Runaway Toyota cases ignored -- latimes.com"Toyota models: the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2004-2009 Prius, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2005-2010 Tacoma and the 2007-2010 Tundra, as well as the 2007-2010 Lexus ES 350 and the 2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350."
Posted using ShareThisA few weeks ago some colleagues were talking about this problem after hearing an entire family from San Diego was wiped out after their Lexus went out of control.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Toyota Recall - see details below
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Fort Hood
Hassan Akbar was not thinking of what would happen to his fellow Muslims when he decided to shoot 43 people on November 5, 2009. True, he was despondent over being sent to the Middle East. He had also been listening to horrific stories of returning soldiers experiencing Post Traumatic Stress.
The ramifications of this are yet to be seen. Will this increase racial profiling at airports? Will it be more difficult for Muslims to enter our military?
Perhaps Akbar had lost his reasoning ability. I just wish he would have thought of a less violent way to protest.
link to image
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Robert Salaam: One man’s actions will affect loyal US Muslims
Friday, 6 November 2009 - London Independent
There isn’t a word to describe the heartache, pain, and sheer disgust that I felt when I woke up yesterday morning. A Muslim serviceman can always expect to face questions about his loyalty. When I was in uniform, for instance - a converted black sergeant from New Jersey - a converted black sergeant from New York, Hassan Akbar, turned on his fellow soldiers and murdered two of them.
I served with professionals, and the most I got from my fellow Marines was a few off-colour jokes. But I count myself among the fortunate. I wouldn’t want to imagine what it’s like for Muslims serving now – especially those at Fort Hood. You pray there won’t be any issues. But you can’t be sure. link to LI article
Immigrant Women in the UK: Domestic Violence or Destitution
Friday, November 6, 2009
Food Without High Fructose Corn Syrup
Jim Beam's Barbeque Sauce
Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup
Kashi foods -- no HFCS
Corn Syrup (just plain Corn Syrup, without the "high fructose")
Bullseye Orignial BBQ sauce
Bush's Baked Beans (original)
Arnold's Flax and Fiber bread -
Luna Bars
Quaker Simple Harvest granola bars
No Pudge Brownie Mix
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Why did the U.S. go against the Goldstone Report?
left - CNN photo of Gaza bombing
The UN is set to endorse the Goldstone Report. France and the UK are also supporting the report. Why doesn't the U.S. follow suit? How can the world's greatest democracy ignore the reality of the January 2009 Israeli offensive against Gaza?
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UN set to call for investigations into Gaza war by Israel and Palestinians
London Guardian - November 4, 2009 -
Rory McCarthy in RamallahGeneral assembly expected to back resolution endorsing Goldstone report on alleged war crimes
The UN general assembly is expected to approve a resolution this week calling on Israel and the Palestinians to carry out independent investigations into serious allegations of war crimes committed during the Gaza conflict last January.
A debate on a highly critical UN report, written by the South African judge Richard Goldstone, begins today, with a vote on a resolution likely . Negotiations are continuing on the resolution and several European countries are trying to change the wording...link to complete Guardian article
Our Plastic Death Trap in the Pacific
photo of an albatross whose stomach is full of plastic junk. By Chris Jordan
click here to see all the photos from the Guardian series on trash in the Pacific
What can be done to help? RECYCLE! If you put a plastic bag in the regular trash, it will take centuries (if ever) to decompose. Don't get a bag when you buy something if you don't absolutely have to.
Pacific Ocean trash
Keystone Kops in Texas
It is not fair to criticize all of Texas for the mistakes of Dallas and Fort Bend County (which is near Houston). But these two departments make their work sound like a bad movie.
The NYT has soundly criticized the Dallas Police Department for fining people who are driving and do not speak English. The Fort Bend Sheriff's Dept. charged a man with murder based on faulty evidence from a sniffing dog. The man was incarcerated for nine months before the real culprit confessed. In the meantime the guy who was innocent lost his house and his automobiles.
This is not an indictment against dogs. I love dogs, have three of them that are treated as humans. This is more a problem with the dog's handlers and their supervisors.
This type of story is not new in Texas. There is a long history of this type of misbehavior. I wrote about it in my book Cemeteries of Ambivalent Desire.
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Editorial
Driving Without English Police officers giving drivers $204 tickets for not speaking English? It sounds like a rejected Monty Python sketch. Except the grim reality is that it has happened at least 39 times in Dallas since January 2007, according to The Dallas Morning News. At least six officers in several different patrol divisions wrote the tickets, each time citing a driver for violating a law that does not exist. All but one of the drivers were Hispanic.The authorities say they are investigating, though one possible explanation has been offered by the police department. The officers may have been confused by their squad-car computers’ drop-down menu of infractions, which displayed a federal statute on English proficiency that applies to commercial drivers. The Dallas Police Department does not enforce that statute.
Whatever we learn, it is likely to be highly embarrassing to the Dallas authorities, who have promised to refund the fines to the drivers who have already paid up...link to complete NYT Editorial
Fort Bend County Texas
Picked From a Lineup, on a Whiff of Evidence
By JOHN SCHWARTZ HOUSTON — A dog’s sniff helped put Curvis Bickham in jail for eight months. Now that the case against him has been dropped, he wants to tell the world that the investigative technique that justified his arrest smells to high heaven...link to complete NYT article
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
News from Israel on the Goldstone Report
U.S. House backs resolution to reject Goldstone Gaza report - Haaretz - Israel News
U.K., France want Israel, PA to probe Goldstone war crimes claims -Haaretz
"A joint French-British UN initiative would call on Israel and the Palestinians to hold immediate, independent investigations into war crimes allegations stemming from the war in Gaza, as part of a bid to send the Goldstone report back to Geneva and out of the hands of the Security Council or the International Criminal Court at The Hague..."
Congress Caves to the Israeli Lobby
House Passes Gaza Measure After Dueling Critiques
By Bernie BeckerThe House on Tuesday approved a nonbinding resolution rebuking a United Nations report on last winter’s conflict in Gaza, after architects of both the U.N. report and the House resolution recently criticized the other’s work as inaccurate.
The resolution, which passed 344-36, called the investigation of the conflict — led by Richard Goldstone, a South African judge — “to be irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy.” Twenty-two House members voted present on the resolution.
As The Times’s Neil MacFarquhar reported in September, the investigation led by Mr. Goldstone found evidence that both Israel and Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups committed war crimes during the conflict, but reserved “its harshest language for Israel’s treatment of the civilian Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, both during the war and through the longer-term blockade of the territory.”
Last week, Mr. Goldstone responded in a letter to two of the driving forces behind the House resolution, telling Representatives Howard Berman and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen — the chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — that the resolution had misstated some facts and taken statements out of context. The letter then introduces and rebuts a string of the resolution’s clauses.
On Monday, Mr. Berman and Representative Gary L. Ackerman, chairman of the Foreign Affairs panel’s subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, released their own point-by-point rebuttal to Mr. Goldstone.
The report, which has already been endorsed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, is scheduled to be taken up by the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
Mr. Goldstone’s mandate in investigating the conflict and whether the report gives a fair description of Hamas’ actions were two of the issues at the center of the back-and-forth.
According to the House resolution, Mr. Goldstone and his team were authorized only to investigate Israeli actions in the conflict, a move which “pre-judged the outcome.”
But, in his recent letter, Mr. Goldstone, who prosecuted war crimes committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, writes that the original mandate was rejected because it focused solely on Israel and that investigators worked under a broader authorization that covered the actions of both sides in Gaza.
For their part, Mr. Berman and Mr. Ackerman assert that Mr. Goldstone made “earnest” attempts to change the mandate, but was not completely successful. The final resolution included language that took note of those efforts, according to a spokeswoman for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The resolution also says the U.N. report “downplayed or cast doubt” on claims that Hamas and other groups used civilians and civilian institutions like mosques as shields.
In his response, Mr. Goldstone termed that a “sweeping and unfair characterization.” He added that, because Israel did not cooperate with the investigation, the report does not include any information the Israelis might have collected on actions by Palestinian groups during the conflict.
Mr. Berman and Mr. Ackerman, however, charge that “the report uncritically attributes numerous statements to ‘Gaza authorities’ (meaning, Hamas), while often casting doubt on information derived from the international and Israeli press and from non-government-affiliated Israelis.”
The White House did not come down either way on the House resolution, although administration officials have called many of the U.N. report’s findings “flawed.” As The Times’s Sharon Otterman reported recently, Mr. Goldstone has asked the White House to clarify “what the flaws in the report that they have identified are.”
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Monday, November 2, 2009
Sen. Vitter Pefers Sex Workers to Undocumented Immigrants
From our dear family values Senator Vitter who was found to frequent prostitutes*: "don't count undocumented immigrants in the 2010 census." Smart Idea! Maybe its better to see just how much federal funding states can lose when they realize that this population is a significant portion of their population. If California is having problems now, can you imagine what would happen if all the undocumented people in the state would not be counted?
One other thing about the census. How can undocumented people feel comfortable enough to cooperate with the census when its just one more way for the government to keep tabs on them - and risk them for deportation? Sounds like our government has created a double-bind here.
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Don't count illegal immigrants? That doesn't add up -- latimes.com
Posted using ShareThisby Gregory RodriguezNovember 2, 2009Like other efforts to make them non-people, a proposal to exclude them from the 2010 census doesn't do anything to deal with the problem.Gregory Rodriguez
November 2, 2009
Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has introduced legislation that, if passed, would instruct the U.S. Census Bureau not to take into account illegal immigrants and other noncitizens in the 2010 census. I'm all for it. Furthermore, I propose that the government no longer recognize deficits in budgets, record violent crimes in police reports, acknowledge casualties of war or count -- let alone give proper names! -- to hurricanes in weather reports.
Vitter's last-minute proposal -- census questionnaires, which are scheduled to be sent out in the spring, have already been printed -- is the latest in the political right's increasingly absurdist "fight" against illegal immigration. I put "fight" in quotes because these tactics actually do nothing to solve the problem of illegal immigration. Indeed, other than deprive the country's three most populous states of more congressional seats, Vitter's amendment would simply continue the restrictionists' strategy of pretending illegal immigration can be solved by depriving people of basic rights or, in this case, refusing to even acknowledge their existence...link to complete LAT article
Detention Center in Greenwich Village?
Immigrant Detention Center at
Varick St., New York
link to image
Immigrant Jail Tests U.S. View of Legal Access A startling petition arrived at the New York City Bar Association in October 2008, signed by 100 men, all locked up without criminal charges in the middle of Manhattan.
In vivid if flawed English, it described cramped, filthy quarters where dire medical needs were ignored and hungry prisoners were put to work for $1 a day.
The petitioners were among 250 detainees imprisoned in an immigration jail that few New Yorkers know exists. Above a post office, on the fourth floor of a federal office building in Greenwich Village, the Varick Street Detention Facility takes in 11,000 men a year, most of them longtime New Yorkers facing deportation without a lawyer.
Galvanized by the petition, the bar association sent volunteers into the jail to offer legal counsel to detainees — a strategy the Obama administration has embraced as it tries to fix the entire detention system.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement considers the access to legal services at Varick Street as a good model,” said Sean Smith, a spokesman for Janet Napolitano, secretary of homeland security, who oversees immigration enforcement.
But the lawyers doing the work have reached a different conclusion, after finding that most detainees with a legal claim to stay in the United States are routinely transferred to more remote jails before they can be helped. The lawyers say their effort has laid bare the fundamental unfairness of a system where immigrant detainees, unlike criminal defendants, can be held without legal representation and moved from state to state without notice.
In a report to be issued on Monday, the association’s City Bar Justice Center is calling for all immigrant detainees to be provided with counsel. And an article to be published this month in The Fordham Law Review treats the Varick jail as a case study in the systemic barriers to legal representation.
The new focus on Varick highlights the conflict between two forces: the administration’s plans to revamp detention, and current policies that feed the flow of detainees through the system as it is now. A disjointed mix of county jails and privately run prisons, where mistreatment and medical neglect have been widely documented, the detention network churns roughly 400,000 detainees through 32,000 beds each year.
“Any attempt to get support or services for them is stymied because you don’t know where they’re going to end up,” said Lynn M. Kelly, the director of the Justice Center.
When she asked that the lawyers’ letters of legal advice be forwarded to detainees who had been transferred from Varick, she said the warden balked, saying he had to consider the financial interests of his private shareholders: 1,200 members of a central Alaskan tribe whose dividends are linked to Varick’s profits under a $79 million, three-year federal contract...link to complete NYT article
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Muslim Headscarves not allowed on Doctors in Dallas Clinic
Plano, known to be a super-conservative suburb of Dallas, now has another distinction. A medical clinic has told a physician interviewing for a job to remove her headscarf (known as a Hijab).
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Muslim doc says she was told to remove headscarf
By ANABELLE GARAY
ASSOCIATED PRESS-Houston Chronicle
Oct. 30, 2009, 11:39PM
Inequities are the Same: LAPD and Scotland Yard
"A top Scotland Yard officer who was personally criticised for failings in the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting [in London] has been appointed to the leadership of the Independent Police Complaints Commission." London Guardian
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Menezes police officer gets top IPCC role
• Met aide to work for same body that criticised him
• Victim's family shocked by watchdog appointment
- guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 October 2009 19.53 GMT
A top Scotland Yard officer who was personally criticised for failings in the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting has been appointed to the leadership of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Commander Moir Stewart will be the IPCC's new director of investigations and a member of its management board.
Menezes was shot dead on July 22, 2005, after being mistaken by armed police for a suicide bomber.
At the time Stewart was a top aide to Met commissioner Sir Ian Blair, serving as his staff officer. The IPCC report into the killing of the innocent Brazilian found Stewart had failed to tell Blair of a "major" development, which suggested the wrong man had been shot. Blair claimed he did not know this until the next day despite many inside the force soon fearing that an innocent man had been killed...link to complete Guardian article
Friday, October 30, 2009
LAPD officers not charged for aggressive behavior on May 1, 2007
In keeping with the past, LAPD is not being charged for using excessive force at an immigration rally on May 1, 2007. On that day, scores of protesters were injured, including Univision reporters. The officers used batons and rubber bullets.
Some things never change
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Posted using ShareThis
1,000 Kids Die Every Year: Cause? No Insurance
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Uninsured children who wind up in the hospital are much more likely to die than children covered by either private or government insurance plans, according to one of the first studies to assess the impact of insurance coverage on hospitalized children.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center analyzed data from more than 23 million children’s hospitalizations in 37 states from 1988 to 2005. Compared with insured children, uninsured children faced a 60 percent increased risk of dying, the researchers found.
The authors estimated that at least 1,000 hospitalized children died each year simply because they lacked insurance, accounting for 16,787 of some 38,649 children’s deaths nationwide during the period analyzed...link to complete article
France and its Detained Children
A new report by Human Rights Watch written by Simone Troller, tells of the tragic situation at De Gaul Airport in Paris, where from Jan. 2008 to July 2009, 1,500 unaccompanied minors are detained when arriving in France. Click here for link to report .
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French Airport Zone Poses Risk to Arriving Minors, Report Says PARIS — Hundreds of unaccompanied foreign children arriving at the main Paris airport, Charles de Gaulle, each year are being detained in a so-called airport transit zone where they are denied the full protection of French law and exposed to risks, according to a report issued Thursday by Human Rights Watch.
From January 2008 to July 2009, 1,500 lone migrant minors landed at Charles de Gaulle and were denied entry to France, said Simone Troller, a Geneva-based expert on children’s rights and author of the 60-page report... link to complete NYT article
Thursday, October 29, 2009
A Woman's Gray Hair
On the subway in NY recently, a nice guy offered to give me his seat. I think I was only a few years older than he, but I have totally white hair. He doesn't. No, I am not that old, but my genes (and who knows, life stresses) have led me to white so much earlier than most people. It has been hard to accept. I don't even have grandchildren yet. Lots of people tell me to color my hair... go back to brown, or go to blonde they say. I tried that for a few years... too much trouble, too messy, the gray grows out in a couple of days. I think it's gross to see people who color their hair and if you happen to see the crown of their head and there are the gray hairs sticking out.... it looks bad.
Why do we all want to look younger? Because being young means feeling more attractive, more desired, more admired. What happens when a women "gives up" and lets her hair go gray and her wrinkles show? Actually nothing. My husband likes me just as much (even more, he says I'm more "natural" ) - and old guys seem to flirt with me more. I don't respond, but it does feel good to know that even though I'm no longer a skinny 30 year old with brown hair, I am still ok looking.
And no, there won't be any plastic surgery. I will go into the future normally, no alterations. I want to remain who I really am. If someone admires my nose or my hair, I can honestly say it's mine!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/fashion/29Skin.html?_r=1&hpw
DREAMer Nightmares
The painting is famous, its called "The Scream" by Edward Munch, (created between 1893-1910)*. Yet it reminds me of the DREAMer in the middle of a nightmare. He is at the border, the Rio Grande behind him - he has been detained and may soon be send across that fence. Below is an article a colleague sent me. It is just one more story of a DREAMer caught in our ridiculous immigration maze. Be sure to read the commentaries.
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Nightmare of a Dream Student - NAMby Roberto Rodriguez, New American MediaPosted: Oct 26, 2009
TUCSON, Ariz. -- I’ll refer to her as Leticia X.
She is undocumented, but has been in this country since the age of three and is a top student at her high school. Yet, unless the law changes soon, she will be unable to continue with her studies. She tells my students at the University of Arizona that it is wrong that she will not be able to attend college next year: “I consider myself a U.S. citizen. It’s the only country I’ve ever known...” link to complete article
* sometimes paintings or other great works of art take a long time
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Are you conscious of how much energy you use?
Americans are generally oblivious of how much energy they use. How many times do you leave your computer plugged in when you aren't using it? How many times do you leave your lights on in your house? How seriously did you consider the environment when you chose to live way out in the suburbs, miles and miles from your job? Do you own an SUV?
Thirst for oil poses threat to US national security, says military adviser
The Guardian - London
October 28, 2009
Democratic senators today pivoted from the economy to national security in push for climate change bill
America's thirst for oil is a gathering threat to its national security – and the risk will grow further as the world's population touches 7 billion, a military adviser to the Pentagon told the Senate today.
In a second day of debate on energy, Democratic senators today pivoted from the economy to national security to try to make the case for a climate change bill.
The threat to Americans' security ranged from the here and now – with troops in Afghanistan and Iraq tied down by their reliance on gas-guzzling equipment – to years into the future when extreme temperatures and rising sea levels could lead to a widespread social breakdown.
"We have never before on this planet had close to 7 billion people which we will have in 2011. We have never had the unprecedented level of per capita energy use multiplied by that 7 billion people," Dennis McGinn, a member of the Military Advisory Board, composed of senior retired admirals and generals, told the Senate. "We have a whole host of indicators, warnings and trends that tells us climate change is bad for national security..." link to complete article
Persepolis the Movie
Recently my students saw the award winning film Persepolis - and found it to be very informative and interesting.
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Description from movie trailer:
"Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power
- forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.
As she gets older, Marjane's boldness causes her parents to worry over her
continued safety. And so, at age fourteen, they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. In addition, Marjane has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Over time, she gains acceptance, and even experiences love, but after high school she finds herself alone and horribly homesick.
Though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society, Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, all the while continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past."
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
For DREAMers: What to do if you get stopped by the police
Hoping for a miracle:
A 17 year old DREAMer was picked up in Houston this week. Her friend, who was driving, got stopped by the police. When they also asked for the DREAMers ID, she gave them a false ID. She was then detained and will most likely be deported. Her parents have not been allowed to see her.
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Here is the information just in case you haven't seen it yet:
What You Need to Know to Protect Yourself from Raids
El Pregonero, News Report, Andrea Acosta, Translated by Elena Shore, Posted: May 01, 2007
In light of the series of raids being carried out in the metropolitan area by immigration agents in recent months, the organizations Casa de Maryland (Maryland House) and Detention Watch Network have written a guide to protect immigrants. Among the recommendations, they emphasize the following:
IF YOU ARE ARRESTED
• You have the right to remain silent.
• Don’t lie.
• Just say: “I need to talk to my lawyer.”
IF YOU ARE UNDOCUMENTED
• Don’t give them any information about your immigration status.
• Don’t give them false documents and don’t carry documentation from another country.
• Giving them your name or foreign documents could be used to start a deportation process against you.
IF THE POLICE COME TO YOUR HOUSE
• Don’t open the door. Ask them to pass you their warrant under the door.
• You have the right to see the warrant. It should include the signature of a judge and the areas of the house they can search.
• If the agents enter your house without a warrent, write down their names and identification numbers. Tell them they don't have your consent to enter. Write down the names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses.
IF IMMIGRATION AGENTS COME TO YOUR WORK
• Agents have to present a warrant or have the permission of the employer to enter.
• Don’t run. This could make it look as if you have something to hide.
• Remain calm.
IF YOU ARE STOPPED IN THE STREET
• If they stop you in the street without a written warrent, they can only arrest you if the agents have evidence that you are not a citizen.
• Don’t tell them your immigration status or where you were born.
• Don’t carry false documents or documents from your country.
GENERAL ADVICE
• Write down the name of the agent, agency (FBI, Police Department, ICE), badge and identification number.
• Don’t sign any document before speaking with your lawyer.
• Contact your family, a lawyer, your union and your consulate.
• Carry all of these numbers with you. You have the right to make a phone call.
• Ask them to pay your bail and give them a copy of your “Notice to Appear”
(the document that contains immigration charges).
• The police have 48 hours (not including weekends and holidays) to charge you before they release you (immigration authorities can have an additional 48 hours). If they don’t release you, call your lawyer or community organization.
• Carry a piece of paper with you that says, in English: “I want to talk to my lawyer.”
• Make a plan with friends and relatives in case of a raid. Make sure you arrange beforehand who is going to take care of the children and elderly, who is going to pay the bail, deporation costs, and the rent or mortgage.
• If you suspect that a relative has been detained, call (202) 305-2734 to locate him or her. They will ask you for the name, date of birth and identification number (it begins with an A and is included on the green card and on your work visa).
• Keep your immigration papers, birth certificate and passports in a safe place and make sure a relative knows where they are.
Monday, October 26, 2009
25¢ to avoid Diabetes - COCA-COLA is NOT Food
Today as I was driving back from the hospital to see my brother, who just had a leg amputated because of diabetes (he is 48), I was listening to KPFT-FM - there was a show on childhood obesity.
A physician from Baylor Medical School, a Houston City Councilman, and another public health advocate (I didn't get her name or who she was) were discussing the proposed 25 cent tax on soft drinks. The politician had the gaul to say that taxing a food source is unreasonable for children in poor neighborhoods, he said that the tax would limit their food choices. The problem is that soft drinks (Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta etc) are not a food source. They are just a sugar source, and a bad one at that - full of High Fructose Corn Syrup. The doctor really disappointed me when he did not whole heartedly support the tax...
Even more depressing was that the KPFT announcer said he was also against the tax.
I wonder how some people can say things like taxing soft drinks would be bad for kids. How can this be if these drinks are directly responsible for the obesity epidemic we are experiencing. Drinking plain water is much healthier, cheaper, and non-fattening.
Keeping Water from the Palestinians
A few weeks ago one of my students who goes back to visit his grandparents in Palestine every couple of years told our class that water was hard to come by in Gaza. So is medical care. Kids can have a fractured leg but Israeli hospitals won't take them. My student knows this, he saw it happen with his own eyes.
Keeping people from having enough water is beyond belief. I can't blame the Israeli's because even though Obama has made a few comments about the new settlements, the U.S. has not really done much to de-escalate the situation, or try to find a way to reduce the hate. The money we send to Israel that pays for their Army is hate money, used to buy things that kill.
The problems between Israel and Palestine are beyond logic. Now that Obama has the Nobel, could he make more of an effort to untangle this mess?
Amnesty Says Israel
Curbing Water to Palestinians
New York Times, October 26, 2009
link to image
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