Internet muse.
Daring, bold, never sold.
My daily weblog of politics, humor, philosophy...and a constant and nagging reminder of the existence of universal love....
India and Pakistan on Thursday launched a historic bus link to reunite divided families on both sides of Kashmir. Greeted by cheers, tears and dancing, bus passengers defied militants and crossed the militarised line dividing Kashmir for the first time in nearly 60 years. Kashmiris wept joyfully and clutched their loved ones after being reunited by the historic bus service. “It’s a blessing. I never thought this day would come,” said passenger Raja Naseer Khan, 60, a retired civil servant from Srinagar, as he met his niece Noreen Arif for the first time.
Excerpt:
"Neo-pan-Arab West-blaming, which focuses on the symbols of neo-imperialism in Iraq and Palestine, deflects attention from the gross failures of domestic politics in the separate nations of the Arab world, and usefully serve the purposes of the ruling elites in Egypt, Syria, Saudi and elsewhere. Neo-pan-Arabism plays to the worst majority-rule instincts within the Middle East. It disallows distinctions between cultures, but also between political experience and history.
The US-UK alliance’s war in Iraq is to blame for only adding more fuel to this old ideological fire. As many liberal Arab commentators predicted, it has narrowed the margins of political discourse in the Arab world even further (opposition calls for reform – as we saw in Beirut – are immediately attacked for ‘betraying the country to the US’) and has tarnished the principle of democracy. But regardless, it is time to say that pan-Arabism of this nature does not serve anyone’s interests.
The Bush Administration’s democratization programme can, as we have seen in Georgia, Ukraine, Beirut (and perhaps even Kyrgyzstan), provide the impetus for real change if properly made use of. Reformers in the Middle East, be they of secular, Islamist, liberal or socialist ilk, cannot afford to fall into the trap set by their own authorities which casts reform as American and therefore suspect to the point of treachery. Let us hope that broad Arab support for the Lebanese ‘revolution’ (whatever its character) heralds a new era – when the Arab world realizes that to stand up to the West, it must use it."
--John Bolton (Mr. Milk Moustache) is definitely one of The Worst of the Bad Nominees."It is a privilege to appear today to present my thoughts on Iraq and our armed forces, to offer a brief retrospective on the mission there, to sketch out a successful way ahead, and to discuss the implications for the U.S. armed forces..."Related Story at Aljazeerah.com: Clark Says Bush's policy towards Syria and Iran encourage the two states to work against the U.S. interests in Iraq
"Protection of life and liberty must once again become the issue that drives political thought in this country. If this goal is replaced by an effort to promote world government, use force to plan the economy, regulate the people, and police the world, against the voluntary desires of the people, it can be done only with the establishment of a totalitarian state. There’s no need for that. It’s up to Congress and the American people to decide our fate, and there is still time to correct our mistakes."
Excerpt:
"If the changes sought by the administration take effect, they will result in one of the biggest cuts since Washington first began subsidizing housing: as much as $480 million, or 14 percent, of the $3.4 billion federal budget for day-to-day operations, including labor, maintenance, insurance and utilities, at the nation's 3,100 housing authorities. Housing authorities in New York State would be among the hardest hit, under a new formula that works against older urban areas."
Throughout American history, from the abolitionists and suffragists of the nineteenth century to the feminists and civil rights activists of the twentieth, mainstream-progressive religion has served as a bedrock of humane and democratic values. Renewed public visibility of faithful religions is essential to maintain America’s rich democratic traditions and to insure vigorous debate within the American public sphere.
Faith Voices amplifies the efforts of its progressive religious and progressive activist member organizations by delivering process efficiencies via community interconnectivity. Our goal is to contribute to the renewal of American democratic life.
Faith Voices and its partners share these values:
1. Appreciation for diversity.
2. The inviolable dignity of every human being.
3. Peaceful, multilateral resolution of conflict.
4. Responsible stewardship of the earth’s resources.
5. Justice for all, including the underprivileged and disenfranchised.
6. Hospitality toward immigrants and other strangers.
7. Care for the most vulnerable among us.
Join the mailing list.
View the Discussion Forum.
"We invite clergy and lay people from throughout the country to join us. We seek a new commitment to active participation in the political processes of our nation by those members of religious communities who hold views larger than sectarian interests or narrow ideologies and who serve, beyond private advantage and any claim of spiritual superiority, the moral vision of the common good."
A MORAL MISSION
We will return America to its true moral mission and restore its historic commitment to the common good. We must do more for those among us who suffer from poverty, hunger, inadequate health care, and educational disparity. The progressive movement is now at a turning point. Dozens of progressive religious leaders and organizations are rising as one to speak out against war and greed, and to build what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the Beloved Community. The Beloved Community promotes non-violence, social justice, fair and equal treatment under the law, care for the environment, and freedom.
"It is necessary for us to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights. When you deal with human rights you are not dealing with something clearly defined in the Constitution. They are rights that are clearly defined by the mandates of a humanitarian concern."
- Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated April 4, 1968
"Bloggers, said Okrent, are having a "huge" influence on The Times -- both for good and for bad. On the one hand, bloggers are holding the paper accountable for factual errors and for not covering some things. On the other hand, some bloggers make up stories that just aren't true. Okrent does read blogs, particularly high-traffic blogs, which sometimes provide their readers with links to e-mail Okrent about certain stories...."
I'd steer people to two stories at The Common Ills.
1) The first is called "Daniel Okrent Step Down"
2) "Was Daniel Okrent Censured? Randy Cohen (The Ethicist) Says He Was"
I'm really tired of the mainstream press covering up for Daniel Okrent and I hope the blogs will not let him step down in a hazy glow of glory after what he did to that one reader.
-E.P. Miller
"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.
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..."
"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.
"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."
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.
"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
Video: Iowa Press [iptv.org]
Audio: Audio Interview [iptv.org]
Transcript: Interview Transcript [iptv.org]
