tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19100195827396395002024-02-06T21:55:31.226-05:00"You Didn't Ask Me, But..."Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-23049296485084040482009-06-14T20:29:00.004-04:002009-07-28T20:56:13.840-04:00140<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7FbOa3vDWhKKSDuvMx9S6a5G-5rO9qkwDjqBc-OWp46WakdiUcoU2Fg7YEAedbm946vdKFmIJAapu6RfgcN7omVdRfZsVLx54Me7yF0AwqLuPYIUej3RyiEqDP3bAaSIBn9D0W9vGOYg/s1600-h/twitter-icon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 350px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7FbOa3vDWhKKSDuvMx9S6a5G-5rO9qkwDjqBc-OWp46WakdiUcoU2Fg7YEAedbm946vdKFmIJAapu6RfgcN7omVdRfZsVLx54Me7yF0AwqLuPYIUej3RyiEqDP3bAaSIBn9D0W9vGOYg/s400/twitter-icon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347346531394588002" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">I have decided that everything I really want to say can be said in 140 characters.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/roger.rathman"><br /></a></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-28104091694605181422009-05-16T10:17:00.003-04:002009-05-16T10:45:34.500-04:00Excuses You Might Believe In<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBmlXj2LdW8Ypnhus2vHMejWOQmx1Q-h90CtBfIoDQCVPeH73nK6Zb69-UPf0RuzT6qpkUOBRYBMpRroy6oA9I4ykKy1bbgwPKAs55WiVjvUAhwd4lYHzX-cCZYVIiALrR-48cjIhN4A/s1600-h/Do+Nothing+Congress.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLBmlXj2LdW8Ypnhus2vHMejWOQmx1Q-h90CtBfIoDQCVPeH73nK6Zb69-UPf0RuzT6qpkUOBRYBMpRroy6oA9I4ykKy1bbgwPKAs55WiVjvUAhwd4lYHzX-cCZYVIiALrR-48cjIhN4A/s400/Do+Nothing+Congress.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336432532032785826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" >People and organizations who fail to push the Obama Administration into providing </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><a style="font-family: arial;" id="aptureLink_i3WJqc618o" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism%20in%20the%20United%20States">progressive programs</a></span><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" >, and who remain silent in the face of the growing disappointment of <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/">promises broken and actions not taken</a>,will end up losers in what apparently is an effort to mollify the mythical middle.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />In one of many articles to appear recently challenging whatever/whomever remains of the progressive left to stand up and be counted, </span></span><a id="aptureLink_rLYbdSTEET" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted%20Rall">Ted <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Rall</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> wonders what the "excuse they [the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dems</span>] [will] come up with for sitting on their butts..." and doing nothing!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Great read... <a href="http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/">http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/</a></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">P.S. It may not be hopeless, yet, but having 27 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Dems</span> sell out to the NRA last week on a <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jla6NOCg_LCsIrBhJuEz5I8f1_dwD98524FG0">gun amendment in a credit card</a> bill isn't helping me feel hopeful. Do we really need "to protect innocent Americans from violent crime in national parks and refuges” </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">by letting them carry loaded weapons?</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-62406681195493137412009-04-26T13:02:00.003-04:002009-04-26T13:43:49.154-04:00Has the U.S abandoned respect for human rights?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tUSj3MdTdXlJHppSDOeEX0AlrwgDCrIoRL154fj2TEn4jy3FKv8HQbt9LNrm5u0SQljoQtzu6ZVB2kqSWyBxwtLn3YDf6U3Eg1AhLKrP0kBmpUa55oMA0K_Xz9K68xJ3gtOyA0aAtMc/s1600-h/a691_waterboarding_demonstration_2050081722-19282.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 325px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tUSj3MdTdXlJHppSDOeEX0AlrwgDCrIoRL154fj2TEn4jy3FKv8HQbt9LNrm5u0SQljoQtzu6ZVB2kqSWyBxwtLn3YDf6U3Eg1AhLKrP0kBmpUa55oMA0K_Xz9K68xJ3gtOyA0aAtMc/s400/a691_waterboarding_demonstration_2050081722-19282.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329055147642320402" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Among the lasting memories I have of my years with Amnesty International are the conversations I had with people, women & men, who were victims of torture.<br /><br />These were people from all walks of life who were caught up in political unrest, war, terrorism, genocide, and all the other ugliness that happens when one party wants to dominate another. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">What I remember most vividly were the emotional scars they all bore</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. It was very difficult to hear their stories and even more difficult to watch them tell their stories.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Torture, according to the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_Against_Torture" title="United Nations Convention Against Torture">United Nations Convention Against Torture</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, is: "any act by which severe </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_and_suffering" title="Pain and suffering">pain or suffering</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a male or female person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confession" title="Confession">confession</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intimidating" title="Intimidating" class="mw-redirect">intimidating</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. </span></span> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Torture is most often sponsored by governments.<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">Torture is prohibited under <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_law" title="International law">international law</a> and the domestic laws of most countries. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_International" title="Amnesty International">Amnesty International</a> estimates that at least 81 world governments currently practice torture, some openly.<sup id="cite_ref-Amnesty08_1-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture#cite_note-Amnesty08-1" title=""><span></span><span></span></a></sup></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"> In the 21st century, torture is widely considered to be a violation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights" title="Human rights">human rights</a>, and is declared to be unacceptable by Article 5 of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">UN</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights" title="Universal Declaration of Human Rights">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>. Signatories of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Geneva_Convention" title="Third Geneva Convention">Third Geneva Convention</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Geneva_Convention" title="Fourth Geneva Convention">Fourth Geneva Convention</a> officially agree not to torture prisoners in armed conflicts. Torture is also prohibited by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_Against_Torture" title="United Nations Convention Against Torture">United Nations Convention Against Torture</a>, which has been ratified by 145 states.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">National and international legal prohibitions on torture derive from a consensus that torture and ill-treatment are immoral, as well as being impractical. Despite these international conventions, however, many organizations (e.g. Amnesty International) that monitor abuses of human rights report a widespread use of torture condoned by states in many regions of the world.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">So, when the United States of America engages in torture, either directly or indirectly (through the insidious practice of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition">extraordinary<b> </b></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition">rendition</a> - sending prisoners to another country to be tortured) it is an arrow through our national heart. It degrades us.<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">It seriously undermines our moral and ethical authority and renders us impotent.<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">But, as we knew then and know better now, this country has been engaging in torture for the better part of the last decade.<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">With the direct knowledge and permission of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney, the U.S. engaged in practices most often identified with outlaw regimes and dictatorships.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">But now that we have an opportunity to expose the sins and the crimes of the Bush Administration we are being urged by President Obama, by Democratic leaders like Harry Reed, and by the mainstream media, to act cautiously and not aggressively pursue the truth.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">We are told that it will hamper efforts to move the country forward.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">That's ridiculous.<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">What will hamper this country from moving beyond it's horrendous past is by suppressing the truth.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">It is morally bankrupt to use the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/24/helen-thomas-ridicules-ob_n_191211.html">excuses and reasons being put forth by Obama</a>, Reed and the mainstream media.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">This country needs a Truth Commission to expose the truth about torture and to bring those responsible to justice.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">There is simply no other way to heal our national wound.</span></span><br /></p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-91605471305817945082009-04-05T13:34:00.003-04:002009-04-06T13:28:23.143-04:00Spain, Guns & Butter & Crazies<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Got back from Spain<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/livestotravel/SpainTripMarApril2009#"> </a>recently and the reentry back into USA life has been rough - particularly because of the ever-present 24-hour news cycle that hovers over bad news like a buzzard over a carcass.<br /><br />But first, Spain.<br /><br />According to <span style="font-style: italic;">The New York Times, "</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >the </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><a style="font-family: arial;" id="aptureLink_CpIdci1Rnv" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/business/global/04peseta.html?ref=global">Spanish economy</a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" > expanded faster than almost any other economy in Europe over the past decade, but economic activity has dropped quickly over the past year as the construction sector collapsed and the global crisis hit.</span><h1 style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: normal;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Spain's economic outlook is now the grimmest in Europe.</span></h1><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">But everywhere we looked we saw workers and we saw signs of government investment in infrastructure improvement - in every city we visited we saw men and women working on bridges, roads, and subways, and cleaning streets, washing windows, etc. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Xavier Segura, chief economist at the savings bank Caixa Catalunya, said that Spain was "spending billions of euros on public infrastructure projects" but the government also needed to take long-term measures to improve productivity.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">“We need to change the model of growth,” he said. “The problem is that it’s when you are in a positive economic cycle that you should foment value-added activity. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >When you are in a crisis with high unemployment you have to feed money to local governments for labor-intensive public works.”</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Labor-intensive public works - what a great idea. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Just where is the Obama administration re implementing serious public works projects in this country? Maybe he should visit Spain during his European Vacation and see what we saw.</span></span><br />____________________________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Now, about reentry back into the good ole USA and that ceaseless news cycle.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">News "Highlights" were:</span><br /></span><ul style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Unemployment numbers hit a 25-year high (the NY Times reported the answer <span style="font-weight: bold;">"a lot"</span> to the question of how much longer and how much worse will the recession get!)</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">US funded Afghanistan showed it's true colors by passing a law allowing </span><a id="aptureLink_NkoTuGgNXB" href="http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2009/04/01/karzai/index.html">marital rape</a><br /></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">The<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-serialkillers5-2009apr05,0,2434292.story"> FBI reported a link</a> between long-haul truckers and serial killers - thus giving credence to the plots of all those horror movies and TV shows portraying the "killer" truck, racing at high speed through the night, just inches from your car's rear bumper.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">North Korea showed us their "Big One" - posing just one more threat on the global front</span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">But the worst of the really bad news was the escalation of gun violence in this country. If anything best defines the culture shock of reentry back into the USA from another country, it is the never-ending incidence of gun violence and the attendant reportage.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">An unidentified 31-year-old woman is gunned down in the middle of a Brooklyn street. 5 children are found murdered in Seattle - killed by their father. 13 people, most of whom were looking for a better life in the US, are mass-murdered in Binghamton, New York by a "troubled" unemployed man.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">And just two weeks after after a parolee shot and killed four police officers in Oakland, Calif., 3 cops are murdered in Pittsburgh by a gun nut who believed the Obama Administration was preparing to negate his 2nd Amendment right to own guns - lots of guns - an AK-47 rifle, a .22 long rifle and a pistol. Friends said the gunman recently had been upset about losing his job and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">A few people die from eating contaminated pistachio nuts and this country goes on the immediate offensive to tackle the problem - but people get killed every day by gun violence and this country stands by and does nothing.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Jesus, is this not some crazy shit?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">And you know what? This "armed and dangerous" mentality is being fed by people like Glenn Beck and other Ministers Of Revolution on right-wing radio and TV all over this country.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Charles Blow addressed this very issue in his NY Times column, "Pitchforks and Pistols."</span><br /></span><p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"...But, it’s not all just harmless talk. For some, their disaffection has hardened into something more dark and dangerous. They’re talking about a revolution. Some simply lace their unscrupulous screeds with loaded language about the fall of the Republic. We have to “rise up” and “take back our country.” Others have been much more explicit.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"For example, Chuck Norris, the preeminent black belt and prospective Red Shirt, wrote earlier this month on <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91103" title="Chuck Norris’s entry on running for president of Texas">the conservative blog WorldNetDaily</a>: “How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution?” </span></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">"And between his tears, Glenn Beck, the self-professed “</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/media/30beck.html?scp=2&sq=glenn%20beck&st=cse" title="Recent profile of Beck in The Times">rodeo clown</a><span style="font-family:arial;">,” keeps warning of an impending insurrection by saying </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://avideditor.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/glenn-beck-predicts-armed-revolution/" title="Video clip of Beck">that he believes that we are heading</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> for “depression” and “revolution” and then </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8La5xLYo2-s" title="Clip from Beck’s show on Fox">gaming out that revolution</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> on his show last month. “Think the unthinkable” he said."</span><br /></span><p face="arial" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"></p><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">"At the same time, <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/nra_targets_obama.html" title="The NRA targets Obama">the unrelenting meme</a> being pushed by the right that Obama will mount an assault on the Second Amendment has helped fuel the panic buying of firearms. According to the F.B.I., there have been 1.2 million more <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/nics/nics_checks_total.htm" title="Tally from the F.B.I.">requests for background checks</a> of potential gun buyers from November to February than there were in the same four months last year. That’s 5.5 million requests altogether over that period.</span></p><span style="font-size:100%;">Coincidence? Maybe. Just posturing? Hopefully. But it all gives me a really bad feeling."</span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Gives me a really bad feeling too.<br /><br />When will this country wake up and finally address the guns and crazies issue?????<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Welcome home.</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-82531279409628586292009-03-16T14:43:00.004-04:002009-03-16T15:58:07.750-04:00Top 10 Reasons I'm Looking Forward to Vacation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5pNXNU6UrFkD-xnjQMKtTXigF3iGjuBVGaYDR7tIzNFn6h4eP7doZGn_ykY8fdXjxU4_llN4Sir8mcqN-RbK0ctcSHjauVtlZ-RCDTYj2oCYpzeOxnfkH0HqauiKIcbPrka3YXY08H1w/s1600-h/pintxos-donosti.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5pNXNU6UrFkD-xnjQMKtTXigF3iGjuBVGaYDR7tIzNFn6h4eP7doZGn_ykY8fdXjxU4_llN4Sir8mcqN-RbK0ctcSHjauVtlZ-RCDTYj2oCYpzeOxnfkH0HqauiKIcbPrka3YXY08H1w/s400/pintxos-donosti.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313876859934220962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">JG & I are outta here on Thursday - bound to </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:100%;" >España</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> to eat pintxos, canned bonita, and suckling pig.<br /><br />Here's my top 10 reasons why I'm happy to be leaving ...<br /><br />10. TMI about Kelly Clarkson peeing in the shower.<br /><br />9. One too many traveling "debates" between Ann Coulter & Bill Maher - two masters of extreme position taking who actually like each other - yuk!<br /><br />8. Way too much air time for Jim Cramer and way too much sanctimonious BS from Jon Stewart - that was not a Edward R Murrow moment! But nice to see CNBC finally get slammed!<br /><br />7. Can't stand to see Duke lose.<br /><br />6. Tired of calculating my net worth plunge to see if I qualify to be "an average American household."<br /><br />5. Only way to stop myself from buying iPhone apps and Kindle books<br /><br />4. Must escape depressing news about the millions of unemployed and uninsured.<br /><br />3. Can't stand to read one more "news" story about Octomom.<br /><br />2. Afraid of the re-emergence of Dick "Dr. Strangelove" Cheney.<br /><br />1. Have to leave before I commit a felony against an AIG trader.<br /><br /><br /></span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-8910900994618608052009-03-12T20:46:00.001-04:002009-03-12T20:47:47.496-04:00Alan Krauss 1962-2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyybapvvQDJkdBqsm4qhiLEqYNwGK_FQ9sL2JD0X_Pdbz9cTKGRHVWeaUuCXOerU7Y7Qbi5yI2_3_9EXp06MXhJy1ofTOJBXkfjMfps3KDiYz8opeEk6d8_DbtrXkwnQmWOyJex8xD9ek/s1600-h/alan's+yard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyybapvvQDJkdBqsm4qhiLEqYNwGK_FQ9sL2JD0X_Pdbz9cTKGRHVWeaUuCXOerU7Y7Qbi5yI2_3_9EXp06MXhJy1ofTOJBXkfjMfps3KDiYz8opeEk6d8_DbtrXkwnQmWOyJex8xD9ek/s400/alan's+yard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312467589218917842" border="0" /></a>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-70812429676111073812009-03-11T18:53:00.002-04:002009-03-11T19:13:46.414-04:00Times Scrapes Bottom in Hire of New Columnist<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">The New York Times</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> has hired </span><a style="font-family: arial;" id="aptureLink_ltmvYvotjl" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross%20Douthat">Ross G. Douthat</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, a 29-year-old conservative writer and editor at The Atlantic, as an Op-Ed columnist, nearly two months after ending the year-long run of another conservative columnist, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/william_kristol/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about William Kristol.">William Kristol</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, officials at the paper said Wednesday.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">The cashed-strapped Paper of Record writes that Mr. Douthat "steers away from partisanship — he frequently criticizes Republicans — or doctrine... On abortion, he said in an interview, “I’m sort of a squishy pro-lifer,” interested in finding areas of compromise."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Bullshit!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Mr. Douthat is but a twenty-something version of the classic anti-choice white male masquerading as the new voice of compromise on the topic of abortion.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes, dear readers, Mr. Douthat has been anointed by the Times as their new conservative opinion columnist- eligible now to write upon it's hallowed pages, virtual and otherwise.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">For those of you more interested in truth than self-promotion, here's what the Times left off it's little blurb about Ross...<br /><br /></span><a style="font-family: arial;" id="aptureLink_ONLVSFcfyx" href="http://didntaskme.blogspot.com/2008/12/latest-anti-abortion-manifesto.html">http://didntaskme.blogspot.com/2008/12/latest-anti-abortion-manifesto.html </a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Do you think this appointment will help drive legions of young people, particularly young women, flocking to the Op/Ed page of the Times?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Tell me I'm having a nightmare!</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-4489486701927568482009-03-08T09:35:00.006-04:002009-03-08T10:48:53.606-04:00Bloviators, Comedians & GOP Leadership<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiVPyjnS1IvHooQbg0p-0PJsVFYXQDC_5dQXxHS8s46O_WzrfoczbKJv__8vU7J1XoLXHxaI1Kt5bxaAFIYVnxjTfVO8PJ_OwaHkR8o5IHx4O5WvioD9K-6xGxAKGeRCyx9PfKzo6AxE/s1600-h/art.rush.limbaugh.cspan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiVPyjnS1IvHooQbg0p-0PJsVFYXQDC_5dQXxHS8s46O_WzrfoczbKJv__8vU7J1XoLXHxaI1Kt5bxaAFIYVnxjTfVO8PJ_OwaHkR8o5IHx4O5WvioD9K-6xGxAKGeRCyx9PfKzo6AxE/s400/art.rush.limbaugh.cspan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310827379244824402" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Before <a id="aptureLink_3GTBkLEXEX" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/03/AR2009030304100.html?wprss=rss_metro">Michael Steele </a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >came along we only had Rush Limbaugh as <a id="aptureLink_IKOFBju6FE" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloviate">Bloviator</a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >/Comedian/Head of the GOP in Residence.</span><p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Now don't think for a moment that Steele can replace Rush - the former(??) <a id="aptureLink_7VHwdTbQSs" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottobear/137229687/">Oxycontin</a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Head </span><span style="font-size:100%;">still has a huge listening audience comprised of 60+-year-old <a id="aptureLink_eon9UR0XvB" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angry%20white%20male">angry white males</a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> - but the 50-year-old Steele is offering up some serious competition.</span></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Steele is promising a </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" id="aptureLink_mmPIuBj4xM" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlftGi6QxqU">“hip-hop makeover</a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >” that would attract even “one-armed midgets” to his party. Seriously. He said that.<br /><br />In true GOP tradition, Mr Steele is a born actor and a former high school drama star. He recently gained lots of media attention when he accurately described Rush the Comedian's show as "ugly" and incendiary."<br /><br />That pissed Rush off. Not a good thing for an obese former drug addict. Getting his blood pressure as high as his picture seems to indicate may be a death sentence.<br /><br />Which is kind of the same thing he wished for Sir Senator Ted Kennedy this week when he said Kennedy would be dead when health care reform passed.<br /><br />The Steele comment sent Rush rushing to the hustings where he gave a jugular-vein-popping speech that prompted the White House to name him the face and the voice of GOP leadership.<br /><br />The sweaty, swollen man in the black, half-buttoned shirt </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: arial;" id="aptureLink_5rUcuojaVX" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDncw6uQ_I">ranted for nearly 90 minutes</a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" > at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He reiterated his desire to see the president of his country fail. He misstated the Constitution’s intent while accusing President Obama of “bastardizing” the document. He made fun of one man’s service in Vietnam, to laughter.</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">David Letterman compared him to an Eastern European gangster. But he looked more like a bouncer at a strip club who spent all his tips on one bad outfit.</span><br /></span><p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">But for the Republican Party, Limbaugh has become very much a vice. Rush is as addictive as those pain-killers he used to take. And angry white men on the fringe just can't seem to get that monkey off their backs.</span></p><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >But wait a minute, there's a new drug on the street. And new comedian doing Hip-Hop shtick. Is that Michael Steele I see around the corner, trying to "apply conservative principles to urban-suburban hip-hop settings?"<br /><br />Yep, it sure is.<br /><br />Michael Steele who offered the "friggin' awesome" </span><a id="aptureLink_UD0H897XYS" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby%20Jindal">Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" > some "slum love." (yes, that Bobby Jindal, you know, the Tom Sawyerish, 14-year-old Gov of Louisiana who gave the worst speech in history in response to Obama's Joint Congressional Address - Bobby Jindal - the former next best thing in the GOP).<br /><br />Michael Steele is the GOP's new fix/ation.<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><object style="font-family: arial;" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YSuawzkKpuM&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YSuawzkKpuM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Anyway, have fun with all of this. Don't take any of it too seriously. And remember, it will only be about 3 years before Romney and Palin reappear - reestablishing their rightful claims as Comedians in Residence for the GOP.</span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-6398681454356784602009-03-05T19:46:00.002-05:002009-03-05T19:57:14.148-05:00CNBC Finally Gets Called Out for Their Bullshit<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I always wondered why I haven't read or seen or heard more about CNBC and their unique brand of corporate pimping and their extraordinary failure in seeing the financial meltdown even while we were in the middle of it.<br /><br />Now, thanks to Jon Stewart, we at last see what bullshit CNBC and their overpaid anchors engaged in while the country was going south.<br /><br />I wholeheartedly agree with Mr Stewart's last comments....<br /></span></span></span><br /><style type="text/css">.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}</style><div class="cc_box" style="position: relative;"><a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/" target="_blank" style="display: inline; float: left; width: 60px; height: 31px;"><div class="cc_home" style="border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(207, 207, 207); border-width: 1px 0px 0px 1px; background: transparent url(http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-out.png) repeat scroll 0% 0%; float: left; width: 60px; height: 31px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"></div></a><div style="border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(207, 207, 207); border-width: 1px 1px 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; float: left; width: 299px; height: 31px; color: rgb(112, 112, 112); position: relative;"><div class="cc_show" style="overflow: hidden; position: relative; background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); padding-left: 3px; height: 14px; padding-top: 2px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" target="_blank">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a><span style="position: absolute; top: 2px; right: 3px;">M - Th 11p / 10c</span></div><div class="cc_title" style="padding: 1px 3px 3px; overflow: hidden; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(134, 134, 134); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); line-height: 14px; height: 21px;"><a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=220252&title=cnbc-gives-financial-advice" target="_blank">CNBC Gives Financial Advice</a></div></div><embed style="float: left; clear: left;" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:220252" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="autoPlay=false" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" bgcolor="#000000" width="360" height="301"></embed><div class="cc_links" style="border-style: none solid solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color rgb(207, 207, 207) rgb(207, 207, 207); border-width: 0px 1px 1px; float: left; clear: left; width: 358px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Verdana,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; color: rgb(185, 185, 185); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"><div style="width: 177px; float: left; padding-left: 3px;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/index.jhtml">Daily Show Full Episodes</a><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/important_things/index.jhtml">Important Things With Demetri Martin</a></div><div style="width: 177px; float: left;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.indecisionforever.com/">Political Humor</a><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.jokes.com/">Joke of the Day</a></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div></div>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-74678209516072215952009-03-02T10:32:00.006-05:002009-03-02T13:15:38.720-05:00Why I Bought A Kindle<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKaTrJlLMGDDombCKl1butXXUy67Elrx2VetAwJ-hEo5PB4uPg_PtWKzWVm3u853BPBr4U_3RNVfOL1MvUGradRCLBo4TLgJq77qAO0IwBm9Vg4VpWz7ltYQNvnBASB1cnwafrqTw03Jw/s1600-h/IMG_0074.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKaTrJlLMGDDombCKl1butXXUy67Elrx2VetAwJ-hEo5PB4uPg_PtWKzWVm3u853BPBr4U_3RNVfOL1MvUGradRCLBo4TLgJq77qAO0IwBm9Vg4VpWz7ltYQNvnBASB1cnwafrqTw03Jw/s400/IMG_0074.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308641750400384114" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">As the market falls below 7,000, to it's lowest point in 12 years, I find diversions of almost any kind welcome - especially diversions involving technology.<br /><br />So I'm going to write a little about technology and specifically why I spent almost $500 on the new Kindle 2, a leather cover, a cool Mighty Bright reading light and 3 books I had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">whispernetted</span> to the thing while it was still in transit.<br /><br />As enamored as I am with technology, I'm not an easy mark. I don't accept or subscribe to never-ending technological developments just because they exist.<br /><br />Technology that doesn't in some way enrich and improve my life, or lives in general, is of no value to me. Developing means to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">robotically</span> kill opposing forces is evil. Developing means to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">robotically</span> vacuum my carpet is good.<br /><br />And technology has to be very user-friendly for me to adopt it. The days of my attempting to read hundreds of badly translated pages in a "User Manual" are long gone. I don't have the time, aptitude or advanced engineering degree to cope with that.<br /><br />Remember the first versions of videocassette recorders - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">VCR's</span> of the 1970's - and the subsequent VHS vs. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Betamax</span> formatting battle? My brother-in-law Dave could write a book about it as he was working on the leading edge of marketing those devices back in the day.<br /><br />What they all had in common was an impossible-to-read operating manual. Badly translated from the original Japanese, Korean, Mandarin or what-have-you, by the time it reached your hands it was incomprehensible.<br /><br />The inability to set those babies up to actually record has become part of popular lore.<br /><br />Another major "advance" was audio cassette players for your car that required turning over the vehicle to 2-or 3 guys who looked like they just stole all the equipment they were about to install in your car - they had to cut holes for speakers, run wiring, stick the player in the dashboard and then turn it back to you so you could figure out how in the hell to operate it while driving 70-miles-per-hour on the freeway.<br /><br />Or how about car phones? That was fun - especially when they didn't melt from the heat and sun or more likely, get stolen on a frequent basis.<br /><br />I'm not a first adapter either. I really believe that someone else should be the guinea pig for Version 1.0 of anything. The only time I failed to adhere to that was with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Vonage</span> - I bought in as soon as it was introduced and it was a miserable failure from the get go. Every time it rained I lost phone service. I got rid of it fast. And I still have a land line - just in case I need to call 911 and have them actually know from where I'm calling.<br /><br />I haven't jumped for HDTV (yet). I have a Dell desktop PC with a cable <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ISP</span> - no cool Apple laptop - no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">WiFi</span>. I do have a pair on noise-cancelling headphones because I don't want to lose anymore hearing than I already have. And I have an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">iPod</span> 4GB <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Nano</span> that's a couple of years old.<br /><br />But in the last few years my love affair with new technology has really kicked-in. First it was the proliferation of on-line tools that made a neat connection between my personal and professional life - blogs, blogging, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">facebook</span>, twitter, etc.<br /><br />It just made sense to me to be able to express myself both personally and professionally through those forums. It has helped me enormously in keeping in touch in brand new ways with my friends and business colleagues. And it has provided me a means to reconnect with people I want in my life.<br /><br />Then my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">applemaniac</span> friends introduced me to the new iPhone 3G and the whole wide world of apps.<br /><br />I was smitten! So in love! Never saw anything like it. The iPhone offered me compatibility, portability and connectivity that I didn't have. And in such a small, sexy package to boot.<br /><br />The iPhone actually enriched my life. It made communication possible on a whole different plane. It also made it possible to have fun on a whole different plane. How else can you flick bowl in the palm of your hand?<br /><br />One of the first things I did after putting my favorite music on iPhone and hooking-up my personal & work e-mail, and getting all those must-have apps, was to download <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">audiobooks</span> and e-reader to my iPhone.<br /><br />Once again, it was the seductiveness of portability and convenience that drove me in this direction.<br /><br />I live in Brooklyn and I commute via the subway to work. On weekdays the "F" train is frequently overcrowded and finding a handhold while simultaneously holding a 300-page book and turning pages in nigh impossible. As is actually finding a seat during prime commuting times. And after years of hauling heavy books around in my messenger bag I was beginning to feel like a pack mule - plus my shoulders would ache by the end of the day.<br /><br />So I started to listen to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">audiobooks</span> with my noise-canceling headphones while riding the subway. The very first one I listened to was Camus' The Stranger narrated by acclaimed</span></span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">voice actor Jonathan Davis. The experience was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">transformative</span>. I had forgotten how much I missed having someone read to me. It was heaven, and I was forever hooked on the experience.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">About this same time I was also downloading free e-reader apps on the iPhone. Mostly "classics" such as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Moby</span> Dick, Paradise Lost, The Time Machine, etc. You can change the font color and size, and the background "paper" color. You can "turn" pages with just a flick of your finger across the screen and the sound made is actually that of a page being turned! Very cool and very readable - and again, all in the palm of your hand.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">I also downloaded books from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Beamitdown</span>.com - they allow you to scroll the pages to your reading speed. That's pretty amazing! I have Benjamin Button, a biography of Lincoln and a couple of Sherlock Holmes tomes in this format.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm thrilled with this new reading freedom. And not having to lug books around anymore during my daily commute is wonderful.<br /><br />Now don't get me wrong. I love "real" books. But I live in a typical NYC apartment - meaning I have finite space limitations to deal with. Right now I have numerous places to display and stash books - bookshelves, under tables, on tables, in little niches, books on top of books, etc. I find it hard to part with my books, so I keep them around. But I'm running out of room.<br /><br />So it wasn't much of a jump for me to look to Amazon and their launch of Kindle 2.0.<br /><br />I didn't pay much attention to the first Kindle - it was clunky looking, had some issues that needed to be dealt with and just didn't make an impression on me.<br /><br />Bur when I started to read about the new Kindle 2, saw pictures and read critical reviews, I was sold.<br /><br />Based on a heads-up article written in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">NYTimes</span>, I ordered a Kindle before the new one was announced. The article assured me that I would receive a new one and not the obsoleted version. And sure enough the e-mail from Amazon arrived telling me that I would be among the first to receive the new Kindle 2.<br /><br />2 days after it was officially launched - I took receipt of it and have hardly put it to "sleep" since.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The one thing that describes the great technology available today is ease of operation - it's linear, coherent, and crystal clear. You can start using it almost out-of-the box.<br /><br />That describes the Kindle 2 perfectly. I quick turn through the user guide and I was ready to go.<br /><br />And, I ordered 3 books while it was on a UPS truck and when I turned it on all 3 books were already downloaded and ready to read.<br /><br />The Kindle pages remind me of newsprint and the size of the page reminds me of a paperback - so there's absolutely no disconnect for me re a real reading experience. And the page turns are super fast.<br /><br />I love it. And once again I feel I have engaged a new technology that will help enrich my life.<br /><br />And nothing can compete with it's convenience and effectiveness.<br /><br />I do not believe that Kindle and e-readers will replace books - I believe it is but another tool to aid the reader in accessing books and authors in the formats that make the most sense for the readers lifestyle. And if you commute by train and travel often like I do then having something like the Kindle makes a lot of sense.<br /><br />Publishers need to stop whining about technology and find a way to participate. Old business models, circa early-to-mid 20<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">th</span> Century simply no longer work - whether it's book publishers or newspaper publishers.<br /><br />Purist critique of technological advances seems pathetically rooted in a longing for a world that longer exists.<br /><br />It's participate or perish. And everyone wins when everyone participates.<br /></span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-90561978287112462632009-02-19T12:40:00.007-05:002009-02-19T14:38:01.854-05:00Freak Show/s<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Z8aY0XsjmlEbXldumyT0L5uY2MFvY25s_BkPdHskdspqJtAbGQn6dgsPRfnvxwueuEK2QNpDZGVPNw4xjPdjn8ZCCmBOTr4xVKifHHjFs5F9TUYa7am4x-ofwQZj0Ghr6eQvyxEX9M8/s1600-h/news019a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Z8aY0XsjmlEbXldumyT0L5uY2MFvY25s_BkPdHskdspqJtAbGQn6dgsPRfnvxwueuEK2QNpDZGVPNw4xjPdjn8ZCCmBOTr4xVKifHHjFs5F9TUYa7am4x-ofwQZj0Ghr6eQvyxEX9M8/s400/news019a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304586725487183714" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yI0DYTAE7tJlwWbdg5tQDV-1U4Ipk4pRoHMpy10BtgLQmY7GtA_68a6fUT4H7L5c4iq6Q2VwJFcn8qD-OO3L0sQdlJURtwPAFFAcKw2w2uSuPvUbLuVunREqri4b4A6dQsL_m-psyGU/s1600-h/photo15.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yI0DYTAE7tJlwWbdg5tQDV-1U4Ipk4pRoHMpy10BtgLQmY7GtA_68a6fUT4H7L5c4iq6Q2VwJFcn8qD-OO3L0sQdlJURtwPAFFAcKw2w2uSuPvUbLuVunREqri4b4A6dQsL_m-psyGU/s400/photo15.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304586255369848082" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">I was going to devote this post entirely to Mickey Rourke, but recent events demand that I also include the bizarro tale of Sandra Herold and Travis the chimp - but more on that in a bit.<br /><br />First, Mickey Rourke.<br /><br />OK, someone has to say it. Mickey Rourke is a one-man freak show. I mean what is up with the royal blue velvet slippers with crest? And that hairdo? And that Paris-Hilton-like-dog (<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2009/02/apparently-mick.html">rest it's poor soul</a>).<br /><br />Maybe I'm just pissed because I think this guy is going to steal the best actor award from Sean Penn. Or more accurately, the "Academy" is going to deny the award to Penn because he's already been there and done that and, god knows, Hollywood loves a good redemption story.<br /><br />But Rourke's story is too weird. And The Wrestler was just Rourke actually being himself - what's "acting" have to do with it?<br /><br />And am I the only one who thinks The Wrestler is a </span><span id="query" class="query" style="font-family:arial;">panegyric</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> to steroid use and self-abuse? </span><span style="font-family:arial;">When asked if he took steroids, Rourke replied “When I’m a wrestler, I behave like a wrestler."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Yeah, right, I think I hear you.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Plus, I think the film is both bad and bogus.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Now, for Travis the chimp.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm sure you've already heard the horrible incident where Travis the chimp mauled a women, his loving owner tried to stab his ass to death, failed, and finally the cops had to shot him to death.<br /><br />But did you know that Ms Herold treated Travis as both <a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/02192009/news/regionalnews/its_animal_attraction_155922.htm">surrogate child and husband</a>?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Too weird!<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Look at that picture above for a few minutes. Let me know what your reaction is.</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-88710597575921975132009-02-13T18:29:00.004-05:002009-02-13T19:20:49.623-05:00What A Bad Week Looks Like<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55y5eIDCEUwnGB0lHJvNjXOQdIeGSYjT9SwU5sCC55CnHVhUMN4mxMenfO9NsfxtISrIRtZCCsH8V9mO59ehzgpQROec4Hj2Xfu3dpbNonhNaWVLhyywfewYh8r6yfD0Od7_efTSqdZU/s1600-h/the-scream.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55y5eIDCEUwnGB0lHJvNjXOQdIeGSYjT9SwU5sCC55CnHVhUMN4mxMenfO9NsfxtISrIRtZCCsH8V9mO59ehzgpQROec4Hj2Xfu3dpbNonhNaWVLhyywfewYh8r6yfD0Od7_efTSqdZU/s400/the-scream.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302440876641530802" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">1. Tax evader and </span></span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner danced through a major speech on Obama's </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> new-and-improved bank bailout plan on Tuesday, raising many more questions in the process. I agree totally with the New York Times Editorial Board, that "his speech invited, at best, healthy skepticism from the markets, the public and lawmakers — and at worst, more mistrust."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">2. Geithner's performance prompted comedian Bill Maher to go on the Larry King Show and say that he believed that things are a lot worse than we are being told as evidenced by Geithner's </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >"vagueness." This does not make me hopeful. Is</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> Maher an economist by the way?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">3. My financial advisor (actually my super-smart financial wizard sister) advised me to get out of all markets - I'm now parked in an account earning so little it's hard to compute. But at least I'm not losing more $$.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">4. The Republican party voted NO in the House and Senate on the stimulus package . I am convince that the Repugs are bent on bankrupting this country. What makes Obama think reaching out to them is prudent? The big question now is what is Obama's follow-up game plan. This stimulus package is relatively small potatoes, where's the grand plan. I am not confident.<br /><br />5. My friend Dallas and I discussed how a capitalistic system based on hyper-consumerism is doomed to fail - especially when millions of jobs disappear and salaries are severly deflated and depressed.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">6. Less than 1 in 4 people believe in evolution. America appears to becoming dumber. Gallup showed a "linear correlation between education level and (dis)belief in evolution." We need a poll for that?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">7. A good friend needs a hip replacement. When asked how soon he should he have it <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" >done, the doctor said, "when the pain gets unbearable."<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">8. Another plane crashed, this time killing all aboard. I knew one of the victims - </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Alison L. Des Forges</span></span> - <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">a dedicated human rights activist who documented the genocide in Rwanda</span></span>.<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">9. Another woman decided to be a martyr and blew herself up in Iraq, killing 50 - many of them women and children resting from a pilgrimage.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Tough to be optimistic or confident right now.</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-55961675518901886742009-02-07T11:20:00.004-05:002009-02-07T12:41:19.278-05:00Can An Unrepentant Holocaust Denier be Rehabilitated?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZ2QeDe-EVZLy0HqA-FYylHnlGDnGa5j5G8XRgjsTtV9P9GHMXPqLVbGm7fn7k1HxLQf2KCYM2J_tLIrZKnjmKQwSsUEFQOAyq0A4re5IT3mzST03KJoi6ZfeihhqYEOyFLPhWDn8bMw/s1600-h/denier.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZ2QeDe-EVZLy0HqA-FYylHnlGDnGa5j5G8XRgjsTtV9P9GHMXPqLVbGm7fn7k1HxLQf2KCYM2J_tLIrZKnjmKQwSsUEFQOAyq0A4re5IT3mzST03KJoi6ZfeihhqYEOyFLPhWDn8bMw/s400/denier.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300108739733033394" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">After Pope John Paul II made </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >reconciliation between Catholics and Jews a key feature of his papacy and after he publicly apologized for the sins of the Church and Christians over the past 2000 years, you would think that the Church would continue seeking common ground with Jews.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"> Rev. Thomas Reese, Jesuit author and the former editor-in-chief of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >America</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, said in an interview with Ray Suarez of PBS in Feb of 2000, "I think that the Pope has talked about the Holocaust in the past, the failure of so many Christians to reach out to help the Jews and to protect them from the Nazis. The Pope has put on a back burner the whole question about the canonization of Pius XII. Clearly this is a pope who wants to have reconciliation with the Jewish community and is asking for forgiveness of all the sins, all the sins. And there are lots of sins that the Christian community has committed against the Jews."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So wouldn't you think the Church would want to continue to examine it's relationship with Jews and continue to seek the truth? (With the exception of course of Pius XII's complicity with the Nazis)</span>.<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br />Evidently not.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Pope Benedict XVI has just recently announced the "rehabilitation" of Holocaust Denier Richard Williamson, </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >a member of the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X whose excommunication was lifted by the Vatican last month. The decision sparked outrage because Williamson had said in a television interview he did not believe any Jews were gassed during the Holocaust.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />What on earth can this Pope be thinking?</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">How can Joseph Ratzinger, the ultra-conservative former German Cardinal, a former member of Hitler Youth, a former member of a German anti-aircraft unit, who's zeal in enforcing Church orthodoxy attracted labels such as "The Hammer," "Cardinal No" and "God's Rottweiler," bring Holocaust denier Williamson back into the Church's fold?</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />It's disgraceful. It's sinful. It's a retrograde step that underscores the continuing influence of far right-wing, ultra-conservative thought and policy in the Roman Catholic Church - especially by secretive groups like Opus Dei and the Society of St. Pius X (which was founded in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Israel’s highest religious body sent a letter to the Vatican asking to postpone an annual bilateral meeting and voicing “sorrow and pain” at the pope’s decision to welcome the bishop back into the fold.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />German Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly urged that the Pope make a “very clear” rejection of Holocaust denial.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Under such pressure and criticism the Vatican is now demanding that Williamson recant his denial before he can be readmitted as a Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Remember, this is the guy that said only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed during World War II and none was gassed. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This is the guy who refuses to visit Auschwitz and see the truth.<br /><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Williamson's response to the Vatican? "...I must look again at the historical evidence.'' It is about historical evidence, not about emotions,'' he added, ''And if I find this evidence, I will correct myself. But that will take time.''</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Isn't that the same thing as saying "fuck you?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By the way, Williamson lives in Argentina. Isn't that where a lot of Nazis escaped to after WWII?</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The only moral response from the Vatican now is to tell Williamson not to bother. Let him remain excommunicated. Let him remain in Argentina. Let him remain outside the Church.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />To do otherwise would be to lay waste to the progress made by John Paul II and to forever taint the Church's relationship with Jews around the world.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The person who needs to recant now is Benedict.</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-44463734373709406802009-02-06T22:28:00.004-05:002009-02-06T22:36:15.056-05:00Is Cheney Dr Strangelove?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYe-yEBGY7BWS_DB5SOOWt5ZmMKK-_vIeK1zDZ0A2j1MgYD_SsCnvlG2q3c44MAlouUKHLlLmr62eYJAZwUmEUt0ZtKiQWoGUymUPYvU1CYbYTABZ6LXq8kXejrHh0PCCIunbwBpfsaGw/s1600-h/sellers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 255px; height: 364px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYe-yEBGY7BWS_DB5SOOWt5ZmMKK-_vIeK1zDZ0A2j1MgYD_SsCnvlG2q3c44MAlouUKHLlLmr62eYJAZwUmEUt0ZtKiQWoGUymUPYvU1CYbYTABZ6LXq8kXejrHh0PCCIunbwBpfsaGw/s400/sellers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299893543692529666" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWnAAcb5Z1aGe7HyRDXax8-ZI7S5JsaEtINEZVdyOVgPoWMLUt1yul9E_hzuq-3JM75Ohs36ShTIGKHI4Iyg9OUyfp0bVl0eljL3JL1XfOCkkda7mAWRWYl4Mu97RSPlBNhuAWCXLc1k/s1600-h/cheyney.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWnAAcb5Z1aGe7HyRDXax8-ZI7S5JsaEtINEZVdyOVgPoWMLUt1yul9E_hzuq-3JM75Ohs36ShTIGKHI4Iyg9OUyfp0bVl0eljL3JL1XfOCkkda7mAWRWYl4Mu97RSPlBNhuAWCXLc1k/s400/cheyney.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299893458897330338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">I was too struck with the image to mention it at the time, but I think Dick Cheney is actually Dr. Strangelove.</span><br /></span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-10465183296838041102009-02-01T10:25:00.004-05:002009-02-01T11:01:24.517-05:00Intervention Needed Immediately<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXpiJfYZzkYlI8MJqSJ6HQstrgTz67TtMb86e6P44HisESVr-czW2YdvE4WC89jmpl9SNbhypSSKh__91Dfj4S4MEsGqQjffbYOgM0ubwyCKuzsOUod7M5QhlyvP3UqMrwyHD2sRaB0o/s1600-h/federer+tears.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 337px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXpiJfYZzkYlI8MJqSJ6HQstrgTz67TtMb86e6P44HisESVr-czW2YdvE4WC89jmpl9SNbhypSSKh__91Dfj4S4MEsGqQjffbYOgM0ubwyCKuzsOUod7M5QhlyvP3UqMrwyHD2sRaB0o/s400/federer+tears.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297856515028410786" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You didn't ask me, but I'm an avid tennis fan, and at one time was a pretty good player.<br /><br />In the men's game I've been a big fan of Connors, McEnroe, Borg, Agassi, Sampras. etc. I like guys with big games and incredible skills and who can play on any surface.<br /><br />In recent years I've been following Roger Federer. I've been in awe of his natural skills and his seeming march to tennis immortality.<br /><br />But a big bump in the road appeared a few years ago on Mr Federer's journey - Rafa Nadal - the lefty from Mallorca who appears to be the albatross around Roger Dodger's neck.<br /><br />I've suffered through Federer's close losses to Nadal, all the while thinking that Rafa is indeed the next big thing on the tennis horizon.<br /><br />And I thought that what the hell, let Nadal own clay, I mean Sampras never won the French either.<br /><br />Then Nadal won Wimbledon and I thought, well what the hell, Roger can't be beat on hard surfaces.<br /><br />And then came the wee hours of this morning and Federer's painful-to-watch match against Nadal at the Australian Open. And boom, just like that (well 4 and 23 minutes worth anyway) Nadal now owns Federer on hard courts too.<br /><br />So here it is - someone has to say it - Federer needs an intervention.<br /><br />He needs both a coach and a therapist.<br /><br />He needs a coach to tell him that he must change his game in order to beat Nadal. Roger can't stay the same and expect success in defeating this kid.<br /><br />And he needs a therapist to help him deal with grief and loss.<br /><br />I mean all this public crying is one thing when you win but looks a little pathetic when you lose, and your tear-filled runner-up comments are being broadcast around the world.<br /><br />Roger, get a grip!<br /><br />And get a coach.<br /></span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-89404217348796224372009-01-28T20:15:00.003-05:002009-01-28T20:36:57.303-05:00Apture: The Coolest App Ever<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_zzKcmWFv5A0ZSAzFL_vNJoNg7il5oTrr8SteYZt4uX0vgw9_iKqGRcIiqqiRKNDn1EuI9pFbduBn9psV4I9srzg5XidFKFG7wHb2bF8nKgh7wB7pbHy2bX3D0fv4ZrguAV5TRAjP3U/s1600-h/ap2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 255px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG_zzKcmWFv5A0ZSAzFL_vNJoNg7il5oTrr8SteYZt4uX0vgw9_iKqGRcIiqqiRKNDn1EuI9pFbduBn9psV4I9srzg5XidFKFG7wHb2bF8nKgh7wB7pbHy2bX3D0fv4ZrguAV5TRAjP3U/s400/ap2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296521607051559298" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You didn't ask me, but I have a friend named Rory O'Connor who writes @ Media Is Plural.<br /><br />Rory, author of "Shock Jocks, Hate Speech & Talk Radio," has been writing recently about emerging technologies, Web 2.0, and social media's impact on journalism, trust and credibility.<br /><br />On his site today, Rory did the blogging world and other online sites with text content a major favor by writing about the new, FREE, application called Apture.<br /><br />Apture is </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">a new communication platform that literally adds fresh dimensions and a web of information to previously two-dimensional posts.<br /><br />How? Read Rory's post for all the information. And, if you write a blog or other online content, add Apture.<br /><br />It adds unbelievable depth and context to your content.<br /><br />This blog post is full of Apture aided references - just roll your mouse over the highlighted words.</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><em><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span> </em></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-44829870883878606232009-01-24T10:03:00.006-05:002009-01-24T10:53:49.518-05:00Who? New York Suddenly Looks Second Rate<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtT1MqYORjUmX-7lJ3LwVauTXGtI5lfcG8qGJ5AXAHBKfHZs_q440a8iG4x6PxuFdYboIB1SsZXmyIO4fulM8gLqWe5mNYSfOAEEpSOaup8eWrNIrRPSZXrJCtNc_Wc3j87jUwJODjUR0/s1600-h/15sweeney2.190.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtT1MqYORjUmX-7lJ3LwVauTXGtI5lfcG8qGJ5AXAHBKfHZs_q440a8iG4x6PxuFdYboIB1SsZXmyIO4fulM8gLqWe5mNYSfOAEEpSOaup8eWrNIrRPSZXrJCtNc_Wc3j87jUwJODjUR0/s400/15sweeney2.190.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294888187885640226" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You didn't ask me, but I awoke this morning still dumbfounded by how an accidental Governor could so mishandle one of the most important decisions he will ever have to make - choosing a replacement for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat.<br /><br />But mishandle he did. In the run-up to Gov Paterson finally making his choice - he and his staff took on the competing personas of Catskill comic and second rate hit men. Paterson constantly joked his way through mangled messages of the day and laughed his way through every public appearance and his staff ended up tarring and feathering a member of one of America's premiere political families (as well as pissing off the Cuomos and the Clintons).<br /><br />No doubt that Caroline Kennedy's withdrawal from consideration is filled with mystery and leaves a bad taste in the mouths of plenty of liberal Democrats - like me.<br /><br />But as Gail Collins said in her NYTimes<span style="text-decoration: underline;"> article</span> this morning, "</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Respectful of the longstanding state tradition that there is no situation so bad that it can’t be made worse, Paterson’s office followed up by sliming Kennedy."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">And then the second-rate Governor made things even worse. He picked a second-rate pro-gun politician from somewhere Upstate to become the junior Senator from New York.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Blue Dog Caucus member, 100% NRA rated, gun-supporting, conservative "balance the budget," very junior Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand is now the pick to succeed Hillary Clinton.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Who you said? Right! Who!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">It was an amazing Palinesque move by our accidental Governor.<br /><br />A gun loving conservative to represent my city? As Mayor Bloomberg said, </span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">"She has actively opposed the efforts of New York City, and cities around the state and nation, to enact commonsense measures that keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals. For instance, she has voted to keep critical data needed to track illegal gun traffickers from law enforcement, has voted to tie the hands of the ATF, and has also voted to protect dealers who sell guns illegally."</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">But look - the real situation is this. Paterson choose a politically expedient way out of his mess. He didn't choose stature, or gravitas, or connectedness, or achievement, or common purpose.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">He choose someone from a majorly conservative section of the State who may be able to boost his pathetic chances to run for Governor in 2010. He choose someone whom he thinks can get him elected.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">It's a disgrace. it's a disgrace to progressives state-wide, it's a disgrace to residents of NYC where gun violence is a fact of everyday life in some communities, and it's a disgrace to the democratic process.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Of course we all know that most politicians do not operate according to a set of core beliefs, they mostly operate by political expediency.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">And, faster than a speeding bullet, Senator-Designate Gillibrand's (Who?) "politics are evolving at a rate previously seen only in science-fiction movies. She’s developed a hitherto unnoticed belief in gay marriage. At her press conference, she expressed an interest in working on one of McCarthy’s gun control bills. And, she has an appointment to meet in Harlem with Al Sharpton."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm trying really hard to adopt President Obama's positivity, but damn it's hard not to be a cynic when this is the best we get from the great state of New York.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">My state is suddenly looking very second rate.</span></span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Does any body really believe that Gillibrand is the best we could have done?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">The 2010 election can't come soon enough for me.</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-60881983949095736722009-01-23T21:58:00.005-05:002009-01-23T22:17:12.989-05:00More Good News On Global Family Planning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieINKBykxsXHMag1rbN4JX2dzzhkY7v_YGCBnSS3d4nilaTD_7RCIq1i9mpFVzhxp-qUXk778O-c3F-qu9GjtYa_JIG7K_9Bn0jtJx84iA3j7WP6zsAPl4Xyu92m8Av_COWgBDgeW9m1U/s1600-h/photo1288.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 380px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieINKBykxsXHMag1rbN4JX2dzzhkY7v_YGCBnSS3d4nilaTD_7RCIq1i9mpFVzhxp-qUXk778O-c3F-qu9GjtYa_JIG7K_9Bn0jtJx84iA3j7WP6zsAPl4Xyu92m8Av_COWgBDgeW9m1U/s400/photo1288.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294693117013806466" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" >You didn't ask me, but I have a a great friend, Deni, who works for <a href="http://www.americansforunfpa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=183">Americans for UNFPA</a> (the UNFPA part is the United Nations Population Fund).<br /><br />Deni just told me that President Obama committed to making sure that funding is restored to UNFPA </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >as part of his lifting the ban on the Global Gag Rule.</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /><br />This is one more piece of tremendous news to top off a fantastic week.<br /><br />Here's that statement that Americans for UNFPA released tonight:<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" > </span><p style="margin-bottom: 0.25in; text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:14;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">President Obama Vows to Restore UNFPA</span> Funding, Return U.S. Leadership to </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Women’s Issues</span> </span></b></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:12;" >New York, NY – January 23, 2009</span></b>—President Barack Obama today ended the stunning disregard our government has shown the world’s women when he pledged to implement policies that help raise the status of women around the world, including the restoration of a U.S. contribution to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;"><blockquote>“… I look forward to working with Congress to restore U.S. financial support for the U.N. Population Fund. By resuming funding to UNFPA, the U.S. will be joining 180 other donor nations working collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV/AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries,” said President Obama in an official White House statement issued Friday evening.</blockquote></span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">“With this declaration, the Obama Administration allows all Americans to again hold our heads high. We can be proud to be part of a nation that is, once again, ready to lead the world in promoting the health and rights of women,” said Anika Rahman, President of Americans for UNFPA. </span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">The United States, which was integral to forming UNFPA in 1969, is the only country in the world that has ever refused to fund the agency for reasons that are political rather than financial. From 2002-2008 the United States Congress voted to appropriate funds to UNFPA but this contribution was withheld by the Bush Administration. A total of $244 million was blocked. </span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">Now, we look to Congress to support President Obama and women everywhere by allocating $60 million in FY 09 to UNFPA, as Congress finalizes the FY2009 appropriations process. </span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">“Together Congress and the Obama Administration’s actions will allow UNFPA to enhance its programs immediately,” said Rahman. As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton so strongly articulated before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, it’s crucial that our government consider women’s issues as integral to our foreign policy.” </span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">“For too long, we have viewed U.S. assistance for global women’s heath programs as important, but not necessary to our own interests. The needs of women are so intrinsically tied up in the needs of families, communities and nations that it’s absurd to consider ‘women’s issues’ separately,” said Rahman. “By restoring funding to UNFPA, the Administration recognizes women’s rightful place in the world.”</span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">UNFPA provides women’s health care and promotes the rights of women in more than 150 countries around the world. It is the largest international source of such assistance. UNFPA’s work has significantly reduced maternal mortality in countries such as Bolivia, Egypt and Zimbabwe, provides 500 million women with modern contraceptive methods annually and works to combat gender-based violence around the world.</span></span></p> <p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;">To learn more about Americans for UNFPA visit <a href="http://www.americansforunfpa.org/" target="_blank">www.americansforunfpa.org</a>.</span><span style="font-size:12;"></span></span></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:12;"></span><em><i><span style="font-size:12;">UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, provides women's health care and promotes the rights of women around the world. Americans for UNFPA is dedicated to building American support for the work of UNFPA and to restoring the United States' moral, political and financial contribution to the organization.</span></i></em> </span></p>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-20969173183803994392009-01-23T17:27:00.004-05:002009-01-23T17:37:25.418-05:00No More Tears: Obama Lifts Global Gag Rule!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEs5bzCfiz5gRSXzIOPi2PVMoSp5WjQYGhH4X1mP5HJ4k6xSBhfFe6DoYYqG-TGf9INbt8nguvMjbFBZYZJTif153kBhEOPJWMznyXL47TbMPRWG2fJaIFuZm0CIuw1PbEJ3nDklSRDQ/s1600-h/gag.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 377px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEs5bzCfiz5gRSXzIOPi2PVMoSp5WjQYGhH4X1mP5HJ4k6xSBhfFe6DoYYqG-TGf9INbt8nguvMjbFBZYZJTif153kBhEOPJWMznyXL47TbMPRWG2fJaIFuZm0CIuw1PbEJ3nDklSRDQ/s400/gag.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294621385842516946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">You didn't ask me, but I say "Yes He Can!"<br /><br />Just 3 short days into his presidency, President Obama showed his commitment to women around the world by lifting the global gag rule - a Reagan and Bush era onerous policy that has cost women their dignity, their futures and their lives.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" ></span><blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" >"For eight long years the global gag rule has been used by the Bush administration to play politics with the lives of poor women across the world," said Gill Greer of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in London. "In rescinding this disastrous and unjust policy, President Obama has returned the United States to the international consensus on women's health."</span></blockquote><br /><span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Read all about it </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302814.html?hpid=topnews">here</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> it in the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Washington Post</span><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><br /></span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-63781334483417474122009-01-20T09:01:00.003-05:002009-01-20T09:18:26.444-05:00President Barack Hussein Obama<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IbpL-ZXadS47ZkjIWxxV3ihTpUIWf9hNlTtkRpAFiRSuiLCjsZeInSabM7MvWtNgYwVFS-XG7rx1ZH1xJLfWpA0NjI_lpbVzInOsGoti7ea5Jv6_O3N6_C-b1-Sy9jSFuc_KOFcXf4A/s1600-h/obama.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IbpL-ZXadS47ZkjIWxxV3ihTpUIWf9hNlTtkRpAFiRSuiLCjsZeInSabM7MvWtNgYwVFS-XG7rx1ZH1xJLfWpA0NjI_lpbVzInOsGoti7ea5Jv6_O3N6_C-b1-Sy9jSFuc_KOFcXf4A/s400/obama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293379510439617506" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Your didn't ask me, but I'm glued to CNN right now, 9:02 AM, Tuesday, January 20, 2009 - Inauguration Day!<br /><br />So many worked so long for this day. So many gave so much for this day. So many suffered so much for this day. So many gave their lives for this day. It's time to finally celebrate!<br /><br />I don't know who or what President Obama will evolve into during his presidency.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" >As </span><a style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/us/politics/20transition.html?hp"><span style="font-style: italic;">The New York Times</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" > said: "</span></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">He remains hard to read or label — centrist in his appointments and bipartisan in his style, ... He will eventually have to choose between competing advice and priorities, risking the disappointment or anger of constituencies that for the moment can still see in him what they hope to see."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">All I know for sure, at this precise moment in history, is that Barack Hussein Obama is my president, and I couldn't be more proud.</span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-7787951496007445442009-01-19T19:57:00.002-05:002009-01-19T20:06:48.113-05:00Gaza, Three weeks Later<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefBSw6ebONqbgKhd5OXQkFxSfk7Nb60FqMsyHY9PwLVnLGOCZNWQPXQHze_kaO4W4fB1juolbvNIfyIY3hBTplhFplZOsHXL8bezBcHuqAg_q-ibkVQP7i81CjpuBzr54pIDWigQRltM/s1600-h/4430.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefBSw6ebONqbgKhd5OXQkFxSfk7Nb60FqMsyHY9PwLVnLGOCZNWQPXQHze_kaO4W4fB1juolbvNIfyIY3hBTplhFplZOsHXL8bezBcHuqAg_q-ibkVQP7i81CjpuBzr54pIDWigQRltM/s400/4430.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293175635612930626" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You didn't ask me, but I wonder what the hell Israel achieved by three weeks of relentless overkill in Gaza.<br /><br />Other then killing 1,300 Palestinian men, women and children, other then inflicting immense human suffering, and creating billions of dollars of infrastructure destruction, and creating immense humanitarian needs, just what in hell did Israel achieve?<br /><br />Do Hamas terrorists have more respect for them, do they fear them more, has Hamas decided to disband?<br /><br />Or has Israel actually created more hatred than ever?<br /><br />Israel says it's goals has been met. But have they really?<br /><br />The insanity continues.<br /></span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-54497651533462288542009-01-18T08:54:00.003-05:002009-01-18T09:25:38.833-05:00Pre-Inaugural Butterflies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI32vG2Yd4eos93drbc-nrOjXmkp-TdVfCGacTEOJ0I3l8VfQhQRXYwQul28SGDDgpf-m9_OXTPThPHrIluYiMEBragwCsyzQ6fZeqcwP34G0xnP6cg_8veBmJ8FZqXf2imZXzNr9NQTY/s1600-h/art.slaves.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI32vG2Yd4eos93drbc-nrOjXmkp-TdVfCGacTEOJ0I3l8VfQhQRXYwQul28SGDDgpf-m9_OXTPThPHrIluYiMEBragwCsyzQ6fZeqcwP34G0xnP6cg_8veBmJ8FZqXf2imZXzNr9NQTY/s400/art.slaves.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292638883298327906" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You didn't ask me, but </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">when I was in high school </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I used to get this funny feeling in my gut before a sporting event. We called it the butterflies. You got anxious and jittery. The type of behavior called "ants in your pants" by my grandmother. It always went away as soon as the game started.<br /><br />Well many decades later I have the same feeling in my gut this morning. Only it's not about a sporting event. It's about the most important public event I can ever recall in my lifetime.<br /><br />I've got the butterflies because I can't wait for the Inauguration of Barack Obama to start!<br /><br />And I think I'm feeling this way because, in that same gut of mine, I never really believed that this country would elect a black man president.<br /><br />I still have to pinch myself sometimes.<br /><br />I have friends and colleagues making the pilgrimage to D.C. today and tomorrow and most of them will be standing among the faithful in the National Mall watching events unfold on </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">JumboTrons</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">. I did a similar thing </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">several years ago </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">for a major pro-choice march . It's a heady experience sharing a significant event with a million new friends. The energy of the crowd envelopes you. It's thrilling.<br /><br />But this Mall experience will be very different. It will be unlike anything ever held there. People from all 50 states and all over the world will witness an incredible moment in history - the swearing in of the first African American president of the U.S.<br /><br />Unbelievable!<br /><br />Really unbelievable when you think that the National Mall, in the DC of the 1840's, held a slave market.<br /><br />Really unbelievable when you think that the White House was built with slave labor.<br /><br />Really unbelievable when you think that twelve </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">American presidents owned slaves and eight of them, starting with Washington, owned slaves while in office.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Now, the Obamas are moving into the White House.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />"Though Michelle Obama's ancestors had to come through the ordeal of slavery, her children are sleeping in the room of presidents," said presidential historian Doug Brinkley. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;">"It's a very great and hopeful sign."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">I can't wait for this new game to start ;-)</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-31987465604951888312009-01-11T10:29:00.003-05:002009-01-11T10:55:31.721-05:00Gaza - “It has never been worse"<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family: arial;">You didn't ask me, but I have two wonderful friends who work with <a href="http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF</a> (The United Nations Children Fund).<br /><br />They just co-authored a<a href="http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=60329147272&h=UrLSr&u=Yttwn"> short article</a> on the difficulties faced by UNICEF staff in Gaza. It's a very moving piece and a great contribution to our understanding of the horrible situation being faced by all Palestinians.<br /><br />One of the UNICEF workers </span><span style="font-family: arial;">is Sajy, a native of Gaza. Sajy said, “The whole of the Gaza Strip right now is witnessing this bombardment,” he said. “Nowhere is safe, because everybody in Gaza happens to live next to Hamas headquarters, or next to a police station, or next to a mosque, or next to somebody who belongs to Hamas.”<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><blockquote>“The grocery stores are all empty,” said Sajy. “You cannot buy bread, you can’t buy milk, you can’t buy cheese. I know of many people who do not have food. Bread is like gold.”</blockquote><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Do yourself a favor - </span><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">read it.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">My friends, the authors, Tim Ledwith and Elizabeth Kiem, are extremely talented writers. And Elizabeth is also a very talented photo-journalist and cinematographer.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Here are a few small servings from the feast of their writings... </span><a style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/timothy_ledwith/">Tim's</a><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> and </span><a style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/elizabeth_kiem/">Elizabeth's.</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">They both frequently publish in the </span><a style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://www.themorningnews.org/">Morning News</a><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">. And they both have selections in the Morning News hardbound yearly print edition. </span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);" href="http://themorningnews.org/store/">It's on sale now</a><span style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">.</span></span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-51309332591864551092009-01-10T09:18:00.003-05:002009-01-10T09:35:47.832-05:00Unstimulated by Stimulus Package<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUb0x6LIcu3CIRVFGdnd1sosXTHvr5GuWby1-tVc1pAqZh5H5wJ5zGkn_0JtQqCxZo-aRkzb386zqbe9wrP5Qg5XI1D7GyIX9ooc0jgGoWOwiLQYmC1CwrI9T9rB5CkMPWSu0VDHsDh4g/s1600-h/2650527446_258809ce7a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUb0x6LIcu3CIRVFGdnd1sosXTHvr5GuWby1-tVc1pAqZh5H5wJ5zGkn_0JtQqCxZo-aRkzb386zqbe9wrP5Qg5XI1D7GyIX9ooc0jgGoWOwiLQYmC1CwrI9T9rB5CkMPWSu0VDHsDh4g/s400/2650527446_258809ce7a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289673456275402402" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">You didn't ask me, but as a life-long left, left leaning liberal I'm used to being disappointed.<br /><br />And so I was once again as I read about Obama's stimulus plan in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/washington/10stimulus.html?_r=1&hp">this morning's Times</a>.<br /><br />In an act of early political appeasement, Obama is willing to give over a third of the package to tax cuts to individuals and businesses. A move that a lot of economists say won't do a thing to help move our broken economy forward. That's $300 million dollars folks! Not a penny of which will help much in fixing the problems.<br /><br />In fact it might actually harm the effort.<br /><br />Know why? Because a lot of people, including me, are going to sock that money away, not spend it. How does that help the economy you ask? It doesn't and that's why doing this for sake of getting a few Republicans to vote for the package is a stupid idea.<br /><br />Why isn't that money being spent to employ people to fix all the streets in NYC? Or public works projects like that?<br /><br />I had hoped that a few weeks </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">would pass </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">into the new Obama Administration before the newly minted President made decisions that were purely politically motivated.<br /><br />I was wrong.<br /><br />And I remain disappointed.</span></span></span>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1910019582739639500.post-10700107812568888122009-01-08T09:29:00.003-05:002009-01-08T09:57:20.729-05:00Israeli Military Turns It's Back of Palestinian Wounded<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFs1N_0nZ8XJQzwzDKXbLQZ7Ztv75FODcMHrrpX2e6MwMrio20IhUBrsuPE4a25bfnlJIw5lN-JLdRHMDSW_Z3pu0cfT4LuvluKrSy24FfxYEE8IHjJBnQoHXRG9pKLXnba6EKCxx1QTM/s1600-h/gaza_mother_dead_children3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFs1N_0nZ8XJQzwzDKXbLQZ7Ztv75FODcMHrrpX2e6MwMrio20IhUBrsuPE4a25bfnlJIw5lN-JLdRHMDSW_Z3pu0cfT4LuvluKrSy24FfxYEE8IHjJBnQoHXRG9pKLXnba6EKCxx1QTM/s400/gaza_mother_dead_children3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288936338207279378" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" >You didn't ask me, but on a daily basis a new obscenity is revealed in Israel's War of Annihilation on Gaza.<br /><br />Yesterday, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) <a href="http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-news-080109?opendocument">expressed shock</a> and anger at the Israeli Military for failing to assist dying and wounded Palestinians and to allow humanitarian assistance to the wounded.<br /><br />"This is a shocking incident," said Pierre Wettach, the ICRC's head of delegation for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. "The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent to assist the wounded."<br /><br />"Ambulances in Gaza must be given systematic round-the-clock access to the wounded everywhere in the territory so that they can save as many lives as possible," the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger,<a href="http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-israel-news-080109"> said. </a><br /><br />"These obligations apply to Israel and to the Palestinian armed groups fighting in Gaza," said Mr Kellenberger. "We have already had cases of wounded people dying because the ambulances couldn't reach them in time. If these fundamental rules of international humanitarian law are not respected more people will die who could have been saved."<br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/world/middleeast/09redcross.html">The New York Times</a> ...<br /></span><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">"The statement said a team of four Palestine Red Crescent ambulances accompanied by Red Cross representatives made its way to Zeitoun Wednesday where it “found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses. They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all, there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses.” </span></p> <p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">"In another house, the statement said, the rescue team “found 15 other survivors of this attack including several wounded. In yet another house, they found an additional three corpses. Israeli soldiers posted at a military position some 80 meters away from this house ordered the rescue team to leave the area which they refused to do. There were several other positions of the Israeli Defense Forces nearby as well as two tanks.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">”Because of berms built by Israeli forces, the ambulances could not enter the area so “the children and the wounded had to be taken to the ambulances on a donkey cart,” the statement said."</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:100%;">I thought I was beyond being shocked by the horrors of war and human rights abuses. But Israeli's actions are so egregious and unconscionable. It's clear that Israel's only goal is to punish the people of Gaza as severely as they can and to inflict as much pain as possible.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: arial;font-size:100%;" >And the world's leaders still stand by impotently as Israels' Military continues its War of Annihilation on Gaza.</span></p><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Where are the defenders of the Palestinians?</p>Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17359851585510169656noreply@blogger.com