Wednesday, September 28. 2005
Doris Goodwin ReturnsIn this edition of the Atlantic, Mallon writes on Doris Goodwin and her reentry into historical biography. Everybody has made mistakes, and Ms. Goodwin is no different but I still think she is one of the best Presidential historians we have today. Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin's much anticipated book about Abraham Lincoln, marks her return to the arena after a devastating scandal. Throughout her personal trials, Goodwin says, Lincoln himself proved to be a major source of consolation. "His whole philosophy was not to waste precious energies on recriminations about the past" From Click here: No Ordinary Tome
Tuesday, September 27. 2005
Scopes II The so-called Scopes II trial begins this week in Harrisburg, PA., which concerns a Dover, PA school board's decision for teaching Intelligent Design along with evolutionary theory in biology classes. Frm the NYT piece: On the evolutionists' side is a legal team put together by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State. These groups want to put intelligent design itself on trial and discredit it so thoroughly that no other school board would dare authorize teaching it.
So here come the religion-haters and the Bible-phobics. Isn't the real issue, though, as it was in Scopes I, whether a local school board can make its own decisions?
Monday, September 26. 2005
Another offering by Julian Beever, the English street chalk artist. Notice the way the guy steps around the "hole." 
On natural Disasters, from Barcepundit: 579. That’s the current death toll in Louisiana from the hurricane and catastrophic flooding. Terrible for the victims, their family, their friends. But also much less than the 10,000 widely predicted. And, BTW, much less than the more than 35,000 killed by a heat wave in Europe two summers ago. You recall the debate that set off about European heartlessness, racism and discrimination? No, neither do I." Read all of his comments on the latest news stories cause he is good:
Thursday, September 15. 2005
 Hispanic Heritage Month at the METFor those who might happen to be in New York this month, go check out the lectures on Goya, and Frieda and Guatemalan Marimba and much more: (Goya, Self-Portrait, 1815)
Thursday, September 8. 2005
The Latin Beat, and Oil Oil Issues In Latin America and China. Hugo keeps pecking away at the leftist, communist friends and even offered to help the "Big Easy" but before you go thinking he is being altruistic read the USA Today article pointing out his policies: Chavez has been traveling the hemisphere offering preferential oil deals, barters, and loans to leftist and left-of-center governments. In the past 30 days, the leader of the world's fifth-largest oil exporting country, has inked deals with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Thirteen Caribbean nations signed a deal for cheap oil in June. And since April, Cuba has been getting almost all of its oil from Venezuela in exchange for doctors and gym teachers. Read the rest:.USATODAY.com - Chavez seeks influence with oil diplomacy
CHINA will not be left behind--Everyone must do the cha cha cha! On Aug. 22, Venezuela said it expects to increase oil exports to China to 300,000 b/d by 2012 from the current level of 68,800 b/d. On Aug. 25, Ramirez said his country hopes eventually to supply 15-20% of China's oil imports.
read the rest here:
"The Power and the Glory" I am sure everyone has heard of it or read it and if not you should but in the meantime take a gander at the real deal in Colombia and Venezuela. Once again, the religious and political collide and the priests are murdered...." but read on at Publius Pundit - Blogging the democratic revolution "One week after Pope Benedict wrote a letter to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, asking him to allow the Church full freedom of action, and got Chavez assurance that all was well, Chavista goons commandeered a church in a town in Venezuela ‘in the name of the people.’"
Friday, August 26. 2005
The Latin Beat Daniel from Venezuela News comments on this latest entry in Venezuelan politics and it is interesting to read what he thinks as he has been covering Chavez since the beginning:Venezuela News And ViewsVenezuela News And Views If interested in learning more on the presidential problems inherent in Latin American politics check out:Journal of Democracy Latin American Presidencies Interrupted by Arturo Valenzuela , Professor of government and the director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. This piece is an excellent summary of the past presidential catastrophes in Latin America and why the system is flawed. And of course, we wouldn't be Maggie's Farm if we did not post the truly funny and hysterical Cubans and Venezuelans who let all hell break loose when commenting on their favorite Dictator Fidel:Sundries: Bring Me The Head of Hugo Chavez! CAFTA isn't the only way to promote business in Central America. MUNDO MAYA: the way to travel with a conscience is to promote preservation: Sustainable tourism slowly builds up in developing countries and indigenous Maya and Latino communities in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador and Mexico. In efforts to combine the premium from environmental, heritage and community tourism to benefit local communities who actively participate in responsible tourism development, non-profit organization Counterpart International brings together the 3 diversified tourism products under one umbrella – the Mundo Maya projects in Central America. Mayans want to preserve their natural and cultural heritage while benefiting from tourists who want to see one of the richest and natural and archaeological treasure houses on the planet. Today they look to preserved heritage as a source of tourism revenues.Read the rest here:http://www.travelwirenews.com/cgiscript/csArticles/articles/000053/005344-p.htm
Thursday, August 25. 2005
From the Chronicle of Higher Education: |
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8th grade or less | 6.3% | 6.5% | 6.1% | 8.2% | 6.6% | 9.6% | 5.8% | 6.4% | 5.3% | 25.1% | 25.7% | 24.6% | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.3% | Some high school, no degree | 8.6% | 8.7% | 8.5% | 5.0% | 4.7% | 5.4% | 13.6% | 13.3% | 13.9% | 16.5% | 17.0% | 15.9% | 6.7% | 6.8% | 6.6% | High-school diploma | 32.0% | 31.1% | 32.8% | 19.8% | 17.5% | 21.8% | 36.0% | 38.4% | 34.1% | 27.7% | 27.4% | 28.0% | 32.8% | 31.6% | 34.0% | Some college, no degree | 17.0% | 16.8% | 17.3% | 10.3% | 10.8% | 9.9% | 19.2% | 18.7% | 19.6% | 13.2% | 13.3% | 13.2% | 17.6% | 17.2% | 17.8% | Associate degree | 8.4% | 7.5% | 9.3% | 7.3% | 6.7% | 7.8% | 7.8% | 6.8% | 8.6% | 5.4% | 4.8% | 6.0% | 9.0% | 8.1% | 9.9% | Bachelor's degree | 18.1% | 18.6% | 17.6% | 29.9% | 29.1% | 30.6% | 12.3% | 11.4% | 13.0% | 8.8% | 8.4% | 9.1% | 19.8% | 20.8% | 18.9% | Master's degree | 6.7% | 6.9% | 6.6% | 12.2% | 15.0% | 9.6% | 4.1% | 3.6% | 4.4% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 7.6% | 7.7% | 7.5% | Doctoral degree | 1.3% | 1.8% | 0.8% | 3.6% | 5.4% | 2.0% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 0.9% | Professional degree | 1.6% | 2.1% | 1.1% | 3.8% | 4.3% | 3.3% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.6% | 1.7% | 2.5% | 1.1% | | Number of adults (in millions) | 186.9 | 89.6 | 97.3 | 8.0 | 3.8 | 4.2 | 20.8 | 9.2 | 11.6 | 21.6 | 11.0 | 10.6 | 134.1 | 64.4 | 69.7 | Note: The figures are based on a Census Bureau survey of 50,000 households conducted in March 2004, and |
Chavez Follies Republicans in sheep's clothing? Spector and Chavez? What is going on? This girl blogger speaks her mind. Read the rest here: Atlas Shrugs: Enemies Inside Aid Enemies Outside Is Spector effing nuts? He is making love to Chavez? Is he a member of the Fifth column or just plain stupid? Look I know we had to back him or lose his seat to a Dem but frankly this new trend of running on the Republican ticket while secretly being a Democrat is more than a wolf in sheep's clothing, it's a Pali in an IDF uniform.
RINOs (Republican in Name Only) Chris Cannon, Chuck Hagel, McCain, Lincoln Chafee, DeWine, Graham, Linda Lingle, Collins, Snowe, Bloomberg, it's a nightmare. WE NEED A STOP THE RINO MOVEMENT (but don't tell PETA)ClickPhoto
Thursday, August 11. 2005
Ibrahim Ferrer - Que Dios lo Bendiga: May God Bless Him A terrific Cuban balladeer dies. He was in his seventies but looked ninety probably due to the Cuban sunshine and hard labor but he kept a song in his heart and thankfully Ry Cooder brought him to world attention before he was buried like so many others in the "land that time forgot." "Known for his trademark cap and graying mustache, Ferrer was a wiry, animated figure who clearly enjoyed performing Cuba's traditional "son" music of the 1940s and 1950s for new generations of fans. Among a group of older Cuban performers recruited by U.S. musician Ry Cooder, Ferrer performed on the "Buena Vista Social Club album" that won a Grammy in 1999 and was among those appearing in the film of the same name."Click here: Ibrahim Ferrer CNN.com - Singer Ibrahim Ferrer dead at age 78 - Aug 6, 2005
Monday, August 8. 2005
Telesur - Monty Hall's long lost son Hugo follows in his father's footsteps. New show entitled " I make the Deal, " From Venezuela Today: A private ideological tool financed with national money? Telesur labels itself as the answer to CNN. However, CNN is a commercial venture, privately owned. It conforms to publicly monitored journalistic ethics. CNN does not follow a government line. To create a Venezuelan financed regional TV channel to oppose CNN seems to be a highly debatable use of our national monies. In particular I would ask: Why should we finance the promotion of the Castro dictatorship? Although Cuba is one of the four "shareholders" of Telesur we all know that Chavez is putting the money. Cuba is not putting one cent.
Why should we finance the promotion of the Colombian guerrillas? Many Venezuelans have been kidnapped and murdered by those terrorists.
Why should we finance a line of systematic anti-democratic preaching if we are, overwhelmingly, a democracy-loving nation?
These and other reasons have to be taken into account when evaluating Telesur as a national project. I do not believe Telesur, as it exists, is a valid national project. I believe it is, clearly, a personal project of Hugo Chávez, financed with our national resources. I believe this situation is immoral, in the light of our numerous social needs.While the physical infrastructure and social fabric of the country is literally falling apart, due to the ineptness and the corruption of the political regime, Hugo Chávez is engaged in the utilization of enormous Venezuelan financial resources to buy political loyalties in Latin America. This is one of the main reasons why he has to go. Venezuelatoday.net - Gustavo Coronel
THE POTHOLE FROM ANOTHER PLANET ( or from the other government as chavez would say) this story from Daniel in Venezuela news: It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the main highway going to Caracas from the central part of the country. Not only 40% of the traffic to Caracas goes through the accident zone, but the alternative roads are in such a sorry shape, so congested already with local traffic, that the whole area is simply collapsing. I have not written on this yet as reading the news sometimes I felt that I was hallucinating. First, the size of the hole, and its shape,  revealed exquisitely that the waters had been dissolving the under-road for quite a while without the authorities doing anything about it even though local folks had reported officially the problem in 2004.
Thursday, July 21. 2005
I FEEL SO MUCH SAFER NOW IN NY Why is it the NYT always feels a need to point out to every terrorist living here and abroad where they could strike next? It seems that in this day, when all Americans must put their national security concerns first, an article should not be published until after the problem has been addressed and rectified. But then, I am just a suburbanite watching the world blow itself up from afar. Another discovery I have made about myself and I am sure I will get a lot of grief for it but I don't really care is that I am guilty of racial profiling; I would rather be wrong about thinking someone looks like they could blow up a bus and have to apologize than having to pray for their victims. In this century, the rules are changing the way the game of life is played. From the NYT: While there have been no intruders found in the underwater tunnels, homeless people and others have been found wandering onto the tracks and into regular subway tunnels underneath the streets and have been arrested or ejected from the system. Experts said that a constant police presence around the tunnels may be necessary, no matter the expense. "At its root, while the immediate purpose of terrorism is to kill or harm people, its ultimate purpose is to frighten or demoralize," said Arnold M. Howitt, the executive director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard, who has written extensively about domestic preparedness. "Having people die in a tunnel, particularly if it were flooded, would be a dramatic statement and a propaganda victory for terrorists." Click here: Who's Watching the Underwater Tunnels? - New York Times
The Latin Beat - More Chavez It has been some time since we last posted on the Venezuelan crisis but Chavez is such a clown that it takes time to sieve through his messes. From Venezuela News and Views: CARACAS, Venezuela -- After the rumble of tanks died down and the last soldier high-stepped past the spectators' pavilion, President Hugo Chavez told the thousands attending Venezuela's Independence Day parade July 5 that no invading army could match the fighting force that had just marched by, "armed to the teeth." The hypothetical invasion he invoked was patently clear: Two days before, Chavez announced the discovery of evidence that the United States had drawn up blueprints to invade Venezuela, a plan he said was code-named "Operation Bilbo." American officials dismissed the claim as fiction, just as they have denied Shave's repeated assertions that the CIA is trying to assassinate him, or that the Bush administration was behind the military coup that briefly toppled his government in April 2002. In the The Devil's Excrement Read about Chavez's continued barrage against everyone not on his bandwagon... These metropolitan police cars with Chavez' image are illegal, immoral and unethical. Hey! Did I just describe the revolution? 
Continue reading "Latin Beat: Chavez, Rome and Carthage"
Wednesday, July 13. 2005
(From Click here: Paxety Pages) Beach Blanket Burqua: A Movie Review From The Future By: Mahone Abdul Mohammed 
In honor of the tenth anniversary of the takeover of decadent imperialist America and the fall of the West, the Taliban film board has extended the privileges of Islamowood, in lovely California, to include the making of more fun films which reflect proper Islamic values for young persons.
Tuesday, July 12. 2005
MODERN AMERICA AND THE RELIGION OF DEMOCRACY
Loren J. Samons II teaches in the department of Classical Studies at Boston University and has published a book entitled "What's Wrong With Democracy?" The following is an excerpt and he presents an interesting outlook on the condition of America's supposed democratic ideals. He makes a sound argument on the separation between church and state being moot since Democracy has replaced religion. From Civic Arts Review: "The idealization of freedom through democracy has led modern America to a precipitous position. Implicitly denying man's desire for a society based on beliefs and duties that lie beyond a system of government and the rights this government (democracy) is designed to protect, we have replaced society's extra political goals with the potentially antisocial political doctrines of freedom, choice, and diversity. These words have been made to resonate in the citizens' hearts in a way that God, family, and country once did in America (or gods, family, and polis in Athens). At the turn of the twenty-first century, freedom, choice, and diversity represent America's absolute "moral" goods and have become the would-be unifying principles of American society. They cannot be questioned in polite company, while God, family, and country are fair game. What could more clearly demonstrate America's apparent conversion to this new religion than the fact that basic elements of traditional American society-such as the Pledge of Allegiance or the prayers opening Congress-seem to cause embarrassment to many intellectuals, media figures, and even politicians, who seem at most other times to be virtually incapable of embarrassment (much less shame)? In stark contrast, the classical Athenians never lost the ability to pronounce or enforce their collective standards of morality and thus to produce shame in individuals. Even the democratic icon Pericles spoke of those "laws which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowledged disgrace" (Thuc. 2.37). The negative and positive requirements for Athens's citizens analyzed in chapter a show that the Athenians placed real strictures on one another and could not have endorsed modern Americans' idealization of freedom, choice, and diversity. Respect for the laws, obedience to magistrates, and shame or disgrace for those who violated society's written and unwritten codes always formed a central part of Athenian life, which exhibited significant amounts of freedom, choice, and diversity as a result. In the United States today, the anti-values of freedom, choice, and diversity have become so powerful (and dangerous) in part because-note the supreme irony-they admit of no philosophical opposition. One simply cannot oppose treating these ideas as society's appropriate goals without risking being labeled a reactionary, heretic, or worse, as if it had been empirically proven that only peoples or regimes that worship these deities can produce justice or happiness. Has America seen the amount of social justice and personal happiness increase proportionately with its rising estimation of this trinity? Read entire: Click here: MODERN AMERICA AND THE RELIGION OF DEMOCRACY
Monday, July 11. 2005
About Che Che Guevara, the glorified Communist, the man who thought he was the next liberator of Latin America was a cut-throat murdering pig. Alvaro Vargas Llosa from the New Republic writes the true story behind a man who has been memorialized for all the wrong reasons. Murder is murder no matter how you look at it. The below from Click here: Caracas Chronicles "Che Guevara, who did so much (or was it so little?) to destroy capitalism, is now a quintessential capitalist brand. His likeness adorns mugs, hoodies, lighters, key chains, wallets, baseball caps, toques, bandannas, tank tops, club shirts, couture bags, denim jeans, herbal tea, and of course those omnipresent T-shirts with the photograph, taken by Alberto Korda, of the socialist heartthrob in his beret during the early years of the revolution, as Che happened to walk into the photographer's viewfinder--and into the image that, thirty-eight years after his death, is still the logo of revolutionary (or is it capitalist?) chic. Sean O'Hagan claimed in The Observer that there is even a soap powder with the slogan "Che washes whiter." In a recent review in The New York Times of George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, Manohla Dargis noted that "the greatest shock here may be the transformation of a black zombie into a righteous revolutionary leader," and added, "I guess Che really does live, after all." The soccer hero Maradona showed off the emblematic Che tattoo on his right arm during a trip where he met Hugo Chávez in Venezuela."
Thursday, July 7. 2005
 Fidel
After 46 years, Castro seems to have the staying power that the exiles didn't give him credit for but then he is over 70 and so is his brother Raul the man slated to take over. Who knows what will happen next? Read more on this never-ending story here: New York Times: This city where raucous demonstrations by exiles were once as regular as summer storms has seen few lately. One theory is that the people whose life's mission was to defeat Mr. Castro and return to the island one day - those who fled here in the early years of his taking power - have grown old and weary."We are all exhausted from so much struggle," said Ramón Saul Sánchez, leader of the Democracy Movement, an exile organization that once ran flotillas to the waters off Cuba to protest human-rights abuses. Mr. Sánchez, 50, also belonged to Alpha 66, an exile paramilitary group that trained in the Everglades, mostly in the 1960's and 70's, for an armed invasion of Cuba, and later protested around the clock outside Elián González's house. Now, he said, he prefers less attention-grabbing tactics, quietly supporting dissidents on the island from an office above a LaundromatClick here: Florida's Zeal Against Castro Is Losing Heat - New York Times
Wednesday, July 6. 2005
Garcia Marquez I may not agree with his politics but as a writer, he may be one of the best. Like the rumba and the merengue, the murals of Rivera and the poetry of Neruda, Latin Americans give the world so much pleasure. Read the interview here:
An interview with Gabriel García Márquez
| GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
GENE H. BELL-VILLADA, Translator | TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: The following interview was conducted in 1977 for publication in El Manifiesto—a now-defunct Colombian leftist journal. Chatting with the magazine’s staff writers, García Márquez opens up remarkably and bares his most nostalgic and personal side, even swearing on occasion. (The author can be surprisingly, spontaneously foul-mouthed when in the right company.) And he's unusually frank about his spotty education, his days of poverty, his youthful days residing in brothels, and his having been accidentally cured of boils by putting No One Writes to the Colonel to paper. Naturally the conversation brims with Hispanic references: the Romancero (Spain's medieval ballad tradition), the vallenato (a native music genre from Valledupar, consisting of narrative songs with accompanying accordion, percussion, and bass), Rafael Escalona (the most celebrated writer and singer of vallenatos), Caribbean crooners such as Daniel Santos, and the Colombian literary classic El carnero (literally "The Ram"—a fanciful mock-chronicle from the Colonial era). He reflects on the decisive impact that Kafka had on his development, and admits to how much he needed to work at not being like Faulkner when he drafted Leaf Storm. Finally, he notes the colloquial, Caribbean flavor of The Autumn of the Patriarch—a trait much valued and savored by Hispanic readers of that book. The interview appears here for the first time in English and will be included in my edition of Conversations with Gabriel García Márquez, forthcoming from the University Press of Mississippi in December 2005. — Gene H. Bell-Villada
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Read the interview: lick here: The Virginia Quarterly Review - Journey Back to the SourceAn interview with Gabriel García Márquez
Thursday, June 30. 2005
Cuban Vacations The time has come to take a stand. Do we allow travel to Cuba or continue to live as if the Bay of Pigs was yesterday? From CubaCentral :: CUBA TRAVEL CALLS ARE URGENT: Part 1: This is THE TIME of the summer for you to take action on easing the embargo on travel to Cuba. If you can take just ONE action this summer, NOW is the time. We anticipate that several amendments easing and/or ending the travel ban will be offered on the floor of the House NEXT WEEK, probably Wednesday or Thursday. Here’s what we expect and what we’re asking you to do. We emphasize its urgency!
Part 2: EXPECTED VOTES:
Flake Amendment on cutting off funding for enforcement of the full travel ban; Davis Amendment on cutting off funding for enforcement of the restrictions on Cuban-American travel; Lee Amendment on cutting off funding for enforcement of the restrictions on educational travel and exchanges; Rangel Amendment on cutting off funding for enforcement of the full embargo. Find out who received what from whom. This Cuba embargo has to change if for no other reason than the Cubans suffering have nothing to do with Fidel's insanity. They just want a Band-Aid to cover their cut, or toilet paper instead of newspaper print and toothpaste instead of water. read more here: Click here: Political Action Committees
Tuesday, June 28. 2005
 The Latin Beat: Travel
Spots worth a visit. Some legal and others not so easy to visit. Latin America has a lot to offer other than corrupt politicians, poverty, and plain old chaos. Some of the most beautiful sights and beaches and architecture in the world. And of course, the food, music and beautiful women are great too. Belize and the fishing is easy Old Belize offers an unforgettable experience that will surely provide an excellent orientation and appreciation for the country and people of Belize. The 45-minute tour begins inside a rainforest exhibit that showcases giant tropical trees that tower the path you walk. Inside this display a waterfall and limestone cave depicts the magnificent stalactite and stalagmite formations that scientist say grows about an inch every 100 years! Click here: Old Belize Cultural and Historical Center Ecological greatness right next door and the water rafting is a blast. San Jose City, known simply as San Jose, was designated as the capital of Costa Rica in 1835. The sprawling capital is nestled in the fertile “Valle Central” (Central Valley) and surrounded on all sides by large forested mountain ranges, some of which include active volcanoes, perennially green savannahs and working coffee plantations.Costa Rica - San Jose Bossa Nova In Brazil For hundreds of years, Brazil has symbolized the great escape into a primordial, tropical paradise, igniting the Western imagination like no other South American country. From the mad passion of Carnaval to the immensity of the dark Amazon, it is a country of mythic proportions.Perhaps it's not quite the Eden of popular imagination, but it's still a land of staggering beauty. There are stretches of unexplored rainforest, islands with pristine tropical beaches, and endless rivers. And there are the people themselves, who delight the visitor with their energy and joy.Lonely Planet's Guide to Brazil Cuba: it is illegal to visit but there is always a way. If you should be so lucky. Fly in through Cancun or Lyford Cay as the Cubans love dollars and no passport is needed. The scariest part of the trip will be flying in on the YAK planes from Russia. Hot flying in and freezing on the way back, but don't be afraid when you board as the seats are collapsed but they bounce back up when you sit. Upon arrival, you will feel like you have stepped back in time as the island hasn't changed much since 1959. Che is everywhere and the old Presidential Palace still has the bullets in the walls from the revolutionary days and Fidel's trinkets and garbage like the boots he wore in the mountains. Hemingway's house is worth the trip and so is the Nacional Hotel and the Havana Yacht Club is completely dilapidated and the opera house has pigeons nesting where the sconces use to be. There is an old lady guarding the door and kids dancing ballet as an eighty year old man plays piano on a Steinway that has seen better days. Eating out is best done in private homes where jam jars serve as the glasses and no tow dishes are alike but the food is good. It is quite sad to see the city in ruins but if you close your eyes sometimes you can imagine Havana as it once must have been. An old girl in need of some TLC, Cuba will rise up again. For more help with your trip to Cuba, continue below the fold:
Continue reading ""
Monday, June 27. 2005
Tsunami Update Show me the money. It has been a few months since the tragic Tsunami hit the shores but just because the MSM isn't covering it, doesn't mean we should forget those poor victims. Pray for them and let's hope the donors make good on their pledges. Travelwire:Critics say that much of the pledged funds has not reached survivors, due partly to unfulfilled promises by donors. The Institute for Human Development, an independent Indian research group, said in an April report that only 39 percent of the $6.7 billion pledged by governments, agencies, and private donors for the entire tsunami region had been released. Lag times after pledges are common in most international efforts, and the good news is that $2.6 billion has already gone out. The Indonesian government says it has received $1.8 billion of the $7 billion pledged to it.
Step aside Reverend Jerry - there's a new Pastor in town. In the Red states, Christians rally around a more inclusive approach to Christianity and politics. Founded by Jacksonville, Florida, businessman Patrick Mrotek, the Christian Alliance for Progress (CAP) says its purpose is the “reclaim” the Christian faith from the extreme religious right. The Reverend Timothy F. Simpson, a Presbyterian minister and the group’s director of religious affairs, said in an interview Wednesday that the Christian left has for too long allowed the Christian right to be the public face of his religion in America. “The language of our faith has been placed in the service of policy ends that don’t reflect the Gospel, and we have become deeply troubled over that,” he said. American Prospect Online - ViewWeb CAP launched its Web site last month, and, with no advertising, has already attracted thousands of signatories to its “Jacksonville Declaration,” a statement of principles that, among other things, explicitly disavows the politics of the religious right: “We must tell you now that you do not speak for us, or for our politics. We say ‘No’ to the ways you are using the name and language of Christianity to advance what we see as extremist political goals. We do not support your agenda to erode the separation of church and state, to blur the vital distinction between your interpretation of Christianity and our shared democratic institutions. Moreover, we do not accept what seems to be your understanding of Christian values. We reject a Christianity co-opted by any government and used as a tool to ostracize, to subjugate, or to condone bigotry, greed and injustice.”
Wednesday, June 22. 2005
Where does God fit in?
Doctor Bob has put the question of religion in life, and politics so well in his blog The Doctor Is In » Faith & Religion that everyone interested in a common sense approach should read his comments. It seems everyone has something to say whether it be positive or negative, slanderous, hurtful and even exasperatingly stupid that when I happen onto the thoughts of a rational human being I just have to link to it. For some very insightful thoughts read on: "But what is religion, really? If you view it as smells and bells, hymns and hypocrisy, rules and restrictions, churches and chastity belts, then yes–there are many who are not religious, who shun and oppose it–rather rationally in fact. But if you view religion rather as a worldview, as a set of beliefs about who we are, why we are here, our relation to the physical and the spiritual (or the immaterial, the soul, the life-force, the unseen, if you prefer–and if you believe such exists)–in other words, the meaning of life–then religion becomes a far broader thing, universal in scope, for we all have beliefs and opinions about such things. And these opinions mold and motivate how we act. So in a sense, we are all religious. You define your liberalism as the freedom to hold opinions and your dislike of having others force their opinions on you, if I paraphrase you correctly. Do you read the newspapers? TV news? blogs? Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, Sports Illustrated, People magazine, Cosmopolitan? They all force their opinions on all of us, although force is perhaps too strong a word–persuasion, overt or occult, is more accurate. They all hope to change the way you think about yourself, others, and the world around you–that’s exactly why we read and listen to them. You personally do the same, when you share the best cookie recipe ever, or how awful that movie was last night–you are attempting to influence someone else, to change the way they think or act. Religion (narrowly defined) is in reality just one more worldview, one more opinion attempting to influence how you think, how you perceive, how
Monday, June 20. 2005
Chile - El Ano de La Mujer- The Year of the Woman Think Latin Americans aren't progressive? They just may beat America in electing the first Woman President and why not? Israel, UK, Pakistan, (all prime ministers) and others have done it. Oh Yeah, it's a woman's world, and I just want to be an Enjoli Woman! Does anyone remember that commercial from the 70's? It was a marketing strategy ahead of its time. BBC: Michelle Bachelet, who opinion polls suggest will become Chile's first female president in December, is breaking many political traditions. Not only is she a woman, but she calls herself a socialist, and she is a single parent with a 12-year-old daughter and two other grown children. Chile is often described as the economic miracle of Latin America and the economy is expected to expand more than 5% this year. Standing between Ms Bachelet and the presidential palace are two men. One is Joaquin Lavin, a Conservative candidate who narrowly lost the last presidential election. The other is a billionaire businessman, Sebastian Pinera, who entered the race in mid-May after a split in the Conservative Alliance. Nicaragua: Thousands of Protesters take to the streets in Managua Poverty, oppression and greed are the true foes of Democracy. Civil strife and chaos continues to be a way of life in Central America with a few exceptions like Costa Rica and Belize. efenews: Organizers said that the protest, called by a collection of social, political and business groups, attracted some 20,000 people.
"This march is the beginning of a civic struggle by the people of Nicaragua against the pact between Daniel Ortega and Arnoldo Aleman," said the former head of the country's top election body, Rosa Marina Zelaya.
Former President Ortega, the chief of the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and Aleman, also an ex-president and still head of the rightist Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) even though he has been serving a sentence under house arrest for corruption, have banded together to fiercely oppose the administration of President Enrique Bolaños. The Bolaños administration had requested the OAS intervention as it battles both the Sandinistas and the Liberals over the control of courts and executive branch offices. Cuba: UN sends aid to Cuba I just do not understand how Fidel can claim a successful revolution and be unable to provide drinking water to the Cuban People. What good is a 93% literacy rate if you can't drink when you thirst, eat when you are hungry? Perhaps it is time for Fidel to let his pride stand down and accept that he has brought misery and oppression to this island nation. Let your people go. efe news: The initiative is designed to aid, at a cost of $3.7 million, children under 5, pregnant women and the elderly over the next three months, the UN office said in Havana on Friday.The drought devastating eastern Cuba has been described as the most severe in decades, drying up crops and killing tens of thousands head of cattle.
In addition, the drought, which Cuban officials say is hurting more than two million people across the country, has left one out of every six Cubans without drinking water.
Friday, June 17. 2005
Al Franken is a jerk If Minnesotans have forgotten Jesse Ventura, they should start taking gingko biloba to improve what clearly is severe memory loss. The thought of electing Al Franken as senator is so bizarre it isn't funny. Although he will most likely entertain the senators, he would be doing so at the cost of making the senate a laughingstock. which lately is not such an arduous task. What's next -- Robin Williams for president or perhaps Whoopi as first black female Commander and Chief. UGH! In the NYT: MINNEAPOLIS, June 13 - The swells who showed up before Al Franken's speech at a Democratic fund-raiser to down finger food and punch were thrilled to see him, all the more so because he continues to make threatening noises about running for the Senate here in 2008. A former writer and performer for "Saturday Night Live" and more recently a radio host on Air America, Mr. Franken has used his outsider status to hurl humor-based invective and indignation at the powers that be, but he is considering becoming part of what he so frequently assails. Click here: Comedian for Senator? Don't Laugh - New York Times
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