May 20, 2008 archive

1. Some incredibly sad news about Senator Ted Kennedy. The New York Times reports Senator Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor. “Tests performed over the weekend at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston indicated that Mr. Kennedy, 76, has a type of cancer known as a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe, the upper left portion of his brain.”

   News of the diagnosis was greeted by “stunned silence” at a weekly lunch conference for Senate Democrats, said Senator Ben Nelson, of Nebraska. Mr. Nelson said that Senator John Kerry, of Massachusetts, who had spoken with Mr. Kennedy, reported that “Senator Kennedy is quite optimistic.”

2. According to a report in The Guardian, the World was ‘more peaceful’ in 2008. According to the Vision of Humanity’s Global Peace Index Ratings, the top five most peaceful countries are: Iceland, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, and Japan. The index measures “internal and external turmoil in 140 countries. Only one of the G8 countries [Japan], the world’s most economically powerful nations, makes it into the top ten of the survey”.

   Unsurprisingly, the five least peaceful nations are Israel (136), Afghanistan (137), Sudan (138), Somalia (139), and Iraq (140). But, “the survey suggests that the world is a marginally more secure place than it was a year ago.”

   Small, stable, democratic countries are the most peaceful, according to the index, but economic is not seen as a guarantee of a high ranking. Of the G8 countries, France (36), the United Kingdom (49), the United States (97), and Russia (131) did not even make it into the top thirty…

   “On average, scores for level of organised conflict (internal) and violent crime, political instability and potential for terrorist acts have all got marginally better,” according to the summary of the index. In contrast, the world’s armed services have grown on average per country, as has the sophistication of their weaponry.

   “The world appears to be a marginally more peaceful place this year,” said Steve Killelea, the Australian technology entrepreneur and founder of the Global Peace Index. “This is encouraging, but it takes small steps by individual countries for the world to make greater strides on the road to peace.”

Four at Four continues with news from Iraq and “Honey From the Hood”.

The one true and lasting gift that the hippies tried to give the world is precisely that which has been offered by every wise or holy man or woman to ever walk the earth – the gift of love.  Love as a conscious choice, love as an ethic, love as a way of life, love as the antidote to fear, hatred and violence – love as a way to walk lightly on the earth.

I’m at the Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy in New Haven for the week, with the first session tutorial about to get underway, Mike Godwin of the Wikimedia Foundation presenting on “Constitutional Law in Cyberspace.”

(Mike’s best known as author of “Godwin’s Law.” Any references to Hitler or Nazis will be noted.)

My 1st effort at liveblogging, we’ll see how it goes.

“For the vast number of Americans, if they just gave to some disaster far away and then another disaster happens, in their mind that’s clumped as ‘faraway disaster,'” Strahilevitz says. “So they will feel, ‘I just gave to a faraway disaster.'”

link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24…

It’s no secret that Americans are feeling less fortunate than in previous years. Escalating gas and food prices, the mortgage crisis and a recent “economic recovery” that only positively affected the most wealthy among us have left families seeing their household budgets shrink.

But as tough as we have it, it is nothing compared with what millions of people are going through right now in Myanmar:

MSNBC reports that Americans have given $12.1 million to charities for Myanmar relief efforts, far short of the $1.92 billion the US gave to assist the victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami.

conference championship picks:

Don’t Hesitate: Be The First and Not The Last Of Your Left Wing Friends

To Achieve The Ultimate Status Symbol

A Place On Bush’s Enemies List    

Tuesday’s Headlines: McCain Finds a Thorny Path in Ethics Effort    White House Role Cited in EPA Reversal on Emissions  Demolished by the Pakistan army: the frontier village punished for harbouring the Taliban    Beichuan to be laid to rest as China moves survivors to new settlement    Farmers face losing EU subsidies unless they promise to go green    Georgia’s leader vows to prevent Russia reviving the Soviet Union    War that traumatizes Iraqis takes toll on hospital that treats them    France admits contacts with Hamas in breach of boycott    Mbeki urged to use troops to halt attacks on migrants   Fighting resumes in Sudan flashpoint    Brazil’s sugar cane mills race to keep up with ethanol boom

Obama Expected to Hit Milestone in Today’s Votes

Senator Barack Obama is poised to reach a milestone in the presidential race on Tuesday by capturing a majority of pledged delegates, but he said he would not declare victory against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton or suggest the Democratic primary should end until the final three contests are finished on June 3.

For Mr. Obama, the situation is delicate. While eager to proceed to a general election match with Senator John McCain of Arizona, the likely Republican nominee, Mr. Obama is also trying to bring the contest to a close in a way that allows him to win over Mrs. Clinton’s supporters and unify the party.

For her part, Mrs. Clinton is making a counterargument that she is winning the popular vote if Florida and Michigan are counted, and that the party’s leaders should take that into consideration before deciding which candidate to support.