Zbigniew Brzezinski on Joe Scarborough

Insightful analysis of the current Middle East conflict by Mr. Brzezinski, but at the very end Joe tries to use his usual double-speak and bullying and says " "you cannot blame what's going on in Israel on the Bush administration." This prompted Zbig to reply, "You know, you have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on that it's almost embarrassing to listen to you." It is cathartic to watch a sophisticated elder successfully intimidate Scarborough....

Amazing Journey of a Sea Turtle

Inspires me to quit wimping out and go do some paddling.

Elizabeth Alexander

Barack Obama has chosen Ms. Alexander to be 'the poet' at his inauguration.  I struggle for words to describe her......so...I'll let her speak for herself.

Interview (video)

A Poem for Nelson Mandela by Elizabeth Alexander

Here where I live it is Sunday.

From my room I hear black

children playing between houses

and the El at a Sabbath rattle.

I smell barbecue from every direction

and hear black hands tolling church bells,

hear wind hissing through elm trees

through dry grasses

                                    On a rooftop of a prison

in South Africa Nelson Mandela

tends garden and has a birthday,

as my Jamaican grandfather in Harlem, New York

raises tomatoes and turns ninety-one.

I have taken touch for granted: my grandfather’s hands,

his shoulders, his pajamas which smell of vitamin pills.

I have taken a lover’s touch for granted,

recall my lover’s touch from this morning

as Mandela’s wife pulls memories through years

and years

             my life is black and filled with fortune.

Nelson Mandela is with me because I believe

in symbols; symbols bear power; symbols demand

power; and that is how a nation

follows a man who leads from prison

and cannot speak to them. Nelson Mandela

is with me because I am a black girl

who honors her elders, who loves

her grandfather, who is a black daughter

as Mandela’s daughters are black

daughters. This is Philadelphia

and I see this Sunday clean.

At first I was really perturbed and annoyed by the now probable appointment of Carolyn Kennedy to the senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. I remain guarded about the misuse of power by a dynasty, but.....my brother offered another perspective that I found comforting and it seemed to make sense:

Now that we live in an era of cut-throat politics, it takes profound amounts of money, mud-slinging and an almost psychopathic character to survive 'an election.' Those who survive are most likely going to pander to their donors who contribute because they can't get to the top without the help of money 'slid under the table.' Wouldn't it be amazing to have a crop of political leaders who surfaced without the taint of ugly campaigns? They'd surface with their energy and ideals intact, ready to serve?  Its a crap shoot, really, but...the idea seems worth a try seen as we've currently such a corrupt and destructive system.

So,...I'm now comfortable with the dynastic consideration of Carolyn Kennedy who, thus far, seems quite devoted to moral leadership of, by and for the people...rather than the 'corporation.' She has the leadership potential to be part of a brigade of prepared idealists who might be able to help us transcend this horrific state of affairs and rise to a higher level of social and environmental consciousness. Rock on. Go Carolyn go!