Hanging around with sources in Washington reminded me of the creeps I used to know as a teenager on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, another kind of Appalachia with money.  I remember with special disgust a guy named Sean M., who had a 14-inch penis and would wander about at parties slapping his dick on people’s shoulders – you’d notice the crotch stink first, then the weight of the object.  Then the cackle as it was pulled away.  Sean, who was fat and bespectacled, went on to consume much cocaine with his parents’ cash card, and he was probably recently running a piece of Bear Stearns with his dick in his mouth.

 

The week's events in Gaza have overshadowed whatever joy or peace one can have at this special time of year.  However the resounding demonstrations around the world have helped give us some relief from helplessness.   Apart from these acts of public outcry at the terrible suffering in Gaza, we in North America feel powerless, without means to oppose the moral bankruptcy of bombing densely-populated areas with impunity or our governments who positively approve of it with similar disregard for civilians and ongoing suffering.

Zatoun has been sent direct donations for Gaza and received inquiries for organizations able to lend immediate aid in this most recent crisis.  Zatoun is not setup to accept funds for emergency humanitarian aid and has no means to get them to Gaza, quickly and efficiently.  Zatoun's work is of a different kind with a long time horizon.  One that has to do with trees, farmers and livelihoods - things that grow slowly and build enduring roots for genuine understanding towards peace.

A Few Days in Hyde Park, A Lifetime in the Empire
by Mike Ferner
Chicago - Standing outside for five days in the Windy City under skies of lead and the thermometer below freezing provides an opportunity to make certain observations. Standing three blocks from the home of the next president of the United States the day he leaves for a new home in Washington, D.C….well you can’t help but observe certain things.

Hyde Park, where the Obama family lives(d) on Chicago’s south side, is a study in contrasts. Victorian and turn-of-the-century estates, broad tree-lined boulevards and the University of Chicago occupy one end of the spectrum; vacant commercial lots and takeaway restaurants that don’t sell coffee to better discourage the homeless from hanging out, occupy the other. More women wore fur coats -- some pristine and some clearly threadbare -- than I’ve ever seen.

A country is led by a government, and a government is always fallible. Why would Canada promise its unqualified support for any country? Such unqualified support is particularly problematic when the country is locked in a bitter struggle with millions of people whose land it has held under military occupation for more than forty years.

The problematic nature of Harper's promise has taken on a new dimension with Israel's intense bombing of the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 400 Palestinians dead.

by C. L. Cook

Shelter Crisis: For a Want of Dignity
by Chris Johnson
So the basic news coming out of our last meeting is we are planning a 'consulta' to meet with people on the street and people at risk of being homeless who might be the potential users/operators of a temporary shelter encampment. This will happen at one or two locations accessible to the street community, as well as involve some one on one contact and possibly include some video and written testimony from various people.

The goal with this consulta is to determine how many people would be interested in being involved in a project where we work together to create some temporary emergency housing as an alternative to the conventional shelter system, as well as getting the input of the people in need of this housing as to what it should look like. So it's yet another study of sorts, but at the same time, we're not just asking people what they want and need. We'll be working together to create something right away. Sort of proactive research.

A proper process for involving people in the design and operation of emergency shelter (or most poverty related things for that matter) is something that everyone agrees is lacking. I've been thinking that if we can broaden it in some way to also have it function as a general survey regarding the needs and ideas of people experiencing poverty, it would have value far beyond our project. That's something we can talk about at our next meeting, which is a meeting of the working group putting the consulta together, this coming Monday, 4pm at Camas. The next general meeting is the following Monday.

War Crime du Jour: Israel Deploys White Phosphorus Shells

NOTE: Imbalance in reporting on Weekends: Heinbecker calls Hamas air-strikes against Israel WAR CRIMES, but does not refer to what Israel is doing as a war crime.
 

The Real Goal of the Gaza Assault
by Jonathan Cook
Ever since Hamas triumphed in the Palestinian elections nearly three years ago, the story in Israel has been that a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip was imminent. But even when public pressure mounted for a decisive blow against Hamas, the government backed off from a frontal assault.

Now the world waits for Ehud Barak, the defence minister, to send in the tanks and troops as the logic of this operation is pushing inexorably towards a ground war. Nonetheless, officials have been stalling. Significant ground forces are massed on Gaza’s border, but still the talk in Israel is of “exit strategies”, lulls and renewed ceasefires.

President-Elect Obama, You Must NOT Be Silent on Gaza!  
by Linda Milazzo
I don't believe in god. I never have. I don't believe in religions. I study them, but I don't practice them. I try to understand them to be sensitive to the beliefs and traditions of others, and to attempt to appreciate the motivations behind religious thought and deed. But they are irrelevant to living my life.

Editor Parry on LBJ's 'Treason' Tapes
by TheRealNews.com
The Lyndon Johnson library recently released audiotapes from 1968, revealing President Johnson complaining about Richard Nixon’s campaign trying to block Vietnam peace talks and thus help Nixon win the presidential election over Hubert Humphrey.

Citing wiretaps of intercepted communications in which Nixon campaign operatives urged South Vietnamese officials to boycott the peace talks, Johnson called this interference “treason,” since 500,000 U.S. troops were then in harm’s way.

The aerial bombings and the ongoing ground invasion of Gaza by Israeli ground forces must be analysed in a historical context. Operation “Cast Lead” is a carefully planned undertaking, which is part of a broader military-intelligence agenda first formulated by the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2001:

“Sources in the defense establishment said Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for the operation over six months ago, even as Israel was beginning to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.” (Barak Ravid, Operation “Cast Lead”: Israeli Air Force strike followed months of planning, Haaretz, December 27, 2008)

It was Israel which broke the truce on the day of the US presidential elections, November 4:

“Israel used this distraction to break the ceasefire between itself and Hamas by bombing the Gaza strip. Israel claimed this violation of the ceasefire was to prevent Hamas from digging tunnels into Israeli territory.

“The very next day, Israel launched a terrorizing siege of Gaza, cutting off food, fuel, medical supplies and other necessities in an attempt to “subdue” the Palestinians while at the same time engaging in armed incursions.

“In response, Hamas and others in Gaza again resorted to firing crude, homemade, and mainly inaccurate rockets into Israel. During the past seven years, these rockets have been responsible for the deaths of 17 Israelis. Over the same time span, Israeli Blitzkrieg assaults have killed thousands of Palestinians, drawing worldwide protest but falling on deaf ears at the UN.” (Shamus Cooke, The Massacre in Palestine and the Threat of a Wider War, Global Research, December 2008)