posted May 11, 2003 at 5:10 p.m. MDTQ: To whom do words matter more than deeds?
A: To one who has resigned from self-determination.
* The folks who pillaged the antiquities in Baghdad's museums (our history ... one sky, one future!) ignored or trashed the replicas while stealing away with the very best items.
* The responsible authorities (read: Rumsfeld and company) protected the ministry of oil while making no efforts to secure other facilities, such as the museum ... not even hospitals.
So ... who are truly the real barbarians?
Here's as setting for a historical fantasy RPG: you're a right thinking rationalist realist liberal in a culture of "might makes right" and xenophobial (by which I mean "You're with us or you're agin' us.") ... what do you do? Let's say the next week will see the outbreak of a war that will result in a) the burning of the library of Alexandria, and b) the salting of the earth to such an extent that the resulting desertification creates the Sahara.
"Not knowing what is truly of value" ... that's pret' near sufficient definition of "barbarian", isn't it?
(I spent the day reading and pondering effective discourse ... is my point just to change someone's opinion? *That sux ... it leads to ideological hegemony* or, rather, to increase the independence and autonomy that leads to enlightened self-interest?
Panchen Lama is a title, like Vice-President or Prime Minister. (pan.chen means "great scholar" and lama is a word Tibetans use for a religious teacher.) In Tibet the Pachen Lama is second only to HH the Dalai Lama.
The Panchen Lama was 6 years old when he and his parents were kidnapped from their home in Tibet by the Chinese government. He is the world's youngest political prisoner and he has been missing for over 6 years.
