Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren once again proving how even the Israeli government cannot justify its own policies while trying to claim they want peace with the Palestinians

Here's a look at some of today's news:

1. US Secretary of State Clinton has given Netanyahu a list of demands which must be satisfied to restore "strained" US-Israeli relations.

She also called for an official Israeli declaration that talks with the Palestinians will deal with all of the conflict's core issues, including borders, the status of Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements, the paper reported.

Clinton had earlier told Netanyahu that his government was putting US ties at risk by failing to take action towards renewed Middle East peace talks.

2. Opposition leaders in Egypt are demanding that the next grand sheikh of Al-Azhar be voted on by a group of scholars. The spot was vacated last week with the death of the late Grand Sheikh Tantawi, 81.

Opposition leader Ayman Nour wrote in the daily al-Dostour: “May God have mercy on Sheikh Tantawi for his religious knowledge, and forgive him for working in politics.

“We hope that a respected scholar would come to lead al-Azhar, modernize its role and regain its status,” added Nour.

3. A coalition of business groups led by the US Chamber of Commerce has spent over $11 million this month alone (and could reach $30 million) on advertising targeting certain Democrats, pressuring them to vote against health care legislation.

Not only are these swing Democrats being pummeled in the new spate of advertising — which could total $30 million before week’s end — but extensive efforts are under way in Congressional districts, where groups on both sides of the issue are using tactics similar to get-out-the-vote drives to urge constituents to contact their lawmakers. Mr. Obama is calling lawmakers, too, and on Monday is traveling to Ohio to open a weeklong campaign to close this act of the health care debate

4. Panic in the country of Georgia as a news channel broadcast a fake report claiming the Russians were invading the state. Resulting in a public reaction similar to that of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, citizens rushed to the supermarkets, called loved ones on their cellphones (crashing the network), and some had heart pains.

Looking nervous and fumbling with papers as if juggling the chaos of a breaking news story, the anchor announced that sporadic fighting had begun on the streets of Tbilisi, the capital, that Russian bombers were airborne and heading for Georgia, that troops were skirmishing to the west and that a tank battalion was reported to be on the move.

The broadcast showed tanks rumbling down a road, billowing exhaust, along with jerky images of a fighter jet racing out of the sky and dropping bombs.

5. Some people are asking why the ultra-conservative commentator Glenn Beck hates Jesus, after he recently said on his show that Christians should leave their churches if there is any talk of "social justice."

When Glenn Beck told listeners of his radio show on March 2 that they should "run as fast as you can" from any church that preached "social or economic justice" because those were code words for Communism and Nazism, he probably thought he was tweaking a few crunchy religious liberals who didn't listen to the show anyway...

6. Just as the US contemplated bombing China in the 1960s to prevent it from getting the bomb, conservative commentators are still calling for an attack on Iran citing their alleged irrationality and suicidal ambitions. However, should Iran get the bomb, containment works.

So what is the argument for containment? Basically, it assumes that if China and Russia changed over decades, so might Iran. And nuclear weapons can handcuff a nation as easily as they can empower it. Last week, at the University of Oklahoma, Mr. Brzezinski argued that either an Iranian bomb or an attack on Iran would be “a calamity, a disaster.” He said containment could work because Iran “may be dangerous, assertive and duplicitous, but there is nothing in their history to suggest they are suicidal.”

I am back in Washington DC after a relaxing week with family and friends in Colorado where I did nothing but eat good food, drink dark beer, read interesting books and snowboard. It was rather enjoyable.

DC is warm, but rainy. Today I plan on preparing for three interviews I have lined up over the next two days. Wish me luck.

Below is a news roundup of articles, interviews and news that caught my attention.

1. Al Jazeera interview with the cartoonist Joe Sacco on his new book Footnotes in Gaza.

2. Brazil and the United States are positioning for control of humanitarian efforts in Haiti following the recent earthquake.

3. NYT Op-ed column by Maureen Dowd on the human relations and legal efforts behind the challenge to California's Prop. 8. Most accurate quote:

legalizing gay marriage is like electing a black president. Before you do it, it seems inconceivable. Once it’s done, you can’t remember what all the fuss was about.

Satan wrote a charming letter to Pat Robertson after his recent comments on Haiti. God also responded with a press conference.

Dear Pat Robertson, I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll. You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract. Best, Satan

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) - In the wake of his comments about the earthquake in Haiti, televangelist Pat Robertson has become a "public relations nightmare" and a "gynormous embarrassment to me, personally," God said today.

In a rare press conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, the usually reclusive Almighty said that He was taking the unusual step of airing His feelings in public because "enough is enough.""I pray that his TV show would just go away, but of course, when you're me there's no one to pray to," God said, to the laughter of the packed room of reporters.
While God held out no hope that Rev. Robertson's "700 Club" would be cancelled any time soon, He did say, somewhat ruefully, "If Pat Robertson were on NBC he'd be replaced by Jay Leno by now.

As usual, I found someone else who is much more capable that myself of summing up and clearly expressing a number of my views on religion, faith and politics and its frequently negative effects on the United States and the world. Even better, he addresses one of my least favorite parts of contemporary American Christianity - the Left Behind series, which has been spewing out ridiculous stories allegedly based on prophecy for years now. In truth, I think these books are simply huge money makers for their xenophobic, jingoistic and idiotic authors, but that is another long story.

Two recent articles caught my eye. I thought I would share.

The first: Christian leaders praying for the death of President Obama

Christian Hate: Three Nationally Recognized Pastors Praying for Obama's Death
October 3, 2009