Greetings from Warsaw
It has been almost 6 months since my last post so that is certainly good enough reason to contemplate seriously whether my attempt to blog should be resigned to the recycle bin and cyber history or whether I should give it another stab. I guess I have had good reason for my blogging inactivity, but them reasons have decreased as the winter approaches (Warsaw surprisingly being still heavy with symptoms of late spring).
As you probably all know by now my colleagues and I were acquitted during the summer, in Dublin Four Courts, of doing damage to a U.S. Navy warplane at Shannon Airport in Feb. '03. Part of me thinks that my rationale for not blogging during June, July and August was psychological preparation in the event that I would end up in jail. But another more realistic part is content to acknowledge the fact that it was a hectic period with lots of other priorities. Any of you who had been checking out www.indymedia.ie and our trial website www.peaceontrial.com will know that our cyber activity was pretty regular.
Anyhow, a little update may bolsture my efforts back on board and encourage me to keep writing more regularly. After the trial ended in mid-July I decided to move to Warsaw, Poland. Primarily to be with Dorota and also to tackle their difficult language, get some experience teaching, etc. So far it has been a really positive experience. Though I miss cycling around Dublin, working in the shelter and spending time with good friends there, the open house we had regualrly facilitated in Rialto, the intensity of the political activism, and most of all regular face-to-face contact with family and friends, all in all it has been working out quite well for me here.
I have been teaching in the same English school I had worked in before the summer, have integrated quite well with the activist community here, conduct free English lessons in an social centre on Saturdays, spend lots of time reading, although I still do not seem to have enough time to practise the guitar nor to swim. Maybe the New Year will change all that!!
I'll be home at Christmas so if anyone is around it would be great to meet up in Dublin or whereever. Hopefully I can write more frequently up to the New Year, then make a resolution to continue throughout '07.
Powodezenia i trzymajcie sie,
Damo
Comments
you seem to enjoy that part of the world. Is it because of Roza Luzemburg or
John Pope II?
have a good time.
greetings from timor!
niro
They are both amazing historical Poles. The JPII generation ,needless to say, is more quantifiable here.
However, we all know lots about JPII, so I thought I'd add a little bio material of RL.
This year is the 135th anniversary of the Polish born revolutionary socialist theorist Rosa Luxemburg. As a member of the oppressed Jewish community under the dominion of Tsarist Russia's anti-semitism, she began active with social emancipation movements.
In fear of her life she fled Russia when she was 18 and eventuially made her way to Germany. She became an important figure in the German Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Revolutionary sentiment stirring against the Tsar she decided to return to Poland in '06, was arrested and returned to Germany where she continued her work towards fighting monarchic oppression.
She fought against the pro-imperialist support of the SPD at the start of WW1 in 1914 and led the foundations of the Spartacist League. Her subsequent criticism of the Russian Bolshevik revolution (similar to Emma Goldman and Alex Berkmans) can be summed up in general with her view on revolutionary violence: 'A world must be turned upside down. But each tear that flows, when it could have been spared, is an accusation, and he commits a crime who with brutal inadvertency crushes an earthworm'.
She lived by the sword, and as the wisdom teaches, she resultingly died by the sword. Her role in the failed 1919 uprising against the SPD Ebert gvt led to her execution.
I don't know much more about her actually. I'll check out whether JPII ever made comments on her.
Hope all is well in Timor - take care N.
good to hear news of you. We are both amongst Poles- you in Poland and I in Cork! We have some 13,000 here. Currently working on setting up in Cork our own PCC (Polski Centrum Cork) with some folk from Poland.
I am keep au fait with the Political Twins in Warsaw...and the goings on of the clerical espionage of the communist era!Exciting revelations.
Enjoy all that Poland has to offer.
Slan tamaill,
Stephen , Cork
"Tianamen square was a big upheaval for me. I wonder why so many of us have such short memories of it ."
"We now have a small repositary stall at the back of church . I went to look at it this morning and picked up a small coloured soft toy in a box , was told it was a prayer bear ie a bear with attached prayer card for a child. The box bore the message Made in China."
I asked why we were selling stuff that had in all probabilty been made in some Chinese factory by young kids..
"Well, we don't actually buy the stuff " I was told
" But you're selling it?"
- Good that you tackled them on this Sheila. If only the churches would lead an anti-consumerist boycott during the Christmas season we could give Capitalism and Supermarkets a good kick in the ass!
Paul here a recent participant in Ploughshares actions so another body to fill the gap.
Good to here you're getting on out there.
Poor Rosa Luxemburg. After a comment like 'and he commits a crime who with brutal inadvertency crushes an earthworm' one could hardly accuse her of living by the sword...life is complex and emotions run high. I have my own little wormery here and admire those little creatures so any friend of the worms is a friend of mine.
About consumerism; How come Santa has the same spelling as Satan; not to mention the St. Nick and man in red references. Next of all he'll be living in 666 North Pole Road. I have to admit I'm concerned at the overlap in terms of symbolism and do feel as bizarre as it may sound that 'Santa' is something of an anti-Christ; as in a counter value to the true notion of Christmas. It's nice for people to have a good time and for sharing and joy to be brought to the fore but when you see all the waste and the way it develops a fixation on reward and getting high you wonder whether Santa has a lot to do with our entire culture of getting out of it…I’m a recent convert to tea-totaling myself (2yrs dry and the best years of my life….except for the time…)
But then you don't want to be a fanatic and maybe end up starting a fad in random drive by shootings on ‘Satan Claws', grottos with six year old suicide bombers going in to take out Rudolph, the Rein-deers and those freaky little Elves. The human mind is essentially like some kind of lentil soup that’s been left fermenting to long; you have to be careful what you add into, and indeed take from, it.
Yep...this is getting weird. I like the dragon: cool sculpture, cool country..
Despite RL's compassion for earthworms I think it's fair enough to say she had no problem with revolutionary violence and living by the sword when she deemed it necessary, hence my subsequent comment regarding her support for the revolt which led to her arrest and execution. Nevertheless, she remains an inspiration to many fighting global injustice.
Re. consumerism, yesterday was 'Buy Nothing Day' so a relevant topic you have brought up here. I hope to blog about it more later in the week as Corporate Christmas is already in full swing over here - street stalls, trees, toys, etc.
That Santa is an anagram for Satan isn't really of concern for me, any more than my name 'Damien' arouses hidden fears within movie-fans that I may have the stamp of Nero imprinted somewhere upon my anatomy;))
That the mythical commercial Santa we eat chocolate forms and buy moving light-up versions of was perpetuated by Coca-Cola's successful advertising campaigns from the 30's could be applied as just one more reason for us to boycott their products( see www.killercoke.com).
According to Wikipedia, 'The popular American form Santa Claus originated as a mispronunciation of Dutch Sinterklaas, which is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas).'
Former Bishop of Myra in Asia-Minor, St. Nicholas, inspired the Netherland, Belgium and German celebration of the benevolent SinterKlaas which in turn inspired the Americanised Santa Claus phenomenon.
For educators, the question is to what degree should one reinforce the myth to children and where should the emphasis lie in the season celebration, that is, if one decides to celebrate it at all. Jehovah Witnesses, for example, choose not to.
Amongst Christian communities should one focus on the Christian co-option of the pagan Roman feast day (Dec 25th) of Sol Invictus (The Conquerer Sun) and emphasise the generosity of St. Nicholas as a role model on how to act towards the needy in society?
Amongst European secular communities should the emphasis be in trying to expose the unjust nature of importing and consuming goods primarily made in China and South-east Asia where labour standards are atrocious? For example, Tesco's Christmas products are primarily produced in China (I'll write more in another blog re. the names of toys I checked out in Tesco). None of the toys I checked had any indication
of health and safety certification as regards labour standards applied or monitored. Shock, horror? - unfortuntately not, that's the way with many products we purchase from supermarkets and hypermarkets nowadays.
I'd say we're more likely to get drunk drivers knocking down grottos than drive-by shootings happening. Suicide bombers are way down the scale compared to late-night revellers trying to fit into public cribs and breaking up the display - it happened in my home town a few years ago. Actually an empty keg of beer once damaged our local town crib when it was flung in by an anonymous Christmas spirit.
Keep the teetotalling going - I am nearly dry 6 years now and never look back:-))