Geez, I'm tired. Two performances today.

Gonna try to take a nap.

thanks for the recent open threads, HQ.

Hope it was as good a day as you htought it may be.

Only I wonder what's wrong with "Stephen views the news", which is about to fall off the cliff because of a lack of Recos

I just recommended.

Happy snoozing, subway.

in place of The PUBLIC SQUARE!

w00t! 

Obama will not be invited to talk with Khaled Amayreh, a veteran Palestinian journalist I first met in Hebron two decades ago. But Obama can read about current conditions on the ground in an internet column Amayreh wrote for the Cairo-based publication Al Ahram:

If you still think there are red lines that Israel has not crossed with regard to its treatment of Palestinians, don’t be too sure. In recent days and weeks, the Israeli army has been vandalising, ransacking and confiscating Palestinian civilian institutions in the West Bank’s largest towns and cities, including Ramallah, the seat of the so-called Palestinian government.

Frustrated eyewitnesses and tearful victims spoke of “unprecedented brutality” and “Gestapo-like behaviour” as Israeli occupation forces moved throughout the central and northern West Bank to destroy what was left of the Palestinian charity sector upon which thousands of impoverished Palestinian families depend for their livelihood.

Israel had been targeting orphanages and boarding schools as well as soup kitchens and sewing workshops serving orphans in the Hebron region. The campaign of terror, with many hair- raising scenes of cruelty and moral callousness, has seriously raised the level of hostility and hatred for Israel.

Obama will not read this information in his State Department briefings, nor will he read Amayrey’s column in his hometown Chicago Tribune nor in the Israeli-friendly New York Times. But I can vouch for the journalistic integrity of Khaled Amayreh. And if Obama wants further verification, I can refer him to a colleague of mine who teaches religion in a Middle Western college. This colleague spent two nights in June sleeping in a shuttered Hamas-run Hebron orphanage, one of a number of American volunteers who maintain a presence in the orphanage to prevent its destruction by Israeli occupation forces.

Jihad: Prosecuting culprits national, religious duty

Lots of interesting reading in this article.

Emiliana Torrini - Sound of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel)

(tip o' the hat) http://hypem.com/track/591284

Dean split the night, and nothing;  but then, came today.

Israeli army gangs up on Hebron orphans amid ostensible

<!--Start Article Content-->  The Israeli occupation army on Saturday, 26 April, stormed a clothes-making facility belonging to the Hebron orphanage, warning orphan employees that they would be arrested and incarcerated for six years unless they left the premises.

Eyewitnesses said soldiers intimidated and verbally abused the orphan girls in the factory and gave them 48 hours to close down the facility.

The clothes-making facility manufactures cheap but fine outfits for thousands of orphan boys and girls Israel wants to transform into delinquents for the purpose of destroying the Palestinian society.

The Israeli occupation army issued an order a few weeks ago, seizing all property and possessions belonging to the Islamic Charitable society, apparently as part of Israel's overall war on Islam in Palestine.

Earlier, on Thursday, 24 April, Palestinian leaders and Christian peace activists, as well as representatives of human rights organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territories made an impassioned appeal to “all men and women of conscience all over the world” to help stop Israeli army plans to close down and take over several orphanages and boarding schools sheltering thousands of orphans and impoverished students. Many of the orphans’ parents had been killed by the Israeli army and paramilitary Jewish terrorists, also known as “settlers.”

The appeal was made during a press conference at the main Girl's Orphanage in downtown Hebron. The Israeli army has repeatedly raided the orphanages, boarding schools and affiliated institutions, vandalizing property, seizing food, clothes and shoes and confiscating several buses and cars.

The Israeli army accuses the Islamic Charitable Society, the largest and oldest in occupied Palestine, of teaching schoolchildren “radical ideas.”

However, the Charity lawyer Muhammed Farrah dismisses the charges as “a big canard and a blatant lie.”

WISDOM OF ANCIENT MAYA FOR MODERN CIVILISATION IN CRISIS
  By Leonardo Boff

WISDOM OF ANCIENT MAYA FOR MODERN CIVILISATION IN CRISIS
Leonardo Boff

JULY 2008 (IPS) - Given the unmistakeable signs that Earth cannot survive the intensified exploitation of her resources, the assault on the dignity of her children, and the exclusion and condemnation to starvation of millions of humans, it is essential that we seek inspiration in other civilisations that offer ecological wisdom, writes Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian writer, liberation theologist, and a comissioner and author of the Earth Charter.

In this article for IPS, Boff writes that the Maya believe that the universe is built of and sustained by cosmic energies and that the basic duality between creation and disintegration (we would say between chaos and cosmos) confers dynamism on this universal process. Human well-being derives from our synchronisation with this process and our profound respect for all living beings. Thus human beings feel they are part of Mother Earth and enjoy her beauty and protection. Death is not the enemy but a more profound immersion in the universe.

Whereas for us, work is essentially the production of goods and wealth, often disappointing and uncreative, for the Maya, work is helping Mother Earth, who gives us all we need to live, an activity that does not enslave people but allows them to express their abilities and shape their lives. This practical wisdom has great validity for this critical phase of our history. All that helps maintain the equilibrium of the Earth and its vitality should be valued and recognised as a form of regeneration and salvation.

 

The question is:  how do we get rid of the hawks in the world?   Where are the peace talkers?

POLITICS-US: Doves Outnumber Hawks in Jewish Community
By Daniel Luban
WASHINGTON - A new poll suggests that U.S. Jews hold views about the Middle East that are considerably more dovish than frequently acknowledged, with large majorities favouring diplomacy with Iran, supporting a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, and advocating U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
MORE >>

another good post that could use some rec's

http://democracyforamerica.com/blog_posts/26080-lunch-with-howard-dean-in-georgia-today#1215811

thankful, I appreciate your opinion and would like to remind you of the gazillions of happy good feely articles and opinions expressed about BO that we all lived thru and still have to tolerate.   Was that also spam?  Or is it only spam if you don't agree? 

People get very nervous about the I/P thing and there is no discussion in the CM about what's going on.  The citizens of this country are not getting the truth about what's going on either in Iraq or in Palestine.  When people do speak or write, they are considered pariahs, anti-semitic or nicely told to shut up.   Look what happened to Jimmy Carter and his book.

So I respectfully say that telling the truth about what's going on can never be spam.   

Thank you for posting this thread.  Isn't this much better than being  consigned to the wc, at the whim of those who think they need to tell us what and where to post?

So maybe we're back to being contentious at times.  We can still scroll and argue and suggest, but I'll be damned if I'll shut up and fall into line.  :-)

And so with my pro-Palestinian blitz, I'll wish you all a fond g/nite.

Bazaar (HAHA) is my interest.

Get your own pol, troll.

http://hypem.com/track/548848/Frank+Zappa+%26+The+Mothers-The+Mud+Shark

a bizarre cat to be sure

~ ~ ~

I missed the airing of the Constitutional Limits of Executive Powers hearing, but here's a link to the CSpan Library summary

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=280000-1

amazing that the two of us are here.  noone else?

And yes, that was a bit much.  It's so distressing and I feel so powerless to stop the killing.  And I get  angry with gov'ts, like ours, that continue to slaughter and harass and intimidate innocent people ..  and most of us are the recipients of these monstrous policies.

Everyone should just go and learn tango.  :-)   Mandatory tango for all heads of state and then make them dance with one another...men with men...women with women, mix it all up.  Can't blame and dance well at the same time cuz the dance changes your life.

Four hours of dancing equals four hours of intense meditation...I was told the other night that I dance inside the music.  And I danced with someone who played my body like a violin during the violin solos.....we were literally dancing the score...and he gave me the power to dance the bandoneon during Pugliese - Anni, I think you know  Pugliese, right?  When his music comes on, the passion on the dance floor is palpable, organic..you can almost *see* the souls dancing.

And then, the drive home in taxi at 4 AM thru the winding cobblestones streets with those little orange steet lamps reminiscent of colonial Spain or Mexico....most of Buenos Aires sleeping...barely any traffic...just the strains in my head of the music and the feel of the famous Latin *abrazo*...the embrace of the man....this is what it feels like to be totally at One.

This is ectasy; this is rapture...not every dance nor with every man...all it takes is one a night.

This trip is taking my breath away.

Wow! All these officials of the current Administration...come to the Judiciary Committee, but still the stonewall!

Phil from Iowa, I have no use for Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)

Goodnight again gang...trying again for sleep :~)

Let it be Monday, and the corporate Media will have told us of the falseness of the trend toward Barack Obama has our next POTUS.

And, if you watch,  the Representatives on the conservative/fascist side of the House slander the People.

What is credible?

Change?

Night Anni and Thankful. I shall join you,,,

Led Zeppelinhttp://hypem.com/artist/led+zeppelin

and I missed the whole thread. Guess it's time for bed. Good Night all.

Hope you and your husband are OK Susan - I know you're nearby and not right there, but it's close enough. Take care out there.

The McC campaign desperately tries to spin a close election.....the facts don't support that conclusion:

"Too close to call." "Within the margin of error." "A statistical dead heat." If you've been following news coverage of the 2008 presidential election, you're probably familiar with these phrases. Media commentary on the presidential horserace, reflecting the results of a series of new national polls, has strained to make a case for a hotly contested election that is essentially up for grabs.

Signs of Barack Obama's weaknesses allegedly abound. The huge generic Democratic Party advantage is not reflected in the McCain-Obama pairings in national polls. Why, according to the constant refrain, hasn't Obama put this election away? A large number of Clinton supporters in the primaries refuse to commit to Obama. White working class and senior voters tilt decidedly to McCain. Racial resentment limits Obama's support among these two critical voting blocs. Enthusiasm among young voters and African-Americans, two groups strongly attracted to Obama, is waning. Blah, blah, blah.

While no election outcome is guaranteed and McCain's prospects could improve over the next three and a half months, virtually all of the evidence that we have reviewed--historical patterns, structural features of this election cycle, and national and state polls conducted over the last several months--point to a comfortable Obama/Democratic party victory in November. Trumpeting this race as a toss-up, almost certain to produce another nail-biter finish, distorts the evidence and does a disservice to readers and viewers who rely upon such punditry. Again, maybe conditions will change in McCain's favor, and if they do, they should also be accurately described by the media. But current data do not justify calling this election a toss-up.

Consider the following.

Except for a few days when the Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls showed a tie, Barack Obama has led John McCain in every national poll in the past two months. Obama's average margin has consistently been in the 4-6 point range during this time. By contrast, the polls in 2000 and 2004 showed much more variation over time. State polling results have also consistently given Obama the advantage.

According to realclearpolitics.com, Obama is currently leading in 26 states and the District of Columbia with a total of 322 electoral votes; McCain is currently leading in 24 states with a total of 216 electoral votes. Obama is leading in every state carried by John Kerry in 2004 along with six states carried by George Bush: Iowa, New Mexico, Ohio, Indiana, Nevada and Colorado. A seventh Bush state, Virginia, is tied.

Obama is leading in 11 of the 12 swing states that were decided by a margin of five points or less in 2004 including five of the six that were carried by George Bush. And while Obama has a comfortable lead in every state that John Kerry won by a margin of more than five points in 2004, McCain is in a difficult battle in a number of states that Bush carried by a margin of more than five points including such solidly red states as Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Virginia, and North Carolina.

And remember these June and July polls may well understate Obama's eventual margin. Ronald Reagan did not capitalize on the huge structural advantage Republicans enjoyed in 1980 until after the party conventions and presidential debate. It took a while and a sufficient level of comfort with the challenger for anti-Carter votes to translate into support for Reagan. If Obama's performance over the last eighteen months is any guide, a similar pattern could unfold in 2008.

Aside from the horserace results, there is evidence of a growing Democratic party advantage in the electorate. A recent analysis by Rhodes Cook of voter registration data in 29 states and the District of Columbia that permit registration by party shows that since November of 2004, Democratic registration has increased by almost 700,000 while Republican registration has declined by almost one million.

Democrats now enjoy a substantial lead over Republicans in voter identification. According to the Gallup Poll, the two parties have gone from near parity four years ago to a 12 point Democratic advantage in the first half of 2008. And polling data continue to show that Democrats are more satisfied with their party's nominee than Republicans voters and more highly motivated to vote. While Republicans normally benefit from higher turnout among their supporters, that may not be the case this year.

-- By Alan Abramowitz, Thomas E. Mann, and Larry J. Sabato, July 24, 2008

So sorry to have missed you.

There's a new PUBLIC SQUARE open thread:

http://de