When I was a senior in high school I participated in the model united nations program. As thousands of students do each year, I chose a country to represent as part of the student program. In my case I chose Norway, the home of my mother's ancestors. I was very excited to receive mailings from the Norwegian embassy, which I diligently researched in order to accurately represent my country of choice. Sitting in our high school library we passed resolutions to abide by strategic arms control and non-proliferation issues.

A message from Bob Tuke:

The recent devastation in Myanmar left by Cyclone Nargis has our hearts grieving, and our fervent prayers are with the victims of this unspeakable disaster. With the death toll already estimated as high as 100,000 and countless men, women, and children left homeless and destitute by this week's destruction, the call to give generously, with open hearts, cannot be ignored.

Earlier today our campaign made a donation to the Red Cross International Response Fund. Will you join me by donating $25 dollars to Myanmar relief today?

Click here to support relief efforts.

Your contribution will go entirely to the efforts of the Red Cross in providing medical attention, food, water, and shelter to hundreds of thousands in need of emergency assistance.

One of the many reasons I am proud to call myself a Tennessean is because our men and women have always answered the call of duty. Donate $25 today, and let's answer the call to provide for the victims of Cyclone Nargis and to deliver a message of hope to Myanmar.

Sincerely,
Bob Tuke

A good idea, regardless of which candidate you support.

From an AP wire headline this morning:
Company of Iraqi troops abandon position after attack
This is shortly after 1300 Iraqi soldiers were fired for refusing to fight earlier in the week. I think John "Sydney" McCain's Hundred Year War may not be long enough.

Nor will he attend the planned White House dinner in his honor.

It's unclear why the Pope won't be attending the dinner in his honor, but he is expected to touch on issues upon which he and President Bush disagree during the visit, especially the Iraq war.

During his visit to the United Nations a few days later, the Pope will address "the false notion that might makes right," according to a Vatican representative.

H/T ThinkProgress

Towns and cities around the world are turning out the lights for an hour to highlight the threat of climate change.

Created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, Earth Hour has grown from a single event into a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 35 US cities will participate, including the US flagships--Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco.

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Great idea. I hope it catches on.

I do wonder about their choice to have it on a Saturday night. Will that deter many people from participating?

The grim milestone came at a time when attacks against the U.S. military are ebbing and officials have claimed significant progress against Iraq's deadly insurgency and sectarian violence. It was reached about 10 p.m. on a day when more than 60 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital.

Nearly 30,000 US troops have been wounded in the Iraq conflict.

Will they be "drawing down" the troops as indicated earlier? Or, do they need all 160,000 to keep the "peace" in Iraq? I'm sorry to say, but it is an election year.

Memphis born and bred Cary Fowler is in charge of the “Doomsday Vault” seed bank in Svalbard, Norway. The Vault, which opened last week, will store seeds from every country on earth, and from every variety of food crop.

He will be in Memphis at the Pink Palace Museum, Monday, March 10, 2008, for a free public lecture entitled, “Seed Banks and Polar Bears: The Quest to Save Agriculture’s Past and Our Future.” This is one of a series of free public lectures in connection with our new exhibit, “Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics.” More details are available on the Pink Palace Museum page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...).

Fowler grew up in Memphis, graduated from White Station High School and spent his summers on his grandmother’s farm near Madison, Tennessee. That is where his interest in agriculture began. Fowler is the Executive Director Global Crop Diversity Trust based in Rome.

This is a tremendous opportunity to learn more about this fantastic project to protect one of the world's most basic resources, food, and perhaps our species. If you can, you should make an effort to go to this lecture and reception to meet Fowler. The importance of the seed bank makes all the political squabbling pale in comparison. It would be a nice break!

Sherrie

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Here is absolute pictorial proof that Bush is a communist and member of the GROUP OF THREE. He is seen in this covert photo outside a meeting of this super secret group which is dedicated to the destruction of the free world and the takeover by Communist totalitarians.

As you can see by the structure of the picture Hu Jintao, Dictator of China and future WORLD RULER, is the top man with Putin of Russia and Bush as his lackeys. They are caught in this candid photo in the ritualistic dress this subversive organization is required to wear by their Heathen religious beliefs.

THIS HAS BEEN COVERED UP BY OUR GOVERNMENT LONG ENOUGH! KEEP THIS GOING SO AMERICANS WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND RISE UP IN TIME TO PROTECT OUR PRECIOUS FREEDOM!!!!!

Harry, third in line to the British throne, has been serving on the front line with an army unit in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province since mid-December.

...

British officials had hoped to keep Prince Harry's deployment secret until he had safely returned, but they released video of him serving in Helmand Province after the leak appeared on the Drudge Report.

The ministry deplored the leak by "elements of the foreign media."

...

The deployment plan had been disclosed to reporters, with no specific date, but was not reported previously because of an agreement between the Ministry of Defense and all major news organizations operating in Britain, including The Associated Press. The news blackout was intended to reduce the risk to the prince and his regiment.

Such bravery for this young man. It would be almost unheard of, in this day and age, to have the child of the leader of the United States to go into harms way as did Prince Harry. Instead, our press has to report the deployment and put him and his unit in harms way.

Prosperity and peace are in the balance," the president said in speech excerpts the White House released on Thursday night. "So with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let us go forward ... fight for victory ... and keep the White House in 2008."

Prosperity and Peace? Where is this coming from? We have peace? Ask the 160,000 soldiers in Iraq and their families. We have prosperity? Aaaaggghhh! It's all relative, I guess. I can still afford gas, health insurance, groceries, etc. Never mind those 40 million without health insurance. Never mind all of the homeless people, 17,000 just in New Orleans.

The King is Mad! Where are his clothes?

What's going wrong? US military deaths in the Iraq War are creeping back up again. There were 38 US military deaths in October, 2007, 37 in November, then 23 in December. Now, in January, 2008, 39 of our military have been killed as a result of the Iraq War.

It appears there may be a problem. It appears that a "surge" is not the end, similar to the Mission Accomplished statement. It appears that Bush is planning on a long term battle for the oil.

In fact, the administration is sending strong signals that reductions in Iraq will slow or stop altogether this summer, jeopardizing hopes of relieving the strain on the Army and Marine Corps and reviving debate over an open-ended U.S. commitment in the country.

Poland is committed to withdrawing their troops (all 900 of them) by October. Is there even a coalition any more?

The UN Secretary General is warning that water shortages around the globe relate to increases in armed conflict.

He reminded business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum that the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan was touched off by drought —

...

"Water is today's issue," said Andrew Liveris, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical Co., the world's second largest chemical company. "It is the oil of this century, not a question."

We better get busy. The Bush administration has left us with a lot of fixin' to do. We the people must become more aware of our surroundings lest we destroy them and make them uninhabitable.

Or...Why the French take their politics much more seriously. (NSFW, I'm told)

Term for the day: "Conversational Viagra"

USA number 1!

Keep yelling that loud enough, and it might cover the truth.

Southern Beale is wearing orange today.
Let her tell you why.

And if you are thinking about the Vols win over Ole Miss earlier this week, you are sadly mistaken.

Katie Allison Granju has pretty solid evidence at Knoxville Talks that a recent Shelbyville Times-Gazette series on Somali refugees in Bedford Co. is, to say the least, somewhat biased.

The extra 30,000 troops sent to Iraq, bringing the total number to around 160,000, slowed down the military fatalities in Iraq. It's a good thing since 2007 was the deadliest year for US troops (901) in Iraq.

There were 24 coalition deaths in the Iraq war in December, 2007, 23 US soldiers and 1 UK soldier. There have been over 3,900 US fatalities and over 28,600 US soldiers wounded fighting in Iraq since 2003.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is hoping to discontinue the surge by bringing 30,000 troops out of Iraq by July, 2008. Will he? Can he? Is it safe? Will it ever be safe?

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in a suicide bombing that also killed at least 20 others at a campaign rally, a party aide and a military official said.

Oh, my... What kind of trouble will be brewing now?

May she rest in peace.

A Ross Perot foundation has put the Magna Carta up for auction.

Written in ink on a 710-year-old sheet of animal skin vellum and bearing the wax seal of King Edward, the manuscript has held up surprisingly well.
...
Beyond England, the Magna Carta provided the foundation for legal systems throughout the world, Redden said, including those of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, former British colonies in Asia and Africa and, of course, the United States. Many of the ideas and language used in the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Gettysburg Address and the Declaration of Independence find their roots in the Magna Carta.
...
These include the right to a speedy trial before a jury of one's peers; no taxation without representation; the concept of government of the people, by the people and for the people; the idea of government drawing power from the consent of the governed; the right of habeas corpus, which protects against unlawful imprisonment; and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.

Most important, the Magna Carta established the revolutionary concept that no man is above the law, even the king.

Put it on your calendar, Tuesday, Dec. 18, at Sotheby's New York.

Maybe the US should buy it to remind our President he is not above the law!

After all of this time, conspiracy theories abound. Now comes a new book where the publisher states that the last living member of the Warren Commission, Gerald Ford, said the CIA did indeed cover up the JFK assassination right before he died.

From: Raw Story

Did the CIA orchestrate a cover-up in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy?

According to the publisher of a new book, who appeared on Fox News Wednesday morning, the last living words of former President Gerald Ford fingered the CIA in the orchestration a cover-up of Kennedy's assassination.

Ford, who died late last year, was the longest surviving member of the Warren Commission, which investigated Kennedy's assassination. The new book, "A Presidential Legacy and the Warren Commission," was written by Ford before his death, its publisher claims.

"This book, actually authored by Gerald Ford, finally proves once and for all that the CIA, our government, did destroy documents and cover-up many facts that day in Dallas," publisher Tim Miller told Fox & Friends Wednesday morning.

Go read the rest at RawStory.

The settlement has reopened debate over Internet companies cooperating with governments

Yahoo would not say whether its dealings ... or ... mode of responding to government requests will change as a result of the settlement.

"resist any attempts by " authorities " to make them complicit in cracking down on free speech, otherwise they simply should not do business in those markets."

It's 2:30PM, November 8th, 2007. The Dow Jones is down 165, possibly drifting up as we write. It was down 360 yesterday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that a host of economic problems, including the severe housing slump, will cause business growth to slow noticeably in coming months.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, on Wednesday, "urged consumers to get out there, be active, shop, spend, show confidence."

My heads spinning. No big deal, everythings under control. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Update: the shop, spend, confidence activity worked. DJ only down 34.

Meet my nieces Lucy and Millie, Poster Children for Peace and they want you to join them.

Friends for Peace Link... is a project of the American Friends Service Committee. If you are not familiar with either AFSC or the Friends Committee for National Legislation Link... I urge you check them out. You will no doubt be pleased with the work we do.

And if you would, take a photo and submit it to Friends for Peace. As a member of the FCNL and AMSC I would love to see a few more Tennessee photos in the album. It would be nice if you first downloaded the official Friends for Peace sign but you don't have to do so. They do require that it be a photo with peace as the subject and it is best not to have a candidate or other cause in the photo.

If nothing else, browse the photos. You will be glad you did.

Nashville hosts one of the largest expatriate Kurdish populations in the country.

Indeed, "Music City" is better known in this part of town as Little Kurdistan, home to the nation's largest Kurdish population, estimated at about 7,000.

Much of the country expressed surprise when Nashville became one of five U.S. cities chosen to hold balloting for this weekend's Iraqi elections. (The others: Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Detroit, which has the nation's largest Iraqi Arab population.) Kurds here not only are largely thriving, but their presence is something longtime locals eagerly point to as a sign of the town's latest coming of age.

And they're none too happy with the actions of our longstanding NATO ally, Turkey.

Understandably so.

With nearly two months left in the year, 2007 is on course to be the deadliest year on record for American forces in Iraq, despite a recent sharp drop in U.S. deaths.

Iraq Coalition Casualties

2003 - 486
2004 - 849
2005 - 846
2006 - 822
2007 - 846 ...

Lest we forget in the midst of drought, water shortages, horrendous fires in CA, high gas prices, unaffordable health care, housing crisis, mortgage woes, there is a war going on in the Middle East.

Jim Webb is turning out to be one of the few people willing to try to restore a balance of power between the executive and legislative branches when it come to war. His bill S759 "prohibits the use of military funds for military operations in Iran without the consent of the Congress." It's in committee now, but he hopes to bring it back to the floor. Link...

The full text and other info, including its two supporters. (Thank you Hillary for at least doing this much) can be found at: Link...
Sounds strong, huh?