Is It Good Bye for the Iconoclast?

It was only last summer when I first heard of the existence of the popular blog called The Iconoclast. "Oh, you've got to check it out I was told. That's where everybody goes for the scoop on local politics. "

The next time I got online I checked out the Iconoclast. It was easy to understand why so many people went there. The blog's author, Jonah Tebbetts, gave excellent coverage of local and regional events here in Northwest Arkansas; this, with a nice proportion of honest editorial work. The Iconoclast quickly became a place that I too, would go to on a regular basis.

Just this afternoon, I read an announcement on a local list-serve, which stated that The Iconoclast had disappeared. I attempted to access the website and I saw the following message:

Blog has been removed

Sorry, the blog at jonah-tebbetts.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.

To say that I'm surprised about the popular blog's sudden disappearance would be an understatement. Hopefully, it's just a glitch or something. Perhaps Jonah, in attempting to disseminate more vital information, somehow deactivated his site - perhaps even without knowing. Then again, it could be that The Iconoclast has really disappeared. If so, it will be missed, because Jonah Tebbetts did one heck of a job of keeping us informed.

A Glorious Day!

"I'm telling you, you're going to be seeing Obama blackshirts before very long," P said to me.

"I seriously doubt that," I responded with a chuckle.

It was late afternoon/early evening on Monday. The next day, at 12:00 noon, Barak Obama was to be sworn in as our 44th president. My associate P, a rather enjoyable and friendly guy, was relating his fears about the president elect and his incoming administration. At that moment, I understood that P, who can best be described as a libertarian, was re-hashing one of the more popular talking points that can be heard on right-wing talk radio and seen on similarly-oriented internet sites.

As for me, I'm neither a Republican nor a Democrat; this, while readily admitting to my belief that the Democratic Party holds to higher and more humanitarian ideals in general, than the Republican Party does. As a self-described leftist with a libertarian streak, I enjoy hearing comments such as those made by P. Being non-aligned helps me to keep an open mind about the opinions of others, and it helps me to look at events and situations without having to run my observations through the lens of dogma, political correctness of either the left or the right, or any stringent political philosophy. As such, I openly admit that I, as so many other millions of Americans, was overjoyed to observe the Inauguration of Barak Obama yesterday.

Of course, since the transition to the new administration began, I have had issues with some of the choices Mr. Obama has made as well as some of his stated policies. More specifically, I have long considered Hillary Clinton to be a warmonger that appears to be all too ready to bully other countries that will not knuckle under to our way of thinking. Further, I view her as being so biased toward Israel that as Secretary of State, she will be incapable of brokering a truly just peace between that country and the Palestinians. Our new president's stated policy toward Afghanistan troubles me as well. I keep thinking about the loss of so much innocent civilian life in that country due to bombing attacks upon villages; these, based solely upon the suspicion that a terror suspect may be there. I look at how much being bogged down in Afghanistan contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and I ask myself if our chosen leader has thought about these things.

Still, listening to his Inaugural Address Tuesday, I couldn't help but feel elated. Finally, we have a president who addresses the American people as if we have some intelligence! Finally, we have a president that at least appears to have dignity and a conscience. In a mild reference to the tactics of the past administration and in my opinion, the jabs coming at him from the right, Mr. Obama said:

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."

Is anyone else out there as sick of the worn-out dogmas that we been hearing since the days of Ronald Reagan? Unbelievably, there are those who still continue to promote the worn-out hands off the free market dogma; this, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that this policy, which has been promoted by Republicans and most Democrats alike, is largely responsible for the economic problems that we now face. In light of this, I believe that our new president was being very practical Tuesday when he put it this way:

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end...
"Power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous."

How can anyone not be inspired by words such as these? In the opinion of this writer, Mr. Obama cut right through all of the hollow arguments that the right has used against him - arguments such as his alleged desire to turn us into a socialist and therefore, dictatorial nation.

As I watched Tuesday's inaugural proceedings, it was difficult for me to look upon the thousands upon thousands of faces on the National Mall - faces that were inclusive of all races and ethnicities without having tearful eyes. Mr. Obama was correct in saying that his father, and by default, so many in that vast audience would not have gotten served in a restaurant sixty years ago. Gazing into the vast horde of people that attended this inaugural event, it was easy to experience their euphoria and jubilation. For some, it was the fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King's dream. For others, it was the sense that our eight-year nightmare has finally come to an end. Likely, for most that attended the event, and for myself, it was a combination of these things.

As with P and many others, there is a lack of appreciation for this feeling of euphoria that has overtaken so many Americans. I do realize that our new president is neither perfect, nor is he some sort of a savior. More likely than not, I will be one of the first to criticize some of his choices and actions. Still, after eight years of the Bush/Cheney administration, it is refreshing to have a new president who appears ready to get down to work, radiates dignity, and discusses issues honestly and intelligently. I wish him well as he now undertakes this most difficult job; I sure wouldn't want it.

Perhaps the best way to describe what I'm feeling today, after eight horrific years of Bush and Cheney, can be related through the lyrics of an old song. For me, the words are as pertinent now as they were when they first appeared in 1939:

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead.
She's gone where the goblins go,
Below - below- below, Yo'ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Wicked Witch is dead.

Photo: New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/20/us/20090120SWEARINGIN_10.html

Relieving the Feeling of Political Impotency: Fayetteville Demonstrates For Peace In Gaza

In December of 1776 Thomas Paine, who is best known for his pamphlet entitled Common Sense, which endorsed American independence from Great Britain, began writing a series of pamphlets entitled The American Crises. In one of the first of these, he coined the popularly-known statement, "These are times that try men's souls." Paine was referring of course, to the situation the thirteen colonies were facing during the opening days of the American Revolution.

While there is little doubt as to the truthfulness of Paine's statement, it is equally true that these also are times that try men's and women's souls. There are events taking place in the world right now - today, that are so horrific that just having knowledge of them seems to tear at one's very soul. More specifically, I am speaking about the Israeli-instigated humanitarian crises that is taking place in Gaza, where it appears that the Tel Aviv government appears hell-bent to commit genocide against the nearly defenseless Palestinians living there. Knowing what Israel is doing is bad enough, but watching our own U.S. Senate almost unanimously support the carnage taking place there is really too much to bear. After all, to whom does a person of conscience turn when their so-called representatives overwhelmingly support such crimes against humanity; this, when an estimated 50 percent of Americans are horrified by news reports coming from that part of the world?

For me, and likely for others as well, there is a growing feeling of helplessness as each day, we hear more depressing news coming from Gaza. Here's just a sampling of today's headlines as they can currently be found at Antiwar.com:

Israel Tells Gazans to Brace For Yet More Escalation

U.N: One-third of Gaza dead, injured are children

This one is especially horrifying:

Report: Israel Forced Civilians Into Single House, Repeatedly Bombed It

It was with this ever-increasing feeling of hopelessness and impotency that I read some of the stories behind the headlines this morning. I was in the computer lab at the public library and after finishing with my reading, I decided to check one of my e-mail accounts before getting off line and heading home. Upon getting into my inbox, I saw an e-mail from the OMNI Center that spoke of a "vigil in honor of the dead and the suffering in the Gaza conflict." The vigil was set for Saturday (today) at twelve noon. I checked my watch; the time was 11:59. Quickly, I logged off the computer, ran downstairs to grab a movie to take home, and headed for the Federal Building where a group of people were assembled outside.

It was not a large group that was gathered there, but it certainly was a dedicated one. I counted about 32 participants, but my count could have been off a little one way or the other. To see that even this many people came out on relatively short notice, and on such a cold and blustery day, was heartwarming.

One of the event organizers decided to hold a Palestinian ceremony called an Azaa. This is the Arabic word for the mourning ceremony that occurs after the death of a loved one in the Islamic world. Today, in keeping with the Azaa tradition, there was a table set up for the purpose of serving dates and bitter coffee - two essential components of any Azaa.

Most of the folks who attended the event stood along North College Avenue and held signs that stated their opposition to the current war in Gaza and the taking of so many civilian lives there. A small podium with an accompanying sound system, from which speakers delivered messages and volunteers delivered prayers, had also been set up.

My whole reason writing about today's event is not to talk about what was said outside the Federal Building today, or how many passing vehicles honked favorably; rather, it is simply to congratulate the OMNI folks and all who attended the event for coming out on such a cold day in order to take such an unpopular stance at a time during which our news media and politicians are only expressing one side of this vital issue - the Israeli side.

Today's vigil in downtown Fayetteville likely won't sway our biased national news media or our bought and paid for "representatives" in Washington, D.C. who blindly bow down to the powerful Israeli lobby without ever caring to hear the other side of the story, but I can at least hope that it made the other participants feel a little less frustrated - a little less impotent, as it did me.

The "Dignity," and Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza

On Tuesday morning at around 5:00 A.M., a vessel traveling in the eastern Mediterranean was intercepted and came under attack by Israeli gunboats; this, while traveling in international waters and some distance from the coast of the besieged Gaza strip, where the Israeli military has unleashed its full might upon the nearly defenseless Palestinian population there. On board the Dignity were doctors, journalists, humanitarian workers, and former Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. Also on board, were approximately three tons of medical supplies that were to be delivered, at the request of doctors in Gaza, to help alleviate the humanitarian crises that currently exists there. The crew and passengers were hoping to evacuate wounded Palestinians to other locations due to the inability of area hospitals to cope with the crises they are now facing.

As passengers and crew headed toward Gaza in stormy seas on Tuesday morning, the Israeli gunboats fired machine guns into the water close to the humanitarian ship; one such gunboat rammed the Dignity on the port side of her bow. According to eyewitness reports, the vessel was rammed three times. After the attack, the Dignity reported that it was taking on water and had some engine trouble. With the serious damage the ship had sustained, it had to change course and headed toward Lebanon for repairs. The Dignity flies the flag of Gibraltar, is under the command of a British captain, and was clearly attacked in international waters; this, in direct violation of maritime law.

In recent weeks the Israeli navy has been harassing and kidnapping fishermen and human-rights activists, who have been attempting to bring food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies into Gaza in order to relieve the human suffering that is taking place there. These maritime harassments against humanitarian-aid and human-rights observers are only a part of the slow strangulation - a form of collective punishment that Israel has been implementing against the residents of Gaza since Hamas, an organization on the terrorist lists of both Israel and the United States, saw a huge victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections in January 2006 and especially, since that organization took control of Gaza in June of 2007.

Life has not been easy for the Palestinians in general, especially since Israel began the construction of a so-called "security fence" that is designed to separate Israel from its Palestinian neighbors. Many prefer to call this fence an "apartheid wall." When completed, this West Bank Barrier will seal off the entire population of the West Bank from both Israel proper and other Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip, where a completed wall already leaves them isolated and virtually cut off from the rest of the world.

Israel's newly-constructed wall, which has been condemned by the International Court of Justice has had a devastating effect upon the Palestinian people. The situation in Gaza, particularly since the Hamas takeover, can only be described as dire; this, even before Israel launched its brutal attack upon Gaza this past Saturday.

For months those living in the Gaza strip have fallen victim to a sort of slow starvation. Food, medical supplies and fuel necessary for the operation of the area's electrical plant are routinely denied by the Israeli government. Residents are being forced to live without electricity for most of the time due to the imposed fuel shortage and therefore, are facing the complete breakdown of sanitary conditions. There is precious little clean drinking water, garbage and sewage is piling up, and the people are being forced to live in what has been referred to as an "open cesspool." Further, the Israeli military has been attempting to keep the news media and humanitarian workers from getting anywhere near Gaza; this, likely in an attempt to evade further international observation and the subsequent condemnation for its actions.

On Saturday, Israel began an aerial bombardment upon the People of Palestine, which many are calling a holocaust. The justification for this massive military action has been explained as defensive action as a result of Hamas' Kassam rocket fire into southern Israel that has resumed in recent weeks. Still, as Dennis Rahkonen brings out in his article entitled The Truth About Those Hamas Rockets, the rockets being used amount to little more than "slingshots" against Israel's military might. Of course, to those Israelis living in the line of fire, these rockets can be quite frightening. The truth however, is that there has been very little death or serious injury as a result of these rocket attacks. Of course, Israel has a right to defend itself, but the response to the rocket attacks with the brute force of "shock and awe" that is currently being employed by Israel against all the Palestinian people living in Gaza simply cannot be justified; at least, not in the opinion of this writer.

Since Saturday, almost 400 have died and countless others have been seriously wounded. Area hospitals are unable to cope with the situation; this, due in part to the Israeli blockade of the entire Gaza Strip. It was for this reason that the Dignity was attempting to lend humanitarian aid to a terrorized and besieged people. After the vessel safely made it to the Lebanese port city of Tyre, former Congresswoman McKinney was interviewed by CNN. At the time, she called upon President-Elect Obama to please say something about the humanitarian crises in Gaza. She went on to say this to her former congressional colleagues:

"I would like to ask my former colleagues in the United States Congress to stop sending weapons of mass destruction around the world. As we are about to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, let us remember what he said. He said that the United States is the greatest purveyor of violence on the planet. And guess what: We experienced a little bit of that violence, because the weapons that are being used by Israel are weapons that were supplied by the United States government."

Neither President-Elect Obama, the supposed candidate for change who once said that "we are our brother's keeper," nor Mrs. Mckinney's former congressional colleagues have uttered a word about Gaza's humanitarian crises. Their silence is deafening.

Above photo by Fidaa Abuhamdiya for Gaza coverage called "il massacro."

Clean Coal Update: Monday's Toxic Ash Slide In Eastern Tennessee

Sometimes the synchronicity that takes place in this world is absolutely amazing! Over the past day or so, I had been working on and published here a sort of exposé on the myth of clean coal; this, in response to a letter that appeared in the Northwest Arkansas Times on December 9, which propagated the myth of clean coal. The letter was authored by Paul Chodak, the President and Chief Operating Officer at SWEPCO in Shreveport. This afternoon, while browsing some of my favorite websites, I stopped at the Democracy Now site and came upon one of today's leading headlines, which reads, "Spill at Tennessee Coal Plant Creates Environmental Disaster." The following paragraph came after the headline:

"Parts of Tennessee remain buried under toxic sludge today after a major disaster at a coal plant. A forty-acre pond containing toxic coal ash has collapsed, spilling out millions of gallons of coal ash. Environmentalists say the spill is more than thirty times larger than the Exxon Valdez, but the story has received little national attention. Greenpeace is calling for a criminal investigation."

The spill, reportedly occurred on Monday when a forty-acre pond containing highly-toxic coal ash collapsed. An estimated 2.6 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled out of its containment area. Approximately 400 acres of land is now buried under some six feet of dangerous sludge. Homes and roads are buried under the toxic mixture and reportedly, some of the sludge has made its way into the Emory River, a tributary of the Tennessee River, which provides water to municipalities and serves as drinking water to millions of people downstream in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky.

The spill, which occurred just west of Knoxville at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tennessee, a plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), has received almost no attention in the national media. Similar disasters, which have taken place during recent years and decades in Appalachia, also received little national media attention. Could it be that vital information is being withheld from the public in order to allow the coal industry's "clean coal" propaganda to proceed without any serious debate? If so, the news media is seriously failing in its responsibility to keep the public informed on vital issues.

One thing is for sure: The American people need to know about this recent disaster. There can be no real debate about a national energy policy when the public knows nothing about this dark side of the clean coal myth.

Here are a couple of links for more information on this coal-ash spill:

Click here for a link to Democracy Now's coverage in text and streaming video.

Here is more information from the TVA's own website (includes flyover video footage at the bottom of the page).

The Dark Side of Clean Coal

I have always loved trees, and I feel that over the years, I have at times expended great effort to protect them. Last September however, when Fayetteville took a direct hit from the remains of Hurricane Ike, I had a rather new experience with some of the trees around my cabin as the wind and rain brought three or four of them down upon the cottage that I live in. Fortunately, there was very little damage. It could have been much worse.

After the storm, I looked at some of the trees that still stood directly in back of and in close proximity to the house. They were of the same type that came down and gave me such a harrowing night during Ike - tall, and of that invasive species known as the Tree of Heaven, or more scientifically, Ailanthus altissima. Looking closely at them, I could see that the direction they were leaning in, or their center of gravity, made them a further threat to the cottage; another wind or ice storm could easily bring them down upon me - perhaps, even as I slept. Much to my personal consternation, I decided that they had to go; and, they did a few days ago.

Even though these trees were of a prolific and invasive species, I took no pleasure in seeing them go. Now, when I step outside my back door, I see the stumps where the trees once stood, the stumps surrounded only by sawdust. Seeing the destruction that I caused, even though it was necessary, leaves me with a feeling of sadness. There is a new scar upon the Earth, and it's right outside my back door. Now, I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring when some of the tall grasses that present themselves there each year will grow back and will begin to heal the scar.

Being of such a sensitive nature, at least in an environmental sense, it's difficult for me to imagine that there are many people that, when pushing their industry's agenda upon the general public, will conceal many of the facts about that industry's environmentally-destructive nature. At this point in time, I am particularly talking about the propaganda coming forth from the Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) as it pushes for the construction of the John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant in Hempstead County; a plant, that SWEPCO claims will burn so-called "clean coal."

On December 9, a letter to the editor appeared in the Northwest Arkansas Times that was authored by Paul Chodak, the President and Chief Operating Officer of SWEPCO in Shreveport. During the course of his letter, Mr. Chodak presented the typical selling points of those promoting clean coal. Near the end of the letter he said, "We take seriously our responsibility to protect the environment as we work to bring the latest technology to the region to provide reasonably priced and reliable electricity to our customers."

What Mr. Chodak failed to mention is that the process for producing coal, including so-called clean coal, often involves one of the most environmentally-destructive operations on Earth. This process is called mountain-top removal coal mining, and it is seriously impacting many parts of the central and southern Appalachian Mountains with environmental desecration that not only harms wildlife, but threatens entire communities as well. Mountain-top removal mining has been referred to as "strip mining on steroids." Much of the Appalachian's scenic beauty is being destroyed by this process.

Through this process the forest, and often most of a mountain, is first clear-cut and stripped of virtually all vegetation. Then the top 800 to 1,000 feet of the hill are bulldozed away and the top is completely leveled. The resulting debris is then pushed over the side and deposited into the valleys and streams below, thus polluting and damming up streams that are used for fishing, or even eventually, municipal water supplies.

Large amounts of water and toxic chemicals are used in order to supposedly, wash or clean the coal. At a time when demand and competition for clean water continues to grow, large amounts of it are permanently taken out of circulation and are stored in large slurry ponds - reservoirs of thick liquid and toxic waste. These slurry ponds often jeopardize public safety.

On October 11, 2000, one such slurry impoundment gave way spilling an estimated 300 million gallons of toxic sludge near Inez, Kentucky. The EPA referred to the Inez spill as the worst environmental catastrophe in the history of the Eastern United States as the toxic mixture fouled some 100 miles of waterways and buried parts of the community under seven feet of coal sludge. On February 26, 1972, a coal-waste dam burst in Logan County, West Virginia. According to reliable reports and eyewitness testimony, over 132 million gallons of sludge barreled through some 16 coal-mining communities along Buffalo Creek, thus killing 125 people and leaving another 4,000 homeless.

There are good reasons to oppose the use and further mining of coal that go way beyond the singular discussion of air quality that industry executives such as Mr. Chodak would like to keep us focused on. These represent an even darker side to the story than most of the public ever gets to hear about. Still, just because these concerns are never addressed by industry personnel does not mean that they are not valid. There is no such thing as clean coal!

It's likely that not everyone will have the same environmental sensitivity as I do. We are all different and every individual has his or her own way of looking at things. Still, it seems to me that the deliberate covering up or downplaying of potentially catastrophic processes such as mountain-top removal coal mining with the use of phrases such as "clean coal," carries the topic away from one of sensitivity to one of downright deception by the electric and coal industries. The public needs to know all of the truth, not just a part of it.

Please note: Both photos courtesy of Vivian Stockman / www.ohvec.org , and the flyover courtesy of Southwings.org .

The Obama National Security Team: A Look into the Crystal Ball

On Monday, President-Elect Obama went public with his choices for the nation's new national security team, and these choices don't bode very well for those who voted Mr. Obama into office in order to bring about real change - particularly as regards foreign policy. The president-elect's choices include his former presidential race opponent and hawk on the Middle-Eastern affairs Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, the current Secretary of Defense and Bush appointee Robert Gates, and the long-time friend of John McCain and former Marine Corp and NATO Commandant General James L. Jones as National Security Adviser.

There are many who are currently praising Mr. Obama's choices. These include the former Speaker of the House and author of the Contract With America Newt Gingrich, and war criminal Henry Kissinger; these praises come particularly in regard to the appointment of Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. In the context of the growing threat of world-wide terrorism, these appointments do not bode well for either the reversal of our nation's never-ending quest for empire, or the elimination of the root causes of terrorism and anti-Americanism. "But wait," some have said. "Didn't we experience peace and prosperity during the administration of Bill Clinton?" If so, the reasoning goes, what could possibly be wrong with appointing the knowledgeable Hillary as Secretary of State, and what would be wrong with bringing former members of the Clinton Administration into the new Obama Administration?

The answer to that may lie in the fact that during the 90's, even though we enjoyed the illusion of peace, anti-Americanism and outright anger against us was growing. Perhaps this growing anger was a bit under the radar for awhile, but it should have become evident to us on October 12, 2000 when a suicide bomber attacked the U.S.S. Cole at the Yemeni port of Aden. On that day, 17 Americans were killed and another 39 were injured in the attack. While the Sudanese government was ultimately credited with being liable for the attack, it was Al-Qaeda that carried it out. Clearly, discontent with U.S. policy in the Middle East had become evident at that time.

What specific policies could have brought about this anger? On August 6, 1990 the United Nations, supported by the United States, put an almost total trade and economic embargo against Iraq, which at that time, was under the control of our former ally, Saddam Hussein. The embargo, while originally designed to force Hussein out of Kuwait, was kept in place until after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. During the period after the first Gulf War, and during his entire administration, President Clinton made no effort to remove the embargo or to lessen its effect upon the Iraqi people. The effect of that embargo upon ordinary citizens in Iraqi, particularly children, was horrific. Wikipedia puts it this way:

"The sanctions resulted in high rates of malnutrition, lack of medical supplies, and diseases from lack of clean water. Chlorine, was desperately needed to disinfect water supplies, but it was banned from the country due to the potential that it may be used as part of a chemical weapon. On May 10, 1996, Madeleine Albright (U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations at the time) appeared on 60 Minutes and was confronted with statistics of half a million children under five having died as a result of the sanctions. She replied "we think the price is worth it..."

On March 16, 2003 Rachel Corrie, a young U.S. citizen from Olympia, Washington who had traveled to Gaza as a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was run over and killed by a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer operated by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as she sat in its way in order to protest the destruction of Palestinian homes by the Israeli government in the Gaza strip, a practice routinely carried out by the Israeli forces against Palestinians. Before her death Corrie, in a March 14 interview with the Middle East Broadcasting Company said, ""I feel like I'm witnessing the systematic destruction of a people's ability to survive ... Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I'm having dinner with."

While the Israeli military and government claimed that Rachel Corrie's death was an accident, ISM eyewitnesses tell a different story. Regardless of the actual circumstances of her death however, e-mails she sent back home tell the story of her grief and total disbelief over the human-rights abuses the Palestinians face in Gaza on a day to day basis - all of this with the full support of the U.S. Government. You can read her e-mails, as published in The Guardian by clicking here and here. Rachel Corrie, bye the way, has been praised by those who knew her as an "extraordinary" person.

In 2005 then Senator Hillary Clinton stood in Palestine and praised the construction of an apartheid wall by the Israeli Government - a project, which was carried out with large amounts of U.S. aid. This wall, which the United Nations World Court has declared as contrary to international law, has in recent weeks, been used to cut off the Palestinian population from shipments of food, fuel for the generation of electricity, and other necessary supplies. None of President-Elect Obama's national security team appointees has ever, to the knowledge of this writer, uttered a single word of protest over Israel's policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.

To a fairly large extent, Barak Obama owes his election victory to the anti-war faction of the American public; for it is this segment of the population that has been crying out for change since at least 2001, and more forcibly, since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq on false pretenses. It is this segment of the population that realizes the continued control of another sovereign people in Iraq will only continue to spur resentment and insurgencies against us. It is this segment of the American voting public that sees immorality in the continuation of bombing attacks against entire villages in Afghanistan; this in order to kill one or two terror suspects. Terror is in the eyes of the beholder, and the causing of such widespread death and destruction of a largely innocent civilian population might be considered a form of terrorism in and of itself; particularly, by those most affected by it. Yet, from the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff to Joseph Biden as his running mate, and from Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State to the continuation of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, Barak Obama is filling his national security team and his cabinet with war hawks; there's not a solitary voice for peace among them.

During his campaign, Mr. Obama often spoke of Martin Luther King and the dreams and aspirations that he presented to the American people. Dr. King however, was not only a civil-rights activist; he cared deeply about the creation of peace and justice for all of humanity as well. On April 4, 1967 Dr. King delivered a speech at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City. During that address and in referring to U.S. involvement in Vietnam at the time, he put it this way:

" "Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism."

In all fairness to Mr. Obama, he did say that the the buck stops at his desk - that he will be the decision maker. Additionally, the man hasn't even been sworn into office yet and therefore, his actions cannot rightly be judged until he begins setting policy. Still, with the choices made concerning his national security team, at least up to this point, the future doesn't bode very well for any significant change. One only has to look at the terror attacks that took place last week in Mumbai, and the growing potential for war between India and Pakistan as a result of those attacks - two long-time rivals armed with nuclear weapons, to realize the wisdom of Dr. King's words. We can only hope that when Barak Obama becomes president, he will take those words to heart.