Month: October 2005

this diary is dedicated to all who suffer because of war and other disasters

cross-posted at DailyKos, Booman Tribune, European Tribune, and My Left Wing.

image and poem below the fold

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A week or three ago, I received an e-mail from a community member, whose name most of you would recognize. His wife is in a real jam with health problems, and they are having trouble finding the money to help her get healthy. He was, frankly, out of options, and turned to me, not knowing what else to do.

His wife is an intensely private person, so this appeal will need to be made anonymously. But trust me, you know and love this person, and this is a case of real need: it will take between $8,000 and $13,000 to bring her home safely.

Text of the appeal below the fold.

Please recommend this diary.

P.S.: A couple of people have asked about alternatives to Paypal. We’re working on that. Shoot me an e-mail, and I’ll let you know.

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Looking back at late 2005, it is difficult to believe how reviled George W Bush once was. After his xxxxxxxxxx episode, and the subsequent end of his presidency, one could only hope for him to simply disappear, fade away into nothingness, to have him dissolve completely, forgotten. His painful legacy had become all the more acute due to the attacks and revelations made by his closest personal allies whom he betrayed with such viscous clarity during the last months of his downfall.

But now, in Jerusalem, the new crossroads of modern civilization, the Global Peace City, sits the Ashram Bush. It is hard to imagine the healing process Mr Bush, now simply known as “the Texan,” shared with the world when he actually engaged the hard work of sorting out his life, his addictions, the cruelty heaped upon him as a child, and the destruction and pain which he sowed as an adult.

Even more strange, looking at history, is the fact that after completing an actual twelve-step program, and making amends with the entire planet, he went on to question the absolute power of one god of knowable will, and embraced all beliefs, and all people. His complete rejection of any marginalization of any person astounded all. His successful pleas to the current administration to release those imprisoned for the fascist propaganda which enabled his pre-enlightenment tyrannical rule has improved our society greatly.

And his ability to broker the peaceful establishment of Jerusalem as a symbolic Global City of Peace shall remain one of the great human achievements.

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 What is this mad conversation about the Democratic Party doing nothing for we, the people?

What is this roundelay about Democrats voting for war in Iraq, staying the course, cutting taxes, slashing public programs, ramping up military spending, passing medieval bankruptcy laws, and generally acting like Republican-lite?  Acting like they’ve joined the other side?

Are we really?  Are we really still having this conversation about center right or right of center or moderate liberal and what these words mean?  Whether they mean what we say they mean, or mean something else?

Is Alice still sipping tea at table, and hoping to discern a direction from the Mad Hatter’s discourse?

Omigod.

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