Twice he took the needle nose pliers off the rack and the local Agway store and handed them to me. Twice I told him grampy had a pair at home and there was another pair in front of the camper at his Dad’s house. As it turned out an almost three year old was right.
June 15, 2009 archive
Jun 15 2009
Docudharma Times Monday june 15
“His speech was deceitful
and I call on those who listened to this speech
not to be deceived,” said Mr. Erekat, who added that
Netanyahu would have to wait “1,000 years
to find one single Palestinian who accepts his plans.”
Iran Bans Opposition Rally as Critics Are Detained
By ROBERT F. WORTH and NAZILA FATHI
Published: June 15, 2009
TEHRAN – The Iranian authorities denied permission Monday for the opposition to hold a major rally to protest the outcome of Friday’s presidential vote, according to news reports and an opposition Web site, deepening a mood of confrontation as violence and acrimony over the disputed election intensified.
Word spread on Sunday that more than 100 prominent opposition members had been detained; riots erupted in Tehran and other cities; and the triumphant incumbent hinted that his top challenger risks punishment for questioning the result.Early Monday, security forces raided a dormitory at Tehran University and 15 people were injured, opposition Web sites reported, but there was no immediate confirmation of the incident from the authorities.
Netanyahu’s speech prompts anger from Palestinians, praise from the White House
Palestinian negotiator Erekat calls it a ‘slap in the face,’ while the White House calls the speech ‘an important step forward.’
By Joshua Mitnick | Correspondent
from the June 14, 2009 edition
TEL AVIV – The White House praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s endorsement Sunday of a Palestinian state as “an important step forward,” giving the Israeli leader a key victory in his attempt to mend a diplomatic rift with the US over the Israeli-Arab peace process.In Israel, however, the foreign policy speech immediately drew fire from Palestinians and all sides of the Israeli political spectrum. But Mr. Netanyahu appeared to garner enough initial backing to keep his governing coalition out of danger of faltering.
PALESTINIANS NOT IMPRESSED
Although right-wing ideologues in his coalition assailed the speech as “dangerous” for supporting the creation of a Palestinian state, Palestinians said Netanyahu closed the door for peace talks by ruling out the repatriation of refugees to Israel and by insisting that Jerusalem remain united under Israeli rule.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat assailed the speech as a “slap in the face” to President Obama’s recent efforts to bring peace to the region.
USA
Obama Is Pressed to Tax Health Benefits
Seeking GOP Votes, Democrats Split Over Plan for New Levy
By Lori Montgomery and Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, June 15, 2009
The White House is caught in a battle within its own party over how to finance a comprehensive overhaul of America’s health-care system, as key Democrats advocate a tax plan that could require President Obama to break his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.Sensitive to voter anxiety about a soaring federal deficit, Obama and congressional leaders have vowed to pay for a sweeping expansion of the health-care system — expected to cost more than $1 trillion over the next decade — without additional borrowing.
Much of the money is likely to come from reining in spending on federal health programs for the elderly and the poor.
Jun 15 2009
Muse in the Morning
 Muse in the Morning |
comprising useless words,
is one single beneficial word,
by hearing which one attains peace.
Better than a thousand verses,
comprising useless words,
is one beneficial single line,
by hearing which one is pacified.
–Sahassavagga, The Dhammapada, 100-101
Phenomena XXI: hearing
 A Thread
|
Jun 15 2009
The Weapon of Young Gods #48: They Always Run
My mind has always seemed to work against me. In my mind I kept remembering things that never happened, but they always seemed so real and so true-way more than the most messed-up deja vu. In my mind I always pictured some ideal, distorted image of both what my past was and what my future would be. In my mind I lived a lifetime in four minutes, cramming a kaleidoscope of hopes and fears into a nondescript neural mush, punctuated only occasionally by brief synaptic jolts of electric panic. In my mind years passed in seconds and every experience compressed itself into a microcosmic caricature of what had actually happened. In my mind the constructive destruction of every searing catharsis and tortured overanalysis always seemed so absolutely necessary, even though I came to learn that all of them would devolve, with increasing speed, into insignificant passing punchlines. In my mind, the universe always had a hidden agenda, and I could never ever forgive or ignore what I wasn’t allowed to know.
Jun 15 2009
Shares: A No-Hoops Hunger Project
We all know the economic situation sucks. We all know people who have lost their jobs, families – often in our own neighborhoods – who have lost their homes, their means of transportation, their health care, their sense of self-worth and ability to meet basic needs. We all want to help, but if you know anything about “the system,” you also know that politics only decrees focus. It doesn’t exist to actually help people, it exists to see how many hoops they’ll be able to jump in order to get the bare minimum.
And if you’re at all like me and ever dealt with “the system” yourself or for a family member, you also know a good handful of people who will live in a cardboard box before hitting the shelter, will walk double-digit miles to work rather than tell anybody the car’s been repo’d, will go hungry because there’s just no way to get to the county seat on-demand to jump hoops bi-weekly just to get food stamps. Why, you might even know some who have been given help, but are just too embarrassed to use them at the grocery store.
I’ve worked with several hunger projects over the last quarter century, usually grant-supported non-profit based or purely local and supported by area churches, community groups, fraternal organizations and businesses. They all try to reach the people who need help, and the people involved are more than willing to help with paperwork or details in order to make the hoop-jumping easier. But they all know, as I know, that there are many who aren’t reached because they won’t or can’t jump hoops. For any of a number of reasons they don’t want us to know.
Jun 15 2009
Tweets from the front: ‘Iran is on fire’
The revolution may not be televised, but it will be Twittered.
Right now, people in Iran are fighting and dying for their freedom:
IRAN is on fire! ppl are fighting in ALL CITIES for their VOTE and against the DICTATORSHIP! #iranelection,RT pls
# sources from Tehran: ppl are killed, ppl are in blood, tehran is hell. #iranelection #cnnfail15 minutes ago from web
“sadatabad, tehran. violent street battles between Basij and people. cars on fire.” @iran09 #Iranelection
RT @StopAhmadi It’s getting rough in Rasht tonight. Armed forces waiting for ppl to make their move to beat them #IranElection
There is fight in Shiraz between people and police in Mollasadra, Sinama Sadi and other down town streets. #iranelection
Hospitals around Tehran surrounded by secret police who refuse to let people with injuries get through, humanity at its worst #iranelection
It is near morning there now, and the regime appears to have spent last night, among other things, attacking university dorms in Tehran and elsewhere:
all university’s own security and personnel already evacuated by police, there are only us students in here right now. #iranelection
@mohamadreza: they push ppl & students into the dorms then throw tear gas, sometimes attacking them with anything they have
@IranRiggedElect sources: “tear gas in the dorm. It’s un-uniformed police and riot guards. at least 100 students arrested.”#iranelectionabout 2 hours ago from web
to other sources: this isn’t the police! police is still outside! we’re under attack by Ansar-Hezbolah. #iranelection
@Change_for_Iran:typing as fastest as I can in bth English&Farsi,Still we need outside help,I really don’t want to be captured by Ansar
@Change_for_Iran: some students with urgent need of medical attention calling out to all ppl who can help don’t leave us #iranelection
They attacked protestors students in Guilan university. Blood and violence here… #IranElection
unconfirm: Shooting @ Tehran Univ. Dorm. Militia has attacked the student like 8 years ago
Friend: 17 y/o killed infront of me couldn’t get to him in time guards beating us up went to hospital but he stopped moving #iranelection
Students:”50 of our friends are in jail now. We were beaten. We expect Mousavi to stand up to this,we support him” #iranelection
The students and others are fighting back:
eyewitness: It’s 3am in Iran and ppl are still fighting on the streets. #iranelection #cnnfail
Guards are Shootings in Tehran and Police car being attack by protesters …
is there any end to police’s motorcycles?! how much more we should burn?! #iranelection
@iran09 best way to #counter-attack the riders: carry some MOTOR OIL! http://tinyurl.com/nz43zg #iranelection
@Ghattavi students hold two militias as hostage, loads of motor oil is spread on the streets [to make bikers slip]
Hackers toolkit for taking down Iranian propaganda websites. VERY EASY TO USE: http://sharebee.com/31922799 #iranelection
wwowowowowo!!!!! IRIB.ir id down!!!! #iranelection #WeWin #cyberattack
Mousavi has called for a demonstration tomorrow @ 4:00 pm (7:30 am EST) followed by a general strike on Tuesday. The regime says the demonstration is illegal and there are reports of Revolutionary Guard tanks moving into the capital. No one doubts what is at stake:
4pm all across IRAN RT @persiankiwi tomorrow we march. Will biggest in world history. 10 mill march tomorrow.@flashpolitique we are moving either toward a north korean style dictatorship or a more open and democratic society
black joke:”George Orwell has requested to change his book’s name from 1984 to 1388.”(it’s year 1388 in iran. calendar) #iranelection
Stay tuned….
Jun 15 2009
Iranian Filmmaker Says Mousavi Was Told He Won
Iranian filmmaker Makhmalbaf reports on phone call from Ministry of Internal Affairs to Mousavi HQ
Bio: Persian: (born May 29, 1957, Tehran) is an Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer. He is currently the president of the Asian Film Academy. Makhmalbaf’s films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The multi-award-winning director, belongs to the new wave movement of Iranian cinema. Time magazine selected Makhmalbaf’s 2001 film, Kandahar, as one of top 100 films of all time. In 2006, he was a member of the Jury at the Venice film festival.
Makhmalbaf’s Interview on Radio Farda
June 13, 2009, 12:00 AM
Translated for The Real News Network
Makhmalbaf:
Yesterday, twenty agents in civilian clothing attacked press offices of Mousavi’s campaign at Gheitarieh. They broke all communication devices and attacked the campaign staff, including Mr. Kharazi and Mr Amirzadeh. They beat up the staff and when the people confronted them, they fired tear gas at the crowd. These were agents in civilian clothing! Then the agents attempted to runaway. About seven of them were captured by the people and were kept at the campaign headquarters. Next the police arrived at the headquarters and demanded to have custody of the seven captives and said “We would punish these lawbreakers ourselves.” . “No, we need this to be court documented; we know that after the election, you will lose them”, said Mr. Amirzadeh.
[I think here he is referring back to before this recording begins. This has to do with the reports from the early counts at the polls indicating that Mousavi is the winner]
The Ministry of Internal Affairs contacts press offices of Mousavi’s campaign to prepare a message for declaring victory on Sunday which is Hazrate Zahra’s birthday. Mr Mousavi said that “within the next couple of hours I will declare victory and the celebrations would be on Sunday, which is Hazrate Zahra’s birthday and Mother’s Day [in Iran]”. Afterwards Mr. Khamenei is notified that Mr Mousavi has won the election. At first he says fine, you can communicate this to the people, but the message propagation and broadcasting should be well managed [and controlled].
Jun 15 2009
Pique the Geek 20090614. Drugs of Abuse: Psychedelics II, the Psychedelic Amphetamines
The psychedelic amphetamines (and I include mescaline here, although it is a methyl group away from being a true amphetamine) are many and widely encountered in what are almost always now illicit settings. They (except for mescaline) are synthetic drugs, not found in nature.
These drugs are “true” psychedelics as opposed to the oddballs described here last week. Many of the oddballs are dissociatives, and the true psychedelics work by a completely different mechanism.