October 23, 2009 archive
Oct 23 2009
Docudharma Times Friday October 23
Oct 23 2009
Muse in the Morning
 Muse in the Morning |
(Click on image for larger view)
The muses are ancient. The inspirations for our stories were said to be born from them. Muses of song and dance, or poetry and prose, of comedy and tragedy, of the inward and the outward. In one version they are Calliope, Euterpe and Terpsichore, Erato and Clio, Thalia and Melpomene, Polyhymnia and Urania.
It has also been traditional to name a tenth muse. Plato declared Sappho to be the tenth muse, the muse of women poets. Others have been suggested throughout the centuries. I don’t have a name for one, but I do think there should be a muse for the graphical arts. And maybe there should be many more.
I know you have talent. What sometimes is forgotten is that being practical is a talent. I have a paucity for that sort of talent in many situations, though it turns out that I’m a pretty darn good cook. 🙂
Let your talent bloom. You can share it here. Encourage others to let it bloom inside them as well.
Won’t you share your words or art, your sounds or visions, your thoughts scientific or philosophic, the comedy or tragedy of your days, the stories of doing and making? And be excellent to one another!
Oct 23 2009
ek hornbeck, MIA
I’ve always felt a bit of an affinity for ek. When I joined up at GOS, back in September 2008, he was the first person who was pretty high-profile there, who didn’t treat me like some kind of suspect n00b. I barged into one of his “Welcome New Users” essays one evening, and he talked to me some, spent some time showing me the ropes. He was friendly. He was funny. I liked it, and I liked him. I thought it was really good of him to take the time to post those “Welcome New Users!” posts.
“Hello, Devil! Welcome to Hell!”
Can’t say he didn’t warn us.
I never forgot that. I thought it was pretty damned cool of him to do that. Nobody else did, until later, when I’d gotten to be a bit better known.
Later on I noted that he was also part of the news digest group on Daily Kos, the group that Magnifico started. I’ll admit that I often didn’t get involved with his posts. There is so much to get distracted by on Daily Kos, let alone the rest of the Internet.
But I did have him bookmarked (subscribed, in DK lingo) and I paid attention to what he was doing. I knew he was there, and that was good.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oct 23 2009
Bring our troops home from Afghanistan
President Obama will soon decide whether to send as many as 60,000 additional U.S. soldiers to the war in Afghanistan. [1]
Let's urge Obama to live up to his 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Tell him to withdraw troops from Afghanistan — not send more.
The U.S. military has been in Afghanistan for more than 8 years. Enough is enough.
It's no surprise that 59% of Americans now oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan. [2]
We need to remind Obama that Lyndon Johnson's choice to escalate the Vietnam War doomed his domestic agenda to failure.
Tell President Obama today to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan.
Notes:
(1) Peter Spiegel and Yochi Dreazen, “Top Troop Request Exceeds 60,000.” Wall Street Journal, October 9, 2009.
(2) Paul Steinhauser, “CNN Poll: Will Afghanistan Turn Into Another Vietnam?” CNN, October 19, 2009.
Oct 23 2009
Rage Against Torture
Imagine listening to this for 20 days straight.
It IS torture, hell I can’t stand more than 20 seconds of it.
Of course, forcing people to listen to loud music for days on end is NOT the worst War Crime committed by Bush/Cheney, but it IS a War Crime nontheless by Geneva Standards.
Well, it looks like Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam and many other musicians are DEMANDING accountability on torture, as far as their artistic contribution to it is concerned.
Some of the more famous names in the music industry are formally lending their prestige to an effort being led by retired generals, progressive groups and a former member of Congress to shut GITMO down. The list includes Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Jackson Browne, Rise Against, Rosanne Cash, Billy Bragg and the Roots, all of whom are joining the broader National Campaign to Close Guantanamo which was launched earlier in the week.
Hoping to cast further light on the potential illegalities that took place at the detention facility, the group is also working to obtain records about why and how music was used (under laws authorized by the Bush administration) to effectively torture suspected terrorists. The musicians have officially endorsed a Freedom of Information Act request for the declassification of all secret government records pertaining to music utilized during interrogations. At least two members of the coalition, Reznor and Morello, have had their music linked to interrogations.
“Guantanamo is known around the world as one of the places where human beings have been tortured — from water boarding, to stripping, hooding and forcing detainees into humiliating sexual acts — playing music for 72 hours in a row at volumes just below that to shatter the eardrums,” said Morello, in a statement provided by the NCCG. “Guantanamo may be Dick Cheney’s idea of America, but it’s not mine. The fact that music I helped create was used in crimes against humanity sickens me — we need to end torture and close Guantanamo now.”
I nominate Tom Morello for Attorney General as SOON as I become President.
- 1
- 2