I obtain so much information from my sisters and brothers on OFA. I find it helpful when
calling my neighbors list. It is amazing that so many folks that voted for our President have
forgotten his words that "CHANGE" doesn't come easy and we must want it bad enough to work
with him to make it happen. I will continue to post daily on OFA,...however time making calls,
attending listening events and canvassing go hand in hand with our OFA BLOG. I,like so many
others here have learned how to post and make calls and email our Senators at the same time.
I hope calling a few neighbors daily will be added to that agenda.
VAgg
The Obama gas prices? $2.60. The Republican peak manipulation oil monopoly corrupted market distortion prices? $4.50. ... Which one is better? Many Republicans would claim $4.50, since they like the environment, and green, wind, solar-thermal and solar-cells, geothermal and sea waves energy. ... Well guess what, YES WE CAN have clean green energy - under the right management, under the right, pro-America Presidency, even at gas at $2.70 !! Check that out. .... Elected by The People, for The People, for The America. United We Stand
The cost of real medical reform - $0.00.No need - do not set up - new taxes. Payments through employers will be redirected to Universal public-private single payer system. Runaway fraud private insurance medical monopolies prices and their rises 10 -20% a year will be regulated. Extend Medicare to everyone. This will bring significant savings in the future, and it will boost competitivness of the country on the world markets.
I want this Presidency, this President, Mr. Barack Obama, to be known to history as ENDING the health care slavery to powerful insurance medical special monopolies in The Usa. Thank you.
The resources are at http://friendfeed.com/news3 , including Michael Moore take on it - 1. Universal health care available to everybody, 2. Abolish all insurance companies 3. Tightly regulate pharma companies ... to avoid outrageous overcharging ....... currently, premiums rise 10-10% a year ......
A real reform will cost $0. And its the best investment.The payments through employers will be redirected to single payer system. everybody pays, according to what they can, and everybody has the healthcare ... lets stop this mad system of corporate overcharge megafraud .....
Not to have a health care is a human rights violation. The same goes for a homelessness of a human being. Be it in the industrialized world, or in a third country.
Petr Bubenhttp://friendfeed.com/BarackObamahttp://friendfeed.com/petrbuben - http://friendfeed.com/petrnews
These days, one can't go many places without hearing about the need for Health Care Reform and Insurance Plan coverage with choice of a Public Option plan,as well.
Today was a day where groups of people all over the Unites States attended Events having to do with Health Care Reform. These events were all organized by volunteers. There was no compensation other than the fact that the events were successful. Since these events were successful then the argument that we don't need Health Care Reform becomes a false statement. Today was just more proof of how much we do need Health Care Reform, and it must include a Public Option.
There is something else that can be done to prove the need for Health Care Reform with a Public option. Many Doctors, Nurses and Health Care Workers,are supportive because they know it's needed and must happen now. The fact that forty seven million Americans,that includes working people are without insurance,threatens the very core of our Nation.To the concerned members of our prestigious Medical Profession,I submit this challange...
How about organizing your own "Health Care Day", in cities all around the United States and volunteering your time and your service. I'm not talking about a day where blood pressure is taken and weight is checked. I'm talking about a Health Care Day where Pap Tests and Mammograms for women without Health Care Coverage are given at no charge. A Health Care Day where prostate exams are given to men without Health Care Coverage at no charge.
A Health Care Day like this would bring out thousands of people, because they do not have health care coverage to afford these tests. That would prove once again, that there is an urgency and need for a Public Option to be included in Health Care Reform.
So, to all Health Care professionals, are you ready to show your support, and volunteer just as Middle Class Americans did all over the United States today? We, Middle Class Americans,are asking you to do, what we are doing on a regular basis,"A Day of Service".
Obama Girl vs Giuliani Girl"Let's go, Obama girlsObama, I still want yaWaiting for my phone to ring, watching reruns of "West Wing".Ba-Rock the votewe're going to take the primaryand then defeat Giuliani.Giuliani for presidentObama gotta representGiuliani Brooklin CenterObama and raise your cupsGiuliani from the G.O.P.Obama repin' HawaiiGiuliani take it to the streetObama shake it to the beatEverybody get up on the floorif it's Giuliani you adore.I'm gonna be wife number 4,he warms my globe just like Al Gore.He's my man and I'll stick by him,he won my heart reducing crime.We're going to the white house this time,there's nothing you can do about it ,just back up.Giuliani girl, just stop your fussin',at least Obama didn't marry his cousin.Giuliani's hungry for the war,and Iraqs hotter than the Colbert Report.Obama has a Harvard graduation,"Dreams from My Father" for inspiration.He's gonna be the man to change our nation,Giuliani doesn't have a chance,and that's what's up.Giuliani for presidentObama gotta representGiuliani Brooklyn Stand UpObama and raise your cupsGiuliani from the G.O.P.Obama-reppin HawaiiGiuliani take it to the streetObama shake it to the beatObama can't rep the American flag.-Nothing is worse than Giuliani in drag.Still want Rudi Giuli-on-me.I like my man like I like my coffee.Giuliani is like a Ronald Reagan,I knew Reagan and you're no Reagan.Obama should be out like Tony BlairRudi has less a chance than hair.GiulianiObamaGiulianiObamaGiulianiObamaGiulianiObamaGiuliani for presidentObama gotta representGiuliani Brooklyn Stand UpObama and raise your cupsGiuliani from the G.O.P.Obama-reppin' HawaiiGiuliani take it to the streetObama shake it to the beatObama ...
I got a crush on Obama
There are so much to say about what Barack gives me。。。
I am a university student from Shanghai ,Tongji University,China,majoring in environmental engineering.
The first time he fascinated me was on Ellen's show,his handsome dance and outlook and more important humerous and generous quality.
Since I attend an interpretation class in Shanghai,our teacher Jack Peng was graduated from the Texas University majoring in Environment and Energy with Ph.D degree and also got a master degree in the interpretating school in Montery,the practice material our teacher gave us included his speech at the 2004DNC,and of course the victory speech on election night and the inauguration speech in Washington DC.
But that's far from enough for me,so I then bought a biography of him written by Greenwood.I read it even if I'm having my classes.And now I'm reading the Audacity of hope,which has been so familiar to most of you.
What Obama presented to me is really different from several previous U.S politician I used to think about,his heart for the nation and it's people was so open and sincere.He brings back the truth of the American virtue after so many years of struggle and division.He make people believe in their own strength.
Since I have downloaded may video clips from the website,all those really touched me a lot ,both Obama and the volunteers have fought hard for this campain.No matter what backgrounds they come from,they have come together for this election.The youth in America find their common grounds in the Obama politics,their heart reopened to the world.So they put their unprecedented enthusiasm to this election.
I really look forward to the further relationship between China and the U.S,since Shanghai2010 World EXPO is drawing near.There will be more exchanges between the two nations people.Both of two sides are getting in line with each other.
One world,on dream right?
Hope for the future for the people and the nation!!!
I am sincerely looking forward to our further contacts in the days and months to come on this website or through my facebook or e-mail.
If you hate reading just watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGITh9HPJ7g
ISRAEL ADMITS GAZA WAR CRIMES
JERUSALEM — An increasingly disturbing picture of the Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) misconduct in the Gaza invasion has emerged as confessions from Israeli troops describe wanton destruction of Palestinian homes, humiliation of civilians, and loosened rules of engagement that resulted in high civilian casualties.
An Israeli defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to make the information public, said the IDF used 120-mm mortar rounds, among the largest, on a large group of civilians who had taken refuge for safety in a hospital. At least five blast patters indicating direct hits were found on the hospital floors.
Revelations of the IDF Gaza crimes have set off alarms in a nation where the military is revered. They also confirm Palestinian allegations that the IDF did not distinguish between civilians and combatants, and the admissions also confirmed international human rights groups' contention that Israel deliberately violated the humanitarian laws of war.
Israel launched the Gaza offensive on Dec. 27, 2008 in what it explained was an effort to end Palestinian rocket attacks in which four Israeli citizens were hit. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which conducted casualty count, reported a total of 1,417 people killed during the offensive, including at least 930 civilians.
Israel originally denied the findings, saying the most of the dead were legitimate targets, but offered no evidence to back up that allegation.
The Israeli government has insisted it did everything it could to prevent civilian casualties. But the IDF has now ordered a criminal inquiry into its own soldiers' reports that IDF troops deliberately targeted civilians, including children, by shooting them or by calling in air strikes, confident that the Israeli relaxed rules of war would protect them.
The inquiry is based on postwar testimony from IDF soldiers who were involved in the Israeli offensive and who were eye-witnesses. The findings were published in a military institute newsletter and leaked to two Israeli newspapers. The Haaretz daily published additional details. A transcript of the IDF soldiers' confessions was obtained by The Associated Press.
According to one account, an Israeli sniper killed a Palestinian woman and each of her two children after they misunderstood another soldier's shouted order and turned in the wrong direction. The sniper was not told that the family had just been released, and so he opened fire on them as they walked toward him.
In another account, an elderly woman was shot dead while walking alone on a road. The soldier who described the incident, identified only as "Aviv," said the woman was not a threat. "I simply felt it was murder in cold blood," Aviv said, according to the transcript. "The order was to take that woman out the moment you see her."
Aviv admitted in another instance his unit was sent to take over a house by bursting in, going up floor by floor and shooting to death anyone they saw alive.
"I call this murder," he said. "...they told us it was permissible because anyone who remained in the sector and inside Gaza City, was in effect condemned to death as a terrorist, because they hadn't yet fled." In the end, he said he managed to change the order so residents would be given five minutes to leave their homes, drawing protests from other soldiers. "Anyone who's in there is a terrorist, that's a known fact!" he quoted another soldier as saying.
(Note: The borders were closed and tenants had no place to flee to/ blogger)
In another incident, a large group of Palestinian civilians were herded into a school building and forced to stay inside "for their own safety." A few minutes later, Israeli artillery strikes were called in on the building.
Some 15,000 Palestinians packed the UN's 23 Gaza schools because their homes were destroyed, or they were designated a safe haven from the fighting. The UN had provided the IDF with GPS coordinates for all of them so they could be avoided.
The IDF reported the shelling of the school - the deadliest single episode in the first two weeks of the IDF invasion of Gaza - was a response to mortar fire from within the school building, and that Hamas militants were using the civilians as cover. The IDF had no additional comment.
During the fighting, the military acknowledged it loosened the rules of engagement aiming to reduce casualties among IDF troops.
At one point, six hundred Palestinian civilians were trapped under fire when Israeli forces refused to allow them to leave Gaza in safety.
Another soldier, "Ram", described what appeared to be a rift between secular and religious soldiers. "What I do remember in particular at the beginning was the feeling of an almost religious mission," he said.
"Their message was very clear: 'We are the Jewish people, we came to this land by a miracle. God brought us back to this land and now we need to fight to expel the gentiles who are interfering with our conquest of this holy land,'" he said.
(This kind of talk about God I find it funny/ blogger)
Earlier the IDF "severely reprimanded" an officer for distributing a religious booklet urging soldiers to show no mercy to their enemies. The army said the chief military rabbi had not yet approved it.
The published accounts revealed debate and soul-searching among the soldiers. Discussing the death of the old woman, one soldier, Zvi, said the shooting could be understood in the context of the battle zone. "Logic says she should be there," he said.
(Another funny remark about LOGIC!/ blogger)
IDF trooper Yossi said his unit was forced to clean up a home it had occupied on the same day that a Palestinian rocket wounded a mother and baby in an Israeli city. He said soldiers were unhappy, but they complied. "In the end, I was convinced it was the right thing to do," Yossi added.
(I thought Hamas' problem is that it fires rockets... it seems the real problem is that HAMAS DO NOT FIRE ROCKETS ENOUGH/ blogger)
Danny Zamir, the head of the military institute, called the discussion "instructive," but also "dismaying and depressing. You are describing an army with very low norms of value," he said.
The heavy Palestinian civilian casualties and widespread destruction during the three-week war provoked international outcry against Israel, which ceased fire on 18 Jan. 2009.
source: Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1072830.htmlGAZA STRIP - "Rules of Engagement: Open fire also upon rescue," was handwritten in Hebrew on a sheet of paper found in one of the Palestinian homes the Israel Defense Forces took over during Operation Cast Lead. A reservist officer who did not take part in the Gaza offensive believes that the note is part of orders a low-level commander wrote before giving his soldiers their daily briefing. One of the main themes in news reports during the Gaza operation, and which appears in many testimonies, is that IDF soldiers shot at Palestinian and Red Cross rescuers, making it impossible to evacuate the wounded and dead. As a result, an unknown number of Palestinians bled to death as others cowered in their homes for days without medical treatment, waiting to be rescued. The bodies of the dead lay outside the homes or on roadsides for days, sometimes as long as two weeks. Haaretz has reported a number of such cases, some of them as they happened. The document found in the house provides written proof that IDF commanders ordered their troops to shoot at rescuers. The sheet of paper entitled "Situational Assessment" was found by a field researcher of The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in the home of Sami Dardone's family in Jabal al-Rayes, east of Jabalya. The extended Dardone family lives in about 40 homes in this neighborhood, built on a hilltop. Some of the homes were taken over by the army to house troops during the offensive and to serve as sniping positions, or for shooting in general. Most of the homes were seriously damaged when the IDF directly bombed them or other targets nearby at the start of the ground operation. This was also the reason the homes' residents fled on January 4. When the residents returned to the neighborhood at the end of the offensive on January 18, they found that the IDF had completely destroyed some of the homes, in addition to those that had been damaged by shelling and others that were wrecked when soldiers broke in through the walls. Sometimes the soldiers needed explosives to break in. A military source told Haaretz that "the document that was found is not an official document signed by a particular commander, and as such the IDF cannot comment on fragments of sentences that were jotted down on a piece of paper, and asks that this not be interpreted as directives and instructions that were issued by commanders." 'Situational assessment' According to the reservist officer who did not participate in Operation Cast Lead and who received a copy of the document via fax, the "Situational Assessment" was written by a platoon commander, or at the highest level a company commander. The reservist says the author of the "Situational Assessment" was making notes to brief his soldiers based on a briefing that low-ranking commanders receive from senior officers. The date on the sheet is "16.1.08," clearly an error because it should read one year later. It comments on political and military events that occurred in mid-January 2009. It's possible to conclude that the author is discussing the possibility of a cease-fire, which was being discussed publicly by Israeli officials at that time. "The next 24 hours are important; there is a likelihood they [Hamas] will not accept the agreement," the author writes. He also mentions the "Interior Minister." The reference is probably to Hamas Interior Minister Said al-Sayam, who was killed on January 15 when the IDF bombed his home. Four members of his family and five members of a neighbor's family were killed. Among the dead were four children. (so that is how Hamas members hide among civilians? by staying at home?/ it is me)The commander's notes toward the top of the sheet are largely a short political briefing - for example, "the local leadership wants [a cease-fire], the external [Hamas leadership] is out of touch" - and an assessment of the enemy's intentions - "the enemy would like to achieve a kidnapping [of soldiers], the destruction of homes." "Rules of Engagement" is written in the lower half of the sheet, along with one other category: - "Operational Routine." The following is written: "Rules of Engagement: Fire also upon rescue. Not on women and children. (they forgot to read the last sentence/NewHolocaust) Beyond the tantcher - incrimination." "Tantcher" is what the IDF calls Salah al-Din - the route that runs the length of the Gaza Strip. The home of the Dardone family is east of the route, so it is possible to assume these are instructions on shooting at anyone crossing the route to the east into areas held by the IDF. A reservist soldier who did not participate in Cast Lead says that to the best of his knowledge "incrimination" refers to the process of identifying whether a person approaching is a terrorist. The reservist officer who did not take part in the Gaza operation spoke with reservists who said "incriminating" was a shoot-to-kill order, contrary to "suspect procedure," in which shots are fired in the air and then at the legs. (they also missed shots, people were found shot in the heads/ NH) The IDF spokesman said in response that "IDF forces were given unequivocal instructions not to fire at those identified as not being involved in the fighting, and to assist as much as possible injured Palestinians under battle conditions." The reservist officer told Haaretz that "according to the details mentioned in the paper it appears the author was a low-ranking officer who dealt with the affairs of about 30 soldiers - like organizing their platoon equipment and oiling their weapons." He says the author might have taken part in an earlier briefing by more senior officers and took notes for his political and military briefing. That is where he received his instructions on the rules of engagement. "The rules of engagement are not something the platoon or company commander makes up," the reservist officer said. According to the graffiti left in the Dardone homes, and based on what is known about the IDF's deployment in the Strip, the unit involved was part of the Golani Brigade. The last portion of the document is entitled "Operational Routine - Fighting Timeline," and includes things such as guard duty, responsibility for platoon equipment and briefings. Under "Operational Routine" a note is included whose title can be translated as "Shitting of Houses." The reservist officer and soldier with whom Haaretz spoke said they were not aware of that term. Many of the homes the IDF troops took over were left in particularly unsanitary conditions; the residents of Sami Dardone's home found their clothes in piles with obvious signs of human feces. (Nevermind, it is a blessed feces... feces of the most moral troops/ NH)Sealed bags Haaretz asked the IDF spokesman whether "Shitting of Houses" refers to "an intentional action of turning the homes into latrines, or whether the commander wanted to talk to his soldiers about the fact that they had turned their living space into latrines." A reservist soldier who took part in Cast Lead told the reservist officer that "going to the toilet was part of the briefing, and perhaps 'Shitting of Houses' is a reference in the briefing to where to pile up the sealed bags the IDF provides the soldiers for relieving themselves." (let us pray that they found it really relieving/NH)The IDF spokesman said that "soldiers who were in the homes were instructed to relieve themselves in areas where it did not endanger their lives, mostly inside the house, and which allowed them to carry out their operational activities in the best possible way, and for as long as it would be necessary." The other side of the "Situational Assessment" sheet shows that it was written on a letter sent to the troops by a child. "To the Golani soldiers, good luck in the war," the letter reads in the hand of a young child. In the middle of the page there is a drawing of an armed soldier. "Love, the S. family."---------Comments written between brackets are by me not in the article.
We are the Nazis of our time and we are proud of it By Uri Blau (Israeli writer) The office at the Adiv fabric-printing shop in south Tel Aviv handles a constant stream of customers, many of them soldiers in uniform, who come to order custom clothing featuring their unit's insignia, usually accompanied by a slogan and drawing of their choosing. Elsewhere on the premises, the sketches are turned into plates used for imprinting the ordered items, mainly T-shirts and baseball caps, but also hoodies, fleece jackets and pants. A young Arab man from Jaffa supervises the workers who imprint the words and pictures, and afterward hands over the finished product. Dead babies, mothers weeping on their children's graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques - these are a few examples of the images Israel Defense Forces soldiers design these days to print on shirts they order to mark the end of training, or of field duty. The slogans accompanying the drawings are not exactly anemic either: A T-shirt for infantry snipers bears the inscription "Better use Durex," next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him. A sharpshooter's T-shirt from the Givati Brigade's Shaked battalion shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull's-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, in English, "1 shot, 2 kills." A "graduation" shirt for those who have completed another snipers course depicts a Palestinian baby, who grows into a combative boy and then an armed adult, with the inscription, "No matter how it begins, we'll put an end to it." There are also plenty of shirts with blatant sexual messages. For example, the Lavi battalion produced a shirt featuring a drawing of a soldier next to a young woman with bruises, and the slogan, "Bet you got raped!" A few of the images underscore actions whose existence the army officially denies - such as "confirming the kill" (shooting a bullet into an enemy victim's head from close range, to ensure he is dead), or harming religious sites, or female or child non-combatants. Advertisement In many cases, the content is submitted for approval to one of the unit's commanders. The latter, however, do not always have control over what gets printed, because the artwork is a private initiative of soldiers that they never hear about. Drawings or slogans previously banned in certain units have been approved for distribution elsewhere. For example, shirts declaring, "We won't chill 'til we confirm the kill" were banned in the past (the IDF claims that the practice doesn't exist), yet the Haruv battalion printed some last year. The slogan "Let every Arab mother know that her son's fate is in my hands!" had previously been banned for use on another infantry unit's shirt. A Givati soldier said this week, however, that at the end of last year, his platoon printed up dozens of shirts, fleece jackets and pants bearing this slogan. "It has a drawing depicting a soldier as the Angel of Death, next to a gun and an Arab town," he explains. "The text was very powerful. The funniest part was that when our soldier came to get the shirts, the man who printed them was an Arab, and the soldier felt so bad that he told the girl at the counter to bring them to him." Does the design go to the commanders for approval? The Givati soldier: "Usually the shirts undergo a selection process by some officer, but in this case, they were approved at the level of platoon sergeant. We ordered shirts for 30 soldiers and they were really into it, and everyone wanted several items and paid NIS 200 on average." What do you think of the slogan that was printed? "I didn't like it so much, but most of the soldiers wanted it." Many controversial shirts have been ordered by graduates of snipers courses, which bring together soldiers from various units. In 2006, soldiers from the "Carmon Team" course for elite-unit marksmen printed a shirt with a drawing of a knife-wielding Palestinian in the crosshairs of a gun sight, and the slogan, "You've got to run fast, run fast, run fast, before it's all over." Below is a drawing of Arab women weeping over a grave and the words: "And afterward they cry, and afterward they cry." [The inscriptions are riffs on a popular song.] Another sniper's shirt also features an Arab man in the crosshairs, and the announcement, "Everything is with the best of intentions." G., a soldier in an elite unit who has done a snipers course, explained that, "it's a type of bonding process, and also it's well known that anyone who is a sniper is messed up in the head. Our shirts have a lot of double entendres, for example: 'Bad people with good aims.' Every group that finishes a course puts out stuff like that." When are these shirts worn? G. "These are shirts for around the house, for jogging, in the army. Not for going out. Sometimes people will ask you what it's about." Of the shirt depicting a bull's-eye on a pregnant woman, he said: "There are people who think it's not right, and I think so as well, but it doesn't really mean anything. I mean it's not like someone is gonna go and shoot a pregnant woman." What is the idea behind the shirt from July 2007, which has an image of a child with the slogan "Smaller - harder!"? "It's a kid, so you've got a little more of a problem, morally, and also the target is smaller." Do your superiors approve the shirts before printing? "Yes, although one time they rejected some shirt that was too extreme. I don't remember what was on it." These shirts also seem pretty extreme. Why draw crosshairs over a child - do you shoot kids? 'We came, we saw' "As a sniper, you get a lot of extreme situations. You suddenly see a small boy who picks up a weapon and it's up to you to decide whether to shoot. These shirts are half-facetious, bordering on the truth, and they reflect the extreme situations you might encounter. The one who-honest-to-God sees the target with his own eyes - that's the sniper." Have you encountered a situation like that? "Fortunately, not involving a kid, but involving a woman - yes. There was someone who wasn't holding a weapon, but she was near a prohibited area and could have posed a threat." What did you do? "I didn't take it" (i.e., shoot). You don't regret that, I imagine. "No. Whomever I had to shoot, I shot." A shirt printed up just this week for soldiers of the Lavi battalion, who spent three years in the West Bank, reads: "We came, we saw, we destroyed!" - alongside images of weapons, an angry soldier and a Palestinian village with a ruined mosque in the center. A shirt printed after Operation Cast Lead in Gaza for Battalion 890 of the Paratroops depicts a King Kong-like soldier in a city under attack. The slogan is unambiguous: "If you believe it can be fixed, then believe it can be destroyed!" Y., a soldier/yeshiva student, designed the shirt. "You take whoever [in the unit] knows how to draw and then you give it to the commanders before printing," he explained. What is the soldier holding in his hand? Y. "A mosque. Before I drew the shirt I had some misgivings, because I wanted it to be like King Kong, but not too monstrous. The one holding the mosque - I wanted him to have a more normal-looking face, so it wouldn't look like an anti-Semitic cartoon. Some of the people who saw it told me, 'Is that what you've got to show for the IDF? That it destroys homes?' I can understand people who look at this from outside and see it that way, but I was in Gaza and they kept emphasizing that the object of the operation was to wreak destruction on the infrastructure, so that the price the Palestinians and the leadership pay will make them realize that it isn't worth it for them to go on shooting. So that's the idea of 'we're coming to destroy' in the drawing." According to Y., most of these shirts are worn strictly in an army context, not in civilian life. "And within the army people look at it differently," he added. "I don't think I would walk down the street in this shirt, because it would draw fire. Even at my yeshiva I don't think people would like it." Y. also came up with a design for the shirt his unit printed at the end of basic training. It shows a clenched fist shattering the symbol of the Paratroops Corps. Where does the fist come from? "It's reminiscent of [Rabbi Meir] Kahane's symbol. I borrowed it from an emblem for something in Russia, but basically it's supposed to look like Kahane's symbol, the one from 'Kahane Was Right' - it's a sort of joke. Our company commander is kind of gung-ho." Was the shirt printed? "Yes. It was a company shirt. We printed about 100 like that." This past January, the "Night Predators" demolitions platoon from Golani's Battalion 13 ordered a T-shirt showing a Golani devil detonating a charge that destroys a mosque. An inscription above it says, "Only God forgives." One of the soldiers in the platoon downplays it: "It doesn't mean much, it's just a T-shirt from our platoon. It's not a big deal. A friend of mine drew a picture and we made it into a shirt." What's the idea behind "Only God forgives"? The soldier: "It's just a saying." No one had a problem with the fact that a mosque gets blown up in the picture? "I don't see what you're getting at. I don't like the way you're going with this. Don't take this somewhere you're not supposed to, as though we hate Arabs." After Operation Cast Lead, soldiers from that battalion printed a T-shirt depicting a vulture sexually penetrating Hamas' prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, accompanied by a particularly graphic slogan. S., a soldier in the platoon that ordered the shirt, said the idea came from a similar shirt, printed after the Second Lebanon War, that featured Hassan Nasrallah instead of Haniyeh. "They don't okay things like that at the company level. It's a shirt we put out just for the platoon," S. explained. What's the problem with this shirt? S.: "It bothers some people to see these things, from a religious standpoint ..." How did people who saw it respond? "We don't have that many Orthodox people in the platoon, so it wasn't a problem. It's just something the guys want to put out. It's more for wearing around the house, and not within the companies, because it bothers people. The Orthodox mainly. The officers tell us it's best not to wear shirts like this on the base." The sketches printed in recent years at the Adiv factory, one of the largest of its kind in the country, are arranged in drawers according to the names of the units placing the orders: Paratroops, Golani, air force, sharpshooters and so on. Each drawer contains hundreds of drawings, filed by year. Many of the prints are cartoons and slogans relating to life in the unit, or inside jokes that outsiders wouldn't get (and might not care to, either), but a handful reflect particular aggressiveness, violence and vulgarity. Print-shop manager Haim Yisrael, who has worked there since the early 1980s, said Adiv prints around 1,000 different patterns each month, with soldiers accounting for about half. Yisrael recalled that when he started out, there were hardly any orders from the army. "The first ones to do it were from the Nahal brigade," he said. "Later on other infantry units started printing up shirts, and nowadays any course with 15 participants prints up shirts." From time to time, officers complain. "Sometimes the soldiers do things that are inside jokes that only they get, and sometimes they do something foolish that they take to an extreme," Yisrael explained. "There have been a few times when commanding officers called and said, 'How can you print things like that for soldiers?' For example, with shirts that trashed the Arabs too much. I told them it's a private company, and I'm not interested in the content. I can print whatever I like. We're neutral. There have always been some more extreme and some less so. It's just that now more people are making shirts." Race to be unique Evyatar Ben-Tzedef, a research associate at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism and former editor of the IDF publication Maarachot, said the phenomenon of custom-made T-shirts is a product of "the infantry's insane race to be unique. I, for example, had only one shirt that I received after the Yom Kippur War. It said on it, 'The School for Officers,' and that was it. What happened since then is a product of the decision to assign every unit an emblem and a beret. After all, there used to be very few berets: black, red or green. This changed in the 1990s. [The shirts] developed because of the fact that for bonding purposes, each unit created something that was unique to it. "These days the content on shirts is sometimes deplorable," Ben-Tzedef explained. "It stems from the fact that profanity is very acceptable and normative in Israel, and that there is a lack of respect for human beings and their environment, which includes racism aimed in every direction." Yossi Kaufman, who moderates the army and defense forum on the Web site Fresh, served in the Armored Corps from 1996 to 1999. "I also drew shirts, and I remember the first one," he said. "It had a small emblem on the front and some inside joke, like, 'When we die, we'll go to heaven, because we've already been through hell.'" Kaufman has also been exposed to T-shirts of the sort described here. "I know there are shirts like these," he says. "I've heard and also seen a little. These are not shirts that soldiers can wear in civilian life, because they would get stoned, nor at a battalion get-together, because the battalion commander would be pissed off. They wear them on very rare occasions. There's all sorts of black humor stuff, mainly from snipers, such as, 'Don't bother running because you'll die tired' - with a drawing of a Palestinian boy, not a terrorist. There's a Golani or Givati shirt of a soldier raping a girl, and underneath it says, 'No virgins, no terror attacks.' I laughed, but it was pretty awful. When I was asked once to draw things like that, I said it wasn't appropriate." The IDF Spokesman's Office comments on the phenomenon: "Military regulations do not apply to civilian clothing, including shirts produced at the end of basic training and various courses. The designs are printed at the soldiers' private initiative, and on civilian shirts. The examples raised by Haaretz are not in keeping with the values of the IDF spirit, not representative of IDF life, and are in poor taste. Humor of this kind deserves every condemnation and excoriation. The IDF intends to take action for the immediate eradication of this phenomenon. To this end, it is emphasizing to commanding officers that it is appropriate, among other things, to take discretionary and disciplinary measures against those involved in acts of this sort." Shlomo Tzipori, a lieutenant colonel in the reserves and a lawyer specializing in martial law, said the army does bring soldiers up on charges for offenses that occur outside the base and during their free time. According to Tzipori, slogans that constitute an "insult to the army or to those in uniform" are grounds for court-martial, on charges of "shameful conduct" or "disciplinary infraction," which are general clauses in judicial martial law. Sociologist Dr. Orna Sasson-Levy, of Bar-Ilan University, author of "Identities in Uniform: Masculinities and Femininities in the Israeli Military," said that the phenomenon is "part of a radicalization process the entire country is undergoing, and the soldiers are at its forefront. I think that ever since the second intifada there has been a continual shift to the right. The pullout from Gaza and its outcome - the calm that never arrived - led to a further shift rightward. "This tendency is most strikingly evident among soldiers who encounter various situations in the territories on a daily basis. There is less meticulousness than in the past, and increasing callousness. There is a perception that the Palestinian is not a person, a human being entitled to basic rights, and therefore anything may be done to him." Could the printing of clothing be viewed also as a means of venting aggression? Sasson-Levy: "No. I think it strengthens and stimulates aggression and legitimizes it. What disturbs me is that a shirt is something that has permanence. The soldiers later wear it in civilian life; their girlfriends wear it afterward. It is not a statement, but rather something physical that remains, that is out there in the world. Beyond that,I think the link made between sexist views and nationalist views, as in the 'Screw Haniyeh' shirt, is interesting. National chauvinism and gender chauvinism combine and strengthen one another. It establishes a masculinity shaped by violent aggression toward women and Arabs; a masculinity that considers it legitimate to speak in a crude and violent manner toward women and Arabs." Col. (res.) Ron Levy began his military service in the Sayeret Matkal elite commando force before the Six-Day War. He was the IDF's chief psychologist, and headed the army's mental health department in the 1980s. Levy: "I'm familiar with things of this sort going back 40, 50 years, and each time they take a different form. Psychologically speaking, this is one of the ways in which soldiers project their anger, frustration and violence. It is a certain expression of things, which I call 'below the belt.'" Do you think this a good way to vent anger? Levy: "It's safe. But there are also things here that deviate from the norm, and you could say that whoever is creating these things has reached some level of normality. He gives expression to the fact that what is considered abnormal today might no longer be so tomorrow." (end)----------------This article was written by an Israel journalist. I wonder how come he is so calm? A group of crazy jerks are released to spread their insanity and some psychological ans sociological pimps rationalizing what they are doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Imagine the following situation:
A neighbour in your district whenever you walk in the street he hurls stones on you, sometime tosses stones on your house and breaks your window.
Once upon a day you decided to get rid of this mischievous neighbour once and for all.
You took your gun and went out to the street where the neighbour was standing steady to toss stones on you. Once he sees your gun he runs and hides behind a couple of babies and a woman.
What would you do?
Conditions:
1- free your mind and use imagination and contemplation
2- try to be as honest as you can
3- feel the situation vividly
4- Don’t overload the situation with your political derivations… try to be simple and human.
This poll is opened for 3 days. During these days I will not comment or interfere.
I'm posting this as the result of an unbelievably unreal discussion on the Oklahomans for Obama group.
First, I'm shocked at how many Democrats, Oklahomans and not, believe in this unicorn called "toxic assets". Clue number One should have been all the characterizations of "credit flow" as some type of clogging, arterial or intestinal. The problem is the bundling of defaults into Accounts Receivable status when they are in fact a loss, and should be entered in accounting practice as such. The problem is that the Statute of Limitations runs out on collecting on defaults in 7 years, but a company can, every 7 years, show automatic attempt to collect and keep the default on the books for another 7 years into perpetuity, and, yes, clog the system that way.
Companies constipate themselves when they perpetually enter losses as assets. They're losses and it's healthier for the bank to write it off as a loss than to perpetuate the illusion of having a loss as an asset. And until Democrats including Obama realize they've been played, Democrats are going to continue to be just as much a part of the problem as Republicans have been and run this country into the ground by simply throwing money at it even with added conditions.
There is no such thing as an asset that is toxic and your emperor really has no clothes. Really.
############
Additionally, Oklahoman Democrats on that listserv have been convinced that nationalized banking is socialism, and not one of them has been able to cite which part of socialism pertains to banking. Unless and until Democrats realize that they're just as much at fault for our current situation as Republicans have been, that Obama called for ALL hands on deck and not just the diminutive Democrat base, well........we're screwed.
On the Playing Field –
Intensity and Integrity
By Jacqueline Brannon Giles
My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Psalm 45:1
The coach tells a player to go out there on the playing field and catch that ball, get a touchdown, and complete that “Hail Mary” pass. The player does it and he does it so well and so often during his career that his numbers stand out even in the 21st century. Who was that player with intensity and player integrity—the kind of player whose results have taken many years to exceed. His name is Warren Wells.
Take a good look at the players’ averages and tell me what you see. During the first five years of Warren Wells’ career his averages were better than some of the Super Bowl 43 wide receivers. For example, if you compare Wells (1), Fitzgerald (2), Rice (3) and Boldin (4), clearly Wells’ average exceeds the others during the first five years. Respectively, their numbers are:
23.1
14.9
14.8
11.7
Senior Wide Receiver during the First Five Years
WR Year** Avg TDs
John Gilliam 67 (1) 12.0 1
Gary Garrison 66 (1) 14.0 4*
Warren Wells 64 (1) 10.5 0
John Gilliam 68 (2) 11.8 0
Gary Garrison 67 (2) 17.5 2
Warren Wells 67 (2) 23.2 6*
John Gilliam 69 (3) 19.2 9
Gary Garrison 68 (3) 21.2 10
Warren Wells 68 (3) 21.5 11*
John Gilliam 70 (4) 21.2 5
Gary Garrison 69 (4) 20.1 9
Warren Wells 69 (4) 26.8 14*
John Gilliam 71 (5) 19.9 3
Gary Garrison 70 (5) 22.9 12*
Warren Wells 70 (5) 21.5 11
Note 1: * means peak during the ordinal year.
Note 2: **Ordinal data for first five years in professional football
Source: http://www.databasesports.com/
A Baseline Comparison
In September 2002 Paul Zimmerman is quoted: Hayes began to make his mark on the NFL as soon as he arrived: He led the league with 21.8 yards per catch in his rookie season, and he sustained that career average of 20 yards per reception, a figure few players even approach nowadays for a single season. The zone defense had existed in the NFL before his arrival, but it was crude by today's standards, and Hayes could destroy that kind of coverage the same way he did man-to-man alignments. So coaches came up with a double zone to try to control him. A cornerback would play him tight as he came off the line—in those days defenders could do anything they wanted to a receiver, except grab and hold—and another defensive back would pick him up deep. Or coaches would assign the deepest defensive back, usually the free safety, to make sure he stayed behind Hayes, which opened up vast areas underneath. No other player caused that kind of strategic overhaul of the defensive game.
Zimmerman continued, That alone should have earned Hayes a spot in Canton, but in 1979, two years before he became eligible for enshrinement, he was sentenced to five years in prison for selling narcotics; he was paroled after serving 10 months. His alcohol and drug problems were a shock to those who knew him. He was a decent, forthright person with...well, major problems. But that was enough to keep him out of Canton, even though, according to the guidelines, a candidate should be judged solely on the basis of his performance on the field.
By the 1990s he was no longer a modern Hall of Fame candidate. He had been relegated to the Seniors pool, which can yield only one candidate a year and sometimes produces none.
"The situation with Bob Hayes and the Hall of Fame is one of the most tragic stories I've ever been associated with during my time in professional football," said Tex Schramm, the Cowboys' former president and general manager. But Schramm was a one-man selection committee for the Cowboys' Ring of Honor, and he never admitted Hayes. Jerry Jones, the team's owner since 1989, didn't admit Hayes until last year.
Based on Performance
The reality of the quote is that the HOF is to select a candidate and judge a candidate solely on the basis of his performance on the field. So when a player delivers on the playing field, so then the HOF must deliver in accordance with the guidelines, otherwise the integrity issues arise.
For example, just as Zimmerman noted that Hayes “led the league with 21.8 yards per catch in his rookie season, the data shows that Wells was outstanding during his rookie year with Oakland, with 23.2 yards per catch. Furthermore, the year before Wells attained this number, he was in the military in Alaska, serving his country after being drafted into the U. S. Army. He willingly served his country although that service caused a gap in his professional football career.
Wells’ overall average exceeds Hayes. In fact, his average is well above the 2009 Super Bowl wide receivers.
If we compare Wells with Hayes, a conjecture would be that Hayes had speed and Wells had speed on the playing field. Zimmerman said that the defensive strategy had to change to control or stop Hayes, and a reasonable conjecture is that it had to change to stop Warren Wells, too.
It’s about time we exhume the records and take a good look, rather microscopic in nature, to study the DNA of the situation. Innocent oversight is one thing; but intent to overlook excellent performance on the football field is not acceptable in the 21st century. The power of a critical eye, and the power of the media will have to be blended to jointly reconsider the performance on the field and come into compliance with the HOF guidelines.
Another important point for rebuttal is career length. The argument can be discussed in the context of the average career length of an NFL player. According to research, we have: “The average career of an NFL player is 3 1/2 seasons according to the NFLPA.”
The amazing fact about Wells’ career is that he made history during an intense five year career and his career length exceeds that of the average NFL player, and his length has qualified him for his NFL benefits, so why not give him his glory commensurate with his mark on history.
I am reminded of how heartbroken I was as valedictorian of a class in 1961 and the committee who had the power to award the one scholarship that I sought and was qualified to receive, made a political decision to give the scholarship to someone else. Similarly, can you imagine the depression of someone who knows that he gave his best on the football field, but was not judged for the content of his character on the field in accordance to the HOF guidelines? Just as the Obama campaign promised change so there must be change in how we honor those who did their best on the job, on the field, yet have been overlooked so long that some of them are finally recognized posthumously.
Hayes passed away in 2002, and 7 years later he is being honored. Wells is 66 years old, alive and well in his hometown, and he needs to be honored for his performance on the field in a game that gave him joy and a place to excel. As a child before he was eight years old, Warren Wells and his family lived on a plantation in near Franklin, Louisiana. What great heights he attained after such a humble beginning which reminds us of the struggles for freedom, dignity and justice for all in America.
In 1999 Pope John Paul honored Galileo 359 years after his death—the Catholic Church failed to recognize its error in judging Galileo and it took years to correct the flawed thinking.
Henry Flipper, the first black man to graduate West Point was overlooked and falsely accused, yet the strength and integrity of President William Jefferson Clinton addressed the errors and corrected them, thereby restoring honor to Mr. Flipper who was honored in a Presidential ceremony in the Twentieth century. This article sets forth a proposal to set the record straight, do the research and find all of those who have been overlooked and suppressed by selective exposure. It is time for change.
For example, Henry Flipper suffered ill-judgment, but President William Jefferson Clinton erased the cloud around his honorable achievements. Research indicates,
Clearing His Name--It was the Civil Rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s and a concerted effort by historians to tell the story of all Americans that brought attention to the circumstances surrounding Flippers dismissal. The case was reviewed by the Army Board for Correction of Military records. In late 1976, the board changed Flipper's dismissal to an honorable discharge. While acknowledging that Flipper had falsified reports and lied to his commanding officer, the board ruled that the sentence of the court and its approval by the president was ". . . unduly harsh, and therefore unjust."In the1999 Executive Grant of Clemency, President Clinton granted "a full and unconditional pardon to Lieutenant Henry Ossian Flipper." Source: http://www.africanamericans.com/HenryFlipper.htm
There are numerous examples of “unduly harsh and unjust” acts in world history and American history. Similar oversights and injustices have impacted the lives of professional athletes, some of whom were from very modest sociocultural backgrounds before they achieved on the professional football field.. In many cases, the legal, political and media support systems were not in place to uphold and defend the good in their careers on the field, thereby leaving them to become overlooked and plagued by “hearsay” rather than by rigorous research to present the data to characterize their impact on the playing field.
A contemporary example of performance on the football field is Santonio Holmes, the Super Bowl XLIII MVP, who has several off the field challenges yet we must respect his data. During his second year in professional football his 18.1 Y/R (2007) average is outstanding, but it was exceeded by Wells in 1969.
Let’s us take a good look, and let us exercise an intense passion for truth, clearer perceptions, and let us recognize men and women for their performance on the field.
Student Project for Calculus
For this project, we compared the “greatness” of two very talented football players, Jerry Rice and Warren Wells. To do this, we examined a list on rankings for several categories. We then took this information and created a graph for each player.
We decided that we could determine the area under the curve and that the player with the largest total area would be “the greatest.” To do this, we divided the graph into sections and determined the area of each section and then took the sum of the sections.
We took the first two ordered pairs, for Jerry Rice that was (5, 27) and (10,27).
We used these to find the slope:
m= (y2-y1)/(x2-x1) = (27-27)/(10-5)= 0/5= 0
We then plugged the slope and the first ordered pair into the slope-intercept formula:
y-y1=m(x-x1)
y-27= 0(x-5)
y= 27
To get the area under the curve, we next took the integral of the equation we just got:
∫05 y dy
∫05 (27)
27x ]05
((27)(5))-((27)(0))
135
The following is a list of the sets of ordered pairs we used:
Jerry Rice:
(5,27) (10,27)
(10,27) (15,13)
(15,13) (20,29)
(20,29) (25,32)
(25,32) (30,27)
(30,27) (35,33)
(35,33) (40,28)
(40,28) (45,29)
(45,29) (50,6)
Warren Wells:
(5,6) (10,10)
(10,10) (15,33)
(15,33) (20,28)
(20,28) (25,28)
(25,28) (30,33)
(30,33) (35,29)
(35,29) (40,10)
(40,10) (45,28)
(45,28) (50,11)
The total areas we calculated were:
Jerry Rice =1177.4
Warren Wells =1047.5
Therefore, we concluded that Jerry Rice is overall the greater of these two football players.
Note: This project is suitable for precalculus, using the area of trapezoids and rectangles.
Online access
Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need | J Benton Grimmett ...
By Jacqueline Brannon Giles. The coach tells a player to go out there on the playing field and catch that ball, get a touchdown, and complete that “Hail ...my.barackobama.com/page/community/person/ggTGk - 76k - Cached - Similar pages
Vision - Potential : Number 84, September 2008
In the three categories for "Rushing" Warren Wells, Don Hutson and Jerry Rice all rank No. 1. Hutson, the first NFL wide receiver, dominates "Yards/Game" ...www.contemporarycollegealgebra.org/newsletters/84Sep08.html - 22k - Cached - Similar pages
Student Project for Calculus 2
File Format: Microsoft Word - View as HTMLme in the hallway at Texas Southern is Warren Wells. He became a professional football player, ... the NFL or on his career. On May 18, 2008, however, a ...www.victoryintheword.us/files/Take_a_Good_Look_Math.doc - Similar pages
Feb 7, 2009 ... His name is Warren Wells.Take a good look at the players’ averages ... According to research, we have: “The average career of an NFL player ...my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/jackiegiles/gGx2rK - 42k - Cached - Similar pages
Learn from history:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpdXEpBLdU8
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=51776392
Al-Jazeera reporter, Salam Khoder, said Thursday morning to Al-Jazeera broadcast, that about three Israeli soldiers stormed into the medical aid boat “brotherhood” attacking civilians on board.
The aid boat was shipping medical aid, children toys, cloths and blankets to civilians in Gaza suffering inhuman condition due to the blockade and the last war on Gaza. Israeli forces endeavoured to prevent the boat from reaching Gaza, trying, in vain, to compel the boat to return back to Lebanon.
Before the phone line was disconnected, Salam Koder, in a phone call to al-Jazeera, was entirely terrified saying: ‘they stormed into the boat, three…. Three soldiers pointing their weapons toward us… they climbed the back of the boat… they are attacking us… they…. Kicking the passengers… beating us.. they are beating us.. they…”.
All contacts with the boat are disjointed.
The boat is carrying reporters, doctors, Christian priests, Muslim clerics and human rights activists.
Israeli army announced that their soldiers led the boat to Ashdod harbour to investigate passengers and inspect the boat.
International media did not mention a word about this incident till this moment.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Get ready for the in-law in chief.
President-elect Barack Obama's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, is moving into the White House at least temporarily to join Michelle Obama and the two children, transition officials said Friday.
That's good news not just for late-night comics, but for 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha. During the campaign, Robinson retired from her job as a bank executive secretary to help care for her granddaughters.
"Mrs. Robinson will be coming with the family to help the girls get acclimated, and she will determine in the coming months whether or not she wants to stay in D.C. permanently," said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, spokeswoman for Michelle Obama.
Michelle Obama also made another hotly awaited decision: She's keeping the White House chef. Cristeta Comerford took the job in 2005 and is the first woman and first minority to serve as executive chef.
"Cristeta Comerford brings such incredible talent to the White House operation and came very highly regarded from the Bush family," Michelle Obama said in a statement released by the transition team. "Also the mom of a young daughter, I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families."
Plenty of in-laws have taken up residence in the White House before, not to mention cousins, grandchildren and other relatives.
"Throughout history there have been many extended first families in office," said Robert Watson, author of "Life in the White House."
Ulysses S. Grant's father-in-law, Richard Dent, stayed for several years. Harry S. Truman's mother-in-law, Madge Gates Wallace, lived there, too, and was critical of her son-in-law.
"She never liked him. She always felt that Bess had married below her station," said Myra Gutin, a first lady historian and professor at Ryder University in New Jersey.
"For his part, he was gracious. Whatever Mother Wallace wanted, she pretty much got."
Mamie Eisenhower's mother also had extended stays, but like her daughter she tended to sleep until noon, said Maria Downs of the White House Historical Association.
Even the presidents' mothers can be tough. Lillian Carter stayed in the White House and got on well with her son Jimmy, but Gutin said that when he first told her, "Mom, I'm going to run for president," she replied, "President of what?"
By all accounts, Obama has a good relationship with his mother-in-law. She had put off retirement for years, but finally retired last summer to take care of the granddaughters while their parents campaigned.
"She didn't want anyone else taking care of the kids but her," McCormick Lelyveld said. "She wanted to be the one there."
Barack Obama has called her one of the unsung heroes of his campaign, and spoke of holding her hand on election night.
But when asked by "60 Minutes" if Robinson would move in, he quipped: "Well, I don't tell my mother-in-law what to do. But I'm not stupid. That's why I got elected president, man."
