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( 3.1 / 21 )The numbers tell us a lot about what happened in Gaza during the recent three-week-long Israeli attack: The Israeli army killed more than 1,300 people, most of them civilians, at least a third children, and injured more than 5,000. Palestinian officials reported over 4,000 homes in Gaza and Israel were completely destroyed and over 21,000 were severely damaged. Over the same period, Palestinian rocket fire killed three Israeli civilians and wounded more than 80. Ten Israeli soldiers were killed, four by friendly fire. The words disproportionate force, collective punishment, and war crimes come to mind. The Israelis have a huge army, advanced weapons, tanks, bulldozers, a huge nuclear arsenal, and they have the people of Gaza trapped in an area of only 139 square miles, less than one third the size of Phoenix, Arizona. It's only four miles across in places. I looked on Google maps and you can see the division between closely spaced homes and small fields on the Palestinian side, and expansive, irrigated agricultural fields and water reservoirs on the other side.
The Gaza Strip has been under blockade since June 2007, during which time less than one quarter of their usual imports were allowed in. A joint survey by three UN agencies in May 2008 found that all Gaza retailers had run out of flour, rice, sugar, dairy products, milk powder and vegetable oil on at least three occasions since June 2007. Israel began restricting fuel imports in late October 2007. Power cuts - ranging from two to about 10 hours, remain common across much of Gaza. This has also affected sewage treatment plants, farmers' wells, and water pumping stations. In May, 15% of people had access to water 4-6 hours a week, 25% had it every four days, and 60% had it every other day. Restrictions on construction materials, particularly cement, and spare parts for machinery have had a big impact on projects ranging from water treatment to grave digging. The UN hasn't been able to build homes for refugees, and the construction and maintenance of roads, water and sanitation infrastructure, medical facilities, schools and housing/re-housing projects have largely been on hold. The closures have devastated the private sector of Gaza's economy. Nothing, apart from a small number of trucks of strawberries and flowers, has been exported since June 2007. The UN says the economy has suffered "irreversible damage", and that 37% of breadwinners are now unemployed, with on average 8.6 dependants per employed person. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) say the health system is "collapsing" and has suffered a "severe deterioration" under the pressure of shortages of equipment and spare parts, fuel and trained staff. In June 2008 only half of patients needing to leave Gaza for urgent medical care received permits. PHR says 200 patients died while waiting for permits to leave Gaza in the past year. Is it any wonder that they continue to resist their oppression, and that some resort to violence?
I don't understand why U.S. leaders keep invoking Israel's right to defend themselves, as if it's justifiable to kill at a ratio of 400 Palestinians to each Israeli civilian. If they want to stop the Hamas rockets, why don't they start treating Palestinians like human beings?
I'm not there myself, so I am somewhat limited to facts and figures, but check out this blog to hear from actual people who lived through it, and this one has videos of the aftermath.
Here are some more news resources:
UN nuclear chief boycotts BBC over Gaza appeal
7 Palestinian Girls Wounded in Israeli Attack
Peace Activist Returns from Gaza
But check out the Turkish Prime Minister ! He's been welcomed home as a hero after a heated debate with Shimon Peres at the Davos economic forum. All of these people showed up to support him even though it was 2:30 AM in Turkey!
Want to take action? Go to http://www.bdsmovement.net/ to learn about the global movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel. Here in San Diego, the first targets are middle eastern and international food stores where local Palestinians go to shop and find Israeli exports on the shelves. I've also been watching what I buy at Whole Foods, where I wanted to buy some bell peppers before I saw that they were from Israel.
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( 3.1 / 21 )The House passed Obama's economic stimulus bill today with no Republican votes. On the radio they were saying this is a failure for Obama. How do they figure? Obama tried to bring the Republicans along, but if they choose not to be involved in getting the country back on track, they will be the ones in trouble with voters. In the meanwhile, the bill passed, thanks to the overwhelming Democratic majority eager to pass bills that Obama will sign. I call that a victory! I just hope Obama stops watering down the strong policies America needs for the sake of some Fox News style "fair and balanced" bipartisanship. We don't have to listen to the Republicans when we know they're wrong. That's what I call moving beyond partisan politics!
And by the way, why is anyone saying that family planning services for low-income patients are ridiculous? Do only rich couples get to choose the right time to get pregnant? I hope the Senate will reinsert the family planning funding in the bill.
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( 2.4 / 14 )Wisconsin's totally awesome Senator Russ Feingold has proposed a constitutional amendment that would require special elections when a vacancy in the Senate arises. In Wisconsin, state statutes dictate that a special election be held in such cases. Russ is the chair of the Constitution Subcommittee in the Senate and he has said he’ll be holding hearings on his proposal in the coming weeks.
Here’s a bit of Russ’s statement from yesterday:
“The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial appointments to vacant Senate seats make it painfully clear that such appointments are an anachronism that must end. In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution gave the citizens of this country the power to finally elect their senators. They should have the same power in the case of unexpected mid term vacancies, so that the Senate is as responsive as possible to the will of the people…”
And here are some stories related to the proposed amendment:
The Capital Times: Feingold: Give appointment powers to the people
FiveThirtyEight: Feingold Introduces 28th Amendment
Tell your friends to support the amendment and support Feingold for reelection in 2010!
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( 0 / 0 )By Miriam Raftery
January 24, 2009 ( San Diego ’s East County) – In the last days of the Bush administration, two federal agencies gave a parting gift to Sempra Energy. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission designated a vast swath of San Diego ’s East County as a federal energy corridor, paving the way for the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to approve Sempra’s controversial Sunrise Powerlink project one day before George W. Bush left office. For construction to commence, however, the U.S. Forest Service (a division of the U.S. Department of Agricultural) must grant approval for the high-voltage power lines to run through Cleveland National Forest , raising the possibility that President Barack Obama’s administration could intervene to halt Sempra’s plans.
TO SEND AN E-MAIL TO THE OBAMA WHITE HOUSE VOICING YOUR OPINION ON POWERLINK, CLICK http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ . TO E-MAIL THE NEW USDA SECRETARY TOM VILSACK, E-MAIL: AgSec@usda.gov
Meanwhile, the Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned the California Supreme Court to issue a stay halting the $2 billion project, CBC and Sierra Club have asked the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for a new hearing, and Lakeside residents express shock upon learning the Powerlink is slated to cross the El Monte Valley and El Capitan Mountain .
Sempra and its utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, do not expect the challenges to be successful and say Sunrise will still open in 2012, Reuters has reported. 'This action ... can only serve to delay development of renewables in our region, which is counter to state policy,' said Sempra spokeswoman Jennifer Ramp. http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/fe ... 59810.html
Channel 10 News interviewed Lakeside residents who expressed outrage upon learning from SDG&E contractors sent to survey the area in late January that 100-foot-tall high-voltage towers are planned for their scenic community: http://www.10news.com/video/18553209/index.html .
In a letter sent to President Obama http://yubanet.com/california/Schwarzen ... oposal.php ), ( Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the President to give priority to “establishing clear policy within the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies to prioritize renewable energy project development and transmission on federal lands” and to “requiring the U.S. Forest Service to expedite the permitting and general plan amendments necessary to complete the Sunrise Powerlink transmission project just approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.
On January 20th, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawssuit alleging that the California CPUC violated requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act ( CEQA). http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news ... -2009.html CBD is asking the California Supreme Court to issue a stay halting construction of Powerlink pending further environmental review. In addition, the Utility Consumers Action Network (UCAN) has filed a request to the CPUC for rehearing the Sunrise case today.
Read More...
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( 0 / 0 )Check out these photos of the inauguration and the people watching. What a wonderful day for America!
Thanks to Carl for the link.
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( 3.1 / 21 )Robert Fisk: Why do they hate the West so much, we will ask
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
AP
So once again, Israel has opened the gates of hell to the Palestinians. Forty civilian refugees dead in a United Nations school, three more in another. Not bad for a night's work in Gaza by the army that believes in "purity of arms". But why should we be surprised?
Have we forgotten the 17,500 dead – almost all civilians, most of them children and women – in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon; the 1,700 Palestinian civilian dead in the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996 Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civilian refugees, more than half of them children, at a UN base; the massacre of the Marwahin refugees who were ordered from their homes by the Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000 dead of that same 2006 bombardment and Lebanese invasion, almost all of them civilians?
Read the rest at The Independent.
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( 3 / 29 )YES WE CAN pass HR 676 in 2009!
We need your help to get there...
You don't need me to tell you that single-payer healthcare will solve our healthcare crisis while helping to provide economic stimulus. But we need you to tell your member of Congress exactly that.
PDA, as part of the Leadership Conference On Guaranteed Healthcare, has been working with Congressman Conyers to pass HR 676 in the new Congress. But we keep hearing that there's no support for it. That's a facile truism, not an acceptable position.
The majority of Americans do support it and are speaking out about it. Visit change.org , it's the # 2 healthcare question and reports from Obama’s healthcare house meetings indicate broad and sometimes unanimous support for single-payer healthcare.
Your member of Congress needs to hear from you! We need to ensure every member of Congress who co-sponsored HR 676 before, co-sponsors it again--plus find 60 more sponsors by the end of February in order to make HR 676 part of the healthcare reform discussion. Please help us by participating in both of these actions:
1. Send an email to your member of Congress. Click here to take action.
2. National Call in Day January 15. Click here for all the details.
In addition, this weekend Move On is sponsoring congressional organizing meetings, a good opportunity to talk about PDA (since that's what we've been doing for the past four years). Attend one near you or host one, more info here . Please download and distribute our new Nation flyer while you're there.
Yours for hope and healthcare,
Tim Carpenter
National Director
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( 2.8 / 23 )On our walk around the neighborhood this morning, Navid and I saw black phoebes, crows, a mockingbird, and an egret! It was quite a surprise to see the egret lift off over a rooftop. I think it was a great egret--I didn't see any yellow feet.
Yesterday we heard a hummingbird singing and a lot of high-pitched chirping, so I thought we might be passing a nest. Based on the size of adult hummingbirds, think how small baby hummingbirds must be! It boggles the mind.
Gary's pepper tree has little red berries all over it. It's almost like they came out for Christmas. And our strawberry plant has more blossoms. Almost all of the leaves have fallen from our apricot tree.
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( 1 / 3 )Check out this video from International Women's Day. This Saudi woman posted a video of herself driving to push for women's rights. I read about it in this month's National Geographic. This news report includes an interview with the driver, Wajeha Al-Huwaider.
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