It is a convoluted, tangled thread, but there is a thread going from colonial policy to 9/11, the London bombings, etc.. There were many opportunities to have snapped that thread, but those were never taken. We like to think ourselves independent of history, but we are not. Anyway, enough said.

SHARIF ABDEL KOUDDOUS: Well, that’s another thing. And I said—I kept saying—they kept asking me, “What are you doing here? Why are you here?” I said, “We’re press. We’re here to bear witness to what’s going on, and that’s why we’re in the streets.” And he kept saying, “Oh, you should use a telescopic lens,” or, “You know, when it gets rowdy, you should just stay behind the corner.” I said, “No, that’s not what we’re here to do. You need to respect the fact that we’re media. If someone’s carrying a camera, you don’t tackle them to the floor.” And this is respected widely in most of the world, but there seems to have been, in this country, a violation of that separation, and media are treated very badly, frankly. And this—it seems to be getting worse, especially in this RNC, with these preemptive raids, as w

We should respect and obey "authority," the very authority that we fund, are supposed to control and who is supposed to serve us, even when they are doing "something outrageous?" A good American is an obedient American. Obedience is paramount. Astounding.

I can not even begin to relay how stunned and disgusted I am at the servile nature of some people. I just can't even really believe it.

Me, too! Obedience is not a characteristic of a free people.

The Hindi translation of the right attitude is - "Is this your father's sidewalk that you can tell me where to stand?"

-- On the verge of Indian independence (October 1946), Nehru wrote this note to Sir Olaf Caroe, Governor of the North West Frontier Province:

"27. Indians must remember that British officials in India have to face a difficult situation and it is not easy for them to fit in always with changing conditions. They have often to face unjust criticism. They have the feeling that there is no special place for them in India in the future and that they are not wanted. Inevitably they seek support from one another and are rather cut off from the flowing current of national life. British officials in India should remember that India is dynamic today and her long past of suppression makes her people irritable and intolerant of those who are associated with this suppression. There is today a bubbling life in India observable even more in the common people than in the upper classes. This life often takes a wrong turn. Nevertheless it is the hope of India and any suppression of it is to do injury to India. In any event it cannot be suppressed. This fact has to be recognised and people should adapt themselves to it."

I'd say that this "bubbling life" cannot be suppressed in any free society without doing injury to that society.

A few photographs -

St Paul Welcomes the RNC

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/forum/topic/683576

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Posted here because of the claim there that the cameras on the traffic lights are not normally present; i.e., police and protester action has been recorded, and may be useful to the protesters if they need corroboration of their stories.

Tom Raum last night "reported" -- falsely -- that "many liberals are belittling the choice, suggesting that as a mother of five children -- including an infant with Down syndrome — she has neither the time nor the experience to become vice president."

Sally Swartz, columnist, Palm Beach Post

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2008/08/13/a10a_swartzcol_0813.html

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Quote:

"It seemed selfish and inconsiderate for Mr. Edwards to persist in his campaign. With two young children and a terminally ill wife, his family needed much more attention than a father and husband running for president would be able to give them. But Mr. Edwards, who proclaimed his family values and shared his family's story, was determined to plow ahead."

Political donations have never sat well with me because in my mind there's way too much money already being spent on politics and politicians in the USA...

The government controls trillions of dollars. Getting the right Representatives, Senators, President is certainly worth $10 per citizen per year ($3 billion per year). Otherwise we get the government that the corporations payed for.

Apart from providing fodder for Bush's wars on terra, small town America is not under any direct threat from al Qaeda. The Pentagon or the World Trade Center were not in Wasilla. Any newcomer to a small town would be immediately noticed, unlike say anyone in New York City. If Palin knows foreign policy by virtue of being in the state closest to Russia, then she doesn't know anything about the supposed foremost threat to America because she doesn't live close enough to any place likely to be hit.

Editorial Notebook

Lives of the Party

Francis X. Clines

"One young woman approached the stage uninvited and unfurled a sign that read: "Be Pro-life -- Stop the war." Ms Schlafly grabbed the microphone from the intruder. She was escorted to an exit.