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Unity of FaithsBy a Catholic, but for every faith June 30 Commentary: Farrah Faucett's passingOne wonders what to say sometimes, about people's passing.
I remember admiring Ms Faucett's beauty. Like Princess Grace, or perhaps not quite like Princess Grace, but somehow beautifully, she made a mark with her loveliness and a certain grace; a mark that sticks in the heart.
One wishes to know what to say when certain people pass, as the remarkable Bill Buckley, or the limitlessly talented Michael Jackson, whose clay feet and the pressures of hollywood drove into a sort of strangeness that one would not wish on anyone.
One wishes for a magic wand at times, to make other people's lives better, or as we would wish them. But really, people make their own mistakes, and we are still left with the moments when they were their best; the incredible grace and sheer loveliness of a Princess Grace to celebrate, the natural beauty and piquant style of a Farrah Faucett, and the heart of song, that marks us somewhere interiorly with the something-loveliness of their passing. They were here on this tiny planet for a while, and they left that mark of the best of themselves, and it is that mark that will stay with us always, always.
June 28 Gaza conditions exposed in BBC reportClick below for the report:
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June 24 Chinese activist chargedA Chinese activist has been charged for attempting to overthrow socialism.
The only people who like socialism anymore are dishonest politicians who hide their burgeoning spending by bribing a portion of the populace with someone else's money, the corrupt sincerely deluded in their pay, and a few importers who reap profits off cheap imported goods, while the workers who make them are impoverished, and native populations are ignored as their wages fall and unemployment rises.
But here's the story:
June 21 Anti-religious discrimination in BritainA civil clerk is being forced out of her position, because she does not wish to perform civil unions between gay couples. The chilling effect of British government regulations, as well as certain regulations in the US, means that the semblance of even respectful freedom of speech or freedom of religion appears to have been quelled.
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June 16 Iran elections and dispute (Update 8) adds: 2 British staff still in detention, MousaviUpdate 8
Conflicting reports have emerged that indicate possibly 2 British embassy staff remaining in detention following protests, mostly peaceful, in Iran. However, some protests appeared to involve violence, according to a few news reports. A hardline cleric has reportedly called for Mr Mousavi to be tried for protesting, and according to BBC reports, there are concerns for protesters.
In fairness, on the same day British media reported that Amnesty raised concerns about people in the Gaza strip, although Iran reporting was more heavy.
Comment: From an American perspective, people protest all the time, often for nothing. So I really don't understand a problem with peaceful protesters.
If I were another country, which I am not, I would be more concerned with who incited violence among peaceful protesters, which my own perspective would involve, not the British media, but some likely California-based media stories that appeared on the internet during that time, and may have exacerbated violence.
Brits or Americans may have been involved in peaceful protests - it is probably what Americans do best, in fact - but it is the incitement of violence that would concern me, and not the protesters.
Update 7
According to news reports, all British embassy staff save one have all been released, in a brilliant move by Iran.
Amnesty International has reported concerns that political detainees will be tortured.
Update 6
According to the BBC, 8 embassy staff have been detained in Iran.
It is really better for Iran if they release embassy staff. With the media manipulation of the people to violence in Iran in post-election turmoil, it is pretty clear that somebody does not like Iran, although I have found Iranians to be easy and responsive to requests for kindness and mercy to prisoners. But to take diplomat prisoners, this would be very bad.
It is sad that media reports seem geared to turning Iran to a miserable socialist gulag such as the United States has become. For years we also dreamed of freedoms, only to have them snatched from us and have the horrid harassment once we opened our mouths and spoke. There are people in the media who dreamed of freedom for Iran, but first they should free our own country, the US, from the miserable prison it has become.
But should I speak today? I came to praise caesar, not to condemn him....For one day, no miserable and and vaguely threatening ads have been programmed in; no spurious tickets issued by bastions of police, no harassment on bills or dead people found on the lawn, no writing stolen, while I cough my guts out with this flu. So does that mean, rather than attacking the lifestyle of another country, for once Americans plan to free America? I do not want to trigger the nasty ads being programmed in again.
We are free in america! Be free like us
We are free in america! Be free like us
We are free in america! Be free like us
Update 5
According to AFP, the clampdown on protest has produced feelings of despair, and direction is wanting. Following post-election violence, a rigid clampdown was imposed which has apparently stifled all peaceful dissent.
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Update 4
According to news reports in Xinhua, 4 family members of respected former President Ayatollah Rafsanjani have been released. A fifth family member, Faezah Rafsanjani, is still being held.
The Iranian government has suggested that US and British interference incited some protesters to violence.
Previously:
Update 3: According to news reports, family members of Ayatollah Rafsanjani were held following protests and a subsequent crackdown in Iran.
I withdrew from more active commentary on this when it emerged in a news story that the opposition was Socialist, and some techniques used resembled campaign techniques of which I disapproved which caused trouble between people within Iran, apparently. Thus this blog has avoided stirring trouble between peoples and nations.
For those following Iran events more closely, Bloomberg has a more complete update with diplomatic overtones, as it pertains to US/Iran relations:
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Previously:
According to news reports in the UK-based BBC and Daily Mail, President Ahmedinejad has reportedly been reelected with 63% of the vote, with disputed results. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Kahmenei has promised to investigate results. The Guardian Council will have a recount.
President Obama has been reportedly disturbed by news of the post-election death, and states that it is the task of Iranians to choose their own leaders.
Reportedly 300000 demonstrated peacefully following the election. Various news reports state that between 1-8 were killed in post-election rioting as well.
The opposition leader Mousavi had urged peaceful demonstrations, but urged demonstrators to avoid a planned demonstration Tuesday and planned clashes. June 14 Palestinians respond to Netanyahu on Palestinian state (BBC)Here's the link:
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Netanyahu discusses Palestinian stateComment: I feel that Mr. Netanyahu should also afford the Palestinians some positive options, based on their responses. Perhaps Mr. Netanyahu could run an ad in a paper, requesting what would be a good thing that Israel could do for Palestine? And then give an email address for sincere responses.
Readers, what do you think would help to make peace in the region?
Here is the story via BBC:
British health service errs on IVFInteresting article in the Daily Mail. It underlines the complete failure of government in regulating, economizing on, or providing health care services.
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CIA chief believes Cheney wants US to be attacked, article & commentaryAn article on Reuters (below commentary) suggests that CIA Director Leon Pannetta believes that former VP Cheney wants the US to be attacked.
I found this interesting, because it touches on some of the queasiest issues that, it seems, foment in the unconscious of US people, until they foment to the surface of consciousness. For some, this may already be an issue that has gone beyond the stage of perpetual uneasiness linked to the identification of Cheney with certain abrasive policies. For others perhaps among the 12,000 or so readers, who, like me, have experienced unbelievable harassment both online and often offline, the line of demarcation between uneasiness and sheer distrust has been passed long ago. No arguments on the defensibility of harsh interrogation can excuse the unconscionable treatment, both of detainees, and of civilian members like myself who were thrown unwitting into the line of fire, apparently, for no good reason. It is possible to excuse a certain amount of error, a crime of passion.
It is not possible to extol or defend a policy that is inhumane.
One may make excuses; one might say that it is for the good of the United States to incite violence in the Middle East with unconscionable policies, to excuse the silencing of opposing voices and their harassment, by saying that it is for the good of the United States, to offer as an excuse for harassment that it is for freedom to be preserved. But nobody, save perhaps the lowest, meanest idiot, will find these arguments in the least convincing or credible.
Even if, in my case, one were to accuse a foreign power of the harassment which I have experienced, it fails the tests of logic and of credibility; for in either case, the responsibility of a government is to preserve freedom - not to excuse away harassment - and to protect its citizenry also in the event of harassment by a foreign power.
Here is the article via Reuters:
CIA chief believes Cheney almost wants US attackedSun Jun 14, 2009 4:07pm EDT
WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - CIA director Leon Panetta says it's almost as if former vice president Dick Cheney would like to see another attack on the United States to prove he is right in criticizing President Barack Obama for abandoning the "harsh interrogation" of terrorism suspects. "I think he smells some blood in the water on the national security issue," Panetta said in an interview published in The New Yorker magazine's June 22 issue. "It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point." Cheney, who was a key advocate in the Bush administration of controversial interrogation methods such as waterboarding, has become as a leading Republican critic of Obama's ban on harsh interrogations and his plan to shut the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In a blistering May 21 speech, Cheney said Obama's reversal of Bush-era policies were "unwise in the extreme" that would make the American people less safe. Panetta called Cheney's actions "dangerous politics." He told The New Yorker he had favored the creation of an independent truth commission to look into the detainee polices of former President George W. Bush. But the idea died in April when Obama decided such a panel could be seen as politically vindictive. (Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Alan Elsner) June 10 Italy and France failing Africa (article link to BBC)Italy and France failing Africa <--- click this
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