Peter Jennings - My prayers are with you
I am very sorry to hear that Peter Jennings has lung cancer. I sensed that he was feeling very ill last Friday as he delivered the evening news and my heart goes out to him and his family. My own mother has been struggling with cancer for the past two years and I know the toll it takes upon the patient and caring supporters around him or her. In the case of serious illness, even as we take mental count of our losses, it is also a time to fully realize all the blessings we have in this life and to appreciate what it means to be fully alive, despite hardships. Times of life transition can be portals to deeper connections with our own inner wisdom and with those we love. My prayers are with Peter and his family.
In The News TodayThe Real Iraq - Not Pessimistic, Not Optimistic - Just Real- Juan Cole provides us with some excerpts from stories about Iraq which we haven't seen in the U.S. press.Tom DeLay - Ultimate Poster Boy for D.C. Corruption- I think it's a shame that Republican House representatives consciously chose to put 'Party' ahead of 'Country' today by defending the egregious and arrogantly unethical political activities of Tom Delay. House Republicans expressed strong support for the Majority Leader, dismissing Democratic criticism of DeLay as "evidence of partisan politics." If we are aiming to be a united and consistently moral and ethical America, we have to start criticizing somewhere, and it may as well be with the most powerful perpetrator of unethical political behavior. It's time for our Representatives to make the nation's interests their top priority. Accusations of partisanship, when a booming majority of citizens can see that Delay is the ultimate poster boy for corruption of power in D.C., are insults to our intelligence and sense of ethics. Do they think we can't detect their ethical inconsistency? Borrowing from Gandhi, we must be the change we all want to see. A very large majority of Americans are appalled by the greasy-palmed cooperation between our Representatives and lobbyists in Washington, D.C. It's gone on far too long in the bold light of day. Shame on House Republicans! They displayed a total disrespect for the values of truth and honesty today.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Tom DeLay's wife and daughter have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by his political action and campaign committees.Tragedy in San Jose de ApartadoThe crimes Oscar Romero gave his life opposing are being committed today in Colombia. In response to the killing of eight members of the Colombian peace community San Jose de Apartado, activists organized by Witness for Peace (WFP) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) held a vigil at the U.S. State Department, which is responsible for certifying Colombia to receive billions of dollars in military aid. The peace community holds the Colombian military responsible for the killings, which included dismemberment of bodies with machetes. Jesus Abad Colorado was a photojournalist who accompanied the community members who had spent four days in search of the bodies. You can take action by writing a letter to the State Department. (See Maryknoll site).
In progress
