Good morning!
Grania here. Jerry is in the air en route to Singapore right now, so I’m looking after the morning Hili dialogue.
Today is the day that Ronald Reagan delivered his Time for Choosing speech in support of then candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964. Goldwater did not win the election, but the speech is widely regarded as redefining American conservatism.
It is also the birthday of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914) and South African lawyer, politician, teacher and activist Oliver Tambo (1917). Oliver Tambo was one of the key leaders in the anti-Apartheid struggle.
My favourite Thomas poem has to be this one, I find it poignant and moving every time I read it.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Over in Poland Hili is no doubt referring to the duplicity of politicians as the recent debate over abortion now are back to square one as leaders still are considering removing access to abortion in cases of fetal congenital disorders. The Guardian quotes activist Anna Leszczyńska: “It’s a strange thing to say about a country in the middle of Europe, in the 21st century, but this is how it works – nearly all politicians here are afraid of the Catholic church,” and Agata Piotrowska: “The Catholic church helped the government win the elections. And it is using this legislation, among others, to pay its debt. We have a group of religious radicals hijacking the Polish juridical system to make it reflect extremist beliefs.”
Hili: We Polish females know what to think of them.
A: And what do you think of them?
Hili: Nothing good.
In Polish:
Hili: My, polskie kobiety, wiemy co o nich myśleć.
Ja: I co o nich myślicie?
Hili: Nic dobrego.
Its also #BlackCatDay on twitter
https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackCatDay?src=hash
run by Cats Protection charity of the UK
More shenanigans in Poland. and in Italy theres are row as a woman dies in hospital after a doctor refused to do an abortion when the mother’s pregnancy developed serious life threatening complications
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37713211
What beautiful eyes you have, Hili.
“We have a group of religious radicals hijacking the Polish juridical system”
In the US they are hijacking our healthcare system. I’m seeing a pattern.
I was going to say: America is not all that different. Try telling people you would only vote for an atheist and their reaction is, ‘Uh, good luck with that’.
From what I see of America, Anna could almost say the same thing about religion here.
Dylan Thomas knew exactly what he was talking about…great poem indeed.
Had not heard Dylan Thomas’ lines in some time. Thank you for them Grania.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Darn right.
Carl Kruse
Seconded, for a beautiful poem.
CGP Grey made an excellent must-see video on how rule and politics work. It matches closely Agata Piotrowska’s statement, and may show why it is so.
The C. church, once again, rears its ugly head.
Hili is so beautiful! And, oh my, I think the Polish language is so beautiful too!
Okay, going to “burn, rage and rave” now, outside against a million maple leaves that need to be raked up. That’s sort of my life these days, at least until we get a dump of snow. Then it’s: “Oh well, I’ll get the rest in the spring…”.
I don’t envy JAC all those hours on a plane. Makes my ankles swell up just thinking about it.
Hope there’s some very good movies on or that he has a good seat and can sleep fairly well (sometimes they plonk food on your lap – even with the tray up – at the merest fluttering of eyelids though.)
Did anyone see this post on Hemant’s site? Apparently, the SPLC has declared that Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Maajid Nawaz Are “Anti-Muslim Extremists”.
Yes Ive seen it on several sites. It sinks really low They are making out Naawaz is some kind of perve, a hypocrite, and an ex terrorist.
That is ineffably disappointing!
It really is