Welcome to Saturday ...

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:00am

Dresdner Frauen-Karla is one of a series of eleven monumental sculptural busts of women which commemorate the destruction of Dresden at the end of World War II. Baselitz grew up not far from the city, and remembered its destruction vividly. He wanted to pay homage to what he called the "rubble women," who he believed embodied the reconstruction efforts of a broken city.

An interlude of sorts today ...

Children’s fingerprints
On a frozen window
Of a small schoolhouse.

An empire, I read somewhere,
Maintains itself through
The cruelty of its prisons.

January ~ Charles Simic

Le Pont Traversé

Despite her composure, it’s hard to accept that Le Pont Traversé—which means “The Crossed Bridge,” a name borrowed from a dreamy 1921 short story by the French writer Jean Paulhan—will disappear from the Parisian literary landscape. Formerly a “very ugly” butcher’s shop, according to Josée, the bookstore known for its midnight blue façade has catered for decades to poetry and art book lovers, or just about anyone with a weakness for rare editions.https://lithub.com/the-quiet-death-of-a-legendary-parisian-bookstore/?ut...

~~~

Once a woman went into the woods.
The birds were silent. Why? she said.
Thunder, they told her,
thunder is coming.
She walked on, and the trees were dark
and rustled their leaves. Why? she said.
The great storm, they told her,
the great storm is coming.
She came to the river, it rushed by
without reply, she crossed the bridge,
she began to climb
up to the ridge where grey rocks
bleached themselves, waiting
for crack of doom,
and the hermit
had his hut, the wise man
who had lived since time began.
When she came to the hut
there was no one.
But she heard his axe.
She heard
the listening forest.
She dared not follow the sound
of the axe. Was it
the world-tree he was felling?
Was this the day?

Sound of the Axe ~ Denise Levertov

~~~

Tags:

Open Thread

Vote

Comments

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 5:53am

(No subject)

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 5:55am

hum, essay edit feature missing?

@smiley7

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 6:13am

comment edit feature seems to be missing too /nt

@smiley7

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:58am

and now the comment edit feature is back !

@mimi
JtC the magician did it again. Thanks.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by QMS on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 7:26am

Morning Smiley

links and kinks working ok here
have a good one

—

Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.
-- August Hare

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:03pm

Afternoon QMS,

@QMS

Batten the hatches, comes to mind. Thanks for being here.

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 7:54am

Good Morning Smiley

As a German American I am embarrassed I don't already know this, but does anyone know why Dresdan was hit so hard? I know why Hamburg was bombed, but what was the strategic reasoning for destroying the city of Dresdan?

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by Wally on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:05am

The bombing of Dresden

@Anja Geitz

. . . . is the basis for Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five.

Vonnegut was a soldier and went into the city after the bombing: http://www.renegadetribune.com/kurt-vonnegut-bombing-dresden-world-war-i...

He wrote:

You guys burnt the place down, turned it into a single column of flame. More people died there in the firestorm, in that one big flame.. than died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:10am

For what ever reason I couldn't access the video

@Wally

Does he mention why the Americans bombed Dresdan in the video?

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:22am

try this one

@Anja Geitz
try this one
I haven't watched it yet

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:32am

there is a video from the archives from 1997

@mimi
in it.
[video:https://youtu.be/Oyw5vFe4Kcs]

American writer Kurt Vonnegut was best known for his book Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death (1969), which is a satirical novel about World War II experiences and journeys through time of a soldier named Billy Pilgrim. Vonnegut’s use of the firebombing of Dresden as a central event makes the novel semi-autobiographical, as he was present during the bombing. It changed his life forever. Here is a speaking appearance in 1997 where he discusses this topic

.
Vonnegut's speech goes on for 1 1/2 hours.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:56am

roaming around the Renegrade Tribune for the first time

@mimi @mimi
I come to the conclusion that I don't like the site much. May be someone whose judgement I would trust can tell me what they think about it?

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Wally on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:31am

Here's the direct link (Dresden bombing)

@Anja Geitz

The debate about the bombing is covered here in Wikipedia.

The direct link to the video about Dresden and Vonnegut:
https://youtu.be/Oyw5vFe4Kcs?list=WL

[video:https://youtu.be/Oyw5vFe4Kcs?list=WL]

Submitted by Dawn's Meta on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:38am

Happy New Year, Anja.

@Anja Geitz @Anja Geitz Your question has caused me to do some research, as I too do not know the why. Here are some links to analysis:

The Telegraph

Excellent write up on Wiki:
Wiki Article
Another POV. Many reasons, but one not seen much...warning to Stalin.

An internal RAF memo spreads some light on the reason for the bombing:

“Dresden, the seventh largest city in Germany and not much smaller than Manchester, is also far the largest unbombed built-up the enemy has got. In the midst of winter with refugees pouring westwards and troops to be rested, roofs are at a premium. The intentions of the attack are to hit the enemy where he will feel it most, behind an already partially collapsed front, to prevent the use of the city in the way of further advance, and incidentally to show the Russians when they arrive what Bomber Command can do.”

It seems then and now it comes to killing civilians and the normal infrastructures for daily life.

War is hell, and always will be.

—

A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 10:30am

Thank you Dawn's Meta

@Dawn's Meta

I knew the bombing of Dresden was controversial, but that explanation, if true, makes sense. It's sickening to read, in either case, and I don't care if Germany "deserved" it or not. Too many non combatants, meaning women and children die in war. And too many people justify that with military rationales. Changes nothing in my eyes. War is death, disease, destruction, and suffering for those being targetted. Profits and gain for those waging it. You'd think after hundreds of years of evolution we would've gone the route of negotiation and peace instead of finding better ways of killing each other.

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 11:08am

But, Anja ~~

@Anja Geitz
they will always justify killing because there's no money in peace.

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 12:01pm

Yes, they will

@Raggedy Ann

But why haven't "we", as the people, become attuned to what they are doing?

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by Lily O Lady on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 1:28pm

Because those in power know how to exploit emotions.

@Anja Geitz

That’s when thought goes out the door.

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by Mark from Queens on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 5:36pm

Greetings good folks of C99

@Lily O Lady
To sum up this exchange (and the latest insanity unleashed by the Orange Buffoon malleable to the evangelical Christian Fascists), this quote by Herman Goering at the Nuremberg Trials seems appropriate:

Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?

Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood.

But after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or fascist dictorship, or a parliament or a communist dictatorship.

Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.

All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace makers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.

—

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Sun, 01/05/2020 - 2:31pm

Leave it to the modern age to add a new twist

@Mark from Queens

Small "defenseless" (har de har har) nation claims it is being attacked, or in danger of being attacked, by its neighbors and Big Bad Daddy HAS to come and "help" them.

Meanwhile said small "defenseless" country is oppressing its own minority citizens, riling up its neighbors, and just generally being A Pain In The Ass.

And Big Bad Daddy falls for it, every single time.

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:12pm

Afternoon Anja,

@Anja Geitz

Dresden, a war crime among crimes being committed; my Dad thought it was wrong. Anyways If you haven't read or seen Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut speaks as he did to me in everything i read from him, highly recommend.

Happy c99er's filled in the particulars.

Given the headline news, thought it was appropriate to ask why, again?

"War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing."

Thanks for being here.

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 8:48am

Good morning, smiley ~~

Offered without comment but in complete agreement.

“Right now is the moment to decide if you are pro-peace or not,” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat.
“The cheerleaders of war, removed from its true cost, will gladly convince you that up is down – just as they did in Iraq in ‘03.
But war does not establish peace.
War does not create security.
War endangers us all.”

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:16pm

Afternoon RA,

@Raggedy Ann
"War does not create security. War endangers us all.” Spot on, always has, always will.

No added commentary needed to this truth.

Thanks for being here.

Submitted by magiamma on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 9:22am

morning smiley

and everyone...

At the break of the Iraq war I worked in the Valley at Sun Microsystems in building 23, second floor (as one of the thirty (I am being generous actually) or so women engineers in a company of iirc maybe 2300.)

Anyway, The Day The War Broke I saw, from my office window, big, big air carriers taking off from Moffett Field every twenty minutes or so, maybe less. For days. Weeks. Big Planes full of equipment going to Iraq. Unreal. Foreboding. We were a mile or so away from the field. All day. I no longer remember how many soldiers died, but I checked the body count every day of that fucking war. Every Day.

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:20pm

Our protests could not stop the warmongers in charge, magi,

@magiamma

"When the 'fuck' will 'they' ever learn?" Sang this song in my teens and college years and understood it, and more than fifty years have gone by and peace is still the answer.

Thanks for being here.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 10:09am

Hola smiley! Political assassination as an act of policy is a

violation of international conventions. Were the victim a terrorist it is quite likely that would still be the case. Qasem Soleimani, however, is per the definition thereof not a terrorist. Like brigands, terrorists cannot be members of a country's military; the CIA could be terrorists and arguably brigands as well, but not any member of the US military. The same holds for foreign powers.

As I went through my day yesterday snippets of bullshit wafted to my ears from various experts, talking heads and politicians. Some times I would even pause to hear the next sentence or two. One only made oblique reference to Obama, who made a habit of assassinating foreign persons on foreign soil as an instrument of policy. Even that one, however, didn't address the fact that there is absolutely nobody in this country who could credibly assert that some foreign person was planning an attack on the US or was any sort of terrorist. It has been decades since anybody has ever presented any evidence of any of the myriads of such allegations and assertions. It doesn't matter what trump and his minions assert, were it known to be true, because it isn't and can't be and can't be held to have been believable or believed by anybody involved.

Just something I had to put out there.

Have a good one.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:28pm

Hear, hear, el,

@enhydra lutris

you verbalize the thoughts behind today's interlude; time to ask what the fuck we doing, destroying the whole world because 'god' told trump to kill Soleimani as i heard from last evening's evangelicals.

Hence the metaphor of the closing of Le Pont Traversé.

Thanks for being here.

Submitted by randtntx on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 11:09am

Spice routes.

Spice trade. Mmmm, spices. The smell of some spices cooking, the smell of gently toasting spices over a flame. Evocative. All this sparks images of exotic travel, exotic places, exotic customs... dress...plants... animals...food...architecture...art...mosaics. Fantastical tales, delicious cuisine.

The spice trade helped build Venice. Black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Trade in all the spices plus olive oil, sesame seeds, dates, sumac, chickpeas, mint, rice, and parsley gave the early Europeans some much sought after flavor. Pistachios, figs, pomegranates, came originally from the fertile crescent.

Now, here, we eat kebabs, dolma, falafel, baklava, baba ghanoush, humus, labneh, and tabbouleh. We spice our dishes with zatar, garlic, sumac, cloves, lemon juice, and coriander. I will never get to taste the famous Aleppo pepper in Aleppo. I do have seeds though and am grateful.

One of the first things we did this morning was make a pot of coffee. The original bean from coffee arabica was first found in Yemen and documented in the 12th century.

Venice became so strong and rich in part because of trade. We still get to taste the benefits from that trade. How wonderful. But Ruskin's stones of Venice are in peril. Like the stones were in Dresden, and the stones of Baghdad. And more to come.
Life could be so rich if we worked toward the end of making it so.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:33pm

Afternoon randtntx,

@randtntx

Venice became so strong and rich in part because of trade. We still get to taste the benefits from that trade. How wonderful. But Ruskin's stones of Venice are in peril. Like the stones were in Dresden, and the stones of Baghdad. And more to come.
Life could be so rich if we worked toward the end of making it so.
up

Gardens of Babylon also gone, drained ...

Comforting to be here here with you and others in 'these' times.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 1:17pm

Awesome tweet

Update:

Bolton has been released from the hospital, but he is still hard as a rock.

— CNM (@CNMneews) January 4, 2020

Word is filtering about new attacks on the Green Zone and elsewhere in Iraq. People are being warned to stay well away from any US base too. I think that if Iran does not immediately retaliated for the assassination there are plenty of regular folks in Iraq that are fed up with what we have done to their country going back to the Clinton sanctions that killed more that 750,000 people.

Also Soleimani may have been next in line for Iran's president. He was very close to Khamenei

—

If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.

Submitted by smiley7 on Sat, 01/04/2020 - 4:35pm

A donkey's ass has but one end, snoopy and Bolton is it.

@snoopydawg