The Ship of Fools: As the link below indicates Jon Huntsman, the Republican moderate presidential candidate, is quitting the race. He was by far the most intelligent, most qualified and best candidate running for the presidency on the Republican side . But when has that ever been a prerequisite for the Republican nomination for the highest most powerful and, indeed, most dangerous, office in the world? Answer: Never.
Knowing this truth it was the smartest thing for Huntsman to do. It would be a waste of his time not to mention money to continue in a race where Stephen Colbert, the political comic, had higher ratings than he. Huntsman is running in a party that is not deserving of his intelligence, his experience and his wisdom. The field of Republican candidates is pitiful and God pity this nation if they in their infinite wisdom choose to elect anyone from this ship of fools.
Mr. Huntsman, whatever monies you have left from this campaign I suggest you donate to those who have no houses, no food, no clothing and will because of the Wall Street made economic cesspool never get an education and sometimes not even survive.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/huntsman-says-hes-quitting-g-o-p-race/?comments#permid=17
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Divine Intervention: I said a prayer for Tom Brady before the game. I guess god was a New England Patriot yesterday. We in New England never were Doubting Thomas's for a minute!!
Awesome is too weak a word for the Patriots victory over the Broncos. The Pat's defense was bone CRUSHING and except for the one measly pass interception by the Broncos, Tebow would have been held to single digits. I have NEVER seen such a phenomenally solid game from New England in my life. It was one of the most exciting I have ever witnessed. The ENTIRE New England team was Tyrannosaurus Rex. They took the Denver team and had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Brady was near perfection.
I am happy for the win but ordinarily I would not care as much if the event did not become more than just a simple game. Tebow is a wonderful person and does laudable things with his life outside the gridiron. I compliment him for that but the political refuse of religious wingnutism follow him and was an element of the pregame insanity. Last week's Bronco win in sudden death overtime was nearly divine for them, Tebow and his fans but offered no "proof" a sky god is using Tebow for his second son. Explanations exist in science. All rational signs point to the fact that if there is a god who created it all he is NOT involved in the day-to-day activities of man most especially in a meaningless football game or really in anything else.
Beyond sports, if a god were involved in man's day-to-day-activities and so many prayers were said for the sick, the dying, the war ravaged people in war torn nations, the hungry and the dispossessed all over the earth an amelioration of those horrific conditions or at least some of them would have happened and there would be repeatable evidence using the scientific method that prayers when said are answered. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, Titanic catastrophes would not occur or if they did, at the very least, innocent human beings would not be devastated.
Things happen for verifiable reasons. Science compounded by the psychology of men in a football game gives better rationales for outcomes than does anything else. I repeat my own credo: we are all subject to Newtonesque laws of science for everything and science offers a better explanation for the physical realities of life. Belief is simply belief it is NOT science. Six billion humans inhabiting this planet will have six billion answers to the eternal questions that plague us and which give a foundation for religious often fanatical belief. It allows the fanatical believer to do anything no matter how cruel to impose one belief over another even if they have to kill humanity to do it.
The right wingnut organization Focus on the Family, which loves to deny human rights to innocent others with their alleged Biblical "proof," paid for what probably was a multi-million dollar ad promoting Christianity during this game. Now that is something of which I am sure Jesus would have approved -- NOT!
That is why this game held such enthusiasm. It became a battle between science deniers verses science worshipers. The latter would describe people like ME!
Awesome is too weak a word for the Patriots victory over the Broncos. The Pat's defense was bone CRUSHING and except for the one measly pass interception by the Broncos, Tebow would have been held to single digits. I have NEVER seen such a phenomenally solid game from New England in my life. It was one of the most exciting I have ever witnessed. The ENTIRE New England team was Tyrannosaurus Rex. They took the Denver team and had them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Brady was near perfection.
I am happy for the win but ordinarily I would not care as much if the event did not become more than just a simple game. Tebow is a wonderful person and does laudable things with his life outside the gridiron. I compliment him for that but the political refuse of religious wingnutism follow him and was an element of the pregame insanity. Last week's Bronco win in sudden death overtime was nearly divine for them, Tebow and his fans but offered no "proof" a sky god is using Tebow for his second son. Explanations exist in science. All rational signs point to the fact that if there is a god who created it all he is NOT involved in the day-to-day activities of man most especially in a meaningless football game or really in anything else.
Beyond sports, if a god were involved in man's day-to-day-activities and so many prayers were said for the sick, the dying, the war ravaged people in war torn nations, the hungry and the dispossessed all over the earth an amelioration of those horrific conditions or at least some of them would have happened and there would be repeatable evidence using the scientific method that prayers when said are answered. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, Titanic catastrophes would not occur or if they did, at the very least, innocent human beings would not be devastated.
Things happen for verifiable reasons. Science compounded by the psychology of men in a football game gives better rationales for outcomes than does anything else. I repeat my own credo: we are all subject to Newtonesque laws of science for everything and science offers a better explanation for the physical realities of life. Belief is simply belief it is NOT science. Six billion humans inhabiting this planet will have six billion answers to the eternal questions that plague us and which give a foundation for religious often fanatical belief. It allows the fanatical believer to do anything no matter how cruel to impose one belief over another even if they have to kill humanity to do it.
The right wingnut organization Focus on the Family, which loves to deny human rights to innocent others with their alleged Biblical "proof," paid for what probably was a multi-million dollar ad promoting Christianity during this game. Now that is something of which I am sure Jesus would have approved -- NOT!
That is why this game held such enthusiasm. It became a battle between science deniers verses science worshipers. The latter would describe people like ME!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
GREAT video and very well done. Romney, hey if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen where you cooked up your own negative ads to slam Gingrich. Romney, the flip flopper slime former governor of Mass. whom I loathed because he was an EMPTY suit and still is.
Watch this incredible video!
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/12/watch-when-mitt-romney-came-to-town/?utm_source=Raw+Story+Daily+Update&utm_campaign=66b02af165-1_12_111_12_2012&utm_medium=email
Watch this incredible video!
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/12/watch-when-mitt-romney-came-to-town/?utm_source=Raw+Story+Daily+Update&utm_campaign=66b02af165-1_12_111_12_2012&utm_medium=email
A Glass Half Full: One of my friends whom I consider a very intelligent man in addition to being one of the nicest sent a very positive email to me about one of my opinions. We share many of the same values but I am sure few of his opinions are as pessimistic as mine. Really, you say? No kidding. In my defense there are reasons for everything. I digress.
In response to one of my diatribes perhaps the one loathing Bain Romney -- or as another friend humorously calls him Mitten or Ron Mitney and whom I call Willard, his first name, -- sorry I digress again with a bit of humor, my friend sent a more positive note. Whatever opinion of mine it was that prompted his response, truthfully, my words are often not happy ones. Admittedly they are words of anger, pessimism and are a cynic's view of our nation.
I would like to quote what he said below to present a different view from the bridge. He is quite right if one takes a broader look at US history one can see the positive changes that have occurred despite great opposition mounted to defeat them. The late Howard Zinn, my favorite historian, used to say to me that change comes from the bottom up and that it is created by millions of people who push for that change sometimes risking their own lives advocating for it.
The always-wise Zinn said it does not matter who is IN the White House but who is in FRONT of it that counts. It is up to us, to hold our leaders accountable and secure those rights our Constitutional contract, I believe, can be interpreted to say, we rightfully deserve. It is the beauty of our American system that has honed a way, over centuries of conflict, to do so. We must utilize maximally our Constitutionally guaranteed rights of free speech and free press and never give up.
In keeping with that thought I offer a more positive view that my friend quite correctly stated. He said:
I know there IS hope and that it springs eternal. Thank you, my friend, for forcing me to see a glass half full and by that making it a better day!
In response to one of my diatribes perhaps the one loathing Bain Romney -- or as another friend humorously calls him Mitten or Ron Mitney and whom I call Willard, his first name, -- sorry I digress again with a bit of humor, my friend sent a more positive note. Whatever opinion of mine it was that prompted his response, truthfully, my words are often not happy ones. Admittedly they are words of anger, pessimism and are a cynic's view of our nation.
I would like to quote what he said below to present a different view from the bridge. He is quite right if one takes a broader look at US history one can see the positive changes that have occurred despite great opposition mounted to defeat them. The late Howard Zinn, my favorite historian, used to say to me that change comes from the bottom up and that it is created by millions of people who push for that change sometimes risking their own lives advocating for it.
The always-wise Zinn said it does not matter who is IN the White House but who is in FRONT of it that counts. It is up to us, to hold our leaders accountable and secure those rights our Constitutional contract, I believe, can be interpreted to say, we rightfully deserve. It is the beauty of our American system that has honed a way, over centuries of conflict, to do so. We must utilize maximally our Constitutionally guaranteed rights of free speech and free press and never give up.
In keeping with that thought I offer a more positive view that my friend quite correctly stated. He said:
I share your frustration with the nation, but am reminded of Martin Luther King's comment: "The arc of history is long, but it tends toward justice."
There is still plenty of craziness out there, and we can't let down our guard, but slowly we're making progress. We have finally elected a black man president, and after his second term, maybe a woman; Don't ask don't tell has been repealed and LGBT people are accepted enough to show up in TV shows without causing riots; the Arab Spring is a tinderbox, but could also spread the flame of democracy; occupy is finally challenging tea party; the economy still needs help, but it's not in free fall, in spite of Republicans' efforts to derail everything the president has tried; so there is hope.
I know there IS hope and that it springs eternal. Thank you, my friend, for forcing me to see a glass half full and by that making it a better day!
Monday, January 09, 2012
Field of the American Dream: Again, Paul Krugman writes an insightful NYT article “America’s Unlevel Field” (linked below) and is correct as usual. At the end of the editorial he says: … [Romney and the Republicans] “seem to prefer a society in which your station in life is largely determined by that of your parents — and in which the children of the very rich get to inherit their estates tax-free. Teddy Roosevelt would not have approved.”
It makes a sad me even sadder as I view the US problems as nearly insurmountable and cemented in division. I try to look at the nation’s historical long-view which has often dictated success against the odds. If I were an abolitionist in 1860, which given my values now I surely would have been, I would be despondent that a humanity in our free nation was brought against its will under horrific conditions, stripped of their person hood to labor under the lash and without compensation. Ultimately a war (lost in its beginning) needed to be waged to reverse this evil. I might have given up but justice prevailed.
If I were the Jew that I am in 1941 I would have felt despair that my country, not prepared for war, opened up wars on two fronts first with a militarized honorary Aryan Japan and second with a mighty German war machine dedicated specifically to my elimination. Justice against the odds prevailed yet again.
No matter how dark things look now, no matter the odds of reactionary politics saturated with racist animus I continue to place my faith in the president against Lincolnian odds facing a Republican Congress, dripping with the words of interposition and nullification referenced by Dr. Martin Luther King in 1963, this time potentially reversing decades of civil rights progress and compounding the threat of another economic collapse where the 1% wealthiest control it all. Even worse there is the specter of a clear existential nuclear threat if our foolish nation dares attack again a tinder box Middle East.
America , where is your sanity and where is our field of dreams? The American Dream must not become the American nightmare. This nation must come to grips with its ugly truths, its reactionary politics, its economic frauds, its tepid social safety nets or lack of them and this latest nuclear threat, ultimately, to its very life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/opinion/krugman-americas-unlevel-field.html?_r=1&ref=global-home#commentsContainer
It makes a sad me even sadder as I view the US problems as nearly insurmountable and cemented in division. I try to look at the nation’s historical long-view which has often dictated success against the odds. If I were an abolitionist in 1860, which given my values now I surely would have been, I would be despondent that a humanity in our free nation was brought against its will under horrific conditions, stripped of their person hood to labor under the lash and without compensation. Ultimately a war (lost in its beginning) needed to be waged to reverse this evil. I might have given up but justice prevailed.
If I were the Jew that I am in 1941 I would have felt despair that my country, not prepared for war, opened up wars on two fronts first with a militarized honorary Aryan Japan and second with a mighty German war machine dedicated specifically to my elimination. Justice against the odds prevailed yet again.
No matter how dark things look now, no matter the odds of reactionary politics saturated with racist animus I continue to place my faith in the president against Lincolnian odds facing a Republican Congress, dripping with the words of interposition and nullification referenced by Dr. Martin Luther King in 1963, this time potentially reversing decades of civil rights progress and compounding the threat of another economic collapse where the 1% wealthiest control it all. Even worse there is the specter of a clear existential nuclear threat if our foolish nation dares attack again a tinder box Middle East.
America , where is your sanity and where is our field of dreams? The American Dream must not become the American nightmare. This nation must come to grips with its ugly truths, its reactionary politics, its economic frauds, its tepid social safety nets or lack of them and this latest nuclear threat, ultimately, to its very life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/opinion/krugman-americas-unlevel-field.html?_r=1&ref=global-home#commentsContainer
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Romney, the “Bain” of Our Existence: In case you did not get the pun “Bain” was the name of the company Romney, the allegedly expert businessman, ran – Bain Capital. That corporation was in the business of trimming assets of companies facing bankruptcy, buying them, selling the entrails and DESTROYING jobs. Romney became filthy 250 million dollar rich because of it. Romney does not want to release his tax records every other candidate for president has released. Why you ask. Because, as part of the top 1% he probably loop-holed his way out of paying taxes that the middle class has to pay.
The Republican so called "debates" are a joke and an embarrassment. The press has nothing to offer the voters but softball inane questions to the candidates making sure they do not deliver a question the complexity of which would be beyond the candidates' ability to answer. The Republican Party has nothing to offer but racist obstructionism and do nothing politics.
If this country is so unequivocally insane to elect any of these stupendous know nothing Republicans as president then there is no hope. I either need to pull the covers over my head for years or do something more drastic like moving to the North Pole. The thought of four or more years of Republican rule sickens my stomach after suffering through nearly 30 years of Republican acid rain. We cannot endure more never-ending war nor can we survive the 1% billionaires controlling ALL the wealth creating an even bigger bubble to run the country into an even bigger ditch than they did during the first decade of the new millennium.
President Obama did not do everything I wanted but he is infinitely more intellectually astute and, I would argue, more effective handling the cats of Congress in view of the Mount Everest of Republican obstructionism he had to climb.
I am hoping America is wiser than to let the insane of the coo coos nest asylum control the country and run it over another cliff. We have been bleeding since the bursting of the Bush bubble and a Democratic tourniquet had to be applied. It has stopped some of the flow but not all of it. Republicans have a proscription to line their pockets with billionaire bubble bucks and return us to a double dip Greater Recession. Do you REALLY want to go through that economic avalanche yet again? And do you REALLY want your sons and daughters to fight yet another huge Middle East country with nuclear bombs in tow? Go head elect Republicans and have a party but it may be the last party you and your children ever have.
The Republican so called "debates" are a joke and an embarrassment. The press has nothing to offer the voters but softball inane questions to the candidates making sure they do not deliver a question the complexity of which would be beyond the candidates' ability to answer. The Republican Party has nothing to offer but racist obstructionism and do nothing politics.
If this country is so unequivocally insane to elect any of these stupendous know nothing Republicans as president then there is no hope. I either need to pull the covers over my head for years or do something more drastic like moving to the North Pole. The thought of four or more years of Republican rule sickens my stomach after suffering through nearly 30 years of Republican acid rain. We cannot endure more never-ending war nor can we survive the 1% billionaires controlling ALL the wealth creating an even bigger bubble to run the country into an even bigger ditch than they did during the first decade of the new millennium.
President Obama did not do everything I wanted but he is infinitely more intellectually astute and, I would argue, more effective handling the cats of Congress in view of the Mount Everest of Republican obstructionism he had to climb.
I am hoping America is wiser than to let the insane of the coo coos nest asylum control the country and run it over another cliff. We have been bleeding since the bursting of the Bush bubble and a Democratic tourniquet had to be applied. It has stopped some of the flow but not all of it. Republicans have a proscription to line their pockets with billionaire bubble bucks and return us to a double dip Greater Recession. Do you REALLY want to go through that economic avalanche yet again? And do you REALLY want your sons and daughters to fight yet another huge Middle East country with nuclear bombs in tow? Go head elect Republicans and have a party but it may be the last party you and your children ever have.
Friday, January 06, 2012
The Epiphany: I sent a letter to a professor who is very pro Palestinian. I reflected on my views about Israel perhaps because I was asked by a friend to attend a Feb. 29 meeting about church/state separation at a mosque. I agreed and I thought about why I am so stuck in my views about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I thought about my feelings and why my blood runs cold when I think about that issue. I turn my back on most criticism of the Jewish state. I really had to do some soul searching because I am often at odds with the left part of the political spectrum a place where I reside but a place which is particularly harsh on the Jewish state. Again, I ask why. I came up with the following explanation why I have felt the way I have and wondering if I can make a change. I said the following:
I had an epiphany today. I am as I always say a left of center progressive. I am also Jewish. My entire political life and the forming of my belief system as left of center revolved around two major issues: (1) the Holocaust and the rise of Nazism (2) the antiwar years of the late 1960's. My beliefs have wavered a bit over the years but not that much. I want to consider myself a humanitarian and I want to support those things which ensure most especially Constitutional civil liberties. Sitting on the left side of the spectrum those things are, of course, compatible.
My first encounter with Nazism was as a child maybe age 10 or 11 when I saw a newsreel in the movies which were popular at the time shown before the main film. I saw footage for the first time of Jewish people from all walks of life, men, women and children being rounded up, shot or herded into the cattle cars and shipped off to the camps. The newsreel showed me a picture of the camps which was needless to say ghoulish and excruciatingly painful to watch. Then it showed the gas chambers with the Zyklon B and then it, of course, showed the mounds of bodies the Allies encountered when they liberated the camps. I became nauseated and threw up.
My uncle was in the US Army in Europe when he liberated a camp and had the photos to prove it. There is NO event in human history let alone in Jewish history which is parallel to the Holocaust in terms of its inhumanity and brutality. The six million is an unfathomable number. Recently I saw a film "Sarah's Key" based on a book the discussion of which I led at a temple group where even in France -- modern France at that time rounded up Jews in the Vel d' Hiv a little known part of French history because they do not WANT to remember it.
The Holocaust and its aftermath was the single most centrifugal event that solidified my later political beliefs. It has continued to be a surprise to me that the left leaning groups I agree with for the most part are extraordinarily anti-Israel with a huge bit of anti-Semitism mixed in for good measure. It is why I turn a cold shoulder to most all anti-Israel sentiment and why I never did wax supportive of the Palestinian cause. I simply could NOT betray the State of Israel formed by so many after the event that rocked the foundation of the Jewish world.
Why can I not come to the support of those Palestinians who feel so aggrieved and who as they say have been allegedly brutalized by Israelis? That answer is I cannot ADMIT that Israelis would perpetrate inhumane acts purposefully on innocent people. I did not WANT to believe it because for Jews to do that means that the lessons of the Holocaust are not learned and we MUST learn them so it never happens again. I have always held Israel to a higher standard because of this singular event which NO ONE in history has experienced on such a massive and historically continuing and stunning scale.
I have dear Jewish friends, the nicest people, whose daughter (Jewish) married a Palestinian man. He is a darling man but I would simply avoid discussion of the Palestinian situation which usually does not come up anyway. On Feb. 29 (yes it's a leap year) they asked me to attend a local mosque which I have been up until now adverse to do.
For the first time I have decided it is time to visit the mosque no matter what my strong feelings of support are about Israel. It is TIME for NO MORE violence. It is TIME for us to act in a humane fashion. If not now when? We must as Jews be the best human beings we can be even when it is most difficult to be so. The essence, as I see it, is even within Christian teaching -- Matthew 5 says ... "whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. And give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." One does not have to be Christian to believe in these thoughts. One needs to be empathetically human to understand them.
I still am a Jew and I still support the State of Israel BUT that does not mean I am impervious to suffering. No, to the contrary, BECAUSE of the Holocaust one must ameliorate suffering wherever it exists.
If I could write a book perhaps the title would be: "Enemies No More -- a Way for Jews and Palestinians to Unite!" How much would I love a cessation of hostilities between our two peoples to happen in the New Year? Answer: -- I would give anything. Acting in a more humane and understanding manner on both sides would save Jewish lives, it would save Palestinian lives and perhaps it would even save the world entire as it lurches closer and closer to an apocalypse.
I had an epiphany today. I am as I always say a left of center progressive. I am also Jewish. My entire political life and the forming of my belief system as left of center revolved around two major issues: (1) the Holocaust and the rise of Nazism (2) the antiwar years of the late 1960's. My beliefs have wavered a bit over the years but not that much. I want to consider myself a humanitarian and I want to support those things which ensure most especially Constitutional civil liberties. Sitting on the left side of the spectrum those things are, of course, compatible.
My first encounter with Nazism was as a child maybe age 10 or 11 when I saw a newsreel in the movies which were popular at the time shown before the main film. I saw footage for the first time of Jewish people from all walks of life, men, women and children being rounded up, shot or herded into the cattle cars and shipped off to the camps. The newsreel showed me a picture of the camps which was needless to say ghoulish and excruciatingly painful to watch. Then it showed the gas chambers with the Zyklon B and then it, of course, showed the mounds of bodies the Allies encountered when they liberated the camps. I became nauseated and threw up.
My uncle was in the US Army in Europe when he liberated a camp and had the photos to prove it. There is NO event in human history let alone in Jewish history which is parallel to the Holocaust in terms of its inhumanity and brutality. The six million is an unfathomable number. Recently I saw a film "Sarah's Key" based on a book the discussion of which I led at a temple group where even in France -- modern France at that time rounded up Jews in the Vel d' Hiv a little known part of French history because they do not WANT to remember it.
The Holocaust and its aftermath was the single most centrifugal event that solidified my later political beliefs. It has continued to be a surprise to me that the left leaning groups I agree with for the most part are extraordinarily anti-Israel with a huge bit of anti-Semitism mixed in for good measure. It is why I turn a cold shoulder to most all anti-Israel sentiment and why I never did wax supportive of the Palestinian cause. I simply could NOT betray the State of Israel formed by so many after the event that rocked the foundation of the Jewish world.
Why can I not come to the support of those Palestinians who feel so aggrieved and who as they say have been allegedly brutalized by Israelis? That answer is I cannot ADMIT that Israelis would perpetrate inhumane acts purposefully on innocent people. I did not WANT to believe it because for Jews to do that means that the lessons of the Holocaust are not learned and we MUST learn them so it never happens again. I have always held Israel to a higher standard because of this singular event which NO ONE in history has experienced on such a massive and historically continuing and stunning scale.
I have dear Jewish friends, the nicest people, whose daughter (Jewish) married a Palestinian man. He is a darling man but I would simply avoid discussion of the Palestinian situation which usually does not come up anyway. On Feb. 29 (yes it's a leap year) they asked me to attend a local mosque which I have been up until now adverse to do.
For the first time I have decided it is time to visit the mosque no matter what my strong feelings of support are about Israel. It is TIME for NO MORE violence. It is TIME for us to act in a humane fashion. If not now when? We must as Jews be the best human beings we can be even when it is most difficult to be so. The essence, as I see it, is even within Christian teaching -- Matthew 5 says ... "whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. And give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." One does not have to be Christian to believe in these thoughts. One needs to be empathetically human to understand them.
I still am a Jew and I still support the State of Israel BUT that does not mean I am impervious to suffering. No, to the contrary, BECAUSE of the Holocaust one must ameliorate suffering wherever it exists.
If I could write a book perhaps the title would be: "Enemies No More -- a Way for Jews and Palestinians to Unite!" How much would I love a cessation of hostilities between our two peoples to happen in the New Year? Answer: -- I would give anything. Acting in a more humane and understanding manner on both sides would save Jewish lives, it would save Palestinian lives and perhaps it would even save the world entire as it lurches closer and closer to an apocalypse.
Thursday, January 05, 2012
A Hole to Hide In: Not well written but CORRECT: Iraq civil war beginning and a US war policy of IDIOTIC proportions I posted this on the MSNBC News site.
MSNBC HEADLINES: "Iraq Bombings: Wave Of Explosions In Shiite Area Of Baghdad Kill At Least 27, Wound Dozens" -- linked below "A wave of explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 27 people and intensifying fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks after the U.S. troop withdrawal that was completed last month..." striking fears of civil war."
And here's why:
This is just a TERRIBLE thing...simply awful. Think about this you misguided death wielding Republicans. We were there FOR NINE...count them NINE years with over 5,000 of our men and women DEAD, thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands Iraqi dead and wounded, and exiled all over the gd place, we destabilized the Middle East but good and here's some worse things to get through your thick heads: Sadam Hussein was a Sunni -- Georgy the Idiot Bush did not even KNOW what Sunni was and the difference and ancient hatred between Sunnis and Shiia. Hussein and the Sunnis were a minority who held power HATED Iran...fought a decade long war with them and kept them in check. NOW LOOK WHAT WE HAVE...just LOOK it's mind BLOWING...Sunnis, the minority under Hussein because of our invasion to get rid of him were obliterated and Shiia took over and are in power with Malaki and NOW they are allies with Iran. IRAN was handed the keys to the kingdom is the power broker there with a nuke-filled Pakistan and Iran is threatening to block world oil by blockading the Strait of Hormuz an act of war.
It was hard enough to get TRILLIONS of bucks for the military and supplies over to fight these wars and Afghanistan is still going. How on god's earth does ANYONE think IF Iran does this or worse that we are going to haul our posteriors over to that HUGE country twice the size of Iraq with difficult terrain and NOW more militarily sophisticated with a spent army. HOW? This is the neo Con IDIOTS revamping of the Middle East? This is what they thought would be so ducky....We could NOT stay in Iraq for another twenty years without going bankrupt nor would the Malaki government guarantee immunity to us so Obama HAD to pull out and Bush stated a pull out by now.
We are in BIG trouble there as Pakistan is angry and blocked supplies getting in to Afghanistan. We cannot be without supplies TO wage war and the Republican STUPIDS want to just bomb Iran?..Guess what you utter stupendous morons ... THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES when you drop bombs on people's heads! Furthermore Israel is at absolute risk without US military ability. We are a DONE empire because of our moronic military excursions from Vietnam to Iraq, et al.
I am NOT a Ron Paul supporter because I cannot stand his other positions BUT on foreign policy he is DEAD (pardon the pun) ON CORRECT.
This is what happens when you have INSANE unstatesmen-like leadership. You get death, destruction on an epic scale and a BIG threat if not to us directly to our economy and WWIII if we bomb Iran. How does a draft sound now? Not so good I bet. The American people are SO united -- NOT. A draft would go just swimmingly. Where is a hole I can hide!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45881411/
MSNBC HEADLINES: "Iraq Bombings: Wave Of Explosions In Shiite Area Of Baghdad Kill At Least 27, Wound Dozens" -- linked below "A wave of explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 27 people and intensifying fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks after the U.S. troop withdrawal that was completed last month..." striking fears of civil war."
And here's why:
This is just a TERRIBLE thing...simply awful. Think about this you misguided death wielding Republicans. We were there FOR NINE...count them NINE years with over 5,000 of our men and women DEAD, thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands Iraqi dead and wounded, and exiled all over the gd place, we destabilized the Middle East but good and here's some worse things to get through your thick heads: Sadam Hussein was a Sunni -- Georgy the Idiot Bush did not even KNOW what Sunni was and the difference and ancient hatred between Sunnis and Shiia. Hussein and the Sunnis were a minority who held power HATED Iran...fought a decade long war with them and kept them in check. NOW LOOK WHAT WE HAVE...just LOOK it's mind BLOWING...Sunnis, the minority under Hussein because of our invasion to get rid of him were obliterated and Shiia took over and are in power with Malaki and NOW they are allies with Iran. IRAN was handed the keys to the kingdom is the power broker there with a nuke-filled Pakistan and Iran is threatening to block world oil by blockading the Strait of Hormuz an act of war.
It was hard enough to get TRILLIONS of bucks for the military and supplies over to fight these wars and Afghanistan is still going. How on god's earth does ANYONE think IF Iran does this or worse that we are going to haul our posteriors over to that HUGE country twice the size of Iraq with difficult terrain and NOW more militarily sophisticated with a spent army. HOW? This is the neo Con IDIOTS revamping of the Middle East? This is what they thought would be so ducky....We could NOT stay in Iraq for another twenty years without going bankrupt nor would the Malaki government guarantee immunity to us so Obama HAD to pull out and Bush stated a pull out by now.
We are in BIG trouble there as Pakistan is angry and blocked supplies getting in to Afghanistan. We cannot be without supplies TO wage war and the Republican STUPIDS want to just bomb Iran?..Guess what you utter stupendous morons ... THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES when you drop bombs on people's heads! Furthermore Israel is at absolute risk without US military ability. We are a DONE empire because of our moronic military excursions from Vietnam to Iraq, et al.
I am NOT a Ron Paul supporter because I cannot stand his other positions BUT on foreign policy he is DEAD (pardon the pun) ON CORRECT.
This is what happens when you have INSANE unstatesmen-like leadership. You get death, destruction on an epic scale and a BIG threat if not to us directly to our economy and WWIII if we bomb Iran. How does a draft sound now? Not so good I bet. The American people are SO united -- NOT. A draft would go just swimmingly. Where is a hole I can hide!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45881411/
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Defying Republicans, Obama to Name Cordray as Consumer Agency Chief -- GOOD!! The president with the appointment of Cordray as Consumer Agency Chief (link below) and with any other important policy he deems necessary to the protection of the Republic should do whatever is possible BY ANY MEANS necessary to thwart this mean, vituperative, caustic, racist Tea Party malevolence in the House and Congress that a few Americans in their infinite wisdom saw clear to elect. They are NOT representative of the country as a whole and November, 2012 will show exactly that. The president WILL be re-elected with MASSIVE amounts of people voting for him (maybe even more than 2008) who see the Republican SHAM for what it is.
This president, under the worst racist House imaginable, with the exception of the pre-Civil War era, has managed to get through under the most difficult circumstances legislation which will benefit the entire nation. Even when the Democrats held it all they STILL even then had Democrats in name only obstructionist bought low-life like Lieberman, Nelson, Landrieu and many others who impeded him from creating what he truly desired and what would have help the country. ANYONE on planet earth who thinks that the Republican Party will do one thing for them is sadly mistaken if not delusional.
The Democratic Party should be LASER focused on (1) re-electing this president who has suffered immensely from a virulent obstructionist Congress (2) turn the HOUSE PROGRESSIVE BLUE (3) KEEP the Senate in Democratic hands and win a few more to solidify it. Then the president in his second term will show the true face of his genius!!
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/defying-republicans-obama-to-name-cordray-as-consumer-agency-chief/?emc=na
This president, under the worst racist House imaginable, with the exception of the pre-Civil War era, has managed to get through under the most difficult circumstances legislation which will benefit the entire nation. Even when the Democrats held it all they STILL even then had Democrats in name only obstructionist bought low-life like Lieberman, Nelson, Landrieu and many others who impeded him from creating what he truly desired and what would have help the country. ANYONE on planet earth who thinks that the Republican Party will do one thing for them is sadly mistaken if not delusional.
The Democratic Party should be LASER focused on (1) re-electing this president who has suffered immensely from a virulent obstructionist Congress (2) turn the HOUSE PROGRESSIVE BLUE (3) KEEP the Senate in Democratic hands and win a few more to solidify it. Then the president in his second term will show the true face of his genius!!
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/defying-republicans-obama-to-name-cordray-as-consumer-agency-chief/?emc=na
A NO vote to Romney: Romney wins by ONLY FOUR votes -- FOUR-- the biggest win is Obama.
The Democratic Party has a LOT to save and MUST turn the Congress blue and get rid of Romney the complete chameleon, and empty suit! These lack of empathy Republicans will gut Social Security and Medicare. People WILL die. Republicans are the true death panels.
Republicans are AGGRESSIVE in foreign policy that means war with Iran and spend more money we do not have. Nor did we "win" in Iraq nor in Afghanistan either. Our army is spent and a draft to fight Iran will ultimately be a must to move an army across vicious terrain with some nations still not allowing American supplies to pass. This would cost billions if not trillions. Do you want your children to fight in World War III with NUKES on the line? If it's bad for Israel now just wait. It will be the end of that nation with America SO weakened by perpetual war and a populous that WILL be in revolt!
If the American people do not see how flawed this party is and how much worse than the Democratic party they are then they get what they deserve. If you want
your children to not make it then vote Republican. They are a rancidly divided party and their ideas are thought by those who do not think, cannot think or who simply do not care about anyone except themselves. If Republicans win there will probably be World War III and nuclear war...yes, I said it ... think about it before you think about casting votes for right wing extremist fundamentalist Republicans.
They are extremist insane.
The Democratic Party has a LOT to save and MUST turn the Congress blue and get rid of Romney the complete chameleon, and empty suit! These lack of empathy Republicans will gut Social Security and Medicare. People WILL die. Republicans are the true death panels.
Republicans are AGGRESSIVE in foreign policy that means war with Iran and spend more money we do not have. Nor did we "win" in Iraq nor in Afghanistan either. Our army is spent and a draft to fight Iran will ultimately be a must to move an army across vicious terrain with some nations still not allowing American supplies to pass. This would cost billions if not trillions. Do you want your children to fight in World War III with NUKES on the line? If it's bad for Israel now just wait. It will be the end of that nation with America SO weakened by perpetual war and a populous that WILL be in revolt!
If the American people do not see how flawed this party is and how much worse than the Democratic party they are then they get what they deserve. If you want
your children to not make it then vote Republican. They are a rancidly divided party and their ideas are thought by those who do not think, cannot think or who simply do not care about anyone except themselves. If Republicans win there will probably be World War III and nuclear war...yes, I said it ... think about it before you think about casting votes for right wing extremist fundamentalist Republicans.
They are extremist insane.
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Eye on Iowa: A University professor, Stephen Bloom, wrote an article for the Atlantic link below, about Iowa, a place he has lived in for twenty years. Brian Williams talked about the unflattering-to-Iowa piece because it has stirred up a hornet's nest of protest from some Iowans and because of it the professor had to go into hiding over the holidays. One of the paragraphs that Williams quoted from the article was the object of much Iowa vitriol. It said:
I followed with a blog of my own on the Atlantic site:
I am a Massachusetts Bostonian from my toes to my hair. Some say I am a northeast snob because I rate people not by money but by their academic status, where they attended college and most of all how they write and the grammar they choose to string two sentences together.
I took a trip across country many years ago which included passing through Iowa. The trip was in February and there was no snow on the ground. I remember my first impression was that I was astounded as to how many tractor and feed stores I saw and how flat the ground was. I did not see a tree within sight. I asked the driver if people really lived here as it seemed so empty, gray and lonely. He rejected that assessment and told me how rich the land was and how it was some of the best farmland in the world.
Professor Bloom's assessment, though, rings true. I did not stay overnight in Iowa nor did I chat with many but I rode away from that state missing Massachusetts to my core. Upon return to my great state, I as my grandfather did when he came to America, wanted to kiss every rocky road and tree-lined highway in the state. I could not wait for the beautiful foliage of spring to be followed by even more glorious color in fall. Iowa may be a decent place to visit but I would not want to live there. I love my state, its diversity and its liberalness. I could not imagine living anywhere else! :-)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/observations-from-20-years-of-iowa-life/249401/1/
But relatively few rural Iowans are employed in the business of wind energy. The bulk of jobs here are low-income ones most Iowans don't want. Many have simply packed up and left the state (which helps keep the unemployment rate statewide low). Those who stay in rural Iowa are often the elderly waiting to die, those too timid (or lacking in educated) to peer around the bend for better opportunities, an assortment of waste-toids and meth addicts with pale skin and rotted teeth, or those who quixotically believe, like Little Orphan Annie, that "The sun'll come out tomorrow.
I followed with a blog of my own on the Atlantic site:
I am a Massachusetts Bostonian from my toes to my hair. Some say I am a northeast snob because I rate people not by money but by their academic status, where they attended college and most of all how they write and the grammar they choose to string two sentences together.
I took a trip across country many years ago which included passing through Iowa. The trip was in February and there was no snow on the ground. I remember my first impression was that I was astounded as to how many tractor and feed stores I saw and how flat the ground was. I did not see a tree within sight. I asked the driver if people really lived here as it seemed so empty, gray and lonely. He rejected that assessment and told me how rich the land was and how it was some of the best farmland in the world.
Professor Bloom's assessment, though, rings true. I did not stay overnight in Iowa nor did I chat with many but I rode away from that state missing Massachusetts to my core. Upon return to my great state, I as my grandfather did when he came to America, wanted to kiss every rocky road and tree-lined highway in the state. I could not wait for the beautiful foliage of spring to be followed by even more glorious color in fall. Iowa may be a decent place to visit but I would not want to live there. I love my state, its diversity and its liberalness. I could not imagine living anywhere else! :-)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/observations-from-20-years-of-iowa-life/249401/1/
A Letter to Occupy Wall Street:
I am a left of center progressive and have supported the Occupy Wall Street movement as best I able given my personal circumstances. I love this movement and think it is beyond necessary; it is vital. Forming our mantra as the 99% against the 1% is brilliant. It is something to which people can relate and understand so keep saying it.
Having said that I am old enough to remember the 1968 Democratic convention which ensured the Republican Richard the lawbreaker Nixon the presidency as the electorate saw televised violence perpetrated by radicals on the left at that particular convention which the protesters stupidly, in my opinion, chose to attack. It alienated much of the electorate and drew many into the Republican Party with the selected title of the "Moral Majority." A law and order right wing movement was born and has reshaped party politics for generations. It lives today in the extremist politics of the religious right at the Republican base and brings along with it in side-car tow other very dangerous and racist right wing groups.
I ask you -- no I implore you -- to pass the word to Occupy movements all over the nation not to make the same mistakes that were made in the summer of 1968. Do not give the opposition propaganda to paint false pictures of who we are and what Occupy is about.
This time we have many of those who once were not on our side standing with us because they too have been crushed by the Wall Street banksters and fraudsters. Court union support! Unions can have immense power and those who comprise them are the ones whom Republican state governors like the malevolent Walker, Kasich, Scott, LePage and others, managed to alienate with their poisonous wolf-in-sheep's-clothing politics. Moreover, the egregious things that were done by the banksters on Wall Street have been ruinous to the blue collar masses as they have to most everyone. The Unions are our allies and it is for them and the rest of the 99% we work. Walk in solidarity with them.
There must not be any violence at the Democratic convention or the Republican Convention in the summer. Reality dictates that it is from these two parties that the presidential race will be taken. Whatever our president has done with which progressives find fault it must not be for one second thought that Romney (the apparent Republican nominee to be) or any Republican would be a good thing. The Republican extremist Party is the opposite of a good thing and they vowed before our president did one thing to unseat him. Do not hand the election to these hucksters of malfeasance. Be careful of people from the other side who may incite you to violence. Republicans lie all the time and will stop at nothing to plant treason among you as history has shown. Be smart use the tactics of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It will serve us much better.
A Republican, if elected, will select two or maybe more justices for the Supreme Court. Additional so called "conservatives" on this right wing tipped court will make things infinitely worse.
Spread the word absolutely no violence at the Democratic convention and no violence at the Republican convention. You do not want to give our opposition any ammunition they can use against us and win power they should not rightly have.
Happy New Year to you all and thank you very much for what you do!
I am a left of center progressive and have supported the Occupy Wall Street movement as best I able given my personal circumstances. I love this movement and think it is beyond necessary; it is vital. Forming our mantra as the 99% against the 1% is brilliant. It is something to which people can relate and understand so keep saying it.
Having said that I am old enough to remember the 1968 Democratic convention which ensured the Republican Richard the lawbreaker Nixon the presidency as the electorate saw televised violence perpetrated by radicals on the left at that particular convention which the protesters stupidly, in my opinion, chose to attack. It alienated much of the electorate and drew many into the Republican Party with the selected title of the "Moral Majority." A law and order right wing movement was born and has reshaped party politics for generations. It lives today in the extremist politics of the religious right at the Republican base and brings along with it in side-car tow other very dangerous and racist right wing groups.
I ask you -- no I implore you -- to pass the word to Occupy movements all over the nation not to make the same mistakes that were made in the summer of 1968. Do not give the opposition propaganda to paint false pictures of who we are and what Occupy is about.
This time we have many of those who once were not on our side standing with us because they too have been crushed by the Wall Street banksters and fraudsters. Court union support! Unions can have immense power and those who comprise them are the ones whom Republican state governors like the malevolent Walker, Kasich, Scott, LePage and others, managed to alienate with their poisonous wolf-in-sheep's-clothing politics. Moreover, the egregious things that were done by the banksters on Wall Street have been ruinous to the blue collar masses as they have to most everyone. The Unions are our allies and it is for them and the rest of the 99% we work. Walk in solidarity with them.
There must not be any violence at the Democratic convention or the Republican Convention in the summer. Reality dictates that it is from these two parties that the presidential race will be taken. Whatever our president has done with which progressives find fault it must not be for one second thought that Romney (the apparent Republican nominee to be) or any Republican would be a good thing. The Republican extremist Party is the opposite of a good thing and they vowed before our president did one thing to unseat him. Do not hand the election to these hucksters of malfeasance. Be careful of people from the other side who may incite you to violence. Republicans lie all the time and will stop at nothing to plant treason among you as history has shown. Be smart use the tactics of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It will serve us much better.
A Republican, if elected, will select two or maybe more justices for the Supreme Court. Additional so called "conservatives" on this right wing tipped court will make things infinitely worse.
Spread the word absolutely no violence at the Democratic convention and no violence at the Republican convention. You do not want to give our opposition any ammunition they can use against us and win power they should not rightly have.
Happy New Year to you all and thank you very much for what you do!
Monday, January 02, 2012
A stream of consciousness plea:
I am a left of center progressive and have supported the Occupy movement as best I can from where I am. I love this movement and think it was so necessary. Forming it as the 99% against the 1% is brilliant. It is a mantra people can understand. Keep pushing it.
Having said that I am old enough to remember the 1968 Democratic convention which got the Republican Richard the lawbreaker Nixon elected due to the violence the country saw. It alienated much of the electorate and drew them into the Republican Party as the "Moral Majority" and a law and order right wing movement was born. It lives today as the radical religious fundamentalists at the base of the Republican Party. There are, of course, some differences in that the politics of that era were generally about the Vietnam War and black civil rights. Much of white America loathed it and loathed what they saw as a lack of patriotism on the left. It is why even today we on the left get painted with that false unpatriotic brush.
I ask you -- no I implore you -- to pass the word around to whomever are with you and Occupy movements all over the country do not make the same mistakes as we did in the late 60's. Do not give the opposition propaganda to paint false pictures of what we are. This time we have many of those who were the moral majority on our side because they too have been crushed by the Wall Street banksters and fraudsters. Court union support! It is from where immense power comes and those who comprise it are the ones whom state governors like the malevolent Walker, Kasich, Scott, LePage and others managed to alienate with their poisonous wool- in-sheep's-clothing politics. This is the opposition's big mistake. The egregious things they did on Wall Street are ruinous to the huge blue collar masses. The Unions are your friends and it is for them and the rest of the 99% that we work. Reach your hand out to unions and walk in solidarity with them.
There must not be any violence especially at the Democratic convention in the summer. Reality dictates that it is from these two parties that the presidential race will be taken. Whatever our president has done with which progressives find fault it must not be for one second thought that Romney (the apparent Republican nominee to be) will be a good thing. He's the opposite of a good thing. Do not hand the election to him and the Republican Party. Much of that party is filled with right wing racist extremists. He, if elected, will pick two or maybe more Supreme Court. appointments. More so called "conservatives" on this rancidly tipped court will end this country as we have known it. Do not be violent to ensure that happens. And be careful of people from the other side who may incite you to violence. Republicans lie all the time and will stop at nothing to plant treason among you as many have shown. Be smart use the tactics of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It will get you and us so much more.
Spread the word ... No absolutely no violence at the Democratic convention and no violence at the Republican convention either. You do not want to give our opposition any ammunition they can use against us.
Happy New Year to you all and thank you much for what you do!
I am a left of center progressive and have supported the Occupy movement as best I can from where I am. I love this movement and think it was so necessary. Forming it as the 99% against the 1% is brilliant. It is a mantra people can understand. Keep pushing it.
Having said that I am old enough to remember the 1968 Democratic convention which got the Republican Richard the lawbreaker Nixon elected due to the violence the country saw. It alienated much of the electorate and drew them into the Republican Party as the "Moral Majority" and a law and order right wing movement was born. It lives today as the radical religious fundamentalists at the base of the Republican Party. There are, of course, some differences in that the politics of that era were generally about the Vietnam War and black civil rights. Much of white America loathed it and loathed what they saw as a lack of patriotism on the left. It is why even today we on the left get painted with that false unpatriotic brush.
I ask you -- no I implore you -- to pass the word around to whomever are with you and Occupy movements all over the country do not make the same mistakes as we did in the late 60's. Do not give the opposition propaganda to paint false pictures of what we are. This time we have many of those who were the moral majority on our side because they too have been crushed by the Wall Street banksters and fraudsters. Court union support! It is from where immense power comes and those who comprise it are the ones whom state governors like the malevolent Walker, Kasich, Scott, LePage and others managed to alienate with their poisonous wool- in-sheep's-clothing politics. This is the opposition's big mistake. The egregious things they did on Wall Street are ruinous to the huge blue collar masses. The Unions are your friends and it is for them and the rest of the 99% that we work. Reach your hand out to unions and walk in solidarity with them.
There must not be any violence especially at the Democratic convention in the summer. Reality dictates that it is from these two parties that the presidential race will be taken. Whatever our president has done with which progressives find fault it must not be for one second thought that Romney (the apparent Republican nominee to be) will be a good thing. He's the opposite of a good thing. Do not hand the election to him and the Republican Party. Much of that party is filled with right wing racist extremists. He, if elected, will pick two or maybe more Supreme Court. appointments. More so called "conservatives" on this rancidly tipped court will end this country as we have known it. Do not be violent to ensure that happens. And be careful of people from the other side who may incite you to violence. Republicans lie all the time and will stop at nothing to plant treason among you as many have shown. Be smart use the tactics of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It will get you and us so much more.
Spread the word ... No absolutely no violence at the Democratic convention and no violence at the Republican convention either. You do not want to give our opposition any ammunition they can use against us.
Happy New Year to you all and thank you much for what you do!
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Suggested Viewing -- I AM: I'll bet you are wondering as I did what is I Am. “I Am” was shown on Oprah’s OWN network this afternoon. It is a documentary by Tom Shadyak former extraordinarily successful comedy writer for the comedic greats such as Jim Carey, Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams. Shadyak’s life was reversed in a nanosecond by a bicycle accident which left him with a severe concussion, fractures and many difficult long-lasting post-concussive aftereffects.
I suspect one could think about the title "I Am" as I did metaphorically. Moses, as the tale is told, confronted God from a burning bush on the mountain of Sinai in the age old from-slavery-to freedom story in the Old Testament book of Exodus. He asked God when he came upon Him "Who shall I tell the people you are and who has sent me?" A voice told him: "Tell them I Am that I Am, tell them I Am has sent you." The film relates to the awe inspiring interconnectedness of all humanity and humanity’s affect on our universe. He uses science to reinforce some of his uncovered truths. This film is a search for that which connects us all which has profound effects on every other living thing and even on the universe itself.
He ultimately asks the questions most of us ask in our lifetime trying to discover the meaning of it all and why so much seemingly has gone so wrong. He went on his own world-wide journey asking those questions of some great sages and also asks them what we can do to fix it.
The conversations he had with a variety of people such as the late Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Desmond Tutu, scientists and many others had a profound impact on even a curmudgeonly skeptic like me. I hope if you view it, it will do the same for you. Perhaps, we can even talk about it some day.
I post the link to it below.
http://iamthedoc.com/
I suspect one could think about the title "I Am" as I did metaphorically. Moses, as the tale is told, confronted God from a burning bush on the mountain of Sinai in the age old from-slavery-to freedom story in the Old Testament book of Exodus. He asked God when he came upon Him "Who shall I tell the people you are and who has sent me?" A voice told him: "Tell them I Am that I Am, tell them I Am has sent you." The film relates to the awe inspiring interconnectedness of all humanity and humanity’s affect on our universe. He uses science to reinforce some of his uncovered truths. This film is a search for that which connects us all which has profound effects on every other living thing and even on the universe itself.
He ultimately asks the questions most of us ask in our lifetime trying to discover the meaning of it all and why so much seemingly has gone so wrong. He went on his own world-wide journey asking those questions of some great sages and also asks them what we can do to fix it.
The conversations he had with a variety of people such as the late Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Desmond Tutu, scientists and many others had a profound impact on even a curmudgeonly skeptic like me. I hope if you view it, it will do the same for you. Perhaps, we can even talk about it some day.
I post the link to it below.
http://iamthedoc.com/
Twitter, Twitter Little NON Star: I strongly agree with Joan Venocchi's Sunday, January 1, 2012 Boston Globe editorial "Twitter, Twitter, on the wall" (linked below.) I tried to get into Twitter several times to understand its concept and its rules. When contemplating an issue I typed over the 140 character limit by about 10,000 characters I knew it was at the top of my list of those things reflecting our culture that drive me berserk.
McDonald's has been, until now, my symbolic prototype for the nation's addiction to instant gratification and a mirror-reflecting example of much that I believe is wrong in our land. Twitter, perhaps, now is taking its place at the apex of my list as the number one detestable computerized example of exactly who we are and how repugnant it is. Twitter is utterly devoid of substance on issues that often need encyclopedic discussion. America, in particular, has no time for that with its attention span lasting at best 10 minutes, its historical memory lasting maybe 20, and its need to watch Kim Kardashian's wedding (or is it divorce) above listening to Yo Yo Ma at Symphony Hall.
How did so many of us get so vapid, vacuous and, well, just plain dumb? When one's life is devoted to not just saying but needing to say "Justin Beber's hair was out of whack and so is mine" instead of reading and discussing in depth the relevance of Dickens's "Hard Times" or Tolstoy's "War and Peace, or the content of Ron Suskind's book "Confidence Men" then I feel blessed that I missed entering this earth in, as Dickens's Tale of Two Cities might contend, the worst of all possible times -- the era of stupid!
http://www.bostonglobe.com/staff/vennochi
McDonald's has been, until now, my symbolic prototype for the nation's addiction to instant gratification and a mirror-reflecting example of much that I believe is wrong in our land. Twitter, perhaps, now is taking its place at the apex of my list as the number one detestable computerized example of exactly who we are and how repugnant it is. Twitter is utterly devoid of substance on issues that often need encyclopedic discussion. America, in particular, has no time for that with its attention span lasting at best 10 minutes, its historical memory lasting maybe 20, and its need to watch Kim Kardashian's wedding (or is it divorce) above listening to Yo Yo Ma at Symphony Hall.
How did so many of us get so vapid, vacuous and, well, just plain dumb? When one's life is devoted to not just saying but needing to say "Justin Beber's hair was out of whack and so is mine" instead of reading and discussing in depth the relevance of Dickens's "Hard Times" or Tolstoy's "War and Peace, or the content of Ron Suskind's book "Confidence Men" then I feel blessed that I missed entering this earth in, as Dickens's Tale of Two Cities might contend, the worst of all possible times -- the era of stupid!
http://www.bostonglobe.com/staff/vennochi
Friday, December 30, 2011
A Man for All Seasons: I enclose the link here to an article which is an Op Ed from the UK's "Guardian" written by Glenn Greenwald. It is entitled: "Vote Obama – if you want a centrist Republican for US president"
"Vote Obama – if you want a centrist Republican for US president.
Because Barack Obama has adopted so many core Republican beliefs, the US opposition [Republican] race is a shambles"
It gives one pause for thought and I do not mind saying a degree of regret and oodles of increasing surprise. STILL the Republican field, as Greenwald notes, has had to tack so far to the right that they fall off a cliff because there is hardly a thing, from a Republican perspective, about Obama's governing style that they can criticize. The Republican race because of that has become happily Theater of the Absurd and a laughable cirque du soleil.
One should not dismiss, I think, the accomplishments that Obama has had with respect to the Ledbetter Law, Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal, certain aspects of the health care law, middle class tax cuts, extending unemployment and inserting many other necessary regulations into law. These are, from a Democratic perspective, praiseworthy.
Most importantly the 5 to 4 fractured-down-the-middle right wing extremist Supreme Court could become sane again as Obama would have, in his second term, the ability to select more justices for this all important branch tipping the balance, happily for me, to the left. He probably will have at least two appointments in his second term and, perhaps, more. Hopefully, then, it would mean eradicating, destroying and blowing up the deadly Citizens United malodorous decision which made corporations people and placed money -- BIG BIG money - at the center of our political "choice."
For those reasons alone President Obama is, in my opinion, the only man for our electoral season!
"Vote Obama – if you want a centrist Republican for US president.
Because Barack Obama has adopted so many core Republican beliefs, the US opposition [Republican] race is a shambles"
It gives one pause for thought and I do not mind saying a degree of regret and oodles of increasing surprise. STILL the Republican field, as Greenwald notes, has had to tack so far to the right that they fall off a cliff because there is hardly a thing, from a Republican perspective, about Obama's governing style that they can criticize. The Republican race because of that has become happily Theater of the Absurd and a laughable cirque du soleil.
One should not dismiss, I think, the accomplishments that Obama has had with respect to the Ledbetter Law, Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal, certain aspects of the health care law, middle class tax cuts, extending unemployment and inserting many other necessary regulations into law. These are, from a Democratic perspective, praiseworthy.
Most importantly the 5 to 4 fractured-down-the-middle right wing extremist Supreme Court could become sane again as Obama would have, in his second term, the ability to select more justices for this all important branch tipping the balance, happily for me, to the left. He probably will have at least two appointments in his second term and, perhaps, more. Hopefully, then, it would mean eradicating, destroying and blowing up the deadly Citizens United malodorous decision which made corporations people and placed money -- BIG BIG money - at the center of our political "choice."
For those reasons alone President Obama is, in my opinion, the only man for our electoral season!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Fundamentalist Farce -- this time in Israel: These are my quickly formulated thoughts about the Israeli woman who wanted to sit in the front of the bus and was spat upon by an Israeli ultra orthodox sect and the prospect of the ultra orthodox in Israel gaining power. I wrote Haaretz (Israeli newspaper) and know I am not alone among the secular of Israel AND most importantly many if not most Jews in the US who support the Jewish state. I stated the following:
I am a Jewish American and a strong supporter of Israel even though I am left of center. I stand alone often in my views and written opinions about Israel on that part of the political spectrum. My most important view is church/state separation and the issue I care most about is religious extremism world wide. I can tell you my support IF the ultra orthodox extremists of Israel go the way of world-wide Islamic fundamentalists the Jewish state WILL lose my support and that of many others in the US and elsewhere.
Israel for some is on difficult ground regarding what some think about its actions surrounding the Palestinian situation. So far my main love for Israel is the fact (a) it is a Jewish state for ALL Jews and (b) it is generally secular in the mainstream of its religious and political practice with a small minority of irrational religious fanatics.
If these religious fundamentalist fanatics gain power and Israel goes the way of Islamic fundamentalism and even Christian fundamentalism I will be through supporting Israel. I will withdraw my support of Israel if the religiously fanatic gain power when my main argument for Israel is that it is a secular, democratic, and an advanced state. I as a Jew am so proud of what Israel has accomplished in the face of annihilation from its enemies that surround it and because of the our unique existentially threatening history during the Holocaust.
Think twice though, my Israeli brethren, of letting backward reactionaries rule. Be smart and reject the power of ultra orthodox religious adherents and reject them en masse.
I am a Jewish American and a strong supporter of Israel even though I am left of center. I stand alone often in my views and written opinions about Israel on that part of the political spectrum. My most important view is church/state separation and the issue I care most about is religious extremism world wide. I can tell you my support IF the ultra orthodox extremists of Israel go the way of world-wide Islamic fundamentalists the Jewish state WILL lose my support and that of many others in the US and elsewhere.
Israel for some is on difficult ground regarding what some think about its actions surrounding the Palestinian situation. So far my main love for Israel is the fact (a) it is a Jewish state for ALL Jews and (b) it is generally secular in the mainstream of its religious and political practice with a small minority of irrational religious fanatics.
If these religious fundamentalist fanatics gain power and Israel goes the way of Islamic fundamentalism and even Christian fundamentalism I will be through supporting Israel. I will withdraw my support of Israel if the religiously fanatic gain power when my main argument for Israel is that it is a secular, democratic, and an advanced state. I as a Jew am so proud of what Israel has accomplished in the face of annihilation from its enemies that surround it and because of the our unique existentially threatening history during the Holocaust.
Think twice though, my Israeli brethren, of letting backward reactionaries rule. Be smart and reject the power of ultra orthodox religious adherents and reject them en masse.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The Face of Evil -- A Walk in Bradley Manning's Shoes: [A letter to the Metro West News] The photograph and the report by Time Magazine of an Afghanistan woman's mutilated face at the hands of the Taliban for the "sin" of adultery is so chilling and so mind boggling it defies my anemic ability to describe this bestial behavior perpetrated by them.
In light of this photograph, the depths of its depravity, the Islamic suicide blasts all over the world killing thousands perhaps hundreds of thousands of innocents, I say this is the way of our world in this era. This is the culture the nation must protect itself against as there are those who want to do nothing more than to take us down. This is not an illusion. How long would vocal critics of the nation, as I have been many times, survive in any Islamic country on planet earth given one's critical political views? Answer: Not long. Yes, we have been changed by 9/11. I am not happy about it but there are realities one cannot deny. It occurred period end of sentence. Assessment of good and evil nations is one of degree because man does not know perfection. There is no perfect nation on earth.
Bradley Manning revealed classified documents about this country and its allies. There were so many documents released it is with little certainty that we know if in fact damage was done despite some dubious claims that there was not. At the expense of whom would these hundreds of thousands released documents be?
From which country would those who are placing Manning in hero status wish to report? There must be something good about a country that allows a commentator to speak or write critically without being jailed. Could you or I be jailed for what we write? I suppose we could. Do I think we will be? No, I do not but I know for sure if I lived in Iran (or any Islamic nation) my life would be worthless and not only because I am a Jew. The left is at times blind to Islamic tyranny and easy to assign blame without critical analysis if it has the US and Israel's imprimatur attached to it.
Manning probably is being made an example by the US government. Bradley Manning was hoping to give the adversaries of this nation fuel to add to the rage that already runs deep in the veins of the Middle East. Where would Bradley Manning like to live given the fact that his sexuality is an issue? Would he like to live in Iran where they hang homosexuals or perhaps Saudi Arabia where life imprisonment or death would await? Would he like to live anywhere else in the Middle East where there is no place a homosexual can hide (with the exception of guess where? Right, if you guessed Israel!) He wants to help indict an adversary which would not permit him to take a breath. He must be either deranged or significantly stupid.
If Bradley Manning must be made an example to the rest of the country of what the country will do if it is betrayed then so be it. We are talking about preventing an entity Al Qaeda and friends of Al Qaeda from obtaining a nuclear device which they would run not walk through the nearest entrance and deliver to a place near you. This does not mean I support blindly everything the nation does. Clearly, I do not BUT no one forced Manning to
join the military. It was his choice. When one signs an oath -- a voluntary oath at that -- one does not betray it especially if the adversary on the field of battle is steroidal tyranny times 10.
I am not afraid to write, to phone, to blog or to say anything critical about my country and have done so numerous times. It is because of that fact that I believe our nation is worth saving and why if I walked in Bradley Manning's shoes I never ever would have betrayed it.
In light of this photograph, the depths of its depravity, the Islamic suicide blasts all over the world killing thousands perhaps hundreds of thousands of innocents, I say this is the way of our world in this era. This is the culture the nation must protect itself against as there are those who want to do nothing more than to take us down. This is not an illusion. How long would vocal critics of the nation, as I have been many times, survive in any Islamic country on planet earth given one's critical political views? Answer: Not long. Yes, we have been changed by 9/11. I am not happy about it but there are realities one cannot deny. It occurred period end of sentence. Assessment of good and evil nations is one of degree because man does not know perfection. There is no perfect nation on earth.
Bradley Manning revealed classified documents about this country and its allies. There were so many documents released it is with little certainty that we know if in fact damage was done despite some dubious claims that there was not. At the expense of whom would these hundreds of thousands released documents be?
From which country would those who are placing Manning in hero status wish to report? There must be something good about a country that allows a commentator to speak or write critically without being jailed. Could you or I be jailed for what we write? I suppose we could. Do I think we will be? No, I do not but I know for sure if I lived in Iran (or any Islamic nation) my life would be worthless and not only because I am a Jew. The left is at times blind to Islamic tyranny and easy to assign blame without critical analysis if it has the US and Israel's imprimatur attached to it.
Manning probably is being made an example by the US government. Bradley Manning was hoping to give the adversaries of this nation fuel to add to the rage that already runs deep in the veins of the Middle East. Where would Bradley Manning like to live given the fact that his sexuality is an issue? Would he like to live in Iran where they hang homosexuals or perhaps Saudi Arabia where life imprisonment or death would await? Would he like to live anywhere else in the Middle East where there is no place a homosexual can hide (with the exception of guess where? Right, if you guessed Israel!) He wants to help indict an adversary which would not permit him to take a breath. He must be either deranged or significantly stupid.
If Bradley Manning must be made an example to the rest of the country of what the country will do if it is betrayed then so be it. We are talking about preventing an entity Al Qaeda and friends of Al Qaeda from obtaining a nuclear device which they would run not walk through the nearest entrance and deliver to a place near you. This does not mean I support blindly everything the nation does. Clearly, I do not BUT no one forced Manning to
join the military. It was his choice. When one signs an oath -- a voluntary oath at that -- one does not betray it especially if the adversary on the field of battle is steroidal tyranny times 10.
I am not afraid to write, to phone, to blog or to say anything critical about my country and have done so numerous times. It is because of that fact that I believe our nation is worth saving and why if I walked in Bradley Manning's shoes I never ever would have betrayed it.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Palsied Paul: If anyone thinks Ron Paul is the Messiah reincarnated for the early twenty-first century, I advise you to think again. While this article from the Atlantic (link below) written by Conor Friedersdorf entitled: "Grappling with Ron Paul's Racist Newsletters" is rather lengthy and its conclusion is not exactly one to which I agree, it is a MUST read for those who are flirting with supporting this, in my opinion, dangerous Libertarian politico. All that glitters is not ... well you know the rest.
Ron Paul is, in my opinion, the fox dressed up in the sheep's clothes. Apologies for the cliches but if you read the post you will know what I mean. Even if one ignores the possible racist Paul, if elected, Paul would reduce government, if he even could, to the size of a Grover Norquist postage stamp eliminating all the ever-so-important regulatory institutions which, in fact, work well and are necessary to the nation's survival.
If you are thinking of voting for Ron Paul should he appear on the ballot, I advise re-thinking this inadvisable action which would give this mentally palsied man your vote!
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/grappling-with-ron-pauls-racist-newsletters/250206/
Ron Paul is, in my opinion, the fox dressed up in the sheep's clothes. Apologies for the cliches but if you read the post you will know what I mean. Even if one ignores the possible racist Paul, if elected, Paul would reduce government, if he even could, to the size of a Grover Norquist postage stamp eliminating all the ever-so-important regulatory institutions which, in fact, work well and are necessary to the nation's survival.
If you are thinking of voting for Ron Paul should he appear on the ballot, I advise re-thinking this inadvisable action which would give this mentally palsied man your vote!
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/grappling-with-ron-pauls-racist-newsletters/250206/
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