Daybreak Embers

gangbadoy:

“When I saw the gay and lesbian couples who stood in the rain outside City Hall (in SF) for 10 hours just to say ‘I do,’ salivating for that tangible rush of freedom, I could not help but feel like a brat who does not appreciate the hand that she’s been dealt. I wished in my heart that my right to marriage was something I could give to the gay community, like free concert tickets —something I didn’t need but wanted to pass off to a friend.” -Karen Solomon, writer, Other (#5) (from Utne, Dec 2004) photo: Marimekko memory game.

Via abashet/

“When I saw the gay and lesbian couples who stood in the rain outside City Hall (in SF) for 10 hours just to say ‘I do,’ salivating for that tangible rush of freedom, I could not help but feel like a brat who does not appreciate the hand that she’s been dealt. I wished in my heart that my right to marriage was something I could give to the gay community, like free concert tickets —something I didn’t need but wanted to pass off to a friend.” -Karen Solomon, writer, Other (#5) (from Utne, Dec 2004)

photo: Marimekko memory game.

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Faith can be both a liberating and blinding experience. I know Jesus the way she does. I guess the only difference is that I try not to speak of the Devil too much. There’s too much hate in the word.

– A reaction to Miriam Quiambao’s comment about homosexuals.

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Animals who die in the dilapidated park return to be displayed as stuffed creatures, giving visitors the unusual zoo experience of petting a lion, tiger or crocodile. But because taxidermy in the largely isolated Palestinian territory is not advanced and expertise and materials are in short supply, the experience can be grim.

Flies swarm around some of the 10 animals that have been embalmed so far. The makeshift cages housing the exhibits — fashioned from fencing salvaged from Jewish settlements that Israel dismantled in 2005 — are littered with empty soda cans and other trash.

An emaciated-looking stuffed lion, its coat patchy and mangy, lies on an exhibit cobbled together from crates and shipping pallets. A monkey had missing limbs. A porcupine had a hole in its head.

The zoo’s 65 live animals, which include ostriches, monkeys, turtles, deer, a llama, a lion and a tiger, don’t fare much better. During a recent visit, children poked chocolate, potato chips and bread through the wire. There’s no zookeeper on the premises. Gaza has no government body that oversees zoos, and medical treatment is done by consulting over the phone with zoo veterinarians in Egypt.

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