"No matter how cheap she is, you can only buy her for a few hours and you can never own her."

It's all about knowing when to pack it in!

I am officially on a break from all news and other world affairs for the rest of the week. Why? I have started to become a bit too "bitter”, rather I have been able to take many “news stories” for “face value” lately.

So, for the next few days, I am going to get my fill of cute little babies of the world.

I suggest you Google "cute babies" and see what comes up. Give yourself a break for the weekend…or at least the next 2-minutes.

How is this for a start?

Sudanese slam genocide resolution

By Nima Elbagir

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese Arabs have criticised a U.S. congressional resolution declaring genocide in the Darfur region, while Darfuris asked what Washington would do to make it safe for them to go back home.

"Is Iraq not enough? Do they want to destroy us too? ... America wants everyone who is Arab (in Sudan) to pay. They do not understand anything," said Ismail Gasmalseed on Friday, a 34-year-old driver in Khartoum.

The U.S. Congress approved the resolution on Thursday and its supporters hope it will help mobilise the international community to protect Africans in Darfur from Arab militias.

But the accusation of genocide is highly controversial. The United Nations has declared the situation in Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis but has not called it a genocide, which would force it to take action.

The world body estimates that the 15-month conflict between Arab nomads and non-Arab farmers has killed at least 30,000 people and displaced more than 1 million people, many of them driven from their homes by marauding Arab militia.

Ibrahim Ahmed, a Sudanese political analyst, said it was clear there was no legal basis for declaring a genocide in Darfur, otherwise the Bush administration's lawyers would have adopted the term.

"But what is equally obvious is that the American public thinks that it is genocide, and therefore getting Congress to rule on this was a politically expedient way of mollifying public opinion while circumnavigating the legalities," he added.

Yasir Abdullah, a journalist from northern Sudan, said the U.S. Congress and administration did not understand the roots of the Darfur conflict and were dealing with it very superficially.

"They are biased and have their own agenda. Sanctions will not harm the government, they will harm the people. Have they not learnt this yet?" he told Reuters.

A PLAN IN STAGES

The Bush administration has drafted a U.N. resolution threatening sanctions if the Sudanese government does not disarm the Janjaweed and remove all restrictions on access to Darfur.

The Sudanese government says it is trying to comply but it will take time to implement its plans.

"There exists a real problem which has to be resolved on a humanitarian, political and security level and we intend to do that," Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail told the French daily Le Monde in an interview published on Friday.

"But one has to understand that we are applying a plan that is working in stages," he added.

Rebels and human rights groups say Khartoum has armed and backed the Arab militia, known as the Janjaweed, who have been forcing non-Arab villagers off their land in Darfur in an extension of a long conflict over farmland and grazing.

Tens of thousands of people are now threatened with hunger and disease in squalid, overcrowded refugee camps inside Sudan and over the border in Chad.

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR reported on Friday that two refugees had died in an operation by Chad's army inside one of the camps close to the Sudanese border on Thursday.

The agency said the troops had moved into the camp to stem unrest and find people involved in recent attacks on humanitarian workers. There was no immediate explanation for how the refugees died.

MORAL RESPONSIBILITY

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier will visit Chad and Sudan's Darfur region next week to show support for an African Union observer mission, which is receiving some 12 million euros in European Union aid, his ministry said on Friday.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has called on the international community to take moral responsibility for resolving the crisis, is sending his foreign secretary, Jack Straw, to the region next month.

But displaced Darfuris in Khartoum said they had some doubts about the international community's commitment to intervene.

"We were told that the United Nations would make us safe, but we waited so long in Darfur and no one came to make us safe. I'm not sure if we will be safe. Can America sleep with us in our houses?" asked Khadija, an 18-year-old woman who said she was abducted by militiamen in Darfur but escaped.

"I think if they say they will make us safe then they will, but why did they wait so long?" added Hawaa, another abductee.

Ismail said the Sudanese authorities expected to send 6,000 policemen into Darfur and 3,000 of those were now ready to work.

But a rebel spokesman in Darfur said the new policemen were Janjaweed in disguise, issued with uniforms and new weapons.

The Arab militias attacked twice in Darfur this week despite government promises that it is cracking down on them, Abu Bakr Hamid al-Nur, general coordinator of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), said.

Nur told Reuters by telephone that Janjaweed killed more than 30 people and kidnapped many women and children on Monday at Kfour, between el-Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, and Kutum, about 120 km (75 miles) to the northwest.

Pictures from 05/23/04 Sudan "Die-in"
Washington, DC

"At this time, the Big Bang, all matter in the universe, would have been on top of itself. The density would have been infinite. It would ahbe been what is called, a singularity. At a singularity, all the laws of physics would have broken down. This means that the state of the universe, after the Big Bang, will not depend on anything that may have happened before, because the deterministic laws that govern the universe will break down in the Big Bang. The universe will evolve from the Big Bang, completely independently of what is was like before. Even the amount of matter in the universe, can be different to what it was before the Big Bang, as the Law of Conservation of Matter, will break down at the Big Bang."  
  
- Dr. Stephen Hawkings, "The Beginning of Time" 

Woman's Mosque Protest Brings Furor in the U.S.

July 22, 2004
Woman's Mosque Protest Brings Furor in the U.S.By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

MORGANTOWN, West Va. - On a sultry night in July, Asra Q. Nomani was summoned to the large brick mosque near the university here for the start of a hastily planned inquisition. In a bow to the Muslim imperative for modest dress, she wore pants and a dark sweat jacket with the hood up, tied tight around her face.

Sitting around a large table were members of the executive committee of the Islamic Center of Morgantown, which her father helped start 23 years ago. One member was a woman who joined her in April in passing out fliers promoting "an inclusive and tolerant community for all Muslims."

The meeting was called because 35 mosque members had signed a petition demanding that Ms. Nomani be expelled. The mosque president held up a plastic baggie from which she was to draw the names of the panel that would make its recommendation on whether to ban her. The petition capped nine months in which Ms. Nomani had unsettled Muslims here and set off tremors in some other mosques across the country.

Last October, on the eve of the Ramadan holiday, she had entered the mosque through the front door. A mosque leader told her, "Use the sisters' entrance" - outside, up a flight of wooden stairs and at the rear of the building. She refused.

Eleven days later, she sat in the main prayer area, behind the rows of men, at the right edge of the room but not in the rear. This time she was told to move to the women's prayer area in the balcony.

The mosque was brand new, and leaders were proud that after years in which the women had no space, they now had a balcony. The women can hear from there, but they cannot see over its solid, rib-high wall. Ms. Nomani refused to move.

"This is part of the war within Islam for how it's defined in the world," she said. "Since 9/11, I've seen that if we don't assert ourselves, we're relinquishing our religion to be defined by those who speak the loudest and act the toughest."

The spot along the right wall of the main prayer area has become hers. For nine months, she has prayed there on many Fridays, sometimes with her mother, her sister-in-law and her son, Shibli, now 21 months.

Ms. Nomani's campaign might have ended there. In June, Mosque leaders quietly reversed their policy, allowing women to pray in the main hall behind the men. For the first time a woman won a seat in the executive committee election.

But the dispute did not end. Two things inflamed Ms. Nomani's detractors. She did not hide the fact that her son was born out of wedlock, which in some Muslim countries would earn her a death sentence. And she was taking notes.

A former journalist for The Wall Street Journal, Ms. Nomani submitted essays about her civil disobedience and what she said was an extremist takeover of her mosque that were published in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Three executive committee members said in an interview in the mosque that the effort to ban Ms. Nomani could easily fail, and perhaps should. The panel has not yet convened to hear the case against her. Even if it recommends that she be banned, the mosque's board will make the final decision.

However, the committee members said they understand the motives of those seeking her expulsion. Ms. Nomani had challenged Islamic tradition, Hany Ammar, the president, said.
"In our prayers we kneel down to the floor,'' Mr. Ammar said. "We stand side by side. Our shoulders touch. Men want to be private from women.'' He later added, "Many people are very unhappy about the publicity."

Female members who once supported her cause are both angry and sympathetic. Some see her as a publicity seeker. One theorized that Ms. Nomani was still traumatized by the kidnapping and assassination of her friend Daniel Pearl, also a Wall Street Journal reporter. Mr. Pearl and his wife had been staying at Ms. Nomani's rented house in Pakistan when he disappeared.
On the Friday after the meeting, Ms. Nomani was searching for her car keys at home to drive to the mosque for the communal prayer. Her father, saying he was sick and weary from all the conflict, was preparing to pray at home. Her son stood on the stairs babbling, "Abooba abooba."
Ms. Nomani's father was suddenly exultant. His grandson was clearly imitating the call to prayer, "Allahu Akbar."

"This is what Asra is fighting for," he said, "the next generation."

STOP THE GENOCIDE
A CALL FOR HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION IN SUDAN 

1,000 dying each day in Sudan
SIGN UP FOR RALLY AT www.darfurgenocide.org
 
WHEN:    THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2004, NOON-1:30 PM
 
WHERE:     LAFAYETTE PARK (ACROSS THE STREET
                    FROM THE WHITE HOUSE)
 
WHY AND WHAT:
 
In Sudan, over one million black Africans have been bombed and burnt out of their villages by government planes and Arab militias allied with the country’s oppressive regime. The death toll could reach 1 million within the next few months.  As members of the human family, we can’t let this horror continue as it did in Rwanda 10 years ago. Only one thing will stop the killing in Sudan: an immediate international intervention to protect the people of Sudan and to provide them with critical aid. All people of conscience must rally now to stop the genocide.  The rally will include a “die-in,” -- participants will pretend to be dead for a short period of time to provide a powerful, visual reminder of the injustice that is being protested. 
 
CONTACT US:         Sign up for the demonstration  at www.darfurgenocide.org
For more information, contact Ricken Patel, Res Publica, at 646-229-5416
 
SPONSORS:            New Bethel Baptist Church, National Council of Churches, Res Publica, Sojourners, Pax Christi USA TrueMajority.org, and many other groups
 
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON THE SUDAN RALLY IN LAFAYETTE PARK 
  
When and where will the demonstration take place?
 
The rally will take place at Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, July 22, 2004 from noon to 1:30pm. Lafayette Park is the park across the street from The White House.
 
Why is the rally being held?
 
In the Darfur province of Sudan, over one million black Africans have been bombed, burnt out of their villages and chased into the desert by government planes and Arab militias allied with the country’s oppressive regime. Their camps are now surrounded; anyone who tries to leave is raped or killed.  According to the US government's “conservative” estimate, 370,000 human beings are already dead or certain of dying of starvation in these extermination camps. The death toll could reach 1 million within the next few months. As a result of a U.S. supported cease-fire in Southern Sudan, the Khartoum government has recently suspended slave raiding there.  But it has revived the practice against the black African tribes of Darfur in western Sudan.  As members of the human family, we can’t let this horror continue as it did in Rwanda 10 years ago. 
 
The world has tough words for Sudan but threats to act are mild, suggesting only sanctions on the militia leaders, and perhaps later the government. The Sudanese are used to sanctions, and even the toughest sanctions take months to have any impact. We don't have that kind of time. Only one thing will stop the killing in Sudan: an immediate international intervention to protect the people of Darfur and provide them with critical aid. For more information, visit http://www.darfurgenocide.org
 
Part of the rally will include a “die-in” because this will help bring greater media attention to this crisis.  A "die-in" is a non-violent form of protest.  Participants pretend to be dead for a short period of time to provide a powerful, visual reminder of the injustice that is being protested.  At the rally, there will be a brief program of speakers and music and then each person will lie down on his or her blanket or towel (or simply on the ground) for about fifteen minutes.  "Die-ins" tend to attract media attention because their visual impact makes for good photos and TV coverage.   For more information on “die-ins, visit http://www.darfurgenocide.org
 
Will anyone be arrested by virtue of their participation in this rally?
 
No.  We have a permit for the demonstration and clearance from all relevant authorities for our activities.  We do not plan to engage in civil disobedience as a part of the demonstration.
 
How should I get to the demonstration?
 
We strongly urge you to take Metro rail.  There will be no parking near Lafayette Park.  The closest Metro stops are Farragut West and McPherson Square.  It is a short walk to Lafayette Park from there.  Also, please note that it will save time if you buy a round-trip ticket at the station where you board the train.
 
What should I bring to the demonstration?
 
You should bring a towel or blanket, a bottle of water and a sign if you wish (large signs may not be permitted in the Metro train).  Note that it is better to bring a towel or blanket than a sleeping bag – a sleeping bag may trigger a Metro rail security check and slow you down. 
 
How can my congregation help?
 
We would like delegations from congregations to attend the rally.  Please do what you can to ensure that these materials are widely distributed to congregations in the DC area. We also need volunteers from congregations to phone bank their congregations before the rally.  Call Mrs. Junetta Banks at 202-583-1997 for more information on phone banking.   Finally, if possible, please plan to bring a sign or banner to the rally that identifies your congregation.   Remember, however, that large signs may not be permitted in the Metro train.
 
How can I ensure that my organization is referenced at the rally as a “sponsoring organization”?
 
Contact Mrs. Junetta Banks at 202-583-1997 to give her the name of your organization.    
 
Who is organizing the demonstration?
The demonstration is being organized by a coalition of religious and human rights leaders, including political conservatives and progressives.  Some of the leaders include Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Rev. Joe Madison, Rabbi Jack Moline, Rev. Bob Edgar and Rev. Mark Thompson.  Sponsoring organizations include New Bethel Baptist Church, Res Publica, faithfulamerica.org, Sojourners, the National Council of Churches and the Sudan Campaign www.thesudancampaign.com.
 
What will we call on world leaders to do?
 
We will demand that world leaders declare the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan what they are – genocide.
 
We will demand an immediate massive increase in funding and logistics to meet the need for humanitarian aid in Darfur. We will call for an immediate, international intervention, with European and African participation to protect the people of Darfur and to guarantee the delivery of aid to them. We will call upon the United Nations Security Council to authorize this intervention, to impose targeted asset and travel sanctions on leaders in the Sudanese regime who are responsible for ethnic cleansing and genocide, and to begin an investigation leading to prosecution for those responsible in international courts. 
 
Similar demands have already been made in bipartisan resolutions recently introduced in the United State Congress, but more political pressure is needed for the United States and the world to act.  The demonstration will help to create such pressure.
 
How can I help to spread the word about the demonstration?
 
Please share these materials will everyone you know who might be interested via e-mail, posting within offices, houses of worship, etc.  It is especially important to remind people to sign up for the demonstration on the website: www.darfurgenocide.org  We need an accurate headcount to make the demonstration as successful as possible.  We need your help!
 
What do I need to do to let demonstration organizers know I plan to attend?
 
As noted above, please sign up for the demonstration on the website: http://www.darfurgenocide.org  Please sign up TODAY, but only if you plan to attend.
 
What will happen if it rains on the day of the demonstration?
 
We will proceed with the demonstration.  Wear a raincoat and bring something plastic to lie down on rather than a blanket or a towel.
 
Is it okay for children to attend the demonstration?
 
Children may attend, but please be aware that the “die-in” is part of the rally’s activities.  Please make sure that you bring a bottle of water for each person in your party, including each child.
 
Will there be any portable restrooms in Lafayette Park?
 
No.  Park regulations prohibit portable restrooms in Lafayette Square.  
 
Who may I contact for more information about the demonstration?
 
You may contact Ricken Patel of Res Publica at 646-229-5416.
 
 
 
PLEASE FORWARD THESE MATERIALS TO OTHERS WHO CARE!

It's a Long, Lonely Search for Men Looking for Love in Alaska

NOME, Alaska, July 15 - It was late on a summer evening at a saloon on Front Street in this dusty mining and fishing town on the Bering Sea, and the men were excited.

The bar, Breakers, was packed. And standing on the beer-stained floor was a most unusual sight for Nome's many bachelors: women.

There they were, an oasis in the Arctic, shooting pool, giving out phone numbers, dashing off to the restroom to apply lipstick, coquettishly sipping drinks bought by their suitors, including a popular cocktail, "Love Me Tender," made with gin and peach vodka.

"Aren't they so fantastic?" one single man said to another. "I wish they wouldn't leave us."
Summer is a time of hope for the unattached men of Nome, a tough gold rush town of 3,500 people in Alaska's far western corner, where single men outnumber single women by almost two to one. Each June, with the midnight sun come the summer interns - this year, seven fresh-faced women in their 20's from across the lower 48 states. They work on a nutrition project with Nome's Alaska Natives and then spend many of their nights barhopping.

solitary sisters in an economic crisis.

HIV/AIDS: End the Rhetoric and Save Lives, By Chinua Akukwe and Melvin Foote of Constituency for Africa (CFA)
 
The "war" on HIV/AIDS has become heated in the last few days as participants attend the 2004 international AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Unfortunately, the war that has broken out between the United States and France, and, various delegates of different ideological prisms and business orientation/persuasions have done nothing to save even one life of the millions now dying of AIDS or prevent even one young African from contracting the HIV disease.  As the war of words continue regarding the best way to fight HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa, more than 8,000 people will die today of AIDS and nearly 15,000 will become infected with HIV, an almost death sentence in many impoverished nations of the world.

For the complete article go to here.
 

...be straight fuckin up the white folks.....we did it now, brought it to that level so they get it now.

Medicine for loneliness...
But black, it can't save you

As if my soul was like a kiss and I embraced this breath of his
This breathe of his
This breathe of his
Was like a kiss
Was like a kiss
And I embraced this breath of his
Before I embrace this ocean of life
Before I embrace this realm of love
How many stars have I to go through before I reach
Before I feel

STOP THE GENOCIDE 
A CALL FOR HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION IN SUDAN 
1,000 dying each day in Sudan 

Rally and 1,000 person "die-in" to symbolize their tragic deaths 

WHEN: THURSDAY, JULY 22, 2004, NOON-1:30 PM 

WHERE: LAFAYETTE PARK (ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE WHITE HOUSE) 

WHY AND WHAT: 
In the Darfur province of Sudan, over one million black Africans have been bombed, burnt out of their villages by government planes and militias allied with the country's oppressive regime. Their camps are now surrounded; 
anyone who tries to leave is raped or killed. The death toll could reach 1 million within the next few months. As members of the human family, we can't let this horror continue as it did in Rwanda 10 years ago. Only one thing will stop the killing in Sudan: an immediate international intervention to protect the people of Darfur and to provide them with critical aid. All people of conscience must rally now to stop the genocide. 

Part of the rally will include a "die-in" a non-violent form of protest.

Participants pretend to be dead for a short period of time to provide a powerful, visual reminder of the injustice that is being protested. We need at least 1,000 people at the event to symbolize the 1,000 who die each day in Sudan. 

CONTACT US: Sign up for the demonstration and get more info at www.darfurgenocide.org 

For more information, contact Keith Roderick, Sudan Campaign, at 202-498-8644 

SPONSORS: Christian Solidarity International, National Council of Churches, Res Publica, Sojourners, Sudan Campaign, TrueMajority.org, and many other groups

He's lost in the wilderness.
He's lost in bitterness.  
 
--"It's a Man's Man's Man's World"

First Person is a series of conversations and eyewitness accounts by Holocaust survivors. Each hour-long program is conducted as a live interview, with an opportunity for audience participation.

In conjunction with our special exhibitions that explore the consequences of targeting children and adults because they were Jewish, our guests this season recount their personal encounters with antisemitism. In light of the alarming resurgence of antisemitism worldwide, their stories provide personal and historical perspectives on the dangers of unchecked prejudice and intolerance.

Now through August 25, 2004

Download the event schedule in pdf.

Congress Rangel Protest Sudan Genocide

I am protesting today to urge the United States government and the United Nations to take immediate action to stop the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. An international peacekeeping force must be mobilized to restore order in Darfur and to save the lives of the millions of African villagers currently at risk. We must use any avaliable means to compel the Sudanese government in Khartoum to stop assisting the murderous Janjaweed militias in their campaign of genocide, and we must assure that aid groups are given unfettered access to millions of refugees who currently lack proper food, water and shelter.

Secretary of State Colin Powell recently returned from a visit to the Sudan. During that time, he threatened the government in Khartoum with travel restrictions and sanctions if they did not take actions to diffuse the genocide that has left nearly 30,000 people dead, a million displaced and threatens to kill a million more.

While I applaud Secretary Powell for his efforts, i am worried that our government is constructively engaging a government who has, by almost all accounts, been the primary sponsored (sic) genocide in Sudan. The Khartoum government has directly contributed to the slaughter of tens of thousands of black Africans in Darfur, and I believe more than dialogue and sanctions are needed to stop the violence and return the displaced villagers to their homes.

The situation in Sudan has clearly reached the level of a genocide. US Agency for International Development Administration Andrew Natsios has declared that at least 300,000 people will be dead by years (sic) end, in best-case scenario, and over a million will perish if things continue on their present course. We must take immediate actions to condemn the government of Sudan for their complicity and save the lives of these innocent people.

We acted too late to save millions of Jews during World War II. We didn't act at all when hundreds of thousands of innocents were slaughtered in Rwanda. We have the opportunity now to stop a genocide, and we must act. I urge the Administration and the United Nations to immediately send a multinational peacekeeping force to Sudan and to provide the region with enough enriched food, medicine, and water to support the hundreds of thousands that are displaced. These people will die if we do not act now.

Typed from hard-copied "STATEMENT: CONGRESSMAN CHARLES RANGEL" obtained from the Congressman's aide.

Billionaires to Defy the DNC

Join the Boston Million Billionaire March, July 27

As you might already know, from July 26-29 John Kerry and thousands of his proletarian-sympathizing cohorts will convene in Boston for the Democratic National Convention (DNC). There they will craft their platform for the future and articulate it to America's masses. One of our inside sources has obtained a secret copy of their platform, and it is ominous indeed. High on their agenda will be:

$ repealing Bush's tax cut for the wealthiest 1% instead of extending it
$ increasing the minimum wage instead of abolishing it and legalizing child labor
$ affordable healthcare instead of letting the free market decide who's healthy
$ funding for public education instead of no-bid contracts for Halliburton
$ denying air and water the benefits of toxic-enhancement

It couldn't be clearer: John Kerry wants nothing more than to scrap the incredible progress our nation has made over the last four years. He is a class-traitor who will return America to the grubby hands of the great unwashed middle-class masses.

Billionaires, it is our sacred duty as guardians of privilege and power to defend the Bush administration from this barbaric electoral challenge. We therefore call upon all loyal People of Wealth to defy the Democratic National Convention and converge on the streets of Boston for a Million Billionaire March on July 27. Billionaires from Beverly Hills to Grosse Pointe to Wall Street will fire champagne corks at the misguided simpletons nominating John Kerry and launch our "Get on the Limo" swing state tour.

LearJet to Boston for the March!

The Boston Million Billionaire March will take place Tuesday, July 27, at 6:30pm. We will begin at the Rowes Wharf at conclude at the Massachusetts GOP headquarters, where prominent reporters on our payroll will carefully write down our message and photograph the start of our month-long Limo Tour.

Various other events throughout the week of the DNC are currently being organized. For an updated schedule of events please visit our DNC info page.

If you plan to attend the Million Billionaire March, please RSVP by sending your name and phone number to dnc@billionairesforbush.com.

If you'd like to travel to Boston for the Million Billionaire March and need lodging, or if you live in the Boston area and have room for another Billionaire in your mansion, or for general inquiries, contact Seymour Benjamins.

On NPR's Morning Edition last week, Nina Tottenberg said that if the Supreme Court supports Congress, it is in effect the end of the National Public Radio (NPR), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). PBS, NPR and the arts are facing major
cutbacks in funding. In spite of the efforts of each station to reduce spending costs and streamline their services, some government officials believe that the funding currently going to these programs is too large a portion of funding for something which is seen as not worthwhile. The only way that our representatives can be aware of the base of support for PBS and funding
for these types of programs is by making our voices heard. Please add your name to this list and forward it to friends who believe in what this stands for. This list will be forwarded to the President and the Vice President of the United States.

This petition is being passed around the Internet. Please add your name to it so that funding can be maintained for NPR, PBS, the NEA.

HOW TO SIGN FORWARD: IT'S EASY:

Please keep this petition rolling. Do not reply to me. Please sign and forward to others to sign.
If you prefer not to sign, please send to the e-mail address indicated below.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT DUPLICATES. This is being forwarded to several people at once to add their names to the petition. It doesn't matter if many people receive the same list as the names are being managed. This is for anyone who thinks NPR, PBS and the NEA is a worthwhile expenditure of $1.12/year of their taxes.

If you do not wish to sign this petition, please send it to the e-mail address listed here:
wein2688@blue.univnorthco.edu
OR
kubi7975@blue.univnorthco.edu

If you happen to be the 150th, 200th, 250th, etc., signer of this petition, please forward a copy to: wein2688@blue.univnorthco.edu This way we can keep track of the lists and organize them. Forward this to everyone you know, and help us to keep these programs alive.

Thank you!

ALL IS QUIET ON THE EASTERN FRONT
or
New York's Alright: An Update on the RNC Protests (July 8th, 2004)
By the NYC Anarchist Grapevine

General Scene Report

The RNC protests are going to be huge! Hundreds of thousands will flood the streets: Democrats toeing the party line, liberals of all stripes, and communists of all sects. Even the UNIONS are coming! The hip hop kids are coming, the college kids are coming, the Greens are coming, Al Sharpton‚s coming, the NGOs, Starhwak, the libertarians and tons of assorted wing-nuts will make an appearance. And don‚t forget the millions of New Yorkers who hate Bush or are simply pissed-off because they have to be inconvenienced by closed-off streets, delayed subway trains, or police barricades- they‚ll be there too. And more power to them, right?

The question we have been hearing over and over again is: Are the anarchists coming? You bet your sweet ass we are! In fact we are already here and you should come too.

So here‚s the skinny: Activists in the city have been organizing for over a year now and infrastructure is pretty much handled with a few exceptions - see below:

Infrastructure

The No-RNC Clearinghouse: Meeting for a year, this has been a gathering of different collectives, groups and individuals planning actions. The amazing thing about the clearinghouse is that it has not yet become yet another three-letter coalition. They plan to morph into a Spokescouncil as the RNC comes near, but there is some resistance to this idea.

Food. You will not starve in NYC. The Anti-Capitalist Kitchen and Food Not Bombs are here, churches and community centers will be feeding folks too. Not to mention New York‚s fine dumpsters. No anarchist will go hungry in NYC.

Legal will be handled in tandem by the National Lawyer‚s Guild (lefty lawyers) and the NYC-People‚s Law Collective (a local anarchist legal group.) Legal collectives from across North America are coming to help along with NYCLU, Center for Constitutional Rights and other national and local progressive legal organizations. They will have an office, street teams, legal observers and jail support.

http://nycplc.mahost.org
www.nlgnyc.org/rnc.html
http://www.nlgnyc.org/rnc.html

Street Medical. The Medical Activists of New York (MANY) have been doing Medic trainings for the last year and will be doing street medical work along with several groups and individuals from across the region and country.
http://www.takethestreets.org

Art, and shows, and parties, and dancing, and other tomfoolery: The city will be awash with posters, puppets, costumes, radical cheers, music and our own version of the infamous infernal noise brigade! Lots of benefit shows of course, and a free continuous performance space for music, spoken word, theater, etc.

Web: www.rncnotwelcome.org is basically the best mobilization website for the US, period. KUDOS! Started by anarchists, it is a depository for information of all kinds.

Weaknesses: Space in general and housing in particular is our weak link. The housing situation is not sorted out. Don't plan on being able to get hooked up with a place to crash at the last minute. Think ahead, call your friends, relatives and other people who can get you housing. We have handled big protests in the past, but it‚s best for affinity groups to show up with their housing sorted out. New Yorkers can be stingy with their space, so be warned.

What to Expect: Not the big plan...

We should all finally face it - there is no Big Plan. There will be dozens of events which stretch from small single issue protests to UFPJ‚s undoubtedly massive, possibly lame, (permitted) march by Madison Square Garden. At present there is no intention to "shut down" the useless coronation of Bush at Madison Square Garden.

So what should anarchists expect action-wise? From the people here on the ground, the big rotten apple is wide open. There will be several, massive demonstrations. There will be the chance to confront Republicans in the Times Square Theatre district during „Chaos on Broadway‰ on Sunday the 30th . This is shaping up as the most interesting event of the week-end. There are tons of opprotunities for affinity group actions against the RNC and its capitalist cronies throughout the week-end. The city will provide the chaos - you should BYOA (Bring Your Own Action) and do some homework for it.

To bloc or not to bloc?

Thus far, there has been no call for a black bloc. For some, this is welcome news. Yet the ubiquitous black bloc communique may arrive on the scene at any moment. Regardless of the dress code, there will certainly be thousands of anarchists at the main demonstrations. Discuss the posssibilities of joining these different events with your affinity group.

As we learned from the World Economic Forum, the New York Police Department is successful in targeting black blocs, when they are isolated from the crowd. The sad truth is that when it‚s just us as a black bloc, we usually get our asses kicked. This does not mean that autonomous direct action will not take place - it will; it just means that it isn‚t the best idea to bloc-up and run the streets without some liberal crowd cover.

As far as the infamous NYC „Mask Law‰ goes, it is important to keep in perspective. The last folks to get arrested for it was over 4 years ago. It is also important to know that the dreaded mask law is actually part of the more general Loitering laws of the city. No one has been arrested for simply wearing a mask, there are always other charges. The cops can arrest us and think up the charges after the fact. Be smart, but do not be intimidated.

Meeting other Anarchists

We all know - the New York scene can be too big (or too small for some), or too fragmented, to easily meet everyone. So how can you hook-up with the ever-elusive anarchists in NYC? There will be a TRIBES meeting on Sunday, August 1st. It will be like an anarchist consulta. Anarchists from outside the city are welcome to attend and bring info back to their communities.

Ongoing protest, arrests at Sudan embassy

WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- Chanting "Slavery plus genocide equals Sudan," about a dozen protesters gathered Wednesday at the Sudanese Embassy for what organizers said was the third week of daily demonstrations against government-sponsored atrocities by Arab militias against blacks in the Christian south and western Darfur regions of the African nation.

The demonstrations are organized by a coalition of civil rights groups calling itself Christian Solidarity International, headed by former District of Columbia delegate the Rev. Walter Fauntroy and radio talk-show host Joe Madison.

Fauntroy and Madison were arrested at Monday's protest for blocking the embassy entrance, as were two other demonstrators Tuesday. The protesters plan to have at least two demonstrators arrested for civil disobedience at each rally.

The activists are demanding that the United States and the United Nations formally accuse the Sudanese government of genocide, a proclamation that would intensify international pressure and pave the way for sanctions and possible military intervention.

During a visit to the African region last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell issued his strongest statement yet, saying the humanitarian disaster was "moving towards a genocidal conclusion."

Other U.S. officials have said they are actively considering labeling the atrocities in Darfur a "genocide," though no decision has been taken yet.

Asked recently by reporters whether the events constituted genocide, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, "The issue is not to discuss what name to give it. We all agree that serious crimes are being committed."

The protesters at the embassy, however, said their protests would continue "indefinitely" until the genocide label was attached.

The protesters gather at noon every day at Sudan's Embassy Row townhouse, watched by about six Secret Service police officers, and the arrests happen at about 1:30 p.m., according to Keith Silver, who described himself as a logistics coordinator of the protest effort.

"We see who feels the spirit," Silver told United Press International. "The spirit might touch someone who wants to go" and get arrested.

Silver praised the police for their professionalism and courtesy. "We've had no harassment whatsoever," he said. "They've gone overboard being kind and facilitating things. We're non-violent, and they know that."

Silver is a longtime member of the Southern Christian Leadership Coalition, the civil-rights organization co-founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and many of the other protesters also described themselves as veterans of the 1960s civil rights movement.

"I'm concerned about slavery and genocide in Sudan," said Nate Williams, a disabled veteran from the District of Columbia, in part because "all life started in Africa."

Willie Hankerson, a high school teacher from a Maryland suburb of Washington, said he planned on being arrested at Thursday's rally. Demonstrations will continue, he said, "until the United Nations declares in print and in open that there is genocide being waged in Sudan. And the United States government needs to go in (to Sudan) and not be witness to another Rwandan slaughter."

He added, "I'm antiwar, and I don't advocate war, but I advocate military support for the people there."

The Sudanese spokesman at the embassy was not available for comment Wednesday.

The Arab-controlled Sudanese government has been accused in two U.N. reports of aiding Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, in a campaign designed to obliterate African tribes from its western provinces. More than 30,000 black Sudanese have been killed, and 1 million others are refugees.

There have been reports of women being systematically raped, children kidnapped and used as slaves, farms burned and water sources polluted with corpses.

Two million people in the region are thought to be at risk of starvation.

Fighting between militia factions in the Darfur region has persisted despite an April 8 agreement that calls for a cease-fire, international monitoring, humanitarian access to Darfur and the disarmament of government-backed militias.

Following the recent visits by Annan and Powell, the Sudanese government ordered Monday night an end to restrictions on the movement of relief organizations.

The decrees ending the restrictions on relief work were issued by Sudanese Interior Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein in an apparent response to mounting international pressure, including a draft U.N. resolution circulated by the United States on July 1.

The resolution would impose arms and travel embargoes on the Janjaweed militia, which has attacked and destroyed African villages in Darfur. The draft sets up a sanctions committee to examine which members of the militia and other groups should be sanctioned. It also calls on the Sudanese government to fulfill its treaty obligations and disarm all militia groups in Darfur. The draft also calls for increased aid to the region and human rights monitors.

The United States is the largest contributor of humanitarian aid to Sudan, giving more than $116 million. Congress is appropriating an additional $90 million for the purpose. There are some 75 camps under international supervision now, and another 30 will come under international auspices in the next month.

U.S. State Department officials have recently said ties with Sudan will only be normalized after the Darfur situation is resolved. This despite a separate peace deal, backed by Washington, between the Sudanese government and rebels from the mainly Christian and animist south earlier this year.

Everybody in Khakis: A Call for an Invisible Bloc at the RNC

With the Republicans in the hostile territory of NYC at the end of August, and the very real threat that police will try to lock even hundreds of thousands up in "protest pens" -- we need to be flexible when figuring out how to get around the NYPD tactics of confinement coupled with extreme brutality towards those who refuse to be penned.
So EVERYBODY IN KHAKIS!

Dress in the most bland, casual-yuppie attire you can imagine. Layer. Make the cops confused.

A Black Bloc is a target symbol that will prove entirely ineffective against the NYPD's well-practiced crowd supression techniques. They will cordon the streets around the Bloc and arrest ever single person there. Have no doubt.

Sudan Protest
Tuesday, July 13th: 12noon

The UN has called the current humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region the worst in the world. Come out and demonstrate against the ethnic cleansing, and refugee crisis that is taking place in Darfur! There are daily demonstrations in front of the Sudanese Embassy here in DC, but the Sudan Campaign is planning a larger demo tomorrow at Noon. Best way to get involved is to come to the demonstration. Or, you can call one of the
organizers, Keith, at 202-498-8644.

The Embassy is at 2210 Massachusetts Avenue, only a couple blocks from Dupont Circle Metro.

Franz Kafka's In the Penal Colony


“It’s a peculiar apparatus,” said the Officer to the Traveler, gazing with a certain admiration at the device, with which he was, of course, thoroughly familiar. It appeared that the Traveler had responded to the invitation of the Commandant only out of politeness, when he had been invited to attend the execution of a soldier condemned for disobeying and insulting his superior. Of course, interest in the execution was not very high, not even in the penal colony itself. At least, here in the small, deep, sandy valley, closed in on all sides by barren slopes, apart from the Officer and the Traveler there were present only the Condemned, a vacant-looking man with a broad mouth and dilapidated hair and face, and the Soldier, who held the heavy chain to which were connected the small chains which bound the Condemned Man by his feet and wrist bones, as well as by his neck, and which were also linked to each other by connecting chains. The Condemned Man had an expression of such dog-like resignation that it looked as if one could set him free to roam around the slopes and would only have to whistle at the start of the execution for him to return.

The single greatest event of my life.

So I went to protest Dubya today, as he was visiting my humble little burg of East Lampeter, PA.

Adam came over and with my and Matt's help, created two banners. They read:

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER
and
MORE TREES, LESS BUSH

The action got started off right when we arrived on the scene, and seven or eight teenage guys decided to "re-enact" the prison abuse scandals in Iraq by stripping down to thongs and making a human pyramid, while donning black hoods. The police officers on the scene immediately tackled them and led them out in handcuffs. It will be interesting to see how that plays out in court. Meanwhile, a crazy fortysomething man was asking Sean and Adam if they put their efforts into worshiping Christ. They said, "Yes, we like Jesus. We go to church." The man was befuddled, not expecting that sort of response from two teenage boys. Anyway, chants were formed, and heckling ensued. Adam and I even got filmed by a cameraman screaming "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER!" as we simultaneously shook our copies of 1984 in the air. I don't know if it will actually get used in news footage, but if anyone sees it, please let me know.

It gets so much better.


Sean had to go back to work (he snuck out to join in the fun), so we drove him back to my place where his car was, then me, Adam, and Brendan went to another spot along the highway that we had spied earlier. A friendly Kerry supporter named Mr. Shenk let us use his front yard to display our banners. Now comes the good part. After waiting around for about 45 minutes, the motorcade passed by us again. A few police cars, followed by a van or two, drove by. Then, a Bush/Cheney bus passed, followed by a second one going slower. At the front of this second bus was The W himself, waving cheerily at his supporters on the other side of the highway. Adam, Brendan, and I rose our banner (the More Trees, Less Bush one) and he turned to wave to our side of the road. His smile faded, and he raised his left arm in our direction. And then, George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States of America, extended his middle finger.

Read that last sentence again.
I got flipped off by George W. Bush.

A ponytailed man standing next to us confirmed the event, saying, "I do believe the President of the U.S. just gave you boys the finger." We laughed probably for the next half hour, and promptly told everyone we knew. Brendan actually snapped a picture of Bushy in action, but the glare and the tint of the bus windows make it difficult to see him at all. Nonetheless, it was the best possible reaction.

We pissed George W. Bush off. We are true patriots.

An Insult to America
July 12, 2004 -- A baker's dozen of congressional Democrats, among them four New Yorkers, has petitioned U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan to dispatch international observers to Florida to oversee this year's presidential balloting there.

"Dear God, let us be alive before we die."
- The Mother

Black Leaders Back Cosby's Straight Talk

Black leaders and members of Congress are embracing comments by Bill Cosby illustrating the lack of social responsiblity from some in the black community.

I'm the 601,655,887 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >>

Note: I am merely passing this information on; I have a bit of a different opinion regarding the topic.

From: "Jewish Alert"
Subject: Please read and forward far and wide
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 12:59:12 -0400

Please read and forward far and wide

Within the next 48 hours, Jews worldwide will be sending email messages to the United Nations, the EU Parliament and the EU Court of Justice with the identical message that is on this email.

PLEASE take a quick moment to copy the message below and paste it on to a new email that should be sent to the email addresses listed below:

ecu@un.org - United Nations
civis@europarl.eu.int - EU Parliament
info@curia.eu.int - EU Court of Justice

Subject:
The building of the Israeli fence

Message:
When Israel builds a fence to keep out terrorists, the UN and EU are up in arms because it makes it difficult for terrorists to kill more Jews.

When terrorists shoot (point blank!) an 8-month-pregnant Jewish woman and her 4 little girls, there is absolute silence from your organizations.

If you think your indifference goes unnoticed, count the number of messages you will receive world-wide in the next 48 to 72 hours on this.

ISLAMIC LAW ON SADDAM

July 7, 2004 -- WHENEVER it takes place, one thing is sure about Saddam Hussein's trial: The dictator will be judged on the basis of Western, rather than Islamic, law.
The Western legal system allows Saddam to employ lawyers, to question the authority of the court and to prolong the trial with judicial tactics. Once sentenced, he could lodge an appeal or seek retrial. The way things are shaping up, Saddam may even emulate his fellow despot Slobodan Milosevic by turning the trial into a political soap opera.

None of that would be possible if Saddam were tried under Islamic law.

One major feature of Islamic law is its emphasis on speedy trials. This is because, in its purest form, the Islamic penal system does not include imprisonment as a form of punishment. A man charged with a crime should be tried and sentenced before the sunset of the day of his arrest. If a trial could not be held immediately, the accused is allowed to stay with his family and/or friends who undertake to bring him forth at the appointed time.

There are three categories of crime in Islam: those committed against individual believers, those committed against society and those committed against God.

In the case of crimes against individuals, including manslaughter and unpremeditated murder, the accused could go free by paying "blood tithe" (diyah) to the relatives of the victim.

In other cases, such as causing personal physical injury, the system of retribution (qissass) will apply. The punishment is proportionate to the crime: an eye for an eye. (The idea is not to exact revenge but to impose limits on punishment.)



Crimes against society include embezzlement from the public treasury, corruption and morally reprehensible behavior in general. Here, too, in most cases, the accused can get away with the payment of fines and the restitution of illegally appropriated public property.

Such crimes as serial burglary (being convicted of stealing three times) have both private and public dimensions. The serial thief has his right hand amputated and is then set free.

One found guilty of a less serious crime, swindling a partner for example, is asked to pay compensation and a fine, and allowed to go home.

Men and women found guilty of adultery are flogged in public and then set free.

The most serious crimes, those committed against God, are punishable by death in the form of beheading. A man found guilty of premeditated murder has his head chopped off moments after being sentenced.

Nevertheless, the principle of repentance (tawbah) plays a central role in Islamic jurisprudence, whose ultimate aim is to reform rather than punish. Even in the case of publicly professed apostasy, one of the most serious crimes in Islam, repentance is not ruled out.

Now imagine Saddam Hussein appearing in front of an Islamic court.

First, he would notice is that there is only one judge. This is because having more than one judge might lead to a clash of interpretations that could cast doubt on the solidity (hikmah) of divine rules. He would also notice that there is no jury.

Next he would notice that the charges against him are spelled out by the judge himself. The judge would then call in two male witnesses (or four female ones) to testify to each of the charges.

Saddam would then be asked to respond to the charges and to speak in his defense. He would not have the services of a lawyer, since there are none in Islamic jurisprudence. But he could question the testimony of witnesses and call two witnesses of his own.

Once he is sentenced, there would be no appeal.

His fate would be in the hands of the Commander of the Faithful, the ruler who may bear the title of Caliph or Wali al-Amr (Custodian of Affairs) of the community. The Commander of the Faithful could lessen Saddam's sentence or even pardon him. One thing he cannot do is to keep him in prison.

Now, what are the charges that Saddam might face in an ideal Islamic court?

He could be charged with "betrayal of trust" (khianah fil amanah).

This means he breached the trust that people put in him as the ruler of the country. The charge would also cover the plundering of the public treasury (beit al-maal), seizure of property from Muslims, wasting public funds for personal pleasure and ostentatious living.

The punishment in such cases includes restoration of stolen property, payment of compensation and fines and flogging. But it could also mean death by beheading.

Saddam could also be charged with murder. There is ample evidence that Saddam personally shot Izzat Mostafa. Then there is film footage of Saddam ordering his henchmen to take several rival Baath leaders out of a party congress and shoot them in the courtyard of the conference hall.

In both cases, the Islamic punishment is death by beheading. Nevertheless, Saddam might be able to get away if the families of the victims agree to pardon him in exchange for blood tithe.

Saddam could face the more serious charge of "spreading corruption on earth" (mufsid fil-ardh). This is a broad charge and covers a variety of misdeeds, including a reign of terror, depriving Muslims of their freedom, property and dignity and causing conflict.

The wars that Saddam triggered against the Kurds in 1969, 1975 and 1991; the massacre of the people of Halabja with chemical weapons in 1988, and the crushing of the Shiite revolt in 1991 could fall into this category. Again the punishment is death by beheading.

The gravest charge that Saddam could face in an Islamic court is that of "waging war on God" (muharibah an-Allah).

The charge includes the cult of personality that Saddam built for himself, thus setting himself as a rival of God in seeking men's devotion. And that, of course, is a form of sherk (idolatry). Saddam could also be accused of having fought against the will of God by triggering wars against Iran and Kuwait and leading his people into decades of suffering and sorrow.

Once again, the punishment in such cases is death by beheading.

For years Saddam dismissed religion as "a relic of feudalism." In his last years, however, he tried to develop an Islamic image. If he were tried under Islamic law, he'd certainly be found guilty in a single sitting of the court and face beheading the same day.

From: XXXXXXX@aol.com
Reply-To: XXXXXXXX@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 2004 20:05:32 EDT
To: XXXXXXXX@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Freedom..ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION HERE!!!!


Do you want to talk about freedom?...Freedom is the ability to show up and protest a fucking law about to be enacted, and not showing up...8,000,000 people in the Metro area..10 percent or more gay, homosexual, lesbian, trans this, queer that...WHATEVER...and 1,000 people show up to say they don't like what is being done...THEY DON"T LIKE BEING DECLARED SUB-BEINGS....WHERE WERE THE OTHER FUCKING 799,000 of you??????And while the folks on the stage closed with hymnals about how "We are a peaceful people".. WHERE THE FUCK WAS THE OUTRAGE????..A PEACEFUL PEOPLE... FUCK YOU...I WANT TO BURN THE FUCKING BUILDING DOWN...I WANT TO LET YOU KNOW, WITHOUT A FUCKING DOUBT, THAT I DO NOT APPROVE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!! AND IF YOU DO NOT BACK THE FUCK OFF...I'M GONNA KEEP GOING...UNTIL I GET TO WHAT TOUCHES YOU...AND WHILE YOUR MOUTH IS HANGING IN UNBELIEF...I WILL SIMPLY ASK "HOW DOES THAT FEEL..LIKE SOME STRANGER JUST RIPPED OUT PART OF YOUR FUCKING BODY?" GOOD..CAUSE THAT IS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL....WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?...GOD?..WELL COME ON THEN, CAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE NOT IMPERVIOUS TO MY ABILITIES....AND I WILL CONTINUE!!!!!!!!

I have fought the long fight... I debated bigots in the 80's who wanted to quarantine all of us because of AIDS.. I went to countless classes, groups, street events, to tell people we were just like them with one difference... If you think the leisurely life of exceptance you enjoy from your neighbors or the clerk at the store is just a transition into modern times..Think again.. People came to me who had been thrown out of their house, had their houses burned to the ground, and had had to run for their lives because they touched their lovers arm in public....

And make no mistake, we are headed there again..And no matter how many strides you think we have made...No matter how comfortable you are...The folks who don't like us are WAYYYY more involved..and they are buying the political seats to have everything you think is O.K....To be turned into laws that will forbid it.. Via our constitution...Created mind you, by some men who had seen enough in their lives, to know that shit wasn't right... They are flipping over in their graves as we speak....

DON'T BELIEVE, CHECK OUT THE NEWEST BUSH NOMINEE FOR A FEDERAL COURT POSITION:

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today called on the Senate to reject the nomination of James Leon Holmes to a federal court in Arkansas on the grounds that the nominee is a right-wing zealot who lacks judicial temperament.

"Holmes is clearly the wrong person for a seat on the federal judiciary," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. "His views on church-state separation and other issues of personal liberty make him an inappropriate nominee for a judgeship."

The Senate is considering the nomination today, more than a year after the Judiciary Committee sent the nomination to the floor with no recommendation.

In a 2002 address to the Society of Catholic Social Scientists in Ann Arbor, Mich., Holmes questioned the legitimacy of church-state separation, noting that "we are left with some unease about this notion that Christianity and the political order should be assigned to separate spheres."

Noting that "Christianity transcends the political order and cannot be subordinated to the political order," he also suggested that eventually religion and government would be one.

"The final reunion of Church and state will take place at the end of time, when Christ will claim definitive political power of all creation, inaugurating an entirely new society based on the supernatural," Holmes declared at the religious gathering.

Holmes, who has served as president of Arkansas Right to Life and as secretary of the Unborn Child Amendment Committee, has also offered up out-of-the-mainstream views on the role of women, reproductive rights and gay rights.

In a 1997 article for an Arkansas publication, he and his wife wrote that, "The wife is subordinate to herself and to her husband" and that "the woman is to place herself under the authority of the man."

"This is one of the most divisive nominations put forth by the Bush administration, and that is saying a lot," Lynn added. "The Senate should reject Holmes' nomination."

(Received from informant)

In honor of the new film coming out about the late and great Mr. Charles Bukowski I can still, after all these years, remember the first time that I read this poem; I even photocopied it and laminated it. Perhaps, for a brief moment, I attempted to pass it off as my own (I was 14 or 15 at the time). In my little town they started to organize weekly poetry reading at a local hippie cafe; Bukowski was, by far, one of my favorite reads. I think I liked his dirty poems the best, but they were all pretty much that way. I never thought of him as the "larger than life" character. Rather, I thought of him as a lonely, old man who liked to drink and fuck. Still, to this day, I can find absolutely nothing wrong with either of those past times.

Dinosauria, we

born like this
into this
as the chalk faces smile
as Mrs. Death laughs
as the elevators break
as political landscapes dissolve
as the supermarket bag boy holds a college degree
as the oily fish spit out their oily prey
as the sun is masked

we are
born like this
into this
into these carefully mad wars
into the sight of broken factory windows of emptiness
into bars where people no longer speak to each other
into fist fights that end as shootings and knifings

born into this
into hospitals which are so expensive that it's cheaper to die
into lawyers who charge so much it's cheaper to plead guilty
into a country where the jails are full and the madhouses closed
into a place where the masses elevate fools into rich heroes

born into this
walking and living through this
dying because of this
muted because of this
castrated
debauched
disinherited
because of this
fooled by this
used by this
pissed on by this
made crazy and sick by this
made violent
made inhuman
by this

the heart is blackened
the fingers reach for the throat
the gun
the knife
the bomb
the fingers reach toward an unresponsive god

the fingers reach for the bottle
the pill
the powder

we are born into this sorrowful deadliness
we are born into a government 60 years in debt
that soon will be unable to even pay the interest on that debt
and the banks will burn
money will be useless
there will be open and unpunished murder in the streets
it will be guns and roving mobs
land will be useless
food will become a diminishing return
nuclear power will be taken over by the many
explosions will continually shake the earth
radiated robot men will stalk each other
the rich and the chosen will watch from space platforms
Dante's Inferno will be made to look like a children's playground

the sun will not be seen and it will always be night
trees will die
all vegetation will die
radiated men will eat the flesh of radiated men
the sea will be poisoned
the lakes and rivers will vanish
rain will be the new gold

the rotting bodies of men and animals will stink in the dark wind

the last few survivors will be overtaken by new and hideous diseases

and the space platforms will be destroyed by attrition
the petering out of supplies
the natural effect of general decay

and there will be the most beautiful silence never heard

born out of that.

the sun still hidden there

awaiting the next chapter.

-Charles Bukowski, from The Last Night of the Earth Poems, 1992

So, I went to a RNC volunteer orientation

(From the open publishing newswire) "At the orientation, you basically sit at a table with what is ostensibly an interviewer who will ask for 2 forms of government ID (i.e. license and social security card; or just 1 if it's a passport) and ask you a couple simple questions. make yourself sound all nice and eager and shit. then they tell you..." reportback from a rnc volunteer "orientation." obvious details have been left out.

first, go to www.nyc2004.org/volunteer (don't click on that link; copy and paste it into a new browser) and fill out that spiel. put down that you are available all times, every day and embelish your skills, basically what everyone does already on their resumes.

then you get an email inviting you to a "volunteer orientation" taking place at baruch college in manhattan.

at the orientation, you basically sit at a table with what is ostensibly an interviewer who will ask for 2 forms of government ID (i.e. license and social security card; or just 1 if it's a passport) and ask you a couple simple questions. make yourself sound all nice and eager and shit. then they tell you that you will hear back from them in late july/ early august after the "security check" (done by "law enforcement officials") goes through. if you make it through all that, training will occur between august 7th-18th; most trainings will be in nyc but something was mentioned about having a couple in NJ.

after this you go sit with a larger group of people and watch a boring power point presentation. you're given a short survey in which you let them know what you think about the whole process. the whole thing takes about 1/2 hour.

a couple key points:

-both potential volunteers and host committee staff are well aware of protests; a volunteer expressed anxiety about wearing clothing that would let people know they are down w/ the rnc and thus open to "harassment." staff claimed that some "consulting firm" will come in to tell people "how to deal with" protestors.

-about half there were middle-aged and older white men in business suits, a couple females, a couple "young" people, and at least 2 that looked like they might themselves be "shadow" volunteers.

-at the end there was a sign-up sheet for people to come in and make "welcoming signs" that would "be seen on tv" during the convention.

A very important website for all concerned NYers, Counter Convention offers a way for those not interested in allowing our city to become a further playground of the rich and elite alternatives to the RNC in September 2004. The first choice, of course, is to "get out of dodge", but for all concerned citizens not able leave via their Leir Jet for the Islands this website offers a very important resource.

Also see, Shadow Protest

Links received via informant.

Army Stage-Managed Fall of Hussein Statue

The Army's internal study of the war in Iraq (news - web sites) criticizes some efforts by its own psychological operations units, but one spur-of-the-moment effort last year produced the most memorable image of the invasion.

As the Iraqi regime was collapsing on April 9, 2003, Marines converged on Firdos Square in central Baghdad, site of an enormous statue of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). It was a Marine colonel — not joyous Iraqi civilians, as was widely assumed from the TV images — who decided to topple the statue, the Army report said. And it was a quick-thinking Army psychological operations team that made it appear to be a spontaneous Iraqi undertaking.

After the colonel — who was not named in the report — selected the statue as a "target of opportunity," the psychological team used loudspeakers to encourage Iraqi civilians to assist, according to an account by a unit member.

But Marines had draped an American flag over the statue's face.

"God bless them, but we were thinking … that this was just bad news," the member of the psychological unit said. "We didn't want to look like an occupation force, and some of the Iraqis were saying, 'No, we want an Iraqi flag!' "

Someone produced an Iraqi flag, and a sergeant in the psychological operations unit quickly replaced the American flag.

Ultimately, a Marine recovery vehicle toppled the statue with a chain, but the effort appeared to be Iraqi-inspired because the psychological team had managed to pack the vehicle with cheering Iraqi children.

"I may be blind, but I create truths."

URGENT!

Please, forward this link to everyone you know....

http://www.results.gov/leadership/potomacfever.html

and download the pages BEFORE they disappear.

Potomac Fever?

We need your help to better diagnose and treat a major DC malady.

The end of summer brings on health concerns such as fall allergies, common colds, sore throats, the coming flu season, and even holiday weight gain. While these concerns are by no means trivial there is an even more significant health concern that may be impacting you or some of the people you love and respect. It's called Potomac Fever. Following is some information to assist you in recognizing, preventing, and combating Potomac Fever.

General Symptoms include: Extreme disorientation, memory loss, and occasional delusions of grandeur.

Symptoms can present as follows: An individual suffering from Potomac Fever may have an inflated notion of self worth and may use phrases such as:
- "let's get one of the cars and drivers here to take us to dinner"
- "hello, I'm THE Assistant Secretary of ________" (vs. President Bush's Assistant Secretary of ____________ )
- "this issue is very important to MY agenda"
- "this hotel room is not big enough for the Assistant Secretary of _________"
- "I have the ugliest building in Washington"

The individual may suffer from delusions of grandeur:
- words like million and billion no longer seem so large
- the individual may believe he/she could be effective if only OMB would loosen up on the budget strings
- the individual may get upset at related industry gatherings when other people don't immediately know who he/she is
- the individual may be continually focused on his or her next position/appointment
- the individual has more material and pictures of themselves on their "I love me" wall than paper in their policy files
- office hallway pictures and blow-ups are two times life size

The individual may have incoherent speech. They may:
- frequently use words like paradigm and synergy
- frequently use acronyms and code words when talking about government programs……at home or at social occasions.

The individual may suffer bouts of memory loss:
- they may forget who appointed them to their position, the person whose name is on their appointment paper
- they may forget that they serve at the pleasure of the President

Prevention/Treatment: Frequently listen to or reading the President's vision for America. Also review the writings and remarks of past Presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. Listen to their principles, message, and vision.

Visit any small town outside the DC media market, go into a local store or restaurant to ask how many Cabinet officials and senior staff members the person waiting on you can name. Watch the local news in the same small town, notice how many seconds they devote to the most important issue you are currently working on.

Ask your children or siblings if they know how important a person you are.

Consider the following two questions.

Which of the following describes the picture above?
A. An American four door sedan
B. A common government vehicle
C. MY car

Which of the following describes the picture above?
A. A holiday dinner setting
B. A formal dinner setting
C. Everyday lunch

If you answered C to both questions and/or if you suffer from any of the symptoms described above, you may indeed be suffering from Potomac Fever. Please carefully review the suggested preventions/treatments.

Also please help us identify other symptoms and treatments for this terribly debilitating DC disease. You've all known people inflicted with the illness. Use the email feedback system to suggest other symptoms and treatments that we haven't thought of; so we can publish the expanded list for everyone's benefit.

We appreciate your help in this important effort.
Signed,

Clay Johnson
Kay Coles James

Additional Symptoms of Potomac Fever

After reading about Potomac Fever, members of the President's team have identified additional symptoms.

Symptom:       "I'm too busy to attend that meeting -- I'm sending my confidential assistant to take notes."
 
Symptom:       Excessive concern about the size of one's office space. Evidenced by the counting of tiles above cubical spaces to ensure the size of the cubical matches the entitled space.
 
Symptom:       "Them" as in career staff versus "Us" as in political appointees.
 
Symptom:       The desire to construct entire speeches out of acronyms.

One last note of warning, the young may be more susceptible to Potomac Fever. As one team member notes,

"The affliction often attacks the young who have yet to discover who they are as individuals. They believe that Senators, Mayors, Governors, etc. rush to take their telephone calls because it is they who are calling. They fail to understand, it is the office they represent that gets their calls answered. These individuals go through a difficult adjustment period once they leave an Administration and suddenly no one returns their call. Many crash and burn once they leave."

More Internet Dating

"it's wierd the thing we call life. me i'm not a professional, i don't have my degree yet, i don't even have a job. i drink. i smoke cigarettes. i smoke weed and do other drugs as well. i am not self motivated (well that's not my fault i am clinically depressed) and my eyes are not green . u on the other hand are the total opposite of that. funny thing. i tend to like girls like you. but then god said. al tayeboon lil taybaat wal '7abeethooon lil '7abeethat. so basically i got no chance in hell with a girl your kind. not because you're better than me, it's just because i'm worse than you. at any rate dear sister . and even though we are on different sides of the spectrum i really hope that u will be a sucessful,strong and happy woman so that u would set the example for kids of people like me who can't do it themselves and my prayer la might reach god and make it easier for u to be there and u in return will do that example thing . be good and be safe . take care"

21st Century Internet Dating


"...you Must be free from any STD's absolutely absolutely,I do not belong to any terroristic organizations absolutley and you can inquire at any Egyptain Embassy or Consulate or even the Interpool or your local security authorities and here the Egyptian Government websites: www.Egypt.gov.eg. www.alhokoma.gov.eg. or www.house.misrnet.gov.eg. www.idsc.gov.eg. I can provide you with all my legal papers like my passport copy,my police records,etc."