I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog video excursion I present: From My Dad.
Found in my electronic chapbook.
[A] novel”s readability-not its worth or quality, but its sheer readability-is in direct proportion to the amount of conversation it contains. The more nearly a novel resembles a play in prose form, the simpler it is for the average reader to come to grips with it. p. 198
From Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block.
Political prisoners are important. France would have been different without Alfred Dreyfus. The Soviet Union would have been different without Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov. Ireland would be different without Bobby Sands. South Africa would be different without Nelson Mandela. Myanmar would be different without Aung San Suu Kyi.
She is the face of Myanmar’s political prisoners, but like the others she is still only one of thousands.
From The Assistance Association For Political Prisoners:
At its heart, ‘national reconciliation” is resolution of the conflicts brought about by the struggle for democracy, human rights, equality, and self-determination that have been ongoing since independence. Burma”s 2,100 plus political prisoners represent that struggle, yet the State Peace and Development Council continues to deny their existence.
The Role Of Political Prisoners In The National Reconciliation Process sets out the vitally important role of Burma”s political prisoners in a process of national reconciliation, leading to democratic transition. A genuine, inclusive process of national reconciliation is urgently needed to resolve the current conflicts and make progress towards peace and democracy.
A crucial first step in a national reconciliation process is official recognition of ALL Burma”s 2,100 plus political prisoners, accompanied by their unconditional release. This is an essential part of trust-building between the military rulers, democratic forces, and wider society. In order for progress towards genuine national reconciliation and democratic transition to be sustainable, ordinary people across Burma must believe in the process. As long as activists remain in prison or continue to be arrested for voicing their political dissent, the people of Burma will have no trust in any political process proposed by the SPDC.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to wrap our heads around the suffering of masses, yet, if we can focus on an individual or even a small group, we bring about change for the better to all.
Because unlike a former soviet republic, where such an intimidation tactic would certainly have worked, the Wood County Democratic Party executive committee told Lee Fisher, to his face, one by one, by name, to eat it. The vote was 28 for Brunner, 20 for Lee, and 5 abstaining. While Lee watched.
From Slate:
The district court ruled for the girls and their parents, issuing a temporary restraining order that stopped the prosecution and the re-education. A three-judge panel for the 3rd Circuit upheld that ruling this week. The parents’ constitutional right to raise their children free of state interference extended to refusing the district attorney’s program, the court found.
Unlike a school district, his office has no secondary responsibility for educating kids, and so, the court said, he “may not coerce parents into permitting him to impose on their children his ideas of morality and gender roles.” The kids’ free speech rights also prevented him from threatening prosecution if they refused to do what he asked them. The court pointed to a “disconnect” in an effort by the criminal justice system to instruct on the meaning of gender, which is hardly its job.
Score one for getting government out of our private lives.
[Update @ 1133 — Jennifer Brunner blogs:
Yesterday morning more of you signed our petition and wrote letters to editors of newspapers throughout the state urging my primary opponent to drop his bid for party endorsement. Your voice was heard, and an important victory was won when my opponent withdrew his request for that endorsement. As the Dayton Daily News reported yesterday, the Ohio Democratic Party announced my opponent’s campaign “has informed us that, in the spirit of Party unity, they will not pursue an Ohio Democratic Party endorsement, . . . The party remains neutral in the primary and united toward defeating Rob Portman and winning at all levels in November.”]
[Update @ 1029 — From Janet Carson:
Thank you for your compliments… I consider it part of the responsibilities of an Ex. Comm. Member… I’m hoping to stay on as one as I serve at the pleasure of the Chair and after this position may not get re-appointed at the annual mtg in June. Would appreciate you letting Chair Redfern know your thoughts. Hopefully you are right about the movement in politics… If you truly believe this, please get on board with candidates that do as well.
Early voting starts in a week and soon the money ads will begin to shape the views of the voters.
Consider Chris Redfern informed.]
My emails were among those 74,000+ received by Ohio Democratic Party executive committee members over the weekend encouraging the members to not endorse a candidate in the 4 May primary race for United States Senate. I wrote then:
Shalom,
We are changing the way politics is done in Ohio and I’m very happy with the changes taking place.
One of those changes is the move away from old money and back scratching in favor of new ideas able to stand on their own in a way that allows candidates to rise or fall on their own merits.
In May, Ohio’s Democrats will decide whose ideas and vision will best serve our state as our Junior Senator in Washington D.C.
Please allow the free exchange of ideas to decide who Democrats select.
Please refrain from endorsing any candidate in this important race.
B’shalom,
Jeff Hess
Have Coffee Will Write
One member of the executive committee chose to answer my email: Janet Carson, Democratic Party Chair for Geauga County who responded with:
Thank you for your email and opinion on this important issue. I agree with you that it would not be in the best interest to endorse in this primary race and I will vote to NOT endorse should the question arise at the 3-24 Executive Committee meeting. We need a united party to win in November and we will only disenfranchise voters with an endorsement in such a close race.
Thank you again for your input.
Janet Carson, Chair
Geauga County
I wrote back to Janet this morning, thanking her for her response and to tell her that I thought the people of Geauga County were well served.
I meant it.
All those other executive committee members? Not so much.
Why should the Greater Cleveland Partnership – a cabal of corporate Cleveland – be allowed a non-profit, tax-exempt status when it is merely another corrupter of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County governments? Why should taxpayers pick up the cost for these obnoxious corporate lobbyists?
GCP is an obvious business-dominated front group that poses as a charitable, do-good organization. GCP is allowed to use tax-free dollars to lobby for the interests of Corporate Cleveland. It has the blessing of the Internal Revenue Service. Too bad.
This is not a charity. It is a corporate lobbying business. It is a detriment to the good health of the community.
Why? Because it sets priorities that favor corporate interests Continue Reading »
[Update @ 1058 — There was also a bit of fakery involved.]
Buried in an Haaretz article about U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech to AIPAC that focused on the threat of a nuclear Iran I found:
[Secretary of State Hillary Rodham] Clinton also devoted much of her address to the stagnated peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, saying that renewed talks should be serious and substantive, and warning that new Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank were undermining U.S. mediation.
“New construction in East Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need,” Clinton said in a speech to AIPAC, an influential pro-Israel lobby group, at its annual conference in Washington.
The secretary of state added that Israel faces “difficult but necessary choices” on the road to Mideast peace because the status quo with the Palestinians was unsustainable.
Clinton stressed Washington’s view that “the dynamics of demography, ideology, and technology” would eventually force political change in the region.
“There is another path. A path that leads toward security and prosperity for all the people in the region. It will require all parties – including Israel – to make difficult but necessary choices,” she said.
Clinton told AIPAC delegates that the United States would continue to demand that Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip, renounce violence and recognize Israel. She also repeated U.S. calls for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
She also said the United States would continue to press for direct negotiations that could lead to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, with U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell’s efforts to start indirect “proximity” negotiations as an essential foundation.
“These proximity talks are a hopeful first step, and they should be serious and substantive. Ultimately, of course, it will take direct negotiations to work through all the issues and end the conflict,” she said.
Where is our 21st century Presidet Jimmy Carter? Where are our 21st century Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin?
Where are we?
Mr. Limbaugh,
With the passage of the Health Care Reform bill it”s my understanding that you will now be moving to Costa Rica. Because you are a great patriot who loves his country above all else, I fully expect you will keep your promise – and I can”t blame you.
How can anyone possibly want to stay here now knowing that America is doomed to continue down this irreversible downward Marxist spiral into Fascism caused by our Nazi Socialist Racist Chicago Thug President?
As a real patriot, your only option is to leave the country when you disagree with the policies of the current administration.
As a fellow patriot, I would be honored if you”d let me buy you a first class ticket to Costa Rica using my Sky Miles.
How does this Saturday work for you?
I’ll even pick up the cost of the limo to the airport.
Of course, Rush was lying.
Well, here goes. I really resent the term, but I use it because it”s recognized and accepted.
I”m gay.
While I recognize the emotional strength of Randi’s statement, my response is a subdued: OK. I’ve long admired Randi for his courageous stand against superstition and ignorance, and his sexual orientation does nothing to inform my opinion of him.
I do not doubt, however, that his detractors will not leap to comically twist his admission to somehow call his life of integrity into question. To that I can only suggest that Randi continue to do what he has done and to not let the turkeys get him down.
Well done, sir.
I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog video excursion I present: From My Dad.
Found in my electronic chapbook.
In the theater, one important concept is that of the audience as constituting the fourth wall. In other words, the interpretative ability of the audience is part of the dynamic of the theatrical performance. I think the same holds true for fiction. A short story or novel constitutes a subtly different experience for every person who reads it, simply because each reader brings a different perspective and background to bear upon what he reads. p. 196
From Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block.
Oh, those too-clever generals. They inserted in their election rules, worthy of the Red Queen herself, a requirement that only those political parties without members in prison are allowed to take part in the maybe, faux elections this fall. Since anyone would be hard pressed to find an opposition party without someone in prison… well read on.
From Mizzima:
At the outset it has to be remembered that Burma in supposedly being put on the path of political transition from military rule to disciplined democracy, a project under the sole management of the junta. All rules of the game have been framed so as to ensure the generals continue in power. As evidence, the constitution reserves 25 percent parliamentary representation for the security forces while stipulating that all key posts be dominated by those with a military background.
The Election Commission is further composed of military men, making a mockery of the idea of appealing to the court against unjust decisions. The present Supreme Court was created by the junta and was subsequently divested of all writ powers. It is indeed a mockery that the highest decisions to affect the future of millions will not be allowed to be tested, as is the norm in civilized countries
No political party, as previously stated, can have a member convicted of a crime, and Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under detention for having committed an alleged crime. Registration of the party inclusive of its General Secretary must therefore be assumed doomed. Moreover, there are many Central Committee members who have also been convicted on trumped up charges. They also will have to be expelled for the NLD to qualify for registration. All said, there are more than 2,100 political prisoners languishing in jails across the country. But the target of the junta is clearly Aung San Suu Kyi and the fracturing of her party.
Do the parties make a show of expelling and taking part in faux elections, defy the State Peace and Development Council and sit out the elections or do neither and risk violence?
It’s a tough call.
I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog video excursion I present: From My Dad.
Found in my electronic chapbook.
One thing I”ve noticed in reading the work of new writes, published and unpublished, is a tendency to explain too much. It seems to me that this generally stems from one of two things-a desire to control the reader”s interpretation of what one has written or a reluctance to trust the reader”s ability to make sense of what is going on. p. 193
From Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block.
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