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Epigram

  • Talmud 7:16 as Quoted by Rishon Rishon in 2004
    Qohelet Raba, 7:16

    אכזרי סוף שנעשה אכזרי במקום רחמן

    Kol mi shena`asa rahaman bimqom akhzari Sof shena`asa akhzari bimqom rahaman

    All who are made to be compassionate in the place of the cruel In the end are made to be cruel in the place of the compassionate.

    More colloquially translated: "Those who are kind to the cruel, in the end will be cruel to the kind."

    Online Source: http://www.rishon-rishon.com/archives/044412.php

  • Abraham Isaac Kook
    "The purely righteous do not complain about evil, rather they add justice.They do not complain about heresy, rather they add faith.They do not complain about ignorance, rather they add wisdom." From the pages of Arpilei Tohar.
  • Heinrich Heine
    "Where books are burned, in the end people will be burned." -- From Almansor: A Tragedy (1823).
  • Simon Wiesenthal
    Remark Made in the Ballroom of the Imperial Hotel, Vienna, Austria on the occasion of His 90th Birthday: "The Nazis are no more, but we are still here, singing and dancing."
  • Maimonides
    "Truth does not become more true if the whole world were to accept it; nor does it become less true if the whole world were to reject it."
  • Douglas Adams
    "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" Epigram appearing in the dedication of Richard Dawkins' The GOD Delusion.
  • Thucydides
    "The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."
  • Milan Kundera
    "The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting."

Notes

  • Care to Read What I Read?

    I've embarked on a great reduction in privacy by bookmarking my web-based reading on the "delicious.com" utility. It may tip my hand as to what I have in mind for blogging, but the same may help friends and frenemies alike track my thinking: here is the URL:

    http://www.delicious.com/commart

  • Author's Wish Each Friday Night
    Shabbat Shalom. May our arguments be resolved through perceptive words and good deeds only; may we live another week helpful to one another in relative peace.
  • Photography: Prints & Services
    A gentle reminder: I'm in business as a producer of fine art prints and as a provider of shoot-for-fee services, including portraiture and weddings plus assigned photojournalism. My general location: intersection of I-70 and I-81; core camera system: Nikon; transportation: Mustang.

    Main web: www.communicating-arts.com

    E-Mail: [email protected]

    Also: as of 2011, I am building a photography print-on-demand presence at Fine Art AmericaM. This is the address:

    http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/james-oppenheim.html

    Effort in print-on-demand will not offset the production nor value of signed, limited edition prints made under my own hand. However, for very good convenience, price, and quality, print-on-demand may work out well for many fans and patrons.

  • Research Services

    If you're engaged in funded research in conflict analysis or other areas that may be addressed here and wish to engage my mind in your project, feel welcome to drop me a note at [email protected].

Etcetera

J. S. Oppenheim's Other Blogs and Webs

  • Flickr!

  • Communicating Arts - Main Web Site
  • Communicating Arts - The Journal
  • Mustang Highways
    American highways and a six cylinder, 190 horsepower Ford Mustang 2000, Nikons, and philosophy.

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July 31, 2007

Any Day Now: Nahr al-Bared

Early footage from May 25 (by "darwishian") shows the carnival of war, the early stage when crowds may gather for the fireworks.  Taped from behind a tank and in the vicinity of other Lebanese army hardware, the metallic sound of incoming, the clap of explosions, and the down-range kicks of dust clouding the air make for the unmistakable statement of any army bent on the methodical destruction of its enemy.

How about a ride through town: from "mra1385", posted May 22, 2007, "Nahr al-Bared2, Caught in Crossfire."

Move it up: two weeks ago, directed by Stefan Schmiederer, posted July 12, 2007, "Lebanese army pounds Nahr al-Bared."

War is the demolition derby for cities, for sure.

One day the kids joy ride through Kalashnakov fire (and practically catch their own bullet); two months later, nothing that doesn't have the clearance of an armored carrier or the clout of a tank gets down the same streets.

I wouldn't call it a carnival for the press, but to camp out with a few on the outskirts of the besieged city: "haraldmarkd" posted the Dutch experience on June 29, "Two Dutch Journalists and translator around Nahr al-Bared."

From Al Jazeera English, "Life under siege in Nahr al-Bared - 13 Jul 07".

Footage from ten hours ago out of the burgeoning camera phone medium: "Lebanese Army smoking hookah in Nahr al-Bared," posted by "justimage", July 31, 2007. 

[1]

There's plenty to catch on YouTube as regards Nahr al-Bared, and draw what conclusions you may from the footage, it is a certainty the cordon will tighten on the remaining fighters, which it has been doing today in expressions of square yardage to go, and it is possible that the lives of about 50 children may be spared if the Lebanese military can take care of the parents separately.

That last footage looks to me like the return to the carnival of war, the picnic, the relaxing behind the armor while the boys (I use the term in its American "good ol'" sense) take turns, 'one by one', but in this arena on the muscle side of the equation, taking their shots at the remaining resistance.

# # #

1. Search string used at YouTube: "Nahr al-Bared".

Correspondence and Permissions: James S. Oppenheim

Posted on July 31, 2007 at 04:07 PM in U.S. Foreign Policy and Warfare |

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