Woke up today to more snow. I must say, we've had a great year so far in terms of precipitation, alhumdooleluh.
I guess the roads were icy because I saw a sign on the interstate announcing accidents at just about every other mile marker. But I think I must have left at the right time because I didn't face any major slowing on my way to work.
The kids have the day off - we have some teacher work related to SIP (School Improvement Planning).
Insha'allah I'll write more later.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Thunder!
No, not Thundercats! (Remember that show - I thought it was cool back in the day....)
I just heard real thunder. Not puny thunder from far away that lasts a brief moment. But real thunder, with real rain that even had some hail in it!
That is terribly exciting in Colorado in which we just had a snow day a few weeks ago and in which we've been in a drought for the past several years that finally seems to be letting up.
Beautiful, wonderful rain!
Alhumdooleluh.
I just heard real thunder. Not puny thunder from far away that lasts a brief moment. But real thunder, with real rain that even had some hail in it!
That is terribly exciting in Colorado in which we just had a snow day a few weeks ago and in which we've been in a drought for the past several years that finally seems to be letting up.
Beautiful, wonderful rain!
Alhumdooleluh.
C'mon, fess up, who's missing a finger???
Fingers, as it turns out, are a hard find
Digit hunt ends empty-handed
By DAVE PHILIPPS THE GAZETTE
News that a woman who reported finding part of a finger in a cup of fast-food chili had been arrested — on larceny charges of planting the finger — begged the question:
Are digits that easy to come by? Can you get a finger or toe by 3 o’clock in the afternoon, if desired?
After a day of trying, it turns out it’s not that easy. During a flurry of phone calls Monday, some people with fingers at their disposal laughed and others politely declined, but none filled the request.
It’s not as if it would be illegal. The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 bars the purchase of organs for transplant, but there is no rule against buying or selling human tissue for research or medical education.
Dozens of tissue banks across the country provide bits and pieces of human bodies for procedures including skin grafts and collagen injections.
Even so, a finger is an unusual request.
“We have blood, there’s eyes, I know we’ve done toes before, hang on, let me check,” said an employee of AlloSource tissue bank in Centennial. “Do you need the whole thing or just the bone?”
A quick inventory search showed that AlloSource didn’t have any hand parts because, another employee explained, bits missing from the hand would be very noticeable during a memorial service.
That narrowed the pool of prospective fingers to those that had already gone through a funeral, such as the cadavers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The school wasn’t handing out fingers either. And officials were adamant that each cadaver is fully accounted for and cremated after each semester.
Was it reasonable to assume the right mortuary might be willing to sell a knuckle or two?
“I’m going to have to say no,” said the receptionist at Colorado Springs’ Blunt Mortuary. “A finger is not our property, it belongs to the person it is attached to.”
Digits lost by the living were also out of reach.
Fingertips sliced off in cooking and carpentry projects usually are reattached. Those rejected by the body are kept a few weeks at hospitals, then incinerated.
“Even if you could intercept it on the way to the incinerator, it would be so slimy and gross you probably wouldn’t want it,” said Tanya Dantzler, spokeswoman for Penrose Hospital.
By 3 p.m., things were looking bleak.
A severed finger on eBay (last bid $1.50) turned out to be a “great joke or prop!” made of plastic.
Finally, not just a finger, but possibly a whole hand, turned up for a “reasonable processing fee” at ScienceCare Anatomical, a nationwide supplier of anatomical specimens for research with an office in Aurora.
Unfortunately, a customer service representative explained, tissue is given out only to doctors, clinical researchers and others who “demonstrate merit,” not for “personal interest.”
A deep, despondent sigh on the other end of the line caused her to reconsider.
“Maybe if you find a doctor I could ship it to, we could do that,” she said.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0223 or dphilipps@gazette.com
Digit hunt ends empty-handed
By DAVE PHILIPPS THE GAZETTE
News that a woman who reported finding part of a finger in a cup of fast-food chili had been arrested — on larceny charges of planting the finger — begged the question:
Are digits that easy to come by? Can you get a finger or toe by 3 o’clock in the afternoon, if desired?
After a day of trying, it turns out it’s not that easy. During a flurry of phone calls Monday, some people with fingers at their disposal laughed and others politely declined, but none filled the request.
It’s not as if it would be illegal. The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 bars the purchase of organs for transplant, but there is no rule against buying or selling human tissue for research or medical education.
Dozens of tissue banks across the country provide bits and pieces of human bodies for procedures including skin grafts and collagen injections.
Even so, a finger is an unusual request.
“We have blood, there’s eyes, I know we’ve done toes before, hang on, let me check,” said an employee of AlloSource tissue bank in Centennial. “Do you need the whole thing or just the bone?”
A quick inventory search showed that AlloSource didn’t have any hand parts because, another employee explained, bits missing from the hand would be very noticeable during a memorial service.
That narrowed the pool of prospective fingers to those that had already gone through a funeral, such as the cadavers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The school wasn’t handing out fingers either. And officials were adamant that each cadaver is fully accounted for and cremated after each semester.
Was it reasonable to assume the right mortuary might be willing to sell a knuckle or two?
“I’m going to have to say no,” said the receptionist at Colorado Springs’ Blunt Mortuary. “A finger is not our property, it belongs to the person it is attached to.”
Digits lost by the living were also out of reach.
Fingertips sliced off in cooking and carpentry projects usually are reattached. Those rejected by the body are kept a few weeks at hospitals, then incinerated.
“Even if you could intercept it on the way to the incinerator, it would be so slimy and gross you probably wouldn’t want it,” said Tanya Dantzler, spokeswoman for Penrose Hospital.
By 3 p.m., things were looking bleak.
A severed finger on eBay (last bid $1.50) turned out to be a “great joke or prop!” made of plastic.
Finally, not just a finger, but possibly a whole hand, turned up for a “reasonable processing fee” at ScienceCare Anatomical, a nationwide supplier of anatomical specimens for research with an office in Aurora.
Unfortunately, a customer service representative explained, tissue is given out only to doctors, clinical researchers and others who “demonstrate merit,” not for “personal interest.”
A deep, despondent sigh on the other end of the line caused her to reconsider.
“Maybe if you find a doctor I could ship it to, we could do that,” she said.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0223 or dphilipps@gazette.com
Monday, April 25, 2005
The Oblivious Right
April 25, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
By PAUL KRUGMAN
According to John Snow, the Treasury secretary, the global economy is in a "sweet spot." Conservative pundits close to the administration talk, without irony, about a "Bush boom."
Yet two-thirds of Americans polled by Gallup say that the economy is "only fair" or "poor." And only 33 percent of those polled believe the economy is improving, while 59 percent think it's getting worse.
Is the administration's obliviousness to the public's economic anxiety just partisanship? I don't think so: President Bush and other Republican leaders honestly think that we're living in the best of times. After all, everyone they talk to says so.
Since November's election, the victors have managed to be on the wrong side of public opinion on one issue after another: the economy, Social Security privatization, Terri Schiavo, Tom DeLay. By large margins, Americans say that the country is headed in the wrong direction, and Mr. Bush is the least popular second-term president on record.
What's going on? Actually, it's quite simple: Mr. Bush and his party talk only to their base - corporate interests and the religious right - and are oblivious to everyone else's concerns.
The administration's upbeat view of the economy is a case in point. Corporate interests are doing very well. As a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out, over the last three years profits grew at an annual rate of 14.5 percent after inflation, the fastest growth since World War II.
The story is very different for the great majority of Americans, who live off their wages, not dividends or capital gains, and aren't doing well at all. Over the past three years, wage and salary income grew less than in any other postwar recovery - less than a tenth as fast as profits. But wage-earning Americans aren't part of the base.
The same obliviousness explains Mr. Bush's decision to make Social Security privatization his main policy priority. He doesn't talk to anyone outside the base, so he didn't realize what he was getting into.
In retrospect, it was a terrible political blunder: the privatization campaign has quickly degenerated from juggernaut to joke. According to CBS, only 25 percent of the public have confidence in Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about Social Security; 70 percent are "uneasy."
The point is that people sense, correctly, that Mr. Bush doesn't understand their concerns. He was sold on privatization by people who have made their careers in the self-referential, corporate-sponsored world of conservative think tanks. And he himself has no personal experience with the risks that working families face. He's probably never imagined what it would be like to be destitute in his old age, with no guaranteed income.
The same syndrome has been visible on cultural issues. Republican leaders in Congress, who talk only to the religious right, were shocked at the public backlash over their meddling in the Schiavo case. Did I mention that Rick Santorum is 14 points behind his likely challenger?
It all makes you wonder how these people ever ended up running the country in the first place. But remember that in 2000, Mr. Bush pretended to be a moderate, and that in the next two elections he used the Iraq war as a wedge to divide and perplex the Democrats.
In that context, it's worth noting two more poll results: in one taken before the recent resurgence of violence in Iraq, and the administration's announcement that it needs yet another $80 billion, 53 percent of Americans said that the Iraq war wasn't worth it. And 50 percent say that "the administration deliberately misled the public about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction."
Democracy Corps, the Democratic pollsters, say that there is a "crisis of confidence in the Republican direction for the country." As they're careful to point out, this won't necessarily translate into a surge of support for Democrats.
But Americans are feeling a sense of dread: they're worried about a weak job market, soaring health care costs, rising oil prices and a war that seems to have no end. And they're starting to notice that nobody in power is even trying to deal with these problems, because the people in charge are too busy catering to a base that has other priorities.
OP-ED COLUMNIST
By PAUL KRUGMAN
According to John Snow, the Treasury secretary, the global economy is in a "sweet spot." Conservative pundits close to the administration talk, without irony, about a "Bush boom."
Yet two-thirds of Americans polled by Gallup say that the economy is "only fair" or "poor." And only 33 percent of those polled believe the economy is improving, while 59 percent think it's getting worse.
Is the administration's obliviousness to the public's economic anxiety just partisanship? I don't think so: President Bush and other Republican leaders honestly think that we're living in the best of times. After all, everyone they talk to says so.
Since November's election, the victors have managed to be on the wrong side of public opinion on one issue after another: the economy, Social Security privatization, Terri Schiavo, Tom DeLay. By large margins, Americans say that the country is headed in the wrong direction, and Mr. Bush is the least popular second-term president on record.
What's going on? Actually, it's quite simple: Mr. Bush and his party talk only to their base - corporate interests and the religious right - and are oblivious to everyone else's concerns.
The administration's upbeat view of the economy is a case in point. Corporate interests are doing very well. As a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out, over the last three years profits grew at an annual rate of 14.5 percent after inflation, the fastest growth since World War II.
The story is very different for the great majority of Americans, who live off their wages, not dividends or capital gains, and aren't doing well at all. Over the past three years, wage and salary income grew less than in any other postwar recovery - less than a tenth as fast as profits. But wage-earning Americans aren't part of the base.
The same obliviousness explains Mr. Bush's decision to make Social Security privatization his main policy priority. He doesn't talk to anyone outside the base, so he didn't realize what he was getting into.
In retrospect, it was a terrible political blunder: the privatization campaign has quickly degenerated from juggernaut to joke. According to CBS, only 25 percent of the public have confidence in Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about Social Security; 70 percent are "uneasy."
The point is that people sense, correctly, that Mr. Bush doesn't understand their concerns. He was sold on privatization by people who have made their careers in the self-referential, corporate-sponsored world of conservative think tanks. And he himself has no personal experience with the risks that working families face. He's probably never imagined what it would be like to be destitute in his old age, with no guaranteed income.
The same syndrome has been visible on cultural issues. Republican leaders in Congress, who talk only to the religious right, were shocked at the public backlash over their meddling in the Schiavo case. Did I mention that Rick Santorum is 14 points behind his likely challenger?
It all makes you wonder how these people ever ended up running the country in the first place. But remember that in 2000, Mr. Bush pretended to be a moderate, and that in the next two elections he used the Iraq war as a wedge to divide and perplex the Democrats.
In that context, it's worth noting two more poll results: in one taken before the recent resurgence of violence in Iraq, and the administration's announcement that it needs yet another $80 billion, 53 percent of Americans said that the Iraq war wasn't worth it. And 50 percent say that "the administration deliberately misled the public about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction."
Democracy Corps, the Democratic pollsters, say that there is a "crisis of confidence in the Republican direction for the country." As they're careful to point out, this won't necessarily translate into a surge of support for Democrats.
But Americans are feeling a sense of dread: they're worried about a weak job market, soaring health care costs, rising oil prices and a war that seems to have no end. And they're starting to notice that nobody in power is even trying to deal with these problems, because the people in charge are too busy catering to a base that has other priorities.
Delegate Assembly & The Agony of War, in reverse order
We live in a country anesthetized to the consequences of its actions.
April 25, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Agony of War
By BOB HERBERT
othing is so beautiful and wonderful, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy, as the good." - Simone Weil
"There's no doubt in my mind that the good Lord has his hands full right now." - The Rev. Ted Oswald at the funeral Mass for Marla Ruzicka
In a horrifying incident that occurred in the spring of 2003, an Iraqi woman threw two of her children, an infant and a toddler, out the window of a car that had been hit accidentally in an American rocket attack. The woman and the rest of her family perished in the black smoke and flames of the wreckage. The toddler, whose name was Zahraa, was severely burned. She died two weeks later.
The infant, named Harah, was not badly hurt. She was photographed recently on the lap of Marla Ruzicka, a young humanitarian-aid worker from California who was herself killed a little over a week ago in the flaming wreckage of a car that was destroyed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad.
The vast amount of suffering and death endured by civilians as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has, for the most part, been carefully kept out of the consciousness of the average American. I can't think of anything the Bush administration would like to talk about less. You can't put a positive spin on dead children.
As for the press, it has better things to cover than the suffering of civilians in war. The aversion to this topic is at the opposite extreme from the ecstatic journalistic embrace of the death of one pope and the election of another, and the media's manic obsession with the comings and goings of Martha, Jacko, et al.
There's been hardly any media interest in the unrelieved agony of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq. It's an ugly subject, and the idea has taken hold that Americans need to be protected from stories or images of the war that might be disturbing. As a nation we can wage war, but we don't want the public to be too upset by it.
So the public doesn't even hear about the American bombs that fall mistakenly on the homes of innocent civilians, wiping out entire families. We hear very little about the frequent instances of jittery soldiers opening fire indiscriminately, killing and wounding men, women and children who were never a threat in the first place. We don't hear much about the many children who, for one reason or another, are shot, burned or blown to eternity by our forces in the name of peace and freedom.
Out of sight, out of mind.
This stunning lack of interest in the toll the war has taken on civilians is one of the reasons Ms. Ruzicka, who was just 28 when she died, felt compelled to try to personally document as much of the suffering as she could. At times she would go from door to door in the most dangerous areas, taking down information about civilians who had been killed or wounded. She believed fiercely that Americans needed to know about the terrible pain the war was inflicting, and that we had an obligation to do everything possible to mitigate it.
Her ultimate goal, which Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont is pursuing, was to establish a U.S. government office, perhaps in the State Department, to document the civilian casualties of American military operations. That information would then be publicly reported. Compensation would be provided for victims and their families, and the data would be studied in an effort to minimize civilian casualties in future operations.
War is always about sorrow and the deepest suffering. Nitwits try to dress it up in the finery of half-baked rationalizations, but the reality is always wanton bloodshed, rotting flesh and the lifelong trauma of those who are physically or psychically maimed.
More than 600 people attended Ms. Ruzicka's funeral on Saturday in her hometown of Lakeport, Calif. Among them was Bobby Muller, chairman of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. A former Marine lieutenant, he knows something about the agony of war. His spinal cord was severed when he was shot in the back in Vietnam.
He told the mourners: "Marla demonstrated that an individual can make a profound difference in this world. Her life was dedicated to innocent victims of conflict, exactly what she ended up being."
Here's a summary of what happened at the Delegate Assembly I wrote for members. Probably boring, or maybe not:
Happy Monday everyone,
The delegates to the CEA delegate assembly had a great time and worked well for our members.
Delegates went up to the Denver Tech Center Thursday after school to check in and attend the first general session. This year marked the 130th year of our association in Colorado. Brenna Isaacs, President of the Aurora Education Association was elected by acclimation to represent us as an NEA Director. Sam Cubelo was made the ESP at-large representative to the Board of Directors, and Stephen Collins was made the Higher ed Rep. Stephen Collins gave a great speech with his puppet friend named Pinky. One thing he said that we all remembered was, "Critical thinking is NOT a left-wing agenda!" Colleen Hines and Kim Marseta were chosen to represent us on the NEA resolutions committee.
The Speaker of the House for Colorado also came and gave a stirring speech, urging us to support C and D on this November's ballot to try to fix the financial mess our state is in.
An Amendment to change the way ESP dues is calculated was tabled. Delegates voted to continue the special assessment in our dues that goes toward public relations to increase awareness and support for public education and teacher issues. A resolution was passed indicating belief that the PERA board should proportionately represent educators, which it currently does not. A special resolution recognizing the staff of Cole Middle School that is closing at the end of this year was passed.
The Every Member Option of your dues that will be used to help us in our upcoming school board race, to support the ballot issues to fix TABOR, and in the governor's race, etc., was increased from $2 dollars a month to $3 dollars a month due to increased need in the local school board races. Delegates approved this increase by a wide margin.
A measure to help locals meet guidelines for minority representation was passed, a plan to help paraeducators meet ESEA requirements passed, and an initiative to encourage the Colorado Department of Education to modify CSAP so that it is shorter, recognizes age and developmental characteristics of students, minimizes loss of instructional time and can be scored and reported by the end of the school year passed.
CEA was also directed to courage the CDE to modify school accountability reports to reflect growth in student achievement more accurately.
Delegates were educated on the difference between a Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) Pension plan. Ours is currently a DB plan, which is MUCH better for us. There are pushes to change it to a DC plan which we need to fight.
The most controversial new business item was one to try to encourage a change in current practice and law that allows military recruiters access to contact information for all high students unless they opt out. The business item favors an opt-in policy.
The delegates approved that CEA students would receive 100% of their dues for their own activities of recruiting, promoting teaching as a career and building leaders, etc.
CEA was directed by delegates to gather information about ESP salaries across the state for bargaining purposes, and CEA was directed to add its name to the list of supporters of the Colorado Clean Indoor Act.
We learned more about the Too Extreme for Colorado crowd and got information about the upcoming NEA Representative Assembly. The hotels we're booked in for the RA may be involved in labor disputed and strikes at the time of RA, so NEA is trying to make back up arrangements to host thousands of representatives including the Colorado representatives.
Two of our delegates were recognized in the awards ceremony: Carol Buchholz was recognized for Political Action for her work in bond and mill levy elections and the Mike Merrifield election. Diana Beatty was awarded a scholarship of $1500 toward her master's degree. United States Senator Ken Salazar attended and spoke briefly at the awards reception.
We were educated more about the legislation to fix our social security problem. Currently in Colorado people who are vested in PERA may receive little or no social security benefits regardless of their investments in social security and we're trying to fix that. We received a report delegates asked for last year about Wal-Mart's role in the Too Extreme push to privatize education. While Wal-Mart does offer funds for non-privatization efforts that help schools, it is a token amount compared to their millions upon millions poured into privatization efforts. A first time delegate from Aspen pointed out that PERA has several million shares of Wal-Mart stock and the committee said they will talk to PERA board members about that.
In a nutshell, that was the meeting - or at least what I got of it into my notes.....
April 25, 2005
OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Agony of War
By BOB HERBERT
othing is so beautiful and wonderful, nothing is so continually fresh and surprising, so full of sweet and perpetual ecstasy, as the good." - Simone Weil
"There's no doubt in my mind that the good Lord has his hands full right now." - The Rev. Ted Oswald at the funeral Mass for Marla Ruzicka
In a horrifying incident that occurred in the spring of 2003, an Iraqi woman threw two of her children, an infant and a toddler, out the window of a car that had been hit accidentally in an American rocket attack. The woman and the rest of her family perished in the black smoke and flames of the wreckage. The toddler, whose name was Zahraa, was severely burned. She died two weeks later.
The infant, named Harah, was not badly hurt. She was photographed recently on the lap of Marla Ruzicka, a young humanitarian-aid worker from California who was herself killed a little over a week ago in the flaming wreckage of a car that was destroyed in a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad.
The vast amount of suffering and death endured by civilians as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has, for the most part, been carefully kept out of the consciousness of the average American. I can't think of anything the Bush administration would like to talk about less. You can't put a positive spin on dead children.
As for the press, it has better things to cover than the suffering of civilians in war. The aversion to this topic is at the opposite extreme from the ecstatic journalistic embrace of the death of one pope and the election of another, and the media's manic obsession with the comings and goings of Martha, Jacko, et al.
There's been hardly any media interest in the unrelieved agony of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq. It's an ugly subject, and the idea has taken hold that Americans need to be protected from stories or images of the war that might be disturbing. As a nation we can wage war, but we don't want the public to be too upset by it.
So the public doesn't even hear about the American bombs that fall mistakenly on the homes of innocent civilians, wiping out entire families. We hear very little about the frequent instances of jittery soldiers opening fire indiscriminately, killing and wounding men, women and children who were never a threat in the first place. We don't hear much about the many children who, for one reason or another, are shot, burned or blown to eternity by our forces in the name of peace and freedom.
Out of sight, out of mind.
This stunning lack of interest in the toll the war has taken on civilians is one of the reasons Ms. Ruzicka, who was just 28 when she died, felt compelled to try to personally document as much of the suffering as she could. At times she would go from door to door in the most dangerous areas, taking down information about civilians who had been killed or wounded. She believed fiercely that Americans needed to know about the terrible pain the war was inflicting, and that we had an obligation to do everything possible to mitigate it.
Her ultimate goal, which Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont is pursuing, was to establish a U.S. government office, perhaps in the State Department, to document the civilian casualties of American military operations. That information would then be publicly reported. Compensation would be provided for victims and their families, and the data would be studied in an effort to minimize civilian casualties in future operations.
War is always about sorrow and the deepest suffering. Nitwits try to dress it up in the finery of half-baked rationalizations, but the reality is always wanton bloodshed, rotting flesh and the lifelong trauma of those who are physically or psychically maimed.
More than 600 people attended Ms. Ruzicka's funeral on Saturday in her hometown of Lakeport, Calif. Among them was Bobby Muller, chairman of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. A former Marine lieutenant, he knows something about the agony of war. His spinal cord was severed when he was shot in the back in Vietnam.
He told the mourners: "Marla demonstrated that an individual can make a profound difference in this world. Her life was dedicated to innocent victims of conflict, exactly what she ended up being."
Here's a summary of what happened at the Delegate Assembly I wrote for members. Probably boring, or maybe not:
Happy Monday everyone,
The delegates to the CEA delegate assembly had a great time and worked well for our members.
Delegates went up to the Denver Tech Center Thursday after school to check in and attend the first general session. This year marked the 130th year of our association in Colorado. Brenna Isaacs, President of the Aurora Education Association was elected by acclimation to represent us as an NEA Director. Sam Cubelo was made the ESP at-large representative to the Board of Directors, and Stephen Collins was made the Higher ed Rep. Stephen Collins gave a great speech with his puppet friend named Pinky. One thing he said that we all remembered was, "Critical thinking is NOT a left-wing agenda!" Colleen Hines and Kim Marseta were chosen to represent us on the NEA resolutions committee.
The Speaker of the House for Colorado also came and gave a stirring speech, urging us to support C and D on this November's ballot to try to fix the financial mess our state is in.
An Amendment to change the way ESP dues is calculated was tabled. Delegates voted to continue the special assessment in our dues that goes toward public relations to increase awareness and support for public education and teacher issues. A resolution was passed indicating belief that the PERA board should proportionately represent educators, which it currently does not. A special resolution recognizing the staff of Cole Middle School that is closing at the end of this year was passed.
The Every Member Option of your dues that will be used to help us in our upcoming school board race, to support the ballot issues to fix TABOR, and in the governor's race, etc., was increased from $2 dollars a month to $3 dollars a month due to increased need in the local school board races. Delegates approved this increase by a wide margin.
A measure to help locals meet guidelines for minority representation was passed, a plan to help paraeducators meet ESEA requirements passed, and an initiative to encourage the Colorado Department of Education to modify CSAP so that it is shorter, recognizes age and developmental characteristics of students, minimizes loss of instructional time and can be scored and reported by the end of the school year passed.
CEA was also directed to courage the CDE to modify school accountability reports to reflect growth in student achievement more accurately.
Delegates were educated on the difference between a Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC) Pension plan. Ours is currently a DB plan, which is MUCH better for us. There are pushes to change it to a DC plan which we need to fight.
The most controversial new business item was one to try to encourage a change in current practice and law that allows military recruiters access to contact information for all high students unless they opt out. The business item favors an opt-in policy.
The delegates approved that CEA students would receive 100% of their dues for their own activities of recruiting, promoting teaching as a career and building leaders, etc.
CEA was directed by delegates to gather information about ESP salaries across the state for bargaining purposes, and CEA was directed to add its name to the list of supporters of the Colorado Clean Indoor Act.
We learned more about the Too Extreme for Colorado crowd and got information about the upcoming NEA Representative Assembly. The hotels we're booked in for the RA may be involved in labor disputed and strikes at the time of RA, so NEA is trying to make back up arrangements to host thousands of representatives including the Colorado representatives.
Two of our delegates were recognized in the awards ceremony: Carol Buchholz was recognized for Political Action for her work in bond and mill levy elections and the Mike Merrifield election. Diana Beatty was awarded a scholarship of $1500 toward her master's degree. United States Senator Ken Salazar attended and spoke briefly at the awards reception.
We were educated more about the legislation to fix our social security problem. Currently in Colorado people who are vested in PERA may receive little or no social security benefits regardless of their investments in social security and we're trying to fix that. We received a report delegates asked for last year about Wal-Mart's role in the Too Extreme push to privatize education. While Wal-Mart does offer funds for non-privatization efforts that help schools, it is a token amount compared to their millions upon millions poured into privatization efforts. A first time delegate from Aspen pointed out that PERA has several million shares of Wal-Mart stock and the committee said they will talk to PERA board members about that.
In a nutshell, that was the meeting - or at least what I got of it into my notes.....
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
New Pope and New Food Pyramids
Just checking on the news before heading off to the Exchange of Proposals that opens the bargaining session for our Master Agreement.
It seems a new pope has been chosen, Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany, known as a "hard-liner" although I am not sure what that means, and he has chosen the name Pope Benedict the XVI.
And, I also noticed that our Food Pyramid from the USDA isn't good enough since people keep getting fatter, so now they have 12 food pyramids that vary according to age, gender, and exercise level. Do you really think it will make a difference? Did anyone eat according to the old food pyramid? I just wonder. The usda.gov website has a link so you can find out your personal pyramid. Too lazy to html link it right now, but I don't think typing in usda.gov is that bad, is it? :)
My mom was saying yesterday how she saw something on TV about jumping rope being very good exercise. Man, do I know - I have a jump rope and got it out and was using it and it sure is a lot more tiring than I remember when I was a kid doing Jump Rope for Heart in elementary school....
It seems a new pope has been chosen, Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany, known as a "hard-liner" although I am not sure what that means, and he has chosen the name Pope Benedict the XVI.
And, I also noticed that our Food Pyramid from the USDA isn't good enough since people keep getting fatter, so now they have 12 food pyramids that vary according to age, gender, and exercise level. Do you really think it will make a difference? Did anyone eat according to the old food pyramid? I just wonder. The usda.gov website has a link so you can find out your personal pyramid. Too lazy to html link it right now, but I don't think typing in usda.gov is that bad, is it? :)
My mom was saying yesterday how she saw something on TV about jumping rope being very good exercise. Man, do I know - I have a jump rope and got it out and was using it and it sure is a lot more tiring than I remember when I was a kid doing Jump Rope for Heart in elementary school....
Monday, April 18, 2005
Just What's Up
Your Linguistic Profile: |
80% General American English |
5% Dixie |
5% Midwestern |
5% Upper Midwestern |
5% Yankee |
This weekend was beautiful but it sure seemed short compared to last weekend with that snow day. I loved having that snow day - it was a very productive day.
Today was beautiful, too. When Nancy and I walked during 7th hour, we encountered a whole flutter of these little brown and orange butterflies. I decided to look up what a group of butterflies is called to make sure flutter is right, and lo and behold there are oodles of names for groups of butterflies.
My brother came over yesterday to work on his graduate school stuff on my computer. I think he is still trying to beat me at finishing but it is looking less likely as he's getting behind. His program involves a lot less work than mine - it is a correspondence course that just involves writing a few papers within a year or so. I thought it was funny that when I got home I saw his paper on my desktop - he'd written one paragraph. But at least he said he'd gotten some research done.
While I was out and about yesterday, my parents came over and fixed some lights, changed the filter on the heater under the house and fixed my screen door. So I thought that was really nice of them. They saw a leak under the house so I've got to call a plumber - I hope it doesn't cost very much to fix!
This week is a crazy week at school - tomorrow we have an assembly schedule so kids can vote for student cabinet, then after school we have the exchange of proposals to open bargaining for our contracts - what I REALLY want is that they successfully find the money for education increments so I can get the raise for finishing my masters. Then I have a union dinner meeting that will probably go until around 9pm or so. Wednesday is a standardized test day. But, I will be taking my AP Statistics students to a testing center so we can take a practice AP exam - we'll do that all day - in the morning we'll take the test and in the afternoon we'll score them. Thursday is another assembly schedule day for Alive to Strive - to help remind kids not to drive drunk (or preferably not to drink at all) at prom this weekend. Thursday after school I leave for Denver for the Delegate Assembly for the union. I should be there Thursday night, Friday and part of the day Saturday. We vote on issues pertaining to the state level of the education association. So I have to make sub plans for Friday. I'm supposed to make a VERY brief speech for getting the Johnson Memorial Scholarship - basically I need to profusely thank the people who worked on my portfolio and wrote letters of recommendation for me. Friday night our local goes out to dinner to celebrate our award winners. Oh yeah I have a big paper due Wednesday. I hope maybe I'll get around to it tonight and could even finish it early - that would be nice!
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Interesting School Board Stuff
Yesterday was an interesting school board day.
At the end of March at a school board meeting, one of the members of the school board, Willie Breazell, made some comments that got people upset and prompted them to write this letter:
The result of which looked something like this:
Several hundred people from those schools, other schools, and the community turned out to let it be known that they disagreed with Mr. Breazell. The demonstration was staged in front of the School District Eleven Administration Building before the public portion of the scheduled school board meeting.
Then, lots of them signed up to speak in citizens' comments at the meeting. So many signed up that citizens' comments lasted two hours while they expressed their issues with certain members of the board.
Mr. Breazell responded with an acknowledgement of their reaction but stood behind his comments as applying to some people without saying who that might be.
Then the meeting went on with business including the discussion of closing Ivywild Elementary, a true community school with low enrollment, low SES, low scores although signs of improvement are strong. Later, apparently Mr. Christen strongly expressed his dissatisfaction with the day's events. I can't comment much about that yet as I was already in bed when it happened at around 11 p.m., but word is that he almost got into a physical altercation in relation to the rally and that he blamed the Colorado Springs Education Association for organizing the dissent as part of a larger conspiracy to thwart efforts for more people in line with Christen and Breazell to take over the board in November's election.
I think they seem to be doing a fine job of that themselves so far....
At the end of March at a school board meeting, one of the members of the school board, Willie Breazell, made some comments that got people upset and prompted them to write this letter:
Dear District Eleven Colleagues,
We, the staff members at Hunt, Adams, and Monroe Elementary Schools, and Hunt Adult Education, are writing to you to express our outrage and seek your support. Last week Board of Education member Willie Breazell made disturbing public comments during the Board meeting. His offensive, bigoted statements regarding teachers and parents at several south area elementary schools are dispiriting and demeaning, and constitute an attack on all teachers.
Breazell said, “So you’ve got a poor black kid dealing with a middle class white female who has had very little contact with that child up until the time she is teaching him. She’s not going to be as supportive as if that was a white kid.”
“My grandson is suffering that right now. A lot of other kids are suffering that right now.”
“Most of the teachers that teach our kids down at Hunt and down at other places are middle class white females who don’t live in those areas. They only come there for the job and then they’ll go back to their particular District 11, sorry, District 12, District 20 environments. That’s the problem.”
Mr. Breazell went on, in responding to a question about District support for these schools, “They (Hunt and Adams and Monroe parents) don’t come here and articulate their particular concerns. Okay, like with dyslexia, you’re probably not going to get a parent from Adams or Hunt to come here to talk about dyslexia. They probably don’t know what the word means. They don’t have a clue.”
“A kid who is not performing well at Hunt or Adams or Monroe isn’t likely to get any support from this District right here because the parents aren’t coming here. They just got off from their minimum wage job and they are going to go home.”
At the next Board meeting on Wednesday, April 13, we intend to set the record straight. We will attend en masse and speak to Mr. Breazell and the rest of the Board to let them know we are an ethnically and economically diverse group of teachers who support all our students to the fullest. We care deeply about all our students and their achievement. We are not just here for the job. Likewise, our community and parents care deeply about their students’ education. They are not ignorant and they do have a clue.
We need your support in delivering our message. We need to show Mr. Breazell that he is wrong and that his verbal attacks on teachers and parents will not go unanswered. Please attend the Board meeting with us next week. We will hold a rally outside the administration building at 5:30pm before speaking during citizens’ comments at 6:30pm. Please join us. Bring your friends and family. This unwarranted attack on us is an attack on all of us. We need your help to send a strong reply. Thank you.
Hunt, Adams, and Monroe Elementary Schools, and Hunt Adult Education Staffs
The result of which looked something like this:
Several hundred people from those schools, other schools, and the community turned out to let it be known that they disagreed with Mr. Breazell. The demonstration was staged in front of the School District Eleven Administration Building before the public portion of the scheduled school board meeting.
Then, lots of them signed up to speak in citizens' comments at the meeting. So many signed up that citizens' comments lasted two hours while they expressed their issues with certain members of the board.
Mr. Breazell responded with an acknowledgement of their reaction but stood behind his comments as applying to some people without saying who that might be.
Then the meeting went on with business including the discussion of closing Ivywild Elementary, a true community school with low enrollment, low SES, low scores although signs of improvement are strong. Later, apparently Mr. Christen strongly expressed his dissatisfaction with the day's events. I can't comment much about that yet as I was already in bed when it happened at around 11 p.m., but word is that he almost got into a physical altercation in relation to the rally and that he blamed the Colorado Springs Education Association for organizing the dissent as part of a larger conspiracy to thwart efforts for more people in line with Christen and Breazell to take over the board in November's election.
I think they seem to be doing a fine job of that themselves so far....
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Wildlife and Boredom
Yesterday I saw a fox on my way to work on the Pinello's land, and this morning I saw several does on Mesa Rd. on my way to work. I just think it is so cool to see wildlife. That is one of the benefits of getting up and out early in the morning. I love the beauty of mornings. But, I rarely get to appreciate it because left to my own devices (i.e. not having to go to work), I am almost never out and about early. Instead I might be sleeping a few more hours or just hanging around my house.
If things go according to plan, I should be finished with my master's the first week of June. I'm looking forward to not having to worry about graduate classes, but on the other hand I sometimes feel like I don't have enough to keep me occupied as it is. Sometimes I feel busy and sometimes I feel like I don't have enough to do. I feel I need to be busy because I live alone and I don't want to be lazy or get bad habits or make current bad habits worse. I'm sure I can find things to do, but having them be good, fulfilling things that maintain my interest so I'm not just forcing myself it something else. I'm still looking forward to summer to get to focus on some things more than I can during the school year, though.
If things go according to plan, I should be finished with my master's the first week of June. I'm looking forward to not having to worry about graduate classes, but on the other hand I sometimes feel like I don't have enough to keep me occupied as it is. Sometimes I feel busy and sometimes I feel like I don't have enough to do. I feel I need to be busy because I live alone and I don't want to be lazy or get bad habits or make current bad habits worse. I'm sure I can find things to do, but having them be good, fulfilling things that maintain my interest so I'm not just forcing myself it something else. I'm still looking forward to summer to get to focus on some things more than I can during the school year, though.
Monday, April 11, 2005
Islam Online Course - new blog
You are cordially invited to join a free online Islamic course beginning this week at Islam Online Course . The link is also on the sidebar under Yakoub's blog.
You can join later at any time but would get the most benefit from the course if you can follow its schedule. The content of the course will start at an introductory level and is open to all.
Please pass this invitation on to anyone you think may be interested in the course.
--
Deal gently with a people, and be not harsh; cheer them and condemn not.
- Holy Prophet (saw)
You can join later at any time but would get the most benefit from the course if you can follow its schedule. The content of the course will start at an introductory level and is open to all.
Please pass this invitation on to anyone you think may be interested in the course.
--
Deal gently with a people, and be not harsh; cheer them and condemn not.
- Holy Prophet (saw)
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Death Valley Blooms
Since we're locked down in a blizzard here today, this is particularly appealing. I'd love to be there and see it myself.
By JULIANNA BARBASSA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - A rare burst of color has softened the stark landscape of Death Valley, with clusters of purple, pink and white wildflowers dotting the black basalt mountainsides and great swaths of golden blooms bordering the blinding white salt flats on the valley floor.
The winter storms that brought deadly mudslides to Southern California dropped more than 6 inches of rain on this thirsty desert — three times more than usual — encouraging wildflower seeds to sprout. Experts say this kind of show comes once in a lifetime.
The flowers have adapted to the desert by developing seeds with coatings so thick or waxy that they can hibernate for decades. Only continued heavy rains will coax them to grow. Then, when there’s just the right amount of moisture, sunlight and warmth, “it’s all systems go,” says Pam Muick, executive director of the California Native Plant Society.
She says Death Valley hasn’t seen such an array of flowers for about 50 years — blue pendants of desert lupine and tiny purple chias growing in clumps, golden California poppies scattering all over hillsides. Along roads leading into the park, long rows of bright yellow daisies wave, almost as if they’d been seeded to greet the visitors.
The normally forbidding landscape is alive not only with flowers: Fat, 3-inch-long, green caterpillars that develop into Sphinx moths come out to feast on the blooms, said Terry Baldino, a park ranger.
“They’re the biggest, ugliest things you’ve ever seen,” Baldino said. “And they have one thing on their mind: eating flowers.”
The caterpillars and the abundance of new seeds will attract birds and small rodents, drawing in snakes and foxes in turn — a food chain that is unusual for Death Valley, Baldino said.
Even in the early spring, temperatures are soaring into the 90s, reminding tourists flocking in for the flower show that this is a place of extremes. A deep bowl about 156 miles long, the valley was created when great plates of earth pushed apart, giving rise to the Amargosa and the Panamint mountain ranges and dropping the valley floor 282 feet below sea level. The depression works like a convection oven, recirculating hot air and making the valley one of the hottest places on earth, with ground-level temperatures that can reach 200 degrees in summer.
It’s also extremely dry, with less than 2 inches of rainfall a year. The water that does wash down the mineral-rich mountainsides carries the salt deposits that have formed the great salt flats dominating the valley floor.
Visitors can hike or drive for miles along the glistening salt pan or examine the jagged salt formations that seem to mirror the snowcapped mountains looming in the background.
The recent storms have turned part of the salt pan around Badwater Basin — normally a brackish puddle a few inches deep — into a reflecting pool about five miles across. Kayakers and windsailers cut across the shallow, lifeless water. Other visitors wade in, only to emerge covered in a salt crust.
The flowers will continue to flourish until July, according to Baldino. The blooms in the southern reaches and lower elevations probably have faded already, given recent high temperatures, but the warmth will trigger seed banks farther north and higher up in the hillsides, creating a moving display. These flowers will then drop seeds, which will lay dormant until the next really wet winter.
“This isn’t a wasteland,” Muick said. “It will start looking empty when the flowers are gone, but there’s life there at all times.”
By JULIANNA BARBASSA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - A rare burst of color has softened the stark landscape of Death Valley, with clusters of purple, pink and white wildflowers dotting the black basalt mountainsides and great swaths of golden blooms bordering the blinding white salt flats on the valley floor.
The winter storms that brought deadly mudslides to Southern California dropped more than 6 inches of rain on this thirsty desert — three times more than usual — encouraging wildflower seeds to sprout. Experts say this kind of show comes once in a lifetime.
The flowers have adapted to the desert by developing seeds with coatings so thick or waxy that they can hibernate for decades. Only continued heavy rains will coax them to grow. Then, when there’s just the right amount of moisture, sunlight and warmth, “it’s all systems go,” says Pam Muick, executive director of the California Native Plant Society.
She says Death Valley hasn’t seen such an array of flowers for about 50 years — blue pendants of desert lupine and tiny purple chias growing in clumps, golden California poppies scattering all over hillsides. Along roads leading into the park, long rows of bright yellow daisies wave, almost as if they’d been seeded to greet the visitors.
The normally forbidding landscape is alive not only with flowers: Fat, 3-inch-long, green caterpillars that develop into Sphinx moths come out to feast on the blooms, said Terry Baldino, a park ranger.
“They’re the biggest, ugliest things you’ve ever seen,” Baldino said. “And they have one thing on their mind: eating flowers.”
The caterpillars and the abundance of new seeds will attract birds and small rodents, drawing in snakes and foxes in turn — a food chain that is unusual for Death Valley, Baldino said.
Even in the early spring, temperatures are soaring into the 90s, reminding tourists flocking in for the flower show that this is a place of extremes. A deep bowl about 156 miles long, the valley was created when great plates of earth pushed apart, giving rise to the Amargosa and the Panamint mountain ranges and dropping the valley floor 282 feet below sea level. The depression works like a convection oven, recirculating hot air and making the valley one of the hottest places on earth, with ground-level temperatures that can reach 200 degrees in summer.
It’s also extremely dry, with less than 2 inches of rainfall a year. The water that does wash down the mineral-rich mountainsides carries the salt deposits that have formed the great salt flats dominating the valley floor.
Visitors can hike or drive for miles along the glistening salt pan or examine the jagged salt formations that seem to mirror the snowcapped mountains looming in the background.
The recent storms have turned part of the salt pan around Badwater Basin — normally a brackish puddle a few inches deep — into a reflecting pool about five miles across. Kayakers and windsailers cut across the shallow, lifeless water. Other visitors wade in, only to emerge covered in a salt crust.
The flowers will continue to flourish until July, according to Baldino. The blooms in the southern reaches and lower elevations probably have faded already, given recent high temperatures, but the warmth will trigger seed banks farther north and higher up in the hillsides, creating a moving display. These flowers will then drop seeds, which will lay dormant until the next really wet winter.
“This isn’t a wasteland,” Muick said. “It will start looking empty when the flowers are gone, but there’s life there at all times.”
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Colorado Weather
I love Colorado weather, it is always interesting. A beautiful day, warm enough for some to be without jackets. As I walk past the TV while the sun is shining outside, they announce a blizzard warning for here starting at 3AM Sunday continuing until 6AM Monday. I'm curious to see what happens, because sometimes that means almost nothing, but sometimes it ends up really being something.
I'm procrastinating on some graduate school work right now. Today I just did some of the usual chores, nothing special. I guess I don't have any plans for tomorrow, either, especially since the weather is questionable.
I'm procrastinating on some graduate school work right now. Today I just did some of the usual chores, nothing special. I guess I don't have any plans for tomorrow, either, especially since the weather is questionable.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Syed's blog
If you get a chance, please respond to Syed's blog (see link on side bar). I think it is a great topic for discussion, insha'allah, and one very important and close to my heart.
Earth Day, Week, Month
The environmental made-up holiday called Earth Day is this month.
Many groups draw attention to the environmental and sustainability issues during this month. For example, Geocachers (see geocaching.com) observe April as Cache In, Trash Out month (CITO) and organize activities to pick up trash in areas where caches are likely to be hidden such as parks and trails. These activities also serve to draw positive attention to the various groups that undertake them.
Islam itself is definitely an environmentalist religion because its teachings include abhorence of wasting and practicing poor stewardship. Muslims are becoming aware that it is in their best interest as well as part of the enjoined teachings of the religion to organize and practice charity and good deeds not just within Muslim communities but for the communities in which they live wherever they are.
Sadly, many Muslim communities remain unorganized and many limit their charity and donated time to activities within their families and communities. These are valid causes that need more than they are currently getting, but the isolation resulting from limiting charitable deeds and activities to their own communities fosters continuing problems of misunderstanding of the Islamic religion and Muslim people. Muslims hurt themselves in the long run by not reaching out more to their neighbors of all faiths with good deeds and charity. Many individuals act charitably in person, but the public psyche is better reached through organized events regularly and publically undertaken by Muslim groups.
Therefore, lets all of us do something this April to improve the environment and stewardship of our planet on behalf of Muslims. If that means we must join other groups and be noticed as Muslims among them, that is great. If we could together as Muslims and friends and do something in a united way, that would be better.
Many groups draw attention to the environmental and sustainability issues during this month. For example, Geocachers (see geocaching.com) observe April as Cache In, Trash Out month (CITO) and organize activities to pick up trash in areas where caches are likely to be hidden such as parks and trails. These activities also serve to draw positive attention to the various groups that undertake them.
Islam itself is definitely an environmentalist religion because its teachings include abhorence of wasting and practicing poor stewardship. Muslims are becoming aware that it is in their best interest as well as part of the enjoined teachings of the religion to organize and practice charity and good deeds not just within Muslim communities but for the communities in which they live wherever they are.
Sadly, many Muslim communities remain unorganized and many limit their charity and donated time to activities within their families and communities. These are valid causes that need more than they are currently getting, but the isolation resulting from limiting charitable deeds and activities to their own communities fosters continuing problems of misunderstanding of the Islamic religion and Muslim people. Muslims hurt themselves in the long run by not reaching out more to their neighbors of all faiths with good deeds and charity. Many individuals act charitably in person, but the public psyche is better reached through organized events regularly and publically undertaken by Muslim groups.
Therefore, lets all of us do something this April to improve the environment and stewardship of our planet on behalf of Muslims. If that means we must join other groups and be noticed as Muslims among them, that is great. If we could together as Muslims and friends and do something in a united way, that would be better.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
The Word ‘Ali in the Bible
The word 'ali is used 226 times in the Hebrew scriptures. The following study examines all of these occurrences at least briefly. The Massoretic text of the Hebrew Bible is the source, but I have ignored the Massoretic pointing of the word 'ali, rather examining each context for clues to which pointing and consequently which meaning of the word is to be preferred.
Most of the time the word 'ali is a preposition, either with or without the first person singular pronominal suffix. The first occurrence with the pronominal suffix is in Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. The following texts, the great preponderance of passages including the word cali, seem to have the same meaning, that is, “upon me” or something similar. Genesis 27:12; 13; 30:28; 33:13; 34:12; 34:30; 42:36; 48:7; 50:20, Numbers 11:11; 14:35; 22:30; Judges 7:2; 19:20; 20:5; 1 Samuel 17:35; 21:15; 22:8,13; 23:21; 2 Samuel 1:9; 3:8; 14:9; 15:33; 19:38; 1 Kings 2:4; 14:2; 22:8,18; 2 Kings 16:7; 18:14; 1 Chronicles 22:8; 2 Chronicles 18:7; 18:17; 36:23; Ezra 1:2; 7:28; Nehemiah 2:8; 2:18; 6:12; 13:22; Esther 4:16; Job 7:12; 7:20; 9:11; 10:1; 13:13,26; 16:9,10,13,14,15; 19:5,6; 19:11; 19:12; 21:27; 29:13; 30:1,12,15,16; 31:38; 33:10; Psalm 3:1(2); 3:6(7); 13:2(3); 13:6(7); 16:6; 17:9; 22:13; 27:2,3; 31:13; 32:4,5; 35:15; 35:21; 35:16,26; 38:2(3); 38:16(17); 40:7,12; 41:7; 41:9(10); 41:11; 42:4(5); 42:5(6); 42:7(8); 42:11(12); 43:5; 54:3(5); 55:3(4); 55:4(5); 55:12(13); 56:5(6); 59:3(4); 60:8; 69:9(10); 69:15(16); 86:14; 88:7(8); 88:16(17); 88:17(18); 92:11(12); 109:2; 109:5; 116:12; 119:69; 139:5; 142:7(8); 143:4; Proverbs 7:14; Ecclesiastes 2:17; Song of Solomon 2:4; Isaiah 1:14; 61:1; Jeremiah 8:18; 11:19; 12:8,11; 15:16; 18:23; 49:11; Lamentations 1:15; 3:5,20,61,62; Ezekiel 3:22; 8:1; 11:5; 35:13; 37:1; 40:1; Daniel 4:34; 4:36; 7:28; 10:8; 10:16; Hosea 7:13; Hosea 11:8; Joel 3(4):4; Jonah 2:3(4); 2:7(8); and Malachi 3:13.
The first occurrence of the word as a preposition without suffix is in Genesis 49:17, which is a poetic passage. Indeed, the form is typical of poetic style. Genesis 49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. Similarly the word appears to be used as a simple preposition without suffix in Genesis 49:22; Deuteronomy 32:2; Job 6:5; 8:9; 9:26; 15:27; 18:10; 20:4; 29:3,4; 30:4; 33:15; 36:28; 38:24; 41:30; Psalm 49:11; 50:5,16; 92:3(4); 94:20; 108:9(10); 131:2; 142:3(4); Proverbs 8:2; 30:19; Isaiah 18:4; Lamentations 4:5; and Micah 5:(6)7.
In 1 Samuel 1-4 is found the story of the house of Eli. The name is also mentioned in 1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Kings 2:27; This proper name of the high priest and judge of Israel before Samuel is written 'Ali. The pointing with the long e merely reflects the more complex vowel system of Hebrew as compared to Arabic. Arabic cognates with a appear in Hebrew with either a or e, and often preferably e. The segholate character of Hebrew thus clouds the fact that the name is precisely the same as the Arabic c Ali. There are some striking parallels as well as direct contrasts between the Biblical Eli and Imam cAli (as). The first cAli had two unrighteous sons who led the people into disaster. The second one had two sons who became righteous leaders. There is a parallel between the two figures from a historical perspective as well. The Samaritans claim that Eli caused the rift between Samaritans and Jews by his false claim to the priesthood. The division between Shi’ite and Sunnite Islam surrounds the claims of the figure of Imam cAli (as).
The first clear passage in which the word must be translated as the imperative singular of the verb “to go up” is in 1 Samuel 25:35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. Similarly the word occurs in Isaiah 21:2; 40:9; Jeremiah 22:20; and 46:11.
The word appears with the meaning of “leaves of” in Nehemiah 8:15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
The first text that requires reevaluation is Exodus 8:(5)9.
And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
It is not likely that anyone would pretend that the phrase “glory over me” makes any sense at all. The assumption of the translator is that the word here is the preposition with the pronominal suffix, which is of course the dominant usage of the word in the Torah, especially in the prose passages. There seems to be no questioning of the preposition and suffix themselves, while the hesitancy about how to understand the verb placed with the preposition and suffix is of longstanding debate, going back to the Septuagint (LXX) underlying the Vulgata expression constitue mihi, appoint me (a time). Reference to the Masoretic text has led most translators to reject the Septuagint and Vulgata alternative for something presumably based on the Hebrew text, whether or not it makes sense.
Those translators requiring meaning in their translation have tended to read an unwarranted expression into the Hebrew in the sense of “do me the honor to...” an interpretation that goes back at least to Luther. Wavering between sense and nonsense is illustrated by the Webster original, which was “Glory over me” and the revised Webster which is “Command me,” apparently accepting the LXX over the Masoretic text. In sum, three alternatives are to be found in the more commonly known translations. The first follows the LXX-Vulgata tradition. The second tries to make sense of the Hebrew Massoretic text by attributing unattested meanings to the preceding verb. The third translates the Massoretic verb correctly, producing nonsense in the word cali by insisting that it is a preposition with suffix.
An alternative is to accept the Massoretic verb as it stands and attribute a non-prepositional meaning to the word cly. The choices are one of the verb forms “to rise,” or one of the proper or common noun meanings. The position requires the latter, rather than the imperative verb. The choices are thus basically “glorify my leaf,” “glorify a pestle or pistil” or “glorify cAli.” The common nouns do not make sense, and the second meaning is not even attested in Scriptural Hebrew. An Arab will immediately suggest a reference to the Deity, as “exalted.” This word, however, in the Hebrew text, would consist in an Arabicism. We are thus left with the enigmatic “glorify cAli,” in reference to an unknown named figure, or reference to God under the term, something that appears to be more or less without precedent in Biblical Hebrew. The reflexive sense of the verb could be thought to imply the necessity of a preposition before the object. However, the lack of the preposition is almost the rule in poetic passages, and is not lacking in the Torah as well. Thus these two alternatives are otherwise perfectly feasible.
The rest of the texts must be examined in the light to two questions. The first is whether or not the word should be translated as one of the common alternatives noted above (as a preposition, a preposition with the suffix, the verb imperative, or as “leaves of” or “pestle.”). Once these meanings are eliminated, we are left with the alternatives of Exodus 8:(5)9. The second task is to determine whether the text refers to Imam Ali (as) or some other figure.
There is nothing in Exodus 8:(5)9 to indicate whether a human or divine figure is meant. The Muslim reader will immediately doubt whether the word is an epithet of God, since it is generally used so in the holy Qur’an. The translators of the Bible, however, have generally neglected that possibility, probably from hesitance to impose an Arabicism on the Biblical Hebrew text rather than bias. We can only hope to answer the question by an examination of all of the texts. Failing that, recourse to extra-biblical sources will be necessary
Such texts as Numbers 11:13 and 14:27 could conceivably be translated cAli as well as a form of interjection, something on the order of “ya Ali!” Numbers 11:13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
Numbers 14:27 How long (shall I bear with) this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. The second occurrence, however, in Numbers 14:27 can only be translated as in the Authorized Version. Even without this evidence, however, the structure of the sentences makes the authorized translation preferable.
The structure of Numbers 14:29 is neutral, and would actually as such allow the translation with cAli as easily as “against me.” The witness of verse 27, however, speaks against cAli as the better alternative. Numbers 14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me.
Numbers 21:17 is the second text that translators have been willing to leave in a form void of meaning, in the figure of the flying well. It is doubly troublesome in lacking an explanatory context.
Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it. The authorized translator writes words more appropriate to Alice in Wonderland than to scriptural translation. Most others do little better. Douay, Darby, The Jewish Publication Society Bible, The Twenty-first Century King James, Green’s Literal Translation, The Modern King James Version, The New King James Version, la Bible nouvelle edition de Geneve, the Webster and most other are satisfied with this interpretation. The Bible in Basic English tries to avoid the problem of the flying well by replacing it with the obedient well that comes when called: Then Israel gave voice to this song: Come up, O water-spring, let us make a song to it. Other translators have recognized the problem and tried to make sense of it by referring to the springing up of the water from a fountain. Among these are Finnish translation of 1938, the Swedish translation of 1917, and la nuova Diodati 1991. These are roughly “surge out, o well!” English translators are willing to depend on the ambiguity of the word “spring” in English. A few translators assume a preposition between the verb and the noun, thus making the noun the direction of movement rather than the vocative. This relieves us of the rather forced speech to a well. Among these are the redivierte Schlachter Bibel 1951 Da sang Israel dieses Lied: «Kommt zum Brunnen! Singt von ihm! It is rare to find help from the LXX in this dilemma, but perhaps Luther’s original is such an example Da sang Israel dieses Lied, und sangen umeinander über dem Brunnen. The translators in the revision of Luther have succumbed to the general fascination with nonsense. Even the Vulgata is surprisingly interpretive with the LXX with tunc cecinit Israhel carmen istud ascendat puteus concinebant. Young makes a novel contribution by rejecting the Masoretic pointing of the word, thus changing it from an imperative to the preposition. (Young’s literal translation. Then singeth Israel this song, concerning the well--they have answered to it. In so doing, Young is the only translator to write a grammatically sensible translation. However, by doing so, he suppresses the song itself, thus raising the issue of what “this” can possibly refer to. In sum, almost every possible configuration has been tried. The implication is that no translator actually knows what the verse means.
There is a construction that is completely normal and understandable in Hebrew, whereby cAli is the subject and the well the predicate: cAli is a well. It is not clear, however, to whom this proper name refers.
It is possible, but not necessary, to translate cAli as a proper name in Numbers 24:6.
The Authorized Version is As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. All translators seem to accept the interpretation “by the river.” Furthermore, it parallels what follows, “beside the waters.” Semantically and syntactically there seems to be no better alternative. If one understands cAli as a proper name here, the translation might read (following the Authorized Version otherwise): Ali is like the valleys that spread forth, like gardens, a river: as the trees... No linguistic arguments favour this interpretation. However, its position so close to Numbers 21:17, the similar references to water (well, river), and the further consideration that almost the entire book of Numbers contemplates the question of leadership authority, are factors that speak in favour of cAli as a proper name in this text also.
Deuteronomy 17:14 also deserves attention. The Authorised Version has this as When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me... The significant phrase is “a king over me” or cAli melekh. If cAli were an epithet (exalted), it should come after the word “king” rather than before it. As it stands, it could be translated “I will set cAli king like all the peoples that are around me.”
This implies that the personage of cAli is king of all the peoples around. The Authorised Version also has hermeneutical problems. The actual narrative relative to the establishment of kingship in Israel is found in 1 Samuel, and is clearly ill-advised. It requires the establishment of the unacceptable monarchy of Saul as a bridge to the acceptable dynasty of David (as). The critical study of Deuteronomy would date it as a later text, in which case there would be no problem. As it stands, the acceptability (with reservations) of the monarchy in Deuteronomy conflicts with the policy of Samuel. Probably the verse should stand as interpreted by the Authorised Version, whatever the hermeneutical problems may be.
In 1 Chronicles 28:19 there is an occurrence of the word that could well be translated as an epithet. The Authorised Version has this as All (this, said David,) the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. The relevant phrase is “miyyadh YHWH cAli.” The translator has rearranged the words in translation probably because he does not, on the basis of philological reasons, accept the possibility of understanding cAli as an epithet. A Qur’anic translator would have thought of this alternative first and perhaps have ignored the other altogether, but would at the same time lay himself open to charges of Arabicism. Many translators have noticed the awkwardness of including “upon me” in the text, and have merely disregarded it, as does the American Standard Version: All this, (said David,) have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of Jehovah, even all the works of this pattern. Others reinterpret it as a preposition with an eliptical object as does the Revised Standard Version All this he made clear by the writing from the hand of the LORD concerning it, all the work to be done according to the plan. In the latter cAli is translated with some imagination as “concerning it.”
The more straightforward translation would be “The whole in writing from the hand of YHWH cAli made clear...” This could be understood as “He made clear the whole in writing by the hand of YHWH cAli.” The interpretation “cAli made clear the whole in writing by the hand of YHWH” ignores Hebrew syntax. cAli must therefore refer to God in this text. The concrete meanings of the words should probably give way to their more abstract meanings, thus “The whole by decree from the authority of YHWH cAli made clear...” If this is an acceptable interpretation, it would provide a Hebrew precedent for the use of the word as an epithet, the exalted, as in Arabic.
A strange syntactical configuration is one found in Nehemiah 5:7. The Authorised Version has this as Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. The relevant phrase is “with myself” which seems to translate libbi cali. The full phrase is “my heart reigned cali. The word is syntactically in the position of a prepositional phrase. This is the only occurrence of the expression in the Scriptures, and it may well not mean “I consulted with myself.” It would seem more likely to suggest that his heart, the seat of his cogitations, reigned over him, thus influencing him to act as follows. In any case no reference to a proper name can be inferred.
Much of the Book of Job is ambiguous, but the word cali appears in such a context only once, in Job 29:7. The Authorised Version has it When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! No translators seem to see real alternatives to this interpretation. Several Spanish translations disregard the prepositional meaning and read “judicial” or something similar for cali. Another adjectival alternative might be “leafy,” but neither of these is relevant to the proper name Ali.
Psalm 7:8(9) has an interesting case. The Authorized Version renders this The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity (that is) in me. There is no reason whatsover to add “that is” to the text. The final word is just as clearly a vocative as is the word YHWH at the pausal midpoint of the verse. The two words parallel each other. In this case the word Ali most readily relates to God, and is thus possibly a second precedent for the epithet. On the other hand, there is no reason to prohibit addressing a human figure in the second clause, that is, appealing to Ali as judge.
An interesting expression appears in Psalm 42:6(7). This is rendered in the Authorised Version as O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. The relevant phrase is cali nafshi. There are several cases when the preposition occurs before a noun with the same suffix, and these are merely circumlocutions expressing possession. The same structure appears here. However, it appears ambiguously, since cali appears between Elohay and nafshi, and could stand as easily with one as the other. The expression could be interpreted as “my God exalted.” In this case cali would be an epithet referring to God, either as a proper name or as an attribute, but again an Arabicism unrecognized by Biblical scholars.
Another case of possible reference to God may be seen in Psalm 56:12(13). The Authorised Version gives Thy vows (are) upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. A more straightforward interpretation would render both words at the beginning as vocatives, thus cAli Elohim. This interpretation would require the third word, “thy vows,” to go with the rest of the sentence. The midpoint pausal does not exclude that possibility. The translation would then read “O exalted God, (by) thy vows will I render praises unto thee.” Again, this would require the acceptance of an Arabicism.
Psalm 57:2(3) presents another possibility of a vocative parallel. The Authorised Version gives I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth (all things) for me. Here again the Qur’anic translator would immediately see two parallel epithets after the word El. Many verses of the Qur’an terminate in precisely this way. Thus we should read “I will cry unto God most high; unto God Accomplisher, Exalted.” This is especially interesting, since it uses the expanded word from the same root as Ali, celyon. This form of the word Ali is the one generally used in Hebrew in reference to God.
Psalm 86:13 is ambiguous, and could be translated in either of two ways. The Authorized Version gives For great (is) thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. The alternative would be “For great (is) thy mercy, O cAli...” In this case the name again would refer again to God.
There is a final verse in Ezekiel 3:14 where the word could just as well be translated as an epithet of God. The Authorised Version gives So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. The alternative translation would be “...the hand of the LORD exalted was strong.”
The texts examined may be placed in several groups. The first includes cases of ambiguity which do not contribute toward finding the word cAli used as a proper name or epithet. The second includes cases of ambiguity in which the word cAli could just as well be translated as a proper name or epithet, but in which cases the translators have never chosen to do so. The third group includes cases of ambiguity in which the word cAli could best be translated as a proper name or epithet, but in which cases the translators have sought awkward alternatives, often adding words not found in the original.
The texts remain troublesome. There are texts that can clearly best be translated as referring to a proper name or epithet. These suggest that others, ambiguous ones, might also best be interpreted in this way. As we examine these to determine whether the name Ali (or the Hebrew segholate form Eli) is meant, we see that some of these, if they are interpreted as epithets or proper nouns, must refer to God. In that case, an Arabicism produces a parallel term to the common Hebrew term Elyon.
Nevertheless, there are two considerations to note. The first is that several of the ambiguous names, notably those in the Torah, associate the name cAli with a source of water. This brings to mind Qur’anic associations, specifically the pool of Kauthar and the role given to cAli (as) in that regard. While it is not possible to state that the word cAli in the Hebrew Scriptures is used in a prophetic sense in regard to cAli (as), there are passages that seem to be evocative of that. They are ambiguous, and perhaps refer to God, but the possibility remains that they are faint intimations, or perhaps more than faint intimations of a promised figure to come.
The second consideration is that non-Muslim Biblical scholars have not taken note of the fact that the epithet cAli as applied to God in the Qur’an has striking parallels in the Hebrew Scriptures, not only in the Psalms but in several other passages. This failure is only to be expected, since it requires the acceptance of an Arabicism. The positive result of this study is to show that the Hebrew Scriptures and the holy Qur’an are perhaps closer to each other in expression than has generally been acknowledged. In any case, either the acceptance of the term as meaning “exalted” on one hand, or as a proper name on the other, seems to be the best way of accommodating those texts of Scripture that until now have been glossed over with translations having little or no meaning. Either solution brings the Bible closer into accord with Islam.
From http://al-islam.org/londonlectures/
Most of the time the word 'ali is a preposition, either with or without the first person singular pronominal suffix. The first occurrence with the pronominal suffix is in Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. The following texts, the great preponderance of passages including the word cali, seem to have the same meaning, that is, “upon me” or something similar. Genesis 27:12; 13; 30:28; 33:13; 34:12; 34:30; 42:36; 48:7; 50:20, Numbers 11:11; 14:35; 22:30; Judges 7:2; 19:20; 20:5; 1 Samuel 17:35; 21:15; 22:8,13; 23:21; 2 Samuel 1:9; 3:8; 14:9; 15:33; 19:38; 1 Kings 2:4; 14:2; 22:8,18; 2 Kings 16:7; 18:14; 1 Chronicles 22:8; 2 Chronicles 18:7; 18:17; 36:23; Ezra 1:2; 7:28; Nehemiah 2:8; 2:18; 6:12; 13:22; Esther 4:16; Job 7:12; 7:20; 9:11; 10:1; 13:13,26; 16:9,10,13,14,15; 19:5,6; 19:11; 19:12; 21:27; 29:13; 30:1,12,15,16; 31:38; 33:10; Psalm 3:1(2); 3:6(7); 13:2(3); 13:6(7); 16:6; 17:9; 22:13; 27:2,3; 31:13; 32:4,5; 35:15; 35:21; 35:16,26; 38:2(3); 38:16(17); 40:7,12; 41:7; 41:9(10); 41:11; 42:4(5); 42:5(6); 42:7(8); 42:11(12); 43:5; 54:3(5); 55:3(4); 55:4(5); 55:12(13); 56:5(6); 59:3(4); 60:8; 69:9(10); 69:15(16); 86:14; 88:7(8); 88:16(17); 88:17(18); 92:11(12); 109:2; 109:5; 116:12; 119:69; 139:5; 142:7(8); 143:4; Proverbs 7:14; Ecclesiastes 2:17; Song of Solomon 2:4; Isaiah 1:14; 61:1; Jeremiah 8:18; 11:19; 12:8,11; 15:16; 18:23; 49:11; Lamentations 1:15; 3:5,20,61,62; Ezekiel 3:22; 8:1; 11:5; 35:13; 37:1; 40:1; Daniel 4:34; 4:36; 7:28; 10:8; 10:16; Hosea 7:13; Hosea 11:8; Joel 3(4):4; Jonah 2:3(4); 2:7(8); and Malachi 3:13.
The first occurrence of the word as a preposition without suffix is in Genesis 49:17, which is a poetic passage. Indeed, the form is typical of poetic style. Genesis 49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. Similarly the word appears to be used as a simple preposition without suffix in Genesis 49:22; Deuteronomy 32:2; Job 6:5; 8:9; 9:26; 15:27; 18:10; 20:4; 29:3,4; 30:4; 33:15; 36:28; 38:24; 41:30; Psalm 49:11; 50:5,16; 92:3(4); 94:20; 108:9(10); 131:2; 142:3(4); Proverbs 8:2; 30:19; Isaiah 18:4; Lamentations 4:5; and Micah 5:(6)7.
In 1 Samuel 1-4 is found the story of the house of Eli. The name is also mentioned in 1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Kings 2:27; This proper name of the high priest and judge of Israel before Samuel is written 'Ali. The pointing with the long e merely reflects the more complex vowel system of Hebrew as compared to Arabic. Arabic cognates with a appear in Hebrew with either a or e, and often preferably e. The segholate character of Hebrew thus clouds the fact that the name is precisely the same as the Arabic c Ali. There are some striking parallels as well as direct contrasts between the Biblical Eli and Imam cAli (as). The first cAli had two unrighteous sons who led the people into disaster. The second one had two sons who became righteous leaders. There is a parallel between the two figures from a historical perspective as well. The Samaritans claim that Eli caused the rift between Samaritans and Jews by his false claim to the priesthood. The division between Shi’ite and Sunnite Islam surrounds the claims of the figure of Imam cAli (as).
The first clear passage in which the word must be translated as the imperative singular of the verb “to go up” is in 1 Samuel 25:35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. Similarly the word occurs in Isaiah 21:2; 40:9; Jeremiah 22:20; and 46:11.
The word appears with the meaning of “leaves of” in Nehemiah 8:15 And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
The first text that requires reevaluation is Exodus 8:(5)9.
And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?
It is not likely that anyone would pretend that the phrase “glory over me” makes any sense at all. The assumption of the translator is that the word here is the preposition with the pronominal suffix, which is of course the dominant usage of the word in the Torah, especially in the prose passages. There seems to be no questioning of the preposition and suffix themselves, while the hesitancy about how to understand the verb placed with the preposition and suffix is of longstanding debate, going back to the Septuagint (LXX) underlying the Vulgata expression constitue mihi, appoint me (a time). Reference to the Masoretic text has led most translators to reject the Septuagint and Vulgata alternative for something presumably based on the Hebrew text, whether or not it makes sense.
Those translators requiring meaning in their translation have tended to read an unwarranted expression into the Hebrew in the sense of “do me the honor to...” an interpretation that goes back at least to Luther. Wavering between sense and nonsense is illustrated by the Webster original, which was “Glory over me” and the revised Webster which is “Command me,” apparently accepting the LXX over the Masoretic text. In sum, three alternatives are to be found in the more commonly known translations. The first follows the LXX-Vulgata tradition. The second tries to make sense of the Hebrew Massoretic text by attributing unattested meanings to the preceding verb. The third translates the Massoretic verb correctly, producing nonsense in the word cali by insisting that it is a preposition with suffix.
An alternative is to accept the Massoretic verb as it stands and attribute a non-prepositional meaning to the word cly. The choices are one of the verb forms “to rise,” or one of the proper or common noun meanings. The position requires the latter, rather than the imperative verb. The choices are thus basically “glorify my leaf,” “glorify a pestle or pistil” or “glorify cAli.” The common nouns do not make sense, and the second meaning is not even attested in Scriptural Hebrew. An Arab will immediately suggest a reference to the Deity, as “exalted.” This word, however, in the Hebrew text, would consist in an Arabicism. We are thus left with the enigmatic “glorify cAli,” in reference to an unknown named figure, or reference to God under the term, something that appears to be more or less without precedent in Biblical Hebrew. The reflexive sense of the verb could be thought to imply the necessity of a preposition before the object. However, the lack of the preposition is almost the rule in poetic passages, and is not lacking in the Torah as well. Thus these two alternatives are otherwise perfectly feasible.
The rest of the texts must be examined in the light to two questions. The first is whether or not the word should be translated as one of the common alternatives noted above (as a preposition, a preposition with the suffix, the verb imperative, or as “leaves of” or “pestle.”). Once these meanings are eliminated, we are left with the alternatives of Exodus 8:(5)9. The second task is to determine whether the text refers to Imam Ali (as) or some other figure.
There is nothing in Exodus 8:(5)9 to indicate whether a human or divine figure is meant. The Muslim reader will immediately doubt whether the word is an epithet of God, since it is generally used so in the holy Qur’an. The translators of the Bible, however, have generally neglected that possibility, probably from hesitance to impose an Arabicism on the Biblical Hebrew text rather than bias. We can only hope to answer the question by an examination of all of the texts. Failing that, recourse to extra-biblical sources will be necessary
Such texts as Numbers 11:13 and 14:27 could conceivably be translated cAli as well as a form of interjection, something on the order of “ya Ali!” Numbers 11:13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
Numbers 14:27 How long (shall I bear with) this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. The second occurrence, however, in Numbers 14:27 can only be translated as in the Authorized Version. Even without this evidence, however, the structure of the sentences makes the authorized translation preferable.
The structure of Numbers 14:29 is neutral, and would actually as such allow the translation with cAli as easily as “against me.” The witness of verse 27, however, speaks against cAli as the better alternative. Numbers 14:29 Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me.
Numbers 21:17 is the second text that translators have been willing to leave in a form void of meaning, in the figure of the flying well. It is doubly troublesome in lacking an explanatory context.
Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it. The authorized translator writes words more appropriate to Alice in Wonderland than to scriptural translation. Most others do little better. Douay, Darby, The Jewish Publication Society Bible, The Twenty-first Century King James, Green’s Literal Translation, The Modern King James Version, The New King James Version, la Bible nouvelle edition de Geneve, the Webster and most other are satisfied with this interpretation. The Bible in Basic English tries to avoid the problem of the flying well by replacing it with the obedient well that comes when called: Then Israel gave voice to this song: Come up, O water-spring, let us make a song to it. Other translators have recognized the problem and tried to make sense of it by referring to the springing up of the water from a fountain. Among these are Finnish translation of 1938, the Swedish translation of 1917, and la nuova Diodati 1991. These are roughly “surge out, o well!” English translators are willing to depend on the ambiguity of the word “spring” in English. A few translators assume a preposition between the verb and the noun, thus making the noun the direction of movement rather than the vocative. This relieves us of the rather forced speech to a well. Among these are the redivierte Schlachter Bibel 1951 Da sang Israel dieses Lied: «Kommt zum Brunnen! Singt von ihm! It is rare to find help from the LXX in this dilemma, but perhaps Luther’s original is such an example Da sang Israel dieses Lied, und sangen umeinander über dem Brunnen. The translators in the revision of Luther have succumbed to the general fascination with nonsense. Even the Vulgata is surprisingly interpretive with the LXX with tunc cecinit Israhel carmen istud ascendat puteus concinebant. Young makes a novel contribution by rejecting the Masoretic pointing of the word, thus changing it from an imperative to the preposition. (Young’s literal translation. Then singeth Israel this song, concerning the well--they have answered to it. In so doing, Young is the only translator to write a grammatically sensible translation. However, by doing so, he suppresses the song itself, thus raising the issue of what “this” can possibly refer to. In sum, almost every possible configuration has been tried. The implication is that no translator actually knows what the verse means.
There is a construction that is completely normal and understandable in Hebrew, whereby cAli is the subject and the well the predicate: cAli is a well. It is not clear, however, to whom this proper name refers.
It is possible, but not necessary, to translate cAli as a proper name in Numbers 24:6.
The Authorized Version is As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. All translators seem to accept the interpretation “by the river.” Furthermore, it parallels what follows, “beside the waters.” Semantically and syntactically there seems to be no better alternative. If one understands cAli as a proper name here, the translation might read (following the Authorized Version otherwise): Ali is like the valleys that spread forth, like gardens, a river: as the trees... No linguistic arguments favour this interpretation. However, its position so close to Numbers 21:17, the similar references to water (well, river), and the further consideration that almost the entire book of Numbers contemplates the question of leadership authority, are factors that speak in favour of cAli as a proper name in this text also.
Deuteronomy 17:14 also deserves attention. The Authorised Version has this as When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me... The significant phrase is “a king over me” or cAli melekh. If cAli were an epithet (exalted), it should come after the word “king” rather than before it. As it stands, it could be translated “I will set cAli king like all the peoples that are around me.”
This implies that the personage of cAli is king of all the peoples around. The Authorised Version also has hermeneutical problems. The actual narrative relative to the establishment of kingship in Israel is found in 1 Samuel, and is clearly ill-advised. It requires the establishment of the unacceptable monarchy of Saul as a bridge to the acceptable dynasty of David (as). The critical study of Deuteronomy would date it as a later text, in which case there would be no problem. As it stands, the acceptability (with reservations) of the monarchy in Deuteronomy conflicts with the policy of Samuel. Probably the verse should stand as interpreted by the Authorised Version, whatever the hermeneutical problems may be.
In 1 Chronicles 28:19 there is an occurrence of the word that could well be translated as an epithet. The Authorised Version has this as All (this, said David,) the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. The relevant phrase is “miyyadh YHWH cAli.” The translator has rearranged the words in translation probably because he does not, on the basis of philological reasons, accept the possibility of understanding cAli as an epithet. A Qur’anic translator would have thought of this alternative first and perhaps have ignored the other altogether, but would at the same time lay himself open to charges of Arabicism. Many translators have noticed the awkwardness of including “upon me” in the text, and have merely disregarded it, as does the American Standard Version: All this, (said David,) have I been made to understand in writing from the hand of Jehovah, even all the works of this pattern. Others reinterpret it as a preposition with an eliptical object as does the Revised Standard Version All this he made clear by the writing from the hand of the LORD concerning it, all the work to be done according to the plan. In the latter cAli is translated with some imagination as “concerning it.”
The more straightforward translation would be “The whole in writing from the hand of YHWH cAli made clear...” This could be understood as “He made clear the whole in writing by the hand of YHWH cAli.” The interpretation “cAli made clear the whole in writing by the hand of YHWH” ignores Hebrew syntax. cAli must therefore refer to God in this text. The concrete meanings of the words should probably give way to their more abstract meanings, thus “The whole by decree from the authority of YHWH cAli made clear...” If this is an acceptable interpretation, it would provide a Hebrew precedent for the use of the word as an epithet, the exalted, as in Arabic.
A strange syntactical configuration is one found in Nehemiah 5:7. The Authorised Version has this as Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers, and said unto them, Ye exact usury, every one of his brother. And I set a great assembly against them. The relevant phrase is “with myself” which seems to translate libbi cali. The full phrase is “my heart reigned cali. The word is syntactically in the position of a prepositional phrase. This is the only occurrence of the expression in the Scriptures, and it may well not mean “I consulted with myself.” It would seem more likely to suggest that his heart, the seat of his cogitations, reigned over him, thus influencing him to act as follows. In any case no reference to a proper name can be inferred.
Much of the Book of Job is ambiguous, but the word cali appears in such a context only once, in Job 29:7. The Authorised Version has it When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! No translators seem to see real alternatives to this interpretation. Several Spanish translations disregard the prepositional meaning and read “judicial” or something similar for cali. Another adjectival alternative might be “leafy,” but neither of these is relevant to the proper name Ali.
Psalm 7:8(9) has an interesting case. The Authorized Version renders this The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity (that is) in me. There is no reason whatsover to add “that is” to the text. The final word is just as clearly a vocative as is the word YHWH at the pausal midpoint of the verse. The two words parallel each other. In this case the word Ali most readily relates to God, and is thus possibly a second precedent for the epithet. On the other hand, there is no reason to prohibit addressing a human figure in the second clause, that is, appealing to Ali as judge.
An interesting expression appears in Psalm 42:6(7). This is rendered in the Authorised Version as O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. The relevant phrase is cali nafshi. There are several cases when the preposition occurs before a noun with the same suffix, and these are merely circumlocutions expressing possession. The same structure appears here. However, it appears ambiguously, since cali appears between Elohay and nafshi, and could stand as easily with one as the other. The expression could be interpreted as “my God exalted.” In this case cali would be an epithet referring to God, either as a proper name or as an attribute, but again an Arabicism unrecognized by Biblical scholars.
Another case of possible reference to God may be seen in Psalm 56:12(13). The Authorised Version gives Thy vows (are) upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. A more straightforward interpretation would render both words at the beginning as vocatives, thus cAli Elohim. This interpretation would require the third word, “thy vows,” to go with the rest of the sentence. The midpoint pausal does not exclude that possibility. The translation would then read “O exalted God, (by) thy vows will I render praises unto thee.” Again, this would require the acceptance of an Arabicism.
Psalm 57:2(3) presents another possibility of a vocative parallel. The Authorised Version gives I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth (all things) for me. Here again the Qur’anic translator would immediately see two parallel epithets after the word El. Many verses of the Qur’an terminate in precisely this way. Thus we should read “I will cry unto God most high; unto God Accomplisher, Exalted.” This is especially interesting, since it uses the expanded word from the same root as Ali, celyon. This form of the word Ali is the one generally used in Hebrew in reference to God.
Psalm 86:13 is ambiguous, and could be translated in either of two ways. The Authorized Version gives For great (is) thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. The alternative would be “For great (is) thy mercy, O cAli...” In this case the name again would refer again to God.
There is a final verse in Ezekiel 3:14 where the word could just as well be translated as an epithet of God. The Authorised Version gives So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me. The alternative translation would be “...the hand of the LORD exalted was strong.”
The texts examined may be placed in several groups. The first includes cases of ambiguity which do not contribute toward finding the word cAli used as a proper name or epithet. The second includes cases of ambiguity in which the word cAli could just as well be translated as a proper name or epithet, but in which cases the translators have never chosen to do so. The third group includes cases of ambiguity in which the word cAli could best be translated as a proper name or epithet, but in which cases the translators have sought awkward alternatives, often adding words not found in the original.
The texts remain troublesome. There are texts that can clearly best be translated as referring to a proper name or epithet. These suggest that others, ambiguous ones, might also best be interpreted in this way. As we examine these to determine whether the name Ali (or the Hebrew segholate form Eli) is meant, we see that some of these, if they are interpreted as epithets or proper nouns, must refer to God. In that case, an Arabicism produces a parallel term to the common Hebrew term Elyon.
Nevertheless, there are two considerations to note. The first is that several of the ambiguous names, notably those in the Torah, associate the name cAli with a source of water. This brings to mind Qur’anic associations, specifically the pool of Kauthar and the role given to cAli (as) in that regard. While it is not possible to state that the word cAli in the Hebrew Scriptures is used in a prophetic sense in regard to cAli (as), there are passages that seem to be evocative of that. They are ambiguous, and perhaps refer to God, but the possibility remains that they are faint intimations, or perhaps more than faint intimations of a promised figure to come.
The second consideration is that non-Muslim Biblical scholars have not taken note of the fact that the epithet cAli as applied to God in the Qur’an has striking parallels in the Hebrew Scriptures, not only in the Psalms but in several other passages. This failure is only to be expected, since it requires the acceptance of an Arabicism. The positive result of this study is to show that the Hebrew Scriptures and the holy Qur’an are perhaps closer to each other in expression than has generally been acknowledged. In any case, either the acceptance of the term as meaning “exalted” on one hand, or as a proper name on the other, seems to be the best way of accommodating those texts of Scripture that until now have been glossed over with translations having little or no meaning. Either solution brings the Bible closer into accord with Islam.
From http://al-islam.org/londonlectures/
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Getting things done
Today I feel pretty good about getting several things done. My mom came over a little after eight this morning and we raked my back yard. After she left I worked on the front but didn't finish - I ran out of energy. But, there are now something like 23 bags waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck on Wednesday. The backyard looks much better!
I took my car for an oil change and tire rotation, bought groceries for the month (I splurged and went to Wild Oats since I got my tax return), did laundry, dishes, cleaned the bathroom and vacuumed and did part of my graduate school work. I still have plenty to do, but today was better than me just sitting around.
Mom and I saw Guess Who last night, loosely based on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, a classic. It was good, it was funny.
The Pope died today. I don't really have any strong feelings about, but I have been interested in following it. I wonder what he is experiencing now in death, and I am also curious to see how the new Pope will be once the conclave makes a decision. For some reason, a large proportion of my co-worker friends are at least nominally Catholic. None of them seem to have been particularly disturbed by the Pope's decline, maybe because a lot of them aren't really practicing Catholics. I would like to see a new Pope take a stronger position in regards to sexual abuse scandals in the church. I read today that Pope Jean Paul II had been the first non-Italian pope in 455 years - amazing.
Anyway, just random thoughts so I'll leave it here for now.
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