“And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, ‘O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.’” –from Monty Python and The Holy Grail “Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.” — William Gladstone (4-time Prime Minister of Great Britain)
My friend Grateful Bear is celebrating the birthday of Pulizer-prize-winning Zen eco-poet Gary Snyder, and I’m joining the birthday party! Happy Birthday Gary Snyder! The Modern Poetry site (Dept. of English, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) has an interesting subsite on him that includes the following: “Conservatism has some very valid meanings,” he says. “Of course, most of the people who call themselves conservative aren’t that, because they’re out to extract and use, to turn a profit. Curiously, eco and…