The time has come to underscore the fact that our and others' rights are contingent on our willingness to assert and defend them.
quote by John Charles Polanyi
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dont You Think It's Time?
children have rights,
women have rights.
lovers have rights.
people of all religions,
and even atheists have rights.
people of all colors,
speaking every language have rights.
trees and rivers have rights.
cats and dogs have rights.
cattle have rights,
homeless people have rights.
prisoners have rights.
democrats and republicans have rights,
even socialists have rights.
the jobless have rights,
old people have rights...
and the hungry have
the right to be fed!
damnit! dont you think it's time?
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Moral Rights
‘The moral rights of the author
have been asserted’… that, I’m told,
is what I should say when I write
anything for publication here; even before
I say anything..
It means, I guess, the more, the less..
than ‘Copyright’ which normally
gets printed just above it;
which just means, don’t copy this;
whereas ‘moral rights’ convey
so much more…
suggesting that I even possess morality;
which, considering my wild, undisciplined
former life, you might well question..
but note, I merely ‘assert’ them;
feel free to challenge them (you note that ‘rights’
are plural; plenty lawyer’s fees there
to say, well maybe this, not that…
and you’re free (your defending counsel may assert)
to copy my poem and put your own name to it;
since truth can be in no man’s sole possession,
and my poem, bless its metered tropes,
speaks naught but the truth..
though now I mention ‘truth’, I don’t recall
that phrase about the moral rights
upon the title-page of, let’s say,
the Gospels; Books of Moses; Qu’ran; Upanishads;
those guys on whom we’ve so long depended
to tell us what morality should be..
so please understand, that when I ‘assert’,
it’s more for my self-image than for yours;
makes me feel good; I must be
a serious author, if (in the subtext, scholars footnote)
the moral underpinning may be detected..
and that said – now to the poem.. Except
now I’ve forgotten what I was going to say..
Perhaps that, too, is a moral issue; but
I have the right to remain silent..
even if I’m up on this morality charge..
my defence is, that my Muse,
hearing the word ‘morality’,
flees my company. ’Twas ever so.
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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There are also two kinds of truths: truth of reasoning and truths of fact. Truths of reasoning are necessary and their opposite is impossible; those of fact are contingent and their opposite is possible.
quote by Gottfried Leibniz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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What libertarians assert is simply that differences among normal adults do not imply different fundamental rights.
quote by Tom G. Palmer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Reminder
we claim no expertise
for this
we are not famous
neither shall we be at
all at any time
on the page of history
we assert no name
we are in fact nameless
we claim no right to a home
in fact we are nothing but freelance
hopeless romantics
insistent fanatics as you dislike us
writing about our
failures
we are here
not for anything else
we do not need any
eulogies that will last a lifetime
of mention
we do not go for
epitaphs
no tombstone
we are here because you are here
we talk.
we are here because we are hurt.
we simply express what we feel.
do not bother. we know where we are going.
do not give us importance. We are used
to our being trivial.
we are used to be used.
we are irrelevant with our syntax
we shall fail you
do not mind us.
we know how to exist.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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And it's one thing to give people freedom and something else to deny the rights of Christians to assert their faith in order to keep Hindus from feeling upset.
quote by Pat Robertson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Afraid To Face The Fact
The truth of life, the wealthiest health,
The cause of good, a happiest act.
The need of love, the sky above;
We are afraid to face the fact.
The powerless power, the lifeless life,
The truth unspoken, the pain intact;
The nicest of things, the powers of thought,
We are afraid to face the fact.
The skies' a blue, the sound of ‘woo'*,
The rivers have shrunk, the stars react,
The storms noise**; and peoples too;
We are afraid to face the fact.
The rights wrong; the wrongs of right,
The nature of natures; shall keep the pact,
The time has come, the time of flight,
We are afraid to face the fact.
The day, the sun; the night' the moon;
The ‘now' the wealth; the ‘then' the ruin,
The brain the dream; the heart, the act,
We are afraid to face the fact.
*'woo' signifies ‘joy'.
** ‘noise' is used as a verb here.
poem by Osama Waqar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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It is time in the West to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.
quote by Alexander Solzehnitsyn
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We have reversed the usual classical notion that the independent "elementary parts" of the world are the fundamental reality, and that the various systems are merely particular contingent forms and arrangements of these parts. Rather, we say that inseparable quantum interconnectedness of the whole universe is the fundamental reality, and that relatively independent behaving parts are merely particular and contingent forms within this whole.
quote by David Bohm
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Equal Rights,2011
equal rights to live,
equal rights to love.
equal rights to believe,
to speak out, to stand up
and be counted.
equal rights to work,
equal rights to study.
equal rights to build.
equal rights to profess faith,
equal rights to pray.
equal rights to give...
equal rights to live,
equal rights to love!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Withering Rights
On my mind are these times.
With their withering rights.
And those who fight for entitlements,
Without one day spent...
Feeling obligated to answer a call of duty,
To protect and defend them.
While losing a vitality of their 'rights',
Overnight!
And visably shrinking to shrivel,
From their sight.
Leaving most people to feel uptight.
Like spoiled little kids...
Denied their demands for candy.
And on my mind I find,
A comfort still exists...
To rhyme it all with reason,
For purposes to increase my happiness.
And on my mind,
Regardless if it is accepted...
I am going to keep it real for myself.
Regardless of withering rights.
And those deciding to fight for them.
I owe it to myself,
To reach for heights.
Since in my sight...
They will not wither to leave me wondering,
Why this was allowed as I stood and watched.
My rights to life my life as I like,
Are not going to wither.
My rights to dream,
Are still mine to accomplish.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Freedom Is Not Free
Per an erudite analysis of my country's history,
One thing is sure… my freedom is not free!
I do what I want and criticize those who lead.
My rights are assured because they're decreed.
These rights were purchased with blood and tears
By my forefathers and soldiers today who, through death and fears,
Have had the courage to fight for rights they believed
Were and are necessary to maintain freedom they conceived.
These rights I demand and the freedoms I assume
Are in fact not automatic and can easily spell doom.
If I'm too busy with my little world to care about my nation,
My leaders' own self interest can only lead to devastation.
My rights have obligations to keep me and my country free
If I'm too busy to exercise them, I'll be part of a tremulous tragedy.
poem by Gregory Huyette
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Any successful nominee should possess both the temperament to interpret the law and the wisdom to do so fairly. The next Supreme Court Justice should have a record of protecting individual rights and a strong willingness to put aside any political agenda.
quote by Bennie Thompson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Each move is towards power
I love someone for the influence I have.
I love playing where I employ my force.
I love judging to assert my power.
I defend and offend to stay afloat.
Each move one initiates to gain power.
02.02.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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I mean to defend the rights of individuals in a liberal prospect.
quote by Emma Bonino
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I try to do that in this book without preaching - to try to do as you just said that you really have to defend the First Amendment rights of everybody.
quote by Floyd Abrams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I do not mean that you could continue to do this with propriety or even with safety; I merely assert that the power is, in point of fact, in your hands. And for such a power, what a responsibility to God and man!
quote by Jay Alan Sekulow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Men have looked upon the desert as barren land, the free holding of whoever chose; but in fact each hill and valley in it had a man who was its acknowledged owner and would quickly assert the right of his family or clan to it, against aggression.
quote by T.E. Lawrence
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Girls Are Not For Sale
Can you hear my voice
Can't you see my tears
Can't you see how small my hands still are
I'm the little
girl
Who wants to live her childhood
To play
To run
To sing
I want to grow up with my friends
I will go to school and be a good student
I will receive the best education
And I will graduate from the highest schools
I will be the person who can depend on herself
I want to be the woman who can protect her rights
To work and build my home
I want to be a lawyer
To defend the stolen rights
To Break the bad rules of jungle
To be a good and honest wife and the careful mother
When the right time comes
The girls are not for sale
When the old minds will understand that
When the cruel hearts will wake up to see
That the little girls are still pure angels
Do not steal away their rights to live
As a human being
They are not for sale
They need the innocent care
They need to feel safe
At the world surrounded with fear
Take off your nasty hands
The girls are not for sale
For the sake of millions of stolen childhoods
And their stolen futures and forgotten rights to have a future
And for those who are deprived from existing their normal lives.
Take off your nasty hands.
poem by Sossi Khachadourian
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I defend Israel's right to exist, to defend themselves, to not let themselves be exterminated a second time.
quote by Oriana Fallaci
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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