Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Monday, September 10, 2007
Insert Rimshot Here
“Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they are yours.” Richard Bach
I have enjoyed reading all the quotes on education over the last couple of days.
I also like todays quote. “What am I willing to die for? Make sacrifices for?” “Whats the difference between a belief and truth. Whats the difference between knowledge and experience?”
More questions than answers today.
Good morning.
Did anyone else see Venus and the cresent moon rising this morning?Posted by frances on from bc 09/10 at 07:56 AMmorning frances, i didn’t see that but wish i did.
hello everyone.
now that mickley and RMJ are in the running i decided to do a little piece to see if we can help get some good things into their manifesto.
suggestions please (follow the link)...
Posted by michael on from scotland 09/10 at 08:44 AMGood morning Frances and Michael.
I understand a local activist from Maine was jailed in Scotland for a day or two?
Posted by joe of maine on from 09/10 at 10:06 AMI don’t usually read the free papers they hand out in the NYC subway stations (it’s really annoying how they shove them at you, for one thing), but today I drudging along my commute sans reading material, and so gave The Metro a try. Imagine my surprise to find a brief article by Mr. Mickey Z.
Great little article—I’m happy to see that you’re finding ways to slip little subversive items in for a wider audience. I love the MLK quote about how the world needs more “creative extremists.” I wonder if it makes people think, “geez, maybe MLK was more of a wacko than I thought,” or if they actually stop to consider that maybe dissent and certain kinds of extremism are not only not evil, but really positive. Here’s hoping for the latter.
Posted by jason on from greenpoint, brooklyn 09/10 at 10:16 AMHere’s one for the ex-drinkers in the house:
http://www.cerebralcatalyst.com/oshea02.htm
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 09/10 at 11:48 AMRight now there is a real comedy going on in Congress. They are throwing protesters out of the Hearing. Great to see such goings on - proves what we all here know. Ain’t no democracy in Washington.
Mickey...great question - what am I willing to die for. My answer would be to protect the lives of those I love more than myself- in a situation where their lives were in danger. Another question might be, What would you be willing to spend the rest of your life in prison for.
JOS...great poem there.
Jason...I agree,extremism is a virtue. Everyone should have a fire burning in their belly.
frances...how’s your day going?
joe...Is it raining there too?
michael...I left a comment for you.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 09/10 at 12:39 PMRMJ..6..yes
I am willing and ready to die to escape the odor of synthetic colognes, perfumes, garbage can deodorizers, laundry detergents...Uhhhhhh
Posted by joe of maine on from 09/10 at 01:25 PMHello Expendables from muggy NYC. Thanks for the link, Michael. Funny stuff. Excellent poem, JOS...and Jason: very cool that you saw me in Metro. Hello Frances, RMJ, and Joe.
I’m on a borrowed computer until mine is back. So far, so good.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 09/10 at 02:22 PMThat Bertrand Russell quote works just fine, so long as no one’s life is in danger.
“Greater love hath no man than a mother cat dying to save her kittens” is Robert Heinlein’s ‘59 version of what Derrick Jensen elaborates in two volumes of “Endgame.”
For my part, talk of dying for beliefs (or a cause) would be easier to grasp if there were sufficient ones that justified it...in which case, such drama would be obviated. Strong, cohesive belief systems tend to create community, and voluntary, premature departure from it would only be agreed to in extremis. On an individual basis or in a warped community it’s another matter, sometimes quite creepy.
Posted by Zen Prole on from Urth 09/10 at 03:36 PMHi Zen
Here& avorite 9/11 quote: “9/11 is the goose that has laid the golden grenade.” (Sorry Mickey, I could not resist saying that after today’s Congressional Hearing.)
Is the Wall Street Journal reporting that the usa will build a big new military base on the Iraq/Iran border?Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 09/10 at 05:01 PMRMJ..10..I want to know more about the largest U.S. Plantation Mansion being built in Baghdad with slave labor. Why isn’t the 11 o’clock sports announcer mentioning this?
And what kind of tear jerking nostalgia will we be inundated with tomorrow?
Posted by joe of maine on from 09/10 at 06:59 PMSorry joe...everybody’s too busy discussing the shape of Brittany’s belly. It’s just a matter of priorities....
captch word is “alone”. That’s what we are.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 09/10 at 07:04 PMAnd here’s an oldie but goodie. Sartre’s Daughter released the book titled Genocide. The results of this tribunal convicted the u.s. of genocide against the Vietnamese people...same story!
The Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Vietnam
Human Rights & Humanitarian Law
On Genocide
Jean Paul Sartre, November 1967
[Note by tamilnation.org Jean Paul Sartre’s Statement ‘On Genocide’ at the Second Session of the Bertrand Russell International War Crimes Tribunal on Vietnam, held in Denmark in November 1967 remains, almost 40 years later, an inspiring appeal to the conscience of humanity - inspiring not only because of the force of its reason but also because it reveals Sartre’s passionate commitment to justice. Jean Paul Sartre was no arm chair intellectual. During the second world war, he was a key figure among the French intellectuals who resisted the Nazi occupation and he spent an year as a prisoner of war in German camps. Sartre was an existentialist. He recognised ‘personal subjective experience as the foundation upon which abstract knowledge is built.’
Posted by joe of maine on from 09/10 at 07:10 PMHi again
I nominate this song to be a part of your presidential campaign. While driving around town today I popped in one of the kids cds and this came blaring out of the speakers. I loved it so much I kept playing it over and over louder and louder.
heres the only youtube version with good sound:
http://tinyurl.com/3yra5wHi RMJ. I am having an awesome day, thanks for asking.
Posted by frances on from bc land of most awesome september days 09/10 at 07:33 PMheres an acoustic live version at an indie radio station:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUt7fuK8MnoIts been awhile since i have found music I feel at home in…
Oh man, hes a bare foot guy too!!Posted by frances on from bc 09/10 at 07:42 PMThanks. Frances. Man, I really wish simply being peaceful could promote peace.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 09/10 at 08:10 PMme too
Posted by frances on from bc 09/10 at 08:18 PMMickey...16...it would feel too gradual, immeasurable, leaving me impatient...then I would need to observe my impatience...as I always do. Observing seems to some as inactivity and isn’t good for the lower back. I don’t agree with that.
Frances, I recall very well, many big, beautiful trees...I think Douglas Firs??? Very tall and straight and I feeling peaceful among them.
Posted by joe maine on from 09/10 at 08:27 PMHi Joe, I also observe my impatience and other emotions....I do ab crunches to strenghen my lower back.
yes there are lots of big trees here cedar fir maple yew and such but there is more clear cut and scrub than anything else. I always feel ungrateful when I talk about the slash and burn…
and second/third growth forests. Although I do load my freezer with wild blackberries that wouldnt be here so abundantly except for the deforestation ( actually they are not even native to this part of the world).Posted by frances on from bc 09/10 at 09:07 PMGreat article on September 11, 1973. Did you live in Chile during that time? My wife and family were in Santiago during that time. They told me of the desperate conditions inflicted by the Allende regime. No food, no milk, no nothing. All free enterprise was being suffucated by the Allende communist. Did anyone tell you about the armed gangs roaming the streets in Santiago rounding up innocent citizens and killing them by firing squad? No. As usual you have only read about the Pinochet wrongs. Yes, his people did wrongs, but Allende did many wrongs also. Please do more research before voicing facts about history you have little knowledge of.
Posted by Big A on from Jacksonville, Florida 09/11 at 09:01 PM
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