Friday, September 29, 2006

'08 reasons why Obama will run for president | Chicago Tribune

'08 reasons why Obama will run for president

By Eric Zorn- Published January 20, 2005

"I am not running for president. I am not running for president in four years. I am not running for president in 2008."

--Barack Obama, Nov. 3, 2004
Oh, but he will.

And here, for your Inauguration Day reading pleasure, are the top 8 reasons why the new junior senator from Illinois will change his mind about '08.

1. He can't be sure when the bloom will fade.

Sure, Obama is a huge celebrity now, an eloquent, charismatic embodiment of the best the Democratic Party can offer. But The Next Big Thing multiplied by Overexposure plus Time equals Yesterday's News.

Momentum like he has now is a powerful commodity, and there's no guarantee--not even much chance--that he'll still have anything like it in 2012.

2. The Democratic field appears weak.

Hillary Clinton has come out on top of every survey I've seen in which pollsters ask Democrats whom they'd like to see atop the ticket in 2008.

But I suspect this is the name-recognition factor at work, and that when primary season rolls around, Democrats will see her as a poisonously polarizing figure who will build a bridge back to the 20th Century and those dreadful Clinton Wars.

Other names mentioned along with Obama include John Edwards, John Kerry, Al Gore, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Joseph Biden, Tom Vilsack, Mark Warner, Russ Feingold, Evan Bayh, Harold Ford Jr. and Bill Richardson.

Among average Democrats, Obama's is the only name that doesn't tend to provoke either a yawn, a puzzled look or an anguished cry of, "Please, God, not again!"

3. The Republican field looks weak too.

Read the whole thing>>

Tortured to death

Thursday, September 28, 2006

A couple of other people's

The Fox interview: Yeah, Clinton lost it, but remember it WAS an ambush- they told him it was going to be about AIDS and world hunger, they used the distortions in the ABC mock-umentory, loosley based on the 9/11 Commission Report to try to blame him for something that really neither he or Bush could've stopped. So, like Whitewater, they couldn't find anything real, so they pressed his buttons to trip him up. It may not be vast, but it's a conspiracy.


October suprise? I know it's more complicated that this- supply/demand, summer driving season is over, Hammas-Israel thing cooled down, US-Iran thing has cooled down, BP's pipelines are back on line... be that as it may, Bu$h, Cheney, Rice all have $erious oil conection$, it is pretty convenient.
Just to fun not to post.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Boyer Valley Community Schools

Boyer Valley Community Schools
Here is Boyer Valley's NEW website

Shasha & Holli

President Clinton on capturing Osama Bin Laden:

I'm being asked this on the FOX network. ABC just had a right- wing conservative run in their little "Pathway to 9/11," falsely claiming it was based on the 9/11 Commission report, with three things asserted against me directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report.

And I think it's very interesting that all the conservative Republicans, who now say I didn't do enough, claimed that I was too obsessed with bin Laden. All of President Bush's neo-cons thought I was too obsessed with bin Laden. They had no meetings on bin Laden for nine months after I left office. All the right-wingers who now say I didn't do enough said I did too much — same people.

But at least I tried. That's the difference in me and some, including all the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Thursday, September 21, 2006

George W Bush and the 14 points of fascism - Project for the OLD American Century

George W Bush and the 14 points of fascism - Project for the OLD American Century

roblog: 12 warning signs of fascism

12 warning signs of fascism

Dan has this on his blog, but I thought it was so relevant that I had to copy it. How many of these have you seen during the past 3 years? Of the twelve, number 11 is the only one I haven't noticed.

1. Exuberant nationalism

Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic images, slogans and symbols - National flags are seen everywhere in public display. Territorial aggression is explained to be mere destiny -- an unbidden greatness thrust upon the nation by history.

It is this burden of unique responsibility that now raises the fascist state above all previous constraint, no longer bound by international obligations, treaties or law.

2. Enemies Identified

This national cause is identified as unity against enemies - The people are rallied around a unifying patriotism directed against some common threat: communists, liberals, a racial, ethnic or religious minority, intellectuals, homosexuals, terrorists, etc.

The state's message is sometimes couched in an easily recognized religious theme. Amazingly, this language is used even when the full context of the teaching shows the meaning to be diametrically opposed. Any dissent is "siding with the enemy", and therefor treasonous.

3. Rights Disappear

Disdain for human and political rights - Fascist regimes foster an artificial climate of fear by intentionally amplifying stress and anxiety. Citizens naturally feel a strong need for security and are easily persuaded to ignore abuses in the name of safety. The few still willing to question are met with bullying and smear campaigns of intimidation.

Legislative bodies, if still in existence at all, are cowed into rubber-stamp submission with occasional ceremonial opposition. The judiciary tends to become activist in support of state views. The public often looks away, or even enthusiastically approves as rights are stripped away.

The concept of the individual inevitably yields ground, exchanged for the promised safety of the all-powerful state.

4. Secrecy Demanded

Obsession with secrecy and national security - The workings of government become increasingly hidden. Questioning of authority is discouraged at all levels of society. From office talk at the water cooler up through the entire apparatus of rule, guarded speech and secrecy become ends in themselves.

Troubling questions are muted and entire areas of scrutiny are placed out of bounds by simply invoking "national security".

5. Military Glorified

Supremacy of the military - The military establishment receives a disproportionate share of government resources, even as pressing domestic needs are neglected. Individual soldiers and military culture are glamorized and made constantly visible.

This provides both an object for public glorification, as well as sharp warning to possibly restless citizens that the power of the state stands close at hand, ready to use its great potential for violence.

6. Corporations Shielded

Corporate power is protected - Typically, a segment of the business elite plays a major role in bringing fascists to national leadership, often from an unsavory obscurity. This marriage of big money and raw violence is often considered by historians to be the hallmark and backbone of fascism.

As these business-government-military interests meld, the significant threat of organized labor is clearly recognized. Labor unions and their support organizations are either co-opted successfully or ruthlessly suppressed and eliminated as soon as possible.

7. Corruption Unchecked

Rampant cronyism and corruption - Fascist states maintain power through this relatively small group of associates, mutually appointing each other to interlocking and rotating positions in government, business and the military.

With this degree of control, they make full use of both official secrecy and the ready threat of state violence to insulate themselves from any meaningful criticism. They are not accountable and are shielded from scrutiny in a way unthinkable in a democratic society.

8. Media Controlled

Controlled mass media - Sometimes the media are controlled directly by clumsy government functionaries. At other times, sympathetic corporate media insiders shape the themes indirectly, and therefor more skillfully. Image regularly trumps content as the "news" is presented breathlessly and with flashy stage effects.

A practiced formula of tenacious repetition brings even the most absurd lie into acceptance over time. By design, the very language itself and the coloration employed will push alternate views "out of the mainstream".

The terms of any remaining debate are narrowly defined to the state's advantage, making it easy to marginalize a truly differing perspective. Censorship and "self-censorship", especially in wartime, is common.

9. Rampant Sexism

Rampant sexism - Governments of fascist states tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Traditional gender roles are made even more rigid and exaggerated. Condemnation of abortion and a virulent homophobia are commonly built into broad policy.

10. Intellectual Bullying

Disdain for intellectuals - Fascist society tends to create an environment of extreme hostility to critical thought in general, and to academics in particular.

Ideologically driven "science" is elevated and lavishly funded, while any expression not in line with the state view is at first ignored, then challenged, then ridiculed and finally stamped out.

It is not uncommon for academics to be pressured to attack the work of their insufficiently patriotic peers. Writings are censored; teachers are fired and arrested. Free artistic expression in new works is openly attacked, and existing works deemed unpatriotic are often publicly destroyed.


11. Militarized Police

Obsession with crime and punishment - Fascist society is often willing to overlook police abuses and forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. Long jail sentences for clearly political offenses, torture and then assassination are at first uncomfortably tolerated, and then start to pile up to become the norm.

Often a national police force is given virtually unlimited power to snoop through the civilian population. Networks of surveillance and informers are employed, both for actual intelligence gathering and also as a means to keep neighbors and co-workers isolated and mistrustful of each other.

12. Elections Stolen

Fraudulent elections - In the disordered time as fascists are rising to power, the electoral arena becomes increasingly confusing, corrupted, and manipulated.

There is rising public cynicism and distrust over what are widely believed to be phony elections manipulated by moneyed influence, obvious media bias, smear campaigns, ballot tampering, judicial interference, intimidation, or outright assassination of potential opposition. Fascists in power have been known to use this disorder as the rationale to delay elections indefinitely.


With thanks to Lawrence Britt "Fascism Anyone?" Free Inquiry Spring 2003

BUSHFLASH

BUSHFLASH

12 warning signs of fascism from the Majority Visibility Project

12 warning signs of fascism from the Majority Visibility Project

The more things change...


The more things change, the more they...

Page 3 Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper & Schleswig Leader- Thursday, September 21 2006


“Daddy...” started Ellen, our four year old while we were on a walk to the library one Saturday morning.

“Yes honey?” I responded, waiting for her to continue.

“I miss our old town,” she sighed.

Needless to say I struggled to imagine what she was talking about. She was born after we’d moved back to Charter Oak from Los Angeles. She’s never lived anywhere else and doesn’t have an “old” town. However, she does have an amazingly active imagination- like most preschoolers, and she tends to be our drama-queen, so she could be talking about anything.

She’ll often pretend to be someone we don’t know and engage us in an imaginary conversation about people and situations she makes up. The most disconcerting one had to be when we were driving home from getting groceries and she announced-

“Mom,” serious dramatic pause, “Dad,” another pause, “I think I’m PREVAnant.” Obviously we need to cut off this kid’s TV intake. Needless to say, this pretend soap opera scenario led to some discussions about the birds and the bees about a half decade earlier than we had hoped.

But that “I miss our OLD town” comment had me stumped more than anxious.
“Uh... what do you mean Sweety? Why did you say you missed our OLD town?” I inquired.

“Yeah, where’d it go to?!” demanded her older sister, Grace, who is seven.

“I mean I miss the way our town USED to be,” Ellen explained.

“Huh?” I muttered. She’s only four, how sentimental and nostalgic can she POSSIBLY get? She never know a Charter Oak with a restaurant or a grocery store, let alone a bowling alley, movie theatre or car dealership. Heck, I doubt she even noticed the graphic design studio or the archery shop that were down town just a couple of years ago.

“WHAT are you talking about?” Grace and I both said to her incredulously.

“Why did we need a new bank? I liked our old bank,” Ellen pointed out. Forget about the fact that she probably never set foot in the old bank on the corner of First and Main or the fact that the new one on the corner of Main and Highway 141 is much bigger and gorgeous. I was about to point out these facts to her, and the fact that we conduct our business at the bank where her grandmother has worked for decades in Denison when she went on-

“Plus now they’re going to build ANOTHER new bank across the street from the new bank...” she complained, “how many banks do we need, anyway?!”

This did actually remind me a little of one comedian’s routine about stepping outside of a Starbucks only to be confronted with what, just across the street? Another Starbucks. But heck, as guilty as I might feel about Rickett’s loss, another new business in Charter Oak has to be a good thing for Charter Oak, right? So I was ready to explain this to her when she continued...

“And why did they have to make all the streets BLACK? I liked the streets the OLD way...” she pined.

As nervous as I am about my property taxes, I for one really appreciate how Charter Oak has brought in an asphalt company to resurface our streets. Frankly, it’s downright luxurious to have a smooth ride and an even walk.

I was about to try to explain this to her, to try to help her listen to reason, when she went on-

“Plus, I miss ‘Shell,’ why did they have to change the name of our gas ‘tation? Do we have no call it ‘CEMM-EX’ now?” she grumbled.

I was prepared to prepare a case in the defense of the owner and to explain that the Cenex corporation would probably offer him less expensive gasoline than Royal Dutch Shell when her big sister Grace piped in-

“Yeah, I miss Shell too! Only I miss ZIT-CO too!” she complained.

“Yeah, I miss ZITS-GO too!” agreed Ellen. Before Cenex was Shell, it was Citgo- I suppose that’s why the owner also calls his convenience store “EZ-Stop.”

There are folks in Charter Oak who still call it “Maria’s,” but of course my girls wouldn’t know that. Plenty of folks will always thing of it as “the General Store,” for that matter, even though that gas station was actually across the street from EZ Stop.

“Wow, Ellie, you sure miss a lot of things about how our town used to be,” I offered humbly.

“I just wish things could always be the way they used to be,” she finished with a sigh. “Why do things always have to change?”

I thought to myself, “Boy kiddo, if you feel this way at four, how will you feel when you’re 34?” But I didn’t see the point in saying it to her out loud.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

The new media and mixed messages

My administration must have recently heard from someone about my cheer coach's blog because he suggested that I review or revise some posts that I had on it that were pretty comment-heavy. (I'm sure I was whining about how difficult it has been to actually put together a squad of 6 cheerleaders). This certainly was a ding to my ego- any time you do something creative or expressive and someone somewhere doesn't like even just the smallest part of it, creative and expressive people tend to take it personally. But we all need to consider what we say to and about each other, that's only kind. Besides, there are always more than one side to any story. One parent was frustrated with me for writing that they wouldn't let their child cheer because it wasn't a real sport. Well, that's what the child told me. The parent told me that they had trust issues with the student that could be a problem for times after practices or before and after games. I apologized to them and told them that I guess I tend to be too optimistic when I assess a kids' charater. I take the explanations they give me at face value and really need to consider the parent/guardian's point of view. 13-17 year olds have been known to violate trust.

Now I could get in a huffy about my First amendment rights, but that particular blog could be thought of as collaborative- There are pictures of kids in school uniforms at school functions and I'm writing about my experience as a coach (a school employee) so I completely agreed with my principal's concerns. This is what I wrote to him:

• I always want to try to be positive- that's what cheer is supposed to do

• I always want to promote positive interactions with students. parents and community

• I'll go back and try to re-examine some of my previous posts, I received one comment on the blog from a parent in the past 4 years and I responded to them with explanation and apology- kept it positive

• I'll try to be more consioussensitive to be positive in the future and try not to just write flow-of-consiousness

• however, I guess I'll go ahead and remove any links to it from the school website anyway- just to be on the safe side. I already go out of my way to only use first names and to try to be as objective and sensitive as possible, but there's no way to be 1000% certain that you won't press somebody's button sometime and I'd just assume not risk it.

• FYI, I've always had the following disclamer on that blog-
"This is not an official BVCS site. The views expressed here and the links provided here are not necessarily those of the school, it's administrators or board. This site is the sole responsibility of Coach."

Thanks for the head's-up about it. What a time we live in, technology allows you to be your own publisher, but you can't say much of anything without somebody getting their nose out of joint. Pretty ironic that I've been teaching Newspaper class about libel, slander, Tinker, and Hazelwood, prior-restraint, editorial function as opposed to censorship etc. etc.

Consider it taken care of.

And I will. I'm addicted to blogging. I'd rather pair it back and make it more sanitized than possibly face having to give it up. Sort of like coffee. I knew I had to back off the hard stuff for my blood-pressure, my nerves and my kidneys. So thank God for decaf. With rights come responsibility. With priviledges must come self-restraint.



How to help, instead of feeling helpless

How to help, instead of feeling helpless

Page 3 Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper & Schleswig Leader- Thursday, September 14, 2006


I really wanted to write something light and bright and funny this week. I really did. But while you may read this on September 14, I’m writing it on September 7th and the airwaves and WWWeb are as saturated now with stories about September 11 as they were about Katrina when I wrote last week’s column.

Don’t worry, I promise not to wax political and point a finger of blame or just sit here and complain. No, after last week, I felt a little like a muckraker. So I wanted to write something more positive this week.
You know what a muckraker is. Best case scenario, it’s a journalist who wants to expose or oppose error, corruption, neglect and injustice. Worst case scenario, it’s someone who just rakes the muck.

Teddy Roosevelt compared social crusading writers to people who rake-up manure instead of shoveling it. They draw your attention to problems, but they don’t help clean it up.
Well, now that you’ve been either depressed or angered for two weeks straight by all the talk you’ve been seeing, hearing and reading about September 11 and the so-called War on Terror, I’d like to present you with ways that you can help.

I believe the best way to help fellow Americans is to give blood. The American Red Cross always needs blood donors, They aslo accept donations of money and goods as well as volunteers. Their website is http://www.redcross.org/ or you can call them at 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767)

Everybody thinks about the Salvation Army between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but people need help year round. When they’r enot wearing red and ringging a bell at the mall, you can find them at http://www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling their Midwest headquarters in Chicago at 1-888-574-2587

The September 11th Families’ Association supports victims of terrorism. You can make donations to the 9/11 Families Association to help with ongoing counselling and medical services as well as for scholarships for the children of 9/11 victoms. Their website is http://www.911wvfa.org/

The New York City Police Foundation is one of the most reputible chairities on the internet at http://www.nycpolicefoundation.org

No matter how you feel about whether we should’ve invaded Iraq, or how you think that war has been managed, we all want to support our troops and their vamilies. Here are three great organizations for doing that:

The USO has a website- http://www.uso.org/

The VFW’s Military Assistance Program (MAP) is a quality of life initiative that focuses on easing the financial emergencies of deploying service members and supporting them and their family through the hardships of deployment. Their website is http://www.vfw.org/ or you can call their MAP office at (816) 756-3390, ext. 211

Soldier Angels is a way to “adopt” a soldier, write them letters, send care packages, and find out more about how to help them & their families at http://www.soldiersangels.com/ or call (615) 676-0239 and leave a voice mail.

You can always ask you local Police and Fire Departments how you can help them. In rural areas like ours you can volunteer and I’m sure they’d accept donations that they could use toward equipment and training.

This may have nothing to do with 9/11, but the annual Farm Aid Concert is being held in Camden New Jersey this year September 30.

If you would like to find out how you can help family farmers, volunteer or make a donation you might want to get in touch with Farm Aid.

You may want to get in touch with them if you’re a farmer in need of assistance like natural disaster relief, legal advocates, suicide prevention or referral to local and regional organizations which can help you assess you options, stay on their land and continue farming.
Their toll free hotline at 800-FARM-AID (800-327-6243) from 9am to 5pm eastern time. Their website is http://www.farmaid.org

If you don’t have any time, talents, possessions, or money to donate, we can all pray. Pray for the families of 9/11 victims, for our soldier and their families, and obviously for the wisdom our leaders and agents and officials in the military, intelligence and law enforcement communities.

While you’re at it, why not pray that God would turn the hearts of our enemies too.

Monday, September 11, 2006

9/11


"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~Benjamin Franklin


After all, why do they hate us? If it's really because of our freedom, they don't they win when we abandon those freedoms?

And besides:

"God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love." ~ 1 John 4:17-18


and is it a war between a so called "Christian Nation" and Islamist extremism? Okay, than ask yourself WWJD?

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."~Romans 12:20-21



Friday, September 08, 2006

investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and counten

Please! write, call, or email your representatives and URGE them to vote yes on 635! Let's get to the bottom of the Iraq fiasco.

HR 635

Resolved, That there is hereby established in the House of Representatives a select committee to be known as the Select Committee on Administration Predetermination to Go to War and...

Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment.

Read more, visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.RES.635:

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Two Tragic Anniversaries

Two Tragic Anniversaries

Page 3 Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper & Schleswig Leader- Thursday, September 7, 2006


As I write this column, the airwaves are saturated with documentaries and analysis of last year's hurricane Katrina. When you receive your copy of this paper, next Tuesday will be the fifth annual observation of "Patriot's Day."

Katrina left at least 1,605 fatalities, directly effected 5 states, and cost something in the neighborhood of $75 billion in damage.

Military, law enforcement and medical workers agree that there were about 30,000 evacuees at the New Orleans Superdome and somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 at the city's Convention Center.

America hasn't seen a natural disaster of such scale. When the levees broke, flood waters poured into the soup-bowl of a city- much of which is ten feet below sea level. Disease, starvation and exposure probably wreaked as much havoc as the storm itself.

It revealed much about America, both our strengths and our sin. Thousands of volunteers left the comfort of their homes all over the country to help. The city of Houston Texas, much to its credit stepped-up to offer refuge, shelter, and jobs to displaced Gulf citizens.

Katrina spurred some of the greatest demonstrations of love, compassion and sacrifice America has ever seen. There are still volunteers scooping trash and black mold out of houses and helping rebuild.

Needless to say, Katrina also revealed some huge faults in our country. Negligence and failure of leadership to plan and to act decisively and effectively were exposed on city, state, and Federal levels.

According to one report on National Public Radio, to date, 17,000 households from Biloxi Mississippi have applied for help in rebuilding, but a year later, the state of Mississippi have issued only 41 checks.

Like it or not, it did reveal our tacit, institutional racism. We wanted to believe that it hasn't been a problem since the 1960's, but while it may not be hot, angry and overt, it is still very real and very hurtful. Had those tens of thousands at the Superdome and Convention Center been middle class whites instead of poor blacks, there would've been busses, helicopters, doctors, fresh water and everything they needed.

But instead, lets face it, we middle class, comfortable, complacent, supposedly "compassionate-conservatives" look at Katrina as a form of welfare reform and urban renewal. The lower 9th Ward won't be rebuilt, but condos, resorts, and casinos are already being built. If you can't see Katrina as shedding light on racism, you can't escape that is tore the facade off of our indifference toward and aversion to poor people.

It would be too easy to level blame on agencies or administrations. When we lost our apartment in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, we had nothing but good experience with FEMA. Many have speculated that their problems came when they were placed under the auspices of Homeland Security or from incompetent political appointees.

I for one think that the City of New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi, and the Bush administration could all learn from what FDR did to help us out of the Great Depression, in the middle of major drought. Three simple steps; Relief, Recovery, and Reform.

FDR's New Deal took courage and risks, but it did so with intelligence and pragmatism. What worked kept working, what didn't was scrapped and replaced by something else. Either way, at least SOMETHING was being tried.

An estimated 3,000 people were killed in the World Trade Center attacks. If Katrina kicked America in our soft underbelly, 9/11 was like a surprise blow to the back of the head.
On that sapphire blue sky day in September, the world was shocked with us, grieved for us and wanted to come to our aid. Five years later, we have never been so feared, resented or loathed.

Maybe that's because, like a school kid who wants to get even on the playground, we lashed out spastically, indiscriminately, and frantically. Instead of carefully, patiently, and systematically.

Best case scenario, our leaders had the best intentions of "taking the war on terror to the terrorists," but their efforts were poorly planned and severely mismanaged. Worst case scenario, the tragedy of 9/11 was cynically exploited to advance some other agenda. Either way both Republicans and Democrats are frustrated with the results.

Worst of all, we are divided against ourselves as we haven't been since Vietnam. Rather than standing united as we did on September 12, 2001, our anger and partisanship and fear have begun to tear us apart.

We need to remember that patriotism is not when we say, "My Country, right or wrong, love it or leave it." True patriotism is when if we see our country and believe that it is wrong, we dare to speak up and help to make it right again.

Some think we should listen to the pleas of the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and make the reforms called for in the 9/11 Commission's Report. Others believe nothing is so important as supporting our troops in Iraq, still others believe the best thing to do is to bring them home. Somehow we need to listen to each other even when we disagree.

As Lincoln once said, "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."


If we don't the terrorists win.

Update on God's Grace

Here's an update for you friends & family following the progress on our daughter Gracie- The last blog entry on her was August 8 an is at http://tedscolumn.blogspot.com/2006/08/gods-grace.html


Yesterday she saw Dr. Katherine Mathews at St. Luke's in Sioux City. She is from the University of Iowa's "Childrens Hospital of Iowa."

Her expertise includes neuromuscular disorders and the neuropsychological outcome of childhood stroke. She told us that her examination didn't suggest any genetic diseases or disorders to her but that she would like to have us take Grace to the U of I in Iowa City sometime this year for a series of tests in the speech, neuropsychological, gi & urological areas to find out more. She doesn't see why the speech and bathroom issues would be related, but she wasn't prepared to rule that out either. She didn't think that Grace's lack of motor-coordination was severe enough to constitute a problem either.

In other words, we didn't really get any answers. However, we are getting more direction and help- things that we felt like we didn't get from the gi specialist we took her too at Children's Hospital in Omaha and that our general practitioner hasn't been able to offer anymore.

Are we playing into their hands?

There'a a bunch of great information out there on terrorism that Americans should consider with the 5th anniversary of 9/11 coming up.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5770651
Book Explores Latest Jihadi Thinking
All Things Considered, September 5, 2006 · Several lesser-known thinkers whose work is widely read on the Internet are more influential than Osama bin Laden in shaping the views and actions of Islamic radicals. That's the view of New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright, author of the book 'The Looming Tower.'


9/11/2006 issue of the New Yorker- http://www.newyorker.com/main/magazine/
'The Master Plan' by Lawrence Wright
What will the next stage of jihad be?


This may be the book that Wright mentions in his interview, it's sort of to Al Quaida what 'Mein Kampf' was to the NAZIs. The most disturbing thing is that they expected and wanted us to invade Iraq and hope we'll do the same with Iran. Why? Let's see... destabalize the region, politicize and radicalize the Islamic world in general so that they'll resent the U.S. and boost terrorist recruiting, spread our troops and resourses too thin. Hmm. By the way, the plan is to establish a pan-Arab state that will be the new dominant superpower by 2040.

Al-Qaida's Playbook

June 27, 2006 · The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has translated a 268-page book written by al-Qaida (PDF). The book, written in 2004 by a top al-Qaida insider, is called Management of Savagery. I think it's safe to assume we're the savages. It's a really interesting read. I think it's easier for us to think of al-Qaida operatives as idiots, or at best, misinformed. Well, turns out that's exactly what they think of us. And boy, they don't appreciate our media slogans.

"There is no doubt that the power which God gave to the two superpowers (America and Russia) was overwhelming in the estimation of humans… Yet all of that is not enough... Therefore, the two superpowers must resort to using a deceptive media halo which portrays these powers as non-coercive and world-encompassing, able to reach into every earth and heaven as if they possess the power of the Creator of creation.


I'd also love to reccomend
The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
On December 5, 2005, the 9/11 Commission issued its final report card on the government’s fulfillment of the recommendations issued in July 2004: one A, twelve Bs, nine Cs, twelve Ds, three Fs, and four incompletes. Here is stunning evidence that Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón, with more than sixty years of experience in the comic-book industry between them, were right: far, far too few Americans have read, grasped, and demanded action on the Commission’s investigation into the events of that tragic day and the lessons America must learn.

Using every skill and storytelling method Jacobson and Colón have learned over the decades, they have produced the most accessible version of the 9/11 Report. Jacobson’s text frequently follows word for word the original report, faithfully captures its investigative thoroughness, and covers its entire scope, even including the Commission’s final report card. Colón’s stunning artwork powerfully conveys the facts, insights, and urgency of the original. Published on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, an event that has left no aspect of American foreign or domestic policy untouched, The 9/11 Report puts at every American’s fingertips the most defining event of the century.

Friday, September 01, 2006

God's Politics- Changing the conversation - www.sojo.net

Changing the conversation -

God’s Politics turned out to be the book that opened the door to that new and wider conversation. Publishers tell me it has opened up space for a long list of new and upcoming books on the subject. The media now profiles many diverse voices on religion and public life, not just the same old cast of characters on the Right. Political leaders from both sides of the aisle are entering into the important discussion of not just whether faith should influence politics, but how. And, perhaps most important, the faith community (especially a new generation of young people) is speaking and acting on a wider and deeper range of moral issues beyond just abortion and gay marriage - including poverty, the environment, HIV/AIDS, sex trafficking, human rights, and war and peace.

Learn more about God's Poitics and it's author, Rev. Jim Wallis at www.sojo.net