Yes, Chris Hedges gave this speech this year at the 2010 Socialism Conference.  Chris Hedges is a renown journalist and author.  

He was a foreign correspondent for over two decades, a Pulitzer prize winner and author of  War is A Force That Gives Us Meaning.   His opposition… Read full post »

A friend of my son's shared this video.  This is East Oakland and this is some incredible dancing and talent.   

The dancers are part of  Turf Feinz  and the film makers are YAK Films  .

In the Negev Desert, part of Israel, there are Bedouin villages that pre-dated Israel.  The villagers have land titles from the Ottoman empire with deeds and tax receipts.  But, I guess all that did not matter, after all they are Bedouins.  More than 110,000 Bedouins live in unrecogniz… Read full post »

Corporations are sitting on piles of cash.  They do not seem quite sure what to do with the cash.  They claim that the political and economic environment makes them nervous and they do not want to take risks. What are we talking about?   Something like $837 billion.  

According to… Read full post »

"You cannot step twice into the same river"  _{Heraclitus, 530 BC}

Truth changes with time.  We seem to have a perception of truth as being obvious, or permanent.  Yet, in the time of the internet truth changes as new people arrive.   The truth that seemed obvious now has a new… Read full post »

We still ask the question.  We still look for models.  Icons.  Standards.  In reading the series on "Real Families" I was struck by how we tried to justify reality vs. the cultural, almost phantasmic ideal of family that was handed to us.   Why do we need to justify the struc… Read full post »

Certain directors have implanted images into my head that keep bubbling up in my life.  The following scene is from the Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, 1972.  

By the way, I would like to remind all those who use surreal to describe the unreal, this is what surreal is.  If some… Read full post »

I entered the work force somewhere around 1972.  When women were called "my girl", when all women had to bring coffee and where educated women ran America efficiently, but never had a position of authority.  

Mad Men for me is like being dunked into the middle of the pool that… Read full post »

The following is a lecture by Mustafa Barghouti, a leader of the Palestinian National Initiative.  Why do I post an hour long video?  Well, because I find that Palestinians are rarely allowed to make their case.  

Frankly, few Americans have heard an articulate Palestinians s… Read full post »

I am on a self imposed three week news black out  A sort of news fast.   I am sure nothing will be resolved during my fast and then I can resume my regular blogging.   

In the meantime, I have been entertaining guests and enjoying the garden. 

I have been thinking about the Mel Gibson affair.  Insert here all the standard outrage I don't need to repeat it.  I am looking for the outrage for whoever recorded and sold the conversation?

Why do I get angry at the celebrity private life voyeurism, yet I cravenly indulge in… Read full post »

So you got the grill going, made the veggies, salad and a great summer desert.  You want some potatoes, something new. 

Each summer I seem to find some kind of favorite potato, an easy to go to side dish. I end up forgetting the next year, so I will post… Read full post »

There is more to life than good manners; and politeness is not morality. Yet it is not not nothing. Politensss is a small thing that paves the way for great things. It is ritual without God; ceremonial without religion; protocol without monarchy. An empty form whose… Read full post »

If you enjoyed TED you will will love RSA Animate.  

What is RSA:  

For over 250 years the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) has been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress.  Our approach is multi-disciplinary,… Read full post »

Theoretical talking of occupations often times does not depict what is really happening to the people who are occupied. Here is a video, from Christian Peace Teams, from July 6, 2010. I know what it takes to get a tomato plant to this point. 

Israeli border police destroyed… Read full post »

This was part of the live coverage offered in the Bay Area yesterday.  

I watched another channel and did not see this incident.  But see how this actual event is covered by the eyewitness team.  .    

 I don't need to say more… Read full post »

I watch as America's dystopia is covered on television: "there will be riots" the headlines blare.  When America is confronted with the fact that it is not a utopia for everyone, our media and our politicians screech.  The community screams and uses the little power it has, the possibility… Read full post »

When the weather is hot and the full summer crops are not in, there are some dishes that keep you going.  

In Egypt we called it shaqshuqa, in Greece we just call them summer eggs.  I have many memories of versions of these eggs.  … Read full post »

To get to America, you have to jump through many hoops and loops.  You have to be checked out, x-rayed and fingerprinted.  You have to fill out forms.  You have to wait your turn.  You have to be good.  You have to never have been a commie.  Never a Nazi.  Never… Read full post »

Lazy summer blogger excuse, my eggplants are not ready and I refuse to buy them from the supermarket.  

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Eggplants are part of the summer holy vegetable alliance:  Peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and eggplants.  Gardens are overflow… Read full post »

I have been thinking about capitalism and the demise of European and Anglo Saxon stronghold on the world .  You see a German sociologist, Max Weber, wrote a book called, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.  The main idea is that Capitalism thrived because of the Pro… Read full post »

 State of Emergency:

Egyptians have been living under a "State of Emergency" since 1967. Basically, Egypt can pose as a Democracy, receive aid from America and most of Europe but violate each basic tenet of a democracy.  

• Strikes , demonstrations and public meetings are prohibited. 
… Read full post »

We can all trivialize the social media, You Tube, Twitter and Facebook for many valid reasons.  But, one aspect was not an original intent is the use of the tools for Human Rights struggles around the world.  In order for you to use the mediums for beyond the trivial, you, the… Read full post »

The Germans call it Rumtopf, rum pot, so do the Alsatians. Layers of summer fruit preserved for the winter.  It starts in spring and ends in the fall with pears.  

I usually do not like canned fruits.  I either freeze my harvest, jams, liquors or rumtopf.  

Come … Read full post »