ABAUM'S WORLD

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2012-01-16T10:49:00.000-05:00

On this MLK Day 2012, I remember how much Martin Luther King, Jr.'s spirit and wisdom was a part of City Year's idealism. The communal space in the center of the office was the "MLK Space;" we talked of creating a "beloved community." We painted his portrait in school murals across Washington DC. One of our biggest service days was on MLK Day itself. City Year has a mission to make this a day for national service. In short, Martin Luther King, Jr. pervaded that year of my life in the greatest way.

Today I want to take a moment to commemorate the legacy of MLK, to ensure that his ideals were not just something I studied for a year, but values that I live every day of my life. His ideals were our greatest American ideals: liberty and justice for all. Peace and brotherhood. Hope and faith.

On this Martin Luther King, Jr. day, we must take a moment to pause from the cynicism, divisiveness and pettiness of our politics and remember that America is a great country because great men like MLK sacrificed their lives to make a more perfect Union. Let us honor that sacrifice today by reflecting on what we can do as individuals to make our country and our world a better place.

It os often customary, particularly on this day, to read the "I Have a Dream" speech. Of course I encourage you to do so. But perhaps you are ready for something a bit longer and even more challenging: MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail. I have just re-read it, and it is a stirring reminder of how deeply unjust our segregated country was, how far we have come as a nation, and yet how much further we still need to go to make our country the "beloved community" Dr. King dreamed of.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: today we honor you.

Miami Heat Looking Good as They Enter 2012 NBA Season

2011-12-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

There was a moment near the end of the Heats White v. Red shirts scrimmage game on Thursday night when Udonis Haslem gave a stiff backarm to one of our eager new draft picks as he drove to the basket. The other guy fell to the wayside -- even now, I can't remember his name -- but the statement from Udonis was clear: this year I will make an impact. Maybe he was angry after seeing this article in the Herald entitled "No guarantee loyalty will be rewarded for Miami Heat’s Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem." I was certainly upset when I read it.

I never seriously thought Riley would dump Haslem, a guy for whom the Big Three all took a pay cut to keep in Miami last year. And poor Mike Miller has just gotten unlucky with injuries. Miller needs a second chance, and Haslem is the heart of our team -- he's a team captain with Wade. Instead, we had a great offseason. The Heat kept both these assets and added Shane Battier, a defensive minded team player with talent, and Norris Cole, a young kid out of Cleveland State who probably got drafted too late and is already giving Mario Chalmers a run for his money. Big second year Dexter Pittman is getting some good looks, and Riley is taking the long view on veteran Eddy Curry. Our 33 point victory over the Magic (118-85) in our first preseason game tonight was our third highest best margin of victory ever for a first preseason game. The team kept the core of the team that came to Game Six of the NBA Finals last season, and wisely filled out its roster.

In his post-game interview after the game tonight, Lebron agreed that there are two open spots on the team right now. This breeds a healthy competition for a starting spot in the big leagues with The Big Three. It is an environment that could yield great dividends in young talent like Pittman and Cole, and help keep guys like Chalmers, Anthony and Jones sharp.

The Heat work hard and feed off of each other, with Lebron and DWade setting the example, each vying for the distinction of best in the NBA. Yet as much as each can shine on his own, their greatest achievement will be winning an NBA title together. The bravado, the sense of history, the sheer audacity of it all -- it may infuriate the rest of the country, but for us down here in Miami, the real Heat fans, it is exhilarating. As a lifelong HEAT basketball fan, I am excited to see my team take on the entire league for the second time. Last year they fought hard, and Dirk finally had his day, but 2012? 2012 is our year!

LET'S GO HEAT!

The Ambassador's Gift

2011-11-28T23:45:00.001-05:00

The world can be sad, lonely and cruel. Was that the lesson that Avi Greenberg tried to teach us when he took his life on Saturday morning, Thanksgiving Weekend? Avi was a troubled soul. He was kind, honest and intelligent, but so very sad. You could see it in his eyes. Maybe it had something to do with his childhood: the foster family, the estrangement from the Orthodox Jewish community in which he was raised. He never told me, and now we'll never know. Beyond the sense of pain and loss I feel, I am also left wondering why. Why would a person who was so clearly loved by so many people do such a horrible, hopeless act? Maybe, in that last, desperate moment, he was so fixated on his own sorrow that he could not sense the love of his friends. I don't know. I don't have any answers. All I have is memories, a few photographs, and the story I am about to share with you tonight.

Avi sent me this story, entitled the Ambassador's Gift, last September. I was surprised that he came to me. He sent me the file, a story he had been working on, in an email with this message: "tell me what you think and if theres anything i should change or elaberate on. this is the first draft so i know about all the grammatical errors"I was busy with my third year of law school, so I saved the file to my desktop, and proceeded to ignore it. When I finally opened it up, I only gave it a cursory glance. After finishing the first page, reading with my critical editor's eye, all I could see were the imperfections: passive constructions, misspellings, simplistic characters. I dismissed it as the work of an amateur. I never emailed Avi back to tell him what I thought. But I was so selfish. I didn't even give it a chance. I didn't even finish this three page story.

Over the past few days, as I reflected back on our relationship, I kept coming back to this story -- the fact that it was unfinished, both the story itself, and my reading of it. Tonight I finally opened it up, and realized what a clever little parable it is. It is not the most original piece of writing, but it has heart. It earnestly attempts to convey truth and meaning through irony. In some way, it feels like some sort of metaphor for Avi's life: imperfect, far too short, too-often neglected, but full of wisdom and promise. Though Avi is gone, his story lives on. I hope you will enjoy it.

The Ambassador's Gift

A short story by Avi Greenberg

He awoke in a small, single room, straw-thatch roofed, shack on a small wooden cot. He slowly come to with his eyes scanning the unfamiliar room trying to look for clues as to where he was and how he had gotten there. His head felt inflated and he had pain in his ribs and right leg that was in a splint. Within a few minutes of waking a small and thin black haired man in his mid thirties entered the room, when the dark haired man noticed that the injured man was awake he yelled outside to the field that their patient was awake and to come quick. The small black haired man walked to the injured mans cot and introduced himself as Peter son of John and asked him if he had remembered what happened. The wakening man at that moment realized not only did he not know what had happened but that he didn’t remember anything about himself not even his name and with a scratchy dry voice replied to Peter “No. Do you?”
In the ensuing few days the mystery man had gained enough strength and health to be able to walk around with the aid of a crutch. The man was introduced to Peters family, his wife Mary, his two children, Tommy, aged 10 and Jessica, aged 7, and Peters mother Elizabeth, all of whom lived in this small straw roofed shack that stood on the edge of a modest sized farm. Peter explained to him that his son, Tommy, discovered him, in the woods while collecting firewood, unconscious and badly injured, about a month back and that’s when they took him in to nurse him back to health. Although the man was still healing from his injuries, his memory still offered no hints as to whom he was or where he was from. After much discussion they had all come to the conclusion that he must have been apart of a caravan attacked by bandits while traveling on a nearby road notorious for its dangers. They figured he must have been injured and wandered some distance before losing consciousness. He inquired about going to the other nearby towns to see if there was anybody who knew who he was or if they had heard of an attack on any travelers and knew anything about who those travelers where or if their where others still alive that he might have been with, but Peter explained to him that it would be very unwise to go around asking too many questions in these lands because, in this kingdom, the king and his government was an oppressive one and that anybody that seemed suspicious would quickly disappear.
It was the first time the man heard about the tyrannical regime that the kind and gentle people whom saved his life feared so much. He soon learned that the very farm they where living on, as well as all the surrounding farms, were owned by the king and that they where made to work on the farm and turn over just about all of their crop as taxes, leaving barely anything for them to live on. They also explained that the men were often drafted into the military to fight wars of conquest so the king could further his riches and power. Many of the men who left to fight never returned, as was the case with Peter’s father many years before. The king’s knights were thugs, known to go from town to town, raping the women and stealing cattle from its inhabitants. None of this sat well with the poor amnesiac who couldn’t understand how God would let such kind people be treated so horribly. As the months went by and the seasons changed, the man was beginning to lose any hope of regaining knowledge of whom he was and began to be consumed with the idea of liberating the people who saved his life. Although he was still breathing, he was overcome with the idea that, without memories, ones spirit was dead because one is nothing more than the sum total of their memories. The thoughts of a dim soul, juxtaposed with the want to better the lives of the angels who had opened their home to save a stranger, got him thinking that the only reason God saved him was so that he may bring to these people a much deserved reprise. He figured he was god’s instrument for setting things right and just. He realized that there could be only one thing to do; become an assassin.
Peter had tried to deter him from what he had described as a fools revenge and that although things where hard, grace would bring salvation not vengeance, but the John Doe was convinced and determined to bring peace to the righteous and bring down this evil empire. Eventually, Peter gave in and told him that he would introduce him to his cousin, who was involved in an underground rebellion.
Peter’s cousin, Samuel, was a traveling businessman from a few towns over. Samuel was a much taller man then Peter and, if you weren’t told they were cousins, you wouldn’t ever think they were related. They were polar opposites. Where Peter was small, soft spoken and gentle, Samuel was a large, commanding presence, loud and outspoken. Where Peter was careful to chose his words Samuel always spoke his mind and was forceful with his opinions. In spite of Samuel’s belligerent disposition, the stranger quickly took a liking to him, as did many others, mainly because Samuel had a certain wit about him. After many meetings, Samuel felt the amnesiac was ready to meet some of the others involved in the resistance. The man, along with Samuel, had devised a plan to bring down the king. Samuel explained that the king had an affinity for Egyptian art work and that ambassadors often brought him gifts in this form and that this would be the best way to be granted an audience with the king. Upon presenting the gift to the king, the would-be assassin would lunge forward with a dagger to pierce the king’s heart. It was understood that this would be a suicide mission for the kings guards would surely kill him, but this was the reason he was perfect for this mission, he knew that he could no longer be a burden to his adopted family and felt that his body was still alive in order to return balance to the land. Samuel and the others in the resistance had been able to acquire a sarcophagus, made with gold and studded with jewels. They had felt that it would be an irresistible gift to the king and all but guarantee an audience with him. They also got a horse-drawn carriage, along with fine clothing so that the unknown man may pose as an ambassador from a somewhat distant kingdom called Faraland.
The resistance had arranged, with help from sympathizers from within the king’s court, for a meeting to present the gift, giving them the opportunity to plant the dagger.
As the carriage pulled into the castle’s walls, the man with no memories pulled the large hood on his garment over his head. When the wheels finally rolled to a stop, the man stepped out and walked into the throne room, while three of the others from the resistance, posing as the ambassador’s subordinates, carried the sarcophagus behind him. The king was atop his throne with a smug, condescending look on his face, surrounded by guards, noblemen, advisors, peasants, and many others, in attendance, to appease the kings every wish and desire. All of the help that surrounded the king had a faint look of fear on their face, hoping not to so much as inadvertently annoy the king for fear of retribution, many have gone to the gallows for what would seem as a most minor of an infraction. “Ambassador from the kingdom Faraland” was announced and the man with no memories stepped forward the gift. Under the man’s sleeves he clutched the dagger and with the other hand pulled down his hood. The king looked up and a smile formed on his face making the man believe the king was pleased with the gift, but the truth of the matter was that the king was not smiling because of the gift but before the king could muster a word the man leaped forward piercing the dagger into the kings chest. The king’s smile quickly faded as the look of shock overtook him, and with his last breath the king cries “my son! Your alive..”

Make the Call to Save Service!

2011-10-01T07:52:00.002-04:00

For a year between undergrad and law school, I served our nation's most vulnerable communities as a member of City Year Washington DC, an AmeriCorps programs that brings together a diverse group of young people to tackle some of the biggest social problems facing urban youth. Working with my fellow corps members on education programs and community service project, I experienced the joy and solidarity that comes with sacrificing one's time for the good of one's country. The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which funds AmeriCorps, was expanded in the beginning of the Obama Administration by a large bipartisan group of Congressman and Senators, who understood the strong impact these programs have on the young people who participate in them and on the communities they serve -- an impact that is leveraged by private and corporate donations, which strengthens our civic bonds and national security.

Today, in a new political landscape, the House of Representatives is now threatening to completely eliminate CNCS, and with it, nearly 100,000 jobs for young people. This bill will shut down the entire Corporation for National and Community Service and eliminate AmeriCorps, the Social Innovation Fund, the Volunteer Generation Fund, and Learn & Serve America. If this bill passes, these cost-effective programs -- that fill the gap between the services state and local governments can provide and the supports citizens require -- will be gone.

This is an outrageous assault on a bipartisan program that has for decades proven itself to be efficient, effective, and patriotic. Please help stop this terrible bill from becoming law by going to this link and finding out more about what you can do to get involved.

Steps you can take Today to make a difference include:

1. Call or Send a Letter to your Senators and Congressperson

2. Sign up with SaveService.com to get updates on this important campaign

3. Get your friend and family involved: share this post on facebook and twitter

In my family, we just celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. In our tradition, this is the time when God renews the world. It is a time pregnant with possibilities, when it is decided what will happen in the coming year -- who will live, and who will die. But this is not traditionally seen as destiny; our tradition teaches that by doing acts of loving-kindness, charity, and prayer, we can change the future and avert the evil decree. The House of Representatives has pronounced the death sentence for AmeriCorps, but the fight has just begun. Please help us avert the evil decree and take action to save these Service programs.

2011-09-19T19:01:00.001-04:00

I passed the Florida Bar Exam! Trust me, I'm a lawyer.

Golan: The Monologue You Won't See at "Subject to Change"

2011-02-28T15:48:00.003-05:00

The following is a dramatic monologue which I edited for performance under the guidance of the board of "Subject to Change," a student group here at Penn Law School that produces a show consisting of student/faculty/staff-written monologues, performed by students. The monologue was not selected for performance. The reason for this rejection, I am told, is because the monologue is too "poetic" and "cerebral," "dense" and "difficult to understand," and not enough of a "story" which "people can easily follow when listening." I leave it to you to decide.
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It’s 2002.
I’m traveling along the banks of the Sea of Galilee, in the shadow of the Golan Heights – a mountainous region Israel conquered from Syria during the Six Day War, and later annexed.

A sardonic statue of the Syrian Prime Minister Bashar al-Assad sits with a rod by the sea and fishes.
Assad wants to fish in my lake.
“No Arab swims in my sea”:
The Sea of Galilee.

Summer sun melts the shores.
Palms stand in rows in lines like dates
where empty olive grove chair waits plastic in the shade.

This long road
got dust spread along the air
which tastes of ancient moisture.
It’s a languid Tiberias evening.
Yellow afternoon.
Yellow water.
Starving grass creeps along the dust:
long hot yellow dust,
mountainside.
Wave at Assad as a tourist takes a picture of his statue.
A reminder:
“No Arabs in my sea.”

Knicks.
White marks in metal.
This old car. Moves.
My friend Gedaliah has lent it indefinitely. I'm moving
near his old soul. He is dead
and I am living and that is fair by God,
by God this life is fair. At least true.
At least I'm alive
with dirt in my lungs
my feet out the window
wave to the sea. Hello.

This car is moving, the reeds are by the side;
Sea of Reeds, see
a knick Gedaliah made for me
before he was exploded in Jenin.

Gedaliah’s cousin Jed is in the driver’s seat.
Jed says stop so we can swim,
and we can swim here despite the sign:
all signs say no.
No.
We've stopped by a bank of the Sea of Galilee
where lovers litter the shore.
Men in cotton underwear shout
and spit as they come up.
Murky murky shore.
I sink in the shore. Bubbles come up from the muck.
Old muck air between my toes
tickles my legs and pops.

Back during the Peace Process, this sea receded; did you know this sea fell?
Yard by yard it sank in a long drought.
Jordan laughed and Turkey too.
And tall trees grew by the shore
where deep waves once rolled.
Then last winter, a little miracle occurred.
Extraordinary rainfall filled the sea, pushing the shoreline up into the vegetation.

Have you ever seen a sunken tree?
In murky yellow water-air I swim, I see the shore
and remark:
“It’s deep here. Too deep for reeds. This is not the Sea of Reeds.
This is the Sea of Galilee filled with trees.”

I'm swimming in six feet of water,
where the tops of trees sway in and out with the waves.
Trees eight feet tall, swaying in the waves.
I wonder will they drown,
now that the water’s risen.
Will we drown in these rising seas?

Exciting News About my Comment -- Publication!

2011-01-13T17:56:00.002-05:00

I am excited to announce that my student Comment, "The Niqab in the Courtroom: Protecting Free Exercise in a Post-Smith World," has been selected for publication in volume 159 of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. I spent a full year researching, writing and editing this work, and I am so glad it is being published. You may read the comment online here.

The Penn Law Review sent out a short notice to our members introducing my comment. I include it here for you to get an idea of what is is about:

Adam's Comment deals with the controversy surrounding an effort by the state of Michigan to restrict the right of Muslim women to appear in court wearing a niqab, or face-veil. After an introduction to the American Muslim community and the Supreme Court’s Free Exercise jurisprudence, the paper considers several methods by which a reviewing court could apply strict scrutiny to a rule like Michigan’s, focusing on the “hybrid-rights” theory that currently divides the Courts of Appeals. It then evaluates the interests proffered as compelling reasons for the ban, and presents legal and empirical evidence suggesting that these are not sufficiently compelling and narrowly tailored enough to overcome strict scrutiny. By showing why even individuals at the outer edges of the law still have a strong claim for a religious exemption, this Comment makes jurisprudential space for the vast majority of religious adherents to exercise their religious freedom within the halls of American justice.

Sign the Petition to Make the Filibuster Real!

2010-12-22T11:43:00.001-05:00

In the movies, in order to filibuster, Senators have to stand in the Senate and make their case to the American people. But in the modern Senate, a filibuster takes no such act of principle or courage. Senators can filibuster simply by placing a phone call to a clerk and heading off to dinner!

This January 5th, we have a chance to change the rules of the Senate, and make Senators engage in an all night talk-a-thon in order to block legislation or nominations. The key is to adopt new rules on the first day the Senate convenes next year, when only a simple majority of Senators is required for a change in Senate rules.

I've joined with Senators Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall, who are fighting with some dedicated colleagues to make this happen. To get across the finish line, they need to get as many people as possible to show their support for making the filibuster real. You can do so by signing the petition Daily Kos has created:

http://campaigns.dailykos.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=17

The David

2010-12-17T18:42:00.004-05:00

No Foto!
shouted and ignored
can you capture the divine?
No Foto! No Foto!
David stands and sighs
the tourists push their buttons
flashes like David is on the red carpet
transcendence or mere celebrity?
No Foto! No Foto!
Chatter echoes through the hall
Grandma focuses her lens
a guide gesticulates towards a crowd
a listless young boy wonders
what all the fuss is about.
No Foto! No Foto!
flip flops shuffle in and out
but David's still standing
never takes that next step forward
as he looks, at any moment now, to do:
climb down off the throne and
crush tourists with his marble legs
rip bodies with the strength of rock
tourists flee in horror, blood
fills the hall, creeping across the floor,
the Italian woman screaming
No Foto! No Foto!

Little rays of legislative hope

2010-12-16T01:03:00.006-05:00

Could it be... past the fallout of a wipeout election, the grandstanding over tax cuts, the no votes on the defense authorization bill and inaction on the DREAM Act, now comes this small ray of bipartisanship over the civil rights issue of our time. Our hopes have been dashed before, yet it looks inevitable now that a standalone vote on the Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will happen this lame duck. Republicans like Richard Lugar may want to be on the right side of history; guys like Scott Brown want to get re-elected.

A possible DADT repeal this month is a welcome advance -- but it is also another in a series of sad examples of why the fillibuster has so fundamentally corrupted the Senate. Every bill now requires 60 votes to advance to the floor for debate, making 60 the de facto number needed to pass any legislation. This anti-majoritarian diversionary tactic, in an already undemocratic chamber, needs to go.

I was given another new hope today, when I saw that some Democratic Senators seem genuinely serious about amending the Senate rules on January 5th, the first day of the 112th Congress, to reform the fillibuster. This procedure calls for a simple majority vote; no legislation may be passed until the rules are passed. Tom Udall is confident they will be able to reform the fillibuster. I would like to be rid of it entirely, but even restoring its genuine character would be a huge improvement. Now, Senators can simply use the threat of a fillibuster to shut down debate. If this procedural trick wasn't available, Senators would actually have to physically hold the floor to prevent debate to continue. Tying the fillibuster back to its original purpose would be more in line with the great deliberative tradition of that Chamber, which historically was at times a place where people actually listened to each other, and served with honor and dignity.

One area where this problem has manifested itself most acutely is judicial nominations. This editorial expressed the crisis well:

As it stands today, there are 110 vacancies out of around 870 federal judgeships, with another 21 judges anticipating retirement in the near future. That's 15 percent of the federal bench currently empty or about to become so. Moreover, there have been fewer judges confirmed during President Obama's first 20 months in office than at any point since Richard Nixon was president. A bipartisan collection of retired judges recently penned a letter to senators complaining about how the antics in the legislative branch were helping to cripple the judicial branch, arguing that the "situation is untenable for a country that believes in the rule of law."

This backlog of cases, which is delaying fundamental justice for American citizens, is just another casualty of the fillbuster. Might these new rule changes also help us solve this systemic problem? There is some hope in my mind that, by restoring majority rule in a closely divided chamber, we can have people start coming together in the middle to do the People's work. Learn more about the judicial nomination backlog at this interactive website made by the American Constitution Society, judicialnominations.org.

In space

2010-12-05T20:08:00.000-05:00

In space, no reach for limits logic known
here I float authentic, seeming sound
catch me: a wisp, in strands cotton fleeting
like seeds with wings twirling sensed flight
in search of the soil of earthly delight.
Desire me this way a fanciful
string, color me object remarkable
white. Know that in whiteness reside all things
colored; know that in darkness I ne’er disappear
“shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.”
What is the difference remarkable made
‘tween poems rejecting and poems accepting
melodious, marking a profitable trade?
In Judgement find no one find nothing find
none, in Mercy weep pleasant, profitless
stars. Fixed skybound, meanings fixed in the sky
where I float less with grace higher twisting
around a molecule. and none comply.
atoms are the essence of character.
scissored unrolling presumptuous feat
to scatter my seedlings so timely in beat
around such a small thing such as this is
something I’m proud to be scattered around.
Your kind indulgence, I do then accept
qualified; paying, my own proud designs
the cost of floating in space exhaustive
spent my last flight falling, landed soft crunch
in a pile of Fall. red yellow orange
green pink purple. oak leaf maple acorn.
a white wisp floating, seeds winged and unbound.

I won a case -- and there's a blog about it

2010-11-23T12:20:00.003-05:00

I am excited to tell everyone about an individual I was able to recently help through Penn's Employment Advocacy Project. Bill Whiting, a good friend of Penn Law School Dean of Students Gary Clinton, had his unemployment compensation benefits wrongfully terminated after he voluntarily reported to the UC office that he was publishing a blog that was earning a very small amount of revenue. The blog was a collection of political-type cartoons that was a continuation of Bill's "Creative Arts" business that he has been doing for decades on the side. With the invaluable assistance of Penn Law student Pat Nugent, who represented the client at the hearing (I had to be at the MPRE that morning), we successfully argued that this blog fell into an exception for pre-existing sideline businesses, and therefore did not constitute the type of self employment that results in loss of benefits.

For a more lighthearted view of this case from the client himself, please check out his Winnie Toons blogpost on the subject, here!

old poem

2010-11-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Sleep in my chest
Shut your eyes and close your head
Fold your feet and cross your heart
Hope to die
Hope to die
Stick a needle in your eye.

Slumber like a unicorn
Unknown, unseen
you don't exist
you're in my mind

Leonard didn't want to fight anymore.
So he ran off to a desert isle
with maidens on the shore.
And Leonard was so happy there
a castle, grassy, tall and cream.
Landing with knights
Chardonnay and Capricorns
dipped a ladle in the stars for his alphabet soup.

She fell asleep in his arms
together in my chest.
Sewer inside a leather bag
with baubles and silver
and petals of gold.
Trapped in the castle
on Manchua the isle
A desert in a snowglobe and I'm shaking.

when times are tough, make art

2010-11-18T16:48:00.003-05:00

I have all this work I have written over the years but never share with anyone. This is error. Art is meant to be put into the world, not hoarded up Dickinson-like for some postmortem discovery. Here is just something I recently wrote. I am going to try to put pieces of regularly without comment. I hope you will take some satisfaction in them.

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Black tanks whir toward oblivion
empty shells explode on the street
the rain falls at night like a flood
consuming all with dust.
nothing meaning nothing.
The Dead are awake, watching us sleeping.
Late into the night, they
raise their ghostly eyes.
a cool draft of supernatural air
flows through the fan's wheels
whirring.
the night falls like a food,
filling the streets with molasses;
everything is sticky and fused together like hot iron.
nothing separate from the only thing,
the Universe putting forth her silent mysteries like a holy Virgin untouched, untainted,
and living on even after Death,
forever watching the living shuffle forward
in what they presume is the beginning of the End,
or do not conclude at all, being human,
and therefore to err, to be Divine.

VOTE TODAY

2010-11-02T00:20:00.002-04:00

Last night on the Rachel Maddow Show, I learned that among registered voters on a generic ballot, Democrats enjoy a 4 point edge across the country -- but among so-called "likely voters," those numbers flip, with Republicans showing +4. The voter model predicting the loss of Democratic control of the House, and a narrow Democratic majority in the Senate, is based on this key indicator. Here's what it all comes down to: today history will not be made by a poll of the likely; it will be written by the votes of the actual.

Only you can make the change. Our votes tomorrow will decide if Democrats will continue to lead this country forward, or if we allow Republicans to drag it back.

If you are still undecided, I hope you'll watch the video below and remember that reckless Republican leadership produced the deep recession we are still digging our way out of. It was Republicans that turned record surpluses into historic deficits, threw away a trillion dollars on a war of choice in Iraq, and defunded and corrupted our regulatory and administrative agencies responsible for everything from food and drug safety to the levees in New Orleans. In the worst economic climate since the Great Depression, Democrats not only averted an economic collapse of epic proportions, they got the economy growing again, and steadily creating private-sector jobs. Things are not perfect, but they're getting remarkably better. Don't let the GOP snatch progress from our grasp.

VOTE.

My Top Five Strengths

2010-10-28T00:14:00.002-04:00

On Monday in my Creativity class at Wharton, Marty Seligman lectured about his development of Positive Psychology, a discipline that has had a major influence in the discipline. I signed up at the his website, Authentic Happiness, to try out some of his tools. I took the survey of character strengths first. These are the results.

VIA Survey of Character Strengths
Here are your scores on the VIA Survey of Character Strengths. For how to interpret and use your scores, see the book Authentic Happiness. The ranking of the strengths reflects your overall ratings of yourself on the 24 strengths in the survey, how much of each strength you possess. Your top five, especially those marked as Signature Strengths, are the ones to pay attention to and find ways to use more often.

Your Top Strength
Curiosity and interest in the world
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

Your Second Strength
Love of learning
You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

Your Third Strength
Gratitude
You are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. Your friends and family members know that you are a grateful person because you always take the time to express your thanks.

Your Fourth Strength
Bravery and valor
You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.

Your Fifth Strength
Appreciation of beauty and excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

When the Moment's at its Crisis

2010-10-22T16:29:00.005-04:00

Hey gang. Its been a while since I posted on the blog. My attention was averted to pa2010.com, where as I'd been blogging for over a year on the Pennsylvania Senate Race. Well, know we're only a few weeks away from what promises to be an historic election. The Conventional Wisdom is spelling doom for the Democrat, with pollsters betting they lose 50 seats in the House. Goodbye Nancy. The Senate is still considered safe, but Republicans smell blood in the water. Power in Washington is vulnerable.

At the leading edge of the Democratic Party is The Admiral Joe Sestak, a 30 year navy veteran turned Congressman with progressive values. I followed the man he beat in the primary, Senator Arlen Specter, on my blog The In-Specter.

Arlen Specter is a career survivor in Pennsylvania Politics. I carefully watched as Sestak languished by double digits for months, only to come from behind mere weeks from the election and take Arlen down. Now Sestak is making a similar move in his race against Club for Growth darling Pat Toomey.

Nate Silver says his chances of losing are still over 80%. But as Silver admitted yesterday, Pennsylvania is "one state where a candidate in a fairly tight race does seem to have made up ground."

What's going on? Why this sudden shift in the polls? Reversals are rare, but polls are only a prediction. The outcome of this race will come down to one thing only: who votes on Election Day.

Sure that's obvious. But its also the point. Elections come down to who votes. In a democracy, only you can make the future.

I'll be posting here more often about the race, and hope to get you motivated to get out and vote for Democrats in this election.

---------------------------------------

I want to jump into a pair of ads I saw this afternoon on a Fox affiliate. The first was a veteran talking about his brother who died in Iraq.

Dante Zappala's is the narrator of this ad by VoteVotes.org. His brother died in Iraq. He says:

Big Oil and its backers are spending millions to scare us, saying it costs too much to break our dependence on oil. What they're really doing is putting our security at risk. My big brother went to Iraq to keep us safe. He came home in a flag-draped coffin. America lost another hero. Big Oil wants to talk about costs? Don't let Big Oil lie to you about what our dependence really costs.

Now compare this ad, by the Republican Senatorial Committee. A dark, scary voice speaks in whispered tones about Joe Sestak's record in Washington, and association with Washington Liberals, and offers clips of Sestak speaking as evidence of his accusations.

(Voice) What did Joe Sestak think of the stimulus bill that failed to create jobs?

Sestak "It's the minimum amount needed. I would have voted for one trillion dollars."

(Voice) The government takeover of Health Care?

Sestak: "its hard for me to vote for a bill that doesn't have a public health care plan option in it."

(Voice) The job killing cap and trade energy tax?

Sestak: "I pushed hard for the cap and trade bill. The one the House passed should have even been more."

(Voice) There's left. There's far left. And then there's Joe Sestak."

---

The Republicans are right about one thing in this ad. You have a real choice in this election. Joe Sestak supported the ambitious agenda of President Obama: to reform Wall Street and stop the economic catastrophe caused by eight years of Republican mishandling; to guarantee health care as a right owed to every American, and stop the discriminatory, wasteful practices of the insurance companies; to enact practical reforms that will slow climate change while stimulating the creation of 21st century American industry.

The Veterans Vote ad provides the essential contrast in Pat Toomey. Like many of the radical right wing Republicans running this cycle, he threatens to undo our record of achievement on these critical issues. He might claim to be tough on National Security, but honest patriots like the men and women at Veterans Vote know the truth: his record of support for Big Oil, and no votes on things like CAFE standards and the Kyoto Accords from when he served in the House indicate that he too does not understand the real cost of oil dependence. Like the oil companies, his shortsighted focus on what is profitable now fails to take into account critical externalities that, in the long term, are dangerous for the physical and economic security of our nation and our world.

Don't sit this one out. On November 2nd, you have a clear choice. You can let the Republicans obstruct any more progress, or you can be counted on to deliver for good Democrats like Joe Sestak. The Coalition that elected Barack Obama must show up now. We cannot be silent!

"I am Israel"

2010-05-06T12:00:00.002-04:00

This is a video worth watching. It is strong defense of Israel and I endorse its central message.

Take Action NOW to Protect Florida's Coastline

2010-05-04T11:12:00.003-04:00

My fellow Floridians:

As you may already have heard, it is only a matter of time before the oil spill in the Gulf begins to reach our shores in Florida. It is critical that our government act immediately to stem this crisis. Please, take a moment to send an email to our governor and Senators. You can simply copy and paste the letter I used, which I have copied below. Then, take a moment to forward this email to your family and friends and urge them to do the same. We must force our leaders to take action NOW to protect our state. Please don't delay; take two minutes to help protect our State!

Sincerely,

Adam

Governor Crist: Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com
Senator Nelson: http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Senator LeMieux: http://lemieux.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorLeMieux
Debbie Wasserman Schultz: http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml

Dear Governor Crist,

Our worst fears are being realized. News reports in the Miami Herald this week report scientific predictions that it is only a matter of time before the Gulfstream current carries patches of polluted surface water and balls of tar to our pristine and sensitive beaches, mangrove forests, coral reefs, and other marine habitats in the Florida Keys and South Florida. It is critical that our state government take action immediately to protect these areas and assure that this horrible pollution does not foul our State's environmental treasures. I urge you to please put aside all other concerns and focus your energy on protecting our state from a devastating environmental catastrophe.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Adam Schwartzbaum
1940 NE 124th Street
North Miami, FL 33181

The Controversy over Michael Oren's Commencement Speech at Brandeis University: the Value of Listening and Academic Freedom

2010-04-30T15:09:00.007-04:00

Once again, in what seems at this point to be an almost time-honored tradition, my alma mater, Brandeis University, has set off a wide controversy over its decision to give a prominent speaking engagement to a partisan in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This time, the fight is over Michael Oren, an American academic turned Israeli Ambassador to the United States who will be giving the commencement address at this year’s graduation ceremony.

The disputants have fallen into their predictable camps. On one side is the liberal, anti-war, anti-colonialist crowd, who began a petition calling on the University to revoke Oren’s invitation to address the graduating class and replace him with a less “divisive” figure. Spearheaded by the influential Brandeis blog innermostparts.org, the petition proclaims, “[h]is far-right views are divisive and do not reflect the diversity of opinion on campus, and moreover politicize what should be an uncontroversial, inclusive role.” It further argues that, because Oren’s far-right views are antithetical to those of many Jewish students at Brandeis, his speech is “in conflict with one of our founding values: our integral relationship with the Jewish community.” It concludes by threatening that, if Oren is not removed, the signees will boycott commencement. It currently has 126 signees.

On the other side is the pro-Israel crowd, an assortment of individuals spanning a relatively broad political spectrum, from liberal sympathizers like myself, to right-wing conservatives I normally don’t have anything to do with. This camp has sprouted its own petition available at the facebook group, “A letter in support of President Reinharz and Michael Oren.” Its 247 members support the University’s decision to invite Oren to speak on the grounds that, while admittedly controversial, Oren is a high profile academic and political actor of international renown who “reflects Brandeis University’s historic ties to the American Jewish community and timeless dedication to academic excellence as well as Justice Louis Brandeis’ own commitment to Zionism and Social Justice, a legacy on which this university was founded.” It calls on Brandeis students to receive his remarks “critically and respectfully, demonstrating the intellectual maturity that makes Brandeis an institution characterized by academic rigor and reverence.”

Then there are what I will call the pragmatists – people who have assessed Oren’s invitation in the context of Brandeis’s long history of inviting controversial speakers to address our graduating classes, and concluded that its just not a big deal. Several people have pointed out that past Brandeis commencement speakers include the Prince of Jordan, Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Margaret Marshall (who wrote the controversial Goodridge opinion legalizing same-sex marriage), liberal Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, neoconservative Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Schneider (a CNN political analyst), Cory Booker (mayor of Newark), and Tom Friedman – all political figures with distinct and sometimes controversial points of view on a wide range of topics that include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These people make a strong point; if Brandeis could tolerate these speakers, why can’t it accept Oren? What it is about the Israeli Ambassador that makes over 100 Brandeis students want to walk out on their own commencement?

The fact remains that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a particularly hot topic on the Brandeis campus. Because of the fact that Brandeis is historically associated with Zionism, students who oppose Zionist beliefs feel particularly adamant about distancing themselves from what they view as a kind of majoritarian (perhaps even anti-majoritarian) tyranny that reigns on the campus. On the other hand, students proud of this strand of Brandeis history feel all the more compelled to stand up and vigorously defend it. The result is two bitterly divided communities that are largely engaged in talking past each other, rather than entering into meaningful dialogue about the issue that tears them apart. In a way, it is a microcosm of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict itself, with two sides trading in absolutes and dealing in renunciations and commands.

For my part, I think this is very unfortunate. While I sympathize with close friends who are offended by the choice of Oren on the grounds that they do not want to be assaulted with divisive rhetoric at their graduation ceremony, I am highly skeptical that Oren would be short-sighted enough to wade into political waters at a commencement ceremony; it is simply inappropriate, given the occasion. While his point of view will almost certainly come across, it will likely be in reference to things like fighting for what you believe in and making a difference in the world – lessons that students on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can appreciate even if they do not accord with the examples from Oren’s own life.

Moreover, Brandeis’s history of inviting controversial speakers to speak at commencement demonstrates that our student body is perfectly capable of sitting through the address of a person whose political views are likely highly offensive to at least some students in the crowd – Justice Marshall jumps to mind as a prime example – yet those speakers did not face the kind of vitriol and threats of boycott that face Oren. Conservative students did not petition and threaten boycotts of a liberal judge, a liberal Israel Supreme Court Justice, a liberal mayor, etc., yet supposedly “liberal” students are now threatening to skip their own commencement because of Oren’s address. This is the worst kind of intolerance, which individuals who cherish the freedom of speech and open intellectual inquiry should not support.

On a larger level, I think this controversy also speaks to the unfortunate extent to which individuals on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict refuse to acknowledge the legitimate claims of the other. On the one hand, it is undoubtedly true that many right wing Jews and conservatives do not pay enough attention to the suffering of the Palestinian people, and discredit their legitimate claims to disputed territories. They lump a small group of terrorists and petty dictators in with the majority of Palestinians, the majority of whom have been abused and manipulated by their own government, the Arab world, and at times, the Israeli government as well. They refuse to recognize that, for the average Palestinian, their animating desire isn’t the destruction of Israel or the murder of Jews, but rather to enjoy the simply necessities that all human beings want: a safe and healthy environment in which to raise their families in dignity and peace.

On the other hand, too often, the pro-Palestinian crowd rushes to vilify Israel supporters as genocidal fanatics, and Zionists as colonialists with no legitimate claim to a state of their own. These people ignore the historical reality that it was European anti-Semitism and the horrors of the Holocaust which forced Jews to migrate to their ancestral homeland in Israel, where there has been continual Jewish habitation for over 3000 years. They regard as insignificant the fact that the original 1947 partition created two states – one Jewish, one Palestinian – which was destroyed not because of Israeli expansionism, but rather because Israel’s five Arab neighbors immediately declared war on the fledgling state and set out to destroy it and all of its Jewish inhabitants. And they turn a blind eye, or even try to justify Palestinian terrorist attacks that deliberately target civilian population centers with suicide bombings and indiscriminate rocket fire.

The two historic narratives that inform the most extreme ends of this conflict seem irreconcilable, until one realizes that these groups are neighbors sharing the same land and limited resources, and that they must come together to achieve a just and permanent settlement. But that cannot happen if partisans on both sides of the conflict are unwilling to simply listen to one another in a spirit of mutual respect. The seeds of peace and conflict resolution begin where we put aside our heated rhetoric and actually hear each other’s stories, and then work together to find a solution. Is Michael Oren the least controversial figure to ever speak at a Brandeis commencement? Maybe. Maybe not. Is the fact that some students strongly disagree with some of his political views a reason to boycott graduation? Certainly not. I hope that cooler heads will prevail, and that my fellow Brandeisians will go to graduation in high spirits and with open minds. In this way, they will uphold the great Brandeis tradition of intellectual freedom and respect for difference, and set an example for partisans on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here and abroad that could benefit a great deal from listening to each others voices.

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton Speaks at Penn Law

2010-04-19T17:31:00.000-04:00

Here, presented without further commentary, are my notes from the talk.

John Bolton
Foreign policy of Barack Obama
He cares less about foreign policy and national security than any American president since FDR (??? Who fought WWII???)
“lack of interest in foreign policy”
“doesn’t see the world as challenging/threatening to the US”
He thinks he sees American decline as natural and inevitable and to be managed not resisted.
Devotion to multilateralism we haven’t seen since Woodrow Wilson
“No need for American Leadership” according to Obama
• nuclear disarmament
“Obama”: The interests of nations and people are shared, power is no longer a zero sum game
Bolton thinks Obama endorses Wilson’s vision of “Peace without Victory” and this is a mistake. My Q: Wasn’t the PROBLEM with WWI that we didn’t follow Wilson’s advice, and we made Victory over Germany instead of peace, which lead to the Third Reich???
Obama the first “post-American” President.
• Not “anti-“ or “un-“ American.
• Fundamentally does not believe in American Exceptionalism
o Gov. Winthrop/Reagan
o Difference between American’s founding and the direction the country took.
o Are you implying Obama doesn’t believe in American values and ideals? Obama Rejects that?
No Exceptionalism, country not challenged, doesn’t care about foreign policy… this means trouble for America! Oogaboogabooga!!!
• WMDs: nuclear security summit, new arms treaty. (is this somehow bad? Only gets a passing reference)
• Me: isn’t it great that we and Russia are both getting rid of 1/3 of our nuclear weapons?
Iran
• “we have no effective policy on iran”
• Iran will have nuclear weapons. And what are we supposed to do about it?
• Much of the fault must be laid at the door of the Bush Administration.
o Deference by US to EU to talk Iran out or weapons program
• Leaders of Iranian revolution are all crazy and will use their weapons so we should be very afraid!!!!
• So what do you think we should do about it? Bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb-bomb Iran? You actually think these states would use these weapons?
o Later: yes, bomb them.
War On Terror
• Obama frustrated with Bush shit he has had to keep pursuing because he has no alternative
o Example: Afghanistan
o Bad to give with one hand and take with the other. Undermines ability to achieve 2 strategic objectives of preventing Taliban from coming back to power and making it a platform for launch of attacks, and avoid having instability in Afghanistan/Pakistan destabilize the nuclear Pakistan government.
o He thinks there will be increase in terrorist threat and WMDs, so we will be less secure than when he took office.
American Sovereignty
• Giving up control to “others”
• Global governance ooga booga booga!!!
• Copenhagen to deal with climate change: too ambitious! We can’t deal with climate change! America America til we fall into the ocean!!
o He “doesn’t know” if global warming is real and can’t educate himself on it.
o Even if its man-made, he doesn’t like the solutions. Because global institutions will tell us what to do. Its all about losing control of America.
• Other institutions that are worthless and scary:
o International criminal court
• Not effective to deter human rights violations
• Won’t stop bad guys
o UN Human Rights Decision-making mechanism
• N Korea, Congo, Guinea, Burma, and five against Israel – demonstrates why even sources like NYTimes and Washington Post think the HRC is bad. I think that’s pretty fair but I do think its good to try to influence it not just abandon it.
o Refusal to ratify statutes on discrim against women, against disabilities, various other UN Conventions.
• Me: YES it is a reason to be negotiated internationally because it creates norms for all countries, and we can take exception to specific things like the death penalty while still working with the international consensus on the vast majority of these conventions
Why Obama doesn’t care about foreign policy
• He wakes up and thinks about the minimum wage
Iran
• We should attack!!!!! War!!!!!!
• Israel under pressure not to strike
Israel
• What does Israel have to lose?
Al Qaeda hates us booga bogga boggaa
• Me: They do say death to great Britain. remember attacks in Madrid, London, etc etc etc
• Bolton: “there is no Muslim world.”

Make your blog carbon neutral

2010-03-25T11:47:00.003-04:00

Here's a neat idea from a German company. Simply post about the "my blog is carbon neutral" initiative, and this organization will plant a tree in your honor to offset your carbon footprint. This is an easy way to do some good and spread awareness about climate change.

Go here to learn how to do this.

Scott Galvin for Congress!

2010-03-16T17:23:00.002-04:00

Last week, I learned the exciting news that an old friend, North Miami City Coucilman Scott Galvin, is running for Congress to fill Kendrick Meek's vacant seat in FL-17. For years, Scott has been the most effective and hardworking person on the city council by a long shot. He is widely known for bringing people together, crossing racial and economic lines in order to build coalitions to fight for what's best for our entire city. He has always been a voice of reason and coolheaded consensus-making in an often fractious community. So, while I am sad to learn that our city will be losing his services, I am excited to be able to wholeheartedly endorse his run for the United States Congress. Scott's lifelong commitment to public service exemplifies the very best of American democracy. I am hopeful that you will support his candidacy by going to www.galvin2010.com and making a donation. Also, if you're a FL-17 resident, make sure to get out and vote on August 24th.

Below, I'm pasting his announcement of his candidacy. Let it inspire you to help send Scott Galvin to Washington, DC!

Galvin for U.S. Congress
Primary Election on August 24th

Dear Adam,

I have very exciting news to share with you!

I am running for Congress.

It's not a decision have made lightly. After careful deliberation with family and friends, and with their full support, I know I can continue the tradition of public service and leadership we deserve in Washington.

Running as a Democrat in Florida's 17th District, the primary election will be Tuesday, August 24th and I am asking for your help today and throughout what is sure to be an exciting campaign.

These are challenging times. Partisan bickering has blocked real progress in Washington. The result is a government that is over-committed overseas and under-serves us here at home.

But I have great optimism for America because I know the hope we shared last election is still alive. I want to take that hope and your energy with me to the Halls of Congress to continue our fight for progress.

I can not be more excited about this new challenge and the humbling opportunity to represent you in Washington. I'm asking you to join me every step of the way.

Please go right now and visit my campaign website (www.Galvin2010.com) where you can share your thoughts, sign up to help and, most importantly make a financial contribution.

You know elections are expensive and I'm counting on your help today to get our campaign off to a strong start. Whatever you can give -- $250, $100, $50 even $10 - is deeply and personally appreciated.

Your friend,
Scott

Donate Now!
Councilman Galvin needs your help to win.

Click here to donate or visit the campaign website!

Or send a check to:
"Galvin for Congress"
1755 NE 137 Terrace
North Miami, FL 33181

Every donation helps...from $25 to $2,400....

Thank you for your support!

2010-01-27T21:34:00.001-05:00

Hillel: If Not Now, When?
"If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?"

Israel's Field Hospital in Haiti: a small, hopeful miracle in a sea of misery

2010-01-19T16:54:00.002-05:00

Israel has set up the only surgically capable field hospital in Haiti
Watch this 2 minute CNN clip!

The reporters shock is apparent as she tours the Israeli facility with full imaging equipment, ventilators, and functional operating rooms. Israel, coming from half a world away, got a fully functional hospital set up by Saturday, while the American hospital, coming from Haiti's backyard, is not more than a first aid unit.

Not well known, is that Israel was denied landing clearance by the Americans controlling the airport. After a 14 hour flight they were to be diverted to the Dominican Republic. Somehow the Israeli pilot found out about my friend's brother, a prominent and wealthy Jewish man whose family has been in Haiti for generations. He has many businesses there, and even though he could leave, decided to stay to help. From the cockpit, the pilot called my friend's brother by satellite phone and he directed the plane to an open field on his property. The Israeli pilot landed a Hercules (that is one big plane!) between two warehouses in an open field and it was offloaded there. They were operational 18 hours later. That's getting the job done!

There is also video footage on Israeli TV showing crowds in the streets chanting "Israel Good Job. Israel Good Job" This special medical unit was disbanded 9 years ago for lack of funding and only reconstituted a few months ago. I think this is one of the most important things that Diaspora Jews can support during the Haitian crises. It seems to be the mot effective care on the ground- and puts Israel's best face forward at the same time. See article below.

Israel's Haiti field hospital: a microcosm of a country's turmoil

By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz Correspondent in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE - The Israeli field hospital in the earthquake-stricken Haitian capital reflects the streets of the city, fluctuating between despair and hope amid the looting, violence and stories of miracles. Each account takes on great importance against the background of the earthquake that devastated the Western hemisphere's poorest country.

A baby around 18 months old lies on a bed in intensive care. She was admitted with an open sore and a massive infection throughout her body. The respirator shakes her every time it forces air into her. She has already been resuscitated a few times, and the team is not optimistic.

In the children's ward, located in a tent, is a baby under a year old; someone left him here after he was pulled out of the rubble Sunday morning. He has open sores on his leg and does not make a sound except for a slight chirping when the doctor checks his leg. The doctors say he is in shock.

"His condition is stable and pretty good considering what he's been through. He'll get antibiotics and surgery on the leg - it's a rare case of survival; apparently he was in an air pocket," says Dr. Assaf Amit, who heads the children's emergency department. "When he came here his condition was life-threatening."

His parents aren't here - perhaps they are dead - but the Israeli nurses caress him and give him a warm bottle of milk. "Apparently it's genetic, the ability to survive - he was lying in the rubble without food for five days," says Gali Wiest, the delegation's head nurse.

"We were shocked by the sights, and the nurses here have to cope with providing nursing care - it's a third-world country," she says. "I have four children myself and I was an emergency-room nurse, but the sights here are very difficult and you need a lot of mental fortitude. We've already taken in 87 children, most in moderate to serious condition; there have been a few operations and amputations, and they keep coming."

But no one stays for long. The hospital has a two-week mandate - nothing compared to the time it takes to recover from complex injuries.

"We're all thinking about the fact that we discharge them into the street, in effect, because they have no home," says Dr. Avi Yitzhak. "But you have to make the right decision: Either you take in 40 people and treat them for two weeks or you try to save as many as possible to at least stop the primary injury."

Yitzhak immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in 1991 and says he feels a special connection to the patients here. He says he knows the problems of practicing medicine in the developing world.

"There's no organized network of clinics here, there's nowhere to discharge them to and we have to treat as many people as possible, as long as it's still possible to save them," Yitzhak says.

"When I went out on rescue yesterday I saw what was happening in the streets, the bodies, the people who didn't know what to do. It's obvious that the work is very intensive and I assume that we could burn out at a certain stage. But for now we're full of energy and we're thrilled by our ability to help."

Willsmith Joseph, 9, had surgery Saturday to amputate his toes, which had developed gangrene. Sunday morning he was in a deep sleep in the children's ward. His older brother knelt beside him. They will have to leave before noon. The nurse gives him two packets of antibiotics and some acetaminophen and tries to explain in English when to take them.

"Where are you going?," I ask the older boy. "We have no place to go. To the tent encampment," he says. "Our house was ruined." Willsmith's face contorts in pain as he walks with his new crutches.

"Had we not amputated his toes the gangrene would have spread and he would have died within days," Dr. Yitzhak explains. "Yes, it hurts, and there's an infection, but he'll live. It's a drop in the ocean, and it's frustrating, but we have to do the maximum to help as many people as possible."

Most of the wounds are infected and neglected - some people were pulled out of the rubble after being trapped for a few days, others simply couldn't get to a hospital or were turned away. Max Darlene Azur, 29, came to the Israeli hospital with open wounds on both sides of her leg. For four days she shouted and writhed in pain in the town square. The bodies of two of her cousins were still inside her home.

"I was in my room, and the wall simply collapsed onto my leg. But now I feel much better," she says.

The hospital also had its first birth Sunday. Jeanne-Michelle was brought in with labor pains and delivered a beautiful boy, her fourth child. Jeanne-Michelle sits indifferent most of the time, but when she says her newborn's name - Israel - a broad smile spreads across her face. "I feel fine," she says. She will be discharged within a few hours, to make room for other deliveries.

"It's very symbolic," Dr. Dar Shir says. "In a place where even without the disaster infant mortality is among the highest in the world and most women don't give birth in hospitals, the best experts in Israel delivered her baby. It's very moving, and balances out a little the things that are happening here, and reminds us that a woman who is ready to give birth will do so even when there's an earthquake. It's what keeps the human race going. Of course it's a problem to discharge them under these conditions, but at least she delivered safely and both mother and baby are in excellent condition."

According to the field hospital's commander, Dr. Itzik Kreis, "Throughout the night we continued to deal with saving lives; we received a number of patients in very poor shape who needed surgery and intensive care.

"For now the other medical teams don't have the ability to provide more than first aid. We are focusing on saving lives," says Colonel Kreis. "Most of the injuries are a result of the earthquake, but in a few days the situation can change and regular patients will start to come in as well."

How to donate via Israeli organizations:

Foreign Ministry:
Tel (+972) 2-659-4222

ZAKA:
Online at https://www.zaka.us/haiti.asp
Or via bank account:
Zaka-International
Bank of Jerusalem
Branch # 30
18 Keren Hayesod, Jerusalem, Israel
Account No: 300060134
Swift Code: JERSILIT

Magen David Adom:
Magen David Adom Trumot Lakaribim
Israel Discount Bank
Branch # 151
Yad Eliahu, Tel Aviv
Account No: 17926

"Vast Majority of Residents Are Decent"

2010-01-11T22:37:00.002-05:00

On Sunday, the Miami Herald published my letter to the editor regarding Councilman Blynn's racially hostile comments about closing down the basketball courts, available here. I am also publishing a copy of the text here on my blog.

Vast majority of citizens are decent

I grew up in Keystone Point, and always enjoyed using the basketball courts in the park. I'm a white Jewish guy, and the park was one of the only places where people from all over North Miami of different races could play and interact with each other.

I valued that experience as a child, and enjoyed making friends with my fellow North Miami residents, including many African Americans.

One bad apple breaking the law and bringing a gun to the park is no reason to close down the entire basketball court [Official recommends closing court, Neighbors, Dec. 27]. Closing the courts would be a sad and wasteful disposal of community resources, and even worse, it would be motivated by apparently racist intentions. Shame on you, Michael Blynn, for fanning the flames of racial insensitivity and discrimination. Your comments show a deep hostility and disrespect for thousands of North Miami citizens, the vast majority of whom are honest, hard-working, taxpaying citizens of our city. It's disgraceful.

ADAM SCHWARTZBAUM

NORTH MIAMI

Blynn makes racial politics get ugly in North Miami

2009-12-28T03:53:00.004-05:00

For the first time ever, there was a shooting at the basketball courts that stand beside the tot lot near my childhood home in Keystone Point, a peninsular-island community of mid- and upper- class homes aside the intercoastal waters of North Miami.

Shootings are certainly troubling, and they're not just happening in Keystone Point. Just yesterday, a woman was shot in the parking lot outside the Aventura Mall. In North Miami, my local councilman, Michael Blynn's response to the shooting was to suggest that we shut the basketball courts, apparently because of the large number of black teenagers that congregate there. Should we shutter Aventura Mall as well, because it is known to attract a large number of "African-American teenagers"? Obviously not. Yet it is by that very same logic that Michael Blynn wants to close the North Miami basketball courts.

There are reasonable ways to deal with violence that secure our common spaces for the good of many, rather than squandering the space for the actions of a few. Our communal, recreational spaces are as or even more precious and than our commercial ones, and their protection is our entire city's responsibility. Yet my own City Councilman, Mayor Michael Blynn, is on the record that the park should be closed indefinitely. Why has he taken such an extreme position after one isolated incident?

Blynn first made his thoughts first heard at a Keystone Point Homeowners Association Meeting. The Miami Herald reported:

"Although North Miami Police Chief Clint Shannon described the shooting as an isolated incident, Blynn warned residents that crime 'cannot be controlled' and that their quality of life will be affected if the court remains open.

Blynn added, 'No offense, but the African-American unemployment rate has increased in this area.'"

In all fairness, the Herald reporter must have thought, this is pretty outrageous statement. When he contacted Blynn later by phone to give him a chance to "clarify," Blynn said:

"a worsening economy exacerbates crime and unemployed African-American teenagers are more prone to commit crimes than whites.

'Crime statistics indicate that certain people commit more criminal activities than others,' he said.

'That's just the way it is.'"

So let me get this straight. By Blynn's logic, since "a worsening economy exacerbates crime and unemployed African-American teenagers are more prone to commit crimes than whites" and "crime cannot ever be controlled," the only way to assure that our "quality of life" is "not affected" is by shutting down the basketball courts indefinitely . . . because many African-Americans recreate there?

I'm positively baffled. We live in a city with a Haitian-American mayor. Many of our councilmen are black men. My sister teaches at North Miami Middle School, where well over 90% of her students are people of color. Is Michael Blynn sending 130 of my sister's Middle School students a message that the Keystone Point basketball courts are not open to people of their kind? That they are unwelcome on "our" side of Biscayne Boulevard? I struggle to find any way of forgiving the facially discriminatory and racially hostile tone of his rhetoric. It seems to echo from an ugly, segregationist American past that once ghettoized our nation's cities. The heritage of segregation and slavery is one whose ill effects linger on in our uneven and underfunded public education system, and in the very disparate incarceration rates that Blynn cites to support his noxious reasoning.

Reasonable and well meaning people can disagree about how best to provide security at the tot lot. No doubt, many good suggestions will be provided in the coming days by a variety of community stakeholders including our local police, councilpeople, and fellow citizens of every race. Some are already being discussed. What isn't needed is reactionary rhetoric that divides and marginalizes whole swaths of our community. I hope my councilman will apologize and reflect upon the reasons why his comments are so deeply offensive to his own constituents.

Read the full Herald article here.
Take action: let Michael Blynn know this kind of divisive racial rhetoric is unacceptable in our community. Reach him here to let him know exactly how you feel.

Facebook is designed to keep you from contacting too many of your "friends" at once

2009-11-29T20:17:00.004-05:00

I first noticed this problem when I was helping manage the Facebook group "Save the Rose Art Museum" in the early days following Brandeis University's announcement that it was closing the museum and pawning off its $300 million collection to pay its bills in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The day I learned of the crisis, I joined a burgeoning group made by Brandeis student Zev Rowlett, the largest of three that had sprung up within hours of the release of President Reinharz’s statement announcing the Boards unanimous decision. Working with fellow alum Jenna Weiss, the two of us quickly got many of our Facebook friends to join the group and tell their friends about the news. Word spreads like wildfire on the Internet, particularly when people are passionate about something like the Rose, and so our group membership swelled from 200 700 to 3000 members within a week or so.

As our movement to save the Rose grew, I sent out one short message each day with an update on recent developments in the situation, links to breaking news and commentaries on sites around the web, and information on who to contact to write letters and make phone calls to voice opposition to the University's decision. Members of the group often wrote me back with tips, insights and their own unique perspectives on the unfolding events, allowing me to better understand how my Brandeis community and the larger world of Art lovers could collaborate to save the Rose. Facebook gave me the capability to gather insights about how to effectively communicate and collaborate with the members of the group and exercise leadership in helping it grow. It was Facebook at its most democratic (with a small "d") best: providing simple online tools to allow the quick and successful formation of like-minded individuals into groups dedicated to advancing an important value in our society and enabling those persons to work together to achieve a common end.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the social movement. One day, as I hit "send" on an update to the group, a box popped up to scold me that I could not send a group message to more than 5000 members at a time. Facebook put a cap on me. To this day, the group has 7,656 members, and the only way I can communicate with them is by posting messages on the wall or discussion board of the group itself, an arguably inferior method of directly reaching into the Facebook mailbox that acts as a more direct conduit to a person’s attention.

For some reason, Facebook has decided to cut off an Administrator's ability to send out messages to more than 5000 people at a time. And that's just one of many examples of a method by which Facebook keeps you from contacting too many of your friends, too much of the time, by limiting the capabilities of its platform and preventing users from trying to take up too much of each other's attention.

Of course there must be some rationale for these kinds of rules. It is undoubtedly cheaper for Facebook to keep its servers from allowing users to connect with only a limited numbers of "Friends" at a time because maximum usage strains expensive hardware resources responsible for efficiently processing so much information every second of the day. It also helps avoids the MySpace problem of letting too many spammers reach you electronically too much of the time, particularly in your inbox.

But it also has its drawbacks. No longer could I send direct updates to my members about the quickly changing and quite dramatic events surrounding Brandeis' decision to shutter the Rose Art Museum. Facebook witnessed the power of its own software and decided I'd had enough. As you may have noticed, the limit on how many people a group Administrator can send a message to is just one of all sorts of Facebook limits: on how many friends you can tag in a note, send a message to at once, or invite to a group or game at a time. Forgot about being able to easily agglomerate your friends’ email addresses; you’ll have to open up their profile pages one at a time for that luxury.

It makes it deliberately more difficult for an organizer like me with a good faith reason to contact the “friends” he is trying to most immediately reach.

Facebook is risk-averse. It doesn’t trust users like you to take some action to limit your interactions with the groups or individuals you no longer wish to hear from, whether by contacting the individual sending the message directly to tell them why they no longer chose to receive those messages, leaving a group, or even defriending someone. Nor does it make it easy to manage our relationships with our contacts on Facebook in easier ways. Facebook doubts our ability to control our own experience on its site, and so denies us the tools to manage our experience with its software. And it is influenced by a bias that we'd rather hear less from our associates than more.

This might be the case, but it shouldn’t be, and today I discovered another reason why. Today Alan Khazei, the president of Be the Change, Inc. and co-founder of City Year, was endorsed by the Boston Globe in the Democratic Senate race to fill the great political and moral position once held by Ted Kennedy. I was excited to see the mainstream Globe’s endorsement of the scrappy public servant with a grassroots movement ("Khazei is Massachusetts' best chance to produce another great senator”) and buoyed by recent polls showing Alan commanding a larger share of the vote than ever before.

Despite these hopeful signs, the reality is also that Alan’s numbers are nearly half that of the Democratic front-runner, and because he’s taken no money from special interests and is only running for public office for the first time, he’s been less able to mount the kind of effective campaign to win the support of the greater universe of Democratic voters in Massachusetts outside the national service world who have simply never heard of him. In low-turnout primary elections, name recognition is a big boost, and for Alan, the battle has always been uphill. But the dynamic of a primary, with its endemic anemic voter turnout levels, also empowers small groups of dedicated people with the ability to turn out enough votes to sway the election.

It is with that goal – to inform people about the Globe’s endorsement, and introduce them to the man I hope they will vote for next Tuesday in the primary election in Massachusetts – that I published a blog post on my website earlier today with the news. Because my blog links to my Facebook account, the post was published on my wall within an hour.

After a friend re-posted the note on her own wall, I realized it could be very helpful to directly contact the my Facebook friends who are in networks in Massachusetts to politely tell them about Alan’s bid and ask for their support. I wouldn’t normally send such a large message to such a diverse group on Facebook, and good etiquette dictates I not send a message again unless in response to a direct contact, save for perhaps one additional message the day before the election reminding people to vote. In such a way, I would be able to effectively and politely use the power of Facebook to make the powerful kind of political impact that campaigns always dream about and work diligently to make through traditional and more costly methods like phone banking parties and door-to-door grassroots advocacy. Yet Facebook denies me that ability. It tells me that if I want to contact all these people at once, I’m going to have to work harder to get their attention.

It is primarily for that reason that I am posting this note today. While I’m writing this putting for the general interest all Facebook users share in how the platform operates, I am specifically tagging my “maximum” in this note because I believe these individuals may be Massachusetts residents with a common interest in filling the United States Senate with honorable men of integrity dedicated to public service and democracy. You'll find my original post here. If you are one of those people, I ask you only, and with great respect, to consider your civic duty as an American and make a principled decision about how to vote in nine days with the hope that my candidate will inspire you to cast your lot with him. And of course I’d be happy if you could forward the information about Alan along to any friends or family you know in the great state of Massachusetts, where I earned my bachelor’s degree.

I also hope that as Facebook grows, it will reconsider some if its limits on its members’ ability to organize and reach one another. Social networking is fast becoming one of the most democratic mediums of all time, but it will only improve if we, the users of its resources, demand it.

Alan Khazei for Senate -- Vote in Massachusetts next Tuesday!

2009-11-29T14:12:00.004-05:00

It is exceedingly rare when a candidate runs for higher office who is so inspiring, so unconnected to special interests, and so truly driven by idealism and a passion for service, and even rarer when such a person has a chance of actually winning the nomination of a major political party. Yet in Massachusetts, this kind of opportunity is now represented by the candidacy of City Year founder Alan Khazei.

Alan is a person who has dedicated his life to serving our nation, bringing Americans together to improve our civic life, and being a positive agent for change in our society. Today, the Boston Globe has formally endorsed Alan as the right candidate to win the Democratic primary 9 days from now in Massachusetts.

I am no longer a Massachusetts resident, but having lived there for four years, and being a faithful Democrat, I can think of no person better suited to continue the legacy of Ted Kennedy than Alan Khazei -- a man who will serve as a truly inspirational leader in the United States Senate.

To all my friends in Massachusetts, I urge you to get out and vote for Alan Khazei next Tuesday. Primary elections have notoriously low turnouts, and the efforts of just a few thousand young people getting out and voting when they normally wouldn't could make the absolute difference in this campaign. Make it a priority to get out and elect Alan next Tuesday, and remind your family and friends in the area to do the same. Together we can assure this great American is elected to the Senate in 2010!

Learn more about Alan's campaign and how you can get involved in his grassroots effort!

Famous People

2009-11-09T23:57:00.003-05:00

President Barack Obama

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Israeli President Shimon Peres

Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader

Professor Goodwin Liu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Constitution Society

Earth warming faster as catastrophe draws nearer

2009-11-09T21:53:00.003-05:00

On global warming, we're playing with fire. Jeff Goodell published a powerful little article in Rolling Stone this week detailing the fact -- not surprising, in my opinion -- that global warming is happening faster then the world's leading scientists ever thought possible. Scientists once thought the Arctic would be completely melted by the end of the century; now, they believe the entire ice mass will be gone in the next couple of decades. The Arctic is dramatically smaller than it was even ten years ago because the ever expanding open waters melt ice faster, which warms the water quicker, assuring that the sum temperature of the waters are higher and less and less ice refreezes every winter. In short, positive feedback.

Here's the really scary part. Beneath the Arctic is a layer of permafrost "more than 1000 feet thick in some places" made of "partially decomposed trees, plants, woolly mammoths and other organic matter that lived in the region thousands of years ago." The terrifying reality is this:

As it thaws, all that rotting debirs send carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Worse, the debris is a feast for microscopic bugs that transform it into methane, a greenhouse gas at least 20 times more potent than CO2. All told, there are some 1 TRILLION metric tons of carbon buried in the Arctic - the equivalent of the oil, gas and coal reserves on the entire planet."

It gets worse.

"A similarly huge amount of methane is frozen in the floor of the shallow seas surrounding the Arctic. As the water warms, these bubbles of methane ice can bubble to the surface and release million of tons of methane -- more or less cooking the planet overnight."

Think of the enormity of that sum of methane - "equivalent to more than all of the oil, gas and coal reserves on the entire planet," doubled. Then recognize that methane is TWENTY times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. What we are talking about is no less a global meltdown that would raise sea levels by as much as nine feet by the end of the century. Such a rise in water levels would leave major cities like Miami, London, New York and Shanghai under water. It would also flood entire countries in low lying areas like Bangladesh, destroying the homes of millions of people.

The time to take action to stop global warming has come; in fact, it may have already passed.

One year ago tonight: a night to remember

2009-11-03T20:19:00.001-05:00

For all of you who, like me, are still waiting for the most sweeping change to come, and might be feeling a little down from all the negativity and political bs of Washington, remember that one year ago tonight, we made history when we elected Barack Obama President of the United States. This is a great country where great things can happen; let us never forget it!

Justice for Debbie: GOP activist resigns from all official positions after putting DWS on target at fundraiser, shooting at it

2009-10-26T19:49:00.003-04:00

A few weeks, you might remember that I strongly condemned the actions of the Broward County GOP and their candidate for FL-20, Rich Lowry, who shot at a figure with the words "DWS" written on it, referring to my congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Well, it turns out that our letters of protest worked. Ed Napolitano, the man who orchestrated the event, has resigned from all his positions in the Republican party, and issued strong apologies for his actions.

It is comforting to know that when citizens stand up for respect and common decency in our political discourse, the right things can actually be done!

FDR's Second Bill Of Rights

2009-10-24T22:14:00.002-04:00

Below is the text of FDR's famous "second bill of rights" speech, in which he laid out a vision for American security and prosperity that begins with the security of fundamental economic rights for every citizen. It is my belief that American progress in the 21st century depends on finding creative ways to actualize these ideals so that WE THE PEOPLE can form a more perfect Union.

Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The Economic Bill of Rights”
Excerpt from 11 January 1944 message to Congress on the State of the Union

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens.

Log Your Run - See my route

2009-10-13T14:06:00.001-04:00

This website, www.logyourrun.com, is great! It lets you use google maps to plan out your run so you know exactly how many miles you are going. Check out my 4.27 mile run this morning. It was great :)

Tell Rich Lowry to Apologize for shooting at a cutout of Debbie Wasserman Schultz

2009-10-11T13:21:00.004-04:00

These Republithugs never cease to amaze me. Back in my hometown District, FL-20, the latest GOP contender to ~~lose~~ run against the powerhouse that is Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz recently attended a Broward County Republican Party event where he and supporters took turns shooting at cut outs of Muslim caricatures, and of a figure with the word DWS printed on it. From on Oct. 9 article:

The Associated Press reports today that the South Florida-based Southeast Broward Republican Club held an event earlier this week at a gun range where targets included silhouettes of Muslim stereotypes and of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). Among those who attended the event was real estate CEO Robert Lowry, who is vying to replace Wasserman Schultz in 2010.

More details available here.

I have already sent an email to Mr. Lowry's campaign demanding an apology, which I will include below. I urge everyone, particularly citizens of District 20 (weston, hallandale, aventura, nmb, north miami, miami/downtown, the beaches) to send one as well. Shrugging this off as a "joke" and a "mistake" is not good enough; our citizens demand accountability for such an irresponsible action.

Email lowry at staff@lowryforcongress.com

My letter:

Dear Mr. Lowry,

As a resident of District 20 in South Florida, a voter, and an American citizen, I am shocked and quite frankly horrified by recent news reports that you pretended to shoot at a cut out picture of our Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, at a public campaign sponsored event. (See http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/09/gop-candidate-muslims/).
At a time when the rising threat of political violence is all too real in this country, your actions were much more than just in bad taste - they were downright contemptible. I think every single District 20 resident deserves a public and sincere apology for these reprehensible actions, that demonstrates your genuine understanding of why this was such a shameful and intolerable act.

Sincerely,

Adam Schwartzbaum
North Miami, FL

Plenty to Blame: Modernism, Fascism, and Genocide in the 20th Century.

2009-10-06T01:43:00.002-04:00

From the Armenian massacres of WWI to the European Holocaust of WWII, from ethnic cleansing in Cambodia and Albania to organized mass murder in Rwanda and the Sudan, genocide, the systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group, has unfortunately become one of the defining characteristics of the modern world. What is most incredible about these atrocities, aside from their sheer scale, is that they happened with the full knowledge and complicity of entire populations, often in close proximity to their homes and villages. One of the most blatant examples of this phenomenon is the Dachau concentration camp. Built in 1933, Dachau was the Nazi’s very first forced labor camp/crematorium; it housed up to 30,000 prisoners in the center of a German city, and executed nearly a quarter million innocent people before its liberation by allied forces in April 1945. The camp remains there to this very day, an artifact of an almost mythic past, a vivid reminder of a tragic, world historic event. A recent traveler to Germany notes that “if you're so inclined, it is possible to live in a brand-new condo built just a few meters from the walls and barbed wire of the Dachau Concentration Camp. The camp would literally be your back yard. You could tell visitors ‘Keep an eye on the enormously tall sign for the McDonald's restaurant. Turn left at the Arbeit Macht Frei gate. If you come to the Krematorium or the blood trench where the Soviet POWs were shot, you've gone too far.’” Dachau was no Sobibor, a remote death camp on the edge of a Polish forest; situated in the city’s center, no citizen of Dachau could have lived without noticing the trains constantly bringing thousands of prisoners into the new camps, or missed the distinct smell of burning flesh and the human ashes that rained down upon the city on busy days.

A whole body of literature has developed around the question of the German people’s relationship to their genocide in their midst. While historians debate the question of culpability for the atrocities of the Holocaust, it is equally, if not more important to look to the literature of the time, and see what contemporary culture has to say about the world historic moment that was the state fascism and European genocide of the mid-20th century. Two authors who can help inform our understandings of this period are Eliot and Auden, poets whose work gives us insight into the basis for fascist tendencies in high intellectual circles, and a moral framework through which to view the failure of the German people to contest the crimes being carried out in their midst. Eliot’s Wasteland, with its highly controlled form and famous three tiered invective, datta, dayadhvam, damyata- give, control, and sympathize- provides a kind of logic for the nationalist collectivism of National Socialism. Eliot employs the mythic method to make a case for the necessity of modern art to connect to a common cultural, literary and historic tradition, and in the process, influences the modern cultural elite with a belief that modernism is not incompatible with fascism, and may even need it. Auden’s Musee des Beaux Arts, by contrast, delivers a stunning (if ambiguous) critique of that same elite, exposing the tendency in people to turn away from tragedy when forced to negotiate between moral action in the face of injustice and the complacency stemming for their perceived worldly interests.

For most literary critics, Eliot’s Wasteland is considered the definitive poem of high modernism: an epic work of art modeled after the quest narratives of Homer, Virgil, Dante and Milton, unique in its content, fragmentary and highly controlled style, difficulty, and most significantly, its use of the mythic method to draw parallels between the great foundational tales of Western civilization and our present, modern condition. Let us examine two interplaying aspects of this mammoth text: collectivism, and the mythic method.

Throughout the poem, images of a desolated, unconnected world form the background for all the characters and their actions. Their existence within The Wasteland is so tragic because they cannot connect to one another and form a genuine collective, and this ability is lost because they have lost their primary connection to a shared literary, cultural and historic tradition. At the end of the first section, The Burial of the Dead, the reader finds first mention of the “Unreal City,/Under the brown fog of a winter dawn” (59-60). This same term is repeated in The Fire Sermon (Unreal City/Under the brown fog of a winter noon (207-208)), and is alluded to a third time in What the Thunder Said (Falling towers/Jerusalem Athens Alexandria/ Vienna London/ Unreal (374-377)). Eliot repeats this image of an alien world to emphasize a modern commonality: as these cities all contain citizens who cannot connect to the European heritage that unites them, they are in a paradoxical way all the same city.

Consider the lines immediately following the first mention of “Unreal city” in The Burial of the Dead. We are presented with the first collective of the poem, “A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,/ I had not thought death had undone so many./ Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,/ And each man fixed his eyes upon his feet” (62-65). With the use of the word “flowed,” the crowd is metaphorically compared to a stream of water, united as one force. Yet despite their close proximity to one another, they are completely unconnected, each with his eyes “fixed” before his feet as they head to the cities financial center in order to do their work. This is a quintessentially modern moment, a phenomenon Marx noted in his description of alienated labor in the new industrial world, and one reinforced here by Eliot, whose allusions to Dante’s Inferno in lines 63 and 64 imply that these people are living in a kind of purgatory.

The final eight lines of this stanza illustrate the greatest way for modern masses to break out of this eremitic existence: to find knowledge and connection through a shared tradition. In line 69, the speaker breaks away from his description of the crowd, stating “There I saw one I knew, and stopped him, crying: “Stetson!/ “You who were with me in the ships at Mylae!/ “That corpse you planted last year in your garden,/ “Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year?/ “Or has the sudden frost disturbed its bed?” (69-73). In this verbal exchange, the speaker is able to connect with another person because they share something in common; both were together “in the ships at Mylae,” (70) a reference to the Sicilian seaport at which the Romans defeated the Carthaginians in the Punic war. The character of their connection is critically important to understanding what Eliot values in this disconnected modernity. It is a militaristic, nationalist citizenship that binds them, devotion to a Roman sense of national mission and an almost romanticized notion of empire. The corpse he refers to could be interpreted as the corpus of Western literature: the high cultural artifacts that, according to Eliot, allow us to define ourselves against a definition of our own culture and history. In a similar vein, his cryptic question- whether the corpse has sprouted or not- is understood as a critique of the modern estrangement from the tradition the corpse represents. The corpus has died in the modern world, but it has a chance of being revived if individuals are willing to submit themselves to the collective experience of the western canon. What is unfortunate about this argument is that its logic can easily follow to National Socialism, with the Fuhrer and the State acting as the collectivizing agent that judges what is and is not in the canon, and who is and is not admitted as a citizen within the society that deems it such. In the case of Nazi Germany, it was Aryans in, Jews (and Poles and Slavs and gypsies and communists and homosexuals) out.

A second key feature of The Wasteland is the repeated use of the mythic method, a literary device Eliot describes in a review of Joyce’s Ulysess as a process of using myths to manipulate “a continuous parallel between contemporaneity and antiquity . . . simply a way of controlling, of ordering, of giving a shape and a significance to the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary history.” Perfect examples of this method in practice abound within The Wasteland, where Eliot draws explicit connections between contemporary characters and figures within Greco-Roman mythology. One intriguing example of the mythic method at work in The Wasteland is the parallel Philomel/Lil narratives, which occur in the second section of the poem, A Game of Chess. A brief analysis of these two narratives will allow us to develop a useful strategy for reading The Wasteland as well as Auden’s Musee de Beaux Arts.

The first narrative, spanning lines 77-138, describes a rich woman in her extravagant home, surrounded by luxurious aesthetics, priceless works of art, “and other withered stumps of time” (104). Particular attention is paid to a painting sitting “above the antique mantel” (emphasis added), which “displayed/As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene/ The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king/So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale/ Filled all the desert with inviolable voice/ And still she cried, and still the world pursues/ “Jug Jug” to dirty ears” (97-103). This painting depicts a famous scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In its notes on this “sylvan scene,” the Norton Anthology explains that “Tereus raped his sister-in-law, Philomela, and cut out her tongue. To avenge her, his wife, Procne, murdered her son and fed him to Tereus. All three were changed into birds: the sisters into the nightingale and the swallow, Tereus in the hoopoe pursuing them.” The painting literally shows Philomel being raped by Tereus and having her tongue cut out, with a nightingale close by to symbolize the eventual “change” to come. Once that is established, the terrible euphemism of this language is obvious, as the violence committed against Philomel is called only a “change,” and the act of rape referred to with the words “so rudely forced.” The action of the painting is made coexistent to the present condition of the rich woman, which is why the rape of Philomel can be seen “as though a window gave upon the sylvan scene.”

The reasons for the euphemistic language and window metaphor are twofold; by using uncertain language, Eliot intentionally obfuscates the act, so that the reader is denied easy access to its meaning; next, we realize that the woman who owns the painting herself does not understand her connection to the art object and the cultural tradition it represents, because as the following interactions with her lover suggest, she too is a woman denied agency and made to suffer existential despair. Philomel’s rape re-enacts itself through this woman, which is why the paintings actions are as present as the world outside her window. Because she is alienated from this mythic past, she cannot realize that even as a seemingly powerless woman, surrounded by finery but unable to make it for herself without the support of the man bringing it home to her, she, like Procne, can claim her agency. Instead, she resorts to asking “What shall I do now? What shall I do?” (131). Ideally, upon seeing a nightingale, she can make the connection to Philomel’s story, hear the voices of her cultural past and find hope and strength. Instead, all that is heard is “Jug Jug to dirty ears.” Disconnected from her culture’s mythic past even as it begs for admittance in her own home, she is helpless and hopeless, and this is the root of her tragedy.

In the second half of A Game of Chess, a second character, Lil, is engaged in a dialogue with an unnamed confidant in an English pub as it is closing for the night. The reader learns that Lil’s husband has been recently demobilized following WWI, and will soon return home to find that Lil has not used the money he gave her to fix her teeth as he instructed. Lil’s acquaintance chastises her for refusing to get the requested dental work, and warns that “If Albert makes off, it won’t be for lack of telling. You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique” (155-156). The use of the word antique, employed earlier to describe the mantel upon which the painting of Philomel sat, immediately signals to the reader that these two narratives are connected, in addition to the name Lil, a low class version of the high sounding “Philomel” to which the rich woman is compared. The reader soon learns the reason Lil has refused the dental work. We discover that she was impregnated by her husband for the sixth time and decided to buy pills in order to abort the child. Her choice is a rational one; after all, she “nearly died of young George” (160). Yet because her society dictates that a husband should have unlimited access to his wife’s body, her role is institutionalized to the point where she relives Philomel’s fate on the level of realism. In this case, mythological violence becomes the normal routine violence of modern life. Lil is imprisoned by her circumstances, in fear of losing her husband and only base of support for her five children, and like the woman in the first half of A Game of Chess, denied agency. Again, Eliot’s point is clear: should these women listen to the voices of their mythic past, they could unite across class lines and have a collective experience which would empower them. But they don’t, so they can’t.

Having established these two themes within the Wasteland---the importance of collective experience in lieu of a connection to our mythic past---let us now turn to Auden’s Musee des Beau Arts, and observe how these same themes are challenged and reworked by his experience with artifacts of our mythic past. At the very start, the poem posits its thesis: “About suffering they were never wrong,/ The Old Masters: how well they understood/ Its human position; how it takes place/ While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along” (1-4). The organizing principle of the poem, in which he employs descriptions of several paintings within the French Museum of Fine Arts to explicate his point, is that suffering is awful in itself, but when it occurs without any response from humans occupying its same space in the natural world, it is heightened to the level of tragedy.

The two main figures in Auden’s poem are both major icons of classical Western mythology: Jesus Christ, depicted dying on the cross as “the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse/ Scratches its innocent behind on a tree;” (12-13) and Icarus, drowning in the sea after a failed escape from the labyrinth of Minos, king of Crete. His improvised wings of wax, employed to fly from the prison, melted as he came too close to the sun, and in this painting he has already plunged to his death, the only sign of him “the white legs disappearing into the green/ Water” (18-19). Like Christ, Icarus’ death is relegated to “a corner, some untidy spot:” (11) quite literally, the bottom right corner of Brueghel’s painting of the scene, which focuses the majority of the space on the canvas on a ploughman plowing his fields high above the harbor in which Icarus drowns, and an “expensive delicate ship” (19) sailing before a magnificent horizon. Like Eliot, Auden is employing the mythic tradition to draw a parallel between these two figures. His most basic point is that the indifference of the society surrounding these dead men intensifies the tragedy of their deaths.

On another level, we can learn much by contrasting the Eliot’s use of the mythic method in the Philomel/Lil narratives and Auden’s employment of it here between Icarus and Christ. In Eliot’s poem, it is the inability of these women to connect to their mythic forerunner Philomel which denies them access to authentic agency. The implication is that were they to have a collective experience of this myth, they could transcend their station in life and escape the complications of modernity. Auden’s poem draws a quite different conclusion from the suffering of its figures. Unlike Eliot’s poem, which positions contemporary people in literary parallel to their mythic counterparts, Auden only includes the mythic figures themselves. Instead of extolling their tragedies as examples centralizing moments in the Western experience we can all access in order to gain a better understanding of our present, he focuses on the almost pathetic circumstances of their deaths; how in Icarus’ case, “everything turns away/ Quite leisurely from the disaster;” (14-15) that alienation from world historic moments of tragedy is not a particularly modern, but rather fundamentally human characteristic, which stems from the very same indifference to suffering displayed by Nature.

Musee des Beaux Arts is even more remarkable because of its sophisticated commentary on the role of class and social status on our moral culpability for tragic suffering. This critique is tied closely to Auden’s claim that humans have a natural tendency to allow their own concerns and pleasures get in the way of moral action. This is hinted at in the first stanza, when we are presented with the “aged” who “are reverently, passionately waiting/ For the miraculous birth,” (5) contrasted with the “Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating/ On a pond at the edge of the wood:” (7-8). The reader is reminded of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, which present man before the Fall in his innocent state, untainted by ideologies and domination. While the old men essentially waste away their last moments on earth praying for the redemption Christ will bring, Auden reminds us that life goes on; what is left more or less ambiguous is whether or not this is a good or bad thing.

In the second stanza, we find a much more explicit condemnation of the social forces that work to obscure suffering (and thus mitigate response to it) from the public realm. Two figures are in the scene, a ploughman representing the laboring, lower class, and the trading ship, a symbol of the upper class (and ally of Eliot’s high cultural elite). Both figures ignore Icarus’ death; however, it is the upper-class ship that is held more responsible for that ignorance. For the ploughman, whose principle task is to provide food for his family so that they will not starve to death, his work is imminently tied to his survival. Concerned mainly with performing his role in the production of capital, he “may/ Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,/ But for him it was not an important failure” (15-17). Auden uses the word “may” to introduce uncertainty into the scene. There is even a possibility that he didn’t hear it, and even if he did, he was so concerned with providing himself with the basic necessities to live, and so far removed from the position in which to affect change (being high above and far removed from the site of Icarus’ drowning), that he almost can’t be blamed for not responding. Almost.

Greater moral culpability lies with the “expensive delicate ship,” which Auden points out “must have seen/ Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,” yet despite incontrovertible evidence that something extraordinarily awful was happening right before their eyes, within the realm of possibilities for them to take action and stop it, the ship “Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on” (21). The ship, a symbol of the rich and powerful, who is the closest to the action of suffering and most able to stop it, fails to take moral action. Like the ploughman, it too is more concerned with the production of capital than the saving of lives; for those shipmates, like some citizens in Mussolini’s fascist state, it is more important that the trains run on time than progress be held up for the saving of one innocent life.

Progress at the expense of human suffering; collectivism for the sake of national unity; purpose as defined by the interests of the group in power of the means of production; all these things can describe the state of the masses wandering over London Bridge in The Wasteland, the figures ignoring tragedy in Musee des Beaux Arts, and finally, the inhabitants of almost every state which has engineered a genocide in the 20th century. What these poems provide us is a framework through which to understand the mentality of the high cultural elite of the time, and a critique of that mindset for the ills that it produces. In Eliot’s case, his 1922 publication of The Wasteland came as a response to the devastation and suffering of WWI. When his poem ends with datta, give, daydhvam, sympathize, and damyata, control, he is urging his contemporaries to give the knowledge of their mythic past to the masses, to sympathize with the condition of humanity in the modern area which causes alienation, fragmentation and nihilism, and then control the ill effects of this sickness by collectivizing. While this is only one interpretation of this highly complex ending to an immensely complicated poem, it is not implausible; Eliot’s own prose attests to his fascist tendencies and anti-Semitic sympathies, especially as Europe approaches the threshold of WWII. What is perhaps most disturbing about Eliot’s work is its snobbish attitude about the primacy of the Greco-Roman condition, which alienates and even dehumanizes the Others who do not fit into his cultural paradigm.

Auden’s poem takes a jab at this elitism from the onset. Its title, Musee des Beaux Arts, implies the special knowledge of a certain cultural elite, who could recognize the French and provide a mental image of the art being described. It is not the lower class working man who is seeing these paintings and reading his poem, but rather the upper class, highly cultured elites; it is those same people whose appeasement and inaction in the face of human suffering has allowed for the dangerous historical precipice upon which the poem is situated. Published in 1938 at the very edge of the Holocaust, Auden’s poem confirms one of the darkest, saddest truths about humanity: that tragedy, even genocide, occurs when the majority of the common people are occupied with assuring their survival, while those in positions of power convince themselves that they “had somewhere to go and sailed calmly on.” German native and Holocaust survivor Fritz Ottenheimer describes it well. Throughout his memoir, he grapples with the question of the German populace’s failure to take a stand against the “Final Solution.” What Ottenheimer realizes is that

The professionals, the educated people, were the ones that the ordinary people might have looked to for guidance. But they were busy trying to get into positions from which their Jewish colleagues had been fired. Many others found it advantageous to do Hitler’s work. . . I am afraid that what I noticed was not a weakness of the German people but a weakness of human nature. We tend to ask ourselves, how does this affect me [or] how does this affect my family? And that if it’s someone else’s family [affected], we tend not to get as excited as we should.

What Ottenheimer and Auden both understood is that same notion first posited by John Locke; namely, that all human action is motivated by a desire to alleviate present uneasiness; and if collaborating with murderers or even simply turning away while the “dreadful martyrdom runs it course” is more convenient and less troublesome than taking a moral stand against evil, humans will often sadly choose the former response to tragedy over the latter.

With this is mind we return to Dachau, and though no poem or essay can ever truly explain for the moral failure that was the Holocaust, together these two modernist works help us understand the cultural conditions that lead to fascism and the human failings that helped lead it to genocide. When people live in a controlled system, damyata, where their real daily concern is survival through work, alienation is inevitable and moral failures routine. For one final example of this thesis in practice today, we need not look further than the contemporary genocide occurring now in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Hundreds of thousands have been murdered and starved to death and thousands more continue to die as the United Nations watch from a distance with their hands tied. Meanwhile, the majority of the American public doesn’t even know genocide is taking place. The website beawitness.org, dedicated to raising awareness about this crisis, notes that “during June 2005, CNN, FOXNews, NBC/MSNBC, ABC, and CBS ran 50 times as many stories about Michael Jackson and 12 times as many stories about Tom Cruise as they did about the genocide in Darfur.” What is obvious is that, like the “expensive delicate ship” sailing calmly along as Icarus’ body dropped into the sea, the news networks theoretically dedicated to providing our nation with the most important information necessary to making informed moral choices are in truth more concerned with turning a profit- and the fact of the matter is, sensational entertainment and celebrity sells more ads than genocide. In both Icarus’ and the people of Darfur’s cases, the market dictates where people place their attention and determines what is and is not “an important failure.” The true test for our democracy is to demand that moral principle trump material gain. Until that day arrives, the tragedies will continue, and the lessons of modernism will remain unlearned.

Health Insurance Reform Reality Check

2009-08-13T18:17:00.002-04:00

Across the country we are seeing vigorous debate about health insurance reform. Unfortunately, some of the old tactics we know so well are back — even the viral emails that fly unchecked and under the radar, spreading all sorts of lies and distortions.

As President Obama said at the town hall in New Hampshire, “where we do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that's actually been proposed.”

Below, you will find a lot of information about health insurance reform, distilled into 8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage, 8 common myths about reform and 8 reasons we need health insurance reform now.

Right now, someone you know probably has a question about reform that could be answered by what’s below. I encourage you to share this posting with them.

Health Insurance Reform Reality Check

8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage

1. Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.

2. Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.

3. Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.

4. Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.

5. Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.

6. Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.

7. Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.

8. Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.

Learn more and get details: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/health-insurance-consumer-protections/

8 common myths about health insurance reform

1. Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it: It’s a myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.

2. We can’t afford reform: It's the status quo we can't afford. It’s a myth that reform will bust the budget. To the contrary, the President has identified ways to pay for the vast majority of the up-front costs by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within existing government health programs; ending big subsidies to insurance companies; and increasing efficiency with such steps as coordinating care and streamlining paperwork. In the long term, reform can help bring down costs that will otherwise lead to a fiscal crisis.

3. Reform would encourage "euthanasia": It does not. It’s a malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors. For seniors who want to consult with their family and physicians about end-of life decisions, reform will help to cover these voluntary, private consultations for those who want help with these personal and difficult family decisions.

4. Vets' health care is safe and sound: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget significantly expands coverage under the VA, extending care to 500,000 more veterans who were previously excluded. The VA Healthcare system will continue to be available for all eligible veterans.

5. Reform will benefit small business - not burden it: It’s a myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses, provide tax credits to help them pay for employee coverage and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.

6. Your Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform: It’s myth that Health Insurance Reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits. To the contrary, reform will improve the long-term financial health of Medicare, ensure better coordination, eliminate waste and unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies, and help to close the Medicare "doughnut" hole to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors.

7. You can keep your own insurance: It’s myth that reform will force you out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors. To the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them.

8. No, government will not do anything with your bank account: It is an absurd myth that government will be in charge of your bank accounts. Health insurance reform will simplify administration, making it easier and more convenient for you to pay bills in a method that you choose. Just like paying a phone bill or a utility bill, you can pay by traditional check, or by a direct electronic payment. And forms will be standardized so they will be easier to understand. The choice is up to you – and the same rules of privacy will apply as they do for all other electronic payments that people make.

Learn more and get details:
http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck
http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck/faq

8 Reasons We Need Health Insurance Reform Now

1. Coverage Denied to Millions: A recent national survey estimated that 12.6 million non-elderly adults – 36 percent of those who tried to purchase health insurance directly from an insurance company in the individual insurance market – were in fact discriminated against because of a pre-existing condition in the previous three years or dropped from coverage when they became seriously ill. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/denied_coverage/index.html

2. Less Care for More Costs: With each passing year, Americans are paying more for health care coverage. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled since 2000, a rate three times faster than wages. In 2008, the average premium for a family plan purchased through an employer was $12,680, nearly the annual earnings of a full-time minimum wage job. Americans pay more than ever for health insurance, but get less coverage. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hiddencosts/index.html

3. Roadblocks to Care for Women: Women’s reproductive health requires more regular contact with health care providers, including yearly pap smears, mammograms, and obstetric care. Women are also more likely to report fair or poor health than men (9.5% versus 9.0%). While rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure are similar to men, women are twice as likely to suffer from headaches and are more likely to experience joint, back or neck pain. These chronic conditions often require regular and frequent treatment and follow-up care. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/women/index.html

4. Hard Times in the Heartland: Throughout rural America, there are nearly 50 million people who face challenges in accessing health care. The past several decades have consistently shown higher rates of poverty, mortality, uninsurance, and limited access to a primary health care provider in rural areas. With the recent economic downturn, there is potential for an increase in many of the health disparities and access concerns that are already elevated in rural communities. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/hardtimes

5. Small Businesses Struggle to Provide Health Coverage: Nearly one-third of the uninsured – 13 million people – are employees of firms with less than 100 workers. From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. Much of this decline stems from small business. The percentage of small businesses offering coverage dropped from 68% to 59%, while large firms held stable at 99%. About a third of such workers in firms with fewer than 50 employees obtain insurance through a spouse. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/helpbottomline

6. The Tragedies are Personal: Half of all personal bankruptcies are at least partly the result of medical expenses. The typical elderly couple may have to save nearly $300,000 to pay for health costs not covered by Medicare alone. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction

7. Diminishing Access to Care: From 2000 to 2007, the proportion of non-elderly Americans covered by employer-based health insurance fell from 66% to 61%. An estimated 87 million people - one in every three Americans under the age of 65 - were uninsured at some point in 2007 and 2008. More than 80% of the uninsured are in working families. Learn more: http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/inaction/diminishing/index.html

8. The Trends are Troubling: Without reform, health care costs will continue to skyrocket unabated, putting unbearable strain on families, businesses, and state and federal government budgets. Perhaps the most visible sign of the need for health care reform is the 46 million Americans currently without health insurance - projections suggest that this number will rise to about 72 million in 2040 in the absence of reform. Learn more: http://www.WhiteHouse.gov/assets/documents/CEA_Health_Care_Report.pdf

Visit WhiteHouse.gov for even more information.

My Kenyan Birth Certificate

2009-08-06T15:27:00.000-04:00

Does this mean I can't be president?

Pass Climate Change Legislation NOW!

2009-08-03T14:10:00.004-04:00

Usually, I try to stay fairly professional with my blog posts, but today I am feeling so angry about something that I feel the need to just let loose. The topic is one that is near and dear to my heart - climate change, and our alternative energy future. Here's what's happening this summer: while the concentration of Carbon Dioxide increases, extreme weather events rage across the country. Congress, finally seeing the need to pass aggressive climate change legislation, began with an inspiring bill that was deformed by compromises and special interest pandering - but at least it passed cap and trade. To its credit, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, could make America more energy-efficient, boost investments in clean energy solutions and dramatically cut global warming pollution -- by an amount in 2020 equivalent to taking 500 million cars and SUVs off the road. It may not go as far as needed, but at least its a start. Now, as the bill makes it ways through the Senate, the radical right is apoplectic. To hear them, you would think that liberals are out to destroy the American economy with new taxes designed to enrich government coffers, when in actuality, the goal of cap and trade legislation is to cut global warming in a way that spurs industry and innovation to devise new ways of providing energy to America. In the long term, aside from education, creating a path to a sustainable energy future is the most important way of securing America's economy and national security. Fossil fuels are dirty, extracted in destructive ways, and are largely owned by America's enemies. Scientists and industry leaders are both coming to the realization that we are nearing, or have even passed the point of peak oil, at which point we will see diminishing returns from existing wells and skyrocketing prices for all types of fuel. The way to beat the odds is to make the necessary adjustments now, for the benefit not only of our economy, but for the health and safety of ourselves, our country and our children. Reducing the discussion about cap-and-trade to a stale old argument about government taxation is just another example of short sighted, lazy thinking on the part of conservative dinosaurs who fail to open their eyes to the realities of our changing world.

Please, take a moment to call or write your Senator today and ask them to support the American Clean Energy and Security Act. This August recess is a crucial time to make your voice heard on this important issue.

Tell Ringling Brothers: Animal Cruelty Must Stop!

2009-07-22T15:31:00.002-04:00

Today, I watched a horrific video of elephant trainers from Ringling Brothers beating their elephants. After you watch it, I hope you will be as moved as I was to write a short letter to the company holding them accountable for these inexcusable actions.

I wrote this letter:

Dear Ringling Brothers,

I was disgusted and horrified to see this video of your trainers beating elephants with bullhooks. This is despicable and cruel behavior. My mom used to take me to the circus every year as a child and I loved it, but knowing that you are treating your animals like this makes me think I should never patronize your shows again! You should be ashamed. I think the entire world deserves an explanation for this behavior, and there should be a major change in your policies regarding how you treat animals.

Here's the video.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/22/ringling-bros-elephant-ab_n_242776.html

I would like a WRITTEN RESPONSE.

Thank you,

Adam Schwartzbaum

Castles made of Sand

2009-07-15T22:15:00.001-04:00

Every sandcastle dies on the shore:
adamant towers swell in the sea sands,
diffusing shards of small shells shimmering.
Those castles made of sand melt into the sea,
diaphanous blasts of summer blue and green.
Waves break on the beach;
Earth and Sunlight deliquesce
in an aquatic genesis.

Tell the Attorney General to Stand Strong on Torture

2009-07-13T19:19:00.002-04:00

Big news: Attorney General Holder may be on the verge of appointing a special prosecutor to investigate cases of torture from the Bush era.

With new revelations coming to light regularly, it's critical that an impartial investigator has the power to find out exactly what happened and who was responsible.

And that investigation must hold the architects of the program accountable. It's the only way we'll be able to make sure it never happens again.

But there's enormous political pressure to bury the worst abuses. The Attorney General is sending signals that he may move forward despite the pressure—and he needs to hear from regular Americans who are standing with him and want the truth. Can you email Holder right now to ask him to appoint a special prosecutor who can hold the architects of the program accountable?

Attorney General Eric Holder
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Below is a copy of the letter I sent to the AJ. Feel free to crib from it for your own letter.

Dear Attorney General Holder,

As many Republican Senators reminded us today in the confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor, we are a nation of laws that must uphold the rule of law. The pursuit of equal justice under our law demands that those who break it be held responsible for their crimes. There is much we still do not know about the torture program authorized by the Bush Administration. The little we do know suggests that a deeper investigation is warranted - and it is to you, and our Department of Justice, that we look to hold the architects of the program accountable. There MUST be consequences for breaking law, and it is within your power to assure that justice be done. I hope and pray that you will do the right thing by authorizing an independent investigation of the Bush-era torture program. The appointment of a special prosecutore who will be able to investigate the entire program, inclduing those who designed it, will be an important step in restoring the rule of law in our democracy.

Sincerely,

Adam Schwartzbaum

Goodbye Palin, We're Sorry to See You Go

2009-07-06T09:49:00.006-04:00

America took one step closer to declaring its Independence from Mediocrity this July 4th with the Sarah Palin's abrupt announcement that she will be resigning from the office of Governor of Alaska at the end of the month. In a rushed and rambling speech from her Wasilla home, Palin resigned from office with 17 months to go in her first term.

Critics on the left smell blood in the water, calling Palin "the bull goose loony of the GOP" and "Caribou Barbie." Yet it wasn't just Democrats scratching their heads at Palin's bizarre move; even Republicans like Karl Rove were admitting that her actions hurt her chances for a 2012 presidential bid. One prominent conservative blogger declared her "done with elected politics." The Wall Street Journal put it plainly enough when they wrote "Giving up on an executive job a year and a half early isn't the best way to persuade voters you're ready for the more demanding rigors and scrutiny of the White House."

Now comes the speculation about why. Palin certainly seemed like a woman running from something, and the chattering class is already in a frenzy over what that something could be. I'll leave others to speculate on the true reason for Palin's resignation, and I suspect more information about this will reveal itself in the coming weeks. Personally, while others might celebrate the quick drop in Palin's presidential stock, I for one am saddened by the loss of this contender, if only because her nomination would have all but assured certain victory for President Obama in 2012. This intellectual lightweight is just the kind of political mosquito that Obama would crush in a presidential matchup. So, while others revel in the loss of Sarah Palin, I'm going to take a more mournful approach. So long, Sarah. I'm sorry to see you go.

2009-06-29T08:39:00.001-04:00

Yesterday there was a coup in Honduras. Armed forces kidnapped the President, throwing the Central-American nation into a politicL crisis. In Iran, anti-government protests continued Sunday, with the opposition leader Moussavi organizing another demonstration in Tehran. This, despite the continued beating, arrest and detention of dissidents, journalists and opposition leaders and sympathizers. Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping climate-change legislation instuting a cap-and-trade system that will spur investment and development of alternative, renewable energy solutions while bringing American greenhouse gas emissions down over 80% by 2050. In North Korea, Kim Jong Il seemed to threaten America with a missile sent toward Hawaii over Independence Day weekend. Also last week, missing Governor Mark Sanford revealed he had not been hiking the Applachian Trail as he reported, but rather was visiting his mistress in Argentina. All this news wa overshadowed by the sudden death of music icon and international celebrity Michael Jackson, who it seemed meant something to everyone. While Jackson will rightfully be missed, I hope Americans will also be aware of the other big news stories going on right now.

Governor Mark Sanford: Just Another Conservative Republican Hypocrite

2009-06-24T22:00:00.014-04:00

It was all a mystery at first: the case of the missing Governor. What happened to the possible-Presidential-nomination-seeking, stimulus-fund-refusing, moral-values-loving Republican from South Carolina? He vanished without a trace, leaving behind his cell phone; even his wife says she doesn't know where he is. His people had a story: he was hiking the Applachian Trail. Then someone reported seeing him in the airport a few days ago. Turns out he left the country - for Argentina. And what was Governor Mark Sanford doing in Argentina? Escaping from his wife and four sons to visit his mistress.

The Headlines were blaring: "THE ARGENTINE AFFAIR: TEARS, EMAILS, SECRETS. Sanford's South American sweetheart has been a friend for eight years, though apparently things only turned romantic in the past year. His arrogance and hubris were stunning: to visit his Argentinian lover, Sanford reportedly "slipped his security detail, lied to his staff about his whereabouts and neglected to transfer executive power to the lieutenant governor in case of a state emergency." Turns out he took three previous trips to Argentina with taxpayer money in the past. His wife, Jenny, discovered the affair five months ago. They took a trial separation, and Sanford did the only thing a sensible governor should do in such a situation - mysteriously disappear.

At least his unfortunate wife is maintaining her dignity. Not so much for Sanford. His love letters have already hit the net, and the entire media is in a spectacular uproar over the dramatic political hijinks.

In his press conference today admitting the affair, Sanford resigned from his position as chair of the Republican governor's association. This wannabe poster-child for the emergent post-Bush "return to true Conservatism" crowd has given us just another Republican sex scandal by a family-values-touting, Bible-bumping hypocrite. Amazingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly, given your politics), this entire affair comes off the heels of the revelation of another sordid affair: that of Nevada Senator John Ensign, who resigned from his Senate leadership position after admitting to having an affair with the wife of one of his longest-serving staff members and family friends.

Its hard to judge whose prominent national disgrace is more revolting. But it seems to be part of a long pattern of Republicans saying one thing about family values, and then doing things like sleeping with prostitutes, soliciting gay sex in airport bathrooms, and sexually harassing House interns (see Senator David Vitter (R-LA), Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL)). These holier-than-thous shamefully underscore the serious crisis in leadership facing the Republican party, whose most prominent figures right now include an adulterer (Newt Gingrich), a thrice-married prescription drug addict (Rush Limbaugh). Its time for Conservatives to stop lecturing Americans about family values when they can't even keep themselves in line with what is right.

Inspiration of the Day: Nena Soltani & the Prologue to Demian

2009-06-23T21:56:00.007-04:00

This is my story; it is the story of a man, not of an invented, or possible, or idealized, or otherwise absent figure, but of a unique human being of flesh and blood. Yet, what a real living human being is made of seems to be less understood today than at any time before, and men--each one of whom represents a unique and valuable experiment on the part of nature--are therefore shot wholesale nowadays. If we were not something more than unique human beings; if each one of us could really be done away with once and for all by a single bullet, storytelling would lose all purpose. But every man is more than just himself; he also represents the unique, the very special and always significant and remarkable point at which the world's phenomena intersect, only once in this way and never again. That is why every man's story is important, eternal, sacred; that is why every man, as long as he lives and fulfills the will of nature, is wondrous, and worthy of every consideration. In each individual the spirit has become flesh, in each man the creation suffers, within each one a redeemer is nailed to the cross . . . .
Each man's life represents a road toward himself, an attempt at such a road, the intimation of a path. No man has ever been entirely and completely himself. Yet each one strives to become that--one in an awkward, the other in a more intelligent way, each as best as he can. Each man carries the vestiges of his birth--the slime and eggshells of his primeval past--with him to the end of his days. Some never become human, remaining frog, lizard, ant. Some are human above the waist, fish below. Each represents a gamble on the part of nature in creation of the human. We all share the same origin, our mothers; all of us come in at the same door. But each of us--experiments of the depths--strives toward his own destiny. We can understand one another; but each of us is able to interpret himself to himself alone.

Is This The Best Republicans Can Do?

2009-06-23T00:06:00.006-04:00

Haley Barbour? Seriously?

This fat old white man is actually being bandied about CNN as a possible contender for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination.

We all know that the Grand Old Party is dominated by cantankerous old clods - see Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh - but does any Republican strategist really foresee a Mississippi Governor taking the Oval Office from President Barack Obama? I don't want to sound too cocky, but its stories like these which make me see two terms for Obama as preordained. Sure it would be a laugh riot to watch him smother Sarah Palin, but a victory over someone like Barbour would be a cakewalk.

Go ahead, Republicans. Nominate this guy for President. I dare you.

Obama's Iran Dilemma

2009-06-15T16:11:00.003-04:00

This article was originally published on Mother Jones. Today, hundreds of thousands of Iranians engaged in a silent march through the streets of Tehran in support of opposition leader Moussavi. The Grand Ayatollah has called for a re-examination of the voting irregularities, but I believe it is just a strategic move by the regime to co-opt popular anger with the election fraud by making it seem as if a legitimate process will now take place. The regime is just buying time in the hopes that this problem will go away, that the opposition will peter out, and that they will soon use their control of the military and police to recpature their grip on power. Sadly, I believe they will probably succeed. It will take incredible sacrifice and resilience for "the greens" to wrest power from the cabal that currently controls Iran. I fear they will fail, and many will die.

Obama's Iran Dilemma

How far will the Iranian opposition go? And how should the president react to Iran's election crisis?
—By David Corn

The Iranian election fiasco—or coup—poses a challenge for President Barack Obama. How should he continue his policy of engagement with a regime that appears to have stolen an election so brazenly? The United States does routinely deal with autocrats and democracy-suppressers around the world: Egypt, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and others. Few suggest that Washington shouldn't have diplomatic relations with Beijing until China becomes a multi-party state with free elections. But should Obama withhold his support for the movement for reform and democracy in Iran? Could he do so without causing harm by tainting the opposition (Washington is not so popular in Iran)? And could he do so without killing the possibility of reaching any future accommodation with the present leaders of Tehran, who could end up staying in charge for years to come? No doubt, neocons and others who have been calling for a hardline on Iran will exploit Tehran's crackdown on democracy and make the ready-for-cable argument that the West cannot deal with the Iranian regime and there's only one course of action: get tough and tougher and tougher.

On Saturday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement: "Like the rest of the world, we were impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians. We continue to monitor the entire situation closely, including reports of irregularities." This brief statement did not reflect the dilemma faced by Obama.

And that dilemma will be shaped by how the Iranian opposition led by Mir Hossein Mousavi responds to the crisis. With the dust still swirling, there's no telling yet what direction the opposition will take. Will it fade and Ahmadinejad consolidate power? Will it spread and force some sort of societal show-down that threatens the autocrats of Allah?

I subscribe to a listserv run by Middle East expert Gary Sick, and for the past few days analysts who know Iran well have been discussing and debating on this list what could happen in Iran. Below are two takes from participants, which I am reprinting with their permission.

Babak Rahimi is a professor of Islamic studies at the University of California, San Diego, who is now in Iran studying the elections. He reports:

As I write this, the echoes of “Allah Akbar” can be heard from the neighboring streets and houses in Tehran, where I have been conducting research on the elections since March. This is the latest innovative method by the pro-Mousavi camp to oppose the results of the election. Such innovation is rooted in the revolutionary tactics of 1979, when symbolic acts of defiance set the stage for a mass uprising that culminated in the toppling of the Pahlavi regime. Revolutionary traditions die hard.

I do not want to suggest that a certain revolution is underway in Iran, but surely a major crisis of legitimacy has taken place here which could potentially become a source of considerable tension for years to come.

With regards to the electoral map, let me challenge some myths that have been articulated by some in the media.

Ahmadinejad won the rural votes: Maybe! We basically do not have hard evidence that the rural regions gave overwhelming support to the current president. Based on my fieldwork, in Bushehr, Khuzestan and Lurestan, I have come across major tensions between provincial officials, especially the local Friday Imams, and Ahmadinejad administrative officials based in Tehran. The Friday Imam of the port-city of Asalooyeh is a case in point. During the president’s final visit to the province of Bushehr, the Imam refused to meet the president, an act of defiance which was praised by many locals.

Also, during my travels in the provinces, I conducted informal interviews in the rural regions. The level of support for Ahmadinejad was considerably lower than I expected. In fact, I heard some of the most ferocious objections to the administration in the rural regions.

This is of course not a scientific survey and does not reflect the view of the entire country. But there is something here that could challenge this common perception advanced by some analysts.

The Mousavi movement is limited to the Northern Tehran: False! True, Ahmadinejad’s populist policies have attracted many from the working class from southern Tehran, but many are also highly frustrated with the regime. During a pro-Mousavi political rally few days ago, I met and interviewed a number of southern Tehrani men who described Mousavi as the man of the "Mostazafin." I have a number of different examples that would reveal class was not (most likely) the determining factor in the election.

Unlike the 2005 elections, nationalism, in its macho-militaristic form, has become more of a central issue to Ahmadinejad supporters. To give an example, two days ago I met a wealthy Iranian, with a British passport, declare his support for the current president. Why? “Ahmadinejad has made Iran a superpower in the region,” he enthusiastically described.

Rahimi seems quasi-optimistic that anti-regime sentiment is widely spread throughout the country and that it will not easily disappear--whatever happens in the coming days.

Wayne White was a top Near East analyst at the State Department for years and is now a scholar at the Middle East Institute. His view is a clear-cut one: the opposition has to turn up the heat or give up the kitchen.

There are reports that election protests are becoming more scattered, despite some continuing clashes here and there. This would be consistent with many scenarios in which a tough-minded authoritarian regime faces a potentially problematic popular reaction, deals with it aggressively and heavy-handedly, and then public manifestations of opposition fade out. This would then be followed by a far more systematic regime effort to seek out and arrest hundreds--even thousands--of apparent ringleaders to use as examples in order to intimidate still further the opposition as power is consolidated once again....

In the face of harsh repression like this, there may only be one real option for the opposition to effect meaningful short-term change: get rough or stand down; confront a coup with a popular countercoup, or wait and hope for better days. I know it is vastly easier for me to sit back here in the States and comment that either the opposition organizes mass street action in which it is willing to inflict and take substantial casualties or it almost inevitably fails in its clearest near-term objective, but that probably is, I fear, the bottom line in this particular instance. The so-called coup itself has demonstrated just how little the emerging new order cares about matters such demonstrations and scuffles (save perhaps especially defiant ones placing many hundreds of thousands on the street, which no longer appears to be happening). That is how the 1979 revolution elbowed its way to power, sacrificing thousands of its people in bloody confrontations with the Shah's security forces.

In today's situation, however, there are complications with even this far more radical and dangerous approach. Many other Iranians would likely take to the streets in support of the security forces to defend the regime and Ahmadinejad. Additionally, it is unknown whether a substantial number among the security forces would change sides in the face of such fierce opposition--a critical aspect of the events of 1979 (or whether major elements of the army would be willing to join the fray in order to counter the Revolutionary Guard). Mousavi & Co. also do not represent the sort of galvanizing--practically messianic--presence that was Khomeini in those heady days of late 1978 and early 1979.

One could go on and on about the great difficulties involving in mounting a far more determined and almost certainly very violent challenge beyond simply the potentially dreadful sacrifice in lives. Nonetheless, we probably have reaching the point--or are fast approaching it--at which this, essentially, is, again, the bottom line (something in which Ahmadinejad and other regime hardliners doubtless take great comfort). So long as pro-reform or anti-authoritarian forces are unwilling (or effectively incapable) of pressing well beyond the boundaries of dissent--already much-compressed--set for them by those now dominating the regime, they may well be condemned to endure still more. Despite the control of several institutions, a clearer popular mandate, and a far freer press, Khatami failed to effect much lasting change, in large measure because he and his supporters dared not (or did not even wish to) wander into such dangerous territory when boldly countered by the determined and bloodyminded hardliners dominating the regime.

I do not argue that the events of the past two days are without profound impact--possibly so momentous as to set up the eventual collapse of the increasingly authoritarian structure apparently now being put in place. However, quite some time may be required to effect significant change toward that end.

On Monday morning, White emailed me an update of his analysis:

Today, in fact, we are seeing just the sort of call on the part of Mousavi which probably dooms the protests over the long-term: calling off the major protest rally in the face of possible government use of lethal force. Although, again, it is easy for me to prognosticate from the safety of my mountain fortress, a movement (and its leader) determined to wrest power from bloody-minded authoritarian forces must be willing to defy authority even in the face of potentially serious casualties. He apparently feels he must pursue the legal challenge route until exhausted, but its chances of success are extremely remote--and this ruling clique already has shown its own utter contempt for legalities in any case.

I was watching the iPod bit last night in which, what, less than a dozen police on motorcycles with nothing more than batons took on a dense crowd of a thousand or more at close quarters. Instead of largely heading for the hills, such a crowd could easily have closed in behind the police and taken them all down, not just one. The tipping point in many of these situations is when the police become either as fearful as the demonstrators, more so, or even grow thoroughly sickened by the violence they have been ordered to carry out. That crucial moment is far less likely to come if demonstrators stand down or shrink back in the face of the mere threat of violence. In fact, outrageous acts of violence committed by authorities often help mobilize a truly viable & volatile opposition (not to mention further alienating an already-wavering international community).

For one thing, I fear we have in Mousavi another Khatami: a well-meaning reformist who has been himself so much a part of the current system and unused to the tough realities of street politics that he is psychologically unable to break fully with that system--not a thoroughgoing oppositionist determined to go to the limits of defiance.

I should clarify that "wresting power" from the authorities isn't even the goal of much of the opposition at this point, let alone Mousavi. But even to push back effectively against the powers that be so as to make them blink demands more robust and boldy defiant action.

And, as we've seen in situations in the past that began as widespread, heated protests against abusive of power, not revolutions, often further, more brazen abuses of power eventually transform vigorous reform efforts into revolutionary movements.

Yet another apparent weakness in the opposition with respect to the above is leadership: I can see no evidence of any coherent street leadership that can harness the power of the opposition, perhaps even supplanting the more timid Mousavi if necessary to defend the demonstrators and take the bolder measures noted above.

Obama's problem may be that he has to deal with half an opposition in Iran--that is, one that captures global attention but isn't as serious or as competent as movements elsewhere that toppled tyrannical regimes. (Think of the Ukrainian opposition.) In other words, Mousavi is not a good horse to bet on--even if he has the moral high ground. The tricky part for Obama will be figuring out how to use this election--however it ultimately plays out--to his advantage. To do so, his aides ought to be consulting with many of the experts on and off Sick's list, even though there is hardly a consensus among them regarding what will happen in Iran.

David Corn is Mother Jones' Washington bureau chief. For more of his stories, click here. He's also on twitter.

Heartbreak in Iran

2009-06-15T01:53:00.003-04:00

12:30 AM ET -- "We were all together, shouting and chanting... Our hearts were broken." A poetic and heartbreaking email passed along by a reader who wished to remain anonymous:

My dear friend,

I can't say that I wish you were here.... actually I am happy that you are not here to feel our disillusionment and frustration....

After all these efforts, all these street rallies, what happened was that the Islamic Republic of Iran did not count us as human! ..... This is excruciating... especially for us, the youth who did not see the revolution and who have never experienced a crisis like this before... The generation before us can absorb this tragedy much better than we can ...

Yesterday, I was choking on a lump in my throat... I thought I could no longer breath.... We gathered in Vanak circle.... Total strangers were unified... It was an incredible movement.... We were all together, shouting and chanting... Our hearts were broken....

I am not exaggerating...

We were chanting "this is not our vote" "this is not our vote"... tears were coming down my face, other people were much stronger than I was...

We went from Vanak circle to main street "valiaasr".... It was a long way and pedestrians were joining us along the way.... The crowd was growing every second...... Suddenly the revolutionary guard, I am sure you've seen them before, menacing soldiers with black faces and batons, attacked us from behind... In a moment the screaming crowd scattered.... I was terrified.... X was with me but I lost him..... The crowd was shoving me towards the side walk... A hand grabbed me from behind..... It was X.... I felt relieved, nothing was important anymore, we were together... we stood in a corner... people were terrified... then the people attacked the police, they beat them and put their motorcycles on fire... I couldn't believe what I was seeing... I felt I was in Beirut...Everything was very strange...

I was lost in the moment...

Last night my dreams were very disturbing...

I dreamt that I was surrounded by little children, I was playing with them to distract them from what was going on outside.... I burst in to tears... My heart burned for these children because I can not see a future for them...

I burst in to tears...All the children turned and looked at me and I covered my face with my scarf.... I was choking on my sobs......

2009-06-14T22:17:00.001-04:00

Goodbye Orlando - lakers got this

Violence in Iran, Protests in the Streets

2009-06-13T16:23:00.002-04:00

Is anyone surprised that this election was stolen?
The Iranian dictatorship makes a mockery of democracy. I pray the reformers and the young people will prevail, but I am pessimistic.

2009-06-11T11:28:00.001-04:00

I am testing out the new feature that allows me to post on my blog from my phone. In court right now doing pretrial conferences. Looking forward to game 4 tonight. Already thinking about what to do this weekend - want to see the hangover. Or up. This is like a long twitter post almost...

Stewart's Take on Obama's Cairo Speech a Must See

2009-06-06T21:58:00.000-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Looking for Comity in the Muslim World

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economic Crisis

RECOUNT UPDATE: 70 Questionable Ballots Could Tip Election In Our Favor!

2009-06-05T17:21:00.005-04:00

More news today about my mom's recount, which will take place on Tuesday. Here's how the Recount will work: 5 people will be in a glass enclosed room. The three canvassing board officials and a representative from each campaign will also be present. Everybody else watches from outside and can not make any comments, only watch.

North Miami uses optical scan ballots similar to those used in the Franken/Coleman race in Minnesota. Voters bubble in a circle next to the name of the candidate of their choice. On Election Day, the ballots were fed into a machine which scans them and tallies the votes.

On Tuesday, the officials will feed the ballots through the machine again. All ballots will be recounted. There is no difference between early, absentee , or day of votes. Unfortunately, we will not see the affidavits attached to the "assisted" ballots.

Here is where the plot thickens...

The machine originally spit out 70 ballots as under voted or overvoted. There was one of these that the person voted for both my mom and Blynn.

70 ballots had no vote according to the machine. They were not counted. These ballots will be examined to see if there is clearly a vote.

For example, if a ballot has a bubble for Frank Wolland (one of the two mayoral candidates), and a check for Blynn (our opponent), it would be rejected, because the person knows how to bubble. However, if the voter put a check for mayor and councilperson, or circled, or x'd, the canvassing board would vote if this was a vote for council. Two out of three of the canvassing board officials must vote yes for anyone to get the vote.

So there are potentially 69 more votes. We could still win!

The Miami Herald had an article about the recount in today's paper. Check it out.

Recount Drama After Narrow Defeat

2009-06-04T20:06:00.002-04:00

This Tuesday, my mom narrowly lost her bid for a seat on the North Miami City Council, losing by 14 votes. Michael Blynn, the 10-year-incumbent, won 640-626. Based on testimony of people working the polls that day, we have reason to believe there may be some discrepancies and hanky-panky that went on with this election. Today, the North Miami Canvassing Board granted my mother's request for a manual recount of the election. Councilman Scott Galvin, who sat on the board that granted this request, sent this email to his constituents today. It does a nice job of laying out the legal issues going forward.

Election Recount Scheduled
District 2 Council Seat Decided by Only 14 Votes
Dear Friends,

I am writing to let you know that a recount of all ballots in the North Miami City Council District 2 seat will be held. When the election for that seat was held on Tuesday, Michael Blynn defeated Bonnie Schwartzbaum by a mere 14 votes.

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102601560949&s=353&e=001171Wn4EYL_c7FDzJbKpoAf39mJyuHwjy_IKdCp01-k9-xAp82WdD9L_SlKpevI7s5h_Cf-bSI8u0mxcBaqiyifK_eeUXU8I0Qswhphbmd2sNLPMmmO9XPg==Under Florida Statute, an automatic recount of ballots is called for when the difference between candidates is less than 1/2 of 1% of the votes cast. This election, however, does not meet that threshhold. Blynn's victory of 14 votes equals 1.1% of the total.

However, a special provision of the North Miami City Charter allows that, "In its discretion, the city councilmembers serving as the canvassing board may order a recount of the returns of any election prior to the final certification of the results."

Earlier today, Mrs. Schwartzbaum requested a recount under that provision. As the sole City Council member sitting on the 2009 run-off canvassing board, there was no question in my mind that we honor her request. It is of the greatest importance that there be no question that the certified winner, whomever that may be, is valid. The District 2 winner will not be allowed to have a cloud of question hanging over his or her head.

After many conversations between me, the City Attorney's Office, the County Elections Department, and the County Attorney, here are the details of the recount, which will be conducted by the Miami-Dade Elections Department:

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
1:00 pm

Dade Elections Headquarters
2700 NW 87 Avenue
Doral, Florida

The entire recount process is open to the public. Later that day, the winners of the Mayoral and Council contests will be inaugurated at City Hall, 776 NE 125 Street, at 7:00 pm.
Full Text of Mrs. Schwartzbaum's Request for Recount
To North Miami Canvassing Board
June 4, 2009

Respectfully, pursuant to section 6-97(c) of the North Miami City Code, I respectfully invoke the right of a candidate, for good cause to be shown herein, that the canvassing board - prior to its final certification of results - order a manual recount in whole of the election. Further, as proof of good cause, I am prepared to present the actual testimony/sworn affidavit(s) of Marie Samuel, Claudio Sanchez, and Steven Schwartzbaum.

Pursuant to the ability of the canvassing board to order such a recount, despite the final vote count not falling within either ¼ or ½ a percentage point, I request that particular attention be devoted to a review of the absentee ballot certifications/signatures. Based upon information and belief of possible discrepancies.

Further, I respectfully submit a copy of my formal election protest, filed on June 3, with the Supervisor of Elections, for further consideration in having the Canvassing Board order a manual recount of the results in my race.

A mechanism and sufficient time exists for such a manual recount, and such as already been accounted for through the scheduling, on June 10, at 10am, for such a manual recount to commence prior to any official certification.

Full Text of North Miami City Attorney's Request to Lester Sola, Dade Elections Director
Mr. Sola:

Pursuant to your request, and because time is of the essence, I will offer you my opinion in the form of a response to this email.

Section 102.141(7), F.S., provides, in pertinent part, the following:

"If the unofficial returns reflect that a candidate for any office was defeated or eliminated by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office,...the board responsible for certifying the results of the vote on such race or measure shall order a recount of the votes cast with respect to such office or measure." (Emphasis added).

I would agree with you, that in cases where the a results of the unofficial returns reflect one-half of a percent or less, the City of North Miami ("City") is compelled by virtue of the state law to conduct a recount. Under such occurrences, the City would indeed be preempted from acting independently by deciding to deny a recount.

The City, knowing its place, mirrors state law by pronouncing the same requirements. Section 6-97(b) of the City Code, provides in pertinent part, the following:

(b) If the returns for any office reflect that a candidate was defeated or eliminated by one-half ( ½) of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office, ......the canvassing board shall order a recount of the votes cast with respect to such office or issue." (Emphasis added).

However, that is neither the case nor the issue before us. The issue here is whether the City may, at its discretion, request a recount in cases where a candidate was defeated or eliminated by an amount in excess of ½ of a percent of the votes cast for such office. While the statute compels the City to conduct a recount for numbers equating to ½ of a percent or less of the votes cast, the statute does not prohibit or disallow the City to otherwise conduct a recount, when the limiting threshold of ½ of one percent is exceeded.

The City's discretion to authorize a recount originates under Section 6-97(a) of the City Code, which states:

"In its discretion, the city council members serving as the canvassing board may order a recount of the returns of any election prior to the final certification of the results."

Furthermore, Section 6-97(c) of the City Code, provides:

"Upon request of any candidate for good cause shown, the canvassing board may prior to the final certification of results, order a recount in whole of the election in which that candidate participated."

Had the state intended to preempt such discretion on the part of a municipality, the state would have clearly stated so. In reference to the case you provided, it differs from our current situation, i.e., a request to conduct a recount at the expense of the City. Rather than a recount as allowed by municipal code Browning v. Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, concerns amendments to the Sarasota County Charter that conflict with the Florida Election Code. The amendments include voter verified paper ballots, mandatory audits and certification of election results.

Unlike Browning, the pertinent City Codes are not in conflict with the Florida law. In addition, the court in the Browning case, certified the question of preemption to the Florida Supreme Court, as an issue of first impression adding doubt to its conclusion. The Supreme Court's decision on this matter appears to be pending.

I trust that this response is sufficient to address your concern.

Thank you.
Roland Galdos
Deputy City Attorney
City ofNorth Miami

North Miami Code

Sec. 6-97. Recounts.
(a) In its discretion, the city councilmembers serving as the canvassing board may order a recount of the returns of any election prior to the final certification of the results.
(b) If the returns for any office reflect that a candidate was defeated or eliminated by one-half ( 1/2) of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office, that a council member subject to recall was retained or not retained by one-half ( 1/2) of a percent or less of the votes cast on the question of recall, or that an issue appearing on the ballot was approved or rejected by one-half ( 1/2) of a percent or less of the votes cast on such measure, the canvassing board shall order a recount of the votes cast with respect to such office or issue. A recount need not be ordered with respect to the returns for any office, if the candidate or candidates defeated, recalled or eliminated form [from] contention for such office by one-half ( 1/2) of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office request in writing that a recount not be made. The canvassing board shall examine the counters on the machines or the tabulation of the ballots cast in each district in which the office or issue appearing on the ballot and determine whether the returns correctly reflect the votes cast. If there is a discrepancy between the returns and the counters of the machines or the tabulation of the ballots cast, the counters of such machines or the tabulation of the ballots cast shall be presumed correct and such votes shall be canvassed accordingly.
(c) Upon request of any candidate for good cause shown, the canvassing board may prior to the final certification of results, order a recount in whole of the election in which that candidate participated. Upon request of any elector for good cause shown, the canvassing board may, prior to final certification of results, order a recount of any issue election.
(Code 1958, § 8-71; Ord. No. 1076, § 2, 1-23-01)

Sec. 6-98. Protest.
A candidate or any elector qualified to vote in the election related to such candidacy may file a protest of the election returns pursuant to F.S. § 102.166 in the form prescribed in F.S. § 102.167. The canvassing board shall consider the protest as provided in F.S. § 102.166(1) if filed with the board.
(Code 1958, § 8-72)

Sec. 6-99. Contest.
(a) An unsuccessful candidate may contest the results of the election in which he or she participated as provided in F.S. § 102.168.
(b) A taxpayer of the city may contest the results of any question or issue submitted to a vote of the electors as provided in F.S. § 102.168.
(c) If the unsuccessful candidate filing a contest is determined to be entitled to the office, and some other individual has been issued a certificate of election or entered upon the duties of the office, a judgment of ouster may be entered by the circuit court and the contestant shall assume that office.
(d) If a judgment is entered setting aside an issue election, the election shall be regarded as having been void.
(Code 1958, § 8-73)
Secs. 6-100--6-110. Reserved.

Elect Bonnie!

2009-05-27T12:39:00.002-04:00

The North Miami City Council Election is only days away.

Check out ElectBonnie.com to learn more about why my mom is the right candidate for North Miami City Council.

Calling all Miami People: Help My Mom Win the Election!

2009-05-23T13:55:00.002-04:00

My mom is running for North Miami City Council. She came in second place in the primary, and is now going head-to-head with the incumbent in the runoff on June 2nd. The election saw only a 16% turnout, so every vote is crucial to winning this election. We need your help to get across the finish line!

We need volunteers. Here's the schedule:

This and next Sunday, meet at our house for brunch may 24 and May 31 at 10:30 am to walk the neighborhoods.

We need people at polling places for early voting starting Thursday may 28, 29, 30, 31.

Finally, we need volunteers for election day June 2!

The after-election party will be at our house after polls close 7:30 - 10:00.

Our address is 1940 NE 124th St. North Miami FL, 33181. Please call my sister, Alison, at 305-725-1719 if you are interested in volunteering, or email her at alison.schwartzbaum@gmail.com

Any help you can give is most appreciated!

2005 Protests: My, How Things Have Changed...

2009-05-18T16:31:00.001-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while. In 2005, I went to Washington DC to protest the Bush Inauguration, and produced this article for the Brandeis newspaper, the Justice. I think its a fascinating read now, because it really drives home how divided we were as a nation, and how much things have changed in the last four years.

Students proudly protest inauguration
By: Adam Schwartzbaum
Posted: 1/25/05
"What do we want?" I shouted. "Peace!" the crowd roared. "When do we want it?" Our voices echoed fiercely off the walls of the tunnel, erupting into the loudest chanting yet, "Now!"

It was Jan. 20, the day of President Bush's second inauguration. Over 35 dedicated Brandeis students-some Republicans, but mostly members of Students for Peace-had traveled to Washington to witness the event.

The mood was somber and intense. Signs ranged from defiant-"No Mandate! Impeach Bush for War Crimes!"-to despairing. One man held a black sign with pictures of Bush's and Cheney's faces, reading, "Four more Years. We're Fucked." Another read, "I voted for Kerry, now I'm holding this fucking sign." There were expressions of disgust and forceful calls for an end to war and torture, and a renewed emphasis on peace and justice.

My girlfriend and I began the march by carrying a black coffin through the streets, marching and chanting with thousands of like-minded activists. Most striking was the mixture of people: old and young, rich and poor, hippies and punks and families with kids, all united in deep appreciation of the promise of democracy.

As we came out of the tunnel and up into the light, I looked to my left, and I was struck by the image of an inquisitive young black girl in her mother's arms. As the crowd shouted "Peace!" I thought of the transformative effect this had on the child, opening her mind to possibilities of co-existence. As we roared "Now!" the toddler mouthed the word along with the crowd in sweet innocence. I had the good fortune of witnessing the miracle of a child's quiet prayer for peace.

Sadly, others' experiences weren't nearly as positive. Two Brandeis students, Isaac Kalish 08 and Reilly Stoler '08, were demonstrating on Pennsylvania Avenue when an altercation with the police resulted in shots of pepper spray into the crowd.

According to Kalish, anarchists had jumped up on the subway and were starting to burn a flag. Then several kids in the crowd started jostling a riot fence that had been erected to restrain the protestors. A three-foot section fell over.

"We started chanting like crazy: 'Whose streets? Our Streets!' and 'Tear it down! Tear it down!'" Kalish recalled.

When the crowd pulled down two more sections of the fence, he said, "The cops went ballistic and started spraying people straight in the eyes with pepper spray. Our eyes and throat started burning. We coughed uncontrollably."

Stoler was surprised to see how prepared some of the activists were for violence. "Anarchists had medics immediately spray milk in their eyes," he recalled. "Many took out gas masks or goggles once the pepper spraying began."

Even someone from Fox News was sprayed, both students noted, but he kept his camera directly focused only on the Bush supporters waiting in line. Nobody offered to help him.

Kalish and Stoler stayed there long enough to see the president's car. As Bush passed, these beleaguered, dedicated individuals let loose a giant roar of boos. Judging from what I heard, I wouldn't be surprised if he was routinely booed most of the way up the parade route.

Detailed student observations from the day reveal just how deeply divided our nation is.

Rebecca Pelfry '07 witnessed a disturbing argument while waiting in line to enter the parade: "I saw a demonstrator in his thirties walk up to an older man wearing a Bush/Cheney button on his chest. He rose in the man's face and sneered, 'You have blood on your hands! You sicken me!'"

Pelfry said that the older man, his family beside him decked out in Inauguration 2005 gear, replied, "You're going to hell, young man!"
"No way," he replied, "I'm not going to hell. You're going to hell!"

"I'm not going to hell," said the old man. "I'm a priest."

"What kind of priest are you?" he reportedly exclaimed. "Are you one of those child molesting priests, who go around touching little boys? Some of you are all right," he said, "but most of you aren't."

"His glare was venomous. The entire encounter was raw and barbarous," she said. "I thought they were going to bite each others heads off. Every time I'm more and more disheartened both by those protesting and by those in power. It becomes more hostile, more confrontational, and not something I want to be a part of. It has lost part of its class," Pelfry sighed.

For me, the day ended on a contemplative note. As Bush passed in his motorcade, I turned my back on him, in a symbolic protest organized online weeks before the inauguration. Afterward, I walked out into the crowd as it filed out and took the large American flag I'd been wearing all day off my back. I held it up upside-down in front of me, to make the symbol for America in distress. As I solemnly stood there, some people thanked me and took pictures and videos. Others cursed me, calling me unpatriotic. As my arms began to tire, two fellow Brandeis students came and held up my arms. Soon, 15 Brandeis students were gathered behind me. Our calm, serious faces forced people to think.

I was proud.

Editor's note: Adam Schwartzbaum '07 is Brandeis Democrats vice-president. © Copyright 2009 The Justice

Krauthammer (Mis)Strikes Again

2009-05-02T00:43:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, there are peices of journalism so compelling, so important, that I find it fitting not to simply link to them, but to provide them in full on this blog. In today's Washington Post, Dan Frumkin has written such an article. His point by point dissection of Charles Krauthammer's recent column attempting to morally justify torture should be required reading for anyone seeking moral clarity on this issue. Friends of the Baum will note that responses to Krauthammer have been done on this blog before. I can only applaud Frumkin for writing something I wish I had written. Bravo!

Krauthammer's Asterisks
Charles Krauthammer, in his Washington Post opinion column this morning, tries to find loopholes for impermissible evil.

"Torture is an impermissible evil. Except under two circumstances," he writes.

"The first is the ticking time bomb. An innocent's life is at stake. The bad guy you have captured possesses information that could save this life. He refuses to divulge. In such a case, the choice is easy."

Actually, no. The ticking time bomb scenario only exists in two places: On TV and in the dark fantasies of power-crazed and morally deficient authoritarians. In real life, things are never that certain. And trained interrogators say that even in the most extreme circumstances, traditional methods are the most effective.

Krauthammer continues: "Some people, however, believe you never torture. Ever. They are akin to conscientious objectors who will never fight in any war under any circumstances, and for whom we correctly show respect by exempting them from war duty. But we would never make one of them Centcom commander."

Actually, no. They are normal people who share the post-World War II international consensus that "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." Indeed, the idea of putting someone without a healthy respect for human rights at Centcom is abhorrent -- unless of course you believe that human rights don't matter.

Krauthamer: "The second exception to the no-torture rule is the extraction of information from a high-value enemy in possession of high-value information likely to save lives. This case lacks the black-and-white clarity of the ticking time bomb scenario. We know less about the length of the fuse or the nature of the next attack. But we do know the danger is great."

This of course is a blatant post-facto attempt at rationalizing the (inevitable) misdiagnosis of the ticking time bomb scenario. Now all of a sudden the standards are lower. Krauthammer is advocating fishing expeditions -- with a waterboard.

"Under those circumstances, you do what you have to do."

Krauthammer's core argument then is that the ends justify the means. He quotes two former CIA officials, both deeply invested in covering their asses, who unsurprisingly insist that torture worked. But none of the claims they or others in the complicit chain of command have made held up under even modest public scrutiny.

And he mocks the idea put forth by President Obama on Wednesday -- and supported by people who actually have experience in interrogation, rather than in watching TV and fantasizing about being Jack Bauer -- that traditional interrogation techniques are extremely effective.

For instance, he writes: "KSM, the mastermind of 9/11 who knew more about more plots than anyone else, did not seem very inclined to respond to polite inquiries about future plans. The man who boasted of personally beheading Daniel Pearl with a butcher knife answered questions about plots with 'soon you will know' -- meaning, when you count the bodies in the morgue and find horribly disfigured burn victims in hospitals, you will know then what we are planning now."

But as Scott Shane recently pointed out in the New York Times, with more than a little understatement: "Mr. Mohammed, captured on March 1, 2003, was waterboarded 183 times that month. That striking number, which would average out to six waterboardings a day, suggests that interrogators did not try a traditional, rapport-building approach for long before escalating to their most extreme tool."

And almost nobody who knows anything about the Pearl case (see, for instance, Lawrence Wright and Peter Bergen) actually thinks KSM -- who confessed to the killing after being tortured -- had anything to do with it. Torture after all is really only good at one thing: eliciting false confessions. That we got plenty of from KSM.

But his "soon you will know" boast was all bluster -- sort of like Saddam Hussein's claim to have nuclear capability. ("Responding to bluster with war crimes" -- there's a great motto for an administration.) Nothing KSM said came close to thwarting any imminent attack. One hundred and eighty three waterboarding sessions later, the "bodies in the morgue" and the "horribly disfigured burn victims" were still only a fantasy of the torturers -- and certain opinion columnists.

Krauthammer: "The other problem is one of timing. The good cop routine can take weeks or months or years. We didn't have that luxury in the aftermath of 9/11 when waterboarding, for example, was in use."

But his compacting of the timeline is shameless revisionism. Top officials of the Bush administration -- and yes, I'm looking at you, Mr. Cheney -- panicked. And they continued to panic after any excuse for panic was long over. Waterboarding was conducted over a period of several months, long after 9/11 -- from August 2002 at least through March 2003. Other torture tactics were widely employed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo over a period of years. Legal memos defending various forms of torture were being commissioned by the White House until virtually the end of the Bush administration.

And in his final defense, Krauthammer argues that the lack of objections at the time from Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress who were briefed on interrogation policies is proof that "at the time the information was important enough, the danger great enough and our blindness about the enemy's plans severe enough to justify an exception to the moral injunction against torture."

Precisely what members of Congress were told and how they responded should absolutely be a part of any thorough official investigation into the abuses of the Bush years. The enablers must be exposed as surely as the complicit. And members of Congress who knew what was happening and remained silent must be held to public account for their moral cowardice.

But their failure to speak out does not change the fundamental moral equation.

If the United States is to live up to its core values, if it is to once again be a beacon of human rights to the world and a champion of human dignity, then when it comes to torture -- to impermissible evil, as Krauthammer himself puts it -- there can be no asterisks.

DEMS GET 60

2009-04-28T18:30:00.001-04:00

you guys gotta check out this blog post... it is so so great...
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/28/725477/-BWHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

The Specter-Toomey Ad: Point By Point

2009-04-28T11:59:00.002-04:00

Hey all,

As I announced last week, I have begun more professionally blogging over at PA2010.com since the big site launch. Today, I posted a piece I am particularly proud of that does a frame-by-frame analysis of Arlen Specter's initial campaign attack ad against Pat Toomey, who recently bested him by a 20 point margin in a Rasmussen poll of Pennsylvania Republicans. I hope you'll check it out.

Stand By Me!

2009-04-25T21:34:00.000-04:00

This video just made me smile. It an amazing mash-up of people all around the world singing one of my all time favorite songs, "Stand By Me." Watch it to be cheered up!

Playing For Change | Song Around The World "Stand By Me" from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

BREAKING NEWS: Scott Murphy Wins Special Election!

2009-04-24T20:01:00.003-04:00

I just received this e-mail from DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen. Looks like its official - Tedisco has lost. Just when you thought things couldn't look any worse for the Grand Oil Party...

Dear Adam,
We did it! Scott Murphy wins in NY-20

Congratulations to Congressman-elect Scott Murphy on his remarkable, come-from-behind victory. In this election, voters responded to Scott Murphy's record as a successful businessman who helped to create more than 1,000 jobs and his strong support for President Obama's economic recovery package.

In trying to win the NY-20 special election, the RNC, NRCC, and their Republican allies went all in on the losing gamble that voters would prefer their 'just say no' approach to President Obama's bold plans to get the economy back on track.

Scott Murphy's victory in this district where Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than 70,000 represents a rejection of the obstructionist agenda and scare tactics that have become the hallmark of House Republicans.

With his commitment to reaching across the aisle to help President Obama enact his agenda for change, Scott Murphy will be a tremendous asset to our Democratic Caucus.

I am grateful to President Obama, Vice President Biden, House Democratic Leaders, Governor Paterson, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, the entire New York Congressional Delegation, and DNC Chairman Tim Kaine for their work on behalf of and support of Scott Murphy.

Sincerely,

Chris Van Hollen

Rep. Chris Van Hollen
Chairman, DCCC

See Ya Later, Texas!

2009-04-24T12:58:00.003-04:00

Recently, the governor of Texas made a public statement about his state's right to secede from the Union. Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul backed him up, saying the idea of secession is one that merits legitimate debate.

I'd like to remind these secessionist that our country already had a "legitimate debate" about secession. It was called THE CIVIL WAR. And, oh yeah, YOU LOST.

This video does a nice job of mocking these bottom-feeders with irreverence and tongue-in-cheek fun. Enjoy!

PA2010 Site Launch Today: Check out my New Blog!

2009-04-20T20:01:00.003-04:00

As part of my desire to have a greater online presence and influence the political conversation in the blogosphere, I have began a new blog on the brand new political news site, pa2010.com, "your destination for Pennsylvania's big 2010 elections." I am hoping you will check out my blog, The In-Specter, which will chronicle the exciting primary between Arlen Specter and Pat Toomey for the Republican Senate seat, and then follow that same seat through the general election (though I guess the name will be less apt if Toomey edges out Specter!) I am hoping to continue to post personal stuff on this blog, but definitely check out pa2010 for a lot of the political work I will be doing for the next couple of years. Hope you all enjoy it!

Reformist Arab Writer: The Policy of Rejecting Normalization with Israel Is a Political Decision of Unmatched Stupidity

2009-04-18T21:04:00.002-04:00

Special Dispatch| 2307 | April 6, 2008

In an article posted March 26, 2009, in the Arab liberal e-journal Elaph, Jordanian-American author Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi criticized the Arab countries for rejecting normalization with Israel, in which, he argued they were motivated by negativism that is inculcated by self-serving political leaders into Arab mentality. Al-Nabulsi stated that it was Egypt and Jordan rather than Israel that benefited from their peace treaties with Israel, that Israel was disillusioned and disheartened by the Arabs' attitude towards it, and that it had no incentive to sign any more peace treaties with the Arabs.

I found this article to be a very interesting perspective from an Arab writer and would be interested in my reader's comments and thoughts on it.

Following are excerpts from Al-Nabulsi's article:(1)
If Not for the Arabs' "Brazen Negativism," a Solution to the Palestinian Problem Would Not Be So Long in Coming
"On March 26, 1979, Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty. Thus Egypt – the biggest and most important state involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict – became the first country to have peaceful relations with Israel. This took the entire world by surprise, caused an upheaval in the Arab street, and shook the foundations of the Arab and Muslim world. This upheaval, however, was nothing but a commotion raised by a flock of cocks who fell into a puddle of water, scrambled out, and were now shaking their feathers dry. The Arabs, who are not used to abrupt rational turns of civilization, went berserk. They resisted the impending peace, embodied in the person of their courageous and rational leader, President [Anwar] Al-Sadat, who had restored to Egypt everything it had lost on account of Abd Al-Nasser's political and military adventures, which had [brought it] destruction and devastation.
"Although Sadat installed Egypt in a place it well deserved in both the Middle East and worldwide, the Arabs were engulfed by a mad rage that knew no bounds. Today, 30 years after Sadat's historic move, they have begun to come to their senses and regret everything they did to Egypt and rejecting peace [with Israel]. They are gnawing their knuckles in remorse over their past acts of lunacy: expelling Egypt from the Arab League (aka the Fools' Café) and transferring the Arab League headquarters from Cairo to Tunis; boycotting books by Naguib Mahfouz and films based on them; employing all sorts of ugly measures against Egypt and placing it on the same cup of the scales with their worst enemy, Israel.
"The Arabs rejected normalization [with Israel] because [accepting it would have been] a positive [move], while resisting it was a negative [move]. It is much easier to say 'No' in Arabic, [inasmuch as] the Arabs are a negative people. [Indeed,] if not for this brazen negativism, a solution to the Palestinian problem and the establishment of the Palestinian state would not have tarried these past 60 years. The Palestinians will never achieve anything as long as the Arabs persist in their fanaticism and negativism, [fail to gain] self-confidence, continue nurturing in their minds the culture of war, and are unable to form a correct and realistic view of the future."
"The Culture of Peace in the Arab Countries Is Nonexistent"
"Why did the Arabs act in this way in 1979 and thereafter – [as if] they were controlled by demons [destroying] peace and angels [instigating] war? The most obvious answer is that, in the Arab world, the culture of peace is virtually nonexistent, while the culture of war predominates, due to declarations by mendacious political leaders concerning [everyone's] obligation to support armed struggle. In their own countries, these politicians are plagued by social and political problems, as well as [the lack of] economic development – which [prompts them] to opt for supporting armed struggle, in order to divert their subjects' attention from the problems that keep piling up in their countries…
"Moreover, sponsoring resistance movements does these regimes a great service, in that it enhances their power and influence, and at the same time enables them to hang their various problems onto one hanger, which is Israel and America. This, [in turn,] desensitizes the masses and inculcates their minds with the notions that the West and Israel are weak, that Israel will disappear in the near future, and that a miraculous political figure is about to come and restore to the Palestinians their [occupied] lands. Thus, the culture of peace in these countries does not exist, nor can it be cultivated, due to a lack of education and free media that would instill into the citizens' minds humanistic values, which – as Lafif Lakhdar has shown – are the backbone of the culture of peace. Neither do these states teach the young generation to think independently, to reason realistically and rationally, or to free themselves from obsession with [political] affiliations and religious fighting.
"The policy of rejecting normalization with Israel pursued by the two Arab countries that signed peace treaties with it (Egypt and especially Jordan) is a hideous political crime against the Palestinians, which is being committed, [albeit] unwittingly, by the Arabs. This policy, which is promoted by Islamist and pan-Arabist streams and by the proponents of rejectionism and deception, is a political decision of unmatched stupidity and foolishness. This idiotic policy of rejecting normalization has proved of great benefit to Israel, which is manifested in a number of ways:
1. Israel has been able to convey to world public opinion the following message: We want peace, but the Arabs refuse it, even though the [Arab] rulers have accepted it.
2. Israel presents itself as a country which is harassed and in need of protection by the West and the U.S., since all the Arabs are against it. Therefore, [it claims,] the political, financial, and military support to it must grow rather than diminish or stop altogether.
3. Israel's extreme right, led by Likud and Israel Beiteinu, have proved to the world that they are right while the Labor party and those who signed the two peace treaties with the Arabs were deluded and made a grave mistake. This resulted in a greater number of declarations by Netanyahu to the effect that the idea of 'land for peace' no longer exists, and that if Israel agrees to peace today, it must do so in return for peace rather than land. What prompted Netanyahu to make this claim is Israel's experience over the past 30 years, i.e., since the 1979 Camp David treaty – namely, the rejection and reticence of the Arabs, which has not encouraged Israel to sign any more such treaties."
"Israel Has Realized that a Peace Treaty with the Arabs Is Not Worth a Fig"
"4. Israel – its government, its public opinion, its Knesset, and its media – has realized and become convinced that a peace [treaty] with the Arabs is not worth a fig, or the paper it is written on. Consider Egypt. It got back the entire Sinai desert and also Taba, without losing one penny or one soldier. Moreover, not only did it allocate the funds which it would otherwise have spent on the army and weapons to various development projects, but in the past 30 years it has also received [U.S.] aid amounting to hundreds of billions [of Egyptian liras] (approximately 50 billion U.S. dollars). Yet the only thing Israel got in return is an apartment in Cairo, which they turned into an embassy, and in which the [Israeli] ambassador and the staff are [effectively] imprisoned. [Indeed,] they can move around only under the protection of the [Egyptian] intelligence and security guards. Israel is forbidden to participate in Egyptian public life, even in book fairs. In fact, Israel has no part whatsoever in Egyptian public life, and the same holds for Jordan.
"So how can we expect Israel to sign more peace agreements with the rest of the Arab countries, and especially Syria, after its [disheartening and] bitter experience with Egypt and Jordan. And nevertheless, without a comprehensive peace and despite all the above, over the past 30 years, Israel has progressed politically, militarily, culturally, and economically – while the Arabs lagged behind. The Arab [policy of] isolating Israel has given it strength and triggered its advancement. Except for some Arab countries, Israel is recognized by the entire world. Israel's army has become the strongest army in the Middle East. Its annual per capita income has reached $18,000, which amounts to the total per capita income for all Arab countries put together, excepting the Gulf states. Culturally and scientifically, Israel is one of the top countries in the world… Three of its universities (the Hebrew University [of |Jerusalem], Tel Aviv University, and Haifa University) are ranked among the 20 best universities in the world, while no Arab university is listed among [even] 400 best universities in the world (Cairo university is ranked 401)."
"Israel's Success and Most of Its Achievements Can Be Attributed to Failures and Defeats of the Arabs and Palestinians"
"All this Israel has accomplished in the shadow of [Arab] hostility and the media war waged against it by the Arabs. So what interest does Israel have in peace with the Arabs, which is illusory and fragile, which it [must buy] with precious Arab lands, and which – I repeat – is not worth a fig, or the paper on which [peace treaties] are written. We can conclude, therefore, that Israel's success and most of its achievements can be attributed to failures and defeats of the Arabs and Palestinians. If Israel's opponent were not the Palestinians with their stupid cowardly leadership, but some other nation, it would have established an independent state a long time ago.
"[Who were these Palestinian leaders?] There was Haj Amin Al-Husseini (an Al-Azhar student, who was kicked out of the university during his first year), Ahmad Al-Shuqeiri (an mediocre lawyer), Yasser Arafat (a civil engineer working for the Kuwait Minucipality), and Isma'il Haniyya (an imam at a mosque) – while, on Israel's side, there was [Theodor] Herzl (doctor of law) and the Rothschild family (the world's gold coffer). It is noteworthy, [by the way,] that the Rothschilds gave Harry Truman two million dollars for his election campaign on condition that he recognize Israel immediately upon his election – and this is precisely what happened. Then there was Ben Gurion, the outstanding leader who ended the right-wing Zionist terrorism.
"Whoever reads my book Settlement Train - A study in the Palestinian compromise, published in 1986, will realize what a great number of golden opportunities to establish the Palestinian state have been missed by the Palestinian and Arab leadership. The Palestinian leadership put their stakes on the Cold War between two superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and did not anticipate the sudden fall of the Eastern Bloc. [As a consequence,] in the 90s, they became dependent on the U.S. By that time, however, the U.S. had already been allied to Israel with a number of strategic treaties (beginning in 1967), on account of which it came to regarded as America's 51st state.
"In sum, as we have shown, it was the Arabs who benefited from the partial peace between Israel and Jordan, while Israel was the loser. Therefore, Israel will not sign any more peace agreements with the Arabs in the near future – and if it does, it will be with extreme caution and on demanding conditions. And peace be upon you all."
Endnote:
(1) www.elaph.com, March 26, 2009.

Important Chart

2009-04-16T11:14:00.003-04:00

Dedicated to Andrew the Pearl

John Stewart Speaks Truth to Idiocy

2009-04-12T01:05:00.001-04:00

The Right Wing Fear Machine is going apoplectic over Obama. Watch Stewart put them in their place. Pure Genius!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Baracknophobia - Obey

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

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Surprise! Iowa Legalizes Gay Marraige

2009-04-03T11:38:00.002-04:00

With a historic ruling this morning, the Iowa Supreme Court has unanimously ruled to legalize gay marriage in the State. It becomes the fourth state in the Union to legalize gay marriages, and the first Midwestern State. As is often said in presidential politics, "as goes Iowa, so goes the nation." Hopefully, this is just one sign of a continuing trend of providing equality for gay and lesbian Americans in our national life.

April Fools! GOP Unveils new budget

2009-04-01T16:47:00.002-04:00

It is appropriate that the House GOP unveiled their alternative budget on April Fool's Day, because it is truly a joke. This proposal calls for massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, cutting their tax level from the mid to upper 30s to 25%, resulting in an over $300 billion loss in government revenue that would lead to massive cuts in government spending - the very last thing we need in a recession. Albert Einstein once said that Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Republican party does not seem to understand this basic concept. It is their policies benefiting the very wealthy at the expense of most Americans, and their deregulation of the financial system, that has led to the very economic crisis we face. It is laughable at best and insane at worst for them to think the American people want to buy MORE OF THE SAME.

Politics, Politics, Politics!

2009-03-31T22:58:00.004-04:00

A lot going on in the political world this week... time to give a little abaum perspective.

First off is the special election in newly minted NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's seat in the state's 20th district. This is a district whose Republican voter registration outnumbers Democrats by some 75,000 voters. In 2006, Gillibrand was the first Democrat to win the seats in many years, and Obama won the district with 54% of the vote. That said, Democratic newcomer Scott Murphy faced an uphill battle against veteran Republican assemblyman John Tedisco. Murphy, with nearly no political experience, has done a valiant effort of coming from behind, and in the final days leading up to today's special election, he took a narrow lead in the polls. This is all the more remarkable when you consider the amount of resources the Republican party has poured into this race over the last several months. The RNC and NRCC have put a lot of time, money and resources into winning this race. If Murphy wins, it will be a remarkable feat, and even if he loses, as he still might, the fact that it was so close still speaks well of the competitive advantage Democrats enjoy overall in this country, even in areas where Republicans vastly outnumber Democrats. Politico has done a nice job breaking down all the ways this race can be interpreted, but the bottom line is that win or lose, this at best is an indicator of great Democratic strength and at worst is a showing of how strong Democrats are even in District's where they are not electorally favored. At this moment, Murphy and Tedisco are separated by only 65 votes, and it may easily come down to the 5900 absentee ballots yet to be counted. We might even see a recount in this tight race. As one blogger said, "This was a remarkably high-turnout special election, and Scott Murphy's performance already is nothing short of amazing in a district where the GOP enjoys a huge registration edge."

Speaking of close elections, a three judge panel has ruled dealt another setback to Norm Coleman's electoral challenge of Al Franken's narrow victory in the Minnesota Senate Race. Some in the GOP are already calling for "WWIII" if Democrats attempt to seat Franken, and Coleman vows to press on with legal challenges. While an Appeal is certain, Coleman's hopes keep getting dimmer, as we slowly get progressively closer to seating this former SNL funnyman as the 59th Democrat in the Senate.

Third, President Obama (its still so great to type that!) set off for his first European tour today, where he will make several important stops, including a critical meeting of the G20 in London and what has been billed as a major speech to the Muslim world in Turkey. Along the way, we'll have the delightful diversion of watching the First Lady wow the world with her charm and stellar fashion sense - the internet was already buzzing today with talk of her outfit transformation entering and exiting Air Force One. Comparisons to the Kennedy's are being called "inevitable" as this young, energetic couple sets out to repair the damage to America's reputation on the World stage.

Finally, here's a hard hitting ad from the DSCC targeting vulnerable Republican senators up in 2012. Arlen Specter, watch out!

Taibbi's MUST READ article on the Financial Crisis

2009-03-29T01:04:00.003-04:00

After reading this article, I just feel so angry. My parents are the kind of people that are getting screwed in this whole mess. My family owns a small business selling men's clothing in Miami. For over 25 years, my parents have created value for society with hard work, employing people, selling actual goods, and using values of integrity and thrift to build a middle class home that sent three children to college. No one ever gave them a bailout. The fact of the matter is that for my family, the bonuses a lot of these AIGFS assholes got when their company was already tanking because of their own (criminal?) negligence is more money than my parents see in ten years. These people are laughing all the way to the bank, while us in the middle class are seeing our retirement accounts cut in half and our businesses on the verge of collapse. I think I finally understand why there is so much anger. These people gambled our future and lost, and yet they're still making off like bandits. It is sickening.

I hope you will read this article, which I think does an incredible job of exposing the corruption, stupidity, and moral bankruptcy of many who brought this crisis upon us. It should be a thunderbolt awakening all of us to the need of sensible financial regulations.

Where the Wild Things Are - Movie Trailer!

2009-03-25T18:36:00.003-04:00

I don't normally post a lot of pop-culture related items, but this I couldn't resist. "Where the Wild Things Are," Maurice Sendak's famous children's book, has been made into a movie by Spike Jonze, and was partially written by Dave Eggers. My expectations are high, as I have always held a special loving place for this book in my heart. I think the trailer looks sweet... check it out!

More torture memos on the way

2009-03-24T01:13:00.002-04:00

DKos has a detailed discussion of the coming reports detailing "the "enhanced" interrogation techniques approved by the Bush administration for use against "high value" Qaeda detainees. The memos, written by Justice Department lawyers in May 2005, provide the legal rationale for waterboarding, head slapping and other rough tactics used by the CIA. One senior Obama official, who like others interviewed for this story requested anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, said the memos were "ugly" and could embarrass the CIA. Other officials predicted they would fuel demands for a "truth commission" on torture.

Because of an executive order signed by President Obama on Jan. 22 banning such aggressive tactics, deputies to Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. concluded there was no longer any reason to keep the interrogation memos classified. But current and former intel officials pushed back, arguing that any public release might still compromise "sources and methods." According to the administration official, ex-CIA director Michael Hayden was "furious" about the prospect of disclosure and tried to intervene directly with Obama officials. But the White House has sided with Holder."

-from the Newsweek report

Check out more analysis here.

Could Specter bolt from the GOP?

2009-03-24T00:50:00.002-04:00

Read Sen. Specter's initial comments to The Hill about bolting the GOP

Posted using ShareThis

My Congresswoman is Amazing - reveals cancer battle

2009-03-22T16:26:00.004-04:00

This morning I awoke to breaking news that my Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has secretly been battling cancer over the last year.

The Miami Herald wrote:

"The Broward County Democrat and mother of three told The Miami Herald on Saturday that she successfully battled breast cancer for the past year and is going public with her story in the hope of alerting young women to its prevalence. She'll introduce legislation Monday that calls for a national education campaign targeting women between 15 and 39.

In the past year, she underwent seven major surgeries, including a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, while balancing motherhood, Congress and her roles as a chief fundraiser for House Democrats and a political surrogate, first for Hillary Clinton and then for Barack Obama."

Having worked for the Congresswoman in the summer of 2007, I can tell you that she is in private everything she is in public: energetic, passionate, and a forceful advocate for the Democratic agenda in Congress. The fact that she has been able to fight off this cancer battle while continuing to maintain her very public persona is an extraordinary testament to the vitality and drive of this inspiring woman. As I learned of her cancer battle today, I thought of the reception I saw her at only months ago in Washington the weekend of the Presidential Inauguration, and how hard she was working the room, making time to engage every constituent who wanted a moment of her attention. It is hard to believe that she was up and working like that only weeks after such major surgery. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is really a remarkable person whose strength of character should be an inspiration to us all. May God bless her with good health and good fortune as she continues her work on the behalf of her constituents and the people of the United States.

President Obama Writes About the Importance of National Service

2009-03-21T12:12:00.003-04:00

It is so exciting to have a president that not only supports national service, but is taking big, bold action and spending political capital to expand and strengthen the service movement for generations to come. In last weeks Time Magazine, President Obama wrote an editorial calling for a New Era of Service. In it, he describes his own experience with service, and explains why service is so essential for our country.

The GIVE Act, the service bill in the House, passed by a more than 3 to 1 margin this week. Now it is time for the Senate to act so we can get the national service legislation on the president's desk. We need you to help make sure that the Senate passes the companion Serve America Act when it comes to a vote early next week.

Please call your Senators right away to ask them to support this crucial bill.

If we can help get the Serve America Act passed, President Obama will soon sign historic legislation and make a huge downpayment on his pledge to make service “a cause of my presidency.” Please take a moment to support this critical legislation today.

Climate Change: Nature and Action

2009-03-19T15:56:00.003-04:00

Several weeks ago, the Penn Program on Regulation sponsored a presentation at Wharton Business School entitled “Climate Change: Nature and Action” that I want to recommend everyone take a close look at to get a more sophisticated understanding of the serious ecological and biological disasters we face as a planet due to ongoing climate change - impacts that, if not mitigated immediately, will have devastating consequences for our and future generations.

The presentation was made by Thomas Lovejoy, an influential biologist who is currently President of The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment in Washington, DC. Lovejoy presented evidence that the current climate change challenge is best understood in terms of the normal and historical functioning of the Earth system. Human activity has caused and is increasingly causing a major distortion in that system, with major consequences for the living planet and human well-being. Change is ubiquitous in the living fabric of the planet, signaling the need for dramatic and immediate action. There is a need to transform the energy base for society as well as to engage the living planet in removing some of the excess carbon in the atmosphere. The "energy approach" (reducing emissions of greenhouse gases) and the "ecosystem approach" (restoring degraded lands to increase CO2 uptake) are both important and complementary, and we must urge the Obama Administration and the Congress to take specific actions to further both strategy's immediately.

The powerpoint slides from the presentation, as well as a video of the presentation itself, are available here. I highly recommend taking a closer look at this research if you are interested in a highly scientific and detailed analysis of what climate change is already doing and will continue doing to harm our planet.

Urge Congress to Vote Yes on Expanding National Service

2009-03-17T00:19:00.006-04:00

This Wednesday, March 18th, Congress will vote on a critical bill that will have enormous consequences for the future of National Service in America.

The GIVE Act, HR 1388, is the boldest service legislation in over 70 years. It proposes to expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 to 250,000 annual slots, more service and service-learning for students, new opportunities for older Americans to serve, and more. You can read a summary of the bill here.

We need your help to make sure this bill passes with bi-partisan support. Please take a moment on Tuesday to contact your congressperson and let them know how important National Service is to you, and urge them to vote for this bill. Details follow below.

We have also launched a petition to demonstrate to Congress the broad support for service as a strategy to help solve our challenges and a way to create jobs. In addition to your personal calls, this is another simple way to show our leaders that service should be a priority to help get our nation back on track.

You can sign petition here: www.http://servenext.org/campaigns/give

You can read more about the politics of this Act, and why it enjoys bipartisan support, in this great article by EJ Dionne in the Washington Post.

Thank you for taking a moment out of your day to support this essential legislation!

HOW TO CALL THE MEMBERS OF YOUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION

1. If you need help determining who represents your district visit www.congress.org.
2. Call the House Operator at (202) 225-3121 and ask to be connected to the office of your representative.
3. Once connected, identify yourself as a constituent and ask to speak to the Legislative Assistant in charge of national service and education issues.

A MESSAGE TO DELIVER BY PHONE

I am calling to ask Representative _______ to vote for the GIVE Act (H.R. 1388). The GIVE Act will reauthorize the federally-supported national service programs like AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and Senior Corps, which have not been reauthorized in 16 years.

The reforms in this bill will ensure accountability, transparency, and results. They will also make it easier for faith and community-based organizations, including small nonprofits in rural and economically disadvantaged areas meet growing needs in a more effective way.

The GIVE Act will help the nonprofit sector to engage our citizens in addressing local and national challenges in education, health, clean energy, poverty and many other areas. The federal investment is leveraged by significant investment from the private sector and philanthropy.

This is a bipartisan bill. It is not controversial and the White House supports the legislation. I hope that Representative______ will vote in favor of the GIVE Act.

Carbon cuts only give '50/50 chance of saving planet'

2009-03-09T01:31:00.003-04:00

This article from the Independent is more confirmation of what I have been saying for years - that climate change is not only real, but quickly become inescapably and irreversibly devastating for the future of our planet. Even if we do act quickly, as we must, there is still only a 50/50 we will not see temperatures higher by more than 2 degrees by 2100, enough to cause catastrophic destruction to our planets ecosystems and our human way of life. The time for action on climate change is not now, it is yesterday. We must boldly act or face dire consequences.

Carbon cuts 'only give 50/50 chance of saving planet'

She Came to Me in a Dream

2009-03-04T14:00:00.003-05:00

Last night I had the most incredible dream that I have to share with you all.

I pulled into a parking lot in Israel and got out of the car. Across the lot, I could see my great aunt, Mashita, standing up by another car. I rushed over to greet her. As I came close, I saw the back door of the car was open, and inside my grandmother, Baba Sofi, was sitting. Baba is in a wheelchair now and can't walk, but I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her up out of the car, and she stood up beside me!

Then I got into the back seat of the car. In the driver's seat in front sat my Great Grandmother Malka, (we call her 'Little Abuela') who passed away when I was 18. We were extremely close when she was alive, and everyday I wear the star of David she gave me as a gift when I was nine years old. She looked beautiful. Her face was no longer lined with the wrinkles of age, but was smooth. She looked young, maybe in her 50s. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the cheeks and exclaimed how excited I was to see her!
"I miss you so much," I said.
"You shouldn't." She replied.
"Why?" I asked.
She smiled and said, "Because I am always with you."

At that moment, I opened my eyes, and found myself back in my bedroom in Philadelphia. I sat in the darkness with a sense of wonder. I felt, not like I had just had a dream about my great-grandmother, but as if I had actually just been with her. I had an overwhelming sense of her presence, as if her spirit actually came to me in my sleep to remind me how much she loves me.

As I got up to use the bathroom, I clutched the Star of David around my neck in my hands and reminded myself of her words: "I am always with you." I have been on a kind of spiritual high the whole day.

A Nation of Laws? Responses to the Alleged Crimes of the Bush Administration

2009-03-01T16:34:00.003-05:00

One of the more exciting things I have had the opportunity to do this semester is plan my first event for the American Constitution Society (I am on the board as a 1L Representative.) I posted a video yesterday about the event we recently held on bloggers and the new Administration. This next event promises to be even more explosive. Featuring three pre-eminent leaders and scholars in the fields of criminal and constitutional law, as well as human and civil rights, and moderated by my Constitutional Law professor (and all around genius) Seth Kreimer, it is going to be a revealing discussion about the legal response to the abuses of executive power done by the Bush Admin.

I am posting the event flyer here on the blog. If you're in Philly next Thursday, take a lunch break and come on over for this great panel. You won't be disappointed.

Bloggers as America's Watchdogs: New Administration, New Roles?

2009-02-28T13:46:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, Penn Law's Chapter of the American Constitution Society hosted this event at the Law School. Entitled "Bloggers as America's Watchdogs: New Administration, New Roles?" the panel was a lively and interesting discussion about the evolving roles of the blogosphere in our political culture particularly moving forward into an Obama Administration. I was there (and even ask a question toward the end), and also had the distinct pleasure of going to dinner with all the speakers afterward. It was a lot of fun, and also very interesting. If you have some time, I recommend the video below.

Jindal's Failed Argument

2009-02-24T22:50:00.002-05:00

In his response to the President's speech tonight, Bobby Jindal argued that it was the people of Louisiana that made the recovery in New Orleans happen. With all due respect, doesn't he think the $175 billion in federal aid might also have had something to do with that? He argued that government is not the answer. But in regards to Hurricane Katrina, it was the lack of government action - levees left unfortified, missing plans, uncoordinated and inept response to crisis - that made Katrina as bad as it was. Just like Louisiana needed the federal government to act effectively to save it in a crisis, so too does our nation need our government to help us get out of this financial turmoil.

new mixtape for you.

2009-02-21T22:19:00.001-05:00

expressing electronic delight

Freedom's Just Another Word For I've Got A Lot To Lose

2009-02-18T22:34:00.003-05:00

We all like freedom. It’s fun. It’s attractive. In a world of endless responsibilities, we want to do what we want.

But freedom can be exploited. It can be used. Conservatives have been doing it for hundreds of years to support political goals hidden just under the surface of their platitudes. Scratch a coin gilded with rhetoric of freedom, and you may find corruption just beneath the surface.

Take the famous case of Lochner v. New York, decided by the Supreme Court in 1905. A conservative majority struck down a law passed in the New York legislature and enacted by the governor that limited the hours of a baker to ten hours a day. Expert testimony showed that bakers worked long, hard hours in debilitating conditions resulting in a host of ailments that culminated in early death rarely far after their 50th birthday. At the turn of the century, the progressive movement was making great strides enacting new social legislation that employed the police power of the States to protect the health and welfare of citizens. These labor laws enriched the lives of individuals as well as increased the productivity and lifespan of the State’s workers.

It should come as no surprise that conservatives were uniformly opposed to such laws. The eight-hour workday, bans on child labor, heightened safety requirements and other regulations were expensive. While they raised the living standards of the workers, they took money out of the pockets of the wealthy few who controlled the system. Democracy cannot sustain an oligarchy. The demands of rights for the masses necessarily impinge on the wealth and power of the owners of the system.

Luckily for them, they had allies on the Supreme Court. In a sneaky opinion, Justice Peckham argued that the law protecting the health and welfare of bakers by limiting them to a sixty-hour workweek was not an “appropriate and legitimate end” for legislation. “There can be no fair doubt,” he wrote, “that the trade of a baker, in and of itself, is not an unhealthy one to that degree which would authorize the legislature to interfere with the right of labor, and with the right of free contact on the part of the individual, either as employer or employee.” Peckham dismissed democratic legislation with the wave of the hand in the name of that golden veneer of liberty, conveniently glossing over true conservative intentions. “Freedom of contract” was in danger, and the Fourteenth Amendment came galloping to the rescue.

It all sounds fair and high-minded, until one scratches off the gloss and realizes what is actually happening here. The conservatives on the bench used concerns about liberty to strip away the protections the people fought hard to enshrine in law. In his dissent, Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, “the word liberty in the 14th Amendment is perverted when it is held to prevent the natural outcome of a dominant opinion.” There is no doubt that freedom is an important virtue, and it must be protected when it is threatened. But freedom can also be used as a tool of the ruling class to pervert the will of the people and maintain their grip on the levers of power.

For the last eight years, we’ve watched as another group of rulers have used the language of freedom to manipulate and subvert the popular will in liberty’s name. In almost no area has this been clearer than in the Bush Administration’s relationship with organized labor. When polled, healthy majorities of American workers say that they would like to join a Union if given an opportunity. Yet today less than 9% of American workers are unionized. What accounts for this yawning gap between workers’ wants and reality is a labor system that is broken. It is a system that incentivizes intimidation, dishonesty and delay.

For these reasons, while he was in the Senate, President Obama sponsored the Employment Free Choice Act. “The substance of the EFCA would amend existing labor law in the US to allow unions to gain official recognition in a workplace through a majority of workers signing authorization cards and avoid the perilous and employer-dominated election route. Once a union is certified, employers have to begin sitting down with the union within ten days. If no deal is reached, government mediators can force employers to sign a first contract, even without the vote of workers. The EFCA also would drastically increase the penalties companies face for violating workers rights, such as with firing workers for organizing, which happen at record rates in the US compared to the rest of the industrialized world. Workers could receive up to three times the back pay owed and companies could be fined up to $20,000 for willful or repeated violations.” (Source: IWW).

It will come as no surprise that, although this legislation passed through the House last year, it was held up by conservative Senators in the upper chamber. Their main objection, which they have pretty successfully turned into the narrative now dominating debate over the act, is the provision that allows workers to sign authorization cards rather than participate in a closed ballot election. Using the language of liberty once again, conservatives have dominated the discussion by arguing that the Act would take away worker “freedom” to vote whether or not to have a Union.

If we’ve learned anything from history, we should begin to get very suspicious when Conservatives begin to use vague concerns about liberty to quash worker’s rights.
The plain truth is that the current Union election process is broken. Among those actually struggling to organize workers for the past several decades, it is widely known that the current process allows business owners to drag out the election process for many months. In the process, Union agitators are fired, employees are intimidated with threats, and resorts to violence are not uncommon.

Let me share just one example of a story relayed to me today by Ed Chew, Director of Legal Affairs for the UFCW Local 1776. He told us of a manufacturing plant in the Northeast where the workers had engaged in a long battle for unionization. Finally, the Election Day came. Hundreds of workers lined up, excited to cast their ballots; many spoke only broken English, but they understood the benefits that a Union would bring to them. And so they lined up, and they waited. And waited. It was a long, tedious process of paper balloting, and finally, while hundreds of workers were still in line, waiting to vote, managers from the plant began walking down the line telling people the vote was over; there was no more time; people had to go home. Confused and intimidated by their bosses, over a hundred and fifty people left, and when the ballots were counted the next day, the Union failed by only 72 votes. Soon thereafter, 75% of the workers in that plant were fired. The Union complained to the National Labor Relations Board, but in the end, even though the plant was found guilty of disturbing the election, they wouldn’t even admit it. They posted a sign in their plant which states that they didn’t do anything wrong; but if they did, they promise never to do it again. Meanwhile, no Union will ever organize at this plant. Most of the workers have been laid off, and those that remain are probably too traumatized by the whole experience to ever support another attempt at organization.

Allowing for majority sign ups in addition
to traditional elections will give workers a profound new ability to avoid the unfair and even dangerous processes of the past and restore a balance between the powers of owners and the people they employ. With the EFCA, progressives are once again attempting to guarantee the health and welfare of working people by passing legislation that will help them collectively bargain. Most employment is at will, but with a collective bargaining agreement, these powerless people will suddenly get their own freedom of contract.

Unsurprisingly, Conservatives are not interested in this contractual liberty. For them, liberty is an excuse, a convenient buzzword; something to be exploited when it is politically expedient, then tucked away when it doesn’t serve their (not-so-hidden) agenda. Americans need to learn the lessons of history. We cannot let the Justice Peckham’s of the world decide what it means for Americans to be free. Conservatives are using the language of liberty to defeat this legislation because they’ve seen it work in the past. We can’t let them. When we pass this important bill, we will be taking one great step forward in removing the shallow gloss off of this second Gilded Age.

sorry I haven't been posting much...

2009-02-16T16:41:00.006-05:00

Things that have been taking up a lot of my time in the last month:

1. Opposing the Closing of the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University. I became an admin of the facebook group, "Save the Rose Art Museum," and spent a lot of energy trying to organize people online to save this amazing institution that is really one of the treasures of Brandeis. Losing the Rose will be an unconscionable loss to the Brandeis community and to future generations of Brandeis students. I only hope we can come up with a solution to stopping this sale.

2. Following the passage of the Stimulus Bill and the beginning weeks of the new Obama Administration. Several people have asked me to post on this site about this subject. I think liberals and conservatives alike have reasons to be upset about this bill. That said, I think that on balance, it represents a victory for progressives and for the Obama Administration.

From the conservative perspective, this became an opportunity for the Republican party to present a unified political front with a clear, common message - a feat their party has not been able to make happen in many years now. However, it is unclear if their resistance to the bill will pay any real political dividends in the long term. Poll numbers indicate that the President's numbers have stayed more or less consistently high during this process - hovering in the mid to high 60s in most national polls - while Republican leaders and the party as a whole have seen declines in their favorable ratings. To quote Markos' excellent insight: "Not only have the already unpopular congressional Republicans seen their net favorability ratings drop 10 points in a matter of a few weeks, but they now face a net 36-point deficit compared to congressional Democrats. And it's not as if congressional Democrats are all that popular (they're obviously not), it's just that people really hate the Republicans." People generally give Congress as a whole low marks, but support their local representative, regardless of their party. That said, national polls are clearly indicating that the obstructionist tactics of the GOP are not resonating with the American people. Like my own family, which is facing real financial hardship because of this recession, the American people are looking to their government to do something the help mitigate this recession. Just saying "no" sends a message to most Americans that the GOP is more interested in doing nothing and playing politics than delivering for the country.

All that said, I also think there are reasons for liberals to be a bit miffed by the outcome of this bill. President Obama bent over backwards trying to appease Congressional Republicans in both houses, cutting out programs he wanted because of their opposition, and making tax cuts 1/3 of stimulus in the package. The President did much to reach out the Republicans, so much that many Democrats felt they were actually being shut out of the process. When they turned around and didn't cast a single vote in the House for the bill, it was a real slap in the face to Obama, and exposed the real limits of bipartisanship - even in the age of Obama.

That said, there are reasons for liberals to be pleased about the results of this bill. It makes significant investments in many important areas like infrastructure, energy, health care, and education. Its tax cuts are unlike the Bush cuts in that they are much more focused on relieving stress on lower and middle class, working Americans. This bill will create or save millions of jobs for American workers, and that will help ease us out of this recession. Of course no bill is perfect, and even the best and brightest economists don't really know what the truly best course is to take. The spending bill we got reflects a political process that at the end of the day has delivered for the American people. Obama has put all his chips on red on this one, publicly stating that if his efforts to turn the economy around in 4 years don't work, we'll have a new president. Lets give him the benefit of the doubt on this one, and hope that his Administration will wisely execute this project in a way that really does help our economy grow.

One last thing to note on the political front is how powerful the small group of moderates in the Senate are becoming as a result of the filibuster-prone margin in the Senate. Without Collins and Snowe from Maine and Specter from PA, this bill would not have passed through the Congress. As a result, these moderate Republicans had significant say over what should be included and excised from the bill. As we move forward, it will be crucial for people from across the country who support Obama's agenda, and particularly in those northeastern states with Republican senators, to put pressure on them constantly. Only by bringing these Senators into the fold can Democrats get through all the important legislation they hope to pass in the next two years.

3. Organizing an event for the American Constitution Society at Penn law entitled "A Nation of Laws? Responses to the Alleged Crimes of the Bush Administration." It will take place on March 5th here at Penn Law, and I am very excited about it. The event, will present a thoughtful, nuanced discussion of the possible crimes of the Bush Administration – most notably torture, but also illegal wiretapping, indefinite detention, extraordinary rendition, and other abuses of executive power. I would like the discussion to focus on response to these alleged abuses: what they should (or shouldn't) be, and how such processes could come about. The goal is to promote a vigorous debate within our Law School about the importance of the rule of law, and how it should be respected in this case.

4. The Summer job hunt. I will be interning in the office of Judge Manfredi, a Superior Court judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Please. I am looking forward to it very much because I will get a judge's view of the litigation process, working intimately with Judge Manfredi to learn all about the many different types of civil litigation working their way through Philadelphia state courts. In addition, I will get to see all stages of the litigation process, and observe hundreds of attorneys in their professional capacity, learning from them what it takes to be a successful advocate and litigator.

5. Studying for Law School. Same old, same old...

I hope to start posting more regularly, even if it is just short things of interest to me that might be of interest to my readers.

You're In My Head MIXTAPE

2009-02-12T14:51:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody!

Check out this cool website, where you can make your own online mixtapes to share with your friends...

I made a mix for all the world to enjoy!

Happy New Year to the Trees! A Tu B'Shvat Essay by Alison Schwartzbaum

2009-02-09T01:03:00.003-05:00

This essay about Tu B'Shvat was written by my sister Alison. I think it is very inspiring and interesting. I hope you enjoy it!

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I went kayaking today with the Temple Menorah Young Professionals Club. It was my first event with the group (hurray for finally taking strides to create a social life!), and I really enjoyed myself. The kayaking was beautiful and after we got back to shore we went on a nature walk and learned about different plants and bugs. Finally, there was a brown bag lunch and a discussion about today's holiday, Tu B'shvat with the Temple's new assistant Rabbi, the 30-year-old Rabbi Dan.

Dan shared a very interesting idea about life and Judaism with us, and I'm compelled to share it with you. As you may already know, Tu B'shvat is the Jewish new year for the trees. Practically, the date marks the time from which you start counting how old your fruit trees are. This is significant in Jewish law because in Israel you cannot eat from a fruit tree until its fifth year. Additionally, it is customary to eat Israeli fruits such as pomegranates, dates, almonds, figs, grapes, carob (i think, don't quote me on that one), among others. However, Dan did not focus on the specifics of Jewish law in regard to trees. Instead, he talked about the meaning behind the holiday and the perspective it can give us through which to see the world.

Jewish law as it pertains to trees is very specific and very telling of the type of attitude Jews should have toward the environment. The Torah explicitly forbids the destruction of fruit trees without purpose; a Jew may not cut down a fruit tree unless it is causing harm to other trees in the orchard or if it will be used for a necessary purpose. In fact, even in a time of war, a Jewish army may not cut down a tree in order to cut an enemy's food supply. Unless there is an enemy in the tree who poses an immediate danger, a tree may not be touched.

Why all this stress about trees? After all, in Bereshit, the first book in the Torah, Hashem tells Adam that the world was created for him to use. Therefore, shouldn't man be able to do as he wishes with the environment?

A simple answer that reconciles these two parts of the Torah is the idea that we should take only what we need and never exploit the environment for our own excesses.

This is a very interesting and important idea especially today when consumerism and wastefulness typify American society and normative thought in countries throughout the world. We run to buy the latest ipod or phone to replace last year's model without thinking about the environmental impact that our electronic waste will create. (Not to get too off topic, but I feel like I must say, I'm not knocking all materialism or all aspects of our consumer culture, only how unthoughtful we are about it, and I'm definitely guilty of this too.)

Still, there is an even deeper lesson that we can glean from all this Jewish environmental talk. It stems from the original question about Judaism and the environment: why the stress? What's the big deal? What's the connection?

The answer lies in our obligation (that's my editorializing, I can't say for sure that it's mandatory) to develop our sensitivity and compassion for the world and everything in it.

If you believe in God as a creator and define God as timeless, limitless, omniscient, etc. (which I do, at least today I do, but even if you don't, read on, this idea might still apply), then you probably believe that all of creation is actually an extension of God himself. After all, how can something that is limitless exist outside of something and not outside of it and a part of it at the same time? (a drop more editorializing to the Rabbi's dvar torah: perhaps this is where the idea that we were created in God's image stems from, and is why the Shema, "hear o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" is such an integral part of Judaism--in other words, the Lord is one means that we're a part of him...without doing anything, just by existing, we are Godly beings). If that's the case then the whole world, and all of creation is very deeply connected. (If you're not so into the God stuff, here's the part where you can tune back in and probably feel comfortable): In essence, the existence of everything that is and ever was is like a drawing on an etch a sketch; imagine a drawing of a horizontal line that turns into an ornate drawing before returning to its original shape as a line. On an etch a sketch, as on a piece of paper, you'd never have removed the pen, so even though it changed shape, the entire time it was still the same line only in a different form. This is how the world (and everything in it and everything that exists outside of it) is. We are all essentially the same, connected thing only in different forms; break us down small enough, and humans and trees and everything else is all made up of the same compounds (be they from the periodic table of elements or from the part of us that is an extension of God). We are everything around us.

Rav Kook, the chief Ashkenazic Rabbi of Israel pre-statehood summed up this idea much more eloquently than I ever could:

"If you are amazed at how it is possible to speak, hear, smell, touch, see, understand, and feel - tell your soul that all living things collectively confer upon you the fullness of your experience. Not the least speck of existence is superfluous, everything is needed, and everything serves its purpose. 'You' are presented within everything that is beneath you, and your being is bound up with all that transcends you" (Orot Hakodesh, 361).

Everything coexists because of and for something or someone else. The sooner we realize our interconnectedness with the world around us, our environment, and the people that inhabit it, and the sooner we treat these seemingly external parts of the Universe as essential parts of ourselves, the sooner we can repair the damage we've caused the world.

As Albert Einstein once said:

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

This is the true (or at least one of the true), deeper meanings of the holiday of Tu B'shvat - to remind ourselves of the relationship between humans and the world around us. Hopefully, with the wisdom and courage to see every part of the world as part of ourselves, we can develop the sensitivity and compassion necessary to repair our damaged environment as well as our damaged relationships with our friends and family at home and our carbon-based brothers and sisters all around the world.

Chag Sameach to all and thank you again to Rabbi Dan for giving me the knowledge base and the inspiration to share this with you,

Inauguration 2009: DC, Here I Come!

2009-01-15T23:30:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow afternoon, I will be heading to Washington DC to take part in the inauguration of President Barack Obama!

While in DC, I will also participate in a day of national service in honor of Martin Luther King and the service movement, on MLK. I encourage you to find ways you can take some time to serve in your community on Monday and be part of this exciting day of service. Make it a day on, not a day off!

While at the inauguration, I will be taking notes and pictures for an essay I intend to write in reflection of the events when I return. I will post this alongside the essay I wrote in 2005, the year I went to Washington to protest President Bush's inauguration. I will really be coming full circle with this trip, and I couldn't be happier or more excited.

God Bless America!

Why do they hate?

2009-01-12T14:30:00.002-05:00

The answer to this terrible question - why do they hate us? - begins with the children. In much of the Palestinian Territories, children are taught from a young age to hate and want to destroy Jews. Hatred for Jews is institutionalized in textbooks, in classrooms, and on children's television. Take a look at these disturbing videos, and you will get a glimpse into the source of the hatred of Hamas.

Here is their famous "Mickey Mouse" character. This program indoctrinates children into believing Muslims must "rule the world" and advocates the "annihilation of the Jews."

Vital Facts About the Gaza Conflict

2009-01-09T17:56:00.003-05:00

Many have criticized Israel's recent actions in Gaza, yet few understand the context of the military action. Here, in clear and verifiable print, are some of the key numbers from this conflict. They help to put into context the unrelenting rocket attacks directed deliberately at Israeli citizens even during the recent "cease fire," and underscore the efforts Israel has taken in good faith to give Gazans land for peace.

9,400+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2003. [1]
3,200+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in 2008 alone. [2]
6,500+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. [3]
543+ rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israeli territory during the ceasefire from June 19 to Dec. 19, 2008. [4]
28 deaths caused by rockets and mortars fired from Gaza into Israel since 2001. The dead include Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire ended, Iran-backed Palestinian groups in Gaza fired rockets and mortars that killed an Israeli-Arab construction worker and a mother of four who was seeking shelter in a bus station as a rocket warning siren sounded. [5]
1,000+ people in Israel injured from rockets and mortars fired from Gaza since 2001, including Israelis, Palestinians and foreign workers. Since the ceasefire, 44 Israelis have been injured and 200 have been treated for shock. [6]
20,000 Hamas troops Israel is targeting as part of “Operation Cast Lead.” [7]
750,000 number of Israeli civilians Hamas is targeting and can reach. [8]
15 seconds Israelis have to get to a bomb shelter once a warning siren has sounded. [9]
8 years that Israel has been hit by rockets and mortars from Gaza [10]
3 mosques in Gaza used as weapons, ammunitions and explosives depots that were struck by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the operation in Gaza. [11]
4 UN Security Council resolutions passed since 2006 to try to stop Iran from enriching uranium. [12]
5,000+ number of centrifuges operating in Iran to enrich uranium, the material used to produce a nuclear weapon. [13]

Israel's Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

179 truckloads of humanitarian aid that have been delivered through Israeli crossings into Gaza since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead, including basic food commodities, medication, medical supplies, donations of governments and blood units.
106 additional truckloads of humanitarian expected to arrive in Gaza on Jan. 31 [14]
6,500 tons of aid transported into Gaza at the request of international organizations, the Palestinian Authority and various governments since the beginning of Operation Cast Lead. The World Food Program informed Israel that it will cease shipment of food to Gaza because warehouses are at full capacity, with enough food to last two weeks. [15]

What Israel Gave Up in Hopes of Peace - Gaza Withdrawal August 2005

100% proportion of the Gaza Strip evacuated and handed over to the
Palestinians. [16]
300 square miles of the West Bank evacuated. [17]
21 Israeli settlements uprooted in the Gaza Strip. [18]
4 Israeli settlements uprooted in the West Bank. [19]
48 graves uprooted in Gaza’s former Gush Katif Cemetery, including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists. [20]
9,000 approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 families, who lived in Gaza and the northern West Bank. All of them were moved out as part of the withdrawal. [21]
38 synagogues dismantled in the Gaza Strip. [22]
5,000 school-age children who had to find new schools. [23]
42 daycare centers that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [24]
36 kindergartens that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [25]
7 elementary schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [26]
3 high schools that were closed in the Gaza Strip. [27]
320 mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to serve as temporary housing for settlers. [28]
45,000 Israeli soldiers and policemen who participated in the Gaza withdrawal. [29]
$1.7 billion the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative. [30]
166 Israeli farmers who were moved out of Gaza. [31]
800 cows, which comprised the second largest dairy farm in Israel, moved out of Gaza’s Gush Katif community. [32]
$120 million value of flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif and lost following the evacuation. [33]
1 zoo, the “Katifari,” that housed hundreds of animals and was moved. [34]
10,000 people who were employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians. [35]
60% proportion of Israel's cherry tomato exports that came from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza extinguished this economic resource. [36]
3.5 million square meters (almost 1,000 acres) of greenhouses abandoned in Gaza. [37]
70 percentage of Israel's organic produce grown in Gaza – another economic resource lost in the evacuation. [38]
60 percentage of herbs exported from Israel that came from Gush Katif. [39]
15 percentage of Israel agricultural exports that originated in Gaza – exports lost following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. [40]
$360,000 expected average compensation amount Israel expected to pay to relocate each family. [41]
$870 million approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former West Bank and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country. [42]
$500 million amount of money Israel's security establishment spent to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities. [43]
After Israel’s evacuation from Gaza…
430,000 West Bank Palestinians able to move freely within and between Palestinian-controlled areas. [44]
1 Israeli remaining in Gaza. Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was abducted from Israel on June 25, 2006 by Hamas in a bloody cross-border raid in which the terrorists also killed two IDF soldiers and wounded four others. [45]
1.2 million Arabs who remained full and legal citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – have freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote. [46]
1.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip many of them in Palestinian Authority-controlled refugee camps, who live under their own leaders. [47]
820,000 Jewish refugees forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, and who have never been compensated by Arab governments for their losses. [48]
650,000 Arab refugees who left Israel from 1947-1949 and still need Palestinian leaders who will end terrorism and the culture of hate. [49]

Rockets and Mortars Fired From Gaza During the "Cease Fire" - June to December 2008

Footnotes:
[1] IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Dec. 19, 2008; “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b587015&content_id={4F0CF025-98BF-4875-A59B-B1F5E4B079F7}¬oc=1; Barzak, Ibrahim and Friedman, Matti, “Israel rejects truce call, pursues bombing Gaza,” Associated Press, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD95DQIEO0
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Presentation to Military Attaches,” Israel Ministry of Defense, Dec. 2008
[5] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.3906189/k.EDAC/Rocket_and_Mortar_Fatalities_in_Israel.htm; Kershner, Isabel, “Despite Strikes, Israelis Vow to Soldier On,” The New York Times, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/world/middleeast/31israel.html?em; “Iran-backed Terrorists in Gaza Kill 3, Wound Others in Continuing Rocket Attacks on Israel,” The Israel Project press release, Dec. 29, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&bh9705&ctd76363#contactinfo
[6] “Rocket and Mortar Fatalities in Israel,” The Israel Project backgrounder, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.3906189/k.EDAC/Rocket_and_Mortar_Fatalities_in_Israel.htm; Israeli Police Spokesman in a conversation with The Israel Project, Dec. 31, 2008
[7] Fletcher, Martin, “Analysis: What is Israel's end game in Gaza?” MSNBC.com, Dec. 29, 2008, http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/12/29/1726211.aspx
[8] Meridor, Sallai, The Israel Project press conference with Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b587015&content_id={F205EF2D-24F9-4EF2-B1E6-5CBAAFF0B26E}¬oc=1

[9] “IDF Operation in the Gaza Strip,” The Military-Strategic Information Section Daily Update – Day 4, Dec. 30, 2008
[10] “Israeli Injuries and Fatalities Due to Rocket and Mortar Fire,” The Israel Project, http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.4277777/k.3E99/Injuries_and_Fatalities_Graph.htm
[11] Information relayed by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Dec. 28, 2008; Harel, Amos, Issacharoff, Avi, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press, “IAF bombs Gaza mosque being used as weapons storehouse,” Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1051305.html

[12] “Security Council Tightens Restrictions on Iran’s Proliferation-Sensitive Nuclear Activities, Increases Vigilance Over Iranian Banks, Has States Inspect Cargo,” United Nations Security Council, 5848th Meeting, Department of Public Relations, March 3, 2008, http://un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9268.doc.htm

[13] Dareini, Ali Akbar, “Iran says it now runs more than 5,000 centrifuges,” AP, Nov. 26, 2008, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jG7bnyWWJfgaYD-JwcqmImlpRujwD94MND800
[14] Martin, Patrick, “Israel shoots down ceasefire proposal,” Globeandmail.com, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081230.wgaza_main31/BNStory/International/home; “FACTBOX-Countries pledge aid to Palestinians in Gaza,” Reuters, Dec. 31, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSLV538165; “Israel increases humanitarian effort to the Gaza Strip,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 30, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2008/Israel_increases_humanitarian_effort_Gaza_Strip_30-Dec-2008.htm

[15] “12 Palestinians from Gaza transferred to Israeli hospitals for assistance and 2500 tons of humanitarian aid transferred to Gaza,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 31, 2008

[16] Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israels+Disengagement+Plan-+Renewing+the+Peace+Process+Apr+2005.htm

[17] “Israel’s Disengagement Plan,” American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Feb. 9, 2005, http://aipac.org/result.cfm?id 49
[18] Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Israels+Disengagement+Plan-+Renewing+the+Peace+Process+Apr+2005.htm
[19] Ibid.

[20] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005; Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005

[21] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005
[22] “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005, http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/#did
[23] Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005
[24] “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005, http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/#did
[25] Ibid.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005
[28] Ibid.
[29] Klein, Zeev, “Haber: HCJ ruling will raise disengagement cost to NIS 500m,” Globes: Israel’s Business Arena, June 5, 2005
[30] Arrow, Minda Lee, “Gaza settler relocation: new progress, ongoing complications,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 15, 2005, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID#26
[31] Lazaroff, Tovah, “Gush Katif dairy farmer has sleepless nights over cow remo(o)val” The Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2005
[32] Stahl, Julie, “Gaza farmers say government has no plan for them,” Cybercast News Service, April 11, 2005
[33] Ettinger, Yair, “Even the animals won’t leave Gaza early,” Haaretz newspaper, June 21, 2005, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNoY0195
[34] “Israel,” Freedom House, July 6, 2005
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Ibid.
[39] Ibid.
[40] Ibid.
[41] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/5469.htm
[42] Ibid.
[43] Ibid.
[44] Ibid.
[45] Harel, Amos; Issacharoff, Avi; Haaretz Service and Reuters, "Two soldiers killed, one missing in raid on IDF post," Haaretz, June 25, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/730994.html
[46] Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005, http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/Refugees/index.html
[47] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/5469.htm
[48] Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005
[49] Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005, http://info.jpost.com/C003/Supplements/Refugees/index.html
[50] “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005, http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/5469.htm

Scientists plan to ignite tiny man-made star

2008-12-28T04:02:00.001-05:00

I'm still pessimistic about our ability to actually solve the climate crisis - but stories like this give me hope that human ingenuity can help us mitigate, if not outright prevent, the worst effects of climate change, while simultaneously helping us create a new energy future. This article is about science's star experiment: an attempt to create an artificial sun on earth and provide an answer to the world's impending energy shortage. Fusion would be amazing... think of the possibilities.As I read the part of the article about using so many lenses in a space the size of three football fields, it reminded me of the first computers, that used to be gigantic and take up entire buildings. In my parent's lifetime, that technology has evolved to a point where my phone is a far more powerful computer than those gigantic devices. If we are able to create fusion reactions, just think of the possibilities if we are able to get it small. I'm thinking about interstellar travel here.What an amazing world we live in.

read more | digg story

NY Times Ed Board: Prosecute the Torturers

2008-12-18T17:21:00.003-05:00

As if on cue, the New York Times has published a courageous editorial calling president Obama to appoint prosecutors to investigate and indict individuals in the Bush Administration responsible for the policies of torture and abrogation of the Geneva Conventions. This Editorial argues convincingly for what I wrote about only days ago: a moral reckoning that will restore America's standing in the world and correct the scandalous abuses of the Bush Administration.

December 18, 2008
EDITORIAL
The Torture Report

Most Americans have long known that the horrors of Abu Ghraib were not the work of a few low-ranking sociopaths. All but President Bush’s most unquestioning supporters recognized the chain of unprincipled decisions that led to the abuse, torture and death in prisons run by the American military and intelligence services.

Now, a bipartisan report by the Senate Armed Services Committee has made what amounts to a strong case for bringing criminal charges against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; his legal counsel, William J. Haynes; and potentially other top officials, including the former White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and David Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff.

The report shows how actions by these men “led directly” to what happened at Abu Ghraib, in Afghanistan, in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and in secret C.I.A. prisons.

It said these top officials, charged with defending the Constitution and America’s standing in the world, methodically introduced interrogation practices based on illegal tortures devised by Chinese agents during the Korean War. Until the Bush administration, their only use in the United States was to train soldiers to resist what might be done to them if they were captured by a lawless enemy.

The officials then issued legally and morally bankrupt documents to justify their actions, starting with a presidential order saying that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to prisoners of the “war on terror” — the first time any democratic nation had unilaterally reinterpreted the conventions.

•

That order set the stage for the infamous redefinition of torture at the Justice Department, and then Mr. Rumsfeld’s authorization of “aggressive” interrogation methods. Some of those methods were torture by any rational definition and many of them violate laws and treaties against abusive and degrading treatment.

These top officials ignored warnings from lawyers in every branch of the armed forces that they were breaking the law, subjecting uniformed soldiers to possible criminal charges and authorizing abuses that were not only considered by experts to be ineffective, but were actually counterproductive.

One page of the report lists the repeated objections that President Bush and his aides so blithely and arrogantly ignored: The Air Force had “serious concerns regarding the legality of many of the proposed techniques”; the chief legal adviser to the military’s criminal investigative task force said they were of dubious value and may subject soldiers to prosecution; one of the Army’s top lawyers said some techniques that stopped well short of the horrifying practice of waterboarding “may violate the torture statute.” The Marines said they “arguably violate federal law.” The Navy pleaded for a real review.

The legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time started that review but told the Senate committee that her boss, Gen. Richard Myers, ordered her to stop on the instructions of Mr. Rumsfeld’s legal counsel, Mr. Haynes.

The report indicates that Mr. Haynes was an early proponent of the idea of using the agency that trains soldiers to withstand torture to devise plans for the interrogation of prisoners held by the American military. These trainers — who are not interrogators but experts only on how physical and mental pain is inflicted and may be endured — were sent to work with interrogators in Afghanistan, in Guantánamo and in Iraq.

On Dec. 2, 2002, Mr. Rumsfeld authorized the interrogators at Guantánamo to use a range of abusive techniques that were already widespread in Afghanistan, enshrining them as official policy. Instead of a painstaking legal review, Mr. Rumsfeld based that authorization on a one-page memo from Mr. Haynes. The Senate panel noted that senior military lawyers considered the memo “ ‘legally insufficient’ and ‘woefully inadequate.’ ”

Mr. Rumsfeld rescinded his order a month later, and narrowed the number of “aggressive techniques” that could be used at Guantánamo. But he did so only after the Navy’s chief lawyer threatened to formally protest the illegal treatment of prisoners. By then, at least one prisoner, Mohammed al-Qahtani, had been threatened with military dogs, deprived of sleep for weeks, stripped naked and made to wear a leash and perform dog tricks. This year, a military tribunal at Guantánamo dismissed the charges against Mr. Qahtani.

The abuse and torture of prisoners continued at prisons run by the C.I.A. and specialists from the torture-resistance program remained involved in the military detention system until 2004. Some of the practices Mr. Rumsfeld left in place seem illegal, like prolonged sleep deprivation.

•

These policies have deeply harmed America’s image as a nation of laws and may make it impossible to bring dangerous men to real justice. The report said the interrogation techniques were ineffective, despite the administration’s repeated claims to the contrary.

Alberto Mora, the former Navy general counsel who protested the abuses, told the Senate committee that “there are serving U.S. flag-rank officers who maintain that the first and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq — as judged by their effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into combat — are, respectively, the symbols of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.”

We can understand that Americans may be eager to put these dark chapters behind them, but it would be irresponsible for the nation and a new administration to ignore what has happened — and may still be happening in secret C.I.A. prisons that are not covered by the military’s current ban on activities like waterboarding.

A prosecutor should be appointed to consider criminal charges against top officials at the Pentagon and others involved in planning the abuse.

•

Given his other problems — and how far he has moved from the powerful stands he took on these issues early in the campaign — we do not hold out real hope that Barack Obama, as president, will take such a politically fraught step.

At the least, Mr. Obama should, as the organization Human Rights First suggested, order his attorney general to review more than two dozen prisoner-abuse cases that reportedly were referred to the Justice Department by the Pentagon and the C.I.A. — and declined by Mr. Bush’s lawyers.

Mr. Obama should consider proposals from groups like Human Rights Watch and the Brennan Center for Justice to appoint an independent panel to look into these and other egregious violations of the law. Like the 9/11 commission, it would examine in depth the decisions on prisoner treatment, as well as warrantless wiretapping, that eroded the rule of law and violated Americans’ most basic rights. Unless the nation and its leaders know precisely what went wrong in the last seven years, it will be impossible to fix it and make sure those terrible mistakes are not repeated.

We expect Mr. Obama to keep the promise he made over and over in the campaign — to cheering crowds at campaign rallies and in other places, including our office in New York. He said one of his first acts as president would be to order a review of all of Mr. Bush’s executive orders and reverse those that eroded civil liberties and the rule of law.

That job will fall to Eric Holder, a veteran prosecutor who has been chosen as attorney general, and Gregory Craig, a lawyer with extensive national security experience who has been selected as Mr. Obama’s White House counsel.

A good place for them to start would be to reverse Mr. Bush’s disastrous order of Feb. 7, 2002, declaring that the United States was no longer legally committed to comply with the Geneva Conventions.

Water Boarding IS Torture, and Real Change Demands Accountability for Outrageous Crimes

2008-12-16T20:44:00.005-05:00

During the Spanish Inquisition, waterboarding, or simulated drowning, was first used as a torture tactic to elicit confessions. As far back as the Spanish-American war, American law has condemned soldiers who use waterboarding to stiff sentences. American soldiers were prosecuted in 1968 for waterboarding prisoners of war in Vietnam. After World War II, America tried and sentenced Japanese officers who used waterboarding on American soldiers for war crimes. According to John McCain, some Japanese were tried and hanged for using this technique on Americans. The American case law is clear: waterboarding is torture, and it is a war crime. International Law condemns it as well.

Yet just yesterday, Vice President Dick Cheney gave an interview where, when asked whether he still believes it was appropriate to use the waterboarding method on terrorism suspects, he said: "I do." Not only did he support the use of this illegal torture, Cheney signed off on the use. In that same interview, he said that the CIA "in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it."

Read that again. When a United States federal agency, charged with defending our country in accordance with its laws, asked the vice-president if they could use torture, he said yes. He said, "do it."

In effect, the vice-president has just admitted, blithely and on national television, that he personally approved of war crimes perpetrated by this administration. Make no mistake about it: the use of torture is a war crime and is punishable by law. And Dick Cheney is responsible.

Cheney's comments comes only a few days after disclosures by a Senate committee showing that high-level officials in the Bush administration were intimately involved in reviewing and approving interrogation methods that have since been explicitly outlawed and that have been condemned internationally as torture.

Change in America will not just come by stimulating the economy and providing better health care. Change must also have a moral component. For America to lead once again, and regain its moral stature, it must show that it is a true democracy that respects the rule of law, and allows no one, not even the most powerful of its officials, get away with crimes that must shame every citizen proud to call themselves a member of this great nation.

The next president must launch a full investigation into these crimes, and people must be held accountable for their abuses of the law. This is not a mere political stunt. More even than a legal necessity, it is a moral duty.

Inspiration to Help You Achieve!

2008-12-14T18:16:00.002-05:00

I know many of my friends are currently in the midst of finals right now, as am I. This inspirational 2 minute video will definitely get you inspired and motivated to do your best. Go ahead, give it a watch:

A Call to Service: Sign the Petition Today!

2008-12-12T14:42:00.005-05:00

On January 20th, Barack Obama will give his inaugural address to the largest crowd ever assembled for a Presidential Inauguration. Tens of millions of Americans will watch this historic speech. At that moment, President Obama was have a unique opportunity to follow in the footsteps of John Kennedy, and issue a call to service to the American People. At this time of great economic distress, more than ever we need Americans ready to put on a uniform or set aside a few hours a month to assist their fellow citizens, and help build the foundation for our new, more prosperous future. National Service is a fundamental public good that is already helping transform communities and individuals for the better. It provides much needed resources and manpower to areas of positive externality like Education, Health care and the Environment, and it gives young people an opportunity to earn money for college and acquire the skills needed to compete in a global economy.

We need Barack Obama to issue a powerful call to service in his inaugural address. That is why I urge you to please go to http://servenext.org/ and sign the petition asking the President-Elect to make this an important theme of his upcoming speech.

Together, we can be the change we wish to see in the world.

What’s Your Big Idea for Change in America?

2008-12-07T16:48:00.004-05:00

President-Elect Obama says he wants to hear ideas from all Americans, so the good people at Change.org are taking him up on his offer. At a newly launched part of their website, you can submit their ideas for how to change America, discuss these ideas with others, and vote for your favorites.

You can vote for as many ideas as you like. After all the voters are in, the "Top 10 Ideas for America" will be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day. Change.org will then build a national campaign to advance each idea in Congress, marshaling the resources of Change.org and their dozens of partner organizations and millions of combined members. This includes organizations as diverse as MySpace, Campus Progress, the Energy Action Coalition, Good, Public Citizen, the SEIU, the ASPCA, and many more.

What's so exciting about this project is that it provides a democratic way for individuals to promote their ideas for how to change this country and bring them to the attention of the new president in a powerfully public manner.

I hope you'll check out the site, and consider voting for my idea, "Expand AmeriCorps!" I also hope you'll consider voting to create a Department of Peace and help support the important efforts of the Student Peace Alliance.

You can check out my idea HERE. I hope it can receive your vote!

Here's why I think this is such an important idea:

Currently, 75,000 Americans every year participate in AmeriCorps programs like City Year, Teach For America, Vista, NCCC, and other essential programs that are providing critical services to needy communities across the country and giving a new generation of young Americans the opportunity to strengthen the civil bonds of our democracy. Even more remarkable is how cheaply this is done; current AmeriCorps funding is less than $900 million a year, total. The benefits of giving Americans a chance to serve their country radically outweigh the costs. In addition, service is a wonderful way to give young people the resources they need to go to college.

President Obama should keep his promise to expand AmeriCorps to 250,000 members a year by immediately pushing to increase its funding, instituting a "health corps" and a "green corps," and giving a major speech in which he personally solicits young people to make a commitment to filling these slots. More than ever, Americans desire the opportunity to serve their country; President Obama must make that a priority immediately.