Studs Terkel....."Curiosity didn't kill this Cat!"

So farewell then Studs....

When I first came to this country, I was in Borders & there in the discounted books, I discovered a gem...."Will the circle be unbroken...".

In summary, it was a reflective work. Studs doing what he did so best & so effortlessly- putting ordinary Americans at ease & acquiring their lifetime of insight on the topic in hand...this particular topic was on life, death & faith...as we get older we tend to focus on our destiny & ultimate journey.

It was a comment on American Society of that snapshot in time then that such a book be discarded & ignored so easily , to be put in the “marked down” section so soon after publication.

The humanity of Terkel's prose & his ability to let the true America speak....softly, quietly in these pages....away from all the chattering classes & masses, the talk-radio clan - the diatribes, the wingnuts of either side - made me realize and thankful for this country that I am honored to be a resident.

As I began to voraciously read this & his other "tomes"...the Pulitzer prize winner "The Good War", "Hope dies last", "American Dreams", "Working" , "Hard Times"...among others, I found one, "Coming of Age" to be his unbidden masterwork...it was reflections on the 20th century by those who had lived it...It's still a work that I read from time to time...simply for grounding myself & realizing how fortunate we are for the previous generations' toil, effort and sacrifice before us.

We were out (the better half & I) last night - It was our anniversary. On the radio, it was announced that Studs had passed to that "big rally in the sky". As we got out of the car, I said to my wife...how ironic that he should go just before the election on Tuesday to see a son of an immigrant, a community activist from his own town of Chicago be on the ballot of President of the United States. As I said this, I felt a chill , not a chill of cold or some eerie Halloween phenomenon but a shiver no a tremor of emotion on the whole import of the moment of his passing in such a time in our history.

The fact that the candidate is of African heritage would be a celebration of all that Studs believed & espoused about this wonderful, wonderful country. Studs was a light to me & countless others in some dark times...now that he is gone, it's time to pick up his torch & lead on. Studs Terkel was a true American superhero.

Leading is not some ego filled pastime but simply to do good in your life & the lives of others. It's time for our generation to do the same as previous ones and work for our kids & grandkids. Ensure that they have worthwhile lives too!

To those of you reading this, read Stud's work, read it & be filled with hope..the hope that good always wins out in the end.

http://dlv1.matrix.msu.edu:8080/ramgen/terkel/a0/a1/terkel-a0a1i9-b.rm
This is a clip from interviews he did on a train ride to Washington DC for a civil rights march. 54 weeks before I came into the world...a fitting finale before next Tuesday.

Turn a different corner....

No, not the George Michael song...a very interesting interview in Newsweek today.
A message of hope on Easter weeekend!

Shifa Al Qudsi was arrested on her way to detonate a bomb strapped to her in Israel. She spent 6 years in an Israeli prison and came to another & braver realisation. The former hairdresser turned "a different corner" so to speak....this is her story as related to Joanna Chen;

Words Over Weapons
A would-be Palestinian suicide bomber explains why she has changed her mind about violence against Israelis

Joanna Chen
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 6:11 PM ET Mar 21, 2008
In an audiotape released this week, Osama bin Laden urges Palestinians to shun negotiations with Israel in favor of armed resistance. In spite of such calls, however, pleas for talks are coming from unexpected players on both sides of the divide. One of them, Shifa al-Qudsi, recently finished serving a six-year sentence in an Israeli prison for planning to carry out a suicide bombing. Back in 2002 the Palestinian had been fitted with an explosive belt by Fatah's Al Aqsa military brigade but was arrested shortly before carrying out her deadly mission. Since then al-Qudsi, now 30, has undergone a radical change of heart and today insists that a solution can be achieved only through dialogue. NEWSWEEK's Joanna Chen met with al-Qudsi at her family home in the West Bank town of Tulkarem and heard why violence isn't an option and life is worth living after all. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What made you want to blow yourself and other people up six years ago?
I was motivated by all the suffering that was going on around me, and at the time it seemed the right thing to do. Palestinians were getting killed inside their own homes, farmers were unable to work on their own lands, innocent children were being oppressed. All of this created an atmosphere of violence.

What did those years in prison do to you?
It was very difficult for me. I sat there for a long time and came to the conclusion there must be an alternative to this path of death and violence. We have to find a better way to reach our objective.

Was there a certain moment when you realized that blowing people up might not be the right way?
I had the chance to read a lot while I was in jail. I read about Mahatma Gandhi and how he obtained his objective of peace without raising a weapon or throwing a stone. I tried to think of a way to do the same in my own country. I think words can express better the suffering of Palestinian prisoners and the wish for peace between two peoples. I don't need to blast my body to bits and kill other people. Today I believe that words are more powerful than weapons.

Even between enemies?
The reality has already been imposed on us. We can't start talking about getting back historical Palestine, and I'm resigned to the fact that there are two nations who can live on this land. There should be peace and quiet not just for the Israelis but for the Palestinians.

What would you say to people who still think that attacks are the way to go?
Many people before me carried out suicide attacks and others will continue to do so if the situation doesn't improve. However, I tell them now: enough. We have created a lot of problems and a lot of destruction on both sides, and the time has come for us to engage in dialogue.

Would you say that to your brother, who's serving 18 years in an Israeli jail for an attempted suicide bombing?
My youngest brother is in jail because he was caught inside Israel wearing a suicide belt. He was only 15 and a half. I consider this blackmail and exploitation of my brother. He was too young to have been able to make this decision on his own, and so I consider what happened to him a crime from our own side. He should never have been exploited this way. When I decided to blow myself up I was convinced this was right and I was old enough to make my own decision, but not my brother.

Your daughter was just seven when you were sent to prison. How did you explain your willingness for her to grow up without a mother?
We've talked about it a lot. She blamed me for leaving her, although I tried to explain to her that I had bigger issues to deal with. I don't want to say that I regret my former mission, but at the same time I know I should have thought of my daughter more and should have made her [my] priority. What will make an impact is not a suicide belt that I strap to myself but education. A bomb only creates casualties and more violence. If I can equip my daughter with education, that will make a change.

What do you tell your daughter today about Israelis?
The most important message for my daughter is that Israelis are not all carriers of weapons and not all of them want to kill Palestinians. There is a big sector that wants peace.

What are your plans for the future?
The day after I came out of prison I went to register [at] university. I feel like there's no time to waste, and my objective is to study and to be able to give my daughter and other children a better future through education.

Do you think that's going to be possible?
I say it in three languages: yes, ken and aywa. I want to talk, to tell people that I did time in an Israeli jail and learned Hebrew and communicated with a lot of Israelis. I want to continue this communication and also to carry the voice of 11,000 Palestinian prisoners to the world.

Do you think your change of heart reflects a change in the Palestinian people?
I think my position reflects the desire of the Palestinian people for peace. People are tired. They want to live. And they really want peace but are struggling in order to make the world understand.

If you could speak to the Palestinian and Israeli leadership, what would you say?
My message to both is peace. We need to engage in real dialogue. Everybody needs to come down from the tree and to enter into a solid, realistic negotiation. This is the only way.


_____________________________________________________________________________________

I fear for this woman's safety...I just hope more & more stand shoulder to shoulder with her...as Peter Gabriel wrote/sang in "Biko";

You can blow out a candle, you can't blow out a fire.

Salaam/Shalom/Peace!
Pat

The Confessor

The Shoah revisited.

The methodical extermination of Europe's Jews by the Nazis is well documented. Such documentation is crucial to show the depraved depths to which humankind can sink to.What is not so well known is the methodical killing of 1.5 million men, women & children in the Ukraine during WW2. The Ukraine has an unsavoury role in this part of World history supplying whole regiments of soldiers and prison guards, both men & women to the "Final Solution".

A remarkable French priest, Fr. Patrick Desbois (pictured left*) records the details from those Ukrainians who as children & teens witnessed horrors that should never have been seen by such young eyes let alone have been allowed to have happen in the first place by supposed "Human Beings". Fr. Desbois is profiled in this weekend's New York Times, It is an amazing work of journalism. The link is here,

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/world/europe/06priest.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Ukraine is predominantly Orthodox but has a substantial Uniate Catholic population. This faith submits to Rome though sharing some traditions with the Byzantine Rite. The role therefore of Fr. Debois is understandable and remarkable.

Desbois' role of confessor (& critically) not of that as an accuser allows souls to confess some 60 years after their participation, willing or unwilling in crimes so heinous - they defy description. These confessions, I am sure may aid the penitent in the process of seeking some type of absolution if not peace before they leave this world and face the next. This in turn allows Desbois to chronicle past, forgotten crimes against humanity in an up to now hidden part of history.

Desbois states in the article of his role, "I have to use simple words and listen to these horrors — without any judgment. I cannot react to the horrors that pour out. If I react, the stories will stop."

The cry from all regarding the Shoah or the Holocaust is "Never Forget!".

The images in years past from Bosnia, Rwanda and nowadays Darfur however seem to suggest regrettably that we have.

* pic courtesy of Antoine Antoniol for The New York Times

Some deep wisdom from Oscar

The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible - wildean wit on a windswept day in Ohio. Very unseasonal weather, almost like an early spring day in Wexford, the sort of day the red & green jacketed f**kwits would mount up & pursue a poor oul fox across neighbouring fields to our demense.

Especially when some of those red & green jacketed F**kwits had the arse out of their trousers only some time before. The Nouveau Riche of Wexford, social climbers and arsigans that hung out with the 'great & the good" of these hunts really are to be seen to be believed.

Obviously Oscar felt the same way all those years ago. I wonder when he was visiting his cousins in Wexford, was it the ancestors of the same morons that we see today that he was commenting on?

Anyway, the fox is regarded in Irish folklore as a cunning & wise creature and is very close to the psyche of the Celt. I imagine the sight of red-coats chasing a native born creature endeared the fox to us in no uncertain way.

It was always an honour to help An Sionnach (gaelic for Fox) evade his captors. I just hope the practise is outlawed eventually back home.

"Weaving olden dances"

The most precious poem to me is Yeat’s “The Stolen Child”.
It is precious for personal reasons that I will not go into here only that it speaks to me and sings solace to my heart.

I wrote earlier of the Other crowd. The poem tells of the child that crosses over with the “good people”. Maybe it was our way of dealing with a very emotional subject yet are we not a very emotional race?

The picture above I took at Hook Head on Nov 30th, 1998 at 5pm....the sun was setting and the placement of the couple on the foreshore was one of those miraculous occasions when everything comes together for the perfect picture. The picture fits the poem in my mind.


The Stolen Child

Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water-rats;
There we've hid our faery vats,
Full of berries
And of reddest stolen cherries.

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim grey sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances,
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles
And is anxious in its sleep.

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping
than you can understand.

Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal-chest.

For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
From a world more full of weeping
than he can understand.

The Wexford Banshee

W hat is a Bow?...No, it's not the favoured weapon Of Robin Hood, I am writing about here.The Bow was the Wexford name for the Banshee.

Banshee is from the Gaelic Bean-Sidhe (same pronunciation basically) that means literally Fairy Woman.

The Bow would follow the families of Celtic Families, those with an O’ or a Mac’ before their name, rumours had it that she followed particular families even in that ring which are the O’Neills, O’Briens, O’Connors, O’Gradys & the Kavanaghs – those 5 families strangely enough span the country and were representative of our old 5 provinces, many more clans are interlinked to these families.

She appeared as a young girl, a stately woman or an old hag in tatters, wrapped in a grave shroud or a grey cloak.

She was also known as The Bean-chaointe (keening woman) or the Bean-nighe (the washer woman) in my home province of Leinster. The banshee would keen for a family who was to lose a member, staying outside the window of the person in questions room, howling her sorrow all night long. The washer woman was a tag attributed to her washing the blood stained clothes of those about to be killed in battle.


Indeed it was said around the fire at night to us young’uns that she was an ancestral spirit come to forewarn us of an impending death in the family. When the wind would be raging outside, I remember Paddy Gaul telling us that was the “Bow” outside on her way to some poor family that night. Mr. Gaul was a great one for a song or a story. His wife, Marie would coax him on for our benefit. Another neighbour, Andy Nolan & his wife Sissy would tell us similar tales – The Nolans were from the Counties of Laois & Kilkenny, and great neighbours also.

“Bow” , pronounced bough as in Bough of a tree was a name you often heard in Wexford Town. She was known to haunt Mulgannon Hill where she often follow some poor unfortunate wending their way home after the pubs would shut.

Stories of the Bow abroad in the town were manifest, our mothers especially those native born would warn us “to beware the bow” when we would stay out past dusk during the summer, we would all scuttle in dutifully no doubt muttering about that “oul hag” and then shutting up hoping a member of the other crowd weren’t within ear-shot.

As I revealed, amongst even the kids when we are out playing in the street. The Bow was never that far away. A local character who had the appearance to our childish imaginations at least had to endure the privations of being identified as the local banshee. There was a woman, dead now called Bridgey Harris who was known as 'the bow' or "Bridgey the Bow'.

Some little curs would call after how...."Bowwww!" and get a curse muttered at them as she scuttled her way home through the Republic of Davitt Road South on her way home to the sylvan folds of Wolfe Tone Villas.

She was person of modest means, the poverty of her life, apparent by the cut of her clothes, the perpetual woodbine cigarette hanging from her lips.

Her occupation was one of forager & scavenger. She was eternally searching trough empty & abandoned houses, picking at rubbish tips…Many a day we’d see her pass by, her cart – an old pram carriage piled high with timber, slates whatever trundling by…her tiny frame pushing what a full grown carthorse would have difficulty pulling. A hard life she had, of that there is no doubt.

The local wags said she had millions stashed by but I heard when she passed on, she had but a pittance and that ended up soon in the coffers of some local hostelry, her house-friend drinking it away in mere months - he to die by a broken neck after falling down the stairs in a drunken stupor. Sometimes Irony is a bitter joker.

Life’s not all sweetness & roses especially where drink is concerned.

Dec 18th - A special day

I have a lot of time for a certain Bible Teacher, Andrew Wommack from Colorado. Looking at Andy's program today I was suddenly struck by a piece of scripture that I had not truly known till today or rather three years ago today.

1 John 4:8

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love". (NIV)

That was the day I became a father for the first time and a little blue eyed boy entered my world. He was all I had imagined, dreamed for & prayed for.....when I held him in my arms for the first time in the delivery room, I sang him "Molly Malone" and "One man went to mow".

My poor wife was exhausted but the moment she seen his face, I will never forget that look in her eyes. I think that is the moment a marriage truly is discerned by both parties as a union. Once a child enters into the world, your own needs become secondary. That day & that day alone, I truly came to realise what Love was all about.

Time flies, He is growing up to be a wonderful little boy and as I described earlier he has a wonderful sense of humour. He has his moments too and believe me we know what the terrible twos is all about. He is also a very caring, sensitive little fella - loves to play and loves life.

But It is a wonderful thing to have hope and a child is the living embodiment of that. I really believe I understand now what the Christmas story is all about. It is a blessing to realise daily how blessed we are by God.

Happy Birthday..pt 1

It’s easy to be despondent these days. Where is the justice? We all know what happened on this day 5 years ago. Two wars and hundreds of thousands of casualties later, we are daily reminded “that freedom isn’t free”,

I cannot help but think of the line

“but who pays the ferryman?”

What really happened on that day and what has happened to us since?

The pictures here are my own, taken last August when we were in NY for a fast & furious day of “sight/site-seeing”. The ambience of the City had changed since I last visited 5 years previously. I’d describe it as a harsh environment but when you have a 16 acre crater in place of a once vibrant, creative hub…I would say any city would feel scarred, numb, violated.

Part of her soul was lost that day! Will it ever heal?

Storms

A few days ago, someone at work sniped “what have you achieved in your life?” or words to that effect.

It rolled me back on my ankles, I must admit and I replied, “A two and a half year old child”. Looking back on that statement, it was from the heart and if ever there was truth in something, it was that.

We are living history, our children are our footprints in time, without them – we cease to exist.

Nothing I have done to this point can compare to the birth of my son. I am so thankful to have him & my family in my life.

It is 8.10am on Midsummer’s day and It is as black as night. Overhead, a storm rages. Sheet lightning, hail, driving rain, the works. My grandmother often said, it was “God moving the furniture” when I asked as a frightened child what thunder was? It appears that God is rolling a Grand Piano across the Living room as I type.

The thunder explodes around our little home, shaking it like a toy, time to disappear, but not yet!

8.43 am, the storm is passing…..morning is peeking out. The birds outside are joining in a chorus of morningsong. God has a way of showing us how to carry on in the midst of a storm. Hold firm, endure, keep the faith – all storms are but a moment & pass on.

A Wexford travelogue

One of my favourite things to do in my past life was to head down to "the Hook", back in county Wexford and recharge the batteries. It is my favourite place in the world and always will be, I am almost 7 years out and memories fade so I write in a rush and remember the journey!

Out, out , out
We escape the chugging greyness
that is the town
On a sodden spring morning
Clearing the ‘skirts as we head out
Past Ballymorris on the new line
Which hasn’t been new since 1798
& then some…
Down the country we spin
Gaining momentum as we drive
The Hook & all her secrets are beckoning
Past the Mountain bar
Past the redshire road
We’re on the forth mountain’s slope
riding the sill of a stretch
that looks out on the plains of Bargy
Kilmore in the distance
peeping gently into the sea
Like an oul’one dipping her toe
Along the Coast
Looming in the mist
Is The Hook & all her secrets
The long descent down
into the Bridge of Wellington
over that hump
past the ruins of Clonmines
and on we go
on the line, the new line known as
the tramp’s heartbreak
a ramrod straight ribbon
of tarmac, glistening & steaming
in the warming rays of the sun
On & on we go
A happy crowd we are
Heading to the hook & all her secrets
turning off the line eventually
and rolling down the coast
past Dollar bay & Booley bay
through Templetown
& her Templar’s Church
A sharp right
And we hurtle on
Loftus hall grimaces
As we fly past
The Deerpark Pillars
We slow to a stately gait
The Slade junction,
Right again
Past the ancient church
& those asleep in her yard
Blowholes & sea spray
the limestone plateau

On which sits
The lighthouse tower
That knows no age
Announcing our arrival
is the Hook & all her secrets

The truth shall set you free!

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32 NIV)

What is the fascination with “real tv”?

“Big Brother”: Sitting at home watching other people sitting around at home. What genius came up with that format? He made millions with it as Society really has dumbed down and this is the information age?

“American Idol”, watch a bunch of nobodies wannabee somebodies!

“Survivor”, watch a bunch of wankers you would not share an island with, vote each other off in a show Machiavelli could not have dreamt up.

“The Apprentice”, living proof that there is such a thing as pond scum!

“Cheaters”, living proof there are such organisms beyond pond scum.

Forgive the appelations, the judging, the name-calling but I deplore the depths the media & TV in particular plumbs to in the dog eat dog world that is the "ratings war".

I could go on about these shows but I am losing the will to live as I type…the remote control is a magical box, the thumb a mighty digit, the power to save life as we know it!

What is the fascination with Poker? indeed the online poker phenomenon?…proof again that P.T. Barnum was right, “that there’s a sucker born every minute’ or to paraphrase that in modernese….”every nano second!”.

Obviously if you are reading this, you are looking at a screen which has buttons below it. These buttons when hit correctly, can direct you to any piece of information or misinformation possible on any subject under the heavens.

Yet people swallow claims from the publisher that ‘the De Vinci code’ is based on fact….oops. Really? Have a look-see! Amazing what a bit of research can do for the closed mind. Like all those conspiracy theorists want you to believe, the truth is out there!

All these devices to ease our lives, give us more leisure time….what do we do with that leisure time, keep going, do more mundane crap, like watch boring reality tv or write blogs……oh bugger!

In these troubled times, we would do well to pay heed to the Lord..."Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free". (John 8:32 NIV)

Perfect day

Today was wonderful!

The family spent a lovely day in Dayton, paid a visit to Wright Patterson AFB.


We signed up for the Presidential Tour and made a call to "SAM 26000". The VC 137c, (Boeing 707) - JFK's Air Force 1 which bore him to Dallas on that fateful day and bore his remains back to Washington. It was eerie to stand in the area where Johnson took the oath of office, Jackie stunned, gazing on.....a tragic day not just for America but the World!

The Craft of FDR, Truman, Eisenhower not to mention that above 707 which served JFK, Johnson, Nixon, Ford & Carter are all here. Fascinating viewing.

The little fellah loves aircraft and he fell in love with the XB-70 “Valkyrie”. It is truly a beautiful craft, quite breathtaking. Only two were built, one crashed in 1968, the other remains and lives in a hangar on the base proper.

Other craft to live here include the Douglas x-3, "the stiletto" dating from the early 50's, incredible elan in it's design.
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first V-STOL aircraft much loved by aircraft buffs the world over. The F-16 by General Dynamics. The X-15 by North American, without which the space program may well have faltered as it's research in test flights was of incalculable value to the Mercury, Gemini & Apollo projects. Stealth technology like "Tacit Blue" by Northrop, and much more. Altogether it was an amazing tour, 45 minutes though is all you have!

We enjoyed the IMAX movie, the youngest member of the family totally entranced by the Helicopters featured doing their turns, spins and death defying stunts.

When we arrived home, I was greeted by the news that I am now eligible to apply for Citizenship of this wonderful land. It has been a strange journey to this point with many twists and turns. For all those I have encountered upon it, thank you for your compassion and understanding. May you be truly blessed in all your endeavours. To all my wonderful friends thank you for your support throughout.

Thanks to the Lord Jesus for his wonderful gift on this Passover weekend, the Passover Lamb comes through for us all with a little faith, even if it is a mere mustard seed - that is all he requires.

Sorry if I am appearing mystical here but God alone knows what am I talking about. It is a huge weight of my shoulders.

"Such a perfect day", Lou Reed could not say it any better!

LOURDES!

Accuiel de Notre Dame - Hostel of Our lady

It took a year to build this Hostel which has incredible hospital like facilities for the sick

& elderly.. It is a marvel and typical of the French flair, their élan…their stunning style in architecture through all the ages..yes I am a Francophone!

Lourdes is a very special place for me. I have witnessed many miracles there. Not the miracles one usually thinks of, the crippled kid leaping out of a wheelchair but the miracles of seeing amazing dignity at work. The power to transform within, spiritual miracles….

It is easy to get bogged down in theology, codology whatever! It is a special place for me, period! Millions of people come there to pray, to reconcile, to accept.

The power of that prayers lingers on, it is tangible even to the cynical like me as I discovered one morning at 3am in the grotto, The river gave is roaring past but the tranquility all encompassing…lives change totally when one is looking earnestly for God. He does listen!

It’s a pity we don’t talk to him more often.

A thought......

"One day I was sitting on the banks of the river. I took from the water a round stone and I broke it. Inside it was perfectly dry. That stone had been lying in the water for a very long time but the water had not penetrated it. Then I thought that the same thing happened to men in Europe. For centuries they had been surrounded by Christianity but Christianity had not penetrated, does not live within them".

Sandhu Sundar Singh (1889-1929)


Sky over Bannow Bay, Co.Wexford, Ireland Sept 11, 1999