This is an idea I have mulled over a bit for years now. Perhaps the protagonist shouldn't be Jewish, to avoid the appearance of anti-Semitism or blood libel, but that's how I conceived it.
A holy Rabbi and lifelong student of Kabballah is the principle figure here. He is beloved by all in his community and considered by many to be a saint. It is said that just to enter his presence is to receive a blessing.
His studies in the Kabballah have taught him that, when this world was created, the limitless holy light burst its crude vessels of matter and left divine sparks trapped througout the mundane creation. It is the duty of a holy man to liberate these sparks and unite them with the godhead, so that this world will eventually be reconciled with god in the spiritual perfection of the world to come.
After sundown on the first Saturday of every month, when the Sabbath has ended, he ventures out into the night and commits horrible acts of rape, murder, and dismemberment. He takes no pleasure in such acts; he considers them a horrible burden and goes about them in an attitude of sorrowful devotion, in order to free the divine light that is trapped in the most debased and perverse elements of the physical creation.
Perhaps he is a Lamed Vavnik, one of the 36 saints in every age that allow for the preservation of the world...
Thursday, August 2, 2007
...or something much more colorful like that
Esther successfully ran her marathon and, unlike Pheidippides, she did not drop dead immediately afterward. Thanks to all who pledged money for Daniel McGowan.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
It Could Be Nicer Being Red, Or Yellow, or Gold
My good friend Esther is running a marathon to drum up some cash for Green Scare convict Daniel McGowan. A source of information on the so-called Green Scare may be found here: http://www.eberhardtpress.org/content/greenscare.php
Either way, please visit the link below and pledge a few cents a mile or whatever you can spare for Daniel. He is not on vacation, he is doing hard time. Support that motherfucker or you're a douche.
http://bookinfordaniel.eberhardtpress.org/
Either way, please visit the link below and pledge a few cents a mile or whatever you can spare for Daniel. He is not on vacation, he is doing hard time. Support that motherfucker or you're a douche.
http://bookinfordaniel.eberhardtpress.org/
Monday, July 9, 2007
Support the Troops
What does this mean? And why should we?
If you think the war in Iraq (abd/or the one in Afghanistan) is adventuristic, uncalled-for, needlessly brutal, immoral, unethical, unfortunate, ill-advised, fucked-up, bad news, uncool, just plain wrong, and/or sucky, why on earth would you qualify that position with the absurd (and probably meaningless) statement that you "support the troops"? That seems to be what the majority of people who oppose the war do, however; certainly it is de rigeur for a politician or public figure.
Saying you oppose the war but "support the troops" is basically saying that it is a wise, ethically justifiable, or honorable thing to consider yourself a piece of meat at the disposal of the US government, who will enforce any decision the politicians make without questioning it. This shit didn't fly at Nuremberg, so why should it fly now? If you believe that US servicepeople are responsible for their own decisions, like anyone else, and if you believe that the war in Iraq was a bad decision, then it is idiotic to say that you "support the troops."
I think a position of principled opposition to the war is incoherent unless it includes a position of explicitly NOT supporting the troops. It is true that many low-income people who feel they are without options wind up in the military. It is true that many very well-intentioned people wind up in the military. It is true that the military has a larger proportion of racial minorities than society at large, and this is probably the result of the aforementioned economic factors.
Fine. One can sympathize or even empathize with soldiers without giving them "support" qua troops, which gives them the message that you are behind them, right or wrong. It would be absurd to say "I am against rape, but I support the rapist. He is a minority and poor, and never had a proper education. That's not his fault, it's the fault of the politicians in Washington, etc. So I will not discourage him from raping you; instead, I'll write to my congressman."
This isn't to say that the primary blame for war should be directed at the soldiers; certainly, the above is an imperfect analogy. But "support the troops"?? Fuck the troops.
If you think the war in Iraq (abd/or the one in Afghanistan) is adventuristic, uncalled-for, needlessly brutal, immoral, unethical, unfortunate, ill-advised, fucked-up, bad news, uncool, just plain wrong, and/or sucky, why on earth would you qualify that position with the absurd (and probably meaningless) statement that you "support the troops"? That seems to be what the majority of people who oppose the war do, however; certainly it is de rigeur for a politician or public figure.
Saying you oppose the war but "support the troops" is basically saying that it is a wise, ethically justifiable, or honorable thing to consider yourself a piece of meat at the disposal of the US government, who will enforce any decision the politicians make without questioning it. This shit didn't fly at Nuremberg, so why should it fly now? If you believe that US servicepeople are responsible for their own decisions, like anyone else, and if you believe that the war in Iraq was a bad decision, then it is idiotic to say that you "support the troops."
I think a position of principled opposition to the war is incoherent unless it includes a position of explicitly NOT supporting the troops. It is true that many low-income people who feel they are without options wind up in the military. It is true that many very well-intentioned people wind up in the military. It is true that the military has a larger proportion of racial minorities than society at large, and this is probably the result of the aforementioned economic factors.
Fine. One can sympathize or even empathize with soldiers without giving them "support" qua troops, which gives them the message that you are behind them, right or wrong. It would be absurd to say "I am against rape, but I support the rapist. He is a minority and poor, and never had a proper education. That's not his fault, it's the fault of the politicians in Washington, etc. So I will not discourage him from raping you; instead, I'll write to my congressman."
This isn't to say that the primary blame for war should be directed at the soldiers; certainly, the above is an imperfect analogy. But "support the troops"?? Fuck the troops.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
But Green's The Color of Spring
Absolutely fantastic news:
From Friends of Jeffrey ‘Free’ Luers:
The Court of Appeals just unanimously ruled that Jeff's case will be reversed and remanded back to the Circuit Court for resentencing as a result of Judge Velure's errors in imposing the original draconian sentence. The opinion just came out this morning and we are still reviewing it for details, but it looks like Jeff could potentially get about 15 years taken off his 266 month sentence. We will provide you with more information as it becomes known. The entire opinion is included below for those who are interested [link]. Congratulations to Jeff and his family!
Jeff was sentenced in 2001 to 22 years and 8 months in prison for the arson of the Romania car dealership in Eugene, OR, and an attempted arson of Tyree Oil. The total damage amounted to burned tires on 3 SUVs, the tires were replaced and the SUVs were resold. No harm to any living things. Outrage over the unjust sentence spanned the globe. Jeff is currently imprisoned at the Oregon State Prison and the Civil Liberties Defense Center has continuously assisted Jeff with various legal matters during his incarceration.
Court of Appeals opinion: http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A115208.htm
For additional background on Jeffrey Free Luers, please visit http://freefreenow.org/
From Friends of Jeffrey ‘Free’ Luers:
The Court of Appeals just unanimously ruled that Jeff's case will be reversed and remanded back to the Circuit Court for resentencing as a result of Judge Velure's errors in imposing the original draconian sentence. The opinion just came out this morning and we are still reviewing it for details, but it looks like Jeff could potentially get about 15 years taken off his 266 month sentence. We will provide you with more information as it becomes known. The entire opinion is included below for those who are interested [link]. Congratulations to Jeff and his family!
Jeff was sentenced in 2001 to 22 years and 8 months in prison for the arson of the Romania car dealership in Eugene, OR, and an attempted arson of Tyree Oil. The total damage amounted to burned tires on 3 SUVs, the tires were replaced and the SUVs were resold. No harm to any living things. Outrage over the unjust sentence spanned the globe. Jeff is currently imprisoned at the Oregon State Prison and the Civil Liberties Defense Center has continuously assisted Jeff with various legal matters during his incarceration.
Court of Appeals opinion: http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A115208.htm
For additional background on Jeffrey Free Luers, please visit http://freefreenow.org/
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Matt Lucas is King
Well, I'm back, but I don't really remember why I blog. No idears. So here is an amusing cross-posting from Long Sunday (I'm still not keen on the HTMF stuff, but there's a link to LS on the side):
Open Letter
(The following by guest author Jane Dark:)
While I appreciate the refined level of discourse here at Long Sunday, I'd like to bring it down a little. What follows is my open letter to the National Rifle Association.
Dear NRA,
You pussies.
That's right, National Rifle Association, I'm talking to you. You are cowards, lightweights, hypocrites, hand-wringing do-nothings.
My recollection is that it has been claimed you're just gun-toting bullet-freaks interested only in your right to extreme animal-killing convenience and click-click-boom phallic stroke fantasies, maybe popping off at the occasional illegal immigrant.
And my further recollection is that you have defended yourself against such scurrilous accusations through the patient insistence on your constitutional right to bear arms. You, the NRA, would be part of a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state."
Which is to say, your entire position and organization rests on the proposed belief that when bad government abrogates your rights and freedoms, and leads the nation along a course which the citizens have not mandated -- using force of arms to do so -- you are prepared and willing to resist that course, and refuse that government, using every means at your disposal, including the means guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
And yet we find ourselves with a government that is currently in the midst of an escalating military action seemingly not mandated by the population -- an action which is either explanation for or parallel with increasing depredation of your civil rights, most ominously in the case of the Fourth Amendment but as well the Sixth and Eight at a bare minimum. Were there to be a doomsday clock of civil rights, sometime in these last months we would surely have heard its chimes at midnight.
That the electoral legitimacy of the President whose administration has in main authored these violations is shrouded in doubt would seem to argue even further for a principled refusal of this abrogation of the rights and interests of the American people. This should be your finest hour. This is what you have been waiting for; on moments such as this is the very justification for both your rights and your existence premised. If you will not in the gravest and most evident circumstances exercise the freedom invested in you by your beloved Second Amendment, your authority to claim it must be found to have withered. And surely these are dark days. If not now, when?
What are you waiting for, you pussies?
Respectfully submitted,
Jane
Open Letter
(The following by guest author Jane Dark:)
While I appreciate the refined level of discourse here at Long Sunday, I'd like to bring it down a little. What follows is my open letter to the National Rifle Association.
Dear NRA,
You pussies.
That's right, National Rifle Association, I'm talking to you. You are cowards, lightweights, hypocrites, hand-wringing do-nothings.
My recollection is that it has been claimed you're just gun-toting bullet-freaks interested only in your right to extreme animal-killing convenience and click-click-boom phallic stroke fantasies, maybe popping off at the occasional illegal immigrant.
And my further recollection is that you have defended yourself against such scurrilous accusations through the patient insistence on your constitutional right to bear arms. You, the NRA, would be part of a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state."
Which is to say, your entire position and organization rests on the proposed belief that when bad government abrogates your rights and freedoms, and leads the nation along a course which the citizens have not mandated -- using force of arms to do so -- you are prepared and willing to resist that course, and refuse that government, using every means at your disposal, including the means guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
And yet we find ourselves with a government that is currently in the midst of an escalating military action seemingly not mandated by the population -- an action which is either explanation for or parallel with increasing depredation of your civil rights, most ominously in the case of the Fourth Amendment but as well the Sixth and Eight at a bare minimum. Were there to be a doomsday clock of civil rights, sometime in these last months we would surely have heard its chimes at midnight.
That the electoral legitimacy of the President whose administration has in main authored these violations is shrouded in doubt would seem to argue even further for a principled refusal of this abrogation of the rights and interests of the American people. This should be your finest hour. This is what you have been waiting for; on moments such as this is the very justification for both your rights and your existence premised. If you will not in the gravest and most evident circumstances exercise the freedom invested in you by your beloved Second Amendment, your authority to claim it must be found to have withered. And surely these are dark days. If not now, when?
What are you waiting for, you pussies?
Respectfully submitted,
Jane
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