Thursday, October 23, 2008

Social Perversity in Turkey

... or: 'Social reality' in Turkey

Variations on a dialogue (in 2010?):

1.

- You say you have been gang raped by bureaucrats, men of law, politicians and an 80-year-old retired general?!

- Yes.

- What’s your age?

- 13.

- So you should go home and tell your parents.

- ?

- They can file a complaint if they wish.

- But it’s me who …

- You are too young to differentiate what is rape and what is love.

- But …

- Your family will know how to restore your family’s honour. Farewell.

***

2.

- So you say, the day before yesterday you have been gang raped by bureaucrats, men of law, politicians and an 80-year-old retired general?!

- Yes.

- What’s your age?

- The day before yesterday?

- Yes.

- 13.

- So you should go home and tell your parents. They can file a complaint if they wish.

- But, why can’t I …

- You are too young to differentiate what is rape and what is love.

- But I am married.

- With 13?!

- No, yesterday was my birthday. And my wedding.

- Well, but that was yesterday. You were still 13 when …

- My husband got 500 dollars f …

- He was not your husband the day before yesterday, hm?

- No. … eh …Yes.

- You are obviously slightly confused. Go home, tell your parents and your husband, and they will know how to restore your family's honour. Good night and good luck.


Irreal?

Well, read this, and then go on talking.

h/t Internation musings

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Off I go

... - and Monday I'll be back.

Well, in case Frankfurt doesn't turn out to become my Mersin. :)

Either way, it's all part of Omnium.

Thus, enjoy life.

:) Hm, one never knows, therefore: May those I treated unfair forgive me.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Apples and an appeal

This is the last apple I picked this afternoon.

Good harvest it was. One apple per day ...
And the best of all:



Again I did not fall from the ladder. :)

Well, and now Mrs. J. does insist on us having a glass of red, as after midnight I shall not be as young as I am now. :)
Sláinte.

October 12th, 1492

The American who discovered Columbus first,
made a fatal discovery.

Der Amerikaner, der den Kolumbus zuerst entdeckte,

machte eine böse Entdeckung. [G 183]


Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742 - 1799)

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Wordy Wednesday VI

This morning, noticing that Bock the Robber had posted an entry titled McCain and Palin — The Certainty of the Know-Nothings, expecting another of his glorious rants I moved over and ... got moved. Why? Read his words, watch the video, and you will know.

Visiting Ardent, you will come to know why I did wholeheartedly laugh about ... the Angel of Death. Enjoy! :)

I had just started to understand what Woody Allen had been refering to when stating: 'I am not frightened of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens', when a poem by Simin Bebhahani let my laughter die.

Well, and thanks to Internation Musing I came to read a nice 'Rolling Stones'-article not just about Sarah Palin.
Indeed: 'The scariest thing about John McCain's running mate isn't how unqualified she is - it's what her candidacy says about America'.

Wherewith this post's circle has come full. :)

The peace of the night.

Bow to Brel

...in a man's life, there are two important dates: his birth and his death. Everything we do in between is not very important.
Jacques Brel (April 8th, 1929 - October 9th, 1978)
This may be so. On the other side, there lies a grain of truth in what I think George Santayana once stated (trying to translate):

At death the leopard leaves behind its coat,
and man his reputation.
Well, and some would leave behind some wonderful chansons.



Although I find this one more impressive (judge yourself), for those who do not speak French I chose the version that's offered with English subtitles.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

A very guttural Sláinte, Sir


Same procedure as last year?

Same procedure as every year!

Well, almost. This time you've to read 68 and 97.


Enough written.
I am off now with my only man to meet the birthday child in 'The Third Policeman'.
Wishing you the best of Omnium, if you know what I mean.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Shhh ...

My thoughts are with you, Janice.


Sometimes words are shallow, however deep from the bottom of one's heart they may come.

And therefore, I have been hesitating.

However, one title, one picture, a poem and some added lines have touched me so deeply that I wish you may also see them and - who knows? - ponder about ... share my thoughts and feelings and ... gain a bit new strength ... for life.

Yes!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

A trustworthy successor

Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthyness.
G.W. Bush, August 30th, 2000 during a CNN online chat

A worthy successor

What I'm suggesting to you is, if you can't name the foreign minister of Mexico, therefore, you know, you're not capable of what you do. But the truth of the matter is you are, whether you can or not.
G.W. Bush, November 6th, 1999 - Seattle Post-Intelligencer


US-Smurfs to protect 'their' people


As I stated some days ago here at Bock the Robber's:


Not that I’m prone to conspiracy theories, but in context with what has happened during the past eight years, and what is happening right now - you all will know what I am refering to; if not, please ask -, I found reading
this interesting, if not disturbing.

Why? Focusing on the most ... interesting sentences, here's an extract:

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
[...]
“Right now, the response force requirement will be an enduring [1] mission. How the [Defense Department] chooses to source that and whether or not they continue to assign them to NorthCom, that could change in the future,” said Army Col. Louis Vogler, chief of NorthCom future operations. “Now, the plan is to assign a force every year.”
[...]
They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
[...]
The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
The package is for use only in war-zone operations, not for any domestic domestic purpose [2]
.

Who knows? Even Col. Clutiers doesn't.
“I don’t know what America’s overall plan is — I just know that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that are standing by to come and help if they’re called,” Cloutier said. “It makes me feel good as an American to know that my country has dedicated a force to come in and help the people at home.”
Good night, America. And good luck.


[1] I like this word. Seems the US-citizens can be sure of living in 'enduring freedom'.
[2] As far as I remember, this very sentence had been 'forgotten' in the original version, which seems to have been updated September 30th. Well, nice correction, anyway.


P.S.
The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced “sea-smurf”).
Now, isn't this a funny name? ... Ha. Ha. Ha.

In case you've forgotten

Wishful thinking


May (y)our October become neither a black nor a red but a(nother) golden one.