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To all the Sharp Dressed Soldiers Shipping Out
eileen fleming
[Florida, July 18, 2009] Last Wednesday, I flew to Atlanta to meet up with an old friend from my misspent youth who became a lifetime member of the ZZ Top fan club in 1983. Ever since, she has received two free tickets when ever they tour. They opened for Aerosmith who will remain forever young on Youtube: Aerosmith - Train Kept A Rollin'
The next morning I awoke fully conscious that it was the first Thursday of a weekly global call to fast for Gaza http://www.fastforgaza.net/statement during daylight hours so that the hearts and minds of the leaders of the world would open up to the human misery in Gaza Palestine and be moved to end the siege and occupation. Three hours and three cups of coffee later, I boarded the hotel elevator for the last time.
Are Israeli courts staffed by Nazi judges?
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
Just as anti-Semitism became official policy in Germany in the mid 1930s, it seems hostility toward Arabs, especially Israel’s own 1.5 million Palestinian citizens, is becoming a de facto official policy of the Israeli state.
This ominous orientation is being constantly promoted by a number of manifestly racist cabinet ministers and Knesset members who declare openly that their aim is to make everyone in Israel “submit to the Jewish nature of the state.”
The brash racism is now permeating through the entire apparatus of the Jewish state, from the police, to the justice system, to the army, to the educational system and, of course, the media.
Muzzling press freedom in Palestine
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
The recent decision by the Ramallah-based regime to close down the al-Jazeera offices in the West Bank illustrates the vulnerability and utter stupidity of the American-backed and Israeli-tolerated junta.
The decision came a day after Fatah Secretary-General Farouk Kaddoumi appeared on al-Jazeera, accusing Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas and his aide, former Gaza strong man Muhammed Dahlan, of complicity in poisoning the late Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat.
Justifying the decision, PA officials accused al Jazeera of bias, incitement and fostering division within the Palestinian community.
LIVING RICH AND CRYING POOR
by Mary Pitt
As a member of the "Depression Generation". I have loved my country as one loves a husband; for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Now there are those who tell us that our nation is as severely ill as it was at that time.
I recall, one summer evening, following my father outside as he searched the scorching sky for signs of a rain cloud. "What happened to all the rain, Daddy?". I asked this man who presisted in stirring the dusty soil, planting seeds, and praying for a crop. I shall never forget his reply:
Michael Jackson is dead, it is too late to develop a conscience
Roland Michel Tremblay
We Are the World, but do we have a conscience? I’m sure you believe we do. Sometimes though it could be opened to debate as we can easily point out many human beings, Black or White, who do not appear to have any conscience at all. Mostly politicians, religious leaders, management and all sorts of Smooth Criminals. They send us Off the Wall. Maybe none of them require a conscience to reach ultimate power and wealth. As Michael Jackson stated, They Don’t Care About Us. Is it too late to develop a conscience?
THE SEVEN STAGES OF LOVE / FEW GET BEYOND STAGE SIX
Allen L Roland
Relationship is a means to an end versus an end in itself. The true purpose of relationship is the full flowering of each partner but only those who conquer fear reach the seventh stage of love:
Most people are afraid of love because they are afraid of their deepest joy, delight and inner freedom.
In relationship, we must reach a place where being honest and being true to yourself is more important than the survival of the relationship ! Let me illustrate this using Stendhal's and Roland's seven stages of a love relationship :
Musicians ask Obama to ban music torture
Mary Shaw
A few years ago, British attorney Clive Stafford Smith spoke at an Amnesty International conference that I attended. Smith represents some Guantanamo prisoners, and he shared their horrible stories with us.
One chilling example is the story of his client Binyam Mohem, a Londoner who has since been released from Guantanamo:
"They hung me up. I was allowed a few hours of sleep on the second day, then hung up again, this time for two days. My legs had swollen. My wrists and hands had gone numb.... There was loud music, [Eminem's] 'Slim Shady' and Dr. Dre for 20 days.... The CIA worked on people, including me, day and night.... Plenty lost their minds. I could hear people knocking their heads against the walls and the doors, screaming their heads off."
That's our tax dollars at work, people.
Dangerous Untreated West Bank Wastewater
by Stephen Lendman
B'Tselem is the Jerusalem-based independent Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (OPT) with a well-deserved reputation for accuracy and integrity. It was founded in 1989 to "document and educate the Israeli public, policymakers (and concerned people everywhere) about human rights violations in the OPT, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public (and elsewhere, especially among Jews), and create a human rights culture in Israel" to convince government officials to respect human rights and comply with international law.
It conducts wide-ranging, carefully researched, and thoroughly cross-checked reports, most recently its June one titled, "Foul Play: Neglect of wastewater treatment in the West Bank." This article discusses its findings as further evidence of how Israel violates international humanitarian law as an occupying power. Because no global authority holds it accountable, over 2.8 million West Bank Palestinians suffer along with another 1.5 million under siege in Gaza for over two years and counting.
Clinton Outlines Continuation of Bush Policies Under Obama at CFR
by Jeremy R. Hammond
In a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined the Obama administration’s foreign policy, which has been widely touted as a sharp break from that of his predecessor’s. Judging from commentary in the media, Obama has ushered in a new age of diplomacy and international engagement. Clinton herself suggested as much.
But setting aside the platitudes that comprised most of Clinton’s speech and looking closely at her remarks that actually spoke meaningfully towards U.S. policy under the Obama, a different picture emerges, one not of a change of course from Bush but rather of near perfect continuity between the two administrations.
Obama’s foreign policy parallels Bush’s. The train may have switched tracks, but it’s still headed in the same direction.
Gaza and the Language of Power
By Ramzy Baroud
Nearly six months have passed since the Israeli army ceased pounding the tiny stretch of land that is the Gaza Strip. Since then, Gaza continues to appear on the news once in a while, as a recurring subject of human misery.
The tireless efforts of British MP George Galloway, and the courageous endeavors of the Free Gaza movement have managed to push Gaza back into the spotlight, even if momentarily and with political context which is lacking at best.
Aside from that, the three-week Israeli onslaught in Gaza, starting December 27 – and the catastrophic conditions endured there – have served the purpose of a footnote in many news reports. The event is generally cited as such: “Israel moved against Hamas in Gaza to quell the firing of militants’ rockets, resulting in the death of such and such number.” Hamas, according to media conventional wisdom, is the “militant group that ousted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ forces in a bloody coup in mid 2007.”
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