Omnium

Sharing responsibility with Liu Xiaobo

2009-12-12T02:22:00.000+01:00

One year after his detention, yesterday Liu Xiaobo was formally indicted by the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate. Liu is charged with "inciting subversion of state power", a provision regularly used to silence writers in China. If convicted, Liu Xiaobo could face up to 15 years in prison.
The case will be heard by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court; and why would I not be surprised if injustice were dispensed while people like me are supposed to celebrate the so-called 'feast of love'.

Now do I know that clenching fists and wishing that all those Bastards of Beijing may lose their teeth except of one for permanent toothache does have about the same effect like a cucumber glass detonating in Caracas.

And I do ask myself, if - in case I were a Chinese living in China - I would have been amongst those 10,000 who signed Charter 08, of which Liu Xiaobo was one main architect, and: if I would have the courage to sign the following:

We Are Willing to Share Responsibility with Liu Xiaobo

Author：The cosigners of Charter 08

(December 10, 2009)

We, the Chinese citizens who have co-drafted or signed Charter 08 with, that Mr. Liu Xiaobo, have learnt that he is to face prosecution and be subjected to penalties, and so reaffirm our attitude once again:
1) We have always believed that China's development and progress must be based on the conditions that the human rights are fully protected, and that the justice can be fully realized, and that the rule of law tends to be completed, and the system turns to democracy. Otherwise, the society will only continue to result in abnormal prosperity, and the social wealth gap will be widening, and serious injustice will bring about the social conflicts. On this point of view, we have upheld the same ideas and pursuits as Mr. Liu Xiaobo has;

2) We are ready to sign Charter 08 and agree with its concepts, which is based on our concerns on the nation’s current and future situations, and also the performance of our civic responsibilities in accordance with the rights affirmed by the Constitution, and which we have never considered to be contrary to any of the existing laws and regulations;

3) If Mr. Liu Xiaobo is to be prosecuted for those above, then each of us is an integral part of his case, and the indictment of Mr. Liu Xiaobo is to put each of us on trial; if Mr. Liu Xiaobo is convicted, it is equivalent to condemn everyone of us as being guilty. We have no choice but bear punishment with Liu Xiaobo.

Well, so far 164 domestic co-signers of Charter 08 have signed to share responsibilities with Liu Xiaobo, and 41 overseas co-signers (see the list here).

Will ... ?

Ah!

The peace of the night.

Correcting myself

2009-12-11T01:51:00.010+01:00

The prize recognised her ability to depict “with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose ... the landscape of the dispossessed”.

Who does not know me, could easily think I were an arrogant 'hm hm hm'.
Why?
Well, this was my comment when Jams O'Donnell mentioned on October 8th, that Herta Müller had won the Nobel Prize:

"And now she possesses 970,000 Euro. Besides, I do, for a change, agree with Günter Grass who welcomed the nomination as follows: "The members of the Nobel Prize Comitee will have their reasons why they chose Herta Müller."

A nasty reply / comment that was. Yes.
And yes! I know quite a few authors of whom I think ...
You, too? Lovely!
No, indeed. Never I shall need to read a book of her!
Why? 'cause after feeding myself for decades with reading / watching / witnessing atrocities I do just not need to be taught how horrible we can be. I do not need to read such things anymore FULLSTOP

But did you ever listen to Herta Müller? Did you watch her? Do you know (a tiny bit of) her biography?
Thus, again: There are quite a few authors of whom ... I would have thought that ... but ... what a woman!
And one day ... one day you will have listened to her ... you will agree.

... and one day ... one day ... who knows? i'll write the same about this years's Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. ? ? ? ? ? ?

Just for my dear readers

2009-12-11T00:30:00.002+01:00

... for those who have been bearing me for quite a while, that is.

Sorry for not having answered your recent comments, yet.

As you know, mostly I'd try to answer, individually.

However, presently - presently?! :) - words do not come easy to me.

For this and that reason.

Ah! ... Do I see you leniently smile? :)

That's all I need, these days. Thank you so much.

No comments, please, as I do wish to delete this as soon as ... possible.

The peace of the night.

Pictures Reframed

2009-12-11T00:10:00.000+01:00

Wordy Wednesday IX

2009-12-10T23:58:00.001+01:00

Voilà.
As many things would come in threes,
why not three fine pieces of writing?

No doubt reading them each will leave you impressed.

- Sullivan's Wall

- From the Bard of the Liberties to the Liberty of Westmoreland Street Bard

- miaow in the winter of my discontent.

Planet of Peace

2009-12-08T02:26:00.003+01:00

Well, ... and as I came to know that coincidentally friends of mine only the other day were on a Holst-trip ...

:)

Cure-all for Climate

2009-12-07T23:23:00.007+01:00

Herewith we declare within the next 60 years
to reduce the population of human beings on earth
to 50 percent of the population in 1350.

For all ?expref=next-blog visitors

2009-12-06T00:01:00.006+01:00

Oh! You are just dropping by? Via ?expref=next-blog? Gosh! How boring?! Hm?! :)

Right you are. Surf on in peace, and may you find more interesting a blog. :)

... Well, and now nothing about Afghanistan, nothing about obvious liars ands shammers; nothing about Blackwater, nothing about idiots who call themselves either left or right; nothing about idiots who call themselves muslims, christians, jews, hindus - ha ha ha ha ha, did I forget any?; nothing about ...

Ah! No child abused. No woman raped. No man raped or raping himself.

No politician, no cleric lying, no scientist cheating ... for whatever reason.

Here's just a simple sunset:

Enjoy. Forget about those who love war; forget about those who just can't afford to watch; forget about those who deep in their heart can't appreciate such trivial things like a sunset. Just forget those you will (probably) never come to know. Enjoy your life!

Isn't it wonderful?! I've found ... nah!! ... taken the leisure to write this; you have taken the time to read this - really??? ha ha ha.

Anyway. May you not get raped. May you have enough to drink and to eat. May no one surpress you.

Don't worry. Be happy.

The peace of the night.

Frying the shammers

2009-12-05T02:01:00.004+01:00

Oscar Wilde would have been delighted. Perhaps he is?

For those few who would not know Stephen Fry.

And here his blog which is - although not listed among them :) - seldom boring.

Immortal

2009-12-03T23:17:00.001+01:00

Eric Woolfson, March 18th, 1945 - December 2nd, 2009

Essay on the universal validity of tolerance

2009-12-03T12:13:00.003+01:00

Thank you very much for your attention.

About democracy and tolerance

2009-12-03T00:59:00.005+01:00

Some people would vehemently claim tolerance,

as long as they are not in the majority.

Ahem ...

2009-12-02T00:55:00.000+01:00

What a photographer sees is not alway what he gets.

Same goes for O ... ah, take your choice.

εὕρηκα!*

2009-11-28T23:59:00.001+01:00

:)

*

Orkney's Italian Chapel

2009-11-28T02:19:00.002+01:00

A herewith highly recommended post at Sicily Scene about the Churchill-made Arandora Star-tragedy, reminded me of my surprise when on my first visit to a certain island I 'stumbled' upon ...

this very chapel.

Imagine you had been one of 550 Italians captured in North Africa and in 1942 being brought to the Orkney Islands, being forced to construct causeways to block German U-Boots from accessing Scapa Flow.

The name those four causeways got, by the way:

Churchill Barriers (sic!).

As you can read (at least) the essentials here, I do allow myself to indulge one of my favourite passions - do I detect a knowing simper on the lips of my experienced readers? :) - and restrict myself to offer some photographs.

The chapel

Its inside (photo taken freehand, without flash)

The 24 prisoners of war who did it.

Not il duce

And here some more lines in Italian, just for Lady Limoncello (and those whose native tongue is Italian).

Epilogue:

Why would an agnostic write a post about some Italians who a) were so stupid to follow a megalomaniac 'duce', b) be so stupid to let capture themselves, and finally c) in their rainy and stormy detention centre would start to build a chapel for someone/something who/that has - so far - not introduced her-/him-/itself as Her/His/Its godish Highness?

Answers:

1. (the ironic one) Just because it's a sign of hope. After all, out of approximately 500 prisoners of war only 24 were such silly full stop

2. (the first of two serious ones, and I do cut it but short): It's just amazing! Just amazing.

Finally, two questions:

Would Major T. P. Buckland have allowed to build a mosque?

Would a Muslim-Major (have) allow(ed) his Christian prisoners to build a chapel?

And a last thought for tonight; a thought that is ... yes! ... permanent part of Omnium: We all (!) could (!) know from history how ... have no adjective here ... war is. And still ... and still ... there has not yet been the one generation who was willing and able to immunise their children against those roothless and greedy few (!) who'd do their best to instigate envy and hate and ... wars.

And therefore:

Past is. Is presence. Impossible to let bygones be bygones or even forget about. It’s there. Is presence. And maybe herein lies the reason that we remain unable to learn from the past.

Up til infinity?

For how many years, decades ... millennia the majority will keep silence?

Chapeau, Monsieur Aznavour

2009-11-27T23:10:00.000+01:00

Well, from a 70 year young lady to an 85 year young man: Charles Aznavour. Today a new album of Armenia's Ambassador to Switzerland was released.
Apart from that I shall prefer listening to his old chansons: What an artist; the more when comparing him to the many tiny squallers who think they were stars, not knowing they are at least 86 per cent bicycle*.

* Those few - although it is most unlikely they exist - who would not understand what I am refering to, as they happen to not being in possession of the master's complete œvre: Saddle your ponies, folks, and hurry up. The friendly, most well-educated and -sorted bookseller just round the corner will be happy to fill the gaps of your education and in your bookshelf.

Turning fools in Love

2009-11-26T23:58:00.000+01:00

Not that I am a fan - fan is an abbreviation of fanatic, hm? :) -, but I admire here fire.
Thus on her 70th birthday:

Trashed - or: A circle of life

2009-11-26T01:08:00.002+01:00

Those who have come to think they know Omnium (sic) a bit better will not be surprised when reading that sometimes - out of the blue - I could for half an hour watch butterflies dancing, bumble-bees humming from flower to flower and on a windy day leaves leaving a cherry-tree.

Why would a notorious lazy man feel such a joy in his heart watching a phenomenon that entails work?

Hm, does it entail work? Per se?

Trashed

When I fell to the ground

you walked all over me

even though I shaded you…

was it just yesterday?

Now you are going to rake me,

toss me in a bag

as if I'm some kind of monster

you need to eject.

Why don't you leave me be;

by springtime you will

never even know I was here .

Janice Thomson

What Lady Janice puts in poetry, Andrew Scott puts prosaic: [...] some people not too far away from me seem to regard every fallen leaf as a disgraceful piece of filth, to be tidied away as soon as possible. They are out every morning, frantically scooping up all the leaves and casting disapproving glances at the coppery golden carpet adorning my lawn.

And right both they are. Some people would overdo, acting like maniacs for housework or, in this case, maniacs for raking leaves.

Well, I am raking leaves, too ... and give them another job:

Seanhenge's chief-protectors of shrubs, trees, roses etc.; and after they have done a great job during winter, they get their deserved long rest, long enough to convert into young, strong and fresh humus.

And thus the cycle of life goes on ...

The day after

2009-11-21T23:41:00.001+01:00

Ladies and gentlemen,
Dames en heren,
Bayanlar, Baylar,
Signoras e Signori,
Señoras y Señores,
Mesdames et Messieurs,
Friends,

Once again, just in case anyone's conCERNed and fearing - or exulting - I might have been swallowed by a Black Hole.

soliloquy, blooming A ... or so

2009-11-19T23:44:00.009+01:00

Stream of consciousness. In a blogpost? Lovely. Ha ha ha ha. I am not Molly Bloom, hm? Ah, a Joycean. Nah. Although, in a way. Four times? Four times that I read the 'Ulysses'? Five times? Yes. Five times. I think. Gosh. Did I write 'Yes'? "Plagiarism!!!!!!!!!!", I hear them shout, the heirs of the late James Joyce. And: "One million cun ... err ... punts for a Yes!" Fastards. Bucking. Sucking honey from the dead. Can't even spell the German philosopher´s name correctly. Phonetically, alright. Kant. But. Anal Ivia Plurabelle. Language, Sir. Language! Language? Language = Ethic = Fairplay. Thierry Henry. God's hand. Frog's hand. To be fair: Would Robby Keane have beseeched the referee: "No goal, ref. No goal. I played the ball with my hands"? Hypocrisy. Punt. Pound. Euro. Guinea, Guinness. Guinnessis. Money money money. Mon(d)ey. Monday? It's Thursday, isn't it? Thirsty. Thuirsdy. Nah! Not what you think. I'm drinking warm milk with honey. Bloody cold. Hm. Interesting. Do they say it´s every six seconds a child, a woman, a man dies of starvation? After all there can't exist poverty, hm?! 1,3 trillions being sacrificed each year to defend enduring global freedom. Praised be the defence (sic) industry. Malnutrition. No. No! Not in this lovely little village. See this tree?

Click to enlarge

Apples. Lots of apples. In front of the pub. Public tree. No one cares. No one is hungry. Otherwise ... Tomorrow morning I shall go and pick them. Up. Winter's coming. Hm? The blackbirds love apples. In winter, anyway. Lovely to watch them. Creatures. Hungry. In Seanhenge they will find food. Always. Ah! Watching them in the morning. While smoking a first cigarette on balcony. Phewwwwwwww! Smoking? Yep. Gosh, in the last moment. One ought always to have Mr Joyce's heirs in one's mind. Not to forget my former finance minister who when in 2003 once again raising the tobacco tax let me know that the more I smoke the more I support the 'war on terror', while the health minister ... Fucking hypocrites!! Sorry about this tiny aprosdoketon. There is something rotten ... not only ... in the state of ... Israel. I mean not only Joyce's heirs one ought to have in one's mind, but the peace-loving people of Israel, too. This sounds kafkaesque? Well, si. Mr Kafka(´s work) is national heritage, isn't he? National heritage? Well, at least heritage of the state of Israel, hm? After all, Kafka died only 24 years before Ben Gurion proclaimed a state of Israel. Shshhhhhh! A German ought not to write such naughty things. That's anti-semitism. Each Arab, Maltese etc. will get infuriated. Won't he? Not to speak of her. And what did the friendly looking elderly Turk in Bremen say three or four years ago when being asked about a most suprising campaign, in which the Turkish tabloid Hurriyet tried to elucidate that women are human beings, too, and that it's not nice to beat one's wife, at least not on a daily basis? "A man who does not beat his wife is not a man."
Ah, nuff written. What one cometh to think of within but a few minutes! Time to fall into the feathers, put my head on the pillow and have a dream: All semites and other machos with immediate effect do veil their faces up til infinity ... yes ... and walk four steps behind their wives ... yes ... when lugging the shopping bags. Yes.
The peace of the night.

Wordy Wednesday VIII

2009-11-18T01:12:00.002+01:00

Again I do hope you will enjoy; and again I do ask you not to be as lazy as (mostly) I am. If you like what you read, leave a comment.
Not here. On the very blogger's site I am linking to.
I am quite sure they will appreciate your comments.
After all, (interesting) comments are the salt in the soup of any article, hm? :)

So, let's begin with my favourite:

Cause and effect

All you need is Awe and Humility - Finding the Right Attitude towards Life's Marvels

Why everyone must move to Finland, or not.

A little man against torture and torturers.

Interview with Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas:

... and deliver us from hypocrisy

2009-11-18T00:58:00.000+01:00

World leaders convened at the FAO Headquarters for the World Summit on Food Security today unanimously adopted a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably and at the earliest date.
The article ends:
Addressing FAO's Member States in all their official languages, the Pope concluded: "God bless your efforts to ensure that all people are given their daily bread."

Addressing the Pope, I conclude:

Cha líonann beannacht bolg.

A blessing does not fill a belly.

Grey day's ending

2009-11-14T23:59:00.000+01:00

Still no divorce filed

2009-11-13T01:30:00.002+01:00

What's new?

Well, first of all: It's Friday the 13th of November 2009, thus exactly 209 years and eight months after their wedding, and still the great grandparents of my grandfather have not filed for divorce.

See? There does really exist no reason for paraskavedekatriaphobia, at all!

Secondly: I wanted to spend the weekend in

Mrs. J. would rather have picknicked on top of

Looking for accommodation?

Compromise: We shall spend the weekend in and around

Seanhenge.

Alright, perhaps the name is a bit short. I shall ponder ...

The advantage of billionfold gay marriages

2009-11-11T23:55:00.003+01:00

As Nevin asked for thoughts about gay marriage:

Well, what about looking on the bright side?

Two generations of billionfold gay marriages,
and the problem of overpopulation will be solved.