What's In Your Head Zombie?

Source: Craig's List
Hat Tip: Haitham
(who received it from Kimmy)

From an Angry Soldier

---

Date: 2007-04-10, 1:00PM PDT


I'm having the worst damn week of my whole damn life so I'm going to write this while I'm pissed off enough to do it right.

I am SICK of all this bullshit people are writing about the Iraq war. I am abso-fucking-lutely sick to death of it. What the fuck do most of you know about it? You watch it on TV and read the commentaries in the newspaper or Newsweek or whatever god damn yuppie news rag you subscribe to and think you're all such fucking experts that you can scream at each other like five year old about whether you're right or not. Let me tell you something: unless you've been there, you don't know a god damn thing about it. It you haven't been shot at in that fucking hell hole, SHUT THE FUCK UP!

How do I dare say this to you moronic war supporters who are "Supporting our Troops" and waving the flag and all that happy horse shit? I'll tell you why. I'm a Marine and I served my tour in Iraq. My husband, also a Marine, served several. I left the service six months ago because I got pregnant while he was home on leave and three days ago I get a visit from two men in uniform who hand me a letter and tell me my husband died in that fucking festering sand-pit. He should have been home a month ago but they extended his tour and now he's coming home in a box.

You fuckers and that god-damn lying sack of shit they call a president are the reason my husband will never see his baby and my kid will never meet his dad.

And you know what the most fucked up thing about this Iraq shit is? They don't want us there. They're not happy we came and they want us out NOW. We fucked up their lives even worse than they already were and they're pissed off. We didn't help them and we're not helping them now. That's what our soldiers are dying for.

Oh while I'm good and worked up, the government doesn't even have the decency to help out the soldiers whos lives they ruined. If you really believe the military and the government had no idea the veterans' hospitals were so fucked up, you are a god-damn retard. They don't care about us. We're disposable. We're numbers on a page and they'd rather forget we exist so they don't have to be reminded about the families and lives they ruined while they're sipping their cocktails at another fund raiser dinner. If they were really concerned about supporting the troops, they'd bring them home so their families wouldn't have to cry at a graveside and explain to their children why mommy or daddy isn't coming home. Because you can't explain it. We're not fighting for our country, we're not fighting for the good of Iraq's people, we're fighting for Bush's personal agenda. Patriotism my ass. You know what? My dad served in Vietnam and NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

So I'm pissed. I'm beyond pissed. And I'm going to go to my husband funeral and recieve that flag and hang it up on the wall for my baby to see when he's older. But I'm not going to tell him that his father died for the stupidty of the American government. I'm going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that's all true and nothing will be solved by telling my son that his father was sent to die by people who didn't care about him at all.

Fuck you, war supporters, George W. Bush, and all the god damn mother fuckers who made the war possible. I hope you burn in hell.

Thank you whoever wrote this letter who is OBVIOUSLY suffering from her loss. Keep speaking, but you say your husband served several tours and you served one yourself. Why?
Did you think it was wrong at the time? What the hell were you doing there in the first place?
You were participating in a war crime, the war itself, did you know it then or do you know it now? Don't you realize that had you and your husband stood up for what is right in the first place he would not be dead now? So when you hang that flag over your babies bed you are "going to tell him that his father was a hero and the best man I ever met and that he loved his country enough to die for it, because that's all true" Excuse me maam, but you JUST DON'T get it.
THIS VIDEO IS WHAT YOUR HUSBAND DIED DOING, NOT BEING A HERO BUT WILLINGLY PARTICIPATING IN THE DESTRUCTION OF ANOTHER COUNTRY AND MURDERING INNOCENT PEOPLE!!!!!!!! "What's IN YOUR HEAD ZOMBIE"? The maker of the video writes "the American and British forces shouldn't be blamed for this but they can be manipulated" What the HELL ever happened to personal responsibility? When are people going to WAKE UP and stop following what they are told to do by this fascist government who attacked an innocent people? Yes you can blame Bush for lieing, you can blame him all you want, but people are STILL enlisting VOLUNTARILY and people are STILL SERVING VOLUNTARILY!!!! Every single military personnell who is serving at the behest of the United States and Britain are COMMITTING A WAR CRIME. Stay longer to fix it you say? We can NEVER right this wrong our country has committed, NEVER!!!!! So do I mourn our losses?
I regret to say in the strict sense of how someone would expect me to mourn, NO!! I would NEVER mourn someone who is committing a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY and dies while doing it. In the Christian sense, Father forgive them, for they CLAIM they know not what they do or better yet, they are "heroes".

COURAGE TO RESIST

Say NO!! To Blackwater in California

Dear Network Member:

War profiteer Blackwater USA already has its former lobbyist working in the California Department of Homeland Security. And the private security firm reportedly has its eyes on California disaster relief contracts in the event that the big one hits. So is it any wonder that Blackwater now has its sights set on building a mercenary training camp right here in California?

Join us in urging Governor Schwarzenegger and Senators Boxer and Feinstein to stop Blackwater from opening an 824-acre mercenary training facility in the midst of the pristine wilderness of Round Potrero Valley, 45 miles east of San Diego.

Tell our state leaders to say NO to war profiteering, say NO to Blackwater West.

http://couragecampaign.org/page/petition/Blackwater

Since local residents were made aware of Blackwater's plans last October, citizens, activists and local leaders alike have risen up in opposition to the plan. Of Potrero's 450 registered voters, more than 300 of them have signed a petition opposing the facility. There is also an effort underway to recall the seven members of the Potrero Planning Group that gave the go ahead for the plan last November. And the district's own Congressman, Rep. Bob Filner, has vowed to do what he can to block the training camp.

Will you join with the local community in urging our statewide leaders to keep Blackwater out of their backyard?

http://couragecampaign.org/page/petition/Blackwater

Tell the governor and our senators to say No to Blackwater.

http://couragecampaign.org/page/petition/Blackwater

Yours sincerely,

Rick Jacobs
Chair

P.S. You can learn more about Blackwater's attempt to colonize in California at www.stopblackwater.net, a website established by Raymond Lutz, President of the East County Democratic Club. This weekend he will be introducing a resolution on the floor of the CA Democratic Convention to make all mercenary camps in California, including Blackwater West, illegal. Support his efforts by signing our petition and standing against Blackwater in California.

Paid for by the Courage Campaign.

This email was sent to:
charellc@aol.com

To unsubscribe: http://couragecampaign.org/unsubscribe

Polite discussion on Zionism: Is it possible?

Please note, the author of the below article is Jewish herself.

Polite discussion on Zionism: Is it possible?

Karin Friedemann

I found the website http://www.realisticdove.org/ very interesting because it is the first time I have come across a progressive Jew so honest about his racism. Usually when confronted, these confused souls just get indignant and refuse to speak to you for a few months. I always wondered how a person could think that Israel has a "right" to "security" and shrug off this amazing assumption with the accusation that anyone who has questions about your definitions is accusing you of being an evil murderer. Why would any sane person think that he has the right to live unharrassed on someone else's stolen property? Even the cute kids waving Israeli flags are participating in a criminally insane political ideology.

Progressive Jews want to make the bottom line "Jews are nice people." But that is not the bottom line. As Hillel mentioned, the bottom line is that you don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. What would we expect if our neighbor, with or without warning, bulldozed our house?

First, we would call the police. If the man with the bulldozer failed to stop bulldozing the house, the police officer would have the duty to disable the vehicle and he might even shoot him. I'm talking about American law. The bulldozer man would be stopped. He would be considered a criminal. He would be put on trial. He would go to prison. If he had killed people in the process of bulldozing the house, he might even be executed. The owner of the house that was bulldozed would be entitled to damages plus extra for pain and suffering. The law requires that his property be restored to the original state that it was in. That includes replanting the trees and fixing the pavement around the house.

The emotional defensiveness of Jews is actually quite amusing, where they want to argue that the bulldozer man was not evil, he was not a murderer. The family that moved into the stolen property are just innocent idealists. They may be misguided, or mistaken, but for some reason Jews want to argue that they are not evil. What they are really saying is that they don't want Jews to be held legally accountable for their actions. They want to enjoy the privilege of being "protected" from the laws that apply to other people.

A law does not cover the "evilness" of a criminal. It covers actions and consequences.

If international law were followed, the Israeli "government' would never have kicked out any Palestinians. The entire existence of Israel is based on the condition made by the U.N. that Palestinians would remain in their homes and receive equal citizenship in the new nation state. That condition was not followed. Therefore, there is no legal basis for any assumption that Israel has a right to exist, according to the U.N. In fact, Israel does not really exist. It is a figment of imagination, the defensive mechanism of the neurotic Jewish collective consciousness. I agree that we need to stop arguing about isms but the next step is to follow the laws that already exist to solve the problems. Don't wait for the world community to force Israel to do it. Why don't we, as Jews, just do it? Why are progressive Jews wasting their time feeling emotionally threatened by a one state solution? The real problem is that we are feeling emotionally threatened by any solution. Because a solution means that a lot of Jews need to be prosecuted.

The refugees need to be given back their property with extra for damages. Even if they fled their homes because Arab leaders told them to get out of the fighting zone in 1948, they have the legal right to return to their homes as soon as the fighting stops. Small wonder why Israel continues to attack people day after day.

The refugees need to be given full civil rights. Full water rights, full road rights, and the full right to criminally prosecute. Every Jewish family in America that has any property in the Holy Land needs to be prosecuted as part of an organized criminal network. Especially if both the Palestinian and the Jewish persons are American citizens. For example one friend of mine, after her family was forced off their land by gunpoint, New York Jews bought the land, bulldozed everything, and planted orange trees. She knows where they live. She knows their names. Anyone who buys or sells stolen property is a criminal. They need to be prosecuted. Any Jew who owns stolen property in the Holy Land should have his property seized including their U.S. assets and progressive Jews should insist on it instead of doing these mental "I'm not evil" gymnastics.

The Jews need to give back what they stole. I am not sure why that is so confusing to people. There needs to be a world tribunal like the Nuremburg trials to determine what was done and who was responsible, and to put an end to this nonsense. But failing that, the U.S. legal system could solve the problem within a year if they just prosecuted this obnoxious real estate mafia. Why are progressive Jews not lobbying for criminal penalties on Jews who invest in property that was cleared of its original owners by force in the Holy Land? There is enough room in all of Bush's new prisons for all these shady real estate agents. This is a simple matter of holding people legally accountable for the harm they cause others.

It is exactly the same issue with dispute over the Roxbury Mosque. Some shady white Jewish real estate dealers were furious that the black community benefited from this piece of land next to the subway station that they wanted to develop, so now they are engaging in extra-legal trickery and character assassination to try to get that piece of real estate away from the people who own it.

Once the Palestinians get their land back and all the Zionist organizations' assets are confiscated to repair all the damage they have done, then we can talk about whether or not "the Jewish people" have the right to "self-determination" in the form of an ethnocentric nation state.

I learned when I was a kid that the way to get self-determination — ie, the ability to do what you want when you want how you want — is to behave yourself. The Jews are not behaving themselves, and there is nothing okay about it. When a progressive Jew starts whining, "You think I'm evil!!" he or she breaks the heart of the human being who is trying to have peace with this person. It ends all rational discussion. It ends all hope for peace.

Sometimes Palestinians find it easier to deal with right wing Zionists than left wing because at least they are honest. A Palestinian can say to a right wing Jew, "You stole my property." The right wing Jew will say, "Yeah, and what are you going to do about it? My religion says I can steal your property." Then the Muslim can with dignity say, "Well my religion says that God curses the man who puts another man out of his home, and that I have the right to fight you." So that actually can be done in the context of a polite dialogue. A peace plan is even potentially possible. Because then the Jew can say, "Well, I don't want you to kill me and I can see why you would think that I deserved it, because if you did the same thing to me I would certainly kill you. So let's make a deal. I'll let you live in the garage." This is still insulting behavior, but it's in the process of being made less sadistic.

On the other hand, if a Palestinian says to a progressive Jew, "You stole my property!" the progressive Jew will usually shut down entirely. I have seen a fifty year old man start crying and insisting he's not evil. This is the behavior of someone who is guilty as sin. Like when you accuse your husband of adultery and he starts guilt-tripping you about how you don't believe in him (hypothetical but common scenario).

The other reaction is to get maliciously angry and start doing character assassination via gossip so that none of the other progressive Jews will greet that person who brought up the "touchy" subject. But they will be told that this person is an "enemy of peace" — so that it will be politically correct to shun them the same way that we avoid eye contact with skinheads and Bible thumpers. Progressive Jews are the most amazingly idealistic people on the planet. They want to be able to continue to sit on someone else's stolen property (or at least vacation on it) and not only think they have a "right" to travel around unharmed, ride the buses, shop and eat pizza while the people they made homeless have no water or food — but they want their victims to LIKE them. The Jews are the only conquerors in the history of the planet that expect the conquered people to LIKE them! If they don't like us, we feel offended and outraged. And what Jews consider as "liking behavior" is never mentioning the property they stole.

It's amazing. I've discussed some of this with Avigail Abarbanel, an ex-Israeli psychiatrist in Australia. She views Zionism as a mental illness that can be treated. But Zionism is just a symptom of a deeper problem, the delusional belief that you have "rights" which do not exist. Like a kid thinking he has the right to hit his sister. It's a failure to apply the Golden Rule to one's personal sense of responsibility in certain situations. The inner conflict that arises from these "situational ethics" certainly does create a clinically diagnosable mental inability to process certain types of information that trigger the neurotic or sometimes even psychotic defensive reaction.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Israel, Jews are defensive in the sense that they cannot process the type of information that is necessary to create peaceful behaviors. For example, if a Jew and a Palestinian live next door to each other in New Jersey, the Jew being the "owner" of a condo built on the Palestinian person's property, don't you think the Jew should offer to give it back, if he expects the other's friendship? If the Palestinian, as is normal, invites the Jew over for tea and politely doesn't bring up the subject, does the Jew feel that this means it's OK what he did? That he can forgive himself? That is what Jews want after all. We want to be forgiven without apology for everything we have done AND everything we are about to do. Is this a rational approach to peace? Is it working?

SOURCE

Sunday Offering #9: We Are The World

We Are The World Lyrics
» Michael Jackson

There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
and its time to lend a hand to life
There greatest gift of all

We cant go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of Gods great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need

Chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
Theres a choice we're making
We're saving out own lives
its true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stones to brend
So we all must lend a helping hand

Chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
Theres a choice we're making
We're saving out own lives
its true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe theres no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one

Chorus:
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
Theres a choice we're making
We're saving out own lives
its true we'll make a better day
Just you and me

Saudi Arabia Holds Camel Beauty Pageant

Between the years 1975 and 1980 I lived in Saudi Arabia (KSA) and have often longed to return for a visit. Actually I was trying to find an article to post about the crackdown on terrorists in KSA in which 173 suspects were arrested
when I happened upon the article below about the camel beauty contest.

When I spoke recently to a family member who goes back and forth between the States and KSA, he told me, "Robin, you were there in the good times, before it all changed". Things have changed all right, Mo over on Above and Beyond posted about a fantastic theme restaurant in Khobar. I was rather taken aback since when I lived in Khobar, the only decent restaurant was in a hotel that more than likely doesn't exist anymore and the best thing that ever happened was a drive up pizza place opened where you could call ahead and go pick up your pizza. If you live in KSA and just happen to be reading this, don't laugh, because that Saudi Arabia is NOT the Saudi Arabia of today with all it's "modern conveniences" Terrorism was never an issue thirty years ago either, so things have changed in ways no one back then would have anticipated.

One thing that has not changed, and I pray never will, is that there are still bedouins (though I'm pretty sure not as many) with their camels. In a desert where man can perish due to lack of water, this graceful animal can go for miles and miles without water. When living in KSA I saw camels quite frequently, sometimes in the back of a pick up truck being transported somewhere, more often along the sides of the roads.

When we lived in Riyadh, my rather crazy Swedish girl friend decided we should go to the camel races. So we did, just the two of us. Little did we know that there wasn't a special section for women so the befuddled ushers seated us in the royal family box where we sat directly behind then Crown Prince Fahd. He was ever so gracious to us and welcomed us to sit there with him. But when the horse race portion started and a particular horse was stubborn and reared up in the starting gate, my girl friend, Tess and I laughed out loud. That horse went on to win the race and just happened to belong to Prince Fahd. He turned around to us with a wry smile and said, "Ladies, do you like it that my horse won the race?" Were our faces RED. The camel races were amazing, with REAL jockeys, not the robots that are now being developed to race the camels.

One time we were traveling by car from Riyadh to Dammam which took about seven hours back then because there wasn't a freeway like now. We had gone miles without seeing anything. Then suddenly, there was a lone bedouin on his camel leading a small herd. He was dressed in a BRIGHT white thobe and had amunition belts strapped across his chest. I wanted to stop and talk to him so we did. Believe it or not, he asked us if we had any water because he was running low. We gave him a liter of water and he shared some dates with us. I wanted so very much to take his picture but he politely said no because of "al-ax", the image which appears which should not be reproduced in any way. So I have no picture, but I have the memory, of meeting a lone bedouin on a lonely desert road, sharing water and dates, and standing next to the absolutely beautiful camels that sustain bedouin life.



Saudi Arabia, Apr 28: The legs are long, the eyes are big, the bodies curvaceous. Contestants in this Saudi-style beauty pageant have all the features you might expect anywhere else in the world, but with one crucial difference -- the competitors are camels.

This week, the Qahtani tribe of western Saudi Arabia has been welcoming entrants to its Mazayen al-Ibl competition, a parade of the "most beautiful camels" in the desolate desert region of Guwei'iyya, 120 km (75 miles) west of Riyadh.

"In Lebanon they have Miss Lebanon," jokes Walid, moderator of the competition's Web site. "Here we have Miss Camel."

While tremendous oil wealth has brought rapid modernisation to the desert state of Saudi Arabia, the camel remains celebrated as a symbol of the traditional nomadic lifestyle of Bedouin Arabs.

Throughout history camels have served multiple purposes as food, friend, transport and war machine. They were key to the Arab conquests of the Middle East and North Africa nearly 1,400 years ago that brought Islam to the world.

Camels are also big business in a country where strict Islamic laws and tribal customs would make it impossible for women to take part in their own beauty contest.

Delicate females or strapping males who attract the right attention during this week's show could sell for a million or more riyals. Sponsors have provided 10 million riyals (1.36 million pounds) for the contest, cash that also covers the 72 sports utility vehicles to be will be awarded as prizes.

"Bedouin Arabs are intimately connected to camels and they want to preserve this heritage. The importance of this competition is that it helps preserve the pure-breds," said Sheikh Omair, one of the tribe's leaders,

"We have more than 250 owners taking part and more than 1,500 camels," he said inside a huge tent where the final awards ceremony takes place.

Over at the camel pen, the contestants are getting restless as the desert wind howls and whips up swirls of sand in the hot afternoon sun.

Amid a large crowd of Bedouin who have gathered to watch, the head of the judging committee emerges to venture into an enclosure with some two dozen angry braying camels.

Camel-drivers sing songs of praise to their prized possessions as they try to calm the animals down.

"Beautiful, beautiful!" the judge mutters quietly to himself, inspecting the group. Finalists have been decorated with silver bands and body covers.

"The nose should be long and droop down, that's more beautiful," explains Sultan al-Qahtani, one of the organisers. "The ears should stand back, and the neck should be long. The hump should be high, but slightly to the back."

The camels are divided into four categories according to breed -- the black majaheem, white maghateer, dark brown shi'l and the sufur, which are beige with black shoulders. Arabic famously has over 40 terms for different types of camel.

Some females have harnesses strapped around their genitalia to thwart any efforts by the males to mount them. One repeat offender called Marjaa has been moved away.

"This one would fetch a million!" says Hamad al-Sudani, a camel-driver, admiring the heavy stud, or fahl.

Youtube from yesterday's camel beauty pageant in Saudi Arabia

Is your violence more evil than mine?

Another brilliant essay by Dr. Ghassan Rubiez

Is your violence more evil than mine?

Most Americans are not ready to see similarities between Arab and American religious fundamentalism, and they are not ready to see a connection between American excessive state militarism and Middle East indiscriminate violence.

When I argue with American audiences that it is not only the Middle East that is plagued by religious intolerance and the violence associated with it I am distanced one notch from my audience. When I point out that the televangelical media dominate the air waves with messages of intolerance, I move another step away from my listeners. I risk further misunderstanding when I state that the US and Israel commit immense state violence under the law, whereas organized groups in the Middle East commit immense violence outside the law.

Part of the problem of cross cultural communications on the topic of violence is related to the fact that we have no reliable ways of figuring out which type of violence is more obscene or more evil than the other.

A few examples illustrate how difficult it is to measure the intensity of evil in acts of violence. The Muslim-to-Muslim gang murder of innocents in Iraq is an extreme example of evil. Think comparatively. How violent was the spread of a million Israeli cluster bombs in south Lebanon last July? The suicide bombings by Islamic Jihad in Israel are cruel. Again look elsewhere. Where on the scale of evil do you place the act of the US occupation of Iraq and the ensuing destruction of the country?

In my talks, I find my way back to my audience, inch by inch, as I discuss examples of indiscriminate violence and oppressive intolerance in the Middle East and condemn it with passion. I talk about suicide bombings that victimize non-combatants in Iraq and Palestine. I cite the hateful rhetoric that emanates from shady clerics that hijack Islam with Jihadist sermons. I deplore the bigoted religious education in fanatic Islamic schools. Slowly, I find my audience giving me back the eye contact I look for. I express regret that some Islamic countries do not offer full religious freedom to their citizens, whereas the Koran clearly requires of Muslims not to force spirituality on people. I explain that it is regrettable that some Muslim countries do not allow the construction of churches. I refer to the seventh century example set by Caliph Mu-a’wiyah who rebuilt the great Church of Edessa at his own expense after it was destroyed by an earthquake. By now I have my audience back. But people love simple answers to complicated questions. So when I try to interpret in political terms the growing violence that rages in the Middle East it is not easy to pass the message.


To challenge my Western audience to imagine the agony of the people of the Middle East I list the many ways in which Christians have expressed their harsh violence to Islam and the Muslim world. I begin with the conflict of theologies.


For centuries, there has been a silent but provocative war of theology between the West and Islam. Christians in the US may have to be reminded that while Islam considers Christianity and Judaism to be sister religions this interfaith recognition is not reciprocated by Christianity or Judaism towards Islam. Traditionally, Christians do not expect Muslims to go to heaven. Charismatic American churches increasingly act like merciless, exclusive, insurance agencies that sell to Christians, and only Christians, policies of affluence in the present life and paradise in the afterlife. The way to heaven is paved with stones of hope for an end-of-time return of Christ, a return that celebrates a holocaust prepared for non-believers. A religion that celebrates such massive collective punishment to the majority of the world population must register a high score on the Richter scale of violence.

Beyond theology, US violence is expressed directly through warfare. Middle Easterners see the US as an invader of their land. Arabs see the Iraqi occupation as an American massacre. The Muslim world regards Israel as a satellite state of the USA. Arabs perceive Lebanon as being under the influence of the US. They fear plans of a future attack on Iran.

Muslims have their own version of history. They interpret the military support that Americans gave to Saddam Hussein in the 1980s as an attempt to defeat the first Islamic revolutionary regime, Iran. In the region, Israel is viewed as a product of a Judeo-Christian alliance against Islam. The presence of American troops in the Gulf States is regarded as a Christian presence that spells future trouble for the Muslim world.

Americans must stop looking at Islam as a conflicted faith that is need of reform. Americans should not offer Western solutions to Muslims. They should rather look at the Muslim world as a region in political conflict with the West and seek ways to work out solutions that are negotiated by the two sides.

While the manifestation of violence and its intensity may vary from one country to another or from one culture to another, it is difficult to weigh the morality of violence objectively in each society. The best we can do is to listen to the narrative of the other side and to learn how to deal constructively with the challenge. To blame the religion that is on the other side of the fence as the cause of all trouble is a seductively simple framework. This attitude offers an easy exit from taking responsibility. Comparing religions on their capacity to elicit violence is a dead end; this comparison can only add fuel to international tension.

The way we perceive evil in others is fundamental to the way we go about achieving personal and global justice.

Kucinich Submits Articles of Impeachment on Cheney

From: SOURCE

April 28, 2007: Impeachment Summer Begins This Spring!

BREAKING NEWS: Washington, DC, April 24, 2007: Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has just introduced Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Article I
The Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests.

Article II
The Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, has purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda in order to justify the use of the U.S. Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests.

Article III
In his conduct while Vice President of the United States, Richard B. Cheney, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of Vice President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has openly threatened aggression against the Republic of Iran absent any real threat to the the United States, and done so with the United States' proven capability to carry out such threats, thus undermining the national security of the United States.

The full text of H. Res. 333 is now available here, along with supporting documentation.

George Bush and Dick Cheney have lied the nation into a war of aggression, are spying in open violation of the law, and have sanctioned the use of torture. These are high crimes and misdemeanors that demand accountability. Since Congress doesn't seem to get it, on April 28 Americans from Miami, Florida to North Pole, Alaska are going to spell it out for them: IMPEACH! It's time to say NO to impunity for lying, spying, and torture.

Use the new ImpeachMap below to find out what's going on in your area, post a new action, or find people to team up with. Complete instructions beneath the map. Click here for a full-size version. (be sure to link, the map would not reproduce here for me)

RED markers indicate A28 actions being planned. BLUE markers show people who are looking for others to team up with. GREEN markers represent actions that need some financial help. And the AIRPLANE markers show where we will have A28 ImpeachPlanes towing IMPEACH banners over different cities. You can now add a red marker to post your action or add a blue marker to signal that you're looking for people to join up with. Please be sure to include your e-mail address in your marker description so we, and others, can contact you!

The theme of the day is spell it out, and we're going to put the word IMPEACH! everywhere on April 28. If you're in Miami you can join the Unwelcoming Party for George Bush, who will speaking at Miami Dade College that day. If you're in San Diego you can tell Nancy Pelosi to put impeachment back on the table. And there are more than 100 hundred other actions planned around the country!

Anybody can start an A28 action. It can be as small as writing IMPEACH on the sidewalk in chalk or as large as organizing 2,000 people on a beach to make a human mural. Be creative! Some of the ways that people are talking about spelling it out include: signs, gigantic lasers, toy soldiers, stencils, LED throwies, freewayblogging, banner drops, light projections, t-shirts, rocks, skydivers, skywriters, peaches, christmas lights, flags and balloons. Join the discussion about creative ways to spell it out on A28's new ImpeachSpace network.

Contact your Representatives and Senators and tell them you support HR 333

House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Senate: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES.

Kucinich on CNN directly after introducing articles of impeachment:

Meet Nora, The Kitty That Plays The Piano

Confession: I'm a "cat person"

An Evening with Jeremy Scahill The Privatization of the U.S. Military

From an email message. Thank you NCRR!!

Friends: Have you heard of Blackwater? Do you know that the US government pays for 126,ooo
mercenaries in Iraq--private soldiers that are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice?

Because Blackwater and similar private armies pose a grave threat to our democracy, ICUJP has invisted Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army" to speak in LA next Monday, April 3o. The details are below, togethr with Scahill's front page story from the April 2 Nation Magazine. It would behoove everyone who is deeply concerned about the militarization of America to hear Jeremy Scahill. Please join us next Monday April 3o at 7:30 p.m. Copies of his book will be on sale.

The Nation article "Blackwater: Shadow Army"

An Evening with Jeremy Scahill
30 April 2007
Monday-7:30 pm

Holy Nativvity Episcopal Church
6700 West 83rd Street
Los Angeles, CA
(310) 670-4777
holynativity@sbcglobal.net

Jewremy Scahill is an award winning investigative journalist and correspondent for the national radio and TV program, Democracy Now! and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute.

SPECIAL LECTURE AND DIALOGUE ON:
The Privatization of the U.S. Military And Its Impact on Taxpayers

A $10 contribution is requested
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

All proceeds will benefit
Holy Nativity
and ICUJP: Interfaith Communities United for Justice & Peace
http://www.icujp.org
Sponsors

From Youtube: Blackwater: Shadow Army
The Nation's Jeremy Scahill describes the rise of Blackwater USA, the world's most powerful mercenary army.

Palestinian activists plant trees in memory of Virginia Tech

There are no words to express the feeling I felt when reading this post from Haitham Sabbah.
There is so much sorrow in this world, places where you know it is, and places you don't expect it. Last Monday tragedy hit Virginia Tech. We all know what happened and our hearts stopped. But across the world, Palestinians took time to honor the victims by olive trees, a sign of peace. Again, I have no words to express this feeling, there is only solidarity in humanity, and when one suffers, we ALL suffer

Palestinian activists plant 32 Olive trees south of Bethlehem, in memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre:

Every Friday, Palestinians, internationals, and Israeli nonviolent activists gather in the Southern villages of Bethlehem to protest against the building of the Apartheid Wall that will eventually destroy the livelihood of these villages. This Friday, the protest began with a silent procession by the group of about fifty participants. We carried banners and leaflets with the Virginia Tech logo and statements supporting them in this time of pain. Thirty two olive trees were also carried in the procession to remember each person killed in the massacre. The olive tree is a global symbol of peace and hope.

Once we reached the path created by the by the bulldozers for the building of the Apartheid Wall we dug the earth and plated the thirty two olive trees in a row - instead of building an ugly wall that divides people, let us plant trees that bring people together. Several of the participants made statements condemning the violence that we all, as the human family are witnessing and condemning the building of the Apartheid wall and the killing of innocents. Over 150 Israeli soldiers came to dismantle our protest. Our commitment to nonviolence and to achieve our goal completely paralyzed their weapons and their goals and eventually our power made them withdrawal. The planting of the trees was followed by reciting the names of all those who were killed in the Virginian massacre followed by a fifteen minute period of silence before the group moved back to the villages. [Source: ISM]

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Waleed Shalan, from Egypt, was among those killed. His body has been flown back to Egypt. How much time has our media paid to the individual victims? Waleed it seems from this account was also a hero last Monday. Have you heard of him?

Waleed Shaalan

Readers' Opinions

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Did you know Waleed Shaalan? Share your thoughts and memories.

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Related Sites

MSA National Memorial Fund for His Family

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Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

The Victims

Learn about the individuals who were killed in the shootings at Virginia Tech, and share your memories of the victims.

Times Topics: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

muslimmatters.org

Waleed Shaalan, a 32-year-old graduate student, came to the United States from northern Egypt last year to study engineering. He lived among other Egyptian students in Blacksburg, Va., and was planning on bringing his wife and one-and-a-half-year-old son to America in May to live with him.

He was gunned down on Monday while he was studying in Norris Hall, but witnesses say he died a hero.

According to Randy Dymond, a civil engineering professor at Virginia Tech, Mr. Shaalan was in a classroom with another student when the gunman entered and opened fire.

Mr. Shaalan was badly wounded and lay beside the other student, who was not shot but played dead, as the gunman returned two times searching for signs of life. Just as the gunman noticed the student, Mr. Shaalan made a move to distract him, at which point he was shot a second time and died. The student believed that Mr. Shaalan purposefully distracted the shooter to save him, Mr. Dymond said.

"Waleed was bright, energetic and caring," Mr. Dymond said. "The reason we are in higher education is because there are students who are the bright light to the future. Waleed was one of them."

Equally social and studious, Mr. Shaalan was active in the Muslim Student Association at Virginia Tech, and he especially enjoyed participating in the group's community activities.

The Egyptian Consul has notified Mr.Shalaan's wife and parents, all of who live in Egypt. Mr. Shaalan's body will be flown back to his country in the near future, the vice consul, Mohamed Elghazawy, said.

"This is a very emotional time for his entire family, but especially his mother and father," Mr. Elghazawy said.

UPDATED REQUEST FROM MUSLIMSMATTER.ORG (Shukran for contacting me and I am very happy to update for you. All the updates for Waleed and other links are posted there so please link to them and sign the condolences) My prayers for Waleed and his family and friends who are suffering so much from this, may Allah lift him up on eagle's wings and hold him gently in the palm of his hand and watch over all those who loved and knew him.

Inshallah, we plan to print out all the tributes/comments posted for Br. Waleed and package them nicely to send to his family, as a small memorial.

Please continue post your comments/duas/thoughts on the tribute entry: Linked here or see below. The cut-off date will be April 30 (Monday) by 5PM, at which point we will print all comments out that have been posted (you can continue to comment past that, but it may not go into the print-out what is to be delivered to the family).

"Lucky Ahmad"

This short film reveals the struggle for Gazans to attend universities inside their own country, Palestine (oPts). Israel does not give permits for ANY Gazan to study in the West Bank. This is the story of one 'lucky' student who is still in the WB, and he tells us how he feels. 'LUCKY AHMAD' is a project by the Right to Education Campaign, Birzeit University.

What a Difference a "Letter" Makes

What a difference a "letter" makes. As usual, in my surfing for news pertinent to what I wish to post about, I google "news from ____" In this case, I googled "news from Gaza" and came up with a link to "

Coto de Gaza, Estate of the Day

Now what is the significance of ONE letter? In this case, the "G" should have been a "C", so it SHOULD be titled "Cota de Caza, Estate of the Day". You are probably wondering again, "so,
what difference does that make?" Well, if you are searching for news about GAZA and come up with a link to "Cota de Caza" you will see just how ironic this is. Rather than linking to a site concerning Gaza, a war-torn strip of land in the Mideast, you are directed to a site selling a luxury home for 10.9 million dollars in a SWANKY gated community in Orange County, California. The juxtaposition is simply startleing. I wonder how many residents of Cota de Caza even KNOW where Gaza is, much less care. While they are busy with having interior decorators design their gargantuan estates, gardeners manicure their lawns, renting limos for their teenager's upcoming proms, on the other side of the world, in an area with only ONE LETTER difference in name, Palestinians have been suffering for 40 years under a brutal occupation. If the residents of this posh community were confronted with this, what would they think? Would they give up the money spent on a night out at the fancy restaurant to send to a family in GAZA who can barely eek out a living, an area with only ONE LETTER difference in name?

My sister-in-law is a muralist who specializes in children's art. She has painted murals at Children's Hospital and also done several children's rooms in Cota de Caza. They pay her well, up to a thousand dollars or more to paint children's scenes on their child's wall. How far would a thousand dollars go in Gaza? Well, for $1000 you could sponsor a child in Palestine where 2/3 of the residents live on less than $2 a day, less than a McDonald's kids meal. Let's do the math, $1000 would go far, 500 days with these statistics. But I forgot, that pretty mural in their precious child's room is CERTAINLY a necessary item to have, be sure to "Outdo the Jones's" at every turn.

UPDATE: If you link to the site above, you will notice they have changed the "G" to a "C".
You can still link to the same site however, by googling "Coto de Gaza, Estate of the Day".
What a difference a "letter" makes. With the simple flip of a switch they can change their name back to "Caza". But they CANNOT change the irony of their "error". And if anyone else googles "news from Gaza" their humongous estate will STILL be there.

There is even the following comment which was left under the posted estate listing:

2. Nice "typo" in the headline... "Coto de Gaza"

Posted at 6:03PM on Apr 25th 2007 by David

Now lets compare and contrast what difference a "letter makes"

Today's estate takes back us back to Coto de Caza, a place we haven't visited since last year. Coto de Caza is the planned community made infamous by being the setting for The Real Housewives of Orange County. This six-bedroom home is Orange County luxury on a grand scale. It is on a nearly six acre spread that includes a stable, garden area and even room for a small vineyard all linked by manicured pathways. The pool is extremely lavish with a spa, water slide, waterfall and a pool bar. Amenities in the home include a home theater, fitness center and multiple lounging areas. The home is a strange mixture of It is listed at $10.95 million. Check out the video tour for more pics and natty narration. After the jump, check out the massive three part mirror over the fireplace.

Now to the other side of the world, where ONE LETTER makes a difference

Much of the strip was plunged into darkness after Israeli war planes hit a power station.

C hildren are also inside Israeli jails, many of whom were not charged of anything or even shown to courts

Rafah Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip

On October 9-12, 2003, the Israeli army invaded and occupied the Yebna neighborhood. They destroyed over 120 homes and left over 800 Palestinian refugees homeless.

A refugee child crouches among destroyed houses behind his home in Block O of the Rafah refugee camp. The blue hose is from the sewage system which is often destroyed by the Israeli army stationed in Rafah.

Rooftops, Jabalia Refugee Camp
The population density of Jabalia Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip is incredible. Established after the 1948 war to house 35,000 Palestinians who had fled their villages, Jabalia is now home to 103,646 registered refugees (according to UNWRA reports as of June 2002). All of these people live in an area that is less than 1.5 sq km.

A Palestinian woman cries while standing on the rubble of her house during an Israeli raid at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip May 19,2004. Israel's army killed 19 Palestinians in the heaviest raid in the Gaza Strip for years on Tuesday as tanks and infantry thrust into Rafah refugee camp, a militant hotbed, despite an international outcry. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

But for the grace of God go I. What a difference a "letter" makes.

Los Angeles Screening of "Arna's Children" May 10

"Arna's Children," a documentary: Palestinian children learn theater in Jenin Refugee Camp. Filmmaker will be present.

Along with her son Juliano, the legendary Israeli activist Arna Mer Khamis taught a group of children from the Jenin refugee camp how to act and perform, enabling them to "bring the sun back into the palace," as they called their first play.

The theatre carried on following Arna's death in 1995, but was destroyed during the 2002 invasion of Jenin by the Israeli Army. In August 2005, friends and colleagues of Arna from Jenin and the refugee camp set about re-creating the theatre in order to educate, encourage, and empower the children, instilling a bit of hope in an otherwise desolate situation.

WHAT: Arna's Children
WHEN: Thursday, May 10 at 7:30 pm
WHERE: The Workmen's Circle, 1525 S. Robertson Blvd., L.A. 90035;
310-552-2007

Juliano Mer Khamis, an actor, filmmaker and activist who lives in Haifa and Jenin, and is now the artistic director of the company, will be present to host a Q&A session after the screening.

For further information about the theatre: www.thefreedomtheatre.org
"Arna's Children": www.jerusalemites.org/book&film/film26.htm

Our cosponsors include 4th Monday, a consortium of documentary film makers, and American Friends Service Committee.

Admission will be without charge, but there will be an appeal to lend support to the Jenin Freedom Theatre. Copies of the film will also be available for purchase. Seating on a first-come, first-seated basis.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Julian Mer Kamis
Documentary, Israel, 2003, 84 minutes
Arabic and Hebrew with English Subtitles
D.C. Premiere

Juliano Mer Khamis, son of an Israeli Mother and Palestinian father, spends years of his youth teaching theater to Palestinian children as part of an alternative education program that his mother, Arna, established in the occupied West Bank. Years after his mother's death, Mer Khamis returns to find that the children he knew and loved have now joined the intifada—and captures how childhood innocence is lost to war.

Arna Mer Khamis was a legendary activist against the Israeli Occupation. Born into a Jewish family she married a Palestinian Arab and spent her life campaigning for justice and human rights in her homeland. Arna founded an alternative education system for Palestinian children whose lives had been disrupted by Israeli occupation. In the Jenin refugee camp, Arna opened a theatre group where she taught the children to express anger, bitterness and fear through acting and art. The children slowly grew to trust and to love Arna: "She's like my mother," says one child. "She helps us. She saved us from the streets." Arna's son, Juliano Mer Khamis, was a director at the theater group and filmed his mother and the children rehearsing and performing over a six year period. When Arna died of cancer in 1995, the theater group struggled to continue for another two years but ultimately did not survive.
Five years after Arna's death, Juliano, now one of the region's leading actors, returns to the camp to discover what happened to "Arna's Children." Shifting back and forth in time, Mer Khamis's film juxtaposes the sweet-faced young boys with the militants and martyrs they become. "Arna's Children" reveals the tragedy and horror of young lives trapped by the circumstances of occupation.
"Yousef committed a suicide attack in 2001. Ashraf was killed in the battle of Jenin. Ala leads a resistance group. I returned to the ruins of Jenin with my camera, to see what happened to the children I knew and loved...my film tries to tell their stories and to understand their choices." - Director, Juliano Mer Khamis
"A must-see documentary. Sure to spark controversy for its straightforward presentation of the Palestinian struggle, ['Arna's Children'] limns a devastating group portrait of the legacy of occupation." - Variety

Source

Unheard Voices

New World Outlook, March/April 2007

The Mission Magazine of The United Methodist Church

The 'Separation Wall' surrounding the West Bank town of Qalqilya, divides Palestinians from their lands as well as Palestinians from Israelis. On the West Bank side, the wall has become a canvas for protesters.
Photo by: Paul Jeffrey / A

Hardly any one heard him cry and I was the only one that watched the tears flow down his cheeks. He came to my office to seek help, but his problem was too enormous for a simple clergyman like me to solve. He is a Palestinian citizen of Bethlehem who once had a small piece of land near Rachel's Tomb. The Israeli settlers, with the full knowledge and protection of their government, confiscated his land and destroyed his business in order to build a yeshiva (a Jewish school of theology) upon that confiscated piece of land. He is no terrorist. He is just a Palestinian Greek Orthodox shopkeeper--a husband, father, and grandfather. His land happens to be in a place that was coveted by the directors of that school of theology. He has as much power to resist the yeshiva as Naboth the Israelite, who lived 2,700 years ago, had to resisting King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, who plotted to inherit Naboth's vineyard.

I did my utmost to comfort him and then I suggested, "Let us see the property." When we reached the edge of his land, we watched the bulldozers digging while the soldiers stood guard. As he looked at the scene, he turned to me with more sobs and tears and said, "I am finished! I am finished; they have destroyed me!"

Then as Now
He is one of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children who are shouting, but their voices are silenced by the shouts and screams of those who are stealing the land, oppressing the poor and the weak. Those who are conspiring against his livelihood have skillfully managed to control what most of us hear and see via different means of modern communications.

In his description of the trial of Jesus before the Roman Governor Pontus Pilate, Luke, the author of the third Gospel, expressed skillfully how the shouts of the religiously and politically powerful can diminish the chances of a fair trial. He wrote:

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."

With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."

But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. (Luke 23:13-25)

Tragically, 2000 years after the trial of our Lord, the voices that want to smother the truth are still prevailing.

Prevented from Reaching Worship
During the Easter season, there will be much sadness in the Christian communities in the Holy Land. The wall that the Israelis have built around Bethlehem to cut it off from Jerusalem is already preventing parents living on one side of the wall from visiting their children and grandchildren on the other side. No more the normal joy of worshiping together and the simple enjoyment of an Easter egg hunt for the children after an Easter Sunrise Service.

Members of the Council of Local Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land are frequently denied permits to travel the six-mile trip from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. During Easter 2006, 400 names were submitted to the Israeli officials with hopes of getting permits. But their voices went unheard. The president of the council worked day in and day out calling every possible Israeli official to petition the permits, but to no avail. Baptist, Nazarene, Presbyterian, and Pentecostal congregations in Bethlehem are being denied access to Jerusalem and its Holy sites and are no longer guaranteed the freedom of continuing their Easter religious celebrations. Their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem must get used to worshiping without fellowship with their brothers and sisters from the West Bank. The voices of these Palestinian Evangelicals are being muffled and unheard, even by their Evangelical brothers and sisters in Western nations.

Muslims are also burning with the flames of injustice, but hardly anyone in the Western world cares to hear their cries. Israelis constantly inflict harsh measures on all Palestinians. They attack and kill Palestinian Muslims on a regular basis in the name of security. When Israelis strike at a neighborhood in the Gaza Strip and scores of Palestinian men, women, and children get killed, the cries of these oppressed hardly make it into the airwaves or our digital world. But when militant Islamic groups strike in retaliation, the loud voices of condemnation, outrage, and denial come from everywhere. Israeli voices prevail, although for every Israeli adult killed in this bloody conflict, four Palestinian adults are also slain, and for every Israeli child slain, six Palestinian children are killed. There is hardly a Palestinian in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip that is not suffering because of the measures that the Israelis have taken within the Palestinian territories in the last 40 years. But unlike the rest of humanity, the Palestinians are not allowed to resist the occupation of their land and woe to them when they attempt to halt those who are keen on the destruction of their political aspirations. Today, the Palestinians have control of less than 12 percent of historic Palestine. Yet the voices of those who swallowed up most of Palestine are prevailing.

The Rev. Alex Awad is a missionary of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church serving with his wife Brenda in Palestine. He is the pastor of a small international church in East Jerusalem and teaches at Bethlehem Bible College.

Source

WRMEA: Remember These Children

I just subscribed to WRMEA myself this week. A year's subscription costs $29 and is WELL worth it. I also recieved the supplement mentioned here about the Palestinian children which I HIGHLY recommend.

4.24.07

Contact: Matt Horton (202) 939-6050 x103
info@rememberthesechildren.org

NOW AVAILABLE: Updated Book Documenting Israeli and Palestinian Children Killed Since September 2000

Washington, D.C. April 23, 2006—Between Sept. 30, 2000 and March 27, 2007, more than 1,045 Israeli and Palestinian children under the age of 18 have been killed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Remember These Children, a publication of the American Educational Trust, Americans for Middle East Understanding, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and the Parents Circle—Bereaved Families Forum, documents each of these deaths. Arranged chronologically by date of death, each entry includes the child’s name, age, hometown, how the child was killed and, where available, the nature of the fatal injury. Though painful to complete and read, the documentation conveys the personal reality behind these terrible statistics. The waste of human life—of hope and future promise—is almost too great to contemplate.

Its publishers hope that the third edition of Remember These Children, demonstrating as it does the conflict’s continuing and painful toll on innocent lives, will encourage a renewed determination to put an end to the violence of occupation.

Order Your Free Copy of Remember These Children Today!

To order your free copy of Remember These Children, please use our online order form. We ask only for contributions to cover shipping costs. Those interested in distributing Remember These Children at community events are invited to take advantage of bulk shipping rates. You can also download a PDF copy of the latest edition on our homepage www.rememberthesechildren.org/

Consider Donating to Remember These Children.

Help us distribute Remember These Children, with its important information about the experience of children in Israel/Palestine, to as many people as possible by making a generous donation through our online donation form. Your contribution will help us distribute copies of Remember These Children to decision-makers, journalists and community leaders. It will also enable us to maintain the Remember These Children Web site, which provides updated documentation of the most recent deaths of Palestinian and Israeli children. Most importantly, however, we urge you to:

Help Make This Edition of Remember These Children the Last!

Please visit our advocacy page and make a difference in the lives of Israeli and Palestinian children, their families and their communities by learning more, making calls, writing letters and getting involved in organizations working for justice and peace.

The Big Bad Billionaire Has O'Reilly Up Nights Making Flow Charts

Did any of you happen to be watching the O'Reilly Factor last night? I have a confession to make, my dirty little secret, I watch O'Reilly. While many on the "left" or the "progressive side" refuse to watch him, I watch for one reason: for MANY ignorant Americans, O'Reilly is viewed as a "news broadcaster" at that most "fair and balanced" "news" channel FOX. So many Americans get their "news" from no one else but O'Reilly. Call it morbid curiosity, call it whatever you like, but I want to see just what this megastar of misinformation is telling the American public because he is the darling of the right wing. But last evening's performance took the cake in utter nonsense and MORE importantly, I contend it was provoked for no other reason than to protect AIPAC and the neo-con administration who is in bed with them.

Witness last nights' diatribe:











For the print version, link here

For an interesting take on last night's performance, News Hounds offers a good essay:

It looks like Bill O'Reilly made a formal declaration of war tonight against his dreaded enemies on the left. In fact he even had a flow chart to illustrate how George Soros is trying to buy influence and elections. According to O'Reilly, if a candidates doesn't do Soros's bidding, he withdraws funding and gets his hired assassins like Media Matters and Moveon.org to destroy him/her. He also singled out Rosie O'Donnell, Bill Moyers, John Edwards, Paul Krugman, Frank Rich as Soros operatives. Updated with video.

O'Reilly put up his flow chart, much like Ross Perot did a few years back, and asked his viewers to listen carefully as he explained the shadow world of George Soros and his operatives who work " under the radar"

George Soros' Open Society Institute funnels millions to the Tides Foundation who then fund the " vile propoganda outfit" Media Matters. Moveon.org, Democracy Allience, Center for American Progress are all in the Soros web according to BOR and from there the big bucks trickle down to Jonathan Alter, Paul Krugman, "Elements at NBC" ( meaning Keith Olbermann)

BOR stated that Soros demands politicians do his bidding or lose funding and risk ruin.He used Joe Leiberman as an example of what happens if one goes against Soros. Then he asserted that John Edwards seems to be under the dark forces now. He concluded that Soros aims to "buy the presidential election"

Monica Crowley and Phil Kent joined BOR to firmly support his theory. In fact, Phil Kent's book on the subject, is about to be released.
Crowley supported everything O'Reilly said in the TPM describing it as "chilling"and a " well oiled machine" adding that moderate Democrats are targeted.

Phil Kent, plugging his book, was right there pumping up the danger factor calling Soros "Dr. Evil" Then Kent asserted that Soros funded an organization that defends suicide bombers naming the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee which is hardly a radical or dangerous organization.

O'Reilly made an effort to make Soros' business dealings look shady talking about off shore banking adding a quick shot that Soros had committed a felony in France. He let viewers know that the investigation will continue and Bill Moyers is the next victim which is not surprising since Moyers once described FOX as " political pornography."

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Good Job News Hounds!! But you left out one VERY important fact about Soros. VERY recently George Soros penned the article "On Israel, America and AIPAC" then he told the public he would be funding and "alternative lobby" to AIPAC and then pulled away.

Last night' guests included Phil Kent who was allowed to openly slander the Arab American Anti
Discrimination Committee (notice Bill's face when Kent says this) without ANY rebuttal.
We are told by Kent, who just HAPPENED to write a book about billionaire lefties, that any honest every day American should BEWARE of a billionaire using his money to support "left-wing causes"

Then some how, Bill Moyer's name pops up. Kent and the flow chart would like you to believe it is because Bill Moyers is on the payroll of a "suspicious billionaire". It couldn't POSSIBLY have anything to do with the special airing on PBS tomorrow night by Moyers titled "Buying the War" in which among other things, Moyers exposes the media complicity of selling the defunct illegal invasion of Iraq to the American public.

Let's get it all out in the open here Mr. No Spin O'Turdy, is it the American public who needs to beware of George Soros, or is it YOU and those your unfair and unbalanced "news" company and the team you cheerlead for who should beware of George Soros? Who do you cheerlead for Billy-boy? George Bush, leader of the pack of neocons who are in bed with the Likud party who pushed for the US invasion of Iraq and whose representative in the US is AIPAC. Hmm, sounds fishy to me. Duck and cover Billy, it's YOU and your buddies with your tail between your legs, NOT the American public. After all, you always say you TRUST the American public to make up their own minds :), don't you?

UPDATE:

Here's another article about the Moyer's special on tomorrow night by Kathy Gill;

In her article the following is stated:

" Those who wouldn't talk to Moyers include journalists and columnists on the right-side of the aisle: Fox News Channel CEO Roger Ailes, The Daily Standard's William Kristol and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. A bevy of New York Times writers bowed out as well: former reporter Judith Miller and columnists Thomas Friedman and William Safire."

WOW, the CEO of FOX wouldn't talk to Moyers. I am SO surprised.

Also, here is a clip of tomorrown night's PBS special, "Buying the War"

Terrorist Luis Posada Released on Bail!

Terrorist Luis Posada Released on Bail!
Extradite Posada -- Free the Cuban Five!

A powerful display in memory of Posada's victims in front of U.S. diplomatic mission, Havana

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition condemns in the strongest terms, the release of terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from U.S. jail this past Thursday, April 19.

Posada, mastermind of the murders of dozens of people, while acting on behalf of the CIA for more than 40 years, was freed from a New Mexico jail and flown to Miami, despite worldwide protests. His freedom on bond is until May 11, when his trial on immigration-fraud charges begins. But a dangerous precedent is already in place, with Posada being allowed to fly into Miami to meet and strategize with other terrorists, those who have helped finance his bombing campaigns.

The move to free him is widely known to be the result of a blatant refusal by George W. Bush and administration officials to declare Posada a terrorist. Without such a declaration or prosecution for his terrorist crimes, federal judges have ruled that a detainee cannot be held indefinitely in immigration jail.

Right now U.S. authorities have only charged Posada with immigration fraud. But Posada is not simply an immigrant. He is an avowed terrorist who never renounced his crimes. Although convicted in the past for some of his crimes in other countries, he has always managed to escape and carry out more torture and killings.

In the meantime, other notorious anti-Cuba terrorists in Miami have been caught with massive arsenals of weapons but only received extremely light sentences for their crimes. One, Santiago Alvarez, actually brought Posada into the United States illegally, on boat, in March 2005. He was caught with weapons caches but was only sentenced to four years and promised an even lesser sentence if he reveals the whereabouts of all his weapons.

Posada’s release is a green light to U.S.-directed terrorism against Cuba.

Take action today!!

There are two very important actions you can do:

1. Help build the May 11 protests that will be held in El Paso, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and elsewhere. That is the day that Posada’s “trial” on immigration fraud in El Paso will begin. Please volunteer to help leaflet events and phonebank. Make a donation to help the mobilizing! Click for details on the May 11 protests. To volunteer or for information on the protest near you, contact your local ANSWER chapter (see the information at the bottom of this email).

2. Send a letter to Congress, Bush and Gonzales to demand: Extradite Posada to Venezuela! Prosecute him for terrorism. Click for ANSWER's easy-to-use feature to send a letter to Bush and your Congressional representatives.

Luis Posada Carriles's history

Luis Posada Carriles, murderer

Posada, Cuban-born, was recruited into the CIA soon after the Cuban revolution in 1959. At Ft. Benning, GA, he was trained extensively in explosives and sabotage in order to try to debilitate—through the means of terrorism—the new socialist society that the Cuban people were building.

Posada’s terrorist history spans four decades. He is most notorious for the Oct. 6, 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner, which killed 73 people. The two mercenaries whom he paid to plant the bomb, Freddy Lugo and Hernán Ricardo, confessed immediately afterwards that they were working with the CIA, and Posada was their boss. Posada’s favorite method is to pay mercenaries to do his dirty work. But he always procures the explosives and builds the bombs.

Not coincidentally, George Bush Sr. was head of the CIA in the 1970s when the plane bombing and many other terrorist attacks by Posada took place. In 1990, when Posada’s direct accomplice in the plane bombing, Orlando Bosch, was about to be deported from the United States, George Bush Sr. intervened to cancel his deportation, granting him permanent residence in the U.S.

Because the plane bombing was plotted by Posada and Bosch in Venezuela, the government of Hugo Chávez has demanded his extradition to Venezuela. But so far Washington has refused. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has the authority and obligation to begin extradition proceedings, but he has remained silent and refused to act decisively against Posada during the two years that he has been detained in a El Paso, Texas jail.

This coddling of Posada and other Miami-based, anti-Cuba terrorists flies in the face of the hypocritical claim by Bush that he is fighting a war against terrorism.

The most outrageous example of the double standard is the U.S. government’s imprisonment of the five Cuban men who infiltrated the Miami terrorist groups for the sole purpose of monitoring those organizations and reporting on imminent terrorist attacks, in order to stop them.

But instead of arresting Bosch and many other Miami terrorists, the FBI went after the Cuban Five with a vengeance. They were charged with the completely unsupported allegation of espionage conspiracy, failure to register as foreign agents, and other charges.

The Five were tried in Miami and convicted and sentenced to four life sentences and 77 years collectively, in a politically-motivated trial that is part and parcel of U.S. hostility against Cuba.

Free the Cuban Five anti-terrorists from U.S. prisons! Extradite Posada to Venezuela!

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Democracy Now: (2005)

Posada has been connected to the 1976 downing of a civilian airliner that killed 73 passengers - the first act of airline terrorism in the Western hemisphere. He has also been linked to a series of 1997 bombings of hotels, restaurants, and discotheques in Havana that killed an Italian tourist; as well as a plot to assassinate Castro five years ago. He has been jailed in Venezuela and Panama. He was last seen in Honduras. Earlier this month he was said to have slipped into Miami. His newly-retained attorney has now requested asylum for him. In response, Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled that the government should seek his extradition from the United States to face terrorism charges.

For the full Democracy Now report, link here

Free the Cuban Five link