Rider Removes Wolves from Endangered Species List

Yes, that sounds like a great idea. Congress is much more knowledgeable than scientists. That’s a no-brainer–not.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/us/politics/13wolves.html

Dealing with Evil

Sociopaths, murderers, con-men, sadists, and bystanders before violence are all part of the same cosmic body as heroes, rescuers, protectors, saints, and gentle souls. We are all on the same path, only some of us perhaps further along than others. When we punish evil, which we must–often harshly–we need to remember to have compassion for all human beings, no matter how rotted and degraded they are. They are our family; they are us. That is a form of wholeness: to be able to condemn (sometimes to kill to protect the lives of others or our own) while also acknowledging our common humanity and shared divine spirit.

Shale Natural Gas Worse Than Coal on Climate

Guess the good energy may not be so good after all.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/155101-report-gas-from-fracking-worse-than-coal-on-climate

Shalom

Where do we find shalom? Inside ourselves, then exhaled as life-giving breath for others.

The Right Relies on Anger and Vitriol, but…

He’s right.  Of course, the left relies on sanctimony.  So its raging anger vs. pious sanctimony.  Oy vey.
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=are_republicans_just_idiots

On how Democrats and Republicans Worked Together to Destroy the Middle Class

The bipartisan destruction of the Middle Class:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_peasants_need_pitchforks_20110405/

The Unconstitutional Mistreatment of Bradley Manning

More on the treatment of Bradley Manning and the degradation of our constitutional freedoms:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/apr/28/private-mannings-humiliation/
http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/370-wikileaks/5608-dod-interfering-with-my-bradley-manning-investigation

The Fall of Glenn Beck: Wacko Conspiracies and Antisemitism

This describes the demise of one of the more bizarre figures in American culture: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2011/04/06/AFNEgnqC_story.html

Genesis

Genesis is the story of flawed characters just like us.

Fox Propaganda Campaign against Labor

An excellent overview of the slanted coverage that Fox uses in its propaganda campaign to portray unions and their supporters in a negative light:
http://mediamatters.org/research/201103150008#1

Wisconsin’s Radical Break

William Cronon of the University of Wisconsin wrote this op-ed on March 21 and then conservatives launched a witch-hunt by trying to rifle through his emails. All you have to do is express an opinion and talk about decency and living standards to qualify for harassment from corporate sponsored bullies.
www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/opinion/22cronon.html

Collective Bargaining and Living Standards

This piece explains how and why collective bargaining raises living standards and is key to the existence of a prosperous middle class:
www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/in-states-without-collective-bargaining

Shadow Budget

Or how to rip off tax payers by giving super-rich corporations and individuals massive freebies at no risk to borrowers:

www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-real-housewives-of-wall-street-look-whos-cashing-in-on-the-bailout-20110411

Goldman Sachs’ Sleazy Behavior

More on Goldman Sachs and how it bet against bet against sub-prime mortgages without informing its clients. And once again no one pays a real penalty.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/14/business/la-fi-crisis-probe-20110414

Calm

Where do we find calm? Right beneath the anxiety that shields us from feeling it.

Woody Woodpecker and Modern Art and Film

Shamus Culhane, the Woody Woodpecker animator, hid avant-garde art amidst the frames of this classic cartoon:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/arts/design/woody-woodpecker-and-shamus-culhanes-animation.html

Dolphins Dying from Gulf Oil Spill

The number of dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico dying from oil contamination is substantial:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/07/us-oilspill-dolphins-idUSTRE7367OP20110407

That Great Wall Street Sucking Sound

Banking and finance as productivity suckers:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/09171206122000;_ylt=AjWv7MLp0jY41MrYkRHeQh3BF4l4;_ylu=X3oDMTE2bWZsdGExBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl9wcmludHBhZ2UEc2xrA2JhY2t0b3N0b3J5

Taxing the Super-Rich

What’s part of the deficit solution? How about adequately taxing the super rich who now own the lion’s share of our wealth? The top 1% own about 35% of US wealth, and that number is increasing every year. Large corporations like GE pay nothing in taxes. This makes no sense and is transforming us into a poorer, divided  country, reminiscent of developing nations–except they’re generally on their way up. On our march back to the late nineteenth century, we are allowing radical free-market ideology to shatter a way of life that has taken a century to build.

http://robertreich.org/post/4344201496
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/they-only-have-400-votes

Gateways

Every atom and quark inside you contains a gateway to the Source.

Culture

We can never completely absent ourselves from culture. Paradoxically, we can only transcend culture by sometimes embracing it. Staying true to ourselves involves both withdrawal and immersion.

The Auschwitz Album

These images are particularly powerful because they show the victims at Auschwitz as real human beings rather than near-corpses (“muselmann”) or piles of actual corpses.

The Only Surviving Album of Auschwitz: http://www1.yadvashem.org/exhibitions/album_Auschwitz/mutimedia/index.HTML

 

In South Africa Freedom is Limited by Multinational Economics

Naomi Klein is wrong on Israel (with her advocacy of boycotts) and often shaped by ideological arguments (without consideration for complexity and abstracted from life on the ground), but there are other times that she has profound things to say.

Below she writes a fascinating article, demonstrating the tremendous power of billionaires, corporations, and Neo-Liberal economic thought.  It makes me realize how hemmed-in Obama and any national leader is.  Trying to do anything that runs up against economic orthodoxy, now matter how reasonable or moderate, is virtually impossible, given the threat of stock market declines, currency and commodity collapses, and threats of investment withdrawals.  Governments do not control their societies or their national resources; corporations and powerful interests do.

http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2011/02/democracy-born-chains

Illinois Bans Capital Punshment

Illinois bans capital punishment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10illinois.html?_r=1

Labor Rights Threatened Worldwide

Attempts to quash labor and worker rights are occurring globally:
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/04/workers-rights-collective-bargaining

The Last Geisha

A moving story of of an ancient Japanese tradition and the impact of the earthquake and tsunami.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/world/asia/05geisha.html?_r=1&ref=global-home (via Dianne Bazell)

Harassing WikiLeaks’ Jacob Appelbaum

Apparently the government is not too keen on WikiLeaks and its reps. Just one more blow, I guess, against freedom. What exactly does the Bill of Rights mean any more?
www.thestranger.com/seattle/obsessed-with-jacob/Content?oid=7560624

Koch Brothers’ Web of Influence

This provides an excellent overview of the Koch brothers’ industrial empire and their influence over U.S. politics.
www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/3120/

Wachovia Launders Drug Money

Not only do big banks screw homeowners over, invest in high-risk securities, treat regular people like chattel, and suck up taxpayer money, but we now learn that they launder drug money. Yes, further deregulation sounds like a great idea.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs (via Dianne Bazell)

Light and Contrast

If all was light, creation could not be. Boundaries require contrast.

Video of a Woman Evicted from Her Home and Handcuffed

Here watch a video of a woman taken from her home: another illustration of the abuses of our system of foreclosure and the mega-banks such as Bank of America. Is this really America?
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/video-this-is-not-america

What is the Light of Day 1

Since the Source created the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars on Day Four, what is the light of Day 1? It is the hidden light, the light seen not by our our outer eyes, but by our inner eyes (Gen 1).

Befriending the Darkness

Sometimes we have to accept and befriend the darkness before we can see the light. Remember that in Genesis 1 darkness precedes light.

Right Now

Right now is where we are.

Electomagnetic Harmonies

Underneath the noise are the hums, buzzes, and whistles of the earth’s vibrating voice waiting for us to listen and understand.

Richard Goldstone’s Sort-Of Apology

“Richard Goldstone’s Sort-Of Apology”
by Laurence H. Kant
Published in Shalom (Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass), May, 2011: p. 5

Pathetic. That is the only word I can use to describe Richard Goldstone’s stunning sort-of-apology in the Washington Post.

As many of you may remember, South African judge Richard Goldstone (who is Jewish) issued a report that generally downplayed the war crimes of Hamas in Israel’s 2006 Gaza incursion and lashed out at Israel for its disproportionate attacks on Gaza, its targeting of civilians, its use of Palestinians as human shields, and its destruction of civilian infrastructure. The Goldstone Report was issued under the auspices of the U.N. Human Rights Council, that embodiment of fairness toward Israel whose visionary leadership has included such democratic, gentle, peace-loving nations as Bahrain, China, Libya, Pakistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Saudi Arabia.

In his recent op-ed, Goldstone essentially admits that Israel followed proper procedures in the investigation of its soldiers in the Gaza incursion and that Hamas did not. He all but acknowledges that Israel’s military operated at a high moral level, while the military of Hamas did not.

His excuses ring hollow: He hoped that Hamas would respond to the commission’s requests–give us a break.  On what planet is he living? He thought that perhaps the U.N. Human Rights Council would start treating Israel more evenhandedly. This explanation is implausible and bears all the earmarks of after-the-fact rationalization:  Uh-oh, I’d better come up with something good. I can hear the wheels spinning. He wishes that Israel had responded to his requests. Gee, I wonder why Israel thought he and the commission would be biased and declined to cooperate. I’m shocked.

Goldstone and his commission harmed Israel and the Jewish people. And now he tries to justify the supposedly positive aspects of the Goldstone Commission and cannot even admit that he screwed up, even though he basically says he did.

The damage Goldstone has caused, some of it in the deaths of both Israelis and Palestinians, is incalculable. The PR benefits of his essay are miniscule compared to the PR damage of his commission’s report. True apologies require a straightforward admission of error and a commitment to act differently in the future. Richard Goldstone has not even begun to do that.

Perhaps his many awards, the numerous parties in his honor, and friendships with VIPs mean more to him than offending others, especially on the anti-Israel left.  Apparently Jews don’t count on the international chichi lists of official victimhood. His excuses make things even worse.

I find it particularly sad that a person so associated with international justice in South Africa, the Balkans, and Rwanda would shut his eyes to the injustice he committed against his own people.

Legitimate debate about Israeli policies is beneficial and desirable, but the Goldstone Report made a mockery of fact-finding and objective analysis.

What is it that leads some Jews to hate themselves so much that they are willing to propagate lies and half-truths about Israel rather than grapple with complexity? What a waste.

———————-

Here are links to the story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/reconsidering-the-goldstone-report-on-israel-and-war-crimes/2011/04/01/AFg111JC_story.html

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=214866

Syria and Israel Relations

This is a good analysis of possible scenarios for Israel and Syria:
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/03/29/3086621/unrest-in-syria-presents-israel-with-potential-dangers-and-opportunities

The Rise of Far-Right Terrorism

Many are focused on terrorism from the Middle East, but there is also a large trend in the US toward far-right terrorism, especially associated with the Sovereign Citizens movement:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/24/far-right-terrorism

For further discussion of these movements, see the following:
http://www.splcenter.org/what-we-do/hate-and-extremism/law-enforcement (with lots of links) and
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/scm.asp?xpicked=4

Afghanistan Kill Teams

Given the inherently dehumanizing character of war, especially in the long-term and without a clear sense of impending victory, this is not surprising. Because we are in this war in part to promote freedom, however, the US needs to constantly monitor the behavior of its soldiers. We failed here, and that is a deep disappointment.  Even worse the military tried to suppress the story, which only made the resultant perceptions even more negative. We need to redouble our efforts and focus on ethics and morality as a fundamental part of military training and leadership.

http://www.rollingstone.com/kill-team

A New Day

A NEW DAY
© 2010, Dr. Laurence H. Kant
Essay for the Evolutionary Envisioning Circle of the Annual Great Mother Celebration, September, 2010

A new day emerges, as so many have in millennia past. Once, after we foraged and gathered, we became hunters. Once, after we hunted, we became farmers and shepherds. Once, after we lived in villages and small enclaves, we became city dwellers. Once, after priests and kings ruled, leaders came from the people. Once we did not know what was on the other side of the ocean; now we can not only travel there by boat or jet, but we can be virtually present on other continents when we’re secure at home half a world away. Once we thought that mass violence and genocide were normal; now we don’t. Once we did not even have a word for genocide; now we do.

Each time we move a few steps closer to the land of Eden, where, amidst friendship, dance, love-making, study, and work, we will dine again with God, the Source of All That Is. The sparks of fire that scattered at creation slowly come together to create a flame that lights our world in times of dissolution and chaos. We move from confusion toward knowledge, from fear toward courage, from despair toward hope, from separation toward unity, from pieces toward wholes.

What is wholeness? In Hebrew and Arabic, shalom/salaam connects to a Semitic root that means “whole” and “complete.” Some say “peace,” but that’s only part of the story. In its mystical sense, shalom/salaam really means interconnected oneness. It is that place where difference and oneness coexist, where each being finds its own unique purpose and self-expression as part of one planetary tableau, one eternal poem, one cosmic body, one collective consciousness, one Source.

During the shift, the ego (the I) recedes, and the authentic person emerges from its mother’s womb. The true self, the person You truly are, takes its place in the chariot palace, near the blazing wings of the multi-headed cherubim and the flashing heat of the serpentine seraphim. There it dines with other new-born true selves to seek wisdom in the new Temple of Knowledge and Love. Feminine and masculine energies, whose significance we assumed we understood, reveal unexpected meanings to thinking bodies and heart-filled minds. Days of pleasure and collective communing finally allow a slumbering species to shed its ego hide and put on a healing garment of shared awareness.

What will wholeness mean for evolving human culture? “Conformity” means a mass of individuals forming a collective mega ego (an I). Genuine “community” means a critical mass of individuals building a whole that transcends the individual egos and creates a collective Higher Self.

The events we see on our television sets and computer monitors—boiling, jittery delirium and tumult accompanied by earth’s eruptions, swirling storms, and disappearing ice—signal a shift from one age to the next. There will be many more such shifts in the future. But, for now, at this moment, our twenty-five-hundred-year sojourn at the inn of familiar habits, nations, and institutions has ended. Dying structures make way for new. Another day of travelling begins toward another inn on the road circling back and forward from and toward Eden. Here, in another time long, long ahead, we will be able to eat of both trees—of life and knowledge—but with experience enough to do so as humble partners of the Source, adult co-creators, sharing in the miraculous birthing of new worlds.

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