Someone please bring me the head of Leonard Nimoy.

Now eez ze time on schprockets ven vee danse. Won't someone please think of the children?

For more of the dubious genius of Leonard Nimoy, stay tuned. I will share some of his gems when I get my copy of his 1978 collection of poetry "don'ts" that is Come Be With Me , as elegant and subtle as a bag of ball-peen hammers.

It should be here in a few days. However, right now you can enjoy these e-greetings with his poetry and this page dedicated to his artistic works.

Please also take the time to add your name to the petition to get Leonard Nimoy to eat more salsa . This is the English language section of the site, but it is an international movement. Apparently.

The Law of Talion

Tonight I cracked open some old journals, which is like visiting an old friend for most people, but for me (and other people who have a lot of death in their life) it's like cracking open a gate something akin to the scene from Ghostbusters where the Gatekeeper and the Keymaster got together and the Sta-Puft guy showed up. I opened my old journal from December up to a list of words I picked from a dictionary at random. The first word: "talion."


I have a talent for fortunetelling and usually use tarot cards, rarely runes, almost never less reputable tools like pendulums or stichomancy . However, in grief I abandoned tarot, and was reduced to stichomancy. The first time I opened a dictionary seeking a message from my love, who died recently, I opened and dropped my finger to "talion" - from Latin talio - retaliation - "punishment that exacts a penalty corresponding in kind to the crime."


Before my partner died we had conversations about whether or not "even a murderer" would have mercy in the hereafter. I believe she was talking about herself. She ended her own life two days later. Of course, breast and bone cancer was a great (and the official) motivation, but I have been intrigued to think that she would actually carry out an informal, vigilante death penalty on herself, in penance for a vigilante killing of a rapist-- the crime I have reason to believe she committed, based on all the facts of her life. Here is a little more on talion from a 'cool word' mailing list .

"If the punishment for an offense is exactly the same as the offense, then it is a talion, and it is talionic punishment. Example: 'For the crime of murder, the talion is death.'


"The ancient root was tele-, which had meanings related to lifting, supporting, and weighing, with derivatives relating to measuring and money. From the same ancient root:


"toll: fee paid for passage or service; extent of loss or damage;

"tolerate: to allow; to endure

"talent: marked innate ability, specific weight of gold or silver

"tola: the weight of one silver Indian rupee

"extoll: to praise highly ('lift up')"

Read this examination of the Law of Talion , posted to the site of the Austrian group The Center for Encounter and Active Non-Violence right after 9/11/01. It hints at the need for support of the International Criminal Court, which is opposed by the US Congress as though it was another terrorist attack on our homeland.


I have no answers- only wishes for the blessing of moderation.