s

340 meters per second

Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.

&mdash Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

Friday, April 14, 2006

Pillars of Society.


As an addendum to yesterday's post regarding the rationalizations for war in the Middle East, here's an interesting news tidbit: Reuters is reporting that two more retired US generals are asking for Rummy's head on a stick.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two more retired U.S. generals called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign on Thursday, claiming the chief architect of the Iraq operation ignored years of Pentagon planning for a U.S. occupation and should be held accountable for the chaos there.

As the high-ranking officers accused Rumsfeld of arrogance and ignoring his field commanders, the White House was forced to defend a man who has been a lightning rod for criticism over a war that has helped drive President George W. Bush's public approval ratings to new lows.

Complete Reuters article here.

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Pacanukeha reminds us that the Easter Bunny's relentless campaign to spread juvenile diabetes is only the tip of a malevolent iceberg: witness exhibit A.

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Ursula K. Le Guin is one of my favourite authors. A luminary amongst speculative fiction writers and an outspoken feminist, anarchist, anti-racist hellion, Le Guin has left an indelible mark on her genre with books like the classic The Left Hand of Darkness and the beautiful Earthsea series. A recipient of the Library of Congress Living Legends award in the "Writers and Artists" category in April 2000 for "her significant contributions to America's cultural heritage," Le Guin remains a vital & dynamic force in SF.

"The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is one of her best-known short stories and I just found a free online version of it so I thought I'd share with the class. Spot-on and sharper than a serpent's tooth, the story shouldn't take you more than ten minutes to read. Go ahead, everything will still be here when you get back.

2 Comments:

  • At 3:10 p.m., Blogger Unknown said…

    I read that story back in high school, and it has stayed with me ever since. Thanks for giving me the chance to refresh my memory of it!

     
  • At 9:10 p.m., Blogger Labris said…

    My pleasure! I read it in high school as well and I was so happy to find a free version. My dad had never read it and he followed the link I posted... that one link justified a year of blogging, as far as I'm concerned. :)

     

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