tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post7461405140602228882..comments2024-01-04T19:27:02.335-08:00Comments on Zenpolitics: Woolwich killing - asking the hard, human questionsJohn Hilleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-87099326210019484742013-05-26T08:33:23.007-07:002013-05-26T08:33:23.007-07:00Cheers, Jerry.
It's good to know you're o...Cheers, Jerry.<br /><br />It's good to know you're out there too.<br /><br />Best wishes.<br />JohnJohn Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-8365102455236558052013-05-26T05:04:56.956-07:002013-05-26T05:04:56.956-07:00An oasis of rational thought amidst a sea of obfus...An oasis of rational thought amidst a sea of obfuscation; I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone else left.<br /><br />Thank you John.Jerry Pepinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09934047706698381900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-40464814512330904072013-05-25T11:40:43.076-07:002013-05-25T11:40:43.076-07:00Lindsey German from Stop the War Coalition with a ...Lindsey German from Stop the War Coalition with a fine rebuttal of claims made by Guardian's Jonathan Freedland:<br /><br />http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/usa-war-on-terror/2493-terrorism-and-wars-in-muslim-countries-is-there-any-connectionJohn Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-40994329905379601752013-05-25T11:13:54.728-07:002013-05-25T11:13:54.728-07:00Thanks, Michael.Thanks, Michael.John Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-55572113235388318342013-05-25T06:29:04.223-07:002013-05-25T06:29:04.223-07:00Thoughtful post as always JohnThoughtful post as always JohnMichael Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18098657991123067485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-32206935931382155012013-05-24T11:12:49.961-07:002013-05-24T11:12:49.961-07:00Dear friend, my deepest thanks for those most kind...Dear friend, my deepest thanks for those most kind, moving and compassionate words.<br /><br />One can only hope for greater awareness and rejection of the violence being perpetrated in the name of 'liberation' in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. <br /><br />Violence resolves precisely nothing. If only more people could see that the mass violence waged on people in 'far-off' places is not only criminal and wrong, but ever-likely to spawn responsive and mistaken violence.<br /><br />Peace, kindness and best wishes to you.<br /><br />John John Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-60800067882176022682013-05-24T10:44:21.924-07:002013-05-24T10:44:21.924-07:00dear john,i am a muslim man of 60+years living in ...dear john,i am a muslim man of 60+years living in uk for last 40 years.i work as a healer.in the last decade i have seen the establishments across most of the world create (war on terror). there is syestamatic devestation and murder of countless of children,man and women in places like afghanistan iraq etc,in the name of democracey and saving (western civilization)from (radical islam).this unjust war it seems has made most people and the instiutions insane in there hatred towards muslims and islam.reading your comments on wollwich incident ,shows that there are souls like you who are like bright shinging stars in this dark occident.may you long continue to shine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-67400369983018942013-05-24T08:00:33.722-07:002013-05-24T08:00:33.722-07:00Thanks, Rose.
Yes, as Wilde said, they know the p...Thanks, Rose.<br /><br />Yes, as Wilde said, they know the price of everything and the value of nothing. <br /><br />Whatever the austerity, there's always plenty of money available for killing people.<br /><br />The economy of death, all in the 'national interest':<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/20/uk-approved-arms-exports-saudi-arabia <br /><br />JohnJohn Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-80807683137578228892013-05-24T07:52:59.522-07:002013-05-24T07:52:59.522-07:00Nick Robinson's statement here:
http://www.bb...Nick Robinson's statement here:<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22637048<br /><br />His "appearance" has no bearing on the matter.<br /><br />John John Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-85801491039245045052013-05-24T06:25:08.841-07:002013-05-24T06:25:08.841-07:00What exactly did Nick Robinson (of Jewish appearan...What exactly did Nick Robinson (of Jewish appearance) say about these perpetrators?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09559965876868996497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-60913361794495549042013-05-24T05:59:55.262-07:002013-05-24T05:59:55.262-07:00Powerful post John - thanks.
As you say, certain q...Powerful post John - thanks.<br />As you say, certain questions are never posed; eg Why is there never any serious debate around how our taxes are spent?<br /><br />We are constantly told there is no money for health, education or a decent criminal justice service, and yet there is always money for foreign wars and expensive military hardware.<br /><br />Our neck of the woods is constantly subjected to screaming low-flying aircraft on "exercises".I understand it costs thousands to put one of these things in the air in fuel alone; why is the morality of that never debated?<br /><br />Schools are constantly appealing for money to buy equipment which all right-thinking parents expect to be provided by their taxes.<br /><br />I was appalled by the latest begging letter from my grand-children's school for money to support a local hospice; what was sickening to me was that it was in the guise of a sponsor sheet. Each child was "encouraged" to perform certain tasks for which they were to be paid - by the parents of course. That the tasks themselves were risible - not to drop litter, listening to my teacher,making my bed - was not the worst aspect of this: it was the blatant emotional blackmail employed - which parent would want to be seen as someone not supporting an opportunity for their child to think of others?<br /><br />I have a better idea: why don't we fund hospices as a matter of course with tax-payers' money and make the buying of a nuclear sub or the latest "must-have" in drone warfare into a charity to be funded according to how successful the corporate PR crowd are in selling it? Then we'll see which way the wind blows.Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-22370716544475058892013-05-24T05:37:41.335-07:002013-05-24T05:37:41.335-07:00You can't have a war on terror when war IS ter...You can't have a war on terror when war IS terror; and you cannot reduce the number of terrorists by killing civilians.EddTheRedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12893524712336271616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-54094248336252871982013-05-24T05:15:50.650-07:002013-05-24T05:15:50.650-07:00There has now been a petrol bomb attack on a mosqu...There has now been a petrol bomb attack on a mosque in Bletchley, Milton Keynes - could this be related to the Woolwich killing? <br />http://www.mkweb.co.uk/News/Petrol-bomb-attack-on-Bletchley-mosque-20130524115545.htmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-28657157081343046892013-05-24T04:46:16.719-07:002013-05-24T04:46:16.719-07:00Thanks for those thoughtful comments, Maukh.
It&#...Thanks for those thoughtful comments, Maukh.<br /><br />It's understandable that we relate to those and things in closest proximity, that which feels familiar, like immediate family, friends and what we loosely regard as 'community'. People are, for the large part, caught up in their own domestic and localised situations. <br /><br />And yet, why should that necessarily translate into an 'us and them' type consciousness? Why should it preclude care, consideration and human identification with those in other places, of different skins of alternative religions or none?<br /><br />Could it be, in even larger part, that we're conditioned into seeing and disparaging, even hating, the 'other' by institutions and forces that, contrary to our 'basic nature', are driven by selfish, individualistic motives?<br /><br />Alas, in many eyes, human life most certainly doesn't hold equal value. But, again, isn't this deeply encouraged by the kind of political and media blanket about the importance of 'our' soldiers and 'our streets' rather than the product of any inbuilt 'tribal mentality'?<br /><br />The prioritisation of 'ours' is already understood by most journalists, and any alternative to that narrative must, indeed, be suppressed, and will be self-moderated, before it ever reaches any editor.<br /><br />All of which points to the vital need for much more independent media in promotion of a humanitarian consciousness that cuts through the artifice of 'us and them'. <br /><br />John John Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-3144997023110155602013-05-24T00:55:51.966-07:002013-05-24T00:55:51.966-07:00"And the further key question is how people c..."And the further key question is how people come to see one such instance of killing as evil terrorism, while the other is accepted as respectable and sane. "<br /><br />Could it be that human lives do not hold equal value in the eyes of other humans. We are compromised by our own demographics and ingrained tribal mentality that exists in all of us. There is always an US and THEM. Anything that doesn't fit this narrative is rejected, almost subconsciously, so even before it reaches the editor of a newspaper, the metanarrative demands that we frame it as such.Maukhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-6522472148456647532013-05-24T00:37:07.552-07:002013-05-24T00:37:07.552-07:00Thanks, all.
And what a most apposite saying, De...Thanks, all. <br /><br />And what a most apposite saying, Dekoboko.<br /><br />JohnJohn Hilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10072819649049077782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-57466430808928490602013-05-24T00:23:56.922-07:002013-05-24T00:23:56.922-07:00Well said.Well said.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-5417001037014054812013-05-23T23:27:42.135-07:002013-05-23T23:27:42.135-07:00Great post John
i fear the initial reaction by th...Great post John<br /><br />i fear the initial reaction by the Media, authorities, and politicians will have had immediate, and intentional effect with regards the masses, One thing that still always Shocks me, is how well the powers that be, have things all sewn up especially with regards the MSM, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1725411122663433189.post-79472950278315043322013-05-23T22:58:37.085-07:002013-05-23T22:58:37.085-07:00We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great on...We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.<br /> Aesop<br /> Greek slave & fable author (620 BC - 560 BC)Dekobokohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03634350481906115454noreply@blogger.com