In response to the bogus movie: The Lord of War which suggests the AK 47 to be the weapon of mass destruction, the poor man's atom bomb, etc. Hollywood oh, yea. Hollywood. Forgot who was taking issue with violence.
"The right of freedom of speech consists in speaking the truth."
7.2.07
5.2.07
T-bird At The Gila River, Summer '05
"Advice: learn poems so that you don't have to write them.
Strategies are useless testimonials."
- The Book of Warnings, D. Whitehead
This pretty life is death's comma,
we are in between, constructing
the darkest layer in the top soils
over which the eagle flies
with the owl, as same as the bug.
Once I stood on a reservation
for Indians and thought.
The wild wisdoms entered
into the world's recorder
like drugs with the cackle
of gypsies and caw of old birds.
When suddenly! Like that!
…the newest grand canyon opened
her secret vaults to receive
the sound and reek of vomit leaving the throat
of a drunkard who turned in and then, sped away.
Ah, the stories the rocks will tell.
"Advice: learn poems so that you don't have to write them.
Strategies are useless testimonials."
- The Book of Warnings, D. Whitehead
This pretty life is death's comma,
we are in between, constructing
the darkest layer in the top soils
over which the eagle flies
with the owl, as same as the bug.
Once I stood on a reservation
for Indians and thought.
The wild wisdoms entered
into the world's recorder
like drugs with the cackle
of gypsies and caw of old birds.
When suddenly! Like that!
…the newest grand canyon opened
her secret vaults to receive
the sound and reek of vomit leaving the throat
of a drunkard who turned in and then, sped away.
Ah, the stories the rocks will tell.
4.2.07
Looking Up From The Statue...meanwhile back at the ranch a Coke Monkey runs rampant in Tyre South Lebanon. Coke, it's the real thing and it beats Drano:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/azstar/20070204/lo_azstar/tucsonfightsopenairmethmarketmidtownresidentscleanupeffortwatchedbypoliceacrosscountry
Why an Arabic Qur'an?
http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/~coby/essays/refdigl.htm
It’s a warm Friday mid-afternoon in a village in the Peruvian Highlands, not far from Cuzco. In the main plaza, a small crowd consisting mostly of women and young children – some of elementary-school age, some pre-school – is chatting in Quechua, seemingly waiting for something to arrive. And , sure enough, something does arrive: a brightly painted school bus, which stops near the crowd and disgorges a dozen or so neatly uniformed high-school students. It’s their families who have been waiting for them. But before these older boys and girls join in the Quechua chatter with their mothers and younger siblings, they bid farewell to one another and to their schoolmates who stay on the bus to go on to the next village. They talk about plans for the weekend – soccer, movies – and for the following week. How do I know this? Because this conversation is in Spanish, not Quechua.
http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/~coby/essays/refdigl.htm
It’s a warm Friday mid-afternoon in a village in the Peruvian Highlands, not far from Cuzco. In the main plaza, a small crowd consisting mostly of women and young children – some of elementary-school age, some pre-school – is chatting in Quechua, seemingly waiting for something to arrive. And , sure enough, something does arrive: a brightly painted school bus, which stops near the crowd and disgorges a dozen or so neatly uniformed high-school students. It’s their families who have been waiting for them. But before these older boys and girls join in the Quechua chatter with their mothers and younger siblings, they bid farewell to one another and to their schoolmates who stay on the bus to go on to the next village. They talk about plans for the weekend – soccer, movies – and for the following week. How do I know this? Because this conversation is in Spanish, not Quechua.
3.2.07
Snort, Swill and Blow:
What next, the plague? Seems to me that rumors of avian flu are a bit overrated in light of midnight tornadoes, a binge-drinking rate among US teenagers at 45% and Italian snuff:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070202/hl_nm/italy_cocaine_dc
What is the world's problem? The sniffles?
I hardly think so.
What next, the plague? Seems to me that rumors of avian flu are a bit overrated in light of midnight tornadoes, a binge-drinking rate among US teenagers at 45% and Italian snuff:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070202/hl_nm/italy_cocaine_dc
What is the world's problem? The sniffles?
I hardly think so.
30.1.07
28.1.07
27.1.07
photo by: Radiann Porter, "Miss Opie's Agave"
Ode To Miss Opie
After he died you didn't want to change a thing
so you didn't and stayed the slow hours
waiting to go yourself and we'd pay you a visit.
One eye snapped shut and sultry
wise minks so long in the closets,
an exact replica of the twenties and the same
thing that you were when you died at 98,
the oldest old-woman in town.
How to be a widow? How to be?
Not Kate Chopin but more like
the Cat in the Hat, all those weird things
on your credenzas, all the crystal lamps,
the bobby pins on your dresser
where we practiced counting.
A hundred salt and pepper shakers,
the collections of a young woman, depression glass.
Lorna called you Miss Dopie just to be mean
or funny, hard to tell,
all your orifices in moth balls anyway.
We laughed until we found you in your kitchen one day,
propped in a chair near the yellow clapboards
looking really poor like us, real hungry
and too blind to cook.
That last year me and Lorna baked you a birthday cake
and it was real pretty for a couple of kids.
25.1.07
View From 16th
"Nothing in Clouds Hill is to be a care upon the world. While I have it there shall be nothing exquiste or unique in it. Nothing to anchor me." T.E. Lawrence
There is a sense of not wanting to be here on 16th and Center, address 319 North, some awful transposition of 19 squared there, in the Masonic house. Two small, concrete obelisks are on either side of the driveway and it ought to be pleasant to look out onto the hills from the large, clean windows of this house, the natural hills and those which are man-made and called slag; the way the sun and the iron play off of each other to create lavender vistas all around is very lovely. There isn't though any solace in the view or on the roofs of so many quaint houses staggered around the smallish valley nor any charm in the massive structure sitting directly across from here just under a natural incline where the cliffs contain whole dynasties of evolution in fossils. It is right at the base of dump number seven. That would be the old hospital which is now a boarding house for the indigent and elderly. It is a handsome building, particularly in the afternoon when the light sculpts the art deco facades into crisp shapes. The place is charming the way things like that are, irresistable to people overly accustomed to the less than Byzantine. It is mostly brick and wood laid against timber, all quite flammable and impermanent. The only solid structures in sight are the several frames of shaft elevators that dot the hills in seemingly arbitrary places that mark areas where minerals are easy to find and extract by those who, in the past descended to mine the rock walls for a variety of things like copper and silver and sometimes, a bit of gold. It ought to be pleasant, but it isn't.
The best part of being in a catastrophe is actually being in one. There is nothing anyone can really say about that sort of thing, there is no choice within the boundaries of it, no conclusions and nothing which resembles remorse. It just is. It is a case that one does what one is compelled to do and that would be, to move along with it as if in a river, just glide along and look at things as they pass by or remain motionless at various points along the way.
Waking up in a large hall prepared in advance for the arrival of so many souls (on the run) after one has slept what seemed like several lifetimes contained in a few seconds, is the material of which epiphanies are made, the kind of thing a person only gets to do once, like everything else in the scheme of things. Ship load after ship load, ours was the fourteenth wave. When a person arrives in such a hall, the rest have already disappeared to wherever it is they ship people like us, refugees. There are lines and lines of open cots with one blanket each and a brand new pillow depending on the invasion and the invader. In this particular case, it could be said of it, "it was well appointed". There are boxes full of food and the essentials, foot powder and sanitary napkins and one bathroom with three stalls and three sinks for the women and probably, about the same for the men. It is an exhibition hall on the Turkish side of the island. It is prearranged for cataclysm.
I lay down after spending several hours settling in to the camp by organizing and reorganizing my few possessions but could not sleep because I was still bleeding and felt unclean. I didn't want to shower out in the open with the other women. The children were sleeping on and off and our traveling companions with whom we had left the city two days before were actively moving about and making phone calls to Kabul and Boston. They seemed very busy. Jessica, the mother, was worried about her diet, she could not be around people who had eaten carbohydrates within the previous 24 hours, it was very important to her that we respect this. We had no phone though and there wasn't really anything any of us wanted to say, my children and I, to anyone we knew. We felt very far away, so far that no phone could ever span the distance we felt.
Night began to fall and the hall was still empty. The few stragglers from the boat before ours had departed at one, just after we arrived. We were absolutely alone with thousands of empty cots and all sorts of personal expectations that we knew could never be fufilled. We did not know how we felt yet, not really and somehow, I knew we wouldn't really know how we would feel for a very long time to come. Perhaps forever. We might never recover, I knew that much but also knew that recovery isn't always the best thing if it means there isn't a lesson learned or a price paid. We were paying dearly for something but didn't quite understand what or when the debt we had incurred would finally be paid in full. The numbness was profound.
I spent a few hours walking around the fairgrounds looking for others like myself or those even worse off, those in shock or perhaps even ill. I looked for tears and slouching and found a woman on a bench sitting all alone. I tried to comfort her with talk of God and she appreciated it even though we were of different sects entirely, whole different ballparks of understanding about our status and the cause of the invasion. The woman sobbed as we compared what we'd seen so far and how we feared what else it might be that we would see. She spoke of the sister she'd left behind. It was a kind of sad excitement that allowed the closeness to exist between us for nearly a half hour. I finally got up, held her her for a moment and said goodbye to her. I can remember her face as one of average intellect, average sadness and a complete sense of loss and frustration that aggravated the tiny lines around her eyes. Her face was already anemic from several days living under seige in the south of our country. She could have been a woman in a painting.
When I returned to the hall, everyone in my group, my children and my friend and her two daughters were already asleep or resting with their eyes half closed. No one seemed to have anything left to say even though we'd not spoken more than a few words to each other since the early afternoon. I hadn't slept for nearly a week. The last time I had slept I awoke to a thunderous explosion above our building which lit the sky like a match suddenly lights a dark room. No one moved or said anything as I prepared to lay down, not even a goodnight let alone, an I love you. Then I fell without even a pause to observe my last deep sigh into a dark and immense sleep.
I woke up suddenly but without being startled or disoriented. I had no idea how much time had passed but if time were to be measured as change it must have been years that I had slept because what I saw as I opened my eyes was a world which had completely changed.
The cavernous hall which had been so empty was now filled, every cot in it had a sleeping body there and some held two. None of them moved. I cannot imagine how they settled so close to us in such silence, the way an army of butterflies must arrive in a tree. Thousands more had arrived in those hours or moments of sleep of which I have no real record to refer to. They appeared to be dead rather than exhausted. There was only one soldier walking out of the hall who looked back over his shoulder briefly before disappearing and I sat alone looking over the great event horizon. I sat and waited for things to begin moving again, I was frozen in pain and wonder at the company of souls in which I was immersed as if in the clearest water on the highest mountain, a place where no one had ever been before or would ever go again. Here it was at last, Nirvana, wildly unstable and utterly somnolent. The darkest star on the brink of radiation over a graveyard of the living.
The two obelisks mark the driveway but I do not want to know what they mean. I only know that I exist on the corner of 16th and Central, 319 North.
"Nothing in Clouds Hill is to be a care upon the world. While I have it there shall be nothing exquiste or unique in it. Nothing to anchor me." T.E. Lawrence
There is a sense of not wanting to be here on 16th and Center, address 319 North, some awful transposition of 19 squared there, in the Masonic house. Two small, concrete obelisks are on either side of the driveway and it ought to be pleasant to look out onto the hills from the large, clean windows of this house, the natural hills and those which are man-made and called slag; the way the sun and the iron play off of each other to create lavender vistas all around is very lovely. There isn't though any solace in the view or on the roofs of so many quaint houses staggered around the smallish valley nor any charm in the massive structure sitting directly across from here just under a natural incline where the cliffs contain whole dynasties of evolution in fossils. It is right at the base of dump number seven. That would be the old hospital which is now a boarding house for the indigent and elderly. It is a handsome building, particularly in the afternoon when the light sculpts the art deco facades into crisp shapes. The place is charming the way things like that are, irresistable to people overly accustomed to the less than Byzantine. It is mostly brick and wood laid against timber, all quite flammable and impermanent. The only solid structures in sight are the several frames of shaft elevators that dot the hills in seemingly arbitrary places that mark areas where minerals are easy to find and extract by those who, in the past descended to mine the rock walls for a variety of things like copper and silver and sometimes, a bit of gold. It ought to be pleasant, but it isn't.
The best part of being in a catastrophe is actually being in one. There is nothing anyone can really say about that sort of thing, there is no choice within the boundaries of it, no conclusions and nothing which resembles remorse. It just is. It is a case that one does what one is compelled to do and that would be, to move along with it as if in a river, just glide along and look at things as they pass by or remain motionless at various points along the way.
Waking up in a large hall prepared in advance for the arrival of so many souls (on the run) after one has slept what seemed like several lifetimes contained in a few seconds, is the material of which epiphanies are made, the kind of thing a person only gets to do once, like everything else in the scheme of things. Ship load after ship load, ours was the fourteenth wave. When a person arrives in such a hall, the rest have already disappeared to wherever it is they ship people like us, refugees. There are lines and lines of open cots with one blanket each and a brand new pillow depending on the invasion and the invader. In this particular case, it could be said of it, "it was well appointed". There are boxes full of food and the essentials, foot powder and sanitary napkins and one bathroom with three stalls and three sinks for the women and probably, about the same for the men. It is an exhibition hall on the Turkish side of the island. It is prearranged for cataclysm.
I lay down after spending several hours settling in to the camp by organizing and reorganizing my few possessions but could not sleep because I was still bleeding and felt unclean. I didn't want to shower out in the open with the other women. The children were sleeping on and off and our traveling companions with whom we had left the city two days before were actively moving about and making phone calls to Kabul and Boston. They seemed very busy. Jessica, the mother, was worried about her diet, she could not be around people who had eaten carbohydrates within the previous 24 hours, it was very important to her that we respect this. We had no phone though and there wasn't really anything any of us wanted to say, my children and I, to anyone we knew. We felt very far away, so far that no phone could ever span the distance we felt.
Night began to fall and the hall was still empty. The few stragglers from the boat before ours had departed at one, just after we arrived. We were absolutely alone with thousands of empty cots and all sorts of personal expectations that we knew could never be fufilled. We did not know how we felt yet, not really and somehow, I knew we wouldn't really know how we would feel for a very long time to come. Perhaps forever. We might never recover, I knew that much but also knew that recovery isn't always the best thing if it means there isn't a lesson learned or a price paid. We were paying dearly for something but didn't quite understand what or when the debt we had incurred would finally be paid in full. The numbness was profound.
I spent a few hours walking around the fairgrounds looking for others like myself or those even worse off, those in shock or perhaps even ill. I looked for tears and slouching and found a woman on a bench sitting all alone. I tried to comfort her with talk of God and she appreciated it even though we were of different sects entirely, whole different ballparks of understanding about our status and the cause of the invasion. The woman sobbed as we compared what we'd seen so far and how we feared what else it might be that we would see. She spoke of the sister she'd left behind. It was a kind of sad excitement that allowed the closeness to exist between us for nearly a half hour. I finally got up, held her her for a moment and said goodbye to her. I can remember her face as one of average intellect, average sadness and a complete sense of loss and frustration that aggravated the tiny lines around her eyes. Her face was already anemic from several days living under seige in the south of our country. She could have been a woman in a painting.
When I returned to the hall, everyone in my group, my children and my friend and her two daughters were already asleep or resting with their eyes half closed. No one seemed to have anything left to say even though we'd not spoken more than a few words to each other since the early afternoon. I hadn't slept for nearly a week. The last time I had slept I awoke to a thunderous explosion above our building which lit the sky like a match suddenly lights a dark room. No one moved or said anything as I prepared to lay down, not even a goodnight let alone, an I love you. Then I fell without even a pause to observe my last deep sigh into a dark and immense sleep.
I woke up suddenly but without being startled or disoriented. I had no idea how much time had passed but if time were to be measured as change it must have been years that I had slept because what I saw as I opened my eyes was a world which had completely changed.
The cavernous hall which had been so empty was now filled, every cot in it had a sleeping body there and some held two. None of them moved. I cannot imagine how they settled so close to us in such silence, the way an army of butterflies must arrive in a tree. Thousands more had arrived in those hours or moments of sleep of which I have no real record to refer to. They appeared to be dead rather than exhausted. There was only one soldier walking out of the hall who looked back over his shoulder briefly before disappearing and I sat alone looking over the great event horizon. I sat and waited for things to begin moving again, I was frozen in pain and wonder at the company of souls in which I was immersed as if in the clearest water on the highest mountain, a place where no one had ever been before or would ever go again. Here it was at last, Nirvana, wildly unstable and utterly somnolent. The darkest star on the brink of radiation over a graveyard of the living.
The two obelisks mark the driveway but I do not want to know what they mean. I only know that I exist on the corner of 16th and Central, 319 North.
Divinity versus Purity in the context of Miracles
The Quran in its style is not just a book being dictated as one would a letter, "to so and so". It is an actual theological event complete with Allah's knowledge of what occurs in the prophet's own mind and that is included. Even the notion that Allah dictates to the angel and then to the prophet what his own actions should be i.e. "Say" and then it is followed by what should be said clearly pointing out those verses from others. Other statements that are meant only for the prophet are also included and show the incredible detail required in recording such an event. It exposes the actual process of revelation so to speak. It also indicates that there was a moral "burden" on the prophet and what the actual burden looked like in great detail highlighting certain events and I don't think we are to consider it a log of ALL the prophet's activities, thoughts or actions. That would be impossible (to read). The thing is, when a person (prophet or ordinary guy) KNOWS they are in a miracle situation, their fear of making a mistake is much greater (I think) and in the case of Mohamed (SAW) his miracle was so great that he would be HIGHLY unlikely to make even the smallest of mistakes in his practice.
This type of recitation exists no where else in terms of the other prophets but that doesn't mean that a "theological event" of the mental order didn't occur rather it just wasn't recorded verbatim by any prophet that we know of.
To offer the rhetorical question: How does a personal miracle lead to a person's recovery from any given thing and improve their character?
On the Divinity of Mohamed (SAW), Musa (SAW) and Isa (SAW) respectively referred to as Mohamed, Jesus Christ and Moses by other "believers":
I think the question is actually of Divinity not necessarily infallibility in the sense of human error. The Quran clearly demonstrates that mistakes happened but not necessarily mistakes that were of the intentional type and what is a mistake in the landscape of a miracle?
The Quran suggests over and over and over that if Allah wanted to create people who would not err he could have and if he wanted to make a Quran that glowed and flew into the air or whatever, he could have but then there would be no "test" for the believers/unbelievers/humanity. Those things that occurred that "appear" to be mistakes are, to me, part of the story that is necessary to reveal something else and something else and something else.
As well, Allah did not write a story or plan a plot in which he wasn't aware of something or someone's intents, actions or the personal dramas they were all involved it. Allah is basically not constrained by time and already knows the conclusion of the famous tale of this particular civilization i.e. the one involving this group of adversaries and advocates. In that case, there are not mistakes really.
In some cases, the prophet and his companions were given details as well. Stories in the hadith and in particular some that I know of from the Nahjul Balagha were actually revealed to that peer group as well. Sometimes via dreams and sometimes via actual statements of the prophet that were often times cloaked in mysterious language so as not to directly reveal the future. Like the case of the death of Abu Dhar(pbuh) in which at the time of his inevitable death he told his daughter to go to the caravan road and wait and that travellers would soon be coming who would help her to bury her father. She left him alone in his close to death state and went to the road and was met by a caravan. When the members of the caravan questioned her she told them her father's name and they were incredulous and asked to see the old man. When they arrived he was already dead and the rich merchants buried him in a very expensive piece of cloth. There are several other deaths like this recorded in the Nahjul in which the person who was going to die experienced something particular and then stated "Ah, I am going to die then tomorrow as the prophet said such and such"..in one case that a fighter would drink milk just prior to dying. The man asked for water as he was dying but instead, was brought a glass of milk just as the prophet had indicated to him years before (the prophet was at the time dead already i.e. when the old man was readying to die).
In Sermon 5 of the NB, Ali Mu'mineen (pbuh) states the following:
SERMON 5 of the Nahjul Balagha, The Peak of Eloquence
Delivered when the Holy Prophet died and `Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb offered to pay allegiance to Amir al-mu'minin for the Caliphate
O' People! (1)
Steer clear through the waves of mischief by boats of deliverance, turn away from the path of dissension and put off the crowns of pride. Prosperous is one who rises with wings (i.e. when he has power) or else he remains peaceful and others enjoy ease. It (i.e. the aspiration for Caliphate) is like turbid water or like a morsel that would suffocate the person who swallows it. One who plucks fruits before ripening is like one who cultivated in another's field.
If I speak out they would call me greedy towards power but if I keep quiet they would say I was afraid of death. It is a pity that after all the ups and downs (I have been through). By Allah the son of Abu Talib (2) is more familiar with death than an infant with the breast of its mother. I have hidden knowledge, if I disclose it you will start trembling like ropes in deep wells.
This is an example of perhaps the deliverance of messages or information in dreams (not indicated in the NB though) and the idea that a believer should not share negative dreams openly to others.
Then, if you compare Isa (SAW) it is clearly stated in the Quran that he will be judged and will come to testify against others. It is exactly this type of thing, the insistence on the 'infallibility" of a human prophet that lead to the ultimate equating a human being with Allah. There are a few ayat that show that Isa (SAW) was also given the opportunity to "defer" from orders and he will answer for those things on al Yawm.
5:117 I did not say to them aught save what Thou didst enjoin me with; That serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord
And I was a witness of them so long as I was among them
But when Thou didst cause me to die, Thou were the watcher over them
And thou art witness of all things
(These above three lines are all spoken by Isa, SAW)
This shows that the Quran talks about the "end" so to speak and there are two mentions of Isa (SAW) as "among them" and then, as a resurrected soul along with all the other souls on al Yawm. I take it to mean i.e. 'among them' as not actually dead. Death hasn't come to Isa (SAW) yet and therefore this ayat refers to a future time when he too will present HIS evidence as a counter to the evidence of anyone in dispute with Allah's commands which indicates that Isa (SAW) himself had a 'choice'. If he had no choice that would be due to a predetermined 'infallibility' rather than what I think it is better described by and that is "divinity". It is just the case that with prophets, they are more highly motivated to avoid error and hence, do not make mistakes but I don't think that necessarily "predestines" them to not make any mistakes.
*And "thou were the watcher over them" I take to mean "at that time" which is the dispute here, the actual time of Isa's (SAW) death/non death i.e. the "crucifiction" which is witnessed really only by two individuals that we know of, the person on the cross and Isa (SAW) himself and of course, Allah.
Allah is the only infallible "thing" in that sense of the word.
Furthermore, this is the paradox of the time Isa (SAW) spent in the desert fasting and was tempted by the Shaitan. Whereas the argument is completely illogical the way it is presented by Christians (that Isa was God) i.e. it is impossible for the Shaitan to tempt Allah who created EVEN him (sic Iblis) with anything at all...comes into full focus for US. He was tempted. His role was not of the Creator but of the created and that is not indicative of "infallibility" but instead, the 'likelihood' he would withstand greater pressures than any of us would due to his divine information and divine skills imbued upon him by the Creator. That story (Injeel) includes Isa (SAW) being so burdened by one instance of his prophethood that he sweat blood much like Mohamed (SAW) was reduced to a shivering and practically insane "looking" individual under a blanket who feared either being insane or being perceived as such (upon his first encounter with the angel).
For non muslims and unbelievers, this is one of the ways in which they are prevented from accepting Mohamed (SAW) as the last prophet i.e. they "detect" fallibility in a variety of things from his war time activities to his marriage to a young girl.
The Quran in its style is not just a book being dictated as one would a letter, "to so and so". It is an actual theological event complete with Allah's knowledge of what occurs in the prophet's own mind and that is included. Even the notion that Allah dictates to the angel and then to the prophet what his own actions should be i.e. "Say" and then it is followed by what should be said clearly pointing out those verses from others. Other statements that are meant only for the prophet are also included and show the incredible detail required in recording such an event. It exposes the actual process of revelation so to speak. It also indicates that there was a moral "burden" on the prophet and what the actual burden looked like in great detail highlighting certain events and I don't think we are to consider it a log of ALL the prophet's activities, thoughts or actions. That would be impossible (to read). The thing is, when a person (prophet or ordinary guy) KNOWS they are in a miracle situation, their fear of making a mistake is much greater (I think) and in the case of Mohamed (SAW) his miracle was so great that he would be HIGHLY unlikely to make even the smallest of mistakes in his practice.
This type of recitation exists no where else in terms of the other prophets but that doesn't mean that a "theological event" of the mental order didn't occur rather it just wasn't recorded verbatim by any prophet that we know of.
To offer the rhetorical question: How does a personal miracle lead to a person's recovery from any given thing and improve their character?
On the Divinity of Mohamed (SAW), Musa (SAW) and Isa (SAW) respectively referred to as Mohamed, Jesus Christ and Moses by other "believers":
I think the question is actually of Divinity not necessarily infallibility in the sense of human error. The Quran clearly demonstrates that mistakes happened but not necessarily mistakes that were of the intentional type and what is a mistake in the landscape of a miracle?
The Quran suggests over and over and over that if Allah wanted to create people who would not err he could have and if he wanted to make a Quran that glowed and flew into the air or whatever, he could have but then there would be no "test" for the believers/unbelievers/humanity. Those things that occurred that "appear" to be mistakes are, to me, part of the story that is necessary to reveal something else and something else and something else.
As well, Allah did not write a story or plan a plot in which he wasn't aware of something or someone's intents, actions or the personal dramas they were all involved it. Allah is basically not constrained by time and already knows the conclusion of the famous tale of this particular civilization i.e. the one involving this group of adversaries and advocates. In that case, there are not mistakes really.
In some cases, the prophet and his companions were given details as well. Stories in the hadith and in particular some that I know of from the Nahjul Balagha were actually revealed to that peer group as well. Sometimes via dreams and sometimes via actual statements of the prophet that were often times cloaked in mysterious language so as not to directly reveal the future. Like the case of the death of Abu Dhar(pbuh) in which at the time of his inevitable death he told his daughter to go to the caravan road and wait and that travellers would soon be coming who would help her to bury her father. She left him alone in his close to death state and went to the road and was met by a caravan. When the members of the caravan questioned her she told them her father's name and they were incredulous and asked to see the old man. When they arrived he was already dead and the rich merchants buried him in a very expensive piece of cloth. There are several other deaths like this recorded in the Nahjul in which the person who was going to die experienced something particular and then stated "Ah, I am going to die then tomorrow as the prophet said such and such"..in one case that a fighter would drink milk just prior to dying. The man asked for water as he was dying but instead, was brought a glass of milk just as the prophet had indicated to him years before (the prophet was at the time dead already i.e. when the old man was readying to die).
In Sermon 5 of the NB, Ali Mu'mineen (pbuh) states the following:
SERMON 5 of the Nahjul Balagha, The Peak of Eloquence
Delivered when the Holy Prophet died and `Abbas ibn `Abd al-Muttalib and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb offered to pay allegiance to Amir al-mu'minin for the Caliphate
O' People! (1)
Steer clear through the waves of mischief by boats of deliverance, turn away from the path of dissension and put off the crowns of pride. Prosperous is one who rises with wings (i.e. when he has power) or else he remains peaceful and others enjoy ease. It (i.e. the aspiration for Caliphate) is like turbid water or like a morsel that would suffocate the person who swallows it. One who plucks fruits before ripening is like one who cultivated in another's field.
If I speak out they would call me greedy towards power but if I keep quiet they would say I was afraid of death. It is a pity that after all the ups and downs (I have been through). By Allah the son of Abu Talib (2) is more familiar with death than an infant with the breast of its mother. I have hidden knowledge, if I disclose it you will start trembling like ropes in deep wells.
This is an example of perhaps the deliverance of messages or information in dreams (not indicated in the NB though) and the idea that a believer should not share negative dreams openly to others.
Then, if you compare Isa (SAW) it is clearly stated in the Quran that he will be judged and will come to testify against others. It is exactly this type of thing, the insistence on the 'infallibility" of a human prophet that lead to the ultimate equating a human being with Allah. There are a few ayat that show that Isa (SAW) was also given the opportunity to "defer" from orders and he will answer for those things on al Yawm.
5:117 I did not say to them aught save what Thou didst enjoin me with; That serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord
And I was a witness of them so long as I was among them
But when Thou didst cause me to die, Thou were the watcher over them
And thou art witness of all things
(These above three lines are all spoken by Isa, SAW)
This shows that the Quran talks about the "end" so to speak and there are two mentions of Isa (SAW) as "among them" and then, as a resurrected soul along with all the other souls on al Yawm. I take it to mean i.e. 'among them' as not actually dead. Death hasn't come to Isa (SAW) yet and therefore this ayat refers to a future time when he too will present HIS evidence as a counter to the evidence of anyone in dispute with Allah's commands which indicates that Isa (SAW) himself had a 'choice'. If he had no choice that would be due to a predetermined 'infallibility' rather than what I think it is better described by and that is "divinity". It is just the case that with prophets, they are more highly motivated to avoid error and hence, do not make mistakes but I don't think that necessarily "predestines" them to not make any mistakes.
*And "thou were the watcher over them" I take to mean "at that time" which is the dispute here, the actual time of Isa's (SAW) death/non death i.e. the "crucifiction" which is witnessed really only by two individuals that we know of, the person on the cross and Isa (SAW) himself and of course, Allah.
Allah is the only infallible "thing" in that sense of the word.
Furthermore, this is the paradox of the time Isa (SAW) spent in the desert fasting and was tempted by the Shaitan. Whereas the argument is completely illogical the way it is presented by Christians (that Isa was God) i.e. it is impossible for the Shaitan to tempt Allah who created EVEN him (sic Iblis) with anything at all...comes into full focus for US. He was tempted. His role was not of the Creator but of the created and that is not indicative of "infallibility" but instead, the 'likelihood' he would withstand greater pressures than any of us would due to his divine information and divine skills imbued upon him by the Creator. That story (Injeel) includes Isa (SAW) being so burdened by one instance of his prophethood that he sweat blood much like Mohamed (SAW) was reduced to a shivering and practically insane "looking" individual under a blanket who feared either being insane or being perceived as such (upon his first encounter with the angel).
For non muslims and unbelievers, this is one of the ways in which they are prevented from accepting Mohamed (SAW) as the last prophet i.e. they "detect" fallibility in a variety of things from his war time activities to his marriage to a young girl.
20.1.07
Snow Drunk
The sky at dawn is the shadow
of the deer who hoped to be seen,
lagging behind like that to peek
through the hedges. Painters
only did that when they lacked
cameras to abstract that which is
abstracted. This one is gray
on gray with a spray of rose leaves
in the black of what is actually there:
azures, lemons, magentas, pales and darknesses.
The proof is in everything and each
of the prostrating shadows
of dawn, of noon, of dusk,
move this way and that way,
several ways, each one
a better color than the next
one and the unknown of that
is certainly more
than black can tell you
in the constant sillhouette
of the materials frozen
into the peculiar shapes of deers.
My shape is said to be that of a pear.
When I say this to the beholder
I am finished. Returning to
the window of shadows I find
the world has been lit up
and it has snowed.
It has literally snowed,
it is quiet and I am quiet
more than the snow
can tell me in its shushing.
We all begin to jump around
and we begin again our falling.
The sky at dawn is the shadow
of the deer who hoped to be seen,
lagging behind like that to peek
through the hedges. Painters
only did that when they lacked
cameras to abstract that which is
abstracted. This one is gray
on gray with a spray of rose leaves
in the black of what is actually there:
azures, lemons, magentas, pales and darknesses.
The proof is in everything and each
of the prostrating shadows
of dawn, of noon, of dusk,
move this way and that way,
several ways, each one
a better color than the next
one and the unknown of that
is certainly more
than black can tell you
in the constant sillhouette
of the materials frozen
into the peculiar shapes of deers.
My shape is said to be that of a pear.
When I say this to the beholder
I am finished. Returning to
the window of shadows I find
the world has been lit up
and it has snowed.
It has literally snowed,
it is quiet and I am quiet
more than the snow
can tell me in its shushing.
We all begin to jump around
and we begin again our falling.
19.1.07
The Molecular Model of Duality: Potassium
Dr. Plichta's conclusion:
The biochemical components of life, the amino acids, are coded by the number 19 . The structure of the eighty-one stable, natural existing chemical elements, the components of the Nature, are in many ways subject to the same code . A lonely number, the unique number 19, proves to be the King Number of the chemistry.
What worried Dr. Plichta the most, however , was the question, why all elements with odd atomic numbers possess either one or two isotopes? Only the nineteenth element, Potassium, does not? Because with its three isotopes the Potassium actually would have to be an element with even atomic number. Because this number is an odd prime number, and the element 19, therefore Potassium, behaves like an even-numbered element. For the first time, Dr. Peter Plichta came upon a double-face element. An element, which is odd, however it behaves like an even element .
41:53] We will show them our proofs in the horizons, and within themselves, until they realize that this is the truth. Is your Lord not sufficient as a witness of all things?
[ 72:28] ........ He (GOD) has counted the numbers of all things.
[ 27:82] At the right time, we will produce for them a creature made of earthly materials, declaring that the people are not certain about our revelations.
http://www.submission.org/miracle/19-chemistry.html
Dr. Plichta's conclusion:
The biochemical components of life, the amino acids, are coded by the number 19 . The structure of the eighty-one stable, natural existing chemical elements, the components of the Nature, are in many ways subject to the same code . A lonely number, the unique number 19, proves to be the King Number of the chemistry.
What worried Dr. Plichta the most, however , was the question, why all elements with odd atomic numbers possess either one or two isotopes? Only the nineteenth element, Potassium, does not? Because with its three isotopes the Potassium actually would have to be an element with even atomic number. Because this number is an odd prime number, and the element 19, therefore Potassium, behaves like an even-numbered element. For the first time, Dr. Peter Plichta came upon a double-face element. An element, which is odd, however it behaves like an even element .
41:53] We will show them our proofs in the horizons, and within themselves, until they realize that this is the truth. Is your Lord not sufficient as a witness of all things?
[ 72:28] ........ He (GOD) has counted the numbers of all things.
[ 27:82] At the right time, we will produce for them a creature made of earthly materials, declaring that the people are not certain about our revelations.
http://www.submission.org/miracle/19-chemistry.html
17.1.07
And hey, I'll "be damned" if I let a maniac like that get me down! Down to "wherever" he is.
The Divers, the Drowned, the Delivered
We landed on the beach in Bahia Kino
with our best memories and war stories,
monitoring time by watching shadows.
Simplicity is complex nowdays, so many gadgets.
There was a fire ring for instance,
and burning lanterns but no candles.
And diving birds, there were three kinds and their bones.
An old friend caught trigger and hoped for flounder.
After he had too much to drink
he resembled a demon but his hands trembled.
Near the fire at night his eyes glistened.
Don's wife likes Miami, she drinks there.
In the morning there was contrition
and there were flies to spread contagion
by thieving sugar and contempt, a diligent crew.
How many times have I seen this before?
Insects and yeasts take people apart
one piece at a time. We collect wood
to burn, it holds us together as it consumes.
Tayammum, sand ablutions are called Tayammum.
At dawn the sea leaves her glass behind,
ceramic prisons free for the taking.
I couldn't get enough, the sea is so generous.
I was questioned thoroughly, my fingerprints in sand are still there.
Don left so early Sunday, he left cans
and rope, he left precious amounts
of bile in shade trees, he left our rake unattended.
We come from a family of campers, we are honor bound.
Ours tell quiet stories of blindness all the time,
we frequent several places, the animals know
when we are there. Lizards aren't so cautious.
Aztec traders brought handmade trinkets on the last day.
Grandfather, father and two boys. Bedou salesmen
from the pagan interior. His son told me this, he knew why I asked.
He had assimilated over time using a small TV. His eyes said so.
There are rituals and there are habits. These are facts.
Yes I said, yes, there is only one.
He nodded when I spoke of the Arabs.
Vaya con dios I said. He liked that. He smiled.
The Divers, the Drowned, the Delivered
We landed on the beach in Bahia Kino
with our best memories and war stories,
monitoring time by watching shadows.
Simplicity is complex nowdays, so many gadgets.
There was a fire ring for instance,
and burning lanterns but no candles.
And diving birds, there were three kinds and their bones.
An old friend caught trigger and hoped for flounder.
After he had too much to drink
he resembled a demon but his hands trembled.
Near the fire at night his eyes glistened.
Don's wife likes Miami, she drinks there.
In the morning there was contrition
and there were flies to spread contagion
by thieving sugar and contempt, a diligent crew.
How many times have I seen this before?
Insects and yeasts take people apart
one piece at a time. We collect wood
to burn, it holds us together as it consumes.
Tayammum, sand ablutions are called Tayammum.
At dawn the sea leaves her glass behind,
ceramic prisons free for the taking.
I couldn't get enough, the sea is so generous.
I was questioned thoroughly, my fingerprints in sand are still there.
Don left so early Sunday, he left cans
and rope, he left precious amounts
of bile in shade trees, he left our rake unattended.
We come from a family of campers, we are honor bound.
Ours tell quiet stories of blindness all the time,
we frequent several places, the animals know
when we are there. Lizards aren't so cautious.
Aztec traders brought handmade trinkets on the last day.
Grandfather, father and two boys. Bedou salesmen
from the pagan interior. His son told me this, he knew why I asked.
He had assimilated over time using a small TV. His eyes said so.
There are rituals and there are habits. These are facts.
Yes I said, yes, there is only one.
He nodded when I spoke of the Arabs.
Vaya con dios I said. He liked that. He smiled.
Ah, what the news agencies won't tell you. I often have to gasp and wonder at the naivity of Americans in general.
You see, my losses due to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon this summer are truly miniscule indeed. And as we can see from below, the things I gained are immense. The discovery of hidden enemies there, the solidification of my children's faith, the immense amount of wisdom I picked up on my journey across the sea (which I still haven't really capitalized on yet)....oh I cannot even count the blessing that I have recieved.
The most important blessing that is going to be realized from Nasrallah's brave defense of his country against the Zionist invaders however is yet to come. Talks indicate that the Israelis are going to have to release TEN TIMES more Palestinian prisoners than they would have had to release if they'd have simply done the "right" thing, the "normal" thing and the thing allowed under the Geneva Conventions and had actually NEGOTIATED for the release of the few IDF commandoes. Ah. It is wonderful.
What has happened is that the families of those held in captivity are demanding Olmert negotiate and negotiate for real. Any country who is willing to try to "convince" the civilized world that they destroyed the infrastructure of their democratic neighbor in order to get a few men released must OBVIOUSLY care enough about them now to put their inordinate and Godly pride behind them and get those boys home. I must chuckle.
News of the return of the Golan Heights being negotiated under Ariel Sharon...well. I'll believe that when I see the backs of those mofos leaving the Shebaa Farms. And when I stop hearing of the constant invasions of Lebanese airspace. And when I hear that the Israelis are forced to pay for the demining of South Lebanon and when I hear of the trial of Olmert at the Hague for dropping little gadgets that look like musical toys on southern Lebanon that are made to kill children who pick them up not knowing the vile history of Israel doing that sort of nasty and vile thing. THEN and only then will I believe that this recent "leak" of a document that promises the return of the Golan Heights is actually going to be acted on. I am so entirely used to the lying of that group of people that it makes me want to puke.
You see, my losses due to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon this summer are truly miniscule indeed. And as we can see from below, the things I gained are immense. The discovery of hidden enemies there, the solidification of my children's faith, the immense amount of wisdom I picked up on my journey across the sea (which I still haven't really capitalized on yet)....oh I cannot even count the blessing that I have recieved.
The most important blessing that is going to be realized from Nasrallah's brave defense of his country against the Zionist invaders however is yet to come. Talks indicate that the Israelis are going to have to release TEN TIMES more Palestinian prisoners than they would have had to release if they'd have simply done the "right" thing, the "normal" thing and the thing allowed under the Geneva Conventions and had actually NEGOTIATED for the release of the few IDF commandoes. Ah. It is wonderful.
What has happened is that the families of those held in captivity are demanding Olmert negotiate and negotiate for real. Any country who is willing to try to "convince" the civilized world that they destroyed the infrastructure of their democratic neighbor in order to get a few men released must OBVIOUSLY care enough about them now to put their inordinate and Godly pride behind them and get those boys home. I must chuckle.
News of the return of the Golan Heights being negotiated under Ariel Sharon...well. I'll believe that when I see the backs of those mofos leaving the Shebaa Farms. And when I stop hearing of the constant invasions of Lebanese airspace. And when I hear that the Israelis are forced to pay for the demining of South Lebanon and when I hear of the trial of Olmert at the Hague for dropping little gadgets that look like musical toys on southern Lebanon that are made to kill children who pick them up not knowing the vile history of Israel doing that sort of nasty and vile thing. THEN and only then will I believe that this recent "leak" of a document that promises the return of the Golan Heights is actually going to be acted on. I am so entirely used to the lying of that group of people that it makes me want to puke.
Athiests, the OPEN enemies
of Islam and Muslims
I was talking to a muslim fellow this past week (what I do in my spare time nowdays as opposed to talking to drunk old poets) and he was having a problem defending a nice young man who has taken Islam for himself without the supervision or permission of his parents, AGAINST a known athiest from Denmark. Some of these folks like to go to Islamic message boards and tempt muslims away from their religion by posing various questions (good ones) about pedophilia, homosexuality, polygamy, women's rights, etc. It is incumbent on all muslims to discuss these things and through that kind of discussion with the "open enemies of Islam" some muslims arrive at even stronger faith. It is noted in the Quran that "they" i.e. all other types of people who are loyal to any doctrine from Christianity to Marxism to Athiesm....will not be happy until "they" convert a muslim to "their" belief system i.e. religion. In the case of this young man who required protection from a much more experienced debate partner, the muslim fellow I am referencing ended up defending the athiest's right to harrass this young man who is not on certain grounds of faith yet. Many young people experience a documented phase of moral development in their mid to late teens (15 -18 yrs old). This is known by all secular childhood development theorists and in Islam is considered a phase of "negotiable" faith patterns. By the time a person reaches the age of forty, a person is expected to have generated a solid faith and in some cases (like my own) a state of "certitude" is reached. It is the most desirable level of faith in Islam and is unassailable.
This fellow thought my protectionism of the young man's thoughts as being outdated and he asked me, "Are you one of those muslims that believes that athiests are the open enemies to Islam?"
Oh yes. For sure. Absolutely. They are not only open enemies but they are HONEST OPPONENTS.
The problem with those types of readings and rationales in Islamic thinking and this new trend called "Fundamentalism" (whereas, ALL muslims are fundamentalists in terms of literally accepting the Quran as the "Word of Allah" i.e. kallam)..the problem with that rationale is that less experienced muslims and those who have not achieved what is called CERTITUDE, do not read the statement in terms of its reciprocal truth.
That reciprocal truth is that muslims need to fear the HIDDEN enemies of Islam. Sometimes that hidden enemy can be within a person's own self, their own heart and their own doubts. And in many cases, the hidden enemy can come in the form of "friends" who are actually kafr i.e. unbelievers and pretend to "like" Islam partially or fully. Like the old goat who produced the video below did for over three years. Now we can see he is obsessed with certain things and insane.
Well, I am sure glad I found a few of my hidden enemies before it was too late.
Al'ham'du'lillah. Allahu Ahkbar!
James Wolcott, Vanity Fair:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott/2007/01/sunday_sermonet.html
of Islam and Muslims
I was talking to a muslim fellow this past week (what I do in my spare time nowdays as opposed to talking to drunk old poets) and he was having a problem defending a nice young man who has taken Islam for himself without the supervision or permission of his parents, AGAINST a known athiest from Denmark. Some of these folks like to go to Islamic message boards and tempt muslims away from their religion by posing various questions (good ones) about pedophilia, homosexuality, polygamy, women's rights, etc. It is incumbent on all muslims to discuss these things and through that kind of discussion with the "open enemies of Islam" some muslims arrive at even stronger faith. It is noted in the Quran that "they" i.e. all other types of people who are loyal to any doctrine from Christianity to Marxism to Athiesm....will not be happy until "they" convert a muslim to "their" belief system i.e. religion. In the case of this young man who required protection from a much more experienced debate partner, the muslim fellow I am referencing ended up defending the athiest's right to harrass this young man who is not on certain grounds of faith yet. Many young people experience a documented phase of moral development in their mid to late teens (15 -18 yrs old). This is known by all secular childhood development theorists and in Islam is considered a phase of "negotiable" faith patterns. By the time a person reaches the age of forty, a person is expected to have generated a solid faith and in some cases (like my own) a state of "certitude" is reached. It is the most desirable level of faith in Islam and is unassailable.
This fellow thought my protectionism of the young man's thoughts as being outdated and he asked me, "Are you one of those muslims that believes that athiests are the open enemies to Islam?"
Oh yes. For sure. Absolutely. They are not only open enemies but they are HONEST OPPONENTS.
The problem with those types of readings and rationales in Islamic thinking and this new trend called "Fundamentalism" (whereas, ALL muslims are fundamentalists in terms of literally accepting the Quran as the "Word of Allah" i.e. kallam)..the problem with that rationale is that less experienced muslims and those who have not achieved what is called CERTITUDE, do not read the statement in terms of its reciprocal truth.
That reciprocal truth is that muslims need to fear the HIDDEN enemies of Islam. Sometimes that hidden enemy can be within a person's own self, their own heart and their own doubts. And in many cases, the hidden enemy can come in the form of "friends" who are actually kafr i.e. unbelievers and pretend to "like" Islam partially or fully. Like the old goat who produced the video below did for over three years. Now we can see he is obsessed with certain things and insane.
Well, I am sure glad I found a few of my hidden enemies before it was too late.
Al'ham'du'lillah. Allahu Ahkbar!
James Wolcott, Vanity Fair:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott/2007/01/sunday_sermonet.html
ABU ALI HASAN IBN AL-HAITHAM
( 965 - 1040 A.D.)
Another amazing fact about the famous Islamic prime number 19, Allahu Ahkbar!
Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham was one of the most eminent physicists, whose contributions to optics and the scientific methods are outstanding. Known in the West as Alhazen, Ibn aI-Hautham was born in 965 A. D. in Basrah, and was educated in Basrah and Baghdad. Thereafter, he went to Egypt, where he was asked to find ways of controlling the flood of the Nile. Being unsuccessful in this, he feigned madness until the death of Caliph al-Hakim. He also traveled to Spain and, during this period, he had ample time for his scientific pursuits, which included optics, mathematics, physics, medicine and development of scientific methods on each of which he has left several outstanding books.
He made a thorough examination of the passage of light through various media and discovered the laws of refraction. He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colors. His book Kitab-at-Manazir was translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, as also his book dealing with the colors of sunset. He dealt at length with the theory of various physical phenomena like shadows, eclipses, the rainbow, and speculated on the physical nature of light. He is the first to describe accurately the various parts of the eye and give a scientific explanation of the process of vision. He also attempted to explain binocular vision, and gave a correct explanation of the apparent increase in size of the sun and the moon when near the horizon. He is known for the earliest use of the camera obscura. He contradicted Ptolemy's and Euclid's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of .light emanating from the eyes; according to him the rays originate in the object of vision and not in the eye. Through these extensive researches on optics, he has been considered as the father of modern optics.
The Latin translation of his main work, Kitab-at-Manazir, exerted a great influence upon Western science e.g. on the work of Roger Bacon and Kepler. It brought about a great progress in experimental methods. His research in catoptrics centered on spherical and parabolic mirrors and spherical aberration. He made the important observation that the radio between the angle of incidence and refraction does not remain constant and investigated the magnifying power of a lens. His catoptrics contain the important problem known as Alhazen's problem. It comprises drawing lines from two points in the plane of a circle meeting at a point on the circumference and making equal angles with the normal at that point. This leads to an equation of the fourth degree.
In his book Mizan al-Hikmah Ibn al-Haitham has discussed the density of the atmosphere and developed a relation between it and the height. He also studied atmospheric refraction. He discovered that the twilight only ceases or begins when the sun is 19 degrees below the horizon and attempted to measure the height of the atmosphere on that basis. He has also discussed the theories of attraction between masses, and it seems that he was aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity.
His contribution to mathematics and physics was extensive. In mathematics, he developed analytical geometry by establishing linkage between algebra and geometry. He studied the mechanics of motion of a body and was the first to maintain that a body moves perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes its direction of motion. This would seem equivalent to the first law of motion.
The list of his books runs to 200 or so, very few of which have survived. Even his monumental treatise on optics survived through its Latin translation. During the Middle Ages his books on cosmology were translated into Latin, Hebrew and other languages. He has also written on the subject of evolution a book that deserves serious attention even today.
In his writing, one can see a clear development of the scientific methods as developed and applied by the Muslims and comprising the systematic observation of physical phenomena and their linking together into a scientific theory. This was a major breakthrough in scientific methodology, as distinct from guess and gesture, and placed scientific pursuits on a sound foundation comprising systematic relationship between observation, hypothesis and verification.
Ibn al-Haitham's influence on physical sciences in general, and optics in particular, has been held in high esteem and, in fact, it ushered in a new era in optical research, both in theory and practice.
From the Sura called "The Cloaked (hidden) One" which is widely believed to be a Sura regarding mathematics and a proof to the Unbelievers:
74:18
For he thought and he plotted;-
74:19
And woe to him! How he plotted!-
74:20
Yea, Woe to him; How he plotted!-
74:21
Then he looked round;
74:22
Then he frowned and he scowled;
74:23
Then he turned back and was haughty;
74:24
Then said he: "This is nothing but magic, derived from of old;
74:25
"This is nothing but the word of a mortal!"
74:26
Soon will I cast him into Hell-Fire!
74:27
And what will explain to thee what Hell-Fire is?
74:28
Naught doth it permit to endure, and naught doth it leave alone!-
74:29
Darkening and changing the colour of man!
74:30
Over it are Nineteen.
74:31
And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers,- in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith,- and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, "What symbol doth Allah intend by this?" Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.
74:32
Nay, verily: By the Moon,
74:33
And by the Night as it retreateth,
74:34
And by the Dawn as it shineth forth,-
74:35
This is but one of the mighty (portents),
74:36
A warning to mankind,-
74:37
To any of you that chooses to press forward, or to follow behind;-
74:38
Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds.
( 965 - 1040 A.D.)
Another amazing fact about the famous Islamic prime number 19, Allahu Ahkbar!
Abu Ali Hasan Ibn al-Haitham was one of the most eminent physicists, whose contributions to optics and the scientific methods are outstanding. Known in the West as Alhazen, Ibn aI-Hautham was born in 965 A. D. in Basrah, and was educated in Basrah and Baghdad. Thereafter, he went to Egypt, where he was asked to find ways of controlling the flood of the Nile. Being unsuccessful in this, he feigned madness until the death of Caliph al-Hakim. He also traveled to Spain and, during this period, he had ample time for his scientific pursuits, which included optics, mathematics, physics, medicine and development of scientific methods on each of which he has left several outstanding books.
He made a thorough examination of the passage of light through various media and discovered the laws of refraction. He also carried out the first experiments on the dispersion of light into its constituent colors. His book Kitab-at-Manazir was translated into Latin in the Middle Ages, as also his book dealing with the colors of sunset. He dealt at length with the theory of various physical phenomena like shadows, eclipses, the rainbow, and speculated on the physical nature of light. He is the first to describe accurately the various parts of the eye and give a scientific explanation of the process of vision. He also attempted to explain binocular vision, and gave a correct explanation of the apparent increase in size of the sun and the moon when near the horizon. He is known for the earliest use of the camera obscura. He contradicted Ptolemy's and Euclid's theory of vision that objects are seen by rays of .light emanating from the eyes; according to him the rays originate in the object of vision and not in the eye. Through these extensive researches on optics, he has been considered as the father of modern optics.
The Latin translation of his main work, Kitab-at-Manazir, exerted a great influence upon Western science e.g. on the work of Roger Bacon and Kepler. It brought about a great progress in experimental methods. His research in catoptrics centered on spherical and parabolic mirrors and spherical aberration. He made the important observation that the radio between the angle of incidence and refraction does not remain constant and investigated the magnifying power of a lens. His catoptrics contain the important problem known as Alhazen's problem. It comprises drawing lines from two points in the plane of a circle meeting at a point on the circumference and making equal angles with the normal at that point. This leads to an equation of the fourth degree.
In his book Mizan al-Hikmah Ibn al-Haitham has discussed the density of the atmosphere and developed a relation between it and the height. He also studied atmospheric refraction. He discovered that the twilight only ceases or begins when the sun is 19 degrees below the horizon and attempted to measure the height of the atmosphere on that basis. He has also discussed the theories of attraction between masses, and it seems that he was aware of the magnitude of acceleration due to gravity.
His contribution to mathematics and physics was extensive. In mathematics, he developed analytical geometry by establishing linkage between algebra and geometry. He studied the mechanics of motion of a body and was the first to maintain that a body moves perpetually unless an external force stops it or changes its direction of motion. This would seem equivalent to the first law of motion.
The list of his books runs to 200 or so, very few of which have survived. Even his monumental treatise on optics survived through its Latin translation. During the Middle Ages his books on cosmology were translated into Latin, Hebrew and other languages. He has also written on the subject of evolution a book that deserves serious attention even today.
In his writing, one can see a clear development of the scientific methods as developed and applied by the Muslims and comprising the systematic observation of physical phenomena and their linking together into a scientific theory. This was a major breakthrough in scientific methodology, as distinct from guess and gesture, and placed scientific pursuits on a sound foundation comprising systematic relationship between observation, hypothesis and verification.
Ibn al-Haitham's influence on physical sciences in general, and optics in particular, has been held in high esteem and, in fact, it ushered in a new era in optical research, both in theory and practice.
From the Sura called "The Cloaked (hidden) One" which is widely believed to be a Sura regarding mathematics and a proof to the Unbelievers:
74:18
For he thought and he plotted;-
74:19
And woe to him! How he plotted!-
74:20
Yea, Woe to him; How he plotted!-
74:21
Then he looked round;
74:22
Then he frowned and he scowled;
74:23
Then he turned back and was haughty;
74:24
Then said he: "This is nothing but magic, derived from of old;
74:25
"This is nothing but the word of a mortal!"
74:26
Soon will I cast him into Hell-Fire!
74:27
And what will explain to thee what Hell-Fire is?
74:28
Naught doth it permit to endure, and naught doth it leave alone!-
74:29
Darkening and changing the colour of man!
74:30
Over it are Nineteen.
74:31
And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers,- in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith,- and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, "What symbol doth Allah intend by this?" Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.
74:32
Nay, verily: By the Moon,
74:33
And by the Night as it retreateth,
74:34
And by the Dawn as it shineth forth,-
74:35
This is but one of the mighty (portents),
74:36
A warning to mankind,-
74:37
To any of you that chooses to press forward, or to follow behind;-
74:38
Every soul will be (held) in pledge for its deeds.
16.1.07
14.1.07
Iran has the right to attack Israel.
Well, I'll say.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/7/115611/5148
Everyone has the right to attack this rogue nation that is leading the world into the worst war scenario in history.
Well, I'll say.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/1/7/115611/5148
Everyone has the right to attack this rogue nation that is leading the world into the worst war scenario in history.
12.1.07
Penny wise and pound foolish
used to cut it but then we found
ourselves poor and very, very wise.
http://www.funeralplan.com/products/embalming.html
Your RIGHT to not be buried Like an Egyptian:
"Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary, however, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing. If you do not want embalming, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial."
used to cut it but then we found
ourselves poor and very, very wise.
http://www.funeralplan.com/products/embalming.html
Your RIGHT to not be buried Like an Egyptian:
"Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary, however, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing. If you do not want embalming, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial."
The Theory of Snow
The night was dark, really dark.
I stopped above the round about
and hurried to urniate
fearful of the wild pigs, omnivores
that stag along the streets
at night. The deer wander through
the hedges to gape and yawn.
The big cats and bears are still
one range away in their territory
where the roads washed away
in a hundred year rain last summer.
When will it be the last time?
This brain of mine is imagination,
corroborated and clean, full
of the most drastic information.
Women here are flag lace and spread eagled,
I'm not used to it anymore,
not used to the going feral.
This snow is a bright lozenge
in the night, hoped for, planned out.
Every piece falls conspicuously
through the lamplight as I wait
for the dragnet of your verbs,
the tragedy of all is well.
No one is well now, are they?
The night was dark, really dark.
I stopped above the round about
and hurried to urniate
fearful of the wild pigs, omnivores
that stag along the streets
at night. The deer wander through
the hedges to gape and yawn.
The big cats and bears are still
one range away in their territory
where the roads washed away
in a hundred year rain last summer.
When will it be the last time?
This brain of mine is imagination,
corroborated and clean, full
of the most drastic information.
Women here are flag lace and spread eagled,
I'm not used to it anymore,
not used to the going feral.
This snow is a bright lozenge
in the night, hoped for, planned out.
Every piece falls conspicuously
through the lamplight as I wait
for the dragnet of your verbs,
the tragedy of all is well.
No one is well now, are they?
4.1.07
Thermohaline energy transfers and global warming:
http://www.aip.org/history/climate/oceans.htm
Another great unknown was the interaction between currents like the
Gulf Stream and the giant eddies that the currents spun off as they
meandered. Evidence of these broad, sluggishly rotating columns of
water had turned up during a survey voyage across the North Atlantic
in 1960. This was confirmed by an international campaign carried out
by six ships and two aircraft in the early 1970s — another example
of how studying ocean phenomena needed international cooperation.
The survey discovered eddies bigger than Belgium that plowed through
the seas for months. What oceanographers had supposed were static
differences in the oceans between their sparse measuring-points, had
often actually been changes over time, not over space.
The oceanographers had been vaguely aware that when meteorologists
built atmospheric models, they included the energy carried by wind
eddies as an important factor (physical oceanography, as one
practitioner remarked, was "to some extent a mirror of
meteorology"). Yet it was astounding to see what prodigious
quantities of heat, salt, and kinetic energy the ocean eddies
carried. Indeed nearly all the energy in the ocean system was in
these middle-sized movements, not in the ocean currents at all.
(28*)
He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier
between them. They do not transgress. (Quran, 55:19-20)
He is the one who has set free the two kinds of water, one sweet
and palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made
between them a barrier and a forbidding partition. (Quran, 25:53
Or (the unbelievers’ state) is like the darkness in a deep sea. It
is covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds.
Darknesses, one above another. If a man stretches out his hand, he
cannot see it.... (Quran, 24:40)
Water is not like air, and computers that could handle meteorological computations were far too slow to work through comparable models for this swirling ocean "weather." As one ocean modeler complained in 1974, "Extensive research efforts have not yet yielded much more than a greater appreciation of the difficulty of these questions."(29) To get a handle on the problem, oceanographers had to understand the oceans from top to bottom. But they had little data on the depths — the occasional expeditions, retrieving bottles of water here and there from kilometers down, were like a few blind men trying to map a vast prairie. Oceanographers liked to remark that we had better maps of the face of the Moon than of the deep sea. After all, there was little economic incentive, nor much military interest either, in studying the colossal slow movements of water, salts, and heat through the abyss.
Another great unknown was the interaction between currents like the
Gulf Stream and the giant eddies that the currents spun off as they
meandered. Evidence of these broad, sluggishly rotating columns of
water had turned up during a survey voyage across the North Atlantic
in 1960. This was confirmed by an international campaign carried out
by six ships and two aircraft in the early 1970s — another example
of how studying ocean phenomena needed international cooperation.
The survey discovered eddies bigger than Belgium that plowed through
the seas for months. What oceanographers had supposed were static
differences in the oceans between their sparse measuring-points, had
often actually been changes over time, not over space.
The oceanographers had been vaguely aware that when meteorologists
built atmospheric models, they included the energy carried by wind
eddies as an important factor (physical oceanography, as one
practitioner remarked, was "to some extent a mirror of
meteorology"). Yet it was astounding to see what prodigious
quantities of heat, salt, and kinetic energy the ocean eddies
carried. Indeed nearly all the energy in the ocean system was in
these middle-sized movements, not in the ocean currents at all.
(28*)
He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier
between them. They do not transgress. (Quran, 55:19-20)
He is the one who has set free the two kinds of water, one sweet
and palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made
between them a barrier and a forbidding partition. (Quran, 25:53
Or (the unbelievers’ state) is like the darkness in a deep sea. It
is covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds.
Darknesses, one above another. If a man stretches out his hand, he
cannot see it.... (Quran, 24:40)
Water is not like air, and computers that could handle meteorological computations were far too slow to work through comparable models for this swirling ocean "weather." As one ocean modeler complained in 1974, "Extensive research efforts have not yet yielded much more than a greater appreciation of the difficulty of these questions."(29) To get a handle on the problem, oceanographers had to understand the oceans from top to bottom. But they had little data on the depths — the occasional expeditions, retrieving bottles of water here and there from kilometers down, were like a few blind men trying to map a vast prairie. Oceanographers liked to remark that we had better maps of the face of the Moon than of the deep sea. After all, there was little economic incentive, nor much military interest either, in studying the colossal slow movements of water, salts, and heat through the abyss.
3.1.07
Heavy water
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Heavy water is a loose term which usually refers to deuterium oxide,
D2O or 2H2O. Its physical and chemical properties are somewhat
similar to those of water, H2O. The hydrogen atoms are of the heavy
isotope deuterium, in which the nucleus contains a neutron in
addition to the proton found in the nucleus of the hydrogen atom.
This isotopic substitution alters the bond energy of the hydrogen-
oxygen bond in water, altering the physical, chemical, and
especially biological properties of the substance to a larger degree
than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds.
Sura Al Baqra:
2:74
Thenceforth were your hearts hardened: They became like a rock and
even worse in hardness. For among rocks there are some from which
rivers gush forth; others there are which when split asunder send
forth water; and others which sink for fear of Allah. And Allah is
not unmindful of what ye do.
266: Does any of you wish that he should have a garden with date-
palms and vines and streams flowing underneath, and all kinds of
fruit, while he is stricken with old age, and his children are not
strong (enough to look after themselves)- that it should be caught
in a whirlwind, with fire therein, and be burnt up? Thus doth Allah
make clear to you (His) Signs; that ye may consider.
Ah! Hiroshima and Nagasaki while morons worry about something they
cannot possible understand regarding a hadith that states about
Aisha: There lies the scandal!
2:269
He granteth wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is
granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp
the Message but men of understanding.
2.1.07
News At Six
The night is just as cold
when you wait as when you don't,
it conceals the shadows
when the sunshine won't.
My sky is prettier at six
performing all those dying tricks,
so perfect it can make me cry
as on the stars I spy and spy.
No one can tell me a single thing
about fin and leg and wing
without the tongue and mouth
in a breath gone south.
I guess the world is a sadder place
and shame beats steady on the clock's old face,
I read a pome about a hungover gent
whose bed was full of navel lint
and parched old birds he keeps talking to
when no one else will listen or do.
Volume XXVIII, Voices
http://geclark.mystarband.net/
The night is just as cold
when you wait as when you don't,
it conceals the shadows
when the sunshine won't.
My sky is prettier at six
performing all those dying tricks,
so perfect it can make me cry
as on the stars I spy and spy.
No one can tell me a single thing
about fin and leg and wing
without the tongue and mouth
in a breath gone south.
I guess the world is a sadder place
and shame beats steady on the clock's old face,
I read a pome about a hungover gent
whose bed was full of navel lint
and parched old birds he keeps talking to
when no one else will listen or do.
Volume XXVIII, Voices
http://geclark.mystarband.net/
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v428/n6982/full/nature02399.html
Chromosome 19 has the highest gene density of all human chromosomes,
more than double the genome-wide average. The large clustered gene
families, corresponding high G + C content, CpG islands and density
of repetitive DNA indicate a chromosome rich in biological and
evolutionary significance. Here we describe 55.8 million base pairs
of highly accurate finished sequence representing 99.9% of the
euchromatin portion of the chromosome. Manual curation of gene loci
reveals 1,461 protein-coding genes and 321 pseudogenes. Among these
are genes directly implicated in mendelian disorders, including
familial hypercholesterolaemia and insulin-resistant diabetes.
Nearly one-quarter of these genes belong to tandemly arranged
families, encompassing more than 25% of the chromosome. Comparative
analyses show a fascinating picture of conservation and divergence,
revealing large blocks of gene orthology with rodents, scattered
regions with more recent gene family expansions and deletions, and
segments of coding and non-coding conservation with the distant fish
species Takifugu.
Chromosome 19 also has the gene for Alzheimer's. The verse corresponding to
senility is found in The Bee, 16 which "just happens to be" the haploid chromosome
number, of the bee. The same bee we know that practices eugenics.
16:70 It is Allah who creates you and takes your souls at death; and of you there are some who are sent back to a feeble age, so that they know nothing after having known (much): for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.
16:92 And be not like a woman who breaks into untwisted strands the yarn which she has spun, after it has become strong. Nor take your oaths to practise deception between yourselves, lest one party should be more numerous than another: for Allah will test you by this; and on the Day of Judgment He will certainly make clear to you (the truth of) that wherein ye disagree.
Alas, when will people understand?
74:30 Over it are Nineteen.
74:31 And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers,- in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith,- and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, "What symbol doth Allah intend by this?" Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.
http://www.ishwar.com/islam/holy_quran_(yusuf)/sura074.html
16:126 And if ye do catch them out, catch them out no worse than they catch you out: But if ye show patience, that is indeed the best (course) for those who are patient.
16:127 And do thou be patient, for thy patience is but from Allah; nor grieve over them: and distress not thyself because of their plots.
16:128 For Allah is with those who restrain themselves, and those who do good.
Chromosome 19 has the highest gene density of all human chromosomes,
more than double the genome-wide average. The large clustered gene
families, corresponding high G + C content, CpG islands and density
of repetitive DNA indicate a chromosome rich in biological and
evolutionary significance. Here we describe 55.8 million base pairs
of highly accurate finished sequence representing 99.9% of the
euchromatin portion of the chromosome. Manual curation of gene loci
reveals 1,461 protein-coding genes and 321 pseudogenes. Among these
are genes directly implicated in mendelian disorders, including
familial hypercholesterolaemia and insulin-resistant diabetes.
Nearly one-quarter of these genes belong to tandemly arranged
families, encompassing more than 25% of the chromosome. Comparative
analyses show a fascinating picture of conservation and divergence,
revealing large blocks of gene orthology with rodents, scattered
regions with more recent gene family expansions and deletions, and
segments of coding and non-coding conservation with the distant fish
species Takifugu.
Chromosome 19 also has the gene for Alzheimer's. The verse corresponding to
senility is found in The Bee, 16 which "just happens to be" the haploid chromosome
number, of the bee. The same bee we know that practices eugenics.
16:70 It is Allah who creates you and takes your souls at death; and of you there are some who are sent back to a feeble age, so that they know nothing after having known (much): for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.
16:92 And be not like a woman who breaks into untwisted strands the yarn which she has spun, after it has become strong. Nor take your oaths to practise deception between yourselves, lest one party should be more numerous than another: for Allah will test you by this; and on the Day of Judgment He will certainly make clear to you (the truth of) that wherein ye disagree.
Alas, when will people understand?
74:30 Over it are Nineteen.
74:31 And We have set none but angels as Guardians of the Fire; and We have fixed their number only as a trial for Unbelievers,- in order that the People of the Book may arrive at certainty, and the Believers may increase in Faith,- and that no doubts may be left for the People of the Book and the Believers, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the Unbelievers may say, "What symbol doth Allah intend by this?" Thus doth Allah leave to stray whom He pleaseth, and guide whom He pleaseth: and none can know the forces of thy Lord, except He and this is no other than a warning to mankind.
http://www.ishwar.com/islam/holy_quran_(yusuf)/sura074.html
16:126 And if ye do catch them out, catch them out no worse than they catch you out: But if ye show patience, that is indeed the best (course) for those who are patient.
16:127 And do thou be patient, for thy patience is but from Allah; nor grieve over them: and distress not thyself because of their plots.
16:128 For Allah is with those who restrain themselves, and those who do good.
17.12.06
The Flashing Lightbulb Sura called simply "An Noor" or The Light:
You can find most of this (evidence for following post) in what is known as a "mandatory"
Sura called An Noor (a Sura mind you that describes the modern light bulb, moth behavior and the absence of light at the furthest depths of the sea and I suggest reading the entire Sura and reflecting on it but I will post a few highlights of it here):
[Noor 24:11] Indeed those who have brought this great accusation are a group from among you; do not consider it bad for you; on the contrary, it is good for you; for each man among them is the sin that he has earned; and for the one among them who played the
greatest part in it – for him is a terrible punishment.
Noor 24:33] And those who do not have the means to get married must keep chaste till Allah provides them the resources by His munificence; and the bondwomen in your possession who, in order to earn something, seek a letter of freedom from you – then write it for them if you consider some goodness in them; and help them in their cause with Allah’s wealth which He has bestowed upon you; and do not force your bondwomen into the dirty profession, while they
wish to save themselves, in order to earn some riches of the worldly life; and if one forces them then indeed Allah, upon their remaining compelled, is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[Noor 24:35] Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth; the example of His light is like a niche in which is a lamp; the lamp is in a glass; the glass is as if it were a star shining like a pearl,
kindled by the blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west – it is close that the oil itself get ablaze although the fire does not touch it; light upon light; Allah guides towards His light whomever He wills; and Allah illustrates examples for mankind; and Allah knows everything.
[Noor 24:40] Or like realms of darkness on a deep sea, which is covered by a wave, the wave covered by another wave, and above it is a cloud; layers of darkness upon darkness; if he removes his hand it does not seem visible; and the one to whom Allah does not provide
light – there is no light for him anywhere.
**Comparing and contrasting the mysterious behavior of moths (still not completely understood) and the luminescence of creatures at the bottom of the sea with whom the last prophet was not aware of and it is only recently understood that these creatures give off light for various reasons one of which is for the reason of attracting prey and another for preventing predators from capitalizing on the darkness to sneak up on them. Gives a whole new meaning to the Red Light Districts of the planet eh?
You can find most of this (evidence for following post) in what is known as a "mandatory"
Sura called An Noor (a Sura mind you that describes the modern light bulb, moth behavior and the absence of light at the furthest depths of the sea and I suggest reading the entire Sura and reflecting on it but I will post a few highlights of it here):
[Noor 24:11] Indeed those who have brought this great accusation are a group from among you; do not consider it bad for you; on the contrary, it is good for you; for each man among them is the sin that he has earned; and for the one among them who played the
greatest part in it – for him is a terrible punishment.
Noor 24:33] And those who do not have the means to get married must keep chaste till Allah provides them the resources by His munificence; and the bondwomen in your possession who, in order to earn something, seek a letter of freedom from you – then write it for them if you consider some goodness in them; and help them in their cause with Allah’s wealth which He has bestowed upon you; and do not force your bondwomen into the dirty profession, while they
wish to save themselves, in order to earn some riches of the worldly life; and if one forces them then indeed Allah, upon their remaining compelled, is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.
[Noor 24:35] Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth; the example of His light is like a niche in which is a lamp; the lamp is in a glass; the glass is as if it were a star shining like a pearl,
kindled by the blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west – it is close that the oil itself get ablaze although the fire does not touch it; light upon light; Allah guides towards His light whomever He wills; and Allah illustrates examples for mankind; and Allah knows everything.
[Noor 24:40] Or like realms of darkness on a deep sea, which is covered by a wave, the wave covered by another wave, and above it is a cloud; layers of darkness upon darkness; if he removes his hand it does not seem visible; and the one to whom Allah does not provide
light – there is no light for him anywhere.
**Comparing and contrasting the mysterious behavior of moths (still not completely understood) and the luminescence of creatures at the bottom of the sea with whom the last prophet was not aware of and it is only recently understood that these creatures give off light for various reasons one of which is for the reason of attracting prey and another for preventing predators from capitalizing on the darkness to sneak up on them. Gives a whole new meaning to the Red Light Districts of the planet eh?
It's not as if some god took up a pen and wrote out a
how-to book for "his" creation to follow.
Exactly. There is conflicting evidence as to who wrote the text(New Testament) but this doubt about who or what inspired it concerns everyone it seems.
One of the things about the Quran (of which there is no doubt about the author per "us") that is explained in detail is the fact that the Creator abrogates the text (Quran) and for the reason
of making it easier on the adherent. There are clues however that indicate a "genetic" connection between two parties, the Jews and the Muslims plus an additional feature or two like the simplification of dietary law. The Quran was intended for all people not just those genetically linked to the line of prophethood. This is the conflict in fact between the Torah tradition and Xtian.
The abrogation of dietary law and circumcision law appears to have
been abrogated in the New Testament but we cannot know in fact if
that abrogation was man made or Creator given unless we turn to the
Quran which states that it was "not ordered" for "them" as in Xtians.
Why? It isn't completely clear but it does highlight a very important point and that would be the symbiotic relationship between Judaism and Christianity which vary a great deal in terms of the notion of prophet versus "rabbi" versus Creator and forms a distinct background when the Quran asks: Ask them why it is they disagree on these issues (more than just dietary law and circumcision..there are many views that differ including one of the most important and
that would be the "profession" of one's religion to others in order to "convert" them which is prohibited in Orthodox Judaism and full throttle in Xtian missionary ideologies).
Like I said..there are many ways to view Islamic Law and to limit it
to the way Arabs view it or other impoverished or undereducated
people living in oppressive environments is to limit Islam to the
Arabic or perhaps Indonesian societies. Islam is free to anyone and
anyone is free to look at the laws and study their application. It
is a serious irresponsibility to leave it to those you don't respect
as per your posts.
Take polygamy. Are men naturally polygamous or should they be? Hmm.
Does the Quran order men to be polygamous?
There isn't a good answer to the first question and it could be
argued that women can have multiple partners as well. However, only
one half of that population gives birth to the physical
manifestation of the sexual act and hence, the economic burden of it
if it cannot be proven that a father exists or she knows who the
father is.
Now, does the Quran actually order it and what kind of women would
agree to it in the first place? No, it doesn't order it but it
permits it and encourages it for widows (of war especially and for
indigent "slaves" who agree to consensual sex with their employer
or "sponsor" i.e. those whom your right hand (suggesting the
legality of the relationship) possesses.
Not many women who are rich or "well bred" i.e. of an upper
socioeconcomic "order" would agree to the sharing principle. The
instruction is fully intended for impoverished women. The Quran
actually orders men (and they must be submitting muslims to enjoy
the four wives rule...not just any old cad who "says" he is a
muslim) that if they cannot support two or three or four women then
to only marry one. THAT is very clear in the Quran.
There are some who say that the part about "whom your right hands
possess" is akin to legalized rape but that is also not true. The
Quran explicity says that it is forbidden to "prostitute" a woman
i.e. to use her sexually regardless of whether your hand possesses a
contract with her or not. That includes war booty which says the
captor must be married if the "soldier" intends to "go into her".
I'd say though that the days of women as war booty are pretty much
gone but the days of rape as part of war and pillage are very much
still with us.
Regarding women's rights and Islamic law to a woman who cites misogyny in Islam as her single complaint:
No one said Islam was for you. :) Nor are Islamic laws "for you"
to either appreciate or apply in your life. Those laws are for
muslims. Whether or not they apply their laws well or are able to
apply them in acceptable ways in a modern world is something for
their scholars to hammer out. It is clear that if a muslim
practices "barbaric" things outside of Islamic states (and we could
say that even covering a head of hair appears barbaric in Western
societies that approve of public nudity partial and impartial to
some degree) that Western societies have overridden Islamic law:
Turkey prohibits covered women from attending public university or
holding government jobs.
It is a two way street you know.
And I can only relate the data, I didn't write the Quran. :) And I
am duty bound to relate it in the best way I can.
I might add that in the many years I've lived in Islamic societies
I've not seen one stoning. I have heard of a few lashings and
certainly public beheadings but never a stoning. I've seen a number
of cases of "honor killing" but the Quran doesn't support killing
fornicators and adulterers. It is more like a "natural
quarantining" of fornicators that we can all say exists as part of
the problem i.e. you cannot fornicate alone nor can you commit
adultery alone and those people must marry each other. Not that it
is applied in real life and who could regulate such an affair as the
secret liaison of lovers who practice discretion and who is able to
marry a couple? I can marry a couple provided I have the
appropriate witnesses. :) In fact, I offered to marry my daughter
to her "betrothed" during the Israeli invasion this summer so that
they could both stay under my roof legally. As well, I'm sure there
are many muslims in which the union is between a virgin and a non
virgin.
I'd say that the actual application of the law is more about social discretion and a resistance to embrace a kind of liberty as it is in the West which has resulted in far less good than people are willing to admit is due to this "social liberation". I'd also say that evidence in Western society demonstrates that large numbers of people desire a return to the "old days" when they didn't have to deal with so many impoverished and unwed mothers. You only have to watch a few episodes of Maury Pauvich (sp?) to know that people need to know who the father of a child is in order to administer economic justice to the child. Islam says a TREMENDOUS amount about the economic justice of the child and the "orphan" but it is seldom as highlighted as these notorious lashings and "honor killings" (and mind you, honor killing is more of an Arabian tradition than an actual law in Islam) but those lines have become blurred. Actual honor killing (as I've mentioned elsewhere) mean the MALE is killed and it is a male that takes a woman against her will and the will of her family. Basically a kind of "rape". If a young woman declares
she has been raped HE must face Islamic law and it isn't lenient. But if the young woman loves her partner there is no reason she shouldn't marry the man either willingly or unwillingly (the shotgun wedding technique). This proves the "fornicators are to marry fornicators" supposition of the law which is very clear about that.
If she refuses to marry her "rapist" (if you will and I'm saying she
admits to the act but refuses her own responsibility) then she might
face public ocstracism (note the Mike Tyson situations in which
women claim rape but it appears the act was consensual and hence
these women usually face ocstracism IN THE WEST). But if a person
believes in "love" they know that a man who desires her as a mate
will look past that and marry her anyway and this happens all the
time in Islamic countries.
Love you know is a many splendoured thing. And the way I see
it, "natural law" has its way of creeping into our view without our
giving it permission.
16.12.06
The Polytheist
Every time a poet does this, they risk quitting forever.
-Darla Whitehead, The Book of Warnings
In the most Oriental chapters of chaos
are the great portals of time, the backwards
and forwards of speech are opened, closed
bang bang bang, interpretation in the breezes.
The dietary is shared with disaster
in the pigment of newsprint and rally.
Who bothers about the senate anymore
when each thing branches into a hundred more,
a very long history of policy is the groundwork
for a mudslide in a mileau of plunder.
There isn't a quick fix for this, there isn't
a new order. There is this right now
in the revocation of prairies, that haze.
Your God and mine. That makes two.
The future isn't written in Latin anymore.
Evolution isn't negated by Islam or the Quran. It is studied
alongside of the Quran much like a parable would be. We don't
understand this parable though because we cannot verify if
the "paradigm" is what it is unless we see it with our own eyes i.e.
ergo cognito sum.
So, what is the only thing any of us here will actually personally
witness IN OUR LIFETIME regarding evolution? (We have to accept
that what we read is entirely fallible not only due to our own
impotence but the impotence of any given presenter of such
information..we are all equal in that respect).
There is a hadith in which the last prophet (SAW) tells his audience
that none of them would be alive in one hundred years.
What did he mean? Well. Perhaps that we will not be alive in
50,000 years to determine whether or not birds will lose their
ability to fly because the air will become so thick with smoke and
pollution (or any reason you can imagine) and hence evolve into
creatures with perhaps a "new" piece of equipment that will make
them able to bury into holes in the ground. We simply will not be
around to verify it any more than the Greeks are around now to
verify exactly how it is they obtained the information they appear
to have obtained.
So, what is the next question?
What is the only thing we can actually VERIFY right now about the
Theory of Evolution (without a lab, without a book and without even
an idea of the intracacies of various things like the Cambrian
explosion, evolution of stars (due to their distance and the speed
of light even they are being seen by us billions of years in the
past) and the human "missing link" (of which there are only a few
remnants and not even an entire skeleton older than around ten
thousand years)?
We can see:
Extinctions*.
Is this not what every parable in the Quran and to some extent the
Bible (Torah/Injeel) point out? But especially the Quran which reminds
a person of their own death as often as it reminds us of the death of civilizations
and notes that the animals all expereince "society" as part of their paradigm.
*Which could be construed to mean genocides.
Every time a poet does this, they risk quitting forever.
-Darla Whitehead, The Book of Warnings
In the most Oriental chapters of chaos
are the great portals of time, the backwards
and forwards of speech are opened, closed
bang bang bang, interpretation in the breezes.
The dietary is shared with disaster
in the pigment of newsprint and rally.
Who bothers about the senate anymore
when each thing branches into a hundred more,
a very long history of policy is the groundwork
for a mudslide in a mileau of plunder.
There isn't a quick fix for this, there isn't
a new order. There is this right now
in the revocation of prairies, that haze.
Your God and mine. That makes two.
The future isn't written in Latin anymore.
The back stories are:
Evolution isn't negated by Islam or the Quran. It is studied
alongside of the Quran much like a parable would be. We don't
understand this parable though because we cannot verify if
the "paradigm" is what it is unless we see it with our own eyes i.e.
ergo cognito sum.
So, what is the only thing any of us here will actually personally
witness IN OUR LIFETIME regarding evolution? (We have to accept
that what we read is entirely fallible not only due to our own
impotence but the impotence of any given presenter of such
information..we are all equal in that respect).
There is a hadith in which the last prophet (SAW) tells his audience
that none of them would be alive in one hundred years.
What did he mean? Well. Perhaps that we will not be alive in
50,000 years to determine whether or not birds will lose their
ability to fly because the air will become so thick with smoke and
pollution (or any reason you can imagine) and hence evolve into
creatures with perhaps a "new" piece of equipment that will make
them able to bury into holes in the ground. We simply will not be
around to verify it any more than the Greeks are around now to
verify exactly how it is they obtained the information they appear
to have obtained.
So, what is the next question?
What is the only thing we can actually VERIFY right now about the
Theory of Evolution (without a lab, without a book and without even
an idea of the intracacies of various things like the Cambrian
explosion, evolution of stars (due to their distance and the speed
of light even they are being seen by us billions of years in the
past) and the human "missing link" (of which there are only a few
remnants and not even an entire skeleton older than around ten
thousand years)?
We can see:
Extinctions*.
Is this not what every parable in the Quran and to some extent the
Bible (Torah/Injeel) point out? But especially the Quran which reminds
a person of their own death as often as it reminds us of the death of civilizations
and notes that the animals all expereince "society" as part of their paradigm.
*Which could be construed to mean genocides.
13.11.06
10.11.06
There's a 2nd crucial lesson, which I think is much more important. Hezbollah showed not only that you can defeat Israel. It showed how to defeat Israel. It proposed a relatively simple, but to my thinking fundamental, formula. So in this speech, the last speech (09.23.2006), Nasrallah raised this issue: "what is the Hezbollah model?" He considers it as follows: "Resistance depends on planning, organization. This resistance experience, which should be conveyed to the world, depends - on the moral and spiritual level - on faith, certainty, reliance [on God], and readiness to make sacrifices." Ok, you have to be committed. You have to be willing to go the full nine yards. The next sentence I found remarkably interesting. It says: "It also depends on reason, planning, organization, armament, and, as is said, on taking all possible protective procedures.... The pious, God-reliant, loving, and knowledgeable resistance is also the conscious, wise, trained, and equipped resistance that has plans. This is the secret of the victory we are today celebrating, brothers and sisters." To most of you this doesn't sound like anything particularly profound but, in fact, it is because at the end of the day Israel always depended on the fact that its adversaries were stupid, incompetent, blowhards and windbags, and hot air baloons, and, in fact, they were right... That when they were dealing with a Nasser, he was a blowhard; a Saddam Hussein, he was a windbag; when they were dealing with Yasser Arafat, he was a hot air ballon. They were nothing of any substance... [inaudible]... That was Israel's ace in the hole. Now comes along an Arab leader who says we have to use "reason." It's a very remarkable thing to read. We have to use "reason." We have to think, plan, organize. And he didn't just say it ... [inaudible]... As I'm sure, as most of you know, that the Israelis were reporting that their [Israeli] population was waiting anxiously for each speech from Nasrallah to find out what's going on [Poll: Israelis believed Nasrallah over Peretz,Ynetnews.com, by Anat Breshkovsky, 09.03.2006]. They [Israelis] stopped believing their own media and they only believed what he had to say. No more of the Arab windbaggery -- on the second day of the war in '67 Nasser says 'we destroyed all of the Israeli Air Force.' Or when the hot air baloon Saddam Hussein, after defeat in 1991, gave out Victory Medals to the Iraqi Army. That era is over. This is a serious leadership whose commitment is matched by its intelligence and its incorruptibility. And that really is the formula. And now the United States and Israel are in living dread because they don't fear Hezbollah -- it's 3,000 fighters -- that's not what they fear. What they fear is, throughout the Arab world all the anti -- they call it American, I'll call imperialist -- all the anti-imperialist movements will now be emulating the Hizbullah model. Those who want to defeat the Americans, the American designs in the region, they're going to look for the Hezbollah model and the Hizbu'llah model says you have to "reason," you have to think, you have to "plan," you have to anticipate, and if you do that, you can win. And the fact is, it's true. If you do that, you can beat them.
Video: Finkelstein on Hamas, current crisis, Lebanon, Hezbollah
(Burlington, VT, 09.30.2006)
Video: Finkelstein on Hamas, current crisis, Lebanon, Hezbollah
(Burlington, VT, 09.30.2006)
9.11.06
"Nothing in Clouds Hill is to be a care upon the world. While I have it there shall be nothing exquiste or unique in it. Nothing to anchor me." T.E. Lawrence
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8613542103331739937&q=hamza+yusuf
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/currentread/currentread02.html
To Trust or Not to Trust
"As I reflect on my conversation with my Arab friend I understand his frustration. Trusting motives is one thing when trust has been earned, and something else entirely when it has not. Should we be surprised at the Arab world's attitude toward the West. Probably not. Should we endeavor to understand Arab culture and history and earn their trust. The obvious answer is yes, and reading Seven Pillars is a good place to start."
No. It is not easy when trusts have all shattered. Particularly when a person is under attack, to be nice let alone be what one is supposed to be: forgiving.
The 85% of all Israelis who supported the attack against us in Lebanon...well, what can I say. It isn't my forgiveness that they need. And those who continue to remain silent about the slaughter being perpetrated on their behalf, both Jew and Israeli.....it isn't mine that they require.
That is all.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8613542103331739937&q=hamza+yusuf
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/currentread/currentread02.html
To Trust or Not to Trust
"As I reflect on my conversation with my Arab friend I understand his frustration. Trusting motives is one thing when trust has been earned, and something else entirely when it has not. Should we be surprised at the Arab world's attitude toward the West. Probably not. Should we endeavor to understand Arab culture and history and earn their trust. The obvious answer is yes, and reading Seven Pillars is a good place to start."
No. It is not easy when trusts have all shattered. Particularly when a person is under attack, to be nice let alone be what one is supposed to be: forgiving.
The 85% of all Israelis who supported the attack against us in Lebanon...well, what can I say. It isn't my forgiveness that they need. And those who continue to remain silent about the slaughter being perpetrated on their behalf, both Jew and Israeli.....it isn't mine that they require.
That is all.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5991.shtml
On 25 June 2006 Israel embarked on a military operation in Gaza that has resulted in over 300 deaths, including many civilians; over a thousand injuries; large-scale devastation of public facilities and private homes; the destruction of agricultural lands; the disruption of hospitals, clinics and schools; the denial of access to adequate electricity, water and food; and the occupation and imprisonment of the people of Gaza. This brutal collective punishment of a people, not a government, has passed largely unnoticed by the international community.
On 25 June 2006 Israel embarked on a military operation in Gaza that has resulted in over 300 deaths, including many civilians; over a thousand injuries; large-scale devastation of public facilities and private homes; the destruction of agricultural lands; the disruption of hospitals, clinics and schools; the denial of access to adequate electricity, water and food; and the occupation and imprisonment of the people of Gaza. This brutal collective punishment of a people, not a government, has passed largely unnoticed by the international community.
http://www.venusproject.com/ethics_in_action/Israeli_Bulldozer_Driver.html
"Rachel Corey [sic], 23 years old from the state of Washington, was killed while she was trying to prevent Israeli army bulldozers from destroying a Palestinian home. Other foreigners who were with her said the driver of the bulldozer was aware that Rachel was there, and continued to destroy the house. Initially he dropped sand and other heavy debris on her, then the bulldozer pushed her to the ground where it proceeded to drive over her, fracturing both of her arms, legs and skull. She was transferred to hospital, where she later died. Another foreigner was also injured in the attack and has been hospitalized - at this stage his nationality is unknown." (15 March 2003)
"Rachel Corey [sic], 23 years old from the state of Washington, was killed while she was trying to prevent Israeli army bulldozers from destroying a Palestinian home. Other foreigners who were with her said the driver of the bulldozer was aware that Rachel was there, and continued to destroy the house. Initially he dropped sand and other heavy debris on her, then the bulldozer pushed her to the ground where it proceeded to drive over her, fracturing both of her arms, legs and skull. She was transferred to hospital, where she later died. Another foreigner was also injured in the attack and has been hospitalized - at this stage his nationality is unknown." (15 March 2003)
8.11.06
BREAKING NEWS: ISRAELI STATE TERRORISM ACCEPTED BY US MEDIA.
IF THIS WERE A SUICIDE BOMBER TARGETING ISRAELIS, THERE WOULD BE A PUBLIC AND NATIONWIDE BREAK IN COVERAGE OF ELECTION RESULTS.
WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE IS THE MEANING OF THIS?
"A number of Iraqis, increasingly pessimistic as violence on the streets shows no signs of fading, said they had not even followed the U.S. election race." Today on Yahoo's frontpage.
IF THIS WERE A SUICIDE BOMBER TARGETING ISRAELIS, THERE WOULD BE A PUBLIC AND NATIONWIDE BREAK IN COVERAGE OF ELECTION RESULTS.
WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE IS THE MEANING OF THIS?
"A number of Iraqis, increasingly pessimistic as violence on the streets shows no signs of fading, said they had not even followed the U.S. election race." Today on Yahoo's frontpage.
Good Morning Democrats:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_gaza
Little Terrorists Killed While Sleeping
BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip - Israeli tank shells crashed into a residential neighborhood, killing at least 18 people including eight children in their sleep early Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses and officials said.
According to witnesses, all those killed in the neighborhood north of the town of Beit Hanoun were women and children. Khaled Radi, a health ministry official, said 13 of the dead were from the same family. He said at least 40 more people were wounded, all civilians.
In the popular Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, a Hamas member was quoted:
"The reaction is coming. [Israel] prepare the coffins and black body bags," Nizar Rayan, a hardline Hamas leader shouted to an agitated crowd outside a morgue in Beit Hanun.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/785407.html
The Whimpers
"The advantage poets have over other mortals is not their ability to "show us the way," but their gift of finding the right words to address reality; words that were once sent into the ether will keep resonating in the sound boxes of human minds. "
Eliot wrote his poem in 1925, and, according to the accepted view, it reflects upon Eliot's skepticism about the men of his time - Europe after World War One -, the posterity, and society as a whole. The epigrams preceding the poem point the reader to Joseph Conrads' "Heart of Darkness" and to Guy Fawkes (whose day is November 5th, a strange coincidence), and Eliot readers will easily identify the allusions to Dante and Christian symbolism.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/784587.html
"This mosque is more than 800 years old. It is part of our heritage and thousands of people visited it every year," lamented Akram Abdel-Jawd Qassam, whose family have been caretakers of the holy site for half a century.http://www.dailystar.com.lb
"The Jews want to destroy everything. Even our heritage and our history. It's a tragedy," the elderly man said.
"They are crazy. They fired on everyone. Children, women, the elderly. Afterward they say the Palestinians are terrorists but it's not these people who are the real terrorists," he said.
Palestinians said they were stripped down to their underwear upon arrival, fed only bread and tomatoes during a three-day detention in the field while they were brought one-by-one for questioning at the college.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=76731
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_gaza
Little Terrorists Killed While Sleeping
BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip - Israeli tank shells crashed into a residential neighborhood, killing at least 18 people including eight children in their sleep early Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses and officials said.
According to witnesses, all those killed in the neighborhood north of the town of Beit Hanoun were women and children. Khaled Radi, a health ministry official, said 13 of the dead were from the same family. He said at least 40 more people were wounded, all civilians.
In the popular Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, a Hamas member was quoted:
"The reaction is coming. [Israel] prepare the coffins and black body bags," Nizar Rayan, a hardline Hamas leader shouted to an agitated crowd outside a morgue in Beit Hanun.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/785407.html
The Whimpers
"The advantage poets have over other mortals is not their ability to "show us the way," but their gift of finding the right words to address reality; words that were once sent into the ether will keep resonating in the sound boxes of human minds. "
Eliot wrote his poem in 1925, and, according to the accepted view, it reflects upon Eliot's skepticism about the men of his time - Europe after World War One -, the posterity, and society as a whole. The epigrams preceding the poem point the reader to Joseph Conrads' "Heart of Darkness" and to Guy Fawkes (whose day is November 5th, a strange coincidence), and Eliot readers will easily identify the allusions to Dante and Christian symbolism.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/784587.html
"This mosque is more than 800 years old. It is part of our heritage and thousands of people visited it every year," lamented Akram Abdel-Jawd Qassam, whose family have been caretakers of the holy site for half a century.http://www.dailystar.com.lb
"The Jews want to destroy everything. Even our heritage and our history. It's a tragedy," the elderly man said.
"They are crazy. They fired on everyone. Children, women, the elderly. Afterward they say the Palestinians are terrorists but it's not these people who are the real terrorists," he said.
Palestinians said they were stripped down to their underwear upon arrival, fed only bread and tomatoes during a three-day detention in the field while they were brought one-by-one for questioning at the college.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=76731
Bad Manners in the Post Anti Semitism Age
...a must see article.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/11/wolff200611?currentPage=2
Mel Gibson's meltdown, Günter Grass's past, and Joe Lieberman's primary loss all have reminded the world of a centuries-old hatred. But right now, the author argues, given Israel's controversial influence in Washington and recent invasion of Lebanon, people might be a little too eager to cry anti-Semitism.
"But no matter. Indeed, it may be exactly that goyishness, that reasonable assumption of latent anti-Semitism—what The New York Times characterized in recent coverage of the mock-anti-Semitic comic Sacha Baron Cohen as "that most risky of social toxins"—that helps create the leverage we're talking about. Walt, Mearsheimer, and Massing argue that because of the great effectiveness of an ad hoc group of determined Jews and their organizations, sometimes called the Israel lobby, or what my father—once president of the Jewish Federation of North Jersey—called "professional Jews" (that is, people who made their living off of being Jewish), the correlation of anti-Semitism with even the slightest qualms about Israel has become, year by year, ever more rigid. (Walt and Mearsheimer's own experience on the receiving end of great opprobrium for their article would certainly seem to demonstrate this point: nobody who ventures into this debate gets out in one piece.) The result is that every politician and media figure defaults to fixed sentiments about Israel. Everybody uses the same stamp-of-approval language. If you doubt Israel, you're suspect. You're practically Mel."
"On the other hand, if there is really no anti-Semitism, if it is as dead as … what? Communism … then a different sort of debate inevitably begins. If there is no anti-Semitism, then you can't so easily use the anti-Semitic card as a line of polemical defense. You can't be soft on an issue if there is no issue. If it becomes less than credible to accuse people of anti-Semitism, then there are aspects of the Israel situation—for instance, the disproportionate amount of U.S. aid to Israel, cited in Walt and Mearsheimer's article ($3 billion a year, one-fifth of the foreign-aid budget), or, more recently, the whole Lebanon-invasion thing—that reasonably intelligent people might want to consider at some greater length. So, in that respect, the very absence of anti-Semitism—if that's what we've achieved—becomes, practically speaking, anti-Semitic."
...a must see article.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/11/wolff200611?currentPage=2
Mel Gibson's meltdown, Günter Grass's past, and Joe Lieberman's primary loss all have reminded the world of a centuries-old hatred. But right now, the author argues, given Israel's controversial influence in Washington and recent invasion of Lebanon, people might be a little too eager to cry anti-Semitism.
"But no matter. Indeed, it may be exactly that goyishness, that reasonable assumption of latent anti-Semitism—what The New York Times characterized in recent coverage of the mock-anti-Semitic comic Sacha Baron Cohen as "that most risky of social toxins"—that helps create the leverage we're talking about. Walt, Mearsheimer, and Massing argue that because of the great effectiveness of an ad hoc group of determined Jews and their organizations, sometimes called the Israel lobby, or what my father—once president of the Jewish Federation of North Jersey—called "professional Jews" (that is, people who made their living off of being Jewish), the correlation of anti-Semitism with even the slightest qualms about Israel has become, year by year, ever more rigid. (Walt and Mearsheimer's own experience on the receiving end of great opprobrium for their article would certainly seem to demonstrate this point: nobody who ventures into this debate gets out in one piece.) The result is that every politician and media figure defaults to fixed sentiments about Israel. Everybody uses the same stamp-of-approval language. If you doubt Israel, you're suspect. You're practically Mel."
"On the other hand, if there is really no anti-Semitism, if it is as dead as … what? Communism … then a different sort of debate inevitably begins. If there is no anti-Semitism, then you can't so easily use the anti-Semitic card as a line of polemical defense. You can't be soft on an issue if there is no issue. If it becomes less than credible to accuse people of anti-Semitism, then there are aspects of the Israel situation—for instance, the disproportionate amount of U.S. aid to Israel, cited in Walt and Mearsheimer's article ($3 billion a year, one-fifth of the foreign-aid budget), or, more recently, the whole Lebanon-invasion thing—that reasonably intelligent people might want to consider at some greater length. So, in that respect, the very absence of anti-Semitism—if that's what we've achieved—becomes, practically speaking, anti-Semitic."
7.11.06
Hahaha, did everyone know that there is a WAR in Palestine lately?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/784887.html
Beats me! Who cares about them.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76715
Several top Israeli officials have said the Jewish state must prepare for a second round of hostilities with the militia, which it says is armed by Syria and Iran. Both Damascus and Tehran deny the charge.
Hizbullah media officer Hussein Rahhal told The Daily Star on Monday that the Israeli threat was real.
"The Israelis continue to reveal aggressive intentions towards Lebanon all the time," Rahhal said. "That is why we have to take into consideration that the major military power deployed along our southern borderline can, at any moment and under any pretext or without an excuse, launch an attack on us. ... The Israeli generals' statements are the clearest proof that the resistance's reasoning is true. The resistance has to be ready to face any attack at all times. There has to be conformity between the resistance and the Lebanese Army and the role of the government and that of the people."
And one fifth of the US foreign aid budget goes to this war mongering nation each and every year...since WWII. Such a hard time they have of it!
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/784887.html
Beats me! Who cares about them.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76715
Several top Israeli officials have said the Jewish state must prepare for a second round of hostilities with the militia, which it says is armed by Syria and Iran. Both Damascus and Tehran deny the charge.
Hizbullah media officer Hussein Rahhal told The Daily Star on Monday that the Israeli threat was real.
"The Israelis continue to reveal aggressive intentions towards Lebanon all the time," Rahhal said. "That is why we have to take into consideration that the major military power deployed along our southern borderline can, at any moment and under any pretext or without an excuse, launch an attack on us. ... The Israeli generals' statements are the clearest proof that the resistance's reasoning is true. The resistance has to be ready to face any attack at all times. There has to be conformity between the resistance and the Lebanese Army and the role of the government and that of the people."
And one fifth of the US foreign aid budget goes to this war mongering nation each and every year...since WWII. Such a hard time they have of it!
November
(2004)
Today is the day I was born
forty odd years ago at five pounds no ounces,
pregnant women were still allowed to smoke back then,
in the good old days. Fags were fags and no
one accused anyone of putting out a butt.
Not that it didn't happen.
I promised that it would be like just any other day,
but as usual that feeling envelopes me
as I wake to November Seventh Skies,
having just started re-reading Ted Hughes,
Birthday Letters for Sylvia, re-appreciating
the man's willingness to digress
on all that love meant to him,
in sentimental ways, not meaning to please
anyone, remembering Plath's rejection
at the hands of England in its Entirety.
As if I'd never read that book the first time.
What is it about this being born that matters
as you conjure up one of mother's old stories,
the time she saw The Light in her placenta previa,
the Voices told her:
"We aren't ready for you yet," and brother John
lived to be allergic to human milk and cow's milk,
the only answer a goat's teet before Similac.
And I had to be born. I definitely had to be born.
Now that John is an homeless addict and Mom is dead,
you wonder why she lived so that he could die
so many years in the future,
unrecognisable save for the knowledge that it really is him
casing my sister's house for a burglary.
It must have killed her as it kills me now.
He was born the November day six years before
JFK was shot and it always mattered
to us all in some familial way that we couldn't fathom
when we remembered it before it ever happened.
Oh November! Oh November here you are again
In the refrain, the afterbirth,
The light and the stain. November again.
....and on November 5th, I finally finished V for Vendetta. Now...there is a movie that ought to be watched. Once the movie started, it was only a moment or two until V mentions, the Fifth of November. And there it was! We were watching V for Vendetta on the Fifth of November.
It was a real Jimmy Judd moment.
http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/
And of course, there is always the Crowhaven moments of yore:
http://www.lastdriveinontheleft.com/crow-secret.html
Poor old Meg Porter.
(2004)
Today is the day I was born
forty odd years ago at five pounds no ounces,
pregnant women were still allowed to smoke back then,
in the good old days. Fags were fags and no
one accused anyone of putting out a butt.
Not that it didn't happen.
I promised that it would be like just any other day,
but as usual that feeling envelopes me
as I wake to November Seventh Skies,
having just started re-reading Ted Hughes,
Birthday Letters for Sylvia, re-appreciating
the man's willingness to digress
on all that love meant to him,
in sentimental ways, not meaning to please
anyone, remembering Plath's rejection
at the hands of England in its Entirety.
As if I'd never read that book the first time.
What is it about this being born that matters
as you conjure up one of mother's old stories,
the time she saw The Light in her placenta previa,
the Voices told her:
"We aren't ready for you yet," and brother John
lived to be allergic to human milk and cow's milk,
the only answer a goat's teet before Similac.
And I had to be born. I definitely had to be born.
Now that John is an homeless addict and Mom is dead,
you wonder why she lived so that he could die
so many years in the future,
unrecognisable save for the knowledge that it really is him
casing my sister's house for a burglary.
It must have killed her as it kills me now.
He was born the November day six years before
JFK was shot and it always mattered
to us all in some familial way that we couldn't fathom
when we remembered it before it ever happened.
Oh November! Oh November here you are again
In the refrain, the afterbirth,
The light and the stain. November again.
....and on November 5th, I finally finished V for Vendetta. Now...there is a movie that ought to be watched. Once the movie started, it was only a moment or two until V mentions, the Fifth of November. And there it was! We were watching V for Vendetta on the Fifth of November.
It was a real Jimmy Judd moment.
http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/
And of course, there is always the Crowhaven moments of yore:
http://www.lastdriveinontheleft.com/crow-secret.html
Poor old Meg Porter.
6.11.06
Giggster is gone. Suicide isn't painless.
http://www.lochravenreview.net/2006spring/baig.html Three poems by the late poet.
http://www.criticalpoet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18093&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Farewell Sandi Blakemore Baig
Sandi fought a very long battle with chemical addiction, health problems and so wanted to be a professional poet. She finally took her own life, just couldn't take it anymore. She is survived by her son Josh. My prayers go out to her family.
http://www.lochravenreview.net/2006spring/baig.html Three poems by the late poet.
http://www.criticalpoet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18093&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Farewell Sandi Blakemore Baig
Sandi fought a very long battle with chemical addiction, health problems and so wanted to be a professional poet. She finally took her own life, just couldn't take it anymore. She is survived by her son Josh. My prayers go out to her family.
4.11.06
The Russian Warnings
Asked about the violence in Volsk, Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman said his office is gathering information about such incidents around the country to try to determine whether there is a common cause, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported. - September 15, 2006
Talk is such a bunch of razors,
sharp bouquets of steel
with determination. There
is no explanation better
than the cut save the abstraction.
We are a pile of reasons
in a sturdy stack of faults.
To wonder which wound
would bleed the most
is a bet, a challenge.
Way too big for the dull knifes
with lost hopes, unlucky bachelors
lost on the hunt for actions.
Analysing your time
what is left, what is spent
and which part you still hold onto.
Too soon some say to die.
A slaughterhouse of promise
with the usual guilty pose,
just shivering in the laughter.
It is a butchery of the present.
The blood runs colder than the rivers
in Russia, the Volga strewn
with haymakers and vodkas
make the best antifreeze.
Car guts don't bleed like people though.
Tragic men all go home
just like the animals and ice.
They drop their instuments,
leave them for the others,
in the times known as al kharj.
Asked about the violence in Volsk, Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman said his office is gathering information about such incidents around the country to try to determine whether there is a common cause, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported. - September 15, 2006
Talk is such a bunch of razors,
sharp bouquets of steel
with determination. There
is no explanation better
than the cut save the abstraction.
We are a pile of reasons
in a sturdy stack of faults.
To wonder which wound
would bleed the most
is a bet, a challenge.
Way too big for the dull knifes
with lost hopes, unlucky bachelors
lost on the hunt for actions.
Analysing your time
what is left, what is spent
and which part you still hold onto.
Too soon some say to die.
A slaughterhouse of promise
with the usual guilty pose,
just shivering in the laughter.
It is a butchery of the present.
The blood runs colder than the rivers
in Russia, the Volga strewn
with haymakers and vodkas
make the best antifreeze.
Car guts don't bleed like people though.
Tragic men all go home
just like the animals and ice.
They drop their instuments,
leave them for the others,
in the times known as al kharj.
The Broadcasts
It is a fundamental truth to awaken
with fused eyes not from the tears
but the infections. Day after day
with each decrease in sight
the idea of the wet-eyed elders
with their tissues tosses about
on tables in gnarly heaps
of time origami, these used-up paper puzzles.
Stacks of literature near
the resevoirs of waiting
for pills of hope counted dearly.
Two o'clock to ten, eight hours
of constant sleep, rainbows
full of impossibility, this one
for life, a pleasant pot of gold.
The furnace blows in fierce reminders
yet the schedule remains the same,
the retirement accounts are growing.
Nothing beats an investigation
but a trial, the fuzzy light
of TV where old women go
and big men rest in the constant
chatter of radiation, whole dynasties
of excuse and banter, fickle
drainage and chalk philosophies
where the girls look fairly good.
Here is the etiology of the bloodshot
where the blind call the blind, the blind.
It is a fundamental truth to awaken
with fused eyes not from the tears
but the infections. Day after day
with each decrease in sight
the idea of the wet-eyed elders
with their tissues tosses about
on tables in gnarly heaps
of time origami, these used-up paper puzzles.
Stacks of literature near
the resevoirs of waiting
for pills of hope counted dearly.
Two o'clock to ten, eight hours
of constant sleep, rainbows
full of impossibility, this one
for life, a pleasant pot of gold.
The furnace blows in fierce reminders
yet the schedule remains the same,
the retirement accounts are growing.
Nothing beats an investigation
but a trial, the fuzzy light
of TV where old women go
and big men rest in the constant
chatter of radiation, whole dynasties
of excuse and banter, fickle
drainage and chalk philosophies
where the girls look fairly good.
Here is the etiology of the bloodshot
where the blind call the blind, the blind.
3.11.06
Anti Zionist Jews who accuse Israeli Zionists of Nazi Collaboration:
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/
You know, what is surprising to me as an American, is the fact that Americans have accused Bush of being a Nazi, a fascist among other things. Americans have accused Clinton of murder, collaboration, sexual misconduct, etc. The TV is just chock full of "Anti American" sentiment. That the press is no longer an unbiased press (CNN for democrats/FOX for Republicans). You know, in police states, the control of the press by the state is of paramount importance and it is no different in the "so called" bi-partisan pissing match the US government not only supervises but allows to exist as a "free press". It is no longer a free press. In fact, the press controls the government and it is clearly evident in Kerry's HONEST appraisal of the young men who fight and die in Iraq on a daily basis...mostly under the age of 21 years old. Kerry wasn't misrepresenting anything. He was telling the truth but the press intervened and placed a gag order on him. Is the US government answerable to the press? I most definitely think so. Absolutely. It is worse than the methodology of police states who control their presses. It is a higher level of abuse and uses "Freedom of Speech" in a most exploitative way. To suprress information that would actually lead to change not only in the ME, but in the United States of America...which is rapidly becoming one of the most oppressed countries on the planet. Oppressed not only by the government, but by individuals themselves. Like our friends at the JD who have taken it upon themselves to police my politics, my poetry and my involvement online at the Daily Kos. America is a very sick old man indeed.
But to this day, a person is censored for declaring Zionism an evil ideology born in the minds of two men who were documented racists. Who were complicit in diverting attacks that would have eliminated places like Auschwitz. And who garnered a deal to sell German goods as "Made in Palestine" during the Jewish boycotts of German goods in the first half of the 20th century.
To this day, Zionism is a "no man's land" involving censorship, baiting and targeting of anyone who is brave enough to speak the word out loud and accuse those who support Zionism of sponsoring ethnic cleansing and terrorism of the worst sort: STATE terrorism.
There are many who are crying out for justice for the Palestinian people and muslims worldwide. Most of them live outside Israel and many of them are horrified to be linked to the war crimes of Israel.
No one though seems to be listening to them and the press never covers much about them. It is no wonder that they operate in obscurity. The press is much more involved in Building the Government that allows the press to continually manipulate news events and hence, world history as a documentation of actual crimes against humanity and against entire countries.
http://jewssansfrontieres.blogspot.com/
You know, what is surprising to me as an American, is the fact that Americans have accused Bush of being a Nazi, a fascist among other things. Americans have accused Clinton of murder, collaboration, sexual misconduct, etc. The TV is just chock full of "Anti American" sentiment. That the press is no longer an unbiased press (CNN for democrats/FOX for Republicans). You know, in police states, the control of the press by the state is of paramount importance and it is no different in the "so called" bi-partisan pissing match the US government not only supervises but allows to exist as a "free press". It is no longer a free press. In fact, the press controls the government and it is clearly evident in Kerry's HONEST appraisal of the young men who fight and die in Iraq on a daily basis...mostly under the age of 21 years old. Kerry wasn't misrepresenting anything. He was telling the truth but the press intervened and placed a gag order on him. Is the US government answerable to the press? I most definitely think so. Absolutely. It is worse than the methodology of police states who control their presses. It is a higher level of abuse and uses "Freedom of Speech" in a most exploitative way. To suprress information that would actually lead to change not only in the ME, but in the United States of America...which is rapidly becoming one of the most oppressed countries on the planet. Oppressed not only by the government, but by individuals themselves. Like our friends at the JD who have taken it upon themselves to police my politics, my poetry and my involvement online at the Daily Kos. America is a very sick old man indeed.
But to this day, a person is censored for declaring Zionism an evil ideology born in the minds of two men who were documented racists. Who were complicit in diverting attacks that would have eliminated places like Auschwitz. And who garnered a deal to sell German goods as "Made in Palestine" during the Jewish boycotts of German goods in the first half of the 20th century.
To this day, Zionism is a "no man's land" involving censorship, baiting and targeting of anyone who is brave enough to speak the word out loud and accuse those who support Zionism of sponsoring ethnic cleansing and terrorism of the worst sort: STATE terrorism.
There are many who are crying out for justice for the Palestinian people and muslims worldwide. Most of them live outside Israel and many of them are horrified to be linked to the war crimes of Israel.
No one though seems to be listening to them and the press never covers much about them. It is no wonder that they operate in obscurity. The press is much more involved in Building the Government that allows the press to continually manipulate news events and hence, world history as a documentation of actual crimes against humanity and against entire countries.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=76541
Israel insists that it needs to conduct surveillance flights over Lebanon in order to monitor alleged arms smuggling, but this claim is a blatant lie.
Israel insists that it needs to conduct surveillance flights over Lebanon in order to monitor alleged arms smuggling, but this claim is a blatant lie.
1.11.06
Lolita in Tehran @ Silliman.com
[ Uthman bin Hunayf was the Governor of Basra. He was one of those persons who were held in respect by Imam Ali (a). During his governorship Ibn Hunayf once attended a feast given by a rich man of Basra. It was a very sumptuous dinner. When Imam Ali (a) heard of this he wrote the following letter to him. It shows that the more Imam Ali (a) liked a person the more severely he judged his activities. ]
The Amish, the non Amish and others who prefer Fiction instead of Fact:
Happy November.
http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/
[ Uthman bin Hunayf was the Governor of Basra. He was one of those persons who were held in respect by Imam Ali (a). During his governorship Ibn Hunayf once attended a feast given by a rich man of Basra. It was a very sumptuous dinner. When Imam Ali (a) heard of this he wrote the following letter to him. It shows that the more Imam Ali (a) liked a person the more severely he judged his activities. ]
The Amish, the non Amish and others who prefer Fiction instead of Fact:
Happy November.
http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061101/ts_nm/mideast_dc
Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel was waging "all-out war," and called the operation "despicable."
....you see to Israelis, all Palestinians are the "infrastructure of terror" because they all share a belief, a knowledge that they have been the target of over a half century's worth of ethnic cleansing, theft and murder. Goes to show you how the arrogance of the US's stance in the world i.e. "The Greatest Country on Earth" has led to the noxious and entirely inexcusable arrogance of Israel which has no legitimate right to exist regardless of whether or not it does.
Many countries exist (including the US) without a "legitimate right" to exist and now..these two belligerent tyrants with bloody hands not only condone violence, they pay for it.
Thanks America. Not a single candidate on EITHER roster who pledges to eliminate US funding for Israeli terrorism. Not a single one.
Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel was waging "all-out war," and called the operation "despicable."
....you see to Israelis, all Palestinians are the "infrastructure of terror" because they all share a belief, a knowledge that they have been the target of over a half century's worth of ethnic cleansing, theft and murder. Goes to show you how the arrogance of the US's stance in the world i.e. "The Greatest Country on Earth" has led to the noxious and entirely inexcusable arrogance of Israel which has no legitimate right to exist regardless of whether or not it does.
Many countries exist (including the US) without a "legitimate right" to exist and now..these two belligerent tyrants with bloody hands not only condone violence, they pay for it.
Thanks America. Not a single candidate on EITHER roster who pledges to eliminate US funding for Israeli terrorism. Not a single one.
Israeli Terrorism Continues Unabated:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76560
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76560
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)