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HERE'S TO THE CRAZY ONES AND I'M ONE OF THEM
Allen L Roland
Vincent van Gogh, Self-Portrait, 1889
"My aim in my life is to make pictures and drawings, as many and as well as I can; then at the end of my life, I hope to pass away, looking back with love and tender regret, and thinking, "Oh, the pictures I might have made!" ~ Letter to Theo van Gogh (Vincent's brother), November 19, 1883
I've always been crazy enough to live my dreams and I'm still doing it. I've always said YES to myself and not allowed myself to be controlled by fear. Now I'm living my ultimate dream of sharing and celebrating my thoughts and feelings as a writer and therapist ~ and making a difference in the process:
I've always wanted to make a difference, to share my truth and have it hit a chord that resonates with others.
I've always wanted to just be myself, as outrageous as that might be, and know that it was enough!
Where do the two June elections leave Hezbollah?
Franklin Lamb,
Dahiyeh
Some Legmen for the US Israeli lobby, and even some here in Lebanon appear barely able to contain themselves, such is their felt glee over the Lebanese and Iranian election results. Some supporters of Israel see this election as two recent victories while others calculate that Israel is scratching for some good news given that polling data from Israeli surveys show that more than 50% of its population favors bombing Iran to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Another survey, late last month, found that nearly one third of Israelis polled said they would leave Israel if Iran gets a nuclear weapon which it likely will have-if it decides to-within the next 18 months according to estimates by the Israeli Defense Ministry. Meanwhile US visa applications have broken records, according to the US Embassy in Tel Aviv for three out of the past five months..
One, election Israel hoped would help it maintain its occupation of Palestine was the June 7th Lebanese election (which the Hezbollah led opposition actually won by nearly ten percent of the popular vote.) But it may have to look elsewhere for solace because rather than being defeated and weakened, Hezbollah is currently stronger in Lebanon than it has ever been. The Party is dominating the construction of the next Lebanese government, as it negotiates the terms of its support for Saad Hariri as Prime Minister. Hezbollah’s popular support has increased due it its post election sportsmanlike acceptance of the results and its conduct and efforts at accommodation with its political adversaries.
Beyond Politics: People for Sale in Hungry World
By Ramzy Baroud
One might be tempted to dismiss the recent findings of the US State Department on human trafficking as largely political. But do not be too hasty.
Criticism of the State Department's report on trafficked persons, issued on 16 June, should be rife. The language describing US allies' efforts to combat the problem seems undeserved, especially when one examines the nearly 320- page report and observes the minuscule efforts of these governments. Also, it was hardly surprising to find that Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria -- Washington's foremost foes -- languish in the report's Tier 3 category, i.e. countries where the problem is most grave and least combated. Offenders in Tier 3 are subject to US sanctions, while governments of countries in Tier 1 are perceived as vigilant in fighting human trafficking.
Who's A Low Level Terrorist? Are You?
By Emily Spence
Recently, an American Civil Liberties Union report pointed out, "Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as ‘low level terrorism’.” [1]
Despite that DoD officials removed the offensive section from their educational resources at the urging of ACLU members, the DoD stance is still troubling since a longstanding practice to designate peaceful, law abiding activists as dangerous and treasonable still exists in many government departments and agencies. Indeed the participants of the first antiwar protest against the Vietnam incursion, put together in the mid-1960's by peaceable Quakers and FOR members after having discussed Gandhi's Salt March as a model for a nonviolent demonstration, faced government operatives filming them face by face from rooftops as they moved en masse down Broadway to the UN Plaza. (My mother, a pacifist married to a World War II Conscientious Objector, and I, a child at the time of the march, both were in attendance. When the film crew focused on us, she stood tall, faced the agents with their telephoto lens, glared in disdainful defiance and, simultaneously, throw the corner of her coat over my face. Afterwards, she muttered, "How dare they try to intimidate us!")
Have a cup of coffee with Vanunu
eileen fleming
Photo © eileen fleming, Mordechai Vanunu,
July 14, 2009 @ the American Colony
Mordechai Vanunu can be found most any day from 3-5 PM, having coffee in the garden restaurant of the American Colony, in occupied east Jerusalem.
On June 14, 2009 Vanunu said:
"They renewed the restrictions to not speak to foreigners until November.
"I meet foreigners every day. I am talking with people every day.
"But I am not writing or announcing the appeal until after it happens.
"It was scheduled for January, then May 6th and June 18th. Now I am waiting for a new court date.
"The Central Commander of the General Army testified in court that it is OK if I speak in public as long as I do not talk about nuclear weapons.
America's "Bases of Empire"
by Stephen Lendman
Besides waging perpetual wars, nothing better reveals America's imperial agenda than its hundreds of global bases - for offense, not defense at a time the US hasn't had an enemy since the Japanese surrendered in August 1945.
So when they don't exist, they're invented as former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Charles W. Freeman, Jr., suggested in a May 24, 2007 speech to the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs:
"When our descendants look back on the end of the 20th century and the beginning of this one, they will be puzzled. The end of the Cold War relieved Americans of almost all international anxieties." As the world's sole remaining superpower, "We did not rise to the occasion."
No Reason to Favor Private Health Insurers
Joel S. Hirschhorn
In the national debate about health care reform absolutely nothing makes less sense than the positive views of much of the public about private health insurers. There is no good reason to have positive views of private health insurers, the companies that have relentlessly increased the costs for very limited health insurance. Copays, deductibles and premiums have raped those lucky enough to have health insurance while also making it very difficult much of the time to get coverage for all kinds of health problems. The US health care system is unbelievably inefficient, providing far less effective health care for what is incredibly high costs, compared to all other industrialized countries. The main reason is the private health insurance industry.
Iraq: the dirty “racket” of petro-politics
Stuart Littlewood
A speech made 75 years ago by a US Marine Corps general, Smedley Butler, helps put today’s belated Iraq war inquiry, promised by the British government, into proper context.
”There are only two things we should fight for,” said Butler. “One is the defence of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket…
“A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.
ODE TO THE DEATH OF NEDA AGHA-SOLTAN
Allen L Roland
Neda Agha-Soltan moments before bleeding to death from a sniper wound
June 20, 2009, as her music teacher and others try to resuscitate her.
The bloody video of Neda's violent
death on Saturday has circulated in Iran and around the world on the World Wide Web. It has made Ms. Neda Agha-Soltan, a 26-year-old musician, who relatives said was not political, an instant symbol of the Iranian anti-government movement.
One short seven line poem circulating on the Internet explicitly linked Neda's death to other symbols of the Iranian protest movement ~ and I've taken the liberty to complete the poem:
The U.S. Federal Budget Pipeline: Where Do The Dollars Drain?
By Emily Spence
In order to raise sales and personal royalty gains, Alan Greenspan, just prior to the release of his book The Age of Turbulence, carried out a public relations blitz dragged out for a whole week in which he made remarks similar to those conveyed in his hardback. These included statements such as “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”
Indeed, many Americans and people from other countries knew that domination of a region rich in fossil fuels represented the primary motive for the Iraq incursion and the only significant reason that Iran is not similarly assaulted is that it has an arsenal, unlike Saddam Hussein, capable of rendering serious damage in retaliation (i.e., aimed at U.S. troops in Iraq). Besides, the U.S. military is stretched too thin as it is with approximately 1,000 bases worldwide, along with operations occurring on every continent, such as the AFRICOM sorties, which are generally tied to oil company interests as the map at the first reference shows. [1]
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