Because he says so

The Pope just declared that it is historical fact that Mary gave birth even though she was a virgin. I guess that settles that. Strange things, these religious declarations. I'd love to have all Catholics vote by secret ballot: Was Mary really a virgin? Yes or No. My guess is that 80% of Catholics would say no. Not that this means that the Pope can't be a leader. Leaders are traditionally able and willing to tell the blatant kinds of lies that keep them in power. Still, it's stunning to hear a grown man claim that he knows something that he doesn't know and, in fact, is impossible

Continue ReadingBecause he says so

The U.S. attack of Gaza

Glenn Greenwald explodes the illusion of the U.S. as a third-party bystander to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians:

[P]retending that the US - and the Obama administration - bear no responsibility for what is taking place is sheer self-delusion, total fiction. It has long been the case that the central enabling fact in Israeli lawlessness and aggression is blind US support, and that continues, more than ever, to be the case under the presidency of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner. The US is not some neutral, uninvolved party. Whatever side of this conflict you want to defend - or if you're one of those people who love to announce that you just wish the whole thing would go away - it's still necessary to take responsibility for the key role played by the American government and this administration in enabling everything that is taking place.
The ongoing illusion that the U.S. is a neutral outsider is propagated by the U.S. commercial media.
It's just been staggering to see how tilted US media discourse is: Israeli officials and pro-Israel "experts" are endlessly paraded across the screen while Palestinian voices are exceedingly rare; the fact of the 45-year-old brutal occupation and ongoing Israeli dominion over Gaza is barely mentioned; meanwhile, every primitive rocket that falls harmlessly near Israeli soil is trumpeted with screaming headlines while the carnage and terror in Gaza is mentioned, if at all, as an afterthought.

Continue ReadingThe U.S. attack of Gaza

Another batch of my favorite quotes

I make a habit of sharing my favorite quotes at this site. Here is another batch: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle "They’ll say we’re disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war.” Howard Zinn "The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." William James. “Activism is my rent for living on the planet.” ― Alice Walker "Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie." Russian Proverb "Thompson is equally vociferous on matters of faith. [...] "I'm an atheist; I suppose you can call me a sort of libertarian anarchist. I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It's not enough to say that I don't believe in God. I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Koran, and I refute them." She knows she's being controversial, but she believes passionately in what she says, and passionately believes it needs saying. "I think that the Bible as a system of moral guidance in the 21st century is insufficient, to put it mildly, she continues, frowning a little. I feel quite strongly that we need a new moral lodestone if we can't rely on what is inside our own selves. Which I think, actually, is pretty reliable." " Emma Thompson “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.” ― George Orwell “I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” Mark Twain “I want an avowed atheist in the White House. When time comes to push that button, I want whoever's making the decision to understand that once it's pushed, it's over. Finito. They're not gonna have lunch with Jesus. Won't be deflowering 72 virgins on the great shag carpet of eternity, or reincarnated as a cow. I want someone making that decision who believes life on this Earth isn't just a dress rehearsal for something better -- but the only shot we get.”― Quentin R. Bufogle “The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Malcolm X “I don't even call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence” Malcolm X “The moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That - with the squalid cash interpretation put on the word 'success' - is our national disease.” William James "Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do." Voltaire "I don't want to believe. I want to know." Carl Sagan "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible." Frank Zappa "It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle "When I give food o the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." Dom Helder Camara, Brazilian Archbishop "I'd boycott everything Wall Street made if they actually made anything." Someecards http://www.someecards.com/ “I was a loner as a child. I had an imaginary friend -- I didn't bother with him.” George Carlin

Continue ReadingAnother batch of my favorite quotes

Greenwald: Obama could not criticize Israel without criticizing himself.

Greenwald makes the case that Barack Obama could not criticize Israel's most recent round of aggression (targeted killings) without criticizing himself. The U.S. media is happy to stick to their standard script.

Israel's escalating air attacks on Gaza follow the depressingly familiar pattern that shapes this conflict. Overwhelming Israeli force slaughters innocent Palestinians, including children, which is preceded (and followed) by far more limited rocket attacks into Israel which kill a much smaller number, rocket attacks which are triggered by various forms of Israeli provocations -- all of which, most crucially, takes place in the context of Israel's 45-year-old brutal occupation of the Palestinians (and, despite a "withdrawal" of troops, that includes Gaza, over which Israel continues to exercise extensive dominion). The debates over these episodes then follow an equally familiar pattern, strictly adhering to a decades-old script that, by design at this point, goes nowhere. Meanwhile, most US media outlets are petrified of straying too far from pro-Israel orthodoxies.

Continue ReadingGreenwald: Obama could not criticize Israel without criticizing himself.

United Republic introduces The American Anti-Corruption Act.

United Republic has just announced its 9-point plan to get much of the big money and undue influence out of politics. They are looking for one million people to sign their petition right now, and eventually 100 million, because Congress is paralyzed and won't act. Change absolutely must come from the grass roots. United Republic believes that almost all of America's clashing groups can and will come together on this project. United Republic will actively require all members of Congress to declare whether they are with the program--the pro-money representatives need to get the boot. Interesting collection of folks on the board, including Josh Silver, Lawrence Lessig and reformed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Take a close look at this effort, because this actually has a chance of getting traction. The name of the proposed act: "The American Anti-Corruption Act."

Continue ReadingUnited Republic introduces The American Anti-Corruption Act.