Even a rainy day is enjoyable...

Just walk down the street to the inn for coffee and lunch...

This is the main street of the artists' and writers' town, the fashionable village of Kloster.

Ein bißchen Klarsicht - A bit of transparency

As can now be found on the website of the German Parliament / Deutscher Bundestag, Germany's Supreme Court ruled constitutional the law requiring members of parliament to make public income they receive from other sources. Now, the official biographies for each member include this information for all the world to see. First below, the link to the information on the website, then within the quote the link to the bios with incomes.

Nebeneinkünfte der Abgeordneten online abzurufen: "Die Angaben der 613 Abgeordneten zu ihren Nebeneinkünften sind online veröffentlicht. Unter den Biografien der einzelnen Parlamentarier stehen nunmehr auch die veröffentlichungspflichtigen Angaben, die unter anderem Auskunft über bezahlte Tätigkeiten neben dem Mandat geben. Bundestagspräsident Dr. Norbert Lammert hatte nach der Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts am Mittwoch, dem 4. Juli 2007, die unverzügliche Bekanntmachung angekündigt."

Fireworks for Fourth of July at the Baltic Shore

This picture really says it all!

[This morning it's raining, but yesterday was the first time clouds opened up on the western horizon as the sun went down. So even if we spend more time indoors today, yesterday truly was a perfect July 4th, even giving us our first sunset on this trip. Now we can watch the low swooping swallows and listen to the croaking frogs all playing in the drizzle. Later we'll venture out to the beach, enjoy some nature, read, relax, do exactly what vacation means.]

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident

On the Fourth of July, a brief reminder of what it's all about, warmly blogged by an unashamedly overly idealist American after a morning on the beach of Hiddensee (Germany) on the Baltic shore with his husband-&-lover, proudly noted again as a bushbaby reveals what could in the same document hereinafter to be quoted be deemed tyrannical behavior necessitating removal from office (condoning libbying lobbying lying), but anyway, here some snippets to remember, to take to heart, and to ponder, followed by a couple of Fourth of July pictures from the real world.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident [...] all Men are created equal [...] certain unalienable Rights [...] among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness [...] to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted [...] deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed [...] [One] whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America

And here photos of moments when such thoughts occur to me on The Fourth of July - Those are fireworks of thought designed to light up the world and stand up against fundamentalist darkness.

And here a video Fourth Of July to make you all envious:

Yesterday hiking, today on the beach

Today we spent the morning on the beach (photos tomorrow) and yesterday, before the enchanting puppet production of Robinson Crusoe, included a nice hike in the hills at the islands north end, as shown here.

And the sun is still shining, so, with lunch over, we're off again.

Remembering Beverly Sills

She was one of the highlights of my time at the Metropolitan Opera as well. Bubbles from Brooklyn, as the ushers there called her, was one of a kind, a queen among divas, a gift to opera audiences, and a true boon to fundraising for the continued production of high-quality opera in New York City.

Beverly Sills, the All-American Diva, Is Dead at 78 - New York Times

Beverly Sills, the acclaimed Brooklyn-born coloratura soprano who was more popular with the American public than any opera singer since Enrico Caruso, even among people who never set foot in an opera house, died last night at her home in Manhattan. She was 78.

Justin Lane for The New York Times
Beverly Sills in 2002, after coming out of retirement as chairwoman of Lincoln Center to lead the Metropolitan Opera

Second Morning With Sunshine ...

Unbelievably enough, while storms may be brewing elsewhere, we had a hazy sunny day yesterday, comfortable but not too hot; and the sun is shining this morning, though heavy thunderstorms are promised for the afternoon and evening. But then we're going to the puppet theater next door for their production of Robinson Crusoe, so who cares !

And here there are no cars (to be searched or feared), no airports (to wait in lines at or worry about attacks in), no trains (to miss because of wildcat strikes), no targets (to be hit by fundamentalists to defeat enlightenment), and no way on or off except by ferry from three easily controllable little harbors.
This is truly a little island paradise.

Yesterday we did the lighthouse and Enddorn; this morning we're going to do the Dornbusch hike up around the cliff edges to the west & north. And we're enjoying every minute of it.

We Made It to Our Vacation Island on the Baltic Shore

HIDDENSEE AT LAST

From Hiddensee 2007

There we are with the intermittently stormy Baltic and dramatic sky behind us on the beach.

And this is what we got to see from our room's window, looking away from the sea towards the sound, minutes after arriving !

Global Unease With Major World Powers

Pew Global Attitudes Project: Summary of Findings: Global Unease With Major World Powers

Global Unease With Major World Powers
Rising Environmental Concern in 47-Nation Survey
Released: 06.27.07
A 47-nation survey finds global public opinion increasingly wary of the world's dominant nations and disapproving of their leaders. Anti-Americanism is extensive, as it has been for the past five years. At the same time, the image of China has slipped significantly among the publics of other major nations. Opinion about Russia is mixed, but confidence in its president, Vladimir Putin, has declined sharply. In fact, the Russian leader's negatives have soared to the point that they mirror the nearly worldwide lack of confidence in George W. Bush.

COPYRIGHT PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Pew Global Attitudes Project, a project of the PewResearchCenter
1615 L Street, NW Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036
p 202.419.4400 f 202.419.4399 e info@pewglobal.org

Resegregation Now

I was fortunate enough to have attended a fully integrated high school and to have had the opportunity to help create it. It is lamentable that future generations will perhaps no longer have the experience of learning and living with those OTHER from themselves. Education should not resign itself to being a mirror of the self, but always and only a window onto what the student himself is not.

Resegregation Now - New York Times

The Supreme Court ruled 53 years ago in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated education is inherently unequal, and it ordered the nation’s schools to integrate. Yesterday, the court switched sides and told two cities that they cannot take modest steps to bring public school students of different races together. It was a sad day for the court and for the ideal of racial equality.
[...]
There should be no mistaking just how radical this decision is. In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said it was his “firm conviction that no Member of the Court that I joined in 1975 would have agreed with today’s decision.” He also noted the “cruel irony” of the court relying on Brown v. Board of Education while robbing that landmark ruling of much of its force and spirit. The citizens of Louisville and Seattle, and the rest of the nation, can ponder the majority’s kind words about Brown as they get to work today making their schools, and their cities, more segregated.

Finally, vacation !

We're off Saturday for a week on our enchanted island of Hiddensee.
Finally a week just for us - to relax and enjoy all by ourselves !
And HERE'S THE LINK to the live webcam of the beach there from the fish restaurant we love to eat in!

Agreement in the middle of the night...

EU leaders clinch a deal on Reform Treaty

"An agreement on the reform of the EU institutions was reached at the European
Council in Brussels on 23 June. After two days of tough negotiations, EU leaders
agreed on a mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference which will draw up the
Reform Treaty by the end of 2007. If ratified, this treaty could enter into
force in June 2009, ahead of the next elections to the European Parliament."

CSD in Berlin 2007

This picture reveals a lot

From CSD Berlin 2007

and the others in the album show a bit more of today's celebration while demanding equal rights in all respects for all.

Just Close It --- Finally !

Everyone who can think and cares about democracy and justice and the principles which the west and Enlightenment seek to defend against fundamentalist incursions and dictatorships everywhere knows Guantánamo should be closed, should never have been opened.
So stop talking and considering! Close it and raise charges against those to whom such is applicable, bring them before a court, try them, and have the judicial system detemine their guilt or innocence. There are prisons enough without creating camps outside the reach of judicial review! Bringing terrorists to justice, i.e. before a court of law, could inform those opposed to democratic systems and liberty about the benefits thereof!

The New York Times
Washington
At White House, Renewed Debate on Guantánamo
By HELENE COOPER and WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: June 23, 2007
The Bush administration said top officials were once again debating how and when to close the detention facilities.
On Thursday night, in response to questions about the A.P. article, Gordon D. Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, issued an opaque statement that did not reflect the deep debate.
“The president has long expressed a desire to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility and to do so in a responsible way,” his statement said. “A number of steps need to take place before that can happen, such as setting up military commissions and the repatriation to their home countries of detainees who have been cleared for release. These and other steps have not been completed. No decisions on the future of Guantánamo Bay are imminent and there will not be a White House meeting tomorrow.”

Or: to clearly make the point by quoting a classic:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.

- W.S.-Macbeth

Making it clear who's with you and who's against you...

And they shouldn't forget that Christopher Street Day is the day after tomorrow and that gay pride is powerful !
Equal rights for registered civil unions will be achieved; not even Bavaria is provinical enough to stop it. And this is Europe, not some uniformed parched tobacco field in the fundamentalist provinces of the south of the USA !

Bundestag Union: Kein gleiches Recht für schwule Paare in Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de:

Homosexuellen Partnerschaften sollen nach dem Willen der Union nicht dieselben Rechte wie einer Ehe eingeräumt werden. Ihr Koalitionspartner will trotzdem weiter an der rechtlichen Gleichstellung arbeiten. [...]
Der Parlamentarische Geschäftsführer der Grünen, Volker Beck, sagte, es gebe keinen Grund, Lebenspartner schlechter zu stellen als Ehepaare. Den vom CSU-Abgeordneten Georg Fahrenschon betonten besonderen Schutz von Ehe und Familie wies Beck als "alte Leier" zurück.

The Bushbaby Playpen as depicted in "Lil' Bush"

Just had to provide the link to this REALISTIC PORTRAYAL of the playpen ! Everyone in Europe would consider it a documentary, since that's the general opinion here of the incompetence and childishness going on in the only semi-white house in DC these days.

Comedy Central: Shows - Lil' Bush

As Comedy Central itself describes it:

Ever wonder how legends are made? Find out on Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States, the animated series that takes you back to the playground days of our 43rd president, George W. Bush. Enjoy the antics of Lil' George and his Lil' White House posse, including Lil' Condi, Lil' Rummy and that unintelligible, foulmouthed wisecracker, Lil' Cheney. They're like the Little Rascals with access to the A-bomb -- getting into mischief, learning stuff and meeting friends (Lil' Tony Blair) and foes (Lil' Kim Jong Il). Plus, they're always ready with a song. And some influential alternative rockers are grabbing the mic to provide guest voices, including Iggy Pop, Frank Black, Jeff Tweedy, Colin Meloy, Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Dave Grohl. Creator Donick Cary has written for The Simpsons and Just Shoot Me, and now takes Lil' Bush from its cult following on Amp'd Mobile to your TV screen. So join Lil’ George as he leads his lil’ cabinet and takes this dream team to elementary school political glory. The new show airs Wednesdays at 10:30p / 9:30c.

And I have to give credit to my lawscholarly ducal niece for putting me onto this! Thanks, Jenn!

Laboratory for a Fortressed World

Take a look at No Logo author Naomi Klein's trenchant thinking assessment of one aspect of our rather thoughtless contemporary world...

Laboratory for a Fortressed World
by Naomi Klein
[from the July 2, 2007 issue
of The Nation]
Gaza in the hands of Hamas, with masked militants sitting in the president's chair; the West Bank on the edge; Israeli army camps hastily assembled in the Golan Heights; a spy satellite over Iran and Syria; war with Hezbollah a hair trigger away; a scandal-plagued political class facing a total loss of public faith.
At a glance, things aren't going well for Israel. But here's a puzzle: Why, in the midst of such chaos and carnage, is the Israeli economy booming like it's 1999, with a roaring stock market and growth rates nearing China's?

It would indeed be nice to know a few more people are thinking as well ! Are you one ? Do you think ?

And here's a cartoon that says it all from Harpers's Magazine by Mr. Fish

Needless to say, but I needed to tell you to look...

18 JOINT 2007
Avant la guerre totale!
18 HEURES, 18 JUIN À LA VILLETTE !

(à Paris)
TOUS EN TENUE DE COMBAT

(camouflage, nez de clown, casque... et pétards bien chargés)
POUR MONTRER AVEC HUMOUR ET DÉRISION QUE NOUS SOMMES

CONTRE TOUTES LES GUERRES !

Just Another Day on Planet Earth...

Looking at the pictures accompanying the story on Hamas' coup in Gaza, I realized that satirical cartoons with the exact same content and images would provoke fundamentalist riots around the world and death threats to the cartoonists. Perhaps writers may also be threatened with death for pointing out this fact; but just look at the pictures of these "religious" people posing voluntarily for the camera and tell me how one could possibly "injure" their religious feelings (or, if so, why that would not be a good thing):

Hamas takes control of Gaza The Guardian Guardian Unlimited

Palestinian militants from Hamas stand at the desk of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, inside Abbas's personal office after it was taken over by Hamas infighting in Gaza City. Photograph: Hatem Moussa/AP.

And back to Europe:
Britain does not want the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Constitution...
Poland wants more weight in votes than it has in population...

(But doesn't want to contribute financially according to the same measure...)
The Netherlands just wants to be contrary, but is willing agree...
Angie of Germany wants any agreement whatsoever next week during her EU-Presidency, but she should not sacrifice essentials to expediency...
PASS THE CONSTITUTION OF EUROPE as it already exists!
FINALLY !
(Or just agree to let those who don't play in a lesser entity of Europe, while those abiding by, ratifying its constitution are full members committed to further integration.)
Poland and Great Britain could also just quit if they don't really want to be part of something bigger and greater than their little selves.

The Constitution would finally give Europe a basis for democratic control and social equality.

Justice Does Exist After All...

Judges Say U.S. Can’t Hold Man as ‘Combatant’
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: June 12, 2007
A federal appeals court ruled that the president may not declare civilians in this country “enemy combatants” and have the military hold them indefinitely.
- The New York Times

Saudi prince 'received arms cash'

BBC NEWS Programmes: Panorama

Saudi prince 'received arms cash'

A Saudi prince who negotiated a £40bn arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia received secret payments for over a decade, a BBC probe has found.
The UK's biggest arms dealer, BAE Systems, paid hundreds of millions of pounds to the ex-Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.
The payments were made with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence.
Prince Bandar would not comment on the investigation and BAE Systems said it acted lawfully at all times.
The MoD said information about the Al Yamamah deal was confidential.
[...]
"It is one thing for a company to have engaged in alleged corruption overseas. It is another thing if British government ministers have approved it."
Panorama will be broadcast on Monday 11 June 2007 2030 BST

Dry as a bone after 8Gs

And we can rest assured Sarkozy had only had water to drink during his talks with Putin behind the expensive playpen fence at the Baltic Sea ...

Sarkozy a changé : il est ivre
Hochgeladen von prochoix

[Or: the bushbaby's not the only one the Russian potentate trumped at Angie's fest.]

A Reminder

Guantánamo is illegal, injust, and a disgrace for the United States.
Close it and raise charges against any inmates for whom that may be applicable and try them in a court of LAW. That would be "bringing them to justice".
Even the "military judges" created by the bushbaby playpen now rule against the very system they were appointed to act within, dismissing the charges raised there as groundless.

See, too, this correct editorial from the NYTimes: "Gitmo: A National Disgrace"

And meanwhile, they start their playpen session in the fenced off sanctuary on the Baltic coast without public opinion having any chance of approaching them.
Perhaps Angie or Sarko or the blairing lapdog or Proding or Putt-Putt or Chin-Chin will tell the bushbaby a thing or two
... about anything...
climate,
freedom,
justice,
democracy.
Even though taking advice from some of those sources on some of those topics, that bushbaby would be admitting how very little he knows about the subjects.

Even Military Judges Fault Playpen Procedures

The New York Times
International / Americas
Military Judges Dismiss Charges for 2 Detainees
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: June 5, 2007
The rulings, the latest legal setbacks for the government’s effort to bring war crimes charges against detainees, could stall the military’s prosecutions at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Cold War Redux !?!

Between the bushbaby and pouting putin, we're on the way to a new nuclear arms race with fundamentalist terrorists waiting with bated breath for the goodies that, as a result, may well fall into their bloody hands. Anybody remember that we might should work together for enlightenment and human rights against the obscurantists ready to enslave us all?

Paix armée au G8
LE MONDE 04.06.07

L'équilibre de la terreur sera à l'ordre du jour du sommet du G8, les huit pays les plus industrialisés, qui se tient du mercredi 6 au vendredi 8 juin à Heiligendamm, en Allemagne. On se croirait revenu au temps de la division du monde en deux blocs antagonistes. Le projet américain consistant à installer des éléments d'un bouclier antimissile en Pologne et en République tchèque est à l'origine de cette tension.

©

8 Gs in a Fenced-In Playpen

For 12.6 million euros the Berlin government has built an impenetrable fence around a place at the Baltic shore whose name translates as "holy dam" to create a gigantic fortified playpen for angie and the bushbaby and putin and the lapdog blair and prodi and sarko and a guy from canada and somebody from japan, oh, and a smiling rights-trampler from china to come to no decision in, attend some glamorous banquets, smile at the cameras, ignore the protesters, and all of them with no intention of doing anything of any consequence - except maybe to agree to build more impenetrable barriers to protect themselves against terrorists. They can wrap themselves in barbed wire and call that the outside and claim to have fenced in everything dangerous.
But the climate will continue to deteriorate, the poor to starve, the migrants to move, the fundamentalists to threaten, and freedom to diminish.
Even a teleconference would have been too great an expense for the little these 8+ leaders are about to agree not to agree on and "announce" after a summit of no height whatsoever, but it would certainly have been more appropriate and less expensive. €12.6 million would treat a lot of severely ill people, feed a lot of starving children, employ a lot of jobless, etc., etc....

The circus is certainly not worth the expense, the effort, or the curbing of civil rights entailed.

And the whole area has been sealed off to humanity, as of today, until the fiasco ends on June 8-9.

Another birthday

Here's where we went for a walk in the morning:

Rummelsburger Bucht

And one shot of me there, too:

Here's where Detlef took me out to eat for lunch:

Good Time

Hausvogteiplatz 11

Thai, Asian / Fusion

The three Good Time Restaurants have independently developed a good reputation for Thai food amongst Berliners - pretty amazing considering that a new Thai restaurant opens here every eight seconds. Little surprise really as the food quality here is high. All fruit and vegetables are flown-in daily and prepared and cooked traditionally by experienced chefs. Half the menu is also Indonesian - a refreshing mix-up for the Berlin gastronomy scene. Meals range from 12€ - 18€, lunch is cheaper. The fresh juices also give you a taste of the tropics. Hausvogteiplatz 11, Mitte, U2 Hausvogteiplatz.

And here's what we saw in the theater in the evening in Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater:

Kabale und Liebe

von Friedrich Schiller

Die Liebesgeschichte von Ferdinand und Luise ist von Beginn an eine Problembeziehung: Er ist adlig, reich und macht Karriere. Sie ist bürgerlich, arm und fromm.Luise sieht das Unheil heraufziehen, doch Ferdinand klammert sich blind an seine Utopie der alles besiegenden Liebe – und wird so zum gefundenen Opfer für die Neider und Intriganten, die ihn mit Lady Milford, der Konkubine des Fürsten, verkuppeln wollen. Kann man sich dieser Welt und dem Druck der Gewalt moralisch erwehren? Mit Luise stellt Schiller diese Frage und lässt die anderen Figuren des Stücks Antwort geben – das die nicht schön ausfällt, ist kein Wunder. An ein Wunder aber grenzt die moderne Klarheit und pathetische Eindringlichkeit von Schillers ausufernder Sprache: ein Klassiker, der noch heute wütend macht. Präsidentin von Walter: Ruth Reinecke, Ferdinand: Florian Stetter, Hofmarschall von Kalb: Michael Klammer, Lady Milford: Hilke Altefrohne, Wurm: Ronald Kukulies, Miller: Robert Kuchenbuch, Luise: Hanna Eichel, Ein Kammerdiener: Michael Klammer, Regie -Florian Fiedler, Bühne -Annette Riedel, Kostüme -Selina Peyer, Dramaturgie -Ludwig Haugk

A wonderful day.

G8 : DOA

Sadly enough, the playpen is again flaunting international discussion and rejecting in advance G8 agreements on substantial efforts to keep our planet hospitable to life as we know it. Perhaps they should avoid some climate damaging emissions and just all stay home, talk on the telephone, and exchange thoughts by e-mail. A joint tele-conference would be enough to announce their failure to achieve anything worthwhile for mankind and his environment. (And aid to Africa will probably succumb to their summit party as well.)

U.S. Rejects G-8 Climate Proposal - washingtonpost.com

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 26, 2007; Page A09

U.S. officials have raised a second round of unusually bluntly worded objections to a proposed global-warming declaration that Germany prepared for next month's Group of Eight summit, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Representatives from the world's leading industrial nations met the past two days in Heiligendamm, Germany, to negotiate over German Chancellor Angela Merkel's proposed statement, which calls for limiting the worldwide temperature rise this century to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit and cutting global greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Bush administration officials, who raised similar objections in April, rejected the idea of setting mandatory emissions targets as well as language calling for G-8 nations to raise overall energy efficiencies by 20 percent by 2020. With less than two weeks remaining, said sources familiar with the talks, the climate document is the only unresolved issue in the statements the world leaders are expected to sign at the June 6-8 summit.
"The U.S. still has serious, fundamental concerns about this draft statement," a paper dated May 14 states. "The treatment of climate change runs counter to our overall position and crosses multiple 'red lines' in terms of what we simply cannot agree to. . . . We have tried to 'tread lightly' but there is only so far we can go given our fundamental opposition to the German position."

It's entirely up to us...

«Auf uns kommt es an, [...] ob wir die Sterblichen sein können, die wir sind, nämlich die, die im Zuspruch des Seins stehen. Nur solche Wesen vermögen zu sterben, d.h. den Tod als Tod zu übernehmen.»
[MH: Der Satz vom Grund, S. 209]

It is up to us whether or not we can be the mortals we are, namely, the ones standing in Being's comforting-addressing ascription. Only such human-selves are capable of dying, i.e. of taking on death as death. [my own translation]

One month ago today, the Countess gathered her life together into a collected graceful completion.

Tired ...

... and glad not to have to do anything today!
... and glad the wolf is out of the meadow!
... and glad the sun is shining!
... and ready just to doze off with a good book.

Wolfing Down Everything In Sight

The amazingly voracious WOLF of the bushbaby playpen is willing to resign the position for which he never had any competence and with which he was rewarded for designing the playpenal farce in Iraq, yes, willing to resign, due to his nepotistic self-serving and crony-serving personnel actions at the World Bank, but only if the Board, that, with the exception of the bushbaby and his chainy master, want him out because of his unethical actions first agree to proclaim that he has done nothing wrong.
Caught with his hand in the cookie jar, the wolf cries out, "Tell the world I've never touched a cookie, never ever, and then I'll take my hand out of the cookie jar."

See the links below for details:

The New York Times
Washington
Wolfowitz Said to Push for Deal to Quit
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN
Published: May 17, 2007
Paul D. Wolfowitz wants to be cleared of wrongdoing before he resigns as the World Bank’s president.

REUTERS 17 May 2007
Wolfowitz, under a cloud over his handling of a raise and promotion for his companion, refused to bow to heavy European pressure to resign as he sought to clear his name in talks with the bank's board over a possible exit strategy.
"Mr. Wolfowitz will not resign under this cloud and he will rather put this matter to a full (board) vote than to capitulate on his integrity," his lawyer Robert Bennett told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Inaugural Address of M. Nicolas SARKOZY, Président de la République Française

Allocution de M. Nicolas SARKOZY, Président de la République, à l'occasion de la cérémonie d’installation
"Je ferai de la défense des droits de l'homme et de la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique les priorités de l'action diplomatique de la France dans le monde."

At the linked site, video and audio transmissions of the speech are also available. Whatever one thought before the election, we should all carefully listen to this speech in order to know exactly what was said and to what one may in future hold this new president accountable.

Which is greater ... ?

Here, once more, my own stab at a quick translation of a short passage from Heidegger, this time from volume 67 of his complete works, "Metaphyicis and Nihilism", the appendix with his own annotations to the second major essay in this volume (The Essential-Being of Nihilism), part I, number 5. In this entry, first my English, then my French version, and only then the original German, since I have the feeling, sometimes, that people don't read them if I begin with the German ... But they should !

I.5. Thinking's Estranging — a being-historical momentary glimpse

What is greater today —

unwillingness towards thinking

or displeasure in thinking

or misdirection in thinking

or fear of thinking

or incapacity to think (whereby personal inablity to engage in thought processes is not meant)

or are indeed all equally great because they are the same?

The consequence of an omission of the truth of Being — the dis-liking of Being.

I.5. Le Déconcertant du penser — aperçu aître-historique

Qu'est-ce qui est aujourd'hui plus grand —

la malveillance envers le penser

ou le déplaisir de penser ou le mal-diriger du penser

ou la peur de penser

ou l'incapacité de penser (ce qui ne veut pas dire une impuissance personnelle au processus de penser)

ou est-ce que tous sont en fait aussi grand en tant qu'ils sont le même?

La conséquence d'une omission de la vérité de l'Être — le ne-pas-aimer-l'Être.

« I.5. Das Befremdliche des Denkens
seinsgeschichtlicher Augenblick

Was ist heute größer —
das Mißwollen gegen das Denken
oder das Mißvergnügen am Denken
oder die Mißleitung im Denken
oder die Angst vor dem Denken
oder das Unvermögen zum Denken (womit nicht die persönliche Unfähigkeit zur Denktätigkeit gemeint ist)
oder sind gar alle gleich groß, weil sie das Selbe sind?
Die Folge eines Auslassen der Wahrheit des Seins — das Un-mögen des Seins. »

[MH: GA, Bd.67, S.262]

If you don't know the words...

... you can still sing along with this group of jubilant nuns. Let music reign!

And credit is due here, for sharing this with me, to the Lady-in-Waiting and to her friend in her choral group who put her onto it.

Au ministère de l'identité nationale

La chronique de Philippe SOLLERS
Le journal du mois
Paru dans le JDD, Lundi 30 Avril 2007
>Le mauvais rêve du mois dernier continue. Après mon interrogatoire éprouvant au ministère de l'Identité nationale, me voici maintenant convoqué au ministère du Contrôle génétique. Le nouveau président de la République française, Nicolas Sarkozy, vient de l'inaugurer, et ça va chauffer.

Restore Habeas Corpus!

The New York Times
Editorial
The Democrats’ Pledge
Published: May 9, 2007
[...] let’s be clear. There is nothing “conservative” or “tough on terrorism” in selectively stripping people of their rights. [...]
Democratic leaders must make promised measures to restore habeas corpus a priority and members of both parties must vote on principle, not out of fear of attack ads.

Solidarity with Warsaw's CSD 2007

Warschauer Pakt 2007 – Solidaritätsaktion für den CSD in Warschau
Die Initiative Warschauer Pakt 2007 wird auch in diesem Jahr die „Parade der Gleichheit" aktiv unterstützen. Die Parade wird am 19. Mai 2007 in Warschau stattfinden. Nähere Informationen werden fortlaufend hier sowie auf der polnisch/deutschen Website der Veranstalter veröffentlicht. Aktuelle Stimmungsbilder und praktische Infos (zum Beispiel wo es T-Shirts für die Demo gibt) findet sich auf unserem WarschauerPakt-Blog.

Le duel BHL-Glucksmann

Le duel BHL-Glucksmann
Bernard-Henri Lévy (for Royal) and André Glucksmann (for Sarkozy) debate the issues at stake, and one can hope they will continue to exert influence with their voices now that the vote has gone to Sarko.

Warm in the Sun

Here, it is warm and sunny and we have friends to meet who also need some support, one in a relationship crisis, others amidst trauma therapy, and we hope to have a nice walk in the countryside...
Time to share, and glad we are together to do so!

With Memories...

The Countess securely in our memories, we have traversed the Atlantic once again and returned to our home, spoken with my dear sister, whose truck made it full of untattered packages back along her land route and whose voice attracted the responsive attention of our parrot. In days to come, correspondence must begin with all those who held us close in their feelings. And here it is blooming spring, sunny, bright, with baby shoes from other decades and other geographic coordinates now on our shelves, things that belonged elsewhere are now with us at home here.
And today is our eleventh anniversary!

Saying Goodbye to Chicora Chicks at Court

This is truly caring and affection!

Long Live The Chicks of Chicora Court!

Pour Ségolène Royal...

"Pour Ségolène Royal et contre Nicolas Sarkozy", un appel d'intellectuels de gauche avant le second tour de la présidentielle.

Pour, parce que Ségolène Royal porte la parole et la promesse d'une gauche qui a appris de ses échecs et de ses divisions, qui s'est remise en cause, réinventée et renouvelée. Son pacte présidentiel, sa campagne participative et ses engagements socialistes l'ont montré : elle incarne une France qui ne renonce ni à ses valeurs sociales ni à ses ambitions démocratiques, une France en mouvement, ouverte et créative. Pour, parce qu'elle place la question sociale au centre de ses préoccupations, soucieuse du sort des travailleurs et opposée à l'oligarchie financière. Parce qu'elle s'engage sur une rénovation profonde de nos institutions, mettant fin à l'abus de pouvoir présidentiel et restaurant la démocratie parlementaire. Parce qu'elle représente une France nouvelle, féministe et écologiste, métissée et universaliste, protectrice et dynamique. Parce qu'elle veut une République de tous et de chacun(e), associant l'intérêt général au droit des minorités, combattant toutes les formes de discrimination, soucieuse du sort des autres et de la paix du monde.

Contre, parce que Nicolas Sarkozy incarne une droite durcie et radicalisée, sous le poids de l'extrême droite, de ses peurs et de ses haines. Sa campagne, ses excès et ses provocations l'ont montré, comme l'avait déjà illustré sa virulence au sein de son propre camp face à ses rivaux. Ses discours opportunistes et ses promesses fallacieuses ne sauraient faire illusion : tout lui est bon pour conquérir le pouvoir. Et tout lui sera bon pour le garder. Car nous le savons d'expérience : tant que nos institutions n'auront pas changé, l'Elysée restera un fortin inexpugnable. Confier la présidence de la République à un tel démagogue, c'est donc prendre le risque d'une confiscation durable du pouvoir au profit d'une caste, d'une bande ou d'un clan. Contre, parce que, loin d'apaiser les crises dont souffre la France, l'élection de Nicolas Sarkozy les aggraverait. La crise sociale d'abord, parce qu'il entend donner beaucoup plus à ceux qui ont déjà trop, augmenter les privilèges privés et réduire les solidarités publiques. La crise politique ensuite, parce qu'il veut renforcer le pouvoir présidentiel, se donner les pleins pouvoirs au détriment de tous les contre-pouvoirs. La crise identitaire enfin, parce qu'il a une vision ethnique, communautariste, voire religieuse, de la politique, celle-là même qui nourrit le désastreux choc des civilisations.

Aux électeurs du Parti communiste et de l'extrême gauche, qui portent une exigence sociale et internationaliste, aux électeurs des Verts et de José Bové, qui portent une exigence écologiste et altermondialiste, aux électeurs de François Bayrou, qui portent une exigence démocratique et éthique, aux électeurs de droite et du centre, qui portent une exigence de sérieux et de modération, nous disons que seule l'élection de Ségolène Royal peut garantir l'ouverture de ces possibles et le dialogue de ces espérances, dans le respect de leur diversité.

Voter contre Nicolas Sarkozy, c'est éviter le péril d'une France en guerre contre elle-même, en conflit et en crise, divisée et déchirée.

Voter pour Ségolène Royal, c'est faire le pari d'une France réconciliée avec elle-même, en dialogue et en ouverture, élevée et apaisée.

Signataires : Marc Abélès, anthropologue, Gabriel Aghion, réalisateur, Paul Alliès, politiste, Louis Astre, syndicaliste, Raymond Aubrac, Marc Augé, anthropologue, Jean-Pierre Azéma, historien, Jean-Pierre Bacri, comédien, Jeanne Balibar, comédienne, Sébastien Balibar, physicien, Christian Baudelot, sociologue, Guy Bedos, artiste, Samuel Benchetrit, écrivain-réalisateur, Charles Berling, comédien, Carmen Bernand, anthropologue, Dominique Besnehard, producteur, Philippe Besson, écrivain, Mario Bettati, juriste, Didier Bezace, metteur en scène, Luc Boltanski, sociologue, Daniel Borrillo, juriste, Jacques Bouveresse, philosophe, Michel Broué, mathématicien, André Burguière, historien, Marilyne Canto, comédienne-réalisatrice, Arnaud Cathrine, écrivain, Philippe Caubère, comédien, Stéphane Célérier, distributeur, Claude Chambard, écrivain, Noëlle Châtelet, écrivain, Monique Chemillier-Gendreau, juriste, Patrice Chéreau, metteur en scène, Christine Citti, comédienne, Albert Cohen, mathématicien, Catherine Corsini, réalisatrice, Constantin Costa-Gavras, réalisateur, Pierre-Louis Curien, mathématicien-informaticien, Olivier Delbosc, producteur, Robert Delpire, éditeur, François Dubet, sociologue, Bernard Faivre d'Arcier, ex-directeur du Festival d'Avignon, Cynthia Fleury, philosophe, Antoinette Fouque, psychanalyste, Gérard Fromanger, peintre, Françoise Gaspard, sociologue, Julie Gayet, comédienne, Christian Gilain, historien des mathématiques, Christophe Girard, producteur, Jean-Yves Girard, mathématicien, Christine Gozlan, productrice, Anouk Grinberg, comédienne, Etienne Guyon, physicien, Françoise Héritier, anthropologue, Stéphane Hessel, ambassadeur de France, Liêm Hoang-Ngoc, économiste, Angélique Ionatos, musicienne, Jean Jamin, anthropologue, Catherine Jeandel, océanographe, Philippe Joutard, historien, Axel Kahn, généticien, Cédric Kahn, réalisateur, Marcel-Francis Kahn, médecin, Sam Karmann, comédien-réalisateur, Camille Kouchner, juriste, Julia Kristeva, psychanalyste, Catherine Lamour, journaliste, Nicole Lapierre, sociologue, Armelle Le Bras-Chopard, politologue, Michèle Leduc, physicienne, François Luciani, réalisateur, Dominique Méda, sociologue, Eric Michaud, historien de l'art, Jean-Pierre Mignard, avocat, Marc Missonnier, producteur, Ariane Mnouchkine, metteur en scène, Sarah Moon, photographe, Jeanne Moreau, comédienne, Janine Mossuz-Lavau, politologue, Georges Moustaki, musicien, Gérard Noiriel, historien, François Ozon, réalisateur, Michelle Perrot, historienne, Christine Petit, biologiste, Thomas Piketty, économiste, Evelyne Pisier, juriste, Marie-France Pisier, comédienne, Denis Podalydès, comédien, Michèle Ray-Gavras, productrice, Natacha Régnier, comédienne, Joël Roman, éditeur, Jean-Paul Scarpitta, metteur en scène, Fabienne Servan-Schreiber, productrice, Philippe Sollers, écrivain, Marc Soriano, acteur-auteur, Dan Sperber, philosophe, Maria Stavrinaki, historienne de l'art, Benjamin Stora, historien, Bernard Stora, cinéaste, Martine Storti, écrivaine, Pierre Tambourin, biologiste, Bernard Teissier, mathématicien, Sylvie Testud, comédienne, Alexandre Tharaud, pianiste, Irène Théry, sociologue, Philippe Torreton, comédien, Pierre V. Tournier, démographe, Jacques Treiner, physicien, Lucette Valensi, historienne, Eliane Viennot, historienne, Daniel Vigne, réalisateur, Fabienne Vonier, productrice, Emmanuel Wallon, sociologue, Patrick Weil, historien, Lambert Wilson, comédien.

Site : www.appel6mai.net

She Served the Countess Well ...

From Mourning the ...

... and I will be ever grateful to her : art in Rocky Mount.

Answers from the Playpen

New York Times - Editorial
Still Waiting for Answers
Published: April 29, 2007
Why, after all this time, are Americans still in the dark about many of the Bush administration’s most important decisions? [...]
The country does not need any more myths. It needs answers.

Memorial for the Countess

Rose Tyson Gardner

August 30, 1926 - April 21, 2007

Memorial services will be held Saturday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at West Haven Presbyterian Church, Rocky Mount, conducted by the Rev. Connie Button. The family will receive friends in the Fellowship Hall at 3 p.m. before the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials are made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Nash General Hospital, West Haven Presbyterian Church or leukemia research.

Buying the War

Bill Moyers Journal . Buying the War . Additional Interviews PBS
Four years ago on May 1, President Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln wearing a flight suit and delivered a speech in front of a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner. He was hailed by media stars as a "breathtaking" example of presidential leadership in toppling Saddam Hussein. Despite profound questions over the failure to locate weapons of mass destruction and the increasing violence in Baghdad, many in the press confirmed the White House's claim that the war was won. MSNBC's Chris Matthews declared, "We're all neo-cons now;" NPR's Bob Edwards said, "The war in Iraq is essentially over;" and Fortune magazine's Jeff Birnbaum said, "It is amazing how thorough the victory in Iraq really was in the broadest context."
...
"Buying the War" examines the press coverage in the lead-up to the war as evidence of a paradigm shift in the role of journalists in democracy and asks, four years after the invasion, what's changed? "More and more the media become, I think, common carriers of administration statements and critics of the administration," says THE WASHINGTON POST's Walter Pincus. "We've sort of given up being independent on our own."

They deserve praise...

Guantánamo is Unamerican !

After the Lawyers - New York Times
Editorial
Published: April 27, 2007

It can be hard to tell whom the Bush administration considers more of an enemy at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp: the prisoners or the lawyers. [...]
Mr. Bush thinks that he has the right to ignore the Constitution when it suits him. But this is a nation of laws, not the whims of men, and giving legal rights to the guilty as well as the innocent is a price of true justice. The only remedy is for lawmakers to rewrite the Military Commissions Act to restore basic rights to Guantánamo Bay and to impose full accountability for what has happened there.

Still No Justice in the "Justice" Department

As this report on the antidemocratic, unjust, and unconstitutional - and completely arrogant - "requests" of the Justice Department from the New York Times confirms, the bushbaby playpen still blocks any and all efforts to bring suspected terrorists to justice, which of course means charging them, providing a speedy and fair trial, and a judgement on guilt or innocence from a fair and impartial court.
(And why is anyone in favor of Gonzales keeping his ill-fitted post?)

The New York Times
Washington
Court Asked to Limit Lawyers at Guantánamo
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: April 26, 2007
A Justice Department filing in a federal appeals court proposes limits on lawyers’ contact with their clients and access to secret evidence in their cases.
[...]
“These rules,” Mr. Hafetz of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University said, “are an effort to restore Guantánamo to its prior status as a legal black hole.”

Rose Tyson Gardner

Rose Tyson Gardner, 80, of Rocky Mount, NC, died Saturday, April 21, 2007.

Born in Farmville, NC, she was the daughter of the late Henry Calvin Tyson and Mary Ida Edwards Tyson.

A longtime Presbyterian, she was a member of Edgemont Presbyterian Church for many years, serving as that congregation’s first female ordained elder. She was an active Sunday School teacher, served as Clerk of Session and treasurer. At the time of her death, she was a member of West Haven Presbyterian Church. A member of Lydia Chapter #109 of the Order of the Eastern Star for many years, she served three different terms as Worthy Matron and in several other offices while her health would permit. At the time of her death, she was a member of Nashville Chapter #332.

She is survived by a son George Richard Gardner Jr. and husband Detlef Siegel of Berlin, Germany, and daughter Teresa Anne Gardner Price and husband Jeffrey Price of Taylors, S.C.; grandchildren Jennifer Michelle Price and Christopher George Price; sisters Carrie Bess Davis of Hickory, N.C., Sally Tyson Mozingo and husband Willy of Farmville, N.C., Mary Tyson Smith of Farmville, N.C., and Addie Parker Williams and husband Thomas of Sanford, N.C.; brothers Amos Joyner Tyson of Farmville, N.C., and Henry C. Tyson Jr. and wife Wilma of Greenville, N.C.; sisters-in-law MaeBelle Gardner Hudgins of Nashville, N.C., and Anne Gardner Williams and husband David of Ahoskie, N.C.; and brothers-in-law Julian M. Gardner and wife Inez of Weldon, N.C., and W. Thomas Gardner and wife Margaret of Swansboro, N.C.; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband George Richard Gardner, her sister Lou Tyson Streetman and her brother the Rev. Aaron G. Tyson.

---

Rose Tyson Gardner, 80, died Saturday, April 21, 2007, following a brief illness.

[...]

Memorial services will be held Saturday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at West Haven Presbyterian Church, Rocky Mount, conducted by the Rev. Connie Button. The family will receive friends in the Fellowship Hall at 3 p.m. before the service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials are made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Nash General Hospital, West Haven Presbyterian Church or leukemia research. Arrangements are entrusted to Bowling Funeral Home and Crematory, 661 English Road, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.

Published in the Rocky Mount Telegram on 4/25/2007.

And now elect Mme La Présidente !

Les résultats du premier tour de la présidentielle par département
LEMONDE.FR 22.04.07

©

LIBÉRATION
Présidentielle. Les leçons du scrutin. Editorial
Le choix de la clarté
Par Laurent JOFFRIN
QUOTIDIEN : lundi 23 avril 2007
La France a sauvé la gauche. En dépit d'une campagne incertaine et des poignards venus de son propre camp, Ségolène Royal approche les scores de François mitterrand au premier tour, ce qui lui laisse tous les espoirs au second, dans cette élection où on la disait mal placée, malhabile, maladroite. Vote utile ? Pas seulement. Après tout, beaucoup pensaient que le vrai vote utile s'appelait François Bayrou. Les Français ont jugé, d'abord, qu'on ne pouvait pas effacer de notre mémoire tant de luttes populaires, tant de conquêtes chèrement obtenues, qu'on ne pouvait pas rayer de l'avenir l'ancienne espérance d'un monde plus juste. Royal qualifiée sans conteste, le rêve vit toujours.
La France a aussi choisi la clarté. Une droite franche affrontera au second tour une gauche qui doit faire le pari du renouveau. Ce duel salutaire est celui de toutes les démocraties modernes. La France a inventé la configuration droite-gauche pendant la Révolution. Fidèle à elle-même, elle a jugé que l'outil pouvait encore servir, dans un monde où la question sociale et celle de la liberté individuelle face aux pouvoirs restent les deux grands marqueurs de la civilisation des droits de l'homme. La vaste mobilisation civique survenue dans une nation qu'on disait désabusée, fatiguée de la classe politique, ajoute encore à l'aveuglante clarté de la volonté populaire. Au-delà du souvenir douloureux de 2002, les Français ont voulu que s'ouvrent devant eux deux chemins, nettement dessinés sur la carte de l'Histoire. Ce choix n'enlève rien au
mérite des autres candidats, hommes et femmes de talent éliminés dans une compétition loyale. Ils ont exprimé des sensibilités fortes. Ils pèseront sur le choix ultime. Encore faut-il que ce choix reste clair. On le sait, l'élection de Sarkozy serait une rupture. Faisant preuve d'une roublardise certaine ­ n'est-il pas aussi l'homme du passif ? ­, l'intéressé n'en a pas fait mystère. Pour la première fois, une droite qui dit son nom se présente à visage découvert devant l'électeur. Autorité de l'Etat, fermeté policière, fermeture migratoire, ouverture marchande, repli identitaire : le programme est affiché. Tant mieux, au fond. Nous savons à quoi nous en tenir. La France veut-elle de cette droite-là au pouvoir ? La question est limpide. A condition que les masques restent au vestiaire. Lesté d'une bonne part des électeurs de Le Pen, le candidat de l'UMP va maintenant chercher à rassurer. A son projet néoconservateur, Nicolas Sarkozy va, à coup sûr, accrocher quelques guirlandes progressistes, quelques fanfreluches sociales. Laissez venir à moi les petits centristes. Dans la campagne qui commence, il faudra se souvenir de la campagne qui s'est achevée samedi. Dans son discours inaugural ­ fort bon au demeurant ­, Sarkozy avait évoqué les mânes de Victor Hugo et de la république valeureuse. Puis, au fil des meetings et des incidents, il a droitisé son discours. Il avait débuté avec Jaurès. Il a fini avec Le Pen. Ne l'oublions pas. Pour autant, la gauche ne peut pas se contenter de ces utiles rappels. Sarkozy est très à droite, d'accord. Mais cette élection ne saurait se changer trivialement en référendum sur un homme, aussi symbolique soit-il. A un projet négatif, il faut opposer un projet positif. La madone des meetings ne peut pas se contenter de pointer du doigt le méchant Sarkozy. Elle doit défendre des mesures, des propositions, des décisions. Pas celles de la vieille gauche, épuisée par la gestion et une certaine forme de cynisme. Il faut réduire ­ vraiment cette fois ­ la fracture sociale, réconcilier une France fragmentée, mettre le service public au service du public, relancer l'entreprise pour relancer l'embauche, rassurer les faibles et intimider les forts, bref, au-delà d'une posture démocratique et d'une sensibilité à l'opinion, avoir une vision. Le combat s'engage. Un combat Royal.
© Libération

Deadlines, War Money and Pork - New York Times

Deadlines, War Money and Pork - New York Times

Editorial
Deadlines, War Money and Pork

Published: April 23, 2007
President Bush is taking every opportunity to rail against the troop withdrawal deadlines in the war-spending bills that Congress is readying for passage.

L'amore que muove ...

A l'alta fantasia qui mancò possa;
ma già volgeva il mio disio e'l velle,
sì come rota ch'igualmente è mossa,
l'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle.

Here vigour fail'd the tow'ring fantasy:
But yet the will roll'd onward, like a wheel
In even motion, by the Love impell'd,
That moves the sun in heav'n and all the stars.

L’imagination perdit ici ses forces ;
mais déjà mon envie avec ma volonté
tournaient comme une roue aux ordres de l’amour
qui pousse le soleil et les autres étoiles.

Hier war die Macht der Phantasie bezwungen,
Doch Wunsch und Will’, in Kraft aus ew’ger
Ferne, Ward, wie ein Rad, gleichmäßig umgeschwungen,
Durch Liebe, die beweget Sonn’ und Sterne.

- Dante Alighieri

For Rose, as we look at the stars

Her Journey's End

The Countess has peacefully and gracefully completed her journey.

Two kids could have never had a better mother.

Sisters and brothers could have never known a better sibling.

Brothers- and sisters-in-law had a true blood relative in her.

Nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews enjoyed her doting admiration.

And two grandchildren learned of her overpowering affection.

We all knew her boundless love.

Thank you, Countess.

We all love you, too.

Rose Tyson Gardner

August 30, 1926 - April 21, 2007

A film, a warning...

If this doesn't make you understand that fundamentalists are something beyond either Islam or Christianity, then your world may well be ending tomorrow!
Watch the trailer and I'll be looking for the film in total.
Hopefully we may have a chance to teach some of those kids, because up to now they're only being indoctrinated.
Teach them literature! Teach them to READ books, ALL books, as many as they can get there hands on.
And beware of people ready to die for their gods!

"Jesus Camp" documentary Trailer
Hochgeladen von moviemax1

The documentary film is called "Jesus Camp" and portrays a fundamentalist summer camp run by evangelicals training kids to be soldiers to take over the country for Christ. Sounds like the sort of thing they were doing in Afghanistan to me: resulted in a couple of towers less in NYC. And we have also recently learned how a student in Virginia can react to what he considers decadence...
Here as well a link to the official website for the film which includes more excerpts, information, and photos.

Zeit und Ewigkeit / Time and Eternity / Le temps et l'éternité

Appropriate to be quoting now, as it was appropriate for me to read it on my way to give lessons this morning, is this extract from MH, GA Bd 67, Metaphysik und Nihilismus, 1. Die Überwindung der Metaphysik, §118. Zeit und Ewigkeit; Frankfurt aM: Klostermann, 1999; S. 125. Following the original German is my quick-draft attempt at an English translation, while recalling always that Italian proverb, "tradutore traditore".

Das Ewige ist das Einstige und zwar in dem wesenhaft-einigen Doppelsinn des vormalig-gewesenen Anfangs und des einstmals Kommenden. Nicht die Langeweile einer still gelegten und überallhin endlosen Gegenwart.

The eternal is the former (or: what "once was") and, to be precise, in the intrinsically united (or: the "essentially being one with itself") double meaning of the beginning that has previously been and of that which formerly was ("once was") to come. Not the boredom (or: "long enduring while") of some present rendered motionless (or: "laid to rest", or: "closed down") and endless in all directions.

L'éternel est le jadis (ce qu'il y avait une fois) et, précisément, dans le sens double essentiellement unifié du commencement qu'il y avait auparavant et de ce qui une fois était à venir. Non pas l'ennui (la durée longue, le perdurer) d'un présent figé et partout sans fin.

The Countess had decided to have no more transfusions; the strain provides her no benefit though her counts be low. The Countess is resting a lot, from pain medications and from the sapping of leukemia. The Countess is at peace and peaceful and nearing peace.
Time-Space is not endless, but eternal, not long, but vast, always beginning. And man is there to realize this, to be human, to share.
It was the Countess who taught me how to read.

Other Territories of Concern

In homage to the late Susan Sontag, I would like to provide a quotation from her essay "The Conscience of Words" included in her last book, At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches, published by Farrar Straus Giroux of New York in 2007, page 147. I completed the volume just after returning from my last visit to the Countess and Chicora Court. It is in harmony with so much of what has always moved me to be as I am that I must at least share with as many as I can possibly reach this one observation from it.

I don't believe there is any inherent value in the cultivation of the self. And I think there is no culture (using the term normatively) without a standard of altruism, of regard for others. I do believe there is an inherent value in extending our sense of what a human life can be. If literature has engaged me as a project, first as reader and then as writer, it is as an extension of my sympathies to others selves, other domains, other dreams, other words, other territories of concern.

Reading to Write Others

Writing is reading what I am not, as is reading a contact with what I am not. In both expressions, the key words are BEING and NOT, or nothingness.
There where I am not is where I write and read to and from. So that not is not nothing: nothingness is certainly not nothing.
BEING essentially from the abyss of enowning truth into being from nothingness, only apparently a circle, indeed a gigantic spiral: the screw turns down into its base while spiraling upward with each turn. The base does not precede, it is enowned: from abyss to "byss", from the truth of being to the being of truth. Man is enowned in being-there to catch flashes of that enowning, Being, Nothingness, Truth.
It isn't confused; it is different:
The other beginning.
Welcome.

Close Guantanamo Prison

In the hopes the bushbaby might listen finally if the whole world petitions him directly, check out this short petition from avaaz.org calling for immediate closure of the lawless prison in Guantánamo.

Here, the text of the petition:

Petition to US President Bush: We call upon US President Bush to close Guantanamo Bay prison forever. Every detainee should be charged with a crime and tried in a legitimate court or immediately released. We further call on President Bush to respect international law and basic human rights in the handling of all current and future prisoners in US custody.

Here, a link for you to sign the petition online:
SIGN THE PETITION

Here, brief information on the group (more easily available through the link above):

Avaaz.org is a community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today. The aim of Avaaz.org is to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decisions. Avaaz.org members act for a more just and peaceful world and a globalisation with a human face.

Another Way to Miss a Flight

As Harper's reports, the playpen sometimes denies those who disagree with the bushbaby access to their flights at times - or at least displaces their luggage. So watch out what you say or write or maybe even read and just keep hoping you can board your next flight!

Harper's Magazine
No Comment
Tales from Stasiland: Making the No-Fly List
by Scott Horton, April 9, 2007

Meet the latest addition to the Bush Administration's Enemies List: His name is Walter F. Murphy. He is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence emeritus at Princeton University, and perhaps the nation's leading scholar working on the frontier turf between public law and political science. He's also a retired Marine Corps colonel, wounded in combat
for his country and decorated for valor under fire.

Over at Balkinization, Mark Graber treats us to Prof. Murphy's first-hand account:

On 1 March 07, I was scheduled to fly on American Airlines to Newark, NJ, to attend an academic conference at Princeton University, designed to focus on my latest scholarly book, onstitutional Democracy, published by Johns Hopkins University Press this past Thanksgiving.
When I tried to use the curb-side check in at the Sunport, I was denied a boarding pass because I was on the Terrorist Watch list. I was instructed to go inside and talk to a clerk...
I presented my credentials from the Marine Corps to a very polite clerk for American Airlines. One of the two people to whom I talked asked a question and offered a frightening comment: “Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that.” I explained that I had not so marched but had, in September, 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution. “That'll do it,” the man said.

Murphy relates that he did eventually get a boarding pass and caught his flight. An attendant warned him: “they're going to ransack your luggage.” On the way back, his luggage was “lost.” Writes Murphy: “Airlines do lose a lot of luggage and this 'loss' could have been a mere coincidence. In light of previous events, however, I'm a tad skeptical.”

So it's not just a speech in a cornfield that can cause you delay when flying as long as bushbabies and their playpens are still around.

Airport Blues - or at least Violets - And a Chick for the Countess

Well, made it out of RDU only 30 minutes late, which didn't matter, since we've planned this return with so much slack not even the bushbaby should be able to cornfield speech it out of whack, and got here on time anyway. Here is Boston, the airport at Logan, where this is going out to the web. Seems they plan to fly out of RDU late in any case. Anyway.

Good we had a lot of time to be able to get past the illiterate marble mouthed mumbling woman checking boarding passes before allowing passengers to proceed to the security check outside the gates of our depature terminal for our next leg, to Paris CDG, as she couldn't understand why there were two boarding passes in my possession with the word Boston on them (one was from the flight we arrived on, one for the one we'll depart Logan on) and wanted to know, I discovered after getting her to repeat her mumble some 5 times, "Where you get these?" At the airport I started from of course and added that she only needed to look at the one to Paris, not the one from RDU nor the one to Berlin! "I can't understand why there are two with Boston on them," she mumbled, and I explained that some people change planes here, just pass though, especially in view of the sort of reception she was giving... "Thank you, Sir." This lady works here everyday, I assume, and has never before seen anyone with two boarding passes !!! ???

Anyway. We've made it, eaten burgers, and can calmly wait forever for our Paris flight knowing we have plenty of time there before continuing to Berlin.

And leaving the Countess was not easy, not saying goodbye, only "see you later", hugging her, exchanging I-love-you's, driving off with the Lady-in-Waiting, saying bye to her over hot chocolate at that southern airport, knowing that the next time my Consort and I see the L-i-W will surely be even sadder, approaching a box of ashes instead of a Countess with a Chick.

Cause we gave her an Easter basket with salty pretzels and a Walking Hippy Chick that lays jellybean eggs, tickled her fully, enjoyed seeing her absorbed in something for a few minutes, fully out of her waitingroom mode, watching her proudly demonstrate it for everybody, laughing genuinely and freely, accepting our present, none too silly, just right, and not trying to give it away to the next person who walked through the door.

Perhaps weak, perhaps mottled with platelet-deficiency blotches, perhaps waiting eagerly for each next dose of anti-pain meds, the Countess is still there, waiting, sometimes impatiently, sorrowing, that the farewells are becoming ever more final, but laughing still over a silly plastic chicken.

We love you Countess !!!

Here We Are...

THE COUNTESS WITH HER FAMILY

From Tysons Gather...

Draft Report on New Court Reporter

Though the Lady-in-Waiting is opposed to the designation, Court Reporter is what the Countess transformed Doll Baby (a 96-year-old Chick of Chicora Court) into yesterday to determine the accuracy of her determination of the identity of the itinerant preacher man who showed up here yesterday, while we (L-i-W, Consort, and Page) were out fetching an Arbied lunch, only to be refused entry upon not giving the attending sister of the Countess his name. The cameraman at his side was also part of the Countess' decision to tell him, when he announced he had come to pray with her, that it was not a good time.

Now, there had been a missionary-like communion session up at the Court’s rec-room immediately prior to this, and the Countess knew from Consort and Page that Doll Baby had been among those who went up there. So, when the latter came by for a visit, checking on her neighbor, later that afternoon, the Countess had her sit at the foot of the throne and answer her questions about the “service”, who was there, who was not, who the preacher was, what he looks like, if he had come up this way afterwards, etc.

An uninterested Court Reporter, Doll Baby nonetheless replied tersely to the queries, all clearly of no import to her, and confirmed that Mark the prayer man had even insisted on walking her up to her door adding, “So I had to go back home.” Evidently that had not been her plan.

Perhaps the Countess had also accomplished her subtle mission of spreading work back through her Court that someone, even to pray, who doesn’t identify himself will not be admitted into her presence. (Not to mention the fact that the Countess has a Court Pastor of her confidence and stands in no need of being the subject of missionary efforts.)

At any rate, her brief role as Court Reporter accomplished despite herself, Doll Baby left clearly in her own role, the only one at Court old enough to admonish, albeit it mildly with a wagging crooked finger, the Countess at all.

Auntie Times Got It Right !

The New York Times
Editorial
Guantánamo Follies
Published: April 6, 2007
Each development in the show trials of Guantánamo Bay inmates brings fresh evidence of how urgent it is for the courts to strike down the Military Commissions Act of 2006 and for Congress to rewrite it.

Evidently Lucky It Didn't Come to a Real Blowup !

Apparently the world was very lucky (again) that one of the "bad guy nations" of the world didn't know, before releasing Her Majesty's Sailors, what one of the world's "good guy countries" was really up to.

SKY NEWS
In His Own Words
Updated: 17:22, Thursday April 05, 2007
Captain Chris Air of the Royal Marines revealed to Sky News that he and his colleagues had been gathering intelligence on the Iranians.
Here follows the full transcript of that interview.

'We Gathered Intelligence'
Updated: 22:05, Thursday April 05, 2007
The captain in charge of the 15 marines detained in Iran has said they were gathering intelligence on the Iranians.
Sky News went on patrol with Captain Chris Air and his team in Iraqi waters close to the area where they were arrested - just five days before the crisis began.

Chance for More Courts to Protect Freedom of the Press

Because a couple of organizations (see below) are appealing the dismissal of "charges" against Charlie Hebdo, now some further courts in France and Europe will have the chance, the duty to guarantee freedom of speech and press. No ideology or religion, freely exercised, may be allowed to legislate or judicate what others in a civil society are allowed to say or write. An ideology or religion can operate in a civil society with means of persuasion, as do we all, but never with means of coercion or prohibition. What such a group does to or with its own members is of no interest to a civil society as long as the individual is not denied his civil rights. A member of such a group who freely chooses to rein in his freedom of thought or opinion is surely lamentable but nothing legislatable or judicable.
Here the information on the appeals against freedom of speech:

Procès Charlie Hebdo : La Ligue islamique mondiale fait appel
La Ligue islamique mondiale, a annoncé vendredi qu'elle faisait appel de la relaxe prononcée en faveur de Charlie Hebdo.
L'Union des organisations islamiques de France (UOIF), l'organisation intégriste qui avait été élevée par Nicolas Sarkozy au rang de partenaire incontournable avait fait appel quelques jours auparavant. Lire
Dans un communiqué la Ligue islamique mondiale délcare : "Il s'agit d'une question de principe, et la Ligue islamique mondiale (LIM) qui ne désespère aucunement des hiérarchies pense que les juridictions supérieures ne pourront faire deux poids et deux mesures dans les questions touchant aux injures raciales (...) En outre, la LIM veut se ménager l'accès vers la Cour européenne des Droits de l'Homme, en cas de déboutement généralisé par les cours françaises".
La mosquée de Paris, défendue par Maître Szpinner, avocat de Jacques Chirac et d'Omar Bongo, n'a pas fait appel.
samedi 31 mars 2007

SOURCE: © www.prochoix.org

Countess Staff at Work

Just prior to discussion of final crematory arrangements with the Countess and the representative of her preferred facility for same, the Lady-in-Waiting and the Page were busy online behind her back (no rearview mirror granted despite her jocular requests for same from her throne in the invisible foreground of this court image. The Countess was able to secure answers to all her questions from the representative summoned to Court, and he was instructed to bring papers for signature on Friday afternoon. Simple sealable vault for the cremains, family in charge at Pineview, West Haven for wake and memorial. And we hardly choked up much at all.

Courts Should Uphold Justice

Coming Up Short on Habeas for Detainees
JURIST Contributing Editor Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, president of the National Lawyers Guild, says that the Supreme Court's failure to marshall enough votes to review the habeas-stripping provisions of the Military Commissions Act at this stage shows that the court cannot be relied upon to consistently provide justice and that Congress should pass rescinding legislation...
-An excellent article deserving of wider attention

Countess Welcomes Back to Court...

... the Page and Consort after a near 24 hour journey capped by a derouted Lady-in-Waiting fetching them from the airport only after a (for her) nerve-wracking delay, by a smile from the Countess, when they arrived at Court, which radiated out into the parking lot in the twilight, though she was so tired she could hardly stay awake while they ate Brunswick stew, chicken salad, and pecan pie.
The Countess can now sleep peacefully, and here the Page and Consort will do the same.