23 Years Ago Today in Beirut

23 Years Ago Today in Beirut

23 years ago today, October 23, 1983, a truck bomber struck a building in Beirut that housed U.S. Marines. 241 of those U.S. Marines were killed. President Reagan responded by pledging to keep a military force in Lebanon and not give in to terrorists. In February of the following year - four short months later - he pulled American troops out of the region. You can find the names of the dead on this list.

AmericanHeritage.com asks:

Why were the Marines there? Why were they left vulnerable to such an attack? What lessons did and should we learn from the incident? These questions remain as relevant today as they were two decades ago....

...[In 1983], military activity and the American efforts to train the armed forces of the Christian-dominated Lebanese government, convinced Muslims that the multinational force had taken sides. Warnings about this change in perception went unheeded in Washington.

If this scenario - this gross misjudgement of the hearts, faith, and minds of the people struggling to create their own democracy - doesn't even remotely remind you of what is happening in Iraq's civil war today, I'd ask you to sit back and think a little harder.

Frank Rich on Obama & Dems: No More Human Weather Vanes

Frank Rich on Obama & Dems: No More Human Weather Vanes

In a column about the Liberal love affair with the decidedly impressive freshman Senator Barack Obama, Frank Rich speaks frankly (no pun intended) about the Democrats' fatal malady - putting up "another Democrat who won't tell you what day it is before calling a consultant, another human weather vane who waits to see which way the wind is blowing before taking a stand."

Says Frank:

If the Democratic Party is to be more than a throw-out-Bush party, it can't settle for yet again repackaging its well-worn ideas, however worthy, with a new slogan containing the word "New." It needs a major infusion of steadfast leadership. That's the one lesson it should learn from George Bush. Call him arrogant or misguided or foolish, this president has been a leader. He had a controversial agenda - enacting big tax cuts, privatizing Social Security, waging "pre-emptive" war, packing the courts with judges who support his elisions of constitutional rights - and he didn't fudge it. He didn't care if half the country despised him along the way.

According to Mr. Rich, a Democrat with a snowball's chance in hell of winning will need to "stick up for core principles when tested and get others to follow him." It seems that Senator Obama is being groomed as a poster-child [and pollster-child] for what Mr. Rich labels as "the party of terminal timidity and equivocation." Mr. Rich will still need to be convinced that Barack Obama is battle-ready and firm in his convictions in the hard-knock political arena. Let's hope the Democratic party has learned from past mistakes and isn't in too much of a rush to lose 2008.

__________

In an Adam Nagourney/Jeff Zeleny article in today's NYT, an Obama campaign advisor named Steve Hildebrand was quoted to have said the following regarding the reaction of Iowa Democrats to the party's rising young star: “The reaction that Obama got in Iowa was like nothing I’ve ever seen before with another politician.” Not that it is untrue, but Mr. Hildebrand has a professional stake in saying so, of course.

I am not paid a dime to give my opinion. I can state with certainty, keeping close association with a good number of Democratic grassroots activists in Iowa, that Senator John Edwards strikes the most common chord with Iowa Democrats for 2008. But you don't need my witness for proof. The WaPo's Chris Cillizza wrote about the Hawkeye State Surprise last June.

______________

Bloomberg political chief Al Hunt has what I see as the wisest quote. He says, if American politicians were stocks, that Sen. Obama "would be a Warren Buffett investment: great long-term value."

____________

In a NY Sun article by Josh Gerstein, there is a quote from former Democratic chairman from South Carolina Richard Harpootlian that doesn't quite complete an intellectually rational circuit when it comes to the mostly unpredictable phenomenon known as American politics.

Admitting that he is not excited about any prospective Democratic candidate [whew - there's a real vote of confidence in your party's leaders], Mr. Harpootlian says that he doesn't think Sen. Obama can win the nomination, particularly because he has "never served in executive office." Mr. Harpootlian is surely not a big fan of Sen. Clinton as a presidential candidate, judging by this quote [found on a Hillary Clinton-dedicated website]:

"We all believe she's wonderful. But we also believe that if she's the nominee, it sets up perfectly for the Republicans to win the White House for another four years...Do we really want to rehash Whitewater and all the stuff we had before?"

In Josh Gerstein's current article about Sen. Obama, Mr. Harpootlian says,

"He's a tremendously talented young man but I think he's a little green at this point .. I'm sure it's flattering to hear this talk, but I think he needs to stay in the Senate awhile…He's got to get re-elected first. That was John Edwards's problem the last time around."

I think Mr. Harpootlian is not only hypercritical of all three potential presidential candidates, Obama, Clinton, and Edwards, but he is also wrong in this statement because national politics, especially today, is not about how much time you've spent in Washington, D.C. The majority of Americans feel that our nation is headed in the wrong direction and that the D.C. leadership culture is not working for their best interests. It's more about who you are and how long the public has had to get to know you that determines how well you'll do in elections. Politics does not require a set list of prerequisites. For all we know, it could very well turn out that the public decides that they like Sen. Obama well enough to understand he didn't recently fall into D.C. out of some pumpkin patch - that he spent many years in Illinois politics - and that he's ready to lead the country. Perhaps his entrance into D.C. politics has not been lengthy enough to have hurt him. The political culture is changing rapidly with the sharp downward turn in public confidence in the federal government.

Remember this: The fact that former Senator John Edwards is not in D.C. with a Congress that is receiving 16% approval ratings today may be far more of a winning political strategy than Mr. Hartpoolian realizes.

Being articulate and interesting to listen to is definitely a delightful anti-Bush concept - perhaps it's refreshing to those citizens who long desperately for a more intellectual discussion of issues - but does it equate to readiness for leadership of the free world? Voters will have to decide, but I'm afraid that in a race for POTUS, voters will decide against someone so very new to them and so very young, regardless of how articulate and intelligent he may be. When I say "I'm afraid," I mean it. We have witnessed far too many Democratic losses over the past decade. We can no longer believe that it is not a great fault in the Democratic party's strategy that has strengthened the great right wing machinery's death-grip on the American mind and the voting booth. The MSM uber-hype over Sen. Obama has me greatly concerned. One exciting convention speech does not a world leader make. I firmly believe that Sen. Obama has the potential for greatness, but it takes time to build trust and confidence in any one American citizen who would be in the running for POTUS - especially in the post-9/11 and post-Bush 43 world. Voters will always have the last say, but we all know too well what uber-hype can do. Look at the Howard Dean campaign for one example. America was just getting to know him and the MSM stroked him like their furry little pet kitten one moment and flattened him the next over his [and his supporters'] enthusiam - as if enthusiasm was a crime. The Democratic party did not want to risk a man of such strong conviction in 2004 and wound up with Sen. Kerry, a candidate who, as much as you may like him, would not defend himself or his convictions when the time was right and ripe for him to do so.

It would be my wish for Mr. Harpootlian - and all of us - to become excited about a Democratic candidate. My point is that the MSM is still a tool that reaches millions of Americans who never read blogs or the alternative media. What they - in conjunction with the Democratic strategists - pump out as hype still has a major effect on our political successes and failures.

____________

I totally disagreee with Chuck Todd and Democratic strategist Steve Elmendorf in their opinion that, if Obama were to enter the presidential race, that, along with Sen. Clinton, it would "suck up all the oxygen" in the Democratic political room. That's rather unimaginative and an insult to all Democrats out here in America who desire and welcome a wealth of diverse voices in the Democratic primary presidential race. If anyone were to accomplish the task of political oxygen-sucking, however, I think most Democrats would agree the person to do it would not be Sen. Obama, but instead would be none other than Albert Arnold Gore Jr. When you consider the change in the dymanics of the race for 2008 that former Vice President Al Gore's entry would bring about, I believe that the possibility of an Obama entry pales by comparison.

Look at Buffalo, NY!!

Look at Buffalo, NY!

This place is a disaster. I don't think I've seen one tree or bush that was not affected by the freak snowstorm that occurred on Friday the 13th [of October]!

See Phil Fairbanks' Buffalo News story.

The following photos were taken today at Mount Calvary Cemetary in the city of Buffalo.

The people of Buffalo need FEMA's help as soon as possible.

Douglas Turner of the Buffalo News has a suspicion that politics is playing a role in if and how fast disasters are declared and FEMA is activated by the Bush administration.

It took President Bush only two days to declare Hawaii a major disaster after Gov. Linda Lingle asked him to.

At the time of this writing, it's eight days since metropolitan Buffalo was devastated by a freak storm and Buffalo still was waiting for the prime declaration by the president.

Storm costs will reach three times the cited damage in Hawaii from an earthquake.

What happened in Richmond, Va., might be an object lesson. Six weeks ago, Richmond Mayor Douglas Wilder asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help after the Virginia capital was slammed by the tail of Tropical Storm Ernesto.

Wilder said parts of neighborhoods were wiped out. Wilder is still waiting for FEMA's help.

What can be the difference between Hawaii on the one hand, and Buffalo and Richmond on the other? It can't remotely be that Buffalo and Richmond each have black Democratic mayors. Could it be that Virginia has a Democratic governor and New York has a lame-duck Republican governor whom Bush never much liked?

Seen in North Carolina

Seen in North Carolina

For this week's Tar Heel Tavern, I'll share a few of my photographic memories of a recent trip to your lovely state.



Elizabeth Edwards Greets a reader at a book signing in Charlotte



Common Market, Charlotte NC


Senator Edwards and Me in Concord NC



Anonymoses reads Elizabeth Edwards' book "Saving Graces"



The Charlotte skyline



The Atomic Geezer performs for Iddybud



Common Market, Charlotte NC



Sen. John Edwards Rallies for Congressional candidate Larry Kissell (NC-8) in Concord NC

Humanity: Divinely Minted Coins-Each Unique

Humanity:
Divinely Minted Coins - Each Unique

Rabbi Arthur Waskow compellingly contrasts the New Testament story about Jesus' recommendation to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's with the Talmud passage regarding the creation of humankind by God in Genesis I: 27. Adding one simple yet revelatory line to the New Testament passage, a whole new light is cast upon the lesson to be learned. As every snowflake is unique, no two human beings are alike.

Gospels, Meet Talmud:
Whose Image on the Coin?

This Shabbat, as the Jewish community begins its yearly new spiral of reading the Torah, there arises a passage of the Creation story in Genesis that itself has given rise to both Jewish and Christian teaching (Gen I: 27): "God created humankind in his Image; in the Image of God did he create it; male and female did he create them."

The ancient rabbis explored the meaning of this passage. (Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 38a; Soncino transl., p. 240):

"Our Rabbis taught: Adam, the first human being, was created as a single person to show forth the greatness of the Ruler Who is beyond all Rulers, the Blessed Holy One.

"For if a human ruler [like Caesar, the Roman Emperor] mints many coins from one mold, they all carry the same image, they all look the same.

"But the Blessed Holy One shaped all human beings in the Divine Image, as Adam was shaped in the Divine Image [Gen. 1: 27], 'b'tzelem elohim, in the Image of God.' And yet not one of them resembles another."

Even among Jews, this passage is not terribly well-known; among other religious communities, hardly known at all. Yet it offers a profound connection with one of the best-known stories of the Christian Gospels -- one that has puzzled many Christians for centuries..

The story appears in Matthew 22: 15-22, Mark 12: 13-17, and Luke 20: 19-26.

According to the story, Jesus' opponents among the Pharisees (many modern scholars think he was a radical Pharisee himself) came to trick Jesus into providing a pretext for his arrest.

One of them spoke up, saying:

"Rabbi, we know that what you speak and teach is sound; you pay deference to no one, but teach in all honesty the life-path that God requires.

"Give us your ruling on this: Are we or are we not permitted to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor?"

Jesus said to them, "Show me a silver coin."

When they dug one out for him, he asked them: "Whose image is on this coin, and whose inscription?"

What was the problem? The coin had Caesar's image on it, with the inscription "Divus" -- "God." To the Jews, treating an emperor as a God was idolatry. So just using the coin itself might constitute idolatry in Jewish law, and thus be forbidden. But by Roman law the taxes must be paid.

So by answering one way, Jesus would break Jewish law; by answering the other way, he would break Roman law.

But Jesus had not quite answered. Instead, he had answered the question with a question (an old Jewish habit): "Whose image is on this coin, and whose inscription?"

The man who had challenged him answered, "Caesar's!"

And then Jesus responded: "So give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

This answer, say Matthew, Mark, and Luke, took his opponents by surprise, and they went away and left him alone.

But for two thousand years, Christians have argued over what this answer meant. What is Caesar's, and what is God's? Are there two different spheres of life, one ruled by Caesar and one by God? Should people submit to Caesar's authority in the "material" world, while adhering to God in the "spiritual" world? How do we discern the boundary?

Now let us place alongside this New Testament story, the Talmud passage we have already seen. Any learned Jew of the time – and Jesus was one -- would have known the teaching comparing God's Image upon Humankind to Caesar's image on the coinage

Now reread the Jesus story with a single line and gesture added:

"Whose image is on this coin?" asks Jesus.

His questioner answers, "Caesar's!"

Then Jesus puts his arm on the troublemaker's shoulder and asks, "And Whose Image is on this coin?"

Perhaps the troublemaker mutters an answer; perhaps he does not need to. Not till after this exchange does Jesus say, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's!"

Jesus has not just avoided the question and evaded the dilemma. He has not proposed dividing up the turf between the material and the spiritual. He has redefined the issue:

"Give your whole self to the One Who has imprinted Divinity upon you!" The coin of the realm will matter very little, if the troublemaker listens.

Why does the line I have inserted not appear in the three versions of the story that we have? Maybe it was censored out, to avoid collision with Roman authorities; or perhaps Jesus never needed to say the words, because his "Pharisee" questioners understood the point perfectly well

For me, reading the two passages together enriches them both. Read together, they fuse the spiritual and the political, instead of splitting the world into two domains. In this reading, the claim of the Divine Ruler to rule over an emperor includes the political realm. God can create infinite diversity and eternal renewal, and so is far richer than the imperial treasury -- which can create only uniformity and repetition.

But this is not just a philosophical or biological point. Because God rules over all rulers, because God calls forth from every human being a unique face of God, each human being must follow God -- not Caesar.

And together, the passages also teach us that God calls on us to create human cultures that are unique, diverse, precisely because they carry God's Infinite Image – rather than insisting that our cultures, like Caesar's image, be uniform.

Diverse and connected. Judaism and Christianity are unique, and should listen far more closely to each other's wisdoms.

How could we bring these teachings more deeply into our lives?

One liturgical possibility, and one in social action:

As Jews prepare to chant the Bar'chu, calling each other into a prayer community, and as Christians begin their prayer services, what if we were to pause to look from face to face around the communal circle, pausing at each face to say to our selves:

'This is the face of God. And this, so different, is the face of God. And this, and this ..."

And what if we added the faces of people in New Orleans and Bangla Desh, in Tel Aviv and Gaza City, in Baghdad and Washington? And the green faces of God, in trees and grasses?

And when we examine the use of torture by governments we like or dislike, what if we asked: " If we torture the Image of God, do we make ourselves into images of Caesar?"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You can find dozens of such commentaries on the Shalom Center Website at Torah / Commentary/ Portion of the Week. If you find this or other Words of Torah / Bible / Wisdom useful, please think about making a (tax-deductible) gift to The Shalom Center. (Go to http://www.shalomctr.org and click on Donate Now.)

Iraq is FUBAR and They Can't Credit God

Iraq is FUBAR and
They Can't Credit God

At the Nation, Tom Engelhardt's point about Bush and current Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki is short and sweet. The fact that the Bush administration has not been able to set up an Iraqi government that has both legitimacy and that meets America's desires is not lost on those who have paid any amount of attention to the 3 1/2-year long disaster of a war.

The news headlines today might as well have have been written three years ago. President Bush should have adjusted his strategy as soon as he knew that we would not be greeted as liberators.

- Democrats Urge Bush to Change Course on Iraq
- Major Change Expected In Strategy for Iraq War

The fact that he waited so long - so stubbornly - and that he'd insinuated that his critics were just as good as traitors at every turn has been a constant reflection of his poor leadership skills.

Long undecided about which way to turn - only looking dogmatically and blindly ahead - Bush is now faced with a severe deficit of public support and no easy choices. The choices may have been far better ones for America and Iraq had he acted responsibly, quickly, and with accountability three years ago - or had he not rushed and lied us into the war to begin with. Alas, we know we cannot go back in time.

When all else fails, it's easy to blame (or credit) God for the good you claim you've tried to do..and have miserably failed to do.
Top US general Peter Pace defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is "inspired by God." Violent Islamic jihad is also "God-inspired." It doesn't make those who claim to be God-inspired righteous when innocent people are in the targets - or when they are caught in the crossfire in a war on terror..especially a completely unnecessary war like the war in Iraq.

Robert Scheer writes:

An occupation initially advertised as a “cakewalk” war to disarm a tyrant is now, according to our politically desperate president, a fight for the soul of the world—good versus evil, democracy versus tyranny.

But the carnage we have visited upon Iraq represents nothing of the sort. We are not building democracy, we are creating mayhem.

The evidence arrives daily in the form of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of mutilated bodies. But even the few ghastly images that actually make it onto the television actually underestimate the horror. And it is getting worse, not better: The killing of innocents is now 10 times higher than a year ago.

I am more inclined to look up to the Heavens and cry, "My God, what have they done?" than to believe God was in Rumsfeld's ear telling him what was righteous and moral for our country or for humanity. Moses sent us God's message and His commandment of 'Thou Shalt not Kill' probably meant what it said. When Jesus told us to love our enemies, it was a political statement, and it meant, at best, don't kill them. If I'm not mistaken, there was also a commandment about the sin of lying, and lies were systematically told to the American people by Rumsfeld and others to get them to accept an immoral war of choice with which even the Roman Catholic Pope could not abide. General Pace claims that Rumsfeld "leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country." I think it's ludicrous, at this stage of the game - simply ludicrous - for the good General to expect that faithful and responsible people of America will swallow this whole and not see it for the bitter pill that it is.

Pat Tillman's Brother Calls for Change

Pat Tillman's Brother Calls for Change




When it came to the war on terror, the Tillman boys signed up for the cause because they trusted the intregity of our American leadership. Pat gave everything he possessed here on this Earth for you and me...for our country. He laid it all down. His brother Kevin is speaking out about all that he has learned since those days of trust. To say that he is bitterly disappointed and disillusioned - even angry - would be an understatement.

I share every one of his concerns as well as his sorrows. He and Pat are my American brothers and I'm proud of Kevin for taking up the mantle and calling for a change before America becomes just another lost ideal in the dustbin of History.

___________

Whoever the sicko is in Washington DC coming to my blog looking for nude photos of Pat Tillman, don't expect to find any here. [Is it you, Mark Foley?]

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Senator Edwards to Speak at UB October 30

Senator Edwards to Speak at UB October 30
Former Senator John Edwards will be at the University of Buffalo on October 30th to deliver the keynote address at the Western New York Poverty Symposium being held in the Center for the Arts on the North Campus. Senator Edwards will speak at 11:05 a.m. after an introduction by President John B. Simpson. A question-and-answer session with members of the audience will follow Edwards' speech. The event is free of charge and open to the public.

The UB campus map is here. Directions can be customized for your convenience here.

I'll also be in Buffalo this weekend and will be looking around the city to see how they are faring in the aftermath of the freak snowstorm a week ago that brought 16 inches of heavy, wet snow to the city, downing tree limbs and power lines and killing several citizens. I have had no luck in finding a hotel room for the night. All hotels within a 30-mile radius of Buffalo are filled with National Grid employees who are working on the restoration of power to thousands of citizens still without electricity in the city.

National Character Counts: Bush Stumps for Philanderer

National Character Counts: Bush Stumps for Philanderer

Pennsylvania Congressman Don Sherwood may have a record of accomplishment in the House of Representatives, but according to the WaPo's Dana Milbank, he also has a police record - a record of wicked infidelity and a penchant for kinky violence against women.

While representing the good people of the 10th District, the married congressman shacked up in Washington with a Peruvian immigrant more than three decades his junior. During one assignation in 2004, the woman, who says Sherwood was striking her and trying to strangle her, locked herself in a bathroom and called 911; Sherwood told police he was giving her a back rub.

During "National Character Counts Week", Bush might have been just as well off stumping for child predator Mark Foley. (Oops- Mark Foley's no longer in the running, is he?)

National character obviously doesn't count to the Republican leadership nearly as much as retaining their naked, raw manly-man power.

NNSA Conversion Would Mean Less Highly Enriched Uranium

NNSA Conversion Would Mean Less Highly Enriched Uranium

I found this interesting news at the Student-Operated Press website. The Bush administration is making efforts to minimize the use of highly enriched uranium in civil applications around the world. Now if they could just find the diplomatic smarts to stop (idiotically) pissing off every kook in the world who has access to the highly-enriched uranium that still has the potential to exist, we might actaully get a feeling of enhanced security. Putting a gag over Bush's impulsive mouth whenever he goes to speak might be a good start.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has successfully converted a research reactor at the University of Florida from the use of highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium. This conversion comes on the heels of a reactor conversion at Texas A&M University that was announced last week. By the end of this year, NNSA will have converted six U.S. and international research reactors.

As a part of its nonproliferation mission, NNSA converts research reactors in the U.S. and around the world from operating on highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. LEU is not suitable for use in a nuclear weapon and is not sought by terrorists or criminals. The conversion is part of the Bush administration’s efforts to minimize the use of highly enriched uranium in civil applications around the world.

“Decreasing the use of highly enriched uranium in the United States and around the world is a priority for this administration,” said Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman. “Converting this domestic reactor at University of Florida and the one last week at Texas A&M University further demonstrates our commitment to limiting the spread of nuclear material.”

Hot Soup is Ready

Hot Soup is Ready

The heat under Ron Fournier's Hot Soup was switched on yesterday.

The question was asked: "What is the most important issue ignored by mainstream media and our leaders?"

Donna Brazile says it's Poverty, an issue to which Senator John Edwards has placed a public magnifying glass.

I commented about Ms. Brazile's opinion here.

I commented about Ed Gillespie's opinion here. He had the nerve to say that Democrats "would rather have everybody do worse" than to see the rich, under GOP leadership, get exorbitantly richer while the poor get extremely poorer and the middle class shrivels.

McCain Jests About Committing Suicide

McCain Jests About Committing Suicide

There are some things that will just never be funny and you wonder how high-profile leaders can make such thoughtless comments and expect that no one will notice. Suicide is all too real and mental illness is all too prevalent in our society to respect a public figure who would take the subject so lightly. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for all U.S. men (Anderson and Smith 2003). I'd like our leaders to take the topic seriously - at best not to be publicly flippant about it.

More on Converge South

More on Converge South
cross posted at American Street


Converge South was held last weekend at Rev. Jesse Jackson's alma mater North Carolina A & T University , Greensboro, N.C. There was a barbeque held at the home of Greensboro blogger Dave Hoggard on Friday night, and I regret to say I couldn't make it. I heard it was a lot of fun and that a lot of new blogging relationships were formed. One new blogging relationship mentioned by Robert Scoble at the Conference on Saturday was forged between himself and Greensboro's colorful and talented character Billy the Blogging Poet. I wasn't in attendance because I was with fellow American Street blogger Anonymoses at a political (NC District Eight) rally in Concord, N.C. where Democractic Congressional candidate Larry Kissell and Senator John Edwards spoke to an enthusiastic crowd from the back of a pick-up truck. We were also invited to meet Senator Edwards before the rally. (See photos below).


ELizabeth Edwards and Ed Cone at Converge South 2006


I attended the conference on Saturday where Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former Senator and 2004 VP candidate John Edwards, led an excellent early-morning discussion about community-building on the web. The net-savvy Mrs. Edwards has established a great rapport with bloggers simply by being one of them.


Elizabeth Edwards at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Charlotte NC


I had seen Mrs. Edwards speak three days earlier at Joseph Beth Booksellers in Charlotte, N.C. about her best-selling book "Saving Graces," and I found the theme underlying her book to flow seamlessly with the topic of her Converge South session. There are many ways the internet has already easily facilitated community-building, and both continued and new methods and motivations for building new associations on the web were covered well by Mrs. Edwards and the Converge participants.


Robert and Maryam Scoble offer 10 ways to write a "killer blog".

The vibrant (and married) blogging couple Robert and Maryam Scoble (who maintain separate blogs, both unique in their own right) led a 10-step session (which actually grew to what turned out to be 15 steps) on how to write a "killer blog". Anton Zuiker has a great summary of those steps.

Converge South 2006 - Some Photos

Converge South 2006 - Some Photos

Here are a few photos from Converge South. It's always a pleasure to see the people of "Blogsboro" again, and I wish to thank Ben, Sue, Ed, Dave, and all the bloggers of Greensoro who made this unique and wonderful experience possible. These people are the trailblazers of creating a blogging community that should inspire all other aspiring blogtopias.

Anonymoses and Maryam Scoble have blogposts.

I'll provide my own comments about the conference soon.


Elizabeth Edwards and Ed Cone talk about building community


Robert and Maryam Scoble - What a vibrant blogging couple!



Billy the Blogging Poet and his marvelous flying machine



I'm talking with Greensboro's own Sue Polinsky; Elizabeth Edwards and Robert Scoble in background.

The Sacred is Found in the Ordinary

The Sacred is Found in the Ordinary
Written for the Tar Heel Tavern [Edition 85]

The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary,
that it is to be found in one's daily life,
in one's neighbors, friends, and family,
in one's backyard.

- Abraham Maslow

The greatest example of courage, faith, and love in my life was set by my mother. The unconditional love she gave to all her friends, neighbors, and family came back to her and to my family in her last days. Because of the example of her great and unconditional faith and love, I have been emptied of cynicism and firmly believe that I have been able to become a more capable vessel for the sharing of that unconditional faith and love for my own friends, family, and community.

A year ago today, Mother was fighting a cancer from which she would never recover.

Through the darkness of those days, neighbors came to call on her and on the family. They brought small gifts - a homemade bread, some lovely fresh flowers, a card with a message of love drawn in crayon from a child's hands.

Family came to help with household chores and to sit by Mother's bedside. They read her books. They talked about old times.

Father and brother pulled out their musical instruments and sat by her bedside playing and singing as if there wasn't a care in the world, even though their hearts were breaking.

The parish priest Father Michael and the Hospice spiritual advisor Dave came to hold our hands and remind us that faith is the little bird that feels the dawn breaking, yet goes on singing while it is still dark.

Then there were the ones who came from years out of my past just to hold my hand at Mother's funeral. Their simple gesture was enough to fill the empty pages of the lengthy time we'd spent apart.

There were beautiful cards filled with caring and sympathy.

Looking back, my last days with Mother are not remembered as an unscalable mountain. Instead they were a revelation of God from and within those who joyfully participated in the cycle of her unconditional love. They all helped me to rise - to find my way around the stumbling block of darkness and doubt.

Were there no God, we would be in this glorious world with
grateful hearts and no one to thank.

- Christine Rosetti

Meister Eckhart believed that if the only prayer you ever say in life is "Thank you," it is enough. My thanksgiving goes out in prayer for all of my blessings. Life can deal you any blow. You can be forced reap the bitter harvest from unimaginable sorrow and witness it being spun into hope and light by those who love you. What a joy to understand that the commonplace is the sacred. The consciousness that designed and created existence is also the intelligence that is programed into the core of every atom. We are interdependent walking miracles.

In my own life, the mysteriously endless cycle of love and the awakening example of truth that everyone is a divine instrument of God was created by my mother. In a particularly memorable act of empathy and kindness on the day Mother passed away, a Muslim friend told me that his faith taught him that there is no stronger love on this earth than the love of a precious mother. Her love for you is the closest thing to God while you live here on the earth. But the love of God is even 70 times stronger. Imagine that.

E.J. Dionne Hurls Boulder Through GOP "Family Values" Facade

E.J. Dionne Hurls Boulder Through GOP "Family Values" Facade

In today's WaPo, E.J. Dionne blows the lid off the phony "family values" vibe the GOP tries to embrace. He asks the question that sends a bullshit-detection boulder through their "family values" facade:

"When confronted with an issue, do politicians focus on narrow political imperatives or do they care most about the well-being of children and families? The politicians should have asked that question in Foley's case, and they should ask it about a lot of other issues, too."

Don't miss this R-rated hymn straight out of the GOP Family Values Hymnal at American Street.

It's so juicy..



..that it might even raise this dude's eyebrows!

Jonathan Alter on Barack Obama

Jonathan Alter on Barack Obama

Barack Obama was not a member of the U.S. Senate when he opposed the war in Iraq. Both John Edwards and Hillary Clinton were in the Senate, and if there's one thing we all should understand, it's that it's a whole lot easier to say "No" when you are not directly responsible as an elected representative for the security of hundreds of thousands of constituents and when you're a representative from a state with key military bases.

If we value inexperience over our leaders actually having been there/done that, then I suppose Jonathan Alter is 100% correct that Democratic primary voters will find Obama to be "perfectly positioned" for 2008. However, that's not at all what I witnessed in 2004 when Democratic primary voters flocked to John Kerry, who had voted for the Iraq War resolution. To the primary voters, Kerry had had a decided air of gravitas that comes only from life (and war) experience. The voters didn't use Senator Kerry's vote for the IWR against him then. Armed with plenty of real knowledge and 20/20 hindsight about the Bush administration's failures, misleadings and outright untruths, I cannot believe that Democratic voters will punish those who voted Yes to the IWR in 2008 because they will understand that it was not the Democrats who commanded this disastrous war. Many of the same Democrats who gave good faith and trust to the POTUS in 2002 are now being labeled as cowards and traitors in stump speeches by the President.

I trust that Democratic primary voters will understand that both Edwards and Clinton have been no less than repulsed by the gross inefficiency of Donald Rumsfeld, who offered many times to step down but was begged to stay by an incredibly incurious President who clearly never understood how to lead a war or the dangers of rushing your nation into an unjust and unwinnable type of warfare.

The truth is that it wasn't at all easy to vote "yes" OR "No" in October, 2002 to give the POTUS the authority to press the UN on Resolution 1551. A year had barely passed since the worst attack on American civilians in U.S. history. The cherry-picked intelligence being shouted from the Bush bully pulpit proved out to be a horrifically negligent, if not intentional misleading, but no one knew it or could prove it then. With weakness and inefficiency from CIA head George Tenet and the false stories from journalists like Judith Miller along with the rest of the pliant Oval-office stenopad-MSM, our leaders were put between a rock and a terrible place.

Collectively, we all learn from mistakes of our past. The question should be: What has Senator Edwards learned? What has Senator Clinton learned?

We'll never know what Barack Obama would have done had he been called on the floor of the Senate to look every American in the eye on the CSPAN camera and risk American lives (and his own reputation) just because he had a hunch that Bush was a dishonest broker. He never had to be there. I imagine he's glad of it because he won't have to answer for it one way or the other.

What the Democrats did in 2002 was not easy for them. Their floor statements will tell you that they were torn. Regime change in Iraq was the policy of America when President Clinton left office and it was still the policy at the time of the IWR. Would President Clinton have impulsively and inefficiently done what Bush did? I doubt it, but he wasn't POTUS at the time. He didn't have to make that decision, and I imagine he's glad of it because he won't have to answer for it one way or the other.

I know Barack Obama has a brilliant future ahead of him. I admire him. He's a fantastic orator and he shows a firm commitment to American progress. When it comes to voting for the Iraq War resolution, he could only second guess Senators like Edwards and Clinton. Even he, I'd imagine, would have the grace to understand that they were in a far different place than those outside the halls of federal leadership in those dark days.

Rove Aide Resigns in Abramoff Corruption Wake

Rove Aide Resigns in Abramoff Corruption Wake

Having passed inside White House information to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Karl Rove's aide Susan Ralston has submitted her resignation. Her official title was Executive Assistant to the Senior Advisor to the President of The White House.

A White House spokeperson has said that Ms. Ralston recognized that "a protracted discussion of these matters would be a distraction to the White House." Ralston had worked for Abramoff before joining Rove in 2001. She'd allegedly facilitated more than half of Abramoff's sixty-six contacts with the Bush White House.

The old surfer song "Pipeline" by the Ventures comes to mind when I read how Ms. Ralston aided Abramoff toward his corrupt goals. One example comes from a great timeline I found at Democratic Underground:

Late 2002 – Abramoff learns from his pipeline to the White House—which includes Susan Ralston, who used to be his personal secretary and was now working directly with Karl Rove--of the impending nomination of Leonardo Rapadas to replace Frederick Black as US Attorney of the Marianas. Abramoff instructs his team to send out e-mails claiming credit for getting rid of Black who--as he said in an earlier e-mail--“has been screwing us for years”.

November 18, 2002 – Following the request of U.S. Attorney Black, a federal grand jury in Guam subpoenas the Guam Superior Court for records involving a lobbying contract with Jack Abramoff.

Placing a new GOP-friendly attorney in Black's place may have hidden Abramoff's wrongdoing a bit longer - and the fact that US Attorney Black succeeded in uncovering the slime of a snake Abramoff from under his well-protected rock likely helped to expose Karl Rove's Deputy assistant as sahe worked for the cause of corruption in our White House.

A tip o' the hat to Jeffrey Feldman/Frameshop for quickly getting the news out about this resignation. A tip to John Byrne and Washington Monthly for collecting background information.

Moyers on Norquist, My Back Pages

Moyers on Norquist, My Back Pages

Watching Bill Moyers' fantastic documentary about the Jack Abramoff/Grover Norquist/Tom Delay net of deception, evil, and corruption, I was reminded to look back to some of my posts on Grover Norquist.

This one from 2003 is a doozy, and I've heard nothing in the mainstream media about it.

How this crook and others like him get away with stealing our most precious commodity, which is our democracy, through their evil dealings is beyond all reason. Do we have so many corrupt people in our nation that, through their willful ignorance of what is happening in the D.C. shadows, corruption is swept under a rug?

As more and more people understand how a lobbyist-funded "shadow government" has formed in the lobbyists' headquarters and in lobbyist-owned cafes and restaurants in the shadow of our Capitol building, the complete failure of our media to expose the theft of our democracy will become more and more unforgiveable. Thank God there are Bill Moyers and other real investigative journalists out there. I wish there were more, but rather than finding them in the mainstream, I think you'll likely find them on the blogs or the alternative internet media. As we learn more from each other through grassroots efforts, voters will likely catch on and oust more and more Republicans and Democrats who continue to operate within and cooperate with this perverted style of shadow governing.

Why Don’t We Hear About SPP?

Why Don’t We Hear About SPP?

The U.S. Department of Commerce is, for all intents and purposes, rewriting U.S. administrative law with absolutely no Constitutional justification.

What would you think if you knew that George W. Bush, while speaking from the bully pulpit about the need to build a wall across the Mexican/U.S. border, has been pushing for a commitment to a long-term goal of dramatically diminishing the the current intensity of America’s physical control of cross-border traffic and travel within all of North America?

What would you think if you knew that President Bush was promoting a system that loosens U.S. control over the screening of travelers from foreign countries at their first point of entry into anyplace in all of North America and from that first entry, the elimination of most controls over all of the temporary movement of these travelers within North America?

What do you suppose our Founding Fathers would say about erasing U.S. borders to enrich the richest in the false name of security and erase American democracy?

What do you think about a President who would keep all of this, for the most part, a secret from the American people? (Other than an unadvertised website.)

Given this President’s track record, I imagine you would not be particularly surprised at his reticence, but I’m here to tell you that you need to pay close attention, regardless of the fact that most of the whistleblowers aren’t likely from your favorite political crowd. With our common sovereignty at stake, we need to get active to stop the unconstitutional replacement of American authority for a supranational replacement created by elites. We need to be watchdogs over our own individual rights, freedoms, and our democracy.

If you think NAFTA has proven itself to be a disaster for human rights, worker’s rights, and the health of democracy in all subscribing nations and has watered down our Constitutional freedoms, then I’m sure you’ll find the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America [SPP] to have the potential to be even more dangerous.


There's a lot more information about SPP at my post from today at American Street

- - Jude