Friday, July 30, 2010

Because if, maybe

Do you know how long you'll live, how long you'll tell them what filth they are, how long you'll sway here in this cage?

Yes.

But you'll still do it?

Yes.

Why? Do you like being pointless?

It isn't pointless.

Why not, you said it was. Why?

Because if I do it forever, maybe at the end of forever they'll let me die.



--Harlan Ellison, “Silent in Gehenna,” 1971

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Lyrical IIII

Marilyn Manson
I don't like the drugs
But the drugs like me

Orgy
Message from Opticon
Guess what? You're out of time

Mark Chesnutt
And then if she's still on my mind I'll try to drink enough to drown the hurt
And if that don't work
I'll think of something

John Denver
Come let me love you
Let me give my life to you
Come love me again

Rolling Stones
I'll be in my basement room
With a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away

Shakira
Solo tu sabes bien quien soy
Y por eso es tuyo mi corazon

Strong Bad
Oh that skinny blonde girl
And the circles and the ages and the ages

K's Choice
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)
Nothing means a thing to me

Coheed and Cambria
Bye bye, Beautiful
Don't bother to write

Friday, July 23, 2010

Sons of Norway

Sons of Norway!

http://sonsofnorwayblog.blogspot.com/




http://www.sofn.com/home/index.jsp


(Norway is district 8 -- Ha ha.)


As of December 31, 2009:
Total Members: 66,342
Members in the United States: 62,022
Members in Canada: 2,873
Members in Norway: 1,447

Monday, July 19, 2010

Definition of “Oof da”

Oof da is:

-trying to pour two buckets of manure into one bucket
-trick-or-treating in a blizzard
-eating hot soup with a runny nose
-discovering that your blind date is your teacher
-having more miles on your snowblower than on your car
-sneezing so hard that your false teeth end up in the bread plate
-knowing that somewhere in Minnesota is a flagpole with a frozen piece of your tongue still attached to it
-seeing non-Norwegians at a lutefisk dinner using lefse as a napkin
-waking yourself up in church with your own snoring

Sunday, July 04, 2010

mourn

“I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”

--Frederick Douglass, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech, New York, Rochester, 1852 July 5

liberators

“They said they came to liberate us. Liberate us from what? They came and said they would free us. Free us from what? We have traditions, morals, and customs. We are Arabs. We’re different from the West. Baghdad is the mother of Arab culture, and they want to wipe out our culture, absolutely.”

--Mohammed Abdullah, as quoted in Fiasco: The American Military Adventure In Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks, 2006

no instance

“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.”

--Sun Tzu, The Art of War, 6th Century BCE

Friday, July 02, 2010

Sivas Massacre

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The Sivas massacre (Turkish: Madımak Olayları or Sivas Katliamı) refers to the events of July 2, 1993 which resulted in the deaths of 33 Alevi intellectuals and two hotel employees. The victims, who had gathered for a cultural festival in Sivas, Turkey, were killed when a mob of radical Islamists set fire to the hotel where the group had assembled.

"The attack took place not long after traditional Friday prayers, when the mob broke through police barricades to surround the Otel Madımak, where artists, writers and musicians had gathered to celebrate 16th century Alevi poet Pir Sultan Abdal. Reportedly angered by the presence of Aziz Nesin, a writer who had translated and published extracts from Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, the enraged fundamentalists surrounded the hotel, shouting 'Death to the infidel!' and threatening the assembled artists with lynching. The hotel was set alight, and the fire claimed 35 lives, including those of musicians, poets, tourists and hotel staff, while assembled police did nothing to intervene. Aziz Nesin was able to escape only because attackers initially failed to recognize him. According to reports, when rescuers eventually realized his identity, he was beaten by firemen while a city councilman from the Welfare Party shouted, 'This is the devil we should have really killed.'

"The event was seen as a major assault on free speech and human rights in Turkey, one which seriously deepened the rift between religious and secular segments of society. After lengthy court proceedings, the State Security Court sentenced 33 people to death on 28 November 1997 for their roles in the massacre; 31 of these sentences were upheld in a 2001 appeal. When Turkey overturned the death penalty just over a year later in 2002, the sentences were commuted to life in prison.

"Each year on the anniversary of the massacre, demonstrators hold protests and vigils to commemorate the victims of the fire. Many wish to see the hotel, which has since re-opened, declared a memorial and turned into a museum. In 2008 a government minister indicated that it would be turned into an Alevi cultural center, but this has yet to occur. In June 2010, the Minister of Work and Social Security announced that the money for buying the hotel had been transferred, and that the Ministry would provide additional resources for restoration."

Flag Variations

"Blood Flag"


"Black-Spangled Banner"


"Reverse Black-Spangled Banner Against All-White"


"Reverse Flag"


"Blue Barcode Stain"


"Grey Grille"


"Orange Reverse"


"Pink Grille"


"Vomit Grille"


"Barcode Stain
(Black-Spangled Banner Against All-White)"


Flag Variations
Radigan Neuhalfen
2010