All of us had relatives that used to share their Depression Era Stories...we should share those stories and that wisdom...we need to ..to help take care of each other...Learn how to be Frugal together...and survive. There is nothing wrong with yardsaling, and "Curb Shopping", and Good Will Stores, and Having a Garden and shopping at the Dollar Store....we should be emboldened and proud of "smarts" and share the wisdom....
"For those who bring unique and creative elements to their blogs. For those who incorporate art, music, creative writing, photo's, and other beautiful visual effects into their website. For those who put a unique spin on things and come up with new ideas. This award is for the artsy, the funky, the inventor, and even the rebel. This award is for those creative individuals who stand out from the crowd."
Since I have never claimed to speak for any of the authors of this blog, nor could I imagine doing so since each have their own uniquely wonderful voice, I have decided to let the other authors help in choosing the five blogs that best fit this category- artsy, funky, inventors, and rebels...
So, if you are an author here on The Peace Tree, please leave me a comment on this post and add your pick. One per author I suppose, if we go over five picks, so be it!
1. The Pagan Sphinx has been chosen by betmo for a Creative Blogger Award!
This blog, in my humble opinion, is certainly a no-brainer for the award. I mean her header image by William-Adolphe Bouguereau alone automatically places her in the creative arena of "art, love, peace and justice". Leonardo tells us all we need to know when entering the winged creature's lair. No! Not Leonardo Dicaprio, although he'd probably appreciate her passion and talents, I'm talking about Leonardo da Vinci! "Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." Enough said.
2. Ben Heine The Blog has been chosen by The Pagan Sphinx, in her own words- what makes Ben's blog stand out is his conviction, particularly about his advocacy for the Palestinian people, for peace, equality and love; and how Ben demonstrates in his art these values and hopes. Also for his unabashed desire that his images be reproduced, printed and the messages spread around, to increase awareness of the struggles he continuously upholds.
Three things Pro Immigration Reformers can ask President Obama in 2009:
1. Stop/Reduce ALL Hate Crimes: Ask President Obama to state he is against All Hate Crimes. Acknowledge the increase in Hate Crimes particularly against Latinos (as the FBI reported), Blacks and Lesbian/Gays. These groups have the highest incidents of occurence. Ask for his public repudiation of Hate Crimes and Ask for his support in ensuring those guilty of these crimes are charged to the fullest extent of the law. This includes the Hate Crimes committed in Patchogue, NY and Pottsville, PA.
2. Stop/Reduce Racial Profiling: All Racial Profiling is wrong. We have seen a significant amount of racial profiling occur in Maricopa County by Sheriff Arpaio under the 287(g) provisions. Several Mayors in Arizona, including the Mayors of Phoenix, Mesa and Guadalupe have written Federal Authorities and requested an investigation. We should ask President Obama to put a hault to the 287(g) provisions and ask Eric Holder to conduct a Federal Investigation on the Mayors charges.
3. Stop the Inhumane Treatment occurring in ICE Raids and Detention Centers: Postville, with their CattleBarn injustice, was a prime example of what can go wrong during an ICE Raid. Ask President Obama to put a halt to these inhumane raids. Additionally ask President Obama to investigate the inhumane treatment in Detention Centers, particularly the Hutto Family Detention center where entires families are jailed.
Each of these three items are Humane, they can be completed without legislation and they can be accomplished this year.
If he does them, this will serve as a significant message to all of his Latino and Humanitarian supporters that he supports our message and his Latino supporters.
God Bless America
God Bless our President
I'm sort of weak in my enthusiasm for complicated legal matters, you know? So the title of the Prop 8 video immediately caught my eye: Proposition 8 Made Simple. If you haven't seen this, you have to.
SEAN HANNITY: That’s somewhat frightening, you’re going to close Guantanamo Bay, you don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know where you’re going to put these people. [1/23/09] GLENN BECK: Somebody told me that if this goes through and we put 200 people into this system, that it will shut down our justice system. Our justice system just won’t be able to do it.[1/20/09] BRIAN KILMEADE: You’re talking about the worst of the Taliban, the worst of al Qaeda, and we have to let them go, give them trials? Why do we need to do this and compromise the CIA and our intelligence bureau — a lot of the intelligence was built on these guys, was done using our clandestine operations. So we have to expose that for these trials? [1/22/09]
Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) said last week that the U.S. could hold the detainees in federal prisons, just like we hold thousands of other dangerous inmates. This morning, Fox and Friends responded by sending a reporter to Murtha’s district to flash photos of suspected terrorists — their only identification being Muslim headgear — and ask residents, “Would you want a guy like this living in your backyard?” Watch it:
Despite Fox’s suggestion that detainees could be pitching a tent in your backyard, Guantanamo detainees transferred to the U.S. for trials would be housed in federal prisons — where dozens of dangerous terrorists are already held. In fact, the United States has already successfully prosecuted 145 terrorism cases in federal court, a sharp contrast to the series of debacles in Guantanamo prosecutions.
Later in the segment, the Fox hosts repeated some of the right wing’s favorite myths about Guantanamo. They endorsed the “great idea” conservatives have been pushing of sending detainees to Alcatraz or a “haunted” prison in West Virginia:
CLAYTON MORRIS: We’ve got Alcatraz that exists. We give tours out there. Put them out on an island on Alcatraz, which is under our jurisdiction. What about Moundsville State Penitentiary? Someone from West Virginia wrote me and said it’s a haunted prison. It’s vacant.
In other words, Fox News and the right wing would prefer to send Guantanamo detainees to theme parks rather than to maximum-security federal prisons.
“One year from now, Gitmo won’t be closed…. If it is, there will be an uproar in the U.S. about where to put these people.”
Indeed, it will be very difficult to close Guantanamo, made harder in fact by the incompetence of the Bush administration. This weekend, the Washington Post reported that the administration’s plans to “quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials — barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the [Gitmo] detainees — discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them.” Update: Today’s Progress Report debunks the right-wing myths about closing Guantanamo.
And then, we have that as well:
Gregory allowed 61-detainee falsehood to stand unrebutted on Meet the Press
On the January 25 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, host David Gregory allowed House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) to repeat the falsehood that, in Boehner's words, "we've already found" that 61 detainees released from the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay are now "back on the battlefield." In fact, the figure, which comes from the Pentagon, includes 43 former prisoners who are suspected of, but have not been confirmed as, having "return[ed] to the fight." Moreover, even the Pentagon's claim that it has confirmed that 18 former Guantánamo detainees have returned to the battlefield has been questioned by experts.
After Gregory asked if President Obama's executive order requiring that the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay be closed within a year was "realistic," Boehner responded: "[W]hat do you do with these 270 prisoners? Some of them you might be able to release, but we've already found 61 of those that we've released back on the battlefield."
Gregory did not note that according to the Pentagon, the 61-detainee figure includes 43 former prisoners who are suspected of, but have not been confirmed as, having engaged in terrorist activity -- detainees who have not been "already found [...] back on the battlefield," as Boehner asserted. Indeed, as Media Matters for Americanoted, during a January 13 press conference, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell stated: "The new numbers are, we believe, 18 confirmed and 43 suspected of returning to the fight. So 61 in all former Guantanamo detainees are confirmed or suspected of returning to the fight."
Further, the Pentagon's definition of "returning to the fight" has been challenged by some analysts. As CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen noted on the January 23 edition of Anderson Cooper 360: "[R]eturning to the fight, in Pentagon terms, could be engaging in anti-American propaganda, something that's not entirely surprising if you have been locked up in a prison camp for several years without charge." Bergen further stated: "[W]hen you really boil it down, the actual number of people whose names we know are about eight out of the 520 that have been released [from Guantánamo], so a little above 1 percent, that we can actually say with certainty have engaged in anti-American terrorism or insurgence activities since they have been released. ... If the Pentagon releases more information about specific people, I think it would be possible to -- to potentially agree with them. But, right now, that information isn't out there."
Additionally, Seton Hall University School of Law professor Mark Denbeaux -- who has written several reports about Guantánamo detainees, including some challenging the Pentagon's definition of "battlefield" capture and published detainee recidivism rates -- has disputed the Pentagon's figures.
In a new telephone survey, Rasmussen Reports has found that 25 percent of voters “believe President Bush and senior members of his administration are guilty of war crimes.” Forty-four percent of Democrats and 21 percent of unaffiliated voters believe that war crimes were committed while just 4 percent of Republicans believe the same.
Only 25% percent of Americans realize, or understand, or accept the reality that war crimes have been committed - are still being committed - in their names.
(...) the barbarians and their savage followers are still living among us indeed ... and they are doing everything they can to keep us down to their primitive, uncivilized and savage level.
The problem here is that the primitive mind-thinking barbarians and savages appear to constitute the majority ...
much has been 'reported' on in the news about the genocide in gaza- oh, not so much by american news media, but the rest of the planet is acutely aware of the atrocities. not us. nope. we stand firmly behind our 'ally' in israel because of our belief in the judeo-christian religions and because hey, we need a non muslim force in the mid-east to keep our oil and natural gas safe.
i remember how i felt when i learned of abu ghraib. melodrama doesn't enter in when i say that i was sick to my soul. i naively never thought that america could or would willingly torture other people. it went against everything i had ever been taught to believe in as an american. it still does, but i am not as naive.
so, the words 'war crimes' are being bandied about in the media- for despots in africa; to now, perhaps, the israelis and it's being whispered....... america. for the first time in my life, i believe that my country needs to be held accountable for kidnapping, torturing, and even killing men and children- who for the most part have been innocent. i believe it to be right and fair if it happens. but i don't know if the world has enough nerve to go for it.
the western world assembled and decided that there needed to be certain rules to warfare- and they called it the geneva convention. the founding fathers in the new world believed that all men were created equal and they put together a starter charter called the constitution of the united states of america. both of these documents were considered 'quaint' by bushco and both shredded and ignored. the people responsible for this tragedy need to be held accountable. it's easy enough for the western world to trot out eastern european dictators or african warlords- they don't look and sound like 'us.' it is, apparently, next to impossible to bring up english speakers on charges of crimes against humanity.
for the last hundred years or so, america has bullied, frightened, blackmailed, and outright crushed anyone or any group who stood in her way of what she wanted. the rest of the world has cowed underneath the fist of military might. well, from the looks of things, the bully is getting her ass handed to her by greed and the world is figuring out that they don't have to be quite so afraid anymore. it has been by fear and luck that we have not had a foreign invasion on american soil. the fear is ebbing away and, i am afraid, that the luck is running out.
we need to do the right thing and hold the bush/cheney administration and the members of congress who helped them- accountable. be vigilant and vote out the corrupt congressmembers. keep pressure up on the rest of congress and the obama administration to do everything in their power to scrub away this very large stain on the american flag. it is one of many to clean up- but we have to start one at a time.
I grieve for the victims of the massacre in Gaza and in all places of war. Please visit Palestinian Mothers to view these and more unfiltered images and to read the latest accounts from Gaza.
More Articles on GITMO Closure::::
Read the DRAFT Document here about GITMO Closure, Please note that it acknowledges the Geneva Conventions...and yes, it RESTORES Habeus Corpus...really. 5 Pages.
How BBC reported it.
AP reports World Reaction and UN Reaction.
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6PM update:::
It is interesting in Foreign papers they are mentioning that CIA Black Prisons will be shuttered as well, the Guardian explores this issue closer.
Three positive points to Obama's diplomatic strategy re Iran:
1) He did not mention Iran in his State Department speech, neither positively nor negatively; 2) Focused on necessity of Israeli PEACE with it's "Arab neighbors", indirectly implying that Iran and Israel are in no "fight" 3) Focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan with emphasizing a NEED to engage their neighboring countries.
This man is clever!
Also, Iranians have been repeatedly saying that "they are open to negotiations", if "old colonizing mentality is put aside".
This is a video of Glenn Beck's debut on Faux News, so who better than the faux champion of the people, Sarah Palin, to be his first guest to sickeningly schmooze with....
Watching this "little" interview made me... Well, in truth, it made me sick to my stomach. The way in which the two "danced" with one another in the faux backdrop of the frozen tundra made my stomach reel. It felt like Gregory Hines doing a Bojangles imitation on my colon! Suffice it to say it was not (is not) pretty... But it inspired a bit of a silly skit (below the video)...
BECK: Governor Sarah Palin. Hello! How are you?
PALIN: Fine, Glenn. I'm fine and dandy! And you?
BECK: Oh! I'm about to burst! Taut! Bulging with pride at having you on my show!
PALIN: Oh! Glenn! I need to tell you, after watchin' you tear up over our common bondage of special needs children, you need to stop your boo-hoo hooin' and get on with life!
BECK: Okay, but only because you're a hot gramma!
PALIN: Oh! Gee my knee... Thanks, Glenn.
BECK: Just sayin', ya know?
PALIN: Of course you are. Why should you be any different than all the other men I talk to on a daily basis?
BECK: Is Barack Obama your president, Sarah?
PALIN: Ummm... Sure... Sure he is. He's America's president, unless you're one of those strict constitutionalizers like me or you're like Chris Wallace who questions the validness of Barack bein' president due to the language manglin' which Chief Justice Roberts managed to pull off during the swearin' in process.
BECK: I'm certainly a constitutionalizer, and I, like you, believe everything out of Chris Wallace's mouth.
PALIN: Who doesn't, right?
BECK: The liberals don't.
PALIN: Who cares what terrorists think.
BECK: I believe anything you say because you have a special needs child like me! I was also thinking how lucky you are to live in Alaska. No illegal aliens, scumbags sneaking into your country. I mean state.
PALIN: Alaska's great! You betcha! We got Caribou and other critters roamin' free and we got oil runnin' out the ying yang!
BECK: I like the sound of that!
PALIN: Getting back to Obama, I mean President Barack Hussien Obama's policies, my daughter, Willow, who we were goin' to name Caribou but figured it'd be better to name her somethin' that Mommy doesn't shoot at from airplanes, was watchin' the news the other day, blessed child, and she heard someone say that 95% of Americans were goin' to get a tax cut and she asked me, I swear it was one of those precious Hallmark moments in a lovin' mommies life, she asked me, "What about the other 5%? Why should they be punished for bein' rich?"
BECK: Is she a looker like her mommy?
PALIN: Oh! Stop it now... I'm happily married to a champion snow-mobiler!
BECK: Yes, but she ain't, if you know what I mean?
PALIN: Yes and... Well it is true, she's not married to my husband. Hmmm? ...We'll talk about it after the program, `kay?
BECK: Great! Does she like ice cream? What kind?
PALIN: Would you let me finish? It's cold out here!
BECK: Sorry. You're right. Great view, by the way...
PALIN: Gee, thanks...
BECK: I'm just sayin', ya know?
PALIN: (Sarah giggles.) So instead of cryin' and gettin' all boo-hoo hooey about it, I held Willow close to my bosoms and said, "Honey, the money is goin' to be redistributized `cause Barack and all the devilish liberals in this country want it that way.
BECK: Amen, hot gramma!
PALIN: ...I went on to say, "Because Barack used to pal around with those kinds, those ilks, and well he's their president too, but he's ours as well, my sweet Willow." And she said something about Obama's daddy bein' from the country of black Africa and all and his mommy bein' from the state of white Kansas, so I quickly steered the conversation away from pre-marital sex and sinners and the mixin' of races and all that and just hugged her little ice cream cravin' body again and reassured her that we were safe from most of the world's trash heap. That's what mommies do, Glenn. They reassure their children against all that stuff.
BECK: Amen to that, my soul mate of a hotty gramma!
PALIN: Geeze, Glenn. Simmer down a bit would ya? We're on t.v. and you sound like you're speakin' in tongues...
Perhaps I am wrong (I always hope that I am on such matters) with regards to our democracies losing themselves beyond redemption. Just this week alone, some rays of hope have been shining brightly which leaves me to wonder if we are indeed on the road to reclaim our democratic, civil liberties and human rights values in order to hold onto them honestly and sincerely once and for all:
A federal judge ordered the release yesterday of a detainee at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruling that the government's evidence is too weak to justify the man's continued confinement.
It is the second time that U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon has ordered the release of a detainee after examining government evidence, most of it classified. Leon said that the Justice Department failed to prove that Mohammed El Gharani, 21, is an enemy combatant because it relied heavily on statements made by two other detainees whose credibility is questionable.
"A mosaic of tiles this murky reveals nothing about this petitioner with sufficient clarity" to justify his detention, Leon ruled.
Gharani, a citizen of Chad, was picked up in Pakistan and turned over to the United States in 2002. Since then, he has been held at Guantanamo Bay.
The government alleged that Gharani traveled to Afghanistan and trained at an al-Qaeda-affiliated military camp, fought in the battle of Tora Bora and was a courier for high-level al-Qaeda members.
The government also accused Gharani of belonging to a London-based al-Qaeda cell in 1998, an accusation that Leon questioned. Gharani was 11 at the time, living with immigrant parents in Saudi Arabia, his attorneys said.
Case #2: Former Gitmo prosecutor rips military trials, calling interrogators' practices 'despicable' (also via here)
In a declaration submitted to a Washington D.C. District Court Tuesday, Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld, a former prosecutor in the Military Commission trial system, delivered perhaps the most blistering attack on the US military's detention program by a former member of the Pentagon's team to date.
Speaking of the man he was once tasked to prosecute, Vandeveld said prisoner Mohamed Jawad's continued detention is "something beyond a travesty," and urged that Jawad be released given a "lack of any credible evidence."
Some of this information was revealed in September 2008, after Vandeveld resigned as a prosecutor, complaining that "potentially exculpatory evidence" had "not been provided" to Jawad's defense team, and that his accidental discovery of information relating to Jawad's abuse helped convert him from a "true believer to someone who felt truly deceived."
Vandeveld's declaration today constitutes the most sustained criticism of the Bush administration's trial system for terror suspects since Col. Morris Davis, the Commission's former Chief Prosecutor, resigned in 2007. Col. Davis said he'd quit because of the politicization of the trial system, attempts to endorse the use of evidence obtained through torture, and the refusal of Pentagon chief counsel William J. Haynes II to accept that any planned trials could end in acquittals.
Vandeveld's statement, seen by Raw Story, explained that he joined OMC-P in May 2007, and described how, based on his civilian experience as a Senior Deputy Attorney General in Pennsylvania, he initially thought that Jawad's case "appeared to be as simple as the street crimes I had prosecuted by the dozens in civilian life."
Jawad, an Afghan national, was accused of throwing a grenade at a jeep containing two US Special Forces soldiers and an Afghan interpreter while the vehicle was stuck in traffic in a marketplace in Kabul in 2002. Vandeveld said he initially thought Jawad was guilty because he'd been arrested "almost immediately" by Afghan police officers and had purportedly "freely confessed" to throwing the grenade. In addition, he'd allegedly explained that he'd "claimed sole responsibility for the attack" and "that he would repeat the attack if given the opportunity."
According to the interrogation report, US soldiers took Jawad to an operating base, where, after initial denials, he "eventually confessed to his role in the attack, this time on videotape recorded by US personnel."
But as Lt. Col. Vandeveld began to investigate the evidence in Jawad's case, he was shocked to discover that locating relevant documents was extraordinarily difficult. He said the Commissions' prosecution department was in a "state of disarray" and "lack[ed] any discernable organization." He explained that he did not "expect that potential war crimes would be presented, at least initially, in 'tidy little packages,'" such as those that would be "assembled by civilian police agencies and prosecution offices."
"The evidence, such as it was," he wrote, "remained scattered throughout an incomprehensible labyrinth of databases... or strewn throughout the prosecution offices."
As a result, Lt. Col. Vandeveld was unable to locate crucial documents, such as Jawad's videotaped confession. Although he explained that it was "difficult" for him "to accept that the US military could have failed so miserably in six years of effort," he began to doubt "the propriety" of prosecuting Jawad.
Despite these misgivings, Vandeveld said he clung to a belief that the case could be prosecuted "ethically and successfully" until May 2008, when a succession of discoveries led to his dramatic departure.
Case #3: Air Force Major David Frakt of the Military Commissions defends Mohammed Jawad
Download | PlayDownload | Play
(h/t Heather)
This is just horrific. I was on a conference call yesterday with the ACLU and we talked about this very case. Via email:
We focused on the cases of Omar Khadr and Mohammed Jawad, both teenagers when they were captured, and how their cases speak to the larger problem of the military commissions and why Guantanamo must be closed immediately.
Bush administration is appealing a Guantánamo military judge's decision to throw out evidence against Jawad that was tainted by torture.
When Obama is sworn in I believe this trial is set to begin a week later. Major props goes to Air Force Major David Frakt for his work on this issue.
MADDOW: The big problem at Guantanamo is not that we locked up hundreds of people in an American-run prison in a foreign country without charges or trials or rights, the problem is that other countries won‘t help us out with that?
Joining us now is an Air Force Major David Frakt. He is defense counsel with the Office of Military Commissions which administers the tribunals at Guantanamo. He is defending a young man named Mohammed Jawad. He was a teenager when he was arrested and is still at Guantanamo Bay.
MADDOW: If today‘s reports are correct that President-elect Obama is getting rid of the military tribunal system, would that put you out of a job? And, in your eyes, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?
FRAKT: Absolutely, Rachel. In fact, the defense counsel with the Office of Military Commissions have been trying from day one to do precisely that. That is put ourselves out of a job. My belief, I believe it is shared by my fellow co-counsel, is that this is an unfair, rigged system.
You know, we took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, and we‘re doing that by serving as defense counsel and assuring that our clients are not tried in an unconstitutional system.
Case #4: Holder breaks with Mukasey, says ‘waterboarding is torture.’ (see also here)
In October 2007, during his confirmation hearings, Attorney General Michael Mukasey refused to call waterboarding torture and to this day has not called it torture. In his confirmation hearing today, Attorney General nominee Eric Holder clearly said that he believes waterboarding is torture:
HOLDER: If you look at the history of the use of that technique, used by the Khmer Rouge, used in the Inquisition, used by the Japanese and prosecuted by us as war crimes. We prosecuted our own soldiers for using it in Vietnam. I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture.
In another break with Bush administration officials, Holder said other countries would be violating international law if they waterboarded U.S. citizens. Watch it:
Holder also said that the President cannot immunize officials who committed acts of torture. “No one is above the law,” he stated.
(Keep reading ...)
Case #5: The Turning Point - How the Susan Crawford interview changes everything we know about torture (also via here and here)
When Vice President Dick Cheney told the Weekly Standard last week, "I think on the left wing of the Democratic Party there are some people who believe that we really tortured," he probably wasn't thinking about Susan J. Crawford, convening authority of the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. Crawford, a retired judge who served as general counsel for the Army during the Reagan administration and as Pentagon inspector general, is hardly the kind of hippie moonbat Cheney would like to poke fun at. And that's why everything changed this morning when the Washington Post published a front-page interview by Bob Woodward, in which Crawford stated without equivocation that the treatment of alleged 20th Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed al-Qahtani at Guantanamo Bay was "torture."
You're wondering how it is that Crawford's claim that the United States authorized torture (not "coercive interrogation" or "enhanced interrogation" or other "nontorturous forms of interrogation" or "abuse," but torture) changes anything. After all, the Senate armed services committee issued a report just last month pointing the finger of responsibility for the military interrogations at then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his general counsel Jim Haynes. The committee did not use the T-word, however. And Crawford is hardly the first high-ranking military official to use the word. Alberto J. Mora, former general counsel of the U.S. Navy, wrote in a letter to the Navy's inspector general: "The interrogation techniques approved by the Secretary [of Defense] should not have been authorized because some (but not all) of them, whether applied singly or in combination, could produce effects reaching the level of torture." The 84-page log of al-Qahtani's interrogation has long been a matter of public record, and there is now little dispute that the treatment it describes rose to the level of torture. As described in Torture Team, London-based clinical psychiatrist and trauma specialist Dr. Abigail Seltzer studied the log and concluded that al-Qahtani had been tortured.
It's also not an accident that Crawford is a military lawyer. From the very outset of the Bush torture regime, it was the military attorneys who warned him—if they were given a chance—that his program was illegal.
What changes as a result of Crawford expressly using the word torture? First, the administration can no longer hide behind parsing the language of the Geneva Conventions and the torture statute. Whether or not Michael Mukasey is willing to call water-boarding torture—as the president-elect did on Sunday—a reputable senior military official has put that label on conduct that is arguably not as bad and has been widespread in Afghanistan and Iraq. In her interview, Crawford acknowledges that it was "the combination of the interrogation techniques, their duration and the impact on Qahtani's health that led to her conclusion. 'The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent. … This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him. … It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge' to call it torture." What Crawford has done here is astounding. She has repudiated the formalistic (and perennially shifting) definitions of torture as whatever-it-is-we-don't-do. She has admitted that there is a medical and legal definition for torture and also that we have crossed the line into it.
And ... Case #6: Ontario judge declares secrecy law unconstitutional
A secrecy law frequently invoked by the federal government in terrorism cases has been declared unconstitutional by an Ontario Superior Court judge, amid fears a sprawling Toronto conspiracy case risks “bogging down and becoming unmanageable.”
The landmark decision strikes down a portion of the Canada Evidence Act, a controversial law passed by Parliament after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The law effectively directed debates involving government secrecy claims away from open trials and toward specialized hearings in other courts.
The 94-page ruling made Thursday affects the case of 10 Toronto men accused of a 2006 conspiracy to train as terrorists and explode truck bombs. The highly anticipated case is only incrementally moving toward trial.
Finding that justice delayed is justice denied, Mr. Justice Fletcher Dawson, of the Ontario Superior Court, ruled that trial judges like him need to be ones who ponder questions related to government secrecy, to preserve the fair-trial rights of the accused.
Otherwise, “there is a danger this case will collapse under its own weight,” said Judge Dawson, who is now weighing preliminary arguments in the case. “The risk of it bogging down and becoming unmanageable is an ongoing concern.”
The effect of the ruling will be to bring the terrorism case closer to trial – though it's still unlikely to happen in 2009. The broader implications are that police and intelligence agencies will have a much tougher time keeping sensitive information away from open trials.
Since 9/11, Section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act has been invoked in just about every Canadian national-security case of note, with the federal government arguing that it needs to shield intelligence related to the Khadr family, the Maher Arar affair, and the Mohammed Momin Khawaja terrorist trial.
These concerns stem from the possible disclosure of sources and methods used by Canadian agents and also from the intelligence received from foreign partners, such as the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, or Britain's MI6.
The invariable effect of the law has been to take secrecy arguments away from main-stage proceedings to a secretive side stage at the Federal Court of Canada, whose judges have specialized national security training and, until now, exclusive jurisdiction of all Canada Evidence Act matters. Judges pondering the overall cases have been forced to await the outcome of protracted Federal Court legal debates to determine what information would be in play.
Observers of the Toronto terrorism-conspiracy case have long dreaded the implications of this, especially given that defence lawyers push for disclosure and the Crown tends to guard sensitive intelligence. The fear was that Section 38 would create a never-ending legal ping-pong match that no jury could ever withstand: The Crown might shut down the Superior Court trial whenever a secrecy question arose, force debates into federal and appellate courts, and then, once matters returned to Superior Court, repeat the process as often as deemed necessary by the government.
Contemplating this, Judge Dawson drew a line in the sand.
“There can be no doubt that the liberty and security interests of persons on trial in the superior courts are at stake,” the ruling reads. “… By depriving them of the opportunity to enforce their rights to disclosure and to full answer and defence in the court of competent jurisdiction, all the ingredients of a Section 7 Charter violation are established.”
He took pains to point out that this was not a dig at his colleagues at Federal Court, and said it's “mug's game” to argue over which judges are better suited to weigh secrecy. He simply said Superior Court judges are also up to the job and need to see all the evidence.
And those who would rather "forgive and forget" are nothing more than tacit enablers which keep the gates wide open to "do it all over" should we ever find any quaint justifications to do so again.
This in turn brings me to repeat one of my mantras:
For the sake of our continued existence, we must strive to forget nevermore that rationalizations supporting the use of violence - other than the need for the rightful exercise of self-defense when set upon by a genuinely clear, present and immediate danger - invariably constitute deceitful fabrications meant to conceal, disguise or justify incompetence ...
... including our very own for embracing such mendacity.
For what is the point of holding onto noble ideals and principles when those who would defile them remain unaccountable? What does this say of the actual value and sincerity of said noble ideals and principles?
Thus we are setting ourselves to repeat history - yet again.
Through flood… and quaking earth And winds, those before our grand machinery Anointed the solemn granite With our foundation, left great trust in the future Of their manuscript here Upon our country's doorstep, That such swaying of the pillars toward failure Be remedied in the steadfast parchment.
On this day of days Let us consider love, Compassion, freedom, hope. The sky, ocean, seas, soil, Home to our limbs and joy Long misplaced and low, A glee sunken in our brow Like the whisper of our end Bending the corners of our mouths
Misplaced in the shadow of sand and war. Let this day be remarkable with its coming, Daring our better selves to stand upon The shoulders of history and predict our future With its smiling on the children of peace
In one long, joy filled stride. We have but to embrace ourselves; the wish We formed at this day’s birth Beneath the sun, reaching down to us, above The staining of men in trenches Whose lives wait in favor of ours. Holding for a rise from ashes, To cleanse this; our foul-bred hunger. Equipped with mercy
And kindness The prayer need rise out of us, but no further Than we might travel among the poor.
No further than the broken, The weary, hunkered down, begging Of our hands to fetch them up.
All of us, our strength, a sturdy column Unbent by the weight of courage, Tempests in the empty halls of power, Rumbling a refrain of unity As we break open the shackles of misuse Long left to fester on the people’s steps, Find that this dawn is upon our shoulders, It is we, who now negotiate with our own death, Our girth of indifference.
Rise now to greet this day, Our moment elevated from spirit, Breathing, throbbing, ready, Not for one, not for country, But for love.
Use it for more than our self-seeking, Use it as if it were the breath of mercy kneeling down. Indulge its hunger, it has been waiting so long, Hunkered down, bound and bleeding, ready For our rising shoulders to hoist it tall again.
This is the first year anyone has said "Happy Inauguration Day" to me. Several people have emailed me, called me, asked me if I was watching the events. This is remarkable. So many people are filled with a sense of Hope and Joy at the possibility of better days ahead.
An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's rule. The word comes from consecration, installment under good omens," from inaugurare "take omens from the flight of birds, consecrate or install when such omens are favorable."
Several Presidents have been inaugurated in my lifetime. The first I remember was John F. Kennedy. We had studied each candidate's backgrounds and issues they supported in 6th grade and my sister and I saw candidate Kennedy when he visited our state capital. He even sent me an autographed picture of himself. I was thrilled. But inauguration day, even for JFK, was not as anticipated or celebrated as was President Obama's. In fact, I don't remember the events for Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, or Bush I. I do remember Clinton's and do not remember Bush II's.
So far, today's events have been remarkable. It is estimated over 2 million people are in Washington observing/attending today's events. In addition to the millions watching the events in D.C., many millions are gathered in other locations across the country and the world, including New York's Times Square, Dallas, and movie theatres across the nation and the world to watch the address on jumbo screens. In fact, there is a massive flurry of activity across the blogosphere!
Today's Events include:
Invocation: Rick Warren: Calling America a "land of unequaled possibility," Warren's prayer invoked the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. and asked that Americans "remember they are united by a commitment to freedom and justice for all." and "When we fail to give the respect to all humans that they deserve, forgive us."
Musical Quartet: Isaac Perlman, Jo-Jo Ma, Gabriela Montero, Anthony McGill: Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones(I remembered this song from my church Choir - Very Beautiful)
President Obama's Inauguration Speech:(excerpts; read entire speech here)
On the steps of the nation's Capitol, just a short distance from where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, using the same bible Abraham Lincoln did for his inauguration. He spoke of challenges looming over the country — the economy, the current wars — while also invoking the legacy of King.
"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights...On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord..reaffirm our enduring spirit; ..to carry forward that precious gift, the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
Economy:..and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
World Peace: to all other peoples and governments who are watching today..know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more... We can meet .. new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect," Obama said. "To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
HUMANITY: To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
AMERICA, OUR PLEDGE: ..we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains...For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate...
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance (as Patriots said) "Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Let's all wish President Obama and each of ourselves a Happy Inauguration Day, a Better day tomorrow and over the next 8 years. God Bless America!!
Inaugural Poem - by Elizabeth Alexander Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names
of the dead
who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the
bridges, picked the
cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the
glittering edifices they would
then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise
song for struggle; praise song for
the day. Praise song for every
hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at
kitchen tables.
Some live by
"Love thy neighbor as thy self."
Others by
first do no harm, or take no
more than you need.
What if the mightiest word
is love, love beyond
marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool
of light. Love
with no need to preempt grievance.
In today's sharp sparkle,
this winter
air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on
the brim,
on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.
Late Breaking News: During today's inaugural lunch, Senator Kennedy (76) and Senator Byrd (91) have both suffered some types of attacks at lunch (due to age and illnesses) and have been transported to Hospitals.
Through flood… and quaking earth
And winds, those before our grand machinery
Anointed the solemn granite
With our foundation, left great trust in the future
Of their manuscript here
Upon our country's doorstep,
That such swaying of the pillars toward failure
Be remedied in the steadfast parchment.
On this day of days
Let us consider love,
Compassion, freedom, hope.
The sky, ocean, seas, soil,
Home to our limbs and joy
Long misplaced and low,
A glee sunken in our brow
Like the whisper of our end
Bending the corners of our mouths
Misplaced in the shadow of sand and war.
Let this day be remarkable with its coming,
Daring our better selves to stand upon
The shoulders of history and predict our future
With its smiling on the children of peace
In one long, joy filled stride.
We have but to embrace ourselves; the wish
We formed at this day’s birth
Beneath the sun, reaching down to us, above
The staining of men in trenches
Whose lives wait in favor of ours.
Holding for a rise from ashes,
To cleanse this; our foul-bred hunger.
Equipped with mercy
And kindness
The prayer need rise out of us, but no further
Than we might travel among the poor.
No further than the broken,
The weary, hunkered down, begging
Of our hands to fetch them up.
All of us, our strength, a sturdy column
Unbent by the weight of courage,
Tempests in the empty halls of power,
Rumbling a refrain of unity
As we break open the shackles of misuse
Long left to fester on the people’s steps,
Find that this dawn is upon our shoulders,
It is we, who now negotiate with our own death,
Our girth of indifference.
Rise now to greet this day,
Our moment elevated from spirit,
Breathing, throbbing, ready,
Not for one, not for country,
But for love.
Use it for more than our self-seeking,
Use it as if it were the breath of mercy kneeling down.
Indulge its hunger, it has been waiting so long,
Hunkered down, bound and bleeding, ready
For our rising shoulders to hoist it tall again.
and happy next four years at least. there is an electricity in the air that is, well, electric. history has indeed been made- and just as important- the 'reign of terror' has ended. let us take an opportunity to breathe a collective sigh of relief and enjoy the moment. sigh.....
i want to take an opportunity to thank all of the folks on the right who either sat out the vote so as not to vote mccain/palin (thank you, thank you) or actually crossed lines to vote democratic. that took courage, patriotism and genuine foresight- and, i, for one, am eternally grateful. we have a long row to hoe here in the united states of america. and we have to work together to do it. there are some who aren't as enthusiastic about obama- me, included, but i look at it this way- bushco is gone!!! we can take a moment to savor that at the very least.
there are many tough times ahead and i see the road getting longer and times more difficult. we must continue to remain vigilant against the neocons and the religious right because they don't go away- they reinvent themselves and keep coming. we have had decades of that dedication to self and it has led to class warfare not seen since the dark ages. we must continue to fight for our country against these folks and continue to work towards repairing our country and our planet.
but for today- let us take a moment and savor- and smile for the first time in a long time.
"[M]any people who voted for "Change" are instead getting a slicked up version of the status quo. That's likely to lead to some disappointment--a potentially productive disappointment. The sense of possibility tht Barack Obama has awakened is a very dangerous thing.
Toqueville [said] that the riskiest time for a bad regime is when it starts to reform itself. That's where our regime is right now, and it's a good time for us, whoever we are exactly, to go out and make it riskier. It's going to get easier to win recruits as the ranks of the disappointed swell."
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank based in DC. They promote conservative public policy. They became influential in the Reagan years. They view themselves as traditional conservatives and they proudly display the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Shawn Hannity on their home pages.
On January 13, 2009, they came out with their official Immigration policy statement. In reviewing their policy, their recommendations are consistent with past Conservative/ANTI policy.
I know you read and listen to all perspectives, but as you review their views, please keep in mind the PRO Immigration Reform perspective. I’ve listed the Heritage Foundation Views (in black) vs the PRO views (in red) as follows:
1. Secure Borders via Walls, more BP and partnering with States and Local Govt for added security. PRO: We DO agree with Secure Borders, there are issues with the Wall, particularly for those who live on the border and go to school on the border. Discussions need to be held on this. 2. Sanctions Against Employers via fines. Enforcing via Immigration Raids. PRO: We agree with employer sanctions, but the raids in Postville, Massachusetts and other locations were inhumane! The value of ICE Raids should be re-evaluated. 3. Mass Deportation of the 12M here through strict enforcement of existing laws, workplace raids, 287(g) programs promoting Racial Profiling. PRO: We adamently oppose Mass Deportations, inhumane ICE Raids, Detention Centers, Racial Profiling!
There are new additions to their recommendation: 1. Developing NEW Temporary Worker Programs that are truly temporary.: They go into extreme detail on this. NEW Temporary Workers. Not those here. Put them to work. Make sure they know where the door is. PRO: This is suspicious to me. Why does the Heritage Foundation support a NEW Temporary worker program. Sounds almost like support for Big Business having Slave Labor. They advocate None of the 12M here may participate in this program. Additionally they advocate changing the Jus Soli (birthright citizenship) constitution requirements. This needs more investigation and as it stands is unacceptable! 2. Promoting economic development in Latin America:. PRO: Also supports economic develop in Latin America. We would like to see the underlying details to their proposals. 3. Reform immigration services. PRO: Also supports Reforming immigration services. We would like to see the underlying details to their proposals. 4. Improving Legal avenues for immigrants. PRO: Also supports improving legal avenues for immigrants. We do not want it to serve as a restrictionist means to allow only White, Educated, Wealthy immigrants into our country. We would like to see the underlying details to their proposals.
President Obama, their recommendations truly illustrate the old axiom, “the devil is in the details!” Look for the underlying meaning in what they are requesting and you will see their true motivation.
Additionally, I see nothing in their policy that discusses the War on Drugs, the USA being the number 1 illegal drug abusing country in the world, the USA sending Mexico 2,000 illegal weapons a day or our partnership to help Mexico in their and our War on Drugs. This should be included in any policy.
I know, President Obama, that you and your advisors will support a sound and comprehensive immigration reform policy. Thank you for your dedication to an improved America!
Tomorrow, America honors the birthday of heroic civil rights activist Martin Luther King. Americans revere King across the political and ethnic spectrum for his wisdom, idealism, courage and practice of non-violent civil disobedience against the forces of racial oppression. Thanks in large part to the trailblazing efforts of King and his followers; America inaugurates its first black president the very next day when Barack Obama takes the oath of office on January 20th. Yet even as Americans celebrate the historical arc from Martin Luther King to Barack Obama, the scars of racial injustice remain woven into our country’s fabric.
Understandably, historians have overlooked the immediate aftermath of King’s assassination in a Memphis, Tennessee hotel on April 4th, 1968. The meaning of King’s life as well as the tragedy his loss represented has received considerable attention from historians and the body politic. Yet the immediate aftermath of King’s death was dwarfed by his iconic life as well as the assassination of Robert Kennedy and the violence that took place during the Democratic National Convention later that year.
Clay Risen, author of A Nation On Fire: America In the Wake of the King Assassination (John Wiley & Sons) argues that what transpired immediately after April 4th impacted America as intensely as King’s death itself. Within hours, there was rioting in Washington D.C. and before the violence subsided, the U.S. Army occupied three major American cities while National Guard units patrolled a dozen more. Overall, there were disturbances in nearly 120 cities. Ultimately, the riots helped facilitate forty years of conservative hegemony as urban America reaped the whirlwind of white resentment and indifference.
Risen specifically chronicles the period covering President Lyndon Johnson’s withdrawal from the 1968 campaign on March 31st, to King’s assassination on April 4th and culminates with Johnson’s signing of the 1968 Civil Rights Act on April 11th. The author relies on dozens of interviews as well as newly declassified documents to provide a dramatic day-by-day, city-by-city narrative of the riots, from the looting in Washington to violence in Chicago, Baltimore and other cities following King's death in Memphis.
Indeed, Risen skillfully takes the reader on a historical tour with larger than life personalities like the militant Stokely Carmichael to white racist vigilantes in Baltimore and political figures such as New York City Mayor John Lindsey, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, New York Senator Robert Kennedy and Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew. Perhaps the book’s most dramatic anecdote was when a young Deputy Attorney General named Warren Christopher, joined General Ralph Haines, and Public Safety Commissioner Patrick Murphy at a Washington DC gas station pay-phone to recommend to President Johnson that he deploy federal troops in the nation’s capitol.
George Pelecanos, author of The Turnaround and The Night Gardner issued the following praise for Risen’s book:
“Clay Risen’s A Nation on Fire is the long-awaited definitive account of one of the most important, underreported events of the 1960s. As important for its historical aspect as it is for understanding where we are today, it is an exciting, important document, excitingly told.”
Risen, was formerly an editor at The New Republic and is the founding Managing Editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. He has also contributed to Smithsonian, Slate, the Atlantic, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Risen agreed to a telephone interview with me in a podcast format about his book as well as the fateful days following King’s death. Our conversation was just over forty-seven minutes. Please refer to the flash media player below.
Either searching for the Intrepid Liberal Journal or Robert Ellman can also access this interview at no cost via the Itunes Store.
GWB has challenged my soul for the last eight or so years. I will be happy to have him off the scene. I hope that all the karma that GWB sent into the universe will return to him many times over.
Meanwhile, I giggle every time I watch this video from David Letterman's segment: Top 10 George Bush Moments. It only takes a couple minutes. I know you'll like it. Even Letterman could not keep a straight face...
Obama to end HARSH Interrogations, and torture, BUT there is a Loophole possibility ????
NO....There can be NO Loopholes or Bending of The Existing Laws and Rules....
There are no Compromises on such issues after what has happened and was done in Our Names in the past 8 years.
The wormhole, paradise, hauls its wave above the injured in my spirit.
His soldiers, with their blistering certainty marching forward with their cleansed bodies, upright breasts, asses and protruding masculinities, look down and see before them a naked and lifeless child on the floor. God, they imagined, placed the infant there as sign, glint of light shining down on the divine churches golden base.
A few cradled the dead child while others built a pyre at the foot of their Christ. They laid the eager body upon its cradle and declared, “We are yours!” and lit the brittle timber.
Falling to their knees and repeating their mantra they watched their sacrifice melt.
First the soft hair of the child curled up with the flames, then sparked by the heat it ruptured into ash. Then came the tender flesh covering the ears which melted like wax, dripping down into the flame it sizzled and popped and drooped to its loss.
Then the skin on the palms of the hands and the heels of the feet oozed down onto the embers and the babies tender bottom and back and shoulders began to sag into the fire as the eyes melted into the skull, feeding the fire into the brain, and the soldiers of Christ still moaned and prattled their pledge.
Soon the liquefied skin had formed a cocoon around all that remained- the lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, gallbladder, pancreas, and brain- the stomach, spleen, colon, small intestines, bladder and bone.
A rancid smell filled the church as did the warrior’s blabber and moan floating out of the fire of God’s blessing. As the noise of sacrifice grew louder still, the child’s body grew white-hot and began to quake! The revelers saw this and became so frightened that they ran like a herd of cattle from the church.
When they were all gone, and the church was silent of fear, the baby suddenly burst open with the breath of peace upon it…
Six days after the inauguration of President Obama, the U.S. is scheduled to begin the first trial of a child soldier accused of war crimes since World War II.
This video shows why President Obama must take swift action to end the unconstitutional military commissions, and why he must bring the United States back in line with the treaties it has signed regarding the treatment of juveniles who have been recruited or used in armed conflict.
Here is some background to the trial set for January 26: Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured in Afghanistan in the midst of a firefight that seriously injured Khadr and resulted in the death of a U.S. solider. Khadr was sent to Guantanamo where he was been held for 7 years -- one-third of his life. He was beaten, subject to painful stress positions and even used as a human mop after he urinated on the floor during one interrogation. Under these conditions, the prosecution of Khadr raises grave concerns about the rule of law and underscores how unconstitutional the military commissions are. President Obama must end them as he has promised.
Doing so will spare ACLU client Mohammed Jawad from trial in an illegal system. Jawad was sent to Guantanamo after he was captured at about age 16 at the scene of a grenade attack in Afghanistan that injured two U.S. soldiers. Afghan authorities threatened Jawad with his death, and that of his family, if he didnt confess to the attack. Based on the resulting false confession, Jawad was transferred to U.S. custody where he was further abused. Among other forms of cruel treatment he suffered at Guantanamo, Jawad was subjected to the so-called frequent flyer program, where he was moved every few hours -- 112 times over two weeks -- to deny him sleep. His trial date under the military commissions has not been set because the Bush administration has appealed the military judges decision to suppress torture-derived confessions. The appeals court decision is pending.
Join the ACLU in calling on President Obama to immediately shut down the military commissions operating at Guantanamo.
Featuring ACLU's National Security Project attorney Hina Shamsi and Human Rights Program researcher Jennifer Turner. It was produced for the ACLU by Joel Engardio.
CHILD SOLDIERS
When darkness, with its talon of fume and flame, And a child’s shattered courage are joined, Will radiance crack open of love And will the nobility of man Seek its breast, Suckle truth? Shall the good rumble at the gate, Dance and revel and bellow, Flatten the stolen seats of power?
Lick at ravenous sores, Swill the idols, Bend low, Consume, Expire, Vanish, Die, Pleads the dark, Prays the child.
She is holding a child that she has never had. A limb is falling off of the child. A leg. Or an arm. There is a bullet in the child's eye. The bullet is silver. Blood is flowing into the child's mouth. The child is thirsty. The woman lets her drink the blood. Her left breast is blown up. In its place rests a big scar. You can see the heart through cracked ribs. With no breast, the child cannot be breast fed. With no breast she cannot even prostitute herself to find water or milk. The child is thirsty. The woman's heart is broken by the force of the smashed rib cage. The man is out; holding his penis out to the world; pissing on it, pissing it off. He is hoping that if he urinates enough, the earth, the ancestral land will purify it enough to save his child from thirst; or from the despicable sin of sucking on his own blood. Death doesn't come soon enough to the child whose limb is hanging, whose eyes is wounded. Death doesn't come soon enough to the woman whose breast is blown, whose broken rib cage has broken her pink heart. Death doesn't come soon enough to the man whose phallus is not irrigating the earth, is not starting a creek. Death is waiting in a corner to be sought. Death is waiting to be called upon. Death is waiting to be strapped into a belt. Death is not coming, death is to be sought. Death grins menacingly that she is the port to freedom, the port to heaven. Death is water, death is food, death is freedom, death is a belt, death is the last piece of pride, the last bit of dignity left.
The woman's breast is blown. Her womb is a ball of fire. She is pregnant with pain. And she is holding a child with a falling limb, with a bleeding eye, and with thirsty lips that are getting used to the salty taste of the blood ... blood the only source of life ... blood the only god ... the woman will give birth to pain, the pain too will be thirsty, the pain will not be able to drink from the exploded breast, the pain will grow into a blood thirsty puberty.
The pain will kill the woman because the woman will kill for pain; all mothers will kill for their thirsty children. The death belt is grinning ... the last attire of dignity of a man ... or a woman ...
Plus ça change, plus c'est pareil - the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Indeed - the way things are already going in 2009, and regardless that we are fast approaching the so-called "New Dawn" which many folks apparently await breathlessly and which is supposed to occur following Barack Obama's inauguration, I just don't see how anything will change for the better by the time we reach 2010 ... or 2020 ... or even 2050, for that matter.
Here's why ...
1) Despite living in democracies, with all the rights and privileges this entails, we remain all-too-lazy to actually exercize our duty, our responsibility, as citizens and therefore fail to register and/or cast our vote - regardless of the stakes and whether we acknowledge said stakes or not. Cases in point:
U.S. Nov. 2008 general elections: only 56.8% of the voting-age population (i.e. all residents age 18 and older) voted - despite the obvious stakes. If you prefer taking into account only those who actually registered to vote (i.e. "vote-eligible" population), then you get a "whopping" 61.6% turnout rate - who would've thunk that this election was, you know, crucial for the future of the U.S.?
Canada Oct. 2008 general elections: only 59.1% of the vote-eligible population (i.e. registered voters) turned out to vote. Typical excuses heard for such a low turnout? "A ho-hum campaign", "uninspiring party leaders", and/or "no important stakes involved" (yes - and let's forget about the economy already worsening then, among other things, eh?).
Québec Dec. 2008 elections: only 57.4% of registered voters turned out to vote. Typical excuses heard for such a low turnout? "Too soon after the federal elections", "these elections were not necessary", "bad weather", and/or "no important stakes involved" (again yes - let's forget about the economy already at one of its lowest points then, among other things ...).
In short, our democracies are far from being healthy. Any excuse not to vote, let alone register, is a good one. In the meantime, those who actually care about such a dire state of affairs tend to dwell upon making voting easier, or making voting more accessible, or reducing voter lines by opening more voting polls, etc., etc., etc.
In the end, these, as well as intense time and effort in driving voter turnout from the grassroots, inevitably fall short - being as effective as applying band aids in trying to stem the loss of blood from a gaping wound. Why is that so? Because the actual root of the problem remains largely unaddressed. Acknowledged? Maybe, by some. But is anything ever done to actually resolve such a critical problem which keeps on eating away at our democracies? Any long-term plan and significant investment of time and effort to at least begin to resolve this problem? Nope. Nada. Zip.
You can't save a dying tree by doing everything in order to keep the leaves and branches healthy, when the tree is actually rotting from the roots. And as long as we refrain from fully realizing and understanding this verity, our democracies will keep on slowly - but surely - rotting away.
The purpose of the educational reforms of the last 25-30 years in our modern societies will have had as the primary goal to make education less strict and authoritative, and rather more motivating, enriching and inclusive. That in itself is all well and good. Unfortunately, the reforms put in practice over these years will have brought us to the present situation whereby intellectual sloth is not only encouraged but, even more so, actually rewarded. Indeed, any effort that is slightly substantial is regarded as being incompatible with the cognitive development of a child (or of an adolescent) and, still worse, with the blooming of those who have “difficulties in learning” - in other words, our reforms will have lowered the bar to the lowest common denominator. Point in fact is that any difficulty of learning (except in specific situations like dyslexia) draws its origins from several factors: poverty, parental situation, traumatisms experienced, etc., and thus require specific teaching methods which take into account these factors. But nevertheless, we seek to motivate all children without requiring of them any truly significant effort: this amounts to seeking to motivate an employee into being willing to work with never ending promotions, while without requiring of him to perform his tasks decently. Ridiculous, no? But this is exactly how things are being done in our schools today.
In short, we are trying to teach knowledge while doing everything possible to make knowledge interesting and easily understandable, consequently lowering the bar by standardizing intellectual sloth. Moreover, we are at the point where we are actually making students practice important exams with the aim of improving their performances during these same examinations - what could be more ridiculous? And of course, each successive reform fails in its attempts to increase the motivation, to reduce the rates of failure, or to reverse the dropout rates. Why? Because at the base, all these reforms entrench in their new methods and teaching approaches the rewarding (direct or indirect) of intellectual sloth, as well as its by-products, the search for facility and for instant gratification. In other words, we perpetuate and accentuate the problem!
If this is not intellectual sloth in itself on the part of our educational leaders and decision makers ...
Should one therefore be surprised by the preponderance of the promotion and exercise of leisures and hobbies, in the house as well as outside? As with everything, too much of a good thing is bad. If intellectual sloth is silently (or by negligence) encouraged by parents and at school, how can the children, and their own children, and so on, do anything else but perpetuate this vicious circle at all levels of society?
The solution is of course quite simple - but would require a complete re-thinking of our educational approaches as well as a definite long-term commitment to solve this critical problem:
(...) the inculcation, beginning in childhood and throughout the educational process, of the need for questioning, for reasoning, for discerning, for gathering information, for contextualizing, for criticizing, for evaluating/re-evaluating, for thinking - in short, for the need of intellectual activity - constitutes the best vaccine against intellectual sloth.
(...) My solution is that we must inculcate intellectual activity, as defined above, as soon as possible in children. Let us not wait until college or university to do so like we have always done so far, for by then it is visibly too late and intellectual sloth has already set in too many students - not mentioning all those who dropped out or ended their education after high school.
Inculcating intellectual activity in our schools as it should be, i.e. without encouraging intellectual sloth in any way whatsoever, is a matter that holds the very future of our modern societies at stake, including that of our cultures and our democratic values and institutions as well. It is by countering intellectual sloth that we will eventually allow the emergence of future leaders who will make better use of reason in establishing the application of true and durable solutions to the problems facing our societies and humanity as a whole.
In conclusion, it is by countering intellectual sloth that we will make way for the inevitable emergence of a majority (in the least) of competent citizens in all spheres of activities within our societies - and the latters will only be the better for this.
3) We still wallow in our self-centerism and selfishness, while hypocritically congratulating ourselves at being "good guys" who walk on the bestest of moral high grounds.
The increasing erosion of our constitutions, civil rights and democracies as they are being gradually subjugated by Authoritarian Security Surveillance States. The bloating no-fly lists and terrorist watch-lists. The continuing inhumane and barbaric renditions, "enhanced interrogations" and indefinite detentions - of children, teenagers and adults alike. The continuing standing of Military Commissions, which are nothing more than politically-driven, rigged, kangaroo courts. The seemingly unending wars of choice and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq - both based on lies to justify a vengeance operation for 9/11 and the securing of foreign oil resources. The ever mounting toll of civilian deaths, displaced refugees and soldier casualties.
This is the overall state of things today with regards to our so-called "Western civilization" - especially with regards to the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada.
Through it all, much of the currently occurring discourse and debating on these above-mentioned, self-evident evils deal largely with semantics and quaint legalese gymnastics in order to defend and justify not only their perceived necessity, but to actually establish, maintain, or cement, their legality as well.
But all those who are not our friends, well ... they should be denounced and prosecuted for the same things that we are doing - but since we're the good guys, we can be excused because we are doing those things in good faith. So, there.
Then more than ever, we have lost any semblance of human rationality and grace - consequently rendering the Universal Declaration of Human Rights naught but empty words to make us feel noble, good, principled and civilized - allowing us to conveniently forget however much the deluded, hypocritical, savages and barbarians that we truly are.
Yes, President-elect Barack Obama recently renewed his pledge to end the practice of torture - and yet, what are we to make of calls for him to keep pro-torture Bush appointees in his administration-to-be, of those potential alternatives floated around and those other "torture-is-necessary" elected representatives (like this fatuously-reasoning barbarian) so far?
In other words: it remains to be seen whether hypocritical, quaint rationalizations (like this, or that, or this, or that) to justify torture will be at last dumped in the trash bin of history of savagery, so that the barbarian practice of violating human and civil rights will be abandoned once and for all ...
(...) .. and we have quite a long way to go in order to finally make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights not only a reality, but an absolute, unalienable standard of what it means to be human and civilized.
Then again, I should not be surprised that we claim to hold onto noble principles, and congratulate ourselves for this, yet nevertheless dismiss said principles whenever we feel threatened.
After all, are we not still in the habit of proudly claiming our adherence to high ideals while we summarily ignore them for the sake of convenience, of expediency? Here's a few examples from the top of my head:
How often have I witnessed self-proclaimed and self-righteous followers of this or that "peace-loving" religious faith (Christian, Muslim, Hebrew, et al.) promulgate lack of compassion, or intolerance, or hate and even violence onto others?
How often have I heard self-proclaimed "good, decent, caring people" (or the same religious adherents as above) express xenophobic remarks, or summarily condemn the homeless, poor and/or jobless as "lazy slobs"?
How often have I heard self-proclaimed "good, decent, caring people" (or the same religious adherents as above) demonstrate utter indifference at injustices perpetrated onto other fellow citizens by security agencies, either because they automatically assume guilt and/or said other fellow citizens so unjustly abused are perceived as "not regular, honest folks" (i.e. ethnic minorities)?
How often do I still hear self-proclaimed "good, decent, caring people" (or the same religious adherents as above), men and women both, exhibit lack of outrage at a woman being raped while muttering that "she was probably asking for it by dressing like a slut"?
How often have I witnessed self-proclaimed "pro-environment" people still failing to separate their recyclable trash from the rest of their waste, and equally failing to put said recyclable trash into the proper recyclable trash bins for pick-up by city services, because doing so is "too much trouble"?
How often have I heard self-proclaimed "concerned citizens" railing against the government ... and yet rarely get off their couches to go out and vote when they are called upon to do so?
And I could go on and on and on.
All these things I have seen, heard, witnessed in my own province of Québec, as well as in many other places in Canada and the U.S.
Overall, such rank hypocrisy on our part, such repugnant self-delusions about our grandeur, our goodness, our moral high ground, borders on the pathological.
We have a long way to learn the simple truth that holding on to noble principles is worth nothing unless we steadfastly hold them closer to our hearts and minds whenever we are tempted to ignore them - regardless of the reasons, the justifications or the opportunities, to dismiss them.
Claiming the moral high ground means that you stay on said moral high ground - through thick and thin, through rain or shine, through beautiful or stormy weather.
Then again - as long as intellectual sloth, the constant search for instant gratification and overall incompetence will continue to rule supreme in our societies, all that we have lived just in 2008 alone - from political hypocrisy and incompetence to unfettered, unchecked and encouraged corporate greed, from wars of choice to genocide, and everything in between - we will continue to experience time and time again.
And so we'll keep on getting right back where we started - until that fateful day when the house of cards we so proudly call "civilization" comes down crashing hard on our bewildered, dumbfounded, hypocritical and deluded collective heads ...
... unless, of course, the bulk of Humanity finally wises up and stops itself from repeating history in one way or another year after year after fucking year.
Granted - this may be nothing more than wishful thinking on my part.
And yet ...
And yet, I remain convinced that once we tackle the three main problems outlined above, we will be well set onto that so-elusive road to maturity as a species of sentient beings.
As opposed to stubbornly - and stupidly - running in circles, as we're still doing now.
So, in conclusion, I reiterate that which I stated at the top of this post: the way things are already going in 2009, and regardless that we are fast approaching the so-called "New Dawn" which many folks apparently await breathlessly and which is supposed to occur following Barack Obama's inauguration, I just don't see how anything will change for the better by the time we reach 2010 ... or 2020 ... or even 2050, for that matter.
In the meantime, I'll keep on "commenting on/documenting the horrors" ... while still hoping against hope that we'll somehow, some way, actually improve and better ourselves as democratic societies.
(Oh - and a belated happy new year 2009, folks ...)
so that i don't have to circle the drain. as a political blogger who blogged and supported for all i was worth, i feel a bit let down. we have a new congress but i am not optimistic on much movement towards change. traditionally, congress is where good ideas go to die- they get committied and hacked to death so that the original intent is lost and somehow the corporates come out on top anyway. as for mr. obama, i will reserve judgment until after he gets going. i am not optimistic on that front either- but i didn't expect to be as he is not a progressive. sigh. so much for change we can believe in.
the world and this country is still hurtling towards man made disaster and i don't see anyone interested in pulling us back from the brink- at least not anyone in a position to do so- so, i have decided to do what i always do when things look bleak- hunker down and protect me and my loved ones. my focus has shifted from the desperation of keeping the government out of neo con hands to more practical matters. the reality is- as angry as i am about gaza and iraq and louisiana and washington- there isn't going to be any real kind of change.
change takes time. people fight it for all we are worth and it is labor intensive and expensive- in money and relationships. so, not optimistic that our change isn't simply 'not bush'- and that's really ok. i can deal with that. i can only change the things i can- and to that end- my focus this year will be sustainable self sufficiency. it is a big challenge but with the hardships that will lie ahead for america and the world- it's fairly small in comparison. so, i imagine my posts will be more self sufficiency based than lofty platitudes- although i can be cajoled :)
i am currently in the process of ordering heirloom vegetable seeds and/or organic. what i can't get heirloom i will take organic- as long as they aren't genetically modified. i am looking at seed savers exchange and johnny's seeds- and they are not small catalogs! my thought is that if more people turned their suburban lawns into veggie and flower gardens- we wouldn't have to worry about starving. if more folks put some thought into water catchment through cisterns or rain barrels- we could save our drinking water for drinking. if all of us changed a few light bulbs, or researched home solar and wind power- we could help stop using coal- and save folks from acid rain and apparently, coal sludge slides.
what i have found as i have talked to different folks about this plan- it's too much work. baking my own bread is too much work for some folks. putting a couple of tomato plants in a pot of dirt on a patio- too much work. i am flabbergasted. too much work as compared to... watching cable? i realize that there are folks who are not interested in changing their lives and i realize that there are some who have changed far more about their way of life than me. but to sit and do nothing and continue on as if we should be- mind boggles me. at the very least, reuse the stuff you already have.
looking at the world left to us after the last 40 or so years, there was a time i felt bitter. now, is not the time. being proactive is better than reactive- reactive leads to conflict and war and violence. if we start building communities now that are more sustainable and more self sufficient, we don't have as much to worry about from our neighbors who may not have been so forward looking. if we want peace in our country- we have to make it. fed people don't riot, starving ones do. just a thought. namaste
This winter has been particularly brutal in many northern states. Over the Christmas holidays, many areas suffered severe snowstorms. In Salt Lake City, Utah, the storms left many travelers stranded in a bus station for several days. One man, listening to the news stories about these stranded travelers, decided to do something about it. In these times of news reports telling of Hate Crimes against Latinos and ANTI Latino rhetoric being spouted (e.g. Anchor Babies, Mexifornia, 3rd World Country, etc), here is one man, Floyd Mann, who decided to make a difference. He opened up his home to 11 Latino strangers in need!
This Mann proves YES WE CAN Stop the Hate through Acts of Kindness!! We should all learn from his example. This story reminds me of a Prayer I learned in Catholic School: “WHATSOEVER YOU DO”
. When I was hungry, you gave me to eat; . When I was thirsty you gave me to drink. . Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren,
. You do it to Me.
A Big Thank you to the Indigenous Xicano for his blog about this article.
When Floyd Mann learned dozens of travelers were stranded at Salt Lake City's bus station, he decided to provide some help. Mann and his friend Ron Gilder went shopping and loaded up his car with water, soups, chips, snack bars and paper supplies. They dropped off everything at the bus station, where they then found many people had been stuck there for several days. So Mann asked if there was anyone who wanted to go to his home to freshen up. Several people accepted his offer.
That was the beginning of Mann's six-day adventure of inviting 11 Latino strangers into his cozy, modest home during Christmas week. Mann only speaks English and all but one of his guests only spoke Spanish.
Most of them, farm and construction workers, were on their way to visit family for the holidays and to find jobs in Oregon and Washington. But, they were in Salt Lake City waiting for the weather to clear and buses to head north. Some said they didn't even have money for food, never the less for a hotel.
Martin Sanchez, 38, and his son, Juan Manuel, 18, both Mexican immigrants, were heading to Yakima, Wash., and had been sleeping at the station in Salt Lake City for a week before Mann picked them up. He said he went with Mann hoping to get something to eat.
The group at the bus station Dec. 22 couldn't fit into Mann's car, so he paid for two cabs to ship the two women and nine men to his three-bedroom West Valley City home.
There, the strangers showered, washed their laundry and relaxed on Mann's two sofas and the floor, where they also slept. Mann put out a sandwich buffet with soups and desserts on his four-person, wooden kitchen table. Then, he went to buy groceries, including lots of salsa, and beer for the gang.
The women and a man left the first day, leaving eight men.
Mann, a 54-year-old retired business owner who is a self-described treasure hunter, joked he spent most of the time in the kitchen. Each morning, he made the works -- including eggs, meats, potatoes and toast -- for breakfast.
"They all ate very well," he said with a chuckle. "Every day we went to the grocery store, sometimes twice."
Cesar Sanchez, a 40-year-old Mexican construction worker who spoke English and Spanish, was on his way from Topeka, Kansas, to Seattle. He said he was moved by Mann's generosity, especially for helping them at a time when there's an anti-Latino immigrant sentiment nationwide. "Not everyone would do what he did for us," Sanchez said in a phone interview Friday. "They treated us like family."
Ron Gilder, Mann's friend who also stays with him, said it was a challenge to communicate with the guests but added it was an awesome experience. "It was fun to make a connection with someone who you would just pass by," Gilder said.
On Christmas, Mann treated the men to a feast at Charrito's Mexican restaurant. Then, the group came back to the house for "a lot of toasts and cheers ... and Feliz Navidad s," Mann said.
The men were "cordial, clean, honest and respectful," and "we never worried about anything missing," Mann said. One day he awoke up to find them shoveling snow in his front yard, and they continued to ask what chores they could do around the house.
Mann, who has three grown children and married his wife, Tara Lyman, eight years ago, moved to Utah in 2003. He often volunteers, takes in people in need and hires homeless people to work on his house. He's never had anyone "burn" him.
Still, by far, Mann said this "little project" was the most expensive but made for the best Christmas he's ever had. "This one, I won't ever forget," he said.
"When we suspect that a Palestinian fighter is hiding in a house, we shoot it with a missile and then with two tank shells, and than a bulldozer hits the wall. It causes damage but it prevents the loss of life among soldiers."
If we are to "win" we must be vigilant...and, yes, that means vigilant regarding Obama appointments and governance come January 20, of course we can do much up until that time. Put the pressure where it counts. Gitmo, Iraq, Gaza, Israel, Economy, Environment, Jobs, Tax cuts, Spending, Education... don't wait until Obama takes office to apply the pressure needed to take our country back...
A decade ago, I hoped current Israeli Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak would be the next Yitzhak Rabin. Sadly, Barak has morphed into Israel's Colin Powell instead. Today's New York Times profile of Barak's rising political fortunes is a sad commentary about Israel's body politic and Barak himself.
A decade ago I respected Barak and believed him to be Yitzak Rabin’s natural heir. His mentor Rabin was a soldier statesman who bled for Israel's self-preservation from day one but later took personal risks for peace. During the 1980s, Rabin served as Defense Minister in the Labor/Likud coalition government and implemented a "broken bones" policy to put down the first Palestinian Infitada. Rabin though was not comfortable strategically or morally with Israel as an occupying power and he later collaborated with his onetime Labor Party rival Shimon Peres to facilitate the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat.
Oslo is ridiculed today and the famous 1993 handshake with Arafat as Bill Clinton cajoled a reluctant Rabin is far removed from today's world. Sadly, Rabin paid the ultimate price and was assassinated by a right wing nut in November 1995. I'm convinced that had Rabin lived a two state solution would be within reach today. Alas, we'll never know.
Islamic extremists exploited Rabin's assassination and used terrorism to undermine Shimon Peres's government. Peres had never prevailed in a national election before and didn't possess Rabin's national security credentials. That opened the door for the despicable Benjamin Netenyahu in 1996 who zealously pursued a reckless policy to achieve a "Greater Israel."
Ehud Barak defeated Netenyahu in May 1999 but not before the peace constituencies in both Israeli and Palestinian societies were severely dispirited. Both Arafat and Barak also blundered at Camp David in 2000-2001 as President Clinton desperately tried to bridge the divide. With neither Arafat nor Barak possessing the political capital or will to make the necessary compromises, super-hawk Ariel Sharon provoked conflict with his stroll into the Temple Mount as the Israeli public elected him to succeed Barak in 2001. The Palestinians reaped the whirlwind as Barak opted to leave politics.
Barak returned to serve in Prime Minister Olmert's Kadima-Labor coalition government following the disastrous war with Lebanon in 2006. As the New York Times reported, he opposed military aggression in Gaza just as Colin Powell disagreed with Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld over the Iraq War. As the article also notes, Barak initially resisted warmongers in Israel’s body politic as an old soldier who is horrified by war and didn’t believe a harsh military response to Gaza made strategic sense.
Indeed, Barak was rightfully more concerned with the strategic long view with respect to Iran and believed occupying Gaza would be self-defeating. Yet just like Colin Powell, Barak opted not to resign or publicly oppose his government's policy.
So Barak is now prosecuting a war he knows to be immoral and strategically self-defeating. A war that international aid organizations such as the Red Cross are properly condemning Israel for after four children were discovered next to the bodies of their dead mothers. And Barak's political fortunes are rising because of it as nation states typically rally in a time of war. There is a good chance he will prevail in the upcoming election for Prime Minister against the transparently narcistic Netanyahu and feckless Kadima Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livini.
As I've previously written, Hamas also merits condemnation for regarding their people as collateral damage just as Arafat did while he lived the good life inside Lebanon back in 1982. Nonetheless, Israel has responded disproportionately to Hamas's provocations. The number of Israeli deaths does not justify the mass killing of innocent Palestinian civilians. As someone dedicated to peace and human rights as well as a Jew who cares about Israel, my heart feels as if it's impaled on a dull blade.
And Barak, the hero of the Entebbe Rescue in 1976 and onetime Yitzak Rabin protégé is an enabler. Pitifully, Barak actually represents the best Israel's body politic has to offer. A decade ago Barak's political ascendancy represented hope. Today this talented man is a symbol of Israel's decaying body politic that has gone insane. Just like Colin Powell and America’s body politic in 2002.
My toothpaste, toothbrush, shavers and shaving foam. The clothes I'm wearing, the cough medicine I'm using to get rid of a persistent cough, the cigarettes I bought for Ahmed, and some tobacco for my arghile. My cell phone, the laptop onto which I compulsively type my eye-witness accounts from the hell surrounding me. All that's needed for a modest, yet dignified existence in Gaza comes from Egypt, and arrives on the shops' shelves through the tunnels. These are the very same tunnels that the Israeli F16s hasn't stopped heavily bombing in the last 12 hours, destroying along with them thousands of Rafah houses near the border.
A few months ago I had three teeth dodgy fixed, and at the end of the operation I asked my Palestinian dentist where he'd gotten all of his dental equipment from – the anesthetic, the syringes, ceramic inlays and all the other tools. With a sly look on his face, he'd made a certain gesture with his hands: from under ground. There's no doubt that through the tunnels underneath Rafah, explosives and weapons were also smuggled, the very same that the resistance is using today to try and contain the terrifying advance of the armour-plated Israeli death-machines. But it's next to nothing compared with the tons of consumer goods flowing into famished Gaza under this criminal siege. It's easy enough on the internet to find photos documenting how even livestock comes in from Egypt through the tunnels. Sedated, strapped-up goats and cows are lowered into an Egyptian well, re-emerging on this side to provide milk, cheese and meat. Even the main hospitals in the Strip stocked up surreptitiously at the border. The tunnels were the only resource allowing the Palestinians to survive the siege, a siege which long before the current bombings, was the cause of a 60% unemployment rate and forced 80% of families to live off humanitarian handouts...(Read more at Gab's blog)
I have been witness to the four pillars and see no reason to carry death there. Doesn’t the world know that life moves for more than just the sons of Abraham?
O! I see the stunned throats floating by in the dusk to their stiff-limbed sleep as metal rains down over the Jordan’s western prophet, children dying there.
I am here, waiting, breathing in the dusk under the shadow of the patriarch, asking, can we again build the shrine inside the soul and leave our flesh to time?
Here are two ways to make peace happen in Gaza. To expect major results we need big changes.
Boycott Israel: In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups published their plan, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions--or BDS for short. Naomi Klein, in The Nation, explains the campaign and how it works in the article "Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction." Boycotts can be controversial, so she also lays out objections to the BDS campaign and addresses them one by one. It is long past time, she says, to apply the same pressures to Israel that brought about justice in South Africa. Her article [linked above] is well worth a look.
Stop U.S. Aid: President George W. Bush's administration alone provided over $21 billion dollars in U.S. security aid, including $19 billion in direct military aid as freebies.
"Israel's intervention in the Gaza Strip has been fueled largely by U.S. supplied weapons paid for with U.S. tax dollars," says the New America Foundation. That much assistance should purchase considerable influence to dissuade Israel from its pattern of claiming self-defense while perpetrating human rights abuses.
Make no mistake about it-Israel's war and siege on the Gaza Strip would not be possible without the jets, helicopters, ships, missiles, and fuel provided by the United States. Pro-Gaza forces in the U.S. must ramp up political pressure to bring justice onto the bargaining table.
This war is stop-able. The future will be changed for the better. The plan is in place. We just need to get to work.
First, a snappy little heartwarmer of a story that'll claw at your heart strings:
A 140-year-old lobster that was destined to adorn a dinner plate is back in the ocean after a seafood restaurant in New York City granted him a reprieve.
The 20-pound crustacean, named George, was returned to the wild Saturday in a rocky cove in Kennebunkport, Maine, less than a mile from the summer home of former President George H.W. Bush.
George the lobster was transported to Maine by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which had beseeched City Crab and Seafood to allow the lobster to go free.
Way to go, City Crab and Seafood, you get extra cookies.
Now we all deserve a bunch of crabby songs. (You already know where this is going to end, don't you?)
Now: This crab is eating a piece of meat. Delicately.
And from Newfoundland, true Lobsterland, "The Lobster Strut," by Mister Albert Sheppard. It starts like this:
There was a little Lobster on the shores of Sandy Point The Clams all ignored him so his tail was out of joint One day he heard the fiddle Crab and on his claws he got He went up and down on Sandy Point just doin' the Lobster Strut.
It gets even better after that.
Now: "Can I touch him?"
"You can touch him."
"No."
Next: Do you know the PC guy in the PC/Mac commercials? His name is John Hodgman, and he's a funny dude. He has a book titled The Areas of My Expertise, and in that book we learn some interesting things, not the least of which is that lobsters weren't the first animals to be known as "lobsters." That sad story is told in this wonderful song by Jonathan Coulton, an old friend of Hodgman's. (If you're a crab, you can read an explanation of this here. But I recommend you watch the video first.)
Finally: "We were at the beach..." And goodbye. Happy Crabby 2009 to all of you.
Rice and Gates Make Case for More Troops in Iraq
by Guy Raz All Things Considered, January 11, 2007 • President Bush's secretaries of State and Defense spent their days defending his new plan in Iraq, first at a White House news conference and then on Capitol Hill. Secretaries Rice and Gates found only minimal support for a greater troop commitment in Congress. (More...)
The mouth of the desert stretches for miles With mountains for teeth; men have their days taken Under the searing sky’s furnace while others Come seeking their death’s scent at night Scouring the archfiend waste and carrying greetings That blindly quake end to end with pale-hatred.
Commit them anon, rush them forward And we’ll only suffer the graveness of more death, More tumbledown hope under the searing sky. Do not provoke this flesh-charred failure Into our dear children’s breath, our ache-filled bones, Like the noiseless chatter of death without end.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment rate surged to the highest level in nearly 16 years last month as a deepening year-long recession forced companies to cut payrolls by more than half a million jobs, data showed on Friday.
The economy lost an astonishing 1.9 million jobs in the past four months alone, an acceleration in layoffs toward the end of a year that brought the biggest drop in employment in more than a half century.
For all of 2008, the economy shed 2.6 million jobs, the largest decline since a 2.75 million drop in 1945.
The December data pointed to a bleak start for 2009 and increased chances the economic downturn could become the longest since the 1930s.
"This is a very dismal report. This paints a much worse picture in 2008 than we had thought," said Lindsey Piegza, market analyst at FTN Financial in New York. "This is one of the most significant downward quarters for jobs in post World War (Two) history." (Read full article...)
I wrote this post January 2 and though Rick Warren was already old news by then, I wrote the post anyway because I was inspired to explain why I sent money to The Human Rights Campaign.
I've since considered seriously the comments of a couple of bloggers who brought to my attention that HRC has largely turned its back on the T in GLBT - trans-gender people. I didn't know this and learning of it was a huge dissapointment.
Still, I believe that HRC is a hard-working, well-run organization that has done a lot for marriage equality. I'm not sorry I sent them my twenty bucks for that reason.
Following are a couple of links to organizations that were recommended to me in the comments of that thread.
Odd is it that I should think of clothing While looking at the horrific picture above.
What ragged soul bore the tattered shirt I wear? What insistent thrashing from the fuming globe Did the arms in these ragged sleeves undergo? Of their troubles... might I know?
A second hand story, a second hand building, Second hand smoke curling allegiance to breath, Second hand food, second hand clothing. ...Death.
Every piece of clothing I own has a hole in it somewhere; A tear, a stubborn thread, shrunken look, sedated color, A missing button, a snag, a raging crinkle, or furled collar, Not unlike my heart over the genocide of a people.
From time to time I receive those annoying emails
as I'm quite sure most of us do that generally come
from somewhere on the continent of Africa,
at least that is the "address" used
in the majority of those that I have received.
You know, the letters whose author usually
has a rather sophisticated sounding title
and begins with kind wishes and then tells of some terrible fate
that has befallen a relative of theirs
with an even more sophisticated sounding title than they
and they continue with the rather astonishing news
of their confidence in revealing to me that they have,
almost within their reach,
an unfathomable sum of cash,
money left to them in their dearly departed’s will?
Yes. Those are the emails of which I speak...
In each of the emails there is always,
oddly enough,
some terrible dilemma facing them
regarding the millions being deposited
or secured in their home country and,
even more astonishing,
they want (need) me to give them my personal info
(and bank account number)
so they can launder it to me
and then come to my country and pick it up,
all the while assuring me of my share of the millions!
Sounds incredibly legitimate, eh?
Well, these scams, shams, rip off artists, shell gamers, thieves,
s.o.b.'s,
have become part of my weekly,
sometimes daily routine and I usually toss them away in short order,
After reading the email
I said things that even made my muse blush
and her spine's made of titanium!
But I think I may have actually frightened her
with my
with my lethal language
and god-awful pounding of my fist upon the desk,
walls, counter tops and any other inanimate object that was exploitable,
but,
believe you me,
it was undoubtedly justified.
From: Pittman Dewayne [mailto:ptmdwyn1@yahoo.co.th] Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 10:33 AM To: ptmdwyn1@yahoo.co.th Subject: From Sgt Pittman Dewayne,
From Sgt Pittman Dewayne,
It is my humble pleasure to introduce you in a deal that will be beneficial to both of us. My name is Sgt Pittman Dewayne, I am an American soldier in peace keeping force in Iraq, I am serving in the military of the 1st Armoured Division in Iraq, as you know insurgents everyday and car bombs are attacking us. My colleague Sgt. J. Frawley and I managed to move funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family. The total amount is US$ 10.7 Million dollars in cash. We want you to stand as our partner to receive this money, so that you may keep our share for us till when we will come over to meet you. My colleague and I will take 60% while you take 40%. No strings attached to this deal, just help us move it out of Iraq, Iraq is a war zone. We planned to use diplomatic courier to ship the money out in a trunk box, by diplomatic immunity coverage. If you are interested I will send you the full details. My job is to find a good partner that we can trust and that will work with us as partners. Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly reply me to signify your interest including your most confidential to work with us. Send me your telephone/fax numbers, for quick communication also your contact details. This business is risk free. The consignment can be ship out in 48hrs upon your interest indication. With respect, Sgt Pittman Dewayne.
A real goddamned pisser that one, eh?
First Bush takes our men and women of the armed services
and puts them in an unjust and illegal war,
then steals their legs and arms and heads and lives
and rips whole families to shreds, U.S. and Iraqi, but now?
Well now some lowlife son of a bitch is taking their names
(or their status)
and trying to steal what little money’s left!
Hell!
For all I know it’s the war criminals, Bush and Cheney,
scheming to steal every last drop of the money (we don’t have)
before January 20th!
Damn this pisses me off!
You? (Rhetorically speaking, of course.)
Homeland Security, where’s your outrage?
Bush, you might want to pull out the board.
Cheney, pick up that bucket of water and pour!
Since you’ve already “screwed the pooch”
You might as well do some good
Just before you tip your cowboy hats
And lurch out of the White House!
Find these criminals and put `em away,
But treat them kindly and with admiration,
Because you never can tell how things’ll go,
They could become your cellmates in prison...
(...The only “interest indication” I can say
Is I honestly wish, as I’m sure do you,
That I hadn’t scared away my muse.
Maybe I’m too angry to be creative, today?)
I went to Wal-Mart today. Wal-Mart is always busy, no matter what time of day you go shopping. People were hustling and bustling up and down the aisles. There were numerous workers stocking and restocking shelves and asking “Did you find everything ok?” There were “We Are Hiring” signs throughout the store. Up past the checkouts in the Service Desk area was a kiosk saying, “Apply Now.”
Money Magazine reported last month: while other stores slumped this holiday season, Wal-Mart actually increased sales by 3.4%. The reason, "Consumer psychology is very negative right now."
I was thinking about this as I was shopping. What does this mean? “Consumer psychology is very negative right now.” Negative? Meaning we will not shop at high-end stores? We won’t shop at the neighborhood grocery stores or specialty shops owned by our neighbors? Negative meaning we won’t frequent our local contractors paying living wages? Negative, for every day consumers, means we will only pay the lowest prices for our purchases regardless of what we think about Wal-Mart’s employment practices/low wages/few benefits, overseas suppliers/poor working conditions and their detrimental impact to other small businesses.
If the economy does tank, this means Wal-Mart will continue to thrive because most of us will continue to patronize their stores. They will continue to hire, pay low wages with few benefits, import manufactured goods from slave wages shops in 3rd world countries and we will put the final stakes in the hearts of local small businesses.
If we had a crystal ball, what will we see in the future? Will we, the huddled masses, all be employees at Wal-Mart? Mom, dad and kids? Imagine, each city with one giant Super Duper Mega Wal-Mart store. The new Super Duper Mega Wal-Mart will be complete with movie theaters, bars, theme park, casino and churches. They will have a Wal-Mart school from K – 12 and a Wal-Mart College for the best students. Three bedroom ranch houses all alike, will surround the stores all with the Wal-Mart logo. Few people will need cars. There will be Wal-Mart shuttles picking up shoppers and workers to and from stores, every hour, on the hour, 24 hours a day. There will be no middle or lower class, just Wal-Mart class. Beyond the houses will be Wal-Mart Warehouses. Only one super Wal-Mart highway will run in and out of each town. The Super Wal-Mart Trucks will travel in and out of Wal-Mart Town to the Wal-Mart Country Warehouses. Airports will be available near the warehouses for the import of manufactured goods from China and farm products from South and Central America.
But don't worry. The rich, upper class and those in government will still be rich and in power. Nothing changes there. The only difference is us.
As I was getting depressed thinking about this, I read this story on CNN.com. Perhaps it isn't so great being a rich billionaire after all! CNN Reports: -- German billionaire Adolf Merckle, one of the richest men in the world, committed suicide Monday after his business empire got into trouble in the wake of the international financial crisis, Merckle's family said Tuesday in a statement. Merckle, 74, was hit by a train in the southwestern town of Ulm, police said. His family said the economic crisis had "broken" Merckle….The state government of Baden-Wuerttemberg rejected his petition for financial assistance, and he entered bailout talks with several German banks."The financial troubles of his companies, induced by the international financial crisis and the uncertainty and powerlessness to act independently which the financial problems brought about, broke the passionate family business man, and he took his own life," his family wrote in the news release. My advice to all of us throughout this financial crisis: "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"
january has always dragged for me. when i worked; when i was in college; when i lived at home- winter always seemed to hit full force with the cold and gray days and head colds. this january is seeming to take forever. the long global nightmare that is bushco is still here and still making chaos and destruction and heartache for millions of people around the globe. and they sneer and smirk and believe it's ok.
i guess i don't understand why so very many people have allowed the world to get into this shape. i have been really giving things some thought- vague certainly- but i have several threads going on in the gray matter and it is sometimes difficult to integrate them. i read many blogs daily and i scan the bylines and headlines and usually they are about the corruption in government or the narrow thinking of the religious sects. recently, of course, many have been about the genocide against the palestinians by the israelis. but a couple by the same author gave me pause.
i am not linking to the site because it isn't my intention to drive traffic there necessarily- if you really want to read them- email me. anyhoo, one post dealt with the disconnect of americans from the violence here in america against americans by americans. mainly inner city black on black violence and how people here don't seem to care about that but rail against the masscre in gaza. the other post was about the death of a woman who dove into frigid waters to save her grandson's dog who had fallen in- and died herself while the dog lived. the author and several commenters believed that to be stupid and that humans are above animals. or that was the gist.
i am not putting the author down at all. this person is certainly entitled to his/her opinion and writes interesting posts overall. at the very least, it got me thinking as i shoveled out my driveway- about human nature and the world at large. the animal thing, being the most recently read post, bothered me quite a bit. it bothered me because animals are sentient beings. they feel, think, problem solve, hurt, cry, express joy, communicate with us and each other-and apparently because they most often don't have opposable thumbs and many are four footed and not bipedal- and by and large, they don't speak english- they are worth less than humans. i was struck utterly speechless and i still don't know how to wrap my mind around this. this was from the same author who is pro-israel and wrote the post about how we feel nothing about our own ghetto violence here in america.
it's like a merry-go-round in my head and i am not blaming the author. i am trying to look at the big picture. we can't pick and choose which sentient beings live or die- but we do. for some reason, human nature developed in such a way that we have to be better than someone or something- whether it be america better than everyone else, or christians are better than muslims or whites are better than everyone else. i haven't figured out why. i know why whole swaths of people believe animals to be inferior- the whole judeo-christian thing. but it is also more sinister than that. i am asserting that people who find animals inferior are the ones who see other races, genders, religions, etc. as inferior. makes sense to me. and usually, when someone harms or kills weaker beings simply because they want to or for gain- it's sociopathic.
isn't it lovely that we have a governmental system throughout the globe filled with sociopaths? of course, when they are government officials- they call them 'public servants.' uh huh. but what of their followers. it also occurred to me that if the people who carry the guns and shoot off the bombs- simply didn't- people wouldn't die. are there really that many people who enjoy killing or enjoy destruction that they can't or won't simply stop? i realize it's oversimplifying but could it really be that simple? if people with concience simply stopped behaving as if they didn't have one?
luckily, for us, the concienceless sociopaths that have run our once great nation into a pit- are leaving soon. unfortunately, we have to still mark time until january 20th, 2009.
"Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, said Israel is engaged in a 'war to the bitter end' against Hamas in Gaza. A war? Israel uses sophisticated attack jets and naval vessels to bomb densely crowded refugee camps and slums, to attack a population that has no air force, no air defense, no navy, no heavy weapons, no artillery units, no mechanized armor, no command and control, no army, and calls it a war. It is not a war. It is murder."
This is the song I've been looking for; A cry about more than the scrape of battle Or wars forlorn lessons Drumming the ears of my clamor…
Within it, my hunger for its roar; My gasping, a wounded animal Whose blood pours over the trap Sucking metal through the lungs…
(When’s the lesson to come shattering; Tall shrieks of mortally wounded flesh Pulling down the sun’s wagging fingers Cremating the mounds of faded bone?)
Within it, my craving for its plot; A thirst like a stream of broken rock Whose dreary harbor offers no relief From the weight of an eager famine…
This is the song I've been looking for; A cry about more than the scrape of battle Or wars forlorn lessons Drumming the ears of my clamor…
Truth spilled from a bleeding warrior; Fangs bared to ignite empire’s pennant And confirm to the world an apparition, A tragic ghost slumping over the sand…
Let’s chit-chat about the change that isn’t change, about the new dawn breaking over America that is really a setting sun. Let us wallow in the rhetoric of a new birth that is little more than a forceps-welding grave digger.
The Left sits in silent awe, believing that a Messiah has arrived. Give him a chance, they say. Now that the Democrats are running the show, it will all be different.
Progressives nurse the delusion that they can exert enough pressure to move the party to the left. They cite the sweat equity they put into your successor’s campaign and believe that each hour they spent phone banking is a political marker they can cash in on the day following the inauguration.
They forget that there’s a big difference between working a phone bank and making a six-figure campaign contribution. Those who write the checks never phone bank, they have a fact-to-face with the candidate in which they give him his marching orders.
The Democratic Party is no more. If you keep a person in a fearful crouch long enough, not only will he accept his cowering as the norm, but he will convince himself that such a crouch is necessary for his well being. This is equally true for a political party. The Rabid Right has the Democrats so cowed that any sort of progressive agenda is a pipe dream.
The circle is complete, and the Beltway is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wall Street.
Besides, it’s a hell of a lot easier to scam a frightened person than a brave one. Fear makes the mind malleable. We see this in the silence that has met the Israeli offensive in Gaza. AIPAC has the Beltway so frightened that there ain’t nobody who’s going to say anything about Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaign.
The Beltway’s silence drowns Palestinian screams.
Our politicians still defend Israel’s right to exist, though any nation with two-hundred nuclear warheads doesn’t need any outside support to survive. Our support has nothing to do with Israel’s survival. The ultimate goal is a Trail of Tears for the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank. Those who stay will do so under six feet of earth.
Rest assured that the new administration will “play nice” and all that you have done will remain untouched. Thirty years of abuse from the Right has taught the Democrats to be good team players.
Download | Play 
Download | Play
This is the first year anyone has said "Happy Inauguration Day" to me. Several people have emailed me, called me, asked me if I was watching the events. This is remarkable. So many people are filled with a sense of Hope and Joy at the possibility of better days ahead. 
and happy next four years at least. there is an electricity in the air that is, well, electric. history has indeed been made- and just as important- the 'reign of terror' has ended. let us take an opportunity to breathe a collective sigh of relief and enjoy the moment. sigh.....
"You mean we've never had a Black President?" Soledad O'Brien's 6 year old Daughter
Dear President Obama,
The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal. 
This winter has been particularly brutal in many northern states. Over the Christmas holidays, many areas suffered severe snowstorms. In Salt Lake City, Utah, the storms left many travelers stranded in a bus station for several days. One man, listening to the news stories about these stranded travelers, decided to do something about it.
The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal on January 8th. 
My toothpaste, toothbrush, shavers and shaving foam. The clothes I'm wearing, the cough medicine I'm using to get rid of a persistent cough, the cigarettes I bought for Ahmed, and some tobacco for my arghile. My cell phone, the laptop onto which I compulsively type my eye-witness accounts from the hell surrounding me. All that's needed for a modest, yet dignified existence in Gaza comes from Egypt, and arrives on the shops' shelves through the tunnels. These are the very same tunnels that the Israeli F16s hasn't stopped heavily bombing in the last 12 hours, destroying along with them thousands of Rafah houses near the border.
A few months ago I had three teeth dodgy fixed, and at the end of the operation I asked my Palestinian dentist where he'd gotten all of his dental equipment from – the anesthetic, the syringes, ceramic inlays and all the other tools. With a sly look on his face, he'd made a certain gesture with his hands: from under ground. There's no doubt that through the tunnels underneath Rafah, explosives and weapons were also smuggled, the very same that the resistance is using today to try and contain the terrifying advance of the armour-plated Israeli death-machines. But it's next to nothing compared with the tons of consumer goods flowing into famished Gaza under this criminal siege.
It's easy enough on the internet to find photos documenting how even livestock comes in from Egypt through the tunnels. Sedated, strapped-up goats and cows are lowered into an Egyptian well, re-emerging on this side to provide milk, cheese and meat. Even the main hospitals in the Strip stocked up surreptitiously at the border. The tunnels were the only resource allowing the Palestinians to survive the siege, a siege which long before the current bombings, was the cause of a 60% unemployment rate and forced 80% of families to live off humanitarian handouts... (Read more at Gab's blog)
Here are two ways to make peace happen in Gaza. To expect major results we need big changes.
I went to Wal-Mart today. Wal-Mart is always busy, no matter what time of day you go shopping. People were hustling and bustling up and down the aisles. There were numerous workers stocking and restocking shelves and asking “Did you find everything ok?” There were “We Are Hiring” signs throughout the store. Up past the checkouts in the Service Desk area was a kiosk saying, “Apply Now.”
Then, we have that:
And then, we have that as well:
Now, here's the underlying problem:
Only 25% percent of Americans realize, or understand, or accept the reality that war crimes have been committed - are still being committed - in their names.
Which falls pretty much in line with this older poll which revealed that 44% of Americans approve torture.
As I said before:
The problem here is that the primitive mind-thinking barbarians and savages appear to constitute the majority ...
Vive la civilisation, eh?
Once again: we have met the enemy ... and the enemy is ourselves.