In honor of Molly Ivins birthday (August 30, 1944)

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there." - that's from her last column, January 11, 2007.

UPDATED: HERALD DECLARES WINNER|Breathe Deep

UPDATE

The numbers still have to be verified by Montpelier.

RUTLAND HERALD

With 260 of Vermont's 260 precincts reporting, including 73,059 votes, Peter Shumlin won the Democratic gubernatorial primary on the strength of late-reported southern Vermont votes. His margin of victory is 178 votes, with all towns and cities reporting. Deb Markowitz finished 390 votes behind Shumlin. To request a recount, the margin for victory must be within 2 percent, which is true in this race.

Peter Shumlin - 18,244 votes (25.0%)
Doug Racine - 18,066 votes (24.7%)
Deb Markowitz - 17,854 votes (24.4%)
Matt Dunne - 15,100 votes (20.7%)
Susan Bartlett - 3,795 votes (5.2%)

+++++++++++++

When I left the Racine "victory" party at the Burlington Hilton at Midnight, the Vermont Democratic gubernatorial primary results were too close to call a winner. VPR reports they now have 100% or 260 of 260 precincts reporting: Peter Shumlin 18,239 25%; Doug Racine 18,057 25%; Deb Markowitz 17,579; 24% Matt Dunne 15,100 21%; and Susan Bartlett 3,791 5% No numbers are official until the ballots reach Montpelier where they'll be counted by the state for the last time. That could take up to a few days.

Video Impressions: Sail 2010 | Amsterdam

If only I were in Amsterdam this weekend!

Via Radio Nederland Wereldomroep YouTube.



Via Volkskrant TV: A busy day for the water police.

PEOPLE MUST SEE THIS

ISRAEL DESTROYS THE VILLAGE OF AL-ARAKIB...FOR THE THIRD TIME!

A Bedouin woman sits in front of her rebuilt home in al-Araqib after it was destroyed by Israeli forces, again. (Joseph Dana photo)

Max Blumenthal:

"In the middle of the night on August 10, residents of the unrecognized Bedouin village of al-Arakib sent a panicked text message to Israeli activists in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israeli police helicopters were buzzing overhead, surveying the scene ahead of what was likely to be a new round of demolitions." You can read Max's full report here.

Joseph Dana has also written an eloquent essay.


Max and Joseph collaborated on a video from the scene of destruction.

"You've got to be carefully taught..."

While Vermont hosted children of 3 faiths from Israel and Palestine - last week they attended a 10 day "Kids4Peace Camp" with Vermont children at Rock Point in Burlington - Max Blumenthal reported (in depth, with photos - taken by Ata Abu Madyam of Arab Negev News) on Israeli high schoolers who have helped demolish a Bedouin village of Al-Arakib, as part of their summer service indoctrination.

It is not hard to imagine what lessons the high school students who participated in the leveling of al-Arakib took from their experience, nor is it especially difficult to predict what sort of citizens they will become once they reach adulthood. Not only are they being indoctrinated to swear blind allegiance to the military, they are learning to treat the Arab outclass as less than human...

[T]he scenes from al-Arakib, from the demolished homes to the uprooted gardens to the grinning teens who joined the mayhem, can be viewed as much more than the destruction of a village. They are snapshots of the phenomenon that is laying Israeli society as a whole to waste.

Other blogger/reporters have commented on Max's story, too: Mondoweiss; PULSE (cross-posted), Helena Cobban. I doubt NPR and other corporate press in the USA would cover this as much as Max has. I first read this when I saw Max had posted it on his Facebook. While there are more horrendous actions in Palestine/Gaza for sure, this was not pleasant to read while eating dinner!