Adrienne Rich on the importance of poetry | The Guardian

In our dark times we need poetry more than ever, argues Adrienne Rich.

"Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."

CLICK HERE to view a Powerpoint slide-show entitled Stealing Fire.

"Weather gods" influencing the snowstorm said to now be headed our way might include Boreas (of the North), Zephyros (of the West), and kin. There does seem to be some faint suggestion in The IliadHomer, Iliad 23. 194 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th BCE):

How do different religions view certain issues on sex and morality? Pick a specific religion, or click the button in the center of the wheel for a random pick, or view videos for some personal reflections on sexual ethics. Requires Macromedia Flash.

Viejo companero del misionario sent this, calling it a rare inspirational tale. "Don't know about it's authenticity," he added as a caveat, "but I like it."

This just in from my sister, posted here with her permission. A sermon by Ella Rue Eyet Califon United Methodist Church, New year’s Eve service Sunday, December 31, 2006 Some excerpts from the book "A Short Course on Kindness" by Margot Silk Forrest with some thoughts of my own.

Most Masonic groups admit only men. Historically, this practice dates back to the Middle Ages, probably related to the traditional roles that men and women played in ecclesiastical vocations, professional guilds, and society as a whole.

The present flap being created by at least one member of Congress and numerous media outlets over the religious preference of Minnesota Representative-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, shows an ignorance of American history and the tradition from which the nation's first President, George Washington, drew the practice of swearing on a volume of sacred law.

[Note: This is something unfinished that I started a couple of years ago. I recently came across it on my hard drive in a file dated May 28, 2004. I don't know when I'll get back to it, so I'm placing it here for the moment.] See hererelated abstracts.

Jack Hardy wrote an excellent article entitled The Myth of the Song Poet. Jack is unparalleled as a contemporary American-Celtic folk singer and an old friend who lived until a few years ago a few miles from us in the Upper Delaware River valley near Callicoon, New York. We haven't seen him for years, but I'm glad to come across him now and again on the web.

Under U.S. law, specifically the Treaty of Tripoli (1796-97), America is not "a Christian Nation".