The eye patch of Moshe Dayan, Israel, Palestine, and the United States...

I wonder how any President's of the United States, since Harry Truman, can honestly enter the Oval Office and tell the people of the world that they will mend the means of politics and humanity between Israel and Palestine. The battles with Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and warring tribal factions, have been going on for millennia.

I don't understand how a politician could even find it possible to say they can make a truce between the two parties, and mean it, all the while the politician touts their undying gratitude and solidarity to the Israeli state and its bond to the United States. There is no room left for properly mediating any necessary political or humanitarian discussions between the two states when our leaders so adamantly side with the Israel state.

I must claim that I am no expert on this issue whatsoever. I only know what I read, and am able to discern as truth, through the mostly biased global media. Now, though, through the advent of the internet and emerging bloggoshpere, the international community is able to come together more fairly and become more humanized through a grass roots communication process. Hereby, giving people who usually have no voice a global audience with which to voice a silenced plea for help or attention.

Much of the Palestinian plight, as I understand it, resembles that of the American Indian. It was back in 1948 when Israel did not give the Palestinian people their own land, but decided to create a "settlement" much likened to that of the American Indian and the Reservations that the United States government "gave" them. The Palestinian people in the occupied regions are under the authority of Israel. Although, they have no right to vote in Israeli elections, and have no voice in the political processes that affect and subsequently control their lives. A state much like that of slavery.

We've heard the stories of sanctioned Israeli government destruction of water supplies, power, food supplies, health care opportunities for the Palestinian people. In other words, the absolute power over a group of people that have no say in how they are to be treated. Much like that of the early American slave, the Israeli state has the ability to create a starved and cheap labor force for Israeli owned corporations. There are stories of the murder and exile of those who do not "play the game."

This history and policy is documented from leaders beginning, ironically enough, from Israeli leaders such as Moshe Dayan, to the present. I didn't know who Moshe Dayan was until I began to do some reading on this topic. And, I say ironically enough because Moshe Dayan was born on a Kibbutz, near the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in what is pre-Mandate Palestine. Born a Palestinian, of Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine. In 1938, he joined the Palestinian Supernumerary Police and became a company commander.

On June 8th 1947, he lost his left eye in a gun skirmish while he was working with the British during the Allied invasion of Syria and Lebanon. Another irony is that the Palestinian Jew, from this point forward, wore a signature eye patch and could no longer see the world through both eyes. He now saw the world through the tunnel vision of one eye. Despite this handicap, again ironically, his opinions were never strictly black and white. Ariel Sharon noted about Dayan:

He would wake up with a hundred ideas. Of them ninety-five were dangerous; three more were bad; the remaining two, however, were brilliant.

But, to get back on topic a bit, in today's environment, due to the nature and structure of Gaza, to which for the past two years has been under a blockade that includes food, medicine, and gasoline, the only means of survival for the Palestinians were the tunnels to Egypt that have now been blasted. The major sources of electricity were destroyed nearly a year ago, meaning no incubators for premature babies or pumps for water and sewage. And that was just to soften them up for what they're getting now.

From the onset of leadership that stems from pre-Mandated Palestine, to today's mixed up ethnic and religious factions and regions, we have a political gameboard that is very difficult to find a common ground for any leader to latch on to in order to help mediate anything.

It seems that as long as Hamas and Fatah, the two political factions of Palestine are at odds as to the legitimacy of each others claims to the leadership of the region, and the industrialized world recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization it seems we will be having these battles going on for quite some time.

As long as the United States sides adamantly with Israel and sees Hamas as a terrorist organization, despite the fact that Hamas has elected officials in the Parliament, I cannot see how the United States can rationally proclaim that we will work for, and mediate peace for a free Palestine.

It is as if the United States has taken on the eye patch that Moshe Dayan has left behind.





This, the 247th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2009 Doug Boggs

Burning Man comes to the Parade of Lights on San Francisco Bay.

This is a great example as to some of the amazing and creative people that make the Burning Man Festival what it is. The fact that people go out of their way to simply make art to which the purpose is...Art. Art for arts sake. This is the meaning of freedom of expression. My wife and I enjoy the desert experience in Nevada, and look forward to being able to experience it on the water in the future.

A fellow burner and exhibit creator, Dan Das Mann teamed with many other people to create an event done every year on the San Francisco Bay. He reports on this awesome achievement of essentially bringing Burning Man to ... well ... a very fancy San Francisco Bay Area yacht club. Think Caddyshack on steroids, and the caddies not only win the golf tournament, they pretty much set fire to it.

Yeah, this is excellent. Dan writes:

"On Saturday December 13, 2008 the former Navy ship White Holly, now a
privately operated scientific research vessel run by Captain Vince
Backen, was entered into The Sausalito Yacht Club 'Parade of Lights'
held in Sausalito, California in the San Francisco Bay. Boat parades
will never be the same ... the event was organized by Dan Das Mann and
Karen Cusolito in collaboration with Jack Schroll and Black Rock FX
(El Diablo - jet engine fire effect, Chrysler air raid siren, smoke
generator and methanol mines,) John Behrens and Omega Recoil (upside
down Tesla Coil), Epiphany by Dan Das Mann, Karen Cusolito and
Pyrokinetics (Danya Parkinson and Jo Bard), Headless Point Studio,
American Steel Studios, Flaming Lotus Girls (Mini Mega Junior - fire
poofer), Camron 'Teiwaz' Assadi and members of The Crucible of Oakland
California (flame cannons on the upper poop-deck), Bonfire Bob and
over 150 others! All of this so they could have a good time for
approximately two minutes ... THANKS TO ALL OF YOU! Let's do it again
sometime.








This, the 246th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2009 Doug Boggs

The new BarackBerry!

I knew, somehow, he would get his way on this one. It simply makes sense in our tech world for him to have it. Blackberry should have a heyday with this one. It's time to buy stock in this firm. With such a historic and respected user of their technology who is an admitted self professed Blackberry addict, this should bring a huge boost to their system for those who are going to make the jump into smartphone technology.

With all of the technology that we put into our military that can see, hear, and pinpoint a person down to the inch anywhere, anytime, on the planet we should be able to find a way for the President to have a secure phone.

It seems that the National Security Agency has approved a new $3,350 smartphone to be dubbed the "Barackberry". There is a licensing deal for Obama that he could have gone to town with. But, once taking office you are not supposed to capitalize on the position while in office. (Someone needed to tell Bush and team that one as they have pilfered billions away with no accountability) It will be a secure system and allow him to stay in touch with the world at his fingertips.

This kind of technology should be used by the President. There is a continual trail of record of who, what, where, why, and how through the messages that can be stored on a secured server. It allows more transparency to the office due to the record trail. He is not shut off to the world and stuck to living in a "bubble" type environment of seclusion to which he is only fed information from those select few people around him.

So, for this 44th President, and 43rd American to be sworn in to the office he will be "in touch" with his family, cabinet, policy makers at all times. Something I feel that is necessary with this administration and the current state of affairs. He will also be privy to when and where the next pick up basketball game is going to be...

This will be the next evolution for the wealthy throughout the world is to have a secure smartphone. Perhaps in today's new world that Bush created that allows anyone to be listened to without warrant, it will be a big seller.

Now that Bush is out of office, perhaps Blackberry will use him in their commercials and advertising campaigns touting that you can rest assured that you will not be listened to using this phone system...

NOTE: Although, Barack Obama stated in his speech that he was the 44th American to be sworn in to the Oval Office, he in fact is the 43rd American sworn in as President. Grover Cleveland served two NON consecutive terms, as 22nd and 24th presidencies.





This, the 245th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2009 Doug Boggs

in last hour Bush Pardoned Osama bin Laden..

From the Huffington Post
By David Rees

WASHINGTON, DC: In a stunning late-hour development, President George W. Bush has granted Osama bin Laden a pardon for the murder of more than 2,700 Americans in the fall of 2001.

"This kinda came out of nowhere," said a White House aide who requested anonymity. "I wouldn't have put bin Laden on the short list myself. On the other hand, maybe this is the president's way of finding closure. Because ... y'know ... he wasn't actually able to kill bin Laden, or capture him, or even keep him from making all those (expletive) videos. I mean, jeez, let's face it: Osama bin Laden is basically a one-man Netflix of cave movies."

The aide paused, then went on to say, "Can you believe this dude (Bush) was actually president for eight (expletive) years? What were we thinking? Seriously, what the (expletive) were we thinking?"

The aide began weeping quietly. "May God have mercy on me for my role in the unfathomable travesty that was the Bush administration."

Conservative columnist William Kristol insisted the pardon made sense.

"George W. Bush is a brilliant strategist. I'm sure he has a good reason for this pardon. I'll figure it out."

Kristol sucked his thumb for a few minutes, lost in thought. He was then distracted by a brightly colored piece of string.

A passerby, told of the bin Laden pardon, offered a possible explanation:

"Maybe Bush is trying to smoke him out. Wasn't that the plan?"

***************
My response:
Bush didn't smoke him out, that is for sure, and the world public knows this. However, Bush was smoking something for 8 years!!



This, the 244th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2009 Doug Boggs

Hail to the Chief - Obama's speech in full text...

OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.








This, the 243th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2009 Doug Boggs