every son wants to love his father
every father wants to love his son
*
Mi Yu-jen (1072-1151)
People know that I am good at painting and vie to obtain my works, but few
realize how I paint. Unless the eye of true perception is in their foreheads,
they cannot peceive it, and one cannot look for it in the paintings of ancient
and [other] modern artists. My condition in the world is like that of one hair
in the ocean, tranquil and colorless. Often I sit in meditation in a quiet room,
forgetting all the worries of the mind and sharing my wanderings with the emptiness
of the blue void.
Excerpt from a colophon recorded in SKTSHHK: see Bush, p. 74: text 139
From Early Chinese Texts on Painting, Compiled and Edited by Susan Bush
and Hsio-yen Shih, Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985, p. 211.
*
Hey kids, guess what? It was in the news. Did you miss it?
I just quickly looked at all of the latest posts of the younger bloggers linked
from Lloyd's for a mention of or reaction
to the news, but I didn't see any. None among the texts:
allie, alvin,
cole, daniel,
danny, devin,
dianne, fergus,
james, jamie,
jenn, jennifer,
joe, joline,
joseph, josh,
kati, kyle,
lauren, nick
s., nick s.-g., ozzie,
priscilla, stevie,
trev, wako,
yiyi; and none among the grads:
aaron,
alejo,
amanda,
bigi,
cuz.aaron,
fed,
florence,
jessica,
kass,
nathan,
quad,
robin,
spark,
stephanie,
vikki.
Over two thirds of the House and Senate has authorized our "President,"
George W. Bush, to "Use Force Against Iraq (NY
Times)." That means he, and he alone (though, dontcha know, he'll be
gettin' expert advice, hah!) can decide whether or not the U.S. will go to war.
War? Isn't that something that happens to other people? What would war look
like these days? Probably the same thing it always has. It means young people
involved in dangerous, nasty, smelly, ugly, emotionally scarring scenarios of
torn flesh, spilled blood, splintered bone, painful maiming, and, well, killing.
You know, DEATH. As in maybe the "enemies'" death, maybe a friend's
or cousin's, maybe you're own. The End.
But that's OK. We'll all wear little flags on our lapels and stick them on our bumpers to show
our appreciation. We'll say a little prayer for you and thank you for your sacrifice,
Your family will get a pretty flag the sight of which will make them stand a
little taller and prouder, and our President will send your family a letter
of thanks, too.
In the meantime, you'll still be dead. Ouch.
Later, during a press conference or State of the Union Address the President
will wrinkle his brow, and pull his lips tight and tucked in that masculine
way so many of us use to show concern or sorrow, just to let you know, "I
care." Try this: when your brother is trying to get the Veteran's Administration
to pay for that mysterious ailment with the headaches and the achey joints and
the sterility just be sure and say, "Dubya sent us!"
Oh, I'm not worried for myself, of course. I'll be safe, if a only a little
inconvenienced. I'm 45, too old to go to war. I'll stay at home and help pay
for the war, and say good-bye and good luck to the young people I know, and
then watch the body count on the news. After that I can continue to enjoy stabilized
oil prices and internal combustion engines for the rest of my life. Let me say,
right now, in all sincercity, thank you.
And Laura,
thanks for all of your hard work. Please keep doing such a good job teaching,
because those fourteen year olds are going to be needed in about four years
to help keep the great malls, highways, and stadiums of the "greatest country
on the face of the Earth (Bush Speaks)" safe and free for extended cable and People magazine.
But gosh, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm just overly pessimistic, being a darned
spoil sport. Maybe I'm just not patriotic enough. Maybe I should take comfort
in the fine words of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on October 10, 2002 during
her floor speech on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United
States Armed Forces Against Iraq: "I will take the President at his word
that he will try hard to pass a UN resolution and will seek to avoid war, if
at all possible (Senator
Clinton Speeches)." Cool, the Prez will try hard. I'm glad he takes
his job seriously. And thanks, Hilary, for expressing your confidence so eloquently.
Bloggers! The Free Speech Movement
is not just a cafe!
"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes
you so sick at heart, that you can't take part, you can't even tacitly take
part," said Mario Savio on December 2nd, 1964 (The
Free Speech Movement Digital Archive). You, the weblogger between thirteen
and twenty five! You're the one who is threatened. You're the one who is going
to fight this war. What do you think? The Gulf War and recent Afghanistan actions
were relatively brief. Lots of people died, just not so many Americans. But
no one expected the military actions in Vietnam, which was a real if not legal
war, to last twelve years and result in 58,156 American casualties (The History
Place: The Vietnam
War). It can happen again.
"War! What is it good for? It's good for business (Billy
Bragg)."
*
10 Things You Can Do to Prevent War:
8. Participate in or create visible public events for the same goals.
9. Work the media, or be the media.
10. Reclaim patriotism!
Related to #9, I am thrilled to see Peter Ford making important points about youth, voice, and opinions, and encouraging his students to be the media!
*
I hope that I am overreacting, being melodramatic, making a big noise about nothing. But it worries me that I have to hope that.
*
Thank you, Jimmy Carter, winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, probably our
most human, compassionate, genuinely intelligent, and least politician-like
president of the second half of the twentieth century (NY
Times).
*
Bob Dylan is playing at the Greek Theatre tonight and tomorrow. I don't know why I'm not going. Awhile ago though my open office window I heard the first sounds of a sound check.
*
Raymond, you were interested in the Koran. See Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs, and check out A Quranic Journal.
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