afterwards lunch at Andy's where you can't tell in and out for utter modernity.No, I'm not surprised about the deviousness, lies, manipulation, cynicism, obliviousness, and incompetence that Mr. McClellan, a former bushbaby playmate, has also, with the tardiness of a very bad pupil, finally detected in that playpen; I'm not even surprised that the playpen has ordered spin doctors out to US talkshows (which I'm grateful are not aired here); I'm not even shocked anymore that the bushbaby won't change his despicably dangerous and harmful policies. No, I didn't need another birthday for that, even if I've had one this week. The New York Times
All I needed was to garner and read as much information as I could and then just think. That's all that surprises me, no, surprise is still not the right word. That's all that sickens me: that some people are either unable or too stubornly unwilling to think!
The world is hoping for an end to the playpen, with no replacement rattler-shakers with a cane, of the mac or mc or any other variety. The entire world is in dire need of a United States which returns to the fold of the just and begins again to understand and support human rights and freedoms. It is essential that the Democrats drive the Republicans of the playpen and its environs as far out of DC as possible. And that is also no surprise.
Washington
McClellan Responds to White House Criticism
By JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: May 30, 2008
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan continued to press his case Thursday that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify the war in Iraq, and responded to a growing chorus of criticism from other former administration officials.
Appearing on NBC’s Today show, Mr. McClellan said that the administration ignored evidence that contradicted its position on Iraq, and he sharply criticized some of Mr. Bush’s closest advisers.
NO to censorship in China. No to censorship in Islamic countries. No to censorship in Europe. No to censorship in the United States. No to censorship of books, art, cartoons, caricatures, music, film. No to censorship of the Internet.
Joe Lieberman has completely disqualified himself as representative of democracy and has abandoned the struggle to maintain and defend and spread freedom and justice in the world.
The New York Times explains:
Editorial
Joe Lieberman, Would-Be Censor
Published: May 25, 2008The Internet is simply a means of communication, like the telephone, but that has not prevented attempts to demonize it — the latest being the ludicrous claim that the Internet promotes terrorism.Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut is trying to pressure YouTube to pull down videos he does not like, and a recent Senate report and a bill pending in Congress also raise the specter of censorship. It is important for online speech to be protected against these assaults.[...]Not only do these efforts contradict fundamental American values, it is not clear if they would help fight terrorism. Even if YouTube pulled down every video Mr. Lieberman did not like, radical groups could post the same videos on their own Web sites. Trying to restrain the Internet is a game of “whack-a-mole” that cannot be won, says John Morris of the Center for Democracy and Technology. Having the videos on YouTube may even be a good thing, because it makes it easier for law enforcement officials, the media and the public to monitor the groups and their messages.
Terrorism is a real concern. All Americans know that. They also know that if we give up our fundamental rights, the terrorists win. If people use speech to engage in criminal acts, they should be prosecuted. Cutting off free speech is never the right answer.
I'm not sure if my sister's and niece's descriptions would be exactly pleasing to the Berlin mom, though their thinking of her is certainly a welcome boost, but perhaps they are thereby revealing the extent of their own age and adorability! (See their comments two posts down.)
Nonetheless, this morning when we called her, Edith was already dressed, had packed her overnight bag, and was waiting for her release papers to go home. She had no nausea this time, and has no idea what her counts are, but "They said I can go home this morning and that's that." We were probably lucky to get her before she cashed in her hospital phone card and became unreachable until she reaches home, as she refuses to learn to operate a mobile, much less to let any of us give her one.
So now, she can wait two weeks and then face her sixth and final round.
A big round of cheers for a fine lady (whom other old and/or adorable ones can label as such)!
This morning:
"Hold on, I want to put us all three together in a conference call."
"What?"
"You there, too?"
"Yup."
"Oh, that's what you meant."
"Now you've got us both to talk to."
"I can go home on Friday."
"No transfusion this time?"
"No, otherwise I couldn't have started the chemo on Monday and wouldn't be home until Saturday."
"So that's good."
"Yeah, one day less is good when you're counting them down."
"You deserve it."
"Now I have to take iron tablets."
"We told you you should eat nails."
"Or nutella."
"I don't eat that crap."
"Or you could use a rusty nail as a lollipop."
"That would at least be funny."
"And how are you feeling?"
"Are you tired? nauseous?"
"I'm never tired. And nausea doesn't come till the last day."
"Then enjoy your breakfast."
"I already did. Talk to you later. Bye."
New Year's Eve 2007-08! 
Friday morning:
"The number you are calling is no longer in service."
So, let's try the Berlin mom's home phone....
"We're not in right now, but..."
So, let's ask Detti if he's heard from her.
"No, not yet. Why? Has she left the hospital?"
"Well, I suppose, but I can't reach her yet."
So, let's ask her other son: No answer.
So, let's ask his wife at work: Wrong branch of the bank she works in, they try to transfer me, but she's in a meeting with a customer, so they leave our number for a call back.
So, let's try her home phone again.
"Hello! Wait, let me dump these bags."
"Did I make you run for the phone?"
"No, I just got in after walking home from the hospital. I would have called to let you know."
"So, did you fake them out about someone being at home with you? Should we come spend the night just to be on the safe side?"
"No. My counts went back up. They let me out without conditions."
"And when do you have to go back?"
"Not until Tuesday; then they start the next chemo round or do a transfusion first, depending on the counts."
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine. Now I have to hang up and go grocery shopping. Have to get my bike out of the basement."
"Please be careful."
"Don't be silly."
"We like being silly."
Friday evening:
"So how are you doing."
"I'm fine. So you're both coming for Sunday lunch? I already bought everything for gulash."
"Yes, or we could take you out for Mother's Day."
"We're going out afterwards: to Heiko & Steffi for coffee and cake in the afternoon and then grilling in the evening."
"Yes, they asked us to, and we told them we'd leave it up to how you're feeling."
"I'm completely up to it."
"And to both grandkids at once?"
"You two can keep them busy. And besides, I feel fine."
And in fact Sunday was a very nice day for all of us. Edith enjoyed it all, her friend had his camera, Heiko & Steffi had theirs too, but we forgot ours, so we'll have to wait for one of the others to provide us with photo documentation of a perfectly sunny summer day for Mother's Day in Berlin this year.
May 8, 1945
Victory Day, 63 years ago. Capitulation of the Wehrmacht to the Soviet Army (Keitel to Zhukov) in Berlin Karlshorst.
Tag der Befreiung, vor 63 Jahren. Das wir nie vergessen!
Nie wieder Faschismus! Nie wieder Krieg!
V-E Day already the day before, May 7, the date of signing of the capitulation to the United Allied Forces in Reims effective on May 8.
“It’s high time Zarah made another appearance”, says Tim Fischer. And what an appearance it is: today’s “Zarah sans Dress” not only includes the well-known numbers sung by the darling of the Ufa studios, but also a number of rarities. And for good measure, Fischer adds songs that were never performed by Leander, but fit her like a glove.
„Zarah muss mal wieder aus dem Haus“, findet Tim Fischer, der sein allererstes Erfolgsprogramm „Zarah ohne Kleid“ überarbeitet hat. Nicht nur die bekannten Lieder des Ufa-Stars, vor allem auch Raritäten unter den Leanderliedern hat Tim Fischer ausgegraben. Außerdem legt er ihr augenzwinkernd Lieder in den Mund, die die Leander zwar nie gesungen hat, die ihr aber passen wie ein Maßanzug.
Zwölf Jahre schon
Gedichte meines Lebens widmen Dir
die Lichtung meiner Liebe, die Richtung
meiner Zeit, die Leitung lichter Dichtung,
lassen ahnen nur Deine Bahnen tief in mir.
Geteilte Zeit zusammen, maßlose Breite
erlebter Liebe, befreit mich und erhebt
in mir Gesang des Danks, der bebt
vor Freude und blickt in unsere Weite.
Immer lichter mir,
zwölf Jahre schon,
strahlend und vermählt,
Leben wird erzählt,
mein wahrer Ton,
immer dichter Dir.
-Für DS von RG, 2. Mai 2008
May the poem be in German, for the German whom I love, all the rest of you can all be sure it speaks passion and life and light and fulfillment and LOVE in all languages!
And that's something political, a day to remember that PEOPLE should be paid for work, the primary justification for the whole thing, NOT corporate profits.
As this poster from the DGB (German Union Federation) serves to remind us. Good work should be a component, and the German expression also denotes that there should be room for good work in companies, i.e. in terms of pay and other conditions
Happy as we were to tell everyone that the Berlin mom, even in the midst of her 4th round of chemo, had not even had a hint of nausea, I can only wonder if we shouldn't have bragged so much about her. Thursday she threw up and couldn't keep anything down that day and the next, but then the chemo was over, which was when she informed us of this new aspect, Friday evening, and since Saturday she's been eating again without complaints. Now, of course, she's a bit more apprehensive about the coming final two sessions, expecting this difficulty on top of her loss of any sense of smell and the imposition on her schedule. Maybe we just won't speak of it again. But yesterday, she insisted on cooking us a great lunch and gobbled it up with us, so, we'll just keep counting on her will and fortitude to get her through to the end of her last IV-bottle without further malaise.
We WILL go on PRAISING her!
Moscow's Mayor Bans Gay Parade, Cites Violence News Advocate.com
"The mayor of Moscow said the city will not allow gay pride marches to take place on this year's May Day holiday, Agence France-Presse reported Wednesday. Mayor Yury Luzhkov has been an opponent of gay pride marches, once calling them "Satan's work." A spokesperson for the mayor told reporters that a permit for the parade is being denied because of Russian society's opposition to the "gay lifestyle and philosophy." He also said the government wanted to avoid what it assumed would be widespread violence as a reaction to the parade."
A symbolic date for world literature, for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.
In short, he became so absorbed in his books that he spent his nights from sunset to sunrise, and his days from dawn to dark, poring over them; and what with little sleep and much reading his brains got so dry that he lost his wits. His fancy grew full of what he used to read about in his books, enchantments, quarrels, battles, challenges, wounds, wooings, loves, agonies, and all sorts of impossible nonsense; and it so possessed his mind that the whole fabric of invention and fancy he read of was true, that to him no history in the world had more reality in it.
XXIII
As an unperfect actor on the stage
Who with his fear is put besides his part,
Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage,
Whose strength's abundance weakens his own heart,
So I, for fear of trust, forget to say
The perfect ceremony of love's rite,
And in mine own love's strength seem to decay,
O'ercharged with burden of mine own love's might.
O, let my books be then the eloquence
And dumb presagers of my speaking breast,
Who plead for love and look for recompense
More than that tongue that more hath more express'd.
mmmO, learn to read what silent love hath writ:
mmmTo hear with eyes belongs to love's fine wit.-William Shakespeare, Sonnet XXIII
Anyone honest will confirm what Barack Obama said about small-town America and its fears, biases, easy refuges, bigotry, phobias of all and anything the least bit different. And Hillary is also smart enough to know how right he is. (She need only recall an episode or two she experienced in the small town of DC.) It would be nice if the thoughtfulness of Obama and his appeals to think could gain sway, whether he wins or not!
Might I ask you to recall:
He even admits authorizing unconstitutional measures, measures in violation of all international agreements on torture and prisoners...
ABC News: Bush Aware of Advisers' Interrogation Talks:
"And yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved."
Unfortunately, most of us are not surprised.
or: Berlusconi bewilders thoughtful government; rights and justice in Italy once more faced with cavalier cynicism and patronage...
Veltroni: «Berlusconi ha cominciato male,faremo un governo dell'opposizione». Corriere della Sera:
«Sono rimasto negativamente colpito dalle dichiarazioni di oggi del vincitore delle elezioni, Silvio Berlusconi. L'annuncio di non dare all'opposizione la presidenza di una Camera, un certo tono nei confronti delle altre forze politiche, non solo il Pd, una certa idea di autosufficienza, non fanno vedere un buon inizio».
"... il n'y a plus de formation de l'esprit critique. Cela veut dire que l'on ne peut plus comparer. Si l'histoire et la capacité de lecture disparaissent, c'est-à-dire le temps et la mémoire, vous préparez des esclaves parfaitement déterminés à obéir. C'est très grave. "
[-Ph.S. in the interview segment below]
« If people are no longer able to read, critical thinking can no longer be developed. That means people can no longer make comparisons. If history and the ability to read disappear, in other words, time and memory, you're preparing slaves perfectly programmed to obey. That is very serious. »
[-my own quick anglicization]
Invité Sud Ouest - Philippe Sollers - le Livre
by journalsudouest
Le 9 avril 2008 à Bordeaux, l'écrivain Philippe Sollers est l'invité du journal régional SUD OUEST
Worth practicing your French to understand, in depth. This link will lead you to a print version also including some mp3 files to hear some more of the replies. There is a total of five video files and many more audio files as Sollers answers questions on 68, China, Tibet, musty France, Bordeaux, etc.
In the United States, as playpenaly mismanaged and perverted by bushbaby and his playmates:
Think Progress » Blog Archive » ABC Report: Bush’s ‘Principal’ Advisers OK’d Torture:
ABC News reported tonight that President Bush’s most senior and trusted advisers met in “dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House” beginning in 2002 to approve the use of “combined” interrogation techniques (the joint use of harsh interrogation techniques). Those tactics included whether detainees “would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.”
CAIRO (AFP) — A Cairo court on Wednesday jailed five men, four of them HIV positive, for three years on charges of "debauchery" linked to homosexuality, the latest example of what rights groups call a "witch hunt."
The men were arrested three weeks ago in a central Cairo restaurant following an argument after which a client accused them of practising homosexuality, in what rights groups say is becoming a familiar pattern of persecution.
A police doctor carried out anal inspections on the men "which confirmed their homosexuality," the court official said. Human Rights Watch said such examinations constitute torture and are medically spurious.
Thank you, Majora Carter!
Olympic torch bearer from Bronx in Tibet protest:
As she ran with the flame, Majora Carter, 41, a South Bronx environmental activist, whipped out a small Tibetan flag to condemn China's human rights abuses in the Himalayan province.
"At first I was like look, yes I'm carrying a flag, that is my right, as an American citizen," said Majora Carter.And a big "too bad" to Mr. Ma Conrong, the Chinese Ambassador to Germany, who told the newspaper the Tagesspiegel here that he feels his country is being treated unfairly with all these protests about human rights or in favor of Tibet's cultural autonomy (NOT separatism). He should explain to the world how he thinks all those feel who are arrested in his country for dissenting opinions, who are prevented from accessing information sources his country's government deems unsuitable (such as this blog, or youtube, or any website with access to uncensored literature), who are denied the possibility of expressing their opinions openly in whatever forum, who are denied retirement benefits as senior citizens and told to turn to their family (limited by state-ordered birth control), who as workers on the Olympic construction sites are denied the right to belong to labor organizations or form unions, who are so unfortunate as to maintain a culture outside the narrow confines of the single-party-state's wishes...
Carter was selected as a torchbearer for her environmental work. Little did organizers know, she would use the opportunity to protest. Video from Sky 7 shows Carter pulling a small Tibetan flag from her sleeve and waving it, before a Chinese official took it away from her. Video from SF Gate then shows a police officer shoving her toward the sidewalk.
"[die] Freiheit des Daseins ist nur im Sichbefreien des Daseins. Das Sichbefreien des Deseins geschieht aber je nur, wenn es sich zu sich selbst entschließt, d.h. für sich als das Da-sein sich erschließt." - [MH GA Bd.29/30 §32(b)]
"die innerste Notwendigkeit der Freiheit des Daseins [, ...] die Notwendigkeit des Verstehens, daß allererst das Dasein sich wieder ins Freie bringen muß, als Da-sein begreifen muß. [...] die Menschheit im Menschen befreien, [...] d.h. das Wesen des Menschen befreien, das Dasein in ihm wesentlich werden lassen." - [MH GA Bd.29/30 §38]
Freedom of (human)being-there is only in (human)being-there's self-liberation. This self-liberation only occurs, however, when the (human)being-there opts for and to itself, i.e. opens up to itself as the Being-There.
the innermost urgency of the freedom of (human)being-there ... the urgency of understanding that first of all (human)being-there must bring itself back into the free, grasp itself as Being-There. ... liberate the human in man, ... i.e. liberate the essential sway of man, let the being-there within him essentially sway.
-[RG English transl.]
To put a lot into a nutshell of my own words:
In time and of time, man, being-there, is alone capable of distinguishing beings and Being, glimpsing the Nothing, of conceiving of death, enabling time, and IS therefore FREE. And if man does not take on this task, it will not be, and man will not fully be.
In advance in SF, outside of the playpen, beyond the reach of the repressors in China, in the true spirit of the Olympics:
Here, also, from Paris yesterday, as the flame went out --- just as the flame of human rights is constantly extinguished in Peking!
It is good and right that inhabitants of London yesterday and Paris today demonstrated against the Chinese in their attempt to coopt the Olympic flame to distract from their violations of human rights, justice, and simple human dignity.
The Chinese should realize that the world is not ready to accept them as "hosts" for the Olympic Games despite their renegging on their promise to "improve their performance" in the area of rights and freedoms, a promise the IOC should never have believed, one for which they should never have sited this years games in Peking, the capital of a dictatorial one-party state pretending to belong to the modern world, which it only copies when it can sell it.
These pictures WILL BE SEEN around the world, pictures of people saying NO to China!
Thank you, London. Thank you, Paris.
Thousands protest as Olympic flame carried through London
Police and security staff forced to fend off demonstrators
C’est à ce genre de nuance que l’on distingue un engagement sincère, destiné à éveiller l’esprit critique d’un acte de propagande visant à éveiller l’instinct. Wilders fait plutôt partie de la seconde catégorie, comme les islamistes. Ils n’ont aucune leçon à lui donner. Puisqu’ils utilisent exactement les mêmes procédés pour accréditer l’idée d’un complot de l’Occident contre l’Islam, à partir de dessins ou de phrases sorties de leur contexte. Mais en prime, leurs films incitant à la haine trouvent des mains pour tuer. Ce qui fait tout de même une sacrée différence.
A Dutch lawmaker whose anti-Quran film drew worldwide condemnations will edit out a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad after complaints of copyright infringement, his office said Monday.
Irshad Manji, a scholar at New York University and the European Foundation for Democracy, is creator of the award-winning film "Faith Without Fear."A more engaging approach would have been to pepper the film with positive verses from the Qur'an, thereby revealing that Muslims who expound hostility are actively choosing to ignore the better angels of Islam.
... and so has daylight savings time here in Europe (ok, on the last Sunday in March, 2 days before April)
... and it's cloudy and rainy and only occasionally a hint of sunshine
... and we're as busy as little bees (or great big ones, for that matter)
... and the Berlin mom is in for her third round of chemo (forbidding us to visit, so we'll have to wait till she gets home on Saturday)
... and this is the month's first blog post
... and it won't be the last
And after such a hike, ours today, when you leave the woods, there's a very good Italian restaurant waiting to serve you lunch: antipasto misto, pasta mista, chef's salad. MMMM. And then you walk over to the S-Bahn for the ride home, upload the photos, tell the blog to share them, and ...
Not only can French athletes petition the Chinese president, not only can Tibetan monks manage to decry their plight during China's "controlled" roadshow for hand-selected foreign journalists at risk of reprisals, YOU TOO, as I have, can sign a petition FOR human rights and AGAINST Chinese authoritarianism:
Petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao:
As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China's brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect.
Here is the link to the AVAAZ.ORG website to add your signature to this petition:
ADD YOUR VOICE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA!
Mister President...
For being granted permission to organize the Olympic Games in Peking, the Chinese government committed itself to respecting human rights. Today, the violent repression of the riots in Tibet seriously conflicts with this promise given to the Olympic movement. The most fundamental rights are not being respected: neither personal integrity nor freedom of expression are possible in China. Mister President, some of us will be your guests in five months. As sportsmen, we have dedicated our entire existence to achieving this honor: participating in the most beautiful event invented by man. We believe that the Games, beyond the merchandising of sports, political rivalries, and instrumentalization, represent the purist humanity has: overcoming the self, brotherhood, friendship, and respect among peoples. We cannot be made hostages of politics nor a shield for an authoritarian regime. That is why, Mister President, we are asking you, today, solemnly, to honor your word. Do not spoil the Games.
Well, we had no White Christmas in Berlin last time, but we're having a White Easter Sunday, albeit only powdery in the city, but we're expecting to see more of a ground cover when we go out to visit and lunch with Edith. Although we actually all wanted to go to Heiko's birthday party (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, brother/brother-in-law!), their son Malte has fever and bronchitis, not something Edith can deal with after her second chemo round only a good week ago and her counts still down. So we're spending the day with her and leaving Heiko with his snotty-nosed family but with our best wishes (also to father-in-law Bernie & wife Rosie, who will risk infection to eat birthday cake).
How can you hide Easter eggs in the snow?
Maybe we can get some photos of this early Easter Berlin landscape and one of the few instances of winter weather we've had this year.
The Chick that laid colored eggs near an NC cotton field last year is on our windowsill looking out at the snow this year.
Chicora Court also has our best wishes and fond memories, and we trust they can sense how endeared they are to us there.
The Dukey traitorous niece (heard we supported the wrong team against UNC in a major game) still has warm greetings headed her way...
To Charleston we're sending a grown-up nephew wishes for fulfillment of his own.
And to Greenville, SC, the lady-in-waiting and her consort are getting big virtual hugs.
To any and all tysonial and gardnerian visitors, you of course know that we miss you all and wish you too a beautiful new season as Easter comes and goes.
I for one have long - for oh so very long - not heard a speech, especially by a politician, that so goes to the core of things as did Mr. Obama's in Philadelphia yesterday. Blame has never fixed anything, but recognizing where antagonisms and resentments arise is indeed, as he says, a beginning for improvement. His remarks show an aptitude of thought which goes far beyond the narrower confines of the US-American arena and is directed at the essential questions of our world of humans. Consider Being, just consider the possibility of others also wishing for a humane, peaceful, just world of true freedoms and equitability. This speech by Mr. Obama, provoked by the festering wound of latent-to-blatant racism in the US and the puss and pain that it produces, in conversations, in a sidelong glance, in a sneer, in a shrug of the shoulders, in an unfair accusation, denial of a request, rejection of an application, or even a blow in the face, and this time in his own pastor's divisive and bigoted statements, demonstrates that Mr. Obama is ready, willing, and able to address REAL problems and issues, rather than to succumb to the distractions of our world society of spectacle, that he can and DOES think deeply of what is important for individual humans to live together in a society sharing without exploiting, that he is fit to be President of the United States, that he as President of the US would also finally place a thinker in the arena of World Politics, one determined NOT to avoid the issues of real import confronting us but to tackle those issues dividing the peoples of this world which we really all must share. Thank you.
Iraq five years later.
At least on the sixth anniversary, there won't be any bushbaby around to lie about it anymore.Baghdad is more divided than ever - A short film courtesy of Guardian Films, Tuesday March 18th, 2008
On the fifth anniversary of the US/British-led invasion of Iraq, the Guardian's award-winning foreign correspondent Ghaith Abdul-Ahad has teamed up with ITV News to bring us a series of extraordinary films for the ITV News and guardian.co.uk. In these unprecedented films he, as an Iraqi, goes where foreign journalists can no longer go - to the heart of Baghdad's most dangerous sectarian zones. He uncovers Iraq's own killing fields where only the "killers and the killed" can
visit; and he reveals the desperate truth of the trafficked children of Iraq.
Chinese Forces Say They’ve Secured Tibet’s Capital - New York Times
Welcome to the Olympic Spirit of the "people's" republic of china. Maybe the bushbaby should send his playpen on a tour of this dynamic example of respect for freedom and justice.Foreign journalists are being restricted from traveling to Lhasa, and the precise death toll remains unknown. State media reported 10 deaths and characterized most of them as shopkeepers. The government’s official news agency, Xinhua, reported that the victims had been “burned to death.”
The demonstrations in Lhasa began Monday and continued through Wednesday as peaceful protests by Buddhist monks from three different monasteries. Some monks protested against religious restrictions while others demanded an end to Chinese rule and even waved the Tibetan flag. The police arrested scores of monks and then reportedly tightened security around the three monasteries so that monks could not leave.
... or: Playpen Seeks New Playmate Made in China
The ricey version of a State Department subservient to the bushbaby has announced, contrary to ALL other assessments of the situation there, that China has "improved" in human rights! Shocking considering the nearly daily reports of censorship and bludgeoning that its "citizens" must endure, including the fact that most do NOT even have any form of state retirement (now that's comm(unist)ando-style economics for you!).
To wit:
Reporters Without Borders
Beijing Games update
12.03: monks arrested in Lhasa protests, while exiles in India start long march
The New York Times, Washington, By HELENE COOPER, Published: March 12, 2008
U.S. Drops China From List of Top 10 Violators of Rights
"The State Department no longer considers China one of the world’s worst human rights violators, a decision that immediately earned the ire of human rights groups."
The Washington Post
U.S. Delisting of China Upsets Rights Activists
By Jill Drew, Washington Post Foreign Service, Thursday, March 13, 2008; A13
BEIJING, March 12 -- Human rights activists on Wednesday decried the U.S. State Department's decision to drop China from its list of the world's worst human rights violators, saying that China's crackdown on dissent is getting worse as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in August.
"We and others have documented a sharp uptick in human rights violations directly related to preparations for the Olympics," said Phelim Kine, Asia researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch. The decision comes at the worst possible time for activists seeking to pressure Beijing to relax restrictions on free speech, release political prisoners and improve human rights protections, Kine added.
Human Rights Watch (New York, March 12, 2008)
China: Beijing’s Migrant Construction Workers Abused
Builders of the ‘New Beijing’ Cheated of Wages, Denied Essential Services – Migrant construction workers building the “new Beijing” are routinely exploited by being denied proper wages, under dangerous conditions with neither accident insurance nor access to medical and other social services, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
U.S. State Department: 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
The above quote from the report is enough to show how little the chinese plutocrats care about their citizens and their rights. Perhaps they're too busy making cheap plastic copies of everything westerners desire for their big smoke and veil olympic-show, coming to a tv near you. They deserve total scorn and no audience at all.For example, China’s overall human rights record remained poor in 2007. Controls were tightened on religious freedom in Tibetan areas and in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the treatment of petitioners in Beijing worsened. The government also continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison activists, writers, journalists, and defense lawyers and their families, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under the law. Although the government pursued some important reforms, such as the Supreme People’s Court’s resumption of death penalty review power in cases handed down for immediate execution, efforts to reform or abolish the reeducation-through-labor system remained stalled. New temporary regulations improved overall reporting conditions for foreign journalists, but enforcement of these regulations was not consistent, hindering the work of some foreign journalists. The year 2007 saw increased efforts to control and censor the Internet, and the government tightened restrictions on freedom of speech and the domestic press. The government continued to monitor, harass, detain, arrest, and imprison journalists, Internet writers, and bloggers. NGOs reported 29 journalists and 51 cyber-dissidents and Internet users remained in jail at year’s end. There was a 20 percent increase over 2006 in convictions of citizens under China’s overly broad state security law that is often used to silence government critics. In December, well-known human rights activist Hu Jia was arrested at his home and detained for suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” His wife and infant daughter were reportedly put under house arrest at the same time. NGOs, both local and international, faced intense scrutiny and restrictions.
The Berlin mom is back in for her second round of chemo, started yesterday, hoping to get out on Friday. It was all delayed by a week due to her running a fever which put her in to the hospital over the weekend a week ago as her counts were still too low. Other than being ticked off by having to spend time away from home, and recognizing that her hair is going, she's hanging in there, doesn't want any visits (!), just peace and quiet, and wants to cook for us on the weekend (!), which we hope she'll have the energy and stomach for (at least for a visit even if she can't see food then, who knows).
Anyway, we're hoping she won't have any secondary problems this time, since the fever induced hospitalization really got on her nerves. She didn't want to go, till we insisted that she's not in the same situation as before.
At least she agreed to let us call her (but only once a day)! And she's promised to pay attention to what the doctor says (for fear we'll otherwise consult her ourselves).
By STEVEN LEE MYERS / Published: March 9, 2008 / WASHINGTONPresident Bush on Saturday further cemented his legacy of fighting for strong executive powers, using his veto to shut down a Congressional effort to limit the Central Intelligence Agency’s latitude to subject terrorism suspects to harsh interrogation techniques.Mr. Bush vetoed a bill that would have explicitly prohibited the agency from using interrogation methods like waterboarding, a technique in which restrained prisoners are threatened with drowning and that has been the subject of intense criticism at home and abroad. Many such techniques are prohibited by the military and law enforcement agencies.
Best wishes to all the women we know and all who happen to read this blog on this day in recognition of them and their rights and achievements.
"In just three years time, 2011 will see IWD's Centenary - 100 years of women's united action for global equality and change. Organizations around the world have already commenced planning for their IWD Centenary celebrations.
The first International Women's Day was launched on 8 March 1911 in Copenhagen by Clara Zetkin, Leader of the'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany. This followed many years of women's campaigning dating back to British MP, John Stuart Mill, the first person in Parliament calling for women's right to vote.
On 19 September 1893 New Zealand became the first self-governing nation in the world to give women the right to vote."
That the employees of Berlin's BVG public transportation system for buses, subways, and trams have been on strike since yesterday and will continue it indefinitely is certainly an inconvenience for the city and its citizens and visitors, as only the regional trains and S-Bahn express trains (another company) remain in operation for the millions of people who use the system daily. 
Some 3.5 million trips daily must be reorganized, and the S-Bahn, though fast, does not have as frequent stops, given that the BVG net should be the more local. On Monday, life could become yet more difficult, as the D-Bahn, operator of regional and S-Bahn trains, will probably again face a driver's strike for not signing the contract they negotiated with them in January. Then, there will only be feet, bikes, mopeds, cars, and taxis for everyone in Berlin (and for many in other towns served by DB or communal firms whose workers are also on strike).
more than they drove, bike riders arrived with numb fingers, and pedestrians came as snowmen. (Here a photo of the situation from the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel: )
and the link to their article with more photos; next, the article in Berlin's alternative newspaper TAZ Die Tageszeitung reminding us that this is the sort of thing Putin attempts to do in his "managed Russian democracy" to protect his and his cronies' status and prevent the spread and usage of rights; and finally, the New York Times article from an AP report summarizing the whole situation in English.§ 5 Abs. 2 Nr. 11 Satz 1 Alt. 2 VSG, der den heimlichen Zugriff auf informationstechnische Systeme regelt ("Online-Durchsuchung"), verletzt das allgemeine Persönlichkeitsrecht in seiner besonderen Ausprägung als Grundrecht auf Gewährleistung der Vertraulichkeit und Integrität informationstechnischer Systeme und ist nichtig. Die Vorschrift wahrt insbesondere nicht das Gebot der Verhältnismäßigkeit. Angesichts der Schwere des Eingriffs ist die heimliche Infiltration eines informationstechnischen Systems, mittels derer die Nutzung des Systems überwacht und seine Speichermedien ausgelesen werden können,verfassungsrechtlich nur zulässig, wenn tatsächliche Anhaltspunkte einer konkreten Gefahr für ein überragend wichtiges Rechtsgut bestehen.Zudem ist der Eingriff grundsätzlich unter den Vorbehalt richterlicherAnordnung zu stellen. Diesen Anforderungen wird § 5 Abs. 2 Nr. 11 Satz 1 Alt. 2 VSG nicht gerecht. Darüber hinaus fehlt es auch an hinreichenden gesetzlichen Vorkehrungen, um Eingriffe in den absolutgeschützten Kernbereich privater Lebensgestaltung zu vermeiden.
In its Report on Rendition the ISC (28 June 2007) said 'we are satisfied that there is no evidence that US rendition flights have used UK airspace (except the two cases in 1998 referred to earlier in the report) and that there is no evidence of them having landed at UK military airfields'. The Government welcomed these conclusions in its response to the Report in July 2007. Parliamentary answers, interviews and letters followed this evidence. I am very sorry indeed to have to report to the House the need to correct these and other statements on the subject, on the basis of new information passed to officials on 15 February 2008 by the US Government.U.S. says sorry to U.K. on rendition flights
Contrary to earlier explicit assurances that Diego Garcia had not been used for rendition flights, recent US investigations have now revealed two occasions, both in 2002, when this had in fact occurred. An error in the earlier US records search meant that these cases did not come to light. In both cases a US plane with a single detainee on board refuelled at the US facility in Diego Garcia. The detainees did not leave the plane, and the US Government has assured us that no US detainees have ever been held on Diego Garcia. US investigations show no record of any other rendition through Diego Garcia or any other Overseas Territory or through the UK itself since then.
"We came up with fresh information that in short order we shared with the British government," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. "We regret that there was an error in providing initially that inaccurate information to a good friend and ally," he told reporters.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Wednesday to express U.S. regret over the error, he told reporters.
Miliband told Britain's parliament earlier on Thursday that contrary to earlier U.S. assurances, two planes used for "rendition flights" in 2002 had refueled at a U.S. base on the British Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
The British government had previously insisted it was not aware of any British territory being used to transfer terrorism suspects outside normal extradition procedures since U.S. President George W. Bush took office in 2001.
McCormack strongly denied there was an initial cover-up in providing information to the British government about the flights and attributed it to an "administrative error" by the Central Intelligence Agency.
1. Berlin mom home a week after chemo and doing splendidly well! No complaints whatsoever!
2. Stitches removed from heel of palm of right hand without difficulty, healing fine, sometimes bandaid free.
3. US Congress passed measure against torture in interrogations, even by the CIA (even if the playpen and its newly outed playmate McCANE are against it).
4. The German DA charged the multimillionaire head of the "Post AG" here with tax fraud in the millions, and others are about to get whacked!
5. Danish papers republished the mohammed caricatures in response to the murder plot against one of the cartoonists.
6. Beautiful sunny cold day here in Berlin.
The Berlin mom is doing extraordinarily well! 5/8 finished with her first course of chemo, Edith was happy to see us, is ready to go home Monday morning after her last infusion Sunday evening, has to relieve her bladder more often than usual and is a bit puffy faced from all the fluid she's getting, but has yet to have any queasiness, perhaps due to the anti-nausea meds she's receiving, and consumed a big bowl of green-bean soup in front of us to prove it, is joking that she doesn't even need the wig yet, and announced we should head on out so she can have some peace & quiet.
May she continue just as spunkily and go on being spared side effects!
She even sympathized with me about my hand; admonished me for not having scrubbed every last trace of the surgical disinfectant paint from my hand, then accepted the explanation that I can't wash it freely and only today did the first home-change of bandages - a real hassle -but thereby had the opportunity to preserve photographically the stitchs for posterity.
Towit: 
It looked dramatic enough, with the surgical disinfection paint and the gauze wound around my entire lower hand, to frighten Koko and make him temporarily a left hand sitting bird, but the 3 glass splitters are gone (I did NOT save them.), the zigzag incision with 7-8 stitches is healing fine, the surgeon was pleased when he changed the bandage to a smaller one this morning, which no longer frightens Koko and which I can finally replace with a waterproof bandaid to be able to wash again, and (sorry Sis) it hasn't really hurt much at all. Just pulls a little with a slight burning sensation. A week from today, the doc will remove the stitches and, as he put it, I'll finally be finished with this story.
Our Berlin mom finally got her first infusion yesterday beginning at 3 in the afternoon, running until this morning at 3; the only disturbance she reports till now is that she couldn't sleep as long as the stuff was running (she uses any excuse not to sleep), so we told her the nurses can watch it without her help, but she wants them to start earlier today so she can fall asleep around 10. Tomorrow we're going to visit her, which she has forbidden us to do today. Then we can report more, and are of course hoping she continues to cope well...
Should we take the camera? Or should I photograph my stitched up hand the next time I change the bandage? Time will tell.
If you are registered to vote in any of the 24 states holding primaries today, be sure and do so. Citizens of democracies who do not bother to vote have not understood what privilege they have to live in a system where their voices count! Stand up for your rights and fulfill your duty to participate in decisions concerning the state you live in!
Another step on the slow but steady road to the end of the playpen....
