[LAAMN] Peter Capatano: Don't Ask, Gail Collins: Perry's Bad Night
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/opinion/perrys-bad-night.html?nl=todayshea dlines http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/opinion/perrys-bad-night.html?nl=todayshe adlinesemc=tha212 emc=tha212 Perrys Bad Night Gail Collins NY Times Op-Ed: September 24, 2011 Gloom pervades the land. Some people believe its the economy. Others blame the weather. I think its because the country is gradually coming to grips with the fact that Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee for president. It is a scientific fact. Every minute, somewhere in America, another citizen realizes that Mitt is going to be in our face for the next 14 months. Conceivably for the next nine years. Children now in third grade might graduate from high school without ever experiencing a totally Romney-free day. This is not something Im happy pointing out. For one thing, I dont want to believe I live in a country that would seriously consider bestowing the nations highest office on a man who once drove to Canada with the family dog strapped to the roof of the car. Plus, we have barely gotten started on Rick Perry, the last great Mitt alternative. Have you noticed how huge his chest and shoulders are? Looming over his lectern at Thursdays debate, he looked like a float. But it was impossible to watch that debate without realizing that Perry is not presidential timber, or even presidential polyurethane. Here was Perrys answer to the inevitable question about what hed do if the White House phone rang at 3 a.m. In this case, the hypothetical call informed the hypothetical President Perry that the Taliban had gotten control of Pakistans nuclear weapons. Well, obviously, before you ever get to that point, you have to build a relationship in that region. And thats one of the things that this administration has not done. Just yesterday we found out through Admiral Mullen that Haqqani has been involved with and thats the terrorist group directly associated with the Pakistani country so to have a relationship with India, to make sure that India knows that they are an ally of the United States. He went on to tell a story about how the Obama administration wouldnt sell upgraded F-16 fighters to India. Which never happened. Romney, meanwhile, was very much on his game, glib and grinning madly. He lashed into Perry for the Texas version of the Dream Act. (If youre an illegal alien, you get an in-state tuition discount!) One of the very few silver linings in this story is that over the next year well all have a number of opportunities to revisit the saga of the undocumented immigrants who used to mow the Romney lawn. The debate stage was crowded with other would-be candidates, most of them pretty well worn. The only newbie, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, made a big splash with a joke about how his neighbors two dogs produced more shovel-ready projects than Barack Obama did. Johnson cracked the place up! Line of the night! Then on Friday everyone discovered that Rush Limbaugh had told the joke the day before. The dog-owning neighbor joins the ever-growing throng of Republican Imaginary People, along with the woman who told Michele Bachmann the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer made her daughter mentally retarded. Perry appeared very cheerful during most of the debate he has a way of cocking his head and grinning as if he saw a waiter entering the room with a large dessert. Perhaps he was anticipating the triumphant moment when he would be able to nail Romney for being a flip-flopper. This appeared to be something he had prepared for. When the opportunity presented itself, this is what Perry said: I think Americans just dont know sometimes which Mitt Romney theyre dealing with. Is it the Mitt Romney that was on the side of against the Second Amendment before he was for the Second Amendment? Was it was before he was before the social programs from the standpoint of he was for standing up for Roe versus Wade before he was against first Roe versus Wade? Him he was for Race to the Top. Hes for Obamacare and now hes against it. I mean, well wait until tomorrow and and and see which Mitt Romney were really talking to tonight. So there you are. It is true that the nation has elected incoherent Texans to the White House before. But the first one had been vice president. And when George W. Bush was marching through the primaries, saying things that made no sense whatsoever, Republican voters told one another that if he got into trouble, he could always ask his parents for advice. I swear to you, that came up a lot. But I always thought it was an excuse, to cover the fact that they were really just trying to avoid John McCain. And then in 2008, they nominated McCain just to avoid Mitt Romney. No wonder theyre miserable. Next week, give a Republican a cookie, just to show you understand. * * * http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/dont-ask/?nl=todaysheadlines
[LAAMN] Details on demo for General T.A.C.O. of Black Riders, Tuesday 3-5 PM, 2444 S Alameda, L.A.
There will be a noise demonstration and press conference to demand freedom for General T.A.C.O. (Taking All Capitalists Out) of the Black Riders Liberation Party on Tuesday, September 27 from 3-5:00 PM outside the CDCR Parole Office at 2444 S. Alameda in Los Angeles. TACO was picked up last week for allegedly violating parole by associating with other members of the Black Riders, and is on a parole hold -- they are trying to return him to state prison. For more information, call 323-289-4457. --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] October Change Links
The October issue of Change Links will be ready for a final proofing, Monday at Noon in Van Nuys, if anyone wants to help It will be out Tuesday for distribution and the mailing will be Wednesday at Noon at the Peace Center, Thanks for the help John Johnson Change-Links Progressive Newspaper change-li...@change-links.org http://change-links.org Subscribe to our list server. Email change-links-subscr...@yahoogroups.com (818) 782-1412 Cell (818) 681-7448. === http://change-links.org/animated%20palestine%20flag1.gif --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[LAAMN] (unknown)
This article is by Sandy Tolan, whose book, The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew and the Heart of the Middle East, is as good a snapshot of life in Palestine as any IMHO. Hajja Romi/Blue The Occupation That Time Forgot The Disappearance of Palestine by SANDY TOLAN It’s the show that time and the world forgot. It’s called the Occupation and it’s now in its 45th year. Playing on a landscape about the size of Delaware, it remains largely hidden from view, while Middle Eastern headlines from elsewhere seize the day. Diplomats shuttle back and forth from Washington and Brussels to Middle Eastern capitals; the Israeli-Turkish alliance rupturesamid bold declarations from the Turkish prime minister; crowds storm the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, while Israeli ambassadors flee the Egyptian capital and Amman, the Jordanian one; and of course, there’s the headliner, the show-stopper of the moment, the Palestinian Authority’s campaign for statehood in the United Nations, which will prompt an Obama administration veto in the Security Council. But whatever the Turks, Egyptians, or Americans do, whatever symbolic satisfaction the Palestinian Authority may get at the U.N., there’s always the Occupation and there — take it from someone just back from a summer living in the West Bank — Israel isn’t losing. It’s winning the battle, at least the one that means the most to Palestinians and Israelis, the one for control over every square foot of ground. Inch by inch, meter by meter, Israel’s expansion project in the West Bank and Jerusalem is, in fact, gaining momentum, ensuring that the “nation” that the U.N. might grant membership will be each day a little smaller, a little less viable, a little less there. How to Disappear a Land On my many drives from West Bank city to West Bank city, from Ramallah to Jenin, Abu Dis to Jericho, Bethlehem to Hebron, I’d play a little game: Could I travel for an entire minute without seeing physical evidence of the occupation? Occasionally — say, when riding through a narrow passage between hills — it was possible. But not often. Nearly every panoramic vista, every turn in the highway revealed a Jewish settlement, an Israeli army checkpoint, a military watchtower, a looming concrete wall, a barbed-wire fence with signs announcing another restricted area, or a cluster of army jeeps stopping cars and inspecting young men for their documents. The ill-fated Oslo “peace process” that emerged from the Oslo Accords of 1993 not only failed to prevent such expansion, it effectively sanctioned it. Since then, the number of Israeli settlers on the West Bank has nearly tripled to more than 300,000 – and that figure doesn’t include the more than 200,000 Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. The Oslo Accords, ratified by both the Palestinians and the Israelis, divided the West Bank into three zones — A, B, and C. At the time, they were imagined by the Palestinian Authority as a temporary way station on the road to an independent state. They are, however, still in effect today. The de facto Israeli strategy has been and remains to give Palestinians relative freedom in Area A, around the West Bank’s cities, while locking down “Area C” – 60% of the West Bank — for the use of the Jewish settlements and for what are called “restricted military areas.” (Area B is essentially a kind of grey zone between the other two.) From this strategy come the thousands of demolitions of “illegal” housing and the regular arrests of villagers who simply try to build improvements to their homes. Restrictions are strictly enforced and violations dealt with harshly. When I visited the South Hebron Hills in late 2009, for example, villagers were not even allowed to smooth out a virtually impassable dirt road so that their children wouldn’t have to walk two to three miles to school every day. Na’im al-Adarah, from the village of At-Tuwani, paid the price for transporting those kids to the school “illegally.” A few weeks after my visit, he was arrested and his red Toyota pickup seized and destroyed by Israeli soldiers. He didn’t bother complaining to the Palestinian Authority — the same people now going to the U.N. to declare a Palestinian state — because they have no control over what happens in Area C. The only time he’d seen a Palestinian official, al-Adarah told me, was when he and other villagers drove to Ramallah to bring one to the area. (The man from the Palestinian Authority refused to come on his own.) “He said this is the first time he knew that this land [in Area C] is ours. A minister like him is surprised that we have these areas? I told him, ‘How can a minister like you not know this? You’re the minister of local government!’ “It was like he didn’t know what was happening in his own country,” added al-Adarah. “We’re forgotten, unfortunately.” The Israeli strategy of control also explains, strategically speaking, the “need” for the network
[LAAMN] URGENT: Updated flier: Monday's Obama protest
There have been some logistical changes made for Monday's protest in West Hollywood against President Obama and the Insecure Communities program. Please distribute this new flier to your contacts. Thank you. Pres. Obama will be in Los Angeles on Monday, September 26th Protest: Location Fig Olive Restaurant Gathering time: 4:30PM Gathering Location: La Cienega and Beverly Blvd. We will march about 4 blocks to the actual restaurant where President Obama will be attending a fundraising event. Parking: We are recommending that people park at the Beverly Center. Ron Gochez Social Justice Educator/Community Organizer Union del Barrio Centro Cultural Francisco Villa 2100 Maple Ave. Los Anegles, CA 90011 www.uniondelbarrio.org [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] --- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --- Unsubscribe: mailto:laamn-unsubscr...@egroups.com --- Subscribe: mailto:laamn-subscr...@egroups.com --- Digest: mailto:laamn-dig...@egroups.com --- Help: mailto:laamn-ow...@egroups.com?subject=laamn --- Post: mailto:la...@egroups.com --- Archive1: http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn --- Archive2: http://www.mail-archive.com/laamn@egroups.com --- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: laamn-dig...@yahoogroups.com laamn-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: laamn-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
