A Moment of Silence

Re: # 54

beejay,

.... excellent post ....... you are absolutely right - we cannot abdicate our duties to the cause of freedom just because some natives in turbans and their fawning sympathizers in the west have chosen to parrot lies and half-truths over and over again............ the biggest culprit in this silliness is the liberal media that is always looking for a cause ......... watch it, as soon as the dead-enders have been exterminated inspite of their hue and cry, they will turn their attention to saving the spotted owl and prairie dog - a much better cause, i might add .............

Re: # 56 hamidm {``... we cannot abdicate our duties to the cause of freedom ...``}

On June 6, in a closed-door session, a Senate Intelligence Committee approved a bill. If Congress and the President agree (and the President certainly will), this bill will dramatically expand the FBI`s powers under the Patriot Act to issue secret administrative subpoenas for an unprecedented range of personal records without having to go to a judge. The FBI will then write its own subpoenas, just as British customs officials in the colonies did before the American Revolution when they used general search warrants (writs of assistance) to go into homes and offices at will. Here are the most controversial provisions of the Patriot Act. Under Sections 215 and 505 of the act, law enforcement officials are given broad access to ANY type of record - sales, library, financial, medical etc. - without having to show probable cause of ANY crime. The Patriot Act also forbids the holders of this information, such as university librarians and college registrars, from disclosing that they have ever provided such records to federal officials. The ``sneak-and-peak`` provision of the Patriot Act (Section 213) allows law enforcement agencies to conduct secret searches of anyone`s home or apartment - without a warrant and without even notifying the owner.

Much more could be added, but this is the ``surveillance state`` in full flight. The genuine Police State follows as a matter of course once the surveillance state is fully established. It is a constant of history that whenever a nation has engaged in external wars, internal repression has ALWAYS followed. In fact, the progression has worked both ways, internal repression followed by external war or external war followed by internal repression. The INTERNAL repression ALWAYS occurs.

Here is the real political reason as to why all this is happening. A June 13 USA Today poll showed that almost six in 10 Americans (59 percent) want a full or partial pullout of US troops from Iraq. In a New York Times/CBS News poll, President Bush`s approval rating dropped to 42 percent while 59 percent disapproved of his handling of Iraq. President Bush is losing on his own internal front.

On June 23, the US Supreme Court said that the US Constitution does NOT prohibit local governments from seizing private property for other private uses - so long as it is developed for the ``public benefit``. Under this ruling, an American`s private property can be taken by political means to be given to some other American! The 5-4 ruling clears the way for the condemnation of some private homes for a new office and retail complex. It gives other cities and towns more leeway to buy and raze homes, churches and other properties that yield little tax revenue. That`s the reason behind the ruling, increased tax revenues for American cities and towns collected by bureaucrats who can condemn somebody`s private property and then give it to somebody else who can afford to pay these bureaucrats more taxes. There will soon be a form of political ``escalator`` inside the US where if you can pay the higher taxes, you keep your ``property``. If you can`t, your ``property`` will be taken from you and given to someone who can.

Between them, this latest expansion of the Patriot Act and the Supreme Court ruling target dead centre what is going wrong inside the US. Political power, at all levels, Federal, State and local, is running amok. This is STATISM in its full flower. The sum of agencies of all levels of government have gained complete power over the Lives, Liberties and Estates of the general public who live their lives in civil society. Politically, this is in fact a blatant claim by government that all citizens ARE its property!

If there is no safe and secure private property and there is no privacy then sooner or later is there going to be any freedom or liberty?

...SR

Re: # 60

SR,

... stop being a dramatic alarmist !....... when they requisition my house and convert my garage into a stable for cavalry horses and take away my library card, then i will start worrying about it ............

......... in the meanwhile, i don`t mind giving up a few individual liberties to protect the homeland - after all, in case you haven`t heard, we are at war with a horrible enemy who does not play by any rule book except the one that was handed down by a rather vengeful god ......... every time i pass through the immigration counter at the airport, and lately it has been quite frequently, the poor inspector takes one look at the pakistani visa and starts asking the mandatory questions :``when did you last take training in an al-daeda camp``, `` ``do you know osama``, ``do you know mullah omar``, ``do you know urstruly and echoboom``, ``are you wearing a suicide belt``, `` when did you last take a shower``, ``can you fly a plane``, ``do you hate tall buildings``, `` have you blown up anyting lately``....... and so on ................ but i really don`t mind it, because at the end of it all they do smile and say ``welcome back home`` ............................ i would begin to worry if they didn`t ask those questions and let in somone who hates our way of life and wants to destroy what he does not understand and cannot build ............

hamidm Re: # 64 {``... i would begin to worry if they didn`t ask those questions and let in somone who hates our way of life and wants to destroy what he does not understand and cannot build ...``}

Okay, I understand. It`s a genuine difference in perspectives. You buy into the paranoia conjured up by the so-called ``liberal media`` that you otherwise pretend to decry. In return you are perfectly happy to surrender ``some`` of your liberty. But beware of the ``slippery slope``... Remember the slippery slope.. the one you often times refer to in other contexts? Let the camel stick his nose in your tent and before you know it the camel is in your tent and you are shivering outside in the cold sand.

This ``someone who hates our way of life`` is a miserable bungling bafoon... The only people he is a real threat to are his own... He`s no threat to the might and majesty of Rome...urr.. sorry wrong millennium... I mean, no threat to the might and majesty of Washington. These clowns are a mere inconvenience, they are dangerous, alright... but not to civilization... they are only dangerous to themselves. No more than an irritating fly that you can swat with a fast blow. But you don`t mind the overzealous housekeeper (or Janitor if you use BeeJay`s term) far exceeding his limit... you`ll let him cut off the fresh air by shuttering down all the french windows and roshandaans just because a miserable fly came in and fell in your tea cup. So now you are ready to cut out the light and the fresh air and draw the curtains, seal the windows and suffocate and sweat in the muggy heat... Well, that`s really smart....

I would feel too stuffy and wouldn`t worry about the few flies that might or might not come in if I left the place open and airy.

Now don`t go lecture me on the 3,000 dead in the twin towers... etc... etc... Look that was really bad, yes, but put it in perspective. Look at the scale. 50,000 die each year in auto accidents, 12,000 from drunk driving alone... will you be talking about banning Toyota and Merlot also? How about banning McDonalds for the 250,000 heart attacks attributed to fast food? Get real. Who is the alarmist here? Who is the one really paranoid? ``Protecting our way of life...`` Yeh right !!! ... my horse`s exhaust outlet...

...SR

(Enter the inspector)

Inspector Clue-so (IC): (looks around suspiciously)
Chowk Censor (CC): Hey, who are you?
IC: I’m Inspector Clue-so.
CC: You mean Clouseau.
IC: No, I mean Clue-so.
CC: What happened to Clouseau?
IC: We fired him.
CC: For what?
IC: Incompetence and disruptive behavior.
CC: (flutters eye lashes in wonder) At chowk! No way! Here we only reward people for bad behavior!
IC: Well, there was one more reason.
CC: What, because he’s dead and had a lousy name?
IC: No, he spoke terrible English.
CC: Hmmmm…What can I do for you?
IC: I have an arrest warrant here.
CC: For whom?
IC: (Trying to read) It says something like “M…. Mullah”
CC: You mean “Mad Mullah”! He doesn’t live here.
IC: Not him. (Trying harder) I think it says “Machiavellian Mullah”
CC: I disclaim knowing anybody by that name.
IC: Who DOES live here, anyway?
CC: Tempo, but he’s out!
IC: But that’s impossible. He’s NEVER out!
CC: Inspector, believe me! It CAN happen! He CAN resist posting on a board!
IC: That’s a tough fly to swallow! (Becoming suddenly suspicious) He hasn’t left his earthly abode and become a ghost, or something?
CC: (Changing topic quickly and fluttering eye-lashes, moves closer) You look handsome. That’s a nice gun you got! Can we elope together to Las vegas?
IC: (Shocked) Ma’m. I DO have my professional ethics. (To self) And standards.
CC: Why do they call you Clue-so, anyway?
IC: I look at clues.
CC: So?
IC: Exactly.

(Exit the inspector)

Re: # 52

...with a nick lik BJ... salim the strip manager comes to mind...who is currently busy unravelling the mysteries of mevlana rum...vaise temporal`s cc is cute chowki who imho has nothing to do with censoring...but you may carry on with your operation a la pink panther while i listen to henry mancini in the background...;)

Re: # 52

Dearest Janitor:

``Some appear to be more interested in the poet rather than the poem.``

The interest, if any, should only be geared towards the ``poem``. Its ``content``. And nothing else.

Thanks anyways Pink Panther.

Dear Naqshbandi

Heartening it is to finally witness some mature and savvy comments being made.
Naqshbandi these `defenders of freedom` feed ``misinformation`` with opaque and usurous hands. The truism that a white man`s life is kindled and considered 100 x more precious than that of the rest of the world is a menacingly aching neo-colonialist reality, an intoxication which afflicts us all- the developing world. No matter what our stripes.

The neo-con hang-over can only be undone by ``revolutions from below`` as opposed to ``revolutions from above``. In ``revolutions from below`` state apparatchiks are deemed null and void and the people render the uprising thereby legitimising ``authority`` through constant referenda.

``Westoxification`` spasms brown sahebs and chachas into ``paroxysms of mourning`` while the bleaker fields of casualties around the developing world harvest not a modicum of despair amongst Machiavelli`s children.

Naqshbandi as you acidly observe the ``ba-ba blacksheeps, uncle toms, mental slaves`` , the blah blah Blairs, the blahdy-daah Bushes shed selective crocodile tears when decorum dictates and protocol summons.

All consciousness has been eclipsed.
All Kalimah`s rebuked.
Except for ``la ilaha il America``

Though the pendulum of justice will swing over one day.

But justice is never served on a silver platter. Or fed with grapes.

Justice is never benignly granted. It must always be taken.

The question is not if.

But how and when.

This ought to be ``our`` struggle.

From cradle to grave.

From womb to tomb.

#26 by hamidm2:

[ i am really surprised farzana fell for this hoax - i always thought she had more brains than all the men on chowk put together .............]

Well, while I sincerely hope you (and just you for now) do not alter your opinion about my intelligence, I will still go ahead and ask: In what way have I fallen for ``this hoax``? Is he (heck, it could be a she for all I care) a hoax only because he is saying something different from your world-view? Can both not co-exist even if they be at odds with each other?

In my earlier post I had quoted Woody Allen who said that 9/11 was too small an event. Would you ask the oh-so-Manhattan Allen the queries you pose here? If you feel that this poet`s religious leanings are reflected in this work, then the responses reveal the opposite leanings too. How much objectivity is there then?

I am aware that you have a different take, am aware of it since the day you responded to my poem, or `poem` posted a day after the disaster on the same theme. Your point is valid from one perspective, but there is another one. Since I hold more or less the same views as expressed here (and expressed by me earlier), I cannot possibly be taken in by any `hoax`.

About the literary gaps, I already voiced my opinion...I am surprised at your comment, ``.......... once again, i ask the chowk staff to ban ozer from this forum and pull this horrible piece of gibberish before the children see it ................``

Children are wise. It is the juvenile adults that need to be watched.

PS: There are four new poems put up by Chowk for your reading pleasure!
- - -
#27,29:

Ozer:

Constructive criticism is all you will get from me...and I do feel your response #28 was not quite in order.

[``Both are hunters with hungry intent``? Why kill your own lines?
FV sometimes a stab to one`s own style is uplifting. It puntures any traces of ego.]

If the ego is identity, I see no reason for you to puncture it. You have to decide whether reaching out or renunciation is your goal. It is clear you wish to get your message across, so forget about stabbing your style, and perhaps start some pruning?

[”Also, the use of some words in Caps appeared self-conscious- the flow should be its own emphasis.”
If anything they were “sub-conscious”]

If you wish to raise the conscience, then you have to be conscious.

[Ebbing towards a “Dead Poet`s Society” ?]

Indeed. For the ghosts, the past, are then not dug away or distilled to fall in designated heaps and tagged with labels that flutter like pennants. Without rhyme or reason, as the saying goes...

Re: # 48


Farzana

As always thanks for the insight-driven feedback. I do acquiesce with thee that my interact #28 was below the belt. I’m not proud of it. I normally do rise above the fray and the mass hysteria in the infant-like playgrounds of Chowk, yet if you see all of Hamid M`s and his lackey appendage Beejay`s numerous slanderous comments, both merited a long overdue type-lashing. Though I must concede my type-lashing could have been done more gracefully. Point taken.

Now that one of them, Beejay, has comeback with an “iota” of pseudo-intellect I will counter him diplomatically of course. A certain cyber-ghost says to a certain cyber-witch that life is all about “grace”. I have realised how very infantile interactions can be on these fora and I will ONLY answer the relevant ones, as I have hitherto done so.

As for any purported allegations by cyber-war mongrels of a “hoax” a simple adage would suffice:

“For those who believe no explanation is necessary. For those who do not none will suffice”.

#35 Ozer

Sorry, I’m in a hurry, so quickly….

I should have known that you’d ignore virtually all of my legitimate questions – not answer a single one and instead simply harp on what you had already parroted earlier. If you wish to salvage the slightest bit of dignity out of this worthless exercise, you may consider responding to items (1)-(5) in #33.

The question you ask (in #35) in your own unique style (or perhaps not so unique around here, since it’s really accurately described by the term moronic) is highly rhetorical. The speciously obvious answer to your rhetorical question is of course – one atrocity does not justify another. The asinine assumption that super-turkeys (and I mean no disrespect to the country) like you (and third-rate bogus dimwit writers like Farzana) imply is that U.S. intervention in Iraq rises to that definition of an atrocity – a statement so absurd that in most cases, there is no need to answer it. However, I have no problem in giving you a fitting answer in such simple and lucid terms that even you, at your microscopic level of intelligence, can understand. I would like to hold off on my comments on that, since putting them here would partially preempt my next i-log (which I am currently drafting). If this piece of your garbage is still around anywhere in the vicinity of FP then, I’ll make sure to paste in extracts from that. So, hold on with baited breath, and continue with this pseudo-intellectual master-bay-shun, in which, like all such activities, the pleasure is strictly one-sided.

#36 Dr. LokRaj
I believe there was an urgent page for your services from the board entitled “Faraz”, which may be of better service to mankind than anything we see here on this crappy piece here.

Re: # 46

Beejay you vacuously and predictably require me to respond to items (1)-(5) in #33. But you have not asked a single question ! Your innate contradictions are becoming quite a transparent paradox on this fora. You merely rendered lofty assertions in #33. So there is nothing to answer. The one question you ask about Kashmir has already been given coverage to in the poem itself.

Now courteously take your broom and mop elsewhere. Good janitor that you are.

#8, scout {``this whole `moment of silence,` `month of silence,` `lifetime of silence` ``}

IS IT TOO MUCH TOO ASK THAT YOU REMAIN SILENT FOR A MOMENT, ANY MOMENT?

ozer,

a good idea to illustrate the sheer hypocrisy of the so-called `defenders of freedom`--it has always been thus: one white man`s life is considered 100 x more precious than that of the rest of the world--especially that of muslims.

3000 odd people died in 9/11 and the whole world and their chacha went into paroxysms of mourning yet no one cares about the millions of muslims killed before and since. 60, 000 civilians in Iraq already by conservative estimates. that alone is 20 times the number of 9/11. the ba-ba blacksheeps and uncle toms and mental slaves and house negroes are crying even today because a few thousand of their master`s people got killed but they don`t care about the millions of third world people being killed.

(not that 9/11 wasn`t wrong--it WAS wrong but that doesn`t justify the rest of the killing. those whose kalimah is la ilaha il America (ppl like hamidm and others on this forum) are crying tears even now ; the lives of those whose kalimah is la ilaha il Allah Muhammadur Rasul Allah (sal allahu alayhi wa sallam) do not count for these baysharam people...

Re: # 44

naqsh,

...... i guess you didn`t hear bush say, ``we must fight them there so that we don`t have to fight them here``........... i, for one, subscribe to that logic especially since i just planted some petunias this morning - here ........ besides, the barbaric people of those god forsaken places need to be civilized - the world cannot afford to let them languish in the seventh century ..........

of rhyme and reason..........

............ sometimes there are things that are bereft of rhyme but have some reason, and sometimes there are lines that rhyme and are pleasing to the ear, but have no reason, and then there is this ....... this, a thing with no rhyme or reason ..........

............ by now, i think, everyone agrees that ozer is no line manager - that is, a poet - so let`s see if there is any reason behind this garbage without meter, form or rythm ..........

............he starts off with a mealymouthed expression of sympathy for the victims of 9/11 and then launches into a diatribe against the west and its ``crimes`` against the poor muslims wo were simply sitting around in their suicide belts enjoying the bamiyan buddahs being tumbled down before moving on to a fun filled evening of beheadings and hangings at the kabul stadium .......... he talks about the plight of the poor palestinians - everyone talks about these idiots - conveniently forgetting that they had everthing that they are now asking for in 1967 but chose to gamble it away because they were greedy and just plain stupid ............. then, his lament moves on to kashmir and ramadi and falluja as if there was some kind of a link beween them - what is the connection, except that they are all inhabited by followers of an insidious ideology that is at war with itself and everything else ? ............. and just to show his even handedness, he throws in a few lines about argentina and mexico and somalia - uh ? ......... or ``duh?`` as they say in more intellectual circles ...................

.......... once again, i ask the chowk staff to ban ozer from this forum and pull this horrible piece of gibberish before the children see it ................


p.s. i also suggest that all ``poetry`` should be reviewed by temporal and saminasha before being posted