Historical Evil from the Playpen

Consortiumnews.com

Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, said, "the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May of 2002 -- well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion -- its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida." [Washington Note, May 13, 2009]
Journalist Paul Krugman said of the mounting evidence: "Let's say this slowly: the Bush administration wanted to use 9/11 as a pretext to invade Iraq, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. So it tortured people to make them confess to the nonexistent link.
"There's a word for this: it's evil." [Paul Krugman Blog, May 14, 2009]

Powell aide says torture helped build Iraq war case

(CNN) -- Finding a "smoking gun" linking Iraq and al Qaeda became the main purpose of the abusive interrogation program the Bush administration authorized in 2002, a former State Department official told CNN on Thursday.
The allegation was included in an online broadside aimed at former Vice President Dick Cheney by Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff for then-Secretary of State Colin Powell. In it, Wilkerson wrote that the interrogation program began in April and May of 2002, and then-Vice President Cheney's office kept close tabs on the questioning.
"Its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at preempting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al Qaeda," Wilkerson wrote in The Washington Note, an online political journal.

Why am I not in the least surprised? How did I somehow always know this was what they were doing all along? Why was I the only one to see and smell all that sour milk splattered all over the bushbaby and all his playmates? Does anyone any longer doubt that the bushbaby and chainy were national security risks for eight years? Do you realize how lucky the world was to survive those maniacs?

Do Ask and Do Tell President Obama

Obama needs to uphold his pledge to reverse the "don't ask don't tell" regulation on gays in the military. Discipline is something else; stupidity and self-denial has nothing to do with proper defense of the country.

Watch the interview below with Rachel Maddow and follow the link to sign the petition urging Obama to take action to reverse the dismissal of those who have said they are gay.

Here is the simple text from the Courage Campaign that I am requesting you to sign:

Dear President Barack Obama,
The time has come to end discrimination in our armed forces. We, the undersigned, ask you to stop
the discharge of Lt. Dan Choi and any other soldier as a result of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. We ask that you uphold your pledge and push Congress to quickly put a bill on your desk to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
Sincerely

YOU can do something here, so don't just wait for others to fix this mess.

Apologies to the FOX Table

On the right to bear arms, joyrides, mothers, gay marriage in Iowa, bailouts for the GOP, Cheney interrogations, 100 days, auto executive of the year, talking to our enemies, the mayor of NYC, house-training dogs, losing your cool, approximations of truth, and journalism: Barack Obama at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on May 9, just in case you missed it or never heard about it...

Happy Mother's Day

To a great Berlin mother, feisty, loving, caring, and full of vigor:

EDITH

To all the others of you out there who are mothers, congratulations for putting up with the rest of us.

And always present memory of mothers gone.

----

unrelated, a link to our own photos from the exhibition at Alexanderplatz on the fall of the Wall, etc. mentioned a couple of posts ago

Deserved Approval

Here, with no further comment, are links to three US newspaper articles concerning one of the points Caroline Fourest pointed out as one of the important accomplishments of Mr. Obama so far in the article quoted in my previous post, below. The response to her article in Le Monde, by the way, has been one of unanimous praise and expressions of the need for Americans to read her piece. Should I translate it for you here? Let's leave it in French for a while and hope those who have broader horizons get it. But, if there is demand....
So, here the links to the US news stories:

Obama to be prayer day no-show - President to sign proclamation, observe privately -The Washington Times, May 6, 2009

Obama's Prayer Day observance subdued - UPI, May 7, 2009

Obama plans a scaled back National Day of Prayer - The Washington Post, May 6, 2009

Obama, or Inciting Reason

Obama ou l'incitation à la raison, par Caroline Fourest - Le Monde.fr

A l'extérieur, Obama a d'ores et déjà réhabilité le principe du multilatéralisme, et fait preuve d'une fermeté nouvelle envers le gouvernement israélien. En interne, il a mis fin à l'embargo décrété par son prédécesseur George Bush contre les centres de planification familiale à l'étranger, et s'apprête à profiter du départ à la retraite d'un juge de la Cour suprême pour
le remplacer par un ou une juge libéral(e). Mieux, il vient d'annoncer que cette année, contrairement à la tradition, la Maison Blanche ne fêtera pas la journée nationale de la prière... Un vrai sacrilège dans cette nation en principe laïque mais toujours "Under God" (placée sous Dieu).
[...] Il est temps de dire que "l'Amérique n'est plus une nation chrétienne", déclarait-il en 2006 : "Nous sommes aussi une nation juive, musulmane, bouddhiste, hindoue, et une nation de non-croyants." A l'issue d'une campagne où ses adversaires ont régulièrement invoqué Dieu pour tenter de le délégitimer, il invitait les politiques à "traduire leurs préoccupations en langage universel plutôt qu'en valeurs spécifiquement religieuses".
[...] Avec lui, les Américains réapprennent à regarder la réalité en face. Tous ceux qui confondent un chef d'Etat avec un messie ou un prophète seront déçus in fine. C'est pourtant cette modestie, pleine d'un espoir rationnel, qui devrait rassurer.

Reason acknowledges what is and welcomes it, flees the shadows of credulity, and stands in the light. C.Fourest's article is an appropriate measured praise of the first one hundred days of Mr. Obama's presidency.

The End of Election Fraud

Twenty years ago today was the last election under the old GDR regime, municipal elections throughout the country, and to the right you can see a campaign poster used by the "national front" as only party alliance permitted on the ballots. Voters only had the possibility of crossing out names or otherwise making the ballot invalid, as they were required to go to the polls. Manipulation of the results was proven by civil observers who had managed to monitor the counting under a provision of GDR law and then file charges of election fraud against those responsible. This was a major step by the civil rights protesters in the GDR and led to protests on the 7th of each following month to demand free elections and civil rights for citizens of the GDR.

Today, an open air exhibition was opened on Alexanderplatz to commemorate those ongoing demonstrations held there and in many other towns and cities of the GDR until the Wall finally fell on November 9. This is a link to the English version of the website on that peaceful revolution culminating in the fall of the Wall. And also a press shot of one of the demonstrations at Alexanderplatz, now simulated with posters and transparencies on poles at the very location where they occurred twenty years ago.

It was curated and organized by the organization responsible for the archives of the GDR opposition groups, the Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft e.V, whose website also gives incredible insights into what happened.

Here, as well, a link to the German Federal Commissioner for the archives, reconstitution, public access, and study of the documents of the GDR Stasi, the secret police of the GDR. It is very enlightening to recall how a state attempted to spy on its own citizens, what nonsense they collected, and how many lives they destroyed by sowing suspicion, fomenting envy, and promoting fear. No one could be sure whether their friends were actually spies or not.

Berlin's Sky Lit Up For Our Thirteenth !

We really enjoyed the fireworks they put on for us yesterday evening at the racetrack in Hoppegarten. There were a total of 4 nearly half-hour long fireworks displays plus a combination laser/fireworks show of a quarter-hour. Yep, two hours of lighting up the skies over Berlin with the flame of our on-going love story, that's what I call a celebration!

Yes, and these few seconds of video can hardly give you the feeling we had as thousands shared the spectacle of light arranged for our special day:

This is our day!

Yes, 13 years ago today we met and fell in love; and Detlef and I have been enjoying a life of constant bliss ever since.

The immense joy of such a fulfilled and fulfilling love is the fuel with which we light up all around us.
And this flame is in fact brighter than ever, so intense indeed that it will tonight ignite endless fireworks at the horse track in Hoppegarten where, after coffee and cake with the nearby Neuenhagen relatives (especially niece Lea & nephew Malte), we are going to celebrate our anniversary at a gigantic pyrotechnical extravaganza!

Happy May Day !

International Labor Day

Dancing into May

Dance Around the Maypole

Walpurgis Night

Hoping-Kreuzberg-Doesn't-Go-Up-In-Flames Day

Official Opening Day of Berlin's Center City River Bar Beaches

and a holiday

(So we'll start with a workout in our gym.)

And then, a good meal is always appropriate for the first holiday of summer, isn't it?

Just down the street from Berlin's Red Town Hall, with the two statues in honor of male and female manual workers across from it, is where we indulged in the steakhouse's salad bar!

You Can Add More to the List

Yes, in nearly all countries shaken by bank mismanagement and waste and fraud and swindle, you can easily add a lot more names to the list of those who should be fired by the responsible parties in the governments which are keeping those institutions afloat as systemic necessities. Indeed, the people are even more systemically necessary to the economy than any bank ever will be.
Watch the video on Bank of America's uppity boss:

Thinking Again, and Happy About It !

Um das Bleibende stiften zu können, muß der Dichter selbst ein bleibender sein;
er muß das Eine vermögen, zu bleiben in dem Vielen, was in der langen Zeit zu
tragen und im Gesang zu sagen bleibt.
[MH GA Bd.52, §65, S.194]

And love indeed finds its essential base in words.

Human Rights Revisited in Geneva

The Durban Review Conference (20-24 April 2009) started this week in Geneva, Switzerland. It will evaluate progress towards the goals set by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Statement by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the remarks by the President of Iran at the Durban Review Conference, 20 April 2009
I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even
incite. This is the opposite of what this Conference seeks to achieve. This makes it significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism.
It is deeply regrettable that my plea to look to the future of unity was not heeded by the Iranian President. At my earlier meeting with him, I stressed the importance of the Conference to galvanize the will of the international community toward the common cause of fight against racism.
I further stressed the need to look to the future, not to the past of divisiveness. In this regard, I reminded the President that the UN General Assembly had adopted the resolutions to revoke the equation of Zionism with racism and to reaffirm the historical facts of the Holocaust respectively.
We must all turn away from such a message in both form and substance. We must join hands and work together to achieve a constructive, substantive agenda to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The film below, in three parts in the French original, provides an excellent picture of the difficult struggle to preserve and expand human rights, making use of the only world-wide organization available to do so, despite venomous resistance and the attempts of many to exploit the Human Rights Commision of the UN.

DOCUMENTAIRE LA GUERRE DES DROITS DE L HOMME

La bataille des droits de l'homme
Retour sur la première édition de la conférence contre le racisme qui s'est tenue à Durban en 2001, où certaines interventions ont suscité une polémique internationale.
"Nous pensions aller à une réunion de l'ONU contre le racisme et nous avons assisté à un déchaînement raciste" : tel est le souvenir gardé par certains participants à la première conférence mondiale contre le racisme, la discrimination raciale, la xénophobie et l'intolérance qui s'est tenue à Durban (Afrique du Sud) en septembre 2001. Le conflit israélo-palestinien s'était invité à la tribune, des slogans pro-islamistes et antisémites avaient été lancés dans le cadre du forum des ONG, entraînant le départ des délégations d'Israël et des États-Unis... Pour remédier à ces dérives, l'ONU a refondé son Conseil des droits de l'homme en 2006. Le film pénètre dans les coulisses de ce nouveau Conseil, qui a toujours pour mission de mettre en oeuvre la Déclaration universelle de 1948. Mais la préparation de la conférence de Genève (dite Durban 2) révèle, selon les termes de Robert Badinter interrogé dans le film, que "les droits de l'homme sont redevenus le lieu d'un combat idéologique". Une bataille qui passe par la guerre des mots. Ainsi, la lutte contre le racisme doit-elle interdire de s'attaquer aux religions ? La question divisait les nations à la veille de Durban 2...
EN BONUS LE DISCOURS EN FRANCAIS DU PRESIDENT IRANIEN
http://documentaireroots.kazeo.com/

Still Shining Into Our Lives!

ROSE

August 30, 1926 - April 21, 2007

Thanks

Looking back to smile into the future, pulling the past into now to ignite the flame of awareness, I am so privileged to have known you and carry you along with me in my loving wonder of existence and in the wonder of the great love I share with a partner who also received the warmth of your gaze.

Just So

Hello from one of the beaches in Berlin

to all those somewhere without such a fabulous blue sky.

Yesterday's little hike in town.

Just our celebration of the wonder of what is.

What It's All About . . .

» Es handelt sich darum, ob das Wesen des ungeschichtlich gewordenen planetarischen Menschen ins Wanken und damit in die Besinnung gebracht wird. «

[MH GA Bd.52, §2, S.6]

It's all about whether the essential being of the global human become unhistorical can be shaken and thus brought into consideration.

[transl.RG]

Il s'agit de si l'aître essentiel de l'homme planétaire devenu non-historique peut être ébranlé et ainsi mis en considération.

[transl.RG]

A Polish Easter for a German-American Berlin Couple

As the weather has continued to be non-stop warm and intensely blue skies, we spontaneously decided for a trip to Szcecin (Stettin) on Easter Sunday. And our idea was right: while here the city was bursting with tourists and Berliners vying for space in the sun and in front of landmarks, the train to Angermünde was full (many having headed for the cloister in Chorin or on to relatively close Baltic Sea beaches), but the little connector over the boarder and on to the former Hansa town of Stettin, now Szcecin, was basically empty, as was this charming Oder harbor town itself.
EVERYTHING except the churches was closed, with the exception of two restaurants and one cafe, all on the same terrace overlooking the river, where the Polish citizens came after church in their Easter finery for lunch or ice cream. And thank goodness for that, because we had begun to wonder if we'd be able to eat lunch anywhere at all. So the Colorado Steak House provided us with ample and quite tasty food, although the only thing Polish there was the beer, and the waitress seemed surprised that we wanted it, as Carlsberg was what they are trademarked as in that place.
We almost thought the picture taking would end, when our batteries gave out, but then near the station there was miraculously one 24-hour 7-day supermarket of sorts with the cheapest batteries I've ever found. We first bought a pack of four for 2.50 zloty, stuck them in the camera and it worked. Then we realized they had only cost us about 50 euro cents and decided to buy another pack; even if they only worked a couple of hours they'd be worth it. Well, the first two are still working today.
And it was a really very pleasant trip, hardly any people around at all, proving a devoutly Catholic country can provide a safe haven for urbanites seeking stress-free city sightseeing without encountering the mobs of their home metropolis. We may well return again.

Check out the photo documentation in the slide show here:

Good Friday in Berlin

Just beautiful, only pictures, as the whole city was simply one incredible live photo!

La Grace...

La grace d'être né me donne toutes les graces imaginables, la grace entière enfin !

Et c'est pourquoi cela ne me dérange pas tellement que le mal au monde ne reste pas constant, la bonté non plus. Le mal s'étend sans que nous aidions ; mais la bonté ne s'accroît que quand nous, les hommes attentifs, l'attendons, lui ouvrons le sentier à nous.

Goodness gracious ! As my mother might have put it in her own trenchant way.

If we want the good, the beautiful, then let us look for it - always and everywhere !

HAPPY EASTER

This is GOOD NEWS

Thank you, is what I have to say to all those legislators in Vermont who have seen the light and understood how little effort it takes to do so much good for so many people. May the gay couples who wed in that state know many years of happy union and the legal protections, rights, and duties of wedlock.

Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage - NYTimes.com

I am very pleased to be in a country where civil unions are nationally recognized and administered by the same state offices which oversee marriages. There is still a ways to go to make all the rights and duties equal to those of married couples, though the most important are already in place.

Giving people their rights costs no one else anything. Rights are something you can give without giving up your own! That's one of the great things about human rights - for all, everywhere, now!

Obama Prague Speech On Nuclear Weapons

Obama Prague Speech On Nuclear Weapons: FULL TEXT

We are here today because enough people ignored the voices who told them that the world could not change.
We're here today because of the courage of those who stood up and took risks to say that freedom is a right for all people, no matter what side of a wall they live on, and no matter what they look like.

[...]

The existence of thousands of nuclear weapons is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War. No nuclear war was fought between the United States and the Soviet Union, but generations lived with the knowledge that their world could be erased in a single flash of light. Cities like Prague that existed for centuries, that embodied the beauty and the talent of so much of humanity, would have ceased to exist.
Today, the Cold War has disappeared but thousands of those weapons have not. In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. More nations have acquired these weapons. Testing has continued. Black market trade in nuclear secrets and nuclear materials abound. The technology to build a bomb has spread. Terrorists are determined to buy, build or steal one. Our efforts to contain these dangers are centered on a global non-proliferation regime, but as more people and nations break the rules, we could reach the point where the center cannot hold.
Now, understand, this matters to people everywhere. One nuclear weapon exploded in one city -- be it New York or Moscow, Islamabad or Mumbai, Tokyo or Tel Aviv, Paris or Prague -- could kill hundreds of thousands of people. And no matter where it happens, there is no end to what the consequences might be -- for our global safety, our security, our society, our economy, to our ultimate survival.
Some argue that the spread of these weapons cannot be stopped, cannot be checked -- that we are destined to live in a world where more nations and more people possess the ultimate tools of destruction. Such fatalism is a deadly adversary, for if we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable, then in some way we are admitting to ourselves that the use of nuclear weapons is inevitable.
Just as we stood for freedom in the 20th century, we must stand together for the right of people everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st century. (Applause.) And as nuclear power -- as a nuclear power, as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it, we can start it.
So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. (Applause.) I'm not naive. This goal will not be reached quickly -- perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, "Yes, we can." (Applause.)

Let's indeed nudge the world in the proper direction, think and work to maintain existence and share humanity, ensure peace and eliminate threats to it.
Thank you Barack!

No Blue Flowers, but...

...some shots of another mountain and a stream valley where we got out in the warm weather today.

And wouldn't you know there was an Italian restaurant with an all you can eat buffet waiting for us at exactly lunch time and, as chance would have it, precisely at the end of the street Detlef once lived on!
The photos are a poor excuse, because things are growing by the second here now that it's finally become securely warm. The leaves on the chestnut in front of this window have grown since I sat down at the computer to upload and share these pictures. I swear! Tomorrow they'll be the size of a child's hand. And the forsythia is bursting into bloom branch by branch and hour by hour in the garden out back.

Yes, it IS SPRING!

FINALLY !

Yes,

Spring

has finally sprung here in Berlin,

after keeping us waiting so long.

There are vast areas of the Tiergarten

(the large park in the center of town)

COVERED

in little blue flowers,

so much so that you'd think it was the richest deep blue sea you've ever seen.

Which also means it's time to get out in this wonderful sunshine rather than blogging on.

Pictures will be collected on the weekend,

and especially the burgeoning of a new season will be wantonly wallowed in.

I hope you all know how lucky you are

when you can see such simple wonders

as a budding tree or a lake of blue flowers on the lawn

and

SMILE!

"Gay Rights ARE Civil Rights"

Julian Bond is to be praised for his speech, to which you ALL should take the time to listen ! His message is, "Gay rights are civil rights!" and should be afforded without limitation. Here s the link to the Advocate for the video so you can watch and listen to it yourself.

And here Bond's statement for the NAACP on the infamous infringement of civil rights by California's proposition 8:

"The NAACP has long opposed any proposal that would alter the federal or state constitutions for the purpose of excluding any groups or individuals from guarantees of equal protections," said NAACP chairman Julian Bond in a press release. "We urge the legislature to declare that Proposition 8 did not follow the proper protective process and should be overturned as an invalid alteration that vitiated crucial constitutional safeguards and fundamental American values, threatening civil rights and all vulnerable minorities."

Paradise, Hell, Vintage, Intoxication, Grief, the End

Yes, the new issue of L'Infini has arrived !

And here to tempt the English speaking readers of this note, rough translations of the titles of the contributions in this issue of Printemps 2009 (spring), N°106:

Hidden Paradise, Céline in Hell, Vintage Mauriac, Claudel's Intoxication by Ph.Sollers; Grief Diary by Roland Barthes; Artist's Young Man in Portrait by Pierre Guglielmina; Situations: Venitian Chronicles by Marcelin Pleynet; Simone de Beauvoir and Suffering by Catherine Cusset; The Dead Man by Emmanuel Moses; The Chorus of Hosea, The Book of Hosea by Franz De Haes; Philippe Sollers' "Paradise" by Thierry Sudour; Critique of Some of La Rochefoucauld's Maxims by Marquis Luc de Vauvenargues; At the End by Patrick Amine

The intense pleasure of close reading continues!

Trying to have a spring outing...

Well, the crocuses are blooming everywhere in grassy areas where no one walks, best on the medians in the center of the avenues, a riot of white yellow and vivid violet, so yesterday we decided to head to the southern rim of the city to a little "mountain" (big hill) called "Dörferblick" (Villages View). In this absolutely flat area, this rise must have been created from the rubble in the city carted there (as is the case of many such "mountains" in Berlin) after WWII as rebuilding began. There is nothing higher anywhere, and some sort of nature has reclaimed this hill, scraggy trees and bushes, just now beginning to bud out some. From up there you can see the "villages" all around this southern outcropping of Berlin, including the one with the airport Schönefeld. But it's all a bit to flat and barren to offer much in the way of beauty. Nonetheless, we had a nice long afternoon out in relatively mild, if extremely windy, weather. And from here on in, it should be getting better.

And now for the slide show evidence...

Giving Hope a Chance

How refreshing to have a US President who talks with others in the world, who is man enough to extend an olive branch even to those who often taunt enlightened democracy, freedom, and humann rights. May this be the beginning of a successful campaign to restore many renegade states to civilization and respect for the rights of man!

Obama's remarks, today, were on the occasion of Nowruz, a New Year's celebration holiday, particularly in Iran. That country he invites to cooperate for a world of peace and mutual partnership and exchange, reminding them that

"in the words that were written by the poet Saadi, so many years ago: 'The children of Adam are limbs to each other, having been created of one essence.'
With the coming of a new season, we're reminded of this precious humanity that we all share. And we can once again call upon this spirit as we seek the promise of a new beginning."

This link is to a transcript of the video address you can watch above.

Good News for Human Rights !

US to Support UN Gay Rights Declaration News Advocate.com
By Julie Bolcer

The Obama administration will support a United Nations declaration affirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are included in international human rights protections, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday evening.
According to officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Congress was still being
notified, the Obama administration had reviewed the reasons why the Bush administration opposed the declaration, and decided to notify the French sponsors that the United States would support it.
One official said that the United States was concerned about "violence and human rights abuses against gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual individuals" and was also "troubled by the criminalization of sexual orientation in many countries."
The United States did not join more than 60 countries that signed the historic declaration in
December, putting the country in the company of gay rights opponents such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Uganda, and the Vatican. The Bush administration rejected the non-binding declaration on technical legal grounds concerning federal and state jurisdiction over gay rights.

Latex Never Helped Anyone !

Of course maledictus is right again and oh so horribly honorable in his reminder to Africans that condoms (disgusting! made of latex! eeee! you can use them as water balloons!) do NOT help in the fight against AIDS.

Of course, because the maledictus organization NEEDS ever more people infected with HIV in Africa so they can send their nuns and monks and priests in to help those horrible sinners and thereby gain (the nuns, monks, priests, that is) plus points for charity and thus pass more quickly through purgatory and into the higher spheres of paradise.

So give those poor charity workers a chance to secure their personal salvation by throwing away your condoms and contracting a serious disease in a third-world country today! They can then care for you to your death and earn brownie points in the sky.

And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you should. It's your life and your world at stake here, too!

Keeping Promises, Extending Rights

Follow the link below to call on President Obama to uphold his campaign promise to provide LGBT couples full equality under the law in the United States. The time is NOW !

The link, where you can sign the letter, is to the Courage Campaign with the following text:

Keep your promise, President Obama
Tell the President to allow same-sex partners of federal employees to receive health benefits
As the New York Times reported on Thursday, "two judges of the federal appeals court in California said that employees of their court were entitled to health benefits for their same-sex partners under the program that insures millions of federal workers." But, citing the "Defense of Marriage Act," the federal Office of Personnel Management has instructed insurers not to provide the benefits ordered by the judges.
President Obama is now faced with a choice -- to uphold the benefit ban or keep his campaign promise to enforce equal rights. Last year, in a letter to San Francisco's Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, he reaffirmed his support for providing federal
equal rights to same-sex couples:

"I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law. That is why I support extending fully equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law." -- Senator Barack Obama, in a letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, March 2008

President Obama now has the opportunity to keep his promise and allow the federal government to provide health benefits to all same-sex partners and spouses of federal employees.

Please sign on to this letter to President Obama as soon as possible:

Dear President Barack Obama,Your historic election to the presidency shows that any barrier to equality in America can be overcome. We were especially pleased that you demonstrated a clear commitment to ending discrimination by speaking out in support of "extending (full) equal rights and benefits to same-sex couples under both state and federal law."
Unfortunately, your predecessors did not share this commitment, as they discriminated against gay and lesbian federal employees by denying them the same benefits that
partners and spouses of their heterosexual colleagues receive. Now, you have an opportunity to provide a fresh start and make good on your campaign commitment
to equality.
We, the undersigned, call upon you to allow the federal government to provide the same health benefits to same-sex spouses and partners of federal employees that other federal employee spouses receive. We promise to support you in this effort, especially in the likely event that right-wing opponents attack you for implementing equal rights for all federal employees.

DO IT NOW : NO FINANCIAL CRISIS CAN IMPEDE THE SPREAD OF HUMAN RIGHTS !

Stop the Killing !

Stop the nonsense of pointing weapons at other people and firing! Just stop it. Take them out of the hands of any and everyone who doesn't need them professionally, i.e. for law enforcement, military operations, security needs carefully controlled by courts and lawmakers.
Whether in Baden-Würtemberg in Germany or in the US, this idiocy of someone getting his gun and showing up somewhere just to shoot people, or to fire at them while driving past, then only to kill himself afterwards MUST cease. Suicide is bad enough: Life is SO wonderful we have nothing more precious! But taking others along for the ride is simply abhorrent.
Let us think about being and its joy and instill this in all others on this planet!

Libération 12/03/2009
Violence
édito de Philippe Sollers

Des jeunes gens encagoulés pénètrent dans un lycée à Gagny. Ils cherchent quelqu’un qu’ils vont sérieusement tabasser et blesser. C’est une danse misérable avec barres de fer et couteaux. Le lendemain, en Allemagne, un jeune homme de 17 ans entre dans un collège et commence à tirer au pistolet, tuant, avant d’être abattu par la police, une quinzaine de personnes. Si ces phénomènes, notamment le dernier, se passaient aux Etats-Unis, cela nous paraîtrait presque banal. Mais la violence qui commence à éclater dans la société notamment à l’école tendrait à prouver que c’est le système social tout entier qui est touché en profondeur. On nous parle tous les jours, en temps de crise, du malaise de la jeunesse, de son sentiment de n’avoir désormais aucun avenir, et par la même occasion, on sait bien que l’organisation de la répression et de la résignation est mal cachée par les bonnes paroles ou les pseudo-effets d’annonces contradictoires de tel ou tel ministre. Je suis jeune, j’ai l’impression que tout est bloqué pour moi, je ne crois plus un mot de ce qu’on me raconte, je sens autour de moi une atmosphère empoisonnée de conformisme et de bêtise, mon existence n’a plus aucun sens, et surtout pas celle que les différents pouvoirs prétendent lui donner. Remède radical : les Mémoires de Claude Lanzmann, sous le titre le Lièvre de Patagonie. Ce livre, qui décrit une grande vie, est d’abord un chef-d’œuvre littéraire. Au contraire de tout ce qui se passe aujourd’hui, Lanzmann écrit : «J’aime la vie à la folie, cent vies ne me lasseraient pas.»

The final sentence, quoting Lanzmann, whose memoirs Sollers recommends reading as an antidote to distress over the current world, translates roughly into a maxim I can and DO completely subscribe to:

"I am madly in love with life; not even a hundred lives would tire me out!"

I might also add another suggestion for discovering the joy of life in reading: Sollers' own Grand beau temps, a smiling collection of aphorisms.

And also, try a touch of love and a smile. They work absolute wonders!

Too Little Too Late

Maledictus thinks he can excuse THIS by waiting so long and not admitting what a reactionary action his resitution of the Pius Brotherhood of Mr. Lefebvre to communion represents. In case you haven't realized how horrid what Mr. Williamson said is, how disgustingly he denied the Shoah, the youtube link is above, and the video itself is below in this blog post.

In Letter to Bishops, Pope Admits ‘Mistakes’ - NYTimes.com:

Pope Benedict XVI has written an unusually personal letter to bishops worldwide explaining why he revoked the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop and admitting mistakes in how the Vatican handled the case.

Papst Benedikt XVI. räumt Fehler ein - Focus Online:

Die Kirchenleitung in Rom veröffentlichte einen Brief des Papstes zur Aufhebung der Exkommunikation von vier Bischöfen der umstrittenen Pius-Bruderschaft. Darin drückte Benedikt XVI. offiziell sein Bedauern über die entstandenen Irritationen im christlich-jüdischen Verhältnis aus. Zudem räumte er Fehler im Vatikan ein. In Deutschland stieß der Brief des Papstes auf positive Reaktionen.

Benoît XVI concède avoir commis des "erreurs" au sujet des évêques intégristes
LEMONDE.FR 12.03.09

La forme et le ton sont inhabituels et soulignent l'ampleur du séisme vécu par l'Eglise catholique ces dernières semaines. Un mois et demi après la levée des excommunications, le 21 janvier, de quatre évêques intégristes, parmi lesquels un négationniste, le pape Benoît XVI a rendu publique, jeudi 12 mars, une longue lettre aux accents personnels dans laquelle il justifie ce geste controversé.

La missive de sept pages adressée à tous les évêques de l'Eglise catholique revient sur les défauts d'explications et les "erreurs" commises dans ce dossier.

Benoît XVI y reconnaît d'emblée que sa décision de tendre la main à un courant schismatique, la Fraternité Saint-Pie X, qui refuse les orientations du concile VaticanII, "a suscité une discussion d'une véhémence telle qu'on n'en avait plus connue depuis longtemps".

And here is a link to the "LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CONCERNING THE REMISSION OF THE EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE FOUR BISHOPS CONSECRATED BY ARCHBISHOP LEFEBVRE" as published on the Vatican's own website.
Maledicuts also says here that the Vatican must pay more attention to the internet, as well he should indeed, and now, as promised, the horror statements of a so-called bishop who has been welcomed back into the bosom of the church:

All that is necessary to demonstrate how shameful Mr. Williamson is and how easily he could learn the truth is to view Claude Lanzman's beautiful film from 1985, SHOAH. The trailer follows:

The Reader

The Reader
is a film worth seeing. The trailer is in the link, the film is better the less you know.

Reading finished, but always on the line

Ligne de risque n°24 has been digested, and the thoughts from it will burgeon out here and everywhere else I appear with my words.
It is always my hope to help "lever les voiles qui nous font voir les choses de façon imaginaire" so that we all may each day be just a little less ignorant and forgetful.
Thanks to Yannick Haenel and François Meyronnis for putting together this occasional publication of so few pages and so enormously much thought!
[There should be a multilingual edition at least including German and English. I'd be willing to work for that!]

Book Questions Are My Kind of Question

You're packing your bag for that other desert island—the one with no electricity—what 5 books do you take with you? stolen from Darth Rachel.
(These are my very serious answers!)

1. William Shakespeare: The Riverside Edition of the Complete Works, all in one volume, second edition, because it's several lifetimes and the best of the English language.

2. Dante: La Divina Commedia: single volume edition, because it includes the entire world up to 1300 and is the best of the Italian language.

3. Martin Heidegger: Beiträge zur Philosophie (Vom Ereignis), because all of Being is there to be enowned and considered.

4. Philippe Sollers: Grand beau temps, because it's a collection of pithy aphorisms, quotes, from my favorite living and the best French author, who also manages to encapsulate the wisdom of the ages in his own words.

5. My own notebook, not out of conceit, but because I fear it must be counted as a book, and I couldn't live without it, in whatever incarnation it currently has, and it enables me to expand my realm of language endlessly.

OK?

Phrases to Like

I can't help it, I just love these little snippets of things, picked up, read, here and there, and worth remembering, spreading, preserving. Some are my own variation on a theme.
1. Ich bin so platt wie eine Äußerung der nicht anwesenden Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel.
(of which I could extract, reform, the following English version: "That's as flat as a statement by the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, who isn't here.")
2. in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
(This alone makes Guy Debord worth reading. To help you comprehend, consider "Able was I ere I saw Elba.")
3. "Maus war weg, Mutter unterwegs."
(I just like it.)
4. Time to replace the bacteria in this remote control.
(Think about it.)
5. Time spreads over us like a dome, an incubator, hatches this and that, and now and then someone actually does something.
(This is its own comment.)

Another Tyson Gone...

The Countess' brother Henry, my dear uncle has chuckled with us the last time and left us one day after his birthday. We won't be able to go to the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet together anymore!

Henry C. Tyson Jr.
Mr. Henry C. Tyson, Jr., 81, died Friday, Feb. 27, 2009, at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. The funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Monday in the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel by the Rev. Clint White. Burial will follow in Pinewood Memorial Park. Henry was a native of Pitt County and a member of Wesley United Methodist Church. He was employed with the Sunbeam Bread Company, retiring in 1993. Henry was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Mary Ida Tyson; two sisters, Lou Streetman and Rose T. Gardner; and a brother, the Rev. Aaron G. Tyson. His is survived by his wife of 53 years, Wilma Owens Tyson; two sons, Todd Tyson and Mike Tyson and wife, Sheri, all of Greenville; a granddaughter who was the light of his life, Katie Lynn Tyson; brother, Amos Tyson of Farmville; and four sisters, Carrie T. Davis of Hickory, Sally T. Mozingo and Mary T. Smith, both of Farmville, and Addie Parker Williams of Rocky Mount. The family will receive friends from 4:30-6:30 p.m. today at Wilkerson Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be to made to Wesley United Methodist Church, c/o Brenda Albritton, 6361 Stantonsburg Road, Farmville, NC 27828. On-line condolences at http://www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com/.

Published in The Daily Reflector on 3/1/2009

JEAN COCTEAU A METZ

JEAN COCTEAU A METZ

En 1947, Jean Cocteau vient à Metz pour dédicacer un de ses ouvrages à la librairie Even. Solange Bertrand va à sa rencontre, lui offre un de ses dessins que le poète juge d’excellente facture. Puis ils se revoient… . De cette rencontre – et du respect que Bertrand a pour Cocteau - est née une amitié profonde. Jean Cocteau écrira même la préface de la première exposition de Solange Bertrand en 1951. En parallèle, Cocteau rencontre à Metz celui qu’il jugera comme étant l’homme de sa vie. Cette relation amène le poète a venir très régulièrement dans cette ville et à participer activement à sa vie culturelle. Outres les vitraux de Saint-Maximiin, Cocteau relève le Festival de Théâtre de Metz en créant des décors, des visuels et des costumes. L’exposition que la Fondation Solange Bertrand veut mettre en place est une transcription des activités de Cocteau à Metz. Par la présentation de décors, d’affiches, de maquettes, etc… la Fondation veut montrer l’influence de Cocteau ainsi que la marque et l’étude du maître pour arriver à un tel travail. L’exposition sera accompagnée de mises en scènes réalisées par des troupes de théâtre provenant de l’ensemble de la Lorraine. Un partenariat est en cour de réalisation avec le Théâtre de Metz et les cinémas de l’agglomération messine afin de projeter des programmations autour de Jean Cocteau.

Follow the link for some pictures of the stained glass windows Cocteau created for Metz and which are included in the exhibition quote above.

May Justice FINALLY Prevail!

This is GOOD news and indicates that the US, under President Obama, is returning to principles of justice and international law, trying in court those who are accused of wrong-doing.

U.S. Will Give Qaeda Suspect a Civilian Trial - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — The Justice Department, in an abrupt change in policy from the Bush administration, is preparing to bring terrorism-related charges against a man identified as an operative of Al Qaeda who has been held in a military brig for more than five years, government officials said Thursday."

Nation Asks and I Answer

What's Your Nation-ality?

Emma Goldman

Fun quizzes, surveys & blog quizzes by

Reading - Lecture - Zu lesen

Joy

Joie

Freude des Lesens

de la lecture

of reading

Recommended Art: Peeping Back

ALAIN DECLERCQ HIDDEN
FEBRUARY 6 - MARCH 7, 2009

"For his solo exhibition at the gallery, Alain Declercq is showing Hidden Camera Obscura, a new series of photographs taken in New York last year. He crisscrossed Manhattan getting these images of some 70 sites where photography, precisely, is prohibited. These prisons, police stations, tunnels and bridges have had their security status raised since 9/11, so in order to take his forbidden pictures, Declercq built his own lo-tech pinhole camera by making a tiny aperture in a plastic box. He would then cut a piece of film, place it in the box, place this on the ground facing the location, and let the light in to print the negative.
The resulting photographs are often hazy, imprecisely framed, sometimes inadequately lit because of the fluctuating exposure times – everything draws attention to the crudeness of the homemade method. And yet with this very simple tool Declercq made a breach in the law, methodically stealing that which
is supposed to be hidden from the public gaze, yet exists at the heart of public space."

www.loevenbruck.com/declercq
Galerie Loevenbruck
40 rue de Seine, 2 rue de l’Echaudé 75006 Paris, France

In other words, peep right back at those peeping in on you!

No More Snow, Only Grit

So, no sledding in the woods near Detlef's mom's on Sunday, because some people were so busy wishing for an end of the snow that it started drizzling right after the Saturday picture and then rained and left nothing but grit and dirt and milder above freezing temperatures by Sunday. So now it's gray and crunchy under your feet and in the skies over Berlin.
But
there was a glimpse of sunlight this afternoon on the way home from torturing my poor students,
so
I'm hoping that there will, by next week, either be the first wild flowers in the parks
or
a hard freeze and return to snow and sunshine.
Either way I'll be happy.

By the way, Argentina has one neonazi fewer in the country since Maledictus' de-excommunicated bishop who'd been holed up there as a professor of theology (!) has left (actually they kicked him out). Yet he has evidently still not yet had time enough to consider the evidence for the Shoah: his retraction of his denial of it having taken place has yet to part his diabolical lips.

A Week of Snow !

Almost all day every day this week it's been snowing here in Berlin, though it has melted off some in the afternoons, drizzled a little yesterday, but now it's powdering us again and we're going to get Detlef's old sled out of the storage room when we visit his mom for lunch tomorrow and go sledding on the hills in the forest at Müggelsee !

Over for Twenty Years !

Yes, we are also nearing the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall in Berlin and the end of the GDR. It's national anthem, which you can hear in the video below, never suited the reality it provided, as you can also see in this video.

It's easy to remember why it was good that this failed adventure untrue to its own ideals came to an end !

It's Official: Bad Bank for Blogs

Yes, while bad banks for bad loans, bad investments, bad financial planning, bad bankers, and bad banking are still being planned, (mis)funded, and (dis)organized,
the first BAD BLOG is up and running. This German blog is designed for only BAD blog postings, things no one in their right mind would pay for or sign,
and it is enjoying a huge success, under this link:
BadBlog, die Müllhalde der Blog Community,
which roughly translates as the garbage dump of the blog community.
Have fun!

One Down - How Many Left to Go?

As Maledictus continues his evil empire of fundamentalism, at least one fundamentalist bowed to public and "collegial" pressure and resigned from the position of Auxiliary Bishop of Linz, Austria, to which the papal reactionary had only just recently appointed him. Mr. Wagner, famed for saying Katrina was a godly punishment on New Orleans and that gays should be forcibly "cured" quit on his own; the Vatican, which had done nothing against him and his remarks, "accepted the resignation".
One fundamentalist down, unfortunately many more to go!

Amid Scandals, Questions of Where the Pope’s Focus Lies - NYTimes.com:

"On Sunday, a priest known for such provocative statements as blaming the sins of New Orleanians for Hurricane Katrina asked the pope to rescind his appointment as an auxiliary bishop in Austria.
[...]
In Vienna on Monday, 10 Austrian bishops convened a crisis session to deal with the fallout. Erich Leitenberger, a spokesman for the Vienna Archdiocese, said church officials around the country had been inundated with letters, phone calls and e-mail messages, including from parishioners saying they were leaving the church.
[...]
“The larger problem is the inability of the church leadership to come to terms with the modern world,” Mr. Feichtlbauer said. “The problem is a long-term one, and in no way is it solved.”"

Martin Heidegger : Cours et Conférences (1951-1957)

Link via Sollers-site to a recording of the famous interview from September 1966 with Augstein from Der Spiegel:
Martin Heidegger : Cours et Conférences
Annexe : Entretien au Spiegel (21’23)
Fribourg-Zähringen (23.09.1966)

Enlightened Justice for Love

Thanks to Jenn for sharing this important message with me, which I'm now sharing with everyone who checks in here.

"Have you heard that Ken Starr -- and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund -- filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year? The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, with a decision expected within 90 days.
The Courage Campaign has created a video called "Fidelity," with the permission of musician Regina Spektor, that puts a face to those 18,000 couples and all loving, committed couples seeking full equality under the law.Please watch this heartbreaking video now. If you have the same reaction that I did, please help me spread the word by sharing it with your friends and family ASAP:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce
The more people who see this video, the more people will understand the pain caused
by Prop 8 and Ken Starr's shameful legal proceeding. After you watch the video, please join me and over 200,000 people who have signed a letter to the state Supreme Court, asking them to invalidate Prop 8 and reject Starr's case. Thanks."

Raise the Roof and Turn the Lights Back On

This is only a beginning...

...the reality of surrealism.

Cure the Ones Who Are SICK !

Maledictus has not only recommunicated reactionary fundamentalists who deny the Shoah, but also appointed as Bishop in Austria a lunatic who claims the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans was god's punishment on that sinful city and Harry Potter is an exercise in satanism. The same man now claims homosexuality is a disease and that it can be treated and healed.
I AM NOT ILL, will accept no treatment, need not be healed, because I am extremely HEALTHY! But Bishop Wagner of Linz, appointed AGAINST the counsel of Austria's bishops by Maledictus XVI, is DANGEROUSLY ILL and the cure can only be found in determined efforts against all forms of fundamentalism.

Another diseased mind can be found in the Pius Fraternity, Mr. Williamson, an archreactionary Lefebvre bishop recommunicated by Maledictus. Despite the Vatican (not the papa personally) demanding him to retract his statements denying the Shoah, this fundamentalist has announced he has no intention of doing so until he finds proof of the Holocaust. This man is reactionary beyond imagination and is hiding under the cloak of Maledictus' reintroduction of the Latin mass and purported efforts for church unity. The evidence seems to speak for efforts to turn the church in Rome into one of the most fundamentalist organizations of the world, i.e. a band of terrorists against democracy, human rights, justice and freedom.

Holocaust Denier's Vow
"A bishop who faces a Vatican demand to recant his denial of the Holocaust said he would correct himself if he is satisfied by the evidence but insisted that examining it "will take time," the German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
Richard Williamson is one of four bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X whose excommunication was lifted by the Vatican last month. The decision sparked outrage because Williamson had said in a television interview he did not believe any Jews were gassed during the Holocaust."

More on the illness of the recommunicated fundamentalists:

Le Monde

"Insensible aux critiques, hermétique aux appels demandant qu'il se rétracte, l'évêque intégriste Richard Williamson ne veut rien entendre. Dans sa première intervention depuis la polémique née de ses propos négationnaistes, Williamson explique qu'il va se pencher sur les "preuves" historiques de l'existence des chambres à gaz avant d'envisager une "rectification"."

Holocaust-Leugner Williamson lehnt Widerruf vorerst ab [Der Spiegel]
Der Papst hat ihn zum Widerruf aufgefordert, doch dazu ist er derzeit nicht bereit: Holocaust-Leugner Richard Williamson sagt dem SPIEGEL, er wolle zunächst die historischen Beweise prüfen - "das wird Zeit brauchen".
Hamburg/Berlin - Er hat die katholische Kirche in eine tiefe Krise gestürzt - und wird zu deren Lösung vorerst nicht beitragen. Der umstrittene Bischof der Piusbruderschaft, Richard Williamson, will seine Thesen zum Holocaust vorerst nicht widerrufen. Er werde zunächst die historischen Beweise prüfen, sagte der Katholik dem SPIEGEL: "Und wenn ich diese Beweise finde, dann werde ich mich korrigieren. Aber das wird Zeit brauchen."

And the people in such an organization claim to have a right to decide whether you and I are "ill" or not, are allowed to partner or not, to protect ourselves from STD or not, to decide about when and how many children to have, about what is "moral" or not; yet these are people of the most immoral sort, trampling on the rights of others and unconcerned about anything but their so precious dogma.
NO TO FUNDAMENTALISM EVERYWHERE !
WE ARE NOT DISEASED; THEY ARE !

Adequate Descriptors

elegance

vivacity

rigor

gaiety

insolence

pleasure

*

TIME TRAVELLERS !

[Figure from the Art Institute of Chicago]

*In hommage to PhS: Les Voyaguers du Temps

Maledictus Too Reactionary for Conservatives?

Germany: Pope Is Asked for Holocaust Clarification
NYTimes, By RACHEL DONADIO, February 4, 2009

In a rare case of a head of state openly criticizing the pope, Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday to make a “very clear” rejection of Holocaust denial. Benedict recently revoked the excommunication of four bishops, including Richard Williamson, who had said there were no Nazi gas chambers. Responding to outrage, the pope, who is German, expressed his “full and indisputable solidarity” with Jews and warned against Holocaust denial. “I do not believe that sufficient clarification has been made,” Mrs. Merkel said. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope’s repeated condemnation of Holocaust denial “could not be more clear.”
A version of this article appeared in print on February 4, 2009, on page A8 of the New York
edition.

And just think how obedient Bishop Williamson is being to his Holy Father by denying the Holocaust as Bishop in Maledictus' own church! Others had to go to Rome on their knees, Luther was demanded to recant, Galilleo to deny his astronomical findings, etc., etc. But this man can just go right on with his dirty claims recanting nothing. (And this is not the only or the first malfeisance of Maledictus. He just appointed a fundamentalist bishop in Austria and he has allowed the Latin mass again himself.) Now other bishops are openly questioning his authority.

Auf Grundlage der mir ausdrücklich vom Heiligen Vater Benedikt XVI. übertragenen Vollmacht hebe ich kraft dieses Dekrets für die Bischöfe Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson und Alfonso de Galarreta die Strafe der Exkommunikation latae sententiae auf, die von dieser Kongregation mit Datum vom 1. Juli 1988 erklärt worden war. Ich erkläre das damals erlassene Dekret ab dem heutigen Datum für juristisch wirkungslos.
Rom, am Sitz der Kongregation für die Bischöfe, 21. Januar 2009
Kard. Giovanni Battista RePräfekt der Kongregation für die Bischöfe

My modest proposal: In a final act to end his pontificate, this pope should excommunicate himself !

Just now, fresh reports have appeared online that the Vatican is demanding Williamson to retract his statements before he will be allowed to exercise the office of Bishop. The following is the original Italian statement just released:

NOTA DELLA SEGRETERIA DI STATO

A seguito delle reazioni suscitate dal recente Decreto della Congregazione per i Vescovi, con cui si rimette la scomunica ai quattro Presuli della Fraternità San Pio X, e in relazione alle dichiarazioni negazioniste o riduzioniste della Shoah da parte del Vescovo Williamson della medesima Fraternità, si ritiene opportuno chiarire alcuni aspetti della vicenda.
1. Remissione della scomunica.
Come già pubblicato in precedenza, il Decreto della Congregazione per i Vescovi, datato 21 gennaio 2009, è stato un atto con cui il Santo Padre veniva benignamente incontro a reiterate richieste da parte del Superiore Generale della Fraternità San Pio X.
Sua Santità ha voluto togliere un impedimento che pregiudicava l’apertura di una porta al dialogo. Egli ora si attende che uguale disponibilità venga espressa dai quattro Vescovi in totale adesione alla
dottrina e alla disciplina della Chiesa.
La gravissima pena della scomunica latae sententiae, in cui detti Vescovi erano incorsi il 30 giugno 1988, dichiarata poi formalmente il 1° luglio dello stesso anno, era una conseguenza della loro ordinazione illegittima da parte di Mons. Marcel Lefebvre.
Lo scioglimento dalla scomunica ha liberato i quattro Vescovi da una pena canonica gravissima, ma non ha cambiato la situazione giuridica della Fraternità San Pio X, che, al momento attuale, non gode di alcun riconoscimento canonico nella Chiesa Cattolica. Anche i quattro Vescovi, benché sciolti dalla scomunica, non hanno una funzione canonica nella Chiesa e non esercitano lecitamente un ministero in essa.
2. Tradizione, dottrina e Concilio Vaticano II.
Per un futuro riconoscimento della Fraternità San Pio X è condizione indispensabile il pieno riconoscimento del Concilio Vaticano II e del Magistero dei Papi Giovanni XXIII, Paolo VI, Giovanni Paolo I, Giovanni Paolo II e dello stesso Benedetto XVI.
Come è già stato affermato nel Decreto del 21 gennaio 2009, la Santa Sede non mancherà, nei modi giudicati opportuni, di approfondire con gli interessati le questioni ancora aperte, così da poter giungere ad una piena e soddisfacente soluzione dei problemi che hanno dato origine a questa dolorosa frattura.
3. Dichiarazioni sulla Shoah.
Le posizioni di Mons. Williamson sulla Shoah sono assolutamente inaccettabili e fermamente rifiutate dal Santo Padre, come Egli stesso ha rimarcato il 28 gennaio scorso quando, riferendosi a quell’efferato genocidio, ha ribadito la Sua piena e indiscutibile solidarietà con i nostri Fratelli destinatari della Prima Alleanza, e ha affermato che la memoria di quel terribile genocidio deve indurre "l’umanità a riflettere sulla imprevedibile potenza del male quando conquista il cuore dell’uomo", aggiungendo che la Shoah resta "per tutti monito contro l’oblio, contro la negazione o il riduzionismo, perché la violenza fatta contro un solo essere umano è violenza contro tutti".
Il Vescovo Williamson, per una ammissione a funzioni episcopali nella Chiesa dovrà anche prendere in modo assolutamente inequivocabile e pubblico le distanze dalle sue posizioni riguardanti la Shoah, non conosciute dal Santo Padre nel momento della remissione della scomunica.
Il Santo Padre chiede l’accompagnamento della preghiera di tutti i fedeli, affinché il Signore illumini il cammino della Chiesa. Cresca l’impegno dei Pastori e di tutti i fedeli a sostegno della delicata e gravosa missione del Successore dell’Apostolo Pietro quale "custode dell’unità" nella Chiesa.
Dal Vaticano, 4 febbraio 2009 [00216-01.01] [Testo originale: Italiano] [B0087-XX.01]

• The section in Italics is, though not by the Pope personally, at least a clear call for retraction of statements by Williamson. Earlier in the text, it is pointed out that the ex-excommunicated bishops have no church office or right to perform liturgical functions, and here, roughly translated concludes:
  Bishop Williamson, for admission to bishoprical functions in the Church, must also absolutely, unequivocally, and publicly distance himself from the positions he has taken regarding the Shoah and which were unknown to the Holy Father when he rescinded his excommunication.
• Better would have been a statement by Maledictus himself, but we can hope this will produce results and be followed up and enforced should this revisionist not quickly recant!

Koko Had Guests for Coffee and Supper and Playtime

Lea, Malte, and their parents, Steffi & Heiko, paid Koko a visit, and their grandparents Bernhard & Roswitha also came along (not in the pictures). Lea made us Blitzkuchen and for supper we had a nice thick veggie soup, bread, and cold cuts.
Koko rode around on Lea's shoulder and let her feed him peanuts, sunflower seeds, apple, and lettuce leaves; at one point after letting Lea know he didn't want to come, he gave Steffi a harsher beak warning. Malte spent most of the time watching him and repeatedly telling us all that Koko is a Papagei (parrot in German).
(And the cake Lea baked us, with her mom's help, was really yummy.)