AMSTERDAM: OFFICIALLY A BILINGUAL CITY?

As reported last week in Parool, there was a proposal that English should become Amsterdam's official second language.

''In Amsterdam English is accepted everywhere, except at City Hall,'' says [Amsterdam City Councilor Jan] Paternotte. ''Reporting a crime to the police can only be done in Dutch and local taxes are imposed solely in Dutch. However, English is undoubtedly the second language of the city, simply because it is the world language and a lot of American and British people live here or come over here for their holidays.''

Public information from the city council and local boroughs should be available on the internet, according to the proposal by Paternotte. This way, foreigners could, for instance, find out when to put out their garbage bags.

That Parool article was written in Dutch and English.

But now, in another Parool article (in Dutch only) we read that other city officials think that A'dam already has enough English. Fortunately, DutchNews.nl has a follow up in English --

Socialist councillor Carlien Boelhouwer tells the paper that the suggestion is 'ridiculous'. 'Why not go for Moroccan or Turkish?' she asks, adding that 'expats could learn a little Dutch as well.'

But Liberal councillor Huub Verweij sees merit in the plan. 'And then we should adopt the American attitude to service, German discipline, the beauty of northern Scandinavia and a real Liberal government for the city,' he says on his weblog.

GEORGIA VS RUSSIA

An olympian confrontation maybe, but this is not about the games.

AMERICAN LEFTIST

Are Wall Street fund managers and investors stupid enough to believe that a new Cold War is a good idea? Evidently so. Because that's the objective of the Georgian leadership and their American and Israeli supporters in the defense and intelligence services. As for the rest of us, they could care less. Why should they? We haven't done anything for a quite awhile to compel them to do so. We can, however, be certain that we will hear very little of the fact that the Georgian military has been trained by the US (so far, only in the context of allying fears that some US officers may have been killed or wounded during a Russian air attack), and nothing about the sales of Israeli weapons to Georgia.

One gets the troubling sense that the US, France and Britain, among others, are going to adopt the same response that they did after the Israel conducted a campaign of air strikes upon Lebanon around this same time in the summer of 2006: use the United Nations to pressure the side subject to the attack to make concessions to the aggressor. The Lebanese victims of Israeli airstrikes, over 1,300 people, plus the prospect of subsequent deaths and injuries as a result of cluster bombs, meant nothing to them in the face of more cynical, abstract, geopolitical concerns of the imperialist kind, and the lives of South Ossetians will be equally irrelevant.

Read the rest here , and more - as the story broke earlier this week - here and here.

Last night I watched the BBC World News lengthy coverage of this conflict and noticed that neither the US training the Georgians nor Israeli arms connection was mentioned.

ANOTHER ANNIVERSARY

ACTUALLY, I heard about this today on Writer's Almanac, but what struck me was Keillor's dead-pan delivery (is this his normal 'voice'?)

It was on this day in 1974 that Richard M. Nixon resigned the office of the presidency, the first American president in history to do so. His policies as president had been rather liberal. He began arms control agreements with the Soviet Union. He eased relations with China. He established the Environmental Protection Agency, expanded Social Security and state welfare programs, and tried to create a national health insurance system.

He won re-election in 1972 in a landslide, but in that same year, a group of men broke into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, and in that break-in were the seeds of his downfall.

Well, all the news today is focussed on the Olympics opening, of course. But I did a google news search for 'nixon resigns' and all I got was a bunch of Today in History stories.

ABOUT THAT LETTER TO OBAMA

The Nation magazine has an open letter to Barack Obama. It's a chicken-shit stupid letter, signed in desperation by some liberals, that begs the "candidate for change" to listen to them (as his "center" swerves evermore to the right).

Richard at American Leftist writes:

In such circumstances, it is an act of public humiliation to place one's name on this letter. One gets the impression that it serves the purpose of providing political cover for the signatories as much as it does the goal of attempting to persuade Obama to alter his political program. By signing the letter, they are able to continue to say, Vote Obama, while simultaneously distancing themselves from anything that he does.

Such behaviour reminds me of how congressional representatives Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey, Maxine Waters and Diane Watson did something similar when they expressed their personal opposition to the war in Iraq while rounding up votes for House passage of continued funding of it. It is bad enough when we must deal with politicians who relate to us cynically, but it is even worse when some of our most prominent and highly respected social figures emulate and empower them.

The voters will get what they deserve anyway, come November. The current Democratic leadership makes a mockery of democracy.

THE COSTLY OLYMPICS

Willem Alexander, the Prince of Orange and "critical" member of the International Olympic Committee has said today [DutchNews.nl]

the torch relay has become a target for protests, is not part of the original Olympic tradition and is extremely costly.

He said the torch should only be carried round Greece, the home of the Olympics, and the country hosting the event. This was, he said, the original practice.

Demonstrations against China's treatment of Tibet during this year’s relay has meant that the torch, which is supposed to be ‘a symbol of hope’, has become ‘a target for protest’, prince Willem-Alexander told the Telegraaf.

The huge media interest in the relay makes it an ideal target for protests, he said. He added that the reinstatement of the old tradition would protect the Olympic symbol from destruction.

Commenting on the human rights situation in China, the prince said that sport and politics should not be mixed. ‘Sport should always stand above politics. That's not to say that I see the world in black and white.

'The Olympic spirit is about promoting brotherhood and to do that, athletes from around the world should be able to travel to the games without any problems.

The prince's remarks are commendable, but he is partly right.

Here's something else to think about, relatedly:

"It is funny that we boycotted the 1980 Games [in Moscow] in support of Afghanistan, and now we're bombing Afghanistan." - Carl Lewis, winner of nine Olympic gold medals, accusing George Bush of exploiting the Athens Games [in 2004] for his own political advantage. (h/t Left I.)

And we're still there, and will continue to be there, if a future President Obama has his way.

And although the Dutch have reservations about their continued support of their role in the US-led Afghan mission, at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, The Netherlands [Wikipedia]

did not fully participate in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in protest over the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, but the Dutch athletes did boycott the Opening Ceremony, and the Olympic Flag was used in place of Netherlands' national flag at medal ceremonies.

The Dutch could probably do the same in Beijing this summer.

But as Sally Jenkins writes earlier this week [Washington Post]

Athletes are threatening to skip the Opening Ceremonies because they're afraid the environment of the host city will sicken them or compromise their medal chances, and distance runner Haile Gebrselassie dropped out of the marathon because the fumes are too heavy for him to run that distance.

Nothing about China's human rights abuses.

The torch is making its way around China before entering Beijing. It has passed through the recent earthquake-ravished areas. And yet, there are clandestine protests about the Chinese government's slowness in answering questions about the aftermath of the earthquake.

And here's what the prince said [my emphasis]:

the torch relay has become a target for protests, is not part of the original Olympic tradition and is extremely costly.

Costly to whom?

Jenkins [again, my emphasis] continues

So what is this Olympics really about? It's about 12 major corporations and their panting ambitions to tap into China's 1.3 billion consumers, the world's third-largest economy. Understand this: The International Olympic Committee is nothing more than a puppet for its corporate "partners," without whom there would be no Games. These major sponsors pay the IOC's bills for staging the Olympics to the tune of $7 billion per cycle. Without them, and their designs on the China market, Beijing probably would not have won the right to host the Summer Games.

Seven years ago, in controversially awarding the Games to the Chinese regime, the IOC assured us that a Beijing Games would be both beneficial and benevolent, and promote a more open society. Chinese officials, too, vowed that the Games would not only foster their economy but "enhance all social conditions, including education, health and human rights."

The clouded air is just the most observable sign of the many unfulfilled promises since then. If the society has opened somewhat, there has also been a specific crackdown on dissidents as a direct result of the Olympics. Thousands of people have been rounded up and jailed for expressing dissent -- right now a man named Hu Jia is in a prison just outside Beijing for "inciting subversion" because he testified via Webcam before the European Union that the Chinese government wasn't living up to its Olympic commitments. Hu is ill with hepatitis B and undergoing "reform" in Chaobai prison, while his family is under constant surveillance. The crackdown continued this week with the jailing of several farmers, and efforts to censor the Olympic media. Amnesty International estimates that half a million people are being held without charges here.

Anyone who believed the Chinese government would use the Olympics as an opportunity to become a human rights beacon and environmental model was either softheaded, or lying. Capitalism is not the same thing as democracy. China's interest then and now was the consolidation of state power via economics. The government is merely behaving as it always has.

But the bad air here has shown the IOC and its commercial sponsors in an especially ugly and damning light. They have been conspicuous cowards in dealing with Chinese officials, and maybe even outright collaborators, on every issue from human rights to the environment to censorship. The silence of IOC President Jacques Rogge in the face of the continuing dissident sweeps amounts to complicity. "In view of my responsibilities, I have lost some of my freedom of speech," he said last week. Rogge's idea of a solution to the thorny problems of these Games is to hope "the magic" will take over once they begin.

Most disgraceful of all is the fact that six of the 12 worldwide Olympic partners are American companies. This has to heart-sicken any patriot. These companies will reap the full exposure of the Summer Games, swathing themselves in the flag, and rationalizing that their business is helping uplift the Chinese people. Don't buy it -- or them. You should know exactly who they are: General Electric (which owns NBC), Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald's, Kodak, and Johnson & Johnson. (The others are Canadian-based Manulife Financial; Lenovo, the Chinese personal computer maker; the French information technology services company Atos Origin; the Swiss watch manufacturer Omega; Panasonic; and Samsung.) When these acquiesced to the Chinese government's crackdown, and effectively accepted the censorship of the press during these Games, they fell into a special category of profiteers that Franklin Delano Roosevelt described in his "Four Freedoms" speech.

"We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests," Roosevelt said.

It's plain that the Chinese people have worked mightily to create a beautiful Beijing Games, from the elegantly manicured gardens to the whisked-clean streets, and that they are a source of immense national pride. No one could wish to injure that pride, and every one wishes them a successful Games. But the Olympics are not solely about the host, they are about all the participating nations, and the common goal of "preservation of human dignity." The moment it became apparent that the Beijing Olympics was causing a crackdown, and that basic Olympic values were being constricted rather than expanded, these Olympic partners should have spoken out, and threatened to withdraw if abuses didn't halt. When they didn't, it cast a permanent pall over these Games. Like the air here, the Olympic movement is struggling for a clean breath.

HARD TIMES FOR THE 'WELL OFF'

Other wealthy clients are cutting luxuries that they think their friends and relatives won’t notice, according to Mr. Del Gatto of Circa. At Circa’s midtown offices, he said, the seven consultation rooms have been busy with customers selling their precious gems. Some older couples, he said, are selling estate jewelry to help support their children who have lost Wall Street jobs. Bankers are paring down their collections of Patek Philippe watches. Wives from Greenwich and Scarsdale are selling 2-carat to 35-carat single-stone diamond rings. One recent client explained to Mr. Del Gatto that she was selling $2 million in diamonds she rarely wore, because her friends wouldn’t notice that they were gone.

ILLEGAL TOXINS DUMPING BY WEST IN AFRICA

DUTCHNEWS.NL [Tuesday 5 August 2008]

The illegal dumping of used electronic goods by the Netherlands and other Western countries is causing serious soil pollution in Ghana, according to tests carried out by the environmental organisation Greenpeace, reports ANP news service on Tuesday morning.

Large quantities of toxic materials, including lead and dioxins, have been found in the ground at scrap metal dumps in Ghana, says Greenpeace.

Almost 80% of the used electronic equipment that is sent to Ghana comes from west Europe and much of this is from the Dutch manufacturer Philips, the organisation says.

The dumping of used electronic devices is illegal but the Dutch system for collecting this waste is ‘as leaky as a colander’ Greenpeace campaign leader Kim Schoppink is quoted as saying by ANP.

Schoppink calls on Philips to make sure that all electronic equipment is recycled in the Netherlands.

In a reaction, a Philips spokeswoman told ANP that the company condemns the illegal transport of used electrical appliances which she says is outside its control.

The opposition Green Left party on Tuesday called on the cabinet to take a tougher stance on the dumping of electronic appliances. The party wants to know whether Greenpeace’s claim that only 15% of the annual 300,000 tonnes of the Netherlands’ electronic waste is recycled, reports ANP.

A report published in June by the by NVMP, which is responsible for the recycling system of electronic goods, concluded that 80% of the country’s used electronic equipment is recycled. Some 9% remains unaccounted for, the report said.

Willem Canneman, chairman of the NVMP told ANP that ‘the solution is not with producers but with the law’.

One solution could be to tackle the system for exporting second hand goods, he told ANP. ‘But that must be on a European level,’ he said.

SOLZHENITZYN

LENIN'S TOMB [Solzhenitsyn and the right.]

But his usefulness to the American empire was limited, and definitively reached its sell-by date by 1990. Neoconservatives might have appreciated his critic of the degeneracy of the West and its failure to defend itself by being more God-fearing, but he was a Russian nationalist and this stance made him unpopular with some of Reagan's advisors, who presumably hoped to turn the country into an IMF basket-case. In fact, his argument against communism was by no means a defense of liberal universalism. Instead, he appealled to Americans to understand the 'West' as a distinct cultural entity which, while it had to be defended both against its communist opponents and its internal decadence, had little applicability to other societies. He wrote to Reagan to explain that once the putative threat from the USSR had gone, the US should pull out of every country it was involved in, from Central America to Africa to South-East Asia, and leave the world to its own devices. Once he was able to return to Russia in 1990, his austere conservative criticisms of the decadence of Western society, long articulated but generally glossed over by his supporters, came to the fore. He became rather unfashionable at this point. By the time he was castigating US military interventions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and defending the Putin administration, the American right had no more use for him.

ROBINSON: ON RECOGNISING ALL OF GOD'S PEOPLE

THE RT REV'D GENE ROBINSON, bishop of New Hampshire, preached a sermon (listen here) on Sunday in St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow. (I've been there in 1999, and indeed it is a welcoming and inclusive parish.)

SCOTSMAN

"It is going to end with the full inclusion of all God's people in God's Church," he told a full congregation. "I don't know when. It doesn't matter when. But I know it is going to be. None of us is on the selection committee. God is on a committee of one."

He added: "It is time for us to stop worrying so much about the Church. The Church is not ours to win or lose; the Church is God's.

"What a dangerous thing it is to put the Bible into the hands of repressed people. They might read it and believe it. They gave it to black slaves to make them docile, but they read it and became educated. They have given it to disabled people … gay and bisexual people.

"Who knows who they'll give it to next? But God will keep giving it to people too, until there's no more 'them', only 'us'."

THE FACES CHANGE, BUT THE GAME REMAINS THE SAME

AMERICAN LEFTIST

If there is one consistent theme associated with US military involvement since World War II, it is the willingness of US forces to exploit the reasons for the intervention as a justification to kill large number of civilians, usually non-white ones. George Carlin addressed this subject with characteristic ruthlessness in a monologue about the First Persian Gulf War.

As the oft-paraphrased lyric of Moloko states, the faces change, but the game remains the same. And the game is tragically quite simple: substitute Rumsfeld for McNamara and McArthur, Iraqis and Afghans for Vietnamese and Koreans, Bush for Johnson and Truman, Fallujah for My Lai and Gogyegul. Over 58 years have elapsed since the beginning of the Korean War, a war that, incidentally, that has never formally ended, and the US military continues to conduct operations that treat the lives of civilians as acceptable collateral damage.

What are the reasons for the persistence of it? Of course, there are no doubt many, but recent events in Iraq and Afghanistan highlight an important one, and that is the unquestioning acceptance of perceived danger by US troops as a defense against the killings of civilians. A subjective sense of peril, no matter how implausible, irrational or excessive, is sufficient to relieve troops of any responsibility for their actions.

For example, as I recently observed in regard to Iraq, if a convoy erroneously travels down a civilian roadway near Baghdad airport, experiences a vehicle breakdown and encounters some Iraqi bank employees traveling to work as they had always done after passing through a high security checkpoint, then, they can kill them because they perceive themselves to be in danger, rendering it just an extremely unfortunate and tragic accident.

And this country is about to elect a "peace candidate" - the Democratic Barack Obama - as president.

MAKE A GREENBACK, MAKE A GREENBACK

Michael Colby - in a meandering post [Broadsides] observes

And about how new enthusiasts of the “eat local” movement are now hiring their own gardeners to come and plant gardens in their yards so that they can score one of those coveted “win-win” situations by both eating local and not getting dirty (or working, for that matter). Oh, Wendell Berry, you were right: “Movements kill everything.”

Does this mean that the patrons of the Progre$$ive Market in Burlington will hire out?

UBI CARITAS ET AMOR, DEUS IBI EST

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has called for mutual generosity among Anglican bishops.

Such use of euphemisms at Lambeth! 'Mutual generosity' is just one of them that drives me crazy. Why not just follow the teachings of Jesus, 'Love one another as I have loved you'?

I recall the homily last Sunday at St Paul's in Burlington, in which Stan Baker, the preacher, said (changing slightly one of the readings appointed for the day)

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor Anglican bishops, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1800 ATTEND REMEMBRANCE MASS

'Voor de koning te steunen.'




Today, exactly 15 years ago, king Baudouin died in his Spanish holiday home in Motril. He was 62 years old and had been king of the Belgians for 42 years.

A remembrance mass was held (an annual event) at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe church of Laken. It was attended by queen Fabiola (his widow), king Albert (his brother), queen Paola (Albert's wife) and princess Astrid (his niece).

1800 people attended the mass; there were hundreds of visitors per hour in the royal crypt.

ANGLICAN AIRS

Riazat Butt in The Guardian observes Anglican bishops meeting at the Lambeth Conference in England (Thursday 31 July 2008)

Indaba is a Zulu concept and refers to a group meeting where conflicts can be aired and consensus can be reached. It is being used at Lambeth as a way for bishops to discover common ground as well as thrash out their differences. Unfortunately some are taking the idea less than seriously, referring to it as indaba-daba-doo or lambada. One prelate was telling fellow delegates that when they are in a pub having a pint they are indaba.

Apart from some bishops' clumsy remarks, the indabas have indeed been useful in sharing stories and forced conflicting bishops to talk with (rather than at) each other. It is method that intrigues me. In my own parish, we use the African Bible Study method (an extrapolation of the very Anglican read, mark, learn and inwardly digest).

Riazat Butt continues

Ventilation continues to be an issue in Canterbury. Mindful of the torrid atmosphere, a representative from the US Episcopal church wandered into a room to deposit some fans. They quickly disappeared.

The metaphors rush through my mind! The disappearance of the fans causes a stifling of a breeze of fresh air (translate: ruach - the Hebrew word for Om/breath or spirit of God).

Other rich ironies of Lambeth

Bishops worry that, to the outside world, the Anglican Communion is obsessed with sex, especially the gay variety. No purpose would be served by highlighting that of the five colleges on Kent University campus - Darwin, Rutherford, Eliot, Keynes and Woolf - one is named after a lesbian and another is named after a homosexual. And let's not mention the agnostic - Darwin - who is now the poster boy for secularists and atheists everywhere.

COURTESY, PROFESSIONALISM, RESPECT.

A New York Police Department officer [The Weekly Vice 29 July 2008]

has been re-assigned to desk duty, pending an investigation, after a You Tube video showed the officer body checking a Critical Mass bicyclist off of his bike.

Critical Mass, a bicycle ride normally held on the last Friday of each month as a form of protest against reliance on vehicles and bicyclist/motorist relations, has been a long standing irritation to the New York Police Department.

Although attempts by New York City to ban the event have failed in court, the tradition has created a somewhat adversarial relationship between the riders and NYPD officers who detest the event.

This past Friday, witnesses say a NYPD officer (now identified as 22 year old Officer Patrick Pogan) attacked rider Christopher Long at random, body checking the rider off his bike.

Reportedly, Long was arrested and charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. According to the arrest affidavit, Long "deliberately steered his bicycle into the officer, causing both of them to fall to the ground."

It turns out the cop was lying.

ACTS OF WAR

Local activist Jimmy Leas sent me an email with an attached article by Scott Ritter who [Truthdig] provides important information about current military acts against Iran, the weak pretexts used for the massive attack planned, and the sham "diplomacy" being conducted in the lead up, all with strong bipartisan support and facilitated by the corporate media.

A major culprit in this entire sordid affair is the mainstream media. Displaying an almost uncanny inability to connect the dots, the editors who run America’s largest newspapers, and the producers who put together America’s biggest television news programs, have collectively facilitated the most simplistic, inane and factually unfounded story lines coming out of the Bush White House. The most recent fairy tale was one of “diplomacy,” on the part of one William Burns, the No. 3 diplomat in the State Department.
---
Sending a relatively obscure official like Burns to “observe” a meeting between the European Union and Iran, with instructions not to interact, not to initiate, not to discuss, cannot under any circumstances be construed as diplomacy. Any student of diplomatic history could tell you this. And yet the esteemed editors and news producers used the term diplomacy, without challenge or clarification, to describe Burns’ mission to Geneva on July 19. The decision to send him there was hailed as a “significant concession” on the part of the Bush administration, a step away from war and an indication of a new desire within the White House to resolve the Iranian impasse through diplomacy. How this was going to happen with a diplomat hobbled and muzzled to the degree Burns was apparently skipped the attention of these writers and their bosses. Diplomacy, America was told, was the new policy option of choice for the Bush administration.

Jimmy wrote: Though not explicitly mentioned in the article, the reader comes away with an understanding of the real reason the Congressional leadership opposes impeachment. Representatives may say it has to do with politics or the elections. (They do not seem to mind being accused of putting politics ahead of their oaths of office). The congressional leadership actually keeps impeachment off the table because they support the Bush/Cheney wars of aggression and all the unfortunate violations that go with them, including setting up the apparatus to dissuade dissent at home, such as spying on Americans, detention without trial, and cruel and unusual punishment. The congressional leadership has demonstrated its support by funding the wars. They want impeachment off the table because they don't want to stop the impeachable offenses. And they are united in wanting to do it all again in Iran. They are just waiting for a way to persuade the American people that Iran is to blame before moving forward. They put impeachment off the table because the wars of aggression and the rest of the impeachable offenses are a bipartisan policy.

'TEAR DOWN THIS WALL'

No, not this one, but this one.

CHRISTIAN AVARD writes

Barack Obama's trip was all about Israel, "its needs" and "its security." He even made a trip to the Western Wall that's making headlines around the world. Except he forgot to visit the other one. One that symbolizes oppression and a violation of human rights.

As much as he admires Reagan, you did not hear Obama demand, "tear down this wall," did you?

'IF YOU MUST IMPEACH, PLEASE DO IT POLITELY'

1. GO: Listen to the House Judiciary Committee hearing this morning on Vermont's own WGDR, either on the radio or by going to its website and clicking on one of the links on the left for high speed or dial up.

2. "If You Must Impeach, Please Do It Politely" - CQ Politics

3. "Conyers blasted on Bush probe" Detroit News

RIDE THE BUS!

Jessica Tanner, Green Democratic Alliance member, local environmental activist, and now a videographer, took advantage of Channel 17's classes in video production and went out and around Burlington to film and direct a PSA for CCTA:

THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN REAL LEFT AND FAKE LEFT

Thanks to Green Left Infoasis, there's an interview with Dennis Perrin - remember his Red State Son blog? - the author of Savage Mules, a scathing indictment of the Democratic Party.

GLI: In your book you document the Democratic Party's history of militarism and imperialism. In the 2004 Avocado Declaration, Ralph Nader's former Vice presidential running mate Peter Camejo pointed out that "since the Civil War, without exception, the Democratic Party has opposed all mass struggles for democracy and social justice". Considering this long and ignoble history, how does the Party retain its reputation as a progressive antiwar party?

DP: There've been antiwar elements within the Democratic Party for some time, but they're pretty marginal. George McGovern ran the closest thing to an antiwar Dem campaign there ever was, with certain qualifications, naturally, but light years from what Obama is promising. When McGovern got trounced by Nixon, that type of campaign was discredited and never returned. "McGovernite" became a dirty word, especially among liberals. Jesse Jackson ran on some social justice issues in 1984 and '88, and was really good on Central America and southern Africa. But as you may have noticed, he never snagged the Dem nomination.

The Democratic Party of today is a corporate/imperial war party. End of story. It cannot be reformed or redeemed. It simply serves too much private power to ever become a "people's" party. Any hope for political change must happen outside of the two party system. But as you can presently see, not a lot of people seem all that interested in such a challenge. They'd rather vote, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. They are in the way, but in a sense, they always have been.

When I went to the Barnes and Noble store in South Burlington, naturally, it was not displayed with the newly arrived Obamaniac selections; it was not even in stock. So I berated the clerk for that and I placed an order. I'm looking forward to its arrival next week.

And here are a few choice paragraphs from Louis Proyect's review.

What you will not find is anything quite like Dennis Perrin’s “Savage Mules”, a slashing attack on the Democratic Party so badly needed in a time when so many false hopes are now invested in the party of “peace” and “progress”. “Savage Mules” is a pithy, sharp and funny survey of Democratic presidencies (and failed bids) going back to Woodrow Wilson that takes no prisoners. While it was written prior to the rise of Obamamania, it would certainly provide a useful corrective to a “change” campaign that seems to be recycling the centrism of the past 30 years at least.

Perrin is writing in the tradition of Howard Zinn and other radical critics of American corporate power but has his own voice that is really unique. It shares the outrage of a Jon Stewart or a Bill Maher (for whom he used to write jokes) but dares to go where they dare not.

Cross-posted at Green Democratic Alliance blog.

BURLINGTON TELECOM SIGNS CONTRACT WITH AL-JAZEERA ENGLISH

Ken Picard writes this morning that BT and AJE have signed a contract.

What effect today's announcement will have on the recent effort to bring the issue to voters is unclear. A recently formed group called the Defenders Council of Vermont is collecting signatures to put the matter to a public vote in the November general election.

The zionist cabal and its rightwing supporters will either get creamed or just won't get enough signatures to put it on the ballot.

(With thanks to Haik Bedrosian.)

'A MUCH LARGER DISCOURSE OF HATE'

MARK VERNON

Sudan is at war: should Gene Robinson resign?

I've not been down to Canterbury, to get a hands on feel for the Lambeth Conference. Beneath the headlines, there are no doubt many humane and humbling encounters being experienced by participants. But the headlines do seem to be taking a nosedive.

Yesterday, the Archbishop of Sudan called for his fellow American and openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, to resign. He spoke of the difficulty gay bishops and blessings causes him in his war torn country. 'We are called infidel by the Islamic world,' he said. 'Immediately it gives them the way out to tell the other people, these people are evil and they can even harm our people more.'

This is no doubt a serious charge. That recognised, it clearly isn't the case that Robinson is the cause of strife in Sudan. Rather, his name has become a slogan within a much larger discourse of hate. If Robinson did resign, you can bet your bottom dollar there are other sticks that Muslims in that place would pick up to beat the 'infidel'.

Moreover, homophobia kills many too. As a reminder of this, Robinson is at Canterbury, if not at Lambeth, accompanied by body guards and wearing a bulletproof vest.

In short, two evils do not make a good: ostracising a gay bishop to tackle religious violence is not a recipe for peace. Difficult though it is, the only hope must be to keep firmly focused on what you believe to be true - or, as one would hope a Christian should say, on what you believe to be godly. Violence is not godly. Homophobia is not godly. Gene Robinson should stay.

And this uncharitable behaviour doesn't help, either.

ESTELLE GETTY, R.I.P.

“I’ve played Irish mothers, Jewish mothers, Italian mothers, Southern mothers, mothers in plays by Neil Simon and Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. I’ve played mother to everyone but Attila the Hun.”

Bea Arthur said in a statement, "Our mother-daughter relationship was one of the greatest comic duos ever, and I will miss her." Betty White commented, "The only comfort at this moment is that although Estelle has moved on, Sophia will always be with us." And Rue McClanahan told the Associated Press, "Don't feel sad about her passing. She will always be with us in her crowning achievement, Sophia."

THE BONFIRE OF THE MAGAZINES

And I subscribe to both. You just knew it would happen. (H/T to White House For Sale.) Vanity Fair has joined in with its OTT cover. Pardon the metaphor, but it's like beating the dead horse (and the dog days are a week away!)

IT TOLLS FOR THEE, ANTHONY

The Progressive Wanker, in a desperate attempt to woo disaffected Democrats, will run as an independent in November. Even running as a Prog, Pollina would have got maybe 10% of votes? The Progressive Party of Vermont has been in demise-mode for a while, but this is the death knell par excellence. I'll have to get out to Battery Street to see if the Pollina sign is still out in front of Prog headquarters. If he's collected all those signatures as the Prog candidate, you bettah believe it he'll have to start all over again. GMD has some theories behind his political flip-flop.
I still won't vote for him.

LET'S FACE IT

MEDICAL NEWS TODAY

'Facebook Generation' Faces Identity Crisis

Dr Himanshu Tyagi, a psychiatrist at West London Mental Health Trust, said that people born after 1990, who were just five-years-old or younger when the use of Internet became mainstream in 1995, have grown up in a world dominated by online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

"This is the age group involved with the Bridgend suicides and what many of these young people had in common was their use of Internet to communicate. It's a world where everything moves fast and changes all the time, where relationships are quickly disposed at the click of a mouse, where you can delete your profile if you don't like it and swap an unacceptable identity in the blink of an eye for one that is more acceptable," said Dr Tyagi. "People used to the quick pace of online social networking may soon find the real world boring and unstimulating, potentially leading to more extreme behaviour to get that sense.

Thanks to Mark Vernon (read his comments here) and TA for alerting me to this article

MICHAEL DEBAKEY, 1908-2008

I'VE blogged about Michael DeBakey here and here. Today's news from Houston is that Dr DeBakey died yesterday at Methodist Hospital, where he practised cardiovascular surgeon since 1949!

Medical statesman, chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine, and a surgeon at The Methodist Hospital since 1949, DeBakey trained thousands of surgeons over several generations, achieving legendary status decades before his death. During his career, he estimated he had performed more than 60,000 operations. His patients included the famous — Russian President Boris Yeltsin and movie actress Marlene Dietrich among them — and the uncelebrated.
---
Debakey almost died in 2006, when he suffered an aortic aneurysm, a condition for which he pioneered the treatment. He is considered the oldest patient to have both undergone and survived surgery for it. He recovered well enough to go to Washington earlier this year to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the nation's two highest civilian honors.

He remained vigorous and was a player in medicine well into his 90s, performing surgeries, traveling and publishing articles in scientific journals. His large hands were steady, his hearing sharp. His personal health regimen included taking the stairs at work and a single cup of coffee in the morning.

AN ATTACK ON IRAN?

WE can't put it past them.

The US is now permitting Israeli planes to use Iraqi air space and American air bases in Iraq - they presumably don't have to ask Maliki what he thinks about it. And though it has sort of slipped into the recesses of media memory, the recent Iranian missile tests were preceded by Israeli military exercises in the Mediterranean. The US is already escalating its campaign of subversion and terrorism inside Iran. Every major contender in US politics, including Barack 'sweetie' Obama, has to pay lip service to the supposed threat from Iran - about which something must be done.

AN ENVIRONMENTALIST SPEAKS OUT AGAINST WATER FLUORIDATION

In this video, Brent Foster, the State Conservation Chair for the Oregon Sierra Club, explains why he came to oppose water fluoridation.


An Environmental Professional Speaks Out on Water Fluoridation from Fluoride Action Network on Vimeo

ALLEMAND RIGHT ACROSS (AMERICA)

It happens at every election cycle (is it a purely American thing? seems so). The candidate dances to the right and the media holds his hand. As Richard at American Leftist writes,

After all, a presidential campaign is primarily a media driven exercise in mythology. It is more important to present oneself to the media as innocuous, as yet another in a line of safe, conformist political figures, so that the media can, paradoxically, present the candidate as larger than life, capable of forging a profound emotional bound with the public so that he can comfortably assumes powers of near omnipotence.

This is what we observe transpiring on a daily basis with Barack Obama. He's getting tougher on Iran, he's signalling a willingness to be flexible about how he will withdraw US troops from Iraq, he's now for the death penalty even in instances without the loss of life and he wasn't willing to fight to prevent Congress from granting immunity to telecommunications companies that illegally wiretapped US citizens at the direction of the White House. It's all about showing how reasonable he is, you see. It's a long way from working as a community organizer in Chicago, but Obama probably draws upon similar skills to effectively disarm his media critics.

ARCHEOLOGISTS REFUSE TO HELP OVER POSSIBLE IRAN AIR STRIKE

NEW SCIENTIST

Archaeologists to refuse help over possible Iran strike

PERSEPOLIS, once the capital of the Persian empire, and the massive mud-brick Bam citadel are among the nine listed World Heritage Sites in Iran. Yet leading archaeologists are urging colleagues to refuse any military requests to draw up a list of Iranian sites that should be exempted from air strikes.

"Such advice would provide cultural credibility and respectability to the military action," said a resolution agreed by the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, Ireland, last week. Instead, delegates were advised to emphasise the harm that any military action would do to Iran's people and heritage.

During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, bombing damaged important monuments, including the Al-Zohur Palace in Baghdad, and museums and archaeological sites were later looted - even though archaeologists had been consulted in advance. "If these archaeologists had little impact in terms of saving even the few selected archaeological sites listed, what did they achieve?" asks Yannis Hamilakis of the University of Southampton, UK.

MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN: WE ARE NOT AMUSED

Buckingham Palace has sent a Message from H.M. The Queen

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

(You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

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

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour', 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

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

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as 'like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let M*crosoft know on your behalf. The M*crosoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

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4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

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5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

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

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

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7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.

Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

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8. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

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9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

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10. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

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11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in
Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

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

12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

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13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyondyour borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

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14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

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15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

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

16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

And you know - ipso facto - this means the Episcopal Church and the GAFCONISTAS can take a hike. Since HM is the Defender of the Faith, the Church of England now becomes the Established Religion throughout the Land!

(Go ahead and share this with your friends in the USA - those with a good sense of humour and NOT humor.)

SHIT HAPPENS

TWO not-so-unrelated stories from the Netherlands

A growing mountain of manure

The Netherlands is faced with a growing excess of manure from intensive farming, with the surplus due to reach 8% by 2015, newspaper Trouw reports on Monday.

Quoting figures from the agricultural economic institute LEI, the paper says tougher environmental rules mean farmers can spray even less manure on their fields than they used to, while the quantity of manure being produced is going up.

The stress and urge of rail travel - without facilities

Travelling by train is a relaxed and environment-friendly way of getting about. You can leave the car at home and sit back with a newspaper or book and a cup of coffee. It is a way of travel much to be encouraged.

But beware. In future you will have to forego the cup of coffee, because Dutch Rail plans to drastically reduce the number of toilets on trains and railway stations.
---
People with bladder disorders will be the hardest hit, but most of us have been caught short at one time or another. And what happens if there is a delay during the journey?

If the advice given to one bladder patient is anything to go by, we will all be expected to carry a plastic bag just in case.

I suppose people with fecal incontinence will have to wear diapers? Or else the other passengers will have to climb over ev'ry mountain!

(via DutchNews.nl)

POETIC JUSTICE?

ISRAELI zionists have got a taste of their favourite toy, the bulldozer. In the linked story and video, the Israeli authorities labeled the man a 'terrorist,' (how typical) and the Guardian wrote that he had a 'criminal' record.

IT'S NOT A DOG'S LIFE

She said "only the little people pay taxes," as a hotelier she treated her employes with disdain, and apparently Trouble got cheated, too. Leona Helmsley left instructions that a trust valued at $5 billion to $8 billion be used for the welfare of dogs. What Mrs Helmsley has done has been done before by Geraldine Dodge: the St Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ was initially established back in 1939.

DUTCH NEWS BRIEF

Still no clear picture of cost of royalty

Officially the royal household cost €114m last year, but a number of expenses are still unclear. And according to the Volkskrant, the queen’s household overspent its official budget by €650,000 – a shortfall ‘secretly’ covered by the home affairs ministry.

The 'students' priest' dies aged 91

Jesuit priest Jan van Kilsonk, who came to Amsterdam to work at the Ignatsius college and spent most of his life with young people and students, has died at the age of 91.

Van Kilsonk was a controversial figure, who defended the rights of homosexuals and campaigned against the vow of celibacy for Catholic priests, news agency ANP reports.

We're not talking Park 'n Ride

The number of cars in the Netherlands is set to rise from seven million to nine million, making more parking spaces essential, the [Christian Democrat] party says. The country currently has between nine million and 15 million public parking spaces, news agency ANP reports.

Fingerprint payment already hacked

Equipment used to let customers at an Albert Heijn supermarket in Breukelen pay by fingerprint has already been fooled by a rubber copy, news agency ANP reports, quoting website Webwereld.

A man went through the till system with a rubber copy of someone else’s fingerprint on his own finger. Neither the system nor the till operator noticed, ANP said.

Albert Heijn said the system was being tested so the company could learn from mistakes and make improvements.

No gay relationships at Protestant schools

The Netherlands’ 165 staunchly Protestant schools are standing firm on sacking homosexual teachers who are in a relationship with another man or woman, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday.

The schools made their standpoint clear in a paper on homosexuality which was presented to education minister Ronald Plasterk on Monday.

Plasterk said the law does allow education on the basis of religious convictions but said he was still in talks with schools about what to do if a gay teacher married.

And finally...
Last gasp

Tuesday 01 July 2008

From today, the Netherlands has joined the majority of the rest of Europe in bringing in a ban on smoking in public places such as shopping centres, in bars, cafés and restaurants.

The catering industry warns that hundreds of small bars will go out of business because of the ban. The pro-ban lobby argues that hundreds of thousands of people who avoided smoky drinking dens will return to take advantage of clean air.

The sight of hardened smokers puffing themselves silly as midnight approached sums up the new puritan mood. Smokers are poor addicts to be pitied.

But even a number of non-smokers think the government has gone to far on this one. Whatever happened to individual freedom? they argue. After all, no one is forcing you to enter a bar where smoking is allowed.

But what the freedom-of-choice lobby forgets is that smoking is not only about individual freedom. It also costs society an awful lot of money. Smokers take more time off work sick and use up a higher proportion of healthcare cash. And just by being, they encourage new smokers to take up the habit.

Of course, tobacco taxes help pay for all that. But perhaps if the government really wants to hammer the message home, it should increase the tax on cigarettes to ridiculous levels. That way smokers will understand that their individual freedom comes at a heavy cost.

(Source: DutchNews.nl)

THE BIG SHOW: BANKHEAD AND DIETRICH

ANGL|ICAN SPLIT

Anonymous (Patrick) has made an unrelated comment on this post.

Jay,
Completely off topic, again(!):
Could you weigh in on the impending Anglican schism (the BBC used that term last night!) arising from the boycott of the upcoming Lambeth by some bishops angry over Bishop Robinson of NH...Do you know the Bishop, since he is quite close by? How is he taking it? Do you have a thought as to how to preserve the Communion, or do you believe it should fracture at this point? Also, any word from the bishop of my hometown, J.S. Spong, on this?....

Check out the news stories for 28 June at ANGLICANS ONLINE for coverage of the just completed GAFCON meeting in Jerusalem.

But I like what Giles Goddard of Inclusive Church emailed me today:

So it's a split. The final communique from the "GAFCON" conference of in Jerusalem has set up alternative structures within the church. It's a complicated document and clearly needs more unpacking that that! But over the long term, the aim must be to seek to impose a rigid and exclusive understanding of scripture on the rest of the Communion. In the short term it provides a safe space for those who embrace that particular view of scripture. The theology of GAFCON owes more to Calvin than to Anglicanism. However it does mean that those of us who celebrate the historic breadth, inclusivity and welcome of Anglicanism can now continue to communicate our message of Christ's unconditional love. We look forward to a healthy and creative Lambeth conference. [I]f you want to keep up to date on developments in the Communion, Thinking Anglicans is always good to visit.

I was present at Gene Robinson's ordination as Bishop of New Hampshire and have heard him preach, but I don't know him personally.

I did an internet search for Bp Spong and GAFCON and found a reference to him in a recent speech by Archbishop Akinola, who called Jack Spong [retired Bishop of Newark] 'a self-conceited typical American bishop...' I've heard Jack Spong preach and talk many times. But 'typical American bishop'? I don't think so! Spong would either be insulted or amused by this label, don't you think? If anything, John Shelby Spong challenges me to think. And spripture, reason and traditon are the foundations of Anglican theology.

España, campeona de Europa

Spain have been crowned European champions for the second time as Fernando Torres's first-half goal in Vienna proved enough to defeat Germany in the final of UEFA EURO 2008.

DON'T RAIN ON MY HAMBURGER

Yesterday afternoon about 45-50 people fought the sprinkles and enjoyed the third Burlington/Vermont Bloggers' BBQ yesterday at North Beach, Burlington. My first appearance at this annual shin-dig and had a chance to finally meet some of the other area bloggers. JD Ryan and some of the GMD folks. And there were two cute guys from Democracy for America. Christian Avard was sporting a cool Docudharma t shirt (I read that blog religiously.) Pollina and Symington showed their faces, but that was about it. Anthony looked out of place; no wonder he scrammed. Nate Freeman gathered signatures for his Lt. Gov. run. Haik Bedrosian and his family had a good time. So did I.

UNBATHED

Of course, it’s all part of international diplomacy to hand out these honours like candy, but it I think it undermines the whole point of having them in the first place. Ceaucescu did not suddenly become a vile dictator (he already was one) when he was honoured as Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. That knighthood was taken back by the Queen later on. Emperor Hirohito of Japan was removed from the Garter rolls, and his shield removed, during WWII. He received it back during a state visit in 1971. This week Queen Elizabeth II (on the advice of a very hypocritical British government) has revoked the Order of Bath given to Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe.

There’s nothing honourable about these honours, especially since the Queen has named Abdullah II of Jordan and Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. Media attention is now on elections in Zimbabwe and Mugabe as dictator of the moment, but the two Abdullahs are monarchs of decidedly undemocratic lands. You won't read MSM calls for democratic elections in their countries, and don’t expect them to be thrown out of the bath any time soon, either.

GEORGE CARLIN, R.I.P.

BURLINGTON: SURVEILLANCE CITY

VIA BurlingtonPol, there's a new blog in town, which tells us

On top of the 4 large poles at the intersections of Church Street and each of its cross-streets are 4-8 security cameras. Many people love this, I'm sure, as it probably makes them feel safe. It is seen only as more eyes for the cops.

It's really worse than that. At a recent Neighborhood Planning Assembly in my ward, the local Burlington Police officer assigned to our area gave a run down of the usual summer house and car break ins ("keep your doors and windows locked") and encouraged the law abiding citizenry to report to BPD any questionable activity on our streets and in our neighborhood parks. Even if it turns out harmless, he told the Assembly, the police would find out what's up. It's the same old shitty fear mongering argument in this post 9/11 Amerika. If the person is not doing anything wrong, he continued (I'm paraphrasing), a good citizen won't mind being asked a few questions by the officer. What's next? Block Wardens? And I ain't talking about the Civil Defense block leaders from WWII; as you walk around the corner, could your activites soon be reported by your Blockleiter? Let's be real, the cop was encouraging the same sort of importunate and dangerous snooping prevalent in Nazi-occupied countries during the same WWII era. In 2008-Burlington, this kind of behaviour can be called an expanded Neighborhood Watch.

PELOSIAN THEORY OF LEADERSHIP...

Pathetic how Nancy Pelosi leads the lemming Democrats to CAVE IN on FISA, war with Iran, and impeachment.

IF NOT A CHOICE, HOW CAN IT BE A SIN?

"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors. Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation."

'IT'S FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT ONE PERSON LOVING ANOTHER'

Giles Fraser: Thought For The Day

Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 this morning

A few weeks ago, two Anglican clergymen celebrated their civil partnership at a service in a famous London church. Newspapers last weekend called it a gay wedding. A number of friends of mine were at the service and told of a happy and wonderful occasion. But there are those who have been deeply upset; people who would quote scripture to argue that it threatens the very fabric of marriage itself. So what, then, is the Church of England's theology of marriage? Back in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as the Book of Common Prayer was being put together, marriage was said to be for three purposes:

First, It was ordained for the procreation of children
Secondly, It was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication
Thirdly, It was ordained for the mutual society, help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity.

How do these three concerns relate to the prospect of gay marriage? The third priority insists that marriage is designed to bring human beings into loving and supportive relationships. Surely no one can deny that homosexual men and women are in as much need of loving and supportive relationships as anybody else. And equally deserving of them too. This one seems pretty clear. The second priority relates to the encouragement of monogamy. The Archbishop of Canterbury himself has rightly recognised that celibacy is a vocation to which many gay people are simply not called. Which is why, it strikes me, the church ought to be offering gay people a basis for monogamous relationships that are permanent, faithful and stable. So that leaves the whole question of procreation. And clearly a gay couple cannot make babies biologically. But then neither can those who marry much later in life. Many couples, for a whole range of reasons, find they cannot conceive children - or, simply, don't choose to. Is marriage to be denied them? Of course not. For these reasons - and also after contraception became fully accepted in the Church of England - the modern marriage service shifted the emphasis away from procreation. The weight in today's wedding liturgy is on the creation of loving and stable relationships. For me, this is something in which gay Christians have a perfect right to participate. I know many people of good will are bound to disagree with me on this. But gay marriage isn't about culture wars or church politics; it's fundamentally about one person loving another. The fact that two gay men have proclaimed this love in the presence of God, before friends and family and in the context of prayerful reflection is something I believe the church should welcome. It's not as if there's so much real love in the world that we can afford to be dismissive of what little we do find. Which is why my view is we ought to celebrate real love however and wherever we find it.

'HISTORY WILL NOT JUDGE THEM KINDLY'

From It still matters | Brattleboro Reformer Editorial, 17 June 2008

"This is not about vindictiveness and partisan politics. The acts committed by the Bush administration rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that our founders said justifies the impeachment of public officials. And if the Democrats refuse to act upon the articles of impeachment, they are no better than the administration in upholding their oaths of office. They are co-conspirators, and history will not judge them kindly for putting politics above the Constitution."

WORLD'S FIRST GRAPHIC DESIGN MUSEUM OPENS

24ORANGES: On 11 June 2008, Queen Beatrix royally opened the Graphic Design Museum in Breda, the first museum in the world dedicated to graphic design. The museum plans to function as a museum, knowledge centre, training facility, shop, designer café and production house for graphic design. It offers an international stage for established designers as well as a springboard for new talent.

'IF PEOPLE WANT CLEAN WATER, BUY IT IN A BOTTLE'

Thanks to Five Before Chaos.

DANGEROUS LIASONS

BROADSIDES on the desperate maneuvres in the Pollina camp:

For non-comatose Vermonters, we know that Pollina is running for governor (again) under the banner of the Progressive Party, the folks who have sometimes, kind of, maybe (depending on the day and the circumstances) tried to make the case that Vermont needs a viable third party because the Democrats and Republicans are hopelessly and ruthlessly protecting a political status quo that isn’t serving the rest of us very well. Can you say “Iraq War,” “health care,” “global warming,” “alternative energy,” “economic justice,” “corporate oligarchy”? I knew you could.

But the problem with Pollina and the Progs is that they only spew that rhetoric – or even pretend to believe in it – when it appears to be politically convenient. And they’ll just as soon say that there’s no hope in getting anything substantive done within the Democratic Party before announcing that they’re either cutting a deal with Dems over which electoral races to sit out or, in the case of Pollina, endorsing a Dem for the highest of political offices: president. Go figure.

OH, LORD!

The Election, The Candidates, The President

THE ROAR OF THE LION

A friend writes from Amsterdam

Holland exploded (ejaculated, more like it) four times yesterday evening!! The Dutch Lion Roared! From underdog to favourite at Euro2008! Two brilliant performances so far, the dwarf beating football giants Italy and France!

Even I have mixed feelings about watching sometimes boring football. I was jumping out of my chair 4 times!! It's the best thing which could happen to a depressed country!

My Dutch friends think this will give a boost to the national psyche and will reunite "us" - has anyone ever done a study on how sports does that?

This kind of boosterism is short-term; it's just a bit of welcomed respite from the intensive navel-gazing that's been going on.

Also the "allochtonen" wear orange now. (Even if deepdown they back the team of their parents' country, f.i. Turkey.)

BILDERBERG

LAST WEEK, at the Westfield Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia: New World Order Gathering Off-Limits to American Media

It is illegal for Americans to conduct foreign policy in private, according to the Logan Act.

A NEW KEN PICARD AL-JAZEERA INTERVIEW

WEB EXCLUSIVE

KEN PICARD of 7D did an interview this week with former Pentagon spokesperson-turned Al Jazeera reporter, Josh Rushing.

Rushing and Al-Jazeera English Managing Director Tony Burman, will talk about the network and answer call-in questions TONIGHT at 6-6:45 p.m. on Channel 17, CCTV. For more information, call Sam Mayfield at Channel 17 at 862-3966, ext. 19.

Rushing will also speak tomorrow night at the public forum of Burlington Telecom's two citizen oversight committees on whether to continue airing the network. | Tuesday 11 June - from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Hauke Conference Room at Champlain College.

U.S. DEMANDS 58 BASES IN IRAQ

TODAY FROM INFORMED COMMENT (Juan Cole) --

Leila Fadel reports that Shiite lawmakers in Iraq told her that the US has requested 58 bases from the Iraqi government as part of the security agreement now being negotiated. The US also is said to want the authority to decide when Iraq has been attacked, and when and how to respond. The lawmakers are afraid that Washington will use that provision to drag them into the middle of a war between the US and Iran.

On being informed by McClatchy of some of these details, the campaign of Senator Barack Obama demanded that any such stipulation of 58 bases be submitted to the US Congress for approval, and that the Iraqis be told that the US does not seek permanent bases in that country. The McCain campaign had no comment.

DENNIS KUCINICH INTRODUCES ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST BUSH

"President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office." -- Dennis Kucinich on the floor of the US House of Representatives, 9 June 2008



THE PUBLIC RECORD

Ohio Congressman and former Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich introduced 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush Monday evening, stating the commander-in-chief is guilty of numerous crimes, including launching a war on false pretenses, and spying on American citizens, and should be removed from office.

"The House is not in order," Kucinich said to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who has said impeachment "is off the table."

Pelosi pounded her gavel. Kucinich then began to read the impeachment articles.

DENNIS THE MENACE is on his own on this one. This story will probably only be a one-day story on the MSM wires, as Eli at Left I writes.

One interesting thing about the speech was that, although this was nominally "Articles of Impeachment," it was actually "Articles of Impeachment" plus all the evidence needed to back up the charges within, with citations from speeches by Bush and Cheney and Rice and Powell all the way to citations from books by George Tenet and articles by Scott Ritter and Seymour Hersh. Hearings shouldn't be necessary, just a vote!

Actually the question isn't how quickly the Democrats will bury this; that's pretty much a given. The question is how quickly the media will bury the fact it even happened. There are articles up on the web now from various sources (AP, Reuters, etc.), so it will be reported, but the thing with American media (and the American public) is that a one-day story, even a one-day front-page story (which I doubt this will be), means nothing. Only the stories which get hammered on repeatedly, and talked about by all the talk shows and written about by the columnists make any kind of dent. And the chances that that will happen with this story are pretty much nil.

HUP HOLLAND

Tonight, the Dutch national football team ended a 30-year wait for a victory over Italy in emphatic fashion as they won their European Championship 2008, Group C, Match 6, in Berne. The result was 3:0 for Oranje!

Pics of a Triumph (Courtesy PPE-Colourpress-Torsten Silz-ddp)

THE BISHOP OF NEW HAMPSHIRE GETS CUPPED

The Rt. Rev'd V. Gene Robinson and Mark Andrew, his lover of 20 years, entered into a civil union partnership on Saturday, 7 June, which was also the fifth anniversary of his election as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

AMERICAN SUMMER 2008

UNEASY TENSIONS IN THE SUMMER OF '08:

FOOD LINES FOR FEEDING A FAMILY

WORK

VACATION

A YOU TUBE FAVOURITE....

Marlene Dietrich sings in German: Sei Lieb Zu Mir (Mean to Me) and Sag Mir Adieu (Time on my Hands)

REGIONAL STEREOTYPES

THE dear departed (may she rest in peace) Molly Ivins ranted and raved about the myths of Texas. When I lived in Texas and would travel East, as a queer man, I'd have my own axe to grind: Texas may be Bigger, but that myth is definitely not true about penis size.

In Vermont, there's that flatlanders vs woodchucks gripe and the mistaken notion that this state is a bastion of progressive politcs. (Did you know that Vermont was settled by people from Connecticut and that Ethan Allen originally named the Vermont Republic New Connecticut?)

Recent coverage of Appalachian stereotypes - Jon Stewart's apeing West Virginia voters and Cheney's tasteless joke - have brought some responses, too.

catholicanarchy.org Cheney, Appalachian humor, and American imperial logic

(my emphasis)

And just as Appalachian stereotypes developed in tandem with the beginnings of economic exploitation in the region, the same stereotypes continue to serve the interests of capitalism and U.S. political and cultural imperialism. Appalachian politicians such as WV’s Governor Manchin “sell” Appalachian poverty to outside companies by advertising the region’s low wages, “docile” work force, low unionization rates, etc. The “throw away people” of Appalachia also continue to bear the burden of environmental injustice such as the ongoing practice of mountaintop removal mining, all for the “common good” of America’s energy needs.

And not only are a disproportionate number of Appalachian bodies exploited, generation after generation, to serve in the U.S. military, Appalachian stereotypes are invoked as part of the mythological narratives that drive U.S. imperialism, especially the War on Terror, as Carol Mason demonstrated in a recent journal article. Mason provides a fascinating analysis of two female soldiers from West Virginia, Jessica Lynch and Lynndie England, who made headlines over the last few years and who embodied the two contradictory hillbilly images we referred to earlier, Lynch representing the good country girl rescued from barbaric Iraqis, and England representing the barbaric savage who was photographed torturing Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Attending to the role of class, gender, and race in the two stories, Mason showed how each used Appalachian hillbilly stereotypes either to inspire support for the war on terror or to explain away U.S. torture tactics by blaming them on a “gender-bending hillbilly.”