term very rarely employed these days – conscience? A conscience to do not only with our own acts but to do with our shared responsibility in the acts of others? Is all this dead? Look at Guantanamo Bay. Hundreds of people detained without charge for over three years, with no legal representation or due process, technically detained forever. This totally illegitimate structure is maintained in defiance of the Geneva Convention. It is not only tolerated but hardly thought about by what's called the 'international community'. This criminal outrage is being committed by a country, which declares itself to be 'the leader of the free world'. Do we think about the inhabitants of Guantanamo Bay? What does the media say about them? They pop up occasionally – a small item on page six. They have been consigned to a no man's land from which indeed they may never return. At present many are on hunger strike, being force-fed, including British residents. No niceties in these force-feeding procedures. No sedative or anaesthetic. Just a tube stuck up your nose and into your throat. You vomit blood. This is torture. What has the British Foreign Secretary said about this? Nothing. What has the British Prime Minister said about this? Nothing. Why not? Because the United States has said: to criticise our conduct in Guantanamo Bay constitutes an unfriendly act. You're either with us or against us. So Blair shuts up.
The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law. The invasion was an arbitrary military action inspired by a series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore of the public; an act intended to consolidate American military and economic control of the Middle East masquerading – as a last resort – all other justifications having failed to justify themselves – as liberation. A formidable assertion of military force responsible for the death and mutilation of thousands and thousands of innocent people.
We have brought torture, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, innumerable acts of random murder, misery, degradation and death to the Iraqi people and call it 'bringing freedom and democracy to the Middle East'.
How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I would have thought. Therefore it is just that Bush and Blair be arraigned before the International Criminal Court of Justice. But Bush has been clever. He has not ratified the International Criminal Court of Justice. Therefore if any American soldier or for that matter politician finds himself in the dock Bush has warned that he will send in the marines. But Tony Blair has ratified the Court and is therefore available for prosecution. We can let the Court have his address if they're interested. It is Number 10, Downing Street, London.
Death in this context is irrelevant. Both Bush and Blair place death well away on the back burner. At least 100,000 Iraqis were killed by American bombs and missiles before the Iraq insurgency began. These people are of no moment. Their deaths don't exist. They are blank. They are not even recorded as being dead. 'We don't do body counts,' said the American general Tommy Franks.
Early in the invasion there was a photograph published on the front page of British newspapers of Tony Blair kissing the cheek of a little Iraqi boy. 'A grateful child,' said the caption. A few days later there was a story and photograph, on an inside page, of another four-year-old boy with no arms. His family had been blown up by a missile. He was the only survivor. 'When do I get my arms back?' he asked. The story was dropped. Well, Tony Blair wasn't holding him in his arms, nor the body of any other mutilated child, nor the body of any bloody corpse. Blood is dirty. It dirties your shirt and tie when you're making a sincere speech on television.
The 2,000 American dead are an embarrassment. They are transported to their graves in the dark. Funerals are unobtrusive, out of harm's way. The mutilated rot in their beds, some for the rest of their lives. So the dead and the mutilated both rot, in different kinds of graves.
Here is an extract from a poem by Pablo Neruda, 'I'm Explaining a Few Things':

And one morning all that was burning,
one morning the bonfiresleapt out of the earth
devouring human beings
and from then on fire,
gunpowder from then on,
and from then on blood.
Bandits with planes and Moors,
bandits with finger-rings and duchesses
,bandits with black friars spattering blessings
came through the sky to kill children
and the blood of children ran through the streets
without fuss, like children's blood.
Jackals that the jackals would
despise
stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out,
vipers that the vipers would abominate.
Face to face with you I have
seen the blood
of Spain tower like a tide
to drown you in one wave
of pride and knives.
Treacherous
generals:
see my dead house,
look at broken Spain:
from every house burning metal flows
instead of flowers
from every socket of Spain
Spain emerges
and from every dead child a rifle with eyes
and from every crime bullets are born
which will one day find
the bull's eye of your hearts.
And you will ask: why doesn't his
poetry
speak of dreams and leaves
and the great volcanoes of his native land.
Come and see the blood in
the streets.
Come and see
the blood in the streets.
Come and see the blood
in the streets!*

Let me make it quite clear that in quoting from Neruda's poem I am in no way comparing Republican Spain to Saddam Hussein's Iraq. I quote Neruda because nowhere in contemporary poetry have I read such a powerful visceral description of the bombing of civilians.
I have said earlier that the United States is now totally frank about putting its cards on the table. That is the case. Its official declared policy is now defined as 'full spectrum dominance'. That is not my term, it is theirs. 'Full spectrum dominance' means control of land, sea, air and space and all attendant resources.
The United States now occupies 702 military installations throughout the world in 132 countries, with the honourable exception of Sweden, of course. We don't quite know how they got there but they are there all right.
The United States possesses 8,000 active and operational nuclear warheads. Two thousand are on hair trigger alert, ready to be launched with 15 minutes warning. It is developing new systems of nuclear force, known as bunker busters. The British, ever cooperative, are intending to replace their own nuclear missile, Trident. Who, I wonder, are they aiming at? Osama bin Laden? You? Me? Joe Dokes? China? Paris? Who knows? What we do know is that this infantile insanity – the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons – is at the heart of present American political philosophy. We must remind ourselves that the United States is on a permanent military footing and shows no sign of relaxing it.
Many thousands, if not millions, of people in the United States itself are demonstrably sickened, shamed and angered by their government's actions, but as things stand they are not a coherent political force – yet. But the anxiety, uncertainty and fear which we can see growing daily in the United States is unlikely to diminish.
I know that President Bush has many extremely competent speech writers but I would like to volunteer for the job myself. I propose the following short address which he can make on television to the nation. I see him grave, hair carefully combed, serious, winning, sincere, often beguiling, sometimes employing a wry smile, curiously attractive, a man's man.
'God is good. God is great. God is good. My God is good. Bin Laden's God is bad. His is a bad God. Saddam's God was bad, except he didn't have one. He was a barbarian. We are not barbarians. We don't chop people's heads off. We believe in freedom. So does God. I am not a barbarian. I am the democratically elected leader of a freedom-loving democracy. We are a compassionate society. We give compassionate electrocution and compassionate lethal injection. We are a great nation. I am not a dictator. He is. I am not a barbarian. He is. And he is. They all are. I possess moral authority. You see this fist? This is my moral authority. And don't you forget it.'
A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don't have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection – unless you lie – in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician.
I have referred to death quite a few times this evening. I shall now quote a poem of my own called 'Death'.

Where was the dead body found?
Who found the dead body?
Was the dead body dead when found?
How was the dead body found?
Who was the dead body?
Who was the
father or daughter or brother
Or uncle or sister or mother or son
Of the dead and abandoned body?
Was the body dead when abandoned?
Was the body abandoned?
By whom had it been abandoned?
Was the dead body naked or dressed for a
journey?
What made you declare the dead body dead?
Did you declare the dead body dead?
How well did you know the dead body?
How did you know the dead body was dead?
Did you wash the dead body?
Did you close both its eyes?
Did you bury the body?
Did you leave it abandoned?
Did you kiss the dead body?

When we look into a mirror we think the image that confronts us is accurate. But move a millimetre and the image changes. We are actually looking at a never-ending range of reflections. But sometimes a writer has to smash the mirror – for it is on the other side of that mirror that the truth stares at us.
I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.
If such a determination is not embodied in our political vision we have no hope of restoring what is so nearly lost to us – the dignity of man.

* Extract from "I'm Explaining a Few Things" translated by Nathaniel Tarn, from Pablo Neruda: Selected Poems, published by Jonathan Cape, London 1970. Used by permission of The Random House Group Limited.

Chicks of Chicora Court

No, it's not about bird-influenza!
And it certainly isn't about a strange green plant sheltering baby chickens...
Yet it is also no courtroom drama...
No, no, no!
It is a new maxi-mini-series qua permanent drama/comedy that will make The Golden Girls seem tame and as boring as they really were.
so
Check out the chicks of Chicora Court, chomping into a station near you, or here,or soon, or all of the above.

"Sites noirs" à la CIA

Edito du Monde

"Sites noirs" à la CIA

LE MONDE 04.11.05 13h17 • Mis à jour le 04.11.05 14h13

Depuis le 11 septembre 2001, George W. Bush considère que la lutte implacable qui doit être menée contre le terrorisme justifie que l'on s'exonère de quelques obligations morales du droit international. Quelques jours après les attaques du 11 Septembre, le président américain a donc accordé à la CIA des pouvoirs étendus pour transférer des suspects d'actes terroristes à l'étranger. C'est sur cette base que sont apparues les "prisons fantômes" de la CIA.
Selon des révélations du Washington Post, la CIA détiendrait les plus importants dirigeants d'Al-Qaida qui ont été capturés ­ une trentaine de personnes au total ­ dans des prisons secrètes à l'étranger, baptisées "sites noirs". Ces prisons fantômes pour djihadistes se trouveraient dans des pays d'Europe centrale, sur d'anciennes bases soviétiques. L'organisation humanitaire Human Rights Watch a cité la Pologne et la Roumanie, pays qui, comme la Hongrie, ont démenti couvrir et abriter de telles pratiques. Plus troublant : le gouvernement de la République tchèque a reconnu avoir été sollicité par Washington, affirmant avoir rejeté sa requête.
Les révélations du Washington Post n'ont pas provoqué de véritable démenti de la part des autorités américaines. Stephen Hadley, conseiller à la sécurité nationale, a estimé à propos de ces prisons que "le fait qu'elles soient secrètes, pour autant qu'elles existent, ne signifie pas que la torture pourrait y être tolérée". La polémique a incité les démocrates américains à relancer leur offensive contre la pratique des sévices ­ sinistrement illustrée sur la base de Guantanamo à l'égard des suspects d'actes terroristes ­ en faisant voter par la Chambre des représentants un amendement du républicain John McCain. Ce texte, adopté par le Sénat, prévoit que tout détenu sous garde américaine sera exempt de "traitements cruels, inhumains ou dégradants". La Maison Blanche s'oppose à cet amendement.
Les Etats-Unis, qui ont si longtemps défendu les droits de l'homme et les valeurs morales de la démocratie à travers le monde, en sont-ils venus à demander à des pays européens, membres de l'OTAN et acteurs de l'Union européenne, de faire "le sale boulot" sur des détenus djihadistes exportés ? On ne peut imaginer, et encore moins admettre, si elles sont avérées, de telles pratiques, non seulement illégales au regard du droit international, mais moralement condamnables.
L'ancien président Jimmy Carter a ainsi déploré que, depuis l'arrivée de M. Bush à la Maison Blanche, "il y -ait- eu un changement radical et profond des principes politiques et des valeurs morales" des Etats-Unis. La secrétaire d'Etat, Condoleezza Rice, prompte à défendre, à l'étranger, la démocratie et les droits de l'homme, peut-elle admettre que les Etats-Unis sollicitent des pays de l'Union européenne pour enfreindre le droit et la morale ? A l'égard du Vieux Continent, une telle attitude relèverait de l'arrogance, voire du mépris.

Article paru dans l'édition du 05.11.05

THINK ABOUT IT !

"Das Denken ist das Dichten der Wahrheit des Seins in der geschichtlichen Zwiesprache der Denkenden." [Martin Heidegger: Holzwege, p. 372]
"Wenn aber das Sein in seinem Wesen das Wesen des Menschen braucht? Wenn das Wesen des Menschen im Denken der Wahrheit des Seins beruht?
Dann muß das Denken am Rätsel des Seins dichten. Es bringt die Frühe des Gedachten in die Nähe des zu Denkenden." [op.cit., p. 373]

Don't be afraid to think, to compose, to invent and form. Open yourself not only to all that exists, but to Being itself! Say YES to life, to every opening, to becoming....

SHAME

A fantastic observation, quoted from William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch, p.133 of the most recent paper edition:
Dying of shame is an accomplishment peculiar to Kwakiutl Indians and Americans -- others simply say "Zut alors" or "Son cosas de la vida" or "Allah fucked me, the All Powerful...."
This trait of Americans is one of the factors contributing to the perplexity the rest of the world has with regard to them, and vice versa.

die Kehre als Rettung in der Gefahr

Da Merkel vielleicht die höchste Gefahr zur Zeit stellt, besteht größte Chancen, daß die Kehre im Gestell zur Lichtung mit Einblick in die Wahrheit des Seins einkehrt: und Deutschland kann weiter vorwärts anstatt rückwärts mit Merkel/Stoiber/Kirchhof/Westerwelle und co. !
There 's a chance...
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