WAR, n. A by-product of the arts of peace. The most menacing political condition is a period of international amity. The student of history who has not been taught to expect the unexpected may justly boast himself inaccessible to the light. "In time of peace prepare for war" has a deeper meaning than is commonly discerned; it means, not merely that all things earthly have an end — that change is the one immutable and eternal law — but that the soil of peace is thickly sown with the seeds of war and singularly suited to their germination and growth. It was when Kubla Khan had decreed his "stately pleasure dome" — when, that is to say, there were peace and fat feasting in Xanadu — that he
heard from afarAncestral voices prophesying war.
One of the greatest of poets, Coleridge was one of the wisest of men, and it was not for nothing that he read us this parable. Let us have a little less of "hands across the sea," and a little more of that elemental distrust that is the security of nations. War loves to come like a thief in the night; professions of eternal amity provide the night.
2009 Update: The contest by which two or more governments seek to extend national sovereignty into the provinces.
Feliz compleaños, Papi Brujo
16 comments:
War!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!!!
Ah, Sauerkraut beat me to it. Where's my gun?
(Excerpts from a really long poem)
...The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top.
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he !
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea. ...
oh man,
back in town and
ready for the word of the day
and there it is
WAR
first response
grap coffee/cigs
and walked out side
only to be confronted
by a picture on wsj
eu farmer squirting
milk at police
from his dairy cow
darn good hand work
on his part
Peace
In peace, there is prosperity.
In prosperity, there is consumption of resources.
In consumption of resources, there is scarcity.
In scarcity, there is demand.
In demand, there is conflict.
In conflict, there is frustration.
In frustration, there is anger.
In anger, there is war.
And all the "peace" protest signs in the world will change this not one jot.
Only continence will. But anyone who tried to impose bona fide sustainable living on We the People would probably start a war.
Bierce understood this.
Happy B-day, Papi Brujo!
I know not who that is, but I hope his day is a goodie.
I got caught up on the weekend story a couple of days late. I love the way you toss in references to actual scripture now and then. You know your Bible!
War: arguing with bullets and bombs - the one with the bigger and most bullets and bombs and the most people to use them usually wins.
war: what it sounds like in our kitchen when colleen comes home to find no one's done the dishes.
Why does Papi Brujo get a war on his birthday? What kind of celebration is that?!
WAR -- the infamous "my daddy is bigger than your daddy" pizzing contest done on a global scale.
(Should I apologize now or wait until you yell at me?)
So, the sibs get the word "brain," and Papa gets "war."
Is that fair?
Happy Birthday, Papi Brujo!
More birthdays. Happy B-day papi.
I have nothing to say on war either. It does bring in the money, but only to a few. Military Industrial Complex and all that....
It seems the nuclear bomb should have stymied that a bit, but stupid is as stupid does.
Doug, I hope you sensed an underlying need from you readers to tell us about Papi Brujo and how many years (Feliz Compleaños, Guy!) he has completed.
This has more interest than the war. I am pulling my war comments.
..
LOL Jim!
Say Papi Brujo no war!
Starrerkraut, I should have seen that one coming.
Nessa, revenge is still good for something, ain't it?
Coleridge, Karen. Well done.
Bear, if I knew you were coming I might have posted PEACE.
A revolution anyway, Amoeba. But probably just a lot of grousing. We don't need second cars or big boats or large plates of food but, by golly, don't try to stop us complaining.
JD, Papi Brujo is my stepfather, Enrique.
Tilden, war is what my kitchen sounds like when I do the dishes.
Quilly, would I raise my voice over war? Hardly.
The card game especially, Actonbell.
TLP, the words are pretty much chosen by circumstance at this point. Blame the tarot.
Gracias, Ariel.
Cooper, mutually assured destruction is only good if mutually insured injury isn't still an option.
Thanks, A-bell.
Jim, I did. Here's the story of the name: My stepfather is Argentine and the first time I met him on a visit home he was holding a book with the title Brujeria (witchcraft.) So I call him Papi Brujo (spanish for Daddy Warlock) and my own father Old Man. I think giving away someone's age on a blog would be inconsiderate, especially when it's considerable.
Ariel, in Enrique's case "Revolution! No war!" is the birthday greeting.
Happy Birthday, P. B. And when it comes to war or birthdays, consider this:
1: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3: A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance . . .
7: A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8: A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. . . .
10: I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11: He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12: I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13: And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour. . . .
Thanks for the birthday psalm, Qoholet. Turn, turn, turn.
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