"O famoso cachimbo...
Como fui censurado por isso!
E entretanto...
Vocês podem encher de fumo,
o meu cachimbo?
Não, não é mesmo?
Ela é apenas uma representação.
Portanto,
se eu tivesse escrito sob meu quadro:
"isto é um cachimbo",
eu teria mentido."

René Margritte

DIÁLOGOS COM LEUCÓ

"Acredito no que todos os homens esperaram e sofreram. Se outrora subiram a estes cumes pedregosos ou procuraram pântanos mortais sob o céu, foi porque aí encontravam alguma coisa que nós não conhecemos. Não era o pão nem o prazer nem a querida salvação. Estas coisas sabe-se onde estão. Não é aqui. E nós que vivemos longe à beira do mar ou nos campos, essa outra coisa perdemo-la."

Cesare Pavese(Diálogos com Leucó)

PÓ DE MÁRMORE

Fados claros marcam as montanhas de neve em pesadas pegadas
Animal revolto em musculosa e violenta velocidade
Paira em brilhos olhos por entre as brumas de sincronicidade
Princípio de quem atribui significado ao movimento contínuo dos tempos
Com os ouvidos bem abertos,
Com os olhos de vermelho-sangue,
Mandíbulas cravadas em nossas ansiedades.

Cada dente...
Passa o marfim na carne...
Faz Brilhar a cor molhada...
Correnteza vermelha da dor...

.....É pelo mesmo caminho que esqueço do que vivo
É por outras palavras que me travo agora...esqueço
Perco o rumo na água branca da neve
Sonho retido pela frieza e suspensão da dor.

Alexandre Farias

Three Wishes for Gaza & the New Year

I have just three wishes for the coming year. The first is for the

Israeli government to realize once and for all that the Middle Eastern
conflict cannot be solved by military means. The second is for Hamas to
realize that its interests are not served by violence, and that Israel
is here to stay; and the third is for the world to acknowledge the fact
that this conflict is unlike any other in history. It is uniquely
intricate and sensitive; it is a human conflict between two peoples who
are both deeply convinced of their right to live on the same very small
piece of land. This is why neither diplomacy nor military action can
resolve this conflict.
The developments of the past few days are extremely worrisome to me for
several reasons of both humane and political natures. While it is
self-evident that Israel has the right to defend itself, that it cannot
and should not tolerate continuing missile attacks on its citizens, the
Israeli army's relentless and brutal bombardment of Gaza has raised a
few important questions in my mind.
The first question is whether the Israeli government has the right to
make all Palestinians culpable for the actions of Hamas. Is the entire
population of Gaza to be held responsible for the sins of a terrorist
organization? We, the Jewish people, should know and feel even more
acutely than other populations that the murder of innocent civilians is
inhumane and unacceptable. The Israeli military has very weakly argued
that the Gaza strip is so overpopulated that it is impossible to avoid
civilian deaths during their operations.
The weakness of this argument leads me to my next set of questions: if
civilian deaths are unavoidable, what is the purpose of the bombardment?
What, if any, is the logic behind the violence, and what does Israel
hope to achieve through it? If the aim of the operation is to destroy
Hamas, then the most important question to ask is whether this is an
attainable goal. If not, then the whole attack is not only cruel,
barbaric, and reprehensible, it is also senseless.
If on the other hand it really is possible to destroy Hamas through
military operations, how does Israel envision the reaction in Gaza once
this has been accomplished? One and a half million Gaza residents will
not suddenly go down on their knees in reverence of the power of the
Israeli army. We must not forget that before Hamas was elected by the
Palestinians, it was encouraged by Israel as a tactic to weaken Arafat.
Israel's recent history leads me to believe that if Hamas is bombarded
out of existence, another group will most certainly take its place, a
group that would be more radical, more violent, and more full of hatred
toward Israel than Hamas.
Israel cannot afford a military defeat for fear of disappearing from the
map, yet history has proven that every military victory has always left
Israel in a weaker political position than before because of the
emergence of radical groups. I do not underestimate the difficulty of
the decisions the Israeli government must make every day, nor do I
underestimate the importance of Israel's security. Nevertheless, I stand
behind my conviction that the only truly viable plan for long-term
security in Israel is to gain the acceptance of all of our neighbors. I
wish for a return in the year 2009 of the famous intelligence always
ascribed to the Jews. I wish for a return of King Solomon's wisdom to
the decision-makers in Israel that they might use it to understand that
Palestinians and Israelis have equal human rights.
Palestinian violence torments Israelis and does not serve the
Palestinian cause; Israeli military retaliation is inhuman, immoral, and
does not guarantee Israel's security. As I have said before, the
destinies of the two peoples are inextricably linked, obliging them to
live side by side. They have to decide whether they want to make of this
a blessing or a curse.

Daniel Barenboim, December 31, 2008
The Vienna Philharmonic/ via /MA.com/

MALCOLM X :DETALHES DE UMA PEREGRINAÇÃO AUTOBIOGRÁFICA

"Você pode se chocar ao ouvir estas palavras vindas de mim. Mas, nesta peregrinação, o que eu vi e senti me forçou a reorganizar muitos dos meus padrões de pensamento e pôr de lado algumas das minhas conclusões anteriores (...) Durante os últimos 11 dias aqui no mundo mulçumano, eu comi do mesmo prato, bebi do mesmo copo e dormi na mesma cama, enquanto rezava para o mesmo Deus, com companheiros mulçumanos, cujos olhos eram do azul mais azul, cujos cabelos eram do loiro mais loiro, e cuja pele era da alvura mais alva. E nas palavras, nas ações e nos feitos dos mulçumanos "brancos", eu senti a mesma sinceridade que senti entre os mulçumanos africanos negros da Nigéria, do Sudão e de Gana. Nós eramos verdadeiramente todos iguais, porque a crença deles em um Deus removeu o "branco" de suas mentes, o "branco" do seu comportamento e o "branco" de sua atitude. Eu compreendi através disto que, talvez, se os americanos aceitassem a unidade de Deus então eles talvez pudessem aceitar, de fato, a unidade do homem, e parar de medir, estorvar e ferir os outros por conta de suas "diferenças" de cor".

MALCOM X