My purse...or is it a diaper bag?

Well, what can I say about my purse. I do need a new one. And a a new haircut, but that's another story.

Something cute, maybe bigger than I usually get- I'm a sucker for a really small bag. I did see a few I liked. They were "on sale" for over $50, though, and were good sized and not the standard brown. I'm not sure I'm ready to splurge on a bag, though. At the beginning of the year I payed more for shoes -more than one pair, too- than I normally do. I'm surprised I found that many I even liked.

Anyway, I need something bigger to hold all the kid stuff I accumulate. Or I need to clean it out occasionally. No, let's just get a bigger one. Not the dreaded "mom purse"!!
I've been hauling around:
2 toddler utensils
red, yellow, and green crayons
5 or so of my daughter's hair bows and clips
a baby nail clipper shaped like a bumblebee
a doll diaper
some wires from unentangling a new toy from packaging
Tide pen
etc

Ok, I'd have the Tide pen for myself since I can make more of a mess than my kids, actually. I didn't think I would put all the kid stuff in my purse. I always thought that's what a diaper bag is for. I don't know how all the stuff migrates in there, but I just realized it as I was looking for something today. So, if someone baby doll wants to eat or pee, I'm all set. If I want to write a check, though, I'm out of luck!

McCain and Rabbis

This stuff is from last week, but I've got a few things to say about them.

McCain Backs Israeli Actions In Gaza

Ok. Can McCain be any more obvious? He's not visiting the Palestinians at this time. Hmmm. Who's he courting?? Could it be the Jewish vote?? Foreign policy credentials. That's embellishing a bit. You could get by with that if you met with both sides. He's kissing up to American Jews by making nice with Israel and telling them what they want to hear. You are the victims, we'll protect you no mater what, of course you are justified in killing Palestinians etc, etc.

"That is not a way for people to live," McCain said. "No nation in the world can be attacked incessantly and have its population killed and intimidated without responding. That's one of the first obligations of government, to provide security for its citizens."

This quote is absolutely ridiculous in light of facts on the ground. Israel routinely harasses and kills the Palestinian population and that's ok. When Israel faces any sort of retaliation for their actions, suddenly they are being intimidated and justified in a violent response. It has been going on for 30+ years!! Innocents under attack by the Israeli military are in much more danger than those facing crude, homemade Palestinian rockets.

I guess the key is the last statement. Palestinians have no state and so they have no government whose job it would be to provide security for them. I guess if you don't have a state, you have no rights and don't matter. You are invisible. Or might as well be.

***
Arab MK to chief rabbis: Slam rabbinic calls to harm Arabs

Some rabbis are encouraging repayment for the seminary shooting- "measure for measure".
Whenever the radical Palestinians say something like this, it gets broad coverage on every major news network here in the States and is reinterpreted as the whole Palestinian population's view. I heard nothing about this except for this article. When rightist rabbis say these things it is the exception rather than the rule. When Palestinians say them, it is the rule rather than the exception. The news broadcasters (or their company) extrapolate and superimpose the views of extremists onto the whole Palestinian population.

kids

Yesterday, leaving for work was especially hard- and not just because I'd only gotten ~3-4 hrs of sleep, either! My two-year-old, still in pajamas, runs to get her shoes and socks as I'm picking up my keys and lunch to go out the door. She half says/cries, "wanna pop in the car? wanna put on your shoes and socks?" It's hard to leave my two kids on a normal day, but that was almost too much! She says pop in the car and hop goes the weasel. Too cute! She also picked up the word "president" this weekend.

She loves a 3 syllable word, that's for sure. And commercials. She doesn't watch a lot of kids shows, but LOVES commercials. The one with the dog at camp-"there may be bugs on some of you mugs, but there ain't no bugs on me". The Campbells ones that say "pos-si-bil-ities". The Goodwill one with the cartoon girl and boy- "Opportunities for a better life". She's mezmerized by the cell phone one with Chad and his gang of competitors. There are more I can't remember right now. One funny or not so funny thing is that she could hum the little McDonald's jingle before she had such a great vocabulary. It must have been somewhere between 1 yr and 18mos. A little embarassing, as we probably ate a little too much Mickey D's around that time if we were too lazy to cook, which we were, a lot.

Facebook makes foreign policy, opposes international law, and supports brutal occupation

Facebook gets entangled in Middle East conflict

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080317/wr_nm/settlers_palestinians_facebook_dc

So, it looks like Facebook rightly had been calling the place where illegal Jewish settlers live, Palestine. They whined quite loudly, I'd guess, and got Facebook to call illegal Jewish settlements Israel. Facebook is now determining our foreign policy. Great!

Ok, so maybe they don't determine the policy, but they aren't halping matters when they mkae "rulings" in opposition to international law (Geneva Convention) and the US's own foreign policy positions. Our obsequeously pro-Israel government even admits that these settlements and expansion of such is not ok, so for Facebook to call settlements part of Israel is overstepping it's bounds to say the least.

Now, I will go easy on them if they allow me to say I'm from the moon or Mars or Neverneverland. If I can say I'm from those places, then settlers can equally say they are from Israel. Same difference.

Well, I can see how Facebook may have gotten confused. The US disagrees with Israel expanding/building settlements and as far as I know, considers such illegal under the Geneva Convnetion, but only sporadically says anything about it. Even when officials speak on it, it is only to make suggestions or slap on the wrist. Other nations would and do face sanctions, harsh language and maybe even threats of invasion for lesser crimes/actions. Not Israel! We continue to fund their illegal and brutal occupation, land grabs, extrajudicial assassinations, closures, and other collective punishment to the tune of $3 billion or more a year. (at teh expense of our own populations' needs)

Politicians would rather keep their high paying jobs where they can legislate themselves pay raises than stand up for peace and justice and serve the public.

Scam-Residential Email/ESBI: semi-legal, totally shady internet scam!!

This is one you can't really recognize, unlike the 419 scams which have a hallmark ring to them or even just print at all! So, this one isn't one you fall for really, knowingly, but one more like identity theft where you just notice it one day if you are one to examine bills before forking over your money.

On our bill this past month for our local phone carrier,EMBARQ, my husband noticed a $14.95+$1.01tax charge for "Residential Email Mo Fee" on a separate page labeled "ESBI" with an explanation of 3rd party billing. Whaaa?? Our email is cable, for one thing. For another, WE DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR ANYTHING! Well, my husband called them (Residential Email, number provided), cussed them out and told them we weren't paying. They said ok. No arguments. Someone backing down that easily knows they are shady and in the wrong. Apparently, while he was yelling, the rep kept trying to tell him about the "service" to get him to "keep" when he'd take a breath. She mentioned something about $1000 in coupons she claims he signed up for on the internet or some idiotic thing. I called the next day to ask what she had on file and she had our phone and home address and my husband's email. (So it was him and not me!) She wanted to give me her sales pitch while she was bringing up our record (we have a record for something we didn't order?), but I cut her off and said I don't want to hear it, I think you are scamming people, and I just want to know how to avoid this so please tell me how we got on this list. As a matter of fact, when you call in, they ask you to type in your phone number like you are inquiring about a legitimate phone company charge before you speak with a representative.

You local carrier is allowed to pass on 3rd party charges, so that's legal. I think you can get that "feature" blocked-we're looking into that today. The companies, or at least one I saw while researching this situation, has a "F" rating with the BBB. Go figure!

From what I can gather, you "sign up" for this by entering sweepstakes, filling in your info for a free this or that, taking online surveys, etc. Some people found that the email address on file wasn't even theirs. All, like us, didn't directly sign up for this garbage. Apparently it is in the Terms and Conditions when you are filling online forms (generally for stuff unrelated to this Residential Email company) that they are allowed to bill you, etc. I find it incredibly unfair and shady to advertise one thing, have your sign up window below that, then in fine print (or separate link) to Terms which have nothing to do with what you think you are signing up for, but really are other opportunist, scum charging you for a bogus service.

Here are some links to blogs and info about this:
The first is the BBB thing I found, the second is an account similar to ours.

http://www.spokane.net/stay_connected/PressReleases.aspx?prid=1139

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/309/ripoff0309103.htm

http://momminitup.com/?cat=29

http://www.portlandtn.net/2005/11/scam.html

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/284/RipOff0284153.htm

http://pintmaster.com/20060524/answerstop-voicemail-monthly-fee-voicemail-you-didnt-sign-up-for/

http://tiredcynic.blogspot.com/2007/08/watch-out-for-residential-email-fraud.html

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/residential-email-c44904.html#comments

***********************************************
Here's my Rip Off Report for McDonald's:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/Fast-Food-Restaurants/Mcdonald-s-Monopoly/mcdonald-s-monopoly-playatmcd-7e478.htm

Call me a complainer, but I won a Shell Gas Card in the 2008 McDonald's Monopoly online game (Free Parking space) and never saw it. They said they sent it (surprise), so I guess that makes me a liar. True, I didn't lose any money, but it still deserves some sort of mention.

Two

You know you eat out too much when your 2 year old beats the drive through person to the punch with "the straw's in the bag" !

She also goes around saying "no more buffets", which is what my husband and I say after we end up at the GC or CiCi's.

We gotta stop eating out!

Some other sayings:
Dinner cookie - treats on the kitchen island, whether eaten after dinner or not. I sometimes eat a cookie or just a little something sweet after dinner, so I guess she put a name on it.

Daddy's fixing his credit- she says when my husband shreds old bills and credit card offers.

Open this for Rashad- she says when she need help opening one of Rashad's toys that she has no intention of letting him play with. It was cuter when he was way too young for toys. He's just getting to an age where he can sit up and play, so we are going to have fun learning to share...

Baby Sue wants some Craisins- Sometimes her baby doll takes on her own personality...

Have a good one- She came out with that as we were leaving her grandparents. She was between and year and 18 months, just starting to put sentences together, so it was really really funny and cute. And unexpected. Bye-bye, yes; but have a good one?

Obama email forward

I don't mean any disrespect to the people who sent it to me, I just want people to think. And I get on a bit of a soapbox with regards to these issues... A family member sent it to me most recently, so I don't want this taken the wrong way at all.

Here is the text; my response follows:

CAN MUSLIMS BE GOOD AMERICANS?

This is very interesting! We all need to read it from start

to finish......... and send it on to anyone who will read it.

Maybe this is why our American Muslims are so quiet and not speaking out about any atrocities.

Can a good Muslim be a good American?

This question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.

The following is his reply:

Theologically - no. . .. . Because his allegiance is to Allah, The moon God of Arabia.

Religiously - no. . . . Because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256) (Koran).

Scripturally - no. . . . Because his allegiance is to the five Pillars of Islam and the Quran.

Geographically - no. . . . Because his allegiance is to Mecca , to which he turns in prayer five times a day.

Socially - no. . . . Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.

Politically - no. . . Because he must submit to the mullahs (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.

Domestically - no. . . . Because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran 4:34).

Intellectually - no. . . Because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles, and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.

Philosophically - no. . . . Because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.

Spiritually - no. . . . Because when we declare "one nation under God," the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in The Quran's 99 excellent names.

Therefore after much study and deliberation, perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country.

They obviously cannot be both "good" Muslims and good Americans.

* * * Call it what you wish; it's still the truth.

* * * You had better believe it.

* * * The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future. The religious war is bigger than we know or understand.

And Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our President?

You HAVE to be kidding?! Wake up America!

Obama even says if he wins the election, he will

be sworn in on the Quran (Koran)---not the Bible!

***
My response:
***
Absolutely Muslims can be good Americans. The rebuttal is in the "facts on the ground". Talk to the Muslims you know.
In our Declaration of Independence—“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

This is a good link for those who don’t know much about Islam…
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/features/islam/islammyths.html

When you point to bad Muslims, you will no doubt name various well known terrorists. The fact is that the 9/11 hijackers were in a bar drinking before their crime, which is against Islam and they killed innocents, also against Islam. The evil Muslims this uses to generalize about all Muslims are extremists who aren't following the Quran. They follow some tenets and modify others to suit their purposes.

About Barak Obama- First of all, he’s Christian. Second of all, so what if he wasn’t? The president’s allegiance is to the US and he vows to uphold our laws, not convert us all to his religion (regardless of the book he swears upon). If a Muslim swore on a Bible, that wouldn’t make much sense as it has some things he doesn’t believe (but a lot he does)…but again, Obama’s a CHRISTIAN and has NOT said at any time he will swear on a Quran. (The guy who used Jefferson’s Quran for swearing in was Keith Ellison, Congressman)

See this for more rumors proven false about Obama:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

The first three things in the list say or imply that there are theological, religious, scriptural and spiritual requirements to being an American. That is ludicrous. Shall we evict atheists and all who don’t believe as this person, too? They wouldn't meet these requirements at all. The "intellectual" statement also deals with religion. Only Christians can be good Americans? That is what this implies here, and that is wrong and does not promote freedom of religion or expression, unlike our country’s founding documents.

Being an American is simply to be a citizen of the US. Being a good American is subjective. You believe good is Chrisitan, so no, a Muslim American is not going to be a Christian American. Both Christians and Muslims have the freedom to practice their religions in this country. That is one of the virtues of this country.

Now for the other "qualifications" listed:
Geographically- This one is funny. Kind of invokes a thought police picture in my mind. Just because they pray toward Mecca doesn’t mean their allegiance is to Mecca; that isn’t what they are taught, either. If I think about a foreign country five times a day, I myself am no less American!

Socially- They are not forbidden from making friends with Christians and Jews (people of the book, according to the Quran).
http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IC0608-3072
http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=article&aid=179

Politically- you are quoting extremists as I have said. This does not represent Islam itself or what the majority of Muslims believe.
http://islam.about.com/od/terrorism/AntiTerrorism.htm
A thing about Israel, though- they DO need to be stopped from committing collective punishment, international law violations and humanitarian atrocities and the US should not send them any more money until they behave. There won’t be peace til there’s justice in the region.
Only extremists and fanatics want the destruction of the US and Israel, not the majority of Muslims, especially ones that live here.

Domestically-
Not all Muslims have or are encouraged to have 4 wives. They are only permitted to have more than one if they can equally provide for all and it is not encouraged nor is it mandatory. On beating… see these links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_and_obligations_of_spouses_in_Islam
http://www.islamawareness.net/Wife/beating1.html

Philosophically-this makes no sense. Why would any religion promote freedom of religion? Christianity doesn't (Jn14:6); (and I agree with that as well because I am Christian!).
Freedom of Expression- http://www.crescentlife.com/spirituality/freedom_of_expression.htm


Never called love or Heavenly Father- Allah is called love in the Quran, see http://www.faizani.com/articles/names.html, not that it matters to me since I am a Christian and follow the Bible and I love all people and hate the sin.

***
More thoughts on our "Christian nation":
***
As far as electing people who put God into every public thing... of course I think that is good on one level (as a Christian myself), but perhaps we should realistically be more in favor of freedom of religion in case someone is in power who doesn't believe as we do? If what religion the president is starts to matter in our daily lives, we have a problem, since not many members of the church run for office. That would be more of a theocracy, not democracy anyway. Chances are, if a president started putting his take on God in schools, etc, the members of the church would not be well represented and we'd be listening to a bunch of stuff that is considered "Christian", but that is totally false.

About the intent of the first Americans--"The government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion," states the 1797 Treaty of Tripoli. This document was ratified by Congress without much debate or contention and stands today as a reminder of the founding fathers' intentions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States#Religion
It seems some were Christians, they look favorably onreligion in general, but separation of church and state was emphasized. I think that's a good principle for a state. (A Christian should act according to scripture, a state doesn't have that obligation or else Jesus would have come down hard on the Roman government and other powers of his time instead of teaching people.) That way, all can choose the set of beliefs they follow, like you or I chose to follow Christ. You can't legislate someone into heaven or force them to become a Christian. It is a Christians responsibility to put the Word out there, not the State's as I see it. If we leave it to the state, it won't be done or won't be done right. I don't think God expects us to have Christian governments throughout the world, as salvation is based on what one person does, not whole nations. He would have installed Christians as leaders in the world at that time, replaced the Roman ones who persecuted Christians had he wanted Christian leaders. The only way to have true Christian leaders is to hope/work that people are added to the church. I think it's backwards to elect Christian (or pseudoChristian) leaders in hopes that all will be added to the Lord's body.

I hope that makes a little sense. It's my 2 cents anyway.

It's election season. Let the debates begin!

The illusion of choice in US elections

While I'm not ready to go that far...this is a really good article. The destruction of the US? I don't think so. Still, it lays out some basic truths and wrongs in the system.

I agree that the results and candidates that emerge are pretty predictable. I personally would like to see more choices. Two parties aren't enough. The two democratic candidates are too polished, too superstar for lack of a better way to describe it. They are clearly pandering to special interests even if they don't take money from all or many of them. They have to do it to get elected.

The illusion of choice in US elections: Does it herald the dissolution of these United States of America?
Mazin Qumsiyeh
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/illusionofchoice/

Dovi

The Strangulation of Gaza

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080218/makdisi

Dov Weisglass, explained that

"the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet but not to make them die of hunger."

This says so many things. This guy is full of ...well ...garbage. First, to have Weisglass saying this and that the disengagement from Gaza was to be political formaldehyde proves that Washington doesn't really listen (or care?) what Israel says/stands for. That's good because maybe we don't actually support apartheid and collective punishment, etc. That's bad because we are funding these horrible things and tacitly supporting them so that our elected officials can keep their grip on power, be it the presidency or congressional seat. Second, we have from the horse's mouth what Israel's intent really is. They don't hide their sinister motives, yet we in the US tend to cloud these issues in order to make Israel sound righteous and downtrodden so that we are justified in supporting them.

Maybe both things come down to the influence of the AIPAC, the Israel lobby, in the US or perhaps Christian Zionists. The latter are interesting. I have read and chatted online with regards them. I can tell you where they draw from the Bible and what their reasoning is for the most part, and I can tell you it's not Biblical and doesn't make a lick of sense.

Reading that quote just made my blood boil. Why do we Americans continue to think Israel has any real interest or intent in helping us? Saying "they are the only democracy in the Middle East" may be soup for the neoconservative soul, but isn't an answer. It doesn't justify the collective punishment they dish out and roadblock to peace they have become. It doesn't justify the illegal acts, extra-judicial assassinations, imprisonments on false or no charges, fake trials, "mistakes" that can either only be carefully planned or the result of an extremely careless, inefficient, inexperienced, inhumane military machine. Fire from homemade rockets which rarely does any real damage is not grounds for starving an entire population, imprisoning them in their homes, and knocking out power so they are in the dark in winter--especially for a military as well-funded and equipped and trained as they are. It is more like ethnic cleansing than a response to "provocation" (...then there's who provoked whom...).

Rooney 60 minutes email forward...

I got this in my email (below) the other day… My first thought was: Hmmm. This person is saying right on for thinking a list of things including media aimed at black people is discriminatory to whites; yet I bet you the people who cheered this on would not think the State of Israel is a discriminatory concept. They would even say Israel has the right to exist and the right to be a Jewish state, the right to be a state for Jews instead of a state for its citizens. Just a guess.

My second thought was, let me get the transcript. Then when I couldn’t find it, I Googled some text and came up with a snopes link to this email whose status was proven FALSE.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/rooney4.asp

This seems to be mostly a rant about immigration due to the several items on speaking English, but it goes beyond that when it bashes BET and the term "African-American". The whole gun rant made me think this was a conservative effort. (That "guns don't kill people..." argument makes me chuckle as much as the "How could you eat something with a face" argument. There are many good reasons for going vegetarian, but I have a hard time taking that seriously.) On the whole is sounded more Rush Limbaugh than Andy Rooney.

Oh well. Rooney didn’t say it. I’m kinda glad, as some of those comments were pretty horrible and made me sour on him a bit. He is reinstated in my mind. The guy’s funny. This isn't.

******************************************************************************************
******************************************************************************************

Fw: CBS didn't stop him...This is great!!]

Good for him!!!

Surprised CBS let him get away with this even though he's right

Right on, Andy Rooney !

Andy Rooney said on "60 Minutes" a few weeks back:

I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers.. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE ?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.

I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot you if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can' t understand the word "freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines.

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich I don't pity the poor

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn't take a whole village to ! raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say "NO!"

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!

I am sick of "Political Correctness." I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be "African-Americans"? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe . I am proud to be from America and nowhere else

And if you don't like my point of view, tough!
. ..

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

I was asked to send this on if I agree or delete if I don't. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having "In God We Trust" on our money and having "G od" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to BE QUIET!!!

If you agree, pass this on, if not delete. .!

Interrogator Shares Saddam's Confessions

Tells 60 Minutes Former Iraqi Dictator Didn't Expect U.S. Invasion

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/24/60minutes/main3749494_page6.shtml

This is interesting stuff. We rarely get a look like this at people like this.
The stuff everyone wants to know is on pg 4 and 5. It tells about the invasion and the fact that he considered Bin Laden a fanatic, didn't trust him, and thought him a threat to his regime. This was known before the invasion (as was the no link between Al Qaeda and Saddam), but Bush didn't really pay attention or didn't want anyone to know.

Also along these lines, in Bush's State of the Union address- his last, thankfully- he spoke rather proudly about how Al Qaeda in Iraq was on the run and his war and strategy was working, etc. Had we not invaded, Al Qaeda either wouldn't be there or wouldn't be an issue, being a threat to Saddam and all!

Two-state solution. Consider it.

The Myth of International Consensus

By KATHLEEN CHRISTISON

http://www.counterpunch.org/christison01242008.html

I was going to look at several candidates on all issues, but I don’t seem to have the time. I have the most to say about the Republican view of Israel, so I started here. I remember considering McCain at one time, but there’s not enough there this time. I think I'm more of a Democrat, but I don't think either party really is a good fit for me.

Sadly Kucinich is out of the Democratic race. I think he was going to announce it last week, but I didn’t hear for sure. He was a better fit for me when he was pro-life, but he had to ditch that to go Democratic and pick up more votes. I don’t know how much good it did him, though.

Anyway…

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/may/24/five_presidential_candidates_offer_their_positions_on_israel_new

McCain
Sacred soil? Beacon of freedom and faith? Is McCain now Jewish?
Sometimes when Republicans get to talking about Israel I feel like shaking them and reminding them A) they are Christians (aren’t they?) and B) they are Americans. Those facts easily get lost in their rhetoric; one would assume oftentimes by listening to them that they are Jewish Israelis, Zionist even.

Existential threats. He’s using that term. The one Israel likes to use to justify any and all disproportional uses of force and torture and collective punishment. Great.

McCain’s priority appears to be giving our money to Israel, overlooking ALL faults, and bringing them into any diplomacy efforts we have with other nations. The sentence about bedrock support for Israel’s security sums up his focus. The focus won’t be any sort of peace process.

League of Democracies? Don’t we already have a United Nations? Israel will play a leading role, though it is standing on the edge of the cliff overlooking apartheid (or is it falling off already?), collectively punishes all of a particular race, has a Cabinet member who suggested busing all Palestinian prisoners into the sea to drown, builds/expands settlements in defiance of international law and our own position??

Half of his comments deal with how he will isolate enemies of Israel. Diplomacy what? Throw it out the window. Who needs it. As long as Israel is safe beyond a shadow of a doubt almost entirely at our expense, right?

He’ll never force Israel to make concessions… That sounds about right. I know there is more to the sentence, but that part is key. It is another red flag that diplomacy won’t be used or it will only be used when conditions are favorable in every way to Israel and all of its demands (unreasonable or not) are met (which won’t happen).

I found this quote particularly absurd, but fitting as it was the last in his statement on the subject on the website.

“I will make sure the American people understand that if we are to defeat the extremists that threaten our way of life, Israel's security cannot be compromised.”

On other issues…
Abortion- He is pro-life as I am, but I worry a bit about the implications of banning all abortions (ectopic pregnancies, etc?) and/or making them illegal (mother goes to prison or could be prosecuted if someone determines she didn’t do enough to defend herself and her baby if she narrowly escapes death in an accident or attack?). I absolutely believe life begins at conception, but there are some issues I’m still thinking about that keep me from being as rabidly or absolutely pro-life as some.

Budget- He is against wasteful spending, which is supposed to be a Republican thing, I guess. I like that idea in theory, but in practice it seems Republicans cut the budget in the wrong areas (cancer researchers among others are finding it hard to get grants at present among other misappropriations) and give themselves pay raises.

Environment- He’s better than most Republicans here, but not great.

Defense, Intelligence, Judges- He supports the “war on terror” and Bush’s judges. I have a big problem with neocons, here, and slightly less problem with regular cons.

Immigration- He seems big into amnesty, which I’m not sure I support. They are breaking the law, so I think there should be consequences. I don’t know how harsh those consequences should be. They may not understand the requirements so I don’t feel infuriated by illegals like some, but at the same time the punishment should be harsh enough to deter illegal immigration.

Gay Marriage- He wants to define marriage by an act in Congress, but not by the Constitution. I’m not sure we should be defining marriage by laws if it is a religious institution. We can’t legislate people into heaven. This act, unlike abortion doesn’t hurt others, so I hesitate more to support defining marriage as one man and one woman by the Constitution. I kind of think the states should be uniform, though.

Bush says economy's strong

Bush has got his head in the sand more than ever these days. First, that farce in the Middle East, now this priceless quote from him last week:

"...so that an economy that's inherently strong gets a boost..."

Is he talking about the US?? All I've been hearing about is how hard it is to get a job, debates about are we on the brink of a recession or already in one, reports on the credit crisis, housing and lending disasters, etc.

I mean, really, does he write his own material or what?

http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

This is from one list I'm on. It mentions an interesting book where people detail their experiences with the Occupation, from 1948 or so to the present. It sounds really good. I like reading political stuff and stuff about the conflict, but this has the human interest aspect that I really really love.

“The U.S. president is not above international law”

Interview of Sam Bahour, Palestinian businessman and human-rights spokesperson
Mentions an interesting book…
http://www.michiganpeaceteam.org/LTT_Jan05_2008.htm

*******
This is from another list I'm on. I haven't gotten a chance to read most of this, but these are the highlights that sounded interesting and that I plan to read when I get a second.

ACTION 3: Racist Zionist says: “The Quran is a book of Hate”
Write to advertisers to stop advertising at this Islamophobe and racist show of Michael Savage. See this link for audio and action item details/contact information for advertisers:
http://nosavage.org?utm_source=rgemail
In the New York Times article on the subject of Savage and his background, we find:
“At one point Mr. Savage — who was born Michael Weiner, and who still is, legally, Michael Weiner — led a visitor to a glass case that included a photo of him as a boy wearing a tallit, or Jewish prayer shawl.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/arts/17sava.html
Jews especially need to disassociate themselves from bigots and racists like Weiner/aka Savage and David Frum. Their racism and bigotry if unchallenged by fellow Jews encourages anti-Semitism and hatred
----------------------
Must see debate between Zionist Neocon David Frum and George Galloway
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19099.htm
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Zionist Jews attack Barak Obama. See this vitriolic article that equates calling for an end to the occupation and balanced US foreign policy with “Anti-Semitism”. Bizarre but relevant to understand and to challenge.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/barack_obama_and_israel.html
The reality is that Obama has gone out of his way to ignore human rights to satisfy the political need to get the Israel-First Lobby
For a an article "How Obama Learned to Love Israel" http://www.electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml
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These links are from a mailing list I'm on, but I've posted my own comments about the articles below them.

Candidates’ Unconditional Support Isn’t Right for Jewish State by John J. Mearsheimer
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/13/6349/
This really is the heart of the matter, the problem/puzzle in this country regarding Israel. It isn’t so much that our lawmakers love Israel; they love power and don’t want to lose their seat in Congress or other government post. He also puts his finger on a relatively new idea for me and that is that such unconditional support for Israel in foreign policy is detrimental to Israel. I hadn’t really thought about it that way until recently, but he’s correct. This is one of the guys at Chicago who wrote that controversial paper on the Israel Lobby in the US.

The Hands of Esau by Uri Avnery (also on Bush’s visit)
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1200227323/
A very perceptive article on Bushs visit to the region. Avnery agrees with me that it looks as though Bush is trying to overshadow all the bad stuff he and his associates did while in power and how this is a ridiculous notion considering how he has no real clout his last year in office. The whole trip was a sad, sad joke (is there a word for when something is so hopeless and sad that you have to laugh…is that irony?) to me when I heard about it. What can they hope to accomplish in this last year after having neglected theses issues for the first 7 years in office, the parties knowing they won’t be dealing with Bush next year??

Mike Huckabee, Christian Zionist http://www.jewsonfirst.org/08a/huckabee_christian_zionist.html
A very good article that identifies the whole rapture, tribulation 100 year reign Tim LaHaye Left Behind doctrine for what it is: Premillennialism; error according to the Bible. He says Huckabee is a believer in this, which is not suprising since he’s a Baptist preacher, however, it is disturbing that he could be in the White House soon. I don’t know that I agree with the author’s last statement, though! Well, maybe I do in that Romney maybe wouldn’t be as inclined to use this pseudo Biblical principle as a guiding principle for the presidency and foreign policy of this country.

Must Read Gulf News Editorial addressed as a "Letter to George W. Bush"
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/01/11/10180995.html
This is a pretty good list of all the things that have really infuriated me about Bush, some of which I have blogged about. It is a seemingly never-ending list.

Israel Lobby Unrelenting in Efforts to Stifle Speech It Doesn’t Want Americans to Hear By Ron David
http://www.washington-report.org/archives/December_2007/0712023.html
Less interesting and more specific-it deals with 3 examples-2 of institutions bowing to Israeli lobby influence and coming to their senses and one of Dershowitz’s fear of debating Finklestein.

Good article in the financial times: Of ordinariness and occupation
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d631e05e-c0b0-11dc-b0b7-0000779fd2ac.html

Ron Paul Reggae Song http://ronpaulvoterbomb.blogspot.com/

The Arab vote in Michigan (there are half a million Arabs and Muslims in Michigan; their vote can be critical) See this CNN video:
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/251.6/popup/index.php?cl=5954167

ACTION: Peter Shulman's art exhibit on Palestine will be at Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts between 4 and 10 February. The exhibit is available on loan for the price of shipping. If you are interested please email Linda Elbow at breadpup@together.net
more details at http://breadandpuppet.org/uofmajd.html

"Israel won't accept nuke weapons in Iran."

I saw this headline on Yahoo news..."Israel won't accept nuke weapons in Iran."

First, I must say, SO WHAT?! Let Israel deal with it. Or don't...they have nukes and have threatened to use them more than once! They are more of a loose cannon than some of the dictatorships we deal with. Israel is more dangerous because they feel they are under an existential threat (they aren't...look at the facts); the dictators aren't under that kind of pressure and are less likely to blow their tops.

Second, I know realistically that this will be our problem. GWB or the next president will be forced into dealing with this on behalf of Israel and could possibly drag us into trouble.

Speaking of trouble... the voice on our tape of the Iran approaching US boats incident ended up not being the correct accent to be real. And we were worried about theirs being a fake! That's great!

So, President Bush is in the Middle East trying to push a settlement of some sort. Could he be trying to make history for something besides unjustly attacking Iraq, Bushisms, and cowboy politics? It just isn’t going to happen. What did Annapolis accomplish? Nothing. Palestinians are still in a virtual (and actual) prison and Israelis are still running scared of suicide attacks. Israelis still say peace and moving forward is conditional upon Palestinian compliance with Israel’s list of demands. Israel is still not being held accountable for it’s human rights and international law violations and collective punishment of Palestinians. Conferences over the years are called and they talk about talking about peace. Deadlines come and go- didn’t Bush say near the beginning of his presidency there’d be a Palestinian state by 2006?

Bush: `Iran is a threat to world peace'

"Am I nudging them forward? Well, my trip was a pretty significant nudge because yesterday they had a meeting," he said.

-Ha! This is priceless. Classic Bush. Thinking he did more than he did. Trying to claim anything that happens as his doing in case something actually comes out of it. Then, he’d have his “Oslo” moment with photo op.

Rice's comments, published in The Jerusalem Post daily, marked the U.S. administration's strongest criticism yet of Israeli policies in disputed east Jerusalem.

Of unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West Bank, Bush said simply: "The agreement was get rid of outposts -- illegal outposts. And they ought to go."

-Great about the outposts. He’s actually calling Israel out, but all settlements and enlargements of such are illegal by international law, not just new outposts.

I wrote this yesterday.

New blog for the new year

So I guess I have a new blog. Yahoo keeps changing stuff, so I figure I'll try this one for awhile.
(My old one is 360.yahoo.com/tcdrtw)
What better way to start than with a tag?

I've never done one of these, so here goes. I don't know if these things have a time limit...I got it weeks ago and started it days ago. I'll have to fill in who I will tag later, too! Most will probably be goals in the spirit of NewYear's, though I never really do the whole New Year's Resolution thing. I mean, if I want to start a good habit or stop a bad one, why wait weeks or months til New Year's Day?

Tag! You’re it!
Here's how you play: Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 random things, facts, goals, or habits about yourself. At the end, choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. Don't forget to leave them a comment (you're it) and to read your blog for instructions. You can't tag a person who has tagged you. Since you can't re-tag me, let me know when you've posted your blog so I can see the answers!

1. Get back into my Bible reading/study routine
2. Lose the last 5-10 lbs of baby weight
3. Exercise more
4. Have a conversation that doesn't have to do with breasts or poop
5. Relax!! and take myself and everything less seriously.
6. Go on dates with my husband again
7. My husband and I started dating when I was 16, almost 14 years ago
8. My favorite place to live was Charleston, despite the Hurricane Hugo thing
9. I lost a spelling bee on purpose (and one legitimately)
10. I wanted to be a vet when I grew up