Al Jazeera cameraman tortured then released by US - America’s shame: Abu Ghraib & Gitmo

comments from this blogger, coming soon

Light Inside Me

Light of me

i am a reflection

Held in the twisted digits

of the aged and the youthful

palms of a million observers, friend and foe,

in a world of light that casts my form by reflection

and refraction, on glass.

Stained, malformed by the trials of the world

i am a distortion

i am, myself a bearer of a mirror

clasped in my own palm, injured by toil and strain,

i clasp a splinter, a reflection and a refraction,

images of as many as the millions who do the same to mine.

In my daily toil, my quest for daily bread

of sustenance in this life, i search to clarify

and i interpret mine, by the evidence,

by the reflections of the many.

i forget sometimes,

that i must understand the splinters,

lest i draw erroneous and hasty conclusions.

i remember often,

i must leave behind, these millions of pieces

shattered, twisted, melted glass splinters,

bearing my image

and a million other images.

so, my own must compete with the others, and with time

and the twisted mirrors of the viewer

from the next age.

no, i must leave my own reflection,

something to balance things out a little

to lend things a new slant,

in ink or clay

i shall beat it or chip it away

from rock or bend it from steel

and rest a little more assured

that a chorus shall remain to the tale

of the light of me.

Evidence Benedicere

Heathrow Standoff - stand down

I thought of using this as a Title to this rant:

“Zionist Rooster Suckers”

Then I realised This post doesn’t belong here,

not after my new year’s resolution to leave sorry souls alone

to leave them to the vengeance He promised…

After further contemplation, consideration, I arrived at further enlightenment (well that’s what I thought it was) “Neither do zionists and their supporters belong on this earth”.

So where did it come from? I read this article at the BBC, about Major General Doron Almog scum (click on the sorry smug face above to read the article).

And I asked Allah, Father God, our Creator and creator of all things

“Why?”

I may be damned for using stronger language,

So I used softer words to express my disgust.

They are rooster suckers - may Allah forgive me.

And may His punishment be swift on those who let criminals like Doron Almog walk freely among us who make up His wonderful creation and true humanity.

No room at the Inns in the little town of Bethlehem

Palestinians had reason to be joyful this Christmas, with all the hotels booked inside what has been turned into a big prison by the Israeli wall of separation. Robert Berger reports for the VOA News from the little town mentioned by the prophets and later recorded by the Gospels as the place of Christ’s birth. Christmas was kicked off this year by Palestinian boy and girl scouts parading. Local clerics and pilgrims from all the corners of the world also joined in the commemorative events at the Church of the Nativity. The events were not disrupted this year by the Israeli forces (Jews do not acknowledge the legitimacy of Palestine nor that of Christ’s birth, while muslims and Christians do).

You can read the full report at the VOA News site. A Blessed Christmas to you and all your loved ones this year.

The Muslim holy day of Eil al Adha coincided this year with Christmas celebration, occurring as it did around the 20th of December. Eid al Adha is the day when Ibrahim (A.S.) obedience to God is recalled (Al-Baqara:196). Eid mubarak to all Muslims all over the world.

Merry Annapolis and a Surreptitious New Year

When one hears the word settlement, does one think of 30,000 people? Or when one hears the words negotiating table, do you have an image of people trying their utmost to appear respectful between uneasy stares across a long conference table? Such mixed notions of trust and mistrust in a world desperately crying out for an end to suffering and a nurturing of peace is unfortunately still part of the global landscape and the general rule rather than the exception. When all manner of cunning is thrown to the four winds, and plain offensiveness is placed in its stead, one wonders what all the photo shoots are really about if not to try and stem the growing paucity of images of mistrust already in the psyche of the global public.

More money will soon be approved for spending on housing in an illegal occupation of a disputed area in Jerusalem. All the while, a peace fire continues to evade residents in the disputed areas.

This is according to a report in the New York Times published this Christmas Eve and written by Isabel Kershner entitled Israeli Housing Plan Casts Pall Over Peace Talks. It is easy to dismiss the legitimacy of Palestinians as long as they are continually already branded with labels like fundamentalist or terrorist, but to those of us seeing the overall picture in an historical context, the picture is plain. What is offensive is of course the innocent blood being shed in the name of peace on both sides of the so called divide. What leads to continuation of this affront on humanity is that the legitimacy of a Jewish state is assumed in the minds of Americans because of the way these issues are presented to them. Any group that even half insinuates that Israeli terror should be halted is branded as being on the lunatic fringe. At the same time, the birthright of the millions of displaced refugees of Palestine is held as a reward in the sky, because of the self-defensive actions or the resistance to the offensive and terroristic actions of the decision makers in Tel Aviv. These defensive actions are presented as terrorism, while the real terror is presented as a defense. In so doing, the intensity of the violent nature of the state of Israel is not appreciated by the viewers who are presented with false images, thousands of miles across the Atlantic. The dehumanisation of the checkpoints and the wall that defines the limits of the concentration camp that is the occupation remains invisible and concealed. As concealed as the rest of the lies in this so called war on terror. The excesses of the state of terror are explained as a justified excess to the terror driven by mad men bent on removing all democratic freedom on the face of the globe. The orange clothed victims of torture, as stark an image as that is to us on the outside, remains hidden because of the fear instilled in the American psyche. The obvious lie of the sky scrapers being demolished in plain view, are the same lies that drove two wars, and so on, and so on.

Let us not forget that the American public continues to fund Israeli rule. Israel, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, enjoys more financial aid (mainly from the USA) than any other state in the world. According to one estimate, Israel has the same number of citizens as San Francisco, but receives more aid than all of Sub-Saharan Africa. Why? Because they are victims of a holocaust and they face a threat from terrorism. Why do they face this threat? Read on.

Israeli officials said a Housing and Construction Ministry budget proposal for 2008 included plans to build 500 apartments in Har Homa, a Jewish development in a hotly disputed part of East Jerusalem, and a further 240 apartments in Maale Adumim, the largest Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank with a population of more than 30,000.

Don’t give me that Happy Holidays Tripe!

A facebook friend did me a wonderful favour this Christmas. She wished me a “Happy [freaking] Holidays” [my exclamation] and threatened to greet me for “The Season” too. Which got me started on this beautiful post, which I present to the faithful (believers, non-believers and simply, the faithful readers of this most humble blog). I write it and present it thus, in the most politically incorrect way known to humankind today, In “THE NAME OF GOD, MOST MERCIFUL”.

Dreadfully intolerant to the respectfully inclusive — If you ever want to get me started, just wish me HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! It’s utterly crude, obscene mush. Better you say nothing at all and smile or say “Merry Christmas” if you can’t get beyond the jolly partying spirit to the Blessed Virgin and Her noble son. And please get the spelling right this time — it IS CHRIST-mas.

In any case, the warmest greetings from me to you this season of triumphant joy for the fulfillment so long ago of God’s promise to humanity. He took us from the desert, delivered us to new horizons, and shone light into a place of darkness. There you go. As politically incorrect as it gets. And ground finely so you can either smoke it in your pipe or roll a joint with it.

The coldest snowball knock over the head awaits you for trying to jerk me off at Christmas with a happy jing-jing-jingling holidays sleigh bells in the snow tripe. Even my three year old has been told that Santa is a deceased, philanthropic gentleman of Turkish origin. So, get real! May God forgive me for my use of such strong language, especially at this time of usual cheer. May my chosen words and attitude not misguide the reader, but portray the disdain I feel for the act of tarnishing the image of our ALMIGHTY, HOLY and only living GOD and His appropriate remembrance, with so much mush as “happy holidays”. Though they turn His Holy Name to one on a list of dishonourable and unpatriotic or deadly clerical words which are to be struck from the sign boards and from our lips as well, may the faithful always stand out, stand up, and express His name all the same. Whether they face persecution, martyrdom or just moderate suffering. If they lose some level of tacit understanding here, a friendship or a loss in sales and profit there. A lost business contact perhaps. These are considered BLESSINGS and not losses by those who fully appreciate the significance of testifying to truth in the face of falsehood.

In a time of falsehood, truth has great significance. You are called to speak truth to falsehood. Because that is what this season is all about, LIGHT coming into a world of DARKNESS. So why should we find excuses when someone speaks the mush of the day? Our silence will lead to further dark ignorance, and in so doing, the silence will be the cause of your short reckoning on the final day. Our silence and apologetic approach to this matter is not a seeking of a middle ground, it is a redesign of the field entirely.

So, this is the first mark of the significance in this apparently minor issue of “greeting” one another. It is our obligation to our Creator who in all love and mercy, grants us life, to represent the truth about this important time.

Now, secondly and secondarily, it is an obligation to one another. To be be truthful witnesses to truth. Use meaningful greetings. There is power in words. And meaningful expression can only promote faith in the hearts of our sisters and brothers, and it can gather up something for you in the Father’s house. So, this CHRISTMAS, and in the YEAR AHEAD, stand firm in lines that will not be broken by anything.

Related — Merry Christmas is Offensive?

Bethlehem faithful prepare for the coming of Christ

A few months ago, the Network of Christian Organizations in Bethlehem (NCOB) organized an

event near the Apartheid Wall in Bethlehem, and invited local, international, grass roots, official and civil organizations and groups to participate.

The event took place next to Sumud Centre/ House of Peace, in an area trapped between the Wall and the Bethlehem-Jerusalem Military Checkpoint. Around one hundred attendees came from the various organizations, including the mayor of Bethlehem and EAPPI team, as well as representatives of the Bil’in Popular Committee.

The attendees marched by the Wall in a candle vigil, expressing their rejection to this separation and land annexation.

The ceremony concluded with a joint Ramadan breakfast, shared by Palestinian Muslim, Christian and international representatives. [source]

These details and images were extracted from the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) website [about JAI]

Reading this article and others (IMEMC) dealing with present day Bethlehem, one wonders how any wise men from the east would have made it into Bethlehem if the star of hope had appeared today instead of 2000 years ago. It also leads me to conclude that we need wise men (from all directions) today, more than ever before.

These Carols express the joy that humanity is filled with because God’s love has become known to all of us through His prophets. In this way, God is always with us, by His gracious mercy. His love and truth are available to ALL regardless of where you are born or what those in error label you as (i.e. the false labels of Jew or gentile, black or white). Praise God for truth. May humanity turn away from error and be set free by the truth.

 

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Gospel Truth - Part I - Romans

St Paul is often maligned by those who oppose Godliness as we see it. Some consider his words to be confusing and at times they seem to contradict portions of the Gospel and even other epistles.

Having started a reading of the New Testament Apocrypha and the so called infancy Gospels, I am coming to a fresh understanding of many of the texts I have been taught. Contrary to what i am told by the established “religious organisations”, these “to-be-avoided-texts” shed light, not confusion on the message of God and on the circumstances of the early church. Significantly, it would seem the church was less of the monolithic entity we are led to believe, and more of a myriad of groupings of believers. The comparison with today outlines many similarities. Presently we observe the faithful in Islam, Judaism and Christianity, as well as the various denominations or sects within these monotheistic Abrahamic faiths.

I am of the opinion, that reading widely is always a good thing. How one should proceed reading afresh ALL the available texts is, i believe, to read those texts that are presented to us as the “acceptable texts” and not discard these as incorrect. Importantly, one should hold them all in high regard, regardless of the labels mankind have alloted them in the earliest history following Christ. One should read anew, with one’s own intellect, avoiding the contamination by the easily digestible, yet confounding effects of the sound bytes the so called “church leaders” wish for us to frame these texts with. Having said that, I must advance to add, that I respect the learned church leaders, but only as far as their advance on me is with equity and positive regard - a thing which I call on from within myself when I approach them. The rule of thumb, respect breeds respect, is perhaps applicable.

To read these texts, is not to risk conversion to “Christianity” or even to become “religious”. It is as it always has been, to become political. These sacred texts are also political documents when they are read and understood as they were intended. They are revolutionary when read with insight. Whether held by established religious organisations as holy or not, they remain revolutionary because they teach a NEW MESSAGE and that GOSPEL, if properly understood and then acted upon accordingly, will lead to personal and ultimately societal CHANGE. Sound advice in the matter is therefore, to read everything: not without all available commentary, but having considered the commentators. Include all commentary in the formulation of your own understanding, and be aware that there are many (counter revolutionaries)  who would prefer a narrow and restricted understanding of religion to continue to hold sway. I despise the abuse of religion to divide people. Religion holds the highest values and is the embodiment of the most glowing values in all of humanity. God’s message is one of love and unity, not division.

If you are a believer in God and His prophets, (praise God) then prayer should always be a preamble to reading as it should be with any other activity in life, from the banal to the extraordinary. If you are not a believer, then consider that your interpretation may be a valid critique or question, or it may be the conclusion of a limited understanding at best (and no offense is meant to the honourable reader). The reason for this is that these texts are so complex, they speak of spiritual affairs along with political ones, and they are unfortunately meant to be understood by a select few. The identities of these few will never be clearly visible, and there will be many who will claim to be the informed and the chosen ones. One can determine the authenticity of the speakers, by their overt confidence. A valid approach is to regard speakers as follows: the more confident the speaker, the less authentic. Jesus in his words is testimony to this. He spoke in parables. He never accepted the honour that people gave to Him, he always deferred all of that to His Father in heaven.

As a first step, I invite you to take this text by St. Paul to the Romans and consider:

1. Who are the ungodly of whom he speaks?
2. What are the sins against which he is preaching?

Many have attacked St. Paul (unfairly) for targeting people who choose unnatural life styles, but I believe, he is not only speaking about such sinners.

St Paul to the Romans (KJV) - University of Virginia Library

I am posting this in God’s Name (never have these words been more political than they are today), and in the hope that such a forum will build up the faith of readers and not break down anything that God has meant to be in place. I reserve any comment concerning interpretation for various important reasons. God willing, there will be many of you who will silently consider and some who will comment here. As the title suggests, further sections of the Holy texts will be considered in future posts, God willing. You can the humanitas/faith page on this blog.
May God bless you.

Kucinich interviewed by Iranian Press

IRIB correspondent, Mehdi Garamifard interviewed Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

These comments were extracted from the report of that interview.

I think that we need to envision the world as one. The world is interconnected. It is interdependent. We need to start acting on the knowledge of a world as one and not trying to divide the world [on the] basis of religion.

There is a creeping type of thinking which separates the United States from people around the world [...] a thinking that says that somehow we have the right to tell the rest of the world how to live.

Yet we do not have to engage in aggression against any nation and we certainly shouldn’t be contemplating aggression against Iran. Iran can be our friend. We need to extend the hand of friendship and not extend the hand which is full of threats.

The congressman made further comments concerning Israel [full report: IRIB]

Lo posted a video of Kucinich speaking about Iraq & Iran [dandelion salad] which caused me to back-pedal on my initial pessimism regarding the 2008 US election. When one observes a fresh breeze of intelligence and integrity, it is like a seed of hope appearing on the horizon. Hope for America and for the world. One should note that Kucinich made these and other rational statements, well before the National Intelligence Estimate released it’s controversial report a few days ago; a report which effectively stymied Bush’s war march and confirmed the validity of the arguments of those opposed to unilateralism and preemptive aggression [report at NPR and Kucinich's statement].

It is clear, the congressman impressed me to no end. His views reminded me of this movie I saw. It sums up neatly, the lesson he has for the world and for politicians in particular.

(A short film by Iranian Film maker, Abbas Kiarostami. Simply portrayed, a very powerful lesson from the young actors and the film makers.)

All I want for Christmas is more death & destruction

A letter from GWB to Saint Nick has been intercepted. It follows a plea the tyrant made Nov 29th to the American Congress [more] to approve a blank check for his quest for the holy WMD in Iraq. According to the fraud president who uses fear and lies to dupe Americans into extending his occupation (of the White House and of Iraq), his war has been a resounding success so far.

Dear Santa Claws

I was a good boy this year. Maybe you remember how I caught that other guy who looks a bit like you, So damn Who’s Sane. We hunged him high, but we need to catch those other towel heads who don’t want us to spread love and bibles up in their part of the golf. I don’t know if your route covers Iraq, ’cause it darn hot up there and you’ll need to change your reindeer for camels. But it is real important, please when you are come by Washing Town D, see? that you look out for my stocking. It’s my own and its got fish net by Goochi. It is on the roof top of the Oval office. ‘Cause we sure need to shock and awe them fools into handing over their oil WMD. But we need some of your jenerocity of xmas cheer to help send more shocks and awes.

I am the chief in charge of death and destruction and i belong to the wink nudge organization.

Yours in service

Come&deer of the force

Jorj Puss

p.s. please tell the elves to vote republican Then we will sure issue them with green cards to match their costumes.