Peter Jennings-My prayers are with you

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 Today

In The News Today

The 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 Apartado

The 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

Solar Eclipse Due on Day of Pope's Funeral

Solar Eclipse Due on Day of Pope's Funeral


photo: exploratorium.edu

There will be what's called a hybrid solar eclipse on Friday, which happens to be the day of Pope John Paul II's funeral. I'm not particularly superstitious, but knowing that the Sun will be briefly plunged into darkness on the day of the Pope's funeral is just a little spooky. I'm sure many people will see it as a strange and meaningful coincidence.

On that same day, it will also be the 28th anniversary of my maternal grandfather's funeral and the 28th birthday of my cousin Joseph. I remember because his mother went into labor during Grandfather's funeral service.

Saul Bellow RIP

Saul Bellow RIP

Saul Bellow has passed away at the age of 83.

Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, in 1915, and was raised in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago, received his Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honors in sociology and anthropology, did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, and served in the Merchant Marine during World War II.

Mr. Bellow's first novel, Dangling Man, was published in 1944, and his second, The Victim, in 1947. In 1948 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent two years in Paris and traveling in Europe, where he began The Adventures of Augie March, which won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. Later books include Seize The Day (1956), Henderson The Rain King (1959), Herzog (1964), Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories (1968), and Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970). His most recent work of fiction, Humboldt's Gift (1975), was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Both Herzog and Mr. Sammler's Planet were awarded the National Book Award for fiction. Mr. Bellow's first non-fiction work, To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account, published on October 25,1976, is his personal and literary record of his sojourn in Israel during several months in 1975.

In 1965 Mr. Bellow was awarded the International Literary Prize for Herzog, becoming the first American to receive the prize. In January 1968 the Republic of France awarded him the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, the highest literary distinction awarded by that nation to non-citizens, and in March 1968 he received the B'nai B'rith Jewish Heritage Award for "excellence in Jewish literature", and in November 1976 he was awarded the America's Democratic Legacy Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the first time this award has been made to a literary personage.

A playwright as well as a novelist, Saul Bellow was the author of The Last Analysis and of three short plays, collectively entitled Under the Weather, which were produced on Broadway in 1966. He has contributed fiction to Partisan Review, Playboy, Harper's Bazaar, The New Yorker, Esquire, and to literary quarterlies. His criticism has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Horizon, Encounter, The New Republic, The New Leader, and elsewhere. During the 1967 Arab-lsraeli conflict, he served as a war correspondent for Newsday. He has taught at Bard College, Princeton University, and the University of Minnesota, and was a member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.

*From NobelPrize.org

The "101" has arrived

The "101" has arrived

Jay Rosen is talking about the "101s".
Do you know what they are?

The community-based 101-site works on the principle of open publishing, and an essential element of is allowing anyone to instantaneously self-publish their work on a globally accessible web site. The site encourages people to become the media by posting their own articles, analysis, videos, audio clips and artwork directly to the web site.

My guest-blogger and American Street colleague Dave is running Charlotte 101, along with the debonair Charlotte-based businessman Darryl Parker.

There is Roch Smith Jr's Greensboro 101. (The original 101). Their editorial board is here. The editors have a hands-on role in selecting articles that appear as features on Greensboro101. and also serve as advisors, offering guidance for the direction and operations of the site.

And now there's Nashville 101.

Seriously, What's Wrong With the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

Seriously, What's Wrong With the San Francisco Board of Supervisors?

Now I'm really worked up.

Skippy's post at American Street today is a must-read. Skippy has gleaned the story from Dan Gillmor and CJR.

I've worked my fingers to the bone for almost three years straight and have not made a dime for blogging. As a matter of fact, I'm in the red over it. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a new city ordinance which would entail requiring any blogger that mentions a candidate for local office that receives more than 500 hits to pay a registration fee and become subject to web site traffic audits. That would eliminate many bloggers' freedom to speak in a country which allegedly prides itself on freedom of speech and democracy. As usual, it would mean only the people with enough money would get to talk about their favorite candidates or issues. That is unAmerican, unconstitutional, and against freedom of speech. Web audits? They're acting like the Gestapo, for Pete's sake. In short, the proposal's wording is not clear, it creates a slippery (and unequal) slope for bloggers' freedom of speech based upon how much they can afford to pay to be able to speak, and it should be brought to light and not allowed to pass.

Sluggo has a name and an e-mail address for the people responsible for this ourageous proposal.

Chris Nolan has noted that that the ugliness of the political situation in San Francisco has caused this misguided legislative proposal to come about. (I'm so glad Chris has been covering this story!) While I agree with Chris in favoring full disclosure of any payments made during the course of a campaign, I do not see legal or ecomomic correaltion between a blogger's hit count and a government's right to single that blog out for audits.

It reminds me of Alberto Gonzales and the part he played in crafting the infamous torture memo. Even with the toughest challenge to security that comes about, once you make torture an acceptable legal practice, you open the door to the possibility of something vile and dangerous to our very sense of freedom, rule of law, and democracy. I see the bloggers' case in the same light. Once you start legislating and regulating bloggers' freedoms based on unfounded suspicions, the Constitution flies out of the window.

Some are saying that maybe this legislation doesn't look so bad after all. I say, if you give these people an inch and they'll take a mile. Leave bloggers alone.

Mesh Forum

Mesh Forum

From Knowledge Jolt with Jack:

"MeshForum has great participants"

Who is going to be participating in MeshForum (May 1-4) in Chicago? Here are some examples:

- Anna Nagurney, keynote speaker on "Networks - The Science Spanning Disciplines"

- Valdis Krebs on social network analysis
- Ross Dawson with a Living Networks Forum
- Esther Dyson on social network services
- Jamais Cascio on the "Participatory Panopticon"
- Buzz Bruggeman on using networks in sales and marketing
Howard Greenstein is moderating a panel on "Broken Networks"
- Michael Herman will be leading an Open Space workshop, MeshAction, on the 4th
You should really think about attending, May 1-4, 2005. Registration is open.

What is MeshForum about?

Networks form the basis of everything, from how your body works to who you know, from how power is distributed to how the store on the corner is kept stocked. Networks are in the news, from the elections to anti-terrorism, to investigations of financial markets and the Blackout in the US.

Whether you are an academic, a business leader, or a politician, understanding Networks is a requirement for success in the 21st century. Recent research has shown similarities in the shape, structure, and growth of networks across many fields.

MeshForum will bring together experts and leaders from many fields for two days of Connecting Networks. In a single, highly participatory track, panels of experts and select speakers will cover topics from summarizing current academic research to techniques for navigating and activating networks in specific industries.

Schedule HERE.

Beware - They're Telling You What You Stand For

Beware - They're Telling You What You Stand For

Okay. I am half-joking. I am still very upset over the DLC's failure to understand the heart of most Democrats over the past four years.

If Bruce Reed and Al From find that most American do not know what Democrats stand for and that "a disturbing number of fellow Democrats wonder the same thing," I can only suggest that they look back at their own failures over the past four years. They would have followed a garbage truck if the opinion polls had told them it smelled good. If the Democratic party is going to emerge with renewed strength, it will be because most educated Democrats have always known what the party was supposed to be standing for, and they could see that Democrats were acting spineless while the DLC, led by Reed and From, was following the garbage truck.

Watch out. They're trying to tell you what you stand for again. After the last four years, I have to say I don't trust these people to tell me what I stand for.

I am particularly insulted by the way this line sounds:

"Like it or not, making the world safe from terror will be America's central challenge for the next decade, if not beyond."

Reed and From are speaking to us as if we are children, rather than participants in a healthy democracy. What they do not seem to understand is that most Democrats believe that President Bush breached the trust that is sacred between a President and the citizens of the democracy he is leading. We are not clueless and naive creatures of the far left who only wish to wear floral wreaths around our heads and chant anti-war slogans. We were burned by this President. No one challenged him at a time we all suspected his administration was massaging bad intelligence to take us to an elective war. Centrist Democrats sat on their spines rather than standing up to the tough challenge of questioning the secretive and plotting Bush administration. Why do you think I have such little trust for the DLC to this day? This war in Iraq is a scar on our nation that may never heal.

We know very well that we are faced with terrorism - a new tactic for war against us in all parts of the world. If we are going to proceed, we need party leaders to stop this condescending talk, and let's proceed as equal partners in deciding what we stand for.

On a positive note, I think David E. Price of North Carolina has some productive things to say in an essay about Faith and politics.

Excerpt:

It is erroneous to assume that a committed Christian or Jew will have a fixed or formulaic view on capital punishment, abortion, same-sex relationships, the alleviation of poverty, war and peace, and many other issues. The insularity of our religious communities -- and, often, of the political circles we move in -- discourages dialogue and debate.....

....Integral to the Jewish and Christian traditions is the realization that people are inclined to a kind of idolatry whereby they identify their own interest or ideology with God's sovereign will. Like "God-fearing" people of all ages, Niebuhr wrote, we "are never safe against the temptation of claiming God too simply as the sanctifier of whatever we most fervently desire." Note that, once again, the most powerful argument against religious pretension is not secular but theological. Claiming divine sanction for our own power or program does not merely undermine American pluralism; it also flies in the face of our religious understanding of human sinfulness and divine transcendence.

So let us engage: our country needs the full-throated advocacy of "liberty and justice for all" -- of policies that realize opportunity, responsibility, and community -- that only Democrats and progressives are likely to make. We can engage far more effectively by taking explicit account of the faith traditions which provide most Americans with their personal and moral frames of reference. This is partly a matter of communicating effectively, but also of understanding more fully what is required of us and our society as heirs to these riches. A more deeply rooted politics will enable us to make a more authentic and persuasive case for a just society, even as it equips us to resist political arrogance and pretension and to defend the American constitutional order..."

Congrats, UNC Tar Heels!

Congrats, UNC Tar Heels!


Reuters photo

To Dad and Benny - I'm really sorry. What a great game it was, though!



Fans John, Elizabeth, Jack, and Emma Claire
AP photo

Meet Bill Owens

Fishing on the Farmington
Pleasant Valley, CT - Two boys fishing on the Farmington River
by Bill Owens

Meet Bill Owens

I'd like to introduce you to Bill Owens, whose blog I luckily stumbled upon while blog-surfing.

I think he's a gifted photographer and a marvelous tour guide. At his New England Photo Blog, he takes you on a trip with him through many New England towns.

Bill's only been blogging for a short while, and I expect we'll see and hear about many more of his Yankee travels in the future.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Bill!

I especially appreciated his photo of abolitionist John Brown's birthplace, which is in Torrington, Ct. As David would tell you, I am fascinated with the tale of John Brown. David took me to the courthouse where John Brown was tried in Charles Town, West Virginia. We also visited Harper's Ferry, where the infamous raid on the armory took place. (my Harper's Ferry photo) Sometime between Jan. 27 and Feb. 16, 1857, John Brown had traveled to my own city of Syracuse trying to raise money for his cause.

Many times, I have made the trip to John Brown's farm (and site of his grave) in the Adirondack Mountain town of North Elba, N.Y. Adirondack singer/songwriter Peggy Eyres wrote a song about Mary Brown, the wife of John Brown. Eyres wrote in her recording "Cloudsplitter's" liner notes:

"As usual, history barely mentions his wife Mary, who was equally devoted to the freedom of the slaves. So when {historian} Monica McGaughey gave me her research, including a couple of Mary's letters, I jumped at the challenge to give voice to another Adirondack woman."

Cloudsplitter was also the title of the Russell Banks novel based upon the life and times of John Brown.

John Sears

This is a photo I took of John Sears and Charlie Daniels.
John took a photo of me with Charlie, too - I'll have to dig it out of my piles of pictures.
Why am I posting it now?
John had something very unusual happen to him last week here in Syracuse.
Very unusual.
Congrats on your 15 minutes of fame, John. ;)

Found the picture- -

Headlines

Headlines


In Tombstone....
photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell

There are vigilantes who recently converged upon Tombstone, Arizona, and I'm afraid they're going to hurt a lot of innocent people. We are a nations of laws. We forgot the rule of law in the recent Schiavo case because of high emotions, and I see this vigilante case as the same thing. Citizens taking it upon themselves to administer law and justice with high emotion should be unacceptable to law enforcement officials in Arizona state. Innocent folks are going to be hurt.


photo by Jude Nagurney Camwell

This isn't nineteenth century Wyatt Earp-ville - this is the United States of America.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IHT Online: Abu Ghraib Gets Hit Again

MSNBC: A group of moderate Republicans hold the fate of President Bush’s judicial nominees in their hands. Some GOP senators appear to be hesitant about supporting the nuclear option - doing away with the Senate filibuster for judicial nominees - knowing it could be used against them in the future. GOP Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, John McCain of Arizona, Olympia Snowe of Maine, John Warner of Virginia and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island have either said they oppose changing the rules or have declined to promise to support the change.


From MoveOn.org: $82 billion more for Iraq? Demand an exit strategy.

"Congress must insist that America have an exit strategy from Iraq with a timeline, that we do not construct permanent bases and that we end war profiteering by corporations."

Impeachment Ahead for Schiavo Judges?

The House majority leader, Rep. Tom DeLay, blamed Terri Schiavo's death on judges who refused to order her kept alive, and said he would consider bringing impeachment proceedings against judges involved in the case. His comments drew scorn from Senator Kennedy, a Democrat of Massachusetts who accused Republicans of assaulting the independence of the judiciary. He suggested DeLay's commentscould lead to violence against judges. DeLay signaled yesterday that the battle was not over.
(Full Story -
http://www.cwa-cope.org/news/e-Politics/050404.asp#Impeachment)


Guide to DeLay Scandals

Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), the man Republicans have chosen as their Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, is at the center of a bewildering array of investigations into corruption, abuse of power, and ethics violations. As the courts and committees investigate DeLay's misdeeds and hand down indictments, keeping track of all the scandals can be a full-time job. So we thought it would helpful to offer folks this quick and easy guide.
(Full List of Scandals -
http://www.cwa-cope.org/news/e-Politics/050404.asp#Guide)


Lebanon bombings stir up anxiety not felt since war (Star Tribune)

Syria, Iran stress stability in Lebanon

Syrian Foreign Minister, Farouk Al-Share, and his visiting Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, have agreed that security and stability must be maintained in Lebanon. The two foreign ministers also said during talks that the factions in Lebanon must reach national reconciliation to resist interference from outside forces, before it can over come the current crisis.Kharrazi said after the talks that the present situation in the Middle East is worrisome, as some political forces try to capitalize on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Do It Again

"All of the Edwards supporters are hoping he’ll do it again."
- Joy Lowe, 76, of Waterloo, Iowa

-----------------------

"I think what most people are looking for in leaders in this country is strength, conviction and a core set of beliefs that the leader is passionate about. They want to know what drives you every day; what you get up believing in and fighting for. People who are arguing that the Democratic Party has somehow lost its way and doesn't know what it believes or stands for and that the solution is changing and nuancing our positions - I think those people are probably dead wrong.

I think we should stand up and fight for the things that we believe in. That's where we show strength."

- John Edwards in an Iowa Press Interview

In Wisconsin:

In Wisconsin, John Edwards Sees How Madison Helps Its Poor . He told Wisconsinites that alleviating poverty is his priority. He said, "My belief is that it says a lot about the character of a country as to how they treat those who are struggling." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel pressed him about Election 2008 and missed an opportunity to speak at length with Edwards about the issue for which he is fighting - which is Poverty.

In Iowa:

There are video, audio, and transcript versions of John Edwards' interview with the Iowa Press. The interview lasts 28 minutes.

Video: Iowa Press [iptv.org]

Audio: Audio Interview [iptv.org]

Transcript: Interview Transcript [iptv.org]

In Maryland

Edwards in Maryland

The Window

The Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.

Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.



As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

Loss

When the heart grieves over what is has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left.

- A Sufi Epigram

I am lately facing a lot of loss in my personal life.
Dealing with it is not easy, and I know we must all face loss at some time in our lives. In order to care for others, we have to have experienced the pain of loss ourselves. It helps to know I am not alone. I treasure the friends and loved ones who've been there for me. I suppose you can find meaning and purpose in almost any experience, even when it's the bitter disappointment and sadness that comes with loss.

That's what I like about the quote above. The human spirit should never be overcome by even the deepest grief. Something, even the smallest of things, always remains for which we can hope. I suppose I'm telling you this because I'm hanging on to the hope for the glimmer of those smallest miracles myself. Perhaps someone landing here, whether intended or by chance, will be in need and will take heart from having read these simple words.

Billy's First Blogging Poet Laureate Election

Billy's First Blogging Poet Laureate Election

Billy the Blogging Poet wonders, if we live in a democracy, why can't we elect a Poet Laureate? Well, thanks to Billy, now we can. Go to the link and find the World's First Blogging Poet Laureate nominees!

The nominations thus-far, for the World’s First, Blogging Poet Laureate are listed below:

- Anitha Murthy of Creative Stuff

- Jordan Stempleman of Growing Nation

- Reyes Cardenas of Alivianate El Coco

- Augury Doggerel of Eeksy-Peeksy

- Jack Kimbal of Pantaloons: Tykes on Poetry

- Mr. Sun of Mr. Sun - Billly's only question is how will we ever get a photograph of him wearing the Laureate's Crown?

As others find out about the election, Billy says he's sure the list will continue to grow so please check back often so you can make up your mind by the time voting begins on April 30th. Bloggers, if you want to link to this contest then please link here.

I saw it in the sky

I saw it in the sky

I saw this in the sky yesterday.
Is it anything? Just a cloud?
I don't know.
I do know that death has come to visit Pope John Paul.
Perhaps I caught death's angel on his way to Rome.


See blogJosh on the death of the Pope from one individual perspective: Blogging the Death of the Pope.

Anonymoses bids the gentle angels to cradle him home.

Congratulations, Illinois!

Congratulations, Illinois!

My Dad and Benny will be ecstatic!

Bora on Regressive Politics

Bora on Regressive Politics

There are times we have to take a step back and look at ourselves in a different light..through someone else's eyes. We are not being untrue to ourselves by taking such action, for it is in the hope of examining ourselves for the goal of improvement. We must see our democracy in the same light, for we are the people who are represented in the halls of Congress. Taking a step outside our geographic isolation to listen to the views of well-educated people who have spent a good part of their lives in other lands is one of the best ways to improve the health of democracy and the protection of our own natural freedom.

Bora aka Coturnix has compared Bush to Milosevic in the past, but he now says he thinks Bush may be more dangerous than Milosevic because of a growing atmosphere of anti-intellectualism and miseducation in the U.S. He comments that he saw a quick slide into fascism and civil war in his native country (once Yugoslavia), where he says, "if you go to a dim smoky bar and sit next to a local drunk, he is likely to have a book with him." He thinks it can happen even more quickly here because "the Right is unified in many ways: politically, financially and emotionally." His post is well worth the time to read.
See my own post on the "F-Word".

Another post I recommend by Coturnix is a question about what we should call Republicans, if we wish to accurately frame their political goals for America. His answer is to call them 'regressives', which he admits may "invoke the idea of developmental regression (i.e., something like a potty-trained child pooping in his pants again), or even retardation." (Great wording, Bora).

If the orthopedic shoe fits, why allow them wear it while telling you it's a priceless crystal slipper?

Dead Wrong

Dead Wrong

I was asked why I haven't commented on the WMD Commission report that shows that intelligence was "dead-wrong" on Iraq. I'll tell you why. We have known it all along. What I would like to know is when we'll see an official report examining the role of the White House, particularly Dick Cheney and his band of NeoCons, in massaging the data on WMD. The Commission's report did not deal with that subject matter at all.