RAVEN'S DAY OFF
Raven has been loafing most of the day. Being a beach bum. Chasing women. Snacking with a distracted air on the hotcakes I set out for him on the steps in the garden. Letting loose with delighted cackles and rattles in the bugambilia bushes--all inky motion against their superfluity of magenta riches.
So, Rave, we're not going to think about The World today?
"I am always thinking. Birds for All Seasons are also Birds of All Thoughts. Did you have something specific in mind?"
I was reading a Robert Fisk piece from The Independent, republished on commondreams.org:
"Much of the Bush speech to the American Enterprise Institute was written in the language of Israel. 'If war is forced upon us by Iraq's refusal to disarm, we'll meet an enemy who hides his military forces behind civilians, who has terrible weapons, who's capable of any crime.' This is precisely the language of Ariel Sharon. The equation that other Arab states are expected to understand is contained in that ominous suggestion by Mr Bush that after the "passing" of Saddam Hussein's regime, 'other regimes will be given a clear warning that support for terror will not be tolerated'. Primarily, this is a message for Syria, then for Iran and then for anyone else who has not knelt before the Americans."
"You know, there is a reason why I have been having a day off. Sometimes I tire of being the Bird of Reason, the Cassandra subspecies blasting my news from the bugambilia that the world is going to hell in the handbasket of Bush."
Sorry, Rave. I thought we had decided that you were not a subscriber to the Tragic Sense of Life.
"I´m not. But I peek at it from time to time."
Can you finish peeking at this article, just for the sake of the blog?
"But what was it President Bush told us? 'Iraqi lives and freedom matter greatly to us,' he said. Since when? When Iraqi men and women were being raped in President Saddam's torture chambers in 1983, Donald Rumsfeld was in Baghdad asking the Iraqi leader if he could reopen the US embassy. Rebuilding Iraq will require "a sustained commitment from many nations" but "we will remain in Iraq as long as necessary and not a day more". How extraordinary. For these are precisely the same words used by Israel when it invaded Lebanon in 1982. It took Israel 22 years and hundreds of Israeli lives – and thousands of Arab lives – before that occupation ended. Ah, what it is to fight for "the liberty of an oppressed people" – this is Mr Bush on Iraq – provided, of course, they are not Palestinian."
Raven picks up a piece of hotcake.
"So the US justifies its planned occupation of Iraq because Israel has occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since 1967 in defiance of the UN Resolutions?"
It seems that way to me.
Raven pecks at the piece of hotcake.
"These are cold." He sets it back on the plate and prepares to take off.
Rave, before you lift your landing gear....
"I know. A pronouncement. At the risk of a certain kind of bird-brained logic, I have to say that in the Holocaust of the Middle (Missile?) East, the Palestinians and the Iraquis have become the Jews for This Century."
Do you think there will be others?
"Holocausts, Jews or Centuries?"
Raven, with a sad sybiline smirk on his face, banks into the breeze over the Pacific....
Saturday, March 01, 2003
Friday, February 28, 2003
COUNTING SMALL-BONED BODIES
Raven is masterminding our Poets Against the War event here on the campus of Universidad del Mar. Well, what he is really doing is finding the best anti-war poems of all time for us to read next Wednesday afternoon.
This means I have been squeezing the cells of the memory centers of my brain to call up the marches, the stench of tear gas, the barrels of National Guard M-1 rifles (later M-16s), the ashes of draft cards and flags on the steps of the Pentagon. And, because I am thinking about poems, I remember Robert Bly reading from THE LIGHT AROUND THE BODY in The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, 1967:
Counting Small-boned Bodies
Let's count the bodies over again.
If we could only make the bodies smaller
The size of skulls
We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight!
If we could only make the bodies smaller
Maybe we could get
A whole year's kill in front of us on a desk!
If we could only make the bodies smaller
We could fit
A body into a finger-ring for a keepsake forever.
Raven is pulling the best poems of the worst of times out of the unconscious of the Internet.
Let’s nourish our collective memories, make our Shadow conscious, swear that we will never, ever, need to write those poems again!
Raven is masterminding our Poets Against the War event here on the campus of Universidad del Mar. Well, what he is really doing is finding the best anti-war poems of all time for us to read next Wednesday afternoon.
This means I have been squeezing the cells of the memory centers of my brain to call up the marches, the stench of tear gas, the barrels of National Guard M-1 rifles (later M-16s), the ashes of draft cards and flags on the steps of the Pentagon. And, because I am thinking about poems, I remember Robert Bly reading from THE LIGHT AROUND THE BODY in The Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, 1967:
Counting Small-boned Bodies
Let's count the bodies over again.
If we could only make the bodies smaller
The size of skulls
We could make a whole plain white with skulls in the moonlight!
If we could only make the bodies smaller
Maybe we could get
A whole year's kill in front of us on a desk!
If we could only make the bodies smaller
We could fit
A body into a finger-ring for a keepsake forever.
Raven is pulling the best poems of the worst of times out of the unconscious of the Internet.
Let’s nourish our collective memories, make our Shadow conscious, swear that we will never, ever, need to write those poems again!
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
RANTING AND RAVEN
Raven is reading (and translating) a transcript of Fidel Castro’s speech from yesterday’s Non-Aligned (aka Anvil) Countries summit conference:
“We are living in difficult times. In recent months we have heard chilling words and concepts more than once. In a speech to cadets at West Point on June 1, 2002, the president of the United States declared: ‘Our security requires that we transform the military force that you will be leading into a military force that must be ready to attack immediately in any dark corner of the world’...That is what we are: ‘dark corners of the planet’. That’s how some people see the countries of the Third World. Never has anyone defined us better, nor with more disdain.”
“Dark corners of the planet, huh.” Raven is peering out the window at the sunlight bouncing off the waves of the Pacific .
Manicheism, Rave. Black or white. Good or evil. With us or against us.
“Who was Maniche?”
You’re thinking of Malinche. It’s Mani. He was born in what is now Iraq in the 3rd century of the Christian Era, and was called the Illuminator.
“Sounds like another Saddam Hussein best-seller in the making. Apparently this Mani was mixed up in Gnosticism. Didn’t the Catholic church condemn all that stuff as heresy and barbecue the followers?”
That was later. During the time of the Crusades there was a late minor crusade against Catharists in the south of France. It was minor because there were no spoils to be had, and nobody took it seriously. They built some bonfires, but they all died down pretty quickly.
“I see the connection. The Petroleum Crusade. Fidel says:
“After the last global massacre in the decade of the 1940s, we were promised a world of peace, the reduction of the distance between the rich and the poor and that the most developed countries would help the less developed countries. All of that turned out to be false. They imposed a world order on us that can neither be sustained nor tolerated. The world is being conducted to a dead end street. In only 150 years the gas and petroleum that it took the world 300 millions of years to accumulate will be exhausted.”
Well, yes. They´re starting the Crusades all over again, using dualist thinking as a justification.
“The Holy Grail is an oil barrel....”
Sadly, yes. And Rave, the tales of this crusade will be censured in such a way that any vestige of truth will be lost in the propaganda. Robert Fisk wrote yesterday in The Independent:
"In a further and even more sinister message dated 31 January this year, CNN staff are told that a new computerized system of script approval will allow "authorized script approvers to mark scripts (i.e. reports) in a clear and standard manner. Script EPs (executive producers) will click on the colored APPROVED button to turn it from red (unapproved) to green (approved). When someone makes a change in the script after approval, the button will turn yellow." Someone? Who is this someone? CNN's reporters aren't told. But when we recall that CNN revealed after the 1991 Gulf War that it had allowed Pentagon "trainees" into the CNN newsroom in Atlanta, I have my suspicions."
Raven seems to sniff the air. “Is that the scent of oil fields burning? Or napalm in the morning?"
Smells like the Reichstag Fire to me, Rave.
Raven is reading (and translating) a transcript of Fidel Castro’s speech from yesterday’s Non-Aligned (aka Anvil) Countries summit conference:
“We are living in difficult times. In recent months we have heard chilling words and concepts more than once. In a speech to cadets at West Point on June 1, 2002, the president of the United States declared: ‘Our security requires that we transform the military force that you will be leading into a military force that must be ready to attack immediately in any dark corner of the world’...That is what we are: ‘dark corners of the planet’. That’s how some people see the countries of the Third World. Never has anyone defined us better, nor with more disdain.”
“Dark corners of the planet, huh.” Raven is peering out the window at the sunlight bouncing off the waves of the Pacific .
Manicheism, Rave. Black or white. Good or evil. With us or against us.
“Who was Maniche?”
You’re thinking of Malinche. It’s Mani. He was born in what is now Iraq in the 3rd century of the Christian Era, and was called the Illuminator.
“Sounds like another Saddam Hussein best-seller in the making. Apparently this Mani was mixed up in Gnosticism. Didn’t the Catholic church condemn all that stuff as heresy and barbecue the followers?”
That was later. During the time of the Crusades there was a late minor crusade against Catharists in the south of France. It was minor because there were no spoils to be had, and nobody took it seriously. They built some bonfires, but they all died down pretty quickly.
“I see the connection. The Petroleum Crusade. Fidel says:
“After the last global massacre in the decade of the 1940s, we were promised a world of peace, the reduction of the distance between the rich and the poor and that the most developed countries would help the less developed countries. All of that turned out to be false. They imposed a world order on us that can neither be sustained nor tolerated. The world is being conducted to a dead end street. In only 150 years the gas and petroleum that it took the world 300 millions of years to accumulate will be exhausted.”
Well, yes. They´re starting the Crusades all over again, using dualist thinking as a justification.
“The Holy Grail is an oil barrel....”
Sadly, yes. And Rave, the tales of this crusade will be censured in such a way that any vestige of truth will be lost in the propaganda. Robert Fisk wrote yesterday in The Independent:
"In a further and even more sinister message dated 31 January this year, CNN staff are told that a new computerized system of script approval will allow "authorized script approvers to mark scripts (i.e. reports) in a clear and standard manner. Script EPs (executive producers) will click on the colored APPROVED button to turn it from red (unapproved) to green (approved). When someone makes a change in the script after approval, the button will turn yellow." Someone? Who is this someone? CNN's reporters aren't told. But when we recall that CNN revealed after the 1991 Gulf War that it had allowed Pentagon "trainees" into the CNN newsroom in Atlanta, I have my suspicions."
Raven seems to sniff the air. “Is that the scent of oil fields burning? Or napalm in the morning?"
Smells like the Reichstag Fire to me, Rave.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
THE POWER OF PRIMITIVE METHODS
Yesterday the summit conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries began in Kuala Lumpur. In his inaugural address the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, denounced the West’s “primitve methods”: using the pretext of a war against terrorism to try to dominate the world.
“Those kamikaze terrorists are killed in every attack, while the great warriors who press buttons see nothing of the dismembered bodies,” he indicated.
The Malaysian leader accused the West of exercising an “ideological oppression” in favor of democracy against poor countries: “Democracy is arguably the best system of government, but it is difficult to see a democratic method in imposing sanctions, starving people to death, and prohibiting their access to medical care with the end of having them accept democracy.”
“Good point.” Raven is starting to get excited as he reads this news.
The Non-Aligned Countries (116 countries in total) expect to approve a declaration today condemning a unilateral intervention in Iraq on the part of the US, as well as the expression Axis of Evil used by Baby Bush to denote 3 non-aligned countries, Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
“The only thing I want to know is why they are still calling themselves Non-Aligned Countries. Since the disappearance of the Soviet Union they should be calling themselves something different.”
Did you have something in mind, Rave?
“Not really. Maybe Victim Countries? Or Anvil Countries?”
Anvil?
“You know—like in the dialectic of the Hammer and the Anvil, the countries that always get beaten on....”
Yesterday the summit conference of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries began in Kuala Lumpur. In his inaugural address the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, denounced the West’s “primitve methods”: using the pretext of a war against terrorism to try to dominate the world.
“Those kamikaze terrorists are killed in every attack, while the great warriors who press buttons see nothing of the dismembered bodies,” he indicated.
The Malaysian leader accused the West of exercising an “ideological oppression” in favor of democracy against poor countries: “Democracy is arguably the best system of government, but it is difficult to see a democratic method in imposing sanctions, starving people to death, and prohibiting their access to medical care with the end of having them accept democracy.”
“Good point.” Raven is starting to get excited as he reads this news.
The Non-Aligned Countries (116 countries in total) expect to approve a declaration today condemning a unilateral intervention in Iraq on the part of the US, as well as the expression Axis of Evil used by Baby Bush to denote 3 non-aligned countries, Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
“The only thing I want to know is why they are still calling themselves Non-Aligned Countries. Since the disappearance of the Soviet Union they should be calling themselves something different.”
Did you have something in mind, Rave?
“Not really. Maybe Victim Countries? Or Anvil Countries?”
Anvil?
“You know—like in the dialectic of the Hammer and the Anvil, the countries that always get beaten on....”
Monday, February 24, 2003
ROGUES AND FRIENDS
Raven is back. His feathers are a little rumpled around the edges, I think. And his affect is a bit subdued. It isn’t easy for the Bird for All Seasons to admit to his animal inclinations. (It isn’t easy for me, either.)
In today’s La Jornada there is a piece by Carlos Fazio, “De canallas y amigos” (Of Rogues and Friends), which treats the rhetorical use of the label “Rogue State” by the US to justify its new “doctrine of preventive war”, whose most novel aspect is its so-called “anticipatory self-defense.” (Essentially, it means a non-declared war against international norms as well as the US Constitution.)
Fazio points out that “based on the frequency and durability of its unilateral acts of force on a global level, the most visible case of an interfering Rogue State in the 20th century was the United States. (Others, such as the German Nazis and the Italian Fascists had an ephemeral duration.”)
He gives several examples, including Reagan’s Secretary of State George Shultz’ comments when the Tribunal of La Hague was considering Nicaragua’s accusations regarding the mining of its harbor at Corinto--where he laughed at the people who advocated “utopian and legalist means such as external mediation, the United Nations and the International Tribunal of Justice, and did not take into account the ELEMENT OF POWER in the equation.” The Tribunal condemned the US for its illegal use of force against Nicaragua, and imposed the obligation to pay substantial damages. Washington never obeyed....
Typical bully on the corner behavior. Right, Rave?
“If you say so. If you are including my recent lapse from grace in that paradigm, please remember that I was protecting my own turf.”
Fascinating. I didn’t know that birds had turf, Rave.
“Don’t be ingenuous. Everybody has his own turf, his personal space.”
Fazio goes on to indicate that a “rogue superpower has to maintain its credibility, constructing its ideology with the active collaboration of universities, research institutes and the chains of mass media of communication (CNN, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, etc.)...this industry of ideological persuasion generates processes of suggestion and collective contagion: today’s panic in regard to the “devil” Hussein, yesterday’s in regard to the “evil” Bin Laden. To this end the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI and the DEA use psychological warfare and covert activity, disseminating disinformation in order to influence public opinion and political leaders in both friendly nations and enemy nations.”
“Yeah. Every 15 minutes the FBI or one of those other groups is predicting another terrorist attack.”
State-sponsored terrorism, Rave. Scare the shit out of the citizenry.
A country that does not respect the rogue superpower can expect to pay the price. Mexico has been advised that it will pay a high price if it doesn’t support the US in the UN Security Council. Bush’s buddy Tony Garza, the US ambassador to Mexico, made it very clear in his speech in Puebla last week that all bets for an agreement regarding migrant workers would be off, as well as any possible NAFTA renegotiation, if Mexico didn´t vote to attack Iraq.
“This guy Fazio is right: it’s the dialectic of master and slave.” Raven is indignant.
You didn’t see the paper yesterday, Rave, but Oliver Stone said he was thinking of leaving the US because he can’t accept the government’s terrorist tactics.
“Wow! When Hollywood threatens to pack up and leave, you know the dream is over....”
Raven is back. His feathers are a little rumpled around the edges, I think. And his affect is a bit subdued. It isn’t easy for the Bird for All Seasons to admit to his animal inclinations. (It isn’t easy for me, either.)
In today’s La Jornada there is a piece by Carlos Fazio, “De canallas y amigos” (Of Rogues and Friends), which treats the rhetorical use of the label “Rogue State” by the US to justify its new “doctrine of preventive war”, whose most novel aspect is its so-called “anticipatory self-defense.” (Essentially, it means a non-declared war against international norms as well as the US Constitution.)
Fazio points out that “based on the frequency and durability of its unilateral acts of force on a global level, the most visible case of an interfering Rogue State in the 20th century was the United States. (Others, such as the German Nazis and the Italian Fascists had an ephemeral duration.”)
He gives several examples, including Reagan’s Secretary of State George Shultz’ comments when the Tribunal of La Hague was considering Nicaragua’s accusations regarding the mining of its harbor at Corinto--where he laughed at the people who advocated “utopian and legalist means such as external mediation, the United Nations and the International Tribunal of Justice, and did not take into account the ELEMENT OF POWER in the equation.” The Tribunal condemned the US for its illegal use of force against Nicaragua, and imposed the obligation to pay substantial damages. Washington never obeyed....
Typical bully on the corner behavior. Right, Rave?
“If you say so. If you are including my recent lapse from grace in that paradigm, please remember that I was protecting my own turf.”
Fascinating. I didn’t know that birds had turf, Rave.
“Don’t be ingenuous. Everybody has his own turf, his personal space.”
Fazio goes on to indicate that a “rogue superpower has to maintain its credibility, constructing its ideology with the active collaboration of universities, research institutes and the chains of mass media of communication (CNN, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, etc.)...this industry of ideological persuasion generates processes of suggestion and collective contagion: today’s panic in regard to the “devil” Hussein, yesterday’s in regard to the “evil” Bin Laden. To this end the CIA, the Pentagon, the FBI and the DEA use psychological warfare and covert activity, disseminating disinformation in order to influence public opinion and political leaders in both friendly nations and enemy nations.”
“Yeah. Every 15 minutes the FBI or one of those other groups is predicting another terrorist attack.”
State-sponsored terrorism, Rave. Scare the shit out of the citizenry.
A country that does not respect the rogue superpower can expect to pay the price. Mexico has been advised that it will pay a high price if it doesn’t support the US in the UN Security Council. Bush’s buddy Tony Garza, the US ambassador to Mexico, made it very clear in his speech in Puebla last week that all bets for an agreement regarding migrant workers would be off, as well as any possible NAFTA renegotiation, if Mexico didn´t vote to attack Iraq.
“This guy Fazio is right: it’s the dialectic of master and slave.” Raven is indignant.
You didn’t see the paper yesterday, Rave, but Oliver Stone said he was thinking of leaving the US because he can’t accept the government’s terrorist tactics.
“Wow! When Hollywood threatens to pack up and leave, you know the dream is over....”
Sunday, February 23, 2003
THE BIRD IN THE DOGHOUSE....
Raven was in the doghouse yesterday because of his regression to the mean of belligerent behavior.
Today he did not put in an appearance while I was in the garden until 5 p.m., when he took a dead leaf from the ground and pecked at it on the wall. I guess this was his version of going out to the garden to eat worms?
Rave, martyrdom doesn't become you.
It looked to me as if he shrugged his shoulders before he flew off with the leaf dribbling out of his beak.
I felt a little strange reading the Sunday supplements without Raven editorializing over my shoulder.
Especially since Raven is an ardent chavista, I would have liked to hear his comments on last week's turn of events in Venezuela. The government of Hugo Chavez and the "opposition" (whatever that means) signed an agreement last Wednesday to put an end to violence (apparently physical and/or verbal?) Early Thursday morning Carlos Fernandez, one of the leaders of the coup conspirators was arrested coming out of a restaurant in the eastern sector of Caracas. He has been charged with Treason, Civil Rebellion and Instigating Delinquency, among other crimes. When Chavez heard the news shortly after the arrest, he celebrated with a big glass of papaya juice and went to bed with a big smile on his face....It was about time.
Also in the supplement Masiosare, an elegy for Philip Berrigan, who died in December after 40 years of resistance against violence and war. A few quotes from his autobiography, Fighting the Lamb's War, published in 1997:
On Capitalism...
"We were taught to believe in the capitalist system without ever questioning how a system that poisons the environment, jails and executes the poor people, and prospers in war can be compatible with the teachings of Christ."
On the Catholic Church and the Vietnam War...
"In November of 1966 the bishops of the US declared that the Vietnam War complied with the criteria for a just war, but those men were not going to die in a rice paddy full of leeches. Cardinal Spellman wasn't going to be walking as a sentinel in the dense jungle waiting for a sniper that would blow his brains out or for a mine that would send him home in a box of chocolates."
On the H bomb...
"Nobody asked the American people if they wanted to build another apocalyptic bomb."
On Christ and war...
"Jesus was an activist. Not a monk. He lived among the poor. He threw the merchants out of the temple, criticized the rich and powerful, ridiculed the government's functionaries. He would not have stayed in a monastery while his government was slaughtering the Vietnamese."
Rest in peace, Philip Berrigan. You deserve that which was so elusive during your lifetime.
Last month Hugo Chavez talked about Martin Luther King, Jr., calling him the "martyr of us blacks":
"Martin Luther King spoke of Jesus, the King of the people, the Lord of Venezuela, Jesus, my comandante...Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus of the cross, Jesus resurrected, Jesus the redeemer...Every day I understand Christ more--his passion, his love. Christ is my Commander in Chief."
I put down the paper and walked back out to my garden. Raven was striking a pose on the wall, holding something green in his mouth that looked suspiciously like an olive branch....
PEACE!
Raven was in the doghouse yesterday because of his regression to the mean of belligerent behavior.
Today he did not put in an appearance while I was in the garden until 5 p.m., when he took a dead leaf from the ground and pecked at it on the wall. I guess this was his version of going out to the garden to eat worms?
Rave, martyrdom doesn't become you.
It looked to me as if he shrugged his shoulders before he flew off with the leaf dribbling out of his beak.
I felt a little strange reading the Sunday supplements without Raven editorializing over my shoulder.
Especially since Raven is an ardent chavista, I would have liked to hear his comments on last week's turn of events in Venezuela. The government of Hugo Chavez and the "opposition" (whatever that means) signed an agreement last Wednesday to put an end to violence (apparently physical and/or verbal?) Early Thursday morning Carlos Fernandez, one of the leaders of the coup conspirators was arrested coming out of a restaurant in the eastern sector of Caracas. He has been charged with Treason, Civil Rebellion and Instigating Delinquency, among other crimes. When Chavez heard the news shortly after the arrest, he celebrated with a big glass of papaya juice and went to bed with a big smile on his face....It was about time.
Also in the supplement Masiosare, an elegy for Philip Berrigan, who died in December after 40 years of resistance against violence and war. A few quotes from his autobiography, Fighting the Lamb's War, published in 1997:
On Capitalism...
"We were taught to believe in the capitalist system without ever questioning how a system that poisons the environment, jails and executes the poor people, and prospers in war can be compatible with the teachings of Christ."
On the Catholic Church and the Vietnam War...
"In November of 1966 the bishops of the US declared that the Vietnam War complied with the criteria for a just war, but those men were not going to die in a rice paddy full of leeches. Cardinal Spellman wasn't going to be walking as a sentinel in the dense jungle waiting for a sniper that would blow his brains out or for a mine that would send him home in a box of chocolates."
On the H bomb...
"Nobody asked the American people if they wanted to build another apocalyptic bomb."
On Christ and war...
"Jesus was an activist. Not a monk. He lived among the poor. He threw the merchants out of the temple, criticized the rich and powerful, ridiculed the government's functionaries. He would not have stayed in a monastery while his government was slaughtering the Vietnamese."
Rest in peace, Philip Berrigan. You deserve that which was so elusive during your lifetime.
Last month Hugo Chavez talked about Martin Luther King, Jr., calling him the "martyr of us blacks":
"Martin Luther King spoke of Jesus, the King of the people, the Lord of Venezuela, Jesus, my comandante...Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus of the cross, Jesus resurrected, Jesus the redeemer...Every day I understand Christ more--his passion, his love. Christ is my Commander in Chief."
I put down the paper and walked back out to my garden. Raven was striking a pose on the wall, holding something green in his mouth that looked suspiciously like an olive branch....
PEACE!
Saturday, February 22, 2003
RAVEN LOSES HIS GRIP?
Raven will not be making any comments on this page today.
This morning I was washing my clothes, as usual, in the kitchen sink. I went out to hang the clothes on the line and noticed that a small, presumably female raven was sitting on the wall. Later she was sitting on a limb of the lime tree.
I went back inside to cook my breakfast.
Suddenly a racket began, and I peeked out to see Raven screeching and flapping his wings at another male, who was flapping back at him.
Uh, Rave. Is this the behavior of an evolved bird?
Raven and the other male were engaged in a Mexican standoff. Then they circled the base of the lime tree. Then they flapped their wings again. The male who was trying to horn in on Raven's relationship slowly backed off and flew away.
Raven flew up to the limb next to the female's perch.
You know something, Rave? I see that bellicosity again and you can take it out of my garden to another Bush....
Raven will not be making any comments on this page today.
This morning I was washing my clothes, as usual, in the kitchen sink. I went out to hang the clothes on the line and noticed that a small, presumably female raven was sitting on the wall. Later she was sitting on a limb of the lime tree.
I went back inside to cook my breakfast.
Suddenly a racket began, and I peeked out to see Raven screeching and flapping his wings at another male, who was flapping back at him.
Uh, Rave. Is this the behavior of an evolved bird?
Raven and the other male were engaged in a Mexican standoff. Then they circled the base of the lime tree. Then they flapped their wings again. The male who was trying to horn in on Raven's relationship slowly backed off and flew away.
Raven flew up to the limb next to the female's perch.
You know something, Rave? I see that bellicosity again and you can take it out of my garden to another Bush....
Friday, February 21, 2003
SOMEWHERE IN TEXAS A VILLAGE IS MISSING ITS IDIOT
“Did you see this in the Common Dreams site?” Raven is making sounds which he thinks pass for chuckling, but which sound more like the horselaugh to me.
***”This was Sydney, in all its wonderful diversity and stripes. Right in front of an elderly and well-heeled group carrying a banner saying North Shore Against the War was a group of young Iraqi-Australians with a flag, and in front them some students with the banner "Somewhere in Texas, a Village Is Missing Its Idiot". (Published Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 by the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)”***
I assume they mean Midland, Texas, Rave.
“Quite the geographer, aren’t you. Did you just pull that name out of a hat?”
Not exactly. I have a friend in Santa Fe who is from the same oiltown in Texas as Baby Bush. Midland.
“Sounds suspiciously like Middle Earth to me....”
You a Tolkien fan, Rave? I know you can’t be talking about movies, as there are no cinemas anywhere near here and I have no tv and vcr. Or have you been peeking in other people’s windows?
Raven gives me a look that would fry eggs. “Look, one of the few benefits of being a bird is that you can look into people’s houses and nobody thinks anything about it. You would not believe what some people get up to....”
That’s diversity, Rave. As a progressive, you should be championing their right to get up to whatever they want in the privacy of their own homes.
“Don’t stuff me into the fascist barrel with Bush and his buddies. Since you won’t buy a tv watching the antics of other species is the only mindless entertainment I have access to.” Raven returns to reading aloud from Common Dreams:
***”We believe that of all the lessons the tragedy of September 11 demonstrated, the most salient is that just one person with enough white-hot hate in him can become a weapon of mass destruction all on his own.”***
A little context, please, Rave. Whom are they talking about: Osama Bin Laden or Bush?
“Osama Bin Laden probably had less to do with 9/11 than Bush did. It’s obvious that Bush is a weapon of mass destruction. Listen to this:
***”We finally believe that of all the wars and potential wars of our time, the distinguishing feature of this one is that it is driven by political leadership with little backing from their populations. And in New York, London, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Melbourne, Adelaide and Armidale last weekend, a large tranche of those populations had the will to say, "NO! Stop this madness, now, while there is still time." And our only hope now is that there really is still time.”***
“Right on!” Raven shoots his wings skyward.
Tolkien? Right on? Rave, you’re looking a little tie-dyed around the edges.
“I am a bird for all seasons....”
“Did you see this in the Common Dreams site?” Raven is making sounds which he thinks pass for chuckling, but which sound more like the horselaugh to me.
***”This was Sydney, in all its wonderful diversity and stripes. Right in front of an elderly and well-heeled group carrying a banner saying North Shore Against the War was a group of young Iraqi-Australians with a flag, and in front them some students with the banner "Somewhere in Texas, a Village Is Missing Its Idiot". (Published Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 by the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)”***
I assume they mean Midland, Texas, Rave.
“Quite the geographer, aren’t you. Did you just pull that name out of a hat?”
Not exactly. I have a friend in Santa Fe who is from the same oiltown in Texas as Baby Bush. Midland.
“Sounds suspiciously like Middle Earth to me....”
You a Tolkien fan, Rave? I know you can’t be talking about movies, as there are no cinemas anywhere near here and I have no tv and vcr. Or have you been peeking in other people’s windows?
Raven gives me a look that would fry eggs. “Look, one of the few benefits of being a bird is that you can look into people’s houses and nobody thinks anything about it. You would not believe what some people get up to....”
That’s diversity, Rave. As a progressive, you should be championing their right to get up to whatever they want in the privacy of their own homes.
“Don’t stuff me into the fascist barrel with Bush and his buddies. Since you won’t buy a tv watching the antics of other species is the only mindless entertainment I have access to.” Raven returns to reading aloud from Common Dreams:
***”We believe that of all the lessons the tragedy of September 11 demonstrated, the most salient is that just one person with enough white-hot hate in him can become a weapon of mass destruction all on his own.”***
A little context, please, Rave. Whom are they talking about: Osama Bin Laden or Bush?
“Osama Bin Laden probably had less to do with 9/11 than Bush did. It’s obvious that Bush is a weapon of mass destruction. Listen to this:
***”We finally believe that of all the wars and potential wars of our time, the distinguishing feature of this one is that it is driven by political leadership with little backing from their populations. And in New York, London, Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Melbourne, Adelaide and Armidale last weekend, a large tranche of those populations had the will to say, "NO! Stop this madness, now, while there is still time." And our only hope now is that there really is still time.”***
“Right on!” Raven shoots his wings skyward.
Tolkien? Right on? Rave, you’re looking a little tie-dyed around the edges.
“I am a bird for all seasons....”
Thursday, February 20, 2003
PSYCHOLOGY OF THE PACK?
Raven and I have been trying to read today’s La Jornada in Internet:
Incrementa EU campaña para que la ONU lo autorice a atacar (The US increases the campaign for the UN to authorize them to attack)
Niega el Departamento de Estado que enviara a Aznar para lograr que Fox apoye planes de Bush (US State Department denies it sent Aznar to get Fox to support Bush’s plans)
I wanted to know what Raven thought about the US trying to rally support for its “cause”.
“Is that a rhetorical question?” Raven gave me a sidelong glance and turned his eyes back to the computer screen.
No, actually, it wasn’t.
“In that case, I will answer you.” Raven gave me his full attention now. “If you remember, a couple of days ago we were talking about evolution. Not in general terms, but specifically in regard to your species.”
Yes, I remember. You said that we had not evolved since the Stone Age.
“Something like that, yes. Your species’ name implies the ability to reason. An ability which you have not, lamentably, attributed to other species. If we were observing this behavior among world leaders in, let’s say, a pack of wolves, what would you say about it?”
I suppose I would say that they were ganging up on a weaker animal who was no longer able to fight back because he was old or sick.
“Okay. Now think about if that attitude of ganging up on and eliminating a weaker animal would be considered moral if you apply it to humans, to your species.” Raven looked at me particularly sternly.
I didn’t think it would be, no.
“So, what do members of your species do to justify actions which are essentially immoral?”
I guess we would try to get a consensus. If everybody participates in the action, there is no one to raise a big stink about its immorality. Even though it is.
“So the US didn’t even have to send Aznar to put the arm on Fox to change Mexico’s vote in the Security Council to pro-war. Aznar could have done it on his own to cover his own bad conscience because he is part of the pack. The result is the same.”
Raven seems to know a lot about animals, especially our species....
Raven and I have been trying to read today’s La Jornada in Internet:
Incrementa EU campaña para que la ONU lo autorice a atacar (The US increases the campaign for the UN to authorize them to attack)
Niega el Departamento de Estado que enviara a Aznar para lograr que Fox apoye planes de Bush (US State Department denies it sent Aznar to get Fox to support Bush’s plans)
I wanted to know what Raven thought about the US trying to rally support for its “cause”.
“Is that a rhetorical question?” Raven gave me a sidelong glance and turned his eyes back to the computer screen.
No, actually, it wasn’t.
“In that case, I will answer you.” Raven gave me his full attention now. “If you remember, a couple of days ago we were talking about evolution. Not in general terms, but specifically in regard to your species.”
Yes, I remember. You said that we had not evolved since the Stone Age.
“Something like that, yes. Your species’ name implies the ability to reason. An ability which you have not, lamentably, attributed to other species. If we were observing this behavior among world leaders in, let’s say, a pack of wolves, what would you say about it?”
I suppose I would say that they were ganging up on a weaker animal who was no longer able to fight back because he was old or sick.
“Okay. Now think about if that attitude of ganging up on and eliminating a weaker animal would be considered moral if you apply it to humans, to your species.” Raven looked at me particularly sternly.
I didn’t think it would be, no.
“So, what do members of your species do to justify actions which are essentially immoral?”
I guess we would try to get a consensus. If everybody participates in the action, there is no one to raise a big stink about its immorality. Even though it is.
“So the US didn’t even have to send Aznar to put the arm on Fox to change Mexico’s vote in the Security Council to pro-war. Aznar could have done it on his own to cover his own bad conscience because he is part of the pack. The result is the same.”
Raven seems to know a lot about animals, especially our species....
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
WARFARE: THE WAY OF DECEPTION
Raven has been busy: Sitting on the edge of the roof of the house declaiming his theories, laughing at the animals and people below, singing his personal Ode to Joy.
He and I have entered the text of Sun Tzu’s Art of War to see if there are applications for the world in this moment.
Raven is humming as he reads.
Doesn’t he think this is a little complicated to digest at one sitting?
“I thought we agreed on the process: Enter the waterfall from where you are now.” Raven points a talon to this blog page.
Rave, can we open the other window now?
***Warfare is the Way of deception. Therefore, if able, appear unable, if active, appear not active, if near, appear far, if far, appear near. If they have advantage, entice them; if they are confused, take them, if they are substantial, prepare for them, if they are strong, avoid them, if they are angry, disturb them, if they are humble, make them haughty, if they are relaxed, toil them, if they are united, separate them. Attack where they are not prepared, go out to where they do not expect. This specialized warfare leads to victory, and may not be transmitted beforehand. ***
“This implies that there are two entities. Do you see, at this moment, an entity that is the enemy of the US and who is poised to go to war to defeat your country?”
That could be just about anybody, Rave. Bush is not even able to make allies of his allies.
“Ha ha. If you are going to continue with your flippant comments, you can read this window with somebody else.”
Raven is oversensitive. I see his point. Everything that the US is doing to announce their “war” indicates that it is not a war. At least not in Sun Tzu’s lexicon.
***No nation has ever benefited from protracted warfare. Therefore, if one is not fully cognizant of the dangers inherent in doing battle, one cannot fully know the benefits of doing battle. ***
So. Deja vu all over again. Vietnam, right?
“Could be. Those guys think they’ll be in an out of Bagdad in a flash. But since when have they convinced us they are right about anything?”
***Therefore I say: One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles. One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will sometimes win, sometimes lose. One who does not know the enemy and does not know himself will be in danger in every battle. ***
Does anybody really know anybody else these days?
“This is not one of those New Age self-improvement books.” Raven is becoming impatient. “If you’re going to know the enemy, you first need to figure out who the enemy is. First the enemy was Osama Bin Laden. Then suddenly it was Saddam Hussein. Now there’s guy in North Korea who’s a voice crying in the wilderness wanting to be recognized.”
And....?
“Something stinks here. Either the US government has no idea who its enemy is, or it plans to make war against everybody.”
Sounds bad, Rave. But let’s read the rest of the text?
“The stink of confusion and subterfuge is making me hungry. I am going to scavenge for awhile. You read the rest of the text.”
Raven flies off.
Raven has been busy: Sitting on the edge of the roof of the house declaiming his theories, laughing at the animals and people below, singing his personal Ode to Joy.
He and I have entered the text of Sun Tzu’s Art of War to see if there are applications for the world in this moment.
Raven is humming as he reads.
Doesn’t he think this is a little complicated to digest at one sitting?
“I thought we agreed on the process: Enter the waterfall from where you are now.” Raven points a talon to this blog page.
Rave, can we open the other window now?
***Warfare is the Way of deception. Therefore, if able, appear unable, if active, appear not active, if near, appear far, if far, appear near. If they have advantage, entice them; if they are confused, take them, if they are substantial, prepare for them, if they are strong, avoid them, if they are angry, disturb them, if they are humble, make them haughty, if they are relaxed, toil them, if they are united, separate them. Attack where they are not prepared, go out to where they do not expect. This specialized warfare leads to victory, and may not be transmitted beforehand. ***
“This implies that there are two entities. Do you see, at this moment, an entity that is the enemy of the US and who is poised to go to war to defeat your country?”
That could be just about anybody, Rave. Bush is not even able to make allies of his allies.
“Ha ha. If you are going to continue with your flippant comments, you can read this window with somebody else.”
Raven is oversensitive. I see his point. Everything that the US is doing to announce their “war” indicates that it is not a war. At least not in Sun Tzu’s lexicon.
***No nation has ever benefited from protracted warfare. Therefore, if one is not fully cognizant of the dangers inherent in doing battle, one cannot fully know the benefits of doing battle. ***
So. Deja vu all over again. Vietnam, right?
“Could be. Those guys think they’ll be in an out of Bagdad in a flash. But since when have they convinced us they are right about anything?”
***Therefore I say: One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles. One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will sometimes win, sometimes lose. One who does not know the enemy and does not know himself will be in danger in every battle. ***
Does anybody really know anybody else these days?
“This is not one of those New Age self-improvement books.” Raven is becoming impatient. “If you’re going to know the enemy, you first need to figure out who the enemy is. First the enemy was Osama Bin Laden. Then suddenly it was Saddam Hussein. Now there’s guy in North Korea who’s a voice crying in the wilderness wanting to be recognized.”
And....?
“Something stinks here. Either the US government has no idea who its enemy is, or it plans to make war against everybody.”
Sounds bad, Rave. But let’s read the rest of the text?
“The stink of confusion and subterfuge is making me hungry. I am going to scavenge for awhile. You read the rest of the text.”
Raven flies off.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
THE RELIGION OF DEATH?
This past Sunday’s LA JORNADA SEMANAL dedicated most of its space to articles about
war. In one article, “De la guerra y sus definiciones”, the historian Lewis Mumford was quoted as defining war as “the religion of death”, capable of making real the secret desires of “the paranoiacs and sadists that a society in disintegration necessarily produces.”
Mumford’s definition is radically different from that of Clausewitz, who argued that “war is the continuation of politics by others means.” “Good Cop” Colin Powell has impunely quoted Clausewitz, and he is not the only one who has expected us to believe him. As if shoehorning war into the parameters of political process somehow makes it a legitimate action, even a civic obligation.
“Any fool”, claims Raven, “can see that war is precisely the opposite of politics, not its continuation.”
Even a bird brain, right?
Raven chewed thoughtfully on a dead leaf, and leveled me one of his slingshot gazes: “Sometimes you are not wildly funny, you know. Have you seen any massive formations of birds running bombing missions around here lately?”
I was not wildly inclined to argue with him, either, but could not help but point out that our small fishing village in southern Mexico is not of acute strategic importance.
“For birds, it is. But we’re not shooting each other out of the skies to get control of all the fish.
Yet you people run around calling yourself civilized, the most evolved species, etcetera.”
What is your point, Rave?
“Being at the top of the food chain doesn’t mean you’re civilized. I don’t see any evolutionary process in your species.”
Well, maybe not. We have been waging war for millennia.
“In fact,” Raven concluded, “you are the same cavemen as you were in prehistory. Only your clubs have evolved into “intelligent” weapons.
You’re forgetting about culture, Rave.
“Culture doesn’t mean a damn to you people. It’s just something more to impose on other people. Fidel Castro was right when he said Mexican children know more about Mickey Mouse than about Miguel Hidalgo.”
But having a culture doesn’t always mean implementing cultural imperialism.
“Let’s put it this way. When you idiots start waging your “cultural” conflicts with nuclear weapons, the only species likely to come out with its culture intact is the cockroach.”
Even a bird brain....
This past Sunday’s LA JORNADA SEMANAL dedicated most of its space to articles about
war. In one article, “De la guerra y sus definiciones”, the historian Lewis Mumford was quoted as defining war as “the religion of death”, capable of making real the secret desires of “the paranoiacs and sadists that a society in disintegration necessarily produces.”
Mumford’s definition is radically different from that of Clausewitz, who argued that “war is the continuation of politics by others means.” “Good Cop” Colin Powell has impunely quoted Clausewitz, and he is not the only one who has expected us to believe him. As if shoehorning war into the parameters of political process somehow makes it a legitimate action, even a civic obligation.
“Any fool”, claims Raven, “can see that war is precisely the opposite of politics, not its continuation.”
Even a bird brain, right?
Raven chewed thoughtfully on a dead leaf, and leveled me one of his slingshot gazes: “Sometimes you are not wildly funny, you know. Have you seen any massive formations of birds running bombing missions around here lately?”
I was not wildly inclined to argue with him, either, but could not help but point out that our small fishing village in southern Mexico is not of acute strategic importance.
“For birds, it is. But we’re not shooting each other out of the skies to get control of all the fish.
Yet you people run around calling yourself civilized, the most evolved species, etcetera.”
What is your point, Rave?
“Being at the top of the food chain doesn’t mean you’re civilized. I don’t see any evolutionary process in your species.”
Well, maybe not. We have been waging war for millennia.
“In fact,” Raven concluded, “you are the same cavemen as you were in prehistory. Only your clubs have evolved into “intelligent” weapons.
You’re forgetting about culture, Rave.
“Culture doesn’t mean a damn to you people. It’s just something more to impose on other people. Fidel Castro was right when he said Mexican children know more about Mickey Mouse than about Miguel Hidalgo.”
But having a culture doesn’t always mean implementing cultural imperialism.
“Let’s put it this way. When you idiots start waging your “cultural” conflicts with nuclear weapons, the only species likely to come out with its culture intact is the cockroach.”
Even a bird brain....
Friday, February 14, 2003
CONSPIRACIES COMING IN FROM THE COLD?
Raven has been doing a lot of reading this week—some of it over my shoulder, yes—but
he has also called my attention to things that he has been reading in Internet while I have
been working.
True to his trickster nature, Raven always gets a gleam in his eye for anything to do with
conspiracies. This week he has spent a lot of time reading a 90 page PLAN written in
2000—before Bush stole the presidential election--reviving the Bush Padre plan from 1991
on the build-up of US military forces with the goal of taking over the world’s resources and
squashing any threats of competition—especially from the European Union.
Raven passed me this excerpt from the article in the Common Dreams site that got him
reading the PLAN:
***
Published on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
Full Spectrum Conspiracy?
by Joy-Ann Lomena Reid
...Now that they have come in from the cold, the ultra-hawks of the
neoconservative movement -- political veterans Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney,
Paul Wolfowitz and Condoleezza Rice, and their extra-governmental think-tank
and media cohorts (men like Richard Perle, Daniel Pipes, Bill Kristol and William Safire),
are pressing their long-hatched agenda from inside the Bush administration -- or so the
conspiracy theory goes.
Their goal is "full spectrum dominance" -- an unchallenged America
sitting astride the world -- controlling its natural resources and reshaping or replacing
governments that don't go along with the program, and even controlling allies (with
something akin to economic blackmail) in order to prevent a collusion of would-be equals
from growing up in Europe. The key to getting the program started is Iraq, which as early
as 2000, the Rumsfeld Cabal (conspiracy lingo here,) were plotting to invade.
The narrative for the plot comes in the form of a report drawn up in 2000 by the neo-conservative
Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a think-tank peopled by Cheney, Rumsfeld,
Wolfowitz, Florida Governor Jeb Bush (the president's brother,) Lewis "Scooter" Libby (Cheney's
chief of staff) and others. The document was entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies,
Forces And Resources For A New Century (Check this for link) and it was published in September
2000 -- a full year before the 9/11 attacks.
The document maps out a "proposed" global strategy for America in the 21st century -- and its
tenets are being followed almost to the letter by the current Bush administration....
***
I took the bait. My eyes slithered through the 90 pages of mostly double-column text that
spells out the Bush administration’s Game of Risk strategies to control planet Earth.
Rave, I think you hit pay dirt with this one. The early bird getting the worm, and all that.
“Or the early worm gets the bird....”
Raven has been doing a lot of reading this week—some of it over my shoulder, yes—but
he has also called my attention to things that he has been reading in Internet while I have
been working.
True to his trickster nature, Raven always gets a gleam in his eye for anything to do with
conspiracies. This week he has spent a lot of time reading a 90 page PLAN written in
2000—before Bush stole the presidential election--reviving the Bush Padre plan from 1991
on the build-up of US military forces with the goal of taking over the world’s resources and
squashing any threats of competition—especially from the European Union.
Raven passed me this excerpt from the article in the Common Dreams site that got him
reading the PLAN:
***
Published on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
Full Spectrum Conspiracy?
by Joy-Ann Lomena Reid
...Now that they have come in from the cold, the ultra-hawks of the
neoconservative movement -- political veterans Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney,
Paul Wolfowitz and Condoleezza Rice, and their extra-governmental think-tank
and media cohorts (men like Richard Perle, Daniel Pipes, Bill Kristol and William Safire),
are pressing their long-hatched agenda from inside the Bush administration -- or so the
conspiracy theory goes.
Their goal is "full spectrum dominance" -- an unchallenged America
sitting astride the world -- controlling its natural resources and reshaping or replacing
governments that don't go along with the program, and even controlling allies (with
something akin to economic blackmail) in order to prevent a collusion of would-be equals
from growing up in Europe. The key to getting the program started is Iraq, which as early
as 2000, the Rumsfeld Cabal (conspiracy lingo here,) were plotting to invade.
The narrative for the plot comes in the form of a report drawn up in 2000 by the neo-conservative
Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a think-tank peopled by Cheney, Rumsfeld,
Wolfowitz, Florida Governor Jeb Bush (the president's brother,) Lewis "Scooter" Libby (Cheney's
chief of staff) and others. The document was entitled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies,
Forces And Resources For A New Century (Check this for link) and it was published in September
2000 -- a full year before the 9/11 attacks.
The document maps out a "proposed" global strategy for America in the 21st century -- and its
tenets are being followed almost to the letter by the current Bush administration....
***
I took the bait. My eyes slithered through the 90 pages of mostly double-column text that
spells out the Bush administration’s Game of Risk strategies to control planet Earth.
Rave, I think you hit pay dirt with this one. The early bird getting the worm, and all that.
“Or the early worm gets the bird....”
Thursday, February 13, 2003
EL PAJARO DEL DULCE ENCANTO
In Sergio Ramírez’ book of essays, “Mentiras verdaderas” (True Lies),
he talks about the most emblematic figure in the mythical zoo of Nicaragua:
el pajaro del dulce encanto (the bird of sweet charm, literally). This
bird is a creature of singular beauty, with a highly colored plumage that
takes one’s breath away when it appears (okay, Raven, when he or she
appears) winging along out of nowhere. Its sweet charm lies in the fact
that it cannot be grabbed hold of and held. It must always be admired from
a distance, because if someone grabs it, it immediately turns to excrement
in the person’s hand.
Raven was reading over my shoulder as usual last night, and when he got
to the line in which the operative word was “mierda”, he let out one of his
ear-splitting shrieks of joy. “Serves the bastard right!"
I asked him, expecting to be too deaf to hear his response, which bastard he
had in mind.
"Wasn’t it Benito Juárez who said ‘El respecto al derecho ajeno es la paz’
(Peace is respect for others’rights)?”
It had served Benito Juárez right?
“Of course not! He was a hero. He impounded the property of the Catholic
Church. They had to wait more than a century for Salinas to let them start
running their scams again.”
I saw where he had been the past couple of days, but I still wanted to know
if there was something less than the obvious lurking behind his rhetorical
question about Juárez. (With Raven, there usually is.)
Raven turned his head so that only one of his beady eyes was giving me the eye.
“Don’t you read the papers? The government of YOUR country is going to war
to get its hands on the planet’s oil. Besides the obvious similarity in the appearances
of oil and shit, hasn’t it occurred to you when those bastards grab for other people’s
stuff, everything turns to shit?!”
Raven crossed his feet with a feigned resignation that was vaguely reminiscent of
Jeanne Moreau sitting on a stool in a tavern in Brest in the Fassbinder film “Querelle”
and singing “You always kill the thing you love....”
I thought about grabbing him by the neck, but....
In Sergio Ramírez’ book of essays, “Mentiras verdaderas” (True Lies),
he talks about the most emblematic figure in the mythical zoo of Nicaragua:
el pajaro del dulce encanto (the bird of sweet charm, literally). This
bird is a creature of singular beauty, with a highly colored plumage that
takes one’s breath away when it appears (okay, Raven, when he or she
appears) winging along out of nowhere. Its sweet charm lies in the fact
that it cannot be grabbed hold of and held. It must always be admired from
a distance, because if someone grabs it, it immediately turns to excrement
in the person’s hand.
Raven was reading over my shoulder as usual last night, and when he got
to the line in which the operative word was “mierda”, he let out one of his
ear-splitting shrieks of joy. “Serves the bastard right!"
I asked him, expecting to be too deaf to hear his response, which bastard he
had in mind.
"Wasn’t it Benito Juárez who said ‘El respecto al derecho ajeno es la paz’
(Peace is respect for others’rights)?”
It had served Benito Juárez right?
“Of course not! He was a hero. He impounded the property of the Catholic
Church. They had to wait more than a century for Salinas to let them start
running their scams again.”
I saw where he had been the past couple of days, but I still wanted to know
if there was something less than the obvious lurking behind his rhetorical
question about Juárez. (With Raven, there usually is.)
Raven turned his head so that only one of his beady eyes was giving me the eye.
“Don’t you read the papers? The government of YOUR country is going to war
to get its hands on the planet’s oil. Besides the obvious similarity in the appearances
of oil and shit, hasn’t it occurred to you when those bastards grab for other people’s
stuff, everything turns to shit?!”
Raven crossed his feet with a feigned resignation that was vaguely reminiscent of
Jeanne Moreau sitting on a stool in a tavern in Brest in the Fassbinder film “Querelle”
and singing “You always kill the thing you love....”
I thought about grabbing him by the neck, but....
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
At the same moment as the world staggers toward some
kind of apocalyptic future, certain items from the menus of
the past are being recycled and offered for consumption.
Yesterday in these pages Raven took us on a brief flight
back to the times of—let’s see—Chaucer, in “The Pardoner’s
Tale”? Or maybe Luther, poised to nail his indignations to a
church door? Simony—or the selling of blessings and pardons—
and Luther’s reaction to that crass mercantilism were major
factors that led not only to the Protestant Reformation, but also,
eventually, to the Enlightenment. Suddenly, the rector of the Basilica
of Our Lady of Guadalupe has slapped the Mexican Catholic Church
back to the Dark Ages. That means centuries before the Virgin
may, or may not, have printed her image on Juan Diego’s “ayate”.
(Perhaps that percursor of tee shirts printed with everything from
beer logos to...you name it...caused the rector to feel legitimized in
his plan to splash his blessing on cigarettes lighters bearing the
Virgin’s likeness?)
Another blast from the (literary) past was detonated last week by
The Usual Suspect—aka Saddam Hussein. In Paris it isn’t necessary
to wear a gas mask nor wolf down handfuls of cipro capsules in order
to read “Zabiba et le roi”, a love story on the order of “The Thousand
and One Nights”. It took a couple of years to get permission to publish
the book in French translation, but when it first came out in Iraq the CIA
and Mossad hired translators and code specialists right and left to root out
any secret messages as well as elements which could reveal more of
Hussein’spsychological profile.
By means of the dialog between Zabiba and the king, Hussein presents
his ideas about the loneliness of the absolute monarch, the contribution
of women to social and national development, and the struggle against
enemy conspiracies, at the same time as he reiterates the inescapable
character of the power of the people and examines the question of sexuality
in arab societies. Interesting—too bad the book’s chances of coming out in
English are so low....
The model for Hussein’s bestseller—the perennially compelling Thousand
and One Nights—showed Scheherezade spinning a new and fascinating tale
every night in order to prevent being beheaded by the scimtar of King Shahriyar.
(Are Shahriyar’s descendants still receiving due payment for his contribution to
the conceptual prototype of The Big Hook of vaudeville usage, and the gong
from the show of the same name?) The general consensus appears to be
that Hussein’s characters are not intended to be “real”, that the king is just a
mouthpiece for the author. Maybe—but another possibility occurs to me.
My question, and maybe it’s not a fair one since I have not read the book, is:
couldn’t the book itself be an analogy—or in literary language, a metaphor—for
Hussein’s own situation? Maybe Hussein is Scheherazade, spinning the story
of the book in an effort to forestall the entry of a new “intelligent weapon” (the site
underdark.netdemons gives scimtars only a 25% chance of having intelligence)
through the window of his bedroom in Bagdad?
Raven isn’t buying any of that. The image of Saddam Hussein in a belly dancer’s
costume has him rolling on the floor. (Raven isn’t known to subscribe to
The Tragic Sense of Life.)
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Raven is really down in the beak today.
Seems that it had never occurred to him, despite
all of his scams and scatological capers that have
been the source of legends for millennia (well, that
may be overstating his audience drawing power just a
feather), he discovered when he read this week’s Proceso
(over my shoulder, of course) that he had been rotundly
one-upped by the rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of
Guadalupe in Mexico City!
Turns out that this guy, monseñor Diego Monroy Ponce,
has pulled off one of the All Time (for the Book of Records)
Scams: He managed to sell exclusive rights to the image
of Our Lady of Guadalupe for 12.5 million dollars to a
company called Viotran, based in Disney World! (well, at
least in Orlando, Florida) whose previous dedication had been
the transfer of money between Mexico and the US. According
to the CONFIDENTIAL contract signed by Monroy Ponce
and Viotran’s agent, María Teresa Herrera Fedyk, only Viotran
may use the image of the Virgin on posters, jackets, lighters,
telephone cards, plastic and wooden products, cds, watches,
candles, votive lights, ceramic articles, textiles, holy cards, gold
and silver objects...and anything else that it occurrs to them could
bring in a few bucks. These are special lighters, candles, condoms
(oops, maybe not those), etc. because they will be guaranteed to
be “BLESSED” by either Monroy or by the archbishop Norberto
Rivera Carrera. All profits will be split 50/50 by the Basilica and Viotran.
Raven finds this singular—and I as a lapsed protoCatholic do, too—that
the guy running the Basilica has managed to sell exclusive rights to
traffic with a religious image in the PUBLIC DOMAIN (not to mention
arguably being a big part of Mexico’s patrimony) to a US hot bucks
company (maybe the idea came because a US company holds the
copyright to Mexico’s national anthem?) This beats the archbishop’s
1999 papal visit Sabritas potato chips campaign (which a lawsuit stopped
in its tracks) all to hell. Legal specialists—especially those in canon law,
have indicated also that a deal of this magnitude must have had the collusion
of the Vatican, in that any deals over 250,000 dollars must be approved by
that entity.
Meanwhile, Monroy Ponce is buying up expensive houses in Michoacan and
Mexico City (on the deeds he has had the audacity to identify himself as a
“professor”, as opposed to a con artist of the first order) and along with the
Viotran agent is spearheading a campain called Help Your Loving Mother to
raise funds for the Basilica—because 20 million visitors a year have tapped
out the budget for keeping toilets clean and paying security guards to see that
nobody runs off without any rosaries without paying.
Raven is unconsolable. How did this one get by him?
***
Tomorrow: Saddam Hussein's bestselling book--some thoughts.
Seems that it had never occurred to him, despite
all of his scams and scatological capers that have
been the source of legends for millennia (well, that
may be overstating his audience drawing power just a
feather), he discovered when he read this week’s Proceso
(over my shoulder, of course) that he had been rotundly
one-upped by the rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of
Guadalupe in Mexico City!
Turns out that this guy, monseñor Diego Monroy Ponce,
has pulled off one of the All Time (for the Book of Records)
Scams: He managed to sell exclusive rights to the image
of Our Lady of Guadalupe for 12.5 million dollars to a
company called Viotran, based in Disney World! (well, at
least in Orlando, Florida) whose previous dedication had been
the transfer of money between Mexico and the US. According
to the CONFIDENTIAL contract signed by Monroy Ponce
and Viotran’s agent, María Teresa Herrera Fedyk, only Viotran
may use the image of the Virgin on posters, jackets, lighters,
telephone cards, plastic and wooden products, cds, watches,
candles, votive lights, ceramic articles, textiles, holy cards, gold
and silver objects...and anything else that it occurrs to them could
bring in a few bucks. These are special lighters, candles, condoms
(oops, maybe not those), etc. because they will be guaranteed to
be “BLESSED” by either Monroy or by the archbishop Norberto
Rivera Carrera. All profits will be split 50/50 by the Basilica and Viotran.
Raven finds this singular—and I as a lapsed protoCatholic do, too—that
the guy running the Basilica has managed to sell exclusive rights to
traffic with a religious image in the PUBLIC DOMAIN (not to mention
arguably being a big part of Mexico’s patrimony) to a US hot bucks
company (maybe the idea came because a US company holds the
copyright to Mexico’s national anthem?) This beats the archbishop’s
1999 papal visit Sabritas potato chips campaign (which a lawsuit stopped
in its tracks) all to hell. Legal specialists—especially those in canon law,
have indicated also that a deal of this magnitude must have had the collusion
of the Vatican, in that any deals over 250,000 dollars must be approved by
that entity.
Meanwhile, Monroy Ponce is buying up expensive houses in Michoacan and
Mexico City (on the deeds he has had the audacity to identify himself as a
“professor”, as opposed to a con artist of the first order) and along with the
Viotran agent is spearheading a campain called Help Your Loving Mother to
raise funds for the Basilica—because 20 million visitors a year have tapped
out the budget for keeping toilets clean and paying security guards to see that
nobody runs off without any rosaries without paying.
Raven is unconsolable. How did this one get by him?
***
Tomorrow: Saddam Hussein's bestselling book--some thoughts.
Monday, February 10, 2003
Yesterday Colin “Good Cop” Powell (henceforth referred to
in these pages as GC) called the Franco-German proposals
to disarm Iraq “distractions” that wouldn’t “solve the problem”.
What, precisely, is The Problem? That the US is not among
the top 5 countries in petroleum reserves? GC is right; proposals
to disarm Iraq are a distraction.
Raven spent most of the weekend distracted....
***
Raven is transfixed
by his face in a puddle
of dirty water
on the dock. Where fishermen
have emptied out their buckets
aromas of fish
leave a tantalizing stew,
and Raven tries to
identify each species
by its distinctive perfume.
This exercise in
discovering essences
of other creatures
prepares Raven to assume
their shapes, their identities,
add to his power.
He is sure he sees the quick
glisten of a fin
opening under his wing,
his beak becoming a mouth.
Evaporating
skyward, the puddle leaves him
gasping on the dock.
Raven’s foolishness, his pride
made him grab the bait, again.
***
And solving the Other Problem, aka Terrorism,
is like shooting at Raven on a moonless night
with a shotgun.
in these pages as GC) called the Franco-German proposals
to disarm Iraq “distractions” that wouldn’t “solve the problem”.
What, precisely, is The Problem? That the US is not among
the top 5 countries in petroleum reserves? GC is right; proposals
to disarm Iraq are a distraction.
Raven spent most of the weekend distracted....
***
Raven is transfixed
by his face in a puddle
of dirty water
on the dock. Where fishermen
have emptied out their buckets
aromas of fish
leave a tantalizing stew,
and Raven tries to
identify each species
by its distinctive perfume.
This exercise in
discovering essences
of other creatures
prepares Raven to assume
their shapes, their identities,
add to his power.
He is sure he sees the quick
glisten of a fin
opening under his wing,
his beak becoming a mouth.
Evaporating
skyward, the puddle leaves him
gasping on the dock.
Raven’s foolishness, his pride
made him grab the bait, again.
***
And solving the Other Problem, aka Terrorism,
is like shooting at Raven on a moonless night
with a shotgun.
Friday, February 07, 2003
On “La Voz del Pacifico Sur” this morning a candidate
for mayor of Huatulco announces he wants to meet with
young people—14 to 28 years old—because their input
is “fundamental”. He has a point: those young people will
have to live in the nest we have been so persevering in fouling....
***
Raven is weaving
his way along the highway,
gliding back and forth
through the nearly naked trees.
This February morning
on a hillside pale
as paper Raven inks his
typographic dance,
daring the world to read his
news, decipher his language.
A young man slaps his
machete against a tree:
clack, like a rifle
shot echoing in the brain
of Raven, void of meaning
but full of purpose.
If Raven can hold one thought
until afternoon,
he will release the silent
bullet of revolution.
for mayor of Huatulco announces he wants to meet with
young people—14 to 28 years old—because their input
is “fundamental”. He has a point: those young people will
have to live in the nest we have been so persevering in fouling....
***
Raven is weaving
his way along the highway,
gliding back and forth
through the nearly naked trees.
This February morning
on a hillside pale
as paper Raven inks his
typographic dance,
daring the world to read his
news, decipher his language.
A young man slaps his
machete against a tree:
clack, like a rifle
shot echoing in the brain
of Raven, void of meaning
but full of purpose.
If Raven can hold one thought
until afternoon,
he will release the silent
bullet of revolution.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
When Raven brought his friend to my garden yesterday,
he looked tense, restless, stressed out. It’s hard for a
creature to keep his/her head these days when so many
have lost theirs or have inserted it into an unusual orifice,
and are blaming the resultant chaos (blindness?) on
The Goat of the Moment (a nod to Kipling....)
Turns out Raven wanted to know who Adlai Stevenson
was. I don’t know who he had been talking with, but
clearly it was someone with a longer life expectancy than
Raven and his feathered folk. (Although these days, the
“dicho”: Nadie tiene la vida comprada, seems more
prophecy than folklore.)
A glance through a few websites today solved the mystery
of Raven’s sudden interest in a two-time presidential
candidate from the 50s: Apparently a few irreverant
journalists either remembered or had read about Stevenson’s
presentation in 1962 of photographs of Soviet missiles in
Cuba, and had usurped the liberty of unfavorably comparing
Colin (Professional Good Cop) Powell´s performance in the
UN yesterday to Stevenson’s during his term of Ambassador
to that same body.
And speaking of bodies—one of the more notable products
of war have always been the bodies of the poor. Not too
many CEOs of multinational companies, or their sons, or
their grandsons are lining up to bite the dust in the desert of
Iraq. To be shipped home in a body bag (such elegant luggage),
or--if counted a survivor--to suffer the inexplicable malaise of
radiation sickness are the roles available, for a cast of thousands
of poor black and hispanic soldiers who signed up for 3 hots and
a flop and will get more than they bargained for. Not to mention
the bodies of the poor people of Iraq (which after 12 years of
inhumane sanctions includes just about everybody...)
No, Colin Powell is not Adlai Stevenson.
And Raven is not Woody Woodpecker.
But that’s all, folks.
he looked tense, restless, stressed out. It’s hard for a
creature to keep his/her head these days when so many
have lost theirs or have inserted it into an unusual orifice,
and are blaming the resultant chaos (blindness?) on
The Goat of the Moment (a nod to Kipling....)
Turns out Raven wanted to know who Adlai Stevenson
was. I don’t know who he had been talking with, but
clearly it was someone with a longer life expectancy than
Raven and his feathered folk. (Although these days, the
“dicho”: Nadie tiene la vida comprada, seems more
prophecy than folklore.)
A glance through a few websites today solved the mystery
of Raven’s sudden interest in a two-time presidential
candidate from the 50s: Apparently a few irreverant
journalists either remembered or had read about Stevenson’s
presentation in 1962 of photographs of Soviet missiles in
Cuba, and had usurped the liberty of unfavorably comparing
Colin (Professional Good Cop) Powell´s performance in the
UN yesterday to Stevenson’s during his term of Ambassador
to that same body.
And speaking of bodies—one of the more notable products
of war have always been the bodies of the poor. Not too
many CEOs of multinational companies, or their sons, or
their grandsons are lining up to bite the dust in the desert of
Iraq. To be shipped home in a body bag (such elegant luggage),
or--if counted a survivor--to suffer the inexplicable malaise of
radiation sickness are the roles available, for a cast of thousands
of poor black and hispanic soldiers who signed up for 3 hots and
a flop and will get more than they bargained for. Not to mention
the bodies of the poor people of Iraq (which after 12 years of
inhumane sanctions includes just about everybody...)
No, Colin Powell is not Adlai Stevenson.
And Raven is not Woody Woodpecker.
But that’s all, folks.
Tuesday, February 04, 2003
Raven claims to have telescopic eyes.
(Today his retinas are burning with questions:)
How is it possible that the UN, through the use
of only 10,000 soldiers supposedly scouring the
countryside for Osama Bin Laden, was able
to return Afghanistan to the top of the chart of
opium producing countries in 2002, with the second
highest production in its history—3, 422 tons—
when in 2001 the production under the Talibans
was only 185 tons?
What happened to that 1 billion, 500 million dollars
in drug revenue, when people in Afghanistan have
incomes of less than 2 dollars a day? Whose hands
received that money, and what was it used to purchase?
(Raven stands on one foot, scratches his head.)
He seems to remember that in past years money from
the Afghan opium production passed through the hands
of the usual suspects—the hands of the CIA;
the hands of Osama Bin Laden’s “freedom fighters”
(Reagan dixit), later Al Qaeda; the hands of who knows
which warlord—an embarrassment of riches glittering
out of the reach of the hands of the Afghan people who
have nothing.
(At the end of the tunnels of his eyes Raven glimpses
a question mark vibrating in the darkness.)
(Today his retinas are burning with questions:)
How is it possible that the UN, through the use
of only 10,000 soldiers supposedly scouring the
countryside for Osama Bin Laden, was able
to return Afghanistan to the top of the chart of
opium producing countries in 2002, with the second
highest production in its history—3, 422 tons—
when in 2001 the production under the Talibans
was only 185 tons?
What happened to that 1 billion, 500 million dollars
in drug revenue, when people in Afghanistan have
incomes of less than 2 dollars a day? Whose hands
received that money, and what was it used to purchase?
(Raven stands on one foot, scratches his head.)
He seems to remember that in past years money from
the Afghan opium production passed through the hands
of the usual suspects—the hands of the CIA;
the hands of Osama Bin Laden’s “freedom fighters”
(Reagan dixit), later Al Qaeda; the hands of who knows
which warlord—an embarrassment of riches glittering
out of the reach of the hands of the Afghan people who
have nothing.
(At the end of the tunnels of his eyes Raven glimpses
a question mark vibrating in the darkness.)
Monday, February 03, 2003
In the abrupt disintegration of the space shuttle it is difficult not
to notice some mythical reverberations related to this moment.
In the best--and most innocent--of cases, we remember the flight
of Icarus, whose approximation to the sun caused his wax wings to melt.
Pride exhibited as a tragic flaw has had a record run in theaters
and churches without diminishing its likelihood as the deadly sin
of choice for most of us, and especially for our leaders.
Pride displayed as arrogance is singularly ascendant in this
moment--an arrogance which simply dismisses prudence and
caution as symptoms of weakness.
Several prominent figures have recently revealed that from behind
the curtain of arrogance of the US government a small, naked figure
--reminiscent of MAD’s Alfred E. Newman, but without his innocence
—spews an amplified tirade of moral superiority (sic) and military right
to control the planet’s resources to an audience more convinced daily
that they aren’t in Kansas anymore. I would like to hope that the voices
of John LeCarré, Jimmy Carter and especially Nelson Mandela will be
given the weight of reason that they merit.
In the midst of all these apocalytpic shenanagins, Raven appears
to be in love. At least yesterday he brought a smaller raven
with him when he came to visit me in the garden. Which reminds me
that when the amps go up on messages of hate, we shouldn’t stop loving.
to notice some mythical reverberations related to this moment.
In the best--and most innocent--of cases, we remember the flight
of Icarus, whose approximation to the sun caused his wax wings to melt.
Pride exhibited as a tragic flaw has had a record run in theaters
and churches without diminishing its likelihood as the deadly sin
of choice for most of us, and especially for our leaders.
Pride displayed as arrogance is singularly ascendant in this
moment--an arrogance which simply dismisses prudence and
caution as symptoms of weakness.
Several prominent figures have recently revealed that from behind
the curtain of arrogance of the US government a small, naked figure
--reminiscent of MAD’s Alfred E. Newman, but without his innocence
—spews an amplified tirade of moral superiority (sic) and military right
to control the planet’s resources to an audience more convinced daily
that they aren’t in Kansas anymore. I would like to hope that the voices
of John LeCarré, Jimmy Carter and especially Nelson Mandela will be
given the weight of reason that they merit.
In the midst of all these apocalytpic shenanagins, Raven appears
to be in love. At least yesterday he brought a smaller raven
with him when he came to visit me in the garden. Which reminds me
that when the amps go up on messages of hate, we shouldn’t stop loving.
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